#Nobody expects him to be gregarious and affectionate

[gallusrostromegalus]

11 and/or 42 for Zaraki?

Answered 42 already, so 11: If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

Many, many people have attempted to impersonate Zaraki Kenpachi.

Mostly ronin, criminals and other live-by-the-sword types trying to cash in on his reputation- Zaraki had a LOT of jobs while he was roaming the Rukongai, and his reputation as an inhumanly strong and bloodthirsty fighter was well known in the outer districts. So some idiot was always trying to get hired as a retainer or invited into a gang by trying to claim his identity- It's not hard. There aren't reliable photographs for most of his time out there, so he's only known as "Extremely tall, with long black hair and a large scar on his face, carrying an odachi and a small child". It works more often than not- the Rukongai is a very big place and Zaraki is but one man so it's not like a comparison can be made.

It's a scam that ONLY works at a distance though, for two reasons:

None of them hold a candle to the genuine article.

The first thing is the sheer weight of his reiatsu. The only people with anything even near that level of casual power output are a handful of Shinigami an a few actual Kami. Even those not blessed with Reiryoku can sense it- the air around him takes on a sharp, staticy quality that makes your hair stand on end as well as a heaviness that can make it hard to breathe, like an impending typhoon. Even among the Captains and Kami, nothing feels quite like he does- like the first gasp of air after breaking the surface when you were about to down and a battering ram to the chest at once.

People also consistently misjudge his intelligence and charm. One cannot feed oneself AND a small child on forage alone, and a too-fearsome reputation will get him banned from working anywhere. Hence, face-to-face Zaraki is unexpectedly disarming to talk to and agreeable company to stay with. Civilians are no good in a fight, but he took a name specifically because of how lonely he was, so he has learned the manners to rapidly ingratiate himself with any company. He's quick with a joke and tells a good tale or ten, and so at ease knowing there is no threat to him (or if there is, that it will be fun) that it puts those around him at ease as well. It's also hard to be frightened of the man after watching him lose an argument about not having candy for dinner to the most adorable little girl you've ever seen. Eventually, it gets around in the circles that hire such people that Zaraki is the best body guard you could possibly hire- Dedicated, Incorruptible and Ferociously protective- Especially of children, the most vulnerable charges.

Zaraki loves bodyguard work actually- All he has to do is keep at least one semi-functioning eye on Some Fucking Guy and the fights come to him! Fun fights too, like "An Entire Shinobi Sect At Once" or "Ancient And Revered Immortal Master Come Down From The Mountain" or "LMAO IDK But It's Got Tentacles And That's Always Fun".

His borderline disinterest in the client beyond their capacity as a fight magnet makes him remarkably immune to corruption- he doesn't want a bribe, he wants a battle! Neither does he want to attempt to leverage his position over a client- it straight-up never occurs to him that he could threaten the client. Why would he? They're not going to be any fun to fight??

After he starts raising Yachiru, his reputation becomes even more revered. Zaraki is a maniac, sure, but he is a maniac who *is good with children, and there is no safer place for a child than "within arm's reach of Zaraki", so Yachiru grows up with Princesses for playmates. It's very hard for most men of the sword to impersonate someone who is as at home on the field of battle as he is playing teatime with a toddler. Few try, none succeed for long.

...But even after he becomes captain, people still try to impersonate him. The most common ruse is someone in a remote district pretending to be a Captain On Official Gotei-13 Business to the residents as part of some con to attain money or power. Sometimes, a particularly bod criminal will pretend to be A Captain to the people in the C46 or Noble house to scam benefits out of the ruling powers. This happens to every captain, and it ends in catastrophe every time but it is an ESPECIALLY bad idea to impersonate Zaraki because:

2. Zaraki is very aware that people try to impersonate him, and is very eager to meet himself.

The first time Zaraki heard of someone using his name he was bewildered and offended and tracked the sonofabitch down, and then had a Jolly Good Time kicking his ass. The second time he heard of someone claiming his identity, he sought them out a little more calmly this time and had ANOTHER jolly good time kicking their asses. So the THIRD time, and every time since, the news that someone is attempting to pretend to be him makes Zaraki cackle with glee and vanish for a week or so (with his daughter and lieutenants in tow, if not the whole damn division), before turning back up with someone that's been wanted by the law for a decade or an entire Criminal Organization or suchlike under arrest.

In addition to being startlingly honest and cunning, Zaraki is extremely romantic, and since he is courting The Lady Unohana, he brings not a dozen roses, but instead presents the arrested Miscreants to the the Fourth Division Medical Corps as "Volunteer Organ Donors". One can hardly blame her for absconding with him for another week after.

...50/50 chance he, or anyone else in the 11th actually remembered to send someone to go tell Yamamoto where they were and what all that screaming and pleading for mercy in the general direction of the hospital is.

[the-cryptographer]

I was reading the questions that batty sent and I was wondering, what are your thoughts on Jounouchi's relationship with his dad? (Sorry if you've answered this before but I couldn't find it!)

Sorry it’s been 500 years, but I thought I’d answer. Under the cut is context and me being very shamelessly over-invested in headcanon. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to ramble.

I wrote a bit of analysis on Jou’s relationship with his dad here. This ask itself was in response to the following answer for this ship meme, I believe:

Which one gets in to a fight with the other’s parents.

You’d think it’d be Kaiba given his own parents are too DEADfor Jounouchi to fight with. But, yeah, I can’t really see Kaiba doing it. Hemanages some passive aggressive snark when Shizuka forces Jounouchi and himinto the presence of Jou’s mom, but he’s trying to be nice and also not tryingto pick fights with nobodies, so hekeeps himself contained for the most part. He also tries to be passiveaggressively snarky with Jou’s dad, but Jou’s ready to kick anyone who is meanto his dad straight out the door, so Kaiba also contains himself there too.Anyhow, it’d totally be Jounouchi if Kaiba’s parents or Gouzaburou were stillalive. Jounouchi might be intimidated by Gouzaburou at first, but eventuallyGouzaburou would cross some line in Jounouchi’s presence and from then onJounouchi would be ready to fight him ALL THE TIME, 24/7, NO BREAKS. Ugly, uglystuff :v

Yeah, this isolated answer might give the wrong impression of how exactly I see their relationship, lol. I’ll just say generally though that I think being mean to his dad is a privilege that Jou considers his, and his alone. He might rationalise that Shizuka also has that right to be critical of their dad. But if Shizuka ever actually took it upon herself to tear into him, I suspect Jou would feel kind of conflicted about it and annoyed with her, even if he wouldn’t admit to it. Anyhow, it’s certainly not a right he sees extending to his mom, or to Honda or Yuugi or Anzu or Mai, let alone to Kaiba or anyone further outside his circle. I think Jou has a pretty high sense of group loyalty in spite of everything - insult his family and you’re insulting him. And beyond that, based on what we see in canon, he loves his dad and wants to get along with him. It’s not to say I think that their relationship isn’t completely toxic and he and his dad don’t need to stay the hell away from each other though.

In terms of the abuse itself, I think Jounouchi’s dad has been physically abusive at times, prone to outbursts of violent rage (not entirely unlike Jounouchi himself). I think once (maybe twice) Jou suffered a broken bone because of his dad, and his dad took it as a sign he’d gone to far and scaled back future attempts to exert control with violence. Most of Jou’s injuries have been more in the realm of bruises and the occasional cut from a thrown object, rather than anything nearing what would constitute the need for a hospital visit, let alone brush into near fatality the way his canon fights with Hirutani go. (Jou’s dad relies on Jou for both fiscal and emotional support in his life, and maybe even loves him depending on your definition of such, and a hospital visit and prodding questions from doctors would put them at risk for being separated.) And Jounouchi himself doesn’t really react fearfully to expressions of physical violence upon him - he treats it as mundane and expected - so it’s not a very good avenue for attempting to control him, compared to some other things.So I think the primary function of abuse in their relationship is one of neglect and exploitation. I think from canon it’s pretty obvious Jounouchi’s dad has failed to provide him with adequate housing, safety, and food. Jounouchi’s part time jobs serve the function of providing basic necessities rather than extra spending money. And I believe its said somewhere that Jounouchi puts at least some of his own money towards paying off the loan sharks. As Jounouchi gets older and more able to pull his weight to pay household expenses, I don’t really see any reason his dad wouldn’t start counting on that even more - Jounouchi has proven time and time again that his dad can get away with drinking and gambling and exploiting his son for cash without receiving any significant backlash, so why not take advantage of that. That Jounouchi is neglected and ignored in an emotional sense is the other flipside of this. Jounouchi’s loud and clownish behaviour in canon, his willingness to intentionally provoke hostile reactions from Kaiba and other mooks of the day, the way he is absolutely incensed by Rishid giving him the silent treatment, and the way he is so deeply effected by Yuugi’s and his friend’s (and originally Hirutani’s) validation of him - these all look to me like the behaviour of somebody who has been neglected, and has been trained to jump through hoops to receive attention. I do think Jounouchi’s dad can be very affectionate and loving but, in the aftermath of his marital problems he might not have had the energy to be there for Jounouchi the way he needed to be, which I think led to something much more insidious. He learned that by withholding affection, he could play Jounouchi the way one might play a horse by dangling a carrot on a stick.

As for the temperament of Jounouchi’s dad himself - I tend to think he’s a lot like Jou. Gregarious, personable, clever and resourceful, sensual and physical, freely emotional and temperamental, thinks himself a bit of a tough-guy, drawn to the friendships he’s built and wanting very much to be loved and accepted by his peers. There are a couple of differences between them in my head - Jounouchi’s more responsible oc, and his dad has an affinity for logical abstraction and languages that Jounouchi doesn’t possess. But I can’t say I’ve really been focusing enough on Jounouchi’s dad to pick out many more differences. It’s maybe kind of a cheat to make them so similar but, otoh, I feel like it makes sense. This is who taught Jounouchi how to behave in-large.

If it’s how Jounouchi actually sees his relationship with his dad though. I think he’s frustrated. Exasperated. In a kind of throw your arms in the air ‘what can you do’ kind of way that completely minimises how truly unacceptable everything is, lol. He sometimes can’t deal with how unacceptable everything is and lashes out at his dad, in a similar kind of way that his dad lashes out at him, although oftentimes in a far more bitter and passive aggressive and less savvy way that leaves people around him thinking he’s simply a moody, disrespectful teenager. There’s a kind of dissonance there. The majority of the time they’re together they’re kind of buddy-buddy with each other though. They joke with each other, and laugh and smile, and there are sharp edges in their words sometimes that both of them ignore for the sake of pleasantness. Jounouchi doesn’t consider himself an abused kid, probably won’t for a long time. Although he’s kind of adamant that parents aren’t supposed to hit their kids like his dad has hit him, he stops himself before actually making the connection.

At the heart of things, Jou remembers that his dad is the one that wanted him. His mom abandoned him, while his father struggled to keep him. He’s able to forgive all the rest if it means he’s wanted. I can only hope he’ll realise someday that just being wanted in of itself is so, sooo substandard.