Dear Writer - Pining Exchange 2019
May. 24th, 2019 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
simplecoffeeHi there! Thank you so much for sharing my fandoms and for writing for me! <3 I am academicgangster on Tumblr, and simplecoffee on ao3.
Pining is one of my favourite flavours of shipfic, and the pairing dynamics I love tend to lend themselves heavily both to pining and to hurt/comfort - so you'll find a lot of the freeforms I've requested include some h/c on the side. I've also requested, in all sections bar Under Siege, that the pining character's affections be requited - I'm all about the happy, or at least bittersweet-but-positive, endings.
My favourite thing in fanfic is to take canon dynamics and just make them More, exploring the characters' canonical feelings for each other in, for this exchange, a shippy way. So I've arranged my requests by pairing; for each request, each tag in the cloud can be taken as a prompt on its own, or you can read the tags for that request as a whole and get a pretty solid idea of the general vibe for that pairing that I adore. I'm going to ramble a bit in this letter about some individual tags that catch my fancy, but I do love all the tags very much, so I'm pretty much guaranteed to love whichever one(s) you choose, regardless of whether or not I mention it separately here. <3
I've listed some general likes and DNWs here, and fandom-specific ones under individual fandoms.
My general likes:
• Character studies, exploration of canon character dynamics, fallout of canon trauma
• Casual intimacy, characters who know each other well or get to know each other well
• Touch and touch starvation; characters who aren't used to being loved finally getting to be loved (and maybe that breaks them, just a little)
• Clothes sharing, keeping characters warm
• Hurt/comfort of all stripes - sickfic, injuries, emotional h/c, all of it. I do have a preference in each fandom for which character I'm partial to in the hurt/comforted role - for Mission: Impossible, that's Ethan; for Top Gun, it's Maverick; and for Under Siege, it's Strannix. (I'm more than cool with both characters being hurt, too - and of course the pining character has plenty of angst to deal with either way!)
• D/s overtones, gentle doms
• Hand/wrist kink, suit/uniform kink, honour bondage, praise kink, aftercare, subdrop and recovery
• Hickeys/marking with lips or teeth
• Careful sex/making out when one partner is hurt or ill and feverish
In general, I will love every pining scenario (within the tags) there is - whether or not you'd like to put it in a larger context, plot or no plot, casefic, fluff fic, angsty slice-of-life fic, wherever you'd like to take it, I'm game. Also, please don't feel pressured to write me sexy times if the story doesn't go that way! That said, if the story does go that way, I do have a preference for an M rating over an NC-17 rating.
My general DNWs:
• death of requested characters
• non-canonical death of other characters
• mundane or change-of-setting AUs
• major permanent injury, life-threatening illness, terminal illness
• pregnancy
• infected wounds, gastrointestinal illness (nausea/vomiting is okay but not as a result of GI illness)
• noncon
• humiliation as a kink, unless it explicitly triggers the character
• anal, dirty talk, ageplay, scat, watersports, rimming, emeto, A/B/O, d/s-verse
Top Gun (1986)
Maverick/Iceman
Fandom-specific likes: OH LOOK, IT'S THESE DELIGHTFUL IDIOTS AGAIN. /o\ There's a fair bit of difference in which freeforms I was drawn to depending on who's pining; to that end, I've separated them into three requests - one for Mav pining, one for Ice pining, and one for either/both pining. That said, the character dynamic I love for them is the same no matter who's pining - antagonistic rivals who become best friends almost against their will, Mav being a very small disaster idiot while Ice is more sensible but also kind of emotionally tongue-tied; Mav being submissive and masochistic as fuck, while Ice is happy to Dom but possibly a little worried at how willing Mav is to be hurt.
Mav/Ice (Mav pining)
Feelings eventually requited
Soooooo I'm 100% here for Mav's self-worth issues, and him not thinking he's good enough for Ice, whom he sees as Perfect In Every Way. Maybe all he wants is a word of praise from Ice to lock away in his heart forever, maybe he's oblivious to Ice's flirting with him because Ice treats him differently to others (while Ice, bless his heart, is treating him differently to others because he loves him); maybe they can't figure out a way to talk to each other, and Mav pines while thinking Ice just straight-up hates him. (Maybe Mav, dumbass that he is, is pining while Ice thinks they're already dating.) Maybe an old flame or colleague reveals something traumatic or shameful Mav went through, and he expects Ice to hate or pity him afterwards but Ice is gentle and understanding with him instead. Or maybe, of course, there's the classic scenario of Mav being hurt and Ice being the only one around to help.
Mav/Ice (Ice pining)
Feelings eventually requited
Ice is the quieter one of the two, and the one more likely to suffer in silence for longer before speaking up. Maybe he's been pining since Mav was dating Charlie, or maybe he takes Mav's playboy reputation to heart and decides not to let himself be vulnerable despite Mav's good intentions. Maybe he slowly lets his guard down as they become better friends, and ends up pining while taking care of Mav, or while Mav gives him a ride on his motorcycle.
...Or maybe, of course, there's the classic scenario of Mav being hurt and Ice being the only one around to help. ^^'
Mav/Ice (Either/Both pining)
Feelings eventually requited
The 'These Idiots' section, lol. Mav and Ice pine while picking endless, public fights with each other! Or everyone knows Mav is into Ice, but not the other way round - or everyone knows Ice is into Mav, but not the other way round! Or Mav and Ice are friends with benefits, both secretly longing to be more! Or everyone thinks they hate each other but they're secretly hopelessly in love - now if only they could tell each other that.
Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Fandom-specific DNW: pain play. I love submissive Ethan, but I like him more into being held down/restrained/praised than into pain.
Ethan/Hunley (Hunley pining)
Ethan/Hunley (both pining)
Feelings eventually requited
These two are such an unexpectedly great dynamic and I love them deeply. Hunley spent most of Rogue Nation trying to chase Ethan down, but by the airport scene in Fallout he's clearly at least a little bit in love or hero-worship with him, and it is completely and utterly adorable. They're so different but so complementary - Hunley's so vocal and Ethan so quiet, but equally intense! Ethan's such a ray of sunshine that he apparently converted Hunley from a cynic to an idealist by deciding to trust him! Hunley heaps praise and reassurance on Ethan at the airport, while Ethan looks as though he's in physical pain from being told he's worth believing in! Ethan calls Hunley 'sir' and it somehow means all the things!
They work seamlessly together, their trust in each other is clearly rock-solid, and Ethan is visibly devastated when (he thinks) Hunley is dying. (Speaking of which...please assume Hunley recovers after Fallout, because my heart can't deal with his death, I love him so much.) Hunley's a very gentle man, clearly caring for his agents' well-being, and Ethan is a tired mess of constant compassion and hyperempathy and could really do with receiving some gentleness.
So I'm very much here for Hunley pining for Ethan - perhaps with Ethan pining back, or perhaps with it taking him a while to fall in love with Hunley in return. How did they get to know each other in the wake of Rogue Nation? (Was Hunley already a little in love by then?) How do they gain each other's trust, become affectionate with each other? Does Ethan's seniority in the IMF mean that Hunley, as the Secretary, is his handler - and would that make Hunley the person Ethan calls when a mission goes wrong? Hunley the one to see him at his most vulnerable, Hunley the one to hear please, sir, I'm sick and alone, bring me home? Hunley the one to lend him a jacket in the cold, all while wishing he could wrap him up in his arms? Is Ethan pining in return, or does he just take a while to realize his feelings; does he reveal said feelings while he's hurt? Is it Hunley, instead, who finally takes the leap and confesses his love while comforting him? Or - "character is just out of a traumatic situation and the other doesn't want to take advantage" - does he keep quiet because he's worried that Ethan isn't well enough to deal with such a revelation?
Does one of them watch the other sleep - and maybe witness a nightmare? Do they have to huddle for warmth while trapped somewhere hostile, or share a bed for Reasons? Does Ethan have to protect Hunley in a field situation, while they're in love and don't know it, or don't admit it? Do they go undercover as a couple for Reasons, and each realize how affectionate the other is in a romantic context and how much they love that affection? Or do they realize how affectionate they were with each other already?
Ethan/Luther (Luther pining)
Feelings eventually requited
Ethan and Luther love each other so much, and I love their love so much. They've been unshakeably loyal to each other, unshakeably fond of each other, for over twenty onscreen years; Luther's the only person on the current team to have seen Ethan cry, and he's the only person in canon to have had Ethan cling to him like a lifeline. They get each other on a deep, instinctive, nonverbal level; whenever their love becomes romantic, it's certainly built on the years and years of platonic devotion that came before.
So, how long has Luther been pining? Ethan's been married in canon, to a lady he loved very much - they are amicable exes now, but something that stands out to me is that Luther acted extremely jealous for a while when they were engaged. I'd love something exploring Luther pining for Ethan since before MI: III, shelving his feelings once Ethan married Julia, and then, after Ghost Protocol, realizing he still loves him and he maybe still has a chance. Or maybe they don't get together till after Ethan nearly drowns in Rogue Nation, or after they all nearly die in Fallout. How does Luther feel about their casual intimacy on missions, about the fact that they know each other better than anyone else in the IMF can even pretend to? Is there a level of bittersweetness to the sweet things they do - to Ethan wearing his coat, or falling asleep exhausted in his arms, or knowing how he likes his coffee, even after all these years?
Maybe Ethan gets a clue while he's recovering from a particularly traumatic mission, or maybe they spend some time on vacation together and get a mutual clue. Maybe, since Luther is the only one Ethan canonically trusts to hold him when it counts, he's called in to help when Ethan's injured or delirious and no one else can get through to him, and it leads to love confessions, as things do. Maybe, when Luther finally works up the courage to say his piece, it turns out Ethan's been wondering similar things, and can barely believe his luck.
Under Siege (1992)
Strannix/Krill (both pining)
Feelings eventually requited OR never requited
Fandom-specific likes: loyalty kink, military titles, rough sex/makeouts, Strannix dominating Krill
"What was that?" "A bomb, jackass!" - basically Strannix and Krill's entire dynamic, lol. These two are just utterly ridiculous garbage humans - they're the villains of their film, they are giant hams, they're completely fucked up, and it's hilarious and wonderful. Strannix is a former CIA agent who went mercenary after his own government tried to kill him, and Krill is a dissatisfied ship's XO who supports Strannix's crazy bid to hijack said ship for its nukes: the intriguing part is that while they get along like a house on fire, we're never told the why of Krill's support for Strannix at all. ...And therefore I choose to believe it's because he's in love with him. Occam's razor and all that. :'D
For this pairing, I'm here for gloriously fucked up, twisted villain romance - as long as the affection between them is genuine. I see these two as sort of hopelessly unable to break out of their own cynical, manipulative worldviews, and therefore unable to express or even really comprehend that they could be in love - but in love nonetheless, which pisses them off. And they have no idea what to do about it, which also pisses them off.
So - how'd they meet? Have they known each other since they were young and idealistic - or young and cynical, disillusioned with the government they work for, already thinking of ways to get their pound of flesh and walk away? Or did they run into each other more recently, in a bar somewhere, and sleep together, and then despite themselves keep coming back for more? Are they fuckbuddies who secretly, very secretly, yearn to be more? Do they pretend to hate each other, or sometimes acknowledge that they're friends? Does Strannix insist he's just using Krill for release, for leverage, for access to his ship? Does Krill insist he's not addicted to Strannix dominating him, pretend it wouldn't mess him up if he stopped? How long have they been in love and viciously denying it? Does the idea of feeling actual human affection horrify Strannix, or both of them? Hell, does Strannix know that Krill is in love with him, and use it against him as much as he can - until he realizes, with dawning horror, that he's fond of Krill too? Do they ever tell each other about their feelings, or do they just keep being stupid for the rest of their lives?
Once again, thank you so much for writing for me! I hope you have fun creating. 💛
Pining is one of my favourite flavours of shipfic, and the pairing dynamics I love tend to lend themselves heavily both to pining and to hurt/comfort - so you'll find a lot of the freeforms I've requested include some h/c on the side. I've also requested, in all sections bar Under Siege, that the pining character's affections be requited - I'm all about the happy, or at least bittersweet-but-positive, endings.
My favourite thing in fanfic is to take canon dynamics and just make them More, exploring the characters' canonical feelings for each other in, for this exchange, a shippy way. So I've arranged my requests by pairing; for each request, each tag in the cloud can be taken as a prompt on its own, or you can read the tags for that request as a whole and get a pretty solid idea of the general vibe for that pairing that I adore. I'm going to ramble a bit in this letter about some individual tags that catch my fancy, but I do love all the tags very much, so I'm pretty much guaranteed to love whichever one(s) you choose, regardless of whether or not I mention it separately here. <3
I've listed some general likes and DNWs here, and fandom-specific ones under individual fandoms.
My general likes:
• Character studies, exploration of canon character dynamics, fallout of canon trauma
• Casual intimacy, characters who know each other well or get to know each other well
• Touch and touch starvation; characters who aren't used to being loved finally getting to be loved (and maybe that breaks them, just a little)
• Clothes sharing, keeping characters warm
• Hurt/comfort of all stripes - sickfic, injuries, emotional h/c, all of it. I do have a preference in each fandom for which character I'm partial to in the hurt/comforted role - for Mission: Impossible, that's Ethan; for Top Gun, it's Maverick; and for Under Siege, it's Strannix. (I'm more than cool with both characters being hurt, too - and of course the pining character has plenty of angst to deal with either way!)
• D/s overtones, gentle doms
• Hand/wrist kink, suit/uniform kink, honour bondage, praise kink, aftercare, subdrop and recovery
• Hickeys/marking with lips or teeth
• Careful sex/making out when one partner is hurt or ill and feverish
In general, I will love every pining scenario (within the tags) there is - whether or not you'd like to put it in a larger context, plot or no plot, casefic, fluff fic, angsty slice-of-life fic, wherever you'd like to take it, I'm game. Also, please don't feel pressured to write me sexy times if the story doesn't go that way! That said, if the story does go that way, I do have a preference for an M rating over an NC-17 rating.
My general DNWs:
• death of requested characters
• non-canonical death of other characters
• mundane or change-of-setting AUs
• major permanent injury, life-threatening illness, terminal illness
• pregnancy
• infected wounds, gastrointestinal illness (nausea/vomiting is okay but not as a result of GI illness)
• noncon
• humiliation as a kink, unless it explicitly triggers the character
• anal, dirty talk, ageplay, scat, watersports, rimming, emeto, A/B/O, d/s-verse
Top Gun (1986)
Maverick/Iceman
Fandom-specific likes: OH LOOK, IT'S THESE DELIGHTFUL IDIOTS AGAIN. /o\ There's a fair bit of difference in which freeforms I was drawn to depending on who's pining; to that end, I've separated them into three requests - one for Mav pining, one for Ice pining, and one for either/both pining. That said, the character dynamic I love for them is the same no matter who's pining - antagonistic rivals who become best friends almost against their will, Mav being a very small disaster idiot while Ice is more sensible but also kind of emotionally tongue-tied; Mav being submissive and masochistic as fuck, while Ice is happy to Dom but possibly a little worried at how willing Mav is to be hurt.
Mav/Ice (Mav pining)
Feelings eventually requited
Soooooo I'm 100% here for Mav's self-worth issues, and him not thinking he's good enough for Ice, whom he sees as Perfect In Every Way. Maybe all he wants is a word of praise from Ice to lock away in his heart forever, maybe he's oblivious to Ice's flirting with him because Ice treats him differently to others (while Ice, bless his heart, is treating him differently to others because he loves him); maybe they can't figure out a way to talk to each other, and Mav pines while thinking Ice just straight-up hates him. (Maybe Mav, dumbass that he is, is pining while Ice thinks they're already dating.) Maybe an old flame or colleague reveals something traumatic or shameful Mav went through, and he expects Ice to hate or pity him afterwards but Ice is gentle and understanding with him instead. Or maybe, of course, there's the classic scenario of Mav being hurt and Ice being the only one around to help.
Mav/Ice (Ice pining)
Feelings eventually requited
Ice is the quieter one of the two, and the one more likely to suffer in silence for longer before speaking up. Maybe he's been pining since Mav was dating Charlie, or maybe he takes Mav's playboy reputation to heart and decides not to let himself be vulnerable despite Mav's good intentions. Maybe he slowly lets his guard down as they become better friends, and ends up pining while taking care of Mav, or while Mav gives him a ride on his motorcycle.
...Or maybe, of course, there's the classic scenario of Mav being hurt and Ice being the only one around to help. ^^'
Mav/Ice (Either/Both pining)
Feelings eventually requited
The 'These Idiots' section, lol. Mav and Ice pine while picking endless, public fights with each other! Or everyone knows Mav is into Ice, but not the other way round - or everyone knows Ice is into Mav, but not the other way round! Or Mav and Ice are friends with benefits, both secretly longing to be more! Or everyone thinks they hate each other but they're secretly hopelessly in love - now if only they could tell each other that.
Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Fandom-specific DNW: pain play. I love submissive Ethan, but I like him more into being held down/restrained/praised than into pain.
Ethan/Hunley (Hunley pining)
Ethan/Hunley (both pining)
Feelings eventually requited
These two are such an unexpectedly great dynamic and I love them deeply. Hunley spent most of Rogue Nation trying to chase Ethan down, but by the airport scene in Fallout he's clearly at least a little bit in love or hero-worship with him, and it is completely and utterly adorable. They're so different but so complementary - Hunley's so vocal and Ethan so quiet, but equally intense! Ethan's such a ray of sunshine that he apparently converted Hunley from a cynic to an idealist by deciding to trust him! Hunley heaps praise and reassurance on Ethan at the airport, while Ethan looks as though he's in physical pain from being told he's worth believing in! Ethan calls Hunley 'sir' and it somehow means all the things!
They work seamlessly together, their trust in each other is clearly rock-solid, and Ethan is visibly devastated when (he thinks) Hunley is dying. (Speaking of which...please assume Hunley recovers after Fallout, because my heart can't deal with his death, I love him so much.) Hunley's a very gentle man, clearly caring for his agents' well-being, and Ethan is a tired mess of constant compassion and hyperempathy and could really do with receiving some gentleness.
So I'm very much here for Hunley pining for Ethan - perhaps with Ethan pining back, or perhaps with it taking him a while to fall in love with Hunley in return. How did they get to know each other in the wake of Rogue Nation? (Was Hunley already a little in love by then?) How do they gain each other's trust, become affectionate with each other? Does Ethan's seniority in the IMF mean that Hunley, as the Secretary, is his handler - and would that make Hunley the person Ethan calls when a mission goes wrong? Hunley the one to see him at his most vulnerable, Hunley the one to hear please, sir, I'm sick and alone, bring me home? Hunley the one to lend him a jacket in the cold, all while wishing he could wrap him up in his arms? Is Ethan pining in return, or does he just take a while to realize his feelings; does he reveal said feelings while he's hurt? Is it Hunley, instead, who finally takes the leap and confesses his love while comforting him? Or - "character is just out of a traumatic situation and the other doesn't want to take advantage" - does he keep quiet because he's worried that Ethan isn't well enough to deal with such a revelation?
Does one of them watch the other sleep - and maybe witness a nightmare? Do they have to huddle for warmth while trapped somewhere hostile, or share a bed for Reasons? Does Ethan have to protect Hunley in a field situation, while they're in love and don't know it, or don't admit it? Do they go undercover as a couple for Reasons, and each realize how affectionate the other is in a romantic context and how much they love that affection? Or do they realize how affectionate they were with each other already?
Ethan/Luther (Luther pining)
Feelings eventually requited
Ethan and Luther love each other so much, and I love their love so much. They've been unshakeably loyal to each other, unshakeably fond of each other, for over twenty onscreen years; Luther's the only person on the current team to have seen Ethan cry, and he's the only person in canon to have had Ethan cling to him like a lifeline. They get each other on a deep, instinctive, nonverbal level; whenever their love becomes romantic, it's certainly built on the years and years of platonic devotion that came before.
So, how long has Luther been pining? Ethan's been married in canon, to a lady he loved very much - they are amicable exes now, but something that stands out to me is that Luther acted extremely jealous for a while when they were engaged. I'd love something exploring Luther pining for Ethan since before MI: III, shelving his feelings once Ethan married Julia, and then, after Ghost Protocol, realizing he still loves him and he maybe still has a chance. Or maybe they don't get together till after Ethan nearly drowns in Rogue Nation, or after they all nearly die in Fallout. How does Luther feel about their casual intimacy on missions, about the fact that they know each other better than anyone else in the IMF can even pretend to? Is there a level of bittersweetness to the sweet things they do - to Ethan wearing his coat, or falling asleep exhausted in his arms, or knowing how he likes his coffee, even after all these years?
Maybe Ethan gets a clue while he's recovering from a particularly traumatic mission, or maybe they spend some time on vacation together and get a mutual clue. Maybe, since Luther is the only one Ethan canonically trusts to hold him when it counts, he's called in to help when Ethan's injured or delirious and no one else can get through to him, and it leads to love confessions, as things do. Maybe, when Luther finally works up the courage to say his piece, it turns out Ethan's been wondering similar things, and can barely believe his luck.
Under Siege (1992)
Strannix/Krill (both pining)
Feelings eventually requited OR never requited
Fandom-specific likes: loyalty kink, military titles, rough sex/makeouts, Strannix dominating Krill
"What was that?" "A bomb, jackass!" - basically Strannix and Krill's entire dynamic, lol. These two are just utterly ridiculous garbage humans - they're the villains of their film, they are giant hams, they're completely fucked up, and it's hilarious and wonderful. Strannix is a former CIA agent who went mercenary after his own government tried to kill him, and Krill is a dissatisfied ship's XO who supports Strannix's crazy bid to hijack said ship for its nukes: the intriguing part is that while they get along like a house on fire, we're never told the why of Krill's support for Strannix at all. ...And therefore I choose to believe it's because he's in love with him. Occam's razor and all that. :'D
For this pairing, I'm here for gloriously fucked up, twisted villain romance - as long as the affection between them is genuine. I see these two as sort of hopelessly unable to break out of their own cynical, manipulative worldviews, and therefore unable to express or even really comprehend that they could be in love - but in love nonetheless, which pisses them off. And they have no idea what to do about it, which also pisses them off.
So - how'd they meet? Have they known each other since they were young and idealistic - or young and cynical, disillusioned with the government they work for, already thinking of ways to get their pound of flesh and walk away? Or did they run into each other more recently, in a bar somewhere, and sleep together, and then despite themselves keep coming back for more? Are they fuckbuddies who secretly, very secretly, yearn to be more? Do they pretend to hate each other, or sometimes acknowledge that they're friends? Does Strannix insist he's just using Krill for release, for leverage, for access to his ship? Does Krill insist he's not addicted to Strannix dominating him, pretend it wouldn't mess him up if he stopped? How long have they been in love and viciously denying it? Does the idea of feeling actual human affection horrify Strannix, or both of them? Hell, does Strannix know that Krill is in love with him, and use it against him as much as he can - until he realizes, with dawning horror, that he's fond of Krill too? Do they ever tell each other about their feelings, or do they just keep being stupid for the rest of their lives?
Once again, thank you so much for writing for me! I hope you have fun creating. 💛
