On the use of OTP...

[butterfly]

So, I actually have different kinds of OTPness.

1. Ultimate and complete One True Pairing, cannot picture either one of the characters with anyone else as long as the option to be with their OTP exists. Doctor/Rose falls into this category, as well as Zoe/Wash (from Firefly) and Fraser/Kowalski (due South). With the Doctor and Rose, their OTP nature

Comments

[settiai]

I'm such a complete multi-shipper, I honestly don't think OTP is part of my vocabulary. Wash/Zoe might possibly fit the description, since I really can't see either of them with someone else if the other's still alive (other than a threesome, that is), but other than that? The only other 'ship that I have coming even close to being an OTP is Doyle/Cordelia from Angel, and in that case it means that I'll read pretty much anything featuring that pairing no matter how good or bad it is. But, at the same time, I have no problem 'shipping them with other people.

So, yeah. There's a reason I have this icon. I'll apparently 'ship anyone or anything. :-/

[butterfly]

It's always so cool to see all the different ways people interact with shows. For me, there are some characters that I could 'ship with practically anyone (hello, Captain Jack Harkness!) and other characters that seem so perfectly suited to each other that I can't imagine them with anyone else.

The only other 'ship that I have coming even close to being an OTP is Doyle/Cordelia from Angel, and in that case it means that I'll read pretty much anything featuring that pairing no matter how good or bad it is.

I tend to do that with pairings that I like if the fic is hard to find. The more rare a ship I like is, the lower my standards get.

[settiai]

I love Jack because he makes it so easy to 'ship him with pretty much anyone, but - to be honest - that's how I see pretty much all characters. For example, using some of the pairings you listed in your post:

Most of the time, I like Nine/Rose and Ten/Rose. That doesn't stop me from 'shipping Two/Jamie, Three/Jo, Four/Sarah Jane, any combination(s) of Five/Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough, Six/Evelyn, Seven/Ace, Eight/Fitz, Eight/Charley, Eight/Leela/Romana II, Nine/Rose/Jack, Ten/Martha, Ten/Donna, or any versions of Doctor/Romana.

I 'ship Fraser/RayV and Fraser/RayK pretty much equally (with RayK/RayV and Fraser/RayK/RayV thrown in for good measure). While I adore Logan/Max, I have no problems seeing Alec/Max or Alec/Logan (though, admittedly, in that case it's more of a OT3). With both Stargate series, I'll 'ship anyone. And I mean anyone.

. . . so, in other words, I pretty much see everyone (in all fandoms) as Jack Harkness.

The more rare a ship I like is, the lower my standards get.I'll admit, Doyle/Cordelia is the only 'ship that I've

[rynne]

Usually the first. With my OTPs, I can imagine them with other people only before they get together, and even then, those previous relationships weren't with people as eminently suited to them as they are to each other. It's like, I can like Four/Romana because that was a long time before he met Rose, but once he did meet Rose, I can't imagine him with anyone else, even after they're separated.

Occasionally I will write fic that contradicts my OTP (like in Harry Potter, my OTP was Remus/Sirius, and I had no serious interest in considering him with anyone else as long as he and Sirius could be together, but I've actually written him with a multitude of other people). That's not very often, though, because I usually tend to latch onto one pairing and ship it pretty exclusively.

[butterfly]

Usually the first. With my OTPs, I can imagine them with other people only before they get together, and even then, those previous relationships weren't with people as eminently suited to them as they are to each other. It's like, I can like Four/Romana because that was a long time before he met Rose, but once he did meet Rose, I can't imagine him with anyone else, even after they're separated.

I was totally planning on liking Four/Romana when I got into the show... and then I watched them in action and thought they were more like buddies. Very Ten/Donna, actually, if you ignore the glaring personality differences.

I did find Three/Jo 'shippable, though.

But yeah, now that he's met Rose... he gave so much of himself to her. I can't see him doing that again.

Occasionally I will write fic that contradicts my OTP (like in Harry Potter, my OTP was Remus/Sirius, and I had no serious interest in considering him with anyone else as long as he and Sirius could be together, but I've actually written him with a multitude of other people).

[rynne]

Heh. I found Three/Jo way too parental to ship. Four/Romana I could see as friends with benefits, but not anything more. But like you said, he just gave too much of himself to Rose for me to find any other ship believable after he met her.

I have a friend who said she thought OTPing in DW was missing the point a bit, and that just boggled my mind.

[butterfly]

Ooo! That's a neat definition.

I'm fine with reading fics that "go against" my OTP, though I generally prefer to read my OTP. I only use the term restrictively in terms of my own writing.

Interestingly enough, I feel more free to create something myself that goes against my OTPs than to watch or read something that someone else has made.

[measi]

I really, REALLY like this definition of OTP, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Honestly, I think this is the only way that I can definite OTP in my personal shipping preferences - because I do multi-ship, and I am a bit squicked by the idea of people not being allowed to find love again after loss.

[spiletta42]

I am a bit squicked by the idea of people not being allowed to find love again after loss.

As a dedicated OTPer, let me just say I agree with you there -- obviously the surviving partner needs to move forward eventually, and that's not what I personally mean when I say OTP. The thought of one of them losing the other is what hurts so bad, not the possibilities later. I'm not one to hate Kennedy because I'm mourning Tara (actually, bad example, I love Kennedy) or hate Vala because I loved Sha're (um, another terrible example, I love Vala a ridiculous amount). Let me try that again.

*suffers nervous breakdown from imagining the hypothetical deaths of fictional characters*

Like, if Mary Jane died, Spider-Man would probably end up with Felicia Hardy, and I'd be fine with the Felicia part of that, but furious and hurt for years over the death of MJ.

[butterfly]

But after he meets Rose, it's really hard for me to picture him falling in love with anyone else. He fall for her in a big way.

[wanderlustlover]

OTP is such a rare term in my world I actually went to LJArchive to search how many times I've used it in my journal. In nearly six years I haven't used it even a dozen times.

I can ship a lot of people, which I do at a distance and read a lot of shipable fics because of it in most any fandom, but the OTP is special. And thus it's something I usually keep down and quiet.

The One True Pair in my head has to be two people who so completely effect each others world that they become defined by each other, defined by what happens to each other and with each other. It doesn't mean they have to have ended up together but it means that they're connect was so deeply it leaves nothing unchanged for the rest of their life. Frequently they are love stories where love triumphs even where it can't, where it is there even when it can't be had and is impossible to leave behind

[spiletta42]

Ten/Rose, Sydney/Vaughn, Max/Logan, Buffy/Angel, Mulder/Scully, Aeyrn/John, Francine/Katchoo, Xena/Gabrielle . . . what a fantastic list! And I love your definition, too.

[butterfly]

I like that definition, too! And I like your list.