Alt Pairing Reflections - What are your thoughts?

[Waking Dreamer]

Oh dear- let me dig myself out of this hole.

I didn't mean anything lemony related or smut like.

I am fairly new to the whole fanfic pairing and when to use the appropiate markings, i.e. + as opposed to / as opposed to x.

I use a variety of sorts, and I didn't realize what was implied in my use of marks!

I meant what you mentioned in your post, Teankun. Although I have no objections to lemons (I just prefer not to read them), I meant that I too focus on the relationships. My beta and I often talk how the girls in stories should have more than one guy after them!

So, I hope I've clarified my position! I'd love to see a story in which Quatre is debating over two girls (like Dorothy and Catherine). That is what I meant you should write Teankun!

[Teankun]

That is okay. I myself was afraid I implied something more ecchi (if you will) than I intended. I myself don't care for explicit smutty lemons. On the other hand, even though I am a guy, I am a sucker for sap and angst.

There is a difference between + , / , and x ?

[Tobo Castit]

No no, there was no hole, I was merely saying that most of the three way pairing fics are smutty, I was not expressing an opinion on the fics you intend to write. In fact, the story ideas you are throwing out sound really interesting, and I look forward to reading them.

Thank you for sparing my life Ryan. Those were incredibly interesting alternative couples, especially Heero/Sango. Are there actually any fics with that coupling written or was that just an idea?

There used to be a very good website dedicated completely to Wufei/Relena fics called My Lovely Relena, but it closed down awhile ago. The best place to go if you're looking for Wufei/Relena stuff is (and I shudder to say it) fanfiction.net. If you do a search for Wufei/Relena, you'll get about two pages of fics. One I'd reccommend is In the Silence. Here There Be Monsters cracks me up, although it's fairly serious. It's just a really good look at how the world perceives Wufei and Dorothy, and how Relena goes along with those perceptions of them. Anyway, there are a couple really BAD Wufei/Relena fics there, so don't think I'm endorsing all of them!

There is a difference between + , / , and x ?

I'm with Teankun, there's a difference? I've used them interchangeably forever...

[Calla Lily]

I could be wrong, but this the general meaning of those symbols:

+ means a romantic love of some sort, depending on which character name is headed first, it could mean one-sided feelings.

eg) Relena+Heero = Relena is in love with Heero
Relena+Heero, Heero+Relena = Heero also returns the feelings

/ generally means an equal relationship between the two characters, a friendship between the two that possibly equates to a romantic/sexual relationship

eg) Heero/Relena or Relena/Heero

x usually implies a relationship of the sexual nature, like the other symbols mentioned above, it could be mutual or one-sided

Guh, I know there was an online dictionary of this sort of thing, I just can't it.

[Pure]

i don't really have a fav alt. pairing. i like all of the guys with relena because they usually portray a side to relena that not many usually see. i like that. i know this is a non yaoi site but i'm just saying that it is ok if they don't bash on relena that just annoys me. i like threesomes my two fav are 1xRx3 and 1xRx2. there aren't enough of them. i like them because relena complements both sides of her men. *shrugs* its my opinion i meant no offense. i'm still a dye hard 1xR fan first.

[Silent Moon Sphinx]

Hey hey!

First of all, I wanted to say that as I understand it, Calla Lily is right on the money when it comes to defining the relationship markings. So, Calla, thanks for explaining! I just find that a lot of the time, people use simply "x" for convenience...it's so easy to type, it's the basic gist of a connection between two people, sometimes you don't know as a writer if your story is going to become citrusy or not, so it's just easier to plop down a blank x blank and not really think about whose name goes first or the sexual connotation of the mark. So much of the time, "x" is accepted as just a pairing in general, and whether the pairing is sexual in nature does not matter. However, this gets tricker with the talk of three people like HeeroxRelenaxTrowa. It's like...what is going on? Which one is going to get the girl? Or is it a threesome? Usually, I would only think threesome if a lemon warning is attached to it, so it's kinda hard to distinguish just talking about pairings in a discussion of this sort.

Which brings me to the fact that I find it very interesting the topic of threesomes came up! Didn't see that one coming. But that's cool ...whatever way the conversation flows. And talking about that....I don't think anyone here is dissing threesomes, or the fact that someone might like threesomes, so I hope no one felt offended or anything. I just think the whole threesome thing is a matter of comfort levels and personal preferences. For instance, I had to laugh about the confusion of Dreamer and threesomes, just because she's probably one of the most innocent people I know!!! Like she mentioned, I believe some people just don't feel comfortable being associated with lemons, and that's just a matter of their personal feelings, and not an opposition to the fics themselves.

Ahhh...soooo tricky this all is. But Alternatives Showcase loves pairs, threesomes, any alternative pairings whatever they may be.

Oh, and in response to Ryan's theory...

Pairings involving one character depend on the author's gender.

I think the theory is really apparent in the Alt forum. Even extending beyond an author's gender to a reader's gender, I know a lot of ladies say they don't mind Relena (or other GW women) with any of the guys, but for Heero, for instance, he should only be with Relena. I'm not sure about for guys, but it makes sense to me. While there will always be exceptions, especially when a really amazing author creates a great story with a pairing that I wouldn't normally be interested in, I think Ryan's theory is very intriguing.

~Sphinx

[Rose of Betrayal]

Personally, I prefer any male with Relena, except for Treize (never did write him into a fic). And I mean 'all' males, even *mumblemumble*. Blame Wicked! She dragged me into it! Yes, I do like *mumblemumble*xR. I even wrote one, shame on me.

Ok, besides that particularly pairing which will likely get you sent to hell if you even thought about it, I adore 3xR and 5xR. Just 'cause. ^_^ Maybe it's because I have a particular fixation for Trowa and Wufei. But I'm still a 1xR fan to the core, and I'm not wavering any time soon. I just basically like weird/strange pairings that don't get that much attention in the fandom world.

I don't really like 1xH. I find that pairing's very common where 2xR is the main pairing, and Hilde is just paired up with Heero so she won't be left out, or vice-versa. They barely even knew each other in the series, right...? Well, that's my opinion on 1xH. Other alt. pairings...hmm, I like 3xD, 5x9, 4xC, and several others. I really do have a fetish for strange pairings.

[Roa_Aoife]

I like the Duo-Relena pairing for alternatives, but I'm also a big Trowa-Catherine fan. I can never find any good fics for that pairing though.

[RyanEX2000]

I don't really like 1xH. I find that pairing's very common where 2xR is the main pairing, and Hilde is just paired up with Heero so she won't be left out, or vice-versa.

This is a common problem in alts. and even canon pairing stories. For example, Heero's my favourite character, so most of my stories, canon or alt. will circle around him and his choices. Mentions will be made of other pairings but the focus will be on 01.

A good example of your quote, ROA, would be Goldilock's "Two Prince's" story. While the premise was to leave you in the dark as to who she would eventually choose, there really wasn't much mystery (sorry Goldy). That and the sudden pursuit of Heero by Hilde kind of gave way to the feeling that both Duo and Hilde inadvertently worked together to get their respective partner.

And I mean 'all' males, even *mumblemumble*. Blame Wicked! She dragged me into it! Yes, I do like *mumblemumble*xR. I even wrote one, shame on me.

"mumble mumble," huh (glare). Why do I think I know who Mr. Mumble is.

For me, a good alt fic, if you must have Rel with someone else, is Heero actually not minding, even supporting her pursuit, instead of the, almost canon, "I wasn't in love with her until she ignored me," syndrome he's portrayed in just about every romantic (not sappy) fic, alt or otherwise.

Come on people. A little originality. It's been done to death in just about every anime series.


Oh and btw, Happy Birthday, Sphinx.

[Rose of Betrayal]

"mumble mumble," huh (glare). Why do I think I know who Mr. Mumble is.

However big Wicked's fixation may be on Trowa, it is not Trowa I'm talking about. If that's who you're thinking about, anyway, which I have a hint you might not.

As for who it is...let's just say I've been reading too much Angel Sanctuary, which is all her fault. Oh, yes, and the obsession I've been feeding over a certain red-headed fire archangel also stemmed from that particular point.

Actually, I can't see Relena with another guy without Heero putting up a fight. For most of us, methinks it's quite hard to write an alt. pairing Relena without Heero fussing about it, mostly since we view him as an obstacle (being die-hard 1xR fans). PWP's excluded, of course.