#joe shinigami

[bleachbleachbleach]

[Bleach 093]

JOE SHINIGAMI

IM LUV THEM

[bleachbleachbleach]

I love the idea that all ghosts in SS have some amount of spiritual power

I agree, whether it's canon or not. Though LOL that makes me think about the "reiryoku ranks" that come up like 2 times but no one really knows how the scale works, and I feel like their system of measurement isn't fine enough to capture the average soul's spiritual power so if it were to be measured it'd just round down to 0 on their scale--you know, to reinforce the binary between Rukongai soul and shinigami/Seireitei denizen. In fairness, Joe Shinigami MD PhD who developed the scale was probably doing research about at what point Captain/VC reiatsu would negatively impact the resilience of their roof shingles or start corroding wires or something, so it would make sense the scale would be inadequate in capturing the opposite end of the scale. Underrated (underfunded, understaffed) field of research!!

Kind of relatedly, I will go to my grave telling about the other forms of otherworldly being/spiritual existence that exist in Soul Society that are just as extra to their world ("their" here meaning shinigami, as the dominant culture) as theirs is to ours--in addition to the elements that do fall into a reishi-based understanding of the world, and do intersect with shinigami/Seireitei life, but aren't necessarily fully captured by that system.

I don't personally read bankai negatively (well, Urahara's bankai hack is probably... not ideal, but he and Benihime have certainly got their own thing going, haha), so for me it'd be a both/and--like, you have achieved this personally meaningful understanding of the world/self/world-in-self and vice versa, and also you're a strange bananaspants person. Though admittedly having a predilection for bananaspantsery almost certainly helps in achieving bankai, so maybe our headcanons are not all that dissimilar. XDD

Thank you for this thread!

Self-care for the Soul: Hinamori's Edition

(Or, my 2am rambles on Hinamori that briefly touch on nonviolence while I lightly express some fandom guilt ft. one mention of Frankenstein and some Tobiume hc 🫠 Thank you @bleachbleachbleach for your encouraging words on this post! <33)

TL;DR: Much of Hinamori’s external life has been chosen for her. She thrives at exercising a form of internal non-violence of the spirit, where despite the lack of tools (as a Rukongai soul) and later in spite of the master’s tools (the Seireitei), she asserts her power through choice - choosing to love, defend, create - through which she fights back against the institution that created and enabled the violence inflicted upon her. This is in her nature, always has been since she befriended Hitsugaya to rescuing Hisagi.

"Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings." -Victor Hugo

Sometimes I feel like such a fake Hinamori fan because I worry that my interpretations discredit her character, which isn't what I want at all! With regards to Aizen and forgiveness, I get a sense that the popular belief is that it is in Hinamori's nature or best interest to come to reject everything about their relationship, that she would even hate him, want to enact some form of violence on him. And that's all fine! I mean, anything is believable if you come at characterization from the lens of “what would make a character do XYZ?"….but I just can't help but feel like this is us (or at least me) moving on without her - which is how Hinamori canonically felt post-Winter War (and I would go so far as to say she's been feeling like this for a long time, since before leaving for the academy).

Like, would it help Hinamori to hate everything about him? To reject all of him? What is she, someone who deeply values her relationships and what she gets from them as much as she gives, choosing to leave behind by doing so? So much of her (external) life happens to her: she has to enter the academy because her powers awakened, she was pre-selected to join the 5th division for a plan that started decades before her and would be put into motion a few decades later, and of course both stabbings.

Given this, I think Hinamori is someone who appreciates making a choice of what she's given, often internal, often against the status quo, and gains exactly what she needs. She chooses to befriend Hitsugaya despite the village's rejection of him (and finds herself a lifetime partner); she stays behind to give Hitsugaya a proper goodbye even though it'll make her late to the academy on her first day (to keep Rukongai close which feels especially important given Seireitei wants to neglect, forget what's outside their walls); she chooses to save Hisagi against his orders and years later she can look back and know she's brave); she chooses to defend Renji despite Byakuya's authority and Kira's acquiescence (and realizes that to stand up for what she believes in she may be the only one in the room left). And if she chooses to hold close the fond memories she created with Aizen and the lessons she learned from him, she'll know that under all his power laid her power too.

These choices she made are all born from her internal character and I think that's something she tries to hold onto (even when it feels like everyone is moving on without her, that the narrative is moving on without her, that fandom sometimes moves on without her).

And it's not because of the naivety or delusion that's so often attributed to her. It's this instinct to create, to save, to love, despite the lack of tools (and then in spite of the tools). I don't think it's far-fetched to believe that she, an artist who spends her free time reading (about history and fantasy, about the past and the future) would try to create what she needs, imperfect as it is. Hinamori has always been a "be the change you want to see" type of person.

Unlike Hisagi who fears his power in his own hands, Hinamori fears her power in the hands of others. In a way, it's a rejection of the Seireitei. In a way, it's a rejection of the institution that created and enabled the violence inflicted upon her.

——

(Another reason why I feel like a fake Hinamori fan is because I don't think she needs bankai to tie up her arc or to prove/reclaim her power. Like I mentioned above, I think Hinamori does a pretty solid job of reclaiming her power outside of Seireitei's tools. Bankai feels almost like a resignation to me. It's hard to explain without needing 2000+ words and referencing Frankenstein, the internal/spiritual nature of nonviolence of a solider, and elaborating on Hisagi and Kaname because these two are very much part of the same conversation.

But anyways! My Tobiume hc plays into all of this. It's pretty much the same as the rest of the fandom's - some iteration of a phoenix + forest (I love the seagull cry when Tobiume releases and this imagery of being rooted deep in the earth with an expansive sky to soar above this middle space where the man-made sits), but I hc that she's never really been able to see Tobiume. That Tobiume always wants to keep just out of sight, perched high in the trees or a shadow over the sun to keep her wondering because Hinamori is an artist (who once had no brushes), a life-long learner (who once had no books), and I think it’d be neat if her inner world was something she created out of imagination and hunger for somewhere beyond her body and something beyond the constraints of their society. Another poem I associate with her is "Cherry Blossoms" by Toi Derricote:))

[recurring-polynya]

Yuki brothers spotted!! (ft. bonus Shino)

[woosh-floosh]

It's too bad series 8 of taskmaster starts off so slow/insufferable because I honestly think the last episode is one of the funniest in the entire show!

[prinzvonlicht]

i do not care for any of the sternritters

[webraciszekbastion]

Masterlist

Requests Opens !

Legend:

One Shot - Cup of Tea 🍵

Headcanons - Cup of Coffee ☕

My thoughts on games or characters - Bubble Tea 🧋(NO request)

Fluff - Chocolate Cookie 🍪| Hurt/Comfort - Dark Chocolate 🍫| Angst - Sour Lemon Cupcake 🧁| Suggestive - Angel Food Cake 🍰| Platonic - Piece of Pie 🥧

Master Detective Archives: Rain Code

Yuma Kokohead:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Shinigami:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Kurumi Wendy:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Yakou Furio:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

👻 Yakou Furio x Reader who is a Horror Fanatic 💀☕🍪

Vivia Twilight:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

📖 Vivia Twilght x Baker!Reader 🥐☕🍪

📖 Vivia Twilight x Artist!Male!Reader 🎨☕🍪

Halara Nightmare:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Fubuki Clockford:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Desuhiko Thunderbolt:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Zilch Alexander:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Pucci Lavmin:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Aphex Logan:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Melamie Goldmine:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Zange Eraser:

☔ Some Headcanons from Rain Code ☔☕

Yomie Hellsmile:

Martina Electro:

Seth Burroughs:

Guillaume Hall:

Makoto Kagutsuchi:

All Master Detectives:

All Peacekeepers:

All Characters:

Project Eden's Garden

Damon Maitsu:

📖 Fem s/o Ultimate Novelist who works non-stop, without taking breaks. 📖 ☕🍪

Cassidy Amber:

Desmond Hall:

Diana Venicia:

Eloise Taulner:

Eva Tsunaka:

Grace Madison:

Ingrid Grimwall:

Jean DeLamer:

Jett Dawson:

Kai Monteago:

Mark "Mayhem" Berskii:

Toshiko Kayura(Only Platonic):

Ulysses Wilhelm:

Wenona:

Wolfgang Akire:

All Characters:

Danganronpa Despair Time

Teruko Tawaki:

Xander Matthews:

Charles Cuevas:

Ace Markey:

Arei Nageishi:

Rose Lacroix:

Hu Jing:

Eden Tobisa:

Levi Fontana:

📖 Fem s/o Ultimate Novelist who works non-stop, without taking breaks. 📖 ☕🍪

Arturo Giles:

Min Jeung:

Veronika Grebenshchikova:

J Rosales:

Whit Young:

Nico Hakobyan:

All Characters:

Danganronpa F: Shattered Hope

Enigma:

Cancel:

Yaxi:

Grisp:

Cross:

Scarlet:

Moraiteru:

Pocket:

📖 Fem s/o Ultimate Novelist who works non-stop, without taking breaks. 📖 ☕🍪

Corza:

Rock:

Rox:

Twin:

Rissi:

Anon:

All Characters:

My suggestions for the real names of the characters 🧋

Super Danganronpa Another

Yuki Maeda/Utsuro:

Akane Taira:

Ayame Hatano:

Haruhiko Kobashikawa

Kakeru Yamaguchi:

Kanata Inori:

Kinji Uehara:

Kiyoka Maki:

Kizuna Tomori:

Mikako Kurokawa:

Mitsuhiro Higa:

Rei Mekaru:

Satsuki Iranami:

Teruya Otori:

Tsurugi Kinjo:

Yamato Kisaragi:

All Characters:

Super Danganronpa Another 2

Sora:

Emma Magorobi:

Hajime Makunouchi:

Hibiki Otonokoji:

Iroha Nijiue:

Kanade Otonokoji:

Kokoro Mitsube:

Mikado Sannoji:

Nikei Yomiuri:

Setsuka Chiebukuro:

Shinji Kasai:

Shobai Hashimoto:

Teruya Otori V2:

Yoruko Kabuya:

Yuki Maeda:

Yuri Kagarin:

All Characters:

Danganronpa (He)Artless Deceit

Akira Hayasaka:

Chiemi Hattori:

Chou Yoshida:

Hideyoshi Kurosawa:

Itsumi "Bani" Yoko:

Izanami Hoshimiya:

Katsuhiko Minamoto:

Kiyoshi Fujioka:

Kyouran Murashita:

Otome Hanayama:

Rei Fukuno:

Satoru Tachibana:

Shion Morita:

Takeshi Yamamoto:

Tomoya Morita:

Yumeo Arakawa:

Denshi Shigenobu:

All Characters:

Your Turn to Die

Sara Chidouin:

Joe Tazuna:

Keiji Shinogi:

Kanna Kizuchi(Only Platonic):

Q-taro Burgerberg:

Sou Hiyori:

Reko Yabusame:

Nao Egokoro:

Kai Satou:

Gin Ibushi(Only Platonic):

Kazumi Mishima:

Alice Yabusame:

Ranmaru Kageyama:

Hinako Mishuku(Only Platonic):

Naomichi Kurumada:

Mai Tsurugi:

Anzu Kinashi:

Shunsuke Hayasaka:

Sue Miley:

Tia Safalin:

Rio Ranger:

Gashu:

Midori:

Meister:

All Characters:

All Floor Masters:

[fritextramole]

leave me standing in the hall or let me enter?

part 5 of a Dan Humphrey playlist - best heard in order

tracklist and quotes under the cut

Boom Went the Boom ~ Joe Glazer

The wolf don't bother any more He starved to death right by my door

Alien Blues ~ Vundabar

I only talk to dogs because they don't understand me My teeth are yellow, hello world Would you like me a little better if they were white like yours?

Bum Bum Bum ~ Cass McCombs

They say, "Buy when there's blood in the streets Even if the blood is your own" So they employed men far away To turn against their home Centuries in the distant mist But it's not a dream No, it ain't no dream, it's all too real How long until This river of blood congeals?

Brazil ~ Declan McKenna

What have I become? I'm the face of God, I'm my father's son

Hold Me My Daddy ~ XTC

If this means war, why are we in it? Might've fired off a couple of rounds, I didn't mean to begin it. If these are the bullets that every father and son must chew, Well then hold me my daddy, I forgot to say I love you.

Ghosting ~ Mother Mother

I won't make noises in your stairs I will be kind and I'll be sweet If you stop staring straight through me And this is why I have decided To pull these old white sheets from my head I'll leave them folded neat and tidy So that you'll know I'm out of hiding

Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land ~ MARINA

I am not my body, not my mind or my brain Not my thoughts or feelings, I am not my DNA I am the observer, I'm a witness of life

Don’t Shut Me Down ~ ABBA

I'm fired up, I'm hot, don't shut me down I'm not the one you knew, I'm now, and then combined And I'm asking you to have an open mind (and I won't be the same)

Something In My Eye ~ Matt Berry

But here I am Grown I've come so far Alone I count the days Until I see you again

How Soon Is Now? ~ The Smiths

How can you say I go about things the wrong way? I am human and I need to be loved Just like everybody else does

My Own Worst Enemy ~ Lit

It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy 'Cause every now and then, I kick the living shit out of me

Freakin’ Out On the Interstate ~ Briston Maroney

I'm walking back to my favorite place And I can feel them staring at me Baby, do you think I'm doing something wrong? And you got a lot on your mind And your heart, it looks just like mine

Kiss Me (I Loved You) ~ Father John Misty

I loved you I heard everything about you And maybe half of it was true

Arms Unfolding ~ dodie

hope i'm not tired of rebuilding cause this might take a little more i think i'd like to try look at you and feel the way i did before.

You Only Need You ~ Tom Rosenthal

You'll get me if you need me and you'll be fine if you don't You said it was arranged by love You have a lot of love to give out

Hello Stranger ~ Julia Holter

If you're not gonna stay Please don't tease me like you did before Because I still love you so

Night Terrors ~ shinigami

Growing up time moves faster than I can Sick and tired of lying to myself I cannot fucking stand this I'm sick of fucking standing On my own, on my phone

Mad World ~ Gary Jules, Michael Andrews

Went to school and I was very nervous No one knew me, no one knew me "Hello, teacher! Tell me, what's my lesson?" Look right through me, look right through me

3 a.m. ~ Gregory Alan Isakov

give me darkness when i’m dreaming give me moonlight when i’m leaving give me shoes that weren’t made for standing

Everything Is Free Father John Misty

Everything I ever done Gotta give it away Someone hit the big score They figured it out

Rest Awhile ~ They Might Be Giants

I got rid of my jackets and coats I threw out all of my pants I got sick of my stinkin' clothes I had to get rid of them I'm not yet considering replacing them I'm only glad to be rid of them

Daddy Sang Bass ~ Johnny Cash

singin' seems to help a troubled soul one of these days and it won't be long i'll rejoin them in a song

[loveabletechnopath]

I got the shinigami eyes but it shows when someone's gonna get pregnant. I look at Joe

[lewis-winters]

I CHOOSE VIOLENCE!!! no. 4 - 6?

4. what was the last straw that made you block someone?

oh man it actually doesn't take much for me to block someone. if I find you mildly annoying (for whatever reason-- most of the time that has to do with me, and not you), you're getting blocked. the fastest that I ever blocked someone was when they showed up as red in my shinigami eyes extension. lmao. bye terf.

5. worst discord server and why?

I don't really join discord servers because of some past trauma involving group chats and stuff. I really just prefer one-on-one dm-ing. So, I don't really have an answer to this one, sorry.

6. which ship fans are the most annoying?

lmao. a very specific variety of webgott fans. the kind that liked to woobify web (like? why? why would you grind him down and remove all the parts of him that make him interesting? don't you want this stupid, pretty man to be INTERESTING?) at the expense of joe (gonna be forreal. it was borderline antisemitic, their characterization of him). I swear they were so. they were so annoying about it. they're not active anymore, they were in 2020, but they, I kid you not, hopped on other people's posts (usually folks who voiced that they found didn't really want to post about Web bc he just wasn't a personal favorite) to belittle them for the henious crime of... having an opinion that didn't match theirs?

oh I am getting dangerously close to just naming who these people are HAHAHAHAAH not like they'd care or even see this. I have them blocked, so 👀👀👀

[brisselfshipping]

MY F/O INTRODUCTIONS

ONE PIECE

Monkey D. Luffy

Roronoa Zoro

Sanji

Usopp

Nami

Kiku

Yamato

Naruto

Deidara

DBZ

Vegeta

Fairy Tail

Gray Fullybuster

Erza Scarlet

Laxus Dreyar

MCU/Marvel/X-Men

Stephen Strange

Natasha Romanoff

Steven Grant

Marc Spector

Loki

Sylvie

Rocket Raccoon

Logan Howlett

Charles Xavier

Gambit

Anne Marie (Rogue)

Wade Wilson (Deadpool)

Cassandra Nova

Scott Summers

Agatha Harkness

Rio Videl

Vision

Your Turn to Die

Keiji Shinogi

Nao Egokoro

Rain Code

Fabuki Clockford

Halara Nightmare

Shinigami

Black Butler

Grell Sutcliff

Sebastian

Aot/Attack on Titan

Eren Jaeger

Reiner Braun

Hange Zoe

Levi Ackerman

Erwin Smith

Floch Forster

Connie Springer

Mikasa Ackerman

Doctor Who

11th Doctor

12th Doctor

BTTF/Back to the Future

Emmett Brown/Doc

Disney

Elsa

Rapunzel

Aladdin (live action)

Woody

Jessie

Buzz Lightyear

Ariel (live action)

Prince Eric (live action)

King Magnifico

Tarzan

Cinderella (live action)

Prince Kit

Judy Hopps

Nick Wilde

CSM/Chainsaw Man

Kobeni Higashiyama

Aki Hayakawa

Quanxi

TWD/The Walking Dead

Rick Grimes

Negan

Maggie Rhee

JOJO's Bizarre Adventure

Jotaro Kujo

Polnareff

Joseph Joestar

Mista Guido

BTVS/Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Willow Rosenberg

Rupert Giles

Spike

The Last of Us

Joel Miller

Ellie Williams

Steven Universe

Pearl

Lapis Lazuli

Jasper

Gravity Falls

Stan Pines

Ford Pines

Legend of Korra

Korra

Mako

Kuvira

Asami Sato

The Mummy

Rick O'connell

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Mr. Fox

Bleach

Shinji Hirako

The Bad Guys

Mr. Wolf

Gintama

Gintoki

Corpse Bride

Victor

Emily

Victoria

Invincible

Nolan Grayson (Omni Man)

Cecil Stedman

The Boys

Billy Butcher

Homelander

Mortal Kombat

Cassie Cage

Mileena

Jade

Li Mei

Kuai Liang (mk 1)

Lui Kang

Life is Strange

Chloe Price

FNAF

William Afton

Harry Potter

Remus Lupin

Sirius Black

Severus Snape

Lucius Malfoy

Bellatrix Lestrange

Newt Scamander

Queenie Goldstein

JJK

Toji Fushiguro

Blue Lock

Shoei Baro

Fall Out

The Ghoul

POTC

Elizabeth Swann

Will Turner

Barbossa

Jack Sparrow

Tomb Raider

Lara Croft

Jacob

Thriller/Horror

Patricia

Victor Frankenstein

Lee Harker

Joe Goldberg

Love Quinn

Familial f/os

Billy Maximoff

Steven Universe

Anne Boonchuy

Zuko

Gabi Braun

Finn Mertens

Denji

Harry Potter

[bleachbleachbleach]

do you have your own zanpakuto concept if you were a shinigami?

Alas, we do not! Self-insert is really far beyond our ken; it's not a way either of us have ever personally interacted with media, so the prospect of having a zanpakutou has never occurred to us! But if we did, my co-blogger landed on the real answer here:

Let's be real, if I were to somehow become a Shinigami, I'd probably be one of those Joe Shinigami that don't have a zanpakuto manifestation lol // Omg that's so real. Same

But I do enjoy reading about other people's OCs/self-inserts when they post about them on Tumblr. Do you have a zanpakutou?

[sluttyquarantinetheory]

I wrote some Ice Pick Joe Death Note Fanfiction for y'all. Enjoy.

Ice Pick

As Joseph Morelli walked down the crowded streets of Naples he heard a clattering off down an alley way. He turned. An ice pick had fallen to the ground. He looked up to see if it had fallen from a window. But there was noone in sight missing it.

He picked it up. An ice pick of all things had fallen from the sky to torment him. As he looked over he saw it was carved with a list of rules.

"The Human who's name is carved with this ice pick shall die

The death will not take effect unless the carver has the person's face in mind while carving. Therefore people sharing the same name will not be affected."

Odd how so much fit in a handle perfectly designed to fit in his hand. As he grasped the pick he heard a woosh of wings and feathers fell before him. He looked around but saw nothing.

He pocketed the pick and continued on his walk home.

Later that night Joseph sat pondering the pick. Had to be some odd joke of course. What difference could carving a name make. But then why not try it. Someone he knew deserved death. The warden at the mental facility who had almost lobotomized him was undeniably so. He'd stabbed him once. Why not finish the job.

With a shaky hand Joe carved, "Freddi Guntair."

"We'll see what happens now you bastard," Morelli muttered to himself as he stabbed the pick into the table and went to bed.

It was midnight. Clocks chimed over Naples. And Joseph Morelli stood in a street corner, ice pick in hand, blood dripping from his shirt as he stood over the mangled corpse of Freddi Guntair.

A flutter of wings filled the air and Joseph looked up to see a being of shadow and wings descend towards him.

"You thought it would be so easy?" Said the beast.

"Who are you? What are you?"

Fear filled Morelli as the creature laughed. He wanted to run. He couldn't run. He knew this creature would not harm him.

"I am Ryuk, a shinigami, a god of death. You have found my pick."

Joe took stock of his surroundings, for the first time he registered how odd, How convenient, it all was. To just see the man who had tortured him for years, The man who lived across the seas, suddenly walk down the alley.

"The ice pick did this?" Ask Joe.

Once again the beast unleashed a deep chortle. "No you did this. The pick merely gave you the opportunity."

Joe looked at the blood on his hands. It coated up his arm and had ruined his shirt and he felt no remorse. No fear. Just the sweet taste of revenge seasoned with the metallics of blood. And he walked away twirling his newfound weapon.

He could do so much more. He had a long list of names. Of the people who had wronged him. One by one they would meet his ice pick.

Days passed. Each with another murder. With another article about it in the paper. Broadcast after broadcast of the local news speculated on the murders. Discussed why so many americans were getting picked off in the streets. A serial killer, The Ice Pick was on the loose.

Morelli sat twirling his pick and leaned back in his chair as he watched the news unfold.

"Toors Denote was found stabbed by wounds assumed to be made by an ice pick. Yet another American tourist who has fallen victim to the brutal stylings of The Ice Pick killer. In attempts to solve these murders and international detective of great renown has come from Russia to investigate."

"Seems they're on to you," said Ryuk in his mocking voice.

"They'll never catch me," said Joe as he piked an apple and passed it to the lurking shinigami.

The screen cut to a shot of a pudgy man with a moustache. "My name is Leon Goncharov. I will find this killer and he shall be brought to just-"

The broadcast cut dead as Ice Pick finished carving the name into his table. He heard the sound of boots in the alley below and he swooped out the fire escape with the grace of his stray cats.

Lithley he climbed down and with a leap his ice pick met the eye of the man below. There was no scream there was no time for one as the pick into the man's brain.

As quickly as he descended be ascended and was in his apartment again. The newscast returned "we're experiencing technical difficulties."

Then the screen flashed in big bold letters "GONCHAROV" and a distorted voice spoke.

"I see. The killer possesses a supernatural ability to teleport his victims to him. We have narrowed down his location. This broadcast was only shown in Southern Naples. The Ice Pick is closer than we thought."

With that the broadcast concluded and Joe turned to Ryuk who was laughing uproariously at the whole ordeal.

"What are you going to do now?" asked the amused shinigami.

"I have to kill the detective," said joe. Deep fire burned in his eyes. as he turned over the moment he would have sweet victory.

"And how will you manage that? You don't know his face."

"There are other ways of finding people."

Joe's search was brutal. Every low life detective and cop was punctured by his pick "Who is Goncharov? Where can I find him?"

None survived and none had answers.

It wasn't until he heard the name in passing at the fruit stand as he bought apples for Ryuk that he found a lead.

"Katya Goncharov, that's a pomegranate, not an apple."

Joe spun around ice pick tucked into his sleeve. Two woman stood discussing fruits one playfully mocking the other. A woman with russian features and a russian accent.

"My dear," Joe said as he introduced himself with a charming soulless smile. "Where ever did you get that coat? My wife has been begging me for one for ages."

"What wife is that exactly?" Chortled Ryuk.

Joe ignored him.

"I'm afraid your wife may be out of luck," said the woman. "My husband gifted it to me before we Russia."

"A shame," responded Joe. "I have yet to introduce myself. I am Joseph Morelli."

"Katya Goncharov. Pleasure to meet you," replied the woman. "Perhaps my husband might know more. Have you a card?"

Joe fumbled through his pockets and slipped his ice pick into one. "Seems I have forgotten my wallet. Perhaps I could write on a piece of paper for you?"

Joe borrowed a pen and a blank receipt from a vender and scrawled. He folded it in half and handed it to Katya.

"I do hope he contacts me soon," said Joe and he dissapeared into the crowd.

Katya unfolded the paper. Fear chilled through her spine as she read, "Ice Pick Joe 555-748-2544"

Joe walked home with an odd glee, practically skipping. He would soon know who Goncharov was. Soon he would remove the man's eyes one by one. Pull out his fingernails. Maybe pop loose his knee caps. It would be delightful.

As he climbed the steps fo his apartment he froze. His door swung idly open splinters of wood on the ground. "He's here."

Joe clasped his ice pick and entered. A moustached man sat across his table running his hand over the carved names.

"Quite a memento you have," said the man.

"Goncharov, I presume," said Joe.

"It is true. I am Goncharov. I suppose you'll carve my name now?"

"The thing is detective," said joe a grin creaking across his face, "The carving is only a tool. I am the weapon."

Joe sprung forward as Goncharov pulled a pistol. There was a bang and a thud. Joe gasp as the bullet tore into his abdomen. Unbelievable pain. He tried to process what happened, but no thought would kling. He looked down and one last smile crept back across his face as his saw beneath him his ice pick buried in the eye of Goncharov

Ryuk leaned down and plucked his pick from the bloody ordeal and flew away. A chuckle rattling through him as he descended away from the land of the living. Leaving only feather behind.

[recurring-polynya]

Good morning, happy Thursday, who wants to read a fun idea I had about giants in Soul Society?

So! I was reading this @littleeyesofpallas post about wuxing symbolism and was particularly struck by this passage in a section about the gate guardians:

There is no central guard but conspicuously Kirinji's name comes from Qilin, but apparently according to official height he's actually not nearly as tall as Kubo's drawings always made him seem. Not that he was on the same scale as the gate guardians even then...

No, I said to myself, of course not. He's powerful enough to control his size, because I was thinking of the part where Grand Fisher claims Isshin is too small to defeat him and Isshin responds with a lecture on soul reaper lore:

Now, bodies are not swords, but maybe the same mechanic applies! It certainly applies to Hollows. Earlier in this same scene, Kon mistakes Grand Fisher for a Menos Grande, and Grand Fisher is insulted by the comparison, but it's the same thing. Menos are huge and scary, but when they become Arrancar, they shrink down and become scarier. [Aside: I think this is why the Yammy-is-secretly-Espada-0 reveal doesn't quite manage to hit. It goes against the lore Kubo has been laying down for ages]

On a meta level, this is just a shounen storytelling tactic where X is an indicator of strength, but then later on, it's like "Reverse Uno! Not-X is the real indicator of strength!!" That's exactly how this zanpakutou-size thing is used when it's first introduced.

Exhibit A: Renji, a court jester, being impressed by the size of Ichigo's sword:

Exhibit B: A handful of issues later, Urahara, an intellectual (lol), sets us straight:

Genre convention or not, I think it lends itself some interesting world-building. Among low-powered people, size is impressive, but as you scale the ranks of power, it's kind of pathetic. Weirdly large people are like the petty bourgeoisie of Soul Society power dynamics.

But that's actually the perfect niche for a gatekeeper! In general, your typical Joe Shinigami is going to be able to take on just about any rando from the Rukongai, but maybe not a particularly strong ryouka. Ganju was able to take on Yumichika, after all. A single shinigami wouldn't be able to take on a planned rebellion, like in the Bount arc, and they've got to, like, sleep and stuff. The Gotei could, in theory, have an entire gatehouse and a gate patrol, etc, but that they are perpetually short-staffed as-is. Instead, how about one medium-powerful gatekeeper whose size makes them well-suited for fighting groups of people (or siege weapons), and who is going to be intimidating overall?

Furthermore, it's implied that Jidanbou isn't actually a shinigami. He wears a shihakushou, but his axes don't seem to be a zanpakutou (he doesn't release them and is distressed when they are destroyed). His neighbors offer this comment on him:

It's not quite right, though: after all, many shinigami are from Rukongai, including Gin, who is the reason Jidanbou is being healed at the very moment this panel takes place. I think what this guy means is that Jidanbou is of Rukongai, which is to say not of the Seireitei.

So what is he, then? Here's my big idea: I think that the gigantism in Soul Society might actually be a reiatsu-developmental disability! It's always been my impression that growth, especially for powerful people, happens in fits and spurts, rather than linearly, and that furthermore, big changes in growth tend to coincide with developments in reiryouku. Somewhere, either in childhood or adolescence, someone's spiritual pressure grows more quickly than their control over it, which results in their body growing uncontrollably. They become very powerful "physically", but their strength is all in their mass/reishi, which takes most of their spiritual pressure to control. This may end up limiting the upper end of power they are able to achieve and some cases means they get cut off entirely from the other forms of power used by shinigami (connecting to a zanpakutou, kidou). I think this might be especially common in children from the Rukongai, who lack access to education and training. I can also imagine it leading itself to cautionary tales in the outer Rukon that if you feed your hungry children too much, you'll end up with a giant on your hands.

This offers one explanation to why Jidanbou is a giant and his brother Jiroubou is large, but not remotely on the same scale (the Souls Data Book lists his height at 7'7" vs Jidanbou's 32'5"). There are a handful of other shinigami of larger-than-human height, which could be a milder form of this, or it could mean that some sort of special training or medical intervention helped keep their growth manageable. I think you can squeeze in a lot of interesting character insights into this headcanon, from Hachi (8'5"), who perhaps worked exceptionally hard in an effort to control his power and ended becoming incredibly skilled at kidou as a result (interesting that he, too, is not actually a shinigami). Or Oomaeda (6'11"), who gets by a lot on his family's wealth and clout, but is definitely on the weaker end of the lieutenant power scale. In his case, his large size kind of speaks to his entire "thinks he's classy, but is really just gaudy"/can't-even-tell-how-outclassed-he-is-by-his-peers deal.

Then, as a counterpoint, you've got Hitsugaya: immensely powerful from a young age, and one of the hallmarks of his character is how in-control of himself he is, down to having developed an actual visible power bar for his bankai. Whether this is some effect of his personality, or whether it's an intervention on Hyourinmaru's part, his growth has been choked off as a side effect. He's the direct opposite of Jidanbou, who additionally seems somewhat childlike in personality (crying over his axes, for example, or his attachment to his extremely dubious "rules of the city"). To me, it's very sweet that their friendship might have roots in opposite expressions of the same reiatsu-growth-fuckup.

Much in the way that the Shiba use some sort of magic that's distinctly different from shinigami-kidou, I guess I really like thinking about other ways power might manifest itself in Soul Society outside of the shinigami-industrial-complex. And also the way the Seireitei may or may not try to control those powers."Guard this gate!" they say. "We won't actually let you live in the city or give you city wages, but you can have a cool outfit and, uh...do it for the exposure?"

[addictt-with-a-pen]

tagged by the always wonderful @shinigami-thighs to post the soundtrack from a movie that comes to mind with one of my favorite actors/actresses. 🥹

I don’t really have a favorite actor or actress, so I went with one of my favorite directors/studios!

I dun really have anyone specific to tag for this one, but if you see this and want to participate, consider yourself tagged!! ^.^

[bleachbleachbleach]

I wanted to think about the different, increasingly specific ways TYBW would affect Soul Society in its aftermath, especially the Joe Shinigami (and these guys weren't even true Joe Shinigami! they had seats and names and shikai! but who isn't a Joe Shinigami in the face of the Sternritter army). I love a Joe Shinigami any day, and I really hadn't thought all that much about him prior to writing that fic, but Katakura Asuka (and his extended family lol) will always hold a special place in my heart now!

[kursed-arcana]