OTP

[peroxidepirate]

I'm sure I'm on record somewhere, saying I'm not an OTP sort of girl. I was probably a little self-righteous when I said it. Sorry about that.

Here's the thing: I see possibility everywhere. That's the fun of fandom, the fun of characters, the fun of writing. Everything's wide open, if you want it to be, and I can almost always see more than one option.

But... if I think about it, there are a few cases where I can't. Or maybe I still see a lot of options, but all the good ones involve the same two people being together. If the characters in question are both alive and of sound mind, and past the point in their personal timelines when they first get together, I can't picture a situation where either of them would be happier or better off if they weren't together. Unless I'm forgetting somebody, I've got four:

Alanna and George
Jack and Ianto
Lark and Rosethorn
Zoe and Wash

... which, unintentionally, is a very tidy demographic cross-section. Huh.

But I'm not big on shipping any of those pairings, exactly, because the very truth of One True Pairing makes it less interesting to write. And they're all canon pairings, so it's not like I'd have to find a way to get them together. So no, I won't write loads of fic for any of them (and what I do will probably be threesome fic anyway exploring what went, or could have gone, wrong). I'm happy just to know they are there, sometimes in the background of things, presumably being shmoopy and adorable and sexy and generally happy, together. I'm gonna ignore the part where some of them are dead.

Um, Buffy and Spike aren't on the list. In season 7, I love them together and I ship them so hard, and that Buffy and that Spike do, for sure, belong together. But that's only if they can keep from treating each other as badly as they did earlier. There's a strong possibility that they could be great together, so I ship it. But there's also, in my mind, a possibility of something else -- so it doesn't make the list.

Comments

[q-sama.livejournal.com]

I can really relate to this post... I'm all about the exploration, and even when I have an OTP (that's almost always rooted strongly in the canon), I'm willing to explore outside of it. A lot. (see K/W...)

My only OTP that isn't canon is Michael/Brian from the American Queer as Folk, and in that case, the original UK QaF had those two characters end up together. So I wasn't missing the boat entirely.

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

You know, I still can't adjust to knowing K/W isn't an OTP for you.

And I don't actually think the canonness is a requisite for me to count something as OTP; it's just worked out that way. Weird.

I'm not familiar with Queer as Folk -- is it the same characters played by different actors on the two shows?

[q-sama.livejournal.com]

You know, I still can't adjust to knowing K/W isn't an OTP for you.

I guess I'd say that it's the closest thing I have to an OTP for Kel, but not for Wyldon? :P

Canon isn't a requisite for me, either. I think it just so happens that the pairings are presented in a light that feel more *right* to me, and I don't know if it's because I put emphasis on the pairings, or the author does.

With Queer as Folk, it was an 8-episode UK series that was sort of "translated" for US audiences, with different cast, locale, and some themes. (for example, since it came out ten years ago, Michael was a comic book nerd, while his UK counterpart, Vince, was a Dr Who junkie.) They transformed it from eight episodes of perfection to five seasons of a combination of near-perfection and crap. :P But Michael/Brian is still my OTP, even as the American version butchered it.

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

I've never been a diehard shipper--e.g. if a series' canon is still developing, I don't get angry with the creator(s) if my favourite pair doesn't/won't get together; annoyed a little, but not furious with them. I've also never participated in ship wars. I think this kind of makes me weird among fandom.

I have canon pairings I love to pieces (ex. Jon/Thayet, Alanna/George, Buri/Raoul, Daine/Numair) and other random bits of non-canon I like to toy with (Buri/Raoul/Kel, Kel/Wyldon, Kel/Lindhall <-- is all journeycat's fault), but I don't often sit there and hope for them to get it together canonically.

I have one "OT3" atm--I use the description loosely because they were the first threesome I would've been keen on, but I don't think "omg, they belong together forever and everybody else is wrong"--and that was Nine/Rose/Jack. It's pretty and I'm experimenting with writing it, but I don't get into wars with people over it.

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I hope I'll never put the energy into shipping wars. :p Even with K/D, which is the frequently-shipped pairing I dislike the most, I can usually just step away and accept that someone else has a different idea from mine. (But did you know that AO3, as of now, has more Kel/Raoul/Buri stories than Kel/Dom? *high five* But it's not quite an OT3 for me, either.)

I'm falling pretty hard for Nine/Rose/Jack on second viewing, but it's not quite an OT3 for me (yet? jury's still deciding...).

Oddly, I don't ship Ten/Rose/Jack at all. I think Ten's too needy and sometimes petty; I think it would become All About The Doctor, and I don't think that's fair to the other two.

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

Eeeee. There's some amazing fic on betterwiththree. You go read and be converted.

Also, Ten/Rose/Jack? Nah. Not exactly my cup of tea; but then neither is Ten, precisely. (I haven't watched any further than "Gridlock", because his behaviour is reminding me of a petulant five-year-old (hey, *MARTHA* didn't dump Rose in the alternate universe; don't blame her) and therefore annoying me).

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

I think I found that comm through the fantabulousfjdklajk fem!Nine/Rose/Jack fic you linked to a while back. :)

I really liked the next two episodes after "Gridlock" -- Daleks build the Empire State Building, the early 30s clothes are pretty, and Martha's her brilliant self.

I'm trying to remember when I decided Ten was OK, but it all runs together. Seems like he's less annoying later in S3 than he is early on, though; I think you're past the worst of it.

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

Psst. The author has written more in that same 'verse--I don't have a link, but it ought to be on the front page of that comm. ;)

LOL, Daleks building the Empire State building. I have to see this. *resolves to watch moar later*

[erimthar.livejournal.com]

I don't have OTP's in the sense that I don't want to see these characters ever paired with anyone else... but I do have my favorite pairings, as I'm sure anyone who reads my stuff will recognize. Buffy/Satsu (BtVS), Elle/Claire (Heroes), Parker/Sophie (Leverage), Xena/Gabrielle, Barbara Gordon/Zinda Blake (Birds of Prey comics).

I have this compulsive desire to have all my stories be in continuity with each other (even though they all aren't), so I do have trouble at times thinking of alternate pairings for these characters, as if I'm somehow cheating on them.

[peroxidepirate.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Xena/Gabrielle should probably be on my list up there. But I still haven't seen the whole series (though I know how it ends), so I can't be entirely sure.

"I have this compulsive desire to have all my stories be in continuity with each other (even though they all aren't), so I do have trouble at times thinking of alternate pairings for these characters, as if I'm somehow cheating on them."

I totally do that, too! Hm, maybe that's part of why I like writing for challenges and writing "Five Things" fics and so on: I can pretend it's not really cheating, because I had to write in that framework.

[erimthar.livejournal.com]

You should definitely see season 6. It's the most blatantly shippy season of the whole show.