Top 100 Pairings on AO3
jsfunction talked about favorite pairings on this year's Ao3 stats of the 100 top pairings (plain text list here), and I wanted to add my 2 cents.
My OTPs (including those not on that list):
1 Castiel/Dean Winchester [Supernatural] 43,209
71 Spike/Buffy Summers [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] 2,545
X Fox Mulder/Dana Scully [X-Files] 1,404
X Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler [Doctor Who] 1,267
X Ichabod Crane/Abbie Mills [Sleepy Hollow] 559
X Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan [Bones] 524
X John Crichton/Aeryn Sun [Farscape] 325
X Mal Reynolds/Inara [Firefly] 325 (it's a tie! just like John/Aeryn!)
X Chuck Bartowski/Sarah Walker [Chuck] 300
X Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle [CSI] 218
X Shawn Spencer/Jules O'Hara [Psych] 187
X Flynn Carsen/Eve Baird [The Librarians] 103 (and rising... ;))
X Jonathan Archer/T'Pol [Enterprise] 14 (not a popular pairing!)
X Doug Ross/Carol Hathaway [ER] 2 (LOL OMG that fandom is too old for the ao3)
Notice how those are all het pairings? Yep. Gimme a good, strong female character and I'm all set.
SPN being the sole exception, for the universally acknowledged reason that all female characters on SPN die after four episodes. To be honest, in the beginning, even Destiel fell into the second category (see below) for me, because I was only interested in Dean and noone else. But Castiel has grown on me since and Destiel has worked its way up to OTP status over the years.
Other favorite pairings:
Pairings I chose because there are no other pairings I like on the given show and I MUST HAVE A SHIP or I lose interest in a show. For these, I am usually only interested in one single character (underlined) and just go with the main pairing for them. Those are mostly shows that I don't adore and I may even hate major aspects. But they have a huge fandom so I kind of tag along. Shipping is what I am in fandom for, okay? I have no other reason for being here. I would not say they are OTPs, per se, but they are interesting to read about.
2 Sherlock Holmes/John Watson [Sherlock (TV)] 39,374
3 Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski [Teen Wolf (TV)] 34,999
6 Merlin/Arthur Pendragon [Merlin (TV)] 13,337
12 Rodney McKay/John Sheppard [Stargate Atlantis] 8,548
22 James T. Kirk/Spock [Star Trek] 6,247
27 Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones [Torchwood] 5,689
43 Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper [Sherlock] 3,790
64 Bruce Banner/Tony Stark [The Avengers] 2,784
X Harold Finch/John Reese [Person of Interest] 1,426
I am surprised that Finch/Reese has dropped out of the top 100. The 100th rank has 1,819 fics.
To be honest, I also would not have guessed that Merlin is so much bigger than SGA. But maybe some of SGA is still on LJ?
Sterek, in particular, is a very weird case. I have repeatedly stated that I will never watch Teen Wolf after hating the first few episodes. I still started reading Sterek fic, probably caused by the over-exposure to it on tumblr. Then I actually did watch season 3b, and quite liked it, and then promptly dropped out again. I have no idea what to call that. The Sterek fandom is weird, overall. Both characters are portrayed very differently in most fic than on the show.
Pairings I had almost already forgotten about:
14 Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki [Supernatural] RPF 7,751
80 Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor [Queer as Folk (US)] 2,227
I used to read J2 a lot before Castiel came along. Castiel solved the incest problem for me so I naturally went for it immediately.
I don't think I've read more than a handful of J2 since Castiel turned up, but I still have fond memories. I'm glad I left the RPF behind, though, because on the whole I did not feel comfortable with it.
Oh, and QAF. I used to really like the show for two seasons or so, but it's been a long, long time.
Pairings I don't get:
9 Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter [Harry Potter] 11,552
20 Steve McGarrett/Danny “Danno” Williams [Hawaii Five-0] 6,534
24 Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield [The Hobbit] 6,086
21 Gabriel/Sam Winchester [Supernatural] 6,325
30 Sirius Black/Remus Lupin [Harry Potter] 5,462
32 James T. Kirk/Leonard McCoy [Star Trek] 5,440
34 Mycroft Holmes/Lestrade [Sherlock] 4,988
47 Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley [Harry Potter] 3,541
48 Mary Morstan/John Watson [Sherlock] 3,501
Most of those just make me go meh. I am not interested in either character. Why so popular, yo?
Draco/Harry, though... . Draco was never my type of villain. Maybe I was just too old for him already. I do like a good villain-pairing, I have several.
Favorite pairings with villains
26 Harry Potter/Severus Snape [Harry Potter] 5,812
33 Clark Kent/Lex Luthor [Smallville] 5,270
X Elena/Damon [The Vampire Diaries] 801
X Elena/Stefan [The Vampire Diaries] 457
X John Crichton/Scorpius [Farscape] 18
Spike/Buffy falls into that category, too, obviously. The Vampire Diaries didn't reach OTP status because they kept switching around their characters' motivations, which I really loved about this show, but it meant I could never decide between Stefan and Damon, because they were both alternating between good and evil. It might be one of my few OT3s, actually (there are 93 works in Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore/Stefan Salvatore).
General preferences
I like trying to redeem villains who are almost impossible to redeem. It's a challenge. That's probably one of my main attractions to characters.
The other one is mind/body dichotomy and people with broken connections to their emotions, which explains Sherlock and all the Vulcans, as well as all highly intelligent characters in general, and even Dean Winchester.
The women just have to be strong, that's all I want from them.
Ha, talking about my OTPs is always fun. Talk to me!
x-posted to dw (comments:
)
My OTPs (including those not on that list):
1 Castiel/Dean Winchester [Supernatural] 43,209
71 Spike/Buffy Summers [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] 2,545
X Fox Mulder/Dana Scully [X-Files] 1,404
X Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler [Doctor Who] 1,267
X Ichabod Crane/Abbie Mills [Sleepy Hollow] 559
X Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan [Bones] 524
X John Crichton/Aeryn Sun [Farscape] 325
X Mal Reynolds/Inara [Firefly] 325 (it's a tie! just like John/Aeryn!)
X Chuck Bartowski/Sarah Walker [Chuck] 300
X Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle [CSI] 218
X Shawn Spencer/Jules O'Hara [Psych] 187
X Flynn Carsen/Eve Baird [The Librarians] 103 (and rising... ;))
X Jonathan Archer/T'Pol [Enterprise] 14 (not a popular pairing!)
X Doug Ross/Carol Hathaway [ER] 2 (LOL OMG that fandom is too old for the ao3)
Notice how those are all het pairings? Yep. Gimme a good, strong female character and I'm all set.
SPN being the sole exception, for the universally acknowledged reason that all female characters on SPN die after four episodes. To be honest, in the beginning, even Destiel fell into the second category (see below) for me, because I was only interested in Dean and noone else. But Castiel has grown on me since and Destiel has worked its way up to OTP status over the years.
Other favorite pairings:
Pairings I chose because there are no other pairings I like on the given show and I MUST HAVE A SHIP or I lose interest in a show. For these, I am usually only interested in one single character (underlined) and just go with the main pairing for them. Those are mostly shows that I don't adore and I may even hate major aspects. But they have a huge fandom so I kind of tag along. Shipping is what I am in fandom for, okay? I have no other reason for being here. I would not say they are OTPs, per se, but they are interesting to read about.
2 Sherlock Holmes/John Watson [Sherlock (TV)] 39,374
3 Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski [Teen Wolf (TV)] 34,999
6 Merlin/Arthur Pendragon [Merlin (TV)] 13,337
12 Rodney McKay/John Sheppard [Stargate Atlantis] 8,548
22 James T. Kirk/Spock [Star Trek] 6,247
27 Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones [Torchwood] 5,689
43 Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper [Sherlock] 3,790
64 Bruce Banner/Tony Stark [The Avengers] 2,784
X Harold Finch/John Reese [Person of Interest] 1,426
I am surprised that Finch/Reese has dropped out of the top 100. The 100th rank has 1,819 fics.
To be honest, I also would not have guessed that Merlin is so much bigger than SGA. But maybe some of SGA is still on LJ?
Sterek, in particular, is a very weird case. I have repeatedly stated that I will never watch Teen Wolf after hating the first few episodes. I still started reading Sterek fic, probably caused by the over-exposure to it on tumblr. Then I actually did watch season 3b, and quite liked it, and then promptly dropped out again. I have no idea what to call that. The Sterek fandom is weird, overall. Both characters are portrayed very differently in most fic than on the show.
Pairings I had almost already forgotten about:
14 Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki [Supernatural] RPF 7,751
80 Brian Kinney/Justin Taylor [Queer as Folk (US)] 2,227
I used to read J2 a lot before Castiel came along. Castiel solved the incest problem for me so I naturally went for it immediately.
I don't think I've read more than a handful of J2 since Castiel turned up, but I still have fond memories. I'm glad I left the RPF behind, though, because on the whole I did not feel comfortable with it.
Oh, and QAF. I used to really like the show for two seasons or so, but it's been a long, long time.
Pairings I don't get:
9 Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter [Harry Potter] 11,552
20 Steve McGarrett/Danny “Danno” Williams [Hawaii Five-0] 6,534
24 Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield [The Hobbit] 6,086
21 Gabriel/Sam Winchester [Supernatural] 6,325
30 Sirius Black/Remus Lupin [Harry Potter] 5,462
32 James T. Kirk/Leonard McCoy [Star Trek] 5,440
34 Mycroft Holmes/Lestrade [Sherlock] 4,988
47 Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley [Harry Potter] 3,541
48 Mary Morstan/John Watson [Sherlock] 3,501
Most of those just make me go meh. I am not interested in either character. Why so popular, yo?
Draco/Harry, though... . Draco was never my type of villain. Maybe I was just too old for him already. I do like a good villain-pairing, I have several.
Favorite pairings with villains
26 Harry Potter/Severus Snape [Harry Potter] 5,812
33 Clark Kent/Lex Luthor [Smallville] 5,270
X Elena/Damon [The Vampire Diaries] 801
X Elena/Stefan [The Vampire Diaries] 457
X John Crichton/Scorpius [Farscape] 18
Spike/Buffy falls into that category, too, obviously. The Vampire Diaries didn't reach OTP status because they kept switching around their characters' motivations, which I really loved about this show, but it meant I could never decide between Stefan and Damon, because they were both alternating between good and evil. It might be one of my few OT3s, actually (there are 93 works in Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore/Stefan Salvatore).
General preferences
I like trying to redeem villains who are almost impossible to redeem. It's a challenge. That's probably one of my main attractions to characters.
The other one is mind/body dichotomy and people with broken connections to their emotions, which explains Sherlock and all the Vulcans, as well as all highly intelligent characters in general, and even Dean Winchester.
The women just have to be strong, that's all I want from them.
Ha, talking about my OTPs is always fun. Talk to me!
x-posted to dw (comments:
)