#specifically not getting to think about Weird Rukongai enough

[bleachbleachbleach]

prev tags ‘this is so long i’m sorry this is mostly nonsense’

WELP here’s an animated depiction of what my response to long nonsense ended up being (AKA continuing the cycle of long nonsense, LOL):

First of all, thank you for the tag! ToT I laughed about the question of what to call things in fanfic because I generally consider them headcanons that died in the woods somewhere, because they’re in the last place anyone is going to find them, LOL. XPP But this post is the exact opposite of that, and so very loving. <3333

It also feels a bit weird to say "I AM VERY INTERESTED IN AND EXCITED BY EVERYTHING IN THIS POST" because parts of it are about things I said but 1) I wouldn’t have written them if I weren’t interested in and excited by them and 2) I am EXTREMELY interested in and excited by all of the ideas and musings you’ve presented here, Weird Rukongai is the best; theories of noble evolution are the best; Rukongai/Seireitei (and their denizens) interfaces are the best aaaaaaaaa

Youthful Ghosts and Rukongai being “hard on children”

@afinepiece​ made a comment about how long (or how briefly) the Inuzuri gang might have been tooling around together before Rukia’s introduction, and Rukongai being "hard on children." There are plenty of practical reasons Rukongai would be hard on children, lol, but it made me wonder if there weren’t also immanent reasons—ones that stem from the disjuncture between their lack of having lived a life prior to coming to Soul Society, and the nature of what Soul Society is meant to be. Like, if relatively speaking there’s not a whole lot of life to be "cleansed" from you, or to kind of ebb away from you before you can go back, does Soul Society become a more hostile environment? Is the slow time of Rukongai too different from the quick time of a child’s experiences, so as to be incompatible?

I generally assume that a soul is an elemental quality (i.e. you can’t have more or less soul than any other soul; a soul is irreducible and is always 1 soul, not 0.75 soul or 1.25 soul, even as expressions vary), so I don’t meant to say that ghost children have less soul. But I wonder if Soul Society is a place where processes/time/whatever are meant to work through you as you wait to be returned to the cycle (or, well, the waiting is part of the cycle) but if you’re a ghost child you’re not the entity the system/place is expecting. And either that compatibility destroys you, or it pressure-cooks you into something else—something with its own spiritual pressure, pushing back against implosion and crafting/MacGuyvering an equilibrium. (A word that shinigami LOVE! They balance plates in its name!)

Qualities Exclusive to Nobles Except When They’re Not

I love your point about what measurements Soul Society might cite in terms of who is noble and who is not; who is of Rukongai and who is still of Rukongai but also possesses qualities that define nobility, whoops. I also feel like children can only be born in Soul Society if high degrees of spiritual pressure are involved; like, that makes sense to me, especially given the seeming rarity of childbirth. And if it helps shore about the nobility’s ideologies of what makes them so special and different from the riff raff, reifying their notions of blood quantum (or rather, heritable reiryoku potential), well… I mean, from a humanistic POV that’s not ideal but from a worldbuilding one it is stellar, haha. And we’ve already established that the way nobility narrates that distinction is actively troubled by the fact of, say, Ichika, specifically! But less directly by the fact that A LOT of the current high-ranking Gotei leadership is from Rukongai and presumably could also have children if they wanted to.

But it’s not *exactly* the same because the pathways were different (or appear to be different, re: whatever distant processes produced the first beings that would become Sul Society nobility, would become shinigami, would become the foundations of Soul Society and then the Seireitei. Maybe they are not so different at that timescale), and these noble-equivalent, Rukongai-originating shinigami will always have rhythms and affinities that are inherently apart from how those of the Seireitei meet the world. (I LOVE THE IDEA OF THIS BEING INDEXED VIS A VIS THE OCEANNNNNNN our beloved, the ocean and Byakuya and Renji and Rukia, no part of this sentence is surprising.)

The Seireitei’s/the Gotei’s relationship to the Living World vs. Rukongai

One of the things I really love thinking about is the Gotei’s relationship to the Living World vs. their relationship to the outlying portions of their own realm. On one hand, they’ve got the Living World sorta on lock, in that there’s formal shinigami zoning and rules and protocols for interaction and gentei reiin and a dangai, senkaimon, etc. etc. etc. On the other, all of these things remain deeply mysterious and the Living World still comes across as some kind of frontier-like hinterland and/or exotic vacation destination. I’d say "the colonial project is incomplete" but that assumes colonial incorporation is the goal and for all the things Soul Society is and does, that really doesn’t seem like one of them. Gold star… for them I guess? XDD Anyway.

Then we have Rukongai, and whatever exists beyond that and/or sinks into the white mist of a 90s computer game that didn’t build the map out that far. They’ve mapped and numbered the districts, they have some sense of how many souls exist where and some means of distributing new souls places. But weird undocumented shit happens all the time and they don’t have the practical capability to actively patrol the whole thing.

So why do the shinigami neglect Rukongai?

1) Because the cultural narrative says the things that live there are so important but also not important shrug emoji.

2) Because there’s literally like 23 shinigami in the entire world and they are all very tired.

3) The magnets told them KEEP OUT (fucking magnets how do they work)

Which lol what I mean by that is what you were exploring about there being cautionary tales about not going or staying too deep in Rukongai, and maybe also some kind of immanent, repellant incompatibility with the place. An inversion of the incompatibility of a child ghost, maybe.

Rukongai+ is that “God when creating Australia” comic

Like in "Away, Away," where the forests are full of magic other than shinigami magic/shinigami being, and as you come more into your potential for shinigami being, your connection to (or just baseline ability to perceive) the other stuff closes off. And the forests being places shinigami aren’t really supposed to *go*. Going off of that, in the fic I’m writing right now, Team Muguruma (as Kensei calls it) spends a lot of time hiking through exactly that forest, and everyone is just kind of like, man, this place feels super weird, tf. The way I’ve drawn the map, you can travel through Junrinan longitudinally and drill down through all the districts in West Rukongai—places the Gotei have mapped and ostensibly could patrol but practically generally can’t. OR you can travel latitudinally and end up in the forests, and mountains, and eventually the ocean—places the Gotei has not mapped and only kind of vaguely knows is there (maybe). It’s uncharted because 1) there are like 23 shinigami in the world an they are all very tired, and simply haven’t gotten around to it, and 2) for Some Reason there don’t tend to be Hollows there so it’s not a regional priority as far as the Gotei’s Strategic Plan.

Some Reason.

(Aside from Kaien being an adventuresome rogue, it makes me wonder if Kaien taking Rukia out to Mt. Koifushi to train wasn’t him trying to tap into some of Rukia’s Rukongai-ness. Like, he takes her out to a place he has some familiarity with and knows some of the weirdness of, just in District 3 but in the mountain boonies—a place he knows enough to know it’s strange and weird, but is famliar enough to him to not get out of hand, because he’s hypothesized that there are rhythms out there that might be enriching for her, in ways she could never find at Kuchiki Kumon.)

This has gotten Very Long, but I feel like the broad strokes analogy I keep coming back to to anchor myself in Living World-Rukongai-Seireitei thoughts is like, space vs. ocean exploration. There’s been so much research in both directions, and there remain so many mysteries. But proportional to its size, we know a bit more about space (the Living World) than we do the deep sea (Rukongai and beyond), even though the deep sea is technically, in terms of physical distance, a lot closer. This was not conscious on my part, but I feel like some of the basic analogies might actually kind of work here, too?

Like, we know that the atmosphere in the Living World is less reishi-dense than in Soul Society. Even apart from soul-fixer being bad for you (yes, still thinking about 2nd Division Rando in your Renji prison-Rukia-era fic), or being in some devious reiryoku-stealing gigai, my headcanon is that being in the Living World long-term has physical effects on shinigami, similar to being in space impacting human bone density, etc. These usually aren’t too big a deal because you just go back to Soul Society and even out and it’s whatever. But it makes me wonder like, if you’re in the Living World for A HUNDRED YEARS does that still hold true? (Me, searching for reasons Kensei, Rose, and Shinji got to be helpful to the war effort for maybe 0.2 collective seconds and Byakuya killed like 15 Sternritter by himself.) But anyway, I was using pressure metaphors earlier with the ghost children and it makes me wonder if the Rukongai+ might not exert similar levels of influence on shinigami (whether deleterious or diamond/mutation-inducing. HOUGYOKU WHOMST). I’ve imagined the Wilds in your fanfics as having a miasmic or sporal quality, but maybe that’s because its orchids make me think in botanic metaphors instead of pressure ones and really all the metaphors are describing the same world from different POVs!

I'm on vacation, so here is a random grab-bag of Soul Society thoughts I had while staring into the sea today (this is mostly for @bleachbleachbleach but you can read it too)

One of my favorite conceits of B3's writing (I feel like things that appear in fanfiction are sort promoted from headcanons but I don't have a good word for it) is the notion that Rukongai has its own magic that is fundamentally different and, in fact, somewhat opposed to shinigami magic. This first shows up in Afar, Afar, where Momo loses her ability to see spirits in Junrinan (and perhaps even her memory that such a thing exists). There was also a notion of it in REVERSE THE BONE (the best Weird Rukongai fic ever written) about the train, which already exists in a sort of quantum state where it sometimes exists both forward and backward in time, but also that the journey depends on the passengers. There's a quote at the beginning, but nonetheless, has completely rewired my brain (it has been over a month, and I am still thinking about it):

Hisagi does not find this mollifying. “Yeah, but I don’t even think Captain Kuchiki gets the same train as the rest of us. Have you ever tried to use his restaurant reviews? Because I always print these things, and they sound great, then I go. And then they’ll look at me like—Well. It’s like I’m not even at the same restaurant. But hey, at least you’ll get to see a lot, right? I’ve heard East Rukongai these days is… fine!”

Within the context of the story, this is just hyperbole. Of course Byakuya experiences things differently, he's incredibly rich and powerful, etc, etc, but the thing that sticks in my head about this is that Byakuya is fundamentally different from Hisagi, and also Hitsugaya and Hinamori, who are the protagonists of this piece, because he is a creature of Soul Society and they are not.

The Rukon is a place for ghosts. For beings that lived a life on Earth and died. It is an afterlife. A thing I find incredibly interesting is that nearly all the Rukon-hailing shinigami we know of died as children. Additionally, they are all Really Good at being shinigami--captains and vice-captains, although this is a function of Bleach being a story about the more powerful members of Soul Society. Anyway, I think this is not a coincidence.

Two things that are true about Bleach are that: a) liminal things, hybrid things, things that exist at the boundaries of two other things, tend to be more powerful b) power is also achieved through transformation

It makes 100% sense to me that a child ghost has more potential to become in Soul Society. We also know that aging is non-linear, and that age changes tend to come in concert with increases in power. All of this feels very consistent and right to me.

In particular, consider Rukia, who died as a baby (and we don't know this for sure, but her sister, who died as an older child or teen did not seem to have the same potential). She was human, but only got to live a small fraction of the life she could have, and instead, went to Soul Society, and became such a creature of Soul Society, that she not only achieved bankai, but trained in the Royal Realm, a thing that few other shinigami get to do.

This reminded me of a line from my own fanfic, Hold On, Hold On, where I was trying to make sense of the "lieutenant is equivalent of nobility" thing (through the convenient mouthpieces of Kira and Hinamori):

“High ranking shinigami are basically considered to be nobility,” Izuru explains. “Or close enough for most purposes.” “The argument goes,” Momo elaborates, in a way that she knows will resonate with Renji, “that the reason nobles are noble is because their souls are so pure and strong, right? So how else can you explain the captains that come from Rukongai? You can’t, so you have to act like they’re noble, too, right? Noble logic.”

And while I don't think I'm wrong, what if there's more to it? What if there is something that is fundamental to one's nature that nobles and powerful shinigami have in common, something that also corresponds to the nature of the Seireitei.

There's one other thing that I think they may have in common, and that's the ability to reproduce. Fanon is split on this topic, but I've always been of the mind that having babies in Soul Society is something only people with strong spiritual energy are able to do. So, in that sense, if noble people see themselves as defined by having been born in the Soul Society, of being creatures who have never lived, it's not exactly the same, but a Rukongai wandering soul who gains the ability to reproduce is certainly a step closer, no?

(Is this the part where I talk about Soul Society nobility and their parallels to faeries, with their low birthrate and stealing babies and people of talent to join their underground magical kingdom?)

An interesting ramification of all of this, is that you've got Rukia and Renji, who represent one of the most successful cases of dead souls acclimating to Soul Society and reaching the highest echelons of power, but I strongly suspect that there are still some fundamentally Rukon things about them-- things they see, things they feel, things they remember. What makes this extra cool to me is the fact that they hang out with Byakuya, the product of dozens of generations of Soul Society lineage. In fact, the catalyst for all of this thinking was me thinking about Byakuya having an instinctive distrust of the sea, whereas Rukia and Renji and Hisana all love it. Now, I am generally not very interested in Ichika, but I am interested in the fact that she is something different than her parents. That on some level she has more in common with Byakuya. I mean, is this the origin stories for Soul Society's noble clans in the first place? Some souls made themselves powerful enough to make more of themselves?? That is a pretty interesting thought to me, not that I've come up with anything interesting to do with it. It's like, what if you were a changeling, and you got adopted by the king of the faeries and you had a baby with another human changeling, but your baby was a faery? (Polynya, this was the plot of Books of Magic. Kinda sorta. You have somehow achieved your life goal of six degrees of John Constantine-ing Tim Hunter and Kuchiki Rukia and it was entirely by accident.)

Anyway, that was my complete quota of interesting Ichika thoughts for today (I still think it would have been cooler if they got to conceive a baby in the Royal Realm but no one asked me).

The more interesting direction that these thoughts took goes back to B3's fic, in the sense of: do the nobles avoid the Rukon? What is it that they don't like about it? The implication is always just basically that it's poor and not as nice as the Seireitei, but what if there are things that are in opposition to the law and order that people like Yamamoto have imposed on the controlled area inside the city walls. Even the Shiba, the infamous rebel outcasts only live in District 1.

Consider Ukitake's backstory--his noble family were so desperate to save their sick child that they went out to District 76 and made a deal with a god/a piece of the Soul King (is there a difference? does it matter?), a thing which gave Ukitake the capability to become a vessel for a god. I feel like Mimihagi wouldn't/couldn't have made that deal with an ordinary soul. This happened a super long time ago and I bet there have been all kinds of cautionary tales, etc, to discourage this kind of behavior today. (Which also ties a little into Yhwach's "the Gotei used to be better, you suck now" comment)

I'm not really converging on any sort of conclusion, here, it's just sort of interesting to me. The Rukongai sort of represents wild lawlessness, I think, the loss of rules and sense. The TYBW is all about how the order of Soul Society (and Hueco Mundo and the Living World) is a thing that was invented for and by the shinigami for their own benefit, and I think they don't even really have control of their entire realm, just the central bit.

There's a constant fanon outcry of "why do the shinigami neglect Rukongai?" and it's always because "Soul Society sucks" and "Central 46 is dicks" etc, but I think it's interesting to think about the shinigami as a social order that truly has limited power, and that there is a lot of shit in the Rukon that is more than is dreamt of in their philosophy, if you get my drift, whether it's werewolf clans or trains that don't obey the laws of time and space. It's like the way in a horror movie, the cop or the army dude gets taken down by the monster in the woods who is eventually defeated by a teen or something. Shinigami are very powerful when it comes to dealing with the interface between the World of the Living and their personal World of the Dead, but they are less well equipped to deal with the things in their own backyard.

Regretfully, none of this cohered in my head into anything that I could spin into a good story (I'm not sure they even cohered into this essay), but maybe it will roll around in my head long enough to grow a pearl, who knows?

[gallusrostromegalus]

When I was reading Bleach for the second time, I was surprised by how many characters in the Soul Society weren't actually souls from the living world, but were, like, born there and how this has been going on long enough to essentially form an aristocracy.

I had a specifically worded question about it for you, but it's completely gone now.

How's Renji and his snake-baboon? Personally, I think the swords and by extension Bankai should be able to talk smack more often and was disappointed that animal themed ones didn't become more of a thing.

To answer how I'm handling the "who is born in soul society and who just re-incarnates there?"

If you're a soul that died in particularly charged circumstances, Died particularly young, needed to be escorted by a Shinigami, had to be de-hollowfied or otherwise have wildly unfinished business from your previous life, you're more likely to be reincarnated with at least some of your previous identity. 50/50 chance you'll remember ANYTHING about your previous life though.

If you're a soul that lived a long or particularly fulfilling life, managed to get to the afterlife yourself, were a baby that dies before you were a year old and didn't have a fully developed memory, or are generally chill about the whole "being dead" thing, you're more likely to be reincarnated as a baby birthed in the afterlife, with no recollection of your previous life.

WHO is reborn, who is reincarnated, who goes to soul society and who goes to Hell is not actually Known by Soul Society- the sorting of the Dead is actually the provenance of the Demons of Hell, who have a running metric on every soul in the living and spirit worlds so the second you're dead they've got you sorted.

The Shinigami HAVE been able to make educated guesses about at least some of the metric by keeping extensive notes on the souls they help move on- Who linger and why, who turns into a hollow and why, who goes to Hell and Why etc. but the exact metrics and mechanisms used to assign people's place in the afterlife is a mystery- which is why Soul Society doesn't runite people in the afterlife and has such trouble keeping track of people in the Rukongai- they literally have no input or knowledge of who goes where, when or why.

As for Zabimaru: They (plural- the monkey and the snake) are doing well, though they were more than a little alarmed when Renji was suddenly transferred to the 11th division* after his time in the 5th and found out that, unlike literally every other person** they've met, Zaraki can just passively see and interact with Zanpaktou Spirits***.

*There is extensive chicanery afoot regarding Renji's career in the Gotei-13 **Note: a broader category than just "Human" ***He can't really harm them in spirit form, but he can talk with and generally annoy the shit out of them. This is Extremely Weird, but he's an Extremly Weird case.

Hilariously, Zabimaru gets along GREAT with Senbonsakura, it's just kind of a shame their humans are so bad at playing together.

[thequeenindisguise]

Ah Bleach... I’m just going to leave this here...

So I don’t know if this has been pointed out before but I’ve been thinking about this scene in Bleach... (and I had to struggle to find what chapter it was again... and I believe this was Ch. 467?)

As lovely as Rukia (and her memories of Ichigo) are in these panels, seeing the latest chapter now (yes, the hell arc thing), can someone explain what exactly Ichigo changed in Soul Society? Aside from influencing them to change their hairstyles?

I mean, I know it’s too late to even discuss what Bleach could have been but I remember reading blogs and watching vlogs about how people said that one of the factors that affected the “fall” of bleach was the fact that Ichigo never had a clear goal except to protect people (or more specifically the people important to him) which means as long as the enemy was defeated then the main issue was resolved and we move on to the next arc.

But then again, I’ve always believed that that could have been utilized as a strength since the story could be flexible enough to go on so many possible directions... (in which it did haha in a very “heh?” manner I think lol)

And though I don’t want to compare shows but I’ve always pictured Bleach to be the kind of show that would have a more “The Good Place” approach when it comes to making a better system for souls but in a more action packed manner like maybe we can have the souls that were very badly mistreated in Rukongai revolt or something because Seireitei just had to go down because it’s basically the Capitol in The Hunger Games.

Just. Think. About. It. Shinigami girl meets this human boy and somehow she ends up having him involved in this world of the afterlife, which she initially endorsed as a good place for souls, but in the end it would end up in the two of them seeing the big picture like oh... this place really is garbage... we better fix it somehow. And they subtly and slowly get everyone involved (whether they want to or not) in this course of action and making them some sort of catalysts for something better.

But no.

Let’s get married and make babies haha I don’t know. Let’s take that approach instead haha I mean, not that I don’t want them to have families, I just felt like it shouldn’t have been a priority atm, you know? Like, it makes me think that the time skip and the families were supposedly done so that we can relate more to the characters now since most of the audience/readers of Bleach have grown and have their own families now too. So was that approach supposed to be relatable? Because I wouldn’t mind reading arc after arc about post mugetsu Ichigo without kids.

Like for Rukia, I mean, I love her to death but I would have thought that maybe after she became a noble and a high ranking officer, she would have returned to her roots and helped children in Rukongai not to suffer the same fate she did? Would that have made sense? If not, well, just think about how twisted it is that she’s working for the same system that tried to execute her in the first place.

And Ichigo, okay, I know it was supposed to be some sort of reward for him to have a “normal/peaceful” life because he’s been involved in so many battles and has gotten hurt so many times blah blah but come on, can you really just sit still at night, do your homework peacefully, knowing that there’s a whole world of the afterlife out there aside from the one that you’re living in. Can you still just go to work, day after day, knowing that after you die, you’ll end up there? In the Capitol?

I mean, it makes me think that maybe part of the reason why he ended up with Inoue was because the existence of Soul Society was a big piece of revelation that he’s exposed to (very early on in his life) and he can’t possibly share that with someone else that is outside the loop that’s not involved with Soul Society. That would be weird to the new person/girl (especially if they find out about Ichigo’s connection to Rukia).

Oh well, that got pretty long but as I said, I’m just leaving this here. And again, if you have time, feel free to let me know what the heck did Ichigo do again to deserve the lines in the panels above. Or just let me know that I’m not the only one having thoughts like this. Keep me sane Haha. Bye.

[magical-girl-coral]

Fever Dreams

When your subconscious calls you out during your down time.

Shinji walked down in the familiar fifth division halls, his Haori on his back and long hair flowing over his shoulders. Even though his steps were determined, his mind was confused. Weird, I don't remember agreeing to come back.

A small cough and whimper were heard from one of the seated officer rooms, and Shinji immediately recognized this memory.

"Is he still sick?" Shinji asked Aizen as he entered the room, peering over the shivering ball of blankets that was their third seat. Unfortunately, Gin has been sick since morning, and as a result, Sousuke himself took a day off to watch over the kid and is currently sitting next to said sweaty mess.

"Of course he is," Aizen replied, annoyed, "His body is still that of a child. It will take time for him to recover. I highly doubt you could be healthy in less than a day."

Shinji brought up his hands in defense. "Alright, alright, I was just asking. Sheesh. What's up with all the defenses?"

Aizen was about to reply until he heard a tiny whine escape their third seat. Gin tried to snuggle closer to Sousuke, and that was when Shinji started to worry. The kid would rather bite off his own foot than ask for help. He really is in bad shape. Aizen put a comforting hand on the boy's back as the latter shivered.

"I don't wanna die," Gin cried out from his fever dream, "I don't wanna die. Please, I don't wanna die..."

Aizen continued to rob the boy's back. "It's going to be alright. We have medication, and the cold isn't that bad-"

"Are you kidding me?" Shinji asked in exasperation. "You're weeping over a summer cold? I saw you take a sword to your knee without a problem-"

"Captain, don't-" Aizen tried to cut him off, but Shinji carried on regardless.

"I'm just saying; it's pretty weird that just a basic fever is what brings him down. I thought he had tougher skin than this."

"Captain-"

"What, like you don't find it weird? The kid prides himself on being a survivor who does everything on his own, shouldn't he better than-"

"Captain Hirako, that is enough!"

Shinji took a step back from Aizen's shout and looked down at Gin, who turned his back from him. Before he could muster an apology, Aizen took him by the arm to talk outside Gin's room.

"What were you thinking?!" Aizen screamed at Shinji's face once they were far enough. "You see a sick child, and the first thing you do is make fun of him?! In what world is that the correct response!"

"I, I didn't mean-"

"No, don't even bother. You have no idea what you've just done. Gin is already as closed off as he is, and now you've made everything worse! He would probably hide his sickness the next time he falls ill! And didn't you think him crying out because of his fever has something to do with him being from the Rukongai districts? People die there from minor flu and stepping on a rusty nail. He has every right to be afraid!

"Sousuke-"

"Honestly, why do you bother being a captain if you don't even try to think these kinds of things through?!"

Shinji stared at him in shock. "Sousuke, I just thought that it would make him laugh-" He cut himself off when Aizen turned his back to him.

Aizen took a deep breath. "I already send officers to bring us some medicine for Gin. I will stay with him until he gets better, and if you want to help us in any way, go back to your office and do your fucking paperwork."

Aizen began to walk to the boy's room, and Shinji tried to reach out to him. But the floor started to deepen, and Shinji's voice became smaller and smaller as he tried to call out to Aizen. He reached out, trying to grab something, anything-

Shinji woke in a start. His heart was beating out of his chest as he tried to sit up and observe his surroundings. Right, he was still in Soul Society, recovering from the Winter War, staying at fourth's barracks, and it's currently the middle of January, or more specifically, the fifteenth. So Gin's trial is today. That explains the weird dream.

Shinji signed out loud in the empty room. That anger was with you all that time, Aizen, and I never fucking noticed. He then let out an even louder groan after realizing it was barely four in the morning.

The day had barely started, and Shinji already knew it was going to be a long one.

[hotpinkstaples]

Damn there’s a lot to cover so it’ll be in a few parts I’m anon bc I think ur cool and I want us to be on good terms but I’m not sure yet if we can disagree politely ;(

I got to disagree with you on some parts like Julius callously just straight up collecting ppl like Pokémon. He simply selected people who he thought had cool magic and a potential to be good warriors. He is both childish and ambitious. Simple as that.

He knew he had to create a strong squad so he could be WK one day and he did it in the nicest way possible. He helped Yami become more acquainted with the language and culture and made him a strong knight. He did the same thing for William. He showed kindness and respect when William had none and helped with his insecurities. William knew that realistically speaking, not everyone is going to accept his visage as graciously as Julius so he was content with at least one person(whom he regarded highly) knowing and accepting him. Giving someone a purpose and the will to live not a bad thing yk?

But at the same time, he achieved his goal to be Wizard King without stepping on anyone.

Though I have to agree that he flopped as WK to achieve what he wanted.

So I will preface this with four things:

Really, I am just a Siberian sheep farmer, and thus you are welcome to post a dissenting opinion at any time. I do not bite!! The rest of your asks are under the cut. :D

I have never read the light novels.

My knowledge is 75% anime, 25% manga. I started the anime and watched all the way to the beginning of the Heart mini-arc. Then I stopped and read the manga from where the anime stopped. Therefore, I only have knowledge of the story through the anime up to volume 23. Volumes 23 onwards, I’ve been manga-exclusive until recently, now that the anime is adapting from the manga.

I am a crackhead.

So for the Pokemon part, I was referring to Yami, but like... How you describe Julius is exactly how I’d imagine a Pokemon trainer. He’s a forty-year-old man and his passion in life is to look at shiny magic things, and that’s OK! Julius is an eccentric man, and there’s never anything wrong about being passionate about the things you love.

But at the same time, Julius’ passion is also one of his primary weapons because he did recruit William and Yami specifically because they had interesting/rare magic, and despite how passionate he is about magic, they were recruited for the military. They were also, arguably, at their most vulnerable when Julius came along. Yami was poor, illiterate in the Clover language, and not ashamed to walk off with a stranger for a simple meal, whereas William was basically the Clover equivalent of weird lil forest boy. Now, do I think Julius recruited them because he planned to take over the world? Absolutely not! But he did manage to recruit them into a system he would, eventually, go on to oversee, so it’s very difficult for me to view Julius as some flighty old man just asking cool magic people to join him when he’s shown to be one of the sharpest and coldest people in the room, and intelligent enough to forecast what power he needs to be able to leverage in order to maintain control.

And I agree - he’s ineffective as a leader, and incompetent at his job in general. However, I don’t think his incompetency is just because his head is in the clouds about magic. I think it’s also because of his privileged birth, his aimlessness in life before Zara came along, etc. In any other world, Julius would probably be your favorite archeologist living off daddy’s trust fund, but he’s not that. He’s the head of a military force and the face of a nation, and I truly believe he’s failed both.

As for toxic loyalty.... I would have to disagree. I think superficially Yami is just a dude going about his day, squatting in Mr. Legolant’s house with his Pokemon, but I don’t think Yami is so dumb that he doesn’t recognize how much he’s despised for being a migrant. You’re right, he doesn’t have to be a beacon of change for any other immigrants, but I think it depoliticizes his character and does an overall disservice to his narrative when race/species conflict, class conflict, and genocide are all key themes in the story. You’re right, Yami doesn’t give a fuck most of the time because he’s just not interested in social justice or bringing any meaningful impact to Clover politics, but it’s because he doesn’t give a fuck is the problem. Yami’s complacent in upholding Julius’ institution, just like William is complacent in Patolli’s acts of terror, because regardless of how Yami feels, he’s part of a larger military complex seeking to uphold the Crown, a crown Julius controls as leader of the military.

And I heavily disagree that William wasn’t focused on equality, discrimination, and all that jazz. William’s grimore was not dedicated to Julius pre-elf reincarnation. If it was, William’s struggle in deciding between Patolli and Julius would never have existed because Patolli would have either been contained and or exorcised before it got to the point that it did. More than that, William’s betrayal runs far deeper than the moment he receded to let Patolli chop off Fuegoleon’s arm and put him in a coma. No - William’s betrayal was a decade’s worth of actively building a squadron of bodies that would be fit to hold the souls of the elves once the reincarnation began. I’d argue that William implicitly chose Patolli from the start, even if he explicitly made the case that he didn’t really have a choice. In addition, William was aiding and abetting a terrorist whose entire motivation hinges on the genocide of his people. Sorry to say, but I can’t agree that William didn’t have these things in mind when he was making his choices.

For Fuegoleon and Nozel, I won’t argue they’re seeking to fulfill political ambitions. It’s true! They want the Crown because they want the power and can strive for it due to their position on the hierarchy.

As for overthinking Yami’s behavior... I like to overthink. Lemme tell you why. Yami being aware of Charlotte’s feelings aint the problem, and neither is his him getting into fights with Jack. No, the issue is Yami has a habit of collecting people like Pokemon when people shouldn’t be treated as such!

I make jokes that Yami never got management training, but lemme expand - he hired an ex-con, a mage whose true visage he didn’t learn about until the Underwater Sea Temple arc, an alcoholic with mommy issues, an anxiety-ridden taxi with daddy and brother issues, etc., basically all of the members have some kind of issue that stems from trauma/violence/etc and Yami just invites them to his squad like, literally, it’s a halfway house. Now, the people he recruits are grateful and all, but they’re all fucked up! Every one of them, except Asta.

And that’s why I say Asta was the wake-up call Yami needed, and the character that will drive Yami’s development, because Asta has something Yami doesn’t have - and that’s clarity. Asta’s history, his rise to power, his ambition, all of that hinges on a childhood raised with love and warmth even if he was born with what the kingdom could view as a disability (ie. no magic). Asta knows what he wants because his goals benefit more than just him. Asta wants it for Hage, for his adoptive father, and for his foster family. Asta has his eyes on the prize because his circumstances allowed for him to keep his eyes on the prize.

Yami does not have that level clarity in his life. You said it yourself - Yami isn’t the type to sweat the political stuff, he’s living because he can, and he surpasses his limits because he wants to and not because he has to. He leaves his squad to his business, and he expects them to get their shit together when necessary, but besides that, it’s hands-off.

And that’s where the issue is! Yami is detached from his own squad emotionally. Part of the reason why it’s easy to parentify Yami as the team dad because it’s assumed his detachment is a regular shounen-dad trait, not present but he loves you anyway. I don’t think that’s the case with Yami. I think it runs deeper than that, and part of the reason why Yami can’t bond with his own teammates and actually lead the squad is because he’s overcompensating for his own insecurities and inability to have a clear and necessary vision for his future.

The few times Yami has had to surpass his limits is when he’s had to protect his squad, people who are mentally ill and generally incompetent themselves, and it’s because Yami knows he’s the only one capable of doing it. And that’s a problem! Yami doesn’t offer them the tools to get better mentally and physically. It’s not even a joke anymore because Henry has tried murder-suicide twice in order to win a battle, and it’s for Yami. Before Asta, the Black Bulls were a fractured mess of people with Yami holding them together for dear life, but with Asta, they were able to see life beyond the comforts of the Black Bulls den. Vanessa and Finral faced their traumatic pasts. Grey finally found the courage to enhance her magic. Henry finally came out of the attic. In a way, the Black Bulls are also toxically loyal to Yami because Yami? He’s not a good leader either! Now, is that Yami’s fault? No, but he is responsible for the health and wellbeing of his squad, and his kidnapping by Zenon was testament that he’d ultimately failed in the only real responsibility he’s ever had. Maybe that’s overthinking Yami’s character and motivations, but I think that’s fine.

As for the civil war, that’s just something I would love to see because Bleach never did a Rukongai civil war when we were ripe for it. It’s pure self-indulgence! Of course I know neither Fuegoleon nor Nozel will start a civil war, but I like to think something will, and sometimes I think it will be Asta’s trial... and sometimes I think it will be something completely outta left field, but the concept fascinates me because much of the story is predicated on the ongoing issues of social and political injustice, race/species conflict, even if it’s all fluffed up with cool character designs. Now, a lot of why I want to see Black Clover attempt a civil war is because I hold Tabata to a standard simply because he claims his work is Berserk but for babies. Now, I never thought such a concept would come to light, but as a Berserk stan... I just wanna see if he’s worth his mettle! I think there’s a lot in the story that’s ripe for inter-Clover conflict, but I also understand his limitations. Yes, because it’s shounen, he can’t expand on certain themes, but like, he teases it well enough that it makes it, quite frankly, annoying as heck when he doesn’t pull through. Perhaps it’s my own fault for holding him to the standard, but like, if you gon say you gon write bootleg Berserk, then write bootleg Berserk!!!

I digress. Now, if a civil war were to begin, I honestly think it would be one mainly driven by what happens to Asta post-Spade. If Damnatio turns around and paints him as a hero for having saved the kingdom, then there won’t be any need for a civil war because uwu Asta will become Wizard King and do policy change from the top-down (trickle-down social and poltical justice).

But if Asta were to be charged and jailed anyway, just so he could take the fall for the amount of destruction that’s about to go down, then it doesn’t make sense for there not to be a civil war. Because once Asta goes down, who’s gonna become Wizard King? Yuno? The guy whose birthright is the Spade throne? Even if Yuno remains a Clover citizen, the chances of him becoming Wizard King are next to null because his parentage would be viewed as a conflict of interest.

So really, it’s not a question of who starts the war, but what propels the issue. We already know that in the context of the story, kin punishment exists, so if Asta has to take the fall, who’s to say his family won’t take it too? That the family in Hage and Yuno won’t have to bear the brunt of the blame in order to bring “peace” to the nation.

I’d like Tabata to go the route of a civil war because then he’d be forced to show that the issues in Clover run way deeper than just Augustus and the nobility. It’s their caste-like social structure, lack of infrastructure and resources for the people living in the “outer” areas, their discriminatory practices towards those of lower birth, racism, etc.

But again, that entirely depends on if Tabata wants to tell such a tale, or if he prefers Asta take the assimilationist route, save the day, and become the uwu hero. He can! It’s an easy way to frame things, and mirrors Lumiere’s Big Battle well enough, but I think a war would also be great so that it can really put Asta in a position to exercise his brain in the face of absolute loss, and spark hope from nothing. Asta is my favorite of the new generation of Shounen Jump protags because he has a level of potential I just don’t see in others. He has a drive, but he also has critical thinking skills, and he has a support system when shit gets real. I want to see Asta feel the weight of decisions beyond his control, so that he can experience decision-making from a place of true helplessness, which I honestly think will help him see that there’s more to the dream of being Wizard King than just climbing the ranks. It’s advocating for real change. It’s not only knowing how to empower the people, but also being able to actively challenge injustice in every form. It’s not full-on anarchy like Liebe, but it’s not just assimilationist politicking he was doing earlier. I think with a civil war, Asta will understand that there’s more to his world than just magic, and that he, as a non-magic person, can make change that doesn’t hinge on him following the rule of the law, because the laws have to change, and they can’t change when Asta’s forty and finally Wizard King, they have to happen now. A civil war will expose a lot of the underpinning issues and offer the cast a change to work through them! Also, it makes for good conflict uwu.

But that’s entirely my opinion!!! I’m a HUGE fan of historical political thrillers. Absolutely LOVE that shit. I wanna see it in Black Clover because selfishly, it would make me happy!!

[gunnerpalace]

So how would you rewrite it? I think you said something about doing that?

That would be the subject of Hyperchlorate Part III. (Part II again being detailing everything that went wrong, and Part I being going over what made the story unique.)

In essence there are the four major changes I would make to Bleach:

Radically expand upon (and show, don’t tell) character relations in the story. We are repeatedly told that so and so are friends, or family, or colleagues, or whatever, and we essentially never see it (outside of Tatsuki and Orihime at the very beginning). It’s critical to caring about and interlinking the characters and seeing them grow and develop. For example, someone made a point that the Xcution arc demonstrates Ichigo’s bonds with Soul Society are stronger than with his own friends. That’s true, and you can see it in the Japanese cultural context of him using their first names (even for Toushirou!) whereas he keeps calling Uryuu and Orihime by Ishida and Inoue. There’s a definite social distance there. But it’s a subtle thing. And it really needs to not be subtle. There needs to be a lot more interactions between characters; plenty of characters literally never interact at all, and plenty of characters look fucking terrible for their apparent gross negligence that serves zero point other than to maintain the Mystery Boxes (here’s looking at you, Isshin, Ryuuken, and Kisuke).

Recontextualize everything after the Soul Society arc. I am not opposed to certain places, people, or concepts (e.g., Hueco Mundo, the Espada, Fullbring, the Soul King, etc.) but the way they were introduced and handled was, frankly, garbage. Arrancar, at least, were set up rather early on. The rest… was a bunch of ex nihilo shit. It came out of nowhere with no setup. I also don’t really enjoy the thematic inversion of Hueco Mundo seemingly purely for the sake of subverting expectations. So, I would restructure everything that happens after that point in gross detail.

Refit, standardize, and clearly and consistently implement and allude to the grand plot. If there was going to be some grand purpose to the Bleach universe, it needed to be made clear textually, not just thematically, throughout the story. It needs to be set up to the reader, if not to the characters, very early on so they “get” what everything is building toward. That absolutely was not done.

Having a real ending that actually involves our protagonists making a substantive change. I’ve definitely been over this before.

That’s all well and good, right? So what sort of things would I actually look to change?

As an example of the high-level stuff… In terms of narrative, internal consistency, and plot, the whole Substitute Shinigami thing makes no fucking sense. It makes literally zero sense that Ginjou was the first one in several thousand years, and Ichigo was only the second. It makes zero sense that a technique to transfer powers to humans exists and is taught at the academy, can be known to have a “low chance of success,” and then made a crime when it’s happened a grand total of two times, unless it was all a long con just to catch Ginjou, and in that case it’s dumb because he doesn’t matter. (We’re supposed to believe Soul Society allows Hollows to run roughshod everywhere but they’re really obsessed about catching this one dude but not enough to actually task anyone powerful to go do it? No, none of that makes sense.)

It also doesn’t make any sense that there are only a grand total of 6,000 to 7,000 Shinigami to patrol its nebulously defined area of responsibility. (Is it the whole world? Is it just Japan? If the latter, are there other Soul Societies? If the former, where are the foreigners? Sure seem to be a lot of people who look foreign, but they all have Japanese names and speak Japanese in a manga that clearly at least recognizes Mexico. Why would foreigners accept a feudal Japanese afterlife? This is another small example of what I mean by the grand plot being fucked.)

It also doesn’t make a lot of sense that the only Shinigami worth a damn are Captains, Lieutenants, and the occasional Seated Officer. (This is canonical, by the way.) Almost all of them are total trash who would lose to the most basic bitch Hollow, let alone an Arrancar. Meanwhile, your average Quincy can mop the floor with all three.

You know what would make a lot more sense, and work better with what’s on paper? Here are some ramblings from my notes on this subject:

i think it’s sorta like… you wanna mirror the structure of the Hollows; Shinigami as a whole are like Menos, although they are almost all Arrancar (there could be some very low-ranked/new Shinigami who do not have shikai, these would be the “rookies”), whereas substitute Shinigami are like masked Hollows, with some overlap into Gillians/Menos Grande

- Captains (General Officers) are at the level of the Espada (with obvious differences among them correlating to Espada generated from Vasto Lordes and Adjuchas)- Lieutenants (Staff Officers) are at the level of the Privaron Espada and some of the stronger fracciones- Seated Officers (Officers) are at  the level of most fracciones and wild Adjuchas [sometimes from the 4th Seat up are more on the level of the above, e.g., Ikkaku and Yumichika]- Unseated Officers (NCOs) are at the level of weak fracciones, or on the order of holding off a Gillian- Substitute Shinigami (Enlisted) are at the level of individual Hollows

Substitute Shinigami are basically what Soul Society sets up to deal with the Living World rather than directly intervening, because “they have better shit to do;” they’re probably set up like a secret society of beat cops, and yeah, if the Shinigami proper notice spiritually sensitive people while setting up new districts or maintaining their assigned ones, they shank'em and induct'em (usually these people attract Hollows anyway so it’s a “become one of our grunts or die” type deal; maybe if they refuse, the Shinigami kill them instead for shirking their duties?)Hollows aren’t the only spooky thing running around in the night either; they’re probably relatively rare, and other weird shit like revenants and ghosts are more common

i also have some notes here about how it’d be cool if Substitute Shinigami were like, an established thingand were expendable gruntswith actual Shinigami being rather more elite, even if they’re not seatedlike it’s XCOM with supernatural shithaving shikai should be a big fucking deal; even knowing kidou should be like, impressiveyour average Hollow should be equivalent to a Substitute Shinigamian unseated Shinigami should be like a Menos Grandea Shinigami good at kidou and a weak zanpakutou should be like a weak Arrancara seated Shinigami should be like a medium Arrancar and know shikai for surelieutenants should be like Privaron Espadaand captains should be like the Espada (or higher)

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. My first big change to Bleach would be dispensing with the concept of substitutes as being rare. They should be the main interface for the human world (and expendable, and have a high turnover rate). Rukia being there should be A Big Deal. (Have her sent there specifically to monitor things, like a Commissar? To look for Grand Fisher? Whatever.)

Ginjou, were he to exist, would then need a different backstory, but that would be real easy to build out.

As an example of additional character interaction, I’ve already detailed my idea that Kisuke and Yoruichi should be Rukia’s surrogate parents. (And solving the problem of when Rukia got the Hogyouku.)

As another example, it has never made sense to me that Rukia is the one that stays to fight Shrieker while she tells Ichigo to take Karin home. Rukia knows her powers are iffy at best, and should know better. She damn near almost dies (along with Chad) for no reason other than… ??? For dramatic tension and to reveal Chad can attack Hollows, I guess. Even Ichigo calls her out on it. It should’ve been flipped, with Karin revealing things to Rukia and learning about her, and that should be built into Karin repeatedly noticing the two of them (which was never, ever paid off in any fashion whatsoever). This is just one example of more moments of character interaction outside of fights.

As an example of reworking things, I like the ideas of turning the hunt for Aizen into something more like Apocalypse Now, that Aizen kidnaps Karin and Yuzu instead of Orihime, and that his hideout is deep in Rukongai instead of Hueco Mundo:

in one of these posts, @icchiruki was like, Aizen shouldn’t have run off to Hueco Mundohe should’ve run into Rukongaiand that’s geniusbecause it makes him more sympathetic because they have a legit reason to be aggrieved with Soul Societyand also lets us see the other side of the coinwhich, conveniently, leads toward my idea of the HM arc as being more like Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now, with Aizen as the equivalent of Kurtz out among the Montagnardsand also lets there be some spooky eldritch shit like whatever was going on with Ukitake and folk belief in TYBW, but less out-of-nowherebecause it’s pretty clear that whatever’s going on with the divine in Bleach is fuckin’ weird and Lovecraftianwhich can tie into that other bit of work i was doing with “where does all this come from anyway”so you stitch it all together and pull the seams snug and you get an actual expansive worldthen you keep the focus squarely on Ichigo, Rukia, and co., as they navigate through itthe further out into Rukongai you go, the weirder it should get; Shinigami should also routinely get sent to Hueco Mundo (both of these being the more important shit they gotta deal with) and recon and do stuff there; Hueco Mundo itself should be less empty wasteland, more kind of weird dark mirror of Soul Societylike a Kill Six Billion Demons type deal

These are just examples. I could go on.

tl;dr Make Bleach much longer and more personable and personally relatable, show your hand on some of the mysteries and backstories much earlier, and make it simultaneously more fuckin’ weird and more human.

[cooliogirl101]

At what point does Byakuya stop being in denial? After she defends him against Gin?

Nah, he actually reacts pretty badly to that. Something along the lines of “I don’t need you to defend me, never do that again.”

No, it takes something much more drastic to kick him out of Denial River, namely her saving his father’s life. Kuchiki Sojun, being curious about this girl he’s heard so much about from both Byakuya and Ginrei, decided to take her on a mission the moment she was eligible (so in her last year at the Academy) in order to get to know her. It helped that she was from the Rukongai and so could serve as a guide of sorts. What he didn’t expect was to run into a freaking Arrancar of all things the moment they were too far to call for help/backup. 

Anyway long story short, tiny Academy student Yukimura Hisana ends up dragging Kuchiki Sojun’s barely-alive, unconscious ass back to the Seireitei gates with herself not being in much better shape. Since the 4th Division triage system is based on rank and not severity of injury, she was kind of brushed to the side as approximately a dozen high ranking healers + Unohana rushed to the Sixth Division lieutenant’s aid, and it wasn’t until Sojun woke up six hours later that they realized, hey, we never actually did anything to help the kid who brought him in. 

The first thing Sojun does upon waking up is ask after the Academy student who saved him.

“The girl,” he gasps out, eyes frantically searching the room. His expression becomes more panicked when he realizes she’s nowhere to be found. “Hisana-chan. Where--?”

“Hisana?” Ginrei repeats and his face, already lined with worry, goes stark white. “What are you talking about, Sojun?”

“She-- she came back for me. Brought me back. Where is she? Is she alright? Oh god, is she--”

“I’m sure she’s fine, dear,” Kuchiki Suzume says soothingly, reaching out to brush Sojun’s hair out of his eyes. “In fact, she’s probably being tended to in another room as we speak.” 

Byakuya swallows numbly, feeling as though his mind has been stuffed with cotton. Yukimura Hisana? Yukimura Hisana had saved his father? And where was she now? Try as he might, he couldn’t remember seeing her being brought in...but then, it had been rather chaotic at the time, and he’d been so focused on his father--

By the time he orients himself, he realizes his grandfather is gone. 

“Coming!” 

Byakuya shifts on the doorstep awkwardly, feeling more than a little out of place in the...well, not exactly Rukongai level, but definitely poorer part of the Seireitei.

“Hello, how can I-- oh, it’s you.” Hisana’s expression goes flat the moment she glimpses his face and Byakuya resists the urge to wince. She pauses, seemingly debating with herself, before opening the door a fraction of an inch wider. 

“How is your father doing?” Hisana asks stiltedly, tone painfully polite. 

“He’s recovering well. Thanks to you,” Byakuya replies, just as stilted. “Unohana-taicho says he should be back on his feet in a week or so.”

Hisana’s face softens a fraction.

“I’m glad to hear that,” she says, something like genuine relief in her voice. “Please give him my regards.” 

When he doesn’t respond, she purses her lips. 

“Is there something else, or--?”

Byakuya swallows, feeling his words dry up in his throat, and then decides actions speak louder than words anyway. With that, he drops formally to his knees, leaning forward so that his forehead almost touches the floor.

“Oh, for god’s sake,” Hisana sighs, exasperated. “Get up, Kuchiki. Let’s not make this any more awkward than it already is, shall we?”

“I,” Byakuya stutters. “On behalf of both my family and myself, I owe you an enormous debt of gratitude. Words cannot express--”

“What did I say about the kneeling?” With that, she reaches down to help him to his feet. “Look, you really don’t need to thank me. I didn’t exactly do it for your sake.”

“For whose, then?” Byakuya asks, a bit mulishly. She raises her eyebrows at him. 

“If you must know, for my sister. And for every other kid like her.”

“How very admirable of you,” he says, unable to stop himself. “But surely, you must want some reward for risking your life--?”

“Look, Kuchiki,” she snaps, jabbing a finger at him. “This world is full of selfish assholes and greedy jackasses and people who can’t look beyond the end of their own noses, but I’ll be damned if I join their ranks. I risked my life saving your father because to not do so would have meant betraying myself, and also because my sister deserves better than a coward who abandons her comrades. That’s why I did what I did, not because I wanted some stupid reward or some stupider idiot groveling at my doorstep. Got it?”

“I-- you’re right. I’m sorry, that was unbecoming of me,” Byakuya says after a long pause. “Will you at least allow me to take you to the Fourth? I’d feel much better knowing you were looked after--”

“You and everyone else,” Hisana grumbles under her breath. “Can’t get six hours of sleep anymore without half the Seireitei knocking on my doorstep, how they even knew I was back is beyond me, and I don’t even want to know how they found my address--” She glances up at him. “Look, I’m fine. Really. Yes, I was in a bad shape earlier but I took all those healing kido electives for a reason. I made sure I knew how to take care of myself.”

Because I knew no one else would.

The words remained unsaid and yet they hung in the air like a poisonous cloud. Byakuya looks away, suddenly unable to meet her gaze. 

“At least come to dinner,” Byakuya says softly. “My father would like to speak to you.”

She narrows her eyes at him. 

“Why does he want to speak to me? You know, the last thing he did before he fell unconscious was scold me for breaking orders? Well you can tell him that his order was for me to leave, he didn’t say anything about me coming back-- and if by ‘leaving’, all I did was take two steps before turning back around, that still counts, and if he meant otherwise, he should have been more specific-- “

“For heaven’s sake, Yukimura!” Byakuya exclaims, frustrated beyond belief. “He wants to thank you!”

“Oh.” She blinks. “Well in that case, just tell him what I told you. Problem solved. Now if that’s all--”

Byakuya’s hand shoots out, stopping her before she can close the door in his face.

“At least let me take you to dinner,” he says, almost pleadingly. “Even if you didn’t do it for me, I--”

“Kuchiki, if you really want to thank me, go start a charity for orphaned Rukongai kids or something--” Hisana says, exasperated.

“Done,” he replies without hesitating. 

“And quit it with the groveling, it’s weird. Come on, we spent the past six years insulting each other-- you’re really willing to throw all of that away just because I saved your dad’s life?” She shakes her head. “Please don’t-- I have so many creative insults I’ve been saving up to use against you.”

He laughs, despite himself. 

“How about this? We insult each other at dinner,” Byakuya says, lips twitching. “Please. I’ll never hear the end of it from Mother if I don’t treat you to a thank-you meal, at the very least.”

“And this’ll get you off my back?” Hisana asks archly.

“You have my word,” he promises. After all, he never specified how long the meal would be. 

~later~

Hisana, after the 30th time Byakuya pops up out of freaking nowhere to pay for her ramen: This isn’t what I meant and you goddamn know it.

(The thing with Byakuya is, the reason he kept denying his feelings was partly out of immaturity and not knowing how to handle them, but also because he didn’t think someone like her was good enough for someone of his status. This is the first time he’s questioning if he’s actually good enough for her.

It’s also the first time he sees how messed up the Gotei 13′s emphasis on class/rank really is. Like, an exhausted, wounded, preteen girl was completely forgotten about in the commotion to treat a lieutenant, and was left to stumble home by herself, completely alone. And she’s not even just any normal girl-- she’s the person who saved a lieutenant, the only member of his team to go back for him; a hero in every sense of the word. And for the first time, thinking back to all of Hisana’s rants about power and privilege in the Gotei 13 and how screwed up the system is, he gets it.)

[justaramblingromantic]

when she was little - part ii

Characters/Pairing: Sarugaki Hiyori and Hirako Shinji/ShiYori

Type: Canon, Post!Series, Say Please!verse, Lily and Thistle!verse, ShiYori Week 2018,

Word Count: 5128

A/N: Part two of seven. 

I headcanon Hiyori to be a street rat from a very young age. It makes sense, with how violent and defensive she is (forced to fend for herself), how possessive she is over her food, how small and runty she is (possible stunted growth caused by severe malnutrition during her formative years). Another example of a similar childhood is Rukia. She also grew up on the streets of Rukongai and that girl is so tiny, too.

For the aforementioned reason, Hiyori is seven in this arc, but looks physically like a four or five year old.

Shinji stared at the little blonde girl in shock. 

First of all, he was surprised by how very young she sounded when she finally spoke to him for the very first time, and secondly, the uncomfortable nature of her abrupt question made him momentarily at a loss as to how to reply her. The whole thing was rather iffy and awkward to him, and the fact that the other three Shinigami in the room were all watching him right now did not make this situation feel any less absurd or surreal.

“…No,” the fine-haired Captain replied carefully at last. “I ain’t related ‘ta ya, Hiyori.”

He did not blame the young girl for making that conclusion. They both shared the same hair color, and blondes were also pretty rare in Soul Society.

Hiyori tilted her head to the side and looked adorably confused. Her small button nose wrinkled in a most endearing manner and the only thought that ran through his mind then was ‘cute.’

“Then, who are ya?” she demanded again with childlike authority, and that was a very good question indeed. He couldn’t possibly just go ahead and tell her that he was the love of her life – she probably wouldn’t understand and the last thing he wanted was to be stuck having to explain what that meant to her.

“I’m yer Prince Charmin’,” he told her at last, hoping that she would just take his answer as it was.

The child looked at him for a long time. Then, at last, she blurted out.

“But yer really old,” she told him point blank, and it was all Shinji could do not to twitch. In the background, he was pretty sure that he could hear Momo’s suppressed giggles in the background, accompanied by Akon’s soft snort.

“That may be so-” It wasn’t as if he could deny it. “-but don’t ya think that I’m, uh…handsome?”

If the adult Hiyori was around right now, she would have given him a punch right in the face for spouting stupidity. However, this wasn’t the adult Hiyori yet, this was the baby version of her, and little Hiyori merely continued to eye him skeptically, evidently a (slightly) more polite being than her older self. “…Ya’ve pretty hair,” she observed slowly at last, a tiny hand reaching out to touch the fine strands in question, and somehow he wasn’t surprised when she continued with the next remark. “Pretty like a princess.”

Adult or baby, this was definitely his Hiyori, alright.

Even as the other Shinigami were tittering softly in the background, Shinji wryly eyed the little girl whom he was currently carrying in his arms. “How come every time yer outta yer mind, I’m suddenly ‘pretty like a princess?’”

Little Hiyori scowled at him. “Yer wrong!” she barked with all the fierceness of her current seven year old self. “Only yer hair’s pretty – ya look like a horse.”

…She had just more or less called him horse face, and she had gone ahead and done so in such a brassy, matter of fact manner that he could only stare at the little brat in disbelief. The fact that her adult self also sometimes called him something to that effect (though in not so polite words) did not make him feel any better. This time, the muffled laughter ringing out behind him was unmistakable, but the young girl stood her ground and looked at him defiantly. She wasn’t as obstinate or as strong minded as how she would be when she was older, but she was surely getting there. Shinji’s response was purely instinctive – the Captain freed one hand from holding her, reached up and lightly pinched one of her babyish, freckled cheek between his fingers.

“Call me Ouji-sama, Ou-ji-sa-ma,” he insisted to her, enunciating each syllable deliberately, but she was hardly intimidated by his response. The little girl started to just as instinctively pull on fistfuls of his hair in retaliation, giving him as good as she got, and the fact that she was at ease enough to be tussling with this strange man already spoke for itself, especially when she had only been quiet and wary with all the others beforehand, Akon included, and it had taken them a good part of an hour to convince her to trust them.

Little Hiyori grunted and tugged harder on the stupid man’s hair. “No! Yer not my Prince Charmin’!!”

“‘Course I am!” he replied just as heatedly, rather shamelessly arguing with the young girl. “And I can prove it!”

“How?!!” she barked back at him, and he was inwardly charmed to see that one of her baby teeth, her incisor to be precise, was sharp and pointy just like the adult version.

Shinji said the magic words. “Yakiniku,” he deadpanned. “All ya can eat,” he continued. “I’ll cook ‘em for ya.”

He might as well have told her that they were going to be living happily ever after from hereon. The child froze briefly, and then for a quick moment, images of succulent, well grilled meat slices filled her vision, and the small, skinny blonde started to drool. “Niku?” she repeated hopefully, as if it was just too good to be true. Shinji nodded and replied.

“As much as ya want,” the larger male confirmed once again, and the age-diminished lover felt her stomach start to rumble with hunger at the promise of being fed. She was such a scrawny, bedraggled little thing, and being allowed to eat meat must have been such an extravagant treat to her. Shinji had personally not known Hiyori until after she had been brought under the wing and care of her ex-Captain Hikifune Kirio, so this child-like appearance of hers was entirely new to him, and her gaunt, clearly undernourished frame and gutter rat-like appearance and demeanor quickly gave him a very good hint as to how her childhood must have been like.

The Gobantai Taichou was abruptly filled with the urge to feed the young girl as much as she wanted to eat, and the instinctive need to tend to and care for her grew even more – she was just so tiny and fragile looking now, and she was also so darned cute with her spirited and feisty nature, and he wasn’t surprised at the least to find that she was already sharp as a whip and bright as a button even at this tender age.

She was unusually wary and guarded for a young child though, but he was pleased with the way she seemed to be at ease around him even though she did not seem to remember him at all – however, perhaps there was a part of her that subconsciously recognized who he was, and she clearly trusted him.

“Ya believe me now?” Shinji asked. Hiyori started to nod, but then she paused and shook her head instead.

“I want niku first!” she bargained shrewdly, not about to trust him for his word, even if something told her that he was a good guy, though he looked a bit weird to her. He responded by tweaking her nose next, and she wrinkled it cutely, going slightly cross-eyed as she tried to pull back away from him. This miniature version of his lover was really too adorable for her own good, and he was hard pressed not to laugh at the squeaky little grunts of outrage that she made when he continued to tease her – who knew that Hiyori was such a precocious little brat when she was little?

“Deal,” the fine-haired blonde agreed once more, finally removing his fingers from her face when she threatened to bite him for poking her. “But ya must listen ‘ta everythin’ I say and do whatever I tell ya.”

Hiyori gave him a sharp, wary stare. “Are ya the bad kind of oji-san?” she questioned abruptly, and Shinji stared at her, his eyebrow twitching at being called ‘uncle,’ even though the pronunciation was very close to what he originally wanted her to address him by – Prince. At least the impudent little thing had not gone for broke and straight up called him ‘ojii-san.’ He’d probably tip her upside down and dangle her by the ankles if she did.

“What do ya mean, ‘bad kind of oji-san?’” he asked her, and she squinted suspiciously at him once more.

“The kind who gives out candies and then tells other kiddies ‘ta follow ‘em,” Hiyori replied bluntly.

Oh. That kind who-­

Shinji choked when he finally realized what she was talking about. The man’s face turned a dull red.

“NO! I’m most definitely not that kind of oji-san!” he quickly sputtered his denial before he shot the young girl a disgruntled look. “…And I ain’t even an uncle. At least call me ‘onii-san’ if ya must, ya ‘lil imp.” He reached up and flicked her on the forehead, and the little girl yelped as she immediately slapped her hands over the lightly reddened spot.

“And just where did ya hear ‘bout that sort of stuff, anyway?” Shinji asked her, concerned by her alarming and specific knowledge of that type of disgusting predator. The tiny blonde scowled at him for that finger flick but grudgingly answered his question all the same.

“The older kids in the streets said so,” she mumbled, and he looked at her in mild surprise. Shinji knew that Hiyori had pretty much grown up without parents until Hikifune came into her life, the latter serving as a much needed maternal figure, but she had been pretty closemouthed about how she had lived prior to that fateful meeting with her adoptive mother. Perhaps this might be a unique opportunity to learn more about her past...  

“Ya listen ‘ta the others pretty good, don’t ya?” he commented, and she was placated by his praise.

“Of course!” she boasted, her little chest puffing out with smug self-satisfaction, and Shinji was pleased to know that this side of her was already present when she was so young. Speaking of which…

“How old are ya right now, brat?” he asked, and she frowned slightly at him for calling her that name.

“…I’m this many,” she replied slowly at last, a bit bewildered by the attention she was being showered upon when no adult usually cared about her, but at the same time, also quite happily lapping it up at the same time. The little girl showed him all five fingers on one hand and then stuck up two more on the other. She took her time to count them before uttering, “Seven!”

Shinji appeared skeptical by her claim. She was so small in size that he had initially thought that there was no way she could be physically older than four or five, but then again, she had always been on the runty side, so she might be speaking the truth after all.

“Huh. Are ya sure?” he asked, carefully concealing his growing amusement. “Ya still look like a baby ‘ta me.”

Hiyori gave him an indignant glare then, and it was really adorable that the cute little thing was trying to give him the stink eye. “I ain’t a baby anymore!! Imma big girl now! Take that back, baka!!”

Momo, Akon and Kurotsuchi Fukutaichou stepped up once again then, since it seemed that Shinji was getting along with his age diminished lover/charge well enough. The young girl who had been rather spirited and loud in her interactions with the golden-haired man carrying her immediately shrank and quieted when the other Shinigami came near once again, reminding her of their continual presence all this while, her hot air deflating alongside with her bravado at the number of adults around her. For some reason or another, little Hiyori felt safe enough with Shinji to show her true self (probably because the man look quite comical to her and acted like a big idiot unlike the rest of the adults), but promptly became guarded and wary once more when there were others around.

The small child pressed closer to Shinji even as she carefully kept the other Death Gods within her sight, snaking a skinny arm around the older blonde's neck to steady herself as she did so.

The dark-haired Lieutenant of the Twelfth was the first to speak.

"We're grateful for your assistance in this matter, Hirako Taichou," Kurotsuchi Nemu remarked politely. "If you're certain that you do not require additional support in the care of Sarugaki-san, then my colleague and I shall take our leave first."

Akon was not pleased with the decision of his fellow Juunibantai member, but he made no comment, opting to remain silent. His Fukutaichou was right - it was apparent that the Fifth Division Captain could handle the little golden-haired girl very well on his own. In fact, they were getting along so well within minutes of meeting each other that it was rather astounding.

With the assurance that the Twelfth Division would be doing their best to find a way to reverse the effects of the 'youth' potion, the two Shinigami finally departed, leaving behind the Gobantai Fukutaichou together with her Captain and the latter's young charge.

Momo smiled gently as Hiyori peeked at her from the side of her champion's neck - the little girl was positively precocious and it made the dark-haired young woman wonder if her superior's future offspring would be just as adorable as their female parent. She shifted her attention to her Captain, sobering slightly as she did so.

"Hirako Taichou, what are your orders for now? We've already gotten most of today's agendas completed, and the rest left are not of great priority." Momo glanced curiously at the little girl whom her Captain was carrying, her smile widening slightly as the tiny blonde ducked back into the man’s shoulder in a shy and wary manner. So cute!  

“Yer right, we’ve gotten most of the things done for today already,” Shinji responded as he absently tugged Hiyori’s hand from his neck to keep her from strangling him with her unconsciously strong grip. “I’m gonna have ‘ta go off for a bit ‘ta feed this bottomless pit-” At that, the man lightly wiggled his fingers against the stomach of said ‘bottomless pit’ – he didn’t even know why he was doing it, but instincts prompted him to do so and before he knew it, he was eliciting a startled burst of laughter from the child before she quickly pushed his hand away to stop his tickle attack, squeaky giggles still escaping her as she did so.

The innocent sound of Hiyori’s glee pleased Shinji very much, and he smiled back at the child in return, clearly already won over by the vivacious little sprite. It was hard to believe that his grumpy lover had once been so effing cute when she was younger – that was it; he was never going to let her live this down once she returned to her adult form. The Fifth Division Captain was becoming rather endeared with this child alter ego of his significant other, and even though the whole thing was more than a bit strange and unusual, he was rolling with the punches rather well and adapting quickly, accepting the current situation. Besides, it was still Hiyori as far as he was concerned, only that she was tinier than usual and even more dangerously cute (thankfully minus the ‘dangerous’ component this time). Shinji could deal with that.

Momo had to keep from laughing at the adorable and unexpectedly charming sight of the two blondes.

“Hirako Taichou, I’ll watch over the division while you care for Hiyori-san,” his Fukutaichou informed him, her eyes twinkling with mirth as the indignant young girl attempted to get back at her guardian but to little effect.

Shinji was grateful for the helpful initiative of his subordinate. “Ya will? Yer a real lifesaver, Momo. Thanks,” he informed her with a grateful look, and the dark-haired young woman inclined her head in acknowledgement, pleased to be of assistance. “We should be back in a few hours’ time, so if ya can hold down the fort till then, that’d be great.”

Momo nodded once more. “Understood, Hirako Taichou,” she paused briefly before adding. “I can also finish up here on my own so you don’t have to rush back with Hiyori-san unnecessarily.”

Shinji waved off his subordinate’s concerns. “Don’t worry ‘bout that – this ‘lil runt’s gonna be really easy ‘ta take care of.” The fine-haired male turned his attention to said runt, and the little girl gave him a small scowl.

“I ain’t a runt!”

“Yes, ya are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, ya are!”

“No, I’m not!! Rawrrr!!”

“Ouch! Ow, ow- Quit bitin’ me!!”

“THEN QUIT CALLIN’ ME A RUNT, OLD MAN!”

“OLD MAN?!! WHY, YA ‘LIL-”

Momo stood at the entrance of the Gobantai office and smiled in farewell as her superior and his now miniaturized lover disappeared into the distance, squabbling the entire way.

Those two sure shared a wonderfully close relationship. 

“First things first,” Shinji told his young charge as he set her down on the ground so that she could walk on her own. “We’re gonna get ya some proper clothes ‘ta wear.”

Now that Hiyori had shrunk in size, she obviously no longer fit in her usual tank top and track pants attire. The Twelfth Division had kindly wrapped her up in the tiniest yukata that they had, but she was still very much dwarfed in it and looked bedraggled like a little street urchin that she was.

The little girl lifted her head to stare at him at his announcement.

"Clothes??" She sounded very surprised and bewildered, as if no one had ever offered such a thing to her before. The man’s response was to reach down with an elegant hand and pull up the lapel of her plain, cotton yukata, which had been drooping precariously off of her small, skinny shoulder.

"Clothes,” he repeated plainly, figuring that since she was in his care, he might as well just go ahead and do a good job of it. “Ones that will fit ya better than this rag yer wearin’. Ya will get yer yakiniku after that.”

Because if he knew her like he did, there was a very high chance that she would happily eat herself into a food coma if allowed to do so – it would be impossible to get her to do anything after that then, let alone try to outfit her, and so this was the next best solution.

“C’mon,” Shinji moved to make it final, before the young girl could have the opportunity to protest the decision. He started to walk into the building that they had both stopped before. “The faster we get this done, the faster ya get ‘ta eat.”

That was enough incentive to move the child, it seemed, and the little blonde scooted after him only after a brief pause, reaching out to cling to the tail of his billowing white haori as she followed him tentatively into the exclusive establishment of one of Seireitei’s traditional kimono makers, her eyes wide with wonder and childish curiosity as they darted around the place.

A female attendant dressed in a formal but utilitarian kimono immediately moved towards the two guests, bowing respectfully before Shinji when she came right to stand before the Captain.

“Greetings, Taichou-sama,” the woman murmured politely as she straightened. “How may this one be of service today?”

Shinji inclined his head ever so slightly in acknowledgement of the attendant’s greeting, and then, he reached down, placed his hand between the shoulder blades of his young charge and gently pushed her reluctant and slightly intimidated form forward, revealing her unwilling presence to the other. “Good afternoon. I require a few sets of adequate apparel for this child at your soonest convenience, please.”

The lady looked down at the little blonde urchin who was still clinging tightly to the distinguished form of Gotei 13 Captain. If the former was wondering about the relationship between the two golden haired patrons, she revealed nothing of it. The shop assistant bobbed her head once in agreement, more than happy to be talking business. “Of course, Taichou-sama. This one shall get down to your request right away. Will the little Miss please follow this one to the back to be measured?”

Hiyori balked immediately when all the attention landed on her, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists into Shinji’s coat and fought the urge to shrink in on herself. Shinji raised his brow slightly at the visibly alarmed expression on the girl’s face. It was obvious that she was unused to being in such a formal and expensive environment and was still quite bewildered by her surroundings. However, he had caught her peeking in awe at the colorful, intricately woven haori and kimono that hung on the walls of the shop, and her fascination was impossible to miss. The Gobantai Taichou glanced down at his young companion and gave her an arched look.

“Afraid, ‘lil scaredy cat?” he teased lightly, and immediately, the child’s uncertain and anxious demeanor disappeared as her attention snapped to him, a small, indignant expression taking their place even as she suddenly straightened and pulled her shoulders back in a show of bravado.

“Not a scaredy cat,” she muttered back, though she hesitated once again when the lady attendant reached out to take her hand. Little Hiyori chanced a quick glance at her guardian – he appeared completely relaxed and unthreatened – before she slowly allowed herself to be led away by the stranger. Shinji waited at the main area for them to be done, and thankfully enough, nothing untoward came out of the experience and his miniaturized charge eventually reemerged from the dressing room at the back looking none the worse for wear and with a cherry sucker in her mouth for her efforts. The tiny blonde even appeared quite pleased with her new acquisition, enough that whatever tedium and awkward discomfort derived from the measurement process had clearly been forgiven and put behind her, and it was all Shinji could do not to laugh at her delighted expression when she finally came into sight with the female attendant in tow. It was pretty amusing to see how different she was as an adult (albeit a very tiny, vertically challenged one) compared to her child self (still very runty in appearance, no matter how she protested it).  

The shop assistant politely drew up to Shinji while Hiyori was still preoccupied with her lollipop.

“Taichou-sama, this one has taken the measurements for the little miss and will get to work on tailoring the outfits right away after the fabrics to be used have been chosen. We’ve a fine selection of material in various colors and designs, if you will please follow me.”

Hiyori stuck close to her guardian as they proceeded to move to the side of the large shop where an entire wall had been dedicated to the display of various bolts of cloths of different types and cost. The little girl’s eyes widened with amazement and interest as the female attendant went on to bring out even more exquisite and colorful textiles with all sorts of delicate prints and stitching painstakingly embroidered on them. One particular collection caught Hiyori’s attention – it was made of cotton and dyed a deep, bright shade of crimson, and the eye catching fabric was decorated with a really delicate motif depicting tiny summer songbirds cavorting about on flowering branches. The little blonde was immediately mesmerized by the lovely fabric, and before she could stop herself, she had reached out to lightly and reverently touch the cloth, apparently having never seen anything so pretty before.

Shinji watched with bemusement as she fingered the cloth, entranced. “…Ya really like this one, huh?” he asked, and the child quickly snapped out of her daze. She went stiff when she realized what she was doing, and Hiyori immediately took her hand off of the fabric and hid the errant limb behind her back instead, her face burning slightly as she bit her lip uncertainly and looked unsure of herself. Once again, Shinji was abruptly reminded of just how different she was right now compared to the woman she would grow into in the future. This Hiyori was still a bit shy and tentatively cautious of the world that moved around her, and he found this side of her to be extremely endearing. Gesturing to the crimson fabric that had caught the young girl’s fancy, Shinji simply told the female shop assistant.

“Please use this cloth ‘ta make a yukata for this child.”

“Of course, Taichou-sama,” the attendant agreed quite amicably. “I shall get to it immediately.”

The rest of the materials were quickly chosen, and through it all, Hiyori just stared at the tall blonde man with something akin to wonder and bewilderment. Sometime without even her noticing, the child was clinging to her guardian with one hand fisted in his haori once more, and she was okay with that, because for some reason that she did not quite understand herself, she felt really safe with him.

Less than an hour later, Shinji and his young charge could be found at the latter’s favorite yakiniku restaurant and the younger blonde was busily stuffing her face with platters of luscious, juicy cooked slices of beef fresh off the stove while her older counterpart grilled the raw, seasoned meat over the barbeque griddle for her, exactly as he had promised. It hadn’t taken very long for them to get things settled at the kimono shop and Hiyori had been getting increasingly antsy by then, though now that her hunger was being slowly assuaged, the child was content once more and simply happy to be able to eat.

Shinji was rather bemused as he watched the young girl devour all the food placed before her like a starving beast. For a child still of tender age and possessing a significantly slight and scrawny build, she sure could eat.

“Slow down,” he cautioned her then when she nearly choked on a too large piece of meat. “No one’s gonna steal yer food, so take yer time and eat slowly.”

Coughing slightly to dislodge the troublesome piece of beef from her throat, Hiyori turned to him with slightly watering eyes. “Am hungry,” she mumbled after swallowing the mouthful of meat. Hunkering over her plate defensively, she kept her head down and continued to chow down on her late lunch. She started to eat slightly slower though, but still savoring the food with great gusto and appetite. Shinji eyed her curiously.

“When’s the last time ya got ‘ta eat, brat?” he asked. She stopped chewing her food and looked at him briefly before she just shook her head.

“Don’t remember,” she muttered, pausing to think before she continued with a shrug. “M’always hungry, though.”

He wasn't entirely surprised by her reply. Akon and Nemu had briefly informed him that the youth potion had only caused her physical form and mind to revert to their younger states, so even though the tiny blonde could vaguely recall a faint ripple of the sensations and feelings associated with her distant past, it wasn't as if her past body had been literally transported to the present – she had only been de-aged, and had not time travelled.

"Well then," he responded after a pause. "Ya may eat as much as ya want.”

Hiyori stopped and eyed the man.

“How come yer so nice ‘ta me?” she asked suspiciously, openly baffled at the same time. She sounded like she genuinely did not comprehend her sudden stroke of good luck, and the fact that she was only so young but already so wary and jaded made him feel regretful for her. This child was not the Hiyori whom he knew and loved – not yet, at any rate. She was still a bit less guarded, a bit more innocent, but already he could see the beginnings of that grit and mule headed stubbornness that would characterize her in the future.

"I told ya already - I'm yer Prince Charmin'," Shinji responded at last, at the same time picking a few more pieces of the grilled meat from the griddle and laying it on her plate. "Don't talk so much; eat up."

But the little girl just continued to look at him for a while, her head slightly tilted as if she was trying her best to figure him out, those bright ochre eyes of hers centered on him with an intelligence and sharpness that were beyond her years. In the end, he must have passed whatever test that she had in her mind, at least for now, for Hiyori promptly turned back her focus to eating once again. Eventually, the tiny blonde ate so much that she nearly could not move and started to look a bit green around the gills from the excessive bingeing; Shinji had to put his foot down when she still refused to stop despite of that, and had to promise her that they would be back again some other day before she reluctantly quit stuffing herself. She still did not budge when it was time for them to leave, though, but that was due to another reason altogether.

Shinji raised his brow ever so slightly at the red faced young girl. “…Lemme guess. Ya ate so well that ya can’t move?”

The child scowled slightly at him, but the way she did not refute his observation told him that he was right. In the end, she had to be piggybacked out of the establishment, and even though it looked a bit strange for a Shinigami Captain to be doing such things, nobody dared to comment beyond the startled stares, and the chagrin of the visibly embarrassed little blonde tucked meekly against her guardian’s back radiated all around her.

“Yer gettin’ kinda heavy, ‘lil piggy.” Shinji remarked innocuously as they made their way back to the Fifth Division.

“S-Shut up!” she sputtered, indignant and getting all righteously puffed up immediately. “I ain’t a pig!!”

If the child was just a little bit more observant, she would have wondered how come this man seemed to be so at ease carrying her about, and that he also seemed to know all the right things to say to make her feel less awkward and self-conscious and uncomfortable. It was too bad that he did it so well and so naturally that she did not even notice the way he could so easily engage her and get her to respond to him.

“Yeah, yeah. Stop squirmin’. And I’m tellin’ ya, if ya puke on me, I’m droppin’ yer ass.”

“If ya drop me, then I’ll definitely puke on ya again!!”

                                                                  ::tsuzuku::

[bleachbleachbleach]

(and I am so mad that I had to re-save that with a big rectangle behind it so Tumblr would not stretch it to a ridiculous size)

I definitely agree that there is a whole project team in 12th dedicated entirely to timekeeping. And OMG I love the idea that the ability to track Hollows coming out of different realms is more simple or more difficult; amazing.

YES TO SLOW TIME RUKONGAI (or even more specifically, slower and slower time Rukongai I love it.) To add, my theory about space in Rukongai is that it’s not even strictly linear (because given that it’s an afterlife why would it be linear). In the sense that like, if you expect it to be linear, then it more or less is, but if you’re not thinking about it enough then time gets all bendy and Weird Stuff can happen. (This may also be why the souls living in x y or z district tend not to be particularly itinerant.) And also there are just spots that fold in on one another and bridge disparate locations and being able to use this to your advantage is a skillset one can have if, for instance, one needs to beat it through 79 districts of Rukongai in during a filler arc.

I don't think modrn day Japan celebrates LNY but do you think soul society still does? It would make sense since half the ppl are old as balls and predate when japan stopped celebrating

恭禧發財! Thank you for this ask! <3333 I, uh. I answered it but I got distracted by calendars and Y2K and primordial ooze, so I’m just going to excerpt the 4th paragraph, since that’s the actually relevant Lunar New Years part! Clearly still in my Soi Fon era rn.

In the New Years episodes, Rukia et al suggest that shinigami New Years is very much an intentional borrow from the living realm, and considered as such. It’s also a fairly new one. If they’re so hyped about borrowing this new years, I imagine they probably also borrowed prior ones, and that during the relevant period, Lunar New Year got celebrated. But given their present zest for the Gregorian calendar—and the general lack of institutional memory around TBTP, which as far as shinigami lifespans go was not that long ago, and only like 30 years after the calendar switch—I feel like they probably nope’d right out of Lunar New Year and plum forgot about it. Or maybe it’s still a Soi Fon family tradition. Maybe Soi Fon doesn’t like cats because of Yoruichi—Yoruichi’s cat transformation is just one more reason for Soi Fon to like Yoruichi. She grew up on animal zodiac stories!

The rest is below the cut for posterity!

The calendar in Soul Society is so interesting to me, because like… I’m going to start somewhere calendar-adjacent, but I guess one day several hundred years ago Yamamoto decided that architecture/clothing had peaked and he decreed they were just going to stay in their Edo vibes from then on—even though like, clearly even the "modern" Soul Society/Seireitei predates Edo by quite a bit, so it must all have looked very different for most of its history, unless the shinigami actually invented this styling independently. It also wasn’t a hard stop, because some places have Western furniture and they print a reasonably contemporary-looking magazine and the 2nd has heated floors. (BUT THERE’S NO CAKE.)

They seem incredibly committed to the Gregorian calendar, and making sure their calendar syncs with the Living World’s calendar—or at least, any time stuff gets skewy in the dangai, someone pitches a fit. And I get why they would feel like that was important, wanting to keep track of their deployed units and all. Lolllll, man, you know how most of the reports are handwritten? I bet it’s only half out of tradition and the other half is out of a fear that they will Y2K themselves into oblivion by accident; and they should be rightly concerned, because that seems like something they would do. (The 12th has all those mainframes because they do not share this fear.) This is probably also why denreishiki (or the model that Rukia got) can print things. Every time Hitsugaya texts a report there’s someone on the other end with a tiny printer gluing receipt tape into a scrapbook. Or maybe someone transcribing them by hand because denreishinki print with non-archival ink.

But this is getting away from me. I guess what I’m curious about is at what point shinigami began fashioning themselves after cultures in the living world. Did they pre-exist humans (in a different form), evolve with them, or did the notions of deity, death, and afterlife need to develop first? Do they have their own independently developed cultural forms or is it all/does it all have to be a riff off the world of the living? Is this something they have ever had (prior to Edo? prior to modern Soul Society?) Is the whole "we capture a Hollow in the realm of the living and then drag it back to Soul Society for part of a ritual that takes place 12 years after the death of a captain" thing a shinigami invention, or does that also have roots in older human practices (iomante?)?

In the New Years episodes, Rukia et al suggest that shinigami New Years is very much an intentional borrow from the living realm, and considered as such. It’s also a fairly new one. ("Fairly" here could mean anything from 150 to 15 years I guess, lol.) If they’re so hyped about borrowing this new years, I imagine they probably also borrowed prior ones, and that during the relevant period, Lunar New Year got celebrated. But given their present zest for the Gregorian calendar—and the general lack of institutional memory around TBTP, which as far as shinigami lifespans go was not that long ago, and only like 30 years after the calendar switch—I feel like they probably nope’d right out of Lunar New Year and plum forgot about it. Or maybe it’s still a Soi Fon family tradition. Maybe Soi Fon doesn’t like cats because of Yoruichi—Yoruichi’s cat transformation is just one more reason for Soi Fon to like Yoruichi. She grew up on animal zodiac stories!

Honestly, I’m just impressed that the old guard shinigami have managed to adapt to what was probably a good many calendars, one after the other and many simultaneous. Do you think that’s part of why Ukitake is so zeroed in on everyone’s birthdays? I mean, besides being a nice guy and wanting the Youth to feel some sense of celebration in the passage of time while it still holds meaning in their hearts lol. They’re also handy mnemonics! Because Ukitake would not give a shit about this newfangled calendar they’re using now, were it not for its utility in tracking the birthdays of all his lovely coworkers.

I think of Soul Society of being fairly sclerotic, but it’s super interesting the ways that this is paired with these punctuations of modernization fever? Or like, a desire to bring as much of the living realm into theirs as they can, even as these efforts are uneven and sometimes a bit odd. I think it goes back to this question of whether their realm predates humans on Earth (or in Japan), has always been concomitant, or proceeds from a human ability to conceive of an afterlife. I could honestly vibe with any of these.

Pre-dating humans on earth would be fun because you could lean into shinigami monstrosity and imagine how completely different they would have been without the blueprint of a human form, and before asauchi were even a glimmer in Nimaiya’s eye. That would also suggest that shinigami would have had to adopt this idea of being balancers and having anything to do with human souls, rather than being teleologically destined for this purpose.

Being twinned to the human realm would be fun because it plays up the notion of Soul Society as reflection.

And the third option of being tied not to human corporeality as distinct from the primordial ooze, but to a particular kind of human consciousness—well, that starts getting very esoteric (she says, as though the rest of this wasn't).

Anyway, the modernization fever is interesting re: these potential origin stories because of the way it indexes how important the living realm is to Soul Society—it’s perceived as some kind of backwater frontier, but also the location of the sublime.

** Please note that I’m sure there’s some kind of Soul King-related origin story upon which the entire plot of Bleach rests, but my brain actively flouts this knowledge. What is a Soul King, I don’t caaaare.

[junko222]

What are your thoughts on Soul Society? Do you think that it's as righteous as it's presented or as fans defend it to be? I read a post that said Soul Society has some corrupted parts, but the comments on the post were just from fans defending Soul Society. I don't think Soul Society is Hell, but there are problematic parts (useless Central 46, Rukongai, Maggots Nest, etc.).

For myself, I find it hard to read the SS as anything other than a dystopia.

Thing is, I understand where these fans are coming from. Despite what I feel are its obvious flaws, the Soul Society is very much presented as something worth defending. Ichigo goes to great pains to maintain the status quo (and he’s the HERO), as do all of the people we are meant to admire in Bleach. I mean, name your favorite character (with the sole exception of Tousen) and you’ll find them ready to die to protect and defend the Soul Society.  (Weirdly, this includes Aizen, who fought Yhwach to defend the SS and Gin, who, at the very least, wanted Aizen dead…)

So, it must be worth it, right?

I mean if you’re born in the right places or with enough power, the Soul Society mostly is a decent place, or at least life inside the Seireitei seems pretty all right. I think Byakuya Kuchiki, for instance, has a good life.  Possibly the same could be said for Kenpachi Zaraki–so, you know.

Of course the downside is the Rukongai. Any soul reborn with power there is starving. They SAY that Souls don’t feel hunger, but it seems pretty clear in Rukia and Renji’s flashbacks that that’s bull.  Yet, food *is* available in the Rukongai.  We know this because Kukaku has no problem feeding the ryokan when they stop by her weird traveling house.  So, there’s something wrong. Something deeply inequitable there.  Especially since we know from Byakuya’s big “difference between us speech,” that Rukongai souls are considered inferior socially/economically.  I mean, you could say, maybe that’s just rich boy Byakuya’s attitude, but we see it again in Renji’s Academy flashback, in a scene that a lot of people misinterpret (and appears in the anime only) where Renji wants to write the answer on the board, but the professor won’t let him because “gentlemen” will have to stand to let him pass.  

Add Tousen’s story of his special friend, the SHINIGAMI who was murdered by her husband and given no justice… yeah.

That’s a pretty ugly class divide.

And, as you point out, that’s just one aspect of the Soul Society.  The Maggot’s Nest is surreally dystopic.  Urahara tells us in the TBtP arc that a Soul can be sent to the Maggot’s Nest for being a POTENTIAL threat to the SS…  that’s just Orwellian. That implies a whole lot of big brother-ness happening ALL THE TIME, which I personally believe is underscored  SPECIFICALLY by Shinji’s line to Aizen in which he says, “I’ve been watching you from the womb.” My sense is that was an intentional threat to Aizen, saying, ‘look, pal, you’re lucky we didn’t toss you in the Maggot’s Nest as an infant.’ And given the children we SEE in the prison… yeah.

The other problem, which Tousen likes to harp on, is the utter lack of justice. Central 46 is so evil that Aizen could take it over and act utterly inconsistently –oh, let’s move up the execution again… for a crime that 1) had no trial or any chance for Rukia to defend her actions and 2) is a sentence RARELY given to a shinigami below captain level. AND LITERALLY NO ONE BATS AN EYE.  (Renji, interestingly, seems to assume Byakuya’s family’s connection can get Rukia off. Rukia knows better. But Renji’s assumptions are interesting by themselves for the fact that he wouldn’t even consider that option, if rich people hadn’t bought their own justice from Central in the past.)

Then we have the later story of Nanao’s mother (and by extension, Kyouraku). She was executed without a trail, too, for a crime Kyouraku knew she hadn’t committed because (spoiler?) he had the stolen items in his possession.  Ukitake is all, oops, I guess you missed the execution, and Kyouraku acts kind of fine about the whole thing, but then quite blatantly wears her kimono FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE and, one presumes, took the captaincy oath wearing it. I feel like his silent protest should be made so much more of, because holy shit it means he has no respect for Central.

Oh, and speaking of executions. No one ever talks about how much like a police state the Soul Society is, given that it’s execution grounds (and the method of execution) is centrally located and can be seen literally every where INSIDE (and outside) of the Seireitei.  Every morning, if you’re in the Seireitei, you walk in the shadow of the execution grounds, which has been used often enough THAT NOTHING GROWS BENEATH IT.

Oh... and let’s not forget the 12th Division and its random trolling hospitals to find victims (?? the whole first scene with Mayuri and Ikkaku) and the random putting of bombs into people.

And the genocide of the entire Quincy people, which actually seems to have been the point (?) of the final arc. To legit finish what they started: wipe all Quincy from the face of the earth.

Now, I can’t say anything to authorial intent. Given the ending, and the rebuilding of the Sokyoku Hill/execution grounds to be bigger and better (under Kyouraku’s… ironic?… aegis) I don’t know how we’re supposed to feel about all this.  Maybe Kubo-sensei, thinks he’s drawn/written an ideal world in the Soul Society.  He’s really the only one who can tell us.  But, consciously or unconsciously, there’s a lot of THERE there that can be explored.  I guess I can see how you could argue for a utopia… 

Honestly, I’m kind of more excited that you actually found a collection of Bleach fans still fighting about something this interesting (as opposed to the seemingly never-ending ship wars.)  Where are they?  Where is my fam???

[recurring-polynya]

So you ever try to wrap your brain around Yachiru being Kenpachi's zanpakutō? It seems to violate all known (manga-canon) mechanics.

So, to be honest, that particular plot twist hit the note in my head that says “Yes, this is pleasing and not entirely unexpected to me!” I think it’s the fact that the idea of his zanpakutou being embodied this whole time made more sense than ::gestures vaguely at all of Yachiru:: this.

I don’t exactly remember, but I think I may have been spoiled on this one--I got spoiled on a lot of the Bleach endgame, and that always affects the way a plot twist lands, so please take my opinion with that grain of salt.

I think there were a lot of hints along the way-- that although Yachiru is very, very strong and somewhat bloodthirsty herself, she always seems more interested in seeing Zaraki gets the fights that he wants, and watching them raptly, deeply invested in his happiness. She doesn’t actually act like a child, she acts like someone would expect a child to act-- mischievous and silly, but she does not grow and explore or, most importantly, assert her personhood, the way a real person does. She never seeks to grow stronger, or to fight for herself. She wears the lieutenant’s badge and goes to the meetings, which she neither complains about, nor takes any interest in. A real child would either not put up with this shit, or seek to be taken seriously in this role (try to imagine young Byakuya, for example, being named a lieutenant). Most importantly: She is constantly trying to give him directions and they end up lost every time. We thought it was a running gag, but it was a metaphor.

It also seems to me that the other child characters in Bleach grow and age at times when their powers are developing. We see Rukia, Renji, Gin, Rangiku, and Shuuhei as powerless children, and then they age to teens when their powers develop. Toshirou is definitely seen as a smaller child in his Rukongai flashbacks, and it’s implied that he is currently at in impasse with his powers, having difficulty with the upper levels of his bankai. Even so, though his body is stuck in an adolescent state, he has the faculties and personality of an adult. Yachiru, if I am figuring things correctly, is older than Rukia and Renji. It seems like she must be an enormous outlier in the Bleach universe, and it’s frankly weird that, say, Yamamoto wouldn’t take a greater interest in her (unless he knows exactly what she is, and I suspect that both he and Unohana both do).

Unless I’ve missed something, we hardly know anything about zanpakutou-spirit dynamics within the Bleach manga canon. As far as I know, we only ever see two-- Zangetsu and Zabimaru. I think it’s safe to say that Zangetsu already violates all known normal mechanics. I also want to point out that I was a lot more pissed when Zangetsu turned out to be Yhwach (or whatever that was, please no one explain it to me I don’t want to think about it). It was telescoped well enough, but it poisoned a character who had always been there for Ichigo as a mentor and source of strength and it gave me the same yucky feeling as when they killed off Han Solo-- I do not like this. This does not feel right or enhance the story.

We don’t get a whole lot of Zabimaru either-- they can manifest on their own, and do so in order to bother Renji. They seem to be a fairly simplistic being-- they want to fight and be strong and are impatient with Renji’s (very reasonable) desire to take a minute to think things out.

Nobody asked, but I feel like it might be helpful if I unleashed my personal headcanon on Where Zanpakutou Come From. In the Zanpakutou Spirits Arc, the episodes are prefaced with a voiceover that says that zanpakutou are born and die with their shinigami, and I am sorry, anime filler arc, I reject this. One of my favorite Bleach phrases, which seems like it should it could have come from some angsty hurt-comfort fanfic, is “There are no ghosts in Soul Society.” (it actually came from a filler arc episode where Ikkaku, Nanao and Hanatarou get lost in the sewer). But I think there are! When shinigami are killed and reborn in the Living World, presumably, it is as a normal human with no powers. I like to think that some essence of their power and their zanpakutou are left behind, free-floating, nameless, formless, but with some distillation of the principles that guided their shinigami’s life. This ur-zanpakutou attaches itself to a young, spiritually strong person, and becomes intertwined with their soul. They develop a form based on the thoughts and memories and hopes and fears of their shinigami, and their names and specific powers are born of the union of zanpakutou and shinigami. Noble souls often get zanpakutou passed down from previous generations, who take the form of a grandparent, or form that their grandparents zanpakutou had. For kids from the Rukon, I think that most zanpakutou spirits takes the form of a barely remembered mother from the Living World, or a particularly frightening woodcut from a favorite storybook. As an aside, this theory also explains why almost every Rukongonian shinigami we see died as a child-- it’s easier for a free floating zanpakutou spirit to bond with a child’s developing psyche. It’s also a reminder of one more way that Zaraki himself is an outlier.

Zaraki is a really messed-up guy, I think we’re all on the same page there. Like, he just really needs a shit-ton of therapy, I can’t even start. He was a feral murder-child, and I think he saw Unohana as a mother-figure who rejected him. Unlike Ichigo, who needs a wise, experienced mentor to guide him through his warrior journey, Zaraki needs validation that he is a Normal Guy with Normal Murder Thoughts and Feelings, so his subconscious shapes his zanpakutou into another feral murder-child to love him and be his family. Zaraki doesn’t know how little girls act-- pink hair seems good? Stuffy people hate kids, right? It makes perfect sense that Yachiru would go fuck around with Byakuya. Zaraki finds all of Yachiru’s antics hilarious-- the names she makes up for people, the way she climbs all over Ichigo, her general proclivity for going ham. Zaraki is an incredibly simplistic person. My favorite Zaraki parts of Bleach are where you think he is about to get real deep and have some sort of insight, and it turns out to be “I’m gonna stab you, but I’m gonna use both hands” or this entire problem-solving process I’ve pasted in below, which ends in him finding Tousen by letting Tousen stab him. He’s just stupid, bless his heart, and having a murder gremlin for a guiding light just... tracks?

The weirdest thing about Yachiru is that she has her own zanpakutou. I spent about 10 minutes thinking about it, though, and decided that she’s just a recursion, and that the weird feeling I get thinking about her is exactly the way I feel about writing a function that calls itself, and I find that little paradoxical frisson to be kinda cool, actually. The second weirdest thing about Yachiru is that there does not seem to be any connection, thematically, between Yachiru and Nozarashi. After he finally learns his sword’s name, I would have liked to see Zaraki have a trip to his inner world (like Ichigo does, in the midst of battle) where he meets an adult spirit who has qualities of both Yachirus (which he absolutely does not recognize) and that there is some interesting explanation of Nozarashi’s special abilities. To be honest, I couldn’t even remember what they were. Kenpachi has always been one of the strongest Bleach characters and so much about him is just iconic, and then his bankai was just completely bland and unmemorable, with no symbolism whatsoever. Lame.