Or, the kind of fics I tend to read...
In brief, I like in character, character driven fics that make me feel deeply and leave me thinking.
These are my personal tastes and opinions and I intend no offense by stating them here. To be fair though, I feel I should expound upon the things I look for and the things I avoid in fanfic, because I am a fairly fussy reader. I don't make any claim to know what's best, only what I have enjoyed in my wanderings about the fandom.
First of all, as should be obvious, 3x4/4x3 is my main pairing preference, but having established that all the fics rec'ed here are TQ focused—what about other pairings? Frankly, I don't care too much about what other pairings a fic may have in the background so long as all the characters are written well—traditional, alternate, het, yaoi, none? I'm pretty easy, though I do have a slight bias away from yaoi pairings with Wufei.
I tend to read more canon-based fiction than strictly AU, so the majority of my recs are in those categories (canon & post-canon). I adore well-written TQ erotica but get bored if I can't believe in the characterisations. I like angst—not the hideous wrist slashing, sledgehammer type of angst, but the deeper, more philosophical type of angst that comes from careful characterisation. I don't tend to like fluffy sap or melodrama and the fics here should reflect that preference of mine. I won't touch fics with male pregnancy, or fics which glory in torturing, bashing, or bastardising characters.
When it comes to characterisation, I also shy away from fics where the seme/uke distinction is drawn out to the point of absurdity, which is a subjective thing, yes, but I'm not drawn to hulking, bastard Seme!Trowa paired with weepy, virginal Uke!Quatre, and nor am I drawn to psycho Seme!Quatre or whore Uke!Trowa. As far as the Trowa as a rape or sexual abuse victim issue goes? I tend to avoid fics with rape or NCS warnings, but there are a few fics which deal with this theme carefully. And gender confused Quatre? Just...no. I dislike reading the boys written as girls, or to have them being the not-so-covert recipients of female experiences and issues. This has nothing to do with misogyny. I simply like to read about male characters when I read about Trowa and Quatre.
Finally, as far as the Trowa & Quatre relationship? As much as I believe in the pairing, I still want fics to convince me. It's not enough to tell me Trowa and Quatre are meant to be, deeply in love, or soulmates from birth—show me this is the case. And as in real life, even the best relationships have conflicts. I don't believe Trowa and Quatre have an easy road to living 'happily ever after', and fics that neglect the numerous tensions both in their relationship and within each character can be dull to me.
Of course, having said all this, there are bound to be exceptions—especially in the cases of humour or satire. ^_^
