Little Black Dress 2020 Letter
May. 17th, 2020 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolffylunaHello, person who has matched with me, or is treating me! No matter what you make, I'm probably going to really like it, but I know it's much easier to come up with an idea if you've got some guidance.
I’m doing this letter in a slightly different format from the other ones. Considering that this exchange is about ship-roulette, having the letter be mostly ship prompts would be… unhelpful. So, in place of prompts, I have discussions about what I like about the fandom and characters. Hopefully that will be more helpful.
The length of any section is not related to how much I like it, just how much I could say about it in a letter-ish format. I have picked fandoms and characters that I like equally. As a note: If you wish to write the common/sensible/canonically-supported ships for these characters: feel free! But equally feel free to do strange combination/[spins wheel of fortune] style ships as well
Crossovers between any of the fandoms I have requested in this exchange are more than welcome.
Ships containing OCs are welcome.
My ao3 account and my tumblr are both wolffyluna, if you want to have a look at them to get ideas.
Contents Likes:
Fandoms:
- Keychain of Creation
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Log Horizon
- The Magnus Archives
- Revolutionary Girl Utena
- The Silmarillion
- fluff that has a minor conflict. Things like ‘my SO has had a bad day: I'm gonna make it better!’ or ‘oh no, we forgot that [event] is coming up and have to quickly prepare!’
- Hurt/comfort (hurt/comfort > comfort no hurt > hurt no comfort.)
- Angst with a happy ending
- Tragedy is also very good! Flawed characters brought down by their flaws, tragedies that only get spotted until too late—it’s all wonderful.
- Mutual pining/wanting to get together but not be able because [reason], with [reason] being resolved at the end (example reasons: mistaken identity, “I am your boss and it would be unethical”, but in general I am not picky about this dynamic)
- (Or, of course “I should not take advantage of you while you are in this state!” “You are very much not taking advantage of me, what are you talking about?”)
- Kissing! Forehead kisses, kisses on the cheek, full on make outs: kissing is great!
- Cuddling! I feel the same way about cuddling as I do about kissing! It’s all good. I especially like characters falling asleep leaning against each other.
- I like exploring the messed up dynamics and/or the terrible-idea-ness of the relationship, if applicable. (Drawing that symbolically is highly encouraged)
- I love characters giving into temptation, for lack of a better description? Like, knowing that a particular relationship is a bad idea, but going into it anyway.
- While I love fluff deeply, with femslash I also love stories where the protagonists are flawed, or the plot ends up dark, or both.
- Politics! I love characters trying to navigate it, the tension between their political persona and they’re actual persona, the ethical dilemmas of power, all of it!
- Loyalty. Intense loyalties, conflicted loyalties: they're all good.
- Dancing, either partner dances or just both people happening to dance at the same time.
- Crossdressing
- Religion, religious discussions and worldbuilding about religion. (I am happy with any interpretation of religion, positive or negative).
- Horses! Whether they're just in the background, or are a major part of the art/plot. I love horses
- “What if X happened instead of what happened in canon?”/”What if Y didn’t die” AUs
- Third and second person POV
- As a general note: anything I’ve mentioned in my general likes, I also like in art. I’ve copied over most of the relevant likes over here as well, so they’re easy to find, but if there’s something in the above list that takes your fancy as something to put in art, go right ahead!
- Kissing! Forehead kisses, kisses on the cheek, full on make outs: kissing is great!
- Cuddling! I feel the same way about cuddling as I do about kissing! It’s all good. I especially like characters falling asleep leaning against each other.
- Symbolic representations of character dynamics
- For art, I like coloured lighting and unusual/restricted palettes.
- I also like intense colours and contrast in art
- Tarot inspired art
- Dancing, either partner dances or just both people happening to dance at the same time.
- Horses! Whether they're just in the background, or are a major part of the art/plot. I love horses
- Crossdressing
- Oral, intercrural and anal sex are all good (though I have a particular soft spot for the first two).
- People being supernaturally horny, for example sex pollen or A/B/O. Bonus points if it is somehow pre negotiated (eg someone arranging for a particular person to help them through their heat in an A/B/O setting.)
- All consuming heats that take over people’s brains are also very very good, especially if they are intermixed with being overwhelmed.
- Also deliberate use of sex pollen, either by the people sex pollenening themselves, or an antagonist doing it
- In omegaverse, I like knots and ludicrous amounts of slick, but can take or leave omega oppression/gender roles and claiming.
- All consuming heats that take over people’s brains are also very very good, especially if they are intermixed with being overwhelmed.
- Rope bondage.
- Explicit negotiation.
- Consentacles
- Praise kink
- Mild sadism and masochism/painplay. (For example: whipping? Yes please! Whipping until the skin is stripped off a character’s back: no thank you. In general, extreme pain or injuries that can’t fully heal is past what I’d like it (though in a setting with magical healing, I’m more comfortable with more extreme things if it’s established the characters will be healed.))
- Ritual sex/deliberately public sex (ie, the public intended to be there to watch)
- “Forced” orgasms, orgasm control/denial and chastity kink
- Crossdressing
- Sex toys and fucking machines
- Overstimulation/being overwhelmed with sensation
- Torture being portrayed as good or effective. (Torture happening: very much fine by me. The ‘good guys’/protagonists torturing people: do not want. People achieving their goals through torture (eg getting secret information): also do not want.) As a Silmarillion specific note: I would really not like Maeglin to give away Gondolin’s position due to torture, and would much prefer it if he either gave it away deliberately, or Angband found Gondolin’s location by other means.
- Parent-child or sibling incest (Túrin/Nïenor is an exception)
- Explicit underage (<18) sex. (Fade to blacks, heavy implications, and surreal weirdness in the place of it are fine)
- [Log Horizon specific DNW] People younger than 16 being in relationships with people over 16.
Oh, poor Keychain of Creation, gone the way of so many other webcomics—put on permanent hiatus before the author got a chance to finish it. Even so, it is a comic that is near and dear to my heart. Keychain of Creation is an Exalted fan webcomic, that is to Exalted what a lot of DnD actual play podcasts are to DnD. It has an Exalted setting, with original characters and some original worldbuilding, and a fair amount taking the piss out of the Exalted setting. Exalted is a setting full of powerful heroes, given a fraction of a god’s power to go lay righteous smackdown. Our four heroes are on a quest to find the 5 Keys of Creation, to make sure no evildoers gain access to all five, and thus gain the ability to open any lock (including the ones holding back the eldritch abominations that want to destroy the world.) …They are not necessarily good at this. I love the mix of proper Exalted flavour over-the-top action and the humour, combined with characters that are the right level of ‘Yep, I can see why this person was chosen as a champion of the gods’ while still coming across as human. …also I have a soft spot for the fact literally everyone has a sad backstory. (Feel free to wallow in the characters’ sad backstories. I love it.) As a note, considering this comic ended rather abruptly-- I am fine with any take on what happened after canon ended. If you want to set your fic or art after what we last saw in the comics, feel free to do so? Feel free to write crossovers with any of the other canons I have requested in this exchange, or Exalted.
Thrice-Radiant Misho
I love how compassionate and caring he is (even when it gets the better of him)! He really cares about people, and applies his whole mind to it, and it’s great. He is not good at dealing with having responsibility, but he’s going to try and do his best anyway.
I also love how he’s a little pile of reincarnation angst. That is a fun flavour of angst. Missing people a thousand years dead, having the identity issues of not properly remembering one of your pasts—It’s great. I’d be interested in fics that tried to navigate either of those two things, either in fluffy (“Goddamnit Misho, I am going to distract you from panicking about having to save the world!”) or angsty ways (pining over people who are long dead.)
Hurt/comfort with him is also very fun, whether it’s because of his reincarnation angst, nightmares, or something else.
I would be more than happy with either First Age or Second Age ships. Also, feel free to ship him with characters from the wider Exalted-verse, or characters we don’t get to see much of (eg Resch Dan, the sidereal who was in Misho’s manse in the opening flashback, etc).
Marena
She’s such a fun loving, flirty character! And very caring too (though maybe not in such a ~broad, for all of humanity, way as Misho.) She really cares about her friends and those she considers family, and tries to help them.
I love open and expressive she is, and her hedonistic tendencies. She knows what she wants, and she’s gonna get it! (And she’s gonna take a more straight-laced partner along for the ride, if it happens!)
I would be equally happy with fic or art with her in a planned-to-be-long-term-relationship or casual one. She’s good in both. With the long term one, she could show more of her affectionate, and dare I say ‘romantic’ side. And with a causal fling—fun flirty ‘this will only last tonight, but tonight will be very good’ is wonderful too!
Politics! Worldbuilding! Many good things!
Being less exclamation point-y, one of the things I like about this canon is the general attitude of ‘we’re gonna make the world better! And you can’t stop us!’ and characters using their wits and knowledge of the world to make it a better place. Most of the main cast cares.
Also, most of the main cast are utter nerds, and the contrast between their personas as great heroes and leaders, and the fact that even in this world they are nerds with not necessarily the best social confidence is hilarious.
Fandom Specific DNW: Characters under 16 in relationships with characters over 16.
Shiroe
Much of what I’ve said about what I like about the show as a whole applies to Shiroe (which makes a certain amount of sense, because he’s the main character). He’s clever and a master tactician and politician, who is simultaneously deeply caring and also has a manipulative streak a mile wide—and he is also a nerd, who is not good at or with flirting. Maybe a friendship with a member Log Horizon or the Crescent Moon Alliance deepens into a romance. Maybe political manoeuvring in the Round Table becomes flirting, and Shiroe is going to give it his best shot even if he has no clue what he is doing. Maybe he strikes up something with one of the people of the land. Maybe, Because Politicking™, an arranged political marriage becomes necessary. The possibilities are many!
Fire Emblem, the home of larger than life characters who somehow all have sad backstories! I love all these sad teenagers-to-adults-depending-on-where-in-the-timeline-we-are. Again, I am always here for drama/angst/sad backstory wallowing. (As a note, I’ve only played Crimson Flowers and an eensy bit of Azure Moon so far. I’m not against spoilers for other routes, but if you add something that only makes sense if e.g. one knows how chapter 14 of Silver Snow goes down, I won’t get it.)
Fandom specific DNW: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra.
Ferdinand Von Aegir
I love his idealism, in the sense that he is of constantly reaching for and working towards his ideals! And he’s so earnest, and he tries so hard! And he’s working for someone who wants the job he is working towards, the thing he has kind of made his raison d’etre, to not exist. And he’s trying to compete with this person, and variably missing by a mile, or missing by an inch and still feeling like a complete failure. And he cares so much about people! I also love how his noble ideals would affect how he approaches romance. Whether it’s in the form of courtly love, formal courting or “I do not know what the normal number of roses to buy is and money is not an issue so have all the roses”. It’s all great.
Dorothea Arnault
I love how Dorothea has high ideas of romance (“And boom! You’ll have passion to spare”), while also being relentlessly practical about it (by trying to find someone to marry so she’ll be supported once she’s old and her voice is not as good any more). It’s such an interesting tension, and it leads to some interesting relationship dynamics. Because finding a good partner is in many ways a matter of life-and-death for her, but she also does not want to compromise with someone who is not the ideal partner. There are so many different angles you can take with this. Maybe she falls in love with someone who might not be able to support her, and she has to pick which is more important to her: love or safety? Or maybe she finds someone who could definitely support her, but who’s a bit-- ugh-- but then she later discovers that their first impression was misleading/they’re a much better person than they first appeared/they decided to become a better person for Dorothea.
Ah, the Magnus Archives: the setting where metaphysics hate you! I really like it’s dark, nihilistic worldbuilding, where the greatest victory you can get is maybe delaying an apocalypse. (And even then...) Meanwhile your mental health is being abraded by entities greater than human comprehension that think your fear is a delicious snack.
And I love the characters! All of them! Even a lot of the random statement givers! No one is coping or having a good time of it. …Except maybe some of the avatars. But not many of them.
As a note: One of the things I like about this fandom is its dark tone. I’m certainly not against fluff, or softness in fic or art—but I’d prefer it if said fluff or softness is in response to the darkness, if it’s present. Hurt/comfort > pure fluff, basically.
Another note: I am more than okay with ships running the whole gamut from non con to dub con to fully consensual. You have full permission to really hurt these characters if you want. Or not, if you’d prefer! And as an addendum to the previous note, with consensual+healthy ships, I’d like it if the characters are having to work at having a healthy relationship, and that it’s something that takes effort and doesn’t come naturally.
Jonathan Sims
I love Jon, and his decision making. That’s not even a backhanded compliment: say what you like about his life choices, the chain of logic that gets him from point A to B works? And the combination of smart + bad sense of self preservation + tendency to charge head first into things leads to amazing plots. And this is shipping related! Jon is one of my little black dresses not just because his personality leads to some very fun relationship dynamics (which it definitely does!), but it also means that you can plausibly ship him with anyone. If anyone could make a series of bizarre decisions that leads one to dating eg Simon Fairchild, Jon would be the one to do it.
Not that you’re more standard ships with the archive assistants or Elias aren’t very good as well! Especially considering the range of dynamics you can get not just with different characters, but with the events taking place in time periods/seasons.
And considering his tendency to be kidnapped—well, that also lends plenty of plausibility for the non-consensual ships of your choice.
Gerard Keay
I love his sense of humour (I’d give specific quotes, but that would… a large chunk of Family Business) and the fact that he does care about keeping people safe (for example giving Andrea Nunis the knowledge she needed to escape from the Lonely, or helping Lesere Saraki.) He really does want to save people, and he really does care about them, even if he’s well aware he’s in a universe that wants to eat you whole.
He also is a very good target for hurt/comfort. Which is nice. (Though of course, feel free to do something else!) He has basically never had a good time of it.
I am quite happy with fic set pre-death, or any variant of a Gerry Lives AU (eg ‘he never died’ to ‘he is still a ghost attached to the Skin Book’). Also feel free to fudge timelines as necessary: I don’t mind.
Nikola Orsinov
I love how dramatic and performative she is! (Jon: Are you going to kill me? Nikola: No!…. I mean, yesss, but not right now!) She has a lovely character voice/manner of speech. Which is half the reason I ship her with literally everyone, let’s be honest.
Also, any ship containing her is going to have a beautiful weird dynamic, on account of her a) not being human and b) being pretty darn weird and uncanny even by non-human standards! That is the other reason I ship her with everyone.
I really like the surreal strangeness of this show. But what I also really like is the relational horror. I’m not sure if that’s the technical term, but for me, a lot of the horror comes from the relationships—all the messed-up dynamics, and ways people hurt each other, even when they are trying their best not to. I’d be interested in that being explored in any of the ships below.
But I’d also be interested in characters trying—and at least somewhat succeeding—in having healthier relationships. Even if it takes a lot of work and blood and sweat and tears. Especially with the student characters, there’s the tantalising prospect that they could work out how they are hurting each other and themselves, and fix that.
…or potentially never improve, or have their attempts at improvement go down in flames. Either is good.
Touga Kiryuu
A manipulative playboy with a dark past: what’s not to like? (As a note: I very much like the movie backstory, so feel free to include if you wish. Or not, if you’d rather not.)
He’s one of my little black dresses is because, as a playboy/serial not-monogamist, he’s quite likely to end in a relationship with any given character (I mean, he has had probably-sex with a large chunk of the cast, canonically!) And he couldn’t end up in a healthy relationship, even if he was dropped into it by a trapdoor that represents teenage sexuality. That’s great, too. He’s either manipulating someone, or being manipulated, or quite often both.
The Silmarillion! I love all the opportunities for delicious angst, and the many different character interpretations that can all be correct because each character gets, like, two lines of direct dialogue a piece. (Which should be taken as ‘I will like pretty much any interpretation of any character, go wild.’)
You can probably guess from the characters I am requesting that I like the less shiny-goody-two-shoes characters of the Silm. While I do like every character being treated fairly, and like they had good reasons for what they are doing, I especially like it for characters who make some incredibly bad choices in canon. I also like how both Maeglin and Turin have a different perspective on what is happening in canon compared to the other characters.
Maeglin Lómion
I love this prickly, hyper-competent, arrogant bastard. I love the contrast between the fact that he doesn’t seem to like people very much, yet he’s very charismatic.
And I love the tragedy of him.
I am very invested people managing to draw him out of his shell, or maybe get brought into his shell with him (it’s cozy in there. Dark, but cozy.) Or very ill-advised relationships that inevitably go down in flames. I am more than happy for any AUs that end up with him being in a different place and meeting different people than he does in canon; eg Nargothrond AUs or Doriath AUs. I am also quite happy with him being in Gondolin.
As a note on the intersection of him and my effective torture DNW: I do not mind Maeglin giving up Gondolin’s location willingly, for whatever reasons. I do not mind him being tortured in Angband, provided Angband finds out Gondolin’s location some other. I very much do mind if Maeglin gives up the location of Gondolin due to torture.
Túrin Túrambar
I love his… nobility? Idealism? His desire to be heroic and save everyone and achieve glory through his own strength and his sword. I love how that noble aim leads to tragedy, because this is the Silmarillion and Everyone is Doomed and/or Cursed.
And I love all the close relationships he ends up in Children of Húrin, which is honestly half the reason I ship him with everyone (the other half being that he bounces off all the non-CoH characters in awesome ways as well!) He’s very loyal, and seems to get attached to people very quickly, and he’ll do anything for them, and there’s just so many good options of people to ship him with, in doomed or bittersweet or ‘for now, things are okay’ ways.
As a note on the sibling incest DNW: I am more than fine with Túrin/Niënor. It is the exception.
