#is this. a rare pair

[salems-lots]

Very serious Book Simon and Addicition art

[the-bar-sinister]

That fic you wrote?

The one about the ship no one else cares about, or the deeply unpopular character, or the extremely unusual AU?

The fic that got no comments or kudos when you posted it?

Months or years from now, that fic might be exactly what someone is looking for in the sea of fics about all the popular characters, ships, and AUs.

Your fic might be the only fic out there that has what someone is looking for. The only fic that scratches the itch that it turns out you and that reader share.

And that's awesome.

[spectralsleuth]

Reblog and put your rare pair in the tags/comments! I want to see the depths people will go to create, for the most random two characters in the most obscure media.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

“why would you write fics for small, unpopular fandoms? you’re not gonna reach that many hits in fandoms not many people know about” ?? because I’m not writing fics for hits or kudos, I’m writing them for me because these characters are my blorbos and I have so many ideas, so much thoughts about them that my brain might explode if I don’t write them out.

[hepalien]

Hey rarepair shippers, I'm about to change your lives.

The AO3 Primary Ship Search add-on for Firefox (it's called AO3 First Tag Search for Chrome) adds this little checkbox to the AO3 advanced search page

And if you check the box, the search only returns fics where the pairing you entered is the first one tagged. This is better than the otp:true operator imo because it will show fics with secondary/background pairings too as long as your preferred ship is the main one.

You can even use the add-on in Firefox or Kiwi browser on Android mobile.

Have fun 😘

(more ao3 tips here)

[themetalhiro]

I always have a load of fun with rare pair commissions! Here’s some recent ones. Thank you guys as always 🫶

( 1-3: N/A 4: @fallensnowfan 5: @boneparrot )

[daddiesdrarryy]

James: Is it still awkward between us, Pads?

Sirius: Kinda hard to ignore it, Prongs. You know what you did

James: Okay, I’m sorry I thought you were Reggie and slapped your arse at the Halloween party! You both have the same hair from behind!

[doushitemacaron]

I can't believe this show gave me rival rival-ships. It's like rival inception and I'm so here for it.

[za0mbie]

I dont know a handful of things

[averageludwig]

Back at it again with the rarepair grind... Heavydemo propaganda GO!

[sosorryjack]

Hmmm hmm hmmm hmmm

[super-un-stable]

Two cents. 1 failed evil experiment to another

[marzghost]

As a starving MumMan shipper, I really said, "Fine, I'll do it myself", lmao hope you guys enjoyed the art!

Their song should be Uptown Girl by Billy Joel 👀

[valkofish]

tryna make my account more multiship...i ship an ungodly amount of stuf...

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

fanfic writers who write for rare pair ships are treasures and I hope they all know about the impact they have on fandoms. like… they’re the ones bringing these ships to lives, they’re one of the few people who saw the potential between two characters whose dynamics, whether or not they interact in canon, were overlooked by most fans, and they created something beautiful out of these potential dynamics. like??? hello???? that is pure genius.

not to mention how they’re the lifelines for other people who enjoy these ships but didn’t have any fics to consume until these tireless writers spent hours or days or weeks or months or years writing about these characters and their relationships, and just shared the worlds they created with their audiences for free.

or how they singlehandedly introduced the ships to new people who would’ve otherwise never thought about these ships before.

how they could just make people fall in love with the dynamics between characters who have little to no canon screentime together.

how they could just make people fall in love with the dynamics between characters who aren’t lovers in canon, characters who don’t indicate any clear hint of romance in canon.

how they see what most fans don’t and how they create such beautiful worlds for these characters are simply insane.

fanfic writers who write for rare pair ships are treasures.

shoutout to every fanfic writer who writes for rare pair ships.