Discussion: Bad Boys

Writing Desk Archive
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Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Sorry, sorry, couldn’t help the Bob Marley reference. Anyway…

So. Bad boys. The ongoing obsession of Episode nowadays (when it’s not princes or pregnancy or, worse yet, all three). The omnipresent cliché of all badly written YA romance novels. The overly romanticized and rose-tinted fantasy of a concerning number of young girls.

It goes without saying that the term “bad boy” itself is groan-inducing. We’ve all seen it over a million times, and not just on Episode. Girl meets boy. Boy is Bad Boy™. Girl and boy fall in love. Drama gets in the way of girl and boy, but girl and boy live happily ever after in the end anyway (most of the time). For extra “spice”, throw in an obligatory mean girl rival, an air-headed boy-crazy best friend, and a bland-as-unsalted-soup “nice guy” for good measure.

Rinse and repeat, and you have the formula for 90% of all of Episode’s official stories and far too many of Episode’s user-made romance stories. People are sick to death of it, but it’s not going away any time soon.

We all know why we’re sick of the bad boy. At best, it’s just boring and overdone because we all know that of course the brooding, sexy jerk in a leather jacket is going to turn out to have a ~heart of gold~ and most likely a troubled home life to justify his unpleasant attitude. At worst, it’s downright creepy and makes the bad boy a horrifically abusive, toxic stalker whose terrible behavior is excused by the girl to no end (probably while the resident mean girl gets demonized and slut-shamed for so much as breathing).

But…hear me out. Clichés get as popular and overdone as they do for a reason, and the bad boy is no exception. Bad boys aren’t popular because women want to be treated like crap, it’s the archetypal romantic fantasy that someone will change because of you. Is that a realistic fantasy? Not really. Is it unhealthy? It can be, and at worst it can be outright dangerous.

And yet, it’s endured.

Are there any genuinely well-written “bad boy” stories on Episode? What’re the best, if you’ve found them? What’re the worst? Would you give a bad boy story a chance if it turned out to be subversive in some way?

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I don’t know if I would go as far to call Stiller a bad boy, but Trapped: The Island by Alusza is pretty good.

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Cody. from the infected.

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Bad boys. I dislike them, mostly, unless they’re well written. :heart:

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I love bad boys :eyes:

I just want boys who wear leather jackets, have beliefs, values and people they want to protect, and a desire to challenge the authorities (such as “how does my uniform get in my way of education”)

The crap we see on Wattpad & Episode is a shame to bad boys lol

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Not on episode, really but I have read stories about bad boys for sure that I really really liked and it remains to be my favourite trope.

But not the kind you are talking about. Not the kind that would change at the end or would be really bad at the beginning.

For me, he looks like a bad boy - with a scar on his face, a leather jacket and ripped jeans and pretend to be hard while he is a softie on the inside.

Or maybe that outcast guy in school who no one ever talks to. Not the kind who is loved by everyone. Oh hell no. That’s a golden boy, not the bad boy.

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I actually like boys that don’t smoke, don’t treat others like crap, i don’t mind the leather jacket but the personality.
I actually like Ian from rebounding with bad because he ain’t your average bad boy who treats the mc like garbage when he first met her but he helps her get over the breakup she had with her ex.

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Definitely a cliche bad boy story, and not saying it’s better than others, but you should check out mine if you’re in the mood for one.

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Mine is definitely the ahole at the beginning.
He doesn’t just stop, but he does grow a bit though. :smirk:

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I got a lot of Stray Heart through osmosis, reading along with Shannii, and I can concur. He definitely fits a lot of the more fun bad boy tropes but he’s also an interesting character on top of that. Not just a cardboard cutout of a frowning face celetaped to a biker jacket with a black-painted mop placed painstakingly on top of it

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:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy::joy:

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I’ve added a discussion tag

Also my opinion on bad boys is that there is a vast difference from a bAd bOy and a downright abusive boy.

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Bump…

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Still don’t like em.

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Bump?

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Have you ever written a bad boy?

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Bump.

Non, not in my own writing. :white_heart:

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Closed due to inactivity :new_moon::dizzy: