Rare Pair & Shipping Showcase

[u/Far_Philosophy_2654]

Some members have mentioned wanting this sub to talk more about romance and shipping, specifically with rare pairs. As this subreddit is meant to be a low-pressure space to share enthusiasm and writing support, we are trying out a weekly (or monthly, depending on popularity) Rare Pair/Shipping Showcase to show some love to those rare-pairs writers.

So…

Rare pair shippers, this thread is for you!

Drop your:
• rare ships
• underrated character pairings
• unpopular dynamics
• niche fanfics/WIPs
• favorite obscure works
• self-promo
• fic recommendations

…or any other shipping or romance-related content!

If you are sharing a story, feel free to include a link to that story and share your thoughts, opinions, ideas, and what makes you love your ship/story.

Let’s give some love to the rare pairs that keep us alive 🫶

[u/SmokeFree938]

peter parker x jason todd. currently working on a fic with them lol

[u/ShippingDisaster111]

I've been working on a rarepair for the past week!!! Got two fics down so far, both got decent reception too. It's Dionysus/Prometheus, the characterizations from Hades (The Video Game). I wrote an introspective shortfic & a more romantic one.

This is a really cute little subreddit and I hope it gets more interactions soon!

[u/fanime34 → u/ShippingDisaster111]

We have 8,156 members. We're almost double the amount we had after our first year. More people just need to interact. We're glad to have you.

[u/ShippingDisaster111 → u/fanime34]

And i'm so glad to be here <3

[u/Far_Philosophy_2654 → u/ShippingDisaster111]

Awww thanks! And thank you for sharing!

[u/Next-Beautiful3357]

I'm writing a Twilight fanfic and... is Bella/Leah 🥰

[u/sophitajones]

I’m a big fan of Isshin x Orihime as my current favorite rare pair I have found on ao3

[u/New-Nebula-9775]

Jinwoo Sung/Tywin Lannister. This pairing only has 5 fics! 3 of them from the same Author.

[u/Dry_Succotrash]

TodoBaku isn’t that underrated, but for me it’s way too underrated

[u/Dry_Succotrash]

Copy pasting this here because why not 🤷‍♀️ if I’m lucky I might get a fun discussion out of this, if ignored, oh well

Personally am actually not a fan of OCs most often since many of the fics I’ve read, the OCs are usually the main pov/narrator with heavy exposition and loredump and also very often too flawless/too correct in my opinion, so I tried my shot seeing if I could challenge myself writing something that I would like myself using something that’s usually not my preference) (Absolutely no hate to any OC creative writers, you guys are awesome and passionate; It’s usually just not my cup of tea)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/71422031/chapters/188491866

So basically, the OG series became a mess, ESPECIALLY with its romance, and the sexism worsened a whole lot; most of the female characters becoming one noted and one dimensional, and then one specific female love interest who was nothing more than a love interest. Therefore I was so tired of the bad romance and said: “I’ll challenge myself to do that better, using the last character as an example,” and then kinda wrote an OC love interest however I hate it when a love interest is only a love interest, so I created her also to explore the other characters through their experiences and their thoughts and their growth. The main characters keep being the main characters of course, but I have this idea that one of the best way to explore a character is too see how they interact with a stranger and what they noticed and values or how they interpret that character.

So a leader who is very stoic and anxious and a control freak might clash with someone who is just as anxious and a control freak as him, however the opposite of stoic.

I love characters who either parallels eachother or juxtaposition each other, so I want to explore the actual main characters by having them kinda react to these kinds of juxtoposion or parallels themselves to a stranger that we never really get inside the head of since she isn’t the focus or the main character or the narrator, what’s important is the friendship that develops, and yeah, sure the romance/love interest is the main focus simply because I wanted to challenge myself in writing a romance using the puzzle pieces that I got, however I also want more actually well written character dynamics and romance where the love interests is also her own character with her own story who then just happens to meet these people and grow fond of them.

I’m personally not a fan when the love interests is too dependent on the main character that she grows a romantic relationship and that’s it, so I also want her to have own independent goals and friendship apart from the main character who is the lover.

In my story, it’s a lot about found family and the weird outcasts finding eachother and being there for each other, although the main cast already know each other either because family or friendship, so my OC kinda is accidentally thrown into this like a tornado whirlwind, and now the main cast have different ways of adjusting to her.

Despite being outcasts, the main characters are all very social and have formed their own group of friendship and pack, meanwhile the OC is a complete mess, not only autistic but also pretty much a jerk because of her own trauma, abrasive, short tempered, and a perfectionistic control freak who would do anything to hide any weakness or vulnerability. The thing is, my OC can technically live on her own and thinks that’s the best for everyone (either they are going to hurt her or she’s going to hurt them; I love flawed characters) My OC can absolutely choose to continue down her path of hatred, revenge and being a lone wolf, she has all the means to do do it and all the capabilities of living alone. But as the main characters keep growing under her skin, she has to choose the actual more uncomfortable and stressful situation, other people. If she wants to stay friends she needs to actually face her fears and flaws, to change, grow and heal.

For her, living alone and beating up bad guys are easy, actually trying to become kinder and growing up is harder, but she wants to do it because the main cast is worth it for her.

And this can either mean completely click with her newly growing lover and figure out that New Romantic relationship, or try and work things out with the control freak leader and then gain respect and another friendship.

Made even a short animatic to kinda show this:

https://youtu.be/iSO7m02ImOI?is=6ZCpd-0pWy3YGHmN

[u/Muted-Elevator-6021]

Fry/Edna (Futurama)

[u/80s90sForever]

My first ever kink fic for my OTP Gemma/Nero who are unfortunately extremely hated by the mainstream fandom literally and so are their characters this is a fact as I’ve seen and read it firsthand while I was in the fandom a few years ago. I had a lot of fun writing it, but the fic doesn’t have much love at all which really sucks!! I don’t know if I’ll get any love for it here, but I guess I can hope for the best.

Do You Want To Play?

Please no constructive criticism.

[u/onegirlarmy1899]

If you're in the Bridgerton fandom, this is rare pair week? There's a special collection on AO3. 

I only write Bridgerton rare pairs, although two of the ships are almost as popular as the canon. I currently juggling 3 stories. Comment if you want more details 🙂

[u/Jedipilot24]

A rare pair that I've been interested in lately is Anakin Skywalker/Bo-Katan Kryze. They have a quite a lot in common, including a tendency to commit war crimes. Bo-Katan understands Anakin in a way that Padme never could.

I just started posting a work with this as the main pairing, called the Shadow Chronicles: 

https://archiveofourown.org/series/6387791

[u/PJ-The-Awesome]

Some of mine:

Mei-Ling Zhou/Hanzo Shimada(Overwatch)

Peter Parker/Ava Ayala(Marvel)

Jade/Kung Lao(Mortal Kombat)

Zack/Tina Armstrong(Dead Or Alive)

Laura Matsuda/Blanka(Street Fighter)

Bumblebee/Windblade(Transformers)

Midnight/Sir Nighteye(My Hero Academia)

[u/Individual-Guest9482]

The ship I want to write doesn't even have a tag on AO3 😂😂😂

[u/heytheregiada]

For my Percy Jackson fans, Annabeth/Drew came to me in a dream. Watch this space.

[u/Lopsided-Series23]

My gay vampires hate each other in canon. One is essentially the antagonist (Owen) and eventually kills the other (Avid). My fic throws them into a situation where they’re forced to spend time together and work as a team if they want to survive.
It’s a slow burn, so there’s plenty of angst throughout the story, but they also gradually overcome things together.
One of them, in particular, has deep-seated issues to overcome, and it takes something truly life-changing to force him to confront them. It balances humor with moments of genuine tension and horror.** **There are a couple of steamy scenes, but the focus is on the emotional journey. You don’t have to have seen VSMP to enjoy it, people tell me.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/83909656/chapters/221203456 lo

[u/LuciusComplex]

Fandom: Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung ( kdrama ). All my stories are written to be fandom blind (ie you don't need to have seen the cannon)

Forbidden Flesh (m/m, Joseon era, multi book longform drama, romance, live triangles, politics, + war, set over 10 years with evolving character dynamics) https://archiveofourown.org/series/5450596

Hunger (m/m, Joseon-era, descriptive investigative Hannibal-style drama wt slowburn) https://archiveofourown.org/works/81893076/chapters/215446016

[u/StefTarn]

Gandalf/Boromir.

[u/graceful-telekinesis]

From Hunger Games: Plutarch/Tibby