Abandoned Of Noble Purpose by Maugan Ra - T - Bleach / Quest

Nemrut · Jun 10, 2018

Title: Of Noble Purpose
Author: Maugan Ra
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: T
Status: WIP
Length: ca. 180k words
Link: Sufficient Velocity
Summary:

Two thousand years ago, God abandoned the world.

In his absence, the role he had performed in the maintenance of creation fell to other, lesser divinities; the Soul Reapers, once minor servants of death and rebirth, now found themselves responsible for overseeing the cycle in its entirety. Such a task was far too great for them to manage alone, and so their founder reached out to others for aid. One by one, those who dwelt among the heavens bowed their heads and took up their part of the colossal burden, choosing for themselves those duties which would come to define the very nature of their existence from that day forth. When the time came for the cycle to claim them as well they passed the burden down to their children, and so were the Four Great Noble Families of the Soul Society formed.

Your ancestors, the Shihoin Clan, took upon themselves the role of guardians, for in the wake of God's ascendance the land was littered with those tools and weapons by which he had asserted his power over the world. Tools to unmake mountains, swords to slay concepts, all these things and more could have fallen into unworthy hands but for the vigilance of your forebears. The consequences of such a thing were beyond comprehension, and so the relics were gathered, locked away behind the most powerful wards and kept safe by legions of fanatical guardians, each of whom swore eternal fealty to your ancestors and their descendants. For two thousand years the Shihoin have attended to their ancient duty, and from the moment you could understand the words the importance of this ancestral charge has been pressed upon you.

It is a burden that has only grown heavier with time, especially in the wake of Yoruichi's treachery. To the dead a century is little more than the blink of an eye, and the sting of that betrayal still pains your Clan to this day.

That, above all else, is why you enrolled in the Shin'o Academy. The Shihoin name has been tarnished, and though you were far too young to be held truly responsible for your cousin's choice, the weight of it has still fallen on your shoulders. A successful career as a Soul Reaper will go some way towards redeeming the family name, and to the Elders of your Clan that was ultimately all that mattered.

You just hope that you can meet her one day. She ruined your life, and one day that debt will be repaid. Until then you will serve with honour, make friends and allies among the shinigami, and train. Your cousin will return one day, and when she does, you want to be ready for her.
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So yeah, Bleach quest. It's about a girl from the Shihoin family and it's about raising in the ranks of the Gotein 13, to make a name for yourself, redeem your family name and ultimately also take revenge on Yoruichi for her disgrace.

It's pretty neat, all things considered. Quality of writing is pretty solid, the cast of original characters is pretty interesting, the way the votes go is rather good, I quite like the clan and nobility aspects and overall I really appreciate this sort of exploration of the Bleach world, especially the shinigami. The handle on canon characters is pretty good, especially given that we see them through the eyes of the main character and how that re-contextualizes them accordingly. Best example is Soi Fon who I generally like but in the quest am actively rooting against, simply because she is rather firmly aligned against our MC, what with the second division no longer being under Shihoin control and all, thanks to Yoruichi.

A lot of interesting stuff happening in the story and while I can't say that there were any particularly memorable scenes or conversations or anything, it was an overall pleasant read that had me engaged throughout and I am still eagerly checking out new updates and am overall rather invested in the rise of the MC. Updates aren't exactly regular but still frequent enough on a few times a month.

I took the liberty to link the reader mode but for anyone who wants to avail themselves to the discussions can do so with the click of a button, by clicking on view in thread on the top right.

A generous 3.5-4/5

Abandoned: See this post for details.
Updated by Zombie, Sept. 24th 2018.

Deft · Jun 10, 2018

If you enjoy the Bleach universe I think it's worth the read. This is the author's second Bleach quest that I am aware of and he improved from the first try.

The MC is a much more fleshed out character than his previous attempt as are the rest of the cast. However I find the story to be a bit slow paced, not enough action to justify the word count overall.

The writing is serviceable, I wouldn't call it inspiring but the fight scenes are done well and the characters struggle, a rare thing in quests and especially a shounen quest.

3/5, but definitely a read if you are a Bleach fan.

Zombie · Jul 2, 2018

I've been reading this. I really like the format. And I like what I'm seeing about the main character, at this point. I haven't seen anything I've absolutely hated.

I really liked the inner world bit. There was something rather engaging about it when it first dropped. And the characters overall dismissal of everyone else because of their position, and how they're trying to live their own lives, but in the context of what her family will approve up.

I find that maybe this will be super limiting down the road if that continues to be a theme.

I like the exploration of the First Division so far.

I wouldn't have minded the other two divisions either, because there aren't many stories that showcase the Fourth or the Fifth (?) division in any great detail. Or atleast if they do, they've not been memorable enough for me to comment on.

I think in large part, what I like about this is that the world itself appears as large as it did in canon, and it keeps this, despite focusing more on the First Division. I get that she's a monster hunter type deal. But there are so many fics that focus on just the dealings of soul society, but the outlying Rukongai is just fucking massive. I've always been fascinated in the way that people seem to portray it. The inner areas are more prosperous than the furtherest reaches, and I can't quite remember if that's canon or if its a fanon idea that people have really grew to like.

Over all, I'd give this a 3/5. Rating is subject to going up. I like the format of the story. I like the player system they've established. I'm coming into this a bit late, so I'm not likely to be voting in anything towards the future. I'm interested in seeing some of the things that is covered on the character sheet as they are shown in the story.

Good find.

Sowaka · Sep 24, 2018

This is another story I found during random browsing on DLP. Sadly between then and now the author decided to abandon it, which is very unfortunate, because I enjoyed it a lot. The quest aspect doesn't really do much for me, so I just read the completed chapters as a singular story.

The author made a really good choice even before writing anything by limiting himself to Bleach canon up to around the Arrancar saga. Kubo really off the rails afterwards (or even during, honestly) by adding more and more pointless characters and spending so much time depicting their unengaging battles. Of Noble Purpose instead stays firmly in the bounds of the conflict between Soul Society and Hueco Mundo and fleshes it out, which serves a good backdrop for the protagonist's personal story.

Zombie · Sep 24, 2018

Well that fucking sucks. You got a link to the post where they abandoned it or is it because its not updated in a bit? They do have a tendency to go on hiatus a lot and other shit because of personal life.

Sowaka · Sep 24, 2018

Here, the author explicitly says it's cancelled and reveals some plot points that were to be.
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/of-noble-purpose-bleach.42545/page-454#post-11206142
And here he adds some more reveals.
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/of-noble-purpose-bleach.42545/page-455#post-11206920

Yeah, it sucks. It felt really fresh to me, mainly because I didn't get into Bleach fanfics much yet.

Zombie · Sep 24, 2018

Its decent because it makes the Bleach Universe more interesting, because there are very few stories that utilize it well, and most of them are crossovers. Thanks for the link, I'll get the title updated.

Sowaka · Sep 24, 2018

Definitely. Soul Society just begs to be fleshed out and giving Shinigamis something concrete to defend against is an important part of it. A tug of war for the human world with Baraggan's Hueco Mundo served that purpose well. In fact, Nel's invasion of the human world was my favorite part of the fic. And the other flesh-out elements (crime in the Rukongai) weren't bad either.

Honestly, I'm pretty salty about how the real Bleach turned out. The Fullbring arc was just bad and the Quincy War arc turned out to be deeply unsatisfying (seems like Kubo wasn't given enough of a heads-up to write a proper ending). This fic made me imagine how a better version of Bleach could look, which is why I liked it so much.

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