#the writing is SO GOOD

[overthinkingwritershub]

How to Write Believable Villains - A guide to writers

Villains aren’t just obstacles for the protagonist—they should be fully realized characters with depth, purpose, and their own internal logic. A strong villain can elevate a story, making the hero’s journey more compelling and adding layers of moral complexity. Here’s how to make them believable and unforgettable:

1. They Should Believe They’re the Hero of Their Own Story

A great villain doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking, I’m going to be evil today. They act based on their beliefs, desires, and personal logic—no matter how twisted.

Example:

Killmonger (Black Panther) believes he’s liberating oppressed people, not just seizing power.

Light Yagami (Death Note) sees himself as a force of justice, eliminating criminals to create a "better" world.

Magneto (X-Men) fights for mutant supremacy because of his experiences with human cruelty.

What to Avoid:

A villain who does bad things just because. ("I want to destroy the world for no reason!")

Over-the-top mustache-twirling evil.

Ask Yourself:

If your villain were telling the story, how would they justify their actions?

What’s their version of "doing the right thing"?

2. Give Them a Personal Code of Ethics (Even If Twisted)

Even villains have rules they follow. Their moral code might be flawed or extreme, but it’s consistent.

Example:

Jigsaw (Saw series) doesn’t kill for fun—he forces people to appreciate life through twisted "games."

Hannibal Lecter is a cannibal, but he only eats the "rude" and has a refined sense of culture.

Walter White (Breaking Bad) starts with the rule "no innocent people," but his morals erode over time.

What to Avoid:

A villain whose actions are random and contradictory.

A villain who has no limits—real people have boundaries, even bad ones.

Ask Yourself:

What is one thing your villain refuses to do, no matter what?

How does their moral code shape their decisions?

3. Their Motivation Should Be Relatable (Even If Their Actions Aren’t)

Your villain’s goal should make sense, even if their methods are extreme. Readers should understand why they’re doing what they do—even if they don’t agree with it.

Example:

Thanos (Avengers: Infinity War) believes overpopulation will destroy the universe, so he wants to "fix" it.

Dr. Octopus (Spider-Man 2) wants to complete his scientific work, but his obsession turns him into a villain.

The Phantom (Phantom of the Opera) longs for love and acceptance, but his jealousy drives him to violence.

What to Avoid:

A villain who is evil "for the sake of it."

A villain with an overdone revenge plot unless it has deeper layers.

Ask Yourself:

If the villain had chosen a different path, could they have been the hero?

What’s their core belief that fuels their actions?

4. Make Them Competent (Nothing’s Scarier Than a Villain Who Actually Wins)

A weak villain is forgettable. A great villain is dangerous because they’re smart, powerful, and capable.

Example:

Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes) is a criminal mastermind who outsmarts Sherlock multiple times.

Darth Vader is feared for a reason—he’s powerful, strategic, and ruthless.

The Joker (The Dark Knight) doesn’t have superpowers, but he manipulates people and turns society against Batman.

What to Avoid:

A villain who gets defeated too easily.

A villain who constantly makes dumb mistakes.

Ask Yourself:

What is the villain better at than the hero?

How do they outmaneuver the protagonist?

5. Don’t Forget Their Human Side—What Do They Love? What Are They Afraid Of?

Even villains have emotions, relationships, and vulnerabilities. Giving them a human side makes them more three-dimensional.

Example:

Lord Voldemort fears death more than anything, driving all his actions.

Loki craves attention and validation from his family.

The Wicked Witch (Wizard of Oz) isn’t just evil—she’s grieving her sister’s death.

What to Avoid:

A villain with nothing to lose—stakes make them more dangerous.

A villain who is just a killing machine with no depth.

Ask Yourself:

What does your villain secretly love?

What keeps them up at night?

Final Thought - Make the Villain’s Presence Felt

Even when the villain isn’t on the page, their influence should loom over the story. A great villain challenges everyone and everything in the story and the theories everyone else believe in.

[koobird]

Me before yesterday: I’m really excited for the TTYD remake, I’ve always wanted to play it, but I’m honestly worried all of these people hyping it up as the greatest game ever are really overrating it. I mean, it’s just a Mario game, how good can it really be?

Me last night after having such a good time I played the game for nine hours straight:

[candlecoo-sideb-art]

Been relistening to TMA again and wanted to highlight some of my favorite lines

"meat is me"

"Sleep no more"

“there’s no feeling, but the no feeling hurts,”

“The maze is sharp on my mind. The angles cut me when I try to think.”

“Life is a current which cannot be fought. It is a march with one destination. You cannot cease your step, nor move your course, to one that skirts the journey’s termination.”

“YOU HAVE ALREADY READ TOO MUCH”

“Not enough space to move. Never enough to breathe.”

‘MR. SPIDER WANTS MORE.’

"She dabbed a napkin at her mouth and asked me where her son was. I asked her what his name had been. She didn’t know."

“The blanket never did anything.”

"The only thing in those eyes was violence. Carnage... Blood"

"Such things are not to be dwelt on, but serve to illustrate my proposition that violence, inflicted, received or even just witnessed, can not only deal injury to the body or the mind, but to the soul itself."

"What is my metaphorical pit?"

“Pray the Sandman only brings you sleep.”

“Long pig. Short pig. Wide pig. Narrow pig.”

"I knew what it was to find your meaning buried in the earth, to claw your sense from under the sand and mud and soil, to dig."

“Your perfect body is here. Become all you can be.”

“Come, meat. Be my guest. And let thy gifts to me be blessed.”

"Transmitting nothing. Powering nothing. Connected to nothing."

“We’ve got one down here. Come on, I’ll show you.”

"After all, whatever all that other stuff was, they weren’t laundering money."

[abugsomewhere]

Sonic prime spoilers

Holy shit this episode

He just wants his fucking friends. Shadow is reaching out for him, oh my gods. Shadow’s making sure he keeps hoping.

And he’s so specific about why they’re going to fight Nine. He’s so specific that Nine betrayed Sonic and he’s not blaming Sonic for trusting Nine. He’s not making Sonic question his judgement. He’s sticking with him and supporting him! Sonic just lost his friends for the second time and instead of making him feel worse, Shadow is trying to draw out his determination to keep fighting.

I really like the writing for this show.

[atomicradiogirl]

here are my favorite quotes from dune messiah cause frank herbert cooked so hard

“save your praise for those who can be swayed by it”

“beloved,” she whispered. “have i troubled you?” her arms enclosed his future as they enclosed him. “not you,” he said. “oh… not you.”

“paul saw the moon become an elongated sphere. it rolled and twisted, hissing — the terrible hissing of a star being quenched in an infinite sea. it was gone. no moon. the earth quaked like an animal shaking its skin.”

“the flesh surrenders itself. eternity takes back its own.”

“they’ve blinded my body, but not my vision”

“awakening, she’d found paul sitting beside her, his eyeless sockets aimed at some formless place beyond. chani stilled a fit of trembling when he aimed those eyeless sockets at her.”

“i was baptized in sand and it cost me the knack of believing. who trades in faiths anymore? who’ll buy? who’ll sell?”

“we have eternity, beloved.” “you may have eternity. i only have now.” “but this is eternity.”

“he felt his body through her touch: dead flesh carried by time eddies. he reeked of memories that had glimpsed eternity. Past and Future became simultaneous.”

“you cannot see!” “i don’t need eyes to see you.”

“if you need something to worship, then worship life—all life, every last crawling bit of it! we’re all in this beauty together!”

“this myth he’d made out of intricate movements and imagination, out of moonlight and love, out of prayers older than Adam, and gray cliffs and crimson shadows, laments and rivers of martyrs—what had it come to at last? when the waves receded, the shores of Time would spread out there clean, empty, shining with infinite grains of memory and little else. was this the golden genesis of man?”

“there are problems in this universe for which there are no answers.”

“people are subordinate to government, but the ruled influence the rulers.”

“he is the fool saint, the golden stranger living forever on the edge of reason.”

[ovium-sheep]

Yeah 🤷‍♀️

[starland4678]

I finally read the new chapters of “Born from the same ink” cause I hadn’t read it since January

Having Sammy be shown as a really annoying yet actually caring guy throughout one of the chapters made me so fricken happy. I love his character and how it’s accurately portrayed

Also.. chapter 16 as a whole made me internally cry, oh my god

for anyone who want to read it, here’s chapter one

[swaglesswatcher]

the fandom is being too hard on Sam for his reaction to the bonzo stuff tbh. if someone was having a serious conversation with me and just hit me with "barney the dinosaur is an eldritch being that murders people for the government" I would probably react the same way

[lary-the-lizard]

Something that I love so much about Damen and Laurent’s love story is what Damen finds attractive about Laurent. SPOILER!!! So Laurent was abused sexually when he was 13-15ish and what men found attractive about him was his effeminate appearance. He also says that people had been interested him sexually for as long as he can remember which could go back to when he was 6 which is disgusting! When Damen first pursues Laurent, Laurent asks/says that Damen is pursuing him as man after a boy. But even in Damen’s head he is attracted to the masculine maturity of Laurent’s body. He likes Laurent’s muscles, pubic hair, the tendons of Laurent’s neck, and his voice. He likes Laurent’s self control, his intelligence, his self sufficiency, and protectiveness. These are all traits of maturity, of adulthood. Damen can’t even imagine Laurent as a child when he first starts to be interested in Laurent. He for sure notices the “effeminate” traits of Laurent’s physical appearance but he doesn’t trace them back to boyhood or childlike innocence or even really think of them as weaknesses because he doesn’t think of Laurent as a sexual exploit or fetish or even someone to conquer. Which is so fucking beautiful and healing for Laurent!! Like! Damen didn’t even tell Laurent that he was attractive until Laurent could be sure that Damen was attracted to Laurent as an equal adult peer. And Laurent had every reason to fear that Damen was looking at him as his junior as Damen is 6 years older than him but instead Damen RESPECTS Laurent and is IMPRESSED by Laurent and SHOWS THIS by giving Laurent the space to not only make his own decisions but handle difficult tasks. Damen doesn’t take over or try to guide Laurent unless Laurent asks him to or Damen KNOWS Laurent NEEDS his help. Like!! Laurent is inexperienced in some areas but instead of it being turned into some innocent, purity, and childlike thing DAMEN ALSO feels the anxiety of the moment and he doesn’t guide Laurent through it, they go through it together AS EQUALS! Laurent is a man who happens to be pretty but Pacat didn’t turn it into something that takes away from Laurent’s maturity or masculinity. In the books you can tell that Laurent has fears about people perceiving him as innocent, young, or womanly but the books never turn him into something that any of that while also showing us why those anxieties are there.

All that said, Laurent is pale, golden blond, and blue eyed and just twenty in the books but he’s not boyish, fragile, petite, or having a feminine build. He’s a man.

Okay thanks

[grapedemon]

Made a really rough sketch of a scene from this amazing story (Silly writing with silly guys, which I think everyone should read)

Scene that I sketched

[detectivemiku]

I've never read a fanfic before (somehow) so I dipped my toes in yesterday and read A Study in Scarlette and oh my GOSH it has consumed my soul if you're a conan fan (especially kaishin) it is a MUST READ

[imarinext]

Yes I'm crying, how could you tell? she said while lying on the ground, face wet with tears

[smytherines]

the coldest goodbye

[e17omm]

(Playing PGR chapter 25)

Damn the way they casually do exposition is great.

"I heard the Purifying Force is chasing some experimental construct. No real info but I heard the construct has purple hair. But purple-haired constructs are everywhere! Look, there's one right there."

*nods towards the purple-haired construct I am currently playing as that just broke out of some lab area and is sneaking into the area she's currently in, currently evesdropping on the conversation while pretending to be busy*

[llilyrose]

i actually read ghostlight before i got super active in the isat community help. i only got to it when it had like 7 chapters though so everything after that point is a mystery to me.

boy am i sure glsd there's only 24 chapters for me to do!!!! haha what do you mean the fic is in a series on ao3!!!! hahhahahaha what do you mean there's an ongoing sequel!!!!!! hhahahahhaahahahhahaha why do i hear BOSS music.

[watcher-ofthe-sky]

reading skip to loafer is a cycle of: *read a scene that articulates the exact emotion of human condition*, *close laptop*, *stare at bare walls and contemplate life*, *open laptop and continue reading*