Dear Yuletide
Dear Yuletide,
What I like:
Firstly, I am happy with gen, het, slash/femslash. I have my preferences in fandoms, but there's very little in the way of broad categories that I won't read. I suppose my thing is that I like specific characters, and the pairings/moresomes that involve them, rather than being a solid OTP-er. Good gen is always a joy as well.
I like tropefic, especially fic that takes a fresh look on tropes-- that rethinks it in a new way.
I like characters that put the work into doing good, because they know it has to be done. I love competency and decency in a character, and people that put the work into doing good.
Other things that I like include (but are not limited to) pining, resolution, mythology (mmm, mythology), food, music, dragons, people being *good*, tension, tea, family-of-choice, hope, gen, het, slash, femslash, gen-that-feels-like-slash, slash-that-feels-like-gen, bystander POV, people not saying the thing they're saying and other people knowing what they mean, gender/sexswitch (temporary and always-been-a), ghosts (real and metaphorical), secrets, what happens next. Obviously, the fandoms I pick, I love those worlds, but
I also love slice-of-life fic, bystander fic, like-a-canon-epsiode fic, it's all good. Fic that picks up a tiny detail, a single mention in canon and then really explores it? A thing of beauty and a joy forever.
I like trope-fic and I love fic that takes a fresh look at tropes. I like AUs as well, as long as they're at least as interesting as the original canon. Coffee-shop!canon to psychic wolf!AUs? Great! Superhero!canon to officework!AU, not so much. Part of the appeal of AUs, for me, is seeing how the characters are still themselves in those settings.
What doesn't work for me:
I'm not a fan of biology-is-destiny which means a lot of ABO fic doesn't worth for me (leaving aside the part of me that goes "so if O-males can gestate, why have females at all? And what's the difference between an 0-Male and an A-female if they can both gestate and fertilise? and...) uh, yes. I have read some great ABO fic, but it's dealt with that aspect (as well as dealing with it culturally-- ABO as a far of interrogating how cultures develop, the prejudices and privilages, yay-- as long as it doesn't assume that how one culture is, is universal across the world, and unchanging in its attitude to ABO stuff).
Soulbond stuff can really work for me, but soulmates (by which I mean one OTP for everyone in the world that trumps all other relationships and without any choice or change in it at all), as concept, I find somewhat dystopic (only one person for you in the whole world? you can be happy with someone you love for years, and then one of you runs into their soulmate and bam, none of that matters, it's not as real as the ~soulmate~), so again, some of my favourite fic has that in it, but there as aspects of it that can kick me out of a fic entirely. Soulbonding-- that's a different beast, and one that's much less likely to trigger anything that would throw me out of the fic.
Bastarding characters. Sure, there are some that I like more than others, but I don't want to be confronted with "and I dislike this character so I'm going to give them random hateful characteristics because they suck so much."
I don't necessarily go for pure fluff (I like the endings to feel deserved), but I don't like it when things are devoid of hope. In general, I would say that I prefer a happy ending-- or at least, an ending that's no darker than one these canons would have anyway. PWP doesn't really interest me unless it comes paired with interesting character dynamics.
Individual fandoms
Life
If you got this as your match, then you understand my pain, because seriously, there should have been more of this. Would love some post-finale fic, because I'm still sad we didn't get any more episodes. Gen, het, femslash, slash-- I love the characters, and I'd have loved to see more of how they developed, the effects of the finale, of what Rachel was doing when she was away, Dani coming back, Charlie reconnecting with her, Jane's plans... I like conventional and unconventional pairings in this show-- I suppose I just like seeing how they interact with each other, how they made those connections or how they would have, if they met.
Polly and the Pirates
Adventures and family and found family and-- just yes. Even though they never really met, with Meg dying before Polly could have proper memories of her, I like how they did still effect each other-- the shape of Meg that Polly has, in the people that knew her and the space that she left for Polly. How having Polly shaped Meg as well, in ways we only see glimpses of (her greatest treasure!)
Some Girls
Gen, het, femlash-- it's all good. I love all the girls, and I'd love to see how could develop. I feel very unhelpful here, but there's just so little fic (and not a great deal of canon!) and I just want more. There's a lot of space here for fic of all kinds. Also, I want good things for them. It doesn't have to be easy but I want it to be as good as canon or better for them all.
Girl Genius
Sparks and minions and jaegers, Oh My! It'd be great to have some finding-their-place stuff. Zeetha is factually lost, separated from all of her people and her homeland. Agatha is figuring what it means to be who she is. I like Zeetha and Agatha's relationship, I love how Zeetha wants what's best for Agatha-- for her to be the best version of herself-- and because Agatha accepts this, and how Agatha is sort of giving Zeetha back some of what she lost, when she lost her people-- that aspect of her culture. Found family is one of my favourite things and this canon has so much of that.
This entry was also posted at http://jamjar.dreamwidth.org/113014.html.
What I like:
Firstly, I am happy with gen, het, slash/femslash. I have my preferences in fandoms, but there's very little in the way of broad categories that I won't read. I suppose my thing is that I like specific characters, and the pairings/moresomes that involve them, rather than being a solid OTP-er. Good gen is always a joy as well.
I like tropefic, especially fic that takes a fresh look on tropes-- that rethinks it in a new way.
I like characters that put the work into doing good, because they know it has to be done. I love competency and decency in a character, and people that put the work into doing good.
Other things that I like include (but are not limited to) pining, resolution, mythology (mmm, mythology), food, music, dragons, people being *good*, tension, tea, family-of-choice, hope, gen, het, slash, femslash, gen-that-feels-like-slash, slash-that-feels-like-gen, bystander POV, people not saying the thing they're saying and other people knowing what they mean, gender/sexswitch (temporary and always-been-a), ghosts (real and metaphorical), secrets, what happens next. Obviously, the fandoms I pick, I love those worlds, but
I also love slice-of-life fic, bystander fic, like-a-canon-epsiode fic, it's all good. Fic that picks up a tiny detail, a single mention in canon and then really explores it? A thing of beauty and a joy forever.
I like trope-fic and I love fic that takes a fresh look at tropes. I like AUs as well, as long as they're at least as interesting as the original canon. Coffee-shop!canon to psychic wolf!AUs? Great! Superhero!canon to officework!AU, not so much. Part of the appeal of AUs, for me, is seeing how the characters are still themselves in those settings.
What doesn't work for me:
I'm not a fan of biology-is-destiny which means a lot of ABO fic doesn't worth for me (leaving aside the part of me that goes "so if O-males can gestate, why have females at all? And what's the difference between an 0-Male and an A-female if they can both gestate and fertilise? and...) uh, yes. I have read some great ABO fic, but it's dealt with that aspect (as well as dealing with it culturally-- ABO as a far of interrogating how cultures develop, the prejudices and privilages, yay-- as long as it doesn't assume that how one culture is, is universal across the world, and unchanging in its attitude to ABO stuff).
Soulbond stuff can really work for me, but soulmates (by which I mean one OTP for everyone in the world that trumps all other relationships and without any choice or change in it at all), as concept, I find somewhat dystopic (only one person for you in the whole world? you can be happy with someone you love for years, and then one of you runs into their soulmate and bam, none of that matters, it's not as real as the ~soulmate~), so again, some of my favourite fic has that in it, but there as aspects of it that can kick me out of a fic entirely. Soulbonding-- that's a different beast, and one that's much less likely to trigger anything that would throw me out of the fic.
Bastarding characters. Sure, there are some that I like more than others, but I don't want to be confronted with "and I dislike this character so I'm going to give them random hateful characteristics because they suck so much."
I don't necessarily go for pure fluff (I like the endings to feel deserved), but I don't like it when things are devoid of hope. In general, I would say that I prefer a happy ending-- or at least, an ending that's no darker than one these canons would have anyway. PWP doesn't really interest me unless it comes paired with interesting character dynamics.
Individual fandoms
Life
If you got this as your match, then you understand my pain, because seriously, there should have been more of this. Would love some post-finale fic, because I'm still sad we didn't get any more episodes. Gen, het, femslash, slash-- I love the characters, and I'd have loved to see more of how they developed, the effects of the finale, of what Rachel was doing when she was away, Dani coming back, Charlie reconnecting with her, Jane's plans... I like conventional and unconventional pairings in this show-- I suppose I just like seeing how they interact with each other, how they made those connections or how they would have, if they met.
Polly and the Pirates
Adventures and family and found family and-- just yes. Even though they never really met, with Meg dying before Polly could have proper memories of her, I like how they did still effect each other-- the shape of Meg that Polly has, in the people that knew her and the space that she left for Polly. How having Polly shaped Meg as well, in ways we only see glimpses of (her greatest treasure!)
Some Girls
Gen, het, femlash-- it's all good. I love all the girls, and I'd love to see how could develop. I feel very unhelpful here, but there's just so little fic (and not a great deal of canon!) and I just want more. There's a lot of space here for fic of all kinds. Also, I want good things for them. It doesn't have to be easy but I want it to be as good as canon or better for them all.
Girl Genius
Sparks and minions and jaegers, Oh My! It'd be great to have some finding-their-place stuff. Zeetha is factually lost, separated from all of her people and her homeland. Agatha is figuring what it means to be who she is. I like Zeetha and Agatha's relationship, I love how Zeetha wants what's best for Agatha-- for her to be the best version of herself-- and because Agatha accepts this, and how Agatha is sort of giving Zeetha back some of what she lost, when she lost her people-- that aspect of her culture. Found family is one of my favourite things and this canon has so much of that.
This entry was also posted at http://jamjar.dreamwidth.org/113014.html.