SWRarepairs 2023 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; mutual pining; hurt/comfort; action, adventure, rescue missions; tense separations and emotional reunions; casual relationships; relationships that were supposed to be casual but didn't stay that way; "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; roleplay; roleplay that goes off the rails a little; 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 except as specified (see the Questionable Consent Division, below, for detail); incest; explicit scenes with underage characters; detailed description of bodily fluids; non-Star-Wars-setting AUs; A/B/O; infidelity (consensual non-monogamy is fine); pregnancy, miscarriage, or infertility; unrelentingly dark and grim stories (I like a glimmering of hope); Wedge's new-canon background.

Canon tastes and preferences: I'm sure you can tell from my requests that I love and miss the old EU/Legends content. I also love mixing and matching timelines, and gluing the loose ends of Legends continuity into the loose ends of new-canon continuity. I've requested multiple "versions" of some ships, and even where I haven't (usually because there was only the one version in the tagset), some of my prompts are mix-and-matchy -- of course, feel free to ignore those or focus on whichever version of the pairing we actually matched on, but if the mix-and-match approach does appeal to you, please also feel free to mess around! Write a canon pairing in a more Legends-influenced setting or bring a Legends pairing into the new-canon timeline, write a pairing in a different era than they're listed under in the tagset, whatever. (The one thing I do feel strongly about is Wedge's backstory -- I like Legends Wedge, and I have stuck to requesting Legends versions for any pairing with Wedge in it. Even if you write in the new-canon timeline, please give Wedge his Legends background.)

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'm afraid these are not very neatly organized -- I got a little overwhelmed trying to keep straight the different canon subcategories AND the timeline categories AND my own weirdo organizational system -- but hopefully clear enough to find what you're looking for.

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, and getting to know his contacts in the smuggling world? Maybe during the couple of days that they must have both been 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... to her surprise, and sort of against her will... having a nice time?

Lando Calrissian/Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker

• And continuing directly from the above, I also like Lando/Luke as kind of a casual-relationship pairing too, so why not bring it all together?
• Three busy people who all care deeply for each other, but aren't often in the same place at the same time -- so when they are, well, let's meet over a mug of hot chocolate and see where the evening takes us, shall we?
• I'd prefer this with everyone on a more-or-less equal footing, rather than one established couple and an outside third party.

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 a little vague, but it seems plausible that they might have been on Imperial Center at the same time, and that the Emperor's Hand might have been sent to the same kind of society parties where Kirney Slane flirted with up-and-coming officers.
• I would love to see promising young Intelligence trainee "Kirney" trying to figure out exactly what is going on with this Woman of Mystery she keeps running into at parties -- or getting tangled up in whatever mission or investigation Mara is working on!
• 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 also 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. (How quickly does Mara cotton on to what really happened? How much of it is Kirney willing to tell her -- and how much of Mara's own history is she willing to tell Kirney?)

Wedge Antilles/Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker

• I'd love to see this as a V with Luke at the point gradually changing shape 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 or undercover work, an outside crisis that forces Wedge and Mara 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? (Have Wedge and Mara stayed together without him, or drifted apart?) 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, I am very happy to see an AU where Luke doesn't die! But I can also get along with a downer ending -- or maybe some Force-ghost contact after death?)

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.
• Followed, of course, by years where it seems like they never get to be in the same place at the same time -- when "long-distance" means literal light years, how do you keep it together? (And how great are the rare but treasured times when you actually get to be on the same planet at the same time for a couple days?)
• Alternately, go back further in time: a little pilot training (Luke may have been a natural pilot, but someone at least 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 more bittersweet.
• (On that last one: I headcanon that the yellow jacket Luke wears for the medal ceremony is Wedge's. How'd he end up wearing it?)
• I guess we've gotten a glimpse at sequel-era Wedge now, which is what I've been asking for the last few years. But I would still like something that brings (Legends) 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

• The perfect pairing for some rescue missions or hurt/comfort, imo! These guys are always in situations going from bad to worse; let's see how they get out of one, or the aftermath of it.
• If you're feeling ambitious, you could fix Isard's Revenge and give them a more satisfying reunion 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. Silly undercover-as-a-couple type of stuff, or just some pure stress-relief casual fun, or whatever floats your boat.

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 an old friend (or friendly ex?) 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 the friendship Wedge seems to have with Leia in Legends; I'd love that to be his closer tie to her and Han, or make that a "friendly exes" situation (see also: Wedge/Leia, below).
• 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.

Wedge Antilles/Leia Organa

• As I mentioned above, I've always liked the close friendship that Wedge and Leia have in Legends! They've obviously known each other for a long time, get along great, and like each other a lot; let's see some more of that.
• This is another relationship that I'd like better as a short-term or casual thing, more of a FWB thing that grows out of that friendship or a fling that ends happily than a long-term romance -- maybe during their early days in the Rebellion, or in the post-ROTJ period where Leia and Han are still sorting their shit out.
• I'd also be interested in bringing this into the sequel-trilogy timeline. Leia and Han have separated, her kid has run off to follow the Dark Side, the Republic she put so much of her life into founding has turned in a direction she doesn't believe in -- maybe she can find some comfort, or some peace, with an old friend.

Lando Calrissian/Leia Organa/Han Solo

• This is a very similar request to Wedge/Leia/Han, above -- I'd like to see Leia and Han inviting a friend/friendly ex into their bedroom for some short-term or casual fun; I'm less interested in a committed triad situation.
• I do fully assume that Lando is Han's ex; I'd be interested to see, if this is the first time they've done this, what the weather is like between him and Leia as they sort out their respective claims on Han. A little tense, maybe? (But ultimately I do want this to be a fun time for everyone!)
• This one, too, could be interesting to bring into the sequel timeline -- I can see Lando as the outside escape or safe place that Leia and Han both turn to when the whole Republic/Resistance/whatever business, not to mention their family situation, is just too much to deal with.

Biggs Darklighter/Luke Skywalker

• I like this a lot as a teen relationship that grows easily out of their friendship, is fun while it lasts, and transitions pretty naturally back into friendship when it ends.
• That said, anything you do here is going to be a little tinged with sadness; if you prefer it a LOT tinged with sadness, I'd also love a fic set during the brief window between when they reconnect in the Rebellion and the Death Star run.
• Alternately, get weird with it -- find a way for Biggs to survive, or bring him back from the dead. Write that Space Winter Soldier AU that I secretly kind of love, or Luke being haunted by the literal ghosts of his past.
• (If you're thinking in a ghost/undead/rescue-from-the-underworld sort of direction, I have a whole tumblr tag of posts I was collecting for Ghost Phanan reasons -- see Face/Phanan, below -- but some of them might also be inspiring for Ghost Biggs.)

Garik "Face" Loran/Ton Phanan

• This is a long shot, but: GHOSTS.
• Ton hangs 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.
• I have a whole tumblr tag collecting posts that give me Ghost/Undead Phanan feels, if any of that grabs you
• If ghosts aren't for you, maybe some kind of rescue from the underworld? Or a fix-it to let him survive somehow?
• Or, of course, I won't turn down just two best friends and wingmates in happier days, getting into trouble and having very snarky sex.
• This is also the rare pairing where I'm kind of into a soulmate/soulmark AU -- look, I am normally kind of a mean, cynical person about soulmate stuff. But it works for me here, because I think Ton would be too! Knowing he has a soulmate definitely complicates his "no future worth living for" thing -- but what good is a soulmark if it was on the hand you lost over Endor and no one but you can ever know what it said?

Myn Donos/Gara Petothel | Lara Notsil

• Just hurt my feelings
• What really works for me is those agonizing bits of Solo Command where Lara is trying to convince Myn to stay away from her, and clearly trying to convince herself as well -- I'd love a fic that puts them in a situation where it would be so easy to give in, or a situation where she does give in and then has to try and figure out how to take it back.
• For a happier take, how about the story of how they made their way back together? In canon, we have the message Myn gets from "Kirney," and then a glimpse of Donoslane Excursions like 30 years later -- what happened in between? How did Myn answer that message, when did he come back to Corellia to join her, what else bridges that decades-long gap?

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 meet 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 time.
• I would love to see some of Lando's various Legends-era business ventures here -- maybe he's courting Karrde as a potential investor as well as a dinner date?
• This would also be very fun as one of those "oh no, the New Republic needs someone less obviously New Republic-affiliated to do some kind of investigative or undercover work, someone call Karrde again" episodes -- undercover as a couple? Not supposed to be undercover as a couple, but people keep assuming, so they're just rolling with it?

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 overtly evil

Luke Skywalker/Original Porg Conservationist

• Listen, I know not everyone likes prickly withdrawn TLJ Luke. Personally I love him. And that is what makes this such a great pairing concept! These two people should not get along, and yet, somehow...
• My basic vision here is that the porg conservationist would really like Luke to fuck off and find a different island to mope on, he is affecting the porg migration patterns and also getting in the way of their field work, but also, inconveniently, the longer they spend on the island trying to get rid of this crotchety-ass hermit weirdo, the more they are finding themselves... into the crotchety-ass hermit weirdo...
• From the opposite direction, I also really like this as the story about Luke trying so hard to completely withdraw -- cutting himself off from the Force and human feelings and all the ways he sees himself possibly doing harm -- and the universe going, nope. All the ways that, against his will, this one very irritating conservationist and their stupid porgs draw him back into connection with the universe and himself.
• No strong preferences about the gender or species of the conservationist; do what you like!

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 or New Republic 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 before; 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!

Hotshot Rebel Pilot/Mechanic Sick of Ship Damage

• Version one: a longstanding relationship that started when they were in different divisions, but now the mechanic has been assigned to the pilot's squadron and they are being. Tested.
• Version two: a mechanic who is sincerely being driven to madness by the constant repairs on this fighter, and a pilot who had never really noticed how cute their squadron mechanic was before and is secretly really... like, really enjoying these regular scoldings. Like, they're really very sorry and also would you like to continue telling them how annoying it will be to source a replacement inertial damper over dinner?
• (What do you mean "suspicious"? What -- OF COURSE they would never intentionally damage their ship! That would be basically treasonous! R4, hide these bolts.)
• Version three: what will get you to start being more careful with this ship(/with yourself)? What?? I will do literally anything... (If you go this route, nothing genuinely coercive, please -- the "quid pro quo" here is more of a game between two people who would eventually have hooked up anyway than an actual exchange of sex for more careful flying.)
• Any way you go with this, I would love to see some protective feelings from the mechanic, and some tension or overlap between keeping your ship in good repair and keeping you safe; every repair to the ship is a reminder of the ways the mechanic can't keep their pilot safe and every repair to the ship is a mark of the mechanic's success in keeping their pilot safe so far...
• No strong preferences about the genders or species of either pilot or mechanic; as far as what they're piloting, I like X-wings and Y-wings best.

Original Former Jedi/Original Writer of Wildly Inaccurate Former-Jedi Romances

• Here is the Tumblr post that inspired this pairing! The gist of it is, canon suggests it is rare for someone to just up and leave the Jedi Order but not, like, unheard of rare -- what if "Jedi who left the priesthood For Love" is a popular romance trope in the Star Wars universe?
• A writer who fully buys into the tropes they're writing and thinks this is Life Imitating Art, and an exasperated former Jedi falling in love despite themselves?
• A writer who fully knows what they're writing is nonsense, deeply embarrassed to have to discuss it with an ACTUAL former Jedi, only to discover that actually the Jedi is a longtime fan?
• Oh my God, Christmas in Connecticut it -- the writer may have, um, implied when the first of their romances came out that it had some basis in their own real life, and then the implication sort of got out of control as the series got more popular, and now circumstances require that they actually produce their nonexistent former-Jedi spouse for a publicity event?
• No strong preferences about the genders or species of either Jedi or writer

Below this line: we are getting into the potential exceptions to the "no rape/non-con" clause. These are pairings that lend themselves to questionable, compromised, or coerced consent, and I like that about them. The line between "dubcon" and "non-con" is 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! (VERY yes. Look... I am who I am.) Violence, physical or Force-based force, or explicit non-consent that's ignored: no.

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. I think it is technically Legends canon that Palpatine kept his two pets pretty separate, but that's no fun. Let me see the time they did encounter each other -- as rivals for Palpatine's attention, as tentative allies in the intrigues of the Imperial court, as student and tutor?
• 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.
• As noted, this is an exception to my rape/non-con DNW, but please note that it is NOT an exception to the explicit underage DNW -- if you write this with Mara as a teen, please keep anything explicitly sexual off-screen.

Flim/Gilad Pellaeon

• The way I see this pairing, it all comes down to REALLY being about Pellaeon and Thrawn -- whether he believes Flim is Thrawn and Flim takes advantage of that, or he knows Flim isn't Thrawn but accepts him as close enough (as long as he stays in character).
• With the latter, you might go with Flim not knowing that he's been found out and thinking that he has to stay in character, and apparently Thrawn would have done this, so...
• Or, you could make participation in the fantasy an explicit condition of Flim's continued freedom -- "Thrawn" is valuable to the Empire, but they've lived without him for ten years. If he's not cooperative, he could be "killed" again, and the conman behind the mask could disappear into a deep, dark hole...
• (Whether anything did ever happen between Pellaeon and Thrawn, or whether it was a fantasy that Pellaeon never got to act on, I leave entirely to you -- both are great!)

Joruus C'baoth/Luke Skywalker

• Sometimes you have to make a deal to protect the people you care about. To keep an unstable Dark Jedi from continuing to pursue your sister, or your unborn niece and nephew, or your new Force-sensitive frenemy, as his next apprentice -- and maybe that deal is a little more complex than just "I'll stay here as your apprentice if you leave them alone."
• C'baoth's gift with mental influence can certainly be a factor here, but no outright mind control, please.
• I am also not averse to Luuke getting involved here somehow. (Hell, I'm not averse to a reveal that it was Luuke all along, and that this is just a fantasy C'baoth is enacting -- get as weird as you like with it.)