How to Deal (Pokeshipping Fic)

[firepokemon]

OOh a shipping fic, minute I saw it I had to read it. Was a member of OPs back in 2000 when reeb a lovely member and a fanfic person was the head of OPs here at tpm. Good times, sadly after a year or so I became disillusioned and was never impressed with the shipper forum here at TPM. Which, I complained was spam mostly. I have been trying to get back into shipping as of late, but so much has changed since then.

I'm not exactly sure of the exact expectations of a shipping fic. I've always thought personally, that shipper fics need to be essentially about the relationship between two people. Therefore, it doesn't matter so much what details are lacking as long as one can feel love between the two being shipped. As this is my thoughts surrounding a shipping fic. I think this fic succeeds. Therefore, on that you should be congratulated.

Sure one could say, there isn't much of a back-story. What we know is that at some stage Misty and Ash got together but for reasons related to this assistant the relationship fell apart and therefore Karen married Ash. Karen seems to be on the outers with pretty much everyone including Ash's mum. I think this area could have been expanded on in the fanfic. On the other hand, one cans see Ash's inner feelings toward Misty and more importantly its something the other characters sense as well including Karen. For Misty too it is clear that she has obvious feelings still with Ash. It is these parts of this fanfiction I think work.

On the other hand, it could be said that you only grasp at the possible conflicts that could be made between Misty, Karen and Ash. It's something I think could have been expanded along with the back-story. In terms of the spelling, punctuation and grammar of this fanfiction, it does its job. It was easy to read, things made sense and whenever one is able to read something and do that well you know the fanfic is well written.

I'm not sure you can call this fanfiction. Nor could it be said to be a one-shot, what this is I believe is a glimpse. Its a glimpse into the rather awkward and complicated world of slash fanfiction. One one hand you can use your imagination to the fullest, on the other you have to be careful to tread too far or not tread enough. There's also the question, of how much this should be about the relationships of the characters and the question of whether you take away from the pokemon aspects.

It is then that area that this fanfiction lacks. There is much focus and emphasis placed on the relationships between characters without the back-story while, aspects of pokemon and pokemon details are rather lacking. Yes Ash has become now it seems a master trainer with a gym dedicated to him. But in the process of your clear conscious choice of emphasising relationships the fanfic lacks something.

To sum up, I love the emphasis on the characters but I think there is a lack of back-story. I like the happy ending and the showing of affection between Ash and Misty. The inner thoughts of Ash work surprisingly well. The story reads well and one can certainly enjoy it for what it is. But on the other hand there is so much more that could have been expanded. But most importantly, I'd like to thank you for allowing me the pleasure to read this story. A shipper fic can be many things, but as long as it focuses on the love between two characters it makes a great piece of fanfiction. Therefore I congratulate you on a job well done.