History FanFic / WinterWar

** And now we have [[spoiler: Renji, described as a hodge-podge creature seemingly composed of patchworks of fur, skin, and bare muscle, with a half-flesh/half-skull "face."]] Oh, and apparently [[spoiler: his]] every movement makes it look like [[spoiler: he's]] in pain.

** [[spoiler: Pantera]] is becoming this as of the latest chapters.

---> “Lots and lots,” Orihime said. She kept on trying to add two and two together and getting the wrong answer. “But it’s very pretty,” she added, in case she’d hurt Ise’s feelings.

* WarIsHell: This fic is ''not'' shy about the physical and mental costs of fighting a near-hopeless war. People die- not just in HeroicSacrifices, but in foolish ones, or just because they're not good enough fighters for the situation they're in- or even just from sheer bad luck. Those captured by the enemy are tortured and experimented on with very few exceptions. And even the survivors- even the ones who are alive and still trying to fight- are worn down by everything that's happened. Ukitake, Iba, and Soi Fong may be [[HandicappedBadass Handicapped Badasses]], but their injuries have a very real cost, in day to day life as well as in battle. And the psychological costs of the war are pretty clear too, looking at [[BreakTheCutie Orihime]], [[BreakTheBadass Hisagi,]] and many others- they may be soldiering on now, but only just, and when the war is over they'll still have these things to deal with.

---> “Lots and lots,” Orihime said. She kept on trying to add two and two together and getting the wrong answer. “But it’s very pretty,” she added, in case she’d hurt Ise’s feelings.

* WarIsHell

* YouHaveFailedMe: Aizen and Gin just LOVE this, each in his own way. Sometimes it [[TheDogBitesBack backfires]].

** Mayuri's plans for the one afternoon look like: 1) Commit a terrible atrocity. 2) Commit another terrible atrocity. 3) Have a nice cup of tea.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: [[TorturedAbomination Hollowfied Shinigami]], [[EatenAlive re-opened Hollow Pits,]] [[HeroicBSOD most]] [[StepfordSmiler of]] [[BrokenAce the]] [[BreakTheCutie characters']] [[VillainousBreakdown states]] [[ICannotSelfTerminate of]] [[MindRape mind]], the state of the [[CrapsackWorld universe in general]], and on top of it all it [[MoralEventHorizon somehow]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible keeps]]'' ''[[TearJerker getting]]'' '''''[[ItGotWorse worse.]]'''''

** That's your justification? '''Read at least half of this page.''' DarkerAndEdgier is putting it ''[[{{Understatement}} mildly.]]''

* TheUnintelligible: [[TearJerker See "Tortured Abomination."]]
* TorturedAbomination: Hollowfied Shinigami. Special mention goes to [[spoiler: Hitsugaya]], who got broken so badly that he's left as a [[spoiler: "jumble of icy wings and cruel claws" that can't even talk, [[TheBlank nor does he have a face.]] Momo]] [[TearJerker was not amused.]]

* TorturedAbomination: Hollowfied Shinigami. Special mention goes to [[spoiler: Hitsugaya]], who got broken so badly that he's left as a [[spoiler: "jumble of icy wings and cruel claws" that can't even talk. Momo]] [[TearJerker was not amused.]]

* ThisIsSomethingHeHasGotToDoHimself: It is understood that Ikkaku will fight [[spoiler: Yumichika]] alone, despite the fact that the fic usually avoids one-on-one duels. (By the time it actually happens, everyone else is busy fighting another opponent, so Ikkaku’s personal fight actually makes their lives easier by removing the second antagonist.)

* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Hisagi to Nemu, Byakuya to Rukia.]]

* LeeroyJenkins: Grimmjow will abandon whatever he is supposed to be doing if he suspects there is a fight availible elsewhere. Ikkaku [[spoiler: and Yumichika]] are able to resist the urge, due to CharacterDevelopment.

** Possibly the case of "Bleach canon meets realistic approach". When good guys don't just fight glorious one-on-one five-episodes-long battles for our entertainment, and bad guys don't just conveniently stand there and brag about their brilliant plans and general evilness until being properly defeated by good guys (again, for our entertainment), it becomes much harder to ignore that prolonged warfare is quite an ugly business. Not only [[WarIsHell war indeed is hell]] - it's a particularly unattractive and non-romantic hell. [[CatchPhrase And no one is safe.]]

* WhatWouldXDo: Iba considers and rejects Komamura, Zaraki, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Renji’s probable solutions to a problem, before finding the right person to “ask”: his mom, former Vice-Captain of Third Division Iba Chikane. Who then “tells” him exactly what to do... and follows up by [[IWantGrandkids wanting to know how long it’ll be until he gets married and gives her some grandkids]].

* DarkerAndEdgier: Than Bleach canon. That is to say, good guys actually die.

* AlienGeometries / AsceticAesthetic: Las Noches has a mild version of this. Properly lampshaded:

* AlienGeometries: Las Noches has a mild version of this. Properly lampshaded:

* TearJerker: And holy freaking ''HOW!!!''