#it’s like reverse fullmetal alchemist

[mumblesplash]

btw ty for getting me into Trigun I love fucked up toxic siblings and I love children who kill without hesitation (Also bugs so Zazie really hits two of my favorite things hehe)

oh shit yeah vash and knives are some of the toxic siblings ever hands down. knives is really like ‘what if i loved you so much i had to destroy everything and everyone you care about and traumatize you repeatedly until you understand’ and vash is like ‘well what if i loved everyone but me so much that i decided every atrocity you commit is mine to atone for forever ­:)’ and then they spent a century making each other worse. and that’s before the show even starts

[number1greedlingfan]

everytime i experience dread and emptiness i project on ling and everytime im hungover and its 10:30 AM and im fucking starving for a burger and im in the drive thru lane and the bitch on the other end is telling me they dont serve lunch meals until 11 AM on sundays i project on greed

[sadrockandwaltzes]

ASPBO Good and Evil Dichotomy

People like A Separate Peace better than Peace Breaks Out, but why is that?

Well here's my two cents. The first book takes place during the war, but before the boys are due to go. They are children holding onto what's left of their childhood before they die in battle or come out changed. Finny is the representation for all that is good and pure in the world; namely childhood purity and innocence. He implicitly trusts everyone and more importantly Gene, who kind of representatives the world. The tragedy in that book is that Gene's purity and the goodness in the world (Finny) is tainted and then destroyed by his own hand. Just as the world and these boys should have been able to live out their lives peacefully and happily, something always comes in and destroys it. Usually as a side effect of something else, like greed. Gene was so caught up in jealousy and his problems that he unknowingly destroyed what he thought was an indestructible force. He took Finny for granted and didn't realize the harm he was capable of until it was too late. The novel ends with Finny telling Gene that he forgives him and Gene forgiving himself; similar to the story of Pandora's Box where even after all the demons, there is still hope. He may have destroyed the peace, but that doesn't mean he took all the Finny out of the world.

ON THE OTHER SIDE Peace Breaks out starts from the point of view of one of those boys who went to war and came out changed, but the war is finally over. During the war it was easy to know one's enemy and assume that the war represented all the evil in the world, but then he meets Wexford, a child whose goal is to take control of everyone and cause mayhem. He represents the inherent evil in human beings, and he's so insidious that his maliciousness touches the hearts of all those around him and causes death and destruction, often without lifting a finger. Where Finny who was never given a last name represented childhood innocence, Wexford who only has a last name is the darker mature adult world. Finny possessed the quality of something immortal, while Wexford possesses something that cycles through hosts and places, never truly dying because it will always be reborn. Wexford rejects childhood in every way he can- he dresses in a grey suit (kids wear many colored suits but not gray according to 40s fashion history sites), he drinks alcohol and smokes, he is able to appear older than he is, and often frequents bars. The one thing that he, as hate instead of Finny's love can't understand, is romance and sex. He likes the idea of being in control, and unless all of the power in a relationship was with him, he can't stand the idea of being vulnerable or known by another. Gene was the accidental adult who killed his childhood, but here is a boy who purposely poses as an adult and plots to kill his childhood so that he can complete his transformation into something with all of the power in society. Finny didn't care about that- he was content to share his wins and losses and his entire heart with one person and make that his entire world. But where Finny, who is sunny and innocent is happy as himself, Gene and Wexford (and adulthood as a whole) recognize that there is a gaping hole in them, an unmissable hole. The older they get, the more distant their dreams and the nice illusions about the world fade away, and they're left to walk into the dark, full of trepidation and fear because they are aware that there really are monsters. This bothers Gene though, and he hides into himself not trusting anyone. Wexford instead decides to become the worst monster he can, so that all the other ones will be nothing compared to him. Gene is a follower where Wexford is a leader. (Actually I read a review on here that Wex was like a mix of Gene and Finny. Maybe this is what they meant. Gene saw god in Finny, Wex sees god in himself. He's Gene if Gene was a narcissist with Finny's confidence)Anyway, Pete realizes that evil is everywhere and cannot be killed, so he resigns himself to living in a world of monsters pretty much. So both stories share overlap, but there's plenty that's different. They're both cautionary tales. But one is about recognizing the evil in oneself and the other is about recognizing the evil in the world.

[sassydefendorflower]

I think one of the few genuine plotholes in Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood & Manga) is the fact that Roy Mustang can get healed by the Philosopher's Stone in the end.

Hear me out.

Quite often, when something isn't answered in the text of fma(b), the answer can still be procured by building up from the existing canon. The magic system of the world is solid and consistent enough for us to create very solid and coherent world building.

Which is why it always irked me in the end when the Stone works on Roy's eyes.

Why?

Because it is heavily implied that not even a Stone has the power to restore what was lost to the Gate. This is of course, not something we as the audience know or believe from the get-go. We are introduced to the Stone via the Elric brothers, who mostly just know that this mystical stone can do the unthinkable. The impossible.

But, as we later learn, not even the Stone can bring back the dead. Death is eternal and cannot be reversed. It is one of the hard truths of the show. No matter how much power you hold, you cannot bring back the dead.

Even Father's showing in the last fight, when he brings back the people of Xerxes, fails to actually deliver on Hohenheim's taunt of "creating life" - because he is just returning souls he already carries within him to the physical realm.

So, that's the first limitation of the Philosopher's Stone firmly established.

But there's a second one.

We know the Stone can heal - Marcoh uses it to heal countless people in his town, some even from deadly diseases and such. We see Father heal Edward's broken arm and create an entirely new arm for Alphonse after his got eaten. Edward uses his own soul like a Stone to close the wound in Baschool, so, yes, healing is firmly within the realms of the Stone.

It is probably far more effective than Alkehistry when it comes to healing, because it CAN ignore the boundaries of the body. I'd actually go so far and say that someone talented and medically knowledgeable could maybe even restore a limb with the help of a Philosopher's Stone. We've seen it do the impossible after all.

But I don't think a Philosopher's Stone could ever actually restore Ed's limbs. Not in the classical sense at least.

Why?

Because when Hohenheim encounters Izumi and tries to help her, he cannot restore her lost organs. He cannot walk that path for her. He can heal her - he rearranges her inner organs and heals the open wounds within her gut, probably giving her another ten years of healthier living, but he cannot return to her what is lost.

He also never offers Ed to give him his limbs back, even after everything has been revealed and they're preparing for the Promised Day.

(He does promise to sacrifice himself for Al in the end, but we'll get to that in a bit)

This is something the Elrics don't know - they don't know what Hohenheim did and did not do for Izumi. They believe, up to the end, that they could restore their bodies with a Philosopher's Stone, but they choose not to.

I think, actually, that Hohenheim might be the only one who knows that it is not possible.

Because what they have lost was a price paid for pushing past the boundaries of humanity, it is a punishment for arrogance just as much as it is a toll for knowledge gained. They didn't lose their organs during childbirth, their arms and legs on the battlefield. All of them walked into god's domain and paid the price.

It is the Unforgivable Sin, after all, the Ultimate Taboo.

This is not something you can reverse by paying a bribe (the souls of the stone) - not unless there's a personal sacrifice bound to it as well.

Which is why it probably would have worked if Hohenheim had given his own life for Alphonse - because it would have been the sacrifice of a father for his son. Equivalency restored.

To get back what you've lost from the Gate, there needs to be an Equivalent Exchange - and the souls of strangers don't do it in the Eye of Truth.

Which doesn't mean that you cannot open the Portal of Truth with a Philosopher's Stone. We've seen it. It is possible. But never once successfully when it comes to the restoration of a body. You can push through the Gate using a Stone, you can heal, you can force someone else through the Gate... but you cannot restore what the Gate itself has taken.

That is a much more personal gamble, a much more personal exchange.

It is the second limitation of the Stone: you cannot gain back the toll you paid for stumbling into god's realm without sacrificing something yourself.

Which brings me to my original point: the fact that Roy Mustang's eye sight could be restored using a Stone.

It's a plot hole.

It is one of the few plot holes in the show/manga, and even as I write this, I am trying to think of a watsonian explanation. Maybe it's because Roy didn't do the human transmutation out of his own free will. Maybe it's because he was forced through. Maybe it's because Truth feels responsible for what happened to him. Maybe the story is lenient to him and his wish to see the future.

But the truth remains, that every time I encounter this story, that part of it trips me up.

And now you know it too.

[pikahlua]

I've been in the dkbk fandom for 3 years and my husband is an anime only. We just watched the new episode and he was disappointed. He predicted that Star will die and the plot won't really move forward. He's a sci-fi fan and he's seen many a series fall apart after more characters, complexity, and a war are introduced. I've been avoiding spoling the manga for him but since he's lost interest, I spoiled him and confirmed that the manga has been in a holding pattern for 2-3 years with this final arc. I told him what you said about Bk's death and Deku losing his arms as being symbolic but he said those actions being reversed lowers the stakes and it's hard to maintain emotional investment if you know that major plot points will just get reversed. I wanna believe in Hori but I'm waiting for payoff instead of enjoying the story. Is what's happening really good storytelling if this final battle has been dragging on so long and Deku's characterization has come to a halt?

I’m hesitant to answer this. I said I wouldn't answer any asks that were looking to me for reasons to keep liking MHA, and I really don't want to encourage more asks like this--and yes OP, I don't know if you realize it but that's basically what you're asking. You've framed this question around your husband's opinions, but you're couching your own thoughts inside.

If your issue is that you and your husband like different media, then that's a marital issue to resolve; accept that you shouldn't always watch all media together, particularly if doing so isn't fun for both of you. But your husband doesn't like what's going on in MHA, and this is enough to make you doubt whether or not MHA is written well? Despite the fact that many, many people like MHA in its current form? That sounds more to me like you agree with your husband. It certainly doesn't sound like you tried to sell this story arc to him.

I decided I'll answer a question like this this one time because it'll help me summarize my feelings on these topics, though I'm sorry to say the topics I address may not be what you expect.

"We just watched the new episode and he was disappointed. He predicted that Star will die and the plot won't really move forward."

Is this really a surprise? I don't remember anyone being all that into this arc when it first came out. Everyone was saying Star would die, and yet most people did not correctly predict the actual outcome of this fight--that Star's quirk would be eliminated and Tomura would be weakened. Most guessed Tomura would steal Star's quirk and become overpowered.

"He's a sci-fi fan and he's seen many a series fall apart after more characters, complexity, and a war are introduced."

You mention sci-fi but uh, has your husband watched like...any other anime? Ever? At all? MHA is far from the first shounen anime to do this. You can't really make your husband like MHA if his problem is that he came to an anime restaurant and got upset when there was nothing but anime on the menu.

Seriously, MHA is not doing all that much different with its ending than what Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood did, and that's one of the most critically acclaimed shounen anime of all time. If he's predisposed to dislike the stuff anime does, that's not a writing problem. That's a mismatch of anime with his tastes.

It strikes a nerve with me because I grew up loving anime and was bullied for it by people with opinions such as your husband's. Now, the mainstream-ification of anime has drawn those same sorts of people to anime for whatever reason, and all they seem to wanna do is complain about anime being anime. Take sci-fi for example: I typically hate outerspace-themed media and the concepts such media often explore, and you know what I do? Not watch it. I've decided such media is not for me. Honestly, the same is true for a lot of anime too. I am very picky about anime because there are some tropes or themes I'm just sick of.

"I've been avoiding spoling the manga for him but since he's lost interest, I spoiled him and confirmed that the manga has been in a holding pattern for 2-3 years with this final arc."

This is where it sounds like you primed him with your own feelings, because it certainly doesn't sound like you were selling him. I don't even know what this means. "A holding pattern"? Do you mean the arc has just been going on a long time (see: welcome to anime being anime)? Or do you mean not much has happened with Izuku? Because I am getting a bit of a sense that your issue is you're an Izuku fan and his growth has been slow because the arc has had to wrap up all the other characters' arcs first. Because a lot HAS been happening with all the other characters (and we recently got some Izuku progression too).

The only other thing I can think of is an opinion I've had for a long time. I think a lot of anime fans don't realize they're not actually manga people. You watch an anime you like a lot and you wanna get up to speed, so you go to the manga not understanding that the manga is different from the anime. The pacing is different, as is the presentation and focus on details. The manga presents one or two story points per chapter, whereas anime episodes are 2-3 chapters compressed into one sitting. The anime's major selling point is its fast pacing, but this is not a selling point of the manga--of ANY weekly manga. "2-3 years" means very little in the context of a 15-page-a-week-AT-BEST manga.

"I told him what you said about Bk's death and Deku losing his arms as being symbolic"

The symbolism angle is one thing. I've never really understood why people like any media without symbolism--that's what gives a story its flavor, isn't it? If we're talking about tropes and familiar story structures, the artist's approach to familiar items is precisely what makes it unique and interesting to me. I wouldn't become invested enough to care about Katsuki's death if all that mattered to me was the surface-level event.

But are you saying you spoiled the fact that Izuku lost his arms? That's...not that big of a plot point to spoil if you ask me. Certainly not one I'd bring up as one of the greatest hits of this arc. This is another detail that makes me feel like you're particularly focused on Izuku, which is not a bad thing nor is there anything wrong with that, but Izuku doesn't actually feature very much in this anime season all things considered. It's hard to sell anyone on what's currently happening with Izuku in the manga since we just got to his stuff and it's not complete.

Again, this was what happened with Fullmetal Alchemist. The last arc covered the events of one day that ended the final war. The main characters were only occasionally featured and didn't do all that much in the season until the very end, as one would expect. When it was coming out in manga form, the pacing was admittedly very weird because of this storytelling choice, albeit it felt a bit different from MHA since it was a monthly manga and covered more ground per chapter. But when the same arc was adapted to anime, the feeling and pacing were very different, and a lot of iffy elements improved on me as a result.

"he said those actions being reversed lowers the stakes and it's hard to maintain emotional investment if you know that major plot points will just get reversed."

Is your husband someone who watches things only once and then can't rewatch and enjoy them ever again? Does he only watch stories for plot twists and once he knows the twist he stops liking it?

I don't understand this general obsession with consequences and stakes a lot of people have. Sure, they are elements that can contribute to a mood or feeling in a story, but they're far from the make-or-break linchpins so many people make them out to be. The "reversals" are major plot points too. I find much more enjoyment in trying to follow why a writer would do such things and what they're trying to say than wondering how likely some character is to die or how many people will be brutalized.

I'm in the camp that believes spoilers should not make a difference in whether or not I find a series "good" or whether or not I can invest in it. I personally have played video games specifically BECAUSE they were spoiled for me and it sounded like I would like them, and having those major things spoiled for me did not detract from my enjoyment at all. I'm not saying everyone has to be like me, but I do certainly think a story's ability to persist as an impactful and memorable work has very little to do with its stakes and everything to do with how it handles its story and characters. Was Star Wars memorable and beloved because of how many people were at risk of dying in it? Was something taken away from the story when Luke got a robotic replacement for the hand he lost?

Goodness, didn't the MHA fandom predict for years that Dabi was Touya Todoroki? And wasn't everyone just waiting for the reveal to fucking happen already so we could get it over with? And wasn't the entire fandom surprised and enthralled when the Touya reveal did happen precisely because it was handled in such a unique and cool way with Horikoshi's flair? Did predicting that twist really ruin anything for the story?

A good story is a good story.

"I'm waiting for payoff instead of enjoying the story."

I can't know what payoff you're waiting for. I've enjoyed all the events and details along the way, even if there were some expected dips here and there. When I went back and reread the entire arc in one go, the pacing really hit me differently and I got a lot out of it. If you're not enjoying the story, that's not about whether or not the story is employing "good storytelling." I've enjoyed plenty of stories that were told poorly and sloppily because there were other redeeming features that appealed to me. This is about preference. You and your husband have your own personal preferences, and that's okay! But you both have to manage your preferences with respect to each other and to yourselves.

"Is what's happening really good storytelling if this final battle has been dragging on so long and Deku's characterization has come to a halt?"

If you're actually interested in whether or not MHA has "good storytelling," I'd suggest you take a creative writing class or otherwise learn about the way stories are told in different media i.e. novels vs comics vs TV shows vs movies vs video games. But I honestly don't think that's what you mean. I think you're looking for permission to keep liking MHA even if you personally don't like its storytelling or how Izuku's character is currently being handled. I can tell you from experience that yeah, you can. Plenty of people do it all the time. Some people get so frustrated with the stories they like they write fix-it fanfiction. Some people appreciate the way a story is so perfectly written that they cannot build a fandom around it because they can't come up with anything to add. It's going to depend on you and how you want to approach the situation, and while I'm happy to talk about what I like about MHA and which writing choices I think are well made, that's not going to get us very far if you don't like the same things.

I do often find media that I personally think is not written that well, and like I said, sometimes I like it and sometimes I hate it, but if it's a piece of media with a large fanbase like MHA, I have a hard time calling its writing universally "bad." If it speaks to that many people in some way, clearly there's something about it that reaches people effectively, and who am I to judge? I'm certainly no expert in quality of writing. All I have are what I've taken away from my education in literature/writing, my years of experience with many anime that came before MHA, and my thoughts on all the other media I've enjoyed. My experiences will lead to different conclusions than others'. I know I don't like a lot of what's popular with most people, so I certainly can't hold myself out as some paragon of good taste.

It's okay to like or dislike whatever for whatever reason. I don't always stay with the same fandom. I move around when I find new and good things. I sometimes come back to old things I loved and like it anew or find it underwhelming as I currently am. As of right now, I'm actually willing to say something I never was before, which is that MHA might be one of the best-written manga if not the best manga I've ever read. While FMA is top-tier, its themes are a lot safer than MHA's ambitious goals. MHA was always going to be controversial in some ways just because of what it attempts to do, such as telling its story through comic book-themed superheroes. It also says a lot of political things that risk alienating readers. The levels of risk MHA takes are part of what makes it amazing to me and what makes it a worthwhile piece of art to enjoy. I'm so happy it exists, flaws and all. No story will be universally loved, and that's something I accepted a long time ago when I decided I wouldn't let the bullying stop me from liking anime. All I can hope to do is have the courage to love the things I love and the grace to leave alone the things I dislike for others to enjoy.

[affableramen]

Can I give a request?If you don't take requests please ignore what I wrote

I like to imagine pantalone with wife reader, Something similar to King Bradley's relationship with his wife(If you watch fmab) Where his wife is just an ordinary citizen who has nothing to do with Fatui, Yes, she know he's a harbinger but not more than that, like the details of his work and their goals.... Despite being a normal person, he loves and adores her sincerely and he's a loving husband for her reverse to the rumors that spread about them that he keeps her by his side only to take care of his image in front of other

If you could give me just a few days to study the subject a bit more because I didn’t watch the fullmetal alchemist and I have no idea of this character and his relationship with wife. But I am eager to learn, so why not?

And yeah, I take requests

[joyce-stick]

Good evening,

I am contacting the team in relation to the current policy of the tag wranglers on "All Media Types" tags. I have heard from various community members that the policy of the tag wranglers is, as of this moment, to remove these tags. I am writing primarily to express my opposition to this policy, as it is not clear what problem it is intended to solve, and broadly has the potential to cause more harm than good (if any good at all).

You have likely already heard about the impact this policy has on anime and manga fandoms, as many Japanese media franchises exist across mediums and installments that share a singular continuity, and many adaptations are 1 to 1 transpositions of the source material's narrative to the target medium with no meaningful narrative deviation. Bang Dream, the Monogatari series, and virtually every manga with an anime adaptation (such as Bloom Into You, Bocchi the Rock, and My Hero Academia) all fall into this. There are counter-examples, such as Fullmetal Alchemist's manga, and its 2003 anime adaptation which takes a drastically different narrative direction, but these exceptions are few and far between.

Anime and manga fanfic writers often tag both the anime and the manga of the series they are writing about, because the fandom for both is often one and the same. Removing the All Media Types tag makes the act of searching for fics in any anime/manga fandom more difficult, as well as making it harder to filter out crossovers, because the option to do so removes any writers who have tagged both the anime and the manga for the reasons of fandom continuity mentioned earlier.

This policy, if applied consistently, also has the potential to have an incredibly destructive impact on the searchability of any fic for a media franchise split across a large number of installments and continuities, which can potentially number in the dozens, and in some extreme cases, the hundreds. The Transformers franchise, in particular, has numerous spinoffs across many mediums and continuities, as do many other popular franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Gundam, and a litany of others. There are also the obvious examples of franchises such as Star Wars, Marvel, and DC, many of whose installments also share continuities or other elements. Removing the All Media Types tag makes it difficult for people who wish to search for fics from any of these franchises generally with no interest in any particular spinoff, and solves no apparent problem.

The child tags already exist for readers who want to search for media based on any specific installment, as well as for writers writing a fic not based on any spinoff or continuity in particular. Someone writing a more general interpretation of a popular character may have to pick a single piece of that franchise to tag the story under, where they might otherwise simply use the general "All Media Types" tag. This is a serious oversight, as while the wranglers may claim that the removal of these tags is to make the search easier, it in fact makes it more difficult for writers to reach their audience, and audiences to find stories they might have otherwise discovered more easily.

I would strongly encourage the wranglers to observe the following posts, and the response to them, which should be ample evidence that many in the community are not in favor of this policy and that for many fandoms it does not have the intended impact of improving the website's ease of use;*

[1] [2]

If there are no plans to reverse course on the policy, I would strongly implore the staff to publicly announce this change and open a dialogue with the community on how to handle this. I personally am opposed to it, but I am obviously not the only one. Right now the general perception seems to be that this practice is of no convenience to anyone except the tag wranglers themselves, and that they are ignoring the voices of anyone contacting them to say that it is not appreciated. At an absolute minimum, I believe transparency from the team about why and how this policy is being implemented is required, because right now, there is no open communication on this that I have observed and the only way this became openly known was by people on social media passing around screenshots of individual email responses from the Archive's support team.

You can rest assured that I will be doing the same if the response to this inquiry proves unfavorable. Regards, Joyce Celeste Silvia Fisher

*I put a plain colon rather than a semicolon in the original message but tumblr didn't like that for some reason.

Proof:

[disappointingcabbage]

TMAGP 19 thoughts, spoilers under the cut

Celia why do you have so much paper, what in the hell are you making that many photocopies of?

ALCHEMY??????

She’s looking into alchemical explanations for universe hopping, I think (transference stuff)

Celia why are you looking at incomplete transference stuff??? What was missing when you universe hopped????

Sam found alchemy stuff when looking into the Magnus Institute, which is very much consistent with the ARG

“What’s got you looking into this?” “Just curious” *immediate glitch* yeah Celia we’re all aware that this research is way more than just curiosity bestie

Sam is doing what’s best for his personal safety but not what’s best for narrative flow (ditching the institute stuff). Good for him tbh.

old ass statement this time (1684), I’m surprised it’s Chester reading it instead of Augustus tbh

A regrettable anti Newtonian PROTOCOL????

yooooo this dude is on a first name basis with the gravity man himself sir Issac Newton

IS NEWTON THE PROTOCOL VERSE’S JONAH MAGNUS??? or perhaps Robert Smirke

Protocol against the entirety of London???? Destruction of knowledge?? DREAD EMISSION????

Did the people of this universe just straight up know about the fears in the 1600s? Was it then covered up???

Looks like this universe’s Newton got into alchemy and letter writer guy Does Not Like That

As an aspiring biologist I’m curious as to how exactly the “vegetative propagation of metals” would even work, seems like a funky little experiment

Awww Issac has a disabled dog!! Hell yeah animal rescue

“Yo what’s that big ass glowing flask?” “Oh that? Yeah it’s no big deal, just the philosopher’s stone in liquid form” bro WHAT

I sincerely hope that that means protocol verse Issac Newton is still alive and that we get to hear his voice in canon. I think that would be Neat.

bro has a tiny tree growing in a flask. That’s awesome. Why is letter guy upset at this? Is my brain refusing to see some horrific implications here? probably lol

I cannot get over the writer of this statement just casually calling Newton “Issac”, actually (might be because my dad is a physicist so Gravity Man is a fucking legend in my household)

ohhhh vegetative propagation of metals. The tree is made of mineral/metal

“I made a metal tree wanna eat its fruit?” “what???? No???” “Too late it’s already in my hand dude you’ve gotta try it”

NO DONT GIVE IT TO YOUR DOG

fullmetal alchemist war flashbacks

dog is now an alchemy plant/dog pokemon what the fuck

The dog now has human intelligence, apparently

Oh it’s reversible. Dog is dog again. That’s so mean to the dog why would you do that to him???? Dogs don’t deserve the burden of human comprehension they are too babey

“Are the computers listening to us?” Daaaaamn Sam caught on fast

Alice, bestie, ignoring the obvious supernatural elephant in the room won’t make it go away I fear

I’m scared Sam is just going to stop confiding in people at this point and then get into danger alone. That ain’t good.

Alice seems to be getting a stupid amount of JMJ errors. Maybe it’s because the Jon, Martin, and Jonah are all arguing over which cases to give her lmao

lmao Lena’s basically just telling Gwen to put her big girl pants on and deal. Iconic.

oooh Lena lore, she used to be the externals liaison.

COLIN MY BELOVED

bros holed up in his house, probably paranoid as shit

Definitely paranoid as shit, he knows the phones are listening and wants to yeet it in a fish tank

Colin’s got alchemy on the brain too, apparently

Poor Alice, she just wants her friends to be okay and they’re all spiraling.

[juney-blues]

"Fullmetal Alchemist reverse isekai period drama set in 1921 Germany" sounds like a fanfic premise but it's a real movie we got

[lostfangirlz]

This is all the stuff I’m likely to post about. If you like any of these then feel free to follow!

Chainsaw Man

The Amazing Digital Circus

Dune

Steven Universe

Adventure Time

Atla (avatar the last airbender)

Avatar

Kaos

Solar Opposites

Gravity Falls

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

Honkai Star Rail

The Legend of Zelda

Disco Elysium

Hades

Percy Jackson

Reverse 1999

Arcane

The Boys

Invincible

House of the Dragon

Smiling Friends

The Amazing Digital Circus

FNAF

Vinland Saga

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Oshi No Ko

Spider-man

Rwby

Beastars

The Last of Us

[looney-mooney]

Finally watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and I got to That Part with Nina and Alexander. And man, I have some THOUGHTS

Because like. So, I’m familiar with this plot twist. I watched the first anime, the one where Rose is basically the B-plot protagonist, back in High school. I liked it a lot, it was good, and this plot twist is if anything more devastating there than it is here because they spent a lot more time with Nina and Alexander in that anime. This plot twist has been memed to hell and back. I was expecting it.

So, having gotten over the initial horrifying shock that her own father would do something so irreversible and experimental to his own fucking daughter FAR in advance, I was able to see this with clear eyes. And uh. I think Nina probably would have been fine?

Like, it’s awful, it’s horrifying, yes. But also. Her mother’s first sentence when this procedure was done to her was to ask for death, but Nina’s first sentence was to ask if her father was hurt. Her second sentence? Was used on an attempt to de-escalate the situation, by asking to play.

And nobody listens to her. Everyone is too horrified by what she is now to ask her what she thinks of the situation, if she’s okay, what she wants to do about it. Everyone is horrified by Nina’s existence except for her. Everyone is too busy trying to punish her father for what he’s done, trying to reverse the irreversible, to listen to her.

And what a horrible sort of irony, right? She’s the first healthy, living chimera to be able to understand and use human speech, and nobody even wants to listen to her.

When her father is killed in front of her, she cries. She walks carefully towards his corpse, and tearfully calls out to him. She is sad, because OF COURSE SHE IS. She’s NINE. Her dad, the only family she had left, just got murdered in front of her. And then his murderer turns to her, and acts like her subsequent murder is a mercy killing.

Nobody ever asked her if she wanted to keep existing, even if it meant being what she now was for the rest of her life. Nobody ever asked her what she wanted. Nobody even listened to her when she told them what she wanted.

Nobody played with her when she asked to play.

[threecheersforinking]

First Impressions: Daemons of the Shadow Realm

Hey guys! I’m back with a manga review after a really long time. Today I'll be reviewing the first volume of the newest Hiromu Arakawa manga, Daemons of the Shadow Realm (or Yomi no Tsugai)! If you don’t know Hiromu Arakawa, she is the manga author of Fullmetal Alchemist and of Silver Spoon. FMAB is one of my favorite anime ever and I really like Silver Spoon too, so I figured I’d enjoy anything else she wrote. I went into this story knowing absolutely nothing about the plot, and it was refreshing to have that sort of blank slate without any already existing impressions. If you want to experience it the same way, go read it now instead of finishing this review! But if you'd like some more context, I'll be describing the plot below. I will not be posting any major spoilers, just a plot summary.

The story centers around a pair of twins, Yuru and Asa, who are born in a rural mountainside town in a fantasy version of historical Japan. 16 years later, Yuru grows up to be a kind hearted young man who is a talented archer, and Asa is quiet and reserved, kept hidden away in a caged room for unknown reasons and does not speak to anyone but Yuru. One day, their village gets attacked by what appears to be helicopters and men in modern military attire. While trying to escape the chaos, Yuru discovers that he possesses the ability to control two daemons who will act as his guardians.

I don't read a ton of shonen or fantasy manga, so going into this I was hesitant and unsure about how much I would like it. This early in the manga, it is difficult to tell how deep or complex the plot is going to be, but so far it seems to be a fairly typical anime fantasy story. It is also shaping up to be a reverse-isekai, which is not what I was expecting but I am optimistic about that concept. Overall, I like it well enough so far but I am hoping there will be more complex themes and story beats as the story goes on.

Unsurprisingly though, Hiromu Arakawa's real strength is the character dynamics and designs. All of the characters in this story are immediately likable, charming, and interesting, even at their first introduction. It is difficult for me to pick a favorite without listing the entire cast, but I absolutely love Gabby and Yuru, and Left and Right (Yuru's Daemons) have such fun lightning-inspired designs.

If you've read it, let me know what you think! I am definitely going to be reading more as soon as more chapters are translated and available.

Thanks for reading,

-threecheersforinking

[emeraldthelynx]

Got bored and drew this thing, and it spiraled into an AU.

So, let's say all the Fullmetal Alchemist characters and stuff existed in a world that operated like Sonic's, except, well, of course alchemy! Ed and Al are on a quest to regain their original bodies by seeking out the seven Chaos Emeralds. Known among alchemists as the Philosopher's Stone, the Emeralds' chaotic nature bends the rules of alchemy. Rumors even say that if all seven come together, one can bypass the laws of Equivalent Exchange. Ed is a freelance agent for this world's equivalent of G.U.N., and the only orders that he's required to follow completely are Mustang's. (Not that Ed listens much, it's hard taking a dog called Mustang seriously.)

Al is bound to an ancient Gizoid, and because of that form, he has the ability to copy any ability he sees perfectly. He also hides little animals inside himself. (Winry reversed the energy flow of that system, and now Al can energize the animals instead of using their energy. This makes it harder for Ed to convince him that taking care of a pet is not ideal for their situation.) Since Sonic people don't normally wear pants, Ed is drawing more attention to himself wearing them than if he just revealed the automail.

I haven't gotten much plot yet, but there are little things that are decided. Al's a deer, (because I thought it would be funny if his favorite animal was his brother), and because of this, he can't climb trees as easily as Ed can, and when they were younger, he used to complain when Ed wouldn't help him up. Winry's a rabbit, and their mechanic. She also has an old clunker of a plane that she dutifully maintains. Mustang is a dog, Hawkeye's, well, a hawk, Mei is a panda, and Ling is a dragon with a bottomless pit for a stomach. Ed will sometimes show off his natural claws alongside his arm sword, much to Al's frustration. If I get more ideas for this or make more art, it'll be under the tag 'Chaotic Exchange.'

[rhapsodiq]

*     ◟    :    〔   PARK HYUNG-SIK  ,      NON BINARY    +   HE/THEM    〕      SIWOO KIM ,      some say you’re a  THIRTY-FIVE YEAR OLD  lost soul among the neon lights.      known for being both  OPTIMISTIC  and  GULLIBLE,  one can’t help but think of  FOSSA  by   DAUGHTER  when you walk by.    are you still a    REPLICANT   /    COMPUTER  SCIENTIST   at    STONEAGE INDUSTRIES ,     even with your reputation as THE FOOL ?     i think we’ll be seeing more of you and  LATE NIGHTS SPEND AT THE LAB, FINGERS TAPPING AWAY AT THE KEYBOARD, HEADACHE STRAINING BEHIND THE TEMPLES; UNEXPLAINABLE GAPS IN THE MEMORY, ANYTHING THAT POINTS AT THE TRUTH BEING DISCARDED AWAY; MEMORIES OF SHARING EVERYTHING, YET FEELING SAFER THAN EVER,    although we can’t help but think of SAM ( SUPERNATURAL ) , ALPHONSE 'AL' ELRIC ( FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST ) , ALICE ( DETROIT BECOME HUMAN )  whenever we see you down these rainy streets.

BIOGRAPHY

general tws: violence, death mention, murder, child neglect, voluntary human / replicant testing

THE FOOL: represents beginnings, leap of faith, spontaneity, innocence

the wastelands are his home, the barren land, the nothingness. they live off of scraps and the overwhelming heat seeps into their bones. despite it all, as the youngest, he is the lucky one, naively unaware that he gets the bigger portions, the nicer books they find here and there. gets to sleep safe and sound when many like him fear if they will make it through the day.

he grows accustomed to the comfort; grows gentle and hopeful in the face of the horrid reality they live in. the broken machines his father brings home from work are his toys, and the younger boy grows around bits and pieces of broken technology, an empty battery there, a radio that only lets out static here, he learns how they work and how to make them work. despite the heat, the hunger, and the danger looming on the horizon, the wastelands become his home.

he's almost twelve when they lose their parents. at one point he cannot believe he thought it used to be difficult before. he's still lucky, he reminds himself, he's not alone, and with his brother next to him, siwoo feels nothing but safe, regardless of the peril that looms outside their car, regardless of the sounds he has to shield his ears from at the middle of the night. they take shifts, he learns how to shoot before he learns how to ride a bike — but it's fine, he's fine, he will be fine. as he looks into his brother's eyes and feels the warmth, he is convinced they aren't alone, they'll never be alone, as long as they have each other.

siwoo doesn't know how much time they spend in that purgatory. there is no difference between day and night, today and tomorrow. all of his thoughts morph into something akin to pure survival, they need to watch their backs, scavenge for food — survive, just survive, be better than the rest so that they can just exist. it wears down on siwoo's soul quick, quicker than it would have if he were a better man, he's sure.

when the offer comes from stoneage, it is almost too good to be true ( foolish boy, it certainly is ). — but siwoo, ever the optimist, is convinced it's the turn in their life they were looking for. future is coming, it's here, it's bionic, and the fact that they are asking siwoo, the odd boy from the wastelands to be a part of it, is a once in a lifetime chance he simply cannot turn down. he jumps for the opportunity, yet the only thing that makes him falter is that daniel's not coming. he convinces himself that it's the right thing to do, that finally, with this, he will go into the city, become his own person, and finally be strong enough to protect daniel instead after all these years. it will be fine, it will, it has to be.

THE FOOL REVERSED: represents chaos, lack of direction, poor judgement, folly, naivety

it turns out just fine. ň̵̵̴̡̛̙̟̰͍̭̜̮̼̯̘̖̬̺̹̱̄̀̀̀ͤ͌ͬͬͩ̚͘͜o̷̵̡͙̦̥̥̙̣̙̠͕̦̹̖̯̬̹̫̳ͭ͛ͧ͌ͯ̇͂̊̎ͣ͐̂͘ͅt̶̢̢̢̼̘̩͇̞̼̙̎͌ͧ͐ͦ̊̂͜ḥ̴̺̤̲̒́́ͪ̐͌͜͞i̗̅ͬ́͒͊͑ͥ̃͊́͠͞ņ̺̲̟̼̪̻̀ͩͦ͋ͦ͂ͬ̈́ͬ̌̚͘͡��̼̯̼̦̀͑̾̈͟g̸̸̢̪͙̖̟̟͚͇̤͙͖̗̰͙͓̣͍̮̐́ͥͯ̇ͣͪ͗ͣ̄ͤ̚̚͟͞͡͠ iͤ͛ͪ͝ͅs̷͎͎̞̰̞̠̠̣̫͓ͧ̑ͭ͐̾͆ͬ̏ͫͦ̉̄͋͛̑ͯ̾̚̕͜͝ w̸̷̧̻̫͙͉̬̳̻̟ͯͯ̔̃͛̒̏̍̏̌̉͒͋ͮ̀͗́̅͗̋́͑̂ͣͬͩ̚͘͡ŗ̸̵̸̯̬̻̖̠͈͍͇͈̩̼͚̪̖͔̩͚͇̻͔̲ͨͪ͆ͮ̂ͫ̀ͫ̌ͤ́̆͑ͥ͐̈ͭ̑̋͘̚͟on̷̢̰͓̠̦͔̣̣͛̏̓ͦͣ̌̓͊̀͐̆g̴̙̹̮̤ͬ̂̀̊̇ͧ̇̿͡͝͠

years later, siwoo, the odd boy from the wastelands, makes his name as a computer scientist for the stoneage industries. he's well off now, with a little condo of his own and a reasonable amount of savings — it's everything he dreamed of and more. [ is it? are you not missing something foolish child? at nights when he cannot sleep, he dreams of a pair of eyes filled with warmth, and a promise he failed to keep. he needs to find him, he will, he has to, he misses him like a part of himself is missing. then that thought is replaced by a dream filled with static, amidst type of a pitch-black darkness he has never seen before— ]

at the industries, pinnacle of technology, where they write the future together, he's good at what he does, and he loves it. he has his hands on technology he never could have dreamed of back at the wastelands. as part of the initial offer, he was one of the first people on the project, and years down the line, when their hard work is coming finally into fruition, siwoo feels part of it more than ever. this is his home now, the city, with its ups and downs, he plants his flowers in the soil with careful hands and treats them with gentle care. it's home — he has made it so.

[ a divine entity cackles at that, a nasty, unseemly sound. you should have been careful about what you wish for, you foolish child. with a gap in your memories you deliberately try not to fill, you'll never be human again. in place of your veins, there's wires, in place of your heart, there's an artifice, it's fake, all of it's fake — i wonder when you'll realize you're further away from the truth than you've ever been. you've flown too close to the sun, you tried to bite the hand that feeds you- and at this rate, you'll never know what you've become ] 

CONNECTION IDEAS:

people he knows from the wastelands: it has been a long time since he was there, but it would be very interesting if they knew eo when they were a kid etc.

The Mentor: the person who recruited him when he was in the wastelands, saw his potential with technology, and most of all, his desperation to have a better life!! the dynamics are up to interpretation but! i am hcing at this point that someone from the stoneage industries is the reason why he got murdered (which he Does not know, there is a gap in his memory and he still thinks he's human). after seeing something he shouldn't have (he was either going to leave the company or they think he might have whistleblown) he was put into his replicant body, his memories were already part of stoneage database since he was voluntarily testing for them for so long. — so the mentor would either have a hand in all of this, or at least know about it!

science friends: siwoo, is, through and through, a nerd. he has a plethora of science facts at his disposal, and he loves tinkering and learning more about technology. anyone to share that passion w would be very fun

cybernetics: while siwoo's official position has to do with coding, he is also a very good mechanic. as such, if your muse's path ever crossed that part of stoneage, siwoo could have been the person to help

coworkers: other people from the stoneage industry he gets along with or doesn't? siwoo is pretty cheery and friendly, but it could also annoy your muse when they are trying to focus and siwoo is all chatty

friends, neighbors, antagonistic connections, etc etc!!: any & all, let's plot! i will put more info here when i have further specific ideas <3

[philosophiums]

For the anime asks: 25 :) have a great day/night!

ty!!!!!

25. anime you would recommend to someone who hates anime

real life event that happened to me actually! i have a friend who used to hate anime, but i convinced him to sit down with me for 3 episodes one night, anime of my choosing, and if he didn't want to continue we would stop there and watch something else. i knew it had to be a completed anime (so i approached it looking for a 10-12 episode single-run anime, no possibility of a 2nd season), and that it would have to be a genre he would appreciate i ended up settling on Terror in Resonance. we got to the end of the 3rd ep and he took the remote from me and skipped the end credits and went right to ep 4 KSJBVKJDFVB. he was HOOKED, and has since expanded his horizons in anime anyway, i don't think there is any one Good answer for a first anime, and i don't think i would ever recommend one to someone i don't know very well. anime has such a broad scope, and it's possible to find gems of every genre. however, i do think that it's good to start with an anime that is short (i think maybe around 30 episodes or less), because that packs all of the story Right There. no filler eps to lose their interest. all story, all the time, and i think that's important when getting someone into anime. also, again, genre is important - pick something they're going to like. if i had started my friend on, say, fruits basket or mha, he never would have touched anime again in his life. also, i don't think anyone's first anime should be fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood. it's too good, and it'll set their expectations too high KSJDBV. i think it should be one OF the first ones they watch (maybe 3rd?), but if that's where someone starts and they love it, everything is kinda just always going to be downhill from there. wow that was a long answer for a simple question. anyway i stand by Terror in Resonance as a good first anime. No. 6 maybe also. Yuri on Ice as well..... Psycho Pass but only season 1 (forbid them from watching the rest of it, which may have the benefit of reverse psychology in getting them to watch it on their own !). It really depends!!!

anime asks

[ssruis]

I think a ruikasa/wxs howls moving castle au has potential but only if you like. Make a huge mess of the plot. Just really fuck it up. Replace the story/role of several characters with something completely different that you made up.

- Tsukasa gets cursed for kind of being an asshole (to a witch that came into the restaurant he runs w saki. As is his right as a service worker.) (he still does theatre in this au) w something that slowly turns his heart to stone and in a canon typical tsukasa way goes “I am going to solve this problem on my own through sheer stubbornness/determination”, leaves a note for saki like “brb nothings wrong don’t worry about it :)” and goes to hunt down the wizard’s weird fucking castle sighted roaming the nearby wilderness everyone is freaked out about

- emu replaces turnip head but she got turned into a talking bunny with very few of her memories because it’s cute and I refuse to make an au where she can’t talk for 99% of the story. Tsukasa frees her from a tangled up net and she follows him bc she can’t figure out how to break her own curse so she might as well follow this goofy guy and see if the wizard can help her too

- nene as calcifer & rui as howl, nene (a witch) was cursed to die 300 yrs ago after freezing while performing for a (more powerful and significantly more cruel) witch -> rui prevented her death by figuring out a way to give her his own life force/soul/heart/whatever at the cost of her existing as a soul without a body, she keeps him alive through giving him her magic. Hard to explain. Whatever. Fullmetal alchemist vibes? We’re going on a quest to get your body back nene. They’re both functionally immortal but if one dies so does the other. She exists as a flame that operates the castle (nenerobo reference…)

- rui has been attempting to hunt down a way to reverse the curse while also fucking with the government that began cracking down harshly on magic usage after the beloved princess went missing with the evidence pointing to a witch or wizard as the culprit. Idk. Potentially pulling in soul eater inspiration with a war against witches… as a treat… rui interfering on both sides of the fight

- mfw I just wanted to do silly shows with my silly robots and now I’ve been alive for 300 years making zero progress on breaking a curse but at least I can use magic now (rui) vs mfw I messed up one thing and now I don’t have a body and I’m forced to watch my friend run himself into the ground trying to fix what should never have been his problem (nene). Canon typical nene guilt complex/rui giving nene a way to get around her issue that doesn’t help her grow. You understand.

- the kidnapped princess is emu she just forgot

- tsukasa catches up to the castle and enters it (bitch you live like this dot png) and emu discovers nene and drags her into a conversation. They discuss the curses and nene’s basically like (internally) ykw we’ve made no progress on our own maybe if we look into the curses you guys are under we’ll figure out our own on the way. (Externally) maybe having an idiot around will give rui some ideas. In return you can clean this place.

- emunene will be in this au what do u take me for. Emu entertains nene and helps her grow more confident, nene helps emu sort through her memories and more negative emotions.

- the flying over the town scene does happen (rui saves tsukasa (before tsukasa gets cursed) from a bunch of weird creatures created by the witch who later curses him) so when rui gets home and walks into the convo btwn emu/nene/tsukasa it’s essentially

Tsukasa: YOU!???

Rui: hello nice to see you again :) now please leave

Nene: I already hired him as a house keeper

Rui: but we don’t need a house keeper?

Nene: rui those dishes have been in the sink for a month

- plot happens I’m not rewatching hmc to figure this out (lying. I’ll probably do it even if I don’t do anything with this au)

- the cure for the curse for all of them essentially requires personal growth which is why I think making miku a witch that cursed all of them to inspire this/put in motion the events that would lead to them meeting is a funny idea. Not one I’m going to go with but it’s funny.

- the effect of the curse on rui was like… draining him of his passion for shows/inventing and his emotions which tsukasa helps bring back, and rui makes tsukasa realize why he loves theatre so much

- maybe tsukasa actually gets cursed by being egotistical like I will outshine everyone I’m the greatest world future star lalala (is cursed because the witch finds his lack of humility deeply grating and/or is insulted by the implication that this random guy is superior to her) oh shit

- leaning towards the witch being meiko just for funsies although kaito is also not a bad choice.

- drawback of rui using magic as someone who is not meant to be using magic is that the more magic he uses the more he’s turned into a weird bird cat beast (& the transformation back becomes harder and harder)

- one issue I have with a 1:1 hmc au is that like… rui and howl only share surface level similarities. If I wanted howl level dramatics in my story tsukasa would have to be howl which would require significantly more fucking around with the plot because rui would NOT do what Sophie did. Howl can be tsukasa but rui cannot be Sophie. Do u understand. Emunene has potential but unfortunately ruikasa fits the howl/sophie dynamic best. You know? You know. Tsukasa would get cursed and go on a quest and be perfectly fine cleaning the house of a guy who leaves food stains on the counter & never cleans them up if it meant he could lift the curse. I think if rui “canonically hates cleaning” kamishiro had to clean an atrociously messy house (disregarding the fact that tsukasa would not live like that) he would die.

- but rui also would not turn into a pile of slime because his hair got fucked up. That’s a tsukasa thing. Gestures at the card story where tsukasa is Pissed rui fucked up his hair with an explosion. I’m sure somewhere in the au over the course of canon typical rui fucking w tsukasa with his experiments I’ll work in a joke about that.

- I think in general the issue with a 1:1 au is you have to erase too much of the characters you’re inserting into the world to make things happen which is boring. U gotta change stuff. Unfortunately this leads to taking inspiration from like 4 different sources to make things work which is a huge pain in the ass and requires actual planning to create a coherent plot

- together wxs can make this moving castle a moving home :) just kidding they can’t all live together. tsukasa has to go home to saki and emu has to let her family know she’s ok. Also the lifting of the curse gives nene her body and her magic back/gives rui his life force back so 1) they’re no longer immortal 2) rui can no longer use magic (he’s fine w this he basically just used it to make truly impossible mechanical feats happen which he can figure out how to do without magic) 3) this results in the castle falling apart

- rui just moves in with tsukasa and works as a mechanic and nene moves to a nice calm cabin that emu essentially lives in when she isn’t needed to do princess stuff. They probably form a theatre troupe that eventually picks up as well & nene and rui can collab on a new moving castle to travel around if they do desire.

- why is this so scattered you may be asking. It’s because I had given this like 2 hours of thought at 2am before typing this out the next evening and had several more ideas as I typed. Firm believer that good ideas only arrive when you are sleep deprived and have given very little thought to what you’re laying out.

- I want an au that is shorter than the other aus I have so if I elect to actually write something I’ll have an easier time -> oh this is kinda getting out of hand -> god fucking damnit I did it again. Truly incapable of not making an au that has like 30 different plot threads.