author_by_night (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
author_by_night) wrote2006-07-29 09:25 am
author_by_night) wrote2006-07-29 09:25 am
Fantasy Meme (it's been around LJ)
Eleven things I will strive my best never to put in a fantasy novel/fanfiction:
1. One dimensionalism, unless it's the point of a character. Sadly, some people just are. But most people have layers, and I will make this clear in the story.
2. Racist metaphors. They used to be a popular trend in older fantasy, and it bugs me when I notice them.
3. "Girl will die without a guy." There's a reason I didn't like most fairy tales as a kid, and some fantasy that I've seen still has that theme. Yes, love is great, but the girl is competent without one.
4. Sooper gurl. My characters will not fight in a metal bikini, be able to kill with their magcal fingernails, and they won't snog everything that moves.
5. "Well these are BAD BAD people because they come from a BAD BAD town/school/whatever." 100 out of 100 people cannot all be horrible. That's one of the things I actually don't about Harry Potter - the established "fact" that all Slytherins are EVOL. Granted, JK Rowling has said that's not her intention, but that's still how she writes it.
6. A place that's not our place - a different planet - but is exactly like ours with no explanation. This isn't because such plots are bad ; it's because I simply cannot suspend disbelief that much. There are some exceptions, but not many; my universe, if I ever write it, is going to be in this one, but like in Harry Potter, one "we" simply can't see. I just can't understand how another world altogether could still have the same sort of people, the same class systems, the same type of government... to me, it makes no sense. There has to be some sort of way for the world to fit, even though it does still involve some degree of disbelief suspension.
7. Love triangles, unless it's in character. You can't make a really sweet Princess lead on two men. A cruel one, yes, even a ditzy one, but one who's simply too nice to choose? Give me a break.
8. Only romance matters plots. Now, I'm all for all-romance, and I'm not saying romance shouldn't matter - it should. But plots where everyone can die, and the lovers are fine, but then one of them breaks a finger and the other lover goes insane... it just baffles me.
9. The character is raped and enjoys it, or forgives her rapist because "he didn't mean it." First, nobody wants to be raped. Second, a rapist can't not "mean it" - that's not possible, and I'm not going to go into detail why (I don't think I need to anyhow), but it isn't possible.
10. The character is flawless. Nobody can be flawless.
11. Rip-offs. Yes, most fantasy stories all have a similar theme, especially in terms of types of characters (the "slightly absent" father/mother figure, the mentor who dies, the companion(s), the reluctant character), but taking from every fantasy novel out there and putting it into my story? Absolutely not right.
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The whole wise-old mentor thing annoys me. It's overdone. Even if a writer writes them REALLY WELL, I still clench my teeth and wail, "Why can't someone write a wise mentor who is not old/a prostitute/an alcoholic for once?"
Actually, that's one of the fun things about David Eddings' Belgariad series. Belgarath is the wise old mentor but he's also very fond of his drink, a bit of a thief, and a definite vagrant. Yay refreshing!
Flawless protagonist is TEH YICK. How is a reader meant to empathise with them?! That's the whole point of the protagonist, that the reader connects in some way.
The whole rape thing? So with you. People who write scenarios where the rapist and victim end up as One True Loves just have to be off their nut. Originally I'd have said they'd be more likely to be men, too, but that was before I read a mainstream saga-romance by a very popular author (Meg Hutchinson) which was doing this whole scenario. It was revolting. Can't believe it was published.
Re: Sooper Girl. Oh gods, she should, in ANY incarnation, be murdered at birth. What ARE the practical values of a metal bikini? None. At. All. Plus, nine times out of ten they totally don't fit with the clothing culture of the fantasy world. Sooper Girl is invariably aggravating, not least because she winds up with Noble Hero. I pity Noble Hero. He'll be going around trying to do hero-ish things, and he'll just be upstaged by Sooper Girl.
Also, Sooper Girl, despite her attire, is nearly invariably a virgin. This bugs me for some reason.
Whee, that was fun. I love bitching about fantasy pet peeves. :D
Oh, and I just saw - in your subject line! - it's a meme! Oh, that's awesome. So stealing it! I think it must be my hormones, I'm feeling so prone to ranting this evening. :D
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