#THINKING AIZEN'S THE BETTER OPTION

[alovelyburn]

One of the things I think about a lot with regards to Berserk and specifically Griffith is like... the type of character he is and what that means to say Americans vs Japanese people.

Now, again I’m not going to act like I know everything about media ever because i obviously don’t. But my personal observation from consuming a fair amount of media from both cultures as well as participating in fandom discussions and watching discussion boards (I lurk a lot) is...

A character like him - someone who is ambitious and incredibly talented and attractive, charming and accomplished but not particularly humble, and who ends up emotionally isolated by their duties or bad circumstances or just  by being so damn cool that no one understands them, is....

Okay like if I were watching an American fantasy show/reading an American fantasy comic or novel and a character like that turned up as the leader of a village or country or an army or whatever, my expectation would be one of two things:

1. This character is evil and selfish and will eventually reveal his evil. Then he’ll end up either killed by the hero or humiliated and reduced to a state of helplessness or pathos as they are forced to face the reality that they are no better than anyone else.  So basically his arc would be “seems good but isnt -> reveals his evil -> suffers for his evil” The example that comes to mind here is Viserys Targaryen (in GoT not HotD) or Joffrey Lannister.

OR

2. This character has a good heart but his lack of humility is meant to be seen as a flaw, so he will end up humbled and forced to realize that he's no better than anyone else, at which point his good side will emerge and he will be considered improved by being knocked down a peg.  So his arc would be “jerk with a heart of gold -> learns that he’s not all that -> is able to show his virtuous side because he’s no longer arrogantly considering himself above others.” The example that comes to mind here is like Jaime Lannister.

And like, I feel as though people perceive Griffith as Option 1 - he may have SEEMED cool but he wasn’t really cool and turning evil just revealed who he was the whole time, and now he has to suffer and die or be humiliated and left broken because That’s Justice. Which is how we get like the assumption that of course Guts will become stronger than him and kill him and parade around with his head or alternately, the really uh ablelist and disturbing??? slew of people fantasizing about Griffith being forced into his shattered human body as punishment for his wrongdoing.

And like as an American person I can understand that... outlook (well not the ableist one) because I do think that’s what American stories are like, right? Like again I’m not trying to account for every single American story ever, but I’m just saying those are the patterns I have picked up from this kind of character.

But like, okay in Japanese media this type of character has a completely different... perception and completely different sets of outcomes...

First and foremost because whatever happens to them usually doesn’t involve a “knock them down a peg and make them realize they’re not special after all” aspect because they are special and that doesn’t necessarily need to be challenged or disproven. Even when they fail or die, it’s usually not because as it turns out they weren’t nearly as amazing as they thought they were. It’ll usually be some kind of inner flaw, like:

They’re so isolated or self-hating that they’re secretly self-destructive (Aizen from Bleach or Priscilla from Claymore)

their heart makes them vulnerable and that gets taken advantage of (Teresa of the Faint Smile)

they ultimately valued something else more than they valued their own lives (L from Death Note, who I would say valued solving the puzzle more than surviving, or Gilgamesh from Fate, who says outright that he’d rather lose than debase himself by using his full strength).

And this concept - the person who really is just all that - turns up a lot, like you’ll see them referred to as The Absolute in various stories, for example, as is the case with Griffith.

And the fact that Griffith is treated more along the lines of the Japanese take on this kind of character should be obvious since it’s a Japanese series but also you can kind of tell from things like the guidebook describing him as having an air of isolation around him due to his having no equals.

Now this is just about his personality, I’m not going to get into the different cultural perspectives on fictional rape or how an individualist culture kind of naturally struggles with Griffith and his motivations, but you know. Just an observation. I do have a lot of thoughts about those things too, as well as another major cultural storytelling divide that plays into this stuff.

Anyway one of the reasons I think about this a lot is because of this weird thing that happens in Berserk fandom sometimes where people will talk about how Griffith was spoiled or had everything handed to him on a silver platter or they’ll call him arrogant and it’s interesting because... none of that is... true, right like...

He didn’t have everything handed to him on a silver platter, He was born in poverty, formed his own band of thieves, converted them into a mercenary band, prostituted himself to a predatory pedophile for funds to help  his soldiers, wrangled his way into working for the King of Midland, worked his way up the military hierarchy and ended a 100 year war, all while somehow managing to learn a seemingly endless array of skills that CANNOT have been easy to come by when you grow up as a street urchin.That’s even before thinking about how Miura stated that Griffith may have been abused as a child.

There’s no universe in which he was spoiled, but it’s worth noting that many many many of both type 1 and 2 above... will tend to be from privileged backgrounds and we’re meant to perceive them as taking their advantages for granted.

Similarly, he never actually says he thinks he’s special, right he just says he wants to find out whether or not he is by pushing himself as far as he can go. But there is, I think, a perception that just wanting to rise and see how much he can accomplish is in itself arrogant because if he were a better person he wouldn’t entertain the possibility that he might be Super Cool.

IDK it just brings me back to what I was saying a few weeks ago... that I feel like there’s a specific (western revenge) story that people perceive Berserk to be and when things don’t fit that box they either don’t perceive it or rewrite it in their heads so that it does fit that box.

And if you think about it, most of the weird things people think about Berserk... comes from those western storytelling conventions that people are sort of imposing on Berserk. Right down to the “he lives for Casca” thing that has never ever been true and that lands a bunch of people desperately trying to convince themselves that when Guts mopes about his sword he’s really moping about Casca even though he never thinks about her, she doesn’t appear in the flashbacks, and half of them are to times when he didn’t know her or was nowhere near her.

[darkroguescribe]

Fireworks

Hitsuhina Week 2023 - Day 1: Academy Days / Fireworks

Rating: K

Summary: Hitsugaya is preparing to take his Captain's Exam. But doubts weigh heavy on his mind.

AN: Originally posted on AO3

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Eyes followed him everywhere he went. It wasn’t unusual for him, his white hair and turquoise eyes tended to draw attention whether he wanted it or not. But these days, the stares were more intensely judging him. It was no secret that Toshiro Hitsugaya had been working on mastering his bankai for the past few years. But since Captain Shiba had vanished, and the Tenth Division was in need of a captain, he’d begun to consider taking the Captain’s Exam to fill that vacancy. Once word got out that he’d take the exam, every soul reaper he’d pass would stare and whisper among one another. He’d learned to ignore most people talking about him but hearing it from within his own division was another thing.

He’d heard a few unranked members talk about transferring if he was made captain. Laughing at how ridiculous it would be for them to take orders from a kid. Fortunately, Lieutenant Matsumoto seemed to be in full support of him should he be made captain. After all, he’d practically been running the whole place since even before Captain Shiba left. His administrative skills were evident since the very beginning. The questions laid mostly in his maturity and leadership. Hitsugaya made it to his room after training after dodging most of the larger streets to avoid the stares. Entering his room, he began his nightly routine of polishing his zanpakuto and planning with the spirit for what to practice tomorrow. “My Sennen Hyoro could use work. The pillars are too thin. I’m sure there is a way to strengthen them without expending too much energy.” He said.

In his mind he heard Hyorinmaru rumble in agreement. “You think too much in preparation,” The dragon said. “Lay the trap. Then lead the enemy within.”

“That leaves too much up for chance.”

The dragon spoke quietly in an almost nurturing tone and said, “Not ready.”

Hitsugaya caught his reflection in the blade and simply held the sword where it was. Not ready meant too young. And as he looked at himself, he thought that perhaps the dragon is right. Not ready to perfect his bankai. And perhaps even too young to become captain. His face was still boyish and he was quite short even for his age. The idea that he could even achieve bankai wasn’t even taken seriously by most. Men in his own division had doubts. Maybe the entire division would be better off waiting for someone else to take over. He’d still be the 3rd seat and that would give him time to grow up and gain further mastery of his bankai.

“Lil’ Shiro!” A loud knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts as he looked at the shadow of the figure outside. “Lil’ Shiro you in there?”

Hitsugaya groaned, putting his zanpakuto away. “What is it Hinamori?” He asked as he slid open the door.

“Hello to you too, Lil’ Shiro,” She beamed at him, not even bothered by the annoyed tone of his voice.

“I thought you said you’d call me by my name once I became a soul reaper.”

She just smiled and shrugged, “I did. And I do, at least when on official business. But right now, we’re both off so, you’re Lil’ Shiro.”

He groaned, realizing he wasn’t likely to get her to stop at least not now anyway. “Can you at least drop the ‘Lil’’? I’m not that short anymore.”

Hinamori laughed, “Okay Lil’— I mean, Shiro.”

“What do you want anyway?”

“I wanted to know if you’d come with me back to my barracks.” Her voice dropped into a whisper as she cupped her hands as though it were some big secret. “We planned a special fireworks show for Captain Aizen’s birthday tonight.”

“You realize everyone already knows about that, right?”

“Come on it’ll be fun. Just like the ones we’d watch as kids.” She reached out and grabbed his arm and began tugging.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and debated the option of going versus staying for a solid minute before agreeing. Outwardly, it looked as though he was reluctant to attend. But deep down he knew that his mind had been made up the moment she smiled at him.

Together, the two of them made their way in the direction of the Fifth Division. The closer they got, the more people seemed to already be crowding the street waiting for the fireworks. Hinamori had to elbow her way through, dragging him along behind her in order to get to the gate where guards stopped them. With a flash of her lieutenant’s badge, she got them both in without any further fuss and they made their way to the roof where a bunch of other officers gathered. They found a relatively quiet part and Hinamori sat down, her feet dangling over the edge while Hitsugaya remained standing.

“Hey I meant to congratulate you on getting a date for your Captain’s Exam,” She said.

“Hmm.”

“When’s it going to be?”

“Two weeks.”

Hinamori frowned. “I thought you’d be a little excited about it,” She said.

He turned his head towards the nearest pair of officers, feeling their eyes on the back of his head. When their eyes met, the pair just laughed and turned in on themselves.

She noticed this silent exchange and stood up. “Hey, I’ll take care of it.”

“Don’t,” Hitsugaya sighed.

“You’re going to be a captain. I can’t have members of my division not be respectful to the other captains.”

He was quiet and glanced around to make sure no one could hear him before he spoke again. “What if… what if I don’t become captain?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

He shrugged and bowed his head slightly, his shoulders rolled forward a little. “What if… I don’t get it? What if I fail?”

Hinamori moved around to step in front of him, looking down at her best friend who was one of the smartest, bravest people she knows show her how nervous he really is. Hitsugaya was not one to show weakness often and for him to do so right now, she had a feeling this had been eating away at him for awhile. “Here, come with me.” Taking his arm, she quickly brought him down into the barracks and then into her room shutting the door behind them. “Talk,” She said, pushing him to sit down on the futon and taking a seat right next to him.

Hitsugaya was quiet as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on bent knees. “There are some… doubts about my ability to become a captain,” He began. “Since Captain Shiba left, I thought I could be the next captain. He’d always say I was bound to be captain after him but… I never thought it’d be this soon.”

“He believed in you for a reason, Toshiro,” She said. “I’m sure he saw how your determination, intellect, and talents would do great things for the division. And between Shiba and Matsumoto, you’ve been captain in every capacity but in name.”

He scoffed and shook his head, “I don’t think I’ll become captain with administrative skills alone.”

“No, but you have mastered your bankai. That has to say something, right?”

Hitsugaya shrugged. “‘Mastered’ might be too strong a word,” He said. “I can use it for about eight minutes but after that…”

“That’s still more than most. I don’t even know my bank’s name.” She wasn’t getting through to him. She could see him curling further and further in on himself as his thoughts seemed to snowball. “Is this all because of what a couple people said?”

“A couple?” He scoffed, “Try just about everyone in the Soul Society. I’ve heard it all from ‘turning the 10th into a daycare’, to me ‘lying about having achieved my bankai’. Even members of my own division don’t want me as captain. How am I supposed to lead them, if they don’t want me?”

Hinamori scooted closer and wrapped her arms tightly around him like when they were kids. Normally, he’d just push her off and the fact that he didn’t spoke volumes to how much weight this exam was putting on him. She wished there was something she could do to get rid of everyones doubt about him because she believed so much in his ability, but she couldn’t. “Let’s go back to the 10th,” She said.

“Huh? But I thought you wanted to see the fireworks.”

She waved them off, “They’re just fireworks. And this is way more important.”

Rather than taking the long way back through roads that were now crowded, the two of them traveled by rooftop using shunpo to get there quickly. Making a quick stop at his quarters, he took his zanpakuto at her instruction before heading to the empty courtyard the division used for training. “What are we doing here?” He asked as she pushed him to stand in the middle of the yard before backing a good distance away and sitting down.

“Practicing your captain’s exam, of course,” She said.

“Huh?”

“You’re going to have three captains and the head captain you’ll have to demonstrate it to. So you’re going to pretend I’m the captains and show me what you can do.”

Hitsugaya’s face was vacant as he stared at her almost incredulous at the idea. “Do you even know how the exam works?” He knew of course but had been sworn to secrecy about the exam process.

“Nope. I’m just guessing.”

“This is ridiculous—“

“—No it’s not!”

“What if someone—“

“No one is here! They’re all at the fireworks.”

“But what about—“

“—Just show me already, Shiro!”

“Ugh! Fine,” He grumbled, drawing his zanpakuto. Looking at her across the yard, he suddenly felt a bit nervous having never shown anyone his bankai before. Taking a deep breath, he looked around to check that there was in fact no one around, before lowering himself into a fighting stance. “Bankai!”

The temperature dropped around them and ice crystalized across the yard as his reiatsu flowed evenly from his body. Ice formed across his shoulder into a pair of wings that spread wide, with a crystal tail at the base of the juncture where the two wings met and his legs and right arm were encased in ice. Hitsugaya stared across to the other end of the yard where Hinamori sat quietly taking it all in with a wide smile.

“Wow, you’re amazing, Shiro!” She said, standing and taking a few steps closer before stopping. “Um, can I come closer?”

He nodded and watched her smile broaden before she trotted over to him and circled around him. He felt her eyes on him and for the first time in a while didn’t mind the intensity of her stares. Maybe it was because she was one of the only ones to believe in him, or maybe it was just because it was her. Either way, he wouldn’t mind if she stared at him like that again.

Coming to stand back in front of him, she reached out and gently touched one of his wings. “It’s so cold,” she said.

“It’s ice, dummy,” He said with a roll of his eyes.

“It’s so amazing though.”

Overhead, the sound of the fireworks beginning drew both their attentions skyward. The bright colors illuminated the sky but from where they were they couldn’t see them. An idea popped into his head and he found himself speaking before properly thinking it through. “Um, you know these wings aren’t just for show. I actually can fly with them.” Hitsugaya felt his cheeks heat with the unspoken suggestion and turned his body sideways to avoid her laughter.

To his surprise, she took a sharp intake of breath and grabbed his shoulders. “We can watch the fireworks from the sky!” She said. Her excitement, too much for him to even consider denying.

Opening his arms, she gladly wrapped her arms about his neck and he held on tight to her before using his wings to thrust them skyward. She screamed at the sudden speed with which he took off and held on tighter before erupting into giggles as he reached a point in the sky where he was level with the fireworks taking place at the Fifth. He felt her head lean onto his shoulder as they watched and he felt himself smile. He paid the fireworks little attention, focused only on her, taking in her smile, her relaxed breaths, the small ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s she’d say after particularly interesting fireworks went off. Time faded into a single moment that he longed to stretch out as long as possible.

After the last of the fireworks had ended, Hitsugaya slowly brought them back to the ground and he released his bankai. “That was amazing, Shiro,” Hinamori said, hugging him tightly.

“I’ll say.”

The two friends broke apart and looked over to the entrance to see Captain Aizen standing there, his gentle smile easing them into a sense of calm.

“Captain Aizen! I thought you’d be at the party.” Hinamori said, torn between leaping to his side or staying at her friends side.

Aizen gently raised his hand in a calming gesture that made it clear there was nothing to worry about. “I was for awhile. But then I was wondering where my wonderful lieutenant who planned the whole thing had run off to.” He smiled as he walked closer to the two of them. “I wanted to thank you for all the effort you put into this day.”

Hinamori beamed under the praise and bowed respectfully to her superior. “It was nothing really. Everyone helped out. We all wanted to show our appreciation for you.”

Aizen placed his hand on her head affectionately, “Still, your passion and attention to detail are much appreciated by me personally.” He looked over to Hitsugaya and folded his hands in the sleeves of his shihakusho. “Third seat Hitsugaya.”

“Sir,” Hitsugaya bowed stiffly.

“Your bankai looks quite impressive.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Aizen leaned closer to him, “You know, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I’ll be one of the captains observing you at the exam.” He stood back to his full height. “I look forward to seeing what you can do, future Captain of the Tenth Division.” With one final nod at the two of them, he took his leave, walking leisurely away from the barracks.

Once he was out of sight, Hinamori grabbed him by the shoulders and squeezed him tightly. “See? Even Captain Aizen thinks you’ll do great!” She said, smiling and laughing with joy.

Hitusgaya felt himself smile as he wrapped his arms around her as well. His nerves were still there but the doubts in his head had quieted. He was going to become the captain of the Tenth Division. And no matter what anyone says, he’ll work hard to prove he is worthy of that title.

[kotonoba]

ISYT (Jushiro/Fem!Reader) Ch. 40

This should be around the head captain fight? I wrote this like two months ago.

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Resting was just a lie Jushiro made up for you, thinking he’d even relax during a crisis. You weren’t sure when you had noticed he had upped and left with all his big ideas, but when you had awoken from your light nap, you had woken in an empty bed. Feeling a little dejected as you sat up, eyes closed as you sensed his pathing. It was erratic but had a destination, as far as you could tell. You got up to grab your Zanpakutou and followed behind his trail closely, but you stayed a distance away. something told you not to follow too closely, and absentmindedly, you followed its orders. 

He dropped by the Shihoin Clan’s sealed-off room; the seal was broken when you came by, but you spotted the two loud seated officers guarding it. Something irked you when you spotted the two seated officers; he chose to ask them and not you. You gave him the benefit of the doubt but wouldn’t let that slide too easily. Your spiritual pressure bubbled in your body for a bit, but you lowered it in case the two had caught on. But it didn’t seem like they knew. 

You stayed out of sight but followed him as he moved out, carrying something that occasionally scraped the floor. You could only guess, but it would be a shot in the dark. You stopped abruptly when you felt a wave of familiar reiatsu flutter by you, “Aizen…” you whispered. You knew it would be foolish to follow that path, but curiosity got the better of you as you followed after that trail instead. 

You couldn’t believe your eyes as you followed the trail. You could feel the Sokyoku get destroyed. You suppose that was partially Jushiro’s plan. You wished he had chosen you instead because you had stumbled into the lion’s mouth as you witnessed Aizen pierce Hinamori right through the stomach. Albeit not a fatal blow, but with so much blood loss, she could lose her life. You planned to find someone for help, but it seemed you were found out just as you were about to leave. 

You weren’t particularly close to anyone in all of Gotei 13, except for Jushiro, but now, since it seems like everyone is busy, you could only really rely on yourself. Being cornered by a supposedly dead captain and someone equally suspicious, you had no option but to run. You were not on par with either of them, often opting out of sparring opportunities. Jushiro tried his best to spar with you, but he could only go so far with his health. Perhaps you should have been more willing to spar weekly, but you thought there would never have been conflict. 

There was talk between the two; between Ichimaru and Aizen, you didn’t trust either of them. You limited your interactions with them. You were backed into a corner as the two discussed what they would do because letting you leave to tell everyone wasn’t the answer for either of them. You eyed the blood that dripped from Aizen’s blade, the trail leading out from where Hinamori lay helplessly. If you stayed there, you probably would have gotten worse. Going against all instincts of begging to live and whatnot, you gambled on your speed and tried your best to outrun them. However, that wouldn’t be far when you felt a blade pierce you from afar. A glance over your shoulder it was a menacing grin from Ichimaru. 

This is how I die, huh?

The blade retracted as quickly as you saw the wound on your abdomen. Immediately, you gripped it and placed pressure on it, but you still ran as far as your legs could carry you. Your monotonous world blurred as you found yourself down an alleyway. You felt the two approaching the alleyway you were headed; running would be foolish because you can’t outrun them, let alone be injured. Using your Zanpakutou to fight back was pointless; you weren’t built to fight, and Seiya’s ability would be too detrimental to your worn-out body. 

Almost as if it was from instinct, your body moved on its own, whispering, “Sen’a, sustain,” It wasn’t something you had learned, but rather, it seemed like your zanpakutou fought against you to keep you alive; the blood continued to flow, but less slowly, your vision blurred further, all you could see was the two captain headed towards you.

Aizen said something you couldn’t hear, but from how his body moved, it sounded like, “enough, we will be late.” Was he sparing you? You couldn’t tell as the summer breeze ushered you to sleep. 

By the time you had come to, you had heard a familiar but frantic voice as you were quickly ushered into his warm embrace. Like a mantra, you listened to your husband repeat as if to calm you, but it was more so to calm himself, “you’ll be okay, you’ll be fine. I’m here now, y/n.” 

As much as you wanted to tell him what happened, you could no longer feel the two captains’ reiatsu anywhere in Seireitei. Before you closed your eyes again, you leaned against his embrace, and you could feel him flinch before relaxing quickly, heading towards an area of many shinigamis; it was probably to the fourth division. Before you were ushered to sleep again, you had to… “dismissed.”

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Aizen fanfic coming up?

[aizensamasuggestions]

Hello Aizen-Sam’s. Curiousity has forced my hand. What is your opinion on Renji having married Rukia? Do you believe he married the wrong Kuchiki, or do you believe he made the right choice?

Why do you need my opinion in this matter?

If Rukia wants to abandon the comfort of the Kuchiki clan and the position of being a True First, she should feel free. She's secured a captaincy--what does she need the Kuchiki for? She has money (at least a paltry Gotei salary), housing, and and a job for life. She's no longer in the Rukongai, which I can only imagine was the original goal.

It was inevitable that she leave the clan when she marries at any rate. She would never have had her name on the Kuchiki grave or partaken in their fortune.

So, why not?

Do you have some objection that I'm not privy to?

Oh, wait, I see now that the person you care for is actually Renji. Do I think he could do better? I don't know. What were his options? He landed his childhood best friend. I suspect many people feel that's a sort of story book ending for him, right?

And are you suggesting that the lieutenant had a chance with Mr. "I'll Be Loyal to my Dead Wife For All Eternity"? And, honestly, Anonymous, if Kuchiki Byakuya couldn't stand up to his family to get better treatment for Rukia or Hisana, how on earth could he talk them into marrying not only a man, but one from the one of the lowest possible Rukongai districts? Kuchiki doesn't have that kind of backbone. He's far too much of a coward.

If Renji wanted rule-breaking True Firsts, he'd have to have looked at the Shiba/Kurosaki clan. But, regardless, he seems plenty settled. He made his bed, as it were, and, for all I can tell, he seems happy in it.

I'm afraid that I don't care overly much for this kind of thing. Is there a particular reason you wish the couple ill?

[bleachbleachbleach]

A lil fun fact about the South: if you hear phrases being started with "Honey/Sweetpea/Sugar/Bless your heart" that is the sign to run like dads when there's a sale on milk.

Given that two-faced aspect of Southern talking, I present the idea of Southern!Aizen. He's really good at hiding his accent but when it comes out you better pray to your deity of choice that whatever happens is quick.

Also, we're well-known for loving sweet tea.

Admittedly I'm not sure what conversation this ask is part of (this is the part of my Tumblr Experience™ where I realize I have no idea what has posted to our blog today and no idea what is scheduled in the queue lol), so apologies for that, but it made me think of this viral Tweet regarding Kyoto and indirect speech. Not for Aizen, granted, but for Ichimaru. Because given that 98% of all shinigami ever, regardless of background all appear to speak Tokyo Japanese, and no one in Soul Society is "from Kyoto" because that is not a place that exists in Soul Society... is it a Life Choice? I mean, we have Iba and his Hiroshima fandom. Shinji, too, and his penchant for showboating.

Did Ichimaru choose to adopt Kyoto Japanese as a conscious choice?

Does he remember it from having been alive (e.g. memory of skill vs. event)?

Is everyone's language--particularly in Rukongai--actually all over the place, but when speaking to strangers or random potentially dangerous shinigami tearing through the place, everyone defaults to Tokyo Japanese? Even in flashbacks, are characters remembering things through the skein of what is now their most-used version of a language?

Is everyone's language all over the place--speaking across centuries of time, region, class, etc.--and we as readers get the cleaned up version, where the linguistic tics or variants that get preserved are only the plot-relevant ones, the most extreme examples, or the ones that reflect some form of character agency?

Personally I am very much interested in Option D, a little bit of all of the above. I buy Soul Society being able to standardize their language to a point (though I feel like even as they "win" along a geographical axis, with everything being so close together and fairly hegemonic, they lose along a temporal axis, because there are so many people who would be using pieces of language from 300 years ago because in their mind that's basically yesterday. Think of it as Olds on the Internet using outdated Internet slang, but turned up to 11. [Is this Spinal Tap?!?!?]).

But who's gonna be the dialect police in Rukongai, huh?? How far up the districts do you need to go before there are schools. Are there enough people who come to Soul Society aged and literate that that's how language and literacy proliferate? Is that a skill you get to keep across the veil? What if you die as a baby?

[godkilller]

THERE WAS SOMETHING CLOSE TO A CHUCKLE THAT EMERGED in light of the casual comment of how insulting his implied act of playing matchmaker truly was. All things considered, Gin hadn't meant it that way, but now that Izuru had his pouted response in full effect Gin really couldn't play takesie-backsies. Too amusing of a conversation, anyways, and he very much didn't mind Izuru's natural abrasiveness toward his attempts to shift the spotlight off of himself. Even in the act of resisting the play... Izuru made things fall more in Gin's favor -- just in the nature of needing to respond to each quip Gin fired off in defense. This was enough, at the very least, to avoid the prior topic.

❝ Alright, that was a lil mean of me, yeah -- but I never mentioned orderin' somebody to sleep with ya. ❞ Gin took in one last languid pull from the pipe lifted elegantly to his lips, a slow exhale soon to follow, wisps of smoke coiling outwards into the dead air.

❝ You can handle yourself with plenty of th' Arrancar that lurk 'round these halls, this's true. But you'd get your ass beat by th' top half of the Espada, Izuru. ❞ A tipping roll of the black pipe between his fingers, then a tap of his kiseru against the balcony railing had the remnants of the small bowl's ashes fluttering off to join the sands of Hueco Mundo beyond.

❝ You oughtta not tempt their disobedience so much -- Cap'n Aizen, Tousen-san 'n I all had to kill hundreds who challenged 'n defied us to get the modicum of bitter 'n reluctant respect they now display our way. ❞

Gin paused, giving the kiseru one last little flick to rid it of anything residual as well as cooling it a subtle amount, then he slid it back into the confines of the front of his robes tucked beneath the outermost layer of black-lined white. His hand delved back into the depths of his oversized sleeve, vanishing alongside its counterpart to lean in a drape over the railing. Gin glanced outwards. Whatever playfulness he offered Izuru was sapped away in a miniscule glinting change in the traitor's demeanor, shoulders shifting, a serpent's scales glimmering amongst the tall blades of grass -- betraying its slithering approach. Grinning, Gin slowly spoke out into the arid cold that surrounded them. He did not look to his side.

❝ Explainin' to you what I need from ya overall, or in the future, is secondary to you simply listenin' to me in the moment thatcha need to. I say back off, you back off. I say attack, you attack. I tell ya to run, you run. You followed me here ---- you say it's 'cause you're loyal, fine, be loyal then. If you're gonna insist on bein' an extension of me, Izuru, then don't be a weak one. ❞

The 'point' that Izuru sought, that he yearned for, was hissed as loud as thunder and delivered as swift as a snake's bite; don't get in my way. Gin didn't enjoy willfully intimidating those he cared for, but he reckoned their hurt feelings were the better option in comparison to their dead bodies. But... even then, even then Izuru was in a dangerous position that Gin could not properly explain to him. He could merely hope the lieutenant didn't dive in between himself and Aizen thinking himself useful whilst being the polar opposite, getting them both killed.

❝ Say my Bankai comes out -- it's th' same rule as always -- you'd better be 14 kilometers away from me. No room for mistakes this time 'round. If you end up jeopardizin' my shot, I'll make it through ya. We clear? ❞

THE SMOKE PUTS A WRINKLE ABOVE HIS NOSE AND AN ITCH IN HIS EYES, but its smell is cloying and nostalgic. One particularly humid summer morning, a young and restless Izuru found himself awake an hour earlier than usual, nemaki clinging to skin damp with sweat. It was on his way to the baths that the scent of tobacco wafting through the stale air steered him off course; he'd never smelled anything like it, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but he had to know what sort of incense would put off such an ❛ aroma ❜. Following it to its source, he found his mother reclining against one of the posts holding up the awning over the engawa. In her slender fingers she cradled a kiseru not unlike the one in Gin's, and there was something strangely bewitching about the way the tension visibly rolled off of her like a receding wave as she exhaled smoke. It seemed like it must've been nice. Upon her next drag she'd noticed her child standing in the doorway watching her, and with a start, she began to choke. Izuru immediately apologized, but she, eyes still burning with tears, assured him that she's okay, he'd simply startled her. On the other side of her coughing fit, he'd asked what she was doing.

❛ Don't tell your father, ❜ instead of answering, and with Izuru's visible confusion, continued, ❛ I'm trying to quit. I don't want him scolding me. ❜

So even adults can do things that would get them into trouble.

He asked if he could try, Shizuka barked a gentle but surprised laugh and shook her head. ❛ No, my dear; this will turn your voice ugly and put wrinkles on your pretty skin. ❜

Then what is the point? Izuru couldn't understand it at the time, but, oh...now he knows the lengths one would go to chase their cravings. Of all the vices that he'd picked up over the years, somehow smoking was not among them────but he would, now, if it meant putting his lips where Gin's once were.

Izuru is too preoccupied with shaking off the intrusive fantasy to notice, perhaps, the way Gin's breath sticks in his throat like the smoke in his mother's. Unlike her, however, he doesn't choke; he's better at keeping secrets.

Izuru casts Gin another sidelong glance, then his eyes track the departure of the wisp into the everlasting night. Stand back, Gin would tell him, but not leap forward? Then...what is the point?

The faraway look on the lieutenant's face sharpens with an indignant huff at Gin's inappropriate offer ( not that Izuru is one to criticize ), though he suspects that it's a cover to get Izuru's attention off of himself and onto someone or something else. Gin should know by now that he cannot escape Izuru so easily. ❝ I can handle myself, ❞ the blonde mutters stiffly, waving away that sharp elbow. ❝ And I don't need you to order someone to sleep with me. How insulting. ❞

[unohanadaydreams]

How would the captains react to catching their partner cheating on them? I’m feeling angst tonight

Finally some good fucking food. Angst; it’s what’s for dinner and I’m chowing down with you, anon.

Features: angst. Some violence and torture with Gin and Mayuri.

How The Original Captains React To Being Cheated On:

Genryusai Yamamoto:

There’s little to no reaction. You wouldn’t be the first and won’t be the last to use him for status or money or petty bragging rights. Just another day.

Quietly, behind closed doors, he does mourn. Not for the loss of you, but for the prospect of starting again. He caresses the pretty things he’s bought you, each touch a vote for or against bothering.

If you come to him, apologetic and willing to repent, he’ll look past the transgression. Less work for him to undertake, in the end, and the power of demanding this is that in the name of forgiveness suits him.

Shunsui Kyoraku:

He can’t help but laugh. All those years chasing girls and washing his hands of the consequences come to catch him now that he’s standing still with just one hand holding his.

Business goes on as usual, but he’s sloppier around the edges—spilling sake on paper work, falling asleep against Jushiro’s grave, and forsaking the frequent partying he’s known for in lieu of furiously scribbling down the perfect love story he didn’t get.

Honestly, he’s willing to forgive if it wasn’t done out of love for the other person and there’s a willingness to work on the relationship. Shunsui has played the unfaithful lover more times than he can remember; being black out drunk more often than sober will do that to you.

Soi Fon:

She can’t speak and doesn’t bother. Throat closed with anger, she lets her body tell you where your relationship lies—thrown off the bed and kicked outside.

There’s nothing but hatred for you and humiliation for herself. Not just personally, but professionally; a leader of the 2nd division being caught unawares is irony at the cost of her reputation.

People are always leaving her behind once she trusts them. After weeks, she’ll ask you why. Because that’s always the question burning in her chest. Why can’t she be a person someone stays for.

Gin Ichimaru:

Cute, how you think you can shuffle off and away from him after getting caught. He doesn’t flinch, talking with conversational tones. Hey, sweetie, who’s your little friend? Aww, they don’t talk or some thin’?

There’s two options; submit to grueling public humiliation or die. Gin loves to have fun, after all. And, isn’t it fun having to watch the person you cheated with get toyed with like a mouse under kitty claws? Aren’t you having fun kissing the corpse? Wasn’t your silly mistake worth it?

Gin has never forgiven, forgotten, or turned down an opportunity to make someone who cares about him regret feeling so. Your life is hell and the jailor can’t decide whether to keep your head under boiling water or kill you. Fun!

Retsu Unohana:

The impulse to leave as the only one alive is temptation incarnate. She is firm, restrained, and digs into her cheeks until her teeth pop through.

She keeps waiting to calm, for the situation to become objective instead of the turmoil in her gut. Retsu is especially brusque with everyone while working, making every stitch job a painful one. Why is there always something. Why can’t all the change finally stick; why is she still glad to feel the pain so she can inflict it back?

The betrayal was the end and there’s years of coping methods that keep you from spilling your guts on a sword, but it feels like a very near thing to her. Professionally, she’s less kind, and your next set of wounds healed by the 4th get infected. Poor thing.

Sosuke Aizen:

As far as you know, he’s stricken with heartbreak and disappointment. His voice is a touch too loud when telling you off—others hear. And disapprove greatly. He asks any bystanders for their discretion towards his privacy, adding a tear or two for effect.

Your relationship being over matters little; dime a dozen are the people who’ll fall over themselves to be his. The audacity of treating him, your better, with such unfairness? Affects him like an itch under skin.

Of course, he forgives you. He makes a show of it and the number of people out for your unhappiness grows. How could you cheat on such a gracious, loving man? You are punished with little action from himself, the many shinigami who view him with starry-eyes doing their work without needing explicit instruction.

Byakuya Kuchiki:

There’s little to say or do outside of making it clear he wants you gone in a permanent way. Reaction is the thief of dignity, so he saves any emotion for when he’s alone.

Self flagellation is his favorite dessert and he is convinced the bitter taste reflects his character somehow. In a way, it speaks to his lack of care and dignity as a clan leader; what fully aware man could let this happen?

For you, there aren’t any chances let alone forgiveness. You’ve stung his pride in multiple ways and only social norms keep you from dying in a duel over it. But as a shinigami—as a captain—he has avenues to vent his vindication until he feels the crime has been payed for. Too bad for you that pride is worth it’s weight in gold for a Kuchiki.

Sajin Komamura:

He runs away from the situation as soon as possible. Of course you cheated on him; how foolish to think anyone would not. At least he knows now and can get back to his normal.

Being alone isn’t all bad. There’s more time for his pets, his company, and his training. Comforting, familiar, he can pretend this is how it always was. Just him, alone.

His lack of self-esteem outweighs his want for justice. It was unfair to subject anyone to…himself, anyway. He can’t blame you for wanting someone untouched by the curse of the beast.

Kaname Tosen:

There’s more anger than even you expect. Injustice in anything, especially something so personal, enrages him. But he has the self control and sense to only send you packing.

Still, it’s all he can think about. Better to be consumed by this than the glacial pace his better world is taking. You’re one of the people holding that goal back, he’s sure. He insists on a talk that’s really just a long, painful lecture.

People like you, who disregard what’s right, don’t deserve forgiveness and the upset within him darkens. Maybe there is a way you can make things right. They’re so close to perfecting the Arrancar and he’d like to see how you’ve contributed once his eyes open, finally able to see.

Toshiro Hitsugaya:

There aren’t any dramatics or punishments or even words to give you other than ‘goodbye’. He sees the break and he cuts it cleanly. There’s no need for anything else.

Largely he copes by doing what he always does—working, training, meditating. There are a few sips of alcohol and punches to his pillow, but you’re no longer someone he cares about. The ice has holed over the spot you took just fine.

You don’t exist to him anymore. If you try to apologize, his eyes will pass over you and he’ll remind you once before ignoring you again: He’s a captain and he’s closed the conversation and now he’s getting back to work. Goodbye.

Kenpachi Zaraki:

So you’re fucking somebody. Is that a big deal or something? Should he be hurt? Because all he can muster is annoyance.

And then he thinks about it. He lets it sink in that somebody was touching you while you’re his. Kenpachi understands the want to play, but isn’t love when someone is the best in your heart and only them? Like, strength but more fucking confusing.

He’s still undecided if there’s anything to forgive. He tells you to give it another go with him in the mix and likes the feeling better than walking in uninvited. So maybe it was just play…and maybe he’s more rough with you two than intended. But he leaves more content than he came, so he figures everything’s fine. He can always kill somebody later, once he’s figured it out for good.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi:

You’re knocked unconscious and so is the person you were in bed with. That’s the last you see of them or the world beyond one lab room.

Congratulations, you are now confined to a pill that is swallowed by gigai after gigai designed in your likeness. Isn’t he generous, letting you take part in his research still? Don’t you feel honored to still feel any part of his touch as he takes you apart somehow more painfully than the time before?

Because it is just research. He didn’t care about you enough to still feel enraged about it. This is purely out of principle, a logical response to your base actions. Don’t worry, it’s just forever.

Jushiro Ukitake:

The discovery is emotional and he struggles keep his dignity, especially when a coughing fit starts soon after. He can’t even tell you off without sickness leaking into the moment.

The spiral begins. You’re awful one moment and justified the next. He’s the victim, then the one who should’ve known. There was no good reason and then he coughs again and there’s one.

He could forgive you if you’re genuine and forthright with a reason that isn’t the weight which holds him under blankets or pushes blood past his lips. As long as the illness isn’t what poisoned the relationship, he could forgive you.

[kleineshexenkraut]

A theory about why Kaname Tōsen really thought Kenpachi was unforgivable. Besides the obvious reasons.

Spoilers for the whole series including Can't Fear Your Own World novels.

TW: character death, abuse, violence

Very long post again. Sorry not sorry.

Being part of Aizen's team and their subsequent betrayal makes it easy to dismiss everything Tōsen said before that as lies, but there are bits and pieces that remain true. Lets list his stated reasons for why Kenpachi should be taken down and then take a more in depth look at which ones were meant serious.

aiding the intruders

disrupting the peace of the Gotai 13

killing the former captain of the 11th Division

being a danger to Soul Society

acting out of pure blood-lust

The first two are pretty clearly bullshit. Ichigo and friends were a great distraction that helped their plan. Aiding the intruders was therefore helpful as well. The entire Seireitei and the Gotai 13 are the very thing Tosen want's destroyed. Disrupting the piece of the institution one hates can't be bad either. But what about the rest?

Kaname Tōsen contradicts his own morals on a regular basis. Or so it seems. He believes killing out of fun is wrong and evil. But to him, the murders his co-conspirators and he himself committed, and planned to commit, were a step towards their goal that he deemed just and therefore a necessity. By the time of their fight Tōsen also seemed to be very much in love with his own voice and so, instead of getting the info-dump about the rules on how to become captain in the form of a thought-bubble, we get him stating the obvious at length to someone who already knows. (And, yes, I'm aware I can't really throw stones here.) This establishes another trait of Tōsen's character, but the info itself is rather odd.

First we get to hear about the two peaceful options to attaining captaincy, which are of course preferable. Then comes the option that made Kenpachi eligible: killing the previous captain in a duel in front of at least 200 witnesses. Which immediately begs the question why this is an established method in the first place? (This is one of the many awful rules and behaviors that we get to sit on for a while until more explanation comes forth, and a lot of them don't make things look any better. Which in turn gives the villains a more understandable cause while remaining wrong in their methods.) Rightfully, this paints Kenpachi in a very bad light. Later we hear killing the previous captain is the only way to succeed them in the 11th. (Which isn't really true either, seeing how the first Kenpachi was Unohana and Azashiro was imprisoned.) But since this is given as established rule - what's the gripe about here exactly?

The little info we get on Kiganjo is that he didn't follow orders and had a strong sense of justice. These two are not necessarily mutually exclusive if you think about the Seireitei as a deeply unjust institution. With that he may well have been a candidate for joining the traitor team around Aizen. Although, even if that was a possibility, it's not what I think played a part here. More allies would've been nice, but would also mean more risk of exposure, depending on how strong their convictions were.

Kiganjo became captain the exact same way before, by killing his predecessor. Succeeding this man via the same method shouldn't cause the unease and dislike Tosen admits to having. A dislike for the 11th and their doctrine in general? Sure! But why this specific focus on comparing Zaraki to a demon or monster who thrives on violence and bloodshed? The answer to this and the remaining two points is, in my opinion, in the backstory of how Tōsen's friend died.

Her death made him join the Shinigami to bring them down and we finally got the full story in the Can't Fear Your Own World novel. It's a small part of the whole story, but every bit of backstory is appreciated. For everyone who didn't read this one - a quick summary:

Tōsen's friend, Kakyō, was married to a Shinigami from one of the four great noble houses, Tokinada Tsunayashiro. Tokinada married her with the express intent on making her as miserable as possible and was at some point confronted over this behavior by another friend of Kakyō. After Tokinada admitted to his reasons this person attacked the noble. Kakyō tried to intervene, but Tokinada first slaughtered the distracted friend, then Kakyō as well. He then claimed the two had an affair and he killed them in self-defense after finding them out. Kyōraku didn't buy into his explanation and exposed what actually happened, so there was a murder trial after all. Sadly we also learn that Soul Society is firmly in the grasp of the noble families and even more corrupt than ever shown previously. Tokinada's family succeeded in getting him an easy sentence, house arrest for a few decades.

When Tōsen was demanding an audience with Central 46 to have this injustice corrected Tokinada approached him pretending to be another friend of Kakyō and proceeded to trick Tōsen into agreeing that he won't avenge his late friend for she wouldn't want anyone to shed blood over her. After this he reveals the full truth to Tōsen, hurts and violently subdues him, then orders the guards to beat him up further and throw him out.

Aizen picked him up almost immediately after he's thrown out. With all of this it's easy to understand why Tōsen chose to do what he did.

But back to why he might have had this gripe against the guy he stood next to in captain's meetings for however many years it was.

A quick reminder, the Gotai 13 is woefully uncommunicative. We get fun snippets of interactions later and some more in the Illustrated Guide etc. after the episode's end-credits, but all of it is after Ichigo and his friends waltzed in and things got scrambled up. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the captains never spoke with each other for decades outside of a meeting. And the things discussed in meetings itself are hardly an insight into someone's inner motivations, especially before shit hit the fan. What did Tosen know about Kenpachi?

That the guy loves fighting and murdering people. That he has fun doing so and doesn't care about how much pain he causes.

And from what little there is up to this point it's understandable to get this impression.

This view doesn't even change all that much for maybe most people throughout the story. To Kenpachi a fight to the death means everyone goes all out, no holding back. Those are the most challenging, fun fights, the only truly worthwhile battles. The killing part is an unfortunate side-effect that all of them have to face eventually, himself included. No need to be hung up about it too much. However, if an opponent manages to survive, he's frequently letting them live. Tōsen himself is an example of this. He also complains whenever he has to deal with small fry that are easily killed off. Although it happens - killing is not the main goal. Nor is torturing people for fun, ever, especially not if they're just randos. But again, from his actions and the few interactions with other captains that's more than easy to misinterpret.

Tōsen says he shouldn't be allowed to dwell in their world too long and that he needs to die for their peaceful existence to be protected. That part of his motivation is true. From the Soul Society arc alone it would fit well to assume the 'we' and 'their' he spoke of is a stand-in for the traitor's and their plans.

But I suspect Tōsen thought Kenpachi was the same kind of unforgivable, sadistic asshole Tokinada is. And then these words extend much further, to the kind of world he wishes for. In which people of the same ilk as the murderer of his best friend shouldn't have any right to exist or run around unpunished.

It raises a different question. While Tōsen was rather partial to villain-speeches, that may not be the only reason for giving Kenpachi the weird, lengthy explanation about his abilities while he couldn't hear or see any of it. Was it a bit of gloating in front of someone who could be a stand-in for the person he hated even more? A trial run for the witty comeuppance towards said actual target? It's rather ironic given that it made him resemble Tokinada in that regard.

I fully believe Tōsen tried to kill Kenpachi by stabbing him in the back after his Bankai was shattered, but was too weakened to even cut him anymore. The conviction behind it wasn't faked, though.

He was ready to die trying in this moment, even if it meant jeopardizing the big plan. Maybe especially while he was in this pained state. With someone he perceived to have similar desires to Tokinada responsible for his near death. After getting repeatedly laughed at too. Must have felt awfully like back then...

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LUNATIC PARADE ;; Shin Route ー Chapter 4

ー The scene starts in the throne room in Bernstein Castle

Shin: ーー I repeat, how come he’s not here!?

Yui: ...

Monologue

Today once again, it was the sound of Shin-kun yelling,

which pulled me out of my slumber. 

When I saw him press the Butler for an answer,

I panicked and rushed to their side. 

Count Walter had most likely denied 

his request for an audience,

Or so I thought. 

However, instead the Butler informed us of the following...

ーー Count Walter has vashined. 

Both Shin-kun and I,

were left speechless by those words...

Butler: Once again, I do not know what happened earlier. 

It appears that he has not returned to the castle since yesterday evening...

Shin: Ah, god! Why!? I can’t believe he just had to disappear at this exact point in time!

Yui: ( No way...Why would he suddenly...? )

Um, do you have any clue where he might be? 

Butler: Let me think...My Master happens to be quite the elusive individual, you see...

However, I strongly believe that he is somewhere within this city!

Yui: ( Somewhere in this city... )

Shin: Haah...Which means we have no other choice but to go look for him? 

Yui: We might have to...

Shin: Che...I guess we’ll just have to do that if it’s our only option. 

Yui: Yeah, you’re right...! Anyway, let’s head into town...!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Glimmer Main Street

Yui: Wah...Just as we thought, it’s super busy...!

( It’s the final day, so that was to be expected, of course... )

...

...Actually...Can we really find someone we’ve only ever met once,

amidst this large of a crowd? 

Shin: The Count is famous, right? So I don’t think the other people would just walk past him without batting an eye?

Yui: Right...You do have a point.

Shall we try going somewhere with a lot of people then? 

ー The scene shifts to Diamante Fountain

Yui: ( For now, we’ve come to a place which is likely to attract a lot of people... )

( However, I don’t see anyone who could be the Count... )

Shin: What are we gonna do? Want to just start asking around? 

Yui: Y-Yeah...I guess we should give that a try. 

ー Yui walks up to someone

Yui: Um, excuse me!

Female Vampire A: Yes? 

Yui: Have you ever heard of Count Walter? 

Female Vampire A: Yes, I have...

Shin: Then have you seen him around somewhere perhaps? 

Female Vampire A: Well, I haven’t...

Yui: I see...Thank you very much. 

...

Shin: ...He did say that he doesn’t show himself in front of others very often. 

So perhaps we should go somewhere a little more deserted instead? 

Yui: Yeah...Let’s try that...

ー The scene shifts to Aizen Alley

Yui: ...

Shin: ...

Yui: ( N-Nobody’s around...I guess that’s to be expected when coming to an alleyway... )

Shin: What!? We’ve got it wrong again!? 

We’ll never get anywhere like this!

Yui: ( Yeah... )

( We couldn’t find it at a crowded place, but he’s not at a deserted spot either... )

( I wonder where he went then...? )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the lake

Yui: Haah...haah...

( In the end, we decided to come to the nearby lakeside... )

Shin: Haah...I’m beat...I should have transformed into a Wolf before running...

We’ve been running all over the place yet we still haven’t found him...Just where on earth is that guy hiding...? 

Yui: Guess we should take a small break for now...

*Thud* 

Yui: ...

I wonder if we’d have a better shot simply waiting for him at the castle instead of aimlessly running around...?

Shin: ...We don’t know if it’d increase our chances, do we? 

Yui: Eh? 

Shin: We don’t know how long the Kleinod inside of you will last after all...

I don’t think we have the time to just sit around and wait.

Well, if that were to happen, I’d naturally turn you into an immortal...

But you don’t like the sound of that, do you? 

Yui: Y-Yeah...

( I want to make that kind of decision by myself... )

( I would have liked to keep it as a last resort but... )

( I can’t deny that I’ve been causing Shin-kun a lot of trouble, huh? )

( I know it might be a strange thing to say when he’s stuck with me so far, but I can’t help but worry that he sees it as a burden... )

( Having to walk around in search of the Count when we don’t have a single clue where he might be. )

( I’m sure it must be weighing down on hiーー )

Shin: ...Yui. 

You aren’t putting stupid ideas in your head again, are you?

Yui: W-Well...

Selection

→ Be honest (☾)

Yui: ...

( However...I should probably just be honest with him instead of clumsily trying to dodge the question... )

Well...I don’t know if it’s ‘stupid’ but...There has been something on my mind...

→ Gloss over it

Yui: ...It’s nothing. 

Shin: ...It’s so very obvious whenever you’re lying.

Yui: ...Uu...

Shin: So you really were lying. 

Yui: Um...It might have crossed my mind...

Shin: Hmm...I knew it. Shall I try and guess what exactly you were thinking?

...’At this rate, I might end up causing trouble for Shin-kun’! ーー I bet it was something along those lines, no? 

Yui: ...Ugh...

Shin: ...Spot on, huh?

Haah...Good grief. You’re still such a fool. 

Sure, it’s super infuriating to have the Count push us around like this but...

For whose sake do you think I’m here regardless? 

Yui: Eh...?

Shin: ...For yours, right? 

Because it’s your heart, I want to get it back no matter what.

Besides, you’re the one who intially said you wanted to give it your all, right? 

So I won’t forgive you if you just give up so easily now? 

Yui: ...

( Shin-kun...I had no idea he thought of it like that... )

( Yet, I... )

I’m sorry, Shin-kun. For sounding like a quitter...

Even though I should be the one keeping it together the most since it concerns my heart.

...I’ll try my best...!

Shin: Heh. As long as you understand now.

I guess I have no other choice but to wait a little longer until I make you immortal.

Yui: ( I have Shin-kun by my side...Therefore, I’ll give it my best shot...! )

ー They hear commotion in the background

Yui: ( Hm...? There seems to be somewhat of a ruckus over there? What would be happening? )

Male Vampire A: It’s the Count! I saw the Count!

Yui: Eh...!? The Count!?

( Ah, could it be the guy wearing a cape over there...!? )

Shin-kun!

Shin: Yeah, I heard it! I’ll catch him...!

ーShin runs off

Yui: ( I better follow suit too...! )

*SCENE SHIFT*

Shin: Che...He’s one fast runner...!

Yui: ( Also...I can’t believe he managed to get that far with all these people around... )

( Seems like even more people are arriving after the crowd started freaking out about the Count showing up... )

( At this rate, we’ll lose sight of him...! )

Shin: ...Ugh...Fuck! These other people are in the way...I can’t move forward...!

Yui: Ah! He’s fleeing towards the forest!

Shin: That way, huh...!? 

Hah! What a fool! I’m pretty sure there’s a cliff up ahead. I can catch up to him!

Yui: A cliff...?

( I wonder what the Count has in mind...? )

Shin: Anyway, let’s go after him!

Yui: Yeah...!

ー They chase after the Count into the forest

Yui: ...Haah...haah...

Shin: That guy...Where did he go...!? 

Yui: Ah...!

( Towards the cliff...!? )

Shin: Che...Did he jump down from there...?

Yui: O-Oh no...At this rate, he’ll get away again...!

Shin: Calm down.

...Ugh!

*WOOSH*

Yui: Ah...!

Shin: We can go chase after him like this, no? 

Now hop on!

But hang on tight, okay? We’re gonna jump down after all.

Yui: O-Okay...!

*Thud*

Shin: Let’s go...!

ー Shin jumps off the cliff

Yui: ...Uu...

*WOOSH*

*THUD*

Shin: ...There! Fuck...He went that way next...!? 

ー Shin continues to chase after the Count

Yui: ( He’s going incredibly fast...! If I don’t keep a tight grip, I’d get thrown right off...! )

( However...After he got quite a lead, we’re steadily getting closer the Count...! )

Shin: I’ll try and get as close to him as I can, so you grab hold of his cape, okay!?

Yui: Yeah! I’ll try!

*Rustle*

Yui: ...!

( Almost...there...! )

Shin: ...Now’s your chance!

Yui: ...Ey!

*Rustle*

Yui: ( I did it! I got hold of his caーー!? )

*RIIIIIIP*

Yui: ...!  It tore off...!

*WOOSH*

*Flap flap flap*

Yui: Eh!?

( He turned into a bat...! )

Shin: Haah!? He can transform, seriously!? 

Yui: ( Just when we thought we had him... )

( He turned into a bat and flew away... )

( All that’s left is the piece of fabric which tore off his cape when I grabbed hold of it but...This doesn’t help us at all... )

*Thud*

Shin: ...Ugh.

*WOOSH*

Shin: Che...I can’t believe he’d slip away after we’ve come so far ...Fuck!

I could technically turn into a bat as well, but I’m not used to it.

Above all, if I were to do that, I’d have to leave you behind here...

Yui: ( I’m back to being a burden... )

( ...Even though he tried so hard for my sake... )

Shin: Haah...Let’s just take a break over there for now...I’m exhausted after running...

Yui: Yeah...Good idea...

*Rustle*

Shin: Haah...I’m seriously beat...

Yui: ...

Shin-kun, thank you...

Shin: ...!

*Rustle*

Shin: Heeh, it doesn’t happen often that you decide to hold my hand.

Yui: I was hoping it would help express my feelings of gratitude at least a little...

Shin: Gratitude, huh? So that’s how you look at it. 

Yui: Of course...You’re trying so hard to grant my wish after all...I’m happy.

Shin: Hehe...No need to worry. Once your heart has safely made its way back inside of you. 

I was going to have to show me plenty of that gratitude. 

I won’t you go so easily, so perhaps it’s time you start mentally preparing yourself? 

Yui: Geez...Shin-kun...

Shin: ...

...Therefore, I won’t give up until we’ve retrieved your heart.

Yui: Yeah...Me neither...

( Don’t worry. We’re almost there. )

( Shin-kun has my back... )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts back to Glimmer Main Street

Yui: Let’s take a deep breath and start back from square one. 

When it comes to the Count, aimlessly walking around in search of him doesn’t seem very likely to yield any results. 

So I believe we should start by asking someone who might be knowledgeable on him. 

Shin: You say that, but do you have someone in mind? 

Yui: Hmー... Actually...

( ...Ah. )

*Rustle*

Yui: Hey. How about the Manager of the hotel? 

Shin: Ehー...? We’re going to that guy again? 

Yui: I do feel bad since we’ve already relied on him so much but...

Still, he seems to know a lot about this city. Take the dress shop, for example. 

Above all, I got a feeling that he knows the Count as well...

Shin: ...Well, you do have a point. That Old Geezer might just...

Okay. Let’s go there straight away then. 

ー The scene shifts to the lobby of Mondstein Hotel

Manager: Oh my, you two. Seems like you’ve dropped by again.

Yui: I’m sorry for always bothering you...

Manager: Oh no, I do not mind at all. So, what is the issue this time? 

Shin: You know this city well, don’t you? Got any clue where we might be able to find Count Walter? 

Manager: Someplace the Count might go...? Let me think...

Yui: ( I hope we can gain some information... )

Female Vampire D:  ーー The tarts sold at that wagon are very delicious, you see. 

Female Vampire E: Oh dear, is that so~?

*Rustle*

Yui: ( Ah...She dropped her handkerchief... )

ー Yui picks it up

Yui: ( Hm...? The end of the Manager’s tailcoat seemed to be torn off...? )

( He always struck me as someone who greatly values his appearance. How unusual... )

Um, excuse me! You dropped your handkerchief!

Female Vampire D: Oh my! I did not notice at all. Thank you.

Yui: Oh no, you’re welcome. 

( I’m glad I was able to give it back. )

( Anyway...I can’t help but wonder about that tailcoat... )

...Now that I think about it...

( When I grabbed the edge of the Count’s cape earlier... )

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: ...

Shin: Hm? What’s wrong? Why are you clutching onto that torn off piece of cloth?

Yui: Hey, Shin-kun. Could it be... 

ー Yui walks up to the Manager

Yui: Um, could I ask something?

Manager: Oh, what is the matter?

Shin: Yui...? What has gotten into you all of a sudden...?

Yui: ...

( I don’t have any proof...but... )

*Rustle*

Yui: This is a piece of fabric which I tore off from Count Walter’s cape earlier. 

Manager: ...Yes? 

Yui: Also...When I went to pick up the lady’s handerchief, I saw that the edge of your tailcoat has been torn off. 

So could it be that...You are Count Walter...?

Shin: Haah!? What are you sayーー

Manager: ...

...Fufu, I suppose my cover has been blown. 

*WOOSH*

*Flap flap flap*

Yui: ( Ah! The Manager turned into a bat...!? )

???: I applaud you for seeing through me, Komori Yui...

Shin: What’s this!? A voice is echoing from somewhere...!? 

Yui: ...Are you Count Walter...?

Count Walter: The one and only. I took the appearance of the Manager of this hotel to keep a close eye on your actions.

First up, Tsukinami Shin...It appears that you have polished your manners quite a bit compared to the time you forced your way into my castle.

Shin: Hmph. ...Funny coming from the guy who made me do it...

Count Walter: However, I must say that I very much enjoyed seeing you act for the young lady’s sake.

Shin: ...

Count Walter: Next...Komori Yui.

Yui: Yes...

Count Walter: I have observed you for these past three days.

You patiently kept up with him, and eventually made it to me. 

I must praise you for your courage and resolution. 

Yui: Then...

Count Walter: Who you are as an individual, as well as how he is as an individual...

I would say that both of you are definitely qualified to hold onto this unique treasure. 

Therefore, I shall return this heart to where it belongsーー

*Ba-dump*

Yui: ...!?

( Huh...My body...all of a sudden... )

ー Everything goes white before her eyes as she collapses

*Thud*

Shin: Oi, Yui...!

*Rustle*

Yui: Ah...I’m sorry, Shin-kun...

Shin: Nevermind that. More importantly, are you alright!?

Yui: Y-Yeah...More or less...

Shin: Don’t tell me...Is your heart back? 

Yui: ( My heart... )

*Ba-dump・ba-dump*

Yui: ( I can definitely hear my heartbeat... )

...Seems like it...!

Count Walter: Please continue to spend your life while keeping those manners in mind. 

Fufufu...Hahaha...!

*Flap flap flap*

Shin: ...

Yui: ...

( He flew away... )

Shin: Haah...

I’m not sure but...Does this count as case closed? 

Yui: Yeah...I think so...

Shin: Hmph, what? That sure was anticlimactic. 

Honestly, I had already decided for myself that I’d punch him at least once when we met.

But now that you’ve safely managed to get your heart back, I suddenly could care less about any of that.

Yui: Fufu...

( I truly am glad... )

( However, it’s all thanks to Shin-kun that we’re able to laugh it together now. )

( I was able to get my heart back, because he worked so hard... )

( I feel as if we’ve grown somewhat closer to each other as well... )

( Shin-kun, thank you so much... )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

← RETURN TO CHAPTER 3

→ PROCEED TO NORMAL ENDING

→ PROCEED TO FINALE ENDING

[aurora-313]

They were game characters. Part of the Dark Knights series. To me, Kyle Katarn serves as a better candidate to being balance to the force than Luke. He’s walked both sides and came back as a true Gray Jedi. Anyways ---

Rukia’s attraction was very clearly envy and loneliness. I fully believe had Kaien lived, she would’ve gotten over that crush in time, developing a close companionship with Kaien. Sadly, because of known circumstances, she was never granted that opportunity. I think it boils down to, she wanted someone like Kaien to look at her the same way he gazed at his wife, total love and unadulterated happiness. A feeling I totally empathize with in my own life, by the way.

Not better, but a different more concise narrative. Its a wall of text so I’ve got it under the cut. 

But to sum it up: I would’ve made Masaki a Fullbringer and part of the original Xcution.

This membership being the reason she’d met Isshin in the first place. I’d also change Xcution’s purpose to become an underground movement founded by Urahara to hide specially powered individuals away from those who’d do them harm, be it Aizen or the Shinigami Nobles who’d want to harvest their SK fragments (with the side benefit of surreptitiously studying them for himself).

Additionally, Isshin would be the Shinigami who originally gave Ginjo his powers. A desperate deal to save their lives from a threat even a Captain couldn’t defeat on his own, paralleling Ichigo and Rukia’s situation to a degree. With a side benefit of further emphasizing the ‘inherited destiny’ theme. 

Aizen is involved because Isshin discovered something and Aizen couldn’t allow him to live (Optional point: perhaps that discovery was somehow linked to his beloved nephew’s death and implicated Aizen in the high disgrace of the Shiba).

Knowing he’s well and truly screwed either way, either by Aizen’s machinations or the sheer illegality of his actions, Isshin hides in the real world with the help of fellow exile Kisuke Urahara. Kisuke and Ginjo offers Isshin sanctuary with them, which he accepts. In his power concealing Gigai and trapped in the human world, Isshin starts a new life, reading ‘How to Human for idiots’. Over the course of time, he steadily falls in love with (or love at first sight’s with) Masaki. A woman he met as a young 20 something colleague student. 

While in hiding, they get married, have children and its all well and good.

Until Grand Fisher arrives. 

A rule I’ll establish here: when a FBer loses their SK fragment, their power source, it is the equivalent of having a vital organ torn out. Obviously one can’t live very long without their heart or their lungs. Unless there’s a massive wellspring of spiritual energy nearby they can use to compensate for the lack of power (hence why Matsumoto could survive having hers torn out, everything she eats/drinks/wears is comprised of spirit energy). 

While Grand Fisher is attacking, sent by a certain glasses wearing psychopath, Masaki manages to fend him off, but having been so long since she’s actively used her powers, she exhausts herself in the process. Unfortunately, this leaves her vulnerable to Aizen, who ambushes the two and uses his Hokyoku to devour Masaki AND Ichigo’s SK fragments. 

Grand Fisher might’ve been forced into retreat by the time this occurred, but by then the damage was one. Aizen leaves, "knowing” they’re both die in a few minutes and have outlived their usefulness, and hunts down the other members of Xcution sans Ginjo with some McGuffin device that tracks FBer’s unique reiatsu or some such nonsense. He succeeds in devouring their SK fragments for his Hyogoku, leaving them all to waste away and die (which helpfully establishes an exploitable flaw in Aizen’s character; Once he believes someone’s death is certain, he writes them off completely).

Ichigo is dying, if not already dead. Masaki is dying. In that moment, Masaki gives the last dregs of her life and soul to replace Ichigo’s missing spiritual power source, ensuring his survival at the cost of her own.

Which also makes the beef with Aizen very personal to Ichigo. Not only did he spiritually maim Ichigo, he brutally murdered Ichigo’s own mother in his mad quest for godhood. 

The story then progresses, Rukia arrives, Kisuke tries to hide his Hyogoku in her, yadda yadda yadda. The one thing that stumps Aizen about this whole perfectly plotted scenario to capture the Hyogoku is... ‘How is Ichigo even alive?’

Which has the knock on effect of Ichigo being a completely unexpected chaotic element that Aizen can’t fully account for, especially with Kisuke and Yoruichi behind the reigns.

It also sets up Ginjo as an extremely personal antagonist. As the first Shinigami substitute, the one made by Isshin, he can trace the personal tragedies in his life, including the deaths of his friends and family, to his encounter with Isshin. To Isshin especially because Ginjo is influencing his own son to distrust him. Which makes the FB arc a very personal arc for Ichigo’s family where a lot of dirty laundry is aired. Especially if any of Masaki’s siblings or cousins are alive too and are against Isshin, and would emotionally tear Ichigo apart.

And... uh, yeah. That’s how I’d do it. No need for pointless Quincies. And for the SK fragments are, that can be left to fandom interpretation. 

In verse theories could be the King himself blessing certain individuals, a hereditary trait passed down certain bloodlines or - to coin a Warhammer term - spontaneously produced pariah gene that emerges then disappears every couple generations.

Sometimes characters with just one scene become extremely popular. Why do you think that Masaki took off and has a huge fanbase, while our dear boy Kaien has like 3 fans total? Why isn't he insanely popular?

I admit that personally I have strange tastes, not to be a hipster, for example I liked the chemistry between Fin and Rey and so no romance between Kylo and Rey, and to the internet I'm of apparently disgustingly wrong opinion.

I can't say I have the definitive answer but I can give my two cents:

Masaki has the advantage of being Ichigo's mother and the circumstances surrounding her death are somewhat mysterious.

Ichigo is the main character and she functionally serves as a major source of his angst for... extremely questionable, vague plot and character reasons. (mostly because the plot can't function if anyone bothered to tell Ichigo literally everything he has every fucking right to know, but hey... -.- )

But if I may tangent for a moment: Masaki being a Quincy is something that still has me seeing red. There's a whole other plot progression that could've made more sense and been far more concise without unnecessarily dragging a boring Quincy cast and an Aizen knock-off with a bad mustache out of the dumpster. Which would've also tied everything up in a bow with Aizen's defeat without destroying every modicum of Ichigo's agency... but that's another post for another time.

Circling back to your question: I think if the anime adapted the scenes more faithfully, especially in Soul Society, we'd have seen a larger fanbase for Kaien. A lot of Kaien's references were simply omitted. EG; Ukitake wondering what Kaien would do in the whole scenario (up to and including likely literally kicking Byakuya's ass), Rukia asks his memory why would people come for her, Byakuya flashing back with disgust and a modicum of respect when he compares Ichigo's ferocious will with Kaien's and the abandoned implied reincarnation storyline Kubo set up then abandoned during the Aizen confrontation then we'd have a lot more fans of him.

A majority of fans got into Bleach through the anime, and the anime omitted massive parts of the story that removed meaning from Kaien's character. Worst still, the last thing we see of him is an Arrancar puppeting his corpse. Which means a lot of his 'personality' is relegated to some doppelganger twisting him into monstrous parody. What a note to end on, right?

At the same time, I can see why his presence was so diminished across the manga. He entered the narrative as Rukia's source of guilt, as Ukitake's source of inspiration, as Ichigo's spiritual predecessor, as the one who introduced the concept of heart to Rukia and then gracefully bow out when Rukia allowed herself to take his final lessons to heart (pun intended) and absolve herself of guilt, symbolized in her third Zanpakutou power. (I am shocked however that given Rukia's fight with As Nodt, that we didn't get a cameo in that fear cage, especially considering given, canonically, her most horrific memory was of Metastacia!Kaien... but hey.)

But given how Kubo forgot the Visoreds were the ideal counter to the Quincy and forgot they had their masks, reducing them to chumps, how could I expect him to remember someone like Kaien...?

...

Wow. You admit to liking those characters? I'd delete them all in a heartbeat if I got Kyle Katarn, Jan Ors and Mara Jade instead... but I wouldn't trust Lucas Fims to write their way out of a paper bag if their life depended on it right now.

[bleachbleachbleach]

Anniversary question!: how do you think soul society deals with disabilities (ie Tousen being blind or Kukaku missing an arm)? Is there a soul society ADA? What does it even mean for a soul to be disabled, and does it remain when they reincarnate?

I’m going to go ahead and broaden this from the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) to talk about whether or not Soul Society is likely to think equitably/accessibly about disability. 

Short answer: There can be no true disability justice when a society is structurally indebted to rule by war, genocide, and the uneven distribution of power.

But when has B3 ever left anything short? These are pretty unformed thoughts with lots of room for further consideration/greater nuance, but I’ve taken this ask as an invitation to do at least that first step.

13 Thoughts On Disability and the Gotei 13

(8 things that are garbage, and 5 with potential)

8 Things That are Garbage:

Authoritarian power structure

Narrow definitions of "valuable" expertise and experience

Disempowerment of minoritized communities

Pervasive culture of silence

Unsustainable work hours

Shitty meeting formats

Unimodal presentation style

Refusal to anticipate needs

5 Things with Potential:

Big doors

(Relative) openness to different ways of being

Plurality of care options (sort of)

Well-adjusted sense of liminality

Communities of care

8 Things That are Garbage

1. Authoritarian power structure: The nobility, the Gotei 13, and the Central 46 all exercise power in Soul Society, but for the average Joe Soul, rule by any of these entities is probably about the same—at the end of the day, it’s rule by the powerful. Authoritarian power tends to stigmatize difference, casting it as deviation, infidelity, and possibly ineptitude. The societies that authoritarian power produces then systematically benefit those in positions of power and their ability to stay in power (which tends to be at odds with sharing power, resources, expertise, time, etc. with those deemed different that therefore "marginal"). Examples: Execution being the penalty for Hollowfication/infection they didn’t even want. Execution also being the penalty for losing/lending one’s shinigami powers. The Den of Maggots existing. 

2. Narrow definitions of "valuable" expertise and experience: There are a few ways to become a captain, and each captain does tend to have their own special expertises, but the roster is not deep, and there are not many other ways to be upwardly mobile in Soul Society. Kaidou and kidou are *barely* honored as valuable skillsets, and that’s still just "shinigami stuff." This definition of what is/isn’t valuable lends itself to uphold the aforementioned authoritarian power structure, rather than actively seeking out different skills—of even non-skill-based ways of being—that might be valued.

3. Disempowerment of minoritized communities: I think the disabled population in even just the Gotei is minoritized, but I seriously doubt they are mathematically a minority. Untreated PTSD, anxiety, and depression are probably rampant (without the possibility of being diagnosed, since they lack that expertise), and the people who die of illness just die "of illness." Who knows what that is, or in what ways they may have been able to live longer or better. Shinigami probably have all kinds of weird things going on that they don’t take to the 4th, or that the 4th doesn’t have the capacity (either labor or knowledge) to handle effectively.

4. Pervasive culture of silence: If you don’t talk about it disability, then it doesn’t exist! Physical and mental illness, injury, body difference, neurodivergence, trauma… Heck, Aizen nearly destroyed them all and all the SC said was that the Aizen photobook would be out of print and several captains’ columns would be... "on hiatus." 

5. Unsustainable work hours: Shinigami are literally defined by the work they do. Reaping is their *purpose.* Forget a 4-day work week and <8-hour days. There’s probably not even a Shinigami Golden Week. And are captains ever not on duty, or at the very least, on call? Why is there no way to retire from the Gotei outside of death, banishment, imprisonment, being Kuchiki Ginrei, or whipping up a baller business proposal for a glasses shop? How does this culture (de-)value shinigami whose bodies cannot do this, or no longer desire to ask this of their bodies? What services to they offer to shinigami who (by their estimate) can no longer sustain an unsustainable practice (but can according to the needs of the Gotei)? THE DEN OF MAGGOTS?

6. Shitty meeting formats: To get less philosophical, you literally have to stand in two straight rows for sustained periods of time during a captain’s meeting. There’s no sitting, no vocalizing out of turn. You need to stim? That’d be a hard no. No backthroom breaks, either. When Ukitake is too ill, he doesn’t go and isn’t technically penalized, but he also doesn’t get a not-seat at the not-table. He doesn’t get the info, and doesn’t get a vote. (Or a chance to advocate his positions. Maybe no one gets a "vote," lol.)

[Chapter 081]

What might an accessible Captain’s Meeting look like instead? 

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

Imagine:

Yamamoto opens with a quick check-in. This acknowledges the personhood of everyone in the room, even if the goal of the meeting is to assign labor. It also opens the flood to all voices, setting the tone for a meeting that is intended to be dialogic rather than unidirectional/top-down. 

He reminds everyone of their Community Agreements, which might include asking questions before acting on assumptions, naming perceived tensions in themselves or between others, or remembering to consider the positionalities from which everyone might be speaking. Yamamoto also invites people to move and use the room as needed to make themselves comfortable in the space.

Yamamoto’s role may be one of facilitator rather than sole speaker; the agenda has likely been set via group inputs, and different captains will have taken responsibility for different elements of the meeting to share these responsibilities/powers. He may see his role as Captain Commander as supporter rather than governor. What can he do to support the other Captains, identify potential collaborations, or share resources? How can captains correspondingly act in the same way for their devisions?

Not only are the captains in attendance, but there are probably representatives from other walks of Soul Society there as well, with either deliberative or voting power. Rukongai district reps, unseated officer reps, Seireitei civilian rep, Academy instructor rep… There may be issues-based reps for a given cycle, like from the SWA or the Shinigami Healing Circles committee.

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

7. Unimodal presentation style: Yamamoto certainly isn’t breaking out the PowerPoint or using voice magnification to accommodate anyone with an auditory processing disorder. And if he did, he wouldn’t incorporate visual descriptions into his talk for the visually impaired. (And Hitsugaya probably can’t see shit from where he’s standing, sighted or not!)

If Yamamoto woke up one day and decided to run a Captain’s Meeting like this, it would not go well. They would all hate it, and nothing would get done. There might be a body count. But I think that what that speaks to, really, is the fact that they’ve been living within structures that have refused these possibilities entirely, and that they would have to do real, hard work to unlearn that.

These may also seem like very broad practices. What does this have to do with disability? There are two primary models of disability: medical and social. In the medical model, disability is to be cured or managed. In the social model, "problem" of disability exists in a society’s failure to serve someone’s needs. Which leads us to—

8. Refusal to Anticipate Needs: Any time a Captain’s Meeting gets called, it’s in reaction to something potentially deleterious to Soul Society as we know it. This is probably true all the way down, in the sense that the Gotei 13 tends not to anticipate needs. A village has to disappear, or someone has to die first. (Possibly a cultural effect of focusing on afterlives/afterwards.) But if you’re waiting for someone to tell you what is needed, then you’re reacting to a lack of something rather than try to build a reality that has accounted for that issue in the first place. 

5 Things with Potential

1. The doors to the Captain’s Meeting Room are very ADA-complaint.

[Chapter -108]

They are very wide, to accommodate for wheelchair users, and also open automatically, without the need for people to physically push them. (Except there aren’t wheelchairs, because THERE AREN’T WHEELS.) If you trust B3 enough to read this long textpost, then it probably does not surprise you that I have a folder filled with nothing but pictures of Soul Society’s doors, and I honestly think the 4th might be larger than other divisions’ doors. Maybe to accommodate for their diversity of guests?

2. The Gotei 13 seems reasonably open to different ways of being in the world, whether you are blind, deaf, chronically/terminally ill, or are a wolf. No one actually cared that Komamura was a wolf under that helmet, but he seemed concerned that they might, and I doubt he’d be concerned without justification. Ukitake also continues to be well-respected and isn’t asked to not be a Captain because he’s sick (even though it does actually change the ways he is able to do his job, and sometimes is acutely detrimental to being able to do that job well). No one ever seems to think Tousen or Atau wouldn’t be able to do their jobs because of their disabilities, but 1) that sentence again suggests that their ability to work is the most important thing here, 2) there are probably entire communities of deaf and blind people in Soul Society who aren’t "thriving" in Soul Society, either by labor-based or more personal measures, and 3) I don’t know that Tousen actually received accommodations for being blind, or that any of his colleagues actively thought about what practices might not serve him. The city is already unnavigable, and so much about people’s ranks/identities are tendered visually.

3. The fact that both the 4th and 12th both exist. What would the 12th possibly add to this? you might ask. They are creepy and weird. They ARE creepy and weird, but shinigami other than Mayuri do work there, and tbh despite the fact that Mayuri is objectively terrible, he probably also has relatively more progressive views on disability and body politics than many of his colleagues. But what I really mean goes back to the medical and social models of disability. For the most part, the 4th cures stuff. It tries to put you back the way you were. The 12th does, too, if you need some limbs back. But it’s more complex than that in both these places, probably, and I think the fact that neither have a pure monopoly on what medical care "should" look like, or what its goals should be, is ultimately good for the quality of medical care overall. (And probably pushes the 4th to continually improve the quality of its care and the ways care/health/illness might be conceived, either by acknowledging a valid perspective from the 12th or descrying something from the 12th as utter horseshit and vowing to be better.) It requires the 4th to have a care philosophy, and actively think about what they want that to be.

4. Given their line of work, both in terms of its focus on death and its hazardousness, I think shinigami probably have a better relationship to liminal states of being than most humans do. By that I mean they’re probably more on board with the idea that their bodies, in the state that they presently exist, are temporary. These bodies will change; their functions and abilities will change. 

Even though their lifespans may be way longer and the aging process less acute, and their whole real really being about stasis, I think this is one thing they do understand and accept: If you are not sick yet, you will be. If you are not hurt yet, you will be. There’s a dark edge to that, sure—in the sense that the Gotei really does not care if you live or die, or what your quality of life is. But it doesn’t have to be entirely fire and brimstone. A lot of that fire and brimstone feeling probably comes from systematic ableism in the first place. You can live the best and happiest most cared-for life and it will still be true that your body and mind (or bodymind) will change in ways that are difficult, painful, or make certain things no longer possible.

5. There are a lot of shinigami in Soul Society who will go to absolute town for each other. In spite of all the things working against this possibility, communities of care persist. This can be a problem sometimes when it comes to exercising boundaries and practicing self-care (you can’t help someone else if you’re killing yourself in the process), but ultimately, you have to care. You have to be able to assume that you care and the people around you care. 

And if there is one thing that the Gotei 13  has going for it, it’s that a lot of them really, really care.

[kairunatic]

Summoner!MC1 Headcanons:

Despite being the smallest, he's actually the oldest, and hates having to remind others that MC3 is the middle child.

He's dating Shino, he has to keep it a secret so the World Reps don't put a target on his back.

He treats Agyou,Kijimuna and R-19 has little brothers.

Despite being flirty and rowdy, he's smart enough not to immediately jump into dangerous situations.

He enjoys spending time with Agyou at the Shrine. Assisting him with cleaning

He gets a bit jealous when Ryota let's his MC5 gets to rub his belly and rarely him.

Mononobe is his dad btw.

Andvari keeps trying to break into his safe house to steal his 5 Lucky Cats.

He convinced Kengo to study with him and Shiro so they can graduate together. He knows Kengo has a soft spot for Shiro.

He's extremely distrustful towards World Reps and most of the Entertainers. Goemon is the exception.

He and Ellie get along with each other pretty and bond over the Hakkenshi.

He and MC5 tend to swear a lot much to Shiro,Toji,Gyobu and Tsukuyomi's charging.

Outside of his Guild he hangs around the Crafters the most.

He's jealous Hanuman doesn't invite him to Tsathoggua and MC4's game nights. He still finds him enjoyable though.

Shennong says he's annoying but clearly cares about him. He's his favorite adult that isn't Mononobe.

His best friends outside of his Guild are Kurogane,Garmr,Tetsuox,Cu Sith and Oniwaka.

Temujin and Teda grosses him out big time. He says Gullinbursti is a better/best option of the three.

It took him two weeks for him to convince Gullinbursti to got to Agyo's School.

MC4 and MC2 had to stop him from pummeling Aizen for upsetting Tadatomo during the Valentine's Jail Event.

He uses SummonSnap to make memes of his friends, and they all think it's funny.

He had to stop Shino and Garmr from trying to maul Kuniyoshi to death on two separate occasions.

He trains with Moritaka and Tadatomo a lot.

He think the way Duo ditches his brother to hang out with him is sad but reasonable.

He's a talented mechanic.

He's scared of giving Canine Transients chocolate for Valentine's Day.

MC1 now is the standard anime shonen protagonist

[recurring-polynya]

Although I don't write fanfics now, I have had this entire Hisana lives! verse in my head. I hope you don't mind me sharing this here with you!

So in this verse, Hisana is not only alive but actually has spiritual energy and never abandons Rukia. And for herself and her sister's sake, she decides to become a soul reaper and meets Renji and his little band of hooligans on her way. Gets momentarily distracted by taking care of them and they all die till only her, Rukia and Renji are left. She somehow graduates academy and is quite good in Kido arts, gets scouted and joins fifth squad or something.

Then comes a young Byakuya who did notice Hisana cause of her Kido skills but did not care much about it back then. One day he ends up to see some members of sixth harassing her and reprimands them. It's late at night so he asks where she's going (away from dorms) and she informs him that she leaves for Rukongai everyday because her little siblings stay outside the borders. He accompanies her to their rented home because that is what he should do as a young chivalrous nobleman and that's how he meets the two little germlins called Rukia and Renji. Who notice his high noble status and decide he might be one of Hisana's new harassers and launch a war against him.

Now can you imagine a feral chaotic duo of tiny Rukia and Renji vs a young hot tempered Byakuya with only Hisana as the sensible peacemaker between them?

🤣🤣🤣

Yyyyyyeeeeah this is actually one of the major categories of Hisana fanfiction, they’re pretty common if you dig around in the depths of ff.net

Hisana never abandoned Rukia

Hisana is reincarnated

Hisana comes back to life somehow/never actually died (but we thought she did)

Based-on-Canon-but-Hisana-Lives!AU

ByaHisa origin story

Non-canon AUs (coffee shops and such)

I gotta admit, I am not a huge fan of 1-3, and even 4 is kinda iffy.

There is a certain genre of fanfiction that basically posits: What if major plot point from canon, usually a character doing a bad thing or making a bad decision, didn't happen? It's usually a case where the author likes a certain character(s) and wants a bad thing to not happen to them, except that the result of removing the action is to strip all the narrative juiciness out of the story.

I feel almost exactly the way about Hisana-never-left-Rukia fic as I do about most GinRan fic. I don't talk much about GinRan because my opinions are very specific on it: It was bad. Gin is a bad person who treated Rangiku in such a way that it's pretty clear she cut him out of her life before the main action of the story. Rangiku is better for him having died, but it's also completely appropriate for her to be devastated by it. The fact that he was secretly trying to get revenge on Aizen redeems nothing about him, because he did it in a selfish way, for a selfish love. Rangiku is a strong person, fierce and protective of her friends because of this, but she also carries a deep trauma that she’s not willing to face or alllow to heal. This is fucked up and it slaps. I do not want to read a fic where Gin is less selfish, or where he lives, although this one of the most popular form of GinRan fic. That is less good to me. I don’t even really like seeing them in a happy relationship in non-canon AUs. That being said, a great author can make this great. There's always the option in a fixit-AU to change the one thing that seems like it ruined everything, and then make everything worse instead, and I am a great fan of making things worse.

It is also the case that fanfiction, as a genre, is not the same as other literature. You do not need to write things because they are interesting or exciting. Fanfiction is for the author as much as the reader (perhaps even more) and this sort of story always strikes me as one that is more fun to write (or just to think about) than it is to read, and I am very supportive of that! I am sure that there are also people who enjoy reading nice stories where nothing bad happens. I feel like this correlates strongly with how much brain rot you have for the character/ship. I do mean this in the most affectionate way possible-- my tolerance for drippy Renruki fanfic is honestly pretty embarrassing.

The thing that I, in particular, do not really care for about Hisana-never-abandoned-Rukia fic is that it undoes every single interesting development in the Renruki romance. Rukia and Renji's core personalities and psychological hang-ups come out of the fact that they had to take care of themselves and did not have the love of an adult caregiver. Rukia being taken away by a man of immense wealth and status was such a tremendous blow to Renji's psyche, and the fact that he trained himself into the ground for the next 40 years has basically shaped his entire personality. Byakuya's separate relationships with Rukia and Renji are so interesting and so rich and so painstakingly constructed. Having Hisana in there as an intermediary just bypasses all that. I realize that most people who write ByaHisa fanfic are not writing it for Renruki purposes, but you have to understand, that is 98% of why I am reading it.

I will admit, I do not like kidfic generally because children are people and have rich inner lives and parenting is difficult and exhausting, yet this almost always gets reduced to "lol kids are funny and annoying" / "a grown person did one nice thing for a child, look at what a good parent they are!" I am sorry, I am extremely humorless about this. I am probably the only person the Bleach fandom who finds the Byakuya-Yachiru gag to be extremely tedious. (Like, I will do a light chuckle at the relevant Shinigami’s Cups, but I despise when people try to make it A Thing in fanfic) Literally, the last thing I want to see is my favorite characters reduced to the obnoxious children acting as foils for someone else’ meet-cute. I am sure many people would like this, I am just not one of them.

I’m even less of a fan of Hisana-comes-back fanfic, because I’m far more interested in Byakuya working through and learning to live with his grief, and it feels so cheap to me to just... have her come back. I would actually like to see the messy ramifications of this tackled in depth--but I have never once seen one of these that really deal with Byakuya having changed as a person. In fact, they rarely even have Rukia in them, which is the main thing I want to see-- she’s never even met her Hisana! How would they deal with this? It would be so, so awkward, which I guess is why people avoid writing it.

I think the actual problem is that most people write ByaHisa fanfic as a vehicle for Byakuya and Hisana kissing, a goal I respect but have very little desire for, personally. I like* Byakuya as a character because I identify with him**, not because I find him good romancing material. I mean, I get what people see in him, but he is absolutely Not For Me. Y’all can have him.

*”Like” is not the correct word for how I feel about Byakuya. The English language lacks an appropriate term for how I feel about Byakuya.

**When I say that I identify with him, it’s in the sense that I struggle with cognitive rigidity and connecting to others, and having unrealistic standards for myself. I am not in the 0.001%, nor have I ever attempted to have a relative executed.

Anyway, I say all this, and it’s not like it’s ever *stopped* me from reading a ByaHisa fanfic. I have a lot of opinions on fanfic plots, but the thing that is really interesting to me about fanfic is what people do with it. If a person has a delightful writing style and snappy dialogue, it really doesn’t matter if they have the most uninspired plot in the world. I have read many long and tedious fanfics that had one or two really really interesting insights or world-building ideas that I think about years later. One of my very favorite ByaHisa stories, A Thin Red Line, has many of the things I said I didn’t like, but it’s also exquisitely crafted and insightful, and willing to poke into the some of these corners, like, how does it change Rukia and Renji’s relationship if they were never forced apart? (and the answer is: it certainly doesn’t fix everything) I say I hate obnoxious kid stories, but one of my favorite movies is the original “Overboard”, in which the incomparable Goldie Hawn is menaced by a child doing a Peewee Herman impression. (My actual dream Byahisa fanfic is one in which Byakuya hits his head while on a Rukongai mission and Hisana convinces him that he is her husband and makes him do her housework and I *would* accept gremlin Renruki in this scenario)

Anyway, I support all fanfiction, whether it appeals to me or not, and if you ever do feel the urge to write it up, I can practically promise you I would read it.

[bohba13-writing-den]

You want me to keep talking?

FINE!

After Soul Society, we have a month time skip to the arrancar arc.

Not only did Rukia, an unseated officer fresh off of recovering from almost being executed, having her soul vivisected, and having her powers sapped or suppressed for the better part of three months, and is sure to be outmatched by whatever the fuck Aizen sends, VOLUNTEERED to be a part of Hitsugaya's taskforce.

She volunteered to be a part of something that should be entirely out of her depth, and why?

Because Ichigo was going to be involved.

She dragged him into this mess she sure as hell isn't going to let him go through it alone. But that isn't the only thing. When looking for a place to stay, she only had one place in mind.

The Kurosaki's.

This homely little mad house in the middle of Tokyo that she spent probably the most impactful three months of her life in.

Not only that, but when given the option to stay in Karin and Yuzu's room, while accepting at first, quickly returned to staying in Ichigo's closet.

That time was almost like a return to form for them. Sure the stakes were higher, Rukia had her powers back, all of that, but it felt like that first arc again, and i'm sure it felt the same for them too.

Until Grimmjow that is.

This was when Ichigo (and we) got to see Rukia's shikai for the first time, and it lives up to the hype it is given. It is gorgeous, and it absolutely bodies D-Roy.

Then Grimmjow happens, but that's for a different time.

While this happens twice over most of the arc is still quite normal... Well until 'Hime is returning from Soul Society because Urahara refused to train her and is kidnapped.

We all know this song and dance because we've all seen this song and dance. Friend gets taken by enemy, Ichigo says fuck the rules and fucking sends it to go save them.

This time however, he gets some help. Rukia and Renji, with some help from Byakuya, go behind Soul Society's on an unsanctioned sortee into the heart of the world of hollows to help him.

Renji for the most part is capable here, but Rukia? is she was out of her depth in the arrancar arc this is her taking a full on swan-dive into the deep blue!

Why?

Because like hell she's letting Ichigo do this alone!

I don't think this is conveyed better than in her fight with Aaroniero. (oh no, here I go talking about one of my favorite fights again!)

She outright says that he can kill her, but only after she has finished helping Ichigo.

When faced with what she sees as her greatest sin, she tell it to wait for its damned turn!

(The resulting battle is amazing for Rukia as a character and is her finally overcoming her guilt for Kaien's death but that's besides the point.)

The next time we see her conscious Ichigo has started his fight with Ulquiorra, and the moment I want to draw attention to is when Ichigo goes fucking feral.

Everybody who senses the reiatsu of Ichigo's Vasto Lorde form is like 'wtf is this' but Rukia immediately recognizes him through the rage and altered nature. Even in his darkest state, she knows it's him.

After that?

We get probably the most heartbreaking scene in the series. Their goodbye. This scene has been analyzed to death and I don't think I need to say much more about it, but it was beautiful. everything that went unsaid, Ichigo's confidence that they'd meet again, all of it.

And then follows the most miserable year of Ichigo's life.

He had lost everything he had gained in the name of defeating Aizen. His powers, his ability to see ghosts, but I think what hurt most was his ability to see Rukia.

Keigo outright says that and asks if he misses her. Ichigo being Ichigo denies it but we know he lied, because when he is at his darkest moment, when he had lost everything he had tried to gain to see her again, guess who was right there to pick him back up again.

In a beautiful echo of the day they first met, here she is to give him back everything he had lost.

This moment made me lose it when I first read it. It was amazing, hype af, and most importantly, it was the end of Ichigo's downward emotional spiral that this arc caused. (anyone who thinks this arc was trash can fight me)

These two characters revolve around each other and have changed each other's lives in ways nobody else they had ever met has. It is a beautiful and gorgeous thing.

One of the reasons why I have always loved Ichigo and Rukia — and ichiruki, of course — is how life-changing their meeting is, for both of them. Ichigo, that 15yo boy who saw ghosts/spirit and has a strong desire to protect his family and his friends, gains his shinigami powers through through Rukia and her sword. There are consequences, though. Everything becomes more risky for him, his family and his friends. Rukia also faces the consequences of this encounter. She's almost executed for giving her powers to Ichigo. However, at that moment, she wanted to protect Ichigo and his family, even though she barely met them. Just as Ichigo, she's a fierce protector. Ichigo trusted her, and she trusted Ichigo from the firts moment — otherwise, Rukia wouldn't have given her powers to him, nor would Ichigo have accepted it, risky as it was (evsn Rukia remarks there was a chance it wouldn't be successful, but at the end they both were willing to take the risk).

So, after their meeting, everything changes for both of them. However, they would not have ir any other way.

[pinkbelugacollective]

imma say it again, i truly do believe kubo made rangiku’s assault similar to sexual assault in order to highlight how toxic male pride can overshadow a woman’s pain. throughout gin’s entire crusade, never once did he think to take into consideration rangiku’s feelings on the whole kill-aizen plan when SHE was the one who got beat up by a sleaze and got a piece of her soul stolen, when SHE was the victim while gin was a witness, and yet gin let what little common sense he had go to waste and chose to follow his pride instead of stepping back. gin may not have had many options once he joined squad five, but he had an option to take rangiku WITH him when he joined the shinigami academy instead of leaving her behind. he had the choice to let HER choose how she wanted to deal with her grief instead of deciding for her that her tears would only go away if he killed aizen and changed the soul society. in the end, he accomplished nothing, and made the only girl who ever mattered to him cry over his dead body. all because he chose his pride over the woman who loved him more than anything else. all because his toxic male pride told him it was better dying alone and unloved rather than accepting tragedy and being a supportive man. gin’s sin wasn’t that he hated aizen and wanted vengeance (97% of the cast wanted that). gin’s sin was that he let his pride and his ego drive his decisions in the end, and that same pride and ego are what made him fail in the end and die a miserable sack of shit.

[godkilller]

❝ gin--! ❞

he had called his name that night - screamed it, really -- when he had seen the small body being swept under kisuke's arm. he had screamed after them, those two -- only the howling from his captain had diverted kisuke urahara from what he had been about to do. for all of aizen's abilities -- he could not yet face down a bankai.

he had tried, though -- had tried. the captain had been skilled, however. cunning. even with the kanzen saimin in place, he had still landed a hit and kaname-- kaneme! he'd been breathing at least, and it'd been enough for aizen to pull him up and get them both to the fourth that night, collapsing from pain and bloodloss, deliriously mumbling of having been attacked by interrupting the captain in what he'd been doing --

collaborators.

he had made urahara into a proper patsy, had cared only about that -- until he'd woken up and found everything out. a month and more -- more -- since kisuke had taken him. and more than him -- more than that, more than --

a hilt wrapped in a shade that was not teal was grasped between his fingers as he stared at the place to which he'd been guided, coaxed, kyoka's awareness linked to another, one not his own. weeks it has been and he is here now, the shop standing no chance against the wrath of the one who now wears the haori lined with turquoise. a shade so near gin's eyes -- he is here, now, the smoldering wreckage proving his fury as he sweeps to --

there.

the entrance is easy to discover, a flaring of power and it splinters under the weight of his wrath. he is quick to launch himself down there, quick to call out again.

❝ GIN--! ❞

he can sense him down here.

❝ GIN--! WHERE ARE YOU?! ❞

his is the seat of captain now and he is willing to admit he's being reckless by doing this -- but oh, the cracks in the blade that is cradled between finger and palm, the loss of not just him but the youth that had become his shadow too in one night? no. no, aizen is calling, power seething around him, seeking for him. he knows he's here. he can sense it.

he had made a promise to shinso, hadn't he--?

and to himself.

he's going to murder the former captain when he gets his hands on him but better, now, to find gin and get him out of here, isn't it--? best to sweep in and out. before the humans can investigate but oh, he's seething.

          THAT NIGHT WAS A BLUR, ROARING ECHOES AND A BLASTING FORCE.  Tsukabishi Tessai, alongside Urahara Kisuke, had been formidable indeed. Yet their appearance in the midst of Aizen’s experimentations upon Gin’s captain was a necessary interruption indeed. Not even that, an interruption, no, planned. They were to be framed, after all. Their attendance was expected and one could have even ventured to say ‘perfect’ ... that is, prior to Tessai’s casting of Hado number eighty-eight, Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho. Something Aizen had believed a subsequent casting of Danku, a Bakudo level eighty-one, to be sufficient in blocking. AND IT DID.... somewhat. Perhaps he hadn’t accounted for how serious Urahara and his allies would be in stopping them from walking away, because the Kido Master shattered through that protective wall within a flashing spark and blaze.

          It was the first time Gin had ever seen a split-second show of shock grace the Lieutenant at his side’s features. Maybe that was why he acted fast, faster than Aizen and Tousen, he had always been focused on training himself to strike wickedly swift, and he did not disappoint them then. Gin had drawn Shinso and cut lightning. But he was still, no matter his speed or darting blade, a mere boy, a Third Seat standing against the snarling storm of a Kido Master’s design, and for the split second of deflecting there came many more agonizing seconds thereafter of rippling defeat as the high level Kido won over. Shocks shot through his body, cracked across Shinso’s blade till it flew from his grasp and embedded itself into the ground, a mirroring effect onto its wielder as Gin was blasted by that same force which proceeded to send him backward, flying, tumbling, tumbling, and black.

          Perhaps they had felt guilty, striking down some young and promising kid when they truly had wanted Aizen to be hit, and that was why Gin awoke within an unfamiliar abode. Or maybe Urahara Kisuke wanted information, and Gin was to be hostage, informant, kept holed up -- because when Gin gathered his surroundings, his state  ( sore, scuffed up, and the worst headache -- the rest he couldn’t tell, bandaged up -- where was Shinso? A hand flying out, reaching, searching blind before he even turned his head to look. Ah, fuck, he must’ve dropped it, yeah... he dropped it, and they hadn’t taken it with him, damn it )  ... it was his immediate reaction to seek an escape.

          That hadn’t gone too well. Guarding the exit, despite Gin’s careful and silent steps, was Yoruichi. He knew he couldn’t outrun her. Flash Goddess, wasn’t she? Best to not even bother making a fool of himself. Especially whilst still aching from the blast he took.

          He was implored to rest, to stay put, to recover and that he couldn’t go back.

          Gin couldn’t open a Senkaimon without Shinso, and thus that held true; he couldn’t go back even if he managed to run past the shopkeeper and bolt.

          Urahara Kisuke was not a cruel man, Gin found, but he was also the secretive type, and the kind of man that seemed to believe that he knew what was best. That sort of cruel. He believed and enacted his beliefs regardless of protest. Like so, in that keeping Gin here was best. Part of Gin wanted to agree, to stay, be plucked from Aizen’s clutches and be free of those howling nights... yet the other yearned to return, ached even. He felt he didn’t belong, this was wrong. Particularly a potent realization that he was no longer within the Seireitei, he wanted to return to Rangiku. Oh, she was going to be so worried. No doubt Aizen still spun the story of the villainous Urahara Kisuke, no doubt Gin’s own name had been listed as one of his victims. But Aizen would know better than to write him off as dead, surely. No, he’d know better, knew his boy prodigy could take a hit -- and certainly his Zanpakuto remained behind, yet solid and tangible, it hadn’t vanished to signal the death of its wielder. Likely Gin was reported as kidnapped.

          And Aizen would likely be searching for him, among others.

          Gin couldn’t deny the fact that, despite a fresh form of hatred brewing beneath him, seething really, a sickly stomach and a choked up throat.... how it terrified him, sometimes, to know he was well and truly entrapped by this man, no escape, already far too tangled to ever hope to pull himself away... oh, and yet he couldn’t deny that he wanted Aizen to find him. HE WAS TOO FAR DOWN THIS ROAD TO SHY AWAY NOW, too far down the line, he didn’t know what to do with himself if Aizen didn’t find him.

          Luckily, the thought didn’t plague Gin too terribly... even as days stretched on and Gin inevitably had to cave into eating what was offered to him, kind words and warm food did not reach him -- hollowly, patiently, he waited in near-muteness. HE WOULDN’T TELL URAHARA ANYTHING, no matter his gentle demeanor and respecting air, Gin steeled himself akin to a prisoner of war and it became apparent to the older man that the kid had no intentions to trust, to open up. Gin didn’t do that shit for anyone. He’d be damned if he caved and spit his secrets to the one man Aizen had verbally made known that he loathed... and if Aizen found out Gin confessed anything? Wouldn’t he then become a loose end a little... too... costly to be kept alive? Gin saw what Aizen did to pawns who disappointed him. Even Tousen, one of his top favorites, occasionally earned himself a scolding look that spoke of authority and displeasure... would Gin risk everything he had worked for thus far simply to confide in a stranger, shopkeeper, who had stolen him away from it all? No, not worth it.

          Besides, Gin knew it wouldn’t be much longer here.

          Weeks turned to a month, or something close to it.

          But Gin knew it’d be soon. Aizen was, after all, a thorough man.

          So was Urahara, as he had Gin moved downward, below the shop, across an an expansive underground training area  ( Gin didn’t bother trying to wrap his head around the fact that the ceiling looked like the sky outside, save for that ladder and opening... a strange set-up indeed )  A SMART MOVE, ultimately, as it kept Gin from being able to run away without first crawling from the single exit and entrance to the underground space, and it also kept him from getting absolutely leveled alongside the shop the moment Aizen’s reiatsu became known overhead. 

          Gin was accustomed to Aizen’s reiatsu in that he hardly even shuddered upon its weight thrashing downward, and the subsequent explosive force that wrecked the shop above. The Third Seat simply sat upright, looked upward, and held his breath. IT WAS BROAD DAYLIGHT UNDERNEATH THIS FALSE SKY, BUT GIN KNEW BETTER, he felt the chill of the air above flowing in from cracks, drafts, he knew too that Aizen would not act so boldly within a blanket of sunlight -- not yet, at least -- but still how odd it was to see moonlight begin pooling in, downward, from a sunny ceiling crumbling to give way for its visitor.

          A visitor who descended from the false sky’s wreckage as a nightbringer would, doused in darker hues, an ethereal world-ender he was making himself to be -- to become -- before Gin’s own eyes. A PART OF GIN’S UPBRINGING IN THE RUKONGAI URGED HIM TO RUN AND HIDE AT THE MERE SIGHT, seeing such a display of desperate might  ( Aizen was desperate, Aizen was pissed off, he had come for Gin and Gin alone in this moment and it both sickened and pleased him ) ... and part of Gin wanted to turn and run and not look back. HE WANTED TO STAY, HE WANTED TO WATCH THE KOI POND AND THINK NOTHING OF DEATH, CLEAN FINGERNAILS, THE PURRING OF A BLACK CAT, WARM CLOTHES... HE WANTED TO CRY, NO, TAKE ME HOME, I MISS HER, SHE’S WAITING FOR ME, PLEASE -- AH, HE WANTED TO GET OUT WHILE HE STILL COULD, STAY AWAY FROM ME, NO, HELP ME.

          Part of him lingered in shadow, stepping half a step backward rather than forward, into visibility, into Aizen’s frantic range of sight. He could hide himself still, wait for Urahara to step up to challenge Aizen’s wrath, wait for them both to clash and destroy... and then slip away. Or he could open his mouth now, and seal his fate to remain tethered to the man’s side forever more.

          He teetered there, for a second alone, at the precipice. 

          Then the boy called out to Aizen. A quick response, a signal; I’m here!

          Gin had never been one to listen to self-preserving advice.