BLEACH /  群青爱兰

Me writing a meta for my favorite series: -Write write write evidence write perfect flow write write great organization write evidence write-

Me writing an essay at school: what the hell am i supposed to write for this crap

naruto x bleach au

Gifts Exchanged, One Sternritter to Another

Author’s Notes: Merry Christmas guys, I wrote up this little Bleach Christmas one-shot last year and thought it would be fitting to post it this time of the year. While watching the TYBW anime, many Quincy characters had quirks and traits I was invested and wanted to explore in a non-battle setting, thus a Christmas gift exchange!

Ao3 link - The fic is also on Ao3 and has a list of references from TYBW that I enjoyed adding to the story!

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Bambietta Basterbine peeked through the window of the ice-covered Quincy-building in apprehension. "Is he gone?" She asked hopefully to Askin Nakk Le Vaar who was looking through his binoculars nonchalantly without a care in the world.

"Seems so, Bambi-chan."

"Good, that damn Grandmaster ruined my hopes of getting a bonus last year for the New Year. This year, this Christmas party we're doing will make up for it!" Bambietta huffed sourly.

"What were you even going to spend the bonus on?" Askin's mouth contorted into a lazy smirk, his stylized eyebrows raised in a mildly curious manner.

"Hmph, I haven't really thought of what to buy, but that bonus would still have been nice considering how all we do is training or fighting with each other in the Wandenreich."

Sitting on a chair with the other Femritter, Giselle giggled loudly while wearing a red-white Christmas hat instead of her Sternritter cap. "Bambi-chan can be so dumb sometimes hehe."

That earned the annoyance of the self-proclaimed leader of the Femritter as she started firing back insults at the Zombie Sternritter.

Askin took a sip of his cafe au lait, wondering why he even went along with this semi-entertaining idea in the first place. It had been a breather from the repetitive training and fighting with the other colorful personalties of his fellow Sternritter, yet considering how the Wandenreich Quincy's only goal was to fight for his Majesty and completely decimate the Soul Society....this Christmas party was just unfit for their lot.

A tap on Askin's shoulder shook him out of his desolate thoughts. A giant mouth was in front of him, looking hungry. "Liltotto-chan, that appetite of yours never ceases to amuse me." chuckled the easy-going Quincy sardonically. He handed over a cup of his cafe au lait to Sternritter G, watching the short blond Quincy consume the steamed liquid.

"Their bickering was making me hungry....anyways, the gift exchange is about to start. I'm heading for Gremmy's cell, you guys can waste your time with this holiday idiocy." Liltotto said apathetically.

"What a shame, you didn't put your name in the gift exchange name bowl? Your friends will be so disappointed." Askin remarked, despite inwardly agreeing with her on the pointlessness of it all.

Besides that, mentioning that monster Gremmy filled Askin with a fatal sensation, more effective than whatever mental horrors As Nodt could conceive. "Still, it's none of my business concerning Liltotto and what she sees in Gremmy to ever spend time with him willingly."

Then, Bazz-B walked in as he held a white-green box in his hands softly, before seeing what was going on. "Oi, oi, oi! What's with this ugly red-green shit all over Silbern? Even the Soldat are wearing this crap!" He shouted, looking bewildered and annoyed with the sudden change to the Wandenreich's bland look.

"They're doing a Christmas party, rooster head. Exchanging gifts and other human customs." snarked Liltotto as she left the room before Bazz-B could shoot a fire blast at her.

"Jugo really signed off on this crap? Also, are you mocking my awesome mohawk, bitch?!"

Meninas wrapped up her gift before answering. "He doesn't know about what we're doing. There's some sort of Quincy ritual involving his Majesty so his successor left with him."

"Hmph, bastard always follows his Majesty..."

A gloved hand gripped Bazz-B's shoulder with a tight grip, earning the fiery-mannered Quincy's ire before seeing who gripped his shoulder.

"An irritating, garden-variety gnat like you should learn a valuable lesson from his Majesty's successor." Sternritter X, known as Lille Barro calmly stated heavily, accompanied by his overwhelming Reiatsu that effectively made Bazz-B back down and leave the room with his green-white box.

"Quite the harsh words to say to our inferiors, eh Barro? Your commitment to his Majesty is endless even towards these little children like them!" guffawed Sternritter M, known as Gerald Valkyrie boisterously, the volume of the massive Schutzstaffel member's voice made the nearby Sternritter wince in annoyance.

Their hooded comrade of the Schutzstaffel, Sternritter C, named Pernida Parnkgjas made a sound of incoherence.

"Agreed, Pernida. We only have a year left until his Majesty is back to full strength. Getting these Sternritter prepared for their duties towards his Majesty's dream is what's expected of us." nodded Barro stoically.

While those three were secluded from the other Sternritter, Bambietta pinched her forehead in frustration and checked with Meninas, Candice, and Askin to make sure things went smoothly. In the background, Giselle kept trying to convince Mask De Masculine's #1 fan, James, to be part of her zombie entourage.

"PePe is still incapacitated by your death-dealing, Nakk Le Vaar?"

Askin yawned as he nodded, it was a simple increasing the lethal amount of oxygen in Sternritter L's respiratory system to the point of being unable to move.

"Driscoll and Quilge are still entangled in a super-long fight ordered by his Majesty?"

Candice rolled her eyes at how serious Bambietta was taking this whole thing, yet still gave the confirmation that she tricked the two Sternritter into a fight outside of the Wandenreich buildings. It was easy to arrange, involving Quilge's stringent, orderly demeanor and Driscoll's bloodthirsty, violent personality.

"Sternritter Q and Sternritter R...I don't bother to know their names but they're taken care of?"

Meninas didn't remember their names either, although it was grating to everyone's ears whenever Sternritter Q started questioning everything, leading to her knocking him out for their semi-sane peace of mind. She had also challenged Sternritter R to an arm-wrestling contest, knocking him out too after she won before he could pull off a mind-scrambling roar.

"Good, most of the problematic idiots and weirdos can't ruin this party now." sighed Bambietta in relief.

"Talk about a lack of self-awareness. Still, I preferably don't want to be on the receiving end of her explosions." To call Bambietta out on her compulsive behavior of killing numerous soldiers she slept with, was begging for retribution, Askin always had a fatal feeling from her despite how intriguing he found her compared to the other Sternritter.

For the gift exchange, most of them placed their names randomly in a Reishi bowl and had gotten a partner to get a gift for.

"Gigi, you're one of the most irritating Quincy I ever met, considering how much you mock me and Candi. Always whining to us about how you don't have enough zombies, therefore I got you these so you can shut up for once." stated Bambietta as Giselle unwrapped a bag full of dead corpses of guys Bambietta slept with.

"Awww, Bambi-chan!! You do care about me, only you could give me a perfect gift! I'll put off turning you into a zombie for later!"

The violet-haired Sternritter blinked in confusion at Giselle's foreboding words, only to be enraged at her subordinate suddenly leaving the party to go 'play' with her new playtoys. "Wait, you're supposed to give me a gift as well, Gigi! You didn't bother to get me one?!"

Next, it was Meninas and Candice's turn to exchange gifts that were normal this time, to the relief of the two Sternritter ladies.

".....What is this exactly?" Candice held a device that had a cord, while reading the packaging.

"You get up before everyone to do your hair and get mad when it gets ruined. I decided to get you this hair styling tool from the human world. You can power it with your electricity....I think" Meninas explained simply.

"Thanks Meni, this is gonna save me a lot of grief and time! I also got you something from the human world! Your ridiculous Volstandig gave me the inspiration for your gift." Candice's words piqued the pink-haired Sternritter as she took out a dumb-bell set weighing hundreds of pounds.

Near the two, BG9 observed them through his sensors, being confused about the usefulness of the gifts given. "Quite senseless....how would these items given benefit them in combat, Sternritter P's calculated physical strength from her last fight greatly exceeds the combined weight in that dumb-bell set."

Cang Du stoically handed a martial arts book to the android Quincy. "Don't waste your time trying to understand them. Here. This book has detailed breakdowns of the various marital arts that would likely be used by that Squad 2 shinigami captain, her Bankai won't be her only asset."

"Sternritter I, this information will prove very useful to me in the coming battle. It'll absolutely be utilized to the fullest extent. In return, I procured this skin ointment for you to assist with your uncomfortableness with your Schrift's effect-"

A Reishi claw was placed near BG9's throat to make it clear about stoping that sentence. "I told you not to mention it near the other Sternritter. They'll doubt my combat ability against the Shinigami." Cang Du reminded while he grabbed the ointment, desiring to hide the unsettling sensation of cold iron whenever he used his Schrift to coat his body in iron.

The pairs of Sternritter exchanging gifts with one another, whether they were of utility, enjoyment, or indicative of what could pass off as camaraderie. To the experienced eyes of Sternritter N, known as Robert Accutrone, it was the frivolous use of the precious time they had left before Yhwach deem the majority of them fuel for the Auswählen.

"Aren't they having a joyous time?" spoke Askin who noticed Robert's grim demeanor beneath his usual stoic composure.

"Hmph, the fact that this is being done instead of training or anything productive is quite defiant of his Majesty's wishes." Robert's words contradicted the gift picnic basket that was given to Askin.

"Yet you still decided to get me this picnic basket as a gift. Our upcoming invasion of the Soul Society will provide an ample opportunity for me to make use of it."

Robert clicked his tongue in disapproval, showing how he currently felt, even if it looked like Askin's words had caused that reaction. "Geez, this spectacled old man is tough and fun-hating as he looks. Too bad he isn't easy to set off or distract with jokes like the others are...."Askin then cut to what was bothering Robert.

"I say you do care about us in some less-than enthusiastic way, old man. Especially the newbies who recently joined. Most of them won't be chosen, but at least they served his Majesty well considering how devoted you are to the guy."

A long silence followed with no signs of Robert change his mind or discussing the matter further

Askin gave up on trying to continue the conversation, finding it tedious and simply handed Robert a bottle of glasses cleaning fluid. A good marksman needed a clear vision in order to get they wanted after all.

*In Gremmy's cell under the Wandenreich*

"I'm hungry....Bambi and the others kept pestering me to help out with their Christmas party setup that I only got to have some of Nakk Le Vaar's drink before I came down here."

Sternritter V's tranquil voice rang out throughout his heavily confined and fortified cell. "You're always hungry just as I always imagine you to be whenever you come here."

Liltotto wondered if Gremmy was being honest about his claims in accordance to what he imagines. Yhwach's Reika Garasu cell (Soul-Made Glass) had incantations to limit the effect of Gremmy's power, also depriving Gremmy of any freedom for an unknown amount of years.

"How about you imagine some more cookies and a Popsicle for me? You're the Strongest Quincy, aren't you?"

The treats appeared on command in Liltotto's hands to her satisfaction, making sure to share some with Gremmy. Even if these creations of Gremmy’s restrained imagination would stop existing after some time, the two Quincy still found them to be a respite from the bleakness of their world in the shadows of the Soul Society.

"You said the other Sternritter were doing a gift exchange with each other.....I can't really imagine what you would give me if I was freed and took part in it. It would just be a product of my own will, not yours." Gremmy said with a tone of pride yet it sounded like it wasn't something he could truly enjoy.

Liltotto shrugged, not giving any notions that she could fathom a gift for the Sternritter who commanded Imagination like it was a toy.

"Still....what we're doing right now....that you decided to spend time with me and continue to do so.....it makes me feel something I have a hard time....imagining."

The two blond child-like Quincy continued chatting like this until Liltotto brought up the plans for their invasion of the Soul Society.

"I don't know how shinigami taste like but it'll probably be gross either way with how much fighting and the zombies that Giselle will gain from that..."

"Perhaps, your favorite foods can make it more bearable for you when you're at the Soul Society?" To the diminutive girl's surprise, Gremmy created a whole variety of snacks and treats ranging from burgers, cookies, popcorn, cookies, and bread. “These will last a lot longer than the previous ones I imagined.”

"Are your powers getting stronger or....the cell you're in...the security measures on it must be getting weak." Liltotto then deduced "Thus, allowing your power of imagination to last longer with it's creations, even when you're locked up.....well you won't be locked up anymore once the invasion plan starts being executed."

"I see....you don't plan on telling his Majesty . I'm glad I imagined....someone like you for someone like me to know."

*As the gift exchange neared it's end*

"You missed out on a lot of stuff, Lil." scowled Bambietta as she saw Liltotto return to the main room.

"Huh, the room isn't wrecked or completely destroyed. Guess you and the others really pulled it off....who grew new brain cells for this? I already know it wouldn't be you."

Bambietta grunted in frustration, having enough of the disrespect by her own subordinates and going to her room to drag some unfortunate Quincy soldier to a sensual, but fatal end.

In the middle of the room, Liltotto saw Sternritter W, known as Nianzol Weizol licking a tub of ice cream with his two tongues. Next to him was Sternritter U, known as NaNaNa Najahkoop who was playing around some new bracelets on his wrists.

"Huh....that ice cream looks good, if I ignore the saliva and drool all over it...."

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mask De Masculine's exuberant shouts of zealous urging towards As Nodt to accept his gift. "Why won't you take a superstar's present?! How will you be a hero against the villainous shinigami without it?" Mask's little helper, James, also cheered on Mask in this pointless endeavor.

"I don't require anything, especially a purposeless luchador mask from a thoughtless oaf. Go read the copy of his Majesty's Daten I sent you unless you prefer to be introduced to your true fear as a present." As Nodt's raspy voice sent chills down everyone's spines, refusal to change his spiked mask for one of Mask's.

All of these clashes of personalities made Liltotto sigh as she helped take down the Christmas decorations of the room by eating them even with the taste of them. "Whatever the Wandenreich is with these morons and freaks, it's unsuited for this."

"Agreed. Probably, the most mundane gift exchange of all was the Lloyd brothers giving each other the same book. Still....even his Majesty's Royal Guard were participating in this. The big Nordic one was fulfilling our desires randomly while the mute, hooded figure had compressed any stains into nothing on the huge rifle belonging to his Majesty's most ardent devotee." Askin narrated this to no end which made Liltotto narrow her bright yellow eyes at what Askin was getting at.

"Why are you telling me all of this? A recap of what transpired here isn't what I'm interested in." This made the eccentric Sternritter shake his head in disappointment.

"Out of all of the Bambis, you're the smartest one, Liltotto but then again, intelligence often brings about a bland streak of realism in one's demeanor. Quite pessimistic." Liltotto scoffed at that as she ate a popsicle.

She brought up how he wasn't one to talk with how wary he was with most of the Sternritter and accepted his current position of where they stood. What Askin said next made her current emotions come to a halt.

"The world that his Majesty Yhwach wants to make is supposed to be a better world than what we currently have. I'm interested to see what he'll create. " Askin alluded to their ultimate goal before chasing his tone to a more curious inflection. "Whatever happened here today....perhaps a miracle or rare desire for these guys to act like comrades outside of fighting for his Majesty. Usually, I feel it's fatal to do these things considering what we signed up for, why go through the heartbreak? Is it so valuable they did this outside what his Majesty wishes for?"

".....and now he walks away after saying that treasonous crap....what a misfit in this group. First, he goes along with what Bambi wants cowardly and then says that?....Today's events don't change anything at all or our goals." Liltotto shook off the seeds of what Askin implied, making plans for training with the other Bambis.

*In Bazz-B's quarters*

Squinting his green eyes at the white-light green box that he found this morning in his room, Bazz-B scowled deeply, feeling mixed emotions that he tried to push away. "Jugo...you...of all the Sternritter...after all this time that I kept goading and taunting you."

He decided to get it over with and opened the gift from Jugram.

It was a pair of black armbands with skull and crossbones designs on them.

*"The Great Bazz needs the final touch to show all of the other Quincies whose the Ultimate Quincy! I need something that shows how dangerous and subtlely awesome I am!" exclaimed a young Bazz-B as he put on his helmet and gloves while he and Jugram were hunting near Bazz's village 1000 years ago.*

*"Maybe.....I could find an accessory that you like....would it really make that happy, Bazz?" A young Jugram unsurely asked as he wrapped up the rabbit they hunted. Bazz-B's cheeks had a tint of red at hearing that.*

*"I-I don't need it that badly! It's just those stupid grown-ups are blind to my prodigious awesomeness, sometimes what we have on the outside is what matters usually....Jugo, just focus on what you have to do alright?" *

Bazz-B grabbed the black armbands with the imposing design, and wore them around his biceps. "You bastard...damnit....you still remember that crap...you won't fight me no matter what but instead you do this?”

new art by animator leo kawamoto

Looking Back: When Did Aizen Switch Places with Momo?

So this was originally going to be part of another post as part of context, then it become too long and unwieldy, so here we are.

As far as I can tell, it’s never made 100% clear at what point Aizen switched places with Momo during his fight again the Shinigami and Visords. It's not even certain how he got Momo up there in the first place, or when he activated Kyoka Suigetsu’s shikai ability to create the illusion it was himself being attacked by Soi Fon, Kyoraku and Toshiro.

It's been discussed a lot over the years across various forums, with some claiming chapter 684 finally showed when Aizen activated his shikai's power against the Shinigami, while others have come up with other ideas.

Does it really matter discussing this now that everything from this moment has been and gone for years? I guess not. Is this all just a massive plot hole I’m just reading way too much into it? Maybe. And a lot of what I have to say here isn't anything new, but I still wanted to make a post about it.

This is more just for me to finally put my thoughts together about this moment and come to a conclusion for myself. With that said I'd love to hear other theories or perspectives about when you think Aizen switched places with Momo. For reference, I'll be looking at chapters 389-392/ episodes 292 and 293 of the anime.

With all that out of the way, let’s get to it!

Aizen’s powers

I think it’s important to go over what exactly the power of Kyoka Suigetsu is before we get into pin pointing when Aizen released Kyoka Suigetsu or swapped places with Momo. However, if you feel you're familiar with Aizen powers, feel free to skip to the next section:

To start off, the shikai's power, Kanzen Saimin (‘complete hypnosis’), affects the five senses, and according to the BLEACH wiki: “It controls the five senses to the point where it can make the target misinterpret another person's form, shape, mass, feel, and smell to be an enemy's.”

However, Aizen doesn’t need something solid to stand in his place and ‘be him’ when an illusion happens. For example when Halibel went in for the kill on Aizen, it turns out she had stabbed an illusion, there was nothing there; she basically stabbed thin air. Aizen didn’t swap places with anyone or get a corpse for her to stab, he just created an illusion of himself.

When released, Kyoka Suigetsu won’t create an illusion immediately, it just means the victim is now susceptible to being manipulated through their senses and falling for whatever illusion Aizen/Kyoka Suigetsu creates at any time while it’s in it’s released state. I’ve taken Aizen ‘activating’ his zanpakuto’s power to mean he is creating an illusion/manipulating the senses of his victim, not as him releasing his zanpakuto into it’s shikai state.

Aizen can have multiple illusions operating at the same time, whether that’s creating an illusion of people or objects being in front of the victim or affecting the environment around the victim to a certain extent (for example, if we look at when Aizen used his powers on Halibel or Toshiro [in chapter 170], we don’t see at what point he was able to get behind either them, making me think he used his powers to affect their sight and hearing so they wouldn’t see him moving behind them as they went to stab the illusion of him).

The only way to avoid it’s power is to 1) for the opponent to not look upon it when it's been released if it's their first time fighting Aizen or 2) touch the blade before the shikai's ability is activated.

It can only affect the senses so far. For instance, it doesn’t seem affect how one sees their environment (for example, Aizen can’t make you perceive you’re inside a building when you’re actually outside of it) or create some massive illusion bigger than the size of a human.

If I’m wrong about any of this let me know, but as far as I can tell this is how Kyoka Suigetsu’s shikai works.

When did Aizen activate Kyoka Suigetsu's complete hypnosis?

Chapter 684 may have revealed when Aizen activated Kyokya Suigetsu's power. In the chapter, Ichigo says he was able to react to Kyoka Suigetsu because while on his way to battle Yhwach he got the same strange feeling he got when Aizen “cast Kyoka Suigetsu on [the Shinigami]” (VIZ translation) in chapter 391; the panel that’s shown is when Aizen negated Soi Fon’s shikai ability.If we take this literally, this suggests he activated his shikai's ability after her second strike on him. This also suggests he actually was wounded by her (Soi Fon had stabbed him once and then tried to activate her shikai ability, Nigeki Kessatsu, just before stabbing him a second time) and that his right arm was frozen by Toshiro:

I wouldn’t have a problem with this being the moment it happened, except my main issue with this is after Aizen dissolved the whole illusion in chapter 392, he’s completely unscathed – no blood or tears/rips in his clothes or a patch of ice on his right sleeve:

The lack of ice you can get away with by saying he just brushed it off, but there would have to be blood or rips in his clothes from where Soi Fon supposedly stabbed him. The Aizen here is not an illusion and it’s made pretty clear from that point on this is the real one, given what happens in his next fight against Yamamoto.

I doubt it's an art error given that every panel of him after reveal is consistent in showing he isn't injured; also at the start of the chapter, Kubo showed where ‘Aizen’ had been injured, including where Soi Fon had stabbed him in the stomach:

If Aizen were really injured by Soi Fon, Kubo would have shown it.

As a result, this makes me think Aizen didn’t use Kyoka Suigetsu’s powers at that exact moment where he negated Soi Fon's shikai ability, but more likely some time just before this moment.

In terms of when he released Kyoka Suigetsu into it's shikai state:

Gin comments in chapter 390 that the others have no clue how Aizen’s power works [after Toshiro says he won’t even give him a chance to release Kyoka Suigetsu], implying that Aizen had already released it at this stage.

If Hirako’s pages in chapter 392 are any indication, he thinks it happened even before the battle began (he has a flashback to chapter 389, which is when Aizen vs the Shinigami and Visords started; Toshiro was the first to attack, which Aizen comments on and Toshiro commends him for not using his zanpakuto powers).

It’s been implied that Aizen just constantly has his zanpakuto’s shikai ability always activated, there’s never a point where it’s not ‘off’ while he’s in battle.

With all of the above in mind, I’m thinking Aizen released his zanpakuto long before he battled them, but he didn’t actually activate his shikai's ability until later in the battle, most likely around the time Soi Fon confronted him.

When exactly did Aizen swap places with Momo?

We get a few potential indicators:

A quick recap of Aizen vs Soi Fon, Kyoraku and Toshiro: in chapter 391, 'Aizen' goes to draw his zanpakuto to fight Soi Fon, but Toshiro prevents him from doing so when he freezes his arm. As a result, he finally gets injured when Soi Fon manages to stab him in the stomach once, then again to activate her shikai ability, only for 'Aizen' to the negate it and break his arm free of Toshiro’s ice, about to attack her. After that, Kyoraku injures him (according to the anime he stabs him under his left shoulder blade and through to his chest?) and of course Toshiro throws everything he’s got into stabbing him through the middle of the chest, slicing his zanpakuto through him to the hilt (and in the anime if the ice coming out the wound is any indication, maybe freezing a section of his insides). The beginning of chapter 392 shows 'Aizen’s' wounds, with Soi Fon and Toshiro’s being shown very clearly. However, after the reveal, we see the real Aizen has no damage at all, not wounded by either Soi Fon, Kyoraku or Toshiro, showing he never engaged in battle with the three.

It’s not until chapter 392 that Ichigo calls out and breaks the illusion, revealing Aizen had swapped places with Momo. Some think Ichigo was shocked by the battle and only found his voice to speak up after Momo had been stabbed, or that because Aizen was a lot faster than Ichigo back then, he moved with such speed Ichigo didn’t see what he did and only registered the aftermath of whatever he did to get Momo up there. Me personally, I’ve always been in the camp that Aizen likely used his powers to manipulate their sense of hearing, blocking out Ichigo’s voice to them (basically Ichigo was calling out to them long before but it was only after Momo was stabbed that they heard him, which was when Aizen chose to reveal who they’d really harmed).

Momo’s zanpakuto is still in its sheath when the reveal happens. This suggests either:

Aizen put her up there when Soi Fon was going to attack him, meaning it was actually Momo's arm Toshiro froze. Basically Momo saw Soi Fon about to stab her, went to grab Tobiume to defend herself, but Toshiro froze her arm before she could. Only problem with this is [while she is a master in kido] I don’t see Momo being powerful enough to negate Soi Fon’s shikai ability using either kido or her reiatsu. Also there isn’t any ice on her arm afterward when the illusion is dropped. Or,

she had no time to even think about drawing her weapon try to defend herself; Aizen put her up there just as an attack from either Soi Fon, Kyoraku, or Toshiro was coming in and she was inflicted by it.

Also upon this reveal we see her injuries. Aside from being stabbed by Toshiro, there's no sign of Soi Fon having injured her (maybe because her garments are black and make this less obvious??) but there’s also a random tear in her uniform on her left side as seen here:

I hate this moment so so so much ;_;

This could be from Kyoraku’s attack, even though there isn’t any blood to show this, but even in the panels before this one there were a few panel showing 'Aizen's' chest injury without any blood on him.

So from this I'm thinking Aizen swapped places with Momo either just before Soi Fon's second strike or after it, meaning I think Momo was likely injured by Kyoraku as well as Toshiro.

With all of the above in mind here’s how I think it went down:

Aizen activated his shikai sometime before the battle begun in chapter 389, but he didn’t create any illusions or manipulate anyone's senses until much later.

He fought everyone in chapters 389 and 390 and took down Komamura, Rose, Love, and Lisa with Ichigo watching on in shock.

When Soi Fon stepped in, Aizen spoke with her for most of the conversation but created an illusion immediately after he comments on her clones.

While Soi Fon talks with Aizen's illusion, the real Aizen flash-stepped down to Izuru and Iba and somehow got through the kido barrier cast over the injured Shinigami. He used his shikai before coming down, making it appear as though he’s still up there talking with Soi Fon from their perspective. Ichigo gets that strange feeling after Aizen creates the illusion, but he has no idea what is happening at the time and Aizen is too fast for him to perceive he's just moved away from Soi Fon.

Aizen grabbed Momo (who at this point Izuru healed up enough to remain conscious and maybe sit up but not completely understand what’s going on and is still in great pain) and flash-stepped back up just as Soi Fon has stabbed his illusion the first time. While flash-stepping to the ground and then back up to Soi Fon, Aizen may have used kido to conceal himself (Momo mentions using kido to conceal herself while she was setting up her kido net to fight against Mila, Sun-Sun, and Apacci; as she's considered a master in kido, I assume a Shinigami at captain level or higher could use kido in this way as well).

Now one of two things could have happened:

Aizen put Momo in front of Soi Fon, making it that she stabbed Momo in the stomach once, so her power has no effect. Illusion Aizen explains this as him negating her power, when in reality Soi Fon only stabbed her target once; Momo might be holding Soi Fon's arm in utter confusion about what just happened and trying to get her pull out Suzumebachi. This might be why Kubo used that particular panel in chapter 684, perhaps saying this was when Momo took Aizen's place. Or

Soi Fon just stabbed his illusion a second time, hence why it had no effect (Aizen could probably make it look like his illusion-self is powerful enough to appear not effected by her shikai ability), and while Soi Fon is distracted he puts Momo in his illusion's place on the ice where she creates a shadow and gets stabbed by Kyoraku. This might explain why Momo doesn’t appear to have Suzumebachi’s butterfly-shaped stamp on her or any sign of Soi Fon having wounded her.

In both scenarios, this all happens in a matter of seconds, given how fast Aizen and Soi Fon can be, so what has happened doesn’t register with Ichigo until it’s too late - and if Aizen used kido to conceal himself, Ichigo wouldn't have seen him until he had Momo there. Ichigo sees Aizen putting Momo where the real Aizen once stood, but he is so bewildered at first he doesn't call out.

When Kyoraku attacks, Ichigo starts calling out to the Shinigami when he realizes what’s going on but none of them can hear him (Aizen having manipulated their hearing to block him out) and he doesn’t get involved because of what they told him earlier about Aizen’s shikai.

While all of this is happening, Aizen flash-steps back down to the ground and conceals himself (either by kido or affecting the sight of everyone to just not see him there) and casting an illusion where Momo was to give the impression she's still there. After Kyoraku's attack, Shinji activates his shikai on ‘Aizen’, making everything appear backwards to Momo.

Aizen watches Toshiro stab Momo, and Ichigo is shocked into silence for a moment. Aizen lets everyone think it’s over for a minute and uses illusion Momo to draw Izuru and Iba away from the injured Shinigami. He reveals the illusion by finally letting them hear Ichigo (who finds his voice again) and unveiling himself to Iba and Izuru, who he comes up behind and cuts down. And the rest is history.

And now imagine this whole thing from Momo's perspective. I'll be talking more about this in my other upcoming post, but in short:

The angst, the angst!!

Other things to note about this moment:

What's up with Aizen's inner monologue before he gets stabbed by Toshiro?

We hear Aizen’s inner thoughts moments before he gets stabbed by Toshiro at the end of chapter 391. Honestly, I think this was Kubo trying to trick the reader/viewer (I guess you could say we were under Kyoka Suigetsu's influence too :P). The part where Aizen thinks about Toshiro rushing into battle could be real though; he's probably thinking it while he's on the ground watching all of this happen.

Why Momo?

The answer is obvious: she is the one who will get the most rise out of Toshiro when the reveal is made. Here's the thing though: I've always felt like there was something more behind this.

Aizen's swap would have worked just as well with Rangiku. Rangiku means a lot to Toshiro and he would also be enraged if this had happened to her, likely to the point of charging at Aizen. The main reason Aizen didn't pick her I think is because of Gin; Aizen knew he had a connection to Rangiku and couldn't risk jeopardizing his partnership with him...at this stage (Aizen knew Gin intended to betray him, but he was curious to see how).

Also, am I the only one who feels like Aizen hates Momo in particular? He tried to have her killed by Toshiro, but when that didn't work, he tried to kill her himself. That also didn't work so he tries to get her killed again in him vs everyone, and thankfully this also didn't work. Not only that, before he stabbed her in the Soul Society arc, he pretended to be his old self for longer than necessary. He could have acted for several seconds (just enough to let her guard down) before he rushes at her and stabs her. But this guy drags it out to the point that he's hugging, reassuring, and thanking her, ensuring she felt safe and happy, before he stabs her and gives her a look of contempt after she realises what's happened; he even smiles after leaving her to die and speaks about her to Toshiro as if she is an object of pity and irritation. In reality this was all probably dragged for dramatic effect and I'm just reading waaaaaay too much into it...but still!

Aizen seemed particularly brutal towards Toshiro

Aside from singling him out to antagonize and rile up, Aizen wounded Toshiro far more severely compared to the others he'd taken down. As far as I can see, Toshiro was the only one in the 'Aizen vs everyone' battle to lose his limbs, the others were taken down with deep cuts to their torso's and sides:

I may look into this in my upcoming post, but in the meantime this is just an observation I've had about the battle for a while now. (EDIT: you can now read this post here)

And with that I'll leave it here. I wasn't going to make a post about this, but as I said at the start, what started off as a bit of context for an upcoming post about how I think Toshiro and Momo reconciled after Aizen's defeated ballooned into this.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read to end if you did, and I'd like to know your thoughts on anything here or just about this moment in general.

Really true insight, it'll be intriguing if the final chapter gets adapted and people see the full-circle of Aizen's journey to this realization.

Honestly, Bleach is a series that took time for me to understand it's core message on the importance of connections with those who make your life meaningful, especially when that message isn't in your face like other shonen.

Looking at Aizen's actions through that lens makes me think "Aizen doesn't need a backstory to make you feel sorry for him" because his very nature is so devoid of what makes us human no matter how we change as people. So many of Bleach's characters have connections they make with each other and wouldn't be who they are without their friends and adversaries.

It always surprises me when Aizen is mostly perceived as this genius-evil-mastermind like oh he is so crazy, who knows what he'll do next!! (and he is, to a certain extent, don't get me wrong) but the silent victory has Ichigo acknowledge him as a sympathetic but ultimately misguided man who sacrificed everything for godhood only to be reduced to....utter loneliness. And I find that interesting!

Of course, this isn't a Conclusive Take (tm) as Urahara's silence definitely leaves a lot of what Aizen did as up to interpretation, but the loneliness of godhood is definitely an interesting theme, especially when you consider how often it occurs in literature, where the trope of the 'God' character playing around with lives due to his own boredom is so common (see: Frankenstein, all of Greek mythology, etc etc). It isn't a stretch to say Ichigo, the Arrancar, the Vizards, the Hogyoku and even Urahara were all just an experiment to him – pawns he played with to ease his own boredom. It isn't exactly that he's evil...per se. It's that he's innately unable to relate to the lives and struggles of mortal beings, because his quest for more power/scientific discovery/pushing the limitations of nature render him devoid of empathy. The intent is not malicious, it's just...curiosity. Which makes him 10× more creepy, but ultimately not one- dimensional.

I think I read somewhere that people found Aizen to be out-of-character here in his dialogue to Yhwach in 686, but I think this is his character arc coming to a close. When he says 'people,' I think what he really means is himself and how he understands it now, now that he himself isn't as invincible as he once strived to be. When you try to alter the cycle of life, when you try to exist beyond social/existential constructs, it's ultimately a very lonely and isolating existence, and that sometimes the status quo is just a means to an end of connecting with other people (ghosts, whatever) and living in social harmony.

Oh, I haven't seen that Nanao art piece before, mistook it as Lisa there for a second haha!

Can't wait for more art from Kubo this year when Cour 3 airs.

I honestly wish they would animate some of the comics like as shorts! The pilots and early seasons of Ninjago didn't have the best pacing, while also skipping over fighting the skeletons as villains. That's what made the comics so good with how they characterized the ninja, while going into detail about the skeletons and the Stone Army, and even adding mature lore in later comics.

I’m never going to forgive the fandom for unanimously agreeing the comics aren’t canon even though their legitimately one of the best written ninjago media’s and have been referenced everywhere outside and inside the show itself

THE COMICS ARE GOOD AND IM

TIRED OF PRETENDING THERE NOT

Ichigo’s stance on the SS’s morality is definitely one where I also wondered how he act in response to it as a whole. He mainly is protecting those he cares including his friends in the SS, but on the other matters like the Quincy genocide or the falsity of the Soul King, he seems to be neutral, mainly focusing on the present, not the past actions that fuel who he's fighting. Like you said, his action to move forward with others towards a future for everyone is the antithesis to his opposition.

Him being a human also factors into the one time he’s been critically against SS was in the FB arc where he’s bold enough to ask for Ginjo’s body from them so he can bury it in the WOTL, despite Ginjo’s crimes against the SS. Like he still decided to trust them considering what they did to Ginjo, but that moment is segmented after his past actions that overturned the SS's rigid law that's lasted for thousands of years.

At the end of the day, Ichigo isn't the lonely teen he used to be with how he's developed and has let other people into his life opposed to Aizen. I say he would decide to leave the internal affairs of the Shinigami to those he trusts instead of taking things into his own hands like Aizen, and be his own figure that has Urahara's influence.

Tbh there's something about the way Ichigo, Kisuke, and Sōsuke are all reflecting off of each other in canon

Like this is sooooo influenced by my random uraichizen thoughts but

Like, considering Kisuke's Boddhisatva allegory with Guanyin/Kannon and his knowledge of the world, the idea that he preserves the status quo of the worlds by not actively doing anything in comparison to Sōsuke (from what we can see). He is a Boddhisattva in this sense. He's seen the truth, he teaches others the truth or hints at it because true Enlightenment can only be with the self. But.

Then there's the actual consequence of SS and what shinigami have to do to maintain the balance. Kisuke opposes Sōsuke and his views not because he believes it's right, but because he believes that the destruction of the worlds is not acceptable. It's a necessary evil.

Sōsuke has an ego with him wanting to become God, but there's also something almost tragic about his arc with reframing it from his perspective of Soul Society.

Soul Society is not a good place. Honestly horrible to live in. Especially when we find out that they sacrifice souls to hollows and vice versa in the name of balance.

Tbh, I ended up asking myself, from this viewpoint, is the Soul Society really worth protecting? Because it's goal is not about protecting people, but protecting the balance. Can the shinigami claim ignorance? Should they even be allowed to when they are complicit in destruction of lives? What would 'life' actually be considered in this universe? Do hollows deserve life as humans do? Except the SS ultimately sees both as a means to an end, hollows are just more of an obstacle.

Effwctively, shinigami are content sleeping on a bed of ground bones. I can see Sōsuke thinking this from a biased perspective.

But he's also not some savior either. He's arrogant and has a callousness to him that conflicts with this more sympathetic view of him.

His anger at Kisuke for knowing the truth of the world and not trying to change it seems genuine. There's an air of hypocrisy to his character I can't shake and it makes me wanna know more about why. Like the question of the greater evil vs the lesser evil.

Except Ichigo. He steps forward, finally knowing himself in full, to defeat Sōsuke, to defeat Yhwach, yet I can't help but feel like he's still so ignorant of the world he lives in. If he learned about their horrors, could he truly stand by in shadows waiting as Kisuke does, or would he become like another Sōsuke, for whatever reason. Or would he become a different path?

Sōsuke is also related to illusion and water, a reflection. We never see his bankai and I would even go so far as to think that he own powers don't work as they do in canon. There's still too many unknowns about him for me to be confident in them. But Ichigo’s own insights about Sōsuke's loneliness is just... it's so tempting to build off of that.

Because those feelings are likely a reflection of Ichigo from when he was a young age and his own confusing powers may have brought only more loneliness instead of understanding or connection.

I can't help but think that Kisuke represents Stagnation and Sōsuke represents Progess. Except poth come with an unsavory taste in the mouth. Kisuke waits, likely works towards a goal, bit it's far too slow for the people that have already suffered because of the world. Sōsuke steps forward, also hiding until he's sure of his strike, and he probably would have won if not for Ichigo. What is Ichigo then?

The only part of the Soul King that's named is his heart, which can bring about miracles, things unexplained due to emotions and desires. It acts similar to the Hōgyoku. Ichigo speculates that Sōsuke may have actually wanted to lose to him and that's... also a lot of implication about Sōsuke's character. There's also the idea that Sōsuke may have built Ichigo up. To what? Defeat him? Stand by his side? To make him less lonely? Or are these Ichigo’s unreliable feelings, are they simply Ichigo’s own reflected onto Sōsuke?

Both of Kisuke and Sōsuke's plans and views come with a price. And Ichigo remains ignorant, but he stills fights for everyone to not pay that price, even his enemies.

In a way, it's like Sōsuke decided to pay a huge price upfront to pay back later, Kisuke is frugal and making sure to balance everything while moving forward but that means people can't attain true wealth within their lifetime. Yhwach decided to destroy the concept itself despite that it means everyone will then have to pay that price.

Ichigo, is just, bursting through all of that. But he's also only one person. And idk, that feels important to how change must be made collectively when it's about a whole society. All Ichigo does is step forward, with other people, like the beginning of a wave.

Like, this is the end of the post but SŌSUKE AND KANAME??????? That alone needs a whole thesis and how it informs both of their characters since the only person Sōsuke actually trusts out of everyone is Kaname

Hello, thank you for the likes and your kindness. ^^

You're welcome! The same goes for you, thanks for liking my old posts!