Sometimes You've Got the Squeeze, Sometimes You've Got to Say "Please"
Bear with me, I'm half-stoned on cold medication right now (which apparently could get me arrested in this country for drug possession of all things - so we'll keep it on the downlow) but I've wanted to do something fic-positive rather than just yelling at thisbrain when I read something that made me crazy.
A fic preferences meme, stolen from architeuthis.
+ Your pairing of choice
+ Your surefire, bulletproof kinks
+ Your most surprising, dirty little secret kinks
+ Who tops/bottoms
+ Squicks
+ Cliches/tropes common in your fandom that just don't do it for you
+ Your ultimate/ideal fic
We'll stick with Supernatural fandom(s) here.
Your pairing of choice
I read Dean/Castiel, Sam/Dean, and J2 pretty much equally; what I read at a given time is what I'm in the mood for. In the mood for awesome, apocalyptic learning-about-humanity stories? Bring on the angels. Hankering for darkfic, hijinks, good ol' ghost casefic that explores family history and buried longings? Incest is happening, at least in this fandom. Schmoop, whacky AUs, roommates or friends-falling-in-love stories? Yes, I'll also read RPF.
This isn't to say I won't read other pairings, but there's such a massive volume of these three that I'm barely keeping up anyway. The best that I like canonically (so to speak) and the least reservedly is definitely Dean/Castiel, but there's such a range of goodfic and badfic in this fandom that it's tough to have a "favorite". I've noticed that Dean/Castiel has attracted a less-stylistically-mature crowd (rather, a lot of them sound like "younger writers" with the kinds of tropes they tend to use), but then again I usually don't join pairing comms and instead stalk rec lists so. Judgement, consider it reserved.
Your surefire, bulletproof kinks
First tiiiiimes. Long USTs - I tend to not read anything under 3k words unless I trust the author, and around 8k-10k is my preferred length for a one-shot. Misunderstandings and emotional misappropriations done with the best of intentions. Self sacrifice. Pining or strong sexual desire, but doing everything possible to not let it damage or interfere the current friendship/relationship. Characters being overwhelmed by how much they want each other and clumsily scrabbling around. Sex in unusual places. Grand gestures that the person it's done for has no idea about (but finds out later from a third party). Characters pushing (or getting pushed) around in bed and really liking it. Dealing with sexuality crises and self-acceptance or already being somewhat self-aware, if not 100% comfortable with it yet. Squirming and writhing, getting pinned down, wrestling for dominance. Characters really caring for each other nonverbally, whether that be in h/c style or in tiny, nearly unnoticeable gestures. Female characters being awesome and classy and doing their own thing.
Your most surprising, dirty little secret kinks
I'm having a hard time trying to think of dirty little secret kinks - I feel like I've read too much to be really phased by much anymore by what I enjoy (at least in fiction). In The Antichrist's Bride I enjoyed the "joke" of Dean becoming Sam's wife, though I think that was a case of all that devotion getting recognition. Dean as a demon on the verge of slaughtering anyone that looks at his brother funny, or as teen hustler or other somewhat morally ambiguous choices to take care of his brother. A relatively new one - Castiel being totally terrifying and Dean getting turned on by that. Wall-slamming is cool too.
Who tops/bottoms
Normally I prefer Castiel as a bamfy top and Dean to bottom, but I get so tired of all the Dean Wincester Is a Soggy Flower fanfics that I have no problem with Dean topping if it means he gets to be actively enjoying sex for a change. With his brother, particularly if it's early in the relationship (by which I mean their sexual relationship, since they've known each other every second of Sam's life), I tend to get deeply uncomfortable if Dean is the primarily initiator, so.
Squicks
Any character in a psychological position of socially-induced authority taking advantage of the persons in their charge, so, paternal incest, student-teacher relationships emphasizing that power dynamic (the only one I've been able to tolerate has been thenyxie's, since she made it clear that that aspect of their relationship was in large part, incidental). Pedophilia, beastiality, watersports, feces. Non-cons that have no consequences. On a lighter note, emasculation! Soggy Flower Syndrome, for any of the characters. Making male characters Talk Out Their Feelings in Depth before getting any action. Men describing their own laugh as a "giggle" in their own heads - unless they're completely stoned. Passive, childishly naive Castiel - even when he's out of his element, he's still a bamf. Using language like "completion" to describe the act of penetration, especially for the anus. Mpreg. Hell, genderbender pregnancies. Unnecessary hating on characters, especially female ones since there's not that many lady characters in the first place. An author's cattiness coming through, character bashing, grudges, blah blah blah.
Cliches/tropes common in your fandom that don't do it for you
Most scene stuff*, sex with strangers, "ewww het", whumping, torture, gorn - seriously, there's a lot of pain you can generate with just a stomach wound or something smaller like that - J2 high school stories if they are not already friends. Everyone and their poodle having sex with Dean. Romance novel tropes - candlelight dinners, that kind of thing - unless done for how comedically poorly it goes/misunderstood. Most porn industry stories. Lots of stories involving shooting a scene on set because I get distracted by how many details are done wrong, like the assumption that an entire scene is shot in one continuous take. Unless Jensen is making truckers weep again, there's going to be a lot of cuts, retakes, shot-reverse-shot takes, dialog re-recording, lines doled out, etc. Umm, lots of always-been-a-girl AUs, since I think that even with how much Johnjohn sucks as a father the family dynamic would've been a lot different. Wingfic because it's boring (though I do love any story that makes Castiel vividly, powerfully elemental). Oh, and never-been-brothers AUs that aren't connected to the canon (as It's A Terrible Life was) in an attempt to skirt the incest issue.
Your ultimate/ideal fic
Long, UST-driven NC-17 story, maybe around 22k words, third person limited that is about someone Realizing Their Feelings and coming to grips with it (or having already done so), while trying to maintain the friendship status quo but having internal struggles while being oblivious that the other person Shares Their Feelings But Doesn't Realize It or is In Denial and they are repeatedly put into UST-y situations. Characters learning about (new ideas of) sexuality or humanity. Eventually they have desperate, delighted mindblowing sex but have some mutual misunderstanding about it. A character makes a grand sacrifice or gesture but for some reason can't tell the other character about. Fights and heartbreak and sex with good intentions, every character having their own agendas and motivations but the principal ones gradually moving towards each other to share a rotational axis. In the end: partners trying to look out for and support each other, regardless of the cost to themselves. Self-sacrifice being its own reward but one that also gets rewarded. Loyalty and devotion. Porn.
Or you know. Cuddling. Cuddling is good too.
But yeah, actually just write a long NC-17 story and I'll usually be happy.
ETA: *I misused the language here, I think. I did not mean instances of BDSM, but rather more the (performed) "hardcore" lifestyle: going to clubs, observation, lots and lots of equipment, that kind of thing. In general I find it rather unrealistic given the personalities in question in this fandom. Individual sex scenes that have been negotiated, sure, but that these characters would do it longterm and if they were have their lifestyle thereof be made semi-public is a trope I have a hard time buying into. Or maybe I've seen it done poorly too many times.
A fic preferences meme, stolen from architeuthis.
+ Your pairing of choice
+ Your surefire, bulletproof kinks
+ Your most surprising, dirty little secret kinks
+ Who tops/bottoms
+ Squicks
+ Cliches/tropes common in your fandom that just don't do it for you
+ Your ultimate/ideal fic
We'll stick with Supernatural fandom(s) here.
Your pairing of choice
I read Dean/Castiel, Sam/Dean, and J2 pretty much equally; what I read at a given time is what I'm in the mood for. In the mood for awesome, apocalyptic learning-about-humanity stories? Bring on the angels. Hankering for darkfic, hijinks, good ol' ghost casefic that explores family history and buried longings? Incest is happening, at least in this fandom. Schmoop, whacky AUs, roommates or friends-falling-in-love stories? Yes, I'll also read RPF.
This isn't to say I won't read other pairings, but there's such a massive volume of these three that I'm barely keeping up anyway. The best that I like canonically (so to speak) and the least reservedly is definitely Dean/Castiel, but there's such a range of goodfic and badfic in this fandom that it's tough to have a "favorite". I've noticed that Dean/Castiel has attracted a less-stylistically-mature crowd (rather, a lot of them sound like "younger writers" with the kinds of tropes they tend to use), but then again I usually don't join pairing comms and instead stalk rec lists so. Judgement, consider it reserved.
Your surefire, bulletproof kinks
First tiiiiimes. Long USTs - I tend to not read anything under 3k words unless I trust the author, and around 8k-10k is my preferred length for a one-shot. Misunderstandings and emotional misappropriations done with the best of intentions. Self sacrifice. Pining or strong sexual desire, but doing everything possible to not let it damage or interfere the current friendship/relationship. Characters being overwhelmed by how much they want each other and clumsily scrabbling around. Sex in unusual places. Grand gestures that the person it's done for has no idea about (but finds out later from a third party). Characters pushing (or getting pushed) around in bed and really liking it. Dealing with sexuality crises and self-acceptance or already being somewhat self-aware, if not 100% comfortable with it yet. Squirming and writhing, getting pinned down, wrestling for dominance. Characters really caring for each other nonverbally, whether that be in h/c style or in tiny, nearly unnoticeable gestures. Female characters being awesome and classy and doing their own thing.
Your most surprising, dirty little secret kinks
I'm having a hard time trying to think of dirty little secret kinks - I feel like I've read too much to be really phased by much anymore by what I enjoy (at least in fiction). In The Antichrist's Bride I enjoyed the "joke" of Dean becoming Sam's wife, though I think that was a case of all that devotion getting recognition. Dean as a demon on the verge of slaughtering anyone that looks at his brother funny, or as teen hustler or other somewhat morally ambiguous choices to take care of his brother. A relatively new one - Castiel being totally terrifying and Dean getting turned on by that. Wall-slamming is cool too.
Who tops/bottoms
Normally I prefer Castiel as a bamfy top and Dean to bottom, but I get so tired of all the Dean Wincester Is a Soggy Flower fanfics that I have no problem with Dean topping if it means he gets to be actively enjoying sex for a change. With his brother, particularly if it's early in the relationship (by which I mean their sexual relationship, since they've known each other every second of Sam's life), I tend to get deeply uncomfortable if Dean is the primarily initiator, so.
Squicks
Any character in a psychological position of socially-induced authority taking advantage of the persons in their charge, so, paternal incest, student-teacher relationships emphasizing that power dynamic (the only one I've been able to tolerate has been thenyxie's, since she made it clear that that aspect of their relationship was in large part, incidental). Pedophilia, beastiality, watersports, feces. Non-cons that have no consequences. On a lighter note, emasculation! Soggy Flower Syndrome, for any of the characters. Making male characters Talk Out Their Feelings in Depth before getting any action. Men describing their own laugh as a "giggle" in their own heads - unless they're completely stoned. Passive, childishly naive Castiel - even when he's out of his element, he's still a bamf. Using language like "completion" to describe the act of penetration, especially for the anus. Mpreg. Hell, genderbender pregnancies. Unnecessary hating on characters, especially female ones since there's not that many lady characters in the first place. An author's cattiness coming through, character bashing, grudges, blah blah blah.
Cliches/tropes common in your fandom that don't do it for you
Most scene stuff*, sex with strangers, "ewww het", whumping, torture, gorn - seriously, there's a lot of pain you can generate with just a stomach wound or something smaller like that - J2 high school stories if they are not already friends. Everyone and their poodle having sex with Dean. Romance novel tropes - candlelight dinners, that kind of thing - unless done for how comedically poorly it goes/misunderstood. Most porn industry stories. Lots of stories involving shooting a scene on set because I get distracted by how many details are done wrong, like the assumption that an entire scene is shot in one continuous take. Unless Jensen is making truckers weep again, there's going to be a lot of cuts, retakes, shot-reverse-shot takes, dialog re-recording, lines doled out, etc. Umm, lots of always-been-a-girl AUs, since I think that even with how much Johnjohn sucks as a father the family dynamic would've been a lot different. Wingfic because it's boring (though I do love any story that makes Castiel vividly, powerfully elemental). Oh, and never-been-brothers AUs that aren't connected to the canon (as It's A Terrible Life was) in an attempt to skirt the incest issue.
Your ultimate/ideal fic
Long, UST-driven NC-17 story, maybe around 22k words, third person limited that is about someone Realizing Their Feelings and coming to grips with it (or having already done so), while trying to maintain the friendship status quo but having internal struggles while being oblivious that the other person Shares Their Feelings But Doesn't Realize It or is In Denial and they are repeatedly put into UST-y situations. Characters learning about (new ideas of) sexuality or humanity. Eventually they have desperate, delighted mindblowing sex but have some mutual misunderstanding about it. A character makes a grand sacrifice or gesture but for some reason can't tell the other character about. Fights and heartbreak and sex with good intentions, every character having their own agendas and motivations but the principal ones gradually moving towards each other to share a rotational axis. In the end: partners trying to look out for and support each other, regardless of the cost to themselves. Self-sacrifice being its own reward but one that also gets rewarded. Loyalty and devotion. Porn.
Or you know. Cuddling. Cuddling is good too.
But yeah, actually just write a long NC-17 story and I'll usually be happy.
ETA: *I misused the language here, I think. I did not mean instances of BDSM, but rather more the (performed) "hardcore" lifestyle: going to clubs, observation, lots and lots of equipment, that kind of thing. In general I find it rather unrealistic given the personalities in question in this fandom. Individual sex scenes that have been negotiated, sure, but that these characters would do it longterm and if they were have their lifestyle thereof be made semi-public is a trope I have a hard time buying into. Or maybe I've seen it done poorly too many times.