2025 Fic in a Box Exchange Letter
Aug. 11th, 2025 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_paradigmThank you so much for taking the time to consider creating something for me for the Fic In a Box 2025 Exchange! Below you will find in the main post a list of my likes and DNWs, and then you can use the Fandom links to jump to a reply tailored specific to each one of my fandom requests!
Table of Contents:
- DNWs
- Fandom-Specific DNWs
- SFW Likes
- NSFW Likes
- 'Dead Dove'/Bulletproof Likes
- AU Prompt/Likes
- Art Prompt/Likes
(click for specific likes and prompts)
Final Fantasy XII | Sense and Sensibility
Star Trek: AOS | Original Work
- DNWs:
other pairings besides those requested as a focus (background a-ok!) | permanent character death within ship requested | unhappy or hopeless endings | infidelity between requested pairing(s) | unrequited love (requited unrequited okay if it gets resolved by the end) | violent rape/non-con (dub-con okay as long as both parties ultimately enjoy themselves whether they're okay with that or not) | omegaverse | bodily fluid kinks (scat, watersports, vomit, etc.) | mpreg | snuff | unrequested genderswap/bend/trans/nb headcanons | explicit underage sex (16+ ok) | incest | mommy/daddy kink | unresolved toxic relationship behavior | age play/infantilism | anal sex/anal play | bestiality (dogs/cats/etc.: no; sentient/alien/supernatural creatures: yes!) | modern politics/real world issues (canon-compliant issues are welcome!) | character bashing | characters acting wildly OOC without significant plot reasons | hurt no comfort | active love triangles (mention of past relationships ok) | age-regression/de-aging
Note: If it's not listed here, I either don't know I don't want it yet (in which case, that's on me) or it's free game!
Fandom-Specific DNWs:
- Final Fantasy XII
Ashe/Basch/Penelo: My poor brain and heart can't handle an active love triangle between these three. Ashe/Basch and Basch/Penelo have to live in two completely separate head canons/universes, so please do not combine the two. Pick one or the other and focus on it though and I will be happy as a clam, which is also why I offered the & (friendship) options for these pairings as well.
- Sense and Sensibility
Marianne Dashwood/John Willoughby: Please do not have Marianne pining endlessly for Willoughby in what I would like to be a Marianne/Brandon love story. I am perfectly fine with her reflecting on their relationship and her own behavior, and some pining is to be expected, I absolutely get that. But I would prefer her to be at least (mostly) "over" him before she commits to Brandon.
- SFW Likes:
Romance & Fluff | Genfic | Austen/Regency Style Courtships with Tense Romantic Restraint | Yearning/Pining | Unusual Settings | High and Low Fantasy | Character Studies | Experimental Writing Styles | Epistolaries/Character Journals | Mystery/Suspense | Action/Adventure | Canon AUs | Canon-Divergence | Pre-/Post-Canon Speculation | Hurt/Comfort | Dancing/Training/Sparring (bonus: leads to sex/lovemaking) | Complicated Feelings/Drama | Age Gaps (up to 15-20 years) | May/December Romances | Friends to Lovers | Enemies to Lovers | Slowburns | Fantasy/Sci-Fi Settings | Intricate Worldbuilding | Angst with a Happy Ending | Feelings Realizations | Slice of Life | Hilarious Miscommunications | Humor/Banter | Missing or Extended Scenes from Canon | Ensemble Hijinx and Shenanigans | Dynamic Fight/Battle Scenes | Plot-Heavy Stories | Dialogue Heavy Stories | Creative Problem Solving | Rag-Tag Teamwork |
- NSFW Likes:
Porn With Feelings | PIV Sex | Experienced Male/Inexperienced Female | Rough Sex/tender!violence | Romantic Foreplay/Loving Oral | Praise Kink | Hair Pulling | Hand Holding | Woman Held Down | (Consensual) Loss of Virginity | Sex Pollen | Non-Omegaverse Heat/Rut/Compulsion in Non-Human Sentient Species | Intimacy | Cuddlefucking | Fingering | Delayed/Forced Orgasm | Awkward/Fun Sex | Frottage | Both Parties Enjoying Themselves
- Bulletproof Likes:
Age Gap or May/December | Experienced Male/Inexperienced or Virgin Female | Sex Pollen/Magic | Love Confessions | Requited Unrequited Love | Hurt/Comfort | Power Dynamic Rough Sex With Feelings | Weird/Alien/Eldritch Horror | Supernatural Horror | Weird/Eldritch Flora| Fantasy Biomes | Intricate Worldbuilding | Dire Situations Where Characters Have Epiphanies | Forced Marriage/Marriage of Convenience + Dubcon Wedding Nights | War Tributes | Alternate Universes (see AU likes) | Stockholm Syndrome Romances |
- AU Prompt/Likes:
Basically, if it's a fun historical, sci-fi, fantasy, or horror setting, I'm all for it. But here are some of my favorites if you need help:
Pirates/Sailors | Dragons/Dragonriders (Shapeshifting is great too) | Vampire: the Masquerade | Haunted Houses | any requested characters inserted into any Final Fantasy setting (FFXII and FFVIII are my go-tos) | Space Exploration | Movie/Book/Video Game AUs or Crossovers (as long as my requested pairs are the focus) | Regency | Victorian | Gothic Horror | College/University | Magic | Cyberpunk | Steampunk | Solarpunk | Supernatural | Fantasy | Sci-fi | Canon Divergence
- Art Prompt/Likes:
watercolor and ink styles | experimental or abstract coloring | I am VERY easy to please with art as long as it looks finished (no unfinished sketches, i.e. visible guidelines, visible gesture drawing without some coloring, pencil only etc.)
Fandoms
(click for specific likes and prompts)
Final Fantasy XII | Sense and Sensibility
Star Trek: AOS | Original Work
Final Fantasy XII
Date: 2025-09-03 11:52 pm (UTC)This is the Big One, and I always need it like breath.
NOTE:This is not an exhaustive list, just an extra list along with my likes to get your juices flowing! Please take all suggestions with a grain of salt; this is just to give you an idea of what I'm currently fixated on!
Dr. Cid & Venat (FFXII)
Drace/Gabranth | Noah fon Ronsenburg (FFXII)
Gabranth | Noah fon Ronsenburg & Basch fon Ronsenburg (Final Fantasy XII)
Penelo & Basch fon Ronsenburg (FFXII)
Penelo/Basch fon Ronsenburg (FFXII)
WB: Archadian Bureaucracy (FFXII)
WB: Draklor Laboratory Research (FFXII)
WB: Genealogy of the Royal Family Between King Raithwall and Princess Ashelia (FFXII)
WB: Modern Archadian Culture (Final Fantasy XII)
WB: Modern Rozarrian Culture (Final Fantasy XII)
WB: Occurian & Esper/Scion Lore (Final Fantasy XII)
WB: Post-Game Dalmasca-Archadia Relations (FFXII)
WB: The Path to Judge Magister (Final Fantasy XII)
WB: The Republic of Landis (Final Fantasy XII)
Pre-Canon Fluff: What was their relationship like when Ashe was a young girl? Did Basch know/protect/fight alongside any of her brothers before they died?
Training/Fighting/Sparring: This is one of my favorite tropes ever. It can be her first learning a weapon when she's a kid, or them training and rebuilding trust when they're on the road to Archadia. It can be post-canon, when maybe they sneak a late night training session after Basch becomes Gabranth and spar in private so he can protect his identity. Bonus points if the sparring (when Ashe is older) leads to some hot sex.
Loyalty/Trust Kink: Doesn't have to be sexual, but definitely another favorite trope of mine with these two. Basch will bring down the moon to protect this woman. And I will read ANYTHING he does along those lines. Conversely, Ashe learning to give her loyalty to him is equally as important. Are there ways in which she not only allows him to sacrifice himself for her, but she willingly does this for him later?
Post-Canon AU/Divergence/Fix-it: In my FFXII series, The Kingfishers (Ao3), I plan on exploring what and how long it would take to have Basch exonerated for his supposed crimes, with Ashe and Larsa playing a big part in that. In that year between the Bahamut and Ashe's coronation, what does Larsa have Basch up to? Does he genuinely try to become Gabranth? Who else knows the secret? And if they can't keep it up, does he remain in charge of the 9th Bureau, or does he perhaps gain a new role in the Empire? And--ultimately--how does this affect his relationship with and loyalty to Ashe? Do they eventually find a way to be together? Do they become lovers in secret? Do they ever have kids, and if so, are they Basch's as Basch, or Basch's as Gabranth? SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!
Inclusion of the Occuria and Espers: There is SO much lore to be tapped into here, and I would love to see how the connections made with the Espers affect the characters and how they interact with one another, make decisions, or even religious/political unrest as a subplot to why maybe Ashe and Basch have a hard time getting together.
High Stakes Trials: Missions, Battles, Tournaments, Diplomatic Meetings, Balls/Dancing, ANY OF IT ALL OF IT.
Setting Change AUs: adding elements to canon like wings, eldritch horror, supernatural elements etc. but keeping it in the FFXII canon? Yes.
Explicit Content: Yes please. I will be just as happy with gen fic, but if you're going to do romance and you're comfortable with it, I would LOVE it.
Recursive/Remix Fics: This is a new pairing for me and I'm obsessed. I've written a few pieces exploring both in-game Penelo crushing on Basch thinking it could never happen (In the Confusion), he could never see her that way (Girl; Her First Choice, A Hideaway With A View), to some post-canon stuff exploring how she might have done some things to persuade him to start looking at her differently (For Lack of Attention, (Re)United, and TKO: An Interlude). I would be completely open to seeing how you interpret other events in this timeline, with Basch remaining in Archades as Gabranth, and Penelo coming into womanhood, sky piracy, but ultimately yearning for a home.
Heavy/Medic Dynamic: I mean you've got the perfect pair of the heavy-hitter and the medic/healer right here, at least in my mind. Give them some in-canon situations/scrapes where they play on that with some unrequited (or requited unrequited) tension and I'm sat for it. You want to write them just as friends, or in more of a father/daughter found family dynamic? I absolutely LOVE that for them too. This is important: I love Basch and Penelo just as much in a platonic sense as in a romantic one!
Post-Canon AU/Divergence/Fix-it: This goes along with my recursive/remix prompts--what would a relationship between these two look like post-canon? I feel like they work because Penelo has the freedom, while Basch has the anonymity, but he is still a loyal soldier and she's (at least kind of/partly) a criminal, so it's got some star-crossed lover flair. ALSO, it hits on both my Age Gap and Size Difference kinks that are basically bulletproof, and to me the idea of them fumbling through a domestic relationship while they are in a situation that is FAR from domestic just gives me all the feels and I want it.
Inclusion of the Occuria and Espers: There is SO much lore to be tapped into here, and I would love to see how the connections made with the Espers affect the characters and how they interact with one another, make decisions, or even religious/political unrest as a subplot to give Penelo things to pirate, and Basch jobs to do, and reasons for them to keep either bumping into one another, or working with/against each other whilst dealing with FEELINGS.
High Stakes Trials: Missions, Battles, Balls/Dancing, Cat-And-Mouse Dynamics, Thieving/Piracy, Sexy Grappling, Completely non-romantic but dire teamwork, ANY OF IT ALL OF IT.
Setting Change AUs: adding elements to canon like wings, eldritch horror, supernatural elements etc. but keeping it in the FFXII canon? Yes.
Explicit Content: Yes please. There is not near enough Basch/Penelo to sate me. I will be just as happy with gen fic, but if you're going to do romance and you're comfortable with it, I would LOVE it.
Pre-Canon: There is so much that is obscure and confusing about how the twins eventually end up, that I am desperately in need of some believable backstory for these two. How close were they? If they were super close, something completely unforgivable needs to have happened eventually; I have a hard time believing Gabranth can justify his hatred for Basch for "abandoning their homeland" when he basically did the same thing. For that matter, I have it in my head Gabranth's loyalty to Landis was way more complicated, and I get the impression he was a lot like Vossler in the end, choosing surrender and assimilation as a way of preserving his homeland, but then the Empire's "just reward" for that ends up being the constant manipulation of his personal values and that is what drives him mad and to hate Basch in the end, because his brother's principles get to remain intact because he fled. I don't know, I would LOVE some further perspective on this!
Canon Divergence/Post-Canon Fix It: You know what, what if Noah doesn't die? I've seen the "no body, no death" concept floating around, so hell, why not? What does this look like for you, and for our beloved boys? Feel free to combine this concept with my Basch/Ashe or Basch/Penelo tags too if you like.
Pre-Canon: Okay, how do these two meet? What do they think of each other? Do they work together a lot? How do they bond over duties to the Solidor family, particularly to Larsa? I prefer romantic undertones, but if you want to keep it a more friendly/trust-building kind of relationship this feels absolutely wonderfully canon-compliant and I'm very okay with it.
Canon Divergence/Canon Fix-It/Canon AU: ...okay hear me out, but what if they both lived? Or one lived and not the other? Or OOH! Wanna worldbuild a FFXII afterlife and have them find each other?! *puppy eyes*
High Stakes Trials: Missions, Battles, Balls/Dancing, Sweaty Training, Mild Degradation Banter & Teasing, Sexy Grappling, Completely non-romantic but dire teamwork, ANY OF IT ALL OF IT.
Setting Change AUs: adding elements to canon like wings, eldritch horror, supernatural elements etc. but keeping it in the FFXII canon? Yes.
Explicit Content: Yes please, any and all of it. These two are just so hot.
"The Jagd Difor, was it?": Please, please, please, what happened in Giruvegan six years ago?! Dr. Cid went mad, but he didn't, did he? Why did Venat rebel? Did Venat conspire to align events to lure Dr. Cid specifically to Giruvegan? Who went with him? What did they find, what else did he bring back to "aid in his research"? What horrible crimes did they commit for the sake of that research? What were some specific things that caused our dear Ffamran to run? You can combine this with the Occurian and Esper WB tag too to really flesh this out!
DISCLAIMER: I understand that by putting these in the same request as my relationship tags, that as my gifter you are not obligated to combine or give me more than one of these things and by requesting WB tags, I am potentially forfeiting my relationship tags. This is also where the majority of my medium opt-ins shine, so I heartily consent to these terms!
WB: Archadian Bureaucracy: I am fascinated by how the Archadian government is structured, and also by how Larsa potentially deals with it in the aftermath of the events of FFXII. What kind of red tape does he have to cut through in order to establish himself as Emperor? Does he reinstate the Senate or continue with a more authoritarian rule, and for how long? How does all this work, please?!
WB: Draklor Laboratory Research: This is equally as fascinating to me, and can also pair really well with the Dr. Cid & Venat tag! Show me some of that obscure paperwork, field reports, secret files on government officials and Judge Magisters (is this how Vayne finds out about Gabranth's having a twin? Do they keep these files?! Can they exonerate Basch?!), give me ALL the nitty gritty dirty details of the comings and goings and what they're really up to at Draklor. You could even frame this as findings after the fall of Bahamut in that first year of Larsa as Emperor.
WB: Genealogy of the Royal Family Between King Raithwall and Princess Ashelia: Family Trees! Patents of Nobility! Illumination Style Drawings of Ancient Kings and Queens! Dynast-King Lore! The first rulers of Dalmasca and Nabradia! The original members of the Galtean Alliance, including the itty bitty start of the Archadian Empire! HISTORY LESSONS! I want ALL THE NERD THINGS!
WB: Modern Archadian Culture & WB: Modern Rozarrian Culture: We get NOTHING about Rozarria, and the best we get about Archadia honestly is everyone is a snake and they care more about those damn chops than anything. I want more detail. Maybe some chop exhange, maybe more about the residents of the lower city, more about central, more about House Margrace, the Empire there, the other noble Houses, how is their culture different?
WB: Occurian & Esper/Scion Lore: This concept fascinates me to no end. Myths, Legends, the Fall of the Espers, who are the Scions of Light and what are their stories and roles? What were the Occuria like in the beginning? What was Ancient Giruvegan like? What happened during Ultima's rebellion? If you're REALLY ambitious, how does any of this give homage to the rest of the stories in the Ivalice Alliance? Give me some dark Brother's Grimm, give me some children's bedtime tales, I'm ready!
WB: Post-Game Dalmasca-Archadia Relations: I am very curious as to how Ashe and Larsa navigate this territory once the dust has settled. How long do peace negotiations take and what are the terms? How do they settle the matter of Nabradia? Do they make a joint effort to restore the damaged areas of the region or do they shake hands and go separate ways?
WB: The Path to Judge Magister: What's a person gotta do to work their way up in Archadia? How long does it take? What studies are required, what trials? What missions, what rituals?
WB: The Republic of Landis: Please tell me about Landis, both before it was conquered, and how it has been assimilated into Archadia. Does Basch ever go back there? What has changed? What has remained the same?
Sense and Sensibility
Date: 2025-09-03 11:54 pm (UTC)NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list, just an extra list along with my likes to get your juices flowing! Please take all suggestions with a grain of salt; this is just to give you an idea of what I'm currently fixated on!
FANDOM SPECIFIC NOTE: Some people have only had the movie or the miniseries as their reference for Sense and Sensibility, but if you have read the original book, that is the version I prefer. I still love the movie version though, and so I have requested it as well in case I am matched with someone who has only seen the movie!
End-Canon Fluff: What was their courtship like? Both the movie and the book are so sparse about this, but I absolutely adore Brandon's subdued smitten energy, and then wanting to see Marianne go from barely noticing him at all to finally seeing him as a person worth knowing, to finally esteeming him in friendship and realizing oh hey, this is actually the great basis of a healthy marriage, THANK YOU ELINOR I GET IT NOW.
The Proposal: How did Brandon finally propose? When? How did Marianne respond? How much did she feel for him at that point?
Conflict and Setbacks: I know that their engagement and marriage weren't always sunshine and roses, especially with different personalities and interests. how do they deal with these things as a couple?
The Realization: When/How did Marianne finally realize that she was actually in love with her husband? How did she react? Give me all the fluff and romance.
Post-Canon Fic Ideas: Wedding, Wedding Night!!, Family/Parenting/Kid Fic, Pregnancy, Slice of Life, Holidays with the Ferrarses, Visiting London, Years-Later seeing the Willoughbys in Town, anything you can come up with. And I adore Slice-of-Life fic.
Explicit Content: You know what, yes please. If you want to keep it more in line with Austen-Style Romance, nothing above a T rating/fade to black, that is PERFECTLY fine with me as long as there's some good romance nuggets in there. But if you're going to do romance and you're comfortable with it, I would LOVE it for these two since they hit my bulletproof Age Gap like. Maybe keep it more on the vanilla side for Marianne's sake, but either way I'm stoked!
Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Date: 2025-09-03 11:57 pm (UTC)NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list, just an extra list along with my likes to get your juices flowing! Please take all suggestions with a grain of salt; this is just to give you an idea of what I'm currently fixated on!
FANDOM SPECIFIC NOTE: I am way more familiar with the Alternate timeline of the movies than the Original Series, but I am not at all opposed to references or nods to the Original if you are familiar with the canon. I do prefer the Alternate timeline for main stories though.
Solo: Crew of the Starship USS Enterprise (Star Trek AOS)
Solo: Nyota Uhura (Star Trek AOS)
Spock & Spock Prime (Star Trek AOS)
Spock/Nyota Uhura & Spock Prime (Star Trek AOS)
Spock/Nyota Uhura (Star Trek AOS)
WB: Consequences of Destruction of Vulcan (ST AOS)
WB: Multi-species design accommodation (ST AOS)
WB: Pon Farr (ST AOS)
Recursive/Remix Fic: Read Caesura and Malaika for context; the first is a pre-romance relationship establishment and Spock character study, while the latter is an advanced establish relationship study between the two of them. I am super open to anyone willing and wanting to expand into this world, especially with their early "dating", like what did that even look like for them? They are both such wonderfully unique and complex individuals and I am always chomping at the bit to see how others interpret that journey. Alternatively, I am PERFECTLY content reading your own individual takes on this!
Conflict and Setbacks: With the destruction of Vulcan, Spock Prime being in the universe now, the establishment of the new colony, how do they all navigate this? What are some challenges, both big and small, that they face? How do Spock and Spock Prime navigate working together but separately? How does Spock Prime feel about Spock's relationship with Uhura? Does it remind him of his own relationship with Uhura Prime, or does he not really care very much?
Explicit Content: My WB: Pon Farr tag is separate from this BUT if you want to combine it with the Spock/Uhura tag, I would be DELIGHTED.
Missions and Banter: I am sat for Kirk & Bones banter, shoot maybe even some slapstick. I don't ship either of them with anyone or with each other, but the two of them together as buddies and with Bones' nervous disposition and Kirk's brass balls, I just cannot with these two. If ever there is an opportunity for comedy gold, it's with the boys. I would honestly have tagged Spock in there as well if the tag had existed, and you can absolutely insert any others of the main crew for a well-rounded story, but a movie-style mission with these two at the center butting heads constantly would be a whole jam. <3
Nyota Uhura: She is my favorite character out of the entire main crew and honestly, of course she is. Like, what a bad @$$. She's smart as a whip, ready for anything, and landed a Vulcan as a romantic partner. I want to know more about her, her past, her upbringing, the reasons she wanted to join Starfleet, her hobbies and ambitions, all of it. This is where you can insert any prior knowledge of the original series if you like; I have written her in my own fics as being musically gifted and singing in choir, but otherwise I have not built much for her background and would love to read more.
Crew of the Starship Enterprise: What else would be cool/hilarious, or however you want to interpret it, is just a whole fic focusing on minor members of the crew (think Lower Decks, but your own interpretation). The poor redshirts, medical assistants, janitorial staff, minor engineers; write about their triumphs, their screw-ups, their relationships, write it like a docudrama a la What We Do In Shadows or The Office. Make me snort my coffee with laughter. Make me nearly pee myself out of terror/concern for characters that literally do not exist otherwise. Make me love them and root for them! Main characters from the series are still great here, and if you wanted to just stick to the main ensemble that's fine too but wow the opportunities here!
Consequences of the Destruction of Vulcan: This is pretty self explanatory and as I mentioned earlier this is a great one to combine with the Spock & Spock Prime tag! Give me your take on this.
Multi-Species Design Accommodation: This is where you artists can get creative, or some of the more interesting mediums can come in handy! Describe your take on the USS Enterprise, what kinds of alien life it does have to accommodate and how. Ship manifests, maps, room descriptions, you can really go wild with this one as I am an extreme enthusiast of sci-fi schematics, architecture and interior design (what a wild thing to be an enthusiast of!).
Pon Farr: You can combine this with the Spock/Uhura tag, or do it in the style of epistolary or medical documents, ancestral Vulcan records, etc. to get really creative in explaining how this works. I know there is already canon info about it, and I'm sure it's been written about in fanfic over and over, but take your time in creating a unique take of your own on the subject using the requested mediums!
Original Work
Date: 2025-09-04 12:06 am (UTC)NOTE:This is not an exhaustive list, just an extra list along with my likes to get your juices flowing! Please take all suggestions with a grain of salt; this is just to give you an idea of what I'm currently fixated on!
+ Triumphant Knight Rewarded With His Pick Of The Court's Noble Ladies As A Bride/The Lady No One Expected Him To Choose (M/F)
+ Warlady of a Foreign Country/Tribute Unwanted Son Of Yet-To-Be-Conquered King (M/F)
+ Surprisingly Polite Viking/Conquered Princess Who Wants To Be Ravished (M/F)
+ Princess/Male Mercenary Who Has Kidnapped Her on Behalf of a Rival Kingdom (M/F)
+ Princess Always Getting Into Scrapes/Her Long Suffering Bodyguard (M/F)
+ Older Lonely King/Younger Princess He Must Marry For An Alliance (M/F)
+ New Warlady/Her Fiery Tribute from a Yet-To-Be-Conquered Nation (F/M)
+ Exiled Princess/Male Mercenary She Hired to Help Her Get Her Kingdom Back (M/F)
+ Emperor Who Realizes He's Very Submissive/Domme Concubine Who Is the Source of This Realization (M/F)
I saw this prompt and now I'm OBSESSED with the idea. I love the idea of an older, battle-worn pirate somehow coming across a young maiden (could be noble, could just be a naive commoner of some sort) who hero worships the idea of piracy to the point of totally getting off on the idea of being ravished by one, and him honestly not knowing how to deal with that. take it wherever you want, G-E rating, it's all delicious.
Okay, so is he like the gorgeous typical knight type and he picks a very visual plain lady with maybe a not ideal body type? Does she have a disability that was not understood at the time? It's always bothered me in tv shows where we always get a plain looking dude with some real issues with a gorgeous wife, but never the other way around. I'm also VERY into plus-sized women getting the ideal-body-type husband who has a heart of solid gold and legit loves her more than the sun itself if you want to go that route, and I am not squeamish about ridiculing/shaming/ableism happening in the story as long as it is resolved between the couple and/or by the end of the story. This could be such a fun, heartwarming prompt if done well!
I feel like you could really play with D/s dynamics here--but with like...which one is which? Is the Warlady sick and tired and being strong all the time and wants a man to rough her up a bit? Or is the tribute son always forced to put on the big strong dominant face, but is secretly looking forward to being ordered around by a conquering wife? Are they both dominant and we get some wild power play? None of this has to be explicit or sexual either, it can be simply in their every day dynamics as they learn to come to terms with their arrangement. Also, don't forget any fun worldbuilding you want to plop in here!
Really just another variation of the Pirate prompt above, but in a different culture and setting that I think is just as rich as the former. You could go historical, you could go fantasy, you could go historical fantasy--I LOVE genre bends!
This obviously has Enemies to Lovers written all over it, but also a lot of room for shenanigans with the Princess trying to foil him or runaway at every turn, maybe she's super feisty and has no qualms about trying to kill him to get away either. Or you could go the route of spunky super naive princess who is just STOKED to get out of the country and see the rest of the world. There is tons of room for worldbuilding here as well, I will NEVER say no to an intricate plot centered around a rich setting.
Another plot ripe for shenanigans, whether you go cutesy or darker, I'm game for it all. Has more of a Friends to Lovers vibe, or Requited Unrequited, or you know what I'm not going to box you in here. This is such a fun sounding prompt, and gives off such a Saint of Steel vibe that I've got to have it. You get the gist.
Age Gap my beloooooved. You can go hard on this, 20 even 30 years if you like (15-20 year age gap is my sweet spot), make that older lonely king have a tragic heartbroken past, or make him a codgery jaded thing thinking he's only marrying for politics, and then give him such a deliciously complex and intriguing bright eyed young thing to marry. I wants it, the preciousss.
This is along the lines of the Princess/Long Suffering Bodyguard, but a different take since in this one the male is a hired hand rather than serving her out of any sort of loyalty.
This was a last minute add to this list, and while I LOVE me an Dom Male/Sub Female trope, sometimes a fiery lady and a submissive man is just the ticket if done right. I am very taken with the idea of this Emperor being a very dominant personality naturally and typically leaning towards submissive/demure lovers, and then (perhaps accidentally) stumbling upon this absolute firebrand of a concubine and having his whole world turn upside down.