Me and shipping

[emmagrant01]

I have my OTPs, of course, but for the most part I'm all about my OTCs. That is, I tend to have a single favorite character whom I pair with anyone and everyone.

In Star Wars, it was Obi-Wan. Het, slash, whatever - I was happy to pair him with anyone. (And in Queer as Jedi, I think we did!)

In Harry Potter, it was Harry. Again, I'm happy seeing Harry with just about anyone (including Ginny), even though H/D is my favorite.

In BtVS, it was Buffy. Oddly, I was mostly into het pairings in that fandom. I did read some Buffy femmeslash, but mostly it was about Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Spike, and even Buffy/Xander.

In Star Trek, it's a bit more complicated. McCoy is my favorite character, but it's Kirk I can ship with anyone. Maybe that's because Reboot!Kirk is canonically slutty, combined with my huge crush on Karl Urban. I have a hard time seeing McCoy with anyone but Kirk, but Kirk can go with anyone.

Now that I think about it, I feel the same way about Draco in HP. I prefer him with Harry, but Harry can go with anyone else. Hmmm.

Anyway, I've recently started reading a lot of Big Bang Theory fic, and I'm finding that my go-with-anyone character is Sheldon. That's perhaps bizarre because Sheldon is presented as essentially asexual on the show, but I think that's why I like seeing him put in sexual situations. One of my all-time favorite kinks is awkward first-time sex, and with Sheldon that's pretty much a given. It's almost like pairing anyone with Sheldon is slash, because his sexuality in canon is so nonexistent. So if slash is about subverting the perceived sexual orientation of a character in canon, then even Sheldon masturbating is arguably slash. (I'm sure people in that fandom are smirking at my naive attempt at meta there, but whatever. ;-)

Anyway, this seems to be a consistent shipping pattern for me. What about you?

Posted via Vita for iPhone.

Comments

[kitty_fic]

I'm the same way. I can ship Harry with lots of characters (both slash and het) but Draco is limited to only Harry (and recently also Albus Severus XD)

Yes to Buffy/Xander! :D Though my OTP is Buffy/Spike <3

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Harry is a slut for me. :-D

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

I've noticed the same pattern re: Harry and Draco. It's not exactly that I can only and exclusively pair Draco with Harry, but I haven't read many fics with Draco and another character. The idea feels kinda weird. I'm way more flexible with Harry, although not too flexible.

In Star Wars, my OTC is certainly Anakin(/Darth Vader). My shipping pattern here is kinda complicated. On the one hand, I enjoy the idea of him with with quite a few characters (including Padme, although I have several issues with this couple that have nothing to do with how they were written, it's more that I just don't like Padme as a "person"; the other characters would be Palpatine, Sabe, Beru, *coughs* and Luke or Leia), but I can't seem to let go of AniObi, my OTP.

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

Still on Star Wars, although I enjoy Palpatine/Anakin, it's an impossible mission for me to find fics to read with this pairing. Not for lack of fics, but because... well, let's just say I only enjoy this pairing in one kind of situation (one that Anakin doesn't enjoy very much), and most fics are the exact opposite.

I can only pair Obi-Wan with Anakin - maybe making a few references here and there to Siri and/or Satine -, or with both Anakin and Padme. This is the only situation I can buy him and Padme. Otherwise, no Obidala for me.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I have written Draco with other characters, oddly. I wrote Draco/Snape and Draco/Remus, though both were for challenges. I'm not sure I would have done it otherwise, but I loved how those fics came out.

I was never really an Anakin shipper, oddly. He seemed like he was all about Padme, heh. I was into Qui/Obi, though. :-D

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think I do a bit of OTPing and OTCing, depending on the fandom. But I generally don't actually fall in love with a fandom and feel compelled to write fic unless I go OTP with a couple. I'll read fic in a fandom that I have an OTC in, but rarely write in that fandom.

For example, in Harry Potter, I can read Hermione/Anyone Except Harry, and I can read Harry/Anyone Except Hermione Or Draco. So, I'll read Harry/Ginny, Harry/Ron, Harry/Cedric, Harry/Sirius, Harry/Snape, etc, and have no problems. (I will read Harry/Draco so long as it is sex only - and preferably perverted sex - and not love, because I actively Do Not Ship Them, like I actively Do Not Ship Harry/Hermione. *shudders at both*) And I can read Hermione/Draco, Hermione/Ron, Hermione/Snape, etc, etc, so long as it isn't Harry, then I'm in. :P

But I've only ever started one HP fic, and it is Dumbledore/Grindelwald (OTP!!!), and have utterly no desire to write any other pairing for HP at all. I'll read it, but unless I get an OTP, I don't care to write it.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

You know, DH and I had this discussion the other day in which I was babbling on about TBBT fic, and he said, "I know you love this stuff, but I've honestly never seen a movie or TV show where I wondered what else could have happened. I just don't give a shit about the what-ifs."

I was stunned by that because in 10 years of me being in fandom he's never said anything like that, but it also struck me that this is part of the reason why I really get into some fandoms and not others. As much as loved LotR, I had zero interest in reading fanfic. I just didn't need to know any more about those characters. It didn't draw me in like others did.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I can ship Harry with a select few (not Ginny, but that's not because it's het, it's because for the most part I don't like Ginny in general), but I mostly can only ship Draco with Harry. I'm also a fan of triofic, if it's done right.

With due South, I'm all about Fraser, and even though I'm a hardcore Fraser/Kowalski girl, I can ship him with several people. I usually don't read dS fic at all if Fraser's not in it (unless it's gen or a really well-written Ray/Ray). I also love me some Ray/Ray/Fraser. It's kind of the same way with X-Files. Mulder is my guy, and I can ship him with either Krycek or Scully (but not Krycek *and* Scully, for some reason). Which could lead me into a rant about how awful most M/K fic is, but I won't let it. ;)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes, Triofic! But like I said, Harry/anyone is good for me!

[darksybarite.livejournal.com]

OooOoOoOooooh, Big Bang Theory!

Any recs?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

What pairings are you interested in?

Someone else asked, so I compiled a few recs anyway. :-D

Penny/Sheldon:
Starship Olisbos (http://montycrowley.livejournal.com/5608.html) by montycrowley. Rated PG, but really awesome.
What Happens, Stays (http://cereal.livejournal.com/125301.html) by cereal. Some lovely smut here. Basically What happens at ComicCon stays at ComicCon.
Basic Human Interaction (http://cereal.livejournal.com/126812.html) by cereal. Lovely build of the relationship, great premise, mild smut.

Sheldon/Leonard/Penny: Strange Bedfellows (http://archiveofourown.org/works/168705?view_adult=true) by Lauren. On AO3, nice threesome. This could totally be an OT3 for me.

Sheldon/Leonard:
This side of Paradise (http://archiveofourown.org/works/197823?view_adult=true) by concupiscence66. On AO3. Sex pollen fic, and the first L/S slash I read. It made me go, okay, I think I can get into this!
The Tea and Sympathy Alternative (http://archiveofourown.org/works/162546#comments), by the same author. Nnnnngh. About as IC as Sheldon gets!

Sheldon/Leonard/Raj/Howard: The Quadripolar Exploration (http://archiveofourown.org/works/164107?view_adult=true) by Lauren. On AO3, definitely NC-17. Cold guys snuggling p to get warm when the heat goes out -- guess what happens? God, I love this fic!

[katieupsidedown.livejournal.com]

The only thing I've noticed in my ship preferences is I like pairings where the characters already have an established close relationship, although not a romantic one.

I tend to prefer to ship best friends (I came out of HP canon looking for Harry/Ron fic) and I think this is also why some of my past ships have been incest pairings - Wincest, twincest, etc. I like pairings where the characters are already close in a non-romantic way, and then something else develops.

Unfortunately for me, this preference sucks. :| It's close to impossible to find good Harry/Ron fic, compared to the amount of H/D, and the same thing has happened in some of my other fandoms too. People who aren't me apparently really like hatesex and getting enemies together, so that's what I end up reading for quality and quantity's sake, but it's far from what I'd prefer.

[lauriegilbert.livejournal.com]

Come to Star Trek where Kirk/McCoy is huge! *is also a Harry/Ron shipper*

[helens78]

(And in Queer as Jedi, I think we did!)

XD XD XD With OCs on top! (Er... literally, in some cases!)


For me, in LotRPS, I could pair Sean Bean with anyone, but I couldn't bear to pair Viggo with anybody but Sean. *g*

In Highlander, I could pair Methos with anyone (he really is one of the original Little Black Dresses of fandom), but Duncan MacLeod and Kronos (separately, mind!) pretty much just went with Methos.

I don't think I really imprinted on characters in SGA or SG-1... anyone could pretty much go with anyone, I never felt I had an OTP. (Maybe that's why I never really felt as much "in" those fandoms as in others?)

In due South, there's a lot of love in the fandom for Fraser and both Rays, and although I've mostly written the fannish OTP (Fraser/Kowalski), I've written every combination. I usually don't stray away from the threesome, though. *g*

And in X-Men First Class, it has really been the All Erik/Charles, All The Time show (seriously, if you ever get around to seeing this one, you'll understand completely, heh). I'm not sure I can really see either of them with anyone else; even when I'm writing angsty breakup fic, my Eriks tend to promise Charles that they'll be faithful, and my Charleses tend to be mopey and pining. *g* I don't usually go all hardcore OTP like that, but there? YEAH. :D

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It's funny to think about how long ago QAJ was. It's all still there, and I sometimes wonder if anyone still reads it!

Argh, I need to go see X-Men! I may have to wait until the DVD, though. :-(

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

If I'm super into a fandom, I have OTCs. If I'm dabbling, I'm usually interested in one or maybe two pairings. Like your TBBT example -- I dabble in it and I'm really only interested in Sheldon/Penny, though I'd probably read Sheldon/Amy if any existed. Actually, strike that, since I'd read Amy/Penny, too. But really I'll just read the glut of my preferred pairing and then move right along.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I ran across an Amy/Sheldon the other day on AO3. I didn't read it, but the summary was about Amy and Sheldon methodically working their way through the Kama Sutra, heh.

Edit: Here are some fics for you! (http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Amy%20Farrah%20Fowler*s*Penny/works)

I was only interested in Sheldon/Penny at first, and I started to get frustrated by the lack of smut. I hate fade-to-black, I really do! *is shallow* All of my searches for Sheldon and NC-17 kept turning up Sheldon slash pairings, so I dipped my toe into Sheldon/Leonard -- and pretty much fell into the deep end of the pool. Slash is apparently where they're keeping all the sexy fic. ;-)

[lauriegilbert.livejournal.com]

Interesting that you see Kirk as canonically slutty. To me he's just canonically flirty. The only person we see AOS Kirk with is Gaila, and sadly we get no real history about that. Yes, he flirts like mad, but so do half my friends and they're very monogamous and happily so. Just my two cents :D

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

See, I knew someone would take me up on my shitty meta. ;-)

Well, I like him slutty. He definitely read that way to me in the movie. :-P

[kriken.livejournal.com]

I can love a show, but it seems that unless I find an OTP, I don't go looking for its fandom. Bleach is a really good example - LOVE it, but don't ship the characters and never felt the urge to go looking for fic *shrugs*

My pattern is usually in the dynamic of the OTP - if there's friction, I'm SO there! B'Elanna/Tom from ST:VOY, Buffy/Spike from BtVS, Harry/Draco from HP... The list goes on and on ;)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, me too. I said this in a comment above somewhere, but I feel the same about LOTR. I just never wanted to know more there.

[citrus-lime.livejournal.com]

I don't know why, but I only have one OTP that I always try to look for updates and the likes, and that's Harry/Draco. But, with my other OTPs, such as Batman/Scarecrow from Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, not so much. Maybe it has something to do with the popularity of the pairing, H/D is so famous especially after...

This,


And Batman/Scarecrow, not that popular. Anyways I'm getting off topic xD for me, I can't see Harry and/or Draco with other character in the story, but if the fic looks good, I'll read it as long as there's no infidelity. :p

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I wonder what it is about H/D that made it such a huge pairing? Why isn't Harry/Ron as popular?

[yaycoffee.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of glad to see that someone else has these sorts of "rules" for characters in her mind--it makes me feel a little less kooky about it (a little ;-)). My hp rules are hard and fast and make very little sence. Sometimes it looks like canon, but really... that's not really it. See, Harry belongs with either Draco or Ginny. The end. I can read him with anyone else to see, but every time, I just don't buy it. I hate Harry/Ron (or any other male Weasley the most) because in my head it ruins their whole brother dynamic (though why this same rule doesn't apply to Ginny? I don't know. My mind is broken or something). Also, Ron? Is straight. No matter what. I cannot buy him in a slash situation ever. I even read a DELIGHTFUL Draco/Ron that I adored, but I never ever really bought them as a couple because Ron is straight. Straightstraightstraight. And made for Hermione. And that is all. I also have this Don't-Mess-With-The-Potters rule that means James/Lily shall only be with each other ever, and I have a similar rule with... well, most of the adult canon relationships (Arthur/Molly, for example). But Sirius/Remus--it is TRUFAX, man, and it bothers me to see either of them with anyone else. Like, I usually can easily separate What Jo Does in Canon with my own kooky fanon rules made up by just me in my head, but I'm telling you... The reason Lupin was so nutty in the last two books is because Tonks was his beard and living a lie is HARD, okay. ;-) Also, Snape pretty much is asexual, so I don't like to see him in any ship (just my preference)... probably because that the Snape in my head is SO GROSS and EWWWWW that I just cannot see him as sexy/romantic at all. And why this rule doesn't also apply to Draco is BEYOND FRIGGIN ME. So, yeah... I could go on forever, but I'll spare you. Those are the main rules, though. :-)

Since you posted about BBT fic the other day, I've been reading a little... it's FUN! I didn't think I would ever be able to buy Sheldon/Penny actually, but I've read a couple of really well-done pieces that have (almost) changed my mind about that. Mostly, in my head for that fandom, I ship Howard/Raj, because doood. They are so in love.

[yaycoffee.livejournal.com]

Oh, jeez. Sorry about the length there. I got a little carried away. But I also wondered, as far as Buffy goes, if you'd read any of the Season 8 comic series? Because it's basically a shipper's dream.

[foxestacado.livejournal.com]

Hahahaa, here's mine:

HP: Harry and Snape. I pair Harry up with just about everyone, and Snape with just about everyone. I just kind of avoid Snape/Filch :P and Harry/any Marauder.

X-Men: I pair just about everyone up to Wolverine. But my favorite is Logan (Wolverine)/Scott Summers (Cyclops).

Iron Man: I pair Tony Stark with just about everyone, including Wolverine. But my favorite is Tony/Captain America.

Batman: I pair Bruce Wayne with just about everyone, including Selina Kyle (Catwoman). But my favorite is Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent (Superman), followed very closely by Bruce Wayne/Tony Stark.

Umm...let's see, my only real big OTPs are Sherlock Holmes/John Watson. I do like the BBC series version for Sherlock/Lestrade, but I still prefer Sherlock Holmes/John Watson. My other OTP is Mulder/Scully (X-Files). I just don't do other pairings other than the two of them. I sometimes read Scully/Krycek and Scully/Skinner, and Mulder/Krycek.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Filch is on the (surprisingly short) list of HP characters I never want to imagine in a sexual situation. :-P

[antesqueluz.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way in that there are certain characters that I can see paired up with anybody (IDIC, anyone?) while there are other characters that I only like in one pairing.

(McCoy's my fave too, btw)

[cheshyre]

I have some OTCs, but for me it's often about particular *attributes* of the pairing. For example, I'm partcularly fond of Griffindor/Slytherin combinations...

But, your last paragraph intrigued me.
I enjoy TBBT, but haven't read any fics yet. Any you'd recommend to sample that fandom?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Here are some goodies I've come across. Enjoy!

Penny/Sheldon:
Starship Olisbos (http://montycrowley.livejournal.com/5608.html) by montycrowley. Rated PG, but really awesome.
What Happens, Stays (http://cereal.livejournal.com/125301.html) by cereal. Some lovely smut here. Basically What happens at ComicCon stays at ComicCon.
Basic Human Interaction (http://cereal.livejournal.com/126812.html) by cereal. Lovely build of the relationship, great premise, mild smut.

Sheldon/Leonard/Penny: Strange Bedfellows (http://archiveofourown.org/works/168705?view_adult=true) by Lauren. On AO3, nice threesome. This could totally be an OT3 for me.

Sheldon/Leonard:
This side of Paradise (http://archiveofourown.org/works/197823?view_adult=true) by concupiscence66. On AO3. Sex pollen fic, and the first L/S slash I read. It made me go, okay, I think I can get into this!
The Tea and Sympathy Alternative (http://archiveofourown.org/works/162546#comments), by the same author. Nnnnngh. About as IC as Sheldon gets!

Sheldon/Leonard/Raj/Howard: The Quadripolar Exploration (http://archiveofourown.org/works/164107?view_adult=true) by Lauren. On AO3, definitely NC-17. Cold guys snuggling p to get warm when the heat goes out -- guess what happens? God, I love this fic!

[djin7.livejournal.com]

I think in order to have an OTP, you must first have an OTC - if you don't truly love and embrace a canon character (flaws and all) then you can't rightly enjoy reading them paired up with anyone else for any length of time, amirite?

So, in order to even find your OTP, you must choose your OTC and then be prepared to fully explore their reactions to multiple possible ships (friendly and romantic) both canon compliant and not; then when the OTP hits you, it's not as if you drop, suddenly, all the interest of the other pairings, only that you've passed Go and collected $200. Ding!

For me, it's [OTC(otp)]: Harry(Snape), Buffy(Spike), Ed(Roy), John(Rodney), Danny(Steve). But I'm happy if any of my OTC's are getting some. :D

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I think that's definitely true for me. From some of the comments here, I don't think it's universal, but I absolutely get obsessed with a particular character and then want to explore all these different sides of him or her. Sides meaning, sexual partners, but still. :-P

[germankitty]

For slash, I invariably go for alpha-male couples -- TOS K/S has spoilt e for any other dynamic. :) H/D is kinda stretching it, though ...

In het ... either canon couples, or I prefer pairings where I think personalities would mesh well -- like Dramione or Hr/SS.

[dark0feenix.livejournal.com]

What an interesting post! I don't think I have any OTCs. For me it's all about the OTPs if I want to explore a fandom more. That's actually the reason I never really got into ST Reboot: I couldn't decide whether I preferred Kirk/Spock or Kirk/McCoy. Occasionally, I read fics with those pairings but I'm not passionate about it.

[hazelhawthorne.livejournal.com]

Queer as Jedi. Wow. I loved that series and remember how thrilled I was when I found LJ and discovered that I could actually get to know you guys!!

As for the meta, Pretty much everyone is polly in my mind. :)

I love reading different pairings. My favorite fests are the rare pairing ones. Or the polly ones! Take all your favorite characters and throw them in a room together and see what happens! Maybe that's why I loved QaJ so much.

Big Bang Theory fic? Oooh! That sounds fun. Which means I should probably avoid it 'til after graduation/ passing my boards. I'm only here at the moment because I just turned in my last huge paper and can't bring myself to start studying for the test on Monday yet.