#mei fan: huh?? what??? it was a normal conversation???

[upathos]

i think mei fan should get to speak cantonese

[dorizardthewizard]

Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 19 - 21

Episode 19:

Hush Sharky: I should've picked Mark, nothing exciting will ever happen following Thran!

Is that meta

Well this romance between Mark and Nina-8 is progressing quickly huh

Nina-8 says it's hard for her to trust others hmmmm

And there we have it, an explanation for Ahito's sleepiness – he stores the Breath within himself, which can wear him out. Pretty cool, although it does bring up some questions. Does his dad do that too, since he has the same problem? How did that excess get released before he started playing Galactik Football? Why is he just doing better now I don't think we ever actually covered that in season 2

OK imagine you're chilling having a normal conversation and your friend just does a backflip out of nowhere. I would definitely be reacting like D'jok hahah

Thran: I'm coming with you Clamp! Clamp: No, it's too dangerous!

Thran: But the writers said it's MY turn to have a fun adventure with the pirates!

Thran really said, if the writers aren't gonna give me any interesting sideplots, I'll do it myself! RESPECT.

Artegor (completely deadpan): I am excited. It doesn't show?

HE'S JUST LIKE ME FR FR

Ahito covering for Thran is so cute, of course Thran would let his brother know

Why ARE the Paradisia girls referred to by their numbers?

Huh, this data link thing that the Paradisia players do is pretty cool

This hack for the space port entry code is pretty dumb but it's fine I'll just insert some star trek technobabble here in my mind. Aaaaand done, GO THRAN! And yaaaay Thran the Pirates fan gets approval from the man himself

A rare corner kick!

I don't know anything about football but this goalkeeper goal seems kind of bullshit to me. Like was that necessary?

NOOOOO WARREN :( Barry calling it an end of an era, I guess it's not just the Snow Kids who get that press treatment after losing a match. But the Lightnings haven't been to the finals in three seasons and Warren is probably getting older :(

Team Paradisia slayed though

Awww poor Nina-8 :( Hmm what plan is Nikki-4 talking about, I don't remember much after the Paradisia tournament. I do like the conflict between the two, they may be twins but Nina-8 has a much softer personality than Nikki-4. And with her not being on the team until D'jok left, I wonder if she was already trying to distance herself from them a bit and try to live her own life. Which is pretty symbolic for an identical twin.

Well Mark's love drama has more potential than the love triangles they were doing until now, if only they'd given it more screentime and development

Hush Sharky is kind of underreacting for a journalist who just found out a galaxy-class footballer and his coach are in cahoots with the leader of the pirates

Again, the budget of this show might be low, but they actually have quite a lot of locations and the background art is always really good.

Sonny taking his mask off on Paradisia because he saw some plants sfjkdfssf that was unnecessary, he's so extra! And they're lucky the weather conditions are still perfectly fine for humans.

Episode 20:

I guess Mice Delight is delicious to robots only haha

D'jok Mei and Micro-Ice being besties ahhhh I love it

Mice is playing a delicate game? Since he lied to Zo-leen so he could hide he's going to meet Yuki, what are they implying there?

Oooo 3-2 to the Xenons! The Rykers really gave them a run for their money!

STEVENS INTERVIEW! STEVENS IS GONNA TALK EVERYONE SHUT UP!!

OH THEY FUCKED UP HIS DUB VOICE. NEVER MIND.

But seriously Callie should get a raise for finding them LOL, nice little animation touch of him looking around the whole time he's talking to her. Sir you would be harder to spot if you weren't wearing your football kit. It's ok, yeah I know the animators don't have the budget. Hang in there, buddy

Stevens top scorer in the cup!! It might seem strange with him not having a flux, but it seems reasonable to me considering the Pirate's style of play. They always score at least one goal in their games, and he's pretty much always the one who does it. For other teams, the goal scoring is a bit more shared between different players. Plus it's still early in the cup.

KING. I LOVE THIS INTERACTION. Stevens keeping it real even before the Technoids showed up, I'll say we've had some good Pirates moments this season

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm are they suggesting Micro-Ice is two-timing between Zo-Leen and Yuki? Uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh.................

And since when was Zo-Leen all over Micro-Ice again anyway? She seemed just friendly during the Paradisia tournament

Why is this friendship between Harvey and Lord Phoenix actually kind of cute?

Awwww the Snow Kids are the best Yuki fanclub

These seats at Genesis stadium aren't actually seats, it's more like an amphitheater and they're not very comfortable. No back rest!

I love Stevens's goals, obviously he can't just use the flux to smash it so his style is more technical

ASHDFJSDF in this season you can hear the Pirates celebrating (and also grunting while running?) and it's so silly, they just gave them stereotypical gruff pirate voices

Games between other teams are funny because there will be like. Exactly one new animation in the whole game. Literally everything else is stock footage

This soundtrack slaps by the way

The Pirates goalkeeper's signature head shake lol

Sorry guys I love Yuki I really do but you know who I'm rooting for

The Elektra's flux confuses me, it looks solid enough for them to ride on it?

This season is really just dunking on Barry whenever they can huh, Artegor's laugh and trying to pass it off as nerves SDJFKDFS I LOVE HIM THANK YOU VOICE ACTOR FOR NOT LEAVING

Oooo that water skating trick does look really cool! I like that since season 1, we've seen more creative fluxes

Well as much as I love the Pirates I'm happy for the Elektras, and Yuki! She's come so far from her nervous self in season 2 and I'm so proud of her

TIA SECOND TOP SCORER YESSS!!! I would go back to check if the number of goals is actually correct but I cba

If I had a nickel for every time a romantic breakup has happened this season at the taxi stop with one of the parties telling the other to forget about them, I would have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

AND NOW MICE IS HAPPY JUST BECAUSE ZO-LEEN KISSED HIM?? YUKI ALREADY KISSED YOU IN SEASON 2! YOU JUST FORGOT ABOUT HER NOW? YOU DIDN'T EVEN CARE FOR ZO-LEEN This love plot with Mice is so stupid I can't even be bothered to comment on it anymore.

Episode 21:

D'jok seems to be perfectly back to normal and on friendly terms with the others as if nothing happened. Compare to season 2 where Rocket's Netherball stint had consequences and his return was not so smooth!

Ahito you couldn't think of a better excuse for Thran leaving? 😂 I do feel like we could have had a better reason in the story for Thran ending up with the Pirates, it IS a bit weird that he says he has to go on a mission with them but he doesn't actually have a reason to, and this is before the SEMI-FINAL. That's a bit too important to be sneaking off because... you just want to?

I need this screenshot in good quality

I love that Bennett being the hacker guy is a thing that's consistent throughout the season

Lord Phoenix somehow grabbed literally all of them at once sijfsdkdk except Harvey. Fuck robot rights I guess

Warren coaching time! I love how he's always willing to lend a helping hand for these things, whether it's giving D'jok a talk about what's important in season 1, trying to get Rocket out of Netherball in season 2 or helping with training here. What a guy, truly Mr. Galactik Football

Huh, that's an interesting little way to use the Lightning's flux. It's like static electricity keeping them together

sfdkjdsf I would do this too. Actually I do do this to my short friends. I'm also short but they're shorter so I gotta take my wins when I can

Micro-Ice and Tia duo! I love them I wish we saw more of them as a fun pair, they would get up to such hijinks together. Sibling vibes!

Emo Mark hours

Well, you tried Mice. Maybe try to get him to open up about his problem instead of just trying to cheer him up?

Clamp: No, that's not it, it's- Sonny: What is it, Clamp? Say something!

Clamp: BITCH I WAS ABOUT TO BEFORE YOU INTERRUPTED ME

Nice one Brim Simbra, I like that we got to see him actually doing something lol

This dilemma about Adim and Aarch's relationship due to her being league president was never mentioned before, why did they never consider this? Should've built that up earlier instead of that random Artegor plot

Lord Phoenix: Paradisia was such a beautiful planet

Idk man it doesn't look THAT bad right now, the UK looks like that every day

I can't show the video because I used my 1 video per post limit for Stevens talking but there's this super fucking weird segment where Nork says the Elektras-Paradisia match will be the first all female semi-final ever, and Barry dreamily says this is a "fantasy" GFC? And Nork is like "you said it! Team Paradisia...." in this dreamy way again and Callie has to cough and change the subject? Hey what the fuck was that???? This season tried to be more blatant with the girl power messaging but then puts in moments like this?????

YAAAAAAY XENONS TIME

Wait Thran is in this teamup shot? Did he already get back?

Oh I really love this interaction between D'jok and Luur before kickoff – no intimidation dance from the Xenons, just a meaningful handshake between a guy who almost plummeted to his death last season, and the player that saved him. Idk if the writers were intentional with this but if so, it's a really nice example of subtle writing and events of the previous season carrying over.

Wait yeah the Pirates aren't back yet! In which case, Aarch is pretty chill for a coach who is missing a player for A SEMI-FINAL MATCH. Eh I guess at this point he's just given up with these kids

Oh damn Brim Simbra actually died, I like that they went through with that so the explosion on Paradisia had consequences. Could have also opened up some interesting avenues with the new flux society leader in season 4 – maybe he'd want to do things differently?

But it's also kind of hilarious that Brim Simbra's very last action as flux society leader... was to delegate the galaxy saving to Sonny Blackbones yet again LOL

[kitkat1003]

On the issue of Mortality

AO3 Link

MK chose to be mortal, to be vulnerable, for the time being, and Monkey King is fine with that.

On the surface, at least.  Now he has a successor, one that he likes, and he’s vulnerable????

Yeah, he’s never going to sleep easy again.

(Or, 11 chapters through season 1 about Monkey King, and anxiety his successor gives him.  Who knew being a dad teacher would be so hard?)

Chapter 1: Picking a successor

(Or “Look, I’m gonna come clean.  Um...I’ve been kinda watching you”)

When Sun Wukong—the Monkey King—decides he needs a successor, it isn’t an easy decision.  For one, he refuses to admit why.  Because that would mean confronting it all and he doesn’t want to.  

He needs a successor because he wants one.  Who doesn’t want to retire?  It’s not like he’s spent hundreds of thousands of years in technical retirement, waiting for the Demon Bull King to return.  No, he’s been...super busy.  Yeah.  Turning Flower Fruit Mountain into a paradise has totally taken him…forever, and, like, he’s got lots of stuff to do.  He watches TV, once humans get electricity figured out.  Gets a computer too, once those things start popping up.  He gets a lawyer or two, yknow, keeping up with the times.

He’s...super busy.  He definitely deserves a retirement.

So all that’s left is find a successor.  Easy, right?

Well....

He actually starts looking when he hears whispers that the Demon Bull family is starting to get close to figuring out how to lift his staff.  So about a hundred years before Demon Bull King actually escapes.

He finds a few kids he thinks might work, but nothing happens, anyway, so there’s no point in interrupting their boring normal lives for nothing.  Besides, he doesn’t really see any of them with the spark of...something that he wants in his successor in any of them

He watches them grow.  Child to teen to adult, he watches, and then he leaves before they get too old because he doesn’t want to see the headstones.

He doesn’t understand why they have to be human.  Why they have to be mortal.  Why they have to be able to die.

Why he has to watch them die.

Years and years pass.  He gets lax, when looking for a successor.  Lax when it comes to keeping an eye on the Demon Bull family.

He does, on occasion, watch the town where his staff is.  It’s a pretty populace place, always buzzing with some sort of activity, which is both fun and boring.

One night, he watches a kid—no older than 13, he thinks, since he’s gotten used to watching humans grow and can gauge it pretty well—sprint down the street in the rain, wearing nothing but a ratty old hoodie, a shirt, shorts, torn up shoes, and a headband so dirty that even he can’t discern the original color.

There are three other figures chasing him, and he ducks into an alley as they sprint past.  Monkey King watches as the kid settles down, sitting in the alley, and pulling something out from beneath his hoodie.

A puppy.

“Hey there, little guy,” the kid’s voice is soft, and he scritches the tiny pup behind the ears.  “Sorry I couldn’t get your siblings, but they’d already been thrown in the lake—” the look on the kid’s face is nothing short of heartbreaking. 

Monkey King has plans for the group of thugs he saw earlier, if that’s what they were doing. Humans. 

“But hey, managed to save you, huh?  I’ll bring you to a shelter in the morning.  Someone will take you home and you’ll get loved to death.” Monkey King rolls his eyes at the saccharine display, but he wonders.

There isn’t a lot of crime in this city, with its advancements.  What’s a kid doing outside this late at night?

“I’d take you home with me, but mine’s more of a hovel than a place to live.  You can still see it, though!  C’mon,” the kid gets up, stumbling a little, and Monkey King notices that he’s favoring one leg, that the elbow of one of the sleeve’s of his hoodie is wet.

He follows.

The kid’s house is literally a shack made of a metal sheet wedged between an alley wall.  There’s a ‘bench’ that’s a slab of rock placed on top of more rocks, where a well loved sketchbook sits.

The kid sits on the bench, setting the puppy down beside him as he flips open his sketchbook.

“I’m gonna draw you, so I don’t forget, kay?” He pats the pup on the head, and then, using the smallest, most worn down pencil Monkey King has ever seen, he slowly carves out the puppy’s features, getting the soft tones of fur.  He keeps squinting, but Monkey King thinks that’s because all he has is the light of the lamppost for his vision.

This kid...is pretty darn good.

Monkey King watches for way longer than he would like to admit, and then watches as the kid pulls out a very worn blanket-substitute, curling around the puppy beneath it.

He frowns, but isn’t sure what to do about it.

So he leaves, and makes sure those thugs learn a thing or two about treating animals with respect.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This kid just keeps popping up in Monkey King’s peripherals.

He likes to people watch, and the kid will just appear from nowhere.  He’ll be running down the street, hanging out with this girl who looks about 3 economic classes above him. They’ll go to the arcade and play for hours, and she’ll pay for practically everything.

He decides he likes her, if she’s nice enough to do that for the kid.  Plus, he feels a familiar energy coming off of her, something he trusts.

They typically end their day at a noodle shop.  Pigsy’s?  The kid always pays there, with coins of various sizes.  The girl, when the kid isn’t looking, will slip the cook some more money.  They get steaming hot bowls of ramen, harass the cook, and eventually get half chased out, laughing all the while.

“You know you can stay with me, right?” The girl says, one day, when Monkey King is people watching (read: eavesdropping on their conversation.  It’s like his new favorite TV show, at this point).  Kid rolls his eyes.

“Mei, c’mon, your relationship with your folks is as strained as mine!  I wouldn’t want you to end up like me.  Besides, I’m fine!” he insists with the grin Monkey King has grown accustomed to seeing on Kid’s face.  

The information Monkey King gains from those two sentences is certainly something, and he ponders on Mei, the girl who spends her days as far away from home as possible.

Mei frowns.

“You still won’t show me where you’re staying.  Or explain why your clothes are all torn up!” She pokes him in the chest, and the Kid shrugs.

“Cause you wouldn’t like either of those things!  I can take care of myself!  Promise.” He rocks back and forth on his feet, all smiles.

Mei fixes him with a glare, before she sighs, relenting. “Fine.  But, if you won’t take my hospitality, you get my undying loyalty and free stuff!” She whips out a brand new red winter coat.  

Kid takes it slowly.

“It’s getting colder out!” She explains.  “And red just isn’t my color, you know?”

Kid slowly pulls the jacket against his chest, like he doesn’t know what to do with it, and then he smiles.  This one is smaller.  Less performative.  Monkey King didn’t realize that he’d been watching the kid to be able to tell the difference, but it’s not too hard to see.  Kid uses big smiles like a cloak, to hide what’s underneath.  The smaller ones-those are like the slivers of sunlight shooting out from an eclipse.  Wukong finds he prefers the smaller ones.

Kid wraps his arm around Mei’s shoulders.

“Thanks, Mei.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The days get colder, and Kid is still in that shack.  Monkey King finds out that Kid doesn’t steal for money.  Instead, he does little odd jobs for short change, and then looks for coins people have dropped.  Apparently, the city’s wealth has made people more loose with their change.

Mei drags him to warm places as often as she can, but apparently this time of year she has a lot of responsibilities, or “social events,” as she calls them, so she can’t be around as much.

Kid doesn’t seem to mind, shivering through the nights, curling himself as tight as possible with that jacket and shitty blanket, and Monkey King doesn’t know why he even cares, but...

He’s not cruel.  It isn’t pleasant to watch a kid suffer.

And then, Kid gets sick.  Like, delirious, fever sick, and he’s not getting better.

And Monkey King has told himself, a million times, that he would let Kid figure his own life out, but he ends up picking Kid up anyway, depositing him at the ever familiar noodle shop.

The cook drags the boy inside, and Monkey King doesn’t see Kid on the streets after that.

Good.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kid starts working at the noodle shop, apparently, and he lives above the shop.  Slowly, he accrues random objects.  Sketchbooks, games, figurines, Monkey King comics?  He watches the show near religiously, and Monkey King is both flattered and weirded out.

A super fan, huh?  Okay then.

And when he isn’t working, or watching “Monkey King: The Animated Series,” or reading Monkey King comics, he’s begging the resident bookworm, Tang, for stories, which he then sketches out.

Monkey King actually goes through the sketchbook once, when Kid’s asleep.  Yup, Kid’s really, really good at this.  Monkey King actually thinks about stealing a drawing, but that would be both very obvious and also stupid.

So he lets it go.  He ought to look for his successor, anyway.  He hears the Demon Bull family is getting close.

He leaves Kid to his life and moves on to his own.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He can’t find a successor.  Somehow.  It’s like every person in this city (and it would have to be in this city, because you need to be close to the staff in some regard if you want to have a connection with it.  Being born near it, living near it-makes it easy for the energy, the chi, to find you) doesn’t want anything to do with hero business.  The kids he considers are too small, the adults too...boring.

And he’s getting pretty frustrated here, because he thinks he might just have to fight the Demon Bull King all over again, which, ugh.

And then, it clicks.

He’s watching Kid drive around town, delivering orders, and somehow the kid steers towards the construction site.  Toward the staff.

Of course.

God, it was literally staring him in the face.  He feels kind of dumb, now that it hits him, but whatever.  Not like anyone’s around to tease him about it.

He watches Kid waltz towards danger, music in his headphones too loud to notice the literal demon family, until Kid opens his eyes and sees the whole demon army there, and hoo boy, is this comical.

Monkey King wonders if they’ll succeed this time, in lifting his staff.  They certainly seem confident.  He’s kind of curious, kind of bored.  The whole ‘take our rightful place as rulers of this world’ schtick is super annoying, and Red Son’s voice is grating.

The light show is pretty nice, though, and then.

Then.

Demon Bull King’s a lot smaller than he remembers, but his voice is the same, as is his attitude.  Monkey King can feel Kid shaking and takes a quick sweep of the area.  Seems his successor is right above Red Son.

He smirks to himself, not that anyone can see considering he’s a bird right now.  

This is going to be hilarious.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Kid touches the staff, Monkey King isn’t prepared for the feeling he gets.

It’s like he’s been the single Sun in an endless galaxy, surrounded by darkness, when suddenly another star appears from nowhere, throwing him into orbit with it.  The galaxy shifts, the light doubles, the darkness recedes.

Monkey King’s own center, his sun, feels red hot, warm, and tempered by years of life, with a spark of yellow and white in its center.  Kid’s is bright, brilliant golden yellow, more white than any color, bursting with energy.

That energy gets put to work pretty quickly, as the Kid fumbles his way out of the demon’s den, and Monkey King soars after him, watching the escape with a smile.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He doesn’t properly meet Kid until he gets shot all the way to Flower Fruit mountain.  After Kid escapes Red Son, he panickedly tells his friends what’s going on and tries to get there on his own.

Well, all the way is a bit much.  Maybe Monkey King had to catch Kid and fly him there, because Kid was looking half dead and Monkey King was a little worried, but that’s beside the point.  He leaves Kid on the shore, and follows him when Kid gets up.

He isn’t expecting the frustration, when he can’t be found, but he supposes that’s his cue.

Getting stepped on is unpleasant.  Guess Kid doesn’t like bugs.

God, the look on Kid’s face, when it hits him that Monkey King’s been watching him!  If he could frame a memory, that would be it.  Hoo, boy, is that going to be replaying in his head for a while.  Kid seems more bewildered than anything else, and the idea of being Monkey King’s successor doesn’t sit well with him.

Which, Monkey King doesn’t get that.  Who wouldn’t want to be taught by him?

But maybe he overestimates the kid’s spunk, his confidence, because waving off his worries doesn’t spur him on; rather, it seems to deflate him.

Ugh.  Why is being a teacher difficult?  It’s not like his teacher had a hard time with him, right?

Distantly, he thinks he can hear his master shouting at him.  He hops off his cloud, says just the right thing to get Kid pumped up, and watches him race off.

He considers just sitting back and not watching, but then, that wouldn’t be any fun, would it?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He isn’t actually sure what having a successor means, really.  How much their powers, their lives, would mirror his own.  A part of him was terrified by the prospect—could he even be known as anything special, if he was no longer one of a kind?

But there’s also something quite exciting about this.  The idea that your life is being rewritten, the story unfinished and yet also repeating itself.  The Demon Bull King is on the loose, with his army and family, trying to take over the world.

And only one person can stop him.  The Monkey King.

Kid’s powers are volatile.  He can feel them flare up from time to time, wildly flickering out of control.  A lack of self confidence, that might be causing it.  A part of him is annoyed by that, a part of him is relieved.  Far better to have to teach someone to believe in themselves than teach them humility.  He’s pretty sure he hasn’t learned that latter lesson all the way yet.

Kid vanishes into the Demon Bull King’s chest, where the staff lies, and for a moment, the new sun vanishes.  Monkey King feels the cold rush of space in its absence, and feels panic, even though he’s only known this warmth for a few hours.

But then, it bursts back into existence, as a familiar stone drops from the Demon Bull King’s chest, cracking open, and, well, it’s history being written the same way over and over again, isn’t it?

Kid has a flair for silliness, childish maneuvers.  He likes to have fun, and that’s the best part of the powers they share.  To be invincible, to have fun while saving the day. 

It’s a repeat, until, well, it isn’t.

The blow Kid takes makes Monkey King wince.  The body becoming invulnerable takes time.  It doesn’t just immediately show up.  Every second, Kid’s body is absorbing and meshing with the powers thrust upon it, but that doesn’t mean getting hit a mile by a guy twenty times your size doesn’t still hurt, at this point.

But Monkey King knows this is what has to happen.  Because heroes aren’t heroes if they never feel pain, never get hit.

Heroes, he thinks, as Kid tears himself from the wall he’s embedded in, as Kid stands, eyes ablaze, are heroes when they get hit and they get back up.

And Kid sure as hell does.

“I’m the Monkey Kid!” He shouts, like a battle cry, like a challenge, and Monkey King smirks.  Monkey Kid, huh?  It suits him.  And then, Kid slams the staff on the ground, and the world shifts.

A part of him is kind of jealous.  How come he never got a mech?!  Has that been a thing this entire time?  Another part is in awe of this Kid’s creativity, ability, at such a young age.

And seeing DBK get trounced again certainly keeps the jealous part of him quiet.

Kid’s got a nice group of friends.  Reminds him of his journey days, him and a rag tag group of idiots going around wreaking havoc and learning moral lessons at the end of it.  He’s glad Kid isn’t alone or on the streets anymore.  A strong foundation leads to a stronger ability to grow.

Well, he’d better get some sort of training regimen ready.  Or, at least, start thinking of some things to do to train this kid.  He’s sure at some point Kid is going to bug him for a lesson or two.

Somehow, the thought doesn’t bother him as much as he thinks it should.

[meliaaizawa]

SOCIAL BODYGUARD

Mei just doing her best to protect Shota.

Word count: 861

*Meiya's POV*

“You’ve only been home for a week, and you’re already packing?? Are you really taking that job in Tokyo?” Tamashi asked as I packed some clothes into a box. I shrugged. “I still don’t know… I love being home and getting to see mom and all my friends, but working with Shota is just… annoying,” I said to Tamashi’s surprise, based on the facial expression she was making. “You’ve never been annoyed by him before! What’s different now?” she asked. “Huh? Oh! I’m not annoyed by him, I’m annoyed at myself,” I said.

“In Tokyo I felt like I was maybe getting over him… but working with him this past week has made me realize all my hard work was for nothing. I love him… and it’s annoying being so in love with someone that doesn’t love you back,” I explained. Tamashi shrugged. “He’s letting you work with him again… So that’s something! Maybe he’s changed and realizes what he’s got, now that you’re back,” she said. “He’s letting me… not necessarily wanting me to. Besides, it’s supposed to only be temporary,” I replied, looking at the time. “And speaking of working with Sho, our patrol shift starts soon, so I should get going,” I said, quickly finishing the box I was packing before heading out the door to meet Shota.

Shota was already at our normal meeting spot as I arrived. “Sorry I’m late!” I said, realizing I was one minute late instead of one minute early like I normally was. “It’s fine,” Sho said, leading the way toward our patrol route as I walked beside him, following him. Working together again at first started off in mostly awkward silence, but I’ve noticed that our silence has been slowly turning into more of our usual comfortable one as we’ve been getting more used to each other’s company again… but maybe that was just my mind telling me what I hoped to be true.

The streets were pretty busy with the normal traffic, but there didn’t seem to be any suspicious activity going on. “Oh no,” I heard Shota sigh, mumbling curses under his breath. Before I could ask him what was wrong, I heard the voice of a woman approaching us from the opposite direction. “Heya, Eraser!!!” she said. I looked up to see a woman with minty green hair wearing a hero costume coming towards us. I looked at Sho out of the side of my eye and recognized his face of annoyance and disgust. Clearly he wasn’t a fan of this woman, whoever she was.

“Woah, I left for only a week, and you’ve already found a replacement for me!” she exclaimed as we were now closer, and she could see me standing next to Sho. “The name’s Ms. Joke! I’m Eraser’s girlfriend!” she said. “No she’s not,” he said in a tone of pure annoyance. She laughed at his reply and said, “we’ve been running into each other for the past year, but I never knew he had a partner! I thought you always worked alone!” I continued to watch Sho out of my peripheral vision, and saw his annoyance continue to grow.

I remembered all those times in high school I stepped in as his “social bodyguard” and helped him get out of unwanted conversations. I instinctively found myself wrapping an arm around Shota’s arm next to me, while his hand remained in his pocket. “I wouldn’t call us ‘partners’… I’d say we’re something a bit more than that,” I said grinning smugly at Ms. Joke, then pretending to look up at Shota affectionately. To my surprise, I didn’t feel Shota tense up or jerk away at my touch. He genuinely seemed relaxed, and Joke must’ve noticed it. “Eraser, you dog. If you already had a woman, what have all those heart eyes been about every time you’ve see me?” she asked.

*Heart eyes?* I thought to myself, trying not to chuckle at the thought of Sho with “heart eyes.” “Must’ve been your imagination,” I retorted, lightly pulling Shota’s arm so that the two of us were continuing to walk down the street, away from Ms. Joke. We rounded a corner and walked a bit further, and I took my arm off his, knowing that we were probably out of her eyesight. “Sorry if that was awkward… hopefully she won’t be as much of a nuisance to you now that she thinks you’re taken,” I said, blushing slightly.

He gave a nod and a content grunt as we continued to walk. I subtly looked up at him and could’ve sworn I saw a faint smile on his face underneath his scarf. I tried to hide my grin, looking down as we walked, and noticed Shota’s hand was still in his pocket, but his arm was still slightly held out, as if I were still holding onto it. Without overthinking it, I slipped my arm back into his and held onto it, enjoying the feeling of his muscular, yet soft forearm. He didn’t jerk away this time either, and I couldn’t feel the awkward tension between us anymore.

[ladydragonhawke]

Breath of the Dragon Chapter 5: Blood and Grass

A Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic

20 years later after saving all of Amestris, the Elric brothers may have gotten themselves into something worse than human transmutation. Only the strength of their wit and knowledge they gained through their travels can aid them in the trials to come. They'll have to do more than just save Amestris this time, and this time alchemy can do more harm than good.

“Well this is a surprise, normally you’re not dressed till you’ve eaten. Something’s wrong, what is it? The dignitaries?” Lan Fan pondered as she took the nearest seat at a lavishly decorated table. Ling huffed in frustration at the complexity of his royal footwear that was beginning to get him flustered, but that wasn’t the sole reason. “Did you sense or feel anything odd last night?” he huffed, trying to keep his composure.

Chapter 1: A Little Tremor

Chapter 2: It Opens at the Close

Chapter 3: Blood of the Sage

Chapter 4: Only the Scent

Chapter 5: Blood and Grass

After sleeping for a collective twelve hours on the trains to Resembool, Alphonse was the first of the brothers to wake. “How close are we?” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes to remove the slight build up of sleep. Lan Fan put down the book she was reading and looked at him with a fond smile.

“Well good morning. We’re about four hours into the train to Resembool at the moment.” She informed in a hushed tone, pointing to his sleeping brother.

“Oh, when did we switch trains?” he asked in an equally hushed voice after taking notice. He adjusted the blanket to cover Edward more thoroughly.

“I didn’t want to wake the both of you, so these two just carried you both onto the next one.” She patted the shoulder of Zampano who was also reading his own book after losing one too many games of poker to Jerso.

“Sorry Al. You looked damn tired.” He said in a hushed gruff voice.

“Don’t worry about it.” Alphonse waved his apology away with a limp hand as he took note of the books both of them were reading. “Studying up huh?”

“Always a good idea to know ones enemy.” Lan Fan stated flatly, turning to the next page.

“We don’t know what it is just yet. Friend or foe. We won’t know till we can contact it. It’s sentient, that much is sure, but we still don’t know its motivations. It speaks Drachma, that much is also clear. I know Ed visited there for about ten years before he was banned from the country.” Alphonse gave a sigh.

“What? How’d he get banned?” Lan Fan chuckled.

“The real question is, why did they wait ten years to finally ban him? He’s never gone into much detail with me on it. I guess it’s a touchy subject for him.” Alphonse gave Edward a glance of concern and pondered over just what sort of trouble he had gotten himself into.

“You haven’t asked?” Lan Fan clarified, she set the book in her lap keeping a thumb on the page she was currently on as she now took to studying the expression on Alphonse’s face.

“He’ll tell me, when he’s ready.” He sighed heavily once more before returning his attention to Lan Fan who was confused on the matter but decided it was best not to pry. Not yet anyway. “Whelp, time to get some breakfast, or is it lunch/dinner?” he asked in a whisper.

“Dinner for you.” Lan Fan chuckled. “The bar could whip something up for you if you ask them. They were kind enough to let me have some toast earlier.”

“Thanks, come get me when he wakes up ok? I have a few things I need to talk to him about before we get to Resembool.” He moved to open the door of the cabin but was stopped by a slight cough from Lan Fan. As he turned to face her, he noted the expression of worry written on her face.

“There was something that happened while you were sleeping. Mustang informed Ed that the dragon had been shot twice during its flight. No one has been injured yet but that’s all we’ve got so far.” She informed quickly.

“Shit!” Alphonse hissed between his clenched teeth. “I hope this dragon doesn’t die before we can get to it.”

“I’m not sure if it can even die at all. Remember the water?” Lan Fan whispered.

“I do. Something to think about. I’ll be back.” At the moment his grumbling stomach called for his attention rather than a long conversation on what this could possibly mean for their relations with the dragon. He cursed again as he shut the cabin door and marched toward the dining car, ignoring the passengers as he went. He took no notice of the three men that were seated close to each other as they watched him travel toward the dining car in a huff. He also didn’t take notice of them talking to each other after he passed in hushed tones.

After deciding to order some scrambled eggs and a bloody mary because, why not, he began to mull things over more thoroughly than if he had on an empty stomach. He suddenly saw a familiar shape in the corner of his eye and turned to face the oncoming person.

“ALPHONSE!” Mei shouted and rushed at him with open arms. He in turn stood and embraced her with a strong hug.

“Shhh, Mei you’ll wake people on the train. Why are you here? I thought you were still visiting the western area of Amestris with Dr. Marcoh.” Alphonse asked while giving his wife a romantic peck on the cheek eliciting her to immediately melt further into his arms.

“I was getting homesick and wanted to visit Hughes and little Nina. But what are you doing here? I thought you were staying home for the holidays this year?” she asked leaning back from their embrace to give him some space so she could look him better in the eyes.

“Well, uh, it’s um. Rather complicated.” He stammered. “But I’ll explain, I promise. Come with me to our cabin, it’ll be a bit cramped and brother is asleep, but it’ll be better to talk there than out here.” Alphonse gave a glance around the car, breathing a sigh of relief that only a few people were in and mostly toward the back of the car.

“Alphonse just what sort of trouble did you two get yourselves into now?” she scolded.

“We don’t go around looking for trouble, I swear!” Alphonse remarked. “Besides I’m not the one banned from a country at the moment.”

“Still hasn’t talked to you about it, has he?” Mei frowned. Inside she had hoped Edward would open up about whatever had happened to him in the north. She witnessed one or two times when he would wake with a start and drenched in a cold sweat. He would wave it off as a nightmare from when Father was trying to transmute all of Amestris to make himself a God, but she knew better.

Without any protests she followed the guiding hand of Alphonse back to their cabin, again taking no notice of the now four people sitting together and whispering amongst each other. Alphonse may not have noticed, but Mei did. Her years of being paranoid while searching for the key of immortality trained her well to notice her surroundings. She took mental note and promised to herself to bring it up to Alphonse when she could. They returned to the cabin to still find Edward slumped against the window completely passed out, and everyone else reading their books. Lan Fan looked up and at first smiled then grew stern, after a beat went back to smiling and greeted Mei in a formal way. Since Lan Fan was a higher member of Emperor Ling’s court, she demanded the most respect of the two. Mei bowed formally in reply with a “My Lady” as pleasantly as she could. While the two had made up for past hatred, they still couldn’t quite stand to be around one another. Alphonse broke up the tension as he tried to scoot the unconscious body of Edward closer to the window to make room for Mei. This of course did nothing to upset his current state of slumber and continued lightly snoring against the cold glass. She took a seat next to him and lightly folded her hands in her lap while keeping an eye on the door of the cabin as she felt a presence pass by rather slowly. Alphonse cleared his throat to garner her attention as she spun her head to look at a now curious Alphonse. He could read her well enough, this she knew as she adjusted in her seat and formulated her words carefully.

“It seems you have a following.” She whispered.

“I’m aware of them.” Lan Fan informed flatly, returning absentmindedly to her book.

“When were you going to tell me?” asked Alphonse.

“When I could gather a bit more information. Why do you think I keep making trips to the dining car? It’s not just to eat and grab a drink. I even go that way to make a bathroom run. I can’t make out anything they’re saying but all I know is they’re watching us very closely. Anything you’re about to tell Mei, you may want to say it in a whisper.”

“Fuck that.” Remarked Alphonse as he clapped his hands together and placed them on the wall behind him. Suddenly the walls of the room became heavily padded, even the floor and ceiling along with the door itself was padded thickly with a fabric the same color as the seats. He turned back around with a smile. “There, soundproofed.”  Mei gave him a look of mild appreciation and proceeded to poke one of the cushions.

“Should’ve done that when we got here.” Lan Fan remarked under her breath, mostly to herself. The only person in the cabin that could perform alchemy was asleep for most of the ride.

“Now we can talk normally.” Alphonse said cheerfully, proud of his thoughtfulness.

“Want me to stand guard or keep watch out there?” Asked Jerso, who was getting rather bored of reading a history book on Xing.

“Just stay in here, I think it’s too late for that at the moment.” Stated Lan Fan. She relaxed more now that there was a sound barrier between them and the people outside the cabin.

Alphonse began with the phone call from Ling, and with intermittent input from Lan Fan, he laid out all that had happened within the past few days. She only asked a few questions here and there that he answered to the best of his ability. She sat in shock of the information revealed to her and mulled it over as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. After a few moments Alphonse laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and she wasted no time in giving him a loving embrace.

“I’m worried about you two. Just what’s going to happen now? What will you do when you get there?” she asked timidly looking into his eyes for an answer.

“We’re not too sure ourselves. The first thing we want to do is try to make contact with it and see if it’s willing to communicate with us. If not… well. I’m not too sure. Ed had an idea to show her this.” He pulled out a wrinkled picture of his father crying in a family photo with their baby selves being held by Hohenheim and their mother. She inspected the photo and handed it back, she was already familiar with it after it was hung in the Rockbell home nearly every time she visited.

“Why do you have it now? I thought it was…”

“Still at home, I know. I took it on my last stint to Xing, I don’t know why. Just felt like carrying it around for a while. Don’t tell Ed.” He gave a forlorn look at the still sleeping Edward against the wall. “He still holds some resentment against dad, even after all these years.”

“I understand Al. I won’t. Now, you said this thing was heavily injured?” she asked changing the subject so that Alphonse wouldn’t linger too long on a subject he was still tender about.

“Yes, it was. I have no idea if it’s still flying or if it’s died already from its injuries.” He sighed.

“Will this help?” she reached into her clutch bag to bring out a vial with a small amount of red liquid within it. Alphonse turned to her in shock.

“Where did you get that? I thought only Dr. Marcoh carried that. Why is it smaller?” he inspected the vial and turned it over in his hand.

“Dr. Marcoh decided we could cover more ground by separating the philosophers stone into two separate pieces.” She informed with slight pride in her inflection. Alphonse kissed her directly on the lips in a quick and passionate manner.

“I love you, have I mentioned that lately?” he happily remarked. She sighed and melted in her seat at the praise as he continued to eye the vial and the liquid stone within. “I’ll have to ask him how he managed to do that when I see him next, but this should help heal the dragon at least. If we manage to get to it on time.”

Edward then began to stir from his slumber and sat up slowly, cracking his neck as he moved. “Just what the hell is going on? Can’t a guy get some sleep?” he turned to look at Alphonse and rubbed his eyes to remove the foggy filter he seemed to have gained while sleeping. He found that not just Alphonse was sitting next to him but Mei as well. “Oh, hi Mei, didn’t know you were on the train. How’s studying with Dr. Marcoh going?” As he asked, he noticed what Alphonse was holding in his hand and promptly threw the blanket off of himself to try to take it to get a better look. “Where did you get that?” He asked with shock.

For a few minutes they talked about the possible uses of the liquid stone when they arrived at Resembool, it wasn’t long until the intercom finally recited the long-awaited words.

“Next stop Resembool, next stop Resembool.”

Edward, Alphonse, Lan Fan, and Mei all gathered the lighter bags and possessions and began to file out of the train, leaving Zampano and Jerso to get the few heavy bags that were left. The soldiers that were escorting them also got off with them and informed Edward and Alphonse of their orders from Fuhrer Roy Mustang. As Alphonse was changing the cabin back to its normal state, he turned to look through the cabin, he couldn’t see anyone suspicious of note as he hopped off the train. He wouldn’t notice because the men in question were off of the train before they were. Waiting patiently in a far corner, watching them intently. As Edward went to the ticket booth to ask for a phone, he was stopped by a soldier from the Resembool station.

“Evening boys, just wanted to let you know something big crashed near your house Ed. We sent some guys down to take a look about twenty minutes ago and should be coming… hey where are you going?!” Edward took off toward the awaiting car that Jerso had ready and everyone that could fit filed in. They screeched out of the station at full speed toward the Rockbell home, not stopping for anything. The soldiers that were assigned to accompany them hurriedly arranged for a car to be brought to them. No one noticed two black cars with men inside follow the brothers at a distance.

 ***

   After stuffing another two towels into the bowels of the bloody dragon she began using a small rag to disinfect the wound in small dabs. Granny Pinako appeared at her side holding a glass of water.

“Granny go back inside, I’ve got this. I just want you to watch the kids.” She whispered softly, still trying her best to not upset the passed-out dragon.

“Nonsense, I’m not staying inside while you risk your neck for a monster. I’ll help in whatever way I can. Drink this, my arm is getting tired.” She whispered back.

Setting down the cloth on a stack of towels she gratefully accepted the glass and downed it entirely in one long gulp. She handed it back to Granny Pinako and immediately went back to dabbing around where she had left off. “I can’t even begin to know where to start on this thing Granny. Just look at it. How’s it still alive after taking this much damage?”

Before Granny could answer the head of the dragon stirred and slowly lifted, it coughed more blood and spittle as it limply looked around.

“ya zdes'. Gde ty? Pozhaluysta…” it coughed again, sending blood splattering on the side of the house. It then turned its attention to the two foggy beings at its belly. “pozhaluysta, voz'mi menya k nemu. YA dolzhen uvidet' yego.” The two beings stepped back as one began talking to it, but its sound was muffled, and the language was in a tongue it didn’t recognize. Frustrated the dragon huffed and attempted to stand on its legs. It could hear loud shouts coming from one of the beings below, but it had to move. The scent was so close, so near to where it had landed, crashed to be more accurate. It managed to stand on its forelimbs, but the hind legs would not respond in kind. It craned its neck to examine the state the hind legs were in but couldn’t focus. Everything was in a fog that couldn’t be shaken off, no matter how hard it tried. Panting hard from the effort it attempted to drag its hind legs in the direction of the scent. It felt the touch of something small on its right foreleg that looked to be one of the small beings. It was saying something in a calm and soothing voice. What it was saying was unknown, but it was reassuring to the dragon.

“YA dolzhen nayti yego.” It stated with a grumble. Blood dripped from its open maw as it continued to drag itself to follow the scent. Without warning its left forelimb gave out and the dragon toppled over onto its left side, thankfully avoiding the smaller beings on its right side. It merely grumbled as it fell, not having the strength to roar in pain. Its left wing laid limply across the open field and the other arched over its body in a protective manner. An instinct that could never be shaken. Two bright white lights appeared to be coming closer at a rapid rate. The dragon growled low and deep in its throat but couldn’t manage anything more than that. The small being that was speaking soft and sweetly to it began running toward the bright lights. The dragon wished to move in a way to try to protect the small being but all it could do was slightly lift its head and bare its fangs.

 “Wait! Don’t shoot! Please!” Winry shouted at the top of her lungs at the oncoming car. It stopped directly in front of her as Amestrian soldiers filed out of the car and gawked at the bloodied dragon laying on the ground and snarling at them. “Winry Elric! Just what the hell is going on? What happened? What the hell is this thing?” A soldier that Winry recognized walked toward her while never taking his eyes off the dragon.

“Please, whatever you do don’t shoot it. It crashed here not too long ago and is bleeding extremely bad and can barely move. I’m doing my best to give it aid but I don’t want you all coming in here and shooting at it. It’s not attacking anything, please. Is my husband with you?” she spoke quickly and tried to peer into the car to see if Edward had accompanied them. She was 60% sure he had something to do with this dragon on their front lawn. The soldier shook his head so as to redirect his attention to Winry.

“N-no he’s not. We were only ordered to keep track of an unknown aircraft flying in this general direction. We thought it crashed when we felt the rumbling. No one said anything about a fucking dragon! I’ll have to get on the horn and ask for further instructions. Not too far behind them another car could be seen barreling toward them.

“Is that one of yours?” Winry pointed at the new oncoming car.

“Not sure, get back Mrs. Elric. Continue with, whatever the hell it was you were doing. We’ll run interference. Just please try not to get eaten.” He began giving orders to the few soldiers with him to spread out and secure the surrounding area as he waited on the road for the car to arrive. Winry ran back toward the dragon who turned their head towards her and growled lowly. She panicked and began softly talking to the beast.

“Shhh, it’s alright. It’s only me. I’m here and I’m not going to hurt you. All I want to do is help you.” She spoke softly. This seemed to calm the dragon who lowered its lips over its fangs and instead tried to focus its attention on the other foggy beings that the other was talking to. This proved difficult as its eyes grew heavy with sleep and its head slowly lowered onto the ground.

Winry tried to keep it awake by shouting at it but after a few minutes and realizing it was only just sleeping she returned to address the now free bleeding wounds that had opened up after its attempt to stand and walk. The blood was flowing steadily and in streams, she placed a hand over her mouth and let out a choked cry. She didn’t know what to do, it was too much. She didn’t have enough cloth and not enough supplies to even address most of what she was looking at. While the holes were still packed with towels, they did little to block the organs that shifted during the move. More of what could be guessed was intestine dangled out of the lower hole nearly wrapping around its hind legs. Granny Pinako was by her side in moments and laid a supportive hand on her lower back.

“I’m not sure this is one we can save Winry.” She said softly, knowing it would upset her.

“I can’t give up, but Granny,” she paused to wipe away a few tears, “I don’t even know where to begin now. It’s even worse than it was before. What do I do?” She looked down with tears streaking down her cheeks for some words of comfort or encouragement. Just then a familiar voice shouted behind her.

“Winry!” Edward called from behind the first parked car. He ran up but stopped halfway between the car and her to stare at the downed dragon. “Holy shit.” He mumbled under his breath. Winry ran to him and hugged him in a strong embrace that they both shared for more than a few minutes. “I see you tried to patch it up. Never change Winry.” Edward gave her a kiss on her forehead as she let out a choked sob.

“I don’t know what else to do. I had everything under control until it tried to get up.” She wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands as she looked to him for guidance. He took her by the shoulders and gave her a smile.

“Don’t worry, we ran into Mei on the train here and she has something that should help us.” He smiled and turned to let Winry see Mei walking up to them while focusing on the sight of the dragon before her.

“You weren’t kidding Al. This thing is massive!” she exclaimed. Edward tried to make a motion for her to be quieter but Winry shook her head at him.

“I couldn’t wake it up when I screamed at it. I think we’re ok for the moment. What is it that you brought?” Winry asked giving a sad smile to Mei who brandished her philosopher’s stone. Winry gawked at it for a moment then turned to Edward.

“But I don’t know if it’ll work. It’s worse than it was before, will it be enough?” she asked with a slight hoarse voice.

“I certainly hope so.” Said Alphonse as he joined them. “Or we’ll have slayed a dragon that didn’t need slaying just yet. Ready Mei?” He extended his hand to Mei who took it firmly, ready for the task at hand.

During this, no one noticed two vehicles with their headlights turned off drive around behind the Rockbell home. No one noticed the dark figures that filed out of the cars and peered around the edge of the house to take in the scene. They readied themselves, whispering to each other and going back and forth from the car carrying weapons. This wasn’t the sort of homecoming party that most people would look forward to, but one that was sure to leave an impression.

[zetalial]

BH rewatch Episode 29

Previous Episode

Before I tackle this episode, I figured I’d briefly mention the changed openings. It was different last episode too but I forgot to talk about it. Golden Time Lover is popular but I don’t like it nearly so much as Hologram, which it replaces. In fact I’d say it’s my least favourite of the Brotherhood openings. They’re all very good of course, so ranking them is hard. Mine would be something like. Favourite is OP5: Rain, followed by OP1: Again followed by OP2: Hologram, followed by OP4: Period, and then OP3: Golden Time Lover. 

New ED’s nice and I’ll definitely be getting used to it as I’m being subjected to Post-credit scenes now. Why they start half way through the series is anybody’s guess. Lot of Winry fanservice in it. Anyway, on to the next episode! 

Episode 29: Struggle of the Fool

Huh this is actually another one of those aftermath episodes, which caught me off guard a bit as I felt like the end of the last one was still sort of thick with action. Like, last episode ended with Ed trying to fight/talk to Greedling while Envy restrains them and Scar also just blew up the sewer corridor to escape.

This episode starts with no sign of Greedling as Ed and Al follow Envy, now back to his regular form, into an elevator and they ride an elevator together. (One that can clearly take a lot of weight as Envy is supposed to be really heavy). I don’t really mind I guess, but I feel like last episode cut off at a weird moment and it seemed like Greedling was going to be central to the next episode when he’s barely in it.

Oh well. Them just casually riding the elevator with Envy is kind of funny honestly. Gosh, Envy’s character is so different form his 03 self but somehow both are great in their own way. They now learn that Father’s lair is directly beneath the military HQ. 

Envy instructs Ed to have a shower so we can enjoy Ed with his hair down. Ah it’s so pretty... Then standard shenanigans with Ed being naked and I admit that I was mostly trying to get a glimpse of Ed’s feet to see if he was still wearing only one shoe. What sort of fangirl am I? Oh right, the obsessed with irrelevant details kind. The answer, by the way, is that the show wants to frustrate me.

What kind of shoes are these black circles, show? Everyone else’s looks normal. (Okay so whoever supplied them with his outfit remembered to get shoes as well, that’s all.)

Huh, Ed’s calling Mei’s panda a cat now but I swear the first time he saw it, he correctly called it a panda. It’s established that Mei’s alright and inside Al’s armour anyway. Envy runs in on a naked Ed and is apparently embarrassed? It cuts away so maybe it was Ed reacting in horror? Envy doesn’t seem the type to care honestly but he’s hard to read especially when I’m often getting confused between 03 and BH Envy’s personality. 

Right, so they meet with the Fuhrer along with Mustang who is honestly pretty generous. He doesn’t care what they do so long as they don’t interfere in Father’s plan and doesn’t really put any further watch on them even as he tells them that they’re very important. He just threatens Winry and Edward immediately complies after initially threatening to resign. (Roy’s team is already being threatened as well.) 

Roy meets with Riza and seems to have suspected she might have run away though she of course stayed loyal. She says something about only needing to be told once. They tell Armstrong about Wrath. Roy muses on how he felt at his most human when fighting Lust, a real monster. 

Oh, Armstrong reveals how he couldn’t take Ishval and fled. He regrets not fighting against it. I swear we don’t meet anyone who actually fought against the Ishval massacre though. All the other characters seem to have actively participated in it. His 03 counterpart participated and seems to feel great turmoil for it in that series so I’d say running from the conflict might have been the bravest action anyone took. It’s a form of protest in its own way even if it’s not truly effective. That he stays a part of the military at all is significant, though he’s probably pressured by his family.

Mei is taken to Doctor Knox to rest. Lan Fan is also there, recovering. She is intending to get automail though Al warns her that she’s still recovering. Eh, automail seems like the kind of thing that’d be easier to apply with a fresh wound anyway. 

Ed calls Winry and we get our EdWin moment, with Winry claiming its rare for him to call and how happy she is that he’s calling and looking out for her. This reminds me of that moment where Ed asked for her opinion on their quest and she was flattered that he thought to ask her opinion at all. I swear the shipping moments are when the show’s at its least subtle.

GreedLing appears, reminding Ed that he is not Ling and Ed doesn’t try to push the issue at all for now. It’s just a casual, hello, give this to Lan Fan, bye. But last episode Ed was so determined to fight for Ling! Why is he so casual now? Nevermind that the existence of the message means Ling is definitely still in there and no one remarks on it. 

I don’t know why he bothered to keep it secret anyway when the message merely said, that he has the stone while Al tells Lan Fan all about what happened.

Oh, Mei and Lan Fan are instant enemies because they’re from different clans. I know it’s meant to be a humorous moment but gosh they’re threatening to kill each other. It’s very dramatic. Where does Mei get all those daggers by the way? She seems to have hundreds of the things.

Wrath and Greed meet up and Wrath mentions that conversation he had with Ling about true leadership and how naive he was and how he must be disillusioned from being combined with a monster like Greed. Ling briefly breaks free to protest.

Ed confirms that his alchemy is working again and that other alchemists were stopped by Father’s power as well. He reasons that Mei and Scar’s power must be different and he resolves to find out why, which will start up another arc. 

Speaking of Scar, he’s able to explore quite freely, I’m surprised neither Envy or Greed were sent after him. He finds Marcoh and Marcoh reveals that he was responsible for much of the destruction wrought in Ishval and begs Scar to end his life as he reveals that he fears another terrible plot is being brewed by those behind the military. 

You know I wonder if any of this was inspired by FMA 03 at all? Marcoh bowing his head, freely accepting the justice from Scar reminds me very much of 03 episode 14-15 where Marcoh is very clear about his guilt and he even explains some of the Ishval war and the next episode of BH is also about Ishval, framed as Scar demanding to know about it form Marcoh. It’s hard to know - but I believe this part of the manga was released quite a while after 03 had finished airing so it’s possible it drew some inspiration as much as things go a different way. This series is emphasising Scar’s anger a lot more, I feel, where 03 Scar was different somehow. Like he was also willing to kill but he took no pleasure in it and considered it his mission from both his brother and his faith more generally. Where this Scar is more consumed with his rage which drives a lot of his action. The resolution with Marcoh will happen differently in this series but this episode ends here anyway.

So all in all, another breather with some entertaining bits but nothing too striking. It was an alright episode I guess. A lot of stuff is getting established that will lead into the next arc and some wrapping up of the last arc. 

Not sure what the episode title is really referring to. It’s pretty vague. Greedling maybe? Doesn’t have too much to do with Episode 21: Advance of the Fool from what I can see though the title is formatted the same from way

[winryofresembool]

EdWin ficlet: I Choose You?

A/N: @protectjackaboy​ requested I write something inspired by the modern day AU fic It’s Not a Big Deal. So, here’s a silly INaBD verse ficlet with lots of Pokémon talk. Bewear, if you are not ready for Pokémon puns, this fic is not for you. @11random-person11 helped me with some of them, thanks ♥

Sorry for the possible inaccuracies! Ed and Winry of course belong to Hiromu Arakawa, and INaBD belongs to the awesome @hangonsilvergirl. I’m just playing with their creations.

Genre: fluffy silliness

Words: 800+

Ed’s normal text, Winry’s bolded

Morning Win

Good morning! What are you up to?

Not much, just sitting on the couch trying to watch children’s TV shows AS LOUDLY as I can because some asshole who’s living with me talked on the phone ‘till 2 am last night. With Mei.

Karma is a bitch, huh? I remember you doing that very same thing last week. With me.

HEY, WE HAD A VERY IMPORTANT STAR WARS CONVERSATION. /YOU/ wanted to hear my opinion on Leia’s character, and you got one!

Well, I didn’t mean you needed to speak a whole hour about her hair buns. When you grow your hair out, I’m gonna make /you/ wear them.

I’ll have you know they look very badass and I’d proudly wear them even now if my hair was longer.

Sometimes I really wonder why I find you attractive…

Please. You just can’t resist my charm ;P

In your dreams.

Pffft. ANYWAY guess which show just started?

Umm, My Little Pony? That sounds like your kind of thing.

I COULD watch my little pony!! But no, it’s pokemon!!

Awww, I used to love that show! And Pan has a 3ds, I sometimes borrow it to train my own team.

So she’s a future olympic athlete AND a pokemon champion? That must look good on her CV.

… OK what the hell is this animation? It looked so much cooler back when I was a Pokemon fan. I swear, these shows just keep getting worse and worse…

Let me open my TV as well! Brb.

OK I’m watching it now and aww I think this style is cute! The colors are beautiful and their expressions are so lively. And oh, Ash is still there… Good memories!

I guess that poor bastard still hasn’t become a Pokemon master. He’s been trying for… what, probably something like 20 years? I think he’s started before I was even born. And that Pikachu definitely should be level 100 now…

Hey, don’t mock him! He’s trying. Wait, did they just meet with Misty and Brock? I can’t believe they are back too!

Tbh I always liked Gary the best, he’s the coolest…

Of course you did.

I’m pretending I don’t understand what you mean. Hey, who’s that kid with those black clothes in the opening? And do you think I could rock his style (what am I asking of course I could)

?

I think he’s Gladion (Pan has let me play Pokemon Sun) and I don’t think Mr. Mustang would stop making fun of you if you cut your hair like that.

I don’t give a shit about that bastard’s opinion!!!

OOOOKKK then.

Hey! Don’t even…

Ooor what? Please tell me Ed.

I… ugh… nothing.

That’s more like it.

Wait a minute… Is that pokemon’s name actually bewear? That’s the most ridiculous and/or awesome thing I’ve heard.

Pretty much all the Pokemon names are puns of some kind.

I think I’ve found my new dream job: naming new pokemon. Is there a list all the existing pokemon anywhere btw?

I’ve heard of bulbapedia but you can just google it.

K K.

Oh.

There are over 800 of them???? Holy shit I’ve missed a lot.

Listen everyone. The edgy, badass Edward Elric is becoming a pokemon fan.

Excuse me there’s nothing wrong with pokemon! Remember, I even did the pokerap once!!

I’m not gonna lie, that was pretty epic. Maybe do it again when we meet the next time? I’d love to witness it live.

I think I have more important things to do then 

Like what? 

Kissing with my girlfriend whom I get to see only at the weekends?

Fine, you won.

Don’t I know it

Know when to shut up, m’dear. 

Har de har.

Look at this thing. Incineroar. Does that belt shoot fire? Dark type? Red and black? I think I’ve found my favorite!!!

What’s your favorite type, btw?

Steel, for sure. I mean, how adorable is Klink? Look:

I think you must be literally the only person in this world who would say that. Gearhead.

Chemistry freak.

Unown I’ve always wanted to say this one thing…

Did you just… google pokemon puns? That is so… onix-pected of you.

Oh my God.

OK here’s a good one…

Never mind I Deino if I'll be able to think of any

Pffft that’s just Trubbish.

Now I got one. What do I call Al after I win him in a running match?

Well, I must Axew what.

Slowbro!!

That was Absol-utely awful.

Bewear, there’s a small Chansey I have more of them in my pockets.

Oh Arceus maybe it’s better if we stop now.

Arceus? Is that like the god pokemon?

Yup.

I like that. I’m gonna use that one from now on.

Hey, Winry?

Yeah?

I’m so Happiny we accidentally started talking.

You know what? Mewtwo.

<3

Also, have I told your smile is very beautifly?

Aww, thanks Ed. Where’s this sudden sappiness coming from?

I dunno, I guess you just have the Klefki to my heart. 

You are blushing there right now, I just know it. But I guess I could say the thing back to you :3

Here’s one more: If you were a Pokémon, I’d choose you

I have no words. You are having too much fun with those puns, aren’t you?

I feel this is like a gold mine that just keeps giving and giving…

I probably can’t get you quiet anymore. Anyway, as much as I’d Luvdisc to continue to talk to you, Granny’s waiting. See you later, Feraligatr?

In a while, Krookodile

😉

[lyricalt]

[ovw] trigger happy (destiny au)

Note: some destiny AU silliness. Eastwood is the name of McCree’s Ghost, hah.

“Now ain’t that neat a little fella,” McCree says, watching as the Arc Soul disappears from his shoulder with a soft crackle.  The last of the Fallen scatter, leaving a couple of corpses behind.  He waves at Mei from across the field as she bounds off into the distance to continue the hunt without him.  For now, McCree is collecting up some ammo from the ground, mindful of his dwindling supply.  “Awfully handy in a pinch, huh Eastwood?”

There is no answer right away. McCree pauses, boots crunching softly over gravel.  He shoots a quick glance behind him, surprised to find Eastwood lagging behind when normally she’d be chirping excitedly after battle.

“I’m sure I can shoot too,” his Ghost finally replies, a little stilted, and then adds with a hopeful note, “If you let me have a gun.”

McCree turns fully around.  Eastwood flickers next to him, hovering around the spot where the Arc Soul had taken up temporary residence, and windmills two of her corners in a fanning motion as if to clear the air.

“Sweetpea, you carry all my guns,” McCree says, alarmed by the display of jealousy and perhaps by the thought of a Ghost with a gun.  That’ll be something.  He wants to rub his temples, but there’s his helmet in the way so his hand drops midway through the gesture.  “Ain’t nothing to be envious about.  An Arc Soul couldn’t even begin to compare to you.”

Eastwood’s spinning slows down, mollified by his words, though her persistent wavering around his head gives McCree the deep suspicion that the discussion isn’t anywhere near over.

“Do you ever think—” she begins.

“Oh, no. Don’t start—”

“--that I could be more useful?” she finishes.  “You know, for combat?”

“It doesn’t have to involve a gun,” McCree interjects hastily.  “Besides, you’re plenty helpful as you are.  I’ll ask Banshee if we can install, oh, I don’t know, lasers for your next shell.”

“Oh, what a fine idea!” Eastwood says, blue optic brightening at the prospect.  “But I’d rather have the gun.  We’d match! You always look so darn slick with your hand cannons!  You’re the coolest gunslinger the City has, no lie.”

“Aw, shucks,” McCree murmurs, as modest as he can.

“In the world!”

“Well, I don’t—”

“The universe!”

McCree nudges Eastwood away from his face.  “Psht.  Now you’re just pulling my leg.”

“Haven’t been proven wrong yet!” Eastwood says, back to her cheerful self, though McCree doesn’t miss the crafty gleam in her optic.  “You’ll have no problem teaching me.”

McCree fold his arms over his chest.

“So long as you promise there’ll be absolutely no downsides to this, at all,” he says.

“Scout’s honor, there won’t be,” promises Eastwood, very convincingly, as if she’d pinky swore it herself, despite the lack of hands.  

And hell if McCree doesn’t already believe it.

TYPE: Patrol Feed

DESCRIPTION: Conversation. PARTIES: Three [3]. One [1] Guardian-type, Class Warlock [u.1]; Two [2] Guardian-type, Class Hunter [u.2, u.3] ASSOCIATIONS: Echo Mesa [Io]; McCree, Jesse; Reyes, Gabriel [AKA Reaper]; Genji-1 [AKA Shimada, Genji]; Patrol; Vex; Ghosts.

//AUDIO UNAVAILABLE// //TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS…/

[u.1:01] You just shoot me or was that a Harpy we missed? [u.2:01] No, sir. That wasn’t me. [u.1:02] So, if I asked my Ghost to replay footage from 15 seconds ago, I wouldn’t see you, shooting me, with a gun that sounds a whole lot like Peacekeeper? [u.2:02]  Scout’s honor, commander, it wasn’t me.  Look, I’ve got Sunshot in my innocent little hands. [beat] [u.1:03] Your Ghost. [u.2:03] She’s an excellent shot when she means to be, commander.  She didn’t take it too kindly when you made fun of my hat. [u.1:04] Fine. I did deserve it, maybe.  Just don’t let Genji or his Ghost see that. [u.2:04] Lord, can you imagine. [u.1:05 ] Ghost with a gun is ridiculous enough— [u.3:05] What’s this about a Ghost with a sword? [beat] [u.2:05] This was supposed to be a private channel.