My Naughty Thoughts : Is Bad Ever Good?

So a while ago I wrote a post Yummy Baddies in which I practically drooled over how hot bad guys were getting and how sad it made me to watch such fine specimen of male anatomy die. I complained about how it was getting harder to not root for the bad guy because truth be told, I am a bit (truth: really really) shallow. (What...I like eye candy). But in the end, I knew he was the villain of the story and he was never a character I could sympathize with or relate to. I mean who could sympathise with Luck Evans in No One Lives? He was a sadistic psycho, but come one, the guy is hot (I'm drooling again...sorry).

Suddenly a new breed of baddies are appearing. The ones that play on our sympathies and make us say to ourselves...I can see myself going down that dark path....or I completely understand.  

For example Regina a.k.a the Evil Queen from Once Upon A Time who, as the seasons progressed, I watched transition from a sweet young woman full of love to a vengeful and bitter evil queen. I found myself yelling at young Snow White (well the tv) to shut her trap when she blabbed to Cora about Regina's love indirectly causing his death and agreeing with Regina when she made the comment that she should have let Snow White die (is that bad). A broken heart can lead you down a dark path and I'm sure some of us can relate. (Regina's still my favourite character from Once Upon A time. I'm was so pissed at Emma at the season finale...lol).

While the writers of Once Upon A Time are having the characters make a distinction between Regina and the Evil Queen like they're two individual people (perhaps to make it easier to sympathise with Regina), Maleficient is one very bad, very vengeful fairy. Not only is this character a villain, but she's the title roll. How could I not cheer on her vengefulness after the brutal way she was betrayed by someone she considered a friend? Shouldn't I have been cheering on her friend a.k.a the king as he tried to save his daughter's life by destroying Maleficient. Of course by the end Maleficient had a restorative transformation to good like Regina did which made my struggle between good and bad a moot point.

Recently I watched the trailer for Dracula Untold (psst Luke Evans is in this one again...yum...so you know I'm going to watch it). Isn't Dracula a bad guy? The trailer is making him out as as father who'd do anything, including selling his soul to the devil, to protect his family. How can you fault a guy for that?

Or what about Walter from Breaking Bad? I've never watched that series so I don't have much I can say, but as I understand from the tidbits I've gleamed, Walter was a chemistry teacher, who after being diagnosed with cancer, turned drug dealer in the hopes of ensuring his family's financial security after his death. Another character doing something bad for the good of his family. Is that shade of grey to the Walter character what made him so popular? An upstanding citizen driven by circumstances to do things he otherwise never would have. It kind of reminds me of the Gerard Butler character in Law Abiding Citizen. I tried to have sympathy for some of his victims (not the killers) but having understood what drove Clyde to his depth of depravity it was a little hard (sorry Jamie, I was rooting for him to kill you too, you were such an insensitive jerk for a good guy).

There are also the characters who we know are good, but are just plain bad. They can be mean and surly, say vulgar and despicable things, and make you feel like smacking them. In essence there're not your stereo typical good guy. Because I watched this movie last night, I'm going to use the autobot Crosshair as an example. He advocated living the humans to fight the decepticons on their own, abandoning a seventeen year old girl and letting Bumblebee and Drift kill each other so he can take over without a fight. At times he was a jerk, but never once did he let his fellow autobots down. Through all his "jerkiness" he was a good guy.

In short, are the bad things some "villains" do ever good? And are those characters always "villains" just because they do bad things? And just how big of a douche bag can a good guy be?

These types of characters are so much more complex than the cookie cutter good guy or even bad guy. When they make you stop and think...wait...is he/she good or bad...

And that's my naughty thoughts on the bad...good...bad guy.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Fifty Shades of WTF

A few days ago I locked myself out of my apartment and of course as luck would have it, that day my landlords were out and my cell was dead. For two and a half hours I sat outside my door on the cold, hard concrete and waited for my landlords to return and relieve me from my self inflicted hell. Let me just say that days later my ass still hurts.

Anyway, though I'm in the habit of carrying my tablet, I am not in the habit of leaving my WiFi on. So there I was, stuck outside with no cell phone and no internet to pass the time. Then I remembered, I have one book on my tablet that I haven't read yet. It's been there for weeks and I've been debating whether or not I really want to read it.

So now I had two choices, I could stare at the slowly darkening sky, or I could read the book. (Oh I don't socialize with my neighbours). So I fired up my tablet and opened my reader and a grey cover with a silk tie flashes across my screen. The title Fifty Shades of Grey captures my attention and I dive in.

Yes its been a few years since the book came out and I'm only now reading it. (I didn't start reading the Twilight series til after I watched the first movie). Let me be honest, I'm reading it for the sex. Pure and simple, no other reason. I've wondered for a while what all the hoopla was about. I actually thought it would be a little more graphic, or maybe I just haven't gotten there yet. I am only on chapter twenty-four. But I must say, I can't remember the last time I read a book with so much sex.

The weirdest thing I find about reading this book is how it uncovered a part of me that I didn't know existed. I am an extremely dominating person, type A personality. Christian ain't got nothing on me. Everything is always my way or no way. And I'm quick to anger when I don't get my way. I couldn't be submissive even if you paid me. Yet I find myself gravitating more towards the Anastasia role. I'm a little like her where I tend to over-think everything and it gets so tiring sometimes, my mind always running. Thinking about outcomes and perception. The idea of simplifying something in my life by giving over control to someone else has some appeal.

So I said I started this book for the sex, and now I've shifted gears.  I've become wrapped up in Christian's psychological problems. Now all I want to know is why doesn't he like to be touched? What's his hang up about food? And did his birth mother or Mrs Robinson make him "crazy"? I love a male lead with problems. It always gives him so much more depth than a Mr. Perfect. The Christian character has got me more hooked than the sex.

I've already cheated and read pages from book three because I had to know if Christian and Anastasia make it to the end. I'm exerting massive amounts of control not to read the last few pages of book one. I'm dying to know what happens already. (That's a nasty habit of mine, reading the end of books before I even start it).

Anyway, so on I read, 50 pages left.

And that's my naughty thoughts on fifty shades.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : I Hate Superman

Recently I watched Man of Steel for the uptinth time, and as usual I was cuckoo for coco puffs over Henry Cavill. He is just so damn hot, and that body sculpting suit...gimme a second I'm enjoying the memory. No more kalson and tights...yeppy. I loved the latest edition to the franchise. Two hours told me more of Superman's story; Jor-El's perspective, Zod's mindset, Krypton's demise, Clark Kent's upbringing, than all the movies combined.

So you may be wondering, if I have such high praise for the movie, and the actor is drool worthy in so many ways, then why do I hate Superman. Because an hour after I watched the movie, a Superman animated movie played and it reinforced everything I hate about this particular hero. He's sanctimonious, a bit of a hypocrite and arrogant.

I didn't always hate Superman. I liked Christopher Reeves in the old Superman movies, and Dean Cain in Lois and Clark was okay. My aversion for Superman started with Smallville and slowly progressed with Justice League (yeah I'm a grown woman and I still watch Saturday morning cartoons). I was into Smallville when it first started until I realised that Superman thinks he's better that Lex Luther. Okay, maybe morally he probably is, but acting like you have a halo over your head is a bit irritating for us mortals. In Justice League he's even worst. He looks down his super powered nose at everyone from that pedestal he's put himself up on. I guess when you can fly you're above everyone else.

I hate his hypocrisy of crucifying the bad guys for their moral indiscretion but giving his friends a free pass for theirs. It's not okay for Lex to spy on people but it's okay for Chloe to do it?

My breaking straw was when Batman opined that they needed to protect the world from the Justice League if they ever went rogue and Superman was adamant that it would never happen. I was like, dude, red kryptonite turns you evil. Is it really beyond the realm of possibility that a hero, yourself included, could go villain? Are you really that conceited?

Why do I like Batman more than Superman? Because Batman knows his fault and shortcomings. He doesn't pretend to be a hero. He's completely aware of the fact that he's capable of doing wrong and he doesn't continue to act holier-than-thou when he does. He has a dark side and doesn't pretend otherwise.

In the end, what's my point. Only that the "perfection" that is Superman, doesn't always translate well into romance novel hero. A goody-goody, who thinks he's always right, and makes you feel morally inferior (even when he isn't trying) can become tiring to read about. I'm not always good, so a little imperfection in my hero makes him seem real, and attainable. The naughty little girl in me likes a little badness in my guys.

So please don't hate on me because I said I hate Superman. In actuality, I'm cool with what he stands for, I just hate the condescending personality he has evolved into. Like I said in the beginning, I liked Man of Steel, both the actor and the movie.

And that's my naughty thoughts on superman type heroes.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Five Minutes to Sex

Recently I read a romance novel where after knowing (or barely knowing) each other for all of five minutes the hero and heroine were already knocking boots. I guess the prudish part of me kicked in because I was like, what the....(I always have that reaction actually). It made me think about my friend who's already doing the nasty with her boyfriend of five months and how it took my ex an entire year to get any from me.

Am I being the last prude standing when I do a double take when I read about heroines who sleep with the hero five minutes after meeting him. And am I being the one thing I hate more than a liar, a hypocrite, if my writing reflects such a state. I won't even kiss on a first date, but the female characters I have dancing in my head wouldn't hesitate to go after something or someone they wanted, and that includes sexually. I, on the other hand, am nothing like that.

When I write from a character's perspective I tend to infuse a lot of myself into them. All my characters have a piece of my personality in them, except in this aspect. Maybe deep down I wouldn't mind for once throwing caution and upbringing to the wind and indulging in the fantasy of succumbing to a sexual attraction with a hot stranger.

I've never really thought any less of a heroine who sleeps with the hero "on their first date" but I admit to feeling differently in real life. Is that a double standard? Or is it that I already know the heroine ends up with the hero, while real life isn't always that easy.

What do you think of the heroine who sleep with the hero within a day of knowing him? Is the idea a little bit of a turn on or are authors portraying women in a bad light?

And that's my naughty thoughts on giving it up in the first chapter.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thoughts : Are Gingers as Hot as Their Hair

In my brooders or sun-gods post I drooled over the two male archetypes of romance novels. In the same thought, and for the first time, it dawned on me; what about the gingers? Why aren't there any sizzling hot red-haired heroes. Aren't they sexy too? Or have they been relegated to only the pale skinned, freckled face supporting role.

So I did a Google image search for sexy men with red hair and well....let's just say they're as hard to find as a virgin in a contemporary romance. Don't get me wrong, I found plenty of red-haired men, they were easy to find...but those that look like they belong on the cover of a heated romance novel...uh...not so much. Truth be told you don't see that many red-heads as leading men in movies so why would novels be any different right. That's a shame though. Kevin McKidd and Sean McGowan are two specimens that proves the red-heads can not only hold their own, but give Batman and Thor a run for their money. I'm not really sure just how into a red-headed male lead I am, but I'm willing to give them a try. None of my character in my House of Dragons series are red-heads but maybe later down the line.

On the flip side of the same coin, when I paired sexy and red hair together in a Google search there was no shortage of gorgeous women with flame coloured locks of every shade. I guess when we think of sexy red-heads the first thing that comes to mind in a feisty female. I love the looks of Isla Fisher, Amy Adams and Emma Stone. It's like a cross between the fire we expect from a red-head tempered with a bit of cute innocence.

Another trait I've noticed when it comes to red hair characters is that when an author wants to make their heroine a spit fire with a temper to match, she's always a red-head. I've yet to read a novel with a demure, even-tempered, submissive heroines with a mane of fire. Not saying that brunettes or blondes are such, just that a red-head never is. I guess the personality come with the hair. I could be wrong.

I think I'm bios towards heroines with red hair. As soon as their physical appearance is described as such I think, '...huh she's going to give him hell...' and I like heroines who give their male counterpart a bit of trouble.

So I don't need to be told that female red-heads are sexy....my question is....are the men? Tell me your thoughts on whether or not they're leading man material.

And that's my naughty thoughts on fiery gingers.

Later Loveys

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My Naughty Thought : Who's Sexier - The Dark Brooder or The Golden God

In my love affair with romance novels, I've notice two types of heroes. The Batman type; dark, mysterious, tortured soul and the fun-loving, carefree, playboy sun god like Thor. So I began to wonder....just how rigid are us readers in what we find sexy in our hero. I've poured over many novels and can't remember a red-haired hero. Is a ginger sexy?

Me, I'm a Dark Knight chick myself. I like the smoky, mysterious look. A little darkness and danger in my leading man does it for me. Looks and personality, the darker the hotter. It's beyond sexy when the heroine finally breaks through his wall and makes the hero realize he doesn't want to live another moment without her in his life. I find myself having more of a connection to the hero that has a little more depth to who he is and why he is the way he is. I feel for him and the BS he's been through. I become so invested in him finally finding his happiness that I get frustrated when he screws it up. A hero who's had a perfect life seems a little shallow to me.

In all the romance novels I've read, only two heroes have really struck a chord with me. They both hail from the same series, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. I'm talking about Zsadist and Qhinn. If you've read their stories and didn't feel even a small twinge then you're just cold.

I guess my inclination towards the bad boys has coloured my writing and that's probably why all the male characters in my paranormal romance series have the darker personality. They may not all have the dark hair, dark eyes, but they all have a dark air about them. They all have issues in their pass that they're going to have to deal with.

Now my preference towards tall, dark and dangerous doesn't mean I don't like the other side of the coin.  I mean come on, Chris Hemsworth is droll over, to die for, drop dead gorgeous, and that accent...yum...anyway...Was I the only one who found Tim Hiddleston sexy as Loki in Avengers. I think I may have a thing for "bad" boys.

So when it comes to your taste in leading men are you the dark brooder type or the golden god?

And that's my naughty thoughts on hunky heroes.

Later Loveys

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