Plagued Nice Guys

[AmpleApricots]

Don't give them hints, it's good that they have no idea how to manipulate these women successfully.

That's all they try to do. Manipulate. Playing to win. These guys and girls have a lot of problems and ironically, a relationship wouldn't fix them anyways. If they'd be genuine people that enjoy their own life and also keep trying new people for the sake of making experiences, the relationship part would eventually come naturally. Not even dating apps and stuff like that is really required. (which I'm against anyways, always had the feeling that dating services are counterproductive and it's actually easier to meet someone in more relaxed settings)

If they also weren't so lonely and embittered people who think that relationships are just like their animes, they'd also realize that relationships are actually difficult stuff and you don't want to be together with someone you don't like for who they are, no matter how hot you might find them at first sight. Wanting to fuck somebody and wanting to be in a serious relationship with somebody are two very different things. Also a thing they don't get.

 

[DrJonesHat]

Nothing says creepy Nice Guy like one offering you $200 for a female friend's phone number. And this was after he asked her directly and she said he made her uncomfortable and didn't want him calling her. And she told him this plainly.

 

[LtCucumber]

Don't give them hints, it's good that they have no idea how to manipulate these women successfully.

That's all they try to do. Manipulate. Playing to win. These guys and girls have a lot of problems and ironically, a relationship wouldn't fix them anyways. If they'd be genuine people that enjoy their own life and also keep trying new people for the sake of making experiences, the relationship part would eventually come naturally. Not even dating apps and stuff like that is really required. (which I'm against anyways, always had the feeling that dating services are counterproductive and it's actually easier to meet someone in more relaxed settings)

If they also weren't so lonely and embittered people who think that relationships are just like their animes, they'd also realize that relationships are actually difficult stuff and you don't want to be together with someone you don't like for who they are, no matter how hot you might find them at first sight. Wanting to fuck somebody and wanting to be in a serious relationship with somebody are two very different things. Also a thing they don't get.

The one thing that stops them from being an abuser in a relationship (which we all know they probably would be), is they let the mentality they have show through. They're extremely transparent people- they're too angry at women for not giving them what they believe they deserve to actually try to see women as people to lure them in. They're not smart enough, despite preaching about their "high IQ" (like it's supposed to impress someone).

 

[knightlautrec]

I'd like to see a psychological horror movie with a nice guy protagonist that's not marketed or shot as a common horror. Let people come to their own conclusions about his manipulation and weird obsessive behaviour.

 

[Frogasm]

I'd like to see a psychological horror movie with a nice guy protagonist that's not marketed or shot as a common horror. Let people come to their own conclusions about his manipulation and weird obsessive behaviour.

tbh I get this feel a little from some romantic comedies where the guy does crazy things like try to get the woman to break up with her husband with some wild deceptive scheme. I wonder sometimes if nice guys watch these movies.

 

[DrJonesHat]

tbh I get this feel a little from some romantic comedies where the guy does crazy things like try to get the woman to break up with her husband with some wild deceptive scheme. I wonder sometimes if nice guys watch these movies.

I forget the movie, but I seem to recall a post on here about a guy who saw a movie with that plot, and then tried to frame the subject of his desire's husband for cheating, and it failed miserably.

 

[Eshettar]

Remember the guy who announced his plan to fly over to Japan and persuade some poor woman not to go through with her wedding because he knew deep in his soul that HE was the man she truly loved? What I wouldn't give to know how that one turned out...

 

[LtCucumber]

I'd like to see a psychological horror movie with a nice guy protagonist that's not marketed or shot as a common horror. Let people come to their own conclusions about his manipulation and weird obsessive behaviour.

I'm trying to think of one- (incoming horror nerd sperg) however the thing with nice guys and their manipulations would not be seen as a "good" thing and may not warrant the role of "protagonist" much. The only examples I have that I know something about aren't necessarily in psychological horrors. This is gonna be a slightly long post.

The only real "good" character who shared some "nice guy" traits (i.e. stalking, making decisions that would fuck other people over) that I can think of is in season 2 of "Scream" on netflix called Eli.

Spoiler: i guess spoilers for those of you who actually want to see season 2

He has everything going against him- a restraining order over his head. He convinced the lead girl to throw a big party for her boyfriend (his cousin) knowing it wouldn't be his thing, chances are he thought they'd fight about it, especially since he was going to attempt to make out with her during the preparations for said party (that his cousin didn't even want). He used her fighting with her boyfriend to his advantage and got her takeout. There were even newspapers with pictures from the funeral of someone who died in season 1- he's in the background. Alarm bells all round for everyone else. And it turns out he's not the killer. It's the protag's boyfriend, who even says "that's a shame, he probably really liked you" after killing Eli.

Spoiler: another example is Deadgirl- spoilers and sperg ahead

the main protagonist of Deadgirl is definitely a "nice guy" however due to where the end goes I wouldn't say he's a clean-cut protagonist and i'm not sure if I should call him one, however for a majority of the movie i believe we're supposed to root for him, though I've only seen it once so fuck it i don't know.

• For all of the movie, he wants this girl called Joann.
• He and a friend find undead girl in basement. His friend uses her as a sex doll. Main guy doesn't.
• Protag asks Joann out on a date. He knows she has a boyfriend, of course (but that never stops your garden variety "nice guy")- he gets the shit beaten out of him, rightfully so.
• After that, what does the protagonist and his friend do? They convince Joann's boyfriend (who beat up the protagonist) to force the undead girl they found to blow him. She bites him and basically infects him with whatever made her undead. Basically they either wanted her to fuck him up/scare him or wanted him to take the undead girl and let go of Joann so the "protagonist" could have her instead.
• Protagonist also slices off his friend's hand because he was feeling up this girl he was interested in.

End of the movie rolls around; Joann is about to die. Friend has been infected and is like "hey let me bite her so she'll live forever". He goes into a spiel about how much he loves her and that he's going to save her and all that shit. She tells him to grow up... That's probably what sparks him to let the friend bite her to be used as a sex doll. Because even as she's dying in his arms, she won't love him back.

The kicker? The last part of the movie is him essentially going to visit Joann, as she's in that same undead state. Almost like a (not so) sentient fuck-toy... almost like what "nice guys" who can't get a woman's affection through any other way see women as.

However after watching things like You've been t@gged (which is literally a nice guy antagonist. It's awful as a series, made by, about and for youtubers/their fangirls. Worth watching just for the end though. Trust me. It ticks off every box apart from the fedora and neckbeard), Stalked by my Doctor and Unsane among some others, though the names escape me, it's very clear why any such obsessive behaviour cannot be a protagonist trait unless they went through a very drastic personality change.

It's something more prevalent in romcoms and such, which is probably why "nice guys" exist in the first place. They do everything they see in romcoms, not realising that it isn't reality and think that will get them the girl. It's like some who think negging works- they see it being preached by pick up artists and think that's the right thing to do, but all it gets them is a rejection and they don't know why; as far as they know, they've done everything right.

 

[DrJonesHat]

It could work if the Nice Guy was the main character, but the movie was shot from his point of view, and it's basically him thinking about a girl. Then in the middle of the movie, the perspective switches to the girl, and you see her creeped out by the guy, and her efforts to get him to go away.

Remember the guy who announced his plan to fly over to Japan and persuade some poor woman not to go through with her wedding because he knew deep in his soul that HE was the man she truly loved? What I wouldn't give to know how that one turned out...

If I recall, he didn't even get to the wedding before it was over. My favorite people like that are the ones who think if they speak up during the "does anyone object" part that their true love stalking victim can't get married. These people tend to be very disappointed when they find out that there's no requirement for that segment. It's a leftover from the days when you could accidentally marry your cousin or something. It was never intended to be a plot device for Nice Guys to wreck someone elses' special day.

 

[MetalParakeet]

tbh I get this feel a little from some romantic comedies where the guy does crazy things like try to get the woman to break up with her husband with some wild deceptive scheme. I wonder sometimes if nice guys watch these movies.

Literally every romantic movie is about a "nice guy" doing creepy ass things. I have no doubt that loads of these social awkward incel types mimic movie behaviour, thinking it' what the girl wants.

The whole "I know she has a boyfriend or just isn't interested so I'm going to show up at her bedroom window with a boombox" theme is so prevalent that even many girls think it's what they want. However they want that from someone they're into. When neckbeard from work shows up at 1am to recite poetry, it's goddamn scary. I've had that stuff happen to me and to this day, the guy still doesn't get why I didn't jump into his arms and proclaim my love

 

[DrJonesHat]

Literally every romantic movie is about a "nice guy" doing creepy ass things. I have no doubt that loads of these social awkward incel types mimic movie behaviour, thinking it' what the girl wants.

The whole "I know she has a boyfriend or just isn't interested so I'm going to show up at her bedroom window with a boombox" theme is so prevalent that even many girls think it's what they want. However they want that from someone they're into. When neckbeard from work shows up at 1am to recite poetry, it's goddamn scary. I've had that stuff happen to me and to this day, the guy still doesn't get why I didn't jump into his arms and proclaim my love

If you can do so without identifying yourself, I'm sure the motley assortment of Nice Guy watchers in this thread would love to hear that story and its aftermath.

 

[Preferred Penne]

The 2002 movie Slackers has a character named Ethan (who calls himself "Cool Ethan"), and he may just be the type of Nice Guy you guys are talking about.

 

[Eshettar]

I was about to say "And you decided to use it as an excuse to attack this woman you supposedly care about on her wedding day." but then I stopped and thought "Wait, I'm talking to a stick figure..."

 

[vertexwindi]

View attachment 474421

I was about to say "And you decided to use it as an excuse to attack this woman you supposedly care about on her wedding day." but then I stopped and thought "Wait, I'm talking to a stick figure..."

I still wonder what the deal with Randall is. He's a huge white knight but I heard that Megan is supposed to be based on a real person? I dunno mang.

 

[Frogasm]

the xkcd one seems dickish but not really on the level of nice guy. i think it was a lazy "haha marriage sucks" joke that fell flat because it wasn't good

 

[DrJonesHat]

One Nice Guy trait I've noticed is when they're obsessed with someone who is in a relationship (be it bf/gf or actually married) is that at the slightest hint of discord in the relationship, the Nice Guy tries to work an angle. It's not surprising when they go from passively waiting for his true love and her bf to start fighting to trying to instigate arguments to accelerate the process so she'll run right into the Nice Guy's arms. Because nothing says nice like inflicting emotional distress on someone you claim to care about.

 

[LtCucumber]

One Nice Guy trait I've noticed is when they're obsessed with someone who is in a relationship (be it bf/gf or actually married) is that at the slightest hint of discord in the relationship, the Nice Guy tries to work an angle. It's not surprising when they go from passively waiting for his true love and her bf to start fighting to trying to instigate arguments to accelerate the process so she'll run right into the Nice Guy's arms. Because nothing says nice like inflicting emotional distress on someone you claim to care about.

To be fair people who do this are extremely toxic and seem to be big fans of gaslighting also. Just going from what I've seen irl. They do tend to act this way towards people who are more vulnerable- they wouldn't think of acting that way towards anyone who would actually do anything about what they're saying (that isn't what they want), nor air their laundry with the other person in the relationship because that person will probably know what's up. They'll even take advantage of said person being in an increased vulnerable state to try and convince them to end things. People who simply try to play devil's advocate towards a relationship are very likely to move to more dramatic measures when they don't get what they want.

 

[DrJonesHat]

To be fair people who do this are extremely toxic and seem to be big fans of gaslighting also. Just going from what I've seen irl. They do tend to act this way towards people who are more vulnerable- they wouldn't think of acting that way towards anyone who would actually do anything about what they're saying (that isn't what they want), nor air their laundry with the other person in the relationship because that person will probably know what's up. They'll even take advantage of said person being in an increased vulnerable state to try and convince them to end things. People who simply try to play devil's advocate towards a relationship are very likely to move to more dramatic measures when they don't get what they want.

Like say, trying to blackmail the guy into breaking up with the girl. This is funny when the blackmail isn't something the guy cares about and the girl knows about already.

 

[TowinKarz]

I still wonder what the deal with Randall is. He's a huge white knight but I heard that Megan is supposed to be based on a real person? I dunno mang.

He did have an early strip where he demonstrates he understands the toxic Nice Guy, showing a Nice Guy planning in his mind how to wear down the girl he's attracted to with emotional tricks and token affection until she finally gives in and accepts that, despite her own unhappiness, she's at least pleasing a "Nice Guy" (who is shown playing vidya while she does the dishes) and will stick with "okay" instead of leaving for "better", and chance being alone.

When he's snapped out of his daydream by the girl walking off with a "jerk", he howls "How could you, HE DOESN'T RESPECT YOU!" Unaware of his own selfish motives and hypocrisy.

So Randall gets the dynamic.

The whole point of that wedding/prison comic? I have no idea, if it was a joke, it wasn't developed very well, and if he really means it, well, he has been known to have sudden but brief bouts of extreme pettiness towards others, but he quickly settles down and returns to the norm, so I really don't think about it too much, and when I do, I just credit it to good ol' engineer-autism making him really suck at getting along with people, despite "knowing" how they work.

 

[Viridian]

He did have an early strip where he demonstrates he understands the toxic Nice Guy, showing a Nice Guy planning in his mind how to wear down the girl he's attracted to with emotional tricks and token affection until she finally gives in and accepts that, despite her own unhappiness, she's at least pleasing a "Nice Guy" (who is shown playing vidya while she does the dishes) and will stick with "okay" instead of leaving for "better", and chance being alone.

When he's snapped out of his daydream by the girl walking off with a "jerk", he howls "How could you, HE DOESN'T RESPECT YOU!" Unaware of his own selfish motives and hypocrisy.

So Randall gets the dynamic.

The comic in question is called Friends. For me, the real punchline has always been about how at the end the Nice Guy says "He doesn't respect you!" (about the guy being picked by the Nice Guy's target over the Nice Guy), but after having him lay out his whole creepy plan for wearing down the girl's resistance, it's obvious that it's the Nice Guy who doesn't actually respect her at all. She's just a prize to be won, an ego booster to be manipulated into his orbit.