How to search for rare pairs on AO3

[marguerite_26]

AO3 does not have the option to indicate 'Primary pairing' vs 'Secondary pairing' (ie: those pairings that just happen to be in the fic, sitting in the background and mentioned once in passing.)

This becomes an issue particularly in a fandom like Teen Wolf where you have one pairing (Sterek) that dominates the fandom, and many (most?) Sterek fics have other pairings listed even if they are not the focus of the fic. Canon pairings like Allison/Scott, Lydia/Jackson, Erica/Boyd are often tagged but the focus of the fic is 100% Sterek.

So how do you find a fic that FOCUSES on Erica/Boyd when you look at the Erica/Boyd tag and get 90% Sterek fics with Erica/Boyd as background mentions?

Here's a little trick:



Of course, this may also exclude things you may be interested in, (ie: where Derek/Stiles are a side pairing), and include stuff you aren't interested in, (ie: where Erica/Boyd is still a minor pairing, but Sterek isn't the main pairing) but it at least cuts down on the overwhelming number of Sterek fics when looking for a non-Sterek focused fic.

(thanks to otta_ff for the tip and handy graphic!)

Please note for this to filter properly you need to use exactly:

-"Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski"

Anyone else have helpful tips for finding rarepairs? Let me know!


(ETA: Handy quick link to Teen Wolf fic: complete, english, that do not list sterek as a pairing and sorted by kudos.)

Comments

[gealach-ros.livejournal.com]

As an overexcessive google user this 'trick' was one of the very first things I tried on AO3 when I searched for something in particular. It's a godsend it works with AO3's search engine!

Wouldn't it be cool if AO3 had an option to let authors tag primary and secondary pairings? Perhaps that'd make finding things a bit easier, too.

[kattale.livejournal.com]

Okay - allow me to be slow as mud here -
So, what exactly does "search within" mean? I thought it meant adding a sub-filter on top of your filter - search for "underage" within the category of Danny/Stiles.
But this seems to indicate it means "exclude" - search for all Stiles/Danny that does not also have "Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski" in the tagging as well?

But even non-sterek stories usually have stiles/derek as a side pairing. I'd love some more explanation on how this field works as a filter. And especially how it knows what is a primary pairing?

Also - is there a way to search for Danny-centric stories (any pairing), since his name is tagged any time he's a minor character?

[disco-mouse.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm definitely on the rarepair camp in Teen Wolf.

[mothlights]

This also works well when searching for gen fics! :) If you search Teen Wolf gen ordered by kudos, you get a lot of fics marked Derek/Stiles (some of which are gen - to confuse things further - but many are romance). I use the separate advanced search page more often than the right hand column search, but if you put -"Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski" in the first field (called "Any Field") at the top, and search Teen Wolf gen ordered by kudos, you actually get almost all gen.
Compare:
Teen Wolf gen by kudos list
Teen Wolf gen by kudos -"Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski" list

[transfixeddream.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is great! I had given up mostly on searching through Ao3 for fics, and usually just looked at the newsletter, because you could basically search for Scott/gravy and there'd be Sterek results. So, THANK YOU! :D

[kayoko.livejournal.com]

OOOOOOOH, good to know!

[twilightthief.livejournal.com]

WOW! That is very, very helpful! THANK YOU!

[ender24]

I was so desperate for non sterek fics, and thank god , frogspace pointed me in your direction :D
this will keep me busy for a while!
thank you so much for these recs1