im just a huge sucker for charismatic villains becoming sort of pseudo good guys and hanging out with the main characters just because a bigger, more serious threat emerges and i dont think it happens enough tbh. especially when they’re still kind of a dick, i just think its a fun trope
SKYFARER (The
Drifting Lands #1) by
Joseph Brassey
An
apprentice sorceress is dragged into a vicious quest across an
endless sky in this Star Wars-inspired space fantasy
The
Axiom Diamond is a mythical relic, with the power to show its bearer
any truth they desire. Men have sought for it across many continents
for centuries, but in vain. When trainee sorceress Aimee de Laurent’s
first ever portal-casting goes awry, she and her mentor are thrown
into the race to find the gem, on the skyship Elysium.
Opposing them are the infamous magic-wielding knights of the Eternal
Order and their ruthless commander, Lord Azrael, who will destroy
everything in their path…
This could have been the perfect novel with heavy Reylo vibes but unfortunately….it was not. Usually I only recommend stuff I really like so this post ist a bit different. It’s just that it had so much potential but realized none of it. I’m just bemoaning what could have been…
I
remember that somebody recommended Skyfarer here on tumblr on a post
about books with a Reylo vibe. It definitely has some really strong
Star Wars vibes and arguably also a heroine/villain interaction that resembles the Reylo dynamic but unfortunately without
any of the nuance and layered characterization the real on-screen
Reylo has. For me it left an impression of TFA fan fiction
for an exclusive audience of twelve year old boys.
Ok,
lets check the similarities:
genre:
science fantasy (some cool world building here, no planets but
drifting lands like a universe full of flat earths, navigation
between these lands requires sorcery)
some
McGuffin needs to be chased
lots
of fight scenes and battles (skipped most of them, enjoy them in
movies, in books not so much)
First
Eternal Order (evil)
some
kind of Snoke who messes with the head of his protege and right
hand:
Lord
Azrael, Not His Real Name (= off brand Kylo Ren, complete with mask
and good hair)
really
buff Hux (actually more chemistry between him and Lord Azrael than
the real Kylux, the impending hate sex was practically oozing off
the pages)
a
Phasma (really cool looking female warrior, absolutely useless
plotwise)
legacy
sword
a
lukelike (ha!) character who is awesome and cool and loves mentoring
his student and is probably everything the TLJ haters wish for (…)
rich,
blonde Rey
force
bond mind link between the heroine and the villain
The
plot was…ok I guess (mostly chasing and fighting).
The
characterization was abysmal. Almost all the characters were
cardboard cutouts. Only Lord Azrael/the villain has something resembling actual
characterization and back-story going on. It’s still a far cry from the complexity
of Kylo Ren.
The
most disappointing character is Aimee. If I’d have to describe her
I wouldn’t be able to come up with more than blonde, pretty and
overconfident (she’s acing all the sorcery stuff). Her backstory is
being rich and overconfident, also her blonde hair features a lot in
her past. Her character arc takes her from being a pretty
overconfident blonde to fucking up one time (but not really as it
later turns out) which leaves her less overconfident for a short
period of time until she regains her overconfidence. Oh, and she has
compassion for the very redeemable villain because they do some kind
of force bonding. Aimee is presented as a main character yet
characterized like a trophy girlfriend. Now compare that to actual
Rey… (This book was written by a man in case you couldn’t tell
by now.)
I
know it’s a bit unfair to compare this book to actual Reylo in
actual Star Wars but that was the sole reason I picked it up and the
similarities were so blatant as I continued reading I really couldn’t
help myself. It certainly made me appreciate characterization in Star
Wars even more.
I think perhaps one of the reasons that we are attracted to the bad boys and the monsters of stories is not only because they are attractive/alluring, or because they tend to be more interesting than the good guys, but because for all their mystery we already know what they are: bad boys and monsters.
You know from the start that Loki is probably going to kill you
so really it’s only a pleasant surprise if he doesn’t,
and you’ll have a really interesting time with him until that point. And there’s always that thought that they won’t kill you, that you’ll connect with them. that you’ll be able to reach that tender spot inside them and that they’ll keep you. and then you’re really safe. No one is as safe as someone who a monster decides to protect.
On the flip side, heroes do everything they can to make sure no-one sees their dark side. No one knows what terrible things tempts a white knight, and we often find out too late what demons a good man is hiding.
And maybe that’s why it confuses men; that they create these terrible creatures that should be frightening and yet we dream of them quite fondly.
The biggest mystery of the bad boy, is how good is he.
The biggest mystery of a good man, is what evil he is capable of.
That’s certainly a big aspect why monsters and villains are appealing to me.
THE DARKANGEL (DARKANGEL TRILOGY #1) by Meredith Ann Pierce
Aeriel is kidnapped by the darkangel, a black-winged vampyre of astounding beauty and youth. In his castle keep, she serves his 13 wives, wraiths whose souls he stole. She must kill him before his next marriage and comes into full power, but is captivated by his magnificent beauty and inner spark of goodness. Will she choose to save humanity or his soul?
You think this is your average YA novel? Think again! First published in 1982 it came long before the supernatural love interest was trending. I read this book as an adult and I never once had the feeling that I couldn’t relate to the young heroine. This trilogy features incredibly imaginative worldbuilding, a wealth of interesting secondary characters and universal themes including love, friendship and betrayal. I was crying by the end and I mean crying, like actual salt water leaking from my eyes.
Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me!💙💙💙
This movie might be one of the earliest attempts to consciously depict Dracula as sexy, seductive and desirable. Almost all men in this film are more or less bumbling idiots whereas the count is suave, worldly and attractive.
The blood sucking (sex) is highly erotic and consensual. This movie was actively catering to the female gaze in 1979 (!).
that moment when you and your hot fated sworn nemesis meet on the grand last battlefield that has turned all you both know to corpses and ash, and you think for a moment, swords drawn, that you’ll finally have to end the long dance and kill each other — but no, you can just see your sacred enemy’s eyes are mirrors of your own, your true and only equal, their pain is your pain, and so you finally lay down your weapons, relent and bend and kiss at the end of the world
Monsters and Villains 