@Novel_Worm asked this great question to one of my MC’s Shree (in ask Shree) and I thought it would be fun to ask you guys, too!
As an example, the happiest moment for Shree (from “Dead By Sunrise”) was getting to meet her father in jail after not seeing him in years although they corresponded secretly through letters. The saddest moment for Shree was finding out he was on death row that same day.
But the happiest and saddest moments don’t have to be things that happened back to back.
Another example, the happiest moment for Cypur (Sorcerer from “Lone Gold, Daring Purple”) was finding out his crush might like him back. The saddest moment was when he found out the truth of his birth (and I’m not saying what ).
I’ll pick my current WIP. Its going to be published eventually so ill blur spoilers just in case.
Mya’s happiest moment was when she found out she had superhuman abilites. Her saddest ment was when she watched Eli, her boyfriend, get murdered right in front of her.
speaking strictly on-page, since i can’t be arsed to invent backstory.
True’s happiest moment is dipping in a cool river on a hot day and sharing their last candy with Puppet. It’s small but it’s the only truly peaceful scene in the whole book and it finalizes the enemies-to-friends transition.
Or it will if i don’t fudge the pacing
Their saddest moment is realizing Puppet didn’t make it out after they’d thought it had.
So Sara is actually pretty predictable here lol
Her happiest moment was when she found herself accepted as a gang leader after all of her dark past because it finally gave her something to work for again and a reason to live - it somehow helped her heal from her trauma (only partially, though, because the story triggers her all over again). And it also made her feel closer to her found family - the gang.
Her saddest moment is not actually a moment, but it’s a culmulation of all of the things that caused her trauma. This spoils something that comes up in like chapter 9-10 of the book (TW: trafficking and r#pe) (her husband trying to give her away to absolve his debt - essentially trafficking her, then her thinking she killed both the debtor and her husband, and then getting gang r*ped right after(although this is never explicitly mentioned, just implied))
After all of this, the gang that she was in as a prisoner or whatever is raided and destroyed by the Mahasabha, and they rescue her and help her heal. Her saddest days aren’t actually the events, because she’s in such an adrenaline driven haze that her body and mind simply shut down and stick to survival mode. It’s only when she starts realizing she’s safe and comprehends all that has happened to her that she starts withdrawing and having trouble mentally.
For Malika, her happiest moment and saddest moment are also tied together - the saddest moment leads to the happiest. MAJOR SPOILERS for the story
Summary
Basically, to save Sara’s gang from the death penalty, Malika has to let her birth family die because the people who have a vested interest in the death of the Mahasabha (it shifts the blame for a crime this group committed) are holding her birth family hostage to ensure that she doesn’t change her ruling of death at the last moment. The morning of the death, she finds out her best friend was also working with said people for reasons (which I won’t reveal because * spoilers *). She decides to make the “right” decision - the death of her family in exchange for the life of Sara’s family.
This causes Sara, who did not know about the hostage situation and hence had shunned Malika for not saving the Mahasabha, to come back to Malika, and they kiss, and Sara finally agrees to a relationship. Malika tells about the hostage thing much later, so as not to keep any secrets between them, but she forever tresures the moment she redeemed herself in Sara’s - and frankly, her own as well - eyes by being more than the spineless ruler the country thought she was and even expected her to be.
Skye
Her happiest moment was after she saved the ghost city of After and resurrected its sun, when she and her girlfriend Vale decided to leave the city together on Vale’s motorcycle. In the light of the newborn sun, just before they take off to explore the rest of the afterlife together, Skye takes one last look at After and watches as the 100-story wall that kept its inhabitants imprisoned is destroyed.
The saddest moment was when she discovered that her still living boyfriend—the person she’d been pining for and searching for any way to return to throughout the entire story—was the person who murdered her.
Vale
The happiest moment was when she and Skye took down After’s tyrant king together. Second happiest moment was meeting Skye for the first time when Vale rescued her from monsters shortly after Skye’s arrival into the afterlife. Third happiest moment was finding Webb for the first time. She didn’t know those moments were happy then, but she treasures those memories now.
Her saddest moment (apart from dying in an apartment fire), was when she catches her ghost girlfriend, Christa, sneaking back to the realm of the living to be with the person she had apparently been cheating on Vale with in life. Despite this revelation, Vale still tries to pull Christa back to the realm of the dead as ghosts cannot survive on Earth. But she is too late and Christa vaporizes.
Webb
He doesn’t have a lot of happy moments, honestly. His happiest moment was when his love interest taught him how to ride a horse as they rode off into the unexplored wilderness of the realm of the dead together.
His saddest moment was being forced to watch helplessly as the the villian brutally murders his father figure right in front of him. Then he has to kill the villain after learning that the villain’s true identity was someone who had been very important to him in life.
Second saddest moment was from back when he was alive, when he sought out and met his bio father for the first time when he was about 18. Turns out his dad is kind of a terrible person and that was the start of a series of events that eventually resulted in Webb’s death.
Rachael in Begging is for Losers has her world upended. The best and worst thing to happen to her is family. Nathaniel’s lowest point is generally any point here he nearly loses Rachael, and his highs are probably his kids.
in the Assassin’s Journals, Gan-Ma’s high and low doesn’t come until the 5th book. De-Meraine’s 1st low is backstory: being rejected by his former partner. The second is finding out how evil his dad actually is, while his high comes after his father is dead and all the business surrounding him is laid to rest.
The main characters in my current work, Goddess v2.0, set in 2016.
Dov Shaul (28):
Happiest moment - When he passed the Australian Commando’s sniper selection course, straight after completing the initial Commando selection course.
Saddest moment - When a young kibbutz girl, Aviva (14), was killed shielding Dov from a Gaza rocket. This was after Dov left the Army, and during his first visit / holiday to Israel.
Krista Gallant (14):
Happiest moment - Krista’s first solo violin performance. Krista played for her older brother, Gur, on the day Gur graduated into the Israeli Paratroopers. Only Gur was permitted to attend Krista’s performance, a special gift for him.
Saddest moment - The day Krista learnt Gur had been killed in battle during the 2014 Gaza war. Gur’s patrol was ambushed and wiped out while searching for cross-border tunnels. Gur’s loss shattered Krista and changed her personality, and relationships with her parents / friends.
Freyja Mendel (14):
Happiest moment (yet to be written): On the eve of Freyja’s second Friday / Shabbat with her new friends (Dov and Krista) the trio are taken out to a symphony orchestra concert…Krista’s reward for her friends’ achievements and loyalty…While waiting at the front door for Krista, Dov presents a gift to Freyja. A pure sliver necklace with Viking-pattern links, made by Dov several months ago. When the trio return home from the concert, Krista gives Freyja her Amati violin so she can learn to play for Dov…Krista also ‘adopts’ Dov and Freyja into her family / inner circle…
Saddest moments (planned): Whenever Freyja finds her friends sad, stressed (PTSD nightmares), in danger or badly wounded and Freyja doesn’t know how to help them. When Freyja believes she failed or disappointed Dov, and / or no longer his companion, are also moments of intense sadness. But Dov will always be quick calm and reassure Freyja. I have written a draft chapter where Freyja learns she is a hybrid clone, the only one of her kind. Dov claims the title ‘clone’ is an insult, and calls Freyja a unique gift. Freyja prefers Dov’s perspective. “We are each others gifts ~ Freyja.”
(Deleted my OG post because it was a little messy and I didn’t want to edit it a hundred times). This is a really great question, thanks for sharing.
Starting with my most tragic character: Lathan
Happiest Moment: He was accepted as an apprentice to Hora of the Winds, who is one of the most powerful and reclusive witches of his generation. She also possesses the same rare magic as he, which means he’ll finally be able to understand how to control it.
Saddest Moment: Shortly after the happiest moment of his life, Lathan was betrayed by his father, who bestowed a sleeping curse on him and buried him along the Gates of Loris–one of the gateways spirits enter after they have died. His curse lasts for seventy-five years before it’s at last broken. By then, Hora of the Winds is dead, along with everyone he knew.
For a softer character and story: Erin
For context, she can see and speak with the dead.
Happiest Moment: After the terrible events on the day of her eighth birthday, Erin and her mother got into an argument in the parking lot of a Baskin Robins, which ended with Erin ran off into the woods where she got lost. Why lost, she discovered an old bridge and crossed it–entering into the spirit world. Why there, she discovered an old spirit sweet shop where she spent the afternoon among spirits, confiding to them her woes, and snacking on cookies and cakes. Eventually, Erin got tired, but still did not want to return home. So, the owner of the teashop made a small bed for her up in the attic. When she awoke the next morning, she was once again in the mortal realm, asleep in her bed.
Saddest Moment: She’s physically assaulted and cut across the face. Afterwards, she loses control of her abilities and really ends up hurting someone.
So… this is major spoilers for my WIP. You’ve been warned.
The happiest moment of Nicolas’s life (my main character) is meeting his girlfriend.
The saddest moment of his life is when his girlfriend is murdered in front of him. It is a tie with watching his family get murdered, too—which happened before he ever met his girlfriend—but yeah, he’d gone into a downward spiral because when he met her (which happened while he was still a train wreck), she became his anchor to keep him steady, and now that she’s gone, he feels like he can never be steady again.
It was really hard to write that chapter just because I feel bad for the guy. Lost everything, and will continue to lose everything. Until he gains it back later in the series lol.
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