![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spring_gloomNote: It's readable now. Sorry if you saw this before I did an editing pass!
Hi friendly writer and/or artist,
Welcome, and thanks for reading my letter! In most sections, I've rambled about the ship for a little while and then given some prompts. I'm not married to these ideas - they're just a way to hopefully get the creativity flowing. I also have my general likes section, which is full of things I'm always thrilled to see. My eternal thanks for the effort you put in!
The NSFW likes and DNWs document is linked separately at the bottom of this section 'cause I feel weird about making everyone read it even when they're not going to write smut. Rest assured that I do like smut..
General art stuff: I know a lot of these prompts are more suitable for fic, because I think that's just the way it goes when you're asking for both. Be assured that I do want fanart! I'm just not really an artist myself, so my prompts are more vague. 😬 Hopefully it's not a total cop-out when I say that I love a variety of different styles and that I trust the artist to choose! In basically every ship, I'm down with embracing, kissing, and other classic shippy kind of poses. I guess just judge it by the mood of the pair! And don't feel the need to idealise the appearance of characters/erase 'flaws'. What this means will probably depend on your style, cause everyone has their own way of emphasising character traits.
General likes: adventure, angst (the kind that ends well and the kind that doesn't), casefic, character-driven plot, episode-related, first time/getting together, friends to lovers, goofy hijinks, hurt/comfort, missing scenes, pining, sexual tension, sharing a bed, trapped together, undercover as a couple, undercover as gay. I am a dork and I like sad tenderness. I'd also like to make it clear that I am always down to be emotionally wrecked, in case it's in doubt. Any rating - I like smut and not-smut!
General dislikes and DNWs: injection/needle details, omegaverse (A/B/O), graphic noncon (mentioning non-consensual situations is fine if it's relevant, dubcon is fine, any exceptions are listed), details about pregnancy, mpreg, kidfic, whitewashing, making shipped adult characters underage, AUs other than canon divergence. I am not keen on the 'only gay for you' trope (things that are 100% fine and that do not count as this trope include: character is bi/gay but has barely explored it, character is hardly ever attracted to anyone at all anyway, character struggles with internalised homophobia). Please treat female characters fairly! If any of this is ambiguous, I'm always happy to clarify via an anon comment or an exchange mod because this should be fun and not a stressful guessing game!
NSFW likes and dislikes can be found here! It's a txt file on Google Drive, so I can't see you looking logged in or not.
Contents
Animamundi Dark Alchemist
Note on DNWs: I know there's noncon in canon. Feel free to work it in and mention it because it is relevant to their characters/the story, but I'd prefer if it wasn't the main focus (by depicting it graphically, or being the main focus thematically).
Francis Dashwood/Georik Zaberisk
All these years later, I still care about this game and most especially this ship. The relationship between Georik and Dashwood may not be the most thematically grand one in the game but I really love their dynamic and I also love to suffer. 👌 I both love and want to fix a tragic ending with no true resolution, so the tragedy of Georik misunderstanding Dashwood's true character and motivations until it's too late hooks me right in. I love the flashes of tenderness along the way where Dashwood drops his usual act and lets his concern show. Or when the aloof Georik takes a rare moment to ask Dashwood about his injuries. ;.; Less seriously, I've always loved that goofy Fake-Out Make-Out bit in the Hellfire Club where Dashwood just haaas to be all over him. (There's no choice!)
Broadly, I'm into exploring the angst of Dashwood's ending(s) but I'm also very into the idea of fixing it and making everything (relatively) okay. I guess you could also make it worse but that would take some real skill. Scenes in any of the routes would be cool too.
- Fix-it fic is very possible just within the game's setting! There are so many magic/Hell-dwelling/timeline shenanigans to choose from. I really wish I could prompt better for this but I haven't played the game for a little while now so I don't remember the exact rules! 😬 Of course, you can bend those to suit your purposes and make Dashwood alive. Or at least in the same realm as Georik. All this is to say that I am due for a replay.
- Missing scene from canon/fill in some gaps! Expand on those moments of concern, the times Dashwood is doing Georik some huge favours he's never even aware of, when Georik thinks he might see something beneath the surface in Dashwood. <3 Or extend the Hellfire Club material and their respective feelings on it...
- I'm interested in Dashwood's idea of the relationship he wants with Georik (a new 'Master' to take him away). This man does not have a very healthy conception of what he wants but, given his past, that may be the only way he could imagine it. I wonder if that view would shift if his affection was reciprocated and whether it would be positive or painful for the both of them.
Blake's 7
I'm a relative newcomer to Blake's 7 so this is the first time I've ever included it in an exchange sign-up. Exciting! I noticed a common fic theme in the fandom is working in past, background, or unrequited Avon/Blake even when one or both of them are in another pairing. Know that I am always down for that (even if this trend makes me feel a bit sorry for the people who specifically don't actually ship Avon/Blake lol). This show is impressive because there's just so much material in canon itself to use for shipping purposes... like Aliens Made Them Do It actually happens in Ultraworld, there are those things complicated in Death-Watch that let you feel what someone else is feeling, there are debauchery-based planets, there are clones running about. Brilliant!
Kerr Avon/Del Grant
I really liked the tension between them in Countdown. I've recently started listening to some of the audio dramas too, and I'm glad they brought Grant back because his background makes him a pretty interesting character with a lot of potential to explore! At the time of writing, I'm not that far into the Grant audio content but feel free to include elements from it or ignore it entirely because this nomination is still just the TV show.
- The undeniable tension between them in Countdown. I know it's technically about Anna... but is that all? OR what if that ep was just about them being exes rather than about Anna? (I wasn't spoiled for this and I spent the whole episode wondering what could have possibly caused this much sexual tension right up until the reveal.)
- They hook up during the audio adventures! I can't prompt for this one very well because I've only listened to a couple, but I think Del Grant makes a fabulous addition to the Snark Squad. How does it feel to join up with the man he spent years hating, especially in the shadow of Blake's loss?
- I'm not actually sure if this ever gets addressed in the audio dramas, but finding out the truth about Anna would both make things complicated for them but also eliminate the reason for their animosity. What if Grant once had a thing for Avon and spent this whole time feeling bad about liking Anna's lover only to find out that she'd been deceiving them all? HMM.
Kerr Avon/Del Tarrant (Blake's 7)
I feel like this ship is characterised by antagonism most of the time and usually involves some kind of one-upmanship, especially on the part of Tarrant. This fits because they are both people who are very resistant to being vulnerable (especially Avon), but getting around that could actually make things very interesting. Out of the two, Tarrant is the one who feels like he needs to project power and confidence but he sometimes fails to live up to it and I think that's probably why Avon has the upper hand most of the time. His attitude feels quite... young in comparison to Avon. They have a fire/ice dynamic going on, but it doesn't feel as balanced as that dynamic between Blake and Avon because of this.
- Post-Gauda Prime! Are those two the sole survivors, or did a couple of the others make it? Either way, I noticed in the final ep that Avon was very quick to take Tarrant's word that Blake had set them up, even after he spent all that time looking for Blake in the first place! Could it be that... Avon vaguely trusts him??
- I've noticed that poor old Tarrant gets the 'you may think you're a replacement for Blake but you're not' treatment in fic sometimes and I'm here for it. Maybe Tarrant is jealous of how much energy Avon puts into finding Blake, or maybe he feels like this knowledge gives him some kind of power over Avon.
- Bring on the shippy sci-fi tropes. Aliens Made Them Do It with Avon instead of Dayna. Use of the technology in Death-Watch leads to something between them. Other excuses to bring them together that aren't based on canon!
Kerr Avon/Roj Blake/Clone Roj Blake
This is a canonical tag but there are currently no works in it! The main clone from Weapon is the obvious choice, but maybe the Clonemasters created yet another - after all, we did see two in that ep. Maybe someone else managed to get ahold of the cloning secrets and made another Blake for nefarious purposes. I don't have a preference for which clone you use.
- Let's be real - this request is an excuse to see an Avon squished between two Blakes. I don't really have a preference for how this is done! This could potentially involve great emotional turmoil for everyone, especially if Clone Blake feels like he can never live up to the original Blake. On the other end of things, something something sex pollen brings them all together. I know that is deeply unhelpful!
Roj Blake/Deva (Blake's 7)
What's the deal with these two? We are missing a lot of information about where Blake has been that whole time, so there are a lot of details to be filled in.
- How did they start working together, and what makes Blake trust and rely on him so much? Does he suit Blake as an ally better than Avon and co? Let me know how they got together during that time, or how their romantic (or just sexual) and work relationship interplayed.
- Given how the fandom picks and chooses who survives Gauda Prime, how about these two being among the lucky few who live? OR, for angst, how about only one of them survives? I think anything that takes place right after the shootout is going to be angsteriffic, even if both survive. It could also be an opportunity for a fresh start!
Crusade
If you want to reference B5 (of course, B5 canon novels, the unfilmed scripts, or any other tidbit of what might have been that JMS has released, I'm probably familiar with it. None of it is necessary to know, though.
Galen/Matthew Gideon
My personal take is that Galen's thing for Gideon developed some time between rescuing him the first time and the start of Crusade. In the canon novels, Galen takes comfort in checking up on Gideon from the techno-mage hiding place, so he's had plenty of time to get to know Gideon from afar. In the eps, he really focuses his found family/home sentiments on Gideon in particular (with varying degrees of verbal backspacing after he says it). My take on Gideon is way more vague. Maybe somewhere along the line, his feelings for the man who rescued him developed into something. Maybe it's not even requited by the time Crusade prematurely ends. Maybe his obsession with finding the ship that destroyed the Cerberus means he can't give much of himself at all to anyone.
Their dynamic is interesting because both of them tend to keep their cards close to their chest and trust few people, but they seem to trust each other... to an extent. They're also both hiding pretty big things and it's hard to imagine they don't feel guilty about it.
- Angggst related to the unaired season finale because Gideon found out (some of) what Galen was hiding and is feeling very betrayed. THEN he manages to get himself shot. This whole plotline is a very good starting point for hurt/comfort or plain old angst all around.
- Gideon was ready to (mostly) trust Galen again pretty quickly after visiting The Well of Forever, which I think is pretty amazing given Galen didn't trust him enough to tell him why they were going on a trip deep into hyperspace. What's going on when he gives Galen this unusual treatment?
- I said a lot of serious stuff above, but I'm always down for a classic shippy trope - sci-fi or otherwise (see my general likes for a bunch). Trapped together on a planet! Sex pollen! Pretending to be a couple to get some information! I literally never get tired of this stuff.
Hotel Dusk
Almost no one writes for this fandom any more and only a few draw but I forever live in hope that will come back and play these brilliant puzzle VNs starring one of my fave Sad Mans of all time. I personally headcanon Kyle Hyde as gay, though of course you don't have to. Don't feel the need to shy away from period-typical homophobia either if you want to include it.
Brian Bradley/Kyle Hyde
This ship barely needs explanation because Hotel Dusk is entirely driven by Kyle Hyde's obsession with finding Brian Bradley. We know he constantly thinks about Bradley and even dreams about Bradley. While several of the other characters assume he wants revenge for being betrayed, it's never on his mind; he felt anger in the moment he pulled the trigger but hasn't really felt it since. He just wants to know why the closest person to him in his life betrayed him. What I'm saying is that I sure do love a single-minded obsession and a descent into tragedy. This is a relationship with strong feelings.
- Bradley was undercover, so they may not have had a lot of opportunity to meet up towards the end. Did Kyle sense something was wrong and choose to ignore his instincts? Did he feel his partner slipping away from him or was it a total shock?
- Just a couple of extremely cool guys (according to Louis) being cops in 70s Manhattan. Stakeouts, crime scenes, shooting pool, hitting bars. Were they properly together during that time, or was it too risky?
- Would Kyle really give up after receiving Bradley's letter? Clearly Bradley considers himself irredeemable after all he's done, but would Kyle respect that and leave him be? Getting an answer allowed him some emotional closure (which really reflects in his personality between the games) but now he knows for sure that Bradley is still out there. After seeing that, would Bradley be willing to be found?
Jack Green/Rex Foster
There are a lot of characters in these games who have/had a loved one entangled with Nile. These two have major Kyle and Bradley parallels and it would be cool to explore their story!
- Some stuff that happened while they were two young Los Angeles Beat reporters. Getting together? A cool investigation/report they worked on together?
- What Rex went through when Jack uncovered something dangerous and paid the ultimate price. :(
- Reading up on Kyle Hyde's past could have felt a little too familiar for Rex and it may cause him to reflect on his own past and former relationship.
Rex Foster/Kyle Hyde
They're both sad men who lost their bff/bf to Nile and then changed jobs. Both dogged investigators. Both prickly on the outside but ultimately good at the core (though Rex's core is harder to find).
- As I said in the other Rex ship, maybe he recognises a little too much of himself in Kyle. Maybe Kyle recognises himself right back. These similarities could bring them together, whether they actually like each other or if it's just a one time thing.
- ...honestly, I really like the idea of this ship but I don't have many ideas for it. I enjoy it because they are both Like That and the fact that they're ultimately quite similar makes the development of their relationship from initial antagonism interesting. And I think they can rarely meet someone who understands, especially due to the relative homophobia of the era.
