History Fanfic / ProjectTatterdemalion

* SuperWindowJump: Toshiro does this to get into the hospital, as he couldn't pull off the AirVentEscape.

* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening - Anger was necessary to awaken the telekinetic abilities of Kisuke and Isshin. [[spoiler:Kisuke and Isshin had gone so long without really feeling out of concern for other's safety that Shunsui had to interweave his tendrils with the both of theirs--his were much longer than theirs--depriving them of all senses except whatever they're using to perceive their own pulses, effectively creating a cross between MentalWorld and Cyberspace. Once this was done, he funnel-fed the know-how into their minds.]]

* {{Telepathy}}: The [[OrganicTechnology organic]] [[ElectronicTelepathy version]], in which [[{{EMP}} EMP]]s ionize the air, making it possible for electroreception to work above water, turning characters into living EEGs. They cannot communicate with just anything this way, though. You have to have been vaccinated or infected.

* EMP: The pulses of Hollows, shinigami and normal responders are this.

* {{Telepathy}}: The [[OrganicTechnology organic]] [[ElectronicTelepathy version]], in which [[{{EMP}} EMP]]s ionize the air, making it possible for electroreception to work above water, turning characters into living EEGs. They cannot communicate with just anything this way, though. You have to have been vaccinated or infected.

* OfficialCouple: Isshin and Masaki, who are quite HappilyMarried ("[[CatchPhrase Get a room!]]"). Kisuke and Yoruichi are a bit less obvious about it, but it's rather like comparing a flashing neon blimp to one that's on fire and blaring [[TheLionKing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"]] at max volume.

* Telepathy: The [[OrganicTechnology organic]] of the [[ElectronicTelepathy version]], in which EMPs ionize the air, making it possible for electroreception to work above water, turning characters into living EEGs. They cannot communicate with just anything this way, though. You have to have been vaccinated or infected.

* InfantImmortality: Averted ''hard'', although not on-screen. In "Project Asclepius," we (and Retsu) learn that everyone of ''any'' age who couldn't make it to a shelter (or form a chrysalis) in time died. [[FigureItOutYourself Toshiro was not the only child on the base before the attack, but he's the only one among the survivors.]]

* ReluctantMonster: While the shinigami ''are not monsters,'' and they will argue the point as long as they have to, they are still [[PersonOfMassDestruction People of Mass Destruction]] with a HiveMind and who knows what other non-human features. Even certain shinigami have [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry trouble]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone with this]] themselves, to say nothing of the [[spoiler: "regular" survivors who still get... "symptoms"]]. Averted hard for the Hollows, though, who can't believe they were once weak little humans.

* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler: Nellie Shank = '''Nellie'''l Tu Oder'''schvank''']].

* RockBeatsLaser: Justified for the shinigami's swords. One, metal can be used to focus psychokinetic energy, meaning that swords can kill Hollows if the person who's wielding them is a shinigami (otherwise, you need a flamethrower). Two, in the second story, they're stuck in a refugee camp with six hundred people who're weirded out by to downright scared of them. No one wants to give them more advanced weaponry, but they don't want to be helpless... and the general consensus is that swords are better for their image than reminding people that they have claws. Still... space travel, genetic engineering, fighting alien monsters... and they're using swords.

* NoZombieCannabilism: Averted hard as of ''Project Thoughts''.

** BadassAbnormal: Every shinigami, end of story. Though some may be [[PersonOfMassDestruction more]] [[BadassInCharge Badass]] than [[ActionSurvivor others]], all of them TookALevelInBadass.

* ActionGirl: Yoruichi, Isane.
* ActionSurvivor: Forget the CombatTentacles; some of the Shinigami qualify, especially at first. For instance: the scientists who have never before seen combat (and may or may not be {{Reluctant Monster}}s afterwards), the Project's doctors/paramedics, a twelve-year-old kid who had to survive the remains of his father, and that one data analyst who woke up with a Hollow in his face. Even after most grow into the role of BadassAbnormal, some might still be... delicate (e.g. [[CombatMedic Hanatarou]]).

** BadassAbnormal: Every Shinigami, end of story. Though some may be [[PersonOfMassDestruction more]] [[BadassInCharge Badass]] than [[ActionSurvivor others]], all of them TookALevelInBadass.
** BadassBookworm: Five scientists of various fields, three doctors, a data analyst, an administrator who has encyclopedic knowledge as a job requirement... and that one strike trooper who reads scientific journals for fun. [[spoiler: All of these people end up as Shinigami.]]
** BadassFamily: The "family" part is instinctual, and the Shinigami are quickly approaching the status of BadassCrew.
** BadassInCharge: Among the [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Shinigami]], we have [[MajorlyAwesome Shunsui]] [[HeroesPreferSwords Kyoraku]] and [[BadassBookworm Juushiro]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes Ukitake]]. For the rest of the survivors, we have [[FourStarBadass General]] [[BadassGrandpa Yamamoto-Genryusai]].

** BadassUnintentional: At first. Killing Hollows with chairs instead of flamethrowers, freezing Hollows solid, outrunning bullets... And ''then'' they start figuring out what they can do.
** LikeABadassOutOfHell: What else would you call the Project?

* BaldOfAwesome: Ikkaku, first as a [[BadassNormal Strike Trooper]] and then as a [[BadassAbnormal Shinigami]], even though the latter normally grow extra-sensitive not-hair. Except [[CrowningMomentOfFunny magenta tentacles]].

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: A mild, but recurring, form is found in the civilian versus soldier mindsets. This is especially worrisome to the Shinigami, because they ''know'' that the vaccine switched even the civilians to the latter mindset, and there's not much to be done besides recognize it. Still, they don't have the ''experience'' to back this up, which eventually leads to a conversation between Juushiro and Yamamoto averting PoorCommunicationKills.

* CallForward: In the first story, Isshin says to Masaki, "I want to raise wonderfully smart, stubborn, world-terrorizing kids with you." (Ichigo has yet to be born in this universe, let alone his sisters.) In the sequels, Yoruichi and Kisuke think they could, just possibly, reverse hollowfication. This could lead to the canon practice of "purifying" hollows, or to the creation of the Visoreds -- or both.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Subverted with Toshiro, who's all too eager for a sword after his Hollowfied father ate his mother and tried to change or eat him. "Children are Naive" may come into play, however; he's twelve, adapts most easily to pack-mentality, [[spoiler: and doesn't understand that the adults have reservations because it feels far too much like MoreThanMindControl]].

* ContinuityNod: Ryuuken's father wanted him to be a doctor (his profession in canon), the island to which the characters are evacuated is owned by the Kuchiki family, General Yamamoto's response to any area contaminated by Hollows is either A) thermite or B) a nuclear strike (Ryuujin Jakka, anyone?).
* ControlFreak: General Yamamoto. He's annoyed and uncomfortable with the shinigami in part because they don't tend to do things by the book, and is not pleased to realize that some of them aren't actually in a military chain of command.
* CoverBlowingSuperpower: When the attempt to destroy the mass transporter nearly fails, Ryuuken is forced to reveal his psychokinetic Quincy powers as a saving throw.

* DoingInTheWizard: Rather than being mystical, shinigami powers are the result of a genetically engineered vaccine to an alien virus... although the characters admit that neither virus nor vaccine pays much respect to the laws of physics.

* EarlyBirdCameo: [[spoiler: Nellie Shank = '''Nellie'''l Tu Oder'''schvank''']]
* FlashStep: [[spoiler: Hollows can pseudo-teleport. Fortunately, we find this out because Toshiro accidentally does it.]] On a more mundane note, Shinigami can move too quickly for most humans to even try shooting.

* GetARoom: Said to Isshin and Masaki, more than once.
* GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke: Both Quincies and shinigami owe their powers to genetic engineering.
* GhostInTheMachine: [[spoiler:The in-universe explanation for zanpakutou spirits is that the amount of neural processing required to move the shinigami tentacles creates a sort-of "secondary brain" that the primary brain perceives as a "voice in one's head". [[ICallItVera Naming that voice]] allows shinigami greater separation, and thus control, between the two personalities.]]

* HangoverSensitivity: It takes mildly neurotoxic azalea honey to get Shinigami & co drunk, but they do indeed get drunk. The next morning's results leave the strikers especially less than happy.

* HiveMind: Both Shinigami and Hollow have this. While they prefer to talk to their own kind through it, and can apparently dampen it to enemies with enough experience, close combat tends to turn this more into a secret language between any and all infectees.
* HowDoIShootWeb: How do I [[PsychicPowers blow up/freeze/electrocute/etc things with my mind]]? Also, how do I keep from [[CombatTentacles stinging people]], and why do they alternatively inject [[CuddleBug oxytocin]] or [[PoisonousPerson venom]]? Most importantly, is there anything that can get me [[NeverGetsDrunk drunk]]? [[spoiler: Yes.]]
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Averted: it was incurable, until Juushirou became a shinigami. Also, as it turns out, there was an idea of what the cure could be -- it was just illegal because it would have required drastic genetic engineering, which the Alliance prohibits absolutely.
* InfantImmortality: Averted ''hard'', if not on-screen. In "Project Asclepius," we (and Retsu) learn that if you couldn't make the run to safety or form a chrysalis in time, you died. Toshiro Hitsugaya is the only child who did not die.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: The shinigamis' swords, largely justified. General Yamamoto won't let the shingami have more advanced weapons, either because he distrusts them or because his superiors do; however, swords are actually quite useful against Hollows because -- like Quincies -- shinigami can focus their PsychicPowers through metal. And they use katanas rather than another type of sword because two of them already know how to use katanas and can teach the others.

* LockedIntoStrangeness: All {{ImplausibleHairColor}}s result from the vaccine's bizarre effects...and it's permanent because the strands technically aren't hair, they're tiny psychic tendrils. Although Yoruichi's first response is to blame Kisuke, it it turns out that [[spoiler: Isshin]] is responsible -- the changes are the result of his efforts to safeguard the brain by forcing colorful toxins out through the hair. Even those more mildly affected can experience drastic shifts in hair color (Ryuuken goes from black to white) and some of the characters are quite annoyed about it.

* MindRape: [[spoiler: "Swamping" another Shinigami with enough psychic images that either their "other" takes over, or the individual is just too overwhelmed to say no. Useful for such things as getting Isshin and Kisuke to fight when they're terrified of letting go, pulling Yumichika and Ikkaku into line with the rest of the pack instead of their own Sergeant (whom they follow like ''Kenpachi in canon''), and getting Shunsui to work with his other in time for a fight (especially ironic, since he did it first).]] So far, done either unintentionally or with the ''best'' of intentions, and only by pack-leaders, which [[ParanoiaFuel arguably]] [[MoreThanMindControl makes it worse]].
* MoreThanMindControl: The Shinigami are far too calm for people who were just mutated into predators and had to fight their way out of their former home, killing the even ''more'' mutated remains of friends and family. They know this. They are okay with this, [[ParanoiaFuel and they know that that's not right, either]].

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Referenced repeatedly -- General Yamamoto and Colonel Hughes are very by-the-book about paperwork, obstructive bureaucrats are responsible for the Republic's harsh genetic engineering laws. This is also Ryuuken's cover for infiltrating the Project: he's supposedly a health inspector.

* OhCrap: A perfectly acceptable response to almost anything that happens.

* OneManArmy: Every Shinigami comes with CombatTentacles, SuperStrength, FlashStep ([[spoiler: and outright teleportation]]), [[PoisonousPerson Venom]], ''PsychicPowers''... Even the Shinigami admit that Yamamoto has his rights not to give them force-multipliers like guns. What they can do with swords is clearly bad enough.

* PersonOfMassDestruction: Holy shit, ''how''. Weaponized, Shinigami will likely be.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Outright rejected by both the Shinigami and Yamamoto. They may take their sweet time sending each other information (Isshin's memos come to mind), and certain bits of information may have to be hacked (see [[spoiler: UnPerson]]), but at the end of the day [[WeAreStrugglingTogether they are all stuck in this together]], and they really don't have the luxury of miscommunication.

* RealMenWearPink: As a striker, Kaien Shiba is used to going through an area with as little trace as possible, and enjoying the scenery. [[spoiler: His "other" is especially fond of flowers, and eventually gets itself named after the local orchid-esque "Nejibana."]] He is still a "delinquent designer of things that go boom," and [[spoiler: he and his "other"]] can make spectacular Hollow kills.
** On a lighter note, Kyoraku's first appearance is in a pink camo bathrobe, likely because this is the closest the author could think of compared to his canon... haori. The term "outrageous" is used at least once, but the man also [[OnceKilledAManWithANoodleImplement killed a Hollow with a chair.]] And his swords, of course.
* ReluctantMonster: While the Shinigami ''are not monsters,'' and they will argue the point as long as they have to, they are still now [[PersonOfMassDestruction People of Mass Destruction]] with a HiveMind and who knows what else. In the Shinigami camp, certain members have [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry enough trouble]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone with this]], to say nothing of the [[spoiler: "regular" survivors who still get... symptoms]]. Averted hard for the Hollows, though, who can't believe they were once weak little humans.
* RockBeatsLaser: Justified for the shinigami's swords. One, metal can be used to focus psychokinetic energy, meaning that swords can kill Hollows if the person who's wielding them is a shinigami (otherwise, you need a flamethrower). Two, in the second story, they're stuck in a refugee camp with six hundred people who're weirded out to downright scared of them. No one wants to give them more advanced weaponry, but they don't want to be helpless... and the general consensus is that swords are better for their image than reminding people that they have claws. Still... space travel, genetic engineering, fighting alien monsters... and they're using swords.
* SergeantRock: Sgt. Petrillo, commander of the striker squad sent into the Project to recover Kisuke's prototype mass transporter; he's a [[OldSoldier gruff, blunt career soldier]] but also the most ReasonableAuthorityFigure outside of the shinigami pack. When he learns that there are still survivors in the compound, he [[WithDueRespect disregards]] General Yamamoto's order to focus solely on retrieving the prototype--in favor of listening to Major Kyouraku and Special Agent Ishida's ground-level reports.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Averted; while many scientific terms and cases of advanced jargon are thrown around quickly enough to give the average listener whiplash, it is all used perfectly in day-to-day conversations and discussions of the current... [[WorldGoneMad issue]]. Also justified, since those discussing it typically have at least one doctorate, and [[ShownTheirWork this is how they would actually hold such discussions.]]
* ShockAndAwe: Juushirou and Ryuuken both have powers that manifest visually as "white lightning".

** For example, Kisuke requests some medical ether as an alternative sedative; it just happens to be highly explosive in high amounts. The captain [[OhCrap is not happy]].

* SyntheticPlague: There is basically ''no way'' Madsen's Hollow could have occurred naturally. Starting with the fact that it was found as spores in an asteroid... yet the disease only affects Earth-native mammals, and messes with their DNA in very specific ways. The scientist characters reluctantly conclude that the disease was probably manufactured by an alien civilization a few hundred years ahead of them in bioengineering technology, although it's later suggested that a human group might have been able to pull it off with a hundred years of almost fanatically dedicated work.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The creators of Madsen's Hollow clearly believed this. About four out of five victims of the virus just die messily from an incomplete effect. The "Hollows" -- those victims fully affected by the virus -- have claws that can cut through steel, CombatTentacles, neurotoxic glands on those tentacles, psychokinetic abilities, and can infect others by biting. Except for the last part, this is also true of shinigami as well.
* ThisIsGonnaSuck: If you get any prior notice, yes. It will.
* TookALevelInBadass: Invoked by Juushirou. By name. Apparently, he's [[TVTropesWillRuinYourVocabulary a troper]]. As are Isshin, Kisuke, and Toushirou.

* UnPerson: Retsu refers to it as being "ghosted"--no birth certificate, bank account, no paper trail in the planetary database--and this has been done to [[spoiler: almost everyone who survived Project Tatterdemalion/showed up to help within quarantine]]. Specifically, the Shinigami can have this done to them by being "[[BioAugmentation unlicensed genetic alterants]]." And potential weapons, of course.
* TheVirus: Madsen's Hollow is essentially this; although first detected as spores, throughout most of the fic it's transmitted by the transformed "hollows'" bites or tentacle-stings.
* WeAreStrugglingTogether: The Shinigami and the rest of the refugees. Some take this better than others.
** The Shinigami on their own count, given their [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits overall cohesion]].

* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: Isshin and Kisuke. Especially Kisuke. The characters eventually conclude that this is because they're the least familiar with violence out of the shinigami. Although they always had very fierce tempers which they held back out of fear, they have also never been in killing fights before... or even exposed to blood much. Consequently, they have less control over their "others" (zanpakutous/amplified survival instincts) than the others.

* PowerStrainBlackout: When Ryuuken first unleashes his CoverBlowingSuperpower, he lets off a pretty big blast. Later, when they need him to do it again, he (correctly) warns them that they'll have to carry him out of there.

* ShockAndAwe: Juushirou and Ryuuken.

* ActionSurvivor: Forget the CombatTentacles; some of the Shinigami qualify. For instance: the scientists who have never before seen combat (and may or may not be {{Reluctant Monster}}s afterwards), the Project's doctors/paramedics, a twelve-year-old kid who had to survive the remains of his father, and that one data analyst who woke up with a Hollow in his face.

* BadassNormal: Sergeant Petrillo, General Yamamoto. Also Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Kaien, before becoming shinigami.

->'''Shunsui:''' ''Doc. We know our heads have been messed with. ... There's no way in space we should be should be reacting like any of this is within a solar system of normal.''

** For example, Kisuke requests some medical ether as an alternative sedative; it just happens to be highly explosive in high amounts. The captain is not happy.

* BioAugmentation: Strictly illegal in the Republic (the Quincies were only grandfathered in because they were highly prized as human weapons). Which seems like it's going to have some nasty consequences for our heroes, seeing as those laws don't make exceptions for situations like theirs...

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Shinigami have a strong tendency to this, but the best examples are Kisuke and Isshin.

* LockedIntoStrangeness: On the line between this trope and PowerDyesYourHair. All improbable shinigami hair colors result from the vaccine's bizarre effects. Although Yoruichi's first response is to blame Kisuke, it it turns out that [[spoiler: Isshin]] is responsible -- the changing hair color is the result of his efforts to safeguard the brain, by forcing toxins out through the hair. Even those more mildly affected can experience drastic shifts in hair color (Ryuuken goes from black to white). The change is permanent and some of the characters are quite annoyed about it.

* YouAreNotAlone: A major theme.