My Narrative Kinks Let Me Show You Them
Strong female characters of all types: warriors and healers and leaders and artists and mothers, those who succeed in traditionally masculine roles and those who are no less awesome for being traditionally feminine
Dance
Families, both biological and found. Family members who tease each other and get on each others nerves and still care deeply for each other. Father-daughter and brother-sister interactions
Female friendships
Friendships, period. Non-sexual relationships as important elements in characters' lives (because fanfic is sadly so often fail on this count)
Worldbuilding. Created cultures with their own religions/mythologies, political systems, values and etc that are internally consistent and not homogeneous
Culture clashes, particularly when complicating romances and/or friendships
Characters who walk in two cultures
Prejudices as unpleasant realities in an imperfect world that complicate life for characters
Fantasy involving everyday life both in terms of quiet scenes in the middle of tumultuous events, and plots that don't involve epic quests or wars or the end of the world
Snark and banter
Private sanctuaries, discovery/creation of new worlds that others don't know of (directly harkens back to my favorite children's books, Roxaboxen, Weslandia, and Andrew Henry's Meadow)
Slow-building romances - especially close friends who fall in love, but I also have a certain fondness for characters who are initially antagonistic then gradually come to respect and become friends with each other and only then start falling in love (friends to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, and most especially reluctant allies to lovers)
Relationships where characters do not lose their strength or personality after becoming involved, where they continue to bicker and banter with each other, where they are not particularly demonstrative but little things show the depth of their care for one another
Established relationships
Pairings of equals, especially pairings of two alphas (and where both being alphas causes conflict between them)
Pairings of strong characters who can be vulnerable around each other
Prominent characters who are authority figures/have major responsibilities
Prominent feature or at least inclusion of relationship options other than monogamous het, especially if there isn't any fuss made about it and it's just treated as a normal thing
Bisexual characters
Worlds with a more fluid concept of sexuality, edging towards everyone is bi (probably seriously unrealistic, but let me have my fantasy)
Heroines who own their sexuality and are not penalized for it (conversely, few things get on my nerves as quickly as virgin/whore dichotomies)
Characters discovering their sexuality, particularly with a more experienced partner; positive first time sexual experiences
Healthy, stable relationships
"Sex pollen" type situations (e.g. dragon and fire lizard mating flights in Dragonriders of Pern, Rut in Black Jewels) (cliche, porny, and kinda problematic, but it totally pushes my buttons)
Cleverness and intelligence and manipulativeness (many of my favorite characters, were they in the Harry Potter universe, would be a tough case for sorting between Ravenclaw and Slytherin)
Clever characters being emotionally stupid
Characters who are human and flawed, who hold grudges or are arrogant or etc and face consequences for it
Villains who are realistic and nuanced and if not sympathetic then whose perspective one can see and understand at least
Stories where the villain is not a person but a force of nature or human apathy or something along those lines
Heroes who have some darkness to them, who don't always act morally
Characters who think they're more tough/worldly/rebellious than they really are
Fiesty heroines (cliche, but appeals to me anyway)
Suave, snarky, somewhat arrogant heroes (cliche, but appeals to me anyway)
Mature protagonists; heroes who are older than the volatile, naive teens that are so common, who have more life experience and common sense
Bookworms, characters who are soft-spoken and caring and seemingly ingenuous but have hidden depths
Fantastical creatures of all types - especially obscure ones, and dragons
Stately, inhuman, amoral fae
Fairytale retellings and mythological elements
Endurance; characters going through tough situations but not becoming embittered or giving up hope
Happy endings
Characters having to earn their happy endings
Bittersweet endings
Dance
Families, both biological and found. Family members who tease each other and get on each others nerves and still care deeply for each other. Father-daughter and brother-sister interactions
Female friendships
Friendships, period. Non-sexual relationships as important elements in characters' lives (because fanfic is sadly so often fail on this count)
Worldbuilding. Created cultures with their own religions/mythologies, political systems, values and etc that are internally consistent and not homogeneous
Culture clashes, particularly when complicating romances and/or friendships
Characters who walk in two cultures
Prejudices as unpleasant realities in an imperfect world that complicate life for characters
Fantasy involving everyday life both in terms of quiet scenes in the middle of tumultuous events, and plots that don't involve epic quests or wars or the end of the world
Snark and banter
Private sanctuaries, discovery/creation of new worlds that others don't know of (directly harkens back to my favorite children's books, Roxaboxen, Weslandia, and Andrew Henry's Meadow)
Slow-building romances - especially close friends who fall in love, but I also have a certain fondness for characters who are initially antagonistic then gradually come to respect and become friends with each other and only then start falling in love (friends to lovers, enemies to friends to lovers, and most especially reluctant allies to lovers)
Relationships where characters do not lose their strength or personality after becoming involved, where they continue to bicker and banter with each other, where they are not particularly demonstrative but little things show the depth of their care for one another
Established relationships
Pairings of equals, especially pairings of two alphas (and where both being alphas causes conflict between them)
Pairings of strong characters who can be vulnerable around each other
Prominent characters who are authority figures/have major responsibilities
Prominent feature or at least inclusion of relationship options other than monogamous het, especially if there isn't any fuss made about it and it's just treated as a normal thing
Bisexual characters
Worlds with a more fluid concept of sexuality, edging towards everyone is bi (probably seriously unrealistic, but let me have my fantasy)
Heroines who own their sexuality and are not penalized for it (conversely, few things get on my nerves as quickly as virgin/whore dichotomies)
Characters discovering their sexuality, particularly with a more experienced partner; positive first time sexual experiences
Healthy, stable relationships
"Sex pollen" type situations (e.g. dragon and fire lizard mating flights in Dragonriders of Pern, Rut in Black Jewels) (cliche, porny, and kinda problematic, but it totally pushes my buttons)
Cleverness and intelligence and manipulativeness (many of my favorite characters, were they in the Harry Potter universe, would be a tough case for sorting between Ravenclaw and Slytherin)
Clever characters being emotionally stupid
Characters who are human and flawed, who hold grudges or are arrogant or etc and face consequences for it
Villains who are realistic and nuanced and if not sympathetic then whose perspective one can see and understand at least
Stories where the villain is not a person but a force of nature or human apathy or something along those lines
Heroes who have some darkness to them, who don't always act morally
Characters who think they're more tough/worldly/rebellious than they really are
Fiesty heroines (cliche, but appeals to me anyway)
Suave, snarky, somewhat arrogant heroes (cliche, but appeals to me anyway)
Mature protagonists; heroes who are older than the volatile, naive teens that are so common, who have more life experience and common sense
Bookworms, characters who are soft-spoken and caring and seemingly ingenuous but have hidden depths
Fantastical creatures of all types - especially obscure ones, and dragons
Stately, inhuman, amoral fae
Fairytale retellings and mythological elements
Endurance; characters going through tough situations but not becoming embittered or giving up hope
Happy endings
Characters having to earn their happy endings
Bittersweet endings