My fictional kinks/squicks

I tried to catalogue the things thatI like and dislike in fiction, i.e. my fictional kinks and squicks. This is not a comprehensive list of my likes and dislikes, just my “hot buttons.”

So, in general, in all fandoms

Things I dislike:

- bad grammar and homonym abuse
- hurt without comfort
- unhappy endings (ambiguous are fine), main character death
- nasty manipulation, non-con, if it doesn’t lead to some sort of satisfactory ending
- rape (especially rape recovery fics)
- infidelity if it becomes a serious psychological issue; I’m not fond of issues in general when they are the main topic of the fic. I don’t like heavy digging in character’s psyche or author’s psychoanalysing them.
- mush, sappiness, characters acting all besotted, cooing and holding hands
- PWPs. I LOVE sex in fiction; the total majourity of fics I like are NC-17, but I’d choose a gen piece over a PWP.
- het, especially romantic het. Not that I dislike it. Just not interested.
- minor characters and OCs paired up with main characters. But as long as they are in supporting roles and well fleshed-out, I usually like them a lot.
- character bashing, plain or for plot advancement. If one wants a villain, there are usually enough canonical ones, or one can always invent OCs. I hate “random villain”: a perfectly decent canon character cast as a bad guy (often with a very brief explanation for their going bad) to let the author hurt their main character or advance the plot.
- MPreg. Although I would love it if it were non-sentimental, graphic in both preg and sex, and if one of the pair got off on his partner’s pregnancy (i.e. found it very sexy, in a primal, not romantic, way).
- make-overs, pretty clothes (leather pants, tight shirts and such).
- everybody paired up, especially when they are all conveniently gay and paired up.

Things I like:

- plot, in broad sense. Something moving from A to B. It can be plot, character development, etc. I especially like plot+sex+relationship. I don’t care for sex without relationship much, nor do I like action/adventure without relationship.
- children. So I love OC children as long as the fic isn’t too sentimental [total majourity are :(]
- animals, the more mundane the better. Same as before.
- clever AUs of “what if” variation, i.e. “the outcome of one event is changed, how it affects the future?” Harry’s parents live; Faramir goes to Imladris; Sirius’ Animagus form is an elephant; Boromir survives Amon Hen; Tom Riddle died young; anything of the kind.
- details of everyday life: how things are done in this world, how business is organised, how healing or cleaning is done, etc.
- H/C as long as neither outweighs the other by far.
- carefully handled disability, the stress on the first two words. I like to see characters coping with extreme circumstances, changes that affect their very being.
- kink if it’s shown as new/scary/forbidden/exciting for the character. I don’t like it when kink is as mundane as breakfast.
- long stories. I read very fast, so if a story is short, I more often than not rush by and forget it pretty soon.

In HP fics specifically

I dislike:

- when Snape is killed in other pairing fic
- abused!Harry. I think the neglect and emotional abuse he suffers in canon are quite enough.
- superpowerful!Harry. I don’t like easy solutions. Also, “Harry goes evil” plot — it’s hard to handle without going over the top and with sufficient explanation for it at the same time.
- het; teen-het in particular (H/Hr, H/G, R/Hr etc). Unless it’s a particularly funny Snape/Luna, which I like.
- character bashing, plain or for plot advancement. Ron isn’t a bigoted fool, Hermione is more than a nag, Snape is more than a convenient vilain, etc. If one wants a villain, there are enough DEs in the book, or one can always invent an OC.
- everybody working in the same place. I mean, they are all Hogwarts teachers (surely there are people in the WW other than Harry’s year?), Ministry employees, St Mungo’s healers etc.
- creature fics, unless somebody gets stuck half a creature when attempting Animagus transformation or something like this.
- Quidditch-toned muscles.
- gay bars/clubbing.

I like:

- children. De-aging plot and OC children as long as the fic isn’t too sentimental.
- animals, the more mundane the better, both as pets and as Animagi: cats, dogs, horses, foxes, I dunno, a goat? Harry the sheep? Same as before.
- Dumbledore. I like Dumbledore. If he’s made a villain/manipulative heartless man, I’m likely to hate it. I also don’t like it when he’s reduced to a mindless kindly grandfather whose main function is to bless Snape/Harry’s or H/D’s relationship. So a story of Dumbledore’s childhood, historically accurate, with mischief, adventures, first magic, pets or farm animals and his family is my dream :)
- dystopias: dark, light, or Muggles won, if it’s not reduced to “everybody dies” or “everybody is unhappy; the end.” I like them complex and hopeful or plotty.
- Magic, of HP kind. Not mysterious arcane artifacts, Celtic somethings, earth magic, Pagan rituals, but the mundane magic of JKR’s world. There’s a room for invention there.
- Severitus incest (Severitus fics at all) or H/James incest of non-PWP variation: how they live, how Harry’s upbringing is handled, etc.
- Snape is ugly and his hair is greasy (unless you can invent a clever explanation for it not really being greasy); Harry’s not short, his hair is messy and he wears glasses; Draco is neither beautiful/exceptionally handsome nor the king of witty repartee. Well, this is how I see them :)
- Snape/Harry, Harry/Draco, Snape/Harry/Draco; Harry/Kingsley, Ron/Draco, Snape/Draco, Harry/Sirius, Harry/Voldemort, one Weasley twin/any major male character; Albus Severus/Scorpius, epilogue gen cross-gen: Harry/Scorpius, Draco/Albus, Draco/James, Albus Severus/Severus!
- small-cock!Harry, Draco or Snape :D

In LotR fics specifically

I dislike:

- romancing Faramir. Yes, yes, he likes Elvish singing and reading books, but he’s a captain of the rangers, for fuck’s sake, he’s a soldier; he kills people. He is a bit more complex than a misty-eyed lover.
- girly hobbits, especially girly Frodo. He’s 50 years old and he carried the ring across the Middle Earth!
- girly or meek Legolas. Just think about his age and how much he’s seen and done in all those years.
- MPreg. I can believe in it in HP, in the cases when it’s done persuasively, but I haven’t seen a single believable MPreg fic in LotR yet.
- post-quest or pre-quest action/adventure. I mean things like this: a new terror arises… or Faramir faces new trouble from… or Boromir is captured by Orcs at the age of 20.
- hobbit/hobbit or elf/elf.
- elves, except Legolas, as majour characters. Just not interested.
- het, especially romance. I don’t mind a background het pairing in a slash or gen fic, as long as the fic isn’t about their relationship.
- when Arwen is conveniently forgotten in Aragorn/other male fic. You can’t just “forget” her! Same about Faramir/other male post-quest fics and Eowin.

I like:

- “Boromir survives” plot. Can’t have enough of him, can I?
- Faramir goes to Imladris instead of or together with Boromir.
- FaraBoro (not PWP)
- Boromir/hobbit love story but not too romantic/mushy. I’d prefer Boromir to fall for hobbit ‘cos I think a big man melting at the sight of a hobbit is funny and hot.
- big Boromir. As in, a large man.
- interspecies in general. I love cultural contradiction/conflict, misunderstandings, differences.
- weird elvish/dwarvish/hobbitish anatomy

In POTC fics specifically

I dislike:

- when Elizabeth is hastily dismissed/omitted in a slash fic. I don’t like reading Elizabeth/male character, but she’s the main character of the films, so one can’t just dismiss her in one line. I like her as a supporting character. I also abhor Elizabeth-bashing
- het; just not interested
- well-educated and sophisticated Jack. His “ecumenically, grammatically” doesn’t fit the image of a gentleman in pirate’s costume, IMO
- Jack being all ueber-noble
- minor character pairings

I like:

- details of the everyday life on a ship/in a port
- Pox, disability, and everything and anything to do with the historically accurate medicine and hygiene of the period: surgery, wound healing, dealing with cold, etc.
- dirty, gritty characters
- Will/Norrington, Jack/Norrington, Jack/Will. Or all three together, not PWP

Well, of course for any of my fictional kinks, I can name no fewer than a dozen fics I like, and for every of my fictional squicks, I can name a dozen that I like in spite of it :)


Anime/manga fandoms:


Petshop of Horrors recs

Eroica recs

Fullmetal Alchemist recs

Death Note recs

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