To OTP or not, that is the question

[lunabee34]

As part of the fascinating discussion over in sga_talk, one of the things we've been talking about is OTP and it got me to thinking (which, yes, is dangerous).

I am not an OTPer. In the beginnings of my fannish days, I was very devoted to Spike/Xander but after some time I began to suffer from Spander fatigue and had to search out other pairings. While I always enjoy the popular pairing of a fandom (Sam/Dean, Jack/Daniel, John/Rodney), my propensity for pairing fatigue still remains. At this point in my fannishness, what I am mostly coming to the table for is to be convinced that these wonderful things (whatever they may be--plot, backstory, pairing, secret, possible future) that never occurred to me are indeed plausible and OMG WHY DID I NOT THINK OF THEM? For that reason, I am very interested in rare pairings and in tangential characters; I think that predilection is neatly summed up in my Bates/Kavanagh fascination. :) So while I love to read and write McShep, I also really wish Sheppard was doing it with Caldwell. (I will not again subject you guys to that detailed fantasy.)

I do not approach fandom through an OTP lens. I'm okay if John and Rodney aren't together; I'm okay if they are angry with each other or mean to each other or if they break up with each other or if *gasp* they never even meet each other. I like for my characters (both written and read) to behave in ways that can be extrapolated from their canon characterization, but that's really about it for me in terms of requirement.

I like to be *surprised* by fanfic. The way I define fanfic for myself is taking the bare bones of canon and building up layers of new flesh so that the animal I create is subtly (or sometimes drastically) different than the animal canon gives us. And after awhile, if all I am reading is one pairing, I stop being surprised. Does this keep me from writing or reading said pairing? Hell no. :) But it does make me long for a wildfire of Lorne/EVERYFREAKINGBODYOMG to sweep through fandom and it does make those main pairing fics that manage to do something completely unexpected that much sweeter.

The only pairing that perhaps approaches the OTP for me is Sam/Dean, mostly because at this point in SPN canon I have a very difficult time believing that either of them could have successful relationships with anyone but each other. But, boy, do I like to read about them trying! LOL

So my question for y'all is this: Are you an OTPer? If you OTP, do you have only one (METHOS!) or do you have an OTP for each fandom? How do you think being an OTPer affects your fannish experience? If you're not an OTPer, why not? How do you think not reading/writing through that lens affects your fannish experience?

Comments

[trobadora]

One of the things that makes me an OTPer is that different pairings lend themselves to different themes, and usually there's not more than one possible pairing in a show that really lends itself to themes I'm interested in. At least that's how it starts.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that's interesting. Can you say a litle more about the themes that draw you to your particular OTPs?

[trobadora]

One example: Buffy/Spike. What draws me to that pairing is the conflict inherent in who and what they are - Slayer and vampire, hero and (former) villain, the girl who wants to be normal and the guy who revels in having escaped the mundane. But there are also things that draw them together. I love reading explorations of what falling in love with each other means for them; the conflicts it brings, but also, how those conflicts could be worked out. How they both grow from it. Of course a lot of fic doesn't really address those issues, but that's not the fic I'm interested in.

Or McShep - two people who are each outsiders in their own way, but in completely different ways, finding something unexpected with each other. They shouldn't be compatible, judging from appearances - and yet, they somehow are. Like in The Game, which really highlights that aspect - how their dynamic, in anyone else, would be a conflict, but for them it's just not. (isiscolo also highlights that theme in Theory/Practice.)

I'm generally drawn to against-all-odds pairings - ones that shouldn't work but somehow do (at least in fic *g*). Characters who find similarities beneath their differences, find unexpected common ground. Something that looks like it might be a recipe for disaster, but ends up actually working out. Which probably explains why happy endings are so important to me. *g*

Does that make any sense to you?

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

That's really cool and indeed makes a lot of sense. I'm drawn to a lot of the same kinds of relationship dynamics as you are. I also really enjoy against all odds pairings; I also have a huge fondness for star-crossed pairings, pairings the should be disasters and *are* despite what the people involved desperately want.

I see now why you are drawn so to Teyla/Bates (besides the sheer knockdown level of pretty) LOL

[trobadora]

Hee, I'm glad it made sense to you! And you're so right about Teyla/Bates. Both the pretty and the pattern :D It's pretty rare that there's more than one pairing in a show that has the "right" dynamic for me. In HP, of course, quite a few Snape pairings fit it to a degree, some more than others, which probably explains why I read a lot of Snape pairings. *g* Snape/Sirius just fits it better than any other, which is why I love that best.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I am finding this all just beyond fascinating. I mean, I knew we all approached fandom and fanfic and the source material differently, but seeing some of these differences (and convergences!) articulated here is really cool.

[velocitygrass.livejournal.com]

Sorry to butt in, but I have to comment on this:

Or McShep - two people who are each outsiders in their own way, but in completely different ways, finding something unexpected with each other. They shouldn't be compatible, judging from appearances - and yet, they somehow are.

You know, this is really freaky, because reading that certain themes influence your shipping and seeing that you ship Buffy/Spike, I wondered about my own Buffy/Giles shipping and how that fit in with John/Rodney.

But the above paragraph (about John and Rodney no less) pretty much nails my view on Buffy/Giles. So I guess it might not be random after all.

*ponders happily*

[trobadora]

Hee! It's really interesting to trace those kinds of patterns, isn't it? :D