hermit rarepair event!

This zine will be 18+. I can't control whether minors look at it or download it, but all contributors will need to be 18+. It will have three sections, titled SFW, Sexual Content, and Sexual Content with Consent Issues.

For the purposes of this zine, we define a rarepair as a ship that makes up less than 2% of the fics in the fandom tag on AO3. I know the balance of fics and art is not always the same across different ships, so there's no way to determine what is and isn't a rarepair definitively, and I'm sorry for that. The Life Series fandom has just over 20k fics on AO3, so any ship with fewer than 400 fics is acceptable.

Some examples of what would be considered a rarepair: Scottishbeans (Scott/Joel, 46 fics at time of posting); Firewood (Martyn/Tango, 36 fics); BigGri (Grian/BigB, 186 fics).

Some examples of what would not be considered a rarepair: Scarian, Ranchers, SmallEtho. For safety, I'm going to say none of the Double Life soulmates count, as well as Treebark. If you're unsure if something counts as a rarepair, feel free to send an ask!

TAG NOMINATION RULES

Each person can nominate up to 20 relationship tags, both platonic “&” and romantic “/“ from any MCYT fandom. Tags with more than 2 people are allowed and encouraged.

For large fandoms (5k+ works on Ao3 as of Dec. 2024) your tag must have no more than 30 works with your tag included.

For small fandoms (-5k works in Ao3 as of Dec. 2024) your tag must have no more than 50 works with your tag included.

If your fandom has 200 or fewer works, mods will hear cases pleaded for any relationship tag that isn't the most popular/often used to be taken into consideration.

If your rarepair doesn’t exactly match the criteria but you believe it fits the spirit of the event, there is space in the nomination form for you to convince us why we should allow your tag into the tagset!

Event runners/moderators reserve the right to disqualify or allow any submissions that may not fit the criteria flawlessly. We will do our best to judge fairly without letting "popular"/"big" ships take priority in this event.

Adult/minor romantic relationships are not allowed in the event. Age of the character will be decided by age of the creator portraying the character during the majority of the SMP/series’ run. Mods reserve the right to disqualify any tag that they believe to be in violation of this rule. Minor/minor romantic relationships are allowed with the exception of characters considered to be extremely underage (ex. Yoghurt (DSMP) or QSMP eggs).

Further instructions regarding the nomination process are included in the form.

SIGN UP RULES

As per Tumblr, Ao3 and Discord TOS, you must be 13+ to participate.

Each participant must join the Discord server for ease of communication. If we cannot find you on Discord by the time the sign up period ends, your sign up will be deleted.

An Ao3 account is required to participate. [Here] is an instruction on how to make one if you don’t have one yet.

You must request and offer at least [5] relationship tags across at least [2] fandoms. You can request/offer up to 10 fandoms with 20 relationship tags per request/offer, for up to 200 possible tags total. Plenty of room!

You must either include your DNW (Do Not Wants) or state ‘DNW: N/A’ in each request box.

You must include at least one like (setting/AU/trope) or prompt in each request box. 

You must include your Tumblr url in each request so your gifter knows who to address your gift to.

Please make sure the email attached to your account is one you check regularly, and one you are comfortable to share with the mods, as due to how Ao3 exchange system works, the mods will be able to see it.

If you are 18+, you may sign up for creating and/or receiving NSFW works. If someone under age 18 is found out to have signed up requesting or offering NSFW content, they will be kicked from this event and any upcoming ones.

You cannot sign up solely for creating/receiving NSFW works. You must include at least 1 SFW offer and request in your sign up. 

NSFW and SFW offers/requests must be done in separate boxes. Example:  Request 1: GeminiTay/Smallishbeans (Life Series) - SFW request Request 2: GeminiTay/Smallishbeans (Life Series) - NSFW request

CREATION RULES

Your gift must focus on at least one of the requested relationships.

Unless your giftee explicitly requests otherwise, your gift may include non-requested relationships to make smaller appearances without overriding the requested tags.

You do not have to create a work for the ship you matched on with your giftee - if one of their other requests speaks to you, go for it!

Likewise, you do not have to create an NSFW work if you matched on an NSFW request/offer.

You must abide by your giftee’s DNW no matter what.

No AI created content is allowed.

POSTING

Your gift, meeting the requirements, must be posted to both Ao3 and Tumblr. 

When posting to Tumblr, you must tag both your recipient and the event blog.

Dark, violent, or generally considered triggering topics must be tagged appropriately.

FAQ 

What if my rarepair doesn’t have an Ao3 tag? Well, it’s time for it to get one! Feel free to request pairings without an official tag.

Is RPF allowed? This event will not be banning RPF works or tags, and will allow it as a fandom able to be nominated from. The nominations must still abide by the rules for other fandoms in this exchange. If you are unsure if your tag qualifies, please mention as such in the "plead your case" section of the form or send us an ask for clarification.

Are crossovers allowed? Crossovers are allowed as long as all tagged characters are from MCYT related fandoms! When nominating a crossover tag please specify which fandoms they are from. Example:  Joel | Smallishbeans (RPF) & Smallishbeans (Life Series) & Smallishbeans (Hermitcraft) (Crossover Fandom)

Considering the difficulty of deciding by which criteria the different fandoms should be judged, the mods reserve the right of disqualifying crossover nominations if we decide the pair is not considered rare.

Are Major Archive Warnings allowed? When signing up you can opt in into receiving/creating works including Main Character Death and Graphic Descriptions of Violence. No other Major Warnings are allowed.

What does NSFW include? On-screen sexual content or detailed elements of gore (anything that would require a rating higher than PG-13; anything you wouldn't feel comfortable showing to a 13 year old). NSFW is not allowed regarding characters that are considered minors.

What if I can’t finish on time? If you figure out you can’t finish your assignment on time, please contact event moderators as soon as possible! Depending on whether you just need a day or two more, or are completely unable to have your gift ready by the deadline, we will either give you an extension or send your assignment to Pinch Hits.

Can I create more than one gift? Of course! You’re only required to make one, but you can create as many gifts as you like. If you really want to make more than one gift, we suggest signing up for the Pinch Hitter role in Discord, or browsing requests in preparation for the treating week!

Hypno x Grian ; Outfit Swap

   Hypno stared at the mirror, his nose scrunched in a not-quite disgust not-quite discomfort expression. He turned halfway to take in the outfit he currently wore. He’d agreed to swapping clothes with Grian, and he wasn’t sure why. The red hoodie had a wide hole in the back, presumably for the avian’s wings, and was baggy but short. Hypno wasn’t that much taller than the avian, but it was enough that the hoodie that usually hung off Grian baggy was short on Hypno’s torso. 

   Due to Grian’s bird legs, they’d agreed not to swap pants, so the hoodie looked a little out of place with the tight utility pants the blonde wore. He’d also agreed to Grian also wearing his bandana so he stared at his hair, lifting a hand to flatten the top which had gotten frizzy with how often he wore and played with his bandana. The blonde sighed before turning to leave his bedroom to go to his living room, where Grian was probably waiting for him. In the back of his mind, he hoped the avian hadn’t put holes in his coat. 

   Upon getting downstairs to the living room, Hypno paused and had to take multiple deep breaths. Grian was standing in the living room, using the turned off tv as a darkened mirror. His back was turned to Hypno, so he could see that the avian had indeed had to put holes in the back of his coat for his wings, but honestly, seeing Grian in his clothes, he didn’t mind the holes. Grian was very clearly checking himself out the best he could in the makeshift mirror, so he hadn’t noticed Hypno’s arrival. 

   The blonde cleared his throat, grabbing the avian’s attention easily. Grian turned to face him, eyes quick to rake over the other’s appearance. Hypno suddenly felt very self-conscious under the perceived scrutinizing gaze. When Grian’s eyes met his again, the blonde couldn’t help but flush lightly. His bandana was tied neatly on Grian’s head and his coat was a little big, but it somehow worked really well on Grian. The turtleneck top Hypno usually wore fit just loosely, the chest cut out uncovering just slightly more skin. 

Hypno x Wels ; Pranking Hermit(s) 

   Hypno was currently in his attic, restocking the TNT in his firework shooter aimed at his neighbor’s castle. He hummed a quiet tune to himself as he did. Once the TNT was full, he checked the dispenser with fireworks. “Eh, they’re fine for now. I’ll just have to go get some more in a couple days.” He spoke to himself before standing up and stretching out his back. He heard a few pops and sighed in relief before jumping at a voice. 

   “Hey Hypno, whatcha doin’?” The man in question spun around to come face-to-face with his neighbor. “Heeey Wels! Just, organizing is all!” He plastered on a grin and stepped out of all the dispensers. Wels raised an eyebrow from under his helmet. “Organizing, hm?” The bandana’d male nodded, his grin still intact. “Yep! Organizing! What can I do you for, though, on this fine day, Neighbor?” 

   Wels regarded the other blonde with playfully scrutinizing eyes before sighing dramatically. “Well, I was hoping you’d be free. I wanted to get up to some shenanigans! But it appears that you are quite busy, so I’ll have to mess with Jevin by myself, I suppose.” Hypno sputtered and shook his head, dusting his hands of gunpowder from the TNT and bounded over past Wels,” Hey now, I never said I was busy. See? Just finished, not busy anymore!” 

   The knight smiled and followed as Hypno went downstairs, to his storage room. He put the leftover TNT in the right chest and whatever miscellaneous blocks he was carrying before turning to the knight,” So, what was your idea for pranking Jev?” Wels grinned and his foot pressed a button on the ground. “Just kidding!” The next thing Hypno knew, he was respawning in his bed upstairs. “What the-” 

   He slipped out of the bed and went back down to his storage room to find Wels picking up his splayed items around an anvil. “You jerk!” Hypno laughed and collected his things from his neighbor. Though a shiny book stood out to him that was not his. “Oh, hey wait, this wasn’t mine.” Wels grinned,” It is now.” Raising an eyebrow, Hypno opened the book to the first, and only, page, and read it out loud.