the fan may retreat, but never dies!
Mar. 12th, 2005 03:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mikkenekoI've been quiet lately, more so than I intended. First my attention was distracted away from the chimera fic by a new shiny -- the House of Smex spinoff of the Alter!Series. For various complicated, particular and irrational reasons, the Doubles sub-arc of this series captured me and drew me in, and I wrote a bunch of drabbles for it which I didn't repeat here. You can go read them now, but they won't make much sense without reading the surrounding background fics, and if you *do* read those, prepare to be drawn in. :D
Basic summary: The background for the HoS is basically that Ed, Al, Hawkeye, Roy, and Roy's our-world double Masuta are all lovers cohabitating in a single long-term household. Kinda like my Ménage series, only with less kids -- so far, anyway. The specific premise of the Doubles arc is that the Al that travelled with Ed was, unknown to him, a copy. At the end of the series, when real Al was returned, the second Al became trapped in the Gate and remained there for the next decade or so. He was released more-or-less by accident, to discover the massive changes that have occurred since he was gone, and the fact that there's already a version of him running around. Massive confusion and angst ensues as the Als try to sort themselves out.
RL-wise, this past week entirely flattened me; midterms came up on me completely unexpectedly. I shorted myself of sleep even more than usual and pulled an all-nighter to get everything done in time, whew. I had planned a road trip up to Vegas this weekend with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
windandwater's family, but that fell through at the last minute, so I shall revert to my default plan of spending the weekend lazing about, sleeping, and catching up on anime (yes, cerulean_burn, manga too!) that I've been behind on.
I began my re-fandoming quest by immersing myself in FMA tonight, reading the last two chapters of the manga. I'm very happy I did. My interest in the manga had been unenthused throguh the last several chapters, as it insisted on focusing on characters and plotlines I cared nothing about. This last two, however, were pure love. They were filled with everything about FMA that I fell in love with in the first place; Ed, Al, Ed and Al, devious plotting, actiony fight scenes, Roy being cool, Ed being alternately cute, cool, cunning, self-sacrificing, and more cute.
For those who aren't reading it, quick summary of everything you need to know about FMA manga 44 and 45:
1) "I don't want to spend any more nights alone" has joined "I want to touch you again" and "I'm glad my body is useful to you" in the ranks of quotes that make elricest canon dammit.
2) Roy/Havoc meter just took a solid shot in the arm. I'm not much of a fan of the pairing, but I'm totally feeling the love.
3) Ed and Al have decided that Al's body is still alive somewhere, and the reason he can learn and remember is because his brain still records information that the soul seal transfers to it; they have also decided that the reason for Ed's delayed growth, abnormal appetite, and heavy sleeping habits is because Ed and Al's bodies are connected
and corollary, to this, 3a) Ed finally admits that he's chibi. =D
4) Roy/Ed meter also received a boost, curiously enough, from the spectacle of the two of them arguing and then working spectacularly well together.
And finally:
5) No one, not even Roy when he's imitating funny voices, can match Ed for cuteness.
The thing about Scar >> Winry's parents totally took me by surprise (wasn't paying attention.) I'm still not convinced he did it, since there were comments a few chapters back to the effect that Scar's tattoos were actually the mark of a certain warrior-priest sect, implying he's not the only one who has them. And it's not really consistent with his character now, although I admit I can't speak for his past chapters.
Love triggered by this, I went back and watched a few key moments of series, particularly 29-32. Am bowled over once again by Al's voice. Ed's voice shines so much that you hardly notice Al's, but Rie Kugimiya's performance is just something that english Al will never be able to come close to, no matter how good he gets.
*fannish trivia time* Not that it really matters, but this was the piece of music that played during Ed's flashback to the Gate in episode 29. You know, the part where Ed's leg gets ripped off and he sees the groteque version of his mother and vomits and cries and pulls the armor off the wall and draws an array in it from the spreading pool of his own blood and then gets his arm ripped off. Goddamn, but the music for this series is first-rate.
During the part where he is narrating his flashback to seeing the Truth, young!Ed's voice is echoing in the background. We don't get a translation for that. I wonder if there was even words in it, or if he was just screaming?
All my friends are moving on to other fandoms. This makes me sad. (Yeah,pellaz, sockren, cerulean_burn, cryogenia, windandwater, I'm lookin at you.)
As long as I'm here, since I'm not producing anything of my own tonight:
We've Only Just Begun, a sweet little Elric brothers fic that just tugged lightly at my heartstrings, and sometimes that's all you need.
Suffering from Love's Wounds - Similar to the above, a slightly harder tug on the heartstrings. I like this author.
Remember that Roy/Ed fic I recced a while back? Its kids are even sexier, no joke. Some of the least-cliched, most-IC, most hawt and interesting Roy/Ed courtship fic I've read in quite some time. Breakfast In Stead, Can't Teach An Old Dog New Licks, Discretion Is The Better Part of Variety, Every Dog Has Its Way, Familiarity Breeds Consent, and Great Minds Think A Lot.
In Entirety -- this one is actually old, not new, but I was revisiting it today and enjoying it so much had to share.
Basic summary: The background for the HoS is basically that Ed, Al, Hawkeye, Roy, and Roy's our-world double Masuta are all lovers cohabitating in a single long-term household. Kinda like my Ménage series, only with less kids -- so far, anyway. The specific premise of the Doubles arc is that the Al that travelled with Ed was, unknown to him, a copy. At the end of the series, when real Al was returned, the second Al became trapped in the Gate and remained there for the next decade or so. He was released more-or-less by accident, to discover the massive changes that have occurred since he was gone, and the fact that there's already a version of him running around. Massive confusion and angst ensues as the Als try to sort themselves out.
RL-wise, this past week entirely flattened me; midterms came up on me completely unexpectedly. I shorted myself of sleep even more than usual and pulled an all-nighter to get everything done in time, whew. I had planned a road trip up to Vegas this weekend with
windandwater's family, but that fell through at the last minute, so I shall revert to my default plan of spending the weekend lazing about, sleeping, and catching up on anime (yes, cerulean_burn, manga too!) that I've been behind on.I began my re-fandoming quest by immersing myself in FMA tonight, reading the last two chapters of the manga. I'm very happy I did. My interest in the manga had been unenthused throguh the last several chapters, as it insisted on focusing on characters and plotlines I cared nothing about. This last two, however, were pure love. They were filled with everything about FMA that I fell in love with in the first place; Ed, Al, Ed and Al, devious plotting, actiony fight scenes, Roy being cool, Ed being alternately cute, cool, cunning, self-sacrificing, and more cute.
For those who aren't reading it, quick summary of everything you need to know about FMA manga 44 and 45:
1) "I don't want to spend any more nights alone" has joined "I want to touch you again" and "I'm glad my body is useful to you" in the ranks of quotes that make elricest canon dammit.
2) Roy/Havoc meter just took a solid shot in the arm. I'm not much of a fan of the pairing, but I'm totally feeling the love.
3) Ed and Al have decided that Al's body is still alive somewhere, and the reason he can learn and remember is because his brain still records information that the soul seal transfers to it; they have also decided that the reason for Ed's delayed growth, abnormal appetite, and heavy sleeping habits is because Ed and Al's bodies are connected
and corollary, to this, 3a) Ed finally admits that he's chibi. =D
4) Roy/Ed meter also received a boost, curiously enough, from the spectacle of the two of them arguing and then working spectacularly well together.
And finally:
5) No one, not even Roy when he's imitating funny voices, can match Ed for cuteness.
The thing about Scar >> Winry's parents totally took me by surprise (wasn't paying attention.) I'm still not convinced he did it, since there were comments a few chapters back to the effect that Scar's tattoos were actually the mark of a certain warrior-priest sect, implying he's not the only one who has them. And it's not really consistent with his character now, although I admit I can't speak for his past chapters.
Love triggered by this, I went back and watched a few key moments of series, particularly 29-32. Am bowled over once again by Al's voice. Ed's voice shines so much that you hardly notice Al's, but Rie Kugimiya's performance is just something that english Al will never be able to come close to, no matter how good he gets.
*fannish trivia time* Not that it really matters, but this was the piece of music that played during Ed's flashback to the Gate in episode 29. You know, the part where Ed's leg gets ripped off and he sees the groteque version of his mother and vomits and cries and pulls the armor off the wall and draws an array in it from the spreading pool of his own blood and then gets his arm ripped off. Goddamn, but the music for this series is first-rate.
During the part where he is narrating his flashback to seeing the Truth, young!Ed's voice is echoing in the background. We don't get a translation for that. I wonder if there was even words in it, or if he was just screaming?
All my friends are moving on to other fandoms. This makes me sad. (Yeah,
pellaz, sockren, cerulean_burn, cryogenia, windandwater, I'm lookin at you.)As long as I'm here, since I'm not producing anything of my own tonight:
We've Only Just Begun, a sweet little Elric brothers fic that just tugged lightly at my heartstrings, and sometimes that's all you need.
Suffering from Love's Wounds - Similar to the above, a slightly harder tug on the heartstrings. I like this author.
Remember that Roy/Ed fic I recced a while back? Its kids are even sexier, no joke. Some of the least-cliched, most-IC, most hawt and interesting Roy/Ed courtship fic I've read in quite some time. Breakfast In Stead, Can't Teach An Old Dog New Licks, Discretion Is The Better Part of Variety, Every Dog Has Its Way, Familiarity Breeds Consent, and Great Minds Think A Lot.
In Entirety -- this one is actually old, not new, but I was revisiting it today and enjoying it so much had to share.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 09:09 am (UTC)...I really need to get into the manga.
*bounds off into useless fangirling*
no subject
Date: 2005-03-16 09:51 pm (UTC)*shot* Yeah, yeah, I know. That whole "stop being down on yourself" thing. I'm aware that I lose (win) at life, though it's nice of you to tell me. XD
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 09:12 am (UTC)Well, I was never really in the FMA fandom. I only joined fm_alchemist for the updates and the icons, I never wrote any fic, and never developed a serious interest in multi-part FMA fics (like, the ones that go for 30+ chapters). And just wait until the movie and we'll see who's still a crazy little Hagaren fangirl then.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 08:44 pm (UTC)crackDeath Note with you any more.no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 01:34 pm (UTC)I wanna read the manga. *starts to hunt it down* The bits about Al and Ed sound very, very interesting.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 04:33 pm (UTC)And yes, crack, you evil thing.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 04:15 pm (UTC)Thanks for the link to In Entirety. I'd read it before and then couldn't find it again ^^;
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 05:01 pm (UTC)But, now that you have such glowing recommendations for the latter chapters... I think I'm forced to actually catch up on it now. *goes forth to grab manga*
And... hopefully you don't mind if I add you as a friend? ^_^;;
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 08:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-16 09:53 pm (UTC)...zomgilovehimsomuch.
Seriously. He is also my favorite. We need to get together and spread teh love.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 09:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-12 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-16 09:45 pm (UTC)...I became aware of that only recently. It was like a solid gold bar to the forehead or something.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-16 09:56 pm (UTC)...Mikke-san, you're doing it again. That whole "giving me more credit than what I actually deserve" thing. You're just HOPING my head'll swell and I'll explode, aren't you? I'm familiar with your game.
Seriously, TO ALL THE GOOD PEOPLE OUT THERE - please don't read my crap. I just reread it the other day and I was like "dude WTF teh suck?" and threw out my back while doing so. Honest to God. XDDD