~Shipping Authors' Café~

[Amiちゃん]

It's not so much tastes, it's so much "is the character even shipable?"

[Nightlingbolt]

I'm thinking of experimenting with three-way shippings, and I'm curious to know: has anyone ever tried to write for a ship with three characters? If so, how do you go about establishing it?

[Kutie Pie]

OH MY GOSH SOMEONE REVIVED THE THREAD

Ah, a love triangle, or an actual threesome? I believe I've done neither, maybe. If I ever did (most likely a love triangle), it was a one-sided love for one of the characters. But this was years ago, and I don't believe I ever put the story in question online at all, so...

Well, actually, I do kinda have a story in mind where a love triangle was beginning to happen, but I haven't really gone very far with it before I abandoned the story temporarily (I need to revise it badly). It was to focus on one pairing, but I had a character date another character and she found herself liking it, so she was developing a crush for this one guy. The main pairing had of yet to actually develop outside of "Hey, we're neighbors and we work at the same place, okay then", and she wasn't too fond of the guy's grumpy demeanor, so...

Yeah, I haven't really worked with it in a long time. But that's the closest I've gotten to what you're asking for. I don't plan on doing any three-way shippings in the future.

[pokemonsquared]

I don't really mind having threesomes so long as it isn't supposed to be character bashing by giving one party feelings towards another only to be cruelly snatched away by a third party. It isn't limited to this particular community but I've seen many stories labled as advanced/pearl/negai which essentially serves only to bash the female for daring to be attracted to Ash while he cavorts off with Misty leaving her in the dust.

[Nightlingbolt]

I didn't actually mean a love triangle. Just an actual relationship consisting of three people.

[petrichor]

Wow, okay, so I'm new here and the first thing I check is something related to writing. Figures. :P But omg, I'm so happy that there's actually this sort of thing over here.

Anyway! You're discussing love triangles and threesomes right now. I'm actually okay with love triangles. I've read some well-written ones and once a story is well-written, you can make almost anything work. Almost. I'm a bit skeptical towards those with a character in love with two people, though. I like it better when one is one-sided, because as the famous saying goes, "If you really loved the first, you wouldn't fall in love with the second." But then again, people usually mistake infatuation with love.

As for threesomes, well, I don't know what to make of it. It's just sort of awkward to be in a relationship consisting of three people, and one is bound to feel a little left out. Or maybe that's just me. Still, if I'm going to be in a relationship, I'd like my man to have eyes only for me, thank you very much. xD But since I have a nonexistent love life, I'm meddling with my shippings' love lives instead and oh em gee fangirl!

[AquaRegisteel]

Well...dead? Revival Herb used.

So, I haven't written any shipping fan fics for an age...and my last one was atrocious (not gonna lie, I'm ashamed of it really).

What should I consider doing if I am to write a fanfic of a shipping? Should I have a look over some other fanfics and revise the good and bad things in those?

(At the minute, my main ship is Contestshipping...so having a look at other shippings might help?)

[Kutie Pie]

It has risen! For now.

It helps me if I'm thinking on writing a story on a shipping to look at stories, yes, and fan-art also helps at least in my case. Music can do it as well if it reminds you of that particular pairing. But I think the most important thing you can do to help revive that love for that particular shipping and to give yourself ideas is to just say to yourself: "Why do I love this pairing?" If you think about it long/hard enough, you can get ideas and urges. You could even do little doodles and see what comes out from there. And no, you don't have to be an artist to do doodles of your favorite pairing(s).

Though in most cases, it does help to have been exposed to the original source for a while, especially if you're very picky about keeping them in character. Basically, you're trying to get yourself (re)acquainted with them, and what better way to do that than to see them in their natural habitat. Since Contestshipping is teased a lot, it shouldn't be too big a problem. As I have a favorite pairing in which canonically they really don't like each other (or the one doesn't, anyway), I tend to daydream a lot and just experiment with their personalities. One of them stays the same, but the other I can come up with different personalities.

*cough*

So yeah, that's my advice, though it's pretty common. I wouldn't be surprised if many shippers and non-shippers do the above to get ideas for a story. But for the most part, it comes naturally through inspiration or what have you.

[Dracoflare]

Well...dead? Revival Herb used.

So, I haven't written any shipping fan fics for an age...and my last one was atrocious (not gonna lie, I'm ashamed of it really).

What should I consider doing if I am to write a fanfic of a shipping? Should I have a look over some other fanfics and revise the good and bad things in those?

(At the minute, my main ship is Contestshipping...so having a look at other shippings might help?)

My advise? Don't read the most popular shipping fics of a particular ship. Why? Because they generally tend to bring the best of the characters and you might end up copying them without your knowledge. Give it your own take, listen to some favorite music to get inspiration, watch few AMVs, look at a few fanarts but don't look at the popular fics because you'll end up writing the same. Shipping Discussions are a good source of ideas, you'll find something that can give you an idea.

This is my advise as a reader not an author though. Because I would like original stories than seeing the same cliched story. I mean I am not really lying when I say half of the Contest Shipping fics are the same.

High school drama which involves May going all Tsundere with Drew, while Misty falls in love with Ash, Gary with Leaf, and Paul with Dawn. It's just too repitive I can't handle them anymore even if they are well written.

I like canon fics. Stories that happen in canon. I would like to see May fall in love with Drew during the Johto contests than in some high school

But that's my personal preference.

I also want a Contest Shipping fic where these two absolutely love each other but will have to stomp the other to become a top coordinator. Ah, the dilemma will be beautiful.

[AquaRegisteel]

My advise? Don't read the most popular shipping fics of a particular ship. Why? Because they generally tend to bring the best of the characters and you might end up copying them without your knowledge. Give it your own take, listen to some favorite music to get inspiration, watch few AMVs, look at a few fanarts but don't look at the popular fics because you'll end up writing the same. Shipping Discussions are a good source of ideas, you'll find something that can give you an idea.

This is my advise as a reader not an author though. Because I would like original stories than seeing the same cliched story. I mean I am not really lying when I say half of the Contest Shipping fics are the same.

High school drama which involves May going all Tsundere with Drew, while Misty falls in love with Ash, Gary with Leaf, and Paul with Dawn. It's just too repitive I can't handle them anymore even if they are well written.

I like canon fics. Stories that happen in canon. I would like to see May fall in love with Drew during the Johto contests than in some high school

But that's my personal preference.

I also want a Contest Shipping fic where these two absolutely love each other but will have to stomp the other to become a top coordinator. Ah, the dilemma will be beautiful.

Yeah, I find those school-based fics to be bad. Thanks for the advice!
Kutie Pie, I thought that would be a good thing too. Thank you.

[Dracoflare]

Yeah, I find those school-based fics to be bad. Thanks for the advice!
Kutie Pie, I thought that would be a good thing too. Thank you.

Not all of them are terrible. For example, I have read a reverse-harem fic on Dawn featuring Kenny, Paul, Riley and many more canon characters as high school students. The concept seems cliched, but the story was splendid. It's a pity that the author lost interest in Pokemon fandom and stopped writing it. I wanted to continue, but I have enough fics on my head already. Besides I can't match up to the author's style or way of writing. My lead heroines tend to be a bit submissive. (Except Misty maybe :x)

The name of the fic is Except Me, the pairings are cliched but it's still a wonderful story if you are a Dawn fan.

[AquaRegisteel]

Thanks! Guess I'll look it up when I want. I meant that the ones I read were rather cliché XD
Either way, I'll have to get around to brainstorming ideas for a fanfic eventually.