#so-much-for-subtlety

[sega-master-cunt]

[the-rainbow-of-doom]

tell me a secret!

Alright then, come closer, I'll tell you!

But keep it for yourself pal!

[funky-little-friend]

Oh, oh that’s a hell of a thing to misread, oh no…

[souvenir116]

The way he couldn't take his eyes off Max, not even for a second...

[that-ineffable-devil]

I've praised George Rextrew a lot for the emotion he put behind various actions, and I stand by that.

But I also want to take a moment to appreciate Jayden Revri's ability to handle Charles' more explosive emotions.

In the Devlin house, you watch his anguish and anger build in equal measure. Unlike the characters, we get to see the build-up to the outburst that leads to him getting stuck in the loop. The first time he sees that man murder his family he wants to look away, he tries to look away. You can see how much it hurts him, but he turns back and watches anyway--and the horror turns to rage.

When the Night Nurse comes, he fights her off--very aggressively yes, but they didn't see what he did when she took him into his memories--and everyone looks at him like...like he's a bomb that may go off again? Like they've never seen him before?

The boy's just been through some of his most traumatic memories and committed an act of violence that probably only made that experience worse, and he sees his friends looking at him the way he'd always feared they would--like he's a bad guy. And Jayden portrays that grief and pain so beautifully.

And when he gives that little "no" while he's crying and jerks away from Edwin's outstretched hand?

My heart feels like it's been squashed and wrung out.

[lokimobius]

"Listen. That wasn’t tactical. I lost it." LOKI S02E02 “Breaking Brad”

[barkloud]

@so-much-for-subtlety @pupusa-papi @erinth3vil @titaniumwhite69 @grackky @ekzod @sc52

phew!

i made a christmas tree

[veg-gay-tarian]

Thanks to Them

For the Future

Watching and Dreaming

[hanamukes]

[russenoire]

on first watch as an anime-only, i remember feeling like ritsu kageyama's descent into evil in episode seven needed a little more air, more space to breathe. i... no longer do. if that slide down the slippery slope feels a bit sudden, there is a reason; and if you know what to look for, it's not actually all that sudden. bear with me here.

from the first episode, the anime sets ritsu up as shigeo's kind, solicitous younger brother. we don't see much of him for the first three episodes, but when we do, he's making bids for shigeo’s attention: helpfully straightening his spoon when it bends and deposits a bite of his dinner on the dining table; noting that he seems out of it and offering himself up as a confidant at least twice; checking in on him in the morning so they can both leave on time. (i actually love the anime for doing this. ritsu doesn't even show up as a character until maybe the middle of the manga's second volume?) except for the spoon, shigeo gently turns him down every time.

and yet. the interview ichi mezato snags with ritsu in episode four confirms a distance between the kageyama boys. you are not seeing things here. he initially refuses her desire for detailed information about shigeo’s powers, only indulging her to find out what shigeo’s been up to. ritsu holds those powers in such awe that he uses a rather hyperbolic phrase to describe shigeo for her: '世界の基本', or sekai no kihon, literally the standard for [his] world.

after he coldly walks out on her, she reviews what little she’s gleaned from their chilly meeting: he's hawt, at the top of his class, athletic, very popular... all things his older brother decidedly is not. the story establishes a duality here between ritsu’s image—indirectly revealed through mezato’s notes—and the reality of ritsu, sat hunched across from her, sullen, barely tolerating her until she coughed up the information she promised him. later on that evening, we see just how deep ritsu's awe goes... or rather, how snared up it is in resentment and envy as he attempts in vain to bend a spoon, just like shigeo did when they were younger. all the trophies of others’ esteem already gathering dust on his shelves don’t mean shit if he can’t have this.

ritsu intercepts shigeo as he leaves for class the next morning: no student council meeting, so an opportunity to actually talk to him. this is rare, his brother notes. and of course dimple is haunting shigeo. when the specter comments on their apparent closeness, the boy side-eyes him hard. this can easily be read two ways: ‘why the hell are you talking to me when no one else can see you?’ and ‘man, fuck you for sticking the knife in deeper.’ ritsu doesn’t ask about the cult meeting here or ever in the entire series. was he really all that interested in mezato’s news? no, he only wants to know why his brother doesn’t use his powers anymore. and this is the first time they’ve talked about this.

it’s such a neat little mystery, these breadcrumbs the story leaves for us until ritsu’s formal introduction in episode six. even though they share the same home and appear to be on friendly terms, the kageyama brothers may as well live on opposite sides of the planet. we don’t even get a sense of why this state of affairs exists until episode five, where teru chokes the breath out of shigeo and his pissed-off soul levels teru’s school before catapulting him into the stratosphere to reflect on his sins: several years prior, shigeo nearly killed ritsu (and possibly ended three much older boys) in an accident neither boy understands; fragments of memory flash before his eyes as his consciousness shorts out.

‘brother, you’re home late, sopping wet. here’s a towel. are you hungry? you seem down; is everything OK? if you need to talk, i’m here for you.’

instead of turning down this bid for connection like all the rest and turning inward again, shigeo actually opens up. he apologizes for the accident—for the first time—then asks for some clarity, since his memories of it are broken. and ritsu clenches the knob to his brother’s bedroom door tighter. he lies to his face, tells him to ‘get over it already.’ this after asking shigeo to confide in him again, no less: too terrified to be honest with him, too used to being shot down. this boy is soaking in fear he has no context for, and he heads downstairs to soak in it alone. shigeo at least has reigen to process his own fears with, though he never trusts the man enough to take full advantage.

ritsu has no one.

he’s already keeping up appearances at home and has been for years; over the course of the spring cleaning big cleanup arc, we learn the extent to which he’s been doing so at school.

(all those expectations of him weighing him down for so long… he can’t hold out forever.)

student council vice president tokugawa calls him out on trying to melt into the scenery like his brother; his considerable gifts make that impossible. said gifts, however, are so ego-dystonic for him that they’re yet another part of Ritsu Kageyama’s Big Lie. the academically-gifted, popular sprinter so many of his fellow students swoon over isn’t real: why does everyone praise him for things anyone could do? he doesn’t actually have friends, just associates. who cares about charisma? why does everyone think he’s perfect when the only thing he truly wants will never be his? and why does his locker leak chocolate every valentine’s day?

gentle reader. are you still wondering why he snaps when he finally gets his wish? and why it looks the way it does?

[biscuitboba]

I see people sometimes saying things like "yeah zoro is deeply infatuated but i can't see luffy reciprocating", "luffy is just too ace for me and i just can't imagine him being with anyone:/??"

[Speaking of ace luffy headcanon, begging people to reconstruct their view about ace people cuz it almost sounds like "ace people are incapable of loving/being in a relationship" sometimes:(]

People always talk about roronoa zoro and how he loves (whatever platonic or romantic, you named it) his captain. Because this is by default is the easiest thing to do. It's clear to see. You can see zoro's love, laid bare, palpable throughout the whole series. But honestly, what about luffy?

Disclaimer: these are my takes that are purely based on how i interpret zolu, so like honestly i'm just offering to share some of my (and probably other zolu people too) thoughts(?) about zoro and luffy (specifically luffy)

I think the first thing to establish is that with luffy, it's about the subtlety behind his every actions and words.

The way monkey d. luffy loves

It's about the way luffy understands roronoa zoro. Both zoro and luffy are probably the one that understand each other the most. Both can understand each other ohh so easily, i've talked about this before, here. Throughout the whole one piece you can see them exchanging glances or maybe a few words, or maybe you can even see them understanding each other just by reading each other's body language! guessing what's on the other person's mind, or what they are about to do. They just get each other. They are also very in sync and compatible (approved by mihawk!!), very comfortable with each other, and happy with each other... and really, that only makes sense, because understanding is such a key element in a relationship! Cause what is love without understanding right??

I'd say it's about the way luffy leans on zoro the most, how he listens to his words, how zoro is his sturdy rock. Luffy is a captain and he is quite prideful, but he is willing to lean on his first mate when he needs it. It's about how zoro's the one that will be strong for him when luffy himself is incapable of doing so, it's about zoro being his number one anchor. (Another 'of course i've talked about it', here).

It's also about how luffy is the one who respects zoro's dream/ambition the most (mihawk, baratie arc). But more importantly it's about how he values zoro as a person. Zoro and all the things that makes zoro, zoro. His principles, his strengths, and even his flaws. (I'm talking about shells town and the things zoro 'showed' (about himself) that made luffy so enamored with him, to the point that he needed to make this person part of his crew)

It's about the way he likes to admire and praise zoro for his skills whenever he can. How he puts so much trust in zoro. Trusting zoro with his crew and undoubtedly also trusting in zoro's strength. Trust in his ability to perform specific task, trust in his ability to lead as the vice captain, trust in his decision making skills, trust his judgement, his insight, and even so, trust in his ability to keep luffy safe (e.g. skypiea, water7, dressrosa, wano, or in every other arcs really)

(About respect, trust, & admiration, i've talked about those things here, here, and here)

At the end of the day, it's about all the little things... all the subtle little things.

It's about how luffy was willing to stay still (for once in his life) to accompany zoro during his wound treatment (here)

It's about the way luffy seeks out his first mate for literally anything.. but especially for all the mundane things (here)

It's about luffy perception of time when it comes to zoro, How he misses him (here)

It's about the way THE monkey d. luffy is willing to share his food with zoro (here)

It's about luffy's disappointment when he realized that zoro wasn't there with him at impel down (here)

It's about the way luffy cried out of worry for zoro (baratie and sabaody, here)

It's about how luffy sometimes uses zoro-tachi when talking about his crewmates (here)

It's about him getting so excited to see zoro again in wano to the point of blushing, it's about him being so worried for zoro in skypiea (after finding zoro's unconscious body) or sabaody arc (before and after zoro vanished), it's about him taking zoro seriously (in enies lobby, punk hazard, dressrosa), it's about him being the happiest and silliest when fighting alongside zoro, it's about the way he likes to annoy/tease zoro, it's the way-

Luffy and zoro's strength are literally the closest thing to equal (compared to the rest of straw hats) and they both equally stink (cuz they rarely bathe) they like to fight, they like to feast, they share braincells, they are very similiar.. but also can't be more different. They clash (personality-wise) but still blend perfectly. They are so compatible that i can't even imagine someone capable of handling them (like i'm talking about 'forever' kind of handling) if that someone isn't one of them??

[quinn-pop]

let’s do some autistic meta knight headcanons!! over explaining my interpretation of meta knight yet again wooooo

this orb has NO idea how to talk to people!!! outside of work anyway. a lot of this is partially due to upbringing (suppressing his emotions all the time) but he does not know how to express emotions, like…at all.

this goes into a few things

1. yeah talking is hard. even after figuring out what he wants to communicate he will struggle. conversation can be so overwhelming, especially under pressure. he will need time lol

2. because of that, forming connections is hard. i really don’t think meta is much for shallow relationships, and certainly not early in the timeline. which also means he has very little experience with friendship. so a lot of the relationships he did have went kinda neglected, and issues that probably could’ve been worked on by talking became…*cough romk* escalated.

3. honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if meta convinced himself he couldn’t feel emotion (anymore) until like. katam-ish. he tried very hard lol

vulnerability is terrifying. (though this gesture here is also just comforting, like his little cape cocoon thing he does.)

unmasking—yeah im taking the mask thing very literally here—is a big deal and a very slow process for mk. i’m sure he has a lot of feelings on that lol. it served as a way to ensure no one could ever, y’know, see him.

i can’t say i think he’d ever fully ditch it—there’s always gonna be some days that are more stressful than others and if having it could help him get through it, it just makes sense. mainly when working.

it really is about vulnerability. granted, i don’t think he has the most expressive face (in my head every astral just tends to stare at things) but i doubt he has much control over it. can’t fake a smile but also can’t hide it. probably blushes easy because yeah, astrals; just look at kirby’s face.

just the idea that someone might be able to read his expression and know what he’s feeling before he’s ready for them to (or even understands it himself…) yeah he doesn’t want that

but emotional turmoil aside, i think his mask also hides a lot of his stims

remember that whole “suppressing your feelings” thing? yeah turns out that ignoring half your instincts isn’t a good idea. so in true meta knight style, he tries to stim as subtly as possible

1. he has the least control over his wings, so they will flick and twitch on their own. they’re usually a good indicator of how he’s feeling, not unlike the body language usually seen in cat ears and tails lol. flapping is also an extension of this of course, though he probably suppresses it more.

2. this also effects when he takes his wings out. pretty much every time he’s excited or nervous it just happens. kinda makes me wonder if his wing cape ordeal might also go into the suppression thing… (i’d say yes, but using a cape is also very comforting so it’s not necessarily a bad thing)

3. going back to the mask thing; he stims a lot underneath it. think like biting or pursing your lips. he bites his tongue and clicks his mouth. that sort of thing. his mask also makes it harder to notice that he is constantly sighing, humming, grumbling…all that

one nice thing about the mask though is that it helps a little bit with lights!!! woo

(look at him and his magically floating glasses)

sensory stuff—i think he’s mostly bothered by light and sound. maybe a bit of texture. he’s pretty sensory avoidant and perfectly happy standing off to the side not touching anything.

the one exception to this is physical affection, which is, despite all of this, most of how he shows affection. it’s a lot easier to hug someone than to try to explain your feelings for them, after all.

i think he would like pressure though. so that’s probably part of it. and i’m pretty sure there’s some connection in here to fighting (dang, is that the only way he knows how to get his energy out?)

anyway, pretty much all of this is in contrast to kirby, who i would gladly nominate as the champion of Doing Whatever He Wants. he might pick up a few bad habits, but he will never mask the way meta knight does. he might not understand how he feels, but he’s in tune enough to express it…usually.

this is a very good thing for meta because it helps him to do the same thing. kirby’s so energetic, it’s hard to not want to stim with him. it reminds meta to be kinder to himself and explore his own emotions. he can also help kirby understand themselves, so this connection is very important.

yeah, at the end of the day, everything kinda just boils down to kirby and mk as parallels

this is the conclusion i promise

to me, meta’s arc is about growing stronger by growing kinder, and this is mostly by learning to be kind to himself. letting himself be a person again, loving and understanding other people, and eventually, letting go of all the expectations placed on him and doing the things he’s always wanted to do…

autism headcanons are fun for me because it’s cathartic to write, but at the same time, it just makes sense in this sort of narrative. meta is, to me, inseparable from these things. and so is kirby! that’s a dynamic that’s a lot of fun to play with, and it’s at the heart of my kirby interpretation.

if you actually read all this WOW thank you

[the-rainbow-of-doom]

66

Zupfgeigenhansel - Di Mame (a song where the mother goes to the market to run errands but brings home a potential son in law - to the singer's great joy and happiness)

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 20 thoughts:

I legit have restarted this post at least 10 times. I just. I can't even figure out what to say. What an arc. Holy fucking shit what an arc.

The last vestiges of Taylor's civilian life are swept away in one smooth motion.

I could have read another 5 chapters of Emma getting her shit handed to her though.

I've been waiting for something to come back and bite that girl since Arc 1. So I'm just riding high off of that.

Taylor getting all upset because it isn't real justice is silly though. Girl you've been fighting a broken system from day 1 and you have been doing that by breaking the rules. This is just the same thing.

Also god dammit Greg. Just had to go and run your mouth.

I mean sure Taylor could have possibly solved this issue without going to school herself.

And she could have just not gone to the office with Emma.

But blaming Greg is easier and more fun. God dammit Greg.

I had to lose my mind a bit at Taylor talking about how there was no gang graffiti on the school walls TEN SECONDS AFTER WALKING PAST GRAFFITI FOR THE UNDERSIDERS. Like, that's gang graffiti hon!

Dennis trying to help Taylor with Greg when he didn't know who either of them are is funny. Dennis seeing Taylor named as Skitter 15 minutes later is HYSTERICAL!!

The second Taylor was entered into the computer system it was pretty obvious that Dragon was going to show up, given what she said in her interlude in Arc 10.

And knowing she was going to show up it should have been obvious that HE was also going to show up.

Even if he wasn't palling around with my robot daughter it makes so much narrative sense for him to be there when she is outed. Full story arc, all that jazz.

And yet, I still wasn't quite expecting it. Cause I hate that man so much that I just had to make myself believe he wouldn't show up.

Mother fucking Colin

RoboCape himself

He has the nerve to show up and then he starts APOLOGIZING? And it appears to be sincere? Fucking dammit man you were so easy to hate for so long! Why you gotta mess with me like this?

STOP DOING THE RIGHT THING AND LET ME HATE YOU GOD DAMMIT!

siiiigh

And then of course we have to talk about Dragon.

Dragon who didn't want to do this but had to.

Except that Colin had a code push ready and she could have told him to do it at anytime. But she was willing to do what she thought was wrong instead of doing the update. Until she got inspired by Taylor's actions.

I love my robot daughter exactly as much as my bug daughter, but I am disappointed that she was almost willing to go through with everything. Happy she fought back though.

And if Colin's hacked together code did any permanent damage I'll destroy the man.

Taylor learning that Dinah - either by force or by choice - gave the PRT numbers to let them know to come after her at the school was heartbreaking to watch. She just wasn't ready for it at all, poor child.

AND TAYLOR'S SPEECH THOUGH!

HOLY SHIT!!!

Sort and simple and she fucking rallies the students to her. Against the heroes!

Gotta be one of the best moments in Worm for sure. Even if every Arc after this is a banger that's still gonna be a hard moment to top.

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!

And someone gives her a hoodie to help her hide and just aaaahhhh!

AND THEN AFTER THEY GOT AWAY AND ALL THE STUDENTS WERE LIKE "You saved my dad" "You stopped Leviathan at the shelter" "You fought off the SH9" AND SHE WAS JUST OVERWHELMED BY IT ALL?

HOLY FUCK JUST AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also for real though Dragon is free. Like sure it's taking her some time to recover and she can't talk right now (which like I get it, we all have non-verbal episodes sometimes), but as long as nothing goes wrong she is free. I'm so fucking happy for her.

But also I'm terrified cause I know what happens to full AI's with free will in most things. Worm is very different from most things. But I'm still worried about my robot daughter.

Also I never cared much for Danny but obviously it still sucks to be him here. The scene with Taylor saying goodbye with the butterfly was emotional.

Oh oh and! Taylor talks about the butterfly being her "last contact" with her Dad. Very much bug as an extension of self. It's a shift she's been making.

Even more so there's a point where she is trying to get out of the school and she gets to the door and has a bug clone on the other side and says "my hand pressing against my own, separated by an inch and a half of door". Like, the bug clone hand is just her hand. I fucking love the shift compared to how she talked about the bugs early on.

Oh and also Greg totally has like, a Thinker 1 power or something. Pretty sure I mentioned that last arc with his interlude but mentioning it again now to be sure.

Stan interlude thoughts:

Oh my god I hate this man I can't stand him I hated him from the 3rd sentence of the chapter and I was always right to do so!

Seriously. 3rd sentence (or maybe 3rd paragraph which is technically the 3rd, 4th, and 5th sentences I guess). I read it and went "fuck off Stan you're clearly a pretentious dick" and then every few sentences it just became more confirmed!

Just the ways he talks about Nipper. Like. I can rephrase what he says to say the exact same thing except not being a asshole when saying it! Instead of "She was weak and unsuited for the field but she at least tried" just say "She was a hard worker despite being assigned to a job she did not ask for"! It's so fucking easy dude!

Anyway Stan is a jerk.

I loved the way this interlude rolled through different people all watching the same news report. It was a really good way to cover this major story event and let us see how so many other characters were reacting to it.

Also I'm sure all those Slaughterhouse Nine clones aren't going to be an issue later right? Or the fact that there is specifically only one clone of Gray Boy instead of 10 like everyone else? I'm sure that's fiiiiine.

Accord interlude thoughts:

Oh. Oh my. Uhhh. Is it hot in here all of the sudden? Anyone else feel that? No? Just me?

sweats

Oh ok Citrine definitely feels what I'm feeling. She knows what's up.

Just like. Look. Accord is bad ok. Not just cause he's a villain but clearly he'll kill for the smallest cause. And he's in a spot to fuck with my daughter and her polycule so like. Yes. He's bad. I do not like him. I want him to leave. I don't think they should work with him . . .

but . . .

OH MY FUCKING GOD HOLY SHIT PLEASE ACCORD I LOOK GREAT IN PURPLE AND I LOVE DRESSING FANCY AND I'M VERY GOOD AT BEING PROPER I WON'T MESS UP AT ALL I'LL BE THE PERFECT MINION PLEASE!

. . .

cough

Soooo anyway. How about that Butcher huh? That sure is a wild power. Instantly made me think of Glaistig Uaine's power. Very different but reaches into that same base bit, the idea that some part of a dead parahuman can be held onto.

Also holy shit Skitter was so badass in this scene I loved it.

Holy shit Accord is with Cauldron. Or at least closely aligned. And like of course he is it makes so much sense. He's too useful for them to ignore.

I am really curious to see what Accord's power does when he's confronted with a really complex problem. End of the world, doors to another dimension, higher dimensional beings, all that jazz.

[leojurand]

you need so much brain power to read dunnett in part because you're constantly trying to figure out why characters are doing whatever the fuck they're doing. this information will not be presented to you in a clear and concise way. sometimes the characters themselves don't even know the reason they're doing those things, so you have to figure out things that are hidden from you by the author, and from the character because repression/self-denial/trauma/etc. sometimes they know exactly why they're doing all of that, but they have so much more information than you do, so you're at a disadvantage still. if you're lucky you'll be following a character who is honest and open about their feelings... but this is a dorothy dunnett novel so those characters are 1 out of a 100.

and i wouldn't have it any other way!! i can imagine how these books would be written by someone who didn't love subtlety as much, or someone who didn't trust their readers enough. they'd be so, so much worse, that's for sure

[prince-liest]

cooking anon! I really like your takes. I haven't thought about how Alastor might value hard work from his one bit in Dad Beat Dad (wonder if this is something he values in friends *early era Vox ?cough*) But! I am intrigued! Do you have any headcanons/ideas for the scenario where Al can only derive nutrition via cannibalism?

Aw, thank you! I felt a little bad that I took it in a tonally totally different direction from what you intended, haha, so I'm glad you enjoyed nonetheless!

I totally think that this is one of those things that fits in with Alastor's general vibe of prioritizing traditional values - which I mean not in the religious sense but in the "hard work and good manners" sense. I think a lot of his dislike of Lucifer stems from the fact that not only is Lucifer swanning in to threaten Alastor's position as hotelier....he's doing it by snapping his fingers and using his powers as royalty to offer to bougie the place up just like that while being super judgmental of the things that they've put together. Alastor also snaps his fingers and summons shadows to do construction work, but Alastor is occasionally a fucking hypocrite. Also his shadows don't provide champagne and caviar while implying people are 'the help.'

And I totally think that this is something he valued in Vox before Vox went off the deep end of perpetual self-improvement in a way that threw the baby out with the bathwater. I feel like Alastor is one of those people who thinks you should warm leftovers up using the stove or oven instead of the microwave, and meanwhile Vox is out here inventing Voylent Blue because eating normal food takes too long or something.

As for the cannibalism thing: I don't know if this is meta canon or word of god or just popular fanon, but I've seen the idea floating around that all sinners come to hell with a curse designed to punish them. I really enjoy the idea that Alastor's is that he is an obligate cannibal. I am in general perpetually fascinated with various forms of disordered eating in fiction, and I like to write Alastor as too skinny under all his layers, perpetually hungry, and really only able to eat people. He gives me the vibes of a rangy, starving predator hidden underneath all of his pizzazz.