#[ sHOUTOUT TO THE FMA FANDOM ]

[lemonduckisnowawake]

@emarynn made banana bread and shared a pic, and I immediately knew what I had to do

[coconutmilkyway]

marker doodles of lizard Envy from FMA because he is my favorite little green squirmy worm in all of the lands. did these from memory and took liberties w their weird mouth lmao

shoutout to the lizard envy fandom. we out there

[serialadoptersbracket]

Mod’s favorite moments of round 2:

Realizing that several people in this tournament are actually listed as parents to other serial adopters. That made me really happy. (I’m running this poll because I love found family and seeing that theme continue in other characters, almost like a lineage, was just a blast. It may also be a future season of this tournament)

Discovering the terrifying force of nature that is Locknation

Handing my phone to my brother because I thought he’d vote for both FMA characters, only for him to vote against both of them

Further, even though I was rooting for Wolverine, watching both of his choices lose at once

Both of my bias entries surviving (though I’m fully ready for them to lose round 3)

Waking up the morning after the Bunkerdads poll posted to find their fandom screaming in my notes (y’all fought hard and I respect it)

Dave Seville and the Dragonborn getting Absolutely Wrecked™ (I voted for both of them)

This tag (@sei-shounen-yugi), the sole reason I voted for Arlecchino despite not having a stake in that fight:

The glimmer of hope I had for two days that the Wachowskis might actually win. (Promptly followed by soul crushing defeat but hey who’s keeping track)

(I also think my personal tags on that match were hilarious, but I was too busy trying to be impartial to let y’all fully appreciate them, so here y’all go):

On the topic of A3 victims, Axel somehow losing (shoutout to y’all for holding your own against the Sonic and Kingdom freaking Hearts fandoms. Y’all have my deepest respect, and as such, I apologize for what I’m about to put y’all through.)

Looking at @whatchild’s tag on the Singer vs. Cap’n Craig poll and audibly asking “who’s peepaw?” (they both looked old to me)

Everything in the Dedede/Meta Knight vs. Kavax notes

This (@serpentinegraphite, who did not have to out herself like that):

While I know this person (@bl-bracket) was specifically referring to Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu, I thought it was funny that that could also describe their opponent, Yondu:

The clear split between Jojo fans that somehow ended in Bruno sweeping

The boop wars with all y’all, and especially @loredwy’s zero chill.

I love you guys so much. Thanks for hanging around!

[spidermanifested]

FMAB pride 2, 7, 8, 23

(send me fma characters for this thing)

oough this is going to be a little hard since pride is unfortunately Not one of the characters ive blasted with my focus beam yet. but ill do my best

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

is it a copout if i say the design of his true form. he looks sick as fuck i dont know what to tell you

other than that. hm. i think the fact that the container father decided on for his sense of pride was Literally Neurodivergent And A Minor is both really funny and has incredibly deep implications re: my reading of the homunculus as a character. like. when he was in the flask, his pride amounted to that of a golden child who knew he was above punishment as long as he performed to expectations, but never had any real power and was always keenly aware of it. his "pride" was a coping mechanism. and pride, the character, is continuing to act out his fathers role as the reliable right hand to the king, but severed from any of the ambitions that led him to want to break free, so the thing he formed to cover for no longer exists. hes literally AND figuratively an empty shell. see i said i hadnt thought about him that much but you know what

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

hmmmmmm see i dont see a lot of fandom focus on him to begin with, BUT, i like when people try to delve into the dynamic of all the homunculi, and hes obviously an extremely important part of that. ive seen several people besides me speculating on all the clues we get to his relationship to greed specifically and ive had a lot of fun putting together my own headcanons as to Why Pride Freaks Him Out So Bad. im going to try to direct a little more of that energy towards his other siblings too because it cant be all about greed all the time okay (knowing me, it can) (sorry to everyone whos not greed)

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

stares vacantly out the window. well. theres sure is stuff that i could say. and i will leave this stuff to your imagination

23. Favorite picture of this character?

this is also cheating its not actually a picture of him. but its tradition. shoutout to @flufflecat

[firewoodfigs]

🔎🎨 🤖 !!! <3

🔎 Does anyone beta read or edit your fics?

Occasionally in the past, but lately no--I feel like I've been writing on such an erratic schedule that I feel bad asking people to beta read/edit my fics 😂 a fresh pair of eyes are always welcome though!! (special shoutout to @x-rainflame-x @nightofnyx8 and @roseofbattles for all your help I love you <3)

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I answered this in a previous ask, but honestly ANYTHING. Literally anything. Fanart is always, always welcome and will most certainly send me into a snivelling heap of emotions and heartfelt gratitude!! Since the college au has been my latest hyperfixation anything inspired by that would also send me to another sphere of existence altogether :')

🤖 Are non-fandom friends aware that you write fanfic?

Much to my everlasting mortification, yes 😂 (although some of my friends have remarked that they really enjoyed my modern AUs even without any prior context of FMA and would buy it if it was a published novel, and part of me thinks they're really just being nice because they're my friends, but I cannot deny that I cried a little at the sheer generosity of their words 🥹)

Thanks for the ask, my fellow bandmate!! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend--sending you all my love, as always <3

[sidewalk-cracks]

Shoutout to the fma fandom for being the nicest fandom I've ever been in! Y'all make the bestest content and are super relaxed and leave the nicest tags. Thanks for being so welcoming! You're the only fandom who I don't have to worry about causing drama or being toxic.

[ao2fics]

5 & 6 for the ask game

5. What’s a fic idea you’ve had that you will never write?

hm. that’s kind of a tough one. i think i’ll say this one for mcyt, which is funny in theory but execution… idk. it’s a twist on the solidaritek fic i did a while back.

feat. my partner in crime @bibliobasilisk who encourages all my terrible ideas.

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

several—in many different fandoms. i actually download them off ao3 and ffn to take with me on my ereader! lemme list a couple from a few of my main fandoms.

fullmetal alchemist — i’ve got nearly 100 fma fics on my kobo. uh. safe to say i’ll read and reread anything by tierfal or batsutousai.

one piece — aural pleasure by unda has my entire fucking heart and i was absolutely devastated to find it deleted but thank fuck i had it saved.

homestuck — anything by callmearcturus is worth reading but my favorite is this one with a shoutout to this one for the dave&jake&aradia friendship. and i would be remiss if i didn’t rec this beautiful fic my friend @mintchocolateleaves wrote for me when i wasn’t feeling well.

mcyt — and since i’m sure this is the fandom you rly want to know about i’m include some specifics. it’s a mix of scarian and solidaritek for the most part.

literally anything by illuminamint. you could never know. we’re here together. we are the foxes. some kind of trouble is coming. are we dancing after death, you and i. crushes and confessions. i don’t think i could stand to be where you don’t see me. one word from you and i would jump off of this ledge i’m on. set you sailing from my harbor. worlds apart (but never too far).

there’s another fic i have saved that was deleted at some point, coffee for dinner by belligerentren. and also trust life by capritarius which is v long at 278k and not on my ereader yet bc it’s still unfinished but so, so worth it.

[weaponsofclairvoyance]

i would like to thank fmab for bearing the full weight of my developing drawing skill/style for like 3 god damn years. i dont think i’ve ever drawn the same subject matter for this long and honestly my art is way better for it

[starryrock]

Okay okay-

OKAY.

I’ve been watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood with my mom and **vibrating intensely and then collapses to the ground crying**

HzbNannsnzhajKJhcbaban Okah wtf. Shoutout to that one person I met in the middle school newspaper club that told me to watch FMA and specifically Brotherhood because they said the fandom was small. Now I’m not gonna stop thinking about it.

huegeshhehshxba sobs.

I’m currently on Season (part?) 3 and Sloth is now relevant again. I have so much to say about absolutely everything.

First of all: Greed. And Ling. I have such a love of “I literally do Not care about your plans” villains that give off vibes and have good fashion taste. (Me to my friends: Another day, another manwh*re villain killed 5 seconds after meeting him.) I also love himbos, and just genuinely people that are so stupid yet smart sometimes.

And then they just… y’know.

Wrath: Get yo f**kin’ host under control, b*tch.

Greed: It don’t bite.

Host, in-between subconscious and very-much-conscious: YES I DO-

Tbh Wrath’s O_◾️ face was absolutely hilarious. My two “Oh hey they’re really neat and cool and I’m gonna search them up a lot now” kinda characters together is honestly kinda scary.

Anyways please tell me Alphonse gets his hair back.

Also also!! This story is absolutely inspiring me to show that if you introduce a character in the story, at some point they Will be used as some sort of plot point, even if they don’t seem relevant now. I forget which Theatre Law that is (something about “If a shotgun is on a wall in Act 1, it will be fired by Act 3.”)

And what the FXCK is Hohenhiem dreaming about this is why you don’t drink kids— This is some evil clone kinda stuff.

Oh, and also for FMA fandom, uh.

What the fu

[tickle-bugs]

Hello!! I hope this doesn’t come off as pushy or rude or anything but I was just genuinely curious, are there characters/pairings that you like but haven’t written about, and would you like to write for them in the future?

Not rude at all! Thank you for asking, actually, because yes! There’s plenty. I’m very open about how writers should write for themselves and what they like, and I do that, but…there’s definitely characters/pairings/fandoms I’ve always wanted to write for, but don’t, because they’re not necessarily fan-favorites or I just haven’t tried yet!

this is probably going overboard, but that’s my brand, so here’s a list (gonna exclude characters/pairings that I have WIPs for):

- *gestures at the entire musical/video games section of my fandom list*

- *gestures at the entirety of Ragnarök* (shoutout to ragnarök anon ilysm)

- I’d like to write some explicitly romantic Lokius! My next WIP for them is schrödinger’s Lokius again but I’d like to try my hand at proper romance I think.

- I’m still not currently writing for TUA because I’m super burnt out, but I always wanted to write more for characters that weren’t Klaus or Five. Nothing against them, I’m fond of them, but they’re hands-down the most requested characters and I would’ve liked to try writing for Vanya, Diego, Allison, Lila, etc more. Maybe Luther even idk. I also feel weird writing about Ben because he’s heavily infantilized by the fandom but he could be fun too! Idk my TUA feelings are complicated so I’ll leave it there.

- I really want to write something with Barry and Cisco from The Flash. No concrete thoughts but I love their dynamic and it would be so fun. Also maybe something with Caitlin? Niche fandom though!

- I’d love to write for Arrow. Felicity is my beloved. Oliver seems like a very fun character to write with literally anyone (also I was recently introduced to Barry/Oliver as a thing and I gotta say I’m intrigued!)

- Eggsy from Kingsman! Kingsman is one of my ultimate comfort movies and I’d love to write literally anything with him. He has a very distinct voice that’d be a blast to write!

- I wrote him in one of the five sentence challenges a while back, but I’ve always wanted to try writing Gabriel from SPN into a full length fic. He also seems like he’d be fun to write!! Also Rowena, Charlie, and Kevin. AND BENNYYYYYYY

- I can’t seem to get past episode one of critical role campaign 2 (I’m bad at processing audio so I have to sit and properly watch which takes time I simply do not have) but I am looking very disrespectfully at Mollymauk.

- I am utterly flabbergasted that I haven’t written properly for The Mandalorian, but I want to write Din. He’s so cute :)

- Avengers/MCU, maybe? Plenty of characters there I’ve never tried! Thor seems like he could be fun (Ragnarok fic perhaps)? I don’t really have any ideas for it but I think it might be fun!

- OH y’know what I really want to try? It’s not necessarily a character, but more ler perspective!!! I tend to take the Lee’s POV so we get ✨maximum description of feeling✨ but I had lots of fun writing ler!pov recently in One of a Kind and Stress Relief. So there’s that!

- I’ve already written a Witcher fic and I have a WIP for them in progress so this is technically cheating, but I wanna write Yennefer and Geryenskier so badly. I love Yen so dearly.

- I don’t know that anyone would necessarily be interested, but I’d have fun writing a fic about my D&D characters I think. They’re my babes!

- I know I already gestured at my video games section but y’all…I wanna write about the Peter Parker from the 2018 Spider-Man game so damn bad. Or even Miles!! They’re so cute wtf!!!

- not specific, but I wanna write more femme centered fics. Most of my content gravitates towards male characters because ✨gender is a weird soup✨ and so many female characters die or are badly written, but women are so!!!!!! In conclusion I wanna write about more women.

- Another nonspecific yet specific thing: Anime! I haven’t watched any series in a very very long time, but I have plenty of characters that I enjoy! The problem is I lose all grasp on plot and as a canon/canon-adjacent writer…yikes. But I would like to write for Haikyuu (lee!Bokuto, Daisuga, ler Akaashi), Fairy Tail, maybe One Punch Man (Genos my beloved)? I probably won’t, which is why they’re not on my fandoms list, but I think about it often. There’s other anime I know that I loved, like Owari no Seraph, FMA, Blue Exorcist, etc but I retained absolutely nothing, just very vague concepts of who the characters are. (Well I retained FMA but I have zero desire to write for it)

There’s a few things I didn’t mention that are firsts for me, but I have WIPs for them so I didn’t really count them for the list, but yeah. Hope this answered your question! Thanks for asking <3333333

[voidgnome]

I posted 5.845 times in 2021

389 posts created (7%)

5456 posts reblogged (93%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 14.0 posts.

I added 2.308 tags in 2021

#rb art - 605 posts

#pretty - 497 posts

#genshin - 331 posts

#sk8 - 289 posts

#haikyuu - 153 posts

#day casserole - 125 posts

#promare - 83 posts

#apex - 79 posts

#fma - 73 posts

#fav - 73 posts

Longest Tag: 121 characters

#like the bitter aftertaste i get when i think about the third years and how this is their first chance to enter regionals

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

carbon-date the time hermitcraft episodes are recorded by looking at the size of the moon

41 notes • Posted 2021-11-25 17:44:43 GMT

#4

47 notes • Posted 2021-05-11 17:19:51 GMT

#3

HE HURT HIS FUCKING GODDAMN HAND

57 notes • Posted 2021-06-10 21:10:48 GMT

#2

shoutout to the sk8 fandom cause i’ve been getting a lot of playlists on yt and their names are always excellent 

we got the basic name ones:

the kind of niche one:

the shipping ones:

the miya ones (my personal favourite):

honorable mentions🌴🌴:

and the “oh god, we were all clearly not okay after episode 7″

1703 notes • Posted 2021-05-03 15:55:24 GMT

#1

hermitcraft as a concept is funny because in general it’s just people building stuff and vibin and then sometimes you have stuff like “oh, these crystal i got from my old buddy pal have some magical mystic powers and i tried to contain them but they breached and are now overgrowing the area, and when i tried to reach the core, i got time traveled back into our old world where i find an old friend and I transport us back into my own timeline through a weird science portal that is still surprisingly still functional” and you just have to accept it for two episodes before it never comes up again

1862 notes • Posted 2021-06-27 16:40:29 GMT

[liathgray]

Interview with a fanfic author tag

Thank you @not-so-mundane-after-all-97 for tagging me MWAH

1. Your favorite fic that you've written (or just one you want to give a shout out to)

I don't know if this is my favourite, but Tell Me in the Sunshine has probably been the most rewarding one I've written. I put a lot of myself into it and it was helpful for processing grief I'd been bottling up. It's the one that has allowed me the most relief, if that makes sense. I understand that... not everyone can read it, but am glad that it was able to connect with some of the people who did.

Also shoutout to major character death, gotta be one of my favourite genders.

2. Your favorite fic title that you’ve come up with

OOOOH OKAY. I'm gonna split this into three.

Fav published fic title: Frea the Huts O' Your Tenant Folk

Fav in-progress fic title: Blueprint for a Dancing Corpse

Fav untouched-wip fic title: A Stór mo Chroí

3. How do you get inspiration to write?

Usually I go store-bought for convenience, but sometimes I have the time to do it myself. Occasionally, it hits me like a freight train.

4. Your favorite genre/subgenre of fic to write

*foaming at the mouth* mystery with interpersonal conflict and severe trust issues....

5. Do you have other hobbies?

I do! I like to draw sometimes and I like music as well. My whole family is pretty musical, so I pick up on new stuff easily. Can play a good amount of instruments including but not limited to: tenor drum, chanter, ukulele, bass, lyre, mandolin, and a wee bit of guitar n piano. Granted, I'm not great at a lot of these but I do know how to play. Unfortunately, I do also like to sing. So. Ahah.

I also like writing essays and playing DnD! Right now I'm trying to get more into games and having some success. I'm playing Undertale rn and enjoying it

6. A fun fact about you that a lot of people may not know

Oh, well. I, living in the middle of the city, decided to raise 7 chickens and I gave them all egg-themed names.

7. Pick one character to self project onto.

I'm kicking all of my Ed-centric fma fics under my bed right now.

8. Favorite genre of music

Idk if I have a favourite genre. Like, if it slaps it slaps, you know? I guess I lean towards baroque pop and folk music, but I'm down for almost anything. I think my only reservation is heavy metal cause it makes my head hurt lol

9. Your favorite singer/band

I love Nellie McKay so much u don't understand.

10. How has your experience in fandom been?

I don't know how to answer this because for all my writing, I generally stay out of a lot of fandom spaces. I am perfectly content in my 5-10 people circles in the fandoms I enjoy.

I'll tag uhhhh @firewoodfigs and @glacecakes

[storybycau]

TAG SYSTEM.

feel free to block any of these tags, 'kay?

general stuff

cau 💬 → me babbling about, well, anything really

ask.me → personal questions not related to my works

ask.fics → questions related to my works

fic.updates → so you know what's going on

n.sfw → 18+ content

visuals → graphic images/videos (can be 18+)

#wip.updates → self reblogging my wips

#tw [trigger] → how i tag trigger warnings

#fic.[title] → discussions about a specific fic

#[media] fa → random stuff from a certain media (anime, manga, book, show, etc)

search by fandom

this includes my work and other people's too.

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!! shoutout to them !!

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follow forever

[kkoraki]

@saltedpin​ asked for the ask meme:

ah yes the 6yrs long love of my life, let’s see how much has changed since 2014

Favorite character: Scar!!! this used to be a hard choice for me, in early days because of Riza and then after reading the manga because of Mei and Marcoh, but love can’t be kept out love can’t be denied etc. 

Least Favorite character: probably Sloth, he doesn’t engage me at all 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): oh, the oldies and the goodies... Scar/Marcoh, Mei/Lan Fan, Winry/Paninya, Riza/women, I don’t know I don’t have a lot of strong fave ships or rather I have too many faves so it’s hard to distinguish, I’ve been SUPER into Olivier/Mrs. Bradley recently (for a certain definition of recent) so that I guess? or possibly Breda/Havoc... or That Other Ship We Don’t Talk About Here But I Did Make A Banging Playlist About Also They Kissed In Extracanonical Material So It’s Real

Character I find most attractive: oh god... like, vanilla “I’m gay” attractive, or “not in the sense that I want to bang them, BUT” attractive? because if it’s the former, probably Maria and Lan Fan based on appearance and Olivier based on Vibes ™, but if it’s the latter, no comment

Character I would marry: Maria Ross or aged-up Paninya; they’re cute, interesting, nice, and stable. oh and geez, maybe Mrs. Bradley, I guess 

Character I would be best friends with: thinking of how they’d be as young adults, Winry and Paninya and I would probably have a great time hanging out. thinking of myself in a few years, maybe Riza and Rebecca? technically Maria, Denny, and Sheska seem closest to me in age and I love them but I can’t imagine myself being super close friends with any of them... maybe Maria but she’s so much my type she would probably make me nervous. 

a random thought: the four military chimeras are sadly underappreciated and their potential for fic (gen or ship) is underused... they’re fascinating guys who are very fun to watch and you could theoretically explore so much with them. this observation is hypocritical in the extreme because I have never so much as mentioned them in any of my fics, nor one single fma piece that is currently in my drafts. and yet. 

An unpopular opinion: I would (or at least used to) describe myself as a Royai shipper but the only way I care to see it happen is that 4-panel fancomic where they are super old and announce to each other that they’re retired and touch each other’s hands and blush while Alex Armstrong goes uwu in the background. More generally I’m really not interested in stories about anyone who I ship in this fandom, het or not, canon or non-canon, getting married (...well... well... okay, possibly with one very embarrassing and ~problematic exception but let’s not go there). 

my canon OTP: Hohenheim/Homunculus jk probably a tie between Wrath/Mrs. Bradley and Sig/Izumi, they’re great 

Non-canon OTP: wow I have no idea you guys 🤔🤔🤔 this is a tough one 

most badass character: that is not an award that can be given to any one character in THIS series! but Lan Fan, Olivier Armstrong, and Maria Ross are all up there. and Mei Chang and Miles. and Wrath and Buccaneer. and shoutout to Falman here too, okay? 

pairing I am not a fan of: fanon!Royai probably takes the prize here specifically for a pairing I am not a fan of, though my full on NOTPs are any Kimblee ships involving women or Scar

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I was going to say if we’re talking about the manga, nobody, but nothing is perfect so I gave it a little more thought, and look, I love the character and I love Arakawa, but... Garfiel. He is a character I adore but his characterization was weakened by the “gay joke” aspect and I would say that more than qualifies as a screwup. I fleshed him out in my own mind though and love him very much. We stan a GNC gay adult. 

favourite friendship: the Elric brothers and Winry, WHAT a classic

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: Would dearly love to adopt Den if she didn’t have such a nice family already. She seems like a very good girl. (As far as human characters go... it’s just a little too weird for me. All the kids are teens and most of the older adults have serious issues. I’ll pass on adopting or being adopted by any of them lol. Or, idk, I guess Pinako could adopt me. I’d be down. Okay, or Garfiel. I have options after all.)

[naysaltysalmon]

Shoutout to @tiburme for tagging me~!

Rules: Name 10 favorite characters from 10 different things and then tag 10 people.

Oh, massive spoilers below btw.

1. Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter: My favorite shounen protagonist by far. At first you think he’s your typical happy-go-lucky bouncy boye :D who definitely doesn’t have abandonment issues or self-destructive tendencies that literally actually almost kill him later on, and then, uwu... The amount of complexity that Gon has as a protagonist who hardly ever has stand-alone development is nothing short of astounding. How during the Chimera Ant Art his characterization totally dips off to the side to become an unknowable entity even to the audience, while still retaining amazing character development regardless -- not to mention how brilliantly daring his decision to threaten Komugi is that nearly every other author with such a happy-go-lucky protagonist would shy away from in cowardice -- is absolutely surreal to me. The more I think and write about Gon, the more I fall in love with him. If I ever meet his father, and by that I mean his real father, the creator, Togashi, I have nothing else to say but,,, well done, sir.

2. Tanjirou Kamado from Demon Slayer: I’m really hoping the Demon Slayer movie comes out soon because I absolutely love this boy and how charming he is. Unlike most protagonists, not just of shounen anime but of seemingly macho story lines that involve power-ups and training in general, Tanjirou never lets go of his kind heart. (Welp, except maybe in some cases when he’s facing the Upper Moons later on -- I haven’t caught up yet -- but WE’RE GONNA IGNORE THAT for now.) From the beginning, Tanjirou’s kindness isn’t an obstacle holding back his power, though other characters pose it that way, but rather he cultivates his empathy to grant peace to the demons he faces. He smiles in the face of anyone who treats him poorly because of his cluelessness, and that’s just so heartwarming to see, and dare I say subversive to the hardened, calculating, and cocky male protagonists we so often get. Good job, Gotouge.

3. Joseph Joestar from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Giorno Giovanna was a close second, but I gotta go with Joseph. He’s the one who made me fall in love with the series, and with the later parts too. Unlike Jonathan Joestar, who was chivalrous and manly, Joseph was a riot: colorful, arrogant, funny, but also extremely clever. I absolutely loved his, “Next you’ll say...!” because at first I expected it to just be him being an overconfident asshole and eventually he’d be proven wrong at the ~Dai Pinchi Moment~ (please excuse my weeb speech, I legit didn’t know what else to call it), but then he hit the mark every time and eventually I was just waiting for when he’d pull that out and it was so hype. Also I surely can’t forget his transformation as an old dude in Part 3 -- him screaming “OOHHHH MY GAAAWDDDA!” and “HOLY SHIIIT!” murdered me every time. And of course, last but not least, the raw fucking emotion when Caeser died -- the dude actually gave a shit and wasn’t made entirely of wit and absurdity, but heart too. Joseph set the tone for what JJBA was as a whole for me (fuck off with that “but Part 3/Part 4 is the best Part” bullshit, Part 2 will always be top tier for me because of Joseph Joestar’s brilliant, bright, and beautiful absurdity -- but Part 5 was really good too). Araki really is a genius.

4. Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: My love for this series is a bit older than the series I’ve already mentioned, and TLoZ: TP was actually probably the first time I got seriously obsessed with a fandom. I love all the Links in their own ways, but Twilight Princess really drove home the “lone wolf chosen by the gods, fighting against the world” narrative for me. It made me feel important and strong at a time when no one cared about me. Seeing Link struggle silently through his quest with villagers who meant well but did nothing for him, and Midna who started out as a reluctant acquaintance and eventually became so much more, meant so much to me at the time I played the game. I will always love Twilight Princess the most because of what it did for me at one of the darkest times in my life, and because I felt completely and utterly immersed in every part of the story and gameplay through Link’s character, who was, and in many ways, still is, so relatable to me: Silent courage really is what I use to get through every day.

5. Greedling from Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood): For once I’m not naming the protagonist of a series! Lissen, I still smile whenever I see the slightest reference to Edward Elric, but now he’s more of my childhood love. He’s just a part of my personality already? LOL. Anyway, FMA(B) has so many good characters that choosing just one doesn’t feel right (I mean, same with HxH tho). I say Greedling because that encompasses both Ling and Greed though, two of my favorite characters from the series! Ling’s apparent childishness in constantly running away from fights, making other people pay for his food, and failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation (until Lan Fan’s arm gets cut off lol oops) is so adorable and entertaining. He’s the best kind of idiot asshole, and I especially love how he teases Ed. After him and Greed fuse, Ling’s stout heart becomes even more apparent, as he constantly eggs Greed on to remember his past life, his friends, and become someone outside of Father/the Dwarf in the Flask. Conversely, Greed’s nonchalance and (of course) avarice are nothing short of entertaining and heartbreaking. Greed’s realization at the end, when he finally admitted to himself that what he wanted all along were “friends like these,” completely crushed me the first few times I watched FMAB. And when he’s screaming in the tunnels under Central after having killed Bido, remembering his friends, and he doesn’t understand why, and later attacks Wrath/King Bradley... that shit was so entertaining and cathartic to watch. None of his development feels like forced redemption, nor like it was too little development, since it mostly happens in the background and away from the “validating eyes” of the protagonists other than Ling. And at the end, when Ling and Greed work together to take down Bradley and all the soldiers invading Central HQ... it’s so beautiful. Many have said this before but I’ll say it again: Hiromu Arakawa wrote the perfect series.

6. Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler: Another protagonist! And another older obsession of mine. Ciel remains in my mind to this day mainly for his heartlessness in relation to his age, and the fluidity with which Toboso tells his story. Normally when authors write younger characters into their serious stories, they make “child adults” of sorts, but Ciel feels totally realistic to the extent that he is both childish and adult to me. Obviously, Ciel is responsible and (normally) level-headed due to being the head of the Phantomhive household, but also from trauma. Yet, his cruelty at times is what sticks in my mind the most: You really feel that he’s someone who feels he’s been abandoned by the entire world, given his experiences, and that makes him disregard or use others sometimes in order to reach his own ends. Normally, authors would be too cowardly to let their protagonists, let alone child protagonists, go to such lengths to avenge their family, or carry out their duty as the dog of the military (looking at you, Arakawa -- she’s still a goddess tho). But Ciel is unforgiving. He lies to Snake and tells him his troupe is still alive. He murders the entire troupe because he’s triggered -- a childish decision, but driven with adult-like power due to trauma. It’s devastatingly riveting, and I cannot forget his unrelenting, contained rage to this day.

7. Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone Wars: This one may come as a shock to most of you, because I hardly ever post Star Wars let alone Ahsoka content on here -- but it’s true. Other than the blatant, half-assedly inserted heteroromantic partner they gave Ahsoka in, like, idk season 3??, Ahsoka is a fucking goddess. From her origin as a wee baby in the earlier seasons who didn’t really know what she was doing and was a bit of a cocky brat, to how she matures and becomes wise, resourceful, and fierce in the later seasons, I just love Ahsoka’s design and character to this day. The episodes that stick in my mind aside from the obvious are when she’s possessed by the Dark Side of the Force on that Force balance planet and her arrogance becomes so exaggerated that she threatens and attacks Anakin, her teacher. It was so fucking cathartic. Normally female characters, let alone young protagonist female characters, are never allowed to show the ugly sides of themselves in fiction, since women are always portrayed as perfect beautiful majestic angels or some bullshit like that. (Or they’re cocky/sexy/slutty villain women. ‘Kay then.) Seeing Ahsoka devolve into her basal desires and come out of it like hardly anything happened and she’s still a perfectly valid character was so amazing to see on a meta level; it wasn’t about her learning a lesson or anything, it was a thing that happened like any other character and then they moved the fuck on. I also distinctly remember the episode where she was trapped on that island/planet and she had to take out the aliens that were after her all by herself. That was so fucking empowering to watch and god fucking dammit I need to rewatch this series now. And of course, let us not forget the fact that the entire time, we were all expecting Ahsoka to just be another domino in Anakin’s downfall -- and she was, but not through the refrigerator -- but through walking away from it all. That was so powerful and moving -- and heartbreaking. By the end of TCW, her character carried weight and agency in the narrative, and god, I only wish whoever wrote her could write more female characters in the future.

8. Tigress from Kung Fu Panda: Maybe another surprise, but I think she deserves this spot. Tigress is a female character who starts out as kind of an antagonist, given how she outright tells Po to leave the kung fu temple within the first day of him arriving. She’s even jealous of the fact that he’s chosen as the Dragon Warrior rather than her -- but that’s due to the backwash of years of trying to live up to the memory of Tai Lung in order to please Shifu (which means “master” in Chinese but ok I’ll shut up now), her master and mentor over the years. She never says this out loud in the movie, which is what makes her character more believable. Others even joke about how stoic she is (and not in bad taste). Her character development is definitely present for those who are looking -- but I put her on this list because I’m so happy the movie doesn’t make it some huge dramatic emotional thing, because so often in media women are depicted as being overly-emotional and here Tigress is just a hurt child trying to make her mentor happy. But, she gets over it, her and Po become allies, even friends to each other -- she and Po talk like equals in the second and third movies, and she even tells him to back out of the fight with Lord Shen and he listens (I mean he doesn’t stay put but he doesn’t undermine her opinion either lol, like most jokesy protagonists of Western media would -- looking at you, Marvel). I like Tigress because she’s an antagonist without being a bitch, she’s powerful without being overpowered, and she’s not sexualized despite being a well-trained, at times jealous, and even emotionally awkward kung fu master. And I almost forgot to mention the best part: There is never an indication of romance between her and Po, or any other character, for that matter. She’s perfectly capable, complex, and lovely on her own terms. And that’s that on THAT.

9. Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit: I wanted to include at least one character protagonist from a live-action movie/book, lol. I feel like Bilbo’s pretty self-explanatory. He doesn’t wanna go on an adventure because he likes his doilies and warm sheets, but then Gandalf seduces him with the call to the outside world and possible death (LOL), and he fucking goes for it, grumbling the entire time. Isn’t that what any of us would do if given such a proposition? I like to think so. Bilbo obviously has his own gradual, evil transformation with the One Ring, becomes murderous and uses it to disappear, and grows a strong bromance with the King Under the Mountain (which happens in both the movie and the book), but I think what I like about him is that he really feels... down-to-earth? Like even though the adventure changes him, it never feels like he’s been stretched in a way that makes his core character traits of grumbling and bluntness disappear. He gets better at the whole adventuring thing, for sure, but he remains Bilbo, at least, to me, throughout the journey. It was heartwrenching watching him try to save Thorin in The Battle of Five Armies, honestly, but Bilbo’s the kind of character that I feel like has his own story and mythology aside from The Hobbit, and maybe that’s just the result of J.R.R. Tolkien writing the lore for every aspect of his universe, but My Point Still Stands. He feels like his own man apart from the series he’s in, yet he’s still so much fun in his series.

10. Barley Lightfoot from Onward: And last, this one is because I saw Onward yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by the characterization in it -- and anyone who thinks differently can kiss my *ss. :) I was not expecting the movie to take the twist of fleshing out the “annoying” (more like adorable) overconfident nerdy big brother. Normally those characters are swiped to the side because God Forbid The Comic Relief Have Any Sadness In Them. I was expecting the movie to focus on Ian’s journey to meet his fatha and that the movie would pull something stupid at the end like “oh actually there’s another phoenix gem underneath the school” or “actually since only his legs appeared then you still have 24 hours with him” or some shit like that, but I guess this isn’t an anime so those absurdist explanations wouldn’t hold water anyway. But still, for a kid’s movie, I was NOT expecting this movie to go so hard with the characterization. For once, the main character doesn’t get what he wants at the end, and instead realizes it’s his big brother, Barley, who’s been looking out for him his entire life. Meeting his dad would betray that reality. What happens instead is that the lovable big brother never actually said goodbye to their dad before he died, because when their dad got sick, said brother ran away from the hospital room in fear of all the life-sustaining equipment. (Is this some meta thing about Chris Pratt and Guardians of the Galaxy? Off topic and call me stupid, but I didn’t realize Chris Pratt plays him until I saw everyone freaking out about it afterward on Tumblr laksjdflak.) So instead, the lovable big brother talks to the dad at the end, and unconfident younger brother grows confidence and thanks big bro for being with him his entire life. It was so touching, dude. I cry. But the moment that sticks in my mind the most was when Ian was crossing the invisible bridge... Ian needed to have confidence in himself to be able to cross over a chasm in their path, and Barley knew that if Ian didn’t believe in himself, he would fall and die. They tie a rope around Ian for good measure, and Barley encourages him the entire way, but halfway over, the rope comes loose and slips off. Barley sees this and starts panicking, but of course continues to encourage Ian so that Ian will get to the other side. What got to me wasn’t the fact that he faked it for Ian, but that there are actual tears running down his face as he’s encouraging Ian to get to the other side, because he knows otherwise Ian wouldn’t have the confidence and would fall to his death. Like dude, that raw, complex emotion in a kid’s movie?! DUDE?! I was fucking surprised. The clear anxiety and grief in Barley’s face as Ian’s totally clueless and even dancing around in the air was just too much, omfg. Of course, then it’s played off for laughs, but... I guess that makes sense for the annoying overconfident nerdy big bro character. :’)

Okay these are way longer than I anticipated and I’m sorry, but also I’m really not. Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on my favs!

Seems I don’t talk to that many people on here anymore: @stupidbluejay @mirycactusito @chronicstarlight

[otto-von-stirlitz]

Wicdiv #45 notes

 I It’s all so... weird and surreal. One last post to honor the tradition that really did keep me hooked on here for years. Something about those 5 years just ending. Having followed wicdiv almost from the beginning, I really feel attached to it and view it through a VERY personal lens of all the changes that happened during those years. From a depressed and passively suicidal 17yo in a highschool, to an almost graduated 22yo, trying to figure out it all with a bit more hope and a bit less of mental health issues. Eh, let’s cut it out and move to a standard spoilery bullet points format, I’m too wordy and pretentious

Of course this issue had to be happy and sad at the same point, as both life and death shine through as central motifs of the whole book, especially underlined here. Two sides of the same coin (no Yavien, you will not say ‘alexa play hyori ittai by yuzu’ to cry over hunter x hunter. no)

You know how as an urban activist I’m ideologically not a big fan of cars, but damn, that McKelvie design! Reminds me of prototypes of future cars I saw in the BMW musuem, kudos for capturing that futuristic tech feel.

I like the subtle implication that Eleanor did grow and change. But then again, she had so much time, so it’s not even that high of a bar.

‘What’s a funeral without morbidity?’ after all those years Cass stayed THE #1 goth of the cast (but Umar gets pretty close with channeling Cam). Yes, I love Cass and I love how after the kiss from #44 we got a whole ass lauracass feels issue, amazing, showstopping, incredible etc etc. You know, Im just a fan.

Gotta admit, reading the issue the first time I did miss that Laura says ‘them’ to refer to Zahid. It really explains why Kieron was so cagey about the pronouns ask back during Fandemonium. They did have time to explore thier gender and pronouns after all of the ‘2 years’ baiting. It’s a win for the nbs (sobs and cries on the floor)

Also goddamn McKelvie really popped off with all the older character designs? All those little details and shout-outs to their youger selves? And all the Minanke practice in drawing basically the same character but as a teen and as a grandma did pay off. And this all while chasing deadlines with hypermobility? Chapeau bas. Although I’m sad that Jon got his fathers aging genes, however his mom looked that age must’ve been better...

‘Every time it rains’ yes A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SHOUTOUT BUT I AM ALRIGHT I REPEAT I AM ALRIGHT ITS NOT TEARS, IT RAINS (haha both baal ref and fma hughes funeral ref IA M FINE)

Also I’m crying for Aruna, she was in such a bad place by #13 and this issue? HEr new body? The way she learned to mix miracles and songs? And in general finally having this authority over her life? And deciding to use it paritally to help people she often barely knew? I am fine i repeat

Meredith and Zoe, glad to see you and your names confirmed and a confirmation that you were also a part of the Pantheon

Umar’s line about hospitals (and the picture from #16) seems to imply Cass passed away after some illness. Eleanor saying it’s unfair that she smoked and ‘got away’ with it and Cass being prepared she’d die soon kinda ties into that theory? Was it cancer or something else?

Also yeah re: that pic (and the invitation to Was It Cam Or Cass debate) - Umar has two hands, period. And like the fact that Umar literally quotes words Cam said moments before his death in Umar’s hospital room? Yeah, it’s really raining, lieutenant...

Delivering your own eulogy via a hologram is exactly this level of gay panache that Cass would embrace, I LOVE HER SO MUCH. Also being nice AF to literally everyone but in the snarkiest way possible? PEAK CASS. But yeah, something more changed because she wears a white (!!!) shirt. Now that’s a massive wardrobe change

Zahid being one of the closest friends of Cass? I love this song

Also ‘you were never my type. until you were’ should be An Iconic quote of gay tumblr and twitter and yes i will be using it as my lauracass otp tag from now on.

Also Cass focus on how everyone changed themself and tried to change the world, so the future people are born into a better one.

And yeah, same, I also didnt always want to be buried beneath a tree but now as I’m growing out of my old edgeperson ways? It sounds wonderful, I want to be an acorn even after death.

Also yeah, the final themes of growth that takes time, becoming better and finding hope... they resonate with me now, as I also feel like I’ve been through hell for 2 (or actually more, i think) years. But you know, rip to that old me but im different (now). Thank you Kieron for luring me into a flashy colorful YA, then a messed up and depressive story, and then climbing up the walls of hell back when I did. It was not always going to be okay, but then it was okay.

And yes, to the whole fandom, fandom that let me find so many friends all over the world and grow up as a person and have so much fun with our stupid puns and shitposts: I love you. I’ll miss you. (but honestly, still feel free to HMU etc, its not like we actually die. We just lost a source of monthly engagement, thats it. Im just a dramatic lil shit too)

Also yeah, one last word: may Two Slow Dancers by Mitski be the final, ultimate Lauracass song. Let’s all play it now, and cry. No, it’s not raining anymore, I really am crying thinking about Them.