Happy STS! I'm Asking About Friendships And Platonic Relationships Today, And I Remember Reading A Snippet

Happy STS! I'm asking about friendships and platonic relationships today, and I remember reading a snippet you posted about Evangeline and Ambrose from Enchanted Illusions. You mentioned they become best friends when Ambrose clumsily tries to steal an artifact from her mansion. Without being too spoilery, how did you decide to have them meet this way? Why did they become friends? What else do you like about their dynamic?

Happy (Late) Storyteller Saturday! I hope you don't mind my answering this a day late, I got a bit caught up on writing one of my WIPs! I love these questions.

Without being too spoilery, how did you decide to have them meet this way?

The main reason was that this was the most organic way I could think of to have these two characters from vastly different backgrounds meet, but also, there's an actual plot-related reason for this. Without exposing too much of the story - the person who hired Ambrose to steal that artifact also happens to be a serious enemy of Evangeline's family (it's worth noting that Ambrose didn't know this, he didn't even really know the person who hired him), and this unexpected connection between the duo allows Evangeline to discover a complicated conspiracy/assassination plot against her father, and allows Ambrose to finally get the chance to prove his skills as they kinda set out to ensure that conspiracy doesn't happen.

Why did they become friends?

Well, they're both incredibly intelligent but awkward cinnamon rolls with very specific interests/hobbies (who also happen to be similar). Evangeline wants a way to experience something more than her sightly suffocating noble life and Ambrose wants the chance to be the adventurer he always dreamt of being, but also pay a complicated debt. Evie wants to defeat her family's enemies before it is too late, Ambrose needs to pay his debt to the Hemlock Society (who also happen to be those enemies of hers) before they kill him (the very reason he accepted to try and steal a priceless artifact from one of the richest families in their city). At first, it's more of a "we are stuck in the same mess, so we might as well help each other", but it slowly turns into a real - and quite frankly wholesome -friendship.

What else do you like about their dynamic?

I think they match really well, as while their interests and hobbies are similar, their personalities couldn't be more different. This kinda makes for really great banter material! Evangeline is reckless and oftentimes impulsive, most of her ideas and plans being spontaneous or downright improvised, and who never really learned the concept of consequences or that planning is a thing - the personification of flying by the seat of her pants with feral confidence. Meanwhile, Ambrose is an anxious lil bean who prefers to plan every step of the way before he does something and second-guesses his decisions at least thrice before acting. So it leads to some situations where Evangeline is like "Let's do this! (has the worst, most dangerous idea on the planet which somehow works out)" and Ambrose is like "This is going to go wrong in so many different ways, please don't ..."

Character Aesthetic Playlist - Thaddeus Lockhill (Enchanted Illusions)

"He'd accepted the world's hits and cruel words silently for so, so long - he'd once hoped compliance in the face of injustice would buy him mercy. He was wrong. Now, he was tired - of it all. If the world's one spark away from chaos, he'll be the one lighting the fuse - maybe this time things can actually be different for someone."

Me and The Devil - Soap & Skin

Team - Lorde

Eat Your Young - Hozier

I See Red - Everybody Loves An Outlaw

Brother - Madds Buckley

Kicks - Barns Courtney

Hell's Coming With Me - Poor Man's Poison

Centuries - Fall Out Boy

Rob A Bank - Confetti

Popular (Wicked) - Aaron Tveit version

Vendetta - Chelsea Collins

Shine - Matt Beilis

Everybody Loves Me - One Republic

Achilles, Come Down - Gang of Youths

Mercy - Dotan

Born For This - The Score

Winter Nano 2023 @crowandmoonwriting

Character Aesthetic Playlist - Agatha Greenwoods (Enchanted Illusions)

"She was going to follow this trail of secrets until they led her to the answers she sought, this she was certain. They had always told her she was just like her father - so here's to hoping she can be just as stubborn as he'd been."

Houdini - Aviva

Middle Finger - Bohnes

This is Me - Keala Settle, The Greatest Showman

Home - Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors & Bebe Rexha 

Something Wild - Lindsey Stirling

Start a War - Klergy, Valerie Broussard

Goodbye - Ramsey

On My Father's Wings - cover by Brittany J. Smith

No Time To Die - Billie Eilish

Hands Up - City Wolf

Invisible - Zara Larsson

The Beginning of the End - Klergy, Valerie Broussard

How Does a Moment Last Forever - Celine Dion

Speechless - Naomi Scott

Two Birds On a Wire - Regina Spektor

The Nights - Avicii

Winter Nano 2023 @crowandmoonwriting

⋆⁺₊✧ Space Opera Playlists ✧₊⁺⋆

(thanks @i-can-even-burn-salad for inspiring me with your ask lol)

Last Line Tag ❄

Thanks for tagging me @spiced-wine-fic!

Here's my last few lines, from OCW:

Blood. That was the first priority. What to do about all this blood? 

I'm tagging (no pressure!): @sam-glade, @mysticstarlightduck, @writernopal, @moonluringfrost, @elshells

My favorite ship dynamic is "they're both extremely stupid in completely different ways and extremely smart in completely different ways, but rarely is any of that useful because they just get extra double stupid when together"