Winter War: Difference between revisions

Aizen won the war. The Gotei 13 has been decimated; most of the Captains and Lieutenants are dead. Ichigo and his friends never returned from Hueco Mundo, and no one knows what happened to them. Ichimaru Gin rules in Seireitei and controls a much reduced Gotei 13, but his shinigami are not doing the work of sending the souls of the dead to Soul Society, and as a result the balance of the worlds is failing. Captain Ukitake, his illness made worse by injuries sustained in the lost battle for Seireitei, leads a small but determined Resistance.

 

 

A Russian translation is in progress and can be found [http://www.diary.ru/~CrippledSeidhe/p128795825.htm here].

* [[Alien Geometries]] / [[Ascetic Aesthetic]]: Las Noches has a mild (or sometimes not so mild) version of this. Properly lampshaded:

{{quote| Lisa was convinced that whoever or whatever had designed Las Noches had picked up some pretty subtle ideas from Lovecraft. Subtle, because of the distinct lack of tentacles (except for that one Privaron she had the misfortune of meeting), and because things were only just slightly off true in a way that suggested it had all been done deliberately. }}

* [[Animal Motifs]]: Pagally's zanpakutou is Cernicalo, Spanish for "kestrel", and her resureccion gives her sharp-feathered wings. Also, {{spoiler|Pantera}} compares people to animals in his conversations with {{spoiler|Grimmjow}}- for example, referring to Ikkaku as a wounded dragon and Hanatarou as a mouse.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: And most of them have. But the survivors-as-of-the-beginning-of-the-fic are certainly still at risk...

* [[Book Ends]]: Chapter 45 begins and ends with the same description of Nanao's physical position {{spoiler|as she enters Suzumushi's inner world to negotiate with it}}.

* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: In two different varieties so far. Aizen is doing it to captured shinigami, and {{spoiler|Yumichika}} effectively did it to himself.

* [[Breather Episode]]: Chapter 16, "Nanao: Looking For A Blonde", which consists of Nanao's notes from the meeting in which the higher-ups of [[La Résistance]] hammer out the details of the Rangiku impersonation scheme. Although it does advance the plot, relatively little happens, the tone is far less fraught than most of the story, and it has several rather funny moments.

* [[Broken Bird]]: [[Heroic Self-Deprecation|Kotetsu]] [[Failure Knight|Isane]]. On the other hand, Hinamori Momo has recovered, for the most part.

* [[Dark Fic]]: Very much so.

* [[Deadly Doctor]]: Ogidou, a Fourth Division member who fights using healing kidou reversed to reopen old wounds. The other members of [[La Résistance]] are more than a little squicked out, to the point where Hinamori and Iba agree that they would ''not'' want him healing their wounds- but no one is trying to get him to stop.

* {{spoiler|[[Demonic Possession]]: Suzumushi appears to want to do this to Nanao. (She's not a demon, but she ''is'' essentially a spirit trying to take over a person.)}}

* [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]]: [[Fish Out of Water|Takano]] was a Navy SEAL in life, and still isn't entirely used to women being in front line combat. Much as he ''knows'' that they're capable soldiers, he still feels like he ought to be protecting them. (Thankfully, Takano realizes this isn't a rational reaction under the circumstances-, and keeps it under control- it's only really apparent in his POV.)

* [[Downer Beginning]]: Ichigo and company never returned from Hueco Mundo, and the Gotei 13 lost the war with Aizen.

* [[Dual Tonfas]]: Takano Dan's shikai transforms his zanpakutou into one tonfa, and his sheath into the other.

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Byakuya}}, after having killed a Hollowfied {{spoiler|Rukia}} and being cut off from either rescue or retreat, decided to commit suicide rather than be captured. {{spoiler|He failed, and was captured anyway... but at least hasn't yet been changed.}}

** {{spoiler|His Zanpakuto, housed elsewhere, has also tried this. Constantly. [[And I Must Scream|And still can't die.]]}}

* [[Empathic Weapon]]: The zanpaktous of the shinigami play a very large role in this fic.

* [[Expendable Clone]]: The multiple Nemu. Subverted, in that one member of the heroes’ party is unable to fight and kill them {{spoiler|so his zanpakuto takes over his body and fights for him}}.

* [[Hidden Depths]]: Kazeshini, Hisagi's foul-mouthed [[Blood Knight]] of a zanpakutou, is also grimly determined to keep his wielder alive, despite the dangerous situation he's in and the near-breakdown he's going through. He's also surprisingly compassionate towards {{spoiler|Nemu.}}

* [[Hive Mind]] / [[Literal Split Personality]]: The Nemu (at least that's what their behaviour strongly implies).

* [[Hope Spot]]: After killing several clone!Nemu, Grimmjow, Hanatarou, and Hisagi {{spoiler|with Kazeshini piloting}} venture into Mayuri's labs. There they discover {{spoiler|the original Kurotsuchi Nemu}}- who had been given up for dead in-story and out. She's in bad shape, but they hope Orihime can heal her. She explains otherwise: {{spoiler|her zanpakutou has been severed and her soul is being drained into her clones... which would remain even if Orihime tried to reject the damage.}} She [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|asks them to kill her]]. Reluctantly, {{spoiler|Kazeshini}} agrees. The kicker? If he hadn't hesitated quite so long, {{spoiler|Tatsuki}} would probably not have been killed.

** Far earlier in the fic, [[La Résistance]] discovers that at least two Captains are alive and need to be rescued from Los Noches. {{spoiler|And have been Hollowfied into [[Tortured Abomination|Tortured Abominations.]] After that reveal, Kira and Hitsugaya [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight|still manage to recognize Hinamori]]. [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|And promptly die.]] The Los Noches group has had a good run so far, even running into a non-Hollowfied Byakuya. [[Go Mad From the Isolation|He's not]] [[Death Seeker|all there.]] [[Tortured Abomination|Neither is Renji.]]}} [[Trauma Conga Line|All of these combined]] can make a [[Schmuck Bait|second read]] [[Beyond the Impossible|even more painful]] [[Tear Jerker|than the first.]]

* [[It's Personal]]: The fight against {{spoiler|the Barragan fragment}} contains both a subversion and an example. {{spoiler|Soi Fong plays it straight against the remains of the enemy who cost her her arm and killed her lieutenant. Hachi subverts the trope, because he doesn't want to waste the special strategies he thought up for fighting Barragan- who killed two of his friends- on a mere "shade".}}

* [[It's Quiet... Too Quiet]]: {{spoiler|Hisagi}} [[You Just Had to Say It|says it aloud]] right after [[Let's Split Up, Gang!]] - the result is equally spectacular and predictable.

* [[I Will Find You]]: Several characters are motivated by a desire to find their captured/MIA friends, or at least find out what happened to them. [[It's Personal|This is why]] two of the top people in the resistance go to Hueco Mundo. Subverted, in that both of these two people know that their friends may be [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] [[Fate Worse Than Death|or worse]], and at least one of them goes in intending to kill said friend (who he knows by then is either [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] or an actual traitor).

* [[Kicked Upstairs]]: Aizen got rid of traumatized and crazed (and thus uncontrollable) Gin... by giving him the whole Seireitei to play with.

* [[La Résistance]]: Led by Ukitake.

* [[Late Arrival Spoiler]]: A stealthy one. The chapters are usually marked with POV character- "Nanao: Winter", etc. With the exception of the second chapter occuring well before the first, they seem to be in more or less sequential order. A chapter is headed with {{spoiler|Byakuya's}} name... several chapters after another POV character remembered witnessing {{spoiler|his}} death. If you happen to read the chapter titles before the fic, you will probably assume that the character is alive, even though {{spoiler|his}} survival is a big surprise in context.

* [[Pet the Dog]]: Ikkaku and Grimmjow comforting {{spoiler|Hanatarou}} (genuinely - and it ''did'' work).

* [[Playing Possum]]: {{spoiler|Iba}} does this during attack on the mansion to get close enough to the {{spoiler|main body of Rudobon}} to kill it.

* [[Poisoned Weapons]]: {{spoiler|At Isane's suggestion, Ukitake and Soi Fong coat the tips of their zanpakutous with the Barragan fragment's blood, which has the effect of "decaying" its slow-things-down power and allows them to kill it. Unfortunately, in this case the "poison" is so corrosive that it also eats away at the zanpakutous while they're fighting.}}

* [[Power Incontinence]]: Barragan's power can also "decay" the barrier between a Visored and their Inner Hollow. Mashiro has periods of normalcy, but she loses control of her transformation without warning. Rose is in even worse state, and is apparently stuck in the transformed/out of control state all the time.

{{quote| Sasakibe: ""At your present strength, he could put your spine through your skull, Jaegerjaques. Stop fucking around."}}

** Yoruichi gives a mental one after she realizes that {{spoiler|Szayel- of whom she knows just enough to be sure that he's very bad news- is in Karakura}}.

* [[Psychopathic Manchild]] / [[The Unfettered]]: All Hollowfied shinigami seen so far are the mixture of this (with varying proportions). They are very simple-minded and often childish (just look at {{spoiler|Kira}}'s POV), perfectly obedient to orders of whatever master they have, regardless of how much of messy killing said orders involve; and, to add insult to injury, their personalities are reduced and condensed to whatever had been their greatest passion/desire in their previous lives (and, naturally, stripped of everything else). [[Tear Jerker|Not pretty]].

* [[Rasputinian Death]]: {{spoiler|Gin. He survives Takano blowing up the library with him inside, a sword wound from Shirogane, and and clings to life after being hit by Hinamori's fireball reflected and magnified by Ukitake's shikai, just long enough to release the Barragan fragment on his enemies, killing himself in the process.}}

* [[Reverse Mole]]: {{spoiler|Hisagi}}. He’s been there a while, and it’s worn on him to the extent where he can barely function. Eventually, {{spoiler|his [[Empathic Weapon]] has to take over his body to keep him alive.}}

* [[Sacrificial Lion]]: {{spoiler|Takano Dan}}, despite being an OC. He gets a lot of characterization- including two POV segments and a more detailed backstory than ''any'' of the other OCs- and his death is one of the first as the Rukongai fight starts.

{{quote| He was vaguely aware of Peaches piping up cheerfully that he should wait for Rikichi and the two of them could catch up later. He could almost ''hear'' a little heart at the end of the sentence.<br />

Then she did him proud by screeching at the others like the little harpy he knew she was, telling them to ''go go go you lazy maggots now now now!'' }}

* [[Switching POV]]: The third-person limited POV varies between ''35 characters'' as of Chapter 43. (Granted, some narrators reappear much more frequently than others- Nanao and Ukitake particularly- and some only get sections in ensemble chapters.)

* [[Take That]]: Intended or not, chapter 31 features the following gem:

* [[Talking Weapon]]: Kazeshini, who keeps up a running commentary/response to his wielder Hisagi's thoughts. All [[Empathic Weapon|zanpakutou]] ''can'' talk to their wielders, but most of the others in the fic are relatively quiet. Kazeshini is noted as having gotten much more talkative since Hisagi's move to Hueco Mundo, probably due to his [[Heroic BSOD|mental state]].

** {{spoiler|Pantera}} is becoming this as of the latest chapters. {{spoiler|And now Suzumushi is talking to Nanao, who isn't even her wielder...}}

* [[This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself]]: It is understood that Ikkaku will fight {{spoiler|Yumichika}} alone, despite the fact that the fic usually avoids one-on-one duels. (By the time it actually happens, everyone else is busy fighting another opponent, so Ikkaku’s personal fight actually makes their lives easier by removing the second antagonist.)

* [[Took a Level In Badass]]: Hinamori. Mostly it’s an attitude change rather than an actual increase in power, though.

* [[Tortured Abomination]]: Hollowfied Shinigami. Special mention goes to {{spoiler|Hitsugaya}}, who got broken so badly that he's left as a {{spoiler|"jumble of icy wings and cruel claws" that can't even talk, [[The Blank|nor does he have a face.]] Momo}} [[Tear Jerker|was not amused.]]

** And now we have {{spoiler|Renji, described as a hodge-podge creature seemingly composed of patchworks of fur, scales, and bare muscle, with a half-flesh/half-skull "face."}} Oh, and apparently {{spoiler|his}} every movement makes it look like {{spoiler|he's}} in pain. {{spoiler|Byakuya}} only recognizes {{spoiler|him}} because {{spoiler|he already killed a Hollowfied Rukia}}.

* [[Tyrant Takes the Helm]]: "Ichimaru-soutaichou's" rule in Seireitei.

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Gin is noticeably less stable than in the series proper, and he gets much, much worse when he realises {{spoiler|that Rangiku really is dead and her apparent survival was a ruse by the resistance.}}

* [[War Is Hell]]: This fic is ''not'' shy about the physical and mental costs of fighting a near-hopeless war. People die- not just in [[Heroic Sacrifices]], but in foolish ones, or just because they're not good enough fighters for the situation they're in- or even just from sheer bad luck. Those captured by the enemy are tortured and experimented on with very few exceptions. And even the survivors- even the ones who are alive and still trying to fight- are worn down by everything that's happened. Ukitake, Iba, and Soi Fong may be [[Handicapped Badass|Handicapped Badasses]], but their injuries have a very real cost, in day to day life as well as in battle. And the psychological costs of the war are just as stark. [[Break the Cutie|Orihime]], [[Miles to Go Before I Sleep|Ukitake,]] {{spoiler|[[Reverse Mole]] Hisagi}} and many others who've lost friends or [[Dirty Business|done things they're not proud of]] are soldiering on for now- but some of them have come perilously close to breaking, and even assuming a given person makes it through the war, that doesn't mean they'll be all right.

* [[Wham! Line]]: Many of the reveals of {{spoiler|the Hollowfied shinigami}} come under this.

{{quote| ''He'd found {{spoiler|Hitsugaya-taichou}}, but he'd been turned Hollow and was on Gin's leash''<br />