yuletide 2017

[alectorine]

Dear Yuletide author,

 

First of all, thank you so much for participating! I’ll love your fic no matter what, so please don’t feel pressured ❤️ I’ve written some prompts, and a list of tropes/narrative devices I enjoy, but by no means do you have to include all or any of them -- if you have a particular idea you’re burning to write, go for it! I’m a very long-winded person so I apologise for the length of this letter, but so long as you steer clear of my dislikes, feel free to disregard the rest. Also, the length of the prompts isn’t reflective of levels of enthusiasm (just how many characters I requested); I would be equally as delighted to receive fic for any of my requested fandoms!

 

I'm on tumblr @delineative and on twitter @ennezahard. You can find my own fic on AO3 @pyrophane and on tumblr here, and some of the fics I’ve liked here. If you’re really stuck, my previous Yuletide letters can be found in this tag -- if the prompts for any of those fandoms are striking a chord, I’d be happy to receive fic for them instead. The most important thing is that you have fun writing the rare fandoms we both adore! 

 

General | 7 Seeds | Dorohedoro | Engelsforstrilogin | Houseki no Kuni | Night World | Tower of God
 

 

General likes:

• clashing worldviews
• dream sequences
• leader/second-in-command dynamics, loyalty kink
• legacies
• mentorships
• physicality and nonverbal communication
• pining and repressed feelings, repressed characters finally admitting what they want
• polyamory negotiations
• power dynamics
• rarepairs, minor characters, multishipping, friendships, ensemble casts, characters having relationships beyond the central ship
• references to backstory events or other canons (I love crossover cameos!)
• relationship dynamics that are difficult to define but deeply felt
• sparring
• unhealthy relationships
• unusual/experimental prose style and structure
• worldbuilding, histories (canonical or invented), strong sense of setting
• wound care

Tropes/AUs I love:

• canon divergence
• enemies to friends where there's still some form of legitimate rivalry or resentment 
• espionage AU, casefic, fakeout makeouts, undercover as a couple
• friends to enemies (to lovers optional)
• lotus-eater machines
• magical realism, urban fantasy, general magic/fantasy/witchcraft AU
• missing-scene fic
• pre-canon and futurefic
• post-apocalyptic roadtrips
• time loops

 

NSFW likes (see here for more details):

• breathplay/choking
• consensual violence
• D/s undertones, undernegotiated or non-negotiated D/s
• edging
• focus on hands/wrists/throats/collarbones, pretty much just throats in general
• multiple partners
• power dynamics, authority kink, and any dubcon resulting from that
• basically, if it involves the combination of violence and tenderness/intimacy, I'm in!

* Note: I've only given specific NSFW prompts for some fandoms but generally, feel free to mix and match tropes from this list for any request!

Things I have no preference on:

• content rating
• genre
• implied and background pairings, unless specifically mentioned (you can find a complete list of my ships here!)
• multishipping, polyshipping
• plot/lack thereof and endings
• presence of other characters, nominated or not, unless specifically mentioned

General dislikes:

• fic centred on kids/pregnancy/marriage
• formal BDSM, lengthy kink negotiations
• graphic descriptions of unsanitary situations
• graphic medical experimentation
• noncon
• plotless fluff
• public humiliation
• pwp -- porn is great but I'd prefer if it wasn't the only thing in the fic (... unless it involves breathplay)
• romance-related jealousy, infidelity
• scat, watersports, etc
• soulmate AUs, reincarnation AUs, A/B/O

7 Seeds | Mayu

A repeat request from last year! If you’re writing Mayu fic, you can't go wrong -- honestly, you could just write out Mayu's internal monologue as she watches paint dry or something and I'd be over the moon, I'm guaranteed to love anything in which Mayu Does Things. Mayu’s emotional maturity, levelheadedness, care for her friends, social charisma, classic Summer A self-absorption, sweetness, and cheerful passive-aggressiveness are what make her my favourite 7 Seeds character out of a cast I absolutely adore.

Summer A gen is my lifeblood, and I’d love slightly off-key slice-of-life fic exploring Mayu’s childhood/middle-school years within Summer A -- what kind of group traditions do they have? Do they try to adopt any horrifically misinterpreted civilian customs on Mayu's prompting? What does her daily routine look like? How has she decorated her dorm room, and who does she room with? Who shares her classes? Who does she view as rivals? Where does she get her supply of cute hair accessories??? 

I’d also love an AU where Mayu lives and becomes the Summer A leader -- what changes, and what doesn’t? Does she still clash with the other teams? How do the other Summer A members feel about her leadership? Who are her favourite civilians? There’s a whole range of possibilities in diverging from canon, and I’d love to see your take on it!

Here are some potential Mayu dynamics I particularly love -- all optional, just here if you’d like more prompts:

• Mayu/Ryo -- even though they didn't really interact in canon I'm very interested in the way Ryo’s fake bad boy lifestyle potentially provides an excellent foil for Mayu. Canon-wise, did Mayu hang around on the peripheries of Ryo and Ango’s dramatic rivalry and make fun of them with Nijiko?  Did she ever work with, compete against, tutor, or be tutored by Ryo? In a Mayu-lives AU, tell me about her exile roadtrip with Ryo -- how the two people least interested in exploring the new world, having prioritised the safety of their friends above all else, begin to turn their focus outwards and reluctantly find beauty and comfort in this utterly foreign place. A friend put it as ‘we are trying to preserve this fading world even though in doing so we’ve alienated every other person we wanted to do it for, but this singular other person thinks we’re on the right track, so we can keep going for another day’ -- anything with that kind of 'us against the world’ vibe would be amazing!

• Mayu/Ayu -- as Koruri’s best friend, Mayu must be on top of all the Summer A gossip, and so surely she must have known about the bullying Ayu was going through, especially as they share soil class. Mayu’s also well-respected by her peers, so why didn’t she put a stop to it? Did she try to rationalise her inaction the way Ayu did ('it would be condescending if I tried to help her, she’s strong enough to handle it herself’)? Was there a period, when the bullying had just begun, where Ayu thought that Mayu would step in soon? For all Mayu’s interpersonal expertise, Ayu seems to be the one situation she doesn’t know how to deal with, and I’d love to see something exploring that. In a Mayu-lives AU, how does that friction and misery escalate? Does Mayu seek Ayu out, or does she try to pretend everything is fine between them?

• Mayu/Koruri -- the sweetest friendship (plus Nobara, if you like)! Would love any sort of slice-of-life -- Mayu: Girl Detective’s investigations into the mysterious Saucer-Eyed Club activities, helping each other study for exams, roommate hijinks. In a Mayu-lives AU, tell me about Mayu and Koruri clashing over Koruri growing closer to the other teams, and how the new world strains their relationship? 

• Mayu/Nijiko -- I'd love to see Mayu and Nijiko being unexpectedly good friends and classmates, particularly since they share soil class! Maybe a field trip, or studying in the library together, or Mayu waterproofing an extra track jacket for Nijiko? In a Mayu-lives AU, what causes them to fall out, and why doesn't Nijiko go into exile with Mayu and Ryo given her closeness to both?

Also, I’m not a fan of Ango, and I’d be grateful if you could keep his presence in the fic to a minimum, thank you!  

My tag for Mayu is here, assorted thoughts about a Mayu-lives AU can be found here. 

 

Dorohedoro | Shin, Noi

I love how, despite its gritty, gory aesthetic, Dorohedoro has such a big heart and is full of warmth and humour! I'm all about the mood dissonance in this series -- Shin and Noi in their grotesque masks with little flowers tucked into them! Kaiman and Fukuyama waving at the devils as they fly past! The juxtaposition of these moments with the copious amounts of violence is just really endearing.

As for Shin and Noi, I love their overwhelming skill and competence set off against their incredibly weird personalities. Noi is noticeably more excitable than Shin but I adore how utterly ride-or-die they are for each other, and their shared love of competition, violence, and eating. Noi calling Shin 'senpai' also plays right into my mentorship interests, and I'm constantly thinking about their first meeting where Noi was only mildly put out by Shin's attempt to murder her (and let's be real, Noi's friendship metric is absolutely centred around how capable people are of matching her in a fight, see also: Nikaido), and how they escalated into each other's most important people from there, with Noi not even blinking before giving up becoming a devil in order to save Shin's life. They have zero hesitation in dying for one another, killing for one another, killing one another to save one another, etc, which is just such… ideal ship material.

Also, don't feel like you have to match canonical levels of gore if you aren't comfortable doing so, but if you are, go as wild on the murder hijinks as you like! Some prompts:

• Casefic! I'd love to see the day-to-day events in Shin and Noi's lives as cleaners, the kind of situations En sends them out to deal with, their daily routines, their first few missions as partners, the first time they went through the Blue Night partners ceremony, anything at all. I just really want to see them working together, figuring each other out, sharing space. Weird En family shenanigans would be amazing!

• I can't really imagine a scenario where they wouldn't just be charging in with fists and hammers swinging, but an undercover-as-lovers mission would be so fun to see if you can make it work somehow! Or a mission where they get stuck in a time loop -- at what point do they realise, what do they do once they figure it out, how do they escape it? Do they even want to?

• Shin mentions once that his fondest memory with Noi is a time early on in their partnership when they crashed off a cliff and came back in smithereens -- tell me more about what happened during that mission!

• I love how their powers of destruction and reconstruction complement each other perfectly, how they're so in sync, and how their partnership is built on a vibrant sense of rivalry as well as fondness for each other. They're partners in the truest sense of the word and I'd love anything that highlights their ease of familiarity and complete trust in each other. Office romance underscored by their petty competitiveness!

• Sparring! They're both amazing fighters with a deep understanding of each other, what is it like when they train with one another?

• NSFW prompts -- resolve the tension!!! Consensual violence is probably a given with these two -- or is the pining/obliviousness combo too strong? I'd be up for post-battle sex or sparring that turns into sex. Also, can you imagine how much of an enthusiastic but awkward disaster their first time would be? Finally: I love that Noi is noticeably bigger than Shin, so feel free to play that up.

• Other ships I like are Noi/Nikaido, Nikaido&/Kaiman, Aikawa/Risu(/Nikaido), the whole Kaiman/Aikawa/Ai/Kai/Risu/Curse [waves hands vaguely] thing, Kasukabe/Shin(/Noi), Kasukabe/Haru, and maybe-unrequited Dokuga/Kai, as well as gen En family dynamics!

Engelsforstrilogin | Minoo Falk Karimi, Ida Holmstrom

Another repeat request from last year! Minoo/Ida is my rarepair otp and I like how they mirror one another, except that Minoo actively tries to be (or be seen as) a good person, while Ida tends to prioritise her own interests over her conscience. But most importantly, both girls are ultimately heroic despite their struggles with motive and action! Some specific prompts:

• Any sort of missing-scene fic -- reluctantly spending time together, shying away from what they see of themselves reflected in the other, making spur-of-the-moment overtures that may or may not be successful, having to work together, being unsettled by but ultimately drawn to one another. I think a lot about how they were only able to truly make that connection right before the end, so I'd just really like to see something that recognises that they're the ones who are most able to understand each other, especially because they don't want to. 

• A sidequest sent by the Book of Patterns/a magical dream/something one of the Circle happened upon during research that requires both Minoo and Ida's skillsets to complete -- seriously, just give me the flimsiest justification for making them spend time together in isolation. Maybe a roadtrip? All of the slow burn, gradually opening up to each other, tentative companionship and loyalty despite disliking one another, accidentally settling into routines or familiarity, working surprisingly well with each other (destroying the fragile connection they've forged once they return to the others?). Feel free to mess around with the timeline to facilitate this!

• Really interested in how their family situations shape their personalities -- Minoo’s adopted her family’s moral compass and overachiever tendencies, while Ida’s internalised her family’s coldness and viciousness. Both of them struggle with familial expectation and the resulting slew of hurt or insecurities -- do they ever manage to set the need to preserve their image aside and have a proper conversation about it?

• Something that delves more into the bodyswap arc in Fire, which truly delivered beyond my wildest dreams. AUs where Minoo also swapped into Ida are welcome! How do they deal with literally wearing the other's skin and having to confront the severe case of imposter syndrome the other is facing? I love all kinds of selfcest and bodysharing tropes.

• Other canon divergences -- AUs where Elias, Rebecka, Ida, Viktor etc live are welcome! I particularly like the idea of an AU where Ida is alive during The Key and comes closest to bringing Minoo back from Walter/the guardians. 

• Also more than happy for you to add any of the other characters, nominated or not, into the mix to play Minoo and Ida off of -- my favourite option is Clara (the vicious streak she shares with Ida would probably simultaneously draw them towards each other and drive up distrust between them, which would be really cool to see play out), and I'm also really interested in some kind of tensely semiplatonic Minoo/Viktor/Ida thing rooted in mutual dislike and grudging trust, as well as Minoo/Linnea/Ida clashing worldviews. I just love Circle poly in general! In terms of background ships, you can't go wrong with Vanessa/Linnea and Felix/happiness; I'm also a fan of Minoo/Clara, Ida/Clara and Minoo/Rebecka.

• I'd prefer it if the main cause of conflict/tension between Minoo and Ida was not their shared romantic interest in Gustaf. I like Gustaf but am not very attached to him, so if you don't want to write him at all, that's cool. For these three, I'd rather not receive poly.

Houseki no Kuni | Any: Antarcticite, Bortz, Cairngorm, Cinnabar, Diamond, Ghost Quartz, Lapis Lazuli, Padparadscha, Phosphophyllite, Rutile, Yellow Diamond, Zircon

There's something so cuttingly stark about the atmosphere of this manga that I just love! I'm primarily interested in fic that delves into the rich worldbuilding and backstory possibilities hinted at in canon. I picked 'any' and I really do mean it -- here's some ideas for a few ensembles, but please feel free to just pick your favourite character or group out of the cast, nominated or not, and write about them instead:

• Generally, I adore the built-in pining mechanic of gems with different hardness scales being unable to touch without shattering the weaker one, and how much weight skin-to-skin physicality carries because of that. I also love the concept of memories being stored in their physical body -- anything that explores shifts in identity or consciousness as gems are revived with shards or parts from other gems would be amazing. I'm obsessed with gemstones, and any worldbuilding or characterisation details regarding physical gem properties or commonly-associated gem meanings would be excellent!

• Diamond and Bortz -- I love how straightforwardly Dia acknowledges their massive inferiority complex regarding Bortz; they're so calm about explaining the tangle of love and resentment they feel towards Bortz. And Bortz isn't the type to just settle for any partner -- the fact that they pay such close attention to Dia suggests they do care for Dia. I read Dia/Bortz as two people who love each other without liking each other at all, or knowing how to communicate that. In that vein, I love this conversation so much -- the incongruent tenderness on both sides kills me, from Dia preempting Bortz's commentary on their fighting, to Bortz's expression as they touch Dia's face and admit that they, too, can look at Dia fondly from a distance… it's so oddly cathartic and not-bitter for a bitter exes ship. Why did they partner up in the first place, what did they expect from each other, why did they stay together? What does a typical patrol day look like, for them? Has Bortz ever pieced Dia back together (wound care!!), has Dia ever helped Bortz cut their hair?

• The older gems -- what was it like when Yellow Diamond, Rutile, Padparadscha etc were younger? How was reviving gems handled before Rutile became a doctor, who dressed them before Red Beryl became a tailor? Was the two-person battle system always in place? What was it like for Yellow Diamond to lose so many partners (so many ship possibilities)? Why is Rutile so devoted to Padparadscha? I'm particularly fascinated by Yellow/Rutile/Padparadscha; I'm devastated by the fact that Yellow Diamond wasn't able to speak to Padparadscha when Rutile woke them up to talk to Phos -- what would Yellow Diamond have said if they could, what other conversations have they had in the past? Same for Rutile and Padparadscha -- tell me about the first time Padparadscha fell unconscious, the first time Rutile revived them (and with what material), any of the times before canon?

• Cinnabar and Phosphophyllite -- something that touches on how, every time Shinsha sees Phos, they're a little further away from the person Shinsha originally knew? Or something that explores Shinsha's inability to exercise their combat abilities and their isolation from the other gems due to their poison and their frustration at their uselessness, and then Phos's offer of the hope of companionship and a new role to fulfil? Shinsha's loneliness is so palpable and yet they trust and long for Phos despite everything, and I'd love to see something delving into that.

• Antarcticite and Phosphophyllite -- I'm constantly heartbroken over 'take care of winter for me' and Phos's joy at finally finding a partner and a role they can fulfil, right before Antarc is shattered in front of them, and the way Phos keeps hallucinating Antarc everywhere. Though the time they spent together was short, it's clear they cared a lot about each other. Tell me more about the time they spent together and the icebreaking mentorship, however brief. Or tell me if Phos is ever able to retrieve Antarc from the moondust, and where their relationship progresses from there? Or Phos unsuccessfully attempting to bring Antarc back, time after time after time? Feel free to get as angsty as you like, I'm here to suffer.

• The Ghost Quartz/Cairngorm/Lapis Lazuli/Phosphophyllite identity clusterfuck -- I love the mess of intersecting loves and loyalties here, what with Phos projecting Antarc onto Cairn, and Cairn projecting Ghost onto Phos (and then Phos merging with Lapis). Ghost and Cairn were clearly devoted to Lapis, and I love how Ghost's fondness for Phos bleeds into Cairn's fury at Phos because Ghost was taken while protecting them, and then their later partnership and Cairn's brusque kindness towards Phos. My favourite angles here are Ghost/Cairn/Lapis and Cairn/Phos, but there's so many fun selfcest and identity tropes at play! I'd love to see anything about Cairn and Ghost's past and their partnership with Lapis, or maybe futurefic for Cairn and Phos, or the years Cairn spent taking care of winter duties while Phos was unconscious (I need Cairn/Antarc parallels like burning), or something exploring Lapis's influence on Phos? Anything with some sense of identity porn would be perfect!

• This is already horrifically long, so I'll quickly add that I'd also be interested in:
  
  • Diamond/Cinnabar -- Dia's cheerful perceptiveness complements prickly recluse Shinsha really nicely, belying their shared feelings of inferiority and lack of fulfilment, and I'd love to see something that touches on that, especially since they were born in the same year.
  • Bortz/Zircon -- burgeoning mentorship/partnership between the experienced exemplar fighter and the up-and-coming prodigy. How does their dynamic develop now that Bortz has a partner who can keep up with them?
  • Amethyst twins -- the unsettling nature of their codependency, physical closeness and lack of concern about distinguishing between their identities.
  • Yellow Diamond/Zircon -- another really intriguing mentorship/partnership between the oldest and the youngest! How does Yellow feel about Zircon in comparison to their past partners? Has Yellow ever talked to Zircon about their dissatisfaction with life?
  • If you have a rarepair, please go right ahead and write it! 

• Please no Adamant/any of the gems.

Night World | Iliana Harman, Rashel Jordan, Raksha Keller, Jez Redfern

 

I was so excited to see Night World in the tagset this year! I adored these books as a kid, and there's just something so appealing about how easily the premise lends itself to forbidden romance, especially between enemies. As a diehard enemies to lovers shipper, the Night World soulmate principle speaks directly to my id -- for this request, my soulmate DNW absolutely doesn't apply, but I would love to see something that plays around with the trope a little!

Feel free to just focus on one or a subset from the characters I've requested -- you don't have to write all of them in the same fic, but I do ship all combinations of these four. Also, I love most of the canon soulmate pairs to bits (though I'm less keen on Thierry/Hannah, Gillian/David, and James/Poppy), so if you'd like to bring them in or even focus on them, please go for it! I'm a big fan of multishipping and polyshipping and ambiguously-defined but intense relationships, however you'd like to play it. If you don't want to write the canon ships, I only ask that you don't include infidelity or bitter breakups. And honestly, if you'd just like to write porn for any of these ships, go ahead and disregard my pwp DNW for this request, too.

• Generally, I'm dying for post-canon fic to fill the void where Strange Fate should be -- I'd love to see anything about the cast fending off the apocalypse and what they do in the aftermath. What and who does the final showdown come down to? Who survives, and who doesn't? How do the rules of the Night World change?

• Iliana/Keller -- I love this bodyguard romance and the way Keller grows to respect Iliana's courage and selflessness, even though it isn't a form of strength she's used to. That scene where Iliana obliterated that dragon while a heavily wounded Keller watched on? Really hot, and anything in that vein would be perfect!
  • Little mundane moments amidst the leadup to the apocalypse -- Keller helping Iliana acclimatise to the Night World, downtime from their Circle Daybreak duties, Keller teaching Iliana self-defense (hand-to-hand or panther vs magic sparring!), Iliana giving Keller the necklace she has in Thicker Than Water.
  • Any kind of princess/knight dynamics -- protecting each other in battle, Keller taking a blow meant for Iliana, Keller expressing her view of herself as disposable and Iliana fiercely disagreeing, Iliana healing Keller's injuries, anything that plays up the loyalty kink.
  • I'm very much into Iliana/Galen/Keller if you'd like to go a poly route -- if so, I'd love to see angsty pining on all sides, polyamory negotiations, how they learn to navigate boundaries. Or how about an AU where Keller represses her feelings for both of them beneath her dedication to her duty and the betrothal between Iliana and Galen goes forward? Where do things develop from there?

• Rashel/Keller -- I love the potential here as two members of Circle Daybreak's combat arm. They're both cynics shaped by harsh pasts and violent lives who end up admiring the bravery of idealism, and I think they could really connect to each other. 
  • Sparring/training together at Circle Daybreak.
  • Casefic -- growing closer on a mission they're both sent out on (with or without their soulmates), fighting back to back, wound care, casual intimacy, learning to trust each other.
  • One of them swoops in mid-battle to save the other, which is how they actually meet face-to-face for the first time, even though they've heard so much about each other.
  • Feel free to use or ignore the reveal in Thicker Than Water, I don't really mind either way. But if you do take it, how about Keller teaching Rashel how to shift? 

• Iliana/Jez -- as two of the Wild Powers, they're bound to interact sometime soon, and I'd love to see your take on it! Feel free to bring in Delos and/or Kierlan, though I'd prefer it to be in a platonic sense.
  • We know so little about what being a Wild Power entails, so any worldbuilding you'd like to do in that aspect would be excellent! Do Wild Powers have a special bond with each other, something like the soulmate bond? Can they share power or amplify each other's powers? 
  • Sparring with the Blue Fire and learning to control it. As a Redfern, Jez must have witch blood too -- does that mean she can use spells to direct the Blue Fire? Does Iliana teach her any? In return, does Jez teach Iliana proper combat techniques?
  • Both of them had worldview-changing revelations about their true heritage, so I'd love to see something exploring that!

• Rashel/Jez -- the classic vampire/vampire hunter dynamic, but with a twist! They're both so stubborn, and I just feel that they'd have incredible chemistry.
  
  • They both have a pretty strong disdain for authority figures -- what kind of trouble do they get up to together? Jez is unquestionably capable of defending herself, but she's also a Wild Power, so she probably merits extra protection -- maybe Rashel gets bodyguard duty? I don't imagine either of them would be too happy about this, so how do things develop from there? 
  • Dragon-hunting roadtrip, I'm just saying.
  • I have no idea if this works geography-wise, but have they ever encountered each other in the past, when Jez was still hunting humans? Maybe when Rashel was still finding her feet as a vampire hunter, and couldn't beat Jez? Do they recognise each other when they meet again in Circle Daybreak?
  • I know I've given this as a prompt for every ship so far, but I adore sparring and wound care and would also love to see it for these two!

• Completely optional, but Rashel and Jez also happen to be part of my two absolute favourite soulmate couples, so here are some prompts for them if you're interested. Overall, I'm here for the enemies to lovers and angsty pining vibes, so play those up and I'll love it for sure!
  • Rashel/Quinn -- I was really into the conflicted pining-after-my-enemy dynamic and was a bit disappointed to see it resolved so quickly, so if you'd like to draw that out a bit further, I wouldn't have any problems with that! My dream AU is one where they're still repressing their attraction to each other post-The Chosen and are operating on a tentative enemy-of-my-enemy truce as they roadtrip in search of Circle Daybreak, until they finally give in to the undeniable bond between them (and have a lot of rough, desperate sex?). Otherwise: missing scenes between the end of The Chosen and their cameo in Soulmate, a mission they're sent out on as Circle Daybreak's fighters, sparring, something where they work seamlessly together, something they disagree over that brings old simmering tensions back up.  
  • Morgead/Jez -- pre-canon fic about the transition from best friends to nemeses vying for leadership within their gang (though I get the feeling Morgead doesn't see Jez as an arch-enemy the way she sees him as one), sparring, moments of accidental vulnerability and intimacy pre-canon, some scenario where one of them has to drink the other's blood, experimenting with Power on each other, adjusting to being in love after they've spent their lives fighting each other and repressing their attraction. Friends to leader/second-in-command to leader/second-in-command the other way to enemies to lovers is just so perfectly calibrated to my interests, and fic set during any of these transition periods would be amazing!

• Again, optional -- I didn't have enough space to request Blaise, but I love her and also ship her with any/all of the girls, if you'd like to write her! Blaise/Iliana could be so interesting -- I'd love to see a mentorship of sorts between two of the last Harmans, Blaise discovering Iliana's spine of steel beneath her kindness. I'd also be into Blaise/Kestrel, Blaise/Thea and Blaise/Jez (as a Harman and a Redfern, have they ever interacted before?).

• I also ship Ash/Mary-Lynette, Ash/Quinn (the dynamic between them in Daughters of Darkness was so fun), Maggie/Delos, and Rowan/Kestrel/Jade. 

Tower of God | Eurasia Enne Zahard, Garam Zahard

I've loved Enne and Garam since they were just a set of profiles in an author's note, and the fact that they've finally appeared in canon properly has been one of the highlights of my year, even if it means most of my speculation about them has been proven wrong! If you offered these two, I'm sure you must have headcanons about them, and I'd love to hear all of them -- every detail you've thought up about their lives, who they are, what they climbed the tower for, why they became Zahard princesses. If you'd like some ideas on characterisation, I have some lengthy but totally optional (most of them have been jossed, sadly) headcanons here and here (though re: the second post, I no longer headcanon Garam as kind, but instead desperately in love with Anak Snr, and I definitely don't see Enne/Garam as completely healthy and functional).

Generally, canon seems to indicate that they knew of each other but only in passing, so feel free to view these prompts in that light or to make their relationship more closely personal and go from there:

• Zahard princess politics -- head-over-heels for everything we see about Zahard princess interactions in canon, and I'd love to see more of that: Enne and Garam navigating the minefield of other princesses looking to gain ranks/power/13 MS, or figuring out allegiances and trust, or even how they first approach one another. Garam being willing to risk her life and status to see Enne in the labyrinth, as well as that line about Garam 'yearning' for Enne, seems ripe for pining (and… undernegotiated D/s, perhaps?). Tell me about their shared history, if any!

• Very interested in any kind of sparring -- hand-to-hand, with their weapons, with waves, anything at all! Speaking of which: SENTIENT WEAPONS! Tell me everything about Enne's bond with Colourless December and White February, and Garam's bond with Indigo July and Blue August!

• The final confrontation -- Garam wasn't there when Enne was captured, but please do diverge from canon on this point if you'd like! How did Enne's last stand play out (with or without Garam)? Which of the princesses sent to apprehend her did she know -- were any of them friends, rivals, acquaintances, mentors, mentees?

• Fictional history/academia/epistolary format -- what is recorded about Enne and Garam in the official, Zahard-approved history books? What about the versions created by FUG or Wolhaiksong? What kind of legends or folk tales have sprung up amongst the Regulars or the other princesses (the ones who knew them personally and/or the ones who didn't!) about their tumultuous rise to power and fall from grace? What did the media reports of the time say? Essentially, how are they remembered by the various factions within the Tower.

• NSFW prompts -- sparring sessions getting more heated; any sort of consensual violence scenario; breathplay with Enne choking Garam (maybe while possessed by Colourless December?); the involvement of their 13 MS in general, whether that's in weapon form, a physical manifestation of the 13 MS being, or through possessing Enne/Garam.

• Other related pairings I love that you might like to background or even focus on:
  • Enne/Maschenny --  Enne being Maschenny's mentor and teaching her hand-to-hand combat, Maschenny growing to resent Enne and eventually delivering the final blow in capturing her. Anything that explores an inferiority complex on Maschenny's part and her insecurities regarding people who are indisputably stronger than her (eg Yuri) would be great.
  • Garam/Anak Snr -- doomed and unrequited on Garam's part, consider Garam risking her life to shelter and protect and teach Anak Jr. I like the idea of Garam and Anak Sr being close friends when they were younger and maybe climbing the Tower together, before everything fell apart.
  • Garam&/Yuram -- complicated sibling relationships, how they both ended up becoming Zahard princesses, what their last battle looked like, Garam's regret over having to kill Yuram.
  • Enne/Adori -- passive-aggressive tension about sharing a rank, or maybe a surprising lack of rivalry? As captain of the Zahard Royal Guard, was Adori involved in Enne's capture in any way?

• Bring in as many other Zahard princesses as you'd like, I ship literally every combination of them possible, and poly is more than welcome! I love the 'older generation' of the tower's factions, so please also feel free to bring in Wolhaiksong and F.U.G members. I'd prefer no background/past het for either Enne or Garam.

My tag for Enne and Garam is here, and my general Zahard princesses tag is here.  





Again, these are all just suggestions – use them or leave them as you wish! Thank you so much, and see you on the other side!

-- Ash/pyrophane