Dear Gifter (Just Married 2025 Letter)

[lea_hazel]

Hello, dear gifter! I am excited about whatever you plan to create for me!

If you click my exchange tag below, you can find a list of some of my past gift exchange letters, such as this letter from Just Married 2020.

My fandoms: Most of the fandoms I requested are tiny, and I'm well aware that I'm unlikely to get a gift for them, so I made my requests fairly brief.

General DNWs:
* Noncon/dubcon
* Forced pregnancy
* Explicit underage sex
* Huge age gaps (unless magical e.g. elf/human)
* "Redeemed by a good woman's love" romances
* Uncomplicated perspective flips (e.g. "demons are good and angels are evil")
* Mundane A/U for a magical setting


Long Live the Queen

Pairings: Briony/Elodie, Elodie/Evrard, Elodie/Kevan

Freeforms:
* Wedding - Ostentatious Royal Wedding
* Royal Marriage - It's the Wedding Event of the Century
* Royal Marriage - Court Reaction to Unexpected Marriage
* Marrying for Love - Politically Inconvenient
* Political Marriage - To Keep Enemy Under Control
* Wedding Night - Morning After
* Wedding Night - Essentially Platonic But Must Be Consummated First
* Wedding Night - Expectations for Wedding Night Proven Very Wrong
* Adultery - Continuing Relationship with Lover After Being Married to Someone Else
* Marriage - Living Together Makes It Impossible to Keep Trauma Secret
* Magic - Marrying An Enemy To Power Up Magic
* Magic - Marriage Allows Spouses To Share Magical Powers

I picked three pretty different pairings, and the freeforms reflect that.

Elodie/Briony. To be honest, I quite like LLTQ's focus on rulership and politics, and the subsequent sidelining of romance, so I enjoy Briony's canonical romance ending. I'd enjoy A story set during their courtship, after their respective (canonical) marriages, or in a non-canon scenario where they decide to get married. I'd also love to see a lot of focus on Lumen crystals, their powers, and the mysteries surrounding them. I chose a few magical freeforms, but to be honest, there were lots of other appealing tags.

Elodie/Evrard. This is a sweet little canonical romance with the odds stacked against it, but the canon ending is quite satisfying to achieve. I'd like to see both the highs and the lows of this unlikely marriage, and how Elodie makes it work, not to mention how the people around her react. It's the most classic romance of the ones that I chose, and you can play it as that.

Elodie/Kevan. Canon makes this an incredibly complicated relationship, due to Kevan's dark past and the incredibly complex set of hurdles you need to jump to make it work. By and large, I'm more interested in the platonic aspect of their dynamic, but this pairing is also my one exception to the large age gaps DNW, so if you want to give it a slow-burn romantic twist, go for it. What I'm not interested in is an "instant attraction, fall into bed" type modern romance. I'd also be interested in exploring the possibility that Kevan, as a Novan noble, had latent Lumen powers of some kind.


Palia

This is my first time nominating or requesting this fandom, but it's just too juicy to leave off. Palia shows us that the Majiri have intricate and specific courtship rules, but the romances (so far) only go up to level 4. What further rituals would be involved in deepening a relationship? How are Majiri weddings conducted? What pre-wedding customs and superstitions do different people observe? Does their openness to polyamory extend to poly marriage? How does a poly relationship proceed if it's a vee and not a triangle?

I also popped in some small surprise pairings for spice. I quite like the idea of Sifuu and Ashura bonding, especially now with all the elderwood updates.

Anyway, I'd be happy with nearly anything for this fandom, especially out of the freeforms that I requested. Go wild.

Seven Kingdoms: The Princess Problem

Pairings: Sayra/Original Character, Baron Namaire/Revaire Widow, Corval Lady/Woodly, Anaele/Wellin Countess, Corval Lady/Jarrod/Gisette, Hamin (Seven Kingdoms)/Original Male Character(s)

Like with LLTQ above, I'm interested in the complications inherent to the conflict between love and politics, especially in how they manifest between different cultures, and in the clash between those cultures. The widow's backstory with her much-older marriage-of-convenience husband, and how it affects her approach to a possible second marriage. Woodly and his extramarital affairs, that he insists his wife knows and approves of, especially vis a vis his status as basically a "kept man". Negotiating a political marriage to Jarrod while having an affair with his sister. Anaele and Hamin, and how having the freedom of same-sex marriage is a privilege of their respective cultures, but doesn't absolve them from having to balance personal desires with the responsibilities of rulership.

Noblesse Oblige

Pairing: Danelak/Main Character

Freeforms:
* Elopement - Eloping While on the Run from the Law
* Honeymoon - Finding A Way To Celebrate Marriage While In Hiding/On The Run
* Marriage of Convenience - Marriage To Save Criminal from Other Punishment
* Marriage Laws - Marriage Required as a Form of Criminal Rehabilitation

Danelak was my romance the first time I played this game, and I loved the bittersweet on-the-run ending I got. When I saw these freeforms in the tagset, they called to me.

Dumbing of Age

Pairings: Sarah Clinton/Anthony "Tony" McHenry Jr., Richard Rosenthal/Stacy Brannon, Joyce Brown & Sarah Clinton, Jason Chesterfield/Ruth Lessick, Sal Walkerton/Danny Wilcox, Sal Walkerton/Jason Chesterfield

Freeforms:
* Second Marriage - Second Chance at Love
* Wedding Planning - Asking Best Friend to be Best Man or Maid of Honor
* Wedding - Making Sure Your Best Friend Has The Best Wedding Ever (No Matter What)
* Wedding Ceremony - Watching A Friend/Family Member Get Married
* Wedding Ceremony - Pre-Wedding Ritual Events
* Wedding Ceremony - The Wedding Day Disaster You Laugh About in the Future
* Bachelor(ette) Party – Hijinks & Shenanigans

* Forced Marriage - Mutually Forced Marriage
* Soul Bond - Marriage Is The Only Cure For Fatal Soul Bond
* Soul Bond - Soulmates Legally Obligated To Marry
* Soul Bond - Marriage Arranged Because Of Matching Soulmarks
* Forced Marriage - Burdened by Guilt
* Forced Marriage - Burdened by Guilty Attraction

These fall into two sets:

1) Typical DOA shenanigans, centered around two of the cast getting married, and how everyone gets into trouble about it.

2) A weirdly-specific idea that I had re: soulmark A/Us, that involves Sal's hand scar coinciding with the location of her soulmark, and gossip spreading around campus that she tried to remove her soulmark on purpose.

What can I say? I have eclectic taste.

Original Work

(Warning: this one is long!)

An original work made for me is very exciting! Especially since a lot of the tags in my requests are ones that I nominated myself. Some of these, I put in with a certain scenario in mind, though, of course, you're welcome to riff on it and change the details to suit you. Others came more as vague notions of something that might be cool, without a specific angle for the story. I'll go pairing by pairing.

* Conquering Warlord/Conquered Princess Negotiating to Become His Concubine (Original Work)
* Princess of Conquered Kingdom/Enemy Female General Who Lead the Coup (Original Characters)
* Exasperated King/Kidnapped Princess Who Likes This New Kingdom Much Better (Original Work)

These pairings are variants on the same idea: a female ruler/member of a ruling family, versus the person she lost her rulership privileges to. I'm interested in all the aspects of this story, from the political implications to the interpersonal power-play. I think the two aspects that interest me most are 1) double reversal of fortunes, a princess "laid low" only to gradually discover that her new position is an improvement, and 2) culture shock followed by acclimation and then synthesis of cultural values, especially as pertains to a foreign culture perceived as "savage" or "barbaric".

Freeforms:

Forced Marriage - Hostage Spouse Negotiates Draconian Wedding Contract
Forced Marriage - War Prize
Forced Marriage - War Prize But They End Up Falling in Love
Forced Marriage - Divorced After Providing the Requisite Heir(s)
Forced Marriage - Burdened by Guilt
Forced Marriage - Burdened by Guilty Attraction
Established Marriage - Navigating Changes in Social Status Due To No Longer Being A Concubine
Arranged Marriage - Spouse as Hostage for their Family/People's Good Behavior

I think the tags I chose give a good idea of the range of relationship dynamics I'm interested in. The first tag is one that I nommed, and it's how I first got interested in this type of reversal-of-fortune scenario. I'm imagining a hostage princess being confronted with an enemy general who offers her what they (any gender) think is a very generous deal (be a concubine instead of e.g. a scullery maid or straight up prisoner). Then the captured princess counters with a list of caveats and demands that amount to a marriage contract of sorts, perhaps with a divorce clause built in. Perhaps the general is disdainful but secretly impressed by her tenacity. Maybe the proximity leads to love or friendship, or maybe they spend the whole time circling each other in cryptic social combat.

As you can see, I've given this scenario a lot of thought, and I'd be super excited to see your interpretation of it.

Specific DNWs:

* rape through force or threats of force
* rape through dosing unwitting victim with aphrodisiac or similar
* bleeding during sex
* conqueror trading or offering the conquered spouse to another
* either the conquering or the conquered culture being "objectively better" than the other
* conquered becoming a concubine because the alternative is rape or execution
* conquered being underage or hugely younger than conqueror
* harem

* Brilliant Social-Climbing Femme Fatale/Her Bumbling Oblivious Husband (Original Work)

Established Marriage - Happy and Domestic
Marriage of Convenience - For Financial Security
Marriage of Convenience - Married Spouse for the Power and Resources
Adultery - Outsider Tries to Seduce Married Person; Married Person Doesn't Even Consider It

I chose this pairing because I love the idea of a villain-coded wife and the husband who, to all intents and purposes, is her mark, but somehow, they have the healthiest marriage. Maybe it was rough going at first. Maybe the wife took a long time to appreciate her husband's himbo-ish attributes, not just the wealth and/or status that the marriage conferred on her. Of course, society just doesn't get it. Obviously, they think she's using him, whether because she's a commoner and a vixen, or because a woman of her brilliance can't possibly see anything in such a notorious fool. Maybe a slick operator tries to seduce her, under the assumption that she's looking for a lover who has all the qualities her husband lacks. It fails, of course.

* Werewolf Alpha/His Human Bride/Entire Werewolf Pack (Original Work)

Supernatural - Pack Leader Must Choose Spouse for Mating Season
Supernatural - Pack of Shifters are Polygamously Married
Wedding Night - Consummation Traditionally Calls For Unusual Rituals

There were other custom freeforms that I could have nommed, but I didn't want to get overly specific. The basic idea is that when the alpha marries, his bride is now married to the whole pack. The bride should be aware of this in advance, it can't be something that's sprung on her on the wedding night. I'd also prefer if the pack weren't exclusively male, but that's not a dealbreaker. Other possible details to include: a special ritual werewolf marriage that's separate from the legally-binding human marriage, consummating with the whole pack is required for producing a future alpha heir, the "wedding night" being stretched over several days to give the bride a break, different ritual significance to mating in human vs. wolf form, consummation with the whole pack is a mystical ritual that eventually confers werewolf status on the bride.

Common werewolf details that I could take or leave: heat, knotting, size kink, shifted/transformed sex, scent-marking, bonded mates.

* Alien Diplomat/Stranded Human Tourist (Original Work)

Marriage of Convenience - For Fantasy Immigration Purposes
Marriage of Convenience - Green Card Equivalent for Human on Alien Planet

I came up with this idea after browsing the already-nominated tags. Basically, a human becomes stranded on an alien planet when their status becomes unexpectedly void. The human lacks both tangible resources and a necessary understanding of the planet they're stranded on, language, customs, etc. By shenanigans, they end up in a marriage to a local alien that protects them. Whether it's an accidental marriage due to misunderstood customs, or they choose to do it because of limited options, I could go either way. Gender is immaterial. You can make the alien as anthropomorphic or as bizarre as your heart desires. Basically, go nuts.

* Elemental Mage/Complementary Element Mage (Original Work)

Newlyweds - Powerful Couple Can't Decide Whether to be Good or Evil
Magic - Marrying An Enemy To Power Up Magic
Marriage of Convenience - Married Spouse for the Power and Resources

I couldn't find quite the freeform I was looking for in the marriage law set, but maybe this isn't quite that. My idea was that marrying a mage of the complementary element (e.g. air -> fire) carried some kind of special significance, whether legal, social, or mystical. Basically, this couple is incentivised into marrying each other for external reasons -- and the incentive can be as gentle as "we might as well" or as strenuous as "you can't legally practice magic unless you have the right spouse". Then, the partnership increases either their raw power or their control over it, or perhaps they create some kind of combo power that's exclusive to married couples. Dealing with their skyrocketing power would fundamentally change their attitude towards the marriage itself.