Talk:One True Pairing

Comparisons and Examples

First, I may have added this line myself? But I'm not sure why the OT4 section has "although marginal compared to the common OTPs John/Rodney and Arthur/Merlin", since that's kind of like comparing apples and oranges. Do most pairing pages have a comparison to the runaway most popular pairing in the fandom? If not, it seems odd. Second, if anyone has further fandom examples of OT4-6, those could probably use broadening. Thanks! -the old briar pipe 03:58, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

I suspect it's just trying to get over the idea that OT4s (and OT3s) are usually much rarer than OTPs, but it could certainly be rephrased. Espresso Addict 04:22, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

Hm, but some of them are and some of them aren't? I saw discussion recently about White Collar having almost as much OT3 as Peter/Neal, and Panic and the Disco had a veritable font of OT4 and gen OT4-esque work comparable with the pairing relationships. I think it very much depends on the fandom and isn't something we should necessarily push as an expectation. I mean, aside from the word 'marginal'. (And again, I don't remember - I might have written that myself, years ago.) Could we remove the direct comparisons and simply say that in many fandoms OT4+ works are less common than OTPs, but not in all cases? -the old briar pipe 04:37, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

The only fandom I've ever encountered where the OT3 was anywhere near as common as the major twosome pairing is Pirates of the Caribbean, which is the first place I encountered the OT3 usage. (In LotR, the Frodo/Sam/Rosie threesome is fairly popular but comes nowhere near Frodo/Sam or Merry/Pippin.) It might be one of those things like incest that started out relatively rare and has got more and more mainstream over time? Espresso Addict 04:50, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the overall development has been, really? I can only speak from my own experience, which has been that it's very fandom-by-fandom. (With incest I can pretty much point to Supernatural and a couple of Animanga fandoms; I feel less like I can do that here.) -the old briar pipe 05:06, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

All back-of-the-envelope personal experience, but I get the impression threesomes were rare and considered a bit outre before ~early 2000s. The older fandoms I'm aware of (eg TOS, Pros, B7) don't have any common threesomes, as far as I'm aware. Most threesome and moresome stories I've encountered from them would be of the sex pollen type. Even in a more modern case like Buffy, there's no sense in which the two main het pairings ever resolved into a popular Angel/Buffy/Spike threesome, even though all three subpairs are canonical.

Can anyone think of a popular threesome before the early 2000s? Or has any idea when OT3 was coined or popularised? Espresso Addict 05:26, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

I can see those, but that's specific to media fandom? Threesomes and moresomes were extremely common in Gundam Wing, for example (1995 on). OT3 was also a solution to the Ray Wars in Due South and to the conclusion of Magic Knight Rayearth S2. I really think this is a canon-by-canon, community-by-community thing. Which is also why I'm glad there are more examples being added to the page. -the old briar pipe 05:34, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

I don't know how popular they were, but in Forever Knight fandom in the late 90s and since, there were some trio/trinity factions. The three I know of were Nick/LaCroix/Janette (the Dark Trinity), Nick/LaCroix/Natalie (the Unholy Trinity), and Nick/Natalie/Janette (the Unholy Alliance). There were also some Nick/LaCroix/Vachon stories, though there was no faction for them. The trinities could be interpreted in various ways; but they were often seen as OT3s (if I'm interpreting the term right). There were certainly some poly stories. --Greer Watson 07:05, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

Threesome factions does sound like OT3s, even if they weren't labelled as such at the time. Espresso Addict 08:06, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

Interesting Link

So I was on Tumblr and I saw this link which is how one fair-haired, more physical, emotional and congenial character + one dark-haired, more intellectual and socially-awkward character = OTP. I found that interesting with how many examples they have listed there is quite true. It does focus solely on slash examples but maybe it could also hint at het ones too? I'm just not sure if there was a way to bring it any attention in the article so I'm posting it here. --Harpie (talk) 03:58, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

This concept has been noted in both slash fandom and yaoi fandom for decades. There's a quote somewhere from Starsky & Hutch fandom about "Curly shall not touch curly, and blond shall not touch blond" or something like that? Anyway, it's a fairly well-documented phenomenon, so if we can drag together some more links, I think it might deserve its own page that could be linked to this one? --the old briar pipe (talk) 04:08, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Its own page would be great, I think. I started one in 2010 Mutt and Jeff (a terrible name), and nothing more was done with it. Perhaps it could be renamed and expanded? --Mrs. Potato Head (talk) 12:51, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Oh, I like that start! I'm glad it talks about the more general way the buddy genre shapes these expectations. There could definitely be a section on visual appearance added as well. As for names, I'm not sure? I don't think "The Odd Couple" would be any more clear than "Mutt and Jeff" - both are western idioms. Could we solicit ideas on the comm? (And then I would be thrilled to add a whole bunch of examples from anime & manga fandoms, if you like. We should also probably add obvious f/f ships, like Xena/Gabrielle and Rizzoli/Isles.) --the old briar pipe (talk) 16:33, 8 September 2013 (UTC)