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 is practically the foundation of the new series of Who for me. I really can't picture either of them truly falling in love with anyone else with the same passion that they feel for each other. Max/Logan on Dark Angel also falls into this category for me.

2. Couple I care about most on the show, but can picture with other people while still considering the first to be my primary OTP. McKay/Sheppard from SGA falls into this category. Buffy/Xander also fits into it.

3. Serial OTP -- on SG-1, my OTP for seasons 1-3 is Daniel/Sha're. For seasons 4-7, it's Daniel/Jack. And for seasons 8 and onward, it's Daniel/Vala. During each person's specific time period, s/he is the only person that I ship with Daniel.

What do y'all mean when you say 'OTP'?

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.livejournal.com]

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.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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). That's not very often, though, because I usually tend to latch onto one pairing and ship it pretty exclusively.

I've done that, too. Both in writing and in vidding (oh, all the ways in which I totally do not ship Buffy/Riley... yet I made a very sincerely hopeful vid about them).

[babel.livejournal.com]

For me, OTP is a pairing which I never write as apathetic toward each other. They may never be together (in one story, the two never properly met but one learned about the other posthumously through files and such), but they are always connected emotionally in some way that affects them.

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.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.

[rachelbeann.livejournal.com]

OTP's, Rachel-Style: There are some ships that I can't ship w/other characters, can't read fic that ships them with other characters, and basically I become a big ole' ship-bigot, I admit, though I *do* try not to be annoying about it. ^^ Doctor/Rose and Mulder/Scully would be my most obsessive OTP's.

I guess that's my definition of OTP - because One True Pairing pretty much is as exclusive and obsessed as you get, I figure.

I have to agree with rynne as well, though, because I do do ship the Doctor before he met Rose with other characters. None of them are really addicting to me, but I enjoy Three/Jo, Four/Sarah Jane, and Four/Romana.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

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.


Some example OTP's I would count this in?

Rose/Ten (Doctor Who), Micheal/Sydney (ALIAS), Buffy/Angel, Max/Logan, Mulder/Scully (X-Files), Dawson/Joey[/Pacey] (Dawson's Creek), Eryn/John (Farscape), Achmed/Rapsody (Symphony of Ages), Christine/Erik (The Opera, or Susan Kay book), Francine/Katchoo (Strangers in Paradise), Phedre/Joscelin (Kushiel), Xena/Gabrielle

That's at least off the top of my head.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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

[mskatej.livejournal.com]

An OTP for me are a couple who have great onscreen (sexual) chemistry and who I see as deeply loving each other no matter what happens between them. They need to be more important to each other than anyone else too - I like an epic feel to the relationship. Ongoing tension between the characters is essential if I'm to remain interested, and I particularly enjoy pairing characters with opposite personalities.

In Smallville, Clark/Lex is my ultimate OTP - and my favourite OTP ever - but Clark/Lois are an OTP for me as well. I guess because one is fanon and one is (future) canon I don't have issues shipping Clark with both Lex and Lois.

Both Buffy/Angel and Buffy/Spike were OTPs for me, because I loved both pairings a lot but for different reasons. (Huh. Apparently I am okay with the hero of the story having multiple loves! Because actually now that I think about it Buffy can have both boys, and Clark can have both but I don't want to see Lex, Lois, Spike or Angel with anyone else. Weird.)

DC: Bruce/Dick. So wrong and yet so hot.

30 Rock: Jack/Liz. Again, Liz can have Floyd but I'd rather Jack not be with anyone else but her.

Other OTPs I can think of are ones made explicit in canon; the portrayal of their love is so effective and the actors' chemistry so amazing that I am totally invested in a romance between them, and I really want them to "end up together": Michael/Sara (Prison Break), Lily/Rufus (Gossip Girl), Booth/Brennan (Bones), Sydney/Vaughn (Alias), Lee/Kara (BSG), Max/Logan (Dark Angel), Coach/Tami (FNL), Ross/Rachel (Friends).

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

An OTP for me are a couple who have great onscreen (sexual) chemistry and who I see as deeply loving each other no matter what happens between them. They need to be more important to each other than anyone else too - I like an epic feel to the relationship. Ongoing tension between the characters is essential if I'm to remain interested, and I particularly enjoy pairing characters with opposite personalities.

*nods*

Yeah. I have to feel a connection between two people to be able to OTP; a connection greater for them than anyone else they know.

Apparently I am okay with the hero of the story having multiple loves! Because actually now that I think about it Buffy can have both boys, and Clark can have both but I don't want to see Lex, Lois, Spike or Angel with anyone else. Weird.

That's interesting! I think that I do that, a bit with some pairings, where I'll ship one of the characters outside the main relationship but not the other.

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

I use 'otp' quite randomly. It generally means a pairing I like. And I have a short attention span on pairings I like.

However, there are different ways that I ship. In context of the canon, there are some pairings where I can't see the characters with anyone else - Aang/Katara, Doctor/Rose, Zoe/Wash, for example. It basically means, I think it's end game. Canon. The first two by me seeing them integrated, and the last because it would simply make me sad to see them apart on screen (*sobs at Wash's death*).

Similar, but not quite the same, is a paring where I can see the characters, but the ways in which they feel for each other, make it so that, whatever happens, in order for me to buy anything, that relationship really really needs to be acknowledged for one or both characters for me to get behind alt!ship - Sasuke/Sakura, Seishirou/Subaru, Lee/Kara, Buffy/Angel, and Tidus/Yuna, as example. Usually this is as such because of obsessive love that defines the pairing (Seishirou/Subaru, SasuSaku), the fact there is so much baggage between really damaged people that's there (Lee/Kara), or the amount in which the characters utterly changed each others lives (Buffy/Angel, Tidus/Yuna). I don't really argue that any of these pairings are healthy in itself, but the ways in which they relate to each other are too integrated to be looked over, whatever damage they've obtained from one another.

The only pairing I can think of where I don't ship either character with another without these reasons is Mal/Inara. I'm simply not interested in any other potential pairing. It's very very unusual for me.

And there is, of course, relationship types that get me so much. Examples being mentor/mentored (Buffy/Giles, Kakashi/Sauke) or best friends where there's something there/something was there and they've known each other forever (Xander/Willow, Ed/Winry). I could go on, but it would start to get tedious.

And there is the pairing where, while I might enjoy the idea of other pairings happening, it's the pairing I'd like to be canon the most. It doesn't mean I think they're the best characters for each other, or it's the only way the story can ring true to me - it just means I like it the most. House/Cameron, Fred/Wesley, and Ichigo/Orihime are some examples.

But mostly? I'm an OTC. I tend to be focused one character and ship him or ranging between just about everyone who he or she has a significant relationship with or anything that moves (Sasuke, Wesley, Orihime).

THAT WAS TL;DR.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

However, there are different ways that I ship. In context of the canon, there are some pairings where I can't see the characters with anyone else - Aang/Katara, Doctor/Rose, Zoe/Wash, for example. It basically means, I think it's end game. Canon. The first two by me seeing them integrated, and the last because it would simply make me sad to see them apart on screen (*sobs at Wash's death*).

Wash's death still makes me sad, too. Because their love was so adorable and sweet and lovely. I have a hard time picturing Zoe falling in love again. She's such a soldier and her finding Wash in the first place and actually letting him into her heart was such a 'one in a million' thing.

Which is similar to how I feel about Doctor/Rose, now that I think about it! I can't imagine the Doctor finding a person who'll make him feel the way that Rose did, especially since he treats that relationship like it's the first time he's ever felt that way. With nine hundred+ years of history, that's saying quite a lot.

I don't really argue that any of these pairings are healthy in itself, but the ways in which they relate to each other are too integrated to be looked over, whatever damage they've obtained from one another.

I felt that way about Buffy/Angel -- even though I never actually 'shipped them, their relationship was far too important to both of their characters ever to ignore it.

[nic]

I rarely use OTP. I used to run a website called "Soulmates", made up of all my favourite couples, but it got out of control when I opened it up to other suggestions and it was mix-and-match in every direction!

I'll always have my favourite couple(s) in a fandom, but unless they end up happily together in canon (or there's the potential for that in canon), I can't call them an OTP.

Sheridan and Delenn from "Babylon 5" are the best example that springs to mind. I'm still not sure how I feel about Doctor/Rose right now and if I can accept it!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Doctor/Rose is a very complicated issue right now, definitely. Because they kinda got a happy ending. But the Doctor that the show is actually following got a completely tragic ending. Maybe not quite as painful as if he'd run into Rose and she'd found someone new, but he's hurting a lot right now.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

Those are pretty good definitions of OTP types for me, too.

Those that land in my first category get such a strong emotional response from me that I find the thought of them not being together long-term to be upsetting. I certainly can't imagine them with anyone else once they've met, and am likely to overreact to them having other relationships in canon or even in well written fanfic. (That's what happened to the remote for the haunted television -- half an OTP kissed someone and I flung the remote at the television hard enough to crack it.)

All of the pairings that I feel belong together forever have a strong basis in canon.

Your middle category -- I guess my best example there is Faith/Wood. It started so late in canon that I can't compare it to most of the relationships that fall into the first for me, but he's just so good for her that I want to imagine them together forever.

Then there are the serial OTPs, which come about through canon, like Willow/Tara and then Willow/Kennedy. Pre-Tara, I can see Willow with almost anyone.

As for Daniel/Vala, by all logic I should think of them the same, but I'm just so head-over-heels in love with them that they've become my #1 OTP. Of course I respect Sha're, and of course he'll always love her, but Vala's better for him. Vala gets under his skin, and makes him live in the world, and Daniel needs that. Plus Daniel has grown and changed tremendously since season three, so there's that. I don't ship him with anyone between Sha're and Vala, maybe that's the difference, I don't know. I should go do some work.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Vala really is very good for Daniel, I agree. Of course, the oddity of having the episode "Unending" in canon means that, without a doubt, we know that their relationship would make them both happy for a lifetime. This is not a promise that most shows give about pairings.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I don't really use OTP unless I'm being tongue-in-cheek. I'm not really invested in "forever love," since situations change and people change and it just seems like a really narrow definition of what love can be.

When I do use it, it just means that it's a pairing I really, really like. Generally "my favorite pairing for that character," rather than "the only pairing I can ever imagine for that character."

I'm more of an OTC person--I adore one character and see everything through that character's eyes. So a favorite pairing to me is usually something that brings out interesting aspects of the character I love. Like, I'd say Remus/Sirius is my Harry Potter OTP, but honestly, I'd read anything with Sirius in it as long as he's written well.

If I had to choose, I'd say Doctor/Master is my Doctor Who OTP. They've been in each others' lives since childhood, they're equals and distorted mirror versions of each other, and they certainly bring out interesting aspects in each other! But that doesn't mean that I don't love and adore Doctor/Rose (which is certainly happier and healthier). Just that, as much as I love Rose (and think the Doctor loves her), the Master was in his life before Rose and after Rose, and has an impact on the core of the Doctor's being in a way Rose just couldn't. Um. And in a fic sense, I just find Doctor/Master more interesting, since it's a lot darker and it delves into the core of their beings, of the Doctor's dark side that Rose doesn't/couldn't/shouldn't have to see. (Which, I must emphasize, doesn't mean I don't love Doctor/Rose. Because I really really love it. I just love both pairings very differently.)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Doctor/Master relationship is a whole different kettle of fish from the Doctor/Rose relationship (which makes me really understand why they brought in the Master on the Rose-less season). There's so much painful history there, with the Master. So many complicated emotions. And the Master is so fixated on the Doctor and getting to him (Ha! One could also say that Rose was also fixated on getting to the Doctor. Yes. I amuse myself).

[castalie.livejournal.com]

I think I mean the one pairing I'll always go back to, no matter what, the one I really believe in, even if I'll sometimes feel like reading my favourite guy with Someone Else. To me, OTP would be more like the pairing by default, and all the others I might try are just that, a try, something to spice my reading a little but not the 'real' thing.

In The Sentinel, my OTP is Jim/Blair. I have read them with someone else but I never seek those stories out. A fic with a different pairing will offer itself and if the mood strikes I'll try it but I can't imagine them with someone else.

In SPN, my OTP is Sam/Dean. I've read Dean/Someone else but in my mind, it's always about Sam for Dean and vice versa.

In SPN PRS, Jared/Jensen is my pairing of choice but I think I can say that it's one of my two OTPs, because I'll actively seek JDM/Jensen too... and I've read Jensen/Someone else a lot.

In my mind, though, it's always about either Jared/Jensen or JDM/Jensen. A great combo being, of course, JDM/Jensen/Jared, because in that case I have the best of those two worlds :-)

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

*nods*

That definition makes a lot of sense. It's like... your 'home' pairing.

[dirty-diana.livejournal.com]

Truly? Absolutely nothing. My favourite couple in any given context is highly subject to change, I will love them for as long I am talking about them and until I remember something else that I love.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Hee. I'm like that in some fandoms.

[madame-parker.livejournal.com]

I don't have OTP's, it's a rare thing for me. I'm the kind of person who likes the pairing while I watch the episodes or film, after that, I move on to the next couple. I'm a multi shipper, I will jump for joy and glee when a couple gets together but I'm not the type of person who will go crazy mad when that couple breaks up or when fandom doesn't see what I see.

I'm also the kind of person who doesn't need to find an OTP within the first ten minutes of watching a film/episode, I'm not built that way, I'm more for the character then for the pairing.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I generally have one or more characters that I find more interesting than the rest and I like my favorite characters to be happy. Often, though not always, this involves shipping them with the person that I think would make them happiest.

[danamaree.livejournal.com]

I love shipping, I do it all the time, with all types of shows.

But the obvious pairings in Dr Who has actually turned me off the show, and it's not the fandom, or the pairing wars on LJ, it's the show itself. Dr Who doesn't fit in my head as a shipping show, the Doctor isn't a sexual being in my head, and since canon has pulled the show in that direction, I can no longer watch the show, so I've only seen the first season and bits and pieces of the second.

The show has a place in my heart from childhood associations, and the new incarnation isn't the same. And it's not like I'm a obsessive old school Who fan, so not that, but yeah. That's it really.

*shrug*

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

You might enjoy the way that the show resolved the Doctor's feelings for Rose. Or not, because it is clear that he loves her, even if he can't (as a full Time Lord and an emotionally backward dumbo) actually tell her. But the canon does indicate that the Doctor wasn't capable of giving her the same things as the last of the Time Lords as he could have if he were human.

[rushikayu13.livejournal.com]

Mostly #2. It's actually easier for me to make a list of pairings that I don't like than ones that I do.

Usually I just combine them into ridiculous multi-ships (I have a fivesome in BR fandom that was originally a threesome, but then I started shipping one of the characters in another threesome and it...just spiralled from there).

Doctor Who...is a bad fandom for me. I'm willing to accept that every ship (including Ten/Rose, even if I personally am not a fan of the way it's been written) has -or could have- happened. However, this does not mean that I have to like every pairing.