SWRarepairs 2020 Letter

[elsajeni]

Hi -- thanks for stopping by! You've seen my general likes/DNWs in my signup already, but here they are again, for the sake of having everything in one place:

Likes: bantering and bickering; moments of humor even in dark situations; pining; misunderstandings that turn out all right in the end; hurt/comfort; rescue missions; casual relationships; "undercover as a couple" tropes; "actually a couple, undercover as something else" tropes.

Sex & Kink Likes, if you go in that direction: light bondage; lots of talking during sex, both sweet and dirty; laughing during sex; inappropriate use of Force powers; "foreplay" activities as the main event; overstimulation. If you're writing about teen characters (since some relationships I'm requesting would lend themselves to that), I'd rather not have anything explicit on-page, but I'm fine with offscreen or fade-to-black sex.

DNWs: rape/non-con unless specified; incest; explicit scenes with underage characters; detailed description of bodily fluids; drastically different AUs (what-ifs and canon-divergent fics are fine, this is about coffeeshop AUs, A/B/O, etc.); infidelity; pregnancy, miscarriage, or infertility; unrelentingly dark and grim stories (I like a glimmering of hope).

Star Wars canon preferences: I'm sure you can tell from my request list that I love and miss the old EU/Legends content. For any request that features Legends characters, I'd be very happy with a purely Legends-based fic, but I also love gluing the loose ends of Legends continuity into the loose ends of sequel trilogy continuity; please feel free to mix and match Legends and canon material. (One area where I do have a strong preference: if you're writing Wedge for me, I like Legends Wedge best. If you're not really a Legends person, just go easy on details from his new-canon backstory and I'll be happy.)

My main requests are for fic, but if you've ended up here because you're considering treats, please know I'd be delighted to receive an art treat!


On to the ship-specific prompts and details! I usually try to group these by theme, but this year honestly there's no way to group them other than by character, so...

Mara Ships

Lando Calrissian/Mara Jade

• I liked Lando and Mara's EU relationship, and wasn't too happy with the "it was all just a cover" retcon -- show me the time, or times, that it wasn't just a cover.
• Or, how about an earlier meeting in their lives -- maybe when Mara was brand-new to Karrde's organization? Maybe during the couple of days they must have overlapped at Jabba's?
• Part of the dynamic I like here is: Lando is totally sincere and genuine in his charm; Mara is losing her mind trying to figure out what the hell his ulterior motive is
• Also: Lando is going to show you a nice time if it goddamn kills him; Mara is... actually... having a nice time despite herself?

Winter Celchu/Mara Jade

• What I'm really interested in here is Targeter and the Emperor's Hand, meeting by chance -- both on separate missions, neither one aware of who the other one is, but hey, they've got a little extra time and there's nothing in their mission parameters that says they can't take one night out to spend with an interesting new friend.
• Or, maybe one or both of them did know who they were dealing with -- hatesex? Pure curiosity about the other side? A honeypot act, trying to coax some information out of their counterpart?
• (What must they both be thinking when they meet again, formally this time, as representatives of the New Republic and Karrde's organization? Do they talk about it? Does anything rekindle?)

Mara Jade/Gara Petothel | Lara Notsil

• Is this ridiculous? Yes. Do I love it anyway? Yes.
• The most plausible version of this is maybe Mara/"Kirney" during Lara's Intelligence training -- the timeline is ambiguous, but it doesn't seem crazy to say that they might have been on Imperial Center at the same time, or that the Emperor's Hand might have been sent to the kind of society parties where Kirney made herself at home.
• Alternately, I think they could have some very interesting things to say to one another later on, after they've both changed sides (a few times, in Lara's case) and are making progress on sorting out what the Empire did to their heads.
• An interesting angle might be the two of them meeting later on and realizing that they have met before -- Lara becomes Kirney again in the end, after all, and I'm a sucker for the idea of shuttle pilot Kirney running into someone who knew party girl Kirney and having to navigate the "well I never would have expected you'd end up here!" conversation.

Mara Jade/Darth Vader

• I'm interested in Mara's childhood and youth, and the sort of... just-under-the-surface yawning horror that we know is there, but that's not really dug into much in Legends. Surely she and Vader must have encountered each other -- as rivals for Palpatine's attention, as tentative allies, as student and teacher?
• This could go in a lot of different directions, from something as relatively innocent as a kid's awkward crush on the only person she's ever met who has anything in common with her, to something as dark as the Emperor straight-up ordering one of them to the other's bedroom. Whatever you do with it, I'd like you to treat the power dynamics and age dynamics here seriously, and lean into the darkness that's present in what we know about Mara's upbringing -- no one here is really having a good time or doing something they'll look back on fondly.
• This is the one sort-of exception to my "no rape/non-con" clause -- this is a pairing that lends itself to questionable or compromised consent, and I like that about it. That said, the dubcon/non-con line can be blurry, but as much as possible I'd prefer that you stay on the dubcon side of it. Deceit, coercion, and uncomfortable power imbalances: yes! Violence, physical or Force-based force, or explicit non-consent that's ignored: no.
• Please note that this is NOT an exception to the "no explicit scenes with underage characters" clause -- if you write this with Mara as a teen (let's assume basically anytime before ANH), please keep anything explicitly sexual off-screen.

Wedge Ships

Wedge Antilles/Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker

• Taking a sharp left turn back into Let Mara Have A Nice Time territory!
• I'd love to see this as a V (with Luke at the point) gradually changing shapes into a more even triad, as Wedge and Mara come to see more in each other than Commander Square Corners and a barely-trustworthy semi-reformed Imperial assassin. Maybe some kind of rescue mission, forcing them to rely on each other and build up that base of trust and respect?
• I'm most interested in this as a getting-together or early-relationship fic, with everyone still sorting out their feelings and their respective claims on each other.
• Alternately, if you want to tie this into the sequel trilogy timeline, I'm interested in what Luke's choice to isolate himself would have meant for this relationship -- were either or both of them ever on Ahch-To with him? Have they been in contact at all since he disappeared? When he reappears, are they in a rush to see him again, or are one or both of their feelings more complicated? (If you go this route, as you may have guessed, I am EXTREMELY fine with Luke not actually dying... if you like a more tragic tone, though, go for it!)

Wedge Antilles/Luke Skywalker

• I'm interested in the pressures that their respective positions and commitments put on the relationship, and especially the difficulty of maintaining a relationship with someone who keeps disappearing on incomprehensible Jedi business.
• Luke just up and vanishing off of Hoth is a pivotal moment in my idea of this relationship. What the fuck, man.
• Alternately, go back further in time: a little pilot training (Luke may have been a natural pilot, but someone must have had to show him the X-wing controls, right?), for a fun silly version, or two freaked-out survivors of the Death Star run finding comfort with each other, for something a little more bittersweet.
• I guess we've gotten a glimpse at sequel-era Wedge now, which is what I've been asking for the last couple years. But I would still like something that brings Wedge and Luke as a couple into the sequel trilogy timeline, in which case the same ideas as for Wedge/Mara/Luke apply -- have they been in contact since Luke pulled his disappearing act, did Wedge ever join him on Ahch-To, is Wedge in a rush to see him again or is it more complicated than that?

Wedge Antilles/Wes Janson

• I feel like this is the perfect pairing for some rescue missions or hurt/comfort -- both of these guys have more than enough canonical close calls; let's see how they get out of one, or the aftermath.
• If you're feeling ambitious, you could fix Isard's Revenge for me by writing their reunion post-Distna, after they've both believed each other to be dead for weeks.
• Alternately, look, I'll never turn down more Wraith Squadron/Starfighters of Adumar-style shenanigans. I'd love to see some silly undercover-as-a-couple type of stuff, or just some pure stress-relief casual fun.

Wedge Antilles/Leia Organa/Han Solo

• What can I say, I love a threesome.
• With this one, what I'd most like to see is Leia and Han inviting a friend into their bedroom as a one-time fling or an ongoing, but casual, FWB arrangement; I'm less interested in a long-term triad.
• I've always been very fond of Wedge's close friendship with Leia in the EU, and I'd like that to be his closer tie to her and Han.
• This could be an interesting one to bring into the sequel timeline, too -- I can see Wedge as the solid point that both Leia and Han end up orbiting after their relationship has sort of fallen apart, slowly drawing them back together into a new balance.

Other Ships

Garik "Face" Loran/Ton Phanan

• This is a long shot, but: GHOSTS.
• Give me Ton hanging around after death -- where else does he have to go, after all?
• Haunting all the Wraiths, or just Face, or trying to figure out how he can weaponize haunting and go ruin some Imperials' day.
• Making Face miserable, or still making him laugh (and is he real, or is this some kind of coping mechanism, and does Face really want to know which?), or not seeming to know he's dead.
• If ghosts aren't for you, I'm also very happy to see them getting into shenanigans and having lots of casual sex during happier days!

Oola/Leia Organa

• There wasn't a LOT of time for dancers to hang around unsupervised at Jabba's palace, and they were only there together for a couple of days, at most. But sometimes it only takes a couple of days, and sometimes all you need is a few bright stolen moments.
• (Honestly, to make them overlap at all takes a little timeline-fudging; feel free to fudge as far as you need, or even to work out a way for Oola to make it out! But whether she makes it out or not, I'd rather this stay a short-term circumstantial fling.)

Lando Calrissian/Talon Karrde

• Like they haven't
• Listen, they're both classy, urbane independent businessmen. They like the finer things. Sometimes "the finer things" includes each other.
• What I'm looking for here is basically Business Colleagues With Benefits -- maybe they plan these rendezvous out carefully, maybe they just take advantage of chance meetings, but one way or another, they're going to have a very nice and fairly hedonistic time.

DJ/Talon Karrde

• I'll be honest, I don't really have a plan here, I just think this is a fantastic idea. I was thinking about Karrde the whole time DJ was on screen, and half-expecting him to turn out to BE Karrde, and I am delighted by the idea of this pairing.
• I think there's something interesting here about grey areas, and the "rogue with a heart of gold" archetype, and what it means, realistically, to play both sides against the middle when one side is clearly and dramatically evil.

Original Downed Rebel Pilot/Original Farmer Hiding Them From The Authorities

• A short-lived, hot-blooded fling that lasts only the couple of nights it takes for the pilot to set up a rescue?
• Star-crossed true love, doomed to be separated when the pilot's rescue arrives, only able to send carefully coded holomessages and long for the fall of the Empire?
• A stirring romance for the ages, ending with the farmer leaving their home and throwing in their lot with the Rebellion?
• A stirring action romance, ending with the farmer, the pilot, and whoever else they manage to recruit overthrowing the Imperial governor so they can stay together but also still bring in the space-turnip harvest next month?
• It says "Rebel," but I'm not super picky about the timeline or the exact factions involved; if you want this to be a Resistance pilot, or if "the authorities" are neither the Empire nor the First Order but some independent hostile sector government or whatever, that's fine with me.
• I'd enjoy a version of this where the farmer was already sympathetic to the Rebel cause, or one where they had never really questioned their sort of default loyalty to the Empire; I'd rather not read a version where they are a committed Imperial making one exception for a particularly cute Rebel.
• No strong preferences about the genders or species of either pilot or farmer; some preference for a queer story, whatever that looks like to you.