I think I first encountered RPF back in boyband days (we're talking NSYNC and BSB) and I loved both canon fics and also AUs and also weird crossover rarepairs (to the writer who made JC/Eminem WORK, kudos to you, wherever you are), which I think influenced my reading and writing preferences once I started getting into Kpop rpf. I first encountered it back around 2010 because an LJ friend wrote suju rpf, but I was only casually into kpop so I didn't read any of her fics. Then a friend of mine super into MX started dropping MX prompts in a prompt community I wrote in a lot (though mainly for other fandoms), and I figured I'd write a gift for her (I love writing for my friends) and then it just kind of evolved from there.
I think for me the most important part of any fic, be it AU or canon-verse (idol-verse, whatever your terminology may be) is some semblance of character consistency. Like...in Astro most of us know Dongmin, bless his adorable little heart, is a massive scaredy-cat. Jumps at the smallest things. So to have him take the lead and be the brave one in a haunted house would just...totally throw me off. It's also the reason I'm generally hesitant to write in a fandom where I don't feel like I have a good grasp of who the characters are, because I wouldn't want to do the fandom a disservice and have things be totally OOC. Other than that, I'm not super picky about the broad strokes of a fic as far as themes or world-building.
I myself love magic/scifi AUs and also interesting job AUs, and also weird and random crossover pairings (I am the purveyor of the only Shownu/Rocky fic out there I'm pretty sure) if someone makes them work well. I also like interesting character dynamics, and if the fic is mostly a romance, a relationship built most likely on friendship or a long-standing acquaintance. Also I am a sucker for soulmate AUs if they have a cool twist, like "you're colorblind till you meet your soulmate, except one of them is just genetically colorblind and will never see color".
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I think for me the most important part of any fic, be it AU or canon-verse (idol-verse, whatever your terminology may be) is some semblance of character consistency. Like...in Astro most of us know Dongmin, bless his adorable little heart, is a massive scaredy-cat. Jumps at the smallest things. So to have him take the lead and be the brave one in a haunted house would just...totally throw me off. It's also the reason I'm generally hesitant to write in a fandom where I don't feel like I have a good grasp of who the characters are, because I wouldn't want to do the fandom a disservice and have things be totally OOC. Other than that, I'm not super picky about the broad strokes of a fic as far as themes or world-building.
I myself love magic/scifi AUs and also interesting job AUs, and also weird and random crossover pairings (I am the purveyor of the only Shownu/Rocky fic out there I'm pretty sure) if someone makes them work well. I also like interesting character dynamics, and if the fic is mostly a romance, a relationship built most likely on friendship or a long-standing acquaintance. Also I am a sucker for soulmate AUs if they have a cool twist, like "you're colorblind till you meet your soulmate, except one of them is just genetically colorblind and will never see color".