#Not to mention... I think early exposure to Orihime would change Renji's perspective on Rukia

[snurtle]

orihime and renji swap au? like... renji gives his power to orihime, instead of rukia giving hers to ichigo? 😳 omg... bleach red version...

HA.. Bleach Red version- that's such a cute name! It reminds me of those fanmade Pokemon cartridges/ fanmade rom hacks you could occasionally find floating around in the ether. Surely that's already an established name someone's using! XD

But yes, you got it exactly right! It's literally just a main character/ their deuteragonist counterpart swap. Rukia> Renji, Ichigo> Orihime, and that's it! Just that one difference is enough to completely change how the universe shakes out!

For real, I think Renji and Orihime would have an interesting dynamic together. I've always seen Renji and Orihime as both being somewhat stuck in their own heads, albeit about different things. They both struggle with self worth and making their inner feelings known to the outside world. They're both deeply lonely, deeply unwilling to let other people see past the strong faces they put up without being seriously shaken first... and that's exactly the kind of pressure-pot desperation that makes for a big, life altering split second decision like "loan your powers out so you don't DIE on a mission that was supposed to be easy, that you weren't even supposed to BE on, surely this can't be the third stroke of bad luck on your already very bad day." .. and oops! Now you're a fugitive with a gal who, to the naked eye, is right up there with devout monks in levels of pacifism. Really good! Very nice. This won't be a problem at all! (He said, tattooed eyebrow deep in cold-sweat denial)

And MAN, Rukia's way of communicating her philosophy as a soul reaper vs. how RENJI might do the same thing to try and motivate/bully/inspire someone into taking up substitute work for him? Jesus Christmas. What a shitshow. I love it. I'm standing on the sidelines and crunching popcorn while the cars pile up on both sides of the highway.

#bleach red au #i'm tagging it as that because CUTE... it's going to live in my head rent free #i do think renji has an excellent business boy face though.. and the ability to think critically- tactically- and cleverly in a way that he #doesn't get much credit for #if he were to make his case to orihime as one of protection- and later on purification- or healing.. she might be receptive #to think of the eradication of hollows as the surgical excision of hatred from a festering wound in the heart.... #that's an interesting one #but i am not entirely sure how intuitive such a connection might be to him #TACTICAL HE MAY BE... UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS' EMOTIONAL STATES... NO... VERY NO.... #Not to mention... I think early exposure to Orihime would change Renji's perspective on Rukia #They're in a similar situation. #A young person with no close family- living off the good graces of an emotionally absent but financially supportive relative? #who seems to view you both as a burden- a responsibility- and a preemptive failure #where have we heard that before? #also at the start of canon i think renji had been an assistant captain for ALL OF ONE MONTH #WHICH IS JUST.... HILARIOUS #the only other thing that would change significantly- i think- #is that tatsuki would probably take the place of chad in the spotlight #FULL love for my boy chad #but in a simple swap- tatsuki is to orihime what chad is to ichigo #which is... a confidante- a loyal friend- a concerned ally- and a strong and steady hand #LONG POST #au rambling #bleach