Have a Bleach extended-winter-war time-travel-fix-it idea. In this AU Kaien's death happened before the whole turn-back-the-pendulum arc. (Yes, another Bleach time-travel AU, I know, shut up.)
As Ichigo and Kisuke are planning to go back to the past, Kisuke makes sure to emphasize to Ichigo that they have to protect Shiba Kaien. Apparently, it's of the utmost importance.
Ichigo doesn't know exactly how Kaien's continued well-being plays into saving the future. Kisuke never really explains it, or gives him a straight answer when he asks. But Ichigo knows that the Shiba Clan-Head carried a great deal of political power, and Ichigo also knows that Kaien -- according to Kukaku and Rukia -- was highly competent, incredibly noble, and fundamentally kind. It's not exactly unintuitive that a person like that could be important to bringing down Aizen.
So Ichigo listens, when Kisuke tells him to protect Shiba Kaien. He memorizes how Kaien died in the original timeline. He's attentive as Kisuke reiterates for the thousandth time that Aizen will keep trying to assassinate Kaien until he succeeds. He takes notes when Kisuke hypothesizes about what Aizen's various assassination attempts might look like -- poison during a meal, hired assassins at night, an ambush during a mission.
Ichigo ingrains the assignment into his core: protect Shiba Kaien, because if Kaien falls, the mission fails.
So when Kisuke slips a paralytic into Ichigo's tea and places Ichigo in the middle of the time-travel kido array and drains the entirety of his own spiritual energy to activate the array, a sacrifice that Ichigo never would have agreed to--
Well. The first thing Ichigo does when he arrives back in the past, numb and alone and only able to function by focusing on the duty that is his purpose -- is track down Shiba Kaien.
After all, if Ichigo is going to kill Aizen -- and he is, no matter what it takes -- he needs to keep Kaien alive.
Ichigo goes straight to the Shiba family grounds. In true Shiba fashion, they accept him immediately as family. They tend to his wounds and give him a meal and welcome him home. They let him get away with his weak excuses and explanations, and they defend his presence to the rest of Soul Society.
Kaien, in accordance with everything Ichigo has heard about the man, personally takes the newest addition to the family under his wing.
Ichigo's plans to deal with Aizen take shape around his need to keep an eye on Kaien.
Ichigo, instead of running as far and fast as he can from the Shiba clan, accepts the offer to live in the Shiba compound. He gets to know every clan member and retainer, subtly vetting for traitors. He sleeps in a room near Kaien's, allowing him to both guard against assassins at night and place warding runes around Kaien's door without having to worry about being caught somewhere he has no business being.
He joins the Court Guard in the 13th division instead of the 5th, because the only real way to protect Kaien on a mission is to be there with him. Ichigo knows that if there's an ambush, or if the mission details have been tampered with, he'll be more than enough fire power to get Kaien out of it. And it's easy to always get paired with Kaien; Kaien -- reliably taking every opportunity to hover around Ichigo that he's offered -- does most of the work, leveraging his status as lieutenant and Ichigo's combat ability to keep them together.
Ichigo finds himself frequently taking meals with Kaien and Kaien's friends. Kaien always invites Ichigo, and Ichigo accepts so he can subtly check the food for poison.
(Ichigo does not tell Kaien about Aizen. Ichigo is still unsure what Kaien's role is in the whole fight, and in the meantime, telling him about Aizen is a sure way to get him killed.)
Things heat up. Ichigo prevents both Miyako and Kaien's death, killing Metastacia before it can hurt anyone. Ichigo's shadow war against Aizen gets more intense. Ichigo sneaks out regularly to dismantle Aizen's illusions, destroy his labs, and attack his network of power, slowly weakening him.
Ichigo waits for the assassination attempts against Kaien, but they don't come, even several weeks after Metastacia fails. Ichigo takes it as a sign that he's got Aizen distracted.
Things continue for a while. Ichigo falls into a strange routine.
(And Ichigo tries not to break, seeing so many of his loved ones alive and unknowing of him. It is agony, to be around Shunsui, who is not his mentor, and the Visored, who are neither visored nor pack.
But the worst is when Captains Urahara and Shihouin catch on to his war against Aizen. He finds himself working with them as allies.
Allies. Mere allies, instead of --
Well. Not that it matters anymore.
All that matters is his duty.)
Time passes. Aizen weakens. There are no attempts on Kaien's life yet.
And then Aizen's web has unraveled enough for Ichigo to attack.
It's a long battle. It's a bloody battle. It's a very public battle.
Ichigo wins.
And it's only after it's all over -- after Aizen's crimes are revealed and Soul Society is at peace and the future is saved; after Ichigo finds himself still alive and adrift, with nothing left obligating him to keep going and everything telling him to give up; as Kaien refuses to leave Ichigo alone and escorts him to regular appointments with Unohana and forces him to talk about the truth of his past --
It's only then that it clicks.
Ichigo is whispering secrets about the future into Kaien's chest, Kaien's arms wrapped tight around him, when Ichigo confesses that he messed up, that he put the Shiba clan in unnecessary danger. Ichigo tells Kaien about his death in the original timeline. He talks about how Kisuke told him that in this timeline, Aizen would try and kill Kaien again if the first attempt failed. Ichigo promises desperately that he never would have sought out the family -- would have kept the danger far, far away from them -- if he hadn't thought he had to watch Kaien's movements so closely.
And Ichigo admits that Aizen never actually tried again. Ichigo admits that he and Kisuke miscalculated, that Ichigo brought danger to the Shiba's doorstep for nothing.
It happens like this:
First, the words leave his lips, "Kisuke" and "miscalculated" in the same sentence. Hearing himself say it lays bare the absurdity of its premise.
Then, Kaien draws away slightly, to look Ichigo in the eyes. Ichigo sees, plain on Kaien's face, a terrible, damning gratefulness.
Then, Kaien says -- fierce and defiant in the face of what could have been -- "I am so glad you came home."
And it clicks. At last, Kisuke's final manipulation reveals itself to Ichigo's eyes.
The emotions flash through him: the sting of betrayal; a flavor of love that bursts across his tastebuds as hurt; a familiar brand of exasperation that, a split second later, has his knees giving out under the weight of old pain made fresh.
Kaien catches Ichigo before he hits the ground and holds him as he shatters. And Ichigo can barely breathe through the knowledge that Kisuke would have been so smug to see them.
A sob rips itself from Ichigo's chest, and it's followed by another, and another.
Ichigo's older cousin holds him, in the home of their family, through it all.
_________
THE END except not really.
This must immediately be followed by a whole arc where Kaien, much to his own dismay, finds himself trying to hook Urahara up with his little cousin.
After all, Future-Urahara sent Ichigo to the Shiba clan. Future-Urahara tricked his little cousin into bypassing his own self-destructive tendencies to seek out family and love and support. Clearly, Urahara would actually be good for Ichigo.
And, you know, Ichigo clearly loves Younger-Urahara, judging by Ichigo's whole... well, everything, whenever the two interact.
(This whole matchmaking endeavor is made easier by the fact that 1) Kisuke is already infatuated, fascinated, and not a tiny-bit madly in love, and 2) Yoruichi is also, from the other end, trying to set Kisuke up with Ichigo.
This whole endeavor is made more difficult by the fact that 1) Ichigo is in denial that he loves this younger Kisuke since he never thought this younger Kisuke could also fall in love with him, 2) Kisuke is in denial that he loves Ichigo because that is a Shiba and he himself is a creepy low-born ex-assassin mad-scientist, and 3) neither Ichigo nor Kisuke know what it looks like when someone is interested in them.)
Poor Kaien. He succeeds eventually, but not before witnessing truly legendary social ineptitude.
in the ura + ichi time travel au kaien was (understandably) concerned that ichigo suddenly started hanging out with kisuke. what would kaien's opinion of ichigo and aizen hanging out be, though? since aizen was a generally well liked person back then and all that. would kaien see aizen as a good influence on ichigo or do you think he would be more reserved about it?
@yoshifics @bewarethemandragora @runeofluna @selenedreamwalker @hypnos28 @verticallychallengedintrovert @fandommaniac2401 @lovingempress @cynthia-of-the-wallflowers @shadowsofmoonracer @pairp @warriorofbooks @charlottedabookworm @lyra689 @sheyrenawyrsabane @sora-the-empress @xadriannax @yumeniai @arrysa @lirial89-fanfiction @skysong246 @caiahat @grimreaper19 @arosethornbyanyothername @mtkiseki @kaminoko-x @nesskyru @tatarako @parklena42 @zibeth-a @aerdnanocte @timegrenades @healingmichiko @shiko-rae @soraofmelody @fandoms-make-the-world-go-round @north-peach @yannilicious @wolfsrainrules @franticchanges @tremendouslyminiaturequeen @nesomoxian @snowspine @helix-security @ciesste @skyrel @moon6shadow-main @naramyon @presumenothing @miralifox @nonbinary-hawke @dejunco @yuzukimist @raz-ia @13oddballbooks @soundofwonderland @ryuutsuki-kun @alyss-spazz-penedo @jaryushu @lolibat @echonekochan
…I accidentally shoehorned Shinji into this whoops.
Anyway, you mean in the Aizen&Ichigo time travel verse right? Hmm well I know I dropped several hints in SP of Kaien (and a few others) knowing that there was something not-good up with Aizen, but canonically speaking, literally nobody except Shinji ever suspected him, so I think in this verse, I’m going to go with Kaien being one of the many who think that Aizen is just a reliable Shinigami and a generally upstanding guy. He doesn’t hero-worship him like the younger/lower-ranking Shinigami but he respects Aizen as a fellow lieutenant and the Fifth was really lucky to manage nabbing him for their squad.
더 보기
the avengers playing "never have I ever" or a similar game, and rhodey goes "never have I ever been handcuffed". predictably, tony, clint and maybe nat put their fingers down, but what no one expected was that steve did too. so tony's all like WOAH WAIT SINCE WHEN WAS CAPTAIN AMERICA HANDCUFFED? :O and then there's this voice from the ceiling that sounds much like bucky's which goes "5 hours ago, stark. right where you're sitting." the entire floor is later scrubbed thoroughly with bleach.
“Never,” Rhodey declares, while staring straight at his best friend, “have I ever let someone handcuff me for any – fun reasons.”
He is still mad at Tony for bringing up the crossdressing incident of ‘03 and so he takes particularly vindictive delight in watching every head turn towards Tony after the statement has been given.
Except – and here’s what makes revenge against Tony Stark unsatisfying – Tony doesn’t even blush. He grins, winks at the onlookers, and tosses back his shot like it’s nothing.
Natasha and Clint both toss back their shots, too, and send each other sly looks. Entirely unsurprising.
And then Steve reaches for his shot and the room goes utterly, utterly still. Rhodey glances at Coulson and Coulson glances back; he can practically see the exclamation points in Coulson’s eyes even though his expression doesn’t shift.
“I’m sorry,” Tony says, because of course it’s him. It always is. “Maybe you didn’t understand, Cap. Rhodey here is talking about –”
“Sex,” Steve interrupts. “I know.”
He takes the shot. Everyone stares.
Steve sets down the glass and looks at everyone looking at him, batting his eyelashes innocently. Even after watching him take that shot, knowing what it meant, nearly everyone in the room buys it.
“We promised, didn’t we?” He asks. “At the beginning. We promised to be honest.”
And although Tony was not the least bit phased by his own sexual exploits being laid bare for the crowd, he’s suddenly flustered and red.
“You let my aunt,” he starts and then abruptly changes direction: “you can’t just tell her secrets like that, Rogers!”
Steve’s lips quirk just the faintest bit and he says, “no, not her. I wouldda let her, though, if she’d asked.”
Everyone stares a bit more.
From the far corner of the room, where he’s been sitting as an observer instead of a participant, Bucky Barnes starts to laugh.
Steve turns to him and his smile becomes so besotted that there’s no question at all about who’s gotten the chance to tie up Captain America.
“Forgot how well that innocent act works on people,” Bucky says to Steve, just as the team starts to react. “Christ, you had ‘em fooled.”
“Best friends, my ass,” Sam grumbles.
“Makes so much sense –”
“I can’t believe I ever thought you were vanilla –”
The words blend together, rising in volume, until there’s no way to tell who’s saying what or what declarations are even being made; it’s all incomprehensible noise. Steve and Bucky just sit there, smiling at each other.
Rhodey and Coulson fist bump under the table.
for your SP au if u have time, how about a scene with injured/close to death!ichigo and kisuke losing it big time? idk i just feel like in this universe where even tho they're surrounded by people they know, theres also a sense of them only having each other, and after everything theyve been thru, one of them facing the possibility of losing the other could be rly trauamtizing.
Uhhhh… okay. Wow, alright, let’s see…
This takes place sometime far into the future. Well, not that far but like at least a couple years after the convo with Kaien and Shinji I guess?
Pinglist: @yoshifics @bewarethemandragora @runeofluna @selenedreamwalker@hypnos28 @verticallychallengedintrovert @fandommaniac2401 @lovingempress @cynthia-of-the-wallflowers@pairp @warriorofbooks @charlottedabookworm @lyra689 @sheyrenawyrsabane @sora-the-empress@xadriannax @yumeniai @oceanshimmerspirit-blog @stereden @lirial89 @midnight44442@srs2160 @running1way @midnightkaito
더 보기
I know the fandom mostly agrees that Jason is that one always unemployed sibling in the family, but let me offer you a slightly enhanced concept - unemployed sibling Jason, who is the busiest sibling in the family.
No one can get hold of him. Like, ever. And it is not like he is lying, he is genuinely always has something else to do! Something random and unexpected, and, honestly, all his family can think is: what the hell?
Bruce, frowning: Remind me again, why the dinner in the circle of the family today doesn't suit your... schedule?
Jason, shrugging: I have a book club evening in the nursing home. We are discussing Margaret Atwood's Penelopiad tonight. Can't miss it. Also, Jennet-
Alfred, confused: Who is Jennet?
Jason: One of the old ladies in the nursing home, duh... Anyway, yeah, Jennet is having a birthday. She would be hella mad if her favourite grandson missed it, you know?
Bruce: ...Jason, you are not her-
Jason: (leaves)
Dick: Hey, wanna join me for tomorrow morning's training?
Jason, sighs: Sounds nice, but I have classes tomorrow.
Dick, confused: Classes? Since when you are enrolled in college?
Jason: Oh, no. I am a substitute teacher in one of the school's around.
Dick: WHAT-
Damian, calling Jason in the middle of the day: Can you pick me up from school? Others are busy, there is an emergency in the town.
Jason: Damn, sorry, kid, but I am not in the country right now. By the way, do you want to talk with your mother?
Damian: ...What that supposed to mean? Where are you?
Jason: I was planning to visit All-Caste, but first decided to meet up with Talia. I am kinda in Egypt right now, anyway.
Damian: ...
Tim, already used to Jason's constant busy status, sighing: I bet you won't agree if I call you on the lunch tomorrow?
Jason: Uh, no. I have plans. But if you tag along with me, we can get lunch together later.
Tim, surprised: ...Okay. What do you have tomorrow? Knitting club? A shift in library?
Jason: Nah, graduation ceremony.
Tim: Right, you are a substitute teacher.
Jason: No, no. My graduation ceremony. I am getting my PHD in literature.
Tim: SINCE FUCKING WHEN-
The recent Shinji/Ichigo week has got me wondering, how would Swinging Pendulum go if Shinji and Ichigo had been more than friends before the time travel? Either in a romantic/sexual relationship or something less quantifiable (queer-platonic?). (How would things go if Shinji got punted back too, I wonder?)
One of the ideas for ShinIchi Week that I came up with originally was actually a time travel fic for Shinji and Ichigo back to TBTP Era that might’ve eventually become UraShinIchi but I lost interest pretty early on. I can give you the few lines of dialogue I wrote for it though? It’s really not much but I did save it just in case I want to write an actual fic for it one day.
Working Summary: No one understands what is going on when Fifth Division captain Hirako Shinji disappears for a week, only to come back with an orange-haired Shiba in tow, demote his current lieutenant, and then promptly co-opt said Shiba into the position instead.
“You realize I haven’t even been through the Academy, right? So I’m pretty sure this is like ten kinds of illegal.”
“Eh, I’m old enough ta ask for favours from the fogies up top, and low-maintenance enough that I haven’t asked for much over the years. Don’t worry; they might kick up a fuss, but they’ll fold in the end.”
“WHERE DID YOU FIND HIM?!”
“FOR THE LAST TIME, KAIEN, IN RUKONGAI, NOW WOULD YA STOP YELLIN’?!”
“I want to talk to him.”
“Yeah, well, he doesn’t wanna talk ta you. And I don’t blame him. Who wants ta talk ta the creep stalkin’ him twenty-four/seven?”
“He’s obviously family!”
“…You and I have very different definitions of family, Kaien. Seriously, get outta my office. Don’t ya have work ta do?”
“Of all the things I thought we would have trouble dealin’ with, I didn’t think it would be your face, handsome.”
“Fuck you too, Shinji. At least I don’t trip over my own hair.”
“IT’S BEEN A HUNDRED YEARS SINCE I HAD THIS HAIRSTYLE, I’D LIKE TA SEE YOU DO BETTER.”
“You don’t let other people touch your hair. You’re downright anal about it.”
“Ichigo’s different. Obviously.”
“…You realize he’s sleeping with at least one other captain too, right? I wasn’t going to bring it up, but if you’re this serious about it, and as a friend, I feel like I should warn-”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Huh?”
“I said you’re an idiot. Also oblivious. An oblivious idiot.”
“Hey! I’m trying to save you some heartbreak here, asshole!”
Jason, stubs his toe: Damn!
Bruce: Language!
Alfred, drops a plate: Oh fucking hell!
Bruce looks horrified and Jason looks excited.
Alfred: Master Bruce, I would suggest you close your mouth before you catch flies.
I just found the alt!swinging pendulum bits you've done and I am blown away. The really funny thing? I actually remember wondering how things would be going if Ichigo wasn't alone in that verse the first time I read it years ago. Having you explore that and having those bits be UraIchi is beyond my own imaginings! How did Kisuke take waking up in the past? Did he know Ichigo was thrown back too, or did he think he was alone for a while? Any chance you'll ever consider a bit from his POV?
I imagine the Soul King (following SP canon) offered them the same deal when they were both locked up in Muken. They wake up in different places in the past though so that might’ve caused a bit of panic, especially since Kisuke would’ve known Ichigo was in bad condition before coming back, and the Soul King didn’t exactly give them details about where they would end up.
My muse does not want to write anything above in Kisuke’s pov (or anyone’s pov) though so Imma just give you something else in Kisuke’s pov. Takes place sometime in the future after the other two bits I wrote.
더 보기
okay but what if we refocus our gaze to stevies “pretty, swelling nectarine of a tummy” for a sec ... i Need 🥺
(Slightly old ask that I started and forgot to finish. Nonnie is referencing to this post about the ‘Take You With Me’ -verse— my favorite self-indulgent tropetrash universe— with regard to preggo Omega Stevie) Hm, okay, if you insist! Coming right up ;)
Alpha Bucky is a pregnant belly worshiper.
Early on in the pregnancy before Steve is even showing Bucky is still regularly cuddling his flat stomach, running his hands over the skin low on his slowly softening belly... maybe being a little naughty and moving lower to nuzzle right above Steve’s groin and breathe in deep at the place where Steve’s changing scent is the thickest
Insists on having Steve stand sideways against the same wall every week so Bucky can draw the outline of his growing tummy in marker and admire the progress
Has a secret Pinterest board where he saves ideas for the maternity photoshoot he’s going to beg Steve to do when he’s near-term, because Alpha Bucky is exactly that basic
Asks JARVIS to order the largest container of cocoa butter he can find so he can rub it on Steve’s belly every night-- even though “Bucky, I-- you don’t h-- c’mon, you know the serum won’t let me get stretch marks”
(tbh Bucky is kind of sad about the “no stretch marks” thing)
Fluff fluff fluFF oh I’m sorry, did you think you were going to come onto my blog and I was going to produce some a/b/o pregnancy kink smut? Whatever could have given you that idea? I’m scandalized.
I’m imagining that Bucky still has his normal ruts even though Steve isn’t having heats, and they are just the most euphoric times of his life because his body is telling him to breed Steve but then he’s fucking him and looking down at the big, pretty omega spread out under him and his brain is just— ‘oH GOD YES LOOK HE’S ALREADY BRED UP THIS IS JUST. THE BEST. I DID SO GOOD.’
But even outside rut Bucky is fucking insatiable, from the moment Steve’s scent starts changing all the way up to when he looks big and huge and about to pop. Can’t keep his hands off of Steve, off his mate, off his widening hips or his healthy bump. (Steve and all his horny pregnancy hormones are... not averse to Bucky’s enthusiasm)
Bucky’s got a definite *thing* for having Steve touch his own swelling belly while Bucky is fucking him on his back, holding his legs open for him (especially since Steve can’t really hold them himself anymore), sitting up on his knees while he looks down and sees how well Steve takes him into his growing body, describing everything Steve can’t see over the bump, saying how wet he gets (how good he smells), low-key growling deep in his chest while he encourages Steve to run his hands all over that taut belly with an endless litany of hormone-fueled dirty talk and praise, “So good for me, sweetheart, growin’ my baby for us, keepin’ ‘em safe and warm inside a’ you, show me— yeah, that where? This big, sweet belly where I put our kid? That the place you’re keepin’ ‘em for me, till we get to meet them? So good, Stevie, so good, yeah you can take it, take this knot...”
Whew, feels good to get a little nasty.
[x]
Jack Paints his Nails: Hotch tries hard to be a good dad but he just has no idea what he’s doing
Jack and The Dog blurb
Dad Hugs: Jack just needs a hug (and some pancakes)
Jack visits at the hospital: Hotch gets hurt and Jack has some complicated feelings
Books And Bonding: Jack talks books and Hotch wishes he knew what to say
Working the Case: **huge warnings, not happy** It isn’t Hotch that finds Jack in that trunk
Home: Jack surprises his family
Kittens: Jack sneaks a cat into the house
In With The New, Out With The Old: Hotch packing Jack up for college
Puzzle Pieces: Hotch is a mystery to Jack
Sunday Morning: Happy DILF Day
Pretending: Hotch keeping himself pulled together so Jack can have fun at the park
A Matter Of Trust: Derek Morgan does not trust Hotch but he’s working on it
Hotch’s Strawberry Ice Cream: If ice cream is what he wants then… that’s the least Morgan can do
Not Your Fault: Morgan under Mr. Scratch’s control attacks Hotch
Scratch: Hotch attacks the team
A Day At the Lake: it’s… just a day at the lake ft the team
Pancakes and Ice Pack: Hotch hurts his knee in a take down
The Visit: Garcia and Reid make a much needed visit to Hotch after the stabbing
Wreck: Reid and Hotch
ZugZwang: The aftermath of Maeve’s death
Thirteen Steps: Reid has to have a difficult conversation
Halloween: Reid and Hotch getting some comfort 5x01
Careful: Reid and Hotch post-Nameless, Faceless
The Safe Side: Hotch is getting older and that scares the shit out of Reid
Emily & the Slurpee: a road trip
Drinks with Dave: Emily and Hotch try to get Dave to go get drinks with them
Moments Too Late: College AU, Emily says something she shouldn’t have
Almost Somethings: What they nearly were
Just Breathe: Hotch is having a bad day and Garcia is there
The Office: There’s an emergency at the office
Late. Late. Late: Garcia’s late
Red Fish, Blue Fish: Hotch is sick and Hank knows just what to do
The TV Man: Elle returns to see Hotch post-Foyet
Beth: Hotch & Beth
Hotch with a Daughter
Crawl Home: Emily whump– she just wants to come home
The Bridges Between Me and You: Emily hurt and distant
everytime tim pisses off jason jason's like "first you steal my fucking job, now this?!" and tim goes "i didn't STEAL robin, you were DEAD and the position needed to be FILLED." and then jason says "but when i stopped being dead you didn't give it BACK. when an office worker gets a replacement so they can go on maternity leave the replacement is supposed to FUCK OFF once the maternity leave ENDS." and tim argues "YOU WEREN'T ON FUCKING MATERNITY LEAVE JASON" and jason screams back equally loud "WELL I DISAPPEARED FOR AROUND NINE MONTHS AND THEN SHOWED BACK UP WITH DAMIAN WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!" and then tim leaping strikes him off a 6 story building