Something something characters that start/are antagonistic bc "this is how the world is, this is where I belong", and they struggle to challenge that on their own bc that means having to confront what it's been done to them & what they've done to others
Thank you @world-of-iridensia for your open tag for people who wanted to participate in this game! I love stuff like this. :D
I guess this game is called "This or That: Questionable Choices Edition". It's like a questionnaire for characters who make questionable decisions, lol. I'll be filling it out for my decently-enough-hearted but hard-headed and impulsive boio Kichi Watanabe. Answers are below the cut, and if you have any questions, I would die of happiness after replying to your comment. Happy Memorial Day everyone!
I tag the following people to play the game, too, because I figured they might enjoy playing the game, and they have WIPs that I am interested in reading about. And I'll leave an OPEN TAG for anyone else who wants to participate as well! :D
@wbhudson @aadhube @gothic--vampyre
Here's the template:
Antihero or villain protagonist?
Lies by omission or lies with a smile?
Your character gets caught, do they talk their way out or run?
Morally grey love interest or morally grey best friend?
Your protagonist's fatal flaw: too much trust or not enough?
Writing the betrayal scene or writing the aftermath?
Crime of passion or crime of calculation?
Redemption arc or "they were right all along" arc?
The confession scene happens in a courtroom, a rooftop, or a bed?
Your character keeps one honest thing about themselves, is it their name, their past, or their feelings for one person?
Antihero or villain protagonist?
He probably qualifies more as an antihero, but at least for his first story arc, the rest of the world sees him as a villain for a little while. :)
Lies by omission or lies with a smile?
With a smile, but he's terrible at lying. XD You would know right away that he's not telling the truth.
Your character gets caught, do they talk their way out or run?
He would try to talk his way out, and when that didn't work, he'd try to fight his way out.
Morally grey love interest or morally grey best friend?
Morally gray best friend. "I would die for you" is too cliche. Would you kill for me? Would you help me break into a jail and commit felonies with me? If the answer is no, then we are not friends (by his unconscious standards, I guess).
Your protagonist's fatal flaw: too much trust or not enough?
Too much. He doesn't really think about what's going on until it's already over, and then it occurs to him, "Hey, wasn't that like, a bad thing we just did?"
Writing the betrayal scene or writing the aftermath?
Betrayal, mwa hahahahahhahah >:3 And it ends with some stabbing!
Crime of passion or crime of calculation?
Passion. He does not do any calculating whatsoever. He's kind of dumb. :P
Redemption arc or "they were right all along" arc?
Redemption. But it's a long, hard-earned redemption with many seasons of doubt along the way.
The confession scene happens in a courtroom, a rooftop, or a bed?
Hospital bed! Nothing says "I regret what I did" like life support and a body cast. 😌
Your character keeps one honest thing about themselves, is it their name, their past, or their feelings for one person?
His feelings for one person. It's easy to give a random name, and not too hard to be vague about where you're from, but it's pretty hard to pretend like you don't hate the guy who wants to kill your dad, particularly when you're in the same room with him. Just sayin.
Dear perverts and degenerates, perhaps you saw that I'm publishing my debut novel in March.
So in between the regular scheduled horny shit posts about kylux there will be some bonus horny shit posts about my vampires.
As a neurodivergent, Afro-Indigenous trans author, I gotta scream into the void however I can about my unhinged boys.
Bear with me. Enjoy the ride. Maybe let them bite you a little 🩸
- The police can't fucking touch him. His father has lawyers that your lawyers have nightmares about. Hopper has busted him four separate times getting a blowjob in his BMW at the quarry. Each time he knows it would be more trouble to bring him in so Hopper just tells them to go home and ignores it when they definitely do not.
- Steve has access to ANYTHING. You want expensive booze? Got it. Coke? No problem. Weed? The shit he has is fucking TOXIC. If you're a friend of King Steve you want for nothing.
- And Steve has never been good with reading or numbers. But people? Steve is good with people. Has a photographic memory for faces. And while he's not always good at remembering names (Tommy and Carole take care of that for him) he can tell you at least ONE incriminating secret about most people in Hawkins.
- Steve's parents are always away on "business". They're still never home. Steve Harrington was given the key to the city and decided to build an empire on top of it's bones. He knows EVERYONE. Knows their strengths and weaknesses. Knows how to use them to get what he wants.
- Que Jonathan Byers. You see Jonathan is a quiet guy. Goes unnoticed by most and brushed off by the rest. But Jonny boy? He watches. Listens. Takes photos at precisely the right moment.
- So Steve pays him for his talents. "Keep an ear to the ground. Bring me back something useful". Because King Steve takes care of those who serve him. And a week after Jonathan brought Steve pictures of the mayor bending his 16 year old intern over his desk, Joyce Byers gets a promotion at the general store and a hefty raise. He brings Steve a tip that some shady looking guy broke into Steve's backyard and looked like he was possibly planting bugs. Jonathan gets a state of the art brand new camera and a date with Nancy Wheeler.
- Also look I hate Nancy as a girlfriend but love the idea of Nancy and Steve just being bitchy and beautiful together. Like she's probably his only real friend. Because while Tommy is friends with King Steve, he would just as easily throw him to the wolves if a new contender stood a good chance of stealing that crown. Nancy is friends with Steve Harrington. The boy who hasn't seen his parents in almost a year. Who wakes up crying from nightmares filled with flowers and teeth and blood.
- Speaking of the upside down bullshit, Steve never ends up signing any NDA's. His father may not be around to teach him to shave or how to change a tire but he DID teach him the importance of anonymity. Of NEVER signing paperwork unless your lawyer looks it over twice. So after he cracks a nail bat across the demogorgons face, he has Nancy and Jonathan promise that they won't tell anyone he was ever there. It's another secret Steve gets to hoard. His most valuable.
- Billy Hargrove still roars into the Hawkins high parking lot with his Camaro and bad boy attitude but this time Tommy isn't looking for a new monarch. His leash is tied tight to the leg of Kind Steve's throne and likes it that way. So when the new guy from Cali is sniffing around asking questions about who runs this joint Tommy brings Steve a new toy like the good dog he is. Leads Billy behind the bleachers where Steve, Nancy and Carole are smoking Cuban cigars because they're spoiled rich kids and they still think it's funny that the principal can't do shit since Jonathan snapped a picture of Mr. Henley bringing a male prostitute into a motel room an hour out of town. Steve gave Will an Atari for that one.
- And Billy's from the not so nice part of L.A. Grew up with police sirens and gun shots as white noise since he was a baby. So when he sees Steve Harrington the first thing he notices is how he holds himself like the gang leaders Billy saw walking down the boardwalk as a kid. Like he owned the world. And for all intents and purposes he DOES. Holds Hawkins in the palm of his hand. And shit maybe a change of strategy was in order.
- Cuz Billy was gunna punch his way to the top. Find the king pin and pull him right out of the fucking cork board. But Steve Harrington is a well loved king. Is generous and lacks any real cruelty. He's also very very pretty. Billy can definitely work with that. Smiles with hunger and teeth. Swaggers up to Steve all confident like.
- But you see, Steve? Steve is good with people. Can read them like Nancy reads flash cards for biology. Barely a glance and it's all he needs. And he's doing way more than glancing now. Feels like he's looking into Billy's soul. Cataloguing all the cracks and tears. The weak points. But also the blue of his eyes. The sandy blond curls. An ass that won't fucking quit. And Carole and Nancy and Jonathan smirk. Cuz they know Tommy did good. Know the look on Steve's face means he's gunna eat this new guy alive. After all. Every King needs a Queen.
