I have a hate/love relationship with them. Hove, you might say. Not Late. Hate's always on top.

Not the way I write 'em.

The actual ship I've been writing lately (aside from the occasional RPF about the show's writers) has a portmanteau name that is particularly ugly aesthetically speaking, worse than spuffy. And it is more than a little 12-year-old-giggle inducing - worse than Kock, to my ear. When it was told to the actor who plays the male half of the pairing, he said, "Oh, that's just all kinds of wrong."

Thank heaven, or thank Kock? Or Spork. Or McKock? Or Kirkoy? Or Cheulu?

Maybe the older Trek fans didn't embrace portmanteaux, but most of the places I hang out have. You'll find all those Plei listed plus:

Spirk, McSpirk (threesome fun!), Spones, Chulu, Jones (my ship!), McChapel, McHura, Scokov, Pirk.

I blame 2010's Ship Wars. It was a hell of a lot of fun, but they embraced the smush whole-heartedly. When names didn't smush well, they came up with alternatives:

Team Ashayam (Spock/Uhura) Team Tartan (Scotty/anyone) Team Crackship - some of the most amazing random ships ever, but not smushable in any way, it even generated a zombie!Pike fic (but I don't remember who they shipped him with) that was absolutely hilarious.

I think that Destiel is a despicable smush. We have Wincest, Team Free Will, and Team Free Love¹. Destiel? Why, lord, why?

¹: even Dobby!

I hate portmanteux a lot. But I hate the rassenfrassen Roswell ship names more.

DOBBY! Or Bean.

I should apply myself to Community. Jelton! Brannie! Brang! Trabed! Anabroy! Sheff! Abiers! Pieritta!

This interview with Lev Grossman might have been linked before, but I just saw it today so I wanted to share. It's from August, and talks specifically about fan fiction.

I am currently in awe of writers who can write a short story, who can take an idea and distill it to its sum parts.

I don't understand it, I don't get the why of it, how they choose to pick a certain point in time and are able to end it in a timely manner.

I am working on my own story, and despair of anyone wanting to stick through the enormity of it. I just can't comprehend a neat and tidy short story. That's got to be so much self control and foresight and self-editing.

My hat is off to you.

Ha! I looked at the start of my Rolling Calf fic again and I have no idea how it got so long or how to fix it.

And then I looked at the "drabble" (I'm a traditionalist, drabbles are only 100 words) I wrote during it, and it's so much more pleasing to me. I'd rather write short than long, but it's not like I'm going to publish the short story, because I get so disappointed with low word counts when I'm reading.

I know everyone does not like RPF, but the Third Monday challenge revealed today and I can't say enough good things about what I got. Jon Stewart/Anthony Weiner [link] My own story(About Keith and Rachel, natch) [link]