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

[velvet-mace.livejournal.com]

*here from metafandom*

I'm the exact same way. I have no OTP -- I will never have an OTP. I can like pairings, but they get worn out. There's a limited number of times I can read the same basic story involving the same basic people, with only cosmetic differences between them.

I've found myself gravitating towards crack and unpopular pairings -- and unfortunately a lot of those fics are crap "random is funny zomg!!!eleventy!" fics, but sometimes you get someone who is writing it for the challenge, rather than because they think pairing is funny, and they put all their heart into making the fic work. And then I'm rewarded with a story I haven't read before.

I love it when there is no subtext for the pairing in canon, perhaps the characters never even met before, because that forces the writer to come up with their own backstory for the pairing to be there. I love multipart fics, because eventually they've got to break the mold of canon and go off in a new direction.

Upshot, I've read/watched canon. I don't want what canon already has given me. I want what it can't, or won't. And I want what other people can't or won't write, too.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes yes yes a million times yes to your last paragraph. And also yes.

Upthread a ways I mention an essay on shipping by Kat Allison (?) that I have lost the link to but which specifically discusses shipping characters who have no onscreen time together. The essay's main point is that subtext is over-rated and that we're smart enough cookies to connect those people ourselves.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I would love to find that essay if you think you can point me in the right direction.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

http://katallison.livejournal.com/74077.html

Someone upthread linked me in comments.