Generic Ficathon Elaboration Post
Since many ficathons suggest an "elaboration" post as to one's likes and dislikes, and also because it is a good idea as an aid for people who might want to make gift fic; instead of having to post and re-post such a thing, I am going to make one single post, which I will link to, and which can be edited in future if need be.
So here we go.
Things I Like
Gen and PG-rated Het. I don't read slash.
Happy/hopeful endings (but angst makes the happy ending sweeter).
Friendship. Friendship-followed-by-romance. Mentorship. Teamy goodness.
Snark, witty banter. Characters being clever and resourceful. Characters being their best selves, rising to the occasion, overcoming their fears. Characters jumping to perfectly logical but incorrect conclusions.
Culture clashes, linguistics, the familiar made strange, exploration of the Other. Crossovers between fandoms that I know, especially where we get to see one set of characters through the eyes of the other set of characters without preconceptions or prior knowledge (see "the familiar made strange").
Redemption. Reconciliation. Faithfulness. Strengths are weaknesses. Character growth. Learning things about characters that I hadn't realized before.
Mental powers (whether SF-based (psi) or magic-based); especially telepathy/telempathy which brings characters into greater understanding of each other.
Epistolary romances (think "You've Got Mail"). This includes all kinds of semi-anonymous interaction, whether that be letters/email, connected journals, voice messages, IRC chats, carrier pigeons, or any similar high-tech or low-tech means of communication.
Plotty stories with adventure and mystery, especially when shared adversity brings characters closer together.
Beautiful poetic prose. Themes and layers. Subversion of tropes.
Things I Dislike
Lust-at-first-sight. PWP. Pr0n. Sex before marriage. Unfaithfulness. Adultery. Partner betrayal. Rape/dub/noncon. Incest. Threesomes. Slash. Kink. BDSM. Mpreg.
Darkfic. Tragedy. Zombies. With the exception of fandoms where major characters are canonically vampires, I don't like vampires either.
Talking animals that aren't from Narnia, especially wise-cracking smart-aleck ones. If you make them just like humans, then that ruins the opportunity to explore something Other.
Breaking the fourth wall.
Character bashing/character assassination. That isn't to say that I mind canonical flaws being pointed out, but it annoys me when (a) only their flaws are given or (b) the character is retconned into being an out-and-out villain when they weren't a villain in canon(*) or (c) shades-of-grey-characters-whom-I-like are interpreted as out-and-out villains (especially when that makes their character shallower than it is in canon) or (d) a "rival" in a desired 'ship is demonized as an easy way of removing them as a contender in the romance.
(*) Sometimes it's possible to turn a "good" character into a shades-of-grey character, if their canonical behaviour is inconsistent or confusing. If adding a bit of grey to them enables canon to make more sense, then good! However, I utterly loathe stories where a character's good deeds are twisted into evidence of how evil they are. It makes me sick. (Yes, such stories do exist. There's a particular author in HP fandom who is brilliant at warping characters like that. I admire their skill even as I abhor the result.)
It probably goes without saying that I dislike Mary-Sues, but I'll say it anyway.
Canon!Sues. If you don't know what a Canon!Sue is, think "Mary Sue" (too good to be true) but applied to a canon character. This includes someone who is homely-looking turning into a fashion model, or someone who is generally disliked being declared to be sexy by everyone.
It's also annoying when a character whom the author is trying to redeem gets whitewashed rather than redeemed; that is, they are retconned into not being bad. Usually all their bad deeds are blamed on someone else instead (what I would call blackwashing); it's as if the author thinks that there's only so much goodness to go around; that in order for someone to be good, someone else has to be bad in equal measure.
Villains who are Random Psychos or Evil Megalomaniacs without real motivations. Even Voldemort was a little boy once.
Hurt/Comfort where the "hurt" part is meaninglessly sadistic.
Saccharine fluff where everyone is so nice that they're out of character.
Overly sentimental and saccharine "holiday" stories, especially: twee Valentine's Day stories, or Christmas stories featuring Santa, Santa's elves or any of that crap. Also dislike "holiday" stories where the holiday in question is an American holiday and the fandom is British. Likewise, holiday stories featuring contemporary holidays where the universe is set in the future.
Smart people dumbed down to serve the plot; this includes: (a) villains being unnecessarily stupid, (b) the hero and/or heroine behaving like an idiot in order to generate angst for the wromance (c) supporting characters being dense in order to make the hero look good.
British characters saying "Mom", baking cookies, or going to the Prom (as distinct from The Proms). For goodness' sake, get a Britpicker!
Things That Can Go Either Way
Kiddies (whether that be the next generation or characters deaged to children). I'm usually not interested in the next generation because they aren't the characters I'm in the fandom for. As for de-aging, it makes me wince if the characters are turned cute and twee and lose all ability to speak coherently; again, a case of not being the characters I signed up for. That's not to say that de-aging can't be hilarious fun (or angsty character-insight) but too often it just makes me cringe.
While I prefer fade-to-black with sexual relations, a good author can sell me on it if it is important to the plot or characterisation.
Regency Romance fusions can be delightful (I love Georgette Heyer) but only if the characters in question fit into their new roles without being out of character; please don't try to force a square peg into a round hole. Likewise with crossover fusions, retelling fairytales, lost-in-a-book stories and alternate realities: the characters need to be in character.
While I listed "holiday" stories of various kinds in the "things I dislike" section, I can't rule them out altogether, because one of my favourite stories ("Let there be Light" by
vilakins) is a holiday story.
Fandom-Specific
My fandoms are broad and eclectic. You can often sell me on a fandom I don't know by crossing it with a fandom I do know, provided the point-of-view characters are from the fandom I know.
The list below is in alphabetical order, not order of favouriteness.
As I said above, I like gen and het, but for some characters I can be very picky who you pair them with.
Characters who are in italics are ones I like a lot.
Blake's 7
Characters: Avon, Cally, Vila, Blake
Pairings: Avon/Cally, Avon/Servalan
Friendships: Avon & Vila, Avon & Blake
You can probably sell me on Avon/Soolin or Avon/Dayna if you try hard. Likewise with Vila/Soolin.
Buffy
Characters: Giles, Willow, Xander, Drusilla (she was the best villain)
Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike
Friendships: Xander & Willow, Giles & Buffy
Oz is fun to stick into crossovers.
I prefer the first five seasons.
Chalionverse
Characters: Cazaril, Ista
Doctor Who
Characters: The Doctor (of course), particularly Nine, Eight and Five, followed by Four, Seven, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen, but I love all the Doctors.
Favourite companions: Romana, Martha, Donna, Ace, Sarah-Jane, Amy, Rory, Jo, Leela, Rose-when-she's-with-Nine, Evelyn, Mickey, Nyssa, Tegan
There are very few people I would pair the Doctor with: any-Romana/any-Doctor, Rose/Nine, Martha/Ten and maybe Tegan/Five.
Non-Doctor pairings: Amy/Rory
I prefer Martha/Mickey to Martha/Tom.
Harry Potter
Characters: Severus Snape, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood
Pairings: Snape/Hermione (my one and only OTP)
Friendships: Snape & Harry, Snape & Hermione, Harry & Ron & Hermione, Harry & Draco
My favourite genres in HP are
(a) Harry-Snape reconciliation stories (including AUs where Snape rescues Harry from the Dursleys) and
(b) Snape/Hermione romances/friendships.
For SSHG it seems more plausible to me for it to be AU or EWE. It also seems implausible to me for student!Hermione to have a crush on teacher!Snape before the story starts; it doesn't fit with canon, though that doesn't mean that there can't be events in the story that change things.
I also like Draco as a supporting character where he's not evil but still very Slytherin. That isn't to say that I dislike stories where Draco is evil; I think he could go either way. Likewise with Lucius Malfoy.
When Lucius is being not-evil, I like scenarios where he and Snape are friends (in their own Slytherin way, of course).
I like Ron and Hermione as friends, as part of the Trio's friendship, but I really can't see them working as a couple. But just because I can't see them working as a couple, that doesn't mean that I feel it necessary for Ron to be portrayed as a selfish, self-centred, stupid, thoughtless git. Yes, he can be clueless and selfish and a git from time to time, but he isn't unrelentingly so; he can also be loyal and insightful and a true friend.
I am getting rather sick of the trope where Snape's main motive for being mean to Gryffindors and favouring Slytherins is because he has to stay on the good side of the other Death Eaters. No. He picks on Gryffindors because he hates them, and he favours Slytherins because nobody else will give them a fair go. He's mean and nasty to Harry because of his burning hatred for James. He is unfair and not nice, and he has no excuse for it; it's simply one of his flaws.
I have somewhat of an aversion to Time Travel stories in this fandom because good ones are rare. You've got the ones where Hermione goes back into the past (whether accidentally or deliberately in order to change history), not bothering to disguise who she is or even give an alias, going directly to Dumbledore and telling him she's from the future, him happily going along with it without interrogating her, and then she inappropriately falls in love with Severus Snape or someone else. Then you've got the ones where Harry goes back (more often soul-travel than physical travel) in order to change history, and he becomes a Super!Harry who kicks Voldemort's butt. Do Not Want.
Time loop stories are another matter, they can be fun.
Highlander
Characters: Methos, Duncan, Darius, Joe, Rebecca
Pairings: Duncan/Tessa, Duncan/Amanda
Friendships: Methos & Duncan, Duncan & Richie mentorship, Methos & Joe
I also like Methos-Cassandra reconciliation stories.
Labyrinth
Characters: Jareth, Sarah
Pairings: Jareth/Sarah
Friendships: Sarah & Hoggle & Sir Didymus & Ludo
I also like stories which push this towards the mystery and peril of Fairie, that make Jareth something Other. I don't like Evil!Jareth, though.
Lois & Clark
Characters: Lois, Clark
Pairings: Lois/Clark
I also like the relationship between Clark and his adoptive parents. Mind you Martha and Jonathan Kent are a hoot in this universe.
This Lex Luthor makes a charming villain.
Lord of the Rings
Characters: Sam, movie!Aragorn, book!Faramir, Eowyn
Pairings: movie!Aragorn/Arwen, book!Faramir/Eowyn
Friendships: Frodo & Sam, Merry & Pippin, Legolas & book!Gimli
I also liked the relationship between Merry and book!Theoden, and between Pippin and book!Denethor.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Characters: Tony Stark, Loki, Pepper Potts, Thor, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, Frigga
Pairings: Tony/Pepper, Jane/Loki
Friendships: Tony & Loki, Tony & Bruce, Tony & Hulk, Tony & Pepper, Clint & Natasha, all-the-Avengers, Clint & Loki
I love Tony Stark. Yes, he's a jerk to most people, but he will do anything for those he loves. And he's brilliant. And snarky. And he's an engineer, who does not solve problems instantly, but works and thinks and deduces and refines, and does a lot of trial-and-error. And he never ever gives up.
I want my Loki to be redeemable; I'm not interested in reading about dark twisted depraved Loki who just does evil things.
The whole thing with Asgard and Loki's adoptive family... that is a big mess. And Odin is a terrible father. (In my Not So Humble Opinion, if being a good king requires you to be a bad father, you are doing neither fatherhood nor kingship correctly.) Frigga is awesome, though.
And, yes, Tony and Loki are my two favourite characters and I want them to be friends. Ah, the beautiful things they could do together! The snark! The brilliantness! The fusion of Science and Magic!
I love Tony and Bruce being Science!Bros. I love how Tony actually likes the Hulk. And well-written Hulk-point-of-view is fascinating.
I like the assassin-twins (Clint & Natasha) knowing each other so well and having each others' backs and supporting each other and calling bullshit on each other when needed.
I like the Avengers-as-almost-family. Needless to say, I really hated the whole Civil War thing. Give me an AU which prevents that. For goodness' sake, don't demonize Steve Rogers, he had his reasons; it's just that they were both right, and that Tony and Steve got off on the wrong foot and never managed to get onto the right foot afterwards. I'd rather see the two of them resolve their differences and come to an understanding.
Yes, I listed Clint & Loki because I think Loki respects Clint a great deal, and in completely difference circumstances, they could have been awesome. And also, trying to reconcile those two is such a huge challenge that it would make an amazing story.
I love Pepper/Tony, but I also love Pepper & Tony, so I'm quite content with either shipping them or friendshipping them. Pepper is awesome.
In regard to Jane/Loki, I just feel that it is reasonable that Jane would go for the intelligent guy rather than the jock. Not that I rebel against the canon Jane/Thor, I just feel that if one has an AU with a redeemable non-insane Loki, then Jane/Loki makes more sense.
Narnia
Characters: movie!Susan (I think she was cleverer than book!Susan), Lucy, Edmund, Reepicheep, Puddleglum
I also have a soft spot for stories which make Susan a companion of the Doctor (though I don't like it when they're shipped).
NCIS
Characters: Abby, Ducky and to a lesser extent, Gibbs. I do not like Tony.
Pretender
Characters: Jarod, Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots
I'm not sure whether Jarod/Miss Parker works for me any more, since that episode which raised the possibility that they could be siblings. Yes, they turned out not to be, but it sort of killed my feelings for that ship.
Pride and Prejudice
Characters: Elizabeth, Darcy; I also like "Lost In Austen"'s version of Wickham.
Pairings: Elizabeth/Darcy, Jane/Bingley
I like AUs where things happened a little differently. Or even wildly differently, so long as they're in character (however, I don't think present-day settings work). I'm also interested in a happy ending for Mary, where she grows up but still remains bookish.
The Professionals
Characters: Doyle, Bodie, Cowley
Friendships: Bodie & Doyle
For this fandom, I prefer good solid mystery plots with a bit of character growth, not stories that don't have any action at all.
Sapphire & Steel
Characters: Sapphire, Steel, Silver
Friendships: Sapphire & Steel
Sarah-Jane Adventures
Friendships: the whole team, really; either version.
Sandman
Characters: Death, Dream
Scarecrow and Mrs King
Characters: Amanda, Lee
Pairings: Amanda/Lee
Sentinel
Characters: Jim, Blair, Captain Banks
Friendships: Jim & Blair
I like a touch of Otherness and mysticism with this, but when the story is set in the here-and-now (rather than, say, an alternate reality with a SF&F setting) then I don't want it to go too far, because it becomes unbelievable. I dislike it when the friendship between Jim & Blair is artificially induced by the so-called "Sentinel/Guide bond"; not that I dislike stories that have such a bond, I can be very fond of it because it touches on the "psi powers" thing, but the friendship must never be compelled, because that destroys one of the central things to me about this fandom: the growth of the friendship between Jim and Blair.
I also like stories that poetically and vividly describe the things that Jim can perceive.
The Shadow
Characters: movie!Shadow, movie!Margot
Pairings: Lamont/Margot
ST:TOS
Characters: Spock, Scotty, McCoy
ST:Reboot
Characters: Uhura, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Jim (yes, I like Reboot Jim more than TOS Jim)
Pairings: Uhura/Spock
Friendships: Spock & Jim, Jim & McCoy
Also fond of things that explore Vulcan culture. And linguistics! At last a fandom where linguistics is a canonical focus!
Stargate SG-1
Characters: Daniel, Jack, Sam, Teal'c
Pairings: Jack/Sam
Friendships: the original SG-1 team
My favourite supporting characters are Janet Fraiser and General Hammond.
I prefer the first five seasons.
Temeraire
I have a soft spot for crossover fusions in this universe.
Tomorrow People:OS
Characters: Elizabeth, John, Steven
Tomorrow People:NS
Characters: Adam, Lisa, Ami
Torchwood
Characters: Gwen, Tosh, Ianto, Rhys
Pairings: Gwen/Rhys
Third season? What third season? (I keep on putting off watching it) As for Torchwood!America, it doesn't exist.
VR.5
Characters: Oliver, Sydney, Duncan
Pairings: Oliver/Sydney
Vorkosiverse
Characters: Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan
Pairings: Miles/Ekaterin, Cordelia/Aral
X-Files
Characters: Mulder, Scully
Pairings: Mulder/Scully
Friendships: Mulder & Scully
I'm 50/50 on Mulder/Scully.
Minor Fandoms
Fandoms I like, but which I am (a) only somewhat familiar with, or (b) haven't watched recently enough, or (c) not majorly fannish for, and/or (d) prefer as a crossover with something else:
Angel, Bones, The Champions, CSI (Grissom), Death Note, Discworld (Death), Elementary, Farscape, Firefly, Forever Knight, Galaxy Quest, Heroes (Hiro Nakamura), Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, House, Inception, The Incredibles, Invisible Man, The Matrix, Matrix (the TV series), The Mummy, Numb3rs, Person Of Interest, Princess Bride, Quantum Leap, Remington Steele, Samurai Jack, Seven Days, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock, Space: Above and Beyond (McQueen), Stargate: Atlantis (Rodney McKay), Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (Jadzia Dax, Kira, Bashir), Star Trek: The Next Generation (Q, Data), Star Wars, Tin Man, Unbreakable, UFO, X-Men!Movieverse (Logan, Rogue)
Book fandoms I tend to forget that people write fanfic for:
Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Howl's Moving Castle, Pern, Sunshine
(If something is struck out, I still like it, but my memory of it has faded too much.)
Other Places To Look
For more data, you could look at what I post about, what I review, and what I write.
If you want to check out what fandoms I like that aren't listed above, look at my "fandom:" tags; if I've posted about it, it's likely I'm interested in it. Also note that unless I've posted about it a lot, I'm probably not up-to-date with that fandom (I tend to watch things quite belatedly on DVD) and I DISLIKE SPOILERS.
My reviews:
http://www.katspace.org/reviews/netfic/
http://kerravonsen.dreamwidth.org/tag/netfic
My fan fiction:
http://www.katspace.org/fiction/stories/kathryn_a/
All my fiction and poetry, on my personal website.
http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/KerrAvonsen
My AO3 page, which contains my prose fan fiction but not my poetry.
http://www.fanfiction.net/~kerravonsen
My fanfiction.net page, which contains my prose fan fiction but not my poetry.
http://www.whofic.com/viewuser.php?uid=4795
My Doctor Who fiction at A Teaspoon And An Open Mind.
http://www.b7fic.com/viewuser.php?uid=31
My Severus Snape/Hermione Granger fiction at Ashwinder; my handle there is SnarkHunt. This entry was originally posted at https://kerravonsen.dreamwidth.org/755030.html. (Comments
) Respond here, or respond on the Dreamwidth post, as you prefer. You can use your DW login or OpenId there.
So here we go.
Things I Like
Gen and PG-rated Het. I don't read slash.
Happy/hopeful endings (but angst makes the happy ending sweeter).
Friendship. Friendship-followed-by-romance. Mentorship. Teamy goodness.
Snark, witty banter. Characters being clever and resourceful. Characters being their best selves, rising to the occasion, overcoming their fears. Characters jumping to perfectly logical but incorrect conclusions.
Culture clashes, linguistics, the familiar made strange, exploration of the Other. Crossovers between fandoms that I know, especially where we get to see one set of characters through the eyes of the other set of characters without preconceptions or prior knowledge (see "the familiar made strange").
Redemption. Reconciliation. Faithfulness. Strengths are weaknesses. Character growth. Learning things about characters that I hadn't realized before.
Mental powers (whether SF-based (psi) or magic-based); especially telepathy/telempathy which brings characters into greater understanding of each other.
Epistolary romances (think "You've Got Mail"). This includes all kinds of semi-anonymous interaction, whether that be letters/email, connected journals, voice messages, IRC chats, carrier pigeons, or any similar high-tech or low-tech means of communication.
Plotty stories with adventure and mystery, especially when shared adversity brings characters closer together.
Beautiful poetic prose. Themes and layers. Subversion of tropes.
Things I Dislike
Lust-at-first-sight. PWP. Pr0n. Sex before marriage. Unfaithfulness. Adultery. Partner betrayal. Rape/dub/noncon. Incest. Threesomes. Slash. Kink. BDSM. Mpreg.
Darkfic. Tragedy. Zombies. With the exception of fandoms where major characters are canonically vampires, I don't like vampires either.
Talking animals that aren't from Narnia, especially wise-cracking smart-aleck ones. If you make them just like humans, then that ruins the opportunity to explore something Other.
Breaking the fourth wall.
Character bashing/character assassination. That isn't to say that I mind canonical flaws being pointed out, but it annoys me when (a) only their flaws are given or (b) the character is retconned into being an out-and-out villain when they weren't a villain in canon(*) or (c) shades-of-grey-characters-whom-I-like are interpreted as out-and-out villains (especially when that makes their character shallower than it is in canon) or (d) a "rival" in a desired 'ship is demonized as an easy way of removing them as a contender in the romance.
(*) Sometimes it's possible to turn a "good" character into a shades-of-grey character, if their canonical behaviour is inconsistent or confusing. If adding a bit of grey to them enables canon to make more sense, then good! However, I utterly loathe stories where a character's good deeds are twisted into evidence of how evil they are. It makes me sick. (Yes, such stories do exist. There's a particular author in HP fandom who is brilliant at warping characters like that. I admire their skill even as I abhor the result.)
It probably goes without saying that I dislike Mary-Sues, but I'll say it anyway.
Canon!Sues. If you don't know what a Canon!Sue is, think "Mary Sue" (too good to be true) but applied to a canon character. This includes someone who is homely-looking turning into a fashion model, or someone who is generally disliked being declared to be sexy by everyone.
It's also annoying when a character whom the author is trying to redeem gets whitewashed rather than redeemed; that is, they are retconned into not being bad. Usually all their bad deeds are blamed on someone else instead (what I would call blackwashing); it's as if the author thinks that there's only so much goodness to go around; that in order for someone to be good, someone else has to be bad in equal measure.
Villains who are Random Psychos or Evil Megalomaniacs without real motivations. Even Voldemort was a little boy once.
Hurt/Comfort where the "hurt" part is meaninglessly sadistic.
Saccharine fluff where everyone is so nice that they're out of character.
Overly sentimental and saccharine "holiday" stories, especially: twee Valentine's Day stories, or Christmas stories featuring Santa, Santa's elves or any of that crap. Also dislike "holiday" stories where the holiday in question is an American holiday and the fandom is British. Likewise, holiday stories featuring contemporary holidays where the universe is set in the future.
Smart people dumbed down to serve the plot; this includes: (a) villains being unnecessarily stupid, (b) the hero and/or heroine behaving like an idiot in order to generate angst for the wromance (c) supporting characters being dense in order to make the hero look good.
British characters saying "Mom", baking cookies, or going to the Prom (as distinct from The Proms). For goodness' sake, get a Britpicker!
Things That Can Go Either Way
Kiddies (whether that be the next generation or characters deaged to children). I'm usually not interested in the next generation because they aren't the characters I'm in the fandom for. As for de-aging, it makes me wince if the characters are turned cute and twee and lose all ability to speak coherently; again, a case of not being the characters I signed up for. That's not to say that de-aging can't be hilarious fun (or angsty character-insight) but too often it just makes me cringe.
While I prefer fade-to-black with sexual relations, a good author can sell me on it if it is important to the plot or characterisation.
Regency Romance fusions can be delightful (I love Georgette Heyer) but only if the characters in question fit into their new roles without being out of character; please don't try to force a square peg into a round hole. Likewise with crossover fusions, retelling fairytales, lost-in-a-book stories and alternate realities: the characters need to be in character.
While I listed "holiday" stories of various kinds in the "things I dislike" section, I can't rule them out altogether, because one of my favourite stories ("Let there be Light" by
vilakins) is a holiday story.
Fandom-Specific
My fandoms are broad and eclectic. You can often sell me on a fandom I don't know by crossing it with a fandom I do know, provided the point-of-view characters are from the fandom I know.
The list below is in alphabetical order, not order of favouriteness.
As I said above, I like gen and het, but for some characters I can be very picky who you pair them with.
Characters who are in italics are ones I like a lot.
Blake's 7
Characters: Avon, Cally, Vila, Blake
Pairings: Avon/Cally, Avon/Servalan
Friendships: Avon & Vila, Avon & Blake
You can probably sell me on Avon/Soolin or Avon/Dayna if you try hard. Likewise with Vila/Soolin.
Buffy
Characters: Giles, Willow, Xander, Drusilla (she was the best villain)
Pairings: Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike
Friendships: Xander & Willow, Giles & Buffy
Oz is fun to stick into crossovers.
I prefer the first five seasons.
Chalionverse
Characters: Cazaril, Ista
Doctor Who
Characters: The Doctor (of course), particularly Nine, Eight and Five, followed by Four, Seven, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen, but I love all the Doctors.
Favourite companions: Romana, Martha, Donna, Ace, Sarah-Jane, Amy, Rory, Jo, Leela, Rose-when-she's-with-Nine, Evelyn, Mickey, Nyssa, Tegan
There are very few people I would pair the Doctor with: any-Romana/any-Doctor, Rose/Nine, Martha/Ten and maybe Tegan/Five.
Non-Doctor pairings: Amy/Rory
I prefer Martha/Mickey to Martha/Tom.
Harry Potter
Characters: Severus Snape, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood
Pairings: Snape/Hermione (my one and only OTP)
Friendships: Snape & Harry, Snape & Hermione, Harry & Ron & Hermione, Harry & Draco
My favourite genres in HP are
(a) Harry-Snape reconciliation stories (including AUs where Snape rescues Harry from the Dursleys) and
(b) Snape/Hermione romances/friendships.
For SSHG it seems more plausible to me for it to be AU or EWE. It also seems implausible to me for student!Hermione to have a crush on teacher!Snape before the story starts; it doesn't fit with canon, though that doesn't mean that there can't be events in the story that change things.
I also like Draco as a supporting character where he's not evil but still very Slytherin. That isn't to say that I dislike stories where Draco is evil; I think he could go either way. Likewise with Lucius Malfoy.
When Lucius is being not-evil, I like scenarios where he and Snape are friends (in their own Slytherin way, of course).
I like Ron and Hermione as friends, as part of the Trio's friendship, but I really can't see them working as a couple. But just because I can't see them working as a couple, that doesn't mean that I feel it necessary for Ron to be portrayed as a selfish, self-centred, stupid, thoughtless git. Yes, he can be clueless and selfish and a git from time to time, but he isn't unrelentingly so; he can also be loyal and insightful and a true friend.
I am getting rather sick of the trope where Snape's main motive for being mean to Gryffindors and favouring Slytherins is because he has to stay on the good side of the other Death Eaters. No. He picks on Gryffindors because he hates them, and he favours Slytherins because nobody else will give them a fair go. He's mean and nasty to Harry because of his burning hatred for James. He is unfair and not nice, and he has no excuse for it; it's simply one of his flaws.
I have somewhat of an aversion to Time Travel stories in this fandom because good ones are rare. You've got the ones where Hermione goes back into the past (whether accidentally or deliberately in order to change history), not bothering to disguise who she is or even give an alias, going directly to Dumbledore and telling him she's from the future, him happily going along with it without interrogating her, and then she inappropriately falls in love with Severus Snape or someone else. Then you've got the ones where Harry goes back (more often soul-travel than physical travel) in order to change history, and he becomes a Super!Harry who kicks Voldemort's butt. Do Not Want.
Time loop stories are another matter, they can be fun.
Highlander
Characters: Methos, Duncan, Darius, Joe, Rebecca
Pairings: Duncan/Tessa, Duncan/Amanda
Friendships: Methos & Duncan, Duncan & Richie mentorship, Methos & Joe
I also like Methos-Cassandra reconciliation stories.
Labyrinth
Characters: Jareth, Sarah
Pairings: Jareth/Sarah
Friendships: Sarah & Hoggle & Sir Didymus & Ludo
I also like stories which push this towards the mystery and peril of Fairie, that make Jareth something Other. I don't like Evil!Jareth, though.
Lois & Clark
Characters: Lois, Clark
Pairings: Lois/Clark
I also like the relationship between Clark and his adoptive parents. Mind you Martha and Jonathan Kent are a hoot in this universe.
This Lex Luthor makes a charming villain.
Lord of the Rings
Characters: Sam, movie!Aragorn, book!Faramir, Eowyn
Pairings: movie!Aragorn/Arwen, book!Faramir/Eowyn
Friendships: Frodo & Sam, Merry & Pippin, Legolas & book!Gimli
I also liked the relationship between Merry and book!Theoden, and between Pippin and book!Denethor.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Characters: Tony Stark, Loki, Pepper Potts, Thor, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, Frigga
Pairings: Tony/Pepper, Jane/Loki
Friendships: Tony & Loki, Tony & Bruce, Tony & Hulk, Tony & Pepper, Clint & Natasha, all-the-Avengers, Clint & Loki
I love Tony Stark. Yes, he's a jerk to most people, but he will do anything for those he loves. And he's brilliant. And snarky. And he's an engineer, who does not solve problems instantly, but works and thinks and deduces and refines, and does a lot of trial-and-error. And he never ever gives up.
I want my Loki to be redeemable; I'm not interested in reading about dark twisted depraved Loki who just does evil things.
The whole thing with Asgard and Loki's adoptive family... that is a big mess. And Odin is a terrible father. (In my Not So Humble Opinion, if being a good king requires you to be a bad father, you are doing neither fatherhood nor kingship correctly.) Frigga is awesome, though.
And, yes, Tony and Loki are my two favourite characters and I want them to be friends. Ah, the beautiful things they could do together! The snark! The brilliantness! The fusion of Science and Magic!
I love Tony and Bruce being Science!Bros. I love how Tony actually likes the Hulk. And well-written Hulk-point-of-view is fascinating.
I like the assassin-twins (Clint & Natasha) knowing each other so well and having each others' backs and supporting each other and calling bullshit on each other when needed.
I like the Avengers-as-almost-family. Needless to say, I really hated the whole Civil War thing. Give me an AU which prevents that. For goodness' sake, don't demonize Steve Rogers, he had his reasons; it's just that they were both right, and that Tony and Steve got off on the wrong foot and never managed to get onto the right foot afterwards. I'd rather see the two of them resolve their differences and come to an understanding.
Yes, I listed Clint & Loki because I think Loki respects Clint a great deal, and in completely difference circumstances, they could have been awesome. And also, trying to reconcile those two is such a huge challenge that it would make an amazing story.
I love Pepper/Tony, but I also love Pepper & Tony, so I'm quite content with either shipping them or friendshipping them. Pepper is awesome.
In regard to Jane/Loki, I just feel that it is reasonable that Jane would go for the intelligent guy rather than the jock. Not that I rebel against the canon Jane/Thor, I just feel that if one has an AU with a redeemable non-insane Loki, then Jane/Loki makes more sense.
Narnia
Characters: movie!Susan (I think she was cleverer than book!Susan), Lucy, Edmund, Reepicheep, Puddleglum
I also have a soft spot for stories which make Susan a companion of the Doctor (though I don't like it when they're shipped).
NCIS
Characters: Abby, Ducky and to a lesser extent, Gibbs. I do not like Tony.
Pretender
Characters: Jarod, Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots
I'm not sure whether Jarod/Miss Parker works for me any more, since that episode which raised the possibility that they could be siblings. Yes, they turned out not to be, but it sort of killed my feelings for that ship.
Pride and Prejudice
Characters: Elizabeth, Darcy; I also like "Lost In Austen"'s version of Wickham.
Pairings: Elizabeth/Darcy, Jane/Bingley
I like AUs where things happened a little differently. Or even wildly differently, so long as they're in character (however, I don't think present-day settings work). I'm also interested in a happy ending for Mary, where she grows up but still remains bookish.
The Professionals
Characters: Doyle, Bodie, Cowley
Friendships: Bodie & Doyle
For this fandom, I prefer good solid mystery plots with a bit of character growth, not stories that don't have any action at all.
Sapphire & Steel
Characters: Sapphire, Steel, Silver
Friendships: Sapphire & Steel
Sarah-Jane Adventures
Friendships: the whole team, really; either version.
Sandman
Characters: Death, Dream
Scarecrow and Mrs King
Characters: Amanda, Lee
Pairings: Amanda/Lee
Sentinel
Characters: Jim, Blair, Captain Banks
Friendships: Jim & Blair
I like a touch of Otherness and mysticism with this, but when the story is set in the here-and-now (rather than, say, an alternate reality with a SF&F setting) then I don't want it to go too far, because it becomes unbelievable. I dislike it when the friendship between Jim & Blair is artificially induced by the so-called "Sentinel/Guide bond"; not that I dislike stories that have such a bond, I can be very fond of it because it touches on the "psi powers" thing, but the friendship must never be compelled, because that destroys one of the central things to me about this fandom: the growth of the friendship between Jim and Blair.
I also like stories that poetically and vividly describe the things that Jim can perceive.
The Shadow
Characters: movie!Shadow, movie!Margot
Pairings: Lamont/Margot
ST:TOS
Characters: Spock, Scotty, McCoy
ST:Reboot
Characters: Uhura, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Jim (yes, I like Reboot Jim more than TOS Jim)
Pairings: Uhura/Spock
Friendships: Spock & Jim, Jim & McCoy
Also fond of things that explore Vulcan culture. And linguistics! At last a fandom where linguistics is a canonical focus!
Stargate SG-1
Characters: Daniel, Jack, Sam, Teal'c
Pairings: Jack/Sam
Friendships: the original SG-1 team
My favourite supporting characters are Janet Fraiser and General Hammond.
I prefer the first five seasons.
Temeraire
I have a soft spot for crossover fusions in this universe.
Tomorrow People:OS
Characters: Elizabeth, John, Steven
Tomorrow People:NS
Characters: Adam, Lisa, Ami
Torchwood
Characters: Gwen, Tosh, Ianto, Rhys
Pairings: Gwen/Rhys
Third season? What third season? (I keep on putting off watching it) As for Torchwood!America, it doesn't exist.
VR.5
Characters: Oliver, Sydney, Duncan
Pairings: Oliver/Sydney
Vorkosiverse
Characters: Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan
Pairings: Miles/Ekaterin, Cordelia/Aral
X-Files
Characters: Mulder, Scully
Pairings: Mulder/Scully
Friendships: Mulder & Scully
I'm 50/50 on Mulder/Scully.
Minor Fandoms
Fandoms I like, but which I am (a) only somewhat familiar with, or (b) haven't watched recently enough, or (c) not majorly fannish for, and/or (d) prefer as a crossover with something else:
Angel, Bones, The Champions, CSI (Grissom), Death Note, Discworld (Death), Elementary, Farscape, Firefly, Forever Knight, Galaxy Quest, Heroes (Hiro Nakamura), Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, House, Inception, The Incredibles, Invisible Man, The Matrix, Matrix (the TV series), The Mummy, Numb3rs, Person Of Interest, Princess Bride, Quantum Leap, Remington Steele, Samurai Jack, Seven Days, Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock, Space: Above and Beyond (McQueen), Stargate: Atlantis (Rodney McKay), Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (Jadzia Dax, Kira, Bashir), Star Trek: The Next Generation (Q, Data), Star Wars, Tin Man, Unbreakable, UFO, X-Men!Movieverse (Logan, Rogue)
Book fandoms I tend to forget that people write fanfic for:
Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Howl's Moving Castle, Pern, Sunshine
(If something is struck out, I still like it, but my memory of it has faded too much.)
Other Places To Look
For more data, you could look at what I post about, what I review, and what I write.
If you want to check out what fandoms I like that aren't listed above, look at my "fandom:" tags; if I've posted about it, it's likely I'm interested in it. Also note that unless I've posted about it a lot, I'm probably not up-to-date with that fandom (I tend to watch things quite belatedly on DVD) and I DISLIKE SPOILERS.
My reviews:
http://www.katspace.org/reviews/netfic/
http://kerravonsen.dreamwidth.org/tag/netfic
My fan fiction:
http://www.katspace.org/fiction/stories/kathryn_a/
All my fiction and poetry, on my personal website.
http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/KerrAvonsen
My AO3 page, which contains my prose fan fiction but not my poetry.
http://www.fanfiction.net/~kerravonsen
My fanfiction.net page, which contains my prose fan fiction but not my poetry.
http://www.whofic.com/viewuser.php?uid=4795
My Doctor Who fiction at A Teaspoon And An Open Mind.
http://www.b7fic.com/viewuser.php?uid=31
My Severus Snape/Hermione Granger fiction at Ashwinder; my handle there is SnarkHunt. This entry was originally posted at https://kerravonsen.dreamwidth.org/755030.html. (Comments
) Respond here, or respond on the Dreamwidth post, as you prefer. You can use your DW login or OpenId there.