What do you think about a twist on a familiar trope that completely changes its fundamental essense?

[BlackKnightX]

So you like NTR?

Sorry. I was about to say something extremely offensive there. Let's just say it's a nice addition to the list but not something I'm obsessed with.

 

[SailusGebel]

Sorry. I was about to say something extremely offensive there. Let's just say it's a nice addition to the list but not something I'm obsessed with.

Pusseh.

 

[BlackKnightX]

Pusseh.

Yasita's?

 

[SailusGebel]

Yasita's?

 

[BearlyAlive]

A turd by any other name still smells like shit

 

[BlackKnightX]

A turd by any other name still smells like shit

That's the thing. What if it's actually something else but is still called turd?

 

[BearlyAlive]

That's the thing. What if it's actually something else but is still called turd?

Then your naming sense is shit. Why call it a turd when it's not a turd at all?

 

[Tsuru]

Take vampire, for example. This is an iconic trope that has been done a lot. Even people who aren't particularly into fantasy know what it is. We know they're creatures of the night, weak against sunlight, and suck blood to survive. But what if I completely change the essence of it? For example, if my vampire doesn't suck blood but instead consumes other energy source to survive. Heck, what if blood is their weakness? Will you find this strange? Or maybe there's a story that's done this already?

I mean, you do you. I've seen a work where elves literally have a human farm because they eat their flesh for whatever reason that I forgot about. You just have to make it more believable or once you've committed to it, you have to make it consistent to not be nitpicked.

Gosh, the worse is that Terrate is kinda right
Its like the "hawaii-shirt logic/chinese logic" = As long you arent ashamed, its others that will

And now its kinda common to see bunch of "destroyed common tropes" in recent jp mangas/novels
I wouldnt be surprised that there are stories where vampire arent conventional ones. Heck i got a vague-memory i saw a story about vampire drinking blood bc they can't generate mana, hence take it from others, and blood is basically the carrier/highest-quantity of mana in other lifeforms.


And well, speaking of that, bbbaalbuddy is quite a famous nsfw artist for its "female elves are horny thots that cant get men"
(though its mostly reversing the mainstream trope of "elf = purity" and "orc being the evil horny ones" + smut helping popularity)

Then your naming sense is shit. Why call it a turd when it's not a turd at all?

Here is the thing, that simply means they arent humans and are aliens.
Only aliens would find "normal" to use specific names for specific things despite it not fitting the conventional naming style of humanity.



Time to call Men in black to capture another illegal immigrant alien.

 

[AdmiralofDestitution]

Sure. Just slap a vanilla romance tag on your hardcore NTR fanfic, all while omitting it's NTR, and call it a day. I'm sure you and everyone else will enjoy it.

some some japanese dud already did that, slap wholesome tag to cursed story.

 

[foxes]

What's the goal here? You want Freddy Kruegger not killing people in his sleep? Just in case, here's one for you. A scientist is terminally ill and needs someone else's blood to synthesize antibodies. Maybe he's a spirit and his device that allows him to materialize in the real world requires blood, guts and bacchanalia. In the Freddy Kruegger analogy, he may feed on fear, happiness, memories, snot and poop. I think the list is long and chemical elements can create different structures with many properties pick any one. Electromagnetic fields, gravity as a form of energy? Superman's were photons?

 

[BlackKnightX]

Then your naming sense is shit. Why call it a turd when it's not a turd at all?

Why not?

 

[CarburetorThompson]

If you subvert a troupe enough the subversion itself becomes the troupe

 

[Jerynboe]

So to be clear, are you asking about something that
A. Is called x in universe but bears no actual resemblance to the assumptions that your readers will make when hearing x in any way
B. Is called x in universe but the people in universe are just plain *wrong* about what xes are in the same ways your readers would be
C. Is called an x because it looks like an x and has the same narrative role as an x, but works differently than your reader would assume an x works,
D. Is called an x because it is similar to an X in some abstract way but 90% of it is a new and original concept (donut steel)

 

[BlackKnightX]

C. Is called an x because it looks like an x and has the same narrative role as an x, but works differently than your reader would assume an x works,
D. Is called an x because it is similar to an X in some abstract way but 90% of it is a new and original concept (donut steel)

Somewhere around C and D.

 

[Daitengu]

Twists like that are rather common. Day walker, aura vampire, energy vampire, mana vampire, etc.

Werewolf, weretiger, werelion, etc. then there's the reverse with beasts changing into humans like kitsune, or modern nekomata.

Russian fae were quite different than Celtic fae, and both are different but similar to some Native American mythical creatures.

What I'm saying is it's likely been done before, so do your research.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Take vampire, for example. This is an iconic trope that has been done a lot. Even people who aren't particularly into fantasy know what it is. We know they're creatures of the night, weak against sunlight, and suck blood to survive. But what if I completely change the essence of it? For example, if my vampire doesn't suck blood but instead consumes other energy source to survive. Heck, what if blood is their weakness? Will you find this strange? Or maybe there's a story that's done this already?

Do you have any idea how many different types of vampires there are?

How about a vampire who is perfectly normal until nighttime, then their head an internal organs detach an it flies around to feed on people, then it has to soak in a barrel of vinegar to shrink its organs enough to squeeze back into it's body, BUT, it is a herbalist who does oiled backrubs for a living, so the vampire always winds up smelling like salad dressing.

 

[Generic.Archdemon]

Derivative.

 

[ElijahRyne]

Take vampire, for example. This is an iconic trope that has been done a lot. Even people who aren't particularly into fantasy know what it is. We know they're creatures of the night, weak against sunlight, and suck blood to survive. But what if I completely change the essence of it? For example, if my vampire doesn't suck blood but instead consumes other energy source to survive. Heck, what if blood is their weakness? Will you find this strange? Or maybe there's a story that's done this already?

I believe that vampires originally were thought to suck the luck from their families/communities. Anyways vampires being weak to blood isn’t a new thing, it makes sense since they could have a sympathetic connection with it, so all you need to do is mess with that connection with something like a curse. Plus, I think I saw an older anime where the heroine was weak to blood, I believe that was the gimmick, although I could be wrong.

 

[Lysander_Works]

I agree with DJ_Rhaposdy's advice. If you want to make something unique, have something inspired by vampires or creatures of the night, just create your own similar species or creature sub-class and work from that. I think as far as tags go, if it is similar enough to vampires, using the vampire tag is fine.

If you are just asking what we think for the heck of it, the more original ideas out there, the better.

 

[QuercusMalus]

Take vampire, for example. This is an iconic trope that has been done a lot. Even people who aren't particularly into fantasy know what it is. We know they're creatures of the night, weak against sunlight, and suck blood to survive. But what if I completely change the essence of it? For example, if my vampire doesn't suck blood but instead consumes other energy source to survive. Heck, what if blood is their weakness? Will you find this strange? Or maybe there's a story that's done this already?

There is a whole romance series where the vampires aren't undead (Lyndsey Sands), they are descendants of the ancient city of Atlantis whose ancestors had been injected with nanobots to aid in healing.
The first few are a fun read. But it does a good job of taking the common vampire mythos and turning it on its head.
But the thing is, she is just giving an alternative explanation to the myths and stories based on her premise(nanobots), but she still keeps the basic framework of the tropes that everyone is familiar with.

But in your example, you want to remove that framework, that's like making your elves into a race of underground alcoholic miners, and your dwarves a race of short, stocky tree dwelling hippies. It's just jarring and off-putting for the reader. Some subversion of expectations adds nuance, too much just screams edgyteen. Well I suppose it's possible to do, it seems harder to do well.