What are some themes/tropes/cliches or something along those lines that are a guilty pleasure in a story you pick up and read? Something you might or might not admit to others, but you just can't help but love. Don't feel the need to limit yourself to one, I know I have more then one guilty pleasure. I have a thing for the charismatic jerk. Not to mistaken for the jerk with a heart of gold, or out right jerk. The charismatic jerk is smart, suave, arrogant, but has this charm that you can't help but root for the guy. I don't know what it is about this type of character, but they win my heart every time. Ex. Patrick Jane The Mentalist Cal Lightman Lie to Me Evil science experiments. Particularity of the "human experiment kind" but not in the horror movie way. In the "gained extra powers from an experiment" type way. It probably ties in with my love of conspiracies. This is one I don't admit openly in public, I'd just get weird looks. What are some of your guy's guilty pleasures?
Callgirls, strippers, high society Give me any of these (or all) and if it's written reasonably well, I'll enjoy reading about it. Otherwise, not so guilty a pleasure, but serial killers, profilers, Sherlock Holmes-types, Indiana Jones-types; can't resist, even if they suck I'll give them a go. In my writing, also, I don't seem to be able to avoid these types either.
As much as I act against it, I like reading stories about badass orphans with swords and a troubled past. xD The angsty, blind, badass assassin, for instance. As long as he/she's doing badass stuff with some angst here and there, then that's all cool in my book. The more troubled the past, the more sympathy I seem to garner with the character and the more I can excuse all the morally questionable stuff he/she does. I especially like it if the assassin character in question has no sympathy, no remorse, gives no second chances, etc., and all because of the screwed up childhood he/she had. I guess it just makes me root for him/her, and hope that eventually, he/she will get the emotional/mental support he/she needs. I also seem to like it if the assassin has a "mother" figure for a companion. Y'know, female figure old enough to be his/her independent sister/mother and the assassin kid starts to see her as a surrogate mother. ...I am messed up! D=
Sappy love stories. I don't mean Harlequin romances, but a good love story is hard to resist. I don't, as a rule, seek out books that are solely romances, but a good romantic theme will grab hold of me and not let go.
I would never have guessed that about you! Any examples? My guilty pleasure is reading and writing about modern Vampires - E. G., The Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. Even though the later ones are just plain awful, they still entertain me a lot when I need an easy read.
Another guilty pleasure of mine with regards to stories is stories of the young man who turns to piracy for revenge. I'm reading one of those right now, written by our very own dear Felipe. It's a good read, too!
I like heroic kids. To me, there's something attractive about a kid who's young and innocent, but is in WAY over his head, but still succeeds. Atreyu in The NeverEnding Story is an example. Mowgli in the Jungle Books. Innocence + heroism gets me every time.
That's exactly what I'm talking abou! The little kid who's in way over his head, encountering enemies that are much, much bigger and stronger than he is, and he has to figure out a way to stop them. That's why I loved Disney's The Jungle Book when I was little. Come to think of it, that's probably why I also liked Kid Gohan from Dragonball Z and Zelda: Ocarina of Time Link. They were all innocent kids turning into heroes when the world needed one.
Secretly., I love romance. Not smut. Romance. Jane Eyre style, or something that's soft and tender. I also have a secret soft-spot for a book with a good samaritan or two. Lilies of the Field is a great example.
LOL! Those are the exact characters I can't stand. One of my favorite types of characters is the people who are always giving the charismatic jerks trouble. Um...sorry...? Actually....I confess I like children's fiction. Adult fiction these days seems to be all trite romance, vampires, and self-righteous melodrama. I like clean adventure fun where one moment you're fighting a killer squid and the next you're transporting over to a new fantasy world.
Haha it's a lot of fun reading these @Gonissa and that's why it's a 'guilty' pleasure. Someones guilty pleasure is someone else's pet peeve. It isn't even the type of character I think I could write myself. Also got to second the children's fiction there. Sometimes I just want a good clean adventure. I think this is why I like stories so much. XD Everyone has such different tastes that even if you gave the same basic story to several different people each story would be extremely different.
Mine is pulpy, Noirish cliches- I'll devour anything that includes a world-weary, gin-soaked detective in a trench coat.
Fully aware of how tasteless it is... Lara Croft type characters. Guns strapped to silky smooth thighs...yeah. And all the variations of that same theme. I can read and appreciate literary classics, and then something as simple as this would completely divert my attention.
Heh, same here. I almost wrote a chapter featuring a Noire-like private detective (He owned a bar, lived in a shoddy apartment, drank a lot, and generally did not care about his own apperance and health.)
I love dark books. The Mortal Instruments series was amazing. I also love the stories about younger heroes as well. I just read The Hunger Games. The whole idea is brilliant
I always end up coming home from the bookstore with at least one book that has to do with a post-apocalyptic or global catastrophe plot line. I'm not entirely sure why, but I enjoy those types of books.
I don't like stories where the MC is a female, just gives me a heartache. If the MC is male, I like those moments when he's trapped then gets hurt and someone tends to him. xD Romantic stories always make my heart hurt especially those sad ones, so i avoid any fiction that has realistic concepts and just stick to fantasy. Yeah, my guilty pleasure is that I like watching/reading the MC getting tortured. =D Never mention that to anyone!!
LOL! That's good ole fashioned hurt/comfort fiction, which my friends writes shed loads of on ff.net. Nuthin wrong with that My guilty pleasure is.... oh, Cogito, you're gonna hate me, but I have to say those Harlequin romances are hard to resist, LOL! When I was about 10 I discovered my mums secret stash of Mills and Boon novels, and thinking them terribly grown up I started sneaking them one by one and reading them under my duvet with a torch Since then I've kinda been a bit addicted... I don't read them all the time, and I have a few distinct themes that I tend to stick to - the Greek tycoon who rescues the bored and under-appreciated secretary from her humdrum existence and whisks her off to his private island, the noble savage who kidnaps the pampered southern belle while crossing the plains in a stagecoach and shows her the meaning of passion... Ooooooh, they are so bad!
My other guilty pleasures? Well, since someone else mentioned the MC getting tortured, I guess I won't feel alone by mentioning the same. xD I love watching the MC getting tied up by the bad guy, gloated at, told how much he sucks, how hard he's gonna fail, etc. Especially if the MC was previously a dick, then I'm literally nodding and smiling at the antagonist, agreeing with everything he/she is saying. Anything else? #1- Ghosts. Yes, no matter how cliched and terrible the ghost tale is, I just love it! 8D That's it...for now!
Hahahaha!! I'm soooo happy that I'm not the only one. I was afraid that I might be crazy or something. xD You got to admit that the MC starts to look more appealing when he glares at the antagonist with these hero eyes, 'You'll pay for that, jerk!!' The antagonist will probably get his butt kicked at the end, by man did he enjoy himself! =D
That's actually pretty close to my definition of guilty pleasures. The only other thing i can think of is crappy action movies for the hell of it.
Another guilty pleasure of mine: Watching the MC explore his/her inner darkness. I love observing how low they'll allow themselves to go and...sometimes I hope they stay that way because I love dark anti-heroes. xD The hero who doesn't give a withered crap about anyone, who will save his friends, but willingly let his/her enemies die, even if they begged. (some deliciously good anti-heroes that I like even stand there and smirk while gloating at the person he/she hates.) But, if he/she isn't gonna go diving into the Pool Of the Dark Side (tm), then I just smile when the MC starts acting like a dick back to those who acted like a dick to him/her.
I like any fiction where drama is created out of the mundane, like a fictional autobiography of a township/suburd people create for themselves. Or reading fiction based in a western or european country whilst travelling in asia. Locations and periods that aren't relevent to my current lifestyle.
I enjoy reading about arrogant characters. They might be hard to stand sometimes, but they exude a lot of energy. Also, if that arrogance is warranted, it means the person has real skills, which I always respect.
