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ailis_fictivePlease no - bleak endings, extremely explicit gore/violence, AUs other than canon divergent
So the most important thing - I have very, very broad tastes in fic, and am very fond of all the fandoms I’ve asked for. I go more for a good story than for anything else; I’m going to dump a lot of information down here about my tastes and preferences to hopefully give you some ideas about where to start, but if you have a story in one of these fandoms that you love and have been dying to record, go for it. Odds are good that I’ll love it.
Some overall preferences - any rating, any pairing/moresome. Really. I am the *exact opposite* of an OTPer - I will read *any* pairing/+, and be sold (or not) by the story. I love stories that deal with non-monogamous relationships (in any form, sexual / romantic / intimate-platonic), especially if they actually deal with the complexities of having and maintaining multiple intimate relationships - they’re worthwhile, but not easy!
Speaking of sex, explicit is great! (Gen is also great. Really, I’m easy!) My biggest kink, narratively and sexually, is power exchange - sexual or not (see some of the Vorkosigan notes below…) - so most kink fic works for me. (And dub-con, as long as the narrative is aware of / acknowledges the consent problems, usually does too.) I generally prefer seriously explicit/kinky scenes to be M/M - I love (LOVE!) female-character centric stories and femslash, but explicit scenes with a cis-female character can be kind of hit-or-miss for me. (It has to do with dissonance against my own experience, so trans and GQ characters don’t tend to hit this particular block for me. Dominant male / submissive female often does, hard, in addition to coming weighted with a lot of sticky cultural baggage, so that’s usually a dynamic I avoid in fic.) This is absolutely not meant as a blanket “no explicit het/femslash” request, just that if you’re going for straight PWP, especially kinky, (which is great! Sometimes I just want to listen to ten minutes of hot sex scene) dudeslash is my preference.
Other general narrative and trope notes - I’m really, really into found-family, family of choice, and team-feels - and shipping-centric stories that acknowledge (or focus) on the people outside the main relationship. My sense of humor is a bit wonky, so straight-up comedy is a little hit-and-miss; things that are supposed to be funny don’t always strike me that way. Most tropes work for me in direct proportion to how well / thoughtfully they’re written - with the exception of BDSM-verse, which is a pretty bullet-proof win. My power-exchange kink...it’s a thing. I’m a queer woman and love stories that foreground queer experience - I’m just as fond of stories that address internalized and external homophobia/biphobia as stories where everyone is happily gay/bi/etc and no-one cares.
Fandom specific (in order of preference, if you’re looking for a general guide, but I LOVE THEM ALL!)
I'm also trying to flag a few of my favorite stories in each fandom, for a sense of my taste. Some are on my to-podfic list; on the off chance that I manage to record one before reveals and you've picked the same one, please know that I will be THRILLED to have another version that is not in my voice. (and I haven't managed to record anything but ITPE for several years, so it's a small chance.)
Nirvana in Fire: I fell into this fandom in December 2018 like falling off a cliff. Beautiful cinematography, ALLTHE LOYALTY KINK, and knives...yes please. This is a fandom where I am especially fond of canon-divergent AU's (yes, all the MCS survives stories, thank you) and un-fond of alternate-setting AU's.
A few stories I love -
Accustomed To Disguise - possibly my favorite MCS-survives. (Yes, there's already a podfic. I LOVE IT A LOT. If you gave me a re-pod, I would LOVE IT AS WELL.)
Accession - exactly the perfect balance of tear-my-heart-out and healing. Nominally a sequel, but this one stands independently, and isn't quite as sad as Inference
the mist that cloaks the river, the clouds that hide the stars No, for heaven's sake, I do not expect ANYONE to record me 176k, that's ludicris. This is a really great fic, though, and exactly what I do love in canon-divergent AUs.
Ever Onward - OK, so it's a WIP. However, with a very few exceptions each chapter is independent enough that you could pull out a chapter or three to record as a perfectly delightful and self-sufficient fanwork. (I am unabashedly passionate about Chapter 14…)
The Queen’s Thief - Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia are the two books of this series that I love with all my heart, so I tend to prefer fanworks that draw more on them than on the rest of the series - I have nothing against Costis/Kamut, but it’s not my main interest in this fandom. What I do love…
Worth No Less Than a Brother has probably the closest-to-canon voice I’ve read in a fic, and So Much Loyalty Stuff…
if you'll be my bodyguard Oh, Costis. And Thalia is the best sort of OC, who lets you poke the canon characters in interesting directions.
The Two Queens Did I mention I love outsider POV? And non-standard fic structure. The gods blessings on you if you try to tackle this one as a podfic, because I don’t know HOW, but I love it.
Machineries of Empire - I want there to be a LOT MORE FIC for this than there actually is, because it is one of my favorite reads of the last few years.
Fealty I do not love this fic entirely for the tag “not sitting on chairs properly is gay culture even in space” but wow is that a great tag. Khiruev’s arc in Raven Stratagem is my favorite part of a book I love a lot, and this is a great tag to it.
baubles of stolen kisses...I’m not sure I can explain what about this one I love, which I realize is not a lot of help, but it’s just odd and delightful
Raven in the Lean Seasons I love this for its voice, and as a particularly good set of missing scenes. Also, you may perhaps notice more Khiruev
Hell of a Spread Another story with a perfect narrative voice. I’m generally more interested in Cheris/Jedao and their allies, but this is pitch-perfect and just works for me.
Vorkosigan Saga - like much of the rest of this fandom, I’m more interested in stories set on Barrayar than in the wider galaxy. I’m fascinated by the older generation, particularly Piotr and Ezar’s history fighting the Cetagandans.
