#sometimes they balance each other out

[ladysternchen]

“Have you ever, just for the tiniest moment, considered what you are doing?” “What do you mean, have I considered what I am doing? Of course I have!”

Fëanáro saw his wife glaring at him, looking back at her with equal anger. Of course he considered. Only nobody else ever did, judging by their behaviour and their apparent blindness to what was going on around them.

“Then explain to me, please, why you are prepared to tear our family apart, and your people. You. Are. King, Fëanáro!”

He scoffed.

“Do you think I don’t know that? And I’m doing what a king is supposed to do, I lead my people to safety…”

“To safety?” Nerdanel cut across him, with an incredulous look on her face. “No, lord. You’re leading them to their doom, away from safety, undoing all the work your father…”

“Atar was fooled. He was fooled and brainwashed and…”

“Brainwashed? Brainwashed? Are you out of your mind?”

Sentences were randomly finished when they were rowing, and the fact faintly amused Fëanáro. He laughed.

“Yes, you are mad. You must be, because you laugh in a situation such as this! You are tearing our marriage apart. You are murdering our children, you…”

“I? No, Nerdanel, you do that. You are the one to betray me and my sons, you decided to side with the murderers of Atar, your King, Nerdanel!”

She took a few steadying breaths, and when she spoke again, her voice was calm, which made Fëanáro hope that she might be prepared to see sense now. A hope that was swiftly destroyed.

“The Valar did not murder your father! Morgoth did. They kept us safe…”

“They wanted us as their pets. Eru knows I loved my father, but he was weak in that point. Shortsighted. Unable to see through their lies…”

“No!” Nerdanel screamed now, looked deranged. “You idiot! You are the one to believe the lies! Your father saw sense! At least until he started listening to you and valuing gems more than family!”

“Don’t you dare…”

“Dare what? Tell you the truth?”

Fëanáro reached up into his hair, tearing at it. How could Nerdanel be so stupid? He had always thought her quick-witted, but apparently, he had been mistaken. Or she was just as brainwashed by the Valar as all the rest of them were. Did she not see? That they had lured the Eldar into coming to Aman? Robbed them of their native lands? Probably so that Morgoth could have them, he thought derisively. Oh, what a clever plan that had been, taking three boys and showing them Valinor. And like children offered sweets, they had gone back and persuaded the rest to follow, that dim-witted bunch. Oh, how they irked him with their imprecision. They had no sense for subtlety, no pride in their heritage, no desire to challenge themselves each day anew. They were lazy, lulled in by the Valar. But that was over now, he, Fëanaro, would see to that.

“You are talking nonsense!” he stated coldly. 

At this, Nerdanel reached out to him, grabbing the front of his robes. He pushed her off him.

“Don’t touch me!” He snarled, yet he had overdone it, had actually pushed her to the floor. He hadn’t meant that, but then, she knew perfectly well that he didn’t like to be touched unasked. It took him a moment to realise that she was crying, which confused him. He couldn’t possibly have hurt her that much?

“Our sons, Fëanáro, our children… please let them remain here, where it is safe.” Nerdanel sobbed. “Oh, I beg you, leave at least the twins. They are so young, they still need a home…”

He only snorted.

“You, Nerdanel, chose to desert them, not I!”

And with that, he turned, never to look back.  (There again, being autistic is no excuse for being an arsehole, which Fëanor is at that time)

[artilite]

many many isabeaus... and some sloopis's of course :^) !!!!

i like consolidating my doodles so that's probably what i'm going to do for the most part from now on (^^ゞ!

[canisalbus]

What is the one thing that bothers each other on their lover?

Not huge icks, but small bothers?

Vasco can be forgetful and a bit irresponsible. And even if he means well, he sometimes comes across inconsiderate, he just doesn't always think things through. He's usually very sure of himself, stubborn and resistant to accepting advice if he thinks he knows what he's doing. Occasionally he misreads the situation and his attempts to lighten the mood misfire so severely, it's like he's incapable taking things seriously.

Machete has a nitpicky control freak side to him that gets more pronounced when he's stressed. He's prone to bottling up his emotions and then feeling misunderstood when people can't read his mind. He finds a way to blame himself for everything and is a chronic over-apologizer.

[icewindandboringhorror]

Little bright colored outfit with a fun vest ~

(shoes from ebay like 10 years ago. everything else is thrifted)

[noperopesaredope]

Me watching the prequel movies: "Padme's alright, but she's kind of boring and I don't care for her that much."

Me watching Clone Wars: "Padme Amidala could dropkick me, step on my neck, and spit in my face, and I would thank her. She is so cool and smart and I want to be her and also maybe be her assistant. She's a savvy politician who believes in peace but is not afraid to shoot a bitch if needed. Revenge of the Sith Anakin doesn't deserve her."

[skunkes]

another thing i love about dungeon meshi along with how theres adequate time given to every character that matters! Is that like. Along with no "every single character in supporting cast gets put on the backburner in favor of MC / other character development" is that theres also no "god these characters are all so boring except that one guy who is tragic and compelling" bc they all have the same capacity for compelling tragedy (and such).

And it also doesn't feel like when ppl tack on as much Bad Things onto a characters life just to emphasize tragedy or hardship... Theres a good balance in each of em. The recent leaked izutsumi dark lore implication drop wasn't even in the main story and it doesnt feel like that quirky "i love torturing my ocs! 🤪🤪🤪🤪 (Literally just throwing everything into one pot)" sentiment i see here often if that makes sense. It doesn't feel Edgy ykwim

[whatlurksbean]

How do you remain so patient with your deviantart fandom? I'd be tearing my hair out

I love passion, and the deviantart comment section is full of that.

I get a lot of very lovely in depth comments on deviantart, and there are a lot of good discussions between people. It's just when people start arguing with each other that I feel like I gotta turn off the comments.

Also I ban transphobic freaks and bad faith commenters looking to start fights on sight, so that helps with the general vibe.

but yeah, generally i have a great time reading deviantart comments, even if I don't agree with them all, I like seeing that people are invested and thinking about the comic. It's very nice to see that something I put so much into resonates with folk on some level.

[sparklecryptid]

Wings AU where everyone has a pair of wings. Unfortunately they are useless for anything more than gliding down or aiding in jumps, because physics.

Not that it stops people from repeating all those legends about how everyone in Solheim could fly like a bird and pointing to fading murals in ruins, despite all the historians agreeing that's it's just an artistic license.

(It's not)

(The secret to flight is magic and with less than dozen people worldwide having it, it's not surprising that the knowledge was lost)

(Enter one Ardyn Izunia, born barely handful of years after the Fall, whose mother made sure to give him a thorough education in all kinds of magic)

(Ace still doesn't like being thrown off of cliffs. Even if flying is awesome)

Ace eyes his uncle warily. It has been three years since Ardyn had begun to teach Ace how to properly control his magic but the relationship between the two of them remains on rocky ground. Ace is unable to forget what he had seen in his first life and Ardyn reluctant to let any affection form for someone descended from Somnus.

"Why are we here?" Ace eyes the gorge behind Ardyn suspiciously. "I hope you're not planning on throwing me off there. This part of the gorge is too high for me to survive the fall."

"Don't you and your friends go cliff diving all the time?" Ardyn's voice is too cheerful. "Just think of it like that."

"No," Ace says, "I don't think I will."

"Shame," Ardyn says, "This would be much easier if you did."

Ace takes a step back the same Ardyn takes a step forward.

They eye one another.

Ace bolts.

Ardyn throws a dagger at him and finishes the warp before Ace can get too far. With Ace in his clutches Ardyn then warps them directly over the gorge.

Ace takes a moment to realize that they aren't plummeting to their death before Ardyn smiles.

"Fuck you," Ace manages to hiss out before he's unceremoniously dropped.

(It takes seconds for Ace to figure out how to reinforce his wings with magic. It takes another instant for him to harness the energy of the petty bitch he is and swoop upward to crash into his uncle.

"That was unnecessary," Ardyn says as he stares into the gorge his hat got knocked into.

"I could set you on fire again," Ace threatens, "Don't test me."

"But dear," Ardyn's smile is sly and slightly unnerving, "It's so much fun.")

[fumifooms]

The core of Fullmetal Alchemist: All is one and Dwarf in the flask

Dwarf in a bottle is in my top 5 favorite FMA characters. No, not Father, that emotionless bland white bread empty husk, Dwarf, the whole. The sort of ball of void, the existential anomaly, so inhumanely human full with sins and individuality.

Fullmetal Alchemist is about willpower. About determination, about pursuing your goals without relenting. It is also about humility and about knowledge.

That is reflected in both the protagonist and the villain, though it is a theme common in most characters.  Both Edward and Dwarf in a bottle pursue their goals with great determination and will. Then, what is good with the manner of one and wrong with the other’s?

I believe a lot of it is about the very concept Dwarf symbolizes. Dwarf in the flask is artificiality.

An alchemy-made life. An artificial family. An artificial pursuit of knowledge and power, without caring about the journey of self-betterment that comes along with it, without caring to understand alchemy and its place in the world. Not only an artifical physical being, but also artificial emotionally; ripping apart his feelings and personality traits deemed negative to make himself into a “superior” being.

I think it’s also worth noting that yes, purging sins out of himself makes him lose those traits, even feelings. Then, if not greed, if not it all, what is pushing Father to pursue power? Greed said it himself: greed isn’t inherently bad, it’s the act of wanting. Father isn’t spiraling into a mad passion for alchemy, a pursuit of knowledge for innovation, or anything, he pursued his plan because he went through the motions, simply. As his feelings left him, all that stayed was the conviction without reasoning that since it was his plan before, he should see it to the end. Or perhaps it’s the course of action he logically came to. Perhaps alchemical enlightenment was deemed the obvious ultimate goal to have, without being interested in why it is or why it should be. Regardless, he lacks the passion and emotional intelligence to actually see the value in what he is doing, in alchemy, and ultimately that is what is punished.

I want to do a full dissection of the whole homunculus family, but I’m going to touch on some aspects of it here because it’s such an interesting topic to me. Disregarding Lust’s claim that homunculi are all individuals with a full range of emotions for a moment, I want to analyze what their traits mean in the angle that they fundamentally formed a whole all together as Father, or Dwarf in the flask.  The homunculus that is shown to be the most attached to his family members is Gluttony. The homunculus that is shown to be the most attached to relationships, in general, is Greed. Greed and Gluttony are then the homunculi, the traits, that care about people the most. And that makes sense, no? You don’t want to lose things you care about, you want to bathe in their love and their presence, and you want to keep having them for as long as you want, greed and gluttony aren’t unsimilar. Greed is interested in friendship and having companions, in possessing people’s hearts and loyalties, in making new connections and bonding with new faces. Gluttony is more interested in getting more of what he already has, more love in that way he already likes by the person he already loves, like wanting more of the familiar taste of its favorite meal. Other similar traits are pride and envy, the traits that affect your self-image. The feeling that you are remarkable and great and the feeling of wanting what others have or are, valuing yourself vs comparing yourself to others. By detaching parts of a whole, things get lost; Pride feels wholly superior but is ready to do anything to preserve himself including lowering himself to inferior beings going against his own code, while Envy only covers up his self-hatred and jealousy but would rather end himself before accepting to sully himself with the compassion of someone he looks down upon. Pride makes one value self-preservation, while envy is self-destructive by nature, perhaps. It is interesting that both feel prideful, yet Pride doesn’t reflect the fact that as part of a whole it also felt shame and low self-esteem, otherized, and Envy doesn’t reflect that Dwarf actually feels pride over traits they possess, as well. The truth is that these things coexisted in the one being that was Dwarf. Fragmented as they are, they only tell an uncomplete and incoherent story, like a puzzle. It’s ironic that maybe together, all these sins balance each other out to become healthier, less dysfunctional. Like a family, they can offer counterbalance to a trait when it becomes too central to the individual, offer support through their grounding presence. Someone slothful may feel unmotivated without greed to give them goals, pride without envy will make you stop striving to better yourself and envy without pride will give you self-loathing.

An analysis of Dwarf isn’t complicated to do: it was a being brought about by scholars and complex alchemy, enslaved, and it wished to get the power to free itself and become an individual equal/superior to everyone else. Unable to become physically and fundamentally human, he attempted to become a proxy, close enough to it; making a family, gaining a human form, etc. It ultimately wished to pursue superiority through alchemical power and knowledge when he found the result lacking, when it still didn’t feel human, couldn’t connect with others, still felt fundamentally different, like his place in the universe was somewhere else, like striving for that higher calling would solve it. Blinded by lust to find belonging, wether it be in a place or in a role, it pushed itself to extremes of alchemy in the hope it will all make sense once he gets there. Ultimately futile, as he will end up feeling betrayed and abandoned by Truth itself, not able to rise up to its own expectations once more: because there’s no magic able to make one feel whole. He seeked to sculpt himself into a perfect being, one that could be anything and do anything, one that couldn’t be reproached, if not by humans, then the world itself would confirm and showcase his objective superiority for all to see.

Much like with Shou Tucker, this pursuit for knowledge and power is all for external factors, there is no inner fuel for it besides pride, shame, desperate want that was displaced onto alchemy instead of the self-introspection that alchemy promotes and necessitates. Dwarf ended up missing what was right under his nose, and subsequently failed the test of Truth and lost everything. What he was working towards ultimately meant nothing, not to anyone and not even to himself.

Edward was able to face Truth right because he took the time to understand, learned to not abuse it, reflected on what it all meant, on the place of things in the universe. That is terrifying for Dwarf, who is terrified he may simply have no place in it, but it is nonetheless essential. The other homunculi are proof enough: Greed had friends, was accepted in the friend group of our heroes as a trustworthy and dependable person, Ling would have preferred him to stay with him forever instead of leaving. Selim gets a second chance at life with someone who has loved him with all her heart… Which is the most confusing part of FMA I have no idea how he didn’t die ngl but I’m glad for the precious lil guy~ Even Lust and Gluttony found companionship and care in being together.

Dwarf has always had a place. He simply refused to philosophizes, and alchemists are ultimately philosophers. Not thinking power through, not analyzing it, is what leads to corrupt military states. Dwarf wanted to be recognized and accepted by god and the world itself, by showing himself worthy of it and demanding it, but he was the one who rejected the nature of the world first:

One is all, all is one.

He is the very embodiment of refusing that. Dwarf always had a place in the world, artificial anomaly as he was. Perhaps Dwarf wasn’t meant to be part of this all or this one initially, not created by the world, but. Dwarf seeked to become both all and none at once. He was born artificial, but never cared to learn the rules of nature and accept the limits of the world, seeking to destroy and warp them; he was the one that desired to make himself even more distinct from the world and label himself as a perfect, artificial being. Rejecting individuality to become some empty looking glass was the mistake Edward Elric didn’t make, growing to find the value in every type of life and finding the strength to keep going through every horror of the world. Dwarf’s folly was thinking that he was separate from the rest of existence.

The philosophical dimension to the value of gold or philosopher’s stones are the important part of alchemy, power isn’t what you achieve enlightenment through. May your pursuit of knowledge be wise and your resolve aim true.

–+–+–+–+–+–+–

I recommend this analysis by another tumblr user as complementary reading!! It goes over way more than I did and encompasses more of fma than this post, I just wanted to focus on a fraction of the themes and narrative that I found summed up the story’s key points well… Idk idk I’m a humble Dwarf enjoyer I don’t want to come across as pretentious 🙇 I can only hope this was a nice read. If you don’t remember the ending of the manga/brotherhood well I imagine this being very confusing, I should do something about that

[namazunomegami]

Lord of the Flies, Gluttonous Queen, Prince of Filth, Prince of Decay, Goddess of Ekron, Lord of Slander, Queen of Pestilence and Famine, The Rotting One

I Solomon said unto him: “Beelzeboul what is thy employment?” And (s)he answered me: “I destroy kings. I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own demons I set on to men, in order that the latter may believe in them and be lost. And the chosen servants of God, priests, and faithful men, I excite unto desires for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds; and they obey me, and I bear them on to destruction. And I inspire men with envy, and desire for murder, and for wars, and sodomy, and other evil things. And I will destroy the world.” - The Testament of Solomon

[dumplingcatho]

thinking abt link click this fine day GOD first and probably will be the best donghua i'll watch ever aueghhhhh it's lowkey utena 2.0 for me (i still prefer utena but linkclick is basically on that level) it's just so solid and well crafted and compelling RAHHH

the opening song too???? it didn't take too long to realise!! something had changed in the back of my miiind!! your eyes!!!!! there ain't nowhere left to hide behind!! time no longer flew like it was... when the flash froze everything before... without you.. i don't know if i could take this road.... okay i'll stop there or i WILL type out the whole op

[thedreadvampy]

it's been a strange arc so far

when I was 19-21 and having an extremely imbalanced relationship with someone in their mid 30s I was like 'we are both adults so the fact that this is fucking me up is my fault'

when I hit my late 20s and saw how young people in their late teens and early 20s seem now I was like 'oh wait I was so fucking young I didn't know shit about my own limits or about managing relationships and I don't know why someone in their mid to late 30s would be into that except for nefarious purposes'

the weird bit is now I'm into my 30s - not even that far into my 30s - and while I still wholeheartedly believe that last thing about how young (and self destructive) 20 year olds are, I'm also kind of like 'huh, actually nobody I know that age has their shit remotely together and frankly the reason this fucked me up is because NEITHER of us knew what the fuck we were doing it how to cope, for different reasons and at different life stages, and there probably wasn't any malice or intent to control as much as there was Blind Flailing.'

[wanderingaldecaldo]

Date Night Corpo-Style

Part One | Part Two

📸 by @thelonestrider | comm detes

[t00thpasteface]

that feeling when a fic is juuuust about done and you have to make a decision like. either i can bang out these last couple paragraphs and call it done and stop thinking about it, ORRRR i can go back through the Whole Entire Thing and add an extra three or four pages total of bonus content randomly dispersed throughout pretty much every scene in a grueling process of insecure over-treating

[dawdlecentric]

Man, this doujin isn't fucking around

Meanwhile, Seikuri in the background...

Doujin: Flashbackers by Totobe

[amelikos]

I wonder how much Liko told the others after the events of HZ065..

We know she told them about the Rakurium and Spinel using it during the episode itself, but I wonder if she told them about being stuck in a cave with Amethio later on or if she just mentioned it in passing.