A/N: I need a bit of a breather while I try to sort through my Around notes for what needs to go into the end of the story to finish it off, and what really ought to be in its own story. (Or possibly stories, plural. The bunnies have Ideas on Hinahoho.)
So, have a bit of a Bleach omake. This is set in a particular ‘verse in my head, where Ichigo ends up coming into conscious contact with magic and the supernatural a bit earlier than canon, and things snowball from there. (I don’t own Bleach. Or the other ‘verse. Hee.)
“Every magic’s got its price. What are my limits, old man?”
-What you allow them to be.
“You’re not making sense!”
-Am I not? Tell me, Ichigo. What are you?
“I’m….”
-Yes?
“…Human.”
-Ah. And a human body, at such speeds?
“It-”
-Breaks.
“But-!”
-You are a shinketsu. True blood. You are shinigami.
-But you were born among humans. Raised with them. You are half-human. It is your strength – our strength – and our weakness.
-Your body here is not a human body. It is formed of your strength, your will, your soul. And your soul believes you are human.
“…If I use all your speed, I’ll – break.”
-If you fight for more than a few minutes. Yes. A dark coat rustled with frustration. -You have the strength to wield me, Ichigo. I know it. But until you learn to reshape your own self in this form, to strengthen the patterns of power that are the bone and sinew of a spirit’s body….
“How long is that going to take?”
-Too long.
“The execution-”
-The minutes trickle away like blood. I know.
-Fight, Ichigo. Use me. We will save her.
-But afterward….
“Yeah.” A wry chuckle. “This is gonna hurt like hell.”
Crossover Queen's Creative Chaos 
So, after the fight, time to start reading fiction for ideas of what “might be possible” _instead_ of science for “what limits are there”. Not quite the usual way of handling it. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
*G* This is yet another crossover AU, so yes, fiction to get a grasp on “what you could do if X” may even be more plausible than Bleach canon.
…I love Ichigo, but the Leeroy Jenkins tendencies need to be sat on, so much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
>…I love Ichigo, but the Leeroy Jenkins tendencies need to be sat on, so much!>
Maybe add Tatsuki to the mess in order to reign him in. Lord knows Uryū and Yasutora aren’t able to.
I always felt that character had a lot of potential only to be shoved aside at the first possible moment in canon. Possibly because the author felt she might overshadow his chosen hero/wasn’t a damsel in distress type or something.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tatsuki was indeed woefully underused, drat. Will need to poke that.
…And darn it, not all of us want damsels in distress! Some of us like them kicking butt! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
>…And darn it, not all of us want damsels in distress! Some of us like them kicking butt!😉>
-Looks at 95% of the female characters in your stories-
Yeah I kinda got that impression.
Honestly the Tatsuki situation was weird/massive plot goof for me. The general opinion was that Ichigo’s constant release of spiritual energies as what caused the powers to develop in the secondary characters.
The thing is from what I can tell Yasutora and Orihime only really encountered Ichigo by high school (or a bit sooner). Tatsuki on the other hand? She first Ichigo when they were four years old.
I mean if that limited exposure caused Yasutora and Orihime to develop abilities during the big hollow attack, there should have been a lot more ‘adepts’ running around Karakura Town.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed. And that just brings up all sorts of interesting extra plots. Also it brings up questions about whether any of them caused tertiary characters to gain spiritual power from their own releases of uncontrolled power. Also, whether the Vizard caused any during the time when their powers weren’t under their control just after they got to the living realm, before they managed to lock their hollow powers down with training and self-control.
LikeLiked by 1 person
…Or, “Why isn’t all of Karakura full of people who can see ghosts?” Seriously.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of the failings of Bleach cannon, IMO, was that the cast simply got so big it was impossible to manage all the characters. Honestly I think the story was at its best in the beginning at Karakura. I think we could have stuck around there for a few more story arcs before Byakuya ruined everyone’s day. Might’ve given the author some breathing space to plot things out a little better so everything post-Soul Society wouldn’t have been such a train wreck.
(I’ll admit that I stopped reading after Aizen was defeated by Ichigo. From a storytelling perspective, even though it was a pretty depressing ending, I felt that the end of that arc really felt like the end of the story. The symmetry of it almost made up for the whole Hueco Mundo arc being a massive recycle of the previous arc…)
LikeLiked by 1 person
*Nod* I liked the Karakura part of it in the most – partly because it was before the Never-Ending Powerups.
I will, however, admit to a deep, deep fondness for a certain captain of the 10th Division and all the idiots he gets saddled with. Because Hitsugaya is awesome. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You would think, yes. There are a few excellent fics on Fanfiction on my favorites page (Vathara) that go into AUs where that happens. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
>I will, however, admit to a deep, deep fondness for a certain captain of the 10th Division and all the idiots he gets saddled with. Because Hitsugaya is awesome.:) >
Nonsense. Rangiku isn’t an idiot, she’s a gadfly. 😀
Now if you want idiot subordinates, there’s Kiyone and Sentarō from the 13th.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Point. *Amused.*
LikeLike
Ooh, new story. Though I really want to know what other part of the cross is you never disappoint so I’ll just sit on my curiosity for now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thor and Avengers. AU’s the end of Thor, and posits there was a different villain for Avengers.
AKA Loki ends up in Karakura. 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Marvel!Loki meets the Bleach cast… popcorn… lots of popcorn for when Fury and Tony find out how well everyone hid from them… *EG*
LikeLiked by 2 people
*G* Marvel Loki meets tiny fierce Ichigo a week after Masaki’s death. There is ice involved. And monsters. And Isshin-craziness.
Loki likes it there….
LikeLiked by 1 person
>One of the failings of Bleach cannon, IMO, was that the cast simply got so big it was impossible to manage all the characters. Honestly I think the story was at its best in the beginning at Karakura. I think we could have stuck around there for a few more story arcs before Byakuya ruined everyone’s day. Might’ve given the author some breathing space to plot things out a little better so everything post-Soul Society wouldn’t have been such a train wreck.<
Apparently Tite Kubos 'solution' to writers Block is to introduce new characters in spades, which kind of explains allot about that humongous cast of Bleach and how it got cranked up again in every arc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep. Word of God. Oy. Which meant if a new character we liked got introduced, almost no character development, darn it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ouch. But it does explain a lot.
(My favs are Jūshirō and Shunsui. Because.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are also Awesome. “Screw the rules, I’m doing what’s right!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh man. Like I don’t know why, but my immediate response to this snippet was…
shoujo-manga-magical-girl!Ichigo? Ok!
…which is probably not where this is going, upon re-reading. But I think that it will be interesting to see what Ichigo decides is impossible – or not – for him.
LikeLiked by 1 person
*Snrrrrk* No. Although someone should do that AU. Really.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, that would definitely be _one_ source of inspiration for interesting power-ups that he can justify…
LikeLiked by 1 person
*Snickers*
LikeLike
Sounds interesting . . . I look forward to more when it comes . . .
I liked the premise of Bleach a lot – it had the potential to be a very interesting and different urban fantasy series. And I like a lot of the characters. However, it just fell down into standard shonen fighting series formula . . . which seems to happen to every show aimed at boys – it has an interesting premise with a lot of potential for unique stories and character development and what happens? Protagonist fights increasingly powerful antagonists until they hit the ultimate and that ultimate and possibly some of its just befores are Complete God Mode Sues that somehow know everything, have planed for absolutely everything, are so powerful that the author has to pull a solution out of thin air with no set-up for this solution to defeat the bad guys . . . then everyone lives happily ever after including the karma houdinis.
Also Kudo lets certain characters get away with far too much bad stuff . . . I think you know who I’m talking about . . .*glares*
Also why is Ichigo an idiot so much of the time? I know he claims to study for lack of something better to do with his time but you don’t make such good grades consistently if you aren’t smart. And sometimes he’s allowed to be smart and tactical . . . unless the plot calls for him to be a complete moron . . *sigh* Of course, if Ichigo met Loki when he was wee in this verse, I could see of that nonsense happening. Loki already has had to deal with one light-color haired moron*, thank you very much.
*I don’t think Thor is stupid so much as impulsive and such but Loki might just be annoyed with his brother . . .actually maybe part of the annoyance is that he knows Thor isn’t nearly as stupid as he acts sometimes. Like “Why are you acting so stupid? I know you aren’t that stupid?”
Just a theory from dealing with my own brothers.
Also looking forward to more from the Around version – because of course it’s multiple stories – did you really think that Sinbad of the Seven Seas, even reincarnated, would stop with one no-so-little story? Ja’far would say that was rather naive. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
In Bridge Loki gets to be a big brother, and Ichigo tempers some of the “jump in and start swinging”… at least somewhat. 😉 Because yes, he’s smart, he just needs someone to teach him to apply it tactically!
(Isshin, you’re a great guy, but randomly attacking your kid to toughen him up doesn’t teach tactical thinking.)
As for Around… so far it has at least 2 more story ideas knocking around. The first is Hancock vs. an SF convention. (With bonus Yamraiha kidnap!) There may also be some SF buddies of Tiburon who go poking places they shouldn’t….
Third story – well, don’t want to spoil things. Let’s just say, that’ll be when Our Heroes figure out there’s another Magi out there. By the obvious towers….
LikeLiked by 2 people
*snrks* In Bridge Loki ends up a very good big brother. Trains the kids (including Ichigo’s nakama, which does include Tatsuki) to a fare-thee-well. Interesting Things happen.
Thor is going to have a major clue-hammer slap to the head. (When the Avengers get to meet Bleach.) And the shinigami give us a very interesting view on Odin and the Asgard. (Note: Shinigami desperately need more people with power to help defend the living world from Hollows. Valkyrie, anyone? Plus Avengers has the Asgard as being aliens rather than gods. Imagine Yamamoto-Genryūsai’s reaction to what happened.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
The only problem with Bridge is that the bunnies gave me multiple disconnected pieces, and I’m not sure how to either expand on them or trim them to “these are all bits of a greater ‘Verse”. Argh.
And yes. Consider Ryuujin Jakka, and certain legends of fire giants…. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person