thinking about the idea of grimmjow being relatively young for a hollow i guess bc the idea that he just pops out of the sand one day and jumpscares di roy and everyone is funny to me

what does aizen feel or think towards the espada? could he possibly hate one?

okay i’m gonna go one by one since the espada cannot possibly be discussed as a collective entity because of how different they are, and because of the way aizent treats them, so.

starrk. aizen adamantly avoids talking about him, and anyway starrk doesn’t give him any reason to. the way i see it, starrk is the one who has the means to understand aizen better than anyone among the espada, which is why aizen keeps him at distance. and starrk, after all, is not one to overstep boundaries. he could feel strongly about him, so aizen consciously doesn’t give himself the opportunity to. on a psychological level, starrk is the one aizen could connect best with.

barragan. i wouldn’t say ‘hate’ — it’s barragan that hates aizen, not the other way around. barragan reminds him of a slightly more twisted version of yamamoto, and he despises him, but he’s long since put him in the place where barragan belongs, which is below him. 

he’s always appreciated harribel’s level-headedness and thought she was an apt replacement to nelliel both in strength, fierceness and self-control. i’m sure her company is one aizen could come to enjoy, and if he had ‘favorites’, harribel would qualify as one. 

ulquiorra is definitely not somebody to feel strongly about. aizen values him as an asset and entrusts him with crucial matters, appreciating qualities such as ulquiorra’s lack of emotions and remarkable loyalty. that’s all, though. aizen never got to find out about ulqui’s second form or his dynamic with orihime, it would definitely be interesting to play out his reaction.

nnoitra was a valuable war asset, who i’m sure aizen would have brought to battlefield had he not gotten in a fight with zaraki. that said, i never got to explore aizen’s relationship with nnoitra before so i cannot say what it’d be like from their interactions in canon since they’re practically non-existent, lol.

ohhhh boi. grimmjow’s tea is scalding. i have my bias because of their long history together rp-wise and i love them. i think that most importantly, aizen acknowledges that grimmjow is a territorial creature whose instincts simply cannot be suppressed; contrary to popular belief, i think aizen truly likes grimmjow - in his own way of ‘liking’ someone, but still he appreciates some of his qualities. grimmjow is perceptive, he’s practical, and despite everything, he’s loyal. … in his own way of being loyal, i guess. i think no one clings to his rank the way grimmjow does, and no one shows how well-received it was, the order aizen’s brought, as clearly as grimmjow does. and aizen knows. it’s grimmjow’s rebellious streak that he needs to control, because no one should forget whose authority they’re under, but before ichigo came into the picture and made grimm go nuts, i think his relationship with aizen was rather balanced. because grimm doesn’t have ulquiorra’s composed flatness, but neither is he stupid or purposelessly disrespectful. 

zommari is quiet and aizen likes that.

szayel is a sly bastard, and a pretty audacious one on top of that. aizen isn’t particularly fond of him and doesn’t mind reminding him of his place from time to time; that aside, szayel is intelligent and resourceful, and those are qualities that make aizen tolerate him. if nothing else.

aaroniero is a fish tank and aizen isn’t sure how to feel about it.

yammy is even more forgettable than aaroniero (but he has a doggo, and since i have doggos too, i like him. aizen doesn’t.)