snow on the sahara

hallowd wrote a fricking awesome ship manifesto for Ichigo/Rukia/Renji here and it is criminal that it only has three comments, one of which came from my dumb ass.

SO READ IT, BE AWED, AND EXPRESS YOUR AWE, FOOLS!

I don't think I want to remember. Because once upon a time, I would never have a conveniently-arranged clip show of all the times Rukia's used her shikai to whip ass in Bleach:



And now I do!

eta: and this AMV too! I kinda dig it, even though Britney Spears + Bleach is not a combination I would normally consider. Maybe it's because half this video is about Rukia's sword spirit beating the crap out of Ichigo, which makes me LOL like a sociopath.

I realized that I REALLY need to post more about what is actually going on in my life because I have sucked at that. (Not that there's much exciting going on, but just so long-distance friends are in the loop.)

But not right now, because I lj from my phone during the workday and long posts are a pain. So I'll just say that it's weirding me out that despite skipping episodes for months, I am enjoying the new Bleach filler arc. Almost as much as the manga, actually; at least the anime has Rukia lately. I am such a shameless Rukiawife.

In random rec news, I recently finished the three-volume Uzumaki manga and it is creepy as fuck. I dig it. Two thumbs up.

This was not my idea.

But I fully endorsed it once it was suggested.

Anyone who thinks this wish was too frivolous for the shrine should check out some of the other stuff hung up there.

So one of the reasons Ichigo/Rukia reached the top of my OTP pile, Bleach or otherwise, is because the pairing hits my equality kink really, really hard. Before anything else, they're partners and friends. At their best, they balance each other out quite well; at their worst, they're kicking and yelling at the other one to get back into balance.

So from there, when it comes to fic and future desires for canon, it's no surprise that I really love seeing Rukia rescue Ichigo. The chapter where she flash-freezes Grimmjow before Ichigo gets shanked is one of my favorites. But since it is equality, for me it goes both ways; I don't only want Rukia to do the saving as a way of making up for lamer shonen heroines from other series. I like to see them taking turns saving each other; I'm just as likely to get starry-eyed over Ichigo saving her as the other way around, provided there is no subtext of "...because you're just a weak little girl."

None of this is new thinking for me, but I was sort of amused yesterday when someone posted a fanart link to ichi_ruki and I found two pictures that pretty much epitomize the opposing ends of my "Makes Jaina Go Squee" range: this and this*.

In some ways, I don't really mind being predictable.

*Yeah, I know they're both standing tall and battle-scarred in this one**, but something about it just struck me as a setting in which she did the lion's share of the saving. Maybe because of her more upright position.

**I also have a major thing for Rukia walking around in hakama and bindings instead of the usual top half of the uniform. I do not know why.

So Ray and I got to talking about all the fics on ffnet that cast Rukia as Bella and Ichigo as Edward, and how they are dumb.

raynos:But don't you know that Bleach done Twilight style is all the fad?

jaina: A stupid fad

raynos: I've seen at least 3

jaina: Bella is like the anti-Rukia

raynos: I would think it's the other way around
raynos: RUKIA IS THE VAMP
( And it just got worse from there )

Oh my god Renji was such a DWEEB in Academy. And he totally could have gotten into Rukia's pants if he'd tried.

...because I am kind of excitedly awaiting the third Bleach movie even though it is most likely going to be more stupid filler, because that's what shonen series movies do.

( The gist of it )

Dammit Pierrot. Stop playing to my shipping weaknesses. *sigh*

And in an effort to consolidate my Bleach spammery, here, have a Kaien + Rukia video that's been rocking my socks this week:

hakuren: i think we need a new word for whipped for him
hakuren: it's so much worse than that
hakuren: xd;;;
hakuren: well i think xd;
hakuren: >>;

jaina: Well, Rukiasexual pretty much covers it

hakuren: ....by george, I think that'll do.

jaina: she doesn't just change his behavior

hakuren: XD

jaina: She changes his entire sexual orientation
jaina: that's power

hakuren: THAT IS.

jaina: WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE TRUTH

hakuren: LIKE THE HOLY GRAIL
hakuren: ONLY
hakuren: MORE ACCURATE AND SHINING
hakuren: =3

jaina: AND COVERED IN INTIMATE BODILY FLUIDS

OH SHIT THIS BETTER BE TRUE. Y'ALL, IT'S THE RETURN OF PLOT IN BLEACH!

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG