#and how they’re able to evolve each other (as seen in the nel)

[elvaliientearchive]

Headcanon: WHY DID NELLIEL FOLLOW NNOITRA AROUND?

So after some of my interactions with @despairforme I decided I wanted to write down my thoughts regarding Nelliel’s actions toward Nnoitra. The two of them are like an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. Nelliel makes it clear she doesn’t like Nnoitra, doesn’t consider him a real warrior, yet Nnoitra complains about her following him around and challenges her more than once to duels. Their actions seem almost contradictory considering their intense DISLIKE of each other. However, when examined a little more closely, they make perfect sense. So this is kind of a combination of headcanons + analysis of the flashbacks we’re given in the manga.

There seems to be a common misconception that Nel followed Nnoitra around constantly, berating him and putting him down. I’ve been writing Nel on and off for a long time and I’ve seen this opinion frequently. I don’t really think this interpretation makes sense though, given Nelliel’s obvious distaste for him and his actions. And looking at the manga, there’s a pattern to when it seems to be Nelliel pestering Nnoitra vs. Nnoitra pestering Nelliel. 

This is the scene that takes place before the first time Nnoitra complains about her following him around. I think it’s important to note that they’re OUTSIDE Las Noches. Also important is the fact that the two of them aren’t wandering around aimlessly. They have orders. Now you could argue that it could be a blanket order given to all Espada – “our priority is finding Vasto Lorde” – which I’m sure it was. But sending all ten out at once is risky. I think it’s more likely that the Espada participated in reconnaissance mission in cycles, and Nelliel VOLUNTEERED to accompany Nnoitra. Why would she do that? Well, when Nnoitra asks her answer is this: 

Not in the sense of brute strength. Nnoitra is an Espada, she acknowledges that. But Nelliel is just as concerned with INNER strength – one’s self control, restraint, and the ability to resist their own urges and instincts. In this regard Nnoitra is weak. He murders a colony of hollow because he felt like it. He killed a weaker arrancar because he felt like it. 

Nelliel is concerned with upholding Aizen’s goals, and his impulsivity is a threat to that. For example, there’s no way to know if the hollows he kills could someday evolve into Vasto Lorde. They’re weaker than him now, but any hollow is going to be weaker than any given arrancar. Killing random hollow does go against Aizen’s objectives to find a Vasto Lorde. Even more so, his reckless disregard for his own life is bad for them all. Espada are valuable soldiers. Despite what she thinks of him as a person, she knows he’s an asset in battle. This is why she saves him in the first place and she says so herself. 

So when Nnoitra is assigned on those missions outside, Nelliel always volunteered to tag along. Not because she’s interested in torturing him, but because she is concerned with their duties as Espada, something he disregards or bends to suit his own desires. 

The next time he complains about her following him they are, once again, outside. You can see very prominently on this page here the trees and the moon. 

So if that’s how their interactions go outside, what about inside? It’s completely reversed. 

She’s dismissive of him, uninterested in staying any longer after the battle is finished. Nnoitra is the one who insists she stay and finish things. 

Again Nnoitra is the one to challenge her, Nnoitra is the one who wants a rematch. Nelliel is uninterested. She doesn’t indulge him because she doesn’t understand his purpose. There is a fundamental disconnect that the two of them will NEVER be able to bridge. She considers his desire to fight an instinct, and her refusal only goads him on.

They BOTH irritated, provoked, and followed the other around – for different reasons. Nelliel wanted to ensure that he fulfilled his duty as an Espada (something she thought concerned all of them), but she DIDN’T stalk his every step. And most of the time, the things she said to him were in response to his own questions; she just chose not to lie to him. Nnoitra, on the other hand, wanted to prove himself, and couldn’t stand her looking down on him, his opinions on women nonwithstanding. 

Their conflict was inevitable, and more importantly, mutual.