MPP

[nny]

Oh the insidious nature of language, again.

Someone else's post got me thinking. (Oh dear. XD)

I dislike the phrase One True Pairing. I've used OTP!!! as a particular flavour of squee for ages now without thinking about it, the same way that I use a lot of pat phrases without thinking about where they came from or what they represent. One True Pairing is like One True God is like that particular flavour of thought that combines smug and superior with an odd irrationality which bears no questioning.

It's not that there is always irrationality, only that the phrase implies it so well, and the implication somehow carries over into a certain insecurity. Like: oh crap, we've lost her to McShep. Like: oh, he's a great writer, but he thinks Tim belongs with Ziva. Like: could you find me fic that bashes Keller because the writers dared blaspheme...

And then it spills again, over the limits of pairing and into character smear campaigns, and there's nothing that puts me off anything so well as out of character behaviour. I don't know. The idea that in order to win fans over to Your Side, that they might see the Truth, you have to make the other potential partner The Baddie... I got bored of that when I was a Mulder/Krycek fan but (gasp!) still liked Scully.

I think I've always conceptualised OTP as one pairing for me, that I prefer characters with one partner for the most part, but it limits my exploration into the fics that could persuade me different; and those are so completely the ones that move me best. But the fact that I prefer one particular combination of characters doesn't make it, compared to others, any more or less True, and I've come to dislike that particular painting of it.

I dunno. Maybe I need to read some gen fic? When I first became a slasher I was unbelievably lacking in internet savvy, and it took me time to realise that it wasn't just one site, that it wasn't just one pairing, that it wasn't just one show. I've been spoiled with fic throughout my fannish existence, and I've not really explored half so much as I should have. Considering there is practically nothing that makes me squee so much, when watching TV, as ridiculous and bantery and comic and caring and heart-warming TEAM, maybe that's the route I need to go down.

Meantime, I'm gonna try to remember to talk about my preferred pairing - or something like it - instead.

Comments

[iadorespike]

Yeah, the idea of an OTP is sort of beguiling, and yet...and yet in almost every single fandom that I read (and there are many of them), while I have one pairing that I probably do love the best (and other pairings that I just can't stand - for any reason), I also have alternate pairings that I read very happily. (And, wow! That's a loooong run-on sentence!)

You mention X-files - also a fandom that I read in even now. I don't read M/K - at all...unless it's a threesome with Walter Skinner. ;) It's one of the few threesomes and moresomes that I will read. I started out reading Sk/M, and then - mostly because of Josan's amazing fic - I also started reading Sk/K. It wasn't so far, then, to add Sk/M/K. What I did realize in that fandom was that I really needed Skinner to be a part of whatever I was reading. I guess that's why M/K just doesn't work for me. Although...it's very pretty. ;)

But I tend to be that way in most of my fandoms. There's usually one character that I need to make the fic work for me. Not always, but most of the time. Like in SGA. I love McShep, but I also love McDex and I'll read McKay/Beckett and even McKay/Zelenka. In BtVS I'm a Spander girl through and through, but I'll read (and like) Xander/Giles and Xander/Angel. See a trend? LOL I guess I tend to stay fairly open to possibilities. Also, a really well-written fic can suck me in to almost any pairing. I actually read Xander/Riley a couple of times - and I NEVER liked Riley. At all.

Anyway, those are just some examples in a few of the fandoms that I read. I've always thought I'm sort of a whore about it (and sometimes it makes me feel bad), because it seems that I can't stay loyal to any one pairing, but maybe it's really not such a bad thing. Your post gave me a lot to think about. Maybe I don't need to actually feel bad about my reading habits.

*hugs*

[gnine.livejournal.com]

I've always liked OTP, but for me, in mind it's always "my OTP". It is, sadly true, that a lot of fen do take the wording in the absolute sense, which is kinda sad. Even when there are other pairings that I may very much dislike or go strongly against my personal OTPs, I just avoid those fic. But you're right, the wording, or rather the sentiments at times embraced by that turn of phrase, do lead to snear and smear campaigns on other characters/pairings/writers, which...yeah...just sucks.

And thus, I'm with you, I think MPP works quite well! ^_^

Semi-related to the wording problem of OTP, my sister and I have recently been using MIP (Most Important Person(s)) as in Rodney is John's MIP or Sam and Dean are MIPs. We started using it mainly because while we are often slashers, there's some fandoms in which we like to stick with Gen, but even so, usually in those fandoms, there's still one relationship that often grabs us more than the others...but using OTP started bothering us 'cause "pairing" always implies romantic sentiments and sometimes that's not how we see it. Maybe they're friends or siblings or what not, but it's still that relationship that we like the most, seeing them care about each other above all else, etc. But sometimes that doesn't me romance and sex, so pairing seems...misleading....Um...I'm rambling, sorry...

Ahhh, semantics :-p

[mezzo-cammin.livejournal.com]

Oh, but it took me forever to figure out what OTP stood for! Now, you're gonna change it? *pouts*

Seriously, I get where you're coming from. Me, I've always thought it meant one's personal favorite, your very own one true pairing, not that it was, like, the *only* true pairing...maybe that's where the confusion comes in? And I am an OTP'er...like you said, I know that it means I miss out on some really wonderful fic, but I just can't bring myself to read them. I've tried. I just feel...tainted, afterwards. Like I've cheated. Or like *they* have, and I've watched them and kept silent. Weird, huh?

Although, I have to say, NCIS is one fandom where I can read just about any pairing and enjoy it. I love Tim/Tony to pieces, but I can actually read them with other people and it doesn't bother me, as long as everyone seems to be in character. I wonder why that it is.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I don't know what it is about NCIS, but it's true for me, too - I don't read much NCIS fic, but I love pretty much any possible pairing in the show, and can like it in fic. NCIS and the anime One Piece are about the only series I've ever broken my OTP trend on - and I gotta say, there is something nice about being able to enjoy the full range of fic; but still, I like my OTPs anyway.

(and yes, I always thought of OTP as my OTPs; my one true pairing above all others, like my one true love - my own preference, not saying anything about anyone else's preferences.)

[fer-de-lance.livejournal.com]

I think I've always conceptualised OTP as one pairing for me,

Me, too -- I think it's why I've never had any problem with the phrase. The missionary-zealous type of "it's the only one anybody/even canon should allow" I tend to think of as "shippers", because most of my knowledge of such people comes from Fandom_Wank and FandomSecrets, and that's how they're referred (and even how they seem to self-refer) to. So that's not a word I use. Ever. Or at least not without explanatory footnotes and a background sense of unease. :D

[liz666.livejournal.com]

It's really interesting that you've posted this because I was thinking along these lines a few days ago but never felt I could express it well enough. For me, part of the issue is I'm not a writer so kinda feel as though my opinion is weightless or something....anyway, moving swiftly on...
I also dislike intensely the OTP thing. I do have my favourite pairings within my current favourite shows and sometimes they're the 'popular' ones and sometimes they're unexplainable to the uninitiated. But to call a pairing the 'ONE TRUE PAIRING' does put my back up because I start to wonder why there has to be any restriction? I have my favourite pairing but I can quite happily read a fic where one of my favourite couple is paired up with someone completely different and unexpected and if it's well written it's awesome! I can see Gibbs/Tony more easily than others, Tim/Tony increasingly so dammit Nny, Tony/Ziva terrifying but so hot, Tim/Ziva would be so sweet, Gibbs/Ziva would be an infrequent pleasure simply because my heart couldn't cope with the badass of those two and Ducky/Gibbs has serious poignant potential. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love a lot of different groupings within the team framework. I can see a lot of things being possible. And to have an OTP seems so sad in a way? Because the possibilities are endless...
And yes, I'm still into Sam/Dean. And the fact that they added Cas to the mix made me go 'Oooh! New pairing possibilities!' And now Gabriel (and yes, I'm flailing like mad) and then there's the thought of all four of them...nah, don't need an OTP over here thanks!