Hey there, everyone! It's been a while since I was around, my last serious activity being in 2019. I've recently created the Bleach: War for the King's Seal page, which is essentially an arc that serves as a continuation of the old FC with my own characters and whoever wants to draw their characters in. I've several stories finished that were set during the Renascence Beginning period that built up Hotaru Hiroshi and his witches as an antagonistic force whose ultimate goal is to obtain the King's Seal, with Akira Hiroshi being built up as my protagonist and counterforce. Furthermore, I also made a few references to a force in Hueco Mundo -- Averian -- separate to the Espada and Wandenreich that was wiping the resident Hollow population into a frenzy.
Anyway, time to get to the beef of this article. I've been careful to keep mentions to the other captains, such as who captain'd what and during what time, to a limit, in the event I wanted to tie up Akira and Hotaru's story, but the FC died. I'd then be able to do it myself. In fact, aside from my own Hisagi driving the story by giving Kenji and Van investigative jobs, the only other Captains I've made a point of mentioning are:
- Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi -- role-played by Saris, appeared in Back From the Dead: Kensei Muguruma!?. Name-dropped a few times as well, following said RP.
- Sajin Komamura -- role-played by Njalm, is Captain of the 8th Division. Referenced extensively in Hisagi's backstory. Can serve as a background character.
- Hisaka Tsukada -- role-played by Somnium, and is the 4th Division's Captain. Healed Kenji early in the story, and is name-dropped a few times. Somnium gave me permission to name-drop her in my stories back before my hiatus.
- Hein Ueda -- role-played by Shonen, and is Captain of the 7th Division. Hisagi and he had an altercation before Hisagi's Captaincy, though this was before the FC reshuffle when we were still doing the Fullbringer segment. Would be easy enough to retain the meeting without referencing everything else, though.
- Shūhei Hisagi -- role-played by me, and is Captain of the 9th Division.
As you can see, I've deliberately kept my references to the wider FC somewhat subdued. There was also the minor hiccup that I referenced "The Coven" quite a bit, but then the reshuffle happened, and I was suddenly left with a few stories that were referencing stuff we were no longer actively pursuing. So, I retooled Hotaru's group, who luckily were all female anyway, and name-dropped them as "The Coven" in my stories a little before my hiatus. Everything gelled nicely after that, and I began planning a major event that would see Hotaru and his followers steal the King's Seal. Unfortunately, that never happened.
Any who, the state of the world is as follows:
- The Gotei 13 is, for the most part, at peace. The only disrupting event in the last few years was the Assault on the 9th Division, which saw Captain Kazuya Kuchiki die. We had only begun to delve into the whole kanki investigation when the FC went tits up, and given the number of people involved who aren't around now, it would probably be for the best to let that thread fall. If that happens then, in recent years, the biggest shake up to the peace would have been the RP Saris and I did, where a resurrected Kensei goes a little wild.
- Hotaru and his followers have, so far, restricted their activities to the World of the Living and the vast Rukongai, and have been keeping off the radar of the Captains. Excepting Rose and Hisagi, of course. My own stories dealt with Kenji and Van investigating them, leading Sakae to assume leadership of the Evening Primrose cult to draw their attention away from Hotaru, because they were getting a little too close for his liking.
- I referenced the growing tension between the new Espada and the Wandenreich, but didn't name any names. Essentially, the Arrancar under the big three, and the surviving Quincy, are a spark away from tearing each other a new one. My own Ashido and Gundinger are monitoring the situation, whilst also keeping an eye out on a potential appearance by Averian.
That's how I see the background, at any rate. As for the proposed arc itself? These are the broad strokes:
- Averian reappears. He always hid out in the Forest of Menos in my original story, and I've made it clear that neither Akira nor Ashido have explored the place completely. Even Gundinger's territory only extends so far. The purpose will be to flesh out Averian's power a little before his greed kicks in, and he turns a hungry eye to the Soul Society. I see this as a few small chapters; his appearance, his meeting with Ashido and Gundinger, and further meetings with Quincy and Arrancar. That latter part can be role-plays.
- Averian's invasion. The purpose is to sate his greed. The secondary purpose is to create a chaotic event that gives Hotaru an opening to steal the Oin, with his followers serving as cannon fodder. The outcome of Averian's assault is open-ended; if he dies during the story, then he dies. The same is true with Hotaru's followers: If they die, they die. If Averian manages to limp back to Hueco Mundo, or some of Hotaru's followers limp away too? Also fine. Cue our Captains counterattack. Plenty of scope for follow-up RP's or solo works.
- Hotaru's fate. If he manages to snag the Oin, will he be able to use it to get back home? Will Akira succeed in stopping him?
I don't plan to make this an expansive or massive undertaking. It'll be low-key, with a few big events, and hopefully some good fun in-between. I'll be driving the story along with independent posts as I usually do anyway, with the major events being open to role-plays with whoever has characters that they want to include. I'll hopefully have the opening post with Averian up shortly, but this is essentially what I'll be working on.