#I really have nothing against Orihime or ichihime

[kingofanemptyworld]

y’know, I can understand people not seeing the appeal of grimmichi, as much as I adore their dynamic myself. I can even see why they might prefer ichihime, beyond the fact that it’s the canon pairing. but I have to say, the thing that really cements grimmichi for me is that fact that, of everyone ichigo knows and loves, it’s only grimmjow who never once flinches in the face of who, and what, ichigo really is. I always think back to when nel has to remind orihime that ichigo is fighting for her, he’s trying to protect her. the fact that he’s drawing on his hollow powers shouldn’t matter. and she needs be reminded again at the very end that’s it’s still him in there, the hollow hasn’t taken over. but like, grimmjow? grimmjow wants the whole package, right from the start. the more ichigo shows him the more excited he is. (to kill him, yeah, but when has that ever been a deterrent for romance in fiction?) I don’t know, but it’s something i see reinforced in a lot of fics, and I love.

no matter what ichigo does, how he evolves, grimmjow won’t flinch.

[exo-raskreia]

i know you probably hear this all the time but your blog is so on point on the horrendous ending of bleach and the endgame couples.

tbh i don't even care that ichigo and rukia didn't end up together... okay after all these years i still give a huge damn that these two aren't endgame. but seriously idc that much that they aren't together. but what i'm so pissed is who ichigo ended up with! be so fr! orihime and ichigo... i could and would right an essay on how they are so incompatible. i would've prefered if he ended up with tatsuki or even some rando. he waited until they were married for him to say her first name... like i get that he wants to be respectable and they weren't that close but ichigo barely knew rukia for a week and he was already down bad for rukia. i still believe to this day that ichigo doesn't look at orihime the same way he looks at rukia. actually he SETTLED for orihime since rukia was already locked down with renji ‼️i will die on this heal. and also the ichihime shippers are scraping for their ship moments while we, ichiruki stans, are eating so well with unlimited supply of ichiruki moments lmao

I would've been fine with the ending simply having Ichigo & Rukia standing next to each other happily (maybe a little too close?) as they look over Soul Society. Leaving the possibilities there. Narratively, such an ending would've made sense. I don't think even non-shippers would have batted an eye. No typical "timeskip married with kids" ending. It didn't make sense for it to end that way.

Even if I was a non-shipper, Ichigo ending up with Orihime goes against the narrative & is one of the major issues with the ending, since there was never an inkling of chemistry between them. No special moments. No interest nor special thought from Ichigo towards her. I literally never thought IH would have a chance; it seemed that unlikely 💀. I never doubted an IchiRuki victory (even if they wouldn't outright get together, like I said, at least that it'd be implied that they will in the future). Most of the shipping fandom thought the same or similarly, I believe... Most ppl shipped or could see IR happening... Kub0 had developed it enough to have most of us thinking this way...

IR had the potential to be the best-written M/F canon ship in a battle shounen & yet... 😮‍💨

I don't believe for a second that Kub0 had "always" intended for IH/RR endgames. To this day, he hasn't said anything meaningful about either pairing. He did absolutely nothing to imply them throughout the story. He put no effort into them. At every opportunity, he would always make it about IchiRuki...

Dudebros & IH's fail to see that IH/RR as endgame makes no narrative sense. If I was an IH/RR shipper, I'd be upset with how Kub0 handled them. They have no development, no official content, no merch, no proper validation from Kub0... He still can't even bring himself to give them a family color spread 🫢. Saddest endgame ships in a battle shounen...

About Ichigo finally saying Ori's name in the last chapter, there's a funny post on that here. 🤭

And yeah, Ichigo definitely settled for her, cuz the fact he waited until Rukia was unavailable will always be laughable... He tried dating Ori once then broke up for a while then tried again... wow, he was really "in love" with her from the start, huh? He was just putting off the inevitable cuz he had to seek unhappiness in order to stop Ywach from returning at his happiest moment... 🤷‍♀️

[ichinoue]

What are your reasons for not liking the Ichigo and Rukia pairing? Since the anon mistakenly thinks that IR is only unpopular because of their age gap. Though that IS a huge red flag and Ick, there were other factors behind me not enjoying this idea of a pairing.

Besides the age gap, I just think ichiruki is boring as a romantic ship. Their development was pretty much complete after the SS arc, and things just became so static after that. In the arrancar arc, Rukia shows up, kicks Ichigo in the head, and gives him a pep talk to get him out of his funk...Then after a seventeen month timeskip and almost 300 chapters later in the FB arc, Rukia shows up and does the same thing. Kicks him in the head and gives him a pep talk to get him out of his funk. Almost a copy and paste of the same scene (and obviously IH has some "repeat scenes" like the walking home thing but I'll touch on that in a second). But how boring is that? I feel like if I were an IR fan I'd be like...really? This again?? After all this time? Nothing new, nothing different? That was their big reunion and it was a copy of the last one. I'd be so bored and disappointed lmao. Like where is the development, where is a change or something new happening between them that I can get excited about?

Whereas with IchiHime, we literally saw Orihime go from being sidelined in the beginning, to Ichigo being too overprotective of her, to all the angst and darkness in the HM/lust arcs, to rising back up in the FB arc, to Orihime becoming more independent and Ichigo trusting her more, to Ichigo literally asking Orihime to fight side by side with him against the final boss. And all the while, they're becoming closer friends--like the change from Orihime being just a friend of a friend in the beginning, to Ichigo sharing manga with her and feeling comfortable enough to invite her up to his bedroom and close the door in the FB arc. To Orihime being so incredibly nervous about being in his room in the FB arc, to marching in like she owns the place in the final arc. Things were consistently changing between them, and it kept me invested. Even with the cute call-back scenes Kubo used like the headbump and asking to walk her home, things were still changing.

And all of those changes showed how their bond was growing stronger over time, how they were growing closer, growing to trust each other more, how so much had changed and shifted and *developed* throughout the entire manga, from beginning to end. Like, you can literally see the development from one arc to the next and that's one of the things that kept me so engaged and invested in IH throughout Bleach's long run. Because I couldn't wait to see what Kubo was going to write for them next, what new change he was going to add in, and he just kept delivering.

Orihime went from just a classmate, to the girl Ichigo made a singular vow to protect (and then rose up from the dead to keep that vow). Ichigo went from the boy Orihime had to watch from afar and feel helpless that she couldn't protect him, to the boy she was fighting side by side with against a god, at Ichigo's request. Like...the changes, the growth! There was so much to sink my teeth into with ichihime. I never grew bored.

By comparison, I just don't have that much to say about ichiruki. While ichihime was a nice, long slow-burn (which I love) that lasted from beginning to end, I feel like IR developed fast and early and then had nowhere else to go. They begrudgingly formed a mentor/student partnership in the first few chapters, and then they had a strong bond solidified by the end of the SS arc (chapter 181 out of 686). So the bulk of their development was contained in the first third of the story. After that, things stayed relatively the same between them for the rest of the series. Nothing but long stretches of time spent apart, interspersed with copy and paste reunions of head-kicks and pep talks, where their bond was reinforced as the same old thing it was half the manga ago.

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

Ichihime Lemon

For @elyonholic, to help get some plot bunnies out of my head.

Really, she was his wife. He should be used to this by now.

But, goddamn!

He'd awoken an hour before his alarm was set to go off, the morning light just starting to creep in through the windows. Rubbing the sleep from his face, Ichigo turned over on his side to try and get about a half hour more of sleep only to freeze when he saw Orihime.

There was nothing really special about today, just a regular run of the mill Tuesday morning. She was wearing her usual pajamas, but the way the light highlighted her features, made her hair seem to glow...

Ichigo swallowed, his heart speeding up in his chest. Leaning over, Ichigo placed a kiss onto his wife's lips. With a soft moan (that did things to him), Orihime stirred.

"Izzit mornin?" she muttered.

"Yeah," Ichigo said.

Opening those big, beautiful eyes of her's, Orihime Kurosaki looked up at her husband with a smile.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning," Ichigo said with a smile. Orihime reached up and caressed his face, her own dusting with a blush.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"You look... very handsome this morning," Orihime replied, "and I think you need a shave."

She was right. The tell-tale tickle of stubble growing in told him he'd need to break out one of the razors he'd bought this week. But, he thought with a smirk, that didn't need to happen right away.

"Do you want me to shave so I can't do this?"

Ichigo leaned down and rubbed his stubbly cheek to Orihime's neck, relishing the laughter that peeled out of her and the softness of her skin.

"Ichigo stop! That tickles!"

He chuckled. God, did he love this woman. Every inch of her. From her hair to her toes to her beautiful beautiful heart. When she threw her arms around him, Ichigo stilled as her chest pressed to his own, separated only by her pajamas and his sleep shirt.

"Ichigo?"

Slowly, Ichigo's hand slid up under Orihime's pajama top, slidding along her stomach and cupping her left breast.

"Is it just me, or have you gotten bigger since having Kazui?"

His wife's blush went a shade deeper, covering both her cheeks now. He might have been loathe to admit it when he was younger, but breasts had always been... fascinating to Ichigo. Maybe it was base, but bust always seemed to draw his attentions in moments of heavy petting and passion. And she seemed to reciprocate the attention; whenever he touched her there, she would always make to best noises, bury her hands in his hair, kiss him hardest.

It was gorgeous. Just like her.

"I--I--..."

"Don't worry," he murmured, placing a kiss on her lips, "I love your curves."

That seemed to ignite something in Orihime, who's grip on her husband's neck seemed to tighten as she deepened the kiss. A leg went up to hook around Ichigo's waist and he moaned into her lips. Blood was starting to rush south and his hands travelled down to his wife's waist to tug down her pajama bottoms.

"Ichigo," she said breathlessly. He paused.

"What is it?"

Gently, Orihime pushed her husband off and began unbuttoning her top, stealing the breath from Ichigo's lungs and stuffing heat into his cheeks.

"I want to try something," she said when she was down to her bra, "t-take off your pants."

She didn't need to tell him twice. Ichigo's' pajama bottoms were soon tossed away, landing against their bedroom door while Orihime's bra was unclasped and her glorious breasts hung free.

"Lie down," she instructed.

Was this going where he thought it was going? Please oh please let it be, he thought as he reclined. Orihime crawled until her gaze was level with Ichigo's peck and, with an adorably determined face, wedged Ichigo in her cleavage.

"Orihime!"

His surprise came out strangled. She was warm and soft and Ichigo once again felt so lucky to be married to this woman. Especially when she began to move.

"God, Orihime, don't stop!"

In and out in and out she moved, his head disappearing between her breasts over and over.

He wasn't going to last with this new sensation.

Orihime, he thought, I'm going to rock your world for this. I'm going to love you forver. I'm going too...

His mind went to static at the familiar feeling of his wife enveloping him in her mouth and his body shook with rapture. Ichigo could feel Orihime swallowing his load before releasing him. Orihime crawled up to rest on his chest.

"Did you like it?" she asked.

"I loved it. But where..."

"It was-- a video-- I think it might have been spam."

"I see..."

Ichigo stroked his wife's hair, looking down at her, feeling her breathing and heartbeat fall in sync with his own. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

Grabbing her waist, Ichigo hoisted his wife up, scooting down in time until her legs bracket his head.

"Ichigo!?"

"Just returning the favor," he said, tugging down her pajama bottoms. His blood boiled anew when he saw the panties she was wearing. Mint green with strawberry print.

"God, Orihime..."

Pushing them to the side, Ichigo lapped at her slit and reveled in the almost scream that burst from his wife. Gripping her thighs, he continued his ministrations.

That's it, he thought, squirm more, make noise, I love what you do as I make love to you.

Orihime came with a gasp, the salty taste of her filling Ichigo's mouth and coating his face. As her high abated, Orihime crawled off of him, returning to her position in his arms.

"That was a good start to the day... Orihime?"

His wife didn't answer. Instead, she had fallen asleep on his chest, apparently worn out from their activities. With a smile, Ichigo kissed her hair.

They'd need to be up soon. Kazui would need to get to the bus and they'd need to start work. But for now, he could just enjoy holding his wife in the early morning light.

[bansept]

Ichihime Week | Day 3: Family

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The Kurosaki family always had little trips prepared for this or that occasion: the end of school, someone’s birthday… And of course, Masaki’s death anniversary. When the children were young, it was a thrilling idea, a way to discover a new place and imagine an exciting story. When the children grew, the mere thought of going away was disturbing, annoying. The meaning of moving to a place with the family got lost in cries of boredom and arguments, but Isshin never gave up.

Yuzu and Karin were still there, in his house, and officially speaking, still “had” to obey his commands, canceling plans they might have with their friends. One day, one of the twins had muttered the word “dictatorship”, and he had cried, whimpering at how ungrateful his daughters were to him. They still came, frowning a little bit, but a smile never too far behind.

Ichigo had been too busy to go on a family trip. First, with the Dojo: who knew a place that was not so visited could be lively at the exact time his presence was required to have fun? The kids and teenagers were far too inclined in asking him to show them moves for him to refuse. A paycheck was a paycheck. Second, Orihime herself was atrociously busy. Being the main confectioner, she oversaw most of the confection of chocolate delights in the bakery. Giving orders was a full-time job, and even if her love for her work brought her happiness, she was as exhausted as her husband.

The third was Kazui. Or mostly, the presence and necessity to oversee a young child, the infant going to a nanny when his parents could not attend to his needs. Moody because of his teething, Kazui was a small little ball of smile, and the next minute, a crying angry puddle of anger. As peaceful and adorable as he could be, he was still so young, so dependable of his parents that taking him anywhere outside of the environments he knew was a big no-no.

“Ichigo, can you please go and get him?” Orihime mumbled, one hand raised to her husband’s shoulder, pushing him slightly to make him understand with subtility that she would not move a muscle herself.

Ichigo, eyes half open and short hair sticking out in a comical manner, groaned a response stuck between a ‘yes’ and ‘you’re next’ before getting up tiredly to retrieve his crying son.

Somehow, and after a good year of no traveling in family, Orihime had suggested a family day here, in their house. To catch up, to brag about how Kazui was able to carry his head by himself and how close he was to sit steadily. Yuzu and Karin could see their brother and nephew, and Isshin could discuss with his daughter-in-law. Strangely enough, the idea was immediately accepted when it was Orihime that talked it out. And so now, the two young parents would prepare their small home for the rest.

Ichigo came back into the room, Kazui sniffling in his arms, little hands gripping his father’s shirt. The man was shushing him, rocking the boy slowly and repeating everything was alright.

“You’re hurting? I’m sorry baby… It should stop soon… Didn’t the doc say it lasted like, 8 days for a crisis? It’s been 6 days…” Ichigo asked, finger going to his son’s mouth so he could massage his gums, anything for the pain to be lessened.

“Maybe he’s hungry too… Here, give him to me.” Orihime answered, sitting up against the bed and opening her arms. Ichigo carefully placed the infant in her embrace, giving him a light peck on the forehead. Kazui shuffled a little but smiled when he saw his mother.

Orihime made some funny gurgles, talking to her boy with a high voice, trying to get him in a better mood until he got something to eat. Ichigo watched the scene with a smile and stretched his back, sighing.

“Should get things ready before the horde arrives.” Ichigo joked, walking to the bathroom near their room to get some water on his face. That should help wake him up.

He heard the funny noise die down as Orihime breastfed their son. Ichigo didn’t need to be next to them to know she was smiling down at him tenderly, and Kazui was certainly looking up at her with the same brown eyes filled with amazement. At least they were in calm waters for now…

.

.

.

By the time it was 9:30, Kazui was set to stay in the living room and play with Ichigo in his cute outfit. Orihime and Ichigo themselves were ready, preparing their small house for the arrival of his family, but nothing too fancy. In Ichigo’s opinion, they didn’t need to have balloons floating around, or a cake ready when it was still morning.

“And right at this moment, that giant ice cream cone yelled at me to run far from the bean paste, but I just couldn’t! How can you choose between two of your favorite things?” Orihime asked, hands on her hips, eyes wide as saucers, clearly expecting an answer from her husband, who definitely knew she had to stop eating sweets before going to sleep.

“Um… Yeah, but that bean paste was clearly trying to eat you… So I’d say, you listen to ice cream.” It was silly to answer her about her own very silly dreams while holding Kazui up so he could experiment walking. But that kind of silly was always welcomed.

Orihime shook her head with a pout, but was interrupted by the sound of someone pressing the doorbell. She got up from her seat, fixing her dress slightly before opening the door with a big smile.

“Yuzu! Karin! Hi!” She hugged them both preciously, the twins greeting her in response. Stepping back, she looked around to see Isshin wasn’t behind them, and frowned, worried.

“Don’t worry about dad, he’ll arrive quickly. We were just ahead so he could work on another file before coming.” Karin explained, waving a hand as her sister cooed at the interesting picture of Ichigo holding Kazui by his hands, the little boy not knowing what to do with the two jelly legs he possessed.

“Ichi! Aw, let me get a picture!”

“Yuzu stop! No! Not a picture come on!”

Karin placed a bag near the door, observing with a satisfied smile her brother being taken advantage of, unable to escape or fight the will of his own sister and his wife.

“Are… No, I can’t hold him… I’ll drop him!”

“No, you won’t. Come on, he’s your nephew, you gotta hold him once in your life.”

Karin frowned, Yuzu prepared her phone for yet another picture and Orihime held up Kazui to Karin, reassuring her that he wouldn’t end up on the floor. The baby seemed to not mind, appreciating any hands that carried him, knowing none would harm him. Ichigo was like an eagle, not even blinking while he stared at his sister, the black-haired girl grumbling a little at how she was forced. But really, she wasn’t.

“Is… Like that, okay? Is that good?” She asked, infant stuck in her arms, and Orihime nodded.

“Yes, just like that. See? It wasn’t too complicated.”

“Yeah… But I didn’t expect him to be so… Heavy? No, not heavy… But he’s not as light as I thought he’d be.”

“He’s growing. Of course he’ll be heavier than at his birth.” Ichigo remarked, snickering at the grimace Karin sent him.

Orihime smiled brightly at the two bickering siblings. Ichigo used to not joke around with his sisters, too busy mopping his anger and pain in his corner, but now, he was having a great time annoying the twins. She guessed it was something older brothers did.

Isshin opened the door loudly, singing about finally seeing his grandson and daughter-in-law again after so long, the ridiculous amount of baby gifts in his hands falling on the floor as he walked in. Now, as to why Isshin, out of all people, had a key to their house, Ichigo was not willing to say. He had chosen Yuzu to have it first, but she had lost it for a good day, and the panic it brought was a cold shower to everyone, to the point Karin mentioned Isshin as the best key keeper out of the three of them.

Which, of course, was true. Since he was an adult and all. But he was still Isshin. Loud, impulsive and horribly annoying Isshin.

“How is he?? Aw, look at him in his cute little clothes! Oh yes, you look just like your dada when he was your age Kazui! Although, thank God you have your mama’s smile!” He cooed at the baby, who of course didn’t understand a single word, but the mere expression and intonation pulled his smile up, showing just a few teeth. Isshin gasped and tickled the baby’s tummy. “Oh, yes, you already have such cute little gums!”

Orihime laughed at the voice Isshin always took whenever Kazui was around, and freed him from the many plushies he had gathered in his arms.

“Oh, thank you, Orihime. So, is everything doing alright for you three?” He questioned, straightening up and looking at the woman. Of course, as a doctor, he’d ask this question with real interest.

“Yes, we’re all fine. Kazui is still having a bit of a crisis from time to time, but we manage to handle it well. And Ichigo is getting better and better at handling Kazui.” She smiled, whispering the last part in a conspiratorial tone. Her husband heard her, and with a blush, frowned in her general direction.

Isshin grinned at the exchange, but didn’t tease his son further. It was strange how one day he was grumpy, and the next, he and Orihime walked into his house to tell him they were dating. From that moment, his son was like a stranger: offering help to do this or that house chores, hesitantly discussing with his family, feeling happy and calm around them… And now that he was a father, he hardly ever yelled at Isshin anymore. Of course, he was still mad at him for being the silly old man he always had been, but Ichigo seemed to be mindful of what his own son was going to grow up to.

By the time Kazui was hungry again, Orihime excused herself as she picked the infant and walked back to her room, giving Isshin the opportunity to talk with Ichigo.

“So… How are you handling all of that?”

Ichigo raised his head from the table, placing another plate on the surface and shrugging his shoulders.

“Well… We’re happy. I think that’s what matters. Orihime and I are working, so it’s a good thing, even if we wish we could be around Kazui more. And Kazui is growing up…” He turned silent after that, the timid smile he had on his face stilling.

Isshin tapped his back lightly.

“You’re doing a good job Ichigo. Although you became a father early, you’re doing your best for him and for your wife. Honestly, you can be proud of yourself.”

The orange-haired man shook his head with amusement, gazing at his goat chinned father.

“I tell myself that. But soon he’ll be able to stand on his own, or even talk… And we’ll have to teach him everything about this crazy world of ours… Things about Shinigamis and Hollows, Arrancars even, so that he doesn’t make the same mistakes I did.”

Isshin looked around the room to his daughters, watching as they discussed on which fluffy plushy was the cutest.

“Your sisters only knew after a good while. But don’t worry about that. Kazui will have a lot of people to teach him, and all these people will keep him safe. Plus… I’m pretty sure he will be safe with the amazing parents he has.”

Ichigo’s eyes opened wide, tenderness and surprise taking the lead in his mixed emotions. Isshin was right : Orihime and he were not alone in this. People from Karakura, the Soul Society and the others stuck between the two would help them keep their child safe. Keep him from being hurt. That simple but truthful knowledge made him gasp for air, relaxed and thankful.

The young man nodded, throat a bit too tight for him to talk in his usual confident tone. Orihime walked back in, Kazui looking sated and in a good mood as his mother placed him in Yuzu’s eager arms.

“You know… I, guess it’s strange for everyone to see me like that… Not yelling at you for goofing around. But Orihime told me she felt that this excitement I almost resented a few years back, this closeness with family members, she thought it was the right way to be wife the family you loved. She wants Kazui to grow up surrounded with love and joy, and I want that too for him.” He scratched the back of his neck, eyes on his sisters then on Orihime. “I still think you’re a silly old man that makes way too much noise. But… I’m happy you’re Kazui’s grandfather, and my father.”

It was Isshin’s turn to have his eyes become the size of tennis balls, tears rushing up. He needed to hold it down, to not explode with joy, to not ruin the moment by hugging his son that had more or less told him he loved him, after so long. So, instead, he ruffled his son’s new short hair.

“It’s my greatest pride to be part of this beautiful family.”

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Aaaaaaand day 3!

More than 2100 words, I like that hehe

I thought about writing Kazui to be taller so he could be asking this or that question or be a cute lil cutie pie, but since I visited a family member who recently had a child, heh, I was more inspired in writing an infant.

Don't hesitate to review this, and see you tomorrow for day 4!

[liquorisce]

plastic crowns (excerpt)

i was tempted to post a small bit of my fanciful, completely self-indulgent ichihime royal au (inspired by akayona) that lives rent-free in my filthy mind, so here it is. 

rating: t

pairings: ichihime (bleach)

"Kurosaki," he called, just as Ichigo was about to leave. Ichigo didn't want to stop. He didn't want to stay and listen to even a single other word that the King had to say. Not after the way he had spoken to Orihime, with complete, utter disregard for her feelings.   

Not after he had decided that Orihime would be married the day after.

But Sora was the King… and he was but a lowly bodyguard.  

"… Your highness," Ichigo murmured, politely, a tick in his jaw. He watched as Sora dismissed the others, the guards, the servants, till he and Ichigo well and truly alone.

"Now, now," - Sora had the gall to look amused - "there's no need to look at me like that."

Ichigo said nothing. "… Do you hate me, Kurosaki?"

A moment of silence passed. Hate wasn't the word Ichigo would have used for him… It was too… mild. 

"Well it's not my fault," he continued, his tone, high and mocking, "… that you thought you deserved a princess."

Ichigo's eyes widened in horror. But before he could say anything, the King let out a low chuckle. "How did he find out?" He mocked, his voice dramatic, "is that what you're thinking?" Cold, grey eyes danced at him.

"… Your highn,"-

"Don’t make me laugh," he spat. Ichigo was taken aback. He'd never seen Sora like this, so… angry wasn't the right word.

His lips were pulled back in a sneer, eyes wide as they danced with a secret mirth. He almost looked mad. Like his father.

"… I see the way you look at my sister. I've seen it for years." 

Ichigo could've told him that it wasn't his fault. That yes, he's loved the princess since he can remember, and that how could he not? When she was so pure, so beautiful… The only thing that brought light to his life.  But this was no longer a sane conversation, man to man. His words would have fallen on deaf ears. 

"But I've been hearing things, Kurosaki," Sora whispers dramatically, "like how you've not just been looking of late."

A cold shiver ran down Ichigo's spine. They'd tried to be discrete. He'd made sure no one else was around when he slipped into her room. Clasped a hand around her mouth to muffle the beautiful noises she made, even though they drove him crazy. Renji and Rukia would have never spilled. He knew that.

But he also knew that the King's network of spies was not to be underestimated.

"You dare put your hands on my sister, you filthy, commoner trash," he hissed venomously. "Do you really think that any other Lord would want to marry her now? Marry the whore of the castle?" 

Something inside Ichigo snapped. Subconsciously, within seconds, he had his sword pressed against Sora's beck, inches away from slitting his neck.

"… You say anything about the princess again," he  snarled, molten brown eyes seething with rage, "and I will not be afraid to leave this country without a King."

It was no idle threat. He could have his head by the time any of his soldiers even make it inside.

Sora, to his credit, did not flinch, did not scream, did not cry for his guards to help him. Instead, he smirked.

"… Oh? Defending the honour of your Princess? How sweet." He pushed Ichigo's sword away. "You're not the only one who knows how to threaten, Kurosaki."

His manic, grey eyes gleamed menacingly. "She is to be married in two days. And you will stay away from her," he says, his face betraying no emotion, like this wasn't a request, more of an order from the king, "I will drag her kicking and screaming if I have to."

"… The princess cannot be forced into doing something she doesn't want to do," he says gruffly, and of this he was sure, judging from the words she had flung at her brother minutes before. The princess was kind and compassionate, but stubborn as hell. 

And he clung on, selfishly, to the memory of a fevered Orihime whispering against the shell of his ear that she loved him.

"Ah, but she can be persuaded," Sora says softly, "and I doubt she'll feel much like fighting," - he came close to Ichigo, an evil smile playing on his lips - "when I give her your head as a wedding present."

[gffa]

The fact that your blog is pro-EVERYTHING Star Wars is so refreshing! I’m so exhausted from everyone being anti-this and anti-that. There is so much to love about this series! I wish more people could see that. Thank you for your positivity!!!!

High-five for enjoying being in favor of things!  I mean, to be clear, there’s stuff I personally don’t like, but when I say I’m in favor of everything (even That One Jerk), I mean that everyone should be allowed to like what they like on their own terms, so long as they’re not a jerk to other people.  Same for not liking things, if that’s someone’s bag, then go for it!  I genuinely hope that it makes for a more satisfying experience for them, however someone does fandom, so long as they’re not trying to step on my toes in the process.Everyone has things they don’t like or things that annoy them, but I’ve experienced a lot of people being against ships I’ve loved and it’s done nothing to endear me to those people, it’s done nothing to make me want to get along with them, when they constantly pour out negativity about the thing I love and those who ship it.I’m not actually thinking of SW fandom, I’m thinking all the way back to my time in anime/manga fandom, especially Bleach fandom, like, no, it was not fun to be an Ichigo/Orihime shipper a lot of the time.  But because so many people were against it, the anti-IchiHime content was constant and it get really abrasive at times and I realized that, even if I disliked something, I didn’t want to be the person who drove others away, just for shipping something.  I didn’t want to lose people who might kind of enjoy sending me a link to some cool piece of fanart even if they didn’t ship my ship, because they saw it and thought of me.  I didn’t want to lose someone who might write a oneshot for a ship I liked that wasn’t necessarily their favorite, but they liked it okay and they wrote it for a friend.So, that’s why I am the way I am a lot, even when I have NOTPs or things that I hate in Star Wars.  I keep that shit to myself because you never know when a NOTP Friend (that you agree to just talk about other things with) will do something nice for you or say a cool insight that you want to hear or find something cool to share with you or just have a really great time laughing with.  And I don’t want to lose that because I acted like a dick towards someone who liked something that wasn’t my cup of tea.And this isn’t me telling others they can’t be negative about things in their own space, even past the point where I could tolerate being around it personally.  Truly, everyone decides what they want their blog to me and it’s not like I look down on people who vent about things they don’t like, so long as they’re not aiming it at other fans or forcing people to agree with them else you’re stupid.  Plenty of people I interact with hated TROS and I haven’t had a single flicker of resentment or frustration with them, because they’re not assholes about it and it’s just their reaction, it has no bearing on mine.I know I’ve said this a lot lately, but it’s like the Elevator Scene I’LL BE DONE TALKING ABOUT IT PROBABLY NEVER, DEAL WITH IT ^_~, but it’s the above and the whole “I lost years of my life and friendships to being angry and negative, it was destroying me through making my depression worse, I like who I am so much better now, I can cope with things so much better now” thing that make this a lesson I never, ever want to forget.If someone wants to stay in the salt mines, okay, have fun in there, I’ll join you when I’m ready for some salt, too!  (So, sure, I don’t like some things about Star Wars, I have NOTPs and characters I can’t stand and stories that really didn’t work for me, sometimes that’ll probably slip through, but there’s also SO MUCH TO LOVE about this ridiculous franchise and after being in The Mandalorian fandom for a few months, we have achieved what I never thought possible but am going to hold onto for as long as I can:  STAR WARS FANS ARE CAPABLE OF LIKING STAR WARS THINGS???  HOLY SHIT, THAT’S AMAZING, LET’S KEEP DOING THAT.(Tongue planted firmly in cheek on that last bit, I promise!  Like/dislike what you guys want, but hopefully you don’t mind me over here in my own corner yelling about the things I loved, too.  ♥)

[shybre22]

Now for part two I will be doing Ichihime.

Honestly I knew Ichihime would be endgame from early on in the manga and series.

A lot of IR claim that Ichihime doesnt make sense or that they have no development..which at this point I think this is what any anti for any pairing in every anime say.. because that's obviously not true at all.

Even from the very beginning.. not only do we know that Orihime likes Ichigo, but Ichigo seems to pay attention to Orihime, extra close at times.

In this panel, he admits that he worries about her and watching her wears him out with worry, he even wonders if she's really alright. Now its important to remember that this is fairly earlier in the story and at this time Orihime is only an acquaintance at best..but here he is worrying about her.

Not only does he notice her getting hurt...but during the Fullbringer arc he said that she was more likely to get followed or stalked than him when Orihime asked if anyone has been following him.

Hell he's even offered to walk her home.

Weird considering they're only acquaintances at this point right? While I know it's rare for the shounen protagonist to have a crush right off the bat..for arguments sake let's say you look at ichihime interactions with the idea that Ichigo has some sort of crush on Orihime. I feel like his interactions with her make more sense throughout the series and keep this I mind through this post.

Now antis always love to say that Orihime didn't understand Ichigo or couldn't encourage him like Rukia could..but..

Here! Even Tatsuki who has known him since childhood couldn't tell it wasnt Ichigo or his other friends.. but Orihime does notice..she knows that's not him right away.

And here Orihime right away knew he wasn't acting like himself...even Tatsuki was impressed, she said it took her years to figure that out.

Oh yeah she cant encourage him right?? Not only did she give Ichigo the resolve to go save Rukia..but during the Grimmjow fight.. Ichigo was so afraid of frightening Orihime with his mask that he wasn't focusing on the battle.. know think about that..he was so scared to frighten Orihime he wasn't fighting..knowing he could die or get really hurt.

I also hear antis say that Orihime is horrible for being scared of Ichigo when he was still fighting to save her but they need to understand that in the first few chapters of bleach..Orihime was attacked by her brother..her beloved brother, the only family she ever had before he died and he attacked her..as a hollow..and now she's looking at the man she loves with a hollow mask and she's afraid FOR him not necessarily OF him..she's afraid he'll turn completely hollow( which is fair, considering he does later during the ulquiorra fight).

Then all she had to say " please dont die..you dont have to fight for me and you dont have to win..just please dont get hurt". And Ichigo was ready to fight for real..then beat Grimmjow.

She was also able to feel his pain somehow and knew he was crying when he got his powers stolen despite her being far away from him at the time.

Not to mention at this time she was brainwashed by Tsukishima making her and Chad think Ichigo was the one going crazy, but even though she was brainwashed to think it was Tsukishima who she loved..her heart knew better and still felt Ichigo's pain even without seeing him.

Not to mention she was able to see he had a plan to defeat Ywach just from one look into his eyes.

So yeah.. Orihime does understand Ichigo more than most..and just because Rukia does too doesnt mean he should be with her.

And on Ichigo's side antis also say he doesn't care about Orihime only Rukia..and if he does care it's only because Ichigo is protective of his friends.

Now it's clear through the whole series that Ichigo does care about all his friends..but it's also apparent that Ichigo does hold Orihime to a different standard.

This is not far into the story..at this point they are still only classmates and only a few pages ago Ichigo refused to take over Rukia's Soul reaper duties..until he found out a hollow was after Orihime.

Or when Yammy and Ulquiorra hurt Orihime..they also hurt Tatsuki and Chad but he was shown to be obsessing over Orihime ( despite the fact she could literally reverse her injuries) and the fact Tatsuki was a human with no powers should've made him worry over her more..but he felt so guilty for not protecting Orihime he couldn't even look her in the eyes..it got so bad that Rukia made him go to her and look her in the eye and he vowed to never let anyone hurt her again, pluse he didn't apologize to anyone else..just Orihime. I also find it funny how Rukia seems to be a ichihime shipper while her fans hate Orihime and want her to be with Ichigo..I find it funny.

Then we all know how hurt he was when Orihime got taken to Hueco Mundo.. Yes I understand he did rescue Rukia as well but he even said its because he owed her..and he did he owe her his and his families lives..and she was his friend and only on death row because of him. But with Orihime she chose to go to protect her friends and Ichigo had no obligations to her other than she was his friend..

He also walked around like a zombie not even caring when Tatsuki beat the hell out of him asking where Orihime was. He even yelled and threw a fit at the captain commander(you know the strongest soul reaper alive) for suggesting she was a traitor..

He even went against the entire soul society wishes (as a substitute soul reaper no less) to go find Orihime in Hueco Mundo.

One of my favorite scenes is when Ichigo was hurrying to go help Chad and Rukia who were badly injured at the time..when Ulquiorra appears and tries to goad him into a fight.. nothing works until Ulquiorra mentions he was the one who brought Orihime to Hueco Mundo ..which in turn infuriates Ichigo and he swings his sword at him in a blind rage..(remember he was supposed to be helping Chad and Rukia who were injured) but he was so angry that he was the one who brought Orihime there...he didn't say he hurt her or tortured her...he only said he brought her. And. Ichigo. Flipped.

One of my other favorite scenes is when he almost literally rises from near death to get Grimmjow's hands off of Orihime

LET GO OF HER! Was the first thing he says never mind he was almost dead a few minutes ago and still can barely stand. And look at that face his eyes mean business.

And of course one of the most epic Ichihime moments is when Ulquiorra defeats Ichigo and kills him.. he hears Orihime calling for help as Ulquiorra advances to her.. and as he's dying he hears her and tells himself he needs to help her and protect her..even in death he needs to protect her. And yes I'm aware that his inner hollow is the one keeping him from dying..but the only reason Hichigo doesnt completely take over Ichigo and lose his humanity was his will to protect Orihime. Ichigo was chanting " help her", "help her", over and over like a mantra..that's was the last shred of his humanity and even his last shred of humanity wanted nothing more than to protect Orihime.

Not only is Ichigo extra protective of Orihime..but he get flustered around her too.

Like during The Thousand Year Blood War Arc.. when Ichigo was asked by Chad if he liked Orihime's outfit ( Which was very revealing..especially in the boob area) and Ichigo was blushing like an idiot of course.

While most antis swear it's just because Orihime is very beautiful and has a very large chest..remember Chad or Uryu didn't react despite them being males as well..just Ichigo.

Not only that but all of Ichigos enemies always use Orihime to bait him into fights. Enemies like Grimmjow, Nnotora, Ulquiorra, and even Ginjo..they all taunted him about how he was so determined to protect Orihime that they would use her presence to push Ichigo into fighting them.

Antis also claim that they didn't develop.. they went from classmate acquaintances to friends fighting side by side in battle. Orihime went from being shy and stuttering and being nervous in his room to borrowing manga from him and just marching in his room and both teasing each other. Ichigo also went from wanting to protect Orihime by leaving her on the side lines and out of harm's way.. to trusting her to be his shield in battle.

IR"s also claim that Rukia is better than Orihime because she's stronger. Now I know Rukia is strong no doubt..especially when she finally releases her bankai. But for most of the series she hardly does anything..even my husband noticed she only won like two or three fight the whole series and most of the time she was so beat up after she looks like she lost the fight. I'm not trying to talk down on Rukia I love her actually.. it's just is you go back and read the manga..Rukia didn't do much either.. plus Orihime actually has a really really OP power she just doesn't have the heart to hurt anyone so she usually uses her shield or healing, but just like Rukia they didn't do much with her powers.

In the end Ichihime had quite a bit of development..I'm not saying Rukia and Ichigo didnt have a bond..because they had a strong one..but that doesn't always mean romantic..I always felt it was more brother/ sister type than anything. But if you go back and look at all of the Ichihime moments you'll realize their bond as well..you'll realize that Orihime was always their during the really important times and fights.. like the Grimmjow fight, Ulquiorra, fight, the Nnotora fight, his Fullbringer training, his Visored training, and she stood side by side with him in the Ywach fight.

He was actually separated from Rukia more than he was with her..even when they were in the same places..they were always separated. Kubo..I feel made it very clear from early on that ichihime would be endgame..I feel some people were just in denial.

[ichihime]

Hello! Sorry for the intrusion I just want to confirm something like I know IH has been receiving a lot of hate in this part of the ocean but also I think I read somewhere that Japanese fans were actually quite happy and supportive of the canon pairings, can you confirm something about that matter?

No bother at all! As a general disclaimer, I don’t speak Japanese and my participation in the JPN side of fandom is minimal if not, nonexistent beyond purchasing doujins & reblogging/rting fanart. That said, what information I do know is solely secondhand, so take it with a grain of salt.

From my understanding, the only JPN fans who ended up being used as examples of the entire fanbase’s apparent hatred for the endgame ships, only ended up being a couple of extreme outliers (who gained attention because they were posting pics of them burning their Bleach merch, and it became popularised on social media, etc). JPN fans, while a dedicated shipping base is among them (not unlike their Western fandom counterpart), seem generally more interested in the story opposed to the shipping, and additionally seemed to accept the IH ending because it makes sense for both characters. I’ve read this from multiple sources, whereas the rumors that the JPN fandom hates Orihime/IH have been sourced almost exclusively from the Western IR fandom since the beginning of the manga - who pretty obviously have a bias against Orihime/IH. They also like to pull up character/ship popularity polls from 2004 on fansites that have nothing to do with canon... and have done this for over 10 years, so... do with that what you will, lmao.

A couple other things:

While Bleach is by no means as beloved a series in JPN as (for example’s sake,) Naruto or DBZ, it still maintains its loyal following of readers who were invested in the story and characters, and accepted the romance.

JPN fans in particular have consistently rallied behind Rukia as their favorite character in general. The WDKALY novel depicting her marriage to Renji, as well as Ichigo and Orihime pining after one another during the ceremony, was the #1 Bestseller of its genre on Amazon JP for a couple weeks, if I remember correctly.

Several JPN Bleach fans actually created a forum in which they mocked Western IR fans’ public meltdowns over the ending (such as, that one Rukia cosplayer burning a pic of IchiHime, or Western IR fans destroying/burning their merch and posting pics to tumblr).

It seems to me it really is less about the shipping, and more about the story. Obviously there are dedicated shipping fandoms that exist in the JPN side of fandom, but in general, and as far as I know, they don’t collectively hate IH as much as the Western IRs love to say they do, and definitely seem to be at the very least passively supportive of the IH ending. 

If anyone with better information would like to add to this, please feel free!

[coolman229]

That you said that by making a popular pairing canon even when it doesn't make sense that all it does is alienate the fans and pisses off a majority of them. I was just saying that it didn't happen with LOK and a majority were happy with Korrasami. Even tho it didn;t make sense

The thing with Korrasami is that most fans who had issues with the show dropped it by Book 4, leaving mostly stans who worshiped the ground Bryke walks on. Also many people who praised Korrsami didn’t watch the show or had any real investment in the Avatar franchise until that point. It simply became a talking point of “how groundbreaking” it was. Also it doesn’t necessarily mean that the ship is the most popular ship, just that it was seen as popular and was loud enough to make themselves seem like they were the biggest.

However Korrasami still alienated a LOT of fans and even caused a huge backlash by the Makorra fanbase who had been led to believe their ship was going to be canon (with good reason from Bryke too). Korrasami pleased only a specific group of people and alienated a lot of people. Anyone who didn’t ship Korrasami was told to screw off, especially considering Bryke’s statements after the fact where they accused anyone who didn’t support it of being homophobic. Korrasami is very specific in that it was also a political move that was defended on the basis of how woke Bryke were claiming to be, and people jumped on it simply because it fit their politics rather than liking the ship itself. Heck even some Korrasami shippers found themselves displeased with how it was handled.

Take a look at endings like Naruto where Naruhina was made canon. A popular ship, no doubt, but still something that alienated people by forcing that to become canon. And Ichigo getting married to Orihime instead of Rukia also caused a huge backlash to the point where it was a contributing factor to the collapse of the Bleach fandom. Ichihime may not have been as popular as some of these other pairings but the point still stands.

Forcing a specific outcome that doesn’t make any sense, especially with romances because many people get really invested in that, tends to cause backlash. What happened in Voltron was a specific pairing that had next to nothing done to build up a romance being forced to happen, and that caused problems (along with some of the stupid things done in the finale). But Voltron has remained consistently good up until the last season so it hadn’t lost it’s fanbase like LoK did, which is why the backlash isn’t being fought against (and because pairing Allura with Lance doesn’t fulfill a political agenda). What season 8 did was force a pairing that while it has a fanbase I don’t see it being near as big as the Kallura or Pidgance fandoms, which makes the backlash even worse.

This is why I called it out as feeling like executive meddling. You’d think with how the show was built up that Kallura and Pidgance would be natural choices, especially with how Keith and Allura’s stories were written and how well they work together. It���s so easy to see some clueless executive who knows Lance is popular and was like “Make him get with Allura” without thinking about the actual effects it will have. 

[sesamerolls]

IchiHime Week 2018: Day 7

DAY SEVEN [24th August]: Reincarnation  Pairings: Ichigo/Orihime Word Count: 500+ Rating: T Warning: Some AU/ Some Post!Canon 

****

“Who’s there?”

She received no response.

Only the chill of the evening wind.

Feeling the dread of the night circling around her, she tugged at her skirts and walked down the irregular pathway.

The young Lady of Highwell knew the risk. This was no place for her to linger, right in the outskirts of town where all sorts of creatures and golems loitered. She could just about hear the scolding she would receive from her matron Nanao if she had not been so cleverly distracted by Rangiku after the cake had been cut.

She clutched her coats tighter.

Just a bit closer…

It didn’t take long for her to feel the breath on her neck.

“You’re here.”

Her eyes widened.

“Ichigo.”

She turned slowly to meet his warm gaze, but was captured by his warm embrace. 

“You’re really here.”

His voice was so deep but happy. Orihime could feel the butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

Suddenly he pulled away, cupping her cheeks.

“Wait, why are you here? It’s not safe.”

“You didn’t come to the ball.” She whispered sheepishly “I thought you didn’t receive the invitation.”

“I don’t like those type of society functions.” Replied the man frankly, seeing the worry in her eyes. “Besides, you know that my family is not allowed anywhere near Highwell Estate…”

Orihime swallowed. Her eyes traced over his long black tunic and the emboldened crest of Kurosaki noblemen.

Being here was dangerous indeed. She had nearly crossed into the territory she knew her family would disown her for entering.

Orihime bit her lip. “I wanted to see you.”

She reddened then. Ichigo took in the sight of her small curvaceous frame, opulently dressed in silk robes of green and white.

Ichigo sighed. “You’re uncle will be furious.”

Orihime suddenly found the ground very interesting. Yes, the prospect of Aizen finding out she had slipped out right in the midst of her own birthday celebrations…

Then she felt the kiss on her neck.

“That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate it,” Ichigo whispered, gently stroking her fingers “It does get lonely around here.”

Then he broke into a smile, the very smile that had greeted her on their first encounter many weeks before.

“But at least let me walk you to neutral territory.”

Orihime beamed, which caused him to pink as well.

And she didn’t mind getting in trouble because of it.

***

Orihime awoke with a jolt.

What on earth…

She looked down in the darkness, feeling the silk bedsheets underneath her.  It wasn’t her strangest dream, and yet it seemed to confuse her all the same.

“O..rihime.”

She blinked, then looked down at the man laying beside her.

“Are you okay?” Ichigo whispered sleepily.

“Hnn,” she nodded, resuming her previous position beside him. “I just had a funny dream.”

Ichigo yawned. “That’s nothing new.”

“Yes, but this one felt very real,” she whispered, welcoming the warmth of his frame once more.

“Fair enough,” said the orange-haired man. “But you have an early shift tomorrow; try to get some sleep.”

Orihime nodded, before planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you,” she said before adding “Sorry I woke you up.”

Ichigo  grumbled something incomprehensible before drifting back into slumber. Greeted by the silence once again, Orihime remembered the feeling of his breath against her skin and the serenity of their embrace.

If I had five lifetimes…

The thoughts wafted away as she found herself asleep again.

Dreaming of more possibilities.

___

END

[ichinoue]

Hello :D I joined the bleach fandom in 2015ish, so I don't know, but do you happen to know what IR shippers said to the entire ichigo vs grimmjow battle?? I mean it seems pretty hard to deny Ichihime even way before that, but I feel like that battle really should have been obvious even to non IH shippers. and what did they say to the afterwards part where ichigo picks orihime up on her shoulder? sorry for bothering you

Not bothering at all! So with the IchiHime moments of the Grimmjow battle, they excused it all away and said it didn't mean anything, as they did with every IchiHime moment. They said that when Ichigo picked Orihime up and said she wasn't as heavy as he was expecting her to be, that that meant he thought she was disgusting and fat and therefore he wasn't attracted to her--They used that gross argument to ignore how cute the moment was, with Ichigo putting his hands around Orihime's waist (a rather intimate touch) and carrying her as she got all flustered and blushed, and then he even admitted to having thought about what it would be like to pick her up before. They didn't want to acknowledge how shoujo-esque it was, so they took the comedic relief moment of Ichigo being an oblivious teenaged boy who doesn't know how to talk to girls, and turned it into Ichigo being a shallow asshole who doesn't like Orihime because "he thinks she's fat."

They said that the adoring puppy dog-eyed look he gave her after the battle was over didn't mean anything because "he looks at Orihime the same way he looks at Nel/his little sisters because he only sees her as a little sister type!!" They clung to that argument for years, but it became near impossible for them to maintain that Ichigo only saw Orihime as a sister and wasn't attracted to her at all, after the extreme reaction he had to her new clothes in 589 (all the blushing and sweating, etc.)

They said that Ichigo fighting Grimmjow had nothing to do with Orihime and that he was only fighting him to avenge Rukia because of the time Grimmjow badly injured Rukia back in Karakura (I'm not even joking--they genuinely argued this. I talked about that argument here). The funny thing is, as I pointed out in the linked post, Grimmjow actually mentions how he "tore his nakama to pieces" i.e. Rukia...and it had no effect on Ichigo, which angers Grimmjow. Ichigo doesn't react to Grimmjow's taunting until Grimmjow mentions Orihime instead.

And finally, I'm not sure what argument they used against the powerful moment of Orihime calling out to Ichigo, and Ichigo saying he wasn't allowed to get hurt anymore because of her? That's a pretty difficult thing to refute so I think they just ignored it altogether and focused their efforts on talking ad nauseam about how ""Orihime was afraid of Ichigo's mask!!!! She doesn't really love him!!!""" while completely ignoring the context of her having past trauma with hollowfication because of H!Sora, and that her fear was quickly resolved before the Grimmjow battle even ended (and thus was no longer an issue) when she called out to Ichigo and tearfully pleaded for him not to get hurt anymore because of how much she cared for him, mask and all.

[betweenbeatriceandbaudelaire]

Top 10 underrated ichihime moments - Part 2

Part 1 

5 )The hand reach 

Come on could Kubo be more obvious ? 

This right here refers to the Tanabata legend which is often referenced when it comes to ichihime ( this post will explain it to you ) . I mean here you have two not yet lovers reaching out to each other in the sky ? Come on . 

Kubo is not being subtle at all with his references to Tanabata and that is amazing . That being said this moment is also great because it kinda symbolizes the way ichigo and orihime act around each other . During the course of the manga there were so many moments were ichigo and orihime wanted to reach out to the other but didn’t allow themselves to . I mean basically this moment represents the way they act around each other . Trying to reach out but ultimately not being completely able to do it and in the end not ending together . Next moment on the list perfectly illustrate what I’m trying to say here .

4 )Ichigo tries to apologize to orihime

They both look so miserable here it’s hurting me . 

Anyway as I was saying pictured above is one of the many many many many times ichigo and orihime wanted to reach each other but didn’t allow themselves to . I mean if they both didn’t put barriers between them and the other they would be able to speak freely what they want to say . 

Ichigo probably wants to say something like “ It hurts me to see you hurt orihime and I believe it is my fault you got injured so bad and I will train relentlessly until I’m strong enough to protect you and make it so that you won’t ever be hurt again” Well this dork when rukia pushed him into talking he said all of that by “ Next time I will definitely protect you” which is amazing because this sentence contains all the things left unsaid too . 

And Orihime probably wants to say “ Ichigo I’m sorry I was a liability to you . It tears me apart to see you hurt and I wish so bad I could be strong enough to protect you and take your pain away” . 

Instead ichigo cannot even get the nerve to finish his sentence “ it’s nothing” and orihime tries to fake a smile and minimize her injuries to try to erase ichigo’s guilt over her being hurt “ It doesn’t hurt one bit”. 

I mean it’s killing me because THESE KIDS DON’T TALK TO EACH OTHER FREELY . They want so bad the other to be happy and safe and they would both literally give everything to attain that goal but they’re both so shy and awkward and believe they aren’t good enough for the other to ever return their love that they forbid themselves to let that love show . They always held back when they are together . In every single of their interaction there is this desire to reach out but at the same time this limit they fix themselves . They can help and protect the other , and tease and hang out with the other but they ALWAYS forbid themselves to go too far . To make their feelings known . There is always this willing restraint to their interaction which makes shipping them excruciatingly painful . 

They are both so modest and have such huge self issues they never believed they deserved the other . I’ve seen ichiruki shippers saying ichihime “felt fake” because a lot of big steps in their relationship were provoked with outside help ( ichigo promising orihime he would protect her because Rukia pushed him into doing so , Nell saying to Orihime ichigo needed to hear her cheering for him , urahara making the dress, renji telling ichigo to confess ) . BUT THAT WAS THE POINT . Ichigo and orihime are biased in the way they see the themselves and their relation with the other . If you left them to their own devices they would carry on loving the other from afar because they both believe the other deserve so much more than themselves . They need other people to help them recognize the clues of mutual feelings as such . 

Ichigo and orihime are such a great match because they are both self sacrificing  . That is at the very core of their being . Ichigo basically risk everything he has every single battle he had to do in order to protect other people and orihime does the same ( going to Hueco Mundo to protect her friends ) . I mean they are both extremely different in term of personality because like ichigo is “ a punk” and has a harsh temper and orihime is bubbly and eccentric but they’re the same to their core where it really matters . They both would give everything to protect others , they both are deeply compassionate people , they both lived great tragedies as kids which shaped their adult selves . Ichigo and orihime are very much alike where it matters : values . That’s why ichihime was SUCH a slow burn ship because they both suffered self esteem issue and we saw them get closer and more playful with each other only once those were resolved ( at the end of the fullbring arc ) . 

Sorry I kinda strayed away from the point here but ichihime moments cannot be appreciated in a vaccuum . Ichihime is not a ship made out of very big love declarations and life turning moments . It’s a ship about two people who grew together side by side during their formative years so each ichihime moment has no value in itself it can only be appreciated when it’s linked to other ichihime moments and placed back into the context of the 686 chapters of Bleach . 

3 ) Orihime’s memories being changed by Tsukishima 

Well this moment is not per se “ underrated” because the fandom does like it but I feel like this is such a HUGE moment for ichihime , and while loved, this moment isn’t as talked about as the fandom as it should be . 

I wrote those tags a few years ago before ichihime became canon and honestly while part of it is a headcanon I still stand by it .  This was the first time ichigo realized orihime could be taken away from him for real . Before when she was taken away ichigo knew that by being strong enough he would be able to rescue her . His struggle was wether he was strong enough or not . Here it is different . Ichigo is already strong enough to defeat Tsukishima but even defeating is no guarantee his friends will go back to normal . Let me remind you that ichigo , OUR ICHIGO who showed mercy to all his adversaries including Aizen was ready to kill Tsukishima if it mean it had a tiny chance of bringing his friends back . I mean actually KILL . This tells you how shaken ichigo was by this . 

I believe here is the first time ichigo said to himself that he has lost orihime for good . In a way seeing orihime healing Tsukishima and opposing him had the same effect on him than orihime seeing him with a hole in his chest during the Ulquiorra battle . That’s the moment they’ve said to themselves “ that’s it , they’re gone, I’ve lost them” . Of course ichigo having a hole in his chest seems much more definitive than having orihime’s memories changed that’s why ichigo looks like part of it still can’t fully believe this is happening . He looks like he keeps repeating to himself “ this can’t be happening” but it is his reality now and it is happening . This moment shook ichigo to his core and made him realize orihime being by his side was not granted . 

And we see ichigo’s behavior towards orihime changed after this moment . He allowed himself to be much more closer to her after this . Of course because he regained his powers after this arc and feels he’s strong enough to protect her now but also because he knows what it feels like to have orihime slip away from him so he treasures more the time he spends with her . 

I love this moment and to me it is one of the turning point of the evolution of ichihime as a pairing and I wish the fandom would recognize it as that . 

2) Ichigo reflecting on the compassion shown by orihime 

So for this one I will quote this post because honestly this is exactly what this scene is about and I could never express it better myself : 

“It also helped Ichigo grow as a protagonist to see how she dealt with it. I think Ichigo’s always been so empathetic, but when it came to her he turned very unforgiving. Like “oh they all deserved it I couldn’t care less!” (and they did),when she didn’t feel that way towards them herself. Seeing her compassion made him question his own attitude, and I really think this is often forgotten.”

I mean honestly I could add stuff but this is so succinct and so on point there’s really not much for me to add . Ichigo and orihime grow side by side and they both admire the other so of course they are inspired by the other . 

Also you can notice that in his mind ichigo sees orihime’s back while he is talking about her face so he should be remembering what her face looked like at that moment . But I believe this is a parallel of Orihime often seeing ichigo’s back during battle .Kubo’s been lovely enough to make us a cute little montage of all those times . 

Orihime sees his back because he’s in front of her and she’s trying to catch up . Seeing his back from afar like that shows her admiration for him . Often he is taking up all the space within the panel to further the idea that what he’s like in her mind . Here we have ichigo watching her back . He is the one watching from afar , admiring her . Ichigo always admired her strength and resilience but most of all her compassion . And while Kubo showed up very often orihime admiring ichigo because he is the main character and because Kubo chose to make the reader see through orihime’s point of view A LOT , we do not have a lot of moment where we see that this admiration goes both way because we rarely have ichigo’s insight . Often we see his battles through someone else point of view ( like the Bach fight was seen through orihime’s point of view ) . But sometimes we get to know what ichigo is thinking and what he is feeling and during those times Kubo always takes the time to remind us just how much of a good person ichigo is . Here for example he is reflecting on orihime’s compassion and during the fight against Aizen he was reflecting on Aizen’s loneliness . Ichigo is deeply compassionate and so is orihime . And this is the quality they admire the most in each other . 

1 ) Ichigo and orihime biting their tongues during the Fullbring arc

I already made a post about this moment here but let me put things back into context : 

Ichigo lost his powers during 17 months and was absolutely miserable being powerless because it meant he couldn’t protect his friends anymore . When Ginjo came and give him a chance to get his powers back he took it immediately but he didn’t tell his friends because he wanted them safe and protected because this time if they got involved in supernatural stuff he wasn’t strong enough to protect them . Despite this Chad decides to bring orihime to heal ichigo during his training . 

Chad tells him ( and us by the same occasion ) that he knew he didn’t want orihime to be involved in this because he didn’t want her to be in danger . But ichigo says nothing and just makes this face : 

A few chapters later orihime heals ichigo despite knowing that her healing him just means he will ultimately gets hurt again . She then smiles this sad smile : 

When they make those faces both are biting their tongues and not saying what they want to say . Both want to protect the other SO MUCH and if they had their way they would make it so the other would never be hurt again . But they know what they want is not the most important . They must let the other want what they want ( community reference y��all ) . 

Ichigo knows orihime wants to help so badly . So even though her being here means she might get hurt he says nothing and accept her decision because he respects her and her wishes . 

It’s the exact same with orihime . During those 17 months powerless orihime must have been relieved to see he was safe . But she also saw how miserable he is . She knows him so she knew he would gain back his powers because he is a protector at his core . So even though helping him regain his powers means he will get hurt again she just smiles and say nothing . 

They let the other want what they want . 

Because their whole relationship is based on respect and love . It doesn’t matter what they want . What matters is that the other is happy and fulfilled . And this moment , while not groundbreaking in itself manage to sum up everything that is good about ichihime . Love , respect , tenderness . 

-------

So here you go people , I hope you enjoyed it ! Don’t hesitate to comment with your own underrated ichihime moments or anything you might want to say ! 

[bansept]

Ichihime Week | Day 2: Lovers

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The room is quiet once again, cold, hard marble floor reflecting the sunrise behind the huge glass windows. She would hide if it was necessary: hide from any photographers, anyone barging through the massive yet stylish sleek brown door, or perhaps even some neighbors able to see the two of them in bed like that. But thankfully, there is no such thing as neighbors for Ichigo.

Ichigo Kurosaki, her once high school crush, with his angry scowl, fighting tendencies and terrible frequentations. A young man, still halfway just a boy, who was still mourning the death of his mother, still fighting depression, still trying to figure out how things worked. That Ichigo, who would help save her without a second of hesitation when a rival gang had taken her away, playing gangsters. Oh, she had fallen for him so hard… From so high. Not because he was a mysterious man and had muscles. Because he was kind, caring, loving under this mask of indifference.

She was too much of a coward at the time to ask him anything. Even requesting a pen in this big, boring and dusty classroom was something she couldn’t imagine asking. So, for 2 years, she stayed silent, lovingly looking after him as a simple acquaintance.

School was over soon. Ichigo had to move to Tokyo, for a family business she had heard, and she would stay in Karakura Town. Orihime had been ready to say goodbye, to never see him again, because what were the odds? Ichigo had nothing holding him back in the small town. He’d go, live his life, get new friends, new enemies surely… Another girl would be in love with him, and Orihime was fine with that truth.

The last afternoon of her high school days, opening her locker to retrieve her walking shoes, she noticed a small piece of paper that had been slipped between the small gap, still hanging loosely from a corner, rumpled. In the golden light of the fading sun, she had felt, deep in her stomach, in her bones, her heart, a warm breath.

Please keep a room in your heart for me, just like I’ll keep a room in mine for you.

I. K

.

.

.

Ichigo Kurosaki had not changed in the 7 years of his absence. Instead, he had matured into a tall, lean, muscular and calm-looking adult, the fury of fight faded in his eyes. His scowl was usually gone, unless some piece of news made him grumble incoherent curses. The orange spikes, untamable at the time, had been cut short. She never thought she could like that type of style, being so used to the unruly hair, but she had been terribly wrong.

In 7 years… Ah, in 7 years he had learned so much. How to dress in a suit, the suffocation he had claimed from wearing a tie as a student transformed into a preferred style, the capacity to rapidly think to discern the best thing to say instead of rushing to a conclusion. The steady, deep voice. The small chuckles. The curt smiles. The eyes… As if they had witnessed a supernova from up close, and, with infinite patience, had gathered the wisdom raining from it. He was… Ichigo. But the grown version.

She loved him even more.

They met again at a student’s reunion, one of those sometimes boring, sometimes time-wasting events. Orihime had of course expected to turn in, say hello, munch a few cakes and then go back home and enjoy the upcoming weekend after a long week of work. She was supposed to relax, but the moment she turned around to wave goodbye, Ichigo had appeared next to her, curious eyes asking her if she had read.

‘Read what?’ She wanted to ask, lost for a second. But, of course, she remembered. Actually, she never forgot about it.

After 7 years of no talking, not seeing each other, not even knowing if the other would still remember, she looked up in his eyes and nodded, small but sure.

“I did. I kept a place.”

Maybe it was his smile. Maybe it was his hands. Or his body. Or himself. Orihime couldn’t tell, but something pushed her to fall into his arms that night. And all the other nights after that.

He stirred next to her, a gruff grunt as he placed his head far into the pillow, hands digging in the sheets to hide his eyes from the awful rays of light that had pulled him from his sleep. Orihime turned her face to watch him, chuckling.

Ichigo in a suit was a sight, but Ichigo bare was a wonder to the eyes. While she had rather light skin, his was rapidly turning golden when he sun-bathed too long. And when he was tanned, the strong muscles everywhere on his body rolled deliciously, inviting her to touch him, much like she was compelled to do so.

Orihime laid back down next to him, staring at him up and down, one hand timidly touching his shoulder.

“What time is it?” He asked, voice low and barely audible. Orihime looked around, the small digital numbers on the alarm clock indicating he had a good few hours before having to head to yet another business lunch.

“Only 8. You know, maybe we could go meet your sisters tonight? They haven’t seen you in quite some time.” Ichigo opened a lazy eye and nodded. Yuzu and Karin were done with high school by now, and starting their own studies. Karin was interested in being a lawyer, which had turned out to be quite the surprise. Yuzu wanted to take after her father, and had entered medical school. Last he had heard, she was enjoying it. They were growing up, and even if he had hoped they could remain small and gentle for a bit more, he was proud of them.

“Yeah… We’ll go. They will be happy to see you too.” He smiled, a sweet thing he did a lot around her. Orihime curled her arms around his navel, and he brought her on top of him, cuddling her to his chest. They stayed silent for just a few moments, Ichigo waking up slowly, opening and closing his eyes, and Orihime stretching her arms and legs like a cat after a nap.

“…When we see them, I’d like to present you as my girlfriend.” He croaked, voice catching in his throat, shaky and expecting the worst.

For a year now, they had been rolling around with each other. Sleeping together, caring for each other, taking the other for a date, but never saying the three words they died to mutter. Had it been only for the sex, it wouldn’t have lasted. Had it been with a stranger, neither would have even started this relationship. But… It was different. They knew the other like the back of their hand, what they liked, didn’t like, could live without, couldn’t. This pining that had lasted for years, this hesitation that bored holes into their souls had been enough for them to try something new. And now that they lied with the other every night, cooked for the other, shared a life really, Ichigo felt he could ask this question. Suggest her this option.

He was a busy man now, interested in English literature in his free time while he built a small enterprise from scratch. She was about to have her teaching degree. That was quite the leap between them, but neither cared.

Orihime looked down at him, gaze falling in his own. How cute, heart-touching was it that such a powerful man feared something so evident. It brought a blush to her radiant face, and she kissed his lips with a small chuckle.

“Of course. I would love to have you as my boyfriend, my sweet Ichigo.”

He was the one to blush at her words, relief in his brown eyes as he kept her closer to him for a few more hours.

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Day 2!

Phew this one was tough to write... The meaning of "Lovers" can vary to so many different things, and my brain was thinking of several situations at the same time... I wanted to be a troll first and write something about what they liked, for example, some type of food... But decided against it.

Then my time was cut short and I decided to go with a safe AU-like writing.

Hope you enjoyed it! See you tomorrow for day 3!

[serene-faerie]

Yozakura

My IchiHime Valentine’s Day Exchange fic for @artfullyelyse with the prompt: Boat Ride. I seriously hope I did well, and I hope you enjoy it!

Hanami was one of the biggest festivals in Soul Society, if not the biggest. Every year, the Seireitei would be filled with cherry blossom trees as people celebrated the spring through parties, cherry blossom viewings, and picnics under trees. It was a time to celebrate and enjoy one another’s company, and sometimes, a time to fall in love.

After the Quincy War had ended, Hanami was much more than a spring festival. It became a time to celebrate being alive, and falling in love happened quite quickly during the festival. Since so many people had been on death’s door, they used the opportunity to get closer towards those they cared about and show their appreciation for having them in their lives.

It was Ichigo and Orihime’s first Hanami in Soul Society, an experience that both Rukia and Renji had been wanting them to have. But it wasn’t just anything, it was the nighttime that was the best part of Soul Society’s Hanami.

The sun was setting, with the orange and yellow slowly fading up into the inky-blue of the night. Ichigo and Orihime had quite a busy day today. First, they’d gone to a sakura viewing at Byakuya’s house, which had been quite beautiful. After all, the gardens of the Kuchiki Manor were as peerless as the Clan Head. Next, they’d headed into the Seireitei with Renji, Rukia, and the rest of the Gotei 13 to take part in the haiku reading that Rose had been hosting. That had been quite fun, and who knew that Orihime could be so creative with her haiku?

Right now, Orihime had never looked so beautiful. Dressed in a vermillion houmongi kimono decorated with Chinese bellflowers, her hair in a braided bun with a yellow kanzashi, Orihime truly looked like a princess. Her eyes sparkled excitedly as she took in the various sights around her and pointed different things out to Ichigo.

“Ichigo, look!” Orihime clutched his arm, pointing ahead of them.

Ichigo followed her line of vision to see that she was pointing at a canal in the middle of the street.

“Who knew that Soul Society had canals?” Orihime continued, giggling. “It’s just like Venice, except we can come here for free!”

“You always wanted to go on a lovers’ boat ride?” Ichigo asked.

Orihime nodded eagerly. “A boat ride is just so romantic!” she gushed. “I’ve always wanted to sit in a boat with someone as we paddle down a river or a lake at sunset and look at the stars or the sun…”

As she continued gushing on, Ichigo noticed a gondola pulled up to a dock in the canal. Right then, he had an idea. Night was falling soon, which meant it would be Yozakura, or night cherry blossom viewing. And since they were in the neighbourhood of the Sixth Division, there were plenty of sakura trees everywhere, so it was going to be quite a sight. A very romantic one, as much as Ichigo didn’t want to say it out loud.

Grinning slightly, he turned to Orihime and took her hand. “What do you say we go on a boat ride together?” he asked, gesturing to the gondola. “It’s almost time for Yozakura, so let’s enjoy it with a gondola.”

Orihime looked surprised for a moment, but she quickly blushed as she nodded. “Of course!” she said, smiling.

The both of them went over to the gondolier sitting at the docks and requested a ride for Yozakura, who readily accepted the money. As the gondolier stood on the platform at the bow, Ichigo turned to Orihime and made a gentlemanly gesture. “Ladies first,” he teased.

Orihime smiled as she carefully stepped onto the gondola, sitting down in one of the cushioned seats. Ichigo stepped in and sat down next to her, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly. They both smiled at each other as the gondola pulled away from the dock and began to paddle down the canal, and Ichigo shyly brought Orihime’s hand to his lips and gently kissed her fingertips.

Such a simple gesture made Orihime smile. Right now, Ichigo looked so handsome. Dressed in a chestnut-brown kosode decorated with flowing water patterns, and black hakama, Ichigo looked at peace.

It was a rare thing, seeing Ichigo at peace. Since the day he became the substitute shinigami, Ichigo had hardly ever had the chance to relax. And to think it all started with the intention of rescuing Rukia by going to Soul Society. Yes, what started out as a simple rescue mission had resulted in Ichigo becoming entangled in the conspiracies uncovered after Aizen’s betrayal.

And before he knew it, Ichigo was up against Arrancars and Espada, travelling to Hueco Mundo for rescuing Orihime herself, and actually dying in his attempt to save her. And then he’d fought Aizen and gave up his powers to defeat him, thus losing many friendships he’d made with Soul Society and leaving him powerless for a good year and a half. Then, in his attempt to get some semblance of his powers back, Ichigo’s own family and friends were brainwashed and turned against him before he was stripped of power again, only to regain them from Rukia once more.

Then came Yhwach and the Quincies. Perhaps they were the most toughest of everything that Ichigo faced. They’d laid waste to Soul Society, killed so many people, torn apart lives and bonds like it was nothing. Orihime couldn’t believe how many of their shinigami friends had been killed in the war.

Yamamoto and his lieutenant, Ukitake, Unohana, and that was to name a few. Ichigo had only been a teenager when going up against such powerful people. He could barely relax or find any peace with so much going on.

Now, the war was over. The Quincies had been defeated, and Soul Society was beginning to recover, if Hanami was any proof. And these days, Ichigo was beginning to relax a lot more.

The scowl on his face was disappearing little by little, and he was slowly beginning to smile more. Orihime had never felt so proud of Ichigo. He’d grown so much from his scowling teenage days. Right now, sitting next to her was the young man Orihime had fallen so deeply in love with.

By now, night had fallen. As they passed by several cherry blossom trees decorated with lanterns, Ichigo and Orihime stared in awe at the sight. The flowers seemed to almost glow and sparkle against the light of the lanterns; it was truly magical.

“Damn…” Ichigo murmured. “The Sixth really does know how to make Hanami amazing.”

“It’s like the sakura are sparkling!” Orihime whispered in fascination. “Think there’s magical fairies in those flowers?”

At that, Ichigo couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him. “Who knows?” he said, glancing fondly at Orihime. She was really too cute for her own good.

Looking at her now, Ichigo couldn’t believe how far she’d come. It was so hard to believe that the Orihime right now was the same one he’d known in high school.

Back then, Inoue Orihime had been both innocent and jaded: innocent to the dangers of Soul Society, but jaded from years of harassment and bullying. Even so, she’d always been so kind and loving, and it showed in her Shun Shun Rikka: her desire to protect and heal those she cared about.

Orihime had come a long way from the cheerful and silly ingénue who’d accompanied Ichigo to Soul Society. She was one of the people he’d wanted to protect when he became a shinigami, but instead, she got entangled in everything, just like him.

And before either of them knew it, Orihime had been abducted by Ulquiorra, prompting Ichigo to rescue her in Hueco Mundo. Ichigo had fought so many enemies in order to rescue her, including Ulquiorra himself. Several times he’d heard Orihime scream and cry helplessly as he’d been viciously beaten by Espada, and each time, it broke his heart. Orihime crying was a sight he never wanted to see or hear again; it was much too distressing to see such a happy person sobbing so painfully. The worst one was when Ichigo had died in his fight against Ulquiorra. Knowing that he’d given her so much anguish and pain, he could never forgive himself for it.

He may act like a clueless idiot, but that didn’t mean he really was an idiot. Ichigo had been aware of Orihime’s feelings for him for quite some time, but he never felt as if he was worthy of being in love with her. But in the time when he’d lost his powers, Ichigo slowly began to fall in love with her as well, and strived to become a man worthy of Orihime.

Ichigo loved her. How could he have not realized it sooner? Seeing her right now, the way her face lit up with happiness, the way she got so excited over the smallest of things… Ichigo wanted to see this forever.

Reaching out, he pulled Orihime into his arms for a surprise hug. Ichigo smiled when he saw Orihime blushing deeply as she stared at him, astonished.

“I-Ichigo?” Orihime stammered.

Ichigo smiled. “Just wanna tell you that I’m so proud of you, Orihime,” he said. “I love you so much, you know that?”

Orihime was speechless for a few moments before tears filled her eyes. At that, Ichigo panicked.

“A-Ah… Orihime, please, don’t cry! What’s wrong?”

She laughed wetly, smiling in spite of the tears dripping down her cheeks. So typical of Ichigo, thinking that she was sad when in reality, she couldn’t be happier.

“I love you too, Ichigo,” she choked out. “And I’m so proud of you too.”

Ichigo hugged her tenderly, pressing his lips upon her head and inhaling her sweet scent of honey and lavender. He gently broke the hug to kiss the tears away from her cheeks before he closed the distance to capture her lips with his own in a gentle kiss.

No matter how many times he kissed her, Orihime’s heart always fluttered happily, as if she were a lovesick schoolgirl. Really, she’d grown addicted to kissing Ichigo. The tentative way his lips moved against hers, the way some of his hair brushed her forehead, and the way he held her so tenderly, all of it practically melted her into a puddle as if he was kissing her for the first time.

When they pulled away, Orihime smiled at Ichigo before resting her head upon his shoulder. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Ichigo said. “I’m sure your brother is so proud of you right now.”

Orihime smiled sweetly. “And your mom must be so proud as well,” she told him.

As the gondola continued paddling down the canal, cherry blossoms drifted and scattered all around them. It was quite beautiful to watch.

“Ichigo, do you think that Kuchiki-sama is using his Senbonzakura to celebrate Yozakura right now?” Orihime asked.

Ichigo laughed. “Nah, it’d be a lot more painful if it were Senbonzakura,” he said, catching one of the flowers. “Besides, I couldn’t do this if Byakuya was using Senbonzakura, could I?”

He tucked the little cherry blossom flower behind Orihime’s ear, smiling as she blushed lightly. Orihime was really too cute for her own good.

When the gondola ride came to an end, the both of them simply strolled through Soul Society for the rest of the evening. Indeed, Hanami in Soul Society was quite a magical experience.

[mythicamagic]

21 26 and oh! 34!

Thanks!

21. Is there a ship you just don’t get, but have nothing against?Ichihime because well…you have Ichiruki? They’re more developed and interesting to me? What stakes are there in ichihime? Orihime might not confess her love. Well that’s…every other romance ever? I also feel this way about Naruhina . I’m sorry if you do ship them, I’m not trying to be mean, they just don’t interest me but I don’t hate them. 

26. Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic you’re more drawn to?*sweats* N-no. *eyes the villains to antihero/friends trope* Okay fine. I like the villain/antihero/misunderstood guy with either the warrior-queen/sunshine girl/determined girl. It seems to be a thing.  Enemies to Lovers is probably my fav troupe. I am guilty of enjoying it.

34. Share your favorite fanmix for your OTP.

I’m sorry I don’t really have one. But I’d say my current fav Otp is SubaYui and I have a playlist for when I’m writing those Diabolik Fairytales, and DL in general…if that counts? Warning though, the songs range from mildly depressing to heavy depressing. They help with the tone of the fic. You can find it - here