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

[babel.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who said she thought OTPing in DW was missing the point a bit

I always read that kind of thing as "I don't enjoy OTPing in DW, therefore no one else ought to." And I don't even particularly OTP anyone in DW myself (though I enjoy Doctor/Rose a lot).

[settiai]

And I'm going to jump in here for a second...

I'll admit, I'm one of those people who honestly can't see having an OTP when it comes to the Doctor Who fandom. Not that I have anything against people who do have OTPs in this fandom! (Noted so butterfly won't kill me in my sleep or anything come VVC. Not to mention the other hardcore Doctor/Romana, Doctor/Rose, Doctor/Master, Seven/Ace, Five/Tegan, Two/Jamie, etc. fans on my friends list. :-P) It's just that I, personally, have trouble wrapping my brain around having an OTP involving the Doctor.

I'll admit, I think that part of it's because I'm firmly set in a multi-shipping viewpoint. I've never been one for OTPs, and that's definitely carried over some into this fandom. Still... I just have trouble seeing how an alien who, pretty much without exception, is going to outlive anyone he's involved with could have one relationship that would forever outshine any others he might possibly have. Especially since previous canon has shown us that, with every regeneration, there's a definite change in personality. While I think Rose was the perfect companion for the Ninth Doctor, whether in a romantic or platonic sense, I don't think she would be compatible with - say - the Sixth Doctor. Or possibly a hypothetical Eleventh Doctor.

There are definitely some people in fandom who mean it as "I don't enjoy OTPing in DW, therefore no one else ought to." But there are some of us who don't have a problem with other people OTPing - we just have trouble seeing it for ourselves. If that makes any sense. :-/

[babel.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, you make sense. I just mean that saying people are "missing the point" because they OTP something comes off as condescending to me. The point of a show can be different things to different people. I'm a multi-shipper myself (I have a list of pairings to write in my current fandom I'm working through which includes 16 het, 16 slash, and 7 femslash pairings on it), I just don't like people acting like OTPers are wrong.

[settiai]

Oh, no argument from me there. I'm not a fan of people telling anyone that they're wrong because of a pairing they 'ship or a character they like. There's enough room in fandom for everybody, or - at least - there should be.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Noted so [info]butterfly won't kill me in my sleep or anything come VVC.

Hee!

I can understand why many people don't OTP the Doctor with anyone. He'll live for quite a long period of time and keeps changing his appearance and personality. Plus, he's arrogant, insufferably clever, and prone to insults.

[spiletta42.livejournal.com]

You know, I was in the antiship camp for Doctor Who (not the loud obnoxious portion of said camp, just quietly in my own head) for quite a long time, but Rose broke me. There's really something very special there.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

There really is. Part of it because they really did take their time -- we saw these two people get to know each other and their steps along the way to love and attraction.