#everyone but Grimmjow you’re basically fucked I’m so sorry

[kingofanemptyworld]

god I’m not rereading chapters for this fic if anything’s wrong someone can correct me in the comments

[wobblyjellyfish]

The death of Ukitake - A Rant™

Okay.

I have been stewing on this for weeks and now my brain has finally decided it is time to scream. Because Ukitake’s death (and overall treatment tbh) is bullshit and if I don’t scream about it, I will explode in rage. But before I dive right in, I want to quickly lay out just why I need to scream.

When it was released, I hated the Bleach ending. And while I’ve mellowed out a lot since, there’s one thing about it, just one, that, even after three years, still actively makes me upset and/or angry to the point of wanting to cry or getting a headache: Ukitake’s death, and especially how it, and Ukitake more generally, was treated.

And here’s why:

1 - Ukitake, as other people have pointed out, is the only one of the original 13 captains we never saw the bankai of. Not only that, but he never won a fight on his own. And he’s the only one of the original 13 (apart from Kyoraku, who I genuinely thought did) who never got a cover. This wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t brought up multiple times that he, alongside Kyoraku, is canonically one of the STRONGEST CAPTAINS IN THE SERIES. He was one of the four longest standing captains! And one of only two characters in the entire fucking series to be a dual sword wielder! He’s consistently put behind the majority of the rest of the cast over and over again, and we barely get to see him in action and see how powerful he truly is. And the cover thing? Again, it wouldn’t bother me so much, since Kyoraku never got one either. But then looking at some of the characters who did get covers I’m just like ????????????????? 

Example:

WHO TF IS THIS GUY. THE ONLY REASON I REMEMBER HIS FIRST NAME AT ALL IS BECAUSE OF THE ABRIDGED SERIES GOING ‘you’re driving me Luppi’. I DON’T HAVE A FUCKING CLUE WHAT HIS SURNAME IS (probs got 500 vowels in it tho) OR WHAT HIS ZANPAKUTO IS CALLED. Not to mention this character basically only existed to fill in the 6th Espada spot until Grimmjow got his arm back. YOU’RE TELLING ME THIS LITERAL STAND-IN GOT A COVER BUT NOT UKITAKE OR KYORAKU????? OKAY THEN.

2 - Ukitake died and Kurotsuchi lived. That’s all I have to say on that really

3 - No sorry I lied because it genuinely upsets me that Ukitake, one of the nicest, likeable, and good characters in the series was killed off (badly, we’ll get to that in a minute) and Kurotsuchi, who I will not go into how distressed he makes me feel because that’s a whole other thing, got to live. Like why

4 - Ukitake’s death upsets me not just because he, y’know, died, but because it was badly done. And by badly done I mean WE DIDN’T FIND OUT HE FUCKING DIED UNTIL THE LAST FUCKING CHAPTER. BECAUSE KYORAKU WAS TALKING TO HIS GRAVESTONE. WHAT. THE. FUCK. We saw him collapse and then didn’t find out he’d died until the end??? Like I get the emotional punch to the throat with the reveal but????? There was so much time between Kamikake and the final chapter and it’s never even hinted at or brought up by literally anyone that he’d died????

And we never got to see a funeral or anything either, again, for one of the series’ most powerful and high-ranking characters. And the only character whose grief we got to see, albeit very briefly, was Kyoraku’s!! What about Rukia, who’s taking up of his position must have been a huge deal for her, especially since she didn’t become captain until ten years after the war? What about Sentaro and Kiyone, who practically devoted their lives to following him everywhere? What about the other captains? Just. It gets me fired up thinking about it.

5 - (Speaking of Rukia does anyone else find it kind of weird that even though she’s a main character her captain and division are the one of the most ignored?)

6 - OKAY. This is my last point, but it’s gonna be the longest and is also the reason why I needed to put my headache-inducing rage into semi-coherent sentences in the first place. The reason Ukitake’s death makes me angry, as opposed to just sad and upset, is that IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY GODDAMN FUCKING SENSE.

There was never any kind of hint of Mimihagi being a thing at all. The first time Mimihagi was even brought up was in the final arc, conveniently at the plot relevant time! Like I get wanting it to be a Plot Twist™, but that doesn’t work unless there’s at least some kind of foreshadowing before the reveal! For example: the reveal of Gin’s true intentions worked because we knew about his past with Rangiku and there were just enough hints that he might betray Aizen, but the reveal was still a surprise and it worked! UKITAKE BEING CHRONICALLY ILL WITHOUT FURTHER EXPLANATION DOESN’T COUNT AS FORESHADOWING.

Not only that, but Mimihagi being merged with Ukitake just. Doesn’t make sense plot wise at all. Because here’s the thing: Aizen is, undoubtedly, the most intelligent character in the series. He manipulated everyone in Soul Society for centuries and hollowfied a bunch of captains and lieutenants and got away with it despite being caught. He slaughtered the entire judiciary organisation of Soul Society without anyone noticing because he convinced everyone he’d been murdered and distracted them with the upcoming execution!!! The guy is smart. But wasn’t Aizen’s whole thing that he wanted to overthrow the Soul King? Literally kill and usurp the Soul King and take over that entire realm? You’re telling me that the guy who went to such extreme lengths to make sure he succeeded that he ORCHESTRATED THE LITERAL EXISTENCE OF THE MAIN PROTAGONIST AND THE OUTCOME OF ALL HIS BATTLES just ignored the one guy who could ruin his entire plan with one move???? Are you kidding me???? And you just can’t make a case for Aizen not knowing Ukitake was a vessel or whatever-the-fuck for Mimihagi because he knows everything about everyone. There’s no way he didn’t know. Wonderweiss fucking impaled Ukitake through the chest and Starrk says Wonderweiss was ordered there because Aizen was basically bored. Not because he saw Ukitake specifically as a threat or anything, just because the battles were dragging on and Aizen wanted to hurry things up.

In conclusion, Ukitake’s death is badly done, undeserved, and doesn’t make sense. Ukitake deserved better throughout the entire series and to live forever with his husband Kyoraku goddamit and I’ll fucking fight Kubo for custody thanks for coming to my ted talk everyone

[despairforme]

     ‘ Dreamcatcher tattoos ‘ was a pretty LAME name. Nnoitra wouldn’t even have considered walking in there if it hadn’t been familiar. While he wasn’t opposed to trying something new, he wanted to make sure that he got a skilled tattoo artist. He happened to know that Kyota had been working here for a while, and since he couldn’t think of a more talented artist than him, he figured that this was the sort of place who hired SKILLED people. Their standards were probably high. Of course, Nnoitra wouldn’t have gone here if he thought he would run into Kyota. Even he could see how insensitive something like that would be. Nnoitra didn’t have any wish to cause the tattoo artist – his ex – any sort of problems. In any case, there was no chance of him running into Kyota, who hadn’t showed up at the studio for months.

     Nnoitra entered the shop, his attention caught briefly by the ringing of a bell, signaling his arrival. The studio wasn’t ‘ fancy ‘, but neither did it look like a common street-shop. There were various pieces of art decorating the walls, and a comfortable waiting area with well-used chairs. By the front desk, there was an exhibition of piercings, some looked pretty expensive. Nnoitra briefly mused over the fact that Grimmjow had gotten his bellybutton pierced. For a bet, right? What an idiot. It brought a small smile to his face just thinking about it, or rather – about him.

     He headed over to the front desk, and leaned against it. There was nobody manning the front desk currently, but he didn’t mind waiting. He studied the artwork on the wall above the counter. Having dated a tattoo artist, Nnoitra actually had a little bit of knowledge about tattoos, and could recognize the designs as traditional Japanese. Dragons, geisha and --- what were those dogs called again? Nnoitra didn’t get the chance to try to think back to when he had been told about these designs, because someone approached him. Nnoitra turned his attention to the man, and straightened himself up from leaning on the counter. He noted that the other’s expression changed to slight surprise, now that he got to see just how tall Nnoitra was.

     ❝ Yo. ❞ Nnoitra greeted, cocking his head back all casually. The man was much smaller than himself, with pierced ears and bleached hair. Silver hair. See, it wasn’t just Grimmjow who was in his late 20s and still dyed his hair!

     ❝  Welcome! I’m sorry I wasn’t here to attend you. I’m Kimura Katsu, how can I help you? ❞  The man introduced himself with a Japanese name, and that meant his first and last name had swapped places. This made it even more difficult for Nnoitra to remember, but thankfully ‘ Katsu ‘ was a short name. He repeated it a few times in his head in order to at least attempt to remember it.

     ❝ ‘S fine. ❞ A small shrug was given. It was a good thing that the guy was busy, right? It meant this was a popular place, which mean lots of people trusted these tattoo artists to not fuck up their skin. ❝ I’m lookin’ ‘ta get tattooed. ❞ Might as well cut to the chase. Nnoitra had wondered how he was supposed to walk into a tattoo shop and say with a straight face that he wanted to get a couple tattoo. With his boyfriend. It had SEEMED like a problem, but after the whole ordeal he had been through now, it just wasn’t that big of a deal anymore. If anything, Nnoitra was so fucking happy to still be together with Grimmjow, that he didn’t think it was embarrassing to want to get a couple tattoo. ❝ Me ‘n my partner- ❞ Nnoitra rarely talked about Grimmjow to others, and he never referred to him as anything other than his ‘ friend ‘. Sure, he could’ve just made this tattoo artist think that he wanted to get a friendship tattoo with his best friend or something, but no. Nnoitra wanted to do this properly, without pretending it was something else. He didn’t have to be ASHAMED of being together with a guy. It didn’t make him girly or weak or anything like that. Right? So, he decided to correct himself. ❝ - My boyfriend. ❞ He watched the tattoo artist’s expression, to see if he was judging. The other’s face didn’t change at all, he was still smiling politely, just like he had been a moment ago. ❝ We wanna get some matchin’ tattoos. Just a pair ‘a simple ones. ‘S that somethin’ that ya’ll do here? ❞ If they didn’t do couple tattoos here, then there was no need for Nnoitra to waste his time.

     ❝ We do them. ❞  Katsu said with a small nod. Nnoitra thought there was a bit of hesitation in his voice though. He arched his brow, as if to urge him on to say what was wrong. ❝ I know it’s really not my place, but as someone who has seen people make decisions about their skin they have regretted later on, I have to ask if you’re both completely sure you want this? A tattoo is something you’ll have for life. ❞  It was obvious, even to Nnoitra, that Katsu was uncomfortable, even though he was being what Nnoitra would describe as ‘ professional ‘. Nnoitra knew why he asked, of course. Relationships could end, and who would want to walk around with their ex’ name on them? But he really was CERTAIN that he and Grimmjow would stay together. Grimmjow had asked him, or – told him – to stay with him forever. Nnoitra was never going to leave him. They loved each other. This tattoo artist didn’t know anything about them or what they had been through, and Nnoitra didn’t want to share DETAILS with him, and saying something like ‘ we love each other and will stay together forever ‘ was simply… Too much for him. Referring to Grimmjow as his boyfriend had been a big enough step. Instead of saying anything about his relationship with Grimmjow, Nnoitra rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie, to flash an insanely skinny wrist. It even surprised himself to see how skinny he was, and it put him off for a moment, but then he held it up for the other to see. What was he showing him? Oh, the tattoo he had gotten in his last relationship. There was a small, black infinity symbol.

     ❝ It’s from my ex. No matter what happens, I ain’t gonna regret nothin’. ❞ Basically, he was showing Katsu that he was the sort of guy to make bad decisions. Though, Nnoitra didn’ regret that tattoo, or the two others he had.

     ❝ I see. Well, I’ve done my duty of asking now, but since this is something you’ve done before you know what you’re getting yourself into. ❞  Oh, this guy was pretty REAL wasn’t he? Nnoitra would rather have people be like that with him. ❝ Have you and your partner thought about designs? ❞

     ❝ Yeah. I’m gonna be gettin’ a sun, ‘n he’s gettin’ a moon. ❞ Was it lame? Nnoitra didn’t even know. He had seen online that it was actually a pretty ‘ common ‘ couple tattoo to get, but that didn’t bother him. Seeing as these symbols actually had meaning to them. Why should they care that others also had such couple tattoos? They hadn’t got shit to do with their relationship. ❝ I was thinkin’ ‘a gettin’ it here. ❞ Nnoitra pointed to the inside of his forearm, right beneath his elbow ditch. ❝ We’ve both gotten tattooed before. ❞ That was the sort of thing tattoo artists liked to know. ❝ I’ve got ‘da ‘lil tattoo on my wrist, ‘n on my tongue - ❞ He briefly dipped his tongue out to show off the ‘ 5 ‘ there ( it needed to be refreshed, honestly ). ❝ ‘N I also got this one. ❞ He tugged his hoodie down a little, to show the top of some sketchy letters spelling ‘ Santa Teresa ‘.❝ ‘N he’s got a tattoo on his lower back, ‘n also beneath his eyes. ❞ So they weren’t going to be fucking pussies about getting tattoos. Nnoitra knew that dealing with people who were getting their first tattoos was difficult. Having dated a tattoo artist came in handy.

     ❝ Looks like you’ve really prepared for this, hm? ❞  The other mused with a small smile. ❝ What kind of style would you prefer? ❞

     ❝ Black ‘n grey ‘fo ‘sho. ‘Ta match ‘da rest ‘a my tattoos. I ain’t ‘bout that color. ❞ He said, shaking his head like the thought of a colorful tattoo was really off-putting. Which it was. He wasn’t a fucking happy-go-lucky guy who would wear permanent color on his skin. ❝ We just want somethin’ simple, but I don’t want it ‘ta be too small. Gotta be able ‘ta tell wha’ it is, ‘n don’t gimme any ‘a that girly shit. ❞ He was a MAN, and he wanted a manly tattoo. Not one of those fucking ‘ instagram tattoos ‘. He’d rather have a burn mark.

     ❝ So, you want something strong. Something that’s easily visible and legible. Simple, but not simplistic. ❞  It seemed like Katsu was talking mostly to himself, nodding a bit like he was making mental notes.

     ❝ Yeah, ‘daz right. Neither ‘a us can draw, so if ya wanna do it, I’mma leave it ‘ta ya ‘ta draw ‘da designs. ❞ He could trust this guy to do a good job, right? It seemed like he understood what Nnoitra wanted. That he understood that even though Nnoitra was dating a guy, he didn’t want some faggot tattoo. No fucking rainbows or flowers or that shit. Just a SUN. And a moon for Grimmjow.

     ❝ I’d like to draw them. But I want to draw something that matches your personalities. I think I have a good idea about how yours is going to look. ❞  Oh, was it that easy to read his personality? GOOD. Nnoitra wanted everyone to understand what sort of person he was. That he was a STRONG MAN. ❝ I’d really like it if you could tell me a bit about your boyfriend? What sort of person is he? ❞  This made Nnoitra pause. He never talked about Grimmjow, so it was a bit difficult to just all of a sudden describe him to a stranger. What sort of a person was Grimmjow? The BEST type. If that was a type. But anyone would say that about the person they loved.

     ❝ He’s… ❞ He tried to come up with something that would describe Grimmjow. ❝ He’s ‘da sort ‘a guy ya’d turn ‘round ‘n look at if ya passed him on ‘da street. ‘N that ain’t just ‘cause he’s got fuckin’ blue hair ‘n he’s missin’ an arm. He’s just so fuckin’ bright. ❞ How FUCKING LAME! But this was how Nnoitra saw Grimmjow. He saw him as someone who brightened up everything, wherever he went. Like the sun. ❝ He’s fuckin’ snarky as hell, ‘n he uses sarcasm all ‘da time. ‘N he’s loud when he talks, ‘n somehow he always knows what’s ‘da right thing ‘ta say. ❞ Always. No matter how low Nnoitra got, Grimmjow – somehow – always managed to pull him back up. Above water. ❝ He’s strong. He ain’t no fuckin’ pussy. ❞ There was another pause, while Nnoitra wondered if he should say the last thing he was thinking about. The tattoo artist patently waited. Fuck it. ❝ ‘N he saved my life. ❞ Yeah. He saved his life. Nnoitra COULDN’T live without him. Grimmjow had said that he wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him, and now – the same was true for Nnoitra. Without Grimmjow, he really wouldn’t survive. He wouldn’t want to survive. Katsu was still smiling, and he gave a small nod.

     ❝ I think I know what kind of moon I will draw for him. ❞

     Nnoitra ended up leaving the tattoo studio with an appointment set for next week. It was just a consultation though, and he would bring Grimmjow so that they could look at the designs the tattoo artist had drawn. Nnoitra could hardly wait to tell Grimmjow! Finally, they would be getting those tattoos! If ever there was a time to get them, it was now. After everything they had been through, Nnoitra felt even closer to Grimmjow. It was an amazing feeling.