Help! Me Brainstorm

[theAnimeRebel]

So, I need a recurring motiff for a manga... (You know, like those annoying cats they always throw in)

So, help me brainstorm ideas. These can be as random/oddball as you like, as long as they're humorous.

NOTE: This story has witches and monsters in it, and is set in the old west, if that helps.

[Kodos]

Tumbleweeds.

But seriously, a recurring motif or element should be meaningful in some capacity, and not just there because. Nothing in storytelling should ever be there "because." Evangelion is not something to be emulated - it is sound and fury signifying nothing, and that is to be avoided.
Like, seriously. Even easter eggs and recurring visual gags. They should be referencing *something* even if it's just an artist's gag. But if you have to ask people to tell you what it should be, then it's not your gag, really, dig?

[theAnimeRebel]

Well, actually Kodos (I have never watched/read Evangelion so, ahem...) can't the purpose of a gag be... a gag? Something thrown in that a clever reader will pick up on (it wouuld be rather subvert, actually) that sort of adds a level of consistency to the story's events. Sort of like a moniker that says "funny stuff will now commense."

Anyways. Funnily enough, I actually considered tumbleweeds and threw them out. I'm now thinking of a bartender that moves around from place to place. But we'll see. A bird of some type (I was thinking vulture) might work too.

[Evil_Cake]

granola

[Kodos]

Well, actually Kodos (I have never watched/read Evangelion so, ahem...) can't the purpose of a gag be... a gag? Something thrown in that a clever reader will pick up on (it wouuld be rather subvert, actually) that sort of adds a level of consistency to the story's events. Sort of like a moniker that says "funny stuff will now commense."

Anyways. Funnily enough, I actually considered tumbleweeds and threw them out. I'm now thinking of a bartender that moves around from place to place. But we'll see. A bird of some type (I was thinking vulture) might work too.

I suppose. It's just the way you worded things makes it feel like you are including this because you feel it is something you have to include, rather than you want to. There are rules of storytelling that ought to be adhered to by most writers, and some that ought be adhered to by all, but cargo cult writing, like Dominic Deegan, is generally something to avoided.

Basically, as a general rule, whenever you are putting an element in your story, no matter how big or small, you should be able to answer the following questions as yes and no respectively;
-Do I understand why I am putting this in the story?
-Am I putting this in the story simply because it is what others have done, rather than because I want or need to?