Voyeuristic Explorers Unite!

Reading this article on QueryTracker about branding, I've started thinking about who I write for. Namely, myself, and people like me. In other words, Reader Me. But who is Reader Me? Being bored, ill, and trying to find justifications to get out of packing up in time for our big move, I decided to take a look at the various Media Mes that are out there.

First up is Videogame Me. The Bartle Test would label me an Explorer! Survival horrors are my favorite due to their surreal use of horror affecting their landscapes but I'm also partial to an RPG or a Shooter in a nice locale as I just love to take a look around. When gaming, I'm cautiously creeping forward, sniping, avoiding, or ambushing enemies where possible, and saving often, just so I can see the next bit. I often explore just about every part of the map just to see if there's anything interesting in that dead end. I like a strong sense of place - a sense of being someplace real (even a virtual version) because I'd never be allowed to go there in person. I think another part of Videogame Me is the voyeur. Its why I'll never interrupt an NPC conversation if I can eavesdrop.

I'd like to say that the other Reader Me and Movie Me are more mature than Videogame Me. That's not true, though. They're just more voyeuristic. Movie Me, at least, can be distracted by glitz 'n graphics, with cutting edge explosions and fast movement to distract me. Still, Movie Me likes to get a look inside places I'd never see just to see what they'd look like - whether out in space or even in the past. Same can be said for TV Me, though TV Me is quite weak and underfed, since there's only a rare few television series that can hold my attention (Robin Hood, Supernaturals, Heroes, Green Wings, Scrubs).

Reader Me is the most voyeuristic of all. Reader Me isn't just happy with seeing places I shouldn't see or pretending to do things I shouldn't be doing. No, Reader Me also wants to get inside people's heads and hear their thoughts and know their back stories. Reader Me likes to watch people's internal struggles up close and personal. I also like to know multiple perspectives at times so that I can know precisely what triggered that misunderstanding. What makes it even better is that I can couple voyeurism into people's minds with exploring other places - so I can even see how certain places react to people and vice versa!

Now you tell me that isn't awesome!

So ... I guess that means my personal brand is to attract voyeurs and explorers. People who have always wanted to see what's over that hill, who are attracted to the graffitti-strewn rubble of a partially wrecked building, and who have always wanted to back pack around the country because you never quite notice enough when its blurring by you in a car. People who want to know what makes people tick, who've always wondered WHY a person would do that, or HOW they could justify their actions. Throw in a sense of the tragic and a morbid fascination with BAD things like wars and plagues and human cruelty, and you have my Media Me and thus my brand of fantasy writing.

Now all I need is a logo...