#in case its not obvious I'm going to put differences between the canon story and my TL in bolded parentheses

[discordantrhapsody]

A Lesson in Modern History: the Other Side

Lecture 1

Ten years and eight months ago, Oz Vessalius was thrown into the Abyss.

This is where every Story begins. The day of this young man's coming-of-age coronation, when the hands on that ancient clock moved, setting fate into motion. And yet, this Story unfolding before us now appears to start somewhere far removed from the events of that evening.

I know this Story well, I've read it dozens of times. The setting changes, the time period differs. The Ending varies, just as much. And yet, I can't predict how this current Story will go.

All that I can do is use this journal to recall the details of the Story I'm most familiar with, (comparing them with the current version as necessary). I do this not for myself, but for the sake of you, the Reader. Call it History, call it Reference, call it Context.

Just make sure you pay attention, and ask questions if you have them.

On the day of his 15th (18th) birthday, Oz and his valet Gilbert were exploring the grounds of one of the Vessalius family's properties when they came across a hidden grave. Though the name had been worn from the headstone, a pocket watch in perfect condition dangled from the stone cross. When wound, the watch played a delicate music box tune, the melody of which would awaken someone else's memories within Oz.

With the start of his ceremony growing closes, Oz saved that watch to ask about later, only for the event to be interrupted by a group of rogue individuals wearing the red robes of the Baskerville cult. The words they spoke as he was cast into Abyss would haunt him:

Your very sin is your existence.

When Oz awakened in the Abyss, he found himself attacked by gruesome monsters called Chains, only to be saved by a peculiar stranger. Though she appeared as a human girl, she had all the strength of a powerful Chain. She called herself Alice. The other Chains called her the Bloody Black Rabbit.

She convinced Oz that by forming a Contract, they could escape together. And so they did.

But when he returned to the real world, it wasn't quite the one he knew. 10 years had passed in the blink of an eye. His childhood best friend was all grown up now, working for an organization called Pandora that researched and investigated matters of the Abyss. And unless Oz agreed to work with them, he would be arrested as an Illegal Contractor and Alice killed as a Chain.

Luckily, his motivations happened to align with Pandora's, and so Xerxes Break suggested that they could use each other.

Alice wanted to find her memories. The voice of the great hero Jack Vessalius inside his own soul was telling Oz to help her, to chase those memories at all costs.

And so, this is where the Story begins.

[warsamongthestars]

There's several reasons I separate TBB and TCWs Bad Batch. Quite a few of them are micro, cos I'm analytical as hell and the little details set me off.

How bout two big things? Two, in your face, things.

First one isn't so bad. "There's two different shows by two different writing and two different broadcasters, they're going to have obvious canonical differences based on the paperwork and contracts alone, but because it still irrevocably alters the story and characters, no matter where that alteration came from, it is still two different canons that aren't going to fit nicely if at all."

Okay maybe it is complicated, but that's real world shit for you. Clone Wars was a Cartoon Network production, the recent stuff has been Disney--and frankly, Cartoon Network has better quality and taste (HELL YEAH STEVEN UNIVERSE!)

THe second one goes into the show. Some proper in-story analysis, to tell you were the break is at.

The Bad Batch arrived on Anaxes after dealing with an Insurrection on Yalbec Prime. They brag about it, they talk about it, its important to their introduction. Its important enough that a lot of fanfics and fanstuff talk about how it happened.

It was an insurrection. Insurrections are defined as "An uprising against an authority or government".

And they didn't describe just any group conducting an insurrection--they describe Yalbecs, so the inhabitants of Yalbec Prime. And then they describing killing the Queen of the Yalbecs, so the primary ruler of Yalbec Prime, planet of Yalbecs. Of which Tech comes in to say, that hte stinger of the queen is a Delicacy on some planets.

... Do you know how nasty of a picture that paints?

Based only on the simplest information given and what we know; because they're Republic Troopers--we can assume that Yalbec Prime was a Republic world. (We weren't told otherwise, so the assumption must be the most correct answer at this time.)

So, the Yalbecs were rebelling. (Because why would they attack the inhabitants unless they were the insurrection being put down?)

Using this minimum information.

THe Yalbecs and their queen, were rebelling against Republic Authority (we don't know if it was in favor of the Seppratists, it could be that they wanted Neutrality too).

If we can assume the reason, its probably because folks eat their damn Queen (a very good reason to rebel if you rely on a ant or bee like hierarchy and the queen is also your mother--given the implications that yalbecs are insectoids and that there were queen pheromones).

The Bad Batch are called in to put down the Insurrection, which we can assume they did, based on the fact that they're alive and intact.

... So.

The TBB Show wants to tell me that... The Bad Batch don't want to follow orders to eliminate insurrectionists and that's why they left the Empire?

Based on the above, they absolutely would follow those orders. Enthusiastically, with bragging rights.

One could make the argument that ECho set them straight, and that'd be a good story and start. TBBshow didn't do that, and regulated Echo to the bitching corner and then just kicked him out entirely--so you might have that idea, but the Show certainly didn't.

The darker argument is that the TBB would put down a society of insectoids, but not humanoids--and that... leaves a rather nasty set of implications, given the multi-sentient species of the Galaxy. I'd love to think that's not the case, but if TBBshow insists it, then we have to take it as the case for the Batch on the TBBshow.

When you're writing, what you show or say to or for the audience will be taken as fact by the audience for the show played. While we can give interpretation and imagination for things you don't say, it will always come down to what you've Shown and what've you Told, and what the conflict between the two is.

If you don't show it, or don't talk about it, and don't leave room for interpretation, then it didn't happen.

( One can argue that the TBB show does leave room... Via the holes its poked in itself. I've never seen so many pockets filled with absolutely nothing. )

And when you show contradiction without just cause, you risk breaking the flow of the story, and thus breaking the suspension of disbelief... And that's when the Audience enmass starts leaving and cursing.

While you cannot predict who's suspension is broken at any given time, what you can control is the flow of the story and its beats.

What is said and what is shown, are important, because Theatre / TV show stories are entirely made by what is Said and what is Shown.

Lastly, as for "What is canon".

... The TBB Show has different writers to the Clone Wars, which in turn had different writers from the Star Wars Prequel Films, which in turn had different writers for the Original Star Wars.

Of course none of it but the OG is canon.

Its all just an Argument about what enhances the story of your personal Canon and who is telling the story.

[qs63]

Fullmetal Alchemist: The abducted alchemist

Time for another FMA novel review!

This one much like the previous novel, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand, happens in early canon. That means the brothers are still searching for the stone, however this particular novel focuses on a Military case and is very Roy centric — which admittedly is what I'm here for.

Spoilers ahead!

The story follows mostly Ed and Roy as they investigate a series of seemingly random bombing on the railways by a group of terrorists. The plot is quite simple, there aren't any big surprises or particularly memorable side characters. What this has is a lot of comedy and banter, which in my opinion is its saving grace.

There are a lot of funny moments: Roy being a shameless flirt, team Mustang interrogating him about a supposed "son", Havoc terrorizing Breda and Al with a car, Ed going ballistic about his height, Ed pretending to be Roy's son. The paternal Roy-Ed angle is played A LOT throughout the novel, so if you like this you'll have plenty to enjoy. I'm personally not a fan of it, but as it's mainly played for comedic relief it didn't bother me as much as I would've expected.

The best part of this story, for me, were the small Royai moments. You have Riza bringing Roy tea, the two of them discussing strategy alone, obligatory questioning of their past and guilt, and the two of them trying to save each from the same target. It really made me smile.

The worst part of this was Roy and Ed teaming up. It's very obvious the author ran into the same issue Arakawa did while writing the Promised Day arc. Roy is too dang OP so if you leave him alone he'll steal all the thunder from Ed. No, unlike Arakawa's own elegant solution (to blind him for the final fight) the author just inexplicably powered down Roy's abilities and alchemy.

There's a whole paragraph explaining how Roy can't hit the big bad because he's carrying a gun and ammunition on his back, saying that his skills aren't good enough not to hit him without setting off the ammunition. This novel was of course written before we had seen the whole might of Roy's flame alchemy, but that explanation rings so wrong and hollow after seeing Roy burn Envy's tongue and eyes with such accuracy that it was scary…

I wish the authors had found a less bullshit way to have Ed be the one to save the day with his automail blade.

The lack of understanding of Roy's past and abilities is also very noticeable in his final punchline to the terrorist leader, where he said something that almost made me put down the book entirely: "You know the difference between us? We don't use kids and money to try to win people's hearts. We kill, but we don't hate."

Considering all the evil the military did in Ishval and later, and how Roy himself burned innocent children, women, elderly during the war, that phrase left a terrible taste in my mouth.

In conclusion, the Abducted Alchemist is a funny story, worth reading if you want some mindless banter between the brothers and team Mustang. That being said, the plot is quite weak,and the lack of understanding of the characters — especially of Roy — did put a damper on my enjoyment of the story. For all this, it gets a 6.5/10 from me.

[rockybloo]

One plot aspect of Across the Spiderverse is the canon event, and that common story elements "can't change".

What were your thoughts on that, especially in relation to Beanstalked, which has a similar conflict with Jack and Nana wanting to be together despite that not being the path the Book chose for them, or is the Book different from canon events due to the endings being altered and needing to be restored?

OOOOOOO this is a really good question! This is def gonna be a long one with some Spiderverse spoilers so I'mma put everything under the cut

I honestly love stories where the main conflict is rebelling against the story or role someone has been assigned or at least flipping things on it's head and upsetting the status quo.

It's one reason why I really enjoy Shrek and Cats Don't Dance since, while both handle different topics, they both are still about a rebel rejecting the rules laid out for them by society to achieve their own happiness.

It's why I greatly enjoyed Across the Spiderverse since Miles is basically rejecting the story people are forcing on him for being Spiderman.

In relation to Beanstalked, it's hella fun to work on for me since fairy tales are such a universal thing. So it's really easy for many people to understand when a fairy tale retelling is sticking close to the original versions we're familiar with and when it's going off script.

I'd say on some level, comic book heroes are some modernized version of fairy tales since many are aware of the heroes and their origins and they all have various retellings. Of course, there's a whole lot of differences between the two like the fact one is in public domain and the other is super copyrighted BUT there's that universalness in both. So we all understand what's different about Miles compared to other Spidermen just like most are aware of what's different about Jack and Nana from other beanstalk Jacks and red riding hoods.

When it comes to the comparison of the Storybook and canon events, a canon event (as I understand it) is what is necessary for a Spiderman to remain on what is basically their story path. And the Storybook is basically a layout of a Bookmarked's entire life which includes multiple key events that they go through to keep them on track to that happy ending.

I'm not sure Spidermen really have a happy ending destined to them, as Miguel made it very obvious that being a Spiderman isn't a very happy thing, but there's the shared theme of "This is the script and you need to stick to it because this is what the universe has deemed you to be. Even if you did not choose to be this, we have decided this is how you have to live your life regardless."

Nevermore and Miguel are def polar opposites in terms of what they want though (and in like…everything else) as Nevermore does all she can to keep people from living on the storybook paths assigned to them and Miguel is doing all he can to make sure every Spiderman sticks to their canon events.

I'd say that Bookmarked have it easier than Spidermen because there are multiple different mini paths on a storybook path so there can be a wider variety of choices that can be taken so things aren't as strict for them. But Bookmarked are very much not meant to be interacting with eachother mid story. Once a story reaches its end, then it's a bit different but often, a Bookmarked story path tends to be an isolated one. In the rare occurance a Bookmarked crosses paths with another Bookmarked during their story progression, it's never quite on the same level as Jack and Nana where it's literally them falling in love with each other as that is a BIG story disrupter.

This is because sometimes, a Bookmarked is already on the path of romance for someone else they are destined to be with in story. So if they stray off the course and find someone else OUT of story , especially someone from a completely different one…it's a bit difficult for the Storybook to reroute the path. Whether or not that's the case with Jack and Nana, y'all are just gonna have to wait and see. HOWEVER-they are very much in the category of Bookmarked who are potentially never meant to cross paths in general.

There are some negative side effects for a Bookmarked not achieving their Happy Ending (not to be mistaken for a story book path as that's just the journey TO a Happy Ending) but that's when we're beginning to enter spoiler territory. It's definitely not as bad as "YOUR WORLD IS CAVING IN ON ITSELF AND DECAYING BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES" like Across the Spiderverse but still. There are negative side effects that no one save for Nevermore and the Gods are super aware of which is why Luna practically busts into Jack's life in chapter one and practically forces his story to start.

[blackbloodteeth]

do you see all the variants in some kind of "multiverse" or do you sometimes feel that thinking about "how would all those different versions interact" is more limiting than freeing to those ideas?

Honey, you got a big storm comin'.

If you'll give me a moment, allow me to elaborate on what exactly a "variant" is to begin with, especially for those who are uninitiated.

We all know Soul, Soul Evans, Soul Eater Evans. At the basic level, a variant is another "alternate reality" version of him that might be just a little bit different (or a lot, in many more obvious cases). Think of this "variantism" as a form of energy – the higher amount of energy, or variantism, stored within the Soul, the greater the differences.

Some Souls are not outwardly referred to as variants because this variantism is so low, there's no perceivable or known difference between it and a close-to-canon Soul (otherwise known as a "baseline" Soul, though these human Souls even vary between being a demon weapon to begin with). It is an established fact that the Soul depicted in canon – manga, anime, etc. – can not ever be a variant or be involved in this variant multiverse, though this partly stems from a joke that the main reason for this is because of manga Soul's hair.

Now with this core concept in mind: The collective tangled net of realities that hosts these variants, is what is known as the Variantverse. Since you've got me in such a giddy mood, I will share this fact that I have not ever elaborated to any other soul until this very moment, which is that the Variantverse in of itself is a living thing. In the extremely rare instances I've touched upon the concept that is Everything (long story, drives some who've witnessed it fully mad, others simply can't process it and get a little distorted from it), the two are in essence one and the same. The Variantverse is alive, but it can't physically be perceived in its sheer extensiveness.

And with all living things, it changes constantly, the "cells" that make it up all existing as the lifeblood of a strange, lonesome heartbeat of cosmic infinity. I could go on about the nuances of variantism and parasitism, but that is most certainly a ramble for another occasion.

So to answer the first half of your question, yes. All the damn time. And to answer the other half: It's actually the other way around, haha.

There's a staggering number of variants I bring up on the regular that actually start out as variant interactions, I just end up toning it down 99% of the time (if you see a drawing accompanying a blurb or cyptic message, it most likely happened because I saw them interacting with another Soul. Like boom, boom, boom, boom. These were all initially variant interactions). I think part of why I get reluctant to keep them that way is because it's probably harder to digest, or doesn't feel as "fleshed out" as putting them back into their home reality and figuring out the world around them, which is honestly more true for the writing side of my creative endeavors considering how little I've written about more than one Soul in the same setting (and the "Variantverse" tag on AO3 has a comparatively abysmal amount of use, haha).

I'm not sure if I would necessarily say it's limiting, though. I like leaving a lot of things open to interpretation and I'm not the biggest fan of setting ideas in stone, so I tend to tone this variant interaction aspect down or leave things vague because it can be more fun and interesting that way. Is it a shame I don't do more of Soul interacting with himself? Yeah, I think so, but also that was my least-viewed fic so the statistics outnumber me, hahaha.

I also don't mind the nebulous degree of separation that comes with having one side of focus more towards "self-contained" Soul ideas, and the behemoth that is every time I fancy to actually think about the overarching lore of the Variantverse. The very little amount of art containing the three main protagonists of the main Variantverse story is probably telling of something. I think.

So yeah, haha. There's a big ol' multiverse of these silly critters, but I'm not really… hm, afraid of doing anything a certain way like I had been when the whole thing first started to come to life. Those few times I'd been told a Soul "doesn't look like Soul" or that voice that worries Soul isn't "Soul enough" doesn't really haunt me as much anymore. And I mean really, would you even be exactly the same person in another reality where you're an animate, carnivorous statue? Silly.

I think genuinely it was only limiting when I tried to keep a list of all of them, because that ended up being detrimental to my overall health, hahaha

[recurring-polynya]

Do I mind if I ask how you approach writing longer fic? I've always struggled to write anything more than maybe two chapters long and I'm curious if you have a particular method to how you approach such stories.

Thank you so much for this ask! I absolutely love it when people ask me for writing advice because it makes me feel like a Smart Person Who Knows Things.

Before we start, here is one grain of salt to take all of this with: I have a naturally long-form brain. It is very hard for me to write something less than 1k. Short fiction is great, and there is nothing wrong with sticking to short things if that's what your brain likes to do.

So. You have decided to write a story. This is going to focus on "stories". Some people write fic that's more freeform or whatever, I am not going to cover that. What I mean by a story is this:

It starts

Some stuff happens

It ends

It is highly probable that your story contains a change of state, which could be that a villain is defeated, or a goal is reached, but it could also be that character falls in love with another, or someone learns to like broccoli.

I like to start out by completing the sentence, "This is a story where _______". This is basically like coming up with a summary for an ao3 post, except that it doesn't need to be catchy. Lots of different kinds of things could go in that blank! It could literally be what happens: This is a story where Ichigo goes back in time and punches young Aizen in the nose. It could be about what you want to explore: This is a story where Hitsugaya gets a better understanding of his zanpakutou. It could be about the vibe you want to achieve: This is an AU where everyone is in a punk rock band and has cool hair and outfits. The idea of this is to clearly define what you, the author, is interested in writing. Make sure it feels right! Maybe you pick the first one, but when you say it out loud, you say, "You know, I really just want Ichigo to go back in time so he can horse around with young Renji and Rukia and punching Aizen in the nose is just an excuse for that." That may sound dumb, but it's fine, actually! Most people don't read stories strictly for the plot, they read stories for the implications of those plots! Will my favorite two characters kiss? Will there be funny interactions between these two groups of characters? Will there be sick fights? Stories are excuses to have scenes. Sometimes, you will have a story where the interesting sequence of events is the draw, but the point is to know what you're about.

Once you feel happy with your "mission statement", you need to decide the bounds of your story: where it starts and where it ends. It may be easier to start with the end. In some cases, it may be obvious from your mission statement: everyone gets home, a villain is defeated, Kenpachi realizes the meaning of friendship. On the other hand, let's look at that punk rock AU. You've picked a vibe, but you don't really have a natural story arc. It has to have a destination, though, otherwise, it's not really a story, it's a recipe for 3 chapters of an abandoned fanfic. So brainstorm a little: Maybe they get a record deal? Maybe they win a Battle of the Bands? Maybe Byakuya accepts that the band is actually good and tells Rukia he is proud of her. Do not settle for a plot just because it works. Pick something that makes you excited! You're the one who is gonna have to write it!

I said that we needed to pick a beginning point, too, but I'm actually going to skip that for now. The next thing I do is think of all the Big Scenes I want to write, the ones you are hype to write, the ones that pop in your head as you think about the premise. Make a bullet list. They don't need to be in order. The descriptions don't need to be super detailed, but write down anything about it that is important to you. If there's a mood or a snippet of dialogue or a joke you want to make, go ahead and jot that down so you don't forget it later. What you're doing now is putting broad blotches of color on a canvas, filling in space and leaving the detail for later.

Once you are pretty happy with what you have down, try to arrange it in chronological order. Put your end at the end (if it wasn't one of your big scenes, add it now). The next task is figuring out how to traverse your scenes. You've already picked out where you want to spend the majority of your energy. The rest, I regret to tell you, is your slog writing. Now, it often happens that you will find joy in some of these scenes and your best writing may occur there, but that's serendipity. These are the scenes that you are gonna have to make yourself sit down and write, so you honestly want to limit them to just the ones you need.

So how do we do this? Look at the first thing on the list. Can you start there? If so, congrats, that's your beginning. If you can't, what needs to happen to get to there? Where can you start so that you can get to your first fun scene as soon as possible? There. That’s it. You’ve picked your beginning, good job! Now, go through the rest of your list, and add in things that must happen, even if you don’t particularly look forward to writing them. The characters need to travel from geographic point A to point B. Shuuhei needs to say something that Izuru hears and misinterprets. The Central 46 makes a new law. If you have a good idea of how these things happen, go ahead and write them down, but it’s okay if you don’t know yet. Fill in all the blanks so that if you think of each bullet list as a scene, you could read it as a story, start to end. Once you get writing, you might add more scenes, or move things around or whatever, but you should have a thing that functions as a story.

If you struggle with this, an alternative is a story with a very strong structure that is going to guide you though what you have to write.Here are two examples from my own stories Hold On, Hold On (which is only one chapter, but the principle is the same) is structured around the 5 stages of grief. Not Broken, Just Bent takes place over roughly a week, and I just decided what happened every day of the week. See You on the Other Side takes place in the middle of a bunch of canon events, which worked at mile markers.

Congratulations. You’ve just made a rough outline!

Special note for avoiding burnout!: I am a slogger. I will drag myself through the broken glass of an interminable plot to get to a single thirsty scene. That's why, at this stage, I try to look at the ratio of what I want to write to what I must write. It's gonna vary for everyone, but this is a hobby, and if looking at this proto-outline makes you feel deeply tired, maybe this isn't a good story to be devoting your time to! Can you carve it down? Can you chuck two scenes you really want to write and get rid of 80% of the slog? Or maybe you can't! In that case, just write that thirsty scene as a standalone drabble! Or just go work on something else! Maybe in the future, this one will come back to you and you’ll have a fresh idea or a renewed enthusiasm for it.

Another thing I sometimes like to do at this point is to write out some notes about my characters and their motivations and moods. Character A is homesick. Character B is so determined to defeat the enemy that they are having a hard time being sympathetic to Character A. Character C cares for both A and B and is trying to support them both. This is sort of background info that you want to keep in your head as you are writing. Depending on the type of story you are writing, this might actually be the main plot, or it might be happening subtly, but adding to the emotional impact of the story. It’s very easy for me to write these sorts of emotional arcs, but if you struggle with that, you may wish to go ahead and made a more detailed outline for that, too.

Now, it’s time to start writing! I am great at beginnings-- it is very often the case for me that the opening scene was one of my Big Tentpole Scenes. (Before you hate me too much, I make up for this by being double horrible at endings; just let me have this) Usually, I will start at the beginning and write linearly for as long as I can until I get stuck. Then, I will look forward on my outline and do the next chronological scene that I feel like writing. In general, if I sit down to write and there is something I have an urge to write, that trumps everything else. Inspiration is a precious commodity, and you should embrace it when it hits! You can slog any day. I will occasionally hold off writing a scene that I really want to, because I am saving it, like a prize for myself for getting that far. This is a very personal process of figuring out what motivates your brain and then giving your brain what it needs to be its most productive.

Eventually, you will run out of things you are excited to write, but the good news is, you’ve got a bunch of story now! Odds are that what’s left is going to be a lot of those connective tissue scenes, and you’re just going to have to do them, except that now, because you’re connecting two concrete points instead of two abstract points, it will be a lot easier. You can continue running jokes you’ve started. Maybe you invented a cafe in an earlier scene where your characters hang out and you can have them return there. Try to think of ways to make these scenes more fun, both for yourself to write and for your reader to read. 

Around this time, I like to start refining that rough strokes outline into what I will call an “as-built” outline. (This is an engineering term where you update your plans or models for something to reflect any changes that had to be made along the way). This is a great activity to do at times when you feel like you have writers block. I write down every scene I have written as a 2-3 word blurb, in order. I break the scenes into what I think makes logical chapters, and I will do a word count on those prospective chapters and write it down. As you do this, you will realize that maybe you can move a scene from here to there, which will make it 1000% easier to write. Things may be happening too much, or you’ve got the characters eating three times in the same chapter. If you have subplots and dangling threads, this is where you make sure they get closure. I know this sounds very headache-y, but you are so far along in the story at this point that it’s really not-- it’s a way to look at the problems you have left. Use some sort of formatting (I like to bold things I haven’t done and sometimes I put them in red) and it gives you a very visual to-do list.

You specifically mentioned multi-chapter fanfics and I admit that I don’t tend to think in chapters, I tend to think of the story as a whole and just break it up where it feels natural. The as-built outlining I described is very helpful in making sure that my chapters feel balanced. They don’t necessarily need to be the same length, but I like them to have the same amount of stuff in them. One chapter may basically contain one long scene, and other may contain many short ones. I don’t tend to, but you can certainly have a fanfic that varies between short and long chapters, that can actually be an interesting effect. But like I said, I always like to know what I am doing, and so having it mapped out, you can say “welp, this is what I’ve done, how do I feel about that?”

Polynya, you may be saying at this point, do you write the whole fanfic before you post any of it? and I regret to inform you, the answer is yes. A lot of people write as they go, and I have made one attempt at this and I didn’t like it. I don’t like locking myself in, I just need to be able write out of order and go back and change things. Here is the story of a little in love: someone gave me an AU prompt and I got mildly obsessed with it, and wrote 5 snapshots drabbles in that universe, ending with a slight cliffhanger ending. I probably should have stopped there, but I decided to keep going. I wrote out an outline of 5 acts where the first act was detailed to the degree of each chapter being specified. The chapters here were much smaller than I usually make chapters: 1-2k. I wrote act i and ii and it was actually great, and then I hit act iii which required a lot of set up for misunderstandings and a mini romance arc. I couldn’t wing it, but nor could I figure it all out with outlining. I write dialogue in almost sort of an improv “Yes, and...?” style, so until I do it, I don’t know what’s going to happen. So, what I did was treat the second half of act iii as a complete story in the process I describe above, wrote the entire rest of it, and then posted it. One might notice that the chapter lengths grew to 3-5k each. I have two more acts to go, and I haven’t decided how I am going to do them yet, but I suspect I will treat each of them as their own mini-stories.

(I will admit that in Heart is a Muscle, I tend toward chapters that are about 10k long, and this is honestly too long, someone should smack me. If you like punchy chapters, 1-2k is good. I think 3-6k is probably an ideal chapter length. Is this how long the chapters are in my latest fanfic? Absolutely not.)

Okay, so there’s one more step, which is quality control. I am habitual re-reader-- I read my fanfics-in-progress over and over and over while I am working on them. I understand that not everyone does this, but I am usually the primary audience for my own writing, and this is the actual fun part for me. Nevertheless, you should re-read your work at least once, to make sure it hangs together.

This is purely optional, but I recommend it: get a writing friend (if you don’t like re-reading your work, I recommend this even more strongly). If you can get a full-service beta reader, that’s great, but if you can’t find someone, or if receiving that level of critique stresses you out, it’s perfectly valid to just find a friend who will read your stuff and a) shower you with compliments, b) reassure you about parts you aren’t sure about (or suggest ways to help) and c) point out any huge problems you missed. When I am writing a long fanfic, it is a huge motivational factor for me to be able to send my beta chapters as I finish them. If you are already an established writer, and you have people who consistently comment on your fic, they might be overjoyed to get a sneak peak at your work.

And that’s it! That’s the way I do it, anyway! Some people are able to sit down and write a very detailed outline and the write it start-to-finish. Good for them, I say! I have tried this and it doesn’t work great for me. I will admit that some of my fics (especially my early ones) I just sat down and banged out whole-cloth like an insane person and they are generally better than the ones I actually plan out, but that’s not a reproducible process.

As one final mechanical note, I usually write in Google Docs, which I can access on multiple devices (I used to write a lot on my phone), has convenient sharing functionality, and I use the ao3 html formatting script add-in. I generally have two documents for a single story-- one is the outline, and any other notes I want to have handy. I’ll usually put a trashcan space at the bottom for scenes that got cut but I don’t want to lose. The other is the fanfic itself.

I hope this is helpful! Please feel free to follow up with other questions and good luck with your writing!

[ghostmartyr]

What does the manga add to Roy and Riza's relationship that the anime doesn't have? Asking out of curiosity since I'm an anime only and they're still one of my favourite pairs of all time!

Oh, ha, I didn’t specifically point to the manga because I have anything in particular against Brotherhood (…or 2003 for that matter) it’s just not my canon, and I’m used to specifying which version of FMA I mean when I talk about the series. I do have a list of petty grievances against Brotherhood, but there is nothing fundamentally altered between Roy and Riza.

..

I mean. Yes. A number of my petty grievances are related to them. And feel slightly less petty as thought is spent on them.

But I would need to go back and watch the anime scenes again to point out the specifics of why.

[many hours later]

(As a note about this post, since I guess I did make the choice of tagging it, this is heavily critical about some specific moments in the Brotherhood anime, but before I get started I want to emphasize that my problems, with the exception of an example that spans a volume, don’t cover even two minutes of video. These things exist, and they bug me, and I clearly have things to say about them, but Brotherhood is 64 episodes long. My impassioned hatred of a few choice features isn’t indicative of my overall feelings on the anime.

Essentially, this is me having fun whining. Not trying to set off landmines. I hope it proves enjoyable.)

So there is this scene change in the first five minutes of episode 19 that has my eternal hatred and I have no plans to ever forgive. That has been true since it aired, and it is still true here today, because I am insufferably stubborn.

(I actually did a session about it before. I’m probably going to repeat most of it, but have a link if it interests you.)

That is not the dialogue the manga goes with.

In the manga, Riza’s interaction with Roy is focused on “what the fuck were you thinking why are you here.” Both versions have the scene with her berating Mustang for endangering the mission to save her.

In the anime, the above screencaps are what follow. After giving him a hard time for showing up at all, she thanks him for saving her life. Sweet, I guess, except Roy fires back with a mission-focused response.

If I were doing an anime-only meta thing, something could be said about the hypocrisy of Roy playing hero only to lecture other people about concentrating on the mission, and it would just be another cute thing. I guess. If I were in a charitable mood maybe.

But this is the first anime adaptation I sat through properly, angsting about every twist and turn and change.

My grudges. They last.

In the manga, Mustang brings up the slightly more personal aspects of what has happened. The reason he runs after Hawkeye is that he just lost Hughes, he won’t lose her, and he loses his head entirely. They have the yelling session over it, and he basically yells back the equivalent of, “yeah yeah fine -sulk sulk sulk-”

They leave Fuery and Hayate behind, and we have the presented moment.

Going to assist Riza is not the Proper choice for the military operation they’re running. It was a dangerous thing for Roy to have done, and she rightfully calls him on it. But he does it because he cares, and the fact that he cares is why all these people follow him. He’s a hopeless, idealistic dreamer at heart. His squad is loyal to him because he’s loyal to them.

Roy Mustang is a damn softy.

In the anime, Riza’s the one to call attention back to the whole life-saving motive. In the manga, it’s Roy.

In the anime, when it comes up, Roy dismisses it.

In the manga, when it comes up, Riza apologizes for worrying him.

It’s a small moment, but small moments are allowed to matter, and when small moments are changed, it leaves a bigger impact than if they were just left alone.

In the anime, this exchange, plus Hawkeye’s smile after, suggests that the sentimentality of the relationship comes primarily from her. Riza’s the one having her heart warmed when they have a job to do.

…That’s a slightly meaner way to put it than the scene perhaps deserves, but there is no unfair bitterness like unfair bitterness towards Brotherhood for me. Whining about this adaptation is a thing I do, despite honestly loving the majority.

Anyway, in the manga, the scene is both of them putting legwork into their dynamic. Hawkeye yells at Mustang for showing up out of sentiment, but when he expresses that sentiment in the aftermath, she expresses understanding of his perspective. He did a stupid thing, but they’re a team, and both at ease with their interplay.

In the anime, stop talking Hawkeye, don’t you know we have a job.

The manga is a conversation, the anime is putting a wall up to prevent that conversation. Especially annoying is that the character putting the wall up is the one who initiates the conversation in the manga. The anime drags Mustang back from his emotional openness and pushes Hawkeye to be more so, then provides a dismissal of her acting that way.

Besides being an inverse plus a step back for their relationship, it. also just feels kind of sexist. Instead of the man talking about feelings, the woman is. When the man talks about his feelings, it’s greeted with understanding and respect, when the woman talks about her feelings, it’s greeted with the instruction to put it somewhere else.

The fact that they changed it bothers me, because the way it is in the manga is great. It’s one of many small moments Roy and Riza have where they are shown to respect and care for each other.

The anime version doesn’t add anything, and lessens the mutuality of that bond.

I snarl in its general direction.

The other change that springs to mind is of a similar cloth.

Mustang and Hawkeye encounter the Elrics before they’re aware of Hughes’ death, and Mustang makes up a story about Hughes retiring in the country with his family so that they won’t go looking for him.

Hawkeye greets this with the face of judgment. “Why are you treating him like a child all of a sudden?” He’s never shied from giving Ed adult responsibilities before. This is a blatant lie. Roy says they don’t need any further obstacles to their journey.

A few moments pass. In silence, in the manga. In the anime, Riza points out that they’re going to find out someday. Then…

“…Who am I trying to kid?”

(Funimation, the heck is with some of your translation choices. Did you just keep the simulcast version for the official DVD subs?)

So there are a few things. The most obvious difference is the dialogue changes. Hawkeye is more insistent about how the Elrics will find out at some point, then after Mustang makes his character commentary, she calls it cruel instead of sighing and moving on to the next topic.

The other most obvious change is that Mustang smiles after calling himself soft in the anime.

These all sort of play together.

In the manga, Hawkeye is just as judgmental as she is in the anime, but she allows Mustang the space to dwell on his choices for himself. She asks him one question about how he’s treating Edward, then they walk in silence, her disapproval creating a tangible aura.

It isn’t simply Hawkeye judging him. He’s judging himself. In the anime it comes off as a, “tee-hee, what a silly softhearted boi I am.” So in the anime, she vocally objects to what he’s doing.

In the manga, Mustang takes in his inability to break the news to the Elrics as the emotional flaw that it is, and Hawkeye lets him off the hook. He doesn’t need a lecture; he knows his shortcomings. It’s not great, but he’s the kind of person who doesn’t want to tell Ed and Al that Hughes is dead because Hughes tried to help them.

Again, Mustang’s softness is part of what endears him to his crew. It is not always a good trait. Sometimes, as in this case, it’s actively causing problems. But it is who he is.

Riza knows this, and she can let this failure pass with a sigh because Roy knows it too. The anime version has a smile when it’s nothing to smile over. The manga version is more, “hahaha… fuck.”

Roy and Riza know each other and themselves extraordinarily well. They might have the boundaries of superior and subordinate, but they are comfortable enough in their understanding of each other that they are allowed to be themselves. It’s the conversation thing. There is an undercurrent of figurative dialogue to their relationship that never stops.

When they do call each other out in the manga, it does not keep the conversation from flowing. It continues it. Both of the above changes take it to a stuttering halt in their scenes.

Then we have episode 30.

After which, I do not have memories specific enough to shout about things or know if there are things to shout about, but episode 30.

-screams forever and ever and ever-

-intersperses screams with tears of anguish-

From what I know of being an FMA fan, it is difficult to be an FMA fan without being passingly familiar with the debates of which version is better. Usually it’s Brotherhood vs. 2003. My personal, obviously right opinion, is that this is the wrong way to do it, and it should be manga vs. 2003, because really it’s an argument over which plot is better, and Brotherhood’s plot is the property of the manga.

I also think it’s impossible to really debate. The two series have different feels and themes. They are both extremely well done, meaning that which one you prefer comes down to personal preference.

I’m pretty sure people who bother to have those discussions could say a lot more on the topic, but that’s my general, broad stroke, very glossed-over perspective on it all.

I mention this because I think anyone who loves FMA should read volume fifteen of the manga. If you’re not a manga person, you don’t want to read 27 volumes of manga, yeah, understandable. You have your version of the story, enjoy it, you shouldn’t feel the need to read the original if you don’t want to. The idea that you have to pour every bit of content into your brain to be a good fan is pretty unhealthy.

But I recommend volume 15 regardless, because the anime does not come close to presenting its content. It is four chapters devoted to the Ishvalan War. Outside the framing device (Ed going to return Hawkeye’s gun and asking about what went down), the entire volume basically stands on its own.

It is a harrowing, intimate depiction of the genocide campaign. That is the focus of the entire volume.

Scar’s backstory is moved to an earlier section in the anime, and Mustang burning Hawkeye’s back is moved to the Envy fight, so this might be an unfair barb to throw, but I still want to say it. The anime covers this volume in one episode.

-goes back to screaming-

(Honestly though, some of the best fun I ever had in fandom came from being on a forum full of manga fans and all of us yelling our despair over Brotherhood’s choices. You would never believe that this anime was considered the gold standard of anything.)

But we’re here for Roy and Riza!

There’s only one thing that sincerely bothers me to pain of the irritation of the above. Most of my sulking is just why did they do this to my favorite volume. Mustang and Hawkeye’s stuff is mostly intact. Except when it isn’t.

Chronologically, the first complaint is that when Riza’s father collapses (dies), Mustang is alone with him. In the manga, the scene ends with a shot of Riza, watching, terrified, from the doorway.

Also known as the scene where Roy calls Riza by her first name.

-still screaming-

The cemetery scene is truncated. The anime jumps right into Roy and Riza discussing Roy becoming a soldier. The manga starts the scene out with the focus on funeral things. Roy asks if Riza has other family, and what she plans to do now.

After that, he offers her his number, and they get to talking about the military and Roy’s dream.

They also cut this.

In the anime, Roy discusses his military life through the lens of Master Hawkeye’s opinion on it, asking if Riza is going to disapprove as well. Roy starts talking because he assumes that’s how she feels about it, and preemptively defends his perspective.

In the original, when Roy hands Riza his information, she asks, “For the rest of your life…?” It’s followed by the above panel.

Roy’s monologue about his aspirations and his dream for what he can do as a member of the military happens because Riza asks. Not directly, but her addition to the conversation prompts him to talk about his views, and he mentions that those views are why he studied alchemy. In other words, why he’s standing in front of a grave, awkwardly trying to talk to his dead master’s daughter.

Following that, the original pays more attention to the lead-up of Riza entrusting Roy with her father’s research. In the anime, she jumps straight from the ideals topic to asking if she can trust him with it.

In the manga, there’s that beat of contemplation after Roy brings up alchemy, and how his master didn’t teach him everything.

Riza tells him that his dream sounds wonderful.

Another beat.

That’s when she tells him that her father did leave his alchemical secrets behind. Words about this are exchanged for a small number of panels.

In the anime, she asks Roy if she can entrust her father’s work (dream, values) to him. Directly after the dream dialogue.

In the manga, when Roy tries to bring their discussion back to Riza’s father, and what he did with his research, Riza redirects him. It isn’t about her father. It’s about her, and by consequence, Roy, and how Roy’s dream inspires her.

“That dream… Can I entrust you with my back so that I can help make it come true?”

The anime severely underplays the significance of Riza offering her father’s research to Roy. They address it a little once Envy is being dealt with, but in the manga, all of the discussion of Riza watching Roy’s back is drawn from how Riza’s back is what’s given Roy the power to rise as far as he has.

It goes from maintextual subtext to subtextual subtext.

Also, the cuts to their conversation just plain means that there’s less of Roy and Riza interacting. The two of them are very, very young, standing in front of a grave and talking about ideals. The longer manga version allows the quality of their youthful awkwardness to truly shine.

The scene is dropped in the middle of the volume, whereas in the anime, it opens the Ishvalan flashback. There’s much to be examined about how that affects the emotional impact, but… geez that gets to be a lot of threads. Trying to go through all of the ways they crammed a whole volume into one episode is just going to make me dizzy.

Even if the theoretical focus of this post weren’t shipping, I’m not sure my brain would be up for that. There’s just so much going on, and the time allotted means it’s a Frankenstein job.

The one major difference for Roy and Riza, which I can’t believe they went with, and can’t believe my sad feelings every time I watch the episode and confirm yeah, they really went that way with it.

Why why why why why why why why must you hurt me this way.

SO!

THE ANIME VERSION!

OF ROY AND RIZA MEETING IN ISHVAL!

Riza walks up and says hi after noticing them because Hughes is babbling about his future wife.

Yay.

The manga version does not. does not do that.

It.

That’s not how it goes.

At all.

In the manga, Roy and Hughes run into each other on their break and start chilling together. Hughes gets a letter, does his excited babbling, Roy tells him to stop being a stereotypical red shirt, when suddenly

Oh noes.

Roy and Hughes react as fast as they can, which might or might not end up fast enough, when a bullet goes through the Ishvalan’s brain.

There’s quiet for a moment, then Roy gets behind cover because oh no gunshot, and Hughes tells him to chill, it’s all good.

“We have the ‘hawk’s eye’ on our side. […] A real ace sharpshooter… who’s causing quite a stir in my circle of friends. She’s still in the academy but because she’s so skilled… they brought her to the front.”

Guess who.

Hughes and Roy, being the good people they are, go back to camp to thank the sniper for saving them. Hughes is his cheery self. Roy is not noticeably perturbed.

Then the sniper drops her hood and stands up.

You could say I prefer the manga version. It has Riza being a badass, and adds to the shock they both have of seeing each other here.

Riza gets her own little horrified section of panels all about it.

She was just helping out two soldiers. She didn’t realize until after she fired that one of them was Roy, and that he’s in this hell too.

The other thing that I enjoy about this particular sequence of panels is that in the manga, they come up a bit earlier. Throughout the manga, Ishval flashback panels are everywhere. As this scene is initially presented (Hawkeye looking at Mustang through her scope), many chapters earlier, it looks like maybe they’re on opposite sides.

Or maybe it’s just me who thinks that’s a thing.

In any case, it adds some serious drama to their reunion. In the anime, the drama is entirely that they are both here in this awful war. In the manga, a Mysterious Sniper saves Roy’s life and turns out to be his master’s daughter.

It’s just cooler, okay?

Their conversation when Riza becomes Roy’s aide is also truncated. Riza says her specialty is guns, because death doesn’t linger when you use them. Roy tells her, with what I feel is sympathy, that’s just a deception to make the work easier. She agrees, but because she’s decided that work is necessary, there we go.

…

I thought that would be my last thing, but now that I have volume fifteen open, I can’t help but go to the scene during the Envy stuff. I won’t touch the main scenes of that, though I’m sure there are changes, because this is already too long and I’ve officially gone through the things that personally affect my view of the anime, which… was, at some point, maybe, the point of the ask. ^^;

Basically, I will never stop if I go through everything, but in case it isn’t obvious, I really love the fifteenth volume, so to Envy we go.

Huh. They really didn’t alter much. The core’s all there. Because of the placement, Mustang gets docked a few lines, and he is rewarded one of Riza’s (about making the tattoo as illegible as possible) in return, but it’s basically the same, with the addition of Riza thanking him.

I have no particular feelings on that. The ending of the scene is different because it’s not intended to go with the rest of the Ishvalan War, and… I guess  I could manufacture some dislike over Riza expressing gratitude instead of the pure stubbornness the manga has. It distracts a little from why she’s asking those secrets to be burned off. They’re in a hell of their own creation. The soft thanks blurs the cutting edge.

Which isn’t to say I can’t have other problems with it.

As a manga reader who enjoyed Brotherhood as it was coming out, as well as someone who is writing this mostly from memory and going over only specific scenes, I have no way to ascertain how clear it is to anime fans what happens with Riza’s back and when. In the manga, it is excruciatingly clear that her father puts his research on her back, that is how Roy comes to have Flame Alchemy, and that is what Riza asks him to burn off.

Since that’s all in volume fifteen, the next twelve volumes are read with the understanding that before Riza is instructed to watch Roy’s back in case he falls, she offers him her back, and brings the ruin of Flame Alchemy to Ishval.

That history defines them. Their own choices plant them in that war, but Roy uses the alchemy she gives him out of hope for a better world to commit genocide. It’s a horrific weight on both of them, and his decision to have Riza, of all people, watch his back after the war?

Dude, it is such an amazing ship detail. Riza entrusts her back to Roy. He, in turn, entrusts his to her.

I get why it’s moved. Sort of. Given that volume fifteen is given one episode, I get why it’s moved. It’s most heavily relevant to Roy’s rampage against Envy.

However, I don’t think the power of knowing the depths of their connection earlier on can be understated. Roy and Riza’s devotion and synergy comes from watching their shared idealism burn the people they wanted to protect to a crisp, and their commitment to never letting that happen again. They create a hell through their good intentions. Having done that, they do not abandon their good intentions. They refine them and continue forward.

That is what binds them together. They rise from the ashes of their flames.

I do not, for the most part, think Brotherhood does them a major disservice. My gripes are pretty much all listed above, and my praises are endless.

But if you really love Roy and Riza, I’d seriously recommend reading the manga at some point, because there’s stuff the anime doesn’t bother with. AKA, yes, there is even more royai to be uncovered, don’t you want to seeeeee? :D :D

This kind of obviously grew past what you were initially asking, but I hope it serves a satisfactory answer regardless! Thanks for the opportunity to spam my love for these two!

…Through spamming my hate of stuff, but we’re ignoring that.

[traincat]

Hi! I sent you an ask about this some time ago but maybe Tumblr didnt deliver it? Anyway, i've started reading amazing spider-man but i'm kinda confused about the difference between all the spider-man comics coming out right now

Sorry, I did get it, but I was traveling last week, and I’m bad at being online while I’m traveling, and also I am getting a lot of asks right now. This isn’t meant to discourage anyone from sending me asks, but I am on a delay because I do have work and other assorted things that aren’t as fun as talking about Spider-Man to deal with, so right now it might take me a bit to answer any asks, depending on how easy they are to reply to. But in this case tumblr didn’t lose it and I do have your original ask here:

I haven't read comics in a while now because i was reading way too much to keep up but i've decided to start again because i really miss it lol i started reading amazing spider-man, but now i saw that there's also friendly neighborhood spider-man coming out and i have no idea what the difference is, help?

So Amazing Spider-Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are concurrent but separate series. Amazing Spider-Man is, currently and always, the main Peter Parker Spider-Man series. If you want to follow along with him and you’re only going to stay current with one book, Amazing is where you want to focus. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is more of a side series: it is introducing an Aunt May plot that, while I’m not thrilled about it and big content warning for those who need it for serious illness, will probably end up being important, but the main plot of the book re: Peter’s adventures probably won’t have any bearing on Amazing. They’re essentially parallel stories: they’re happening at the same time, but the main events right now aren’t intersecting, if that helps. 

If I’m being honest, and I might as well be since I already got called out today for being negative about current Spider-Man, I don’t think either of these current series are good. That doesn’t mean they’re not doing some things I like -- I’m over the moon that Amazing Spider-Man has reunited Peter and Mary Jane romantically in its current run, although I don’t see the point in doing it if they’re not going to put heavy focus onto it and onto moving the relationship forward and repairing the damage of One More Day, because at the moment it feels very like throwing a bone, ala “here’s your PeterMJ established relationship status, fans, now shut up.” I’m also really happy that Felicia’s been regranted her memories of Peter Parker following the Brand New Day status that effectively erased her memories of him unmasked, since nobody except MJ and May got screwed over so hard by Brand New Day as Felicia -- nor has anyone been abused so hard by the narrative, especially in Superior Spider-Man. So it’s not that I disagree with all the content. But I feel Peter’s voice is especially weak, and his characterization likewise. If there’s a story -- and this is not a theoretical example, this is real hard canon -- where Peter finds the partially eaten corpse of a child he has known for years, who he feels responsible for not saving, I don’t want to read a comic where he’s blithely having dinner with the father and murderer of said child, who has a clone of said child which the narrative is treating as the same person as the murdered child. Spider-Man specifically has a very distinct cloning narrative: clones are not the same person as the original. It doesn’t make them lesser, but it does make them distinct. And to see Amazing Spider-Man ignoring that -- and ignoring the consequences of a man murdering his child because he “wasn’t in control”, the most obvious abuse allegory of all time in a series that should rightfully condemn it -- really disturbs me. Friendly Neighborhood, on the other hand, I think is a very bland story so far (it’s only up to the third issue), and also some pretty not great Peter Parker writing, but it hasn’t done anything to actively offend me; I just don’t think it’s particularly well-written, and the layouts aren’t the most intuitive in the world on the art side.

I hope that helps! 

[rongasm]

I'll fully admit that I miss Stiles (re: this season being good/bad). However, I also don't like how they're under-utilizing Scott, basically anything about 2.0, the lack of Kira with Kira-related storylines, their continual problem of too many baddies in one season, and so many plot holes. I'm glad that Lydia is getting some serious screen time and a good arc (so far), but I wouldn't call this season "good" by any means. Perhaps it goes the same way- you like this season because you like Lydia?

While all of these things are totally true (except for the plot holes, I think the fandom makes assumptions about the mythology and then when something on screen refutes it they go ‘oooh PLOT HOLE’ but in actuality it never existed in canon in the first place) and I am completely livid about Scott and Kira (we talk about this on every Stydiacast episode this season, believe me, I’m there), I think it’s wrong to automatically call content not good just because you wish there was different content. 

Consider: 

Yep, let’s start with Lydia, cuz you brought her up. She has really cool mythology this season. 

All the characters, including but not limited to Lydia, are having depth added to them because of this storyline. We’re learning about Scott, Lydia, Sheriff, Mason, Liam. (Malia is the exception, she’s getting the shaft, but even so she’s had some strong scenes.) 

The pack friendships are LIT

The storylines with the adults have been wonderful and interesting

Love what’s happening with Argent and Melissa

Actually been enjoying every Natalie scene so far? Except for that one in episode 3 where Malia is taking a math test and Natalie is useless, but I blame Will for that. 

The sheriff’s story has been unfolding really carefully and naturally and interestingly, in my view. I always enjoy when he’s on screen. 

This story has everybody curious– like, the fandom is actively theorizing based on canon evidence, and unlike in s5, when we all knew that our predictions were never coming true, this season we’re getting hints and clues from the writers and directors to try to get us to see what’s going on. 

The banter has been really fun this season

Some great music choices that the fandom really loves

The episodes have been really aesthetic

Also each of them has felt like it’s own little unique type of story in its own way, which is cool. The tone of the season keeps changing, but in a way that’s really cohesive. 

Something significant and big unfolds in each episode. This was not always the case in season 4 and season 5. 

Scott, while he doesn’t have enough screen time, is a steady alpha who is truly the leader he deserves to be. Everybody in the pack looks up to him.

I actually really feel like, despite his lack of screen time, Scott is the best written character this season, in that he is a) interesting, and b) very true to himself and to his development

The central conflict puts something at stake that the audience deeply cares about (Stiles) which is a smart af move on the part of the writers. It keeps people watching because they really care what happens to him.

ALSO SCOTT AND LYDIA ARE IN AP BIO TOGETHER. 

The episodes keep bringing around cyclical themes which help the audience to theorize and understand what’s going on. 

Super digging the fashion this season, it’s fun. The hair and makeup has been great too. 

New pieces of mythology are being introduced not just for Lydia, but for Beacon Hills and the supernatural universe in general, and it’s pretty well fleshed out. No Dread Doctor syndrome. 

Yes, there are too many villains, but we’ve barely spent any time with the Nazi Wolf, making me think that he will possibly be a central villain for 6b and/or his plot line will tie so directly into that of the wild hunt, which means there’s still only two overarching conflicts, which, by the way, tie directly into each other. The nazi wolf ties into the wild hunt which ties into Stiles’ disappearance, which ties into Claudia being there which ties into the wild hunt. That’s not too complicated, if they do it right it will actually be tying the threads together. 

There’s been a better balance between 2.0 and the main pack. I think their dialogue is a bit better and it helps when Corey isn’t in the episodes, because three is cool but four makes it seem enormously imbalanced. I prefer two (and wish those two were just Mason and Liam.) 

Parrish hasn’t been in the season much. He’s not very relevant. 

This season has had some really funny moments. Not just 2.0, but also with Scott and Lydia and sometimes Malia. 

But, also, each of these characters has had incredibly gritty scenes 

Also, it’s obvious that a lot of care went into developing some of these episodes. 

Best of all, this season has so much heart. It is about friendships, love stories, familial relationships. Each of the characters is individually affected by this one central thing. Everybody is missing someone and just wants that person back. There is so much soul in this season that makes you think about how individual people touch each other’s lives. You are desperate on behalf of Scott, Lydia, and the sheriff. You really want them to stop feeling so much pain and find Stiles.  

The writers are really making you care about the characters. 

So no, I wouldn’t say that the only thing I’m enjoying this season is Lydia. There’s lots that i’m happy about. 

[meowsaidmayaanime]

What I'm Watching November as of 11/25

Servant x Service 11/25? (I think it was sometime around thanksgiving???)

This was a great show, yet another really awesome slice of life, and a semi-natural one too.

The show is about a Japanese girl named Lucy (abreviated) Yamagachi who joined the Welfare Administration Section of local government in order to find the person who accepted her crazy long and unreasonable name from her parents when she was born, and settle the score so to speak. She joins with two other newbies a girl named Saya Miyoshi and a very flirtatious man named Yutaka Hasebe. It then follows the work relationships between the characters as well as a little bit of what civil servants go through working at the office with disgruntled civilians.

I loved the main character and eventually came to adore the Hasabe, the other new recruit, even though I didn't like him that much at the beginning of the show. He turned out to be much nicer and more relate-able than I ever would have imagined, and quickly started rooting for him!

The show is absolutely hilarious, and something that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good laugh and even a little touch of romance~ It was absolutely adorable!

Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun 11/13

I really loved this anime. It follows the daily life of a high school girl, who after 'confessing' her feelings to a classmate finds out he is a shoujo manga-ka and ends up working for/with him on his manga.

It is absolutely hilarious. It has been so long since I have physically and audibly laughed multiple time each episode. It is just that funny without it feeling forced.

Whats also great is that it does not fall into conventional stereotypes within the romance and/or comedy genre. Many characters have roles that are typically assigned to the opposite gender, the obligatory valentines episodes in romances isn't even a valentines episode in itself really. they reflect upon it long after and has its own brand of comedy making fun of tropes. There is no fighting over a single character between the main cast and everyone is really just a normal good friend, and its wonderful being able to see that dynamic like it is in real life.

In all honesty I would compare it to Ouran High School Host club but without the harem, the flamboyance, and the super obvious in your face defiance when it comes to stereotypes. This one is more of a natural slice of life, a little more realistic in events and scenarios, as well as being more laid back.

If you want a laid back romance comedy that goes against stereotypes and will genuinely make you laugh, this is a must watch.

Shelter 11/11

This is incredibly sweet, I saw it on Crunchroll and it turned out to be a 6 minute almost music video about a young girl who controls her surroundings with a tablet, but it is not all that it seems. Any more information would completely spoil it. But the animation is beautiful, the voice actress for the girl is great, the song is good and the plot is very bittersweet.

It's only 6 minutes, and I would very much recommend you give it a shot. You've got nothing to lose!

Blood-C: TV Series and Movie 11/2

So in the spirit of Halloween and my rewatch of Blood the Last Vampire (which I would highly recommend), I decided to watch one of the many series' inspired by the movie. Blood C has one 12 episode series and one full feature movie, and it was disappointing. I liked the idea that the series had for the story, however I do not believe that they were able to properly act it out. In the series, Saya is otherwise a normal, bright eyed, happy go lucky girl, who lives in a shrine and attends high school. But at night she fights and kills monsters. and for the first three episodes she does the exact same thing with barely any difference.

The first episode starts with Saya waking up, doing her shrine maiden duties, going to a cafe to eat, singing a not so great song about how happy and great everything is, going to school, coming home and fighting monsters. The exact same thing happens for the next 3 or 4 episodes with no change to the plot of the episode. After that a few things do change, but the series just largely repeats itself. it is only at the last 3 episodes that they make real progression and things are not repeated. And let me tell you those last few episodes were great.

A few other things to mention, during the series Saya has flash backs that were very clearly and obviously taken from the original movie, including images of the monsters. However the monsters in this series are completely different in both appearance and action. Which I feel was a bad decision to tie the stories together as canon if not only the names of the creatures, but also their appearance and actions are completely different. Not to mention that the animation style is very different between the original and this series that it was jarring to see the original flashbacks.

Speaking of style, this series was made by clamp so not only does the art style appear very similar to XXX Holic, but it also includes Watanuki from the same show as a major player in forwarding the plot. Which was really neat to see, and very much like Clamp to try to tie in all of its shows together in the same general universe.

As a while, I do not think the anime was that good. It very much felt like they had taken the plot and story boards of a movie and decided last minute to turn it into a 12 episode TV series, but because they couldn't think of anything else to add to the story they just decided to repeat scenes and pretend that there is actual plot progression. The series really would have been much better if they had turned it into a movie or an OVA with 3 or 4 episodes.

Fast forwarding a little to the movie, it is completely different in both style and plot. It picks up about 6 months after the actions of the TV series' last episode. The movie was not that bad in plot but still has many many flaws. For one thing, the animation style flip flops between 3D CGI and hand drawn. Normally I'm alright with the usage of CGI when it makes sense and at least somewhat flows with the style of the hand drawn animation. However this one did not. Very often it would layer moving hand drawn animation and moving CGI very obviously in the same frame. Further the detail ans style of the CGI did not match the hand drawn detail and style either. Another jarring mismatch in the Blood C series as a while. Moving on, the meeting of the first main character and Saya was way too convenient, and did not match the facts that the movie gives later on. When Saya and the main cast first meet, the main cast has no idea who she is whatsoever. But later in the movie the main cast talks about how they have heard so much of her and were looking for her. So which is it?

I could go into further detail, because there is more about the movie and the TV series that I had problems with, but I still don't want to give spoiler in case anyone wants to watch it themselves. All in all, I don't recommend this series, I was very disappointed. If you want to know more about Saya aside from the original movie Blood: The Last Vampire, you should watch Blood+. It also has its issues and goes into a lull halfway through the series because it gets incredibly slow paced, but the story is well put together, the animation flows, and it fits significantly better with the original than Blood C does. But I would not recommend Blood C.