A question for the day, for shinigami and other zanpakuto welders...
It is wildly understood that when a shinigami becomes aware of their zanpakuto spirit, to NOT call its name is cruel.
Ignoring a zanpakuto's cries to become shikai can destroy the mind and spirit of both shinigami and zanpakuto, correct? @kenpachisuggestions, don't answer this one. I mean MOST normal shinigami. Because, in essence, the zanpakuto represents something true about your own soul. Denying your zanpakuto is to deny yourself, essentially.
What would you do--you, personally, don't consider me in this equation--if you discovered your zanpakuto had a power that most people considered vile and disgusting? A prime example might be poison. We know at least two poison welders, do we not? My colleague @gin-suggestions and, of course, @kurotsuchisuggestions. Obviously, Gin kept the poison part of his zanpakuto a secret... meanwhile Captain Kurotsuchi simply embraces all of its implications and ugliness.
What would you have done, if you were sitting in Academy one day while everyone else around you--your friends, people you like and respect--are discovering that their zanpakuto spirits are various forms of bashing people over the head or slicing them to smithereens, and you got something completely different--some much, much darker? Something, perhaps... evil.
Do you accept it and keep it a secret?
Do you full-on embrace it?
What's the worst power you can imagine? Is there a power you would say "no" to, even if it meant losing your own mind to deny it?