Episode 226: Cinnamon Roll Love Interests

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This week on Fable and the Verbivore, we’re wrapping up our series about male romance character tropes with a favorite — cinnamon rolls.

In this episode, we talk about some words that are often used to define how cinnamon roll characters tend to be. Things like:  Kind, Supportive, Warm, Artistic, Emotionally available, Connected with their emotions, Strong sense of conviction, Listens, Values consent, Open, Funny, Cozy, Warm, Swoony, Sweet, Soft, Thoughtful, Feels safe and secure, and Authentic

We talk about some example cinnamon role male characters, such as — Peeta, Henry Tilney, Faramir, the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, Colin Bridgerton, Wylan from Six of Crows, Loki in Loki season 1, Cassian Andor from Rogue One, and Magnus Chase. This character type is also a common staple in monster stories.

We touch on why these characters appeal so much to us — as they often make us smile and swoon, or act as great relievers of stress when our lives are difficult — and how they tend to make really beloved book boyfriends. But, also, there are some great multi-faceted characters like Mr. Darcy, Kylo Ren, and Kaz Brekker who have complicated outer shells but at their core possess many cinnamon role-like qualities.

Towards the end, we talk about the character of Waymond Wang from Everything, Everywhere All At Once and how he acts as the emotional spine of his story. He doesn’t change, but our view of him does. The story itself forces us to grapple with assumptions we have about masculinity, what a strong man looks like, and what he does. We feel that characters that challenge stereotypes can be pretty intriguing. And, as Fable brings up, these characters can do a great job of highlighting the theme or encouraging the protagonist to change.

We hope you enjoy this episode. Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore


Notes:

Books and Films Mentioned:

Music from:https://filmmusic.io
 ‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Bethany Stedman