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Another thing that matters to relationship development is the characters’ ghosts. By ghosts, I mean the ghosts of their past. The mistakes they’ve made, abuse they’ve suffered, doubts that gnaw at them. On the one hand, these can create tension in a relationship as characters try to hide their ghosts. There may also be the tension of them wanting, but not daring, to reveal their ghosts. This makes it really painful when two friends can’t really fully connect with one another and it can make it extremely joyous when they do learn to be vulnerable.

@daeus-lamb THIS. You summed up my entire post in this one paragraph. I think there’s also something to be said about the baggage of past relationships that are never revealed or shown, but are still there. It’s backstory that only we authors know, but it shapes the characters, and shapes their relationships in the here and now as well.