how much greek mythology do you know?

(for ichiruki month 2023 day 8: fairest)

may the best bait win! propaganda under the cut:

ichigo and rukia:

Oh man, where do I even begin? So, for some context, Bleach starts when Rukia (a shinigami) gets critically injured saving Ichigo from a monster, and she transfers her powers to him so he can finish it off. Instead of transferring half her powers as planned, however, she transfers all of them, which forces Ichigo to take over her job as a shinigami. During this time period, Rukia... lives in his closet. Yeah. The entire first arc of the manga is dedicated to their relationship, and while a lot of it is playful banter, Rukia's presence in Ichigo's life fundamentally changes it for the better. Rukia then gets kidnapped by the rest of the shinigami who aren't at all happy she gave her powers to a human, and the main plot ensues from there. Throughout the story, Rukia and Ichigo constantly save each other when they're at their worst. When Rukia thinks she deserves to die, Ichigo is there to tell her she deserves to live. When Ichigo is in a funk about his superpowered evil side, Rukia is there to snap him out of it (something his canon love interest explicitly realises she was unable to do). They share a sun/moon motif for crying out loud, and yet like that last sentence said... they don't end up together, but with other people instead. Yeah. No shade to the canon ships, but Ichiruki is peak straightbaiting, honestly. They have a lot of banter/chemistry, fundamentally change eachother's lives for the better, save each other when they're at their lowest, and have a very deliberate sun/moon dichotomy... but they both end up paired off with different characters instead asdfghkl

house and cuddy:

The show spends 7 seasons hinting that House is going to end up with Cuddy, and then writes her out in season 7. In the finale, he has a flashback of people who impacted his life and she doesn’t even show If House and Wilson can’t be together, then House and Cuddy should

I just wanted to rant about Orihime

I absolutely HATE the way she was treated in Hueco Mundo, especially for such a sweet and caring girl like her. She was kidnapped against her will, with Ulquiorra making the sick decision to threaten her with the lives of the people she loves, called a traitor for literally being blackmailed, she was physically abused by Loly and Menoly so badly TWICE, with loly punching her in the face, leaving her face disfigured (And there was even BLOOD coming out of her mouth!), for no reason, yet she still healed her abusers out of kindness and Loly and Menoly threatened to tear out her eye and fingernails OVER SOMEONE ORIHIME DIDN'T EVEN LIKE, she was completely psychologically broken by Ulquiorra when he KILLED the man she LOVED just to torture her more, which she even blamed HERSELF for, threatened to rip open her skull and chest and threatened to force feed her and give her intravenous therapy, Nnoitra suggested that he could... you know... and was such a complete vile and disgusting creep to her, calling her his "pet", (Ulquiorra was very hypocritical regarding this, because he called out Nnoitra, yet he himself still was very willing to psychologically torture Orihime) Grimmjow strangled her twice, dragged her around in chains, manhandled her and only wanted Orihime to heal Ichigo so he could hurt him again, and called her names that I don't want to mention. It physically pains me to see someone as kind and gentle as her suffer so much... Aizen and the Arrancars are complete sadistic monsters and they make me sick that they'd do this to poor Orihime. And Aizen didn't even want her powers at all, it was just to distract the strongest fighters while he took over Karakura, so all the trauma she went through was all for NOTHING.

Yet people hate her because of stupid shipping wars. I definitely don't ship UlquiHime (which people ship just to get her out of the way of IchiRuki) because he was manipulative and psychologically tormented her to past breaking point. They're shipping her with her LITERAL MENTAL ABUSER whom she has never even met or even had a single thought about until the fight with Yammy and when he kidnapped her. (And even after that, the only memory she had of Ulquiorra after the Hueco Mundo Arc was when he murdered Ichigo) A gentle girl like her deserves someone who doesn't abuse and torment her so much all the time. People say that she cared more about Ulquiorra than she did Ichigo, but that is definitely not the case, hence all the, "Kurosaki-kuns". (Y'all really want her to stay in HM forever?! With those awful Arrancar monsters and Aizen?!)

People also think that Orihime is far too obsessed with Ichigo, yet with IchiRuki, Ichigo CANNOT FUNCTION without his true love Rukia? He doesn't care about protecting people who aren't Rukia? And all these Yanderes, like Loly, Jaguara (Wolf's Rain), Shiro (Deadman Wonderland) and ESPECIALLY Yuno Gasai (Mirai Nikki) get away with literally harming or MURDERING anyone who even so much as looks at their love interest, or even their love interest themselves because it's 'cute?' They're the ones who are too obsessed if they're going to resort to such extreme lengths for their love interest, or out of jealousy towards their love interest. They're literally saying that a normal, sweet, kind girl is WORSE than these psychos. Orihime was just experiencing a normal crush, which developed into GENUINE LOVE for Ichigo, while these yanderes are complete psychos regarding their love interests, which Orihime is not. Excuse me, Yanderes, resorting to killing for love is not cute in the slightest. Orihime would never murder anyone over Ichigo. She even felt bad for being jealous of Rukia because Orihime LOVES Rukia as a friend and thinks she's amazing. Orihime was even happy for Rukia when she got married to Renji, and cried tears of joy for her (And no, it's not because Orihime finally could have Ichigo all to herself). Not to mention her love for Ichigo was what broke her out of Tsukishima's brainwashing.

And she's even been VILLAINISED too, just because she's in the way of IchiRuki (Which is NOT OK because of the huge age gap, and that Ichigo would have to die in order to be with Rukia, which would be devastating for Orihime because she wants to keep him alive and safe). But that doesn't mean I don't love Rukia, nor do I think that she's in the way of IchiHime. I definitely support RenRuki, which makes way more sense than IchiRuki. Side note, I also don't understand all the bashing that Renji gets, he's still a nice guy. Rukia was very supportive of Orihime and understood her captivity situation, and she's so funny 😄 People have said that Orihime healed more enemies than friends, but Orihime is many things, and a villain is NOT one of them. She healed Loly and Menoly because she just can't stand people getting hurt, no matter who they are, and she only healed Grimmjow's arm because Aizen told her to. And the haters ignore that she always heals her friends ALL THE TIME. That does not mean Orihime is a villain. I mean, Aughra (The Dark Crystal) paid her respects to SkekMal the Hunter, a violent, malevolent beast, even calling him the most 'beautiful' of the Skeksis, but does that make her a villain? No way. She still sacrificed her life/essence in place of Brea, Seladon and Maudra Fara. Kenshiro (Fist of the North Star) made a grave for his friend Shin, who literally tortured Ken by scarring his body and tormented and enslaved innocent people to build an entire city for Yuria, Ken's fiancee, who Shin had kidnapped. Does that make Ken a villain? No way. People claim Orihime is a villain, yet they let the ACTUAL villains get away with what they did to her just because they're attractive. Yes, Orihime healed her enemies, but she also NEVER ATTACKED HER FRIENDS.

Also, Orihime has been called selfish and manipulative, among other things. But here's the thing: She's NOT. She's far from all that. The reason she slapped Ulquiorra, which she had every right to do, was because he taunted her that Chad was supposedly dead, and he was dissing her friends by saying they were stupid and reckless to charge straight into Hueco Mundo. Ulq KNOWS that Orihime cares for her friends, so he deliberately used her love for her friends to kidnap her, manipulate her and completely psychologically break her. Orihime even literally begged to be let out of her cell to go and help Rukia, one of her BEST FRIENDS. When she was restrained by Nnoitra, she didn't care that she was being held back in a really creepy manner by one of the most vile Arrancars in existence. She really cared about Ichigo's and Nel's safety. She even shielded Uryu from Ulquiorra while completely breaking down, tried to help Yachiru, and even tried to heal Zaraki after the Nnoitra fight before getting rekidnapped. Victim blaming or what? (And also someone said that just because Orihime doesn't get a job at a clinic helping people means she FAKING her kindness? It's all an act? Like WHAT?! She can only get a job at a clinic because if not it means her kindness is an act?! She can still have other jobs AND still heal people all the while!!!! I'm not saying that helping people is wrong or bad, because it's not. I'm saying that just because she doesn't work at a clinic doesn't mean she doesn't like helping people!!!)

And there's also the whole Damsel in distress thing. That wasn't Orihime's fault. Aizen and Ulquiorra forced her into that position by threatening the lives of her friends. What else could she do? Not to mention her escorts were horribly killed right in front of her just to prove Ulquiorra's point. Even then, Orihime told THEM to run, because she valued their lives more than her own. Orihime didn't plan her own kidnapping, abuse and trauma, Aizen did. He was the one basically making her submit due to his spiritual pressure. If someone more mentally hardened was kidnapped, and was the type of person to kill their captors and escape from captivity instantly, they get so much praise, but if it's a sweet, pacifistic person like Orihime, who doesn't like to even WOUND people, and only had to comply with their captors because the people they love would have been killed, and having been traumatised to the point of breaking down in tears, they get the blame just for, "being a Damsel/Dude in distress"... like WHAT?!

And then there was her screaming to Ichigo for help. She was completely psychologically broken and traumatised by seeing the man she loved practically dead, so much so, that she couldn't do anything but cry because she loved Ichigo so much, and didn't want him to get hurt. She's left in pain and horror and guilt, yet it's ULQUIORRA who is really to blame here, not her. Captivity and abuse, especially someone as gentle as her, does that to you. He was the one who killed Ichigo and MOCKED her love for him while doing that just to break her even more, and Ulquiorra left behind his Reiatsu on Ichigo, which was too strong for Orihime to possibly reverse. Her LITERAL MENTAL BREAKDOWN was what awakened Vasto Lorde Ichigo. She didn't even blame Ichigo for dying and not protecting her, Uryu for not protecting Ichigo or Ulquiorra for killing him and torturing her - she blamed HERSELF. (I don't blame Ichigo and Uryu, they were literally killed and injured because of that stupid batboy).

Then there's her pacifistic nature and inability to fight. Again, she hates seeing people, friend or foe, being injured. Just because Orihime only heals and shields does not make her weak or useless at all. People are seeing her overkindness as weakness, uselessness and/or even villainy, and want her to have a more aggressive personality. Pacifism is seen as villainy, but aggression isn't? She's even being compared to Sakura. Orihime is WAY nicer than Sakura could ever be. (I'm sorry to those who like Sakura, I understand why you do). Orihime would never stoop so low as to beat up her friends or even say a single mean word to them over the smallest things like Sakura does. (Beating up your friends isn't funny at all, it's just mean).

She mostly gets a bad rep for yelling, "Kurosaki-kun!", but guess what? It's because she CARES about Ichigo, because he's being injured and killed right in front of her. If she didn't care about him, she wouldn't be saying his name worriedly.

And finally, there's her being scared of Ichigo's Hollow Mask. It literally brought back traumatising memories of a Hollowfied Sora/Acidwire, and she was scared FOR Ichigo, not OF Ichigo. She didn't want him to lose himself to his Hollow side like Sora did. That doesn't mean I hate Ichigo for scaring her, I know he was trying to protect her, which he has been doing the whole time. We love you, Kurosaki-kun 💖 (And people said that Ichigo didn't heed Loly's threat to tear out Orihime's eye and Ulquiorra "protected" her by stopping Ichigo, but... Ulquiorra didn't heed Loly's threat either! He told Loly (Who was HOLDING ORIHIME) he didn't stop Ichigo to save Loly, which extends to Orihime as well!)

I'm sorry for this long rant, but I just feel upset with the way Orihime is treated in- and out-of-universe. She's just so sweet. I'm just trying to think about all of this in a logical and pathological way.

TL;DR: I'm upset that Orihime gets so much hate because she has suffered so much and is a sweet girl.

One of the reasons why I have always loved Ichigo and Rukia — and ichiruki, of course — is how life-changing their meeting is, for both of them. Ichigo, that 15yo boy who saw ghosts/spirit and has a strong desire to protect his family and his friends, gains his shinigami powers through through Rukia and her sword. There are consequences, though. Everything becomes more risky for him, his family and his friends. Rukia also faces the consequences of this encounter. She's almost executed for giving her powers to Ichigo. However, at that moment, she wanted to protect Ichigo and his family, even though she barely met them. Just as Ichigo, she's a fierce protector. Ichigo trusted her, and she trusted Ichigo from the firts moment — otherwise, Rukia wouldn't have given her powers to him, nor would Ichigo have accepted it, risky as it was (evsn Rukia remarks there was a chance it wouldn't be successful, but at the end they both were willing to take the risk).

So, after their meeting, everything changes for both of them. However, they would not have ir any other way.

I made this small family tree of the ichiruki family (I thought of calling it the secondary branch of the Kuchiki Clan) 

Ichigo and Rukia built their family and had 4 beautiful babies, a boy and three girls: Ayato, Mirai and the twins Mahiru & Saori, and a grandson, son of Mirai, named Satoru. 

I really like the headcanon Captain Rukia and Lieutenant Ichigo, so I made it here too, and I also made Ichigo acquire the name Kuchiki, yes, Kuchiki Ichigo. 

A little about this family: 

— Initially Ichigo wanted to work alongside Rukia for the Thirteenth Division, but he ended up going to the Eleventh…under pressure from Zaraki.  He only went to work with Rukia when he became a lieutenant.

— Ichigo shares the rank of lieutenant with my oc Kagura Mikazuki

 — Isshin returned to live in Soul Society, Karin went with him.

– As the Kuchiki mansion is huge, they live there together with Byakuya and his family (oc x Canon), what initially was a place with only the Kuchiki siblings, is now full of children

— They got married after the war, lived their first years without children, Ayato was a surprise baby, Mirai was planned and Rukia got pregnant with her between 5-6 months after Ayato was born. 

— The twins were conceived after a night of drinking.  It was a Risk pregnancy and Rukia thought she was going to die

— Ayato is very protective of his sisters and gets along very well with them. 

 — Ayato was born the day before Rukia's birthday, Ichigo and Satoru have the same birthday.

 — Rukia gave a chappy plush to each of her children.

— Ayato and Hidemi got married when he was 21 and she was 20. They started dating when they were teenagers. 

— Only Ichigo, Rukia and the rest of the family know who the biological father of Mirai's child is. 

— Mahiru has a more violent instinct and has a taste for fighting and blood. She takes a certain pleasure in killing.  

— Saori is a ray of sunshine, she is the liveliest and happiest in the family. She's the type to make cookies for everyone. 

— Mirai is the quietest among the siblings, She is graceful and delicate, She looks to her parents for inspiration and dreams of being just as powerful with them. Mirai's Zanpakuto is Fire-type, like Isshin. 

A redditor dismissed Hinata and Orihime's crushes on both Naruto and Ichigo that it is an unrealistic way for both men to eventually fall in love with them because both women have feelings for them. That same redditor even insisted that western sensibilities favored Rukia and Sakura more than Orihime and Hinata. Well, that redditor seems or intentionally forgot that both Naruto and Ichigo's feelings for the girls started with compassion and empathy. Naruto can't stand seeing Hinata getting bullied and Ichigo empathetic with Orihime's situation are the foundations that set up their relationship. Moreover, the focal point that eventually led to the boys' growing feelings for the girls took root in Hinata's "proud failure" speech to Naruto, who from what we know, doesn't want people to see him weak, and Ichigo hearing Orihime's concern for him after the Byakuya fight, where we first see his "puppy eyes", which is marked departure from his usual grumpy look. From here on out, Kubo and Kishi showed us, the readers, how the men act with both women. As I mentioned earlier, both men have their trademark characters that they usually show to other people, even those to whom they are being shipped with. However, both authors, in defiance of it all, still kept with their visions and showed the other side of the men when interacting with the women they fell in love with.

You can never see Naruto lighten up quick when he was with Sakura or Ichigo removes his usual scowl when talking with Rukia. However, you can see that when they are interacting with Hinata and Orihime. Also, never once in the series did Naruto or Ichigo insulted, called out and/or argued with Hinata and Orihime. On the girls part, while both Hinata and Orihime were shy in front of both Naruto and Ichigo at first, over time, they learned to let go of it. That is natural and this is where I always say that look at the cultural context. The Japanese are mostly reserved and being comfortable with other people usually takes time for the most part. Naruto and Bleach are Japanese and reflect their culture so judging their story and their characters based on western sensibilities are useless per se. Also, Kubo and Kishi made those primarily for the Japanese audience but the story also impacts other audiences as well. That being said, we cannot judge the story on one sensibility without taking note of the other.

Sorry this became a long rant but sometimes, I can't help it but cringe at people who still think that NaruSaku and IchiRuki should have happened despite the fact that both Kishi and Kubo already killed their ships way before both series ended and nailed their coffins when both series ended with NaruHina and IchiHime getting married and had kids that looked like their mothers (Boruto has Hinata's face, Kazui is Orihime except for his hair). I feel Kishi and Kubo gave Boruto and Kazui their mother's looks so that delusional NaruSaku and IchiRuki can't claim those kids as theirs.

Again, sorry for this long rant.

It wasn't just cause they had feelings for them, but also said feelings were requited and developed more over the series. Early on in the series the way the two treat the girls is different and like you would expect of a love interest. Naruto did not treat Sakura like that his crush was shallow over a rivalry and how he acted with her was no different then anyone else. Now Ichigo did treat Rukia differently, but that was more due to the bond formed from having given her powers to him its different from a bond between love interests and more comradery then anything else.

As you said both tend to lighten up around Hinata or Orihime and this was shown all through out the manga they are at ease and the way they treat them different compared to everyone else comes naturally. This also matches Japanese culture cause as you they tend to be more reserved when it comes to affection and hence more subtle.

Juha Bach staring silently at Ichigo while he's saying how he won't give up if someone were to take his place referring to what Rukia did when she lost her powers

There are so many ichiruki gems in the final arc and I'm here to prove it

The context of this scene is very important

We had Ichigo killing the soul king because his quincy blood was driving him to then Ukitake released the right hand of the soul king. Juha bach tried to stop it from reforming the soul king back however Ichigo blocked him so that Yoruichi could make a shihioun's spell to recreate a new soul king

Juha Bach didn't even seem fazed, he didn't fight Ichigo back. He knew he could destroy it again

This was not his major concern right now. He calmly asked Ichigo why he wanted to protect the soul king and the soul society when everything in his blood was urging him to annihilate them

It's interesting to note that Ichigo didn't deny that claim.

Ichigo told him this wasn't just about the shinigami. He came to protect everyone : the real world not just his family or friends, the soul society not just his shinigami friends and the hueco mundo not just Nel and her friends.

It was written as a parallel to this scene : when Ichigo had said to Rukia that he only fights to protect his family.

Of course, we know this was not the full picture. Ichigo hadn't been that egocentric when he used to be a kid. The reason he didn't want to protect strangers was because he was scared. His family could get killed the moment he didn't keep an eye on them, just like his mother

Juha Bach may seem like a typical villian trying to shake the hero morals but this train of thoughts about being arrogant was basically what Ichigo had been thinking at first.

According to Ichigo from ch 1 , his 9 year old self's arrogance and naivety to save everyone was the reason his mother died protecting him.

No one can help everyone. There is always a downside : someone has to die while the other has to pay the price of being protected.

(Interesting enough the first time Ichigo let go of this cynism and fear was when Rukia was abducted as I explained in one of my meta )

Then when Ichigo said this line. The whole dynamic parallel became clear

Juha bach's speech was referring to Ichigo's pragmatic and depressing world view he had at the start of the serie.

While Ichigo was fully adopting Rukia's ideals "Even if someone (himself ) were to take my place (were to have all her shinigami powers) it doesn't mean I (Rukia ) should turn my (her) back and run from all of this"

We know as a fact that Juha Bach's blood flows in every quincy. "Old man zangetsu" has been in Ichigo's inner world since the day he was born. He has witnessed everything that happened to Ichigo and he has known him the best.

Juha Bach didn't question him anymore on why he wanted to side with the shinigami, why he took so much pride being one.

He got his answer.

I see so it is her

His expression shifted from indignation/desdain -> boredom-> anger to understanding.

will not be watching the Bleach anime and actually just filtered out a bunch of bleach tags, including ichiruki

am still too bummed out about too many things, including:

• the weird, sudden downplay of Rukia’s importance and mad reduction of screentime--she went from co-protagonist to someone who gets less than a second of screentime in the new trailer, is MIA during the final battle, and is separated from the nakama for virtually all of the final arc. So many of her personality quirks, the things that made her so unique and wonderful, (her shitty drawings, her love of cute rabbit-themed things, her interest in the human world, her snark) are gone or hella watered down

it’s an odd observation/opinion but I actually wasn’t all that crazy about her new haircut in the FB arc--it makes her silhouette/form a lot less distinctive and interesting from a character design perspective. I know the idea was she wanted to look less like her sister but knowing how awesome Kubo’s designs are I think she could have gotten a lot more interesting/flattering haircut (again, this is more from a character design perspective so this is more an offhand opinion whatever)

• the weird, sudden downplay of Ichigo and Rukia’s relationship. I adore ichiruki but at this point I’m not even mad they’re not canon--I’m more bummed at how such a fateful, important, powerful, dynamic, symbolic, and unbreakable bond is so absent in the final arc. There’s so much buildup in the FB arc (speed of the world poem, Ichigo dreaming about Rukia, the freaking fullbring powers being unlocked just thinking about her, the way the rain stops when she comes back and gives him his powers) and then...nada. idec they’re not canon, I just wished their bond was a lot more featured (platonic or not), that they got to fight in the final battle together, or at least share a few moments of bickering in the final arc. they’re separated for almost all of it which is wild. Even in the canon WDKALY novels, Ichigo isn’t even the first Rukia tells about her engagement? They don’t interact at all and that just seems so weird to me given all they’ve gone through/how much Kubo himself has hyped up their bond and duality. 

• How Renji is all of a sudden Ichigo’s new BFF...Renji as a whole is such a flimsy and inconsistent character (slashing and slamming Rukia against a pole in one arc, then going on to righteously lecture that “a man who lays hand on another woman is trash” smh) and to give him so much spotlight just felt so weird and off

• ishida and chad doing essentially the opposite of what they vowed in earlier arcs (ishida didn’t want to be like his dad, chad didn’t want to use his fists/strength for money/fame) also ishida being all alone and not even mentioned by his friends in the last chapter was weirdly kind of sad and ugh

early bleach was such a spunky, unique, special thing with ichigo and rukia’s bond giving it such a wonderful spark, it had such character and over time really just became another generic shonen which is a darn shame but what’re you gonna do

Turns out it’s the second op that I love and remember well. But like…! Look how different in tone and genre it looks compared to the first one! Admittedly the anime had filler and dragged out the beginning? I actually liked reading Bleach. And ngl I probably rewatch this arc more than the actual beginning because it is more put together but… I also love the IchiRuki lol

Unfortunately I don’t get invested in the Orihime rescue mission the same way as this Rukia rescue mission. And I can see how ppl don’t like the repetitive nature of the plots. But I do feel like there are at least some differences. Like the emotional weight is different. Both of them “chose” to leave with the antagonists. But I feel like it was very different circumstances. It’s established Orihime has feelings for Ichigo. But I don’t feel it’s reciprocated. Ichigo wants to get her because she is a friend. For Rukia he feels like he owes her. And I feel like their bond it’s different from Orihime. He feels so strongly for her despite not knowing her for as long? But Rukia is also credited as being the one who “stopped the rain in his soul”. So like…!

But also Rukia was on a clock ro execution, Orihime was just a pawn and not in danger of being killed. They both left to protect Ichigo, and his friends. But Rukia left in front of his eyes and Orihime left secretly. I can understand Ichigo’s trauma and having lost ppl would make him sensitive to Orihime just leaving and not seeing it. But it was also way more clear for Rukia it was a lot more targeted to Icjigo. The others weren’t close to her like he was. They were helping for Ichigo. For Orihime they all had a vested interest in getting her back.

I’m already rambling but as I said I have a lot of feels for Bleach but especially IchiRuki.

Sugirandom: Yes, so the second opening does look more in-line with the genre of the show even though if I recall correctly Season 2 also had a ton of filler. It's interesting to read your explanation of the differences between Orihime's rescue mission and Rukia's. I don't remember if I ever saw both of them but I think if I did I also would be a lot more invested in Rukia's rescue. Even though Orihime does eventually get some kind of powers I think? I feel like she's more of a damsal in distress type of character and therefore didn't feel that invested. I do feel like Ichigo only views Orihime as a friend and that Rukia had a substantial impact on his life in many ways.

Skipping the second op for the rescuing Rukia part of the arc, and the two filler op’s? (You can get whiplash from op’s being high action and fast passed and dramatic/angsty, or more happy and slice of life feeling. I think this following one was for when they went to rescue Orihime (I’m not a big fan of the visuals or music)

I wasn’t a big fan of the above opening 6. But opening 7 is also one of my faves (I also just love Asian Kung-Fu Generation) Still rescuing her. But I also wanna admit I couldn’t finish watching or reading all of this arc despite it’s importance to the lore. It felt too dragged out and it only made me dislike Orihime more rhan before. Whereas for the Rukia mission I grew to like her more. I mostly waited until this arc was over and watched the final battle because I heard what happened. I didn’t come back to Bleach until the Fullbringer Arc which I don’t recall when that happened in the timelime

Sugirandom: Ahh, Opening 6 definitely gives off more IchigoXOrihime vibes and I'm not really a huge fan of the animal companions lip-syncing lol. Opening 7 is much better but I'm also bias in liking Asian Kung-fu Generation. Thanks for sharing these and sorry it too so long to post my responses.

Bloodletting

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/OSgC2G8

by Haebaru

It’s been seventeen months since the battle with Aizen left Ichigo powerless and Rukia suffering in silence. Rukia has been experiencing symptoms of the same illness that led to her sister's death. All the while being plagued by dreams of a past life with Hisana and a mysterious man that calls himself their Master. Confiding only in Ukitake and Byakuya, Rukia returns to the world of the living to see if Urahara can cure her, and if not, she will leave her heart behind with the man she believes in most.

Encouraged by Rukia’s return, Ichigo is training harder than ever with Xcution to regain his powers so he can protect the ones he loves. Defending the one he loves most will prove to be more difficult than he can imagine when she chooses to keep him in the dark about the threats she is facing. It may be too late to save her own life, but Rukia is determined to save her sister's soul.

Words: 3943, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Bleach (Anime & Manga)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, Multi

Characters: Kuchiki Rukia, Kurosaki Ichigo, Kuchiki Hisana, Kuchiki Byakuya, Ukitake Juushirou, Urahara Kisuke, Inoue Orihime

Relationships: Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo

Additional Tags: Xcution (Bleach), Sick Character, BAMF Kuchiki Rukia, Minor Kuchiki Byakuya/Kuchiki Hisana, My version of hell arc, Angst, Ichiruki, Rukia-centric, controlling dynamic, Unhealthy Relationships, Canon-Typical Violence, Cannon typical setting but.., Demon AU, Slightly morally ambiguous rukia, Slow-ish burn

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/OSgC2G8

for the character ask thing if you want to do it: Rukia

So, I'm going to do this with the help of screenshots because I'm too lazy to go on my laptop...

1. I like that she's a dork at times, has a good heart, is shown as powerful since the beginning and is quite down to earth for a Shinigami.

2. Her temper mixed with her almost naiveté when it comes to the World of the Living. Also her powers.

3. The way Tite Kubo sometimes hinted at a bit more problematic attachments to her own brother... (Ah, yes... Men writing women.)

4. I don't know... Avatar The Last Airbender, maybe?

5. None?! Not really. I do not have a "soundtrack" attached to her for some reason.

6. The bad temper and the tomboyish ways.

7. Keeping her in character when it comes to her Shinigami ways and powers. Giving her a healthy, open relationship with her brother.

8. Sidelining her or just making her mainly someone's wife instead of the badass Shinigami and Kuchiki Clan member she should be.

9. Yes. Absolutely.

10. I think so.

11. No.

12. She's actually Hisana's daughter, not sister. But she doesn't know. (yet)

13. 🐰 She would just use bunnies constantly. She doesn't really understand how to use emojis though...

14. What's it called to just wear whatever we feel like at the moment? Being a dress or hoodies and jeans? That's it. It's the "I have phases where I dress up real nice and then I just go fandom tee shirt and jeans."

15. I'm a basic bitch. Renruki.

16. Let me tell you how fast I block people who ship her with HER OWN FUCKING BROTHER!!!

17. Rukia and Inoue. I see the appeal, but it's a No for me personally.

18. The relationship with Ichigo. Of course, for me I see it as an almost sibling like interaction, because my romantic ass loves Byaichi. But I totally understand the Ichiruki people!

19. None. It's not like she's always going out with other characters. I don't even think she has much patience for the rest of the Shinigami Women's Association or whatever.

20. Toshiro. Yes, because they have their power's type in common.

Or Karin. Because, you know... Messing with Ichigo (especially in my AU. Needling Ichigo over Byakuya...)

21. I enjoy writing Rukia as becoming a true younger sister towards Byakuya. Especially when it comes to teasing each other over their respective dumbasses. I don't like when people forget she's an individual on her own right and she becomes more like a background character.

22. Read above please.

23.

Because... Is this picture supposed to NOT make me believe Rukia and Byakuya are actually blood relatives?

24. My Original Character from Legend Of the Galactic Heroes - Die Neue These, Gabrielle Brüner. But just marginally...

25. I thought she was going to be the main character alongside Ichigo, going on adventures with him.

Still believe the story should have focused more on the Shinigami, giving us (what can we use to substitute the term buddy cop?) a duo fighting everything and everyone.

26. THE END!

Is there a single ichiruki conversation centered on Rukia, seriously asking. Does she tell him anything intimate or personal, or does she handle everything on her own. For all the talk about one sided ichihime, ichiruki feels like a one sided therapist dynamic with rukia being a certified hype man. That's why all ichirukis can do is talk about what rukia has done for ichigo and rukia helping ichigo's depression.

hey my inbox is working on web browser again!! hahah finally.

But yeah, I feel like so many IR arguments center around Ichigo's alleged romantic feelings for Rukia and how much she means to him, but you don't hear much "proof" from Rukia's side. She was the mentor, she was the older and wiser one, so she didn't need guidance and pep-talks from Ichigo the way he did with her (and even he grew out of needing pep-talks as the story progressed and he matured, but IR's still like to paint him as some lost, lovesick puppy without Rukia). There was an imbalance of power there--Rukia never had any romantic interest in the literal teenager she was mentoring, and it would be weird as hell if she did lmao. The day she met him she was bragging about how much older and more experienced she was than him, idk how people saw that as a romantic set-up 🥴

Hey it's me again lol.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Ok so I'm just sitting in bed bored out of my mind and I decided that I'm gonna write some IR headcanon (Is that the proper term for this?) about their kids 'cause it's been rattling in my brain for a long time.

Anyways, when it comes to IchiRuki kids, I've always imagined them having twins. Twin girls, to be exact. They have the typical eye/hair color combo people give IR kids- one has orange hair like her dad but the purple eyes of her mother while the other one has raven black hair and bright amber eyes like her dad. They have their hair in long ponytails, Sailor Moon style (without the little buns), and the signature Kuchiki bang across their face. I haven't thought of their names 'cause that's too complicated, but I would like to think they would call them Hisana and Masaki, although I don't know how common it is in Japanese culture to call children after a loved one that passed away. Hisana would be the one with the light hair and dark eyes. Masaki would be the one with dark hair and light eyes.

Hisana would be a Kuchiki, so she would go by Kuchiki Hisana since she would be chosen as the heir to the Kuchiki clan. Ichigo was *not* happy about it but he couldn't really argue with an entire clan, especially after Rukia decided to concede. Hisana would attend etiquette classes and have a tutor teaching her the clan's history and what it meant to be head of the clan, so she grew up to be very reserved and proper, all lady-like and whatnot. She spends a lot of time with her uncle Byakuya who dotes on her inmensly. Byakuya also likes having the twins close because he's kind of wary of what their abilities are going to develop to be. He senses a darkness coming from Hisana that seems to be restrained thanks to her clan training. Ichigo is also aware since Zangetsu keeps pestering him about it cryptically. But he's not going to scare his daughter. He trusts that she will be able to handle it.

Kurosaki Masaki is her father's daughter. She's brash and stubborn and has an infinite reserve of energy. She's very social and has interacted with almost every captain and vice-captain in the Court, with the 10th being her favorite place to loiter since Matsumoto spoils her with sweets and stories. Masaki also likes hanging out at the 11th a little too much which does not make Rukia very happy, especially after she returns with her robes filthy and her shoes almost destroyed. When she learned her shikai's name, it was so chaotic that she almost burned one of the barracks in the 13th down. She hasn't been allowed to release it since. Like her mother, Masaki loves climbing trees as high as she can to get the best vantage point. Rukia has noticed Masaki's ability to manipulate the reishi around her in a way that feels eerily familiar, but she's never shown any signs of having any Quincy-like abilities.

Regarding their shikai, I imagine Hisana having a water-based zanpakuto and Masaki having a fire-based one (kinda on the nose given their personalities but hey, whatevs). I also think that Masaki would have access to Quincy powers (thanks grandma!) and Hisana would be a Visored. She got some of Zangetsu's energy and a little baby hollow formed and she is vicious. Unlike Zangetsu though, she's very quiet. She only peaks out whenever she senses anyone Hisana loves to be in danger. When she does peak out though, it's not pretty. I think it would be cool if the girls' powers were sun and moon based 'cause, you know. I'm terrible at coming up with names for stuff so idk.

I also think a lot about their uniforms. Since there are some shinigami who wear different versions of their shihakusho, I think the girls would have their own styles as well. Mainly the bottoms. Masaki would have a cute pleated skirt and knee-high white boots in the same material as Byakuya and Rukia's garments. She would also have gloves like Rukia's that would go all the way up her arm, so the sleeves of her robes would be a little shorter. Masaki's robes would be a little more fitted, giving a more ninja-like appearance, since she moves around a lot. She would have shorts and booties. She has one fingerless glove on her right hand which is her sword arm. When she uses her shikai she swipes her sword on her glove to activate it, like a match being lit. Omg can someone draw them pleeeeeeeease....

I've also thought of IshiHime's baby. A cute ginger boy with round, freckly cheeks and glasses. He's extremely smart like his parents but he's also an absolute nerd. He's socially awkward, stutters a little, and has a hard time with life in general, but that's because his brain is trying to reconcile the fact that he's a little bit of a time lord. Yeah, he can bend time and space and pretty much destroy their reality as they know it if he would just figure out how to use it. He doesn't know how to though, so he keeps ripping holes in space unknowingly which causes many shenanigans. The girls are very protective of him but unfortunately, he spends a lot of time alone since he lives in the human world, which means he gets in a lot of trouble alone. The girls find all kinds of ways to go into the human world to save him from himself. The parentals are unaware of all this because the kids are terrified of telling them, but a sudden rip in the universe that opens to Hell may be reason enough to spill the beans.

Ok, ok, I'm cooking now lmao.

I don't have a fully fleshed story for them. Maybe I should just write little stories here and there for them, kinda build their lore. One story I think about a lot is the first time Hisana's hollow made her appearance. It's also when Masaki loses her long locks, hehe. So, it happens in one of their excursions to the human world. They usually sneak into the Kuchiki estate and use Byakuya's seinkamon. IshiHime baby (I don't have a name lol. I thought maybe Ryuki 颯希, or I saw the name Osuke 王祐. Any Japanese speakers in the chat?) was ripping holes as he did whenever he got super anxious and a bunch of hollows came through. He has an okay handle on his Quincy powers but it wasn't enough to handle that amount of hollows. The girls rushed to his help, slicing and dicing as the shunpo'd around the monsters. Masaki was still unsure about her shikai and if she should use it seeing as how it was still so volatile. Her hesitancy and distraction caused her to get swiped by a hollow. Hisana rushed to her help, the water from her shikai dancing around her. She was a little bruised and battered but she managed to push the hollow away from her sister. IsH baby found that he could call forth a shield with a pin his mom had given him in a chain around his neck, which helped to save Hisana from a hollow fully landing a blow. The shield didn't last, but was enough for Hisana to finish the hollow off. Exhausted, she fell back, breathing heavily. Masaki rushed to her sister, concerned for her well-being. Unbeknownst to the sisters, a menos-level hollow appeared. It wrapped one of its long claws around Masaki's hair and swiped down, cutting her long tresses. Time slowed down as the black hair flew around them, swept around them by the wind. They barely had time to register what happened before the menos swiped at Masaki again, catching her by the ribs and flinging her away. Hisana lay there, eyes wide open and breath caught in her chest at the image of her sister's hair being sliced off and her body getting hit by the menos. A burning sensation traveled up and down her body, causing her to shiver. Anger roiled hot through her veins, her pupils contracting until they reduced to slits. The rain started to pelt the ground. The menos roared loudly, closing in on Hisana. Before it could close down on her, she was gone. The rain then started to move in a circle around the hollow, surrounding its head in a bubble. Hisana stood behind it, her eyes devoid of the usual azure richness and her pupils just catlike slits. She swung her sword down and the bubble surrounding the hollow moved in, creating so much pressure that its head burst. Its body disintegrated into the air. IsH baby walked up to her slowly, calling her name. He gasped when Hisana turned and he saw her eyes. Before she could do anything else, her eyes turned back to normal and she fainted.

Some time later Hisana woke up in a room she didn't recognize. After a few seconds of gathering herself, she heard the voices of several people whom she recognized as her parents and the Ishida's. She could recognize her dad's angry voice and her mom's rational one. Mrs. Ishida sounded as if she'd been crying. Sitting up, Hisana found a girl with face-framing short hair peeking through the door. It took her a few seconds to recognize her sister. Masaki shushed her and pointed at the door, mouthing that the parents were upset. The door suddenly slid open, causing Masaki to fall on her but. At the door stood Ichigo, full-blown scowl and every bit as menacing as the rumors said he was. Masaki scooted back next to Hisana. Noticing his raven-haired daughter, his face softened. She looked exactly like Rukia did when she came back after those 17 months. Only that she had his eyes, which were shimmering with unshed tears. Hisana was silently hiccuping next to her. She was the crybaby of the two and definitely a daddy's girl. Ichigo sighed knowing damn well he was powerless against his girls. He kneeled before them and held out his arms, which they both jumped into, almost knocking him back. Hisana started to full-on wail while Masaki silently cried on her dad's shoulder. Ichigo explained that they weren't in any trouble, but that they did need to explain what happened. Rukia then walked in, taking Masaki in her arms where she started to cry in earnest because she was a mommy's girl. Rukia ran her fingers through her daughter's short hair and chuckled, telling her she looked just like her when she was younger. This cheered Masaki up a little. Hisana was inconsolable, hiccuping through her words as she blamed herself for getting her sister hurt. Masaki tried telling her that it wasn't her fault and that she was okay but to no avail. It wasn't until the Ishida's came in and baby boy said that actually, it was his fault. And that's how they found out that baby boy was out here playing with time and space.

Woof! Look at me writing! Who would've thought! I need to write more about these babies because I've had them in my mind for too long. Ok, enough of this, I need to go to bed lol.

I guess it's obvious cbr writer is ichiruki fans. The moment Orihime character was introduced in manga, I knew ichihime was going to be the endgame relationship....I love Rukia character and the banter she has with Ichigo, but the manga gave clues. CMIIW but Ichigo down quite a bit, hesitate after Byakuya took Rukia back. After Orihime was talking to Ichigo, he became more certain with his decision get his shinigami power back. In seireitei arc, Ichigo put Orihime with Ishida to protect her because he knew he'd need to fight all out so he put her with Ishida, who he believes to fight smartly. When Ulquiorra & Yammy attacked, Ichigo was down for failure to protect his friends, especially Orihime. After he promised to protect Orihime. Did I need to mention that Ichigo didn't even hesitate going to Hueco Mundo? Or Ichigo went beserk to protect Orihime, injuring Ishida yet still keeping her safe? Or the fact that it was Orihime that calling him that snap him back? Studio Pierrot was the one push Ichiruki ship in the anime.

I think it has to with orihime being more or less a normal girl. And to many people normal=boring. People don't want to see ichigo as a human but he that's the point. He's practically normal human with a few powers. The other non human characters call him a human constantly.

Normal human girl?? In my shounen manga??

But yeah this is definitely true too. It's why many IchiRuki artists make Ichigo leave the World of the Living to marry Rukia and be a Captain of the Gotei 13. When that comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of Ichigo's character. Again I think preferring IchiRuki is valid but I'm going to make fun of you if you act like it "should've been/was supposed to be canon" when you blatantly mischaracterize Ichigo. He's a human who lives a human life aside from the occasional saving the world. I don't like people trying to strip him of his human identity. It's kinda part of the point.

For now being canon means almost nothing

I try to explain to myself why, while I don’t like the canon couples. I don’t hate them either and actually think that they can be made to work. I actually appreciate some canon couples art works, and I am sure that from the tons of fanfics dedicated to them, many are lovely and well written, even if I don’t read them, because I don’t read shipping fic for pairs I don’t find compelling, on account of not having an infinite amount of time on my hands.

But today it struck me. It’s the lack of canon material with those pairings, as pairings. Until the last chapter those interaction are not between people in a relationship, and in the last chapter and Hell chapter they barely interact.

Ichihime and renruki were made canon, true, but they have the same amount of shipping stuff that ichiruki or even byaren has. Wich are all, except a couple of panels, FANFICTION.

They end up together in the manga, but they are not together in the manga. We don’t see a single date, or kiss , or marriage in canon. The vast majority of canon takes place when they are all still  adolescents and friends.

We don’t see a single romantic interaction when they appear unequivocally as a couple. Before they get together we can discuss until the cows come home, what is just friendship and what is love, and we do in this fandom. Actually Orihime confessing her love to the comatose Ichigo is the only explicit and undeniably romantic gesture in the manga.

IF we go by the number of interactions between the possible couples in the manga, actually people with incredible amounts of both free time and  will power, counted those in the manga,it turns out that ichiruki has the most on panel time together. So ichirukis might charitably leave a chapter to the competition. They have the rest of the manga.

I’m a new fan. I’m a bit over a year in this fandom. I STARTED BLEACH KNOWING HOW IT WILL END AND WHAT THE CANON PAIRING WERE.

So as I entered Kubo’s magical world I was promised adventure, wonderful fights, a kick-ass female co-protagonist, a male-female friendship for the ages, and two nice love stories where the underdogs get their boy/girl.