Writing - Blog Posts
write characters bi
write characters who call themselves bi
write bi characters who have bi friends
write bi characters who date bi people
write bi characters who know they’re bi
write characters who discover they’re bi
write bi characters who aren’t plot devices for love triangles
write bi characters who aren’t confused
write bi characters who are
just write bi characters
i'm rereading circe by madeline miller for my literary analysis essay in english using a feminist approach/lens
it's due in two weeks and we have midterms NEXT WEEK and multiple REHEARSALS TO PERFORMED INT WO WEEKS AS WELL WHAT IS THSI SCHEDULE SOMEONE GIVE ME TIPS???
He walked. He walked the barren lands and dried seas. He walked everywhere and nowhere. He walked with nothing but Priscilla's head clutched to his chest, her body descrated from the destruction he himself caused. All that he left in his wake was his footsteps — and soon, his sanity.
So he talked.
He talked and talked. He talked through lifeless banks and ashen cities. He talked of everything and nothing — the war, the world, the origins. He talked and no one listened. But his words would be engraved on the world he would soon leave, quite literally hanging in the air waiting to be heard.
It's a punishment, he thinks to himself as he buries his everything.
It's only as he is entering his prison when the smallest speck of life grows from the skull that used to be. And it's only a million or a billion or infinite years later, where life is lush on the lands again.
A boy is born screaming — the voice in his head is deafening.
Ŧħɇ Nɇŧwøɍꝁ ɨs̷ n̷øŧ ħa̷ᵽᵽɏ.
"Where I come from, there's this belief — a saying — that telling narratives to wherever you are brings about a good journey. It goes like:
Stories to Scheherazade, shanties for Nautilus. Lullabies to Arden, poems for the Dawn.
I forgot the rest of it, but that's basically just the main point. I've been sailing for three years now. Singing different shanties every night on a boat in the middle of the ocean has you running out of things to sing over the years.
Sing one for me, would you?"
i had a thing while washing the dishes. i applied the line "i've always entertained the thought of a higher reality" to one of my characters, except they were telling it to me (which was unexpected of my brain, really).
and isn't that a terrifying thought.
because??? would this character, one of the first i created and loved, condemn me for literally causing her demise? which made me think of something else: i do not know.
i have a vague idea, yes but really, not accurately. i don't know how she'd react to this??? this character developed on their own and i have not an inkling of thought of the gears inside that mind of hers.
i think i understand my mother quite a bit now.
1 🐮
Lucifer looked very distraught. Well, getting kidnapped by alien invaders can get very stressful, indeed. How a cow can look so... expressively distraught is something Cas wouldn't care to understand.
He relates.
daily entry (ast.)
Okay but THIS dynamic when characters realize their feelings for each other
To my future significant other:
You will have to fight for my love and affection. And I mean this in the sincerest way possible. I won't believe you when you compliment me. I'll spend every moment we're together convincing myself you hate me. I'll be waiting for the moment when you leave me or laugh at how foolish I am for thinking you could love me.
But,
If you are willing to push back against my bitter judgement, to silence the voices in my mind, to love me; if you pound on the walls that have enclosed me for so long, fighting to enter
Then I promise I will be on the other side, fighting just as hard to let you in.
I never want to touch generative AI with a ten foot pole
I’d rather rip my own skin off and become a piece of art , rather than use AI to make a soulless image with no meaning
I can barely write , but i would rather write in my blood than ask an Ai to write for me
NOTICE: As more and more fanfic writers are using generative AI for their works (you uncreative dweebs), I hereby swear on everything I hold dear that I have not and will NEVER use generative AI in ANY of my written work. Everything I post will be organically and creatively my own.
Tips for writing
I already had another story which I never got to post, since I kept rewriting it into eternity. After forcing myself to take a break from it, I think I finally figured out a way to keep consistently writing a story. So, I thought maybe this post might stumble across a reader who struggles with similar things as I did and I could provide a possible solution without them needing to go through a year and over 10 different versions of a first chapter ending in a failed project. (and admitting that I needed to stop was what hurt the most since I really love the idea I had and maybe I might even try to restart that story, but that's a topic for another post in maybe 2 to 3 years.)
Also Disclaimer: This is only my opinion on the matter and what I figured to be helpful. In the end, it's up to you how you want to write your story and to decide what works for you. I'm just sharing my experiences.
I had a couple of problems which mixed up together until I needed to give up.
First off, I lacked structure. With my first bigger story, I had an idea, a beginning and I knew some major plot points that needed to happen. But what I never knew was when or how the story ended. I just wanted to tell an endless story or figure out an ending on the way. That didn't work for me.
With my current story (which you can check out here, if you're interested) I researched a couple of ways how to structure a story properly. (It was just for fun honestly, but so helpful in the end) I already had, like before a vague idea, and some plot points I wanted to happen. What I did: See if my story would fit into any of these structures and what would happen at which point until the end. And then I found a structure that fit my story (almost) perfectly. After that, I wrote down the plot in bullet points creating my outline for the story.
(Note: Of course, you can take any story structure you find and bend it a little. For example, I decided to go for a three act-structure and decided to skip the introduction part, since I wanted to plunge the reader into the story without heavily explaining what was going on. They would figure it out on the way … )
This means I knew what happened at which moment. And most importantly, I had an ending. Now I had to face my next challenge, fighting my constant urge to rewrite everything. After proceeding with my used-to-way of just writing what comes to my head, I quickly figured out that this wouldn't work. It didn't work earlier and it didn't work now. So, I needed to figure out what was wrong with my approach.
For that, there are multiple options to do so. Either you can ask others for their opinion of what is wrong with your text or try proofreading yourself. I recorded how I read my texts and heard afterwards to the footage while I was reading along (and yes, it sucks hearing your own voice on record, but if you imagine it's another person, it's not that painful anymore, after a while)
Then I had another important realization. I still had no structure in my chapters. The story was now well structured and I knew what I wanted to write the chapter about, but my thoughts were jumping from one thought to another and then back again. To solve this problem, I came up with an approach that still works for me.
Before writing the chapter, I think about what I want to happen in this chapter. For example, in my current story, I needed to introduce the two main characters and they needed to meet. I also wanted to hide some hints on backstory and needed to write about the event that starts the entire story. With that in mind, I just start loosely writing down what comes to my mind. It doesn't matter if it's good or not, since I'm going to rewrite it later on. Once I come to a point, where I completed all of my goals for that chapter, I take what I wrote down and structure the plot into bullet points. Then I take these and write a second version along with the bullet points. This makes sure that my thoughts are structured in the end and that I have a clear storyline to follow.
After that, the last step is proofreading. As already said before, you can ask others to give you feedback or record yourself. Maybe use a grammar program to fix obvious mistakes you've overseen (helps a lot. especially if you're writing in a language that you don't use everyday) In this stage I mostly find some sentences that are hard to read / speak or just some wordings that repeat or don't quite sound right. So I go ahead, mark them and fix them.
And after that, I was by now always satisfied with what I wrote. This method might be a little overkill but it works for me and the most important thing you need to keep in mind: If you'd like to write something, it's supposed to be fun. No matter the way you do it. The process of creating an own story and slowly watching it come alive, that's the feeling that makes me happy and why I keep writing.
Hope you had fun reading and maybe I was able to give you one or another idea on how to write a story. If you want more tips, you can send me an ask or just comment on this post.
you read stuff on wattpad for shit and giggles where most of the fics there are reader-inserted ones written in 1st person pov where y/n is a barely legal white girl with blonde hair and blue “orbs” who’s so smol and fragile that she’s dependent entirely on this morally questionable guy who’s killing people for a living but for some reason happens to have a soft spot for her.
you read real actual literature on archive of our own where it’s two middle aged men, who are each other’s sworn enemies, with tragic past, trauma and strong homoerotic tension. and while they’ve made each other bleed, killed each other’s friends and loved ones out of jealousy / possessiveness, lied and betrayed and manipulated, the rawness, depth, complexity and slow burn will keep you up all night, haunt you during your day and possibly change your life forever. and also the sex isn’t just smut. the sex is poetry that puts Shakespeare to shame
there is good, maybe, very soon
endless possibilities, I am at the edge
every step I could hurl
I'm not used to hope working
the world will need to earn my trust again
fall will come again
and this time I will not be in a hospital bed
and I will not be waken up at 5am just to be put under for ect treatments, wishing I won't wake up
the air is gonna be thin and free
and the cloud will protect me and the rain will wet my eyes
not my tears
The pain. It's better if you imagine it.
Late night thinking pt3/?
this was in my drafts and the number yall chose was this one soo....enjoy?
To love someone...
To love someone so much, to the point you change yourself for their sake.
It could be the normal, improving yourself, making yourself just that little bit better, someone they can be proud of, giving to charity more often, having better manners, saving more time for your partner.
But this is inspector me's late night thinking so as nice as that is, no.
To love someone so much that you change yourself...you change your very essence, if you could you'd turn yourself into an energy so they themselves could continue to be...them.
You'd change yourself into something thats no longer human, a tool, a monster, a shadow.
You dont want anything other than for them to thrive, you love them so much.
When i think of this all i imagine is the humble shadow. You'd changed into mere wisps, you swirl and sway around your lover, constantly in contact with their skin. No one expects you to be there but you don't care, as long as you are there...for them
You move quickly around them, you protect them from harm, turning into a weapon at their whim.
You move slowly around them, so soft, so slow. giving a cold comfort, covering their body entirely in yourself, your new form as a shadow allowing you to engulf them in a way you wish you could have done before.
I've got a shit ton of drafts so would y'all be interested in seeing them, i think most of them are done. None of them are like character x reader, they're just random drabbles and thoughts. so uh I've got five i think, so you lot can just pick a number and I'll post that one lol
Would you stay?
Im not quite sure what this is but I've been listening to some really depressing music so that what im blaming this on. The first chapter of immortal souls is in the works
Would you stay with me if I turned to a monster so different from how I used to be? I'm no longer human, I look so different. It's still me but I'm not the same, I'm a monster now, ugly and harsh.
Would you stay with me if I said I wanted to watch the world burn? leaving only us as the rest is used to keep us warm. Evil in a way that spurs the worst of chaos yet it's all for you. I'm not how I used to be, now a burning hot, filled with rage.
Would you stay with me if I said I could not feel love? If I said I could not feel love but I felt lonely without you? Would you stay through that loveless companionship? I'm not who I once was, there's no love, just emptiness and loneliness. Our so called love was just a charade to hide my loneliness.
Would you stay with me if I failed at everything? No matter how hard I try it all goes wrong in some way, a never ending cycle. I'm not the same anymore, consumed by the desire to succeed for once yet doused with failure after failure like its gasoline.
Would you stay with me if I descended into madness? My once calming laugh now echoes down halls and induces fear into most. Would you stay with me then? when I have to be tied up as to not tear my flesh from my bones, to stop myself from carving every inch of me to prove my love and desire for you.
Would you stay with me if no one else did? If everyone who saw me ran in fear and horror, would you stay? Whether it was my actions or looks that causes them to run all the way home so they can hide under their blankets. Would you stay by my side when I'm so disfigured on the inside and out that people cannot bare to look at me?
Would you stay with me if I never spoke a word to you? If all your questions and attempts at conversation were met with a cold silence, would you stay? If I only show my love through actions but never once utter the words "i love you"...would you stay?
Would you stay with me if I didn't exist? if our love was simply formed out of your loneliness and desperation to be loved by someone. Would you stay? When I dont appear in mirrors or photos or anywhere else but your head.
Would you stay with me even when I wouldn't? When I would leave myself at an abandoned bus station in a heartneat, loose myself in a crowd of people where I stand out so much but yet I'd look over myself, maybe I wouldn't even try to find myself. Would you stay with me when I dont understand how you could want to stay?
Would you stay with me even if I was not from this world? If I was unnatural and unbelonging of being on this earth with you. Would you stay? While I break the laws of nature and life to be here next to you?
Would you stay with me? When this is all over, all said and done...when I'm not quite the same as you remember me and yet I'm just about exactly the same. When my face doesn't look as young as it used to, but it shows the long times we had together. Would you stay when I grow old and forget your birthday? your name? your favourite flower?
Would you stay when all I can remember...is that I love you?
Bio thingy
hey im inspector me you can call me inspector for short or whatever tbh. I write a bunch of random stuff. im getting ready for university so i can't promise reliable or regular updates but my asks are always open! You can ask me pretty much anything unless it's too much into my irl life (like what school did you go to and stuff like that, things like my favourite animal or trivial stuff is fine :] )
you are welcome to ask for requests as long as it follows the rough guidelines below, if you're not sure ask anyways and I'll let you know!
What I do
Male Reader
gender neutral reader
anime
haikyuu
jjk (jujitsu kaisen) ((I've only watched the anime))
black clover
blue exorcist
one piece (currently on episode 212 but I've already had a few spoilers lol)
demon slayer
hxh
dorohedoro
dan da dan
T.V
Merlin (BBC)
Titans (DC show)
The Boys (haven't finished yet but im almost done i think)
Books
Percy Jackson (im not as involved with the fandom and I've only read the basic series)
Skulduggery pleasant
Half bad (Bastard son of the devil himself) (both the show and the books)
other
rick and morty
call of duty (mostly ghost tbh but ask away)
What I dont do
rape (i feel like i shouldn't have to write this but ive seen a few things on this site so y'know)
paedophilia
incest (of any kind)
male pregnancy (it's just not my cuppa)
Abuse (makes me kinda uncomfortable to write characters like that)
Fem reader (im not a woman, i did try to write it but it just felt off to me, if you really want me to write something with Fem reader and it hasn't got much to do with plot i might be able to do it but if not it'll just be GN)
I might have to add a few if I get any more requests but for now this is it.
If you want something that isn't mentioned on here dont be afraid to ask or even just chat. I watch a lot of anime and other medias and i dont mind researching something just to write it for you.
My boundaries
I dont really have much lmao. i dont mind swearing or dark humour just remember to be respectful :] i won't tolerate any racism, homophobia or anything like that.
also, since im new im still figuring out tags so my apologies if i tag something wrong, let me know and I'll fix it asap!
my tags:
the inspectors hoard - just reblogs of cool stuff or random shit.
the inspector thinks - drabbles, head cannons, random thoughts.
the inspector writes - writing obviously.
the inspectors interrogation - responding to asks.
the inspectors rants - unrelated to writing, just me talking about random stuff.
Prompt #1
You and your girlfriend have been in the relationship for a few months. A bit weird one, since you have never kissed or spent time in bed together, but it didn't matter much to you. You love her, after all. One day she approached you and said:
"So, don't be mad, but I have something to tell you..."
She sighs, her hands are trembling a bit.
"I hope you don't change your opinion about me after this, but... I like you. Romantically."
You chuckle, relieved that it's just a prank and nothing serious happened.
"Yeah, I know, I like you too, babe."
Her eyes widened.
"Wait, really?!"
"Mhm. And it's funny how you pull this prank when we're already in the relationship for months."
She is completely perplexed.
"We were in the relationships?"
Suddenly, you're starting to understand why you have never kissed.
"... WAIT, WE WEREN'T?!?"
THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS!
Why don't more people know about the wonderful interrobang‽‽
It's so sad smh
Literally furious that a ‽ symbol exists and just never caught on. You’re telling me there’s a more streamlined way to ask exclamatory questions than this, and it just never caught on?!?!?! I’m so mad. English has the worst punctuations, I swear.
Cause I’m a ✨FANFICTION WRITER✨
lol please enjoy this stupid little video I made about fanfiction. No thoughts at all. Just silliness.
You’re welcome.
Excellent tips and habits for writers
The advice I've given before is to write every scene you think of, no matter if it gets used or not. Its always a great idea to go back every once and a while and edit these scenes, or revise them.
Never force inspiration or a scene. If it isn't coming naturally, take a break and come back later or the next day. it's important to give yourself time to think. use your break to day dream about your story and what could come next. if your brain is happy, this should be relatively simple. If your brain isn't happy, then you need to take a longer break, stop writing for the day all together, or write something else.
if you're a pantser, like me, and it's hard to plot. You can practice reverse plotting, and plot your story as you go. make notes of things that happen in your story, changes in a character, changes in the plot, changes in the setting, dates for events, timelines, important information that's been revealed, anything you deem important to your story.
always reread what you've already written. don't try to edit it. turn off your editor brain and reread your story so far before you resume writing, so you can get into the voice and tone that you've already established.
if you're finding it difficult to start writing or keep writing. try turning off your internal editor and free write. it's good practice to be able to write down your unfiltered thoughts or daydreams without having to stop and edit while you're writing. it helps with your writing flow, getting the scene down onto the page, and increases your writing intuition.
before you write, always take time to daydream or think about your story beforehand. it helps things go much smoother in the long run.
if you've been working on something for a long time, don't pressure yourself into confinement. if you want to work on something new but you're worried about what you've been working on, don't. stop worrying and write what you want. forcing yourself to keep writing something when you don't want to is just going to make you burn out faster.
don't be afraid to create visuals or playlists that help you with what you're writing. It's an enviable talent to be able to write something off a photo you saw on pinterest, or a song you really like.
if you find yourself in a mood where you want to write really badly, but you have no idea what you want to write, and none of the prompts you find are appealing enough. find an activity you use to destress, whether its listening to music, listening to asmr, doom scrolling on social media, or browsing pinterest. go do that. chances are, you'll find something that will inspire you what to write when you're not looking for it.
🕯️ from the crypt...
✦ the offering that was never accepted by the gods ✦ sharpening your teeth just to wear out your vocal cords screaming ✦ isolation
dead dove | tragedy | problematic relationships. snippet under the line ✦ as seen on twitter
"His breathing was shallow and the shadows underneath his eyes told stories of grief that nobody could understand. There was a collective sigh of relief when he finally wrestled the door open, and disappeared behind the drapes of obscurity once again. The city started moving again, unaware of the tragedy being orchestrated from the dark."
When it all comes down
Event: Angstpril 2025 ; hosted by @chaos-company Prompt: Day 4—"I trusted you" Fandom: Boku No Hero Academia | My Hero Academia Ship: Bakugou Katsuki x Midoriya Izuku | BakuDeku Rating: M Tags: MCD
The fight was nothing that Bakugou had ever seen before. It took everything he had not to run into the fray, but he had strict orders to stay on the sidelines. The villain that they were apprehending had a multiplication quirk. Multiplying every attack thrown his way. And if Bakugou got involved, everyone in the surroundings would be in danger. His explosions would burn everything in the surroundings to the fucking ground, and it was driving him insane.
De—Izuku was there. In the middle of all of it. Their relationship wasn’t common knowledge, but it was something big and important enough for Bakugou to feel that his entire heart and soul was out there on the battlefield.
He was supposed to do recon and catch any flyaway villains, but his eyes were glued to the intense battle in the middle of the city block.
Izuku was chosen because his quirk wasn’t natural. He was chosen for his. And it was the one loophole they could find where the villain’s quirk wouldn’t work, but it didn’t help that the villain touched everyone he could to get to Izuku.
He was pacing, and he had enough of their friends watching him from the corner of their eyes, confused at his actions.
He couldn’t care about their questioning glances, or the theories running around in their minds, until… the villain threw Izuku with strength akin to Gigantomachia’s.
He fell from the sky like a ragdoll, and Bakugou’s mind completely blanked. He didn’t think about the other Heroes, or the civilians, or even the fucking Villain that put them in that position to start. He used his explosions to fly to Izuku, but he wasn’t fast enough. He heard the sickening crack on the sidewalk and he faltered. That second of fear was enough for him to lose his momentum and fall close to where Izuku did.
It felt like the whole world was on fire, but Bakugou army-crawled through the debris to get closer. The villain was busy breaking everything down. Buildings were on fire, and crumbling, but Bakugou got to him.
The sight was one that Bakugou had seen all through their High School career. Izuku broken, in pain, and bleeding. But this time. Something was different. People were starting to crowd around them but Bakugou threw indiscriminate blasts all around them to keep the onlookers away.
“Izuku? Baby, please…” He whispered, but. There was no reaction. Izuku didn’t suddenly start breathing, or open his pretty green eyes to stare at Bakugou and ask what he was on about.
Bakugou tried to do CPR, but he couldn’t focus long enough to do it properly. He just ended up punching at Izuku’s chest trying to get a reaction…any reaction. But nothing was working.
He couldn’t end this way. It.. couldn’t. Him and Izuku were still figuring out their lives, trying to get it on track. They. Wanted to work on their issues to the point where they could tell their friends about their relationship, but they couldn’t get it right..not yet.
He tore open Izuku’s stupidly complicated Hero costume, but even then, he had no idea where to go. He wasn’t a medical Hero. He wasn’t someone who knew what to do.
“YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME, IZUKU. YOU CAN’T… LEAVE.” Bakugou put his ear to Izuku’s chest as he pushed his fingers against the pulse point, but there was nothing. Just a straight line of zero activity. Bakugou also couldn’t feel any breath release from Izuku’s mouth or nose.
Everything around Bakugou was crumbling, just like the buildings in the city block. He was being pelted with debris, and when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he sent another blast. He heard a small yelp, and he was just glad that the person was moving away. Disappearing from his bubble.
“YOU FUCKING DEKU. YOU BETTER. JUST…” His throat was raw from the yelling and he was getting tired. He was… giving up.
He rolled onto his knees and held Izuku’s tattered costume in his hands.
He could feel his eyes welling up, but he looked into the sun to try and keep the tears at bay.
“I trusted you. I trusted you to stay. To build a life with me. To,” stay. He couldn’t say it out loud, because. Izuku was supposed to be different. He was…supposed to be the one.
Bakugou got pulled away from Izuku’s body and he was swarmed by other Heroes. Some were glaring at him, others just looked at him and he could see the questions in their eyes.
Izuku was taken away from Bakugou.
And the further away he got. The more Bakugou broke.
Everything…was gone.
B.A.S by Megan thee stallion ft. Kyle Richh seems like the perfect song prompt for an otoya x reader or a Oliver x reader where the reader is a cheater too and Otoya/Oliver don't know what to do cause they do the same thing and probably did it first
If someone writes this, please tag me so I can read it 🙏
I NEEEEEEWEEEEEEEED SOMEONE TO WRITE A BLUE LOCK ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE STORY! IT CAN BE ON WHATEVER I JUST NEED TO READ ONE PLS
My Take on the Yandere Trope - A Character Rant (kinda)
TW: Mentions of violence, abuse, mental illness, etc. Hello, fellow humans on the internet (or at least I hope you’re human). I’m pretty sure the majority of us anime fans know what a yandere is—but I’m still going to briefly explain for convenience sake of getting my point across in this piece. I’m going to try my best to explain my thoughts here, but I apologize if they’re poorly communicated. I am by no means a psychological expert nor have I had extensive experience with any of the following mentioned topics. So if you have a feeling that some of this content is going to hit a sensitive spot for you, I highly suggest you click off for your own sake. A yandere is typically defined as a character who takes a dangerous obsession with another character. This character is so obsessed to the point of being willing to murder others and do morally dubious things. And despite the overwhelming toxicity of this trope (that should in no way be desirable or considered romantic in real life), I feel like there’s a lot of missing nuance in the ways how this character trope is typically portrayed—of which I will explain. The word “yandere” comes from two words meshed into one. The first half of the word comes from “yanderu” (病んでる) which translates to “mentally ill” or “to be sick.” The other half of the word comes from “deredere” (デレデレ) which translates to “lovestruck” or “to be in love” (at least roughly). Now, let’s get one thing clear: If someone is so obsessed to the point they’re willing to *murder* others just so they can have another person all to themselves, I think it definitely goes without saying that the person is definitely mentally disturbed. Something’s absolutely not right upstairs. But I think there’s more intricate ways for this trope to be written based on its translation—rather than the classic “oh ho ho, stabby stabby, you got too close to Senpai!” (I’m never gonna type something like that ever again—) Call this a bad take all you want, but I think that by the so-called “yandere” trope being strictly contained to abusive murderous stalkers, I think that’s kind of an insult to many varying different measures of mental illness people can take. The word *potentially* translates to “mentally ill.” For the sake of hypothetical/argument regarding this fact, I think it’s rather distasteful to paint all mentally ill people with the same brush—and it kind of paints this picture that people who struggle with mental illness are incapable of loving or caring about others in healthy ways. That’s not to say that there aren’t mental illnesses that DON’T give people murderous or violent tendencies—but my point is not ALL of them do. If anything, I’d actually be willing to argue that most of them DON’T and that the violent actions come from just how a person CHOOSES to be. So for anime media (or media in general) to oversimplify something as complex as mental illness in this manner I feel is a teeny-bit insensitive. Granted, yanderu also translates to the phrase “to be sick.” So the traditional portrayal of this trope could also very well be justified. Because let’s be honest here: would a person who’s so dangerously obsessed with another that they’d be willing to murder NOT be considered sick in the head? Of course they would. So while in terms of addressing mental illness (should that be the goal of the trope—which I don’t think it is), I believe the traditional handling of this archetype doesn’t do any justice. But when it comes to portraying morally inept individuals that want what they want and don’t care what they have to do to get it—yeah, I’m more than willing to agree the ‘yandere’ trope applies considering how their behavior is often portrayed.
Regardless of what the true English form of the word yanderu could be, there is one thing that’s completely absolute in this conversation—and that is the word “deredere” means lovestruck. So even if yanderu were to completely mean one or the other, the word “love” is still very much in the mix when acknowledging the concept of a “yandere.”
Deredere in itself is also a character trope where a character does not shy away in showcasing their romantic feelings whatsoever. Due to the general nature of their way of doing things in the media, deredere characters typically tend to show their affection or romantic interest in relatively much healthier ways.
Even if we were to search up information on what healthy romantic love looks (or should look) like, these are pretty much the same traits we run into:
⚫ Respect (especially of boundaries) ⚫ Unselfishness ⚫ Honesty ⚫ Compromise ⚫ Good communication ⚫ Empathy ⚫ Desire to protect Another good outlier for what love is supposed to look like is from religious texts. For example, the Bible even says in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NLT version), “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” We very clearly see here that the traditional handling of yandere characters often include little to none of these characteristics. This is due to the fact that obsession and love are obviously two very different things. So considering what the word “yandere” actually translates to, I can’t say I believe most forms of media have been good at portraying what the concept of a yandere would ACTUALLY entail. At its base core, the word yandere translates to a mentally unwell human being (regardless of the varying degree of mental unwellness they deal with) who is in love or lovestruck with another. Once again, a person would VERY much be mentally unwell if they were murdering people out of obsession (an understatement, really). But the formula of a classic yandere leaves out the ironically most important aspect of their character—their love. And no, not just a passing infatuation, form of lust, or creepy obsession. I mean ACTUAL love. How I think a better way of handling this trope based on it’s translation and translation alone, is that it would be a person who—despite having a disturbed way of thinking—does genuinely love and care for another person to the point where they’d push themselves to commit things they normally wouldn’t have considered doing, but do it anyway because they feel it’s NECESSARY.
Sure, you could argue that a traditional yandere would see it as necessary to kill others for their loved one due to their overwhelming need for control/intense insecurity, but that’s the problem—that’s from THEIR perspective and not an OBJECTIVE reality. By a character killing others JUST so they can keep someone else to themselves (whether it be out of jealousy or just wanting to control the person), it’s still not love or genuine protection due to the fact that their justifications are merely just that—justifications. They’re not actually based on a real-time threat.
And even if they were (like for example, their partner tends to cheat on them with other people, so they kill the people their partner cheats on them with), that only gives more reasons as to why the relationship isn’t love based whatsoever and it would just be toxic from BOTH ends rather than just one like it would typically be. I think a better way of giving justice to the morse-so traditional version of this trope (while somewhat acknowledging the translation due the impending nuance) is to make a character that does genuinely love someone unselfishly and has understandable goals in terms of showing that love, but has messed up ways of going about it. Here’s a character that I think fits what I am trying to explain: There’s a relatively known character within the DC Comics franchise that goes by the title of Mr. Freeze. He’s generally known for going to extremes in order to preserve the life/health of his wife Nora. Regardless of which iteration you interact with, one thing is consistent: Despite his obvious mental unwellness (which is very valid considering the crap he goes through), Mr. Freeze genuinely loves his wife and is willing to do anything for her if it means keeping her one this for longer.
And while that doesn't justify the crimes he commits whatsoever, the franchise he belongs to DOES often showcase WHY he does what he does instead of chalking it up to oversimplified means. Yes, his actions do vary depending on his alternate versions, but I think the idea is rather clear here. This kind of morally gray form of sacrifice or extension of action I think could make for very dynamic and interesting characters where we understand that while they are doing what they do out of a genuine love for another—it doesn’t justify the potentially morally corrupt things or morally gray things they do. I want there to a LEAST be a very real reason for WHY that makes it easier to—at bare minimum—understand the character’s motivations. I think it would give more incentive to place the audience in this character’s shoes since they’re not doing what they do out of a delusional obsession, but are acting based on a very real reality and threat that their loved one is facing. I think that’s what a true yandere should look like.
My FAVORITE Ship Dynamics List
Pardon my awful coloration (and writing). What kinda ship dynamics do you guys like? There's probably one that I forgot here.
Supernatural Romances make NO sense - A Random Opinion
Here's the thing: As much as I enjoy these concepts or tropes, they don't make sense when you take the time to think about it. Don't believe me? Let's go down the list then.
Vampire romances: The concept of a vampire romance really doesn't make sense when you take just five minutes to add all the aspects together.
Sure, it can be intriguing or whatever (especially if there’s a unique way in which the premise is handled), but let's really boil down the contents of its true implications here.
A vampire is a creature that feeds on human blood. Vampire romances USUALLY (not all the time, but usually) involve a vampire falling for a human rather than a vampire falling for another vampire.
Let me say this again. Vampire, which eats humans---then has stories where they then fall for humans.
That's like a chupacabra hooking up with a goat. What sense does it make for a creature to fall in love with something it usually tends to eat?
Even if the said predator of this relationship has no intention of eating their mate or harming them---would you, as a rational person, feel comfortable knowing that your partner has to harm YOUR species and eat them for their own survival? I highly doubt it.
"Oh, I know you kill people and drink their blood, but I know you won't kill ME! I'm just DIFFERENT--"
It literally makes no sense.
Zombie romances: Zombie romances make even less sense to me. Because now instead of a creature that simply wants your blood, it’s a creature that quite literally wants to rip your stomach open and eat your intestines like Twizzlers.
At least with a vampire, you could just have IV blood bags for them to drink to put off their thirst for a WHILE. But when it comes to zombies, they literally rely on eating the WHOLE entirety of the human.
Once again, it’s like a chupacabra dating a goat. Oh, but what if the zombie doesn’t want to eat or harm their partner?
Well, then we get into even more ethically concerning details on the human’s part. Because aren’t zombies walking corpses that eat people? And if a human is willing to date or become uh…'entangled’ with a zombie, isn’t that a form of necrophilia since the zombie is literally just a man-eating corpse?
Sure, we could argue whether or not zombies are living or non-living. But let's be honest here: the majority of the time, zombies do not look cute. They are rotting parts of their bodies, they look dead, they smell horrible, they’re covered in blood, and sometimes missing a limb or two. If you’re unironically attracted to that in real life or something (not including those who JUST like the stories for the stories), you are mentally ill—there’s no way around it for me. You are attracted to something that looks like a corpse. That in itself is necrophilia and it’s honestly gross from an incredibly literal standpoint.
Even if the zombie were to look like some cutesy/idealistic anime character or something, it still doesn't change the fact that this thing's practically DEAD.
Sure, like vampire romances, it could be interesting depending on the intricacies of the story. But it still makes no sense when you write it down on paper. Wow, you’re dating a creature that looks dead and has to fight off the urge to eat people every single second they're on this planet. How quirky.
Ghost romances: Ghost romances also don’t make sense on paper. Now, this one is a bit more loose in my opinion since ghost archetypes are often experimented with in terms of what they can do or not do. It’s just one of those things where it really depends on the story world and the premise it's placed in. However, from the very cultural and general stance of how ghosts work, they can’t touch anything (except when it's to conveniently scare people, so even then, their intangibility is transient) and they can’t age.
I’m sorry, but aren’t the driving points of a romance being able to see the characters display affection and/or get old together? And if a ghost can’t touch anything, what’s the point in being romantically involved with someone you can’t kiss? I get there’s long distance relationships, but if they’re in the same room with you—why would you want that?
Even if the subject of physical intimacy wasn’t an issue, there’s still the prospect of aging. Because if your boo (pun intended) died young and is a ghost, that means they’re physically stuck at that age forever. Even if they were to be centuries older than you, wouldn’t it be weird to see some elderly person smooching on a young looking supernatural?
Let me put it like this. A human woman at 25 years old is in a relationship with a male ghost. The said male ghost died at 30. Sure, she could get away with dating him for another five or ten years, but eventually, the human woman ages in appearance physically and looks older than her ghost partner. And if she lives long enough, she’s gonna be 80 while her boo still looks 30. You’re seriously telling me that DOESN’T look weird from the outside? Wouldn't you be weirded out if some super old person was smooching up with someone decades younger than them?
At that point, to avoid any oddities, you’d be better off killing yourself in whatever spot they’re stuck to so you wouldn’t have to worry about aging out of proportion in the relationship (and if not aging, then to touch them). That sounds like a lot more work than it’s worth.
Werewolf romances: Werewolf romances are the only sort of supernatural romance I could possibly get behind—and even then, it’s still highly dependent on how the said story chooses to handle the workings of lycanthropy.
At least with this partner, they most likely can turn humans who won’t HAVE to kill you out of survival. You don’t have to be sorry about some super weird complex age gap. And you can touch them. Sounds like a pretty decent basis so far. BUT there’s always a catch.
A werewolf is (duh) a person who can turn into a wolf (or wolf-like monster). When it comes to these beings, it really is a roll of the dice. Because some versions will make them seem they have no thought process or control at all—whereas others give them complete control. So to call a werewolf automatically dangerous to the well being of their human partner is rather tough to say off the bat. Though, I do know that all of that fur that sheds off of them will be annoying to deal with (and that’s not even counting all of the things they might chew up---like your shoes).
And while I would be inclined to agree that being in a relationship with a werewolf could most definitely be a form of beastiality, at the very LEAST a werewolf can revert back into a human the majority of the time. So as long as you’re only doing stuff with them as a human, you should technically be fine, right?
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still don’t find much appeal in becoming romantically involved with someone who can become some giant creepy wolf abomination, but at least there’s SOME things in there you COULD manipulate depending on which universe you land into.
Overall, while I do think supernatural romances are indeed a fun concept (and I DO tend to enjoy some of these stories), there’s no way in HECK I think they’re ACTUALLY plausible (unless you add some major--MAJOR--plot armor).
