#topical headcanons

[antvnger]

((Scott’s not a fan. He’s not really into any of that. Cassie wanted a rat and a tarantula and an iguana as pets, among other things. Scott’s like you can have the tarantula.

The only rat he likes is the one that happened to help him get out of the Quantum Realm and honestly that’s it.))

Questions about Scott

[compassionatekiller]

💭 has he made her proud

Topical Headcanons

Is Unohana proud of Kenpachi Zaraki?

After she had inflicted that terrible crime on him, Unohana had not been able to be in the same room as Zaraki without feeling a brand new wave of disgust and self-loathing. She couldn't bear to look at him, so strong was the reminder of her shame. The ache of her scar would forever be a reminder of her great sin.

And his fights! Every time he came back nearly dead against an opponent who should have been a joke to him, she had to choke back the vitriol she felt. Every time he returned with eleven new scars to show from a fight that should have been over with a flick of his wrist, her bile rose. Yet, with every near catastrophe, another chain was broken, another step in the right direction taken. With every near death experience, he became that much more alive than he had been in centuries.

Then the fated day finally came. They clashed and they killed and they died. They met, fell, and rose again and again. They fought and they grew and they regained what they had both lost that day. They laughed and laughed and laughed.

And then he ran her through.

Most of the time, that is where the story ends. She dies in Muken, finally undoing her one great sin, smiling fondly at the man she left behind.

In other times, in other places, some factor or another enables her survival. She lives to learn things she could not before; that he had finally learned the name of his Zanpakuto, that he had attained bankai, that he was not satisfied by what he'd regained. She learned that he was even stronger than before, and was only growing stronger still. She learned he had not settled for stagnation.

Is Unohana proud of Kenpachi Zaraki?

Yes, she is extremely proud of him. And the best part? If he continued down that path of improvement, if he continued to strive for ever-further heights, and most of all, if he continued to indulge in that pure joy that could only be found in battle, then he could only make her prouder yet.

[compassionatekiller]

💭 + Her present feelings on the past days of being the first Kenpachi. Does she ever wish to embrace those times again?

Topical Headcanons

Okay, so this is actually super interesting. Kenpachi, as a title, only transfers to someone when they defeat the previous owner in open combat. Yet, the fact is that Unohana only ever lost to Zaraki and Zaraki alone. This means that the second person to officially bear the title of Kenpachi is also the only one who didn't earn it. The entire legacy of Kenpachi after her was based on her charity, not on her supposed successor's achievement. This was almost certainly done to distance herself from Yachiru as much as possible (can't really move on from your murder phase if you keep wearing the "I am the Best Murderer" badge), but it does paint things in a really weird light.

I think, ultimately, that Unohana never considered herself to not be Kenpachi up until Zaraki killed her in Muken. She didn't call herself Kenpachi anymore so that she could live fully as Retsu, but I doubt that she would have considered the people who carried the title forward before Zaraki arrived to have been legitimate purely because she just gave the title away.

In her mind, there have only ever been two Kenpachi: herself and Zaraki. Everyone else was, at best, a tool to keep the name Kenpachi-and the meaning behind it-alive until her true successor came along and managed to really earn it. So to her, since no one ever properly defeated her, she never stopped being Kenpachi until Zaraki beat her.

Now, does she ever miss being Yachiru full time? Yes, absolutely. She's found a new kind of meaning as Retsu, but Yachiru was the part of her that allowed her to feel joy and happiness for the first time. Healing people is nice, taking care of others has become as important to her as taking lives once was, but...well, you can take the stripes off a tiger, but that doesn't make it not a tiger. She still holds those times in high regard and is extremely fond of those memories, even if they were retroactively tainted by her One Big Mistake.

Does she miss those days? Sure, but not so much that she'd give up everything she's gained since then. It may have started in shame, but she's come to treasure her life as Retsu just as much as she treasures the memory of Yachiru. Of course, her ideal scenario would be one where she could embrace the indulgences of Yachiru while still equally embracing the caretaking of Retsu, but that's only possible in AUs where she survives that climactic duel.

[compassionatekiller]

💭 + Hobbies

Topical Headcanons

Oof, this is a hard one for me. I'm certain that there is some listing out there that gives a brief mention of her canon hobbies I could use to base my headcanons around, but I haven't been able to find it. I try to keep the basics of my Unohana close to canon, so take what I write here with a grain of salt; it's liable to change if I find something official that invalidates it.

So, with that out of the way, what would a woman like Unohana consider "a hobby"? Well, for one, I think Unohana would be a weapons enthusiast, especially if one factors Zanpakuto into the mix. I can definitely see her examining and perusing all the wonderfully weird weaponry that the Living Word has managed to put out over the centuries, to say nothing of all the myriad ways that Zanpakuto manifest. I think Unohana would get a real kick not only from learning just how zany it can all get, but also in figuring out how she could best utilize all of them in a real fight were she able to manifest them herself.

I also like to think that Unohana has a real knack for cooking, most likely having been inspired by Hikifune. Ironically, however, Unohana is best at cooking only the most unhealthy of foods. When I say that, I don't just mean cookies, candies, and confectionary delights. I mean deep fried deep fry. I mean artery-blockers. I mean literal heart-stoppers. The more unhealthy it is, the better she is able to make it. I dunno, I'm just a bit tickled at the twist on her typical capital-m Mom image.

Also, in the absence of any evidence otherwise, I also like to think that Unohana really, really likes to shop for clothes. Specifically, she likes to shop for outfits that she can synchronize with Isane. Isane is beautiful as balls, and Unohana will show the rest of Soul Society that no matter how many malls she has to empty to do it! The outfits she chooses are always flattering, but they really run the gamut from Nanao to Matsumoto in how daring they are.

[compassionatekiller]

💭 + Your zanpakuto

Topical Headcanons

Alright, so a little mini-confession before I get on to the actual headcanon: I actually really like the design for Minazuki that it was given in the Zanpakuto Rebellion filler arc, so that's the design I use for Minazuki on this blog.

With that out of the way, Minazuki doesn't talk. Like, at all. It doesn't speak, it doesn't yell, it doesn't whimper, it doesn't grunt; Minazuki makes absolutely no noises whatsoever. In fact, if it's addressing Unohana, it doesn't make any outward sign that it's attempting to communicate at all. Yet despite that, Unohana always perfectly understands what Minazuki is trying to get across, and it is the subject of many a rumor as to how exactly she does that.

As an aside, Unohana adores Minazuki. Call it close camaraderie or call it narcissism, she dotes on her Zanpakuto Spirit as if it were Isane. She trust Minazuki completely and has absolute confidence in any advice that it provides her. After all, no one will ever be able to understand her as well as Minazuki does.

[compassionatekiller]

💭 + thoughts on Yamamoto's death :)))

Topical Headcanons

Just getting right in there, huh?

Unohana thought the world of Yamamoto. She didn't always agree with his policies or decisions, but he was still the man who (somehow) managed to get Soul Society's most unhinged lunatic at the time of its founding to not only bend the knee, but keep that knee bent for thousands of years. Yamamoto, Isane, and Zaraki are the three most important people in her life, so she was devastated to learn he'd fallen against Ywach. However, if we're only considering the canon timeline where Unohana dies a few thousand deaths against Zaraki, she also likely didn't have time to fully process it. Maybe I'm just not remembering it right, but wasn't the timeframe between "oops Yamamoto's gone" and "hey Unohana go get Zaraki and kill each other in this here murder pit" pretty damn short? Whatever trauma she could have felt for Yamamoto's death was probably consumed by her giddiness at finally fixing her mistake.

That being said, for my AU where she survived, it takes her a long time to fully get over it. She'd have transferred her loyalty to Kyoraku, considering he gave her the one thing Yamamoto never dared to, but she'd still spend a good number of years internally comparing the two. The simple fact of the matter is that Unohana spent the vast majority of her life in service to Yamamoto, whether that was as a killer or a healer, so any change to that seemingly-eternal status quo would be strange for her.

That being said, there is one thing I think I should note about Unohana's loyalty: whether it is directed at Yamamoto or Kyoraku, it is absolute, but it is not unquestioning. If Unohana has her doubts about what her superiors are doing, she has no problem giving voice to those doubts. She actually sees it as her duty to do so; as a loyal soldier, it is far more important to give honest advice than merely agreeable advice. She knows better than anyone that simply because one leads Soul Society, it doesn't make them all-knowing. Thus, if her giving voice to her concerns can perhaps provide them with a perspective they hadn't considered or better formulate their responses to such concerns, then that is far more important and valuable than just shutting up and doing as she's told.

That being said, she will do as she's told if it's the Captain-Commander telling her to do so. After her concerns are voiced, after all opinions are heard, whatever the order happens to be, she will obey it. That's just the sort of person she is.

[compassionatekiller]

💭 + humanity

Topical Headcanons

If you asked Unohana what she thought of humanity as a whole, she'd tell you that they're worth defending and leave it at that. Sure, she might attempt to explain her reasoning if you pressed the issue, but you wouldn't get any of the usual generalizations such as "human's are generally good" or whatever. You also wouldn't hear her going in the opposite direction by saying anything like "humanity's worth saving despite being inherently cruel". She wouldn't say either such thing because she doesn't believe either such thing.

To Unohana, just about the only blanket statement you can make about humanity is that humanity is too complex for a blanket statement about them to be accurate. Any attempt to try to do so does nothing but reveal the personal opinion of the speaker; it isn't any more true than just saying "I like this" or "I don't like that" without any context. A million different people will have a million different opinions, and each of those opinions will have a million examples that prove it and a million more that disprove it.

That being said, humanity is worth defending to Unohana because if too many of them die unexpectedly the universe will implode. And that's bad. The fact that even this is an opinion that not everyone shares just goes to prove her point.

[compassionatekiller]

💭+favorite time of the day and why

Topical Headcanons

Once upon a time, there was a young girl who had no name. This girl with no name had a sword, and she used that sword to fight people bigger than her. There were a lot of people bigger than her, but they couldn't fight as well as she could, so she killed them and moved on. With every big person she killed, she got better at using her sword. The better she got at using her sword, the more big people she could kill.

One day, she came across a big man with no hair in an old building. This man also had a sword, just like her. He wasn't using it, though. Instead, he just sat in the middle of that old building with his eyes closed. When the girl entered, the man told her to leave. He told her that this was a place for warriors, not killers.

"But you have a sword too!" said the girl.

"I do. The difference is that my sword is not meant to kill." said the man.

"Then what is it for?" asked the girl.

The man drew his blade and said "Come, and I will show you. My name is Tenchi. What is yours?"

The question stung the girl, for she did not have a name, and she could not answer. Instead, she drew her sword and charged at the bald man. He was strong, but the girl was stronger than he was, just like she was stronger than all the big people. He didn't even manage to scratch her before her sword had gone through his gut.

The moon shone threw a hole in the roof as the big man collapsed to the ground. Though she was not fully grown, it cast her shadow across the floor until it covered her fallen foe. As the blood splattered from her blade and the moon rose ever higher, the girl had an epiphany. The dying man gasped as he asked her "Who are you?"

The girl smiled, for now she had a name.

"Retsu."

Violent.

Unohana's favorite time of the day is 9:32 pm.