Thread:RABNerd VP/@comment-26244866-20181101141549/@comment-26244866-20181103003145

But wouldn't the filtering alter the numbers? Like for example imagine this hypothetical situation (that doesn't match real AO3 statistics): You're looking for pairings for Frisk. Frisk/Asriel is more popular than Frisk/Monster Kid, but Frisk/Asriel is always shipped alongside Alphys/Undyne (but most Alphys/Undyne fanworks do not contain Frisk/Asriel) while Frisk/Monster Kid has more solo works (as in fan fiction that doesn't contain other ships). Since Alphys/Undyne is the most popular ship among all fanworks with Frisk, it would be filtered out first (in this scenario, Frisk/Asriel isn't in the top 10). But now, Frisk/Asriel won't even show up unless everything is filtered because it appears to have 0 works after Alphyne is filtered.