The first book I ever wrote, I had a reader say a friend should turn into a love interest to form a love triangle. Like...yeah, he saved her life, they have great chemistry...as friends. 0% chance that's changing lol
I actually have some characters who are a group of friends. There are both males and females and some of course, aren't more than friends. We've got Eira, her three siblings, Maiya, Nyx, Bluefire, Ares, Enzo and Scar. Scar is mates with Eira, Enzo with Maiya, and Nyx with Bluefire, but the rest are in the friendzone. I say males, females and mates because they're not human, by the way. They're winged wolves from my fantasy story.
'I'm sick of friends to lovers' Me, writing half of my shippings as slow burn friends to lovers: I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it’s a stupid-ass decision, I’ve elected to ignore it.
Lmao nice. Friends to lovers is an awesome trope, don't let anyone tell you otherwise! It is rivaled only by enemies to lovers, or enemies to friends to lovers. 😆
I generally was (and still am) under the impression that friendship - with people relating to each other, sharing common interests, covering each other's strengths and weaknesses etc. - serves as a great foundation for love. More so than just plain physical attraction or generic cuteness or things like that. I guess the problematic part isn't friends-to-lovers per se, but rather how friends of opposing genders inevitably ending up in a romantic relationship with each other (at least, going by what Jenna described)? And here I am, with this friends-to-lovers situation, though it's between two women so it's not like it's normalising the "man-woman friendship always turning into romance" notion. (if anything, my problem seems to be having relatively few prominent human male characters in the first place...)
Honestly I have never understood why exes are portrayed as enemies and cruel to eachother. Or one is "in the right" and the other is "wrong". There can be multiple reasons for breakup, which means sometimes both are wrong or even both right. And a mature person can break up with someone without becoming enemies with them. Just accept that you weren't right for eachother. I had an ex and we talked for a while, got along fairly well, it wasn't until some months ago he felt he needed to move on from the past and we'd never see eachother again. But I accepted it, because he's just a human too. He has the right to make that decision.
My main character was friends with her ex before they dated and remain friends after the breakup. I wonder if that counts as male and female being just friends since their relationship is in the past and that’s their backstory. Am just a sucker for romance man.
I've been playing with doing a twist on a couple tropes together, and having what appears to be a love triangle set up, where the girl ends up with neither guy, the two guys become best friends and continue to hang out with her. It helps that it's a small beat to a larger story, it is kind of anti-climatic if the romance is the focus of your story and it just ends with "and so they just decided to stay friends, the end".
@@sunsetrooftops512 It's an awesome idea, really. Because if they were going to end up as lovers, then they should have started as best friends who know each other.
@@sunsetrooftops512 I love friends to lovers. It’s the ultimate romantic trope for me lol. But also I like platonic too. Though usually if the platonic friendship is super solid I end up shipping it anyway
"Guys only want one thing!" Um, no we don't. Imagine a group of guys watching a Three Stooges marathon. Not a chick in sight, and a blast is being had by all. Not saying it's intellectual; it's guys being guys.
@@urdadsonic1036 people actually do they this. At least the few random tweets about males i see on Twitter (don't really use it but I see enough elsewhere). There seems to be this underlying assumption that men only want sex and I think the person replying before was agreeing with the parent commentor and inserting something that supports it.
@@urdadsonic1036 yeah it is. I'm not saying it's not a bad assumption, it's just something quite a few people believe for some reason. Probably bad encounters with crappy guys that expanded into a whole ideology about how men can only think through their penis. I've literally had whole arguments with people who for some reason think men are out to get them... it's saddening and annoying at the same time.
Try writing about a character who likes and chooses to be alone vs one that really doesn't like or want to be might help you and (each of the characters) see the benefits of both side
We need more healthy, supportive, quality friendships in books. I feel like they get thrown to the side way too often, especially in romance books that deal with “overprotective” love interests or nerdy, lonely main characters. Yes, they can be lonely. Yes, they can be alone all the time. Yes, the love interest can be overprotective. No, the love interest should not be the only person in the main character’s life. If not friends, how about family? Doesn’t have to be immediate family, or even blood-related. Step-sisters. Cousins. Childhood friend who’s basically a sibling to them. Done ranting now. 😤
All authors have a sadistic side. It is by throwing as much peril at a character that you get to know the strengths. One of the first Boeing 747's was lifted by pulleys off the ground in the hanger. Cables attached to the wings. Inside the body were 55 gallon drums that were slowly filled with water. This put stress on the wings. The goal was to see how much the wings would bend, and how much force it took. The wings bent something like 30 feet before they were ripped from the fuselage. Engineers ripped the wings off a jet just to see how strong they really were. Should you do any less when you build a character? (If you see the tip of the wing wiggle a few inches, it really doesn't matter.)
Something that really peeves me is that you can't write a friendship between any two people without everyone shipping them. Especially with a good bromance. People aren't used to seeing men being soft with eachother without there being more going on. I have no problem with that if that's what the author intended, but just let then have their friendship and enjoy that for how beautiful it is in itself.
I get what you mean. Obviously, people can ship whatever they want as long as it’s not pedophilia or incest. But, sometimes shipping two friends shows how people think romantic bonds are stronger than platonic ones (which isn’t true). For example, people are like friends don’t look at friends like that cause it implies that people shouldn’t look at their friends like they are their entire world. Things like that annoy me
Based on your name, I'll assume you're a woman, in which case you don't know what male friendship is actually like and you're probably writing it completely wrong, like a female friendship, which confuses everyone and so readers can't help but think they're gay. Big red flag: you wrote the phrase "men being soft with each other". Men in strong friendships with each other are not "soft" with each other. Male friendship is not based around talking about their feelings, it's about doing stuff together, it's about activities, and the entire time they'll be making fun of each other in a way that seems to a female outsider like they're being assholes to each other, but they don't actually mean anything by it. They're just ragging on each other, taking each other down a peg so nobody's ego gets too big, and the sort of playful competition that makes everyone perform to a higher standard as men, together. If a man is going through a rough time and needs some support, he'll tell his friend he's going through a rough time, but his friend isn't going to just affirm his feelings and tell him he's right to feel that way and help him wallow in his misery. His friend will tell him he understands, because every man has gone through hard times as well, but he'll boost his friend, offer practical advice, and help him to get his esteem back up to tackle his problems head on. This sometimes gets stereotyped as "man up" with a negative connotation, but it's more like "you got this, man". Men are problem solvers, they support each other by trying to fix the problem, and men help each other be better, stronger men. It is not about softness, it's all about iron sharpening iron. Men are only soft with people they want to sleep with, and children they want to guide and protect.
A platonic friendship is the core of the novel I've been working on and frankly that is enough for both characters. They could not possibly handle more intensity.
Oh man, thank you! I get why In a drama or romance you might obviously have love develop from friendship. But if the characters are already friends and bullets start flying, we might not have time to reevaluate boundaries and desires (unless that's part of the danger). You trust me to cover you, I'll trust you to cover me. And with sides being switched and backs being stabbed, let's give the MC (and reader) one stable thing they can count on.
One of the best instances of "Platonic Friends" I have ever seen came from the first Dragon Age game where a male main character becomes friends with Morrigan. She questions why you never make a pass at her, and it surprised that you just want to be friends, as all the men she has met so far try usually on want "love" from her. At the end of the conversation, she then says, "I want you to know that while I may not always prove... worthy...of your friendship, I will always value it." Seriously made me tear up the first time I heard it.
7:55 I can honestly relate because as a kid everyone shipped me with my friends just because they were my opposite gender. This mostly happened in elementary school and middle school, so think about that next time pepole ship opposite sex characters for no reason.
Well, I mean... some woman married the Eiffel tower and another one married a ghost not too long ago as well. And that's real life. So why not. XD People are crazy.
@@SysterYster I've read those fan-fic's, too ya' know... What else am I supposed to think of when he's up there talkin' about "people shipping Jesus and the Cross"??? Nails??? Would that be a BDSM thing??? OR should we get disgusted because J.C. ends up dead on that thing, some folks apparently can't get enough "shady hijinks"... I mean, shouldn't we be concerned about the necrophilia thing? ;o)
If you don't fall into sexist or manipulative flirting tropes, wing-... people of different sexes, genders and sexual orientations can be a surprisingly wholesome friendship trope. Searching together doesn't have to be some frat-boy story! Edit: Hey, she mentioned it!
I love the Found Family trope. In my novel-in-process, there’s a case of that trope between the too-trusting art kid, the human embodiment of candy corn who also owns a pair of cowboy boots, the ultimate theatre nerd, the guitar player who’s way too much of an early bird for his boyfriend, said boyfriend who’s really shy and one of the kindest people you’d ever meet, the distrustful jock, and the wannabe mean girl who’s scared of forming lasting relationships and takes it out on others.
Yesss! Friendships are often written badly in fiction! I've noticed something in my writing, and to prove it i'll describe a few of my carachters Is the son of the god of light Is the punkest, angstiest goth in history Is the son of the goddess of the Underworld Is the cutest, most innocent smol bean Is named Thor Is a shy, insecure cinnamom roll Yes. I like contraddictions, ok? I just try not to overdo it I am friends with a professional writer. Recently she came over for dinner and read a piece of writing by me. She likes it! I'm really really happy about that.
Read up about sociopaths. They don't have feelings. Not all are killers, but they do make good badguys. Sociopaths believe feelings are lies other people tell each other. They can mimic feelings to manipulate others. But on a brain scan, they really don't have feelings. If you can write a good sociopath, you're half way to a great book!
my favourite trope is the grump and the ray of sunshine - it’s just so cute especially when the grump becomes infected by the others optimism… it’s adorable
Jenna speaking about betrayal: Your MC has to deal with loosing a friend. Me speaking about betrayal: I didn't lose a friend, I realized I never had one
What i love is strangers to friends. Let me explain i love when 2 characters don't understand each other at first for their, language, thair culture, way of thinking, way of life, or even spieces is too different so they have to bit by bit learn and grow together... They don't need to be opposites. That's generaly slow but so rewarding for it open both caracter to a new world or a new way to see it.
"#1! Betrayal!" Me: *eyebrow twitches as I have around three thousand flashbacks* "#2: Found Family!" Me: *tearing up* P r e a c h I love the found family trope way too much Thank you for making this video!
11. Intergenerational (at least 20 years apart) friendship where the friendship is just as important, meaningful, and fulfilling as either partner's same-age friendships... and where the intergenerational aspect is not a centerpiece of the friendship and is only referenced when it's relevant. Because the only time you really see relationships like that is with a mentor/student (and the mentor usually dies) or a substitute parent figure... but what if you just really dig each other and are good friends? You never see that represented. And I'd love to see it more.
People brought up in age-segregated public schools for most of their childhood waking hours tend to have difficulty relating to people outside of their age group. They may learn how to do that after they go out into the real world, and if they go to college instead of the workplace at 18, it may be delayed another 4 or more years. A lot of young writers have no experience with it in their own lives, so they have trouble writing about it, or don't even think about it as a possibility, outside of some kind of teacher-student relationship. Kind of sad.
My favorite thing about the #9 trope is when for the majority of the book a character is very protective of their personal space, touching is off limits, etc. But at some point, they'll turn to their friend & say, "Fine, just this once." & let their friend give them the biggest squeeze, bc they know that hugging people makes their friend happy, & if their friend is happy, then they're happy, so they can kinda overlook the "EW NO" impulse just to make a friend feel fuzzy. I love it, I love it so much.
As much as we love romance, it shouldn’t feel like an obligation to write one, hence the platonic opposite sex friendship trope you mentioned. Too many times I’ve shipped my own characters and the end result was chemistry that didn’t exist. I won’t make that mistake with my current WIP Beautiful Monster.
Agree so hard on these Jenna! Platonic friendship? Yes! My favorite type of relationships! Bromance? Yes, I want more male characters willing to be open about how much they care. Hubby is this with his friends and it’s adorable! The die-and-true friend? My all time favorite trope. I love and live for the Samwise Gamgees of fiction! A friend that’ll walk with you through hell and probably fight some kind of demon because “fuck it, he’s/she’s my friend!”
As someone who had an opposites attract frienship (we're not close anymore but still friends) and one of my best friends is a guy (we literally call each other platonic soulmates and joke ab marrying each other all the time), I LOVE seeing these types of tropes in books cuz theyre so wholesome and for me personally they're relatable
I love all these! I also love when the unlikely pair teach each other or the other things that other didn't know about the world. My favorite example of these is Montag and Clarisse, I love how Clarisse surprised Montag during all of their interactions. Then again, I'm just a girl obsessed with Fahrenheit 451.
If you’re unsure if your characters should remain friends or become lovers, here’s something that helped me: Write them in a romance scene. It doesn’t even have to be part of the story, but just writing that separately. Read your romance scene with these two characters. If it seems weird or uncomfortable, then your characters are just meant to be friends.
friends to lovers is one of my all time favorite tropes tbh but I also love the platonic relationships they’re both so good ❤️❤️ I wish more friends to lovers books included a ton of platonic relationships to balance it out 💕
The don't touch me friend reminds me of... Me. What I really dig is a balanced kind of bond where both people have the same power in the friendship, even when it's unlikely, that gets me going.
I think the reason why I really enjoy the friends to lovers trope is because it happened to me in real life. I have this guy in my life, we became best friends and slowly he started to get flirtatious with me and so did I. I eventually started to get super nervous about my own feelings because I wasn’t sure if it was love or not. He actually confessed to me and I took about three days to freak out over it. Then I confessed to him that I loved him too. We’re still dating about 3 years later and I’ve never felt so comfortable in a relationship.
I wrote a book that featured found family and enemies to friends. I agree with the tropes, I was happy to write a boy and a girl just be friends and the mentor becoming part of the family too.
Honestly, friends to lovers is way better than insta-romance or being in a relationship withs someone they don't really know, because as friends, we see the characters getting to know each other which is what builds the foundation of their relationship. Although, platonic relationships are good too.
Platonic friendships between the opposite sex are awesome to see. Right now my D&D character, Zelda Alagondar, is good friends with Anthony Hunt one of the three vampires in our party of adventurers. While any normal friendship would take months or years to build, these two have grown extremely close in a short amount of time due to circumstance. In fact. Zelda sees Anthony as “the brother she never had” and Anthony sees Zelda as one of the only people he can truly trust. While they have had some questionable moments, nothing has resulted from them and I personally like that, not just because Zelda is interested in another party member, but because platonic friendships can be just as interesting and impactful as romantic relationships.
0:18 Oh my God, I didn't know about that 💔 I hope you and you family get better. I love your videos, they always make my day. God bless you and your family ❤️
Trope 1 (Betrayal): Part of Fumiko's backstory Trope 2 (Found Family): I have this trope. Trope 3 (Rivals-to-Friends): I don't know if I'll have an opportunity to include this in my series Trope 4 (The Bromance): I don't know if I have this played completely straight yet, but I'm sure I'll have several opportunities in future stories Trope 5 (The Slumber Party): I might have a version of this at some point. The closest I've gotten to this at the moment is roommates. Trope 6 (Strictly Platonic): I have friends to lovers, but they're the same gender. They'll have platonic friendships with other people, including people of the opposite gender Trope 7 (The Wingman): I might have this and/or the Shipper On Deck trope. Trope 8 (The Odd Couple): I might have this. Trope 9 (The "Ew, Don't Touch Me" Friend): I might have someone like this. Trope 10 (The "Ride or Die" Friend): The characters that become Fumiko's closest friends.
Buttercup was so cute at the beginning of this video! Also, I'm so glad to see that Cliff is feeling better! No pressure on posting and take all the time you need!
When you literally put a label on me. I was like “dang”, but then I laughed. I’m definitely that “don’t touch me” friend in my group. I’ve gotten softer now because we live in different states, but I was that: no hugging, don’t hug me, never said I love them person. They all knew I cared though. Cause we’ve been through so much together and I just express myself differently
Who doesn't love a goo bromance w/ a wee bit of homoerotic subtext but at its core is still an openly affectionate relationahip. "Hey bro, we should tell the world we're bros." "Okay bro . . ." *quietly* "We're bros." "Why'd you whisper, bro?" "Because you're my whole world, bro." "Bro . . ." *long hug*
This is gonna sound sappy and cringy probably, but Jenna, you're so inspirational! I wasn't motivated to continue writing my novel but then I discovered your channel and you helped me get back into writing AND made my story a lot better! Thank you much Jenna, you're awesome!
Never really thought about 'friendship tropes' being a thing, but after watching this video I realise that four on this list already exist seminally in my WIP, so I guess I know which aspects of my book I'm going to be developing next. Thanks Jenna!
The ride or die, balls to the wall trope is one of my favorites. I was watching a Chinese drama a while ago and the male protagonist's best friend was offered a LOT of money to take their business idea to a large, competing company. I genuinely expected him to take the deal but he fakes wanting to think about it and then immediately goes to the protagonist to tell him what happened. Honestly one of my favorite parts of the whole show
me, writing a Sapphic friends to lovers, as soon as I get to number six: ಥ_ಥ me when I realize she wants people from opposite genders to be friends and I also have that: Sweet, the gay is back on
Bromance couldn't be any more accurate. I have two friends from NY and I always, without fail, follow their threads of comments whenever they share an appreciation for each other/hype each other up whenever they post a profile, etc. Fucking inspirational. Total Kings,
Currently writing a rivals to friends relationship in my horror book. They become friends since they’re roommates and are trying to find out who trapped the kid inside the painting along with the MC’s two best friends. So the rival is the odd one out and gets sad since her best friends are across the hotel or on the second floor. MC and co. see that she’s lonely and try to include her in their friend group. And there’s no main romance since they’re all fourteen years old and experiencing horrifying stuff 😃
Now I just need a video only about betrayals. I'm in a "friends to enemies, to allies for half an hour and one of them dies" situation. Classic, but difficult to manage
true friendship is the best! i also love the fam/friend dynamic in some fictions the most. it shows that not everyone you share DNA with suck, some of them can actually be super cool and your best fucking friend in whole world. my favorite fam-friends are: uncle/aunts are besties with nephew/niece, parents and their own kids, and siblings bff's. because it shows that not adults suck and it is possible for them to relate to kids despite their age difference and if they don't they try their hardest too and have a good laugh at each other. and seriously... not all siblings hate each other. of course there's arguments, everyone related or not agrues once in a while, but i'm sick of the sibling rivalry bit. especially with the older/younger thing.. seriously, i think it's safe to say that a good portion of older sibs are aggressively protective of their younger sibs. it can't be that hard to write sibs being besties. shared childhoods is a whole lot of common ground, BOOM! half your story and their back ground already! can we see more bestie sibs? please! oh and awesome aunt/uncle who aren't secretly evil..... PLEASE! lol
I wanna write a book that people start talking about. I love peering over their proverbial shoulder to see how they judge it when they think no one's looking. Considering that pretty much leaves me with the internet, that's gonna be a heard act to follow but it'd be fun for that to happen one day.
This helps me create relationships in my story that I'm writing that I'm confident in! Thank you so much Jenna for you're opinions and critique! They help me become a better writer and expand my knowledge of different perspectives! I'm currently thinking of creating some soulmates! (Also if you are a person who doesn't know what soulmates are, they're basically people or animals, or whatever who understand each other in a way that a normal friend wouldn't! They're more than a friend without it being a romantic relationship! They're basically one of the people who you can ask for guidance or tell anything that's personal or emotional that you feel you're normal friends wouldn't get. Remember soulmates are platonic or just friends, best friends are close friends, and love interests or lovers are romantic.)
Thank you so much Jenna, you really help to give me ideas and to smack me upside the head when I'm writing something terrible! We missed you so much! I hope your life calms down a bit, and that Cliff feels better soon.
My favorite trope is when a man and woman are friends, and that's it.
Same and it’s STAYS only as a friendship
The first book I ever wrote, I had a reader say a friend should turn into a love interest to form a love triangle. Like...yeah, he saved her life, they have great chemistry...as friends. 0% chance that's changing lol
I actually have some characters who are a group of friends. There are both males and females and some of course, aren't more than friends. We've got Eira, her three siblings, Maiya, Nyx, Bluefire, Ares, Enzo and Scar. Scar is mates with Eira, Enzo with Maiya, and Nyx with Bluefire, but the rest are in the friendzone.
I say males, females and mates because they're not human, by the way. They're winged wolves from my fantasy story.
@@iclynnx that sounds cool!
Pfft, impossible! (Jk, one of my faves too)
'I'm sick of friends to lovers'
Me, writing half of my shippings as slow burn friends to lovers:
I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it’s a stupid-ass decision, I’ve elected to ignore it.
Slow burn friends to lovers is a good thing. It plays against the current "friends with benefits" trope.
I'm doing friends to lovers but it's same-sex (and set in England during the 1600s) soooo...an exception? I hope so 🤞🤞😀✍️
Gurl me too 😅 you can pry friends to lovers and forbidden romance out of my cold dead hands, nothing will change my mind 🤣
Lmao nice. Friends to lovers is an awesome trope, don't let anyone tell you otherwise! It is rivaled only by enemies to lovers, or enemies to friends to lovers. 😆
I generally was (and still am) under the impression that friendship - with people relating to each other, sharing common interests, covering each other's strengths and weaknesses etc. - serves as a great foundation for love. More so than just plain physical attraction or generic cuteness or things like that.
I guess the problematic part isn't friends-to-lovers per se, but rather how friends of opposing genders inevitably ending up in a romantic relationship with each other (at least, going by what Jenna described)?
And here I am, with this friends-to-lovers situation, though it's between two women so it's not like it's normalising the "man-woman friendship always turning into romance" notion.
(if anything, my problem seems to be having relatively few prominent human male characters in the first place...)
People who start as lovers and transition to friends. The reverse ship.
I love when exes get along! I understand awkwardness after the breakup, but why not be friends afterwards?
Honestly I have never understood why exes are portrayed as enemies and cruel to eachother. Or one is "in the right" and the other is "wrong". There can be multiple reasons for breakup, which means sometimes both are wrong or even both right. And a mature person can break up with someone without becoming enemies with them. Just accept that you weren't right for eachother.
I had an ex and we talked for a while, got along fairly well, it wasn't until some months ago he felt he needed to move on from the past and we'd never see eachother again. But I accepted it, because he's just a human too. He has the right to make that decision.
My main character was friends with her ex before they dated and remain friends after the breakup. I wonder if that counts as male and female being just friends since their relationship is in the past and that’s their backstory. Am just a sucker for romance man.
I've been playing with doing a twist on a couple tropes together, and having what appears to be a love triangle set up, where the girl ends up with neither guy, the two guys become best friends and continue to hang out with her. It helps that it's a small beat to a larger story, it is kind of anti-climatic if the romance is the focus of your story and it just ends with "and so they just decided to stay friends, the end".
@@ThrottleKitty i think that’s a great idea since the romance isn’t the main focus
I'm a sucker for friends-to-lovers, but platonic friendships are just as good
@@sunsetrooftops512 You're welcome 😄 Let us know if we can read it somewhere
@@sunsetrooftops512 It's an awesome idea, really. Because if they were going to end up as lovers, then they should have started as best friends who know each other.
@@HighLordoftheBathroom Right?! That's what I love about that trope. It makes for healthy, solid relationships
@@sunsetrooftops512 I love friends to lovers. It’s the ultimate romantic trope for me lol. But also I like platonic too. Though usually if the platonic friendship is super solid I end up shipping it anyway
@@sunsetrooftops512 Same! I was so excited about it too but then I came to know people hate it. This boosted my confidence!
Bromance IRL looks like my husband and his friends beating the crap out of each other over Monopoly.
"Guys only want one thing!"
Um, no we don't. Imagine a group of guys watching a Three Stooges marathon. Not a chick in sight, and a blast is being had by all. Not saying it's intellectual; it's guys being guys.
@@geraldfrost4710 no one ever said that bruh
@@urdadsonic1036 people actually do they this. At least the few random tweets about males i see on Twitter (don't really use it but I see enough elsewhere). There seems to be this underlying assumption that men only want sex and I think the person replying before was agreeing with the parent commentor and inserting something that supports it.
@@africandaughter3110 yea ig but its a stupid assumption to make about a whole group
@@urdadsonic1036 yeah it is. I'm not saying it's not a bad assumption, it's just something quite a few people believe for some reason. Probably bad encounters with crappy guys that expanded into a whole ideology about how men can only think through their penis. I've literally had whole arguments with people who for some reason think men are out to get them... it's saddening and annoying at the same time.
I have no idea how to write friendships because I don't have any, so my characters usually end up killing each other. Free Therapy!
4:00 starts
Well That’s defiantly a good idea
Same
Try writing about a character who likes and chooses to be alone vs one that really doesn't like or want to be
might help you and (each of the characters) see the benefits of both side
Haha yes
Jenna: BEST FRIENDSHIPS!!
Me: oh yay sweet!
Also Jenna: BETRAYAL!!!
Me: oh
😂😂😂
Such a good start, especially when she said she wanted to make a positive video. Jenna, you weird. :p That’s why we watch.
me: *writing about a developing friendship*
jenna: *post this video*
me: “how did she know?”
👁 psychic 👁
@@aangsstaff4174 she's a cyborg
SAME
Haha! Goddess Cyborg. 💙
Mind reading is one of her many cyborg powers.
We need more healthy, supportive, quality friendships in books. I feel like they get thrown to the side way too often, especially in romance books that deal with “overprotective” love interests or nerdy, lonely main characters.
Yes, they can be lonely.
Yes, they can be alone all the time.
Yes, the love interest can be overprotective.
No, the love interest should not be the only person in the main character’s life.
If not friends, how about family?
Doesn’t have to be immediate family, or even blood-related. Step-sisters. Cousins. Childhood friend who’s basically a sibling to them.
Done ranting now. 😤
Yes! But also friendships that start problematic and then they talk about it and get better!
Best Friendship Tropes: Betrayal.
I believe there's something wrong with Jenna... But in a good way. 🤣
"oh noooo, betrayal"
All authors have a sadistic side. It is by throwing as much peril at a character that you get to know the strengths.
One of the first Boeing 747's was lifted by pulleys off the ground in the hanger. Cables attached to the wings. Inside the body were 55 gallon drums that were slowly filled with water. This put stress on the wings. The goal was to see how much the wings would bend, and how much force it took. The wings bent something like 30 feet before they were ripped from the fuselage. Engineers ripped the wings off a jet just to see how strong they really were. Should you do any less when you build a character?
(If you see the tip of the wing wiggle a few inches, it really doesn't matter.)
Nobody said 'best' had to mean positive ;)
Maybe there’s something right with Jenna
"these tropes cure my depression"
#1 BRETRAYAL
Something that really peeves me is that you can't write a friendship between any two people without everyone shipping them. Especially with a good bromance. People aren't used to seeing men being soft with eachother without there being more going on. I have no problem with that if that's what the author intended, but just let then have their friendship and enjoy that for how beautiful it is in itself.
"Wahhhh underrepresented minorities want to see themselves in characters they like and relate to waaahh"
I get what you mean. Obviously, people can ship whatever they want as long as it’s not pedophilia or incest. But, sometimes shipping two friends shows how people think romantic bonds are stronger than platonic ones (which isn’t true). For example, people are like friends don’t look at friends like that cause it implies that people shouldn’t look at their friends like they are their entire world. Things like that annoy me
The benefits of writing a graphic novel that will either never be released or never be read by anyone
Based on your name, I'll assume you're a woman, in which case you don't know what male friendship is actually like and you're probably writing it completely wrong, like a female friendship, which confuses everyone and so readers can't help but think they're gay. Big red flag: you wrote the phrase "men being soft with each other". Men in strong friendships with each other are not "soft" with each other. Male friendship is not based around talking about their feelings, it's about doing stuff together, it's about activities, and the entire time they'll be making fun of each other in a way that seems to a female outsider like they're being assholes to each other, but they don't actually mean anything by it. They're just ragging on each other, taking each other down a peg so nobody's ego gets too big, and the sort of playful competition that makes everyone perform to a higher standard as men, together.
If a man is going through a rough time and needs some support, he'll tell his friend he's going through a rough time, but his friend isn't going to just affirm his feelings and tell him he's right to feel that way and help him wallow in his misery. His friend will tell him he understands, because every man has gone through hard times as well, but he'll boost his friend, offer practical advice, and help him to get his esteem back up to tackle his problems head on. This sometimes gets stereotyped as "man up" with a negative connotation, but it's more like "you got this, man". Men are problem solvers, they support each other by trying to fix the problem, and men help each other be better, stronger men. It is not about softness, it's all about iron sharpening iron.
Men are only soft with people they want to sleep with, and children they want to guide and protect.
As a young person whos writing a book, THANK YOUUU ill never be able to to put it into words how much your videos inspire and teach me
Another young writer here!
Same
As a write you should be good with words 😂
@@teris3900 haha its 3 am over here, and im super sleep deprived. forgive me 😂
Same!!
A platonic friendship is the core of the novel I've been working on and frankly that is enough for both characters. They could not possibly handle more intensity.
Oh man, thank you! I get why In a drama or romance you might obviously have love develop from friendship. But if the characters are already friends and bullets start flying, we might not have time to reevaluate boundaries and desires (unless that's part of the danger). You trust me to cover you, I'll trust you to cover me. And with sides being switched and backs being stabbed, let's give the MC (and reader) one stable thing they can count on.
“Satanic gothic girl and preppy cheerleader” was not what I expected.
Time to find a Barbie girlfriend
Hey, I'm the preppy half of that pair! It's every bit as awesome as it sounds!
Also, he was my wingman! :)
Your picture with the comment ✌😂
One of the best instances of "Platonic Friends" I have ever seen came from the first Dragon Age game where a male main character becomes friends with Morrigan. She questions why you never make a pass at her, and it surprised that you just want to be friends, as all the men she has met so far try usually on want "love" from her. At the end of the conversation, she then says, "I want you to know that while I may not always prove... worthy...of your friendship, I will always value it." Seriously made me tear up the first time I heard it.
Ahh, memories. 🥰
I know this is so unrelated, but I can't get over how cute Buttercup is. Your dog is just adorable!
I'm sorry for your loss. Will be keeping you, Cliff, & Butters in my thoughts and prayers.
7:55 I can honestly relate because as a kid everyone shipped me with my friends just because they were my opposite gender. This mostly happened in elementary school and middle school, so think about that next time pepole ship opposite sex characters for no reason.
jenna is the very definition of chaotic lawful
Dude, people litteraly ship jesus and his cross nowadays. It's not even about gender anymore.
Well, I mean... some woman married the Eiffel tower and another one married a ghost not too long ago as well. And that's real life. So why not. XD People are crazy.
@@SysterYster Yeah... maybe... BUT those splinters are going to be MURDER!!! ;o)
Wait what
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Hahaha! XD
@@SysterYster I've read those fan-fic's, too ya' know... What else am I supposed to think of when he's up there talkin' about "people shipping Jesus and the Cross"???
Nails??? Would that be a BDSM thing???
OR should we get disgusted because J.C. ends up dead on that thing, some folks apparently can't get enough "shady hijinks"... I mean, shouldn't we be concerned about the necrophilia thing? ;o)
I'm a simple girl! I see Jenna's notification, I click so fast!
*and the cute doggo makes it worthwhile*
If you don't fall into sexist or manipulative flirting tropes, wing-... people of different sexes, genders and sexual orientations can be a surprisingly wholesome friendship trope.
Searching together doesn't have to be some frat-boy story!
Edit: Hey, she mentioned it!
Whenever a man and woman make eye contact in a book/movie/tv show, I get scared now.
Same actually 😂
@@valhatan3907 IKR
@afootineachworld FR
But Jenna! Can you do sibling tropes? If that is a thing?
She's done family tropes
@@lilithcrow6675 yeah but, I needed sibling tropes specifically XD
i gotchu
Supportive older sibling
Sibling rivalry
Sibling taking on the role of a parent
@@dhenderson319 Ooh, pretty good. Thanks!
@@mycatisnamedlucifer1389 This is one of my favorites. :)
i.pinimg.com/originals/d3/7d/15/d37d1572c47eca140127ff814aa483d8.jpg
I love the Found Family trope. In my novel-in-process, there’s a case of that trope between the too-trusting art kid, the human embodiment of candy corn who also owns a pair of cowboy boots, the ultimate theatre nerd, the guitar player who’s way too much of an early bird for his boyfriend, said boyfriend who’s really shy and one of the kindest people you’d ever meet, the distrustful jock, and the wannabe mean girl who’s scared of forming lasting relationships and takes it out on others.
I thought I had a "found family" then they betrayed me.
"beasts all over the shop..."
Al joking aside I'm sorry, that must hurt. You deserve better, but understand they were unique. They were cunts
Yesss! Friendships are often written badly in fiction!
I've noticed something in my writing, and to prove it i'll describe a few of my carachters
Is the son of the god of light
Is the punkest, angstiest goth in history
Is the son of the goddess of the Underworld
Is the cutest, most innocent smol bean
Is named Thor
Is a shy, insecure cinnamom roll
Yes. I like contraddictions, ok? I just try not to overdo it
I am friends with a professional writer. Recently she came over for dinner and read a piece of writing by me. She likes it! I'm really really happy about that.
Your book sounds really interesting. I hope you keep writing.
Thank you
I really want to write a character with the line, "I don't have feelings. You have feelings loser," now. Why did do this to me?!
Read up about sociopaths. They don't have feelings. Not all are killers, but they do make good badguys. Sociopaths believe feelings are lies other people tell each other. They can mimic feelings to manipulate others. But on a brain scan, they really don't have feelings. If you can write a good sociopath, you're half way to a great book!
Look up Dr. Frost on Webtoon. It's similar to your description and is very informative about what you might want to know.
@@i.s.9451 a reasonable introduction is "The Sociopath Next Door". The red flag about how to spot a sociopath is amusing.
“Can men and women really just be friends?”
Me, a bisexual: ....
I love platonic boy/girl relationships. My WIP has a lot of them, but it also has a few friends to lovers, but it's a good mix.
my favourite trope is the grump and the ray of sunshine - it’s just so cute especially when the grump becomes infected by the others optimism… it’s adorable
Found family trope is life ❤️
Favorite trope: everyone gets a chance to shine, using their own strengths and abilities to help in the final battle/challenge.
Jenna speaking about betrayal: Your MC has to deal with loosing a friend.
Me speaking about betrayal: I didn't lose a friend, I realized I never had one
What i love is strangers to friends.
Let me explain i love when 2 characters don't understand each other at first for their, language, thair culture, way of thinking, way of life, or even spieces is too different so they have to bit by bit learn and grow together...
They don't need to be opposites.
That's generaly slow but so rewarding for it open both caracter to a new world or a new way to see it.
"#1! Betrayal!"
Me: *eyebrow twitches as I have around three thousand flashbacks*
"#2: Found Family!"
Me: *tearing up* P r e a c h
I love the found family trope way too much
Thank you for making this video!
11. Intergenerational (at least 20 years apart) friendship where the friendship is just as important, meaningful, and fulfilling as either partner's same-age friendships... and where the intergenerational aspect is not a centerpiece of the friendship and is only referenced when it's relevant. Because the only time you really see relationships like that is with a mentor/student (and the mentor usually dies) or a substitute parent figure... but what if you just really dig each other and are good friends? You never see that represented. And I'd love to see it more.
People brought up in age-segregated public schools for most of their childhood waking hours tend to have difficulty relating to people outside of their age group. They may learn how to do that after they go out into the real world, and if they go to college instead of the workplace at 18, it may be delayed another 4 or more years. A lot of young writers have no experience with it in their own lives, so they have trouble writing about it, or don't even think about it as a possibility, outside of some kind of teacher-student relationship. Kind of sad.
My favorite thing about the #9 trope is when for the majority of the book a character is very protective of their personal space, touching is off limits, etc. But at some point, they'll turn to their friend & say, "Fine, just this once." & let their friend give them the biggest squeeze, bc they know that hugging people makes their friend happy, & if their friend is happy, then they're happy, so they can kinda overlook the "EW NO" impulse just to make a friend feel fuzzy. I love it, I love it so much.
As much as we love romance, it shouldn’t feel like an obligation to write one, hence the platonic opposite sex friendship trope you mentioned. Too many times I’ve shipped my own characters and the end result was chemistry that didn’t exist. I won’t make that mistake with my current WIP Beautiful Monster.
Agree so hard on these Jenna!
Platonic friendship? Yes! My favorite type of relationships!
Bromance? Yes, I want more male characters willing to be open about how much they care. Hubby is this with his friends and it’s adorable!
The die-and-true friend? My all time favorite trope. I love and live for the Samwise Gamgees of fiction! A friend that’ll walk with you through hell and probably fight some kind of demon because “fuck it, he’s/she’s my friend!”
As someone who had an opposites attract frienship (we're not close anymore but still friends) and one of my best friends is a guy (we literally call each other platonic soulmates and joke ab marrying each other all the time), I LOVE seeing these types of tropes in books cuz theyre so wholesome and for me personally they're relatable
I love all these! I also love when the unlikely pair teach each other or the other things that other didn't know about the world. My favorite example of these is Montag and Clarisse, I love how Clarisse surprised Montag during all of their interactions. Then again, I'm just a girl obsessed with Fahrenheit 451.
If you’re unsure if your characters should remain friends or become lovers, here’s something that helped me: Write them in a romance scene. It doesn’t even have to be part of the story, but just writing that separately. Read your romance scene with these two characters. If it seems weird or uncomfortable, then your characters are just meant to be friends.
friends to lovers is one of my all time favorite tropes tbh but I also love the platonic relationships they’re both so good ❤️❤️ I wish more friends to lovers books included a ton of platonic relationships to balance it out 💕
The don't touch me friend reminds me of... Me.
What I really dig is a balanced kind of bond where both people have the same power in the friendship, even when it's unlikely, that gets me going.
I think the reason why I really enjoy the friends to lovers trope is because it happened to me in real life. I have this guy in my life, we became best friends and slowly he started to get flirtatious with me and so did I. I eventually started to get super nervous about my own feelings because I wasn’t sure if it was love or not. He actually confessed to me and I took about three days to freak out over it. Then I confessed to him that I loved him too. We’re still dating about 3 years later and I’ve never felt so comfortable in a relationship.
having a pretty bad day... saw the notification and everything’s better again ❤️
I wrote a book that featured found family and enemies to friends. I agree with the tropes, I was happy to write a boy and a girl just be friends and the mentor becoming part of the family too.
Honestly, friends to lovers is way better than insta-romance or being in a relationship withs someone they don't really know, because as friends, we see the characters getting to know each other which is what builds the foundation of their relationship. Although, platonic relationships are good too.
Butters is so sweet! 💕
Chaotic Queen energy, 10/10 love it 🖤💥
I like friendships between characters that aren't in the same age group, like a teenager and a grandparent.
Platonic friendships between the opposite sex are awesome to see. Right now my D&D character, Zelda Alagondar, is good friends with Anthony Hunt one of the three vampires in our party of adventurers. While any normal friendship would take months or years to build, these two have grown extremely close in a short amount of time due to circumstance. In fact. Zelda sees Anthony as “the brother she never had” and Anthony sees Zelda as one of the only people he can truly trust. While they have had some questionable moments, nothing has resulted from them and I personally like that, not just because Zelda is interested in another party member, but because platonic friendships can be just as interesting and impactful as romantic relationships.
So happy to hear that your husband is feeling better . Thank you for taking the time to make this video despite what's going on in your life . ☺️💛
Notification squad brought me here. Also really like the Santa hat.
0:18 Oh my God, I didn't know about that 💔 I hope you and you family get better. I love your videos, they always make my day. God bless you and your family ❤️
Love it, I want more of all of it.
Trope 1 (Betrayal): Part of Fumiko's backstory
Trope 2 (Found Family): I have this trope.
Trope 3 (Rivals-to-Friends): I don't know if I'll have an opportunity to include this in my series
Trope 4 (The Bromance): I don't know if I have this played completely straight yet, but I'm sure I'll have several opportunities in future stories
Trope 5 (The Slumber Party): I might have a version of this at some point. The closest I've gotten to this at the moment is roommates.
Trope 6 (Strictly Platonic): I have friends to lovers, but they're the same gender. They'll have platonic friendships with other people, including people of the opposite gender
Trope 7 (The Wingman): I might have this and/or the Shipper On Deck trope.
Trope 8 (The Odd Couple): I might have this.
Trope 9 (The "Ew, Don't Touch Me" Friend): I might have someone like this.
Trope 10 (The "Ride or Die" Friend): The characters that become Fumiko's closest friends.
Buttercup was so cute at the beginning of this video! Also, I'm so glad to see that Cliff is feeling better! No pressure on posting and take all the time you need!
5:32 *CAESAR!*
Reading the savoirs Champion. I theorized Leila was the real savoir at one point. LoL
When you literally put a label on me. I was like “dang”, but then I laughed. I’m definitely that “don’t touch me” friend in my group. I’ve gotten softer now because we live in different states, but I was that: no hugging, don’t hug me, never said I love them person. They all knew I cared though. Cause we’ve been through so much together and I just express myself differently
My favorite friendship would have to be Kakashi and Guy. They fit most of these except #1 betrayal. Imo it’s a friendship/eternal rival done right.
Who doesn't love a goo bromance w/ a wee bit of homoerotic subtext but at its core is still an openly affectionate relationahip.
"Hey bro, we should tell the world we're bros."
"Okay bro . . ." *quietly* "We're bros."
"Why'd you whisper, bro?"
"Because you're my whole world, bro."
"Bro . . ." *long hug*
This is gonna sound sappy and cringy probably, but Jenna, you're so inspirational! I wasn't motivated to continue writing my novel but then I discovered your channel and you helped me get back into writing AND made my story a lot better! Thank you much Jenna, you're awesome!
Never really thought about 'friendship tropes' being a thing, but after watching this video I realise that four on this list already exist seminally in my WIP, so I guess I know which aspects of my book I'm going to be developing next. Thanks Jenna!
Welcome back Jenna!!! Be sure to take good care of yourself!
The Queen is back! Buttercup’s so cute ❣️❣️
The ride or die, balls to the wall trope is one of my favorites. I was watching a Chinese drama a while ago and the male protagonist's best friend was offered a LOT of money to take their business idea to a large, competing company. I genuinely expected him to take the deal but he fakes wanting to think about it and then immediately goes to the protagonist to tell him what happened. Honestly one of my favorite parts of the whole show
Personally, I loved what they did in Stranger Things with Steve's character, how he went from jackass love interest to protective big brother.
me, writing a Sapphic friends to lovers, as soon as I get to number six: ಥ_ಥ
me when I realize she wants people from opposite genders to be friends and I also have that: Sweet, the gay is back on
Bromance couldn't be any more accurate. I have two friends from NY and I always, without fail, follow their threads of comments whenever they share an appreciation for each other/hype each other up whenever they post a profile, etc. Fucking inspirational. Total Kings,
Take all the time you need!!! Of course we understand. We love you
Currently writing a rivals to friends relationship in my horror book. They become friends since they’re roommates and are trying to find out who trapped the kid inside the painting along with the MC’s two best friends. So the rival is the odd one out and gets sad since her best friends are across the hotel or on the second floor. MC and co. see that she’s lonely and try to include her in their friend group. And there’s no main romance since they’re all fourteen years old and experiencing horrifying stuff 😃
#3 Enemies to friends: Bellamy and Clarke (The 100)
True. That's why what happened between them in the finale was painful. And not in the good way. 💔
"I am so sick of friends to lovers."
Me too, Jenna.
AWWW THE SHINE IN YOUR EYES LOOKS LIKE HEARTS, I LOVE ❤
Glad you are back and sorry for your loss
This is great because one of the main things I love writing in the current manuscript. Thank you, take care.
... Am I the only one seeing the hearts in her eyes the entire video?
Something is reflecting in her eyes, and making a heart shape.
Now I just need a video only about betrayals. I'm in a "friends to enemies, to allies for half an hour and one of them dies" situation. Classic, but difficult to manage
true friendship is the best! i also love the fam/friend dynamic in some fictions the most. it shows that not everyone you share DNA with suck, some of them can actually be super cool and your best fucking friend in whole world. my favorite fam-friends are: uncle/aunts are besties with nephew/niece, parents and their own kids, and siblings bff's. because it shows that not adults suck and it is possible for them to relate to kids despite their age difference and if they don't they try their hardest too and have a good laugh at each other. and seriously... not all siblings hate each other. of course there's arguments, everyone related or not agrues once in a while, but i'm sick of the sibling rivalry bit. especially with the older/younger thing.. seriously, i think it's safe to say that a good portion of older sibs are aggressively protective of their younger sibs. it can't be that hard to write sibs being besties. shared childhoods is a whole lot of common ground, BOOM! half your story and their back ground already! can we see more bestie sibs? please! oh and awesome aunt/uncle who aren't secretly evil..... PLEASE! lol
Aw yes platonic friendship. Natasha and Steve are the best!!
We missed you, Jenna! Take all the time you guys need❤️
Jenna the psychic cyborg queen knows exactly what I needed to see once again
Number 4 is done especially well between Will and Jem in The Infernal Devices and I love it - such a pure friendship ~
MORE BROMANCE!!! I also love those aloof, non-affectionate friends. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 🥺
I wanna write a book that people start talking about. I love peering over their proverbial shoulder to see how they judge it when they think no one's looking. Considering that pretty much leaves me with the internet, that's gonna be a heard act to follow but it'd be fun for that to happen one day.
Keep strong Jenna, it's been a crazy year for all of us💪
Best part for me:
"I love you, bro!"
"I love YOU, bro!"
"Bro!"
"BRO!!!"
"b r o."
Found Family is one of my FAV tropes, I just LOVE IT!!!
This helps me create relationships in my story that I'm writing that I'm confident in! Thank you so much Jenna for you're opinions and critique! They help me become a better writer and expand my knowledge of different perspectives! I'm currently thinking of creating some soulmates! (Also if you are a person who doesn't know what soulmates are, they're basically people or animals, or whatever who understand each other in a way that a normal friend wouldn't! They're more than a friend without it being a romantic relationship! They're basically one of the people who you can ask for guidance or tell anything that's personal or emotional that you feel you're normal friends wouldn't get. Remember soulmates are platonic or just friends, best friends are close friends, and love interests or lovers are romantic.)
Thank you so much Jenna, you really help to give me ideas and to smack me upside the head when I'm writing something terrible! We missed you so much! I hope your life calms down a bit, and that Cliff feels better soon.
#9: Tsundere
Aww it’s good to see you Jenna. Hope things are getting better. I smiled when I got the post note
The way she changes her voice when talking to buttercups is so cute 💕😂
God looking at your dog just makes all my anxiety melt away
The dog looks like they’re in constant shock
I wish you all the best, Jenna. Sorry for all you went through recently.
Finally, some good frigging friendships!