AU Exchange 2019
Jul. 7th, 2019 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lastwingedthingDear author, I'm so excited you're writing something for me!
Likes
I am generally pretty flexible with the things I like. Character-driven stories are awesome, plot-driven stories are awesome, explicit porn is awesome, G-rated fluff with hand-holding is awesome, angst and bleakness are awesome, happy endings are awesome, humor is awesome! Etc.
A few of my favourite things include:
-Politics, history and worldbuilding
-Road trips (or spaceship trips, actual ship trips, etc)
-Stoic girls with repressed feelings
-Female antiheroes or villains with complex motivations
-Enemies forced to work together by circumstance
-Time travel shenanigans and what if/canon divergence AUs
-Unexpected and unconventional happy endings, or bittersweet endings
-Tragedies that are more-or-less inevitable given the nature of the individuals involved
-People living in less-than-ideal or even actively hostile situations who manage to carve out some kind of happiness despite that.
Porn likes include use of magic (or the Force) during sex, rough/frantic sex, emphasising nonhuman strengths/capabilities/anatomy for nonhuman or superpowered characters, mild D/s, and bondage/restraints.
I am okay with violence, noncon, character death, etc - provided that it is warned for up front - though I would prefer that stories do not focus solely on trauma/horror/violence, and if these do come up as part of the story, I am more interested in the lead up and the aftermath than in dragging out the details of the act itself.
DNWs:
-Different setting AUs (eg coffee shops or superheroes)
-Soulmate or soulmark universes
-Lengthy descriptions of violence/horror/major character death (as noted above)
-Noncon between requested characters
-M/f D/s with female subs
-Unrequested kinks
-Unrequested gender/sexuality headcanons for requested canon characters.
Fandom-specific DNWs only:
-Unrequested het pairings involving Ahsoka Tano or Sansa Stark
-Tyrion as a major character
-Tyrion/anyone but particularly not Tyrion/Sansa or Tyrion/Dany, even as a background pairing
-Death of requested characters in ATLA or Raksura fandoms; Ahsoka or Missandei dying
-Moon/Consolation as a sexual or romantic pairing.
On to the fandoms! I requested:
Game of Thrones
Group: Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen (GoT)
Group: Missandei & Daenerys Targaryen (GoT)
Group: Missandei/Grey Worm (GoT)
Group: Grey Worm/Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen (GoT)
GoT: Missandei as Daenerys's Hand
GoT: Daenerys and her allies do attack King's Landing upon her arrival at Westeros
GoT: Missandei and/or Grey Worm convince Daenerys to return to Essos after the Night King is killed
GoT: Daenerys chooses to try and rebuild Valyria instead of going to Westeros
GoT: Daenerys stays in Meereen
ALL: Main character goes back in time to the body of their younger self and changes what happened
Even though I was fairly bummed about how Game of Thrones played Daenerys's heel turn (the shoddy execution, not the fact they did it at all) I think that the worst thing for me was what it meant for Missandei - the cruelest, most devastating death - and for Grey Worm, the lone survivor who lost almost everything he cared about. It's really upsetting that they didn't just lose everything that mattered to them, their dreams (ending slavery and other forms of tyranny) and their people became villainised and demonised as part of the Daenerys-goes-dark turn.
At this point I think that what I most want is fix-it fic for one or both of them - which likely but doesn't necessarily have to mean a happier ending for Daenerys as well. She's important to both of them not only because they care about her as a person, but also because the goal that motivates them - ending slavery - would be infinitely easier with the help of a woman who controls fire-breathing monsters and can inspire religious fervour (via priests of the Red God and her firewalking) in tens of thousands of people. That being said, a story where Missandei survives with Grey Worm but they still lose Daenerys, or choose to leave her, and she and Grey Worm have to find a way to keep fighting without Daenerys' magic and dragons, would also be really interesting!
Relationship requests
In terms of pairings, I love the tiny hints we saw in the show of the depth of the relationship between Missandei and Daenerys - braiding each other's hair, holding hands in the face of death in the fighting pits of Meereen - and I'd absolutely adore anything that fleshed out that relationship, whether as a deeper friendship or as a romantic relationship. I'd particularly love a chance to see more of their relationship from Missandei's point of view. Those little moments aside, Missandei was always so formal and deferential towards Daenerys, it would be really lovely to see a more assertive side of Missandei, in a relationship where she and Daenerys are more equal.
I also really love Missandei and Grey Worm together, their relationship is really powerful and really sweet (though I really could have done without the show's constant focus on Grey Worm's genitalia and the ~shocking question~ of whether he still had a cock or not, as if that was even fucking relevant). It's heartbreaking that things ended how they did, I really hated not only the unnecessary cruelty of Missandei's death but also that the two people who loved her most were forced to watch (and that, let's be honest, her death was just a way of motivating both of them into uncharacteristic acts of cruelty). I'd love anything focused on Grey Worm and Missandei together and what their relationship means to each other, what it feels like to be free to choose for the first time - giving them the chance to build new lives together that they never got on the show.
If you wanted to explore Grey Worm/Missandei/Daenerys - whether as a poly v or as a triad - that would be absolutely amazing and I would adore just about any possible scenario you could come up with! I think that would be such an interesting relationship to explore - particularly in the aftermath of season eight, as an us-against-the-world scenario - or in a world where Daenerys decided to rule in Essos not Westeros and fully committed herself to their campaign of ending slavery and building a better world there.
Freeform requests
For all his claims to intelligence, Tyrion's advice as Daenerys' Hand was pretty consistently bad - there's so many points where things would have gone so much better for Daenerys if she'd made Missandei her Hand at the end of Season 6 instead of Tyrion. Missandei's quiet and she's often hesitant to put her opinion forward, but her advice is generally better - and she's also, in Season 6, explicitly recognised as the person Daenerys trusts the most! It really would be a lovely way to strengthen their relationship, and particularly to show Missandei growing in confidence and getting more comfortable asserting herself.
Speaking of bad advice, Daenerys's decision not to hit King's Landing hard and fast as soon as she arrived in Westeros never made much sense, except as a way for the showrunners to draw out the conflict with Cersei over two seasons - even if she wanted to reduce suffering among the common people, how is slowly starving the city better than quickly burning it? Of course people will die either way! I'd love to see what would have happened if she took the throne at a point when more of her most loyal allies (Yara, Ellaria, Olenna, Jorah, Missandei) were still alive/uncaptured and she still had three dragons. I'd also love to see what she'd do on the throne when she still had some of her earlier optimism and faith in doing the right thing - and how Missandei (and Grey Worm?) would adapt to life in Westeros - would they find a compelling cause they can see Daenerys as helping to address (changing the status of Westeros's serfs - presumably there are still serfs, in a medieval-feudal society? changing the status of women? reducing the hereditary privileges of the nobility?). Or would Daenerys then try and rule both Westeros and Slavers' Bay? Would Grey Worm and Missandei return to Essos to lead the fight against slavery there, with Daenerys' support?
I do also love the idea that Daenerys might have been happiest giving up on Westeros altogether, though - she's spent almost all her life in Essos, the people she loves and trusts most are there, she understands the political systems better there, and I'd also like to see her recognise her own responsibility to the people of Slaver's Bay - after completely upending their society, it really isn't right for her to give up on them and take the protection of her dragons away. This also really suits my interest in Grey Worm and Missandei - besides their personal loyalty and support for Daenerys, it's hard to see what they'd gain from spending their lives in Westeros - staying in or returning to Essos, taking their campaign against slavery to cities like Volantis and Lys, or building a new society in Valyria, seems much more in line with what they care about most.
I think a good old 'time travel back into the body of your younger self to fix things' could work for any of the three main characters I requested, Missandei or Daenerys from the point of their deaths, or Grey Worm after Jon's trial. I really, really love time travel fix its! But particularly when the time travelling character isn't perfect and doesn't know everything - where they still make mistakes, or where their attempts to fix some things lead to new and different mistakes. Also, stories where it turns out that more than one character travelled back in time are also fantastic - I would also adore a story where Grey Worm and Missandei or Daenerys and Missandei, or all three of them, travelled back in time! I would prefer that if more than one character travels back in time, Missandei is one of them.
The Books of the Raksura
Group: Consolation & First & Kethel
Group: Consolation & First & Kethel & Consolation's Father
Moon (Books of the Raksura)
Raksura: Moon finds Consolation and her family instead of, or before, finding Stone
Raksura: Consolation's Father survived into canon time period
The Raksura books are another all-time favourite comfort read, the found family story of my heart! I love Moon, I love the worldbuilding, I love the complexity and possibility of the half-Raksura, half-Fell characters. There's quiet darkness lurking in the background (Moon's childhood, Indigo Cloud's slow decline, the violence of what happened to Opal Night) but that just makes the happy parts sweeter. Moon finds a family! Indigo Cloud finds a consort! Consolation and her family find a tree! Everyone's happy!
I'll always love Moon, the delicate princess who wants to FIGHT EVERYONE; his slow gradual lowering of his defenses as he finally comes to believe that his new family really do love and care for him is an iddy delight, every time. And Consolation and her family are a delight too - I love that Consolation makes mistakes and fucks up and she's still trying so hard, her struggles are motivated by such care for her family, the sheer determination not just to become better people but also to protect her family from the rest of the Fell. And in turn, Kethel and First and the others' loyalty to her is just lovely.
I love the idea of Moon as a reluctant father figure to Consolation, but I don't ship them at all - please don't write them as a romantic/sexual pairing. I could be convinced on Moon/Kethel, though! Otherwise, any background canon pairings you want to include are fine (non-canon pairings I love include Moon/River, Niran/Blossom and an aged up Frost/Shade).
Freeform requests
I really love the idea that Consolation's father might have survived longer than in canon - life for Consolation's flight would definitely be so much easier with an experienced Raksura around to advise them, and it would be so lovely for him to actually get a chance at freedom away from Consolation's progenitor. But on the other hand, I can see that freedom as bittersweet - knowing that he can't ever go back to his people if he wants to keep his children safe, knowing that he has to accept life as an exile for their sake. The last two books would definitely go very differently, if Consolation had a Raksuran advisor - they definitely wouldn't hurt the harvesters or try to steal Moon - and it would be really interesting to see Moon and the others coming to terms with a Raksura willingly living with Fell and Fell crossbreeds.
It would also be really, really interesting to see Moon meet Consolation and her family first, instead of Indigo Cloud - either in combination with the AU above, and Consolation's consort father still being alive, or not. (Again, if you do this please don't write Moon/Consolation - I'm happy for Moon to end up with anyone or no-one, just not Consolation, I see them as having much more of a father-daughter relationship given the gap in experience and maturity between them.) It would be a really different way for Moon to learn about his own species lol - but also I think Consolation and her flight's struggle to live a better life and do the right thing even when it's difficult would really strike a chord with Moon, and I can easily see his protective instincts kicking in. Or maybe Moon gets kidnapped by Consolation's mother, and teams up with Consolation and the others to escape?
Either way, it would also be amazing if Moon and the others did eventually meet up with Indigo Cloud and/or Opal Night! I can definitely see Moon having a very different relationship with his birth court in this AU - but also with Indigo Cloud. Would the Fell have even targeted Indigo Cloud in this universe?
Star Wars Rebels
Group: CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano/Darth Vader (SW: Rebels)
SWR: Rex goes with Ahsoka to confront Darth Vader on Malachor
SW: The collapse of Malachor's temple gives Vader amnesia
SW: The collapse of Malachor's temple gives Ahsoka and Vader amnesia
All: Enemies forced to work together
All: Time Travel Fix-It
Like the Clone Wars series, Star Wars Rebels is generally fun and delightful, but the background tragedy is awful and heartbreaking - and of course that's what I fixate on! As much as I love the younger, playful versions in the Clone Wars, I really love their sadder, wiser older selves, too. Rex, in particular, has an almost Jedi-like sense of acceptance in how he manages to deal with the truly awful shit he's lived through, and while Ahsoka has lost a lot of her younger playfulness, it's not all gone - and the way they've held onto their friendship and care for each other despite the years is so touching. And then there's Vader, who hasn't quite forgotten Anakin Skywalker and the people Anakin loved, even if he wishes he could.
Just about every AU scenario that would make this trio possible would be fascinating, if heartbreaking. All the emotional entanglements, the what-ifs and the guilt, knowing that none of them ought to care so much about people on the other side but unable to stop themselves from remembering the past... Knowing that sex or any kind of emotional connection is a terrible idea but not being able to resist anyway...
Their relationship was delightful back in the Clone Wars - Ahsoka and Anakin's teasing irreverence countered by Rex's formality, the partnership between the three of them despite the barriers of age and rank. Decades later Rex still thinks of Ahsoka as just about his dearest friend and Skywalker as the best Jedi of them all, Ahsoka can't bring herself to give up on Anakin even when he's basically beyond hope, and even Vader tried to avoid killing Ahsoka, at first... :( And of course I want to take that tragedy and make it hurt more! Anything exploring how they feel about where they all ended up, showing that they all still care in some way despite themselves, would be wonderful.
Please feel free to include past Ahsoka/Rex/Anakin, or any two pairings within that triad - or have of them as not having had any kind of sexual and romantic relationship with the others at all up until the start of the story - whatever suits the needs of the story! And feel free to keep Vader in the suit, or AU him out of it, whatever suits you. I am 100% okay with creative means of having sex while he's in the suit, too.
Freeform requests
I really love the idea of an AU where Rex went with Ahsoka and the others to Malachor and confronted Vader there with her. I've always wished we got to see Rex's reaction to the truth about Anakin in the show, and sending him to Malachor would be a great way to do it - whether that's the first time he realised who Vader used to be, or whether he'd already figured it out and was keeping it from Ahsoka because he didn't want to break her heart with the truth that had broken his. I feel like Rex is the person who'd be most familiar with Anakin's tactics, given their history together, and also the most likely to be able to read a person's mannerisms through a suit of armour; I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that he figured out Anakin/Vader years ago and managed to make some kind of peace with the knowledge, such that he was still able to tell Ezra that Skywalker was the best Jedi of them all :( But how he'd manage when he was actually confronted with Vader - and when Ahsoka was there facing the truth with him - would be a different story.
I also love the idea of Vader (and Ahsoka?) losing their memories after Malachor (whether or not this is an AU where Rex also came along) - it would be absolutely heartbreaking for Rex (/Ahsoka) to deal with the fact that Anakin (/Ahsoka) didn't remember what happened, but also maybe they wouldn't able to help being glad of the second chance? But also, how long would it last before either or both of them started to remember? And would a reminder that there are still people left who care about him be enough to stop Vader from returning to the Empire once he remembered who he is?
Enemies forced to work together by circumstance is always one of my favourite things - perhaps Vader decides to make a move against Palpatine without actually returning to the light, and Ahsoka and Rex reluctantly decide to help him, seeing him as the lesser of the two evils? It's hard to imagine what could motivate Vader to do this, but I think the discovery that his child with Padme survived might. Or perhaps the three of them are stranded somewhere remote and dangerous together, and have to work together to survive?
I also love, love, love that time travel is canon in Star Wars now!! I really love time travel stories, and particularly time travel fix-its! If all three of them went back in time together (and I would prefer this to only one or two of them going back and retaining their memories of the past) that would also definitely satisfy my itch for enemies forced to work together! There's all kind of force wackiness that could be used to send them back, though certainly sending Rex to Malachor with Ahsoka would be an easy way to do it, such that they all end up falling back (or forward!) into time together due to Force Wackiness and the influence of Ezra's later time travel from the Lothal Temple? But honestly, any scenario to make this possible would be a delight.
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Group: Azula/Katara
A:TLA: Azula is exiled instead of Zuko
ALL: Arranged Marriage AU
ALL: Different Side Wins
ALL: Enemies forced to work together
This is one of my all-time favourite, comfort fandoms I return to again and again, and these two characters are such a big part of that! Katara's character growth and development, her courage and strength, are some of my favourite things. I love the way that her emotions and her compassion are her strengths, the way that she's such a traditionally feminine character in so many ways but also that she's full of so much anger - and her anger isn't a weakness, she's righteously mad and the narrative (usually) allows her to be angry without losing her compassion.
Azula's story, on the other hand, is heartbreaking - I hate her madness, I hate that she never gets the chances to learn to become a better person that Zuko does, that the one person who could have made a difference in her life (Iroh) basically gave up on her when she was still a tiny child. But at the same time, I do love her confidence and her incredible talent, the way that she's not just a bending prodigy but also tactically brilliant and a master manipulator. And that she surrounds herself with powerful women as her major allies!
And as much as I hate that Azula ended up where she did, I do love that Katara is the only person who is both strong and smart enough to defeat her - Zuko couldn't do it - that they are equals in both their power and their intelligence.
I feel like Katara/Azula could be taken in so many different directions, all the way from messed up angry hatesex (I'd prefer no actual noncon, though) to reluctant allies to older wiser ladies discovering common ground. I love the epic contrasts between them - fire versus water, manipulation and control versus hope and passion, healer versus killer - but I also love how they sometimes parallel - very powerful and dedicated in their bending, almost prodigies, both of them the little sisters in their families coming to terms with patriarchy and gender roles (albeit in different ways).
Freeform requests
I really, really love the idea of a role reversal between Azula and Zuko, so that she is the one who gets the chance to see the world more clearly, learn and grow away from the toxic influence of her father - and even join Team Avatar and become friends (and something more) with Katara along the way. Maybe, instead of showing compassion/"weakness" like Zuko, her father decides that she's too smart and ambitious, and thus too much of a threat? I feel like Azula's journey in this AU wouldn't be an exact parallel to Zuko's, but there's so many different directions it could take, and so many lovely possibilities for Katara and Azula to move from enemies to allies/friends to lovers.
Arranged marriage is another favourite - it would take a left turn in canon somewhere to make this possible, but I really love the idea. Sending Katara to the Fire Nation for the sake of peace is a classic, and I always love it - but I'd also love to see Azula sent to the Southern Icefield for the sake of a marriage alliance! Seeing her adjust to the massive, massive differences in lifestyle and expectations between a Chieftain's daughter and a Fire Nation princess would come as a huge shock to her, I think, and I'd love to see how she dealt with it.
As much as I love the fluffy kids show, there's a lot of background darkness in the show, and it's always fascinating to see that brought to the surface. AUs where the Fire Nation won can be so interesting - maybe Aang and Ozai destroyed each other, and Zuko can't hold onto the throne without the Avatar's support, so Azula ends up in charge instead? With Katara as her prisoner, trying to persuade Azula into a better way of ruling - or else trying to destabilise Azula into losing her grip on power and giving the Fire Nation's enemies a better chance? Or maybe an AU where Ozai did survive and Azula's trying to handle her own marginalisation and dismissal, with Katara as her prisoner/reluctant ally?
Or potentially a Different Side Wins AU where the Southern Water Tribe fell to the Fire Nation much earlier, and Katara was raised in the Fire Nation and ended up serving Azula, either willingly or unwillingly, as another one of Azula's dangerous ladies? This would be fascinating regardless of whether Azula worked for the Fire Nation as per canon or whether Katara's influence would be enough to change her mind!
Enemies forced to work together is such a classic trope and I always love it! It doesn't matter how it happens - as part of one of the other AUs above, or something completely different - I love the tropes, reluctant partnership leading to a greater understanding of each other leading to something more. Anything you can come up with for this scenario would be a delight!
Thank you again so much for writing for me!
Likes
I am generally pretty flexible with the things I like. Character-driven stories are awesome, plot-driven stories are awesome, explicit porn is awesome, G-rated fluff with hand-holding is awesome, angst and bleakness are awesome, happy endings are awesome, humor is awesome! Etc.
A few of my favourite things include:
-Politics, history and worldbuilding
-Road trips (or spaceship trips, actual ship trips, etc)
-Stoic girls with repressed feelings
-Female antiheroes or villains with complex motivations
-Enemies forced to work together by circumstance
-Time travel shenanigans and what if/canon divergence AUs
-Unexpected and unconventional happy endings, or bittersweet endings
-Tragedies that are more-or-less inevitable given the nature of the individuals involved
-People living in less-than-ideal or even actively hostile situations who manage to carve out some kind of happiness despite that.
Porn likes include use of magic (or the Force) during sex, rough/frantic sex, emphasising nonhuman strengths/capabilities/anatomy for nonhuman or superpowered characters, mild D/s, and bondage/restraints.
I am okay with violence, noncon, character death, etc - provided that it is warned for up front - though I would prefer that stories do not focus solely on trauma/horror/violence, and if these do come up as part of the story, I am more interested in the lead up and the aftermath than in dragging out the details of the act itself.
DNWs:
-Different setting AUs (eg coffee shops or superheroes)
-Soulmate or soulmark universes
-Lengthy descriptions of violence/horror/major character death (as noted above)
-Noncon between requested characters
-M/f D/s with female subs
-Unrequested kinks
-Unrequested gender/sexuality headcanons for requested canon characters.
Fandom-specific DNWs only:
-Unrequested het pairings involving Ahsoka Tano or Sansa Stark
-Tyrion as a major character
-Tyrion/anyone but particularly not Tyrion/Sansa or Tyrion/Dany, even as a background pairing
-Death of requested characters in ATLA or Raksura fandoms; Ahsoka or Missandei dying
-Moon/Consolation as a sexual or romantic pairing.
On to the fandoms! I requested:
Game of Thrones
Group: Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen (GoT)
Group: Missandei & Daenerys Targaryen (GoT)
Group: Missandei/Grey Worm (GoT)
Group: Grey Worm/Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen (GoT)
GoT: Missandei as Daenerys's Hand
GoT: Daenerys and her allies do attack King's Landing upon her arrival at Westeros
GoT: Missandei and/or Grey Worm convince Daenerys to return to Essos after the Night King is killed
GoT: Daenerys chooses to try and rebuild Valyria instead of going to Westeros
GoT: Daenerys stays in Meereen
ALL: Main character goes back in time to the body of their younger self and changes what happened
Even though I was fairly bummed about how Game of Thrones played Daenerys's heel turn (the shoddy execution, not the fact they did it at all) I think that the worst thing for me was what it meant for Missandei - the cruelest, most devastating death - and for Grey Worm, the lone survivor who lost almost everything he cared about. It's really upsetting that they didn't just lose everything that mattered to them, their dreams (ending slavery and other forms of tyranny) and their people became villainised and demonised as part of the Daenerys-goes-dark turn.
At this point I think that what I most want is fix-it fic for one or both of them - which likely but doesn't necessarily have to mean a happier ending for Daenerys as well. She's important to both of them not only because they care about her as a person, but also because the goal that motivates them - ending slavery - would be infinitely easier with the help of a woman who controls fire-breathing monsters and can inspire religious fervour (via priests of the Red God and her firewalking) in tens of thousands of people. That being said, a story where Missandei survives with Grey Worm but they still lose Daenerys, or choose to leave her, and she and Grey Worm have to find a way to keep fighting without Daenerys' magic and dragons, would also be really interesting!
Relationship requests
In terms of pairings, I love the tiny hints we saw in the show of the depth of the relationship between Missandei and Daenerys - braiding each other's hair, holding hands in the face of death in the fighting pits of Meereen - and I'd absolutely adore anything that fleshed out that relationship, whether as a deeper friendship or as a romantic relationship. I'd particularly love a chance to see more of their relationship from Missandei's point of view. Those little moments aside, Missandei was always so formal and deferential towards Daenerys, it would be really lovely to see a more assertive side of Missandei, in a relationship where she and Daenerys are more equal.
I also really love Missandei and Grey Worm together, their relationship is really powerful and really sweet (though I really could have done without the show's constant focus on Grey Worm's genitalia and the ~shocking question~ of whether he still had a cock or not, as if that was even fucking relevant). It's heartbreaking that things ended how they did, I really hated not only the unnecessary cruelty of Missandei's death but also that the two people who loved her most were forced to watch (and that, let's be honest, her death was just a way of motivating both of them into uncharacteristic acts of cruelty). I'd love anything focused on Grey Worm and Missandei together and what their relationship means to each other, what it feels like to be free to choose for the first time - giving them the chance to build new lives together that they never got on the show.
If you wanted to explore Grey Worm/Missandei/Daenerys - whether as a poly v or as a triad - that would be absolutely amazing and I would adore just about any possible scenario you could come up with! I think that would be such an interesting relationship to explore - particularly in the aftermath of season eight, as an us-against-the-world scenario - or in a world where Daenerys decided to rule in Essos not Westeros and fully committed herself to their campaign of ending slavery and building a better world there.
Freeform requests
For all his claims to intelligence, Tyrion's advice as Daenerys' Hand was pretty consistently bad - there's so many points where things would have gone so much better for Daenerys if she'd made Missandei her Hand at the end of Season 6 instead of Tyrion. Missandei's quiet and she's often hesitant to put her opinion forward, but her advice is generally better - and she's also, in Season 6, explicitly recognised as the person Daenerys trusts the most! It really would be a lovely way to strengthen their relationship, and particularly to show Missandei growing in confidence and getting more comfortable asserting herself.
Speaking of bad advice, Daenerys's decision not to hit King's Landing hard and fast as soon as she arrived in Westeros never made much sense, except as a way for the showrunners to draw out the conflict with Cersei over two seasons - even if she wanted to reduce suffering among the common people, how is slowly starving the city better than quickly burning it? Of course people will die either way! I'd love to see what would have happened if she took the throne at a point when more of her most loyal allies (Yara, Ellaria, Olenna, Jorah, Missandei) were still alive/uncaptured and she still had three dragons. I'd also love to see what she'd do on the throne when she still had some of her earlier optimism and faith in doing the right thing - and how Missandei (and Grey Worm?) would adapt to life in Westeros - would they find a compelling cause they can see Daenerys as helping to address (changing the status of Westeros's serfs - presumably there are still serfs, in a medieval-feudal society? changing the status of women? reducing the hereditary privileges of the nobility?). Or would Daenerys then try and rule both Westeros and Slavers' Bay? Would Grey Worm and Missandei return to Essos to lead the fight against slavery there, with Daenerys' support?
I do also love the idea that Daenerys might have been happiest giving up on Westeros altogether, though - she's spent almost all her life in Essos, the people she loves and trusts most are there, she understands the political systems better there, and I'd also like to see her recognise her own responsibility to the people of Slaver's Bay - after completely upending their society, it really isn't right for her to give up on them and take the protection of her dragons away. This also really suits my interest in Grey Worm and Missandei - besides their personal loyalty and support for Daenerys, it's hard to see what they'd gain from spending their lives in Westeros - staying in or returning to Essos, taking their campaign against slavery to cities like Volantis and Lys, or building a new society in Valyria, seems much more in line with what they care about most.
I think a good old 'time travel back into the body of your younger self to fix things' could work for any of the three main characters I requested, Missandei or Daenerys from the point of their deaths, or Grey Worm after Jon's trial. I really, really love time travel fix its! But particularly when the time travelling character isn't perfect and doesn't know everything - where they still make mistakes, or where their attempts to fix some things lead to new and different mistakes. Also, stories where it turns out that more than one character travelled back in time are also fantastic - I would also adore a story where Grey Worm and Missandei or Daenerys and Missandei, or all three of them, travelled back in time! I would prefer that if more than one character travels back in time, Missandei is one of them.
The Books of the Raksura
Group: Consolation & First & Kethel
Group: Consolation & First & Kethel & Consolation's Father
Moon (Books of the Raksura)
Raksura: Moon finds Consolation and her family instead of, or before, finding Stone
Raksura: Consolation's Father survived into canon time period
The Raksura books are another all-time favourite comfort read, the found family story of my heart! I love Moon, I love the worldbuilding, I love the complexity and possibility of the half-Raksura, half-Fell characters. There's quiet darkness lurking in the background (Moon's childhood, Indigo Cloud's slow decline, the violence of what happened to Opal Night) but that just makes the happy parts sweeter. Moon finds a family! Indigo Cloud finds a consort! Consolation and her family find a tree! Everyone's happy!
I'll always love Moon, the delicate princess who wants to FIGHT EVERYONE; his slow gradual lowering of his defenses as he finally comes to believe that his new family really do love and care for him is an iddy delight, every time. And Consolation and her family are a delight too - I love that Consolation makes mistakes and fucks up and she's still trying so hard, her struggles are motivated by such care for her family, the sheer determination not just to become better people but also to protect her family from the rest of the Fell. And in turn, Kethel and First and the others' loyalty to her is just lovely.
I love the idea of Moon as a reluctant father figure to Consolation, but I don't ship them at all - please don't write them as a romantic/sexual pairing. I could be convinced on Moon/Kethel, though! Otherwise, any background canon pairings you want to include are fine (non-canon pairings I love include Moon/River, Niran/Blossom and an aged up Frost/Shade).
Freeform requests
I really love the idea that Consolation's father might have survived longer than in canon - life for Consolation's flight would definitely be so much easier with an experienced Raksura around to advise them, and it would be so lovely for him to actually get a chance at freedom away from Consolation's progenitor. But on the other hand, I can see that freedom as bittersweet - knowing that he can't ever go back to his people if he wants to keep his children safe, knowing that he has to accept life as an exile for their sake. The last two books would definitely go very differently, if Consolation had a Raksuran advisor - they definitely wouldn't hurt the harvesters or try to steal Moon - and it would be really interesting to see Moon and the others coming to terms with a Raksura willingly living with Fell and Fell crossbreeds.
It would also be really, really interesting to see Moon meet Consolation and her family first, instead of Indigo Cloud - either in combination with the AU above, and Consolation's consort father still being alive, or not. (Again, if you do this please don't write Moon/Consolation - I'm happy for Moon to end up with anyone or no-one, just not Consolation, I see them as having much more of a father-daughter relationship given the gap in experience and maturity between them.) It would be a really different way for Moon to learn about his own species lol - but also I think Consolation and her flight's struggle to live a better life and do the right thing even when it's difficult would really strike a chord with Moon, and I can easily see his protective instincts kicking in. Or maybe Moon gets kidnapped by Consolation's mother, and teams up with Consolation and the others to escape?
Either way, it would also be amazing if Moon and the others did eventually meet up with Indigo Cloud and/or Opal Night! I can definitely see Moon having a very different relationship with his birth court in this AU - but also with Indigo Cloud. Would the Fell have even targeted Indigo Cloud in this universe?
Star Wars Rebels
Group: CT-7567 | Rex/Ahsoka Tano/Darth Vader (SW: Rebels)
SWR: Rex goes with Ahsoka to confront Darth Vader on Malachor
SW: The collapse of Malachor's temple gives Vader amnesia
SW: The collapse of Malachor's temple gives Ahsoka and Vader amnesia
All: Enemies forced to work together
All: Time Travel Fix-It
Like the Clone Wars series, Star Wars Rebels is generally fun and delightful, but the background tragedy is awful and heartbreaking - and of course that's what I fixate on! As much as I love the younger, playful versions in the Clone Wars, I really love their sadder, wiser older selves, too. Rex, in particular, has an almost Jedi-like sense of acceptance in how he manages to deal with the truly awful shit he's lived through, and while Ahsoka has lost a lot of her younger playfulness, it's not all gone - and the way they've held onto their friendship and care for each other despite the years is so touching. And then there's Vader, who hasn't quite forgotten Anakin Skywalker and the people Anakin loved, even if he wishes he could.
Just about every AU scenario that would make this trio possible would be fascinating, if heartbreaking. All the emotional entanglements, the what-ifs and the guilt, knowing that none of them ought to care so much about people on the other side but unable to stop themselves from remembering the past... Knowing that sex or any kind of emotional connection is a terrible idea but not being able to resist anyway...
Their relationship was delightful back in the Clone Wars - Ahsoka and Anakin's teasing irreverence countered by Rex's formality, the partnership between the three of them despite the barriers of age and rank. Decades later Rex still thinks of Ahsoka as just about his dearest friend and Skywalker as the best Jedi of them all, Ahsoka can't bring herself to give up on Anakin even when he's basically beyond hope, and even Vader tried to avoid killing Ahsoka, at first... :( And of course I want to take that tragedy and make it hurt more! Anything exploring how they feel about where they all ended up, showing that they all still care in some way despite themselves, would be wonderful.
Please feel free to include past Ahsoka/Rex/Anakin, or any two pairings within that triad - or have of them as not having had any kind of sexual and romantic relationship with the others at all up until the start of the story - whatever suits the needs of the story! And feel free to keep Vader in the suit, or AU him out of it, whatever suits you. I am 100% okay with creative means of having sex while he's in the suit, too.
Freeform requests
I really love the idea of an AU where Rex went with Ahsoka and the others to Malachor and confronted Vader there with her. I've always wished we got to see Rex's reaction to the truth about Anakin in the show, and sending him to Malachor would be a great way to do it - whether that's the first time he realised who Vader used to be, or whether he'd already figured it out and was keeping it from Ahsoka because he didn't want to break her heart with the truth that had broken his. I feel like Rex is the person who'd be most familiar with Anakin's tactics, given their history together, and also the most likely to be able to read a person's mannerisms through a suit of armour; I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that he figured out Anakin/Vader years ago and managed to make some kind of peace with the knowledge, such that he was still able to tell Ezra that Skywalker was the best Jedi of them all :( But how he'd manage when he was actually confronted with Vader - and when Ahsoka was there facing the truth with him - would be a different story.
I also love the idea of Vader (and Ahsoka?) losing their memories after Malachor (whether or not this is an AU where Rex also came along) - it would be absolutely heartbreaking for Rex (/Ahsoka) to deal with the fact that Anakin (/Ahsoka) didn't remember what happened, but also maybe they wouldn't able to help being glad of the second chance? But also, how long would it last before either or both of them started to remember? And would a reminder that there are still people left who care about him be enough to stop Vader from returning to the Empire once he remembered who he is?
Enemies forced to work together by circumstance is always one of my favourite things - perhaps Vader decides to make a move against Palpatine without actually returning to the light, and Ahsoka and Rex reluctantly decide to help him, seeing him as the lesser of the two evils? It's hard to imagine what could motivate Vader to do this, but I think the discovery that his child with Padme survived might. Or perhaps the three of them are stranded somewhere remote and dangerous together, and have to work together to survive?
I also love, love, love that time travel is canon in Star Wars now!! I really love time travel stories, and particularly time travel fix-its! If all three of them went back in time together (and I would prefer this to only one or two of them going back and retaining their memories of the past) that would also definitely satisfy my itch for enemies forced to work together! There's all kind of force wackiness that could be used to send them back, though certainly sending Rex to Malachor with Ahsoka would be an easy way to do it, such that they all end up falling back (or forward!) into time together due to Force Wackiness and the influence of Ezra's later time travel from the Lothal Temple? But honestly, any scenario to make this possible would be a delight.
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Group: Azula/Katara
A:TLA: Azula is exiled instead of Zuko
ALL: Arranged Marriage AU
ALL: Different Side Wins
ALL: Enemies forced to work together
This is one of my all-time favourite, comfort fandoms I return to again and again, and these two characters are such a big part of that! Katara's character growth and development, her courage and strength, are some of my favourite things. I love the way that her emotions and her compassion are her strengths, the way that she's such a traditionally feminine character in so many ways but also that she's full of so much anger - and her anger isn't a weakness, she's righteously mad and the narrative (usually) allows her to be angry without losing her compassion.
Azula's story, on the other hand, is heartbreaking - I hate her madness, I hate that she never gets the chances to learn to become a better person that Zuko does, that the one person who could have made a difference in her life (Iroh) basically gave up on her when she was still a tiny child. But at the same time, I do love her confidence and her incredible talent, the way that she's not just a bending prodigy but also tactically brilliant and a master manipulator. And that she surrounds herself with powerful women as her major allies!
And as much as I hate that Azula ended up where she did, I do love that Katara is the only person who is both strong and smart enough to defeat her - Zuko couldn't do it - that they are equals in both their power and their intelligence.
I feel like Katara/Azula could be taken in so many different directions, all the way from messed up angry hatesex (I'd prefer no actual noncon, though) to reluctant allies to older wiser ladies discovering common ground. I love the epic contrasts between them - fire versus water, manipulation and control versus hope and passion, healer versus killer - but I also love how they sometimes parallel - very powerful and dedicated in their bending, almost prodigies, both of them the little sisters in their families coming to terms with patriarchy and gender roles (albeit in different ways).
Freeform requests
I really, really love the idea of a role reversal between Azula and Zuko, so that she is the one who gets the chance to see the world more clearly, learn and grow away from the toxic influence of her father - and even join Team Avatar and become friends (and something more) with Katara along the way. Maybe, instead of showing compassion/"weakness" like Zuko, her father decides that she's too smart and ambitious, and thus too much of a threat? I feel like Azula's journey in this AU wouldn't be an exact parallel to Zuko's, but there's so many different directions it could take, and so many lovely possibilities for Katara and Azula to move from enemies to allies/friends to lovers.
Arranged marriage is another favourite - it would take a left turn in canon somewhere to make this possible, but I really love the idea. Sending Katara to the Fire Nation for the sake of peace is a classic, and I always love it - but I'd also love to see Azula sent to the Southern Icefield for the sake of a marriage alliance! Seeing her adjust to the massive, massive differences in lifestyle and expectations between a Chieftain's daughter and a Fire Nation princess would come as a huge shock to her, I think, and I'd love to see how she dealt with it.
As much as I love the fluffy kids show, there's a lot of background darkness in the show, and it's always fascinating to see that brought to the surface. AUs where the Fire Nation won can be so interesting - maybe Aang and Ozai destroyed each other, and Zuko can't hold onto the throne without the Avatar's support, so Azula ends up in charge instead? With Katara as her prisoner, trying to persuade Azula into a better way of ruling - or else trying to destabilise Azula into losing her grip on power and giving the Fire Nation's enemies a better chance? Or maybe an AU where Ozai did survive and Azula's trying to handle her own marginalisation and dismissal, with Katara as her prisoner/reluctant ally?
Or potentially a Different Side Wins AU where the Southern Water Tribe fell to the Fire Nation much earlier, and Katara was raised in the Fire Nation and ended up serving Azula, either willingly or unwillingly, as another one of Azula's dangerous ladies? This would be fascinating regardless of whether Azula worked for the Fire Nation as per canon or whether Katara's influence would be enough to change her mind!
Enemies forced to work together is such a classic trope and I always love it! It doesn't matter how it happens - as part of one of the other AUs above, or something completely different - I love the tropes, reluctant partnership leading to a greater understanding of each other leading to something more. Anything you can come up with for this scenario would be a delight!
Thank you again so much for writing for me!
