Kubo-sensei, bless our manga-ka with the heart of a poet, is a nutberry. He's said that he's obsessed with seasons taking place in his story and the seasons in Real Time. He's urged his readers to read his "Memories in the Rain" chapters when it's raining. And this summer, in a Shounen Jump near you, just in time for Tanabata,  Ulquiorra Schiffer will be battling Kurosaki Ichigo. The air will be thick with mythology. Let the metaphors roar!

Now, I can over-interpret with the best of them, but I've cautioned against using symbology as a way to predict plot in my essay last year about Tanabata. Characterizations and the interactions between characters, I've argued, are a better way to predict happenings, but I may make an exception in the case of Ulquiorra. Our fourth Espada is (essentially) affectless, lacks a backstory (so far) and his interactions with other characters has been limited. "He is a stone," Kubo told Ulquiorra's seiyuu when asked how to play him. "A stone." Ulquiorra is supposed to have little to no emotions and he radiates pure mystery. Unlike Grimmjow who landed in the Bleach plot with personality running out of his ears, snarking out  a gut reaction to every remark and throwing a fist into the gut of every other character, Ulquiorra has been implacable.  In many ways, he's a walking talking SYMBOL just begging to be played with.

"El Que Llorra" means He Who Cries in Spanish. Nice irony, eh? His name Ulquiorra sounds like the opposite of who he presents himself to be. The tears on his face may have something to do with the boatman myths of several mythologies. In the Tanabata story, tears are rain and the rain is what separates lovers, and in Bleach tears are what, oddly enough,  unites people if we are to believe Orihime's volume poem by Kubo ("If I were Rain that unites Heaven and Earth that otherwise never touch, could I likewise unite the hearts of two people?").  Dizzy with the symbology yet?  And of course we know that the rain in Ichigo's inner world was a bad thing that needed to be stopped by Rukia.... Rain, pain, emo, schmemo--they are obvious connotations.

To continue with Ulquiorra's mythologies, however, Schiffer means boatman in German, one of the many languages Kubo likes to play with, and it's a boatman who in some versions of the Tanabata myth reunites the lovers. In the Greek version of Ulquiorra's story (I hope  r0ck3tsci3ntist will add a comment to this post that tells more about the Charon myth since I learned about its ties to Ulqui from her), Charon is the visually impaired ferryman who brings souls across the FIFTH (yeah, you heard that right--fifth tower, five lifetimes, whatever, five is just too much fun) river for the price of two coins.  This unemotional character was said to cry once in his morbid career and that was when Orpheus sang for him and thus Charon let Orpheus cross the river for free.

Those are some mighty symbolic eyeball you have there, Mr. Schiffer.  I'm sure it's a coincidence because I don't like to think of my Kubo-sensei as a Kabalah scholar,but here and there Bleach fans who play with Jewish mysticism have aligned the ten espada to the ten attributes of the Divine according to this ancient Spanish mystical tradition, and  Ulquiorra, the fourth Espada correlates nicely with the Hebrew principle of Chesed (mercy), the fourth emanation and the power of vision.

Ho ho ho, I could run a few yards down the crazy field with that one, but I'm going to turn to another Schiffer possibility.

The surname also recalls the Jesuit monk Hubert Schiffer who miraculously survived the bombing of Hiroshima (Kubo Tite's hometown, by the way).

"If You Rise From the Ashes" was the title of the chapter in which Ulquiorra last saw Ichigo. Shooting around the crazy bleachness theories with friends Jasse and Kaya the other day, we came upon the idea that Ulquiorra, unlike his fellow Espada, is capable of regeneration. His next encounter with Ichigo will have to engage that ability.



One last thing. We Ulqui fangirls are a little half-crazy with the possibility of seeing Ulqui's release soon but we're also afraid that our lovely Emocar is going to die. Sometimes I'm of the notion that no one who has put out a Bleach Beat CD will perish in the Bleach storyline; other times I'm convinced that Ishida (face it--I'm Ishida-centric) will have to wipe out one soul from existence with that Quincy power to destroy and that soul is going to be the one who isn't quick enough on the regeneration draw.  Of course, then, all the UlquiHime fangirls will hate Ishida and I will go have to hide under a rock for a few weeks.

Grimmjow's not dead--he's just been lying around for months. Ulqui? Standard tragic story-telling and even some sects of UlquiHime romantics call for Ulquiorra's death to happen this summer. The oldest call is that he'll die protecting Orihime somehow. I don't know how it's going to go down--all I know is that the myths can't predict it and knowing Kubo, it's gonna be FUN.

Title: Choose
Author: gully_moe
Rating: PG (Some language, and maybe a bit angsty?)
Words: 608
Pairings/Characters: IchiRuki and IchiOri. Mild GinRuki and UlquiHime. Oh and Aizen. =)
Summary: In which Ichigo is faced with a painful decision.

Another drabble, or little ficlet that I'd like to share in here. It's an idea that just sprang to my head the other night. It's my interpretation of Ichigo's relationship with the main female characters, and where Kubo could be going with them.

All and all shipping wars break Ichigo's brain.

Enjoy

A fic rec! Some IchiIshi from a damn gooooood writer I've been squeeing over since her entry into the fandom! It's a bit squicky but it's a rescue fic so if you've seen Yael's infamous Ishida torture pic over at y!gallery, you'll appreciate nehalenia 's  story: More Than Nakama (NC-17)

And to further my campaign that Szayel will be back, probably for Easter, but knowing Kubo, maybe ... Tanabata?...HAVE SOME FANART: Not Dead by the ever awesome xilvrin (SilvaNoir on Deviant Art)

The best part about chapter 313 is that it's jumpstarted a lot of my old friends who were bored with Bleach into posting again. Jenni is one of those fans I love to disagree with, love to agree with, just plain love. Her sensible overviews trump my fangirliness any day. Recently, she pegged the issue at the heart of 313 while the rest of us were gawking at Ken-chan's shirtlessness or grumbling about ship stuffs. This is Ichigo's story, right? Ichigo is having some identity issues.

What is Your Place, Ichigo? (a 313 review by metaphore_art  )

What else? I've had a migraine all week so I've been kinda cranky. It's obvious to me now from having watched the latest episode of the manga that we're heading for EXTREME censorship of a lot of what we saw in the manga. Orihime was barely roughed up by Lolli and Menoli and their subsequent ... erm... punishment by Grimmjow was handled in a peculiar way to make the bitches half-responsible. *Sigh*  So much for my Szayel. There's just going to be no getting any of his outrageousness past the censors.

I can't remember the last time I had such extreme butterflies for a chapter as for 314 and I'm one of those Bleach fans who enjoys the whole damn thing and is RARELY bored of the manga. My most fervent wish is for Ulquiorra to return and I don't care where he shows up, but like most fans, I'd spin a cartwheel if he showed up to confront Orihime. Other things I'd like to see: 1) HOUGYOKU 2) KARAKURA PEOPLE, ANYONE, THE DADDIES, TATSUKI, ANYONE, even just some guy on the street buying a mochi ball 3) Grimmjow being healed by Unohana.

Wanna take bets as to who Nel is going to spit up on? I want it to be Ken-chan.

Adam, who pretends to be an ass but is really a sweetie, wrote me an IshiHime, and he's a damn fine writer so you people better leave him reviews because he doesn't ever get many and his stuff kicks the tar out of everything else on ff.net:

Impurification by adam_epp 

and his description: Story flirts a bit between T and M Rating, but I chose T; please let me know if you disagree.
Probably one-sided IshiHime, definitely one-sided IchiOri, and light IchiRuki. IshiChad from neither side but I'm sure there is an unintendedl subtext that yaoi fangirls can use to put words in my mouth. Yeah, that's what people want to read in a note like this or a summary, amirite?

Moving right along..... The magnificent, beneficent, owner of Bleach Asylum requested a Szayel drawing of little ole me and I did this ASAP, even though I think I was a little trippy when doing this but that's okay--trippy is GOOD when you're drawing MR. PINK, who is, by the way, NOT DEAD (I don't know why everyone keeps saying he is). Anyway, one of the things going through my unwell mind when doing this was that Space suffers being too nice to people sometimes and Szayel ... well, Szayel doesn't have that problem at all! But at the moment Szayel is suffering a millennia of torment just now but not to worry--he will RISE AGAIN. Here's my pic:

A Thousand Years is Not Forever

For those of you who may not know, Space is AizenSousuke on Deviant Art and does lovely stuff like this <---an Ulquiorra Valentine by spacexat

Also Space's sister Juunana also does the most amazing emotional fanarts and really neat cosplays like this

SO CHECK OUT THEIR GALLERIES!

Raise your hand if you can't sleep because you're waiting for the Szayel Aporro Bleach Beat Collection to be released today!!!!!!!!!

Guess what? Finally updated the website:debbiechan.com (New stuff linked on first page).
New art for me, by me, and a bunch of fics.

Finally! Pr0Ntober drabbles. Mature but not that pr0ny really.  Nnoi/Nel/swordfighting, Ishida and Orihime, Shunsui/Nanao/discreet, IchiTats/pleasant surprise, Nel/Ulquiorra/ confrontational dominant kiss and UlquiHime.



VOTING REMINDER: Looky! 26 sweet Ishida and Orihime fics waiting for you to read them. Linked for your convenienceI in this one post: you can vote over here in the debbiechan is dying absolutely dying for IshiHime Fanfic Contest.

You don't have to be a member of Live Journal or my Bleachness community to vote--all you have to do is click "Leave a Comment." Your response will be registered as anonymous. You can only vote from one ISP thoug h. Happy IshiHime Reading!  Hop over and encourage these authors to write more of this magical pairing!

A request fic that was fun to write because, in three words: I LOVE GIN. Excuse my punch-drunkenness but I've been listening to the Bleach Beat "Ulquiorra Sings" single and
I LOVE ULQUIORRA.  : )

EDIT:
interesting review of chapter
by metaphore_art

I don't know about you, but I am ridiculously happy about the fact that the next Bleach Beat Collections will be  ULQUIORRA (one whole collection) and GRIMJOW (the other).  People who sing can't die in the manga, right?  The singles will be released in June.

In the meantime I've been googling around for info after Ulquiorra's namesake, the ship that wrecked off the coast of Spain and can't find a thing. Anyone know anything? I'm spelling Ulquiorra wrong?

Here it is. Usual warnings apply. Hard R, sex and violence, yaoi and het, fluff and dread.


Oh LJ, why must you play with my formatting?? >.<

Thank you to hidden_gems for catching the various dropped words in this manuscript. This part is the 14 pages I accidentally deleted and had to rewrite. There's one more section to come and then I'm writing something cracky about Kon.


This morning I read a couple people hypothesizing about Quincy-Hollows over at BF. Heh, I'm going to be so tickled if Kubo goes this way with Zael-Apollo, but I'd really prefer a quick Zael-Ishida-Renji match. Yes, the fight has potential. Genius and science and Renji's pluckiness and ban kai.  Not to mention Pesh-ness. But I want to see Ichigo (I can't believe I said that!) right now. I mean, see Shirosaki.

Heelllloo, friendly neighborhood neurotic fanficcer  here.

Finished the story (there are yet another TWO parts I need to proof after this one), and even after losing 14 pages of part three, I felt good getting this one out. I haven't felt a fic lacking in a audience since I wrote The Girls (but that one did get well-received) and I haven't gotten as much out of an emotional purging from a story since Bright Majestic Winter. I think this one is a re-writing of "Winter""in a strong way--another excuse to play with the ideas of sexual power and identity, but this time I didn't want Aizen pulling all the strings. This is the new, un-victimized "Winter?" A dominance fic with romance? XD I tell you, I'm in outer space with this one.

Having writer's solipsism for breakfast, lunch, and dinner--it's the weekend after all.

*turns up choral music*

Without further ado, the part I am sure is going to make people go "huh?" :



Heh heh. I think I may be picking up some  of that "it's not what you think it is" evilness from my boyfriend, Kubo-san. This is what happens when I write for myself; I'll probably take drabble requests soon (I know, Cal! I owe you Ikitaku/Unohana!)  The chibis want to play Reader Rabbit on the computer now, so adieu until part 3.

LJ.... what is wrong with you. I swore I uploaded this a minute ago and it showed up. Refreshed and refreshed and it's gone.... so here again...

My first attempt to build a story out of a drabble. Think it failed but it was fun to write. I'm all about Ulqui and Zael-Apollo lately. Not sure how to categorize this fic either and don't want to give the plot away. Two more parts to proof.


Description: Hard R. A story about identity. Can Ulquiorra’s allegiance ever waver? Can Ishida’s?  Aizen, Gin, Tousen, Orihime, Zael-Apollo.

Warnings: Spoilers for Hueco Mundo arc, (mild) dark-fic-ness, (not overly explicit) sexual weirdness, mind fuckery, a hougyoku with erotic powers, and a long author’s notes at the end.

A/N: This story, written the week chapter 272 appeared, begins with the presumption that Renji and Ishida were defeated by Zael-Apollo.




As always, the pointing out of typos, oddly constructed sentences, contradictions with tiny canon factoids and MORE will be VERY VERY appreciated. Also I love concrit, esp with a story I'm wobbly about like this one. I'll start ^^: 

This starts as a yaoi fic and then seems to be an IshiHime--what's up with that? Ulquiorra seems less than his cold character in the manga. I love your Gin but your Zael-Apollo is almost exactly like him, maybe more insecure that's all--is he TRYING to be like Gin? I don't understand the bit about the tailors.

But if you write I enjoyed this. Please update soon! I'll be very happy! ^^

Kurt Vonnegut is dead, the animation in 121 sucked, it's raining so I can't walk to the store for soymilk, people snap at me on the internet, and there is no joy in Mudville. And then, there's a confirmation of Bleach 271. Oh my Ulquiorra, oh my white-bellied baby, my arrancar muffin midget of meanness. Some fanbois rejoice and some mourn. But it's true:

( Do not clicky if you don't want to know about Bleach 271 )

I have but a few words to say about the early spoiler. XD



I finally started posting fanart on y!gallery and realized that ever since DA I've been censoring my stuffs (I used to draw pretty raunchy back when I posted on Red Curtain), so I made two y!gallery appropriate fanarts. Tame really. I just like using the categories like "mind control" and "bondage." I posted the Aizen one DA but said in my notes it was a strangling and not a bj and I dare anyone to challenge me!

Because I like tying him up

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a strangling? Is it a blowjob?

I'll probably stay up late tonight waiting for spoiler pics. Sometimes I wish Bleach would get boring so I could get excited and fanny about other manga (blows kiss to anime L!)
Remember My Spectacular Crystal Ball Contest No one's guessing anything--just goes to show ya how unpredictable Kubo is. Although I think Shini may get a winner in Grimmjow fights Ichigo AND Ulquiorra.

I got it! He's not going to soften one little bit. It's supposed to look that way to readers. What Ulqui is doing is following Aizen's orders and he's going to befriend Hime somehow and let her out and bring her to the Hougyoku--at which point Aizen will pop out and say "surprise!" and tell her that nyah, nyah, nyah, she can''t bring the Hougyoku back to a time when it didn't exist.

andrew_jp 's idea for the fanart. In the last pic Hime was a wilting flower. Now she's taking lessons from Ulqui.

The Professional

Episode 115? It looked so badly drawn again. :( And Dattebayo translated Rukia's line as "that's the man I know you are" instead of "that's the man I keep in my heart." Or did Perriot change the line? Aizen looked... I dunno... less than the hot overlord he is in the manga.

BTW, I'm still dancing on the grave of the reincarnation theory, and isn't KAIEN THE GOOFIEST? I think I love him.