#it's for rukia. i'm sure you understand

[recurring-polynya]

I was thinking about how it's cool Rukia and Renji's bankai are pretty complementary in terms of making a good battle couple. Renji has always been a straight-to-bankai sort of guy, which makes sense. In the grand scheme of bankai, his isn't the most powerful or the most destructive, but it doesn't have any detrimental area effects and he can use it for a long time. Rukia's on the other hand, is very powerful, but it's only good for a very short time, and it leaves her vulnerable. Fighting together, she can back up Renji with kidou support or her shikai attacks, and then he can give her cover while she transitions in and out of bankai, if needed. This is a lot more fun, imo, than say, Kyouraku and Ukitake, who are both so hesitant to go to bankai that we never even see Ukitake's. (and maybe this works for them, given that they are side characters and the most senior in Soul Society, that their powers get the super slow burn reveal)

That being said, Renji and Byakuya's partnership works much the same way-- Byakuya's bankai isn't quite as perilous as Rukia's, but he tends to save it (my headcanon is actually that he can't go straight to bankai, he has to sort of build up momentum, so to speak). I'm not gonna lie, the scene early in the TYBW anime where Renji pins As Nodt with Zabimaru and then Byakuya slams him in the face with petals was one of the most satisfying moments of the anime so far.

All this is to say that for the approximately 1,000,000 characters Kubo crammed into Bleach, it's a real shame that he couldn't have developed an interesting side character that we might say "hell yeah!" to see stepping into place as Rukia's lieutenant post-time skip. I mean, not to diss Sentarou, but 98% of his job seems to be clownery and the other 2% is carrying heavy things. Would it have killed Kubo to let him do something during the Blood War? (him and Kiyone both, tbh) I honestly don't think it would have been too much to ask to see his shikai, if he's going to eventually be the battle partner of the series' deuteragonist. I dunno, I also just think it would have been cool for Rukia to have another friend in Soul Society besides her love interest and her brother. There's Hanatarou, I suppose, and on one level, I would love to see him as Rukia's no. 2, but he so thoroughly attached to the Fourth, and also his shikai is too gimmicky for a serious character.

Flaming hot cheetos take I just came up with: Ganju should have had grudgingly join the Gotei after the Soul Society arc and come around on Rukia after learning what Kaien meant to her, and then eventually taking over his brother's job. I mean, Kubo liked him enough to write him into the TYBW, an arc that definitely did not need more characters in it than it already had.

[kaethefangirl]

And I'm back, women in anime are depicted so terribly its wild. I just wanted to come and say, fuck elizabeth (nnt/7ds), fuck orihime (bleach), and fuck hinata (naruto, but fuck her a little less cs i kind of like her)

It makes me angry that in almost every shonen, the main character has a personality and a life and things that they go through and have to overcome... and then theres the love interest. Always airheaded, always soft spoken, always kind, with no willpower at all. In bleach, I would ship rukia with ichigo so hard if she wasn't perfect with renji.

Bleach was actually insane because literally every female character had a personaltity except Orihime. I do like that Fairy tail is set apart from the rest because Lucy is kind of sort of the main character so she gets to have a personality too. Fanservice is like an obvious thing that I hate about anime and it takes away so much. If an anime was a 10 before factoring the fan service, it would be brought down to a 7 or 6 afterward. Orihime sucks over all, 2/10 love interest.

I'm pretty sure most of my hate of Winry (Fullmetal Alchemist) is stemmed from the countless anti-winry fanfiction I've read but she's a great standalone character. The only flaws I see in her is that she does the crying for the male mc thing, which is really out of character for her when I think about it. She has willpower, she's strong and independent, if anything she'd be travelling with them and staying strong for them because she understands that she's a liability if she breaks down crying at every bruise they get. That's more in character to me, but I suppose she is also a teenager so... I can't be too mad at her. All in all, Winry is an amazing female love interest. 9/10 love interst/mc.

Haruhi from Ouran Highschool really breaks the stereotype and gives us a refreshing view on women in anime. She wasn't obsessed with love, she didn't really care too much about anything. She wasn't the typical "yells at you for literally anything" female mc, or the "nice shy and airheaded" female mc. She wasn't even unique and I love that, she's genuinely a regular ass girl, and she was so hilarious. She's probably my favorite girl in anime if I'm being honest. 10/10 female love interest/mc.

Let's talk about Elizabeth. Elizabeth from 7ds is such a disgrace.. She sat and let Meliodas molest her and didn't care at all. You can tell when an anime is written by a man, and not to knock ALL anime written by men because there's some amazing ones out there, but things like that just make it so obvious. Diane and her obsession with Meliodas was weird too, it seemed a bit too much like a harem anime in season 1 and bits of season 2. Elizabeth was the typical soft spoken and overly kind love interest that I hate. Not a drop of personality there and then she has to blush with everything she says.. All in all, 0/10 love interest.

Last but not least, my dear Tohru Honda... Words cannot describe how much I love her. On the outside it looked like she was the typical soft spoken and overly kind female mc but she actually blew my mind. Her willpower is incredible, the fact that she stayed after finding out what Kyo really was and refused to leave. It wasn't a weird kind of moment where she was just blushing and refusing to leave because that's what the writers decided she was gonna do, but it was actually a great scene that showed who she was at her core. I loved how at the end of the series she disagreed with Kyo. "I might be nice but I do stand my ground." God, I love Tohru. It's like her kindness was genuine and real and so was her worry and concern for the Sohmas. All in all, 10/10 female love interest/mc.

[gallusrostromegalus]

PLEASE tell me you have plans/powers for Tatsuki in AEIWAM, she's my biggest pet peeve from Bleach, criminally underused

I don't have a lot with Tatsuki drafted out yet, but she does play a prominent role in the fic, starting with going to Seireitei with the gang instead of Uryuu in the soul society arc. Have this bit with her and Uryuu:

--- Inside urahara Shoten, a few days before everyone* leaves for Seireitei to rescue Rukia: "Ichigo." Uryuu glared magnificently at him, glasses shining in the dingy flourescent lights inside the display room of the Urahara Shoten. "I'm coming with you."

"...Uhhhh-" Ichigo began.

"I know- I have not behaved... rationally, as of late. Setting off an entire pack of hollow bait in the middle of a heavily populated city in some kind of demented dick-measuring contest with a classmate who is only peripherally involved in the cult bullshit my family is trying to escape was. Not the most hinged behavior." Uryuu started.

"That's putting it mildly." Muttered Keigo.

"-But you were right that my anger was misplaced, and you and Rukia both have been so kind to me, that- Look, this grudge between Quincy and Shinigami has gone on long enough- it's gone on so long I don't even really understand why it got started!"

"-Yeah, okay but-" Ichigo tried to speak up.

"So I'm coming with you. If Rukia hadn't stepped in with the portal closure device I don't know what would have happened, and I- I owe her just as much as you do, Ichigo!"

"You do, but-"

"Dammit Ichigo I'm sorry! I'm sorry for what I did and I need to make it up to her and bury this stupid fucking hatchet between our people and-"

"DUDE!" Ichigo shouted, slapping both hands against Uryuu's cheeks and smooshing his face until he looked like an alarmed goldfish with Hyperopia-corrective glasses. "Uryuu- It's okay. You and I are cool. You are Rukia are cool. I don't know all of what's going on with your family and soul society, but I feel like they could eventually be cool too."

Uryuu smiled as best he could with his face compressed like this, tears in his eyes.

"...However-" Ichigo sighed. "Rukia's Boss who runs the whole Soul Society is apparently the kind of maniac that sends people's own family members to arrest and imprison them for minor accidents in the field, which is, as you say, not the most hinged behavior, and not someone who I expect to be cool about anything, but especially not my friend, the son of people who were involved in something called a 'Thousand Year Blood War' with said boss, coming to said boss's house, specifically to commit crime. I feel like that's antithetical to the whole 'No more blood feud' movement."

"...I shee yourg poind." Uryu mumbled, face still smooshed in Ichigo's hands.

"Also, didn't you get hit by a truck?" asked Tatsuki.

"What?" Demanded Ichigo.

"Ah. Yeah." Uryuu said, face still smooshed. "Id'z fine though! Onngly a Hairline Fragture!" he said, gesturing to the middle of his forearm

"Bruh." Chorused Ichigo, Tatsuki, Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro.

"Based on every medical rant I've ever heard both your dads give, you absolutely not be doing magical archery when you've got any broken bone, but especially not a broken radius." Sighed Orihime.

"Well, I mean- You guys still need a Medic!" He tried.

"Orihime's shield can heal... like, anything, apparently." Tatsuki shrugged.

"Oh don't worry, I armed everyone!" Mizuiro beamed, and Uryuu noticed the holsters out on the table where Mizuiro was working. "...Ohg." Uryuu wilted, and Ichigo let go of his face.

"Don't feel too bad," Keigo said, standing on his tip-toes to pat Uryuu's shoulder sympathetically. "-Mizuiro and I aren't actually going either."

"Yeah because I'm also a Quincy, and because you just generally suck." Mizuiro called, returning his attention to the holsters.

"...Actually." Ichigo frowned at Mizuiro. "There IS something you can do here that would help out and I'm sure Rukia will be glad you did."

"Really? I mean, I'll do it." Uryuu smiled. "Its okay Ichigo, you're risking your life, the least I can do is run a few errands and do some sewing here."

"-cool, because I need you to leverage your reputation as a goody-two-shoes and lie to all our families and school about where we are." Said Ichigo.

"...Ah." Uryuu sighed. "I will do this, but I cannot promise results. I am. Not good at deception."

"Doesn't matter, everyone believes you no matter what anyway." Tatsuki shrugged. "Anyway, until then, you wanna come down and watch training while you sew?"

"Uh. Sure?" Uryuu shrugged. "Wait, why do only you three need uniforms? It's not just you guys going, right?"

"Well, Ichigo already got one with his new magical girl powers-" Tatsuki waved, walking towards the back of the shop. "Urahara's a chickenshit and not coming with us, and Yoruichi-san who is coming with us is a cat."

"A... Cat?" Uryuu asked. "Like Kon?"

"-You know? I didn't ask?" Tatsuki frowned, opening up the trapdoor in the back room of the store. "She's really good at Martial Arts though- this Hakuda shit ROCKS! See ya at the bottom!" she grinned, before sliding down the ladder. ---

It took Uryuu a solid twelve minutes to get to the bottom, unwilling to slide like Tatsuki and Ichigo, until Chad grabbed him around the middle near the bottom and set him down.

"Its okay." He said. "It took me a few days to get used to sliding too."

"Th-thanks." Uryuu muttered looking around the enormous room. There was a distant crack like lightning, and Uryuu peered around one of the many boulders in s faux-desert landscaping to see Tatsuki, wearing only a halter top and bike shorts, facing down a small black cat, lighting crackling from between her shoulder blades.

At least, he saw her for a second, before Tatsuki transformed into a blur and then vanished altogether, appearing briefly in little flashes of afterimage, trying to high-kick the cat fifty feet in the air, blocking a return kick from the cat two hundred feet away, throwing a punch right next to him, only to vanish again in a gust of air, even outrunning her own dust trail.

"Did you know that the National Champion of the High School karate Tournament almost always sits the following year out?" Ichigo asked behind Uryuu, making him jump. "Usually from injuries, but I think in her case, Tatsuki will have moved on to an entirely different class of opponent."

"Is- Is Tatsuki also a Shinigami?" Uryuu asked, deeply alarmed.

"No, we don't know what she is, actually." Ichigo shrugged, looking puzzled. And... smelling strangely skunkish.

"Do you have a new bodyspray or are we doing drug violations as well as war crimes down here?" Uryuu winced, nose crinkling.

"What? Oh, the weed. No, I'm not doing weed or anything but Kisuke always REEKS of the stuff- Shit, did it get into my clothes? It's so bad I can't even smell it anymore, my brain just blocks it out-"

"Wait, Kisuke? Like, Kisuke Urahara? Stuptid hat and Geta, looks kind of like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo?" Uryuu asked.

"Yeah!" Ichigo frowned. "...wait, how do YOU know him?"

"...He's uh- hm. Okay, I don't know the exact nature of his business relationship with my father, but I hear dad complain about him raising his prices when he thinks I'm in bed." Uryuu winced.

Ichigo frowned for a moment, before putting his hands on his hips in and turning to holler over his shoulder. "AY SANDALHAT! YOU DEALING TO URYUU'S DAD?"

"Yo, WHAT?" Shouted Tatsuki. reappearing next to them, face full of gleeful anticipation for fresh drama.

"Don't get distraOW!" Yelped Yoruichi as it dove for Tatsuki, only for her to pivot-kick the feline into the far wall anyway.

"GOTCHYERASS!" Tatsuki bellowed triumphantly.

"Okay!" Yoruichi called weakly from a pile of rubble. "Good job there- FUCK, DAMMIT GIRL!!"

"You said 'No Mercy'!" Tatsuki shouted, grinning as she followed Yoruichi across the training ground and set up to axe-kick her into the floor. "NO MERCY!!"

"I am not 'dealing' to Ryukken, I am selling him what would be perfectly legal chemical therapies to treat hollowfication and other supernatural disorders, if the leadership of the living world knew about hollows. Which they don't, but it's not illegal." Kisuke sighed, appearing at Ichigo's shoulder. "Also, what are you doing down here?"

"Tatsuki invited me." Uryuu blinked. "I'm making everyone's shinigami uniforms and providing their alibis.

"And that girl has the nerve to lecture me about Operational Security..." Urahara sighed. "Still, good to have you on board. Don't worry, mum's the word to your families- I don't want to lose some of my best customers!" he winked.

"-Or have another thing for Mr. Kanonji to write you up for!" Tatsuki beamed, appearing again with Yoruichi under her arm. "You're really slow today, do you need to go to the vet or something?" She asked with genuine concern.

"It's his fault for keeping me up all night." Yoruichi groaned, pointing a claw at Urahara.

"-Yeah but the hangover is all you." Kisuke grinned.

"My therapist says I have so many issues with authority and trusting adults because of shit like this, you know." Ichigo sighed.

"I thought those were your daddy issues." Said Tatsuki.

"I mean, they're primarily my Dad's fault, but two out of three of the adults helping us with rescuing our friend from another dimension getting wasted in the middle of training isn't helping." Ichigo glared at Urahara. "Don't let the posture and good nature fool you, watch the sword- the only reason he's not hungover is that he woke up still drunk."

"DUDE!" Tatsuki glared, tossing Yoruichi at him, who he very nearly fumbled catching.

"C'mon Uryuu, let's go say hi to Tessai, THE REAL ADULT HERE-!" Tatsuki shouted over her shoulder, throwing an arm around Uryuu's and walking off while Ichigo lit into the combat instructors about the seriousness of the situation.

"...I have to say, this is not inspiring a lot of confidence in the operation." Uryuu mumbled.

"Yeah, but who else can we talk to? Your dad?" Tatsuki sighed.

"Ugh." Uryuu moaned.

"It'll be okay- I kinda expected them to be a bit of a mess this morning, what with it being the first weekend since Yoruichi got here that we weren't also here." Tatsuki smirked, winking.

Uryuu frowned. "...Are you implying that Mr. Urahara is in a romantic relationship with a Cat?"

"I know, talk about a weird way to get your Pussy!" Tatsuki laughed at Uryuu's distraught expression. "Ease up Uryuu- Mr. Yoruichi passes the Harkness Test as-is, and I'm like... 94% sure he's a shapeshifter. We ride Mr. Urahara pretty hard as a matter of principle, but he and Mr. Yoruichi are actually pretty good teachers most of the time- we just want to keep them to that high standard, you know?"

"Hm. You ah, Have advanced significantly in martial arts since the last time I saw you fight, but that was at the club fair demo event back in March." Uryuu nodded.

"I promise I wasn't zipping around faster than the human eye moves at Nationals last month either." Tatsuki grinned as they approached the far end of the training room, where a strange golden light was glowing, interrupted by flashes of bright blue. "Ah, cool. Mr. Tessai has Orihime and Chad strength-training against each other- Chad wails on her shields until they break or his punchin' arm gets tired, they take a break and do speed training with the kids, Orihime wails of Chad's Shield arm until he drops it or she runs out of energy. They're getting close to a speed-training break so you can ask Mr. Tessai details about Shinigami uniforms." She explained, leaning against a large boulder for cover from stray bolts of energy.

"Ah. Thank you." Uryuu nodded, moving into the lee of the boulder as well. "Do you... Do you really think you're going to be able to save Miss Rukia?"

Tatsuki sighed. "Honestly? No idea. Mr. Tessai has been the best about sharing information about the shinigami with us, but he hasn't lived there for like 100 years, and he doesn't have any idea what's changed or how strong anyone who lives there now is- maybe it'll be easy peasy lemon squeezy, maybe it'll be instant death, but..." She stopped, frowning at the floor. "-I can't explain it, but now that I know? I mean, now that I know a bit? I have to go. I have to know what's going on."

"I can recap what my father told me about my family's history with the Shinigami for your notes after training today." Uryuu offered.

"That'd be great, actually." Tatsuki nodded. "You know, you're a pretty swell guy for an academically overachieving prick that sometimes causes supernatural super-predation events." Uryuu winced. "I- the whole thing with bait was- and I'm so sorry, this is just an explanation, not an excuse- It started because I found the notes my father took when he autopsied Opa, er, my grandfather- his father too."

"Your dad Autopsied his own father??" Tatsuki blanched.

"He autopsied my mother after she died too, and every other Quincy whose body he could get a hold of, to try to understand what... actually causes our abilities, and to know who and what is killing us." Uryuu explained. "-Like, as I found out a few weeks ago, Shinigami."

"Wait, what? What the fuck? Your dad- wait- Okay-" she sputtered, shaking her head. "Alright, alright- One, your Dad is fuckin' hardcore man. Two- Shinigami killed your grandfather? Like? that was recently, right? I though this whole war thing had been over for a while."

"Yeah that's what I thought too!" Uryuu grimaced, slightly manic. "-the last major battle between Shinigami and Quincy happened back in the 1800's and honestly it's not even clear WHY- but I got ahold of Dad's notes and he's pretty sure that- I mean, what happened was that Opa and I were out training- Dad hated it, but I needed to learn some control- and we were attacked by an entire pack of hollows. I was... six? Opa told me to run, and I got away but he didn't. I always thought he'd been torn apart by hollows, and according to Dad's notes, he had been ripped up and would have bled out in minutes, but the thing that struck the killing blow was a Shinigami's Zanpaktou."

"...Shit." Mutteres Tatsuki. "-Not Rukia?"

"No-" Uryuu shook his head, leaning against the boulder and sliding down to sit as Chad and Orihime continued their training, nearly drowning out Ichigo and Urahara's distant bellowing. "She only started her deployment in the living world back in May of this year. Whoever it was, I'd have to look up in the Seireitei's actual archives." He shrugged, taking off his glasses to clean them.

"...Like, I don't want to sound like an apologist but- if your grandpa was already, um, bleeding out- could it have been a mercy killing?" asked Tatsuki, chewing her lip.

"I've re-read my father's notes since the bait incident and ah. I am inclined to believe that's the case, but it's not entirely clear." Uryuu sighed. "The Shinigami destroyed the organ- I say organ, it's more like a systemic response like the immune system- he had the system that allows him to draw Reishi into a weapon destroyed before he had his throat cut. Maybe it was a mercy killing and the Shinigami was scared of him, so he disarmed Opa first. Maybe he neutralized him to bully a dying man. It's really impossible to tell."

"Shit, I'm sorry." Tatsuki mumbled. "-Like, I know that's not the appropriate response but I genuinely have no idea what to say other than that's fuckin' awful man."

"You know? I don't know what I'd want to hear, but that helps." Uryuu huffed a quiet laugh, holding his glasses up to the artificial sun to inspect the lenses for grime before putting them back on. "...But you can see how, reading those notes the first time, I just went... fucking red mist descending sort of thing."

"No, no I get it." She nodded. "...Does Ichigo know?"

"He knows Opa was killed by a shinigami for some reason. Doesn't know how I know and given that his dad knows my dad, and there's bad blood between them about something, I don't want Ichigo to know about my father's secret autopsies."

"You know Ichigo. He's not a narc." Tatsuki prodded Uryuu's shoulder.

"Not to cops or teachers, but he's really honest with his family and I don't want to put him in the position of having to keep an additional secret from them." Uryuu sighed.

"Who is Ichigo keeping secrets from?" asked a strange man, tall and burly with strangely sectioned hair, brass-rimmed glasses and a resplendent mustache, suddenly crouched inches from Uryuu's face.

"EEAUGH!" Uryuu shrieked and Tatsuki immediately uppercut the strange man hard enough to force him to his feet.

"TESSAI! PERSONAL SPACE! WE TALKED ABOUT THIS!" She Shouted.

"My apologies Miss Arisawa." the giant sighed, rubbing his jaw and adjusting his glasses. "-I also recall a conversation about operational security and not letting strangers in here."

"Uryuu is already aware of the greater Shinigami bullshit." Tatsuki waved. "He's here to help, can you give him the specs and details on the Shinigami uniforms we'll need?"

"I see." Tessai nodded, looking down at Uryuu with an analytical glare that made his stomach flip for some reason. He must have passed muster because Tessai nodded and turned back to Tatsuki"Yes, but since Jinta and Ururu are on assignment for the shop, Would you be so kind as to do speed training with Mr. Yasutora and Miss Inoue today instead?"

"Oh, sure!" She chirped, and immediately vaulted over the boulder with a "-LOOKOUT! TICKLE MONSTER GONNA GETCHYU!!" and received a delighted shriek from Orihime and a wail of despair from Chad.

"I didn't catch your surname, young man." Mr. Tessai addressed Uryuu.

"Oh! Um, Ishida. I'm Uryuu Ishida. Your friend? Boss? Mr. Urahara does business with my dad." He sputtered.

Tessai stared down at Uryuu with a strangely somber look for a moment before smiling and bowing politely. "Of course you are. My apologies for treating you like a stranger, Mr. Ishida."

Uryuu blinked up at him, confused.

"Why don't you come have some tea with me while we discuss uniforms?" He smiled, gesturing for Uryuu to follow him. "Miss Inoue speaks most highly of your sartorial skills."

Uryuu nodded and followed, a little more at ease but absolutely certain that wasn't even remotely what Mr. Tessai wanted to discuss.

[bleachbleachbleach]

This is my zanpakutou

[Bleach 055 | 075]

Sure, you can be jaded about shounen guys and their fancy weapons parades, like, if you want, but I think the way zanpakutou are introduced is immensely fucking cool. We have some sense of the thing--from Zangetsu, and from Rukia having started it all by thrusting hers through Ichigo's chest, but our introductions to Soul Society and the shinigami who lead it are through an introduction to these swords.

We see it first from Renji, in the dark on a street in Karakura: A sword that can cut, but one that can also be called forth to change shape, become teeth that pounce and gnash. The image is so visceral--you can feel it dig into Ichigo's shoulder, tear through fat and muscle.

But maybe we've forgotten that, in the broad daylight of the West Gate. Even Ichigo's life-or-death tousle to regain Zangetsu is a dim memory on the other side of the dangai, because we've made it to the gates and bested the gate giant without much trouble and even some hijinks. The world on this side doesn't yet feel real, because Jidanbou is Jidanbou and Jidanbou lives up to the sense of fantasy: If you beat the gate guardian, of course you get to go into the city. That's how fantasy works, doesn't it?

But it's not how gates work. Ichimaru rightly points out that beating the gate guardian should not logically mean said guardian then opens the gate for you. I'm not saying it should mean you get your arm cut off by Some Guy, but it's not like Ichimaru's entirely wrong here. That's fantasy logic. This is Soul Society, and this is his zanpakutou. Which is, if you recall, a brutal weapon. It's also other things, but the way we met it and the way we are reminded of it it now, is through its violence.

[Bleach 055 | Bleach 075]

And I love the juxtaposition of the pure violence of zanpakutou to the fact that they are also the object of konsou--and konsou, for most, is likely how such a sword is most often used. Konsou, an act of meditation, mercy, perhaps grace. There's a juxtaposition, too, between the pure violence of zanpakutou and the fact that our first glimpse of Soul Society as a place is through Renji and Rikichi talking about butterflies; our introduction to Ichimaru is him frittering time away with Byakuya; and he closes the scene with a goodbye that is both disarming and utterly apprehension-inducing:

[Bleach 075]

All of these juxtapositions offer something different--with Renji, we begin to understand different dynamics between him and his past with Rukia, and with shinigami duties as a normal person job; we see some additional social complexities arise between Byakuya and Ichimaru; and while Ichimaru's "byebye" is written in pink and followed with a heart, it's not the same as the glimpses we get of Renji. Renji's scenes say, there's more for you to know. Ichimaru's introduction screams, I will not let you know. We're certainly not saying goodbye to hijinks, and it's not as though Soul Society isn't defined just as much by its hijinks (bureaucratic, slapstick, and otherwise) as it is its swords, but Ichimaru showing up, however playfully, is a reminder that shit's also serious, and those hijinks live hand in hand with the vicious intensity of zanpakutou, and shinigami, and Soul Society.

[aurora-313]

In all your readings, have you found another couple that functions perfectly as both platonic friends and as lovers as ichiruki do, but that is so underutilized by its creator in any capacity?

(Imagine Lisa easing out from Black and Blue, then she and Kaien are friends for a little while, then they see each other once a century.Fans of their relationship will be upset, and it will be their right. What will not be their right will be to act nasty about it. You know that you assume a risk with a WIP. )

Any author can do what they want with their story, but when you create expectations that you don't meet, people will be upset, especially if they pay you, and you use their friendship/romance as a selling pitch. I still don't get why people are upset on the people that are upset. Again being a WIP, doesn't mean that I have to like whatever direction the author chooses. I personally rarely take risks on WIPs, so I STARTED BLEACH AFTER IT WAS FINISHED AND I KNEW THE ENDING, and the false advertising still hit me. I fell for ichiruki, and the end and then the soul burriel chapter where they barely speak on the phone and Renji now replaced Rukia as Ichigo's friend was an 180degree if I ever saw one. I wonder if in the Hell Arc, they'll even recognize each other anymore..

P.S. Thank you for remembering Rukia in your fiction more than her creator does in canon.

(Please forgive me. This answer went on a ramble and I don't think I actually answered your question.)

I'm sure I've seen a few in my time.

The ones that readily leap to mind from my childhood are Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill from Stargate SG1, and Doctor Weir and Major Shepperd from Stargate Atlantis. Although I'm not sure the first duo count since there's multiple alternate universes where they do get hitched.

But onto Bleach. IchiHime fits under this category in my opinion: the 'under developed and under utilized' part.

Sure we have the 'love you in five lives' speech and the not-kiss, but"

One: Kissing an unconscious person that you're not in a committed relationship with is not cool. Under any circumstance.

Two: She's consistently scared shitless of Ichigo's powers and rejects his hollow, even though the Hollow is literally his soul manifest.

Three: Orihime repeatedly demonstrates she doesn't really understand how Ichigo works.

In the post-Deicide novels, Orihime was actively happy Ichigo didn't have powers anymore, only to reluctantly change her tune when she saw how thoroughly miserable he was without them.

It would've been great character progression to see Orihime delve into that personal stance: why was she happy about Ichigo being powerless? Because she legitimately didn't want him to get hurt anymore? Or relief that he wouldn't turn into a monster again?

And overcoming those personal scruples would've been a fantastic personal journey to see in the manga. Her coming to terms and reconciling her image of Ichigo being this heroic ideal and the flawed, deeply traumatized individual who had the capacity to be literally monstrous.

Orihime could've reexamined her feelings about ichigo at their core, and realise perhaps she doesn't actually love him after all. That she lusts after an ideal she's modelled in Ichigo's image. In realizing and coming to terms with that error, in abandoning her preconceived notions and actually seeing Ichigo for the first time, warts and all, Orihime could've paved the foundation to build a genuine friendship. Later possibly a romance.

If this was the journey Orihime went on through Bleach, taken entirely of her own accord, with a conclusion on her own terms? Then I wouldn't have been nearly as jarred by the epilogue. Ichigo's Oedipus complex aside.

But I digress.

Rukia was one half of the main duo that made Bleach compelling. And Kubo absolutely pushed her away after FKT, attempting (key word "attempting") to put Orihime in her place. Which is a frankly bizarre decision. Rukia is the "Death" to Ichigo's "Strawberry". She is the deuteragonist, the inciting incident to the whole story and the primary motivation for the first two arcs (Aizen's and Kisuke's century's long trans-dimensional chess match aside).

Ichigo pushed himself beyond breaking and learned skills well beyond his paygrade to save Rukia from unjust execution. In his desperation to achieve that goal, Ichigo had to learn to fly before he could crawl, ultimately mutilating his own powerset in the process.

In any other media, in any other story, that tends to be a giant glowing give away about the nature of his feelings, even if Ichigo wasn't entirely clear on them himself. Its the classic handsome knight rescuing the princess in the tower and riding off in the sunset to live happily ever after.

Yes, Ichigo went through the same motions to rescue Orihime from Aizen, but he had doubts about her. Even in his venture, Ichigo entertained the idea that Orihime had legitimately betrayed them. Then the narrative goes out of its way to demonstrate her presence was merely an excuse for Ichigo to settle his scores with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, and for Aizen to remove Soul Society's best weapon from play. Ichigo did personally want to save Orihime but he felt like he was conducting himself out of obligation, driven by his white knight/martyr complex. As soon as Ichigo felt Rukia's reiatsu flagging, he immediately shifted gears because 'Oh shit, gotta go save my totally platonic bestie first, bye!' and would've proceeded to do exactly that until Ulquiorra goaded him.

To me, Ichigo and Rukia is what made Bleach BLEACH. Their banter is what I loved about the first arcs, the teasing sprinkled with moments of heartfelt connection (in case you can't tell, its my favourite love language. Hence why Lisa and Kaien poke and tease each other all the time).

There's no 'Now I realise I why I wanted to save you' moment with Orihime in HM. She's narratively bait for Aizen's schemes and little more, as soon as she's safe-ish, Ichigo ditches and moves onto other grudge matches.

Then the final arc and the epilogue chapters roll around and I had to ask myself, is this even the same manga? Where's the Death and the Strawberry? Where is the bond that started ALL of this? Rukia is the woman who gave Ichigo the means to combat his despair, and they don't even talk anymore? You don't think Ichigo would've wanted to extend his congratulations for Rukia getting married? Having a kid? Getting prompted to Captaincy? Or anything to indicate they were friends at all?

(yes, Ichigo does in the novel but its telling one interaction between them is completely overshadows the story's 'main' pairing.)

My issue with TYBW and epilogue isn't the pairings - though that is a part. My issue is the narrative took great pains from the start to demonstrate Ichigo never felt like he belonged in the living world. His life was a dull tedious affair. The Fullbring arc reveals how much he actively hates Karakura and wants to leave ASAP.

Ichigo only began to truly LIVE once he gained shinigami powers (we'll ignore the fact he was only born and raised to be a weapon/universal battery). He loved every second of it, even when the power scared him and acted beyond his control. He fit into the realm of the dead far better than he ever did in the living.

Then Kubo turns around and claims; actually, NO. Ichigo's super content with exactly the same quiet kind of life he despised with every fibre of his being, living in a town he fucking hates and wanted to leave as soon as he graduated.

How does that shift in gears not raise serious red flags?

I'm not saying Ichigo had to go and live in Soul Society (though that was being set up thanks to the god-tier powers he'd been juiced with) but I did expect him to leave Karakura behind when all was said and done.

As a random-ish segue on the matter of friendship.

The Karakura gang feel like fair-weather friends more than anything else, excepting two circumstances: Ichigo and Chad (first arc) and Tatsuki and Orihime. Even then, those friendships become a stretch in later arcs before basically disappearing entirely. Sure, Chad, Ishida, Ichigo and Orihime have had life and death adventures together, but those scenarios were either a matter of self-preservation or wounded pride. Sometimes both.

But remove the supernatural circumstances, the Karakura gang felt like the average transient high school friendship. Circumstance brought them together, they would remain friends until graduation, then they'd all go their separate ways never to see each other again. Which is a sad state of affairs given Bleach's theme about the heart and nature of human connection.

But one must ask how strong those friendship really are when Ichigo will jump to the worst conclusion at the drop of a hat?

Orihime in Hueco Mundo, as stated above, Ichigo seriously entertained the idea she was a traitor until Ulquiorra claimed otherwise.

Chad with Xcution, Ichigo immediately assumed the worst intentions about it until Chad revealed he joined as a means to help Ichigo get his powers back.

Ishida joining the Quincy, Ichigo instantly assumed Ishida was 110% on board with the whole destroy reality plan until Ishida outright states 'I'm a double agent, you fucking dumbass.' (I give the Fullbringer arc incident a pass because Ichigo was not thinking clearly at the time)

It doesn't strike me as particularly strong or healthy when the first instinct is to immediately assume the worst.

But anyway, I shall get off my soapbox for now.

I do enjoy writing a great deal of Kaien, which means Rukia is inevitably involved given how intrinsically linked their stories are. Kind of hard to have a story about him and not have her in it. :D

I hope you continue to enjoy Kaien and Rukia in my writings. :)

[sunflowersandcherryblossoms]

I've officially given up on the new Rukia/Aaroniero Banner...

I'm tired of wasting orbs and getting either nothing at all or dupes from characters that I don't really care about...

I'm just getting dupes everywhere now!

Sure, I'm not complaining about the dupes I got from Byakuya

I mean, getting a dupe from the Lost Agent Arc Byakuya and then, on the 90 million downloads pack, getting the 5th anniversary one is quite cool...

It's also a bit annoying that the new orders are mostly about the Co-op (understandable...) and the Brave Battles (Why?!?), but you know... It is what it is.

What I do have now is a fully maxxed out Quincy Archer Ichigo!

Yay!!!

He's really good and I have him on my All Technique team for the difficult quests, Alongside with the more recent TYBW Byakuya and Bambietta.

And tomorrow this boy is up for a resurrection!

Alongside with the mandatory Ichigo, a Soul Society Arc Inoue and a Hueco Mundo Arc Nnoitra, this boy was one of my very first characters, having acquired him on a battle ready choose a 6* pack.

I miss playing with him...

[exo-raskreia]

hi my dear, i have to say i love your blog and how you get over those pitiful ichihime statements

i want to know how will you explain or if you have another post that explains... how time doesn't interfere between ichigo and rukia

bc i always see how ichihime fans say how fucked up their ship is just bc of their age. i mean, we understand that time goes different between both worlds, but it's like they just refuse to understand it

also how it is not so much about age but connection, understanding and equal interests, they also seem to forget isshin and masaki

i'd be glad if you can answer, thank you much for all your posts 😭 it makes it easier to like ichiruki, sometimes ichihime fans just make it so hard, like you're committing a crime

Oh, thank you! ☺️

Antis really think an unrealistic age gap is a problem in a FANTASY or SUPERNATURAL setting? Especially in the Bl3ach universe, where there's already a canon couple with that trope? Doesn't it sound silly?

They act as if Mortal X Immortal ships don't exist, as if they aren't a popular trope/dynamic in many forms of media. They call IR problematic because of it, but turn around & ship pairings like Yato & Hiyori (Noragami), Inuyasha & Kagome, Tomoe & Nanami (Kamisama Kiss), etc. Yet, they cross the line at IR?

They conveniently forget or ignore the fact Ichigo is a product of Isshin & Masaki, a canon couple that the antis support & like to use as "parallels" with their mid ship (even though those of us who can read know IM parallels IR). Isshin was probably way older than Masaki, older than Rukia even, yet once again, the antis cross the line at IR?

Hypocrisy, much? They only bring up the age gap when it's convenient for them. When they want to grasp at straws to invalidate IR. But all their arguments have a counter-argument to them 🤷‍♀️. IR is just that powerful 😌.

Ichigo & Rukia vibed so well right off the bat, getting on a first name basis early on, & often seemed to share the same brain cell 🤣.

Souls in Soul Society age much slower & differently than living humans. Rukia was the equivalent of Ichigo's age, so she was "15" in SS terms when they first met. Antis like to act as if she's some ancient hag or s*x goddess who's going to corrupt poor innocent Ichigo, yet Rukia showed to be quite innocent in many matters, not to mention, she thought kisses were only for greetings in one of the early chapters 💀. Out of the two, I'm pretty sure Ichigo would know more than her in these matters...

(I've also seen this stupid argument against HitsuKarin. They be calling Hitsugaya an "old man"!! Like, seriously?! How is he gonna "corrupt" Karin—by giving her a large stack of paperwork?! He's about 10-11 years old in SS terms, the equivalent of Karin's age, who was 11!! Then they both conveniently aged up to 12-13 after the 17-month timeskip... Just what was Kub0 getting at?!🤦‍♀️)

Not to mention, Ichigo felt very at home in Soul Society & got along so well with all the "ancient geezers & hags" there, even going as far as calling some of them by first name & hanging out with them like old buds (such as Renji). No wonder Ichigo didn't feel like he belonged in the Living World much; he really was born in the wrong generation (or world), lol... 🤪 He always showed to be more in touch with his shinigami side... (no wonder he chose that out of all his hybrid sides in TYBW, & yet... 😮‍💨)

Anyway, don't engage with the antis. Ignore/block/mute them. Follow the age-old fandom rule: just ship & let ship. Don't let the antis ruin your fun. There's so much IR content out there 😄.

[hesitationss]

i hate that there is like zero room for anything in shipping other than "they like eachother and should be together" because when i say gin and rangiku drive me to madness, i don't want them to be together! he treated her horribly and kept her in the dark in some twisted act of love that he has been set on since he was a child.

(spoilers ahead!)

when i say they drive me to madness, i mean the way in which they love each other is driving me to madness... like that man... witnessed something extremely traumatic happen to ran, we don't even know if they knew eachother before that (i headcanon that they do), but it was so traumatic that she doesn't remember it and doesn't remember her past. then we find out that part of her soul was extracted from her. frankly, this is a clearly a metaphor for sexual assault. anyway, gin witnessed this, was there for her afterward and took care of her. as 2 people with high spiritual pressure, they still need food and water to live, but even with the care and mundane life together, he has decided that he has to kill aizen, his hatred and vengeance overruled staying by rangiku's side. so he distances himself from rangiku so that when he is able to become a shinigami, aizen would not associate them together. his plan from the start was to leave rangiku behind and become a so called "snake", one who becomes evil for his goals, for his revenge. probably assuming that she would find ways to be happy without him, but he never considered that in the process, he was hurting her deeply. and even still, when the betrayal happened, rangiku never fully gave up on trying to understand gin. even at the end she desperately asks him, "WHY" and all we get are flashbacks of those two while rangiku cries over his dead body... like i'm sick omg... the thing is though, rangiku has such an open heart! sure she has many vices, but no doubt she is able to form connections easily and is able to fill her heart with more connections, but she loves hard as well (as seen with her dedication to her captains as well as her seeing it more fit that aizen's letter make it to momo rather than the investigation in the soul society arc). and in bleach in general, the story is motivated by the pain and trauma women experience (rukia, momo, orihime, rangiku). rangiku and momo aren't touched upon as much by virtue of being side characters, but the suffering they went through really set the stage for the main characters, especially since they experienced aizen's terror because aizen's proximity to them plus their white haired childhood friends... i still think about when the reveal happened and gin let himself be caught by rangiku, how before leaving he says he would have liked to be held by her a little while longer, and apologizes to rangiku. ...like that is maddening !!! years of on and off radio silence after deciding to leave your childhood friend that you take care of after witnessing her experience severe trauma, planning to kill the man who hurt her, dedicating your life to that goal despite the pain, not seeing yourself as worthy of her love and resigned to the fate you have chosen for yourself, and when you are revealed as being evil, you say "i would have liked to be held by you a little longer" even thought it was just her grabbing his wrist... but you know it's the turning point and those two will probably never get see eachother again without emotional pain or violence or death..... like yeah yeah that's what i mean when i say gin and rangiku drive me to madness. sorry i am still thinking about gin's wrist being held while rangiku has a sword against his throat and his response is that he loves being held by her.... HELLO? the intensity of love you have to feel while walking the path of vengeance that being threatened with a sword is loving gesture oh my god...

[renjirukia]

tbh i don't think too hard about the forty year renruki separation beyond the angst of the pining and avoidance but in an effort to un-vague that time period and make some sense as to why renji is so aggressive towards rukia during the arrest/reunion i have some thoughts.

more under the cut because this got long

first let's talk about the break up. they've been drifting apart since arriving at the academy; they're in different classes ; renji gets sorted into the advanced class while rukia is not and this creates a shift in their dynamic; as it's implied rukia was very much the leader of their little gang. renji doesn't seem to mind the shift as he finally gets an edge over rukia and likes to show off though there isn't any kind of malicious intent in his behavior. rukia on the other hand is going through an intense case of cultural shock, her shift in dynamic with renji is distorting her own self-perception and making her feel cut off from her one friend in the world. enter byakuya. rukia is hesitant to accept the offer of adoption but at renji's boisterous (and somewhat forced) encouragement she takes the offer. i think renji's actions here devastated rukia and saw it as a confirmation that she was right in feeling like she was being left behind or cast aside.

now the intervening years. in the soul society arc the root conflict between them is that she is a noble and he isn't and that class disparity is why they can't "be together" though there isn't much evidence of the gotei adhering to such a rigid caste system and that class mingling is acceptable at least during work hours (and like everyone wondered why renji just didn't get a job at the 13th if he wanted to hang out with her so bad). we don't learn too much of what they got up to during their estrangement other than rukia's kaien trauma and her tenure as one of the more unlucky heroines from an 18th century gothic novel. while renji graduated school went to the fifth got transferred to the eleventh and somewhere in their picked up the goal of surpassing byakuya. we get a glimpse when renji tells ichigo "for a long time... a real long time... for decades... rukia and i... ...had drifted so far apart we wouldn't even pass by each other. it was you... who closed that... distance between us."

Like i said i don't think academy renji was fully aware of how hard of a time rukia was having at adjusting to seireitei life. he teases her about not "getting with program yet" but i think renji was confident in rukia's moxie that he figured she would eventually settle in. i don't think it was much later he realized there were irreparable cracks in their relationship. in chapter 98 as rukia walks away he narrates "rukia finally had a real family. let her go... don't get in the way... that's what I told myself." but it bleeds into the present day and it reads like a retrospective rationalization. "but thinking back...maybe i was just... afraid."

ok the point finally. now this part is just speculation and headcanon-ery but that's the lifeforce the animates any fandom so... basically i think rukia ignored renji. hard. after he finally went to work in the gotei 13 and i think it blindsided him. it's never stated exactly when renji decided to surpass byakuya but in the (frankly incredible) chapter 144 flashback kira tells renji "i suggest you stay away from her. for your sake and hers. i'm sure she realizes that she's not like us." and as that scene does not take place during their academy days i read it as renji only at that moment understanding the full breadth of their separation. i'm not sure i take kira's word as law wrt to her intentions because frankly he doesn't know her like that, and instead i see it more as kira encouraging his friend to move on and uses their difference in social status as a reason for her snubbing him ( rukia doesn't care about social status and it's not something she could have picked up from byakuya because 1. he doesn't talk to her 2. byakuya himself doesn't care about social status). next we cut to ikkaku saying "wow. that's quite a goal. to become stronger than kuchiki byakuya." and finally yumichika in all his wisdom sums up their break up era, "it's a difficult thing. discouraging, isn't it? it's always easier to tear down than to build. and much more difficult to tie than untie."

i read these scenes as a cause-and-effect from the order presented to us. rukia ignores renji (because from her pov he dumped her and she still feels some type of way about it) -> kira witnesses said ignoring and tries to impart some advice -> renji doesn't agree with the advice because he can see different social classes interacting all the time but kira's minor nobility does hold some weight with him so he takes what he wants from the advice -> concocts a plan to surpass byakuya (love the vague word choice surpass him in what? social status? ability? height? i don't think renji really knew instead using it as a launch pad to get back into rukia's good graces, because once they start hanging out again he seems more than fine with being byakuya's 2nd) -> yumichika imparts his own advice (which reads more like a thesis statement of the arc the way "a heart is born between two people" was used during the hueco mundo arc) but in the context of the scene he's sympathizing with renji and his relationship woes; "rukia finally had a real family. let her go... don't get in the way... that's what I told myself. but thinking back...maybe i was just... afraid." renji had doubts about pursuing rukia this way, but kept on course because he was uncertain he was in a position to 'tie' the relationship back together, but doesn't want to 'untie' it either.

now the other point; renji's aggression during the arrest. renji has dedicated a huge chunk of his (after)life into reaching a position where they can be equals again, and here rukia is fucking it all up with her "antics" as he later calls them. and if he's been living with the idea that rukia won't talk to him because of the gulf in their social status and here she is living amongst humans (not sure where humans sits on the soul society social hierarchy but i'm gonna guess they're not even considered they're so low) it probably brings up some deep resentments, i don't think renji has the heart to truly stay pissed at her for long and when ishida and ichigo step onto the scene they make for much easier targets. this isn't renji at his best, but i can see where he's coming from, and he drops the act completely when it becomes obvious rukia is willing to go to jail for a long time for ichigo's sake.

ok wow this really got away from me and i've forgotten the point i was trying to make BUT tl;dr i think the renruki break up is more complicated than initially presented and there are some incredible unexplored avenues of angst.

[sashi-ya]

𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐤𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐢 𝐛𝐲𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐲𝐚 ♡ 𝘬𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘬𝘪 𝘣𝘺𝘢𝘬𝘶𝘺𝘢 𝘹 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

⟡tw: angsty. but sweet. byakuya gets drunk, and you help him feel weightless for some time. I felt the sudden need to write this imagine, I know I should be working on my pending fics but I just couldn't, Byakuya is really relatable to me, so yeah. Hope you enjoy. I'm sorry for writing so angsty latetly, december makes me feel this way. ⟡wc: 930 ⟡this fic sounds like: øneheart x reidenshi - snowfall (slowed)

He can’t stand still; his world seems to be spinning around. The soft hands of a noble gripping from the expensive surfaces of his furniture.

Pale cheeks that now are tinted in red, and also the tip of his nose and ears. He stumbles, trying to be as silent as possible not to wake everybody up, even if the dawn is already caressing the immnese lands of the Soul Society.

What has he been doing? There is no way a person like him could have succumbed to the deadliest elixir of disinhibition called sake. But he has. And now, dragging his drunken body inside, he only hopes to reach for his ancestors’ altar. Ancestors and Hisana’s.

He feels like clouds fogging his eyes, and he isn’t sure if those are tears or just the rain that poured on him while coming home.

Byakuya lets his weight be carried by his arms resting over the wooden table, where the picture frames are always caressed by the smoke of incense.

“Hello… Hisana… am I- Am I a good brother to her? Did you hear? Rukia is gonna marry already… little Rukia…” he sloppily says, crying but smiling at the same time. The noble doesn’t understand whether he is sad or happy or both at the same time. “I just hope you were here… I’m just a man, you know?” he painfully adds.

His body feels like floating; his legs can barely stand, and he isn’t really interested in holding his position any longer. He only wants to rest; he only wants to lie in peace. Just for tonight, just for some hours.

“I’m just a man…” he repeats.

A loud stump could be heard all around. Those on guard never even close their eyes, because Byakuya Kuchiki wouldn’t stand an officer that doesn’t perfectly fulfil their duties.

And you, the one that has always been there to take care of him, hear him. How could you not run to his help? Is he ok? Is someone attacking the Kuchiki manor?

“Captain!” you gasp, watching the miserable image of a man that rarely smiles, doing it while lying on the floor. He is soaking wet. It has been raining outside. “Are you ok, Captain Kuchiki?” you ask again, crunching by his side.

“Hi… can you stay here for a moment?” he asks, making the Shinigami by his side to gasp. He has been drinking, he smells like alcohol… when did Byakuya ever drink?   

You nod, of course you would stay there for a moment and for eternity too if he asked you to. And Byakuya smiles. He crawls, with difficulty to your lap, leaving you speechless and allowing him to do whatever he wants with you.

Byakuya’s head rests on your legs, and he closes his eyes. A vulnerable moment nobody has ever probably seen, and that nobody will… but you. His hands squeeze your clothes, like clenching to hope, or maybe just some safety. Because he feels nothing but safe, he is afraid, everything gets heavier over his shoulders… and even so, he knows that in a couple of hours he should be standing up, perfect and serious to face a new day.

But from now and until this moment lasts, is your scent, your embrace, your soul… the warmth of your hand over his forehead, over his cheek, grazing with love and understanding his soft, pale skin.

“It’s ok to cry, Byakuya-sama. It’s ok to rest. It’s ok to ask for help” you whisper, moving his black strands of hair out of his face and tucking them behind his ear. “You don’t always have to be the one holding the world’s weight over your shoulders, just for tonight… let me hold it for you”

And he stays there, for some minutes and maybe an hour too. He rests peacefully, the sound of his calmed breathing lulls you to sleep too. However, you wake up every other minutes. Byakuya mumbles something, perhaps he is dreaming of a better day ahead.

“You shouldn’t sleep on the floor, Byakuya-sama…” you whisper; it’s painful to see him that way. With difficulty, but utmost care, you lift him up. He is a thin man, but he is strong and well trained, his muscles are lean and so the weight of his body is heavy to you.

He barely opens the eyes that you love the most, dark blue orbs that shine like the moon does over the pond. “Come on…” you struggle carrying him to his room.

“Here we are, your comfortable bed…” you mumble, looking around at the white and pure decoration of his space.

His chin rests on your shoulder, and his frowning intensifies from time to time. What a perfect depiction of masculinity and weakness at the same time. His beautiful profile making you weaker, his proximity… his lips so close to yours…

You make your last effort; a single swing and he will be safe on his bed. “There you go, Byakuya- sam-“ you whisper as you try to deposit his presumably asleep self… but, he snatches your waist and both fall to the bed.

Your palms and chest on his, your lips as close as his lips. Your widen eyes, his sloppy smile forming. He smells like sake, but he does smell like the love of your life too. You take a moment to enjoy being trapped by his drunk arms, but even if you wanted to go away you couldn’t. His palm presses your head against his chest. Once again, he is the one protecting others…

“thank you- so much…please, stay” “I will never walk away, you are like a midnight sun”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ♡

[recurring-polynya]

*raises hand slowly* major fan, love your work! I actually only recently discovered your Bleach works in the last few years and I think I've reread all of them at least 3 times. But after reading your "The Greatest Family in Soul Society" series, I've been wanting to ask: How do you think they reacted/handled the aftermath of events in the Bleach Special One-Shot? Specifically Ichika, who possibly for the first time witnessed one of her parents in legitimate danger?

But anyway, CONGRATS ON 1 MIL!!! YOU DESERVE IT! :)

Thank you very much!! 💕

So for starters, if the Hell Arc every actually becomes a thing, I strongly suspect that this will be get addressed on-screen. Kubo clearly intended both Ichika and Kazui to have prominent (although probably not protagonist-level) roles. If this happens, Rukia and Renji will probably either handle this in some terrible way that causes Ichika to feel like she has to go against them and redeem herself or they'll get, like, trapped in Hell or something and she and Kazui will have to go rescue them. It is incredibly rare to see good relationships between parents and their children portrayed in fiction, and my expectations are on the floor for this one.

I talked to my husband about this for a long time this morning because I couldn't think of a single example of a good parent-child relationship in media where both characters have roughly equal narrative weight, and he couldn't either. Usually, the choices are a) parents dead or out of the picture, b) parents are awful and selfish and learn the error of their ways, or b2) generational trauma, which is the same, but parents bad behavior is excused because their parents did it to them. There is also c) stoic parent with lifelong duty raises stoic child to fulfill the same duty, which is the best of the lot, but it's still not great. It's also not really Renruki's style, especially because they've got Byakuya right there as an example of what being raised like this does to a person. 

Maybe Kubo will come up with something interesting, though! I would love to see it if he did!

With all that out of the way, I'll lay out how I think it should go, or how it would go if I were writing it, I guess.

For starters, we are still in a shounen anime. Bleach plays the "young person witnesses an act of violence and is saved" card constantly. As anime goes, I think Bleach actually does a fairly decent job of acknowledging the trauma that goes along with this, but it's also usually deployed as a thing that spurs the "witness" character to want to get stronger. Furthermore, the witness character usually has no sort of support system and receives no comfort after the fact--Kensei saves child-Shuuhei and then calls him a wuss before peacing-out. I doubt Shin'ou had any sort of trauma support group for Renji, Momo, Izuru and Shuuhei after their disaster fieldtrip --in all likelihood, the attitude was more like "wow, you got to see Captain Aizen in action, how lucky for you!" Even in the aftermath of the scene where Renji rescues Jinta and Ururu, Jinta is shown sitting by himself rather than seeking comfort from either of his "parents" (who, granted, are focused on healing Ururu).  That one has an added bonus ofJinta-has-always-treated-Renji-extremely-disrespectfully and then Renji saves him and gets gored pretty gruesomely.

In contrast, Rukia and Renji have both been on the "witnessed the trauma" side of this before, and never had adult figures in their life to help them process anything. They lost and buried three friends before they even went to shinigami school. I think they know how much that sucked and how much damage it did to them psychologically and would be pretty sensitive to what Ichika is feeling. It's actually kind of funny because if they hadn't gone through a lot of trauma together, they might just be stoic about it and think that maybe their own kid should just suck it up, but they were definitely able to see how much it affected the other one. Like, part of the reason they even had a kid was to try to make up for the shitty childhood the other one had to go through.

Rukia and Renji probably run a pretty weird household because on one hand, they spent their own childhood taking care of themselves and making their own decisions and living with the consequences. They did a lot of actual crime, like a lot. Trying to tell their kid what to do would feel like a weird overreach to them. On the other hand, they're soldiers, so they are used a formal discipline system where sometimes you get punished because that's how you learn and make up for your mistakes. Overall, though, I think they respect Ichika as a person they are trying to guide to adulthood, much the way you guide a green recruit into becoming a strong officer. Yeah, she shouldn't have snuck along on a mission for lieutenants, and now she knows why. They're probably still going to yell at her and make her sweep the yard or something, but that's she's their kid, and they know that waiving the punishment would make her feel even worse.

Also, while this may be the first time Ichika has witnessed her dad getting stabbed (and it may not be), it's not like this idea is new to her. I'm sure Rukia and Renji have come home with injuries before, or not come home, and she had to go visit them at the Coordinated Relief Station, or possibly had even go stay with Uncle B for a while. (Uncle B, whose own father actually did die in the line of duty and I've read at least one fanfiction where he was there). A thing I like about Rukia and Renji as characters is that they respect each other's decisions about what danger they are willing to walk into. If they err, it's generally on the side of not stopping each other enough, and I think that is both very stupid and very charming of them. It speaks to the overinflated confidence they have in each other, and also I am tired to death of overprotectiveness being spun as romantic, when 90% of the time it's just patronizing or selfish.

I guess to sum up, I'd say I would like to see Ichika come out of this with more respect for the gravity of her parents' job (vs. the 'dad and Ikkaku went to have fun without me no faaaaaiiirrr' attitude she started the one-shot with). It is interesting that she was able to see the Hell-guys when the lieutenants weren't able to. I hope that isn't something that just gets dismissed (and if nothing else, I think this is a case where Kyouraku as Head-Captain would be like "no I want to hear this" where Yamamoto would have been like "I don't listen to children!") I would prefer to see her get included in the action intentionally, where she's nervous about it, but trying to put up a front of bravado (both because she doesn't want anyone to know how much it scared her seeing her dad get stabbed trying to protect her and also because this is peak Young-Rukia-and-Renji behavior). Seeing what her parents are like on the job, realizing they're both extremely cool but also huge doofuses, and slowly gaining real confidence in herself because they show confidence in her would be a pretty refreshing story, imo.

[lunaneko14]

I remember seeing a fanart of Bleach that shows Ichihime and Renruki with kids but with chigo's thumb tied to a red string that spells out Bleach and ends up tied to Rukia's pinky finger. I found that image sick and was most likely made by non-east asian due to it not understanding what it means. IchiRukis defend it as harmless but clearly doesn't understand what it means. I'm asian but not from East Asia and I even got offended with it since I understand the meaning. Kubo did not show an actual red thread of fate but he did reference it on Orihime's confession thru the five lives, five loves statement.

It is one thing to support a non-canon ship but to twist the meaning of a cultural statement to support that ship is just BS. It's no wonder Kubo is annoyed and sarcastic against them then they get offended when he tells them to create their own manga and try to surpass Bleach and don't dictate him on what to do with his story.

NaruSakus can't do this crap to Naruto due to the Last as the red scarf Hinata has woven acted as a red string of fate between NaruHina.

Even the Chinese made game Onmyoji understand the meaning of it and treated it with respect. The Shikigami Enmusubi will only show the red string of fate to shinigamis that are bound by it like Kappa and Koi. It doesn't appear to the rest of the shikigami.

Lastly, I can't believe that expressing a differing opinion these days can constitute harassment and got that from an IchiRuki after saying that IchiRuki is a product between SP and Noriyuki Abe, the former animation director of Bleach. Fortunately, Abe is not involved in TYBW as Kubo opted for a new team and knowledge of his non-involvement made many people in the Bleach reddit happy as they are not happy with what he did to the early Bleach anime, particularly to the first two arcs.

Yup I agree Ichiruki is way more pathetic than NaruSaku at this point because they’ve deluded themselves so much that even after Bleach’s manga ending drawn by Kubo himself with Ichihime’s son and Renruki’s daughter, they insist that their ship made the most sense even over Kubo himself!

At least NaruSaku have mostly moved on to BoruSara (while ironically ignoring Himawaris existence and we all know why) in the next generation, Ichiruki fans will STILL scream till they’re blue in the face that Ichigo and Rukia were always meant for each other based on bullshit chapter covers and poems.

And thank god Abe is gone from Bleach! They were as annoying as the NaruSaku stan on Studio Perriot that invaded and destroyed Road to Ninja with their bullshit.

Like seriously Japan, before you hire these people make sure they have basic reading comprehension first!

[shadowsnlace]

Hellooooo love I missed you I'm so happy to see you here again❤❤

shunsui,ukitake byakuya,gin,aizen, tosin,kenpachi

Who do think will want alot of children and who will just want 1 or 2

I'm curious lol some give me cheaper by the dozen vibes

Sweetie! I missed you too! ❤️❤️ I’ve missed this blog. I’m happy to be back…and I’m trying to get back to a routine with writing. (*fingers crossed that there isn’t too much rust in my gears!*)

Okies, so let’s see if I can deliver those vibes. 😁

Quick note: Just a reminder that these shinagami/soul reapers live for thousands of years. So, they can potentially keep having enough kids to fill a division over their lifetime. For this I’m focusing more on how many kids are in the house at a pre adult age.

Shunsui - 2 to 4. Keep in mind that Shunsui has lived a very long time. He’s seen a lot of tragedy as well as triumph. Having children will bring quite a few positive benefits to his life: 1) Reminding him what innocence and child-like wonder feel like. 2) Distracting him from dark thoughts. It’s hard to mull over the past when you have kids to keep you on your toes. 3) Always has someone to play games with. 4) (perhaps the most important) Little helpers to fetch Daddy’s sake cups or hunt down any that have gone on an adventure.

Jushiro - (Does this even come as a surprise?) 2++++basically as many as his wife is willing to bear. Jushiro comes from a large family and has a lot of siblings. He will happily keep the Seireitei stocked with his progeny. Seriously, give that man a wife that wants a big family and you won’t be able to toss a pebble without hitting an Ukitake.

Byakuya - 1 to 3. Carrying on the family bloodline is important to Byakuya. He was an only child so he will want at least 2 children so that they can have a sibling, a forever ally and friend that will always be there no matter what. <-(Rukia’s influence on him) His view of having children will be to keep the family small and tightly knit. Byakuya will want to devote love and time to kids so keeping the family small will offset any demands of nobility.

Gin - 1. Gin has the ability to go all in, but it’s usually with a narrow focus. One child will be perfect for him because all his energy and love is going to given that child and their mother. Soul-deep loyalty and putting someone he loves before everything including his own life is just one of the qualities that makes Gin an amazing man. Great husband, even greater father.

Aizen - 0, maybe 1. Sosuke doesn’t have the capacity for love or commitment beyond himself. There may come a time when he gets an inclination to sire an offspring, but it will most likely be to pass on his skewed ideals. However, since Sosuke wanted to become a god, there is no room for a child that could potentially grow up to surpass him. His ego would never allow it.

Tosen - 0. Kaname’s worldview was altered so negatively he would never consider bringing a child into it. Given his history, it’s sad but understandable.

Kenpachi - 1 to 3. Kenny has plenty of practice being a Daddy. He’s perfectly content to let them hang on him, follow him around, spar with wooden swords, gorge themselves on candy, and do just about whatever they want. His wife will be teaching him right along with the first kid when it comes to discipline and boundaries for children. Also, Kenny’s pretty sure that it’ll only take 3 of his kids to finally take him down in a fight, once they’ve grown up, of course. (EDIT: Let me clarify...I don't mean Kenny's kids will kill him! I mean beat him in a fight. Let's not go that dark, please.)

[bleachbleachbleach]

Soul Society in 64-bit

Earlier, I wrote about the timey-wimeyness of District 80.

In the palace of my mind, this is what that looks like:

This is a screenshot from the very popular and well-known "this came downloaded on my device from factory" game, Nanosaur (1998).

Like many games of the era, there's a mysterious white fog, within which the rest of the environment hides until you move into it and the program has to load it. But if you go to the edge of the game's map, you just continue to walk interminably through the white fog. There's no wall you hit; you just keep walking through white and could keep walking through white forever. Can you be lost forever in the mist? Maybe. But if you turn around, you magically return immediately to the edge of the map. (I'm sure this technical limitation was not at all unique to Nanosaur. Nanosaur just happens to be the only computer game I played that wasn't from the Scholastic Book Fair.)

But anyway, thinking about this today made me think about Rukia firing up the chic, round, 90s gumball iMac in Isshin's office to play Nanosaur, and shouting the entire time, "THIS IS JUST LIKE HOME FR!!!!!!!!!" much to Ichigo's deep disbelief/concern for Soul Society.

(In Nanosaur, you play a dinosaur from the future who's been sent back in time with 20 minutes to steal eggs before the asteroid hits, and for some reason you have a jetpack and are armed with multiple types of projectile weapons. Rukia would absolutely fuck with this game and beat all of Isshin's high scores.)

--

Similarly, my vision of what sewers are is almost 100% based on what sewers look like in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. (Even though I've read the Magic School Bus book about the water cycle, and I've been to a sewerage museum! Both premier avenues for learning about sewers!)

I feel like when (in the anime's universe) Hanatarou and Ganju were working at the combini with the manager who had a crush on Ganju, the manager invited Ganju over to Nintendo and Chill. But Ganju, not understanding the intent of the invitation, assumed it also included Hanatarou and brought him along. Which resulted in Ganju and Hanatarou playing the combini manager's Nintendo and Hanatarou, shouting just as loudly as Rukia, "IT'S JUST LIKE HOME FR!!!!"

Unlike Rukia and Nanosaur, Hanatarou was terrible at OoT. But he got really good at flying around with all the chickens.

IDK, there's just something about Soul Society that makes it feel like it should be perceived in 64-bit.

[hootjiggle]

Ok so decided to dip into Bleach: the Flame Bringer.

Probably won't talk about this one much, as it's all in Japanese. So I can not understand ANYTHING that's going on. Soooo I'll just have fun and make up my own.

Rukia arrives at a spooky deserted mansion.

And feels compelled to grab the EXTREMELY OBVIOUSLY CURSED SWORD...you know as you do.

And has herself a little screm. The sword was a little too toasty to be handled without ovenmitts.

I'm sure Rukia has learnt her lesson and won't be back in some kind of Fade to Black situation.

[ichinoue]

Encountered your blog about Ichihime and I thoroughly enjoyed your post why they are an endgame couple, much like what Kubo planned.

I'm just an ordinary guy following Bleach and I never cared about ships but honestly, I felt Ichigo x Orihime more, not Ichigo x Rukia. There is just something between them that sometimes I cannot explain and yet, they complement each other. With Rukia though, Ichigo's dynamics with her is just friends that tend to bicker at times and that's not unique since Ichigo also bicker with his other friends.

IchiRuki stans were aiming for Rurouni Kenshin-like dynamics of Kenshin Himura and Kaoru Kamiya, who eventually fell in love but Kaoru tends to hit Kenshin at times when he makes her angry. I don't like that dynamic since it's pretty much 80's-90's anime cliche where the FL/LI tends to hit the ML/MC when he makes a mistake or acts like an ass. Sure, that's funny at times but it's kinda repetitive and good thing Kubo opted out of the cliche for its main romantic leads (IchigoxOrihime).

Anyways, I really felt bad for Kubo after learning how Pierrot screwed him up a lot but I know he's not the only one they screwed. Fortunately though, looks like Pierrot management has learned its lessons and they pretty much avoid screwing mangakas from their works. I'm pretty much okay with how TYBW arc is adapted into anime and I understand the need of some scenes from the manga to be cut (i.e. - Rukia butt scene (it has not character implication to Ichigo, Ichigo's blush there is just similar to how he blushed when he first saw Yoruichi's human form or peeking thru his fingers when Rangiku was trying to unbutton her shirt in order to convince him to let her stay in his room), that scene in the manga is just fluff). Now looking forward on how Kubo plans to adapt the rest of the arc.

Lastly, already clicked alert me for notifications on your latest posts.

I appreciate that, thank you :) It seems like a lot of new people have found my blog recently (either through love or hate hahah) and I'm assuming that's because the new anime episodes have made the fandom more active again, so that makes me happy!