#subterfuge headcanon
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I think a lot about Leo standing up for his brothers in the things that really matter to them.
Like- Leo is the one who immediately pushes Mikey and Donnie into finding Raph the second it’s clear that their oldest brother is missing because he knows Raph can’t handle being separated like that.
Leo is the one who stands up for Mikey when Mikey wants to go on a solo mission, actively vouching for him and being the one to convince Raph into letting Mikey go, because being independent and proving himself just as capable of standing on his own two feet as everyone else means so much to Mikey.
And Leo defends Donnie’s honor in particular when his brothers’ intelligence is insulted because Leo is well aware of how important Donnie’s smarts are to him - and how important having those smarts valued and acknowledged is as well.
All this goes right into just how well Leo knows his brothers. For as much as he’ll tease or fight with them, he knows them, and he loves them.
#rottmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt leo#rottmnt headcanons#rise leo#listen Leo loves his family SO MUCH#and like it’s no accident that Leo is consistently the one to give pep talks that#very notably#are less ‘everyone as a group’ and more ‘all of you individually’#it’s heartening to see honestly and like#it works with how he is as both a person and as a fighter#he knows people he knows them so well he knows how they work what they’re like#which is SO USEFUL for subterfuge AND portal/teleportation strategy#my guy is charming his charisma comes from his understanding of people at an individual level#when he wants to be he is very very good at that#he’s still a teen who is too cocky for his own good at times but that does not negate his stellar other moments#he can be selfish he can be mean he can be rude but when push comes to shove he is so quick to stand up for his family#Mikey’s statement at the end of the movie about how Leo NEVER gave up on THEM is so important because it’s not JUST about the movie!!#that’s Leo as a whole he will never give up on his bros#portal jacked is telling of this too because although it has a lot of comedic moments#never once does Leo stop looking for a way to get his bros back#they’re everything to him#he’s the face man he’s a people person and he’s the number 1 pet turtle which I will discuss the implications of in this essay-#Will also say that when Leo does these moments of standing up for his bros he’s never expecting praise for it#he’s just glad they find Raph he just smiles when Mikey tells him he loves him he never mentions defending Donnie#leo has a tendency to show off fancy glittery moves but his real actions and feelings are sooo much more lowkey#that you have to be actively looking for them to catch them all#and I really really like that about him it’s so interesting HE is so interesting
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Funky Muguruma Kensei AEIWAM headcanons? Spare serotonins with the blorbos? /j Also what's AEIWAM Mashiro like? She's one of the only characters I genuinely get annoyed by in the canon oof
:)
So the friendship between Kaname and Mashiro is one of my favorite things in the fic so far. Have a spoilerific Scene (Part 1 of ?)
Crickets and Grasshoppers
Scene One of ???
Approximately 7K words
Fluff that goes South and won't get (sort of ) better until part 2, warnings for body horror, referenced torture and Emotionally Devastating Betrayal
:)
It was Tuesday November 5th, 1901, Scheduling Day in the Ninth Division and Mashiro was standing in front of the vending machine just down the street from the Ninth, choosing her armaments for the coming battle.
In other divisions, the actual drawing up of rosters was the job of lower-seated officers and the specific parts of the Division they were responsible for. Tousen’s friend Komamura has told her once that the 7th Division’s schedule was so predictable, they only looked at the roster once a year when people retired or were hired. A fascinating concept to Mashiro, who listened to Komamura’s tales of the 7th with the rapt fascination of an anthropologist privileged to hear the folklore of distant and largely unknown people.
The Ninth was… complicated for the sake of simplicity. Information did not move the same way people did, and while the seventh could pass an inbound soul from the Intake Team to Queue Management to the Registry Office, passing an information project from one subdivision to another was a great way to lose said project. So instead of projects moving from subdivision to subdivision as they reached different stages, subdivisions went from stage to stage, following projects.
This meant scheduling had to be done every month, but it beat the hell out of a major archive loss or communications failure.
And it meant that Snackage was in order.
Mashiro surreptitiously glanced over her shoulder to make sure Captain Muguruma was still overseeing drills in the courtyard, then selected 37 cookies, chips, snack cakes, bottles of pop and juice and other goodies from the machine and paid out of the Division Purse.
Kensei, bless him, was a deeply honorable man who was so reliable you could set a watch by him and would probably cross actual Hell to help a friend, but he did not understand scheduling, much less the kind of caloric requirements it held.
--
“You’re just sitting there! What do you need all that for?” He’d asked her once.
“The brain’s the most expensive organ to run in terms of calories.” She’d explained, rolling her eyes and opening a bag of Barbecue-flavored corn chips. “-I know your brain is a plodding cart horse, but you can’t do scheduling. You need my thoroughbred racehorse brain, and it needs snacks!”
He’d given up with a disgusted groan of defeat, which was good, because the other reason she needed the snacks would have actually made him snap.
--
Mashiro shoved the snacks into her backpack, checked that Kensei was still distracted by drills, darted back across the street where he might spot her, ran around the back of the division, and jumped up to the third-floor window that had been left open for her.
“The level of subterfuge this perfectly normal administrative process requires…” Fifth-seat Kaname Tousen groaned from where he was lying on the floor, partially under his traditional low desk.
“-Is half the fun, you dork!” Mashiro giggled, closing the window after her as she climbed in. “All the autumn stuff is in the shops and vending machines now, and I made sure to get every persimmon-flavored thing they had just for you!” She grinned down at her chosen assistant for scheduling.
The other purpose for the snacks was Bribery.
Kaname Tousen was, by Mashiro’s estimation, definitely the smartest person in the Ninth Division, and possibly in the entire Soul Society. If the world was a fair place, he’d be lieutenant and she’d be fifth seat, but the world wasn’t a fair place and in the week between Graduation with every honor Shin’o academy had and starting as the 9th Division’s 20th seat, Kaname had been struck down with some sort of horrible spinal infection that damn near killed him, made him miss his entire first month and a half of work, and left him with occasional bouts of crippling pain, like today, when he’d decided to risk worsening Kensei’s already low opinion of him by doing his work lying flat on his back on a hot pad.
Kaname’s services as a Brainiac were much in demand and his availability highly limited, so Mashiro guaranteed her place on his schedule with confection-based compensation.
“I mean, Kensei’s a mean old sack and that’s not great for the division too, but the spy shenanigans and scheduling snacktime really is like, The Highlight Of The Month sometimes.” Mashiro shrugged, flopping down on the floor beside him and dumping the snacks out between them.
“Captain Muguruma’s sense of discipline is intense but very necess- ow. Yeah, that’s not happening.” Kaname sighed, laying back down from trying to sit up. “-He’s a good man. Difficult, sometimes, but a good man.”
“You’re way too nice for your own good. Here’s the Persimmon castella cakes.” Mashiro grunted, handing Kaname the small package and the payroll notes to read.
Kaname groped across his desk for a clipboard, attached the payroll notes to it, propped them up on his stomach so they were balanced on the edge of his desk, and laid all the way back down, face pointed at the ceiling rather than the notes. Mashiro opened up a packet of Amakara rice crackers, watching him with interest as Kaname took off his goggles.
The goggles were what convinced Mashiro he was the smartest man in the Soul Society. Kaname had been born totally blind, but he had figured out how to mount a pair of tiny cameras in the frame of a pair of safety goggles, which were connected to… he’d explained that the little bricks behind the opaque white lenses of his goggles contained something like an obscenely long and complicated Kido spell that spotted readable characters, ‘read’ them, and turned the resulting text into words that played out of the tiny “Microphonogram Speech Players or ‘speakers’ “ hidden in the legs of the goggles. So he could read pretty much anything printed with enough contrast (and decent enough handwriting, Captain Urahara) because his goggles would read it aloud for him. They were much slower than most people read, and sometimes he had to stop work to “charge” the spell that made them work, but they worked a damn treat, and had the added advantage that Kaname himself did not need to be looking at the thing he was trying to read, only the goggles.
So now he unwound the coil of wire that connected the Kido brick to the microphonogram, placed the ‘speaker’ back in his ear, and set the glasses on his chest so he could read the notes while keeping his back and neck pressed to the hotpad.
True Genius, that.
“I love how the cameras wiggle.” Mashiro grinned, watching the two lenses shift and dilate as they focused on the notes. “They move the same way cicadas and grasshoppers shift their eyes independently to focus. It’s so clever to have them operate like that.”
“Hm. That was Kakiyo’s design, not mine.” Kaname smiled. Kakiyo was his adopted and now-deceased sister. “She was always more of an entomologist than me.”
“Weird that you ended up with Suzumushi the cricket for a Zanpaktou then.” Mashiro pondered. She liked Suzumushi- that sword, and her own Musabori Kuu Batta (Devouring Locust) were two of less than One Hundred insect-type Zanpaktou in the court guard, and fewer still that weren’t butterflies. She couldn’t really see Suzumushi- no shinigami could perceive another’s Zanpaktou Spirit- but she could hear Batta’s half of the conversation the two would chirp to each other sometimes.
Kaname paused from opening the persimmon cake packaging with his teeth. “...Yes. Bizarre.” he said, with a rueful finality that Mashiro took as her cue to change the subject.
“Right. Where are we on the Agricultural Practices census?” She sighed, pulling the active projects list and next month’s calendar out in front of her.
“Maegawa-san has requested travel permissions to-” Kaname replied, flipping through the pages, the goggles faintly reading off names as he tracked them with his fingertip. “Ah, ‘pull the damn report out through the East 36th Daimyo’s nose if I have to’, which I think we can call a requisitions expense rather than reconnaissance. Unless you think Lieutenant Fon would enjoy the catharsis as well.”
“She WOULD, actually, that girl is wound tighter than my grandpa’s pocketwatch.” Mashiro nodded, placing the card for “3rd Seat Maegawa” in the “Out Of Office” Pile.
And so it went for a pleasant hour, eating snacks and solving the five-dimensional time, space and payroll puzzle of scheduling, with Kaname helping her keep track of the process and who was not supposed to be doing overtime or couldn’t be trusted to work with someone else or on maternity leave or whatever.
“Alright, I think that’s nearly everyone sorted…” Mashiro muttered, going down the list of all 200 division members to make sure they’d made it onto the roster. “Oh wait, we didn’t put you down!” She giggled.
“I believe my schedule should be identical to last months while we are still doing data entry into the archives, but I do have a request- May I have this coming Friday off?” he asked. “I have an engagement.”
“Who’s getting engaged?” Mashiro teased, erasing him from the roster that day.
Kaname tilted his head a bit, pointing his ear at her with a conspiratorial smirk. “...Can you keep a secret?”
Mashiro blinked at him in surprise, then gasped with delight and leaned in “Cross my heart and hope to die!” She whispered back, giggling.
Kaname regarded her for a moment, teasing. “Love- Captain Aikawa has finally worked up the nerve to propose to Lieutenant Yadomaru.”
Mashiro made a noise like an asthmatic teakettle as she tried to not shriek with delight and deafen Kaname as well, rolling onto her back and kicking her legs in the air with excitement.
“-He wants it to be a surprise though, and Lisa is always going through his bag for his water bottle or whatever at kendo practice and she will notice if his schedule changes, so I need to duck out during lunch today and pick up the ring for him to propose with on Friday.” Kaname elaborated.
“A conspiracy!” Mashiro balled her fists with excitement. “When? Where? Can I come?”
“You got an invitation to Captain Kyoraku’s next moon-viewing party, right?” Kaname asked and she nodded. “It’s then.”
“EEEK!” Mashiro giggled with delight.
“What’re you two giggling about?” Kensei grunted from the doorway, still sweaty from training.
“It’s a SECRET!” Mashiro glared imperiously, sweeping the snack wrappers out of sight off the desk as Kaname sat up with a small grunt of pain and bowed his head in salute.
“Whatever.” Kensei rolled his eyes. “Tousen. Read your report on the dodgy census statistics and possible disappearances in West 66 and I think you’re right. Something stinks on ice out there.”
Kaname gasped sharply with relief and bowed his head in gratitude. “Thank you, Sir.”
“I gotta attend a captain’s meeting this afternoon because Urahara has some harebrained new project to show and tell-” Kensei continued, glaring at his battered fingertips where he’d caught a bokto the wrong way during training. “-Saw that Maegawa is gonna be in East 36 and Fukuda’s on maternity leave, so I’m sending every seated officer from you to 15th seat Shizawa out there to investigate and deal with it. You all need to be at the Kido Corps for teleportation at three. Mashiro, don’t burn the place down.”
“OH COME ON!” Mashiro shouted with disappointment.
“HEY! No backtalk! I know you wanna go but someone’s gotta hold the fort-” Kensei glared down at her.
“It’s not me! Kaname has to- I mean-” She sputtered, abruptly remembering his request for secrecy.
“It’s alright!” Kaname tried to smile but ended up grimacing at her as he got up. “I’ll just go get it now and it’ll be in my pocket when I get back!”
Mashiro glared at him for a moment, but sat back down. “Okay. I guess.” She pouted.
“Get what?” Asked Kensei.
“A surprise for Captain Kyoraku’s moon-veiwing party!” Kaname grinned at him as he collected his belongings into his satchel by touch.
Kensei pondered that for a long moment, glaring at Kaname. “...How’d you score an invite?”
“Captain Aikawa invited me along.” Kaname explained over Mashiro’s offended scoff. “We were roommates when we were at the academy and he has very kindly kept inviting me along to things despite my not really being able to keep up with him anymore.”
Kensei regarded him a moment longer. “Huh.” he eventually decided. “Well, see you when you get back from the investigation.” He waved, dismissing Tousen.
“Thank you Sir. Lieutenant Kuna.” Kaname bowed before jogging off.
“See you later Kaname-kun!” Mashiro called after him.
“-Even if he won’t technically see yo- OW!” Kensei yelped as Mashiro clipped him sharply under the ear.
“Why are you so MEAN to him!?” Mashiro glared up at her captain as he rubbed his jaw.
“I’m not mean! I’m just- it’s just office banter!” Kensei growled back. “I can just not like a guy and still be colleagues with him, okay?”
“No, apparently you can’t!” Mashiro “You’ve been really hard on him and getting on his case and teasing him since day one!”
“-More like day thirty-two, he missed the first six weeks of his appointment.” Kensei grumbled.
“That was literally FIFTY years ago and he was in the HOSPITAL. BECAUSE HE NEARLY DIED!” She bellowed, probably loud enough for Kaname to hear in the street but it didn’t matter. “Yeah, it sucked, but it wasn’t his fault! I don’t get why you were mad at him back then, and I really don’t get why you’re still mad about it NOW!”
“I’M NOT MAD ABOUT THAT, I JUST-” Kensei bellowed back but then stopped, hand over his mouth. “...He keeps secrets.”
Mashiro stared at him blankly for a moment, face slowly collapsing from bewilderment into disgust. “OH. MY GOD. You’re the one always going on about operational security! He’s just careful- all the details are in his summarial reports, if you ever read them…”
“I do!” Kensei barked. “And they’re- I mean, All the information he’s required to fill out is there, and then some.” He sputtered, deflating.
Mashiro leaned in close, eyebrow cocked at him.
“...But I keep getting this feeling it’s not the whole picture.” Kensei muttered.
“Ugh!” Mashiro shouted, throwing her hands up and turning away. “So you don’t like him because you have bad reading comprehension?”
“Shut up! I don’t- there’s just something off about that guy! He’s always taking weird days off-” Kensei started, ticking off a list on his fingers.
“You mean the sick days from his spinal infection?” Mashiro glared, arms folded across her chest.
Kensei continued to count his grievances “-and taking secret calls in weird corners-!”
“You mean privately scheduling his medical treatment? For his spinal infection?” Mashiro continued to glare.
“-And getting him to go to the fifth or third division is like pulling teeth! What the hell is up with that?” Kensei demanded.
“You mean the divisions that have A) Lieutenant Iba, the woman who has a weird horoscope-based personal grudge against him-” Mashiro asked, mimicking Kensei’s earlier counting, “-and B) Lieutenant Aizen, who also keeps forgetting he has a spinal injury and slaps Kaname across the shoulders every time they meet? Yeah, I don’t blame him for wanting to avoid two of the most annoying people in the whole court guard!”
“Whatever.” Kensei waved her off. “I’m still right. There’s something off with him. Now get that roster updated and posted!”
“Yes, sir.” Mashiro groaned, rolling her eyes at him and stomping back to Kaname’s office for the Roster.
***
Kaname hadn’t felt this light in years.
Oh god.
Oh, GOD!
Please, please, please please let this be happening?
He sprinted down the road, back towards the apartment that he and Sajin shared, the small box with Love’s ring in his chest pocket. He allowed himself an ounce of elation- After all, I am just a young man who has picked up the engagement ring of one of his best friends! It is exactly what anyone would expect to see-
That was the tricky part of The Curse.
He couldn’t talk about it, like many curses, but it had the added complication that anyone who looked at him- or listened to him, or put their hands on him, or-
Well, they’d only find what they expected to find.
Certainly not a curse.
But curses cut both ways- The broader and less specific a command for someone bearing a curse was, the harder it was to enforce, and it was harder to come up with a command broader and more open to interpretation than “Help Me Kill God”. So as long as Kaname could argue to the curse that an action did “help” some aspect of Aizen’s plans, he could be inefficient, neglect to mention something important, do an assigned task sloppily, fail to cover his tracks and so on- Sometimes
Other times, the curse would take effect and cripple him until he relented and obeyed Aizen’s command again.
Or at least, managed to convince Aizen he was doing what Aizen wanted.
Aizen hadn’t quite realized it, but he was also subject to his own illusions, and there was a gap- a mirror image, if Kaname understood mirrors correctly- so long as he appeared as Aizen expected, Aizen wouldn’t notice him sabotaging Aizen’s machinations. So for the last three years, Kaname had done his best to appear tired and overworked and failing from exhaustion rather than malice, or like he was starting to agree with Aizen, which is exactly what the narcissist expected after fifty years of mental, physical and spiritual torture.
It was finally paying off.
He’d managed to make the kidnappings Aizen and Gin had been conducting on the villagers of West 56 appear by conducting a census that showed the discrepancy of expected versus actual population.
-And made sure the increased hollow activity in the area from Aizen’s experiments showed up in the 10th Division’s monitoring statistics.
- And the weird waves of reiatsu visible on the 12th’s monitoring equipment- not what people expected to see, but by keeping all the evidence noticed by unrelated parties, he kept it out of the scope of Aizen’s Illusions.
Kyoga Suigetsu took a lot of energy to operate, and Tousen was pretty sure Aizen could only passively fool about 150 at a time- he chose mostly his own division and people he saw daily, like his neighbors and cross-division colleagues, and could only actively alter the reality of maybe 20 people at once- the other captains and a few key would-be witnesses. So a rural census-taker, and two members at the bottom ranks of other divisions weren’t actively subject to the illusion.
He had to do it on faith, that someone would notice-
Kaname felt like he’d been holding his breath for weeks now, doing his best to tell Aizen and the constantly-itching nails in his spine that this was a Perfectly Normal Database Cross-referencing project- very boring, but it will be missed if it’s not done, Lord Aizen- and nothing to draw attention to the horrible Laboratory…
…By some miracle, Mugurama had read the report, understood and believed it- Kensei had a naturally suspicious mind, so Kaname made sure the report was full of “It's entirely possible this is all a weird coincidence!” to make him suspicious. The curse only showed people what they expected to see, and for once, Kensei’s natural pessimistic expectations allowed him to see the truth.
24 hours.
That’s all I have left.
The only people in the Ninth Aizen had under his Active Influence were Kensei and Mashiro, so he wouldn’t be able to hide the nature of the laboratory from the investigation team without dropping the Active Illusion on someone else and risk discovery- and so long as Aizen didn’t find out about the expedition, he wouldn’t know to make that shift in time.
24 hours.
I only need to keep Aizen distracted for 24 hours.
In Aizen’s personal quarters, The Distraction Apparatus waited.
Aizen was mistaken to force Kaname to do his lab work for him- Kaname understood it better than him now, and had pulled aside a little trick to confuse him. The Hogyoku bonded with its user, almost like a zanpaktou, and communicated with them- it purred when Aizen fed it, and whined when it was hungry. Aizen knew about Suzumushi’s Bankai- he’d insisted Kaname develop it under his supervision, so he would know of all Kaname’s abilities. But he only knew it from the inside, and hadn’t realized that not only was anyone inside blind, deaf and without any form of sensory input, neither could anyone on the outside sense anyone within.
It was worth it to break Suzumushi like that.
It was actually her idea, to break the guard of his Zanpaktou and separate the ring from it. That’s where the Bankai was stored, and with a hell of a lot of practice, he’d learned to cast it remotely.
It had been months before he had an opportunity-
Kaname would never forgive what had been done to that poor angel, but during one of the
The Sessions where Aizen was using the Hogyoku to change the angel, Kaname was able to get ahold of the little Illusion box Aizen kept the infernal device in, Secure Suzumushi’s ring to the floor, disguise the tampering with a false floor, and return the box to it’s place without Aizen’s notice.
The Ring had been waiting there for months.
24 hours, and the secret will be out.
He’d memorized Aizen’s schedule- in 22 minutes Aizen would be entering the reiatsu-locked laboratory of the 12th with his own Captain Shinji for Kisuke’s Demonstration, and would not be able to feel Kaname activate his Bankai.
When he came back out, it would seem like the Hogyoku had vanished.
And for all Aizen would be able to tell, it had- he wouldn’t be able to perceive the Hogyoku or it’s illusion box until Kaname released his Bankai.
So for now, Kaname acted exactly like Aizen would expect him to act- a little tired, a lot in pain, but elated that two of his best friends were getting engaged, and that he’d be able to help. That was a natural source of excitement, and definitely not any kind of counter conspiracy-
Kaname jogged down the stairs to the apartment, ring box in his pocket, heart hammering, hands shaking a bit as he took out the keys to unlock his door, grabbed the knob that was not there and was suddenly off balance and falling-
Into something soft and steady that carefully picked him up like a child’s doll and set him back on his feet, gently taking his hands.
“Are you alright?” Sajin asked, soft, deep voice tinged with concern. “My apologies, I was just trying to do some house cleaning while the weather is mild and had the door open for ventilation.”
“Y- yeah! I’m. I’m alright. Just- distracted. I’ve had some good news!” He grinned up at his friend.
“Oh?” Sajin asked, tugging lightly at Kaname’s fingertips to indicate he should step inside. “Mind your way, I have all the chairs out in the living room so I can sweep.”
They had been living in this garden-level apartment for the forty years since Sajin had followed Kaname into the court guard, and under the same roof at the Akaido City Library for many years before that, and their domestic arrangements settled into a comfortable and comforting routine- Kaname was incapable of seeing grime, so Sajin did the housekeeping, and Sajin would eat raw, expired meat if left unattended, so Kaname did the cooking and shopping.
Kaname followed his lead, hand reflexively on Sajin’s instinctively proffered arm to keep balance while he unbuckled and took off his boots- the gestures of proximal intimacy had calcified into a secret language between them.
“Thanks-” Kaname stood up and stepped in with a guiding hand on the wall. He could normally navigate the apartment by memory alone. “-I’m only here for a few minutes, I’ve also got a deployment I need to pack for.”
“Deployment?” Sajin asked, following after him, voice slightly muffled from the cloth mask he wore over his face- at least when the door was open. Being mostly underground had it’s advantages- Kaname didn’t need much light and Sajin possessed almost superhuman darkvision, and the small, high windows that were obscured by bushes gave them enough Privacy that Sajin could relax and keep his face bare at home.
24 hours.
Maybe. Maybe when it all came out, and the dust settled--Assuming they don’t hang me alongside Aizen, which was a big If--But once it was all said and done and I still draw breath- Maybe I will have the courage to ask Sajin what it is he feels he needs to hide.Surely, he is far too gentle to be half so monstrous as he claims.
“Kaname?” Sajin prompted, and Kaname realized he’d been silent for nearly a minute.
“S-sorry. I just. Captain Muguruma finally read my report on West 66 and ordered and immediate investigation, so I have to be at the Kido corps by three-”
“Kaname.”
“Ah, No don’t worry, I’ll get dinner prepared so you only have to put it under the broiler, and There’s um-”
“Kaname.”
“-I’ll be back by Friday for Love and Lisa’s- Right- Here, I need you to-” He sputtered, dozens of ideas baying for his attention at once, patting his chest for the ring box-
“Kaname!” Sajin snapped, and his giant hands were on Kaname’s shoulders again, turning him around in place to face his friend, gloved hand suddenly under his chin, holding his face up for Sajin to glare at. “...When was the last time you slept?”
“I’m fine!” Kaname tried to jerk back, laughing defensively.
“You’ve gone to bed after me and gotten up before me, if you went to bed at all for at least a week, and I’m doing maximum overtime. You don't have bags so much as matched luggage under your eyes and can’t finish a sentence coherently. You’re not touching anything in the kitchen.” Sajin rattled off, giving Kaname’s chin a light shake. “...it’s not yet eleven, and the Kido Corps is less than ten minutes from here. I’ll see to your packing. Lie down. Please.”
Kaname sighed, shoulders slumping. “Sajin, I- I need to-”
“You need. To sleep.” Sajin rumbled, no room in his voice for argument.
Kaname panted for a moment, realizing that if Sajin wasn’t holding him in place he’d be swaying with exhaustion.
24 hours.
…I can spend one or two of them resting.
If I don’t manage to prove my innocence, I’ll want to have at least this to think about on the gallows.
“...Stay with me until I fall asleep?” Kaname asked, voice soft. “It’s just. It’s been a lot.”
“Of course.” Sajin hummed, rubbing his cheek.
“I also need to, ah- use facilities, first.” he grimaced, and Sajin let him go.
“I’m coming in after you if I think you’ve passed out on the floor.” Sajin threatened.
“That happened ONE TIME-!” Kaname protested, following the wall to the bathroom.
Once inside, he checked the time again.
If the meeting had stuck to schedule, they should be inside the 12th’s labs now.
Kaname sent Aizen a test message to his Soul Pager.
> Mandatory Status Report: Muguruma handed me a sudden assignment. Won’t be back until Friday.
If he was outside the Reiatsu-locked lab, that missive would have Aizen furiously calling him in under five minutes. He timed it, relieving himself and washing his hands as he waited-
Nothing.
“Here goes…” he muttered, hoping the sound of the bathroom fan and the running water would cover his voice. He focused, feeling the silver ring start to rotate in his mind, the way it multiplied and stretched, the rings dancing a circle on that which needed to be concealed-
“-Bankai.” He whispered, skin tingling-
-And suddenly he was keenly aware of the hogyoku and it’s illusion box, as though he were holding it, both wholly contained and hidden by his Bankai.
It is done
The distraction is set.
In a few hours, all will be revealed to the rest of the court guard.
There.
All I need to do now was follow the assignment like I was told and investigate the- the-
-He suddenly he felt the Bankai’s draw on his power and he collapsed over the sink, retching and knees shaking with how weak he felt. The skin on the back of his neck prickled and almost tasted like vinegar in the back of his mind, high-pitched ringing between his ears.
The nails sizzled ominously but there was no power behind it- It’s alright- I can- I can deal with this. Just breathe, come on dumbass, you just need to keep breathing for another 24 hours.
“Kaname? Sajin called.
“Nothing broke!” Kaname called back, forcing himself to his feet and stumbling back against the wall. He tested the Bankai again- It holds. Very convenient of you Suzumushi, that I only need to cast and feed it, rather than concentrate…
Suzumushi chriped distractedly, her focus on maintaining the Bankai. With her concentration, the illusion would hold even as he slept. Cold water on his face and neck, trying to make himself vaguely presentable and the room stop spinning as he stumbled out- oh, Sajin is right here, how thoughtful of him…
“It’s alright, just follow me…” Sajin soothed, guiding him along to the Thick Futon and large collection of pillows they used as a couch- nothing with legs would bear Sajin’s weight for long. He allowed Sajin to pull him down, settling beside Kaname until he was wedged between Sajin’s giant body and the collection of cushions, head on his friend’s chest, listening to his heartbeat- A little slower than mine, and steady- always so steady- so-
Kaname was asleep before he completed the thought.
---
Scene two: 23 hours later
“It’s just up this way Mister Shinigami!” The boy said, his hot little hand pulling Kaname along.
They’d gotten to West 66 and Kaname had realized he’d been wrong to worry about looking like he already knew the way to the Laboratory- Iruka Village had taken some fairly extreme defensive measures against the kidnappings since the last time he’d been forced out here- Barricades errected, bridges taken out, and even the road torn up and replanted to hide the route to the village. Kaname was entirely turned around before they even set foot in the Village and started asking the peasants if there was anything unusual nearby.
Fortunately for the expediency of the investigation, one Young Shuuhei Hisagi was extremely eager to help, giving them a detailed accounting of the strange activities at the old foundry, where someone had turned one of the kiln’s back on and there was “An ‘lectric” generator and it smelled a lot like someone was cooking rancid pork but he’d never seen anybody there, even when he went into the basement because he wasn’t ascared of it, weird that there’s a basement, nobody makes basements here as it’s a swamp-
Kaname felt his skin go cold when he realized the boy had somehow gotten inside and made notes and even poked some of the machinery, but given he hadn’t tried to actually chew Kaname’s arm off as he lead the Ninth Division Investigation team to the Lab, he was probably uncontaminated…
“There’s a hill an’ it’s on the other side- mind the branch.” Young Shuuhei was one of the great tragedies of the poor parts of the Rukongai- whip-smart and observant and thoughtful, but illiterate from the lack of teachers, and likely destined for an early grave if the statistical average lifespan out here held true. His Reiryoku shimmered at the edges- with a little training and a better diet he might even make for a good Shinigami.
Maybe if I live through this I can get him a scholarship. Kaname mused, trying to think about literally anything but the nauseating familiarity of the smell creeping over the hill.
“Mr. Hisagi?” he asked in the polite voice he’d cultivated as the Head Librarian to indicate to children he was taking them very seriously.
The Boy snapped to attention. “Sir?”
“Thank you for leading us here, but I absolutely cannot allow you any closer. It’s extremely dangerous here-” he started to explain.
“I been in before! An’ the door’s trickylike you gotta pull the handle up and in and rattle it to get in and then prop somethin’ in the gap or it locks back behind you-” Shuuhei explained, gesturing like Kaname could see him demonstrating.
“-And you were lucky to get out in one piece! I also need you to do a very important job.” Kaname sighed, familiar with this kind of kid- slightly too bright and kind-hearted for his own good, but reliable at a task- “-I can hear that some of your friends have followed us from the village. They’re about a quarter mile behind us-”
“Dangit Suichi-!” Shuuhei muttered under his breath. “-Yeah that’s probably my little brother and his friends. You want me to go chase him back home?”
“Precisely. Also, tell everyone to get indoors and stay put until they get an all-clear. Just in case something goes wrong, I need everyone to stay safe until re-enforcements arrive. So go get everyone back home and inside, alright?”
“Yessir!” Shuuhei snapped a salute and Kaname heard some of the other Shinigami giggle behind him.
“I’m glad I can rely on you.” He nodded, and shooed Shuuhei down the road. The boy took off, hollering for his brother.
“I didn’t know you were so good with kids.” Laughed Sixth Seat Todo Izaemon. “Cute little thing too-”
“Being in charge of the West 51 Children’s Intensive Literacy School teaches you how to get along with them.” He shrugged. “Alright, I can’t sense anything, but that doesn’t mean danger is not present. Even numbered seats- go west and approach from the north. Odd numbers, we go east and approach from the south.”
“Sir!” Izaemon nodded, the next ranked officer.
Kaname approached the building at a crouch, straining to hear- the brief nap Sajin had insisted on and six-pack of illicitly acquired 4th Division “Stamina Supplements” were doing what they could for him, but everything hurt and Suzumushi’s Bankai was even more draining than he’d anticipated and he could barely sense more than a few feet around him. But he found the door- Shuuhei was right, the Handle was starting to go out of alignment- Up and in, right? Yeah- and when nothing behind it exploded, he cautiously stepped in.
“Nobody ran out our side Sir!” Izaemon called and Kaname acknowledged him with a nod.
“What the hell IS this place?” Seventh-seat Akishita asked, looking around the room. This was the main floor of the laboratory, where the bulk of Aizen’s butchery was done- the whole place reeked of rotting flesh and sulfur- byproducts of the ‘Hollowfication Process’, and Kaname very nearly tripped on a groove gashed into the floor that hadn’t been there last time.
“That looks like an office or control room up there-” Kaname said, pointing to the partial second story that took up the west third of the building that he REALLY hoped was still there. “-Akishita, with me. Lets see if there’s a schematic or something.”
“Sir!” She agreed.
Oh good, it is still there. He thought, trying to not pant with pain- oh god, his eyes were burning and spine felt like it was actively dissolving he was so TIRED- He touched his watch, checking the time again.
24 minutes.
Come on, just a little more-
He got to the door at the top of the stairs, Akishita behind him.
“Are you alright Sir?” She asked.
“What?” He jerked towards her.
“You seem… really off today.” She frowned. He could sense the shape of her this close, and the way her hand on the hilt of her Zanpaktou. Maybe just resting, maybe not.
“I- I haven’t been sleeping well. Nightmares.” He gulped. That was actually entirely true. Still the nails sizzled louder and he winced. “-I -I might need to put in for sick leave when we get back.”
“You really should. You look awful.” She nodded, hand off the hilt.
Kaname nodded, and carefully opened the door into the control room. He felt Akishita turn, making sure nothing unexpected followed them as he stepped in- no traps, but a strange sort of coldness- not a draft, like a there was a block of ice in here-
The door slammed shut behind him.
“Heya Goggles!” a boy’s voice drawled behind him.
-Or a snake.
Kaname froze, skin going cold as Akishita called for him from the other side of the door.
“Gin?” He asked, trying to keep his voice even.
“She’s right, you look like shit!” the boy laughed, activating a Kido seal that barricaded them in the room. “-Boss sent me to talk to you because the CRAZIEST thing happened at the Captain’s meeting this morning!”
“-Please tell me Urahara’s latest crime against nature maimed him? I could use some good news.” Kaname groaned, complaining like usual, like nothing was wrong. There was more shouting from the main floor. He braced himself, feet under his shoulders, feeling Gin’s aura twist as he decided on an angle to strike from.
“Oh nah, Aizen-sama is wrapping things up and planting evidence over at the 12th right now, that’s why I’m here!” Gin laughed. “No, Your Boss Muguruma stopped everyone before Urahara’s demonstration to tell everyone about this report you submitted sayin’ several hundred people had vanished in West 66! The other haoris were all horrified, I tell ya- Captain Hirako just about shit bricks! Hollerin’ Aizen-sama’s ear off about it the whole way back to the fifth!”
Kaname gripped Suzumushi’s hilt.
“Oh now don’t be unfriendly! I even got somethin’ for ya!” Gin laughed, and tossed something his way. Knowing better than to catch anything he threw, Kaname waited for it to hit the floor-
PING!
-Stomach turning over as he recognized the metallic chime of Suzumishi’s ring.
“Neat trick by the way- Aizen must have spent ten hours turning over the fifth looking for the Hogyoku!!” Gin laughed. “-He didn’t actually find it neither, if it’s any consolation. But he has me, and I got…Abilities.” The boy leered as Kaname Swiped the ring from the ground- Suzumushi had been strangely quiet, and only now did he realize that at some point the sensory illusion of his Bankai had been reversed. Louder yelling from the main floor and the sound of Akishita preparing a Hakudo Kido to blow the door in on the other side.
“-Shit.” Kaname growled, reconnecting the ring to the hilt, Suzumushi whimpering in pain.
“Madder than a mosquito in a mannequin factory he is!” Gin chuckled, then surged forward. Even on a good day, Gin was nearly impossible to block and tonight-
“-Sorry goggles, but I got orders. Rikujokoru!” he hissed fingertips on kaname's sternum, and Kanane was slammed to the ground, six beams of Kido energy hitting his middle, paralyzing him completely.
“Aizen-sama says if you can get outta this and get home you can live, but if I’m honest, I don’t really like your odds-” Gin explained, walking over to the control panel and flicking it on, the machines whirring to life and something rumbling beneath them.
…Basement. Kaname realized. The boy said there was a basement- there wasn’t one last time?
There was a loud hissing as vents opened and gas streamed out of the floor into the main room, the sickening scent of rotting fruit comingled with melting plastic- The Hollowfication Compound? It’s a gas now!?
The shouting turned to screaming.
Oh God.
The screaming turned to roaring.
Oh god, no. Please-
“- 'Specially not now.” Gin leered, patting him on the shoulder as he turned to leave. “Bye-Bye! See you tomorrow-! …Maybe.”
Kaname could hear Gin leaving out the small fire window up at the roofline and he struggled, concentrating his reiatsu in his mouth to speak the counterspell- “-Horses of wind and gale, river of thread-
-Akishita screamed in the hall, and there was the terrible wet sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones-
“- By Shadow and storm, unbind me!” He hissed, and the spell dissipated with the loud sound of shattering glass. Kaname scrambled to his feet, standing up in time to feel the gaze of ten newly-turned hollows fall upon him. His watch pulsed against his wrist, the timer for 24 hours Going off.
“Well. I did say it would be over one way or another, didn’t I?” He grimaced, drawing Suzumushi as his former colleagues charged the plate glass that separated them.
---
Part two approximately whenever I finish it :)
#AEIWAM#an elephant is warm and mushy#kaname tosen#Kaname Tousen#mashiro kuna#kensei muguruma#Sosuke Aizen#gin ichimaru#Bleach#bleach fanfiction
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BG3 Companion Headcanons: Wicked Grace (Or, Well, Talis¹)
I got to thinking about what it would look like if we had a similar scene with the BG3 companions as the infamous Wicked Grace scene from Dragon Age: Inquisition. Enjoy:
Lae'zel: She doesn't really see the point of a game seemingly so dependent on chance rather than true strategy – she and Gale share a bonding moment over this – and refuses to participate after losing by an embarrassing margin in the first game. However, she does take a "strategic vantage point" from which to keenly observe the proceedings, and makes a private vow to win back her honor in future, after the sting of defeat has eased.
Astarion: He's the one who suggested the whole affair in the first place, but he quickly finds himself with cause to regret it. On the one hand, he ends up... enjoying himself to a certain degree, but on the other, he does not come out of it with anything near the unquestioned victory he expected. He's not used to playing against opponents with a comparable skill level, so his attempts to cheat his way to victory only succeed a fraction of the time. His stress levels increase after Lae'zel taps out and takes up haunting the table, and the inconsistency with which she calls out his cheating is worse for his nerves than if she did it every time.
Shadowheart: Astarion may have suggested the affair in the first place, but she's the one who manipulated him into it, by "casually" noting on a mission one day that it was a shame none of them had a deck to play with, as she was a great enjoyer of the game even though she had never had any great skill with it. In fact, such games were highly emphasized among Sharrans for their unparalleled utility in information gathering, manipulation, and subterfuge.
Gale: He starts out very certain of his skill and assured victory, then begins making several pointed comments about how it would be a different story if they were to bring out the lanceboard when he begins losing ground — and articles of clothing. He makes a decent showing for himself, but folds out just after the midpoint of the evening to join Lae'zel in treating the remaining players as the prime entertainment they are.
Wyll: He played with some of the Fist recruits as a teenager, but he's a little out of practice. He gets fleeced for the first few rounds, but settles into it, keeps his wits about him, and quietly gets his own back by the later rounds. He regularly catches his opponents off-guard with an unexpected quip, and Karlach has to excuse herself for an entire round after snorting ale out of her nose in a horrid mix of foul steam and boiling liquid. He apologizes vigorously, but can't stop laughing along with the rest of them, and it certainly doesn't make him stop.
Karlach: She's actually a brutal opponent, but unfortunately stymied by her recent experience being with the rulesets used by those devils willing to play in Avernus, and, prior to that, the heavily amended rules favored by the seedier neighborhoods of Baldur's Gate. No one – particularly not those currently winning – is willing to switch to a different set of rules in the middle of the evening, but Karlach makes them promise that next time, she gets to pick the ruleset. She calls it a night after the Ale Incident, clapping Wyll on the back before flopping down next to Gale and Lae'zel, and picking a new target to cheer on each round. (Her cheering is distracting enough that said targets are typically grateful when her attention lands on anyone else. This is on purpose. She is having a grand time.)
Minthara: She treats the initial invite with icy disdain, noting that she has far more productive things to do than to engage in such puerile pursuits. The camp is small enough that she can't entirely avoid the bright cluster of gathered individuals raucously ribbing at and laughing with each other. She ends up drifting nearer, noting that in Menzoberranzan they played for much more meaningful stakes than mere coin. Everyone's in a good enough mood to leave that one alone, and so she somehow ends up standing just behind Halsin's shoulder. She offers blunt and often biting commentary berating his strategy for being too hands-off, falling silent only when he wins that round — albeit with a gambit that would have lost him some fingers in Menzoberranzan. He looks at her with a gleam in his eye, but doesn't press his point, merely tilting his hand to allow her a better view, and they proceed to form a fairly successful team.
Halsin: He plays up his ignorance at first, claiming cards to be "an invention of civilization", but acquits himself with the skill of a reasonably accomplished dabbler. As the night wears on, he admits in a quiet, humor-laced aside that his master, the previous First Druid, was an inveterate card sharp, and Halsin's own skill was merely what he acquired in self-defense. When Minthara joins him, he ignores her more bloodthirsty suggestions, but incorporate those that suit his own strategy, culminating in an unpredictable, yet startlingly effective strategy.
Jaheira: She's brutal. A terror. They overlook her the first round – innocent, unknowing fools that they are – more focused on their own petty squabbles with one another. She smiles calmly, refuses to rise to any of the general ribbing, then sweeps the entire pot at the last minute with a play that leaves them all gaping at her. From that point, they are gunning for her in particular — and she makes them fight for every single copper they regain.
Minsc: No one is certain whether he knows what game they're playing. He will make absolutely absurd plays, then come in at the last with a card laid out on Boo's direction that somehow turns it around. His chaotic playstyle means he's never first — but he's also, inexplicably, never last.
¹ "Some games of skill are detailed below, but games of chance are also popular. Wagering on any sort of game is also a favorite pastime.... Talis Deck: A deck of seventy-eight cards, typically made of lacquered paper or parchment, in a wooden case. The deck is similar to a tarot deck." Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3E. 2001. p. 96.
#voidling speaks#headcanon#meta#my meta#bg3#halsin#minthara#wyll ravenguard#shadowheart#karlach#jaheira#minsc#astarion#gale dekarios#lae'zel
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roomies crafting dead headcanons:
Cleo is immune and regularly hunted because of it, eggs her enemies on but ends up hiding
Grian always has her back and regularly scouts out areas for them,master of stealth and subterfuge
Etho is the zombie that they keep on chains most of the time, sometimes they end up having to leave him but somehow he always finds them
#secret life#trafficblr#the crafting dead#hermitcraft#zombiecleo#grian#ethoslab#secret life spoilers
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Pal. God-tier headcanons, all day long. Thank you!!
And if you feel like having your brain picked: do you have headcanons for their cipher(s)? Because the concept has me feral. Like, Gortash giving Durge a device, an absolute mess of dials to change corresponding characters, so they can change the cipher they use periodically to avoid detection? Like Durge waking up with it because Orin could never figure it out and never stole it? I NEED it
Ahhhhh thank you!
I'm mentally unstable about these two!!! I need psychiatric help!!
But anyway.
That is SUCH a cute idea.
First off, that those dorks would have a private code, for just the two of them, like ok, you're like schoolyard besties, speaking pig latin.
but SECONDLY, because I think the fact that they were communicating in such a complicated way is interesting.
Gortash is a clever guy, a scheming guy, who loves subterfuge and political connections. But I highly doubt he was sending encrypted messages to just anyone. He was just sending regular old letters to Franc Peartree and Avery Sonshal or just whoever.
His plan with the Dark Urge was definitely more evil, and wide reaching, and required the utmost care, but.
But also.
I think they respected each other so much because of their intelligence.
Gortash didn't expect a Bhaalspawn to be so clever.
He was probably such a goddamn geek with them.
We already know that Ketheric indulged his machinery obsessions, because of this letter in his room that basically says Gortash here's a weird toy, have fun with it.
But what if the Dark Urge really understood him in a way no one else could?
What if he could actually talk about his projects and his plans, and workshop stuff with the Dark Urge, who was unusually eloquent and perceptive for a Bhaalspawn?
And the cipher...it shows how the two of them could connect to each other in the way they never connected with others.
It's not like Gortash's letters to Ketheric were in a cipher.
Or at least, not that I recall. correct me anyone, if I'm wrong.
So to go back to your idea of them having it with them... that'd also be so cute because maybe they just throw it in their chest and say well idk what that is...but then they run into notes from gortash written in cipher.
and then you can find your letters to and from him in his house and translate...that the two of you were...."very close."
let your imagination go wild there too.
Like honestly...honestly...these two giggling schoolgirls and their secret journals...
nerds. NERDS.
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I know you didn't include the sugar baby au on the list but also pls tell me everything about the sugar baby au
Well first of all, @catdadeddie made me do it.
Second of all: Eddie is rich (we will get into how and why in the fic, shhh just take my hand and follow me on this adventure) and given his role has to go to a fair amount of social functions, especially since given [redacted plot stuff] he does some charity work as well.
And. Hey. Have you seen Eddie?
Gorgeous, single, with an adorable kid and money? They're swarming him like flies. So Eddie, with zero interest in dating and not wanting to explain the issue of Shannon, hires someone to come to functions with him.
Enter Buck.
I headcanon, and have since the beginning, that Buck and Maddie have trust funds. It's the only way they can afford all that they do on their salaries, and it especially makes sense in how Maddie got away from Doug and it took him so long to track her. The number one reason abuse victims cannot leave is a lack of finances. They don't have the money, and any money they do have, their spouse can track (like a credit card in a joint account). Maddie being able to get across country without Doug knowing where she was until he resulted to subterfuge, and her ability to rent an apartment and buy a security system, speaks to an independent form of wealth, but nurses do not make that much and Doug, while rich as a surgeon, would not have let her have her own money. Ergo, a trust fund.
So in this fic, Buck does not have a trust fund, and needs extra cash. And hey, he's pretty, he's great company, he's already having a ton of sex - why not enter a sugar baby arrangement?
And when he meets Eddie? Oh. Fuck yes. Christmas came early.
Except apparently there will be no 'coming' because Eddie... just wants... it platonic...?
Cue Eddie falling in love, panicking about taking advantage of Buck and the power imbalance, and Buck desperately trying to make it clear he wants in Eddie's pants yesterday except uh oops he's also catching feelings.
Mwahaha.
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Do you think Sherlock disliking women is explained by the fact that he’s gay as the fandom asserts, or misogyny? The former makes little sense because being gay entails not being attracted to women, not *disliking* them as people
So this is very much headcanon and personal interpretation and reading things into the text, but I kinda think he dislikes women because of the nature of the setting. Sherlock likes authenticity. He's determined to be true to himself and he dislikes those who aren't (where William fits in this is a little wibbly-wobbly: technically speaking William has a lot to hide and uses a lot of subterfuge even if he avoids outright lying to Sherlock, but I think all of his responses to Sherlock come very much from different aspects of his real self, and Sherlock responds to that in turn.)
And of course, in the time period, there were such strict rules for everybody's behaviour, but women in particular would have very strict rules to live by and very particular goals they were pushed towards (marriage and children). Codes of dress and manners, and limitations on their professions, and specific expectations of what their lives would look like.
Combine Sherlock's desire for authenticity with a female populace that's been forced into a cookie-cutter mold, and he's going to be annoyed by a lot of them. And really, we barely see him interact with women at all. And the ones he does interact with, he likes as soon as he can get down to who they really are. Irene (just including them with the women in this instance as that's how Sherlock knew them at the time and how he was responding to them; sorry if that's not cool!) annoyed him until he was able to understand their true motivations and goals. Miss Hudson he always gets along with in a way I would call sibling-like (read: squabbling), but she never quite fits the mold anyway -- unmarried and self-sufficient and fierce. Again with Mary, he is guarded and perhaps standoffish until he can understand what she's really after and understand her reasons, and then he comes around.
So really, I don't think he actually dislikes women. I think he's put off by the shallow act society expects them to maintain, and it is on him that he rarely takes the time to dig deeper, but when he does, he makes friends with women pretty easily.
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Why ate you brainrotting me into a ship that dosen't doesn't exist nooooooooo
Imposter×izuru my beloved
YEAH. I AGREE. Here I'll talk more about it and drag you deeper into the hole
I feel like im despair Izuru hated the Imposter because they had become a perfect imitator. Any of their actual personality being suppressed for the sake of imitation. Like a sort of Ego Death. Izuru hated it because it was too reminiscent of himself. But after the NWP I think they begin to bond.
I mean this is all headcanon-
but I always saw Izuru as a pretty subservient being. I mean the Hope's Peak people probably wanted a good amount of control over him. So he's not really an active person. Needing someone to point him in whatever direction.
Contrasted with the Imposter who is naturally a leader. They care a whole lot about people because they're so good at reading people. And despite their feeling that they lack an identity, they still have aspects that shine through.
Izuru is supposed to be a new personality. A metamorphosis after Hajime Hinata had been completely erased. But Izuru cannot seem to form an identity. Think about it. He never really has anything he cares about, people he cares about, likes or dislikes. Even his constant stating that hes bored is just a statement of fact. Not really said with any malic.
While the Imposter is supposed to be nothing. Supposed to be someone who can become anything. And despite it. They have so much personality. They care about people, have a pension for leadership, love food and love their body. This isn't a person with no personality.
So they both fucked up what they were supposed to do. A person meant to be a void cares, and the person meant to care is a void.
That might be a source of jealousy between the two. It might not. But they're kind of polar opposites. The Imposter's understanding of people leads to them caring more for them. Willing to sacrifice themselves to save someone who they knew was dangerous. While Izuru understands people on such a deep level that he finds them boring. Disliking most people he interacts with and being generally apathetic. Being perfectly willing to sacrifice people around him.
And I think after the NWP, The Imposter starts to come into their own, since constantly pretending to be someone else is terrible for your mental health. They're not used to it at all. They take up a leadership role and kind of have a workaholic duo with Hajime and Izuru. Maybe the imposter also has a better time dealing with the Despair version of themself. Since they already are pretty good at compartmentalizing their identity.
While Izuru- I've spoken before how I think the return of Hajime Hinata to his headspace causes Izuru to like... Be able to be someone. Since the parts of his brain that were suppressed to destroy Hajime are reactivated- suddenly Izuru is like... Capable of feeling and caring for people, and having opinions and a personality. And i see them as a system too. So now Izuru is feeling all these things- is super overwhelmed and can't interpret any of them. And his headmate is there too and his emotions are even stronger.
And i imagine that Izuru has only one person who can possibly understand what it's like- The Imposter. So they have weird conversations with 12 layers of context and subterfuge. And then maybe they kiss as well.
It's literally because they are such great foils to eachother too. Like i wish it was brought up in canon cause they're sooooo similar and yet so different.
#i need to publish the fic I have where they keep talking to eachother#hajime third wheels his evil (not really) alter and his workaholic bud#like wow izuru so happy you have someone you can connect with. the only girl i ever loved was crushed by a tetris block but go you!!!#danganronpa#sdr2#the ultimate imposter#ultimate imposter#izuru kamukura#twokamu#anonymous#i love asks
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ahem ahem.. *taps microphone* Jess please feed us zehkan fans… *rolling tumbleweed goes by* Yeah. We will be eternally grateful. Any breadcrumbs.
Friends (aka Azra) call him Zee.
He's two inches taller than Barbatos (using whatever your headcanon height for him is).
He's sensitive to noise/sound and has exceptionally good hearing.
He's not as strong/agile as other demons; his skills are more useful for subterfuge.
When he attended RAD, his best subjects were History, Law and Math; his worst were Seductive Speechcraft and Art.
He likes listening to cursed records.
He doesn't drink Demonus.
In terms of relationships/intimacy, he tends to go for one night stands (usually at/near the club, he doesn't take anyone home with him).
Character inspirations: Satan + Barbatos with a dash of Belphie.
Maybe I'll dabble with his bio page after work since I don't have any written content for him right now.
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Ok so little headcanon here but we already know that after his terrible 1600s Hob stashed money places but I could imagine him being like that with other things too. Tendency to obsess about possible worse case scenarios by planning for just in case and squirreling things away for just in case. I bet he really enjoys prepping kind of stuff but from a logical fear that comes from experience.
On a related note I imagine dealing with Hob with prep time would be a formidable force to reckon with.
Edit additional thought: Like with Hob he has two outlets with dealing with the trauma of past deprivation: 1. He tries to accrue as much enough wealth in excess. 2. He is in scrupulously resourceful and self sufficient, stashes things and has back up plans for back up plans. Some of his habits from his hard times stick or come back when he’s stressed. I imagine he’s pretty private about it though and it wouldn’t be something most people noticed because he’s good at subterfuge in general and would maybe feel self-conscious about it.
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Playing new Vegas again and wanted to make another legion courier drawing so here. In my headcanon the courier inherits the legion either through subterfuge by killing ceasar or just becoming legate/inherit the role of Kaiser from ceasar before his death. The courier from here would turn the legion from a tribal faction to more like the brotherhood of steel focusing on getting more pre war technology and also expansion with him using Mr houses securitrons in the army by getting a modified yes man program to take over the luck 38 and fort bunker securitrons. He would also rework the legions government to include citizenship and other such aspects from the early Roman republic having local councils for each settlement within the legion with high ranking members of the legion plus slaves being able to gain citizenship as well. Overall under his rule ceases idea of synthesis would occur with the technology obsession like the brotherhood the expansion and military culture of the legion and the old world republican governmental elements like the ncr. He would make the legion prosper and establish a clear line of succession with his successor being vulpes inculta his right hand man. He would also allow Vegas to continue the gambling industry gaining control of all revenue from the casinos as more and more legion citizens came to the new capital. Eventually he would die at the age of 65 on a campaign in the east with vulpes taking his place and continuing most of his polices.this is all just an idea of an au/head cannon courier idea I had for a while and here it is laid bare for all to see.
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I think a lot about Leo’s tendency to push his way into the spotlight despite clearly being a natural in the shadows. Hell, you could argue that his worst moments are when he’s forcing himself onstage, and his best are when he does things no one notices until it’s already been done.
#rottmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt leo#rottmnt headcanons#rise leo#His aptitude with subterfuge sleight of hand stealth and speed really push how being a ninja really comes naturally to him.#it’s arguable that his desperation for the spotlight and validation is an act of subterfuge against himself#note that when he’s offered a job as a mascot he’s fine being unknown#when he and splinter win the battle nexus Leo immediately says ‘they love YOU pops’#idk I think so much about how good a ninja Leo is#and how much his persona is more an actor#Leo as a tot is shown a natural skill at katana too so hear me out-#every Leo is a natural ninja but every Leo’s route in life is directly tied to their splinter so#since rise splinter is an actor Leo too aims for it#and he brings it into his whole life - masking always because a Leo makes what they do who they are#I think that Leo naturally falls more in line with that of a typical ninja#his eccentric performer self is his subterfuge skill just set to an 11 at all times#not that that’s NOT him - like I said it’s still undoubtedly a part of Leo#but? idk I think about little moments like Leo being the only one to choose stealth in bug busters#or Leo being the only one to almost get Gus’s dog tags in The Ninja Art of Hide and Seek (he was so close but luck was against him alas)#like- he’s clearly in his element there and he falls into those skills so easily#it’s like how everyone has skills in so many things but some exceed more in some than others do#like Raph? Raph’s the biggest Hero of the bunch of them let’s be perfectly real here. Raph is THE Hero#All the boys are smart in their own rights but Donnie is THE Genius.#and they all have mystic powers but Mikey is THE Mystic Warrior with immense untapped potential#likewise Leo I feel is THE Ninja#but yeah I love how much Leo goes for the spotlight anyway for better or for worse#he IS a performer again make no mistake! but again the way he does it still lines up with his natural ninja aptitude and I love it#Leo loving magic tricks and magicians so much works doubly well here because like#you’d think he’s focused solely on the performance flair - no it’s ALSO and ESPECIALLY the DECEPTION
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“…stealth and subterfuge…Stealth! And subterfuge! Data!”
“What?”
Nashi could only just understand the partially scrambled voice of the other nezumi. Even so, there was no mistaking the cybernetic rat’s playful tone. Data’s metallic tail whipped back and forth as Nashi spoke once more:
“I know that look in your eye, even if it’s glowing now. And as your…doctor…? Mechanic. Yeah. As your mechanic, I suggest you stick to the shadows, if you don’t want to have to keep coming back for repairs.”
“Aw, come on, Nashi,” Data groaned. “What’s the point of you rebuilding me with muscles…motors to spare, if I can’t even use them?”
Nashi adopted a deadpan expression and said, “The point is, so you won’t get stuck under your own bike again. Which, need I remind you, is why I needed to ‘rebuild’ you in the first-”
“Ah, well, it was such a long time ago!” Data chuckled nervously.
“It was last week.”
“…And another thing! It’d be a real shame, if I didn’t get to make use of this new sword I bought!”
“What sword- Whoa!”
Nashi scrambled back as Data dropped an enormous energy blade on the ground before him. Data gave a smug nod, but Nashi merely shook his head at the weapon.
“Data…I can’t let you carry that around. Even with metal parts, I’m not sure you could handle the long-term strain of swinging it.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“Have you even tried using it, yet?”
“…It’ll be fine.”
Nashi planted his feet and folded his arms. “If you walk out the door with that thing in hand, I won’t fix you up anymore.”
“What? But, you’re the only one I trust to-”
“I know.”
After a brief standoff, Data kicked the blade away by its handle. Her voice scrambler did little to mask her defeated sigh.
“Thank you, Data.”
“Yeah, yeah,” grumbled the metallic mouse. “And just what are you going to do with that thing, if you’re so worried about me using it?”
“Hopefully nothing!” Nashi laughed, as he watched Data grumpily stomp out the door.
[Headcanon: a lot of Kamigawans think they can take on the world once they get their first cybernetics. While they are usually much stronger and faster than before, there are still limits.]
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Writer truth or dare game: 🌻🍄❄️
🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis
@iamterra because I remember following him on deviantart back in what must have been 2009 when I was first getting into yugioh, and we don't talk a lot or often, but it's always nice to see him on dash or pop up in my activity when we do cross paths <3 ^_^
honorary mention to @saavikam77 for being in my activity day and night liking away, it always brings a smile to my face to see you even though I haven't posted about legends of tomorrow for about 7 years <3
🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings
hard hard hard because who do I choose?
I'm going to go obscure because of my very current brainworms having played through the ace attorney games recently and losing myself in an AO3 black hole and go with a GumWorth headcanon (that feels pedestrian to say given my fic consumption but might feel a bit shocking to the uninitiated)
Miles Edgeworth's persistent verbal degradation of Detective Gumshoe in court and during investigations is at least 75% a Bit and a negotiated part of their D/s dynamic and the reason Gumshoe gives such bad testimony is because he's concealing a semi most of the time-
❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?
another difficult difficult lemon difficult question to answer but I like the big strokes of intricate political subterfuge and backstabbing combined with desperate and/or dubious consent that would look so good inside a post-canon Fire Nation capital city but who knows where @lovelyelbowleech's endgame for the All's Fair series will end up
#alectoperdita#asks#ask games#thank you!!#if feel like i'd be telling on myself on main if I expanded further on these haha
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I’ve been thinking again about the disparity in the way Janeway and Seven perceive their relationship and it’s got me in my feels again. Specifically I’m thinking (again) of the episode where Seven’s dying (7x02, Imperfection) and Seven tells Janeway that she believes her death will be difficult for Janeway to accept - because she believes that Janeway views her as a project that’s been unfulfilled.
and look I scream about this every other day I’m on my J7 bullshit so I’m sorry to be doing it again but this is so significant? Seven is incapable of subterfuge - as incapable as she is of recognizing love, particularly when she’s the subject of that love. She’s genuinely so torn up about how her death is going to affect Janeway that she’s trying to ameliorate her feelings about it in advance by telling her that the incompletion of the Seven of Nine project is Seven’s own fault, rather than Janeway’s.
Just - what do you think this means for Seven down the line? How long do you think it took her to understand? How much human experience did she have to acquire, how much love did she have to feel and have bestowed upon her, before she could recognize it for what it was with the benefit of hindsight? If only in my own headcanon, there is a reason why Seven doesn’t talk about Janeway in the Picard era, and I think it goes beyond even the reasons we haven’t been given - except between the lines - for their separation from each other.
#seven! just! doesn't! understand! how much! janeway! loves her!!!!!#can you imagine what she'd be driven to do to protect her once she does? bc i can!#aside from the borg - janeway is THE wound at the heart of seven that will never heal#j7#my meta
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I fell in love with @pdrrook Perfumare VN and IFs. While I'm still looking forward to seeing the rest of the story in Perfumare: Amalgam. I also got excited learning about the sequel Perfumare: Amalgam and came up with some concept art and info for my Shapeshifter MC, Gloria Jardin. I'm kind of jumping the gun ik, but I couldn't help it! I'm not sure how things will play out for Gloria, so I'll probably wind up having multiple routes saved like I did for my Allure MC, Liz Morren. Here's my info for Gloria so far. I'll probably wind up changing things once the sequel is officially released.
Name: Gloria Jardin
Animal form: Swan
Pronouns: she/her
Preferences: Bisexual
Birthday: January 24th
Height: 5ft10”/177.8cms
Appearance: A tall ethnically mixed woman, in her late twenties with a chestnut complexion and a dancer's build. A square shaped face with a cleft chin, full mouth and brown almond shaped eyes, her natural hair is black and coily, but as a Shapeshifter she can change her hair and eye color whenever it suits her mood. As does her fashion sense, and she's collected a pretty eclectic wardrobe over the years, depending on her mood and the occasion. From sleek suites paired with colorful avant-garde accessories to more theatrical clubbing outfits that could rival a Las Vegas show girls costume. Although she usually wears some sort of accessory or stylistic touch that has feathers or resembles swans.
Notable Features: A little gap in her front teeth, and long toned legs.
Personality: Gloria comes across as a classy, confident, intelligent and vibrant woman. Although it would surprise people to learn she went through an “ugly duckling” phase as a child. Considering the expectations put on her by her family growing up, she always felt like she never quite fit. In a way her childhood was similar to Laurent's trying so hard to be the “dutiful child ” to meet expectations and approval, and yet she was miserable. Although being away from her family ment Gloria finally got a chance to do things for herself and learn who she was as a person. Discovering she was Tier 4 Shape Shifter was kind of a relief actually. Well mostly she's still under watch from the government considering higher tier Shapeshifter's can potentially impersonate important people like government officials ect.
Although despite the fact that her gift is often associated with subterfuge and misdirection, Gloria herself tends to be a pretty honest person. She's wasted so much of her childhood trying to be what others wanted her to be, and it made her miserable. She's done with that bs, and she's not going to apologize for existing anymore! Although she does have enough class to recognize and apologize if she hurts someone. Even unintentionally by saying something thoughtless or blunt. Also, she still keeps enough social etiquette to show restraint when necessary. Although this does make her appreciate the fact she can take an animal from more. For Gloria, being able to turn into a Swan is cathartic, as she's not bound by the same rules as polite society if even for a little bit. She can fly, swim, and even bite people who piss her off.
Many people are often surprised to learn that she's friends with Alois Becker aka Marco and considers him like family. While Gloria did have a party girl phase and often went out dancing with Marco, she usually tries to keep him from doing anything too reckless that could get him seriously hurt. Although Gloria is fully capable of causing her share of havoc, she just prefers to be more discreet by Shape shifting into her swan form. While swans are very elegant and graceful birds, they have a huge wingspan and have been known to bite, so she can still do some serious damage if so inclined.
Thankfully, she's usually not as aggressive and reckless as Marco, although she sometimes feels more like an older sister/ young stepmother just trying to keep him from accidently getting himself killed. Although Marco will sometimes complain about Gloria becoming less “fun” as they've gotten older he appreciates the fact she cares enough to try, and the fact she's the only person who's always honest with him. Even though it means he usually gets roasted for being an idiot.
Headcanons & Additional info
Her name is a reference to a brand of perfumes, specifically Gloria Vanderbilt's Jardin à New York, which has a Swan debossed on the bottle.
When it comes to her personal scent preferences, Gloria likes to use classic floral perfumes, particularly ones that smell like Gardenia.
Her Swan form is based on Mute Swans. Although she has been known to also take the form of Cygnet, since baby swans are so cute and fluffy. Perfect for when she wants others to lower their guard or needs to squeeze into smaller spaces.
Gloria has always been fond of dancing and even took ballet lessons for many years. It's actually how she first met and befriended Alois/Marco. They were enrolled in the same dance class and performed well together when partners. Even during Gloria's party girl phase, she often helped choreographed dance routines for the clubs that made them both the life of the party.
This also unfortunately fed into some of those “gold digger” rumors about her. Alois/Marco always likes to make an entrance, and what better way to ensure an audience than to show up with a tall, gorgeous woman who could pass for a model. Even though he only sees Gloria as a friend and sister figure, he's more than happy to play wingman, and likewise, Gloria is sociable enough to introduce him to actual super models. He can also act as protection in case drunken creeps try to hit on Gloria and don't take rejection well, which is sadly often. Alois/Marco's efforts to keep Gloria safe wind up unintentionally damaging her social reputation. Since many of these creeps also come from well-off families and don't get the fact that Gloria prefers Alois/Marco's company because he's her friend and respects her personal boundaries. They just assume she's only with him because he's got more money and/or his family owns the club.
Since Shapeshifters often have to thoroughly study an animal before they can take its shape, Gloria winds up developing an interest in swans and other birds. She has become a bit of an amateur Ornithologist and can even accurately mimic bird calls.
Gloria also has a love of learning and academics and in addition to being taught French by her family, she's become fluent in speaking, reading and writing many classical languages as well; Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Latin and Sanskrit.
She probably winds up getting a job in an academic field, which can be exciting for Gloria because she gets to learn so many new and fascinating things and earn new doctorates. It also means she struggles to be taken seriously since she's a lot younger than others in her field, not to mention it's difficult to get resources for research unless she's studying a subject that already has government funding, or wealthy patrons deem profitable. Not to mention her reputation for honesty means she often butts heads with higher ups on things like censorship and propaganda.
#Perfumare Amalgam#pfm#sequel MC#Shapeshifter: Gloria Jardin#mc concept art#she's just so pretty 😭#Gloria comes across as more mature than Marco#and for the most part she is#but she still can cause mayhem as a Swan#swans are very pretty and have a lot of romantic folklore and symbols#but they're also large and will cause problems if they don't like u#it's funny to imagine Swan Gloria chasing SPD agents#like in the goose game#she's going to cause so many problems for the different LIs on their various saves#like no wonder Alan is such a mess#he fumbled a relationship with an intelligent and gorgeous woman who loves ballet!#Alan is already an old man emotionally#he'd definitely sit on a park bench feeding the birds and watching the swans because he missed his ex#nino having to deal with the fact she develops feelings for an enemy#but also the fact Gloria is so tall#and as a Swan she's the same height as Nino#Flavo also has some fun potential#not only because it's funny to imagine him being chased by an angry swan#but because the relationship could potentially parallel Swan Lake#Flavo hunting and keeping tabs on a Shapeshifter because of his job#only to realize the Swan he's keeping tabs on turns into a beautiful woman that resents being shackled#hopefully none of Gloria's romances end as tragically as Odettes
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