rarepair

English

Etymology

rare +‎ pair

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛɹ.pɛɹ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛə(ɹ).pɛə(ɹ)/

Noun

rarepair (plural rarepairs)

1. (fandom slang) A ship that generally receives little attention from fans and has few associated fanworks.
   • 2011, Nina Kaipia, "Drarry, Snarry and Snape: The Queerest of the Queer - Heteronormativity and Queer Theory in Harry Potter Slash Fan Fiction", thesis submitted to the University of Helsinki, page 61:

     Rare pairs might also slash together people or creatures that are considered unnatural, such as a human character with a magical creature such as a centaur or a house elf, or Dumbledore with any young student from Hogwarts.

   • 2018, Anne Jamison, “Kant/Squid (The Fanfiction Assemblage)”, in Paul Booth, editor, A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies, page 534:

     If a Yuletide reader requested a rare pair (Silver Surfer/Aunt May?) in The Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers, that story will now assemble with its more popular Hulk/Iron Man and Captain America/Bucky Barnes fanfic colleagues in the Avengers tag.

   • 2019, "Thefudge", "The Marvelously Crafted", Lemon, 1 February 2019, page 49:

     With rarepairs and crackships, it's the unlikeliness or even impossibility of their coming together that gets you going.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:rarepair.

Alternative forms

• rare pair