Thread:AbysmalShadows/@comment-1493741-20151117010054

Right then:

Before Soul Society

Anyway, I see the world of Bleach as the latest in a long line of universes that were created and destroyed by the Ōda, and most of the Bleachverse is a byproduct of the universe that came before it. In that particular incarnation, there were three notable entities. The World, the universe itself was alive and semi-sentient in this reality, it could think, feel, and act to an extent (Largely through proxies). The Sōkon, a race of incredibly powerful beings that could bend and shape anything to their will, from altering terrain to creating life and entire ecosystems. All that they changed about the world around them brought excruciating pain to The World and it retaliated by creating the Hakon as a means of killing the Sōkon and, eventually, bringing its living Hell to an end by sundering The World as well.

The World gave its proxy all it needed to end the world but didn't really shackle it in anyway, which became a problem when the Hakon started to gain an identity. The Hakon's personality surfaced through repeated interaction with one particular that had refrained from fighting her (As the Sōkon could all perceive that the Hakon was not something of their design and reacted... poorly). The two would become friends and then lovers which heralded a change in the Hakon's route to ending the world. Where originally she was just punching everything to death, she was instead told of the Ōda and this particular Sōkon's dream to create a world of his own, in which the current one would be destroyed if he used the Ōda. Two birds with one stone.

When the time came, the Sōkon did not actually destroy the universe to build the next, instead he recycled it. Everything inside The World was destroyed, but the shell remained intact. This would lay the foundation of the current universe and also lead to the phenomena that is Reishi, the collective and yet disparate wills of everything that died in the previous reality. The Sōkon, now the Soul King began his attempts at creating his new world, experimenting with the seeds and their functions. His first attempt resulted in Hueco Mundo and his first people were the monstrous Hollows. His second attempt created the Soul Society, and for a long time he was satisfied with his creation but the stagnation of that world eventually took its toll and he attempted to rectify this, giving birth to the Human World.

Due to his inexperience in using the seeds, these worlds would bleed together and rapidly shift and deform into chaos. To prevent this, the Soul King created the cycle of reincarnation. Each of these worlds were locked away from one another, sealed within immensely powerful barriers and boundaries of space-time to keep them from bleeding together. But the strengths and numeracy of any one particular race of beings (Be it Souls, Hollows, or Humans) could cause these worlds to pull together. Thus each of them would regulate each other. Humans would live finite lives and pass on to Soul Society, Hollows would devour Souls and create more Hollows, while Souls were charged with purifying Hollows and upon their own death would reincarnate as Humans.

The World Itself

So, my version of the Bleachverse is just called The World and follows a similar concept to the universe of. Namely that all of the "worlds" in Bleach (Hell, Dangai, Hueco Mundo, Human World, Soul Society et al.) are all part of the same singular world but they are disparate and disconnected from each other by immensely powerful barriers that are exceptionally difficult to breach barring a handful of techniques (Senkaimon, Garganta, my personal rendition of Fragor and so on). Surrounding all these worlds is an anomalous void of sorts, that while finite, is far larger than would ever be Humanly possible to reach. The worlds contained within are also, more or less universes unto themselves as the World of the Living still comprises the Milky Way Galaxy, Andromeda and everything else you'd find in the real world. The World is still sentient, and basically screaming eternally as the worlds and everything that happens to them can be seen as its internal organs.

I don't see Soul Society as one of many different forms of a Heaven, instead it is the Heaven. I also treat its relationship with Japan in reverse, Soul Society is not Japanese rather Japan is, uh, "Soul Societese". In a manner akin to the Jureichi, my universe has times where one particular region of the world is more spiritually sensitive than another, which happened to Japan whilst they were ripe for cultural development. They saw Shinigami, glimpses of the Rukongai and the Seireitei which influenced their people, their customs and their architecture. They would, of course continue to advance and change until reaching the Westernized state they find themselves in today. Soul Society remains the same because the feats achievable with Reiryoku and magic make technological advancement largely pointless. Though they aren't entirely out of the loop (They have cellphones and pez dispensers etc.) and what advancements they do make remain culturally distinct (Computers that seem to be constructed of biomass, anyone?).

I treat the other cultures of the world similarly, Soul Society is Tian, it is Valhalla, it is Heaven and it is also none of them. The Japanese look upon the Shinigami and find the visage of the Samurai, others look and find the Grim Reaper.

Founding of the Gotei (And the Other Two)

Before the Gotei 13, the folks in charge of protecting Soul Society, and by extension the cycle of reincarnation, were the Balancers of Souls. This organization was run almost entirely by Sōzōshin (A slightly different incarnation of them, anyway). For millennia they maintained the balance until a plague that targeted beings of high spiritual power wiped most of them off the face of existence. Thus the leading force of the Balancers became regular Souls and its mentality rapidly changed as a result. What was once a peacekeeping force became an occupying army that crushed all of the worlds under foot. The balance was preserved but through tyrannical domination rather than anything more subtle.

Co-existing with the Balancers is the civilian government of Central 46 and the shadowy organization of the Onmitsukidō which acted as the eyes and ears of the Soul King beyond his royal court. The Balancers rampant disregard for the sanctity of life and their demented pursuit of control causes the Soul King to act, though with his power tied up in maintaining all of existence he acts indirectly. He conspires with the that had been opposing the Balancers. A ragtag army comprised of swordsmen and martial artists, the assassins of the Onmitsukidō, the Rukongai mages and even the rare disgruntled Balancer or two. They would don the banner of the Shinigami, and carried the first Zanpakutō into battle.

The Balancers lose and their mantle is usurped by the Shinigami now collectively held under the newly formed Gotei 13. Reforms are put in place, granting greater power to the Central 46 who now oversee the affairs of the Gotei 13 where previously the military were free to act as they pleased. The Onmitsukidō are put under a similar leash and become more-and-more ingrained with Soul Society as the Soul King relies on the Royal Guard instead.

Magic had been allowed to run rampant in Soul Society ever since Gozanze Myō-ō gifted it to the Souls (Before which only entities that had innate access to it, such as Dragons, could use it). It would become the central focus of a clash between the citizens of the Rukongai and the fledgling Gotei 13 which most saw as being little better than their predecessors. The Gotei won, but not without great cost, and so more reforms followed. The Kidō Corps was established to control and regulate the study, use, and distribution of magic which they jealously guard.

'''War... War Never Changes'''

War after war hits the Gotei, and each time they change and learn. Sacrifice, hope, protecting others and so on. Each notion is ingrained in them after multiple clashes with races of all kinds that culminates in a clash with the Quincy where the Shinigami finally find that which they wished to protect.

TL;DR: This was only the crappy framework, and it still took hours. 