Citations:OT3

Noun: "(fandom slang) one true threesome; a polyamorous ship involving three characters that is a personal favorite of a fan"

 * 2013, Charles Wang, "Definitely a Mad Man with a Blog", Kitsch (Cornell University), Volume 11, Number 2, Spring 2013, page 55:
 * Should the pairing actually be a threesome? You have an OT3.
 * 2014, Ajantha Nadesalingam & Caitlin Heffernan, "A Brief History of Shipping", Graffiti (North Toronto Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON), page 32:
 * Finally, an OT3 is when you ship more than two people in a polyamorous relationship.
 * 2015, Sam Maggs, The Fangirl's Guide to the Universe: A Handbook for Girl Geeks, page 31:
 * And you don't have to limit your favorite ship to two characters — if there's a third involved, they can be your OT3.
 * 2016, Antony Augoustakis, STARZ Spartacus: Reimagining an Icon on Screen, unnumbered page:
 * In alternative universe (AU) stories set within the timeline of the main text, Funky in Fishnet imagines that Duro was not killed and that he and Agron both become Nasir's lovers in the “threesome fic” or “OT3” (One True Threesome) stories, "The Pursuit of Desire" and "Tooth and Nail."
 * 2016, Bethany A. Scettrini, "Fan Responses to Orphan Black and The 100 via Blogs, Fan Fiction, and Ship Wars", thesis submitted to Baylor University, page 51:
 * BROTPs and OT3s (shipping three characters in a polyamorous relationship) abound.
 * 2017, Elizabeth R. Edwards, "Brotherly Love: Remaking Homosociality and Masculinity in Fan Fiction", thesis submitted to York University/Ryerson University (joint program), page 43:
 * OTP encompasses het as well as slash and has several variations such as One True Threesome (OT3) which portrays perfect polyamorous love and BroTP which signifies a non-sexual best friendship.
 * 2017, Charity A. Fowler, "Negotiating Desire: Resisting, Reimagining and Reinscribing Normalized Sexuality and Gender in Fan Fiction", dissertation submitted to Virginia Commonwealth University, page 286:
 * For some, each member of the triangle cares deeply for the other two, like Elena/Damon/Stefan and Scott/Allison/Isaac—both the most popular OT3s in their respective fandoms.
 * 2017, Katherine Ann Vogt, "'Kinda Twisty And Weird': Queering The Heterosexual Romance In Buffy Shipper Fanfiction", thesis submitted to San Francisco State University, page 5:
 * Shippers use the labels One True Pairing (OTP), the platonic pun BroTP, and the polyamorous OT3 to identify their type of ship.
 * 2018, Lucy Neville, Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: Women and Gay Male Pornography and Erotica, page 237:
 * Not only are male characters often presented as unapologetically bisexual (or, in some sense, post-sexual), but OT3 partnerships are not uncommon.
 * 2018, Donna Jeanne Barth, "Exploring Explicit Fanfiction as a Vehicle for Sex Education Among Adolescents and Young Adults", thesis submitted University of South Florida, page 28:
 * Common derivations include NOTP (a pairing one does not like), BrOTP (a favored non-romantic pairing), and OT3, OT4, etc. (terms for polyamorous pairings with more than two partners) (Fanlore n.d.).
 * 2020, Hendrike Tel, "'This Work Is Tagged 'Asexual Character': An Analysis of Asexuality in Fanfiction", thesis submitted to York University, page 36:
 * For instance, a popular post on Tumblr marvels at the fact that many fans easily understand the sequence of tags “ao3 mcu a:aou abo bdsm ot3 hs au pwp” as a very specific description of a particular type of pornographic fanfiction (bootycap, 2014).
 * 2021, Miel Moreland, It Goes Like This, unnumbered page:
 * Gina/Celeste sighting! Eva/Celeste sighting! OT3 Twitter!
 * 2022, Michelle P. Browne, "Stabilized Love Triangles: Tips On Writing OT3s From A Real Polyamorist", Apex Magazine, Issue 132