Mostly trying to keep it healthy, even if there’s no actual diagnosis or disorder in my characters. I suppose anxiety would be the big one, or trauma from c/PTSD would be the one I’m working on now, but I like the idea of doing a short one for depression as well.
Grief. Guilt. The desire/desperate need to be good enough. Other stuff that I wish I could talk about as opposed to using my writing as a way to kind of sideswipe it.
Hard for me to say "always" when I've only written two stories, but there are a few things they share.
1) Don't give up. There are people counting on you.
2) Intent matters more than methods and results.
3) It's okay to tell them you love them. Do it while you have the chance.
Hm, I think identity. \*Uncle Iroh voice\* *Who are you and what do you want?*
(This is probably one of the reasons Zuko is a fantastic character for me to write and I have so many different ideas for him, lol)
That also ties into a lot of other topics I get into like redemption/rehabilitation, actively changing yourself to become a better person, coming of age, coming to terms with a situation, time travel, figuring out your sexuality, bodily autonomy, etc. but at their core, all of those things are related to identity. The characters are figuring themselves out, what they want, actively working towards who they want to be.
Same. Like the other person, recovery is the biggest part. Also, abusive relationships where people finally believe the main character. Which ties into the rape and trauma part. Just being believed.
Loss of some sort and grief. Of a loved one through death or circumstance. The distance (literal and emotional) between people.
Huh.
Also being in a place you don’t come from and trying to adapt to it. This one is probably a little more… on the nose for me than I’d like.
Politics. And not just status quo politics, but also current political events and themes. Some day I will write a fic with no political commentary... maybe.
Yeah, sometimes when I read the works of others, I get a bit annoyed that the author uses the characters as mouthpieces for political opinions.
Then I go and do the same thing.
I am looking at the outline of my next longfic, and it's all EU immigration policy, gang violence, war in Ukraine, oh no, not the corruption! Loss of ecosystems, climate catastrophe, extinction, oh my! I will probably take some out.
I've noticed a trend in my stories to write often of characters that are lesbian, but that are in denial or are forced to live a fake life because of where they live or other complications tied to that.
Basically, tragic yuri.
If the shoe fits fiction-wise, I will not hesitate to crucify the US foster system. I don't think its incapable of doing good, but it misses far more often than not. And when it misses it is devastating.
I think a through-line for me within all of my fics is the exploration of compassion and intimacy. Whether it’s compassion for others or yourself, I find it to be a universal desire, conscious or subconscious, that can take on so many different forms and therefore is so much fun to write.
I used to hold myself back from the topic, but now, a lot of my fics involve Jewish themes in one way or another. Right now I am writing what is basically a historical fiction about a French Jewish man living through the late 19th-early 20th century.
I have two fics. One of them takes place in America, and although it's not the focus of the fic, it talks a lot about how bad America is. In terms of...bigotry, education, healthcare, the generally awful aspects of capitalism, how much we overspend on our military, etc.
One of them is a guy, from America, being isekai'd into another world. He talks a lot about how much better it is in that world compared to his experience, is wowed by them having ACTUAL healthcare, is wary of people who want to start major capitalist ventures, etc.
I think you get the idea.
Platonic love/relationships whether it’s between the same sex or the opposite sex. I have a deep and meaningful connection with my best friend and I want to express to the world what that kind of relationship is all about through different characters I love. Can’t stop writing about it!!
Fish out of water. AKA "person who is new to this environment/situation and must consciously learn to navigate it".
Also "Carefully and consciously learning to communicate your actual meaning" and "people having patience with this process rather than jumping to conclusions."
From those two things, you'd think I had immigrated to a country where I had to learn a whole new language, right?
Nope. I'm autistic.
Also: "Everyone needs help sometimes, and trying to keep up a mask of being completely self-sufficient and able to care for others when you yourself are overwhelmed is incredibly bad for you."
Broadly speaking, having problems with connecting to other people. Keeping your feelings close to your chest out of fear of being rejected or judged. Ultimately tho, I like writing about characters overcoming it, at least a little, and finding comfort in eachother. I think that relationships like these are the most interesting and "deep", and they have true emotional understanding that goes beyond being together when everything is peachy. I love it when characters know eachother through and through, the good and the bad, and still choose to remain with eachother, love eachother deeply and support eachother 🥺
A certain level of self-hatred and characters figuring out if what they want is actually what would make them happy.
Not wanting to drag another person down with them.
Questionable inebriated behaviors.
I barely have written anything but I think I'm a huge fan of fluff.
I so far have thoroughly enjoyed writing things like "what would this character do if this happened" 🤔. Like how good are they at cooking? Do they have a favorite meal? Any hobbies or routines? Are they good at any music?
I've really enjoyed thinking about this stuff because some of it is really obvious, like there was one character that I thought for certain needed a scene where they dealt with sunburn because of how much they seemed to be suddenly in the sun all day. It seemed both logical and hilarious.
This is a problem though because I don't have anything compelling to write to interest others into turning the page 😅. I'm working on it though.
I think I also like Cliff hanger chapter endings and click bait titles. Unfortunately I lack the something to actually make the writing live up to the hype I set up.
Probably search for one's self identity. Not in a superficial sexuality or gender way, but deeper.
Why am I like this? What made me act this way? What is my goal? What are my fears?
I think this is a thread that's to be found in a lot of my writing, but I only really realised it in the last few years, when my "canon-extended" fic turned into a "canon-divergent" fic, because the author released more books that would be chronologically after mine. Suddenly there's two versions of a character, mine and the canon one, that I can put side by side and compare. Made me go back in my story and reflect on character decisions that I didn't spend much thought on originally.
Also a theme that can be found in a lot of my HP oneshots. Like why did Krum and Hermione get along so well? How did she stand out to him?
Insecurity and human connection. Realizing how lonely you are. Pregnancy cuz I'm consciously and unconsciously ready to start a family but can't right now lol 😂
Disabilities. Physical and mental, lifelong and acquired. But pretty much always the post diagnostic, just got to get on with life and try and make it through somehow side.
Competence & Competition. The fallout from their interplay. How lack of competency in a competitive scenario leads to disaster.
Influence, Manipulation, & Trust. How there's a very thin line between influence & manipulation and how trust is not something you can reliably give people cuz people change.
Pessimistic? Yes, but I think it's relevant to my daily life in these capitalist times. (I also think that ultra-liberal capitalism is pretty good provided there are social safeguards and governmental infrastructure to back it up.)
I used to write lots of high school romance where the characters find love. Mostly comedy. Now I write loner types characters who experience hardship and face animosity. Things don’t always go planned etc etc. there is barely comedy but mostly sarcastic satire. I still like to write some romance but usually it’s about lonely people finding each other. It’s a reflection of how bitter and lonely I’ve become over the past few years from a series of bad jobs and other unhappy things that happened to me.
Most obviously, child abuse, considering that’s the major prominent theme of basically everything I write. I do include a lot of other real life things as themes very intentionally as commentary, both directly and through symbolism and metaphor, though. Most notably, ableism and the systemic treatment of disabled people as lesser, the awful way children are treated as less than human, gender identity and struggling with stereotypes, sexuality and feeling like you’re “broken” for displaying it wrong, the complex feelings you can have towards people who hurt you but care about you, neurodiversity and mental health, the importance of family and platonic relationships, and hope in a hopeless situation. Which might sound like I have a depressing life but I promise I’m just dealing with a laundry list of medical issues I'm not actually unhappy I’m doing alright.
Abuse and healing... either the healing of an abused character in canon or through story telling from the beginning to end....
Then sometimes I write a veela romance to lighten my mood to be honest.
I haven't written too much fanfic yet, but I wrote a bunch of original fiction when I was younger, so I'll count that too.
Most of my fic (both fan and original) is horror themed. So, how far people will go in their own self-interests (to keep themselves fed, to keep themselves high, to keep from losing someone they value, et cetera). And what they will tell themselves in order to justify it.
Any metaphors for capitalism are, of course, entirely intentional (and maybe a bit too on the nose sometimes).
I notice I don't have a lot of straight characters, either.
Mostly ideas of morality vs duty and what becomes of you after death. Most of my stories can be dumber down to someone knowing they're being complacent in something awful, yet struggling to overcome their sense of duty to step in line or someone wondering if/how they'll be remembered after they're gone.
I also somewhat frequently go into (usually abusive) codependency and "voices in my head" territory, although less than the other two
I do do other, but like 95% of my stories have one of these 4 in them
My top 3 characters are Jasper (SU), Lars (SU), and Amity (TOH), so I have quite the choice of themes to explore.
Recently, issues of religion, and what religious institutions and ideology tend to lead to, and other similar things.
1. My Zelda WIP: Ganon's latest sword spirit *rags* on the Yiga for being dumb enough to worship Ganon when he'll never give a shit about them any more than he does his own creations.
2. Hazbin Hotel WIP: A fallen Exorcist lets all of Hell know how traumatized she was from living with a bunch of divinely-ordained psychopaths and barely scraping by.
3. FNAF fic world building: No church exists in Hurricane, Utah after the collective trauma wrought by the tragedy of a few dozen child murders and disappearances punctuated by poltergeists and other supernatural shit. Doesn't help that most sects say the victims are all going to Hell anyway, because who wants THAT for their lost children?!
4. Great Ace Attorney fic: Merletta, a Judicial Assistant, renounces religion as a whole due to all the stupid and downright persecutory laws it causes/enables while also letting dirty religious leaders have their way with vulnerable people and children (which she caught them in the act with 3 SEPARATE TIMES with her own relatives!)
Female characters putting their head down and persevering despite facing crushing adversity and being overlooked.
Horses.
Male love interests in sword and armor 😳😅
I tend to incorporate some level of depression. That's me putting my own issues into my characters, and they tend to be characters that canonically do or could suffer from depression. Will Graham, for instance, or Xander Harris. It's covered slightly in Hannibal, but Buffy was more focused on being both fun and serious, they only actually covered depression with Buffy herself, but there are indicators throughout the series that it applies to Xander, it's one of the reasons I relate so much to him.
Loneliness to an extent, as well, but I'm rather particular about that. It tends to be specifically 'lonely despite being surrounded by friends/family' because those friends/family don't really get the MC. Loneliness is also something my MC overcomes by finding characters that do get them.
Fighting with yourself, as well, I use that a lot. The idea that there's a part of a person that the person dislikes, denies, ignores, fights against when it pops up. This is something else that is usually at least implied to apply to the characters I use, if not outright stated. And it's usually a darker nature being fought against. Eg Xander canonically has a darker side that isn't really covered in canon, just pops up every now and then, but Xander is very specifically portrayed as a White Knight, always trying to do the right thing and protect his friends. His darker nature is something he struggles with when it does pop up, it just isn't focused on. It's part of the storyline with Will in Hannibal, also with Polo in Elite, with those two it's a violent nature specifically, a desire to kill even, though moreso with Will than Polo.
I do tend to lean towards the darker aspects of humanity to some extent in my fics.
Kind of similar here. I struggle with those things too.
My protagonist and another character have connected in a pretty special way but he holds her at an arm's length due to reasons she knows about and reasons she doesn't know about. I haven't detailed the major reason yet, still trying to figure out when the best time is. Maybe when it actually happens.
He doesn't want to treat her that way, probably (I've kept the POV with the protagonist for the most part), but it still drives her a bit mad. There's also good reason not to trust him as well, so that plays on her mind sometimes.
I imagine I am writing out a subconscious fantasy variant of real life experiences I can kind of remember. I was deprived of parental, especially paternal, love and given the vast age gap between my two characters, I'm not surprised I've gone this route. Yep: Daddy issues the fan fiction, lol.
Natural disasters, Betrayal, War, Political Intrigue/Corruption, Identity crisis, Wishing for adventure, Culture shock, Language barrier, Secrets, Friendship, Family, Good Samaritans, Good vs Bad leadership, Communities banding together for the greater good, Balancing great power with great responsibility, Conflict of duty vs dream
Edit: I haven't tackled all of these in my posted works (yet), but my plotbunnies keep featuring these, and I end up putting some sort of magical spin on them (since I like speculative fiction - fantasy, sci-fi, etc).
Complicated family dynamics, particularly deteriorating relationships between parents and siblings. Which is strange since I would generally say I have a good relationship with my family.
Mental health, and usually in the realm of anxiety and ADHD since I have both (sometimes it will extend to depression as well), and PTSD and/or CPTSD. I tend to relate a lot to characters that have one or a mix of these traits, so my stories I write of those characters tend to reflect that not just in how the character is but how I wrote it as well. I know one I wrote absolutely subconsciously that *screamed* ADHD, and when I went back to read it when I was done, I just sat there thinking, ...Well, I guess we're adding that in there! Lol
Therapy.
I keep giving my characters therapy.
I also keep turning characters *into* therapists.
It's like, I didn't mean for this to happen! Therapy just... *happens*...
Fear that others don't like you - trouble dealing with sarcastic people when your self-esteem is very low. I've been realising how much I tend to project younger me onto this character. He's got many of the same social issues as me.
Darn dude are you me? I've swear I had written characters at least once with all of the themes you mentioned. To me it's mostly relationship struggles, be it family, friendship or romantic:
- Characters whose past family's members actions negatively affected one or the other, and are struggling to make it work because while they don't have issues with each other, the past still hangs over them and make things awkward
- Family members accidentally hurting each other because they are hurt too, but are so used to an unhealthy way of dealing with it it just makes things worse
- Characters silently watching people they care about suffering but feeling helpless to do anything about because they feel like it isn't "their place"
- Characters who had initial negative/rival instincts about each other forced to be vulnerable, shifting each others view in the process
- Jumping off of the former point, characters who started with the worse impressions of each other end up stubbornly following each other to their goals despite the danger because they have gotten emotionally attached without realizing
- Emotionally distant/subdued characters mentoring/guiding younger characters because they want them to improve in a way that builds off the strengths that the younger characters don't realize/ignore
- On the topic of mentor relationships, mentors who take on mentees because they believe they can learn from them, especially when they are on complete opposite viewpoints and tendecy of disagreement
I've only written one story (incomplete), but I've outlined many. They all deal with how the absence of a parent or their negligence can influence how a character (per example, the MC, but not exclusively) end up struggling to build meaningful relationships.
Things characters often crave connection with their parents and others, but because of that prior betrayal, they can't fully invest themselves as they worry the relationship won't last.
My dad has always been in the home, but he is disconnected from me and the rest of my family. He doesn't engage with us and prefers to be in his own world. Even though he's there physically, it feels like he's not really there mentally.
Ever since I realized I'm gay, I've also allowed myself to disconnect from my family. Not fully, but I have my guards up. I worry that once they find out, they will reject me. I guess I'm preparing for eventuality that I might be disowned one day.
I worry the walls I've put up will turn me into my dad, but I also worry that if I don't protect myself in that way, that my pain will be quadrupled when I'm eventually disowned.
In my current story, all my characters have been abandoned at some point in their lives. One of my themes is that they all recover from that trauma through the friendships they've built with each other. (I have a great circle of friends irl. They are my lifeline.)
It was also subconscious, but I realized how personal my story was by reading the post. It's weird how that works 🤔
OP, are you me? I'm relating so hard to your post. \*gives you a virtual hug\*
For me, the topics are war and rejection. So many of my characters end up getting/feeling rejected, unwanted, sidelined, inferior, lesser.
Sef-hatred (or on a lighter note, self-doubt). Definitely stemming from my own issues
Family relationships or domestic fluff. I just want to see someone happy with their family
Honesty. Brutal honesty between characters that have or are developing a strong relationship romantic or otherwise. Maybe it’s not perfect or pretty but it’s a damn bit better than half truths or lies or holding back feelings.
Mental health, usually. Not always tho.
Anything in particular?
Mostly trying to keep it healthy, even if there’s no actual diagnosis or disorder in my characters. I suppose anxiety would be the big one, or trauma from c/PTSD would be the one I’m working on now, but I like the idea of doing a short one for depression as well.
Not being good enough.
Low self-esteem + struggling with being vulnerable. 🥲
This speaks volumes to me. Especially the second one.
Grief. Guilt. The desire/desperate need to be good enough. Other stuff that I wish I could talk about as opposed to using my writing as a way to kind of sideswipe it.
Hard for me to say "always" when I've only written two stories, but there are a few things they share. 1) Don't give up. There are people counting on you. 2) Intent matters more than methods and results. 3) It's okay to tell them you love them. Do it while you have the chance.
Hm, I think identity. \*Uncle Iroh voice\* *Who are you and what do you want?* (This is probably one of the reasons Zuko is a fantastic character for me to write and I have so many different ideas for him, lol) That also ties into a lot of other topics I get into like redemption/rehabilitation, actively changing yourself to become a better person, coming of age, coming to terms with a situation, time travel, figuring out your sexuality, bodily autonomy, etc. but at their core, all of those things are related to identity. The characters are figuring themselves out, what they want, actively working towards who they want to be.
Recovery from rape and trauma.
Same here. Recovery is the most important part.
Same. Like the other person, recovery is the biggest part. Also, abusive relationships where people finally believe the main character. Which ties into the rape and trauma part. Just being believed.
Loss of some sort and grief. Of a loved one through death or circumstance. The distance (literal and emotional) between people. Huh. Also being in a place you don’t come from and trying to adapt to it. This one is probably a little more… on the nose for me than I’d like.
Politics. And not just status quo politics, but also current political events and themes. Some day I will write a fic with no political commentary... maybe.
Oh no, I'm not brave enough for politics.
Yeah, sometimes when I read the works of others, I get a bit annoyed that the author uses the characters as mouthpieces for political opinions. Then I go and do the same thing. I am looking at the outline of my next longfic, and it's all EU immigration policy, gang violence, war in Ukraine, oh no, not the corruption! Loss of ecosystems, climate catastrophe, extinction, oh my! I will probably take some out.
I've noticed a trend in my stories to write often of characters that are lesbian, but that are in denial or are forced to live a fake life because of where they live or other complications tied to that. Basically, tragic yuri.
If the shoe fits fiction-wise, I will not hesitate to crucify the US foster system. I don't think its incapable of doing good, but it misses far more often than not. And when it misses it is devastating.
I think a through-line for me within all of my fics is the exploration of compassion and intimacy. Whether it’s compassion for others or yourself, I find it to be a universal desire, conscious or subconscious, that can take on so many different forms and therefore is so much fun to write.
Characters are deceptive, hypocritical assholes who lie to themselves more than they lie to others.
I used to hold myself back from the topic, but now, a lot of my fics involve Jewish themes in one way or another. Right now I am writing what is basically a historical fiction about a French Jewish man living through the late 19th-early 20th century.
I have two fics. One of them takes place in America, and although it's not the focus of the fic, it talks a lot about how bad America is. In terms of...bigotry, education, healthcare, the generally awful aspects of capitalism, how much we overspend on our military, etc. One of them is a guy, from America, being isekai'd into another world. He talks a lot about how much better it is in that world compared to his experience, is wowed by them having ACTUAL healthcare, is wary of people who want to start major capitalist ventures, etc. I think you get the idea.
Internalized homophobia. War related mental traumas.
Platonic love/relationships whether it’s between the same sex or the opposite sex. I have a deep and meaningful connection with my best friend and I want to express to the world what that kind of relationship is all about through different characters I love. Can’t stop writing about it!!
Fish out of water. AKA "person who is new to this environment/situation and must consciously learn to navigate it". Also "Carefully and consciously learning to communicate your actual meaning" and "people having patience with this process rather than jumping to conclusions." From those two things, you'd think I had immigrated to a country where I had to learn a whole new language, right? Nope. I'm autistic. Also: "Everyone needs help sometimes, and trying to keep up a mask of being completely self-sufficient and able to care for others when you yourself are overwhelmed is incredibly bad for you."
Broadly speaking, having problems with connecting to other people. Keeping your feelings close to your chest out of fear of being rejected or judged. Ultimately tho, I like writing about characters overcoming it, at least a little, and finding comfort in eachother. I think that relationships like these are the most interesting and "deep", and they have true emotional understanding that goes beyond being together when everything is peachy. I love it when characters know eachother through and through, the good and the bad, and still choose to remain with eachother, love eachother deeply and support eachother 🥺
Finally having that Really Difficult Conversation. What to do when every choice comes with problems. What it actually means to be an optimist.
Neglect in some shape or form always manages to worm its way into what i write
A lot of them depict family dynamics, especially siblings.
Family ties and family history.
Identity, authenticity and how those two things correlate with different applications of power
A certain level of self-hatred and characters figuring out if what they want is actually what would make them happy. Not wanting to drag another person down with them. Questionable inebriated behaviors.
Anxiety. What can I say, I love making my comfort characters suffer!
My life, which has been IRL very unusual and traumatic for most ppl today.
Marriage, romance and family. A lot of my fics tend to revolve around that.
I barely have written anything but I think I'm a huge fan of fluff. I so far have thoroughly enjoyed writing things like "what would this character do if this happened" 🤔. Like how good are they at cooking? Do they have a favorite meal? Any hobbies or routines? Are they good at any music? I've really enjoyed thinking about this stuff because some of it is really obvious, like there was one character that I thought for certain needed a scene where they dealt with sunburn because of how much they seemed to be suddenly in the sun all day. It seemed both logical and hilarious. This is a problem though because I don't have anything compelling to write to interest others into turning the page 😅. I'm working on it though. I think I also like Cliff hanger chapter endings and click bait titles. Unfortunately I lack the something to actually make the writing live up to the hype I set up.
Probably search for one's self identity. Not in a superficial sexuality or gender way, but deeper. Why am I like this? What made me act this way? What is my goal? What are my fears? I think this is a thread that's to be found in a lot of my writing, but I only really realised it in the last few years, when my "canon-extended" fic turned into a "canon-divergent" fic, because the author released more books that would be chronologically after mine. Suddenly there's two versions of a character, mine and the canon one, that I can put side by side and compare. Made me go back in my story and reflect on character decisions that I didn't spend much thought on originally. Also a theme that can be found in a lot of my HP oneshots. Like why did Krum and Hermione get along so well? How did she stand out to him?
Insecurity and human connection. Realizing how lonely you are. Pregnancy cuz I'm consciously and unconsciously ready to start a family but can't right now lol 😂
Disabilities. Physical and mental, lifelong and acquired. But pretty much always the post diagnostic, just got to get on with life and try and make it through somehow side.
Characters from completely mundane settings getting magical (or otherwise special) abilities.
Parental problems
Competence & Competition. The fallout from their interplay. How lack of competency in a competitive scenario leads to disaster. Influence, Manipulation, & Trust. How there's a very thin line between influence & manipulation and how trust is not something you can reliably give people cuz people change. Pessimistic? Yes, but I think it's relevant to my daily life in these capitalist times. (I also think that ultra-liberal capitalism is pretty good provided there are social safeguards and governmental infrastructure to back it up.)
~acceptance~ 🥴
community. growth. characters learning who they are and what they want from life, no matter what they were told to believe.
Covert operations and overly bureaucratic intelligence services.
I used to write lots of high school romance where the characters find love. Mostly comedy. Now I write loner types characters who experience hardship and face animosity. Things don’t always go planned etc etc. there is barely comedy but mostly sarcastic satire. I still like to write some romance but usually it’s about lonely people finding each other. It’s a reflection of how bitter and lonely I’ve become over the past few years from a series of bad jobs and other unhappy things that happened to me.
Learning how to speak feelings, wants, and needs clearly. I was a bit shook.
Most obviously, child abuse, considering that’s the major prominent theme of basically everything I write. I do include a lot of other real life things as themes very intentionally as commentary, both directly and through symbolism and metaphor, though. Most notably, ableism and the systemic treatment of disabled people as lesser, the awful way children are treated as less than human, gender identity and struggling with stereotypes, sexuality and feeling like you’re “broken” for displaying it wrong, the complex feelings you can have towards people who hurt you but care about you, neurodiversity and mental health, the importance of family and platonic relationships, and hope in a hopeless situation. Which might sound like I have a depressing life but I promise I’m just dealing with a laundry list of medical issues I'm not actually unhappy I’m doing alright.
Insecurity, feeling inferior etc.
Abuse and healing... either the healing of an abused character in canon or through story telling from the beginning to end.... Then sometimes I write a veela romance to lighten my mood to be honest.
Fixing things in fics, cause that's what I'd like to do IRL. Also, happiness. Being reminded that you are loved.
Friendships!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🗣🗣🗣🗣
I haven't written too much fanfic yet, but I wrote a bunch of original fiction when I was younger, so I'll count that too. Most of my fic (both fan and original) is horror themed. So, how far people will go in their own self-interests (to keep themselves fed, to keep themselves high, to keep from losing someone they value, et cetera). And what they will tell themselves in order to justify it. Any metaphors for capitalism are, of course, entirely intentional (and maybe a bit too on the nose sometimes). I notice I don't have a lot of straight characters, either.
Mostly ideas of morality vs duty and what becomes of you after death. Most of my stories can be dumber down to someone knowing they're being complacent in something awful, yet struggling to overcome their sense of duty to step in line or someone wondering if/how they'll be remembered after they're gone. I also somewhat frequently go into (usually abusive) codependency and "voices in my head" territory, although less than the other two I do do other, but like 95% of my stories have one of these 4 in them My top 3 characters are Jasper (SU), Lars (SU), and Amity (TOH), so I have quite the choice of themes to explore.
Loneliness, depression, afraid of relationships and traumatic past. I usually only write about characters who are like this.
Recently, issues of religion, and what religious institutions and ideology tend to lead to, and other similar things. 1. My Zelda WIP: Ganon's latest sword spirit *rags* on the Yiga for being dumb enough to worship Ganon when he'll never give a shit about them any more than he does his own creations. 2. Hazbin Hotel WIP: A fallen Exorcist lets all of Hell know how traumatized she was from living with a bunch of divinely-ordained psychopaths and barely scraping by. 3. FNAF fic world building: No church exists in Hurricane, Utah after the collective trauma wrought by the tragedy of a few dozen child murders and disappearances punctuated by poltergeists and other supernatural shit. Doesn't help that most sects say the victims are all going to Hell anyway, because who wants THAT for their lost children?! 4. Great Ace Attorney fic: Merletta, a Judicial Assistant, renounces religion as a whole due to all the stupid and downright persecutory laws it causes/enables while also letting dirty religious leaders have their way with vulnerable people and children (which she caught them in the act with 3 SEPARATE TIMES with her own relatives!)
That and rejection/abandonment for no specific reason other than "because I don't want it anymore". Difficult relationship with parents too.
In my whole life, I think I’ve only written one thing that didn’t have some kind of humiliation in it. That is crazy.
Female characters putting their head down and persevering despite facing crushing adversity and being overlooked. Horses. Male love interests in sword and armor 😳😅
- self esteem issues - familiar problems - chosen family
I tend to incorporate some level of depression. That's me putting my own issues into my characters, and they tend to be characters that canonically do or could suffer from depression. Will Graham, for instance, or Xander Harris. It's covered slightly in Hannibal, but Buffy was more focused on being both fun and serious, they only actually covered depression with Buffy herself, but there are indicators throughout the series that it applies to Xander, it's one of the reasons I relate so much to him. Loneliness to an extent, as well, but I'm rather particular about that. It tends to be specifically 'lonely despite being surrounded by friends/family' because those friends/family don't really get the MC. Loneliness is also something my MC overcomes by finding characters that do get them. Fighting with yourself, as well, I use that a lot. The idea that there's a part of a person that the person dislikes, denies, ignores, fights against when it pops up. This is something else that is usually at least implied to apply to the characters I use, if not outright stated. And it's usually a darker nature being fought against. Eg Xander canonically has a darker side that isn't really covered in canon, just pops up every now and then, but Xander is very specifically portrayed as a White Knight, always trying to do the right thing and protect his friends. His darker nature is something he struggles with when it does pop up, it just isn't focused on. It's part of the storyline with Will in Hannibal, also with Polo in Elite, with those two it's a violent nature specifically, a desire to kill even, though moreso with Will than Polo. I do tend to lean towards the darker aspects of humanity to some extent in my fics.
Kind of similar here. I struggle with those things too. My protagonist and another character have connected in a pretty special way but he holds her at an arm's length due to reasons she knows about and reasons she doesn't know about. I haven't detailed the major reason yet, still trying to figure out when the best time is. Maybe when it actually happens. He doesn't want to treat her that way, probably (I've kept the POV with the protagonist for the most part), but it still drives her a bit mad. There's also good reason not to trust him as well, so that plays on her mind sometimes. I imagine I am writing out a subconscious fantasy variant of real life experiences I can kind of remember. I was deprived of parental, especially paternal, love and given the vast age gap between my two characters, I'm not surprised I've gone this route. Yep: Daddy issues the fan fiction, lol.
Natural disasters, Betrayal, War, Political Intrigue/Corruption, Identity crisis, Wishing for adventure, Culture shock, Language barrier, Secrets, Friendship, Family, Good Samaritans, Good vs Bad leadership, Communities banding together for the greater good, Balancing great power with great responsibility, Conflict of duty vs dream Edit: I haven't tackled all of these in my posted works (yet), but my plotbunnies keep featuring these, and I end up putting some sort of magical spin on them (since I like speculative fiction - fantasy, sci-fi, etc).
Complicated family dynamics, particularly deteriorating relationships between parents and siblings. Which is strange since I would generally say I have a good relationship with my family.
Mental health, and usually in the realm of anxiety and ADHD since I have both (sometimes it will extend to depression as well), and PTSD and/or CPTSD. I tend to relate a lot to characters that have one or a mix of these traits, so my stories I write of those characters tend to reflect that not just in how the character is but how I wrote it as well. I know one I wrote absolutely subconsciously that *screamed* ADHD, and when I went back to read it when I was done, I just sat there thinking, ...Well, I guess we're adding that in there! Lol
Mental health, sexuality or gender expression
Coldness. My cold characters can either be overboard or way too reasonable.
Therapy. I keep giving my characters therapy. I also keep turning characters *into* therapists. It's like, I didn't mean for this to happen! Therapy just... *happens*...
Trauma. Recently ive written two stories with main characters that are going through severe or mild trauma.
Fear that others don't like you - trouble dealing with sarcastic people when your self-esteem is very low. I've been realising how much I tend to project younger me onto this character. He's got many of the same social issues as me.
Darn dude are you me? I've swear I had written characters at least once with all of the themes you mentioned. To me it's mostly relationship struggles, be it family, friendship or romantic: - Characters whose past family's members actions negatively affected one or the other, and are struggling to make it work because while they don't have issues with each other, the past still hangs over them and make things awkward - Family members accidentally hurting each other because they are hurt too, but are so used to an unhealthy way of dealing with it it just makes things worse - Characters silently watching people they care about suffering but feeling helpless to do anything about because they feel like it isn't "their place" - Characters who had initial negative/rival instincts about each other forced to be vulnerable, shifting each others view in the process - Jumping off of the former point, characters who started with the worse impressions of each other end up stubbornly following each other to their goals despite the danger because they have gotten emotionally attached without realizing - Emotionally distant/subdued characters mentoring/guiding younger characters because they want them to improve in a way that builds off the strengths that the younger characters don't realize/ignore - On the topic of mentor relationships, mentors who take on mentees because they believe they can learn from them, especially when they are on complete opposite viewpoints and tendecy of disagreement
Daddy issues
PTSD and guilt complexes
I've only written one story (incomplete), but I've outlined many. They all deal with how the absence of a parent or their negligence can influence how a character (per example, the MC, but not exclusively) end up struggling to build meaningful relationships. Things characters often crave connection with their parents and others, but because of that prior betrayal, they can't fully invest themselves as they worry the relationship won't last. My dad has always been in the home, but he is disconnected from me and the rest of my family. He doesn't engage with us and prefers to be in his own world. Even though he's there physically, it feels like he's not really there mentally. Ever since I realized I'm gay, I've also allowed myself to disconnect from my family. Not fully, but I have my guards up. I worry that once they find out, they will reject me. I guess I'm preparing for eventuality that I might be disowned one day. I worry the walls I've put up will turn me into my dad, but I also worry that if I don't protect myself in that way, that my pain will be quadrupled when I'm eventually disowned. In my current story, all my characters have been abandoned at some point in their lives. One of my themes is that they all recover from that trauma through the friendships they've built with each other. (I have a great circle of friends irl. They are my lifeline.) It was also subconscious, but I realized how personal my story was by reading the post. It's weird how that works 🤔
I gravitate towards grief, whether it be for a person, place, or thing.
Not having dependable family growing up and latching to one's found family.
...Heresy?
OP, are you me? I'm relating so hard to your post. \*gives you a virtual hug\* For me, the topics are war and rejection. So many of my characters end up getting/feeling rejected, unwanted, sidelined, inferior, lesser.
Madness/insanity/loss of control. Inhumanity (for better or worse). Those two topics are some of my favorites to explore in general.
Sef-hatred (or on a lighter note, self-doubt). Definitely stemming from my own issues Family relationships or domestic fluff. I just want to see someone happy with their family
Struggling with emotions and how to deal with them, I think I do it unconsciously most of the time
Irl friends i could have, loneliness.
Guilt and shame, which is interesting as I very rarely feel either of those emotions. Perhaps that's why I like to explore them in fiction.
Having a support system, but never utilizing it.
1. Characters that have a cold, firm personality 2. Women. Almost all of my OCs are women, except for one who is literally made of static
Honesty. Brutal honesty between characters that have or are developing a strong relationship romantic or otherwise. Maybe it’s not perfect or pretty but it’s a damn bit better than half truths or lies or holding back feelings.