Consider This A Small Starter Call.

"You're losing my interest and that's very dangerous." Usami to Ogata

interest came in many forms.

for the privates of the 7th division, interest could only be defined by the free-fall act of rebellion coiling in the guts of their infantry, the belly of it all. a less prominent interest, but existing altogether within the rows and rows of hungry men looking for recognition was, undoubtedly, the merciful caress of their first lieutenant’s hand.

like a kid searching for their father’s approval, soldiers lined up for morning call expecting to hear or witness first lieutenant tsurumi’s fanfare, the speeches that could go on for hours on end, basking in the sound of his own voice. ogata could almost see it, had wanted it for a while before he’d found something else - amber eyes, the asymmetry of a war-scarred face - to keep his rapt attention and stomach well-fed.

usami doesn’t seem the type who’d rather look anywhere else. their gazes meet, locked in place by the silent feeling of recognition: he saw in usami’s expression a familiar sort of necessity, the kind he’d found himself stepping back into every time he brought a dead bird back home, in ibaraki. whether tsurumi glanced back and gave usami the attention he sought for, that’s entirely up for debate. he doubted it would be any more different than appraisal, the kind that officers perform routinely with every new stock of mosin-nagants.

it’s only then that be becomes aware of the thickening smell of antiseptic, gunpowder and death. an amused smirk tugs at his lips, voice falling a few octaves, words slurred by the remnants of anaesthesia lingering in his system. “dangerous, for who?”

“prey animals don’t turn their backs to their predators. it's in their best interest, don't you agree?”

@muddsludge

thinking about how aizen makes it seem like a complex thing that he "looks down" on everyone but when you boil down everything that he's said and done all that he really means is that he's alone. his character shares this detail with gojo and makima, the feeling of isolation that comes with the crushing weight of power that goes beyond your peers' understanding, perfectly summarized by "the night beyond the tricornered window" quote:

"…for instance, the flower is beautiful. but if you don't know the words flower and beautiful, not only will you not be able to see beauty, you can't even see the flower."

it's nearly impossible for him to properly form a bond with someone who's not even able to see him, not past him, not his power, not his reiatsu. to him the soul society existed in a reality that restricted him, a system to which he was only tolerable so long as he submitted to its rules, but once he paced close to the boundaries he's handled as a threat.

i don't think there's really any "redeemable" part about him because redemption comes with change, change is not stagnant and although he is restrained his nature can't really be changed. it's like asking a snake to cut its fangs so it can live among mice. there's no real belonging in there.

it's only among those of close-range strength to his that he might come to feel like he's among equals, the illusion of companionship and isn't that ironic? that the zanpakuto, shaped from his soul and very core, is able to shift the reality as we know it with our senses?

anyway i just think that no matter what there'll always be a divide bewteen him and others not from conscious action but the natural rejection to that which doesn't care to understand you.

maybe you've noticed already but i love writing villains, the deranged, the antagonists, the self-proclaimed masterminds falling into a pit of madness and self-destruction.

Ulquiorra’s jjk verse could be that he's a special grade curse born from the feelings of emptiness and void. souls of people who have been consumed by the void are the primary source of his energy. I'm assuming all the espada are special grade curses just like how they are the highest rank in their own verse. Anyways, will also be assuming that in this verse Aizen is still a drop out and recruits him along the other curses. this is not the main verse but a war that took place decades or hundreds of years before the main events, so somewhere between heian and modern day. His state in present jjk-verse is a dormant curse that has been affixed to a sword, just like his other 9 "comrades" and are kept in the hidden inventory at hq.

long time no see, my son

mother?

he said, with bad intentions

❛ so i suppose that it gets to a point where feelings gotta get hurt. ❜ (sasayama @ kogami ! )

load of bullshit.

the thought had been nagging at him all night, worming its way into the corner of his mind despite how often he told himself that these things didn’t matter to him, that he’d grown past the judgement of prioritizing his profession above expectations. it’s partially true. kogami’s focus drifted from his drink, the cheap can of beer resting atop worn out wood of a table that’d seen better years.

he knew he’d already had two to three beers too many, but that doesn’t stopping from swirling the half empty can of Sapporo beer between taut muscle, fingertips searching for anything solid that could ground him and keep him away from jabbing at sasayama’s back.

‘ i might have been glad to see you’ve fared well after your discharge, but now i don’t know. now i think you just piss me off. ’ no real bite in his words.

any other time in years past he would’ve obliged, perhaps dated the girl — a petite thing, charming smile, lean in the face, makes your stomach churn at the sigh. stealing moments together. he would’ve liked it back then, because it made him feel older, like he had his life under control.

funny how fast everything can change.

well, everything except sasayama. kogami hardly expects to hear an apology, sees the end of this teasing far outside his reach that perhaps the ordinariness of this evening makes kogami be more himself now that he’s ever been. he takes deep swig of his beer, making a halfhearted attempt to quiet down the pounding in his head since the moment he’d been masked with the question: will you take the leap or will you go on pretending that all there is to life is to sit behind a monitor and run drills, scan people’s faces from the better end of the dominator.unfair to her, should he play the role of pretender.

‘ figured i’d let her know, in case it got her hopes up for nothing. you’re one to judge. at the very least, i’m not the womanizer who can’t keep hands to himself. ’

@lustraveil

pleased to announce that i've added yoshida, aki and yoru to my muselist

obsessed with how nearly all the espadas joined aizen for their own interestes or begrudgingly obey him bc he overpowers them, while ulquiorra just like genuinely likes aizen for some reason