History Blog / LimyaaelsFantasyRants

* LostOrphanedRoyalty: Limyaael states that this is perhaps her least favorite trope in all of fantasy, due to a combination of it being overused, the troubling implications that peasants are genetically inferior and could never be heroes without having secret royal blood, and the FridgeLogic of how a character with no experience of how the world and politics works could be a successful ruler, the [[{{Wangst}} excessive angst it often results in]], and how it makes the villains look unintentionally incompetent for not being able o kill the whole royal family.

* {{Pride}}: This is the fourth suggestion for how to let the hero suffer for their flaws and mistakes in the [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/putting-characters-through-hell/ Putting characters through Hell]] rant. She points out that this pride that makes the hero dismiss others doesn't have to make him completely unlikeable, and the characters who oppose him can still be the ones who are most "wrong", but the results of the hero's pride should still be things that he should have prevented.

* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Discouraged when it is used as a cheap way to get rid of a villain rather than let them [[KarmaHoudini get away with their crimes]], even though the redemption is completely unforeshadowed and out-of-chracter.

* YouDidEverythingYouCould: Limyaael argues against the idea. While conceding that characters expressing this sentiment to another character to cheer them up or comfort them is fine, if an author constantly makes it so that the protagonist's failures have no consequence ("It doesn't matter that you couldn't/didn't save him from the housefire, he would have died that day from Lethal Disease #9567 anyway!") the protagonist verges into BoringInvincibleHero territory, and the story loses realism and depth.

* LeeroyJenkins: It's mentioned how the charge of the Rohirrim in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' was really [[HollywoodTactics suicidal and reckless]], and that you shouldn't write tactics like his unless you want a general to come off like this.

* HollywoodTactics: Limyaael advises that you shouldn't base your characters' military tactics on what you see in movies, noting that the charge of the Rohirrim in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'' should have led to them getting slaughtered by the orcs' spears. She does suggest these sort of tactics could be used for someone who is supposed to be a GeneralFailure in story.

* LeeroyJenkins: It's mentioned how the charge of the Rohirrim in [[''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' The Two Towers]] was really [[HollywoodTactics suicidal and reckless]], and that you shouldn't write tactics like his unless you want a general to come off like this.

* JerkassFacade: It's discussed how most fictional mercenaries are this rather than people who are, well, killing people for money.

KudzuPlot: [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/handling-byzantine-plots/ Handling Byzantine plots.]]

* MedievalEuropeanFantasy: [[http://limyaael.insanejournal.com/tag/worldbuilding:+medieval Medieval societies]].

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/greed-money/ Greed & money.]] In particular, about how this motivation is either ignored when is should be a factor or treated as such a DesignatedEvil that even obviously worse motivations like [[ForTheEvulz doing something for the thrill of killing]] are treated as more sympathetic.

* OurElvesAreBetter: [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/136885.html Why Are Elves Always This Way?]] (also covers CantArgueWithElves and MarySuetopia).

* SatelliteLoveInterest: [[https://limyaael.livejournal.com/377262.html Designated Love Interest rant]] (not to be confused with the trope ''we'' know as DesignatedLoveInterest).

* AccidentalAesop: Limyaael suggests "morals" for books she had read that contain BuryYourGays, such as "Damn, love someone of your own gender and you are ''screwed''" or "Well, love someone of your own gender, and your partner will die. But don’t worry, we’ll get you another one!"

* AngstDissonance: Limyaael thinks characters who complain about things without actually acting to change them often cause this.

* BecauseDestinySaysSo: One of Limyaael's PetPeeveTropes. She feels that if there must be a prophecy or destiny, the story should also show why the hero is admirable and successful, and why things happen as they do, independently of the destiny aspect.

* DesignatedEvil: Limyaael talks about how, too often, authors will treat character traits like selfishness, cynicism, seeking vengeance or doing the wrong thing when they couldn't have possibly known it was wrong as crimes that have to be redeemed, leading to the characters getting a contrived redemption that gives them a fake personality.
* DesignatedHero: How Limyaael thinks of [[TheEmpire empires]] who are portrayed as good even when they are conquering other places.
* DesignatedVillain: How Limyaael thinks of characters who want money from the hero, say, to pay a debt - especially when they clearly need the money themselves and they have been unusually compassionate and patient towards the hero but eventually could not wait any longer.

* EsotericHappyEnding: How Limyaael feels about stories where the protagonist [[AProtagonistShallLeadThem becomes the ruler of some place]] as a reward for their heroism, despite having previously shown inexperience and immaturity that would likely lead to them running their kingdom into the ground.

* HollywoodTactics: Limyaael advises that you shouldn't base your characters' military tactics on what you see in movies, noting that the charge of the Rohirrim in [[''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' The Two Towers'' should have led to them getting slaughtered by the orcs' spears. She does suggest these sort of tactics could be used for someone who is supposed to be a GeneralFailure in story.
* HotSkittyOnWailordAction[=/=]ShapeshiftingSquick: During her rant about half-human heroes, she says that as much as an author wants to just say "[[BellisariosMaxim don't think about it]]" when asked how the "mechanics" of it work, the author is the one person who '''should''' be putting more thought into it than anyone else.

* LemonStu: Limyaael hates when characters' virtue and perfection of their relationship is shown by the character's true love or lover of the right gender having perfect sexual performance.
* * LostOrphanedRoyalty: Limyaael states that this is perhaps her least favorite trope in all of fantasy, due to a combination of it being overused, the UnfortunateImplications that peasants are genetically inferior and could never be heroes without having secret royal blood, and the FridgeLogic of how a character with no experience of how the world and politics works could be a successful ruler, the [[{{Wagnst}} excessive angst it often results in]], and how it makes the villains look unintentionally incompetent for not being able o kill the whole royal family.

* PoorCommunicaitionKills: One of Limyaael's [[PetPeeveTrope Pet Peeve Tropes.]]

* {{Sequelitis}}: Why Limyaael warns writers to not give into the temptation to write sequels to novels they intended as stand-alone.

* SlowPacedBeginning: Limyaael doesn't like this trope, comparing it unfavorably with ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' where a lot happens in the first 200 pages.

* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: A PetPeeveTrope for Limyaael.

* YouDidEverythingYouCould: Limyaael argues against the idea. While conceding that characters expressing this sentiment to another character to cheer them up or comfort them is fine, if an author constantly makes it so that the protagonist's failures have no consequence ("It doesn't matter that you couldn't/didn't save him from the housefire, he would have died that day from Lethal Disease #9567 anyway!") the protagonist verges into MarySue [=/=] BoringInvincibleHero territory, and the story loses realism and depth.

* JerkassFacade: It's discussed how most fictional mercenaries are this rather than people who are, well, killing people for money.

* TropesAreTools: Limyaael occasionally admits that some concepts are actually quite intriguing and can provide a lot of possibilities for good fiction ... it's just the poor ''execution'' of them by authors everywhere that makes them so cliché.

* BondCreatures: [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/180365.html Telcom rant]].

* BelligerentSexualTension: In her rant on abused characters, cited as a bad way for characters to recover from trauma.
* BuryYourGays: Criticized, especially for fantasy worlds where there isn't the same discrimination as in our world and yet death and tragedy happen disproportionately to gay characters anyway.
* CampGay: Complained about in the context of fantasy where gay characters don't have the resources to focus on fashion or it's impractical given they are doing something like fighting in a war, yet they have to be fashionable anyway in service of a stereotype.
* CentralTheme: Recommended as a focal point for a stand-alone novel (while a longer series might have several interlocking themes).

* CleanCut: It's mentioned that cutting off someone's head isn't really nearly as easy as it's portrayed in fantasy, even in an execution, and neither is wounding someone in the heart.

* CynicismCatalyst: Discussed in [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/balancing-cynicism/ Balancing cynicism.]] - in particular, how some characters seem to flip over to being cynical way too quickly as a result of one of these, even if it doesn't make sense for their character.

* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: In the [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/viewpoint-errors/ Viewpoint errors]] rant. She is fine with this trope if there is a real reason the main character can't be the narrator (like knowing too much or too little about what's going on), but if there is no such reason she suggests the most important and interesting character should be the narrator.

* GambitPileup: Encouraged, as an alternative to a supposedly complex string of gambits that is really all just one strand leading to a single villain. As an example:
--> ''Person A tries to introduce poison into Person B’s food, because Person B was indirectly responsible for the death of Person A’s youngest sister. Person A fails, instead causing Person B to have a minor choking spasm. Person C notes the choking spasm and a touch of blue around Person B’s lips, a well-known sign of the poison chyrdis, and goes researching to try and figure out if that’s what it is, and who would put it in Person B’s food, or if Person B, a well-known attention whore, did it to herself. Meanwhile, Person D, who is watching Person C for Person E, notes Person C’s burst of activity and snooping about and thinks it may mean that she’s been discovered. She hurries to Person E to give a full report, and is spotted on the way by Person F, who thinks it’s awfully weird that she’s hurrying up to Person E’s tower when Person E doesn’t give a shit about anyone…''

* AHeroIsBorn: A PetPeeveTrope of Limyaael's, because births tend to be boring and there's no reason to root for the baby hero besides the contrived reason of them being a BornWinner or TheChosenOne.
* HetIsEw: A PetPeeveTrope for Limyaael - no relationship should be uniquely idealized or denigrated just based on the gender of the people involved, rather than idealizing or denigrating a relationship based on the actual individual people involved.
* HideYourLesbians: Criticized in the [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/gay-lesbian-characters/ Gay and lesbian characters rant]] as ultimately more harmful than not including same-sex relationships at all.

* KillTheOnesYouLove: Encouraged as a way to cause the hero genuine pain and have to make a genuinely difficult decision, as long as there are no convenient mitigating circumstances or loopholes.

* OrphansOrdeal: Criticized as a cheap source of angst when the protagonist is an orphan and no one else is (rather than it being a setting where so many people die that it's common). Limyaael also thinks the protagonist having dead parents is overused in general, and there's no reason why it should be so uncommon for protagonists to have two living parents.

* SadisticChoice: Encouraged, as long as the author doesn't take an out and reveal that the choice the main character chose was unambiguously right all along.

* SingleIssuePsychology: In the [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/abused-characters/ Abused characters]] rant, Limyaael discusses how some characters' whole psychology seems to revolve around one traumatic event as if it just happened, even years later. She says this could be interesting if it's presented as a sign of deep psychological wounds and the story is largely about [[MentalHealthRecoveryArc recovering from them]] in a realistic manner, but in most books it is presented unrealistically with no real explanation why their journey in the book helps them recover when nothing else had worked for years or decades.

* ThirdActStupidity: In [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/handling-byzantine-plots/ Handling Byzantine plots]], Limyaael criticizes villains who are TheChessmaster throughout the book only to be stupid enough in the end that the heroes can defeat them.

* YouNoTakeCandle: In the [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/languages-continued/ Languages, continued]] rant, Limyaael discusses how to show a character is not speaking their native language without making their grammatical errors over-the-top or annoying.

* AutomatonHorses: The [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/death-weapons/ Death and wapons]] rant lists things that you should keep in mind about horses to makes sure they don't come off as this.

* {{Doorstopper}}: [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/maintaining-very-long-novels/ Maintaining very long novels]].

* ChekhovsGun: Though she didn't use the term, her rant on subtle foreshadowing favors elements that aren't supposed to be noticed the first time around.

* GrayAndGrayMorality: Limyaael discusses a scenario where a HeroAntagonist on the villain's side is seeking vengeance on a high-ranking member of the "good" side for a completely justified reason, and the moral dilemma this could create.

* HotSkittyOnWailordAction[=/=]ShapeshiftingSquick: During her rant about half-human heroes, she says that as much as an author wants to just say "[[BellisariosMaxim don't think about it]]" when asked how the "mechanics" of it work, the author is the one person who '''should''' be putting more thought into it than anyone else.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Suggested as one of the ways a hero could not get something he wants even though he still saves the world in the end - as long as it isn't immediately followed by revealing that [[SourGrapes the girl was a horrible person anyway]]

* ShowDontTell: Limyaael talks about how most [[DeadlyDecadentCourt Deadly Decadent Courts]] are really not that dangerous and just consist of idiots spouting cliched dialogue, it's just the the author is constantly telling us how subtle and dangerous everyone is

* TailSlap: When discussing dragons, Limyaael notes that the whip of a crocodile's tail packs enough brute force to kill an average human being. So what would a dragon's tail do? "Probably ''not'' cause light wounds."

--> '''Not all women have love as their first priority. Really. (This becomes even less true in worlds where the gender roles are supposed to be indistinguishable). Not every woman feels a maternal urge, or the urge to be taken care of. Really. (You’re reading the words of one). And not every woman will be willing to give up what she wants just to place the hero’s desires first. Really. And no, I don’t think it’s better if a woman sacrifices what she wants just so that her children or her lover or her parents can have an easier time of it, either. It’s still the same trap: sacrifice is required of her because she’s female. It’s fine for men to have their own desires, because they’re male. It’s fine for children to have their own desires, because they’re children. It’s fine for parents to have their own desires, because they did the work of raising the children. But a selfish adult woman? Gasp shock horror!'''

* DiseasedName: In her rant on names, Limyaael mentions that she named one of her characters in her 2003 story ''Golden Heresy'' "Teridona", unaware of its meaning, and that a reader who spoke Greek helpfully informed her that it's Greek for "tooth decay".

* CommonalityConnection: In the [[https://curiosityquills.com/limyaael/represented-relationships/ Less Represented Relationships]] rant, Limyaael argues that relationships between characters who have things in common can be more entertaining and believable to read about than characters who are complete opposites.

* EasyAmnesia: [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/322254.html Rant on amnesia/amnesiac characters]].

* {{Wangst}}: aversion: [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/tag/rants%20on%20angst Rants on angst]] [[invoked]].

* EasyAmnesia: [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/322254.html Rant on amnesia/amnesiac characters]].

** aversions: [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/273684.html On stepping out of medieval fantasy parts one]].[[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/275089.html and two]].

* EasyAmnesia [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/322254.html Rant on amnesia/amnesiac characters]].

* EvilOverlord: aversion: [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/310509.html Rant on creating non-Dark Lord villains]].

Limyaael's Fantasy Rants are updated [[http://limyaael.insanejournal.com/ here]]. The archive of Rants can be accessed [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/tag/ here]], and [[http://limyaael.insanejournal.com/480442.html#cutid1 here]].

* {{Anvilicious}}: aversion: [[https://limyaael.livejournal.com/329800.html Weaving in messages without being obnoxious]] [[invoked]].

* {{Dissimile}}/{{NOT}}: Usually in the form of: "That's totally original. Only not."

* YouDidEverythingYouCould: Limyaael argues against the idea. While conceding that characters expressing this sentiment to another character to cheer them up or comfort them is fine, if an author constantly makes it so that the protagonist's failures have no consequence ("It doesn't matter that you couldn't/didn't save him from the housefire, he would have died that day from Lethal Disease #9567 anyway!") the protagonist verges into MarySue/BoringInvincibleHero territory, and the story loses realism and depth.