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...right, well. Rukia's probably the most problematic character I have right now, so. I'm going to talk about where I'm taking Rukia from, why she does what she does, how I'm playing her, etc.
HOW I FEEL ABOUT PLAYING KUCHIKI RUKIA
R-R-RUKIA
Rukia's characterization is the one I'm shakiest on, I think, out of all my characters. With Ikkaku, I've been playing him as I've come to define him over these past eleven or so months, and while I still feel a little bad about some of the things I've done with and to him he's still pretty intrinsically pulled straight from Bleach canon, and I'm relieved he's come into his own in a way that people don't have too many complaints about. Watanuki is a pretty clean-cut character and does have distinct moments in canon from which I can draw his reactions to situations--he's not difficult at all, in the end, and I can let him go on instinct. Kid can be summed up in a couple of canonical situations as well, most of them in volumes 16 and 17 where we get insight that isn't just "lazy hobo cowboy" and also the "nameless shitty brat" scene.
Rukia is the female protagonist of a shounen manga from which she was MIA for, like, ten volumes.
She's also probably the most multifaceted character I have.
Early on in Bleach when it was mostly a gen manga made of action and serious crack, we actually don't get much of a glimpse of how many issues Rukia has. And before the end of the SS arc, we find out Rukia's got a lot of issues. But in the beginning, Kuchiki Rukia came across as this cocky and proud snob who was retarded when it came to all things human and modern, who couldn't operate a juice box, who didn't understand modern social norms and looked down on humans and their pathetic emotions. She by all appearances had this "holier than thou" complex and had this antiquated way of speaking and acting because she herself was antiquated.
In the SS arc, we learn that her apparent proud streak is actually a farce. Rukia is actually a very insecure character, and prior to the end of the SS arc she's a lonely, self-loathing thing with no real friends or confidants, and it wasn't that shinigami typically looked down on emotion, she just took to viewing it as a weakness in herself.
The lonely, self-loathing Rukia from the SS arc is not the Rukia I'm playing.
I take Rukia from after chapter 195, when she goes back to Karakura to assist in dealing with the Arrancar problem. Rukia at this point is both drastically different from who she was in volume one and...still the same. Which...okay, doesn't make sense when I put it like that, but let me explain for a second. My Rukia as she's perceived in camp is very much volume one Rukia--this kinda retarded spaz who knew a lot yet knew so little. She's the one who can post random surveys that request real useful data and also ask about your favorite animal; she's the one who doesn't know what the caps lock button does; she's the one who can post on Christmas day telling children to COME HENCE AND BE JUDGED. She's completely crazy, she's a brilliant actress, she's snarky and cocky and also sometimes really irritating and also has a knack for kicking people in the behind, and she appears the picture of someone who believes in herself.
The thing is, this is not a farce anymore. Not the way it was in early Bleach. Post-chapter 182 or so, Rukia does not mentally berate herself for feeling pitiful human emotions the way she did in early volumes of Bleach. Rukia doesn't truly believe she's alone anymore. Rukia is now a bitch because she feels like being a bitch, not to distance herself from people. Rukia doesn't hate herself.
You can all blame Ichigo for this, of course. Ichigo and Rukia are Bleach's heroes, yeah, and they're both really damn retarded in their own ways but they're also these bundles of angst and self-deprecation and issues about letting their loved ones die--and a lot of Bleach revolves around the connection they share, their similarities and most importantly (for the Soul Society arc, at least) how they changed each other's worlds. For fifty years Rukia had hated herself for killing Kaien, had thought of herself as selfish and horrible and irredeemable. For fifty years Rukia had changed herself to better suit a lady of the Kuchiki house--she meticulously maintained the way she stood and spoke and acted, she looked down on other people, she became ruthless and efficient to better imitate Byakuya. For fifty years Rukia didn't have friends and wasn't looking for any. She didn't trust anyone and she was just. Broken.
Ichigo changed all that for her. Ichigo kicked her in the ass and told her she and her martyr complex could go to hell. Ichigo was his retarded self and in this way, with his certainty in words like "I WILL PROTECT EVERYONE" and "I WOULD DEFINITELY FIGHT THE RULES" and "I HAVE TO BECOME STRONGER," he taught her about hope and he gave her the second chance she wanted at life, at living and doing it happily.
Towards the end of the Soul Society arc, Rukia doesn't love herself, exactly. But she doesn't hate herself, either. She and Byakuya are starting to act like real, actual siblings who take care of each other. The Shiba family doesn't blame her for the ordeal with Kaien and honestly doesn't think she should blame herself, either. She and Renji are back to the way they used to be fifty years ago without much of a hitch because Renji fits in her life, like he never left it in the first place. Ichigo goes back to where he belongs--and finally, finally Rukia is where she belongs, how she belongs, in Soul Society knowing that she isn't alone anymore.
When Rukia goes back to Karakura in chapter 195, she's...well, she's happy. Still completely retarded, of course, and still totally willing to act out of her ass, as evidenced by how she convinces Isshin to give her a place to stay ("I'm on my own without a place to stay until I can get back on my feet," or something like that, complete with fake tears). But now she's got real, bona fide confidence in herself and what she says and does. She can believe in herself because now she knows people believe in her, and she wants to be people's strength as they've been hers. She's not afraid of forming attachments anymore because...it was worse being alone. She knows. She's genuine now. She's interested in living and being and feeling alive. She doesn't despair as easily. She's starting to forgive herself.
So, heh. Despite all the uncertainties, I think I've actually got a pretty good handle on who Rukia is. A lot of what she is hasn't really revealed itself in camp yet mostly because she's just been silly, but... I like to think that if a situation came up where I could pull out her more emotionally/mentally mature sides, I'd be able to handle it in a way that isn't atrociously OOC. She's not a difficult character to just play, and she's not really a changing character because...canon's done that for me, pretty much. She's something more of a stagnant character because in canon she's already come into her own.
RUKIA AND HOW SHE INTERACTS WITH OTHERS
In terms of how she interacts with people... Rukia treats every person she meets sort of differently, I think, if subtly, which is a nice change from Ikkaku who...tends to sort of categorize people. Ikkaku thinks people are rockin' and because of who he is, he tends to...draw people to him, sort of? He's charismatic. But...well, take for example his favorite girls in camp--people like Rin and Orihime and Kairi whom he totally stalks and loves on like a loving thing. The reality of it being that he isn't actually close to these people. As in they talk to him and he listens and LOVES LIKE BURNING, but. Once he decides just how you fit into his life, that's...kind of it, and that won't really change. His favorite girls will always be his favorite girls but will almost never reach the same level of trust and appreciation and respect as, say, Ryuuken. Goddamn punks, to Ikkaku, will always be just that--goddamn punks, no matter how much respect he gains for them. It's why it's so hard for him to just be okay with the fact that Yumichika loves him--because the terms of their partnership as far as Ikkaku perceived them didn't work that way. Ikkaku doesn't change. Neither does the way he looks at people.
Rukia, on the other hand, can develop closer connections to people because she could change (though, like I said, I don't think she actually will), and she's okay with change, and will come to perceive people differently after a time. She will be cruel with some people (those she looks down on and those who insult her or her house--probably mostly pertaining to people back home in Soul Society); she will be a bitch to others (Nishi, Anko, etc.); she can be kind to people (Orihime, Naminé, etc.); she can be flustered by some (Rabi, Rosalyn); she will kick people around because she cares (Renji and Ichigo). While Rukia does make that distinction between people like her and humans, her personal experiences have actually made her far less...removed from humanity than Ikkaku.
Mostly he just thinks she's weird. ):
HOW I FEEL ABOUT PLAYING KUCHIKI RUKIA
R-R-RUKIA
Rukia's characterization is the one I'm shakiest on, I think, out of all my characters. With Ikkaku, I've been playing him as I've come to define him over these past eleven or so months, and while I still feel a little bad about some of the things I've done with and to him he's still pretty intrinsically pulled straight from Bleach canon, and I'm relieved he's come into his own in a way that people don't have too many complaints about. Watanuki is a pretty clean-cut character and does have distinct moments in canon from which I can draw his reactions to situations--he's not difficult at all, in the end, and I can let him go on instinct. Kid can be summed up in a couple of canonical situations as well, most of them in volumes 16 and 17 where we get insight that isn't just "lazy hobo cowboy" and also the "nameless shitty brat" scene.
Rukia is the female protagonist of a shounen manga from which she was MIA for, like, ten volumes.
She's also probably the most multifaceted character I have.
Early on in Bleach when it was mostly a gen manga made of action and serious crack, we actually don't get much of a glimpse of how many issues Rukia has. And before the end of the SS arc, we find out Rukia's got a lot of issues. But in the beginning, Kuchiki Rukia came across as this cocky and proud snob who was retarded when it came to all things human and modern, who couldn't operate a juice box, who didn't understand modern social norms and looked down on humans and their pathetic emotions. She by all appearances had this "holier than thou" complex and had this antiquated way of speaking and acting because she herself was antiquated.
In the SS arc, we learn that her apparent proud streak is actually a farce. Rukia is actually a very insecure character, and prior to the end of the SS arc she's a lonely, self-loathing thing with no real friends or confidants, and it wasn't that shinigami typically looked down on emotion, she just took to viewing it as a weakness in herself.
The lonely, self-loathing Rukia from the SS arc is not the Rukia I'm playing.
I take Rukia from after chapter 195, when she goes back to Karakura to assist in dealing with the Arrancar problem. Rukia at this point is both drastically different from who she was in volume one and...still the same. Which...okay, doesn't make sense when I put it like that, but let me explain for a second. My Rukia as she's perceived in camp is very much volume one Rukia--this kinda retarded spaz who knew a lot yet knew so little. She's the one who can post random surveys that request real useful data and also ask about your favorite animal; she's the one who doesn't know what the caps lock button does; she's the one who can post on Christmas day telling children to COME HENCE AND BE JUDGED. She's completely crazy, she's a brilliant actress, she's snarky and cocky and also sometimes really irritating and also has a knack for kicking people in the behind, and she appears the picture of someone who believes in herself.
The thing is, this is not a farce anymore. Not the way it was in early Bleach. Post-chapter 182 or so, Rukia does not mentally berate herself for feeling pitiful human emotions the way she did in early volumes of Bleach. Rukia doesn't truly believe she's alone anymore. Rukia is now a bitch because she feels like being a bitch, not to distance herself from people. Rukia doesn't hate herself.
You can all blame Ichigo for this, of course. Ichigo and Rukia are Bleach's heroes, yeah, and they're both really damn retarded in their own ways but they're also these bundles of angst and self-deprecation and issues about letting their loved ones die--and a lot of Bleach revolves around the connection they share, their similarities and most importantly (for the Soul Society arc, at least) how they changed each other's worlds. For fifty years Rukia had hated herself for killing Kaien, had thought of herself as selfish and horrible and irredeemable. For fifty years Rukia had changed herself to better suit a lady of the Kuchiki house--she meticulously maintained the way she stood and spoke and acted, she looked down on other people, she became ruthless and efficient to better imitate Byakuya. For fifty years Rukia didn't have friends and wasn't looking for any. She didn't trust anyone and she was just. Broken.
Ichigo changed all that for her. Ichigo kicked her in the ass and told her she and her martyr complex could go to hell. Ichigo was his retarded self and in this way, with his certainty in words like "I WILL PROTECT EVERYONE" and "I WOULD DEFINITELY FIGHT THE RULES" and "I HAVE TO BECOME STRONGER," he taught her about hope and he gave her the second chance she wanted at life, at living and doing it happily.
Towards the end of the Soul Society arc, Rukia doesn't love herself, exactly. But she doesn't hate herself, either. She and Byakuya are starting to act like real, actual siblings who take care of each other. The Shiba family doesn't blame her for the ordeal with Kaien and honestly doesn't think she should blame herself, either. She and Renji are back to the way they used to be fifty years ago without much of a hitch because Renji fits in her life, like he never left it in the first place. Ichigo goes back to where he belongs--and finally, finally Rukia is where she belongs, how she belongs, in Soul Society knowing that she isn't alone anymore.
When Rukia goes back to Karakura in chapter 195, she's...well, she's happy. Still completely retarded, of course, and still totally willing to act out of her ass, as evidenced by how she convinces Isshin to give her a place to stay ("I'm on my own without a place to stay until I can get back on my feet," or something like that, complete with fake tears). But now she's got real, bona fide confidence in herself and what she says and does. She can believe in herself because now she knows people believe in her, and she wants to be people's strength as they've been hers. She's not afraid of forming attachments anymore because...it was worse being alone. She knows. She's genuine now. She's interested in living and being and feeling alive. She doesn't despair as easily. She's starting to forgive herself.
So, heh. Despite all the uncertainties, I think I've actually got a pretty good handle on who Rukia is. A lot of what she is hasn't really revealed itself in camp yet mostly because she's just been silly, but... I like to think that if a situation came up where I could pull out her more emotionally/mentally mature sides, I'd be able to handle it in a way that isn't atrociously OOC. She's not a difficult character to just play, and she's not really a changing character because...canon's done that for me, pretty much. She's something more of a stagnant character because in canon she's already come into her own.
RUKIA AND HOW SHE INTERACTS WITH OTHERS
In terms of how she interacts with people... Rukia treats every person she meets sort of differently, I think, if subtly, which is a nice change from Ikkaku who...tends to sort of categorize people. Ikkaku thinks people are rockin' and because of who he is, he tends to...draw people to him, sort of? He's charismatic. But...well, take for example his favorite girls in camp--people like Rin and Orihime and Kairi whom he totally stalks and loves on like a loving thing. The reality of it being that he isn't actually close to these people. As in they talk to him and he listens and LOVES LIKE BURNING, but. Once he decides just how you fit into his life, that's...kind of it, and that won't really change. His favorite girls will always be his favorite girls but will almost never reach the same level of trust and appreciation and respect as, say, Ryuuken. Goddamn punks, to Ikkaku, will always be just that--goddamn punks, no matter how much respect he gains for them. It's why it's so hard for him to just be okay with the fact that Yumichika loves him--because the terms of their partnership as far as Ikkaku perceived them didn't work that way. Ikkaku doesn't change. Neither does the way he looks at people.
Rukia, on the other hand, can develop closer connections to people because she could change (though, like I said, I don't think she actually will), and she's okay with change, and will come to perceive people differently after a time. She will be cruel with some people (those she looks down on and those who insult her or her house--probably mostly pertaining to people back home in Soul Society); she will be a bitch to others (Nishi, Anko, etc.); she can be kind to people (Orihime, Naminé, etc.); she can be flustered by some (Rabi, Rosalyn); she will kick people around because she cares (Renji and Ichigo). While Rukia does make that distinction between people like her and humans, her personal experiences have actually made her far less...removed from humanity than Ikkaku.
Mostly he just thinks she's weird. ):