#I believe the world of fma is just slightly too kind for them to be executed

[fantasyforbeginners]

Just wondering, you don't have to answer if you don't want to <333

What are your favorite character dynamics in books and movies? Or character tropes, either limited to one character or affecting character interactions?

Oh I have been waiting my whole life for this question, thank you so much! As always tropes depend equally upon execution (we've all seen them poorly done or read/watched something we Should like, by all means, that just didn't click with us) but here are some of my favourite dynamics / character archetypes w/ recommendations

Dynamics

Platonic Power of Love / Platonic soulmates. Please see: How to Train Your Dragon, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, Loveless by Alice Oseman

Ties into found family, that is my #1. Bio siblings who also choose each other, unconventional extended family dynamics, workplace families, misfit families, just all the found families. Give it to me, every time. Please see: every recommendation on this list, Ducktales (2017), Six of Crows duology, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Grump X Sunshine but like in the specific "Grump has abandonment issues, Sunshine is like a golden retriever or paragon that helps them believe in life again, and the Grump's eventual opening up helps reaffirm / reward Sunshine's belief in people" way. Please see: The Dragon Prince, Inside Job

Mid-20s something who is too young to be a parental figure to the scrappy pre-teen kid they just found but someone's gotta parent the child, they Guess. Please see: vaguely Crazy Ex Girlfriend

Opposite but related trope of Adult trying to protect and raise their Chosen One child, trying to cope with the reality that they can't protect their child and that the kid ultimately belongs to the world. See: Aang and Monk Gyatso from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Christianity (hi Jesus and Mary)

Friends to Lovers. Even if they're enemies, there's gotta be a strong friendship stage / component, or I'm rarely gonna be entirely convinced. (But I'm also on the aromantic spectrum, so that defs influences me). Please see: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Dragon Prince, Heartstopper

Villains / antagonists who are competing against one another or are reluctantly working together. I love the instability, the way it can make one villain work with the heroes, the snideness and differing goals. It's so good. Please see: Trollhunters (Tales of Arcadia on Netflix), Spider Riders (2006)

Platonic or Romantic "I was just going through the motions of my life until you woke me up and changed Everything," I love that transformative shit. Please see: The Dragon Prince, Infinity Train (s2)

Basically just "There are people you haven't met yet who will love you" every time. Please see: The Good Place

Foil sibling relationships, and if it's also intergenerational? Chef's kiss. Please see: Gravity Falls, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Dragon

Slightly more serious older girl and more carefree younger boy. He helps her to lighten up and let loose, she helps him mature. Also angry girl and soft boy. See: every ship I have almost loved, Infinity Train, The Dragon Prince, Peter Pan 2: Return to Neverland (aka where my ideals for love came from when I was five, feminist girlboss movie of my childhood)

Love of any kind transcending death and time, Please see: How To Train Your Dragon franchise, Titanic (1997), Julie and the Phantoms

Loyal dutiful Knight / Lady or royal dynamic. Please see: The Legend of Zelda games

On that note, co-leader character dynamics. They have the same goal and uniquely mirror each other's devotion and drive, they're willing to put duty and share that maturity with each other? Eat that shit up every time. Please see: Shiro and Allura from Voltron if the show hadn't ended up being terrible, The Dragon Prince, Julie and the Phantoms, Roy and Riza from FMA (which I still need to watch)

If there is a big possibly scary creature and they have a tiny human and they love each other, I will fall for that friendship every time. Please see: How To Train Your Dragon, Transformers: Prime

Basically please watch The Dragon Prince if you haven't already, it's everything I've ever wanted or needed in a show.

Character Archetypes

So much of this just comes down to "Selfless leader burdened by duty and responsiblity" just with variations so keep that in mind

Older character haunted by memory / knowledge, knowing they are an unfitting protector to the new younger generation who needs them, re: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Team leader who feels like it's their responsibility to take care of everyone else whether or not that's actually plausible / the case, re: Rayla in The Dragon Prince

Paragons in general, re: Optimus Prime, Aang, Ezran

Strategist leader who is smart as all helll, if a little (or a lot) ruthless, re: Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows

Moses archetype who returns to liberate people from physical or emotional servitude / abuse, re: The Prince of Egypt, what Finn from Star Wars could've been

Character who's a little egotistical and a tad dim, but they really care about / will protect their family and comes through when it matters, re: Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman, it was foundational for me; also Louie and/or Dewey from Ducktales (2017)

Driven angry girl with goals who will do anything to achieve them so long as it doesn't mean diminishing herself, re: Jane from Peter Pan 2 was my blueprint, Reagan from Inside Job, MT from Infinity Train

Just any woman with goals (and a man who supports those goals), re: Grace and Simon from Infinity Train until it got fucked up in the best way

Female tough girls and bullies with a softer side, a la Clarisse La Rue from Percy Jackson (not Amity from Owl House)

Exiled / outcast character with a massive guilt complex, re: Aang from ATLA, Rayla from The Dragon Prince

Nurturing characters with fierce tempers, re: Callum from the Dragon Prince

Chosen ones. I know it's cliche and I do not care, that shit can be compelling as hell. Honourable mention to: main character is trying to protect the chosen one (a sibling or friend), or there are multiple chosen ones running around

If they're a really good older sibling I'm probably sold, re: The Dragon Prince, Over the Garden Wall

Soft spot for gentle giants and lancers who can call the protag out on their shit while also knowing when to support them, re: Cyborg from Teen Titans

Grandmothers who have no time for anyone's shit

Women getting to have more 'masculine' roles unquestionably, men being satisfied in more 'feminine' child caring roles, re: The Dragon Prince

Revolutionaries, misfits, anyone rebelling against a system or two with a splash of solidarity as a bonus, again, most of the things on this list. (Milton's Paradise Lost is so fun)

Heroes and Villains who have actual similar personalities and flaws and it's not a superficial "we're not so different," re: Luke and Percy from Percy Jackson

Also that thing fantasy does where like, all the different groups and peoples will pitch in and come together for a common cause, it's so good and I will go for that shit every time. Truly one of my favourite tropes for all time

This might be more general than like, specifics (i.e. characters tending to each other's wounds) and I could honestly do a list like this all about like, Themes I love the shit out of, since I write from Theme first in a lot of ways and character second, but I hope you enjoyed my very specific list!

#thanks for asking #dragons rambles #tropes #archetypes #dynamics #annarts05 #recommendations

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Love how people on here are like "yes we write fix it fics but we all fundamentally know in our hearts that Roy and Riza get executed for their war crimes," because I do not believe that At All, and this isn't even denial. I am perfectly convinced they find a way out of it and go live on a farm somewhere. My trust in them and their ability to live is implicit rip to you but I think they're different.

#fullmetal alchemist #fma #also I read the mini-story released after the final real chapter where they're all working on fixing up the country #they'll be ok #but Grace the fact they aren't punished for it goes against the point of the story!!! #maybe having to live happily knowing how many they stopped from being allowed to is punishment enough #look fundamentally #I believe the world of fma is just slightly too kind for them to be executed #it is a surprisingly kind world #and it has enough forgiveness in it somehow #that's the core of my belief in this -- I don't think it's a world in which that would really happen #Maria lived and returned! they will in the same way I am sure of it!

[steve0discusses]

The Full Metal Alchemist Live Action Movie Part 8: Watch This Episode Covered in Butts be the Only One Not Flagged by Tumblr

Gonna be risky business and not only upload all of these caps the way I screenshot them--which has just SO MANY poorly CGI’d butts but also gonna do it on the Tumblr Drafts folder, which I have been assured works now.

I’m so worried about so many things, but considering all the fears I have about like...everything else in the world right now...I guess I’ll take a risk on tumblr.

Edit: I cannot believe that I had 8ish episodes of Kaiba’s tall dueling tower get flagged but not this movie. I just....wow I cannot.

So anyway, last we left off, General Hakuro stepped in and was like “Hi guys, you like my wily plans that no one in their right mind would have ever guessed???”

Yo remember this part of the anime? Where the bodies drop from the ceiling and it’s a hunk out of the final arc--it’s here. In this movie. This movie that can’t possibly afford to do that. Lets get some CGI animated bodies in here ASAP.

(see some texture regrets under the cut)

It’s like a Monet, as the Mean Girls say, because far away and shrinked to 500 pixels this looks kinda neat. They sort of look more like those slime ball that grow in the back of your throat rather than human bodies, but they still look pretty gross hanging up there.

But then.....we zoom in. Remember again that this was full screen on my computer, and at one point was on a freakin movie screen. This level of 3d...was on a movie theater screen.

The mind boggles. The mind boggles!

Like as you know, I am an artist, and I’ve dabbled in...basically everything in my pursuit to make a dollar...and I have taken about 2 years of classes in 3D art with Maya and all those. I’m not thaaat great at it--I’m much more an illustrator/painter--but I feel like I have that reference point. Can I just say--the model is...fine...you can do a lot with layers of bump maps so you don’t need a truly detailed model (not like they did that, because they didn’t do that, but I can figure that maybe they had an intention to do that and forgot?)

But, there’s no connection of the wires to bodies. They just kinda float? The bodies are also all the same shiny-ness? To the point that it looks like a copy paste? (I don’t think it is, the wires are slightly different on a few of them) There’s just not much in the way of a texture map or a bump map. It just...there’s also something missing from the skin.

Skin is actually kind of rough to render, so when I did it back in the day, I followed like a checklist to make sure I had all the layers and steps to make someone look...clammy. Some things are kinda translucent, they reflect light a different way...especially white skin like this wouldn’t be just...white like putty. Dunno if you ever saw a white person, but we got so many veins...there was so much potential to make something really gross and fleshy.

Instead we got silly putty. It’s fine. I’m fine.

So General Hakuro decides to just...kill everyone right now.

This makes no sense to me.

That means that the whole thing of Lust killing Hughes was completely unrelated to General Hakuro. All Hakuro needed was Shou Tucker, who has been in prison for...I assume months since Ed shipped him off. And Shou was only released today? Just now? Just now when Hughes was shot?

So this all just happened at the same time by accident?

I mean the General sent us to the wrong lab initially, so he didn’t actually want us to be here, and now that we are here, he’s going to set off an entire army as a reaction to three people walking in and going “oops”?

So, lets get a look at our army.

Oh it was so disappointing, this reveal. Not just the eyeball that has a bounce light coming from below the top lip there (how did that even happen???) but also when it opened it’s mouth, it had a flat animation of skin breaking--it wasn’t actually rendered 3d skin, it was like a jpg wrapped around it or something (or at least that was the illusion I got. That is fine for a video game or a TV show, but this is a movie. This is shot so that it can be displayed in a size bigger than your own house.

What happened to the animation team on this one? Not saying I can do better, cuz no, I can’t, that 3d chapter in my life was a while back, but I’m just one guy. This was an entire animation studio and they just...didn’t render 3d face ripping (which is their entire job, to work in 3d) and then they kinda just turned on the stock physics dynamics and dropped em instead of animating them.

The way they fell was like fish from a bucket--the same amount of speed, too. they all ragdolled like a 3D shooter, their rigs just hanging on for dear life (and yes, you could see the deforming happen on the joints of these models.) I’m fine with having a computer program render something out with a physics engine...but there is a balance.

You do have to still go in there and finangle it back because...real life is hella stupid. Real physics? So stupid. It was hilarious how nonthreatening it was, too because they’re like...the size of shrimps in that zoom out image. The scale is just so wild!

It was like one bored guy in a sound booth and they multiplied his voice three times. Golden. Absolutely golden.

So these guys stride over, all of them with the same amount of speed (leading me to think it was probably a recorded walk cycle they all share with slight alterations between all of em) and they kinda just...pile on eachother in a weird way.

I will give them this: I was happy to see something that wasn’t physics or procedural. They mo-capped and animated that part for sure. It had the touch of an artist’s hand. It was also a very funny way for Hakuro to die because this guy was on screen for like 5 minutes, and maybe 7 minutes of this whole movie.

Youknow...I think it really says a lot about your nude 3d models if they’re not disturbingly human enough to trigger the tumblr filter, youknow?

Anyway, Envy looks on.

And then Gluttony saves the city.

Meanwhile, they decide to bust out the fire effects and Mustang becomes the most useful person in this entire movie. Like honestly this movie was poorly named, because it should have just been “Mustang saves the FullMetal Alchemist’s Entire Ass.”

The next part seems like I forgot a cap, or maybe missed something. I swear to you, I did not.

First off, Al becomes fullmetal and makes this happen without an alchemy circle. The show doesn’t really care to talk about that though, it’s just a thing he can do now, and you’d only notice it if you were writing a Tumblr post about it.

I swear to you, Winry is just inside of Al and there is no explanation.

There is no explanation for this.

She was on the couch...why is she not on the couch? What?

And then when you think they might have a moment, Ed’s like.

Damn.

For reals what the hell was that entire scene except for a way for Ed to get his arm stitched back on in like 2 minutes?

Outside, Envy and Lust are just strolling around the back-alley of this red brick building we have seen used for this entire movie.

And like...it’s so funny to me because they weren’t trying to run or hide. It makes complete sense why they got shot. This is what happens when you just...walk away when the whole military guard wants to kill you.

Now lets go see how Hawkeye is faring.

Luckily, all of the ambling bodies have decided to walk slowly through this one weird grass section between extremely long buildings.

And Hawkeye tells everyone “You have to shoot their heads off” and I want you to look at that scene and tell me how many of those bodies still have heads.

Oh, all of them. Don’t worry about it.

Kinda hard to see, but Ed shows up to give Mustang a hand, which was fully unnecessary but we’ll get to that in a bit.

This movie is such a gem.

Ed goes big brain and realizes that Envy is still burned up, and thus is about to pass on.

And whatever, I’ll take it. It’s not like the movie has told us that they are made out of 1000000 lives, for all we know, in the movie universe, they really are only 4 lives. Like half a cat. Maybe Father only killed half a cat instead of an entire city.

Yugi Muto would be so freakin proud of Envy for how often this guy gets hit square in the chest with fire balls. It’s basically every scene where Envy and Mustang share screen time.

And don’t worry, I don’t think Envy died? But they sure made it look like he did, which I’m sure everyone everywhere was really happy to see, since Envy’s death was one of the climaxes of the whole series. Like people used to make these lists of “top 10 saddest anime deaths” and how many people had Envy on there? Like everyone? People freakin love Envy and they did him so much dirty in this movie.

Again I have no explanation for Winry.

So Mustang is like, Ed, you make sure Winry doesn’t biff it in that corner, and I’ll do my actual job over here on this side. And yo, he did.

And so then that’s it, Lust is dead, and now we have a Sorcerer’s stone.

Man it looks delicious, right?

I’d eat the hell out of that.

Anyway, we only have one more update and we’re done with this movie!

I know!

I know! They only have 10-15 minutes to resolve pretty much everything, and that’s assuming that the credits don’t take up a heap of that. Hell, I might only have 3 caps next episode if that’s all credits. I honestly don’t remember.

Anyway, hope y’all take it easy this February, here is a link for people who just got here to read these FMA recaps in Chrono order.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/fma/chrono

#FMA #Fullmetal Alchemist #Fullmetal Alchemist Movie #recap #photo recap #ed elric #colonel mustang #hawkeye #al elric #Winry Rockbell #so much fire #so much almost there CG

[szivtalan]

8, 9, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 40, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 53, 55, 57, 58, 59, 62, 64, 65, 70 (aside from Kagami 😂), 71, 72, 79, 82, 86, 87, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 for the "Asks, why not" thing please? (Omg that's soo much, I'm sorry I got carried away ^^')

8) Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself)

Average height, bordering on short. Broad shoulders, thick arms and thighs, square face, slightly projecting ears (one pierced, one with a stretched lobe), bushy arched brows, thick square glasses, faded dark red hair, dark brown eyes, butt chin. I look pale and perpetually sleep deprived.

9) What do you/did you study?

I was in a teacher’s training program for English and Hungarian language and literature, and I’m planning to go back to school to study sociology!

16) What do you look for in a SO?

Consciously: understanding, fun, sweet, kind and accepting. Unconsciously: somewhat broken and in dire need of emotional help which I’m desperate to provide lmao.

19) Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands?

Eh, u know, it depends? I don’t think I’m fit for a serious relationship right now, so I’d prefer casual stuff atm, but on the long run I do want a partner to share my life with.

20) What are your deal breakers?

Really obnoxious people, ignorance and bigotry I guess. And I’m not keen on someone pushing or disrespecting my boundaries, either.

21) How was your day?

It was good!! My bro, his girlfriend and my friend tagged along to get our (me and my soon-to-be sis-in-law’s) ears pierced, and then my friend and I got a loot of food. I didn’t exactly feel good enough abt myself to be comfortable outside, but I got a lot of random kindness and that was Nice.

22) Favourite food & drink

Food: teriyaki chicken and seafood pasta, drink: ginger ale and iced coffee

23) What position do you sleep in?

I sleep half-curled up on my side, but I need to toss and turn a little until I find The Best Position.

25) Your fears

The dark, needles, rabbits (I don’t even know, dude), the fact that I’ll die without having made an impact on the world, being spoken about behind my back, being a bad influence on my friends.

28) Any pets?

Not right now! I used to have two rottweilers around the house growing up, but they both passed away sadly.

29) What are your hobbies?

Writing, sketching, basketball, getting on people’s nerves, researching typology, watchin movies idk?

31) What was your last awkward situation?

Asjhdh the ticket control guy told me to “Have a safe trip” and I said “You too!”. This rarely happens to me tho

32) What is your last regret?

Not holding my friend’s hand on public transport. It was…right…there….and she already told me she’s more than comfortable with physical touch! I’m a fool! Everyone thinks I hate touching but I don’t! I’m just shy!

34) Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.)

Ehh. Kind of? As for believing, I believe more in ghosts, but I do see some patterns in different signs. I just try not to let it affect the way I see/interact with a person, because no one deserves to be prejudiced for whatever reason, especially not their date of birth. Tarot is just fun, and the cards r cool

35) Have any quirks?

I bite the skin on my fingers, scratch my acne, make my knees jump… most of it is just regular anxiety stuff tho so idk?? I do think I’m quirky, but there’s just too much weird stuff to list ‘em.

36) Your pet peeves

Cig/booze stink on a person, customers being rude, bigotry, interrupting other people… There’s quite some things that annoy me asjdgd

40) Last 5 things from your search history

Boku No Hero Academia, Hawks, duck emoji, Grumman fma, How To Train Your Dragon

41) What’s your device backgrounds?

My phone lockscreen rn is a beautiful KagaKuro fanart of them standing in the rain in yukatas, Kagami looming over Kuroko and shielding him from the rain and Kuroko reaching up to stroke his face; my phone background is an art of they/them pronouns tattooed on someone’s knuckles, their posture unsure; my laptop background is a screenshot from the movie Déva, of blue skies and a street lamp.

42) What do you daydream about?

…cu..cuddling,,my…crush……..

44) What's your religion/Your thought about religion

Short version: barf

Long version: I was raised catholic (even tho I was never baptized), and attended catholic school for 8 years which gave me a really warped idea of Christianity, Which made me a cynic & an agnostic or atheist by proxy. I harshly criticize the catholic church and faith but sometimes… when I do feel hopeless I get down on my knees and pray, so I guess if I let myself find my own faith I’d be a believer. But right now, I’m good just existing in my nihilistic bubble

45) Your personality type

Needy imeanwhat. In a typological sense, I’m an INFP in Myers-Briggs, 4 core 5 wing in Enneagram, melancholic or sanguine in the temperaments, et cetera. Basically I’m a sad daydreamer with unresolved issues and a need to do Art

47) Are you happy with your current life?

Nah bro. I like my friends and my workplace but I’d like to move out of home ASAP. I’d also… like to get therapy before I go and put myself out there.

48) Some things you've tried in your life

Playing the guitar, hostess work, weed, cigarettes, being blackout drunk, smoking from a hookah, cooking, football, handball, basketball, volleyball, cycling, sailing, driving, hitchhiking long distances, folk dancing, one-night stands, long-distance relationships, helping people in need…

50) Favourite colour to wear?

Olive green, midnight/navy blue, white, grey and black.

53) If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be?

I’d… like to know how it would feel if I had a flat chest and a penis? I also want bigger Guns, and Abs, some more tattoos and maybe an eyebrow piercing.

55) Do you get complimented often?

I think so? I usually brush off compliments uhhh but yeah maybe! Maybe idk

58) Songs you're currently obsessed with?

My friend’s playlist reminded me that ‘Phenomenon’ by Thousand Foot Krutch exists. I’m also really into ‘San Francisco’ by The Mowgli’s atm and ‘Golden Time Lover’ by Sukima Switch!

59) Song you normally wouldn't admit you like.

I mean, it’s not like it’s cringe or anything, I hate cringe culture BUT. I do have Ariana Grande’s ‘Side to Side’ stuck in my head rn

64) Can you sing or play any instruments?

I can sing pretty badly, play a bad tune on my guitar, drum on the edge of my table, so- Nah not really asdh

65) Do you like karaoke?

YES VERY MUCH I live and die for karaoke, last time I did it in front of an audience we sung the Shaman King opening at an anime con with friends, it was Rad

70) Your fictional crush/es

AH NO FUN Kagami’s my number one,,, let’s see then: Aomine, Roy Mustang, Kise, Mikoto Suoh, Hotch & Reid from Criminal Minds, Yagami Light, Jaime Lannister and Brienne from GoT, Rustin Cohle from True Detective, Shizuo Heiwajima from Durarara!!!, why is this list full of men I didn’t think I liked men this much

71) Which fictional character is you?

Eddie Brock from Venom I mean? He’s a whole ass mess.

79) How much time do you spend on the internet?

Yike. More than I’d be proud of.

86) Would you use death note, if you had one?

No way dude. I don’t fuck with that shit, karma would fuck me right back.

87) What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to?

I’d eliminate money and power and just make it a huge peaceful hippie community or something idk

90) What would you want to happen to you after your death?

Donate me to a medical school I don’t care. Make use of me! I’m gonna be dead, I won’t have any more feelings left to be hurt or anything asdghdsg

91) If you had to change your name, what would be your pick?

I’ve had a name in mind that I tried out once, but it didn’t really work out for me after all. I’m fine with Vee and Vic rn. Anything that isn’t my given name. I do want to change my surname to my mother’s, but if I do that I also want to give myself a different first name, and since That isn’t figured out yet, I’m just?? Call me whatever dude

94) Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true

Ugh, I’m bad at these. 1) I have plenty of moles. 2) My eyesight is pretty good. 3) I’ve broken some bones before.

95) Cold or hot?

Cold in beverage, hot in weather.

96) Be a hero or be a villain?

Being a villain is way too much fun, but I have too strong of a conscience to pull that off, so… hero, I guess.

97) Sing everything you want to say or rhyme?

Asjhdf singing is funnier and more annoying, since I Cannot Sing

98) Shapeshifting or controlling time?

Dude I’m non-binary. Shapeshifting for Sure

99) Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death?

Aight I’ll give in – I agree to immortality Just This Once.

#this was LONG as FUK #ask and i shall answer #i kindly skipped those i've already answered ^^' #thank u buddy!!! #meiyanaalexia #i didn't think i'd get too real with this but here i am

[ghostfriendly5]

‘See how strong my Wife is!’

‘Strong, submissive women’? (slightly disturbing content)

“...a woman who would faint at the sight of blood, yet die with a smile on her lips...”

-The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis (being astonishingly romantic, but very un-feminist)

My post (link) on a misogynistic Goblin Slayer fan had an unexpected strong response, thanks to everyone who liked it. I wanted to talk a little about a slightly irritating quality of anime that this Tumblr transmuted into something rather disturbing. This fellow who posts sexualized photos of beaten girls and promulgates a serious ‘handmaiden’s tale’ -like rule list for a woman’s whole-life submission to her ‘man’. considers himself a fan of ‘strong, feminine’ women, such as Rem from Re:Zero. In short, I suspect he likes a lot of the same characters as me.

I love Hyuuga Hinata, for all her un-feminist qualities. She gave up her career to be a devoted housewife to the man who has been the centre of her world from day one. When SPOILER Toneri brainwashes Hinata into marrying him and fighting Naruto in the Last movie he boasts ‘look how strong my wife is’, which I suspect is exactly the kind of strength that chauvinists want ‘their women’ to have. Submitted, devoted, a testament to the ‘dominance’ of the degenerated man that holds them in thrall, with beatings if he so desires. The basic Yamato Nadeshiko ideal of a Samurai woman who can protect her home while completely submitting to the patriarchy is essentially this. 

Of course, Hinata is a better character than this; believe it. She chooses a boy her father would never have chosen for her, fights to protect him and get through to her troubled cousin herself, and of course kicks ‘her man’ out of the house for the evening when he gets too noisy. Her devotion accords with her personal temperament and will; it isn’t imposed on her by a man’s list of rules...only the writer.

Mikasa Ackerman. Mikoto Mikasa. Haruka Shitow from Rahxephon. Tsukuyo. Lucy. Hestia. Raphtalia (may her slavery-preferring ears rot off and infect Naofumi with the plague). A distressing number of excellent 'strong anime heroine’ are neutralised by their excessive devotion to a male hero. Even Riza Hawkeye, who always has a quip to fire back at Roy Mustang over his ‘impotence’ has been thus criticised. Rather a lot of undisputedly strong women such as Kino, Mother Sarah, Alita, and the immortal Lady Oscar only hold independent strength by sacrificing their love lives to a great extent. Some of the women with the most feminist relationships in popular anime that I can think of, Fee Carmichael in Planetes, Victorique in Gosick, have very minor series or roles. Self-willed career woman and mother Winry Rockbell, aside from wrench-whacking, is pretty amazing as well. Possibly FMA is just the greatest shounen ever written, there’s an idea?

Of course anime is far from perfect because society isn’t perfect and relationships are difficult. As well as appreciating the combination of snarky self-will and heroic devotion shown by popular heroines like Riza Hawkeye, if any more there be. I would also consider that the aforementioned rules are so particularly toxic since they corrupt the truth. Submission and devotion are beautiful aspects of a relationship, harmony and mutual support are usually more important than getting ones own way. Easy to say, tragically easy not to practice, hence worth a mention. The prisoner's dilemma suggests the difficulty of sacrifice that risks being exploited; but hopefully a couple can have more trust between them that two jailed cons? The little I can usefully say about this is that a woman and a man in a relationship who BOTH think of how to make their partner happy, much more than one-sided rights or imposed duties, would really seem to have love between them.  

#fullmetal alchemist #riza hawkeye #roy mustang #roy x riza #winry rockbell #rahxephon #a certain scientific railgun #feminist #chauvinism #c.s. lewis #screwtape letters #rose of versailles #naruto #toneri #naruhina #hinata hyuga #Goblin Slayer #female fighter #the rising of the shield hero #Raphtalia #naofumi #mikasa ackerman #shingeki no kyojin #planetes

[incarnateirony]

Writers lie. Death doesn’t. My brain hurts.

What fascinates me is how honest Death has been (or at least seemed) throughout the series. In comparison to Chuck. I started writing a drabble about that and it turned into a whole other brain adventure on ideas of “why the TWEEST”, where it might lead, and so on.

I’m about to tuck this giant ass rant which weaves in and out of gnostic and hermetic thought alongside how it may apply to our canon since it’s very “stream of thought” on my part involving everybody being so damn shocked at WHAT A TWIST with Chuck while I was like “Y... yeah? Wait- wait that- oh I forgot most people don’t think like I do.”

There is also a long list of related posts I’ve been drumming on about all season:

(x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE MISSING PIECES AFTER READING THIS, DOUBLE BACK. Cuz at this point I’m just at stream of thought on where Dabb and co may be taking this.

So, addressing Chuck, the creator, the world builder, the liar.

A preface: Hermeticism believes in gnosis as fundamental understanding, but not all Gnosticism is Hermeticism, as over time, Gnosticism grew into a TOTALLY separate branch that was popularly considered nihilistic, whereas Hermetic stuff was generally more optimistic. I’ll address them separately, even if they’re incredibly related and roll back to that closer to the end.

Nous. Chuck is Nous (or Nous II, which I’ll get to WAYYYY below). At times Nous is divided into three forms -- Thought, Reason, and Anthropos. Anthropos is the human soul, destined to return to god. Much like the (terribly delivered) ideology of S6-7, the idea is that God is made of innumerable souls, and those that conduct themselves properly may become powers of god.

At the same time, cosmogeny is a hot fucking mess. Any person who dabbles in cosmogony that’s worth their salt will still tell you that, well, they weren’t there at the start of the world, but Empedocles was the sharp kind of whip that got to the important truths that I think will be the real human moralistic line of our final season for our actual heroes, Team Free Will: “Love and strife are the two principle forces driving all things. Things come together, things fall apart. The rest is commentary.” That’s a bit of an aside, just here while we’re literally poking at the Supernatural cosmogony in canon.

Billie and God, they’re at strife here -- in the end, I’ll reap god, too.

On the other hand, Team Free Will tend to make their choices based on love.

A few points to get out of my way before I circle to my original point: modern Gnostics revere Lucifer as Prometheus. I feel I’ve missed that important word in my brush overs. Modern. Thing is, that’s a modern invention completely absent in sources like the Pleroma. But the Apocryphon of John did lend toward it. The whole cascade of symbology ends up with them saying Jesus and Lucifer are one in the same, but again, modern invention, but definitely a step The Powers That Be have not even hinted or breathed in the direction of and I don’t see them taking that step. That said, Lucifer called out propaganda. And regardless of if Lucifer is a modern or ancient christ figure, the gnostic contempt for Jehovah wasn’t particularly a secret.

Because regardless of if the snake in the gnostic garden was Lucifer or Satan (it IS in Supernatural), it was a savior figure breaking through Chuck’s false reality. A constructed reality. A veil of lies built around a creation he wanted run HIS way.

Chuck’s false reality has been REPEATEDLY addressed as propaganda by Lucifer, who we didn’t want to believe. Chuck misguided them as a lowkey writer right off the bat. Chuck disregarded their prayers for years. Chuck only came back when his ass was on the line from his own equal and opposite pole but gave a really nifty drama story on why, which Lucifer AND EVERYBODY ELSE was pretty much given to swallow or just deal with it anyway.

But summarily, in gnostic tradition, Jehova is the actual satan and the snake was just misunderstood for trying to break the matrix everybody was in, which hits some later biblical curiosities when various affiliated names like the morning star, and phosphorus, both Luciferian, are also given as properties of the holy spirit. EG in Revelations, Jesus calls himself the morning star too. Let’s do a head flip here. But wait didn’t some preacher say the morning star was Lucifer and Lucifer was satan and - hold up, what.

Again, I’m not speculating TPTB are gonna say Lucifer is jeebus. If anything, his child here, Jack, is the christ figure we’re about to face, turning over the laws of the old cruel god in the time of apocalypse. But this idea that it’s just all so sudden that Chuck is turning around when he’s habitually made lies and excuses is kinda crazy to me? Like, he poofed out at the end of S5, so TPTB have known since then? Chuck has literally been lying through the whole series and this is just forgotten because Rob is a super sweet bean everybody loves? Chuck has forged an entire matrix of misery, or infinite multiples, and then decides to try a different story? Sam and Dean are his guys? They keep it interesting, until they try to take HIM down?

But with all the gnostic and hermetic symbolism, this is on point? But Chuck has been lying the whole time? Whereas Death, arguably... has not? I literally didn’t trust them to ever try to take this road on main stream TV?? Like???? This is really balls out???????????? In a christian coded culture?????????????????????

Which rides back to my original point in starting these rambles, discussing Billie: Billie may be neutral, cold and uncaring on a human empathetic level, but Death has arguably never lied. Left out parts of the truth, but never lied. There’s question on if she lied to Dean with The Last Book, but where do her books even come from? Are they Chuck’s shed drafts? And furthermore, this season had a distinct theme of adding words or readings that weren’t in the actual text (the gorgon note, the pearl journal) on interpretation. We still have grossly vague abstract idea of what was actually in that book, versus how Dean interpreted what was in that book and in the end, she still said what he did with the knowledge in that book was up to him. Just that it wouldn’t end in Michael using him to burn down the world. This is inarguably true.

Which lends to the idea of Death as a true natural force purposed for balance.

Whereas it took until season 14 for JehovaChuck to confess, just as biblically,

“I form the light and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil…” (Isaiah 45:7)

The word translated “evil” is from a Hebrew word that means “adversity, affliction, calamity, distress, misery.” Other major English Bible translations render the word: “disaster” (NIV, HCSB), “calamity” (NKJV, NAS, ESV), and “woe” (NRSV). The Hebrew word can refer to moral evil, and often does have this meaning in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In retrograde some of this is impossible for them to exist since, we know, original draft REAL LIFE SIDE, angels were never intended and all of that hoohah. So the complexities of “The snake in the garden wasn’t really a bad dude, just a misunderstood rebel, and God essentially = Lucifer” which, in the long term, rolls into the gnostic pessimistic view. What we call god was basically satan all along with a false matrix of control. Gnostic world view is that god is a lying dick and the snake wasn’t all so bad and we should listen and break out. The end.

Hermetics address this in god being good, but still having a wholeassed other set on polarities and what actually defines good, and reaches above a metaphorical jehova-head for an actual god. The All. In The Nothing. Also really super duper familiar right now.

Which cycles back to season 5, “In the end, I’ll reap god, too.” Spoke Death. He clarified the chicken and the egg ambiguities, which again, *rolls another circle around*

Back to gnostic first:

We have a forefather or pro-arche, a pre-beginning, a fore-father,  considered as the idea of Depth -- with whom existed Thought who’s also called Grace and Silence. The Empty Space & Grace, then Mind & Truth. But Nous, the Mind, born of Depth & Grace, sent forth Word & Life and brought forth Anthropos & Ecclesia - Man & Church, which were the primal eight.

Now, gnosticism is a really broad wash, some sects have REALLY wild ass takes on what causes death, but the simple idea of Death is quite literally beyond... like-- if god created The Word (huehuehue) and Life, it’s not that Death is even its own force, so much as a negative space contrary to the work of Nous.

Chaining in my stream of thought here for a second, tapping back to “God was never on your side” as both the lead-in and lead-out of the season tells me that for all the gnostic/hermetic stuff flying around, this season did lean into gnostic Nihilism (huehuehue). The question is if the hermetic Optimism (huehuehue) is going anywhere, because that’s where my recent gong banging about the Shadow (huehuehue), The All, and all of that is on about and it’s just hanging out there, like an invitation for them to face their mirrors and take on the godhead themselves, beyond Chuck, and own that role -- or, yes, could just be reduced to an uber villain.

Fascinatingly, The All as it was used in FMA - which you may remember me dropping a gif of here or there to compare to the Empty Smile - was also Truth. *points back up to the above*

Anyway, to the hermetic reading, it’s a matter of how, if at all, they subvert their own dark-god roll here. The Gnostic God is a dick. The Hermetic god can still be a dick, but his motivations in creating the universe are notably less intentionally malignant. The god of 14.20 is the gnostic god. The question is if he has a hermetic optimistic lining.

The accounts vary slightly, but summarily man was much like the angels at first, a being of androgynous soul unchained to the physical realm, who helped DESIGN to the original world, as *points back above again* god himself is actually a collective vat of souls, or the substance that makes souls. “Let us make man in our own image,” as it were. Nature looked up at man and fell in love with it. Man looked down at nature and fell in love with it. But man fell in love with creation and wanted to dwell in it, and then variably yeeted themselves into the physical world or, by some accounts, were chained into it. Which made them subject to sleep, sex... and yes, gave life, but also the possibility for death. It leads to a state of reincarnation until they’re worth reuniting with the godhead. 

Basically, it’s the tale of the angels fall itself, which I think is more where we’re going to see the hermetic aspect rearing its head in this telling. But I could be wrong. Shrug emoji. Man looks up at angel falls in love with it, angel looks down at man and falls in love with it, angel yeets self into human world. Sounds super familiar or something somehow. Shrug emoji again.

Because there’s also the hermetic issue of Nous and... Second Nous. Nous II which is actually closer to The Word made the planets and all the cool stuff, but Nous I actually made man, which makes a hella complicated part in our SPN lore I don’t expect to see addressed. But the creation myth introduces astrology, planets, and man, law - destiny -- from which man is expected and given to rise above. Man with power over creation. “You create your own reality” is literally the idea here. The idea that man has a dual nature -- the immaterial soul, and a physical body after the fall, sending a piece of the heavens into man.

But that man is also the equal, or at least potential equal of god, which kinda disturbs the hell out of fundamentalist christians. “As above, so below,” the Ouroboros is more than a cycle, but also the respective interconnectivity and equality of all things. Some hermetic schools even believe “God only knows what you know,” making the earthly experience or, in SPN, the story a learning experience for the creator as well as the individual, though this is sorta not-cool to fundamentalists so, *tosses papers in air*

Either way about it, Hermeticism addresses the uh, multiple levels of God and the Nous, just like Nous was not necessarily First Tier Creative Force as much as chicken or the egg or second timeless force against other concepts of NothingSpace. 

Summarily, Gnosticism addresses the world as a dark, shitty place full of demons to overcome, a constant struggle to attain higher levels, and an escape at the end in death. The hermetic view is not dark, it’s about beauty and divine harmony, and instead of escaping the world he expands himself to command the world. Which, respectively, gives us two VERY different endings of a new godhead or absolute humanity as the goal in standing against Chuck and what he’s driving them to do.

As for the motivations, even hermeticists can’t agree on that. Does the All have something to gain by acting? Is it compelled to? Or is it like the Kybalion yells, “THE ALL ACTS BECAUSE IT ACTS.” or like Michael, “because I CAN.”

But The All as the true Nous would also be above Chuck. Chuck would be the masculine Jehova. We have the feminine Shekinah in Amara. Chuck is Nous II, whether or not SPN lore addresses if Nous I (The Shadow?) created man or not or just snowballs it into one thing.

And Death, beyond God, a void presence, a silence in the midst of Depth, beyond the Word and the Life but able to read it and keep balance, has its own bones to pick -- without lies, without words, simply with action. But Death is not the end, really, especially not in hermetic rebirth. It’s merely a point of change. But we know even god can die. And in the end, Death will even reap god. And we are in the end. Even God has said it. So, buckle in folks as we deep dive into some crazy level theology.

SPN Cosmogony is making my head hurt is what it is but I see our potentials and they’re all very interesting.

Again, cycling back to related/accessory posts:

(x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

#supernatural #meta #sorta #my meta #mine #pagan life #theology #billie #death #god #chuck #14.20 #finale #moriah #season 15 #cosmogenesis #demiurge #souls

[darknessfactor]

This is mostly being written because I need to get my own thoughts down about this now, not because I particularly want to get into the Discourse (because I know it exists, and I don’t want to go near it).  Basically, I’m rewatching FMA 2003 and FMAB, and I’m going to talk through my preferences.

I’ll admit that this is my first time watching 03 all the way through.  I got through a little more than half of it in high school, then got bored (ironically right before things started getting good), and tried watching Brotherhood instead.  I did manage to make it all the way through that one.

Having watched both now, I still prefer Brotherhood.  And yes, this is a comparison post.  Untagged, except for my own reference tags.  Like I said: I’m writing this for me.

This list might get long, so if you’ve decided to go ahead and read it anyway, then prepare yourself.  I’ll start with character comparisons, in no particular order.

Roy Mustang: Brotherhood wins by a landslide.  Although 03 does a slightly better job at portraying Roy’s PTSD from the Ishval conflict, I also saw much less of a desire to atone for what he had done.  In Brotherhood, Roy specifically said that he wanted to help rebuild Ishval, and Riza admitted that he planned to allow himself and other state alchemists to be put on trial for their crimes.  In 03, I think that the desire to atone is there, but it is muted, and he seems far more smarmy and power-hungry.  His manipulation of the Elrics is also much more blatant.

Scar: Which leads me to Scar.  Honestly?  This one’s a tie for me.  I liked his ending in Brotherhood more.  I felt he was more threatening in Brotherhood.  I prefer his voice actor in Brotherhood.  However, Brotherhood did one thing that I really, really wish they hadn’t - and that was shift the blame for Winry’s parents from Roy to Scar.  Suddenly it wasn’t alright to root for Scar, because not only had he killed the state alchemists responsible for his people, but he also killed innocent civilians.  Personally, I feel for Scar - he had every reason to believe that his people would never get justice for what had been done to them, so he took matters into his own hands.  Brotherhood was just trying to pull a ‘killing is ALWAYS bad’ thing.

The kids: No, I don’t mean the Elric brothers.  I’m talking about 03′s Wrath and Brotherhood’s Pride.  This time, Brotherhood wins again.  I felt like 03 had the opportunity to go somewhere more meaningful and emotional with Wrath, but instead they just turned him into a psycho (which... considering what he’d been through, it didn’t really surprise me).  Brotherhood’s Pride, however, was almost always a creepy asshole - apart from when Selim acted endearing.  His reveal freaks me out to this day, and to this day he honestly terrifies me.  I do find it somewhat ironic that both Wrath and Pride tried to take Ed’s body for themselves, in the end.

Main villain: Gotta give 03 credit: Dante wins by another landslide.  While both she and Father are fairly one-dimensional, her reveal - as well as her plan - is a lot more insidious, not to mention creepy as hell.  I cringed (in a good way) almost every time she was on screen, and her theme song is AMAZING.  The only time when I really got a ‘what the fuck’ vibe from Father was when he’d half-absorbed Hohenheim just before the country-wide transmutation circle was activated.  For the most part, he was pretty par for the course as far as villains go.  

Bradley: Brotherhood, again.  Much more threatening, much more terrifying.  What happened to Lan Fan, to this day, remains an “oh SHIT” moment for me.  Though personally, I think his death should’ve been more brutal.

Sloth: 03, again.  Really, the only good or interesting thing about Brotherhood’s Sloth was the Armstrong sibling/Curtis teamup to take him down.  03′s Sloth is a hell of a lot more interesting.

Greed: I was kind of surprised by how much I liked 03′s Greed by the time he died.  His arc felt more complete than the arc of the first Greed in Brotherhood.  Still, I’m a sucker for body-sharing tropes, and I love the part that the second Greed played.  So Brotherhood wins this one, though not quite by a landslide.

Characters unique to each series: Brotherhood.  I can’t really think of FMA without thinking of Ling, Lan Fan, Mei, Olivier, or Miles.  Dante is a fantastic villain, and 03′s Sloth and Wrath are interesting characters as well, but Frank Archer almost seems like a Kimblee wanna-be, and I couldn’t give two shits about him.  Ling’s arc might be one of my favorites in Brotherhood, and I can’t not adore Lan Fan and Olivier.  

Riza: Brotherhood, though not by much.  There aren’t too many differences between 03 and Brotherhood Riza, except that Brotherhood went far more in-depth on her character and backstory.  Hell, they devoted an entire episode to it, and though I wasn’t too big of a fan of her learning a lesson from freaking Kimblee, I still appreciate her expanded content.

Worldbuilding: Brotherhood, again.  Brotherhood always felt more... like an actual world, whereas everything in 03 felt sort of... isolated.  In 03 we know nothing about the surrounding areas, and... I don’t know, I just never feel like there are people, anywhere.  I like that Liore got more focus in 03, but overall I prefer Brotherhood - for going more into history, for establishing more of the setting.  (I know it would’ve been tougher for 03′s writers to do such, and I give them credit for writing such a compelling story with what they had.)

Music: Brotherhood.  Oh my god, Brotherhood wins so hard for this.  Dante’s theme is the only one that stuck out to me in 03, but Brotherhood?  I have the names of so many of those tracks memorized.  The Intrepid.  Knives and Shadows.  Trisha’s Lullaby.  I get chills whenever I hear any one of these songs.  

Found family theme: This is something that’s prevalent in both series.  Hell, in 03 Armstrong even says it outright after Ed and Al visit Resembool.  It’s never quite stated outright in Brotherhood, and yet I felt like it carried through more strongly in Brotherhood.

In 03, Ed and Al meet and help plenty of people along their journey, but those people don’t really seem to have an impact on them (except maybe Nina Tucker).  I got the sense that, in spite of that, they were still fairly isolated from everyone else; the Elrics against the world.  They have each other in our world after CoS, but it’s just the two of them.  Against the world.  Again.

In Brotherhood, all those people they meet, and help?  It’s very clear that those bonds are still there.  Just look at the family photo in the credits: look at how many people are in it, even if you count out significant others and the Elrics themselves and their kids.  Paninya and Garfield being there just goes to show that there are so many people that the Elrics could easily consider family, in spite of the lack of blood relations.  Ling, Lan Fan, Mustang, Hawkeye, the Rockbells, all the chimeras that Kimblee brought up to Briggs, Izumi, Sig... in the end, in Brotherhood, it was clear that the Elrics had accepted that they couldn’t get as far as they did without these people’s love and support, and I just love that so much.

Story: Brotherhood’s story just seemed more exciting to me.  That’s all there is to it.  I’m a bit of a sucker for political conspiracies, and this screamed ‘political conspiracy’ a lot more than 03.  Also, though I can appreciate the nuance behind 03′s ending, I’ve always been a sucker for happy endings, and Brotherhood’s was definitely happier.

...well, I think these are about all the thoughts I have on this matter.  If I didn’t mention characters, it’s because I think it was a tie for those characters.  I will say for 03: I’m amazed at how its quality improved over time.  The animation and voice acting get remarkably better over time.  Still, Brotherhood is the one that’ll always be closer to my heart.

#amaya talks crap #amaya watches fma #amaya watches fmab #meta #my meta #opinion #critical tag #(for later)

[yououui]

Review of Akito the Exiled

Okay so I’ve been making a lot of little posts about my thoughts on Akito the Exiled, but I thought I’d compile some thoughts into one post. This does have spoilers, so I would avoid this if you haven’t watched the series and want to go in without knowing what will happen.

First things first, I did like this series. Code Geass has been my favorite series since it first started airing in the United States almost 10 years ago, so I went in with some high expectations. I thought, for the most part, it was a good addition to the story. It gave us some insight and a deeper understanding of the Code Geass world. I liked that it showed us the EU, a superpower that had been completely ignored in the original series. 

I think that the general plot of AtE is kind of boring, that plot being the conflict/war between Britannia (or Euro-Britannia) and Europe. When it shows them strategizing or discussing the war or what they’ll do or anything, I just get bored. It doesn’t quite grab my attention, except for when it includes Julius Kingsley (Lelouch). And that isn’t exactly good, because that’s like the main plot of the story. In comparison, I loved the conflict between Japan and Britannia in the original series, or between Lelouch and Britannia, however you want to look at it, which was the base plot for the first season and a half. It was interesting to watch Lelouch out-smart the Britannian military, to watch the battles, to see Suzaku’s instinct in battle go up against Lelouch’s strategies, it was just all so interesting. And I think this is why the only time I was interested with this sort of plot in AtE is when Lelouch was part of it. It was fun to watch Lelouch strategize and do what we loved to watch so much in the original series.

What made up for this is AtE though are the characters. In both AtE and the original series, we see the general plot of X vs. Britannia, but the characters, their individual stories and personalities and their relationships with one another are what really rounds out the story. AtE did a great job with the characters, but especially Shin and Akito.

Shin is easily my favorite character in this series and the most interesting in my opinion. His entire character arc is so well done. We see his rise and fall, and his eventual redemption and death. They paint him throughout the first four episodes makes him out to be this complete psychopath that has no problems with killing his families and that wants to the destroy the world, and it gets worse with each episode. But right at the end, we learn that he only killed his loved ones because he thought that that was the best gift he could give them. He has a dark outlook on the world and sees it as a horrible, miserable place where absolutely no good can happen, and he thinks that secretly everyone wants to die to escape the pain of life. So he sees it as an act of love when he kills his family.

His death scene had me feeling all sorts of ways. It’s shown that he actually did love Akito, and that he didn’t want to kill Akito because he hated him, like Akito thought. It’s revealed that Shin wanted to kill Akito because he couldn’t bear to think about what the world would do to his little brother, who was so good and innocent. And we find out that he did take care of Akito and help him after he killed their family. After all of this is revealed, he tells Akito that he wants him to live, even though the world is cruel. And then he walks over to his love interest, Jean, and is reunited with her in death. It’s a beautiful scene that is made even more beautiful by the music they play with it (Gentle Flow from the OST if you’re interested). Shin isn’t a good person, it’s not like this redemption just got rid of the fact that he murdered innocent people and children. But it shows that he wasn’t as evil as we all thought.

And I’m going to say that even with all of the criticisms it gets, one thing that Code Geass gets right, in this series and the original, are the death scenes. They’re so much more impactful than almost anything else I’ve watched. It’s sad enough for a character to die, especially when it’s one you get emotionally invested in. But the CG creators take it to another level and are able to hit you right where it hurts. Look at Lelouch’s death. It would have been a sad death either way, but the creators made it beautiful and heartbreaking. We see him sacrifice his life, he sees his life play out in front of him, and the last thing he sees before he dies is Nunnally, Suzaku, and himself, all smiling brightly and happily as children together. It’s one of the most impactful and emotional deaths in all of anime. I’m tearing up just thinking about it. Even with the criticisms CG may get, I don’t think anyone can say that CG is flawed when it comes to the emotional aspect, and AtE is no different.

Okay, I spent a lot of time on this. Let’s move on.

So yes, Shin is my favorite character in the series (favorite original character, that is). Akito is my second favorite, but much of what I love about Akito comes from his relationship with Shin. Akito also has a wonderfully done character arc, where he goes from hating the world and wanting to kill his brother to wanting to save the world and his brother. And his friendships and relationships with the other characters is what makes him feel this way.

The other characters are good in this series too. I won’t delve too much into them, because ultimately, Akito and Shin are the ones I cared the most about. But all of the characters are what make this series good. They all have good stories, personalities, and character arcs. If the characters had been done any differently, I think this series would have completely flopped.

Another thing that I love is that the characters get a happy ending. FINALLY, a CG series where the main characters can be happy for once. Once the war is done, they all retire and live with the gypsies and Leila and Akito are in love. I think it was good of them to give the audience something that wouldn’t completely break our hearts like the original series did.

Now for the things I did not like.

First, the knightmares. I didn’t like how they were animated, and my friend agreed. She compared them to the way the armor suits were animated in FMA: Conquerer of Shamballa, if that helps anyone picture it better. The knightmares just didn’t blend with the rest of the animation. It was that weird, too clean looking CGI that was a start contrast to the rest of the animation, as opposed to the original series where the knightmares were animated exactly the same as everything else. All of the knightmare fight scenes were animated in a way that made it hard to see exactly what was happening, too. The original series may not have been as flashy, but most of the time, you could clearly see what was happening in the fight and exactly what the pilots were doing because it was animated clearly. With AtE though, most of the time I was having trouble with seeing what they were doing exactly, and I think this is partly due to the lighting that, the animation, and possibly from the editing. This especially disappointed me during the Lancelot fight scene. While it wasn’t like I couldn’t see anything at all, it was hard for me to make out what moves the Lancelot was doing exactly, and this upset me because Suzaku is my favorite knightmare pilot and I love watching him fight.

But what got me the most were some of the Britannian knightmares. We see in the original series the evolution of knightmares. The Lancelot is the first 7th generation knightmare. The Black Knights do eventually get their 7th generations, but in Britannia, the Lancelot is the only one until season 2. From what we can see, people may customize their knightmares with different colors, slightly different designs, or different weapons, but they all generally look the same, and I’m sure we can assume this is the case with the Knights of the Round until they get their 7th generation models. And yet Shin has this extremely strange knightmare that is absolutely nothing like anything we’ve seen. It’s a transforming knightmare that can go from a centaur to a normal standing knightmare, and it’s gold with a strange sword thing with gears on it. Why does Shin have such a strange knightmare? Customization is one thing, but his knightmare is absolutely nothing like the other Britannian knightmares. They never make it out like Shin is a special knightmare pilot like the Knights of the Round, so why does he have something so different? I think they just wanted to give Shin something cool and different, but I think they went a little too far and to me, it’s just ridiculous and doesn’t fit with the original series and what we know about knightmares AT ALL.

Next: Geass. 

First, the skull. Shin kills his father, and after he does, a floating skull with a geass symbol on it appears in front of him (this is also seen in a painting we see in the series). It offers him the power of geass, and he accepts. And that’s how Shin gets his geass power. Wtf is this skull? I thought only C.C. and V.V. could give geass powers? So what the fuck is this? Why not just have V.V. give him his power? I feel like it would have made a lot of sense for Charles to hear about Shin and be like, “hmm maybe we should give him geass V.V.” because Charles does not give a shit and likes to watch the world burn. That would honestly be more realistic and believable than this random floating skull that we’ve never seen. And other than in the painting, the skull is never seen again. Hell, it’s not even explained what is going on in the painting itself.

Then, there’s the purple haired girl. She appears in front of a European general and tells him that he must kill Shin. From the way she’s speaking, it almost sounds like she’s from the Geass Order. Which makes sense! Wonderful! We’ve seen that before, we know what that is! But then she appears in front of Leila and the two have a conversation that makes it sound like this purple girl is the one that… gave humans geass? She says that maybe they shouldn’t have given humans geass and just let them go extinct, but Leila may prove her wrong, as long as she call kill the corrupt geass user (Shin). So is this purple girl a god or something? Where did she come from? Who is she? Also, why is Shin a corrupt geass user but not Lelouch or Charles? Why does she only want Shin dead? And then she somehow teleports Ashley, a Britannian soldier that served under Shin, to the European soldier and has Ashley kill the European for not holding up his end of the deal to kill Shin. 

I’m fine with new characters or plot lines, but they need to be explained. While the entire history of geass wasn’t told in the original series, we had an idea and understanding of it. AtE is throwing in new aspects to geass, but not explaining them, so they just leave the audience confused.

Then there’s C.C. C.C. encounters Leila when she almost dies as a child and offers to make a contract with her and give her geass. But C.C. decides that, because Leila is only a child, she will let her wait until she’s an adult to make her choice. If she decides to use the power, they’ll make a contract. if not, it’ll go away.

Um. What??? Why does C.C. suddenly care about not giving geass powers to children when we already know she gave it to Mao? I’m assuming this takes place after C.C. has already left Mao, so maybe she learned her lesson from Mao? so fine, I’ll ignore that. I mean, C.C. can’t start a contract with someone else since that would interfere with the main story and her starting a contract with Lelouch, so the plot couldn’t let that happen. But C.C. also has a cult of little children following behind her in this scene, so what’s that about? Why not just take Leila with her? Also, it isn’t made clear how old Leila is, but she doesn’t seem much older than Lelouch and Suzaku. So why is C.C. in Europe with a little band of children when, according to the original series, she had been keeping an eye on Lelouch as a child? 

But that’s not a big deal. Okay, they wanted C.C. in the series, I can get over them not explaining these things because they’re not a big deal. But can we talk about Leila’s “geass”?

Leila thought that this had all been a dream until a gypsy told her otherwise, and the gypsy told her that her power was the “power to protect him”. I guess we’re supposed to assume that “him” means Akito. But then Leila’s geass power just kind of randomly shows up whenever (also, it’s blue instead of red). It shows up when Shin tries to use his geass on her and deflects it. At one point, Britannian soldiers get in and gun down the room of researchers with Leila, and her eye starts to glow and she sees the past, some people’s memories, and then is taken back to before the room got gunned down and sees the purple girl, and then time restarts and she’s able to set up precautions to stop the room from getting broken into and everyone getting shot. So what, can she see the future? And then later, it shows up when she sees Akito fighting Shin, and it apparently makes people, alive and dead, appear in front of Akito to protect him, I guess? But they don’t do anything since Shin just ignores them and goes to stab Akito anyway.

Her “power” is never explained. It’s completely vague, which is unlike other geass powers, which are pretty clearly explained. The power to read minds, the power to control someone, the power to rewrite memories. Then, all of a sudden, the power to protect him… Um… Okay, whatever that means. I mean, maybe if it only showed up when Akito was in danger it’d be fine, but it just kind of shows up whenever and never seems to do one concrete thing. And does she even really have a power? She didn’t create a contract with C.C., so where is this coming from? Her “geass” was literally not necessary to the plot AT ALL. They could have had the entire series be exactly the same except take out her weird, vague power, and literally nothing would have changed. But they wanted to give her a geass power for some reason, but couldn’t actually give her a real one since that would interfere with the original series. And all that we’re left with is confusion.

Next, the attempt to scientifically explain what the fuck is happening. The Europeans have all of their knightmare pilots hooked up to some sort of neuro-transmitter that will show the people at the command center their vitals, stress levels, brain activity, etc. But when geass comes into the mix, they attempt to use this to explain what is happening. They even at one point make the point that space and time has been broken when Akito is able to see Shin’s memories. Then they start talking about the power of the human mind, and how a human mind is interfering with the physical world. Then one of them points out that the world is only concrete because humans are here to observe it. Um… No? not at all? An attempt to sound smart and deep, but instead I just cringed. It’s just… not necessary and doesn’t really work, in my opinion. Geass is a supernatural, mystical power, and it’s easier to just have people not know what the fuck is going on or how to explain it than to try and get them to scientifically explain what’s happening. It’s a cool concept! But didn't come across very well. The only part I cared about in this scene was when it was said that with geass and the human mind, they could possible change the past or create a new universe, which could possibly be foreshadowing the new season. But that's just a theory; the new season may have absolutely nothing to do with this. I really cared the most about this because I heard heard that and went, you mean going back and keeping Lelouch and euphemia from dying? I'm in.

The voice acting in the english dub was also… a little iffy. Some voice actors pronounced things wrong, like Britannia or Suzaku’s name, while others pronounced these things the same way they’ve always been pronounced. I’m not sure why the directors couldn’t quickly correct it so that everything could be consistent. Then of course, there are the accents, which are given only to the European characters. Why do the French characters have accents when we’re told that everyone is speaking French, anyway? It’s just not necessary and honestly very distracting. The acting itself was pretty good. Akito and Shin came across as bland at times, but when they acted, they ACTED and they did it well. Yuri Lowenthal and Johnny Yong Bosch were still the best in my opinion, though.

So yeah, those are all my thoughts on the series. It wasn’t perfect, but it was still good. It isn’t my favorite addition to the Code Geass universe, but regardless, it still adds a lot to the overall story. I’d say that if you are a Code Geass fan, you need to watch this. And if you’re interested in the series at all, I’d say watch it so you can gain your own opinion on it. 

(If you’re wondering how I felt about Suzaku and Lelouch in the series, I have an entire in depth analysis on their involvement here but tl;dr, I loved them.)

#code geass #akito the exiled #review #spoilers #long post

[strawbebehmod]

The Golden Demon chapter 1

For the Royai week prompt of Light/Darkness

I decided to post the first chapter of my new blue exorcist/fma crossover AU where Edward takes Rin’s place in the series and Roy is a teacher and Exorcist at True Cross Academy due to the lrage amount of Royai in this first chapter. It’s a bit weird but i hope you guys like it. 

When Roy Mustang had heard about the death of the paladin Van Hohenheim, he had been shocked. He had studied under the man, and he had almost seemed untouchable. No demon could lay a finger on him. He was a master of all trades when it came to misers, although mainly stuck to his talents as an aria. However, he was still human, and no man or woman could stand up to the powers of satan. They had kept what exactly had happened classified to most, he himself only being debriefed on it as he was sent by his boss, mephisto pheles, to investigate the incident. The man’s church had burned down in literal hellfire last night with him inside. Only a few survivors remained, including two boys who were living with him as adoptive children, and a fellow exorcist that had been working under the man. Mephisto apparently was passing the orders down to him from higher up. Roy sighed as he sat in the back of the car. He didn’t know what they expected him to find. It was clear that the devil caused this, all the evidence was destroyed in the fire, and there were only a handful of  surviving witnesses of the event. Still, orders were orders, and as that scheming palm-tree bastard’s underling by employment contract, he was obligated to comply. He slumped in his seat and his eyes drifted to his companion sitting next to him. Unlike him, the blonde woman’s back was straight as she stared out the window, watching the streets roll by. The light of sunset reflected off her skin and hair slightly, causing her face to softly glow orange and her hair to shimmer like gold. He smiled as he stared up at her. She truly was beautiful like this. It almost made him forget their situation sometimes. “Quiet a lovely city, isn’t it?“he asked. She turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Hardly,” she said, facing forward again. He gave her a curious look. “Then why were you staring out the window? Surely something must have caught your attention,” he asked. “I was noting all the garbage on the streets,” she said, “On the way here I saw at least twelve empty cans, four broken bottles, and six loose plastic bags.” Her attention returned to the window. “Humans wish to protect their world from demons, when they can’t even protect it from themselves,” she mused. There was sadness and disappointment in her tone. Roy frowned and sighed. “Yeah,” he muttered, “We’re quite the mess, aren’t we?” His smile then returned as he got an idea. “How about after this I take some time off and we take a little trip to Kyoto?” he asked, “Picture it: a picnic in one of the beautifully kept, clean gardens, visiting all the temples, spending the evening sampling some of the local drinks…” he smirked as he noticed her smile at that. “I’m sure Mephisto wouldn’t mind me taking a few extra days off from, and I’m sure the students would love an extra day or two away from me,” he said, “Heck, I might even be able to make an excuse that I got called out for something and get paid for the leave. So what do you say?” She shook her head, although she still smiled. “I say that’s a bad idea for a number of reasons,” she said, “After all, you know exactly what would happen if your true intentions behind such an expedition were exposed,” she said, causing him to wince, “And if Mephisto saw through your ruse, though he’d probably be willing to keep quiet, you’d be more than just a little indebted to him.” Roy shuddered at that before frowning and sitting up. “Alright,” he grumbled, “I see your point.” In his heart he knew from the beginning he would get shot down, but that didn’t stop him from trying. If only things could be less complicated… The car came to a halt and the two got out, heading into an alley. The site of the fire was a few blocks away from here, but they had decided to walk the rest of the way. Mostly it was because they didn’t want any civilians near the blockade that had been set up around the area incase there was any left over demonic forces at play, but roy had another reason too. Roy glanced over his shoulder as they were now half way down the alley. The cab driver had sped off and there was no one still around. “Alright, Riza, you’re clear,” he said. She nodded before her body was suddenly engulfed in red flames. Roy stared on casually as they encased her like a vortex before being swept away by the beating of wings from the creature inside. Once they had, there was no longer a woman standing before Roy, but a bird made of orange flames hovering in the air. She then flew over to him and perched on his shoulder. “More comfortable?” he asked. “Much,” the phoenix responded to her human companion. Roy was one of the few exorcists alive to have a phoenix for a familiar. Many hated humans for hunting them in the pursuit of the secret of eternal life. Roy had originally discovered her trapped inside a sealed urn in the attic of his old teacher’s home after the man’s death when he had just become an exorcist. Knowing how powerful phoenixes were, how strong they were against spirits, kin of rot, as well as many other kinds of demons, and how their flames could be used to purify infections and heal injuries, he immediately tried to forge a contract with her to be his familiar. When she had denied him and disappeared into the nearby forest, he had sought her out and brought offerings to her to earn her favor. He spent weeks trying to appease her. Eventually she agreed, but in forging his contract with her, he had to agree that he could only use her powers for what she deemed appropriate. He could not use it to kill or destroy as he saw fit and would have to ask for her consent before putting hers in harm’s way. If he broke these promises, he would perish by her fire on the spot. He agreed completely to these conditions, and the two had been together ever since, working side by side not as master and familiar but as partners. He saw her as his equal, if not his better. After all, without her he would not be nearly as powerful of an exorcist as he was today without her. Demons feared the name of Roy mustang, not for his skills as an Aria or a dragoon, but for his ability to merely snap his fingers and set them alight. That deadly force was because of her, not him, and the only reason why she lent him her power so easily was because of their mutual trust from the bond they had shared for years. Very few knew of the true nature of their relationship. Even though many exorcist still have demon blood running through their veins from ancestry spanning back as recently as a hundred years ago, today, even considering such a relationship with a demon could result in burning at the stake. Even one considering a demon their friend is enough to cause suspicion of an exorcist in certain circles. Currently, only a handful of close friends of Roy knew of how close the two were, those including third class doctor Kain Fury, Second class aria Vato Falman, First class aria and dragoon Heymans Breda, First class dragoon Jean Havoc, and first class knight, and his closest friend, Maes Hughes. Mephisto might have found out, but if he did he wasn’t showing that. He was probably saving such knowledge for the right moment to blackmail him. Roy frowned. As if he didn’t have enough ways to toy with him… He shook his head. He didn’t want to think about that now. He had a job to do. He just had to write up his report and check for any more activity in the area. Then he could go home and relax before the next semester started in a few days. He sighed as he thought about that. The school year hadn’t even started and he was already needing a drink. He then smiled as a thought crossed his mind. “Hey Riza,” he said, “I know heading to Kyoto together may be suspicious, but sharing a "wine offering” with you tonight would be more than reasonable, don’t you think?“ The phoenix smiled. "I believe that would be perfectly acceptable,” she responded. …. The two had arrived at the scene and spent an hour Investigating. There was barely anything left of the structure. It had been burnt to the ground in the unholy blaze. There was also very little evidence From the exorcists that had come earlier to put the literal hellfires. From them they learned that the exorcist Izumi curtis was a survivor of the fire, rescuing two young boys and a handful of clergymen. They were currently all healing at the New Hope Hospital not too far from the scene of the demon attack.   “Well it appears that there isn’t any left over activity in the area…” Roy said, “So it’s clear whatever he was here for is over now.” “Could it be he was after something that Van Hohenheim owned?” Riza asked. “Maybe he had found something powerful enough to destroy him…or the key to manifesting in this world…” “Could be…” Roy said, “At least if he was trying to destroy something, anyways. Burning the whole place down would have certainly done the trick. If not, he royally screwed up and probably destroyed the thing he was looking for.” He kicked a piece of rubble and it disintegrated into ash before looking over at the flat pools of solid steel mixed with lumps of ash that had once been the support beams of the building. “Or he used the fire to cover his tracks,” Riza said, “Mephisto wouldn’t have sent us here for nothing. Even if it is Satan that attacked, if everything was said and done and the demon had acted on his own, he wouldn’t be interested.” Roy smirked. “You read my mind,” he said before frowning, “Finding out what he wanted isn’t going to be easy though…We can’t exactly bring him in for interrogation after all…and there isn’t much evidence left to draw conclusions from.” He sighed, “Our only hope is if the witnesses are in good enough condition to tell us anything about what happened…Has anyone else interviewed them yet?” The phoenix shrugged. “I don’t believe so. If you recall, one of the other exorcists said that almost all of the surviving victims were unconscious and/or seriously injured when help arrived,” she said, “they might not be awake yet.” Roy closed his note book. “Well there’s no harm in going to check,” he said, “Come on. Let’s see if we can get in during visiting hours.” As they began to walk back towards the edge of the investigation sight and lift up the police tape to exit, they noticed a young, blonde girl arguing with one of the officers blocking the site. “Please sir, you’ve got to tell me what happened!” she said, “That fire burned down my best friends’ home! They’re in the hospital right now thanks to whoever did this! I want to know everything I can about this! I want to know what kind of monster caused Father Hohenheim’s death!” There were furious and pained tears in her eyes as she spoke. Roy felt slight pity for the girl as the officer tried to persuade her to leave. He could only imagine all those who had been affected by this tragedy. There were a few other victims besides father Hohenheim, a few of his clergymen that had presumably died in the fire. They had friends and family that were surely rife with grief at this moment. And that wasn’t even considering all those who attended this church. Those that may not have been particularly close to the priest but sought guidance from him. Countless people falling into despair from this attack, as well as countless that Satan has caused suffering too.  It boiled his blood to think about especially how helpless they all were against him. There must be some way to stop that monster…or at least weaken him… He was suddenly pulled out of this train of thought by the girl running up to him. “Hey, are you a private investigator?” she asked,  grabbing him by his arm as he walked away from the scene and catching him off guard. He looked down at her  in surprise. Her eyes were focused on his face, not even glancing once at the phoenix resting on his shoulder. The pair exchanged brief looks. The girl most likely did not have a temptaint. She would have known he was an exorcist if she could see his familiar, or would have at least been slightly distracted by her wings that had fire coming off of them. “What gave you that impression?” he asked. “Well you aren’t dressed like any officer or fireman,” she said, “And they certainly aren’t letting any civilians through.” Roy shrugged. “Fair point,” he said, “you could say I’m an investigator of sorts, although I’m not working independently.” “I work for a sect of the Vatican that Father Hohenhiem had ties to,” he explained, “They sent me in here to investigate the cause of his death, what started the fire, and so on.” She blinked at him in surprise before giving him a confused look. “What are you talking about?” she questioned, “This was clearly some kind of arson case. There was no freak storm last night and I’ve over heard the cops and they say it wasn’t a gas leak.” Roy shrugged. “You may very well be right, but all accounts say that the church burned down in blue flames, which isn’t a common occurrence. Unless the building was made of sulfur, it shouldn’t have burned blue.” “I see…” the girl said, “Anyways, if you find out anything, can you let me know? My name is Winry Rockbell. I’m really close friends with the boys that lived in that church with that priest."She pulled out a slip of paper and wrote a number on it before handing it to him. "I see,” he said, getting an idea, “Alright, I will, but can you tell me one thing? Have you visited them yet? Do you know if they are awake yet? I have to interview them to see what they know.” The girl nodded and furrowed her brow. “Ed and Al aren’t awake yet,” she said, “But Ms. Curtis is.” Roy nodded. “Very well,” he said, “Thank you.” With that he turned to leave. After they had walked a small distance, roy turned into an alley and called a cab, while riza turned into her human form. “You don’t really intend on giving her any information do you? She won’t believe that Satan had anything to do with it,” she said. “Oh I do intend on giving her some,” he said calling a taxi, “But only what the other exorcists decide to release to the police.” He turned to her. “Honestly if I told her the truth, she’d think I would be making fun of her or something,” he defended, “And I couldn’t exactly walk away. She seems like the stubborn kind of person who won’t take no for an answer.” He smirked before turning to her. “Kinda like someone else I know…” he teased. “Yes… you always have been quite annoyingly persistent, Sir,” she said smirking back at him. Roy pouted at her retort before grumbling and continuing on his way to hail their cab while Riza followed behind him.

… Blue flames. They had surrounded her  as she burst through the door to the burning church.  She had left to pour holy water into the sewers as van Hohenheim had requested she do to prevent any demons sneaking in that way, and when she had come back, the whole building had been engulfed by the satanic flames. She coughed as air baked her lungs as the heat and smoke wafted through the air, looking around wildly to try to understand what had happened. How had Satan gotten in here? She thought it had been Astaroth they were fighting! However, her confusion and distress had quickly turned to horror as she saw three bodies lying on the ground. Her heart stopped and the flaming room suddenly grew cold as she recognized them: alphonse, who looked to be covered in several burns; Edward, who’s hand was gripping something and was covered in the flames himself; and not to far away from either of the was the body of Hohenheim, face covered in blood and body slowly being consumed in the blaze. Izumi Curtis gasped as she opened her eyes again, panting and clutching her chest as she did so. The other hand gripped the hospital sheets beneath it, tearing a few stitches in them as she tried to calm herself down. She glanced around at her surroundings, eyes gliding around the room at white hospital walls to remind herself of where she was. She sat up in her bed and held her head in her hands. This was the third time she had tried to sleep since coming here, but it was still unsuccessful. What had happened that night  haunted her and most likely would for as long as she lived. Although when she had first come to work under Father Hohenheim and aid him in his  work as an exorcist she had not expected him to protect the son of satan, ever since that day she had known this was coming. That Satan would come to collect. Still she had somehow been unprepared for this. She had called him crazy, and desperately tried to get him to change his mind, but he had been unwavering. She couldn’t believe him at the time. What was he thinking? Was he going to turn the boy into a weapon or something? Despite this, she had still stood by him and promised to help protect Edward. And over time, she had grown attached to the half demon and his brother, enough to where she dragged their bodies out of the burning building, despite it being clear Edward’s demon half was now unleashed. She shuddered as she remembered the moment of hesitation she had when she first saw him passed out on the ground in his new form. His ears were elongated, his fingernails too. He had long canines sticking out of his mouth and a long golden tail sprouting from his back. His human brother Alphonse a good distance away had been burned severally, there had been a wound on his neck like a large hand print gripping it as well as a large one on his chest and a few on his arm. Had edward done that? To be honest, she still didn’t know. Still, it didn’t stop the female exorcist from carrying them out. She then saved as many of the clergy as she could before collapsing on the ground. She woke up the next morning in the hospital, soon learning the church had  burned down and that Edward and Alphonse had not yet awoken. No one had gotten interviewed just yet, mostly because no one had been awake when other exorcists first came by, and for that she was relieved. She couldn’t let anyone see Edward as he was now. Speaking of, she should check on how he was doing. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed as she got up, wincing slightly as she put pressure on a burn wound on her hand. She then walked down the hall towards Room 351 where the two were. However, she froze as she came to the entrance to the room. The door was a jar and as she peered inside the room, she noticed two people standing at the foot of the boys’ beds: a black haired man and a blonde woman in exorcist uniforms.  They stared down at the boys in shock and horror, particularly Edward as they could see long ears peeking out from his hair, and a golden tail draping onto the floor from underneath the bedroom sheets. Izumi could feel her heart fill with panic. She hoped she would have more time until someone came to check up on them to come up with a plan.  At least enough to explain to the boys what had happened, anyways. But of course the universe couldn’t let that happen. She grimaced as a determined  look came to her eye. She quietly grabbed broom before lunging towards the man’s head with it. However, the woman caught her movement in the corner of her eye before swiftly stopping the pole before it could strike him. He turned to her in surprise before glowering at her. “Are you Izumi Curtis?” He demanded in a cold tone. The woman paused before glaring at him and nodding. “Good, because you have a lot of explaining to do,” he growled as he glanced back at the teenage demon lying in the bed.

#royaiweek17 #Roy Mustang #riza hawkeye #Blue exorcist crossover #Fullmetal Alchemist #strawbebehfic #izumi curtis #winry rockbell

[todokori-kun]

Aww, don’t worry!

(Seriously though, I’m really happy you’re back <3)

I didn’t even like Saiko that much when I first got into Re (she was like the least interesting Q to me), and now she’s one of my favs. Literally one of the only people who doesn’t have a nasty side. Urie/Saiko is now my OTP and if Ishida makes Urie sacrifice himself for Mutsuki or something I SWEAR I’LL DROP THIS MANGA (only we all know I won’t ;-;)

Yep, seriously. Touken has really bad timing. At this rate we can be sure their kid will choose to be born in the middle of a raging battle. (Why does that actually sound like a possible option)

Poor Shuu. I firmly believe that he’s going to confront Kaneki about Kanae at some point, and Kaneki will be forced to realize that just because he’s in love with Touka and is going to have a family now, doesn’t mean that he can just ignore everyone else around him.

WOW. Wait, who is that? Which anime/manga is he from??? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before… (those gifs are really cool 0.0)

Is it bad that I want to read the Kaneki Pamphlet.

Tatsuo would roast Shuu so badly tbh. You know he’s super passive-aggressive…

(I’ve only read a few chapters of HxH so far because I was so busy with FMA, but it seems interesting! The art isn’t very good and it has a very typical shounen-ish vibe, but the character designs are cool and the setting is interesting (I also can’t wait to actually meet all my problematic favs, because despite only just getting into the fandom Hisoka (AKA basically the HxH version of anime Tsukiyama- only, instead of wanting to eat the MC he wants to turn the MC into the strongest warrior and then fight him, ‘cause apparently violence and fighting a good opponent turns him on) and Illumi (AKA coldblooded assassin who’s obsessed with his little brother and just…has a lot of issues) are already my problematic favs.)

…

(is it bad that I sang/rapped along while reading that.)

I also have a huge crush on Lust and Olivier. Those two are just amazing. Though it’s a more complicated crush than the one I have on Scar because tbh, to me, Olivier and Lust are scarier than him XD so a mixture of fear and desperate ‘NOTICE ME PLZ SENPAI’ thing? lol

Yeah, from what I’m seeing so far Scar is getting a lot of cool development and I’m really happy about it :)

0////0 omg. That’s making me blush…though in reality, I feel like he’d be so done with me most of the time lol

Ok, this is just like with Urie/Luna and Shuu-Evans. LET ME MAKE HEADCANONS FOR THE QUEEN

Mustang/Luna:

-The first time you meet he immediately tries to hit on you. Unfortunately, Queen Luna is way too sarcastic and sassy for this loser and rejects him.

-He accepts that he’s been rejected, but he finds you even more interesting now and tries to make friends. That’s how you get to know each other.

-There’s a TON of sarcastic banter in this relationship.

-Though he’ll probably never admit it, Roy is impressed with how much you know/study and considers you one of the smartest, most dedicated people he knows. He truly respects you for that.

-He likes watching/listening when you play the piano. Sometimes he asks you to play a particular song and once you offered to teach him how to play- though that lesson somehow ended with a burning piano

-Later actually falls in love with you and decides he must ask you out, only to realize that he’s super nervous about ruining the friendship. He has to rely on Riza for help, and she suggests asking Edward as well, since 'teenagers seem to know more about romance these days’. Needless to say it does not go well

-Somehow, you do end up as a couple.

-After you become a couple:

-Roy often buys flowers for you, especially when he’s busy and hasn’t been able to see you that much. Eventually your house is swamped with flowers and you tell him that simple notes/letters are just fine.

-(doesn’t stop him from buying complex bouquets and asking you to figure out the flower meanings. If he gets you to blush with all the romantic flower language he won’t stop teasing you about it.)

-He always tries to take you on the most extravagant dates ever and sometimes you have to convince him that yes, just cuddling at home with a movie is also great and he doesn’t have to try so hard to impress you.

-Gets pouty when he finds out you have a thing for guys who wear glasses. Immediately buys some fake glasses for himself

-There isn’t a lot of open affection, since you’re an introvert and Roy may be a flirt but he isn’t quite the type who can make deep, touching, genuine speeches about how much he loves you and why. However, he has his own way of showing that he cares.

-He spends as much time with you as he can and either calls you or writes letters when work keeps him busy; he lets you know that you are one of the most important people in his world.

-Will spoil you to the point where other people tell him that you can’t just spend that much money on presents for your girlfriend, but he doesn’t care as long as you like the gifts.

-Sometimes worries that you’re too good for someone like him and that you’d be better off with someone else; actually tried to break up with you over this once but you managed to convince him to stay.

-He also loves talking about alchemy with you if you’re interested; if he ever teaches you some, you turn out to be a fast learner and he’s very, very proud (probably goes around showing off his genius girlfriend to everyone else)

(I’d like to make Greedling HCs too but unfortunately I can’t say I know him that well yet. I’ll definitely write some when I read more of the manga though ^^)

I’ll probably be able to submit a few pictures this weekend :D

I’m also a bit terrified of Kimblee XD he IS very interesting though. I don’t like him at all but I love how how complex he is.

Tatsuo is totally Sloth. He finds everything tiring. As long as Naomi survives and he has blood wine he just doesn’t care.

*slams hands on the table* EVANS DO YOU BY ANY CHANCE PLAY OTOME GAMES, CAUSE I HAVE DESCENDED BACK INTO OTOME HELL, EVEN THOUGH I WAS SURE I WAS DONE WITH IT WHEN I FINISHED MYSTIC MESSENGER. Lemme enlighten you:

This is a game called ‘Cinderella Phenomenon’, made by Dicesuki. It’s completely free to play, available on Steam, for pc and mac. 

These are the dateable characters.  From left to right: Waltz, Fritz, Karma, Rumpel and Rod.

This is Karma, the only route I’ve played so far. 

This is also Karma. Yes, he casually crossdresses. 

Ah, the MC of the game is also a character I like because it’s one whose personalty I actually hate, but at the same time, I get where she’s coming from, and those characters are always a sign of good writing for me, because they make someone a bitch, but not a pure bitch who’s like that for the sake of being mean.

What i’m trying to say is, if you’re into otome games, this is a gem, so you HAVE to play it at some point.  Maybe not now, but at some point. 

Yeah, Saiko is a rare gem in TG, so it’s pretty much impossible not to like her. Because, wow, a nice person! That’s rare! (hopefully we didn’t jinx ourselves now)

I’ve… dropped TG again XD I guess I just don’t have the patience to deal with the mess that is Touken. And the last of Urie/Saiko. If Urie/Saiko happens, though, I’ll definitely pick it up again ^^;;;

Kaneki’s strategy in life seems to be ‘ignore it, hopefully it goes away’. Unfortunately, that strategy never works. So, he has some shit incoming soon. I actually kinda want to see the argument between him and Shuu…

Oh, it’s Hayama Akira from Shokugeki no Soma/Food Wars. It’s an anime about cooking. Unfortunately, it’s also… Ecchi. So, if you’re not comfortable with those things, then I’d recommend skipping it. In all honesty, it’s not even that good.  But the food does look delicious ;-;

You’ve invented a new kind of stupid, a damage you can never undo kind of stupid. The open all the cells in Cochlea kind of stupid. 

Well, HxH seems… interesting to say the least. But from what I’ve heard, it gets VERY emotional later on, so good luck with that!

I wrote the whole thing from memory, so I honestly doubt rapping along is considered bad XD

Scar gets EVEN MORE development. Seriously, no matter where you are in the manga, he always gets more development.

You seriously have something against my heart, don’t you? Cause you make it die every time you send something like this T_T

Good luck with making me blush, because at this point, I am convinced I’m physically unable to blush. Because no matter how embarrassed I get, I never, ever blush. One of my friends tested me, when we were still in elementary school, by constantly making sexual innuendos around my crush, yet I never blushed. It’s fascinating, really.

Okay, but imagine Roy realising I like guys with slightly longer hair. I don’t know about you, but my mind immediately goes to a certain midget.

And since I’m pretty sure that, if I was an alchemist, I’d specialise in water alchemy (a, because it’s all around us and easily accessible, b, because the human body is made up of 60% water, so you’re able to do a lot of damage with it (as the freezing alchemist graciously showed us), even though I don’T think I’d freeze/turn people into steam, maybe just smaller body parts. Y’know, so I don’t exactly kill them), so we’d be a pretty dynamic pair.

Which alchemy do you think you’d specialise in?

BUt seriously, I can already imagine Scar being so so worried around you in the beginning, cause you always freeze up around him and he’s actually kinda hurt?? but he doesn’t want to admit it, cause he’s proud™, and then again, he doesn’t like it?? So he tries being gentler, nicer around you, so you stop looking at him like he’s a lion or something, and it actually takes a lot of effort on his part, but he’s trying to change, so he needs people NOT being afraid of him And eventually he succeeds and you’d no longer freezing up and he’s so freaking proud because the girl who honestly reminded him of a mouse at first is finally talking to him, and he feels like he’s accomplished a big step in life.  seriously, i can see him fussing over you so much, because he’s always, always worried he’s intimidating you, and he genuinely doesn’t want that

Tatsuo is the definition of a glorious bastard.

THE NEW CHAP OF KUROHITSUJI IS HERE!! And honestly, I’m a bit disappointed, because that’s it?? I mean, what exactly was the purpose of this chapter?? Probably to say that, yes, this actually IS Ciel, and they actually ARE twins, but I honestly never doubted that. But, hey, we got to see a panel from a long, long time ago drawn again, and we can see the art development:

It’s actually beautiful to see how much Yana has improved over the years.

Oh, and I found this:

Beautiful.

AAAND I’ve also seen the new Spiderman! Peter is so pure ;-; And he’s younger than me. Wow. 

#evans #submission