Well, the problem in general is that I want to request X and Y, but I don't want X and Y paired with each other. Otherwise I don't think I'd worry about it; I'd just request the characters I want and, if I feel *really* strongly about it, ask that certain characters not be in there. But I think there's a good chance in some of these fandoms that I might end up with an X/Y shipper writing for me, and I don't want my request to make her feel bad.

However, the point is to get a gift, and it'd be completely silly to be too wishy-washy in my request and end up with something I don't want!