7 Tips to Having Enemies Become Allies

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Spider-Man and Venom

The temptation to turn a popular villain into a hero can be pretty strong.  To do this, you need to make the two enemies stop wanting to kill each other.  Might not be an easy task because just saying ‘they get along now’ doesn’t work.  You have to put effort into the change.  So, what can help with this?

  1. If this is your main villain, you need to replace them with a new threat.  They can’t just walk away or be defeated then come back to be friendly without there being a new antagonist.  Otherwise, you have a big hole in your story structure.  You can’t just throw anyone or anything in there too.  The new threat needs to be as strong or stronger than its predecessor in terms of danger and impact on the overall story.
  2. A mutual enemy isn’t always needed to begin this new relationship.  This will have to appear at some point since the main goal of the story will be to overcome whatever the new threat is.  Yet, the former enemies might bond in a different way even before the newest big bad appears.  Maybe one searches for the other to get answers or some kind of item for their own use.  The former villain might show up for forgiveness if that can be seen as something they would do.  Fun to just play with the concept. Of course, this is fairly difficult to accomplish, so the ‘uniting against a common foe’ is the easiest path.
  3. If the former enemies are forced to work together, they probably shouldn’t be getting along perfectly. They ex-villain will especially be prone to not rushing to help their new ally. Self-serving habits don’t disappear quickly, so they will have to be eased into acting like an actual hero. Grandstanding and not working as a team would be common as well, but not to a point where they should be losing with no chance of recovery.  It could be something as simple as getting in the way or not listening to a plan because they have a better idea.
  4. Insulting banter and sarcastic mockery at failures is always a way to go.
  5. A source of friction can, and probably should, be that these two characters will have different methods.  At least at first.  The ex-villain may start off cruel, violent, and prone to use their former methods for good.  This would make them an anti-hero, which could pit their morality against the established hero.  For example, they could argue over killing or the use of torture.  Part of this storyline would be the villain growing out of their darker habits and/or the hero stepping out of their own comfort zone.
  6. If the history between these characters is highly toxic, you might have a lot of trouble selling the new alliance.  That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, but you’re going to have to explain why they aren’t holding grudges.  In fact, they might be doing that for a very long time until a big event causes them to rethink things.  Maybe the ex-villain nearly dies saving someone to show they’ve changed. It could be a conversation followed by an act of redemption.  This really depends on what happened because there are definitely some acts that cannot be forgiven.
  7. There is a challenging option to have this alliance be one-sided.  The former villain might be forced into the partnership, so they aren’t really friends.  They will continue working together until they no longer have a mutual enemy.  Another possibility is that the former villain is working towards redemption by aiding the hero, but they are repeatedly denied any credit.  They will continue taking action in the hopes of earning what they want, but never get it.  It means they’re still ‘allies’, but only in that they are superficially working together.
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Revisiting Origins: Ichabod Brooks

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Ichabod Brooks

Would you believe he first appeared on this blog in April of 2013?  Well he did and here’s the post.

Originally Ichabod Jones, he started as a name that I couldn’t get out of my head.  I decided to peek down the rabbit hole after a few weeks of wondering why I liked that name.  Not much happened for several months, but one day a story evolved around Ichabod.  He was a loner in a world where people lived above a toxic cloud.  He was one of the few who could ‘dive’ into the old world and not be poisoned by the pollution.  So he would take assignments to recover items for people.  This was going to be a book where Ichabod got involved in rebels, survivors on the surface, and the truth behind the fate of the world.  It never made it beyond a brief explanation in one of my many notebooks.  So our apathetic hero remained in slumber until I wrote the poem in April and forgot him again.

Bring us to earlier this year and I found myself in the darker parts of Legends of Windemere.  Heroic spirits were being battered, Stephen was having sadistic fun, hearts were being stomped, and I really needed something more simple and upbeat to write.  I saw my son playing and got the idea of a short story where the hero was a father.  At first, he was going to travel with the kid like ‘Lone Wolf & Cub‘.  I’d never read that, but I knew of the basic concept.  Then everything changed by having the hero become a family man that is simply trying to earn a living.  At this point I wanted to make the man before I settled on the adventure and life details.

I remembered Ichabod Jones and changed him into the middle-aged father/husband with a reputation for taking on dangerous jobs.  The personality came about as writing, but I started with the idea that he was dedicated to his family.  He talks and thinks about them quite often.  Even a part of his contract involves allowing him to claim a souvenir for his son.  This was the new hero of Windemere, who wasn’t going to have epic struggles like Luke Callindor.  He was only out to make a living and sometimes his assignments went a little out of whack.

Now for anybody who remembers a few months ago, Ichabod Jones was revealed to already exist in a comic book.  Entirely different character and world, but why take the risk?  So I took suggestions and votes where ‘Brooks’ took the gold medal.  I’ve gotten used to calling him Ichabod Brooks and I like what he’s become.  How many adventures will he have?  I don’t know.  It really depends on the reception, but he might become a summer release and, if he gets enough traction, I’ll try to make the next one a compilation of short stories.  So fingers are crossed that Ichabod is greeted with positivity and can be a recurring hero for me to work with.

2023 Thoughts– I made the above post long ago before his short story came out.  It would be a year later that I published The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks.  People really enjoyed the character and I loved writing him.  He stood out from my other heroes due to him showing his age and being focused on providing for family.  Ichabod wasn’t trying to save the world or defeat a great evil.  He took jobs for money because his family had to eat and bills don’t pay themselves.  Will I ever write the rest of the Ichabod Brooks stories?  I don’t know.  The books never sold even though people enjoyed his adventures when I posted excerpts.  Maybe I’ll get the last 11 that I have notes on finished one day and give him some closure.  Only time will tell.

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When Enemies Turn Into Allies

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Vegeta, Goku, and Piccolo

For those who don’t know the Dragon Ball franchise, I will explain.  Goku is the guy in the middle who has been the main hero since the beginning.  Piccolo (green guy on right) was the final villain of the original Dragon Ball series.  When Dragon Ball Z began, Piccolo slowly began turning into a good guy and eventually befriended Goku.  Vegeta (angry guy on left) was one of the early main villains of DBZ.  He eventually became an ally of Goku even though he really hated him.  Not sure I can go with friends, but I haven’t seen the newest series.  Anyway, these two were enemies of Goku and then they became allies.

The ‘enemy turned ally’ trope is fairly common though.  I remember it in comics like whenever Magento joined the X-Men.  There have been video games where you get to play a long-standing villain such as when Bowser teamed up with Mario in ‘Super Mario RPG’.  Plenty of novels have this trope too.  One could even call it cliche, but it’s one that I never seem to see get any pushback.  Not on a grand scale, at least.  The turn is usually accepted at some point as long as things are done well.  I guess an author who wouldn’t do it well might not keep an audience long enough to do the turn too.  Then again, I might just be lucky and not found many terrible ones.

I’ve always found this character twist to be fun.  You have this villain, who is typically defeated and replaced by a stronger one.  Since they aren’t dead, they can still be active in the story.  The choices tend to be join the new baddie as a henchman or decide to join the hero.  This ties into redemption arcs, which I think appeal to people because it gives us hope for forgiveness in our own lives.  It can also create some interesting friction and comedic sparring since you can’t have the former enemies be friendly right away.  Well, you can, but it might seem forced.  The angles you can go at this subplot are fairly numerous because you can take it in a variety of ways.

Now, you might wonder why an author would do this too.  I know I have.  I think it can usually come down to two things:

  1. The author really liked the former villain and wanted to keep them going.  They also saw that there was a chance to make them a hero or anti-hero.  There is a love and desire to not retire them just yet.  Of course, this can backfire if the audience doesn’t share the author’s attachment.
  2. That’s why you have the second scenario where the audience loves the villain.  It’s not because the character does bad things, but they garner sympathy and are seen as a multi-faceted figure.  An author might see this and decide to change their plan to maintain their audience.  It isn’t just for fame though because one has to see what others see in order to make it work.

I’m sure people can think of why this shouldn’t be done.  A villain who has crossed certain lines really can’t become close friends with a true hero.  They might work together if forced, but there isn’t a solid relationship there.  I’m not talking about villains who are routinely trying to betray their new side here, but ones that genuinely try to change their ways.  There’s a limit to what people will forgive for though, which is understandable.  It isn’t the same for every person too, so you need to prepare for some backlash.  This should be why you don’t see this trope very often, but you do see it a lot.  Maybe most modern villains aren’t as evil as the ones in the past?

Anyway, what do you think of heroes and former villains becoming friends?  Any favorite examples?

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The Lynx Family: Tufted Ears and Stubby Tails

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

When you hear the word ‘lynx’, you probably think of a single type of animal.  Those of us in the USA probably pictured a bobcat.  Well, there are actually 4 species of lynx and one of them is the bobcat.  They all look fairly similar with the smallest being the bobcat and Canadian lynx and the biggest being the Eurasian lynx.  What else can we say about these small cats?

While these cats can differ in color and slightly in size, they share many physical similarities.  All of them have tufts of hair on their ears and long whiskers.  Their paws are large and padded to allow for walking on the snow.  As you go further north, the lynx species get thicker fur and wider paws to handle more snow.  They have ruffs under their neck and white fur on their bellies, chests, and inner legs.  Like all cats, they are carnivores and feed on a variety of animals.

Three of the four species are considered ‘not threatened’, but the Iberian lynx is critically endangered.  It has begun to recover in some areas, but still has a long way to go until it is out of danger of extinction.  There are several reasons for the Iberian lynx populations shrinking.  One is that their main prey are rabbits and various epidemics have reduced their food source.  High speed roads were put through the Iberian lynx territory, so they got hit by cars a lot until preventive measures were begun.  Then, you have the usual habitat destruction and illegal hunting because OF COURSE those are causes.

Let’s get to the pictures and videos.

Bobcat

Canadian Lynx

Eurasian Lynx

Iberian Lynx

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Goal Post: The Week of Crazy Has Almost Ended

Posted on December 16, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

All I managed to outline for Darwin & the Joy Path was the first 8 chapters.  That’s good, but it’s looking like it’ll be 17-18 chapters.  It took me most of Saturday to do this, so I’m a little bummed that I didn’t get further.  Haircut, shopping, and biking didn’t cause much of a delay.  I just had trouble figuring things out and focusing.  Guess this means I won’t be writing the book until after New Years.  I’ll use the break to finish the outline, work on ‘Phi Beta Files’, and do February blog posts.  This is what happens when most of my friends are far away or have family stuff.  I get ‘me time’, but there’s a twinge of loneliness after the first day or two.

Anyway, this week was as busy as I expected.  Monday may have been the only ‘normal’ day.  Last Sunday was potato latkes with the family, but half of them couldn’t make it due to illness.  They showed up Tuesday after work/school, which meant we did the big Hanukkah meal that day.  Wednesday was my son’s Winter Concert, which was amazing and he did great in the chorus.  Thursday had appointments including one that revolved around the ‘life event’.  Friday was a field trip at school, which went fairly well.  Then, it was home to do laundry since the weekend is going to be crazy.

I usually go into detail with a lot of what I just blurted out, but I’m so exhausted.  It was all I could do to get to bed at a decent hour.  Surprised I managed to finish a puzzle and a single February post.  It wasn’t the sleep apnea type of fatigue, but one born from not being able to rest.  My mind and body could only handle so much.  I can feel them wearing away at the edges, which is why I didn’t push myself when I was done with work, parenting, and appointments.  Next week should be less insane, which means I can tinker with the outline for Darwin & the Joy Path.

Speaking of Darwin, I wrote up the blurb for his first book.  Been sitting on it for a month and looking at it again.  Decided to schedule it for a test post in January, which gives me time to tinker some more.  I’m trying something different than what I did with my previous series.  Part of it is born from me deciding that I have nothing to lose by taking a risk and unleashing my impulses.  Basically, Darwin is going to be doing the blurbs instead of this stuffy author.  Will it be tight and on point?  Not as much as serious one would be, but you’ll get the plot and a sense of what our new hero is like.  Worrying that I’m having him shed some of his habits in the later books, but I guess it’s a sign that he’s maturing and getting a handle on things.  We’ll see if this plays out in the blurbs.

This weekend is booked solid.  My son has an evaluation for his services today and then we’re off to a 3 hour Pokemon Go event.  If we complete everything quickly, we’ll be back home for hot cocoa and television.  Sunday is ‘Godzilla Minus One’ matinee and then Part II of the Pokemon Go event.  It’s raining, so we’re going to be heading to a mall, which will be insane.  Not the smartest idea, but we can’t go wandering through the rain.  Don’t want to get sick right before break.  The rest of the week is going to be low key with only a few appointments. Looking forward to that.

As far as free time, I’m not doing a lot when I try to relax.  Watching a show on Amazon called ‘Almost Paradise’, which I’ve had on my list for a while.  It’s an action crime show that’s pretty good.  Stories feel standard, but I always feel these shows are more about the characters.  Main one suffers from high blood pressure, so I can relate on that level.  Nice to take a break from animated shows too.  I say this knowing I’m going to jump to ‘Vox Machina’ and ‘Invincible’ once I finish this show.  At least, I think I will, but it depends on what I feel will be the best to have running while I pondering ‘Phi Beta Files’.  Be nice to finish that series foundation before the end of the year.

Let’s jump to the goals of the week:

  1. Survive to the break.
  2. Help son with projects and studying.
  3. Work on Darwin & the Joy Path outline.
  4. Get 7+ hours of sleep a night.
  5. Bike when possible.
  6. Work on ‘Phi Beta Files’.
  7. Should I start editing Darwin & the Fate Bracelet at work?
  8. Enjoy time with son since he’ll be away for first half of upcoming break.
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What If the Villain Makes Sense?

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Donquixote Doflamingo from ‘One Piece’

Above is a fairly epic speech from the manga/anime ‘One Piece’.  I say fairly because you wouldn’t know it unless you watched or read the series.  It is said by one of the more popular villains, Donquixote Doflamingo, during a story arch that involved a big war between the pirates and the marines.  He is a pirate, but fights for the marines as one of their Seven Warlords.  This gives him an interesting perspective . . . Also, can you say he’s really wrong?

To touch on what Doflamingo is saying, he makes a lot of sense.  History shows us that the victors tell the story.  They decide on what was right and wrong as well as what people will learn about.  Saying that justice will prevail is ridiculous because whoever wins will say that their said was justified.  Personally, the part about how a child growing up in peace will have different values and perspectives than one growing up in war hits home.  I see so many people talk about what life should be like for those who have lived in different conditions.  Empathy and change of perspective aren’t easy to find or come by, which makes Doflamingo’s speech hit a little harder.

All of this brings up the question of having a villain who makes sense.  I know people enjoy villains when they are doing evil, but for good reasons.  That can be understood since they mean well.  Doflamingo doesn’t fall into this category though.  Been a while, but I believe he wanted to destroy the world or at least bring down society to prove that he’s right or get revenge.  Either way, he works for selfish reasons, but his perspective on how history and justice are decided on by victors garners a lot of agreement.  This kind of makes him a ‘beloved’ character regardless of his evil intentions.  Makes one wonder if it’s okay to agree with an evil person in some fashion.

I’ve met a few authors who get disturbed by readers relating to or cheering for their villains.  Their attempts at making the villains relatable or understandable succeed to the point where a reader might side with them.  It makes things difficult when pushing the hero who is supposed to be the favored character.  Instead, you have a contingent of fans that are against the good guys and want them to fail.  An author might be tempted to give in to this group and switch the story to the bad guys winning, especially if you get a ‘vocal minority’ situation.  It’s might easier to handle people liking the villains, but not agreeing with them.  You become less likely to redirect your story in their favor or try to hard to ‘evil-ize’ the villain.

With all of that confusion and unexpected cheer, I can see a big reason to have villains who make sense.  This would be them talking about society and civilization.  A villain who talks about a social injustice that we normally ignore can bring about a conversation among the fans.  It can open up minds to what is going on in reality and get one thinking about how we can prevent such a bad guy from appearing.  Doflamingo makes sense with his opinion on how justice is determined by the winners and those in power.  This means it can be skewed and biased.  We see examples of this in our own world, which means we could feasibly have a Doflamingo type show up.  For all we know, one already has.  Anyway, his speech and opinion gets the conversation going, which is a bonus for many authors.

So, what do you think about villains with understandable messages and worldviews?

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Artificial Intelligence… again

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Hi, gang. Craig with you once more, and I’m drifting back to the topic of artificial intelligence. I’m a writer and this interests me, so it might be…

Artificial Intelligence… again
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Poetry Day: Get Me My Axe and Ale

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

(I remember this one.  I had to get a suit for a wedding after a few years of avoiding such events.  While getting fitted, I was described as short and compact.  All this made me think about were fantasy dwarves.  So, I wrote a poem about it.  Probably to ward off the slight depression I felt upon realizing how much weight I gained.)

I went to buy a suit
Not knowing how I size
Ignorant of my dimensions
About to learn too much

 

Broad of shoulders
Short of height
With a bulging gut
Earned by a love of food

 

I was given the executive cut
Called stocky and compact
My mind defined me otherwise
I was a challenge to find fit

 

The fitting carried on
As my mind stepped far away
Taking in my stated form
Adding what was missing

 

I grew a lengthy beard
While donning plated mail
My balding head was covered
By a horn-covered helm

 

I am no longer thin
Like the elf I used to be
My days of being spry
Have left me long ago

 

I am now a bulky dwarf
The surly battle drone
A warrior of stone
Carved from the very earth

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WRITING AND THE HOLIDAY BREAK

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Hi SEers! Denise here to talk about writing and the holidays. How much writing do you get done during the holidays? I do very little, although I am …

WRITING AND THE HOLIDAY BREAK
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That Forgotten Childhood Promise

Posted on December 13, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Dory

Long ago, I got into a manga called ‘Love Hina’.  This is what one would call a ‘harem story’ where the male protagonist is eventually desired by all of the female ones.  That has nothing to do with this post.  Sort of.  So, why did I bring it up?

The male lead is driven to get into a prestigious university because he made a childhood promise with a girl that they would reunite there.  He’s not very bright, so he keeps failing the entrance exam.  Yet, he refuses to give up.  The issue is that he does not remember what the girl looks like.  Oops.

I began thinking about ‘Love Hina’ when I watched ‘Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple’ and a childhood promise turned up again.  Kenichi had forgotten about the girl and the promise entirely.  He still had a keepsake from it.  This plot point didn’t show up until way into the second season when the main villain appeared.  Childhood friend turned enemy because of the mysterious promise.  For some reason, I think there were two promises or the bad guy misremembered stuff.  Either way, I was again facing a story where the main character forgets a childhood promise.

What is with this plot hook?

I can’t really figure out why this happens so much, especially in anime and manga.  I took a look and this tends to fall under ‘forgotten first meeting’ tropes.  This is a revelation later in a series where you find that characters have already met.  It’s usually rather strange because you’re led to believe they have never interacted prior to the story.  Explanations for this range from mindwiping, memories fading over time, a long separation, not recognizing each other, or simply ignoring the timeline issue.  This is why many readers can perceive this as a plot hole and why authors might add a childhood promise to the scenario.  At least the promise connects it to the plot.

There was always an issue that I had with this forgotten promise trope.  Using ‘Love Hina’ as an example, I think it was that you could only have the issue go on for so long.  The male lead had this promise quest from the beginning, which got old at one point.  Once you realized the truth, it got fairly frustrating that he wasn’t figuring it out.  He did figure it out before the end of the 14 volumes, but then you had the extra issue of the main mystery being solved.  So, things dragged a bit regardless of the comedy, character development, and action.  As soon as the promise was revealed and kept, a story kind of putters along in search of a conclusion.

Maybe I’m too harsh and critical of this plot twist.  I did used to enjoy it, but I guess it doesn’t work now that I’m older.  Still, it definitely has some interest for short-term plot points.  That’s only if the audience already knows the answer.  It can certainly work better for a long series if there aren’t any blatant clues as to who the childhood friend was or the promise isn’t known.  You have a mystery on your hand, which older readers might be able to connect with.  We all have memories that are faded and some of them have ghostly images of forgotten friends.  So, that’s something you can go along with if you want to write this story and get a lot of mileage out of it.

What do you think of stories with forgotten childhood promises?

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