koraki | pine4pine 2020

Hi, and thank you so much for checking out my pine4pine letter! I adore pining and am ridiculously hyped for this exchange so fair warning, this may end up obscenely long. :D

If you are writing anything at all for any of the ships/tags I have requested, I already know I will love it on sight. This letter is just meant to provide extra inspiration, so please don't feel the need to read my prompts if you already have a great idea. Anything not in my DNWs is fair game — I enjoy exchanges specifically because of the opportunity to see someone else's take on something I like!

Especially for pining ships I enjoy very subtle stuff as much as explicit sexual content, and everything in between is excellent too. I never hold my / ship requests to any particular standards of conventional romantic feeling or behavior, so if you're writing requited pining, no need to include poetic love confessions or kissing or even use the word "love" unless you feel it fits the ship.

Finally, in regards to the ships where I have requested the "never requited" tag… I fucking LOVE unrequited love and I am always here for the never-requited pining, everyone get out. *slams door*

That is to say, if you decide to write never-requited pining for me, please don't feel the need to leave it ambiguous or pull any punches! :) If I requested that tag, I am here to get my emotions nicely brutalized.

I am kkoraki on tumblr and Koraki on AO3.

Pining Scenario Likes

Cute shy cannot-spit-it-out pining, where the pining character is just hopelessly blushy and eager but is perhaps embarrassed about their feelings or doesn't know how to articulate them or is worried in a sweet low-stakes way that they won't be returned, like a teenager with a crush
Awkwardly sexy pining, where the pining character is a virgin or inexperienced or was celibate for a REALLY long time or maybe has just never been attracted to someone of that particular gender (or at all) before and they don't quite understand or know how to deal with the sudden influx of Big Sexy Feelings
Courtly love pining, where the pining character symbolically plays the knight to the pine-ee's (???) lady, or they both pine for each other in a knight-lady kind of way (no actual knights necessary). I love this whether the characters consciously realize they're falling into these roles or not. Wikipedia paraphrases Newman as "In essence, courtly love was an experience between erotic desire and spiritual attainment, 'a love at once illicit and morally elevating, passionate and disciplined, humiliating and exalting, human and transcendent'" and just, yes, that.
Cold and dignified pining, whether this stems from a naturally regal and standoffish personality, or someone trying to hide the awkwardness or pain or passion they feel, or someone in some kind of high-profile social role where they have to conduct themselves in a certain way so the affection they can show/express is limited, or multiple factors combined
Creepy submissive pining, where the pining is very OTT and obsessive but also very devoted/loyal/deferential — you're not going to see this pining character kidnapping the object of their affections to an underground lair, in fact they might fantasize about being kidnapped by them while fixating unhealthily on every aspect of their life and desperately trying to please them. Maybe they even try to hook them up with someone else without the pine-ee knowing. If it makes sense for the ship I especially love it when a more chill passive type of pining morphs slowly into creepy overly fixated (pseudo)stalker without the pining character realizing.
Sadly accepting pining, where the pining character is simply aware that their feelings will never be returned by the other character and has accepted this truth (...whether it's actually true or not), they just Love Them So Much that they have to keep on sadly loving them.
Guilty pining where the pining character is horrified that they even have these feelings and doesn't want them because they think it's wrong to feel this way about the person they're pining for and maybe even feel like they're violating them by it, so they're just super miserable about their own feelings all the time
Pining due to situational factors, where the attraction itself is fairly straightforward but some significant external factor is preventing the pining character from confessing their love (or two mutually pining characters from fully realizing their shared attraction). This could be anything from "my dad hates him" to "the military forbids fraternization with subordinates" to "I caused the death of her entire family".
The Touching Thing!! The significance of even a brief careless touch while one or both characters are pining… walking too close together and brushing past each other… hands touching when passing some object… ballroom dancing… sharing a bed or a small/confined space and being hyperaware of how close the other person is… it's all great, excellent, my fave!

General Likes

hurt/comfort
significant physical contact, especially if it's brief; characters breaking the touch barrier
comfortable/meaningful silence
dancing (and if it makes sense for the couple, do I ever adore this in pining fic especially)
hugs
holding hands
people getting to be happy and loved and at peace after a lot of hard struggles
platonic or romantic hand kisses, forehead kisses, foot/ankle kisses, kisses on the nose, kisses on the eyelids, kisses on the hair…
touching hair, brushing hair, washing hair, admiring hair, wanting to touch somebody's hair, descriptions of how soft and good-smelling somebody's long hair is, descriptions of hands running over a short-haired person's fuzzy head right after they've gotten a haircut...
wild animals, animal companions, animal psychology, the way humans relate to animals, the way animals relate to each other
people having to navigate new or very different situations; fish-out-of-water stories
complicated but ultimately positive family relationships, including found or adopted families
interesting OCs, whether as one-off quirky background characters or major players in the plot
offbeat domestic fic
cooking and eating food
reconciliation of different worldviews
religious imagery and symbolism
repression (of emotions, beliefs, feelings, sexuality, etc.)
touch starvation
UST, whether resolved or not
crying
pain, fear, sorrow, violence and conflict
injuries, blood, body horror, facial trauma/scarring, mouth/teeth trauma
uneven/complex power differentials
fealty, loyalty, devotion (to a person, a cause, a god, an ideal... especially if the devotion is unquestioning enough to be unhealthy, especially if it's coming from someone who's typically more practical/cynical about things)
kneeling
self-sacrifice; literally or figuratively taking the bullet
mortals encountering the divine (literal or figurative or otherwise)
two people physically isolated from everyone else and having to deal with things together
an “us against the world”/“you’re the only one who can understand/help/save me” dynamic; I prefer this interpreted on the fluffier side with platonic/familial relationships and on the dark, codependent, and scary/troubling side with romantic/sexual ones
all the typical tropey stuff like sharing a bed, hypothermia/huddling for warmth, emotional first kisses/first times, will they/won't they, accidental love confession, accidental baby or pet acquisition, pretending to be a couple, mistaken for a couple... all of it

Smut Likes

informal D/s (no safewords or stoplight systems, please!), service submission, light bondage, kneeling
clothed sex, coming in pants
cuddling/physicality, kissing
praise kink, body worship
rough sex, biting, marking
begging, orgasm delay, overstimulation
oral, rimming, anal, intercrural, fingering, frottage, comeplay
hands and fingers, lips/teeth/mouths, fingers in mouths, wrists and shoulders, necks and throats, thighs
OT3: Character A/Character B/the nearest wall
crying/tearing up during sex
characters having fantasies that are kind of weird either because they're really mild (ex. getting off on the idea of the object of their affection just touching them gently or kissing them) or really intense/hardcore (ex. death/snuff fantasies), and I am really into this in particular when paired with pining
people discovering their weird turn-ons
awkwardly realistic first times, awkward sex, things not going perfectly (someone bumps their head, pulls a muscle, struggles due to a disability or old wound, can't get it up...)
pain/discomfort
ultimately: is it weird and strange? if the answer's yes, I probably like it in my smut.

DNW

non-canonical character death (mention or depiction of canonical character death, including of requested characters, is okay!)
any type of severe societal prejudice (homophobia, transphobia, racism, etc.) being injected into a fantasy/sci-fi culture where it isn't shown to exist in canon
pregnancy as a major focus; any requested character being pregnant
infidelity as a kink or major focus
unprompted asexual or "ace spectrum" headcanons
unprompted gender headcanons that conflict with a character's canon identity (I am equally happy with trans or cis headcanons of the canon identity)
unrequested crossovers
unrequested ship content other than canon marriages/long-term partnerships
for this exchange: pining that stems primarily from internalized homophobia (depiction of internalized homophobia is fine if it makes sense for the character/setting; what I'm trying to avoid here is a story all about a character pining away only because they think it's "wrong" etc. to be attracted to the same gender)
for this exchange: setting AUs (for example, modern, coffee shop, space, fantasy, or college AUs; completely okay to write canon divergence AUs, groundhog day AUs, and AUs such as daemons, soulmarks, hanahaki etc. that add to but do not change the canon setting!)
in porn: explicit sexual content involving characters under the age of 18 (aging up or not specifying age is okay), PIV sex, daddy kink, race kink, feminization kink, A/B/O, bestiality with a non-sentient creature, vore, scat, watersports

A Place Further Than the Universe

Eventually requited, Never requited

Gin/Takako (Gin pining), Gin/Takako (both pining)

This relationship rocketed to OTP status for me in "A Person Like A Cloud" and was the hugest, most welcome surprise in a series that I already loved! Gin as a character is like catnip to me, from her cool demeanor to her unreal competence and leadership skills to her devotion to Takako (and, quietly and awkwardly, Shirase). I'm also intrigued by the glimpses we get of Takako through Gin's and Shirase's eyes and would love to see more of her outgoing spirit, photography skills, love for her friend (partner?) and her daughter, and boundless wonder at the natural world.

As far as I'm concerned, the romantic feelings in this relationship are meant to be unambiguously canon, at least from Gin's side. Canonical pining! No wonder I got so attached to it. I would love to see those feelings explored however you see fit.

I relax my pregnancy DNW for this one if you'd like to have Gin pining while Takako is pregnant with Shirase, as long as the focus isn't on the pregnancy/childbirth itself. (I'm fascinated by how Takako got to the single-parent stage as a dad is clearly not in the picture for Shirase at all, and it makes such great potential fodder for pining from Gin, so if you want to explore that I don't want my general DNW to be a barrier.) As far as my unrequested ship content DNW, that still stands -- if Takako got pregnant by a guy who she was in a relationship with, I would prefer for that relationship to be confined to passing references.

Like I mentioned in my general likes/DNWs, I am completely okay with canonical character death being included in the story, so if you want to write a story all about Gin after Takako's death and not actually have Takako show up as such in the fic, I would be fine with that. I am also okay with it if you want to AU Takako's death away or write something that takes place exclusively before it occurs! Your call.

B is courting A who doesn't realize because it's different from how B flirts with other people - Either character as A or B! Maybe Gin is usually quite brazen and confident in how she goes after women, so Takako assumes she isn't interested? Maybe Takako flirts in a certain overtly romantic way with men/women that she doesn't with Gin, so Gin assumes Takako loves her as a friend only? Maybe it's both at the same time? The possibilities are endless!

Character A incorrectly assumes that Character B knows that A is pining for them - Either character as A or B! I love that classic mutual/eventually requited pining scenario where one assumes the other knows they like them and is tactfully, politely ignoring it, and it works perfectly for these two.

Character A pines for B who has fallen asleep on A's shoulder

Character A pines while Character B Thinks They're Already Dating - With Gin as Character A and Takako as Character B. From how Takako behaves in the flashback scenes we see, she seems to treat Gin as a second mother figure for Shirase and encourages her to essentially parent her; what if she assumes Gin knows they're dating/co-parenting Shirase and is waiting for Gin to initiate the next step (making it official, getting physical, idk), but Gin thinks Takako is just treating her as a good friend?

Character pines for the person they're rescuing - AU where Gin and the team manage to find and save Takako and Gin pines for her while rescuing her!

A keeps an item of B's clothing - I was initially picturing this as Gin guiltily taking an item of Takako's clothing after Takako's death (or even, if you want to go a little bit creepy with it, Gin keeping an item of Takako's while she's still alive, then having it after her death), but if you want to switch it up and go the other way with Takako taking an item of Gin's clothing I would love to see that too!

A pines for B while feeling responsible for B's death - I feel like this one is self-explanatory and pretty much canon. Give me aaall the Gin angst!

Still-Pining Character Raises/Looks After Child of a Deceased Love Interest - see above; also, like I mentioned, there's clearly not a dad in the picture for Shirase at all so I don't know if she's an emancipated minor or what, but it seems likely that Gin is at the very least keeping an eye on her if not directly supporting her. Though it reaches kinda cracktastic levels of humor, in my own mind I have even toyed with the question of "what if Shirase and Gin are actually living together for all of canon, Kimari just doesn't find it out?" Anyway, would love something very sad or bittersweet with Gin looking after Shirase, whether she and Takako were actually involved before or not.

Everyone thinks they're already in a relationship - Where Gin and Takako are mutually pining, dancing around each other for whatever reason, but all their teammates and friends assume they're already dating.

A:TLA

Eventually requited, Never requited

Professor Zei & Wan Shi Tong (Zei pining), Professor Zei/Wan Shi Tong (both pining)

So… I forget when I first got interested in this relationship, it's been quite a while, but a recent rewatch of The Library brought all my feelings back with a vengeance. Zei and Wan Shi Tong are just both so weird in strangely endearing ways, and they both care about the library SO MUCH! Plus, they were canonically stuck in the library together until Zei's death (and we know Wan Shi Tong didn't eat him or anything weird like that, because his skeleton is still there)! My interest in this relationship is about 95% sincere, 5% crack, and I would love to see absolutely anything for them.

If you write this as platonic with Zei pining, I really want to see him yearning for all the knowledge and experience Wan Shi Tong can share with him, and Wan Shi Tong slowly coming around. If it's written as romantic/sexual with mutual pining, uh, anything goes. I expect there would be a similar sort of growth with very earnest yearning for knowledge from Zei and a very grudging curiosity and eventual trust from Wan Shi Tong, except also they end up realizing they want to Do A Kiss (or... do a... spirity-y xeno sex? if you can make THAT work, given that one of them is a massive owl-snake-type-thing, I will be all over it).

Also, if worldbuilding and character backstories are something that interests you, I would love to see your take on what Zei or WST's backgrounds are and how they became the characters we meet in The Library!

Cannibal Unsure If Pining For Character or Just Really Wants to Eat Them - Okay, he's not human so he's not technically a cannibal, but a scenario where Wan Shi Tong is unsure if he's pining for Zei or just really wants to eat him and it's played dead serious would make my entire LIFE

Character A pining because Character B already rejected them - with Zei pining, platonically or romantically

Character expects to be hurt because their pining was revealed - with Zei as the character in question... after all, WST is a scary dude

Never Actually Met; Pining From Photograph/Reputation - platonic or romantic, Zei -> WST

A pining because they think B is uninterested in romance or relationships - I could see this going either way! I would kind of love it with a character-developed Wan Shi Tong, now very interested in Zei, thinking that Zei is just interested in the library and since he hasn't mentioned any past relationships that's not something he would want; I would also love it in a platonic context with Zei assuming WST is not interested in a friendship or partnership or Scholastic Mingling Of The Minds with a human.

A attributes B's flirting to cultural differences - would love this in either direction

A pining because they think B isn't interested in interspecies relationships - again, either direction would be great!

Pining For Someone To Play Ping Pong With - Yeah, this one's just crack. But really. What if WST is so grumpy because all these humans keep coming to his library trying to steal his forbidden knowledge when all he's ever wanted is someone to play ping pong with him?

East of Eden

Eventually requited

Adam/Lee (Adam pining), Adam/Lee (Lee pining), Adam/Lee (both pining)

I have shipped this with a burning passion ever since East of Eden was my assigned summer reading in high school. I am desperately fascinated by the slow, quiet development of their relationship from landowner and servant to child-raising partners (parents?) to friends to patient and caretaker. Anything exploring that dynamic through a pining lens would be gorgeous. In particular, I am obsessed with the moment in Lee's arc where he leaves Adam, Cal, and Aron to realize his dream of owning a bookstore… and then returns to them. I have a lot of difficulty not reading feelings of romantic love (for Adam) and parental love (for Cal and Aron) into that.

As far as story ideas beyond the freeforms... maybe something fluffy, about Lee’s cooking or his decision to abandon the bookstore dream in favor of love and family and how Adam felt about that, or something quiet and wordy and philosophical in the style of canon as they talk about the problem of evil or Cal having trouble in school or something else that seems to be of Great Importance. I'm also fascinated by both of their very individual fucked-up backstories and relationships with their families so if you want to incorporate that into their feelings about each other and the family they build together, I'm all ears.

Finally, outside of the ship, I have to add that Lee is one of my favorite literary characters of all time. I love his interest in reading and philosophy, his love of books, the slowly acquired wisdom that he carries and dispenses so realistically, and the rare occasions that he gets angry enough to take action. I am also so fascinated by his internal struggles with loss and self-doubt while he grapples with the external challenges of racism and the wrongness present in human nature. I love Adam because he is this flawed, depressed, frequently failing man who is nevertheless one of the strongest threads holding the entire story together. Ugh, I just love these two, anything for them would be amazing.

B realizes pining A would do anything for them; stops to make sure A is really consenting - with either character as A/B

A attributes B's flirting to cultural differences - I doubt that either Adam or Lee would actually be flirting in a way that would be too culturally specific for them for the other one to grasp; I'm more wanting a mutual pining situation where the POV character is certain that the other doesn't feel that way about them, grasps for explanations for their very friendly/complimentary/touchy-feely behavior, and lands on "cultural differences".

Character A bathes Character B while pining - I had envisioned this with Lee bathing Adam while pining but am not at all opposed to the reverse! The amount of care and intimacy between them seems to only grow as their relationship arc develops.

Character A pining after fling while incorrectly assuming B doesn't want more

Character A pining silently so Character B won't feel guilty for not returning their affections - I like this with Adam as A, because he has a lot of guilt and depression and seems to get so wrapped up in his own angst, and at least at some points in canon he has some degree of power over Lee so it would make sense for him to be neurotic about this; I like it with Lee as A, because he has such a sense of duty and a very practical and cerebral "I'll deal with this" approach to things. (I also feel that while Lee might be comfortable with his own sexuality, he might assume Adam is straight.)

Character B figures out that Character A has been pining for them for years - I love this trope and would love to see it with either Adam or Lee having been the silently pining one! That moment of realization is such a beautiful thing.

Everyone thinks they're already in a relationship - Where, in a period-appropriate way, Cal, Aron, Abra, and the acquaintances they're closest to see the devotion between them, quietly assume they are "confirmed bachelors" or whatever, and calmly go on their way like, whatever, yep those two dudes are life partners. Meanwhile Adam and Lee are just uselessly pining.

Guilt over enjoying friendly hugs/physical closeness too much

Pining Character A doesn’t want to act on requited feelings of Character B due to professionalism - oof, that employer/employee relationship! I am fascinated to see how they overcome it, but also want to see it present some awkward (and serious) barriers in the pining phase.

Pining because they think they're just a rebound - Where Lee pines after Cathy leaves because Adam is co-parenting with him, maybe coming on to him, maybe even sleeping with him, I don't know, but he assumes it's because of Adam's wrecked mental state (which… is undeniably a thing, oh Adam) and is trying to force himself not to take it seriously because he's probably just a rebound.

Character pines for someone who thinks nothing of undressing casually in front of them - They're so comfortable in each other's presence that I could see this going either way.

FMA

Eventually requited, Never requited

Hawkeye/Ross (Maria pining), Hawkeye/Ross (both pining)

I think these two are great and want to see them having a serious case of the duty-bound Feels for each other, or Ross having a serious case of the duty-bound Feels for Hawkeye. They don't interact in canon so I feel like I don't have as much to go off of as far as prompts, but gah, they would be so good together! They seem to have a similar sense of loyalty and duty and justice, and they're both quite serious, but Hawkeye seems more cautious whereas Ross is a little more fiery and younger, and I'm a sucker for what the dynamic between them would look like. It's so easy to imagine them admiring each other as Ross is drawn into Roy's circle post-canon, or Ross having a hopeless crush on Hawkeye… honestly, I would love anything for this ship.

B is oblivious to A's pining and A wants to keep it that way

Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them

Character A pines for B who has fallen asleep on A's shoulder - I feel like this would be incredibly beautiful with Riza showing a rare moment of vulnerability due to total exhaustion on a mission or something and falling asleep on Maria's shoulder, but would love it the other way around too!

Character A pines for Character B who pines for someone else - Maria pines for Riza who pines for Roy/Roy's Cause (platonically or romantically)?

Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it

Character silently pines for someone due to fear of ruining their existing relationship - Where Maria is becoming part of the "inner circle" of Team Mustang post-canon, and whoever it is between Maria and Riza who's the POV character with the feelings is worried that if those feelings are expressed it will ruin the great professional rapport between them.

Realisation that A is available triggers realisation of feelings - Maybe Riza thinks Maria is dating a girl due to some misunderstanding? Maybe Maria had assumed Riza and Roy were an item?

Revealed Feelings While Mortally Injured/No Hope but Whoops! They Were Rescued Now It's Awkward

Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection - I headcanon that post-canon, especially with Havoc in a more remote role, Maria continues to work closely with Roy & co. which would naturally lead to more time around Riza!

Character A tries to convince themself that a platonic relationship is enough - Whether it's simply their platonic professional relationship that the pining character wants to be enough, or if you develop a friendship between them that the pining character doesn't want to "ruin".

Mei/Lan Fan (Mei pining), Mei/Lan Fan (both pining)

Mei and Lan Fan are two of my favorite characters in FMA and the rivalry-to-respect dynamic in this relationship is so great! I like Mei’s skill, devotion, and passionate enthusiasm, and Lan Fan’s cleverness, loyalty, and impulsivity. I think it’s interesting how similar they are in their courage and devotion to their families and clans. I'm mostly interested in post-canon fic here since it's only at the end that they become able to actually interact without trying to kill each other… but what feelings might develop after that?

B is oblivious to A's pining and A wants to keep it that way - If it's Mei pining, maybe she has some stupid idea of how (supposedly) unrequited crushes are supposed to work from all the romance she's read so she tries to keep her crush secret from Lan Fan for the aesthetic. If Lan Fan is the pining POV character, maybe she's embarrassed about it or feels like it's inappropriate and therefore wants to hide it?

Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them

Character A pines for B who has fallen asleep on A's shoulder - I would dearly love this in either configuration. Mei would think it was so romantic!

Character A pines for Character B who pines for someone else - Mei pines for Lan Fan who pines for Ling?

Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it - I feel like this would make more sense for Lan Fan, since Mei seems so hyper-attuned to her romantic feelings, but thinking about it further perhaps Mei has only ever read very heterosexual romance and so her pining for Lan Fan goes on and on for months and she doesn't realize that's what it is until suddenly she does?

Character silently pines for someone due to fear of ruining their existing relationship - Where the pining POV character really treasures the trust and friendship that have developed out of their previous rivalry, and is worried that revealing their new feelings will cause all of that to be lost.

Realisation that A is available triggers realisation of feelings - Maybe Mei assumes Lan Fan and Ling or Lan Fan and an OFC are an item? If you're writing both pining from Lan Fan's POV, maybe Lan Fan assumes Mei is still crushing on Alphonse (or that her feelings for him were more serious than they actually were)? Either way, when that misunderstanding is cleared up, the feelings hit with a vengeance!

Revealed Feelings While Mortally Injured/No Hope but Whoops! They Were Rescued Now It's Awkward - I love the idea of Mei and Lan Fan becoming Secret Mission Buddies post-canon and working to support Ling as he ascends the throne. Maybe a mission goes wrong and they have to fight their way out of a sticky situation with a powerful rival clan, and they're both injured or trapped or something equally dramatic and think they're dying and so one of them tearfully confesses but then Ling's army or other guards Deus Ex Machina in and then they have to live with it.

Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection

Character A tries to convince themself that a platonic relationship is enough

Jean Havoc/Heymans Breda (Breda pining), Jean Havoc/Heymans Breda (both pining)

I can't NOT read this relationship in canon as Breda pining for Havoc, at the very least. They're so close to each other and the way they behave around each other when Havoc is hospitalized after the fight with Lust is incredibly emotionally intimate (when Breda leans in and catches Havoc's cigarette ash in the dish! and tells him that retired life doesn't suit him!). They also have some kind of past together, per the background photographs we see at one point — from the military academy? Plus, their personalities are so great together, the laid-back boobs-loving sniper from the eastern boondocks and the sharp, blunt, practical strategist who hates dogs... and kids... and amateurs... :D

I don't usually have a very specific sexuality configuration in mind for the ships I request, but depending on whether you write this as unrequited or eventually requited, I almost always envision this relationship as Breda being comfortably attracted to men in general (whether he's gay or bi) and pining for a very sweet and kind but very straight Havoc for whom, if both are pining or it's eventually requited, Breda becomes a bisexual realization of sorts.

B is oblivious to A's pining and A wants to keep it that way

Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them - I feel like even if they're both pining, this is a very Breda thing to do, especially because Havoc would be so concerned about it when he realizes that Breda is pulling away from him. :(

Character A pines for B who has fallen asleep on A's shoulder

Character A pines for Character B who pines for someone else - Breda pines for Havoc who pines for Lust? Breda pines for Havoc who pines for Roy/Roy/s Cause? etc.

Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it - With either one as A or B if you're writing both pining. They've been good friends and comrades in arms for so long that the romantic feelings just organically grew into the love that was already there, the pining character didn't even notice when it happened.

Character silently pines for someone due to fear of ruining their existing relationship

Realisation that A is available triggers realisation of feelings

Revealed Feelings While Mortally Injured/No Hope but Whoops! They Were Rescued Now It's Awkward - Maybe they go out on some kind of super secret post-canon Team Mustang Mission and almost die, causing one of them to burst out with a declaration of love.

Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection

Character A tries to convince themself that a platonic relationship is enough

FMA

Eventually requited

King Bradley/Mrs. Bradley (King pining)

I am so intrigued by this relationship and also think the canonical story of how they met is so funny! Mrs. Bradley's love doesn't just draw out Wrath's humanity - in some ways she brings the most monstrous and inhuman parts of him into the light, as he struggles to understand her. For me it's where the duality between King's true nature as a homunculus and the human role he plays becomes sharpest. Any sort of weird xeno-adjacent "what makes a human" stuff you want to shove in here would be fantastic. Along similar lines, the pining can be happening before or during their marriage! This is such a weird dynamic, I would love to see more content for it.

It's worth mentioning that while I do believe Mrs. Bradley has some very clever, politically savvy hidden depths I do not subscribe to any interpretation of her character that involves her being an active conspirator in Father's plot in any way; I don't believe she wouldn't suspect anything about her husband at all, but I don't like straight up evil!Mrs. and would be disappointed by a take on her character that portrayed her as being fully aware of the whole conspiracy and okay with it.

Finally, I headcanon Mrs. Bradley's first name as Gertrude, but if you have another preference feel free to roll with it!

B is courting A who doesn't realize because it's different from how B flirts with other people - Maybe King has been courting other ladies because Father wanted him too, but his genuine weird feelings for Mrs. make him act like a total chump around her and she doesn't know what to make of it? Maybe Mrs. flirts in a very straightforward way with guys/girls in general, but this new handsome weird guy who very sincerely complimented her butt throws her for a loop and she ends up treating him very strangely due to her confusion?

Character A pines for spouse in marriage of convenience - We don't know much about the actual circumstances of the King/Mrs. marriage, or Mrs.'s background. What if their first few meetings were in the context of a politically advantageous courtship (even if King did choose Mrs. from among other potential advantageous matches) and after their politically advantageous marriage he pines for her within it?

Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it - I am a sucker for How Do I Human stories and would love one about King realizing that he's deeply in love with Mrs. (or however he would articulate it to himself).

A does not realize that they are in love with B - Where King is pining for Mrs. but doesn't fully realize that's what it is.

A pines while loaning B their coat - Pre-marriage, King loans Mrs. his coat.

Pining Character A Tries to Woo Seemingly Uninterested Character B

Character A is too proud to recognise they're pining for B

Olivier Armstrong/Mrs. Bradley (Mrs. Bradley pining), Olivier Armstrong/Mrs. Bradley (both pining)

I love Mrs. Bradley and always want more content about her. Olivier is one of my favorite FMA characters. Sooo of course after I realized that Mrs. Bradley has a Type, and Olivier is 100% That Type (stoic, sword-y, career military, intense staring, always in a uniform, incredibly badass, born leader) it was all over.

They would be so great together! Mrs. Bradley is kind of a proper lady from high society (though her outgoing kindness offsets it and might be considered a little scandalous sometimes!) while Olivier has a similar high-society background but is not at all a proper lady and isn’t apologetic about it in the slightest. Plus, there's the question of Selim, who annihilated tons of Olivier's men in his past incarnation, to add some drama and angst if you desire. So of course the obvious answer is the two of them pining for each other, or Mrs. Bradley pining for Olivier at the very least.

For this relationship I'm really only interested in post-canon content; Mrs. Bradley pining for Olivier while being married to King doesn't really do it for me, though if you want to toss in brief mentions of Mrs. having noticed Olivier before and having thought she was intriguing/hot/whatever, that's fine.

Finally, if you're on the hunt for specific scenario ideas beyond the freeforms, I love the idea of ballroom dancing for this ship.

B is courting A who doesn't realize because it's different from how B flirts with other people - Olivier is courting Mrs. Bradley who doesn't realize because... well, I don't expect she would have seen Olivier flirt with anyone before, but perhaps Olivier's mannerisms are different around her than anybody else she seems to like/tolerate, whether that means Olivier is more cold and withdrawn or even more blunt than usual? Or Mrs. Bradley is trying to court Olivier, who doesn't realize because due to the genuine feelings Mrs. Bradley approaches it much more seriously and cautiously rather than with her usual sunny, smiling demeanor (e.g. the way she is with Grumman in the last scene where she appears)?

Character A pines for spouse in marriage of convenience - Where the two of them have to get married for handwavey reasons. I figure the obvious situation is Mrs. Bradley agreeing to (or suggesting) it to protect Selim while Olivier does it to cement her political power whether she becomes Fuhrer or remains a general, especially among factions that were more favorable to Bradley and pin the blame for his loss on her.

Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it - With either one as A or B, if we matched on both!

A does not realize that they are in love with B

A pines while loaning B their coat - I think this would be so sweet with Mrs. Bradley loaning Olivier her coat, though I can't imagine how that situation might come about. Or, if both are pining, Olivier chivalrously offering her coat to Mrs. Bradley would be just lovely.

Pining Character A Tries to Woo Seemingly Uninterested Character B - Mrs. Bradley tries continuously to melt away Olivier's cold exterior. Olivier appears unaffected... but is she?

Character A is too proud to recognise they're pining for B - Either one could be Character A! If you want to portray Mrs. Bradley with more mixed feelings about Olivier after King's death and all the turmoil that led up to it, maybe her pride and even distrust due to an inability to perfectly read Olivier make her unable to identify her own feelings at first? Or Olivier is determined not to trust Mrs. Bradley, especially with the matter of Selim, but falls slowly into pining for her anyway.

FMA

Eventually requited, Never requited

Tim Marcoh/Scar (Scar pining), Tim Marcoh/Scar (both pining)

Tragic vaguely fucked-up pining (whether eventually requited or not) is kind of my ideal dynamic for this ship so I couldn't not request it. I am kind of obsessed with their weird fraught relationship as it exists in canon and would adore any fic that continues to develop it into something more. I really like takes on this relationship that don't try to push it into a straightforward forgiveness or redemption or rivals-to-friends trajectory; it’s a lot messier and involves more grieving and anger and slow reconciliation, especially from Scar's end, so that sort of mess is what I'm looking for here whether the romantic/sexual feelings end up being fully realized or not.

On top of all that, I generally perceive Scar as someone who perhaps hasn't had many (or any) romantic/sexual relationships/encounters in his life due to having been first a monk and then a traumatized serial killer on a single-minded murder mission, so I'm very into the additional weirdness and complications that might add to an already complicated dynamic!

B is oblivious to A's pining and A wants to keep it that way - with either character as A/B

Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them - If you're writing both pining, this seems singularly neurotic enough for Marcoh to do, but I am fascinated by what sort of thought process might lead Scar to react to his own pining realization in this way since he's frequently so straightforward about things.

Character A pining because they think a relationship would be inappropriate - For obvious reasons.

Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it - Where Scar realizes he has fallen into weird pining for Marcoh and didn't know it.

Guilty About Sexual Attraction - in either or both directions

A pines for B while thinking B hates them - So Marcoh pining for Scar while thinking he hates him is kind of an obvious gimme here and of course I would love that, but if you want to shoot for a more twisty sort of thing where Scar is pining while thinking Marcoh would be repulsed by/reject him in a specifically romantic/sexual context I would kinda love that.

Pining character is too sick/hurt to hide their pining any more - with either as the pining one

Pining while having wounds tended - Where Scar pines while having some Plot-Induced Wounds tended. :3

They Couldn't Possibly Be Ignorant Of How I Feel So I Assume They Must Not Be Interested - Wherein the pining POV character thinks they've been very clear and honest in the display of their feelings, and the lack of response or explicit initiation of something by the other character means they're not interested. (Whether the other character legitimately just interpreted the displayed feelings as platonic, or correctly read them as romantic/sexual but is restraining themselves from responding in kind due to Reasons, is up to you!) Some sort of misunderstanding due to cultural differences welcome, but not necessary.

Cooking as an expression of affection - Where Marcoh cooks for Scar as an expression of affection.

Character A tries to convince themself that a platonic relationship is enough

Character pines for someone who thinks nothing of undressing casually in front of them - Well, duh.

Love Death + Robots
Eventually requited, Never requited

Liang/Yan (Liang pining), Liang/Yan (Yan pining), Liang/Yan (both pining)

What caught my attention in "Good Hunting" was the growth of the relationship between Liang and Yan from scared children meeting by chance to adults struggling against the weight of the world together, bound together by guilt, obligation, and a sense of mutual understanding.

While I love the idea of Liang and Yan having some sort of non-platonic feelings for each other, I almost prefer for them not to be fully realized or to be realized only slowly... and this is why I want pining for it so much! Yan’s arc, and her ultimate fate, is this terrifying mixture of violation and empowerment. No matter how Liang’s work may have helped her reclaim some semblance of her old power, I feel like the horror of her new body and the denial of her agency is going to outweigh that reclamation for a long time, maybe forever, and though it's not explicitly discussed Yan seems painfully conscious of this. There's also their whole shared history as the daughter of a huli jing and the son of the hunter who killed that huli jing, that just serves to symbolize the whole framework of the system that traps and hurts both Liang and Yan. Anything that captures this dynamic would be beautiful.

Character A distances themself from Character B to try and get over them

Character A pining because they think a relationship would be inappropriate - Whether it's Liang pining because he thinks a relationship with Yan would be wrong after everything she's been through, or Yan pining (during or after canon) because she thinks her huli jing powers would influence the relationship and Liang's feelings about her if she ever made a move.

Character A suddenly realizes that they've been pining for B and didn't know it - I would really like this with Yan realizing she's been pining for Liang and doesn't know it, maybe while he's up late working tirelessly on her new body and comforting her through everything, or when she comes back to his place after her first kill (as I imagine she does), but the reverse would be excellent too!

Guilty About Sexual Attraction - I was envisioning this with Liang feeling guilty about being attracted to Yan after everything she's been through as a sex worker (and huli jing) and trying desperately to stave it off without much success.

A pines for B while comforting them - With Liang comforting Yan after she comes to him for help.

A pines for B while thinking B hates them - Liang pining for Yan while thinking she hates him due to his past as a hunter-in-training and perhaps a self-deprecating idea of himself as having "trapped" her in her new body or something like that. Or maybe a younger Yan pining for Liang while thinking he must hate/distrust her because she's a huli jing?

A pining because they think B is uninterested in romance or relationships - Either Liang pining because he thinks Yan is devoted to her new mission post-canon, or Yan pining because she thinks Liang would obviously have shown it if he were attracted to her or even susceptible to her huli jing charms.

A pining because they think B isn't attracted to their species - Yan pining because she thinks Liang can't possibly be attracted to huli jing and/or cyborgs? Liang pining because he thinks due to trauma Yan would never want to be with a human man? Choose your own adventure!

Pining while having wounds tended - Would love this with Yan pining while Liang mends her up after some post-canon adventure.

Trying to Ignore Feelings While Forced to Work in Close Quarters With Person of Their Affection - With either Liang or Yan pining while Liang works on Yan's new cyborg body.

Character A tries to convince themself that a platonic relationship is enough

Character pines for someone who thinks nothing of undressing casually in front of them - Yan seems pretty comfortable around Liang in any state of undress.