#he is too similar to Ter

[respectthepetty]

Dee better be a Leo!

I'm so happy the first day of Pride landed on a SaturGay because we were all greeted by a birthday-filled Wandee Goodday!

Even though the birthdays were celebrated so the kids would have one day they didn't have to remember the sadness (this is going to come back to bite us in the ass when Yak and Dee aren't together, I'm sure)

But the reason I love it is because we learned Yak was was born December 6

Making him a Sagittarius. *horse sound effect*

Who tend to be friendly, flirty, funny, optimistic, and down to clown.

And you know what colors align with a Sagittarius? Purple (like Dee!)!

So if we get Wandee's birthday, I'm hoping he is a Leo (the best!) or a Gemini because their guiding color is yellow so it could link with Yak's yellow.

Wandee could also be an Aquarius because his (fake) blue would make sense, pero . . . I don't want it because, once again, I don't think the blue really captures his *essence*.

So even though Yak keeps wearing blue

I think that's just him absorbing Dee's environment without realizing how much he already feels for Dee, who is dramatic and stubborn, like a Leo.

Therefore, I'm still hoping that Yak will realize his feelings when he finally wears Dee's purple, so I'll be patiently waiting here for this Sagittarius to wear his power color.

However, if he does wear purple, it means that Dee has won since Dee is hellbent on making everything a competition; therefore, he must win everything, even trivial things that shouldn't be a competition.

As @doublel27 pointed out, Dee already crossed the line into pink = 💕love💕 territory (aka how a show becomes a Colors Award nominee)

Yet Dee won't even let Yak call himself Dee's boyfriend even though Yak has done it plenty of times for his advantage.

The thing is, Yak is the perfect balance for Dee with their white x black color dynamic, and not just sexually (which would make sense if Dee was a Leo, so please do not let him a Aquarius, dear God!)

Yak remembers important things like the EXACT amount of time they have been fake dating

When Ter couldn't even remember how long they had been friends.

Yak is honest and open with Dee and works as a team with him

While Ter can't even be honest with himself and sees Dee as competition (y'all really hate this man, but he is my poor little meow meow and I am captain of his apology squad)

But this is also Dee's problem - he isn't honest with himself and views everything as a competition, even when Yak has proven that Teamwork Makes the Dream Work.

For Yak, a man who excels at a sport that is based solely on individual talent where a person must knock out the competition to take claim his spot, he clearly knows the importance of working as a team and the value of including others.

This is something he has learned from his brother because even though Yak is the only one in the ring, without Cher and Yei's dedication to each other, the gym, and their child/brother, Yak would not be where he is.

And that's something Dee, who was raised by his free-spirited grandmother, needs to learn, especially as a doctor who works in a hospital with other doctors and nurses. (Those tiny boxing gloves need to be hanging on my rear-view mirror immediately, GMMTV. YOU HEAR ME?! Where is my merch?!)

A true balance (they switched colors) means you have to compromise. You can't always win. Sometimes you have to lose, intentionally.

Because as cute as this argument was over the ridiculousness of names/positions and toothbrushes with Yak's yellow big bunny brush having little yellow boxing gloves (thanks @babyangelsky) and Dee's purple brush with an adorable teeny tiger on it, the argument still gets to the point that Wandee refuses to lose.

He is sleeping with a big dick every night (I just really wanted to include the plushie)

He is cuddling on the couch with his grandmother in the next room.

He is dressing up and cuddling on the floor with the purple and yellow food items on the table.

He is trying to bake and cook when his grandmother never did, emphasis on trying.

And it's all because of Yak. Dee not only wants Yak, but he *needs* Yak because Yak makes him better and allows him to embrace his true self, but I truly believe Dee's need to win will overshadow everything else, which is maybe why he and Ter were such good friends for eight years since they don't remember dates they don't think are important, they need to win regardless of who gets hurts, and they won't realize what they have until it's gone.

But . . . that's just me thinking as a competitive and ambitious tiger Leo, so who knows?

Dee could just be an unpredictable Aquarius.

[yinwaryuri]

Okay here I come with thoughts that I'm not sure many people will be on board with, but I'm gonna share anyway because who cares! Wandee Goodday is doing a fantastic job selling characters who are ridiulous, and many of them are charming. I'm gonna talk about the guy who isn't. Charming that is.

I Think Ter Is In The Closet

And I'm only using bits from episode 4 to demonstrate this. Sorry if you need more to be convinced.

Ter is a strange character because we meet him through Wandee, when he's still up on a pedestal. That image almost immediately gets crumpled and tossed into oncoming traffic to be flattened in a rubbery, Bangkok traffic death. Dee confesses his feelings and Ter insists he's straight. He's straight. He's straight! He likes women, not men. Sorry. To make matters worse, he pulls the asshole move of just asking Dee to leave the scholarship to him.

These men have known each other for eight years. Eight fucking years and this is where things are going? If we know how much of a disaster Dee is, then it really makes me wonder what disaster side of himself Ter has (aside from what we know).

(thinking them gaaayyy thoughts) (also this weirdo doesn't listen to music while working out? no wonder he's the devil)

Ter is recalling the moment when Yak came into the hospital with flowers for Dee, called him tee-rak, and the two of them are looking at each other like. Like That.

Super normal for a hetero dude to focus on that part of his long-term colleague's life. And if he were a huge homophobe, I could understand it being a possible upset, but then he wouldn't be so close to Dee if that were the case. This is Golf Tanwarin we're being led by here.

Our Devil Doctor is pulled out of his train of thought by the appearance of a shirtless Plakao

Guys, I won't lie to you, I yelled NO aloud because for a second I thought he was going to have his come to Jesus with our favorite asexual king, and as an asexual who worships Plakao and how amazing he is, I just wasn't gonna have it!

And the first thing Ter notices? Kao is alone - specifically, he isn't accompanied as usual by his bestie Wandee. So Ter immediately interrupts his workout to question him. Kao responds that Dee's with his boyfriend now, which prompts more questioning about their relationship from Ter.

Yeah, Ter. What's it matter to you?

You turned Wandee away because you're straight. So, obviously that's a no, right? Right?

Not addressing that then. Okay. We'll just hit the skip button for that dialogue option, I guess.

As a tenured colleague and friend, that would be the natural reaction to this. Kao is a wise, wise man, and like many an asexual, he has done the work of figuring himself out while living in an allonormative world (while also recognizing he likes men! I cannot stress enough how beautifully nuanced his okay). From what he understands (and is stating for Ter to ponder), is that this would make sense for someone who doesn't harbor any other kinds of feelings toward Dee and until recently, has been on good terms with him.

But Ter doesn't get to ponder because he gets called away and immediately forced to face Dee happily walking hand in hand with Yak. It's awkward. Dee excuses himself and Yak. And then Ter's eyes foooolloooww.....

And later he gets back to his room with the number of the beast and fondly recalls when Dee used to leave snacks on his door....

(crowd goes awww)

But this guy can't help but notice while he's doing an evening workout -

Hey! There are Dee and Yak again! Being all cute in the pool! It's too coincidental! (He had not considered that his colleague works at the same place and has a similar schedule, therefore all this appropriately timed boyfriendism could only happen within that schedule)

So he has to conclude that it isn't real.

Little does Ter know that it was originally intended for YakDee to be fake boyfriends; that he'd stumbled upon the truth immediately. What he wasn't expecting was for Dee to double down not only to not be caught plotting like that, but because he's way further into his feelings for Yak than he is fully aware of.

I cannot stress how interesting it is so see this man be so obsessed over their relationship. Anyone who would call themselves a close friend or colleague would simply be happy for Dee, maybe warn him about some people who are less accepting if that were an issue, and then continue focusing on whatever it is he's doing for the scholarship. And maybe he does focus on the scholarship - we aren't shown his side of it because it's not important - but if that's true and his secondary focus is theorizing that Dee's relationship is fake? TER? WORSTIE?????

And then this happens!

Now I've seen a lot of people taking this as manipulation and I'm not going to call them wrong. It is exactly that. But I think he's also seeing if maybe he missed a chance? It wasn't that long ago that Dee was reminiscing about the past eight years together and Ter had decided the scholarship was more important than pursuing whatever thing they had between each other. Ter is realizing he doesn't want to throw either of them away, but still has his heart with the money. So he improvises a lame little plea, it's badly executed, and we get sad eyes watching Dee leave.

I would've expected him to curse under his breath, or have some sort of small scale tantrum after that interaction if he was fully planning to manipulate Dee like that. His melancholy here is what has me thinking that it wasn't well thought out, and there's a part of him who cares about his relationship with Dee and wishes it could carry on as it used to.

Ter continues to obsess. We know he'd immediately seen the story Dee posted, and it seems he's returning to it again (knowing social media habits, he's likely checked it several times in between).

CAUGHT.

Kwan, in contrast to Ter, is also Dee's colleague. She finds him and his boxer boyfriend just charming!

This line kills the entire conversation. There's very obvious tension about this subject.

To me this is where Ter has kinda said the quiet part out loud. He's more concerned about his own image. To whom? His family? His patients? Future opportunities? To himself? Not that there's nothing for Dee to be worried about (this is in Thailand where gay marriage is not legal yet, after all), but he has had a good reception of being publicly queer so far. Is that due to his queerness being more pronounced? Has Ter ridden for most of his life on being able to pass as straight because he was afraid of the consequences?

I'm gonna take a hard left for a moment, and then redirect.

There's a scene in the film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar where a sheriff (who has had an altercation with a drag queen and is looking for her for severely homophobic reasons) sits in a saloon and essentially narrates gay erotica aloud like he's trying to process the concept of homosexuality. He's disturbed about the idea. The people around him are also disturbed by his imaginings. It almost gives the sense that his thoughts come from desire, but he's been taught too much hate about that desire to recognize it.

And this is the moment where I just felt sorry for Ter. It seems like he maybe has some deep-seated denial, and it's being overturned by everything Dee is doing. It doesn't excuse him, but shit's gotta suck. And it's clear his disturbance with the idea of Dee having gotten over any feelings for him will be hard to reckon with on top of deciding how he feels about Dee himself. P'Golf does their antagonistic and confused gays well.

[raayllum]

Why is Clauderry together / why is Terry with Claudia?

This is a question I've seen posed more than a few times in the fandom, of people feeling confused with why Claudia is with Terry (despite her dislike of elves) and more so why Terry is with Claudia despite her being a walking collection of red flags. This has, admittedly, always questions I felt the show answered quite well and obviously, but if it's still being probed, then... why not?

Let's talk about it.

Why is Claudia with Terry?

The only prior examples we have with Claudia having any kind of romantic connection is with Callum, which never came to fruition; I've also gone on record saying myself that the show made it clear Callum's feelings for Claudia were a lot stronger than whatever, if any, she held for him. However, in her interactions with Callum even just as a friend, we can see what she appreciates in her free time. For starters, we see that Claudia enjoys being a goofball:

We see that a shared sense of humour is something that Claudia cares about, as one of the only compliments she gives to Callum is "You always make me laugh" and "That was very confident Callum" as he was able to go with the flow while asserting himself.

Words of affirmation is also something she clearly enjoys. Appreciation, acknowledgement, and gratitude are very important to her.

(Side note: This is also part of why she spirals into "I did all THIS FOR YOU" on the beach in a "You owe me your life" kind of way, because she was prepared and sacrificed and saved you, and doesn't that deserve acknowledgement? Doesn't that mean getting what she wants? What she's owed? But I digress.)

We also see early fracturing in Callum not trusting her (1x03, 2x03), a subsequent breakdown in honest communication on both sides, and that Claudia reads Callum as being judgemental of her dark magic use, which is also something that frustrates her about Soren:

(Part of this is because Claudia has gone from seeing dark magic as just an amazing beautiful tool to a terrible but necessary one, so necessary that it overrules any other reservations... because she's attached to seeing herself as a Good Person—"But I'm not evil, it's me"—but again, I digress.)

Conversely, Terry has all of those things in spades. He admires and relies upon her dark magic use, he's someone she can be reciprocally goofy with, he's extremely attentive and loyal (and loyalty/devotion is something that is also extremely important to her), and perhaps most importantly, he's helpful and non-judgemental.

Terry also explains that one of the things Claudia likes about him is his smarts / creative thinking ("Goofy and glorious, just like you" / "You saved the day Ter-Bear") and his thoughtfulness:

Claudia says I think too much about everything, and that makes me weird, and wonderful, so...

This makes sense as Claudia values being prepared in her own day-to-day life curtesy of being a dark mage, and that Soren's tendency to being impatient when they were growing up together (lying about Harrow without consulting her, picking the fight with the dragon, etc) was something that got on her nerves.

As for the Elf 'elephant' in the room... Claudia also doesn't have an issue trusting Aaravos for one simple reason: he's helping her save her dad.

Even while she's warning Soren against trusting or forming friendships with other elves and dragons because they might "take advantage" of him and be fake friends, she can't see that's precisely what Aaravos is doing to her. In a similar vein, Terry also believes in her (as he says directly in 4x09) and is helping her save her father, so why would she have a problem with him even if he's an elf?

That doesn't mean there aren't problems in Claudia's worldview, or that exceptionalizing people is a Good thing to do, particularly to your partner, but it's a clearly defined and realistic cognitive dissonance. Claudia has moved past seeing all elves as Bad™ to "these ones are good" because they're helping her, and not getting in her way, and that's all she really personally cares about.

However, I think most people can understand why Claudia's with Terry, given how sweet and routinely supportive she is. The bigger thornier question then is the opposite. So let's talk about that too.

Why is Terry with Claudia?

One of the most common things people say when it comes to Terry and Claudia is that they wish we could see how they met (and presumably whether that initial attraction was there from the start or how it developed). This usually leans into an underpinning idea (and I could be wrong) that seeing their beginning would help indicate why Terry fell for her (and thereby why he stays). And I would definitely be interested in how they met, and am open to seeing it, whether in a show, graphic novel, or novelization mention.

That said, I think the show has also answered these accordingly. In a lot of ways, there's really only two reasons why Terry is with Claudia as she is in arc 2:

1) He doesn't have an Issue with dark magic.

He admires Claudia's use of it ("And your daughter's amazing, she brought you back from the dead, wow!"), is open and receptive to using it ("Dark magic has a tingly aftertaste, nobody ever tells you that"), and doesn't see anything fundamentally wrong with it ("Should I give up dark magic? Terry, tell me what to do" "Claudia, I can't"). On the one hand, this makes sense; there are spell ingredients of dark magic that aren't that different from hunting and given that Terry grew up near the Drakeriders, I'd find it hard to believe if the Drake riders don't hunt and eat meat, so even if Terry's village didn't, he was at least somewhat close to societies that did.

That doesn't mean he has zero reservations about dark magic ("I've seen you do some awful things, dark magic things" / "Are you mixing the pentapus ink with your own blood?") but that to him, it's not any different from how Claudia thinks about it. She also thinks she's done terrible things in the name of saving her father:

But I'm not evil. It's me. You know me.

I had to do things... [starts crying] I never imagined I would be able to do. (4x01)

This is also how Terry copes with murdering Ibis, citing "I had to, I couldn't let him hurt you," "and he was going to take Claudia's life, I had no choice," and "I'm going to be strong enough to do whatever I need to do and still have feelings." To Terry what matters most is exactly what he says in 4x09: why are you doing these things? Are they actually necessary?

Terry loves Claudia (and Viren by extension) above anything else. Everything he does is for them, good or bad. That devotional loyalty is something that Claudia also lives by, and is arguably her and Terry's biggest shared life value.

Doing terrible things is okay if it's in the name of love, and if it's not, then you shouldn't do them. This is why when he talks about his grief/guilt with Ibis, Terry always scaffolds it alongside the reason why he did it.

This is also why Terry steps in exclusively when what Claudia is doing is unnecessary. She didn't need to trick Rayla in order to get away. She doesn't need to kill the dragon ("It won't follow us anymore, it's trapped") as it's already helpless. They're actions without good reasons, which is also why Terry distrusts Aaravos, because he realizes:

Maybe this story started out as a story of love, but along the way it got twisted. [...] He isn't doing anything for love. He's doing it out of revenge.

So long as Claudia is doing things out of love, Terry will stick by her. And if she stops doing it out of love, then she stops being the Claudia he knows.

Which, I'll also note, is fundamentally different from the Claudia that everyone else knows, because

2) He didn't know Claudia beforehand.

Terry doesn't know Claudia as a semi sheltered girl growing up in the palace who did dark magic solely for fun, nor how most of her close personal relationships (Soren, Callum, Ezran) got destroyed in the span of 3ish weeks. He only knows Claudia who uses dark magic (seemingly) 90% out of complete necessity for flight, safety, and bringing her father back. He seemingly doesn't really know how Soren and Claudia had their falling out, nor does he have any real clue who Callum or Ezran are.

Because Claudia was his only way to know these things rather than knowing multiple people involved, or even living through experiences, Terry would've gotten sparse details or the version that is how Claudia experienced them, and he has no reason to doubt her.

To be clear, I'm not saying that their set up is perfect or that their relationships is perfectly healthy. It's not. Claudia's singular control over how Terry knows the experiences of her life when we as an audience know it's very different is an issue, but is not that dissimilar from when you meet / date new people to begin with (i.e. was their ex really that bad, or were they the problem is sometimes something that can only be known in time). Terry's passivity and mirrored worldview helps enable Claudia's even when she's being destructive to herself and others, and her treating Terry as an exception for his people is also not good in the long run. Clauderry walks this line of being incredibly sweet and uncomfortable, and I think that's one of the things that makes it interesting and with spades of tragedy, particularly going into S7. Terry may not yet have a deep seated issue with dark magic (which enables Claudia but also frees her up to grow on her own terms), but it is the reason they may be torn apart in the future for a time.

I do think they'll find their way back together eventually (even if they'll always be Divorced Eventually in my head). To me, it's clear why they love each other, and while TDP could say that's not enough (and I think that'd be a very interesting valid route to take), I don't think that they will. This scene exists, after all:

[estelofrivendell]

The Lucky One (Legolas x Female Reader)

summary: legolas reflects on living his life with a human.

word count: 1016

a/n: not sure how i thought of this. it's not long (not that anything i'm writing lately is long) and i always wanted to write more for legolas. i miss writing for lotr, even though i'm now focused on other things.

The sun shone brightly as it rose, birds were singing and chickens called, signaling the beginning of the morning. Legolas was a night owl but grew to appreciate the mornings because it meant waking up beside you, a reminder of the peace and quiet you now had. Moments such as these made him appreciate the little things in life more than he thought was already possible.

Once upon a time, the mere thought of being intimate with a human scared the living daylights out of him. Now, he cannot imagine being with anyone else other than you. A woman and an elf was initially unheard of, and before your union, there were no such examples. They were so different yet so alike Legolas appreciated humans.

He loved all your flaws, both physical and personality, because they were a part of you. Humans were not infallible, including you, but they would not be who they are without them, and Legolas cannot say elves were always noble and faultless since the dawn of history. The good things about you outweighed the bad things about you and he would be damned to leave behind what he had with you just because you were not of his kind.

You stood there at the doorway, rubbing your eyes, hair untidy and your overall state unkempt, and he loved that. He loved that cheeky grin of yours even more; it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

“Good morning, sunshine.” Legolas brought in the food he cooked, with the ingredients he obtained while you were still asleep. He knew it was your favourite, even if he did not like much of your food tastes. “Slept well?”

“I did.” You reached out for the comb on the wooden desk. “I do not remember what I dreamt of, not that I ever do, but I slept well, yes.”

It amazed him that men could dream and did yet not remember them. Legolas remembers all his dreams vividly and it meant something, little or large. In the occasional morning that you remembered what you dreamt of the night before, it was all about things that were not possible. He also found it intriguing that a subset of dreams, nightmares, could be so overwhelming to the point it woke you up. Multiple times this has happened, and you tell him it was always about the war.

“I dreamt of the woods,” he said. “Not of Mirkwood, I know that all too well. But it was not like any of the woods we saw on our journey either. I think we are meant to be there sooner or later, whatever it has to offer us.”

“Well, whatever woods you want us to travel to, I do not want it to have anything similar to those frighteningly humongous spiders your realm has. Or any orcs possibly hiding and waiting to kill anyone and anything on site. I want to live, Legolas, and not like a reckless fool.”

Legolas smiled. “There is nothing to worry about. Those spiders are only in Mirkwood, I can assure you that. I have lived many years and possess a great deal of knowledge on what to expect when facing the unknown.”

You frowned. “Right, but I never forgot you were a thousand years old. How can I? Nevertheless, reading numbers of books and hearing it from your fellow elves and friends, well, Aragorn only, is nothing like actually being there yourself.”

“As I just said, there is nothing to worry about. I will always protect you, always, with or without danger.”

“We humans are known for being brave and courageous, whatever elves believe courage means, and yet you are less hesitant to face the unknown.”

“Are we? I do not think so. I think that is the specialty of humans. What you believe is the unknown is not entirely unknown to elves. Remember, my dear, before Rivendell, I have never ventured farther than the outskirts of Mirkwood. The thought of leaving my beloved home terrified me. You, on the other hand, are like a moth to the flame. I remember thinking how could anyone be so sure in helping a little hobbit you do not know destroy the One Ring, when the odds are slim?”

“It was the right thing to do. I thought elves were insistent on their morals.”

“We are. But the conditions of acting on it depends. Most of us are not as brave as you. That is what I admire about you.”

“And I admire your wit, and everything about you, actually. I always said I was lucky to love you.”

“No. I am the lucky one.”

You sighed. “This again?”

These conversations went nowhere and were all about you two fighting over who loved each other more, who was more lucky, and who was undeserving. Arguing with you was not far from arguing with a wall, but he would still choose you over anyone else. That is what he thinks love and commitment are all about, staying by the side of who you care about the most, despite their issues, flaws and struggles. Because in the end, it will all be worth it.

The end. Those two words scared Legolas the most. Elves have no end, but men do, and there will come a time where you will grow old and leave the world, and leave him alone as he remains young and beautiful, but become wiser and weary. Instead of glooming over the future and events that have yet to happen, he would rather cherish the present and show his love and appreciation for you. He made a commitment to you, and when the time comes, he will watch over you and care for you, because that is what he vowed to do. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health. He thought these were such beautiful vows for humans.

Legolas loved you and he always showed you that since he first knew what it meant to love a human and will continue to do so until your very last breath.

[taesnix]

BACK from the void to present to you: Nico, who wears the most absolutely ridiculous socks ever because no one can see them.

Gods, he has so many.

Most of them are thick and warm for maximum comfort, and they go up to just under his knees with the stupidest little things and patterns on them. For summer, he has an equally impressive collection of crew socks that are still thick enough to not get easily worn out, but don't make him sweat buckets trudging under the sun.

Nico knows that he'll forever be a collector at heart but it's not like he wanted to choose socks of all things as his next prized possessions. He didn't wake up one day and decide "man, these things are pretty great, let's go amass an army's worth of SOCKS!" It just happened. He had no control over that. They just feel nice, okay. And perhaps the colour combos and sheer variety of everything makes him happy.

Is it kind of embarrassing? Yeah. Would he cease to exist if anyone found out? Holy shit, maybe. But it's not like anyone has been able to tell underneath his daily go-to of heavy jeans and combat boots, so he's been in the clear so far.

Until he gets distracted for a split second while sparring with Percy and riptide cuts a huge slash across his leg.

Nico's fast, so he's able to jump back just enough so that the sword barely catches any flesh, but his jeans unfortunately don't come out unscathed.

"Keep your head in the game, Neeks!" Percy teases with a grin. He's got an annoying glint in his eye to match and Nico just knows he's about to say something worse. "No matter who walks in."

And—shit. Nico feels his face flush scarlet despite him screaming internally at his body to not react. He pointedly does not look at the new blob of neon scrubs sitting next to Kayla in the stands. "Shut up, Jackson. Like you're any better when Annabeth so much as blinks at you."

Percy shrugs. "Hey man, at least I acknowledge it."

And—fine, he does. Nico will give him that. Jackson was peak levels of embarrassing about his girlfriend on a good day.

"I think you should go get that patched up," Percy smirks. He then makes a big show of squinting at the stands, pulling a similar face that Jason makes trying to read highway signs without his glasses. Basically, he looks really fucking stupid. "Impeccable timing, too! Whaddya know? There seems to be a free medic right there."

One day, Nico will kill him. It'll fix almost all of his problems, and gods know he'll always have too many at any given point in time. But he'll do it. Maybe Annabeth will even take pity and give him a pass.

Before Nico can even open his mouth and retort with something snarky, Percy raises his hands and hollers. "Hey, Will! The King here is in need of some dire medical attention!"

"No, I'm not!" Nico shouts when Will's eyes grow wider. "Nothing happened, I'm fine."

Percy snorts and claps him on the shoulder. "As if that's worked before. Good luck, little man. Same time tomorrow?"

And he doesn't wait for a response, just gives a one-handed salute and begins to make his way to the stands. Percy says something to Will as they pass by each other and Will's brows furrow.

One day.

"What happened?" Will asks as he jogs over. His blond curls rise and fall with every step and if you zeroed in on only them, the loose coils look like they're in zero gravity. Bouncing with an impossible grace as they get closer and closer.

Not that Nico was looking. Or that he'd even noticed at all. Man, is it getting hotter here? He should definitely drink some water soon.

"Nico?" Will waves a slow hand in front of his face. "You alright? Percy said his sword mostly caught your jeans, but you never know."

"Huh?" Nico chokes. Right, this is the dire medical attention part.

Will gives him a wobbly smile, like he's trying not to laugh but failing miserably. "Okaaay then. Can I check your leg?"

"Um, sure."

He's still so out of it that he doesn't hear his subconscious screaming at him why Will kneeling down to lift the denim is a terrible, horrible idea.

Nico feels the lithe fingers carefully cut down the fabric with scissors that have seemingly appeared from nowhere. He feels them gently peel back his jeans with a confident precision, minimizing the disturbance to the wound. He hears the faintest of gasps and he feels the other boy go completely still.

He tilts his head down to see what the issue is—surely Percy hadn't slashed him that bad—and then, like a statue, he freezes in place too.

In the most obnoxious shade of yellow possible, rows of mischievous rubber ducks beam back at both of them. He says mischievous because they've got annoying smirks and eyebrows strong enough to rival the Stoll brothers on the first of April. Which is quite a concerning amount. The smallest flecks of red from his cut take the whole "sinister menaces" thing to an unholy level.

Neither of them breathe for the next 30 seconds. Or maybe it's 30 years. Hell, if Nico knows now, his damn heart stopped working properly ages ago.

Then, either his saving grace or the final nail in his coffin, Will sucks in another shaky mouthful of air and clears his throat.

"You know," he starts, scarily neutral. Not a single waver in his voice. "I'm beginning to think Kayla's got a point."

Kayla talks a lot, running through an average 5 conversation topics in a record of 7 minutes with Nico himself, so that narrows it down by exactly nothing. "Uh, about what?"

Will doesn't reply, simply carrying on with cleaning and dressing his injury like he hadn't said anything. It drives Nico crazy, but he knows Will's priorities, so he holds his tongue. Will had drilled them into Nico's brain during his first infirmary stay; treat first, talk second.

So he waits. He lets Will dab the tiniest bit of nectar across the cut and wipe away blood. After a minute or two, his leg is wrapped neatly with a bandage, and suddenly, there's no more treating to be done.

"We're matching," Will finally says.

Nico blinks. Because—what.

"I mean, it's a slightly different shade, but eh, close enough to count."

Nico breaks out of his stupor when Will traces one of the ducks with his nail. Soft but accurate, light but impossible to ignore, like everything else he does.

"Yellow?" Nico whispers. He can't seem to muster up his voice to be louder than that.

Will looks up at him with a particular glint in his eye, and Nico's heart stops a second time.

"Mhm," he grins, dusting his knees as he stands up. He winks and it has no right to kickstart the thumping in Nico's chest. "Same wavelength."

"You're ridiculous," Nico lightly shoves at Will's shoulder and prays that his face isn't burning red.

Will just laughs and catches his hand, holding it in place. "Sure, but I'm also right."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are n—"

"Okay," Will interrupts, "I hate to break it to you, Neeks, but we're both wearing obnoxious shades of yellow. You've got the added bonus of sly rubber duckies, and my scrubs glow in the dark. Ergo, we're both ridiculous and both on the same wavelength."

Gods, who the hell says, "ergo". Why is Nico so enamoured with such an idiot.

"And how, exactly, does Kayla have a point here?" Nico sighs, ignoring that his hand is still on Will's shoulder and that Will is still holding it there. He'll take his silent wins as they come.

Now, Will's cheeks become a rosy red. It makes Nico want to trace a finger around his freckles to check if his skin has become warmer, too.

"Well..." He trails off. He glances down to Nico's leg again, where some of the damn ducks are peeking out behind his jeans.

With a grounding deep breath, Will shuts his eyes for a moment. When they open, he meets Nico's gaze head on, calm yet confident once more.

He's beautiful like this, like he always is.

Against his own will, Nico smiles. Will shines underneath the sun and his stupid blond curls are golden.

"She said we're soulmates. And I think she's right about that."

And Nico thinks she's right about that, too.

[hunn1e-bunn1e]

Ugh Himbos...

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

I love himbos so much, and you should too! So have a Himbo appreciation post!

                                                                                                   

Starting with Obey Me!

We have his royal highness Prince Diavolo!

This man just does things to me I swear...

Next we have the demon who can do no wrong; The Ever-Famished Sixth Born Beelzebub or BeelyWeely as I like to call him.

He's so god damn precious! Look at 'im! 🤧

Next is Twisted Wonderland!

First, our loner wolf boy Jack Howl!

I'll sit on his back as he does push-ups, I'm supportive like that...

Next up, we have a lowkey umcomfy but somehow likable merboy, Floyd Leech!

This picture makes hungry for banana cream pie. 🥲

Our next twst himbo, though more of a slimbo, the sultan of the scorching sands; Kalim al Asim!

Certified member of the Kalim protection squad!

Lastly, Our very own half fey and dragon simp himself; Sebek Zigvolt!

I love this boy so much, we're both simps so when have things in common!

Our last franchise on this post is; Genshin Impact!

The first himbo being; Kaeya Alberich!

He's so pretty! 😭

Next is our favorite clumsy adventurer; Bennett!

I'd call him a himbean instead... I've adopted this child, and I'll love him forever!

Here we have our handsome but bloodthirsty number 11 of the fatui harbingers; Tartaglia/Childe/Ajax!

Have you listened to his voiceless about snow in Schnezneya? That shit's concerning...

Next we have Mr fake my death himself; Zhongli!

Do you think mora is made from his tears? Y'know since those who share the memories are nowhere to be found....

🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.•°•.🐇.

There's only ten images per post so I might make a part 2....

Wanna see similar content? Check out my Mas‐ter‐list!

[mayfast]

Scrapped TigerSeal Idea, But Cute Stand Alone.

  "One thing about me..." Tsireya hummed as she thought of a fact about her that not even her brother knew. This game was rather difficult, as Lo'ak had explained to her earlier. It was meant for more sky people friends to get to know each other better, as they don't spend nearly as much time with each other as Na'vi get to. But, it was a challenge she was more than willing to take if it meant she got to spend time with the Sully siblings. She had gotten to learn some interesting things so far, and a couple of things about her brother that she didn't know before, "Is that I dislike sea grass wraps on my feet."  

    "But your hands and face are fine?" Rotxo leans his head forward to stare at her incredulously. It was true, that she enjoyed caring for her body, proper amounts of sleep, strict balances of different foods, and she did put a lot of effort into caring for her skin.  But her feet? She was revolted at letting anything touch her feet. 

    "Yes, of course," She felt a bashful giggle work out of her. She supposed that was the point of the game, expressing things about yourself that you normally wouldn't, so others can learn about you. Even the silly little things. 

    "But that is the best part!" Neteyam blinked at her, his arm finally out of the awful sling. A small scar rose above the rest of his skin, lying not too far away from his heart. "Resting your tired feet from a day of proper labor?" 

    Tsireya couldn't help herself from blanching. Nope, nope, nope, she could feel the sogging plant between her toes already. Her stomach twisted in response to the thought. 

    "Absolutely not." She crinkled her nose. "Let's move away from the subject of feet, your turn!" She looked up to the rock the tawtute had perched himself on. She found it a little odd how he always was on top of things, but Tuk told her that's just how Spider was. Granted that wasn't the only thing...unique about the young male. However, Tsireya found herself enjoying Spider's company. He was thoughtful and open to the world, similar to Lo'ak and Kiri. He held a kind and protective demeanor, an observant eye like Neteyam. He was just as playful as Tuk. So she couldn't say all sawtute were bad, or good, she could tell that Spider was a child of Ewya, which made him a friend of hers. 

    "One thing about me is that my name means war relief or soldier's relief." He smiled as glanced over the group. Tsireya could feel her ears pricked which her curiosity. His name meant that? She didn't know sky people names had meaning. 

    "Hold up Monkey boy, when did you learn that?" Kiri twisted her head over her to glance at her brother. Her eyes held a serious intent. Tsireya noted the surprise from the rest of the Suli siblings. 

    "Yeah bro, when did you learn that?" Lo'ak placed a hand on Tsireya's knee as he leaned forward to look around her. 

    "Spi-ter means war relief?" Ao'nung's tongue was a little thick on the other's name, well, all theirs were. The other teen's name was definitely not Na'vi. The syllables and sounds just didn't sound right together. Thus she often, like her brother and friend frequently butched his name just a little. Tsireya, did feel bad about it. 

    "Ah...No" Spider rubbed the back of his head. He rolled his head side to side with his shoulder swaying as well, his five fingers almost touching each other as his upturned palms were held close to his body. Tsireya had deduced the movement as an unsure body gesture, she had only seen Toruko Makto, and the dreamwalker that visited after the Battle at Three Brothers do it before.

    "So, Spider isn't actually my name, it's a nickname." Tsireya needed to blink, she had been staring for a bit too long. His name wasn't Spider? "My name is Miles Javier Socorro, but rarely anyone uses my middle name." His name was Meilys? 

    "Now I'm confused, why don't you use your real name?" Rotxo folded his arms and looked at Spider with some skepticism. Tsireya could understand. It was a lot to take in. Why wasn't his family name Tshaka? or Tsykeitan?  What was a middle name? 

    "So I'm adopted like Kiri, and my birth parents died in the battle of Hallelujah Mountains," Kiri was nodding along, however, Tsireya noticed how Kiri's face went solemn. Tsireya glanced at Lo'ak for some type of answer. Yet his face was drawn tight as well, his eyes downcast at the rock below them. Tsireya was hoping that Neteyam would be more upbeat, but his face was hard, ear pinned back with distaste. 

    "They were bad people though, they attacked the Na'vi. I was only a week old at the time. My Dad, or at least his memories, were put into a dreamwalker's body. He's the one who led the burning of the Anerui village, and the hunt against the Tulkun and the one who held you hostage on the ship." Spider's voice grew quiet. He was ashamed. "His name is Miles." 

    "Miles means war, doesn't it?" Neteyam spoke, his eyes trained on Spider's folded, defeated-looking body. Like just telling them that had exhausted him.  Spider nodded languidly.

    "Miles is from the dead language called Latin, it technically means solider or warrior, but it's been so well associated with war, that it can be used as the word in some cases." Tsireya's mouth was dry and hot. Who could find war so beautiful, that one would name a baby after it?

    "My mother's name, Paz Soccorro, in Espanol, her...tribe's native language," Spider glanced at Ao'nung and gave a weak smile, Tsireya felt something in her chest untwist as Ao'nung gave his own reassuring smile back. When had she started feeling sick? "Means Peace relief." 

    "War and peace, huh?" Lo'ak barked with a disbelieving laugh. Tsireya could share the sediment. That was truly ironic. 

    "What does Quaritch mean Spider?" Kiri asked, her voice wobbling from the topic of the nightmare that made their family flee their home. Spider sighed, how could Tsireya feel his saddened soul from one gust of breath? His family name, his ancestors, had cursed him by giving his name to be of violence. 

    "Quaritch is thought to be of Slovak origin, which means a smith, or a special maker of something," Spider rolled and rested his back on the rock. His face was no longer visible to her, but Tsireya was certain that Miles, (Spider?) wasn't proud. His tongue flicked the sky people's word out easily before returning to the mother's tongue. 

    "So his name would be war maker," Rotxo concluded. Tsireya rubbed her thumb between her fingers. Sawtute names had meaning, deep meaning, it spoke of their ancestors and their actions. 

    "What does Tsykek's name mean?" Tsireya found herself asking before she could stamp the thought down. Spider sat up and glanced at her. 

    "His full name is Jacob, Jake is his nickname. And it means to follow, or one who seizes. Some believe that it means deceiver. It's Hebrew, the language I mean." Tsireya watched Lo'ak jaw relax and open. His enchanting eyes were wide as he gazed at his older brother. 

    "Does dad have a middle name too?" 

    "It's Oscar." Spider grinned as Lo'ak started cackling, and Tsireya found herself laughing along with them. As much as she respected the warrior, sky people names sounded awfully silly. 

    "Kiri, your turn!" 

"One thing about me..." 

[pensat-i-fet]

Behind the mask (Ferran Torres x Reader) / Halloween '23

Masterlist

Wattpad

On the night of the 31st of October, the whole Barça squad was divided in between two houses. Both Pedri and Ter Stegen decided to organize Halloween parties, and so their teammates had to either attend one or the other…and some attended both.

For Ferran, it was an easy choice. He had to go to his bestie’s party. Ter Stegen would understand. What no one understood well was his costume.

“Why do you have a chainsaw in your arm?”“Is that from that chainsaw movie? The one with the massacre?”

Had none of them watched the Evil Dead movies? He shook his head and stopped answering questions about his costume. If they couldn’t appreciate the genius that Ash Williams was, it was their loss. But it turned out that not everyone in the party was as uncultured as his teammates.

“Love the costume, mister Williams”, said a female voice, making Ferran turn to look at her.

“Thank you…what are you supposed to be dressed as? No one gets my costume and now I look lame not knowing yours”.

The woman laughed and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. “I’m Dollface, from the movie The Strangers. I’ll take it you haven’t seen it”.

“I can’t say I have. Is it any good? Or does it just make for a good costume?”

“Don’t tell me you actually don’t like Evil Dead and just dressed as Ash because he’s hot”.

“I love Evil Dead”.

That made you smile. It was your favourite franchise. “Well, this makes for a good and comfortable costume. But the movie is also good. I would recommend you watch it”.

Ferran sat down next to you. Your voice was so beautiful and so…captivating. He felt like he couldn’t leave the room without talking to you more.

“So what’s your name?”

“Let’s say I’m Dollface tonight”.

“Come on. Do you know who I am? Because if you do, then it’s a bit unfair I don’t know your name”.

You laughed and Ferran felt it again. That attraction towards you. He was going to find out who you were.

"I do know. I'm surprised you didn't dress as a shark, actually".

"Too on the nose", he laughed.

You both kept talking and his frustration kept growing, because you wouldn't take the mask off.

"Do you want a drink?", he offered, knowing you would need to take it off to drink, right?

"I would love one, yes. Diet coke or something similar. I'll be driving home. I don't want to drink".

"Got it".

He knew the house well and found the sodas quickly, pouring one in a glass for you.

"Oh wow, I get the good glasses and not paper cups. Fancy".

"Well, you're sober so I trust you won't drop it".

He kept looking at you, expecting the mask to be off soon. But then you looked around, got up, picked up a straw and started to drink without fully removing the mask. Was that some kind of joke? Ferran could only see your lips and chin. That was about it. There was a little beauty mark on your chin, though. So he tried to memorize that for when he maybe saw you around the party later, finally without a mask on.

But that didn't happen. He got a text from one of his teammates, asking where he was. And he knew he couldn't just ignore all of them the whole party.

"My friends want to see me. You could come too. Or I could see you later, maybe?"

"I'll be around. I'm sure you'll find me", you said.

But he didn't see you again after that.

Hours later, the only people left in the house were Pedri and his brother. And Ferran who offered to help tidy up a little. But there was also a selfish reason why he stayed there.

"So, ummm…do you have a list of the people who were here tonight?"

Pedri raised an eyebrow. What an odd question. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious".

"Did you like a girl or something and want to find out if I have her number?"

"Sort of. Not the number just…the name would be enough".

"Didn't you ask for her name?"

"I did. But she didn't want to tell me".

"What did she look like?"

"I don't know".

Pedri laughed. He knew his friend could be weird but this was too much.

"Are you drunk?"

"No, you idiot. She had a mask on and I didn't get to see her face. But I was talking to her for almost an hour”.

“So that’s where you were. Speaking to ghosts”.

Ferran shook his head. Pedri wasn't going to help. No one was going to help. He was never going to find out who Dollface really was.

**

A couple of weeks passed and the Halloween party seemed to be just an afterthought. But sometimes, Ferran still thought about the mysterious girl he talked to.

"Yes, I'm going to order a coffee now, mum. I'll talk to you later. Bye".

He hung up the phone and ordered his coffee. After paying for it, he moved to wait for it at the end of the bar. There were a few people there and he noticed them looking. He was used to it already. But someone was looking at him more boldly.

"Hi", he said. And then noticed the beauty mark on the chin. His eyes went from it to your eyes, trying to work out what was happening. "Is it really you?"

"Hello again. I see you found me".

[diemannschaftblr]

@/iMiaSanMia: Joshua Kimmich on becoming Germany's new captain: "Of course I'm proud. It's nice, especially when I see where I come from. As a kid, you naturally dream of playing for the national team. But captain is still unrealistic. Nobody dreams of becoming a captain. That's something very special. I'm also happy that the people around me are happy and that I've been given their trust. I want to repay that. It's not like it's a one-man show as captain."

on his vice captains Rüdiger and Havertz: I've known Antonio since his time at VfB Stuttgart. He was a first team player and I was still a youth player. We looked up to him. Everyone who made it to the first team from the youth was a great role model for us. Unfortunately we never played together at club level. Our relationship is very good. We get on really well. I've known Kai for a long time too. I'm very happy that he got this role. He flies under the radar. Sometimes it's not just about scoring goals. Kai runs a lot and gives everything for the team. We need people like him.

on Stiller and Pavlović: Both have developed a lot. I know Angelo from the second team at Bayern. Unfortunately, he left the club back then. You could already tell back then that he's someone who is brave and wants the ball. He's technically good and has no fear, similar to Pavlo. In his first season, Aleks started against Real at the Bernabeu and wasn't afraid. Both have a similar profile, both are technically strong and play good passes. Both have fun on the pitch.

on Germany's new #1 ter Stegen: He's done brilliantly over the years. He always gave me the impression that he wants to be number one. That's part of football. But if it doesn't work out, you have a responsibility towards the team. And he has always done that outstandingly. He's captain at FC Barcelona. That's not very common for a German player. I'm happy for him that the door is now opening for him. He deserves it.

on his role model as Germany captain: You are inspired by the captains that you played with yourself. Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer and Ilkay Gündogan. I think everyone interprets the role in their own way. But the structure of the team was also different for everyone. You have to approach it individually. Certain tasks definitely have to be completed, which I may not know about yet.

on continuing to play right-back in the national team: I see it as a strength that I can play both positions. It has helped me a lot in my career to get to where I am. That's why I will never close myself off to one position. I hope that we can close this topic soon.

Club World Cup or Nations League next summer?: I would like to play both. In general, I'm a fan of playing many games. When it comes to the Nations League, people always say it's an 'artificial' competition. Personally, I would rather play the Nations League and compete for a trophy than play in any kind of friendly games.

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

The desert people in mangahood drive me mad because I actually like that Ishvalans have unique characteristics rarely seen in fantasy (usually white-haired people with unusual eye colours are light-skinned like in Game of Thrones) but also realistically....you would think that there would be a portion of Ishvalans with Xerxesian features because they're the closest neighbours to this lost civilisation, not Amestris, and unless all the people of Xerxes were locked in their city, they would have likely married into the local Ishvalan population as well

Like in my head Ishvalans actually live across the entire desert area (not unlike early decentralised Arab societies) with Ishvalans like Scar being sedentary inhabitants of lands closer to Amestris and those in the heart of the desert being nomads - and you would THINK that because of their closer proximity to Xerxes, there would be gold-eyed Ishvalans but NO because then the Ed wouldn't get to ev a special little descendant of a lost people

Also on a conspiratorial note, I have always wondered whether the reason Ishvalans have a negative attitude towards alchemy is because of Xerxes.

Given the lore in 03 and mangahood! Scar's brother saying that alkahestry's principles has similarities with Ishvalan religious beliefs, I think it's not too outlandish to speculate that Ishvalans practiced alchemy to some extent until they saw their prosperous and powerful neighbour (who were even more into alchemy than themselves) literally die in one night. I'd burn the records too and place a ban on the practice as a safety measure fhsnjd

Now I'm actually incredibly insane because the Ishvalan genocide absolutely did not need to be so bloody. All the other blood seals in the country get away with a riot or a battle, but Ishvalans were systematically exterminated; I saw somebody else in the tag wonder whether Father had personal issues with this desert civilisation that, despite its abandonment of alchemy, might be able to see through his schemes because their knowledge of the craft (lost though it might be) predates Amestrian knowledge - and really he was right because Scar's brother cracked the code years before anybody else!!!!

I just had to share my thoughts with you in light of your recent reblog🙏🏻 And also thank you for always answering your asks so thoughtfully!!!

[The reblog that this ask is in reference to.]

Oh shit, hey cool Miles/Scar anon! Always good to see an ask from ya again! :D

[Reply under the readmore]

Anime has no shortage of darker skinned characters with white hair, but certainly the combination of red eyes is less common. I appreciate that fma as a broad series does also have melanated characters with dark hair as well, so it manages to largely avoid the "singular ambiguous ethnic group, no other dark skin tones with realistic dark hair/eyes anywhere to be seen" trope. But you're not wrong, other types of media, particularly from the West, keeps different hair and eye colours for light skin/white fantasy 'races'.

(To digress a bit, I do prefer 03 having the Ishbalans be diverse in their hair colours, so as not to render them as a visual monolith ala mangahood. Still, white hair + red eyes + brown skin tone makes for a visually striking design choice.)

Absolutely agreed with everything regarding Ishval's connection to the surrounding geography and Xerxes. There should have been some Xerxian traits across some modern Ishvalans. Hell, why weren't there any Ishvalan traits with any of the far-too racially homogeneous (and bizarrely white and blond) Xerxians? The idea of there being agriculturally settled Ishvalans that make up the country we know of, while there are nomadic Ishvalans that call the vast "unamed" desert their home is so good! This helps recontextualize that odd no-man's-land treatment of the landmass between Xing and the eastern borders of Amestris, Drachma, and Aerugo: it's that the Amestrian regime does not recognize that land as peopled, ala a form of Terra Nullus (and thus an Amestrian-styled Manifest Destiny for the regions of the desert that would serve to cement Father's bordered geographical alchemic circle). Unsure if the large nations of Drachma and Aerugo similarly project that same racist, imperial lens on the desert as well, but famously the nation state is not a civilizational model that honours, acknowledges, or respects nomadic lifeways and peoples.

Imagine what other Ishvalan or Ishvalan-connected/derived settlements may exist closer to Xing too! And the traits that cross between travel and immigration to and from these societies. It's interesting to contemplate on!

To get back on track here:

I guess we're meant to see much of this country-less desert as the implied size of Xerxes. That this uninhabited land (because canon has no mention of nomadic peoples) is somehow void of (re-)established human life in the 400 years since its calamity. :/ Meh. I rather headcanon that Xerxes was a sizable empire, sure, but that it wasn't the total size of that massive region. If anything, Xerxes could have extended westward into what would one day be Amestrian/Aerugo/maybe even parts of Eastern Drachman territory. This would further highlight Xerxes as the analog to the ancient Persian empire that it's meant to be (which is such a 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 decision because goddamn, why are they all homogeneously fantasy Northern/Eastern European in appearance?!) It had to have had desert neighbours that weren't swallowed into its empire, as well as a slew of racial and ethnic groups amalgamated into its own domain as a result of its own imperialism, land capture, and slavery system.

(As an aside, imagine if instead of wholly navigating an entire desert on her own, Mei encountered and was given some aid by different Ishvalan nomads!)

From a purely world building standpoint, it would have been so cool to see the cultural drift and offshoots that develop amongst the range of Nomadic Ishvalans! Man, I would love to see the ethnic subgroups within settled Ishval too. It's fertile ground for anyone who wants to expand on these cultures, which could be awesome if handled by people who don't make garbage racist headcanons/fanworks.

Mangahood seems satisfied to leave the Ishvalan rejection of alchemy and alkehestry unexplained. This could be seen as encouraging readers to put the pieces together (that it's because of what befell Xerxes), which I appreciate in stories. For this I'll give Arakawa the benefit of the doubt for now. I don't want to jump to seeing this as intentionally racist without further evidence for this specific gap in the lore. However, it could be given a more faithless read as "They became religious fanatics Just Because [they're brown]." With the manga showing a congregation of Ishvalans blowing themselves up as an ambush against invading Amestrian pigs, from the perspective of those traumatized boots (hooray, the Dangerous Religious Orient caricature), it's hard for me not to glower at this lack of explanation.

To repeat myself, I'll interpret it the way you have: that the Ishvalans of four centuries ago saw the empty wasteland where Xerxes once ruled. No one could miss the evidence of an the alchemic reaction stitched into the fabric of the now flattened land. From there alchemy and alkehestry (or its unique Ishvalan practice along those veins) would come to be reviled. That understandable reaction eventually being codified via cultural changes and entering (perhaps even creating new) religious doctrine.

The 2003 anime making it more obvious for audiences to put together that the reason Ishbalan culture and the Ishbala religion condemn alchemy as a dangerous, heretic practice is due to the many life perverting, war-enhancing uses of this magic-science was an excellent choice. That the Grand Arcanum and human transmutation were grievous sources of tragedy and horrors, making what few people who still practice any alchemy into pariahs and exiles. We also are shown alchemy as an analog to European colonists forcibly importing their goods, economic systems, Christianity, and weapons across the world in order to shift the cultures of Indigenous peoples and gradually morph them into a more culturally and economically pliable outpost (further rooting Europe into the land and the people and one day cementing different kingdom's land claims). Alchemy was being touted as this advanced science, a sister to the early industrialism of Amestris. Modern Ishbal is not only alchemy abstaining, but it is also a non-industrial society as well (the fantasy science of alchemy sitting right next to its real world analog for the industrial-colonial system). Amestrian colonizers thought of Ishbalans as reactionary, uncivilized savages (ala the European-supremacist view of the rest of humanity), so when the Ishbalans got fed up of being harangued into displays of the "wonder of alchemy," into adopting the Amestrian way, they firmly reject their would-be colonizers. Amestris responds by armed skirmishes and occupation. All of this only further cements that alchemy is a source of misery and destruction.

Fma 03 does all of this explicit world building because the writers wanted to make it clear that everything we're made to believe about "foreign religious fanatic countries/anti-modern societies", particularly regarding the American invasions into West Asia, is racist propaganda that launders the views of imperial nations and backs their conscription for war. The team didn't want to leave this up to the default, racist assumption that viewers would carry thanks to American dominance.

Sadly, mangahood isn't interested in having this same tact. Why, when mangahood's perspective is instead that Ishval is just as guilty for Amestrian atrocities?

Anyway.

"All the other blood seals in the country get away with a riot or a battle, but Ishvalans were systematically exterminated"

Yes! This! When some people flounder about, claiming that the genocide wasn't racist (HELLO????), I have to wonder if they watched/read the same show/comic. Liorans within the rest of Amestris were not stripped from their place in Amestrian society. They weren't imprisoned and judicially murdered. They weren't thoroughly ethnically cleansed (they get to live on their own land) and genocided. Drachma is a warring imperial nation that Amestris has no hope of full scale invading and exterminating, but we see no evidence that Drachmans in Amestris are slaughtered or imprisoned (I would assume they are generally treated poorly and largely live on the lower rungs of society though). But the Ishvalans are to be fully eradicated. Whatever exceptions exist are being covertly protected by some people with power (Miles under Olivier's protection) or refugees hiding in Amestris' periphery.

It was absolutely racially motivated. It could have just been one locally-contained massacre (which of course would still be an atrocity) and that's it. But no, all of Ishval was occupied, toppled, its people ruthlessly mass slaughtered and transmuted, those within Amestris-proper were mass incarcerated and executed. It's unambiguously fascism and ethnonationalist supremacy.

Interesting theory re: Father going after the Ishvalans due to their historical knowledge of their version of alchemy/alkehestry. I can see that playing some part in his own plotting. Still, the nationalism and racism of Amestrians would not stem solely from one homunculus disseminating propaganda overnight. (Not claiming you're saying this btw!) Those soldiers, cops, members of the judicial and carceral systems, and the civilians themselves who are terrified at the sight of Ishvalans carry a bigotry that has to be rooted more deeply in this society than the last decade or so. Think of white supremacy, which had been formed over 500+ years of global European colonialism.

Father could otherwise then exploit this societal prejudice against the Ishvalans to his benefit. As it seems no other occupied people around Amestris' borders/lands have a history of, or knowledge of, alchemy that is tied to the energy running beneath the planet's mantel, it would behoove him to push Ishval to ruin and encourage further fascist constriction against the remaining Ishvalans.

(Scar Bro big brained moments. Man decodes Amestrian alchemic power and the blood seals in a matter of years of study, leading to the dismantling of the nation's centuries-long alchemic control. Fuck Amestris lol)

-

So sorry for the wait! I'm glad these responses have been enjoyable enough to read. Thanks for sharing your thoughts btw! <3 Your perspective on Ishvalan culture really enhances my appreciation of them under the mangahood continuity, which is desperately needed given canon's indifference towards them.

[i05wook]

different subjects the enhypen boys would help you study!

lee heeseung - 이희승!

history

heeseung more than likely has a love for history. he’s a naturally inquisitive, smart man with a thirst for knowledge. even if he doesn’t, out of the courses you take, history is the one hee feels most comfortable with his knowledge in. he’s often caught in the back of en-ter keys with his head buried deep in one of your text books topping up his knowledge of the period of study. many engenes assumed he was helping the boys who were still in education, or that he was enrolled in online classes.

park jongseong - 박중성!

languages

jay being the little language geek that he is, would be more than excited to help you with you language classes. he would love spending hours just talking with you in different languages - seeing it as a secret language between just the pair of you, even though he knows that there are other people in the world can speak that language! even if it was one that he didn’t have a knowledge of, or much of a knowledge, then he would love to learn the language alongside you, and maybe he’d even learn a bit on his own in between schedules so that he’d eventually be able to help you learn and practice your pronunciation and listening skills.

sim jaeyun - 심재윤!

science

jake would be so excited if you were to ask for his help studying science. any of the sciences he would be excited, but he would be particularly excited if you asked him to help you with physics. if you were given a individual project on any topic from across your course, jake would have some of the most absurd but amazing ideas that would easily get you the topic grades. he’d love explaining and finding new ways to experiment different theories with you, and sometimes he’d get a little too excited that he might slightly alter the results from the experiment and you have to calm him down a bit. he just loves being able to share one of his passions with his love.

park sunghoon - 박성훈!

geography

sunghoon for some reason has a passable knowledge in geography. it’s not great but it’s not awful. despite not knowing too much about geography other than locations of countries, he does have a stroke of creativity for projects (and sometimes useless knowledge) that he often provides when it’s required. although he’s been banned from helping you make your projects after he “accidentally” erupted the volcano project you had spent weeks paper macheing.

kim sunoo - 김선우!

fashion design

sunoo loves helping you with your fashion design coursework whenever you ask him to. sunoo has a wide range of fashion influences, from jay and sunghoon, to his stylists for schedules. whenever you need help, he will ask you for the brief, and best believe that he will have some of the most creative, unique ideas that you couldn’t have even dreamt up. i mean he has had some help particularly from his stylists, who by now are used to him randomly asking about certain concepts and how they would style it. but don’t doubt the lengths that he would go to for you, he has a full on pinterest board dedicated to each of your briefs you’ve ever asked for his help with, and he will send you these images whenever you are struggling for inspiration.

yang jungwon - 양정원!

literature

jungwon being the observant leader that he is, i think he would be great at helping you with studying literature. he can pick up on the smallest of actions or feelings, and this would translate to his help. whenever he wasn’t busy with schedules, he would frequently read the books you were meant to be studying as part of your course and even annotate them, picking up on meanings for different quotes throughout the text. if he’s finished all that, he will read other books from similar genres, and give them to you also annotated with summaries of each book, a little quote list, and even a list of themes throughout the text.

nishimura riki - 니시무라리키!

art

an obvious choice for niki. the boy has a passion for art, especially painting but also photography. if you need a model for some concept pictures, he will gladly offer to model for them, and sometimes he will even give you some candid photos that he has taken of you on dates or daily life that he believes meets the criteria of your brief. sometimes he might even have photos that he’s taken during his schedules or days off that you can use for inspiration to put in your sketchbook. sometimes if you’re on a really tight deadline he will even help you do basic designs for your sketchbook, like painting the pages or doing little doodles.

requests: open

permanent taglist: @bambisgirl @enhacolor @acaiasahi @jakekgs @duolingofanaccount

[totaleclipse573]

What if Black Arms Sonic met Terios? What do you think would happen between them?

Yk I'm thinking. Which Terios 👀 (I'll mostly answer from Terios' end, because Aeron is yours and I don't think I could properly answer for someone elses au character lmao)

Is it redeemed Terios, (if we're having them meet up from different dimensions or something and not assuming its the same universe,) who has seen this exact sort of thing because it kind of happened to him? This "Aeron" acts so similarly to when he was stuck under Doleon's power. It makes him feel somewhat sick. Terios would probably try so hard to tell him, you DON'T need to stay like this! Its hard, very hard, he knows that too, but things could be so much better than this. Doom is destroying him bit by bit, and he won't stop. Ter can't let that happen to someone else.

So basically he turns into Steven Universe 😭👍

But if its PRE redemption Terios...that's interesting. Because you've pointed out before how similar they are. He'd probably doubt Aerons allegiance to the Black Arms at first (despite his look,) he needs absolute confirmation. And WHO is he overly dependent on despite sometimes disliking? Just guess.

Imagine its two different dimensions and Doleon's just like what. I don't remember this guy. But he seems to be one of our kind (might have to test that. What color do you bleed lets find out-) more strength in the invasion the better. Might be able to use this one to his advantage too.

(Sorry I know Doleon wasn't a part of this question I just had to include my other thoughts XD)

[mirabella96]

Wandee Goodday ep 6

Oh it's so nice, they are really supporting each other and making them become better versions of themselves.

He misses him

Oh this is such a nice scene! How can you not love them

They are unbeliveable XD

Kao you are a hero

Ter you creep

Dee ma boy you are too good for this world

I get the brothers are similar but they could really speare us the flashback (?) - i do not even know how to call it, but I see montages in my mind's eye without this disturbance

this is so cute

This ep was full of really pretty shots

But I do not like teaser for the next one

[ravenaveira]

Olá Ravenaveira, espero que esteja tudo bem com você.

Uma pergunta genuína: não acompanho a saga do burrito cópia mal feita do Sasuke, e nem perdi tempo assistindo o lixo de "The Last", mas, se Kishimoto não tivesse esquecido de colocar o Byakugan nessa criatura, ou Kodachi ter arrumado esse erro, fingindo que Boruto sempre teve o Byakugan (besteira essa porcaria de roteiro "bYaGuKAn tAMbéM POde sEr DEspErTadO", não seria mais fácil para ele ter o Tenseigan, já que, indiretamente, não teria o chakra do Momoshiki também? E não precisarem inventar e enfiar o Jougan no anime???

You know what...thats actually an insanely accurate idea

IF they had retconned Boruto not having the Byakugan and having him just awaken it later like Himawari did, then when Boruto 'died' and was saved by Momoshiki making him now 100% Otsutsuki then he should've gotten the Tenseigan, Toneri only got it because he needed to take Hanabi's Byakugan and implant them into himself, an Otsutsuki, and his Otsutsuki chakra mixed with the Hyuuga's Byakugan evolves the Byakugan into a Tenseigan.

BRUH how did they overlook that? The Last wasnt that long ago before Boruto so theres no way they could've forgotten it that fast, this is actually an insane oversight omg I cant believe you noticed that.

Bravo, you just proved even more why this sequel is garbage lol

Only reason I could say they might have knowingly avoided that is because they didnt want Boruto to be too similar to Naruto [glowy chakra cloak like KCM] but realistically its an Otsutsuki thing since its a form only obtained by Otsutsuki's while KCM is something only a jinchuriki could achieve, so any human could achieve it if they befriended Kurama, while the Tenseigan transformation is Otsutsuki exclusive so really even thats not a really good excuse.

Great job noticing that, I really didnt even think of that until now lol he didnt need some bullshit new eye, he could've just had the Tenseigan instead of making yet another broken new doujutsu.

[calciumcryptid]

CalciumWatches: Wandee Goodday Episode Four Live Reactions

No sexy opening? Damn.

No! Yak! Begone nightmares!

The whiplash of going from that to the ass-shaking intro.

Ter? Why are you thinking about Dee?

Plakao!

Get away from him, you bastard. >:|

Ter, why would you engage in a verbal battle with a psychiatrist?

Kwan, you are too good for him. >:|

Good for you Yak, bragging about fucking your "boyfriend".

Go away Ter! You had your chance.

Wait, I thought "The Devil" was a fandom nickname. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS MAN LIVES AT 666??? LMAO.

Go away Ter! You had your chance!

I forgot weight classes are a thing in boxing.

Taemrak mention! <3

Wandee helping Yak with his crush. This won't go wrong.

Did Wandee just hand Yak a knife? Lol.

Wandee is getting distracted. Please pay attention.

Cher! Yei! CherYei!

Wait, why isn't Yei participating in boxing competitions anymore?

Oh, brotherly tension, my favorite.

Cher clocked the necklace!

These two need to stop having sexy flashbacks of each other.

Yak. Buddy. Are you okay?

Horny.

Taem! <3

Jealousy. Jealousy.

I love the musical humor in Thai media.

Sorry Yak, I don't think she is into you.

Ohm seems like a good guy.

Taem clocked the necklace.

Seriously Yak, you have to take back the necklace.

Wandee, Taem's job seems like tutoring. Of course she would help Yak with his assignments if she tutors in her spare time.

Oh my gods, they are in a sauna together.

These two are so bad at being friends with benefits.

Why does it seem like Wandee is gearing up for a panic attack?

LMAO! Not CherYei peeking in on them.

CherYei my favorite married couple.

Please fuck on the pool table.

A shower is good too.

Kao really is the asexual of all time.

Kao drawing lingerie is so real. I love him.

KaoDee Friendship <3

Kao gives the best advice. Wandee, you got your heart broken. Try to hold off your heart as you work to recover from Ter's rejection.

GO AWAY TER-Oh wait that is Yak. Nevermind. Give me a moment, Ter and Yak look similar when their hair is pulled back like that.

Dee, what did Kao just say?

GO AWAY TER!

I hate to give a point to the devil here, but it is a little suspicious Yak showed up when Wandee was having rumors circle.

STOP TOUCHING HIM!

Ter? What bullshit is this? Wandee, don't fall for it. You've got a boxer on your arm. You don't need him. Where is Kao when you need him, some on my funky asexual-

Yes! You go Wandee! Kick him to the curb!

Oh no, did your charms not work? Boo hoo. Piss off Ter.

I love this gym, they're so fun. <3

Wandee, guys like Ter aren't smart or sneaky they're just used to being handed things they didn't work for.

Please tell me they're going to do a fake psychiatrist visit to Kao, and Kao is going to recommend the furry stuff. Please.

Honestly, so valid of the gym members to let Dee stay.

They're staging photos. <3

Cute photos, not staring into space.

Yak, you need to stop nearly kissing him.

Ter, why must you curse every moment?

I will say, Thailand doesn't fuck around when it comes to casting siblings. I totally believe Thor and Great could be siblings.

CherYei's silent conversations.

Yei: Don't go overboard with your late nigh activities. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.

Oh, cute little study session together. <3

Ter. He isn't even your ex. Why are you asking like this?

Kwam. Run. Run far, far, far away.

Actually, Kwam. I know a great university student-

I forgot about the boxing competition side of this.

Wandee. You are so bad at this friends with benefits thing.

Kao is the best character in this series.

KAO WITH THE READ-

The fucking animal accessories.

Doctor Plakao you will always be famous.

I'm glad this series portrays sex as fun, as it should be.

Damn, already proposing?

Oh, we are talking about HPV! Cool.

What is this? A condom commercial?

Oh wow, this is a full on psa.

Lmao. It is a vaccine, Yak.

P'Golf, you will always be famous.

The preview is looking a little fruity. :/

Hell yeah, theme song again!

[ketchup-monthly]

Batfam’s Favorite Batman Actors

with the help of the lovely @space-specs who typed most of this while we talked at like 1AM

Bruce-  Kevin Conroy (SO many things, but most well known for DCAU) (he’s THE batman actor and its only fitting that he is bruce’s favorite.)(i made myself cry with the implications of this -specs)

Dick- Michael Keaton (Burtonverse) (Keaton reminds us of what bruce should be like around the time he gets dick, so watching the movies would make dick nostalgic for those days, even if Keaton didn’t have a Robin in those movies)(plus the lack of neck mobility would make dick laugh bc he’s been batman and had to wear the cowl before, even if he could turn his neck)

Babs- Diedrich Bader (Batman: the Brave and the Bold, Harley Quinn the Animated Series) (Its a really goofy interpretation of Batman and unlike some of the younger bats or bats who haven’t been around as long, who believe that Bruce was never that goofy, she has the videos. She knows, and gets no end of amusement from the fact that Bruce and Dick used to be that ridiculous)

Jason- David Masouz (Gotham) (Baby Bruce triggers Jason’s latent inherited adoption instincts and he's mad about it. The show also tackles all the weird shit Bruce gets up to, especially in response to grief, which we think is important for him to see)

Tim- Ben Affleck (DCEU) (Similar to Dick, Affleck is a Bruce that is familiar to Tim. This is a Bruce that still has hope for building a better world, but it’s also a Bruce that has lost so much and is in crisis)(plus hes a dilf -ketchup)(this one also makes me cry a bit if i think about it too long -ketchup)

Cass- Adam West (Batman (1966)) (She definitely has a bunch of reaction gif from this show that she sends all the time. It just sparks joy to imagine Bruce in such a whimsical version of Gotham)(it’s the slapstick -ketchup)

Steph- George Clooney (Batman & Robin) (Similar to Cass, Steph loves being a nuisance to Bruce about this. the goddamn batnipples, y'all 💀)

Duke- Will Arnett (The Lego Batman Movie, The Lego Movie 1&2) (He’s hijacked the speakers in the Batmobile to blast the Lego Batman tunes. Also, thinking about the time Duke confronted Bruce so he would stop hiding from the fact that he was Batman vs. Arnett's Batman having to realize that he isn't better off alone.)

Damian- Ethan Hawke (Batwheels) (He would never admit out loud to enjoying both batwheels and Ethan Hawke's Batman. That man is such a dad even in the cowl and Damian would love that)(we like batwheels, and are not afraid to admit it, unlike one small tiny feral child -specs)

Cullen- Val Kilmer (Batman Forever) (He’s gay. We're gay. Val Kilmer pretty)

Harper- Troy Baker (DC Lego movies) (It's Lego, enough said. He’s just a little guy! She loves watching the Shazam one and Family Matters back to back. (Her and Duke both bond and argue about their different Lego Batman’s in turn))(are we projecting? a little bit. the shazam lego movie is the best one, closely followed by family matters -ketchup)

Kate- Christian Bale (Nolanverse) (She likes Bale as an actor (she enjoys American Psycho), but doesnt like Nolan’s interpretation of Batman. He is, however, painfully straight, and that amuses her to no end. If she and Bruce patrol together, she will follow him around doing the Bale Batman voice)(fun fact! ketchups least favorite batman actor bc they dont like the nolan movies :D)

Alfred- Winston Duke (Batman: Unburied) (the one thing Alfred wants is for Bruce to be happy. thinking about the speech Bruce gives to his parents about the joy he has found in being Batman)(plus BU is a podcast so he can listen to it while gardening or doing other things)(legit tho, this is one of the ones that almost made us cry)

Terry- Robert Pattinson (The Batman (2022)) (It’s the flying squirrel suit for him. Terry also sees a lot of himself in Battinson, and it’s refreshing for Terry to see that Bruce wasn’t infallible as Batman. He didn’t have all the answers, and that was okay. Terry doesn’t need to be perfect to live up to Bruce’s example, because Bruce wasn’t perfect.)(sobs sobs sobs sobs sobs sobs sobs -ketchup)

Matt- Joe Walker (Holy Musical B@ man) (He quotes this musical religiously. He sings the songs on patrol to annoy Terry. He is just like me fr. He has also said the “aaaaaalfreeeeeeed! How could you do this to me? You got my hopes up so high and then you mugged and shot them in an alleyway” line in front of Bruce exactly once and then never did it again)

Jarro- Roger Craig Smith (Batman: Ninja) (Because Batman: Ninja is a fucked up little movie and Jarro is a fucked up little starfish -ketchup)(The plot to this movie sure is something)

Drake Winston- Jeffrey Wright (Batman: the Audio Adventures) (Good with kids. Honestly, seems like a halfway between B:TAS and Keaton, which feels fitting for Drake)(plus its a podcast that he can listen to while working in the shop or on patrol so yay! bonus!)

Carrie Kelley- Codot (Rogues! the Podcast) (given the everything about DKR universe, this one feels appropriate for her with Bruce being an asshole)

Jim Gordon- Ben McKenzie (Batman: Year One) (Batman: Year One really focuses in on building the relationship between the two. Also ketchup pulled a sneaky on me by selling me on this before I realized it was also the actor for Gotham Jim and this is now hilarious -specs)

Bette Kane- Jensen Ackles (Batman: The Long Halloween) (She watches Supernatural and thinks its funny. She actively makes supernatural references to Bruce. He pretends not to get them. The other bats get the jokes and find it so amusing)

Luke Fox- Rino Romano (The Batman (2004)) (It just feels right. Hes a serious batman but he has kids. Also he has claws and Luke thinks that Bruce should implement those in his own suit with how often he has had to listen to Alfred and Lucius complain about Bruce damaging himself or property while falling off of buildings that he couldn’t get a good enough grip on)

Bonus!

Hal Jordan- Jason O’Mara (DCAMU) (He’s a more serious Batman, he’s such a dad, but also he’s a little shit and Hal loves that about him. (are we pushing our superbatlantern agenda? Yeah a little bit. Fight us -ketchup)

Clark Kent- Bruce Greenwood (Young Justice, Batman: Under the Red Hood, Batman: Death in the Family) (This is a Batman, a Bruce, who has lost his son, and Clark wanted so badly to be there for Bruce at that point, but Bruce pushed him away and Clark was forced to watch from the outside as his best friend was self destructing. It’s a little hard for him to watch at times, but this is a man who would stand up to Clark and tell him what he was doing wrong, and be there to support him if he truly needed it, even if it wasn’t in the most gentle way. Also most notably, it is these two versions of Bruce that get dessert at Bibbo’s Diner with Clark. (i will push my dessert at bibbos agenda until i die -ketchup)