Writing Romance: Bad boys or Prince Charmings? Which do you prefer and/or write (but keep it sfw)

[Leyelle]

That's actually kind of the point of the thread. Those two tropes are polar opposites, and I want to know where people's characters fall in between. Definitely a perfect or an entirely bad lead would be boring, that's why I never write them. It's more about adding to these characters to have depth beyond the cliche, or to have personalities and character traits that deviate from the trope, which is almost literally the whole idea behind "Damsel in the Red Dress."

[stiatent]

Yea true, if they completely fawless in stories it can get annoying. Feels more realistic with the 'perfectly seeming prince charming' having a flaws as you get to know them more.
I like both 'prince charming' and 'redeemable badboys' in other media. However similar to you, I dont like the "badboy types" that just abusive, creepy and a total jerk expecially to the significant other who just accepts it, that just feels abuse victim-ey and a story like that may lack any narrative growth, unless maybe they were side characters and the protag was trying to convince the 'abused individual' to see further than the 'abusive lover'.

Usually when writing enjoy making characters that may have a bit of both charming and badboy, or maybe slight leaning to to one of the sides " in their 1st impression". I prefer thinking they have layers like real people eg. many people in your life would have the sweet caring side in their usual setting but may also have a rebellious 'badboy' side when needing to get a task done or a point across. I imagined Evan from Sickboy we build familiarity of him as the caring brother to his little brother Owen 1st and overtime you see a buildup of his 'mischevious', recklessness and preferance to play by his own rules (stuff attributed to badboys).

[Stargazer31]

I also like "himbo" characters. Gimme a big golden retriever of a guy any day and he'll be my fave!

[Leyelle]

Himbo? What does that mean?

[KevinReijnders]

Strong beefy guys who are also dumb but in an adorable way. Generally have a heart of gold

[Vikthetoonaddict]

Lol That's straight up my type and I appreciate it.

[Leyelle]

Ahh, you must love "Ore Monegatari" then

[Vikthetoonaddict]

I really like the Prince Charming trope, granted, that the dude has the "Charming" part more than the prince part. Specifically, a guy who is kind and emotionally available to his partner regardless of his status or wealth. Someone who does his fair share and more so if the partner is in need.

Like someone who would make you a bouquet every anniversary even if he can't buy the best roses.

[Leyelle]

Yes, or an origami bouquet if he can't by flowers at all, (I saw a post about this, he made a bouquet out of printer paper.)

That's interestingly a part of what Kattar and Alicia had to break through. He thought he couldn't be her lover because he's paralyzed and thusly, unemployed at the moment. But she is crazy rich, what she wants from him is emotional support, and knowing that he WOULD save her if he could, that he HAS saved her when he could before he was paralyzed, is enough for her.

[Vikthetoonaddict]

I may steal the origami idea for The Blue Fedora.

[Leyelle]

That would be so sweet. You did say Otto grew up poor right?

[Vikthetoonaddict]

He did! in a pre-WW2-Germany, no less.

Crafting flowers seems like something he'd do.

[Leyelle]

Wait, what era is this story set in? Is it time travel or a period piece? (sorry I was watching Doctor Who with my dad yesterday, so you never know. It could be a Rory x Amy Pond situation.)

[Vikthetoonaddict]

It's set in 1935! In New York! Basically the era a ton of superheroes got invented.

But, time travel seems like a cool concept! I may use it someday.

[Leyelle]

So wait, Chrystal (sorry if I misspelled this) is a rich black woman in the thirties..? How...?

[Vikthetoonaddict]

Her Mom invented a line of hair and beauty products! Inspired by Madam CJ Walker. Crystal's mom lives a pretty quiet personal life with her partner in spite of such a hectic professional life.

[Leyelle]

Hmm, I've never heard of that lady before. I didn't know any african americans managed that kind of success before the latter half of the 20th century, and I've done quite a bit of research on civil rights stuff, (granted in books rather than the internet) when I was younger. Interestingly, I have a story about a black woman who invented a line of hair care products, it's called "Lion Proof." (As a black woman myself I'm honestly looking for more stories where black women are anything other than poor single moms.)

[skidiggy]

For reading, I have no preference on prince charming or bad boy; variety is the spice of life for me. I admittedly don't have much patience for abusive or cruel leads, and have been known to drop a series if the ML's a jerk.

For my own work, I prefer to write prince charming characters, as the bad boys typically end up as either villains or foils in my stories. It's not that I'm against a bad boy with a heart of gold, but it can also be challenging to ride the line between a "lovable scamp with reckless tendencies" versus a "truly toxic scumbag jack-wagon that has no business with the heroine."

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[DiegoPalacios]

I think the issue is that both the prince charming and bad boy often fall in the trappings of feeling generic along multiple stories, which can make both types undesirable for different reasons.

If their only trait is being "nice" or "bad", they will become one-note and uninteresting.

You can have these archetypes, but gotta dig deeper on who they are aside from their D&D alignment if you want to make them enjoyable and if you want fans fawning over them.

[Leyelle]

What do you mean by foils?