#zanpakutou

[pastanebula]

katen kyokotsu wip!

i don't draw kyokotsu enough even though i think her konoichi theme is p cute

[pastanebula]

Dressed for my funeral ☺️

based on this dress I just made up kyokotsu's fit on the spot (and it shows )

[pastanebula]

another but different fit just bc

I'd have loved to see a kubo design for her tbh, seeing that Urozakuro (azashiro's zanpakuto) sketch always had me wondering what katen kyokutso would've looked like with a similar understated but somehow telling design?

[pastanebula]

her for practice

[thelandswemadeofpaper]

I saw this gif and though of Byakuya

[bleachbleachbleach]

This is my zanpakutou

[Bleach 055 | 075]

Sure, you can be jaded about shounen guys and their fancy weapons parades, like, if you want, but I think the way zanpakutou are introduced is immensely fucking cool. We have some sense of the thing--from Zangetsu, and from Rukia having started it all by thrusting hers through Ichigo's chest, but our introductions to Soul Society and the shinigami who lead it are through an introduction to these swords.

We see it first from Renji, in the dark on a street in Karakura: A sword that can cut, but one that can also be called forth to change shape, become teeth that pounce and gnash. The image is so visceral--you can feel it dig into Ichigo's shoulder, tear through fat and muscle.

But maybe we've forgotten that, in the broad daylight of the West Gate. Even Ichigo's life-or-death tousle to regain Zangetsu is a dim memory on the other side of the dangai, because we've made it to the gates and bested the gate giant without much trouble and even some hijinks. The world on this side doesn't yet feel real, because Jidanbou is Jidanbou and Jidanbou lives up to the sense of fantasy: If you beat the gate guardian, of course you get to go into the city. That's how fantasy works, doesn't it?

But it's not how gates work. Ichimaru rightly points out that beating the gate guardian should not logically mean said guardian then opens the gate for you. I'm not saying it should mean you get your arm cut off by Some Guy, but it's not like Ichimaru's entirely wrong here. That's fantasy logic. This is Soul Society, and this is his zanpakutou. Which is, if you recall, a brutal weapon. It's also other things, but the way we met it and the way we are reminded of it it now, is through its violence.

[Bleach 055 | Bleach 075]

And I love the juxtaposition of the pure violence of zanpakutou to the fact that they are also the object of konsou--and konsou, for most, is likely how such a sword is most often used. Konsou, an act of meditation, mercy, perhaps grace. There's a juxtaposition, too, between the pure violence of zanpakutou and the fact that our first glimpse of Soul Society as a place is through Renji and Rikichi talking about butterflies; our introduction to Ichimaru is him frittering time away with Byakuya; and he closes the scene with a goodbye that is both disarming and utterly apprehension-inducing:

[Bleach 075]

All of these juxtapositions offer something different--with Renji, we begin to understand different dynamics between him and his past with Rukia, and with shinigami duties as a normal person job; we see some additional social complexities arise between Byakuya and Ichimaru; and while Ichimaru's "byebye" is written in pink and followed with a heart, it's not the same as the glimpses we get of Renji. Renji's scenes say, there's more for you to know. Ichimaru's introduction screams, I will not let you know. We're certainly not saying goodbye to hijinks, and it's not as though Soul Society isn't defined just as much by its hijinks (bureaucratic, slapstick, and otherwise) as it is its swords, but Ichimaru showing up, however playfully, is a reminder that shit's also serious, and those hijinks live hand in hand with the vicious intensity of zanpakutou, and shinigami, and Soul Society.

[phoenixcatch7]

Something I find mildly amusing (absolutely hysterical and not nearly talked about enough) is Zangetsu's likely reception if they ever appeared in soul society (ala the way most of them were hanging out during the Muramasa arc).

(Spoilers) Because not only have we 2 (2!) spirits, which previously ONLY kyoraku and shunsui had, we've got a) a very obvious hollow and b) literally soul society's biggest mortal enemy and the reason for the gotei's formation.

If either of them were spotted on their own without context, it would be ON SIGHT for both of them.

Granted, probably no one but like, four people absolute max would even recognise ossan, but they're all the oldest, most powerful, most influential captains and it might take a hot second to remember where they'd seen his face but honestly then they'd probably speed run bankai and try and take his head off screaming, and that would get people's attention if the yells to mobilise the whole seireitei didn't.

Shiro? Hollow. Obvious, blatant, hollow. Way more blatant than even the arrancar. With his mask on, no one would see the resemblance to Ichigo, and he would almost certainly be engaging in 'hollow' activities (ie antagonising someone). Any soul reaper not wondering what a humanoid hollow was doing wandering around in fully warded shinigami central in broad daylight would immediately try and kill him.

Ichigo?? Exhausted. Fed up. He let these guys out of his sight for two seconds. For crying out loud, there was a giant ancient ice dragon storming around a few days ago and people barely reacted to that.

[thelandswemadeofpaper]

I want a Arc about Kyoka Suigetsu or at least the parts about him in the Zanpakutou Rebellion. I see a bit of Nooroo vibes on the guy, maybe a Kitsune instead? The Butterfly can be from the Hougyoku, make them friends or rivals.

Also, the Sokyoku, I imagine a bird-like armor with helmet and all. Given they don't have a wielder, they are probally an agorophobic lobster.

Nozarashi too! I want to see everyone reaction to Zaraki's zanpakutou! Bonding with Yoruichi's one over their shinigami ignoring them.