1. anolinde

    anolinde New Member

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    How would a man take revenge on (perceived) cheating girlfriend?

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by anolinde, Feb 17, 2017.

    Hi all!

    I've just discovered and joined this forum and am learning so much!

    I have just finished my first draft (yes!) of a romance (possibly drama) novel. It's a light read and written in a foreign language about people in said foreign country, so there will be some cultural differences, but I'm sure most concepts are universal.

    Anyway, I am having trouble trying to find ways for the antagonist (MC's ex-boyfriend) to take revenge on his ex-girlfriend (MC) who he thought had been cheating on him (and thought she left him for another man). This character is someone who is highly manipulative, controlling, jealous, but he's not totally BAD -- as in, he's not capable of murder or anything that can lead him to being arrested (since he has a good job and wants to keep it). He wants to take revenge on his ex just enough to feel justified and also he needs/wants to be sneaky about it, too. However, I can't seem to think of anything he can do to make MC's life miserable! In my first draft, I had him post malicious stuff about MC on social media (anonymously, of course) to discredit her and also tried get her into trouble at work by having her falsely accused of something. However, that didn't seem to stick and so she got off easily.

    Anyone has any ideas on what I can do to spice things up and really mess with my MC? Please help!!
     
  2. KellyA

    KellyA New Member

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    What country are they in and what are their backgrounds in career, what do they do for a living?
     
  3. Phil Mitchell

    Phil Mitchell Banned Contributor

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    Two words: Revenge Porn.
     
  4. anolinde

    anolinde New Member

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    They're Thai and live in Thailand (Bangkok). My novel is also written in Thai (I am half Thai). The antagonist works as an account executive in a big advertising firm (a cool, respectable job in Thailand). The MC is a part-time language teacher and wannabe writer.
     
  5. anolinde

    anolinde New Member

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    LOL, one possible idea I have is about the antagonist possibly being in possession of an embarrassing clip where he would put it on Facebook or Youtube or whatever. Not sure if that will work or not, though, but might be worth a try and see where it leads.
     
  6. Bill Chester

    Bill Chester Active Member

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    Your problem sounds familiar. My protagonist starts out as a sweet little kid and the thought of doing anything to hurt him just puts my mind into blank mode. Could it be that your protagonist has become such a close friend that you don't want to hurt her?
     
  7. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    If your MC is a language teacher, likely her reputation would be quite important. So if her ex posted some naked pictures of her on social media and if at least one of her students and/or student's parents saw it, it would probably be scandalous and could lead to parents withdrawing their children from her classes. Then since it's a novel, you could slap on some unfortunate fine your MC got on her car for parking or maybe the water pipes bursting and now she can't afford the repairs because she just lost a bunch of students ;) The unfortunate instances aren't related to the ex but it'd add insult to injury, exactly what you want. Maybe the landlord doesn't like what people are now saying about her and evicts her from her flat, who knows? Play on Thai culture here - what would be scandalous for the average Thai? What's the worst thing that could happen?
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2017
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  8. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm struggling with this. IMO, he is bad. I realize that's not entirely your point, but if he isn't "bad", he just doesn't fit my mental model of someone who would do this.
     
  9. FireWater

    FireWater Senior Member

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    I agree with ChickenFreak. Also, "manipulative, controlling and jealous" fits the bill of "Bad" for me.
     
  10. anolinde

    anolinde New Member

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    Some very good points to ponder ... thanks so much! :)
     
  11. anolinde

    anolinde New Member

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    I think I'm gonna try going down this road and see where it leads to ... I do have something similar going on, but will need to take it up a notch (or 2 or 3 ..)! Thanks for your input :)
     
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  12. Abraham First

    Abraham First Member

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    For me personally I'd do it psychologically. Let the the guy deceive the MC that he has been a better guy than he was. Then create a 'best friend' for the MC. Then make him date the MC's best friend. Let him torture the MC psychologically. Make the MC fall in love again with the guy. The make the guy reveal his actual plan of getting his revenge on her.

    That might be cliche, but it IS actually applicable in real-life. Yes, with some time and effort, it is applicable. ahem.
     
  13. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I'm not following this. Why would the MC fall in love with someone who is dating her best friend and torturing her psychologically?
     
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  14. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    That.

    Or if he wants to do something super inconvenient but not quite as horrible as revenge porn, he could pour a mix of sunwarmed water and bits of fish - like sardines or herrings - into the ventilation valves (or whatever they're called) of her car. :twisted:

    ... Or if he's lucky enough, he could hook up with someone hotter than the ex and flaunt the new relationship in front of her (on social media, in public).
     
  15. Abraham First

    Abraham First Member

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    So, while the EX is dating her (MC) best friend, the EX is showing the MC that he changed (in a positive way), but of course it was to deceive her. Then I would make her (MC) falling in love again with him again (Through time of course). She want to be with him again but she can't because he is dating her best friend. This is where I would make the MC tormented psychologically. Build up the mental stress so that at some point, she can't take it anymore, and when she does, she decides to 'get' him back and disregard her best friend. Then the guy will reject her because she shouldn't betray her best friend (of course, his lie). Make the best friend found out about the (MC) attempt to steal her boyfriend. The best friend get mad as hell because she defended her (MC) when she was accused/perceived of cheating, but now she is trying to steal her best friend's lover. The best friend cut of their friendship. The guy -still dating the best friend because she think that her boyfriend rejected the MC- reveal that it was his actual plan to mess with her life.
     
  16. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    But the MC would've probably told her best friend every nasty thing about the ex, so he'd need to put a lot of muscle into seducing the best friend. I guess it could be a way to show how manipulative this guy is and maybe the BF just happens to be really lonely or used to have a crush on the ex or something that'd make it a bit more likely to happen.

    Otherwise I'm just sort of seeing the BF and the MC exact a revenge of their own on the ex. The BF tells the MC the ex asked her out and they connive something together to make the possessive, jealous, manipulative asswipe suffer... Or alternatively they'd just want to have nothing to do with him.

    Also, for a revenge plot it's a bit convoluted, in my opinion. I mean, he probably wouldn't expect it to work. At best, he might get to bang the best friend and wreck her friendship with the MC, at worst it'd be both a waste of time and bite him in the ass.
     
  17. Abraham First

    Abraham First Member

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    I assume the MC is a good person because she was perceived as a cheater, maybe she's not actually cheating. So she wouldn't go far as ruining her best friend happiness by trashing the guy behind his back.

    . Yes, as I said above, it need effort(s).

    I can see here why you don't agree with mehaha, I get it though. Because I wrote the plan from man's perspective and of course normally woman would against it.

    I agree it might not work. But with right planning and execution, I believe it might work too. Because that is why love-triangle was found.
     
  18. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Oh no, I meant like you tend to keep your best friend in the loop about your relationships, so she'd know the guy you're dating is a douchebag by the time they break up. Your best friend is often inclined to take your side; comfort you, trash the guy, help you get over the break-up, that kind of thing. I'm not saying the BF -- if there was one -- would never date the ex of the MC, just that best friends tend to unite against whoever wronged either of them, and if the ex said to the MC he's breaking up with her because he thinks she cheated on him, she'd be upset and probably run to her best friend to cry her eyes out.

    But of course everything is possible. The OP just has to give the characters believable motivations.


    I admit, I wasn't thinking about this as a boy-girl thing. I could see a vindictive ex-gf pull off similar shenanigans -- except she'd have an easier time to get in bed with a male MC's best friend...! :D
     
  19. Abraham First

    Abraham First Member

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    Okay, let say the ex is a douchebag. The MC had told the best friend every nasty things about him, when they broke up. The best friend would say to the MC "he changed, don't you see it too? You should know better". Of course, the best friend was deceived too. But ...

    ... yes, like you said, everything is possible.

    uh, okay. sorry then, haha.

    As I said before, I assume MC is a good person, so I doubt she would do that. Except, she actually did cheat on her ex, then I believe she wouldn't think twice to cheat again. Just my asumption, haha.
     
  20. KellyA

    KellyA New Member

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    I think this would be a more suitable revenge scenario by descrediting the character entirely :)
    I would place a lot of focus on how personally he takes revenge, let it run deep and devour him. Possibly even to the point of reverse, destroying his own career in the process?
     
  21. rktho

    rktho Contributor Contributor

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    Perhaps he could make passive-aggressive, embarrassing advertisements aimed at her, since he's in the advertising business. They're ads, so they'd be all over the place, right out in public and online where everyone can see them (even if they don't realize what they're really for or who they're targeted at, although the MC is supposed to think they know.) And they'd criticize things she's sensitive about, maybe even things the antagonist used to like (or still likes) about her. Anything below the belt. Anything targeting her body and self-esteem. Anything to suggest that she wasn't good enough anyway and that she's a horrible person. Anything that reminds her of the cheating (i.e, things that are designed to make her feel like he's accusing her all over again.) And when she brings it up with him, he says she's paranoid. Either trying to comfort her because of all the horrible things "someone" said about her, or rubbing even more salt in the wound, depending on whether he really wants her back or not. Maybe, he offers to talk to "the person" who's behind all of it and make "them" stop if she starts dating him again and doesn't cheat. Or maybe if she admits she cheated and apologizes. Maybe she falls for it and starts dating him again, or wants to. Or maybe she protests that she can't admit what she didn't do, and he gets angrier. Or maybe she lies and pretends she really did cheat and she's sorry (which would scream 'manipulation', since he manipulates her into telling him what he wants to hear.)
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2017
  22. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I find this unpersuasive/unlikely. I read your later posts about this option, and I still find it unlikely.

    It would require that:

    - The best friend starts dating a guy that she has already been told is a manipulative jerk. And also dates her best friend's ex--even if the breakup had been amiable, there's a resistance to that.
    - The MC forgets that he was ever a manipulative jerk and not only forgives him, but falls in love with him again.
    - The MC betrays her best friend in favor of seeking a love relationship with the manipulative jerk.

    There are too many unlikelihoods here--I think that you'd end up with something fairly cartoonish. In a rom-com movie with a lot of montages backed up with multiple "buy the sound track here" tunes, it might conceivably work, but I don't think it is going to work in print.

    I think that the guy, with his massive ego, might very well think that this would work. And I could see the MC and best friend feeding that ego and leading him into a trap, as @KaTrian I think said. But I don't see his plan actually working as conceived.
     
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  23. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    @Abraham First - I dunno, like... well, anyone with a shred of maturity should know that we do not behave the same at all with everyone. You act differently around your mum compared to when you're around your best friend, to when you're around a stranger, to... you get my point. Thus, why would a guy being a good boyfriend to your best friend mean he would be good for you?

    I mean, I had a pretty lousy ex-boyfriend and I know he's dating someone way more suitable for him now. He's talking about marrying her. I can only hope and pray he has changed since I dated him - which likely he has, since it's been like, 10 years - and he treats that girl better than he treated me. I assume he's nice to her - got no clue since we're in different countries - but no, this new-found niceness does not make me "fall in love" again. Some scars and hurts don't go away. Once you've lost respect for the person once, it never really comes back. It'd need to be rebuilt - but that's gonna take much more than being nice to a new girlfriend to do. Like, if my ex was indeed the most wonderful man on earth now to his girlfriend, I'd be glad - because no woman deserves to be treated the way he treated me. If he ever came back to me, I'd run a bloody mile lol. I don't care how nice he's become since - and definitely not if he was nice to someone else. That proves he's nice to someone else - what does that matter to me if he's not actually nice to me, too!?

    A friend of mine once said: all men are jerks until they get married.

    Of course married men can often be jerks to their wives too. But he basically used it to mean: since you marry your true love, the one you're meant to be with, of course you're kind to her. You were probably a jerk to everyone else before because you didn't love her truly, and somehow you were incompatible. (yes yes I am aware of the flaw in the analogy because divorces happen and spouses can be jerks to each other too etc etc - you get my point)

    I am tempted to think perhaps you've not been through a break up before...?
     
  24. Abraham First

    Abraham First Member

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    Okay, I have to say that everyone has their points and I very much respect all of it. I am thinking maybe because I didn't phrase it right (the plan) before (sorry, my bad). So there are some things I need state too.

    About what @KaTrian and @ChickenFreak agreed on. I get it that it would be unlikely for a someon to date the ex of their best friend. Because all of the EX bad sides were already exposed to them. And it's true that it's not that easy to forget someone who had wronged us before. But it's all about perspective, bias, and experience. What people told us might not always the same as what we actually experience. Once I was told by someone (person A) who claimed to knew everything about a certain person (person B) and all of her bad personalities, habits, and etc. I kept listening to this person A with a clear mind so I wouldn't make any subjective judgments about this person B. So until finally I met this person B, and because certain opportunities on later times, we kept meeting and we got the chance to learn about each other. Know what my last impression of this person B? "She's not that bad after all"

    So I thought that this person A might had a certain bias on his perspective toward person B. I know it might be different case as the EX and the best friend, but what I am trying to say that what we know and we truly experience might be different. Now, this manipulative jerk EX should and would have anticipate about all those details before he initiate his plan.

    @Mckk I am sorry if I am getting personal; you said that it's been 10 years with you and your EX. Did you spent times with your EX during those ten years? I guess not, right. Or course. But if you did, would you still be so sure that you would not fall in love on him again?

    Because this characters that we are currently discussing (MC, best friend, EX), while the best friend dating the EX (let say the do), the MC would see her EX again, inevitably. And during those times maybe, just maybe, the EX succeeded on manipulating the MC mind. Tricking her into falling in love again with him again.

    I mean it happen on real-life right? There are some people that just keep coming back to one person. I may not know what their stories are, but if it could happen in real-life, why wouldn't it be on fiction?

    And @Mckk, you asked if I haven't been through a break up before? I have.
     

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