Shiver Me Timbers

She sees his Hollow transformation as her own personal failure, which is ironic, because Ichigo sees it as his own personal failure too -- but both for very different reasons. Orihime has this idea in her head that somehow, if she gets stronger (according to a perceived standard of strength in her head) she can protect Ichigo/stand on her own in battle. On the other hand, Ichigo thinks he can fight without having to participate in any of the cold-blooded morality that comes with fighting. This is obviously flawed logic on both their parts because you can't fight without acknowledging that you have the intent (and ability) to kill, and you can't protect someone without acknowledging that you can't protect them from everything. There needs to be a fair middle ground, where you acknowledge your powers and limitations, your fears and your strengths, and you meet them somewhere in the middle. Ichigo has definitely gotten better at accepting this part of himself...

...while Orihime has been able to recognize her place at the table as someone who fights by his side and gives him support without trying to take on his burden of fighting for him and I just think that's neat!

I LOVE THIS SONG !!

Kubo : *uses every characters and their mama to say that Ichigo wants to protect/save Orihime*

Keeping the ball rolling in this series…  (these are actually turning out a lot shorter than i expected, which is kind of nice.)

I guess first we need to address Kubo’s linguistic juggling act. (I did already do this series of posts on the Arrancar’s Resurreccion btw: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8])  I’ve explained it before but here’s the short short version:

Japanese uses Kanji, which come with specific meaning, and kana, which are purely phonetic. (but often writers will use kana where common words have clearly understood meaning and kanji aren’t necessary) And for younger readers furigana include kana along side more complex or less common kanji to assist learning readers.

Kubo has repurposed the furigana system to craft his terminology in Bleach.

When he makes a term like Arrancar he actually writes out the kanji [破面] meaning “Tear”+“Mask” in Japanese, but includes the furigana (アランカル) indicating that the word is meant to pronounced “A-ra-n’-ka-ru,” which is the Japanese phonetic approximation of the Spanish Arrancar, which is the infinitive form of the verb “to tear.”

This makes translating Kubo’s Spanish and German tricky, because it often means a single term has multiple translations, from different languages, and that’s not exactly smooth or easy to clarify mid-dialog.  

Anyway, since we’re looking at Hueco Mundo and hollow/arrancar adjacent terms now, that’s what going on here…

Hueco Mundo(ウェコムンド) “We-ko-mu-n’-do,” using the Spanish for “Hollow World” and written in Japanese as [虚圏] “Hollow* Region.”  That of course being contingent on the fact that Kubo writes Hollow(ホロウ) “Ho-ro-u,” with the kanji [虚] meaning, “Emptiness” or “Void.”  So alternatively, Hueco Mundo also reads literally as “Empty Region” or “Void Region.”

The main method in and out of Hueco Mundo is the Garganta(ガルガンタ) “Ga-ru-ga-n’-ta,” meaning “throat” or “gorge” and written in Japanese as [黒腔] meaning “Black Cavity.”  It’s not especially tricky as far as names go.  The teeth-like shape of the gateways the Arrancar make suggest the name should read “throat” specifically.

Speaking of which, the Arrancar technique for opening a Garganta has its own name:  Descorrer(デスコレール) “De-su-ko-ree-ru,” meaning “to drawback” or “slide open” like curtains. (which is ironically not the way the Descorrer actually opens: up and down, rather than from the side.)  The kanji for it means [解空] “Unfasten (the) Void.”

And it’s actually briefly mentioned early on, that the less refined method that Gillians use to open rifts between the realms is called Kuu-mon[空門] meaning “Void Gate” and it’s just written and spoken in Japanese, rather than Spanish. (double irony, this one does work like pulling back a curtain, although the Decorrer doesn’t…)  Note that the two terms share the kanji [空] for “void” and that it parallels the use of [虚] also readable as “Void.”

[空] Actually has a few different ways it can read, and Kubo uses them a lot.  Apart from the Kuu used for “Void" (although, broadly speaking, they’re all related terms) Sora[空] means “Sky,” and is a homonym with Sora[昊] also meaning “Sky” which was the name of Orihime’s brother.  It is also of course the same Kuu[空] in Kuukaku Shiba’s name, and the kanji she has tattooed on her arm, in her case also referencing “sky” as part of the Land/Sea/Sky trio with her brothers, which is her domain as a fireworks artisan.  It is also synonymous in her case with “(the) heavens” as the space and direction her cannon occupies.  It is also the [空] “empty” in Karakura town as I mentioned before.

On the one hand, I interpret these Hollow adjacent terms as “Void” specifically because of the connotations of what the Hollow and Hueco Mundo are thematically, and the obvious synonyms in the words “Void” and “Hollow.” But it’s entirely possible that Kubo wanted these different terms to all kind of blend together into a big muddled uncertainty; Maybe there isn’t actually a difference between using [空] to talk about the dark void of Hueco Mundo and the heaven(s) where the King of Soul Society resides… Maybe Heaven and The Void were always supposed to be the same thing in Bleach.

There’s actually not a whole lot to unpack with the rest of Hueco Mundo.  Aizen’s fortress, which he built on the ruins of Barragan’s open air “palace” is named Las Noches(ラス・ノーチェス) “Ra-su Noo-che-su,”  “The Nights.”  And it’s written with the kanji, [虚夜宮] meaning “Hollow Night(s) Palace,” or again “Empty/Void Night(s) Palace.”

It takes on some ironic wordplay in that Aizen creates his dome with its illusory daylight to house the Espada under, making an alternate reading of the kanji, “Devoid-(of)-Nights Palace” as there is literally no night sky under his roof.

Hueco Mundo didn’t actually get many distinct locales, and the rest are all pretty straight forward:

Tres Cifras(トレス・シフラス) “To-re-su Shi-fu-ra-su” was written as [三桁の巣] meaning “3-Digit’s Den.”  It’s where the Privaron Espada lived and they were distinct for their appended 3rd digit to denote former Espada status.

And the Menos-no-Mori[メノスの森] Kubo designed for the anime isn’t even fully in Spanish.  It just means “Forest of Menos” with Menos being written out phonetically.  It’s Spanish for Minus, which was part of Menos Grande, meaning “Big Minus” and written [大虚] meaning “Big Hollow,” which was itself a play on the fact that back in chapter 1, Rukia labels the good souls as “Plus” and the bad souls as “Hollow.”

sorry these feel awkward to write so they must be just as clunky to read.  I didn’t really have a point I was getting at with any, I kind of just made a checklist of terms and worked my way through them to see if anything interesting jumped out.  Karakura was a fun little surprise, but as i draft the rest of these out they’re looking a little sparse…  Still, I’ll finish out with the last arc in the next post.

THIS IS LITERALLY HOW I PORTRAY HIM??? AND ITS REAL??????? LUMINE SEEING THROUGH HIM AND KAEYA VAINLY TRIES TO COVER IT WHILE SUBTLY TEASING HER BUT ALSO SECRETLY POURING HIS HEART OUT???? I AM WINNING GAMERS

You're already here by my side, what more could i ask for? SHUT UP JUST SHUT UP. also him genuinely helping lumine which reminded me of the theory that hes lost in time talking to the canon lumine who is frozen in time???? scream

cutie really went „😧”

I’m manifesting getting Xiao everyday till he gets released

this playlist shows the violent and narcissistic personality of ryo/satan, but it is also intermingled with various songs of human longing. the yearning for material and metaphysical love. the kind of carnal/tender love they have for akira. ryo is a complex character and it took a while to think about what songs would fit them.

this playlist represents akira/amon’s borderline differences. unlike ryo’s subtle changes of feelings, akira/amon switch violently and suddenly between each others’ personalities. amon years for action, adventure, a hunger for sex and sin, but akira wants to protect everyone he loves from himself, he wants a place to call home, a pure and tender love and acceptance for his true self. that’s what i hoped to achieve in this playlist.

Me:

"Abortion is murder!”

Me:

"Blue lives matter!”

Me:

"Capitalism doesn’t harm the environment!”

Me:

"Being gay is against the laws of nature!”

Me:

"There are only 2 genders!”

Me:

"Why is it wrong to say the N-word, you fucking snowflake?”

Me:

"Terf is a slur! Don’t say terf!”

Me:

"Asexuals aren’t part of LGBT+”

Me:

click here for part 2! 

Watching others has always been a hobby of yours.

There’s a lot to be learned from observing and watching how people behave and interact. Whether it be for your own simple amusement, or for the sake of gathering information. While some may find it creepy to keep such a keen eye out for others, you don’t look at it that way. Understanding human nature has an endless list of advantages, after all. 

It started as a small side project. When you’d stumble across information on the Phantom Troupe online that wasn’t at a ridiculous price, you found yourself looking more into them. Possible members, possible motivations, surface level stuff. The more you looked into the more you descended into a minor obsession. Questions plagued your mind about their goals, the theories you found too shallow for your taste. 

Through carefully studying their past hits, you came to the conclusion there were no patterns to be found. Nailing down the next possible heist felt like searching for a needle in a haystack, a part of you losing hope at the prospect of ever being in the same area as them. 

So you busied yourself in other ways. From digging through hours of forums and pricey information, you pieced together the most possible members. While they’re all unique in their own right, the apple of your eye has always been their mysterious leader. There have been no solid leads on his real name, much to your chagrin. 

But the leaked autopsies from what’s assumed to be his victims are fascinating. The cause of death was always different! For most nen users who kill, the method of death was typically similar with minor discrepancies. But for whoever this leader was, it almost felt like he had an unlimited amount of abilities. Was that even possible? 

The morality of his actions had never been a strong concern of yours. Wanting nothing more than an opportunity to learn more about him, you brainstormed all you could on how to gain any form of contact. That’s when you got the idea of posting information online yourself, but not about the Troupe. 

From guessing where they might strike next, you posted on hunter websites about information that they might find helpful. Important figures to expect at the events, bodyguard’s abilities that had been confirmed from previous employers. Whether or not the Troupe actually looked and used the information is a mystery, but the prospect of assisting them felt… thrilling. Like you were almost a part of them yourself. 

That leads you to where you are now. A mini road trip of sorts, your last exit approaching fast.