#uraaiichi then??

[aho-dapa]

Tbh there's something about the way Ichigo, Kisuke, and Sōsuke are all reflecting off of each other in canon

Like this is sooooo influenced by my random uraichizen thoughts but

Like, considering Kisuke's Bodhisattva allegory with Guanyin/Kannon and his knowledge of the world, the idea that he preserves the status quo of the worlds by not actively doing anything in comparison to Sōsuke (from what we can see). He is a Bodhisattva in this sense. He's seen the truth, he teaches others the truth or hints at it because true Enlightenment can only be with the self. But.

Then there's the actual consequence of SS and what shinigami have to do to maintain the balance. Kisuke opposes Sōsuke and his views not because he believes it's right, but because he believes that the destruction of the worlds is not acceptable. It's a necessary evil.

Sōsuke has an ego with him wanting to become God, but there's also something almost tragic about his arc with reframing it from his perspective of Soul Society.

Soul Society is not a good place. Honestly horrible to live in. Especially when we find out that they sacrifice souls to hollows and vice versa in the name of balance.

Tbh, I ended up asking myself, from this viewpoint, is the Soul Society really worth protecting? Because it's goal is not about protecting people, but protecting the balance. Can the shinigami claim ignorance? Should they even be allowed to when they are complicit in destruction of lives? What would 'life' actually be considered in this universe? Do hollows deserve life as humans do? Except the SS ultimately sees both as a means to an end, hollows are just more of an obstacle.

Effwctively, shinigami are content sleeping on a bed of ground bones. I can see Sōsuke thinking this from a biased perspective.

But he's also not some savior either. He's arrogant and has a callousness to him that conflicts with this more sympathetic view of him.

His anger at Kisuke for knowing the truth of the world and not trying to change it seems genuine. There's an air of hypocrisy to his character I can't shake and it makes me wanna know more about why. Like the question of the greater evil vs the lesser evil.

Except Ichigo. He steps forward, finally knowing himself in full, to defeat Sōsuke, to defeat Yhwach, yet I can't help but feel like he's still so ignorant of the world he lives in. If he learned about their horrors, could he truly stand by in shadows waiting as Kisuke does, or would he become like another Sōsuke, for whatever reason. Or would he become a different path?

Sōsuke is also related to illusion and water, a reflection. We never see his bankai and I would even go so far as to think that he own powers don't work as they do in canon. There's still too many unknowns about him for me to be confident in them. But Ichigo’s own insights about Sōsuke's loneliness is just... it's so tempting to build off of that.

Because those feelings are likely a reflection of Ichigo from when he was a young age and his own confusing powers may have brought only more loneliness instead of understanding or connection.

I can't help but think that Kisuke represents Stagnation and Sōsuke represents Progess. Except poth come with an unsavory taste in the mouth. Kisuke waits, likely works towards a goal, bit it's far too slow for the people that have already suffered because of the world. Sōsuke steps forward, also hiding until he's sure of his strike, and he probably would have won if not for Ichigo. What is Ichigo then?

The only part of the Soul King that's named is his heart, which can bring about miracles, things unexplained due to emotions and desires. It acts similar to the Hōgyoku. Ichigo speculates that Sōsuke may have actually wanted to lose to him and that's... also a lot of implication about Sōsuke's character. There's also the idea that Sōsuke may have built Ichigo up. To what? Defeat him? Stand by his side? To make him less lonely? Or are these Ichigo’s unreliable feelings, are they simply Ichigo’s own reflected onto Sōsuke?

Both of Kisuke and Sōsuke's plans and views come with a price. And Ichigo remains ignorant, but he stills fights for everyone to not pay that price, even his enemies.

In a way, it's like Sōsuke decided to pay a huge price upfront to pay back later, Kisuke is frugal and making sure to balance everything while moving forward but that means people can't attain true wealth within their lifetime. Yhwach decided to destroy the concept itself despite that it means everyone will then have to pay that price.

Ichigo, is just, bursting through all of that. But he's also only one person. And idk, that feels important to how change must be made collectively when it's about a whole society. All Ichigo does is step forward, with other people, like the beginning of a wave.

Like, this is the end of the post but SŌSUKE AND KANAME??????? That alone needs a whole thesis and how it informs both of their characters since the only person Sōsuke actually trusts out of everyone is Kaname