Dear ITPE podficcer,
I'm so excited! This is my first time doing ITPE, so I'm hoping the letter turns out all right. This may look terribly long, but I'll probably be happy with whatever you record, so don't worry! I do hope you take a glance at my no-no list, because I probably won't enjoy listening to something with those elements, and I'd hate for you to spend your time on something I can't/won't listen to. Other than that, you can pay attention to this if you want to make absolutely sure I'm going to squee, but more than that, please record something you enjoy yourself!
If you'd like a look at the kind of stuff I write/have bookmarked, you can find me on AO3
here.
Some points on characters/pairings/tropes I like:
Hobbit (and LotR): Fíli/Ori would definitely make me squee! I also especially enjoy Kíli/Tauriel and Nori/Dwalin. Thorin/Bilbo and Dwalin/Ori are also great. Generally, there aren't any ships I especially dislike, though I'd rather steer clear of Fíli/Kíli -- partly because I prefer them with others, partly because there's already plenty of podfic of them out there. Any hints of Legolas/Gimli make me grin like a goof.
Other than pairings, anything with a sensible Dís in it gets lots of love from me, as does Thorin with actual emotions. I'm basically in the fandom for the AUs -- fix-its, canon divergences, modern AUs, reincarnations, or whatever, I just want everyone to live. (Presumed dead for a while is fine, as long as nobody's keeping a secret unnecessarily.)
Marvel in general: I've elaborated below, but in general, any mixing of these subsets (especially if it involves the Lehnsherr-Maximoff line in any way) makes me a happy puppy. AUs are great, such as anything House of M -inspired, though I should mention I prefer my mutants to stay mutants. (I also prefer my mutants and non-mutants to be more or less equal within the setting.)
MCU: Pairing-wise, I have a soft spot for canon Tony/Pepper. I probably won't enjoy anything where they break up just to allow Tony to hook up with [insert name here], though threesomes/open relationships are fine with me. Other ships I like include Clint/Coulson (though also Clint/Laura, or Clint/Coulson/Laura!) and more or less any pairing with Sam. More Falcon love is always nice.
Also, Vision/Wanda! In fact, anything and everything to do with Wanda and Pietro. (Especially an alive Pietro. Sniff.) I also like fics exploring the connection between Vision and JARVIS (and consequently Tony), and love love love any hints towards Tommy and Billy.
Young Avengers: Billy/Teddy, Tommy/Kate, and Tommy/Kate/Noh get my pairing votes here. Playing with the twins' family connections is always nice, as is being impressive with powers/skills and saving the day. Hawkeye bonding.
X-Men: Charles/Erik, Wolverine/Kurt. Aunt/sister/mother Mystique, father/grandfather Erik, general family feelings, and working together with former enemies make me smile.
Kingdom Hearts: Axel/Roxas, Keyblade Master Axel (Lea), finding your heart. Riku/Sora is nice too, but I do love my Axel/Roxas.
Phoenix Wright: Klavier/Apollo, Lang/Edgeworth. Edgeworth being fatherly with Kay (and anything to do with Kay, for that matter.) Apollo's injuries being actual injuries.
Aside from fandom details, as a general rule I like my podfics happy and full of feels. Or, to go into more detail:
Things I like:* Family feelings: kidfic, parental figures, sibling feels, found families, secret parentage, team dynamics, I love it all! Complicated relationships, too, as long as it's loving in the end.
* Babyfic: I already mentioned this, but I feel it bears repeating. Babies, pregnancy (mpreg, non-binary genders, and magical means included), magic babies and babysitting all tend to make me grin.
* Humorous miscommunication: as long as it's IC and doesn't lead to unnecessary angst, that is.
* Courtship: Traditions, rules, conventions and little details are all lovely -- as are stories playing with/breaking these. Bonus points for race/species differences and cultural misunderstandings.
* Hurt/Comfort: physical and emotional hurts alike, I enjoy seeing the characters taking care of each other.
* Power exchange, mild BDSM: I like the whole "powerful figure gives up control to be pampered/taken care of" thing, collars and the like. Doesn't necessarily have to be smut, though that's fun too.
* Playing with gender and/or sexuality: gender-bending, trans characters, non-binary characters, non-human gender systems, fucking with gender roles in general all make me happy. Same goes for asexual, bi, pan etc sexualities, as long as it's just a factor of the story and not the entire point. (Also please
no fic where some genders are changed just to make all the slash pairings straight. That just makes me feel icky.)
* Royalty: actual canon royalty (King Under the Mountain!), AUs (House of M, modern royalty), or whatever, I have a big soft spot for this.
Things I'm iffy about:* "hard" BDSM, A/B/O: I do like these on occasion, but I'm very picky about what I do like, so it's safer not to go there at all.
* Torture, graphic violence, non-con: I do sometimes read/listen to these, but only as a small part in a long fic, and again, I'm very picky about what I'll like.
* Sibling incest: I like this if it's done well, but only if there's no issues with power dynamics and the like (such as extreme age difference or manipulation). I don't like guilty secrets and unreasonable angst, but soulbonds/otherwise culturally accepted arrangements (including "eh, nobody gives a damn in this world") are fine.
* Lots of angst in general: even with a happy ending (please include a happy ending!) too much angst, especially of the avoidable variety (due to bad communication, baseless doubts, lies, unnecessary secrets etc) turns the fic sour very quickly for me.
* All-human AUs: whether it's mutants with no powers, superheroes who aren't super, or dwarves and hobbits who aren't dwarves and hobbits, the story has to be extra good for me to enjoy it if the characters aren't who they're supposed to be.
* Abusive/manipulative relationships: unless the point of the story is to get the character out of this, no no no.
* Threatening a sibling's/child's SO: this rarely comes across as anything but controlling or overprotective, so let's just not. This goes double if the people involved in the relationship are adults.
* Crackfic: this is a hard genre to write well, so I prefer to steer clear altogether.
Things that I do not like: (ranging from dislikes to serious squicks -- please, please do NOT include these)
*UNHAPPY ENDINGS: a major one. I don't mind drama during the fic, but I need a happy ending.
* Inherent power dynamics: including classism/racism/sexism, parent/child incest, teacher/student, the like. Basically, I like the characters to be on more or less equal footing, please. This doesn't only count for ships but everyone in the story.
* Character deaths: unless it's a villain getting their comeuppance, or a minor character whose death is important to the plot, please no. I want my characters to live. (Being presumed dead/getting very close to death is fine, though, as long as it's resolved happily in the end.)
* Cheating by good characters: There are very few ways to turn me against a character faster than cheating.
If you're still unsure of whether I'd like a particular story,
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
asario knows my tastes pretty much better than I do.
