End of Year Posting Continues

[got_quiet]

I'm skipping a few Snowflake Challenges because I still don't have time for anything at all ever auuugh.

So,

Challenge 11 - Share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme.
It's hard for me to pick one thing I like cause I have pretty broad tastes. I'm trying to think of bulletproof tropes, and maybe there are a few. Amnesia, alternate selves meeting, and similar "new first times" is one trope that I enjoy a lot. It's often a way for characters to see new sides of each other that may have been hidden from them, and for characters that play things close to the chest to find themselves in situations where they need to be more forthcoming, or where the politeness of not trying to investigate a relationship goes away as one character needs to understand what the circumstances of their new existence now are. I often like characters that struggle to be open about their feelings, so this is one of those mechanisms through which they can be released from that. And the idea of getting to try again, getting to meet someone again, getting to confess again, getting to apologize again, is another reason I find those sorts of stories so appealing. They can be a vehicle for a lot of catharsis.

I'm also a big fan of bad ends and tragedies, which I don't really see all that often anymore. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right fandoms! Back in Inception there were a few where the ending was suicide, and there are sometimes whump fic that hit the right spot in this regard (though they often tend to trigger a different type of satisfaction.) I have never experienced ASMR and in fact have a rage reaction to most ASMR triggers, but when I read a tragic story where everything is going to shit, people are making terrible choices and suffering for it, no matter how hard someone tries it's not going to work out, and so on, if it can get me weeping and hits the right spot, I actually experience a full-body tingling sensation that is the closest I've ever gotten to what people try to say ASMR does to them. So I love tragedies or even tearjerkers that pull out in the end and try to make a happier ending.

Also, I finally filled out the end of year survey that I usual do:

1. Song of the year? I didn't really find much new music this year, so I think I need to fall back on soundtrack stuff. How about Samudrartha
2. Album of the year? Can I just call Arcane's soundtrack an album? It does have a lot of bangers.
3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year? I don't really have one, so I picked the last liked song on youtube from an artist I hadn't listened to before, and that was Hail Spirit Noir.They are in fact right up my alley. Dark, gothish metal.
4. Movie of the year? Nimona was last year so.... I don't think I watched a movie in 2024. *checks* Yup, didn't see a single movie in 2024.
5. TV show of the year? Arcane lol and it's not even close. After that... I started watching Suits and have been having fun with it.
6. Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you? Arcane S2E9.
7. Favorite actor of the year? As in prior years I'm changing this to Character because I don't care about actors. I'm very happy that Jayce has gotten his fandom retribution because fandom was so fucking wrong about him for years between seasons.
8. Game of the year? Hades 2. Deadlock is probably second. Escape Simulator was pretty good too.
9. Best month for you this year? March probably, due to my trip to Japan.
10. Something that made you cry this year? This was a dry eyed year. I can't think of anything RL or fannish.
11. Something you want to do again next year? Go to Japan lol but this year it is not in the schedule so I'll have to just bide my time.
12. Talk about a new friend you made this year. This question always makes me laugh. I did get a lot closer with a coworker though, and that was nice.
13. How was your birthday this year? Very nice! I got a cheesecake!
14. Favorite book you read this year? I didn't read that much either. Urgh it's been such a year. I think either Finder, by Palmer, which was a good, straightforward space opera, or Momo no kanzume, which is what we're reading in my Japanese book club. Sakura Momoko is famous for writing funny stories about growing up and dealing with the mundanities of everyday life. I keep meaning to make posts about her for Japanese language and never do.
15. What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? I only intensified my old bad habits. Not cleaning up, sleeping too late, etc.
16. Post a picture from the beginning of the year. A picture I saw last Jan, by Endre Penovác -
    
17. Post a picture from the end of the year. A picture I saw in Dec. By Junya Watanabe
18. A memorable meal this year? All the more delicious because it was my reward for a 3 hour mountain hike.
19. What’re you excited about for next year? Making money lol. Look, it's the New Year, prosperity is on my mind.
20. What’s something you learned this year? I did a lot of Japanese study so I have some new vocab!
21. What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year? Yes. There are like 5 bankers boxes full of books in here now. Someone save me.
22. Favorite place you visited this year? Mount Kurama, north of Kyoto, which is the mountain I hiked on my spring visit.
23. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be? Take the business leap! But goodbye to your spare time.
24. Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions? No lol I fucking failed big time there.
25. Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one. Nope, I didn't play any RPGs last year and didn't write anything original.

Comments

[tropicsbear]

Talk about a new friend you made this year.

No idea why my first interpretation was you somehow made as in created a brand-new friend 😆

[got_quiet]

My neurotic ass would be too worried about creating something that was disappointed in me to try. XD

[vendettadays]

That's a great list of tropes! I definitely agree that "new first times" offer a great way to see different sides of characters.

[geraineon]

I came from the Snowflake Challenge!

I love tragedies too~! I love a good cry (emotional catharsis!) and I love major character deaths done well. I also really like open endings where you can sorta look further down the road and realize that it's not gonna be happy or easy.

And Samudrartha is amazing <3

[got_quiet]

Open endings where there's a lot of trouble still to come are so great, yeah. I agree completely! I especially love those fic that are set pre canon and it's like, we all know this shit is going to go sideways but the characters don't yet, they still think maybe there's a chance, the fools.

I'm glad you enjoyed Samudrartha!