OTP poll

[xparrot]

I've seen OTP ("One True Pairing") used a bunch of different ways around fandom, sometimes leading to confusion and misinterpretation. I'm curious what the general trends for its use are.

(For this poll, please answer the way you personally use OTP, not the way(s) you may have seen it used by other fans.)

[Poll #1356482]
Thank you for feeding my statistics lust - and of course, please comment if you've got anything interesting (or, heck, boring XP) to add. Y'all know how much I love the talky-talky!

Comments

[pantswarrior]

In regards to when I use the term, I mostly agree with the 'a pairing I do not want broken up, but want to stay "together, forever"' answer, but I also had to choose 'my favorite pairing in a fandom, but I may have other pairings I like, including those which may break up my OTP" because neither of them is quite correct. Mostly the "OTP" designation is for a pairing that my headcanon says will be together in the end, which may or may not be my favorite pairing in the fandom, but even though my favorite pairing with either of those two characters is each other, I might also enjoy reading/writing them in other pairings.

But then, I'm also one who mostly uses it facetiously, because I don't write for the sake of a ship alone, and believe anything can be broken in fic if you have a good enough explanation for it.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I should've put "OTP means the reason you write fic" as an option, because that might be true for some people. As for checking contradictory answers, that's why I put that question as checks, because sometimes one will use OTP different depending on circumstances (I know I do; sometimes it means my favorite pairings, other times it's the pairings I don't want to see broken up, but aren't my favorite. Like, Gambit/Rogue is my ultimate X-men OTP, but I also count Scott/Jean as an OTP because I get sad when they get split up...or when one of them happens to randomly kill the other and it's not even mentioned again OMGWTFBBQ....)

I'm maybe kinda weird in that I don't write only my OTPs - but my OTPs are what provoke me into ficcing, generally. (I'm also weird because a lot of my OTPs are romance-optional; I have plenty of gen friendship/family OTPs. I call them OTPs because I relate to them in the same way a hardcore OTPer does; I'll get mopey about stories where their friendship is over...) So I started reading and writing GetBackers fic because I loved Ban & Ginji - but then I wrote fics with Ban & Shido or Ginji & Akabane. Go figure...

[naye]

Actually, you guys are probably better judges of how I use "OTP" than I am. *g* I do tend to use it more around you than I do when I'm having fan conversations elsewhere - I mostly don't identify as an OTP'er. There are exceptions, of course, but right at this moment the only "OTP" I can think of are animanga. (Hakkai/Gojyo and Ban/Ginji.) I'm sure there are others - well, if it still counts as an OTP when you can't even remember that they exist. *g* And in most cases I still read/like stuff that explores other pairings.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

IMO you do have OTPs, just not many of them - but then my opinion is weird anyway in that I have gen OTPs. So back in Sentinel, I wasn't slashing them, but I wouldn't have wanted Jim or Blair to move out or stop being partners. But then, you know I'm more sensitive about these things! (I'd try to change that - but then I wouldn't fic at all. And that would be sad XP)

[ariadne83]

I use OTP for my preferred slash pairings, but I think that's because I found my het-ships before I knew the term OTP, and it feels odd to apply it retroactively when I'm not fannish about those pairings anymore.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I apply OTP retroactively, but that's because the first time I heard the term, I went, "So THAT'S what it's called!" I'd always bonded to particular relationships; even though I didn't have the fannish lexicon, the concept was always part of how I fan.

[lifevolutionary.livejournal.com]

I'm a silly and need to correct one of my answers: for fic writing habits I meant to tick the second box not the first ^.^' sorry!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

No harm done! If you go here:
http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=1356482&mode=enter
you should be able to change your responses.

[busaikko]

The meaning of OTP that I first heard was 'one true pairing', and I totally misinterpreted that to mean 'a pairing that is true in the sense that it is believable', not 'OMG nothing must disturb their love'. My head is not bothered at all by having multiple OTPs featuring the same characters (John/Rodney, John/Todd, Rodney/Katie, Rodney/Keller...). Each has facets that I enjoy seeing and/or playing with, and in the world of each discrete story so long as the pairing is believable, I'm happy... even if the characters are damaged or killed or the relationship fails.

[calime]

The meaning of OTP that I first heard was 'one true pairing', and I totally misinterpreted that to mean 'a pairing that is true in the sense that it is believable'
Yes. This. Seconded.

[lysambre.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned "One True Pairing" can only be used for, well, ONE pairing, otherwise it just cease to be one true pairing, and becomes One Of Many Pairings.

In 15 years of fandom, in quite a few different ones, the only pairing I've ever called OTP is John/Rodney in SGA. Not that I didn't love the other pairings at the time, some I still read from time to time, but this pairing is the one that has touched me the most, thus making it my one and only OTP.

[lysambre.livejournal.com]

Just a little add on :

I've always thought that OTP was derived from One True Love, which to me means, once again, that it is something unique, and that could explain my way of understanding the definition of it :).

[pineapplechild.livejournal.com]

I'm generally using OTP for a romantic pairing (the first time I saw it in used in gen floored me, because it has a very shippy connotation for me) that is the default pairing for those charaters in my headspace. So, while I will read OTP breaking fic, you have to sell me on it. Also, my tastes sometimes change. The only really dramatic shift for me was in HP, when I first started, I was otp-ing the heck out of Sirus/Remus, and wouldn't read otp breaking fic at all. Then somewhere somewhen, someone slipped me a Severus/Remus fic, and I was hooked. I still like Snupin that has past Sirus/Remus, or unrequited crush Sirus/Remus, and when I read the third book, I still go "so...gay...!" sometimes, but. Snupin. Nom nom nom.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Relatively few fans use OTP for gen pairings (only 17% of respondents so far!) - I use it because I'm a gen fan and I've had multiple fandoms that I only read gen, but still have a particular relationship that I adore and can't bear to have broken (move apart, stop being friends, etc...)

[airairo.livejournal.com]

This is really interesting! It's cool how fandom terms change and grow over time. It's our language, so it only makes sense! I think "...,a pairing I do not want broken up, but want to stay "together, forever" is closest to what I'd consider an OTP. I have lots of OTP's, but usually they don't break each other up (with some exceptions... I do have two OTPs that totally overlap with each other... and these work out in my head because I can separate them on a timeline XD) Mostly I think of OTP as "my preferred pairing for that particular character".

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Eee, yes, I love the way fandom meanings shift over time. Language is cool!

"together forever" is my general personal OTP definition (though my definition of "together" is somewhat odd; Lex & Clark's eternal nemesising might satisfy, as long as there's hope for some kind of resolution eventually...)

[iko.livejournal.com]

I use the term OTP usually in jest as I am a fairly equal-opportunity multi-shipper, so when I say something like "Doctor/TARDIS OTP" it's not meant to be taken seriously. I do have my moods and have preference at any given moment, but in the entire scheme of things, in the fandoms I participate in the most, I don't have OTPs.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

TARDIS/Doctor OTP FTW!! (I don't always have OTPs, and Doctor Who is one of the fandoms I don't - except for that one!)

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

I feel I should add that I've used the term OTP perhaps three, four times during the entirety of my fannish experience, so answering this was a bit tricky.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hmm, well, I guess then just answer how you've used it when you have used it? It's a pretty popular phrase, but not universal by any means...

[nikojen.livejournal.com]

I'm a gen person by default, and tend not to be inclined to ship. I mostly use "OTP" to refer to any pairing that *does* bring out my inner shipper-fangirl in all her squeeing glory, and *occasionally* for canon pairings that I may not be rabid about, but which are important enough to how I view canon that any fanfic that ignores/disses/breaks that pairing feels excessively OOC.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Ahh, yes, the rare pairing that brings out one's hidden shipper side - that's as good a definition as any!

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

I don't so much OTP, myself; I get it, I understand it to mean most any of the interpretations you list, but that's not really why I fan, myself. For me, it seems about really clicking with a particular character. I mean, I love Doctor Who and Firefly and I've enjoyed fic for those 'verses, but I most of what really scratches the itch for me is fic about or featuring Rodney, at least currently. I'm also not really much of a romance person (she says, having written a romance as her one fic so far, heh) -- what really works for me (besides emo character studies) is friendship. I've seen OTF for that, I think; to me, SGA Team is totally OTF. But even then, it's not so much about exclusivity to me; I ping the "true" a lot harder than the "one". And I'll read/discuss/enjoy anything that presents its scenario honestly.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I think one of the spectrums fans fall across is character vs relationship - some people seem to attach more strongly to a particular character, others to a relationship. I have favorite characters in almost everything, but when it comes to fic I tend to go for favorite relationships above even characters.

And I use OTP to refer to friendships, mainly because I get attached on occasion to "exclusive" friendships - not that they're the only friends they have, but two (or sometimes more characters) having a particular bond that's incomparable to anything else. (I like to think of the SGA team like this, though canon sometimes interferes...)

[sholio]

Hard to figure out how I use it, actually ... I don't use it much, but when I do use it to talk about myself, it's usually tongue-in-cheek and often with a qualifier tacked on (e.g. "friendship OTP"). I think the way I use it most consistently for my own tastes is to refer to couples that I like the idea of, who aren't together in canon (e.g. I call Sam/Teal'c my SG1 OTP, kind of facetiously, meaning I like reading fic with them together but not implying that I mind fic where they're paired off with someone else) and for characters whose friendships are central to the show for me, but I usually qualify it with "friendship OTP" because I don't get the impression that most people think "platonic" when they hear OTP.

It doesn't imply exclusivity -- usually for my so-called friendship OTPs, seeing the friendship broken up makes me sad, but isn't the end of the world; I wouldn't want to read a steady diet of friendship breakup fics, and I hate seeing it happen in canon, but it's not a dealbreaker for me. I think I orient much more strongly on "friendship OTPs" when I first enter a fandom, because usually they're what draw me into a fandom, and I'll be seeking out fics that are almost exclusively that for a while, and then branching out into a wider variety of fic if I get tired of those or (as in most smaller fandoms) run out.

You and I have talked about this, but romantic relationships don't threaten it for me, canonical or fanonical, because I see them as something other -- actually, in the case of my platonic OTPs, a relationship between them is probably the biggest threat that there is short of the death of one of them (which is a big part of why I tend not to friendship-OTP male-female friendships in canon). The dynamic of two friends plus their romantic partner(s), and working out how the relationship affects the friendship, is one I love, maybe in part because it's rare to find either fanfic or published fiction that explores it (since they tend to focus on the couple). I also like friendships that are a little bit on the edge or uncertain -- I like seeing them skirt the edge of falling into disaster without quite doing so (I guess it's like the will-they-or-won't-they dynamic in romance). I enjoy the push-pull of a friendship that's not quite stable.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

A factor I haven't considered much, but really has a major impact, is whether I'm ficcing for a fandom or not. My hardcore "exclusive" OTPs pretty much only happen in the fandoms I fic for - I'm not sure if it's the reading or the writing, actually, because I tend to write fic for just about any fandom I read extensively in, and if I'm writing fic I'm probably reading it if it's out there. But OTPing is part of how I write - when I got into SGA, I really wanted to write it; I don't know how to explain but it wasn't just that I wanted to join the fandom; I really wanted to have the chars in my head, speaking to me like that. But my fic efforts didn't really gel until I latched onto my John/Rodney OTP (as friendship first, slash a couple months later.) With that base to play off of, the chars came alive...but on the reverse side, I became a lot more sensitive to canon, and I get "protective"...

I don't work like that in fandoms I'm not ficcing for, generally - I'll have characters, relationships, and pairings that I like and dislike, but rarely will they make-or-break a show for me. I'm not sure why, exactly, but I suspect it has to do with the thought that goes into fic - once I really think out a set of character dynamics, and figure out why they work so well the way they are, I have a hard time adjusting to them being changed...(as mentioned, I don't always code romance as a change - it depends on the chars, but I don't usually see it as a "threat"; as we've discussed, romance/slashing for me is more about, hmmm, stabilizing a friendship/partnership. Though I didn't always think this way - I was very perturbed by the idea of Mulder/Scully Romance back in X-files. Still, in current fandom climate it's a convenient adjustment for me to have made!)

I think I orient much more strongly on "friendship OTPs" when I first enter a fandom, because usually they're what draw me into a fandom, and I'll be seeking out fics that are almost exclusively that for a while, and then branching out into a wider variety of fic if I get tired of those or (as in most smaller fandoms) run out.

Ah, yes, this is what I do as well - except that instead of branching out, I'm more likely to just jump to a new fandom.

[tringasolitaria.livejournal.com]

Interesting - you keep provoking me to write something up in my own journal but I keep resisting - LOL! I've been thinking a lot though about the differences in how people fan on shows, and how I fit into that.

I use the term OTP to mean a relationship that I don't want interfered with, whether it be platonic or romantic. I have referred to myself as a John and Rodney OTP friendshipper before. I enjoy reading about other relationships, but they can't interfere with that relationship. For example, I don't handle fics well that try to portray John as having a closer bond with someone else, say Ronon and/or Teyla, than with Rodney. I can read both John and Rodney in a romantic relationship with other people, but they still have to be best friends.

I tend to fixate on a certain relationship in my shows, rather than certain characters, at least for the shows I read fic for. Sometimes I'll have an OTP that I don't read fic for (like John/Aeryn of Farscape) but that's usually because the show itself is such a complete story to me that I don't feel any need to expand it.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I can read both John and Rodney in a romantic relationship with other people, but they still have to be best friends.

For me it depends on whether I see the romance as interfering with the friendship - John/Larrin, for instance, doesn't bother me on the OTP front, while as I felt Rodney/Keller was more "threatening" to the friendship, that she was supposed to love him more than John did, and vice versa...but it's all subjective, of course!

I tend to fixate on a certain relationship in my shows, rather than certain characters, at least for the shows I read fic for.

I'm the same way! Though I have a lot of series I adore that I don't fic (read or write) for - I tend not to have OTPs in those, though, or only have canon OTPs (John/Aeryn being one.) (I call those my "Type A" fandoms - the canon is perfect on its own, fic not needed; while my fic fandoms are "Type B.")

[acchikocchi.livejournal.com]

For the longest time I didn't know what OTP meant, so I absorbed it as a something along the lines of "made for each other" -- I now know what the original meaning is but I almost never use it in that context. Actually, come to think of it, I don't use it all that much, period, and almost never outside of silly AIM conversations and such.

My answers to this pre-JE fandom would have been a little different, and as a matter of fact I think JE's going to remain the statistical outlier. This is the first fandom in which I've had not only two favorite pairings but two favorite pairings that directly conflicted (i.e. Person A/Person B and Person A/Person C). Before, I was the sort of person that imprinted on a pairing and then got very protective and refused to read anything that denied it. It remains to be seen whether I'll fall back into my old ways in shiny new fandoms or not.

(Hm, now I'm second-guessing my answers. XD)

(Fun fact: there's some kind of chain in Hungary -- stores or banks or something -- called "OTP". I snickered every time I passed one and made sure to take pictures. *g*)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

"Made for each other" pretty much describes my OTPs anyway!

I don't know if I've had conflicting OTPs, but One Piece was the only fandom I've written a lot for that I had no OTP at all - I wrote a bunch of ZoSan, but gleefully shipped pretty much every possible combination of the characters. Though really I might have had an OT7 - OT9 by now - so any crew-combo fit into that. Though I'd often check out other pairings - it was a free-for-all! I think it's partly because OP's canon is so absolutely non-romantic that any ship is pretty much OOC parody; maybe also because I didn't have any favorite chars in OP, either...it was a lot of fun, but I just can't manage to fan like that in most fandoms.

(The OTP store! I'd be a frequent visitor...)

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

I use OTP constantly, even though I know it's "supposed" to be your favorite pairing, or at least your favorite pairing in a fandom. Typically any characters having the super-cute bonding times gets a "OTP!" squeal or two from me. I use OTP for non-romantic pair-ups too, but usually specify something like "platonic OTP!" or something.

Generally I use OTP to mean "omg FOREVAR AND EVAR" but that doesn't mean I don't entertain the notion other pairings with the same characters. Like, for instance, Maka and Soul from Soul Eater are clearly OTP but Maka and Chrona are just plain adorable.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

It seems to be increasingly common to just use OTP with any preferred pairing - I do jokingly myself, but I have some relationships I consider my "true" One True Pairing...

(Maka & Soul are so sweet, but really I'm in it for Stein-hakase anyway XP)

[horridporrid.livejournal.com]

I'll categorize a certain pairing in my head as my "OTP" for various fandoms, and it'll generally mean the romantic pairing that I most enjoy reading. But I'm not what I'd call loyal. ;) So in SGA John/Rodney is my default setting, but I have, and will, read any other pairing if it catches my eye. And I'd say the "other" pairings that tend to catch my eye have either John or Rodney as one of the romantic leads.

Interestingly, in Harry Potter fandom I swung between Harry/Draco or Harry/Snape for quite a while. It'd just depend on my mood. (So I had two OTPs, I guess?) Towards the end of my time there (my break with that series was so intense I don't read HP fanfic anymore) Draco/Snape took over as my OTP.

In X-Files, Mulder/Scully was my OTP, but again, I'd read any other pairing but generally only those with either Mulder or Scully as part of the pair.

So here's my conclusion: One or two characters become my favorite (usually via canon), and I like to see them paired up in romantic relationships. If I adore two characters, pairing them is an obvious default choice, but I'll enjoy reading about one or the other in other pairings (with the caveat that the not-paired character must not be bashed, which sometimes happens so you gots to be careful).

Here's the confusing twist: Sometimes the reason I like two characters fairly equally is because of the way they interact with each other within canon. Which leads to the question: which comes first: the OTP or my character-love? ;)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I think character vs relationship love is one of the spectrums fans fall on - while I almost always have a favorite character, I tend to go for relationships over characters, especially in fic (my hardcore OTPs are in the fandoms I read/write a lot of fic for - I suspect there's a certain element of claiming the relationship dynamic as my own, which is why I get so antsy when it gets disrupted.)

Though as I've mentioned, I have little to no interest in romance on its own; pretty much the only time I actually *want* a romantic relationship is when the characters have a strong relationship already, and I want it reinforced by a romantic bond. So in X-files, Mulder/Scully is a romantic OTP for me, because the intensity of their partnership and interdependency is such that I want it emphasized by the intimacy of romance. If a character has no significant relationships, I'll accept romance in lieu of something more interesting to me (I rather like the idea of Snape in a pairing, because he gets no love otherwise!), but I'm always hoping then for the romance to develop into a deeper friendship/family bond.

There's two exceptions to this. I have a thing for long-term, married-couple ships, so if a pair of characters are introduced as already romantically involved, I tend to really like them that way - such as Zoe/Wash in Firefly. They're rare on TV, though.

I also like, on occasion, really screwed-up, twisted romance - one of my last X-files fics was a Scully/Krycek story, in which Scully was secretly working for the conspiracy. In that fic, her most important relationship was still with Mulder, but she was having sex with Krycek. (who wouldn't, really, given the chance! XP) There's no SGA pairings that really work like that for me, though (John/Larrin could have, if they were more genuinely antagonistic and less openly flirtatious...)

[shayera.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I've never thought about applying the term OTP to friendship relations, I always thought that the "Pairing" part meant it was supposed to be exclusively romantic/sexual. And that's not how I fan, so I've never actually applied it to myself.

But if you widen the definition to mean "characters you want to be together forever", then I'd be OTPing all over the place! :) The team of four in SGA would definitely qualify, not to mention the entire team of Mugiwaras in One Piece.

Hmm. With the first definition, an Ed&Al OTP would be incestous and squicky to me. With the second definition, I'm all for it! That could lead to misunderstandings, I guess... ^^;

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I apply OTP to friendships because there are so many pairings of characters (or teams, or crews!) that I simply love to see together, and it breaks my heart to see them separated, and I don't care if they're romantically entangled or not. (A lot of my OTPs, the only reason I start slashing them is because I don't want to see them fall in love with someone else, move away or stop being close to their friends...so it's most convenient to "take care of" that problem by shipping them with each other ^^)

But, yeah, the majority of fans don't use OTP quite like that, so it can lead to confusion...

[psychme.livejournal.com]

My understanding of "OTP" is that it's the one pairing one likes in a particular fandom, to the extent that one can't accept either half of the couple with anyone else. Because if I like A/C in a fandom, but call A/B my "one true pairing," then wouldn't that imply that A/C is *not* a true pairing in my view?

So I consider it a very limited term and rarely use it, though I could apply it to some of the pairings I like. Funnily enough, I find that the pairing I'm most invested in and most passionate about across all fandoms is one that I can't even call an OTP, because I also enjoy half of the pairing with someone else (though certainly not to the same extent).

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes, for me, that exclusivity is a key element of OTPing - when I have an OTP, I don't want to see either of the chars in pairing with anyone else. In fandoms where I have conflicting ships, I don't call them OTPs, just pairings I love. Though it seems by this poll that a lot of fans don't use it that way. As far as I can tell, there are some fans who never get "exclusive" pairings, so have a hard time understanding those who do, so OTP to them is no different than any pairing they like...

[shardsofblu.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm loving these ship discussions you're having. :D

I don't think I've ever OTP-ed in the literal sense of the word, as in having just ONE pairing for two certain characters in my entire course in a fandom -- I've always ended up multishipping. As long as two people make sense and ping for me when they're together, I'm onboard. It's also very much possible for me to get all shippery glee over moments with people who I don't romantically ship at all e.g. Sarah/Derek (TSCC) and Charlie/Dani (Life).

But I'll say that I'm very, very protective over married couples, well-known or otherwise. In comics like all the Flashes (Jay/Joan, Barry/Iris, Wally/Linda), Clark/Lois, Peter/MJ & Rick/Jesse. On TV, like FNL's Coach and Tami. I can't personally relate but having parents who have been married for almost 30 years, I do know this much: marriage is a lot of love but also a lot of hard work. Not sure if I'm able to really articulate my feelings on this but I just find myself rooting a little bit harder for these couples when they go through rough times, compared to those who are not binded in such kind of relationship. Same with couples who have children.

I'll also add friendships are awesome and should definitely be celebrated as much as romance. :D

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I find shipping fascinating to examine, because it's something that's so significant emotionally to so many fans (myself included!) I don't think it's a coincidence that shipwars can be some of the most heated conflicts in fandom; shipping is such a major part of being a fan for many of us...

I count "OTP" with friendships as much as romantic pairings - I'm a gen fan; I absolutely love moments of friendship and caring between many pairs of chars who I don't want together romantically (Sarah-Derek & Charlie-Dani both being in that category...)

And I have a major married couple kink, too - probably for the same reason as you (my parents will be celebrating their 35th anniversary this year. ^^) Successful marriages are so rare in media that I adore seeing them. (I'm not so much into comic books, but Clark/Lois actually causes me troubles, because as a Smallville fan Clark/Lex is one of my ultimate OTPs - but I watched Lois & Clark way back when, so there's a part of me that always ships Clark/Lois. (heck, I thought they were pretty cute in SV, too...) I haven't really worked out how to handle the paradox - as an OTP fan it's most troubling! XP)

[esteefee]

In general use, I think OTP refers to the most popular slash pairing (number of fics) in any given fandom.

For myself, I've always considered the term OTP to refer to two characters who are very obviously slashy on-screen, and much more so than any other possible pairing in the show (in the case of ensemble casts.) By that definition, e.g., I would consider Starsky and Hutch to be an OTP, but I wouldn't consider John and Rodney so; it's a subjective thing, I suppose, but I expect more obviously overt behavior (touching, H/C situations, overt affection), and John and Ronon have as many of those moments as John and Rodney do.

so far I haven't seen a lot of OTPs (the way I consider them) but that just frees me up to write whatever pairings I like in the shows I love, especially if there's evidence of a connection I want to explore.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've seen a few fans using it as the most popular slash pairing - that surprised me the first time I saw it, because always before I'd seen it as a personal thing, a particular fan's particular favorite. This new usage as the cross-fandom popular pairing seems relatively uncommon (only 8% of responses in this poll said an OTP could be "the favorite pairing of a fandom (it may not be my favorite, but the majority of fans')." - but I might not have worded that response the best way.)

It does seem like some fans think of OTP only as related to canon couples (or possibly very close to canon couples like S&H?) At any rate, an OTP should never straitjacket one's writing; if you want to write other pairings, I say more power to you! It's just in my case that I often can't write outside my OTP - I just won't be inspired without it.

[sheron]

"When I use OTP, I mean..."

A pairing in any fandom, where the two people seem made for each other on some meta level, and even if they end up with someone else, they could never be as "good" apart as they are together.