My fandom is so deliciously meta.

[timepiececlock]

Here's a random fun drabble, for anyone who's seen all of FMA. THERE ARE MASSIVE, MASSIVE SPOILERS HERE.

Now, enjoy:



Deja Vu

[Post-series]

France

Once again, Edward stood before the Gate to Hell. It loomed above him in revolting glory: two stone doors guarded by the carved bodies of twisting, screaming humans. Poor souls trying to pull themselves out of the damnation of lust, gluttony, avarice, pride. Wrath, envy, sloth...they were all there. Edward had never seen anything uglier in his life, but at the same time, within him burned the first spark of hope he'd known in two years.

Alphonse...

He reached out one finger toward the gate, feeling the cold bronze under his skin.

"Hey, don't touch that!"

Edward snatched his good hand back, and muttered an apology in his butchered French.

"This is the first ever casting of Rodin's masterpiece; it's priceless. Keep your pretty fingers off it, limey. Get back behind the line."



--------------

This drabble was inspired by the cleverness of FMA, which modelled its visual rendition of The Gate after the one and only sculpture by Aguste Rodin, who was in turn inspired by the poem Inferno, by (you guessed it!) Dante. That'll teach you to pay attention to names, won't it? My fandom is so deliciously meta.

Having actually stood in front of a casting of The Gates Of Hell (at the Stanford University), I just about shit a brick when I saw it on my favorite anime. I can only imagine how Edward would feel, if suddenly he came across this piece of artwork depicting the very source of his nightmares and his hopes and dreams, something he believed no one but alchemists could ever see-- and there are no alchemists in our world. That's gotta freak one out.



cross-posted to fm_alchemist and my ff.net page

Comments

[brigidforest.livejournal.com]

that is what i love about that anime. i wish i could have seen the sculpture in person, maybe someday. it's one of those must see in my lists.

the only criticism i ever had for that show was the anti-climactic deaths near the end. it all happened so fast and paled in comparison to the rest of the series. but it happens, at the end you just want it done. :)

ps. excellent drabble. i can definately see Edward's bewildered reaction to seeing that sculpture.

thanks!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Rodin actually sculpted the mold, and it was never casted until 1926, about 9 years after his death. There is more than one casting in existence, and as far as I know the mold still exists. The one I saw was in the art museum at Stanford University, which I've visited a few times. You should be able to find it elsewhere, though I don't know how many there are exhibited right now or if there are any displayed near you.

that is what i love about that anime.

I know, me too. In the beginning I thought FMA would be pure fantasy unrelated to the real world ... it ended up being one of the most meta things I'd ever seen in anime.

[mildmay.livejournal.com]

Very nice. That made my inner art history geek happy. :)

This drabble was inspired by the cleverness of FMA, which modelled its visual rendition of The Gate after the one and only sculpture by Aguste Rodin, who was in turn inspired by the poem Inferno, by (you guessed it!) Dante.

I love how so much of FMA is all connected like that. So very awesome.

Re: thanks!

[brigidforest.livejournal.com]

When you first talked about it and I saw an icon of it, I thought it looked rather silly. So I didn't watch it for a long time, and then finally decided to give it a shot. I'm so glad I did. It's by far one the heaviest animes I have ever seen, and by heavy, I mean that it has so much content that you could spend a long time trying to uncover the series layer by layer. The second heaviest I've seen would definately have to be Chrno Crusade.

For those few series like that, I stay connected to the anime world, because they are worth it. They're better than anything out there on television. So in part, I have you to thank for mentioning it enough that I said, oh hell, let's watch it. :)

Re: thanks!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

When you first talked about it and I saw an icon of it, I thought it looked rather silly.

I think I had a bit of an advantage over most people, because I was introduced to the first 15 episodes in a marathon without having ANY idea what the show was. All I knew was the title. I thought it would be a mecha anime, actually, going by that. Now most people hear about it from others or have read the manga or have read summaries of it.

It's by far one the heaviest animes I have ever seen, and by heavy, I mean that it has so much content that you could spend a long time trying to uncover the series layer by layer.

Heavy is a good word for it. Intense too. There were times, especially in the last quarter of the show, when I felt like I was watching an hour long drama because they threw so much information at you all at once.

I try to be a good reccer of all things anime. Most series I say "It's good if you like x, y, z." FMA is one of those series where I just shove it at people and say "You'll love this no matter what, just trust me."

silly

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

When you first talked about it and I saw an icon of it, I thought it looked rather silly.

I know. I've tried to explain to my parents, but it always comes out sounding childish. It's so hard to convey that the series is so heavily political, heavily philosophical, that it's got these thriller twists and turns and that canon outright LIES to you and that you spend the entire second season afraid anyone is going to die at any moment.