what_happens_to_the_heart

I'm pretty new to the world of fanfic exchanges, but I thought I'd try my hand at a little 'Dear Creator' letter in case any future exchange partners need some general pointers.

I am open to treats!

General Likes

I tend to like all kinds of fic (shipping focused, casefic/episode fic, smut, action plots, fluffy domestic stuff etc). I am very fond of both angst and fluff (and the combo) but am generally only a fan of whump if it is combined with angst and/or part of a larger narrative.

Here are some tropes, themes and other things that I am particularly fond of (in no particular order):

• Fluff
• Angst
• Using throwaway lines from canon to flesh out characters (hobbies, background etc).
• N times + 1 time format fic.
• Hurt/Comfort. For H/C that ends in sex, I prefer the hurt (physical or mental/emotional) to be less severe.
• Found family.
• Friends to lovers
• Themes related to families and kids/babies, including pregnancies, adoption, blended families, niblings/other people's kids/babysitting as well as darker themes like infertility, miscarriage and abortion.
• Polyamory/Relationship anarchy/other alternative relationship structures (see below).
• I like happy endings and though I don't mind sad endings, I appreciate if the summary and/or tags make that clear (especially if it's a shipping fic w a sad ending).
• If I've used a tag multiple times in my own fic, I probably like that trope!

Queer Shit and Relationship Preferences

I always love a queer read on a character, especially but not limited to bi/pan reads, ace/aro/acearo (or demi/grey on either spectrum) reads as well as trans and non-binary reads. I'm okay with full genderswaps, but am more interested in trans reads where the canon gender presentation is retained and the birth sex/background is swapped (rather than the canon gender presentation being swapped). The exception to this is non-binary characters because non-binary presentation is still so rare. I don't mind angst related to queer themes (whether external bigotry or internal strife) in small-to-moderate doses.

I love fic featuring polyamory, relationship anarchy and other forms of non-monogamy. For ships featuring four or more characters, I especially love it when not all the relationships within the polycule are the same. (For example, Char A dating chars B and C but being friends with D and E, while B dates A and E, is FWBs with B and friends with D etc, as opposed to all of the characters being sexually and romantically involved with all of the other characters). The relationship doesn't have to be explicitly polyamorous or use modern terms, it's the dynamics that count.

I also love found families, QPRs and just really strong friendships, whether in a polycule or not.


General Dislikes

Here are some tropes and other things I'd prefer not to get:

• Omegaverse
• Any kind of soulmates/fated mates/similar where romance is predestined in a literal/magical/cosmic sense
• Smut featuring underage characters
• Mpreg (but I'm fine with seahorse dads!)
• Dubcon/Noncon intended to titillate

Smut stuff

I'm happy to receive smutty fic! Some general preferences for those:

• I generally prefer "dirty" words (cock, pussy etc) to more euphemistic language (tool, core etc), but it's more important that the language matches the overall style and tone of the fic.
• I like kink or BDSM fic, but I prefer when it is obvious the people in the fic are playing, particularly when there's elements of power play (for example, I'd prefer to read fic where the characters are clearly engaging in a master/servant scene than a fic where the characters actually are master and servant). That doesn't mean negotiation etc has to be on page! But making it clear that there has been some prior discussion and that everyone's having fun is nice!
• No dubcon/noncon
• No incest, underage characters or bestiality
• No scat, watersports, bloodsports, stuffing, electroplay or knifeplay
• No drunk/high/otherwise intoxicated first times