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Jan 2024

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Crafting flowers seems like something he'd do.

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.)

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

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

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

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.

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.)

For reading, I have no preference on prince charming or bad boy; variety is the spice of life for me. :wink: 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."

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.

I agree, you can starts with a basic cliche, but it has to go deeper, that's kind of a huge part of "Damsel in the Red Dress." At first Kattar seems like a perfect prince charming, then you realize that he's got some kind of mean or manipulative traits that come from the fact that he's used to things going his way, because he's a pampered rich boy.

A character foil is someone who contrasts with another character (like a main character or villain) to highlight their qualities. The first ones that come to mind are like Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, or like Kirk and Spock from Star Trek. Their personalities compliment or highlight their partner's. :wink:

Ahhh, okay. So the bad boys are designed to be foils for the prince charming?

They can be (at least when I write them :wink:). Some bad boys are ML or 2ML in their own right, also villains sometimes.

14 days later

he has two personalities? or is he a combination of both?

Honestly I've never talked to a woman who actually prefers "bad boys" irl. So idk where the stereotypes come from

I don't think I ever have either. But movies tend to perpetuate a lot of negative tropes, probably for the sake of "drama"

18 days later

So this is the case for my secondary male lead in "Damsel in the Red Dress" he appears to fall pretty solidly into the realm of Prince Charming. Handsome, nice, funny, charismatic. Basically in all ways perfect, which would seem shallow except that there's more...

25 days later

Interestingly, in the realm of seeming suave while doing anything for the sake of their sweetheart, my female lead in "Hushabye Prince" falls closer to Prince Charming than the male lead does, even though it's LITERALLY a fairy tale inspired theme

16 days later
24 days later

Riley probably is going to come across very strongly as a bad boy, but he actually doesn't do cliche 'bad boy' type things beyond wearing eyeliner XD. He's actually very quiet, and doesn't cause trouble. Just proof an aesthetic doesn't define your personality. He's not really suave or Prince charming-y either. Though to be fair, as the story isn't a romance, he doesn't get a lot of opportunity to show how he'd try to woo someone.

(this is free for everyone on my Patreon public posts)

22 days later

Well this story doesn't debut until June 15th, but the male lead of "A Dozen Morning Glories" is definitely closer to Prince Charming, even than Kattar honestly. He's just the sweetest person on planet earth, and tries his best to make everyone happy, friends and family included, not just his love interest.

He also buys and gives a lot more gifts than either of my other male leads do.

I prefer more like "The good guy/boy next door/best friend to love type of male leads as a reader and as a writer too. I can't help at it, but this is my type irl too :see_no_evil:

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Details:

If you were given a chance to cure your insomnia in just one take of a pill each night, would you purchase the item?

While walking to her part-time work, Estelle was cornered by a weird but tall model-like woman who offered her a jar of pills. She said to Estelle that the pill would help her sleep at night comfortably. She didn't lie though. Estelle purchased the pill and tried it out that night. But the woman omitted the part that she would go to a parallel world!

Every night that Estelle would take the pill, she would find herself in a world that was different from what she came from. Royals, Magicians, Elves, Dragons, Divine Creatures... a land where magic lies and mana fosters.

On her first night, she met Azval whom she was indebted to after an unfortunate encounter. Azval helped her to settle in The Elderberry Inn where Estelle managed to work and earn rias to pay him back. Other than that, she would also accompany the young mercenary to enjoy the night market.

Estelle was enjoying her stay there until one night, she decided to take the pill all at once.

"If one night is equivalent to a one night with me having a good night's rest, then if I swallow all of them in just one go... will I be able to stay in that dimension for 20 days too?"

That was supposed to be the plan...

But how come the 20 days stay, turned into six months? What will Estelle do?!

"You're not supposed to be here."

"You put both yourself and Amalia in danger. "

It's more interesting writing a bad boy because you get to explore how they think and know what led them to be a /bad boy/ :))

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Know more about the (in)famous Cardinal Suarez in the latest chapter of Letter Addressed To The Fire! Read through documents, journals, and newspaper articles with Knight Azure to finally pinpoint who the real traitor is.

Letter Addressed To The Fire is a story told through letters, diaries, journals, newspaper articles, documents, and the likes, aside from the perspective of the main characters. This story follows Azure and Caramella Red as they find solace in one another amidst the growing rivalry of their syndicates. There is also the question regarding their relationship: is it platonic or is it romantic? Be the judge, so know more and give this story a shot if you are into some angsty Romeo-and-Juliet type of things :))

Thank you so much for your support! Hope you like it and continue reading it <3

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Synopsis:

Twelve years ago, Azure Skylar, the Knight of the Cross of the unparalleled syndicate, the Chapel, was favored by the Pope himself to work on a mission that would determine the fate of their entire group against their growing rival, the Empire.

Twelve years ago, Azure met Caramella Red Aberdeign and found a friend in her. For once, he knew rest, quiet, peace, and comfort. Little did he know that Caramella Red was also the infamous Sweet Crimson, the ace assassin of their growing rival, the Empire.

A mistake, a wrong decision, a missed opportunity, all wrapped in the same regret that led to the ink on paper weeping about all that should have been said and done before time came and went. A story inspired by Taylor Swift's Evermore, Letter Addressed to the Fire will take you to a trip down the star-crossed soulmates' memory lane and tell you about all that was only whispered in the wind twelve years ago.

You get to explore how a "good boy" thinks too, and what leads them to choose or try to be good

22 days later
28 days later

Kattar keeps trying to be a stoic cool guy, which would lean toward bad boy, but he keeps being a sweet affectionate prince instead. Also it's hard not to be a prince charming if you have charisma and grew up as rich as he did lol.

He holds his arms out like a little kid waiting to be picked up-

“Come here,” he says shaking his head with a slight, sincere smile, and I walk - collapse into the hug realizing-

How crazy long it’s been since the last time he hugged me. I hugged him…

“You’re freezing cold,” I mumble.