Multi but not poly
I had a long drive today, and I spent most of it thinking about ships I have shipped, and what constitutes an OTP for me as opposed to other people, and how I ship things. And here are my conclusions.
First, for a pairing to be an OTP for me, I literally cannot imagine them in any other relationship than with each other (canon pairings aside, some of which infuriate or bore me). Also, for it to be OTP, it has to be the only pairing I'll read in a fandom. And that type/number of OTP for me is just vanishingly small, it seems. In my most prolific fandoms, I have side pairings for each of the BSOs in my main pairings, and I delight in them. For instance:
- Merlin - I'd say my OTP is Merlin/Arthur, and it is really the only thing I'm interested in...but no! Gwaine/Merlin is totally a thing I shipped, and also I didn't mind Arthur/Gwen adorableness (even tho it's disqualified because it's a canon pairing).
- MCU- good lord, what isn't a side pairing here. I've shipped Steve with Bucky, Thor, Sam, Peggy, Howard, and Tony. I ship Tony with Pepper, Peter (under the right circumstances), Rhodey, and Bruce. Bucky and Sam are totally a side item. So are Thor and Bruce. And so it goes. I mean, currently, I'm only reading Steve/Tony, so temporarily they're OTP? But like a hot minute ago, I was writing Steve/Thor, so.
- SPN - I used to write a ton of Sam/Dean, and then Dean/Castiel. But I always shipped Dean with various others, most particularly Benny, Lisa Braeden (which doesn't count because canon) and Victor Henriksen, whose tragic death made me SUPER MAD.
- Stargate SG-1 - Jack/Daniel is the closest thing to an OTP I'll ever have, in its purest form, I suppose. But did I have Jack/Teal'c leanings? Yes. Yes I did.
- TPM - I was about to say that Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan was it for me, but the fact that I wrote an 80,000 word NOVEL where Obi-Wan/Xanatos was basically the primary pairing would prove me a liar, I guess? (Sometimes I forget I even wrote that.)
Even some of my smaller fandoms, I have this issue.
- H50 - McDanno is my thing, except when it's not; I have at times shipped Steve with Adam very, VERY MUCH in my secret heart.
- Hornblower - Bush and Horatio? Sure? Pellew and Horatio? Sure! Archie and Horatio? Not really, sorry fandom. And so forth.
Which also led me to conclude, in looking at my lists, that there are certain characters who are little black dresses for me, and the other half of the OTP is...just the other half. To wit: Dean, Jack, Obi-Wan, Jack, Steve McGarrett, Horatio, Tony, Steve. (I have a type? I guess? Where Merlin fits into that is, he doesn't; Gwaine and Arthur are the type, Merlin is attached to the type.)
And so it goes. What I'm realizing is that the smaller the fandom, the more likely I became fannish about it because of an OTP. Marcus/Esca, The Eagle - there's no other pairing I ever want to see or read there. Ever. Winters/Nixon, Band of Brothers - pure, unadulterated OTP. Smallville, Clark/Lex, get away from me with all your other stuff, lalala can't hear you. ER, Carter/Luka NOW AND 4EVA. Hannibal, Will/Hannibal endgame and always. Xena/Gabrielle, I mean, come on. (And Finn/Poe, tho Star Wars isn't a small fandom, but the stormpilot corner of it is. It's really, really hard to find stories that aren't OT3.)
The other thing I realized is, I might be a multi-shipper, but poly doesn't work for me at all. I can handle 51 flavors of Tony sleeping around, but only one pairing at a time. One OTP at a time, sort of? Except, they aren't OTPs in that scenario. But there just isn't ever going to be a time I want a Thor/Steve/Bruce story, no matter how many Thor/Steve and Thor/Bruce stories I read. Hard same with Bucky, Sam and Steve in various combos. Two at a time, pls. I don't really do OT3, except very rarely (like myashke's Merlin/Gwaine/Arthur), or if it's platonic (Steve, Sam and Nat).
This is what happens when I have four hours alone with my brain. Now you should all tell me how this works for you, because I'm super-curious.
First, for a pairing to be an OTP for me, I literally cannot imagine them in any other relationship than with each other (canon pairings aside, some of which infuriate or bore me). Also, for it to be OTP, it has to be the only pairing I'll read in a fandom. And that type/number of OTP for me is just vanishingly small, it seems. In my most prolific fandoms, I have side pairings for each of the BSOs in my main pairings, and I delight in them. For instance:
- Merlin - I'd say my OTP is Merlin/Arthur, and it is really the only thing I'm interested in...but no! Gwaine/Merlin is totally a thing I shipped, and also I didn't mind Arthur/Gwen adorableness (even tho it's disqualified because it's a canon pairing).
- MCU- good lord, what isn't a side pairing here. I've shipped Steve with Bucky, Thor, Sam, Peggy, Howard, and Tony. I ship Tony with Pepper, Peter (under the right circumstances), Rhodey, and Bruce. Bucky and Sam are totally a side item. So are Thor and Bruce. And so it goes. I mean, currently, I'm only reading Steve/Tony, so temporarily they're OTP? But like a hot minute ago, I was writing Steve/Thor, so.
- SPN - I used to write a ton of Sam/Dean, and then Dean/Castiel. But I always shipped Dean with various others, most particularly Benny, Lisa Braeden (which doesn't count because canon) and Victor Henriksen, whose tragic death made me SUPER MAD.
- Stargate SG-1 - Jack/Daniel is the closest thing to an OTP I'll ever have, in its purest form, I suppose. But did I have Jack/Teal'c leanings? Yes. Yes I did.
- TPM - I was about to say that Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan was it for me, but the fact that I wrote an 80,000 word NOVEL where Obi-Wan/Xanatos was basically the primary pairing would prove me a liar, I guess? (Sometimes I forget I even wrote that.)
Even some of my smaller fandoms, I have this issue.
- H50 - McDanno is my thing, except when it's not; I have at times shipped Steve with Adam very, VERY MUCH in my secret heart.
- Hornblower - Bush and Horatio? Sure? Pellew and Horatio? Sure! Archie and Horatio? Not really, sorry fandom. And so forth.
Which also led me to conclude, in looking at my lists, that there are certain characters who are little black dresses for me, and the other half of the OTP is...just the other half. To wit: Dean, Jack, Obi-Wan, Jack, Steve McGarrett, Horatio, Tony, Steve. (I have a type? I guess? Where Merlin fits into that is, he doesn't; Gwaine and Arthur are the type, Merlin is attached to the type.)
And so it goes. What I'm realizing is that the smaller the fandom, the more likely I became fannish about it because of an OTP. Marcus/Esca, The Eagle - there's no other pairing I ever want to see or read there. Ever. Winters/Nixon, Band of Brothers - pure, unadulterated OTP. Smallville, Clark/Lex, get away from me with all your other stuff, lalala can't hear you. ER, Carter/Luka NOW AND 4EVA. Hannibal, Will/Hannibal endgame and always. Xena/Gabrielle, I mean, come on. (And Finn/Poe, tho Star Wars isn't a small fandom, but the stormpilot corner of it is. It's really, really hard to find stories that aren't OT3.)
The other thing I realized is, I might be a multi-shipper, but poly doesn't work for me at all. I can handle 51 flavors of Tony sleeping around, but only one pairing at a time. One OTP at a time, sort of? Except, they aren't OTPs in that scenario. But there just isn't ever going to be a time I want a Thor/Steve/Bruce story, no matter how many Thor/Steve and Thor/Bruce stories I read. Hard same with Bucky, Sam and Steve in various combos. Two at a time, pls. I don't really do OT3, except very rarely (like myashke's Merlin/Gwaine/Arthur), or if it's platonic (Steve, Sam and Nat).
This is what happens when I have four hours alone with my brain. Now you should all tell me how this works for you, because I'm super-curious.