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ysabetwordsmithDay 10
In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (Or a few!) Tell us what makes it work for you, and why it appeals to you so much. Talk about what you like to see in fanworks featuring that theme most. Feel free to include recs and examples! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
I love just the concept of tropes. I was into the Aarne-Thompson index of fairytale motifs long before TV Tropes was a twinkle in some programmer's eye. I look at those things the way Tony Stark looks at his workshop: Tools. Tools everywhere! :D
Trope: Fish Out of Water. A character gets dumped into a totally unfamiliar, perhaps hostile environment; for example, thawing Captain America into the modern era. From that look on his face in Times Square to "I understood that reference!" I sympathize with the poor spud. Love Is For Children is my paean to Fish Out of Water, but most of you have read that by now, or are planning to. Check out Schrodinger's Hulk for my idea of how to get Bruce-and-Hulk out of Thunderbolt's reach. I love this trope in combination with all the other things.
Cliché: "My best friend is a ..." I love friendships, I love oddball friendships, and I especially love when people are stuck together who don't perfectly suit but won't let go. Over in Schrodinger's Heroes again, racism is an issue because Texas. In canon, Pat is black and Chris is a good ol' boy; their friendship develops over time. This lays the groundwork for the series Don't Try This at Home, in which a bullying incident gone horribly wrong turns into a tight friendship between Chris' nephew Eric and a black boy named TeJay. Jaunt over to Terramagne, and I've tilted this a bit: Ansel has a black brother-in-law rather than best friend, although his BASH team leader is also black.
Kink: I have a huge competence kink. Huuuuuge. My competence kink is hung like the Hulk. So #coulsonlives and Love Is For Children, and Frankenstein's Family. In my original work, notably competent characters appear in Fiorenza the Wisewoman, Officer Pink, P.I.E., and The Steamsmith. For a wider variety of kink, I recommend Schrodinger's Heroes, since I did Kink Bingo once and many of the fills wound up in that project.
Motif: A motif is basically a running gag in its Sunday clothes, something that keeps reappearing. For me, symbols are a percussion instrument; I like them for beating clues into the head of a clueless character. Tarot is a favorite. Often characters will have their own recurring mofit; Shiv is fixated on food and sharp things. Because I often take titles from old sayings, I'm prone to repeating a phrase several times in different contexts.
Theme: This gets a little tricky, because lots of lists conflate theme (a universal topic) with message (what you have to say about it). So for instance, the theme of Love Is For Children is "love" but the message is sankofa: "If you forgot it, go back and get it." The people who love you will help fill in the gaps of what you missed growing up. Over in my original work, the same theme and message repeat -- with very different details -- across Cassandra, Officer Pink, and Shiv.
And I can't resist naming one the moderators didn't list: archtypes or stock characters.
Archetype: The Unsullied Hero. This is the character whose inner goodness makes it possible to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Captain America in "I'm with you to the end of the line." Superman in "Superman and the Jumper." This is why I HATE the modern trend of destroying heroes, of making them all anti-heroes. The idea that heroes are too perfect to be relatable is baloney; people have related to them throughout history. The idea that they're too powerful is hogwash; just see the two examples I cited. Do you think Cap and Supes feel powerful in those scenes? No. That's how you gut someone who's physically durable: give them a problem that can't be solved by hitting. So my answer to that is creating characters like Stalwart Stan and Officer Pink. They make mistakes; they can be wrong, or overpowered; but they don't make mistakes of virtue. I feel that's important. And of course, here's Captain America in "Against His Own Shield."
What are some of your favorites?
In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (Or a few!) Tell us what makes it work for you, and why it appeals to you so much. Talk about what you like to see in fanworks featuring that theme most. Feel free to include recs and examples! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
I love just the concept of tropes. I was into the Aarne-Thompson index of fairytale motifs long before TV Tropes was a twinkle in some programmer's eye. I look at those things the way Tony Stark looks at his workshop: Tools. Tools everywhere! :D
Trope: Fish Out of Water. A character gets dumped into a totally unfamiliar, perhaps hostile environment; for example, thawing Captain America into the modern era. From that look on his face in Times Square to "I understood that reference!" I sympathize with the poor spud. Love Is For Children is my paean to Fish Out of Water, but most of you have read that by now, or are planning to. Check out Schrodinger's Hulk for my idea of how to get Bruce-and-Hulk out of Thunderbolt's reach. I love this trope in combination with all the other things.
Cliché: "My best friend is a ..." I love friendships, I love oddball friendships, and I especially love when people are stuck together who don't perfectly suit but won't let go. Over in Schrodinger's Heroes again, racism is an issue because Texas. In canon, Pat is black and Chris is a good ol' boy; their friendship develops over time. This lays the groundwork for the series Don't Try This at Home, in which a bullying incident gone horribly wrong turns into a tight friendship between Chris' nephew Eric and a black boy named TeJay. Jaunt over to Terramagne, and I've tilted this a bit: Ansel has a black brother-in-law rather than best friend, although his BASH team leader is also black.
Kink: I have a huge competence kink. Huuuuuge. My competence kink is hung like the Hulk. So #coulsonlives and Love Is For Children, and Frankenstein's Family. In my original work, notably competent characters appear in Fiorenza the Wisewoman, Officer Pink, P.I.E., and The Steamsmith. For a wider variety of kink, I recommend Schrodinger's Heroes, since I did Kink Bingo once and many of the fills wound up in that project.
Motif: A motif is basically a running gag in its Sunday clothes, something that keeps reappearing. For me, symbols are a percussion instrument; I like them for beating clues into the head of a clueless character. Tarot is a favorite. Often characters will have their own recurring mofit; Shiv is fixated on food and sharp things. Because I often take titles from old sayings, I'm prone to repeating a phrase several times in different contexts.
Theme: This gets a little tricky, because lots of lists conflate theme (a universal topic) with message (what you have to say about it). So for instance, the theme of Love Is For Children is "love" but the message is sankofa: "If you forgot it, go back and get it." The people who love you will help fill in the gaps of what you missed growing up. Over in my original work, the same theme and message repeat -- with very different details -- across Cassandra, Officer Pink, and Shiv.
And I can't resist naming one the moderators didn't list: archtypes or stock characters.
Archetype: The Unsullied Hero. This is the character whose inner goodness makes it possible to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Captain America in "I'm with you to the end of the line." Superman in "Superman and the Jumper." This is why I HATE the modern trend of destroying heroes, of making them all anti-heroes. The idea that heroes are too perfect to be relatable is baloney; people have related to them throughout history. The idea that they're too powerful is hogwash; just see the two examples I cited. Do you think Cap and Supes feel powerful in those scenes? No. That's how you gut someone who's physically durable: give them a problem that can't be solved by hitting. So my answer to that is creating characters like Stalwart Stan and Officer Pink. They make mistakes; they can be wrong, or overpowered; but they don't make mistakes of virtue. I feel that's important. And of course, here's Captain America in "Against His Own Shield."
What are some of your favorites?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-10 10:11 pm (UTC)I share the competence kink, and I'm pretty sure your handling of the Unsullied Hero is a big part of what lets me enjoy that archetype without the subtle shame of "well, but they always go down in the end." No, they bloody well don't.
Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 10:28 pm (UTC)Yay!
>> I share the competence kink, <<
Effective people are HAWT.
>> and I'm pretty sure your handling of the Unsullied Hero is a big part of what lets me enjoy that archetype without the subtle shame of "well, but they always go down in the end." No, they bloody well don't. <<
Antimatter: "I triiiiiied."
So far, the only one of my Unsullied Heroes who's gone down is Captain Valor, killed in the line of duty -- and that paved the way for Valor's Widow, who gets complete respect even from supervillains.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 10:51 pm (UTC)Early days yet. ;) (Oh my gosh, I adore those two.)
And even then, Captain Valor was /killed,/ not compromised. <3
>>-- and that paved the way for Valor's Widow, who gets complete respect even from supervillains.<<
That makes a difference, too. Someone like that shouldn't leave without a ripple.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 11:11 pm (UTC):D Antimatter/Stalwart Stan is my answer to Charles/Erik and Clark/Lex. Because in Terramagne, the gay supervillain does have a copy of The Joy of Gay Sex so the guys are not doomed to horrors like "All those years wasted fighting each other, Charles."
>> And even then, Captain Valor was /killed,/ not compromised. <3 <<
Well yeah. The only way to compromise an Unsullied Hero is mindrape -- because anyone can be raped -- but that doesn't count because they didn't consent. Someone may have used them to commit atrocities, and they'll feel awful about it, but that doesn't make it their moral responsibility. The blame falls on the decider. Similarly, anyone can be beaten in battle by sufficiently overwhelming odds, but there again, Captain Valor managed to foil Haxx0r, it just cost his life to do it.
>>That makes a difference, too. Someone like that shouldn't leave without a ripple.<<
And at that, you ain't seen nothing yet.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-10 10:20 pm (UTC)And the new Archetype? Princess-General. Buttercup/Antiope and Leia Organa (and so many other Alternate Princesses that have taken up with women, dragons, geeks, or said screw it, I don't NEED ANYONE to save me - Wendy Darling from SJ Tucker's _Wendy Trilogy_, fr'ex)... I am hoping some young women I know in L-Earth follow in their footsteps. Actually, at least one did, and at least one is doing so now: Carrie Fisher of blessed memory, and Emma Watson.
Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 10:42 pm (UTC)So much win. :D
>> And the new Archetype? Princess-General. Buttercup/Antiope and Leia Organa <<
Fa Mulan is much older.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 10:52 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 11:17 pm (UTC)We might also consider that Queen Elsa managed to stave off a stealth invasion.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 11:19 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-01-10 11:26 pm (UTC)Hm! Eliza Schulyer Hamilton. *Almost* fits the trope... the whole back half of her life was spent *doing stuff*, standing on the shoulders of her husband's legacy... she never led troops in battle, but I think given the chance she would have been as formidable in her own way as A.Ham at his best.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-10 11:42 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2018-01-10 11:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-11 08:47 pm (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2018-01-12 01:28 am (UTC)They go by many names -- Pure Hero, Classic Hero, TV tropes has it down as Incorruptible Pure Pureness -- but the concept is the same. And we need them.
If you like this trope, I highly recommend that you look up the examples of mine that I cited.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-01-14 05:27 am (UTC)Yay!
Date: 2018-01-14 05:30 am (UTC)