Femslash 2019
Sep. 21st, 2019 12:59 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 (including Peggy Sues!) 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 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.
If a character I have requested is in a current het relationship at the end of the canon, I am happy with background poly, character death or ignoring the relationship/they never got together at all AU as a solution to making my requested pairing happen. "The canon couple was together, but now they've broken up" or having them break up during the course of the story, is generally less appealing to me - in most cases either I like the pairing and seeing them break up will be sad, or I don't like the pairing and so don't want to have to read about it having happened at all. (Exceptions: I'm completely fine with stories where Hermione and Ron, Narcissa and Lucius, Cersei and Jaime or Katara and Aang were together but break up. Please do not write me background poly in which Tyrion is involved with any requested characters.)
DNWs:
-Different setting AUs (eg coffee shops or superheroes)
-Soulmate or soulmark universes
-Lengthy descriptions of violence/horror/noncon/major character death (as noted above)
-Noncon between requested characters (dubcon of the "don't want to want it but I do" variety is fine)
-Unrequested kinks
-Unrequested gender or sexuality headcanons for requested canon characters.
Fandom-specific DNWs only:
-Het pairings involving Sansa Stark or Azula, even as background
-Tyrion as a major character, or paired with anyone even as background (mentioning his canon relationship with Shae or his technical marriage to Sansa is okay but please don't have him end up still with either of them by the end of your story; Tyrion is also the one exception to my background-poly-is-fine note)
-Death of requested characters in AtLA; Missandei-focused stories that end in or foreshadow her death (unless you are writing a story where she comes back!); Cersei/Daenerys set after Cersei kills Missandei
As for the fandoms and pairings, I requested:
Game of Thrones
Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen
Cersei Lannister/Daenerys Targaryen
Shae/Sansa Stark
Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen
I loved 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, not to mention "I'd burn down the world if something happened to you" was literally true in Daenerys' case - and I'd absolutely adore anything that fleshed out that 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 feel like there's definitely space in canon for something more to have happened between Missandei and Daenerys, but I would also absolutely adore an AU or fix-it fic. I was fairly bummed about how Game of Thrones played Daenerys's heel turn; but I think that the worst thing for me was what it meant for Missandei, both personally - she really had the cruelest, most devastating death - and politically, in that suddenly her revolutionary aims to end slavery and other destructive social hierarchies suddenly was shown as something scary and dangerous in the last couple of episodes. It's really upsetting that Missandei didn't just lose her life in a horrible and traumatic way, the cause and the woman who she had literally died for were destroyed only a short time later. Anything that fixed that, and restored the complexity of Daenerys' attempted conquest (because she wasn't perfect! you could definitely criticise a lot about her! she just wasn't ever black-and-white evil until the sudden plunge at the end!) would be wonderful.
Cersei Lannister/Daenerys Targaryen
These characters ended up as foils for each other in so many ways that I find fascinating - both ruthless and relentlessly ambitious, but where Daenerys kept trying to balance her ambition with justice and mercy, Cersei's motto has been amoral self-interest right from the start. It would be so fascinating to see a different side of the two of them, in circumstances where their interests were aligned for once - enemies forced to work together by circumstance is one of my all-time favourite tropes! Or even a moment of unexpected common ground before their backgrounds and motivations inevitably doom any chance at a relationship. If you did want to go full AU with this pairing I'd adore it - for example, I've always wondered what would have happened if Cersei, not Tyrion, was the one who lost everything at the end of season 4 and had to flee to Essos. How differently would things have gone if Cersei was the Lannister who ended up as Daenerys' Hand? How would they have changed each other? Or maybe an AU where the war against the white walkers went differently (badly) and Cersei did have to end up working with Daenerys to survive?
As flagged above, please do not write me Cersei/Daenerys set in canon after Cersei kills Missandei - I'm not under any illusions that Cersei is a good person, I just don't want to read about a situation where Daenerys would ever be anything like okay with it.
Shae/Sansa Stark
I know her character was killed off many years ago but I still love Shae, her fierce strength and determination to survive no matter what, the way she tries to hold herself aloof but can't help loving people even when it hurts her. And her relationship with Sansa - protective and kind even in the worst of circumstances - was so lovely, one of my favourite things in the whole show. I'm still heartbroken by season 4 - any kind of fix it where she survives would be brilliant, of course, but really anything that gives her agency and focuses the narrative on her and Sansa rather than Tyrion is what I'm looking for.
I feel like there's a lot of AU possibilities here! I still dream of happy stories where Sansa and Shae save each other and run away to the free cities or something; I'd love to see more of them together without the complication of Tyrion, especially as Sansa is getting older and wiser and more capable of an equal relationship. Also, a season 4 AU where Sansa doesn't run away from Littlefinger and thus escapes Ramsay would be wonderful too - I love Sansa, but I hate all the shit the show put her through and I was so grossed out by her season 8 comment that ~rape made her stronger~, blech. It would be really nice to see a Sansa that's grown up powerful and clever without having to be raped and tormented to get there! Or an AU where Shae survives season 4 and meets up with Sansa again years later - they'd be very different people, but it would be lovely to see if they could find common ground and kindness for each other again.
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Azula/Katara
Katara/Mai
Azula/Katara
Katara's character growth and development, her courage and strength, are some of my favourite things in the whole show. 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 did, 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 just want more between the two of them! 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. Or if you wanted to go full AU, there's so many wonderful possibilities - what if Azula was the one to be scarred and banished, and end up on a voyage of self-discovery, instead of Zuko? Or what if Katara was kidnapped by the Fire Nation as a child and ended up working for Azula as one of her dangerous ladies? Or arranged marriage AU?
Katara/Mai
Katara/Mai has been the crack pairing of my heart for many, many years. They are two of my favourites in the whole damn show, and I hated how fans of Katara/Zuko and Mai/Zuko often demonised the one that got in the way of their favourite ship (and I liked both of those ships!). So of course the whole thing ended inevitably in me shipping the two female sides of fandom's favourite AtLA love triangle with each other instead.
Moving past that backstory, once I started thinking about it, I started to love the idea of them becoming friends (or more than that!) so much. Katara needs more lady friends (Mai needs more friends, in general!) and I feel like they might have a lot more in common with each other than it might initially appear. They both have no patience with unpleasant people and share a common interest in looking nice, staying clean, and, when necessary, committing violence. I'd love to see a reluctant allies story where they have to work together for some plot reason, or a gradually developing friendship/romance as they discover common ground, set post-canon or in an AU - maybe Mai joined the Gaang earlier, alongside or instead of Zuko? Or a story where Katara was stuck in a post-Agni Kai Fire Nation for longer than canon, and ended up working with Mai to help Zuko secure his position on the throne?
Nirvana in Fire
Qin Banruo/Consort Jing
Qin Banruo/Gong Yu
Qin Banruo/Prince Yu's Wife
Gōng Yǔ/Mù Níhuáng
Mù Níhuáng/Xià Dōng
Mù Níhuáng/Xià Dōng
I really loved Nihuang right off the bat, and her friendship with Xia Dong was the clincher - I just love their mutually supportive but still layered and painful relationship, and the ways they just get each other, as two women managing to balance and take on traditionally masculine roles in a deeply stratified society. The fact that they each have their own individual loyalties that at times take precedence over their friendship, and the way that they both regret this, honestly makes me love them even more - I love complicated, painful, difficult relationships as much as heartwarming happy ones - and I would love to see a fic that explored how romance would change (or not change) that balance, although I would also love to see a scenario where they put each other first for once too. Pre-series, missing scene, post-series or AU - anything would be wonderful!
Gōng Yǔ/Mù Níhuáng
Shipping Gong Yu with Nihuang is a bit more out there, but I really feel like the two of them have a lot in common - despite the massive class difference they both walk a similar tightrope between very feminine roles (princess, courtesan) and very masculine ones (general, assassin); both also spend a lot of time hiding their true feelings and allegiances behind a mask. And of course there's the bit where they're both in love with the same man... I usually find F/M/F love triangles tiresome, and shipping the two ladies together instead is my knee-jerk reaction, but even setting that impulse aside I can see how they'd work really well together. Especially given how the show ends, I can see a genuine relationship developing between the two of them, starting from a place of mutual grief and developing from there.
Qin Banruo/Gong Yu
These two parallel each other in such interesting ways; I loved the storyline where they went up against each other and I always wished they'd get to face each other again! Particularly after we find out the truth about Gong Yu's heritage - as much as I love most of the show, the treatment of the Hua people is the one jarring note. Yes Banruo is often terrible and Xuanji did some monstrous things, but the Hua people were also treated monstrously, and the only resolution offered was more genocide. I would really love a more complex, nuanced look at the Hua people, or at the very least a happier ending for Banruo and Gong Yu, the two Hua women we see surviving (probably, in Banruo's case?) to the end of the show. Whatever you chose, I'd love to see more of them interacting, either more directly as rivals or in an AU where they are temporarily forced to work together. Or something exploring Banruo's future (redemption or otherwise)?
Qin Banruo/Prince Yu's Wife
I really wanted to see some kind of resolution and closure for Banruo, whether that's happy or sad - tragedy might be fitting, but I could believe that there's perhaps a chance for her to break out of the cycle of violence and revenge, both for herself and for the Hua people. And protecting and finding a happier future for Prince Yu's wife (WHO NEEDS A NAME, FFS) and her unborn child could be a really fascinating way to do that, whether it's through one of those "lost heir to the throne is raised in secret and reclaims their kingdom" stories, or something where Banruo is able to let go of her larger mission in favour of individual happiness? I feel that a big part of NiF is about the difference between revenge and justice - both Xuanji and MCS are brilliant schemers who suffered enormous injustice, but while Xuanji eventually failed because she was sidetracked into revenge and hurting everyone who was affiliated with anyone who'd hurt her, MCS stayed focused on justice (with people like the Jiangzhuo Alliance and Consort Jing on his side) and thus succeeded - but there's also something a bit icky about the gendered, colonialist parallel - MCS is righteous and justified, but Xuanji is just evil? Really? Anyway, any way to resolve that tension for the Hua, and for Banruo and Prince Yu's wife, would be lovely. Also! For all MCS kept talking about Prince Yu's unborn son, given its royal Hua heritage it would be so much more appropriate for that child to be a daughter, just saying!
Qin Banruo/Consort Jing
Look, I just love Banruo so much, probably in large part because of (not in spite of) how much she's outclassed as a spy/chess grandmaster compared to everyone she's up against. The fact that she's self-aware enough to know that she's no Xuanji, but her loyalty and commitment is such that she keeps fighting anyway... it's sort of heartbreaking, and I can't help but love her for it. Putting Banruo together with Consort Jing almost seems unfair; when it comes to manipulations Consort Jing is so far above her level! But I feel like any kind of relationship between them would be absolutely compelling - with Consort Jing feeling compassion for Banruo despite herself, and Banruo, in turn, maybe seeing (or not wanting to see) the ways Consort Jing could be like a kinder but no less driven or brilliant Xuanji (who I absolutely 100% believe Banruo is/was in love with). Both Banruo and Consort Jing are so powerless in many ways, but while Consort Jing has held onto her compassion no matter what, Banruo almost doesn't seem to remember what compassion is. I would love to see any kind of relationship between the two of them - whether they stay as antagonists who occasionally fuck or whether they find some kind of common ground. In particular, I'd be fascinated by role reversals and AUs - perhaps an AU where Prince Yu's rebellion succeeded, and Banruo got everything she (thought she) wanted - and then what? Or a complete role reversal where Banruo was the privileged(/caged) palace lady with no real power, and Consort Jing was the spymaster working on the outside?
Harry Potter
Narcissa Black Malfoy/Lily Evans Potter
Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson
I've always loved a good antagonistic ship - two people on opposite sides of a conflict who discover common ground and develop a relationship - which really fits both of these. Hatesex optional, but always welcome!
Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson
For Hermione and Pansy, I'd be equally interested in something set during canon - letting off steam during difficult times - or postcanon, Hermione and Pansy having to interact again during a Seventh Year at Hogwarts or in the workplace. (Or at whatever equivalent of university wizards have, I haven't kept up with Pottermore.) A redemption arc for Pansy would be nice, whatever form that takes! Or alternatively, I'm always up for canon divergence AUs - something where Pansy rejects her family background earlier, or a situation where Pansy and Hermione end up having to work together unexpectedly, could be really interesting. Regardless of which direction you take this, I'm always into stories where former antagonists have to come to terms with growing up, becoming adults, and dealing with their past childhood/teenage traumas, so anywhere you wanted to go with that would be great.
Narcissa Black/Lily Evans
I like to think that Snape wasn't Lily's only Slytherin friend, at least not early in her time at Hogwarts - and I think Narcissa is less dogmatic than Bellatrix, and I could easily believe that she wasn't particularly committed to pureblood ideology until the war forced her to chose between the two sides of her family (and I think her choice was almost certainly based on family loyalty). Or even if they weren't friends, I can see them as having a more complex relationship than straight-up antagonists - classroom rivals in Charms or Potions? Childhood crushes? I love the tragedy of two friends ending up on opposite sides of a war, or moments of connection between two enemies who know it can't last. But I'd also be interested in AUs, all the AUs - Lily lives AU! Narcissa chooses the rebel side of the family (maybe after finding out what really happened to Regulus?) and ends up working for the Order with Lily AU! Or an AU where Draco doesn't survive the Deathly Hallows and Narcissa travels back in time right to the first war in an attempt to make things right? There are so many awesome possibilities.
Thank you 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 (including Peggy Sues!) 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 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.
If a character I have requested is in a current het relationship at the end of the canon, I am happy with background poly, character death or ignoring the relationship/they never got together at all AU as a solution to making my requested pairing happen. "The canon couple was together, but now they've broken up" or having them break up during the course of the story, is generally less appealing to me - in most cases either I like the pairing and seeing them break up will be sad, or I don't like the pairing and so don't want to have to read about it having happened at all. (Exceptions: I'm completely fine with stories where Hermione and Ron, Narcissa and Lucius, Cersei and Jaime or Katara and Aang were together but break up. Please do not write me background poly in which Tyrion is involved with any requested characters.)
DNWs:
-Different setting AUs (eg coffee shops or superheroes)
-Soulmate or soulmark universes
-Lengthy descriptions of violence/horror/noncon/major character death (as noted above)
-Noncon between requested characters (dubcon of the "don't want to want it but I do" variety is fine)
-Unrequested kinks
-Unrequested gender or sexuality headcanons for requested canon characters.
Fandom-specific DNWs only:
-Het pairings involving Sansa Stark or Azula, even as background
-Tyrion as a major character, or paired with anyone even as background (mentioning his canon relationship with Shae or his technical marriage to Sansa is okay but please don't have him end up still with either of them by the end of your story; Tyrion is also the one exception to my background-poly-is-fine note)
-Death of requested characters in AtLA; Missandei-focused stories that end in or foreshadow her death (unless you are writing a story where she comes back!); Cersei/Daenerys set after Cersei kills Missandei
As for the fandoms and pairings, I requested:
Game of Thrones
Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen
Cersei Lannister/Daenerys Targaryen
Shae/Sansa Stark
Missandei/Daenerys Targaryen
I loved 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, not to mention "I'd burn down the world if something happened to you" was literally true in Daenerys' case - and I'd absolutely adore anything that fleshed out that 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 feel like there's definitely space in canon for something more to have happened between Missandei and Daenerys, but I would also absolutely adore an AU or fix-it fic. I was fairly bummed about how Game of Thrones played Daenerys's heel turn; but I think that the worst thing for me was what it meant for Missandei, both personally - she really had the cruelest, most devastating death - and politically, in that suddenly her revolutionary aims to end slavery and other destructive social hierarchies suddenly was shown as something scary and dangerous in the last couple of episodes. It's really upsetting that Missandei didn't just lose her life in a horrible and traumatic way, the cause and the woman who she had literally died for were destroyed only a short time later. Anything that fixed that, and restored the complexity of Daenerys' attempted conquest (because she wasn't perfect! you could definitely criticise a lot about her! she just wasn't ever black-and-white evil until the sudden plunge at the end!) would be wonderful.
Cersei Lannister/Daenerys Targaryen
These characters ended up as foils for each other in so many ways that I find fascinating - both ruthless and relentlessly ambitious, but where Daenerys kept trying to balance her ambition with justice and mercy, Cersei's motto has been amoral self-interest right from the start. It would be so fascinating to see a different side of the two of them, in circumstances where their interests were aligned for once - enemies forced to work together by circumstance is one of my all-time favourite tropes! Or even a moment of unexpected common ground before their backgrounds and motivations inevitably doom any chance at a relationship. If you did want to go full AU with this pairing I'd adore it - for example, I've always wondered what would have happened if Cersei, not Tyrion, was the one who lost everything at the end of season 4 and had to flee to Essos. How differently would things have gone if Cersei was the Lannister who ended up as Daenerys' Hand? How would they have changed each other? Or maybe an AU where the war against the white walkers went differently (badly) and Cersei did have to end up working with Daenerys to survive?
As flagged above, please do not write me Cersei/Daenerys set in canon after Cersei kills Missandei - I'm not under any illusions that Cersei is a good person, I just don't want to read about a situation where Daenerys would ever be anything like okay with it.
Shae/Sansa Stark
I know her character was killed off many years ago but I still love Shae, her fierce strength and determination to survive no matter what, the way she tries to hold herself aloof but can't help loving people even when it hurts her. And her relationship with Sansa - protective and kind even in the worst of circumstances - was so lovely, one of my favourite things in the whole show. I'm still heartbroken by season 4 - any kind of fix it where she survives would be brilliant, of course, but really anything that gives her agency and focuses the narrative on her and Sansa rather than Tyrion is what I'm looking for.
I feel like there's a lot of AU possibilities here! I still dream of happy stories where Sansa and Shae save each other and run away to the free cities or something; I'd love to see more of them together without the complication of Tyrion, especially as Sansa is getting older and wiser and more capable of an equal relationship. Also, a season 4 AU where Sansa doesn't run away from Littlefinger and thus escapes Ramsay would be wonderful too - I love Sansa, but I hate all the shit the show put her through and I was so grossed out by her season 8 comment that ~rape made her stronger~, blech. It would be really nice to see a Sansa that's grown up powerful and clever without having to be raped and tormented to get there! Or an AU where Shae survives season 4 and meets up with Sansa again years later - they'd be very different people, but it would be lovely to see if they could find common ground and kindness for each other again.
Avatar: the Last Airbender
Azula/Katara
Katara/Mai
Azula/Katara
Katara's character growth and development, her courage and strength, are some of my favourite things in the whole show. 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 did, 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 just want more between the two of them! 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. Or if you wanted to go full AU, there's so many wonderful possibilities - what if Azula was the one to be scarred and banished, and end up on a voyage of self-discovery, instead of Zuko? Or what if Katara was kidnapped by the Fire Nation as a child and ended up working for Azula as one of her dangerous ladies? Or arranged marriage AU?
Katara/Mai
Katara/Mai has been the crack pairing of my heart for many, many years. They are two of my favourites in the whole damn show, and I hated how fans of Katara/Zuko and Mai/Zuko often demonised the one that got in the way of their favourite ship (and I liked both of those ships!). So of course the whole thing ended inevitably in me shipping the two female sides of fandom's favourite AtLA love triangle with each other instead.
Moving past that backstory, once I started thinking about it, I started to love the idea of them becoming friends (or more than that!) so much. Katara needs more lady friends (Mai needs more friends, in general!) and I feel like they might have a lot more in common with each other than it might initially appear. They both have no patience with unpleasant people and share a common interest in looking nice, staying clean, and, when necessary, committing violence. I'd love to see a reluctant allies story where they have to work together for some plot reason, or a gradually developing friendship/romance as they discover common ground, set post-canon or in an AU - maybe Mai joined the Gaang earlier, alongside or instead of Zuko? Or a story where Katara was stuck in a post-Agni Kai Fire Nation for longer than canon, and ended up working with Mai to help Zuko secure his position on the throne?
Nirvana in Fire
Qin Banruo/Consort Jing
Qin Banruo/Gong Yu
Qin Banruo/Prince Yu's Wife
Gōng Yǔ/Mù Níhuáng
Mù Níhuáng/Xià Dōng
Mù Níhuáng/Xià Dōng
I really loved Nihuang right off the bat, and her friendship with Xia Dong was the clincher - I just love their mutually supportive but still layered and painful relationship, and the ways they just get each other, as two women managing to balance and take on traditionally masculine roles in a deeply stratified society. The fact that they each have their own individual loyalties that at times take precedence over their friendship, and the way that they both regret this, honestly makes me love them even more - I love complicated, painful, difficult relationships as much as heartwarming happy ones - and I would love to see a fic that explored how romance would change (or not change) that balance, although I would also love to see a scenario where they put each other first for once too. Pre-series, missing scene, post-series or AU - anything would be wonderful!
Gōng Yǔ/Mù Níhuáng
Shipping Gong Yu with Nihuang is a bit more out there, but I really feel like the two of them have a lot in common - despite the massive class difference they both walk a similar tightrope between very feminine roles (princess, courtesan) and very masculine ones (general, assassin); both also spend a lot of time hiding their true feelings and allegiances behind a mask. And of course there's the bit where they're both in love with the same man... I usually find F/M/F love triangles tiresome, and shipping the two ladies together instead is my knee-jerk reaction, but even setting that impulse aside I can see how they'd work really well together. Especially given how the show ends, I can see a genuine relationship developing between the two of them, starting from a place of mutual grief and developing from there.
Qin Banruo/Gong Yu
These two parallel each other in such interesting ways; I loved the storyline where they went up against each other and I always wished they'd get to face each other again! Particularly after we find out the truth about Gong Yu's heritage - as much as I love most of the show, the treatment of the Hua people is the one jarring note. Yes Banruo is often terrible and Xuanji did some monstrous things, but the Hua people were also treated monstrously, and the only resolution offered was more genocide. I would really love a more complex, nuanced look at the Hua people, or at the very least a happier ending for Banruo and Gong Yu, the two Hua women we see surviving (probably, in Banruo's case?) to the end of the show. Whatever you chose, I'd love to see more of them interacting, either more directly as rivals or in an AU where they are temporarily forced to work together. Or something exploring Banruo's future (redemption or otherwise)?
Qin Banruo/Prince Yu's Wife
I really wanted to see some kind of resolution and closure for Banruo, whether that's happy or sad - tragedy might be fitting, but I could believe that there's perhaps a chance for her to break out of the cycle of violence and revenge, both for herself and for the Hua people. And protecting and finding a happier future for Prince Yu's wife (WHO NEEDS A NAME, FFS) and her unborn child could be a really fascinating way to do that, whether it's through one of those "lost heir to the throne is raised in secret and reclaims their kingdom" stories, or something where Banruo is able to let go of her larger mission in favour of individual happiness? I feel that a big part of NiF is about the difference between revenge and justice - both Xuanji and MCS are brilliant schemers who suffered enormous injustice, but while Xuanji eventually failed because she was sidetracked into revenge and hurting everyone who was affiliated with anyone who'd hurt her, MCS stayed focused on justice (with people like the Jiangzhuo Alliance and Consort Jing on his side) and thus succeeded - but there's also something a bit icky about the gendered, colonialist parallel - MCS is righteous and justified, but Xuanji is just evil? Really? Anyway, any way to resolve that tension for the Hua, and for Banruo and Prince Yu's wife, would be lovely. Also! For all MCS kept talking about Prince Yu's unborn son, given its royal Hua heritage it would be so much more appropriate for that child to be a daughter, just saying!
Qin Banruo/Consort Jing
Look, I just love Banruo so much, probably in large part because of (not in spite of) how much she's outclassed as a spy/chess grandmaster compared to everyone she's up against. The fact that she's self-aware enough to know that she's no Xuanji, but her loyalty and commitment is such that she keeps fighting anyway... it's sort of heartbreaking, and I can't help but love her for it. Putting Banruo together with Consort Jing almost seems unfair; when it comes to manipulations Consort Jing is so far above her level! But I feel like any kind of relationship between them would be absolutely compelling - with Consort Jing feeling compassion for Banruo despite herself, and Banruo, in turn, maybe seeing (or not wanting to see) the ways Consort Jing could be like a kinder but no less driven or brilliant Xuanji (who I absolutely 100% believe Banruo is/was in love with). Both Banruo and Consort Jing are so powerless in many ways, but while Consort Jing has held onto her compassion no matter what, Banruo almost doesn't seem to remember what compassion is. I would love to see any kind of relationship between the two of them - whether they stay as antagonists who occasionally fuck or whether they find some kind of common ground. In particular, I'd be fascinated by role reversals and AUs - perhaps an AU where Prince Yu's rebellion succeeded, and Banruo got everything she (thought she) wanted - and then what? Or a complete role reversal where Banruo was the privileged(/caged) palace lady with no real power, and Consort Jing was the spymaster working on the outside?
Harry Potter
Narcissa Black Malfoy/Lily Evans Potter
Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson
I've always loved a good antagonistic ship - two people on opposite sides of a conflict who discover common ground and develop a relationship - which really fits both of these. Hatesex optional, but always welcome!
Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson
For Hermione and Pansy, I'd be equally interested in something set during canon - letting off steam during difficult times - or postcanon, Hermione and Pansy having to interact again during a Seventh Year at Hogwarts or in the workplace. (Or at whatever equivalent of university wizards have, I haven't kept up with Pottermore.) A redemption arc for Pansy would be nice, whatever form that takes! Or alternatively, I'm always up for canon divergence AUs - something where Pansy rejects her family background earlier, or a situation where Pansy and Hermione end up having to work together unexpectedly, could be really interesting. Regardless of which direction you take this, I'm always into stories where former antagonists have to come to terms with growing up, becoming adults, and dealing with their past childhood/teenage traumas, so anywhere you wanted to go with that would be great.
Narcissa Black/Lily Evans
I like to think that Snape wasn't Lily's only Slytherin friend, at least not early in her time at Hogwarts - and I think Narcissa is less dogmatic than Bellatrix, and I could easily believe that she wasn't particularly committed to pureblood ideology until the war forced her to chose between the two sides of her family (and I think her choice was almost certainly based on family loyalty). Or even if they weren't friends, I can see them as having a more complex relationship than straight-up antagonists - classroom rivals in Charms or Potions? Childhood crushes? I love the tragedy of two friends ending up on opposite sides of a war, or moments of connection between two enemies who know it can't last. But I'd also be interested in AUs, all the AUs - Lily lives AU! Narcissa chooses the rebel side of the family (maybe after finding out what really happened to Regulus?) and ends up working for the Order with Lily AU! Or an AU where Draco doesn't survive the Deathly Hallows and Narcissa travels back in time right to the first war in an attempt to make things right? There are so many awesome possibilities.
Thank you for writing for me!
