#sasume is so normal shes the most normal person ever i promise /s

[futurefind]

hc + 🤥 for a lie-themed headcanon and hc + 😶 for a headcanon about a secret they know of / keep and hc + 🌇 for a headcanon about morning- or evening rituals - for sa!

Thematic Headcanons / Accepting! // @tvrningout

—& A SECRET

Sasume has many secrets to her name, primarily regarding her background. She's not shy on being a 'street rat', but beyond this she obscures everything else to some degree— whether it's the age at which her mother died, to the fact her father (or Tomas) even exists, or the way her hometown saw her. Most intentionally kept however, is why she left home— even Shida isn't completely sure of what ensued, outside of the aftermath.

Interpersonally, however, there are many secrets she's willing to keep, even without being asked — particularly with regards to survival. If you killed someone to protect yourself (or another), for example, she has no qualms with burying that knowledge as if she never knew it at all.

Threatening her into secrecy, as one could imagine, is all but doomed to end poorly— whether because it's only her head on the chopping block, an effective non-threat, or because you're trying to force her secrecy by threatening others, in which case she's wont to get rid of you first.

(However, it should be noted that a non-secret of hers is Shinrei itself. She has no clue as to its origins, or machinations, or why she alone has been allowed to wield it. For better, or for worse...)

—& A LIE

Simply put: Sasume is an awful liar.

Not because she cannot lie well, but because it doesn't occur to her to lie in the first place. She may lie to keep others' secrets (see: above), but...? Otherwise, she will not lie. She doesn't see a point to it, is stubbornly honest if you try and corner her into lying (i.e. using your authority to try and get your ass kissed).

However. If it's regarding something she wishes were true, or thinks is true... she'll be as defensive and insistent as ever. Which is to say, when it directly or indirectly involves her childhood (again, see: above) or her safety...?

She doesn't think she's lying.

"I've had worse," is damn near always, horrifically, factual.

"I was an orphan after my mother died," is also technically true.

"Got in trouble a lot as a kid," is not technically wrong.

"It's nothing," is... genuinely how she sees her own hurt, whether physical or otherwise. It is as it always has been as it always will be and thus of no consequence. Nothing.

In other words, she's someone who lies through omission, but she doesn't see it that way — merely providing the truth in a more palatable manner.

(Though, if any good has come from her acquired stoicism and awkwardness, it's how many signs of deception and omission can be handwaved by others.)

—& A RITUAL

I would say Sasume has no daily rituals... but just because she eschews sleep does not mean she has no routine of her own at all.

Firstly, if she has the means to do so, she works through the night— whether it be via hunting supernatural marks one way or another, or by traveling (either to her target destination, or the next town in search of further work).

Otherwise, or if her work is shorter and/or involves a lot of idling, is her 'training'. Sometimes it's exactly that, as she idles away the hours as she upkeeps her skills and physicality as the world sleeps. Others, especially on her worst nights, it's no less than self harm, with all standard practices for preventing injury (warm-ups/cool-downs, stretches, keeping hands/etc covered instead of dealing blows with naked skin, etc) discarded along with the wind.

Depending on her whims, her grooming and upkeep can come before this, or after, and depends on her current needs: bathing, though with Shinrei in depth washing is usually reserved for either excessive gore or after a similarly long time since the last one; upkeeping Shinrei, usually just oiling and absent-minded, almost excessive cleaning; mending her clothes, especially from injuries/battle damage, usually after she's double checked any bloodstains have been prevented, or when previous repairs need to be touched up; her meals, even more unpredictable and reliant on her current situation than the rest.

And then, of course... sleep. As it only occurs a few times a week, it disrupts her usual routines just as much as one would imagine— given she puts it off as long as possible, and thus to the point of near-delirium even with exploiting Shinrei, usually this involves little more than finding a safe bed and passing out atop it for ten to twenty hours or so.

Sometimes it'll come after she's had the wherewithal to do her usual upkeep, but often she'll only do the bare minimum (ensuring any of her current wounds are sealed and/or stitched up properly). After she wakes, then, is when she comes as close to a 'normal' routine as possible, getting in her grooming and meals and training et cetera in reasonable proximity towards one's last rest.

After this, however, is when the cycle of sleepless nights begins anew.