Dear author
28 Jun 2013 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stockingsandseams Right, I understand assignments are out; I'm still typing up my notes but I should be finished within the next couple of hours. I didn't expect this to be so soon and I've been without computer access; sorry, but I'm writing it up for you as we speak!
- Edited 11th July to clarify a possible problem with an ongoing canon. There's a lesson here about what you should sign up for in exchanges I guess.
Hello and thanks for being interested in writing (at least) one of these pairings; I'm really excited to see what you come up with. I wasn't sure what you would find most useful so I've waffled about what I love best about these pairings and left a few different prompts for each one; feel free to disregard if you have a better idea.
General notes
I'm not sure if there is a more precise term for this but I love fic which has an external plot - for example, casefic has the mystery to solve, or a medieval AU might have the protagonist raising an army to join the Crusades, that sort of thing - more than very introspective fic in which most of the plot development is entirely internal to the characters. Even with shippy stuff, which often has a lot of time spent on the emotions of different characters, I tend to prefer those fics in which the characters engage with the world outside their heads.
The same sort of principle applies when it comes to AUs as well: I love reading ones which work through how the characters in question would engage with the new universe in a different way, and the writers have plotted out bits from canon into the context of a whole new universe. Common AU tropes like high school AUs and coffeeshop AUs aren’t really my cup of tea but if you’ve got an idea for a more uncommon premise, please go for it. I love AU premises which put an interesting spin on a more popular AU idea - for example, Miles Edgeworth as a Hogwarts student isn’t really my favourite idea, but Miles Edgeworth as one of those living paintings in Hogwarts castle who becomes the object of Gumshoe’s eternal adoration would probably be the best thing ever. That sort of thing. (And I love canon-verse fic as well, please don’t think I’m trying to say that I only want AUs – I just have weirdly specific and yet hard to explain tastes when it comes to reading AUs and I needed to ramble on to try and explain them properly.)
I'd rather not receive any pwp for this exchange (but porn with plot is great if you want to go there), don't want non con or seeing animals and children under the age of 16 in sexually explicit situations. I don't mind dub con (and really love the sort where consent has only been obtained through emotional coercion and manipulation) but I'd still appreciate a heads-up if you should choose to write something like that, and really love unequal power dynamics, manipulation, angst and darkfic (not necessarily with a happy ending but that can also be welcome) and casefic. I can't get enough of identity porn but I don't like domesticity, curtainfic or anything involving pregnancy.
Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated
For this fandom, any background pairings are fine, and I like the friendships and complicated relationships (and the “us against the world” vibe the whole gang share) as well as the mysteries and Lampshade Hanging. Anything which incorporated some of those elements – the creepy atmosphere or just the guys dressed up in costumes aspect – would be amazing, and if you were to play around with some of the pop culture references in the same way the show does (the Professor Hatecraft episode is one of my all-time favourites) then I’d love that. The only thing I don’t want is sexually explicit content involving either Professor Pericles or any of the gang, but apart from that I will honestly love anything.
Brad Chiles/Judy Reeves
Brad and Judy are terrible human beings who love one another and just carry on being terrible human beings, and I love that about them. I'd enjoy reading anything which expanded on their forays into villainy or adventuring, whether that's set in the pre- or post-Nibiru timeline. I'd also like to see more of the original Mystery Incorporated gang, so anything about their relationship back when their team first formed would be brilliant, and I love their dynamic when they're both working on solving a problem. The time between the plastic surgery and the finale has always intrigued me in the creepiest sort of way - were they still having sex while they wore the faces of their son and his old lady girlfriend? Was there relationship dynamic bleed from looking like Fred and old!Daphne to one another? And how would their relationship to one another change as they worked for Pericles?
Cassidy Williams/Velma Dinkley
What draws me to this pairing is the doubling of roles (how Cassidy was the Velma amongst her friends) and the depth of care the two of them show one another. Velma spends a lot of time in the first episodes seeming bored and frustrated around most other people; Cassidy is one of the few people whose opinion really seems to affect Velma's behaviour, like when Velma keeps Cassidy's true identity a secret. And the little stroke of Cassidy's hand across Velma's back when she was bugging the gang to spy on them for Mr E - all the betrayal, the redemption, vaguely possessive touching and mentorship are really intriguing parts of their dynamic. It'd be interesting to see Velma try and reconcile with Cassidy in the new timeline (you can ignore or include Cassidy's relationship with Mr E as you see fit; I don't have a problem with infidelity), or for a relationship between the two to develop before Cassidy's death. I also don't mind if you want to keep this UST-y instead of resolving any attraction between them if that would float your boat.
A canon-divergent AU in which Cassidy didn't die would be fantastic, and if you happen to be interested in historical AUs, I would adore an AU in which they were part of the Surrealist movement. The aspects of their relationship or their characters which appeal to me most - Velma's initial rejection of the supernatural, which is completely decimated by the end of the show, the importance placed on perception and things not being what they seem, the role of the unconscious, Cassidy as a musician and a performer, the tension between what people thought they knew and what the world could be - are all interesting to read in that context.
Ricky Owens/Professor Pericles
"My sweet Ricky," oh my goodness! It feels incredibly inappropriate and creepy and dirtybadwrong for me to ship them - and I will understand if you would rather treat the exact nature of their relationship as ambiguous; I'd certainly rather not receive anything in which they were in a sexual relationship - but all of the manipulation (through threats of physical violence, like the cobra venom, and the occasional sweet-talk) Pericles engages in is fascinating. That said, although the adult Ricky is clearly being manipulated he does attempt to fight back against Pericles: he isn't just a victim of a really unhealthy/abusive relationship, which is how the flashback stuff reads to me, but has actively fought against Pericles. Enemies finding respect for one another, even as they desperately try to stop the other, is one of my biggest narrative kinks, and I'd love to read anything about how their relationship has changed over the years as Ricky transforms into Mr E.
Sheriff Bronson Stone/Mayor Jones
One thing I love most about this series is that the adults, as a general rule, are kind of bad at being grown-ups. They're not abusive, although I think Velma is the only one out of the group who seems to have a healthy relationship with her parents, but they still aren't very good at honoring their responsibilities. What's interesting about Fred Sr and Sheriff Stone is that they are (sort of) both working for the good of Crystal Cove, and I think they play off one another well. Anything which dealt with the attraction in "Where Walks Aphrodite" would be fascinating, but I'd also love to see how the two of them would get together (and try to find an evening for their first date which isn't interrupted by a monster or Fred accidentally setting off one of his traps).
Velma Dinkley/Marcie Fleach
I think that on the surface, they're both very similar characters (Marcie even has Velma's colour scheme, so it seems like a very deliberate way to signal that the viewer should connect these characters together) but their motivations are actually very individual. Velma has something to prove - look at the way she reacts at the suggestion that she might not be the smartest member of the group back in the Darrow Mansion - but Marcie doesn't, really. She wants a friend but I think she's much more self-confident than Velma. That's why it hurts my heart a little to know that Velma is the only one who knows that Marcie died to save them all, but at the same time, I think Marcie got her happy ending in the new timeline by being friends/science buddies/girlfriends with Velma. That "That's my girl"? She's so damn proud!
I'd love to see them working together, solving mysteries or science problems, or working against one another back on the science fair circuit. After the gang leave town in the finale, maybe Marcie and Velma stay in touch or Marcie tracks Velma down, especially if people are still trying to adjust to life in a whole alternate reality. Epistolary fic could be really cool as well if you like the style, and I think it would be pretty cool to read something about the divided loyalties and sneaking around when they were torn between Mystery Inc and Mr E.
Marvel 616
I'd be really excited to see more characters who aren't in the cinematic universe make cameos if you needed some secondary characters - please don't feel as though you need to do something extreme and set anything in a world in which Tony Stark was never born or something like that, it's just that we've seen a lot of the relationships between the cinematic characters in 616 lately and I'd love to see more of these other characters who aren't as famous.
Apart from that, I'm up for anything with this canon, especially if you were interested in exploring many of the "shades of grey" in which these characters sometimes operate.
Annabelle Riggs/Valkyrie
So the wonderful romance novel cliche-ness of their dynamic is just fantastic, and Annabelle's swooning was the most adorable thing. I love that she's still so awkward and so determined to go after what she wants anyway, and that Valkyrie sees a warrior in her anyway. Anything which continued with the Battle Couple vibe would be amazing, as would something which expanded on the mythological aspects of it all. Cliche as it is - and it's not like it wouldn't fit the two of them - I also have a bit of a weakness for alien culture clash, and with more and more of the Norse pantheon appearing in the series, I'd really like to see the two of them dealing with a certain degree of culture clash. I'm a real sucker for misunderstandings about the proper way to ~woo~ one another as well, and I think that would suit their dynamic pretty well. Misty facepalming in the background is optional but strongly recommended. :D
ETA: Having just read Fearless Defenders #6, you can go right ahead and do whatever you want with that plot. Honestly. Continue it, explore what the role of Valkyrie can really mean, bring her back to life through magic, ignore it, AU the whole thing so she never died in the first place, it's all fine. I didn't love it as part of the plot - although I don't think it's the worst thing they could have done, because yeah, valkyries - but I don't have anything against using it as a jumping-off point. I'd rather not have any grieving or tragic love for this pairing (so if you want to set it after the death, don't make it stick and everything hopeless?) but anything else is cool.
Monica Rambeau/Steve Rogers
I just really loved their relationship with one another, from the way Steve tries to take Monica under his wing when she first joins the Avengers to the way they both comfort one another and keep on hugging and tenderly cradling one another and then doing the weird "arm around their waist" thing artists seem to think signifies friendship but which always just looks like someone is about two seconds away from getting their bum pinched. I love stories about friends and comrades-in-arms who trust each other and fall in love while they're doing it, and anything about Monica leading the Avengers and Steve being super impressed by her competence would be brilliant. I like how they're both sources of strength and comfort for the other after they get whumped, so any kind of h/c plot or banding together to save the world would also be very relevant to my interests.
Should you be more familiar with Monica from Nextwave, go right ahead and write her because I love Nextwave! But I think her relationship with Steve and the rest of the Avengers is quite different, and it would be cool to explore the consequences of her "whatever we want" for her new team. Maybe Captain America personally invites her to join the fold again? Maybe he just objects to the vast amounts of America which got caught in the punching crossfire and wants her to make it up to him? I don't know, but anything which riffed off Nextwave's tone would be fabulous.
Carol Danvers/Monica Rambeau
I really loved Monica's appearance in Captain Marvel, not least because I found the dialogue to be really self-aware in the best sort of way and unafraid to poke fun at some 616 cliches. Of course Monica's going to have a google alert set up for her codename, of course Tony Stark is the worst person in the world to tell your secrets to; and I'm a real sucker for the moments when superheroes acknowledge that there are parts of their lives which aren't as super. Anything to do with the codename "Captain Marvel" would be great; I particularly loved that Monica was originally a real captain, a boat captain, and Carol's history in the Air Force is awesome. Maybe Monica keeps the google alert up and tells herself that it's only to make sure that Carol isn't bringing some sort of disgrace onto their name, and she can't help but fall in love with her stupid heroics? Anything like after-effects of their mind fusion would be amazing, whether that is some sort of residual soulbonding effect or if Monica just talks a little more about everything else she encountered in Carol's head, as well and I'd also love something more about them competing with one another.
Yelena Belova/Natasha Romanov
Their dynamic is endlessly fascinating to me - with Yelena trying to kill Natasha and saving her, and Natasha trying to save Natasha through becoming the sort of monster she normally fights against (I have a couple of issues with Breakdown I won't go into here but it is incredible ship fodder and I do love Yelena's perspective there), and all the obsession and anger and sublimated desire on Yelena's part and Natasha's determination to save Yelena, even when it means taking the sorts of risks she normally balks at. And "I wanted to save you", the toying with different levels of identity, Yelena wondering if killing Natasha would cause her to die as well - it's all fantastic and slightly dark but at the same time, very tragic because Yelena's tragedy isn't that she's a villain (because she's not) but that she wants so very desperately to be a hero. And the fact that Natasha defected and never wanted to become the Black Widow, never wanted to be a hero but was never given a choice, must make Yelena even worse - because "Romanova scored better", she already had the title and the praise and the life Yelena wanted so very badly, and that was something Natasha had only taken by necessity. She didn't want it like Yelena did. So anything from Yelena's perspective about their codename, what it means to be the Black Widow, or her own jealousy would be amazing.
I also love the moments when they do find some common ground and work together, so seeing them unite - even if it's just a temporary allegiance to destroy a common enemy - would be great. I love the idea of an "enemies to lovers" sort of relationship for them both, but I'd also enjoy receiving any wildly unhealthy hatesex for them too (I do think it was a shame Yelena's asexuality was retconned, because I think that the double subversion of the "femme fatale" was really interesting, but at the same time a lot of Pale Little Spider might also suggest sublimated sexual desire as well as her obsession to be better than Natasha), and kinky porn for this pairing would be very relevant to my interests.
Also I can think of no way of asking for this which doesn't sound stupid, but I kind of want an AU in which they're both magical girls. I think it sort of makes sense thematically (young girls with powers and secret identities who are chosen to fight against evil, but things are not always as they first appear!) and the high stakes drama with weird powers appeals to me.
Gyakuten Saiban|Ace Attorney
I love the unashamed goofiness of the canon, I love the ridiculous names, I love how every single character is odd in their own special way, and how nobody (apart from the protagonist, and sometimes his plucky girl sidekick) seems to think that's noteworthy. I've just finished up "Miles Edgeworth Investigates" and oh my goodness, there was so much there that could be read as shipbait! I don't know if you've ever played it (I'm not a fan of some of the new mechanics and some of the mysteries are a little less challenging than I would have liked, so even though I did enjoy them and think there was a lot of brilliant interaction there between Edgeworth, Franziska and Gumshoe - and some lovely backstory for the three of them as well - there's no real need to pick it up if you haven't played, I don't think).
Itonokogiri Keisuke/Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth/Dick Gumshoe
Aah, I think these two are just lovely! Gumshoe's devotion and hero-worship of Edgeworth is really sweet. He's not especially intelligent but he has a big heart, while Edgeworth is very observant when it comes to his cases and much less so when it comes to people being interested in him. A lot of his inner monologue in 'Miles Edgeworth Investigates' makes him seem kind of obtuse when it comes to other people flirting, and I think their personalities complement one another wonderfully - especially when Edgeworth isn't docking Gumshoe's pay so low that he would have to pay to come into work.
If you have played 'Miles Edgeworth Investigates', then something about Gumshoe taking care of Miles' office would be great - that exchange about just what Gumshoe was doing in there which he desperately doesn't want Edgeworth to have caught on camera made me think it was something dirty. Or service kink in general, I think, would suit these two well.
I do like how hard Gumshoe tries to get it right, and I know that he doesn't always manage it but he never lets that stop him. And Edgeworth is so determined to make his case and his logic perfect that he neglects the emotional side, so anything about the two of them trying to find some sort of balance would be nice. Gumshoe would be the sort to keep making sappy romantic gestures which never went quite right, like burning the meal he had cooked or accidentally knocking some mood candles over and causing a small fire, but I don't think Edgeworth would be the sort to make sappy gestures that often. So how would the two of them celebrate an anniversary or something romantically?
Kamiya Kirio/Karuma Mei | Adrian Andrews/Franziska von Karma
So I do have a thing about unhealthy relationships and terrible coping techniques in fictional. If that is something you are similarly interested in, then I would love something about Adrian's co-dependency continuing to affect the way her relationship with Franziska operates. I think that on one level, although Franziska is very scornful of weakness, she might actually appreciate that sort of unwavering admiration Adrian gave to Celeste. She's spent a lot of time desperately trying to prove that she's perfect, after all, and Adrian's conviction that Franziska really does know best (even when it looks as though Adrian's going to be found guilty!) is acknowledgement of Franziska's perfection taken to its logical extreme. If unhealthy relationships staying unhealthy aren't really your thing, I'd find it interesting to see them aware of their own issues and trying to make things work better between them as well.
The whipping lessons and Franziska's decision to keep in contact with Adrian after the case are both parts of canon I'd love to see expanded on, the former because it can easily be taken to the UST and/or porny place and the latter because I feel so badly for Franziska at the end of JFA and I'd love to know what made her reach out to Adrian in this case. Finally, I think that the two of them would have a lot of fun looking down their noses at people who displease them - Adrian's confidence and initial judginess disguises her problems, of course, but she's very unimpressed by a lot of the nonsense around her, and Franziska isn't exactly reticent when it comes to punishing people who don't live up to their standards. So even though they're surrounded by people who do the weirdest things (and it's not like Franziska could really operate the same way without the wacky rules of AA canon allowing her to do things like assault judges with impunity), they're both determined to try and make things work as they think they should and aren't shy about showing their frustration when that doesn't happen.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
This fandom has been pretty good at catering to my love of idfic – not (just) in the porny sense, of course, but when it comes to all kinds of tropes. Things like A/B/O AUs, soulmates, arranged marriage type plots where the narrative follows the course laid out by the trope. As I said, that stuff is great, it’s the perfect brain candy, but I can scratch that itch with most of my other ships so I'd be more interested in fics which were less tropey idfic (although kinky idfic is still great if that's what floats your boat). Character-driven conflict would be great; I'd also especially love anything dealing with the political repercussions coming from aliens and vigilante heroes as well as the personal consequences we see some of the films exploring.
James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Natasha Romanov
I'm not sure we ever saw them interact in IM2 but I do love Girl Saves Boy tropes, and I imagine that Rhodey would be suitably appreciative (pun intended). Of course, whether he decides to show his gratitude sexily or by offering some sort of assistance if Natasha should need help in the future is entirely up to you because - while I think these two would be really hot together, hello competence porn and loyalty kink - I would honestly love to read both.
I think their personalities complement one another in a really interesting way. They're both intensely loyal, of course, and go to great lengths to try and protect people who need them - Rhodey searching for Tony, Natasha saving Clint - and that loyalty is tested in similar ways. They're both characters who work in terms of duty (Natasha's "I owe him a debt" and Rhodey's military service), but that loyalty and that duty don't come without limits, and I think that they both know when they would have to walk away. So something where they came into conflict - maybe SHIELD and the Air Force get into some kind of pissing match - or where their loyalty to one another is tested would be the best.
If you wanted to write about these two getting together, I'd be particularly interested in a slow burn romance. Alternately, if you're more interested in writing kinkfic, I'd prefer an established relationship to any kind of casual hook-up.
Bruce Banner/James "Bucky" Barnes
I know we've not seen anything to suggest these two are ever going to interact, but I ship them anyway - I think that they'd have a really interesting relationship to each other, and to the whole heroic ideal, through Captain America and Steve and all these heroes that they fight alongside, even though they've been turned into monsters. Assuming that CA:TWS does run with the brainwashing angle, then the loss of control Bruce feels at turning into the Hulk might be analogous to the brainwashing/mind control angle Bucky experiences under Department X, but that might be a bit more of a stretch. Either way, they both know what it means to be the kind of monster the heroes they rub shoulders with fight against, and I can see them either finding someone who understands them and makes them less alone in the other or despising the other and having really antagonistic hatesex. Believe me when I say that either one is more than fine by me.
Jane Foster/Tony Stark
I think these two are the most passionate about knowledge and scientific discovery - Bruce too, of course, but he's learned to be wary of the science in a way that I don't think either Jane or Tony ever did. And I think that they would be fascinated by what the other person has done - because Jane managed to build herself a functional bifrost in order to return Thor to Asgard (although I think that was only made explicit in a deleted scene and was less clear in the actual movie? I'm not sure any more), and Tony actually went all the way into space when he was saving the world, so I see them as being a teeny bit mutually starstruck - well, Jane being starstruck and Tony being super impressed, and both trying to learn everything about what was going on in one another's brain and applying what they each know to their respective fields. People working together on something they're both good at and passionate about is one of my bulletproof narrative kinks, and appreciating one another's achievements would be awesome. That, and Jane's kind of new to being in the public eye but even if she managed to escape attention while she was dating Thor, being with Tony Stark isn't the sort of thing she could really expect to go unnoticed - so if you want to write them dealing with that, or any kind of outsider perspective on that, I'd be all for it.
Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov
I lied, I'm sorry, I've just realised that this is the one pairing where I would actually love any tropey idfic. Slavefic, soulmate AUs, de-aging - whatever you choose, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Otherwise, I'd really love anything which dealt with the realities of life with SHIELD - whether this is the two of them getting creative about chain-of-command issues, the two of them falling in love while undercover, or anything which expanded on either Maria's skepticism with regards to The Avengers Initiative or Natasha's defection. (Or both. Both is good.)
I think that the two of them complement one another nicely - they're both efficient, competent, and very loyal. But they're different enough to be interesting as well; where Natasha clearly prioritises loyalty to people ("I owe him a debt", the way she's rooting so hard for Tony to come back safely), Maria seems to put more weight on loyalty to her principles, as she doesn't hesitate to criticise Fury's actions and The Avengers Initiative as a whole. And Natasha operates largely through misdirection and deception - Maria doesn't make herself look harmless or weaker than she actually is, and she certainly doesn't use that dismissal as a weapon or a shield. She's much more direct, so anything in which they work together would be interesting as well.
Bruce Banner/Jane Foster
As you have probably already guessed, I love characters who are knowledgeable and passionate and excited about their chosen field, and that's part of the reason why I love Jane so much - she's so excited by what she might learn, it's really lovely to see. Bruce, on the other hand, seems much more jaded but I think that curiosity and that interest in problem-solving is still there - look at the way he's persuaded out of hiding by the puzzle of the Tesseract - but he's been burned by the Hulk, and everything that made him lose. Anything where the two of them bonded over a shared love of science would be great, especially if weird science itself becomes a part of the fic. Don't worry about scientific accuracy or anything - this is a universe in which Bruce turns into a giant green rage monster after all - but I would love some kind of geekery between them.
Of course, neither of them has had a great relationship with SHIELD - they tried to take all of Jane's research and hold Thor in their base when he went for the hammer, and Bruce has been on the run from all sorts of similar organisations for a while. So anything where the two of them are kind of wary about organisations like SHIELD or any kind of government interference with their work would be interesting - whether that's with the two of them working together to protect one another, or an AU in which their experiences with SHIELD mean that they become supervillains.
I really love Thor and Betty, so I'd rather not read anything where they were more 'at fault' for the break-up than either Jane or Bruce - you can just handwave it if you want, I don't mind if their canon relationships aren't acknowledged (and in both cases, there's reason enough to say that the relationship came to an end when they separated from their partners), but I just wouldn't want Thor or Betty to come off as assholes.
Lastly - while I have every faith in you - if you needed to pick up a different pairing because you got stuck, all my 616 ships (minus Steve/Monica) are probably the quickest to review canon for: Annabelle/Valkyrie is Fearless Defenders #1 onwards, Carol/Monica is Captain Marvel #8-9 and Natasha/Yelena is Black Widow: Breadown and Itsy-Bitsy Spider. You can see more of Yelena (and her obsession/sublimated desire for Natasha) in Pale Little Spider if you want, and if you did want to read up on Steve/Monica, try her run on Avengers.
Ace Attorney is a series of several games where you play as a lawyer. You can probably find a walkthrough/LP for most of them - Edgeworth is the main opponent in the first game, although he returns as a major character/protagonist in many other games, and Gumshoe plays a large part in most investigations. Franziska and Adrian meet in Justice For All (the last case, although Franziska is the chief opponent in all the other cases and Adrian does return in the third game).
The MCU is the next quickest to pick up, in my opinion - none of these pairings have actually spoken to one another but Maria/Natasha totally shared a room at one point during The Avengers, so there you go. I also don't mind if you ignore the earlier Hulk movies; I don't hate them but I'm not especially attached to them and I know most people don't really consider them part of the MCU canon proper.
Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated is a fantastic little cartoon which ran for 2 seasons, each of 26 episodes. I binged on the whole thing one weekend when I was ill but it might be harder to watch the whole thing if you're a bit of a completionist - if you just wanted to review the episodes of one of the more minor characters (Marcie Fleach, Cassidy Williams, Mayor Jones and Professor Pericles), you can probably do it but I do think it'd be tricky.
- Edited 11th July to clarify a possible problem with an ongoing canon. There's a lesson here about what you should sign up for in exchanges I guess.
Hello and thanks for being interested in writing (at least) one of these pairings; I'm really excited to see what you come up with. I wasn't sure what you would find most useful so I've waffled about what I love best about these pairings and left a few different prompts for each one; feel free to disregard if you have a better idea.
General notes
I'm not sure if there is a more precise term for this but I love fic which has an external plot - for example, casefic has the mystery to solve, or a medieval AU might have the protagonist raising an army to join the Crusades, that sort of thing - more than very introspective fic in which most of the plot development is entirely internal to the characters. Even with shippy stuff, which often has a lot of time spent on the emotions of different characters, I tend to prefer those fics in which the characters engage with the world outside their heads.
The same sort of principle applies when it comes to AUs as well: I love reading ones which work through how the characters in question would engage with the new universe in a different way, and the writers have plotted out bits from canon into the context of a whole new universe. Common AU tropes like high school AUs and coffeeshop AUs aren’t really my cup of tea but if you’ve got an idea for a more uncommon premise, please go for it. I love AU premises which put an interesting spin on a more popular AU idea - for example, Miles Edgeworth as a Hogwarts student isn’t really my favourite idea, but Miles Edgeworth as one of those living paintings in Hogwarts castle who becomes the object of Gumshoe’s eternal adoration would probably be the best thing ever. That sort of thing. (And I love canon-verse fic as well, please don’t think I’m trying to say that I only want AUs – I just have weirdly specific and yet hard to explain tastes when it comes to reading AUs and I needed to ramble on to try and explain them properly.)
I'd rather not receive any pwp for this exchange (but porn with plot is great if you want to go there), don't want non con or seeing animals and children under the age of 16 in sexually explicit situations. I don't mind dub con (and really love the sort where consent has only been obtained through emotional coercion and manipulation) but I'd still appreciate a heads-up if you should choose to write something like that, and really love unequal power dynamics, manipulation, angst and darkfic (not necessarily with a happy ending but that can also be welcome) and casefic. I can't get enough of identity porn but I don't like domesticity, curtainfic or anything involving pregnancy.
Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated
For this fandom, any background pairings are fine, and I like the friendships and complicated relationships (and the “us against the world” vibe the whole gang share) as well as the mysteries and Lampshade Hanging. Anything which incorporated some of those elements – the creepy atmosphere or just the guys dressed up in costumes aspect – would be amazing, and if you were to play around with some of the pop culture references in the same way the show does (the Professor Hatecraft episode is one of my all-time favourites) then I’d love that. The only thing I don’t want is sexually explicit content involving either Professor Pericles or any of the gang, but apart from that I will honestly love anything.
Brad Chiles/Judy Reeves
Brad and Judy are terrible human beings who love one another and just carry on being terrible human beings, and I love that about them. I'd enjoy reading anything which expanded on their forays into villainy or adventuring, whether that's set in the pre- or post-Nibiru timeline. I'd also like to see more of the original Mystery Incorporated gang, so anything about their relationship back when their team first formed would be brilliant, and I love their dynamic when they're both working on solving a problem. The time between the plastic surgery and the finale has always intrigued me in the creepiest sort of way - were they still having sex while they wore the faces of their son and his old lady girlfriend? Was there relationship dynamic bleed from looking like Fred and old!Daphne to one another? And how would their relationship to one another change as they worked for Pericles?
Cassidy Williams/Velma Dinkley
What draws me to this pairing is the doubling of roles (how Cassidy was the Velma amongst her friends) and the depth of care the two of them show one another. Velma spends a lot of time in the first episodes seeming bored and frustrated around most other people; Cassidy is one of the few people whose opinion really seems to affect Velma's behaviour, like when Velma keeps Cassidy's true identity a secret. And the little stroke of Cassidy's hand across Velma's back when she was bugging the gang to spy on them for Mr E - all the betrayal, the redemption, vaguely possessive touching and mentorship are really intriguing parts of their dynamic. It'd be interesting to see Velma try and reconcile with Cassidy in the new timeline (you can ignore or include Cassidy's relationship with Mr E as you see fit; I don't have a problem with infidelity), or for a relationship between the two to develop before Cassidy's death. I also don't mind if you want to keep this UST-y instead of resolving any attraction between them if that would float your boat.
A canon-divergent AU in which Cassidy didn't die would be fantastic, and if you happen to be interested in historical AUs, I would adore an AU in which they were part of the Surrealist movement. The aspects of their relationship or their characters which appeal to me most - Velma's initial rejection of the supernatural, which is completely decimated by the end of the show, the importance placed on perception and things not being what they seem, the role of the unconscious, Cassidy as a musician and a performer, the tension between what people thought they knew and what the world could be - are all interesting to read in that context.
Ricky Owens/Professor Pericles
"My sweet Ricky," oh my goodness! It feels incredibly inappropriate and creepy and dirtybadwrong for me to ship them - and I will understand if you would rather treat the exact nature of their relationship as ambiguous; I'd certainly rather not receive anything in which they were in a sexual relationship - but all of the manipulation (through threats of physical violence, like the cobra venom, and the occasional sweet-talk) Pericles engages in is fascinating. That said, although the adult Ricky is clearly being manipulated he does attempt to fight back against Pericles: he isn't just a victim of a really unhealthy/abusive relationship, which is how the flashback stuff reads to me, but has actively fought against Pericles. Enemies finding respect for one another, even as they desperately try to stop the other, is one of my biggest narrative kinks, and I'd love to read anything about how their relationship has changed over the years as Ricky transforms into Mr E.
Sheriff Bronson Stone/Mayor Jones
One thing I love most about this series is that the adults, as a general rule, are kind of bad at being grown-ups. They're not abusive, although I think Velma is the only one out of the group who seems to have a healthy relationship with her parents, but they still aren't very good at honoring their responsibilities. What's interesting about Fred Sr and Sheriff Stone is that they are (sort of) both working for the good of Crystal Cove, and I think they play off one another well. Anything which dealt with the attraction in "Where Walks Aphrodite" would be fascinating, but I'd also love to see how the two of them would get together (and try to find an evening for their first date which isn't interrupted by a monster or Fred accidentally setting off one of his traps).
Velma Dinkley/Marcie Fleach
I think that on the surface, they're both very similar characters (Marcie even has Velma's colour scheme, so it seems like a very deliberate way to signal that the viewer should connect these characters together) but their motivations are actually very individual. Velma has something to prove - look at the way she reacts at the suggestion that she might not be the smartest member of the group back in the Darrow Mansion - but Marcie doesn't, really. She wants a friend but I think she's much more self-confident than Velma. That's why it hurts my heart a little to know that Velma is the only one who knows that Marcie died to save them all, but at the same time, I think Marcie got her happy ending in the new timeline by being friends/science buddies/girlfriends with Velma. That "That's my girl"? She's so damn proud!
I'd love to see them working together, solving mysteries or science problems, or working against one another back on the science fair circuit. After the gang leave town in the finale, maybe Marcie and Velma stay in touch or Marcie tracks Velma down, especially if people are still trying to adjust to life in a whole alternate reality. Epistolary fic could be really cool as well if you like the style, and I think it would be pretty cool to read something about the divided loyalties and sneaking around when they were torn between Mystery Inc and Mr E.
Marvel 616
I'd be really excited to see more characters who aren't in the cinematic universe make cameos if you needed some secondary characters - please don't feel as though you need to do something extreme and set anything in a world in which Tony Stark was never born or something like that, it's just that we've seen a lot of the relationships between the cinematic characters in 616 lately and I'd love to see more of these other characters who aren't as famous.
Apart from that, I'm up for anything with this canon, especially if you were interested in exploring many of the "shades of grey" in which these characters sometimes operate.
Annabelle Riggs/Valkyrie
So the wonderful romance novel cliche-ness of their dynamic is just fantastic, and Annabelle's swooning was the most adorable thing. I love that she's still so awkward and so determined to go after what she wants anyway, and that Valkyrie sees a warrior in her anyway. Anything which continued with the Battle Couple vibe would be amazing, as would something which expanded on the mythological aspects of it all. Cliche as it is - and it's not like it wouldn't fit the two of them - I also have a bit of a weakness for alien culture clash, and with more and more of the Norse pantheon appearing in the series, I'd really like to see the two of them dealing with a certain degree of culture clash. I'm a real sucker for misunderstandings about the proper way to ~woo~ one another as well, and I think that would suit their dynamic pretty well. Misty facepalming in the background is optional but strongly recommended. :D
ETA: Having just read Fearless Defenders #6, you can go right ahead and do whatever you want with that plot. Honestly. Continue it, explore what the role of Valkyrie can really mean, bring her back to life through magic, ignore it, AU the whole thing so she never died in the first place, it's all fine. I didn't love it as part of the plot - although I don't think it's the worst thing they could have done, because yeah, valkyries - but I don't have anything against using it as a jumping-off point. I'd rather not have any grieving or tragic love for this pairing (so if you want to set it after the death, don't make it stick and everything hopeless?) but anything else is cool.
Monica Rambeau/Steve Rogers
I just really loved their relationship with one another, from the way Steve tries to take Monica under his wing when she first joins the Avengers to the way they both comfort one another and keep on hugging and tenderly cradling one another and then doing the weird "arm around their waist" thing artists seem to think signifies friendship but which always just looks like someone is about two seconds away from getting their bum pinched. I love stories about friends and comrades-in-arms who trust each other and fall in love while they're doing it, and anything about Monica leading the Avengers and Steve being super impressed by her competence would be brilliant. I like how they're both sources of strength and comfort for the other after they get whumped, so any kind of h/c plot or banding together to save the world would also be very relevant to my interests.
Should you be more familiar with Monica from Nextwave, go right ahead and write her because I love Nextwave! But I think her relationship with Steve and the rest of the Avengers is quite different, and it would be cool to explore the consequences of her "whatever we want" for her new team. Maybe Captain America personally invites her to join the fold again? Maybe he just objects to the vast amounts of America which got caught in the punching crossfire and wants her to make it up to him? I don't know, but anything which riffed off Nextwave's tone would be fabulous.
Carol Danvers/Monica Rambeau
I really loved Monica's appearance in Captain Marvel, not least because I found the dialogue to be really self-aware in the best sort of way and unafraid to poke fun at some 616 cliches. Of course Monica's going to have a google alert set up for her codename, of course Tony Stark is the worst person in the world to tell your secrets to; and I'm a real sucker for the moments when superheroes acknowledge that there are parts of their lives which aren't as super. Anything to do with the codename "Captain Marvel" would be great; I particularly loved that Monica was originally a real captain, a boat captain, and Carol's history in the Air Force is awesome. Maybe Monica keeps the google alert up and tells herself that it's only to make sure that Carol isn't bringing some sort of disgrace onto their name, and she can't help but fall in love with her stupid heroics? Anything like after-effects of their mind fusion would be amazing, whether that is some sort of residual soulbonding effect or if Monica just talks a little more about everything else she encountered in Carol's head, as well and I'd also love something more about them competing with one another.
Yelena Belova/Natasha Romanov
Their dynamic is endlessly fascinating to me - with Yelena trying to kill Natasha and saving her, and Natasha trying to save Natasha through becoming the sort of monster she normally fights against (I have a couple of issues with Breakdown I won't go into here but it is incredible ship fodder and I do love Yelena's perspective there), and all the obsession and anger and sublimated desire on Yelena's part and Natasha's determination to save Yelena, even when it means taking the sorts of risks she normally balks at. And "I wanted to save you", the toying with different levels of identity, Yelena wondering if killing Natasha would cause her to die as well - it's all fantastic and slightly dark but at the same time, very tragic because Yelena's tragedy isn't that she's a villain (because she's not) but that she wants so very desperately to be a hero. And the fact that Natasha defected and never wanted to become the Black Widow, never wanted to be a hero but was never given a choice, must make Yelena even worse - because "Romanova scored better", she already had the title and the praise and the life Yelena wanted so very badly, and that was something Natasha had only taken by necessity. She didn't want it like Yelena did. So anything from Yelena's perspective about their codename, what it means to be the Black Widow, or her own jealousy would be amazing.
I also love the moments when they do find some common ground and work together, so seeing them unite - even if it's just a temporary allegiance to destroy a common enemy - would be great. I love the idea of an "enemies to lovers" sort of relationship for them both, but I'd also enjoy receiving any wildly unhealthy hatesex for them too (I do think it was a shame Yelena's asexuality was retconned, because I think that the double subversion of the "femme fatale" was really interesting, but at the same time a lot of Pale Little Spider might also suggest sublimated sexual desire as well as her obsession to be better than Natasha), and kinky porn for this pairing would be very relevant to my interests.
Also I can think of no way of asking for this which doesn't sound stupid, but I kind of want an AU in which they're both magical girls. I think it sort of makes sense thematically (young girls with powers and secret identities who are chosen to fight against evil, but things are not always as they first appear!) and the high stakes drama with weird powers appeals to me.
Gyakuten Saiban|Ace Attorney
I love the unashamed goofiness of the canon, I love the ridiculous names, I love how every single character is odd in their own special way, and how nobody (apart from the protagonist, and sometimes his plucky girl sidekick) seems to think that's noteworthy. I've just finished up "Miles Edgeworth Investigates" and oh my goodness, there was so much there that could be read as shipbait! I don't know if you've ever played it (I'm not a fan of some of the new mechanics and some of the mysteries are a little less challenging than I would have liked, so even though I did enjoy them and think there was a lot of brilliant interaction there between Edgeworth, Franziska and Gumshoe - and some lovely backstory for the three of them as well - there's no real need to pick it up if you haven't played, I don't think).
Itonokogiri Keisuke/Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth/Dick Gumshoe
Aah, I think these two are just lovely! Gumshoe's devotion and hero-worship of Edgeworth is really sweet. He's not especially intelligent but he has a big heart, while Edgeworth is very observant when it comes to his cases and much less so when it comes to people being interested in him. A lot of his inner monologue in 'Miles Edgeworth Investigates' makes him seem kind of obtuse when it comes to other people flirting, and I think their personalities complement one another wonderfully - especially when Edgeworth isn't docking Gumshoe's pay so low that he would have to pay to come into work.
If you have played 'Miles Edgeworth Investigates', then something about Gumshoe taking care of Miles' office would be great - that exchange about just what Gumshoe was doing in there which he desperately doesn't want Edgeworth to have caught on camera made me think it was something dirty. Or service kink in general, I think, would suit these two well.
I do like how hard Gumshoe tries to get it right, and I know that he doesn't always manage it but he never lets that stop him. And Edgeworth is so determined to make his case and his logic perfect that he neglects the emotional side, so anything about the two of them trying to find some sort of balance would be nice. Gumshoe would be the sort to keep making sappy romantic gestures which never went quite right, like burning the meal he had cooked or accidentally knocking some mood candles over and causing a small fire, but I don't think Edgeworth would be the sort to make sappy gestures that often. So how would the two of them celebrate an anniversary or something romantically?
Kamiya Kirio/Karuma Mei | Adrian Andrews/Franziska von Karma
So I do have a thing about unhealthy relationships and terrible coping techniques in fictional. If that is something you are similarly interested in, then I would love something about Adrian's co-dependency continuing to affect the way her relationship with Franziska operates. I think that on one level, although Franziska is very scornful of weakness, she might actually appreciate that sort of unwavering admiration Adrian gave to Celeste. She's spent a lot of time desperately trying to prove that she's perfect, after all, and Adrian's conviction that Franziska really does know best (even when it looks as though Adrian's going to be found guilty!) is acknowledgement of Franziska's perfection taken to its logical extreme. If unhealthy relationships staying unhealthy aren't really your thing, I'd find it interesting to see them aware of their own issues and trying to make things work better between them as well.
The whipping lessons and Franziska's decision to keep in contact with Adrian after the case are both parts of canon I'd love to see expanded on, the former because it can easily be taken to the UST and/or porny place and the latter because I feel so badly for Franziska at the end of JFA and I'd love to know what made her reach out to Adrian in this case. Finally, I think that the two of them would have a lot of fun looking down their noses at people who displease them - Adrian's confidence and initial judginess disguises her problems, of course, but she's very unimpressed by a lot of the nonsense around her, and Franziska isn't exactly reticent when it comes to punishing people who don't live up to their standards. So even though they're surrounded by people who do the weirdest things (and it's not like Franziska could really operate the same way without the wacky rules of AA canon allowing her to do things like assault judges with impunity), they're both determined to try and make things work as they think they should and aren't shy about showing their frustration when that doesn't happen.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
This fandom has been pretty good at catering to my love of idfic – not (just) in the porny sense, of course, but when it comes to all kinds of tropes. Things like A/B/O AUs, soulmates, arranged marriage type plots where the narrative follows the course laid out by the trope. As I said, that stuff is great, it’s the perfect brain candy, but I can scratch that itch with most of my other ships so I'd be more interested in fics which were less tropey idfic (although kinky idfic is still great if that's what floats your boat). Character-driven conflict would be great; I'd also especially love anything dealing with the political repercussions coming from aliens and vigilante heroes as well as the personal consequences we see some of the films exploring.
James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Natasha Romanov
I'm not sure we ever saw them interact in IM2 but I do love Girl Saves Boy tropes, and I imagine that Rhodey would be suitably appreciative (pun intended). Of course, whether he decides to show his gratitude sexily or by offering some sort of assistance if Natasha should need help in the future is entirely up to you because - while I think these two would be really hot together, hello competence porn and loyalty kink - I would honestly love to read both.
I think their personalities complement one another in a really interesting way. They're both intensely loyal, of course, and go to great lengths to try and protect people who need them - Rhodey searching for Tony, Natasha saving Clint - and that loyalty is tested in similar ways. They're both characters who work in terms of duty (Natasha's "I owe him a debt" and Rhodey's military service), but that loyalty and that duty don't come without limits, and I think that they both know when they would have to walk away. So something where they came into conflict - maybe SHIELD and the Air Force get into some kind of pissing match - or where their loyalty to one another is tested would be the best.
If you wanted to write about these two getting together, I'd be particularly interested in a slow burn romance. Alternately, if you're more interested in writing kinkfic, I'd prefer an established relationship to any kind of casual hook-up.
Bruce Banner/James "Bucky" Barnes
I know we've not seen anything to suggest these two are ever going to interact, but I ship them anyway - I think that they'd have a really interesting relationship to each other, and to the whole heroic ideal, through Captain America and Steve and all these heroes that they fight alongside, even though they've been turned into monsters. Assuming that CA:TWS does run with the brainwashing angle, then the loss of control Bruce feels at turning into the Hulk might be analogous to the brainwashing/mind control angle Bucky experiences under Department X, but that might be a bit more of a stretch. Either way, they both know what it means to be the kind of monster the heroes they rub shoulders with fight against, and I can see them either finding someone who understands them and makes them less alone in the other or despising the other and having really antagonistic hatesex. Believe me when I say that either one is more than fine by me.
Jane Foster/Tony Stark
I think these two are the most passionate about knowledge and scientific discovery - Bruce too, of course, but he's learned to be wary of the science in a way that I don't think either Jane or Tony ever did. And I think that they would be fascinated by what the other person has done - because Jane managed to build herself a functional bifrost in order to return Thor to Asgard (although I think that was only made explicit in a deleted scene and was less clear in the actual movie? I'm not sure any more), and Tony actually went all the way into space when he was saving the world, so I see them as being a teeny bit mutually starstruck - well, Jane being starstruck and Tony being super impressed, and both trying to learn everything about what was going on in one another's brain and applying what they each know to their respective fields. People working together on something they're both good at and passionate about is one of my bulletproof narrative kinks, and appreciating one another's achievements would be awesome. That, and Jane's kind of new to being in the public eye but even if she managed to escape attention while she was dating Thor, being with Tony Stark isn't the sort of thing she could really expect to go unnoticed - so if you want to write them dealing with that, or any kind of outsider perspective on that, I'd be all for it.
Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov
I lied, I'm sorry, I've just realised that this is the one pairing where I would actually love any tropey idfic. Slavefic, soulmate AUs, de-aging - whatever you choose, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Otherwise, I'd really love anything which dealt with the realities of life with SHIELD - whether this is the two of them getting creative about chain-of-command issues, the two of them falling in love while undercover, or anything which expanded on either Maria's skepticism with regards to The Avengers Initiative or Natasha's defection. (Or both. Both is good.)
I think that the two of them complement one another nicely - they're both efficient, competent, and very loyal. But they're different enough to be interesting as well; where Natasha clearly prioritises loyalty to people ("I owe him a debt", the way she's rooting so hard for Tony to come back safely), Maria seems to put more weight on loyalty to her principles, as she doesn't hesitate to criticise Fury's actions and The Avengers Initiative as a whole. And Natasha operates largely through misdirection and deception - Maria doesn't make herself look harmless or weaker than she actually is, and she certainly doesn't use that dismissal as a weapon or a shield. She's much more direct, so anything in which they work together would be interesting as well.
Bruce Banner/Jane Foster
As you have probably already guessed, I love characters who are knowledgeable and passionate and excited about their chosen field, and that's part of the reason why I love Jane so much - she's so excited by what she might learn, it's really lovely to see. Bruce, on the other hand, seems much more jaded but I think that curiosity and that interest in problem-solving is still there - look at the way he's persuaded out of hiding by the puzzle of the Tesseract - but he's been burned by the Hulk, and everything that made him lose. Anything where the two of them bonded over a shared love of science would be great, especially if weird science itself becomes a part of the fic. Don't worry about scientific accuracy or anything - this is a universe in which Bruce turns into a giant green rage monster after all - but I would love some kind of geekery between them.
Of course, neither of them has had a great relationship with SHIELD - they tried to take all of Jane's research and hold Thor in their base when he went for the hammer, and Bruce has been on the run from all sorts of similar organisations for a while. So anything where the two of them are kind of wary about organisations like SHIELD or any kind of government interference with their work would be interesting - whether that's with the two of them working together to protect one another, or an AU in which their experiences with SHIELD mean that they become supervillains.
I really love Thor and Betty, so I'd rather not read anything where they were more 'at fault' for the break-up than either Jane or Bruce - you can just handwave it if you want, I don't mind if their canon relationships aren't acknowledged (and in both cases, there's reason enough to say that the relationship came to an end when they separated from their partners), but I just wouldn't want Thor or Betty to come off as assholes.
Lastly - while I have every faith in you - if you needed to pick up a different pairing because you got stuck, all my 616 ships (minus Steve/Monica) are probably the quickest to review canon for: Annabelle/Valkyrie is Fearless Defenders #1 onwards, Carol/Monica is Captain Marvel #8-9 and Natasha/Yelena is Black Widow: Breadown and Itsy-Bitsy Spider. You can see more of Yelena (and her obsession/sublimated desire for Natasha) in Pale Little Spider if you want, and if you did want to read up on Steve/Monica, try her run on Avengers.
Ace Attorney is a series of several games where you play as a lawyer. You can probably find a walkthrough/LP for most of them - Edgeworth is the main opponent in the first game, although he returns as a major character/protagonist in many other games, and Gumshoe plays a large part in most investigations. Franziska and Adrian meet in Justice For All (the last case, although Franziska is the chief opponent in all the other cases and Adrian does return in the third game).
The MCU is the next quickest to pick up, in my opinion - none of these pairings have actually spoken to one another but Maria/Natasha totally shared a room at one point during The Avengers, so there you go. I also don't mind if you ignore the earlier Hulk movies; I don't hate them but I'm not especially attached to them and I know most people don't really consider them part of the MCU canon proper.
Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated is a fantastic little cartoon which ran for 2 seasons, each of 26 episodes. I binged on the whole thing one weekend when I was ill but it might be harder to watch the whole thing if you're a bit of a completionist - if you just wanted to review the episodes of one of the more minor characters (Marcie Fleach, Cassidy Williams, Mayor Jones and Professor Pericles), you can probably do it but I do think it'd be tricky.
