timepiececlock

FMA 2x02

Wow...that was a lot of info condensed. ( Read more... )

http://www.hagaren.jp/

It premiers in April, 2009.

Holy shit dudes!

The teaser looks like old footage from the series, but I'm not sure. I am amazed at how tightly clamped the anime industry is about spoilers compared to US television industry. It airs in two months and even now nobody knows if it will be a continuation of the movie storyline or a total AU version that follows the manga. I hope it follows the manga, for two reasons.

1) I feel strongly that the story of the Elrics and alchemy was concluded in the movie. The story of their lives is just beginning (gypsies! world war! whee!) but as far as what we need to see in terms of their quest, the journey is done. They have their lives ahead of them, and they don't need alchemy any more.

2) I haven't read the manga, and I'm almost totally unspoiled for it, so it would be a completely new storyline for me. I also get a little squealy at the idea of a totally separate adventure that's got all the characters I love... an AU fanfic version of my favorite anime. Except, of course, that "AU" is a term to be used judiciously when discussing anime canon or things get very confusing very fast, and in a way the original anime series is already more like the AU fanfic of the manga. Sort of? It's confusing. But either way I'd love to have two separate but parallel anime series both featuring my favorite anime cast, with different versions of the same quest. Like giving two authors the same bookjacket paragraph to work from, and the result is two unique novels filled with the same flavors of awesome.

Warning: I haven't read the manga, am not spoiled, but plan to some day when it's completely finished.

I have this really strong desire to talk to someone about FMA anime pairings, specifically Ed/Noa, of which like 7 people in the entire internet ship and I'm one of them. I have other pairings I ship (Roy/Riza, Scar/Lust), but this one hardly anyone ever wants to talk about.

Noa was only in the movie and, if you've seen the movie, you know how she has a complicated relationship with Edward that isn't precisely romantic but certainly has sexual undertones, and you know how it ends.

I am sort of vaguely aware that the entire fandom hates her. I get why... she is a passive character in many ways, and she takes up "valuable screentime" that could have been used on Mustang or Winry, and in the end her role in events is somewhat negative (gray-area at best) and ineffectual.

So why do I like her? Why do I ship her with Edward? Even though the shipping is really just in my head because I've only ever written a drabble for them, and there's like no fanfic whatsoever to read.

I don't know precisely why I like her, instead of being pissed off at her for being a damsel in distress, but I just do. I have, however, figured out why I like her with Edward: she's not perfect, and Edward is drawn to imperfect people. I think this is why it works for me. Not only did I like the vibes in the movie, and what Ed represented to Noa and what Noa represented to Edward, but I can just see it happening, you know? Edward's character throughout the series (and Alphonse's too) has been drawn to imperfect people. A lot of the "good guys" in the show that he allies himself with are morally suspect or outright killers themselves, or are reformed killers, or will be later. Edward manages to be extremely moral while also being intimately familiar with sin, guilt, responsibility, and death. He navigates a world of imperfect people who make mistakes and suffer extreme consequences for those mistakes.

( anime and movie spoilers, but not manga please )

Potential Epic Fics I've Yet To Finish

Our Cartography: [Avatar: The Last Airbender] My post-first season AU epic friendship/UST/adventure fic for Katara and Zuko, that got derailed after the season 2 premier stole one of my climax ideas and sent me into a crushing spiral of envy-angst. As akavertigo said, most writers are jealous, maniacal, and possessive about our ideas. Having them stolen by canon is almost worse than having plaigarized by another fan, cause I've nobody to be properly mad at. I'm still getting over this, and there are very strong chances I'll get back to this fic.

Salience & Synergy: [Avatar: The Last Airbender] My season 1 AU fic, with Iroh teaching Aang to firebend while he sits in Zuko's ship on the way to the Fire Nation capital. I still have hopes of finishing this one, actually. I love the idea of writing something trancendental, something that has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with philosophy and spirituality. Aang and Zuko have such a heavy dynamic, as do Iroh and Zuko.

The Mindwalker Ninja: [Naruto] My epic Ino Yamanaka life-fic, an AU that would span 20 years and see her through relationships with Shikamaru and Sasuke. This one has a lot of outlining done, particularly with regards to Ino's part in the final battle with Orochimaru, and with Sasuke's future. I stopped writing it because Naruto came off haiatus after the age jump, and I began to lose interest in the fandom, and the Ino that came out of more manga began to differ from my idea of Ino, who was half OC anyway given that we knew so little about her. Still, there's a lot of potential for writing more with this.

Mon Autre Vie: [Fruits Basket] My would-be epic Tohru Honda / Sohma family drama fic, which was based on a damn cool premise, if I do say so myself. Again, I began to grow distant from the fandom, particularly when I stopped reading the manga scanlatioons and subsequently had to give up on fanfic for fear of being spoiled. I had a good deal outlined for this fic, though not as much as the two above, and I wish I could write more even though I somehow doubt I'll get back to it.

Dane: [Harry Potter] A result of my Shakespeare crush, a massive epic based on fusing Harry Potter and Hamlet, a post-book 5 AU that would have had the students of Hogwarts unwittingly play out the entire play all the way to its tragic ending. It would have been really fucking cool, if I hadn't lost the massive outline I did for it. A full break down of character roles and plotlines, incredible amounts of detail... all gone. I was pretty upset about it, trust me.

Orpheus Child: [Cowboy Bebop] The closest thing I've done to outlining a complete novel, and it would have been one of the best fics I'd written. A post-series fic about Spike rediscovering his life, about family ties and blood and love and friendship, about the horrors of adulthood and childhood. Somewhere I have an outline for this SOMEWHERE I DO. I just don't know where it is right now. But it was a great outline, plotting the major events of each chapter, the emotional arcs of each character, the themes, allusions, and metaphors of the story, the thrilling climax, and even chapter titles pulled exclusively from poems by e. e. cummings and Shel Silverstein, as part of the mythology/children's story motif. And now it's been so very long since I watched CB... I wouldn't even remember how to write Spike's dialogue, or Jet's or Ed's dialogue.

51 Ways To Draw A Perfect Circle : [Fullmetal Alchemist] My once grand idea to do a drabble for every episode of FMA, each in a different character (50 total). I only got so far as 10, but I selected the main characters for all 51. Next time I sit down to watch an FMA marathon, I might take it up again and finish.


It's kind of depressing that "I lost the outline" the major reason for most of these fics dying, isn't it? And for the rest, it's lost interest. My interest wanders too easily, I'm sad to say, when it comes to fiction writing. Hopefully I'll get over that one day. You'll notice that neither of my two ATLA long drabble series, Night Has Come or Culture Clash, are up here. That's because they're too skimpy in word count to be called epic, and also because I plan on writing more for them, beyond all doubt.

I love it when fanfic writers I've put on AuthorAlert from one fandom start writing in another fandom I'm part of.

For example, Victoria Hughes did some nice angsty Fullmetal Alchemist fics a while back. And now she's starting an A:TLA season 3 chapterfic. That's damn cool; I'll have to read it later.


Jumping fandoms, I thought I had read all the decent Kakashi/Sakura fic in the Naruto section of the pit, excluding the latest chapter of Silvershine's fic which I'm saving for later enjoyment. But anyway, much to my delight I found one more: Fourteen Dates, by sakura_haru. Unfortunately I think that really was the last one, and now I have nothing to read again.

'Nother thing: I created a secondary FF.net account: Rashka the Demon. This name is taken verbatim from Kipling's The Jungle Book, of which Rashaka is partially drawn as well. I could have thought of a totally new name, but what the hell I'm lazy. Anyway, I've posted the first 4 chapters of my fic "Lucid" up there, in the hopes that if it gets reported, I won't get my entire Rashaka account erased.

Curse you donna_c_punk, for pointing me toward the Doctor Who Multifandom "Choose Your Own Companion" Ficathon.

Now I want to write a fic about Nine inadvertantly travelling with Tohru Honda.

Tohru Honda.

The brain, it boggles. Tohru would drive him absolutely bonkers, but she'd be so earnestly sincere that he wouldn't be able to hate her.

I'd need a prompt though. A situation/place/time/idea... something for them to react to.


EDIT: octopedingenue? Where are you? ::booming voice:: I have a task for you. (see comments below!)

Especially octopedingenue, who informed me first and provided links. This is the first time I've ever watched anything for Fullmetal Alchemist in raw, un-subbed form. (Except movie trailers, which don't count.)

Hagaren OVAs... the last best dose of FMA canon I'll ever see... ::grabs with grubby hands:: MY SHOW! MY LOVE MY DARLING SHOW!

Chibi OVA: it was.... ADORABLE! I need subtitles! Now! I love how the various bits of dramatic music flared up whenever certain characters spoke. But you know what stuck in my mind the most? TRACK SUITS. Dude. Track suits! Also, Hawkeye wins x10.

Kids OVA: ( OMG teenage-- )...and, in conclusion... I don't know WHAT the fuck that was about, but I love it so. And...octopedingenue I can't believe your META CRACK THEORY for FMA canon actually appears to be ...( Read more... ). The verse is a strange and mysterious place, indeed.

State OVA: I have no words ( except... ) ..and... KIMBLY MY EVIL LOVER, YOU'VE COME BACK TO ME. STILL CACKLING!

...oh wow. ( Read more... ). That's whacked. I love my show.

As someone said before me and surely someone will say after me.... FMA you are the only, only one.

I'm over at the AdultSwim.com boards watching people's brains explode because of the FMA finale.

Particularly the thing that happens at the 9 minute mark. The evil, evil thing...with its...thingyness. It was like horrible and yet wonderful for how horrible it was.

GAH! Why is it not midnight yet! I WANT MY FMA!

FMA dub episode 50 tonight!

Episode title:

"Death"

::insert evil laugh here::

You know, it's scary how appropriate this icon is.