permutative | fic preferences

i will continue adding to this as i get better at identifying what i like and dislike about what i read... mostly in the context of kpop fanfic

general likes

"i like it when people don't like each other"
people who don't like each other learning to like each other
enemies to friends to lovers, friends to enemies to lovers, rivals to lovers
friends with benefits to lovers, enemies with benefits to lovers
reuniting after becoming distanced for a number of years, former friends to lovers
love with resentment... love with something complicated...
reckoning with multiple selves (idolsona vs inner persona), multiple facets of a relationship (fanservice vs behind the scenes), having to act different in varied contexts/the fragmentation of self in general
people who aren't the closest seeking each other out for other reasons
people being passionate about what they do/having hobbies
people have friends outside of love interest, especially friends who are girls!
mutual pining, pining in general, it's about the Yearning
ambiguous relationships
repression
bedsharing
bleak boyband fic (it is hard to go wrong with this)
canon compliant, canon divergent (what if..? type stories), future fic
power dynamics fkery (not necessarily a huge power imbalance, just like... power struggles..?)
fake dating
secret dating
arranged marriage
and then they were roommates
magical realism
character studies
intimacy via nail painting, doing makeup, wound care, doing someone's hair, etc.
misunderstandings for comedy purposes
strong sense of setting/interesting settings
crossover fusions that can be integrated with canon
violence & tenderness
dreams (especially inception or raven cycle fusion)
tournament-type competitions (sports, academic clubs, ao3 user markohmark stuff...)
rule 63 f/f fic especially with trans characters
unabashed trope fic based off kdramas
boys_in_skirts
gender exploration, nonbinary characters, genderfluid characters, trans characters
non-linear narratives
practice kissing, practice dating, fwb with the premise of "practice"/"learning" things
teen romance having all of the dramatics/high tension involved
coming of age, growing up, finding yourself...

nsfw likes

porn with ~feelings~, being in Love
rivalry/competition/hate but tenderness in the subtext of physical touch
physical aggression, fighting, sparring (somewhat evenly balanced) as a precursor to sex
hands/wrists/collarbones
(for txt/enhypen) beqrerq ol ubj zhpu v srry fgebatyl nobhg guvf: v cersre yrsg [gnrulha, fhatubba, lrbawha, uhravatxnv] naq evtug [fbbova, wnxr, wnl, orbztlh, urrfrhat]

general dislikes

vampires (especially blood drinking. i HATE blood drinking)
fantasy and magical creatures in general
harry potter au (i don't mind them that much but i feel like people don't really do the hp universe justice when they do it)
hard fantasy, sci-fi
ridiculous canon premises (i.e. fake dating for publicity...)
misunderstandings for non-romcom purposes
lapslock for non-drabble-length fics
a/b/o for social commentary/social justice purposes
whitewashing characters/setting (i.e. characters described as smoking weed casually but fic is set in korea, saying that hueningkai is a "foreign kid" who "doesn't know korean")
recreational drug use
gore, body horror, scary things...
patient/doctor or patient/psychologist fic
noncon, scat, watersports

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

tysm for leaving this comment... will return to this in the future if i ever need to write more CINDY GIFT FIC in the future. <333

anyways:
- i like— when A and B have love that's intrinsically simple (external circumstances don't have to be simple) oohhh this is interesting. i think it's very difficult for me to come up with actual Plots and Conflicts which is why i tend to go for more character driven introspective the conflict_is_the_dynamic type of ships/dynamics?! love the way u phrased this though fr <333
- love that u get me on so many of these likes... yearning, coming of age, f/f etc.
- asdf i feel like u mentioned the "tight storyline" thing during our discord call too and im kinda just like ?__?... will be reflecting on this as i edit the jaywon because i feel like i'm actually cutting out the excess crap for once but at the same time it's soo self-indulgent so idk
- [shrugs with all the discomfort of a midwestern virgin] i love you for this
- LOL AGREED ON ROSE'S CHENJI. in my comment i was like "yeah i hate vampires but i managed to read this so take that as a compliment" ;;__;; i just think fantasy/scifi worldbuilding isn't necessarily what i come to fanfic looking for? i'm more interested in the characters, the dynamix, and also sometimes it isn't done very well in the first place. idk
- OOH OK TRUE AMORTENTIA IS GOOD. it's just that in relatively newer ficdoms like txthypen harry potter aus are sooo common and its just [grits teeth] also the aged-down-ness of it all. agreed on quidditch being lame though where's the magical figure skating sport
- AJKHDLFJSKG i crisis over accuracy/setting things in korea all the time. like it hindered me so much as a ficwriter for so long... nowadays i'm kind of like okay as long as i try to the best of my knowledge (which, for me, is kind of just like. okay i mention kakaotalk instead of messenger, i do at least some basic research) it's fine!?? i feel like fanfic isn't meant to be perfect and as long as u Try it's fine. idk if that makes sense. we can dm more abt it [i talked abt this with crys once!] but, while i do think it's important to try for "accuracy," i also reallyyy dislike the perspectives of people who look down on others for not being 100% accurate/not already knowing Everything about east asian culture or wtvr. no one does anything maliciously! [i hope.] also when i was younger i didn't know better either i guess, it's a part of being young... the part that annoyed me is that popular, well-written bts fanfics written by white adults (like, people in their 20s or older) would just blatantly ignore korean culture. yknow??? it's not just a fourteen year old harmlessly writing svt college aus...

fic preferences

losing it i'm obsessed with u