Character Dynamics
- Jul 27
- 3 min read
Normally, I'd do some setup for posts such as this, but since the thought is in my head right now, we're just diving in. Enjoy.
I LOVE the 'adoring mother-in-law' dynamic.
(Yes, this is probably because my wife's mother is such a sweet, kind human being, and my bf's mother is so generous, compassionate, and confident. Basically, I have the best mother-in-laws, so I always love when they show up in my books, too. Also, for those of you new here, PLATONIC bestie = wife, ROMANTIC partner = bf. Either way, their parents are my in-laws.)
Anyway, I've been working on Metaphysical Attachment recently, and honestly one of my favorite character dynamics is always between the parents. Like, every single book I write, I can always picture what happened with the parents and I'm like 'damn it, I could write a story about them, too!' even though I never do. Sometimes, however, a side character is so strong that they sometimes get scenes written from their POV just for funsies and bonus content.
In this case, the prevailing personality belongs to Ilena Markovich-Blackwell, mother of our MMC Cáel Blackwell. A native of the nation of Rondais, Ilena visited the city of Blackport in Adileh as a teenager, and fell irrevocably in love with it. Over the course of the visit, her parents somehow arranged for her to one day marry the Legendary scion, Tollin Blackwell, sometime in the future. I've written the condensed version of Ilena and Tollin's courtship as they each tell it to someone else, and it's perfection. One day, in the somewhat far future, when MA gets published, it will absolutely be available on the site as bonus material. (Nowhere else. Not even in the published editions of the books. So hang around here for that cuteness.)
What's getting me in this particular moment is how she's doting on our FMC, Isolde Sterling. In the scene I'm writing, it's the perfect blend of motherly sternness, but also a deep compassion. You see hints earlier on in the book about what she thinks of her son's relationship with Isolde, and the more they interact the more fun it is for me.
I don't want to give too much away, so I'm going to get off this specific pairing for the moment and jump into some more broad-spectrum character dynamics that I absolutely love.
Adoring mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships (which we've just covered)
Bodyguard/body they're guarding (I like the contrast of 'I'm supposed to be doing a job' and the other person basically being like 'I'm about to be the biggest distraction of your life.')
Assassin/would-be victim (I have a thing for assassin LIs and I'm not ashamed. If they happen to fall for the person they've been hired to murder, well then that just ups the tension and conflict.)
Political enemies with too much chemistry (if you guessed enemies-to-lovers, you'd be right, but they'd better be actual enemies who actually want/need the other dead throughout the book(s). None of those 'oh, they hate me so much for reasons' to snogging ten pages later. If there isn't an attempted murder at least twice, what kind of enemies are you??)
Tense parent/child relationships (it is not lost on me that I enjoy wholesome in-laws but want parental tension. It feels more realistic when you consider the shared history of the parents/child vs just stepping into another family as a whole ass person.)
Best friends with a little crush that the other person is fully unaware of ("I should have known" anyone?? iykyk... If you don't know, I need you to go read the PMC right now.)
Adult friendships (I mean, people who make time for each other out of busy lives, who enjoy adult activities with adult money, and generally treat each other as whole people who sometimes need a smack upside the head before doing stupid shit)
There are probably a thousand more dynamics I could mention, but these are the ones that just dropped out of my head on a whim. (Because this whole blog post has been written on a whim at midnight.)
Alas, off to write more of the fun stuff while I still have the battery life for it.
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