2023 Snowflake Challenge #11
Thu, Dec. 28th, 2023 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiraliciousChallenge #11
In your own space, Talk about your favorite trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme.
I wasn't entirely sure how to tackle this one. If you've ever encountered a wishlist of mine in a holiday exchange, you've seen the "general likes" section is a small brick wall of text. So I'm going to try to narrow it down to one each and keep it to my feelings in January 2023, as this challenge is apt to pop up again in the upcoming snowflake, in one form or another, and my feelings have changed a little in the last 12 months.
Trope: It took me awhile to find a "proper" name for it, but at TV Tropes, it is called Mandatory Unretirement. Basically, a person who has given up their job, but gets pulled back into it. Especially, if it is crossed over with Scrap Heap Hero (the hero has been retired for a while due to failure, falling to personal demons, or just simply old age) and Putting the band back together. (And, for my personal preferences, generally overlaps with Retired Badass and Let's Get Dangerous!) I am not sure why I love this so much, but when you look my favorite books, TV shows, movies, and characters, the majority fall into this little stew of things. Examples: The Stargate Franchise, Jack O'Neill (Stargate, SG-1), John Sheppard (SGA), Uncle Iroh (AtLA), The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix, Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, so many comic books...
Cliche: I had trouble coming up with a favorite cliche, but I have a soft spot for new takes on "the chosen one," especially a reluctant chosen one (technically also a trope). It's got to be one of the most common cliches in fiction, especially in fantasy, and can be so unbearably cringey, but it can also be done really thoughtfully.
Kink: This one is so character, pairing, and fandom specific, I've decided not to answer this one.
Motif: In Lumberjanes, the characters have a reoccurring habit of using famous women's names in exclamations. Examples: "Mal, Molly, What in the Joan Jett are you DOING?" or "Sweet Sappho, NO!" I already have a soft spot for this kind of thing (see, Robin saying, "Holy *insert situationally relevant word here* Batman!"), but this feels a little different. I don't think they have repeated anyone and it's kinda educational as I have to look some of the people up.
Theme: I read and watched a frightening amount of "coming of age," "found family," and "what does it mean to be human" stories, and I'm not sure I want to analyze that too hard.
In your own space, Talk about your favorite trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme.
I wasn't entirely sure how to tackle this one. If you've ever encountered a wishlist of mine in a holiday exchange, you've seen the "general likes" section is a small brick wall of text. So I'm going to try to narrow it down to one each and keep it to my feelings in January 2023, as this challenge is apt to pop up again in the upcoming snowflake, in one form or another, and my feelings have changed a little in the last 12 months.
Trope: It took me awhile to find a "proper" name for it, but at TV Tropes, it is called Mandatory Unretirement. Basically, a person who has given up their job, but gets pulled back into it. Especially, if it is crossed over with Scrap Heap Hero (the hero has been retired for a while due to failure, falling to personal demons, or just simply old age) and Putting the band back together. (And, for my personal preferences, generally overlaps with Retired Badass and Let's Get Dangerous!) I am not sure why I love this so much, but when you look my favorite books, TV shows, movies, and characters, the majority fall into this little stew of things. Examples: The Stargate Franchise, Jack O'Neill (Stargate, SG-1), John Sheppard (SGA), Uncle Iroh (AtLA), The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett, The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix, Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, so many comic books...
Cliche: I had trouble coming up with a favorite cliche, but I have a soft spot for new takes on "the chosen one," especially a reluctant chosen one (technically also a trope). It's got to be one of the most common cliches in fiction, especially in fantasy, and can be so unbearably cringey, but it can also be done really thoughtfully.
Kink: This one is so character, pairing, and fandom specific, I've decided not to answer this one.
Motif: In Lumberjanes, the characters have a reoccurring habit of using famous women's names in exclamations. Examples: "Mal, Molly, What in the Joan Jett are you DOING?" or "Sweet Sappho, NO!" I already have a soft spot for this kind of thing (see, Robin saying, "Holy *insert situationally relevant word here* Batman!"), but this feels a little different. I don't think they have repeated anyone and it's kinda educational as I have to look some of the people up.
Theme: I read and watched a frightening amount of "coming of age," "found family," and "what does it mean to be human" stories, and I'm not sure I want to analyze that too hard.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-12-29 03:37 pm (UTC)And I wouldn't worry what liking a popular fandom theme, etc. says about you, or even an unpopular one! People like what they like. Does it mean something ... ? Maybe. But also maybe not. Lots of well-adjusted folks I know in fandom still like the same stuff the rest of us like. Humans are complex social creatures and we like stories that reflect that complexity back at us a lot of the time.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-01-04 09:54 pm (UTC)