Kinks and squicks and pairings, oh my
Far too late for any of the holiday exchanges, but perhaps this may be useful to someone writing fic for me at some point. I'll link to this post from my user info page and try to remember to update it if/when my preferences change. Pairings are limited to HP fandom since that's the sandbox I'm playing in these days, mostly. The kinks and squicks would apply more broadly.
Characters and pairings:
Despite appearances, Harry/Draco is not my OTP. I don't have an OTP; this is partly a matter of personal philosophy and partly the fact that I'm also quite happy to read/write either of those two with other characters as well, which by definition pretty much precludes the whole concept of OTP. Oh, and I should say that the order in which I list characters in a pairing does not indicate who I prefer on top -- basically I alphabetize them. I don't, ever, have a preferred top; I really like turn and turn about when it comes to that, regardless of the gender of the characters.
Characters I don't like:
Probably the easiest thing is to say who I don't like, at least not as part of a pairing that's being focused on in the story. Minor appearances in a fic are fine if needed for plot reasons; I mean, referring to Lucius/Narcissa doesn't bug me at all, but I'm not really interested in having that be the primary focus of a fic I read.
Dumbledore, Bellatrix, Hagrid, Slughorn, Fenrir, Narcissa, Voldemort-Tom Riddle, pretty much any of the adult Death Eaters except Lucius, the really minor characters.
Slash pairings I like (including all-one-gender threesomes):
Draco/Harry, Harry/Severus, Remus/Severus, Harry/Remus/Severus, Draco/Harry/Severus -- these are the ones I've been writing recently (end of 2006), and probably read most often. But I also like Harry/Remus, Remus/Sirius, Draco/Severus, Harry/Neville, Draco/Neville, Draco/Remus, Harry/Ron, Draco/Ron, Draco/Harry/Ron, Fred/George, Fred/George/Harry, Harry/Percy, Charlie/Harry, Charlie/Draco, Charlie/Remus, Neville/Remus, James/Remus/Sirius, Neville/Percy, Oliver/Percy, Blaise/Harry, Blaise/Draco, Lucius/Severus (if Lucius is more movieverse than bookverse), Ginny/Hermione, Hermione/Luna, Ginny/Hermione/Luna, Fleur/Tonks... um, yeah. I'm pretty open to a wide variety of pairings, basically. As long as you can make it plausible with any combination of the characters mentioned above, I'll probably like it.
Het pairings I like (including threesomes with both M & F):
Arthur/Molly, Kingsley/Tonks, Luna/Neville, Harry/Hermione/Ron, Lily/Sirius, James/Lily, James/Lily/Sirius, James/Lily/Remus/Sirius, Remus/Tonks (OotP Tonks, not HBP Tonks), Hermione/Ron, Fred/George/Hermione, Charlie/Hermione, Hermione/Neville, Hermione/Percy, Hermione/Remus, Minerva/Severus, Ginny/Harry, Harry/Hermione. Again, though, I'm really pretty open when it comes right down to it.
The above pairings, het and slash, are not necessarily in my order of preference, by the way. Just in the order they came to mind, with the femslash pairings at the end of that list so they can be spotted more easily.
Kinks I like:
D/s, bondage, watersports (if done playfully that is a major kink), voyeurism/exhibitionism, masturbation, blowjobs, toys, delayed orgasm, rimming, dirty talk, frottage, desperate!sex, shower!sex, threesomes and moresomes, spanking, bisexuality
Kinks that are borderline:
Cross-dressing, dub-con (it has to be pretty mild), bestiality (okay if Animagus or werewolf, but not otherwise), fisting, S&M, breathplay, blood- or knife-play
Things that squick me:
Non-con and rape, mpreg, chan (under 16), scat, necro, roman showers, significant humiliation
A few random comments:
I have a real soft spot for fics that show the characters in middle age or old age. I prefer the power dynamic in a pairing to be relatively balanced; teacher-student or boss-employee relationships bother me. Post-school, post-war fics are more likely to be my cuppa although fics set in 6th or 7th year at Hogwarts are fine (that chan thing). Characters should be in character, or plausibly developed in a way that makes any changes believable, and I loathe noncanon nicknames like 'Mione for Hermione or Dray for Draco. I'm not much for AUs, especially non-magical ones, although occasionally I've read one that I liked quite a bit. Humor and crack!fic are always nice. Major angst doesn't do it for me, or really dark fic; I'm a sucker for happy endings (if they're plausible) or at least ambiguous ones, but on the other hand fluff is best in pretty small doses. Plottiness is a major plus. Oh, and I really am a stickler for correct SPaG.
Er... I guess that's all, for now. If you're writing a fic for me and have a question about something I left out or whatever, do feel free to comment anonymously and ask. I log IPs but I promise I won't look to see who you are. *g*
ETA: Perhaps a few scenarios might be in order, too, in case specific inspiration is needed? So here goes. Some are fairly pairing-specific, some could apply to various pairings.
Draco/Harry, in which one of them realizes he's bi and pursues the other (with eventual success but twists and turns along the way), some years post-War. Preferably not have either of them in a traditional fanon occupation like Auror or Quidditch player or Hogwarts professor. This could work for a lot of different pairings, actually.
Arthur/Molly in old age, but still shagging like rabbits. Again could be done with various pairings, het or slash.
Harry/Hermione/Ron, middle-aged, with kids. How do they organize their lives? Is one of the men a house-husband? Does the Prophet still report gossip about them?
Charlie/Remus, in which Charlie wants to find out from Remus what it's like to be a werewolf, out of concern for Bill, but gets involved despite himself.
Remus/Sirius and Remus/Severus, during their last year at Hogwarts. Sirius is used to being the one pursued, but when he realizes that Remus and Severus have something going on, he goes after Remus at least partly to spite Severus. This would be relatively dark, I suspect.
ETA again: I realized that you know, I do read and sometimes write other fandoms besides HP, so it might behoove me to at least say what fandoms, and what characters/pairings/concepts I'm likely to enjoy reading about. So without further ado.
The Breakfast Club:
Yes, really. Not one I've ever written, but I read it at Yuletide every year, and if anyone recs me a good one. Any pairing within the five main characters is fine for me, although slashy goodness is always fun.
Good Omens:
A fandom I've never written only written a few drabbles in, but read a couple of authors semi-regularly. Aziraphale/Crowley, of course. Also Adam/Aziraphale/Crowley, or Adam with either of them. Adam/Pepper, too. With A/C I adore historical settings, weird religio-philosophical musings, and riffs that play on their natures as angel and demon.
The History Boys:
Irwin is my favorite character (like this is shocking) and I tend toward Dakin/Irwin, but also Dakin/Scripps and Posner/Scripps. Gen in this fandom would be good too; exploring Irwin's history, or what happened to any of those four characters afterward.
Jane Austen:
I've read very little fanfic in this one, but have reread all her novels many times and have written a couple of drabbles. Here I'm likely to prefer good plotty genfic, or canonical (and therefore het) pairings, although I'd be amused by a good Bingley/Darcy, or Frank Churchill/Mr. Knightley, or Henry Crawford/Mary Crawford incest.
Lord of the Rings:
The fandom that got me into fanfic. I'm not especially shippy in this fandom, although I'm happy to read Aragorn/Boromir, Aragorn/Faramir, Boromir/Faramir, Éowyn/Faramir, Boromir/Théodred, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. But I also enjoy good gen fic, whether it's The Hobbit era and after, during the War of the Ring, in the early Fourth Age, or even really early eras -- I like the Time of the Trees quite a bit, and Númenor.
Narnia:
There's a frisson one gets from slashing within such an explicitly Christian allegory. Heh. I've written mostly Caspian/Edmund, myself. In this I'd go for Caspian/Edmund, Caspian/Peter, Peter/Susan, Caspian/Lucy, Edmund/Eustace, Eustace/Rilian. Well-written plotty gen, too.
Pirates of the Caribbean:
The second fandom I got involved in. I like the history to be reasonably accurate; anachronisms really bother me in this one, even though I recognize that it's not any specific historical time. But jarring vocab throws me out. Pairing-wise I like any combination of these four: Jack, Will, Elizabeth, James. I also like Anamaria/James, Anamaria/Jack, and James/Groves. Tia Dalma (Calypso) interests me although I don't think I'd ship her with anyone. Barbossa is a little... disturbing. Gen fic can be good in this fandom, too.
Star Trek (XI):
My most recent fandom as of summer 2009. So far I've been writing Kirk/McCoy, although I certainly read other pairings including Chekov/Sulu, Spock/Uhura, and Kirk/Spock. Integrating canon stuff from TOS and the other series makes for interesting fic although I watched them so long ago that my own ability to do so is limited.
Characters and pairings:
Despite appearances, Harry/Draco is not my OTP. I don't have an OTP; this is partly a matter of personal philosophy and partly the fact that I'm also quite happy to read/write either of those two with other characters as well, which by definition pretty much precludes the whole concept of OTP. Oh, and I should say that the order in which I list characters in a pairing does not indicate who I prefer on top -- basically I alphabetize them. I don't, ever, have a preferred top; I really like turn and turn about when it comes to that, regardless of the gender of the characters.
Characters I don't like:
Probably the easiest thing is to say who I don't like, at least not as part of a pairing that's being focused on in the story. Minor appearances in a fic are fine if needed for plot reasons; I mean, referring to Lucius/Narcissa doesn't bug me at all, but I'm not really interested in having that be the primary focus of a fic I read.
Dumbledore, Bellatrix, Hagrid, Slughorn, Fenrir, Narcissa, Voldemort-Tom Riddle, pretty much any of the adult Death Eaters except Lucius, the really minor characters.
Slash pairings I like (including all-one-gender threesomes):
Draco/Harry, Harry/Severus, Remus/Severus, Harry/Remus/Severus, Draco/Harry/Severus -- these are the ones I've been writing recently (end of 2006), and probably read most often. But I also like Harry/Remus, Remus/Sirius, Draco/Severus, Harry/Neville, Draco/Neville, Draco/Remus, Harry/Ron, Draco/Ron, Draco/Harry/Ron, Fred/George, Fred/George/Harry, Harry/Percy, Charlie/Harry, Charlie/Draco, Charlie/Remus, Neville/Remus, James/Remus/Sirius, Neville/Percy, Oliver/Percy, Blaise/Harry, Blaise/Draco, Lucius/Severus (if Lucius is more movieverse than bookverse), Ginny/Hermione, Hermione/Luna, Ginny/Hermione/Luna, Fleur/Tonks... um, yeah. I'm pretty open to a wide variety of pairings, basically. As long as you can make it plausible with any combination of the characters mentioned above, I'll probably like it.
Het pairings I like (including threesomes with both M & F):
Arthur/Molly, Kingsley/Tonks, Luna/Neville, Harry/Hermione/Ron, Lily/Sirius, James/Lily, James/Lily/Sirius, James/Lily/Remus/Sirius, Remus/Tonks (OotP Tonks, not HBP Tonks), Hermione/Ron, Fred/George/Hermione, Charlie/Hermione, Hermione/Neville, Hermione/Percy, Hermione/Remus, Minerva/Severus, Ginny/Harry, Harry/Hermione. Again, though, I'm really pretty open when it comes right down to it.
The above pairings, het and slash, are not necessarily in my order of preference, by the way. Just in the order they came to mind, with the femslash pairings at the end of that list so they can be spotted more easily.
Kinks I like:
D/s, bondage, watersports (if done playfully that is a major kink), voyeurism/exhibitionism, masturbation, blowjobs, toys, delayed orgasm, rimming, dirty talk, frottage, desperate!sex, shower!sex, threesomes and moresomes, spanking, bisexuality
Kinks that are borderline:
Cross-dressing, dub-con (it has to be pretty mild), bestiality (okay if Animagus or werewolf, but not otherwise), fisting, S&M, breathplay, blood- or knife-play
Things that squick me:
Non-con and rape, mpreg, chan (under 16), scat, necro, roman showers, significant humiliation
A few random comments:
I have a real soft spot for fics that show the characters in middle age or old age. I prefer the power dynamic in a pairing to be relatively balanced; teacher-student or boss-employee relationships bother me. Post-school, post-war fics are more likely to be my cuppa although fics set in 6th or 7th year at Hogwarts are fine (that chan thing). Characters should be in character, or plausibly developed in a way that makes any changes believable, and I loathe noncanon nicknames like 'Mione for Hermione or Dray for Draco. I'm not much for AUs, especially non-magical ones, although occasionally I've read one that I liked quite a bit. Humor and crack!fic are always nice. Major angst doesn't do it for me, or really dark fic; I'm a sucker for happy endings (if they're plausible) or at least ambiguous ones, but on the other hand fluff is best in pretty small doses. Plottiness is a major plus. Oh, and I really am a stickler for correct SPaG.
Er... I guess that's all, for now. If you're writing a fic for me and have a question about something I left out or whatever, do feel free to comment anonymously and ask. I log IPs but I promise I won't look to see who you are. *g*
ETA: Perhaps a few scenarios might be in order, too, in case specific inspiration is needed? So here goes. Some are fairly pairing-specific, some could apply to various pairings.
Draco/Harry, in which one of them realizes he's bi and pursues the other (with eventual success but twists and turns along the way), some years post-War. Preferably not have either of them in a traditional fanon occupation like Auror or Quidditch player or Hogwarts professor. This could work for a lot of different pairings, actually.
Arthur/Molly in old age, but still shagging like rabbits. Again could be done with various pairings, het or slash.
Harry/Hermione/Ron, middle-aged, with kids. How do they organize their lives? Is one of the men a house-husband? Does the Prophet still report gossip about them?
Charlie/Remus, in which Charlie wants to find out from Remus what it's like to be a werewolf, out of concern for Bill, but gets involved despite himself.
Remus/Sirius and Remus/Severus, during their last year at Hogwarts. Sirius is used to being the one pursued, but when he realizes that Remus and Severus have something going on, he goes after Remus at least partly to spite Severus. This would be relatively dark, I suspect.
ETA again: I realized that you know, I do read and sometimes write other fandoms besides HP, so it might behoove me to at least say what fandoms, and what characters/pairings/concepts I'm likely to enjoy reading about. So without further ado.
The Breakfast Club:
Yes, really. Not one I've ever written, but I read it at Yuletide every year, and if anyone recs me a good one. Any pairing within the five main characters is fine for me, although slashy goodness is always fun.
Good Omens:
A fandom I've never written only written a few drabbles in, but read a couple of authors semi-regularly. Aziraphale/Crowley, of course. Also Adam/Aziraphale/Crowley, or Adam with either of them. Adam/Pepper, too. With A/C I adore historical settings, weird religio-philosophical musings, and riffs that play on their natures as angel and demon.
The History Boys:
Irwin is my favorite character (like this is shocking) and I tend toward Dakin/Irwin, but also Dakin/Scripps and Posner/Scripps. Gen in this fandom would be good too; exploring Irwin's history, or what happened to any of those four characters afterward.
Jane Austen:
I've read very little fanfic in this one, but have reread all her novels many times and have written a couple of drabbles. Here I'm likely to prefer good plotty genfic, or canonical (and therefore het) pairings, although I'd be amused by a good Bingley/Darcy, or Frank Churchill/Mr. Knightley, or Henry Crawford/Mary Crawford incest.
Lord of the Rings:
The fandom that got me into fanfic. I'm not especially shippy in this fandom, although I'm happy to read Aragorn/Boromir, Aragorn/Faramir, Boromir/Faramir, Éowyn/Faramir, Boromir/Théodred, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. But I also enjoy good gen fic, whether it's The Hobbit era and after, during the War of the Ring, in the early Fourth Age, or even really early eras -- I like the Time of the Trees quite a bit, and Númenor.
Narnia:
There's a frisson one gets from slashing within such an explicitly Christian allegory. Heh. I've written mostly Caspian/Edmund, myself. In this I'd go for Caspian/Edmund, Caspian/Peter, Peter/Susan, Caspian/Lucy, Edmund/Eustace, Eustace/Rilian. Well-written plotty gen, too.
Pirates of the Caribbean:
The second fandom I got involved in. I like the history to be reasonably accurate; anachronisms really bother me in this one, even though I recognize that it's not any specific historical time. But jarring vocab throws me out. Pairing-wise I like any combination of these four: Jack, Will, Elizabeth, James. I also like Anamaria/James, Anamaria/Jack, and James/Groves. Tia Dalma (Calypso) interests me although I don't think I'd ship her with anyone. Barbossa is a little... disturbing. Gen fic can be good in this fandom, too.
Star Trek (XI):
My most recent fandom as of summer 2009. So far I've been writing Kirk/McCoy, although I certainly read other pairings including Chekov/Sulu, Spock/Uhura, and Kirk/Spock. Integrating canon stuff from TOS and the other series makes for interesting fic although I watched them so long ago that my own ability to do so is limited.