opalmatrix | Dear Investigator (2026) (not quite complete) (Reply)

Thank you so much for creating something for me, Investigator! Here are a lot of optional details about what I like and don't like in a story, plus some prompts for the fandoms.

Preferences

I Don't Like:

Sickly-sweet, coy, cutesy romantic stuff (anything in the "tee-hee-hee, is he looking at me?" category is definitely out)
Extensive use of epithets, or epithets that don't match the character POV (no one should think of his or her long-time lover as "the green-eyed man," for example): these will throw me right out of a story (for more about epithets, see this)
Characters acting out of character, especially if the purpose is to force them into a relationship (doubly bad if that relationship is romantic or sexual)
By-the-numbers, every-action-described sex (a/k/a Ikea Erotica - link goes to TVTropes). Note that actual sex is fine (I love me some sexy stories) — just don't like it when the descriptions turn into a set of exact stage directions.
Mpreg, rape, forced sex (including sex pollen and fuck-or-die), hatesex. Dubcon is OK, especially the sort when the reluctant partner really wants the other person but is just not quite feeling ready yet or doesn't think se wants it in this particular way but gets off on it anyway.
Humiliation or betrayal (without a damn good plot reason) of a character by a friend or lover
A/B/O and related kinks/tropes, incest (unless canon), scat/watersports/emetophilia, tentacles, non-human genitalia.

I Like:

Strong characterization (including character-appropriate dialog: no earthy, uneducated characters using $100 words)
Positive emotional payoffs that are well-earned
Passions that are strong without being mushy/fluffy
Moments of realization — satori
Friendships - although I am a romantic person, not every relationship must be romantic (I do like the trope of friends becoming lovers, however)
Wry and even dark humor in the course of a more serious story
And I like any of the following "cool bits":
- hurt-comfort
- being cozy indoors when it's rainy or snowing
- senses of smell and touch and memories attached to them
- warm and oversized bathrobes/dressing gowns or sweaters/jerseys
- someone's profile silhouetted against the light
- impulsive acts of valor (especially on behalf of the weak or an underdog)
- romantic partners who are both competent
- whispered admissions of love or forgiveness
- finding in a fight that one's ally feels like a protective wall
- family-of-choice, nakama, or True Companions
- cynics with secretly soft hearts
- In-jokes among family members or close friends
- shopping or low-tension planning scenes, where people are working together to pick things out
- caper-type operations: crazy elaborate plans that work out well in the end, especially if parts of them are silly/funny
- the little spots of light that sift through a thick canopy of trees onto the ground beneath
- water running over pebbles or stones
- old-fashioned sections of town with narrow streets and alleyways and odd shops
- cabinets or cases full of odd curios
- the sound of music from a distance, including music the amplifies the emotional mood of the scene (note that I am Old and don't always know current popular music)
- an open-air market or seaside boardwalk or other place filled with joyful bustle and the smell of good things to eat
- a teahouse or restaurant on the water
- a study or library as a refuge against the outside world
- places where arts or martial arts are studied or where master crafters are at work
- food porn (link to TVTropes

I'm quite content with both straight and gay relationships. I do tend to ship the canon relationships, unless it's a character who has had no clear relationships shown in the story. I'm not comfortable with sexual relationships shown in children under the age of, say, 14 or so, and even then it's better in context (teens with other teens or in a societal setting where girls expect to marry by 16-18 anyway).

Fandoms and Prompts

Saiyuki (Anime & Manga)

My fondness for this series has to do with the fact that all the leads are iron woobies: they have horrific backstories and yet they're out there every day, being tough and cracking wise, and only rarely succumbing to their dark memories. Gojyo and Hakkai are my long-term OTP: their relationship goes far beyond the upperclass, educated man/rough trade stereotype. In particular, Gojyo is Hakkai's morality pet, the main thing that keeps him sane.

You may have a really cool idea for a case already! But here are a couple of ideas, if not:

After the ikkou leave an otherwise unremarkable town, they take a wrong turn a couple of miles out. Goku smells something when they stop to check the map, and they discover several freshly dug graves in a field of millet.
A blizzard traps the ikkou in a small town in a mountain pass. While they are there, guests begin to disappear from the inn.

Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold

Penric & Desdemona, any volume, is one of my main comfort reads. I love how Penric pushes past soul-crushing obstacles to persist in his love of knowledge and solving problems to make the world a better place, and the odd relationship he and Desdemona have developed, which hinges on the fact that his heart is so big that he was willing to challenge a god for his new companion the demon. I really enjoyed how Pen pushed Oswyl out of his uptight rut as an investigator, and how Thala is coming along with her superior into realizing that life is more complicated than their Temple training had led them to believe. Finally, I'm a sucker for well-written non-cutesy kid-pic, and Rina and Otta are Penric and Des' Next Generation.

You may have a really cool idea for a case already! But here are a few ideas, if not:

Perhaps a high-level temple cleric has become obsessed with Quadrene theology, to the point that he begins to believe that the Bastard is indeed a demon.
Oswyl and Thala are sent to make an arrest, but the target's protestations of innocence begin to convince them that something uncanny is in fact afoot.
Rina and Otta get an opportunity to stay with a well-off family at the seaside for a season, but both of them begin to realize that something very strange is going n in the host family's lovely villa.

Discworld - Terry Pratchett

I liked the witches much more once we got past the shenanigans of the first coupe of books. Like most of us I love Granny's downright nature and penetrating mind: the embodiment of "good isn't necessarily nice." And Nanny Ogg's deep wisdom about humanity's foibles and how hearts can want what's really not good for them is the perfect counterweight.

You may have a really cool idea for a case already! But here are a couple of ideas, if not:

What's happening lately in Lancre is definitely some kind of witchcraft, but neither Granny nor Nanny recognize the nature of these occurrences.
Young children are disappearing in Ankh-Morpork, and no one is getting anywhere with the case.

The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison

I deeply love poor Thara and his iron ethical core, which holds him firm in the face of all obstacles, even at considerable cost to himself. I really did ship him with Iäna very deeply and was terribly hurt by the change in Tomb of Dragons. Iäna is the one who had been with Thara through thick and thin, burglary and alley-crawling! Admittedly, Iäna wouldn't be much of a challenge for a professional assassin, but I have faith that he could handle most things short of that.

You may have a really cool idea for a case already! But here are a couple of ideas, if not:

For a case with Thara alone (Iäna is just a friend), a woman who writes lurid novels under a pseudonym thinks she had found an unmarked grave in the overgrown back garden of her new boarding house home.
For a case with both of them: one of the new costumers who was removed from the orphanage in Grief of Stones has had a friend disappear. The friend's widower father last saw the daughter when she went to deliver a special order to an upperclass home.

The Saint of Steel - T. Kingfisher

Bishop Beartongue is one hell of a human being, as is Zale in a much quieter way. Of the paladin relationships, Galen/Piper hits my buttons the most: strong, violent, and fundamentally broken warrior paired with intellectual, confident, but "blessed with suck" medical examiner. I love all the gnoles, but Earstripe's persistence and solid ethical core make him (them?) special to me.

You may have a really cool idea for a case already! But here are a couple of ideas, if not: