#i DID have a fullmetal alchemist phase why do you ask?

[mudwizardbignaturals]

im sorry OP if im obnoxious in ur notes

An analysis on the alchemy symbols present in the Magnus Protocol announcement

These symbols do not seem to be unintentional/just for aesthetic for the following reasons:

some of the symbols are somewhat ugly (i'm sorry aqua regia) and don't fit the aesthetic

the symbols are not all important in alchemy normally, no astrology symbols

All the symbols are oriented upwards

Anyways, here's a condensation of a discord rant that took me an hour to write:

The Primes

To summarize, the primes are the basics of alchemy. The abstract concepts of the body (the physical matter of a being, such as a human), the soul (the metaphysical part of a being) and the spirit/mind (the connection between the two)

The first symbol that jumped out to me was salt (🜔), which is one of the primes (very important to alchemy), which in alchemy represents the body, non-combustibility and non-volatility, this looked to be the most common symbol throughout the background.

It took me some sleuthing to find sulfur (🜍) in the background, sulfur is another prime and represents the soul, as well as combustibility. I feel it's important even though it took me so long to find one because black sulfur (🜏), the residue of the sublimation (evaporation but they skip a step, so solid->gas) of sulfur, was present heavily.

It's worth noting there are three primes, but quicksilver/mercury (☿), which represents spirit/mind (the connection between soul and body) and fusibility and volatility, is not present.

the symbols i found that are less "important" (not one of the core tenants of alchemy) offer more information.

The Elements of the Periodic Table

these are called "mundane elements"

Antimony (♁) is a metalloid (element that has some properties of metals, some properties of non-metals) that is resistant to acid attack (is not corroded by most acids) and forms sulfides (mixes with sulfur in a specific way) easily. It's worth noting that sulfides are a common theme with all of the non-prime symbols. Rusty Quill uses the Newtonian symbol for antimony.

Bismuth (🜘) is a heavy metal with some unique properties. It was commonly mistaken for lead (associated with the planet saturn) or tin (associated with the planet jupiter) back in the day, it forms hopper crystals commonly that i find remind me of the spiral. It used to be thought as the heaviest non-radioactive element, but it apparently is radioactive but decays at such a slow rate its half-life is longer than the universe has been around and, interestingly, is relatively non-toxic for a heavy metal. Rusty Quill uses the Bergman symbol for bismuth, the Newtonian one is ♆.

The Crystals and Ores

Realgar (🜼) is also known as ruby of arsenic or ruby sulfur, and is an arsenic sulfide (α-As4S4), or a mix between arsenic and sulfur. It has been known to be poisonous since classic times, which is a shock. It is also carcinogenic. It's a bit random though, which makes me wonder why it was included.

Chalcopyrite (🜡) (the coolest symbol ever) is a copper iron sulfide (CuFeS2), or a mix between copper, iron and sulfide. It's notable because it's often mistaken for pyrite (fool's gold), and a good source of the metals that make it up. The fool's fool's gold, so to speak. Also a sulfide.

Finally, we have what is really interesting to me:

Aqua Regia

Aqua Regia (🜇) is nitro-hydrochloric acid, a mix between nitric acid (HNO3) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). It is notable because it can dissolve gold and platinum, which are part of the noble metals and normally difficult to dissolve for chemistry reasons. Neither nitric acid nor hydrochloric acid will do this normally.

So, to summarize, you have a body and a soul but no connection between them, mainly the residue of a soul, a bastard element that is resistant to acids, a notoriously poisonous crystal, the fool's fool's gold, and an acid that is the combination of two intense acids that can dissolve the undissolvable. What you do with that, idk.

The official cast and logo The Magnus Protocol, courtesy of the kickstarter update.

A link to the arg site is also available!

[watermelonsloth]

Hi.... If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series/games/etc) and your top 10 favorite characters from any media ? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this questions before......

Hello to you as well. I don’t mind people asking me questions and I haven’t answered this before. This is long so read more under the cut.

I prefer the number 7, so I’m gonna do my top 7 favorite pieces of media. Don’t let the numbers fool you, these are in no particular order. Also, be warned, I don’t know how much sense what I say will make to anyone who has watched/read these.

1 - Naruto/Shippuden (only those two and specifically the manga) - I have thought about, analyzed, and talked about this series too much to lie to you and say it isn’t one of my favorite series of all time. Even with all of its flaws, it holds a place near and dear to my heart. It has some of my favorite character work I’ve ever seen even with its imperfections, the first 27 volumes of Naruto are still some of my favorite written books/manga, Kakashi vs Obito is my favorite fight in any piece of media (quite frankly, the Naruto anime has ruined fights scenes for me), and this series is what inspired me to get into media analysis in the first place.

2 - Fullmetal Alchemist/Brotherhood - This is my legally obligated mentioning of Fullmetal Alchemist and the Brotherhood anime adaptation. Excellent character work (+actually good female characters), beautiful art, some of my favorite foreshadowing/slow burn ever, and commentary on the hubris of man and strength in collectivism while criticizing both the military and the institution of religion. Chef’s kiss! This is a great example of someone knowing what story they wanted to tell and fucking telling it. The biggest problem I have with the series is that every time I want to rewatch it, I feel the need to watch all of it at once and that’s just a lot of anime for me to devote my full attention to in one sitting.

3 - Madoka Magica (I can only vouch for PMMM, I haven't watched the other stuff) - Fun fact: this is the first piece of media to make me cry. Something about Sayaka’s story just… got to me. I really like this because it’s an example of a deconstruction done right. Of the few other deconstructions I’ve seen, they tend to be too shallow to even really feel like deconstructions or too dark. Madoka Magica hits that sweet spot of going to those deep and dark places while still maintaining a sense of hope.

4 - Across the Spiderverse - Since I’ve recently slipped into quite the superhero phase, all inclusions are superhero related moving forward. So I remember going into the theater to watch this completely blind. I had heard of Into the Spiderverse and had heard nothing but positive reviews, but I also wasn’t big into superheroes or Spider-Man so I never watched it for myself. I don’t think I made it through the first ten minutes of atsv before thinking “Goddamn it, now I have to watch the first movie.” Between the two, I had to pick atsv because, while I did like itsv, I had some problems with it. Namely, I thought that it underutilized a chunk of its cast (Spidernoir, Spiderham, Peni, and the villains felt wasted) and I thought they could’ve done more with the interdimensional travel idea. Atsv made these pretty much complete nonissues. The only character I felt like could’ve used a bit more attention was Spiderbyte, that was the only issue I had with it besides the movie ending before I was done watching it. Other than that, I don’t know what else I can say about this movie that hasn’t been said a million times before. The art is disgustingly, dream-crushingly good and if the writing doesn’t match that level of skill, it gets damn close.

5 - My Adventures With Superman - My Adventures With Superman has my favorite adaptation of Superman hands down. Yeah, I like my Clark Kent with a little more self-confidence, but for a Superman who’s just starting out and the story they wanted to tell, it works. As I’ve said before, I don’t care for him being used as a racial allegory but I do like them exploring his sense of identity. The series automatically gets points for two very underrated but important parts of writing: the main couple is actually one I can root for and it doesn’t waste the audience’s time. What I mean by not wasting the audience’s time is that they don’t draw out the Clark is Superman reveal or the will-they-won’t-they between Clark and Lois unnecessarily. It also has the first villains I genuinely want to strangle in a while (looking at you Amanda “The Audacity” Waller and Lex “Make Earth Great Again” Luthor). I can’t wait to see what they do with Superboy in season 3.

6 - The Batman (2022) - To continue the train of DC characters finally getting good adaptations: the Battinson movie. The set design, the cinematography, the action, the pacing of the mystery (it’s a long watch but it’s worth it), Alfred helping solve the mystery, Batman, Jim Gordon, the dynamic between Batman and Jim Gordon, Riddler, Catwoman actually mattering and having a good dynamic/romance with Batman, the balancing of multiple Gotham rogues, the humor that I didn’t expect it to have (especially from the Penguin). This Batman needs a Robin yesterday. This movie is probably my favorite movie on the list. I want to put emphasis on the set design/how Gotham looks. I recently started watch Gotham (the tv show) and I was so disappointed that Gotham didn’t look any different from a standard east coast city. But this Gotham looks like Gotham. This Gotham looks like a place you��d only live in if the rent was 25¢ a month or you couldn’t afford to move out. This Gotham looks like a city that would have some guy dressed as bat beating up criminals.

7 - Deadpool 3: Deadpool and Wolverine - I was weighing between including this or the live action One Piece and just decided to pick the one I had more to say about. This is the first movie to genuinely and consistently make me laugh in a while. The plot’s kind of meh; it’s a fun allegory for the Fox X-Men series but it wasn’t especially investing and the villains were entertaining but nothing to write home about. What truly makes this movie worth the watch is Deadpool, Wolverine, and their dynamic and development with one another. The development both of their characters got actually caught me off guard since, once again, this is a movie I went in mostly blind to. All I really knew about the Deadpool films were the humor and in my experience, comedies (especially dark comedies) tend to be afraid of getting too serious. But this movie actually balanced the comedy with the serious moments of development without either feeling too jarring or forced.

Talking about my favorite characters will be a lot quicker because I don’t actually have consistent favorite characters. My favorite characters change all the time because I have a love-hate relationship with many of my all time favorites and they shift depending on what I’ve been watching/reading/thinking about most recently. It doesn’t help that the qualifications for being on my list of favorites are: I’m not actively frustrated with their character writing and I find them entertaining.

If I had to say what my top 10, in no particular order, are right now, I’d list: Pein from Naruto, Sasori from Naruto, Joker from the animated Under the Red Hood movie, Kimihiro Watanuki from xxxHolic, Sam Wilson from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, MaoMao from The Apothecary Diaries, Wade Wilson from the two Deadpool movies I’ve seen (the first and third), Robin from Teen Titans (the animated show), Katherine Howard from Six, and Hobie Brown from Across the Spiderverse.

[urprinceoflove]

Therapy Session

Pairing: Olivier Mira Armstrong x GN!Reader

Summary: You hadn’t been into Fort Briggs for a while now, Major General Armstrong made sure to give you a talk about it.

Warnings: None, pretty much fluff and slight thought of booob

Word Count: 862

A/N: OLIVIER SUPREMACY. (literally wrote this in class so im not sure how good of a story this is)

Fullmetal Alchemist Master List | Full Master List

—

You dragged your feet as you walked into Fort Briggs, the workplace was as busy as ever and many workers greeted you as you passed on by. This was not your day. Usually you would be cheery and glad to be there (especially while scouting for a specific major general).

“Y/N, it’s good to see you at the workplace finally.” Falman stated.

You haven’t been at Fort Briggs in a while… right. You had forgotten that while on your honeymoon phase with a man you assumed to be the one, you missed out on plenty of work in the snowy biome.

“Major General Armstrong wants to have a word with me I presume…” You answered quietly.

“That is correct.”

You slumped down even further as you walked with Falman. You weren’t sure if you should be excited or fear the fact that the major general would like to have a word with you.

“Oh come on,” He began, trying his best to cheer you up. “What is the big idea here? The major general is not one to be feared—”

Speaking of the famous major general, she happened to appear right in front of Falman when he was in the middle of his speech.

Falman gulped, saluted the major general and turned around. “G-Good luck, Y/N” He couldn’t help his voice from trembling, that didn’t help your situation at all.

You looked up at the major general. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was staring directly down at you.

“Major General Armstrong, sir… It’s good to see you…”

“Cut the crap, Y/N. Walk with me.” Olivier ordered.

You straightened up and did as you were told. The walk with General Armstrong was always as it had been, you beside her doing your absolute best to appease her demands. Many of the crew members who were working in the fort noticed you. Some were joyful to see you back at the establishment and others were grimacing at the thought of what the major general was to speak to you about.

Once you got into the major general’s office, she went to have a seat in her chair.

“Close the door behind you.” She ordered. You did just that, gulping as you solemnly walked towards the chair placed in front of her desk. You sat down, not waiting for the order to do so. “You haven’t been here at work.” The major general deduced.

You shook your head. “I do apologize sincerely, sir.”

Olivier set her elbows on her desk using her hands to hold her head up as she speaks to you. “May I ask why that is, lieutenant?

“I recently broke it off with someone I was speaking to… romantically.” You looked up, there was no facial expression change in the major general. Your head slumped back down. “It’s no excuse, I know. I should be here at Fort Briggs since it is the only home I have. Maybe I got a bit carried away.

Olivier groaned. “Lieutenant, I am not here for a therapy session.” She stood up from her desk and walked over to you. She spun your chair to where you were facing her and set her hands on the arm rests.

You felt your face grow warm at the sight.

Olivier caught this and smiled. “I knew you still had it out for me.”

“What? I do not!” You protested, crossing your arms across your chest.

“Uh-huh…” Olivier leaned in closer. You stayed still as she did so. She was staring into your eyes and you back at hers, but it wasn’t long before your eyes flicked to her lips and she pulled away. She took her hands off of the armrests and backed a few steps away from you. You weren’t relieved at the action. You were quite disappointed.

“That settles it then.” The major general announced. “You are free to go on with your duties as normal.”

“Thank you, major general.” You let out weakly. You got up from your chair, confused at what had just happened but you forced yourself not to think too much about it. You had your back turned to the major general and you were just about to reach the door to the office when she stopped you.

“One more thing, Y/N.” Her voice sounded closer. Once you turned to get your final orders from the major general you felt her lips on yours. Your eyes widened at the action, but you leaned into the kiss almost immediately. General Armstrong had one hand on your waist and the other on your cheek. You weren’t too sure if you were even allowed to touch Olivier without her throwing you out the window in defiance, but you found your hand placed upon her chest anyway. Too close to her breast. You warmed up even more at your interesting thoughts.

The major general pulled away from you, practically leaving you a mess to go out into Fort Briggs to act as if nothing had happened at all. You couldn’t help, but walk out of the office with a giddy attitude and a smile plastered on your face.

[azroazizah]

ayy so I’m gonna rant a little bc yes, I’m absolutely petty over this kind of thing, especially if it includes my OTP™ 

so I heard someone just called me and another fellow soma artist a ‘pedophile’ for ‘sexualizing’ SoMa, apparently, and I just want to sort this out.

Firstly, I don’t enjoy making them sucking faces as 13 yo. I ship them, yes, hardcore. But even in canonverse, I headcanon them hooking up at least when they’re 17-18. I feel uncomfortable seeing them in suggestive situations in their 13 yo appearances.

As you can see above, I mostly make it platonic when I draw them as babs.

Most, if not all, of the intimate poses I’ve drawn them in is with them aged-up. In fact, look at my AUs:

Gangsta. AU : Soul 22, Maka 20 (Soul 17 and Maka 15 the first time they met)

Fullmetal Alchemist AU : Soul 24, Maka 23

Perspective series : Soul 11-25, Maka 10-24 (which is about the evolution of their relationship in canonverse) additionally, my hc of their ages when Spartoi was established is 16 and 15, respectively. And they’re 17 and 16 by the time Kid ascended as Death.

Faerie AU : Soul 23-25, Maka 500+

Gokusen AU : Soul 17, Maka 26 (yes, this addresses the age-gap thing specifically)

Deaf pianist!Soul aka Reverb 2020 : Soul 20, Maka 20

Royal AU 1 : Soul 20, Maka 19

Royal AU 2 : Soul 18, Maka 17

Adult SoMa redesign : Soul 24, Maka 23 (including the adult Black Blood dress)

ATLA AU 1 : Soul 19, Maka 17

Goblin AU : Soul 2000+, Maka 17-27

you see, I don’t like to write/draw them in romantic/sexual relationship as children. That’s why the majority of my art is when they’re older.

Secondly, the statement that Soul and Maka is ‘minor ship’. Yes. They were minors. But news flash: Growth is A Thing. They don’t stay 13 forever. There’s a freaking timeskip for a reason, gosh. It’s just that Soul Eater ended before we could witness their late teenage phases.

‘Aging up’ is not pedophilia or sexualization, last time I checked. It comes with nature when you write a story.

And it’s common even with original creators of other franchises. Harry Potter was 11 in the first novel. Naruto was 12 when he started his story. Ed Elric was 14-16 the majority of his series. But when the author wanted to give them serious relationship? They did it when they were older. They aged them up.

Or is it because we’re not The Author? Would it be better if I draw SoMa sucking faces as tiny lil smooshy babies or in sexualized poses like what Ohkubo did with little Crona’s butt? nah, thanks, I’ll pass

If you’re gonna call SoMa a creepy ship bc they’re minors, then I have bad news for you buddy: like 85% of shounen/shoujo main characters are minors. By saying they’re pedo ship, you actually just called out over half of the entire fandom bc like 75% of existing ships involves the kids.

And the majority of other fandoms too, by the way. That reason is not exclusively applied to SoMa.

Which is, why the ‘aging up’ came to play. Why do you think so many SoMa authors write them in their 20s? It’s just generally healthier and worked out better that way.

Also important: people shipping something doesn’t actually mean they want their ship to bone 24/7 y’know.

Thirdly, me ‘sexualizing SoMa’. Please tell me just which part of my art includes sexualization. Because I don’t think I’ve ever post something even nsfw-ish here. Like, ever. Not even in writing. If I had indeed done it intentionally, I apologize.

Jokes, kissing, yes, but sexualization, good god, no. I’ve said it many times: I both love and hate the actual manga bc there’s parts of gross sexualization in it and I thank Bones forever for taking them out.

Lastly, for the ‘pedophilia’ accusation, I suggest for the person in question to check the actual meaning of the term. because I don’t fancy imagining myself in as much as a suggestive situation with brats, thank you very much. Accusing people of pedophilia is a serious thing. Don’t blabber those words easily.

There’s a reason why I prefer seinen series and why my absolute favorite character of all time is Sakata Gintoki.

If there’s someone who find my previous arts of SoMa ‘sexualizing’, I must advice to check yourself on just why you came to think that way when you see two fictional characters who, apparently, you claimed as ‘minors’, in casual romantic gestures. Especially if the artist gave no indication of their situation being sexual. I have to ask you who is the one being creepy around here.

I don’t think the person in question is gonna read all of this, but in conclusion, just say outright that you hate SoMa as a ship rather than being roundabout with stupid reasons and go out of your way to annoy artists who doesn’t even intend to sexualize them.

PS: if there’s someone who has problems with my art, I prefer them to say it directly to my face instead of harassing my friend about it.

[jokerfan99]

My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villains (Updated) by DarkChild316

In a different time and a different world, I did a list of “My 10 Favorite Anime Villains”. I am older now, and hopefully much wiser and now thanks to the global pandemic and my new subscriptions to Hulu and Funimation I’ve had the opportunity to go back and revisit so many classic anime that I feel like I should re-do it. Plus I’ve gone back and looked at my previous list and shook my head thinking to myself: “My God man, what in the f**k were you thinking with some of these choices!” So, I’ve gone back and redone the list, now this list is strictly for the men only. If you want to see a list dedicated to my favorite female villains, check out my list of “My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villainesses.” But for this list, here is my updated list of My Top 10 Favorite Anime Villains:

#10. Shishiho Makoto (Rurouni Kenshin): Growing up as a kid, Ruroni Kenshin was one of the first anime I had ever watched, and this guy was someone who I hated with a passion. Looking back at it years later, I realize now what an amazing villain and foil to Kenshin that Makoto was. Unlike a lot of villains on this list, Makoto wasn’t just evil for the sake of being evil, Makoto’s evil came from the worst type of trauma: betrayal! In this case the betrayal came from Makoto’s own government, where Makoto survived not only multiple gunshots, but being doused in oil and burned alive, leaving him in complete and utter agony. What puts Shishio on my list is what he manages to do after surviving death. He compiles an army of the best fighters Japan has to offer and plots to overthrow the entire Meiji Government. While in complete agony. Who else can claim that? Did I also mention he’s topping the list of the best fighters in the show? His swordsmanship is second only to Kenshin himself as he proves in their absolutely epic fight.

#9. Hisoka Morrow (Hunter x Hunter): Hunter x Hunter is a show with several great villains that truly stand out, and while Meruem was memorable, pardon me for believing that Hisoka was the standout villain from that show. A devious killer and master Nen user, Hisoka is driven by little more than his desire to find and kill strong opponents. Be they young children or master criminals, he’ll pursue them to the ends of the Earth with a bloodlust on par with that of a wild predator. Likewise, he doesn’t care what happens to himself or others in this pursuit. Mass civilian casualties, the loss of his own villainous allies or even the loss of his own limbs barely phases him, so long as he gets to fight with someone that tests his limits. As a result, he more often than not embodies chaos incarnate, wreaking havoc in his pursuit of battle and leaving a mountain of corpses behind him. Needless to say, this puts him at odds with the series’ protagonists at regular intervals. Not only do Gon and his friends fit the bill for what he seeks, but they often take on enemies that prove to be exactly what Hisoka is looking for. And yet, this also serves to make him all the more interesting. Where other villains might strike out at the protagonists and heroes immediately, Hisoka schemes, allies himself with and double-crosses people regularly, always finding the best angle to work in order to reach his goals. He may not be a world-ending anime villain on the level of a Meruem with seismic ambitions, but he’s undeniably the most interesting and brilliant villain in Hunter x Hunter to see at work.

#8. Izaya Orihara (Durarara!!): If you think of a list of top anime villains and this guy isn’t one of the first people who comes to mind, please raise your hands so I can have a few words with you in private with no cameras or eyewitnesses. The crazy thing about Izaya is that he doesn’t even realize he’s evil, and that’s what makes him great. He loves humanity; from the depths of his bones he loves us all. This is why he makes it onto my list; he does progressively more cruel acts against humans, putting people in situations that generally lead to their deaths. He is also a master of parkour and highly skilled with a switchblade in his hand (as evident in the above picture), which he generally only uses in dire situations or fights against Shizuo. In short, I absoulutely love this guy. I thoroughly enjoyed the way he manages to manipulate an entire populous, and that’s why he’s more than earned a spot on my list.

#7. Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure): You might have thought it was someone else, but it was me, Dio! All meme-worthy jokes aside, Dio Brando is unquestionably one of the most iconic anime villains of all time and, thanks to his series’ late-blooming popularity outside of Japan thanks largely to the 2012 anime adaptation, one that still feels modern in our minds. Dio is a tenacious bastard that takes advantage of the generosity of the Joestar family to further his own power, being intolerably dickish to Jonathan by constantly tearing him down, trying to make him look bad in front of his dad, spreading rumors to sully his reputation, and sabotaging his relationships. This escalates into killing his dog (his f***ikg dog of all things!), poisoning and later stabbing his adoptive father (I mean WTF!), and becoming a freakin vampire. Even after decapitation, Dio gets his revenge and sets in motion many of the events of the series, making a formal return in Stardust Crusaders as the main villain once again. With raw ambition taken to the extreme, iconic lines, poses, and outfits, incredible abilities from Aztec mask-induced vampirism and the time-stopping power of The World, Dio’s menacing presence towers over his series and over anime as a whole, which makes him MORE than deserving of a spot on my list.

#6. Light Yagami (Death Note): Yes, he’s a VILLAIN, get over yourselves Light Yagami fanboys! Anyway, there are a number of different adjectives and superlatives that could be used to described the lead character of Death Note: Diabolical, calculating, and determined to make the world in his own image all describe Light who was easily the most clever man in  Death Note, as evidenced by the layers upon layers that composed his elaborate plans.  Light started out as a good kid, doing well in school and heading to a bright career in police work like his father. But when he gets possession of the death note, he begins a remarkable descent into a disturbing mastermind who becomes judge, jury, and executioner for the entire world. But what truly makes Light's character stand out remains complicated throughout the story. His ultimate goal is to make the world a happier, safer place; a noble but perhaps misguided goal. His idealism and nobility still shine through when he doesn’t have the Death Note. When he temporarily relinquishes ownership of the death note to throw L off his trail, Light loses all memory of the death note and he reverts to his normal personality. His sense of morality returns and he shows more compassion for those around him. He even refuses to use Misa Amane to get information out of her when L asks him to. These qualities help to create a complex character who ends up being a detestable villain, yet you still kind of root for him to come out of this story as a winner. Light’s progression through the series is marked by his sheer brilliance. He's got a calculated and strategic mind that would make the great philosopher Machiavelli jealous, and the power of the death note adds a callousness that makes him free to use people in whatever way necessary to accomplish his goals. It’s highly entertaining to see his intricate plans play out. But Light’s messiah-like ego is just as big as his brain, and that arrogance ultimately leads to his tragic downfall.

#5. The Major (Hellsing): An evil Nazi Scientist, I know everyone is just rolling their eyes right now thinking I’m reaching for the low-hanging fruit for this one, but just hear me out here. While he may seem like an obvious pick for a list like this, The Major’s goals, however, are somehow far more unhinged than what may first appear. Despite being an impassioned orator and uncompromising strategist willing to sacrifice countless soldiers, the Major himself had no especial loyalty or passion for the cause of Millennium. His sole obsession is to plunge the world into an unending conflict to the point of endangering not only the lives of others but also his own. The Major’s leadership of Millennium, his decades espousing the genocidal ideology of fascists, and subsequent war against the Hellsing organization, the Vatican, and the entire world serve only as a pretext to satiate his insatiable bloodlust. The Major is one of anime’s most insidious villains, a charismatic, nihilistic sociopath driven purely by his sadomasochistic death wish.

#4. Shou Tucker (Fullmetal Alchemist): Now, you may be recalling that in my previous version of this list, I had Envy listed as my choice as my favorite villain from this show. Well after careful reconsideration, I’ve had to reevaluate my decision and give that spot to this creep, because while Envy’s actions were despicable to a point, they PALE in comparison to this guy! He only really appears in one episode if I remember correctly, yet in that one single episode, he made more of an impact then most villains make in a lifetime, which really says a lot about this guy’s character. What was it that made him so memorable you ask? Well, it could have something to do with the fact that this man transmutaed his own dog and daughter to create a talking chimera, which hadn’t been done before, and for what other reason…all in the name of recognition in the world of alchemy! That mere fact alone made this guy the most hated man in all of anime, the fact that he sacrificed his own family for the sake of fame, with absolutely no hint of remorse, made this guy the definition of an absolute living piece of shit and the only thing worse is how the episode ended, but I won’t spoil that one for you if you haven’t seen it.

#3. Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion) Up next is a man competing with the likes of Medusa Gorgon for the title of “Anime’s Worst Parent”, Gendo Ikari, please step up to the front of the congregation. Now Gendo is a man who’s list of atrocities throughout Evangelion is far too many to name, but I’m going to try my best to list them here: You have being actively complicit in the premature instigation of a biblical apocalypse, resulting in a near extinction-level event that caused the death of nearly two-thirds of the human population. Emotionally neglecting his own son Shinji estranging himself from him for over twelve years, only to offer him up as a sacrificial pawn in his bid to artificially bootstrap humanity’s ascent into evolutionary godhood so that he could be reunited with his dead wife. Cloning said wife’s DNA into a harem of emotionally dependent albino ingenues who share a dogged infatuation for their creator. And that’s not even mentioning the horrific emotional abuse and mental manipulation he inflicts on Dr. Ritsuko Akagi and her mother Naoko. All-in-all Gendo is proof positive that love not only has the capacity to overcome any obstacle, but sometimes it can truly make monsters out of us all.

#2. Griffith (Berserk): Griffith did nothing wrong; at least, not by his own drives and ambitions. A peasant who grew to become the leader of his own mercenary band, Griffith was a self-driven man who pursued his desires with unparalleled efficiency. No matter the situation or obstacle, he found a way to overcome them, whether that meant facing down an army of thousands or assassinating a country’s leaders. All the while, he amassed a legion of friends and followers who would follow him to hell and back, caring for him as much or more than he cared for them. As a result, they were dragged down with him when his ambitions saw him imprisoned, tortured and maimed. They cared little though, risking life and limb to save him and help him salvage a life with what he had left. That wasn’t enough for Griffith though. When given the option to become a demon and continue the pursuit of his dreams, he whole-heartedly accepted it; even though it came at the cost of sacrificing the lives of each and every one of his friends and allies. But that wasn’t the worst of it, to further spite the early desertion of Guts, Griffith proceeds to rape Casca, Guts’ love interest, in front of him as Guts is held down by demons. So yes, Griffith did nothing wrong by himself. By everyone else though, he did them the worst of injustices, and continues to do so with each breath he takes, all of which makes him a compelling and infuriating villain.

#1. Johan Liebert (Monster): I’ve covered a wide variety of monsters (pun fully intended) on this list, but THIS monster (again, pun FULLY intended) truly takes the cake when it comes to anime villains. A serial killer who would fit in well in any blockbuster film, Monster told the story of a man who had truly become monstrous; a charismatic, intelligent sociopath with no other goal than to kill everyone else in the world. Johan didn't just kill people, he made other people into monsters just like him. This skill of his corruption is first displayed in his youth, when he used stories to convince the other boys in his orphanage to kill all the staff, and each other. Johan is often compared to Light Yagami of Death Note, but the two couldn’t be any more different. Light's fatal (and genius) flaw is his own ego, which leads him to put his own life above all else, even his goal of changing the world. But Johan has never been afraid of death. Quite the opposite, he welcomes and embraces it, being more than willing to put his own life at risk, and one of his signature traits is how he challenges people to shoot him. Another of Jonah’s signature traits is his skills as a masterful manipulator. Where Light and other on this list had to resort to supernatural means to get what they wanted, Johan just used his own wits and knowledge of human nature. He's easily the most frightening villain on this list because he’s the truest to life villain on this list and he exposes the base human nature of his victims and of human society. Monster's remarkable story was almost entirely due to Johan alone, and it’s why he’s #1 on my list.

So that's my updated list, what did you guys think about it? Love it, hated it? Go on and tell me what you think and let me know who your favorite anime villains are. See you soon!!!

Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/darkchild316

[starvels]

Fic Writer Interview Meme

tagged in this a while ago by the lovely @oluka ! thank you, bluebonnet!

name: starvels/dinosaur/dinostar/di/star or any combination thereof

fandoms: currently i have open fic documents for: marvel (616, 3490, AA, MCU and a secret one ~), naruto (yes i know 😪), avatar: the last airbender and fullmetal alchemist. i’m also obsessed w the locked tomb books over at @camillaloudhect

two-shot:

it's taking everything, it's taken everything is a legitimate two-shot about sex pollen trope subversion. it’s sad as hell and i’m rly proud of its style/narrative construction

funnily, are we satellites? is actually listed as a two-shot bc the map chapter that showcases s/t’s roadtrip path

and actually fourth time's a charm is a two chapter fic as well. it’s was a lil pinch-hit for stevetony secret santa about sparring and love confessions that i sometimes forget i wrote lol

most popular (marvel) fics:

by the numbers

wear it like a message: (v funny bc i’ve never had a person off of ao3 talk to me about this fic at all 😂) it’s a s/t ensemble cast kinkmeme fic about domestic shenanigans and dogtags/rings

we were meant for love: it’s the first in the we were meant verse about cliche, happy-no-hurt AU s/t falling in love at first sight

by measures of people asking me about it:

are we satellites? that steve/tony 616-inspired roadtrip with nature metaphors, takes the cake for sure

followed by some combination of any of my (overtly) trans fics like name it ever after which is a 3490 exploration and the firefighter/pyrokinetic as we touched and burned

actual worst part of writing:

that bit where you are 75% done with a piece and you can see the end and you know basically what you have to do to complete it all, but it’s SO close to being done that you’ve maybe started looking at other projects already/started crossing it off in your mind as done already.

that’s a hard space for me to be in and i run into it on anything over like 7-8k. i think the reason why is because the pacing of the writing changes so drastically - i will write 1k/hr easy when i’m in the zone, but when you get to 75%, you’ve got to start editing, nit-picking at things, being careful, filling in spaces, etc. that’s hard and i usually require handholding to get through that part lol.

how you choose your titles:

almost always a song lyric. i’m obsessed with finding new music and i’m constantly listening to different niche subgenres. when i find a song that fits the vibe of a fic i’m writing i will either listen to it ON REPEAT for the entire writing. wild! or i will make a playlist from it to write to. i like to pay homage to that inspiration.

occasionally, i will also do a word association tree and just nit pick through combinations like for syntax of bones

do you outline:

i generally do not and i would not recommend this style of life for other folks. it’s pure chaos lmfao.

i doubt that i will ever outline short (<6k fic) but i’ve been trying to be better about writing small outlines for mid-long length fics. i went through a phase when i was writing long fic a lot where i was doing a ton of moodboards and drawing of plot lines and literally breaking things down day by day for the text - which was fun! but i think there’s a balance b/w that and not outlining at all that i need to find somehow haha.

ideas you probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice:

listed a bunch here and here! but also

more poly fic - janstevetony, carolrhodeytony, caroljessrhodey, janesamthor, etc! this is more about having background comic knowledge to do justice to each character. so much to read...

young avengers fic! this is actually really likely bc i truly do love otgay more than i love any other ensemble in marvel, and i did recently catch up on death’s head/strikeforce/empyre but i feel like i would need to do more specifically Fic Research to adequately get a handle on how to characterize everyone. and i haven’t done that yet lol.

war-time 616 steve’s relationship to gender/sexuality

mcu natasha/pepper start a relationship before im2, emotional fall out from the events of im2, tony both thumbs-up in the background

callouts @ me:

di, belief in yourself is the best writing tool you have! believe in your words. give them attention, give them water, give them space in your life. let writing be a habit for yourself and cultivate it how you would any other plant cutting. turn into challenges, bc they’re what keep you lively and growing. let your work be an average, rather than striving to make everything you produce your best thing ever. be kind and gracious with yourself.

prioritize EDITING before posting, oh my god, di.  щ(゜ロ゜щ)

best writing traits:

prose/description is the most commonly complimented aspect of my writing! and i agree :’) i really do love to play with the inherent poetry of human existence. i also think i am good at setting up emotional tension (i want people to FEEL as much as i do all the time) and crafting a subversive narrative (starting with a climax and exploring resolution/genre blending/turning tropes upside down/talking about gender/queer experiences through a non-cishetero lens, etc.)

tangential opinion: “Friends and support are a thousand times more important for your well-being as a writer than anything else.” - oluka

gonna echo this, actually! i’m a part of a lot of og writing groups and its really taught me how essential feeling safe talking about your work and sharing it is. that’s how you develop inspirations. s’why i’ve been attempting to slide back into discord lately, as i get into marvel again haha.

also, tbh, don’t be afraid to like things! enjoy what you enjoy and do so wholeheartedly and unabashedly. don’t be ashamed of feeling things - about your writing or as inspiration for your writing!

tagging: i do NOT know who has done this already sorry! but i’d love to hear from @viudanegraaa @hungerpunch @alexenglish @ironlawyer @msermesth @welcomingdisaster @veryvincible (if you already did it, link me pls!)

[hilli98215]

I am confused. I am hurt. I don’t know what to think. This is a long post. A very long post that is personal but I’ve had it in my head for a while to write. You don’t have to read this. This post has no real meaning. It’s more of a rant of how I feel in the world of fandom, my experiences, and why this posts exists. 

Again, you do not have to read this. 

You have been warned.

DO NOT REBLOG THIS POST!!!! 

When I became an English major in college, I did so knowing several things. One of those is the fact I love literature and I love discovering why authors, creators, and artists wrote what became their most well known work.

Where am I going?

My first fandom was when I was in Junior High (about 13-14 years old) that I was a part of, meaning I read fan fiction and discovered fan art of, was either Naruto or Pokémon. To me these works were escapes of my real confusing life. Especially when I moved states and schools. I had no one. Through this, I discovered what I liked and didn’t like in the world of fiction and was introduced to fandom words/slang such as shipping, fan fiction, lemons (which I don’t think is used as often now), different types of writing, yaoi, yuri, and a few more I can’t remember. This also included the all important phrase Don’t like don’t read. This was when I was in my early teens. 

But I was in a phase where I could find what I found interesting and that was that. 

When I got to high school, I was still this awkward quiet kid with no friends. But I did have marching band so that was something. 

At this point was was interested in Ouran Highschool Host Club, Death Note, a series called Beauty Pop, Fullmetal Alchemist, and a few others. This was also around the time where I began writing fanfiction for OHSC and even began buying manga. Anyway, this was my introduction to fandom as a teenager. And this is before Tumblr.

All I had were my friends, videos on YouTube, and my own interests. No one really understood why I loved all these things. 

Then came the very first fandom I became fully obsessed in my sophomore year: a small series called Hetalia Axis Powers. I was completely invested in this fandom. So much so I wrote fan fiction, bought merch, and read a lot of fan fiction myself. I think it was because, at the time I thought it was because the art style was cute, the voice acting wasn’t half bad and it had to do with history. But this is where things got interesting for me and learning about fandom as a whole. 

As a teen, I hadn’t known about AUs and this series had a lot of them. From the usual school AUs to odd ones. I usually stayed in my bubble and kept up the mantra Don’t like Don’t read. 

But why talk about it?

Well, let’s just say a lot of the content later on became weird and new. I learned a lot about new terms like de-aging and ABO. But this leads to interest which once again let me know what genres of fan fiction I like. 

I continued on with this fandom for about 3 years. And what broke it was the drama and how people were finding a sudden moral compass for personified countries. I mean there are other problems with that show that I recognize now as an adult and didn't see as a kid but that’s for another time. But I quietly left because I was beginning to understand that the drama wasn’t worth a tv show.

I would say the next fandom I was invested in and loved and I think had the least amount of drama was Fairy Tail. Now I fell in love with this series because of the story, characters, and the welcoming fandom. Overall there was rarely any drama because I think we all knew that we had to be civil with each other and respect our ships. While I’m not part of that fandom anymore a lot of people on Tumblr and FFN were very welcoming. The main series kinda fizzled out but that was one of the few positive fandom experiences I had.

I was at that point in my life where I was in college, created my Tumblr and posted regularly to escape life. 

Coming off that fandom, I was part of the Yuri on Ice! fandom from beginning to the end. I mean it’s a sports anime that’s about men's figure skating and how it can affect athletes just to get a gist of it.

That’s when my experience with fandom became interesting because these characters were being paired in a way that made me feel like they can’t be paired with anyone else. Like, there was a pairing we were all cheering for to happen by the end. 

This is the first series I was highly interested in as an adult where the ages of the characters were defined. There were a few in their teens, some in their early to mid 20s, and a couple in their 30s. Now this was a historic anime for several reasons. The main being there being a gay relationship being shown in a positive light and mental illness being shown in a way that wasn’t patronizing and negative. I loved this show for those reasons. But I also quickly learned how people would take these characters (especially those with huge age differences) and pair them up. That was my first introduction to criticism of how ‘gross’ it would be for a 15 year old to be paired up with an 18 year old. But I saw a problem that made me second guess my thinking. When I was in high school, I knew someone who was a sophomore at 15 and dated someone who was 18. Why was there a problem? 

I knew if I voiced this that I would be shamed and told that I was disgusting. Eventually I had enough and left shortly after the series ended.

Then came the Voltron: Legendary Defender series. Oh boy.

Now that series came out while I was in college and I often viewed it in a critical perspective similar to one would a piece of literature because my major was in English and that was what I was taught. Like YOI I was part of this fandom day 1 because it was so different from the original Voltron series from the 80s. I loved how the fandom dissected everything in every episode. There were watch parties, analysis videos, and even skits at conventions. It was a fandom I knew I wanted to be a part of. But then there was fanfiction that I found odd and knew that I never wanted to read that. People were writing about topics that made me uncomfortable and I didn’t know how to deal with it. After a while, I questioned why I was forcing myself to read them in the first place. So, I stopped reading them. This was also around the time where I discovered AO3 and their amazing tagging system. Because if the tagging system was not there, I probably would have stopped reading fanfiction all together.

But then there was drama, shipping wars, morality wars, and I had enough. I was there until it ended and left quietly. Which is sad considering I loved the experience but it was ruined by what people thought was right for fictional characters. 

Now you may be asking “What was the point of this post?”

To answer your question, I don’t know.

I have loved reading since I was a kid. And when I got to high school, I had this AP teacher who told us something that has stayed with me to this day.

‘As a reader we are detectives. We want to know why the author wrote this book. We want to know what influenced them.’

I took that saying to heart and approach everything through a critical lens. Which is difficult in a fandom. It’s hard to have a critical approach to a series that everyone takes for a grain of salt.

I have been exposed to a lot of books and pieces of literature that have been considered controversial because of their content. When I left high school, I began to realize what genres of books I like in the YA genre and in literature. 

I experimented.

And when you think about it, that’s what you do with fan fiction and fandom. We are always experimenting. We are always finding what we like and don’t like. 

But recently I’ve noticed a new fandom term that makes me wonder where I fall in all of this craziness we call fandom. 

Pro-Fiction/Pro-Shipper

It wasn’t until last year I saw this word thrown around in a new fandom I am in. I tried to do some research but I couldn't find anything. Nothing. And then I learned it’s a new term in itself.

I won’t go into detail but it reminds of the ‘video games are violent so that makes so-and-so violent’ argument parents made when Mortal Kombat came out. 

Well you still didn’t answer the question.

And you’d be right. I saw a post from a follower that saddened me and honestly freaked me out. Why announce that you hate a specific group? It felt like a call out post without saying any names. A warning that states: Block me or out yourself. Or rather: Block me or else.

Do I identify as this? To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I think critically and see things differently. In fact everyone does. 

We are always going to be influenced by the media whether it be a movie, television, a book, or a video game. We will always love these storylines and characters. We will always take the messages to heart. We will always cheer for the hero and maybe the villain too. 

I do want you guys to remember this, make your own fandom experience. Block those who make you feel uncomfortable and make you feel like you don’t matter. You do.

You are your own person. No one can tell you otherwise. If you feel uncomfortable, then maybe you need to leave the fandom. Or find a space in the fandom that you can be yourself. Or don’t care what people think and do what you always do.

It’s all up to you.

[eldritch-elrics]

tagged by @lady-in-the-lair for another tag meme! there have been so many of these going around lately haha but thanks for all of them :D

rules: answer 30 questions and tag however many blogs you want!

name: finn

gender: i could just say a label but that would be boring. instead i think i will pick a character to represent my gender. how about xiao xingchen

star sign: hotly contested. i like to say i’m an aquarius

height: 5’7 i believe

time: about 1:30 am

birthday: tomorrow!!!!!!

favorite bands: hmmm pvris, all time low, eve, rise against, a bunch of welsh-language rock groups from a weird phase i had a couple years ago

favorite solo artists: lindsey stirling, lemon demon, porter robinson, probably some others? can i say video game music composers. actually no this list would be wayyy too long if i put all my favorite game osts

last movie: ice age 5: collision course. i swear i am done with ice age now

last show: just watched the new jujutsu kaisen! i’m super excited for the next episode; i really love that part in the manga

when did I create this blog: i think 2015

what I post: stuff i find cool, stuff that makes me laugh, interesting artwork, and a whole lotta mdzs

last thing i googled: traditional chinese wedding practices. you’ll never guess why!

other blogs: i have way too many random sideblogs from past interests but i’ll note my kirby blog @vs-stardream and my magnus archives blog @distortedspiral

do I get asks: not really! not unless i’ve recently reblogged an ask meme

why I chose my url: i like the elric brothers from fullmetal alchemist and i like eldritch horror and i like the part in fmab where pride invades al’s armor and it gets filled with eyes and i thought the alliteration was fun!

following: 909, most of them inactive

followers: 440!

instruments: uhhhh i can manipulate midi pretty well in some music software!

what I am wearing: kirby tshirt AND kirby socks :) (i had a kirby-related virtual event earlier today so i dressed accordingly)

dream job(s): i think it would be pretty cool to be a writer on a video game

dream trip: i don’t usually love traveling but a dream would be to meet up with some online friends at a convention!

favorite foods: steamed artichokes, matcha-flavored chocolate, onion-flavored sun chips, dried okra?

nationality: american + british (i live in america though)

favorite song: i really have no idea! but for the sake of naming a song here, here’s zero two from kirby 64

last book I read: if manga counts, chainsaw man. before that... if plato’s symposium counts as a book, then i guess that?? that was for school

top 3 fictional universes: this is really hard! i’m going to go with the worlds of star trek, adventure time, and hollow knight.

tagging: i’ve done so many of these lately i don’t want to annoy all the people i usually tag but i AM currently talking with @kirbytardos while i do this and they expressed interest so... here you go!

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

What are your headcannons for the kids from the four main All the Wrong Questions series?

oh geez there are so many 

Lemony Snicket

Listen every character in the Snicketverse is autistic but Lemony? HIGH.KEY. This boy cannot stand sensory overload and also stims with verbal recitation. 

After several months in Stain’d-by-the-Sea, the Associates got used to him just showing up and taking food. He eventually stopped asking, and then eventually stopped using the door. Moxie has, more than once, come downstairs to find him sitting on her counter eating cereal. 

Beatrice snuck into town once to see how he was doing, saw him and Moxie trying to jump off the roof of the diner with a tablecloth parachute and Jake dragging them back and screaming, and she just turned right the fuck around and reported to their friends, “yeah he’s fine.” 

Kit made him promise not to tell Jacques that she was almost in jail. 

MODERN AU: Gets into twitter and tumblr fights with obvious trolls. Tried to call CPS on Theodora just to see what would happen. Can recite any “Unraveled” YouTube video on command. Has an extensive knowledge of Pokemon. 

Moxie Mallahan

listen this girl is a lesbian in denial and she wrote Ellington Feint a note that said “get out of my town” because she didn’t know what else to do

She always kinda knew that her Mother was never coming back for her, but she didn’t admit it aloud until after Lemony left. 

Moxie: I can eat ten marshmallows at once. Kellar: You are a hazard to yourself. Lemony: And a coward. Do twenty 

Moxie knows how to pick every kind of lock, and how to break into every window. She takes her journalism very seriously and will get the truth even if she has to flip the world off as she does it. 

MODERN AU: Blogger. Once spent a week straight putting together a project and then passed out for forty-eight hours. Still carries a typewriter with her everywhere. Had to physically stop Lemony from eating a tide pod. 

Ellington Feint 

Had literally no idea Lemony had a crush on her because she’s just that gay. 

Actually popped up around town inbetween books constantly, mainly to chill with Cleo, Jake, the Bellerophons, and even Ornette. They just all neglected to mention this to Lemony. 

She doesn’t remember anything about her mother. All she knows is what her father told her; that her mother used to make music boxes, loved coffee, and died in a fire. 

Goes through a huge rebel/outlaw phase after escaping with Kit, because she’s completely lost and has no idea what to do or who to trust; her own father never gave a shit about her, as she now knows, so how could anyone care? Eventually she made her way back to Stain’d-by-the-Sea, where Moxie found her crying in the attic of Black Cat Coffee and awkwardly invited her to live in the lighthouse. 

MODERN AU: Has been on the run from CPS for so fucking long. Quotes Gilmore Girls almost daily and will argue your ear off about why Rory/Paris should’ve been endgame. Once ate a tide pod. Cries while watching the Addams Family. 

Kellar Haines 

Even after the Train Incident, he basically lives with Moxie. He just can’t trust his Mom anymore, and while he claims otherwise, they didn’t really have a good relationship before then, either. Lizzie stays with him. 

His special interest is in codemaking. He would’ve been really valuable to VFD if he’d gotten recruited. As is, Moxie kicks the ass of anyone who tries to kidnap him, so he’s fine. 

He’s also super good at crafting, and can make really cool art projects whenever he has the time. Lizzie used to give him art supplies whenever she could, and still hangs his drawings on the lighthouse fridge. 

He just gets so tired of his friends’ shit. He’d be a Mom Friend if he made any effort to stop them but as is he just kinda watches crap go down. 

MODERN AU: Constantly goes to the movie theater just to chill. Addicted to YouTube. Is the only one of the squad not freaked out by the Watership Down movie. Asks existential questions at random to scare the squad and then immediately says “yeet” in a deadpan voice and throws Squeak across the room. 

Pip and Squeak Bellerophon 

They took over the taxi for their Dad when he fell ill. He died a few months later, and they kept claiming he was alive, in fear that they would get separated by whoever was in charge of their case. The only person they told is Jake, because he eventually followed them home to ask their Dad why the fuck he didn’t feed them and found that they were living alone, and Cleo, because Jake can’t keep secrets from her. 

Pip and Squeak used to fight a lot, though they never intended any real harm. They slowly stopped after they started living alone, and Pip started kinda taking charge of keeping him and Squeak safe. 

They used to be very tight with Qwerty, because they were constantly at the library. He suspected their situation, but never confirmed it and was alright just making sure the kids were okay. Squeak would sometimes climb on the bookshelves and knock them over, but thankfully Qwerty thought this was funny. 

Squeak likes to “adopt” stray animals he finds in the backyard. Whenever he walks in going “gUESS WHO OUR NEW SIBLING IS,” Pip has to guess whether he’s going to bring in an injured baby bunny he can nurse back to health, or a squirrrel he just caught who is still struggling and about to destroy half the house. 

MODERN AU: Pip has a Nintendo Switch that Squeak can only play Animal Crossing on. Squeak keeps posting photos on Instagram of him and Pip driving illegally but everyone thinks they’re edits. Squeak once very seriously told Pip that he would have to marry Jake so they could keep getting free food from him (before they found out he was dating Cleo). Have slept in library closets before and will again. 

Cleo Knight 

Identifies as Demi-bi. She and Jake met as preteens, when she wandered off and got lost, and went into the diner to use the phone and call Zada and Zora. Afterwards, she kept sneaking out to visit him. 

Was much closer to Zada and Zora than her parents. She used to hang out in the kitchen with them, laying on the counter and practicing calculations or studying advanced chemistry while they cooked. 

Also very very autistic. Can only eat certain things, because she has huge texture problems. Only Zada, Zora and Jake have ever gone out of their way to accommodate her without complaint. 

Is incredibly reckless and never thinks anything through. While everyone knows she can take care of herself, it’s still nerve-wracking to see her run out the window, leaving only a note saying she’ll be back in three hours after trying to find a chemical, and coming back covered in blood that’s not her own. 

MODERN AU: Was a Guardians of Ga’Hoole kid. Would exist on a diet of cheetos, cereal and sprite if not for her boyfriend. Once, Ornette helped her break out of the house to go to the movie theater to watch Lego Batman. Super into Stranger Things. 

Jake Hix 

Literally is the only reason the Associates are still alive. He gives them food and makes sure they don’t kill themselves doing some stupid reckless stuff. 

Surprisingly, though, Cleo has had to physically stop him from fistfighting S Theodora Markson, who keeps forgetting to feed her fucking apprentice

Jake: As soon as I hit 18 I’m adopting you. Pip and Squeak, not even glancing over: Lit. 

Has been in love with Cleo since they met. Since their relationship is technically “secret”, Hungry pretends not to notice, despite how increasingly obvious it gets. She knows she should technically discourage this, but he’s just. so in love. When he’s not working, he spends his time in him and Cleo’s garden. 

MODERN AU: Has threatened to put parental locks on Lemony and Moxie’s phones multiple times. Keeps quoting The Princess Bride at Cleo, to the annoyance of the other Associates around them. Actually super into Doctor Who. Also keeps beating everyone’s ass in Mario Kart. 

Ornette Lost 

Has never once understood what was going on, but honestly she just rolls with it. “Guess we’re doing this now? Okay.” 

Keeps bringing stray cats into her Uncles’ house and adopting them. She has twelve now. There is no stopping her. 

Super close with Cleo and Jake. Mainly because she doesn’t mind third-wheeling, and will just fold origami when she gets bored, but also because she’s pretty good at dropping life advice and also is shockingly hilarious. 

Lemony: Ornette. Why did the toaster blow up. Ornette: Hm?Lemony: Toaster. Blew up. Ornette: Oh. Yeah I blew it up Lemony: why Ornette:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

MODERN AU: Very into anime, especially Fullmetal Alchemist. Lives on ice cream. Has OPINIONS on the Disney Reboots. She got expelled from school because she graffitied GAY RIGHTS on the side of the building, and then a couple of middle fingers. 

Lizzie Haines 

INCREDIBLY protective of Kellar. She had more part in raising him than their mother; she was reluctant to leave him for her apprenticeship, but he convinced her he’d be fine. 

Sharon was a huge perfectionist in regards to Lizzie’s talents and studies, so Lizzie always felt very distant from her. When she left for her apprenticeship, she ended up bonding with Sally Murphy, to the point where Lizzie saw her as more of a parent figure. 

Lizzie noticed suspicious activity going on around town, and started investigating, even though Sally didn’t think anything was wrong. Lizzie had a conspiracy board and everything. She was kidnapped just as she was piecing everything together. 

It took her quite a few months to break out, but once she did, she immediately went hardcore and figured out how best to knock people out and keep them away from her. She had a lot of trauma that emerged after the Train Incident, but Kellar got very good at figuring out how to calm her down. 

MODERN AU: Hangs Christmas lights around her room and glowing stars on her ceiling. Knows more about Sonic the Hedgehog lore than the other Associates could ever understand. Huge Marvel/Star Wars fan. She has memorized all of Chicago, Hairspray, Black Panther, The Empire Strikes Back and Mamma Mia. 

[disregardcanon]

A decade in fanfiction

The meme template was made by me myself and I! Please, if you’re interested go ahead and do it! I would love to see other people reflecting on their writing right along with me :) 

Where can we read your fic? Please give us a link so that we can check these stories out!

my early fics can be read on my ffn The Ficsmith 

on ao3, my pseuds are sunkelles and fullmetal anime

I also have lots of short things here on tumblr. i would try searching a favorite fandom of yours and au on my blog and something might pop up. 

How many words of fanfiction have you written this decade?

On ao3, I have posted  1,031,824 words. I would bet that I posted 40k on ffn before i started posting concurrently to my ao3, and that i’ve posted maybe 80k of stuff just to tumblr? If I estimate that way and don’t think about unfinished works and wips, I’d say 1,151,824 words thereabouts. 

How many stories have you written?

I’ve posted 338 stories to ao3. I am not going to go do the math to add on my stories from ffn as well. 

Have you written on multiple websites? If so, which website is your favorite and why?

ao3 is my favorite website for fic because it’s just so EASY to search through, post to, and get your stats from. plus it’s very visually appealing. 

Have you used multiple pen names? If so, list them and tell us the story behind the name

on ffn, i used a lot of pen names over the years, but i only remember 3 of them 

1. thee sun. this was my first pen name on the internet and it was because back then, my friends and i had series of nicknames going where we were each a part of the solar system. one of my friends suggested that i should be the sun because i was happy and bouncy and the friend group “orbited” around me. it wasn’t really accurate then or now, but sun ended up sticking. 

2. sunless skies was my emo change to that pseud 

3. the ficsmith is my current name there as i thought the word “wordsmith” was badass and decided that ficsmith sounded very, very cool 

on ao3, my primary pseud has always been “sunkelles”. half of it’s the old nickname and half of it’s another nickname i won’t get into. it’s a very personal handle for me that i love dearly 

my second pseud is fullmetal anime, my anime pseud. fullmetal alchemist was one of my first anime when my old roommate got me onto my weeb phase in my twenties, and i thought that sounded too badass to pass up. 

What is the first story you posted this decade?

I Will Never Leave You Alone: this is a percy jackson fic set after the lost hero. It was my imaging of how the meeting in son of neptune might go if percy didn’t get his memories back. it’s bad, but it was my first attempt at fanfiction. i think that it could have been a lot worse. 

What is the last story that you posted this decade?

Not Willing to Wait for it: this is a tangled the series fic about cassandra. it’s not really my favorite thing i’ve ever written, but it’s not a terrible thing to end the decade on either. 

What is the longest story that you have wrote this decade?  

The Poetry of Time and Space: this is a pipabeth fic with annabeth as the doctor and piper mclean as rose tyler fic that i wrote back in 2013 at the urging of my first internet friend. coming in at 27,842 words, it’s the longest fic i have ever written. 

while i wouldn’t call it some of my best work, i’m still fairly proud of the thing. writing it helped me make a friend (even if we don’t keep in touch anymore), it helped me find some cool poetry, and i did a lot of fun historical research for it! 

i learned a loooottt about the history of spain for this fic and it was really cool. 

What is the shortest?

A Good Listener coming in at 192 words, this pipabeth fic is at the polar opposite end of the spectrum. 2013 was a wild year, my dudes. 

What’s your favorite?

I think that choosing a “favorite” would probably be too hard, but the one that I come back to the most is Over the Shadowy Hills. This fic could have been just good, but my friend was like. girl. you need to sort your shit out. and then i deleted it, worked on it with her help, and fixed it into something that i can still be really proud of. I’m glad that I decided to stick with it and give this fic the time and attention that it needed. 

What story do you feel was your biggest challenge?

I don’t have a fic in particular I would say is my biggest challenge, but one challenge has been the growing pains of becoming a better writer. I’ve moved into a point where I need to tell more thorough, longer stories, but I also don’t have the time needed to do that at the moment and my desire for instant validation is fighting against my desires to not do work and be a better writer. 

I know that right now I’m growing as a writer, but I’m not exactly sure what direction I’m growing in and how to deal with it. 

Which story was your most creative?

All Katz Go to Heaven is certainly an idea that no one but me would have come up with XD the premise is “all of hannibal’s victims from the show hannibal die and are reincarnated in brooklyn 99″ 

Which story do you think demonstrates the greatest growth?

I think that Paint a New Horizon demonstrates a lot of my progress as a writer. 

1. coming in at 23k, it’s one of my longest fics ever 

2. it has some of my best visual descriptions ever, as i decided to write sansa as a painter and it make visual descriptions a FAR bigger part of the story than they normally are when i write 

3. it handles dark subject matter, but i feel like i go into well. i’ve found myself dwelling in this universe a LOT, and i think that i might actually go back and write more of it over this next semester or summer because i just. like being in it. even though it was dark, it was also homey and lively and interesting, you know? 

4. it’s the best romance i’ve written this year, hands down. 

Here, have a snippet 

She dared a glance forward and met Margaery’s eyes- a deep, chocolate brown. They were warm and inviting and Margaery’s little curly bangs framed her face like a heart. Margaery’s head went over the back of the booth and it seemed to almost be floating against the flowery wallpaper. It looked like Margaery was lying out in a field of flowers- the Maiden gazing up at the clouds and trying to make shapes of them.

She could imagine Margaery telling her that this one is a flower, like Tyrell, and this one’s a deer, like Baratheon, and this one’s a dick, like Joffrey. She giggled nervously again and felt her cheeks flush. She’d never felt this giddy and unsteady in her whole life.

“Are you alright, Sansa?” Margaery asked cautiously. She reached across the table and laid a hand over Sansa’s own. The touch was warm and tender, and Sansa felt the blush from her toes to the tip of her head.

“I’m perfect!” Sansa nearly screeched. Margaery laughed at that, but her look was kind.

“Yes, darling,” she said with a smile that was wide and fond, “I think that you are.”

Lesbian. The word wasn’t supposed to fill her with such a warm, hopeful feeling, was it? She wiggled awkwardly in her chair, trying to get situated and stop feeling so silly and excited and vulnerable, but it didn’t fix anything. She felt Margaery’s leg brush against hers under the table. It sent a jolt through her.

Lesbian.

Sansa took a shaky breath. She thought to herself that there might be something to that.

Tell us about your writing process.

my writing process is quite frankly all over the board. sometimes, i’ll sit down and just hammer out a fic start to finish in one sitting, but when i don’t do that i’ll make the thing come together in patchwork. i’ll normally start with some vivid pieces of dialogue that i want to write and then i’ll figure out where i’m going and how. often, since i write in a nonlinear fashion i might end up having to change what i’ve written for the middle or the end, but when i get there and it doesn’t feel right for what i ended up writing, i always decide that i’m better off with what feels more natural. 

Tell us about how you come up with fic titles.

I have 3 different systems for determining fic tiles 

1. come up with a cool title to write a fic around. i wrote Chasing Annabeth solely because i thought that would be badass title 

2. try to find something external to the story, like a saying, a lyric or quote, that works with the message or mood of the story. for If You Believe in Me (I’ll Still Believe), I realized that both Memoria by Nirvana and Holland Road by Mumford and Sons shared a distinct feel with what I was doing with the fic, so I went through the lines of both and identified some possible titles. 

Then, I decided that the line “if you believe in me I’ll still believe” felt the most right. I thought that it best conveyed how much Jeyne believing that Theon could become better again contributed to him actually going through with it, whereas some of the other options didn’t have either the external influence or faint hope that I felt the fic deserved. 

3. find something from the fic itself or the source material! often times, i’ll end up with a motif in the fic that makes a perfect title, or i’ll have something to draw on from the source material. this feels different from the 2nd option because whereas that first one is going outside the world of the fic, this 3rd one is going inside the world of the fic. 

Have you ever used an epigraph? Tell us about your reasoning.

I use epigraphs for the same reason that I use outside sources for fic titles. While sometimes I have that lyric or quote in mind while I am writing the fic, like Washing Machine Heart, sometimes you get to the end of writing and realize that you’ve created something that would be enhanced if you were to have your readers mulling over the theme brought up in a song while they’re reading, like Unfinished Business. 

I don’t know, these are probably the reasons that ANYONE uses epigraphs, but it’s cool to see other people’s thought process. 

What are some of your favorite lines that you’ve ever written?

Here’s a few of my favorite exchanges from my older or more underrated fics!

She swallows the spit that has started to pool in her mouth and continues, "We'll all end up dying and meeting the void face to face and blah blah fucking blah, but the thing is that's tomorrow. This is today. You remember Thalia, so she matters. And you matter because you're alive. Your heart's still beating. You can still do shit. See shit. Be the shit. Annabeth Chase, you can still do anything."

Chasing Annabeth (2013)

Annabeth tsks as she laughs, “You’ve always got to steal the attention for yourself, don’t you?”

Piper laughs and then pretends to glare, “Borrow. I borrow things.”

“Borrowing BMWs is still frowned upon, my friend,” Annabeth says and then everything is back to normal. The future is forgotten, if only for a moment in the company of a friend.

The Fates Smiled (2014) 

“I guess,” Arya mutters, and she walks straight over to the trash. She pops the lid, and dumps the enormous plastic cock unceremoniously into it. Then she lets the lid close. She and Shireen look to the trash can in horror.

“Do you think that we should burn it?” Shireen asks.

She pauses a moment before she adds, “I’m afraid it’s going to attack us in our sleep.” Arya bursts out into laughter.

“I can hear the news anchors already,” Arya says, “women murdered in sleep by haunted dildo.” The Kids Are Alright (2015) 

"I think huckleberry just came out too," Maya stage-whispers back, "two gays for the price of one."

"Bi one get one free," Riley says with a shit-eating grin 

A Guide to Coming Out (2015) 

"Do I look like a man with a plan to you?" He tries to look as crazy as he can. Rachel isn't buying it. "You impersonated a member of the mayor's honor guard, you predetermined and informed us of every victim before you killed them. You're a planner, Joker. You're even a good one." The Joker shrugs. "I'm not a schemer, though. Don't hang my hat on whether or not things work out." In that moment, Rachel understands this man. Rachel understands why he does the things that he does, even though she thinks that he's the scum of the earth. "You wanted to let us know all our plans would fall apart. You wanted chaos." "You're a smart woman, Ms. Dawes," The Joker says, cracking a smile, "you know what I did to you and your boy toy was nothing personal. It was just to turn the schemer's plans on their toes.

The City of Bats and Clowns (2016) 

Zatanna crosses her arms over her chest as she leans against Bruce’s black SUV. The “parking lot” at this camp is a glorified field of grass. It rained last night, and there are muddy ruts left all throughout the field and little muddy puddles scattered everywhere. It’s disgusting and rundown and everywhere that Zatanna doesn’t want to spend three weeks of her summer.

“I don’t want to go to this stupid camp.” Endless Summer (2017) 

Rose feels a twist in her gut. This might be worse than finding out he wanted to desert. This is knowing the reasons behind it, having to see him as human in his mistakes and understand why he made them.

Oh how heroes fall and then stumble back up again.

The Spark That Will Light the Fire (2017)

Sloth is all the memories you have and never asked for, all the feelings you don't know what to do with.

Sloth is your feelings towards two boys who aren't your sons- can't be- because you never wanted them in the first place.

You never asked for this, to be born half-formed and hungry. To be born somewhere between not caring and caring too much, to just go along with what you were told because you don't care enough not to.

You never asked for those two boys to look at you the way they do, like you're something hideous and beautiful all at once. Like you're their sin to bury, their damsel to save. All you've ever wanted is for it all to stop.

The Seven Deadly Almost People (2018) 

What are you favorite characters to write. 

I don’t really have “favorite” characters to write because I bounce around so often. I’ll have a new favorite next year, but my favorite me character that I wrote THIS year was Dabi. 

Which story was the most fun to write.

Out of all the stories I’ve written, Dicks in the Wind comes to mind as being the most fun. The soulmate au where whatever your soulmate draws on their skin appearing on yours might not be my all time favorite, but the idea of spitefully drawing dicks on your own face to spite the soulmate who hurt you while also hurting yourself is both really fun but also really interesting? I really liked getting to explore the implications of that idea, the humor, Sabine’s relationship with Kanan, and the possibility of a reconciliation between her and Ketsu. 

If you use ao3, tell us about your fics with the most

Kudos: The Matter of Soulmates 1,049

Comments: Her Heart’s Duet 63 comment threads

Hits: Golden Cages, Silver Linings 15,272 hits

Subscriptions: The Matter of Soulmates 105 subscriptions

If you could have written one story this decade that you didn’t get around to, what would this have been?

There’s lot of fics that I wish I would have gotten written this decade. I think that if I could have written ONE fic that I didn’t get around to this decade, though, I would have turned my tucker turns ed into a chimera instead of nina tumblr post into a real fic. 

Do you write original fiction as well?

Sometimes! I don’t write it as much as I’d like, but I’ve written some short stories and I have some longer wips. 

Did you ever do nanowrimo this decade? If so, tell us about your projects.

I tried nanowrimo in both 2017 and 2018. My 2017 was a story idea about magic pirates. My 2018 was a story based on a fic idea I had where ed HAD created al like al thought he did in fma 03 for a while. it would feature prominent relationships with characters inspired by winry, wrath, and lust. both of these have about 15k to their name. 

What have you learned writing in the past decade?

I’ve learned a lot about myself as a person. For better or for worse, the easiest way to get to know me would be to go through my ao3 and just start reading. 

I also feel like I’ve learned that I CAN be a writer. While I have a long way to go if I ever want to become any good at original fiction and develop a thick enough skin to get it worked up to publishing shape, I know that I have the skills to at least give it a try.  If I don’t, I’ll always have these stories that I hold closely to my heart and this hobby that’s brought me a lot of joy. 

What are your writing goals going forward?

At the moment, I’m not entirely sure. I feel a little bit like I’ve stagnated and I need to figure out a way forward, but I’m not entirely sure what that way forward IS. I think that the way forward is longer projects (maybe even more original fiction) but I’m going to need to figure out a way to not devote all my mental energy to these projects at a time and also not let them wither and die. 

In the past, I’ve only been able to do proper, well written long fics when I had a LONG time to dedicate to getting the thing done. Like, days and days off that I could devote multiple hours to the writing project. In the future, I don’t think I’ll have that. I just need to find a way to not get SO into it that I can’t do anything else, but also maintain the energy and drive to keep coming back to it. 

Tell us about what aspect of your writing makes you the most proud.

I feel like I excel at word choice. People frequently comment on my fics that there’s something about the wording that just FLOWS, and I would have to agree. I feel like I’m good at choosing words that both sound good and hit emotionally. 

Tell us anything else that you’d like! This is your reflection post, so end on whatever bang you would like!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over these past nine years! I haven’t been on tumblr for this whole time (i’ve only been here since 2012), but i grown a lot, both as a person and a writer, over this decade.

if you had told me when i wrote my first fanfiction that by the end of the decade i would write the order of the phoenix more than 5 times over in fanfiction, i would never have believed you. 

not every fic that i wrote was fantastic, but every fic that i wrote was MINE, and it’s a memory that i get to come back to when i’m feeling sad or lonely or like i can’t do something. so, thank you fanfiction, for always being there for me. even if you might be there for me a little too much XD

[flourchildwrites]

Be Somebody

Picture Prompt Day 5 of @royaiweek 2019

Read Full Text on AO3 / FFN

Length:  1,633 words

Rated:  T

Status:  Complete

Summary:  "How am I ever supposed to be somebody if I don't have something special to set me apart?”

“You already are somebody,” she answered. The corners of her eyes crinkled, matching her small, withered grin. “You’re a good person and the best student he’s ever had. You’ll be a great alchemist someday if that’s what you want. I believe it.”

The young girl on the cusp of womanhood was enthralled, drawn to him by the same peculiar magnetism first felt when she was nine to his eleven. Five years later, at the age of fourteen, she thought she was old enough to know she loved him.

Special thanks to @ruikosakuragi for the much-needed encouragement. 

A boy of sixteen tore down the dirt road.  With lanky limbs and a bag slung across his body, he ran, kicking up dust as his feet pounded against the packed earth.  His breath came hard and ragged against the dry heat of the Eastern countryside, and the heavy breathing in the boy's mind was a sickening countermelody opposite his rapidly beating heart.  The scene set itself precariously against the waning light where the parched land met the isolated country backdrop.

But he wasn’t alone.

She chased behind him, quick and silent like a spry sparrow, unflinching as her sweater twisted loosely around her body and her skirt ruffled in the wind.  The girl’s rich amber eyes were alight. Her feet followed light and swift in her counterpart’s footsteps. He was angry, but she was fast and determined to catch him before he went too far.

His safety net.  Their safety net.  One half of a matching set.

This wasn’t the first time her father’s apprentice had lashed out.  Understanding the men in her life as best she could, the young woman suspected it wouldn’t be the last.

“Stop following me, Hawkeye!” he panted.  The boy's lungs protested against his exertions.  As if his body didn’t know the rigors of farm chores.  As if city life had soaked into his soul.

“Then stop running,” she stated calmly, barely phased by the sprint.  The lean muscles of her lithe body hid untapped reserves of strength.

Still, the boy surged forward but faltered, stumbling on a pebble in his path.  Scrawny legs tangled in a jumbled mess, and the boy kicked at nothing to stir up dust.  He ran a hand through his unkempt hair and turned, silhouetted against the harsh horizon.

“He’s never going to teach me,” he raged, a note of defeat evident in his pitchy voice.  “That old man will take flame alchemy to his grave!”

The girl’s head tilted as she also came to a stop, and her thin lips stretched into a familiar smirk.  She only looked like that when he knew she was right.

And she was always right.  He knew it, even if he was years from admitting it.

“He does teach you.  Every day. All day sometimes.  Just not flame alchemy.”

“Stupid fundamentals,” he spat, throwing his bag to the ground.  Out spilled rumpled clothes and haphazard notes that caught the breeze and blew down the dirt road.  “Stupid theory. I didn’t come here to learn the easy stuff. How am I ever supposed to be somebody if I don't have something special to set me apart?”

“You already are somebody,” she answered.  The corners of her eyes crinkled, matching her small, withered grin.  “You’re a good person and the best student he’s ever had. You’ll be a great alchemist someday if that’s what you want.  I believe it.”

He smiled in spite of himself.  So predictable. On this account, he’d do his damnedest to prove her right.

“You are special.  To me, at least. Because you’re my friend.  So, please don’t leave just yet.”

He started to say that he hadn’t been serious about leaving.  That he knew what it was like for her at school, and he remembered the promises they made.  When finally the young apprentice kicked the dust of this small town off his hand-me-down boots, Hawkeye would go with him.  Someday, they’d both be somebody. More than legacies. More than the names they were given - as well as the ones they weren’t.

With or without flame alchemy.

His demeanor shifted suddenly, and the dwindling sunlight softened around his features, catching the light ends of his hair.  He flashed her a cockeyed smile that was as awkward as it was disarming. The young girl on the cusp of womanhood was enthralled, drawn to him by the same peculiar magnetism first felt when she was nine to his eleven.  Five years later, at the age of fourteen, she thought she was old enough to know she loved him.

“You know I won’t go.  Not unless you are ready to leave.”

Maybe, he felt the same.

She reached for his hand, and their fingers intertwined.  Threads of fate wound round and round. Their strings were stained with an alchemist’s chalk and a markswoman’s gunpowder.

“Wait for me just a little while longer?” she asked coyly.

Her eyes darted back to the three-story house, whitewashed and encrusted in green tendrils of ivy.  A small figure crouched near the open window of the sitting room, and though her mother’s sharp eyes were hidden under the wide brim of a gardening hat, Mae didn’t dare push her luck.  Smart like her father, but wise like her mother, the raven-haired beauty simply squeezed Yuriy’s hand.

Life at Hawkeye Manor was a master class in nonverbal communication.  They didn’t need words. He would wait, and when the time was right, Yuriy Elric and Mae Hawkeye would put the past behind them, together.

...

The tools of her profession had changed - again, and it was all because of him.  From garden tools and overalls to sniper rifles and salutes.  Then, back again. Her life had come full circle, resting in the precise location where it had begun, but the garden was prettier now.  That was no surprise as it was tended by wrinkled hands that had traded wisdom for the succor of youth.

And yet, in his opinion, she was radiant.  Her flaxen hair had grown dusty, stained by starlight and sun.  The deep lines under her amber eyes were likewise weatherworn, having borne the burden of many exceptional sights, good and bad alike.

Life had changed her, but Riza Hawkeye was as constant as the northern star.  Eternal reassurance. Indispensable guidance. Ever watchful.

“Hey, you.”

He chuckled as she turned to greet him with her pruning shears at the ready.  Even after all these years together, it was difficult to catch her off-guard. She had always filled the shoes laid out before her and trudged through each walk of life by his side.  Friend. Lover. Sniper. Subordinate. Outcast.

And, quite unexpectedly, parent.  

She knew the sound of his footsteps and the cadence of his breath better than her own heartbeat.

“Thought I might have chased Yuriy off this time,” the man mused.  He reflexively rubbed his fingers together as he spoke and grinned wryly as if he could still feel the flinty material of his ignition gloves.  It would be illegal for the convicted war criminal and disgraced ex-führer to possess such a thing, naturally. But, ever wary, his keeper stashed a pair or two away for a not-so-rainy day.  Just in case. “I must be losing my touch.”

“If you wanted Yuriy gone, he wouldn’t be here,” she shot back.  “But you like him, Roy, and you like butting heads with him just as much as you enjoyed bickering with his father.  Three peas in a pod.” She plucked a stray weed from her flowerbed and tossed it aside.

The smirk on his face was practically criminal.  “And what a trio we make. A petulant apprentice who knows nothing of life.  The child prodigy who can no longer perform and me, a fallen star, ostracized from all respectable circles of alchemical practice.”

He scoffed and scratched at the salt and pepper scruff on his chin.  “I’ll never know why Fullmetal asked me to teach his son.”

“Isn’t the reason obvious?”

“Yes, I suppose Alphonse was too busy,” he offered humorously.

She rose, then, turning her hands to dust the earth from her digits.  Never one for gloves, she was used to getting her hands dirty.  As was he.

“They’re so alike,” the woman observed.  “Yuriy and Ed, I mean. Yuriy’s just the kind of boy who might rebel against his father and get in trouble while stubbornly pursuing his goals.  Sound familiar?”

The man’s rueful smile matched his partner’s knowing expression, and the woman took a moment to consider their journey’s end - such as it was.  His rise had been meteoric, and his fall seemed just as glamorous from the outside looking in. Theirs was a cautionary tale authored equally by destiny and decision.  Yet, the ending still hung in the balance courtesy of a happy accident: their daughter, Mae - a girl who would do well in life if they all continued to play their parts.

“Then I’ll continue to be the bad guy,” the man said, shrugging his shoulders.  He took the woman’s hand and stared down the dusty road, replaying old memories in his mind’s eye.  A girl chased a boy as he bounded hopefully toward the horizon, longing desperately for a future that turned out to be fool’s gold.

“Maybe he won’t make the same mistakes I did.  Not today at least.”

The woman nodded in agreement as she watched the boy and girl stroll toward Hawkeye Manor, hand in hand.  “Yuriy will make different mistakes and so will Mae, but I think they’ll make them together.”

And though the implication remained unspoken, the sentiment hung heavily between the older couple.  This storied place, an isolated manor situated on the outskirts of a one road town, was simultaneously a safe harbor for tired exiles and a lockup for young dreamers.  It was a vacuum where history could repeat itself. Yet, this time, ambition took a backseat to something short of the fame and fortune that young Roy Mustang had coveted.

Position.  Prominence.   Title.   He now knew these things to be hollow placeholders.  Names and roles were transient, shifting capriciously with time like the parts of a popular play.  Hero to villain.  Apprentice to master.  Orphan to father.  But in this moment, there was love in all its forms, and with love, surely they would all be somebody to someone.

The man smiled.  “That’s all that really matters.”

A/N:   I know; I'm sorry. It's been a minute. I'm still on hiatus for several very good reasons, but I couldn't let this favorite week of mine pass without paying homage to the temple of all things Royai. I look forward to reading and reviewing all the offerings when I get my shit together.  All likes, reblogs, kudos, subscriptions, bookmarks and comments are greatly appreciated, especially during times like these.  I especially love reading the tags!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 151: The Reason Heroes Wear Capes

Previously on BnHA: Mirio caught up with Overhaul and his final group of henchmen. Overhaul was all, “oh it’s that guy who couldn’t save Eri last time!” and Mirio was all, “that’s why I’m here this time.” Overhaul’s henchmen Sakaki and Nemoto appeared and tried to take out Mirio by giving him vertigo and hitting him with some fresh truth bombs, but Mirio shrugged them both off and kicked their asses. Then he ran over to Overhaul and roundhouse kicked the guy carrying Eri in the face while phasing his foot right through Eri, and Eri went flying out of the guy’s hands and into Mirio’s arms. Overhaul was all, “WHAT THE FUCK,” and Mirio was all, “I know I’m weak!” and the audience was all, “UH, YEAH, NOOOOOOOT REALLY THOUGH.” Anyway, so he caught Eri and was all, “everything’s fine now,” and I can’t fucking believe he’s going to die after all that. Or something else horrible is going to happen to him. I can’t fucking believe it, Mirio. Because right now it sure does look like he’s got this.

Today on BnHA: Overhaul activates his disassembly quirk and shreds the floor into bits and then reassembles it as a bunch of spikes. Mirio is able to phase through them while hoisting Eri out of harm’s way, but he’s super pissed at Overhaul for putting her at risk. Overhaul is unconcerned and says he can just put Eri back together again if she does get hurt, and that he’s done it many times before. Obviously this is the worst thing anyone’s ever said ever, and Mirio is enraged, but between dodging the spikes and dodging the bullets Overhaul’s last henchman Chrono is firing at him, it’s hard for him to fight back. So he wraps up Eri in his cape in order to confuse the bad guys, and then warps over to Chrono and knocks him out. He then punches Overhaul square in the jaw, which has been coming a long time and is super satisfying. As Mirio continues to whale on him, Overhaul has a flashback to when he tried to get his boss to follow his jerk plan and his boss was all, “no thanks that’s fucked up.” Meanwhile Nemoto wakes up in the adjacent hallway, crawls on over, picks up the case of Quirk-be-Gone bullets that Overhaul throws to him, and takes aim.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 183 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.) 

I don’t like this side text

it’s so confident. why you gotta jinx us like that manga

you guys Overhaul is staring at Mirio and Mirio is shaking a bit

I hope that’s a rage/adrenaline tremble. I don’t think it is. but I don’t like him being nervous. but he’s all alone with the Big Bad and now he has this little girl to protect and he already fucked up once and she’s counting on him and he can’t let her down and omggggg. TENSION

Overhaul is beckoning Eri back and threatening to kill Mirio. “how many times must I tell you before you understand?”

hey what the fuck

kay. maybe it is a rage tremble. bc I’m starting to feel the same way just a little. I really need this asshole to never talk to this little girl ever again. Mirio, get her out of there!!

Eri’s panicking but Mirio’s telling her not to listen to him

Overhaul’s continuing to push all of my rage buttons and gggerhfrrrffghk

my god he’s the worst. almost makes Endeavor look like father of the year in comparison

he says Eri is cursed and her actions are destined to kill people. actually he specifically says “every single one of your actions is destined to kill people.” because what better way to keep an innocent child in line than to manipulate her with guilt and fear sdflkhs wow this man is evil

--!!!!!!

OH MY GOD FINALLY

AHHHHHHHH

I LIKE THAT THE TITLE HAS EXCLAMATION POINTS ON IT THIS TIME BECAUSE THEY SEEM APPROPRIATE. MIRIO, RUN

holy SHITTTTT

I HAVE VASTLY UNDERESTIMATED THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF OVERHAUL’S QUIRK. HOLY FUCKING SHIT

okay, so quick tactical rundown: the main problem here is that Mirio can’t use his ability to its full extent while also carrying Eri. what he should do is put her down for a sec and use his “warp” ability to fuck up Overhaul’s shit real quick. he was insanely fast while he was tearing class 1-A apart, and I feel like he could do it before Overhaul would be able to do any serious harm to Eri

because the thing is, Overhaul can’t kill Eri because she’s his cash cow. but I absolutely believe him capable of hurting her. which is why speed is of the essence

however I don’t think he’s going to be willing to risk it, which is why I think he miiiiiight be screwed

oh hey, Overhaul is casually confirming that yes, he’s totally willing to fuck Eri up if need be

jesus fucking christ. pretty sure you could show this page to fucking All for One and he’d be like, “holy shit that dude’s evil”

like, while Shigaraki Tomura was chilling on a couch on the beach, this guy was torturing a six-year-old and coldly reminding her that if she ever tried to ask someone for help, they would die and it would be her fault

just... I don’t even have words. I feel like Overhaul traveled to BnHA from some seinen manga and doesn’t realize we have certain rules here about what lines it’s okay and not okay to cross

anyway, here’s Mirio’s response to that

like, I obviously feel the same way, and it’s obviously more horrific for him to hear because he’s living it and doesn’t have the luxury of reminding himself it’s fiction. so I don’t blame him

but also I really need him to just keep his cool now omg, because she’s counting on you dude! fff and also I’m counting on you to not die because I love you. and also I really need Eri to not be traumatized anymore because holy shit please protect this sweet angel

anyway, so Overhaul’s continuing to do his Fullmetal Alchemist bullshit, and asking Mirio what he’s going to do if Eri gets hurt. because presumably they, unlike him, are not capable of putting her back together

clearly the only solution is to not let her get hurt!

“you can’t phase your way out of here while holding onto her” fuck me he’s figured it out

we need Aizawa stat. but who knows how long it’ll be before he catches up omg. they were in that maze for five hundred years

aaaaaand Overhaul’s sealed the path with his quirk

okay I feel like now is a good time to call bullshit on Overhaul’s reassembly power. this is too damn much. why is he allowed to reassemble matter in different fucking forms than the original. what the hell is the limit on his power then. you’re telling me Twice has a limit of two copies and Toga has to drink liters of blood in order to get any prolonged use out of her quirk, and here comes fucking Overhaul who can disassemble one thing and reassemble something completely different as long as it’s made from the same material. and he can even do ranged attacks, and he can manipulate this giant fucking room the size of a school gymnasium, and he doesn’t even seem to be tired?? jesus christ

then again, Todoroki Shouto can create a mountain of ice out of literally nothing in like .02 seconds. so maybe I’m really just mad because he’s so damn evil and I need someone to punch him in the face already

anyway, meanwhile this remaining henchman is aiming a gun at Mirio. because apparently he’s still conscious. so now it’s two against one, and they both have ranged attacks, and Mirio’s gonna have to dodge them both while not being able to fully phase his arms or hands

SON OF A BITCH

STOP GIVING HIM POINTERS

now Mirio’s turning around and hiding behind his cape which seems like a really bad idea??

okay first off, that closeup of the gun firing reminded me that guns are always censored in anime, and now I’m wondering how kooky this arc is going to look when it gets animated, because it’s pretty gun-heavy. hmm. gotta go back and see if we’ve had any other scenes with handguns already prior to this arc

(ETA: nothing comes to memory, but I admittedly haven’t gone back to check the anime yet with this in mind)

and second, Mirio’s cape isn’t bulletproof, and all this does is make it so that he can’t see where the bullets are coming from. and if he phases, he risks letting Eri get hit

so like I have no idea what he gains from a move like this. any thoughts??

but anyway he got lucky at least

OH!!!

nice!!!!!!

shit, this is why he’s the hero and I’m the person reading this and running my big mouth. it never occurred to me he could use that to hide Eri so that he could spring this move

and at first I was like WHY DIDN’T HE HIT OVERHAUL, but then I thought maybe that’s not such a good idea to get that close to a guy who can splatter you with a touch

so now I’m thinking he should grab this guy’s discarded gun and fucking shoot Overhaul instead. but I somehow can’t picture him doing that. even though it would be perfect and the safest way to dispatch him and nonlethal while still being poetic justice

but now I see the gun has been knocked away

so on top of being insanely overpowered, Overhaul is also great at thinking on his feet

OH SHIT, AGAIN

HIS TRADEMARK ATTACK FROM BEHIND MOVE! DEKU SAW THROUGH IT, BUT OVERHAUL WASN’T FAST ENOUGH OH SNAP

I CAN’T FUCKING BELIEVE MIRIO PHASED THROUGH HIS HAND AND STILL HIT HIS FACE. I KNOW HE DID THE SAME THING WITH ERI IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, BUT THE TIMING IS STILL UNBELIEVABLE AND IT’S LITERALLY LIFE OR DEATH IF HE DOESN’T GET IT RIGHT

LOOK AT THIS!!!!

I’M READING THIS ON DEC 20TH, SO CHRISTMAS IS STILL FIVE DAYS AWAY, BUT SUFFICE TO SAY THIS IS JUST WHAT I WANTED

I always think of the cape montage from The Incredibles, which is a whole lot of reasons to not wear capes. and meanwhile Mirio gives just this one very specific reason to wear them which I have to assume doesn’t come up very often

but I gotta say, he sells it

the henchman guy is running to pick up his discarded gun. hey Mirio, you wanna warp over here and punch him again

that works too

shit the gun is in pieces now. well at least it can’t be used against him

meanwhile Overhaul is back on his bullshit, but Mirio’s warping again

fuck yessssssss

I KNOW WE JUST SAW THIS, BUT MY GOD, IT’S STILL JUST AS SATISFYING THE SECOND TIME. HELL, MAYBE EVEN BETTER, BECAUSE THIS TIME I KNOW IT’S NOT JUST A ONE-OFF

naturally the other shoe is still waiting to drop though. what’s it gonna be. does Overhaul have a gun of his own? he seems the type who’d do that. or will he catch Mirio off guard somehow?

fuck, I’m getting nervous now. things are going too well

Mirio he’s a germaphobe so you should just sneeze on him. see what happens

Eri’s watching in awe as Mirio screams that Overhaul won’t ever lay a finger on her again

“you lose, Chisaki!!”

what in the hell is this

no amount of sympathetic flashbacks can make me feel sorry for you, dude. I feel fucking confident saying that. I’d wager real life money that I don’t have

present day!Overhaul is telling Mirio not to call him by that name and saying he threw it away

and now we’re flashing back again, but Overhaul is already a young man now

he wasn’t a babyhaul for very long huh

he’s talking to the old boss and they seem to be discussing how the family is getting weaker

Overhaul is requesting the boss to reconsider “the plan I talked to you about before”

but boss isn’t having it

tell that to those assholes who fought Tamaki for like three whole chapters

holy shit the plot is twisting all of a sudden! we’re back in the present!

Nemoto (the truth serum Reborn guy from the previous chapter) is crawling toward Overhaul slowly

I’m sorry, the main takeaway I got from that is that Mirio’s been at it for ten minutes already, and where are Aizawa, Nighteye, and Deku, again??

and Nemoto is having a flashback explaining why he became Overhaul’s right hand man

apparently because other people kept lying to him, and he wanted a friend he could trust. because nothing sums up Overhaul’s general vibe better than “trustworthy friend”

so now he’s all “I must walk with him!!!”, and I want you all to know that I’m thumping my head on the back of my desk chair and rolling my eyes very exasperatedly. for fuck’s sake where did Overhaul fucking find all of these assholes

and I know I said I wanted Nemoto to stick around, but that was for shipping purposes!!! not Mirio-killing purposes! what the fuck!

what the fuck guys!

you’re telling me Mirio did ALL OF THAT SHIT and yet he couldn’t stop Overhaul from throwing a case of bullets at Nemo?

and Nemo had time to load his fucking gun and everything, and Mirio was what?? just standing there??!

I’m sorry, Mirio. you are so deserving of being the next Symbol of Peace. but it’s not you and it won’t be you, and the reason is that you’re not the main character, and so you don’t have the power of always somehow winning the day no matter what, and shit like this happens to you that you don’t fucking deserve. it’s not you, sweetie. it’s the plot

oh man

 BONUS:

 FA’s doing another omake corner with pages from the character book! 8DDDD just what I needed after this stress

lookit this. lookit

so peaceful. even though Deku’s stressing me out just a tiny bit because who the fuck reads standing up. sit down and relax

then there is a page of Horikoshi being excited over his book, and then a page of the characters as cute little stickers with catchphrases

and I need someone to explain Todoroki’s catchphrase to me. because what

isn’t this the name of Mr. Burns’s teddy bear

like, the others make sense! Deku’s is all “smash!!” and Katsuki’s is “boom!!” and Ochako’s is “float” with a little heart. so now tell me. wtf is bobo. that’s the word my Puerto Rican mom and grandma used for “pacifier” when my siblings and I were little. it’s weirding me the fuck out

(ETA: 

yes google. that’s exactly what I meant. todoroki bring your own beer.)

on an unrelated note, I was wavering on whether to post Aizawa but I think I have to

just because. he has no arms and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen

and now we’re moving on to Kirishima and Mina’s profiles, but I’m thinking I’m gonna just do a separate post on the kids’ profiles at some point, so I’ll skip this for now. anyways that was fun

ACTUAL BONUS:

so now here’s the omake from the actual volume!

my takeaway from that paragraph about Sakaki is that Horikoshi is probably always drunk while writing this series and that sure explains a lot

someone needs to smack the Nemoto inside of Horikoshi’s head. fuck the stupid masks. these guys would have been at least 10x more interesting without them (not an exaggeration; the bar was so low that even something as small as that would have improved them drastically)

actually, now I kind of wish he’d gotten to fight Nighteye. salaryman vs salaryman. maybe get Iida in on this too somehow. battle royale

[mahoushojoe]

11/11/11

Okay, I was tagged in this by two people, so i'll make two posts ahshbds thank you @carmina-solis and @badwriterrr 💖

So I think this challenge is to answer 11 questions asked by the person who tagged you, then ask 11 questions and tag others!

moving on with @carmina-solis ' questions:

1. How long have you been working on your WiPs?

I've been working on West Nile for over four years now!! I've also had The Song of Laisix in my mind for around the same time, but I've started seriously worldbuilding and planning for a year now. I've started on Homeward for about six months, and Cairo Dreamers only last week.

2. What is your favorite genre to write? Why?

My favorite genre is YA, mainly because I'm going through that phase in my life right now, but also because I love themes of self-discovery and identity. Fantasy is my favorite genre to write as well, urban or otherwise, because I've just been writing it for such a long time and I feel I can take more creative freedom in it than I can in other genres.

3. Is there a particular theme you notice cropping up in your work or characters?

I often like to play around with the "chosen one" archetype, and often find myself writing arcs that involve a loss of innocence or the discovery of unpleasant truths. I also really like writing kind, sweet characters who retain their kindness through it all.

4. Are there any themes you find not at all interesting?

Hmmm. Mainly it's just the ones I'm tired of seeing everywhere. Eurocentric settings, maybe, and a lot of eurocentric themes too, like the "white savior" trope or barbarism vs civilization or other borderline racist themes. I'm also tired of the "nice guy who sticks around for the girl after she gets heart broken by Bad Boy" trope.

5. How do you develop the themes in your work?

Usually by accident, haha. I write mainly character driven stories, so I go by the arc I feel is appropriate for that character to have. I create a character, detect the main crisis in that character's life, and solve it, and that solution is the theme. For example, in Song of Laisix, I have four main characters. All what they have in common is struggling with a larger-than-life destiny. As such, the theme of the story is the subversion of the "chosen one" trope.

6. What kinds of writing to you like to do?

Mainly novels, but I also do poetry.

7. Describe your favorite character's room or personal space.

Tezael's room is very messy. There's a big, airy window that lets a lot of sun and moonlight in. The walls are filled with char signs and all sorts of strange marks because of her practicing her magic. The ground and desk are strewn with all manner of scrolls and books. There's a coathanger nearby for her cloak. Her bed is rarely made, and she rarely sleeps in it- she sleeps on the window ledge.

8. Which of your characters would make the best detective?

Lin, most likely. She's trained as an assassin. Although paired with Aedion, who can fly and shapeshift, she'd be very formidable. They'd make a really great pair, tbh, I want to write this.

9. If you could , would you want to teach a course on writing or conduct a seminar?

Maybe when I'm older! I'd love to go into academia.

10. Which book has inspired you to write?

As much as it pains me to say it, Game of Thrones did a lot of inspiration for Song of Laisix, but it's minimal, really- Song of Laisix is radically different in theme, tone, and demographic. Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist inspired a lot of the characters and themes in West Nile. Adventure Time isn't a book, really, but it also inspired Song of Laisix a lot. Also, Neon Genesis Evangelion, again, not a book, largely inspired Homeward.

I've noticed that most of these aren't even books lmao

11. Is there an author you can't stand (even if they're well-respected?)

JK Rowling, as much as it pains me as someone who grew up reading Harry Potter, is a known transphobe, homophobe, and racist. I also cannot stand Sarah J Maas. I just don't like her writing at all, and feel it has a lot of undertones, writing tropes, and themes I dislike.

And now for @badwriterrr 's questions!

1. What was your fav book growing up?

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (it still is), and Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.

2. What genre is your WiP?

West Nile is a YA urban fantasy. Song of Laisix is a YA/NA fantasy. Homeward is a YA sci-fi cyberpunk. Cairo Dreamers is a YA mystery drama.

3. Are any of your OCs based on people?

Not really. If they are, it's subconscious.

4. What is your guilty pleasure read?

Fanfic lmaoooooo. I've got my favorites saved in PDF version on my phone.

5. If you could summarize your WiP in three words, what would they be?

West Nile: what is law

The Song of Laisix: destiny is superficial

Homeward: just ask vika

Cairo Dreamers: idiots fight crime

6. What do you take inspiration from?

Lots and lots of anime and manga, even some cartoons. West Nile is inspired by Fullmetal Alchemist and Noragami. Song of Laisix is inspired by Adventure Time. Homeward is inspired by Cowboy Bebop and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

7. How do you deal with writer's block?

Usually I take a break for a couple of days, watch some anime, draw, get inspired once more. Music usually does the trick.

8. What's your fav TV show?

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003).

9. Are you in any fandoms? What are they?

I used to be in voltron fandom, but I largely left. Currently I'm trying to get into the mahou shoujo scene.

10. How long have you been writing your WiP for?

I've been working on West Nile for over four years now!! I've also had The Song of Laisix in my mind for around the same time, but I've started seriously worldbuilding and planning for a year now. I've started on Homeward for about six months, and Cairo Dreamers only last week.

11. What was the first story you ever wrote, how old were you? What was it about?

THIS TAKES ME WAY BACK. The first time I formally sat down and wrote a story for myself, I was eight. It was about me having adventures with my two talking cats. I had a LOT of fun writing it.

My questions:

1. Which of your OCs are you most like?

2. What is the saddest scene you've ever written?

3. What is the general mood of your stories?

4. When did you know you wanted to write?

5. If any, which OC romance of yours is your favorite?

6. What is the music you listen to while writing?

7. What is the process of developing your OC?

8. Do you know the ending of your WiP/s?

9. Most difficult OC to write?

10. What is a common thing your OCs share?

11. Have you ever abandoned a WiP?

Tags:

@badwriterrr @carmina-solis @the-ichor-of-ruination @khrysantemvm @farrradays @fartistically @somedeadmagic @melwrotethat and anyone who wants to do this!

[edwards-shadow]

Mun, whats your opinion on FMA 03 vs FMA:B? Do you like one better? Do you like them both? I would like to hear your thoughts!

Hey there Anon! 

The simple answer is I like both, but 03 gets top place for me. The longer answer follows from here, and I do mean LONGER:

When I was younger, FMA 2003 was playing on Adult Swim, and I managed to catch a few episodes that were early reruns…before it suddenly jumped later into the series. Which completely threw me off and I actually didn’t get back into it until college(2010). Fast forward to then, I make a friend who’s a few years younger than me and she LOVES to pieces FMA, and convinced me to watch it. 

I did. In about a week, and also LOVED IT. The story was amazing and hearbreaking yet completely silly at times, the backstories for the homunculi were in depth for a lot of them which I adored(fun fact: exclusively going off the actual canon, Ed and Envy are actually tied for favorite character for me. Pride here is right there with them of course), and the ending(including the movie) was hard to swallow but seemed to fit and I was emotinally EXHAUSTED by the end, but I loved every second of watching the Elric Bros. journey.

By this time, Brotherhood was starting to slowly make rounds but what a lot of people don’t realize, is that a lot of fans who grew up knowing the 2003 anime(including myself, even though I hadn’t seen much of it for some time), thought one of two things(generally):

A) it was adding onto the series somehow, I personally blame how “BROTHERHOOD” is always used as a dramatic title in things like videogamesB) it was COMPLETELY redoing the series. one that we had come to love(new fans and old) and we were worried that it was going to completely ruin the show because some of us didn’t read the manga, or couldn’t get a hold of it.

I fell into category B, as did most of the people I knew. It wasn’t actually until the entire first season of Brotherhood had been playing on Adult Swim that word had gotten fully around that it was the anime of the manga(after which I did some poking around to learn about the why/how 03 got put out), and I wanted to give it a fair shot too. And you know what? IT WAS GOOD TOO! How lucky is THAT, where both versions of the series are great? Of course, that brought up the next phase of fans: picking a side.

For a long, long, LONG time I just didn’t. I loved them both, I had issues with them both. I did NOT like Izumi in large parts of 2003(particularly after the scene where she beats the HELL out of Ed and Al after they admit to human transmutation and Ed just…..takes it. It still breaks my heart to see), and by the end of BH, it almost felt boggled down by how many characters were in it(they are amazing characters, don’t get me wrong, but some definitely took a hit in development which made me sad, like Rose). But both had a ton of good things too. Like I said, I LOVE how the homunculi are done in 2003, even more than in BH/manga honestly. And in BH I love how some of the characters were done and just how DEEP the corruption is actively shown in the series.

And then I made a choice, after looking at them both and loving them both(I own all 3 versions of the series now: 2003, BH, and the full manga), I decided that 2003 got the “favorite” spot. That was ultimately the door that was shown to me to get interested in FMA in the first place. Without it? I never would have heard of it, I wouldn’t have cared. But it showed me characters I started to care about, and get invested in, and sometimes connect with(heros AND villians alike). The original Fullmetal Alchemist anime WAS Fullmetal Alchemist for me, it gave me the love I have for the series today. I will support them both, but 2003 get the extra love for getting me into the series in the first place.

…..so very long thoughts about it! And I apologize, but I don’t really get asked this a lot, and I see a lot of people just give a short “well I love this version best because ____” or just “I love both don’t make me pick!” which is great, but I wanted to share my longer answer because really? That’s the honest one.

Hope you didn’t mind sitting through it all!(and please, for the sake of you and my followers, don’t get me started on Bluebird’s Illusion, the game Pride is from. We’ll be here all night)

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist OG: Wrath’s Awakening (OG 29-31)

OG adds an arc smack in the middle of this section, so I'll cover it all at once. We're close to the divergence point, now.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 29: "The Untainted Child"

The young boy who shadowed Edward and Alphonse on Yock Island is not only an alchemist, he is able to transmute his own body. After finding out about the scars on the boys right arm and left leg, Ed discovers that the boy is a homunculus who took his limbs during their failed attempt at human alchemy.

Ah, Ed and Al do ask why the guy attacked them. It's handwaved as Izumi telling him to toughen them up. Still feels like it goes against the point of the lesson.

Izumi walks towards Wrath, but coughs up blood. It's initially comedic, but she reverts to normal style as Al tends to her.

I'm not sure why Ed attacks Wrath.

Ed appears to try to remove the rock from Wrath's flesh, but the reaction seems to spread and turn his clothes into leaves. So I guess that's where he was getting the clothes? But why would he think to transmute them into proper clothes?

We can clearly see Wrath's arm and leg are Ed's skintone. The rest of Wrath is deathly pale, though. Shouldn't he be tanned if he's spent all his life in the wild? Or do homunculi's bodies never change? Since they don't age, maybe so.

Wrath can talk, so he must have had some human contact.

Wrath doesn't have purple eyes… but he does have blue ones. Maybe the purple comes from eating the red stones.

Winry wants to tell Izumi off for being mean to the Elrics.

Sig sleeps with his eyes open.

Ed sneaks into Wrath's room. Izumi apparently locked the door with alchemy so she'd know if the brothers broke in, so instead Ed busts a hole in the roof. Clever.

Wrath is very acrobatic. Ed turns the blanket into a rope to restrain him.

Oh, the reason Ed was weird about Wrath was because he transmuted without a circle.

Wrath gets upset trying to untie the rope, and transmutes the whole bed into his body.

Cartoon when Izumi barges in.

Ed reveals the homunculi are pursuing him.

Quick shot of Winry sleeping through everything. Haha.

Cut to Central. Sheska is playing with Elicia.

Sheska berates Mustang for not investigating Hughes' murder, and gives him the files Hughes was looking at.

Cut to Sloth calling Envy and telling him to track down the Elrics. Sloth says she's busy in Central.

Envy reveals Sloth is the youngest homunculus.

Sloth doesn't want the Elrics investigating Ishbal's Philosopher's Stone.

Ed explains everything to Izumi. He says transmuting one's own body shouldn't be possible with any alchemy.

Sig politely leaves before Izumi discusses the Gate with Ed.

This is where we get Ed's perspective for the human transmutation scene, which I already covered last post.

Ah, Ed does mention that soul-binding was one of the things he learned from the Gate. So that does explain it.

Back in Central, Breda attaches bishie sparkles to himself with wires when pretending to be Armstrong. LOL.

We get introduced to Archer, who I believe is an anime-only character? He's pursuing the Elrics, likely at the behest of the homunculi.

Al uses the radio in their room and the lamp in the bathroom to create a phone line.

Al figured out that Wrath has Ed's arm and leg. When he reveals it, Ed immediately tunnels into the bathroom to confirm for himself. Everyone looks scared and tells Ed to stay away.

Ed has a breakdown over the possibility his limb trade was not an equivalent exchange.

Ah, the scar on the arm is from the fox bite. So that was intentional. Nice.

Ed freaks out Wrath with his questioning, forcing him to run away. Ed pursues.

Izumi vomits blood when she sees a trail from her transmutation site. It's played completely seriously.

The thing that strikes me most here is how darkly Ed is portrayed. Winry looks scared of him, and everyone tells him he's wrong to be so cruel and suspicious towards this kid, which he completely ignores. We are seeing the dark side of that fiery determination so characteristic of shonen protagonists, and starting to commit to the idea that Ed ignoring all moderating influences in favor of his own obsessions is maybe not healthy behavior.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 30: "Assault on South Headquarters"

Yoki spots Scar in a group of Ishbalans arriving at a refugee camp. He runs off to contact the military, hoping to be reinstated. Meanwhile, the military, believing the mysterious boy to be a homunculus, captures and imprisons him in South Headquarters. A chimera called Bido discovers the same and Izumi storms South Headquarters to rescue him, but she soon finds herself in a five-way fight over the boy.

Ed apologizes to Wrath while chasing him. Wrath phases through a wall by fusing himself with it.

Archer has shown up at Sig's shop asking after the Elrics.

Sig and Armstrong strip and have a hulking-out contest.

The lizard-man heard about the Elrics from Tucker.

The lizard-man can climb a sheer wall.

The arm Wrath got from Ed looks significantly larger than his other one.

Archer is using a sniper rifle just as a telescope.

Archer says there's something important on Wrath's right foot (so his natural one). You can't see it in that shot, but later we see that's where his tattoo is.

Armstrong asks what they plan to do if Wrath's limbs really are Ed's – would they rip them off and take them for their own?

Sloth promises to reinstate Yoki if he tells them Scar's whereabouts. So yes, Ed's heroics were only a temporary reprieve – this shows the whole system is rotten.

And while that happens, Greed receives his own information on Wrath. He decides Wrath is a bigger priority than the Elrics. He gives us our first mention of Pride.

Tucker and Kimblee are with Greed.

Al tells Izumi Wrath was a monster, and tells her about the other homunculi as well. Izumi says she already knew.

Izumi vomits blood. It's played seriously. Sig rushes her to the hospital, and this is where we learn about her illness. The doctor points to a diagram saying all her organs from her liver to her intenstines are gone, which doesn't seem like it should be survivable. They'd have to be only partially damaged; you can't survive without all of them. Possibly we can assume her uterus took the brunt of the damage. This is where Ed figures out she did human transmutation.

There's still dried blood on Izumi's lips when she enters the southern headquarters.

Winry bemoans everyone keeping her out of the loop. This prompts Sig to tell her their backstory over footage of Izumi's assault, which I think is a nice technique.

How does Kimblee survive his own blast? He's touching the thing that explodes with enough force to take down a wall.

Ed says that as a soldier he's bound by duty to apprehend Izumi.

Bradley appears. Ed wonders to himself why he's here, hinting that we're supposed to find that weird.

And Bradley appears to be in Central simultaneously, ordering Mustang to take out Scar. I wonder if we're supposed to think this is a flashback…? Mustang coldly decides that if Scar doesn't surrender, they will take out the entire camp.

Scar recognizes a symbol in the alchemist's house, but I don't. I presume it'll be explained later.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 31: "Sin"

Amid the confusion inside South Headquarters, Envy, disguised as Bradley, manages to take the homunculus boy from Izumi. Kimblee and Bido came to battle for the same purpose and the boy remembered all his past after he consumed small fragments of the Philosopher's Stone.

We open with Team Mustang asking if they plan to kill the refugees. Mustang can't give an answer.

Archer is surprised to see Kimblee alive. Kimblee apparently was ordered to stop killing civilians.

When Kimblee tells them to ask Bradley, we get an internal monologue from Envy, thus showing us it's him. I don't like that, it's very tacky to shift perspectives suddenly. The writers probably thought it was funny but eh, not the time. Envy apparently didn't know why Kimblee was kept alive, also. I guess they keep him out of the loop on most things.

Envy-Bradley rushes forward to grab Wrath.

Izumi shoots a giant stone fist at Envy-Bradley, which Armstrong stops. The force shreds his shirt.

We switch to still images for the battle, because I guess they ran out of budget. It's not too clear what's going on, but apparently the force of their attacks is collapsing the building.

Kimblee taps Al and notes that he has an interesting body.

Bido not wanting to get turned into a bomb is played for comedy. Eenh.

Envy feeds Wrath a red stone. Wrath then starts eating the rest ravenously.

Envy says the red stones have several hundred human lives in them. That seems like a lot – even these low-quality ones require that much? Wrath is horrified and spits them out, but eats them again when Envy threatens to take them away.

Envy says the reason Wrath can use alchemy is because of his human limbs.

Wrath gets flashbacks to the Gate of Truth, and his eyes turn purple.

Archer offers to reinstate Kimblee.

Wrath has a new outfit with the homunculus markings. Where'd he get that? It looks very similar to Envy's outfit (short shorts and bare midriff), so possibly we can assume Envy gave it to him.

Wrath apparently eviscerated Envy after awakening.

The soldiers contacted Central and discovered Bradley wasn't supposed to be here. That seems sloppy. Did Envy do this on his own?

We get a flashback to Izumi's human transmutation. She did it at Yock Island, not an indoor location like in Brotherhood. We don't see her trip to the Gate. When she wakes up she vomits blood, and sees her baby is alive, but has become a monster. So this is pretty clear confirmation that the soul is the issue: she had a whole, intact body and it still didn't work.

Izumi tries to strangle Wrath but can't. Envy watches from a clifftop.

Ed arrives to see Wrath strangling Izumi. Izumi says she deserves it, and we complete the flashback: when she saw what she made, she gave it back to the Gate. The Gate looks much creepier here than it does in Brotherhood – it has a complete arch, like the front of a temple, and it's filigreed with strange human statues. A giant eye looks out from within. Ed says the inside of the Gate looked like truth to him, but Izumi says it looked like Hell.

The baby starts crying when it's taken away, and Izumi regrets her choice.

This is where we get explicit confirmation that homunculi are the result of human transmutation, and that they lack a soul. Ed thought they were created like chimeras.

This reveal, to me, felt so obvious and intuitive I was honestly shocked that Brotherhood did something so different and so, so much more boring. Homunculi as failed resurrections raises so many delightful questions about personhood, responsibility, and playing God that will be explored later in the series.

Wrath's personality has noticeably changed. He is extremely vulgar and hostile.

Lust and Gluttony can be seen among the refugees when Mustang's team approaches.

We see Sloth traveling through the water towards Yock Island. Wow, I guess a new homunculi is top priority for them.

Greed's arrived too, so we're in for a showdown. Envy asks him what he did with the skull – ah, there was a skull in his prison. That must have been from his human remains. So that's an early hint towards that.

Greed seems surprised that a Sloth exists. I guess they're rare? It'd be interesting to try to figure out if there's any theme to Dante's naming scheme. Envy also says that there's a full set of seven "for the first time in a while", so there has been a full set before.

Sloth namedrops Wrath for the first time.

Sloth says Envy's orders were to push Ed towards the Philosopher's Stone, not throw a wrecking ball at him. Envy just says he wanted to see Hoenheim's kid suffer. So Envy is unreliable.

Wrath says his body grew inside the Gate.

Wrath wants Ed's whole body so he can become human. Interesting that he couldn't use Al's.

Conclusion

Like the Fifth Laboratory, this probably would have benefited from being condensed into two episodes. Also like the Fifth Laboratory, I love it anyway. Where the last arc addressed the initial driving question of the Philosopher's Stone and what the Elrics would do to achieve it, this one is addressing the questions that were brought up there: What are the homunculi, what do they want, and how are they connected to human transmutation? Moreover, we are engaging with deeper questions to come: what is alchemy, and what is equivalent exchange?

We're also getting a deeper taste of the darker turn OG will take. Ed and even Al are taking questionable actions that pit them against other heroic characters. Armstrong, previously a stalwart hero, is forced against them by his duties to the military. We are engaging with a question posed at the beginning: Will Ed follow the military's orders, even if they are repugnant? He made a choice to become a tool of the military, and he can't just walk out on that when it's convenient.

[inkuisitivskins]

Top 5 Series that fundamentally shaped you as a person

Ask Me My Top Five Anything!

ohhhhhh yikes. Lemme think haha, there’s several that immediately come to mind but I really wanna put some thought into this uwu I’ll try to put them in some semblance of a rational order heh

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (and slightly 2003)

I had always been into “anime” like Pokemon and Hamtaro when I was a kid, but it was about seven years ago when I started watching actual anime. My first was Kekkaishi on Adult Swim, and I liked it enough, but that was also during the first English dub airing of Brotherhood, and it would come on right after Kekkaishi did, so I would watch it sometimes. I think the first episode I remember seeing was a flashback of Ishval, and one scene I prominently remember was Riza talking to Ed in her apartment (when she’s cleaning her pistol and she asks Ed if he loves Winry LMAO). I thought it looked cool and I realized that my mom’s friend’s (she lives with us) son had all but one dvd set of the original 2003 anime. I binge watched it (only missing the short dvd arc where Hughes was killed, which was later in 03 than in Brotherhood), and I fell in love. After that, I dove into Brotherhood and started buying the manga volumes (which were also being released as the anime aired). It remains my favorite franchise to this day, and I’m honestly glad that I saw 03 first because??? there’s certain things I still like about it, and even though Brotherhood is the superior and truest (to Arakawa’s actual vision of the story) version, I’m glad I was able to appreciate the original. I feel like I’d be turned off by it if I watched it after the fact, you know?

What I love about Fullmetal is just the thought that goes into the characters and the events that go on. In Brotherhood, every single character, including fuckin side characters like Yoki, have a specific purpose. The story and lore of the world is so immersive and well thought out and just so intelligent? I love all of the scientific and historical allusions Arakawa makes, and the character development is so beautiful and wonderful (namely in characters like Ed and Al, whose quest changes from something that only concerned themselves to something that concerns literally their whole country and eventually the entire world, if they hadn’t have stopped Father– and Scar, who only wanted revenge, but eventually saw past it and recognized the same greater good that Ed and Al did, even going as far to make the huge mindset change from REVENGE IS ONLY THE ANSWER AND I WILL DISOBEY MY GOD IN ORDER TO ULTIMATELY SERVE THEM to Miles’s mindset of I will use what has been given to me to change minds and make the world a better place for my people)

No joke I’m literally so tempted to apply for a panel at a convention that would just be a huge love letter to this series, where I discuss all of these things I feel in depth. I have 0 idea how to apply for a panel tho haha

2. Pokemon

When I was little, I would go to my mom’s work and just hang out after school. There was one coworker she had who was a young guy, like early twenties, and he really liked me. One day, he brought Pokemon LeafGreen for me to play, and I absolutely fell in love with it (literally my first playthrough, I got in one of the Ye Olde Metapod vs Metapod Fights hahaha). I think that was around first grade, soooo like 2004 ish? It just so happened that I had a friend who was getting a DS, so she gave me her gameboy advance SP and I bought LeafGreen uwu

After that, I’ve had at least one pokemon game from each gen and a few of the spinoffs since. I have FireRed and LeafGreen, Emerald, Blue on the virtual console, Gold, Crystal (that didn’t work), Pearl, Diamond, Platinum, Black, White 2, Y, Omega Ruby, Moon, soon Moon Ultra, Mystery Dungeron Red and Blue rescue teams, Mystery Dungeon Darkness/Time/Sky, Trozei, Rumble Blast, Battle Revolution, and the original Pokemon Ranger. 

It really helped me when I was little because it exposed me to the world of creature design, which is like my ultimate career path (I would like to be a creature and character design artist for a game company, though for now I’ll settle on an art teacher haha). Some of my first shitty OCs were Pokemon ripoffs, heh. It’s just why it’s always been easier for me to draw animals and creatures; I’m only just now getting into humans tbh.

3. The Land Before Time

This is probably the most random series on this list lmao. I grew up with the original movies, like, big time. Ever since I was 5 until I was like 17, I had wanted to be a paleontologist because of these movies. I still absolutely love dinosaurs so much, and Imma rant for a second buttt

The main tattoo I want is of a Tylosaurus P. skeleton because??? i loved dinosaurs and I bought this wii game where you play as different prehistoric marine reptiles (since they’re not considered dinosaurs but still) ((and i recognize it now but that game was so bad but i loved it to death)) and one of them was a tylosaur, it was my favorite. Fast forward a few years, my aunt took me to go on a dig (which I hated bc it was out in the heat) but I met a woman there who worked at a museum and she??? invited me to come help excavate one in the lab???? and guess what the actual fuck it was

it was a tylosaurus p. skull. My exact favorite dinosaur, right down to the specific genus. 

That was incredible because I was actually able to touch and help excavate the skull? which is a big deal bc the skeletons you see in museums usually aren’t the real thing, just plasters. So the fact that I was able to touch the real deal was one of the best things to ever happen to me.

So yeah I fucking love dinosaurs and if teaching doesn’t work out I’m gonna try and do paleontology stuff

4. Okami

This was one of the first wii games I ever got REALLY SUPER into. If you don’t know what this game is, it’s a literal work of art where you play as the reincarnated Japanese sun goddess who took on the form of a wolf, and her power is that the tip of her tail is like a brush and she can paint things into existence. This really got me to make my first ever “real” OCs, even though they were mainly fan characters. One I’ve abandoned, but two became like their own entities. One I still call a fan character because her entire story has to do with the game and I can’t really tailor her into her own thing, but for the other, I made her her own series. Little Baby Dylan wrote enough content for 4 whole manga series with this bitch, because even I had an “I want to be a mangaka” phase. Obviously looking back on it now, they were garbage, but I really want to redo her series because I miss and love her. Anyway, if Pokemon introduced me to character creation, Okami introduced me to worldbuilding and lore development. 

I also kind of want to write fanfiction for the one fan character bc I feel her story is really good? I just don’t know if there’s a place for fan character-centric fics on Ao3, since she’s the main character and she only interacts with canon characters (especially since she’s kind of an OCxCanon thing and idk how well that’s accepted there;;;;; )

I doubt anyone would want to see them but I may draw them again sometime if anyone’s interested haha

5. Dark Souls

One of my first “more mature” gaming experiences along with Skyrim and Fallout 3, the Souls series exposed me to the wonders of Dark Storytelling and Dark Atmosphere and *gasp* Eldritch themes. The unforgiving and sinister nature of these games just fuckin drew me in, I was enraptured at the tone that this game was able to produce. When I branched off from the Okami verse and made the world for the fan-character-turned-original-character, I took a lot of inspiration from this game and the atmosphere it was able to create. The story was so dark and the characters were all very weird and even some could have been considered otherworldly. I still really love the feel of it all and, through it, I learned how to draw certain creepy things and evoke certain emotions from my art (see: that drawing I did of Envy’s true form haha)

Sorry this was so long Megan;;; Thank you very much for asking though!!