Don’t be afraid of strong stylistic choices or narrative voices. I’m very into that — whether it’s a 19th Century-style narrator, a Pedro Páramo collective narrator, James Ellroy pastiche, etc. This also applies to POV: first person, second person, omniscient, outsider POV, etc. I also really like meta commentary and references, pastiches, and genre exercises. For example, in-universe documents or framing devices.

That said, I’m also super into tropey romance fic, funny fluff, and plot-focused adventures. I also really like lightly plotless, character-focused slice-of-life stories with a tone that’s more bittersweet. Or, you know, melodramatic Gothic sexual psychodrama or 5K words of filthy, filthy porn. I contain multitudes.

I love identity porn because I love, love, love relationships that are about discovering each other and realizing what makes the other person tick, even when you thought you knew them well. Plus romances where they have to admit their feelings after intimacy: arranged marriage, FWBs that stop being so casual, etc. The kind of situation where the important shift in the relationship happened, but they still haven’t admitted it.

If what you want to do is a story where the romance is secondary to the plot, I’m super into it. ’m also very much into slice-of-life. You know, bringing a place back to life, rebuilding a life somewhere new, dealing with a family’s past, etc.

I’m super into worldbuilding that includes stories and ballads and mythology. That is, a world that’s built with words and that recognizes the importance of that in peoples’ lives. I’m very into stories set when a society is going through upheaval but maybe the characters can’t tell or maybe they’re not in the center of the stage. There are ideological conflicts, people demanding change, technological advancement, systems on the brink of collapse, weariness, etc.