god, so many things! favourites are hard to pick, especially in the middle of a long dry spell as far as reading and writing goes. but yeah, obvious ones are grief and separation. slice of life in its most basic sense, so like, ordinary life being lived - cleaning, cooking, walking; just people doing the things they do everyday.

i feel like motifs are not hard sells to me. if fall for a writer's style and rhythm they can take me almost anywhere they want. i cant help but bring up haikyuu here. nothing, and i mean absolutely nothing about the genre, the setting, the tone, any of it, is among my preferences. i dont care for sports, let alone sports mangas. i dont care for optimistic protagonists or hopeful, almost euphoric storytelling. or so i believed until i read haikyuu. and now i beg everyone i can to read it and call it one of the defining stories i've read in my life. a volleyball manga. its unbelievable. i suppose it helps that a lot of it IS about people, very specifically sports playing high schoolers, doing their everyday things. it IS about grief, somehow, at the end of it all.

this is such roundabout way of saying idk what my favourite motifs are, i suppose. they change along with me. i grew up on fantasy fiction, cut my teeth on it and then some. but i dont gravitate towards heroic stories of that set archetype now. or if i do, its because the writer is exceptional. (im thinking iron widow here though calling it fantasy fiction is kind of a reach. what i probably mean is the broader idea of fantastical novels we had as kids i guess)

i love places. towns, cities, apartments, homes. just pockets that represent a character's desires, past history and everything. on a similar note, i love liminal spaces. cars, bikes, walks, elevators etc. love them even more when instead of showing movement or change in character they show the lack of it. instead show routine.

i love nature ie the natural setting but also atmosphere, climate, weather everything being important to scenes. and not just because they give a context/background to action.

i love friendship. thats an important one, actually. it doesnt have to be overt and articulated but even just the sense of knowing and belonging between people.

thats mostly all i can think of. and pain, of course!! especially in poetry and music, pain and repression are my best buddies that i love to see out. lmfao. hope i somewhat answered your question! <3