dairogo

[dairogo]

[dairogo]

If you see someone with a really bad fandom take, I’m begging you to open your emails and write a strongly worded missive to your local government official about something bad happening in your community or country.

If you’re in Canada you could email a rep about concerns about Elon musk interfering in our next federal election.

If you’re in the US the list is endless.

If you’re in the UK you could email about trans health care.

If you’re in Australia, what about dental care in Medicare?

If you’re in Europe, look into some EU initiatives of particular concern. Perhaps something to do with nature and biodiversity? Idk

Just today I emailed my local mla about coal mining in the Rocky Mountains and tomorrow I’m going to pick something else and do it again

[dairogo]

(Chapter 38)

He briefly wondered how many people he was wearing today, then threw that thought away.

Order 3066, chapter 3

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Crack Fullmetal Alchemist theory: Roy doesn't slick his hair back to look more formal but to remind himself of Maes Hughes

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narrator who's terrible at social cues & describes every facial expression as "unreadable"

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"casual" as an insult is really funny tbh. hey everybody this guy plays games for fun. they like to relax and have a good time

[dairogo]

I was thinking about how I have grown to value mandatory voting over a system that allows allegedly more freedom. Because in country, mandatory voting means I just have to send in a ballot. It can be empty or filled with the write in ballot "pickle farts" if I want.

If I go to the voting station all I have to do is get my name checked off. I don't have to vote if I don't want to.

But it means it is much more difficult for the government to try and suppress voters. Because voters have a legal obligation to go to the polls, so you can't restrict them or try tactics to dissuade them.

Voting polls are open long hours with access to food and water being a fairly standard staple. You don't need any form of ID, you have to be given time to go vote in work hours without penalty if you cannot do it after work hours.

Every now and then a politician tries some small way of voter suppression but it isn't as easy. And so I have learned to appreciate it.

But when I googled, out of curiosity, if the USA had ever had anything like that I was met with a barrage of websites talking about freedom and justice and the absolute liberty of Americans. I thought an eagle was going to bust out of the screen.

Going through some of these I noticed they were think tanks connected to billionaires, one of them was funded and created by the Koch brothers.

Gotta love how often the American "freedom" is actually used as a way to further deny actual freedoms, both linguistically and politically.

[dairogo]

Hey hey hey writers!!! Especially y'alls who are struggling to develop character or have white room/still character syndrome!!!

Look into Uta Hagen's acting techniques, specifically her 9 questions. I'm not kidding. She built off Stanislavski's techniques to help actors develop their characters and roles & bring that to the stage- specifically, and this is why I'm pushing Hagen specifically and not anyone else, their relationship with the set, props, other characters, setting (yes that's different from set), history and the play's plot, and how that changes how they act and speak. I have my textbook open I'll take some pictures.

If you need a transcript/image description I'll put it under the cut, they're a little blurry cause I'm bad at holding my phone... I know alt text is a thing but I don't want y'alls to have to scroll through a tiny box lmao.

[Image 1 alt text]

The lower part of a textbook page. The text reads:

Uta Hagen's acting exercises

[Out-of-transcript note: Most of these, with the exception of Three Entrances, are less useful in terms of writers, but you could make it work, especially for roleplay.]

Basic Object Exercise: Sometimes called "two minutes of daily life," this exercise requires the actor to replicate activities from their own daily routine in specific detail (think making breakfast or getting ready to go out). The goal of this exercise is to increase the actor's awareness of their un-observed behaviour.

Three Entrances: Starting offstage, the actor enters the environment of the scene. The actor's performance should answer three questions: What did I just do? What am I going to do? What is the first thing I want?

Immediacy: Hagen asked actors to search for a small object that they need. You can perform the exercise on a set or in your home. As you search, you should observe the behaviour and thoughts that arise as you authentically try to find something. The objective is to identify the thoughts, behaviours, and sensations you experience when you genuinely don't know the outcome, so you can use them on stage.

Fourth Side: This exercise starts with a phone call to a person you know. You should call them with a specific objective in mind. During the convention, Hagen wants you to focus on your surroundings and the specific objects that your eyes rest on. The purpose is to help actors observe how they interact with all dimensions of an enclosed physical space so they can recreate privacy on stage.

Endowment: this exercise is designed to help actors apply their observed behaviours to endow props with qualities that they cannot safely have on stage. Hot irons and sharp knives are typical examples. The Endowment excercise asks actors to believably treat objects on stage as though they have the qualities the actor needs in a scene.

Uta Hagen's exercises are her greatest gift to actors working today. She developed them between Broadway jobs to solve some acting problems she had never seen anyone tackle to her satisfaction. The result is that Hagen's exercises give actors a way to observe human behaviours and catalogue it so they can recall it onstage when useful in a role.

[Image 1 alt text end]

[Image 2 alt text]

Most of a textbook page. The image cuts off about 3 quarters of the way down the page. The text reads:

Uta Hagen's 9 Questions

Who am I? This question's answer includes all relevant details from name and age to physical traits, education, and beliefs.

What time is it? Depending on the scene, the most relevant measure of time can be the era, the season, the day, or even the specific minute.

Where am I? This answer covers the country, town, neighbourhood, room, or even the specific part of the room.

What surrounds me? Characters can be surrounded by anything from weather to furnishings, landscape or people.

What are the given circumstances? Given circumstances include what has happened, what is happening and what will happen to a character.

What are my relationships? Relationships can be with the other characters in the play, inanimate objects, or even recent events.

What do I want? Wants can be what the character desires in the moment, or in the overall course of the play. [Out-of-transcript note: I recommend figuring out both for writing, the former multiple times for whenever it changes! Outside of Hagen's technique, we call it objective and superobjective.]

What is in my way? This is the actor's chance to understand the obstacles the character must react to and overcome.

What do I do to get what I want? In Hagen's teaching, "do" means physical action.

Uta Hagen's nine questions help actors develop the granular details of their character's backstory. The questions come from Hagen's first book, "Respect for Acting," though in her later book, "A Challenge for the Actor," she condensed her original nine questions into six steps.

Uta Hagen's revised six steps to building a character are:

Who am I?

What are the circumstances?

What are my relationships?

What do I want?

What is my obstacle?

What do I do to get what I want?

Later in her life, Hagen distances herself from her first book and encouraged her students to rely on her second book, which she felt was clearer about her concepts. Both books are popular with acting teachers and students today, however. Hagen's questions and steps are the foundation for all of her acting exercises. Whether you rely on the nine questions or the six steps depends on personal preference.

[Image 2 alt text end]

Personally I like the 9 questions more, but like the book says, personal preference! So yeah, if you're a writer, try some of these out for your characters. :]

[dairogo]

(Chapter 38 still)

Smarter people than I have gone into Roy's alchemy, but look, here it is: Roy transmuting hydrogen from water, using the alchemical circle on his gloves.

[dairogo]

It is your sworn duty, when you're in your 30's, to do something every day that would have gotten you viciously bullied in high school.

[dairogo]

Zoom In, Don’t Glaze Over: How to Describe Appearance Without Losing the Plot

You’ve met her before. The girl with “flowing ebony hair,” “emerald eyes,” and “lips like rose petals.” Or him, with “chiseled jawlines,” “stormy gray eyes,” and “shoulders like a Greek statue.”

We don’t know them.

We’ve just met their tropes.

Describing physical appearance is one of the trickiest — and most overdone — parts of character writing. It’s tempting to reach for shorthand: hair color, eye color, maybe a quick body scan. But if we want a reader to see someone — to feel the charge in the air when they enter a room — we need to stop writing mannequins and start writing people.

So let’s get granular. Here’s how to write physical appearance in a way that’s textured, meaningful, and deeply character-driven.

1. Hair: It’s About Story, Texture, and Care

Hair says a lot — not just about genetics, but about choices. Does your character tame it? Let it run wild? Is it dyed, greying, braided, buzzed, or piled on top of her head in a hurry?

Good hair description considers:

Texture (fine, coiled, wiry, limp, soft)

Context (windblown, sweat-damp, scorched by bleach)

Emotion (does she twist it when nervous? Is he ashamed of losing it?)

Flat: “Her long brown hair framed her face.”

Better: “Her ponytail was too tight, the kind that whispered of control issues and caffeine-fueled 4 a.m. library shifts.”

You don’t need to romanticise it. You need to make it feel real.

2. Eyes: Less Color, More Connection

We get it: her eyes are violet. Cool. But that doesn’t tell us much.

Instead of focusing solely on eye color, think about:

What the eyes do (do they dart, linger, harden?)

What others feel under them (seen, judged, safe?)

The surrounding features (dark circles, crow’s feet, smudged mascara)

Flat: “His piercing blue eyes locked on hers.”

Better: “His gaze was the kind that looked through you — like it had already weighed your worth and moved on.”

You’re not describing a passport photo. You’re describing what it feels like to be seen by them.

3. Facial Features: Use Contrast and Texture

Faces are not symmetrical ovals with random features. They’re full of tension, softness, age, emotion, and life.

Things to look for:

Asymmetry and character (a crooked nose, a scar)

Expression patterns (smiling without the eyes, habitual frowns)

Evidence of lifestyle (laugh lines, sun spots, stress acne)

Flat: “She had a delicate face.”

Better: “There was something unfinished about her face — as if her cheekbones hadn’t quite agreed on where to settle, and her mouth always seemed on the verge of disagreement.”

Let the face be a map of experience.

4. Bodies: Movement > Measurement

Forget dress sizes and six packs. Think about how bodies occupy space. How do they move? What are they hiding or showing? How do they wear their clothes — or how do the clothes wear them?

Ask:

What do others notice first? (a presence, a posture, a sound?)

How does their body express emotion? (do they go rigid, fold inwards, puff up?)

Flat: “He was tall and muscular.”

Better: “He had the kind of height that made ceilings nervous — but he moved like he was trying not to take up too much space.”

Describing someone’s body isn’t about cataloguing. It’s about showing how they exist in the world.

5. Let Emotion Tint the Lens

Who’s doing the describing? A lover? An enemy? A tired narrator? The emotional lens will shape what’s noticed and how it’s described.

In love: The chipped tooth becomes charming.

In rivalry: The smirk becomes smug.

In mourning: The face becomes blurred with memory.

Same person. Different lens. Different description.

6. Specificity is Your Superpower

Generic description = generic character. One well-chosen detail creates intimacy. Let us feel the scratch of their scarf, the clink of her earrings, the smudge of ink on their fingertips.

Examples:

“He had a habit of adjusting his collar when he lied — always clockwise, always twice.”

“Her nail polish was always chipped, but never accidentally.”

Make the reader feel like they’re the only one close enough to notice.

Describing appearance isn’t just about what your character looks like. It’s about what their appearance says — about how they move through the world, how others see them, and how they see themselves.

Zoom in on the details that matter. Skip the clichés. Let each description carry weight, story, and emotion. Because you’re not building paper dolls. You’re building people.

[dairogo]

oh and when i was a year old, after i got my foot amputated my parents were pushing me around in a stroller at a street festival in miami and i was chewing on my foot or whatever and this street performer came up to us and was like “aw i bet that tastes good!!” and my dad was like “yeah look at what she did to the other one!!!!” and pulled back the blanket covering my left leg to show a stump with a huge scar on it and i’m pretty sure my dad terrified that poor man

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life gets a lot more bearable once u realize that a lot of shit only affects you if you choose to be affected by it. applies to a lot of stuff but internet discourse is a good example for a tumblr post. if you weren't voluntarily pissing yourself off, would it be affecting you in your day to day life? no? is it making your life better? probably not. you can choose to just not care and be a happier person. harness the power of being an idgafer

[dairogo]

(Chapter 38)

Sopping wet Roy Mustang - lookit him

[dairogo]

(From Chapter 38)

????

Solaris - from Latin: of, or pertaining to, the sun/solar

Father's Lust isn't about that va-va-voom sexual thing, but about his reach towards the sun and immortality. His lust for life, so to speak. Not a love for it, for what he has, but a salivating, overcoming desire for more of it.

So Roy thinking it's as simple as 'lust' is entirely missing Father's agonising desire.

It's not her real name.

[dairogo]

Fandom | Rating | Length: Fullmetal Alchemist | T | 1,318

read here

Summary:

Roy and Hawkeye are on an island retreat for their undercover work, so they have to go to the beach SOMETIME. (Suffering ensues.)

Snippet:

Coming to an uncomfortable realization about his own affections while in the throes of planning the most important job of his entire life was — inconvenient, to say the least. Not to mention ethically dubious, considering that he employed Hawkeye, and this job involved them going undercover as an engaged couple. The lines were hopelessly blurred.  But blurred lines weren’t enough to keep him from feeling like a lecherous creep whenever he found his gaze trying to move to Hawkeye in her billowy linen cover-up. He wasn’t a nasty lecherous creep, Roy reminded himself for the tenth time in as many minutes, moving his eyes firmly back to the ocean. The fact that he had to keep reminding himself of that fact was not very reassuring, but he tried not to think about that.

[dairogo]

So, in FMA there are five military laboratories, right? The first we hear about them is in mention of Brigadier General Grand, who is in charge of research and has been recently killed by Scar.

I spent a while wondering if the research in the labs was all alchemical, or if there was more than that - I mean, militaries have a lot to research even without taking alchemy into consideration. They're bound to have engineering and chemical departments, surely? And although the fifth laboratory is where the Philosopher's Stone was made, was it the first place? Was it the only place? The torture and experiments in Ishval during the civil war could be extended back to the main labs, too. If they don't shy away from the Philosopher's Stone this far into the centre of the country, I can't see why they wouldn't shy away from the other tortures and abuses.

Anyway. I wanted to see what went on in the labs, and a fic I've already made an alternative decision on would have required non-alchemical experiments in order for the Lab option I was considering to work.

(The following pics are all from Chapter 38 unless noted otherwise.)

The exterior of Lab 3 / the third facility / third laboratory (whatever you want to settle on) looks well maintained. Lots of windows, as compared to Lab 5. More of a modern office look than a dungeon. The difference could be because Lab 5 was built next to the prison specifically for nefarious purposes, so they limited the chance of outsiders seeing what was occurring inside 5 ("Don't worry, citizens! We have fewer windows in order to keep security tight while in a riskier part of town!"), while this one is meant to be the best and brightest - the primary research labs all stuck in one building.

We can see beakers and bottles full of liquids. People in lab coats who are clearly academics, not soldiers. Are they even part of the military? No! They're not wearing uniforms, and even the non-combat personnel are required to.

(See Scieszka as an example, who is dragged into a job but doesn't appear to have the extended training period a recruit would go through - non-combat, but uniformed.)

Boxes and papers and signs and folders, inboxes, corkboards etc.

As far as detail and equipment, there's very little on show in this hallway (fair enough), but the liquid in those bottles indicates a chemical purpose (al-, or not). They could be the materials for a transmutation, or for a process a transmutation is going to interrupt or restore - or they're the product of an experiment.

Science is happening here. We have the white coats to prove it.

Now imagine working in a building and having That Staircase that we just don't go down anymore. It's a bit gross and worn down there, and there's a chain-link fence inside with a monging huge padlock around this massive chain ... but the fence itself is still just tough wire and you can see through it.

How many scientists dared each other to go look through the fence and see if you can make out the ghosts of experiments that were done down there? Down. Underground, in labs that have been locked up and abandoned. Not like our lovely modern labs upstairs where everything is fine.

Why was there a fence like this?

To keep something in, of course.

Central did human transmutation to make the Philosopher's Stone, but that's not the only human experimentation they've done. They did so much more in Ishval. Roy did so much more.

Maybe it was animals. Scientists making the animal chimeras that live in the sewers protecting Father's hideout.

But this was probably where they made their human chimeras. Greed's gang. The military's super soldiers who couldn't stand it and joined Greed in the schism.

And the one-eyed dolls.

It's been absolutely trashed in here. There are internal windows that look like the barred windows of a jail cell, and the door is barred and still broken. Rust has done its damage, sure, but age and lack of care isn't what threw everything over the ground.

More scientific experiment equipment. And in that last panel, can you see it? The belt restraints hanging off the table that Roy is side-eyeing? He knows. He's familiar.

The stain on the floor could be anything, with this many years of dust and decay on top of the mess, but it seems ominous. A blood stain, maybe. There's a small container (or lid?) at the edge of one part, that could have spilled it all out.

The shape looks like a small animal, legs splayed. Four outstretched to the sides, a head at the bottom of the panel, and a tail pointed towards the top.

As the scene goes on and Lust enters, we see the room from other angles - more of the same. After Roy blows things up it's hard to see any more detail, but I am in love with how much clutter Arakawa adds to the scene.

She goes so hard on making sure she fills backgrounds well, and it all adds to so much more of the story.

And then of course further around the corridors there's this giant room, pipes through the ceiling etc to our wonderful alchemical mural.

(This one pic is from Chapter 39! Ignore the lurker - he just wanted to be in the picture.)

Behind that door is a sleeping army of created humans, soon to be filled with the souls of animals and people.

Just to sum up Lab 3:

Upstairs is standard, modern, great - except for that foreboding staircase and the chainlink fence Terence always eats his lunch next to, daring the new workers to put their arms through and see if the ghosts of alchemy past will tear them through like a meat grinder or bless their scientific endeavours.

Downstairs, through the hole Barry ripped in the fence, we can get to the old experiments. On humans? Maybe. On animals? Looks like it.

(Here is where I went into a diversion about the souls of animals being stored for the white dolls, before @novelmonger reminded me the dolls talk and they're probably humans. Who knows if animal souls can be stored? There doesn't seem to be any long-term swapping around of them. Probably, like the soul put into Barry's body, which Barry refers to as another guy (person), human souls simply deteriorated to the point of incoherence before being put in the dolls. A worse storage method than Hohenheim's Stone, where his personal care has retained the individuals and their sense of self.)

There are small labs and then there's this giant space, massive and ominous in a performative kind of way. That space doesn't belong in a lab. It's made for showing off. Just like the room in Lab 5 where the Philosopher's Stones were made, with pillars and high ceilings, and a massive array on the floor. This room in Lab 3 has the alchemical research printed there. A manifesto of sorts, with the sun and the moon together beaming in towards the centre.

Father sure likes to show off.

So, to answer my initial question: Do the labs do research other than alchemy, too?

Probably! Those beakers upstairs looked pretty cool! Thanks for asking, me - I hope you enjoyed this deep dive to find out about the cool chemical things that must be happening upstairs!