I thought about writing a gay romance story… Something that’s a bit modern, interspliced with some day-dreaming/fantasy scenes, and references to fictional Asian gay folk-lores. Fictional in that they’re made up for this story, but not based on any real traditional folk-lores.
Two characters, something like Harold and Steve.. Haven’t decided on actual name, but one needs to be “sexy” and one to be unusual, but ordinary… but in terms of characters, the names don’t reflect the characters… The “sexy” name is given to the ordinary person, with low-self esteem, insecurities about their looks (the main character in the romance), but the one with a rich day-dreaming/fantasy life. The other lead is drop dead sexy, but hides it well… a coffee shop barista… out-going, self-confident, the total opposite, but you don’t know he’s gay until act 3… for act 1, he’s a background character… there’s no magical moment, just the guy making the coffee.
For act 1, the main character, we’ll call Steve, we learn about who he is; his insecurities…his social circles… his love of literature and Yaoi comics… we’ll even walk into one of his day-dreams — he briefly meets some god-like Adonis at a comic-book convention (in cos-play of course), that turns into superhero/sidekick fighting crime sequence that ends in… well, it ends. Unable to day-dream about the act of sex because of his low self-esteem, guilt, or some inner-turmoil. He does this maybe a 2nd time, with a different person, with a different fantasy, but ends short like before… At the end of act 1, he discovers a support group, where he realizes he’s not alone, or the only person with these hang-ups. Maybe a on-line group, or Reddit… or a fairy-drag-mother.
In act 2, Steve starts to explore Asian folk-lores and stumbles upon 2 tales that speak to him. The first is a tale of love between two men of nobility in China. The first family finds out and hires someone to kill their son’s lover to not bring disgrace upon the family. The lover finds out about the plot and runs away… Through some trials and tribulations, the first family becomes indebted to the shunned lover, through some turn of events. The two lovers are reunited and live happily ever after… There should be a hook between the tale and Steve’s life…
The other folk-lore is Japanese between two boys that grew up together, wrestling together, bathing together, and fell in love… Another tale of how the families shunned their love, but in the end, their love for each other was so strong, that the gods turned them into birds… or monkeys.. or some type of animal or flowers that becomes symbolic of pure love without bias.
As viewers in act 2, we become immersed in the tales. We have breaks, when Steve attends class or visits the coffee shop…. or has an argument with Harold over the who was the better writer, some Russian dude, or Dickens. The two folk-lores frame up Steve’s inner growth, in his otherwise mundane life. Maybe at some point, he discusses the tales with his fairy-drag-mother to understand the deeper meaning, that’s not right there on the surface…Points that hit home for Steve.
In act 3, Steve comes to terms with himself and who he is. Growing in self-confidence, find his voice… And for the first time, really meets Harold, by realizing the share the same love for Yaoi comics… what started out with the two bantering back and forth with each other over different literature, there didn’t seem to be any common ground between them… Steve ends up catching Harold reading his “dirty little secret” one day behind the coffee shop.
….it’s trite and stupid, I know.