#no point

now. that said. i'm going to need the cis men with a contrary bastard streak to use the ladies for the same reason. ask them to prove you're not a passing trans man. disrupt the government by literally taking a shit.

I’ve been re-reading Susannah Clarke’s Piranesi again (as I do whenever I want to Feel Things). One of the characters, Arne-Sayles, is an academic with a theory that Ancient Man was once so in tune with the natural world that Man and nature could interact, influence one another and wield one another’s powers. But when Man became too concerned with progress and his own abilities, he lost his access to these natural powers, which then departed the world entirely and left humanity to a less inspired, more profane, weaker existence.

That already sounds kinda Tolkienian, right? Elves and the other powerful “faerie” elements of Middle Earth faded or retreated to Valinor and left behind a world in the hands of Men to become increasingly more modern but also less (for lack of a better word) magical? Well, Clarke gives us the names and full (fictional obviously) bibliographic citations for several of Arne-Sayles’ books and articles about this very Tolkienian concept, and I’ve just noticed today that the listed publisher of several of his works is Allen & Unwin — the real life British publishing house that most famously put out The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Among the cobwebs tangled about in the ole noggin is: Byakuya really is just out there living a whole 'nother life inside his head, isn't he?

We see this get clocked by Toshiro in Chapter 674 (above) and, hopefully, Rukia and Renji (i.e., the "they" to whom Toshiro is referring). You could surmise that Toshiro is very perceptive and that's how he discerned what Byakuya was doing. And, sure, Toshiro is plenty perceptive. But... also... like... how often does Byakuya do this? How often does he put on some weird "performance" that he's fairly certain others "see through"? Or, at least, he intends for others to see through?

My guess is: The whole damn time.

I like to think the below Q&A from KlubOutside isn't just some continuity error that Kubo is fixing in post, but, rather, a suggestion that Byakuya is really out there living a life completely untethered from reality.

KlubOutside Q&A, as translated by reikorun

Like... we know from the SS Arc that Rukia does not view her relationship with Byakuya as warm and fuzzy. She says as much with her words and actions throughout that arc.

But... umm... the above seems to suggest that she and Byakuya likely discussed Renji at some point during their 40/50-year relationship. And, from that/those discussion(s), Byakuya left feeling intimately acquainted with not only Rukia, but Renji as well. Enough so that the man married to formality thought he could totally dispense with it when he met Renji.

Rukia, on the other hand? Girly, didn't blink an eye at her crazy "brother's" crazy antics during the SS Arc. She was like "he'd kill me himself and not give a damn" (paraphrasing). And like... understandable since it did seem to be going that way, but for Ichigo et al.

However, what subtle "hints" had Byakuya dropped that he just assumed she understood during the SS arc? Probably a million. Maybe he thought they were totally aligned then. Maybe he thought she knew the extent of his troubled heart along with the whys and hows and whatfores.