#bleach thoughts

[r473n]

That was so interesting!! Thank you for sharing that info, I had no idea.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Kubo had used elements of the Choctaw culture for inspiration, we know he relies heavily on many asian cultures and traditional practices to create characters, shikai/bankais, etc.

I also HC Mayuri as mixed race, heavy south asian heritage!

MAYURI'S LONG NAIL

(aka coke nail)

Spoilers for TWBY ahead, you've been warned.

I have had this conversation with a lot of other Mayuri fans by now about what is the purpose of The Nail.

Some think it's just a fashion statement, others that it's a symbol of social status (often a long pinky finger nail in places like China indicated the person was well-off and didn't do manual labour).

Many agree that it must serve a pragmatic use, be it to play a musical instrument, for self hygiene purposes or as a scooping tool of small objects, powders, etc (ehem, ehem).

And yes, I do agree any of these reasons could very well be it. We all know the man is a diva who likes to show off and that almost everything he does obeys a practical motivation.

But, there's another possibility as discussed below the dotted line in this analysis by @bleachbleachbleach (please go read it)...

It's instrumental to reach a reset button.

Now, hear me out.

He didn't have the nail as Tanuki during TBTP, as seen here.

Nor did he have it as Bug Mayuri, as demonstrated below.

You know what he also didn't have?

He also didn't have Nemu.

So, my theory and that of many other Mayuri fans, is that The Nail isn't something he needs for himself, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten rid of it - It helped him reach Nemu’s Gigai's reset button.

I believe he used it after Szayelaporro's fight, when he resuscitated her in front of Renji and Uryu who, inexpercied as they are (aka can hardly spell virgin), thought he was doing some weird sexual thing to her...

And ofc Kubo couldn't let an opportunity pass to create an awkward moment dashed with inappropriate comedy.

Anyhoo, that's my rambling done for today!

[graciethegreat]

I noticed Kubo likes to match up Captains and Lieutenant like little puzzle pieces that contrast and compliment each other, but I never really thought about why Rukia was chosen to be Ukitake’s lieutenant.

Then I remembered how much Rukia’s life SUCKED at the time she joined Squad 13. She went totally no-contact with the only friend she had and her new family was cold and distant to her. What she needed most at this time was a place she felt loved, something Squad 13 provided her in tenfold. The reason why Rukia was chosen for Squad 13 was Ukitake’s and Kaien’s unrelenting kindness when Rukia was at her lowest. It all comes to head in this one scene:

When Rukia is too afraid to even speak to Byakuya, and in complete contrast to him, Ukitake shows her compassion and understanding. I imagine Squad 13 was like a home away from home for Rukia, a place where she is loved.

[gogobluedynamite]

I just had a thought...

So, you have a pair of friends, a boy and a girl.

The boy appears as the more stoic and serious type of character with eloquent tastes and a fixation on a particular subject and things 'just so'.

Meanwhile, the girl is this wonderful ray of sunshine that wants nothing more than a bright smile on the faces of her friends and has a knack of thinking outside the box.

Despite being different as night and day, the pair somehow bounce off of each other well, giving their all to the other's antics 100%.

Does anyone else see this or is it just me?

[thefifteenthdivisionarchives]

Weird tangent.

In the manga, Uryuu wore boots with his Wandenreich uniform. Come the anime and they are replaced with his normal Quincy shoes...

We were fucking robbed.

[yumichikasballsak]

UP FIRST: Yumichika and Ikkaku spicy headcanons 🌶️ 💜

Nsfw below!! MINORS DNI

Ikkaku Madarame

- I see him loving quickies, especially where he is positioned behind you

- This man does not really care for fine detail. He loves a nice ass and some good thighs, but doesn’t pay that much attention to the finer details.

- His favorite body part on a partner is DEFINITELY the ass. I think that everybody will agree on this.

- Although being rough, Ikkaku probably is really fond of giving you some soft head. Starting with just kitten licks, to warm you up.

- Ikkaku’s fucking style is obviously rough, that man will pound into you endlessly. He can go multiple rounds, probs a maximum of 5x

- Yes, Ikkaku is rough, but he probably does not like any hardcore choking or brining much harm to his partner. But SPANKING. That is probably his favorite thing. To call it a kink might be a bit extreme, but lets just say that he loves spanking his partner on the behind or thighs.

- Maybe a very specific thing Ikkaku likes is doing some hot stuff in the shower, after massaging your whole body with soap. He just cant help himself after that anymore

Yumichika Ayasegawa

- He wants a good passionate fucking or none at all. There is no such thing as a quickie with Yumi. He wants to take his time with a partner, and of course for the partner to take their time with him.

- Yumichika has eye for detail, everybody knows this. He loves how the dimples on your back look, or how your waist transitions into your hips.

- I get strong feeling that Yumichika’s favorite body part on his partner is their waist. He therefore will always want to touch it when being intimate.

- When I say that Yumi is the biggest tease, I mean it. He wants his partner ready. Of course, he then also expects this in return…

- Because his fucking style is pretty soft and delicate, one session probably takes ages. So he won’t be able to do many rounds. 2 MAX

- Anything with body worshipping and praise is definitely a kink of Yumichika, I mean he thinks he’s the most handsome man of Soul Society so would you expect otherwise?

- I can reallyyyy see Yumichika being fond of massages. Especially with giving them, full body massages of course, to appreciate his partner’s every nook and fold on their body.

- also… CANDLE WAX!! But it has to be the perfect scent tho, he will spend ages looking for the perfect wax with the perfect texture and scent.

[fractoluminescence]

Hueco Mundo having a moon sort of implies it is in space, and the existence of an area of Hueco Mundo that is in perpetual night with a moon that reflects the light of a star implies that there is another side that is in perpectual day. And for some reason that feels very uncanny to me

[unohanadaydreams]

I think it would’ve been cool if Yhwach had sleeper agents in the Seireitei. Like, he’s not above using Arrancar so I think it stands that he wouldn’t have a problem also using Shinigami (or even just some random souls in high enough station that they were likely to live a while longer than most, but ideally Shinigami.)

I just think it would’ve been neat to also see that Tosen and Aizen weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the crumbling infrastructure of the Seireitei. And that maybe even being used as a vehicle headed toward the revelation that the call was coming from inside the house the whole time. But on a grander scale than the first arc.

The 12th is destroyed from within just as much as from out. Yhwach didn’t just walk into Aizen’s cell, he was let in.

Not only do I think it could add to the terror of realizing the Quincy were in the shadows the whole fucking time. But it would also grind Squad Zero’s gears SO hard. They knew what Aizen was doing. They knew the nickname of the hollow that would try to overcome Masaki, so the knowledge seems extremely intimate.

Which implies they knew what Aizen did to the Vizards and they did nothing. Like, to put that in perspective Kirio was pulled into the Royal Guard and watched on as Hiyori was transformed and exiled. And either through complacency or coercion by the other Guard, she did nothing. As an organization they sent no warning or sign to the Gotei 13 or Central 46. They just watched.

And it would be super neat to see this ineffectual system of surveillance with no follow through until it’s kind of too late highlighted by moves supposedly being made by Tosen & Aizen’s underlings actually being made by those under the thumb of the Quincy the whole time. And they just let it happen.

Not just delicious for the Royal Guard but also for Shunsui and Nanao who are inheriting this whole fucking mess mid-war and are aghast at the depths of non communication that lead to all the leads being buried until it was too late. (I mean they kind of do this anyway but Even MORE)

[backwzzds]

im not gon lie when renji be saying roar zabimaru i be crossing my thighs together 😩😩😩😩😩😩

[r473n]

I hadn't noticed this before!!!????

EXCUSE ME WHILE I DIE

I was just going over the stills from Nemu’s past when I realised what she's drawing... SHE'S DRAWING MAYURI!!!!

On the left I think it's Mayuri with the hat he had when she was very little

Centre and something I'll cherish forever - Mayuri wearing an oversized jumper 😭😭😭😭

(Gotta admit initially I thought he was supposed to be sitting in a tiny rocket or a little plane with his legs dangling out of it and then my brain decided to wake up)

I can't breathe guys!!!

[gogobluedynamite]

Since liquified reishi seems to be a thing...

I wonder what could happen if someone drinks it. Like, what could happen if Uryuu, specifically, drinks it? Especially during the time he was powerless...

Asking for a friend.

[thefifteenthdivisionarchives]

Uh…forgot about this…

Something tells me that Uryu has inadvertently reminded Ryuuken of Masaki as well cuz he held similar views as her…

It’s almost no wonder Ryuuken became the man we see him now…

Man…I’m just making Uryuu this constant reminder for Ryuuken and his perceived failures…ain’t an excuse, but damn…

The Ishida men are…thoroughly broken.

[fractoluminescence]

So, I felt like I needed to add this to my reblog in case it didn't fit in the tags (bear with me, this is going to seem off-topic at first, but I'll get there. Also, I wrote this on my phone, so do point out any typos or repetitions, rereading myself is hard like this)

First off, my headcanon is that the places that are the densest in spirit energy in each dimension attract each other. Otherwise using portals to other dimensions could be used as fast travel. Think about it: if Soul Reapers could open Senkaimon to anywhere in the human world, that would be so OP. You could start in Karakura, open a Senkaimon, then open one back and end up in New York.

So my headcanon is that they can't. That they only reason they can just straight up open Senkaimon to Karakura is because it's so close. Like spheres with magnets stuck inside them that rotate so that the magnets are right up against each other.

This makes in-universe sense, too, because:

It's basically said that spirit energy affects other instances of spirit energy, more or less (with the powers of people waking up after hanging out with Ichigo or encountering Hollows)

It would explain why the "Wstern Branch of Soul Society" has little to no Hollows compared to Karakura. You'd think a place with so much magic would have Hollows - but no. Which means it's likely not spiritual energy at all over there. My hypothesis is that Hollows and dragons are mutually exclusive - that they kill each other when in the same area. So Hollows stick to the ones where they have good prey and no dragons, because Soul Reapers kill dragons as they see them as a threat (stated in BTW canon) and just don't want to be bothered with keeping such an ecosystem alive. As a result, people who can deal with Hollows pool where Hollows are, hence they go to Japan

Hence, Soul Reapers only really have to deal with Hollows in the area where the Juureichi is without needing to stray too far - which is convenient, because that's where their Senkaimon tend to lead.

Now. We don't know how big Hueco Mundo is, but the fact that the main cast still managed to reach Las Noches so quickly does indicate it wasn't that far (comparatively to the whole dimension - it was still some ways off of course). Imo, that's because, after Aizen settled there, way more strong Hollows pooled there than there used to be, especially after he made them stronger. So Las Noches was in the process of aligning itself with the other spiritually-dense areas of other dimensions - making it close, but not as close as Seireitei and Karakura were to each other already.

Now, what's the link with languages. The link, imo, is that the only reason the areas of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo that we know speak the same language as the main cast is because they do actually speak Japanese - and they do so because the general areas where their respective Juureichi are have been roughly aligned.

So. For Soul Society, it's simple - second headcanon, when Souls die they go to whatever oart of Soul Society or Hueco Mundo that is "closest" - so if the area with Karakura has had the Human Juureichi within it for a while, and Seireitei has been the Juureichi for Soul Society since its foundation, most of the Souls that arrive around Seireitei are from Japan, and over time that influenced the culture and language and made them line up.

For the Quincy, I think they started in Germany area-wise, but moved to Japan over time because they felt it was their mission to deal with the Hollows there - and since there were dragons in Western Europe, Hollows stopped showing up as much. They brought their language along with them, but it got lost along the generations and eventually only certain Quincy-specific terms remained in German in their vocabulary. And, when naming their techniques and the like, it just made sense to keep using German as a nod to tradition. The war with the Soul Reapers then started because their territories overlapped and because Quincy found a lot more Hollows to kill in Japan than they did back in Europe.

For the Arrancar, their personal powers are in Spanish, so it probably isn't passed down - then again, we don't really know how the names of personal powers get assigned, so. But still, I'd think if you didn't speak any Spanish at all, your powers wouldn't have a name in Spanish, and I doubt Arrancar are trying to give a nod to previous generations like Quincy - they're too individualist and isolated from each other for that.

Imo, what happened with the Hollows is that the Juureichi of Hueco Mundo didn't used to be Las Noches. It became Las Noches because Aizen made it Las Noches by gathering a bunch of strong Arrancar there, but the area where Las Noches was built used to be over Spain. The old Juureichi used to be over Japan, and had Japanese as a first language since the Souls that arrived in the area were Japanese. But most of the strong Hollows and natural Arrancars in Hueco Mundo were spread out so much that that Juureichi wasn't stable. So when Aizen picked Las Noches as his new base (because he wanted to take down the dimension's supposed king and thought it'd be fun to settle where he used to be), which was over Spain but wasn't the Juureichi because it wasn't that big a settlement despite housing a king, and made it into an outright forteress in which he managed to (more or less successfully) bring together very strong Arrancar, including multiple Vasto Lordes that he made even stronger, the Juureichi shifted.

The Hollows in the area, imo, probably originally had dialects similar to Spanish that had been brought in from the Human World - but as Aizen's influence grew, and he imo probably didn't bother making an effort in learning the local languages properly, they were partly forced, partly had to concead to using the language he himself used. It also allowed them to pretend like they weren't from different areas with different dialects, erasing what used to be their own culture in favor of sharing part of the Soul Reaper culture that Aizen had brought in. But he didn't care what their powers meant, because all he cared about was ordering them around, so he let them keep the names of their powers in the languages that sounded like home to them.

Imo, there's no way dimensions have official names, especially not Hueco Mundo. I think that was the local name of Barragan's area, not necessarily what the entire dimension calls it. As for Soul Society, I think that while Seireitei is the place with the most military power, the furthest out you go, the less reason people have to speak Japanese - because they don't care about Seireitei, and because the Souls that arrive there are from other parts of the Living World that aren't Japan.

Hell is a different matter. I do have headcanons for it, but they're not even fanwanking at this point, they're just plain me-making-shit-up. So I'll keep those to myself lol.

Anyway, that's my take. Hopefully this is readable. (Curious at to what @bleachbleachbleach think, in case you don't mind being tagged.)

EDIT: Spain or some Spanish-speaking place, at least. Same for German if there are other Germany-speaking places out there. Sorry about my I-live-in-Western-Europe bias coming through 😬

So, Bleach has an interesting language phenomenon that gets glossed over in favor of moving the plot along (a perfectly reasonable authorial decision), but I think has world building potential:

The Karakura kids and Shinigami all speak Japanese- they have Japanese names (even Chad), and call their Zanpakuto and flashy attacks Japanese names.

The arrancar have a variety of name origins, but all live in Las Noches, and call their special attacks and military rankings Spanish names, so it's reasonable to assume they're all speaking Spanish.

The Quincy again have a variety of names but are VERY German, with German weapons, ranks, techniques etc.

...but everyone can trash talk everyone else without a language barrier. How's that work?

[fractoluminescence]

Been researching Buddhism for Bleach fanfiction worldbuilding purposes and I'm still at the very beginning of the knowledge curve but man am I having a blast. If humans are humans, and Hollows and the hungry, and Hell are the hateful, and Komamura's people are meant to be the beasts, then who are the Soul Society, the proud or the jealous? And how do Quincy fit into all of this, considering they are human but with a piece of other? And the Soul King?

I wish I could ask Kubo

[r473n]

I forgot the met gala was happening this month imagine if soul society had they own version of the met gala

I have to admit I had to google what the Met Gala is 🫣 pop culture isn't my thing.

But... a met gala in the Sereitei?? YES, PLEASE!

Imagine all the captains and lieutenants dressing up in increasingly over-the-top ways, the petty competitiveness, the envious looks, the drama 👀

Lmao, I can see Byakuya and Mayuri staring daggers at each other across the red carpet. Bya-kun ofc would be the epitome of elegance, all smooth, expensive fabrics, flattering design that follows the contours of his body to perfection, prideful saunter, broody looks at the camera, graceful swirl to show off the subtle shimmering colours, exquisitely selected to make the blue of his eyes pop...

On the other hand, Mayuri would strut in guns blazing, a swagger, a mesmerising wiggle of his hips... Bright leathers, feathers and silky soft pelts, 9inch heels that would break my ankles just looking at them, blues and reds and violets so vibrant it hurts your retinas, dashing golden mask caressing the soft edge of his jaw, design so intricate it puts Baroque cathedrals to shame, make-up so flawless you can't stop looking at the way the smokey, dark eyeshadow makes his feline eyes shine like liquid honey, cobalt blue hair coiffed in such a flamboyant style that it not only defies gravity but reality...

PLEASE, PLEASEEEEE I NEED THIS!!

For funsies, this is how I imagine Mayuri but to the power of infinity 😂

Thanks for the ask anon!!

[fractoluminescence]

(linkspooky)

(zabiume)

What are your thoughts on orihime?

Ichigo's little group of friends exist to be basis of Bleach's arcs. The Soul Society arc is envisioned as Rukia's arc, which is a no-brainer because Rukia is a Shinigami. The Lost Agent is envisioned as Chad's arc, and even if it fails that role, the choice is understandable due to Chad being a Fullbringer. The Blood War is envisioned as Uryuu's arc, obvious again because Uryuu is a Quincy. But Orihime is a Fullbringer, so realizing what makes her fit at the center of the Arrancar arc requires a little more thought.

Well, I'd say the answer can be found about as early as possible. Orihime simply isn't like any other character in the good side. A whole lot of characters in Bleach have tragic pasts, but only Orihime is shown having a tragic present. The other Karakura people have comfortable houses with providing families. The Seireitei is a high class place directly contrasted with the poor Rukongai. The Visored and Xcution are united communities. Unclear about the Quincies in Silbern because we never the status quo there before the times of war.

Meanwhile, Orihime lives alone thanks to cutting ties with her parents at age 4 and losing her brother at age 12. She survives out of part-time jobs and financial support from distant relatives who determine how much money she gets based on her grades. The status quo of Bleach is pretty rough on her, and if I'm not forgetting anyone, her alone. She's doing what she can to survive under a constant threat of hunger, which is something Bleach otherwise only portrays as the lifestyle of a Hollow. I'll get back to this later.

The point here is that Orihime's life sucks. But that's not a thing that ever shows. Orihime in public is just a silly airhead constantly presented as the most cheerful person around. Her screentime in normal school situations is marked by her filtering her unpleasant reality with outlandish imagination. Her antics make her look really stupid, but we're shown that she isn't as she has 3rd best grades in their school. Intentional as her silliness is, she can't afford to be a bad student because that affects how much bread she gets to every month, as mentioned above.

And Bleach wastes no time explaining why she's like that. Still in volume 1, it's already established that Orihime spent her whole life being protected by others. First Sora, then Tatsuki, and now Ichigo. And because she grew up like this, her greatest wish is to not be a problem.

She let Sora bite her because life going on without him was being a problem to him and having to protect her was being a problem to Ichigo. She puts on a smile at school and keeps her conditions a secret to avoid being a problem to anyone who could care about her living situation. She let Ulquiorra take her because she didn't want to be a problem to anyone willing to fight Aizen for her sake. Her experience in Soul Society should have told her that this last one would backfire tremendously, but in her moment of weakness, she couldn't fight against her ingrained habit of avoiding being a burden.

Another key point of her early characterization is obviously her relationship with Ichigo. He was just a cool funny guy at first, until Sora's incident made him interesting, so she asked Tatsuki about him, and only really started caring after hearing about Masaki's death. This happens in a volume where she takes the cover and her opening poem is "If I were the rain [...] could I tie hearts together?". The rain is the symbol of Ichigo's grief, and Orihime falls for Ichigo by associating the lost of his mother with the loss of her brother. She connects best by relating to suffering, which shows later in the many, many, many times she's shown healing Arrancars after years practically living like a Hollow when in the world of the living.

This is kinda of a sudden change of topic, but things are sorta moving in chronological order here and the next big checkpoint is Orihime's first fight, so I'll conclude the talk about her position there and now talk about her powers.

Orihime gets Shun Shun Rikka, a Fullbring centered around rejection of events. Like Bleach abilities tend to do, this power goes incredibly well with Orihime's established characterization. Reality sucks for her but she keeps things by rejecting it through her filter of imagination. She can attack with this power, but it's best suited as a shield (preventing causing problems for others) or healing (making people forget their problems).

She then proceeds to not do much in Soul Society, then early into the Arrancar arc, she loses to Yammy and gets to negatively compare herself to Rukia, who did well in her first on-screen fight ever. Her feelings of uselessness pile up and compound into the 5 lives scenes, which as I already told you before, I consider the emotionally powerful dialogue Kubo has ever written. Not much to comment on it, the moment speaks for itself.

For Orihime, the bulk of the Arrancar arc is spent interacting with Ulquiorra. It's a really challenging experience for her because Ulquiorra has zero emotional depth. He was an ancient Hollow with no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth, being unable to perceive the outside world until Aizen broke his mask. Starrk, Barragan, and Grimmjow's backstories establish that Arrancars inherit experiences from their Hollow selves. Breaking their masks didn't change who they are. But Ulquiorra has no experiences because his Hollow life was spent entirely in the nothingness of himself.

Orihime has always been engaging with people through a smile-shaped web of lies, social conventions, and bravado, but Ulquiorra still haven't experienced humanity enough for that to work on him. He responds only to cold truths, so Orihime's typical conversation strategies are proven useless. It forces her to change her ways. She can only teach him about the heart by being honest and direct. Arrancars are about literal broken masks, but Orihime makes herself part of their story by having her metaphorical mask broken.

After that, we have the Lost Agent arc, which doesn't really take Orihime further (and doesn't really need to since Arrancar was her main focus arc) but does an amazing show of progress for post-Ulquiorra Orihime by introducing Riruka, a tsundere who hangs with Orihime a lot. While Riruka is as full of walls and bravado as Orihime originally was, this Orihime gets to be effortlessly vulnerable, recapping her horrible backstory to her new friend, being called creepy for her apparently fake smile, and clarifying that she actually can smile for real because she was already saved from her past.

The final arc doesn't do much with her aside from putting her in the final boss battle, so I guess I'll use this space to talk about how her progression in combat participation feels really well-paced. She goes from being squarely away from major action in Soul Society to not interfering with the fight but making a point to stay near the battle vs Grimmjow to start tactically throwing shields vs Ulquiorra to getting Ichigo actively ask for her help vs Ywhach.

Ok, that last is probably more about Ichigo himself having learned to ask for help 10 minutes ago after cringing at Uryuu's inability to rely on his friends and taking him as an antithesis model (pun intended).

But still, I love this kind of step-by-step character growth model, it reminds me of how Yugi and Atem's dynamic grew from Yugi unaware to Yugi aware to them starting to talk to them working together vs Pegasus to Yugi dueling alone to Yugi defeating Atem. Always great to see an author commit to a flowchart of development like that.

[thefifteenthdivisionarchives]

I honestly don't think Ryuuken and Masaki are cousins. Or at least not first cousins.

I think its the way Izumi talks to Masaki about the whole thing.

Think about it like this: if Masaki and Ryuken are first cousins, then there is a likelihood that either Soken or (more probable) Izumi was a Kurosaki. I mean...usually, when you are first cousins, that typically means one of your parents are siblings.

The way Izumi treated the whole situation has a level of distance where the bloodline between the Ishidas and Kurosakis aren't that connected. She doesn't mention any direct ties between the two.

So, why does Masaki call Izumi her aunt then?

Well, there could be a few reasons.

There are still some family relations, Masaki and Ryuken are just more likely second or third cousins.

It's just a thing in Quincy culture. Like how in some cultures and communities, people would refer to each other as 'cousin' or 'brother' despite lack of family ties.

It was just a cover up on the situation so people outside of the family don't ask questions.

To clarify: This is not me looking for a loophole to ship Ichiishi lol.

This was more of an observation.