#i know its bad

[ffwix]

(1/3)

the mini comic comes to you, cause I spend A LONG TIME. Also I'm not finished but I gotta submit some parts of it.

[littleeyesofpallas]

So I guess this is a good time to do a recap of some old Ukitake posts: [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Ukitake[浮竹] Juushirou[十四郎] actually has one of my favorite names in the series as it feels like it says a lot about his core concept beyond what we're really given in canon. The family name reads uki-[浮]: "Floating" and take-[竹]: "Bamboo." That same "floating" is part of the word fuurou[浮浪]: "vagrant/vagabond" and a few other colloquial terms, a generally circling around a homeless person or a drifter. (In fact the other half of that compound word, [浪] is the "wave" in ronin[浪人]: "wave man/person" as in a masterless samurai.) Bamboo being a staple lumber in Japan of course but also notorious for its fast and rampant growth, as it is quick to spread and choke out other plants in an environment. The idea of "floating..." or "vagrant bamboo" gives an impression of being plentiful and common, even excessive.

The personal name, Juushirou[十四郎] just reads "14(th) Son" which always implied he came from a large family. A profile in the back of vol. 18 long ago confirmed he had brothers and sisters, but curiously all younger than him. The implication seemed clear that as a sickly person from a big family, he was poor and that there were 13 prior children who died before him, which is really the only reason you'd name a child the way they did. This feels like it works in tandem with the family name to again emphasize a family of many, but also almost expendable. The big family is also why he's got an affinity for children

That said it always felt to me like the backstory should have been more grim? Like rather than just praying to a god to save his life, it seemed more like he should have been a sacrifice made to ensure the family line continued. Like first 13 kids died, they were afraid he was their last chance, but he was sickly, so they sacrificed him to basically ensure the next ones would come out alright. Hence the kids younger than him surviving in spite of the ominous past implied by his name.

(Also the "shiro" phonetics in his name as a homonym with shiro[白]:white point to his hair. Kubo makes an explicit joke about this as Toshiro, also white haired, shares a similar wordplay, his name Toshirou[冬獅郎] meaning "Winter Lion Son.")

Then there's his shikai, Sougyo-no-Kotowari[双魚理] which reads "PairFish's Reason/Logic/Natural way of things." (sougyo-kyu[双魚宮] is the Japanese name of the constellation Pisces.) It appears to be an allusion to daoism/onmyodo, and the yin-yang diagram of balance, and this theme gets built upon by other contextual information like the zanpakutou arc's designs borrowing from onmyoji, and Ukitake's presence in conjunction with fish imagery and metaphor in the Jaws of Hell arc.

The little preamble to that chapter, about the two fish in balance until one dies and then the other grows bigger, is itself synonymous with sougyo-no-kotowari: The Natural Order of Two Fish.

The release command [波悉く我が盾となれ]: "All Waves be my shield," [雷悉く我が刃となれ]: "All LightningBolts be my blade" is fairly straight forward and just evokes the image of a stormy sea, which actually seems to have surprisingly little to do with the rest of the themes in play? I mean sure, waves and fish and floating, but when the floating and fish are less than literal the waves and lightning without any additional reading feel kind of out of place?

Of note: the onymoji was a prestigious class of sort of advisor in the japanese imperial court was at its peak in the Heian period, the long standing era of peace in ancient Japan that came just before the descent into the civil war of the Sengoku period. (Subsequently the onmyoji lost most of their power and clout during the waring states period as power shifted from the imperial court to the shogunate.) They were associated with and consulted for a wide range of things from medicine, to architecture, to city planning and meteorology, and divination, and perhaps most well loved by media, as exorcists. This ties into things like his beyond bankai form in Bleach Brave Souls where they opt for a more shinto purification theme, in either case making him fit something of a paragon role as Shinigami as ""cleansing"" hollows rather than destroying them.

Actually those shinto motifs all link to the recent addition of shinto themes in Mimihagi pretty directly, but I'll get to that in a bit...

It's worth noting that with Kyoraku's emphasis on a leisurely city life in the capital(Kyoto), and the onmyo mystic themes of Sougyo-no-kotowari, Kyoraku and Ukitake appear to both represent aspects of the Heian period, and thus cultures that predate the Sengoku period, and the rise of the samurai, lending to their role as two of the most senior members of the gotei 13.

People often forget but technicaly Ukitake was the first captain we were introduced to, well before Byakuya showed up, the Captain title just wasn't present at the time. When Rukia has her flashback to a then uncertain event while Ichigo fights Grandfisher, it's Ukitake she's hearing speak and that we catch just a brief glimpse of the back of the head of. Like I said there were no captain ranks in the story a that point, so he just appears as long flowing white hair over an all black shihakusho. I think his hair was always meant to help him embody an element of balance between black and white, and thus the very series title: Bleach.

I think there was always an implicit siniste quality to the idea of "Balance" underlying the shinigami that Kubo tried to gesture towards with the general vibe of the Soul Society -v- Rukongai dynamics, the Shibas, that flicker of a twist in the Fullbringer arc that Ichigo just ignored, and even with a lot of the loose and ultimately unfulfilled themes he set up for the TYBW arc with Yhwach's plans for a new world and Juugram's Balance schrift.

Oh I forgot the whole MIMIHAGI bit, despite teh being the whole subject of this week's episode:

東流魂街七十六地区『逆骨』に伝わる単眼異形の土着神。

An indigenous God of Grotesque/Suspicious Single-eye passed down in East Rukongai 76(th) zone "Sakahone(Reverse Bone)"

太古の昔、天より瀞霊廷に落ちて来た霊王の右手を祀ったとされるもので、自らの持つ「眼」以外のすべてを捧げた者に加護をもたらすと言い伝えられている。

(In)Ancient Times, From Heaven to the Seireitei the fallen right hand of the Rei-Oh is said to have been enshrined.

浮竹の行った『神掛』は、体内に宿るミミハギ様の力を全身の臓腑へと広げる事で、全ての臓腑をミミハギ様に捧げ、その依り代になる儀式である。

Ukitake's performed "Kamikake(God debt)" was, the power of MIMIHAGI dwelling in the body spreading to the whole of the viscera/entrails, offer up all of your entrails to MIMIHAGI-sama, it is a ceremony/ritual to become a Yorishiro*

『神掛』を成功させた浮竹は、霊王の右腕そのものとなった。

Ukitake succeeded at/with "Kamikake", he had become the right hand of the Rei-Oh.

*i don't have a more concise way to translate this... the translation listed run something like "object representative of a divine spirit"/" object to which a spirit is drawn or summoned"/"object or animal occupied by a kami​" and it's specifically a shinto thing.

When you see big deified trees with the shimenawa ropes and shide paper talismans, those trees are yorishiro. or rather they're Shintai, because a Yorishiro is a thing capable of being host to a kami, the Shintai is after they've been deified. (And technically when you do that to a person it would be called Yorimashi, not Yorishiro. I don't know if that's meant to specifically dehumanize Ukitake or if its a broad enough term that it doesnt really make a difference. Although if you really wanted to stretch it you could argue that Ukitake is an object and not a person because he did die from his illness and the thing deified wasn't a "living" person it was a corpse. Which would very curiously position him as an inversion of Ichigo, who was human, "died" in that his soul was deliberately severed from his body, but continued to operate as nominally human while getting to dip a toe into the shinigami powers and the spirit world.)

These little eye catch data cards really aren't giving us anything new huh?

[sunflowervolum-6]

Im literally not going to be involved in any celebrity relationship now

[mintyfirework]

Ultracook

A burger hits the sizzling pan as grease bubbles from it, it is then taken by spatula and placed upon a bun before being drenched in a viscouse red liquid. The top bun is placed upon the soaked burger and served, a robotic voice cries out: "One blood burger for one Mr.Soldier.". A soldier husk walks up to the counter and puts a handful of coins on the counter before grabbing the burger and walking away. V1 confidently says aloud "Great, thats one more succesful sale, who's next?" as they look upon the empty parkinglot infront of their burger truck. save for the soldier attempting to eat the burger without a mouth.

[claireidk32]

I drew Ben and Peggy 🥺 im crying rn bc its cute...also they arent that good i know 😅 also ignore the lighting lol

[sweetpienewyork]

DMs closed, legs open.💦

[imnotzuza]

before starting season 3 of young royals I told myself "you're never gonna feel bad for august. no matter what." WELL-

[zingtined88]

LUZ MASK!!! It was so fun to make!! It did take a while though…

[phrog-in-slippers]

Rain infused with pain

The rain is falling.

Water rises.

The hydro dragon realizes,

His love is dying

He's beautiful but still.

He was so ill.

His hands were cold.

He was not old.

Oh no, he was so young,

And that is why his lovers heart was stung

Fate did not give them that much time

And now, behold, he has to die.

The dragon hoped this was a lie,

But now Is time to say goodbye.

That rain was filled with pain and grief,

The dragon cried with gritted teeth.

Or was it even rain at all?

Tears of a dragon were the last call.

The tears are falling

Water rises

The hydro dragon realizes

His city's dying

It's beautiful, but still

Now hidden deep within his tears.

[crazymushroomvee]

Compassion...?

Crossposted on Ao3, might be rewritten in the future.

Tags: !femreader, slight angst, anger, fluff, bad writing, amature writer.

 this version of Makarov.

Your husband, Vladimir Makarov, had arrived home from a long and stress filled day. You both lived in a small cabin hidden away from society.

His thudding footsteps could be heard from the kitchen. He took off his coat and boots. She peaked her head through the doorway of the kitchen, his icy blue eyes met hers, easily she could see his bad mood. His muscles were tense. He glared at her, and he stomped into the living room. Vladimir was mad. He wanted a argument.

"Welcome back dear." she said softly attempting to not provoke his anger. She popped her head back into the kitchen. She returned to her cooking.

He sat still clenching his fists. He heard her soft humming from the kitchen. Vladimir got up. Walked over to the kitchen and leaned in the door frame, he watched her figure. Her sweetness irritated him, he wanted her to provoke him. Shout at him. 

He came closer to you and spoke aggressively, with obvious bad intentions.

"Who are you cooking this dinner for?"

You looked confused "You and me?" she looked at him. "who else? It's just us for miles around dearest." she smiled softly as she chopped some fruit. Her sweet voice and gentle smile were just driving him crazy. Makarov was just waiting for her to argue, but she was doing the complete opposite. He sighed.

"Do you even have any idea what I've been through today?"

"No, but I'm willing to listen. That is if you wish to tell me." she said with a soft smile. He was surprised by her gentle responses. It was getting on his nerves, her sweet smile and gentle tone of voice was making him weak. His anger turned into frustration. He looked at her with his piercing eyes and said "I don't want to talk about it."

She nodded. "I understand." She turned her attention to cooking and put the fruit in a bowl, you set it aside.

He stayed near her, waiting for a reaction from her. Her gentleness was driving him crazy. He spoke to her once again. "How come you're so calm? Aren't you angry or disappointed at me?"

"My love, you haven't given me a reason to be. I understand your upset and I want to help. But if you dont want talk thats okay." She put some chicken in the oven. She had a soft smile. "Would drinking something help?"

His brows furrowed for a moment then the relaxed.

"Yes.."

"Great, I'll get you a drink in a moment. You can go sit down." She said gently. His cold behaviour and expression faltered for a moment, she was so sweet.. he tensed up again and walked to the living room and sat in his armchair.

-----------------------

"Love! I've finished cooking, go sit at the dining table." she called from the kitchen. He snapped from his trance, he was deep in thought. He lifted himself out of his armchair and took tired steps towards his dining chair.

Moments later she walked in carrying two plates, she placed one in front of V-vladimir and one in front of her seat. She walked back into the kitchen, grabbing cutlery, glasses and a bottle of wine. She placed them on the table. Then she lowered herself in her seat.

"Are you feeling better now dear?" she asked as she poured them both some wine. He realized that she was genuine and didn't really want to argue with him. That made him even angrier. He took a deep breath and spoke to her.

"You're not even mad at me? I can't stand it when you're so sweet and gentle like this."

"Is there a reason is should be mad..?"

He was still irritated, but he felt like a little kid who was sulking. His anger was melting.

"It's just frustrating. You're a woman. A woman should be angry if her own husband comes home in a bad mood."

"Why? This is when you need time and compassion, not blind rage from the one you love." She spoke softly.

He looked at her with a very surprised look in his eyes. He was just baffled by what she was telling him. He was not used to being treated with love and care from anyone. He had never even been hugged before. He tried to cover his weakness by taking another aggressive approach.

"You're coddling me, as if I have emotions like a child. This is not normal."

"Do you want me to stop talking? I can if you wish." she asked with care.

He saw that her kindness was genuine, and that's what made him weak. In fact, he was completely overwhelmed by her kindness. This was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He felt like he had hit a brick wall. He was lost. Makarov always got his way, he was never denied.

"I... I am just confused. I never had someone like you in my life before."

she placed her hand on his and gently squeezed it.

"It's time to change that my love." she kissed him on the cheek. "We should eat before it gets cold."

He turned slightly red. He knew that he had become soft in front of her. He was embarrassed, but still, he was happy. This feeling of softness was nice. Makarov took a deep breath.

"Yeah, that is a good idea." It was strange seeing him not being aggressive after work. He started eating.

-----------------------

When they had both finished she took all of the dishes and places them in the kitchen sink. Vladimir followed her, he felt more at ease now. He gently whispered her name.

"Yes my love?"

"Thank you.. for everything.." he said looking down at the floor.

"No problem. I love you." she got out a sponge and cleaned the counters. Her movements were fluid and gentle. He watched her movements. He was captivated.

"I.. I love you too.." he spoke softly he wasn't used to showing weakness "Do you need any help..?"

"If you don't mind, could you start to wash the dishes? Thank you Vova.." she smiled. (Vova, shortened/nickname form of Vladimir)

He nodded and walked to the sink and began to clean the dishes. She soon came up behind him and hugged him. "Do you want to talk about it..?"

"Do you mind if I do..?"

"Of course not, I'll always listen to you my dear." She stood by him and listened. He explained about how his men were getting lazier and nearly compromised a whole operation. He sighed.

"Sometimes they are just idiots.." he mumbled.

"That sounds stressful. I'm sorry, I wish they were more competent."

He finished with the dishes, he turns his body and looked her in the eyes. His gentle touch on her arms caused butterflies in her stomach. They embraced.

 

-----------------------

They moved to the bed and cuddled.

"I love you."

"I love you more."

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

[femboty2k]

Oh but what do I do

When the world seems so fast

When the walls crumble faster

When the seas rush to shore

What do I do

When another day comes

When my thoughts flood my mind

When time speeds along

Oh what can I do

What should I

When can I

Why should I

Who am I

Brave when I'd rather be safe

Bold when I'd rather be mundane

Fierce when I'd rather be kind

Oh what do I do

With this self I've created

Besides fill it with better things

[stargirlbryce]

I don't think I will ever recover from depression...

[drblacula]

:3 < im making a rentry graphic does it look ok . Im playing around with tje recoloring settings too because i wanna add a bow to it ❤️

[briteningbolt]

My attempt at being more active because i have no idea what to post….

[eldrichfuck666]

Well, legend has it when the sunbeams come

All the plants, they eat them with their leaves