edumacational - fun with binomial theory

[doyle]

I was posting a comment about this on icafreak's journal and I thought "it's maths! Random pointless maths! Who wouldn't love that!"

So anyway, I was talking about my love of odd pairings.

I'd love to have written all the possible pairings, even if it's only for a ficlet, but even just counting the major characters there are *so many*. (If we're talking Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Dawn, Anya, Tara, Oz, Riley, Spike, Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, Wesley, Fred, Illyria, Lorne, Harmony, Doyle, Faith, Lindsey and Lilah - 22 people equals (22*21)/2 pairings. That's 231 pairings, unless my maths is shoddier than I think. And it would mean writing something like Lorne/Dawn or Giles/Lindsey...)

I'm sure I'm missing a major character. Connor! How could I forget my boy! And Andrew! Okay, add them. And Snyder, for swmbo. That gives us 25 characters. The number of possible pairings goes up to 300 (25*24/2). 300! I've got a long way to go before I've done all of them.

If our 25 characters are bored with twosomes then there's a gigantamous 25*24*23/6 = 2300 possibilities for hot threeway action. Okay, might be just a bit impossible to do them all.

The moral of this is: more randomness in our pairings is what we need. To start with, someone should write Cordelia/Dawn/Riley. Or, as icafreak suggested, Anya/Illyria.

Disclaimer: should be taken as an estimate only. I may well have screwed up the maths, in which case the mathematicians on my friendslist will point and laugh.

Comments

[soundingsea.livejournal.com]

To start with, someone should write Cordelia/Dawn/Riley. Or, as icafreak suggested, Anya/Illyria.

Hee! Talk about arbitrary. Well, that will have to be someone else; I've done my duty for odd pairings with Wes/Drusilla. :)

[sangpassionne.livejournal.com]

That would mean writing Fred/Illyria which, whilst not impossible, seems a tad on the freaky side.

Apart from that, it all looks good and I'm looking forward to reading them. Every single one (except maybe Snyder/Buffy cos ewwww) :-D

[swmbo.livejournal.com]

Anya/Illyria is SO MEANT TO BE!

omg, I can't believe you forgot Connor for a second, hee! Thank you for adding Snyder. Balding principals need their love, too! Plus what would Angel do without him?

Pls write me Anya/Illyria, stat, thank you.

Hee! But I am so with you on the more random pairings. GO TEAM!

[enfaith.livejournal.com]

Yee-Haw!

Someone is on my side with the Anya/Illyira lurve!

Once we convince doyle_sb4 to write it, we have to convince her to write Anya/Groo.

should we chain her to the keyboard or just tie her?

[swmbo.livejournal.com]

Oh, chains...less chance of burn. Which might slow her down.

*happpppy sigh*

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

*holds out wrists ready to be chained*

[chartophile.livejournal.com]

Your math makes me happy.

[mosca.livejournal.com]

I did that once, albeit in E.R. fandom and on a smaller scale: 4 characters, every possible pairing thereof. And was going to do more, but started doing the math.

I have this sinking feeling that Darla and Drusilla should be on the list. And if I put on my sad puppy eyes, will you add the Grooselugg? I'll-- I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll write Lorne/Dawn.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

*g* Lorne/Dawn: theirloveissogreen.

And yep, Darla and Dru should have been on there. I'm wondering if Warren and Jonathan and Ethan and Joyce should be, too... (admittedly this means Buffy/Joyce and Dawn/Joyce coming into it. Which would be doable, going for really dark darkfic where either Joyce is a vampire, 'came back wrong' in Forever, or was The First.)

[settiai]

And what about Kate? ;-)

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

...you are evil. That instantly adds about another thirty pairings. But it's Kate, so I must. (Kate/Gunn, ooh.)

Somebody's bound to mention Jenny Calendar now

[jennyo.livejournal.com]

Oh, I was going to mention, um, Eve. (Nina, Holtz, Justine, Jasmine)

...but that's just me being evil.

[settiai]

Oh, and you can't forget Kendra. Because Kendra/Buffy? So canon.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Also Kendra/Giles!

[settiai]

True, true...

*wonders if anyone has mentioned Knox yet*

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Knox! And Holden! And Lawson! And Penn!

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

I'd read that! Never thought of it before, but now that I have... Yep. I'd read it.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Holtz/Andrew!

It has to be done. As does Holtz/Gunn.

[gwynnega]

Oh god, Holtz/Andrew! Andrew would be so in love with Holtz...

[silly-dan.livejournal.com]

OK. What about Jenny Calendar? 8)

And Johnathan, Larry, Kennedy, Rona, Vi, Amanda, Joyce... um... whosits who ran the Watcher's Council....

[settiai]

Quentin Travers.

[octopedingenue]

The problem with a fandom populated by ageless immortal powerful demons with low moral standards is that a pairing like Illyria/Anya (Anyanka) is actually PLAUSIBLE. Dawn/Illyria, even, with Lo & Behold I Am A Shiny Immortal Key.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

In my personal fanon, Illyria made the Key. Dawn/Illyria=OTP!

[enfaith.livejournal.com]

*nods*

And that's why Anya/Illyria/Dawn is one of my sooper sekrit OT3s.

[ros-fod.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I'm missing a major character. Connor! How could I forget my boy!

You're outta the club!
Heeeee. *snurfles you*

[jennyo.livejournal.com]

*giggle* What's disturbing is how Lilah? Is still the sluttiest. I'm all, "Hmm, Lilah/Devon...he opened for some indie band, they're backstage after a concert, he says she kind of looks like this girl he knew back in high school, he's the prettiest thing around, they get all bump and grindy..." and then "Lilah/Andrew: Andrew finally finds someone who likes to order him around as much as he likes" and then I laugh and laugh, because dear God. My character is a big ol' ho.

And the Devon/Lilah actually sounds kind of fun and plausible. God save me.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I have yet to see Lilah paired with Riley, Oz or Lorne. And all those would be beautiful in their own strange ways.

[jennyo.livejournal.com]

Ah, there are two Oz/Lilahs. Here's the category (http://notorious.imjustsayin.net/efiction/categories.php?catid=37&parentcatid=37) on Notorious.

I have not yet seen Lilah/Riley, and that would work. Lilah/Lorne is harder. It's in the tough category, but I'm sure there's some way to make it work.

[thesecondevil]

To start with, someone should write Cordelia/Dawn/Riley. Or, as icafreak suggested, Anya/Illyria.

I actually asked for Anya(nka)/Illyria as one of two possible pairings for a ficathon but I doubt I'll get it. :-( Then after that I started thinking about how cool an Illyria/Glory pairing would be with Illyria standing around observing the human muck and Glory hoping it wouldn't stain her shoes that Illyria made her from the skin of their enemies. Clearly I've put too much thought into this. *is weird*

Still, that's some very impressive maths right there, do you reckon you'll ever be able to write them all?

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

It depends how insane I gradually begin to go next year during my masters thesis... I think it'd be doable. Insane, but doable.

[thesecondevil]

So, the plus side is that we all get to read lots of great fic from you, the bad side is that you'll go crazy. Hmm...

The men in white coats are standing by. *g*

[gwynnega]

Hmm, how about Lindsey/Tara? Doyle/Faith? Dawn/Gunn? Anya/Lilah?

(I once had an idea for a Wishverse Vamp!Giles/Vamp!Willow/Human!Harmony fic...)

[settiai]

*cough*

You do realize that the list can go on forever?

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

...someone convince me not to do a "1000 ficlets, 1000 pairings" challenge. Please. (It wouldn't just be me writing the ficlets, obviously, more like drabble tag, and gah, I should not be considering this!)

[settiai]

But why would someone want to convince you not to do it? ;-)

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

Ditto

[paratti.livejournal.com]

::enables::
::enables::
::waves watch hypnotically:: "You want to, you want to."

[leni-ba.livejournal.com]

Drabble Tag, you said? An Unconventional Couples Drabble Tag where Rule #1 is not to repeat the couple?

Name the day and place, girl

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

Ficlet tag?

*perks ears up?

Did I hear you say ficlet tag? All-UC-all-the-time ficlet tag?

*bounces up and down*

With lots of people playing?

*chases tail in excitement*

Um, what was it you wanted us to tell you again?

[hpchick.livejournal.com]

Um...what about Gwen, Joyce, Ethan, Amy, Clem, Dr. Walsh, Forrest, and Graham.

Xander/Illyria? Knox/Holden? Caleb/Cordelia? Caleb/Lilah? Gwen/Xander? Riley/Fred? Clem/Lorne? Wishverse VampXander/Buffy?

Sorry. It's late and I'm over-tired. These pairing just came spewing out of my poor sleep-deprived brain.

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this, and you would go nuts using every recurring character. But every character that ever appeared in the opening credits, even if only once? That should be doable.

First season: Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles, Cordelia
Second season: add Angel
Third season: add Oz
Fourth season: add Riley, Spike and Jonathon (only one episode, but he's in there)
Fifth season: add Anya and Dawn
Sixth season: add Tara (again, only one episode, but...)
Angel season one: add Doyle and Wes
season two: add Gunn
season three: add Fred and Connor
season four: add Lorne
season five: add Illyria and Harmony

Unless I'm missing someone, that's 21 people, thus 210 pairings. Yes, that takes out popular favorites such as Lilah and Ethan, but it's a doable spread. If you got seventy people to take three pairings apiece (each ficlet no less than 500 words), it would be done already!

_{do it, do it! You know you want to do it}

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Now there's an idea... I'm probably going to end up doing that. (although this weekend I think I'm going to issue the 1000 pairings challenge, mad as it is. I'm dying to see what kind of couples people come up with)

[jedi-penguin.livejournal.com]

Hee! Can't wait! Though sadly I won't have too much play time this weekend, so perhaps I should get started early... *grin*

[makd.livejournal.com]

Put the calculator down, NOW. Place it in the lowest drawer of the desk, way in the back, underneath some papers, where you'll never find it again.

Walk away from the desk, slowly - very slowly. Now, leave the building, go off to a nice, quiet, place and have a nice cup of hot tea and some cookies.

[accidentalwords.livejournal.com]

One web-page that lists all possible pairings from any given list of characters? Check (http://www.this.nu/steal/pairings.htm).

Yes, I have no life.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

This. Is the greatest thing ever created. Squee!