Ooooh what a cool question! Thank you 🙂

I only have a handful of actual OTP’s. I tend to casual ship a fair bit because I like characters to be happy, so if it’s canon then I usually root for them. Not always, there are some ships I don’t like. Anyway do my OTP’s have anything in common? Well what are they for a start?

I’m probably going to go on a bit. I know, I know you weren’t expecting an essay *rolls eyes at self* I’ll try to keep it brief but under the cut because gifs are fun.

Jack Malone and Samantha Spade (Without a Trace)

Jack Bristow and Irina Derevko (Alias)

Rumplestiltskin/Gold and Belle/Lacey (Once Upon a Time)

Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (Agents of Shield)

These are the ships I would ride or die for. I’m wavering about whether to add Swanfire to the list because I really do ship them. However, I’m kinda thinking that if I have any doubt that it’s an OTP then it’s probably not quite there.

So what do they have in common?
Well aside from Fitzsimmons which is my most recent obsession I’ve written fanfic for all of them. That’s more to do with being an OTP though and not anything to do with them as a couple, or is it? I joked yesterday that I always picked OTP’s that hurt me.

My first ever OTP was Jack and Sam. I quit Without a Trace after season four because it changed in a way I didn’t like, and back then I had the ability to still walk away. I seem to have lost that ability but I digress. Anyway, I still kept up with the news about Jack/Sam and I was thrilled when they got back together! Then in the shows finale – the very final episode – they broke up. No happy ending for them. Jack and Irina were even worse, Irina went through some major character assassination to serve the plot and then in the shows finale – the very final episode – they both got killed and not even together, they were on separate continents even.

Rumbelle, well I don’t have to explain their rollercoaster of their relationship. Fitzsimmons get torn apart all the time! Brain damage, undercover assignments, being kidnapped, being sucked through a portal to an alien world, being sucked into another dimension, being replaced by robots etc. Fitz actually said that he thought the cosmos had it out for them.

So common point one – their relationship faces many challenges.

Fitzsimmons kinda breaks the mold because the other three have a common point of their relationship/love being forbidden/not approved of by others. However, they do all have “saving each others lives” as a common point.
– Jack/Sam had Jack walking into a hostage situation and trading himself for Sam who was shot.
– Jack/Irina had a couple of examples though I’m not sure if theirs is negated by the fact that they also tried to kill one another.
– Rumbelle, well you know that list 🙂
– Fitzsimmons had Fitz jumping through a hole in the universe to save Simmons on an alien world. Simmons would also do anything for Fitz. She stunned a superior officer back when she was all nervous in season one because Fitz was in danger and she had to save him.
There are other examples too but I’m trying not to go on for forever.

So common point two – they save each other from danger.

What else? I think the fact that they know each other better than anyone else. They always know what to say to give comfort/support and they don’t need many words to do it – they can speak without words. From Rumple saying “You made me stronger” to Simmons saying “I can’t think without Fitz” – they need one another. They aren’t just lovers, they are friends. They fit together, even if some of them perhaps shouldn’t have anything to do with one another e.g. Jack/Irina, the amount of betrayal in that relationship is unreal but they are still drawn back to one another like magnets.

I’m not explaining this one very well. I suppose it’s about true love which is doing what is best for the other person, not what is best for you. It’s not about what you want, it’s about what the person you love needs. When Jack/Sam broke up in the finale, Jack broke up with Sam first because he could tell she was there to break up with him and that it was cutting her up inside. He let her go with his blessing, to try and make a go of it with her son’s father, because that’s what she needed to do and he wanted her to be happy.

So common point three – they are all true love and care more about each others happiness than what they personally want.

Haven’t I go on enough? Last point I promise. The couples are all equals – both smart, both capable, both skilled. They both bring something to the party and it makes for a true partnership.
– Jack/Sam are both federal agents, with equal training and skills. Jack has more experience because he’s older but Sam has more training in other areas. They respect one another and defer to the others judgement when appropriate, but aren’t afraid to argue if they think they are wrong.
– Jack/Irina are both highly capable and skilled spies. Alone they are deadly but together they are a force to be reckoned with.
– Rumbelle on the surface looks like it’s not balanced because Rumple is so much older, has magic etc. but Belle is really smart in her own right and brilliant at research. I reckon the show have never let them work together because they’d take care of any problem within an episode. With Belle’s determination and knowledge, and Rumple’s shrewd mind for strategy and magical power, no bad guy of the week would stand a chance.
– Fitzsimmons are the scientists and the very definition of friends to lovers. Simmons is biochem and Fitz is engineering, they compliment one another. Honestly they can finish each others sentences and they know how each other works and it’s wonderful.

So common point four – they all respect one another/are equal partners.

They are started from such different places and they separated and came back together over and over. Sometimes by their own choice, sometimes because outside forces tore them apart:
– Jack/Sam was an affair. It should have been a cliche with an older, married boss but then love got involved. Jack has a guilt complex a mile wide and Sam has commitment issues. It was also against the regulations because they worked together but love doesn’t care about that kind of thing.
– Jack/Irina started on a lie because Irina was a Russian spy deep cover, and then Jack believed she was dead for twenty years. Even after all the lies, all that pain, there was still the love because that had been true even if everything else hadn’t been.
– Rumbelle started with a deal but Rumple wasn’t capable of mistreating Belle and she was through his defenses before he even worked out what was happening. Belle hadn’t expected love, she’d just wanted to save her people, and yet love happened anyway. This will always be my favorite BatB adaptation because there was no ulterior motive to them falling in love, quite the opposite in fact.
– Fitzsimmons like I said are the definition of friends to lovers. They were friends for years and it didn’t occur to either of them, and then it occurred to Fitz but he was too afraid to say anything. Simmons took some time to work out what she felt, and their constant separations didn’t help. Once they decided though that was it, it was like the last puzzle piece clicked into place. Their relationship didn’t change what they had, it just added passion and romance to the mix.

So common point five maybe – they are always getting torn apart.

Wow and this was me trying to be brief. I’m sorry for the essay /cringes I just really do love my OTP’s even if they do hurt me.