Hmmm, this would be long but for some basics:
Like
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1. The good guys win in the end, even if they lose "rounds" until the climax.
2. Some of the worst seeming bad guys turn out to acually be good guys without overwriting what they did.
#2 here is a paticular favorite because I realize that as messed up as the world is, somtimes the right thing isn't always the pleasant thing and seems pretty evil. Mass murder, torture, psychological warfare, all are nessicary evils. Those seeking to explore "gray" morality oftentimes don't really want to go there, and generally speaking realizing that an utter bastard was that way for a reason and was right (without further judgement) is the
best way to do it when you put all those actions into a "big picture" type of context. Part of the whole point of being "Gray" is when you realize that the old saying "The ends do not justify the means" is dead wrong, and spell out why.
It also helps to define REAL evil when it appears. Some of my favorite stories ever have basically involved the initial villain being right, and joining with the initial hero to beat the real bad guy. If done right let's just say that there can be few things more inspiring than someone who scares the hell out of you now being on your side.
3. Truely heroic heroes, I get tired of everyone having to be dark, flawed, or too human. These things can be okay, but not when it becomes the standard. Today a tragic backstory or a ton of angst is a turn off for me.
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Dislike:
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1. Political messages. This can range from anything to feminism, to enviromental preaching, to criticisms of current political administrations, and analogies to racism. A bit part of the reason why is that it's usually one sided and written by people who don't understand the issues. It's especially painful when they try and tack this onto a work where they shoot themselves in the foot by creating a situation where what they are criticizing is justified. For example a metaphor against racism is paticularly eye rolling if presented without any logical context, or put into a situation where it's been justified. For example if your message is against discrimination, represented by the oppression of this race of aliens that tried to kill and eat humanity or something, your not exactly tugging at my heartstrings even if there is some pluky alien character who represents a general exception to what happened to cause it to begin with. Perhaps the worst single (mainstream) example of this is probably something like "True Blood", where having seen what the vampires are up to and their general attitudes I just really can't get into the idea of vampire hunters being the bad guys.
2. Token characters. This can include anything from tossing in some minorities that aren't needed for political correctness, to a kid, to a love interest with no paticular function in the overall storyline other than to be a tacked on love interest.
3. Love/Emotion wins the no-win scenario. This one bugs me, because while on rare occasions it's been used well, it's generally a huge crutch. If the aliens/demons/whatever are eating worlds and presenting this huge threat, two people loving each other or their kids shouldn't matter at all, because it's ridiculous to assume that nobody loved each other in the long history of the bad guys doing all of this massive devestation.
4. Connected to the above, the whole "Love/Emotion as a foil" thing bugs me even worse. The hero being forced to fail because of their kid/girlfriend in trouble, or the sudden tension of say having to have a family in the middle of a war. You know the whole "honey, I'm preggers" right before the final battle. Simply put if some guy condemns thousands of people to death because his kid/girlfriend is in trouble, or even take a huge risk, he's not a bloody hero. Sacrificing something like that can add meaning to a desician, but doesn't justify doing the wrong thing (and teaches the wrong moral lesson I feel).
In regards to #4 I think this one is abused most in the zombie genere. A common motivation being "oh, I must find out if my family is still alive" despite all the odds. Ultimatly leading to someone doing something really bloody stupid, or weakening the group as a whole. It gets even worse when something like this is let go, as opposed to resulting in a well deserved bullet in the head.
