#writing my male lead’s happily ever after | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shoujo-wizard · 18 days

Text

@lexirosewrites srry if this is too late for u to queue up i was writing it out to a place where i wanted/needed to stop it. this was intended as an ask but then i got too into it & filled it with detail after detail so the majority of it is below the read more

Thinking thoughts abt Steve's canon music taste bc I saw/reblogged a post abt how Steve is shown to listen to alternative rock & punk rather than pop & disco like we all characterize him.

This started as a steddie thing & has morphed into an a/b/o O!Max centric blurb with an elumax agenda, everything is below the cut

world building: in all of my omegaverse AU omegas can give mating bites, and betas also have mating glands they’re just noticeably smaller. also, omegas are able to be reliably identified at birth because they have a noticeably sweeter scent than other babies, once puberty starts omegas no matter their primary gender will get periods, female omegas get a period every month while male omegas get a period every other month. it is my personal headcanon tht betas evolved to assist in various biological needs tht the other designations might need i.e. if a beta is caring for an omega during their heat they’ll start giving off vaguely alpha pheromones/scents & male betas will be able to give their omega partner a smaller knot OR if a an alpha is in rut their beta partner gives off an omegas pheromones/scent while they also begin to produce a moderate amount of slick OR if they are in a throuple with an alpha & an omega they’ll maintain their natural scent during either partners cycle & fulfill the social role of caring for needs like feeding their partners, maintaining the structure of the nest, helping their partners remember to take any medication they take daily

So first picture for me: punk band frontman O!Steve, he & the other omegas in the band have those spiked collars tht look actually dangerous tht they wear as a rebellion against the expectation tht omegas should wear collars in public, he takes birth control but personally doesn't take heat blockers bc he sees it as another way society seeks to police omega autonomy, he semi-regularly throws his shirt off into the crowd during shows (omega nipples r treated like women's nipples in this AU, very scandalous), Steve has an intentionally messy mullet he cut himself & Robin helped dye dark pink, he's imitated jacking off on stage & used fake blood once or twice to make it look like he was jerking it while on his period & ofc he’s done this stunt while on his period a few times too, & he has the nail bat tht he uses to smash already broken equipment tht they fish out of various recycling centers. He's got multiple piercings & several tattoos, he'd get a neck tattoo but the most traditional thing abt him is he wants to mate someone he loves, have pups & a neck tattoo messes up anyone's mating gland.

the majority of his band r also omegas, he's the vocals mostly but he's known to throw on a guitar & step back so the bass player (robin) can step forward for songs they created/rehearsed just for her to perform, he's also done a number of wicked guitar solos, they figure out how to record & burn CDs on their own bc they're thumbing their noses at the industry tht wants to box omegas into bubblegum pop also bc they don't think they'll ever get a record deal.

The band is named Cannibal Impulse, playing around various venues in Chicago. Steve is vocals/2nd guitar, O!Robin is bass, A!Nancy is lead guitar, O!Jonathan is drums, and B!Argyle is part of a throuple with Nancy & Jonathan so he happily acts as a groupie/roadie/pizza bringer. They have a fairly loyal following of local punk enjoyers, especially omegas. For shows Steve & his band mostly wear whatever punk aesthetic they like, steve & robin both tend towards glam punk, Nancy favors a ragged style inspired by 1920s mens fashion, Jonathan likes subdued crust punk, Argyle wears stoner fashion but for their shows he puts on the battle vest Jonathan made him over his typical fashion choices.

Here’s the actual ficlet/set up/idea, idk what the time period is for this exactly, probably a vague late 90s because I want ppl to have cellphones, specifically flip phones. Also warning for implied underage drug (weed) use.

A!Eddie is the frontman to world famous Corroded Coffin & the co-parent to O!Max (he's 33 & was 18 when she was born) she's the result of a rut shared w sugary sweet head banging mosh pit queen B!Chrissy, Max is the best part of his world even if she's entered the stage of teen hood where she's angry at the world & sometimes her parents. He's had to move around once or twice bc his career demanded it, but now they have all settled permanently in Chicago bc the band have put together a music label all their own, Rotten & Revived Records.

Chrissy used to live permanently in San Francisco, working as a paralegal, but when she got an amazing job opportunity in Chicago the family had a very long talk tht included the rest of the band & everyone ended up deciding tht basing everything in Chicago seemed like the right move. The band enjoyed every concert they'd performed in the city, Max had been once or twice so she agreed it wasn't the worst place in the world plus she wanted to b near both of her parents, & Chrissy would live in a two bedroom apartment that’s a bus ride away from the home Eddie bought for himself & Max.

O!Max (full name: Max Riot Cunningson) is 15 almost 16 & she's had a number of heats & gets her period on a schedule tht is still adjusting as her body changes & ofc her mom Chrissy helped her get birth control.

Eddie has to go on tour as the summer kicks off after everyone barely settles into their new homes in Chicago, Max decides to spend the summer in Chicago after going to a few shows of the tour, staying with Chrissy most nights but also in the house Eddie owns as a means to feel independent from time to time. She wanders around most of the summer, seeing museums, eating whatever she wants when Chrissy isn’t looking, and going into a bookstore or music shop every so often. She finds herself in a music store tht had an impressive collection of vinyls & CDs, then she sees the poster for a small concert for some local band happening in the basement of the store, it says 18+ but when she asks the omega cashier (Jonathan) he explains tht no one checks ID as long as you bring the cover charge of $5 & don’t very obviously look like a kid. There’s no alcohol allowed anyway which is why it’s advertised as 18+. Max practically skips out of the store, a new CD and the address/date of the concert on a note paper in her tote bag. The concert is on a night Chrissy agreed she could be at Eddie’s alone. She feels free as a bird.

Night of the concert she eats mac and cheese she made herself for dinner, and begins picking out what to wear. Max is an omega so she’s expected to wear a collar in public which she hates but there’s any number of creeps in the world. She decides on a black collar she got for her birthday the year before. Luckily when your dad is a world famous metal musician you have an endless choice of black as well as any rainbow of color one could want. She chooses to wear a dark purple t-shirt, her custom leather jacket Eddie paid for, her barely decorated faded red battle vest, black jeans ripped at the knees. Max lines her eyes with a color called kohl, and shoves her feet into the work boots her Grandpa Wayne had helped her pick out. Then she’s off through the nighttime to the basement of the music shop.

The basement is lit fairly well, there r seats all along the walls for ppl to take as they need, there’s a few coolers of water bottles guarded by a weasel esque man dressed like a lazy novelist in a zombie apocalypse, a small table of a meager amount of merch, a raised stage tht is set up for the band, the people around her seem to all know each other, a few people glance her way but no one acts as if she shouldn’t be there.

there’s a circle of ppl tht are very openly smoking weed near/behind the merch table, she recognizes the cashier from the other day in the smoking circle so she approaches because he’s the one person she recognizes in a new environment. Jonathan is welcoming & introduces her to the entire circle of people: Nancy his girlfriend, their merch monitor Argyle his boyfriend, their assistant merch helper B!Eleven (who’s the only one not smoking), he explains tht Eleven’s dad & his step-dad is Hopper the burly man at the door, tht the man at the coolers is the shop/building owner Murray, and his friends Robin and Steve are tangled up in a way tht makes it hard to tell who was sitting on whose lap. She introduces herself as Max Riot & everyone cheers her for her badass name. Eleven eagerly gives her a fistbump telling her tht her name & her look is bitchin’. Max compliments everyone because they’re dressed in a way she never knew punks would dress. Each person is in a slightly different aesthetic but the eclectic look of the group works. Steve explains they all enjoy different flavors of punk fashion.

When she notices the spiked collars practically everyone in the room is wearing she can’t stop from commenting abt wanting one for herself. Robin crows tht she has to go to a specific thrifted clothing store tht has a display from a leatherworker who loves making the kind of collars everyone is wearing. When Max looks uncertain Eleven offers to meet up & go with her because she needs some new shirts to cut up, tht her boyfriend Lucas might also join them because he needs a new jacket to wear under his battle vest. When Max asks if Lucas is coming to the show Eleven says he’ll likely get there shortly after the show starts because he has to finish dinner with his family & bribe his little sister with the newest fear street book before he can pretend he’s going to her house to sleep over & play video games for the next 2 days. Eleven & Max realize they’re going to the same high school & Eleven eagerly invites her to eat lunch with her, Lucas, & their friends.

Max is so absorbed in her borderline flirty conversation with El tht she’s surprised to hear the noise of drums crashing out a beat on the stage, turning around as she gawks to find the people she’d been chatting with are the band performing. Then she's lost to the music, throwing herself around the edges of the pit, jumping to the overwhelming energy of the music, yelling out the anger she's felt since fully presenting, sweating away her eyeliner, stumbling to get water, & then ending up at the front as the band crashes through their finale with Steve ripping off his shirt to throw into the crowd showing off his tattoos & pierced nipples before pulling out a nail ridden baseball bat tht he uses to smash apart an old stereo she hadn't noticed. It's electric, it's exhilarating, it's pumping adrenaline straight to her heart. The crowd calms as best a punk crowd can as they begin filing out of the basement after an encore tht features Robin at the mic singing an anti-war song from the 70s. The little concert/show was nearly two hours after all & it’s getting so late it’s almost early morning.

The band steps down from the stage as the crowd dwindles, Jonathan asks Max if she's able to join them for some food at a nearby diner & she agrees right away. She's told to just wait by the merch table with El & Lucas as they put away their instruments. Indeed a black boy is sitting behind the merch table with El in his lap. El eagerly greets her, getting up & hugging her, then happily introduces her boyfriend A!Lucas. A CD of the latest from Cannibal Impulse is pressed into her hands free of charge by Lucas while El sticks a pin badge of the band's logo onto her vest. Thus begins Max's whirlwind final month of summer vacation learning abt punk, filling her music collection w previous Cannibal Impulse CDs & other punk bands she ends up liking (both local & famous) through everyone's efforts to help her learn, investing in a new wardrobe, decorating her battle vest, & attending every show Cannibal Impulse plays tht isn't in a bar (which turns out to b the majority of them)

Chrissy is more than supportive, laughing as she thinks abt Eddie “metal is king” Munson’s reaction.

Imagine Eddie's surprise (despair) to come home from a tour shortly before school starts to his daughter blasting punk music, dressing like a punk with notably new piercings he knows Chrissy had to sign off on, loudly going out on weekends to punk shows, & coming home at all hours smelling of weed & sometimes high. He can't complain exactly, he was smoking weed at an earlier age than her, staying out at all hours, blasting metal, taking impromptu trips w his band out to the city to watch some metal concert or other. At least she calls him to let him know she got to the venue safely & to give an estimate of when she'll b home. At least she doesn't seem to have any tattoos yet.

Eventually Eddie wants to go with Max to one of these shows. Mostly because he wants to understand his daughter as she’s growing up without them growing apart, and because the band's newly established label has hit a bit of a wall when recruiting new talent. They have a number of metal artists on their label, some rock, and even a couple of bubblegum pop artists. But they feel like their catalog isn’t as well rounded as it could be. So Eddie asks to go with her, and she tells him she has to think abt it & warn her friends because none of them know her dad is world famous Eddie Munson, The Freak King of Corroded Coffin. This makes Eddie sad tht his daughter is basically hiding him from her new friends & mentors but Chrissy knocks him upside the head telling him tht she’s had less than genuine friendships before now due to her dad being a world famous musician.

When Max brings it up after a show that weekend they’re all sitting in their favorite diner digging into greasy delicious food they don’t believe her at first, but then El tells them she isn’t lying despite only have met Chrissy (El has an uncanny knack for knowing when someone is lying) so it turns to disbelief tht Metal King Munson wants to go to a punk show of his own free will. The tension between metalheads & punks is well documented after all. But all in all they agree because Max is one of them, Steve has all but adopted her, Lucas & El have tentatively begun to court her, Jonathan has been teaching her drums, Robin has donated some of her more glam articles of clothing to the cause tht is Max’s continued education in the punk scene, Nancy has helped her (as well as El & Lucas) with their homework, & Argyle makes sure that when she does occasionally join them in smoking weed she’s safe & not getting overwhelmed. So they agree tht Eddie should feel more than free to come to their upcoming show in the basement of Murray’s shop/building & they reassure Max they’re not looking for any kind of record deal.

The night of the show comes quickly & Max sheepishly brings Eddie along. Hopper’s eyes bug out of his head when he notices Eddie behind Max after greeting Max with the handshake he shares with El & Lucas. The basement becomes controlled pandemonium when people process/notice tht Eddie Munson is there in the flesh. No one approaches him for autographs & when they see he’s there with Max they leave him alone in favor of greeting Max because everyone’s gotten to know her by now especially since Cannibal Impulse took her under their wing. Eddie follows Max, feeling out of place for the first time in a long time, to the merch table where all of her closest scene friends are gathered. They’re courteous to Eddie since he’s Max’s dad, and Steve gives him a wave from where he’s a tangle of platonic limbs with Robin. Eddie takes a moment to come back to himself after staring at Steve who’s the most striking omega he’s ever seen. He ends up striking up a conversation with Lucas & El when they reveal they’re the pair that’s been courting Max since school started. Then before he knows it a guitar is wailing from the stage & he gives his attention to the show. Cannibal Impulse put on an electric show. Robin starts them out with another anti-war song this time from the 60s tht they repurposed for the punk genre. Then Steve steps up to the mic & it’s like the crowd comes to life even further. A mosh pit explodes in the room, he’s briefly concerned when Max & Lucas jump right into the center of the pit, but soon he’s absorbed with the performance the band is putting on. When the finale comes Steve’s already ripped his shirt off & as Nancy & Jonathan play a screaming duet with their instruments Steve is smashing apart a piece of equipment tht they got from their favorite recycling center with his nail bat.

#shoujo says #stranger things #omegaverse #steddie #elumax

88 notes · View notes

suzannahnatters · 2 years

Text

Subplot Romance

Over the years I've created some twitter threads on writing and history and I've decided it's a good time to start compiling and sharing them on this Tumblr. I'm going to tag them "writing".

Here's what I've learned about writing subplot romance. (People who write genre romance probably already know this stuff. It's those of us who are mainly leavening romantic subplots into fantasy novels that need this info).

1. Romance = fundamentally character-driven. All internal conflict & internal growth. (Can these two trust each other? Will their character flaws drive them apart?) The more study you put into creating characters and building character arcs, the better your romantic writing.

A romance arc is not the SAME as a character arc, but it 100% NEEDS solid character work undergirding it.

2. Romance needs two ingredients: a compelling reason for the characters to be TOGETHER, & a compelling reason for them to be APART. This forms the conflict in the romance so do not skimp on either.

Eg, a common mistake in male-penned stories: female lead has no compelling reason to want male lead. "He's a good-looking warrior dedicated to winning her throne!" Yeah nah, she's literally surrounded by good-looking warriors dedicated to winning her throne, why's he different?

3. Romance needs chemistry = a believable spark of attraction. Something that blew my mind when I realised it: romantic chemistry =/= sexual chemistry. Sexual chemistry (purely physical attraction) is simply PART of romantic chemistry.

Romantic chemistry is a good deal broader. (Read/watch some good romances to see how chemistry is built by different storytellers. One fave of mine is the Romola Garai EMMA. Peerless friends-to-lovers chemistry. Watch the actors' body language; the way they gravitate to each other; the way their faces light up)

Chemistry tip A: if the driver behind sexual chemistry is lust, the driver behind romantic chemistry is trust. Protag needs/wants someone to trust. It's the way you play with trust/distrust that will create romantic tension.

eg: love interest holds protag's hand. With sexual chemistry, protag simply feels a jolt at the contact. With romantic chemistry, protag feels comforted and trustful - then betrayed when it turns out LI is tracking her pulse to see if she's lying to him (see: MISS SHARP 😇)

Chemistry tip B: if protag is falling for someone, that person should occupy their mind. LI should be mentioned/thought of each scene, even when absent. When present: LI consistently provokes unaccustomed emotion - either positive or negative, depending.

Chemistry tip C: make the characters their best/most lovable/most iconic selves when with each other. Quirkiness, smarts, hilarity. Make these the most fun character scenes in the book & the audience will ship them. Passionately.

4. Build romantic chemistry/attraction through escalating moments of trust and tension. If aiming for happily-ever-after(HEA)/for-now(HFN), then the overall arc is towards greater trust, but you need those moments of tension to give the big payoff scenes appropriate catharsis.

OTOH, if you're writing a tragic/backstabby romance, you need the trust/comfort moments in order to sell the big tragedy/betrayal.

5. Trust, comfort, & happiness are POWERFUL. This is what genre romance thrives upon. Even in dark/spiky stories, the most surprising thing in the story can be the moment when the LI DOESN'T betray the protag. That too can be wildly cathartic. Use it.

6. Just as character-driven skills help you with romance, so if you master romantic writing, you'll be better able to write ALL types of relationship - platonic, friendly, hostile.

OK that's all so far. Two book recs: ROMANCING THE BEAT by Gwen Hayes & THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY by Gail Carriger teach you the rules/expectations of genre romance so you'll know what the rules are for a happy romance subplot & how to break them for a tragic version.

#Writing #writing romance #Miss Sharp's Monsters #Romancing the beat #Gwen Hayes #The heroine's journey #Gail Carriger #romance tropes #writing tip

1K notes · View notes

femmescripter · 12 days

Text

Poll Results & Future Maxley Story Summaries

You, the masses, have spoken! And by a landslide vote...

Option five won! So, you all want to see what my take on a Maxley-centered Extremely Goofy Movie sequel would be? You want to see one of my AU ideas? Well then; here you are! The summaries of the future Maxley stories I'll write - based on winning result.

___

Original Movie Maxley Sequel ___

Title: Backstage Romance

Summary: The Welig University theater club is doing a production of The Scarlet Pimpernel for a charity show. Bradley, who's been trying to find a new niche after being snubbed by every sports team since the X-Games incident, decides to audition. While he does have some competition with an enigmatic, buffy bearded vulture named Emmerich Hertz the Saluki manages to land the role of Sir Percy Blakeney aka the Scarlet Pimpernel. Unfortunately, the leading lady meant to play Marguerite St. Just/Lady Blakeney has fallen sick. The director is in a panic until they're informed that the runner-up is available to take on the role. To Bradley's surprise that runner-up turns out to be none other than Max Goof, who auditioned for the female lead. Bradley of course teases him and asks why Max would do such a thing. And the Labradoodle just grins and tells him that he'll reveal the reason why on the week of their last rehearsal. Curiosity piqued Bradley decides to actually get serious about the play in order to figure out why Max would take on such a role. As they rehearse more and more Bradley starts to think that his initial animosity towards Max may have a more amorous motivation to it but is too prideful to admit it. This may be to his detriment, though, as Emmerich expresses interest in Max and seems keen on sweeping him off his feet. On top of that strange accidents begin to plague the production. But the more dangerous happenings seem to be targeting Max. Will the stars figure out what goes on behind the curtain in time before the big show? And will Bradley have a happily ever after with Max, or will the real world make it too little too late?

___

And this...oh this is a very special story that I think a lot of you will like! AU Maxley Story ___

Title: A Tail of Team Spirit

Summary: One month before Max and his friends go to college to sign up for the X-Games he gets an unexpected but very welcomed call from Roxanne. She's moved to the town where Welig University, the same college that the Goof Troop are going to enroll in, is. And she's going to start her freshman year at the same time they'll arrive. Max is happy for his old junior high sweetheart and looks forward to seeing her again. But there's another reason besides this good news and a chance to reconnect that Roxanne is calling Max. Her cheerleading squad wants to enter the College Cheer Competition, or the Triple C's, and represent the Welig Caribous. But they're down their one male member who acted as the pillar of their towering positions. And Roxanne is in desperate need of a replacement. It's incredibly short notice…but Max is the only guy she knows and trusts to take the spot. Max is shocked and slightly embarrassed as he's only danced a little before, and he wasn't even that good. Roxanne assures him that he has the flexibility to make it work and that he can practice with the team. They're also in need of a new mascot as the previous one quit, and Stacey would love for Bobby to take the role. They'd also like P. J. on board to utilize his creative talents with music and pyrotechnics. What is a Goof to do in this situation? Well Max says yes, of course, and promptly volunteers his friends to help out. So, upon arriving at Welig University, Max sets his skateboard and baggy jeans aside for some form fitting shorts and pompoms as he joins Roxanne's cheerleading squad. Luckily all of the girls welcome him and his friends with open arms. However, the Labradoodle quickly finds out that not everything with cheerleading is hair scrunchies and friendship bracelets. A lot of the women in the Triple C's are a fourth C. Cutthroat, that is. More so when a special prize is on the line. The winning cheerleading squad gets to perform at next year's halftime show of the Super Bowl. And one wicked senior team from a rival college are ready to squash anyone who stands in their way. But Max isn't going to let anyone ruin Roxanne's dreams and puts his all into every cheer. He even uses his skating prowess to his advantage. Speaking of skating, X-Games champion Bradley Uppercrust the 3rd has started hanging around the Welig Caribou cheer squad. Max is immediately protective of Roxanne, thinking Bradley is eyeing her as a potential conquest. In reality it's Max himself who Bradley is captivated by. And he's looking to make the freshman his "personal cheerleader".

And there you have it! Based on the choice you all picked, these are the Maxley stories I'll start working on! I got quite a lot in store with these two. I hope you'll enjoy what I have planned.

Thank you all for your time and attention. I hope you had fun voting. And don't worry! I do plan to write and eventually post the other stories that didn't win. So you'll still see the Omegaverse stories and other AUs! These two are just the tip of the iceberg. If you have any questions about either story, feel free to ask and I'll answer as much as I can without spoilers.

I'm going to work on the first two chapters of each story at a time. But before then - I'm going to work on and complete my current Maxley miniseries. That, by the way, is totally unrelated to both of these stories. So just keep that in mind.

Until next time, take care of yourselves.

#Maxley #Bradley Uppercrust the III #Max Goof #poll results #sequel summary #cheerleader Max Goof AU summary

14 notes · View notes

reinerswarrior · 11 months

Note

Heeeeey So I was wondering if you'd be up to writing a oneshot where Reiner and Reader are in the woods together and she falls down into a freezing lake or river and he has to warm her up (WINK WINK) and then he can't control himself

A Near Miss And An Icy Kiss

(WARNINGS: smut

“Cmon Reiner-! Live a little-!”

You groan as you perch on the edge of the bed, playing with the blanket draped on your lap and you stare pleadingly at the blonde who was sitting cross legged and arms crossed, his eyes closed as he shook his head with a frown

"It's too cold..and not to mention that we would be sneaking out past lights out and I'm not really in the mood for getting my ass chewed out by Shadis"

He grumbled and you gave him a glare before shaking your head and huffing,copying his pose as you cross your arms and stick out your tongue at him

You and Reiner had been the latest 'thing' in the corps. You had been courting each other ever since that night that you two had an argument and he had put everything aside to confess his love to you but it wasn't the best way...well if shoving you against the wall and sucking your face could be a wrong way..

But you had decided right then and there that he would be yours and that you would be his

Ever since then you two had been inseparable, except at night when the lights went out and females and males separated into their own dorm and you were annoyed at having to be separated but soon you figured out how to sneak through the windows and past the nightly sentries to sneak into the male dorms and sneak past all the bunks to climb up into his bed

The first time scared the shit out of him when he woke up to a firm body pressing down on his but it was your lips pressing against his that calmed him down before he could say anything. The next few nights you would manage to sneak through and lay with him. After a while the cadets had been moved to new areas after graduation and luckily this meant cadets were paired up and two were roomed together at a time

Your roomate had been agreeable with you and refused to tell anyone about your nightly adventures to sneak into Reiners room, and his tall roomate was too shy to even dare speak up a bout anything much less about your little rebellions..in fact he wouldn't even speak to you at all unless spoken to but you weren't offended for you knew it was just his personality.

Now currently you were perched on Reiners bed trying to get him to come with you on a walk in the woods because you were restless and you just wanted some time with your lover without anyone around just for comfort but he was as stubborn as an ox which made a lot of sense.

"Fine..Bertholdt do you want to go?" The said males head looked up from the book he was reading, his eyes wide and surprised at being addressed and then his cheeks flushed shyly as he shook his head slightly

"N-No thank you..I-I'm kind of tired" He says softly and you pout before you get to your feet and you definitely noticed how Reiners eyes had now opened and were staring at you

"I'll just go by myself then" You say candidly as you push your hair behind your ears and pad silently across the Floor to the window but you heard the thump of Reiners feet hitting the wood floor as he sighed. "Hold on there...let me put on my shoes and I'll come with you, I suppose" He says as he leaned over and you watch as he puts on his brown leather shoes and stands up,adjusting his belt that held his trousers up

After a few seconds he had stood and made the way to the window,crawling out before holding it up and making sure you didn't hit your head as you climbed out after him and then you looked back to see the tall figure of bertholdt standing at the window as he leaned out. "You two be careful" He says softly before the window closed and Reiner responded with a wave as you gave the taller male a smile and then you hooked your arm in his and walk with him happily

He strode beside you,squeezing your arm which made you smile as you lead him into the woods and the area became dark due to the forest and the many trees. After a few minutes you had reached the shoreline of a long winding river and you were enjoying the view but shivering slightly in the crisp air

"See I told you it was cold" Reiner grumbled and you looked at him before scoffing "you aren't even shivering you giant meat heater" you say as you bump shoulder roughly and he rolled his eyes but his lips curled upwards slightly in amusement.

"Meat heater?" He repeated you as he shook his head and he bumped you back

It was unfortunate timing, for just as he made contact your heel had skidded on the soft gravel like rocks next to the shore and the combination knocked you off balance and you lost your balance.

"SHIT-!" You hiss as you tried to regain balance but you flailed too much and before you knew it you were hitting the water.

Holy Ymir was it cold-

You sputtered as the icy water covered your skin and you managed to fall right into the deeper part with less of a slope but at least you could manage to get your feet on the bottom and then you were just about to stand when a hand grabbed your arm so hard it hurt and you were hauled out of the water and onto the shore

"F-F-Fuck I-it's s-so..co-o-ol-l-l-d!" Your teeth were chattering when he pulled you closer and you could barely see it, but there was a clear expression of distress on the blondes face as he pulled you against his chest. "Jesus, y/n!" He exclaimed as water soaked through his shirt from your body being pressed up against it and he looked down at you in worry

"I told you it was too cold..your going to freeze to death..here..take off your clothes" He says as you freeze and stare at him,making him realize how weird that sounded and he shook his head.

"Not being creepy- You just need the wet clothes off...at least your shirt- you can wear mine"

He insists as he looked away and you could see a direct flush on his cheeks while he licked his lips and spoke again, already peeling his green shirt off his body and shoving it at you with his head still turned to the side and he grunted.

"Ill keep my head turned...Just hurry before you freeze to fucking death" He says firmly and you stared at him with your mouth parted but it was because of those muslces.. the man had muscles for days and despite shivering your ass off, You suddenly felt warm inside while you shakily accept his shirt and peel your own shirt off

"We walked too far to make it back before you freeze" The blonde continued as he kept his head turned and you meekly pull his shirt over your head.

God it smells good.. Just like him...

You clutch the shirt your wearing and it was oversized on you, but yet fit just right and he turned towards you and looked down at your soaked pants. "thats not good either...but you need to warm up..." He says but it was obvious what he was implying you should do but he didnt want to say it because it felt like he was being creepy but you understood he only meant well and you nodded. "B-But you need to be warm too-" You say and even though he said he was fine, you could see the way he was shivering ever so slightly as well as the way his nipples hardened and you knew he needed to keep warm too so you made a split second decision

In an instant your hands reached down, undoing your pants and sliding them off as the male watched with his eyes wide and his mouth agape but he couldnt see anything since his shirt covered you up very nicely but he swallowed dryly and averted his eyes before he felt your hand tugging on his arm. "Your cold too.." You say and he stared at you hard for several minutes before he decided to hesitantly

speak. “So are you saying……”

You watch him swallow thickly as his voice trailed off and then you just smiled before curling your finger and he was instantly on you,his warm body pressing against yours slowly and gently, but the warmth of his body was what got you the most and you were shivering, your teeth were chattering from the freezing water and his body moved almost in a panic when he realized just how dangerously cold you were

“Shit…Was the water THAT cold-!!” He gasped and he pushed himself against you and guided you both to the ground as you cuddled into his warmth and he was legitimately worried that you were going to freeze to death,while you on the other had was worried about pressing too close to his hips but with how he was pushing his body against yours you had no choice but to just lay there still, and hope it wasn’t too obvious that you were aware of him pushing against you and the shape of him against the shape of you and the feeling of his barely clothed shaft against your cunt even though it was unintentional, it made you clench your thighs together,squeezing him between them

There was a pause and you looked up to see golden eyes peering straight down at you with the most intense look you had ever seen in your entire life and your mouth parted in a shocked expression and you were dumbfounded. Lust was written all over his face as his eyes searched yours and you couldn’t help but to clench your thighs around him more.

“R-Reiner…My pants are wet” You murmured and he didn’t respond but the smirk on his lips said it all as he reached down and unbuttoned your jeans before sliding them down gently,pulling them from your legs and as soon as you were undressed beneath him his body was back to smothering you while you looked your arms around his neck

“My big boy~” You murmur next to his ear and he tended before a low growl left his lips after rumbling in his chest as he shook his head and then his lips were pressing against your neck and he sucked on your smooth skin and tainted it with deep purple bruises that announced that you were claimed and he hissed. “You’re so fucking sexy…even looking like a drowned rat” He says and you respond with a huff and you push him away playfully

The man came right back and his teeth buried themselves in your neck so hard that he tasted blood and he sucked gently in the wound as you moan out a long drawl of his name and you could feel the brawny male start to throb against you, hardening as you roll your hips the best you can and you were a moaning mess underneath him with lustful fire flowing through both of your veins.

Then his lips met yours in the most passionate and intense kiss of your life. It knocked the breath out of you but you stuck your tongue out to dance with his while all the chill left your body only to be replaced by heat, and it covered you and it wasn’t just water that was soaking your underwear now, but you could feel that Reiner was in the same boat as the male began to rock his hips into yours, sliding that hardened erection of his against you

Fuck he was big, you weren’t sure if you were quite ready for him but you had already decided when you kissed him that you wanted him. “Please…warm me up…from the inside out” you murmured and his eyes widened as he pulled away for air and he panted eagerly before he nodded and sat up on his haunches with no hesitation.

You spread your legs and let the blonde have his way with you

Words can’t describe how it felt to be penetrated by the blonde, his thick shaft stretching your walls apart inch by excruciatingly slow inch, but you gripped onto his back and he licked your neck, whispering things into your ear but you whined and then swallowed thickly before you spoke

“N-Not my first time…Just go in already-!” You gasp as the male looked down at you. “Fuck y/n..You really think?” He says

He had to take one look at your face to figure out that you weren’t joking and without another objection, he pushed his hips forward and he was instantly balls deep as he let out a strained grunt and you let out a gasp of relief at finally being filled to the brim.

His face was twisted in pleasure while he began to plunge into your walls,his hood sweeping back and forth in a smooth motion while you scrambled to hold onto him in the fast pace he initiated, your walls stretching to accommodate him and it squelched while his balls slapped against your ass.

“Fuck-…Reiner-!…keep going-!….don’t stop-!!” You squeal and his hands grip the ground as his palms lay on either side of your head, propping himself up as he growled. “Oh I won’t, princess…won’t stop till I make you cum-!” He promises while his hips began to buck eagerly over and over, getting harder and harder as he speared your hole with his cock.

“That’s it…clench for me, My love” He rasped as he felt your cunt convulse and you began to grope around anywhere to get your bearing while you felt the most intense orgasm approach and your movements got more frantic and then two strong hands gripped yours and forced them to the ground right when your back arched like a woman possessed and you came with a cry, squirting around Reiners cock

“Oh fuck me-!” Reiner exclaimed and his hips sped up even faster as they got sloppy and he was giving you everything he had as he snarled but it all came to a halt and you heard him cry out in a gravely tone while his face twisted and then warmth filled your insides, hot and thick and it made you instantly not even register the cold air.

“Mm…Mm….oh-….” Reiner whimpered as he held onto you and his body shook,staying seated deeply within you and you could feel the way his cock pumped, delivering the last little bit of cum he could give you before it shrunk,softening but still keeping you decently plugged.

You collapsed back against the ground and Reiner did the same,keeping you warm as he lay on top of you and you caught your breath after a few minutes.

“You really…Really didn’t have to help” You panted as you run your fingers through his sweaty blonde hair and he tilted his head and looked up at you with a slight smile before he let out a chuckle.

“What can I say?Just trying to keep you warm”

#reiner+smut #reiner braun smut #reiner smut #reiner braun #reiner x reader

97 notes · View notes

cyborg-franky · 1 year

Note

Hi Franky! Can i ask for a modern AU with Uta x male!reader spending some time togheter? (singing and play music or going to eat something) thanks! 💖

I didn't do male reader, oops! Also this is my first ever EVER EVER time writing adult Uta so I hope I didn't mess up. It's hard when her only canon personailty is a child or... ya know.

Uta x GN Reader SFW Modern AU WC: 570

Uta stared out the window, watching the drops of rain cascade down the glass, she took in a deep breath and sighed. Her breath fogged up the window, she drew an unhappy face on the fog her breath created before she adjusted. She hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her knees.

You hated to see her feeling down, you guessed it was because the weather was miserable, it always had an impact on your girlfriend. It meant she couldn't go and sing in the garden or go and visit her brothers.

Another sigh before you came up behind her, you put hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her. “Wanna go out? I know what will cheer you up,” You smiled down at her as she leaned back, her bright eyes shining up at you as her frown turned into a smile.

–

You knew she’d wanted to try out this new cafe ever since she’d heard about it on one of the influencer videos she watched. As soon as she stepped foot inside her eyes widened in wonder as glanced around. Seeing all the cool musical-themed decorations, cute plushies, and colorful designs.

“Here? Really?” She said, clapping her hands together as you were both shown your seats, under a fake Sakura tree in the corner with pink neons and flowers everywhere, she clung to your arm as the waitress set the menu in front of her.

She got a latte with foam that looked like a kitty, sandwiches cut into hearts, and an assortment of delicate little cakes with music themes. She was loving it, she took so many pictures. She held up her phone and gave a peace sign, nudging you to pose. You chuckled and copied her as she pressed the button.

“That’s a cure photo of us, I’m going to post it.” Uta proclaimed with the biggest grin on her face as she updated her profile picture. You just smiled, she was so much more alive and bouncy now you were out together.

–

After your lunch you took her by the hand, leading her into the back, she blinked but followed. Down the brightly lit stairs and to a row of rooms. She quirked her visible brow at you before you opened the door to the room you booked.

“This is the best,” She said when she realized there was a karaoke room.

There was no way you could keep up with her or even do a duet but you loved to hear her sing, you loved when she danced and sang and smiled. You loved her and loved her vibrancy. She ran to the stage and hit the screen, looking through the selection of songs, and stamped her feet, giddy that some of her favorite bands were listed. You sat down at the table and watched her.

After she sang a few songs for you and only you, your own private show to your girlfriend's beautiful voice, always amazed she could come up with dances on the fly, she was one of the most talented people you’d ever had the joy of meeting.

She flopped down next to you, letting out a breath, you held her close and kissed her forehead as she looked up, leaning up and stealing a kiss. A giggle snuck out at your surprised reaction, her arms around your neck.

“Thank you! Today was perfect..” she sighed happily.

#sfw #gender nuetral reader #uta one piece #uta op #uta x reader #uta x you #uta x yn #uta op x reader #one piece #one piece x reader #one piece reader insert #gender neutral reader #one piece x you #one piece x y/n #one piece imagines #one piece uta #one piece x yourname

95 notes · View notes

taeskooksbin · 10 months

Text

I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE ; kth

→ 𝖲𝖴𝖬𝖬𝖠𝖱𝖸 . kim taehyung, your love interest has been cheating on you for so long and despite knowing it all, you're still somewhat not able to leave him, why?

→ 𝖯𝖠𝖨𝖱𝖨𝖭𝖦 . cheater!kim taehyung (male lead) × love interest!reader (female lead)

→ 𝖦𝖤𝖭𝖱𝖤 . cheating au.

→ 𝖶𝖠𝖱𝖭𝖨𝖭𝖦𝖲 . lowercase intended, heavy angst with shitty writing, the reader is kind of dumb, some filmy scenes that may give you the ick.

→ 𝖠𝖴𝖳𝖧𝖮𝖱'𝖲 𝖭𝖮𝖳𝖤 . to people who are reading this, can someone please give me a tut on how I add my masterlist to my account? lmao I'm so bad at this 😭

→ 𝖱𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖭𝖦 . none

𝖬𝖠𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖱𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖳 𖤐 𓈒࣪ ᭡ ˖ 𝖳𝖠𝖦𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖳 𖤐 𓈒࣪ ᭡ ˖ 𝖯𝖫𝖠𝖸𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖳 𖤐 𓈒࣪ ᭡ ˖ 𝖯𝖨𝖭𝖳𝖤𝖱𝖤𝖲𝖳

“You and me we made a vow

For better or for worse”

The memories, still fresh in my mind, the day we got married, room our vows to be wedded to each other our whole life with no uncertainty. I never knew we’d come to this point where the happily established relationship is at the verge of breaking off, I truly never did. But I suppose that's life, unexpected things?

“I can't believe you let me down

But the proof's in the way it hurts”

If it were a few months ago, I would've never believed, oh hell, who would've? we were so happy and content together then how? ‘you’re my only one’ ‘if I ever do something just slap me and remind me who was the one with me all along’ ‘i love you, forever and always’ I suppose they were just void words, nothing else.

“For months on end I've had my doubts

Denying every tear”

The memory is still as fresh as an undone bruise, in my mind. When he accidently left his phone at home and I found messages from an unknown woman, usually it would've been normal and I believe myself to be an understanding one.

However, you can't be really understanding if your husband gets a message somewhat like ‘thanks for the night, meet tomorrow again?’. I chuckled at my stupidity cause I still thought that it was a misunderstanding, every night slapping myself back to reality, whenever I’d cry over that.

“I wish this would be over now

But I know that I still need you here”

I don't want to live like this anymore, not anymore. But can I really leave him? No. All the happy moments we shared together flood back in my mind whenever I’d think of leaving him, concerned about difficulties and troubles he’d face.

But is it really him who needs me? Not at all, it’s the other way around. At this point I’m way too dependent on him to leave him, way too used to seeing his face, making breakfast, sleeping together, referring to myself as his wife.

“You say I'm crazy

'Cause you don't think I know what you've done”

He cupped my face, “You’re behaving really crazily these days, what is happening?” I can't feel the concern, it's the annoyance which is lacing off his voice, covered up as a facade of ‘concern’. “You really don't know?” I smiled with moisture building up in my eyes while he looked at me in confusion.

“But when you call me baby

I know I'm not the only one”

He frowned, “What are you talking about, baby?” I could hear myself chuckling bitterly internally, but I did not dare to do this infront of him, I shook my head lightly with a smile, “Nothing” I smiled, like always.

“You've been so unavailable

Now sadly I know why”

“I was calling you the whole day, why were you not picking up? what if it was something important?” I yelled, “I was busy” Busy sure, perhaps busy giving company to her? I could laugh at my misery at this point, however I'm way too exhausted to even do that, the after effects of crying myself to sleep every night I suppose?

“Your heart is unobtainable

Even though Lord knows you kept mine”

I smiled gleamingly as soon as he stepped foot in the house, running over to him and holding his wrist while dragging him to the kitchen, “What is happening?” He spoke with confusion and gasped at all the dishes in the house; however, as soon as he was about to speak, he got a call.

He excused himself and walked to the corner and then swiftly made another excuse and walked out of the house. What he didn't know was how I was following him, after hearing the faint ‘Happy Anniversary’ through the call.

“You say I'm crazy

'Cause you don't think I know what you've done”

I saw him walking inside a house, I knew who lived there and not wanting to hurt myself anymore, I walked to move out until I saw the two silhouettes, the guy keeping an arm around the girl’s waist and the girl wrapping her arms around his neck, they both swayed to the music elegantly and finally my tears made an appearance on my face, finally.

“But when you call me baby

I know I'm not the only one”

The way back home, it was getting hard not to earn judgmental stares from everyone. When I reached back home, I broke down after trying too hard to hold the sobs. Even choking on my own tears many times, I threw every picture of ours, shattering them all in pieces.

“I have loved you for many years

Maybe I am just not enough”

I walked to the kitchen and saw the pleasant dishes, all decorated with love and walked to the fridge, I opened and saw a homemade cake, ‘Happy Fifth Anniversary’ was written on the vanilla cake.

I smiled bitterly, my salty tears falling on it, ruining the whole taste and it was getting harder to breathe now, I kept the cake on the kitchen top and walked upstairs to find my inhaler.

“You've made me realise my deepest fear

By lying and tearing us up”

I opened every cupboard and then when I found none, I opened our cabinet which was locked, I opened it only to find my unused inhaler which was beside the divorce papers with his part already signed, and that was enough for me to break now.

“You say I'm crazy

'Cause you don't think I know what you've done”

Taehyung walked inside the house only to find the horrendous view, shattered pictures, the house all messy, blood drops all over the floor. He ran inside the kitchen only to find his wife sitting on the dining table with an emotionless face, she looked crazy to him.

“But when you call me baby

I know I'm not the only one”

I looked up only to find him standing with a shocked expression and smiled, walking towards him I held his hand, “What is all thi—” He started but I cut him off, “I hate you” I whispered, he frowned,

“What are you talking—” He started as his voice rose but I smiled and pulled him closer, the music was playing and soon enough the same song was playing while he and she were dancing.

I chuckled, finally he knows that I know. I forcefully made him reenact the same dance steps they did while I was watching, keeping his hand on my waist, I wrapped mine around his neck and started swaying while looking at him with a sad smile.

This was it, this is the end now. He walked to the living room and saw the divorce papers lying on the table with her sign, and soon enough she walked out of the room with a suitcase in her hand. He realised now, what role she played- fuck that, what huge role she played in his life. But would she stop to give him a chance now? Never.

# ask taehyung

# ask y/n

#bts taehyung #bts v #bts #taehyung #taehyung × y/n #bangtan #cheating au #cheating #bts fics #bts fanfic #ACTIVE HERE #i'm not the only one

32 notes · View notes

oocontextmanga · 5 months

Text

Mans trying to flirt with her when she hasn’t even recognized the efforts of the ML yet.

#anime and manga #I Will Take Responsibility for the Welfare of the Male Lead #writing my male lead’s happily ever after

2 notes · View notes

cherchersketch · 2 years

Photo

Writing my Male Lead’s Happily Ever After / I Will Take Responsibility for the Welfare of the Male Lead

It’s the same artist as 50 Tea Recipes from the Duchess :3

Summary How do all these authors end up isekai-ing into their own novels? Lol That’s what happens to our girl, but she finds out some details in her current life aren’t anything she even wrote about? This villainess suddenly applied to be the caretaker of ML’s (adopted) children?? She tries to screw up the interview until she sees how the kids are getting punished, so of course she has to intervene. Our girl’s the new caretaker now! And of course, to quash rumours of the duchy’s downfall, the ML proposes a ~contract engagement~. This will totally not come back to bite him in the ass at all.

Tropes - isekai-ed as the villainess - yo some details ain’t adding up from the original novel (even though she’s the OG author?!??) - original character and isekai character actually meet - just throw this whole family away - cute babies doing cute baby things - 21st century thinking in a historical setting - this is a totally FAKE and not at all real RELATIONSHIP - what do you mean I’ve drastically changed the plot the original FL and ML definitely still belong together

FL - Lady Laria Sherwood

- it’s fun to write the *~angst~* until you’re the one having to live through it ;w; - shoulda finished writing your novel, girl. - conveniently a preschool teacher in her past life. yey - of course there’s always a depressing backstory. why else would she attempt to write a hurt/comfort novel for ~catharsis~ 🙃

ML - Grand Duke Nocturn Blackwell

- *real nobles* don’t know what ~proper childcare~ - hereditary ~madness disease~ mmm the backstory angst is *chefs kiss* - him eyes glow when him ANGRY - I love it when a guy do the blushublushu ///UwU/// - the guy always falls in love first ;w; - mans gotta keep them yandere tendencies in check tho

babies - Mikhail Blackwell, Janet Blackwell

- why is it always the (dead) older brother’s kid(s) - sweet summer children precious cinnamon roll - protecc the cinnamon rolls - manhwa children always be a mix-and-match of the parents’ hair and eye colour

Rating: I enjoyed my time reading this It’s a fun little read Status (as of 23 Feb 2023) Ongoing. Nearly 60 episodes in but there hasn’t been any sign of the OG!FL (yet).

Same Same but Different - Author of My Own Destiny - I found a Husband when I picked up the Male Lead - Daisy - How to become the Duke’s Fiancee

full rec list

#writing my male lead's happily ever after #i will take responsibility for the welfare of the male lead #manhwa #CherCher reviews manhwa #manhwa recommendation

39 notes · View notes

destinyc1020 · 5 months

Note

I loved your review of Challengers!!!! I watched the movie 3 times now and although I love the vibes the film gave me, I had big issues with the script and overall's Tashi's arc. I felt that the male characters were more interesting as ppl and their story of a close friendship turned rivalry to ending with both of them not speaking for years was quite compelling. I honestly just thought Tashi was a symbol for them tbh. this is where I blame the writer Justin cause the reason he made Tashi black was because he was inspired by Serena and Naomi Osaka however, this film is very apolitical. Outside of the mention of the alleged racist tennis opponent, her race is never mentioned. Her black father isn't even present in the older Tashi scenes. So what was the point of taking such good care of her white boys' line?

The last point is not going to be a point but a link. It discusses how Zendaya is the next leading lady of the generation. I have some thoughts but I hope you can read it so we can discuss. I do think that one critic has some inflammatory comments on Z that I feel are more personal than biased, but as a dark-skinned black woman, I can understand where that frustration comes from. It is tough because it is a lot and I appreciate if you do want to add any more discourse because I do feel Z sometimes is separated apart because she biracial black woman the bigger issue is Hollywood as an entity but using that white boy line kinda justify it for me.

https://www.vulture.com/article/zendaya-challengers-leading-lady-debate.html

Whew!!! Anon....this was a very deep and interesting read! Thank you for your kind words Anon about my review. Like I said, I'm always 100% honest on here about how I feel lol. 😄

I'll just say this, that overall, people are going to have varying opinions on someone's acting or just a film in general. I look at films and an actor's performance as just something that is subjective.... One person may LOVE a film or an actor's performance, and another person may think the film/acting was just "So-so". It's just like a piece of art. We can all have various different tastes, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that necessarily? Sometimes, our life experiences, exposure, and world view can shape how we view certain films or pieces of art. So, I am not even surprised that one of the critics in this article doesn't really care for Z's acting/films, etc... It's her personal opinion I guess.... 🤷🏾‍♀️

I'm a little iffy as well on Justin's writing tbh.... I remember when leaks of the script/screenplay FIRST came out, people were cringing lol. 😅 I'm glad that the film version wasn't as cringe-worthy as some people felt the film would be. I still would have changed some things about the writing.

But hey, sometimes, you don't need a picture-perfect film with picture-perfect characters. Sometimes, life is complicated, PEOPLE are complicated, and you don't need an ending that's tied neatly into a nice little bow with a "happily ever after" attached.

With that said, I'll comment and provide my reaction to some of the points in the article you just linked:

Whew... Welp...She made some interesting points. I know this will probably ruffle a few feathers here, but she's definitely coming in with some hard-hitting thoughts and feelings.

I've been saying this about Hollywood for years... The fact that monoracial, YOUNG, desirable, darker-skinned black women are basically ignored in Hollywood.... I do agree with her statements on this. I am a huge supporter of Z, and I love that she has the type of power that she has in Hollywood, but I do also feel for my darker-hued sisters as well. 😔

With regards to race.... Don't get me wrong, I don't need films where black people (black women especially) have to address RACE in every single role that is given a black person. Is it just me?? But sometimes, it's just REFRESHING to watch a movie, see a black person onscreen, and NOT have to think about race. 👀 We already have to deal with race and think about it just about every single day, 24/7... That can at times be exhausting. Sometimes, when you watch movies, you just want to ESCAPE...Escape your problems, escape reality, escape real life, or just escape what's on your mind atm, etc... You don't need a constant reminder of societal issues, and views of "blackness" in every single film that features a black person. At least, I don't feel that way.

But I do feel like certain elements and ways that woc (black women in particular) are portrayed onscreen DO play a huge role in how we are viewed in society, how we view ourselves, and how certain stereotypes are continuously perpetuated. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Anyway, I still hate that "white boys" line lol. It just seemed cringe to me, and totally out of nowhere lol. 😅 I'm like, do people even talk like that in REAL life? I doubt it lol.

Hmmm....interesting take.... 🤔

I meannnnn....I DO have to agree w/her statement on Timmy and Zendaya in the "Dune" franchise. I sense more platonic/"Friendship" chemistry btwn them, than actual sexual or sensual chemistry tbh. 👀

Whereas, I felt like she and Josh definitely seemed to have tangible sexual chemistry onscreen in "Challengers". Sometimes, you can know someone a little TOO well, that when you act with them in romantic scenes, it's not really believable because you two are like brother and sister vibes irl with each other lol. 🤣 I think that's the case w/Timmy and Zendaya onscreen.

While I don't agree with her that black people should ONLY work with mostly other black people onscreen lol, I will say that I agree with her part highlighted above. I've been saying for a while now that I'm really curious to see how Z would fare in a film directed by a black director, surrounded by a primarily black cast. 😊

With all of this said, I have to admit, this little part right here made me smile...

I can see it too! The Academy LOOOVES indie films like these. 😊😃

Anyway, great read Anon! 👍🏾 Thanks for sharing! It was good to get dual sides of the coin from their differing opinions.

#vulture #zendaya #challengers #review #critics

14 notes · View notes

buttersmama · 2 years

Text

Failed confessions

Huening kai x male! reader

Summary: idol!Kai and staff!Reader get to know each other then, their friendship leads to a confession

Tw: alcohol (drunk huening), that's it i think tell me if y'all find anything note worthy.

Wc: 12k+ 💀

Y'all the ending is messed up and ambiguous (take it however you want) also a bit rushed since i had to complete it and post it today itself.

Hope you like it! My writing has changed a bit me thinks.

A deflated huening Kai emerged from the recording studio. Shoulders slumped, and head held down, deep in thoughts of how to improve, he sat down on the couch situated just outside the studio.

The area was deserted, no sound except for occasional chewing, unexpectedly a hand rested upon his head.

"Something wrong huening-ssi?" Y/n. One of the staff members Kai remembered.

"Ah no- maybe? It's just that I can't get this line in from the title track"

"Is that so? Look I don't know much bout the topic but I heard yeonjun was having trouble with it too, so don't worry you'll get it; for now how about we share this fried chicken I brought? Hmm?"

"Thank you so much l/n-ssi"

"No problem," he said ruffling huening's hair a bit.

Y/n entered the recording area and to no one's surprise, he saw the whole of TXT except taehyun sitting on the couch or talking to some of the other staff members.

Yeonjun was the first one to notice y/n's arrival, smiling he got up to greet them and give him a firm hug.

"Have you eaten?" Yeonjun asked.

Y/n stroked his nonexistent bread before replying.

"Yes I have, but what is it that you need? Hmm?" laughed y/n.

"Yah! Hyung is supposed to say 'no I have not' so we can go get something to eat also, even if you've eaten, you're coming with me," yeonjun said, grabbing y/n forcefully.

"June, you go ahead I'll meet you in the parking lot 'kay?"

"Just hurry up!"

Y/n jogged back up seeing only the maknae sitting there alone.

"Huening-ie you need something? Yeonjun and I are going to get something to eat, He is quite hungry. I'll bring you anything you want or maybe you can come with us if you want of course" y/n rambled picking up his phone, yeonjun's coat, and mask.

"Ah not now I'm going to record after soobin hyung finishes, but can you bring fried chicken? I really liked it when I tried it yesterday" he said giving a small smile.

"Of course, huening-ie" y/n said messing up Kai's dark locs before heading out.

Y/n peacefully rested at his house for once when he got a call from an unknown number. He begrudgingly picked up the call already tired, it was past 11 for god's sake!

"Hello?" Y/n said as soon as the line connected.

"Ah! Hyung, it's huening Kai, I got your number from yeonjun hyung, and I was wondering if you could accompany me to the studio.. producer called and wanted to finish with some final touches tonight, and I didn't want to trouble any other staff members so would you.." huening went silent not completing his sentence, not that it mattered.

Y/n didn't know why but despite being so tired, he said yes to the young boy.

"hello~" huening picked up y/n's call.

"Huening-ah, I'm outside your dorm come down kay?"

"Yes hyung" huening replied cutting off the line when y/n and his car came into the view.

Huening-ie happily sat down in the passenger seat thanking his hyung for coming on such short notice at almost midnight.

He didn't know why but he felt this certain type of excitement and curiosity that night with y/n. Maybe it was the cold night air or the clear sky or maybe y/n's company.

Maybe.

"Hyung, what will you do while I'm busy? You'll probably get bored- you should go home and get some sleep I'll ask soobin hyung to pick me up-" huening Kai babbled panicked, thinking y/n would get mad or won't ever talk to him because he had made y/n come with him so late; waking him up from his probably peaceful sleep.

"Huening-ah, I'm already here aren't I? Why would I let you call soobin and make him wake up so late? I'll wait for you to finish then we'll head back. Don't worry hyung will be here when you return" y/n eased away all of Kai's worries.

Huening feels warm, so so warm, he wonders if it's because of his hyung or the heater placed on the floor. He hopes it's the latter.

But he's scared.

Kai steps out of the room, he sees y/n sitting with his legs crossed on his phone playing a game. His heart almost stops when y/n unexpectedly looks directly into his eyes.

"Huening-ah! Done?" He asks, switching off the phone. He didn't know but it seemed like his voice was stuck in his throat denying any thoughts to voice out.

Still, he stuttered out a 'yes'.

Y/n ignored the stuttering and got up to pass all of Kai's belongings to him. Ruffling his hair once again y/n heads down to leave, seeing the little penguin not following him, he stops looking back at him.

"Huening-ah! Tired or what? Let's get you home, then get some rest 'kay? I'll be waiting in the car, don't be late or I'll leave you here

-just kidding" y/n teased.

"Hyung wait for me!" Kai's words echoed back to him in the almost empty building.

"Huening-ie,"

"Yes, Hyung?"

"Hungry?"

"Very much"

"Wanna get something to eat?"

"Yes please!"

Y/n parked his car in a very risky area all because of food and the boy with him.

"Huening-ie let's come back quick! I hope my car doesn't get towed" y/n let out his thoughts, and heard the boy laugh.

"Sorry hyung but yes we should hurry up!" He(Kai) said pulling the other.

"Hyung, you come to this place often?" Kai asks looking around the let lit cozy restaurant-type place.

"Yes, all the time. I think yeonjun was the one who brought me here, he said the ramen here is top-notch. Wanna try it?" Y/n asks looking him in the eye.

Though there were no malicious intents or anything bad about the way he looked at huening, but for some reason, huening couldn't hold eye contact. He almost immediately turned away which worried the older.

"Something wrong? You don't want the ramen? We can always order something else, huening" urges a worried y/n.

"It's not that hyung, I want to try the ramen, let's get it," he said forging a smile.

Y/n wasn't satisfied with the answer but he knew pressing the matter won't do any good so he stayed silent and complied.

"Alright let's go"

"Hyung we should do this often! But now I'm all sleepy" Kai said forcing down a yawn.

"I know right? I'll make sure we'd get here at least once a week- oh but will it be okay for you to eat out every week? Since you're an idol right? I don't want anything bad for you huening-ie, let's do this every 2 weeks" y/n said in the most serious tone ever then nodding his head as if he was agreeing with himself.

Huening Kai burst out in a laugh, clutching his sides.

"Yah! Why are you laughing?" Y/n asked getting all pouty.

"It's just that seeing you say all this with a serious face cracked me up" huening answers between his laughs.

"Yah!-"

Huening Kai who sat in his hyung's car wondered why even though the night had stretched out so much already, he didn't want it to end. He liked y/n's company, Kai thinks.

So then why in the world was Kai feeling this certain warmth with this inconvenient buzz (of bees) in his chest whenever his hyung would meet his eye or whenever he would ruffle his hair, or call out to him.

He truly wonders whether he likes y/n's company or y/n himself.

Even thinking about this scared him. He's not allowed to like y/n. Heck, he's not even allowed to like anybody, all because he's an idol. He's scared but he isn't going to do anything he tells himself.

As long as he has y/n's company with him, he doesn't need anything more. Him being there would suffice, Kai isn't going to be selfish and ruin everything.

"Huening-ie, we reached; don't you wanna get home?" y/n asked in a soft tone, hand yet again resting over the latter's hair.

"Reached already?"

"mhmm seems like our huening-ie was so lost in thoughts he spaced out, hmm?" Y/n said shaking the youngest's head playfully.

"Kai-ah, it's already so late go take yourself home or do you want hyung to drop you off till your dorm?"

"Ah, I'll go alone! I don't want to bother hyung anymore, you get home and get some rest, I won't hold you off any longer." Kai babbled shyly.

"Okay. Get home safe kai-ah" y/n said, clicking the button to unlock the passenger seat's lock.

Just as y/n stepped inside his apartment, his phone lit up. A message was displayed on it from huening Kai.

Huening kai

Hyung did you reach home?

3:01 a.m.

Y/n

Yes huening, but get some sleep now we don't want you feeling drowsy tomorrow do we?

3:01 a.m.

Huening kai

Yes

Good night hyung!

3:02 a.m.

Y/n

Good night Kai :)

3:02 a.m.

"Hi hyung!" Huening greeted y/n who was helping his team to decide what colors would suit the photo shoot that would be held in an hour.

"Hello, huening, here for the shoot right?" Y/n took a break from the discussion and let the other staff members continue.

Y/n saw the boy was not ready yet, given they just arrived.

"Go get ready then, I want to see how you all will look dressed up, given you always look good," y/n said pressing a hand to his head.

"yes hyung! But i want it to be a surprise- wait! Have you already seen the costumes? If not then it'll be a surprise if yes then it'll be no fun" he said slightly dejected at the idea.

"I have not, I was busy with the background and moving things from here to there, so I'm hyped to see it! The stylists will do a great job as always, I hope so"

"Huening-ie! Stylist noona is calling for you, let's go!" Yeonjun said waving his hand to get y/n and huening Kai's attention.

"Oh look June is calling for you, go! Hyung is right here" y/n said smiling at Kai.

"Hello huening" y/n said into the phone. Huening kai had called up y/n once again. These days huening would always be on his phone either talking to someone or chatting with 'someone' looking all giggly and smiley.

"Hyung! As you know taehyun's birthday is in a few days, so the group has given me the duty to go and make an appointment and pick up the cake tomorrow evening. I'll get bored alone so you have to come with me" huening said excitedly.

"Huening-ie, i told you I'm gonna be busy a few days just yesterday, but since you're asking so nicely, I'll come with you, just send me time and address or should I pick you up?"

"Pick me up! Then we'll go together"

"Okay" y/n gave a smile to the latter even though Kai wouldn't be able to see it.

"it's quite cold in here" huening said as the couple entered the pretty looking cake shop. The AC was on full blast in there with faux cardboard based cakes placed as showpieces by the glass door.

"Don't worry we'll leave soon enough after giving order" y/n replied giving the masked boy a side hug, while rubbing his bicep to heat them up.

"R-right" huening's hear beat stuttered from such a delicate and seemingly innocent action. Oh, how was his act going to continue if y/n would pull such tricks on him.

Sometimes he hated y/n, he hated the way their closeness wouldn't bother him at all, he hated himself for catching feelings. He thought if he'd just ignore them for a while they'd go away, but he was always proven wrong :(

Y/n entered their travel van filled with noises, such as- yeonjun being annoyed by huening because he was referring to yeonjun as a ‘noona’. Even though their blue hour era was over Kai didn’t let this joke of his die down.

Seeing y/n enter, yeonjun complained about this to his hyung- his saviour!

“Hyung! Look this brat is making fun of me!” He whined like a child.

Y/n looked over at Kai who just shrugged and said ‘it is what it is’ the older contained a laugh at Kai’s reply and patted a deflated yeonjun.

Huening watched the two, silent. He wanted to be close with y/n just like yeonjun was, he wasn’t jealous, right?

“What are you thinking about? Hmm. You look like you’re ready to kill someone” y/n said patting the young maknae.

“Dark Kai has returned” taehyun commented on the situation. To which beomgyu and soobin cackled. Soobin throwing himself on beomgyu laughing along with him.

Soon enough, their designated driver arrived and y/n had to say goodbye to the group for that day.

A random day, y/n thought it was. Nothing exciting or worth noting happened. Until when late at night when he gets a call from huening Kai.

Thinking it would just be a normal call- normal conversation, he picked it up.

“Hyunggg” huening Kai slurred his words. Concern clouded y/n’s mind immediately, thinking why and where the young boy would be. But just to make sure, he asked the most obvious question.

“Huening, are you drunk?” Kai’s heart hurt when his hyung didn’t address him like he always did, but nevertheless answered.

“Yes! How can you tell?!” Huening giggled as of y/n had uttered the most hilarious joke.

“It’s not that difficult to tell whe-" y/n was cut off mid talking buy kai.

“Hyungie, I want to meet you right now can you come?” Huening said getting all red just from the question alone.

“Alright tell me where you are? I’ll be there” y/n said already picking up some water on his way down to his car.

“That’s what I like about you so much hyung! You always assure me saying you’ll be there with me! You’re so likeable hyungg” kai said words being mixed up with small hiccups.

Y/n ignored the rambling on the call and set out navigating his way with the help of gps.

“Y/N HYUNG!” Kai yelled accidentally and laughed at himself, he was clearly out of it y/n noticed. Huening Kai reeked of alcohol. Y/n wondered why.

The older closed up the gap between them and attempted to take him to the car so he could take him home. Kai sensing y/n, immediately pressed up against him, hands by his chest and head lolled up on y/n’s shoulder.

Y/n made no attempt to move huening, instead he just stood in his place for a second, sighing and then, finally decided to peel off the latter away.

“Huening-ah let’s go home” said the only sober person present. Y/n took one of huening’s arm and put it around his shoulder and kept one of his(y/n’s) had at Kai’s waist to keep him steady.

The walk to his car was utterly slow. By the time they both reached it, huening Kai hurriedly detached himself from y/n’s grasp and cupped his hyung's face between his own fingers.

“Hyung, I have something to tell you” he said eyes big and round. Y/n placed his own hands right above huening’s before continuing.

“Kai-ah, whatever it is we can talk about it later when you’re sober, I don’t think you’re in the right mind right now.” Y/n said attempting to remove his hands from his face.

“No, hyung! It has to be now!” Kai said looking down at the floor in turmoil. Y/n gave up on arguing, he knew argument with a drunk man would lead him nowhere, so he said yes and got ready to listen.

“Alright go ahead, I’m right here” y/n said. Huening’s heart beat faster as if it would burst out because of it.

“Hyung..i-I like you, as in like like you, since the day we got to know a little more that night! I really like being with you hyung! an-and you make me so so happy, I just hope you feel the same for me because honestly I did all this drinking for some courage to confess, I even tried to forget them!

But then they wouldn’t just go away so I thought and thought about it day and night, and now here I am confessing to my hyung” huening Kai poured out all of his thoughts that had been on his mind and layed there as an open book for his hyung to read.

Y/n had been silent even after huening finished his 'confession'. This got huening worried. His stomach started coiling in fear. He couldn’t wait anymore!

“Hyung please answer me!” He pleaded, leaving y/n’s face and opting to hold onto y/n’s hands instead.

“Huening Kai, I..”

#yellow layouts #txt #tomorrow by together #txt post #txt x male reader #txt x reader #male reader #txt yeonjun #txt beomgyu #choi soobin #txt huening kai #txt huening kai x reader #txt huening #txt kai #txt huening kai x male reader #yello #drunk confessions #male reader tag

100 notes · View notes

brujahinaskirt · 1 year

Text

I think a lot of players terribly misread Arthur's sassy line to Sadie, "[You] wanna run with the men?"

My point in writing this essay very much isn't to argue that Arthur is the most feminist king who ever IS-THIS-GUY-BOTHERING-YOU-QUEEN'ed. I think that interpretation of him is a bit reductive, honestly. But I do aim to argue that Arthur's hangups about gender, whatever you believe they may be, are clearly NOT derived from a penchant for gender exclusionism or from an inherent belief in male supremacy/women's subordination.

I often see this line bizarrely mischaracterized as the moment Sadie's violent rage teaches Arthur that ~women can be tough guys too~ or something along those lines. I don't think it's helpful to call fiction readings "incorrect" in 99% of cases, but given the ample and overt scene-building Rockstar does in this mission to clarify where characters' feelings are coming from, I do think this particular fandom reading badly misses the mark.

Granted, if you didn't play the game and knew nothing about the characters involved, this easily reads as a sexist jab at a woman the speaker thinks needs to get back in line with her gender role. But if you did play the game or even if you simply consider the context of the full conversation, it makes very little sense to read it that way.

Arthur's always been used to living and working with women who wield guns and do crime. We see him pulling heists and facilitating women criminals "running with the men" from the instant we hit Valentine and Arthur happily agrees to Karen's idea that he drive the girls into town to go spree-robbing together. Arthur lets Karen pretty much run the show on the Valentine bank robbery (a situation they enter fully expecting violent trouble); hell, she shoots a cop in the head right in front of him with nothing more than a shrug of her shoulders! He voices no objections to running jobs with Tilly (& Bill) either, to gunslinging with Ms. Grimshaw in Tilly's rescue, or to armed women guarding the camp. He frequently remarks at camp that Mary-Beth, Karen, and Tilly look bored and it's time to get them out "on a job." When Mary-Beth's pickpocketing lands her in a flight for her life, Arthur's second question (after establishing if she's okay) isn't "why aren't you acting ladylike?" or something along those lines; it's a more professional "you didn't lead them back here, did you?"

The point all these interactions are trying to establish is this: This has happened before. And it will keep happening. Though of course not ALL of the camp women actively participate in criminal jobs, women "running with men" and doing violence is normal life for Arthur. From the get-go, Rockstar makes that as clear as can be.

Though I do think Rockstar occasionally just... forgot... about Karen being a full-fledged gunslinger when crafting dialogue for Dutch & Sadie, Arthur never voices any objections to gang women participating in "men's" work, i.e., murder and mayhem.

The critical difference in the "Further Questions of Female Suffrage" quest is that this line is delivered to Sadie, and it's delivered prior to the real deepening of Arthur & Sadie's friendship. At that moment of the plot, she's not crazy gunslinging Sadie to him yet; she's a mourning homesteading widow he knows as "Mrs. Adler." Arthur has no idea she has any applicable murder & mayhem skills, and he rightfully assumes she's never participated in crime before.

Also critical: This line is delivered immediately after Sadie loudly and rudely refuses to do the usual camp chores, insisting that such women's work is inherently belittling and repulsive to her. Arthur does not devalue this work. Sadie does. Among other things, she's effectively disrespecting the labor of the gang girls who do camp chores as well as "run with the men." (Though I'd argue Sadie's not insulting anyone intentionally. Her rage at her grief and situation just has a habit of making her self-centering at times.)

Of course Arthur (who -- along with Charles, Kieran, and Pearson -- is one of the few men at camp to do domestic chores) sasses her for this. Of course he initially thinks she's got silly, wildly misconstrued ideas about what it's like to be an outlaw and do criminal gang jobs; he explicitly points this out to her in the same conversation, and he makes it clear he interpreted her objection as Sadie thinking she's too good for "women's work." And he's not altogether off the mark. (Recall that they have another female gang member who openly claims camp chores are beneath her, Molly, who is protected from reproach thanks to her personal connection to Dutch.)

So he sasses her about what he perceives as a ridiculous and ill-founded desire to "run with the men," given that she has up until that point demonstrated no skills to make that desire to "run with the men" seem like anything but one former homesteader's self-centered and possibly self-sacrificing dream of participating in active criminal life. But Sadie's the one who initially objected to doing women's work by virtue of it being women's; Arthur's sass is a direct response to the nature of her objection.

Of course, this is the mission where she does get the chance to demonstrate those skills. Arthur invites her to come along as soon as Sadie informs him she knows how to use a gun, and when she proves that to be true, he never mocks her about it again.

#rdr2 #arthur morgan #red dead redemption 2 #redmeta #i'm not normally one to criticize alternative readings but this one has always seemed odd to me since R* sets it up very clearly #i understand a lot of sexist cismen gamers will belligerently misread text in order to validate their own nasty worldviews #but this one seems more pervasive which is strange since it's so easily refuted by even the most basic consideration of context

76 notes · View notes

suzannahnatters · 1 year

Text

Trope Talk: Villain Romance

So, I was watching a villain romance cdrama again lately (GOODBYE MY PRINCESS) and it has been forcing me to think about what makes some villain romances work for me so well, and others…not so much.

First of all, a lot of my comments on romance at large, and on enemies-to-lovers as the broader trope to villain romance, apply here. For me, GOODBYE MY PRINCESS failed on a few different levels. It failed as a romance because the male lead so rarely, if ever, allowed himself to be vulnerable to the female lead that I couldn't believe either of them could genuinely be falling for each other. It failed as an enemies-to-lovers story because the female lead didn't feel like a match for the male lead in terms either of power or of morals: he was irredeemably awful and held all the power in the relationship, while she was unquenchably pure and naive, holding no power at all. But then, it also failed for me as a villain romance, and because I eat up villain romance with a spoon (WUTHERING HEIGHTS? THE LAST JEDI? LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL? TILL THE END OF THE MOON? That ONE SCENE in RICHARD III? yess?) I've spent a lot of time thinking about different kinds of villain romance, how some are easier to "sell" to an audience than others - as a convincing HEA, I mean - and how each of them can and can't be made to work.

So far, I think a lot of it has to do with how the villain is built. First off, how does the villain present himself to the audience and other characters? Second, does the villain get a character arc, and is it for the better, or for the worse? Finally, does the villain have genuine feelings for the heroine, and does he achieve a happily ever after with her? Or, in other words: where does your villain come from, where is he going, and how does he get there?

There are a few different choices awaiting the author here, and some of them are, I believe, easier to sell an audience than others. Let's begin with the villain's character arc over the course of the story.

POSITIVE CHANGE VILLAIN This one is the classic: your villain love interest starts out bad, but gets better. See: Erik from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in the STAR WARS sequels, Nux in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, Dongfang Qingcang in LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL, Thyme in F4: THAILAND.

Redemption arcs are honestly not easy to write, because they need to satisfy both justice and mercy; and authors, like everyone else, tend to want to prioritise one over the other. It's interesting that of the five examples of this trope I listed above, not one of the three the Western examples end in a HEA; two out of three equate redemption with death. Meanwhile, I could also note how the Asian examples pull their punches when it comes to facing the villain with the consequences of his actions, and these are some of the BEST examples.

Still, audiences can pull for a character who's clearly capable of learning from his mistakes, and we all want to inhabit a fantasy where a terrible man learns better and earns his happy ending. I've written this kind of villain romance a couple of times, notably with Vasily in my gaslamp books. Basically, if you plan to have a HEA as an endgame in your villain romance, a positive arc is the best way to make a longterm relationship convincing.

ANTIHERO WITH IMAGE PROBLEMS This one is a bit more complicated. The love interest starts out well and gets better, but along the way he struggles with a dark side and an unfortunate predilection for angry black clothing and eyeliner. He isn't so much as a villain, as a well-meaning antagonist desperately trying not to live up to his dark reputation. See: Tantai Jin from TILL THE END OF THE MOON, but also Galadriel Higgins from THE SCHOLOMANCE books by Naomi Novik, who is in a very similar predicament though not part of a villain romance.

This one is tricky to write, because there aren't a lot of ways a genuinely well-meaning person is going to convincingly pose as an existential threat to the universe. Both TTEOTM and the SCHOLOMANCE books pull it off by invoking the future, either through time travel or through prophecy: the antihero is going to become the Dark Lord/Lady and destroy the world. This makes them a target in the present, and gives them a threatening dark side to struggle against. In TTEOTM, Tantai Jin is torn between his vindictive impulses to revenge himself on those who have wronged him, and his natural longing for the love of others. In this case, it's not so much that he's a villain intrinsically, as that he plays that role in the heroine's head.

I've never written one of these, except as a stage in a positive change arc, but it's a really fun character type that I'd genuinely love to see more of.

NEGATIVE CHANGE HERO This is another classic: the hero who lives long enough to see himself become the villain. See: Anakin Skywalker from the STAR WARS prequels, Heathcliff from WUTHERING HEIGHTS, or Wang So from SCARLET HEART RYEO. If the Antihero With Image Problems withstands the temptation to become a villain, then this character succumbs with more or less struggle. He ususally also doesn't get the girl. In face, the heroine often doesn't survive this sort of story at all.

Audiences have less trouble with this kind of story, because it can come across as properly cautionary. "If you fall in love with someone who gets a villain arc, you will die, and it is probably your fault." Everyone is happy, except the characters. Personally, I think this is realistic, because I don't think a thorough-going villain CAN be a stable longterm relationship; but just once, instead of dying, I really would like to see the heroine nope out and go to live her life in peace and quiet, as happens in the wonderful Daisy Ridley OPHELIA film.

I've actually never written one of these, either, mostly because I've never been able to bring myself to write a tragedy. But I do love reading them.

UNREPENTANT VILLAIN Or, Bad Man With a Crush. This is another really common iteration of the trope, but it's usually played from the point of view of the male hero, and the heroine usually doesn't reciprocate the villain's interest in any way. The great exception to this, of course, comes in Shakespeare's RICHARD III, where the unrepentant villain convinces the widow of one of his murder victims to marry him because he's THAT GOOD. Watching Laurence Olivier in this role at 13 may have been a formative moment of my life. Other examples are thick on the ground: Frollo from THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, Scarpia from TOSCA, the Darkling in SHADOW & BONE. Heck, I've written at least one of these myself.

Again, audiences expect this kind of villain either not to have his feelings returned or, if they are, to see either the heroine or the villain die by the end. In fact, this villain is the sort most likely not to have genuinely romantic feelings for the heroine at all; it's usually simply lust. The only example I mentioned where the villain arguably does have more complicated feelings for the heroine than a mere appetite for sex and power, and where she is tempted to reciprocate, is the one written by a woman, SHADOW & BONE - because a female writer is going to treat her heroine as a more fully orbed person, and insist on male characters treating her the same way.

The second question to ask when writing a villain romance is: how does the villain present himself to others, including the audience? Again, there are a few options here, but in any case I think one of the most important ingredients, if you're going to make the audience care about the villain, is a sense that the villain COULD be a better person than he is.

SHEEP IN WOLF'S CLOTHING The villain projects a terrifying image, but deep down he has a heart of gold. Note that this is not about character arc (for instance, this describes both Tantai Jin, who is an antihero on a positive arc, and Wang So, who is a hero on a fall arc). Rather, it's about how other characters, and the audience, view the character throughout most of the story.

A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing is easier to "redeem" because half the work is done when you show that after all, the character is better than we thought, and doesn't need as much work to be redeemed. For this reason, it's a really good choice in any sort of villain romance, because you get someone who LOOKS bad but is in fact plausible as someone who IS capable of changing and learning.

Vasily from my Miss Dark series is definitely a sheep in wolf's clothing, which is extremely fun to write. Vasily's had a traumatic change of heart which has taken away his taste for blood, treachery, and power. His habits haven't quite caught up with his heart, yet, and his determination to hold onto a semblance of power and terror makes him desperate to playact as a villainous vampire prince even though he's none of those things any longer.

SHEEP IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING I was nearly not going to include this variant at all, because where's the villainy in that? But then I remembered Anakin Skywalker. Anakin has a dark side, like Tantai Jin, which he gives into on occasion, but the prophecy that he will bring balance to the Force seems to predict a bright future for him. And he genuinely is a well-meaning person, who only wants to protect the people he cares about. For most of the story, Anakin is a good person and an upstanding Jedi with a bright future. This only makes his eventual downfall more tragic.

While how the villain presents himself is not always linked to a particular arc, this one is, since it requires a genuine hero to begin with. As I mentioned above, this kind of fall usually spells death for the heroine. I think this particular villain romance tends to be underexplored, because the freaks who like villain romance aren't into the aesthetic of a genuinely good man being corrupted, while those who write the downfall arc usually aren't into the aesthetic of villain romance. Nobody has ever written a romance about the Macbeths, and this strikes me as a missed opportunity.

WOLF IN WOLF'S CLOTHING This villain is exactly as bad as he appears on the outside, but if he's lucky, big changes are coming for him. In LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL, Dongfang Qingcang is about to have his cold dead heart magically melted. In FALLING FOR INNOCENCE, Kang Min-Ho is literally given a new one. As a Christian, I love seeing fantasy elements used to explain why the wolf in wolf's clothing is suddenly forced to trade a heart of stone for a heart of flesh, because in Christianity the only way this ever happens is through a literal miracle.

And I do think this kind of villain IS difficult to redeem for his HEA without some kind of miracle, because he's genuinely done some dreadful things, and he's determined not to repent for any of them. Kylo Ren from the STAR WARS sequels is a really excellent example of a Wolf in Wolf's Clothing: when Rey spits at him, "You're a monster!" he responds almost proudly, "Yes, I am." In a way, the Wolf in Wolf's Clothing's honesty is his one redeeming feature: he may be terrible in almost every way, but he never pretends to be a good man. This is something that the next option on the list lacks altogether.

WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING This villain looks like a good and upright person, but it's all a facade. In reality, he's conniving, ruthless, and manipulative, and whether he's a "hero" on a negative arc or a straight-up Unrepentant Villain, the story is about to unmask him as the bastard he is.

Western literature has a whole array of this type of character, and they're usually the smooth hypocrites of the canon: TOSCA's Scarpia, HUNCHBACK's Frollo, MEASURE FOR MEASURE's Angelo, KNIVES OUT's Ransom. There's just something particularly evil about someone who sees and experiences true goodness and sees it as his opportunity to mask his evil deeds, and that's why we recognise such people as irredeemable. This is why BLUEBEARD is one of the trickiest fairytales to retell, at least if you're interested in a HEA - because Bluebeard, unlike the Beast or Hades or any of the other dubious bridegrooms of fairytale literature, commits awful crimes while pretending to be an ordinary, upright businessman.

This is also where we find GOODBYE MY PRINCESS's Li Chengyin, who marries this with a corruption/fall arc. Very early on in the story, we see that although Chengyin has genuine feelings for the heroine, he's fully capable of betraying her and murdering her family for purely political motivations. At first, Chengyin is neither experienced nor hardened in evil, but he absolutely will betray anyone in his path if it will benefit his plans.

This sort of villain is particularly difficult to redeem, because he's someone who has approval and love already but chooses to destroy everyone around him anyway. He is also uniquely enraging, because we've all known people this terrible in real life - from high profile teachers and carers being caught in ongoing sexual predation, to that crumby ex-husband who traumatised your good friend. I don't think I've ever seen a character like this be convincingly redeemed, and while I think it COULD be done - I do have a Bluebeard retelling of my own up my sleeve - I do that, as with the Wolf in Wolf's Clothing, it would have to come with some kind of fantastical/miraculous explanation.

And in the end, let's face it, it's always most cathartic to see this sort of person get their comeuppance.

Third and finally, is your villain romance going to get a happily ever after? I'm one of those people who will get a lot of fun out of a romance that ends badly, like SCARLET HEART RYEO, or even something that isn't a romance at all, like RICHARD III and the ill-fated Anne Neville. But whatever you pick, I'm begging you, be very clear about whether the villain has genuine feelings for the heroine or not, and don't reward some horrible person who's never convincingly expressed care for another, with any kind of romantic validation.

HEA VARIATIONS Maybe your villain and heroine make a match of it. Most of the time this is because the villain undergoes a positive character arc to earn his happy ending, and I've got to say, this is a very sensible choice. I personally do not need to see an unrepentantly terrible person get any kind of longterm romantic relationship, either because he's trapped/deceived the heroine or because he's corrupted her to become as bad as himself; I honestly don't think that terrible people CAN have a successful longterm relationship. That said, I've written a relationship where the villain DOES make the love interest worse, but where ultimately the genuine love, empathy, and trust between them ultimately does drag both of them back to the light.

TRAGIC VARIATIONS There are a great many more options available here. The main thing I would say is that you have to give an ending that is justified by what comes before.

A common choice is to give the villain a positive arc culminating in a heroic death. I've seen this done well (FURY ROAD). I've seen it done terribly (RISE OF SKYWALKER). Personally I feel that unless the themes absolutely demand this, you should avoid it, because too often it comes across as the writers arbitrarily ridding themselves of a character they don't know what to do with.

Another common choice is to give the villain a negative arc culminating in the heroine/love interest's death. I've seen this done in ways I don't hate. In RICHARD III, Richard kills literally everyone he touches. In SCARLET HEART RYEO, death is a realistic result of the heroine's trauma and closes the door definitively on the villain's hopes for reconciliation; but it also returns her to her far better life in the future, so it becomes a glimmer of hope for her (though not quite enough). Too often, however, this choice carries with it sexist overtones. Death becomes the heroine's punishment for the crime of loving a bad man (or something else equally fatuous), while the villain is "punished" only by having to live without her.

What about a negative arc culminating in the villain's death? Well, I strongly disliked the choice made in SHADOW AND BONE, in which the heroine guts the villain while hissing "there is no redemption"; to me it was lacking in either tragic catharsis OR eucatastrophe. I think you CAN have a satisfying ending in which the heroine or somebody else kills the villain, but it needs to be an expression of catharsis or eucatastrophe, and we definitely need to feel that the villain is beyond saving - which, if you've made him a genuine romantic possibility, is often hard to feel.

I love the ending of WUTHERING HEIGHTS, in which the villain dies frustrated after realising that after all, cruelty and abuse DIDN'T have to turn him into a villain; he then reunites with the ghost of his equally terrible love interest. I also love the ending of OPHELIA, in which Ophelia, realising that Hamlet cannot be redeemed from his quest for vengeance, quietly nopes out and goes to live a happy life on her own. And then, there's the gold standard for bittersweet endings, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, in which the villain doesn't get the girl, but neither of them have to die, and her compassion for him causes him to go off and live a better life on his own. I think the thing all these have in common is that even though none of them end with the couple together, they afford the whole story a sense of hope: cycles of abuse are broken, some people get better than they deserve, and even those that don't are doomed by their own actions, rather than being killed off in a way that feels punitive or vindictive. And I feel that this is an essential ingredient of tragedy: that justice arises naturally out of the villain's own actions rather than being imposed by some righteous warrior.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER Some of these options are easier to sell the audience than others. For instance, a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing on an Unrepentant Villain arc is absolutely not good material for a HEA romance, while a Sheep in Wolf's Clothing on a Positive arc is probably your best bet (it's a classic for a reason). Others, like a Wolf in Wolf's Clothing on a positive arc, may require careful handling to ensure that the audience is happy to come along for the ride. Whatever you choose, however, it pays to be conscious of which tropes you're using, where the audience has seen them before, and what they expect to see happen to the characters that enact them. This doesn't mean that you can't defy audience expectations, of course; just that it might take a little more work to bring the audience along with you on the journey that you've planned, and that it might not be wise to pick all the worst possible options and expect the audience to embrace the character in question. (cough Li Chengyin cough).

125 notes · View notes