OTP pairings

Am seriously pondering what it is that makes your brain click and go 'Yes! That pairing is my OTP!'

I know sometimes it's because of canon, or because the pair are closer than close in canon. Other times because it's the first 'ship story you read in that fandom. But each time it's different, and I can't figure out *why*.

Star Wars - 4-6, it's Luke/Wedge. Mostly because the first slash story I strayed across in that part was Luke/Wedge, then thought back to the absolutely blinding smile and hug that Wedge and Luke share in ROTJ and that sealed it for me. Han was *not* allowed anywhere near Luke. I could see why people wrote L/H, but I'd been so invested in Han/Leia since the start of the trilogy that I preferred it that way.

Prequels - well, the Sith Academy really bloody wrecked my perception of the prequels. Entirely. I can see Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon no problem. It's just that the characters have been so skewed by SA that I can't see them any other way, and cheer for Maul/Obi. Except, er, Obi's an ex-heroin addict put into the Jedi program to dry him out whose mother is Dartha Stewart and father is Palpatine and he has two hamsters, one psychotic one called Cuddles and one who is strong in the Force, named Fluffi-Wan, and Maul has a cat called My Apprentice and.... :clutches head in hands: I can't break myself of this.

LOTR, the only thing that has been changed from book-reading is my Boromir/Aragorn tendencies. I blame Viggo and Bean for this. Otherwise, Legolas/Gimli I don't want to see but it's *canon*, and then there's Frodo/Sam, which is also Sam/Rosie which becomes the Wholesome Hobbit Threesome. And Faramir/Eowyn with overtones of Aragorn/Eowyn. All of these are all Tolkein's fault, and guided entirely by Tolkein.

BtVS. Many of these were guided by fic. Popular fic movements. I used to be a big Spike/Buffy, but only S2/3. Spike/Angel, before I lost interest in reading, same with Wes/Angel and Spike/Xander. I like most of the canon ships, think they're adorable and make sense but have no desire to read fic about them. Wes/Gunn was probably the only non-fic-guided one, and only then because it blared from the screen.

Magnificent Seven. Before I actually *saw* the show, my OTP was Ezra/Chris. Purely because the first fic I read was Ezra/chris and loved how it'd been written. Then I saw the show and understood why there was so much Chris/Vin, and Buck/Chris, and Buck/JD. Chris/Vin became my OTP, but I have no desire to read fic about them, because I've yet to find much that's good.

Fast and the Furious - Brain/Dom. Because it's *canon*. And there wasn't really anyone else they were eyefucking for the whole film.

Due South - Fraser/RayK. I blame the actors. Entirely. Mostly because of the spark that was utterly unlike the best friend spark Fraser and RayV had.

HP - Harry/Draco was completely encouraged by the fic. Remus/Snape, on the other hand, was book-borne. I just couldn't help seeing the tension. Sure, Remus/Sirius was fricking obvious, but while the period Remus was teaching at the school, Remus/Snape was happening all over the place. And is *so* happening post-Phoenix. Marcus/Oliver came about because of the films.

And so it goes on....

AIM gripes

Specifically, behaviour on it.

First, if my name flashes up onscreen and I don't automatically start talking to you? I'm normally doing something else. AIM starts up automatically when I turn the computer on or turn on outlook express. Most of the time I ignore it.

Second. You start talking to me and I don't respond. This is normally because of two reasons :

a) I'm away from the computer and was inconsiderate enough to forget to put the away message up. This is because if I'm not in the middle of a conversation, I forget about aim and the need to say that I'm not available to talk. Or I get called away and something outside the computer gets my attention.

b) I'm in the middle of something else that is taking up my attention. Checking ebay, working, figuring out postal prices, reading fic, reading my mail, paying bills, watching something, talking to someone else.... amazingly enough I use my computer for many other things.

So basically, if I'm not talking to you? I'm not necessarily ignoring you. Sometimes I just don't feel like talking to people. There are many, many of my friends that I will go weeks without saying much more than 'Hi' to them on aim occasionally, simply because I have nothing to say.

Whining at me that you're feeling ignored does not advance your cause. And really, saying 'I'm feeling ignored' because I'm not talking to you on aim but have visited you in real life and spoken to you on the phone several times in the same period does not help.