#Like a menos grande from bleach

[puppetmaster13u]

DC AU Idea

Imagine if after coming back to life and being dunked in the Lazarus Pits, Jason can see ghosts. The pit rage is all the ghosts possessing him and trying to get revenge on their killers. A lot of them were killed by the joker and aren’t taking no for an answer, no matter who is in their way.  The only reason they don’t immediately do so is that they remember Robin, they remember Jason, and they don’t want to hurt him. It’s hard to remember that he’s alive again and cannot do the same things they can. 

[tossawary]

Rewatching "Bleach" with knowledge of later stuff is so fucking funny. The Ichigo versus Uryuu fight is hilarious. 15yo Uryuu is just so down to beat someone's ass - he'll kick Ichigo's ass, he'll kick Soul Society's ass, he'll kick his own ass, or die trying - that he summons dozens of hollows and a Menos Grande that cracks open the sky, which MUST be visible (and easily sensed by anyone with any spiritual awareness) from all over the town.

Including Uryuu's dad's workplace. I'm picturing Ryuuken at the hospital, looking up at an enormous hollow ripping open the sky and potentially about to destroy the entire fucking town, like, "Mm, no, this isn't worth giving up my smoke break for."

[coffee-cupps]

{❄️Frozen Lips❄️}

 Toshiro Hitsugaya X GN! Reader

[In which Toshiro proves he isn’t a kid anymore…]

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Hello! It’s been about a year, sorry about that. I have seemed to have fallen into the world of Bleach and now can’t get out. I have fallen in love with this stupid little man and am now going to write for him non-stop. So, you have my permission to send in requests for him. I was watching Bleach last night and it was like-3:26 AM and my thoughts start to wonder so…have Toshiro blowing off some steam with you. (A.K.A Toshiro using his tail to hold you up while making out with you.) The bleach fandom hounded me for a while, are you all happy now? You may think I stepped into your domain…Oh how wrong you are. You’re in my domain now… Enjoy.

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Warnings: 

Pissed off Toshiro

Bankai activated Toshiro

Sir kink

Aggressive making out

Reader and Toshiro like each other but never admit it

Finger sucking

Hyorinmaru is not amused

Language

Last season Toshiro. (Not Blood War but close. The last series of the original animated series.)

Slightly OOC Toshiro

Toshiro is being a fucking brat

Chocking

(THIS STORY DOES NOT FOLLOW THE CANNON STORY OF BLEACH, DON’T GET PISSED THAT IT DOESN’T LINE UP WITH THE ORIGINAL STORY.)

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“Damn it”! Toshiro yelled loudly as the Menos Grande tore though the icy wings of his bankai. This fight has been going on for an hour now and he was starting to get pissed off. Turning around quickly to face his opponent once more, he send Hyorinmaru out from his hand and had him slam into the overgrown Hollow. The beast let out an earth shattering screech before using its hand to claw away at the ice dragon that had hit it, sending Hyorinmaru to return to it’s master. Bitch. He didn’t have time for this. He has a squad to run, and paperwork to do because god knows that Rangiku never did any of her work and was most likely drinking Saké or sleeping with some random man, once again. The captain gritted his teeth at just the thought. I have to do everything myself, He thought bitterly, his eyes filled with an icy rage. His eyes shifted once again to the large Hollow as it let out another cry before sending a large blast of energy at Toshiro, who brought up a wing to deflect the beam with ease. He let out a growl before charging up his powers once more to allow the Hollow to be take down in one strike. Once he was done charging, one strike was all he needed to- “Toshiro, stop acting like a child and finish this”! He froze for a few seconds before slowly turning to the sound of the voice. (Y/N) (Y/LN). The captain of squad 13. They were rude and inpatient and let their own impulses get the best of them, and now they dare to stand there, not even offering to help, and have the guts to call him a child? Oh the fucking nerve. 

     “W-what did you say Captain (Y/LN)”? There was a hint of hate as he spoke your formal name and you just snickered. 

     “Pay attention kid”. Before Toshiro had the chance to fire something back, he was smacked to the ground, hitting it quite hard to the point where a large whole was where his body laid. He heard the other captain let out an over-exasperated sigh before lazily jumping from the building they where perching on and strutted over to the man lying face down into the concrete. “Ya’ know Toshiro? For a captain, you sure suck ass”. Toshiro quickly stood up from his spot, his large ice wings extended and his tail slicking angrily. 

     “Shut the fuck up. I have been a captain a lot longer than you have Captain (Y/LN), and my name is Captain Hitsugaya, I have no respect for you, you may not call me Toshiro”. Said captain rolled their eyes at his words. 

     “Whatever snowflake-“. The cry of the Hollow interrupted (Y/N) before they quickly turned to the Hollow and pulling out their Zanpaktou, slicing into the air while watch the beast instantly fade away. “Don’t interrupt me”. They snarled at where the Menos Grande once way before shifting their position and looking down at the tiny Captain. “You took too long shorty, I had to take matters into my own hands”. 

     “Don’t you dare call me short, and I could handle that myself”. Toshiro yelled bitterly, pushing the other Captain with his shoulder as he began to walk away. (Y/N) scoffed, 

     “Stop acting like a child Toshiro, it’s starting to piss me off”. They glared at him before hurrying to catch up with him, but was quickly surprised when Toshiro harshly gripped their wrist. 

     “Say I’m a child one more time Captain (Y/LN), I dare you”. His grip tightened and his bright turquoise eyes darkened with anger. His wings were flattened to his back in anger and his tail violently thrashed around, making a harsh sound as it smacked into the ground. (Y/N) smirked slightly, before leaning in, close to Toshiro’s face, he could feel their breath on his face.

     “You are an insignificant child Toshiro Hitsugaya. You will forever be under me”.  They expected the man to be angry, but they didn’t expect to be grabbed by the throat by the shorter Captain and dragged into an empty alleyway. “And what do you think your doing”? They snarled out at him as they where violently shoved into the wall, Toshiro’s arms caging their body in.

     “Teaching you a lesson”, was his response before his lips where slammed roughly into theirs. (Y/N) couldn’t help be let out a grunt, bringing their hands up to roughly grip onto Toshiro’s shoulder, bringing him closer to their body. The kiss was rather rough but ended quickly as Toshiro pulled away first. 

     “W-what are you doing”? Their voice was covered in confusion as they panted harshly. Toshiro looked them in the eyes, his breathing uneven.

     “Do you wish for me to stop Captain (Y/LN)”? (Y/N) Smirked.

     “Don’t back down like a kid”. Welp. That’ll do it. What a brat. Toshiro let out an animalistic growl before slamming his lips back into the other Captain’s with force, shutting them up within an instant. His hands that once caged them in now placed themselves on the other Captain’s hips, lifting the other and moving his icy tail in between his legs to hold (Y/N) up. He brought them closer, hooking his arms around the small of their back while his tail held them up. (Y/N) used this opportunity to give an experimental grind to Toshiro’s crotch. His kisses stopped.

      “No. Your not in control here”. He snapped, sharp turquoise eyes shooting daggers into the other. “I’ve had enough of your teasing. It’s time you learned your lesson (Y/N)”. His voice carried an unknown emotion, and emotion that was close to lust, but much more…aggressive. He held the emotion well, letting it overtake his eyes and allowing it to consume him fully. (Y/N) let out a ‘humph’ before rolling there eyes at his newfound dominance. 

     “You have a lot of nerve Toshir-“. They where cut off quickly as an icy-clawed hand wrapped around their exposed throat, the sharp talons creating marks in their wake. Toshiro could feel their windpipe flex against his hand, trying to widen to allow the body to gain air, he tightened his grip at the feeling. (Y/N) let out a choked gasp before moving their hand up to grip his wrist, there eyes pleading. He leaned in close, a toothy grin plastered on his face.

     “How many times do I have to tell you”? He flexed his occupied hand, making them squirm once more. He moved closer, his breath against their ear before his tongue slipped out, licking the shell of their ear before nibbling it slightly and pulling away a little. “It’s Captain Hitsugaya”. A deep, primordial chuckle erupted from him before moving his mouth right back to their ear. “But for right now, sir will do just fine, understand”? He leaned down and gave a harsh suck to their neck. (Y/N) stayed silent. Don’t test me. “I said-“. He thrust his hips up into your crotch. “Understand”? (Y/N) let out a choked moan, his hand still around their throat before nodding their head aggressively. He loosened his claws, allowing the other Captain to breath. He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to their lips. “Good. So good for me”. His clawed hand around their throat moved to cup their jaw, making his thumb to their lips. (Y/N) let out a soft moan as they opened their mouth a little to allow the smaller Captain’s entry. His thumb entered slowly, dragging his claw around their tongue to play with it as they sucked and licked around him, moaning at his taste. Toshiro dipped his thumb deeper, allowing it to move to the edge of their throat and they gagged silently, wincing in slight pain as his sharp claw scraped the sensitive walls of their throat. “Hyorinmaru”. Toshiro whispered and the tail holding them up slowly moved to undo their Captain’s robe to slip into their Shihakusho to wrap around their stomach. (Y/N)‘s muscles spasmed at the freezing feeling as a startled moan left their lips. Toshiro slipped his thumb out of their mouth and they let out a silent moan before meeting his eyes once more.

     “D-didn’t know you had it in you”. (Y/N) chucked before hesitating, seeing Toshiro’s eyes shine with danger. “I’m sorry… Sir”. Toshiro tisked at their words, using his free hand to hold their back as the tail around their stomach tightened. He slowly dragged them on his crotch, causing them to let out a low groan at the feeling of his hardened member beneath his uniform. “Please sir! I need you. I need you so badly”.  

     “Begging already”? His voice was teasing. He snorted at the other Captain’s broken composure before slipping his cold hand under their jaw and harshly kissing them, causing them to harshly buck their hips. “Soon”. He promised, his voice holding only the truth. “You’ll be mind soon Captain (Y/LN)”. He moved the hand holding them to their hair, moving their head impossibly closer and slipping his cold tongue into their warm mouth. Toshiro could feel any control list slowly begin to slip away and he pulled away quickly. “We need to go”. He slowly put them back on the ground as they lookout him with uttermost confusing.

     “W-what? What’s wrong”? Their voice wavered, their things clenched. They’re as needy as I am. 

     “Wouldn’t you prefer to do this somewhere more private”? He questioned the other Captain who thought for a moment.

     “I-I guess. But Sir, I”- Toshiro cut off the needy words from (Y/N).

     “We will go to my quarters, Come now, I don’t like to be kept waiting”.  He turned away from them and deactivate his Bankai before holding his hand out to (Y/N) who took it eagerly. “And besides. It’ll be nicer for all of the Soul Society to know who you belong too”. 

[takibikaen]

My top 5 Bleach women and why I love them: Part 1

(Some of this based on what makes them awesome, or how they're written. Also, this is Part 1 of the entire post, so it'll only show the first 3 characters, due to Tumblr's limit on how many links/media I can use.)

5/5. Ikumi Unagiya \~ Owner of Unagiya Shop

Why?

It’s an unique choice since she doesn’t get that much screen time compared to the others but I really think she’s got a fun personalty and somewhat of a good adult character in a shonen manga that doesn’t have many adults that’ll be there for the MC on an emotional level.

In the Fullbringer arc, she’s one of the only adults in Ichigo’s life who tries to be there for him even with her unawareness of shinigami and hollows. Ikumi still reminds him that he is a kid and he should be able to rely on her, and I think it’s really profound that she says this but Ichigo hasn’t ever really believed in that for most of his life.

Another underrated moment is her getting Ginjo to stop subtly upsetting Ichigo and made him leave her shop. Ginjo wasn’t even a villain at this point but Ikumi still knew the questions he was saying about Ichigo’s dad and his family were screwing with Ichigo’s mind. Maybe I’m giving her too much credit for being a reliable adult for a shonen manga, however it still puts her in my list.

Even in the TYBW arc, she’s still there to be a form of stability to Ichigo who goes through hell before visiting her. Her personality between a dependable, intuitive adult and a stubborn woman who kidnaps teenage employees in broad daylight is what stands out to me as a character.

4/5. Tier Harribel \~ Tres Espada

Why?

Her whole look with the jacket and the hollow mask is honestly pretty cool to see in the series and her serious, calm personality is nice to see among the Espada. Plus her motif as the ‘Espada of Sacrifice’ adds a whole new layer of her concern for her Fraccion, like Nel who was the former 3rd. Her sword release is also dope, “Tiburon”.

In the Arcancar arc, she only gets one main fight (which she got done dirty on) and then gets betrayed by Aizen, but at least I have to appreciate the moments throughout the arc that build her character.

Again, it’s really rare here to see an Arcancar care about their own considering the whole process of Hollows devouring each other from Menos Grande - Adgjunchas - Vasto Lordes. Plus, having the balls to go up to Head-Captain Yamamoto and say you’ll avenge your subordinates is pretty insane.

There is no world without sacrifice. Are you unaware? We are in a sea of blood, ashes floating in hell crying the name of a fading world. - Bleach Vol. 42

The series could have used her more outside of the Arcancar arc but in TYBW arc, she was the ruler of Hueco Mundo and saved Nel & friends from Yhwach. However, they forgot about her for the rest of the TYBW arc which I’m hoping the anime will fix, maybe adding a scene. In the timeskip, she’s adjusted to the role of it all and looks OP af, I personally love this look on her.

Appearance-wise, it’s obvious how stunning how she is honestly.

I used to think “Harribel” was her first name but Tier is actually her first name.

https://twitter.com/jessjessdraws - Artist who drew the Harribel sketch on bottom right panel.

3/5. Unohana Retsu \~ Squad 4 Captain and First Kenpachi

Why?

Almost every Bleach fan loves Unohana but besides the obvious mommy vibe she gives, I really appreciate the dual traits she's had. I really love how she’s a healing captain whose committed to the Gotei 13, and how it’s revealed later that she was one of the original Gotei 13 and the First Kenpachi. The way she holds herself from the beginning of her debut to her death, she always been caring to those she healed and worked with but held a intimidating demeanor around her.

Battle is everything - Bleach Vol. 59

Kubo’s character design is something that took me a while to realize there’s certain symbolism in it. Unohana’s mainstream design is much more meaningful when you find out the core of her character and how she started. The braid she puts her hair in resembles chains that Unohana put on herself to hide away her past of immense bloodlust as the First Kenpachi like the scar on her chest.

At the core of her character, fighting is everything to her considering the environment she’s grown in. The Soul Society and Yamamoto has harnessed her strength and killing prowess for the sake of protecting their interests. One of the themes of Bleach is the “The Heart” where many characters and groups have revolved around the belief of what the heart means to them. Unohana’s role in TYBW shows how her heart is centered around fighting and how her sin is the foundation of her persona as the kindhearted, healing Captain of Squad 4.

I always heard criticism about how Unohana got centered around Kenpachi and got killed for Kenpachi’s development, but I point to the overall themes of the story and how shinigami like Unohana who had to fight harshly to survive in the Rukon district. They often centered or associated themselves around another person who brings a feeling, emotion or sensation within them, that drives them to do actions in a story.

Learning healing kido to extend a fight for who knows how long is a pretty unique concept for the whole medical character trope. It’s so riveting to me that even through healing others, Unohana was helping the other shinigami live on for another fight which is something Kenpachi advocated to Ikkaku, besides doing her job. In her final battle, she was doing that not for Kenpachi but for the sake of the Soul Society’s survival. Thus, her heart and purpose might be with Kenpachi now, but she found meaning outside of her original role for centuries, and briefly enjoyed peace from being a fighter of bloodlust until the Wandenreich arrived.

@Mak_ai_ on Twitter is the artist who made the Unohana art with grey-black backgrounds and @srkbom108 on Twitter made the Unohana art that has red backgrounds to it. Check them out!

Bottom left art by @joranz1204 on Twitter and bottom right art by @Mak_ai_ on Twitter

Made by @rakusakugk on Twitter. Sorry about the whole art dump in this answer but I couldn’t help it lol, there’s just so much good Unohana art on the Internet, also I own none of the fan art here.

Hope you enjoyed it so far! Here's Part 2 of the post!

My top 5 Bleach women and why I love them: Part 2

Also, talking about her themes

Check me out on Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kirun-Uzumaki

[m34gs]

For the ask game--GrimmIchi, UraTess, aaaaand if I can ask if you have a favorite ship with Zaraki? I've seen a couple things (in general, not on your blog specifically) with Zaraki and Hanataro and I'm not gonna lie, I'm intrigued

Hi friend! Thank you for the ask (based on this post)! I'm eager to answer :D I'm very versatile in Bleach ships, there's not many that I would say "no" to, honestly!

Grimmichi (Grimmjow/Ichigo)- I hardcore ship it! (of course, hehehe)

What made you ship it? Literally any and every time they look at each other. You can *taste* the UST in the air, ahahahaha. Also the way in which Grimmjow is obsessed with beating Ichigo in a fight. Like, sir, your gay is showing...lol

What are your favorite things about the ship? To quote one of my favourite 50% off Goh moments: "They hate each other, but they also *insert dolphin noise* each other!" I just really love the enemies to lovers aspect. And they have but One Brain Cell between the two of them. Sometimes Grimmjow lets Ichigo borrow it. (my opinion; between the two Ichigo is the more dense one)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? Hmm, well I don't know if it's really unpopular, but as I just mentioned above, I think Ichigo can be the dumb one more often than Grimmjow. I see Grimmjow often portrayed as a bit dense and dumb, and sure I get it, and I also write it. I do think he would be stumped by human-world things and all, seeing as he is an amalgamation of souls that don't remember their human lives, and is from Hueco Mundo. But, he is still pretty intelligent. He used Orihime to draw Ichigo out for a fight. He knew better than to fight Orihime herself. He has his dumb moments, but he is a bit cat-like in his cunning and caution. I think he can catch onto things quickly. On the other hand, we have Ichigo "I'm gonna chop the Menos Grande piece by piece until it's head hits the ground and I can reach it" Kurosaki.

UraTess (Urahara/Tessai)- Yes, I ship it

What made you ship it? They live together and raise two children. What's not to ship?

What are your favorite things about the ship? I think they have a good mutual respect for each other and each other's strengths. This is one of my quieter ships in my mind, so I don't have as many burning thoughts about it, but I really just feel they're so domestic together. Makes me happy.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I don't think so? I'm not sure. I don't really talk about this ship as much, and I don't see it talked about as much...

Zaraki/Hanataro (using your example because YES) - yeah, I ship it. not as hard as I ship other ones, but I think this one is super cute!

What made you ship it? Honestly, I can be a sucker for Rough and Tough x Soft yet Determined to Help Others as a dynamic, and these two definitely have that going on. I really love Hanataro as a character and I think he's really underrated. And, I love Zaraki! So! Much! (and if I'm projecting a little by shipping him with a health care professional type? Sue me lol)

What are your favorite things about the ship? SIZE DIFFERENCE SIZE DIFFERENCE SIZE DIFFERENCE SIZE DIFFERENCE SIZE DIFFERENCE SIZE DIFFERENCE!!!!!!! Also, the idea that Hanataro is teased by Team 11, but if anyone threatens him he now suddenly has a badass boyfriend and an entire team of badass protectors ready to fight for him... And I like to think all of Team 11 kind of starts to quietly respect his abilities for healing and recognizes it as a different kind of strength!

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I am not sure! I don't really search enough on this ship to know what is and is not popular...it more just lives in my head :)

[littleeyesofpallas]

time for some patently crackpot Bleach theory/headcanon:

There is this whole weird little loose end in Bleach with artificial souls... Urahara and Mayuri both are capable of constructing sentient lifeforms in the case of Nemu and Ururu (and Jinta i think?) and Nemu specifically has her own unique zanpakutou and, you know, counts as a shinigami. And then there's the mass produced candydispenser artificial souls, who seem more emotionally absent, and the mod souls like Kon who appear to be more self aware. Given the vaguely alluded to rules of balance, it would appear that artificial souls do not count toward the balance of souls between the realms of the living and dead.

Tangential to this are some weird things like BG9, who apparently has not physiological life signatures like breath or heartbeat, and Gremmy who's only a brain and maintains his false body via his Visionary power, yet both must have some form of blood flow and soul in order to be Quincys. There's also the weird Quincy statues that seem more magically mechanical than "living," and similarly Senjumaru's cloth ninjas that were shown in combat to not bleed or appear to possess any internal organs.

There's also offshoot spirits/lifeforms like Starrk and Lilynette, Szayelaporro Illfordt and Cienz, the Picaro, YHWACH/Mimihagi's weird little eyeball babies, Szayelaporro's weird Resurrecction monsters(?), Dondochakka's parasite/pet worm, and Ruddborne's Exequias offshoots, Shrieker's acid spitters, and even Yukio's PSP constructs, all of which possess various levels of autonomy and seemingly fully formed independent mimic of life, yet must categorically not constitute a creation of "real" life, as that accomplishment would otherwise have been of greater note. And distinctly they don't seem to provoke some kind of spiritual imbalance, so while they create any of a number of different types of distinct lifeforms, they don't seem to create additional "souls." i.e. 1 soul may be split into multiple pieces, but it does not become 2 souls.

Exception maybe being the limbs of the Soul King, as it is fairly notable in terms of power and uniqueness that they can exist as they do. Or Zaraki's manifesting of Yachiru, which seems unprecedented.

Then there's some stuff about the creation of souls but not from nothing, instead from existing souls...

On the one hand the most obvious case is of the Menos Grande themselves, in their 3 life stages, as well as the informally named "Super Chunky from Hell" that are all apparently colony lifeforms, made up for the consumption and amalgamation of many smaller individual souls. It is never really made clear what this accounts for in terms of spirit world balance... Does a menos count as hundreds of individual souls in terms of its spiritual "weight" thus accumulating weight on one side of the scale? Or does it actually count as 1 soul, no matter how many others go into it, effectively causing an imbalance but in the opposite direction? And in either case, what does this really mean for the Quincy who theoretically hunt them with their soul destruction techniques?

But then there's the asauchi, which very sloppily and without much clarity are said to be constructed from a dense amalgamation of shinigami souls --and subsequently White is made in a similar method, and while certainly a kind of unprecedented anomaly, doesn't register as a menos? which again brings into question how many souls it counts as. But this again brings into question, does a zanpkutou then count as A (singular) Shinigami Soul? Many? or none? The commonly seen zanpakutou that exists only as swords materially and else within a shinigami's inner realm are one thing(and we know already that they do manifest naturally even without an asauichi because of Hitsugaya's origin, TYBW horseshit about asauchi be damned) but what about Nimaiya's harem or the Sword Five who get to exist in a humanoid body??

Then there is the issue of other things we know are made from a collection of many powerful souls, like the Ouken, both Aizen's initially proposed goal centered on wiping out the entire population of Karakura town, and the implicit multiple towns that must have previously been harvested to have made the royalguard's individual keys, stupid "our keys are bones/out bones are keys" explanation or not.

And curiously YHWACH's ability to aggregate other people's souls unto himself in a weird manipulation of gestalt identity, making himself part of them, and thus them part of him in the end, seems to also suggest that he, like a vastolorde or an asauchi is just a superdense collection of stronger spirits sublimated under a single identity.

If we dip into the LN there's also Tsunayashiro's little silkworm boy who is supposed to be an artificial life form as well as a god-like hybrid being, just like Ichigo and Aizen, and implicitly like YHWACH, considering that the Soul King's limbs seem to be capable of blurring the line between divisions of souls. The reverse if taken also seems to imply that the Soul King is the Soul King because he is composed of all forms of Souls.

But backing up a bit then, are the Vastolorde just wild naturally formed zanpakutou walking around having self imprinted? Is their consolidation of many souls toward one dense consensus just an alternate path to the same self actualization shinigami have to undergo to achieve bankai?

[huh i guess i drafted something like this twice in quick succession.... odd that i don't remember doing this one. plus it has less fun images to go with it... dont mind me, just throwing these weird scrapped drafts around like tossing bread crumbs at ducks in the park....(1)(2)]

[ofdarkestdesires]

So, I don't know how many of you know this little bit of lore about me, but for quite a few years, I was a pretty avid fanfic writer over on FFN. I know, shocking, the 27 year old who writes pretty decent smut fic on tumblr has been writing fanfic for a. long. time. But for a long time, FFN was my Tumblr, a safe haven into fantasy, and a doorway into fanfiction.

Now, something that might surprise anyone who follows my content is that I am actually not a big fan of Naruto—I watched the original series as a kid with my sisters when it ran on Cartoon Network, I watched a bit of Shippuden when it started out, and I read some arcs by reading the shonen jump issues my high school library had, but that was it.

However, I was obsessed with Naruto fanfiction. In fact, if I can impart anything to you, it is to go over to FFN and look up Outfoxed and Drifting—these are two of the best Naruto fanfics out there. The first is basically "what if Naruto met Kurama when he was six instead of when he was twelve" but is actually "what if the abuse and hatred from the village was so horrible it forced a four year old to attempt suicide multiple times until his surrogate grandfather stepped in and put good people in his life to turn him around", while the other is "what if Naruto's only friends were monkeys and they taught him how to be sort of a prodigy and he befriends the redhaired flute girl before Orochimaru can get his claws in her". Both are very good, very compelling, very well-written fanfictions, and while Outfoxed hasn't been updated in years, Drifting is, I'm pretty sure, either still going or complete.

But neither of those are the fanfiction I wanted to talk about today. Today, I want to talk about True Warriors Never Die.

True Warriors Never Die is a Naruto x Bleach crossover fanfiction by Kenchi618, an amazing Naruto fanfictioneer who wrote another of my favorite Naruto fanfictions, The Sealed Kunai. TWND is the story of Naruto, now several thousand years old as a last gift from Kurama, in modern-day Japan during the events of Bleach. During his first day in Karakura Town, Ichigo and Uryuu have their dick-measuring contest of who can defeat the most Hollows, and god-tier Naruto Uzumaki is the one to roll up and casually out-punch the skyscraper-tall Menos Grande. At the end of the day, cat-Yoruichi pops into his new place and offers to be his guide through the inner workings of the Soul Society, and then promptly flashes him in her human form as she goes to take a shower. Which, if you know me, is already a win in my book.

Now, TWND isn't the best written fanfic—in fact, of Kenchi618's works, I'd argue The Sealed Kunai is better, especially since it's actually complete—but what TWND has that The Sealed Kunai doesn't is ANTICS. Like I said, the first chapter ends with the second hottest woman from Bleach flashing Naruto—this isn't a serious fanfic. And because of that, it's allowed to make more ridiculous situations happen—like the fact that Naruto isn't the only person from his time that's still around. Over the course of the fanfic, Naruto slowly builds up an Avengers team of ultimate warriors who, by some means, managed to survive until the events of Bleach, which he then turns around and unleashes on Aizen and his allies. I don't want to spoil too much about it other than I already have, but suffice to say, if you like whacky antics in your fanfics, this is the one for you.

...and Drifting. And Outfoxed. And The Sealed Ku—y'know what, no, go and read all of these, because they're fucking fun, wild, traumatic, and good goddamn reads with unique and original stories all around!

...

...OH AND ALSO LOOK UP TRUE POTENTIAL, IT'S AN ALT-TIMELINE FIC WHERE NARUTO SHIKIMARU AND HINATA WERE ALL ON A TEAM TOGETHER AND BEST FRIENDS AND BECOME THEIR GENERATION'S TRIPLE THREAT TRIAD LIKE JIRAIYA TSUNADE AND OROCHIMARU OKAY BYE—!!!

Did I ever tell you guys about the best fanfiction I ever read?

[talesofsonicasura]

Ichigo Kurosaki, Zangetsu and Hollow!Ichigo with a Pokemon Trainer s/o

Another one of these. If you pair Ichigo with someone, they end up with ALL of him. That means his Hollow too. I don't know about Zangetsu since the reason is a HUGE spoiler for those who only watch the anime version of Bleach. But I'll include him since again, he's part of the substitute soul reaper. As for the Pokemon partner, it's Gengar specifically the Halloween variant. This can be read as gender neutral or preferred gender.

You met Ichigo at least one year before he became a Soul Reaper. You and your Gengar explore Ultra Wormholes in your spare time which lead to finding this particular world.

Usually when exploring a different world without Pokemon such as this, your partner usual hid in your shadow unless called upon to not draw attention.

So when your partner suddenly ran off for some reason, you knew it meant trouble. Something that lead you to quite a scene.

Your Gengar standing protectively in front of a beaten young man with orange hair and some unconscious street thugs. That was the day you met Ichigo.

You explained to him who you were since he already seen your partner. Luckily, Ichigo promised to keep it secret.

The two of you quickly becoming friends over time. Once you made a temporary home hidden in Karakura Town, the orangette always visited you. Whether it was helping with his homework or hanging out.

Despite pranking him a lot, Ichigo got along with your Gengar quite well. He thought it was cute that your partner liked dressing up, sometimes bringing over some accessories for them to try on.

Occasionally, Ichigo would rough house with the Shadow Pokemon since they were a mischievous shit and liked to play fight a lot. You thought it was adorable.

When Ichigo got his Soul Reaper powers, training with your Pokemon became part of the routine. Helping him work on his powers and such. A big boon as he had less trouble with more powerful Hollows.

You kept yourself out of the whole Hollow business unless it was completely necessary. An example being that Menos Grande which popped up in the middle of town one day.

For you and your Gengar, that fight didn't felt too far from a Dynamax battle against a wild Pokemon. In short, your partner made quirk work out of the massive Hollow once Ichigo and Uryu gave you both an opening.

Anyway, your opinions on Soul Society and Hollows were mixed as it is. You honestly felt there had to be other methods to handle the spirits than slaying them indiscriminately. Things then went a bit awry one day...

You had recently caught a new Pokemon: a Spectrier who was a bit skittish. You were baking some treats with Gengar when a loud cry and a harsh thud had you both running out of the house.

Spectrier can kick out a person's soul from their body and Ichigo ended up on the receiving end. His Soul Reaper form sat on the ground but also two other people: his Zanpakuto Spirit and Inner Hollow.

One call to Urahara Kisuke later. Zangetsu alongside the newly named Hollow, Shiro, were apparently still connected to Ichigo but stuck in the Real World. They moved in with you since Ichigo had no room in his home or an excuse. Great.

Zangetsu and Shiro were complete opposites to each other. The Hollow was wild, energetic and a dirty flirt at times. Always jumping at the chance to fight your Pokemon or mess with you.

Zangetsu was reserved and quiet. He did spare with your Pokemon from time to time but preferred reading or learning more about your world.

The two thankfully got along with Gengar as well. Ichigo's Hollow joining the Pokemon for rough housing or a pranking spree across town. The Zanpakuto often cloud gaze with a cup on tea alongside your ghostly partner.

Both did help you out around the house. Shiro apparently liked to cook, although you had to stop him from cutting vegetables with that huge sword multiple times. Zangetsu helped out with cleaning.

All three slowly caught feelings for you with different reasons.

Ichigo fell in love because of how peaceful you made his life. You gave him a sanctuary when the world becomes too much to handle, something similar to how his mom made him feel safe and loved.

Shiro was because of how you treated him. Despite knowing his true nature, you treated the Hollow like a person. Gave him respect, kindness and complete trust with no strings attached.

Zangetsu was a mix of both. You granted him a place of peace and viewed as a person just like Ichigo did. Something he could truly have, an experience no Zanpakuto has ever had.

You gotten bonus points for threatening Urahara if he tried anything funny with the three. You, Gengar and all of your other Pokemon had vowed to raise absolute hell in defense of those they cared about.

They quickly admitted their feelings to you when Rukia got kidnapped. If something went wrong during their rescue mission, they would lay their hearts bare first.

Ichigo, Shiro and Zangetsu were honestly relieved that you felt the same with all three. It was the beginning of a really weird relationship. A Hollow, Substitute Soul Reaper, Zanpakuto and a otherworldly Pokemon Trainer. Strange but never unwelcomed.

Your Gengar did celebrate by grafitting a good chunk of Karakura Town with childish doodles of all four of you. A certain Hats n Clogs wasn't happy about the new paint job.

And that's it. I actually got into Bleach around Christmas time when I was just a young teenager. It's one of the older anime series that I stuck with alongside One Piece. I chose Gengar because it's one of the Pokemon I would honestly see Ichigo have on his team.

After all, a moon always has a darkside or shadow to it. I would've gone with a Shiny instead of the Halloween costume version but the Shiny absolutely sucks. You can only tell the difference through Mega Evolution or Gigantamax.

I twisted canon a bit here with Ichigo gaining Zangetsu after the Menos Grande but before Rukia gets kidnapped by Soul Society. Also, some Pokemon do feed on life force so it would be a bit hypocritical to be fully aboard with slaying hollows and follow something like the Soul Society without all the facts. Until next time folks! Have a great year! This is Halloween Gengar! 👇

And this is Spectrier.

[recurring-polynya]

So I've had a thought and I need to know your thoughts on it. Do you think now that Rukia is all big, bad captain that Renji is still gonna be the one that leaps in front to take an attack for her? Because there's something about that that I fucking love and I need to know if it's just me.

You mean this?

This is what you love?

Because me, too, Anon. It pains me in my feminist heart, but I can’t get enough of this shit.

Unsurprisingly, I have spent a lot of time trying to justify my love for this, and I think it contains the answer to your question as well. 

The only Bleach ancillary book I own is Color Bleach, which contains those hexagonal battle data charts for all of the captains circa the Soul Society Arc. I have looked for similar charts for lieutenants or updates, but I couldn’t find any, so I made my own. These are what I imagine for Rukia and Renji around the time of the No Breaths from Hell arc. I’ve included a reproduction of Byakuya’s for comparison (again, this is Soul Society Arc Byakuya), but I tried to use all the other captains as benchmark points. Keep in mind that some of this contains my own headcanons, for example, I feel in my heart that Rukia should be very fast, even though I have no canon support for thus. For the record, Rukia’s numbers came out very similar to Hitsugaya’s, which I think is about right. Anyway, here we go:

Some footnotes:

I love that Rukia and Byakuya’s came out basically mirrored, where Byakuya is higher on defense and lower on stamina, but otherwise, they have a very similar, well-rounded skill set. This feels correct to me.

I am sure some people would rate Rukia higher on intellect and Renji lower. I really struggled with this one, esp in regards to the way other captains are rated. In the end, I gave them both an 80 because Hitsugaya and Komamura got 80s and that felt correct to me. Furthermore, I think that Renji knows a lot more about tactics and swordplay and Rukia knows more about history and lore and kidou, and so if you put them on a team, they might have an equivalent intellect of 90 or 100 because their areas of expertise are complementary. (In theory. In actuality, they turn into idiots whenever they are together, science cannot explain why this happens)

I don’t know why this charts list “kidou/spiritual pressure” and then only seem to rate on kidou (Zaraki got a dead zero, even though he has one of the highest spiritual pressures of any captain)

All three of them are fairly well rounded, you’ll notice, but where they differ is key. Renji’s greatest strengths, in my opinion, are his defense and stamina. I have posited before that Renji can take a tremendous amount of damage and I don’t think he’s even anatomically capable of bleeding out-- his big meaty heart is somehow capable of producing more blood faster than it can fall out of his body. I honestly really debated on giving him an Attack score of 90-- it felt too high to me. However, in the grand scheme of captains, I didn’t feel justified in putting it lower. After thinking about it for a long time, I decided that the issue is that Zabimaru is basically an area effect zanpakutou. I think that in a one-on-one fight, he doesn’t have as much sheer attack power as someone like Komamura (who has a 100 attack). On the other hand, there’s an episode where he mows down about 8 Menos who are conveniently standing in a line, and to be honest, that’s useful! In theory, Senbonzakura can do this too, but I think Byakuya has spent a lot of time learning to concentrate it, which makes him better at duels than Renji. Personally, I count Rukia’s sword attacks under “Attack” (rather than kidou) and her bankai, in particular, has off-the-charts destructive power. Byakuya and Rukia are also both extremely skilled and effective kidou users. 

I saw Rukia described as a glass cannon once, and I think this is very apt. Captain Rukia is tremendous offensively, but she just doesn’t have very many hit points, plus she needs cover for the time she’s transitioning in and out of bankai or setting off her attacks (I can never tell if her long-set ups are supposed to be happening in real time, or if it’s just, like, for effect. It always feels like her opponents are standing around, waiting for her to finish her little dance routine, which is very funny to me). In other words, it is perfectly rational for Renji to take hits for her, in fact, it’s good strategy. Sorry for the American football metaphor, but he’s basically like an offensive lineman, creating time and space for his quarterback (either Rukia or Byakuya) to get off a snap without getting sacked.

Also, it is well-documented that Renji somehow gets hotter the more beat up he gets, and Rukia is really good at making distraught faces when Renji takes a bullet for her. 

[murfeelee]

BLEACH - Ichigo vs Renji: Episode 16e

(Renji) *growls* You punk! (Byakuya Kuchiki) You let your guard down, Renji. (Byakuya Kuchiki) Ichigo Kurosaki. I've heard of you. There was a report from the Secret Remote Squad tracking Rukia. He dealt a Menos Grande quite a serious blow, and forced it back to Hueco Mundo. (Renji) ... *laughs* You've gotta be kidding me! Man, the Secret Remote Squad must really be slipping these days! THIS kid wounded a Menos Grande!? Who in their right mind would believe that load of crap?! I mean look at him, with that oversized zanpakuto! He obviously can't even control his own Spiritual Energy! So tell me, what's the name of that monstrosity? (Ichigo) Huh? It's name? (Renji) You didn't even ASK, did you? (Ichigo) Who? Are you telling me you guys name your swords?! (Renji) I knew it. You don't even know your zanpakuto's real name, and you really think you can fight me as an equal?! Come back in 2000 years! *THUNDER BOOMS* (Renji) Roar, ZABIMARU! Open your eyes, see what lies before you, and fall upon your prey! *SWORD TRANSFORMS* *ATTACKS* (Ichigo) !!! ARGH! (Renji) It's all over, you runt! You've lost to Renji Abarai, and will die where you stand!

MY THOUGHTS ramblings

There is SO MUCH important crap that happens in this one effing episode, it’s insane. You the viewer aren’t aware yet of the formalities behind zanpakuto until a few episodes later, but here Renji inadvertently exposition dumps a lot of key things about how Shinigami combat works, and why Ichigo’s sword is so dang big. (There’s a TON of d**k measuring between Ichigo & Renji, it’s actually hilarious.)

When Renji says Ichigo can’t even control his own Spiritual Energy, he’s talking about the sword--all base state zanpakuto appear as simple katana, like Rukia’s, Renji’s, Byakuya’s, etc. Only a Shinigami who has mastered their Spiritual Energy, and learned the name of their zanpakuto, can then command it to then transform into larger, more powerful states.

Ichigo’s sword is abnormally big in base state, because he hasn’t learned any of the basics about fighting as a Soul Reaper. Up until now, Rukia (and Uryu, kinda) have just been teaching him how to deal with pesky Hollows. But to deal with other Soul Reapers, Ichigo’s got a LOT more to learn.

But ironically, Renji also tells on himself a bit. In his braggadocio, he ends up proving his own point later on, with the size of his own sword/release being “the size of a skyscraper”--this is a very important quote from a super important Shinigami a few arcs later, but I can’t spoil anything yet cuz I actually forgot to introduce the character when I started this gameplay--oops?

[mightysteelix]

Hunger - A Bleach Weight Gain Story

Yeah, another finished story. In the clichéd plot (but who reads kink stories for the plot), Grimmjow discovers the joys of fast food and being Grimmjow, goes too far with his newfound passion.

Grimmjow growled. The orange bastard had dropped him to lounge on the bed, counting the seconds while he came back. “Amuse yourself,” Ichigo had said before nudging the door close. “I’ll be home once college ends!”

“And how you propose doing that?” Grimmjow roared after him, but the strawberry ignored him and ran to catch the bus or something. Grimmjow did not care about the human world customs; it was a temporary lodging until Ichigo tired of it and came to Hueco Mundo.

At least, that was the plan. But his patience was stretched thin, and he wanted to tear the flat so that Ichigo had one reason less to stay. He barely held himself back - and the mocking mustache guy on most book covers made it worse. That face was made for being slashed.

If Grimmjow went and destroyed everything, Ichigo would only anger - onetime fury, which would not help him. Fine, no wanton destruction, no matter how much Grimmjow wanted it. How should an Arrancar enjoy this boredom?

Leaving? Grimmjow snorted. He had to stuff himself in a damn uncomfortable gigai that was tight in the wrong places and limited his powers until he was a weak human. Why would he wear it? If he left as is, one pathetic shinigami or another would chase him and waste his day with the blandest fight ever. They should send captains after him, at least!

He did not do much in the tiny apartment, either. The TV set lost its charm after a few hours of sitting; why did humans enjoy it like a bunch of brain-dead zombies? Another thing he would never understand. And reading Ichigo’s extensive collection of ‘The Canterbury Tales’ or ‘The Waste Land’? He would rather fight the weakest shinigami! (It had happened once - that fourth squad twerp, who only flailed and ran.)

What did Ichigo enjoy about this life? It was bland, long-drawn, and so secure that Grimmjow was going to be sick. Where was the excitement of fighting for one’s life? Where was the push to survive and grow stronger? How had someone like the strawberry become so powerful in such a peaceful place? In Hueco Mundo, they’d be at the top of the food chain; hell, they could kick Tier off her throne and show her the real boss!

As he thought of that, Grimmjow’s stomach rumbled. “Could have let me hunt, at least,” he murmured while patting his abs above his Hollow hole. “But no, even that would be too much.” Pluses were off-limits, per Ichigo’s orders - not that he cared about his opinion. Still, if he angered him too much, it would give him a fight - and also break whatever connection they had. He could chase a random Hollow or two, but they tasted like shit. Anything short of a Menos Grande wasn’t worth the effort.

“Damn, where did he throw it?” Ichigo wasn’t starving him. He had explained something about ordering takeout and left a number on a note, along with some paper scraps. It could not be that easy (who gave food for them), and Grimmjow would have to force himself in the gigai, but if it quelled the hunger, he would handle it.

One phone call later, the extra-large menu was on its way, and Grimmjow was forcing himself into the damned artificial body. The cursed shopkeeper must have made it uncomfortable on purpose. Grimmjow felt as if his clothes - two sizes too small - would tear apart at the first movement. Still, somehow he dragged himself to the door, picked the food, and gave the papers. He even got some metal pieces - spare change or something like that.

Fine, perhaps the living world was not completely shitty. But the food had to taste worse than the sand. It couldn’t be so easy!

Grimmjow sniffed the burger and licked his lips. It smelt delicious - but not in the way of freshly killed souls. His fangs tore an enormous chunk of the meal, and he gulped down. Then he had another bite. And another. Compared to Pluses, it was still nothing. To the rubbery butter as hell Menos Grande? A universe of difference - and all that a mere phone call away as long as he could throw some papers.

Once they ran to Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow would struggle for food once again. One never knew when they would find prey in that dark desert. So, why not let himself enjoy a chance any Hollow would kill for? He would order those extra-large menus over and over until the money ran out. Ichigo had told him to amuse himself, had he not?

----

In the past few weeks, Grimmjow had realized some things. First: not hunting the food down was damn amazing. Second: human foods had more variety than the Menos. And third - most important: he had to try them.

Once the door slapped shut behind Ichigo today - “I’m coming back soon, I promise!” - Grimmjow punched the number of a pizza place. His stomach growled; he could barely stand hunger. A horrible habit for Hueco Mundo, where food was scarce. But here, where he could stuff himself after a single call - not a problem! His lips dried as he ordered all the snacks he wanted: a pizza after a pizza, heavy with toppings and sauces, plus countless bottles of soda.

“Twenty minutes!” Grimmjow roared as he slammed the phone close. “I’ll starve!” At least, it gave him enough time to force himself into the gigai. The constant junk food was a godsend for his appetite, but not his waistline. His trim body - sculpted by the harsh life - had succumbed to the calories, and now he sported a new, soft belly. If he sucked in and flexed, he could still notice the distant memory of abs. Not that it mattered. Grimmjow wanted to eat; anything else was secondary. The damned strawberry had better decide to pack his things for Hueco Mundo before Grimmjow grew even larger.

Although - an insatiable smile formed on his face - if he gained so much, he would frighten most of his enemies. Who would want to challenge a wrecking ball of an Arrancar? Grimmjow patted his belly and felt it jiggle. It was small, far from a proper gut. If he wanted to reach that size, he had to double - no, triple! - his efforts. To keep his stomach stuffed and stretched, always seeking more. To eat and eat, to be pinned under the weight of his overfilled stomach and force more greasy fries and sugary donuts in his maw. To grow unrivaled, unstoppable, gargantuan.

Grimmjow got hard. Fuck, where was the pizza? He had to stuff himself on the verge of a food coma and jerk off now!

Fine, he’d get in the gigai to pass the time.

Was the damned thing always so tight? The washboard, fake abs pressed over his newly formed flab. The pecs cramped his sightly sagging moobs. His arms and legs felt squished into sausage casings. Did the cursed shopkeeper expand those? To hell, even if he did! Grimmjow would not ask him! He’d break this one and order a bigger size!

Slowly - because at any sudden movement, the thing would split at his stomach, and Grimmjow wanted to juice as many uses as possible - he stood by the door and waited. At the set hour - roughly the same every day - Grimmjow opened, took the tower of pizzas, and threw the man his money. “Be faster next time!” Not that it mattered; next time, he would buy something else.

Finally, he left the damned gigai. And for the best, since that puny fake body would not survive longer. Grimmjow plopped on the bed and rubbed his achy belly. His fingers sank in the soft flesh.

“You’ve rested enough,” Grimmjow decided, opened the first box, and grabbed a pizza slice. The gooey, salty cheese melted on his tongue, and he forced it whole in his mouth before he could sample it better. Damn - he’d eat the second one slower for a better sense. Expect, as soon as the greasy slice entered his mouth, he devoured it to sate his craving. Fine, he’d stuff himself first and then taste-test! In quick succession, the slices disappeared. One pizza had not made a dent in his hunger. At least he had nine more.

His belly rumbled. “Time to see if Hollows are truly insatiable!” Slices full of spicy meats and dense, caloric cheese were devoured by his gluttonous mouth. His fingers stained with grease, but he did not care - not as long as he had more to eat. His gut pushed out with every gulp, expanded, and still roared for more. Not bad - but he could do much, much better.

The second pizza - this one with multiple cheese toppings - was almost nothing, either. Grimmjow felt a faint sense of fullness, weak but there. His hunger won over it as he gulped the third one. The rim of his pants was digging in his belly and pressed deeper and deeper with each hearty gulp. He winced; he should take them off, but that meant that he would stop stuffing his face for a second; a second, when he would not chew and swallow. As if!

The fullness was replaced by a dull ache which would only grow stronger. How would it not when Grimmjow’s gut was protruding over him like a dome and poked out more and more before his eyes? It was sticking out, rounded than it had ever been, filled to the brim with food. And it rumbled for more.

Grimmjow was even hornier. Hastily, he devoured the rest of pizza number four and - using both hands - began feeding himself the fifth one. He did not tend to his dick as the Arrancar’s natural limitless hunger forced him to engorge himself into total temporary immobility. And through the mist of arousal, greed, and pain, he missed the door opening.

----

Ichigo entered his home. “Hey, Grimmjow!” he shouted in the small apartment. Strange: no murderous, bored out of his mind kitty had pounced on him. “Speak up if you’re jerking off again because I don’t want to see it!”

No reply. Ichigo shrugged, guessed it was safe enough, and entered the bedroom. A risk he should not have taken.

He’d rather have caught Grimmjow jerking off - then he could explain why he was so flustered. Instead, he had to deal with an overfed, bloated, greedy Arrancar, whose football-sized gut jutted out of his body, and he still was reaching for the next slice of pizza. Ichigo bit his lip. He was absolutely not getting hard at that sight!

He had to act. No, he should have acted when Grimmjow wasted so much cash on food or when he got softer. Actually, Ichigo did one thing: he left his not-exactly-boyfriend-but-more-than-a-fuck-buddy more money to satisfy his gluttony and hoped he would stop at a reasonable point. Except - and he knew it too well to be a mistake - Grimmjow was the opposite of reasonable.

“Are you only gonna watch, or you’ll help?” Grimmjow fisted his gut - taut like a drum - and drew Ichigo’s attention. “Bring the pizza to my mouth, for example! With this overfilled tank in the way, it’s painful to reach for it!” The stuffed sphere responded with a low rumble. The recently gained layer of flab was stretched, and it was rock hard to the touch.

He had eaten himself into temporary immobility and wanted more? Amazing. If Ichigo went and fed him... No! He shook his head. It was anything but amazing!

Even if Grimmjow had missed Ichigo’s growing erection, he must have seen his burning red face.

“Did a Hollow eat your ears? Come and feed me. I’m starving here!” A strong pat, accompanied by a loud echo, dried Ichigo’s lips.

Starving. Ichigo gulped. Four empty boxes were haphazardly thrown around the floor. The fifth one was lying nearby. All that food and Grimmjow still needed to indulge his gluttony more. If this kept on, Ichigo would jizz his underpants like a dumb, horny teenager.

And the Arrancar did not help. “Or take off my damned tight pants.” His fingers tweaked near their hem. The engorged gut left no breathing space, and if Ichigo pulled them down, he would find a sore, red line.

Cold shower: Ichigo needed one. Otherwise, he would make a very hasty, horrible decision.

“Or rub my belly, at least, because this thing is pretty packed.” Grimmjow gave it a few powerful pats. It gurgled, and the Arrancar let out a long-drawn burp. “Ya see?” Oh, Ichigo definitely did. Grimmjow had eaten like a ravenous beast, encouraged by Ichigo’s ever-growing sponsorship. Now, Ichigo was not sure if Grimmjow could eat without thrashing restraint. And it was all his fault.

Fine, Ichigo would think with his dick this time! “You want to be fed?” He came closer with a single shunpo and grabbed a slice. “Better prepare because I’m doing it!”

[fectless]

(This is technically in response to the post right below this one, as world building totally counts for it, right?)

Anywho, more fandom thoughts, but for BLEACH this time. I recently started rewatching the anime again for the nth time as part of my language practice (and having the Japanese subtitles on while watching it in Japanese is an experience) and reached that episode where Aizen and co. get rescued by Menos Grande after declaring their intentions to Soul Society. And then a few things hit me.

The first: Rukia says, the first time Ichigo sees her sending someone on via Soul Burial, that one neither feels hunger nor gets sick in Soul Society. We know that this is false for a few reasons.

Those who can become shinigami definitely need to eat and all souls need water which implies that they can suffer from thirst (and perhaps heat exhaustion).

Captain Ukitake is suffering from an unknown disease that makes him literally cough out his lungs. I’ve read something about it being a defect in the make up of his soul that is only not killing him because of the pact with the Soul King’s arm, but I cannot recall if this was canon or fanon (as the Blood War arc was just like that). If so, does this mean that sickness does occur in Soul Society, but so rarely as to not be mentioned? Or does it occur more in the outer districts? Why does it occur?

Hisana died from a sickness as well. Yes, it’s stated to be exhaustion, but I feel like that doesn’t make sense? Like, the flashback in the anime has her abandoning Rukia after she collapses while carrying her around. And she collapses later when she regrets this and goes to look for her sister. And then she dies.

Seriously, why does it occur? It’s weird. And it cannot be an Aizen thing as I’m pretty sure Aizen is younger than Ukitake. Is it because of what happened to the soul king? Does it have something to do with when people get sent on (like if they were close to being a hollow)? Is it because they died while sick? Is it because of their resolve?

...Do we never see sick souls in Soul Society other than them because they usually just. Die pretty soon after arriving?

And if spiritual power leaking is what causes spiritual pressure, and the “vents” can be closed... do people in the districts sometimes close them by mistake and then blow up? Is spontaneous combustion a thing in the afterlife?

The second: I’m pretty sure “Ichirin no Hana” is a love song that Byakuya is singing to Hisana’s memory.

Someone has probably stated this before, but the lyrics of the song literally say how some one, a “single flower,” is precious and can’t be replaced. How that flower bloomed despite being stuck somewhere dark and how they looked lovely but like they were about to wither away. And that the singer would accept all of their pain if only that person would smile and stay with them...

The title of the song also matches the title of the chapter in which Byakuya reveals to Rukia the secrets he’d been keeping from her about Hisana. He uses the same words, “ichirin no hana” to describe the season in which she died

Literally his whole dilema during this arc, the entire way he interacted with Rukia up to this point, was that he was conflicted between his sense of duty (to his parents, his wife and keeping his word) and his feelings for his beloved Hisana. Rukia’s physical resemblance to her sister is almost uncanny and the lie she is told when she asks why she was adopted was, “You look like Byakuya’s late wife.” How much must he have hated that? A person whom he had sworn to protect that, had she arrived two years earlier might have saved his wife’s (after)life? A person that looks just like his beloved, who reminds him of her every time he sees her (for those first 50 years), but is not and never will be Hisana. And then. To know that she’s going to be executed for crimes, that she felt she could not rely upon him enough to even let him know she’d encountered trouble in the human world when he’s been doing his best to ensure she’s safe (because that is one of the few reasonable explanations for why Rukia hadn’t been promoted yet, and then was promoted during the 3 year gap)? To see her stripped of her rank, her strength even (with that collar and the stone of the prison tower). To see a small form who so resembles his beloved all listless and soon to die, wearing a white yukata like his wife had in her last days...

Watching it again made me feel things, okay? Like yeah, it seems like it’s a stupid dilema from some perspectives. Especially considering Central 46 had a run in with Aizen by then, but. Byakuya was raised in the Seireitei. He was raised knowing that his life was the Seireitei’s tool. That his duty, his reason for existing was for the sake of his family’s honor, so he must be composed, must act as the family and Soul Society bid him. That’s some mighty powerful brainwashing/indoctrination right there. And he broke it once already to marry some nobody from the slums. He did something not only against the norms, but something selfish. Maybe if she’d had high spiritual power this would have been accepted, but she was sickly and likely did not. He went against the clan elders who had probably instilled obedience in him since birth and was afraid of doing it again.

(And if you count the filler arcs, you can bet that they held that one Kuchiki who went traitor against him too. Like: “he married that Hisana girl against our orders? What next? Will he betray Soul Society too?”)

And maybe I’m making a bigger deal out of his upbringing than I need to. Maybe it wasn’t really like this. But I feel like it really was. (Moreso with the filler arcs and what I’ve heard of the light novels.)

Also, this song and the way that the opening animation fit together really solidifies the whole “Ichigo and Rukia were always meant to have a tragic romance” vibe that I kept getting the first time I encountered this series.

The third: Rukia was likely younger than six months (physically) when she was abandoned, but I’m pretty sure that she was older than three months when she and Hisana died.

Her blanket was pink in the flashback.

Sure, the above might not seem to have much significance but it’s been proven in canon that clothes are part of oneself. I reblogged a post a while ago that went into detail, but to sum it up, clothes are part of your self image and your self image determines a bit about what you look like when you die.

Babies are usually no longer swaddled by the time they’re six months old, and some places recommend that you stop by the end of their second month.

Babies have pretty bad vision when they’re born. They take four to six months to reliably track objects in motion and use binocular vision decently. They take about four months to see across a room, and about two months to see farther than maybe 30 cm away. And around the three month mark, they start having decent color vision. Around then is when babies supposedly start showing color preference.

Babies tend to have poor long term memory. (To be fair, they’ve got a lot going on compared to being in the womb and sensory overload sucks.) Their memory by the age of six months is only a few weeks. Two months old had a memory span of a few days.

If she’s been consistently wrapped in a pink blanket, then by the time she’s old enough to see color, she would be old enough to remember what color her blanket usually is— or if it was a different color that particular day.

The fourth: when Gin raises his spiritual pressure on Aizen’s orders, Chad remains standing. This raised a bunch of questions as Gin is stronger than Yammy (to the best of my memory).

Chad remained standing. Yes, his whole fight with Captain Kyouraku was about his resolve and how he would stand by his friends and fight for their safety/ideals but. Like. Earlier that year, his spiritual strength was on par with Yuzu. He’d been friends with Ichigo for years which was why he was even that strong. He’d been in a Hollow attack maybe three times before Rukia was arrested and could only barely see them the time Ishida pulled a stupid and used Hollow Bait. Sure, he has experience fighting and he’d trained under Yoruichi, but it feels sus considering how the others fared.

Orihime fell to her knees pretty quickly after Gin turned up the pressure. She’d also fought against high-ranking shinigami at that point, and trained under Yoruichi, and fought off Hollow (alone even! And she was the reason why Sora moved on, despite Ichigo’s Blade purifying him) before. And yet... It could just be a lack of resolve, as that had come up in earlier chapters but it doesn’t feel right.

Ishida is excused from this due to circumstances.

Tatsuki has been friends with him for ages. Sure, it seems like they weren’t as close after his Mom’s passing, but by then they’d already known each other for quite some time. I’m pretty sure that they were hanging out semi-regularly through junior high/middle school, at which point he got close with Chad and she got close with Orihime. She also has experience fighting (admittedly in martial arts rather than the street fights Ichigo and Chad get dragged into). She experienced at least one hollow attack during Ishida’s Stupid Day. But she collapses as soon as Yammy shows up? That feels off.

In contrast, Ganju was struggling about the same amount. He was born to a noble family— who are known to typically have decently high spiritual power, like his older brother Kaien and his cousin/uncle Issin. He was raised in the Rukongai, meaning he likely came across Hollow attacks. (And those definitely occur.)

Makes me wonder things about Karin’s strength. Like, she managed to escape from the hollow who attacked their house to run for Ichigo’s help (manga) or lived long enough while alone with it that Ichigo and Rukia could come save her (anime), both of which are quite impressive for an eleven year old. She also kept up with Hitsugaya when they played soccer and he’s a captain. Based on Ichigo’s experience, it’s likely that she too will become stronger as she grows up. And does she have an inner hollow too, or is that Ichigo only? If White was simply a parasite and decided to stick to Ichigo I could accept it. But as a hollow Ichigo is a Vast Lorde, and hollows of that level can split into parts (like Starrk and Lilynette).

Does Yuzu not really have any spiritual strength because she inherited more of the Quincy genes from her mom and the hollow genes she inherited don’t balance out that same way it does in her siblings...? Food for thought.

TLDR: how and why is sickness as thing in Soul Society? Byakuya listens to rock music and I’m p. sure the third opening song is him angsting over his wife’s death; it also gave me strong feelings about how he was prolly brainwashed growing up so his angst over Rukia’s fate is not actually stupid. I continue to have IchiRuki feels. Rukia and Hisana died when Rukia was about 3 months old. And I am more confused now about how spiritual power works than I was before I started rewatching the anime for language practice. Also, more questions have arisen about hollows.

[razieltwelve]

How exactly does Ragnarok "teleport"? is it like a Menos Grande's (Bleach) ability to tear open the fabric of space?

Multiple methods.

The default methods is using Ragnarok's ability to corrode or otherwise destroy reality to 'burn' a hole from one place to another.

However, there are all sorts of templates that can be used. For example, gravity manipulation templates can be evolved to create wormholes. Space manipulation templates can do the same. It can also find something that can teleport and eat it, or simply observe it and begin constructing a similar method (watch out Ruby! LOL).

Even without those things, the drive to get faster will evolve a solution.

[sterling-silvers]

BURN THE WITCH, LIMITED SERIES: CHAPTER 1 Review - Kubo Attempts to Covet the Teaboo Audience

BURN THE WITCH, LIMITED SERIES: CHAPTER 1

Ultimately, I give it a very loving yet, nepotistic 7.5 out of 10.Burn the Witch came out three days ago; I read it yesterday. I’m still optimistically skeptical about this project Kubo is doing.

The best and most objective way, I feel, to describe this first chapter is that this is Bleach with a British, teaboo mod weaved into the source code. Granted, this inherently is not a bad thing because Kubo seems all but to make it clear that the society that is Reverse London is just sector of the encompassing Bleach universe; the Soul Society that we’ve seen in Bleach was the east section – now, we’re on the west side. If that is solely what Kubo wants to do, I’ll be a bit disappointed because I REALLY wanted him to show his growth from Bleach being cancelled, not just Bleach: Teaboo ReDux.

The differences that are there between Bleach and Burn the Witch are noteworthy but, a bit more underlying than I would like. The duo of Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole works; a big problem of the Ichigo-Rukia relationship is that they were both too reactive as opposed to proactive (more so Ichigo than Rukia). 

Here, while Noel is reactive, she is balanced by Ninny who will jump into the fray and has clear ambitions from the start. That’s great – that is the growth I want more prominently shown. I would argue that reading the one-shot is a must because the story has already made a retcon in terms of a certain character plus, there is a parallel introduction to Ninny that they did once before with Noel. As a sidenote, let it be known that I love the tsundere more than the kuudere.

In addition, I do like that the aesthetic is definitive enough to differentiate from their Shinigami compatriots. Kubo has almost always had an eye for fashion and the red plaid cloths over the green coat really sets you in the scene that we are in a modern London with a witches and wizards. Granted, this just goes back to the “mod mentality” - instead of Shinigami, there are witches and wizards; instead of Hollows/Menos Grande, there are dragons. I wonder what the Quincy and or Espada equivalent will be (if we get to that point).

Now, to a more pressing matter: Burn the Witch has WAY too many significant parallelisms to Bleach in terms of the the story and the tropes; it is blatant that Kubo has re-adapted many past storylines and Kubo-isms, into this story. I’m disappointed that he doesn’t have a more solid magic system; the Hado of Bleach needed more hard rules and this “new” system does as well. 

It also doesn’t help that nigh every character can be seen as just an amalgam of previous characters from Bleach (for example: Ninny = Hiyori Sarugaki + Riruka Dokugamine; Noel = Byakuya Kuchiki + Nemu Kurotsuchi; Balgo = Keigo Asano + Orihime Inoue). Granted, I will give Kubo points if he makes an amalgam of Gin Ichimaru and Toshiro Hitsugaya (DO IT KUBO!!!!! You already have the perfect model to do so!!!).

Moreover, the initial story seems to be SAME set up as the first two arcs of Bleach. Stop me if you heard this before: A person that did a thing that weren't supposed to is scheduled for execution by the higher ups and (more than likely) the protagonist(s) is going to defy the system and impede the execution. I’m not even trying to be facile with the description, that is LITERALLY what seems to be happening. I’m also not too keen on the idea that we have another multifaceted organization with multiple members; too many characters with not enough development was a major aspect of Bleach’s downfall before - I stand by that the Vizards were an unnecessary and detrimental misstep of Kubo’s overall narrative. Kubo works better with a more air tight setting – when he tries to spread out the world becomes hollow… 

For a better comparison, had this been something like RWBY - which was “new” and still trying to get its bearings - this would have been fantastic set up: the world is there, the characters are established enough, and the power system is teased. However, this is NOT like RWBY - this is NOT Kubo’s first rodeo and ideally, he should know better and do better in terms of his story lore, character development, and setting. If anything, it should be more like Black Clover, particularly when it comes to the implementation of more English mythological lore.

With that, it is based on the totality of all these circumstances that I give BURN THE WITCH, LIMITED SERIES: CHAPTER 1 and very enthusiastic, yet nostalgic, 7.5 out of 10. I’m glad Kubo is back but, I want to see how he’s grown and so far, it seems that he is keen on playing his hits – and not necessarily the greatest ones.

[luna-light-eclipse]

Feel like listing ways people could have died in bleach, here’s the first ones.

-The humans with powers could have died when Ishida used the hollow bait.

-On that same event Ichigo could have died to the menos.

-If Urahara didn’t get to Ichigo before he bled out from being stabbed through the chest.

-Rukia if Ichigo hadn’t stopped the fire bird execution in time.

-If Ichigo didn’t hollowfy after Ulquiorra blasted a hole through his chest.

-If Masaki lost her powers too early then Ichigo could have died to Grand Fisher.

-If a hollow attacked Ichigo when he was alone as a child.

-If Aizen (or someone or something he sent) attacked Ichigo when he was a child.

-The gotei found out about Ichigo and his family before canon they probably would have been killed/given to Kurotsuchi for some bad science.

-Ichigo didn’t get his shinigami powers in time and Urahara had to kill his hollowfied form.

-Ichigo lost the battle against his hollow and the vizards had to kill his hollowfied form.

-If during the two year time period an arrancar attacked Ichigo for revenge.

-Ishida against Kurotsuchi if the scientist just had 1 more self predication method.

-The Shiba (I think his name is Ganju) to Byakuya at the tower.

-Urahara, Tessai and the Vizards if they hadn’t managed to escape

-If Urahara’s kido didn’t work on Aizen Ichigo would be so dead.

-If when Hollow Ichigo stopped Ichigo from defending himself against Yammy he just broke his neck.

-If Yamamoto decided that the ryoka had to die after invading.

-If Ichigo hadn’t recognised Orihime’s brother then he would have killed her and probably Tatsuki too.

-Aizen could have killed Grimmjow instead of just choosing to have him loose an arm.

Enough of that, will probably do more another time.

[littleeyesofpallas]

Bleach Cosmology 3/4

Keeping the ball rolling in this series...  (these are actually turning out a lot shorter than i expected, which is kind of nice.)

I guess first we need to address Kubo’s linguistic juggling act. (I did already do this series of posts on the Arrancar’s Resurreccion btw: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8])  I’ve explained it before but here’s the short short version:

Japanese uses Kanji, which come with specific meaning, and kana, which are purely phonetic. (but often writers will use kana where common words have clearly understood meaning and kanji aren’t necessary) And for younger readers furigana include kana along side more complex or less common kanji to assist learning readers.

Kubo has repurposed the furigana system to craft his terminology in Bleach.

When he makes a term like Arrancar he actually writes out the kanji [破面] meaning “Tear”+“Mask” in Japanese, but includes the furigana (アランカル) indicating that the word is meant to pronounced “A-ra-n’-ka-ru,” which is the Japanese phonetic approximation of the Spanish Arrancar, which is the infinitive form of the verb “to tear.”

This makes translating Kubo’s Spanish and German tricky, because it often means a single term has multiple translations, from different languages, and that’s not exactly smooth or easy to clarify mid-dialog.  

Anyway, since we’re looking at Hueco Mundo and hollow/arrancar adjacent terms now, that’s what going on here...

Hueco Mundo(ウェコムンド) “We-ko-mu-n'-do,” using the Spanish for “Hollow World” and written in Japanese as [虚圏] “Hollow* Region.”  That of course being contingent on the fact that Kubo writes Hollow(ホロウ) “Ho-ro-u,” with the kanji [虚] meaning, “Emptiness” or “Void.”  So alternatively, Hueco Mundo also reads literally as “Empty Region” or “Void Region.”

The main method in and out of Hueco Mundo is the Garganta(ガルガンタ) “Ga-ru-ga-n'-ta,” meaning “throat” or “gorge” and written in Japanese as [黒腔] meaning “Black Cavity.”  It’s not especially tricky as far as names go.  The teeth-like shape of the gateways the Arrancar make suggest the name should read “throat” specifically.

Speaking of which, the Arrancar technique for opening a Garganta has its own name:  Descorrer(デスコレール) “De-su-ko-ree-ru,” meaning “to drawback” or “slide open” like curtains. (which is ironically not the way the Descorrer actually opens: up and down, rather than from the side.)  The kanji for it means [解空] “Unfasten (the) Void.”

And it’s actually briefly mentioned early on, that the less refined method that Gillians use to open rifts between the realms is called Kuu-mon[空門] meaning “Void Gate” and it’s just written and spoken in Japanese, rather than Spanish. (double irony, this one does work like pulling back a curtain, although the Decorrer doesn’t...)  Note that the two terms share the kanji [空] for “void” and that it parallels the use of [虚] also readable as “Void.”

[空] Actually has a few different ways it can read, and Kubo uses them a lot.  Apart from the Kuu used for “Void" (although, broadly speaking, they’re all related terms) Sora[空] means “Sky,” and is a homonym with Sora[昊] also meaning “Sky” which was the name of Orihime’s brother.  It is also of course the same Kuu[空] in Kuukaku Shiba’s name, and the kanji she has tattooed on her arm, in her case also referencing “sky” as part of the Land/Sea/Sky trio with her brothers, which is her domain as a fireworks artisan.  It is also synonymous in her case with “(the) heavens” as the space and direction her cannon occupies.  It is also the [空] “empty” in Karakura town as I mentioned before.

On the one hand, I interpret these Hollow adjacent terms as “Void” specifically because of the connotations of what the Hollow and Hueco Mundo are thematically, and the obvious synonyms in the words “Void” and “Hollow.” But it’s entirely possible that Kubo wanted these different terms to all kind of blend together into a big muddled uncertainty; Maybe there isn’t actually a difference between using [空] to talk about the dark void of Hueco Mundo and the heaven(s) where the King of Soul Society resides... Maybe Heaven and The Void were always supposed to be the same thing in Bleach.

There’s actually not a whole lot to unpack with the rest of Hueco Mundo.  Aizen’s fortress, which he built on the ruins of Barragan’s open air “palace” is named Las Noches(ラス・ノーチェス) “Ra-su Noo-che-su,”  “The Nights.”  And it’s written with the kanji, [虚夜宮] meaning “Hollow Night(s) Palace,” or again “Empty/Void Night(s) Palace.”

It takes on some ironic wordplay in that Aizen creates his dome with its illusory daylight to house the Espada under, making an alternate reading of the kanji, “Devoid-(of)-Nights Palace” as there is literally no night sky under his roof.

Hueco Mundo didn’t actually get many distinct locales, and the rest are all pretty straight forward:

Tres Cifras(トレス・シフラス) “To-re-su Shi-fu-ra-su” was written as [三桁の巣] meaning “3-Digit's Den.”  It’s where the Privaron Espada lived and they were distinct for their appended 3rd digit to denote former Espada status.

And the Menos-no-Mori[メノスの森] Kubo designed for the anime isn’t even fully in Spanish.  It just means “Forest of Menos” with Menos being written out phonetically.  It’s Spanish for Minus, which was part of Menos Grande, meaning “Big Minus” and written [大虚] meaning “Big Hollow,” which was itself a play on the fact that back in chapter 1, Rukia labels the good souls as “Plus” and the bad souls as “Hollow.”

sorry these feel awkward to write so they must be just as clunky to read.  I didn’t really have a point I was getting at with any, I kind of just made a checklist of terms and worked my way through them to see if anything interesting jumped out.  Karakura was a fun little surprise, but as i draft the rest of these out they’re looking a little sparse...  Still, I’ll finish out with the last arc in the next post.

Bleach Cosmology posts: [Karakura] [SoulSociety] [Hueco Mundo] [Wahrwelt] [Hell/Naraka(allusions)] [Animal Realm(?)] [Preta Realm(?)]