in my story the mc and antagonist have grown up hating each other. the antagonist (Orly) hates the protagonist (Abigail) because Orly is in love with Abigail despite the two of them being sworn enemies. Abigail is a bit of a “Chosen One” type hero but Orly is the heir of a very old and influential family who act as the “villains” within the universe of the story (it’s a witch/wizard type fantasy novel). I want to go from the two of them being enemies to lovers subtly and not have it be obvious at first. I feel like one of the reasons it isn’t obvious at first (aside from the fact that they’re supposed to hate each other), is because they’re both female. anyone have any tips? Much appreciated !
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Maybe make them have to help each other and realising that the other person isn’t as bad as they thought? Then they could have a conversation and get to know each other better 
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that’s a great idea, thank you! I’m planning on giving them a common enemy so that they’ll have to work together and eventually realize that they really aren’t too different
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Sounds good 
Just make sure that it won’t be too fast paced
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will do :)) is there a place in the forums for sharing writing? or can we only give advice?
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Why did they grow up hating each other?
We have a share category and a #share:promote-your-story category, so depending on if you’re promoting or just sharing it you can put it into one of those
We also have the #request-services:writing-feedback category if you want to get feedback on your writing
So the antagonist’s family, the Bathorys, made up the old monarchy that was in charge of ruling over the world of Mages, until they were overthrown and replaced with a more oligarchical type of council that’s in charge of keeping order. Since they were overthrown, they’ve been pretty bitter and trying to put themselves back into a position of power. After hundreds of years, the MC is born and the Council is training her to lead an army of Mages against the old monarchy to get rid of them for good. So Orly (who is a Bathory), is raised to hate the Council as well as Abigail, because she’s basically been prophesied to destroy Orly’s family. So naturally there’s a little bad blood
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I guess the thing you really need to think about is:
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What made them hate each other in the first place? Make sure it’s something they can work past or talk through, whether that be family issues or a misunderstanding or personality traits that they grow out of throughout the story.
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What makes them love each other in the end? I think for all of the best romances, you need to have some kinda idea of what could bridge that gap and make them fall in love with each other. What do they have in common? In what ways do they complement each other? What do they talk about when they’re together?
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How do they get the chance to show each other their better sides? Is it because they get forced together in some kind of situation? Is it that one of them is trying to get something from the other and pretends to be nice? What forces them to see each other differently?
Then you need to see if the reasons they love each other are enough to go against the reasons they hate each other. Make sure this develops slowly over time! And if they really hate each other, it is also a good idea to make sure that they deny that they like each other for a long time. It is likely that they’d lie to themselves or not understand their feelings at first! The more build-up you give (within reason), the more realistic a hate-to-love relationship will seem. They need time to go from hate to tolerate to like to love, after all!
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I’ll have to check it out! Thank you! :))
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Have they ever met? Do they know what the other looks like?
thank you for all the great advice! I never really thought about how they compliment each other, I’ll have to figure that one out!
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They actually go to a school for Mages. I know the idea of a “magical school” is a little overdone, but I’m trying to put a personal spin on it. And they actually end up having to board together when they begin their first year there, so they’ve had about six years of history so far. The story begins during their last year at the school. Orly likes Abigail first, and she spends most of their school years messing with Abigail to try and cover it up. Abigail is pretty convinced that Orly is constantly plotting her downfall when really she’s probably just daydreaming about her. But Orly doesn’t think anything could ever come of it, because of their different backgrounds.
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I mean if you’re creating a magical universe people have to learn magic somehow, so it makes sense, I don’t think the broad idea of a school for magic should be considered over done it’s just as done as any other setting.
If they are enemies purely because they are on opposing political sides than whatever they have didn’t start out personal - both have it in their heads the other is bad, they were taught to be enemies so they act like enemies. Give them the same values, give them qualities the other admires, give them a competitive dynamic that tricks the audience into thinking one is the mean girl and this is yet another cliche high school story then start dropping little hints to the true nature of their feelings. What are the implications for gay characters in your universe? Is that a normal thing, even for a monarch?
I would say it’s a bit abnormal, but only because continuing bloodlines is very important to Mages. It’s considered a bit taboo to marry non-magic people, and so most of the time Mages find their spouse while in school. So the idea of Mages having same-sex partners is a bit alarming to other Mages, because that couple will not be able to have biological children. It’s less accepted among strong, well-known families because it’s so important that their name be passed down, but weaker/less prominent families don’t mind as much. As for Orly, it’s extremely off-limits to her because she is an only child. She has a few cousins who could potentially continue the family name, but she and her mother are especially powerful Mages and everyone sees it as Orly’s duty to pass this on. Hence her suppression of her feelings for Abigail.
From you earlier description it seems like they were raised with the same background just on opposite sides, they have the same end goal which is leadership, they have immense expectations put on them from a young age, they would be the only people that could understand and relate to each other from that perspective.
Is this a world where partnerships based on love are normal? Like are both Orla and Abigail expecting and going through life with the goal of marrying a man to secure power and lineage, and not really focused on love or romance?
partnerships based on love are less common in well-distinguished families. With the Bathorys, it’s more important to them that Orly marries a powerful Mage with a strong bloodline rather than someone she loves. Plenty of Mages marry for love, even if their partner has weaker magic than they do, but usually those who do marry for love are less powerful or not as concerned with keeping their blood “clean”. I wanted to try and address prejudice and inequality within the novel and different aspects and effects of it within a society, and the “weaker” Mages represent the oppressed people group in question. But yes, pretty much everyone expects both Abigail and Orly to secure well-established and powerful bachelors to father their would-be children, which was another reason (I thought) that their romance was unlikely or unexpected. They’re both just as powerful as each other, and Abigail even comes from a very good family, but the fact that they’re both women makes it harder for them.
Making connections to things they have in common and also to them noticing the things they have in common would be effective. Women often have a harder time figuring out we are same sex attracted, het normativity and women tending to be less sexually attracted to physicality unlike gay men who tend to figure these things out at a much younger age, dropping hints based on the reality of this phenomena like Abigail or Orla not feeling the same in relationships with men as other women around them do could also be effective.
I think subtly is the key to surprise, you want to plant things that aren’t recognizable until they culminate. Orla and Abigale were raised to be each other’s competition so they are constantly trying to one up each other in school and social situations, maybe they both want the same boy, maybe they both want to be head of the class (or both hit it from every angle you can reenforce that they are going for the same crown), but there’s this subtle wanting to see what the other is going to do next, an admiration developing between rivals. They were both taught to study their enemies, to think like the enemy thinks, to know their rival in and out and they don’t when it happened but they’ve started to enjoy looking, learning about each other, understanding each other in a way no one else could because they are very much two sides of the same coin. Build that vibe up.
I don’t think a common goal is the right way to go like having to work together, having the opposite goal is what makes things interesting, it adds tension, knowing one is going to have to defeat the other keeps everyone on their toes. A common goal should be formed after the shift from enemies to lovers happens and they have to fight to be together.
This is going to be an angsty ass story, tag me when it’s published, I’m very interested in seeing what you do with it.
what do you mean by opposite goals?
Sorry, I should have said conflicting goals, they have the same goal in that they both want to be the person in power, the conflict is that they are reaching for the same thing.