rate_review Reviews

Sorry ... I just can't get this image out of my mind.

A very icy and stern Byakuya at the birthing center refusing to leave while one of the women is screaming while in hard labor ... she's having twins and is having a difficult delivery. Szayel is trying to help while Byakuya is just standing more or less in the way. Szayel finally snaps at him "Just what is your business in here?"

Byakuya's icy response "I am here to contain any possible threat."

Szayel turns back to the woman briefly then turns back and shoves a bundle in a wide-eyed and stunned Byakuya's arms. "Good, make yourself useful and contain the danger by diapering it..."

LOL ... Oh Byakuya ... An outbreak? You make a bunch of potential babies sound like it's a contageous disease or epidemic that could physically infect you. Is your pride injured because Szayel has successfully become a daddy (from the look of it at present) several times over with minimal effort (one tumble = one pregnancy ... can't say bent because it is unknown if any multiple births will occur). Or, Byakuya, are you so unsure of your fighting skills that you feel incapable of defending SS from half a dozen or so diaper clad squalling infants who can't do any more than crawl at best and don't know the first thing about the old rivalries? I mean get over it ... the kids are being born in lockdown and you have several months to build barriers to contain them if necessary. Are you afraid the babies might out cute you? Are you jealous because you've discovered that Szayel's rumored prowess with and caring treatment of the women participants has moved him ahead of you in the 'giggled and whispered' popularity polls among the women? Or is it that you heard the rumors and want a turn but you aren't eligible because you're a guy too (LOL) and he just brings out that ... deeply buried curiosity?

Now the question is ... who will mutter that type of comment and who will hear it? You know at least one of them is thinking it during or after his rant.

what i don't get about story so far is how could the men that slept with the now pregnant women not even think its possible they were the fathers rather than szayzel? can they not tell time & realize its a 50/50 shot the baby is theirs? seems like the men would have to be extremely clueless. same w/the 4th division, do they even ask if there was another partner in the fertilization time frame? when will the babies be able to show they are pure shinigami & not part shini part hollow? there seems to be a whole lotta ignorance going around, including byakuya.

It's nice to see Szayel is concerned for the health and well-being of all the pregnant females. I don't know yet if I trust Chojiro, too little real interaction. Byakuya should take note of how Szayel is treating everyone ... especially the pregnant and ill women. His stance on the situation is obvious but if he is asked to simply provide protection to the currently defenseless and more fragile women, since he is an honorable, strong, and healthy male, he might make prolonged observations concerning Szayel's treatment of and behavior around the women. Of course Byakuya would not be willing to protect Szayel but if a pregnant female, say Hinamori for example, was in danger he would probably step in to at least keep her from harm. Szayel would probably risk his life for each of his 'harem' and their unborn offspring. That risk of his own life to protect the women might cause Byakuya to grudgingly admit he might not know the Espada as well as he believed. I wonder what Byakuya would do if he did accompany them and saw a badly injured Szayel be more concerned for the women and even the other (non-alpha 'pack member') males than he was for himself; refusing treatment until the others ~ including Byakuya ~ were tended to. Of course I doubt he'd be too concerned with the males in general but having their help during the move would make things much easier. After getting to know him a bit better Szayel might have included Ukitake in with the women from some perspective due to his more fragile health. If Unohanna can convince the two of them to be civil to each other this might actually be a good opportunity for them to talk, Ukitake can join in and act as a 'social' buffer to some extent.

Can't wait to see the new place and how things progress.

So ... Fifth or Sixth division captain?

Not wanting to critisize because I'm loving the story and want to see more, but the language and grammar errors are a bit distracting and confusing at times.

On a story note... I'm honestly surprised that Szayel didn't point out to Byakuya that he (Szayel) had been forced to participate beyond the initial relationship he'd formed with Nemu, the women had acted as called upon by their commanding officers, and that the person he should direct his anger to about the entire experamint would be the shinigami captain in charge of the Twelvth. All of those facts could be corroborated by many individuals and probably by recordings and reports. Again, this may help to change his views of the situation; especially if he witnesses how caring and respectful Szayel is toward the others.

Yep, Szayel sounds possessive of Nemu. Now the question is ... does that same possessiveness extend to the other females in his territory? And, if so, then to what degree? Would the possessiveness only extend to the women he actually mated with? Or would it include, to some degree, Nanao, Isane, and Unohanna as well? What about Kyone? She and Soi-Fon are the only two preggers females not in confinement. Will Kyone be brought in soon to live with the others? I'm sure no one will approach Soi-Fon yet.

Will there be another round of participants for Szayel to 'sigh and suffer through'? Or have they called a stop to any more mating since fertility and conception do not appear to be an issue in this case, though paternity is yet to be determined.

I still don't trust Akon or Mayuri or the move. I won't be too surprised if lots of pitfalls happen on the way to the new site and if it isn't just an empty shell of a building still. If her sanctuary is near the building, I'm sure Soi-Fon would be aware of what the Twelvth is actually doing. I wonder if she would actually side with Szayel and the other pregnant women he'd be protecting if she had to make a choice. I'm sure Szayel will work out an understanding with Ukitake and Shunsui and any other males supporting these proceedings just to reduce tensions among the protectors of the women.

Actually, Byakuya and a few of the more honorable captains might back down a bit or at least reconsider their thoughts of the espada in this given situation if Szayel makes it clear that he is seeing to the care, well-being, and safety of the women with whom he has mated and who are now with child. If he remains relatively non-combative unless he perceives a danger to one or more females and willingly puts himself in harms way to protect her while any opposing captain is around, especially if he ensures the female received no injury afterwards, it could go a long way with him gaining at least a small amount of respect from them. I'm pretty sure Byakuya would see him in a more honorable light in this given situation if he became aware that Szayel sees to the welfare of the women he has been paired, with due to the experiment, and puts his own safety and needs second. I wonder if Ukitake, and later Shunsui, will find time to casually intermingle outside the 12th and mention how it has been such a pleasant surprise to discover that the espada is quite caring and protective of the women. How the rare times he makes requests it is for the well-being of the women and not himself; and he does have a territorial boundary set up around the women that acts as a buffer zone so he can evaluate the threat of anyone entering it in regard to the safety of the women. Byakuya and some of the others might agree that they would do the same if the situations were reversed. If Mayuri does return (shudder) his treatment could easily be contrasted to Szayel's and bring about several conflicting thoughts among various shinigami. Even Akon's icy and uncaring attitude could be enough to start some debates concerning the stereotyping of the espada as monsters and the shinigami as the honorable ones in all situations. Since Szayel has made it clear multiple times to various individuals, the fact that he originally resisted the experamint and multiple pairings only to be forced to participate by the shinigami in charge, Mayuri. That should also help with any change of attitudes since I'm sure most believe he is/was a very willing participant in all of this. Of course as a reader it is great seeing Szayel's more caring side and seeing him with an adoring harem.

i'm guessing all these positive preg tests have shinigami fathers, yes? including rangiku. glad ukitake was able to get an un-whitewashed glimpse into what szayzel has been put thru along with the women that are pregnant. also love szayzel's open hostility to akon, as he deserves it for the jerk he's been all chap (& i started out liking akon).

I'm suspecting that Akon and Mayuri might actually be behind the anti-experiment movement and working from the inside ... based on words and actions from both. I'm sure Szayel is picking up on their negative and potentially threatening subliminal signals. Ukitake however has no such subliminal signals and is perceived as less of a threat unless he makes an obvious move on any of the females which might be taken as an attempt to usurp Szayel's position as head male of the group ~ I suppose Ukitake touching Nemu could be seen that way ... or Szayel might be mulling over Unohanna's observation about Hinamori and Rangeku both behaving similar to Nemu. We don't know about Kyone's symptoms because she hasn't been brought in ~ though I'm sure that will change soon; nor do we know SoiFon's symptoms due to her self seclusion ~ though one or both could be similar to Nemu's. It is nice to see Szayel is concerned for Nanao's mental and emotional well-being even though he knows he has no way of being the father of her baby (though he could be somewhat responsible for it ~ and she is being grouped in with the ones who did mate with him).

It sounds as though the girls who did mate with Szayel are showing similar symptoms ... even if he is in denial. I wonder what his hypothesis is concerning the much greater fertility of the group since both races are known to have very low birth rates. (Another thought/realization that might be crossing his mind ... ). Just a comment from any passing individual about how amazing it is that ALL the candidates got pregnant given how rare pregnancies are in general ... it's like the hundred year quota of babies are all being expected in less than one year ... and if Isane and/or Unohanna start having morning sickness and other symptoms ... then test positive ... it would be a reasonable basis to hypothesize that prolonged contact of any type (not just sexual) with a male arrancar to espada level hollow could be a stimulant to the female shinigami reproductive system (something else for him as well as Unohanna to look in to). I'm sure such a possibility would occupy his mind to some degree since he could be responsible for pregnancies occurring even without mating with a female. Still hoping he was Rangeku's first and only (if she hit him with that info then he's possibly still trying to accept that his initial theory was totally wrong and that it is possible he has several cherubs on the way ... and a harem who seem to be starting to value and welcome his companionship/visits in favor of companionship/visits with some members of their own kind (i.e. Akon or Mayuri). Even if he is in denial I think he enjoys having and is possessive of his harem and territory. Just not sure if his thoughts are distracting him or if he is upset about Nemu allowing Ukitake to have even minimal physical contact with her.

Isane sounds like she likes to live on the verge of panic attacks and is easily influenced by hints of possible problems no matter how unlikely or how unsubstantiated the premis. Wonder how Ukitake would react to Unohanna getting pregnant ... and Umichika's reaction if Isane told him the rabbit just died (old pregnancy test reference ... means she's pregnant).

Maybe we can hope for a new espada to arrive as a Christmas or Valentine's gift?

Great chapter

*Wails* ... Noooooooo *kicks computer* How could you! That's her GRADE we're talking about! *stomps to the other side of the room to review*

*grumbles... Freakin' self-centered computers that trash perfectly good school work ...grumbles*

Ok, ahem, the review ... SQUEEEEE A NEW CHAPTER!!! Captain Ukitake sounds reasonable and it seems as though Szayel is willing to give him the benefit of a doubt when it comes to being fair and non-threatening. Szayel seems to be getting more at ease with him after the talk and was able to get a small amount of information concerning Shunsui. I get the feeling he will be fine with the two new captains so long as they don't try to usurp his alpha male position and prove to be there to support him and promote the care and well-being of the women and offspring. I get the definite feeling that he does NOT like or trust Akon. Akon doesn't seem overly pleased with the introduction of the new captains (whether it is because they are siding with Unohanna and in some ways with Szayel or simply because they are males is still subject to debate).

Now that Masumoto has come back positive all the participants are accounted for. Since we haven't heard them talk much yet ... I'm still going to cross my fingers and hope Szayel was her first and only actual 'gone all the way with' partner and therefore the only possible daddy. I seriously want to see his reaction to finding out his pet theory is wrong and the female shinigami CAN get pregnant with him. (Also want to see Masumoto be the victim of her naturally endowed figure and the rumors of those she told no ... and her one early love ~Gin~ being totally gay). Szayel saying something about being an adequate first for her to prepare her for being with her special friend ... Only to be told her friend has been away on a mission and she hasn't been with anyone else... (get the feeling Szayel would feel like he was mentally blind-sided by a double decker bus). Can so see her as a flirty virgin tease ... and Szayel being both surprised and honored at having been her first. (the girls from the first round spoke so highly of his caring and concern that she felt he was worth it, if he didn't turn out to be as caring as they said ... she could say it was because he was 'an enemy' and a beast by nature). I get the feeling that he does care for her some though ... maybe a close second to Nemu. I'm sure he cares to some degree for Himamori and Kyone. I think even he is surprised that he cares for and is concerned about SoiFon. Nanao might not be carrying his child but he is concerned for her well-being as well and will probably tell Shunsui as much, possibly even enlightening him on the truth of the situation and the paternity of her baby. I wonder what he would do if any of the females, including Isane and Unohanna, we're attacked or mistreated by Akon or another division male when in his presence ... Provided he isn't restrained, sedated, or otherwise hampered from acting on his preferred course of action. (don't want him endangered or punished though).

Wonder if Isane is going to get that added rest (perhaps Unohanna too) for similar reasons to those of Nemu. Ukitake and Shunsui might find they are more needed than originally anticipated.

Can hardly wait to see them moved. Still nervous about the return of Mayuri.

Will be interesting to see if another arrancar is introduced, who the next round of candidates are if the experiments resume with additional tests, and if Soi Fon and possibly first kid appear in the future. Ok, enough of my ramblings and wishful hopes.

Hope you can survive the corrupted report. Will be looking forward to further updates as you have the time.