Shit, but I'm late and shouldn't be writing this!
There's something I wanted to talk about regarding OTPs (and maybe give you a heads up, I dunno) and my relationship to them. I find it amusing that I am so possessive of my pairings, and in my head I have made up three distinctions. I call them primary and secondary and tertiary pairings, because I'm great at naming things, yis.
Primary pairings (also known as the much talked about OTPs): McKay/Sheppard, Buffy/Spike, Sirius/Remus, Gerard/Frank, Ryan/Brendon, Gabe/William.
These guys are a little bit special, because (with a possible exception of the bandom boys) I have serious, serious issues seeing them paired up with anyone else. This is true, I can't read a John/Elizabeth story for example, without knowing that it'll end in John/Rodney -- other pairings, or ships, just aren't part of my fundamental understanding of the universe. My reaction to these stories would be the virtual equivalent of putting my fingers in my ears going "LALALALA". Sad, but true.
Here the bandom boys (the last three pairings) are a bit special. Bandom is a large and mildly incestuous place, which means that sometimes I will stumble over a story in which I have one of my OTPs but not another. This is something I'm going to have to grin and bare, but that doesn't mean I will like it. That possessive irrational part of me will always go "But what about Frank? I mean, Bob is all well and good, but! Gerard/Frank OTP!" This doesn't mean I'm trying to be a bitch or a tinhat, this is just weirdly uncomfortable for me, and I have a tendency to get jealous at my OTPs behalf, even if they are not interested in each other in the story at all. I may have mentioned this before. This doesn't necessarily mean I won't read an otherwise great story -- The First Rule of Broom Wielding by Skoosie is amazing, even if it features Brendon/Spencer.
But, moving on.
Secondary pairings (also known as yeah, okay, I can deal): Harry/Ginny, Jon/Spencer, Pete/Patrick
I don't have many pairings in this category, as you may see, it's a fairly new one as well. The secondary pairings are the half-OTPs. I prefer my Petes with my Patricks, that's the way I usually read them, but if I find a story in which Frank and Gerard gets their naked and sweaty on and there is Pete/Mikey and Patrick/Bob in the background (or alternately, if it's a Pete/Mikey story with a background Gerard/Frank) I am so not complaining. They're not one of the die-hards, it's okay, I can deal.
Tertiary pairings (also known as the free for all): Lorne/Parrish, Ronon/Teyla, Ronon/Zelenka, Zelenka/Weir, James/Lily, Angel/Cordelia, Bob/Spencer, Mikey/Bob, Bob/Ray, Ray/Mikey etc. etc.
Make no mistake, I love these guys dearly, but it is rare that I will sit down and read a story with these guys as the main pairing, unless there's some heavy duty OTP in the background (Lorne/Parrish, but with a healthy dollop of McKay/Sheppard, for instance). These are the guys that are largely interchangeable. I'm just as fine with Mikey/Ray as I am with Mikey/Bob or Pete/Mikey, for example. I love them together and I think each of these pairings have their merits, but they're not OTP and I will not get irrationally jealous for Bob's sake if Ray hooks up with Mikey.
James/Lily is a bit of a sidenote in this category, since I do prefer my James with my Lilys, it's just that I almost never read James/Lily-centric stories. It's a sad fact that James and Lily are a bit like furniture in my Sirius/Remus-centric world -- they're always there, a constant. You know they'll get married or else there'd be no Harry.
Now, why am I talking about this? Well, mostly because this new fandom I'm frequenting is, as I said, so goddamn large. You can stumble over any pairing anywhere, and it's just as likely that one person may have several equally beloved pairings with the same guy (see Frank/Bob, Gerard/Bob, anyone/Bob). I feel a little set in my ways, but it's really not much I can do about it, I've been like this since my very first fandom. Possessive is the word you may want to use.
Primary pairings (also known as the much talked about OTPs): McKay/Sheppard, Buffy/Spike, Sirius/Remus, Gerard/Frank, Ryan/Brendon, Gabe/William.
These guys are a little bit special, because (with a possible exception of the bandom boys) I have serious, serious issues seeing them paired up with anyone else. This is true, I can't read a John/Elizabeth story for example, without knowing that it'll end in John/Rodney -- other pairings, or ships, just aren't part of my fundamental understanding of the universe. My reaction to these stories would be the virtual equivalent of putting my fingers in my ears going "LALALALA". Sad, but true.
Here the bandom boys (the last three pairings) are a bit special. Bandom is a large and mildly incestuous place, which means that sometimes I will stumble over a story in which I have one of my OTPs but not another. This is something I'm going to have to grin and bare, but that doesn't mean I will like it. That possessive irrational part of me will always go "But what about Frank? I mean, Bob is all well and good, but! Gerard/Frank OTP!" This doesn't mean I'm trying to be a bitch or a tinhat, this is just weirdly uncomfortable for me, and I have a tendency to get jealous at my OTPs behalf, even if they are not interested in each other in the story at all. I may have mentioned this before. This doesn't necessarily mean I won't read an otherwise great story -- The First Rule of Broom Wielding by Skoosie is amazing, even if it features Brendon/Spencer.
But, moving on.
Secondary pairings (also known as yeah, okay, I can deal): Harry/Ginny, Jon/Spencer, Pete/Patrick
I don't have many pairings in this category, as you may see, it's a fairly new one as well. The secondary pairings are the half-OTPs. I prefer my Petes with my Patricks, that's the way I usually read them, but if I find a story in which Frank and Gerard gets their naked and sweaty on and there is Pete/Mikey and Patrick/Bob in the background (or alternately, if it's a Pete/Mikey story with a background Gerard/Frank) I am so not complaining. They're not one of the die-hards, it's okay, I can deal.
Tertiary pairings (also known as the free for all): Lorne/Parrish, Ronon/Teyla, Ronon/Zelenka, Zelenka/Weir, James/Lily, Angel/Cordelia, Bob/Spencer, Mikey/Bob, Bob/Ray, Ray/Mikey etc. etc.
Make no mistake, I love these guys dearly, but it is rare that I will sit down and read a story with these guys as the main pairing, unless there's some heavy duty OTP in the background (Lorne/Parrish, but with a healthy dollop of McKay/Sheppard, for instance). These are the guys that are largely interchangeable. I'm just as fine with Mikey/Ray as I am with Mikey/Bob or Pete/Mikey, for example. I love them together and I think each of these pairings have their merits, but they're not OTP and I will not get irrationally jealous for Bob's sake if Ray hooks up with Mikey.
James/Lily is a bit of a sidenote in this category, since I do prefer my James with my Lilys, it's just that I almost never read James/Lily-centric stories. It's a sad fact that James and Lily are a bit like furniture in my Sirius/Remus-centric world -- they're always there, a constant. You know they'll get married or else there'd be no Harry.
Now, why am I talking about this? Well, mostly because this new fandom I'm frequenting is, as I said, so goddamn large. You can stumble over any pairing anywhere, and it's just as likely that one person may have several equally beloved pairings with the same guy (see Frank/Bob, Gerard/Bob, anyone/Bob). I feel a little set in my ways, but it's really not much I can do about it, I've been like this since my very first fandom. Possessive is the word you may want to use.