Author says: When I have to raise the white flag

In the ten years now that I've been writing fanfiction, I've written and deleted more stories then I can even remember. Posted on the site however...If you were to ask how many, what names, which fandoms, I could probably tell you because deleting a story/taking it down for whatever reason can be pretty embarrassing.

It's kind of like stringing people along - baiting them with this wonderful idea, and then telling them, "Hey, joke's on you, I'm not actually going to write this anymore!"

And I hate it when that happens.

I've been reading fanfic as long as I've been writing it so I've been lured into incomplete stories before. Years have gone by and nothing.

The worst is not knowing when a story hasn't been updated in a while, and you reach the last of the story so far and you hope that in a week/month/year it'll continue...and then you check the last update and your heart falters - TWO YEARS AGO. SERIOUSLY.

I think that's why I prefer to delete rather then leaving them there to linger...

If there was an option between incomplete and complete, perhaps labeled "hiatus" or "abandoned", it would be a different story. But considering my reasons for not continuing stories in the first place, there's a chance I wouldn't even use those...

Real life problems aside, I'm a very sensitive person.

Sure I can take criticism from others, but when it comes to my own? Hoo boy, there's no competition there.

I've always been pretty self conscious about my stories, they're an extension of myself: my self-conscious, behavior, thought process. Unfortunately as most of my stories are driven by the plotbunnies, it's usually a jumbled mess.

In the past that's why I rarely ever finished a story, in fact, Sibling Intervention was my first one, and even then I wasn't completely satisfied.

The reasons for that was simply because upon rereading, my head hurt.

There was pacing problems, characters that should have had bigger roles were sidelined, scenes lingered unnecessarily, there was all this build up and no pay off and I had words upon words. If I had written that for NaNo I would've finished with weeks to spare because that's how bloated I thought it was and it still wasn't going anywhere.

The reason for Permission Granted getting the fanfiction erase button was just as simple.

Despite the story only being two(three) chapters in, I felt lost.

It was likely because as the readers hoped, I continued a story that I hadn't thought further than the first chapter for.

Sure Liberties Taken was satisfying to a degree, but as one of the reviewers said, it had a comfortable amount of potential to be left on its own. Though I felt the same, I ignored it. Why?

Well for one thing, the reviews for the story was amazing. Liberties Taken has, since today, hit 51 reviews. I've never had that many for a single one-shot. And, though Permission Granted was only two chapters in, it had hit the same amount fairly quickly.

And as a writer, feedback is my drug. I need that ish.

If you're a writer of any kind you know you want someone to talk to you about your work, it's the best feeling - it means someone has read it, spent time on it and thought about it enough to voice an opinion over it. The only way to get it though was with a good story so that's how my stories become my dealers.

What I needed though, was a redo if I wanted this story to be satisfying not only to read, but to write as well.

I didn't want to be using half baked ideas and suffering the same problems as Sibling Intervention.

After sitting with it for awhile whilst NaNo is happening (which I'm not sure I'll continue considering the problems I can already foresee), I had an idea of what I wanted to do with Liberties Taken. Unfortunately it required a bit of a face lift which simple editing just would not fix.

Plus, because of the encouragement I received with Sibling Intervention I wanted to try my hand at publishing, maybe with SI and maybe with LT. Who knows...?

Regardless, this face lift didn't need competition within my own stories.

Just yesterday, after posting a one-shot I had written out of the blue, a reviewer praised the story before asking about Permission Granted.

Sigh. Anyway.

My random bouts of OCD aside, a part of me was embarrassed for caving to the review craving.

I didn't even know what the point of Permission Granted was when I reread it.

Though, Lady Ruthless was kind enough to say,

"It seems more like an Emma fanfic than P&P"

And, though I truly love Emma, writing Emma and not Elizabeth was not my intention.

I felt just as embarrassed by it as I was by Sibling Intervention when it was over. I had no desire to keep on writing Permission Granted, but I did want to let the plotbunny have its glory day, the idea had merit and I owed the people who liked it enough to want more and give them more.

Hopefully I won't disappoint, though I'm afraid I already have.

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Review spotlight

"I really love the way you write, it's very Oscar Wilde, dry and witty."

- Guest, chapter 2 of Permission Granted

 

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Should I stay or should I go?

Should I stay, or should I go? 

A response to an article and the following discussion

So I came across this article  on the NaNoWriMo facebook group which was followed up by a heated discussion.

If you'v read it, you probably have your stance on it.

If you haven't the outline is as follows:

A woman, an active writer in her day, meets her husband and her passion fell by the wayside. She had kids, and a supposedly happy family. Then her mother passed away, and to cope, she wrote letters to her as if she were still alive. This method of grieving sparked her writing bug to return with a fervor.

Her marriage and family life, as a consequence, fell by the wayside this time - she reports that her husband was used to going to bed at night without her and she was often ill-tempered and depressed when she wasn't writing; certainly not the right temperament to be raising two small children.

Torn between pursing her dream of writing and neglecting her duties at home she eventually decided her family was better off without her and left.

Her kids were understandably upset, and many went to calling her a Runaway Mother.

She abandons her family - self titled was the declaration, all in pursuit of her dream and her chance to be published.

In the thread, most agree that the mother was selfish for leaving. Kids are a lifetime commitment. Her parents must have sacrificed their dreams for her, she should do the same, etc.

And I agree.

Many parents have sacrificed a great deal for their children. Many have the capacity to love so much that they would do anything for their family. She admits that her mother would've been upset at what she had decided to do, but she knew either borne out of selfishness or because she knew she lacked that "nurturing, motherly gene" that she wouldn't change and eventually her husband and children would resent her, she left.

Some argue that she should've taken her children with, her dream could certainly balanced with taking care of her children, shouldn't it?

Yes, I understand that children need their mother.

But they also need stability.

When she left her family, she went towards an uncertain future - working full time, writing full time; there would be no time for her children there with her and I highly doubt she had the financial resources to provide for them - her now ex-husband was definitely the breadwinner.

The argument though that the "Children need their mother" angered me.

Children need their father too.

If he had left, certainly this discussion would've been different.

The fact that people say she should've just stayed married and with her kids, says a lot to me. This woman was clearly miserable - perhaps it was the weight of choosing to be a wife and a mother first and abandoning herself, and then the added load of having her own mother pass, but staying married just to prevent her kids being from a "broken home"?

There was another article in which she describes being a monster to her kids.

She decided that her kids being around her, in the state she was in, was no good.

A broken home, as some have said, is better in situations when mother and father either can no longer co-exist or one's presence has a detrimental effect on the family. And to my understanding, that seemed to be the case with hers.

Besides stating that she'd been a monster to her children, five weeks after the divorce, her husband had a new girlfriend.

It may have been because her obsession with writing had eclipsed everything else, and so for the husband to move so soon afterwards isn't surprising - he may have been finding a way to move on long before the divorce was even a thing to be dealt with, I don't know, and neither does anyone else, but there it is.

In my comment on the thread, I said that I thought the woman did something a lot of people never do - she followed her dreams.

Yes, she did hurt people, her kids and herself - she regretted the decision to some degree, she missed her children, she missed seeing them every day and having them in her life. But she saw them when she could, she visited them as often as she was allowed, and in the end, she was happier, she felt whole.

Personal happiness, one would argue, is selfish especially when weighed against the lives of your children.

But for anyone who was raised by a parent suffering from depression, this is a big deal.

If you've ever been sad, constantly down on yourself, filled with self-loathing and short tempered to practically everything in your life, you're like a bomb waiting to go off.

Personally I think it was the right decision for her to leave.

Sure there were other ways to deal with this situation of hers, but the article reads as if she was handling this all on her own either due to fear of having no one understand her and judging her (which is happening right now) or because she never found anyone to confide in and trust with the heavy burden of whatever personal struggle she was going through.

And despite the internet's best efforts, and thousands of people feeling similarly and sharing such thoughts in some way, an outsider and indeed another person suffering through the same torment, wouldn't feel the exact same pain - pain, and handling pain is different for everyone.

If I ever have kids, personally, I don't think I would ever leave them.

Sure, it sounds like I support her move. But that's because it seems to have worked. Her husband is happy, her kids are happy, and she's happy, something they might not have been before she "abandoned" them.

By the way, the title of the article? Really sensationalist.

If she had abandoned them she wouldn't have stayed in contact, she wouldn't have made arrangements to spend time with her kids, and I think the negative connotations with that word have spurred most, if not all, the heated responses towards the article.

Again, if the husband had left and had "abandoned" his kids, the discussion would've been different.

One thing I value most when people share such intimate stories is that those reading it aren't doing it to judge the person's choices, they're reading it to get a new perspective and take away something from the story that made an impression on them (good or bad).

Unfortunately what I got was the opposite.

But what can you do, really?

Anything and everything you say can and will be judged, but I wish people would drop the pretense of "not judging but...", it's both irritating and hypocritical. Yes, if it struck a cord with you, I understand your need to state your opinion and what you would do in the same situation, but persecuting someone for the choices they've made in theirs?

You don't live their life. You don't know their struggle. You can read about it all you want, but you'll never be able to feel what it is they've felt or know exactly what pushed them to make the choices they've made.

The story ends on a seemingly happy note, so why do you have to bring someone down when it's apparent that the choice, though unpopular, was the right one?

As I said on Facebook:

Isn't it so easy to say you don't judge, but when the topic is controversial, suddenly you know everything about what's going on in a person's head?

What you would do in the same situation is irrelevant, if someone is sharing something sensitive, it isn't your place to judge their choices.

For the discussion on the NaNoWriMo group regarding this article CTRL+F and type, "Why I abandoned my young family".

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NaNoWriMo: The true struggle begins

NaNoWriMo:

Update

When Real Life invades, and I'm sure you know what happens next...

Day Four

This was an important test for me - not only was it a practical exam, but also the first day that I would be taken away from my laptop and I wouldn't be able to write. 

And GUUYS, it was hard af.

Not only did I completely tank my exam, I felt so depressed coming home that I lay in bed for almost three hours. THREE HOURS. Wasted. Because of a crappy exam. 

I didn't want to be around anyone or do anything.

And suffice to say, I looked at my laptop from my position on the bed, and cried some more. 

I'm pretty far in word count considering I started a day late, but that doesn't excuse the fact that I almost purposely missed a day to write.

But all was not lost - after spending three hours being a useless lump in bed and watching series to make myself feel better (and eating because food fixes all the world's problems), I decided that I needed a way to cope.

And arguably, it was the most productive writing day I had, clocking in at 4000words by the time I turned in for bed. 

Throughout the day, before I had gotten down to writing, I couldn't talk to anyone without getting upset, but my characters helped, and writing was a great way to deal with the crappiness I felt.

By the time I saved the document I was feeling all kinds of better, and even apologized to my boyfriend for my crappy mood (apologizing to anyone is the last thing a person experiencing a crappy day wants to do) but by that point, I almost forgot about my bad exam. Almost. But that's besides the point!

Writing has proven to be a comfort and a real method of dealing with life for me. 

This wasn't the first time, but it normally took a lot to get me to write during my "sad" days. 

Thankfully a depleted word-count was enough initiative to get me typing away and fixing myself up for the next day's exam.

Source

Day Five

It was yet another practical that awaited me and yet another day that life would invade resulting in my writing time cut short. 

However, the exam went well in my opinion, I certainly felt better about it then the last exam, and so I spent the day celebrating with series and food - yes, I realize how I celebrate and how I am when I'm sad is about the same, but it works for me. 

Sadly, this did not apply to my writing time.

I clocked up only 1k at the end of the day, long enough that I hit the necessary word count for the day, but hardly enough considering my previous days. Still, I was satisfied with the little I wrote. 

Between writing though, I posted on the NaNoWriMo threads for help with some research and was told of something I just had to check out - the majority of the reason why I didn't write more than yesterday was because I ended up youtubing fight scenes (and a couple of trailers...by the way Big Hero Six, Minions and Penguins of Madagascar? CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH IT).

It was largely thanks to the NaNoWriMo group on Facebook pushing its members to hit the 8, 337 words to get us up to speed, that  I successfully got there and then some before I turned in for the night.

Day Six

Unlike the two days before, I got up early to write a bit before I had to get ready for college to take another exam - theory this time - and then I wrote a bit more while waiting to leave the house.

I hit roughly 500-800words by the time I left, and when I returned, I spent a large majority of the time preparing for the next exam which would be tomorrow. 

However, even with that more or less done, I got down to writing once more and at 10, 005 words, I was more than happy to take a bit of a break and get to studying again.

Because yes, I am doing yet another exam tomorrow - three in succession truly is a gift. 

But I suppose that makes it fair in some respects, I had previously thought my exams in November would hinder my ability to write but in fact, it encourages it.

Unlike other people doing NaNoWriMo who are juggling work, school and kids, my time has been largely free other than the occasions of studying and preparing my practical things.

And to think, I was so reluctant to take the challenge because of exams, and here I am still writing and keeping up. 

I'm glad I took the leap and decided to join NaNoWriMo this year.

At least at the end, whether I win or not, I can say I took a chance and tried my best to get those 50K words because whatever result, that's more words than I would've had without NaNoWriMo and all its participants helping each other along. 

What I've learnt over these three days is that writing is and always will be a form of expression, whether or not what you're writing relates directly to your life, it will be there for you for as long as you want it to be. And that community is everything - you may be a recluse or someone that doesn't need social interaction to function, but having people you can bounce ideas off and to encourage you will never get old.

These lessons aren't new, but I'm thankful for the reminder.

Source

  

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NaNoWriMo: BAM! Brain juice!

NaNoWriMo

Update 

So it's day three and my brain decided it was time to write - who was I to refuse?

Day Three

I gave up sleep today. For the first time in a long time. 

And if you knew me, you would know how important my sleep is.

At five, the plotbunnies came a'knocking. I refused. 

At five thirty, they were insistent. Still I refused to budge. 

By six, they were all but pounding my skull in until I got up to make the pain go away (oh Myprodol, you light up my life), but by six thirty the plotbunnies - though weakened, continued to whine. 

And begrudingly I turned on my laptop, opened word and stared.

I had no idea what they wanted me to do: I was finally where they wanted me and they said...nothing? Annoyed, I typed a few things down, just to get me started, at first they were random words and then...

The hopeful wish that someone on the NaNoWriMo group could help me with an idea to move the story along was practically pointless, the plotbunnies hurled through the door like a freight train and the words came: gradually at first until time had passed and suddenly...

5000words grinned at me from the bottom of the Word document.

Could it be?

Roughly two hours had passed. Not the fastest I'd ever typed, but I had edited here and there (shhh, the NaNoWriMo gods need never know...) and there I was, the first checkpoint in the 50K word challenge.

I still had a long way to go, but I had reached a milestone in two days, with one day behind.

At this current state, I'm not sure how much I've repeated and whether everything I wrote made sense as a whole, but the word count had gone up and that was the challenge.

As many have pointed out: NaNoWriMo is not a competition to write the next bestseller in thirty days (though damn, what an accomplishment that would be!), but a challenge to write every day. Why though? Why is that important?

On day three of NaNoWriMo, I found out: Writing is an art form that requires an unending amount of discipline.

You can have talent in spades, be coveted as the next J.K Rowling, G. R. R. Martin, Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde or Shakespeare! But that talent is useless without discipline - without practice - without making mistakes and learning.

If those great writers only wrote when they felt like it, they probably wouldn't have created such amazing pieces of work that have stayed with fans for years.

As an author once said, "If a draft takes more than three months to write, trash it and start over."

And you know what would've happened if everyone had to do that? Short answer would be that there would definitely be less books in the world.

The thing is, the writing time for a draft stretches years upon years because we, as writers, get attached to this phrase, this character, this scene, this relationship and editing becomes more painful then it already is.

But we hold on, we procrastinate longer then we should and before we know it, we've wasted so much time and then forgotten why we started. Time passes and then we find ourselves reading an unfinished draft that could've been the next big thing in whatever way you wanted it to be.

Why?

Because we're afraid.

Yet another thing I've learnt from NaNoWriMo is that there's no space and no time for that.

People who've accepted the 50K challenge have dared to reach that goal, as unattainable and difficult as it may be when you're sitting in front of a blank screen with a blinking cursor. They have dared to write, regardless of what it is, to give their ideas words and let other people know what it is that's been picking at their brains.

And I think that's the most amazing thing about NaNoWriMo.

Done by Kat Mallon, taken from the NaNoWriMo Facebook group

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NaNoWriMo: Here is my soul - please don't eat it too fast

NaNoWriMo

It's the time of the year where novels are written in thirty days or less, and where souls are devoured faster then you can say 50K

So yes, I finally took the plunge and signed up for the 50,000 word writing challenge and with a day already wasted in indecision, I spent most of my Saturday trying to get my story up and running. 

For those wondering: I'm writing an original story, one I hope to publish some day, but one I've always put off writing the first draft because seriously: first drafts are beautifully hideous and  loving them is the worst thing you could possibly do which is why I decided my time to write was now - in my nineteenth year of existence, I was going to pen an original story with no previous story background to catch me and characters completely of my own imagination.

I did it before, once, when I was fourteen and let's just say it was a blend of the City of Bones and Twilight which made it horrifying in more ways than one. 

In any case, alongside trying to get to my 50K word count goal, I'll be updating my very neglected blog in order to track my progress: 

Day One 

I saw this somewhere on Facebook and the urge to join in on the challenge niggled.

I had already declined to join in on another Facebook group event called FAGE and I regretted it enormously. 

I didn't want a repeat of that regret, regardless of the fact that I was doing exams (theory and practical, kill me). 

As the day passed by, I came across hundreds of articles on how to get started and how to win NaNoWriMo.

Still, I was hesitant. 

What if I just couldn't do it? 

I posed this question on Facebook and the response was simple: Irrespective of whether you reach 50K, as a writer you'll always win. 1000 words or 50 000words, that's more than you probably would have before.

The next day. I signed up and it began.

Day Two

I was so torn between doing NaNoWriMo, stressing over exams and just generally trying to keep up with life that I had forgotten one of the most important things about writing a story. 

The story.

For hours since I joined up, I wrote and rewrote line after line going absolutely nowhere. On the Facebook group for NaNoWriMo, I posted: All I'm coming up with is brain fart. My first NaNoWriMo is brain fart *dies*

OMFG why did I do this to myself. 

What have I done? 

Noo...I'm not ready...

Hours later while searching through old stories that were ambiguously titled(I have more than fifty "THIS ONE" and "COMPLETE THIS DAMNNIT" documents) and while rereading them, one story caught my eye.

It was a disjointed mess of "fight scene", "chase scene","interrogation scene" and "opening scene 1/2/3", but there was a summary I had wisely written down and it was the story I decided I would finish. 

Once I get far enough I'll let you in on it, but at 2K so far, the story's under wraps. 

Until tomorrow. 

Anyone taking part in NaNoWriMo? Want to buddy up for the writing? How's your experience with the challenge? Is this your first time?

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Author Envy

"Instead of writing about turmoil and conflict, Austen’s books are known for their serenity and peacefulness. “Three or four families in a country village is the very thing to work on”, she wrote to her neice Anna. Someone once told me she was half-way through Emma and nothing had happened yet. That’s the point! Austen’s novels are about people, not events. Thus, her work retains a timeless quality. People are the same no matter what century you are in."

- Source  

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Author rant: I know you love him coz you're jealous.

Author rant:

I know you love him coz you're jealous.

I try to respond to reviews as often as I can. Not only because I'm genuinely thankful someone took the time to review, but also to further ask their opinion on matters relating to the story.

I've gotten some amazing responses and a lot of food for thought when I go in to write more chapters, and its invaluable to have that kind of feedback from people, especially readers.

Very recently, I got a response back which, I'll paraphrase: 

"Maybe bring in a male character to make the other character jealous in order for them to realise their true feelings" - Uhm. How about no. 

One thing I absolutely hate is the use of jealousy for a couple to realise they have feelings for each other. No. Absolutely not. 

Love isn't about jealousy. 

Insecure people are jealous. 

People that think love and relationships are about being better than other couples, or being better than their significant other, get jealous. 

People that are comfortable and happy in a relationship do not get jealous, and they certainly don't need jealousy to make them realise they're in love with someone. 

Using a third party to insinuate deeper feelings between two other people is superficial at best. 

Yes, you may feel jealous at the lucky women who sees the Hemsworth brothers, Orlando Bloom and the like first thing in the morning in all their shirtless, sent-from-Heaven glory, but that's completely different! 

In fanfiction whenever there's a love triangle or an indication of a love triangle, there's always one poor person in between whose an innocent bystander in the ship's path. 

A good love triangle puts the reader in the position of the male/female character that is in the middle of the triangle, letting them into why the character is so torn between Person A and Person B. The reader has to feel just as torn up about having to choose only one of them (not because it's a competition, but because it isn't fair on either of them that you - general - can't make up your mind on who you have stronger feelings towards). 

If anything, a love triangle is the most used and the most pitifully implemented plot device the world over. 

In fanfiction its supposed to indicate why the pairing can only be together, and to portray how unhappy one half of the relationship is when they're with someone else. THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS DAMN IT.  

Love means wanting someone to be happy, even if it isn't with you.

PLUS. Just because you're unhappy with a relationship doesn't mean it'll be better with someone else. 

RELATIONSHIPS TAKE WORK, IF YOU AREN'T WILLING TO DO IT, SOMEONE ELSE WILL. 

One of the many reasons I'm so against love triangles (or any "love" shape) is because it pits two individuals against each other for the affection of a single person whose screwed up in the head, whose indecisive AF and will probably run off with a third party anyway. 

Do you want to see how to do love triangles well? Observe the relationships in Scandal! between Mellie, Fitz and Liv, and Fitz, Liv and Jake; no one does love tangles better than Shonda Rhimes.

The only way I can respect a love triangle is if the author isn't scared to show all sides of the characters - the sides that aren't pretty, that have a pension for pain, that don't always win the battle at the end of the day. The characters in a love triangle go through HELL. And sometimes you're left wondering if anyone could possibly love another human being. I'd go so far as to say it's the ugly side of love. 

Love triangles are a guess game - the end result will always be on the horizon, but the scary thing is what ship will still have their flags raised when its over.

That's right: for those of you who only read fanfiction when you see character A x character B x character C love-triangle, you as the reader aren't supposed to know which ship will actually sail another day. If the summary immediately indicated "character A x character B" then there's no actual point in it being called a "triangle".  

The common thing in fanfiction is to use a third party to incite the "true" feelings of the pairing which is what this reviewer wanted me to do. 

All suggestions are open to be considered, accepted or declined.  I choose the last. 

Because: 

• There's no space for jealousy of that kind in a happy relationship. 
• It isn't fair on that third character.
• To actively manipulate any character to feel anything is just that - manipulation, and that's not how a healthy relationship works
• Two people should admit or have their feelings known because they've decided to, not because they've been "pushed" to it in fear of losing their significant other 
• Using a "love triangle" as a way to make feelings known is plain stupid - the laziest form of writing in my opinion. Just because the characters are unsure of their feelings for each other doesn't mean that they need something dramatic or require some event to occur to right that. 
• Its a "character" problem - my stories are character driven, there needs to be internal conflict to move the story along. The reason character A and character B don't know how the other feels is because THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO. 

Characters realising their feelings on their own and how they make it known is part of the story, I'm not throwing that away to give anyone instant gratification, and if I were, I'd be throwing the potential the story has and my own work down the drain. 

Sigh. Okay. I'm done.

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Anatomy of a popular one-shot

Yes I'm aware I'm tooting my own horn. 

No. I don't care.

Anatomy of a popular one-shot

I've written many one-shots. Not exceeding a hundred yet mind you, but I've had my fair share of them - thirty plus if you count the stories from my inactive account, and ten to fifteen on my current. 

For those of you who don't know what a one-shot is: It's basically a short story, the shortest short story ever. It can really only count as a one-shot if it's a single chapter so word count is relative. 

Some people find it easy. Others not so much.

I write one-shots as experiments and mainly to scratch the writing bug that pops up. I don't have the best track record with long running stories, so one-shots and collections of one-shots are my safest bet which would explain the number of them that I have.

I'm no expert at it, but I've come to recognize a few things once the story has been posted. An example being the two one-shots that spurned the creation of this post.

Before I give away any misleading secrets, it's important to note a few things: 

A story's popularity depends on a number of factors, these include, but are not limited to:

• The fandom you're writing for
• The pairing or main characters involved
• The genre you categorize it under
• The rating of the story

As you may have noticed, the actual writing isn't mentioned because those are internal factors and what makes a story attractive to potential readers is the bare minimum they see which in fanfiction is limited to a 455character summary, a title, and the above already mentioned. 

Note: Readers will notice any spelling and grammatical errors in your summary and it could be held against you. A good first impression is important.

Now, as I said, I recently posted two one-shots three days apart (they're practically twins), here they are, their first picture outside of my brain -

Despite the fact that the stories were three days apart they had nothing else in common: Not their fandom, not their rating, not their word count, nothing. 

But what's interesting is that I felt exactly the same when I wrote both. I was suffering from writer's block about another story and I wrote those two to make them better. They were written practically the same day but released seperately because I felt like it (no joke, I didn't think either of them were particularly good so I was reluctant to release them onto the internet).

As you can see from the reviews though, the stories garnered different responses. 

The first, my shot in the dark - first Fairy Tail one-shot was me writing away my obsession with a pairing that isn't particularly popular. I thought it was the better of the two so that's why I posted it first. I didn't expect a miracle, if anything I'm surprised I got any reviews at all. 

The second was posted under the excitement that my Fairy Tail one-shot survived without a flame or troll in sight, and I hoped I'd get the same response. 

If you're on the Facebook Group Fanfiction Writers Unite you'd know how it was received: I got eight reviews within two hours of posting, and the numbers kept going...

I still think it's a joke, and I honestly laugh about it because it's so unbelievable. 

Looking back, the stories are pretty different. 

Fandom and pairing:

Fairy Tail, though popular as a fandom, didn't have a big community of Laxana shippers.

Pride and Prejudice on the other hand, is quite active, and its  DarcyxLizzy/Dizzy ship definitely takes up the entire harbor.

The up would go to the Pride and Prejudice story.

Plot wise: 

The Fairy Tail one-shot was my version of a Laxana trope: the pairing being drinking buddies. 

The Pride and Prejudice one-shot was a complete out of the box: the pairing in the same economic situation (a trope that is rarely ever explored though I've yet to figure out why). 

It would be a toss up, but since the trope was more uncommon in one then the other, the up would go to the Pride and Prejudice story

Rating:
The Fairy Tail one-shot was rated T for safety (Cana's a big drinker, plus the trope was drinking buddies so there was that).
The Pride and Prejudice one-shot was rated K because it was still regency, no one swore and no one did anything mildly inappropriate (for our time period besides a kiss)
Both ratings show up without having to fiddle with the filters, but the more G rated it could be the better chances the story has of being read (safety first). The up would go to Pride and Prejudice story.

Word count:
The Fairy Tail one-shot was 3k
The Pride and Prejudice one-shot was 1k
One-shots are usually read because they're always complete and because generally, they're short so the up went to the Pride and Prejudice story.

Genre:

Both were categorized under romance, with Fairy Tail having the added Friendship thrown in because the actual romance was more implied. 

In that, there are no differences. In fact, having another genre can attract more readers, so the up might have gone to Fairy Tail if I wasn't so unsure of how obvious my preference for Laxana as more than a friendship pair.

Summary: 

I've changed the summary twice for the Pride and Prejudice story while the Fairy Tail one has remained the same. For the most part, both stories seem relatively simple in the trope they present - 

The Fairy Tail one-shot was clearly going to be about drinking (Cana and alcohol always go hand in hand) and I had it easier putting into words what exactly it was about while the Pride and Prejudice one-shot was a little more vague, but implies the pair are in the same situation, though it was difficult to word it in a way I was happy with (I'm still not by the way, but what can you do). 

Content: 

I liked the story more in Fairy Tail because it had a clear beginning, middle and end. I got to play around a bit with headcanons. It also read more like a one-shot despite it being 3k in length. I struggled with the tenses though, and people did notice, but overall, the response was the best I could've hoped for.

The story for Pride and Prejudice was a bit more muddled, the only thing really clear about it was the fact that it was happening in the moment - the beginning and end weren't particularly clear, but that seemed to have an appeal to people as they reviewed to say they wish there was more to read.

The thing I was most worried about was how completely out-of-character I thought everyone was, but the readers disagreed.

Also when I reread it a few hours after I posted just to make sure the readers and I were reading the same thing, I found a multitude of errors and missing words, none of which was present in the Fairy Tail story. No one seemed to mind.

So here's what I got from the responses of the two one-shots:

Write what the plotbunnies tell you to. You don't have to put it in a box and organise it. Get what you want to say out and then rework it to make sure it meshes. You'll miss the story if you're too worried about how it'll look.

Content is king. Don't worry too much about the spelling and grammar as you write (though don't post it if you haven't corrected the mistakes), the plotbunnies don't have time for proper English. Let them do what they do and then clean up the mess.

Be bold. Like this font. People want to read something new, just because it's been tried and tested doesn't mean it'll be popular. 

Also, just because a fandom or it's pairing isn't in demand, doesn't mean you shouldn't write that story your plotbunnies have been nagging you about. You could be the start of that ship's popularity. I know, because I've been one too ;-)

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Author says...

Author says...

I've been MIA for about two weeks now, I think...

The last few months of the year are the months I'm the most inactive in everything to be perfectly honest which really sucks considering I have exams in November, plus NanoWriMo which I've been meaning to join and do for years now...

Hopefully by the time my year starts again in October, I'll have my energy and motivation back.

For now though, I've been spending my time watching Fairy Tail and editing Sibling Intervention. 

Why Fairy Tail? Frankly I've only written non-fiction and my end game for publishing is to write things with magic and supernatural aspects and I can't do that if I don't have any basis for it so yeah, Fairy Tail is one of the many sources I'm looking to for inspiration.

Sibling Intervention is being edited yet again in an attempt to combine the first part and its sequel as one whole story so I'm thinking about discontinuing Brotherly Advice and Sisterly Persuasion. So far I've edited, cut and combined roughly seven chapters to four and I'll keep at it until I've covered everything. I haven't a plan yet for what I want to do with the fully completed story,  but bare with me, I'll think of something xD

 

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Mirror, Mirror: Limbo, a Bleach fanfiction

Mirror, Mirror: 

Limbo, a Bleach fanfiction

In which I reflect on a story I wrote which as a whole will be examined and reviewed for my personal growth. After all, no one's harder on me than me.

Limbo reviews 

She isn't dead yet. But it certainly feels like it. 

Bleach - Rated: K+ - English - Friendship/Romance - Chapters: 1 - Words: 1,639 - Reviews: 6 - Updated:8/3/2014 - Published: 8/3/2014 - [Ichigo K., Rukia K.] - Complete

So this isn't my first not-real romance (the first was Shadows of the sun) and it isn't particularly sad or anything like that, it's more a reflection. I admit the basis is pretty cheesy, the prompt was simply, "Describe the colour orange" probably from a popular tumblr question, "Describe the colour red without using the word red." It obviously isn't as genius as that, but I gave it a shot anyway.

Where she lay, bathed in the sparse sunlight that entered her white gilded cage, she didn't feel the warmth on her skin.

 Rereading that, if the sunlight was sparse than it implies that the sunlight that can reach her wouldn't be strong enough to make her feel warm. Though adding "white" helped in hindsight, light reflects on lighter surfaces but wouldn't be absorbed so it really wouldn't be warm...nice save past me!

She could see it, and she knew it was there shining dimly before her face, but that was all. 

Rereading it, I could've mentioned that weird halo effect I (and I assume others) get when I close my eyes in front of a light, I just missed a chance at symbolism.

Rukia wondered at it, this lack of sensation. Was it a consequence of her confinement? She didn't have anyone to talk to, and the tower itself had nothing inside it besides her own body. 

From "She didn't have anyone to talk to..." sounds awkward, should have thought of a way to better phrase that.

Once she had listened the snap of the flags, but the sound had since silenced; static noise filling her world with only her heartbeat to disturb the stifling emptiness.

Personally I liked that. High five past me. 

Closed off from the familiar trill of spirit energy; the tower was surrounded but isolated preventing even the sounds of birds and the rustle of leaves as the wind blew. Perhaps without her notice, she had become accustomed to the sounds  noise and her mind had simply deemed it unnecessary and blocked it from her notice. But that didn't explain why the sun didn't feel like anything against her skin.

The phrase in italics reads as too abruptly ended, but the fact that she's only thinking about hearing birds and leaves says a lot about where Rukia's priorities lie. Birds in flight and leaves in the wind = sense of freedom which she currently doesn't have so yay, symbolism! 

The second "sounds" in the paragraph is distracting me though, probably the repetition, should've changed it to noise.

The last sentence (underlined) is from a post I read online, it was an assumption that when you're dying the last things to go are your sense of touch and your sense of smell, taste goes first and then sight; though that's just from that one article while others claim a completely different combination. But I'll stick with the touch last so possible symbolism?  

On days that she would lay for hours, she'd burn and sweat. On days that she didn't lie until the very last minute, the ground would be hot and her back would sizzle while the other half of her body would be half frozen, her skin as pale and as white as the floors and walls surrounding her.

When she lies down she burns...could've elaborated more or threw in some prose for imagery, but it gets to the point,  the fact that there's more description towards the latter shows which actually holds the most consequences. (Feeling it all or feeling only some of it while at the same time feeling like she's fading into her surroundings) <--- I was unintentionally, surprisingly deep. Personal opinion -  the only person whose going to love me more is me.

Right now, it should've been the first.

Abrupt. But it goes to the point and hopefully brings more impact to what I previously reflected about the proceeding paragraph.

Since she had woken (though she couldn't remember when she had fallen asleep), she had been there waiting to bake and boil.
It seemed that during her isolation she had adopted a masochist attitude, her desire to sense anything at all was overwhelming; to feel was to live and to live was all she wanted.

 Further elaboration on the proceeding paragraph. I don't know how I was writing any of this to be perfectly honest, now that I'm reflecting on it, I think it's pretty cool...

The sun – setting, rising, she couldn't tell – sat atop her face, a yellow glow behind her closed lids.

Repetitive. Could have impact, but could have easily lost it too. (Note to self: use with caution)

It used to calm her; getting to bathe in the sunny smile of a dying star. It was the affectionate touch of someone familiar, someone that loved her, someone that comforted her; it was a touch that said, "You're safe". 

Maybe that was why it didn't surprise her then that she couldn't feel it here.
She wasn't safe.
In this building. In Soul Society. Anywhere really.

Last line, lost the tone.

 Her chest grew heavy and she sighed to ease it.

I'm catching some tenses getting mixed up, grammar isn't my strong suit so I either get better or get a beta. I noticed with my other slightly angsty-not-really-a-romance stories that I jumble my tenses more often, though I'm not sure if its the genre or just the way my brain is working.

 Ever since that fateful night, she knew she would never be safe. For two months, it was simply limbo, a waiting game; a matter of 'when' rather than 'if'. The danger was always there, not just for her, but for Ichigo too…The reminder of him is immediately followed by a flash of orange.

 Italics, too abrupt - tone still missing.

It's the color of warmth – not the flowery, superficial warmth of yellow or the intensity to burn like red, but enough to feel the heat without the fear of being destroyed in the process. Orange was a balance; it was delicate and required consistency at all costs. He epitomized that. Superficial in his pretenses as much as she was in hers, but passionate in a way that she could never hope to be.
He liked to pretend that he didn't care about anyone or anything; that he really was some punk who liked to cause trouble. But he would die to save his sisters, put his life in danger for his friends; and was consistent in his scolding of her stupidity.
The thought pulled at the corner of her lips.
It was always half his fault at the least.

I think I found the tone again, and its blending with nostalgia, doesn't feel too awkward but that could just be me.

Despite the fact that he always rushed in like a hero and walk out like one, he'd always sit on his bed pouting at the end of it, apparently not satisfied with saving the day.

As someone pointed out in the Facebook Group (I think it was Gems, though I may be giving undue credit haha) that this particular sentence was awkward, I did try and fix it with the edit and I'm slightly happier but can't tell if its still uncomfortable to read.

As she healed the little she could, she remembered asking him once, rather annoyed, why he had the gall to be upset – did he want to go walking around bleeding a gallon of blood onto his favorite shirt?

The tone goes missing near the end, but it can be attributed to her getting caught up in her memories of him.

"It's just," he paused with a scowl as he glared petulantly through her, his hands twisting fitfully on either side of him, "you're always saving me."

I've made Ichigo sound a little childish here, which was the point, but a part of me feels its a little too open for Ichigo to admit it. So.CREATIVE LICENSE POWERS ACTIVATE.

"Of course, if you need saving then I'll do it, there's nothing wrong with that. We're partners remember?" Unconsciously rougher than before as if to punish him for being stupid, she made sure he was looking her in the eye as she reminded innocently, to the point that she almost sounded mournful, "If you die, whose going to feed me then?"

May have been too insistent with the image I wanted the readers to have, stopping at "she reminded him innocently" would have sufficed without the overload.

His scowl deepened, but the lingering look – worry, anguish? – banished, and the rain that Inoue romantically used to describe his sadness, was no longer there.
It was times like that, even when they continued to argue, that she could feel the glimpse of the sun against her cheeks, though it was probably because she was shouting herself hoarse at him.

It's only a slightly there romance like Shadows of the sun so of course Rukia's brushing away any possible romantic feelings aside, plus its Rukia, she and Ichigo are pretty dense (or maybe it's just Rukia, I forget).

 But orange wasn't just about passion and balance, it was the color of citrus fruit: sometimes sweet and sometimes sour. It described his mood, his behavior perfectly.On the surface, he's always sour.

Again, the change is abrupt (Note to self: Work on transitions).

Also, saying too much is distracting and gives too much away.

Because he's surrounded by idiots: His dad, his friends, his teachers, school, a certain teddy bear mod soul, a crazy girl living in his closet. Sour. Sour. Sour. It's his default.
With his sisters though, he's sweet.
He'd never do anything to hurt them, he'd never let anyone hurt them; and he'd do anything for them. With Inoue he was sweet, though tangy was more suitable – he actually didn't like scaring people, least of all innocent, well-meaning girls like Inoue Orihime. But he wasn't sweet in the same way he was with his sisters, it was about the same way he acted around scared pluses. To his credit, he had a way with them – especially the deceased children. Not that he'd ever really admit it.

Repetition during the italics was better, it gave some impact, but could have been too much considering Karin and Yuzu weren't mentioned other than here.

She knew it the first time with that little girl he brought flowers for in the morning, the one who was frightened off by some fools on their skateboards.
Ichigo had protected her and defended her, something Rukia doubted few people did for total strangers, least of all, dead ones.
Come to think of it, he's actually a big softie.

CREATIVE LICENSE, I know she didn't see it, but that was the only example I could think of at the top of my head.
The last sentence shows how much she's gotten used to the modern world thanks to Ichigo even if it would be uncharacteristic coming out of her mouth (unless she was pretending to be the sweet, normal school girl Kuchiki Rukia which, guess what Brain? HIGH FIVE!)

"Shuddup," he barked, arms crossed and looking away with a tick on his forehead.
Standing beside him, she giggled girlishly. "Oh don't be embarrassed Kurosaki-kun!"
"Would you-just-urgh! Stop using that voice!"
Holding her cheeks, and shaking herself side to side, she faked a swoon. But no one really noticed, they were too busy staring at Ichigo and whispering amongst themselves.
Normally she wouldn't want to put too much attention on herself and by extension him, but he deserved it for making her "sweet, innocent Kuchiki" mask hard to put on yesterday. Why he insisted on pushing her buttons, she had no idea.

No secret that Ichigo doesn't help with her cover, could have executed that a bit better though...

Besides, it wasn't all her doing. Ichigo had raised enough attention on his own.
He did, after all, just save some poor kid from getting run over.
"Oh Kurosaki-kun," she continued to croon, "you'll save me too if that ever happens, riiight?"
His face reddened further before he grabbed her by the elbow to drag her away. "Shuddup, we're going to be late for class."
"Ohhh thank you Kurosaki-kun, for saving me from being tardy~"

Personally liked this little snippet the most because I got to show her getting under Ichigo's skin which very few people can do (when fighting isn't involved).

 Thinking on it now, she swore that she lived for his scowls. Though, "lived" may be too strong a word.

Get it? 'Coz she's dead? HA-HA.

She had heard silly notions of how she "saved" him. Yes, she kind of did that night they first met, but she wouldn't have had to involve him in the first place if she had handled it quicker. And "making the rain stop" was never her intention, though admittedly if she could lighten his burdens she would. Still, if you asked Inoue or Tatsuki, they would say that she stopped that rain in him, made the sun shine again.
The idea though was distressing.

I'd hate the idea that someone I cared about had it rough. I know everyone's had issues and problems they faced to get to where they are, but most of the time we're quite ignorant of what has happened in another person's past so yeah, that was me projecting...

Was his rain similar to her cloudy day, when he couldn't feel anything and everything around him was nothing but static noise, feeling like limbo?

 Entire question felt weird to me. I was told by Zadien that she particularly liked this line, and obviously I liked the imagery it brought with it but I could have worded it a bit better.

She hoped not, that wouldn't be a very good way to describe orange; orange was supposed to be stable – the safe color of a growing flame. It wasn't meant to die down; it was supposed to grow stronger – brighter, but it would be squished beneath the heel of a captain or lieutenant if Ichigo was still in Soul Society.

I wanted to emphasis how even though she was the one being executed, she was more worried for him than for herself. I can actually see her frowning at the very thought in the end.

Orange, to her, was a person: Sunkissed  tanned skin, brown eyes, orange hair. It was a person she had grown dependent on: to carry out her duties, to live a seemingly normal life, to show her how the modern world worked. He was orange – reliable, stable.

Hey paragraph from way back when, I see you!

I wanted to avoid any adjectives at this point besides the "sunkissed" part though it may have been a mistake and I should've just said "tanned" instead because without having to explain, the colors themselves make me think of being warm.

Death Gods were beautiful, point it was a known fact. And even as a substitute, he was certainly handsome. At just fifteen he had the determination, strength and courage to show up most of the official shinigami in Soul Society. Those traits defined orange to her: undeterred, unwavering and unbroken.

The "Death Gods are beautiful" line was inspired by one of my favorite IchiRuki one-shots called You know  it really helped to ease the transition a bit.

Orange was an emotion.
A tremor shook the earth, and her eyes opened just as a wall of the tower collapsed, the dust rising as a single figure stood in its ruins.
She knew that spiky hair anywhere.
In those brief seconds that her mind was processing him standing there, still breathing and having the audacity to smirk at her dumbfounded expression.
Warmth settled on her skin, and she was alive again.
"Ichigo."

And that's it! I really liked the end, which I make my goal to ensure doesn't suck too much because its usually the last thing anyone will read because most people ignore author's notes (sniff).

Anyway, my overall impression of my work:

I'm relatively happy, my tenses though need work across the board and my transitions could be smoother. There's also the issue of my repetitiveness which can be an impact or a deterrent so I just need to pay attention. Otherwise, I'm impressed since I definitely didn't notice any of the symbolism when I was writing the story nor did I feel as connected to it as I do now that I analysed it like I did. Still, there's room for improvement. If I write a similar fic or one on similar grounds, I'll do a comparison and see if I've actually addressed these issues.

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Ships that sail themselves - An Introduction

A brief history of how ships came to sail themselves 

do you see how glorious it looks? SHIPS!

Ships that sail themselves - An introduction

Like most things, fanfiction takes simple words and gives them entirely new meanings. The most important words to take note of when wadding through the Romance genre (which is arguably the most popular in any fandom) are related to pairings and couples. Such words include: Slash (subdivided into yaoi and yuri), Harem and Canon Compliant. 

A word often used to describe a pairing regardless is the word "Ship". 

Taken from Wikipedia: 

"derived from the word relationship, friendship or worship, is the belief of (or desire for) two (or more) people, often fictional, to be in a romantic relationship. It is considered a general term for fans' emotional involvement with the ongoing development of romance in a work of fiction. Though technically applicable to any such involvement, it refers chiefly to various related social dynamics observable on the Internet, and is seldom used outside of that context. The methods of shipping can include creating images of two characters a fan wishes to be shown in a loving relationship with one another or writing fan fiction stories on web-based boards in this same context."

Further, ships themselves can be subcategorized:

• Ship - The idea of a relationship between two or more characters or individuals
• Friendship - The idea of a non-romantic (friendly) relationship between characters
• Sailed Ship - A ship that is canonically true
• Crack Ship - A ship that would be unlikely to become canonically true because of many fictional barriers between the characters.
• Joke Ship - A ship that is paired for fun, and not taken seriously.
• Sunken Ship- A ship that one once supported (and perhaps still does) that went down in the ocean, drowning all on board; essentially a hopeless relationship
• Ghost Ship- A ship where one or more of the characters has died either canonally or in an AU (Alternate Universe). It may be dead, but it's still sailing.
• Cannonball (also wrecking ball) - An abrupt course of events
• Shore - A happy ending to a ship
• Thunder - Foreshadowing events of a ship losing momentum
• Slash - A homosexual ship (sometimes 'femslash' for two females in a relationship)
• OTP - Short for "One True Pairing"; to deem a ship OTP, one is declaring their deep emotional investment in it; perhaps he or she feels that the characters involved in the relationship are meant for each other above all other relationships they may be put in by others
• BROTP - Related to OTP, except that instead of a romantic relationship, it refers to a friend relationship; the term "BROTP" is a combination of bromance and "OTP". A bromance is a relationship in which two men are close friends, but not romantically involved.
• TTP - Two True Pairings; sometimes a fan of a show, book, movie, etc. cannot decide on an OTP and is left with two options. TTP is used to express this.
• There are also several variations of OTP besides BROTP, which include but are not limited to: NOTP - a ship that one viscerally dislikes and is strongly against; OT3 - A ship with three participants (the numeral may increase with the number of characters involved in the ship); and depending on the ship itself and what is considered a staple of thatménage à trois, a term which mixes "ship" with another word of some meaning to the fandom.
• Shark - A person who is against a particular ship
• Ship Wars - The sometimes bitterly contentious disagreements between fans who favor different pairings of characters

 Some of the above are not used as popularly as others, but you get the point.

The reason I'm compiling this information is because when I discovered fanfiction I was quite literally, walking in blind. I had no idea what the hell a "ship" had to do with romance or what the hell "slash" was, and dear gods, could someone tell me what the ratings mean?!

So I'm compiling all this info for you lovely people who may also be just as lost as I was, so here it is: a brief, never official history of fandom shipping:

There are many ways to categorize the shipping ways of a fandom, which depends solely on the fandom in which you'll decide to lurk, but let's start with something we know.

Grandpa Hank, telling it like it is.

• From Friends: Chandler and Monica, Ross and Rachel, Joey and food. 
• From How I met your mother: Marshall and Lily, Ted and Robin
• From Bones: Booth and Brennan, Hodgins and Angela. 
• From Game of Thrones: Drogo and Dany, Ned and Catelyn, Jon and Yrgitte 
• From Wall-E: Wall-E and Eve
• From Harry Potter: Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, James and Lily, Remus and Tonks
• From Mortal Instruments: Jace and Clary
• From Hunger Games: Peeta and Katniss
• From Fault In Our Stars: Augustus and Hazel
• From Supernatural: Dean and pie. 
• From Twilight: Bella and Edward (come on, there was no real competition pfth), Alice and Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie, Esmee and Carlisle. 
• From Doctor Who: The Doctor and more often not, whoever his partner is for the season
• From Avatar: the last airbender: Aang and Katara, Zuko and Mai, Sokka and Suki

All the above are considered "canon" because they've been stated, by the source material, that they are the real deal - the end game. (Note: Obviously those aren't all the canon pairings in a single fandom, but those were the ones off the top of my head)

If you like anime or read manga, you may wonder why I haven't put any up considering I'm an anime fan and I should know at least one canon pairing. Well, see, in anime/manga it's a bit harder to label a pairing canon because more often than not it's more suggested than it is stated. Only animes/mangas that are short (24 episodes or less or are less than a 100 chapters) generally have a canon couple such as "Beyond the Boundary" and "Angel Beats", in general I think most animes/mangas only reveal their real ships towards the end of the series such as with "Sailor Moon" or "Card Captor Sakura" despite the fact that most people knew they were going to be together in the end doesn't necessary mean that they will be (Hint: Avatar the last airbender - that shit hurt me in my heart).

For big animes/mangas like Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, Fairy Tail, etc. It varies from being implied and suggested to being teased.

Implied/ suggested -  one character shows signs of romantic feeling towards another, however, it is either not returned or the characters in question are oblivious. The author of the original material would have done it on purpose and leave behind a lot of symbolism in the wake of it hinting at the existence of the pairing.

From the manga

i.e:

• Bleach - Ichigo and Rukia, despite not playing as big a role as her counterpart, Rukia finds her way sharing pages or shots with Ichigo. In the opening credits, they are also seen wearing matching/complimenting colours or on opposite backgrounds (he on black and she on white). In the anime and manga, they are sometimes portrayed as being tied together with a red string which in Japanese culture is referred to as "The Red String of Fate" that binds two people that were destined to meet.
• Fairy Tail - Gajeel and Levy, despite their rough start, Gajeel becomes protective of Levy and when he gets his Fairy Tail mark it's the opposite colour of hers (his is black and hers is white). His gruff exterior means that people aren't generally at ease with him and that he isn't particularly easy going around people himself, however during the series he doesn't mind getting Levy's support either after a battle when he can't walk anymore or when he leans casually on her during a normal day.
• Fairy Tail - Natsu and Lucy, of the long years Natsu has been in Fairy Tail, his only partner has been Happy and then Lucy. His team up with Ezra and Gray doesn't necessary count as he doesn't refer to them as partners, though he refers to everyone bearing the Fairy Tail mark as nakama. During the series, Lucy and Natsu have always taken to wearing matching outfits/accessories, and no surprise, as partners they are often saving each other, getting each other in trouble or running away together (sadly,not like that).

As you can see, this stuff is usually more visual than it is verbal. Some could easily argue these things away, while others will hold it as evidence.

Teased: both characters shows signs of romantic/not so platonic interest in the other, though this is also interpreted differently by different people.

I.e:

• Bleach - Ichigo and Rukia - When Rukia got taken back to SS, Ichigo went right in there and blew some shit up to save her, plus he reached an insane level of strength to duke it out with her brother for her honor (sadly, not like that). Despite claiming he was saving her as payback for her helping save his family, the other characters weren't so believing. She is often called the person who made the rain stop, and during the manga and anime after she leaves, Ichigo wonders how he's going to keep up to the speed of the world without her. When Ichigo's powers are taken away, his goodbye to Rukia is the most heartbreaking thing in history, ask anyone.
  

  

  Screenshot from the episode with true commentary 

• Fairy Tail - Gajeel and Levy - When he first joins Fairy Tail, the first order of business was making it up to Levy by saving her from Laxus, further, he speaks only to her and Juvia (without demanding to be fought with like Natsu and Gray). During the S-class exam, he told Levy that he'd make her big, an important thing since she didn't feel that she was strong enough to have been chosen to participate.
• Fairy Tail - Natsu and Lucy - Natsu's habit of cuddling with Lucy in the morning before she wakes up and kicks him out is no secret. He has also shown signs of being fiercely protective of her (when he thought she went home, when her father died, when her future self was killed,etc.) particularly the last example as he says, "You've taken something dear before me, right before my eyes." During the Grand Magical Games, he had her back when she was being blackmailed to not fight back and even when she lost, he was there to pick her up. Plus, when the baddies were trying to kidnap her, he lost his shit way more than everyone else did.

(Note: Both terms are interchangable, I just like to show some love for my ships)

Those are just my perspectives, and I'm limiting myself to Bleach and Fairy Tail because I've actually watched/read them and I support the three above mentioned pairing myself (biased I know, but hey, it's my blog).

The above examples as well as other pairings such as HarryxHermione, DracoHermione, DracoxGinny, HarryxLuna, RonxLuna, RonxLavender, NevilleLuna [Harry Potter], GendryxArya [Game of Thrones/A song of fire and ice], ZukoxKatara,AangxToph [Avatar: The last airbender], etc. Are all examples of canon-possibilities because they were suggested or implied and had built up a fanbase, however, they're either currently unexplored, wish fulfillment or have not yet happened.

(Note: left out slash to avoid confusion, but those exist in the same capacity too)

And now said slash:

Slash is subdivided into Yaoi or Yuri, but is called plainly "Slash" outside of anime/manga. Slash is basically LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) I don't read these types of fic as they aren't really my cup of tea so I can't really give in depth analysis on this, so I'll try to make it quick to lower the amount of stuff I could be wrong about:

If my research is right, the term slash actually developed from the Star Trek fandom.

When deciding on the main characters for a fic, in the past it was simply separated by "/" to indicate a romantic relationship. Even then though, the most popular genre had been romance (albeit still growing and not as popular as it is now), so when non-gen pairing was indicated people simply referred to it as "slash".

Yaoi/ The G in LGBT, is all about male on male goodness. The most popular I know of is Sherlock and John and maybe Dean and Castiel, others include Harry and Draco, Snape and Harry, and so on.

Yuri is the female on female equivalent. I'm not too knowledgeable on this one as it isn't as mainstream in fandom as its counterpart, but that could just be the fandoms I lurk. I have, however, come across Hermione and Bellatrix, Alice and Rosalie, Lucy and Levy, etc.

The remaining LGBT is self explanatory, like I said I don't know much about this topic, so let's move right along...

The next part is separating what makes a pairing (gen or otherwise) crack.

Crackfics are a different topic entirely as a fic can be regarded as crack regardless of whether it's a romance or not. Crack fics are usually as its name implies, as if the author was on crack and the story they've posted just some huge joke (which, oftentimes it is, but some people genuinely support their crack ships).Crack pairings are about the same. They are pairings that have no foundation whatsoever, and they quite literally do not make sense and have no basis for a relationship at all.

Lion King and Iron Man - Crack.
Sasuke and Ramen - Crack.
Thor and an ice giant - Crack (though I'd probably read that...)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I came to understand all the funky terms that the fanfic community comes up with. These are by no means, everything, it'll probably be updated over time and other posts may pop up expanding on it. But this is my brief guide on how ships came to sail themselves.

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