The OTP Meme!

[jedibuttercup]

It's the OTP meme! (Spotted all over the f-list; specifically at sulien77's journal).

Pick up to 15 OTPs/OT3s/etc.
Describe them in less than 15 words.
Have your flist guess the persons and fandoms.

A personal disclaimer: I don't really do OTPs (icon excepted), and I don't believe that all interesting pairings must necessarily include a sexual aspect. But the below are a few of the matchups (from books, movies AND tv) that have made me go "huh" and do some serious archive mining in their time.

15 pairings, 14 different sources, NO CROSSOVERS:

1. It's his boat, and she calls him sir, but they've never been less than equals.
   Mal and Zoë, Firefly: first guessed by neonhummingbird



2. Silver-tongued scholar, golden-tongued pirate: they drive each other crazier than anyone else could.
   Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran, Stargate SG-1: first guessed by maevebran



3. The second-choice son and the frozen maiden: they find motivation to heal and rebuild together.
   Faramir and Éowyn, LotR: first guessed by izhilzha



4. Wizard and crime lord, protecting the same city: sometimes reluctant allies, always verbal sparring partners.
   Harry Dresden and John Marcone, Dresden Files: first guessed byneonhummingbird



5. The sadder and wiser man and his blue-tressed goddess: bound by tragedy, necessity, and war.
   Wesley and Illyria, Angel: first guessed by neonhummingbird



6. She's "meek", he's "boring"; they turned down more passionate partners and together found quiet joy.
   Fanny Price and Edmund Bertram, Mansfield Park: finally guessed by therin87



7. His ego matched his genius; his antagonist's-- doesn't; together they snarked and saved their town.
   Nathan Stark and Jack Carter, Eureka: first guessed by izhilzha



8. Scarred, stubborn soldier and wounded, graceful, brilliant dancer: combined, their brands of crazy are unstoppable.
   Mal and River, Firefly: first guessed by neonhummingbird



9. King and herald, spear-wielder and wise healer; cousins united and divided by tragedy and legend.

Gil-Galad and Elrond, Silmarillion: first guessed by sulien77


10. He's cautious and skeptical, but respects her, the doubter turned believer. Together, they seek truth.
    Agents Doggett and Scully, X-Files: first guessed by neonhummingbird



11. Gentleman's daughter, common tradesman, uncommon rogue: three touched by destiny and repeatedly saving one another.
    Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner, and Jack Sparrow, PotC: first guessed by neonhummingbird



12. Strangers from the East and West, seeker and sought: different cultures, different methods, same calling.
    Ardeth Bey and Rick O'Connell, The Mummy & TMR: first guessed by tygermama



13. Escaped convict, last of his breed, and the pilot who saved his life twice over.
    Riddick and Fry, Pitch Black: first guessed (with both names) by tygermama



14. Bugs, plants, a plaster-touched cheek: from such things did this mentor and mentee's relationship evolve.
    Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle, CSI: first guessed by izhilzha



15. They're each the other's natural prey, and have hurt each other badly; still, they love.
    Buffy and Spike, BtVS: first guessed by sinanju

~

Comments

[neonhummingbird.livejournal.com]

Let's see:
1 is Mal and Zoe?
4 sounds like Harry Dresden and John Marcone?
5 is Wesley and Illyria?
8 is absolutely Mal and River.
10 is Doggett and Scully?
11 is Elizabeth, Will and Jack Sparrow.
13 is Riddick and whatsherface from Pitch Black, but I can't remember her name, so I don't get full points.

The rest I'm coming up mostly blank, but your descriptions alone are enough to intrigue me. :) (Well, I have a guess at 14 but not solid enough to make it.)

[jedibuttercup]

Right (and first guess credit for) all of them, except #13; you don't get that one unless you can give me her name. *grin*

[neonhummingbird.livejournal.com]

Dang it, I should have gone with my guess for 14, I was totally right. And I can give you the pilot's name, but I had to webcheat to do it, so it still might not count. ;)

And of course 7 is Stark and Carter! Geez....

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

1. Mal and Zoe (one of those pairings which I *won't* read unless it's gen)

3. Faramir/Eowyn

5. Wesley/Illyria ?

7. is this Stark and Carter?

8. Mal and River

10. Doggett and Scully

14. Grissom/Sara

[jedibuttercup]

Right on all of them; first-guess credit for #3, #7, and #14.

Mal and Zoë -- he's one of my OTCs, obviously, but I don't tend to ship him with Zoë unless it's very post-movie, and most authors handle it rather poorly anyway, so I don't have much of that bookmarked. On a friendshippy level, though, they are one of the strongest pairings in the show, for me, and a poor treatment of that dynamic has thrown me out of more other-'ship focused fic than I can count.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I agree wholeheartedly that Mal & Zoe is a terrific friendshippy pairing, and one of the anchors of the show.

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

1. Mal and Zoe (Firefly)
2.
3.
4. Harry Dresden & John Marcone (Dresden Files)
5. Wesley & Illyria (Angel)
6.
7.
8. Mal & River (Firefly)
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Riddick and...uh, that woman. (Pitch Black)
14.
15. Buffy & Spike (I don't buy it myself, but...)

[jedibuttercup]

Right on all of them, first guess credit for #15.

(Yeah, I hesitated putting that one on there due to the rather polarizing effect the 'ship has on the fandom; but it was the first 'ship I started reading when I discovered fanfic back in '01, so I could hardly get away with leaving it off.)

No credit for #13 unless you can give me her name!

[tygermama.livejournal.com]

is 13 Riddick and Fry from "Pitch Black"?

[jedibuttercup]

Hey, someone got her name, finally! =)

[tygermama.livejournal.com]

okay I should have waited a bit and posted both my guesses together, but

12 is that Rick O'Connell and Ardeth Bay from "The Mummy"?
or Rick and Evie?

[jedibuttercup]

....Yes. Which guess do you want to make? =)

[tygermama.livejournal.com]

Ardeth and Rick, Seeker and Sought

*crosses fingers*

[jedibuttercup]

*grin* Got it.

[sulien.livejournal.com]

Is #2 Nate and Hayes from the film of the same name?

[jedibuttercup]

Sorry, no, I've not seen that.

(Are you sure #9 doesn't sound familiar to you?)

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

2. is Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran from Stargate SG1.

[jedibuttercup]

*hands maevebran a gold star*

[sulien.livejournal.com]

*thunks head onto laptop*

I do not freakin' believe I did not immediately see Gil-Galad and Elrond in #9. Thank you for the thwap upside the head to wake me up!

[jedibuttercup]

Heh. I'd figured that if anyone would guess that one, it would be you. Not all that many Sil fans on my flist, I'm afraid.

*credits you for the guess*

[vegmb.livejournal.com]

6. Emma and Mr. Knightly?

[jedibuttercup]

In the right ballpark! But no one would ever call Emma Woodhouse "meek". *grin*

[vegmb.livejournal.com]

True. Hmm...I read all of my Austen together so sometimes the stories and characters run together in my brain. I'll have to think about it.

[(Anonymous)]

Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley?

[vegmb.livejournal.com]

And that was me again. Don't know why it put it as anonymous.

[jedibuttercup]

Nope, not them either. He's not exactly "boring", and neither of them turned down a more passionate partner. =)

[sulien.livejournal.com]

Is #6 Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester?

[jedibuttercup]

No, but you're in roughly the right time bracket.

(I'm beginning to wonder if I'm the only fan of this particular couple out there!)

*resists urge to use clueful icon*

[kerravonsen]

She's "meek", he's "boring"; they turned down more passionate partners and together found quiet joy.
If this is an older book fandom, I'd make a wild guess and say it's an Austen, but I can't think of who that would fit. Not Elizabeth/Darcy, since she's not meek; not Jane/Bingley, since I don't think Bingley is boring. So that leaves out P&P. The other Austen canon I've read, I can't remember well enough to figure who it might be.

[jedibuttercup]

That seems to be everyone's problem in guessing this one: even maevebran. She told me she knows what book it is, because I've talked about it before and watched the movie version with her, but she can't remember the characters' names at all.

I guess that's part of the problem with developing a fondness for a distinctly quiet and often disdained pairing: they don't attract many other rabid fans!

Mansfield Park

[therin87.livejournal.com]

The last unsolved one is Edmund Bertram and Fanny Price. I have no doubt you have no idea who I am but I love your stories and I am so excited to see an austen pairing on the meme :)

Re: Mansfield Park

[jedibuttercup]

Yay, someone got it!!!

Hey, anyone who appreciates Austen pairings and likes my stories is always welcome around here. *grin*