For me I love it when rivals or enemies and heroes have to work together to obtain a mutual gain. Another one I love is when heroes have a "dark side" or when they show a bit of an evil streak to them. Examples of that would be Harry Potter using the Unforgivable Curses. Or any such case of a hero acting maliciously. They're still representing the greater good, but in a dark way.
If anyone could supply me more examples of those two examples, I would appreciate that.. Otherwise tell me what your favorite "cliches" are.
I"m not even sure I really mean cliches... Plot points maybe? Common plot twists? Whatever. Hopefully you understand what I mean.
I love it when when plans clash. Single mastermind plans... sometimes they're freakin' awesome, sometimes they're like "how the bloody hell can you even predict all of that perfectly?"
Also, Earn Your Happy Ending.
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Aww, I lost to SuperNiceDog, Winner of the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest
ex. character goes through a series of events and then is forced to use time travel to go back and change something. then, you realize that something which had to happen earlier in the story was a direct result of that character's own time traveling interference (but they weren't aware of it at the time).
realistic portrayal of unrealistic conventions
ex. as a reader you think you are being exposed to a material that is going to meet certain conventions, and then those conventions are completely decimated: the protagonist of the story dies (without it being the end of the story), someone ultimately fails despite trying their hardest (not a minor setback and then they succeed by trying harder -- actual failure), if you're born/chosen/destined to be a certain role that doesn't mean you're automatically good at it, kids try and save the day and they ****ing fail because they are kids and don't know how to do ****, etc.
remorseless protagonist
the protagonist of a series or story cares more about exacting justice than s/he does about being a good person, doing the "right" thing, following the rules, or even the sanctity of human life. bonus points if they story still portrays them as being an overall good person.
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I believe there's meaning. No, I believe there's nothing. http://i.imgur.com/RYunc.png