[DISCUSSION] Author Bingo!

[geraineon]

It sorta came up in last week's read-in-progress post, but it might be fun to create bingo cards for authors!

So, here's an effort to crowd source ideas for your favourite authors (or authors you just happen to read more than one work from and found some patterns).

For each author proposed for the bingo card, leave a top level comment and then reply to that author with some patterns you've noticed. Feel free to link this out or just ask your friends! There are no right or wrong suggestions, as long as you are having fun and you've noticed it in at least two works.

(I added a few authors to start us off with!)

Comments

[geraineon]

Mu Su Li

[geraineon]

Memory shenanigans (either half or both of the CP will have some memory issues)

[lunarriviera]

"this worldbuilding should not make any sense, and yet. it could only be this way. none other."

(tealspire! invigilators! what in the panguan is happening here!) (or when she just flat out says, about heitian: "this is a bizarre setting")

[geraineon]

I laughed at that author's note in Heitian. Like, "don't think too hard about this."

[lunarriviera]

gaokao survivors' trauma

[geraineon]

- Some sorta teacher-student/mentor-mentee relationship?

- They knew each other in the PAST!

[geraineon]

Jiang Zi Bei

[geraineon]

e-sports/gaming (even in non-esports/gaming novel!)

[geraineon]

MC will keep digging pits for themselves with lies XD

[geraineon]

Ning Yuan

[aurumcalendula]

Main characters reuniting after a number of years apart and with one of them under a cloud of suspicion.

[douqi]

Off the top of my head I'd say: pre-existing relationship between the leads; jiejie issues/jiejie has issues; more than one f/f couple; significant callback to seemingly casual earlier reference.

[douqi]

Now that I think of it, 'identity' is also a major thing in quite a few of her novels that I've read.

[geraineon]

Ruo Hua Ci Shu

[douqi]

This applies only to her historical works, but: girl raised as prince for vague inheritance reasons; mommy kink; significant love token; main couple appears to have no other female friends.

Edited to add: Significant love token.

[geraineon]

Mommy kink :eyes emoji:

I am intrigued

[geraineon]

Priest

[rigormorphis]

bisexual bottoms who, at the outset of their respective books, identify as/consider themselves tops

(also, hello! I saw your post about this boosted on fedi and couldn't resist, this is such a fun idea)

[rigormorphis]

lol on second thought this is probably too long for a bingo card. well, "bisexual bottom" alone also works ♥)

[geraineon]

Hello! No worries, participation is open to everyone either here or fedi.Thanks for participating!

(and lol yeah, tbh for priest, I think it's also "if you think the order is A x B, switch it around and you'll be right").

[lunarriviera]

1) amnesia/memory loss from horrific events/tragic backstory/The Trauma (lhjc, mo du, guardian, i could go on), and/or character who simply Does Not Think about it! ever! bc why would you! bc it's irrelevant! (sheng lingyuan and gu yun i'm looking at you)

2) genuine sweetheart of a beleaguered heterosexual best friend who's constantly pulling his hair out over the mains, why are they LIKE THIS

3) cats

4) "…"

5) an entire found family. that you found in the trash. but they're yours now.

6) side CP you ship harder than the mains, classic priest stealth attack

7) stealth attack part two: about a third of the way into the novel, you will be shot 57 times. somehow you do not see this coming, even after having it happen to you repeatedly

8a) insane worldbuilding getting suddenly dumped on you at the last possible moment, sort of like being handed an airplane ticket right as you're being shoved onto the plane (i think lhjc is the worst about this; it's almost mxtx levels of describing a character for a full paragraph right before announcing breathlessly: "and it was lan wangji!" or whoever. but then this is a danmei that has not only metahumans and sword demons but also merfolk and highlanders)

8b) honestly tho does pipi have a murderboard the length of her entire apartment, she SAYS she's a pantser but i do NOT believe this, like many of her characters i think she is in fact a lying liar who lies. you cannot write mo du without at least five charlie day pepe silvia boards.

9) priest self-insert character! smart, socially awkward, obsessed with something mundane like online shopping or gacha games, almost always fujoing out over the CP while she should be working

10) ...what do you mean there's historical politics randomly appearing in my dumb fantasy/scifi romance??? and sweeping massive social justice issues suddenly clamouring to be addressed?

(in all fairness there should be a bingo square for colorism/ethnic stereotypes, but not sure the world is ready for that conversation just yet)

bonus square: somebody at some point has definitely been a cannibal, but it will be 500 pages before you know who.

[momijizukamori]

tops who cook

psuedo-incest (it's not a bug, it's a feature!)

loyalty kink

hurt/comfort

token Useless Straight(tm)

[lunarriviera]

(enthusiastically cosigning "feature not a bug" and 我的天 GONGS WHO COOK 🥺)

[rigormorphis]

Fei Tian Ye Xian (a.k.a. Arise Zhang, a.k.a. Gu Xuerou, a.k.a. Lian Qing Feng, a.k.a. Zhu Feng Tian Di...sure hope I haven't missed any other pseudonyms)

[rigormorphis]

Strong Foreign Older Brother Type x Cute Guy Who Is Dumb As Rocks

[rigormorphis]

Tang Jiu Qing

[larryhammer]

Yue Xia Die Ying

[larryhammer]

Trickster female protagonist who is secretly a lot more competent than she initially lets on

ETA: Though yanno, this also applies to a few female MCs that aren't tricksters.

[geraineon]

Hui Nan Que

[geraineon]

First person POV

[aurumcalendula]

Please Don't Laugh

[aurumcalendula]

Main character getting strong-armed into to marrying their eventual love interest because of someone else's schemes.

[aurumcalendula]

Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

[aurumcalendula]

Characters being oblivious that their love interest is in love with them.

[lunarriviera]

the secret* theme of all three danmei actually being: people online can be SO MEAN

*(okay in svsss it's not even that secret)

[lunarriviera]

淮上 Huai Shang

[lunarriviera]

(and i'll start!)

1. this chase scene WILL last at LEAST three chapters but you will be riveted the whole time

2. you will also like the (brilliant, quiet, tsundere) shou SO much more than his partner that by the halfway point you're going to wish you could kidnap him and give him to a priest gong. wait did i say that in my outside voice

[silverblade219]

Meng Xi Shi

[silverblade219]

-Head injuries

-Crossdressing

-Asshole character who you increasing grow fond of against your will

-Slowburn and subtle expressions of affection

[grayswandir]

Jin Yong!

[geraineon]

- Manic pixie dream girl
- Toxic past generation relationship
- FORCED TO STAB SWORD INTO SOMEONE YOU LOVE
- Orthodox x Unorthodox sect relationships of doom

[silverblade219]

Cyan Wings

[silverblade219]

-Humor / parody esque tone

-Using popular tropes in unexpected ways