#[ this is the problem with me rewatching FMAB ]

[flameleadsarc]

Good morning. I love Maes Hughes with my whole heart. "Kai, you write for Roy Mustang." Roy and I both exist to love Maes Hughes. That is all.

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

Worst Post-Timeskip Design Poll - Calling for Nominations

Recently I just finished a rewatch of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, so while discussing it, my friend @f1ddlyb1ts suggested that I run a poll on the worst post-timeskip designs of all time. I will try my best to make a list of at least 16, if not 32, widely hated post-timeskip designs.

If anyone has a blorbo who has been the victim of this, please send me a message/ask. I might ask for details on why the design is so bad compared to the character's pre-timeskip look. I am prioritizing designs that the fandom as a whole hates, rather than the ones I personally think are ugly. (There's a post-timeskip design for this one character that I hate with every fibre of my being. But I won't include it in this poll because I know most of the fandom doesn't actually have a problem with it.)

Edit: I'm getting a lot of suggestions from the One Piece fandom bc I guess a lot of you dislike a lot of different timeskip designs lol. For this and future fandoms, if there are several designs that I gauge to be equally hated by fans, I'm going with the one I personally think is the ugliest. I will keep it to one character per franchise to keep it balanced.

My list of bad designs is below the readmore:

Roy Mustang's moustache (FMAB)

Sam Winchester's Party City wig (SPN)

Rock Lee losing his entire drip (Naruto)

Jaune Arc's Naruto haircut (RWBY)

Ichigo Kurosaki's exposed forehead (Bleach)

Nico Robin's general yassification (One Piece)

Pearl Fey changing literally nothing about her appearance from age 9 to 18 (Ace Attorney)

Chad Spike (MLP: FiM)

Thor's depression weight gain (MCU)

Makoto Naegi getting shaved (Danganronpa)

[eyrieofsynapses]

tagged by @falderaletcetera, tysm!!! <3 been a while since I've done one of these. I am So Fucking Tired rn and this is actually a good thing bc I won't overthink this (...as much as I usually do), y'all get off-the-cuff Synapse for once.

Favorite color: blue! Blue blue blue, doesn't really matter the shade, but particularly the color of the sky (ik it's tempting but don't go there I'm too tired rn) just after sunset, the deep rich blue.

Currently reading: Stars, Hide Your Fires by Jessica Mary Best (aka the fabulous creator and writer of the podcast The Strange Case of Starship Iris). I'm adoring it! Queer lesbian sci-fi murder mystery heist, hell yeah. Also the PRETTIEST cover art.

Last song: "Far East Suite" from the first album of the original soundtrack for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, because the show has a gorgeous soundtrack and several songs are on my instrumental wind-down playlist.

Last series: The X-Files. No I haven't finished it, probably won't because holy shit it's so long. I enjoyed the first season and am feeling meh midway through the second one; it's a bit dark for my tastes, but I love Scully and Mulder's dynamic. I've put it down for the moment because of a lack of time and some of the episodes were getting to me (which is just a generalized problem for me, not the fault of the show).

(...I just realized I actually last rewatched an FMAB episode for brain cooldown. whatever, X-Files is the new one)

Last movie: oh boy. Rocky Horror Picture Show, because it's the Halloween season and thus a queer club tradition; I've seen most of it before but this was my first full watch. Friends described it as a fever dream, which is frankly a wild understatement. Wouldn't dream of watching it on my own, definitely fun to watch it in a room full of other queer people who are whispering jokes, especially when some of them haven't seen it.

Currently working on: uhhh soooo many things. Minecraft house? (I play single player peaceful/easy to unwind.) I just finished oxidizing a bunch of copper for my ceiling (I am a perpetual hobbit hole/hobbit-hole-adjacent person bc fuck exteriors) and it looks lovely. Oh, actually, bubble elevator to get up the massive cliff side I'm stuck next to. Tis the season for experimenting whether or not I can get a mule up and down it.

ok I needed to be in bed ages ago and I got things to do. off to Be An Adult (The Horrors) but first:

taggin some peeps ik and some random peeps from my activity: @mahpotatoequeen @glassfullofsass @jadenebula @hepalien @eater-of-hopes-and-dreams @spill-that-anxietea @snowglyphss (and @magiclynx I see you have already been tagged but I am poking you anyway <3)

[dwarfsized]

10 characters/10 fandoms/10 tags

the always amazing @aevallare tagged me <3 sooooo:

Astarion Ancunin (Baldur's Gate 3) - getting the obvious one out of the way early. you put a character in front of me who gets mad at you for being good and kind because no one has ever been that to him, who is a bitch and that's a feature not a bug, and im not supposed to become deeply obsessed with that? he is everything. to me.

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb) - tamsyn muir WHEN will my wife come back from the war? Devotion even when you hate it. Being a weapon in more ways than even you are aware of. Love when you don't know what love is, really, getting it wrong and right at the same time. Gideon @ Harrow is just "its rotten work. especially to me especially if its you. i'll fucking do it but christ alive."

Murderbot (The Murderbot Diaries) - i think i am one of the only people who thinks that Murderbot is on the fem-presenting side of androgynous but i do think that and i'm right. I haven't read the latest book yet. Being forced to interrogate an in-between space, Murderbot's "dont look at me" in combination with vulnerability, the desire to cut and run and figure yourself out and then, like. not actually figuring yourself out much. did the running help? did escaping do anything? or should you have stayed?

Stede Bonnet (Our Flag Means Death) - Cringefail fuck-up pirate my beloved, i hate watching him do things it's like looking in a mirror. Theater kid playing dress up, steeped in self-doubt and trying to get everyone to talk about their feelings. In season one he looks at his own life and says "is anyone going to ruin this?" and doesn't wait for an answer. I want to kiss him in the moonlight. Every time I think about him I want to throw up. <3

Keyleth (Critical Role) - The weight of the world on her shoulders because she's been raised to lead her people, and all that simmering rage she tries to keep under wraps, and then she only gets a tiny bit of time with the person she loves before she has to live for years and years and years and watch everyone she cares about leave her. Archdruids with timeless body are an existential nightmare.

Alex Louis Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist) - okay listen. when i rewatched fmab in college, I was fully ready to fall in love with Riza. I was very surprised when I realized that it was not the badass with the gun I was fixated on, but the. big muscle-y guy who cries a lot and gets used for comic relief 60% of the time. but. im here. i love him. the ishval flashbacks got to me.

Blue (This is How You Lose the Time War) - Loving someone enough you're willing to let them close enough to kill you. The inherent rot beneath blooming things. Taking the slow path. Not leaving well enough alone. Love, but with teeth. I'm so normal about her (lying)

Cora Sabino (Noumena Series) - I wish I could tell everyone to read Axiom's End because I loved it, but I cant because the sequel fucked me up so bad. Its good! but god the atmosphere is so oppressive and Cora's struggle with depression is extremely real for an alternate history story that asks the question "what if we found out aliens were real during the bush administration?" I was legitimately unwell.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars) - I just think he's the funniest guy with a laser sword. so repressed. had one of the most grey-jedi masters to ever do the damn thing. bitchy. the chosen one is his padawan. honestly he had to know anakin was sneaking out to canoodle with padme and just decided it wasn't his problem. calls himself fucking ben on the hell sand planet. why was he like that.

Spock (Star Trek) - this is the most "i just think he's neat" of all of them. i inherited this blorbo. this blorbo was handed down to me from my mom. he was hers first, im just picking up the torch. "guy who acts like he has no emotions but every seven years enters a fuck or die frenzy" im sorry but that's. that's too good. i have no choice but to rotate him in my mind.

I cannot tag 10 people but i will tag @asterordinary and @werewolfnobody and if anyone else wants to do it go for it! tag me so i can read your response!

[aro-aizawa]

@ my fellow adhders: what’re y’alls preferences when it comes to anime? do you watch sub or dub? or does it change w specific animes? personally, i prefer dub because it means i can watch it while drawing or playing games. but sometimes the dub can be so painful to listen to w voices that don’t match the characters, i can only ever watch it subbed. the bonus with subbed being that it’s WAY easier to process what’s being said that way because i live for subtitles in everything i watch, but the mismatched subtitles for dubs makes me want to cry w frustration sometimes.

[limetameta]

I liked your rant! What is one of the things you want to say about the Kimblee Never Went To Prison AU that you feel the readers haven't picked up on? Me included. I'm kinda clueless *shy*

Howdy! I yell a lot, but don't be shy to come into my dms or my ask box lmao.

The thing I want to underline for the Crimsonverse specifically pertains to Kimblee's humanity. In canon, we don't really see him interact with many people in a friendly manner. We do in the manga mainly; he's the most human in the manga. But brotherhood writes him as a lean, mean killing machine. It doesn't take a pause and breathe some levity into him or otherwise doesn't spend any time aligning him with human beings. Which I understand! Because Kimblee in canon is an antagonist and is supposed to be seen on the side of the homunculi. They take him out of prison, they give him the ph stone, they set him on our beloved characters. They're the ones whom we expect Kimblee to be aligned to and loyal to. (which makes that last stint with Pride vs Ed such a COOL moment because you're reminded that Kimblee's human. And he doesn't like hypocrites lmao) Now when I rewatched FMAB in February and March of this year (2k22 let's go, be kinder than the previous ones) I kept thinking about how Kimblee's humanity is so unexplored in fanon. Most of the time he's this sociopath with violent tendencies, this paragon of destruction and chaos. He does have violent tendencies. He does have a penchant for destruction. But all of this is always something that he's in control of 100%. It's a calculated effort on his part. It's not something that just HAPPENS to him.

He can be incredibly polite. He can hold conversations. He's not some imbecile that makes things go boom all the time.

Kimblee in MC is a human being. He's surrounded by human beings. He has a cat. He has hobbies. He has likes and dislikes. His entire identity doesn't hinge on his being the Crimson Lotus Alchemist. On being a human weapon.

Even though there's a common theme in the crimsonverse where OTHERS have a big problem differentiating the Crimson Lotus Alchemist/Bomber of Ishval from Solf J. Kimblee.

This story is mainly the story of human complexities. It's a favourite subject for me to write.

So, now you have Kimblee who's a human being (but doesn't have the ISOLATION that he does in canon while he's in prison) - if anything Good Guy Maes Hughes and Best Girl Gracia Hughes have made it so that unfortunately for Kimblee, he's USED TO people now. He's USED TO belonging in a little group, a social circle to call his own. Which will, down the line, be devastating for him because a human weapon works best when you're isolated. When you don't have others to rely on or others to rely on you. Kimblee in canon is an island.

MC Kimblee? He wasn't allowed to be one. And the homunculi, at the end of the day, are not and cannot be human beings. They are the monsters that built Amestris on foundation drenched in blood. They never miss an opportunity to call Kimblee a human being (derogatory). But they don't understand that, yes, Kimblee's a human being - and yes, he might have been curious about a world where the homunculi win and humanity loses (were he not PULLED into being human, not just being a weapon, but actually surrounding himself by the people he cares about and those who care about him) FMA is and always will be a story about found family. About how love changes a person, either platonic or romantic or familial.

The question has been posed in MC in regards to Kimblee's humanity by people he's not friendly with. Armstrong is a good example. He wonders if Kimblee even is human if he could do the things he's done in Ishval? Mustang doesn't think Kimblee's a person. Edward thinks he's violent. But you see all of these moments paralleled by the homunculi constantly hammering in the fact that to them Kimblee is a lowly human. Kimblee is beneath them in every way shape or form.

Objectively speaking, Kimblee is a human being through and through.

But his subjective view on the world is rather muddled at the moment. Right now it's like he's a trapeze artist thrown to walk his line while everyone around (his friends, his coworkers, people, homunculi) is watching him. He's toeing the fine line between human and weapon, and he isn't quite sure on which side he'll land.

[vyladromeave]

re: mcd naruto parallels didn’t gene kill at least half of their village tho? i may be making this up but i feel like in s3 they talked abt it maybe… in a way dante is like reverse sasuke because his village is alive but none of them remember him at all :0!!

regardless! jess can’t write two outline bullet points before turning back to use someone else’s work <3 this is actually ridiculous. make it up yourself bro it’s not that hard ! love and light

afaik no one in the village died except the lord, all they mention in s1-s2 is that he made everyone forget dante so he couldn't go home. i notoriously do not like s3 and havent rewatched it fully in ages making me skim through it to see if this is in there or not is maybe the greatest crime you could do (/j)

i dont think any parallels to sasuke's story are intentional, and bad blood between families and even brothers isnt a concept that's new in storytelling. literally im staring directly at the romeaves thats within the same series and they have fucking problems. anyways i think a lot of the stuff she uses in mcd is excusable in some sense, a large majority is just like, names of places and things shes clearly a fan of. it gets a little more ridiculous the later in time her content is tbh, like when i see screenshots of like the enire fmab gate in parts of mss6 i never watched lmaoooo

anyways im gonna go skim parts of s3 to see how much of the town died (im 90% sure they renamed matataki in s3 bcs they forgot it already had a name lol i remember that much) ill see yall in a bit i guess

[haleigh-sloth]

I'm doing a rewatch of fmab too! I'm showing a friend who has never seen it so it's really enjoyable to see their reactions to everything for the first time! But just revisiting it seriously puts me in a much much better mood and genuinely just gives me hope and appreciation for good stories and life in general, like it just makes me content and happy lol. It doesn't matter how many times i rewatch it, it's always so engaging and the characters are so likeable or if they're not likeable at least very interesting! ughhh i love it haha I was wondering if you knew anyone who does metas on fmab though? i've never really come across any which is kinda sad. It seems to be one of those anime that people watch and love but don't talk about heaps, although i only watched it for the first time maybe 2 years ago? so I missed when there was a lot of hype about it i guess haha

Two years ago? That's well after the hype died down lol.

It makes me nostalgic too, rewatching it. It brings back so many childhood memories. Me and my bestfriend waited up every Saturday for the new dubbed episode to air on cartoon network 😭

As for the metas, I WOULD LOVE TO WRITE SOME. The problem is, I only really write metas when I need to find the answer to a question myself, or when I get an ask prompting me to look deeper into some aspects of a story, or when there's something new to analyze.

FMA is so old and I've watched/read it so so many times that I don't know what questions I would need to seek out answers to. That's why receiving asks always prompts me to write my best posts, because other people help me figure out what to pay attention to and what not to.

I don't know any blogs that actively write for FMA though unfortunately. But if I started receiving asks for it giving me things to look deeper into in the story, I absolutely would write some.

I have made a couple of comparison posts for FMA when talking about BNHA though, specifically regarding redemption arcs. And I've mentioned FMA in some analysis posts pertaining to other things. I'll link them below:

Redeeming Murderers

My Favorite Redemption Arc

Manga Panel Analysis

I didn't bother to read this one I just know I mention Scar in it

That's as far back as tumblr was willing to let me go. I hate this website. Lol.

[hamliet]

I find it funny that people use “they’re murderers!” as an argument for not saving the villains in BNHA.

I was rewatching FMAB (it’s my comfort anime I love it so much) and I was thinking about how a lot of the main characters were killers (Scar-who was redeemed), but not even just the “bad guys”. In fact a good portion of the main cast straight up committed GENOCIDE.

Roy, Riza, Armstrong, Hughes, etc.

And whether you wanna look at it as “it was for their country” or not—they still did it willingly. It was ordered-but they could have stopped. They regretted it-yeah, but they were still held in regard as the good guys til the very end of the story. Like I just don’t think the villains being killers is a good enough reason for writing them off as irredeemable when there are perfectly clear examples as to why that just isn’t true.

Sorry this is to tack onto the ask referencing FMAB-I forgot to add:

I understand that they are different stories and different worlds with different problems. But the overall moral of “killing people is wrong” is VERY present in both stories. (Ed refusing to kill anybody—Midoriya wanting to save everybody). So in my opinion I think it is a fair comparison for this particular discussion.

I mean, like, I’m a pacifist and yeah. Redeeming the murderer is like one of the oldest stories in the books. It’s not new, and it’s not dangerous to read stories where people get second/third/fourth chances. But also bloodthirst is one of the oldest stories told too, and that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

I don’t think revenge stories or stories where bad guys get killed are dangerous either, but if, hypothetically speaking, I want some story to influence me, I’d pick the “everyone can be saved” option over the “violence will fix things” option, but notice how the latter receives far less criticism in fandom and mainstream options. Toxic masculinity and his handy-dandy armor likes to dawn a woke hat, but it’s the same principle. Why not radical compassion and love and the complexity of balancing compassion with accountability? 

Also, let’s acknowledge that true justice (resulting in no more pain) is utterly impossible in this world because the dead are gone from our lives and we miss them every day, but the thing about this is that in fiction it is not impossible. So please very yes.

I also would say FMA and BNHA are very similar in terms of tone and genre! So I think it’s more than a fair comparison. 

[sun-moon88]

Hi!! I wanted to be creative today and I decided to list my top 10 favorite anime and why! From 10-4, they're not really in particular order, but my top 3 are. Hope y'all enjoy!

10. Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni

I actually watched this recently. Higurashi was really really good. I was so nervous starting it because of all of the clips I had seen. I thought it was going to be extremely scary. But to my surprise, it wasn't. It was disturbing for sure, not it wasn't really that scary. The plot for this anime is so COMPLICATED. I had to rewatch some scenes because I got lost. But I really liked the lore of Higurashi, it drew me in. I was hooked from the first episode.

9. My Hero Academia

I like MHA quite a bit. I'm not caught up to the manga, but I've watched the anime. It's really good. But, here's my problem with MHA and the reason why it's lower on my list: the fandom. The fandom is extremely toxic. And I don't like being associated with it. The show is so good, but people get really angry about it quickly. So it's not high on my list, but enough for it to get on my top 10.

8. Yu-Gi-Oh/GX/5Ds

THIS IS ALL ABOUT CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIA! I love YGO because I watched it when I was a kid. It's so cheesy and cringy, but I can't stop watching it. I rewatch it periodically, like most of the childhood animes I watched.

7. Hunter x Hunter (both 1999 & 2011)

HxH is a solid show, with really compelling characters and backstories. I enjoyed watching it, despite how boring the Chimera Ant arc is (and anyone who says it's not and it's the best arc, you are WRONG and I will throw hands. The best arc is Heaven's Arena and the Phantom Troupe arc). Both the original (1999) and the reboot (2011) are both really cool and have a very cute charm to them.

6. Noragami

Noragami is a very interesting anime. The three main characters are super cute and funny. I really hope Noragami gets a third season soon. The animation is really smooth! Despite how horrible Yukine is in most of the first season, he grows to be my favorite character. I also think Yato's backstory is really interesting and I want to know what happens. (Yes, I know I should read the manga, but it's difficult to find.)

5. Your Lie in April

Your Lie in April holds a special place in my heart. It helped me through a really rough time, and it pulled me in because of the classical music. I play piano too, so I related to Kousei on a personal level. I lost my drive to play, but watching this anime helped me find that again.

4. RWBY

I have a love/hate relationship with RWBY. It's so intriguing and unique, but it was sometimes painful to watch. Seasons 4 and 5 are not good. But they show is slowly picking back up in quality, and season 8 was amazing. I love the weapon designs and outfits, I think they're so cosplay-able. I highly recommend.

3. Demon Slayer

I really liked Demon Slayer and it rocketed up this list FAST when I watched it the first time. I just think it's so charming. I love Tanjiro so much, he's such a cutie!

I think the violence and comedy is well balanced. I think the characters have growth that match the pacing. And I genuinely fell in love with the animation. Ufotable did an amazing job.

2. Haikyuu!!

I had put off watching Haikyuu for YEARS. And I 100000000% regret it. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS ARE ADORABLE!!! Hinata is best boi.

The drama is intense. It makes me feel for all the characters when something sad happens. I just, can't describe how much I love Haikyuu.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

FMAB is my number 1 favorite anime. I've watched this show more than 6 times. It's just so beautiful.

FMAB helped me when I was in a really hard place. I watched it in 7th grade when I was depressed. Getting immersed into the lore helped me so much to escape reality, even if it was for a little bit.

My favorite character is Edward. I related to him on a personal level when I saw his struggles. His character development was written so beautifully.

Honorable Mentions: Ouran High School Host Club, Sakamoto Desu-Ga?, Shokugeki no Soma (Food Wars!), Mob Psycho 100, Blue Exorcist, Nagi no Asu Kara, Erased, InuYasha, Fruits Basket, and Free!

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed reading this post! If y'all want a full in depth analysis about an anime, let me know!! I would love to do that, I think it was be so much fun.

[antihero-art]

(Click for better quality!)

Fullmetal Alchemist!!! Hell yeah!!!

I was SO excited to post this one!!! (I’m actually rewatching FMAB right now, so this was perfect!!)

This is a screencap redraw of a certain shot from the episode 22 of Brotherhood: “Backs in the Distance”. It’s when Ed’s trying to get the gun from Winry, and telling her her hands weren’t meant to kill. I absolutely LOVED that episode, scene, dialogue, and shot, so I ended up drawing something for it!

More backstory behind this piece, and earlier drafts below the cut!!

Original shot from the anime:

Earlier sketches/drafts:

Believe it or not, I did this for art class!! 

The last project of our senior art class was just a fun throw-away project. Our teacher didn’t have time for a full unit before the seniors had to leave to do our senior projects, so she just had us make whatever we wanted, and as long as we were truly working on an art project, we got full marks! 

At the time I was super obsessed with FMA(B) so of course that’s straight where my mind went XD I don’t know how I landed on this shot specifically, other than that I really liked the scene and the message behind it, as well as Ed and Winry’s relationship and it doesn’t show their faces so it’s easier to draw. 

I’d never used prismacolor colored pencils before, so they were super fun, and I was astounded at how solid/cool the colors looked! I’m super glad I did this project in art class so my teacher could teach me how to use them, as well as just give me advice on how to make it better in general!

The only drawback from using the prismacolors, is I remember there was a problem with the grey. Either there was no grey, or it was tiny XD So either I had to demolish her grey, or use a different brand and try to make it look good...I can’t remember which, I think it was the former, haha!

I had a much bigger plan for this piece overall, but I ran out of time and ended up just finishing the colored pencil part. But here’s what I laid out in terms of plans:

I wanted to surround the colored pencil piece in the middle with shots of Ed and Winry throughout the manga, like homage to their relationship. (in the center is an earlier colored pencil version that didn’t quite work out...I’m thinking i might have been trying to decide if I wanted to add the background to center piece or not.)

I don’t know why I didn’t end up finishing exactly. All I know is Senior Project consumed my life for the next couple weeks...and I guess I just kinda forgot, or lost momentum? It could also be that I realized the current, full colored pencil one is lopsided/oddly curved too. Currently I can’t find the manga clippings to finish now...I don’t know if I threw away the manga clippings I printed out...if I did I was either a complete idiot, or VERY stressed when I did it, because it took so much work to print those out and cut them. 

There’s not a lot of cons with this one, mainly the fact that overall its lopsided/oddly curved, and Ed’s other hand is missing. But I think both can be overlooked??

I like this piece more than most of the works I’ve done. I think this was probably the moment I was like “Oh! I actually can draw people, at least to some extent!” so it was a really great confidence booster. 

Let me know if you like it too!! And hey, if there’s another particular shot from FMAB you’d like me to redraw, let me know, and I’ll try my best!!

[liathgray]

Okay okay okay first off, i want to say i am LOVING your blackwell springs fic, can’t wait for the next update, but i was rewatching fmab as one does during a pandemic, and a Thought just occured to me - Roy wasn’t the only person who knew Ed commited the sin at the beginning of the series. Bradley probably knew right from the moment he met Ed he commited human transmutation,. Because Father was looking for people who opened the gate, right, since he didn’t get that shut together until literally the day of. Like he had Hohenheim probably, and canidates who could open up the gate but nothing solid, so Bradely was probably looking for alchemists that opened them as well, right? And a sign of people opening the gate is clapping transmutation. And Edward did that right in front of Bradely. So he probably knew right there that Edward committed human transmutation because he saw the gate and could use clapping transmutation and said nothing because he was a sacrifice, I don’t know if anyone has pointed it out befor because i came into the fandom really late and I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this but thank you for coming to my TED Talk

YES ABSOLUTELY! And I think it’s worth noting that this is by design.

This wasn’t oversight on the writing or the characters this was intentional. To me it was, anyways. Because thats the whole... point.

The homunculus don’t see value in humans—not in their intelligence, their agency, their unpredictability, their ingenuity, their strength, their unity, their stubbornness, their overwhelming compassion—none of that matters to the villains.

They can’t even go down the mind trail of “heeey what if this kid causes too many problems or somehow stops us?” Cause that just never crossed their mind.

The reason Bradley didn’t just pluck Ed and Al out of the alchemy exam and lock them in a cell until the promised day is because they constantly undervalue and underestimate humans and !! And thats such a cool detail!!

Like. It happens everywhere. They didn’t snatch up their candidates or official sacrifices because they didn’t even consider... maybe they could come together and ruin all this.

They let Izumi, Whorehenheim, Ed and Al just fuck around for YEARS and that negligence, that lack of value in humans killed them.

Hubris. Killed. A. God.

At the hands. Of a child.

Who they could have stopped.

Oh, sweet sweet irony.

[fenrhi]

The Big FMA03 Review

(may contain some salty comments directed at fmab)

The Good (it’s going to be long):

- tunglr lied to me about fma03 being trash, as if not being totally faithful to the original source material made it irredeemable. Terra e anime would like a word with you

- fma03 had only a third (or less) of the manga to use as foundation and still managed to create a story that was dark, disturbing, painful and yet moving and hopeful. I was genuinely surprised at how good it was at pulling at my heartstrings.

- for example, Nina’s death actually had an impact on Ed (ep8 is one of my fav episode because of its emotional intensity). 03 shows how devasted Ed is and doesn’t demand the viewer to do the work in its stead . That’s why fmab Ed’s line about not being able to save one little girl rang hollow, because he moved on in two minutes. At that point of the story i had forgotten who Nina was.

- speaking of Ed, what amazing character development he went through. From a naive and arrogant kid to a young man who understands that his words and actions affect the people around him, that he can’t run away from his responsabilities, that he has to discover the truth by himself. One thing i particularly liked was him unlearning the propaganda the army had fed him.This is how you make a well-written protagonist

- 03 Scar is just phenomenal. His story parallels the Elric Brothers’ in a way that improved the original source material to an incredible extent. I think it’s obvious from my posts but he’s my favorite charcter in 03. From his tragic backstory to his chara design to his sense of honor, i loved everything about him. Learning how he got his scar and how he lost his arm was also a nice detail. Up until his last moments he was both the Destroyer and the Protector: using soldiers’ lives to complete the Philosopher’s Stone and saving Al’s life in the process, even though they weren’t officially friends. Ep42 just broke my heart. I wished we had a story where he was the main character

- After watching 03 it will be hard to rewatch fmab. One of the many reasons why is Roy: making him the Rockbells killer just fits the story better. It struck me as too cruel for Scar to kill the doctors who saved his life, especially since the room he woke up in also had injured soldiers and Ishbal people in it. “He killed the Rockbells in a moment of rage” isn’t a satisfactory explanation for me. 03 exploring Roy’s PTSD and suicidal thoughts was one of the best changes it brought to the original source material. That’s also why fmab could push that ridiculous “killing Envy out of revenge is bad uwu” message, because Roy’s guilt about his past crimes is barely touched upon.

- I was pleasantly surprised that 03 ended with Roy giving executive power to the Assembly

- Roy fighting Pride was badass

- I loved what 03 did with the Homunculi’s origins. They’re the result of failed human transmutations, which give them a more personal and thus more painful connection to the characters that created them. Wrath being Izumi’s son is one of my favorite plot twist. Lust was more than just “sexy evil woman who dies shortly after being introduced”, she had an interesting backstory, conflicting emotions and her death felt sad.

- 03 is just good at making sad scenes feel sad.

- The underground city was beautiful and eerie

- LAB 5 ARC

- Al being used as hostage to force Ed to create a Philosopher’s Stone was such a smart idea

- I like the concept of Ishbal people being related to Liore people

- Rose living together with Winry in Resembool in the last episode is adorable. I think that being with a cheerful and kind person like Winry is healing for Rose

- 03 handled the Ishbal characters so well, Scar being the prime example. They had different hair color (looking at you fmab), they felt likeable and realistic, their suffering and problems were aknowledged. The Ishbal characters were also important to Ed’s development: they challenged his point of view, made him more humble (”sometimes, our feelings are wrong”)

- The Chimera Squad’s plotline tied nicely into the main plotline: they were used by the army to start the Ishbal war then thrown into prison cells until Greed freed them. They didn’t get a lot of screentime but Martel’s death still was a punch to the gut

- The conversation between Dante and Ed about equivalent exchange was excellent. I found myself agreeing more with Dante tho

- 03 said “you must lose something in order to gain something else” and stuck to it. These characters lose a lot of things, sometimes even their life (the death count gets bigger if you include conqueror of shamballa) and they don’t always obtain something of equivalent value. Roy lost his left eye, Ed lost his right arm again and was sent to another world, Al got his body back but lost years of memories. Yet Ed still believes in the principe of equivalent exchange because he wants to believe that there is some sort of fairness in this world, that hard work is not meaningless

- Hohenheim saying “when you love your child, there is no cost or reward involved” two minutes before Ed died was terrible. I liked it

- 03 was more about brotherhood than fmab

The Less Good:

- A constant in the fmaverse is the comedic moments ruining the story

- I’m not a fan of what 03 did with Greed, it felt rushed and messy

- 03 Hohenheim was underwhelming

- So Marcoh and Dante really died offscreen huh?

- The story started dragging down after Scar died (but picked up the pace around ep47-48)

- Just....Scar’s death in general

[icameheretowinry]

5 Shows and Some Questions

Rules: Pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. Don’t cheat. Tag 10 (or however many) people.

I was tagged by @jessthebooklover on my main, but I’ll answer here instead. Thanks for thinking of me! 

I also tried to mix up anime with other shows I like. It’s gonna get weird, kids.

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 2. M*A*S*H 3. Agatha Christie’s Poirot 4. Over the Garden Wall 5. Castlevania

Who is your favorite character in 2? Hawkeye Pierce. He’s the main character, a sarcastic wise-cracking army doctor with a massive drinking problem and a heart of pure gold. I’ve been in love with him since I was 6.

Who is your least favorite character in 1? Probably Father. He’s a really boring villain in my opinion. Average at best. 

What is your favorite episode of 4? The Unknown. The final episode, yeah, but seeing everything come together was just *chef’s kiss*.

What is your favorite season of 5? Season 2! It got really weird in the second to last episode but I binged the entire thing in one night so that’s saying something.

Who is your favorite couple in 3? There isn’t one. But Hastings and Poirot are the brotp. 

Who is your favorite couple in 2? Again, don’t really have one. BJ and Hawkeye are the brotp though. 

What is your favorite episode of 1? I can’t remember the episode number, but the recap episode with Hohenheim. I haven’t rewatched fmab in awhile, but I will stream that episode on occasion. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. 

What is your favorite episode of 5? Last episode of season 2. It melted my brain. 

What is your favorite season of 2? You can’t make me pick. I love all 11. 

How long have you watched 1? First watched it in late 2016.

How did you become interested in 3? My bestie @hagane-no-heart rec’d it to me! We watch it together. 

Who is your favorite actor in 4? Elijah Wood as Wirt. It’s PERFECT. 

Which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5? 1 and 2. Both have too much sentimental value in my heart to pick between them. MASH I watched with my grandparents who passed away when I was young, and fmab has such an amazing community of fans here where I’ve made some amazing friends. I declare no contest. 

Which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3 1. I’ve seen all of fmab and maybe 8 episodes of 3. (To be fair they’re literally movie length.)

If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be? I am basically Wirt irl so I guess? 

Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work? Not at all lmaoooo

Pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple? Roy and Olivier. It’s the dramione of fmab. 

Overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5? 5 is less linear in its writing, but each episode usually has great storylines. 3 (Castlevania) has a WACK storyline, but the characters, religious references, and philosophy hold it together for me. I guess 3 then??

Which has better theme music, 2 or 4? Probably 4, but 2′s intro is freaking iconic. 

Tagging: @hagane-no-heart, @criis55, @edxwin-elric, @kittykatz009, @bornadreamer if y’all interested!

[dylexic-words]

Fictober 2019 Day 1—“It will be fun, trust me.”

“I wasn’t expecting you, Walter. Is there something wrong with your prosthetic?”

“No, ma’am. I’m here to see Ed. Is he home?”

“He’s been holed up in his room all morning. Maybe you can get him to come out.”

Edward stirred at the sound of Walter’s and Pinako’s voices echoing down the hall. He didn’t remember falling asleep. Although his goal that morning had been to get some long neglected research done, it had been incredibly hard to actually bring himself to pay attention to the words in his alchemy books. Lately his thoughts had been left to wander in every attempt he made to get anything done—and his attempts often ended in frustration, and a nagging sense of inadequacy.

His attention was drawn to the gentle knock on his door.

“Ed? Are you up?”

With a tired grunt, he pushed himself off his bed (and crumpled notes) and went to answer the door.

“What do you want, Walter?”

He hadn’t meant to come off quite so aggressively, but the frown on his friend’s face instantly made him regret even getting up to answer the door. Edward was about to apologize, but Walter spoke first.

“You look terrible. When was the last time you brushed your hair?”

Edward ran a hand through his greasy, knotted hair.

“I guess it’s been a while.”

Walter’s frown deepened.

“All right, that’s it. I know you haven’t seen sunlight in days. You’re coming with me to the Sheep Festival.”

That made Edward pause. The last time he had gone to the festival, Winry had still been alive. He had come home because Winry had called him only days before to tell him that she was pregnant. They went on a date to the Sheep Festival the same day he got back to celebrate.

It was only a year ago, but to him it felt like a whole lifetime had passed since that day. For the first time in a very long time, he had known peace and happiness.

Those two things didn’t seem to like to stay with him. He thought he would never have to feel this way after he got his brother’s body back and their long journey had finally come to an end. And even if something happened, he thought he would be more prepared. He had learned to cope with his mother's death, given everything that had happened, and when he began his travels once more, he was able to finally start healing from Nina’s tragic loss. And although he would never forget that Hoenheim abandoned them all those years ago, the anger he once felt had faded when his body was found kneeling before his mother’s grave. His death made him sad to think about, but Edward felt peace knowing that his father had died with a smile on his face.

He thought he would be prepared for the rest of his life. He never thought that he would lose Winry—not now.

The idea of going to the Sheep Festival left him feeling hollow and empty. It was a reminder of everything he had lost.

Suddenly, all Edward wanted to do was go back to bed.

“I don’t really want to go to the festival, actually,” Edward said. “I’ve been to it enough times.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun, trust me.”

“How would you know? You’re not from Risembool.”

“Fair,” Walter chuckled, “but it’s better than sitting in your room all day. Don’t you think you’ll feel better if you go out and do something?”

Edward scoffed. He took a step back, as if trying to dodge a blow.

“That’s not how it works. It’d be really nice if going outside was all it took to solve all of my problems, but that’s not how life works. Besides, why do you care? Why do you care what I do with my life?”

Walter sighed. He looked down, avoiding Edward’s gaze.

“I know it’s not that simple. I know you’ve been dealing with a lot, and I know grief isn’t something you can just get over. But I also know that it hurts a lot more than it has to when you cut yourself off from the world and everyone in it. And the thing is…” Walter hesitated. “...you helped me. Now I want to help you. We don’t have to go to the festival if you don’t want to, but let me help you. I haven’t seen you in weeks, and I’m worried about you.”

That was strange. He had thought he had done well in keeping his distance. Lately it seemed, when he distanced himself from people, he got the space that he wanted, and nobody was able to reach him again. He had convinced his brother not to worry, he helped Pinako as much as he could so she wouldn’t worry as much about the time he spent isolated or asleep, and most people in Risembool didn’t know him beyond the surface. They were all aware of Winry’s death, because she was a well-known automail engineer, and news traveled fast in the small town of Risembool. But it seemed nobody had bothered to really know how he was doing, because he was able to keep that distance, and perhaps because he was the Fullmetal Alchemist.

So, it seemed strange that someone cared enough to call him out on his bluff after all he had done to maintain it.

“All right, fine. I’m not doing this for long though. Just enough to get you off my back.”

Walter smiled.

“It’ll take more than that, Elric.”

…

This is VERY rough and possibly very ooc, but I really wanted to participate in Fictober this year, so I’m trying not to care too much about that haha.

I’ve had this idea for an AU based after the ending of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood for a while now. The concept is this—Winry dies while giving birth to her and Edward’s child, and Edward is left to grieve. This triggers lots of unresolved issues with his mental health, so he just kinda breaks, and cuts himself off from the people he cares about. He stays in Risembool and ends up helping Pinako run the automail business and helping patients with minor injuries. (Pretty sure Pinako is the only doctor, right? It’s been a few months since I rewatched FMAB.) Then one day, a man is rushed in after a freak accident, where he ends up losing his leg. (It either needs to be amputated or it was lost in the accident, honestly I have no idea at the moment. All I do know is that my character Walter is not getting automail, but he does get a prosthetic, since they make non-automail prosthetics?) Edward gets to know this man, and they develop a friendship that eventually turns into something more.

I wanted to write a fic like this for a couple reasons. First, I’ve been dealing with a lot of grief since the beginning of the year, and this is a healthy way to process it.

Another reason is because I really wanted to write about Edward dating a guy, but I don’t ship him with any male characters in canon, so logically the next step is to create a male OC so I can write a really gay slowburn FMA fic. I’m not 100% sure what Ed’s sexuality would be, since I’m personally not comfortable using labels (I label myself under the gay/queer umbrella term because nothing else seems right), but I don’t want this to be an “Ed realizes he’s actually gay” fic since I’m for the most part basing this off canon. That seems disrespectful to Winry, and I actually really like her as a character. EdWin is also a really cute ship. The truth is, I just like making my favorite characters suffer lol.

I don’t know much about Walter as an OC yet, except that he has his own mental health issues and he’s hella gay.

I really like the concept of this fic, but I’m not sure when I’ll start writing chapters. It really depends on how Fictober goes. The point of me doing this is to get me back into the habit of writing after years of depression and garbage self esteem holding me back, but hhhhh. Balancing school and work and depression/anxiety is really hard. *shrug*

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed. Don’t expect every day to have this high of a word count—I’m trying not to set myself up for failure by being grossly unrealistic in my word count. Today was just a lucky/unlucky day. (It’s very late. D:) And for my VLD followers, I am definitely planning on posting VLD content this month, so stay tuned! I’m doing a little bit of everything!

[ohmytheon]

Hi! I just had a question about your works. I want to start reading some of your stuff cuz they look great, but I noticed that there are a few that u started up a while ago and haven’t updated in a while. I was just wondering if there was a way to know which works you’re still working on and ones that you put on hold or maybe don’t plan on finishing? Sorry if it sounds rude! I don’t mean to! I just don’t wanna start a fic that might never be updated again. Sorry again! Don’t mean to be rude! ❤️

No problem at all! It’s not rude at all. I kinda quit updating on here because it was a huge hassle, but I will be again probably once a few events start up come July. My ao3 is way more up-to-date and has fics that I haven’t even published on here. (I’m also slow on FFN. Oops.)Right now, I’m only writing for the BNHA fandom (unless you count crossovers like FMA/BNHA and then two future crossover projects), so if you’re reading for anything other than that fandom, I probably won’t be working on them anymore. I would love to jump back into FMA again, but that usually happens when I rewatch FMAB. I still read for Rogue One, but I haven’t written for it in a while, which...is unfortunate. Because I hate unfinished fics. “good men don’t become legends” - my fma/fate zero AU - and “93 Percent Stardust” - my Rogue One daemon AU - haunt me on the daily.As for my BNHA fics, there are none that I’ve currently put fully on hold, even if it seems like I haven’t updated them in a while. I have a WIP doc that I check often and plan when to write for. Part of the reason I’ve kind of slowed down on updating them is because I’m writing for two events that I’m modding ahead of time, along with being in a handful of zines, so while it seems like I might not be writing as much, I’m writing...a lot. It’s just unpublished stuff.If you tell me which ones you’re interested in, I can probably give something of a date or estimate when I plan on writing for it next. Basically, come July, I’m gonna be publishing a lot (literally a fic a day, if not more) and I’ll have a lot more time to write my WIPs again. I have the next chapters for pretty much all my WIPs in my head, so there’s that at least?