#it’s the perfect disguise

[quibbs126]

Random thing but did anyone else, upon first seeing Professor Sycamore, not know whether he was a man or a woman?

[phantomrose96]

Thinking about Edward Elric as the Amestrian Military's specialest little unfireable boy

State alchemists can be fired for underperforming. We know this up front from the likes of Shou Tucker. And this makes a ton of sense from the homunculi's standpoint since the state alchemists are sacrifice candidates, and the homunculi would want to cull the weakest candidates and focus only on cultivating the strongest ones who stand the best chance of opening the portal.

........Then there's Edward. Who's already opened the portal.

There's no need to cultivate him. No gamble taken on whether he's good enough to open the portal. He passed the final test already. Graduated 4 semesters early.

And as such, has a free pass to do Absolute Fuck All.

And I'm imagining how funny this is from like an outside perspective.

Some newish state alchemist who'd only ever read up on the stories of Edward Elric, ready and excited to start their career of being paid handsomely with endless freedom to research and travel and do anything they want in the pursuit of science... surprised and confused to find themselves put on probation their first month for things like "ignoring orders." Which is, as best they had thought, a famous Edward Elric pastime.

Roy showing a slight bit of stress about his yearly state alchemist report, and Ed just snorting and rolling his eyes at Roy because every year HE just hastily does his on the train ride over (canon in the manga, a travesty it was left out of the anime) and it gets rubber stamped. Ed not realizing that other alchemists' reports get genuinely scrutinized and torn apart while Ed is free to turn in whatever absolute bullshit he thinks of 36 hours ahead of time. One year his report was about whether alchemy could be done via dance (conclusion: no it can't) and no one cared. Roy WANTS to tell Ed there's some kind of unknown favoritism around Ed making him literally bullet-proof but Roy has no way to phrase this that doesn't sound like he's just in denial and mad at how good Ed's train-reports are.

Guy from the Internal Amestrian Affairs sector who's responsible for auditing other internal military personel for any suspicious activity hitting about 1 million red flags for Edward Elric, issuing a STRONG and URGENT recommendation to suspend the alchemist pending further investigation into things like "literal bunk-buddies with two members of the Xingese royalty (enemy nation)" and "spent $10,000,000 of his stipend on a librarian to make her re-copy (what he seemed to interpret as?) military records in some extremely transparent effort to unearth state secrets (it was a recipe book but he was literally asking her about state secrets)" and "literally has never once obeyed an order, ever, not even once in his career, and is on public record having said 'I do not care about the goals and protections of the Amestrian Military. I am in fact only pursuing my own interests several of which are diametrically opposed to the safety and well-being of the governing body of Amestris'"

The issued recommendation is intercepted before it even reaches its intended desk. President Bradley himself has taken issue with it and denies it before a single set of eyes has seen it. The President's veto stamp is a terrifying hammer, used rarely, and it is now sitting on the auditor's desk.

The auditor sleeps with one eye open from then on out.

[ingravinoveritas]

David wearing a gorgeously sparkly outfit and black kilt while holding a dog and talking to Michael at the BAFTAs. I cannot...

[cosmonaughty]

You just know the poncho was Rex’s idea.

[khaotunq]

Khaotung Thanawat as Ray (Only Friends, 2023)

[schrano]

"Siffrin? Are you alright, bud?"

Fanart of Siffrin from @cinnamin-is-a-star's Villain Siffrin AU fanfiction To Extend Our Reach to the Stars Above Chapter 11.

[lovelylittlewordsmith]

Ciel and Sebastian: We're wanted across the country, so we'll need to come up with elaborate back stories so as to not be recognized, but let's make absolutely zero changes to our physical appearance.

Ciel and Sebastian, stepping out of the carriage and immediately being recognized:

[therealsoulking]

Happy Fire Emblem 7 on NSO day, everyone

[soymilkspiders]

Okay, what if...

Kiwano without the shades

[ghcstcd]

So like, Terzo and Alpha begging Omega to take off his sunglasses, and beanie, and medical mask and just use the glamor because it's so damn hot out

He will not.

[total-drama-brainrot]

What if Geoff wasn't the nice, chill surfer party dude who had no problems with anyone and was friends with everyone?

No, nobody can be that nice. No teenager can be that okay with every person in the camp. No, Geoff hid it. It was a common tactic he used to get people not constantly pissed at him before (it was just annoying). Pretending to be this dumb party dude fooled everyone into believing he was that because why would you ever question HIS motives? He's just a dumb party dude!

But pretending was so, so hard. You see, he had to pretend he liked these people.

Too hard.

And one day, he slipped up.

Interesting. So Geoff's friendly demeanour and sufer boy energy is all, what, a ruse he uses to portray himself as less of a threat in the competition?

It would be an effective game plan; Geoff makes it pretty far into the game in Island, and a lot of his survivability stems from his social strengths and the fact that he's not really seen as a threat in the competition - he's a lot like Owen in that regard, just less intense with his friendliness. You could have Geoff intentionally imitate a lot of Owen's mannerisms after he notices how generally liked (or at least tolerated) he is, and it'd explain their similarities quite nicely.

It does make me wonder what Geoff would be like underneath his act. Your ask implies that he's, if not entirely misanthropic, then a lot less easygoing and amicable as he's shown to be in canon. Someone easily annoyed by others, who perhaps doesn't really have the patience to deal with a lot of the shenannagins that happen on the show, even if he pretends he does... and even if his whole game plan revolves around maintaining that misconception.

That's not to say that he isn't the Geoff we all know and love from canon. He's still the same person, he's just... not as benign. At least not internally.

You could take inspiration for this Geoff from his portrayal in Action, or maybe even his vindicitiveness from World Tour (against Blaineley, just make that energy universal) to base a lot of his real character on; a Geoff who isn't exactly antagonistic, but has a mean streak and a tendancy to hold grudges. And, of course, he'd keep the same natural charisma canon Geoff has, even if his "himbo charm" is fake.

Then it's just a case of replacing his usual good-natured aloofness with cool apathy, or even a spiteful disrgard of others, and you've got yourself the perfect canvas for a wolf in sheep's clothing.

And he's also got his friendships with the Bass boys - Harold excluded, of course - which, considering Duncan's influence, would be a nice outlet for his less sociable tendencies. A way to let loose without having to expose himself as less good-natured than he lets on.

Bringing it back to Owen, and their shared similarities: Geoff could esaily attach himself to Owen post merge, similarly to how Heather attaches herself to Lindsay, as not only a social buffer (though Geoff doesn't really need one, unlike Heather) but as a sort of pawn in the competition. The "boy's alliance" would be the perfect time to have Geoff try to integrate Owen into his social circle, which is pretty much what happens in canon anyway.

Keeping Owen as close as possible is the most strategically sound move on Geoff's part. The closer he is to Owen, the easier it is to cherry pick what aspects of Owen's personality he's going to imitate. He's also got himself at least one secured vote (in theory, since Owen's known to be easily swayed).

The issue with this?

Geoff finds Owen almost unbearable to be around.

Which is ironic, given that he's conciously and intentionally trying to be as Owen-like as possible, but it's true. He can't understand how anyone can be as unconditionally and authentically cordial as Owen is, and it pisses him off. He has a hard enough time acting friendly and warm around people he doesn't like, but when it comes to doing the same with someone he actively despises?

It's enough to wear his already thin patience down until it snaps.

[ghostlyheart]

I feel like it's really important to point out that blondja is wearing cowboy boots

[ingravinoveritas]

did you see this? https://x.com/achtungchio/status/1768089834222977466?s=20

Oh my God. Yes, yes I have indeed seen that post, but for those who haven't let's get a screenshot up:

This comes from a fan who attended tonight's performance of Nye and was at the stage door afterward and overheard this exchange between Michael and another fan. (A second fan has made another post here on Tumblr also confirming what Michael said.)

So...just to put things in perspective, it has been eight months since GO season 2 first aired, and one month since we've gotten a comment from David about what it was like to kiss Michael. And now we finally have heard from Michael about what it was like to kiss David, and everything about how this came about could not be more perfect.

I love that it was a question from a fan, instead of a print or TV interview. Knowing how Michael has interacted with the fandom for the last five years, I would fully expect him to give the cheekiest (and most honest) answer to a fan instead of an interviewer. It's probably also what he's wanted to scream out on Twitter since last July, but couldn't because of the Writers' Strike and then the subsequent fandom drama that occurred in late October.

His answer absolutely blows me away, for so many reasons. That you can just hear "It's everything you've dreamed of" so distinctly in his voice, for one. But also that it's gorgeous because Michael is giving away so much by saying so little. It's that he was being a complete tease with that soft chuckle (as the second fan mentioned) and by letting us imagine more than he told us--and also seemingly very purposely not stopping us from imagining it.

Also, the use of "you dreamed of" instead of "I dreamed of" almost seems deliberate, as if Michael used to dream about kissing David but hasn't had to for a long time because he's kissed him many times before. (It also made me wonder if that was a sly reference to those of us who have thought about Michael and David kissing, and the fact that Michael knows so many of us have thought about it. I'm probably completely wrong, but I feel oddly and unexpectedly seen at the moment. Haha.)

I am just delighted that someone finally asked him that, though. I think we've been dying for it, but also likely not as much as Michael has been dying for it. And how amazing would it be if this is what leads him back to Twitter to engage with the fandom and share a few more juicy tidbits that he's been keeping under wraps. Fingers crossed...

[noirandchocolate]

Me: *wandering around in Faron in BotW*

Bast: *notices guy with lantern* Is that a Yiga?

Me: Well there ARE Yiga in Faron. We know this, from—

Yiga Footsoldier: *manifests in burst of ofuda, ready to shoot me* HAHAHAHAHA!

Me: HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

[inlovewragnvindr]

i logged in to my old genshin account bc i was bored. and look what i saw while doing archon quest. who is this man??

[leaisterrified]

i KNEW IT i called it