Rarepair Hell Weekend

[thisaintbc]

Announcing a new event! \o/ June 25 and 26 will be Rarepair Hell Weekend! 

Got a rarepair or a small fandom you love? This is the event for you! This is a celebration of rarepairs (which in this case is being stretched to the limits of its definition to include uncommonly explored gen relationships, characters who don't get many works, and small fandoms) and their fanworks! 

This event is loosely modeled off of sdwolfpup's More Joy Day—which means that instead of contributing to an AO3 collection or using a certain tag on social media, you do what you like in a space of your choosing, and then come and comment on this post and tell us about what you did! (Dreamwidth allows people who don't have accounts to leave anonymous comments, so you do not need to have a DW account to participate.) For this event, you can do anything you want in celebration of your rarepair(s) of choice, including but not limited to:

• leaving a comment on an existing work
• compiling a rec list
• creating a new fanwork (fic, art, vid, filk, etc) of your own
• writing a ship manifesto
• etc

Do whatever you like to drag us down into rarepair hell with you, and then come back and comment with what you did! 

Not sure if what you're thinking of counts as a rarepair? You can find some more info on that below the cut! 

What qualifies as a rarepair? 

This is a tricky question, because rarity is relative—something with a number of works that would be considered rare in, say, MCU fandom might count as a juggernaut pairing in a smaller fandom. I would say that as a general rule of thumb, if the pairing or character under consideration has less 1/3 of the fandom's total content OR has had fewer than 100 works posted to AO3, then it probably qualifies as a rarepair.

I would use a similar rule of thumb to determine whether a fandom as a whole is small enough to count, regardless of how popular any given ship is within the fandom; less than 100 works in the past two years feels like a small fandom to me! 

However, that said, this is all totally on the honor system and, for the most part, I'm just going to trust your judgment about your ships/gen relationships/characters/fandoms. If it feels small or rare to you, then it probably is! At the end of the day, if you don't want to math out what 1/3 of a fandom's works is, then just go with your gut; it's probably right.

Comments

[ride_4ever]

Do I understand this to mean that one of the ways to participate would be to leave a comment on someone's rarepair!fic and then comment in this comm about commenting on that fic? (Uhm, there's some due South rarepairs I've read for which I'll be going to special hell if I rec them.)

[thisaintbc]

That's right! With all the different comments it gets a little confusing, haha, but yes! You can absolutely participate by commenting on someone's rarepair!fic & then commenting here about leaving that comment.

[muccamukk]

What a fun idea! I'll try to finish up that rarepair fic in my WIP folder by the weekend.

Is this the main post, or will you be putting up another one on the 25th?

Also, do you mean to have anti-spam captchas turned on for all comments?

[thisaintbc]

\o/ thank you!! I'm really excited to see how this event turns out! ^_^

This is the main post! It just seemed easier to have a link already up & ready to go, instead of asking people to watch my journal on the 25th. My plan is to make this event as low pressure as possible for everyone - including myself!

Oh, drat, I didn't--I must have accidentally turned that on when I changed my settings to allow anonymous commenting. Thanks for letting me know!

Rare Pair: Baghra & The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova

[angstythumbs]

Shadow & Bone / Grishaverse:

Rare Pair:
Baghra & The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova

One of my FAVORITE relationship dynamics--between the two most complex and nuanced and well-built characters--and there are only 40 uses of this tag on ao3.

I made this collection on ao3:

Baghra Supremacy

Re: Rare Pair: Baghra & The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova

[thisaintbc]

oohh, very cool, thank you!! AO3 collections can be such a godsend for people looking for rarepair content!

The event doesn't actually start until this weekend, so you may not see any other comments here until Saturday - it's totally fine that you commented now and don't feel like you have to change anything, I just wanted to let you know so you weren't looking for comments that might not show up for a few days yet!

[sodium_amytal]

All my favorite ships are rarepairs! Thank you for this! I won't be able to make fanworks this weekend, but I can probably compile a master list of all my fave rarepairs with fics, art, and ship manifestos! :D

Thank you for hosting this!

[thisaintbc]

Oohh, that master list sounds incredible! I'm excited!

Of course!! I also really love rarepairs (and have gotten into a few smaller fandoms lately), and was thinking it would be nice to have a low-pressure event celebrating the things that don't get quite as much attention in fandom. So here we are! :D

[(Anonymous)]

Are threesomes/moresomes/polyamory allowed?

[thisaintbc]

Absolutely! Polyamory is totally allowed. Whatever rare fannish thing makes your heart sing!

[vriddy]

This is such a cool event, I love the spirit :D I promoted it in a couple of places, I hope lots of people join and have fun with it :)

[thisaintbc]

Aahh, thank you! I'm excited to see how much interest there is swirling around already! :D

[noxelementalist]

A CHALLENGE MADE FOR ME! This is going to be so much fun!

I only have one question- do you want us commenting here on your DW, or is there, like, a community you're thinking of making/have made? I just want to make sure I post in the right place afterwards ^^

[thisaintbc]

\o/\o/ I'm excited!!

Please comment right here on this post! I want to use comments rather than a comm for this so folks who don't have a dw account can still participate; I thought about making a separate post for people to comment on, but it seemed simpler to just have one post.

[(Anonymous)]

What about a rarepair that you and/or a mutual ship? I have a couple of pairings like that, and I'm mainly the one making it. I haven't done any recent fanart or fanfiction for awhile, and I don't think I can make something for the weekend on time. Would older works be okay, too?

[thisaintbc]

A rarepair that's just you and maybe one or two friends sounds exactly up this event's alley! Go for it!

You definitely don't have to create new transformative fanworks for this; things like putting up a masterpost of your existing works or talking about what you've made and why you love it sound like excellent potential ways to participate as well! You can also always do something else non-transformative if you feel inspired to, like leaving a comment on someone else's fic/art/etc for your rarepair, creating a rec list, etc.

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, this seems like fun! I made a little tumblr promo post, and in return, let me say that is anyone is up for loving multiple rare ships, they could also pop along to 100ships where they might find several to comment on even if they don't want to create works. XD

[gloss]

Ooh, could you drop a link to tumblr post? I'd like to reblog it.

[laireshi]

What a fun event, I'm glad I saw it with time to prepare :D It's the 25th already in my time zone, and I wrote a fic for my rarepair (Hei Xiazi/Zhang Qiling) :D

[thisaintbc]

Ooohh, our first one of the day! \o/ Very cool!! Thank you for participating! ^_^

[(Anonymous)]

I have found 3 total (and only mine this year) of the rarepair I write. I'd love to get some more eyes on the ic, (it's super mong though. and I'd love to read more fics. Is there a sign up page or something?

[thisaintbc]

No sign ups! All you have to do is do something for your rarepair this weekend (maybe you could make a masterpost of your fics, or throw together a quick ship manifesto?) in a space of your own choosing (your blog, on ao3, wherever works for you and what you're doing), and then comment about it back here!

Here Goes...

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, I wrote a ship manifesto for a meta challenge about a month ago found here (https://archiveofourown.org/works/39135945). It's the only one for Sly Rax/Cliff Dagger and I hope to write some works for it in the future. I have also a few old toy pictures on a post on Pillowfort there (https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/2740157). I thought it was still cute. :)

I also have a shipping tag on Pillowfort for a few ships I have. But, for my second pairing, Cravex/Mortdred, you can find it under their names here (https://www.pillowfort.social/IndigoDragon/tagged/cravex). Pillowfort can't do special characters in the tags that's why. So you can find my fanart of the pair, and a fic (https://archiveofourown.org/works/23042341) and meta on both there (https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1008180) and AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/22972396).

Re: Here Goes...

[(Anonymous)]

And I wanted to have links and didn't setup right... This is will do for now. (¬､¬)

[anonne]

This event gave me the impetus to finish a self-indulgent sad smut WIP I’d had lying around for a while, thank you! It’s Auron/Braska from Final Fantasy X, rarepair of my heart. I may have a go at a rec list as well if I have the time tomorrow.

[thisaintbc]

Aahh, hurray!! I'm glad that it gave you a reason to finish your WIP! (To be honest, at least some portion of my motivation for putting together this event was to try and get myself to finish a WIP or two, as well *g*) A rec list sounds awesome if you end up having time!

[zappobrien]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39761271/chapters/99852141
I used this weekend to motivate me to write the second chapter of my series for a Genshin Impact rarepair, involving the main female character and an NPC! I'll try to do another one tomorrow, if I have time!

[thisaintbc]

Aahh, that's awesome! \o/ I'm glad that it helped inspire you! Thank you for participating :D

[sodium_amytal]

Here's a list of my rarepair ship manifestos, all on my DW:

[ship manifesto] MST3K - Dr. Clayton Forrester/Mike Nelson

[ship manifesto] Metallica - Kirk Hammett/Lars Ulrich

[ship manifesto] MCU - Loki/Peter Quill

[ship manifesto] Crossover - Wade Wilson (Deadpool)/Peter Quill

And links to my fics on AO3 for various rarepairs:

Metallica - Kirk Hammett/Lars Ulrich
Breaking Bad - Saul Goodman/Jesse Pinkman
Rush - Alex Lifeson/Neil Peart
MCU - Loki/Peter Quill

Most of my AO3 is rare/obscure pairs, so feel free to look around if you want. :D

[thisaintbc]

Aahh, hurray! What an awesome list! \o/ Thank you for sharing, and for participating!

[corvidology]

A Fucking Ridiculously Self-sacrificing Friend (1814 words) by Corvidology
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: ケイ×ヤク | KeixYaku (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hanabusa Shiro/Kunishita Ichiro
Characters: Hanabusa Shiro, Kunishita Ichiro
Additional Tags: First Time, Intercrural Sex, Aphrodisiacs, Hurt/Comfort, Angst
Summary:

Started as a semi-incoherent entry for Fire, Whiskey, Fic. Finished for Thisaintbc's Rarepair Hell Weekend challenge on Dreamwidth.

They'd already been searching for Shiro for ten hours when he'd received the text, just an address and a message that read "Come and get him".

[thisaintbc]

Ooohh, hurray! I haven't seen KeixYaku yet, but it's been on my list for a while - maybe this will be the push I needed to finally watch it! Thank you for participating \o/

[vriddy]

I posted the last chapter of a fic for a rare polyship I love that has only 5 fics :D

Mayhem à trois (19,247 words, rated T) by Vridelian
Part of the Sheep Farming AU series
Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shigaraki/Natsuo/Miruko, Dabi & Natsuo, DabiHawks
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Getting Together, Fluff and Angst, Heist, There Was Only One Bed, Established Dabi | Todoroki Touya/Takami Keigo | Hawks, Dabi and Hawks ran away to raise sheep together, They get visitors, Sheep cameo, Quirkless Todoroki Natsuo, Happy Ending

Summary:

A Hero, a Villain and a Civilian walk onto a sheep farm...

Or, when Natsuo decides to take a break in the countryside, he doesn't expect to meet the fearsome leader of the League of Villains Shigaraki and Pro Hero Miruko duking it out in a field. Nor does he expect the common ground they find while bonding over the downsides of hero society... or how dangerous this new-found alliance will prove.

(This story stands on its own and can be read independently of the rest of the series.)

[thisaintbc]

Aahh, this looks like such a cool fic - thank you so much for sharing it! And thank you for participating! \o/

[(Anonymous)]

Warnings: No AO3 Warnings Apply
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Padfoot & Severus Snape
Title: Assigned Padfoot At Finding
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39894387.

Summary: He fully expected to get rained on, waste one of his phials of Anima Revelio potion, and then work on his Charms essay before dinner. Instead, Sirius found himself hunched over on the forest floor – a great deal shorter – and confused. He shook as the thunderclap came after the flash of lightning that he had waited for. The rumbling sound rolled around in his chest. He did not like it. Oh, he did not like this one bit.

[thisaintbc]

Ooohh, very cool! Hurray for fic, and thank you for participating! \o/

[sonofgodzilla]

Thank you so much for hosting this event!

Maybe not so much a rare pair, but some very common teenage feelings, here's a tiny little RizSta fic.

[thisaintbc]

Oohh, hurray! I'm not familiar with this ship, but this looks very cool! Thank you for participating! :D

[thenewbuzwuzz]

I left comments on a bunch of rarepair stories and posted some fic recs for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Critical Role. I also revisited my Buffyverse OTP Generator and added a small list of some new, randomly generated pairings to the rec post.

Thank you for hosting this event! I needed that.

[thisaintbc]

Aahh, those all sound like great ways to celebrate! I'm glad that you enjoyed the event, and thank *you* for participating in it! \o/

[(Anonymous)]

Trying my best to finish a ficlet in time for this weekend. Sadly I can't go and comment on any fic or make a rec list for it because it seems that no one else has ever shipped it before. 8D I might write a manifesto if I have time, but it's been hard to do things lately so I might not make it. :( This is a wonderful event idea and as a shipper of many extremely rare rarepairs and crackships, I'd love to see it again in years to come~

[thisaintbc]

No worries if you don't finish - making progress on it also counts as something you're doing to celebrate your rarepair! I decided to send the fic I'd been working on off to beta instead of just posting it, so my fic won't be up until the weekend's over, either - but look at us, making progress! writing things! \o/\o/

A manifesto sounds awesome if you have time, but don't stress if you don't! Thank you so much for commenting and for participating by using this time to move forward with a rarepair project!

I would love to run this again in future years! I can't make any promises right now because I'm not sure where I'll be next summer, but if it works out I would love to do it again!

[tigerlily]

I took this as a chance to go read and comment on a fic that's been tempting me for a bit. :D I wanted to pick the right time to sit down with it.

Title: Lady in Red
Author: Themi
Fandom: Black Magician Trilogy - Trudi Canavan, Black Magician Universe - Trudi Canavan

It's a fluffy oneshot with a bit of politics, a bit of worldbuilding, and love confessions while ballroom dancing. (Standalone. It's an AU of a canon divergence the author wrote, which is being saved for later.) I really enjoyed the bubble universe it's created, and the ship things made my heart happy.

The fandom was never very big, and it's most active days are far behind; having gotten back into it this year, it's great to celebrate it with someone again. Thank you so much for hosting this opportunity!

[thisaintbc]

Oohh, that's awesome! It's always great to finally get a chance to read something that you've had your eye on for a while :D thank you for participating!

[anonne]

Made my rec post! A handful of fics I've enjoyed that focus on Auron/Braska, Final Fantasy X.

[thisaintbc]

Hurray, that's awesome! Rec posts are such a blessing; when I get into a new rarer ship, usually one of the first things I do is start looking for a rec list. Thank you for participating! ^_^

[yuuago]

This is a great idea for an event! Thanks for coming up with it. It was fun to put my energy into some rarepair love. :D

I wrote a short and fluffy Hetalia Norway/Romania fic: (DW/Ao3)

[thisaintbc]

Aahh, thank you! I'm glad you had a good time!

That sounds awesome! Thank you for participating! \o/

[thisaintbc]

I left comments on several fics for various rarepairs that I've loved over the years, and I also finished (but have not yet posted) a fic I've been working on for a small fandom! \o/

Thank you so much to everyone who participated for making this a fun weekend celebration; it was such a joy to see the notifications in my inbox with everyone's comments about all the different things they did to celebrate the things that they love!

[vriddy]

Thank you for organising, this was such a fun and cool idea for an event :D <3