fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2889 ]

if someone were to make a thing that would be pure pandering for you, what would it contain? spare no detail

you can do a smut and a non-smut version if you like

Attractive men who take their clothes off a lot. Preferably with long hair.
Badass women who are the hero of the story
Multiple, varied female characters, at least one of which isn't super feminine. I want physically strong women, smart women, politically savy women, I want it all.
By the same token, male characters who fit more female stereotypes are nice as well.
Scifi with lots of space battles and awesome spaceships or fantasy with cool, interesting magic and a fleshed-out world
Just a whole lot of different characters and couples. Gay, straight, single. At least one poly couple would be nice.
A lot of thought put into the characterization. I want believable characters that seem real to me.
A fair balance of male and female nudity. More male would be nice, but equal opportunity is perfect.
Realism but not completely depressing. I want violence and realistic amount of death, but some people should live and there ultimately needs to be a happy ending.
Interesting, fleshed-out villains who are smart and sometimes win and are a good match for the heroes.

(deleted comment)

Re: Pure pandering

(Anonymous) - 2014-12-01 04:20 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pure pandering

philstar22 - 2014-12-01 04:22 (UTC) - Expand

A plot that looks simple and straightforward to start out, but then as it goes along you realize that not only is it way more complicated than you thought, but the seeds for that got dropped in way back when you thought it was simple.
Based primarily in the "real world," but with fantasy elements.
Characters who only briefly refuse to believe that the fantasy elements exist, and then are on board with "This is definitely actually happening and we have to go with it."
A mixed-gender group of main characters who are all friends and treat each other like they actually like each other.
At least one long-term couple of any gender combination where they argue on occasion but overall have a solid and comfortable relationship.
Little to no romantic entanglement among the other characters.
Humor that's primarily based on the oddness of the situation and the characters' reaction to it.
A satisfying ending that answers all the big questions but leaves plenty of room for speculation about what might happen to the characters in the future.

Injuries. Torture. Pain.

Re: Pure pandering

philstar22 - 2014-11-30 21:55 (UTC) - Expand

http://desudesudesu.org/images/uploads/241305775708.png

-Best friends. Any gender combination.

-Including both openly-affectionate and demonstrative male/male friends, and slightly gruff and awkward-acting (but just as close) female/female friends.

-a male/female friendship that is never anything remotely romantic

-a non-stereotypical gay or lesbian couple whose gayness is not remotely the point of their characters

-a het couple with a really hot guy and a not-very-good-looking woman

-the main characters show care and friendliness and compassion for lots of people outside their ensemble/social circle, no matter how tightly-knit that ensemble may be

-especially marginalized and disenfranchised people

-eeeeeevil government conspiracies! Not necessarily like, X-Files level conspiracies, just corrupt politicians (on the municipal level or state level is perfectly fine) who engage in secret smear campaigns, intimidations, cover-ups, etc, to get power, and the heroes have to defeat them

-related to above: themes of "everyone is corrupt except us (the main characters) and some marginalized people who we didn't expect!" and other us-against-the-world stuff

-complex, interesting groups of bad guys, in which some of the bad guys are not that bad/have sympathetic reasons for siding with the bad guys/turn good after a while

-hot dudes

-hot dudes who are not stereotypical Hollywood beefcake

-who take their clothes off a lot

-a really bamf older female authority figure (or two) whose bamfness is not made out to be ~so cool~ because she's a woman

-a time period, culture, or other excuse for the characters to wear a lot of good-looking, vintage-looking clothes

-a weird respectful pseudo-friendship between a hero and a villain

-long scenes. By this I mean, scenes that have long takes, long sequences of dialogue, without ANY flashy distracting special effects, cuts, angles, fast-paced background music rushing things along, etc. Just the actors doing a good job of acting on a well-designed set

-gunfights!

Re: Pure pandering

(Anonymous) - 2014-11-30 21:45 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pure pandering

(Anonymous) - 2014-11-30 22:05 (UTC) - Expand

Hot guys. Hot guys having sex with each other. A lot of hurt/comfort and pretty crying. Not fantasy setting. Any other setting is cool. No love triangles, long lost relatives, or couples having fights that could be easily solved with communication.

Edited 2014-11-30 21:51 (UTC)

Re: Pure pandering

kallanda_lee - 2014-11-30 22:16 (UTC) - Expand

Lots of kit and gunwank but still vaguely liberal undertones (what, this is my fantasy we're talking about here).

Some noxious trope or other subverted. Possibly someone's wife/daughter/female is kidnapped and the Gruff, Angry Man goes to rescue her. But fails utterly and it doesn't go full on Grrrl Power either - as the impossible in fiction twist, the authorities end up saving her in the end.

Femdom. Just, however. Whoever. I don't care. Ideally the man is younger, but I'm pretty easy to please with this one. If I'm getting exactly what I want, the woman is not a femme fatale and is not wearing ridiculous leather bondage gear; some kind of authority figure would be great. Maybe an interrogator. This doesn't have to be porn... ...I guess.

Re: Pure pandering

ill_omened - 2014-11-30 22:18 (UTC) - Expand

Male eye candy, often scantily clad for no reason. Slash-a-gogo, and some M/M/F threesomes and OT3's as well.

The full sci-fi and/or fantasy package. I'm talking either interesting new planets, cool spaceships, space battles or the whole magic, dragons swords things. Or a combination.

Badass battle scenes.

Canon hurt/comfort please can we have that please.

All that being said, I still need interesting characters, good writing, and realistic conflict/plot.

Post-apocalyptic sci-fi-ish stuff with attractive, sweaty people covered in grime. Like, maybe several films or a TV show based on Fallout: New Vegas. I'm torn between the courier being female or make, mostly because if you were pandering to me the courier would be my courier, Carlos "Kip" Castillo, end up being Arcade's love interest and since Arcade is gay... FO:NV has awesome female characters like Cass and Veronica and Lily and Christine so I guess I'm okay with the main character being a dude.

Anyway, so basically Fallout: The Movie (or TV show). That's what I want and have always wanted. Some things come close, including some great Fallout fan films (Nuka Break comes very close), but are not exactly what I want.

My go-to narrative kinks: honour, worthy opponents, tricksters, combat pragmatism, information brokers, honour among thieves, underground networks of disenfranchised peoples, general compassion and willingness to help each other, good communication, a decent sense of logistics, incredibly intense friendships, political marriages where both parties are friends, open relationships that everyone's happy with, complex motivations on all sides, people who get terrifyingly intense when in the zone, competence all over the place, a good gut-wrenching betrayal now and then for plausible and defined reasons, dignity under pressure, captives who manage to manipulate their captors, awesome rescues, good people who can do terrifying things, unapologetic survivors who have their morals questioned, the kind of dig-in stubbornness where the whole world is invited to come and have a go because it won't succeed, loyalty that is freely and knowingly offered, power that is used responsibly, trust being proved justified even when it really, really shouldn't have been, either happy or tragically operatic endings.

Re: Pure pandering

intrigueing - 2014-11-30 22:11 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Pure pandering

(Anonymous) - 2014-12-01 02:04 (UTC) - Expand

-Intricate worldbuilding.

-Either detailed tech or detailed magic. I want explanations. I want rules.

-Diversity of race, ethnicity, orientation, culture, opinion, and religion (including characters who lack it and/or are atheist).

-Language barriers.

-The "common" perspective. Characters who are workaday types.

-Ambiguous ethics and morality, and hard choices that reflect that ambiguity.

-Lots of female characters, of all different types, with different personalities and motivations.

-Believable, slow-building romance of any type (I'll admit most of my ships are either het or femslash, but a well-done slow burn for a slash couple meets the need just as well).

-More superficially: hot men and women in form-fitting outfits.

-You know, it actually exists. Nagi no Asukara. If I were to change it, maybe a longer, more drawn out version of it. More slow burn and more interactions between characters, with more story after where it ended.

-A very nice sports anime with many characters and dynamics and relationship development. The two rivals who get on each other's nerves and banter/argue all the time, get to know one another and slowly it turns to BL, even though it's not anywhere near the focus of the show. (Think Diamond no Ace or Free!)

Friends and partners (platonic or romantic) being really affectionate and tactile with each other. Especially people of the same sex, or male/female best friends

Male/Female best friends

Same-sex relationships

Happy romantic relationships, a happily married couple

The romantic couples kissing or cuddling, especially same-sex couples

Lots of action and people kicking ass

Snarking

No forcing drama or angst into it by having the happy relationships (romantic or platonic) be threatened by stupid and contrived misunderstandings that make the people involved look like they didn't have half a brain cell to share between them

Dick characters (thinking of BBC Sherlock or Gibbs from NCIS) not constantly getting away with their dickish behaviour

Actual character development that doesn't get thrown over board for cheap drama

Attractive men and women, and a fair amount of skin. Not too much, but a shirtless dude here or there, a woman whose shirt has a plunging back, or rushing about in the morning after sleeping over the alarm in her cotton underwear (because I'm probably the only one who finds cotton sexier than lace)

(One of) the villain(s) and (one of) the hero(es) having the kind of relationship where they used to be very close (lovers, best friends, family), but then circumstance forced them apart and one turned to the dark side, and even though they are enemies now they still can't help but love each other and it tears them apart that they have to fight against each other, but they each made their choice and their is no turning back from that (except for when their is. I'm fine with the hero going evil or the villain turning good)

My OTP becoming canon and having really great touching, BAMF, or heart-warming scenes together

Good writing that doesn't jump the shark after a few seasons

Pretty gay or bi male love interests with a good backstory in fantasy RPGs.

That depends on whether we're talking id fic or something I'd enjoy because of its quality. I assume you're asking about id things, because otherwise the answer would be "anything as long as it's well crafted".

So 9_9

- no romantic storylines whatsoever

- two people with a vaguely parent-child dynamics who have epic issues with said dynamics and can't just embrace it

- but secretly they're overflowing with affection for each other (epIC FRIENDSHIP!)

- lots of hurt/comfort. LOTS.

- A REAL LOT OF HURT/COMOFORT OKAY

- dark humour

- clever plot twists that leave you all ??? and then !!!

so basically Murder Rooms, but with no romance and lots more explicit h/c XDD

- ROBOTS AND WIZARDS IN SPACE FIGHTING ALIENS WHILE RIDING DINOSAURS

- EPIC HUMAN/ROBOT FRIENDSHIP

- EPIC HUMAN/ROBOT ROMANCE

- STEREOTYPICAL OLD BEARDED WIZARDS (LIKE GANDALF AND DUMBLEDORE)

- ALIEN POLITICS

- WARRIOR PRINCESSES

- SWORD FIGHTS

- WEAPONS THAT LOOK REALLY COOL BUT WOULD BE SUPER-IMPRACTICAL IN REAL LIFE

- NON-OBJECTIFIED LESBIANS WHOSE PERSONALITIES DO NOT REVOLVE AROUND HOW GAY THEY ARE

- A CAST WITH AN EVEN GENDER RATIO

- TERRIBLE PUNS

- MOUSTACHES

Handsome men, pretty, poofy 1860s-ish dresses, spanking, more handsome men, delicious chocolate, pretty shoes, pretty firearms, mythology, more handsome men, red wine, champagne, and hot tea. Maybe a yacht, I'm not sure. Either a yacht or a haunted mansion.

Edit: and kilts and leather!

Edited 2014-11-30 23:16 (UTC)

Fantastic or science-fictional elements that are interesting and meaningful and used in a well-thought-out way, integrated into our world in some way or other. Also, references to other things that I think are cool.

Relatively grounded, normal characters thrown into strange situations and kind of taking it in stride and handling it to the best of their abilities. Characters who are very concerned with ethics in ways that aren't stupid or stuck-up, who are flexible but good, and who face significant moral dilemmas. Characters who are calculating. Characters who are calculating and analytical but also morally good. Characters with divergent moral views. Just lots and lots of characters who are smart and good at doing things and also grounded and care about doing the right things. Also, lots of characters who are totally grumps and sarcastic.

Romance plots. Characters who don't have romance plots but are just friends. Lesbians. Lesbian romance. Romance plots that are basically about characters being able to rely on and support each other more than anything else. Lots of fluffiness but all of it almost kind of hidden benath sarcasm or sadness or black humor or what-have-you. Grumps refusing to admit that they love each other even though they clearly do and it's obvious to everyone involved. Romance that isn't saccharine sweet, that's between characters who are good characters in their own right, and who have their own shit going on, and who aren't idiots about romance.

Also, ferociously intelligent, powerful, sarcastic women with long dark hair, who are professional and fierce and deadly, and who also want to be loved, but aren't willing to sacrifice their quality of totally owning all the time for that goal. And kooky, eccentric blonde women. Also big dudes with beards. Those are three character types I would like to request should be present in this.

An interesting, distinct setting that's actually used in some way - where the work and its tone draw something from the setting. Not just set in some generic anytown. Lots of road trips and traveling. Lots of spunky kids with moxie and a lot of smarts and a sharp mouth. People who are misfits but funny and decent and, again, grounded. Some kind of sense of wonder, although again hidden behind difficulty.

Nothing that pisses me off.

Uh. I think that's most of it...

Powerful werewolves with extremely complicated biology and cutthroat pack politics, facing off against threats both internal and external in a twisty plot with a lot of depth and surprises and humor and tragedy and love and friendship and betrayal and most of all, bloody and violent mayhem. The female werewolves are just as strong, relevant and complex as the males and don't have to deal with overblown discrimination, and there's no mating bonds or alpha-omega bullshit. Lots of hot, tough, rebellions pansexual main characters banging each other without drama or taking over the plot. From the perspective of a dude who spends a fair amount of time ogling other dudes. Toss some vicious mermaids in there somewhere, I suppose, for OVER 9000 pandering.

- A mixed gender cast that doesn't require romance, just friendship.
- Female characters that are fleshed out to be human beings like their male counterparts.
- Snarky cats
- Cats not causing Cuteness Proximity to happen.
- Male characters with "stereotypically feminine" interests.
- Dogs being seen as pure evil for once instead of cats.

Re: Pure pandering

(Anonymous) - 2014-11-30 23:59 (UTC) - Expand

My OTP and porn. That's all, I'm a simple creature.

Magic is a well known enough phenomenon that there are many fields of science based on the study of magic and they are well respected because someone has to explain how some people can conjure lightning from within themselves.
And the magic system is well thought out. And research is done so we don't get huge blunders.
Platonic soul mates, they were destined to meet and be together forever but not fall in love, possibly because one or both are aromantic.
Men who wear awsome shirts that I want to wear.
There are some settings that are breathtakingly gorgeous and the backgrounds are well animated even in the dingy places.
Varied music
If written, descriptions of a place are no more than a paragraph long plus maybe character reactions.
A badass trans woman.
Major characters who seem human at first but turn out not to be.
Incredibly well done and tense fight scenes that end quickly because as fun as fight scenes are they rarely should last long.
At least some part of the story is scary enough to make me lose sleep, which sounds like a terrible criteria.
Dragons and space.

Re: Pure pandering

(Anonymous) - 2014-12-01 03:31 (UTC) - Expand

Mash up Blade Runner and Stalker (the 1979 Soviet film, not the games based on it) and mix in creepy instrumental post-rock and synthwave (Perturbator is a good choice.) Have lots of lonely, desolate fields on gloomy, storm's-a-coming days in autumn mixed with tons and tons of urban decay and flashing neon. Protagonist is something other than another brown-haired white guy (even if it's so much as just a dude with black or blond hair.)

And don't make a TV show out of it.

A never ending supply of self-contained daily animation shorts. The more variety, the better.