Sawako: episodes 1-2

The Best.

(Source: anamnessis)

selfish-alice:

Unintended
An IchiRuki Fanmix

This is my first attempt at an IchiRuki fanmix. My main playlist is massive, and there were so many songs to choose from, but I stuck with the ones which hit home. This one includes tracks that relate to Ichigo and Rukia from the start of the series towards Death and Strawberry Returns 2. :) Hope ya guys like it!

- DOWNLOAD (.zip | my dropbox)
(The filesize is 93.9 MB, but I’m assuring that all tracks are in good quality.)

/*I’M SORRY FOR THE LONG POST!*/

TRACK LIST

01. She’s a Rebel / Green Day
  The first track is how I think Ichigo sees Rukia when they started out together. It’s a mix of pure annoyance on her attitude…

She’s a rebel, she’s a saint,
She’s the salt of the Earth and she’s dangerous 

…to respect and finally, his very honest acknowledgement that yep, she changed his world for the better.

She brings this liberation
That I just can’t define.
Well, nothing comes to mind. 

02. Come As You Are / Nirvana

  Strangely enough, I found this song the perfect match to how I think Rukia sees Ichigo early on. She accepts him for who he is and who he was, no questions. She lets him handle things in his pace, but she reminds him of his duties. She’s a mentor-slash-friend.

Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be
as a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy.
Take your time, hurry up, choice is yours - don’t be late.
Take a rest, as a friend,
as an old memory. 

…”as an old memory” - because she would be lying if she says he didn’t remind her of Kaien even the tiniest bit.

03. Chasing Cars / Snow Patrol

  Set in the Memories in the Rain arc - Ichigo is still stuck on the guilt surrounding his mother’s death, and Rukia trusts him to tell her the truth when he’s ready. She didn’t ask - she simply told him that she’ll lend an ear if he trusts her back. Her words stick to him until later, when he tells Isshin the same words regarding the older Kurosaki’s being a shinigami:

I need your grace to remind me to find my own 

By the end of his battle with Grand Fisher, Ichigo collapses and Rukia is there to heal him.

If I lay here, if I just lay here,
Would you lie with me and just forget the world? 

04. Secrets / OneRepublic

  By the end of the Memories in the Rain arc, Ichigo tells Rukia that he wants to keep being a substitute shinigami, and he tells her his motives - he wants to protect the people important to him. That was the first time he tells anyone that his only desire is to be a protector, and the power she gave him lets him be one.

This time, don’t need another perfect line
Don’t care if critics ever jump in line
I’m gonna give all my secrets away

05. Brave / Leona Lewis
  By Broken Coda, Rukia sees Ichigo fight for her sake. He was intent on not letting Renji and Byakuya take her against her will. She had tried to run but it was too late and he ended up caught in her problems.

You’re gonna fight for love like a soldier,
I wanna run away 
You’re never scared to walk through the fire,
I wish I had your faith 

In the end, she forces herself to leave because it’s all she can do to save him.

I’m so afraid to fall and surrender
I’m not brave 

06. A Beautiful Mess / Jason Mraz
  This is my take on Ichigo’s side of Broken Coda. He knows her so well that when it was time for Renji and Byakuya to arrest her, he knew that she didn’t want to go. The verses in this song will tell us how much he has come to know her and how he sees her. But while fighting, he realizes that it’s not enough to know what she wants and what’s good for her, because he won’t change Renji’s and Byakuya’s minds with that.

And what a beautiful mess this is.
It’s like picking up trash in dresses. 

She tells him to stop fighting and accept defeat. He knew that she was saving him, and the fact that she had to was what hurts him.

Well, it kind of hurts when the kind of words you say
Kind of turn themselves into blades
And kind of courteous is a life I’ve heard
But it’s nice to say that we played in the dirt
‘cause here we are.
Here we are.

07. Caves / Jack’s Mannequin
  This is my song for the period they spent apart, as Ichigo was struggling to get stronger, he was always thinking of her, the time they spent together, how much he owes her, and how lonely she must be feeling all alone and to be executed:

And she sings, my bird dressed in white.
And she stings my arm in the night.
“Lay still.”, still I’m ready to fight.

…and of course, as Rukia was thinking about her execution, about what must have happened to Ichigo, about her life in Karakura (as her stories to Hanatarou proves),  and on how she feels like no one can save her anymore:

The walls are caving in as far as I can see.
The walls are caving in, the doors got locked for sure.
There’s no one here but me. 

08. Everything / Alanis Morisette
  When Ichigo came into Soul Society, he always told everyone that Rukia changed his world, he owes her, and she’s very important to him. We see her impact in his life, and how he sees her - a person who knew him more than anyone else.

I’m the funniest woman you’ve ever known.I am the dullest woman you’ve ever known.
I’m the most gorgeous woman you’ve ever known and
you’ve never met anyone as everything as I am sometimes. 

Rukia was surprised to find out that she has a rescuer, after all - and of course, it’s Ichigo. She tells him that he’s stubborn, and that he’ll die saving her, but he persists anyway, and she already knows she can’t stop him.

What I resist, persists and speaks louder than I know.
What I resist, you love no matter how low or high I go.

Their knowledge of each other also shows in Death and Strawberry Reprise (“That’s the man you’ve been in my heart, Ichigo!”):

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I’m ashamed
There’s not anything to which you can’t relate
And you’re still here 

THE SONG IS JUST EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM, OKAY. I CAN GO ON ABOUT THIS ALL DAY~ :D

09. Wonderwall / Oasis
  Deathberry Returns: He saves her in Sokyoku Hill, just in time, shinigami with big sword and fancy cape and all.

Because maybe you’re gonna be the one that saves me
And after all, you’re my wonderwall 

He transforms everything for her then and there.

I don’t believe that anybody
feels the way I do about you now

10. Say the Same / Hoobastank

  In And the Rain Left Off, Ichigo respected Rukia’s decision to stay in Soul Society. When she smiles at him and thanks him for saving her, he was reminded of the reason why he wanted to save her. He got her back, and even though she’s not coming back with him like he had originally planned, he didn’t regret anything because what he wanted was for her freedom and happiness.

So goodbye, my friend:
until we meet again some other day
I know so much will change
But looking back I can say
I wouldn’t change a day 

11. Unintended / Muse
 This is Rukia’s side for And the Rain Left Off: She acknowledges the fact that Ichigo saved her:

You could be my unintended choice
to live my life extended 

She would love to come back with him and return to their life together, but she wants to fix things on her side. Even though she chose to stay, she inwardly assured him that he’s not losing her:

I’ll be there as soon as I can
But I’m busy mending broken pieces
of the life I had before

She wants everything to be alright when she comes back to him.

12. Drops of Jupiter / Train
 This is my take on what Ichigo thought when Rukia came back in Death and Strawberry Reprise, when she kicked him back to sense. The first thing that crossed his mind was “SHE’S BACK” and the next was “GOD, I’VE BEEN A SICK WIMP” the moment she kicked him in the head.

Now that she’s back in the atmosphere
I’m afraid that she would think of me as
a plain ol’ jane, told a story ‘bout a man
who was too afraid to fly so he never did land 

Then, a speech and a hollow later, they’re okay again - she even moves back in the house and they argue as much as ever. They both know that this time will be easier for them - more real:

Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day?
Did you fall for a shooting star?
Did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there? 

13. Never Stop / SafetySuit

 THANK YOU SO MUCH for that very very very beautiful AMV in the IchiRuki tag that used this song. It’s… p-p-perfect. TTATT

I think this song goes for both Ichigo and Rukia in the period that Ichigo was soul-searching with the vizards, and Rukia was staying and handling Karakura, trusting him enough to let him fix himself alone, and all the times they fought together, dealt with each other’s enemies, saved each other, split up to save Orihime with the promise to come back no matter what… and basically all the times they spent with each other.

I will never stop trying.
I will never stop watching you leave.
I will never stop losing my breath
everytime I see you looking back at me.
I will never stop holding your hand.
I will never stop opening your door.

And when Ulquiorra told Ichigo that Rukia is dead, Ichigo abandons the mission and turns back to run to Rukia:

I will never stop choosing you, babe;
I will never get used to you.

Even though he knows she’s strong, y’know…

You still get my heart racing for you

Ugh, this two should just marry each other srsly ugh ugh

14. 100 Suns / 30 Seconds to Mars
 I’d like to think that the blank month we got as Ichigo slept in Farewell Swords was spent with Rukia looking over him and watching him recover. It definitely would have broken her heart to see him losing his shinigami powers - she knew how important it is to him. When he wakes up, he is without his powers, but he is same old Ichigo for her:

I believe in nothing, not the end and not the start.

She says goodbye, anyway. She knows it would most possibly be the last time, but she has made up her mind that it was for the best. Ichigo agrees without a struggle and she understands why - they both know that they have a bond that can’t be broken so easily.

I believe in nothing, one hundred suns until we part.
I believe in nothing, not in peace and not in war.
I believe in nothing, but the truth and who we are.

15. You and I Undercover / Steel Train

 This is Ichigo’s side of Farewell Swords: He really wasn’t ready, but he trusts Rukia and if she thinks it’s for the best that she leaves and he loses his powers, he will be ready. I think losing his powers wasn’t the worst part in the ordeal. It was losing Rukia.

I’ve been ready,
Hands and feet are steady
For you to walk away alone 

He knew that she was going home to Soul Society and the enemies were gone - so he was content to let her leave without a trace:

So if you’re gonna leave,
Cut the cord to those you know will love you back
then come home

He was content that she’s heading for a safe place

All I want is a soldier hand-in-hand with you
We are young, growing older
I can’t sleep tonight

On the next 17 months, he struggles to move on because he knew he has to.

Moving all alone, I won’t attach now
Growing like a wave to anywhere far
Crashing all alone, I won’t attach now
Pick you up, take you down,
Cross our hearts and backbones 

16. In My Place / Coldplay

 This track is actually magically two-sided for our ship. In the 17 Lost Months, Rukia must have been thinking about how Ichigo is coping, and how, knowing him like she does, he couldn’t have been taking it very easy:

How long must you wait for it?
How long must you pay for it?
How long must you wait for it? 

And Ichigo, knowing him, is still inwardly hoping that Rukia comes back:

I was scared, I was scared.
Tired and under-prepared,
but I wait for you. 

17. Best I Ever Had / Vertical Horizon

 The most hit-it-home song I found for Ichigo in the 17 Months that he has been powerless and Rukia-less:

So you stole my world
Now I’m just a phony
Remembering the girl
Leaves me down and lonely 

But hasn’t come to get him so he resigns himself to thinking that she has no reason to - that he’ll never get her back - that he’s not lonely at all:

But it’s not so bad
You’re only the best I ever had
You don’t want me back
You’re just the best I ever had 

18. The Resolution / Jack’s Mannequin

 And then Rukia comes back in the most crucial moment on Death and Strawberry 2, stopping the rain with her again.

And you hold me down
And you got me living in the past
Come on and pick me up
Somebody clear the wreckage from the blast 

Not to mention, before she even came, he had heard her voice the first time he attempted a fullbring:

The bars are finally closed so I try living in the moment
Till the moment just froze
and I felt sick and so alone
I can hear the sound of your voice still ringing in my ear 

Ichigo gets his powers back, and, as one of my co-shippers has said, it’s like nothing right happens to him when she’s not around:

I just need light
I need light in the dark as I search for the resolution 

“Ray of light” feels here, folks.

19. Learning to Breathe / Switchfoot

 This is much like the song above, ‘cept maybe much brighter. I imagine this is how Ichigo felt after winning his battle against Tsukishima and Ginjou, and realizing that he’s finally pretty much back to his old life, and he owes it to Rukia again.

I’m learning to breathe, I’m learning to crawl
I’m finding that you and you alone can break my fall
I’m living again, awake and alive
I’m dying to breathe in these abundant skies 

20. Happiness / The Fray

 As the last track, this song is pretty much my take on what Ichigo and Rukia had gone through, had learned, and had dealt with together since the moment Rukia gave Ichigo her powers, to the moment that she gave him back life in his eyes after a long time of losing his motivation.

Is happiness a little more like knocking on you door,
or you just let it in? 

One thing I love about these two is they’re not afraid to go separate ways - they are very honest about the hope that they’ll see each other again. What I’ve learned from looking through everything they’ve been through, is that they trust each other to come back, no matter how long it takes.

Happiness is like the old man told me
Look for it, you’ll never find it at all
But let it go, live your life and leave it,
then one day, you wake up and she’ll be home.

BONUS TRACK:

21. When the Day Met The Night / Panic! at the Disco

 This one is for Zangetsu and Sode no Shirayuki. For all the talk about stopping the rain and changing worlds, I figure that Zangetsu and Shirayuki pretty much have the same trusting-coming-back-very-married relationship as their wielders:

When the Moon found the Sun
He looked like he was barely hanging on,
while her eyes saved his life in the middle of summer. 

Except the two will be much much much more mature and composed about it. ;)

***

Oh my, that was long, wasn’t it? I’m sorry, I just ship them with the power of a thousand blazing suns.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day.

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—★ TouyaxYukito (from CCS)

ISHIPTHEMHARD

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The first and last mentions of Severus Snape.

I MISS SNAPE

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