Dear InShipping Author

[alley_skywalker]

Dear InShipping Author,

Firstly, I would like to say thank you for the time and effort that you are willing to put into making my gift :) I’m very excited for this fest and I hope you find this letter to be at least somewhat helpful/inspiring. I’ve included my general likes and dislikes as well as specific preferences and prompts for each fandom I’ve requested.

GENERAL STUFF

Incest-Specific Stuff

I’m very picky about the incest ships I like and mostly when I ship incest it’s brother/sister ships or cousincest. Incest isn’t a kink for me in the sense that adding incest to a relationship is actually more likely to turn me off the pairing than make me ship it more. It’s more like…I have ships and sometimes they happen to be incest ones. So please, don’t write any “extra” incest ships into the fic, just the ones I request.

What I DO find interesting about incest in ships specifically, is that it’s another type of “forbidden” relationship with all the baggage that that brings. It’s not that I don’t like fluff in these relationships but it’s almost always going to be fluff put under specific social constraints. It’s like a secret relationship on steroids. It’s also an interesting vehicle for exploring boundaries: where does platonic love end and romantic love begin? Does it matter? To the people involved, to society? Is only sex taboo or do we, as a society – or any given society – police relationships further in determining what kinds/extents of attachment is appropriate? (For example, if siblings don’t have sex but experience an intense attachment which outweighs their attachment to their romantic partners would they be judged for it, would it be considered weird or inappropriate? Why?) My God, I’m starting to sound like a uni sociology class paper prompt, but seriously, I’m not trying to set you up for issue!fic of any sort. I just think these are interesting themes/questions which could be explored in a story and what I find potentially interesting about incest.

Overall, I do think it would be hard to completely get away from at least the forbidden aspect of the relationship – the confusion, guilt maybe even, or just the angst of knowing that no one will ever understand. On the other hand, there is also the UST rout, the one where the characters are in a very close sibling relationship and perhaps in the eyes of others they cross some lines, but THEY don’t think they’re doing anything wrong because their attachment is primarily emotional. The sort of oblivious pairing.

(I think I have one Jaime/Cersei prompt which subverts all of this by being like “assume their relationship is acceptable” but in all other cases, the above applies.)

One more thing: I see these relationships as emotional attachments first, which might cross lines into sexual territory. Not the other way around. 

Pairings/Sex/Ratings:
Likes:
-I’m good with het, fem and slash for background/secondary ships.
-All ratings up to R.
-A focus on the emotional aspect of a relationship and some semblance of a plot/point rather than just sex.
-Complicated relationship dynamics, love triangles, relationships that take some effort/time to work, loving each other but because [insert reasons here] not always being able to be together/communicate those feelings, etc in this vain.
-UST, exploration of boundaries (what is TOO romantic to be platonic? Is the line drawn at sex or somewhere before that?).
-Conversely from the above – romantic partners who just can’t help but adore each other.

Dislikes/Rather-Nots
-Polyamory, threesomes/moresomes unless asked for in a specific prompt.
-Incest that was not specifically requested.
-Parings with large age disparity (over 15 years) unless specifically asked for.
-Pedophilia (please keep minors in sexual relationships with adults 16 and over; if both partners are teens 14-15 is ok).
-NC-17 and PWPs
-BDSM, omegaverse, and most kink. (NOT included in this: foreplay; bantery/lighthearted roleplay for the purposes of foreplay; preferences for a certain sexual position, fascination with a partner’s physical trait, such as, e.g., preferring redheads or virgins or younger partners or being fascinated by someone’s shoulders; rough/aggressive/desperate sex or outside-of-bedroom inequalities that transfer into the bedroom, even though there may be pining down of wrists or some other element that could be considered a kink or part of BDSM.)
-Foot fetishes (I know I said liking specific body parts is fine, but ah, feet are the exception).
-Humiliation (both sexual and not)
-Non-con/rape (dub-con that leans toward/ends up as consensual is ok).
-Mpreg; cross-dressing; genderbending/genderswap.

Genres/Themes (and such):
Likes:
-Angst, drama. (Generally, I’m ok with dark!fic too, but please don’t try to use this as a challenge to see how many angst/dark tropes you can fit into a single fic. I enjoy dark themes and things like character death don’t bother me, but if it feels like it’s just a marathon of horrible things happening with no light anywhere to be seen…that might be a little too intense for me.)
-Humor is fun too, but I like it more as an element in the story rather than a story that sets out to be funny first and foremost.
-People being supportive of each other. Themes of loyalty in general.
-Sibling who are best/close friends.
-Friends/siblings who plot, scheme together (either in a serious political way or in a more for-fun way ala practical jokes or something). 
-Fluff, banter, kissing.
-Well-rounded characters, characters with emotions/sympathetic motives; the “other side of the story”.

Dislikes/Rather-Nots:
-Crack!fic, parody.
-Radical AUs that subvert the universe (eg: genderswaping the cast, setting a modern fandom as a fairytale, turning a historical fandom all Sifi, etc. This includes stuff like A/B/O and inserting magic/supernatural elements into a non-magic/supernatural universe).
-Crossovers.
-Character bashing; intentional OOCness.
-Humiliation; any sort of glorification of bullying, or bullying being excused/condoned in the narrative (this includes things like victim blaming, etc).
-Narrative implications that “sex = love” or that romantic partners HAVE to have sex to have a “valid” relationship or to be “really” in love with each other.

FANDOMS

 

War and Peace
Requested pairing: Anatole/Helene

This comes kinda close to being canon, though I’m not prone to believe either Pierre’s POV or society gossip rumors. I just kind of really like the exploration of Kuragin family dynamics in general. I would also love to see Helene as a protective older sister. (She’s also the smarter/more savvy one so…)

Some prompts:
-Adolescent experimentation.
-Close sibling relationship with a layer of UST.
-Plotting together to seduce other people (Dolokhov? Natasha?) and bring them in for a threesome. Emphasis on the plotting/seduction rather than the sex.
-Having to hide the sexual/romantic aspect of their relationship. Helene constantly trying to end it and Anatole dragging her back in.
-Helping each other seduce various lovers mixed with jealousy and possessiveness and denial of said jealousy and possessiveness.
-Helene dealing with Anatole's death.

 

 

A Song of Ice and Fire
Requested pairing: Jaime/Cersei

 I love the amount of desperation in this pairing in canon. I love how much Jaime loves Cersei and how true he is to her. And I think she loves him a lot in her own way, too, even after everything that has happened. He’s still her other half. 

 Some Prompts:
-Jaime being protective.
-Teenage experimentation/the first time they realized they were attracted to each other as more than brother and sister.
-Semi-public, could-get-caught-at-any-moment encounters of a sexual nature.
-Being stupidly in love - basically fluff, a moment where they somehow manage to forget about the world. Perhaps set pre-canon.
-Somehow, I don't care how, the Lannisters come out on top in the end and to such an extent that they are able to make Targ-like rules apply to them re: incest. AKA Jaime/Cersei wedding/family out in the open.
-What are some things Jaime has done for love? His and Cersei's.
-Cersei telling herself that Jaime can't be dead because she would know if he was and fearing it deep down nonetheless.
-Jaime’s angst/frustration with not being able to be with Cersei openly/not being able to be a proper father to his children. 

 

 

Original Work 
Requested pairing; Prince Brother/Princess Sister

I’m actually not attached to the idea of them being royalty. Just nobleman/noblewoman would be fine too. I’d prefer either a historical setting or a psudo-historical fantasy setting (as opposed to modern day, dystopia, scifi, etc). Tangential note: for fantasy settings I really appreciate worldbuilding.

Some prompts:
-Dealing with having to hide their relationship from society/their parents.
-Friends/chamberlains/ladies in waiting who know about their relationship and enable them.
-One sibling has to watch the other get married in an arranged marriage.
-Lots of UST and denial and convincing themselves that this is just the effect of not trusting anyone because of all the political intrigue/dealing with the war or other crisis the kingdom/principality/country is facing.
-They have other partners (spouses, lovers, etc) but are always number one to each other - because they're family, because they understand each other like no one can, because they love each other more than they love anyone else.