#anyway I'm now wondering about other languages and magpie rhymes because like

[hedge-rambles]

Interesting, I'm familiar with the rhyme and variations thereof, but it's always been magpies that I know it about. Never heard it for crows. I'm British, grew up in the home counties but grandparents were from Yorkshire, Liverpool and the Scottish borders so the cultural stuff I grew up with covers a lot of Britain. I'm interested to know if anyone learnt it (or variations in other languages) to do with crows or magpies or other birds, and where they might be from.

The version I grew up with was usually

One for sorrow

Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret never to be told.

There might have been more lines, the wish and the kiss sound familiar, and I'm sure I remember a pair of a letter/something better too. Anyway, it was always magpies, and if you see one you're meant to greet or salute it and say "hello Mr Magpie, how's your wife and children?" to ward off the bad luck.

subtle ways to include foreshadowing

one character knowing something offhandedly that they shouldn't, isn't addressed until later

the crow rhyme

colours!! esp if like, blue is evil in your world and the mc's best friend is always noted to wear blue...betrayal?

write with the ending in mind

use patterns from tragic past events to warn of the future

keep the characters distracted! run it in the background until the grand reveal

WEATHER.

do some research into Chekhov's gun

mention something that the mc dismisses over and over

KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU PUT. don't leave things hanging.

unreliable characters giving information that turn out to be true

flowers and names with meanings

anything with meanings actually

metaphors. if one character describes another as "a real demon" and the other turns out to be the bad guy, you're kind of like...ohhh yeahhh

anyways add anything else in the tags