desertvixen | General Preferences on Fanfic (Reply)

Since I usually find myself copying and pasting the "general want/DNW stuff" from previous entries, I decided to go ahead and just make a sticky post that I can link to.

This post is updated as of 6 October 2023

THE SHORT LIST:

MAYBE: no-harm dubcon (sex pollen or “fertility artifact”) | period typical attitudes | infidelity | power dynamic

GENERAL WANTS

Stories don’t need to be super sappy and sugary/fluffy, but please don’t get all grim and dark.
Bittersweet can work if there are hopeful tinges. Try not to make everything too dark - some darkness in the progress of the story is fine, but don't end it that way.

Bittersweet or slightly creepy "do I want to turn on the lights before I go up" is always good. I'm okay with fluffy-but-not-unrelieved-sugar, bittersweet-but-not-despair-of-the-ages, humor, romance, adventure, mystery. I love a story that makes me think twice about climbing the stairs without turning ALL the lights on first.

I'm also into shiny veneers that hide dark secrets. I like "skeletons in the closet". I'm also down for characters dealing with things using black humor.

Tinges of hope at the end are generally good. “We can face anything together” is one of my jams, and I’m also a fan of “Who can stop us if we’re together?”.

I generally prefer het or gen. Explicit sex can be good, romance is always in. However, fade to black can be just as satisfying, or enough detail to know they're getting down without sounding like a bad Letter to Penthouse. Please only use the bad romance novel euphemisms if you’re intentionally going for a bad-bodice-ripper crack edition vibe.

I'm good with explicit sex, but I am not really into any major kinks. (Some light bondage or light D/s is okay - think restraints and blindfolds, not spanking or flogging). The main thing is, does it work for the characters?

I am a huge fan of "seemingly unrelated group of people trapped somewhere and discover they a) have something in common and b) can't just leave" - see Clue, see And Then There Were None. Even if this is not the fandom we're matched on, I'm always down for a scenario that plays out like one of these movies/books.

I’m a child of the 1980s, if you couldn’t guess by my fandom list. I’m always down for a good flashback to the 80s/90s, especially cartoons. You can’t go wrong with He-Man, Voltron, G.I. Joe, Jem, Thundercats, Visionaries, Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon.

Please feel free to get nighttime soap opera-ish! Convoluted revenge plots! Super thin veneers for dastardly plots! Half-siblings no one knew about! Illegitimate siblings you thought were just family friends! Psycho-half-siblings who want to kill you and take your life over! Convenient accidents! Crazy wills and marriages of convenience! Year-long showers and cracked out "why not" seasons! (Yes, I'm a huge Dallas and Falcon Crest fan.)

I love AUs. My faves are canon-divergence or "what-if" scenarios. No unrequested mundane AUs.

I love crossovers, if you know more than one of the requested fandoms, or some of my other fandoms (particularly Nancy Drew, Georgette Heyer or And Then There Were None, Clue). But only if you like to write them! If you want to smash a few of my prompts together, I would be A-OK with that. I'd also be cool with you dragging in characters from other fandoms into urban legends (i.e., Nancy Drew encounters a vanishing hitchhiker).

When it comes to crossovers – I love serious thought about how things would work, but I also love cracky, handwavy, don’t-worry-about-mechanics crossovers. I’m good with crossovers and fusions.

Stories where problems are solved by feminine insight/intuition rock!

I love urban legends - the vanishing hitchhiker in particular, but also "the call is coming from inside the house", "room for one more", and the psycho college killer one. Return to Glennascaul scenarios are also good, stories about places that aren’t really there, “the diner burned down seven years ago tonight, on a night JUST like this”.

I also have a fascination for unsolved crimes/mysteries, people who've disappeared, and bodies with no names. Yes, I loved Unsolved Mysteries. Respectful treatment of victims please, especially if based on a real-life crime.

I like humor, and I don't think I do a good job of writing it - sparkling snappy dialogue always works! Think Barbara Metzger in the romance arena.

Female-focused fics (Bechdel-compliant is good) are always good.

I like missing moments, missing scenes, slices of life (whether sexy or sweet), family relationships, dysfunctional family relationships, friendships, romantic relationships, people overthinking things, people perfectly getting each other. Plot driven is good, but fluffy can also be good.

DO NOT WANT

No non-con. No violent dub-con.

Graphic violence and gore. Nothing higher than what occurs in canon.

Graphic sexual violence - if the canon/story requires a mention of it, that's okay, but I do not want to read graphic descriptions.

Cruelty to animals and animal death. It bothers me more than some human deaths.

Graphic cruelty to children. If I'm requesting a story where it may play in, I'll tell you I want it. Again, brief mentions are acceptable, graphic descriptions are not.

No major character death that isn't canon. By "major character", I mean "characters I have requested". Feel free to kill extras off. If it's canon and plays into your story, go for it.

No unrelieved grimdark.

No mundane AUs UNLESS specifically requested

No bigotry unless specifically requested.

If the characters are getting down, please avoid using “cunt”. I hate it. I almost didn’t even type it out. Also, no creampies. I’ve decided those aren’t really my jam. No anal.

MAYBE

I’m okay with sex pollen/fertility artifact type of dub-con, as long as there’s no harm beside a little embarrassment (and all parties had fun).

Period-typical attitudes are an opt-in only.

Infidelity is an opt-in only.

Power dynamics – I like them when they’re sexy, not abusive.

STAR WARS SPECIFIC

So, I'm a Star Wars fan who's a little sad that the Extended Universe got handwaved away - I really loved Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, and my requests tend to reflect that. I am a Legends girl at heart, and you can’t go wrong if you write me something that belongs in either a Timothy Zahn book or one of Stackpole’s Rogue Squadron books. Please don't refer to anything that happened after the godawful Vector Prime and switch to Del Rey. No Yuuzhan Vong, no Mara Jade gets weird wasting disease, no Teneniel getting put in the freezer.

I'm also not a very active Star Wars fan. I’m not into the games, am not reading the new EU stuff, so don’t write anything that requires a lot of homework to GET.

However, I'm also a Star Wars fan who thought Rogue One totally and completely rocked it out of the park. Loved it loved it loved it! Went and saw it in the theaters like 4 times, including giving up a free day to go see it on a BIG screen. It’s so good. The novelization was good too. I’m a fan of Everyone Lives/Krennic dies AUs or Some People Live/Some People Die.

I love the original three (ROTJ is my favorite).

I enjoyed the sequels (although that like is dwindling more every time I see a stupid handwave plot post) but didn’t LOVE them, especially after the ridiculously evident fact that they DIDN’T HAVE A PLAN.

I am NOT a fan of the prequels. I wanted to like them, but I just couldn’t get past Phantom Menace and the stupidity of traveling around with young Obi-Wan Kenobi and falling for Anakin.

I’m not familiar with the animated SW shows, and my ignoring the prequels means I also missed all the “Jedi don’t have emotional attachments” which maybe should have gone down as a bad idea.

I’m not familiar with most of the Disney shows BUT I did enjoy Kenobi quite a bit. I loved Tala and little Leia and Beru.

I did enjoy the zaniness of the Star Wars Lego Holiday special, so feel free to play off that.

My heart is with the original 3 (and Rogue One, now that it exists) and the "waved away" Extended Universe. The more they make me feel like it requires me to do homework, the less interested I am.

I'm also not really a Luke fan. Give me Han and Wedge any day of the week. And maybe Ben Kenobi. Or an AU where Biggs Darklighter becomes the most famous pilot from Tatooine. And maybe find some way to make Rey a Kenobi descendant…? I really wanted her to be a Kenobi descendant. I still want her to be a Kenobi somehow.

STAR TREK SPECIFIC

There’s enough newer stuff that I feel like this is needed. It’s October 2023 and I’m really missing SNW.

Here’s the run down:

TOS – I’m your girl. I’ve seen all of it and know it well. Faves include Court Martial, Amok Time, Journey to Babel, Charlie X, Mirror Mirror and the Cage. I’m 100% here for TOS Pike era stories. Major ships are Pike/Number One and Spock/Uhura. Feel free to poke some fun at TOS and not be enslaved by canon.

TAS – I’m familiar with Yesteryear, More Trouble with Tribbles, and The Lorelai Syndrome. I enjoy it.

TOS Novels – If it was written by Diane Duane, DC Fontana, or Jean Lorrah, I read it and enjoyed it. I also loved Ishmael. Vonda McIntyre’s novelizations are good too.

TOS Movies – ST II, ST III, ST IV, and ST VI are where it is at.

TNG – I know it well and love a lot of it. I’m a diehard Picard/Crusher fan and still salty. Prefer to avoid the movies, thanks!

TNG novels – If it was written by Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Diane Duane, I read it and enjoyed it.

DS9 – I’m familiar with characters/and early days. Anything after Dominion War is not my jam. This is where I tell you I am a Babylon 5 fan. That being said, I loved the DS9 Novel Fallen Heroes.

VOY – I liked the premise but after Season 1 I lost interest. I have since watched the finale and dipped into the show. My favorite episode is Eye of the Needle.

ENT – I liked it to start with and they lost me.

ST New Frontier novels – I liked about the first 9-10 of these, and the comic but then it took a turn I didn’t care for.

SNW - Inject it into my veins. I love all of it. When are Chris and Una going to GET TOGETHER? Loved S2, especially Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow and the last 4 episodes.

Here's my S2 reaction stream:

So let’s talk about Season 2 peeps! The Hippocratic Oath is fuzzy on the subject of kneecaps and throats! Yay Una is back! No, they’re still pushing the Pike/Batel thing (I am not into it, it is not my thing, why does she never eat the fabulous food?). La’an and star-crossed doomed time-travel love. I fly the ship (on Alpha shift). Why is Spock eating bacon? Why is Sam Kirk suddenly missing from the cleanest science lab in history? We finally meet the real Kirk! Kirk meets Spock (and Uhura doesn’t know this is her life for the next 50 years). Cartoon crossover! M’Benga gets away with murder (and can we please leave the PTSD crew ALONE?). All systems stable! Why are we singing? Who’s going to be Gorn chow? WHAT DO YOU MEAN “TO BE CONTINUED”?

Disco – We decided to call it quits partway through S4, when Tilly leaves. I love Georgiou in both incarnations and enjoyed Lorca's arc. Still not a huge Michael fan. Season 3 was rough but the last few episodes really hit hard. The first episode of S4 was a lot.

Picard – Season 1 was intriguing although very meh about the android body idea. Skipped Season 2. Enjoyed the nostalgia of Season 3 except for overuse of fridges and isolation of Beverly Crusher. Loved the ending, the next next generation, and the post-credit scene.

Kelvin-verse – I was not a fan. I like Chris Pine but that was about it.

NEED MORE?

If you want more about my writing likes/dislikes, check out the "dear Yuletide writer" tag or "dear writer" tag.

And most importantly - have fun writing it, because I guarantee I'll like it!