Your Author Appeal/Creator Thumbprint

• A character will at some point chose the performance of their duty (real or perceived) over their continued life. They will often, but not always, survive this.

Story-wise:

• The Fair Folk / Celtic Mythology
• All Myths Are True / Fantasy Kitchen Sink
• Mythopoeia
• Harmful to Minors
• Dark Fic
• Deconstruction / Reconstruction
• Dark Is Not Evil / Light Is Not Good
• Urban Fantasy
• Dragon Rider

Character-wise:

• Wild Hair
• Rapunzel Hair realistically portrayed. Nobody with hair past hip-length will just wander around with it loose unless it's a special occasion, if they lost their hair-tie, or if they're having a breakdown and can't care for it as normal.
• Knight in Shining Armor
• Foils
• At least one LGBT couple.
• At least one Happily Married couple.
• Statuesque Stunner
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse
• At least one or two people are Hot-Blooded.
• Diversity, bitches. If I don't have at least three main characters who aren't straight white males, I need more women and/or brown people.
  • On the other hand, I refuse to have a Token Minority for the sake of a token minority.

Gods that are good, but with even worse monsters stronger than them. Lots of strange connections between characters, ex. clones, reincarnations, split personalities, Enemy Without. And there seem to be more strong women than strong men.

Animesque

Guile Hero: Because villains shouldn't be the only ones who use their heads.

Morality Kitchen Sink: Attitude taken. I prefer to just let characters be who they are and act as they believe. The audience can decide for themselves where people lean morality wise.

The 'Verse: I set every story I write in the same verse.

This all just for creator thumbprint. Might add my author appeal another time.

edited 12th Oct '14 7:10:10 AM by Prime_of_Perfection

• All Myths Are True
• Jerkass Gods
• Affably Evil
• Anti-Villain
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones
• Buxom Is Better

Mortal city-states are islands of civilization in an ocean of savage wilderness.

I love mixing old, new, and timeless things together because I love ambiguous and anachronistic time periods. If it isn't nighttime in my stories, it is autumn or winter.

My heroes are either gold-hearted jerks or plain old jerk-hearted assholes, but they still save the day. My villains are always, always, always affably evil straight-edge villains who have standards of behavior. My heroes' allies and my villains' minions are never, ever, ever love interests.

If sex isn't the solution to a problem, murder is. Magic is extremely dangerous but extremely useful, which is why mages are rare but magical items are common.

Everyone is either openly gay or secretly transgender.

Orgies are as common as massacres. Magic items take the place of many modern conveniences.

Crapsack World. Darkest Africa. Constructed World. Ambiguous Time Period. Dungeon Punk. Cast Full of Gay. Deus Sex Machina. Magic Is Evil. Foe Yay. Casual Kink. Magic Is a Monster Magnet. Addictive Magic.

I looked at some posts and realized I have thumbprint not mentioned in my previous post. And this may be bit controversial - I don't like to make strong female characters.

Whoa, whou, whoa, put those pithforks down and let me explain!

Have you noticed how often "can take care for herself" and "needs no man" type of female characters are praised as what entertainment industry needs more. There seem to be lower quality standart for strong female characters compared to strong male characters. Let me demonstrate attitude I've observed quite often!

Strong female character = you go girl.

Strong male character = is this some sort of power fantasy.

And unfortunately opposite is true as well. Flawed male characters are expected while just as flawed female characters risk to be seen as yet another pathetic bimbo who can't do anything (even if she can and do anything). And I can't accept that. I prefer to write ALL my characters as flawed and ripe with potentil paths of character development. And thus my female characters are weak, conflicted, sometimes hateable and uninspiring and, yes, in some instances they need support... sometimes from, gasp, male characters. Just like my male characters. If this is to be undoing of any of my works, so be it. Better than succeeding with uninspired and double standart riddled trash like obligatory strong female character.

Thank you for taking that attitude to female characters! I hate the "obligatory" strong female character thing as if them being tough is supposed to impress. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying women have to be the traditional stereotype. I just feel going in the opposite direction is just making a new stereotype & placing them on a podium instead of just letting them function as people no different from male counterparts.

edited 12th Oct '14 8:02:57 AM by Prime_of_Perfection

I have one that's not so much a thumbprint as it is a stumbling block. I keep having ideas for stories where someone has or is given the opportunity that comes with extraordinary powers, but they always end up turning them down or giving them up before the end, rendering the whole thing pointless. And it's always a no-take-backsies situation, to boot.

Fortunately, the Girls Need Role Models worldview is dying out (aside from a few corners) anyways.

EDIT: Anyways, my thumbprints:

• Cool Old Lady: If you've met my family, you'd understand. Genetics gives us long lives, but blue collar work shortens that of men severely. The result? A lot of these, something that makes its way into my work.
• Culture Chop Suey: Attempting to make a new culture outright would have too many of my subconscious assumptions about what a culture should be bleed in, so I actively research non-Western cultures to explore how the cultures of another, very different world could form.
• Deadpan Snarker: My second language. It bleeds into my work.
• Enlightenment Superpowers: The full potential of the mind is an amazing thing, for good or evil.
• Knight in Sour Armor: I don't trust idealism that doesn't have a few scars to prove it's not brittle.
• Romanticism Versus Enlightenment: I am intensely on the side of Enlightenment, and it shows. That said, I have sympathetic characters on the other side.
• Full-Circle Revolution: Especially ones that use violence. I study foreign affairs perhaps too intently for my sanity.
• Lovecraft Lite: HP Lovecraft had a sharp eye about our place in the universe, but that's no reason for despair. We can carve ourselves out a place.
• Morality Kitchen Sink: Even the Eldritch Abomination serving Magocracy has its Noble Top Enforcers, and even La Résistance has a few outright terrorists.
• Muggles Do It Better: I tend to zig-zag this one. In open battle, modern weapons beat magic. Unless it's very powerful magic... too powerful and rare to defend an entire nation. But then, there's no reason (aside from active effort to prevent this) a mage can't carry a gun, and some do.
• Pop-Cultured Badass: Anyone from Earth has a good chance of being this — they're more likely to avert "badass" than "pop cultured", really.

edited 12th Oct '14 5:05:58 PM by KillerClowns

Adding my agreement with Prany. The problem, I believe, is that Men Act, Women Are (thanks to King Zeal for reminding me of that when I mentioned this in another thread) doesn't just inform the writing but also the casual and critical review of a work; even from feminist sources. So male characters are judged for how interesting their story is (so their development, interactions, and "that part where he..."), whereas female ones are often judged in isolation from their story (mostly over whether she has x y and z traits). This is by no means universal of course.

For another thumb print: both my main project, a couple of short works, and some unused ideas tend to center around a pair of characters and their relation and interactions. They could could be reluctant enemies, coworkers, or siblings, but the stories about the both of them more than it is about them individually (with maybe an exception from one that outwardly follows the formula).

edited 19th Oct '14 9:47:58 PM by Novis

Deserts - I grew up in Arizona. Even though I am far removed from the desert now, deserts still show up in a lot of my original work (and sometimes in my fanfics). I've actually decided that any thing long and original I do will have a desert in it somewhere.

Bones - To the point where I have cities built of bones, great memorial monuments made of bone... People familiar with my artwork on Deviant Art and from the subsite of my website ( senordwall.com ) knows why this is.

I've also noticed, at least in a fair portion of my original work, a love for the Undying Loyalty trope. I tend to like having people and pets / people and sapient pets and guardian-type creatures completely devoted to each other. It started with a novel (currently on the pile for editing) about a woman and her gryphon... I turned it into something else with kids and spiritual-animal guaridans in the book in my sig ( A World of Rusted Dreams ). I'm finding certain fandoms are a natural fit for me because of my gravitation toward this trope, too - The Legendof Zelda these kinds of dynamics between Link and Zelda, Link and Midna, Link and... all his companions, really. I've written stories involving Navi's undying devotion. I have a semi-famous fic about Scrapper the Robot's undying loyalty to Fi... When I think about it, the theme has shown up in a LOT of my Zelda fics. And there's my newfound fandom of Kid Icarus Uprising which has Pit and Palutena unwaveringly loyal to one another as a big part of the canon... so, yeah, loyalty is a trope I like.

edited 20th Oct '14 12:10:16 AM by Shadsie

My protagonists will almost always be The Philosopher. They'll also frequently Contemplate Our Navels.

Most names, if not all, will be a Meaningful Name. For instance, I'd never name somebody something like "Peter" unless it pertained to the fact that it means "stone/rock".

Great loyalty to an institution or country will also be portrayed as "less right" than dedication to an idea or philosophy, or to a lesser extent, the family.

Each story will also have some sort of central theme, since I have trouble finding a point to writing without some pillar of meaning to hold it up. "Why are we here?" for one, or the nature of love and its place in achieving mortal perfection.

edited 20th Oct '14 11:57:08 AM by OrKuunArQenByundis

• Science Fantasy and/or Dungeon Punk
• The guilty suffer while the innocent point and laugh.
• Bronze/gold indicates Magitek.
• Trans Humans, especially Cyborg characters. Bio-Augmentation is less so, but still common.
• Terra Forming
• Magic requires Cosmic Balance; no element is without a counterweight unless it's chaos magic, which is unpredictable rather than evil.
• Scary Dogmatic Aliens that turn out to be not so scary or dogmatic after all. Just don't get them too mad at you.
• The Precursors Lost Technology, but not on the level of an Archaeological Arms Race.
• Necromancy is The Sacred Darkness rather than Magic Is Evil
• Humans and Petting-Zoo People living and working together. Sometimes they get along just fine, other times it's Teeth-Clenched Teamwork enforced at gunpoint.
• Tossing much of the Standard Fantasy Setting out the window while still keeping stuff like Our Elves Are Better.
• Chummy Commies

edited 20th Oct '14 11:03:26 PM by dvorak

• Science Fantasy
• The 'Verse: Most of my stories over the last few years have been set in a common setting where humans spread out across different dimensions aeons ago in an event called the Diaspora. Some of the physical laws are different across dimensions and this leads to various forms of magic.
• Functional Magic that's at least semi-grounded in science; the rules are clearly set out and no power comes without an equivalent cost in some form of energy.
• Magitek: I'm very fond of this trope. Literal lightning bolts fired from crossbows, protective bubbles powered by steam engines, and quantum-entangled magic mirrors abound.
• Trilogies. I have yet to actually finish a novel, but everything I come up with seems to turn into a trilogy.
• Absent Aliens: Most of my stories are fantasy, but I tend to stray away from sentient non-human beings in the worlds that aren't mutated by magic or ascended from humanity.
• Deity of Human Origin: The gods are also not truly omnipotent beings, but humans masquerading as gods or who have obtained enough power to become Physical God.

edited 30th Oct '14 10:45:11 AM by JimmyTMalice

I've noticed a few things my works-in-progress have in common:

• Inspiration from mythology, especially in creature designs. I particularly like going for relatively obscure ones. (Ever heard of a hippalectryon? Now you have. You're welcome.)
• Involuntary Shapeshifting. Painful, hard to control, and may or may not be stress-activated. This tends to be a form of Cursed with Awesome, as I always make it so they can learn to control their transformations with time. Incurable =/= unbearable, and it can make for an interesting arc.
• Highly competent villains. They don't all have to be downright magnificent, but I like to try to include at least one or two who are.
• VERY little focus on romance. If any at all. I have maybe one character whose story relies on romance, and it's the kind that doesn't work out because she's a superhero.
• Meaningful Names. May or may not have to do with the fact that I'm into a couple of works where this is common. Also, it's just fun.
• A lot of major characters are female. The extent of this varies (on a scale of "quite a few" to "My Little Pony"), but it pretty much always includes the protagonist.
• A subtle Shout-Out or two. Sometimes this ties into the Meaningful Names mentioned above.
• Deadpan Snarkers. They're hilarious and great for lampshading.
• I also like to show my work.

Adaptation Expansion

Alternate Universe Fic

Cold-Blooded Torture

Darker and Edgier

Dark Fic

Deadpan Snarker (in terms of narration, but this is usually for my lighter stories only)

Despair Event Horizon

Does Not Like Shoes (for stories centering around human children)

Dysfunction Junction

Family of Choice

Hero's Journey

Heroic BSoD

My Greatest Failure

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown

Shout-Out

Super-Detailed Fight Narration

Tell Me How You Fight

So far, my works have a lot of fluff, to the point where it could be considered overly saccharine. Granted, that might be because I'm tired of authors treating my favorite characters badly but still.

These are my Creator Thumbprints - feel free to give any feedback on these.

By genre:

Fiction presented in the style of non-fiction:

• Alternate Continuity: Could some of my Alternate History works be Alternate Continuities?
• Alternate History: Sometimes I'll try and write about Real Life, however small or mundane, from a different point in the timeline.
• Alternate Timeline: As above. Quite often I use these.
• Alternate Universe: Again... if you consider Alternate History as one.
• American Accents: A varied range.
• Cool Car: I'm an automotive enthusiast... so Justified Trope
• Culture Chop Suey: A neighborhood in West London which is a mixture of American, Canadian, Australian, South African, English, Indian, Pakistani, Filipino, Japanese and Chinese in one whole area.
• Frozen in Time: Yep... I get stuck at certain time periods.
• Hypothetical Casting: Makes sense for Alternate History

Fiction

• Alternate Continuity: I've a tendency to use this a fair bit.
• Alternate Universe: I'm trying to make my Alternate Continuities into Alternate Universe but how?
• Artistic License – Geography: Simply for Rule of Cool
• Con Man: I grew up watching Only Fools and Horses, this partially inspired my characters. Plus, Saul Goodman/Jimmy Mc Gill of Better Call Saul.
• Continuity Reboot: Although, arguably the old work remains alongside it a la Archie Comics (2015).
• Corrupt Politician
• Little Miss Con Artist
• Ms. Fanservice: Downplayed... but it's there.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Not of A-listers, but C-listers like:
  • Annika Boras
  • Rebecca Ferguson (Swedish actress)
  • Jes Macallan
  • Mariana Klaveno
  • Amy Adams
  • James Spader

Fan Fic

• Alternate Timeline: Branching from the original work, as I'm doing with a Supergirl / The Flash (2014) crossover.
• Alternate Universe Fic: Same topic as the above, but What If? Sara Lance was not a Badass Gay, but The Flash?
• Character Focus / Lower-Deck Episode: I've got a The Amazing World of Gumball focused entirely on the Orange Guards (who are minor characters in canon) which is Lighter and Softer, with Gumball appearing as a secondary character, yet he's integral to the plot (Will post the link soon...).
  • Also, I had an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. MCU fanfic focused on an Original Character who's got a Textual Celebrity Resemblance to Michelle Thrush, First Nations Canadian actress.
• Frozen in Time
• Original Flavor: It's a Self-Imposed Challenge of mine... relates to Alternate Timeline tangentially.
• The Stations of the Canon: Sometimes I'll keep to them but change how things progress.

Edited by Merseyuser1 on May 6th 2019 at 7:06:14 PM

One thing I really like to use are cults and surreal, lovecraftian gods. Something about it just fascinates me. Other than that, there's always:

• World of Snark
• Abusive Parents (Admittedly this might show up a bit too often, but I do at least try to make every situation varied).
• True Companions
• Switching P.O.V.
• The Sociopath: It ain't always planned, but sociopathic characters keep popping up in my writing anyway.
• Conveniently an Orphan

Edited by WarJay77 on May 6th 2019 at 2:37:37 PM

Recently I started to talk about watches a lot in my stories. Hell, there has been a short story where characters are almost defined by their watches.

Things that are pervasive in my works:

• Film Noir elements: cynical, world-weary (with some kind of addiction - alcohol, smoking, etc) male protagonists who are technically not Hardboiled Detectives but might as well be; Femmes Fatale; Jigsaw Puzzle Plots; The City.
• Tattoos or some other kind of body modifications - piercings, ritual scarification, etc.
• Related to the above - Body Horror.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance. Not just for a gimmick: I aim for the reader to find some common ground with the heroes even if through the cultural barrier.
• The general "Plan for success, prepare for failure" attitude.
• Strong mythology influences from various sources.
• Cosmic Horror Story, or at least Lovecraft Lite.
• Gallows Humor.

Edited by Millership on May 10th 2019 at 11:24:37 PM

I don't know if I quite have a thumbprint when it comes to writing, but I do have a few tropes that I like to use from time to time:

• Abusive Parents: I don't know why, but I've always been weirdly fascinated with stories of child abuse. I guess part of me wonders how any parent could hurt their own child. I've even read a few memoirs and biographies of people who had to endure having bad parents, such as Adeline Yen Mah and Dave Peltzer. I am trying to work on portraying them a bit more sensitively and not make them just one-dimensional characters.
• Added Alliterative Appeal
• Adorkable
• All of the Other Reindeer: Being autistic and growing up not having a whole lot of friends and support, even from adults, I find myself relating a lot to characters who also have to deal with this.
• Anyone Can Die
• Benevolent Boss: Because these exist, and I've worked under them in real life, so why not?
• Bittersweet Ending: I like these a lot, and did even as a kid. Sometimes, like in real life, you can't always have your way, and life isn't all sunshine and rainbows.
• Cerebus Syndrome
• Childhood Friend: And I don't mean the kind that are constantly mean to each other on a regular basis.
• Classical Anti-Hero: Because perfect, OP main characters are boring. Characters who have strengths, flaws, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities need more love!
• Coming of Age Story
• Dark Is Not Evil / Light Is Not Good / Light Is Good
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Don Bluth style, mostly.
• Freudian Excuse / Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: I like to give reasons behind the actions of my villains/antagonists, because no one is one-dimensionally evil and most people have reasons for cruel acts, even if they aren't entirely justified. But I also know that if done poorly, such as being handwaved, it'll just make things worse, especially if their actions are genuinely horrible.
• Friendly Tickle Torture: Usually paired up with Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
• Hero's Journey
• Meaningful Name
• Modesty Shorts
• The Power of Friendship / True Companions
• Socially Awkward Hero
• You Are Not Alone

Here's stuff I like that don't necessarily have trope names:

• Autistic characters who are portrayed well, and not made into the common stereotypes we see, such as Lack of Empathy or constantly throwing tantrums. I always go out of my way to make sure any autistic character I write has a well-defined personality, strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, and has a healthy personal life. I'm autistic myself, and I'm friends with several others who are nothing like most media portrays them.
• Villains who aren't necessarily villains, who do have genuinely good reasons to go after the good guys or who just want to do something.
• Boy/girl friendships that STAY friendships, nothing more or less. I've grown up having lots of boys for friends and never had romantic interest in them. Why shouldn't a boy and girl just be friends?
• For anything 18 and up, well written sex scenes that aren't just shoved in there for the sake of having one.

Edited by TwilightPegasus on May 24th 2019 at 1:39:49 PM

It depends on what genre I'm writing in. If for example its horror then I enjoy bestial threats with powerful roars and wicked sharp teeth/claws. If it's fantasy I like magic systems where it's consistent and simple.

It’s been awhile, let’s see if anything changed.

- A principle I call “universal sympathy”. I’m a “fan” of all my characters, and I want the readers to be too. I try to make each of them, even bit characters, have something charismatic about them. Villains tend to avoid pointless acts that are just there to show how evil they are.

- Main characters tend to be directly affected or harmed by whatever the main problem of the story is. Villains Act, Heroes React never really bothered me.

- Fantastical things are fairly present in the worlds that have them. For example, if fairies exist, most everyone has met at least one.

- Averting No Guy Wants to Be Chased, as well as A Man Is Always Eager if it ever comes up.

- Undead.

Edited by Novis on Jun 19th 2019 at 4:56:40 AM