#soujun's talk

[recurring-polynya]

Hi! I want to start off with saying I love your blog and it was this blog that introduced me to a new side of the Bleach fandom, so I owe you a huge thanks for that. My question pretains to when you mentioned that you read a lot of fics where Byakuya was there when his father died in the lines of duty, and I was wondering if you could recommend those fics and any other byakuya centric ones.

You're very welcome! I am always excited see new people in the fandom, especially here on Tumblr.

I want to preface this with saying that I have kind of a complicated relationship with Byakuya. He is an interesting, complex character and I like to read fanfic about him, but I hesitate to call myself a fan. I'm mostly interested in his character as it stands in relation to Rukia and Renji. I like stories where he is shitty and causes problems. I like reading about the long, horrible history of the Kuchiki clan, and how much it screws a person up to be raised in that mess. I also just like stories that make fun of him a bit. He's a deeply strange person, and I love his weird, dry sense of humor. Byakuya-shipping usually falls flat for me: I think he's mostly ace, except for the time he fell in love with his wife, and even then, I only really like Byahisa stories where the author has done something creative with who she is and I also need her to drag his ass a little. I would swipe left on him. So, anyway, take these recommendations (and the absence of ones I have missed) with that grain of salt.

The fanfic I was specifically referring to regarding Soujun dying after a mission he and Byakuya were on together was the Rise & Ruin series by @afinepiece, specifically part 2, An Education. It's a...little-bit-AUish precanon fic where Hisana is a thief who ends up getting tangled up in the Kuchiki family after she attempts to steal a painting from them. If you're looking for Byakuya fanfic, AFP is always going to be my first recommendation, especially her Thin Red Line series. Her works are always sprawling and genre-defying, but beautifully crafted. They've got noble/family drama, intricate world-building detail, and great character writing. The Kuchiki family deserves epics, and that is what AFP is out here doing.

Funnily enough, my other favorite ByaHisa writer is all the way at the other end of the writing spectrum. @thegreenfaery. She works in the AU space, and if you enjoy Byakuya Going Thru It but also being in love with his beautiful wife. I'm biased, because she wrote it for me, but The Wedding Party is my fave of her works (80's/everyone's human AU where Hisana has to rent out part of Byakuya's house for her little sister's dirtbag wedding).

If you like Byakuya in his gothic horror era, please read dogviolet by @renjirukia. It's a closer examination of some canon between-scenes during Byakuya and Rukia's Bad Times period.

I think @lucymonster is one of the best Byakuya character writers out there, and Metaesthesia is one of the best fanfics I've ever read. It's a Byakuya - Renji bodyswap, but not in a fun way. You should really only read it if you're in the mood to have your heart kicked down the stairs. I also really like Sticks and Stones and Building Bridges. Note: Most of her works are ByaRen (these are not, at least not explicitly). That's not a ship I am normally fond of, but I get, like 3 weird days a year where I can read it.

Speaking of ByaRen, if you are into it, the other ByaRen writer I like a lot is @grizmelder, who is also a very nice person. I particularly enjoyed Heart Tangled, which is a historical AU set at the end of the samurai era, where Renji is Byakuya's bodyguard.

I was just talking about Lull the other day, but it's a lovely little fanfic by Branch about the relationship between Byakuya and Rukia and sometimes Renji. It's an older fanfic and breaks off from canon after the Soul Society arc, so you can think of it as sort of an alternate idea for how Soul Society rebuilds after Aizen's betrayal.

The Journal of Kuchiki Byakuya by @saranel is a great little fic in the form of young Byakuya writing diary entries about his life, in particular, his dealings with Yoruichi and Urahara. It's really cute in general, but in particular, I love the way it portrays Byakuya's interest in photography.

I also have a soft spot for Breaking to Bridle by Vivienne Grainger, which is about how Byakuya sees Renji, both as lieutenant and eventually as suitor for his sister.

I guess I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite crack Byakuya fic, which is Become a Ghost by @hardlyfatal. Orihime dies and goes to Soul Society and becomes a therapist and falls in love with Byakuya. It's pretty silly but also a lot of fun, and it's chock full of Byakuya being Byakuya.

I hope you find something you like in there! Like I said, I am not the world's best Byakuya fan (probably in the top ten worst Byakuya fans tbh) but these are some that I have enjoyed and have stuck with me!

[darigangelerts]

I’ve been looking into buying a small token of ace pride like a ring or earrings and I’m feeling so happy about it I’m beaming !!

[sprinklewinkles]

URL change!

Spottygelert ----> Spacegelert! Hi just letting everyone know ive changed URLs!

[gunnerpalace]

What's your opinion on Byaruki?

It's not for me, and I don't like it, but I'm also not going to act like it's the worst thing ever.

My sense is that Byakuya takes the promise he made to Hisana very seriously. (As seriously as the promise he made to his parents not to break the rules again, which resulted in him trying to have Rukia's executed; and we saw how seriously he took that.) The post-Soul Society Byakuya is basically balancing the two promises "creatively" but seems to preference the former. Given that, I can't see him allowing himself to think of Rukia in a different way even if he wanted to, and I don't think he really wants to. (Especially since Rukia and Hisana seem fairly different. If the parallel was to be made that they were like Ichigo and Kaien then that could've been done very easily; it wasn't.)

That to me is the thing that leaves me cold more than any kind of moral argument, especially since they're not actually related. He seems very invested in treating her like they are related; Byakuya's treatment of Rukia as his sister (and her treatment of him as her brother) is pretty fundamental to their established characters. So my feeling isn't really, "Incest, eww," but rather, "That seems very out of character."

Now, if one rewrote things (or we're talking about an AU) where he didn't make that promise and she's just the sister of his deceased wife or they have no relationship whatsoever, that changes things. One could completely reconstruct the nature of their relationship while preserving the rest of their characters. And that could be fine and well done. It still wouldn't be my thing, and I wouldn't seek it out, but I wouldn't see any issues with it outside of my personal preference.

(The tl;dr for my preferences is if I'm shipping Rukia with someone other than Ichigo, Ichigo still has to ultimately be involved; it has to be Rukia and Ichigo and whomever. The reason for that is that I feel they're too emotionally compatible and complementary to settle for that not being a core component; it feels "empty" otherwise. And the pool of "whomever" is pretty limited. So, for example, I'm not interested in IshiRuki, but I guess I would at least try IshiIchiRuki to see if I liked it. But I also don't really think OT3s incorporating IchiRuki work well in "canon" [henceforth "Bleach Prime"], so I necessarily view them as needing AUs. This is sort of the process by which I wound up liking the emotional dynamics of an AU YoruIchiRuki, and although I will pair them off within that context, it's always circumstantial, either along the path to them becoming a thing, or because one is away from the other two.)

My preferred rewrite of "canon" would be to make Byakuya and Rukia actually related (as half-siblings). Soujun is essentially Byakuya's design making Rukia-esque expressions, so it fits to me. I would change Hisana to being Rukia's mother (and Soujun's lover after the death of Byakuya's mother), and either (obviously) discard the plotline of her marrying Byakuya, or turn that into an elaborate (and false) cover story by Byakuya to conceal the truth from Rukia until the end of the Soul Society arc (just as he initially led her to believe that she simply resembled Hisana). Personally, I think it's worth sacrificing the Byakuya-Hisana relationship for that more interesting Kuchiki family history, since we never really see much of the former anyway.

Having said that, I still don't really particularly care if someone ships them in Bleach Prime, or in AUs of whatever stripe. (It only really gets weird if they are actually related or are insistent on treating each other as though they are, and I'm not The Morality Police.) These things can all exist simultaneously.

(And to judge would make me quite the hypocrite given I tend to write Yoruichi in Bleach Prime or divergences from it as a big sister to Rukia, I think in a rewrite of "canon" she could be a surrogate mother, and meanwhile I'm writing AUs where they're lovers with Ichigo. All these things are distinct and separate from each other because that's how writing works.)

Ultimately, it's not my thing. But I also don't really care if someone writes it, and can't even be bothered to find issue with it in most circumstances except to say it feels out of character in "canon" or "near canon" (and truth to the characters is really what I prioritize as both a reader and writer).

(For the record, since I'm laying this all out in detail as it is, I don't really have advanced thoughts on an AU ByaIchiRuki where Byakuya and Rukia are unrelated, except to say that it actually sounds less cracky than a lot of stuff people write, although I'm not really interested in it either.)

tl;dr: A fairly nuanced "Meh."

[kuchikiclan]

Renji’s First Day

or the first meeting with the glorious Seaweed Ambassador.

((This short story is inspired by @kaickos​ adorable artwork in this specific post.))

English isn’t my first language. Also first time I’m actually writing for a fandom, be nice. Plz ;v;

                                                              ---

Today was the day. After passing the qualifications, today would be Renji’s first day as the vice-captain of the 6th Division, and he was a nervous mess. He had been waiting for this moment for years. Finally he would be close to the man he wanted to surpass and maybe ... Maybe he could pretend to Rukia’s friendship once more.

These were the thoughts that were racing through his mind as he walked toward the barracks of his new division. He hadn’t slept at all that night, nervous as he was. In front of the main gate, a man was waiting for him, waiving and smiling.

-” Ah ! Ah ! Here comes my successor ! “ he said, slamming his hand on Renji’s shoulder. “I’ve been waiting for you, let me show you around. Name’s Ginjiro Shirogane by the way, but I’m sure you already know that.” he added, laughing.

Shirogane was a man of average height, bald for the most part, but with a luxurious mustache. He was what you call a bon vivant. Generally friendly, but knew how to be serious when he needed to.

- “ There you have the training grounds, over there the infirmary. You also have the men’s dorms this way and the women’s on the other side.” he explained while Renji was trying his hardest to retain the information Shirogane was bombarding him with.

- “Over there are the women’s shower room, you’re not allowed to go peeking !” he added, giving Renji the stinky eye before erupting into laughter again, knowing full well he embarrassed him.

While all the barracks were virtually the same in every division, the 6th was arranged very differently of what he was used to in the 11th. For one, there were no wooden swords scattered everywhere and no bottles of sake either.

Before realizing it, they stopped in front of the massive wooden doors of the Captain’s office.

-” And here, you have the Captain’s office. He’s not here right now so don’t be so nervous. Despite having your own office, trust me, you’ll spend a lot of time in this room too. Captain Kuchiki’s private quarters are down this corridor but I wouldn’t recommend going there, unless there’s an emergency. Follow me, I’ll show you your office.” he added waving for Renji to come after him.

Renji took a deep breath before opening the doors to his new office and a new beginning. The atmosphere in this room was warmer than in the captain’s. The sun shone softly on the desk near the wide window in the back of the room. On both sides of the walls, massive shelves with years if not centuries of paperwork. On the right side of the wall, a coffee table with two couches around it.

-”As the vice-captain, you are the link between the captain and the subordinates. If they have any issues or need to talk to someone, you are the first person they’ll come to. You’ll probably spend more time talking and helping your subordinates on these couches than relaxing, I tell you !” Shirogane said after following Renji’s glance. “That’s part of the job.”

Nodding at Shirogane’s explanation, Renji noticed another desk, right by the door, on the left side of the room.

-”And what about this desk ? Is it for the 3rd seat ?” he asked, pointing at the desk.

Shirogane’s face darkened as he suddenly looked upset.

-” No...” he sighed. “You see, this is the desk of the vice-captain that was there before me, Kuchiki Soujun-dono.”

-”Kuchiki ?” asked Renji, surprised.

-”Yes, Byakuya-dono’s father. A great man and a kind soul. Wasn’t cut for the army but he was a great vice-captain nevertheless. You know how the 13th Division never got over Shiba’s death ? It’s kinda the same here in a way. Kuchiki Ginrei-dono has never been able to let anyone else other than his son use this desk so when the Central 46 kept pushing for him to promote a new vice-captain, he just got a new desk so this one would be left alone. When he retired, it just stayed that way. I please ask you to not use it. The Captain hasn’t said anything about it but in the 40 or so years he’s been in charge, the desk hasn’t moved either. It is as it was the day Soujun-dono died.”

.

.

.

It was now 22:00pm and Renji was alone in his new office, finally able to catch his breath after one hell of a day. A bunch of the squad members came to pay him a visit throughout the day, some were newbies fresh out the academy, others had been in the division for over 200 years already. He quickly noticed that while the newer members paid no mind to his predecessor’s desk, the older members usually tapped it quickly before exiting the room, like a small ritual.

As he was getting out of the room to get a well deserved night rest, he realized that some paper was sticking out of the last drawer. He grabbed it thinking it would be some old paperwork but instead, he was greeted by a paper full of scribbles done in bright and colorful pens. The drawing was a stick figure wearing black and some sort of white cape with the word “grandfather” beneath it. “Is this drawing Captain Kuchiki’s doing ?” Renji thought, chuckling. Curious and amused, he opened the drawer.

There were so many drawings it was a miracle that drawer was able to be closed at all. There were many representing, probably as it was mostly stick figures, a young kid and an adult man, both wearing the shinigami uniform, smiling with zanpakutos in their hands. What was common on all of them, was a drawing of a weird greenish creature with black dots for eyes, impressive eyebrows and a ravishing smile, the Seaweed Ambassador, as noted in the caption. “What even is that thing ...” Renji thought as he kept browsing through the drawings.

The sound of footsteps coming closer brought him back to reality as he rushed to put everything back where it belonged.

-”Ah Captain, good evening !” he quickly said, nervous. “Did you need something ?”

-”You weren’t there for it but next week the Gotei 13 have a festival and we’re going to all sell different things. Here’s our division’s design for treats, please forward it to the group who volunteered to make them. That’s all.”

-”Ah, yes, of course!” replied Renji, nervous and bowing as Byakuya was already gone.

Renji looked at the paper his Captain left him with. The final design for the treats.

Seaweed Ambassador.

-”Seriously ??”

[missiodei]

♦️ soujun,prince,breakfast

Soujun: 

He'd probably prefer something more of an anti-moirail? Someone that supports and eggs on his habits and ideas. He's not interested in being told that he has to change and he won't listen; but he'll gladly tell others to change and be more like him. Or he'll encourage certain bad habits that are to his liking and ideology. In his mind being at peace with oneself and getting back at those who harmed you, no matter the cost, is most important.

Prince:

Be cool. Don't be too loud. He’s got some fucked up morals but he’s not an openly violent troll usually, so he’ll usually be the one to calm someone down. As long as you're not ruining his clothes or his belongings he'll be fine. It's an easy quad to get. Or at least the easiest out of his quads. He wouldn't mind someone who also wants to sleep with him from time to time either. Prince would prefer someone within the highblood range, or a rainbowdrinker maybe. Someone who will last a long while with him provided they don't go and get culled. He doesn't mind landdwellers but keep in mind it takes him a while to get up from the ocean trenches. He vastly prefers anyone that isn't from the trenches really; less chance that they will be associated with the group he’s from. He's not one to talk much about his home life or his childhood, but a moirail might be able to drag such stories out of him. He won't want anyone's opinions on what should be done about it, though. He’s got his way of handling it.

Breakfast:

One has to know how to get this guy's attention and calm him down when he gets mad. He may yell a lot and that's in his nature but when his anger actually surges it's unquestionable, explosive. If you're going to be his moirail you can't fear getting up and personal with him, grabbing him or even flipping him if you have to. That or get in his face and yell right back at him; anything to distract him enough to relax. Aside from that he doesn't like trolls that like to go around causing trouble too much, nor would he want someone who would nag him about his gaming habits.

[clankuchiki]

Some thoughts and other stuff about Bleach

These are strictly my opinion as a long term Bleach fan. You are free to disagree obviously, but do so in a respectful fashion. Thank you. I’m mostly typing all this to get it out of my head.

And yeah, I’m particularly defensive about the Kuchikis, but eh, it’s a Kuchiki blog so that’s to be expected.

Bleach should have stopped after the end of the battle against Aizen, and without the whole evolution thing. It was downright ridiculous and boring.

Ageing makes no sense sometimes ?? How does it work in the Soul Society ? Renji & Rukia’s kid looks the same as Ichigo’s and Orihime’s.  But Byakuya & Soi Fon who were shown as teen, were young adults 50 years later. So do you age normally when you are young, and it starts to slow down when you reach your teens or close to adulthood ??

Considering above point, it would make sense that Yoruichi could be a childhood friend of Soujun (Byakuya’s dad and also my husband). It would be cutter to think Yoruichi is close to Byakuya for this reason rather than just because they both are from a high nobility family.

Ichigo became a downright pain in the ass somewhere in the middle of the Aizen Battle arc, and stayed that way up until the end. I KNOW he is the main character and he’s supposed to save the day as such, but I hated how he got all the powerzTM, it just felt ridiculous. Along with the evolution thingie too. You get shinigami powers, you get hollow powers, you get fullbring power blablabla. I also hated how it made the captains look like useless morons who can’t even do their jobs.

I’ll never forgive Kubo for what he did to Byakuya and Ukitake, I’m still not over this.

The fullbring arc was so boring, I have a hard time reading it again to remember stuff. I hated all the characters, apart from Riruka who actually made me laugh.

The quincy arc felt forced but I won’t speak much about this because I can’t even remember most of it, apart where it hurts.

The fact that “everyone” gets a bankai felt a bit weird. When we had Byakuya VS Ichigo, Byakuya spoke about it like it was a super big deal, like only a really small handful of people could achieve it. Well seems like they all decided to be in the same time span.

Byakuya and Hisana give me the feels, so pure. ;A;

What if Rukia was in fact, Hisana’s daughter instead of sister ?

Soujun is the cutest bleach dad, no opposition possible on this.

I’m still salty that Kubo introduced new characters in the second databook and have never done anything with them. I mean, Soujun, COME ONE ! (And Yamada too, he looks like an asshole and I want to know more about him)

The final end felt super weird too. I’m not a shipper so I couldn’t care less who ends up with who, but it just weird me out.  We only had an handful of actual relationships throughout the manga and I felt fine with it.

Both the kids annoy me, I don’t know if it’s because I usually like to stay as far as possible from kids in life, or they are both portrayed annoyingly.

I want to know how Byakuya and Hisana met, like how ?? Tell me !!

I also wish we knew more about the Nobles roles in the Soul Society, they seem important enough, but we know next to nothing about them. I wish this could have been addressed in a databook or something. I mean, I understand it could have been super boring in the actual storyline.

The arrancars were cool, mostly Grimmjow and Ulqui. They made it worthwhile.

Gin, you were amazing, rip baby.

I couldn’t care less about the quincy, they hurt my baby, they gotta pay.

Ichigo should remember that if not for his hollow, he would have been killed by Byakuya during their fight. good times.

Him getting a bankai when he did made sense at the time, but it was just the same scenario on repeat on each arc after that.

Yeah I’m a salty fuck.

Even so, Bleach holds the record for me for the number of characters that I actually love. In each books/manga/movie/game/whatever, I always have one or more favourite characters, but Bleach is the only one where I love that many of them. I obviously love the Kuchikis, but also Yoruichi, Soi Fon, Matsumoto, Hisagi, Renji, Kira, Ukitake, Shunsui, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow.. That’s what kept me going with Bleach, the characters I loved.

I also LOVE the universe of Bleach, I mean, isn’t the Soul Society super rad ??? I love how it was constructed and balanced. I love how each division has its own motto and how they differ from each others. I would have loved to see more about the daily life in a division. How is it like ? How close can you get to your captain ? Like can you be pals with them if they’re pretty chill ? What do you do each day if you aren’t out there chasing hollows.

What are the powers of the four noble houses and who are the other two ??

What the hell happened with the shiba clan ?  My noisy ass wants to know !

Who was Byakuya’s mom ? How did she meet Soujun ? Where they actually in love or was their union planned way before they could decide for themselves ? How did Soujun died ? We know it was in battle, but who did this ? I want names. Is Byakuya an only child ? (Rukia doesn’t really count here since I’m talking blood family)

What about Ginrei ? I feel like he’s close to Byakuya in terms of personality and he was a rowdy kid too. What about his wife ? How many kids did they have ? My weird headcanon is that they had 7 children, 6 daughters and Soujun was born the last and way after his sisters. He was kinda not planned and Ginrei had lost hope to ever had a son. And then, BAM, surprise. And then, due to his wife being a bit too old to bear children now, even though she could still have them, she died in childbirth. (Why do I even have that sob headcanon ???)

About Ginrei again .. We know Soujun wanted to join the 6th division because he was worried for his dad. But Ginrei was worried about his son’s health, which wasn’t great (that’s canon) so why the hell didn’t he stop him from joining the division. He made him a vice captain, why would he do that if he knew he wasn’t capable of fighting because of his health, and despite his talents, being a Kuchiki and all ? Because “he was going to be the next head of the kuchiki” seems a bit weak of an argument if you ask me.

Still about Ginrei, when did he became a captain ? What was his zanpakutou like ? what about his bankai ? who was the captain of the 6th division before him ? was it a member of the kuchiki clan as well ? Ginrei’s grand father maybe ?

How were the noble family founded ? Who decided who gets the higher place ?

How much shit did Byakuya get for marrying Hisana ? Did he think his parents might have opposed this relationship, or Soujun being kind  hearted would have been okay with this ?

Summary of how I feel about Ichigo in one panel, courtesy of Rukia :

I think I’ve rambled enough right now. Excuse typos.

[vaporwave-trolls]

Sakina 💁‍♀️🐰☕️💜😔🍦

💁 if someone was rude to you, would you be rude back? “Absolutely! they need to be told who they’re talking to and they need to apologize, im not just anyone you know,it should be illegal to even be rude to me to begin with and if you are then you should get hurt”

🐰 what is one secret that you’ve never told anyone? “i know kizakis trigger word hehehe she’s so cute when she gets angry i want her all to my self

☕️ talk about your ideal day “hm? im not sure really. id wake up and get ready spend some time with anko then go to soujuns shop like normal, bother him for awhile then go to work, i really like working so its part of my good days, go shopping with etonia on break and get manja then back to work,after work id go back to sous shop for a while longer before calling it a night and making my way home then id just sit in the garden and watch anko in the stream while eating something for dinner and heading to bed~”

💜 which acts of kindness are you going to do today?

“i’ll probably make some sweets and give them away to some trolls but just say it was extra from the cafe, its what i normally do, my sweets are far better then the shops hehe~”

😔 what do you always do when you feel sad? does it help? “i sit in the garden listening to the shishi odoshi click while looking at the nature, i live an hour out from town so that i can grow my garden i specifically put a lot of cherry blossoms and wisterias so i can watch the wind go through them…it’s relaxing, some tea as well with anko in my lap doesnt hurt either, i hope il eventually be able to have company but i dont trust myself

🍦 what is one treasured childhood memory? “me and kigome used to go to this old trolls oden stall i think thats where she got her love for cooking, but anyways i remember we used always go there after training and one night in particular it was cold out and we got frost bite on our toes but we stayed out so late just eating there and laughing, its one of the few good memories, i have another one of us catching a fish at a festival stall we where so excited it was kind of childish…kizaki almost killed it and cried, hehe wow good times 

[recurring-polynya]

Oop my bad I mean Ginrei haha. I was wondering what headcanons you had about him. The kuchiki clan overall is so mysterious

Ohhhhh, that makes more sense!

Sort of the same thing goes for Ginrei though-- just because I think he’s awful does not mean that I do not love him (I do.)

Look, the two wolves that live inside me are (1) I always end up loving rich characters and (2) I hate the rich. Although the contents of my blog may indicate otherwise, I am not actually a Byakuya simp. I am a Rukia and Renji simp, for sure. Byakuya loves them and is important to them, and by extension, I have grown affectionate for him, but the man is ridiculous and just barely escapes being awful, for reasons I will describe in a moment.

Soul Society is problematic. Like, this is not really a debatable topic, it is very much presented this way, and I think one of the most legitimate disappointments people have with the series is that we never see any major shift in this, even though a number of its institutions are literally destroyed, they just end up being being built up again. The main problem with Soul Society is that it is run by the rich and powerful, and the poor are neglected and left to live short, miserable afterlives. The nature of reincarnation and the fact that the strong cannot live among the weak without sapping their spiritual pressure really entrench this, along with the dominant narrative that it’s good for the outer districts to churn weak souls so that power can (rightfully) collect at the center.

Perhaps this is more of a logical extension than a headcanon, but everyone in Soul Society who controls any amount of power is likely to be awful: at worst, scheming and corrupt like that guy from CFYOW, and at best, crafty and artful a la Yoruichi. Take the Head Captain, for example, who is, on one hand, definitely presented to the audience as A Good Guy, and yet every single filler arc is about some shadowy thing he did 300 years ago coming back to bite him. Does he ever once show contrition about this? He does not.

Look, here is a headcanon I have hinted at, but I don’t usually say out loud: You know how Unohana was Soul Society’s worst criminal, and now she runs the medical station and teaches ikebana and smiles all the time? I also think that Kyouraku and Ukitake have done some nasty stuff in the past, and the fact that they now act like kind and genial goofuses is because they can. You get little hints of this all the time-- Kyouraku’s actions as Head Captain, Ukitake monitoring Ichigo through the substitute badge, etc. These dudes have done some shit, you will not convince me otherwise. (This does not affect my love for them, it may even enhance it)

I know this is very roundabout, but what I’m getting at is that to me, it’s a safe presumption that a Great Family Head is going to be slimy unless proven otherwise. Now, I don’t think Ginrei is a guy who gets up in the morning and says “how can I be evil?” I do however think he subscribes to the sort of circular thinking of “I am noble and therefore better than everyone else, it is right and good for me to make decisions that benefit myself and my family. Because we’re better than everyone else, it’s important that we remain in power as nobles.” On one hand, I think that Ginrei definitely does have ideals, like that he should lend his strength to the defense of Soul Society, that nobles should adhere to a certain standard of behavior, etc. On the other hand, when push comes to shove, he will absolutely prioritize covering his own ass (or his family’s). We see this directly in the Zanpakutou Spirits Arc, where he lectures Kouga on being a bad Kuchiki, and then immediately goes to pull some strings to get him off.

I think Ginrei and Byakuya are very, very alike in personality, which is the primary reason they don’t get along. The one big difference is, though, is that Byakuya does not talk out of both sides of his mouth the way Ginrei does. I think most nobles talk big talk about principles and standards in a way that is literally impossible to achieve, and yet Byakuya is constantly trying to hold himself to this, in a way that his relatives don’t really understand, and make a lot of people nervous. I also think that Ginrei is very, very pragmatic and makes decisions based on what needs to be done, and he doesn’t have a lot of sympathy for the people who get hurt along the way. Byakuya does this, too, to some degree, but through his association with his adopted baby scumbags, he realizes how much harm this did to his family, and he doesn’t want to be like that (although he’s also not really sure how to NOT be like that).

Here are some miscellaneous Ginrei headcanons:

- He had a good partnership with Byakuya’s grandmother, and they had affection for each other, but it wasn’t a love match.

- Good buds with Yamamoto, super problematic together

- Hair is incredibly silky, on par with B’s

- Was always unfailingly polite (bordering on patronizing) to Unohana and her bestie-at-the-time Iba Chikane. This however, was cover for a burning rivalry because Ginrei did not enjoy two women being better at things than him and Retsu and Chikane did not enjoy the patriarchy.

- Always had sky-high expectations for Byakuya, because he secretly thought Byakuya was great and wanted to see him be his best self. As a kid, Byakuya admired his grandfather, but as he grew up, and especially after the death of his father, Byakuya felt like his grandfather was just unpleasable for the sake of being an asshole.

- Ginrei had always been somewhat gentle with Soujun, because of his personality and illness, and partially blamed Soujun’s death on the this laxity, leading him to double-down on his expectations for Byakuya.

- Did not like Hisana because he was convinced she didn’t really love Byakuya and that Byakuya was throwing away a ton of political capitol for a woman who wasn’t even going to live very long. In other words, he legitimately thought he was looking out for B, but was a jerk about it. Finally let B marry her as an object lesson that... did not end the way he had hoped.

- Prior to the whole execution debacle, thinks Rukia is a disappointing nobody, not worthy of being a Kuchiki

- Is not dead, lives at the Kuchiki lake house in northern Rukongai.

- Has chilled waaaaaay out in retirement, loves tennis, tries to brew his own sake (it tastes like paint thinner but he keeps making B drink it)

I think this is the point where my Ginrei headcanons start to bleed into the Ginrei-comes-to-visit fanfic that I have been pretending to work on for, like a year now, so I’ll stop. Thank you for this discussion, which kinda makes me want to work on it again, even though I have a dozen other things to do.

[darigangelerts]

Halloween Art Exchange ?

I dunno. We had the neotag art fight which was super fun and we usually have secret santa around the end of December, but would anyone be down for a similar exchange happening for halloween or something ? It would be one person draws one thing for one person kind of thing and you’d get randomly assigned to someone. I don’t think there’s anything like that scheduled for that time of the year but correct me if I’m wrong.

[darigangelerts]

tfw you come out (is it the right term for ace peeps, idk) as ace to your closest friends and all you get is love and support

[darigangelerts]

february has been one hell of a month. “came out” as ace to my bf thus also ending our relationship (on friendly terms and for other reasons as well), had to leave my job as well since i’ll be moving, have slept like 3 hours tonight so i’m currently dying but i’m holding on. i still need to launch the exchange tomorrow so stay tuned.

[darigangelerts]

I can’t believe my trash bori drawing not only made it to the art gallery but it also got featured in the news. It’s so bad I can’t even, but thanks I guess ?? For the 45 times I’ve been in, you chose one of my worst entry omg.

But eh, at least I finally got in the poetry contest with an equally bad poem because poems are hard and I wish we could send some in French..

[darigangelerts]

Lol, the halloween exchange isn’t even over yet and I’m already super pumped for secret santa ! I’ve already set up the rules and deadlines (this will go live on the 5nov!) and yooo, I can’t wait ! i’ve also changed the themed of the blog so it’s more efficient ? I think. at least it’s prettier !

[darigangelerts]

i need to update the secret santas, draw my pets and write stuff but i got a nasty cold and i’m completely useless !!! >.<

my english is also running away plz come back

[darigangelerts]

the weirdest thing for me is seeing some of you on the actual neoboards and it’s giving me a mindf*ck everytime because I’m so used to your UNs here, it’s like “why are you named differently there ???” and  “wait, i know you!” or “this person is familiar” and I feel like coming to talk to you but it would feel weird because my username there is nowhere near the one I have here and ugh