Rare Pairs, Crack Ships, and the Joys of Small Fandoms

Honestly, this has none of the shipping rants I've done before. It has nothing to do with throwing a brick at stubborn people who are fundamentalist and conservative, whether they realize it or not. Because these young people literally don't know better than to try to prove themselves worthy of purity through purity culture, that is toxic to them and everyone. 

I mean, it's slightly up to a point. Antishippers would likely still not understand crack ships, and rare ships aren't ever on their radar. They are up on their asses about purity culture, failing to see they are spewing out rot that Christian conservatives spoke all the time about porn, especially LGBT, and sex. 

They don’t do shit about rare pairs because they live in the fridges of the fandom. Crack ships vary in popularity depending on the ship. 

Antishippers want everything to be pure without drama and pain to show they are good people. Crack ships are not just crossover ships but ships that again don’t have any bearing on each other. The characters could’ve died in separate times, and having never ever met, and still be called crack ships. The characters could’ve never met each other in their lives, and still viable because it’s fun. 

Shipping can be as easy as looking hot together, to wanting to scratch an itch on what was known about them, to develop the ship to pure character analysis through romance. All shippers do was watch their OTP fall in love again and again. I sigh with all the small gestures and care from every meaningful love they share, and falling in love. 

Ah, rare pairs, the ones that, of course, get the rare fanfics and fanart that barely last a page, two at best on AO3. 

The videos up there don't exactly display in some form my rare pairs: Akihiko x Minato from P3, Shirlulu from Code Geass, and Kyoraku x Aizen from Bleach. 

All of these convinced me from fanfiction, no less. Yes, fanfics on AO3 that barely took up two pages alone in their tags. 

It's hilarious since reading the fic that got me into Kyoraku x Aizen, the theory of the father-son just doesn't make sense. It makes sense at a surface level that doesn't require too much brain power. It's a theory that doesn't and does make sense, but considering Bleach has ended, I'm happy to have any theories with Aizen's Bankai than any of this. Fuck, Kyoraku is a better match for Aizen than anyone could expect. That is something Aizen's personal enemies like Urahara, Yoruichi, Visords, and Yhwach didn't see coming: that there is a romantic match for Aizen out there in the world that he would happily go into the institution of marriage just so he can finally have him officially as his husband. 

Kyoraku is laidback, but he hides his competence behind an effective facade. Aizen likewise has a facade of calmness and affability, but make no mistake that underneath it all hides someone who distanced himself from his own humanity to the point that he achieved his goal of immortality. His true personality is a fiery and passionate control freak who has issues three times the size of the afterlife with his emotions, including his pride and bonds in general, due to his sheer independence and feeling he should do things alone, and zero troubles with committing atrocities for his outcome. 

Shinji and Kisuke, as much as Aizen admits Kisuke's wit and smarts are equal to his, have too much baggage (normally, I like baggage in ships, but I never shipped Aizen with these guys, even when I was watching and reading Bleach; something about these guys didn't call to me. Notably, UraAi also counts as a rare pair, considering it's 128 fics on AO3, but we still have more than the 31 for KyoAi. I believe the most popular Aizen pairings are either with Ichigo or with Gin, which is more power to those shippers.) and clashing personalities. Aizen needs someone laidback and calming, whereas Kyoraku needs someone fiery and unpredictable. Kyōraku and Aizen felt more plausible. 

Again, this is fanfiction. We can get any pairing we want as long as we write it right. Aizen is a difficult character to write. I simply want Aizen to drop his mask and involve himself more on an emotional level that he couldn’t comprehend. 

Like I said, I do have my preferences, but I don’t ship all of them. If I could find THE Seishiro x Subaru pin for my OTP board, I’m gonna be so happy. It’s the ship that got everything going, so I have to find a pin for that. If a ship calls to me, it comes to me. I wouldn’t be a Dabihawks shipper had it not been for the warehouse meeting after the Nomu fight. 

Getting convinced on a ship through fanworks is no easy task. Like most things, you have to get through the trash to get the gems. Believe it or not, not everyone will be swayed. 

Even today, people stubbornly hold onto popular fanon beliefs that clash or negate the canon. Canon is not the end-all, but for the love of Arceus, there should be a balance, as well as the knowledge that canon has its place and basis in the fandom. 

Sometimes, fanon simply isn't enough or is so pervasive that it damages the actual intent. Fanon Tim Drake doesn't come close to the crazy canon Tim Drake is capable of. Heck, even adaptations don’t even come close to the insanity YJ98 is capable of. Give me my teens with no adult supervision. Even Red Tornado went along with it. 

Rare pairs are exactly that. They have so few crumbs in fanworks that people do it themselves. I’m pretty sure that in one fandom, can’t remember what it was, there was one writer who basically wrote all the fanfics for the rare pair and it’s amazing dedication for such few people but awesome for the love poured into it. 

Heck, there was one Dabihawks writer who was outright surprised by the reception of her Dbhks fics when she wrote for rare pairs before writing for a popular ship. 

I’m not even sure that Kyoraku x Aizen counts as crack shipping when the father-son theory isn't even that pervasive enough to be fanon. I saw YouTube Shorts (I did not actually watch them, but the theory is spelled out by the title), but it's certainly not enough to be a popular theory. Seriously, I've seen more theories that became so pervasive that it became fanon, such as what happened with so many things I'm not a fan of. Even Dabihawks was once a crackship for no other reason than they look hot together as nobody at the time would think of Hawks meeting Dabi as his contact for infiltration or that Hawks would be a spy at all. 

KyoAi counts as a rare ship primarily because of the TYBW arc, where we see them interact at a certain level. Those are crumbs that a shipper can extrapolate and build upon. I mean that aforementioned theory is well known, but that has been called into question, not helped that we know nothing of Aizen’s mysterious past. They have chemistry there that is tantalizing now that I see it. 

Unfortunately, it’s rare. At least ShirLulu has close to 90, but I’m also adding where the ship is included in some capacity. It is not at the crush level, but Lelouch actually sees Shirley as a love interest and pursues her. As for KyoAi, even with the fanfic series I’m into (it would definitely have multiple arcs which include the relationship landmarks for KyoAi, including their daughter's first birthday and their wedding, possibly) wouldn’t even scratch 50. We haven’t reached the canon arcs yet, so until we reach the drama of the canon arcs, the fic will remain in Marked For Later till further reading; honestly, I do look forward to the Zanpakuto Spirit filler arc because that's the most salivating considering Aizen's character development and relationships with others. Akimina is so close to 200, but it's still a rare pair that isn't getting any names on par with SatoSugu or at the very least MiyuSawa. 

The popular ships will always get regular updates on their tags, food everywhere for everyone, sharing in the love of the ship. I know this so well. 

The rare ships, on the other hand, have crumbs, if even that. I also know this. 

Crack ships have zero crumbs, and they go off based on imagination. At least that's a fun place to be. I think the crack ship I am fond of is Jim Hawkins x Melody, the crossover ship from two Disney films, Treasure Planet and TLM2. 

Unfortunately, the one that people would remember the most is Jelsa. I'm decidedly not a Jelsa fan, never mind the fact that I'm not a Frozen fan. I believe the popular one now at the time of writing is Cinderella x Sukuna??? I mean power to them. I don’t particularly care for Disney ships that much or JJK outside of some in that series but more power to the shippers, go and ship to your heart’s content. Outside of confusion upon seeing their sudden art, I just shrugged and moved on with my tasks. I see no reason why I should have an opinion on a measly ship, nor would anyone else, except apparently antishippers who cannot see reason. Even non-seasoned shippers shouldn’t be expected to give opinions on every damn ship in a fandom. I don’t have the time to give a blog post the time and dedication to every ship in a fandom. I don’t think I can make a tier on that level. I care so little about that, I’d rather focus on better stuff than that. Unless a ship caught my interest, I usually don’t care much. I’ve been focusing more on story potential than shipping, which is just a bonus if I love the ship. 

And I still don’t think anyone outside of those who understand fandom gets it. If they cannot understand even a basic ship like Sterek, they are not surviving. 

By AO3 fics from lowest to highest, it's KyoAi, Shirlulu, and Akimina in that order in terms of my rare pairs. 

I should note the caveat that it depends on the size of the fandom, too. Akimina is definitely a rare pair in an extremely popular fandom. Bleach, too, is extremely popular, and we can definitely say KyoAi is a rare pair, never mind that the fics aren’t approaching 40 fics anytime soon. 

It’s just that the rare pair, as it often does, make us feel like Charlie with his Pepe Silvia rant. I'm picking at the crumbs like a bird and trying my best with the fics and fanart I do have. All rare pairs shippers have to deal with that. While they do have the benefit of having fun, the fact is that it's not popular enough. 

Even in rare pair fandoms, there'll be famous fics and authors that are only known to the fandom. Some are the result of one being there to write them, and couldn't draw them. I admire the dedication of rare pair writers, where they are truly the ones baking the bread to the hungry small base or no base at all, considering some I've seen are on a canoe or a paddle boat alone in a lake. 

Non-seasoned shippers or worse normies wouldn’t understand the difference between a popular ship to an actual crack ship. Seriously, the answers of Sterek, Zutara, and Wincest show that these normies wouldn’t survive mild weather in summer fandom. Seriously, here I am knowing the popular ships, and they see it as crack ships. By Arceus, at worst, they don’t see shipping as fun but as some sort of lab experiment for research from the outside. 

Ships certainly aren’t the be-all end-all of fandom. Again, shipping can happen for various reasons, but seeking validation from the creators isn’t the way to go. Shipping is fun. 

To devolve a piece of entertainment to shipping is pretty sad. Given how focused I am on stories, it's a given that I would love them and their themes. 

Fandom is about a community brought together by a piece of media one loves and shares. Shipping is just one part, but it shouldn’t take over as much as one seeks validation for their headcanons that somehow in their mind overtook canon. Seriously, I see people decry canon just because their headcanon isn’t canon, instead of either ignoring it or accepting it and evolving their headcanon, they decide that it doesn't make sense with their fanon. 

It’s not substituting with interesting ideas, but rather forcing in where it shouldn’t with no balance or effort to understand to be transformative. 

I hardly ship anything nowadays unless it’s within my purview, does it shoot up, such as Joongdok. Look at me watching Bleach and you hardly see me ship anymore than Death Strawberry and KyoAi. I certainly don’t need canon validation. You can just write the damn thing. 

I feel off recommending rare pair fics since all writers from rare pairs are trying their best to feed their small, hungry base, but at the same time, they are so small and deserve all the support they need. If I could convince you to ship them through these fics that did to me, then here's to hoping that you can enjoy them. I think I'll be better off recommending the fics that got me shipping them and the fic I'm currently reading. For KyoAi, it's an ongoing series. 

Besides, getting into rare pairs or small fandoms will humble people who had spent time in popular fandoms. There is nothing more humbling than just having a small group discussing and making fanart and fics for the series with all the passion and love, without all the drama of a huge fandom that you feel people visibly spend time on. Yeah, all fandoms have their disagreements, but since it’s small, they have to acquiesce. 

The Galavant and Schmiga-(doon/go) series is this for me. Nothing is more than sharing in the love of the musical comedy series that is cut too soon. Not even Crazy Ex-Girlfriend could've saved them even though I love CEG too. However, it doesn't help that people barely know that those series existed in the first place. I knew that it existed from YT ads. I mean, even Blue Flag is unlikely to get an anime adaptation because of its LGBT roots, but it's still a small fanbase. The fics in total at AO3 are 70. Galavant on AO3 has 321 fics. 

Even with Daiya no Ace and KHR, both reasonably sized fandoms, are considered medium-sized by comparison to truly larger fanbases. MiyuSawa is without a doubt a very popular ship, but by comparison to even the most popular influential ships or ships that people at least heard of, Daiya no Ace ships aren't that widespread by comparison. 

On a side note, since I'm not gonna find pins on the smaller fandoms I'm in (I already accepting I won't find any pins from them the moment I was putting down a list of potential collections and they were an immediate no), I am forced to find separate pins for KyoAi if I want them to be on my OTP board. But for now, Seishirou x Subaru is the foremost one primarily because I can put that collection in the backburner and that would be hardest to find, so I guess I could find others, but definitely not my rare pairs at the moment because I don't have money for two pins. I paused my Cinderella collection until I got Abigeyedowl Ever After Heart first before getting original/adaptations. I would love Abigeyedowl's Cinderella 2015 if they ever consider making it because I need something to represent that. 

What shines doesn’t always need to be seen by Nai_asobrab:

Reborn from the Shadows: Aizen's true motivation was absolute control. Having power was not enough; it was essential to shape beings, manipulate lives, to create something that was entirely a product of his own will.

Yet, as his cold eyes observed her, a shadow of disappointment clouded his thoughts. She was not perfect.

"No... not perfect," he thought, a silent whisper laced with subtle bitterness. Hinamori had indeed been shaped, but not from the beginning. Her mind and heart had already been touched before he intervened, formed by other hands. She was an incomplete vessel, a useful tool, but limited.

Perfection... True perfection would be something he had crafted from birth, something pure and malleable, like clay in the hands of a sculptor. A life that he could shape in every detail, free from external influences, without prior marks. A life that existed solely to serve his design, breathing only to fulfill his will.

A child.

Twilight of Truths: Aizen Sousuke sat on the engawa of the Eighth Division’s traditional house, watching the garden bathed in pale afternoon light. Nearby, Sayuri played on a mat, laughing as Shunsui entertained her with clumsy but charming fan tricks. To anyone looking, the scene was idyllic—the picture of a harmonious family. Yet, within Aizen’s mind lingered a restless void.

He had always had plans, intricate schemes that bent situations and people to his will. Even in chaos, he thrived on direction, on the clarity of his goals. Now, for the first time, he found himself adrift and unanchored.

Now, he lived on autopilot: caring for Sayuri, addressing trivial matters with Shunsui, and occasionally advising his companions. But beneath it all, he felt like an actor reciting lines he hadn’t written.

"Is this what normal people do?" he murmured, gazing at the sun’s reflection in the calm garden pond. "Do they simply... exist? No plans, no goals, just moving moment to moment?" 

Mini-Review: I'll probably put this in another fic recs alongside my other OTPs, but considering this is focused on long-time OTPs, this rare pair fic recs still count as the same, even if they are only one fic out of everything. Given the small base, I believe anyone can jump in and consume the limited food we even got in the first place. 

It's still ongoing and very long, considering it will tackle arcs way later in the series. Also, whatever theories I said are on a previous post I made, so I won't do it here. I barely said what I liked about the fic. 

If you know my preferences, you know why this fic made Shunsui Kyoraku and Aizen a compelling ship. I'm hardly a friends-to-lovers type, hence why I'm not all over those types, even though some ships could be called friends-to-lovers that I do ship, even though there are several factors I don't count them. 

Technically, this could be called a work military romance, with both of them as captains, one of them more technically high-ranking due to him being the choice of the new head of the whole military. Heck, Aizen didn't even choose him because he was the next Commander, or because he could use that inner circle to his advantage. He realized it afterward, but I do think by then, he had fallen hard for Shunsui. 

Shunsui might not be as crazy intelligent as he, Urahara, and Mayuri, but he's intelligent and perceptive enough to impress with their verbal sparring, giving him a challenge. He recognized that Shunsui hides behind such an effective mask that it starts to affect him. Their chemistry is really good as a result of Shunsui giving Aizen both the challenge and the love he longed for. Shunsui could get under his skin that Urahara cannot do in those terms of closeness. 

Urahara is always adaptive to these plans because his chess game with Aizen is complicated now, particularly since Aizen became Shunsui's husband. Even if he is essentially demoted to Vice Captain, he still has major influence as the future Commander's husband. Ironically, it's better and easier to convince Shunsui of anything lax than his husband, who is learning to relax and take things slow. 

A major part of it was a character-centric approach based around his relationships with others and his character development with major therapy and friendship. 

And it's not just Aizen. It's Momo, Shuhei, and anyone who has a chance of getting character development. 

It’s like Icarus’ Dilemma, where characters get character development and their paths change as a result of a character getting what they needed. 

Yes, it’s Mpreg, but that only sets the stage where Aizen gets the love, friendship, and therapy he needs. Sayuri is her own character, growing throughout the story since her conception. 

Given the expansion of the whole series including some fillers, I'm considering to build a progress review of it. 

New Game+ by EmpyrealFantasy: Given a chance to start all over again, will Minato be able to make a difference in his future?

[When you start a New Game+, you retain your levels, your inventory, and the items that you get from maxed Social Links. This stands to reason that the memory would remain for the MC as well. What if gameplay wasn't linear…? An exploration of what a New Game+ could really mean.]

Review: This is the fic that got me into the ship. I read the FF.Net first version before the AO3 edition added new stuff. 

Our protagonist and Akihiko had been distant. Friends as we can say hang out together with the rest of the group but never quite alone. Reload fixed that but obviously not enough to get the ship out of rare pair. Shinjiro x Kotone is still far more popular. 

I don’t quite put down my finger why exactly I love it and why it started my love for the ship, but the chemistry of the two, as well as what Akihiko does, was so amazing. The path in which we see the characters change from canon allowed for such good. 

I think that it has well-written changes as well as the development of the main pair vibed with me so well, it remained a favorite.