What are your favorite standard characters to read and write about?
I will always have a soft spot for girls with swords. Love reading and watching them dominate battlefields. But I haven't written many of them. Not sure if it's because I'm subconsciously intimidated by trying to write those battle scenes, or if it's because I'm more attracted to writing about the similar trope of women wizards. 😎
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Interesting topic...
I will always have a soft spot for girls with swords.
Ditto.
watching them dominate battlefields.
We have a shared interest.
Not sure if it's because I'm subconsciously intimidated by trying to write those battle scenes,
There is a topic on that.
It may be because it's not as realistic.
Or because of bikini chafing?
Chainmail gonna pinch!
But seriously, even in return of the king, Aragon getting stepped on by the troll was unrealistic, then you get to Eowyn V the wich king.
Red Sonja, Barbarian Queen, I think they work because of the unrealistic nature of it.
Like pin up magazines, the (lack of) costume and the backdrop/setting are there to draw the eye to the woman who stands out.
Fully dressed in a lesser role, she will begin to blend into the background, like any other character.
Look at Conan, at least in the films, big bare mussels, Fabio hair.
Same difference.
trope of women wizards.
Are there?
Definitions I see do not say women.
They also say Klan leader.
I think it's a Witch, going by my single search research.
I think something between is a favourite.
Perhaps the seductive second in command types.
Baroness, for example, or Pepper Potts.
Knows her place, can deal with most stuff, a great organiser and go getter, and can still handle her master.
Sorceress in Beast master (TV) is another.
I like writing female leads.
My HM has her as some almost opposing take control type, with a male lead.
Hmm...
Perhaps that's because it is more realistic than a straight female lead.
But it depends on who the other characters are.
Or the type of story.
A knitting circle, for example, or a hair salon, or real housewives of Jane Austenville, you get the idea.
I think realistic it the key word.
Like it or not.
Could you do a female Rambo?
Probably start with a peach, not an apple. (He was named after a brand of apples)
I can't see it.
I suspect men, especially larger men, could lose a greater amount of skin, blood, before it becomes incapacitating, as they have more to begin with.
A rock may scrape off 2 square inches of skin.
Conan would lose a lesser percentage of skin, compared to the smaller Red Sonja.
Thus she would feel it worse, and be more likely to hit an artery or more blood vessels, thus losing a greater percentage of her lesser amount of blood.
Now she is really Red Sonja.
Any doctors about?
PS
"Guide to writing fight scenes"
On this board.
@reigheena I love the trope reversal, any of them. Give me the Chosen One, except they're not actually special, the prophecy was just made up. Give me the unhinged genius, except they're actually just insane and lucky that some of their ramblings have been interpreted in ways that make them look smart. Give me the evil selfish b*****d who saves the land only because it was the easiest way to save his own home/routine.
What do you find intimidating about writing battle scenes? I find the trick with those, like fight scenes, is not to focus overly on the logistics. What matters is how the individual events inside the scene change the relationships between the characters. Battalion Blabla taking the hill is boring, but Sylvia losing her lover or being betrayed by her friend is enthralling.
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@ease I love trope reversal too. It makes me so happy to know that the readers expect one thing, and then pull the rug out from under them. That's one reason I think Hans from Frozen was such a good villain. (setting aside the small possible POV break from when he first meets Anna).
I'm not sure why I find battles intimidating. Maybe it's because I don't know it myself, and the times I've attempted it have turned out boring. I have listened to many talks about how to make battles interesting, but one of the most interesting things I've found lately is a YouTube channel where they break down sword fighting in pop culture (Hollywood, anime, and books) and talk about what is accurate, what isn't, and how to fix it (with some nods to "yeah, rule of cool trumps here").
@nova I'd like to see a citation for your medical claims.
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@reigheena Good topic! It's nice to chat about the good stuff 
I also love trope reversals and have a special place in my heart for creatures usually depicted as scary or evil, turned into complex, caring characters. (Trolls, ogres, goblins etc.)
Tropes I never get sick of: chosen family, the odd couple/unusual friendship, the tough big guy who is (either secretly or not) really tender and compassionate
Probably one of my favorite character tropes is the identifiable villain. You know he's the bad guy, but he's the bad guy for reasons I can identify with. Voldemort was a well-rounded character, as was Saruman, President Snow, Randall Flagg, Jack Torrence...
"Every villain is the hero of his own story" kinda thing.
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I will always have a soft spot for girls with swords. Love reading and watching them dominate battlefields.
Yup! I was big into Tamora Pierce's Tortall series in High School for this reason, especially Alanna, and Kel from Protector of the Small.
I also love a good himbo 🤣 Kronk, George of the Jungle, Tormund Giantsbane. Just super supportive, silly male characters in general. It kind of flips the script on the ditzy supportive female character, which I like. I really like the golden retriever/black cat dynamic too.
Both my spouse and I are suckers for German Shepherd personalities too. The characters who are loyal to the nth degree. Like, they find their person, and just stick with them like glue, no matter the circumstances. It's a big trope in anime. Like "Eminence in Shadow," all the people he saves become German Shepherds for him. Chewbacca, Samwise Gamgee, and Brienne of Tarth all kind of fit this category too.
v42: - - - HM
@bootzenkatzen Oh yes, love all these too! Especially the 'german shepherd' personality (Sam might just be my all time favourite character)
Yes, chosen family is a trope I only became familiar with a few years ago, but have loved it ever since.
And yes, Tamora Pierce, and Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown have excellent warrior women. In anime, Erza is the one who attracted me to start watching Fairy Tail. Red Sonja is a bit old for me.
Himbos are hilarious, and I also love cinnamon rolls. Shows there's more to being a man than being tough all the time.
SHM - 4
HM - 11
R - 11
My published works
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I also love cinnamon rolls.
YES. Show me those good, good sweethearts that make even a villain feel bad for hurting them! Harming them would be as bad as kicking a puppy. Characters that make you feel, as the book goblin put it, like saying "smoll baby, must protecc." I'm allergic to cinnamon, but I'd consume cinnamon roll content all the time if I could.
The trope I'm against, is killing those cinnamon rolls without good justification. Like, just to make a hero angry. Or just to show that the villain is truly evil. Actually, let's not kill the cinnamon rolls at all 😆 May all the sweet sidekicks miraculously survive!
v42: - - - HM
killing those cinnamon rolls without good justification. Like, just to make a hero angry. Or just to show that the villain is truly evil.
Do not dislike that.
I find, post 911, films and TV, but likely books too, have far too many people dying for no reason at all.
It's hard to think of many pre 911, but I see it often done since.
It's not so bad if it sets up a bad guy, or to show some mortal danger.
Even in comedy people having accidents or such for no reason is rife post 911.
I think it decensitised people in a negative way.
Everyone in the world has seen people falling to their doom for no good reason, so naturally you have to do it in stories.
Apparently.
