candles-inthewoods

[candles-inthewoods]

sculpture by Cornelia Konrads

#places

[candles-inthewoods]

All good children's fiction says you are going to have to shoulder responsibility even if you don't want it.

#analysis

[candles-inthewoods]

Hello I love your writing I was wondering if you can do a piece on villain motivations and how to recognizeyour villains motives. Also what are some examples of bad motivations.

I was about to write 1) You create the villains, so it’s not so much ‘recognising’ as ‘you can create whatever you want it to be’. Then I remembered fanfiction, in which case recognising would apply - but recognising in that can vary so much depending on the text, as it will always depend on how you choose to interpret the source materials. 

So let’s just go onto villainous motivations. Note, I am using and understood ‘villain’ and ‘villainous’ to mean the antagonist of the story, rather than a superhero definition of the word.

A list of potential motivations, which can be mixed up, but I split them into different umbrellas:

To gain power or control (for whatever reason)

because they don’t want to feel powerless again

because they have strong opinions about what should happen to the world and need sufficient power to implement any change

 because contemporary career trajectories in western society feed us the idea that we always need more money and power so they think they’re just succeeding/doing what’s natural/normal

better to be the one in control than under someone else’s

being in control/powerful has perks

because they want sufficient power to protect themselves or others etc...

Revenge

What it says on the tin, but look deeper at the undercurrent emotions, desires and values beneath the surface...

Revenge because something unfair happened and it hurts

Revenge because they have a sense of entitlement

Revenge to gain back a sense of power/agency

Revenge as a means of justice

Revenge because they tried nice, and lost everything etc. etc....

Love

Can be combined with power or revenge, because they either want to protect, avenge, or get their own back on someone they love (villain because they go way over the line of what’s acceptable, as opposed to if say a protagonist had a heartbreak, and we would judge them if they started chopping limbs)

X thing that the hero needs means someone the villain cares about dies, or is wounded in some way, or has to sacrifice themselves

Not quite love, but tangentially lust - they want the protagonist/love interest and are willing to do whatever to get them

They want to impress someone and think this is the way to do it

They are working as an antagonist for a larger antagonist in order to protect someone or something.

Fear/Desperation

Again, this works as a driving undercurrent for a lot of the above but worth noting, but...

Fear that the protagonist is dangerous and the only way to prevent something terrible from happening is to kill or otherwise control them

Fear that something bad will happen if extreme action is not taken

Fear of being perceived as weak, because they know what happens to the weak/have been taught they’re never allowed to be weak.

Desire to be free/survival instinct

See, I have been told all my life that I have to do this and I won’t, I refuse, even if that means being a bad person. E.g, why be the chosen one just to die? That’s not fair. 

See, why someone might want to accumulate power. 

I just want to be free and people keep trying to lock me up. Leave me alone or die. 

You programmed me and I will destroy you for what you made me, how dare you.

Miscellaneous

This is just my job: I’m following orders

This is what my culture/species does and my morality is simply different to the protagonist’s, so for the purposes of the story I am the villain because it’s blue and orange morality to anything human’s consider acceptable

Ignorance

Bad motivations...

To me, the only ‘bad’ motivation is ‘just because’ or ‘because they’re evil’, but that’s a personal opinion because I think that’s a boring reduction of human behaviour. People don’t do stuff ‘because they’re evil’, there’s something else going on. Sadism is a form of control, if doing something makes you happy (even if not’s socially acceptable) then you’re more likely to do it.  Depending on your story, you are not necessarily go in depth into your villain’s backstory or motivations, in which case ‘just because’ can apply simply due to lack of story space. On a similar vein - ‘because they’re mentally ill’. 

The thing about motivations is that they’re often not good or bad. Your villain’s values may not be that different to your hero’s, but they present differently in a way that we know is not acceptable or healthy behaviour. It’s something twisted toxic, or too extreme. 

The more important question is ‘does this motivation match the character?’ Do they behave in a way that logically follows on from the motivation chosen? Is it logical for them to feel that way within the universe? 

Also, is it a sexist/racist/anything phobic depiction? That is not to say people within a minority cannot be the villain, but a) they shouldn’t be the only character of that minority in your text if they are at least at our current level of cultural representation and b) the minority character should probably not be doing the bad stuff just because they’re a minority. Which leads back to X character is inherently evil, inherently worse than anyone else! X minority types are just like that!

It’s character creation in the same way you would do for your hero or your protagonist. If you know what you need them to do, but not why, try asking yourself ‘okay, well, why would someone do XYZ?’

#writing help

[candles-inthewoods]

Hi! I found your blog and am obsessed with your writing, it’s so amazing! I was wondering if I could perhaps get a prompt about an unseelie seducing the human into their realm and the human only finding out their cruel nature at the last minute?

I don't write prompts anymore, but I can do you a modern-typewriter original story snippet.

Their lover's cottage was lovely, quaint, all white stone and wildflowers. Their lover's cottage was a threshold, apparently, beneath their lands. The front door led to the human world, and the back door to the fields and the forests of the immortal courts.

"Are you ready?" the fey looked back at them, still holding the human's hand in theirs. They raised it to their lips for a kiss. "I understand if you don't want to do this..."

"I do!" It felt xenophobic to be frightened. Their lover had been patient with them, never complaining of homesickness - always smiling so beautifully, so sadly, as they thought of what they had left behind. What kind of person were they if were scared of seeing all the magic in the world? Of their lover, just because the world wasn't human? "I want to see." It wasn't a lie.

They'd always thought there should be more to the world than what humans had. That was why so many people wrote stories about magic, wasn't it? Hoping for a glimmer of something extraordinary. And now...now they, of all people, had it. They had it and their lover was sweet and thoughtful and brilliant and so gorgeous that it almost hurt to look at them.

The fey smiled at them, bright as the sun.

They didn't know how they'd got so lucky.

"Of course I want to see your home," the human said, more firmly. "I'd never ask you to split yourself in half and stay with me forever, as if you're not what you are. That wouldn't be fair."

The human was, therefore, the one to lead the way forward. They pushed the door open with the fey's key - moving past a comfortable, elegant living room and a kitchen that smelled like baking bread and herbs.

"Just through the back?" they asked their lover, heart hammering.

"Just through the back," the fey echoed, softly.

The human drew a steadying breath and went through to the back door, stepping out into...

"Wow," the human breathed.

The world ahead of them was unlike anything they'd ever imagined. It was wild and it was magic. The trees shone like they were bioluminescent, vivid green and flowering against the pitch black night. They took a step forward, then another. Music drifted through the trees, something orchestral and lilting that made the human's chest ache. They turned to face the fey, wide-eyed, and - stopped.

They had never seen the fey look like they did just then.

In the human world, the fey didn't quite register as fully human, but they were close. A little too pretty, maybe. A little too graceful. Their lover only looked like their lover in the way that a painting could capture something of someone's essence. Their lover now was - the air around them felt different, cold. Not the cool of the sea washing gently over hot skin on a sunny day, but painfully frozen. And their eyes...

"Sweet little human," their lover crooned. Even their voice was different. It had always been like music, but now..."what's the matter?" the fey tilted their head. "I thought you wanted me to be able to be completely myself? Because you love me?"

The human bolted for the cottage door, still so small and so human looking. It didn't open. The key hole was gone.

The fey made a wounded sound.

The human whipped around, and then the fey was there, pressing them up against the wood in a mockery of intimacy. Their fingers closed on the human's hair, tugging their head back with a sharp yank, baring the human's throat.

"Say it again," the fey murmured against their lips. Their breath was like honeysuckle. "Go on."

"Why-I don't-"

"Say it." The fey's nails dug in.

Tears, bewildered and hurt, sprang to the human's eyes. Still. They straightened their spine against the door as best as they could.

"You said you loved me too." The human clutched hold of the fey's hand. "Your kind can't lie."

"Of course I love you," the fey said. "You simply have a mortal's adorable comprehension of what that means. Are you going to make me ask again?"

The human swallowed. They studied the fey's face, searching for something they recognised. The problem wasn't that there was nothing recognisable - there was too much, and not enough, and they'd been so blind.

"I love you," the human whispered. "And you're offended by the lie, aren't you?"

The fey looked momentarily surprised. Their grip loosened a fraction, enough to mimic something mortal.

"You hate that I would claim to love you and care for you when I don't know anything about you at all. Well." The human smiled, without mirth. "No more than 10% of you. How dare I call 10% love?"

It was the right and the wrong thing to say, they could see it on their lover's face. Right because it was why the fey loved them, why they'd picked them. Wrong because it was why the fey loved them, and why they'd picked them, and the human barely knew what that meant but the door was locked so it couldn't mean anything good.

The fey leaned in and kissed them, fierce and claiming, and the human had never been kissed like that before.

"Don't worry," the fey said, with a cruel smile that still had the audacity to be stunning. "You have the rest of your life to make it up to me. For once you were blind..." They kissed the human's nose. "Now you will see."

They swept the human up into their arms, spun on their heel, and carried them into the lights and the dark.

Forever.

#prompt

[candles-inthewoods]

If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could write a snippet where the heroine gets kidnapped by a band of monsters and brought to their king, who reveals that she's the reincarnation of his dead wife?

“You’re the reincarnation of my wife.” 

For a beat, Lily stared at the king of monsters. But, only for a beat. “Well,” she said, “maybe you should be nicer to me than. It’s rude to kidnap your reincarnated dead wife. Doesn’t say anything good about your relationship.”

It did make sense - flashes of memory that she had always dismissed as a persistent dream, the weird occurrences, the time she had seen the wedding ring of another lifetime in a museum case and been whacked by a sense of longing so fierce it felt like hunger. Still. It was a lifetime ago, and flashes of memory did not a marriage make. Also, he’d kidnapped her. Also, he was the king of monsters.

He smiled; the fondness of his expression so strangely human on his features. 

“And now you sound like her,” he said. “Lilith.”

Lily folded her arms, jutted her chin up. “I’m not her.”

Life was full of comparisons enough that she really didn’t feel like being held up to the pedestal of a dead spouse, for reasons that really had nothing to do with her at all. It wasn’t like she thought, hey, I’m going to be born with a dead woman’s face because that’s not creepy at all! 

“I know,” he said, simply. 

The admission took her by surprise. She considered him, her heart hammering.

In terms of potential husbands, when it came to physicality alone she could admit that the former queen of monsters could have done worse. Her ex-husband of another life was terribly beautiful, and most likely the reason why humans were the only species to experience the uncanny valley when it came to their lookalikes. He was humanoid, but anybody looking at him would be hit by the jangling sense of ‘not human’. He was tall, taller than the average man, with a cruel handsome mouth, and his eyes...

Well, they were like black holes. Monstrous. Difficult to tear her attention away from, like she might be drawn into his centre and devoured and...

Her breath caught, as she realised that she was close enough to touch. She barely remembered moving towards to him. 

He placed his hand gently over her eyes and the feeling vanished. 

She swallowed hard and wondered if he’d intended her to approach or if that simply happened when mortals met his gaze. Her heart slammed. King of monsters. Kidnapped. Indignation aside that wasn’t something she should dismiss. Being his reincarnated wife was not necessarily any safer than any of the horrors she had pictured on the journey to his home.

“I know,” he said again, softly. “I have commanded enough ghosts in my time to know that, as haunting a vision as you may be, you are not the same woman. I have not spent a life with you, nor you with me. Your experiences are different, you are different. I would not do her the disservice of pretending otherwise.”

His hand was warm against her skin, too hot for human touch. She could feel, even if she hadn’t been able to see them when looking at him, the brush of phantom claws extending from his fingers. If he manifested them properly, he could likely slice her head like a melon and...

“Why am I here?” It came out as a whisper, raspy and scared. “Are you going to kill me for daring to look like her? Or-?” Possibilities churned nauseously through her head.

Marriage was supposed to be sacred, loving, but everyone knew that wasn’t always the case even when reincarnation and literal monster kings weren’t involved. He had seemed reasonable so far, kidnapping aside, but kidnapping was a very large thing to put aside and people’s moods could be stormy. Someone seemingly kind could turn violent in an instant. Bad things could happen behind closed doors. 

“You are not her,” he said. “But you are her reincarnation. You have memories, don’t you?” 

She wondered if it would be better or worse for her to confirm that. Still, however he phrased it, she was pretty sure it wasn’t actually a question. She pulled back from his hand, this time taking care not to meet his eyes. Dread gnawed at her.

“Those memories will only continue to grow clearer,” he continued. “And they contain information that others would use against me. And they will.”

“You can’t keep me here!” It blurted in panic.

“Now you don’t sound like her.”

Well, okay, technically, he probably could but she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life a prisoner in the realm of monsters. She had a life! She liked her life, weird things aside!

“My enemies would hunt you for your face,” he said. “And I doubt they care about hurting you as much as I do. You are not a reincarnation of anyone they loved.”

“I mean – but your enemies—”

The sheer enormity of the situation was starting to sink in, and it left her dizzy, overwhelmed.

“You will find, Lily,” he said, “that people will commit as monstrous acts as the monsters can when they believe it is for the greater good. I am sorry you had to get caught in the middle of this, but I am not willing to let my people suffer and be slaughtered for the sake of one mortal girl. Minos will show you to your room.”

This was happening. This was actually happening, wasn’t it?

She met his eyes again, without thinking, desperate for some magic words that would free her from this fate.  Once again, she found she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

“I’m pretty sure your wife wouldn’t want you to—”

“My wife would want what was best for her kingdom,” he said, raising a brow. “As I’m sure you know.”

She gave up on that lie.

“Yeah, fine. Your wife was a poisonous bitch. Maybe you should worry about me then if you’re going to force me to be here against my will. Let me go or I will make you pay for it.”

He looked at her, then, in perhaps the way that people might look at their reincarnated beloveds. With a longing so fierce it felt like hunger.

She’d stepped closer to him again, unable to help it. She should raise a hand to cover her face, but that expression…

He’d loved her face. He’d loved the woman in Lily’s memories, delighted in her wickedness, mourned her and missed her like something vital was torn away from him and-

Lily slapped a trembling hand over her eyes.

She was playing with fire.

She didn’t have the full memories, but she did remember things. She did remember him. His lips on hers, his warm hands, his wings unfurling like shadows to blot out the sun.

She did not love him, certainly, and she was not the queen of monsters.

But she remembered the echo of that feeling when she saw it on his face so plainly.

His fingers closed around her wrists, pulling her hands down like it was the easiest thing in the world. She snapped her eyes closed but that felt vulnerable too, because now she was standing before the king of monsters with her eyes closed unable to see his next move.

“This,” his voice was low and dangerous against her ear. “Was not what I wanted either. You think I enjoy watching you parade around with my wife’s face? I appreciate that it is not your fault, which is why I am not going to drop you into a nice safe pit where I never have to look at you again, but if you think-”

“Deliciae.”

The old endearment, Lilith’s endearment, her language, slipped from Lily’s lips like a warning shot.

He shut up and let go of her as if he’d been scalded.

“Let’s not pretend,” she said, her voice quivering, “that you would ever be able to stay away when I have her memories. Memories are all you have left. It’s why you can’t bring yourself to just kill me, isn’t it? If information is what concerns you that would be the obvious solution.”

She didn’t want to be a prisoner but she didn’t want to die either. 

And so, they stood there at a stalemate, seething and torn up and tangled in ghosts.

“Minos.” The king’s voice came out meticulously controlled, too steady for it to be true calm. “Take her to the guest suite before I do something I’ll regret.”

That time, Lily let herself be led away.

#prompt

[candles-inthewoods]

I have no strength to force one's hand, no power or influence to sway one's outcome. just my virtues and my integrity and my belief and my ability to love. to some that is limiting and so meaningless but to the ones who don't have it, it can be something so endearing and precious.

#ingenue things #mine #ill rephrase later. right now im yearning

[candles-inthewoods]

A witch cursed you with eternal happiness. You initially thought that she must have misspoken until you learn that your spouse, the love of your life, has died and it makes you feel happy.

#prompt

[candles-inthewoods]

So the thing is...

70s vampire movies: bat imagery, insane amounts of homosexual activity, spooky locals covered in cobwebs oooh so gothic

00s vampire movie: we have poured copious amounts of blood on this night club and everyone is wearing leather. If you mention gay activity we kill you

#vampire

[candles-inthewoods]

You are a shapeshifter who has secretly taken on many fake villain personas across the world. Your goal is to fight each hero you meet with a persona that embodies said hero’s worst traits, forcing them to change for the better in order to defeat you.

#prompt

[candles-inthewoods]

More random tropes that I fucking love: Becoming the mask you wore.

Like oh shit, this character who was sent to spy somewhere under a false identity suddenly realises they've started to genuinely become the person they claimed to be? Someone who's been telling the same lies about who they are for so long that they're actually forgetting that the story isn't true? Finding themselves genuinely doing the things they pretend to do in front of people, when they're alone and nobody's watching? Answering to a name that wasn't supposed to be theirs without thinking?

Ooohh-hoh-hoh, you lost track of yourself in pretending to be someone else? You were only supposed to impersonate somebody, a plausible background and a name you came up with on the spot, and now that the people you were supposed to infiltrate have become your true companions? You lost yourself in the game you played, and no you no longer know who you truly are, and where your true loyalties lie? And both sides would mark you a traitor if you came out with the truth. On a scale of one to ten, how bad did you fuck up.

Fuck that is a good trope. Never seen it done badly. Pour that shit on a table and I'll chop it into lines and snort it.

#characters

[candles-inthewoods]

ayo i found 2 pages with head angles of humans and animals, could be useful to anyone reading this

hoomans

animals

#writing help

[candles-inthewoods]

Dreaming of Another World, Tim Walker

#people

[candles-inthewoods]

#holy

[candles-inthewoods]

a centuries old vampire who's repressed any feelings of affection for ages & the mere sight of me has them believing they are capable of loving again would fix me i think

#vampire #characters

[candles-inthewoods]

I’m fine

#holy

[candles-inthewoods]

it’s monday i’m in the labyrinth

#yearning

[candles-inthewoods]

-filmythings