#Ichihime Week

[o0o0thorn0o0o]

Late, I know, but…! Only by two days, so I’ll still label/tag it:

Ichihime Week, Day 7: Mythical Lovers / Rainbow

I was planning on adding in magpies in the background this time, but I was getting lazy, and it’s already late, so maybe next time ^^;

(Also I was thinking of making a rainbow version, but it didn't come out as I would have liked? Idk. I still think it’s cute, though, so I put it under the cut)

Alrighty, listen: I really didn’t mean to wait this long to post. But, like, very shortly after Eid, my iPad’s storage filled up, like, to the point I couldn’t even access my mail (that’s how I found out, pfft). I was wondering why I’d ever need 256 GB 4 years ago… but still, it was $100 extra bucks. Sure, it was a grad gift, but 128 GB was expensive enough—still a lot of storage, too… Not enough, clearly!

Hoarding layers (and recoloring my own art, pfft) has really caught up to me… but also, it wouldn’t help too much if I didn’t either. After deleting what I could bear to part with, that took away around 5 GB, but merging layers in other works barely made a dent.

So I’ve spent these past few weeks wondering what to do, thinking about emailing my 2019 (imported from my 5s) and 2020 works to an email I also created 4 years ago for some reason I totally forgot about and never used so that I don’t end up taking any space in my actual one and then uploading them onto two (since I really don’t want my files corrupting) USBs via my laptop, trying to get those USBs from Target (but since I was adamant this time in getting 256 GB USBs—I don’t want to have to worry about storage for a longgggg time—there were none in stock), ordering them off of eBay instead since my dad insisted on their cheapness, waiting a week for them, then transferring them to that email and uploading them onto its Google drive if the files was too big…

But that was taking much too long and still left space on my iPad while I was doing it. I managed to complete the 2019 and 2020 pieces from my iPad, but it also only ended up being around 1 GB… So, like, I need to clear more years (breaks my heart, it does ;~; Sure, I still have access to them via that email and those USBs, but it’s not convenient anymore, and there are still pieces I plan on getting back to… ackkkkk).

Contemplating it some more and discussing it with a friend, much as I abhor subscription services, I finally decided to purchase a premium membership on Ibis for that 20 GB of cloud storage. I can afford the 30 bucks a year, and I like the app anyway—serves me good—and not having to watch an ad every 18 hours to access my go-to brushes would be nice, plus having access to the other stuff, but yeah: ✋🌈✨cloud storage✨🌈 🤚

Anyway, I’m pretty sure a good chunk of what’s taking up my space is actually the cache, as I’m already more than halfway through my drawings, and I’m not sure if I’ll reach that 75 GB of storage Ibis was apparently taking up with just my drawings. So I’ll probably need to download everything, then delete the app and redownload it ‘cause stupid IOS doesn’t let you easily clear it 🫠

Anyway, I really thought I’d be done by now, but am not—that said, I managed to clear out around 10 GB off of Ibis (not my iPad; I somehow managed to gain back 5?? Somewhere?? I’ve no clue; I don’t see it), which is wayyy more than enough to get one drawing done for IH week, so I paused the whole storage thing for now. I actually tried to get day one’s drawing done on the 6th, but I’m dealing with perspective that’s hurting my brain, so I decided to get day seven’s done instead, ‘cause I thought I’d be on time…

Me? On time? Man, who knew I was so funny… 😒

But yeah, day seven is done! I’ll definitely revisit that day one drawing in the future, but not anytime soon. As if I wasn’t backed up already, this whole storage mess has backlogged even further, and there are other dates coming up 😮‍💨 And, y’know, gotta finish the storage transfer, too… Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Anyway, on a more positive note, gradient maps are actually very neat to use—had a little too much fun, eheh. I won’t confess how much time I spent testing it out on this piece, but here be my favorite:

They’re so golden <3 ☺️

[megroha]

second date fireworks 🎆

[Ichihime week 2023, Day 3 - Date / Fireworks]

[tiny-sugar-dove]

Day 3... Fireworks!🎇

[rurodraws]

I'm tired, so just the sketch. I looove creepy Kazui stuff.

[bansept]

I will do my best to participate in the July ichihime week! I'll probably get some free time during my internship, so I'll be able to write for most of the days!

[zabiume]

say yes

orihime doesn't actually believe him at first when he asks her out | (ao3)

Orihime doesn’t actually believe him at first when he asks her out.

The weeks leading up to the wedding pass by in such a rush that she’s mostly just focused on planning her leaves at work and getting the veil done in time. Even though it was handy to have the Kurosaki Clinic as a meet-up location for everyone, she hadn’t actually planned to spend so much time there. There was so much to do off-late, and the last thing she wanted to do was distract Ichigo from his studies (contrary to his lackadaisical attitude, she knew he wanted to do well with his courses). But an evening had become many evenings, and Ichigo’s sisters were so sweetly persuasive that Orihime often found it hard to say no. The Kurosakis were a rowdy family, but they were warm and kind and welcoming in a way that was addictive to just lean into. Ichigo had to have gotten it from somewhere, after all.

And then the wedding happens, and Rukia actually wears the veil, and she’s so busy crying that she hardly has the time to process what it all means. Marriage had always been a distant concept to Orihime. Sora had never married, and she had never actually given much thought to it until she saw Rukia walk down the aisle with her own brother—somber and serious and beautiful. A bride.

It was only when her eyes met Renji’s that Rukia’s expression broke into a small, knowing smile. A Rukia smile, undoubtedly, with all its usual restraint, but there was a familiarity to it that gave Orihime pause. It felt like a secret shared. It felt intimate, a wisdom beyond Orihime’s years. For the briefest of seconds, she wondered what that must feel like. That closeness. That vulnerability.

Then she felt afraid—and promptly beat her curiosity back into submission.

So when Ichigo admits that he’s been thinking about her for a while, that he’s been harboring feelings for her, it doesn’t really—register. His eyes are uncertain, searching, and she instinctively wants to reach out to him, but she doesn't know how. She suspects she must have stuttered something back, but she is, ultimately, in utter shock. Four years of doodling his face on notebooks and following him to hell and back, and she never once thought about what would happen if he honestly, seriously, actually liked her back. It doesn’t make any sense.

In the end, she realizes she must have misunderstood him, which sounds a lot more like her the more she thinks about it. Her daydreams about Ichigo have always been vivid with detail, turning his mild affection into rapturous sentiment, so she files it away as her usual whimsy and moves on.

But then Ichigo asks her if she wants to go on a walk one day, and Orihime isn’t sure. They’ve done things like that before, but those instances were spontaneous—him walking her back home after she dropped her notes off at his house, or him lingering by her doorway, long after a hang-out with their friends. He’s never asked like this before and it feels—different.

And when she actually shows up to the end of her street where they were supposed to meet, he looks nervous. Worse, he can tell something is off.

“Is something wrong?” he asks with a small frown.

“No! No, of course not,” she blurts, then quickly smiles as if to pacify him.

They walk up to the river together and find themselves strolling along the bank for a while, but it’s quiet. Orihime keeps trying to recall what he said at the cafe the other day, about what he could have possibly meant when he said, I’m trying to be honest about my feelings and it’s okay if you want to stay friends.

Her nails dig into her palms.

“It’s kinda cloudy, huh,” Ichigo remarks, a little sheepish when he looks over his shoulder at her. Orihime’s stomach drops at the way he looks, windswept and casual with both hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. His eyes are so warm, so kind, and she wonders if he knows that she loves him. Something lurches within her, and she almost feels sick as she stops in her footsteps.

"I'm sorry." She shakes her head. "I'm sorry, this is just. This is a lot."

"What is?"

"This," she whispers. She dares not call it what it isn’t, already wanting to flee. Ichigo’s eyes widen, and she can tell he’s realized, kind of, what she’s talking about. She pushes on, her voice small and guilty. "This doesn't feel very real to me."

A casual conversation with Ichigo is all well and good, even if it makes her stomach goopy sometimes and she’s got to scream herself hoarse into her pillow to beat down the rush. But she just can’t picture Ichigo doing that about her. Even her wildest imagination draws short.

“Are you talking about what I said the other day at the cafe?” he asks quietly.

Orihime nods, not really looking at him but out towards the Karakura horizon.

“Do you—do you not feel the same?”

The shock of that question instantly draws Orihime’s attention back to his face. She realizes he’s trying to brace himself, and the corners of his eyes are creased like it would…

(Like it would hurt if she says no)

“It’s not like that,” she mutters, mustering courage. But it falters when their eyes meet, and she flushes. Even saying that much is too much. Still, she finds her voice for long enough to say, “But, um. You said you liked me.”

It’s Ichigo’s turn to flush. “Y-yeah.”

Oh.

“As—as friends?” She wants to kick herself for asking the question, and then promptly wants the ground to swallow her up when Ichigo looks like he’s in pain.

“Ye-No—I mean.” He covers his mouth with a fist to clear his throat. “I just, uh. You know. I like being friends with you, obviously. But it’s—it’s not. Fully, like.”

Orihime nods quickly but completely devoid of comprehension.

“I think it’s been a little different for a while now,” he admits, almost guiltily. “Maybe for a long time, I don’t know.”

Orihime tries to breathe, to think of the implications. But in the end, she’s just swept away by the golden sunlight on his face, by the courage it must have taken for him to admit such a thing. She still has a hard time wrapping her head around it, but she recognizes, intuitively, that he’s trying to give her something. Something important. And she can’t not handle it with care. Not when it’s from him. Even if it feels like she’s cupping her hands around something tenuous.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” he adds, and she can tell from his tone that he’s serious. “I think I was trying to figure it out for myself.”

Orihime laughs feebly, embarrassed. “You don’t have to be sorry for something like that.”

Ichigo smiles a small smile back at her, both hands in his pockets. He still looks tense, uncertain, and Orihime wants to make him feel better, but between them is a wall that hasn’t come down before, and she doesn’t know what it’s going to feel like when it does, but she bets it's intense. It has to be. She hates to admit that she’s a little afraid of it.

“It doesn’t have to be anything you don’t want it to,” Ichigo says quietly. “We can forget this happened.”

Orihime watches him, the way the light hits his face as he waits for her answer. She shakes her head. “No, I just.” She braves herself to look up at him, to try and say what she has in her heart. “Can we take it a little slow, Kurosaki-kun?”

_____________________

Tatsuki calls her crazy for not jumping him the second he confessed, which is really typical of her, but Chad just frowns when she tells him what happened.

“You like him,” Chad points out.

Orihime nods. That’s not something she’ll ever deny.

“He likes you.”

She gnaws her lip, fighting down the anxious surge in her stomach.

“He does,” Chad insists. “I know him.”

For a minute, Orihime stews on his words, the two of them quiet as they walk along the side street together.

“Give him a chance,” Chad says, glancing down at her with a small smile. “Let him show you. Ichigo won’t let you down.”

_____________________

Orihime pays a little more attention.

There’s a little bookstore in midtown Karakura that she likes, and she builds the courage to ask him if he wants to go with her.

(“That sounds like a great idea, Inoue,” he’d breathed, and Orihime wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light or if he looked a little relieved by her initiative).

Either way, Orihime watches the slouch of his back, the thin, long lines of his fingers as he gently pulls books out of the shelves and frowns at the little blurbs on the back. His movements are so familiar to her by now, but she ends up watching him more than the books, fascinated by his every gesture, the firmness of his shoulders, his arms.

“Here,” he says, and she starts a little. He’s holding a book out to her with a little smile. “I think you’ll like this one.”

She takes it from him gingerly. It’s a heist adventure set in outer space—exactly the kind of thing she likes to get lost in during breaks at work, and it touches her deeply, the fact that he knows what she likes to read—that over years of borrowing and lending from each other, he’s learned. She smiles and holds the book to her chest, determined to find something for him too.

But fundamentally, the truth is that Ichigo is no different from who he used to be. Even as they talk about their friends, or when she brings him yakisoba and they sit by his bedroom window to eat it, he’s still the same he’s always been. He talks flippantly about his teachers but passionately about his classes. He scoffs at the ridiculous things she says and teases her about her wild imagination. He looks lost when she meanders her way through a story but listens patiently anyway. These are all things that the Ichigo of last year used to do. The Ichigo she knew and had grown comfortable with, to a point where she didn’t feel conscious about being in his room, or talking to him like this, with no one else around. It’s easy to forget that he likes her in those moments, which makes her think maybe he doesn’t like her that way at all—maybe he was just trying to tell her how much he values her as a friend, and she was reading into it too much, or projecting or—or—

(Or he’s always felt like this, her brain provides. She takes a gigantic hammer and smashes this thought, then steps on it with her foot for good measure.)

Orihime knows that Ichigo has always loved her—just like he’s loved Chad or Rukia or a person he just met that needed saving. Ichigo is a kind, giving person. She knows better than to mistake that for pining.

But there are times where his thigh brushes hers, or she laughs at something he says, and he gives her a look, a look that he’s never given her before, tentative, searching. She wonders what would happen if he would lean down and kiss her then, just his mouth on hers, nothing more. It’s nothing she hasn’t imagined before, but like all her other fantasies, it’s not something she’s ever thought would actually happen. She’s imagined burger kingdoms (because if there’s a Burger King, he has to have a home, right?) and clouds that taste like cotton candy, and this is just one of those things—perfect, but too good to be true.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she pictures telling him. “I like you,” she pictures telling him. She even knows the exact face he would make, a little stunned, because she’s always coming at him from a little left of center. A little tender, because he’s always been so kind to her. Ichigo would never hurt her, but she’s a coward all the same, satisfied with having him only in her burger-kingdom-candy-cloud fantasies. She’d never know what to do if he gave her his hand.

She throws her head into her pillow and screams. At least this hasn’t changed—and it provides her a little comfort.

_____________________

He’s walking her back home from his house one day when he says, “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Orihime whips her head up so fast she nearly gets dizzy. “What?”

He doesn’t look at her. “I’m terrible at this. Being a boyfriend.”

Orihime wants to reassure him of his merits, but she’s still stuck on boyfriend. Kurosaki-kun, her boyfriend. The shape of those words makes no sense, not in that order, not even rearranged. A hysterical part of her wants to laugh, and then lie down sideways and roll all the way home.

Ichigo lifts his gaze from the ground and frowns at her. “You don’t believe it.”

“Kurosaki-kun?”

He kicks at a pebble in his path and watches it totter out of the way. “You don’t believe that I like you.”

It’s only slightly accusing. He mostly just sounds sad, like there’s something wrong and he has no idea how to fix it.

“That’s not—” she begins. True, she wants to say, but she can’t bring herself to admit that it would be a little bit of a lie to say she had wholly embraced this idea that Ichigo was apparently in love with her. “Kurosaki-kun.” It comes out a little helpless, and she can’t help but stare up at him, hoping he’ll understand.

“I do, you know,” he says quietly. Stubbornly, almost. There’s a determination in his eyes that’s so familiar to her by now, a brimming thunder in him that speaks of hidden depths—things he feels that he can’t quite find the words for. Ichigo has always spoken so much with so little that when he says, “I do,” again, she knows. He’s been saying it to her in one form or another for a while now. Had he always been, even when he hadn’t quite known that that was what he was saying?

“I’m the terrible one.” she says finally, shaking her head. “Kurosaki-kun—Kurosaki-kun is so brave, so warm.” She looks up at him, and she tells herself she isn’t going to cry, even if she feels it at the base of her throat. “I wouldn’t even know what to do if you gave me your hand.”

Surprise breaks out on Ichigo’s face, followed by understanding.

“You could hold it,” he said quietly. And then color fills his cheeks, his own admission embarrassing him as he looks away from her face. “I-If you wanted to.”

Orihime lets out a breath, the thrill of possibility and permission making itself clear in the air between them. She stares at his hand, so large, so there, and lowers her own to lock their fingers together. Warm. His hand is warm. Her cheeks are on fire. Ichigo still doesn’t look at her, but his cheeks are pink too.

“I’ll hold it,” she decides, carefully cradling it with both her hands like it’s the most important thing in the world. Ichigo nods and squeezes his grip. She squeezes back.

They walk home that way. Neither of them says a word.

_____________________

Later that night, much, much later, Orihime rolls over in bed and stares out her window. It’s dark outside, quiet, and all she can think about is Ichigo. She’s spent a few nights like this before, her love for him so full that it had a presence of its own in the room. Ichigo, with his hand on his chin, talking about anything, everything. Ichigo at war, his back to her because he trusts her with it. Ichigo’s hand in hers, not limp, not asleep, but awake and alive and hers to hold.

I like you, she tries with her mouth. I like you.

She picks up the phone and dials his number without thinking about it, really.

There are one, two, three, four rings between them, and then his voice arrives on the other end, thick with sleep, concerned. “Hello?” A pause, like he’s pulled the phone away from his ear to see who’s calling. “Inoue?!”

“Kurosaki-kun,” she returns.

“What’s wrong? Are you in trouble?”

She smiles. “No. I just…I wanted to tell you…”

“Tell me what?”

“I like you, Kurosaki-kun,” she confesses, true and soft and clear. It’s only when she’s said it that she realizes it’s the first time she’s said it to him out loud, with him awake to hear it. “I like you,” she says again, stronger this time, more insistent—no room for error, or misunderstanding or doubt.

There’s a long silence on the other end, and it draws for so long that Orihime almost falls asleep to it, but for once she’s not afraid. She’s ready for the wall to come down, however long it takes, or however fast.

Finally, Ichigo laughs, just a heavy exhale from his nose. “Sheesh. Is that it? I thought you were seriously in trouble or something.” He doesn't sound disgruntled, though. He sounds pleased. Thrilled, really. It's like the warmth is emanating off of him, and Orihime can feel it all the way here, three blocks away. And then he says, “Me too,” and it’s like he’s here, burrowed in her ribs alongside that beating thing she calls a heart.

She falls asleep that way, her phone cradled to her chest, static waves connecting her to him. It’s the best sleep she’s gotten in years.

_____________________

Some time later, after a few days have passed, she takes him to the park for a date, his hand in hers as they walk between the trees. He’s in a light jacket that looks good on him; she’s in his coat, two sizes too big on her.

“I want to race you to the end of the park,” she declares, tilting her gaze towards him to see his reaction.

He blanches. “It’s the middle of winter.”

“That makes it sound like you don’t think you can win in these conditions,” she observes, tapping her chin with one finger. “Could it be that the mighty Kurosaki-kun is…slacking…?”

Ichigo frowns. “Oi.”

“It’s just a few hundred meters,” she assures him.

He sighs, letting go of her hand and heading over to the other side of the walkway so he can get into position. “Ready when you are,” he says.

Orihime grins. They ready, set, go it, and then she’s darting, dashing through the park like her feet can’t carry her fast enough. Ichigo is hot on her heels, but it’s clear she’s going to be the winner, wind whipping at her hair and her clothes. Something fuels her from within, gives her a boost that makes her reach the park’s edge a second faster than he does, shoes roughly scraping against the pavement upon her landing. She could have run forever with how buoyant this feeling is in her chest, but she settles for grinning, holding her hands out to him as he catches up to her. He’s sulking.

“I’ll buy you hot chocolate,” she promises soothingly, then laughs at the hope that strikes his face. It’s cute enough to deserve a kiss, so she stands up on tiptoes and plants one on him, her lips soft against his cheek.

“O-Okay,” he breathes, a little flush rising to his cheeks.

“Let’s go!” She pumps one fist in the air.

Ichigo takes her other hand, tugging her back before she can walk into oncoming traffic. She settles back with a sheepish grin. He shakes his head. They look both ways this time.

Then they cross the street.

[ships-n-bats]

Putting under read more 'cause it kind of turned out way longer than intended and has big images attached. ^^'

Warning: I literally am reviewing and judging sketches Kub0 drew of the Ichi//Hime fam post-manga and just being critical of I//H as a whole.

“Kub0 has yet to release any artwork of the Ichi//Hime family together!”

I just recently recalled this statement made years ago by anti I//Hs and became rather curious over whether or not this statement was still true or not. It’s been about 8+ years since the manga ended and I//H became canon with their mini-me child being revealed alongside. So, out of genuine curiosity, I decided to see if Kub0 had since drawn the I//H family in any capacity.

Only to discover that, nope, he indeed had not.

The closest I could find of any drawings made by Kub0 that involved Ichig0's family post-manga were these two sketches he made:

A sketch of Ichig0 and Kαzui with Kub0's signature.

And the pic he drew of Ichig0 with Kαzui during quarantine (which I will admit is super adorable omg).

Two pictures featuring a father and his son.

But! You'll notice with both of these sketches, 0rihime is missing. You know, the wife of Ichig0 and mother to said child?? She's not so much as shown in the background or right there alongside her husband and kid! She's just, not present what-so-ever...

And the saddest part? When I tried searching for any sketches Kub0 made of Kαzui with 0rihime, nothing came up. Not a single sketch featuring mother and son. I only found those two pics of Kαzui with his father. That's it.

And there wasn't a single sketch that had all three of them together.

The closest I could find was of an edited version of the quarantine pic an I//H fan drew where they added 0rihime in. That's right, an I//H fan had to add 0rihime into the sketch in order to get a proper Ichi//Hime family pic, because Mr. Tite Kub0 couldn't be bothered to do so himself in the first place. I also found other edited pics that just took separate pics of the three and mashed them together, which is just... sad.

I think the closest there's been to the three being seen together as a family was in the manga and even that is a bit of a stretch.

This then led me to see if Kub0 had since drawn Ichig0 and 0rihime together and came up with two more sketches:

A sketch of the two standing next to each other, looking at one another.

Another sketch of the two's portraits.

And just like with the previous two pics, I noticed something about both pics. In the first one, 0rihime and Ichig0 are keeping a distance between themselves, and the sketch overall is rather simplistic and not really readable. I can barely make out either of their expressions, though 0rihime looks shocked? Confused?? idk Meanwhile, Ichig0 looks either blank or irritated? He might be talking to her??

As for the second sketch, Ichig0 looks like he had more time and effort put into his portrait, while 0rihime looks thrown in last second. Given how much bigger Ichig0 is, it gives off the impression that Kub0 drew a pic of Ichig0 first, and then added 0rihime off to the side, in the background, which explains why she's so small and seems tacked on. You can essentially remove her from the sketch entirely as she doesn't look part of it as a whole.

Also, this same sketch had an I//H shipper tack on Kαzui to try and make it a family pic, just like with the other one.

Despite Kub0 canonizing Ichig0 and 0rihime as a married couple with a kid, despite it being nearly a decade now, despite I//H shippers asking Kub0 to give more details about how the two got together and what their relationship is like as a family and couple, he still hasn't bothered to actually give the Ichi//Hime fam any proper spotlight.

I hate bringing up other mangas for comparison, but even Nαruto, despite its own controversial ending and endgame ships, showcased some sweet family moments with their next gen families and even had cute couple-y moments between the endgame pairs. Kishim0t0 at least bothered to put some effort into trying to sell his endgame ships to fans. Meanwhile, Kub0 has left I//H high and dry of any basic domestic fluff.

And honestly?

I just find that to be plain sad. Sad that even though a pairing is made canon, is made to be married with a child, there's still this lack of intimacy between the two. Yes, many I//H antis have pointed out how much Ichig0 and 0rihime lacked development and intimacy prior to the ending, but it's post-ending where I feel the failure of I//H really comes to ahead.

I//H stans tend to use Ichig0 and 0rihime's marriage and product of their consummation as a crutch or a "got'cha" to prove them being canon somehow means they're a perfect pairing. But it really doesn't mean anything if there's no real intimacy outside of a legal piece of paper and offspring. Those two things don't prove anything and shouldn't be used as evidence for a happy, healthy relationship.

Because, despite what is believed by many, a marriage and kids does not automatically translate to a good relationship. People can be married with kids and still be unhappy or lack real closeness or intimacy in their relationship. Just like how the alternative (i.e. not married and no kids), can mean a happy and close relationship. Basically, a marriage and children are not required nor are proof of a happy, healthy relationship.

Kub0 himself has already proven to me that he doesn't even care about Ichi//Hime as a pairing, despite the marriage and kid. He hasn't shown that Ichig0 and 0rihime are close and seems to actively avoid drawing the family together, leading the fans to do so for him out of desperation. He was more than happy to show 0rihime's one-sided devotion towards Ichig0 throughout the manga, but never bothered to show Ichig0 ever returning those feelings, and then just ended with the two married with a son. Only later offhandedly mentioning that the two got together sometime after university when a fan asked him about it. And Ichig0 had to be prompted by his friends to make a move on her, not because he did so on his own accord.

Ichi//Hime may be endgame canon, but it's still hollow and empty.

Update 7/9/24

I had actually forgotten about another pic Kub0 did and was only recently reminded of it by a twt user.

The pic features Ichig0, Rukiα, Ichikα, and Kαzui altogether.

And I have to agree with the twt user’s assessment on it, it does look like an accidental family pic. I can totally see some people who aren’t familiar with Bleαch taking this out of context and mistaking Rukiα and Ichig0 as the parents. It’s a very cute and silly sketch too, with Rukiα and Kαzui messing around with Ichig0 and Ichikα dealing with their antics. An overall happy, wholesome pic.

Which makes the fact that Kub0 drew Rukiα alongside Kαzui and not his own mother, 0rihime, all the more noticeable and depressing. It really does feel like Kub0 is actively avoiding making any happy I//H fam material. He always falls back on drawing Ichig0 and Rukiα together (which he has admitted to enjoy doing).

[cookiesdippedinanime]

🍂(Old)Ichihime fics while I struggle🧡

• "The happy feelings club" Pt1💜

• "The happy feelings club" Pt2💜

• "Late night snacking"🍪

• "A visit to Orihime's house"🍊

(These are old, but I like to think "goodies. The artist who drew these thumbnails is @o0o0thorn0o0o, please check her out)

[bleachedswordandshield]

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Bleach (Anime & Manga) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Inoue Orihime/Kurosaki Ichigo, Abarai Renji/Kuchiki Rukia Characters: Inoue Orihime, Kurosaki Ichigo Additional Tags: Slice of Life, Post Manga, Falling In Love, Feelings, lots of feelings, Soft, Soft Kurosaki Ichigo, but not OOC I don't think, i don't know how to tag this honestly is very soft Summary:

From the TYBW to them getting married, a soft insight on their love story.

[el-yon]

water is the element of change

t4t ichihime week, day 2: water

[megroha]

golden hour 🏖

[Ichihime week 2023, Day 6 - Honeymoon trip]

[vicioux]

i think so far between ichihime week, elucien week, and gojohime week i have almost 200 new fics to read lol it's a good problem to have 😌

[bansept]

Ichihime week 2023!

Day 1: Tanabata

Tanabata, "七夕", also known as the "star festival", takes place on the 7th day of the 7th month of the year, when, according to a Chinese legend, the two stars Altair and Vega, which are usually separated from each other by the Milky Way, are able to meet.

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There is a river in Karakura.

Crossing the Minamikase district, it used to be an uncrossable border splitting her world. The morning would come and she would wonder how he would feel as she got dressed for school. Was he sad, traveling down the path next to the river edge every day? Was this river a cruel reminder of what he believed was his incompetence to protect? Was he angry for the blinding light reflected on the calm water? The night would come at the end of the school day, and she would hope to float down this river, find its source and drench it, empty the sorrows she knew he carried. So many burdens on his young shoulders.

The river reminds her of her brother, of his gentle smile, of his soothing voice, of his laughter, so precious to her heart. Of how she had parted with him in anger and agony the first time. The river had been so agitated that day, so monstrously grey and muddy. For their second parting, she has a feeling the river was calm yet again, just as it was when she and Tatsuki had chased fireflies and gasped in awe at the fireworks.

After graduation, when they were still circling around each other, unsure how to word out their feelings, shy and silly, Ichigo once mentioned how calming the river was to him.

"When mom died... I walked by the bank of the river the entire day, way up to the Kitakawe district." He had smiled, something that was becoming more and more casual for him. "I thought I could find her again if it meant roaming around long enough. But, of course, I didn't. All I found was sadness, and... I don't know. Melancholy, I guess?"

They were sitting on the grass, on the hill by the river, the Saturday morning air gently waving through their hair. She placed a timid hand on his own, hoping to convey some comfort.

"I used to dislike this river, because it reminded me of that day, and the ones after that where a 9-year-old would use his shoes and get blisters from walking all day. But now... I find it a beautiful sight."

Ichigo had blushed deeply, taking Orihime's hand in a successful attempt to make her heart beat faster.

Orihime smiles.

She wished she could be the rain once. The rain that binds people together, that allows one to feel another's pain. She wanted to understand him, help him. She didn't know at the time he too was yearning to help her, shield her from her own tragic past.

Kazui coos in her arms, and she makes a silly face.

"Oh, what is it, baby? You're waiting for Papa, hm?" She raises her arms up to kiss her son on his soft and puffy cheek, which makes him gurgle happily.

She is by the river, watching the calm water sparkle with the dying sun, like oil. It doesn't let the wind break its surface, it stays still and glowing, like billions of gems.

Ichigo is trotting on the bridge to them. He looks so handsome in his two-piece costume, the white shirt two buttons opened for now, his forgotten tie in his hand as he jogs back to them with a dashing smile on his face. His hair is short after a fresh cut, courtesy of Yuzu.

He crosses the bridge separating them hurriedly, as if they have been apart for a whole year.

Kazui waves his little arms at his father, the same smile pulling at his lips. He may have a lot of Orihime's features, like her eyes and eyelashes, as well as her hair, but his smile is the spitting image of Ichigo's.

"Sorry for that, honey." He breathes out, not at all out of breath even after the kilometer he just ran back and forth from their home.

"I would be fine with you not wearing a tie, but since Rukia and Renji insisted on proper clothes..." Orihime teases him, and he winks back at her. "Kazui was growing impatient."

Ichigo kisses his son on the forehead, placing his finger next to the baby's hand for him to grab onto. Kazui immediately takes the opportunity and Orihime chuckles.

"Did I make you impatient too?"

"Of course. 5 minutes without you is enough to make me tap my foot." She jokes, and Ichigo shakes his head mockingly.

"I'll do my best to redeem myself after we visit the Soul Society. Let's get going." He smiles and takes Kazui, offering some relief to the young mother. Kazui is definitely going to get heavier very soon with the way he eats.

They walk together to Urahara's shop, hand in hand, joking and laughing, placing bets on how many people will want to hold Kazui, and how many times people will tease Ichigo for his not-so-new haircut.

She remembers the two lovers from the story. The forbidden love, the punishment. Forced to live separately for a year and allowed only once to see each other again. The weaver princess and her human husband.

Orihime smiles, sending a look at the river. The bridge has been crossed, and their time together is finally here. But never to end.

[bendingwind]

I have a cold and can't go out with my friends tonight/this weekend so I am going to:

a) write this Ikkaku/Yumichika backstory that myself and three other people will read

b) take some prompts for lil vignettes if anyone cares to send any my way. Bleach, Witcher or Dragon Age pls, ratings up to mature. As usual, I don't promise to write for your prompt if it doesn't spark any ideas and I definitely don't promise to write what you expect for your prompt if my brain goes off in another direction. It often does.

[ships-n-bats]

Reblogging this post with receipts this time, because despite discovering the block and mute button, I still end up coming across IR antis who make it their personal mission to be as unpleasantly vile as physically possible.

Parroting the same insults, telling us IRs to "cope and move on/accept canon," demanding us to stop shipping IR, responding to posts that didn't even concern nor mention I//H, and outright wishing death upon people for simply shipping fictional characters (seriously, wtf is wrong with ya'll)??

The real ironic thing here is that I//Hs constantly claim that IRs are the worst shippers in the fandom and are the ones stirring up shit, when all I've ever seen recently is the I//Hs being the toxic ones. They're the ones still stalking IR blogs, accounts, and the tags in order to shit on IR, then turn around and play victim to justify their own hate.

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(not excusing the IR's original comment towards Kub0, but the anti's response was very much overkill and was lumping all IRs together)

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(this person is responding to their own tweet, so both comments are made by the same person)

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(the original tweet also included an image of 0rihime and was a response to an IR who was reacting to something else but I can't find the rest of the context so excuse me)

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(excuse the red line it was a mistake I couldn't fix)

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(this post and the one above it was made by the same person; said person has said many other awful stuff towards IR shippers)

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(putting a vomit emoji over a piece of IR fanart? real classy)

And to those who'll try and tell me to "simply ignore them" or act like I'm "overacting" or whatever. I'm mad because I'll be minding my own business, happily scrolling through IR tags, only to come across five or more posts that are outright insulting me and other IR shippers. I block and mute, only for more to come out of the woodworks and act like dickheads, souring my enjoyment of just trying to find IR fanwork.

I//Hs are creating a toxic fandom experience, then turning around and lying about who the true toxic ones are.

IchiRuki Twitter is a Hellhole

The experience is like shoving my hand into a bucket full of feathers and nails.

Sometimes I get the soft, fluffy grace of feathers (i.e. a cute IR post), and other times I get a handful of nails that turns my hand into a bloody pincushion (aka yet another IR anti stirring up shit and name calling the IR community).

Tumblr is a garbage heap too, but at least I have a better experience searching through tags and can block key words or phrases easier. Twitter just throws you to the wolves, like good luck bitch; have fun suffering ig.