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kirbyskisses · 1 year

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kirby’s kinktober (twenty-three)

body worship//edward elric

I left it ambiguous as to whether or not this takes place in brotherhood or 2003. I prefer 2003 personally but each version of this boy deserves love.

you know that years of disability and scars, both emotional and physical have left edward always feeling pained and burdensome.

it shows whenever you’re intimate and you’re determined to help him manage it, with warmth and loving support expressed through feather-light, carnal touches.

he always seems to shiver when you kiss his body. he squeezes his eyes and scrunches his blushing face when you lips and fingertips graze the browned, scarred skin of where his metal arm the remains of his human shoulders and chest.

“edward,” your calm voice chimes as you crawl on top of his laying figure. he sighs out when you touch his face, exhaling a breath he didn’t even notice he was holding. “relax.”

your voice has equal parts adoration and concern as he unclenches his jaw and lets his tense muscles loosen.

“s-sorry. i just,” he trails off. unless his eyes are in planted firmly in an alchemy book, edward’s mind always rushes with anxieties, equations trying to match all his wrongdoings and traumas together like a messy, winding puzzle. at the moment, he worries that it’s killing the mood but he just can’t word it.

but it’s okay. you understand. you put your hand on his cheek and from above him like this, the light of the orange sunset leaking through open curtains onto the curves of your silhouette - it’s like he’s making love to an angel.

every thrust up reminds him how warm you are, inside as your soaking walls clench his length but also in your voice.

he gives a throaty moan as you push back his golden hair to kiss his ear.

“you’re so beautiful, edward.”

“baby…” he mewls your name when you sink down onto him and suddenly he can’t focus on anything except your compliments.

“I mean it.” your hands brush his sculpted abs and chest. “I love all the work you’ve put into your body. I love how you persevere.”

even if he can’t feel the warmth he can tell you’re touching the cold metal of his leg and gasps sharply when you reach the stump of where it meets his human flesh.

“so much pain.” you coo, rolling your hips so slow he can’t help but buck his hips up to signal for a faster pace, which you happily oblige.

you kiss and nip at his neck as your soft body molds against his. every time he wonders if his body is deserving of yours, with its multitude of all the old stab wounds and blunt hits - maybe you’d prefer something smooth and soft.

ever since alphonse had recovered his body, he’s been soft and warm without a trace of old wounds cuts. should edward be jealous? wouldn’t you prefer something like that?

“i love you edward.” you whisper as if reading his thoughts and tears prick at his eyes. he doesn’t wipe them because your hands interlock with his and the gesture alone brings close him to orgasm.

“i love feeling you inside me. it’s so hard and warm. i love every bit of your skin, and your hair and those fiery golden eyes.”

his mind wants to reject it.

“i love you, ed.”

no.

“i love you.”

don’t.

“i want you to feel it.” your chest rubs against his, voice airy and close to breaking from the wet pleasure below. “do you feel how much i love you?”

he does and he knows he doesn’t deserve it. but he chokes up and spasms as his hips give a stuttered jump pulling out and creaming onto his toned stomach with a shaky sob of a breath.

“i-i’m sorry.” he shakes his head. “it was early, it’s pathetic i know you just…”

“no, no.” you cup his face and kiss him with a warmth that always melts the icy, metal barrier that years of hurt have put around his heart.

“did your body feel good?”

“y-yeah.” he swallows.

“then that’s all that matter.”

you cradle his head into your neck like a baby and edward finally lets himself feel, breaking down. finally out of his own head, he doesn’t care if it’s embarrassing, he just cares that you’re here.

and you always will be.

#smut #fluff #kirby’s kinktober #edward elric #edward elric x reader #fma #fmab #fma 03 #fma 2003 #fma brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist #Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #October

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shiftycryptid · 4 months

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Thinking about Dungeon Meshi, Mob Psycho 100, and Autism coding.

Light spoilers for Dungeon Meshi, but nothing too crazy or in-depth.

Disclaimer: I have never been diagnosed with autism and I while I don’t personally believe I have it, I’ve found that a lot of my own neurodivergent traits – both from having ADHD and from being socially isolated for a solid chunk of my formative years – overlap with autistic people. I’m not claiming to be an expert on the subject or anything, so if I make a mistake, please let me know.

Been keeping up with the Dungeon Meshi anime after having binged most of the manga around this time last year and then following along till the end. I personally had a great time with it, and while the ending felt a little rushed, it was otherwise satisfying. I think its really cool that the Touden siblings (and especially Laios) are so heavily autistic coded, yeah?

Dunmeshi is in a similar camp as Mob Psycho 100 in the camp of being really good anime/manga with main characters who are all but outright stated to be autistic, and their autistic character traits being significant enough to meaningfully impact the course of their stories, you know? There’s actually a lot of similarities between the sibling dynamics of Mob/Ritsu and Laios/Falin (platonically, obvs) now that I think about it. Both stories are centered around the socially inept older sibling, and while the stories differ in the details, their bond is strong, but complex and nuanced.

(I love you Edward and Alphonse Elric my beautiful perfect baby boys, but peak aughts shonen is still aughts shonen, and best leaving most of its character and relationship exploration to extrapolation amongst gays on the internet a decade later.)

If we want to go even deeper, we can talk about how one of the siblings has been supernaturally gifted from a young age, the ways in which that might alter the course of their lives and relationships, how that intersects with their autistic traits, and the back and forth action-reaction-etc. that would happen as these characters interact with each other and the world around them. Again, the details differ, because they are, at the end of the day, very different stories. Mob and Ritsu’s dynamic is shaped by the inherent volatility of adolesence, while Laios and Falin are young adults, both fully capable of living independently, but who choose to stay by each other’s side anyway.

In conclusion:

#dungeon meshi #laius touden #falin touden #mob psycho 100 #shigeo kageyama #ritsu kageyama #long post

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gardenofkore · 1 year

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Et quia solum Guilielmum Capuanorum Principem habebat superstitem, veritus ne eumdem conditione humanae fragilitatis amitteret, Sibiliam sororem Ducis Burgundiae duxit uxorem, quae non multo post Salerni mortua est, et apud Caveam est sepulta. Tertio Beatricem filiam Comitis de Reteste in uxoris accepit, de qua filiam habuit, quem Constantiam appellavit.

Chronicon Romualdi II, archiepiscopi Salernitani, p. 16

Beatrice was born around 1135 in the county of Rethel (northern France) from Gunther (also know as Ithier) de Vitry, earl of Rethel, and Beatrice of Namur.

On her mother’s side, Beatrice descended from Charlemagne (through his son, Louis the Pious), while on the paternal side she was a grandniece of Baldwin II King of Jerusalem (her paternal grandmother Matilda, titular Countess of Rethel, was the King’s younger sister). The Counts of Rethel were also vassals of the powerful House of Champagne, known for its successful marriage politics (Count Theobald IV of Blois-Champagne’s daughter, Isabelle, would marry in 1143 Duke Roger III of Apulia, eldest son of King Roger II of Sicily).

In 1151, Beatrice married this same Roger. The King of Sicily was at his third marriage at this point. His first wife had been Elvira, daughter of King Alfonso VI the Brave of León and Castile and of Galicia, who bore him six children (five sons and one daughter). However, when four of his sons (Roger, Tancred, Alphonse and the youngest, Henry) died before him, leaving only William as his heir, Roger II must have feared for his succession. In 1149, the King then married Sibylla, daughter of Duke Hugh II of Burgundy. She bore him a son, Henry (named after his late older brother), and two years later died of childbirth complications giving birth to a stillborn son. As this second Henry died young too, Roger thought about marrying for a third (and hopefully last) time.

It is possible that Roger’s choice of his third wife had been influenced by the future bride’s family ties with the Crusader royalties as Beatrice was related with both Queen Melisende of Jerusalem and the Queen’s niece Constance of Hauteville, ruling Princess of Antioch. Constance was also a first cousin once removed of Roger, who had (unsuccessfully) tried to snatch the Antiochian principality from her when her father Bohemond II was killed in battle 1130, leaving his two years old daughter as heir.

Beatrice bore Roger only a daughter, Constance, who was born in Palermo on November 2nd 1154. This baby girl (who would one day become Queen of Sicily) never knew her father as he died on February 26th.

Nothing certain is known about her widowed life, although we can suppose she took care of her only daughter. Beatrice died in Palermo on March 30th 1185, living enough to see Constance being betrothed to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa’s son, Henry.

The body of the Dowager Queen was laid to rest in the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, together with her predecessor, Elvira, and her step-children, Henry, Tancred, Alphonse and Roger. Through her daughter, Beatrice would become Emperor Frederick II’s grandmother.

Sources

Cronica di Romualdo Guarna, arcivescovo Salernitano Chronicon Romualdi II, archiepiscopi Salernitani Versione di G. del Re, con note e dilucidazione dello stesso

Garofalo Luigi, Tabularium regiae ac imperialis capellae collegiatae divi Petri in regio panormitano palatio Ferdinandi 2. regni Utriusque Siciliae regis

Hayes Dawn Marie, Roger II of Sicily. Family, Faith, and Empire in the Medieval Mediterranean World

Houben Hubert, Roger II Of Sicily: A Ruler Between East And West

SICILY/NAPLES: COUNTS & KINGS

Walter Ingeborg, BEATRICE di Rethel, regina di Sicilia, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 7

#historicwomendaily #women #history #women in history #historical women #House of Hauteville #Roger II of Sicily #Beatrice of Rethel #norman swabian sicily #costanza i #people of sicily #women of sicily #myedit #historyedit

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depressoexpresso-anon · 2 years

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Ok, here is my breakdown and my thoughts on the ending of Bittersweet Chapter 3.

First off, I wanted to say thanks to Yuuri for blessing us with Bittersweet and this amazing fucking story, as well as the start of Shattered, which I presume, is the start of Auron's story.

This isn't important, but I enjoy that Al's fancy is take-out pasta (fr same). Also, his happy little face thing about it got me like 😊😊😊

Then the conversation between SugerBoo and Al and the trust he has for them is just gold, but it's a tad reckless.

Cause if I was in Al's shoes, I would bring up the gun and talk about the choice they were going to make, if it was a good idea, and what consequences might have followed with their actions.

This also leads to the idea that Al may have possibly known about the gun before the listener left to meet up with Jesse. And what we knew from previous episodes, the choice that they made may have left them going to jail, a possible run-in with Auron, or probably dead.

Also, the reassurance that Al made about being 'pure' is a very nice touch to tie it up. It also leaves me thinking, if Al would do the same speech if the listener did kill Derek. Tbh idk.

Also, the shared dream thing that the trio had. 👀👀👀

I know it's not the same but it's pretty fucking close in my book.

THEN WE GET BLESSED WITH BABY SETH!

I literally lost it when I saw this cause he is so tiny and his hair is basically Crypted Hunter Seth's hair.

If you look at past Jesse and current Seth, he really does look like her.

This shot made me happy (even though it's not happy). Cause for me when I get invested in characters, I wanna know every little detail about that character. So seeing Al's baby picture and a flashback to when Seth was younger made me go 'OOOOOH SHIT!'.

Then this scene is just a chef's kiss honestly.

Cause we get to see Seth finally confront Jesse about all the shit she has done.

And I know he confronted her before in episode 5, but that was with current events. This time it's about his past and all the hurt he felt with her being away.

You can even see on Jesse's face that she is finally realized her mistakes as a mom and is probably feeling so much guilt for putting her son in pain.

SHE IS ALSO CRYING TOO!

Even though this part was short it's what they both needed.

Seth needed to tell his true feelings about his mother and what he felt during the years she was gone. While Jesse needs to face the truth and accept that she had hurt her son, and possibly nothing she can do will ever fully fix her bond with her son.

Then after expressing his emotions he goes from this.

To this

I feel like Seth from Chapter One would just beat the shit out of that wall till his hands were fucked up.

But he didn't.

He realized that he was angry and frustrated and just let it all go.

That is growth.

Cause in the very beginning Al mentioned that Seth grew more angry and bitter when his mother cut ties with him.

So his time by himself and the time with the listener and Alphonse, really helped him with his anger and frustration towards his family and the world.

He's learning to let go of anger and just move on with peace.

Jackie's art = good shit. PERIOD!

Also its urger time.

When Al called Seth a little bitch and was teasing him fr filled me with serotonin.

THEN THIS FUCKER IS JUST!!!

YUMMY

I fr am feral for this man rn. I still need to get to know Auron more to fuck with him. BUT! I am a little slutty whore baby for people who dress nice and do crime.

Like he looks like a mob boss in the 50's and I am LIVING FOR IT DARLING!

Also, the bruises on both of his hands fucking mean that he went ham on Derek.

He probably tortured him as well.

I can just imagine him beating the shit out of Derek behind closed doors and having all of the grunts listen to Derek's screams and begs him to stop.

And when he's finally done and comes out of the office, he gives them all a look of 'do not cross me.', before pouring his own or having someone pour him a drink.

Ok, Tumblr won't let me do more than 10 pictures so ima do part 2.

#yuurivoice #can we start calling listener SugarBoo please #it sounds so cute #yuurivoice bittersweet #bittersweet #yuurivoice theory

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imagines--galore · 10 months

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||The Ties That Bind|| Prologue

Summary: He taught her its better to live through a day then fight through it. She taught him to hold on to hope and believed in him when he felt hollow and empty. Just like his armor. Law of Equivalent Exchange. They both exchanged something of equal value. Yet neither of them realized that what they had given the other was something one could never put a price on.

Pairing: Alphonse Elric x Willow Hawkeye(OC)

Rating || Genres || Warnings: T. Romance. Adventure. Family.

A/N: I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for so long that I thought I should finally post it so here it is I guess.

This was certainly not how Berthold Hawkeye had envisioned meeting his niece for the first time. Truth be told, he had never brought himself around to envision it seeing as his sister, Felicity, was not on speaking terms with him.

Not after the death of her best friend and the mother of his daughter, Victoria.

Felicity Hawkeye and Victoria Berkley had been inseparable since the day they met. Through thick and thin they held on to one another. And with the amount of times Victoria would come over to their house, and the times Berthold would be forced to walk her home with his sister after dark, it didn't come as a surprise when he started to fall in love with the golden haired girl. Victoria too had begun to develop a certain affection for the secluded young boy who, despite his cold and rude exterior, would dote on his younger sister and show kindness in the most surprising of ways especially when he would use Alchemy to help the townspeople.

It took quite a long time for them to admit their feelings for one another, and it took a huge amount of effort from Felicity who had recognized the feelings well before either of them had and had made it her mission to bring them together. When asked why she would go to such lengths she had simply shrugged and replied, they make each other happy.

And they had been. Victoria had changed him for the better and she had loved him before that change. When they were blessed with a little baby girl, with hair as bright as sunshine, Berthold couldn't believe how lucky he was.

But then a dark cloud overshadowed their happiness. And it all began with Victoria fainting in the middle of the day for no reason.

The doctors tried everything they could. But the sickness spread, till one day, with a peaceful smile on her face Victoria Hawkeye died with her husband, daughter and best friend at her side.

The man sighed as the sadness and ache of losing his beloved wife settled into his heart. Nearly ten years had passed, yet he still missed her. Grieved for her. Every single day. It was that grief that made him throw himself into his research for Flame Alchemy. It distracted him from the emptiness that was inside him. Made him forget about everything and everyone else. His sister had left a week after Victoria was buried. And then it had been just him and Riza.

A daughter he hardly paid any attention to.

Why?

Because looking at her, he was reminded of the wife that had left him.

Left them.

And his heart couldn't take it.

So when he received the news that his sister and husband had died in an Ishvalan attack, leaving behind a daughter who was barely a few months old, he had decided to take her in his home. Perhaps Riza would not be so lonely with a little sister to play with. Sure his apprentice was living with them, but the man doubted the boy had anything better to do other than to study.

Besides, the Master had told his Apprentice the day he started that there was to be minimum interaction between him and his daughter.

Little did he know the seeds of friendship had already been sown between the two lonely children.

Berthold glanced down at the birth certificate, barely glancing at the name before shifting his gaze on the date of birth. 12th February 1901. Only three months old then. How young to have lost both parents in a single night.

"Riza, please see me in my study."

The fourteen year old nearly dropped the cup she had been washing, her eyes wide as she turned to glance at her father. But he had already disappeared and judging by the slam that followed, he had gone into his study.

Something was wrong.

Her father almost never asked her to see her in his study. The last time that had happened was when he had decided to take on Roy Mustang as his apprentice. Quickly drying her hands the girl walked out of the kitchen and down the corridor, pausing when she saw Roy standing outside the door as well. He cast her a confused look as she joined him, to which she only shrugged. Roy knocked lightly.

"Enter."

The door squeaked as it was pushed open by the sixteen year old boy. Roy paused at the threshold to let Riza walk through first. The girl gave him a small smile before entering the study, Roy closing the door after him.

Her father was standing with his back to them, looking out of the only window in the room. There was nothing out of the ordinary in his study though. The books were in haphazard piles, papers were trailing off various tables with alchemy circles and scribbles drawn in various sizes. The only thing out of place was a basket sitting on top of his desk.

"It would seem that we will be having a new person joining us." He spoke, still looking out of the window.

Roy glanced at Riza, their confused expressions mirrored one another. There was a beat of silence, before it was broken by a soft cooing sound coming from the desk, along with a chubby hand being waved from within the confines of the basket.

A baby!

Without a second thought Riza strode forward pulling the basket towards her to peer inside. Sure enough a baby lay swaddled in blankets of a pale pink, indicating to her gender. The baby stared up quizzically at the new face, just as Riza stared back.

"She is your cousin. Daughter of your Aunt Felicity. My sister." The man explained, the heaviness of his tone making his daughter glance up at him.

"Her parents died in an Ishvalan attack. And I adopted her out of the duty I have to my sister." The man explained. Roy kept his distance, watching everything carefully. This was a family matter and he would not interfere. Another beat of silence.

"Whats her name?" Riza spoke softly, her eyes training back to the baby who was still looking at her. With a jolt Riza realized why her eyes looked so familiar. They were the exact color and shape of her own eyes. The tuft of light brown hair was unlike her own blonde locks, but there was no mistaking those eyes.

"Willow Hawkeye." The man responded, now turning around to watch his daughter and niece meet for the first time.

Tentatively Riza reached out to the small hand that was reaching for her, small coos echoing in the otherwise silent room. Tiny fingers grasped her own, the grip firm. The baby girl seemed to find this amusing because she gave Riza a gummy smile.

"Willow." The girl whispered, carefully lifting the baby out of the basket and after a second of fumbling was holding her in the crook of her arm, supporting her head and keeping a firm grip on her small body. Instantly the baby snuggled closer, seeking out the warmth her body provided.

"She is family Riza. And since I have taken an apprentice to teach, it will be up to you to care for her." Perhaps they would be able to form a bond strong enough to withstand anything. There may be a big age gap between them, but with the way they seem to have taken to each other, the old Alchemist knew these two would stand by one another through thick and thin.

The young blonde nodded. "Yes, Father." With that, she placed Willow back into the basket, and carefully picking it up in both arms walked out of the room.

"Roy!" The man barked, sensing his apprentice was about to follow after his daughter. The young by winced at his tone.

"Yes Master?" The respect was ever present in his tone as he turned to the man.

"See that you don't let helping my daughter with my niece get in the way of your studies."

Roy stared, eyes wide. How had he known….

"Leave."

The young boy did not need to be told twice. With a backwards glance he was out of the study, the door closing behind him. Without a second thought he raced off to find Riza and the newest member of the Hawkeye family.

Little Willow Hawkeye.

#fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #fmab #alphonse elric x reader #alphonse x reader #alphonse elric #alphonse #edward elric #alphonse x oc #alphonse elric x oc

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fixomnia-scribble · 1 year

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WHOO!

I get to teach Forensic Sciences again next semester! With a prof I really like and have previously TA’ed for! It’s a super fun course - Intro to Criminalistics - so it’s a little bit of everything. Prints, bones, blood, DNA, drugs, mapping, and more. She’s also researching Forensic Anth, so we can dork out about bones.

AND I’m teaching Crim Theory, too, which is a designated writing-intensive course. I have not worked with the prof for this course, but I hear she’s awesome. Not only do I get to dive into the history of Criminology again, but go absolutely ham on essay-writing technique and tips. (YOU WILL LEARN TO STACK AN ARGUMENT. I can’t guarantee you will learn to love APA, but you will come to grips with it and develop a personalized checklist with samples of in-text citations and title page contents, in order.)

Lesson 1: Who Are You? (Who who? Who who?)

[Text ID: An antique parody of a double mug shot, in sepia tones. A 23-month-old infant with curly light hair sits in a plain wooden high chair, a winsome expression on his face. He is dressed in a typical child’s white frock of the period with a frilled collar, sleeves and skirts. The first panel is in profile, with the child facing right. The second panel is face-on. The inscription reads: François Bertillon, âgé de 23 mois. 17 - oct - 93.]

This infantile mug shot, now in the MOMA collection, is commonly known as: “François Bertillon, 23 months (Baby, Gluttony, Nibbling All the Pears from a Basket)”

Alphonse Bertillon, a French police officer from the late 1800s, sought to revolutionize criminal identification by statistical means. He developed a system, which he called Bertillonage, of body measurements - anthropometry - that could be tabulated and compared with others, under the assumption that no two people would share the exact same measurements.

Now, this idea was an offshoot of biological determinism, a theory that the body itself predicted behaviour and the state of the mind. Biological determinism was actually a revolution in its day: it represented a split from the previous belief that aberrant behaviour and physical infirmity were proof of demonic influence and a directly-involved God. However, biological determinism, itself an offshoot of Platonic essentialism, led to such notions as Lombroso’s “atavistic”-bodied criminal with a hulking body, a lowered brow and a “stupid stare”, as well as pseudo-science parlour fun like phrenology. Not to mention the blatant eugenicism and superior-more-developed-race blather that still persists in many branches of social sciences.

But two hundred and some years into the European Enlightenment, empirical science was moving slowly towards the acceptance of provable, testable hypotheses based in reason and repetition. So Bertillon reasoned that, if you went about the task scientifically, with enough detail, you ought to be able to prove that no two people had the same bodies, and could therefore be told apart. (And just maybe prove that you could tell a criminal from looking at them.)

But no. The collection of Bertillonage data was incredibly painstaking. Subjects had to have a long series of measurements taken, in the exact same postures, using the same equipment. Then, the subjects were required to have photographs taken, from specific angles: the first mug shots. Bertillion spent years perfecting his photographic system. The above photos of his little nephew François are just one example of Bertillon bringing his whole family into the process - an excuse to combine his work with his hobby of photography and his love of his close-knit family.

(Note the implication here: “My family is the control group, the ideal specimens. Normal people look and behave like us.” When thinking about data, always ask yourself: who’s taking the photographs? Who’s collecting the samples, and from where, and how, and why those samples in particular?)

Bertillonage didn’t take off. People have too many similarities as well as differences, and the human error involved in the measurements and photography was too great. But he did create a stunning longitudinal study of his family and friends over a couple of decades, as well as of local criminals. Here’s François a few years later. Can you see details that persist through out his aging? How would you describe them?

You can see here some of the prescribed measurements in the Bertillonage system - and they didn’t have spreadsheets to look up and compare cases!

Bertillon’s underlying idea had merit. No two people are exactly alike. Even identical twins develop epigenetic differences over time. Fingerprints form in the womb, with randomized development due to the uterine environment. We can only measure these things with technical tools - low tech like magnifying glasses, high tech like digitized pattern recognition and molecular amplification. But we’ll get to that later.

Before you leave! Your homework this week is to write a description of yourself that is detailed enough that it would help investigators identify your remains. Under 500 words please. Point form is fine. Post to Canvas by midnight Sunday.

#forensics #forensic science #alphonse bertillon #Adventures in TAing #school school school

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crazy-meringue · 3 months

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Finally I received my New Year's gift! Real happiness. I was really looking forward to this scent because of its composition.

This is HIS scent. His young one. When, having collected all the laurels of the Seven Years' War and having given a few more years to the service of France, 23-year-old Donatien Alphonse Francois returns home. The beauty that blooms like a fragrant orange flower merges with a craving for secrets and mystical freedom, brought up in the basement of the uncle-abbot's castle, where there was always the smell of incense. He puts on a baby blue suit with silver embroidery and takes out the oldest book in the family library. The smell of these pages embraces him and touches him tenderly, like a girl. And from the depths of his soul and body, passion finally bursts freely and fully.

This is such a scent. Youth, lust and mystery. All that my creation associates with my dear friend

//I'm also waiting for two volumes of "Juliette" and a complete edition of "Justine", but they will most likely be delivered next week

#marquis de sade #donatien de sade #etat libre d'orange

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eldritch-edward · 11 months

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDINxWjWSzg (The Japanese VA has some PIPES!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8UKHDQGcVQ (MORE PIPES!) (Helpful for I, as an english speaker, to memorize the voice for Writing Reasons.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VWk2QQzb0U (French and Japanese dub comparison.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLoKcKz1TYo (More French Ed.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfzlI3lO7SQ (The Single Best English Ed Scene.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ZZNVHWOn0 (English Ed singing Brothers.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsMDjutpNzM (Envy, just to be fair.)

If there are songs by the other VA’s, Please Add Them.

(Okay, ramble under the cut.)

Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. I’m off from work, my brain isn’t yet mush, and I have the impulsive urge to spiel about something somehow. I shall now discuss Ed’s voice in the AU (and miiiight touch on Envy/Will’s).

When I write, I often do so with the character’s voices in mind. I tend to play clips of dialogue before writing sessions so that I can more easily hear the characters in my head as I go about transcribing dialogue.

But what the heck do I do about Ed’s voice???

See, I enjoy both the english and Japanese dubs. I also find the voice of 03 Ed to be significantly different from Brotherhood Ed in both phrasing and delivery.

My original solution was for Ed to just use different voices between Amestrian and Xerxian, since some people do that in real life. It would also help to highlight the fact that Ed mostly used Xerxian as a child when he lived with people who also did so (baby Alphonse and Father Hohenheim); thus the voice he uses for Xerxian defaults to the higher tones used in the Japanese dub.

Ed uses a higher voice for Xerxian (Japanese dub) than he does with Amestrian, great, but what else does this logic apply to?

Well, the AU has him be increasingly isolated after Trisha’s passing, then there’s about two years (ages thirteen to fourteen?) during which he and Al travel together, in which Ed socializes more. After that he and Alphonse split up (spoilers but meh) thus Ed sinks back into isolation, only really engaging with others for work while maybe hanging out with one or two other people once a week (or month). Would this affect the way he talks?

Ed in the novels sometimes leans into how childlike he looks and his general vulnerability so as to gain resources (or just because he thought it was funny).

(Actually, now that I think about it, 03 Ed does an extended act of playing the role of broken/defeated (against sun priest guy) or meak (disguise for getting back into sun town).)

(Aaaaand BH Ed does something similar, doesn’t he? Less extreme, but still.)

(Anyways,)

I’d imagine that he’d develop a voice for this sort of ploy, kind of like a ‘customer’s service’ voice but more constant. For this, I tentatively posit that Ed uses the higher voice (Japanese dub, only more sing-song in its cadence) for such a thing (rather than it being just for Xerxian).

As for the voice he tends towards for Amestrian outside of when playing sweet? I want to default to the English Dub (which is what I’m most used to) but actually, I think the French dub might suffice. From the few clips I’ve managed to view of it, it’s a good in-between for the Japanese and English dub’s voices.

The English Dub voice is one Ed uses in this AU, as well, though it is most often reserved for his more colloquial or relaxed moments. The lower pitch is something he would have just naturally grown into if not for the fact that he uses the other two voices so often that they are less variations of his voice and more distinct voices he uses.

The lower pitch, less distinct, more slurred, gentler speech of the English Dub is one he uses mostly when just talking out loud to himself (or when partially asleep or distracted); it is the most comfortable one for his vocal cords, even if he finds doing the other voices a lot of fun.

Eldritch!Ed also tends to sing. Kind of a lot.

These voice differences play something of a part here, too.

To put it simply, Ed doesn’t know what pitch to sing in half of the time. If someone else is singing, his default is to match (or try to match) their pitch. If no one else is singing and he is just singing to himself, he bounces between the three voices he uses. The higher voice is better for fast songs, the lower voice is good for lullabies, and the middle voice is the most versatile– with a slant towards folk ‘cause Ed’s a rural bumpkin at heart.

-_-_-_-_-

Envy has come to use Ed’s form pretty often throughout the years. At the start, his ‘Ed’ voice defaulted to the middle voice (which Ed uses most often) but Envy eventually grows into the deeper tones Ed would have had things been different.

Envy’s Ed voice is notable in that he tends to use more coherent sentences, his pronunciation is clearer, and he keeps to a singular dialect when he talks rather than jumping from one to the next like Elle!Ed does.

Elle!Ed has some fairly mild (if eventually exaggerated per health issues and isolation) fluency problems. Elle forgets words, says things out of order, has several types of mild to moderate stutters (mostly stops, some jumbling, and a little bit of repetition) and he just does not have a filter. He’s a rambly, stuttery, fluttery wee lad and Envy, who lacks Elle’s flavour of brain spice, does not.

Envy is also a lot more consistent, for lack of a better word. Elle will respond to what someone is actually saying (either the literal meaning or the one that is being implied) whereas Envy (who has no issue with social cues, has a filter, and actively cares about social norms) will keep to the emotional logic of a conversation.

Another difference is that Elle, being someone who, in his isolation-dependent lifestyle and occupation, amuses himself with word play and rhythm, tends to work that into his speech, too. Elle can and will rhyme, pun, alliterate, etcetera when talking whereas Envy does not.

(Also, Envy is fully verbal.)

Ramble over, ‘tis Wakerrife sleepy time. Adios.

#edward elric #fullmetal alchemist #FMA VAs #FMA Dubs #Edward Elric's VAs #I want to find the others #Also I need to learn French and Spanish for Reasons.#I need the duuuubs.#Gimme Gimme

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byneddiedingo · 2 years

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Theresa Harris and Barbara Stanwyck in Baby Face (Alfred E. Green, 1933) Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook, Alphonse Ethier, Henry Kolker, Theresa Harris, Margaret Lindsay, Arthur Hohl, John Wayne, Robert Barrat, Douglass Dumbrille. Screenplay: Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola, Darryl F. Zanuck. Cinematography: James Van Trees. Art direction: Anton Grot. Film editing: Howard Bretherton. Baby Face has a reputation as the raunchy film that helped bring about the stifling Production Code in 1934, the year after it was released. But even in its original version -- for years only the expurgated film could be seen -- it doesn't exhibit much that would bring a blush to today's maiden cheeks. To be sure, its heroine, Lily Powers (Barbara Stanwyck), sleeps around in her determination to get somewhere, which in her case is marriage to a bank president. But this moral deviance, the film suggests, is the result of having been pimped out by her bootlegger father from the age of 14. So when he's blown up by the explosion of one of his stills, what else can she do but head for the big city and try to better herself? She has, after all, only the guidance of a middle-aged German, a customer of her father's speakeasy, who quotes Nietzsche at her. Her will to power involves the only capital she has: her body. So she sleeps her way up the flowchart of a New York bank until she's the kept woman of a vice-president, and when that ends in his being murdered by an ex-lover who also commits suicide in what the newspapers call a "love nest," she gets paid off -- to prevent her selling her diary to the newspapers -- with a job at the bank's Paris branch. And then she goes straight, fending off the attentions of various men, and making a success of the bank's travel bureau division. It can't end there, however, because when the bank's young president, Courtland Trenholme (George Brent), comes to Paris on a visit, they fall in love and get married, causing a scandal that leads to the bank's closing and Trenholme's indictment for some kind of corporate malfeasance. When he asks Lily to help him out financially -- she has accumulated half a million dollars in gifts from him, and presumably from her former lover -- she refuses, reverting to the ruthless, hard-edged Lily. But just as she's about to leave him she has a change of heart, only to find that the desperate Trenholme has tried to commit suicide. He's not mortally wounded, however, and in the ambulance on the way to the hospital she confesses that she really loves him and he gazes gratefully at her. Fade out. Censors in states like New York bridled at the apparent rewarding of sin and forced Warner Bros. to cut some of the more scandalous scenes and to change the ending so that Lily does penance by returning to her old home town to live a chastened life. But even in its long-lost uncensored version, there's something a little off about Baby Face, a feeling that it wants to be more than just a story about sex and upward mobility. The men in the film, including the young John Wayne, are an unmemorable series of himbos and sugar daddies, easy pushovers for the likes of an ambitious and unscrupulous young woman. The last-minute change of heart and the squishy happy ending feel unearned. What coherence the film has comes not from the script but from Barbara Stanwyck's performance, from her tough likability.

#Baby Face #Alfred E. Green #Barbara Stanwyck

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dybdahlsvisitportugalspainfrance · 8 months

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In Lisboa

September 1, 2023

Bon Dia!

We arrived in lovely Lisboa, Portugal around 3:30 PM today. Our flight from DTW to Amsterdam was without incident and was a little less than 7 hours. That put us in Amsterdam about 1:30 AM our time but 7:30 AM in Amsterdam. I confess I didn’t sleep much on that leg of the flight - but after a 5 hour layover before our flight to Lisboa - a screaming baby could not have kept me awake. (Good thing too - since we had a very sad little guy in the row in front of us - but I slept anyway.) The flight took only three hours and we gained an hour because Lisboa is only 5 hours ahead for our Michigan home.

Here is size comparison for Portugal to Michigan:

The population is very similar - Michigan has a little under 10 million and Portugal is slightly over 10 million people. Portugal has LOTS of coastline - so does Michigan. But they kick our butts on history. Portugal was founded in 1143, year of the Zamora's Treaty signing. The treaty, agreed upon by D. Afonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal, and Alphonse the VII of León and Castile, recognized Portugal as an independent kingdom. In 1179 that status was confirmed by Pope Alexander the III. Portugal's land boundaries have remained almost unchanged since 1255.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal ascended to the status of a world power during Europe’s. “Age of Discovery” as it built up a vast empire.

From the “Visit Portugal” website.

"The Portuguese Empire was established from the 15th century and eventually stretched from the Americas to Japan. Very often a string of coastal trading centres with defensive fortifications, there were larger territorial colonies like Brazil, Angola, and Mozambique. White Europeans dominated trade, politics, and society, but there was also a significant mixing of races, and in many places, people of mixed ancestry rose to positions of wealth and power in the colonies.

The Portuguese began their empire as a search for access to the gold of West Africa and then the eastern spice trade. In addition, it was hoped that there might well be Christian states in Asia that could become useful allies in Christianity’s ongoing battles with the Islamic caliphates. New lands for agriculture, riches and glory for colonial adventurers, and the ambitions of missionary work were other motivations in the building of an empire.

Caravel ships created a maritime network that connected Lisbon with all of its colonies in the west and the Estado da India (‘State of India’) in the east, as the empire was known east of the Cape of Good Hope. Goods like gold, ivory, silk, Ming porcelain, and spices were carried and traded around the world. Another major trade was in slaves, taken from West and southern Africa and used as labour on plantations in the North Atlantic islands and the Americas."

So Mark and I checked into our hotel, took a short nap and then went out searching for food. One of the loveliest things about Lisboa are the sidewalks. Truly works of art.

We found a lovely sidewalk cafe that just a few blocks from our hotel ordered up: Bacalhau à Brás Com Camaroão and Bacalhau à Brás. This is dish made of onions, potatoes and bacalhou (codfish) or Camaroāo (Prawns) and then “stuck together” with egg. A local bier, Sagers, and some vine verde finished off this perfect meal for our first night in Portugal.

But we had to try the Molotov Pudding Custard - traditional Portuguese dessert and we were glad we did. We are tired and doing whatever we can to stay up until 9:30 - but I am in my jammies and watching the clock. Our tour begins September 3 - so we have some time to adjust and see things on the “meander” speed of people changing time zones.. I know tomorrow will be a great day - but for now... GOOD NIGHT!!

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nnten · 6 years

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#THAT ALPHONSE PICTURE HGKHGJGHRJDGHFJGGFJDGSJHFKGHJFHDHFIFHHFJFDHFKRHFHIJG #IM HAVING A BREAKDOWN THATS THE FUNNIEST FUCKING THING IVE EVER SEEN #Alphonse. 1 year old.#GHDBJGBGJJFGFHNG AND ITS LITERALLY BABY ARMOR FHHFJ #WEARING A DIAPER OOOOHHH FJORNONO

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wayward-pendragon · 4 years

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Anime Recommendations!

Hi everyone, I hope y’all are safe and happy! With quarantine still in place (at least in my country), I’m gonna keep the random rec lists coming! I’ve been watching a lotttt of animes and rewatching favourites, so I thought I’d share some of my favourites of all time! A lot of them are pretty mainstream, but for my friends who aren’t really into anime, these will get you hooked! In no particular order, let’s get started!

1. Snow White with the Red Hair, 24 episodes

This is hands down my favourite anime of all time. This shoujo anime make me feel so happy and it’s so wholesome, honestly such a feel good anime. Without spoiling too much, it’s about a herbalist named Shirayuki who ends up having to flee her home country and ends up meeting Prince Zen and goes to live in his country. The cast of characters in the anime is so good, there’s not a character to dislike. The genuine build up of friendship and eventual romance is just so sweet please watch.

2. Demon slayer (26 episodes)

One of the best anime I’ve watched this past year. This anime has amazing plot, awesome animation and a great cast of characters. This anime follows Tanjiro as he becomes a demon slayer after a demon killed his family. Tanjiro and his sister, Nezuko were the only survivors but Nezuko was turned in a demon and now Tanjiro is on a journey to change he back into a human. If you are into anime with amazing fight scenes, I highly recommend.

3. Hunter x Hunter (148 episodes)

I am currently watching this anime and it honestly made it onto my lists of favourite anime super quickly. The series starts with Gon and his quest to become a pro hunter and find his dad and goes on from there. With so many episodes and arcs, you can’t stop watching. The characters immediately hooked me on this show, Killua and Gon’s friendship is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen in anime, I literally want to adopt both of them. This anime is so heartwarming but also kinda dark and action packed.

4. Haikyuu!! (73 episodes, on-going)

My favourite sports anime my god. Haikyuu follows a high school volleyball team as they try to make it to nationals. This series made me so much more emotional than I thought it would, but you get so involved with the team and characters and want them to succeed. All of the characters from all of the teams are also fantastic and hilarious. If you need a fun but exciting anime, please please please watch Haikyuu!!

5. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (64 episodes)

Where to even begin. I would say this is one of the most popular anime and for good freaking reason. Without giving too much away, this anime follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric as they go on a quest to get their bodies back. Honestly this is one of my fav animes, if you like awesome fight scenes and really intriguing plot, you will love this anime.

6. Yona of the Dawn (24 episodes)

Another amazing anime but sadly, unfinished. I think this anime is best to watch w/o knowing very much. Just know that there is really good characters and character development and a very attractive love interest :))))

7. Soul eater (51 episodes)

One of the first animes I ever watched and as I remember it’s hella awesome, if you like halloween then the whole atmosphere of this anime will intrigue you. The fight scenes in this are really fun and so are the characters. If you need a fun medium length anime, I would recommend this one!

8. Inuyasha (193 episodes)

This anime is worth all the hype in my opinion. The plot was great, the characters are fantastic and romance is so freaking cute I can’t. I’m also a sucker for asshole characters who are secretly really sweet.

9. Fruits Basket (2019) (25 episodes (S1), S2 on-going)

This is the cutest anime. The whole cast characters is amazing and you get so attached so fast. The protagonist is so sweet and optimistic and I really just wanna protect her. I went into this knowing next nothing and I think that’s the best way to do it. The 2001 version is good too but 2019 has better animation and is closer to managa (and has more episodes!).

10. My Hero Academia (88 episodes, on-going)

I love this anime with my whole heart. There is an adorable cast of characters and amazing fight scenes, I love this sm. It’s set in a world where like 95% of the population has ‘quirks’ which are basically super powers but not all of them are super powerful. Super heroes protect cities and the anime follows a high school where the students are training to become heroes. The main character is born without a quirk but through some crazy circumstances he ends up acquiring one. In my opinion this anime is worth the hype.

11. Ouran Highschool Host Club (26 episodes)

This one is wild. Ouran Highschool Host club is so iconic and it’s hilarious, I laughed out loud watching this one so much. Honestly I went into this knowing nothing and I think its funnier that way.

12. Yuri!!! On Ice (13 episodes)

THIS ANIME. The first sports anime w/ canon LGBTQ+ romance and its beautiful. I love the style, the skating, the music, the characters, just everything about it. This follows Yuri Katsuki, a professional figure skater from Japan and his skating career. After messing up a major championship, Yuri is lost and doesn’t know what to do w/ his career. After seeing a video of Yuri skate, his idol Victor, a skating legend, shows up to be his coach. Please watch this anime.

13. Attack on Titan (62 episodes, on-going)

If you are looking for a badass action anime this is the one for you. Humanity has fallen to the mercy of giant man-eating titans, and the people that survived live within a walled city to keep the titans out. This anime is a little disturbing and violent but it is so badass. Also Levi, the most badass character ever, makes this entire anime worth watching.

14. Ao Haru Ride (12 episodes)

Hands down my favourite romance anime. This anime is so freaking cute and it gave me so many fuzzy feelings. The animation is also super nice so that is always a plus. It follows Futaba and Kou who liked each other in middle school but were separated. They meet again in high school but they have both changed so much. If you want a romance anime I really recommend this one.

15. Naruto (720 episodes)

This is a freaking classic and really long. Almost everyone and their mother has heard of this anime or watched some of it before. Basically it’s about ninjas and follows mainly Naruto Uzumaki who want to eventually be the leader of his village but his ninja skills need a lot of work. I honestly didn’t think I would love this anime as much as I did but its just so good. It is a very big commitment to finish though so be prepared.

16. Your Lie in April (22 episodes)

Well this anime is literally beautiful. It is centered around 2 teens w/ major musical talent. It gets deep very fast but its also light hearted and wholesome. This anime made me cry like a baby so get your tissues ready.

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fullmtal · 2 years

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one day i’m going to just write a full analysis (note a lot i want to i have a full notebook of notes hoo hoo) and hate it on edward’s hubris vs shou tucker hitting him right where it shakes him to the core . you did it because you believed you could! look at your body! look at your brother! isn’t that ‘messing with people’s lives?! we’re the same.’

how edward is fundamentally not the same but the outcome sure as hell is even if he’s nothing like that freak, his actions came from grief, desperation, and he was a child overwhelmed by grief. in the manga you seem him wailing at trisha’s funeral. but they sure are foils in why they did what they did. that is undeniable., but ultimately to me, the ringleader for his little brother into a situation that i honestly think ed feels is no different than a living death because note how alphonse literally says and is wary and unsure from the start: isn’t human transmutation forbidden?

but yeah a living death alphonse endures. without even BLAMING ed although he does rightfully and realistically snap at him post labaratory five. he’s on borrowed time. especially when the blood rune is temporary. for him it’s like he damned his mother, he damned his little brother. and he just shoulders that alone, and refuses to really let alphonse know the extent of his own trauma the entire series, part because he’s the big brother, part because he will always feel it is /his/ fault for strongarming the entire calamity that stole their bodies.

also i want to write about edward’s transition via growth from icarus to the sun. i like how nina is a constant nightmare for edward and alphonse the entire series as well, she isn’t just an afterthought. she’s real, they loved her like a baby sister, and she died. also an analysis on the pocketwatch why edward literally just doesn’t tell alphonse initially about it at all, it’s a token of /shame and guilt/.

arrogance vs self-loathing. i find it interesting people associate ed with sloth when it’s always, always been pride. arrogance that is both a veneer to hide his overwhelming guilt, burden and self-hatred and also just part of his personality. not as a genius, or an alchemist. but himself.

that’s why he’s constantly racing against the clock. that’s why even as a personality trait, its amplified to dangerous levels how willing he is to die and give up his life for his brother , and also in contrast be so stubborn to live.

i have a lot more but hoo. ed may act like a gremlin but i think this is both a front for the times when he shows how he really is...far older than anyone should be as a fifteen year old most of the series and --- how he really is, for his immense failure and sin against his brother, his broken promise to his teacher, a flawed, but incredible big brother who refuses to acknowledge the overwhelmingly good traits of selflessness and drive and kindness because that means he’s somehow ‘forgiving himself’.

he does so much behind al’s back and is it right? no. but is he trying to spare him , and while it is borderline coddling , he also is just fully aware every second he eats, drinks, sleeps, that alphonse can’t. isn’t he suffering enough? if he can spare him any burden or pain despite alphonse wisely calling ed out? edward will. he’s a big brother, even if his height says otherwise.

and it’s ed’s fault. no one can convince him otherwise. i really think and believe fully that ed finally after bottling his pain / grief / anger / guilt / burdens are something he starts to try ‘healing’ with his found family and friends post promised day. it’s not pretty. i think a lot of people think ed is an asshole and that’s valid but the series is constantly reinforcing edward’s kindness and benevolence.

he just doesn’t want to acknowledge it because he ‘lost that right’. who should be able to think he’s a good person / heroic when he practically killed his little brother and slandered his mother’s remains?

not him. he’ll shoulder it alone. until alphonse gets sick of it. and he DOES.

but yeah bastard tucker vs edward and their differing reasons...but end result was the same no matter how borderline innocent / desperate edward’s intentions were.

this is a big brother. this is a big brother refusing alphonse without his permission to say without saying it you have suffered enough because of me. and how you don’t hate me i’ll never understand. so let me be the big brother and shoulder the majority. despite being a team.

i could go into if that’s just his way of trying to atone in futility or just -- again, edward tries so hard to spare alphonse. he tries so hard and continues to sacrifice for him. it’s why when alphonse does reverse uno on the promised day that edward literally is almost in shock that it’s the other way around. edward and alphonse are equally not okay that’s blatant and it’s disturbing because they’re physically so young but mentally....it’s a split imho.

but as the protagonist, we see it primarily through edward’s eyes. a genius / person with insane effort to prevail both hate and have confidence in himself and his talent.

and if push comes to shove alphonse’s restoration comes first / if it boiled down to only one choice. after all what’s so bad about an arm and a leg compared to him. it’s notable edward rarely mentions his own restoration in most media, it’s alphonse who reminds him ‘and we have to restore you too brother’. and how edward rarely replies.

#basically ed has both arrogance and an evolving note: it changes icarus complex combiend with unbearable self loathing and guilt #no surprise there #while his selflessness is entirely of good will and his /nature/ there's just so much to unpack.#im manga journeying / brotherhood watching but #god #the pic says it all.#even alphonse offering to join him in military dog hell -- ed shoots him down with an easy going smile.#that is not happy.#but as reassuring as possible.#of course every character in the series has selfish ambition.#but ed's recurring trait is oddly enough compassion and a love (eventually as rush valley REALLY hammers) for humanity #that overpowers his compulsive belief alchemy can and /cannot/ solve everything.#learning that it can't his /crucial/ to his character.#it's almost like a damn crutch.#𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀 * ── the anatomy of a heart of steel.#from icarus to the sun #is a meta i really want to write.#he is both.#if ed acknowledges he's unhealthily selfless and /good/ it's like for him somehow admitting what he did was okay.#that it's okay to forgive himself.#that it's okay to /heal/.#that it's okay to not punish himself.#and he can't.#not anytime soon.

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pillow-anime-talk · 3 years

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mistletoe. {pt.1}

synopsis: A little joke on Giyuu, making gingerbread cookies with Edward and a date with Ryouta.

# tags: scenarios; christmas!au; current relationships; romance; fluff; sfw

includes: female reader ft. giyuu tomioka {kny} + edward elric {fma} + ryouta kise {knb}

part two {click}

author’s note: for @yvsevie, my precious smol baby. i love you.

— GIYUU

It was the first Christmas you spent as Pillar, as Giyuu’s girlfriend, and as teacher of your first and also last tsuguko. You didn’t mind spending Christmas like this; frankly, could anyone think of feasting at the moment when bloodthirsty demons and other strange creatures were running around each villages or towns? That’s why you spent your time training in your estate with a young boy who would replace your Ice Pillar position in a few next days, weeks, months or years.

“... We should take a short break, right?” You asked, seeing your successor breathing harder and harder. “I’ll go get something to drink and you can sit on the engawa.” You put your katana into its scabbard and then headed towards your home. However, when you entered the small kitchen, you chuckled at the sight of Giyuu who was sitting at the table, drinking his coffee as if he were at his own home. “Well, hello. Why didn’t you say ‘Hi’ to me earlier?” You asked, taking out two glasses.

“You were training, so I didn’t want to disturb both of you.” He replied calmly, setting the black mug on the wooden table. “Are you two finished yet?”

“We’re taking a break.” You poured cool water and then you stood in front of your dark-haired lover. “You would like to sit with us?”

“Yes, why not.” He smiled gently, then walked with you towards the entrance to the pretty, snowy garden.

When you got outside, however, your frowned as you determined that your heir wasn’t in the garden. Instead of his light blue haori and long blonde hair always pinned up in a ponytail, you noticed a little, white note. So, you picked it up quickly and read the content on the paper:

‘Sorry, sensei! I forgot that I had to help my mom bake a cake for Christmas! So see you tomorrow.

PS. Look up :D’

You frowned, and when you looked up at the wooden roof of your engawa, your cheeks automatically flushed a bit at the sight of a small sprig of mistletoe attached to a wooden beam with a thin string. Giyuu glanced at the same place, and seeing the little plant, he only smiled slightly under his breath.

“Your successor is quite funny, don’t you think?”

“Yes. It is true. He will replace me very well.” You giggled, letting your mouth taste the flavor of coffee and something sweet that you couldn’t identify at first.

Nevertheless, this little joke made you feel the magic of Christmas, despite the lack of a Christmas tree or gifts, and you were incredibly grateful to your beloved student for that.

— EDWARD

“... Edward! Stop throwing flour at me!” You looked imploringly at your fiancé, and he just giggled as he looked away at the huge, metal bowl in which he mixed hot water with powdered sugar to make frosting to decorate your cookies. You sighed softly under your breath, then returned to kneading another dough with your hands. After a while, however, you felt the white dust, commonly known as flour spread around you one more time. “E-Ed! Please!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

“Do it again and I swear you’ll sleep naked outside.” You spoke in a serious tone of voice, even though both of you knew you would never let him freeze to death, much less during the holidays, even more the first holidays that were supposed to be full of guests.

Alphonse and Mei with the smol panda were to appear! Also Roy with Rize and dear major Armstrong. Of course, Winry with her boyfriend, her grandmother and their cute dog were also invited. Gracia with Elicia cannot be forgotten. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis too and even Ling Yao with Lan Fan as well. There were supposed to be many of your loved ones, so you had to make just as many food, cakes and cookies. And Edward didn’t make it easy for you, because instead of helping you, he was throwing flour, sugar, cocoa and edible, colorful sprinkles or glitter at you.

Like for example now; once again you felt something hit your head and it turned out it was a handkerchief, rolled in a small but quite hard ball. So, your hands slowly backed away, then you wiped them on your red apron and you turned just as slowly towards your boyfriend, smiling at him as if you were telling him you were going to break his neck or crush his long legs. Edward, however, only chuckled and then walked closer to you with the same dumb smile he always had on his lips when he knew he had done something silly but funny.

“Sweetheart, don’t be upset. Christmas isn’t the time to fight! Better look up, my pretty angel.” His broad smirk made you sigh again loudly and loosen your tense arms. Nevertheless, you looked up and the first thing you saw was Edward’s hand holding a small twig of green mistletoe. You glanced at him again, laughing to yourself.

“How old are you to still play this?” You rolled your both eyes and was about to go back to your dark dough, but the blonde man grabbed your waist and pulled your body much closer to his more muscular one. He placed a tender, quite long kiss on your lips, and when the caress was over, Edward rested his forehead against yours.

“I’m old enough to still giving you stupid reasons to keep kissing me.”

— RYOUTA

“It’s... It’s so beautiful here.” You whispered under your breath as you looked around. “W-Woah. I...”

Kise took you for a ride in his car, however, two minutes ago he parked the car on the side of the road and then grabbed your smaller than his hand saying he had a little ‘surprise’ for you. Of course you went with him and it turned out to be a breathtaking view of the city, all lit up with colorful lights and sweet decorations. It was also snowing a bit so everything looked even more magical. You were incredibly surprised, of course most positively.

That’s why you turned to smile at the blonde-haired young man, and he only returned your facial expression, but then coughing delicately so that you would open the shiny eyes you closed a few seconds ago.

“You have a gorgeous smile and I love it the most in the world, but I think...” He started quietly, suddenly taking something green from his coat pocket. After a second it turned out to be mistletoe. You chuckled under your nose and your loved one looked at your flushed face again. “I think I deserve more, princess. All the more so because it’s Christmas day... You know.” He said in an amused, but still gentle and emotional voice, at which you only giggled again, standing on the tips of your toes or rather your shoes, to be able to reach his pretty face, and more precisely to his lips which tasted of coffee and chocolate-nut cake.

The kiss was slow, but very warm, and although your lips were cold due to the temperature outside, this peck gave the two of you a lot of heat on your hearts and cheeks. You even smirked during this wonderful caress, grabbing the boy by his soft, pale skin. The fabric of your wool gloves tickled Kise a little, but he didn’t pay much attention to it; instead, he kissed you once more, but this time on the nose that was red from the cold, and on the forehead, covered in the material of the cap, perfectly matching your gray gloves.

“... Thanks for showing me this, Ryouta. It’s really, really amazing.” You whispered, glancing once again at the colorful and white lights that decorated your whole city, including all the trees, buildings and houses. “I didn’t expect to see something like this in my life.”

“Then get used to it, because next year I’m going to take you to many other equally cool places.” The sincere tone of his smooth voice, and another short kiss on the cheek, made you cuddle closer to the side of his massive body.

In meantime, you still watched the magnificent sights and thought about where you both should go next time.

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narakurosaki · 3 years

Text

title: need you now

summary: it’s ed’s first night in creta, and he’s quickly discovering just how alone he is in a new country.

rating: t

word count: 3118

a/n: @wlwinry is to thank for the title suggestion, as well as how the fic ended. tysm! also, this is more of a character study on ed with some edwin sprinkled in towards the end!

read on ao3!

The ceiling fan blades, white and free of dust, spin at a fast rate, creating a strong breeze against his face. His golden bangs whip against his skin. His eyes stare at the light fixtures hanging from the fan’s center. He blinks frequently, the artificial breeze drying out his eyes. The mechanism within the fan ticks, an irritating sound that fortunately fills the silence of the hotel room.

He lies atop his mattress, arms folded behind his head, right leg thrown across his left. The only thing he’s taken off of his body are his shoes; they’ve been abandoned beside the door, leaving his flesh foot covered only by his sock. After seven days aboard a train, Edward is overjoyed to be in an actual bed rather than a bunk in a cramped sleeper car. The city of Cirstan sat just beyond Creta’s borders; a beautiful city with tall buildings and various factories. The thick black smoke polluted the air, but in the heart of Cirstan, the sky was as blue as could be. Cars whizzed past as he walked down the sidewalk, forgoing the map provided to him and asking passersby for directions to the best hotel in the city. Those kind enough to help a foreigner pointed him toward the Obsidian, an upscale hotel with newly renovated rooms and an excellent complimentary breakfast. He’d booked a room as soon as he’d approached the front desk, sliding a fifty-dollar Cretan bill into the clerk’s hands. It was enough payment for a week’s stay. A bellboy had been kind enough to offer to carry his luggage and accompany him to his room, though Ed had politely declined. He would find his room no problem, given the experience he’d had traveling from a young age. And find it he did—a room on the fifth floor numbered 515.

Edward had thrown his luggage and coat on the nearby chair, removed his oxfords, and collapsed atop his bed where he remained throughout the evening.

His muscles have stiffened after limited movement aboard several trains. The walk from the station to the hotel had slightly helped, but the aching joints proved difficult to ignore. Thankfully, he need only worry about only three joints giving him pain; such was the advantage of automail. Though his nerves were connected in order to move the prosthetic, pain was never felt, even upon damage. His port was the only source of pain, and that occurred only on rainy days.

He shuts his eyes in hope of sleep finding him quickly, but the ticking of the ceiling fan drives him mad. It seems to echo in the spacious room, growing louder with every second tick heard. He grits his teeth, opens his eyes, and resumes his staring at the ceiling fan.

Edward wasn’t a stranger to noise as he tried to sleep. He had spent four years in hotel rooms with a walking, talking suit of armor. It wasn’t uncommon for Alphonse to hit his head against something as he stood, or for his joints to screech with even the simplest of movements. There had been times when Ed had awoken to the soft meowing of a kitten his little brother had stashed inside of his chest. And though Al had kept to one spot throughout the night, Edward often heard the turning of pages, the creaking of his shoulder, the exchange of a finished book for a new one from the shelf… Those sounds brought him comfort, serving as a reminder that he was not alone in this world.

But his little brother was in Xing, and he was in Creta, thousands of miles away.

The ticking becomes equivalent to nails on a chalkboard. Edward nearly springs to his feet, ready to remove the plating from the fan and expose the mechanical parts within. He’d never tinkered with such things before, but he was willing to try if it meant getting to sleep. He’d observed his fiancée enough in her natural habitat, tinkering with wires and hunks of metal that she managed to turn into working prosthetic limbs, that he was fairly confident he could figure out the fan’s issue on his own. Had Winry been here, she would have had the issue solved the moment they’d walked through the door. With Edward to serve as her assistant, she would have stood atop the mattress, removed the plating from the center of the fan, and requested a screwdriver from her box of tools she’d brought along to keep his automail in check. The muscles in her arms would flex as she worked, and Edward would lose himself in his lustful haze.

He slams his fist against the mattress and groans in frustration.

For the first time in his life, Edward Elric was alone, and he was terrified.

For eighteen years, he had always had someone by his side. For awhile, it had been his mother, and then, his little brother. His companion had slightly shifted to Winry after the brothers’ return home as the two explored their romantic feelings for one another. He had never been alone, and now, with the brothers having gone their separate ways for their research, and Winry staying behind to focus on her career, the loneliness had creeped up on him, ensuring him in its deadly trap. At least his little brother had friends in Xing—Ling, Lan Fan, Mei… Hr would certainly not have trouble making new ones, either. And Winry had her grandmother and Den in Resembool, and Mr. Garfiel, Paninya, and her customers in Rush Valley.

In Creta, Ed has no one, not even a single familiar name.

He drags his hands down his face and bites his tongue, the urge to scream becoming unbearable.

Perhaps he had made a mistake coming here. Would accompanying Alphonse to Xing have been the better option? After all, the brothers were inseparable until recently. Or, maybe leaving the research to his little brother would have been the best option, for it would allow him to stay with the woman who possessed his heart. He would follow her wherever she may go, prideful of her skills, giving her the encouragement she needed to pass her journeyman’s examination.

It was too late to question his decision, now. He’d spent a portion of his most recent veteran’s benefits on travel expenses. Not to mention, he was lying in a bed in Creta, and a trip home would take the rest of the money he had available to him.

He had promised to assist Al in overturning the law of equivalent exchange, and, dammit, Edward Elric always kept his promises.

Still, the ticking of the fan continues to drive him up the wall.

His head lolls to the right, eyes opening halfway. His golden eyes stare off into space, the wall out of focus. The empty half of the bed feels colossal beside him. He reaches out to his left and bunches the sheets in his grasp. After nearly two years of sharing a bed with Winry, the queen-sized mattress provided by the hotel felt incredibly empty. There’s an emptiness in his chest, a dull ache beneath his breastbone. He fully expects to see Al’s golden hair in the dim light, a soft call of ‘Brother’ as he checks to see if Edward was asleep. When it doesn’t come, he rolls to his left and sprawls out. He isn’t met with the tickling of Winry’s hair against his nose when she sleeps with her back toward him, nor is he met with her lazy, apologetic smile, early in the morning when her alarm goes off for work. He cannot throw his arm around her waist and draw her close, nor can he pull her body atop his, grinning as he kissed her face and her giggling rang in his ears. He frowns and allows his eyes to wander the dimly lit room.

The empty couch beneath the window feels ominous somehow. He’d sat upon several couches with his armored brother during the course of their journey, reading deep into the night until Edward fell asleep against him. They were often where he found Alphonse in the mornings, on the rare occasions Ed had retired to bed. He recalls catching his baby brother with a cat in his arms, having hid it from his older brother within his armor. What he wouldn’t give to discover his brother retrieving a cat he’d stuffed beneath his shirt, whispering to it on the couch…

But he was alone, with nothing but two photographs tucked away in his wallet—one of him, Al, and Winry, and the other of Winry by herself.

He looks to the bedside table, examining what sits atop it. He spies a menu for room service, something that would get little use; a bible sits beside it, an item Ed never understood being supplied in every hotel room he’d been in; and, in the center, a phone.

Wait…

A phone!

He scrambles to his feet, standing on the mattress and jumping to the floor. His metal foot thumps loudly against the floor, and a thought of sympathy for whoever may dwell in the room beneath his quickly flashes in his mind. He stands before the bedside table and grabs the receiver, awaiting the voice of the operator.

“Hello,” he hears after a moment, “operator.”

“Yeah, can I get a call to the country of Amestris?”

“Amestris?” the operator on the other end questions. Long-distance calls weren’t common due to their cost, so he guesses she wasn’t used to such a request. “Yes, I can patch you through to Amestris. Can I get the telephone number?”

“Rush Valley, 6503,” he answers.

There’s the clacking of keys on the other end as the operator dials the number provided. She returns, voice cheery. “Patching you through to Rush Valley, 6503.”

Soon, the voice is replaced by familiar ringing. He digs his old pocket watch out of his back pocket and presses the crown to release the latch. It ticks with each passing second. Ed squints at the clock’s face in the dim light. From what he can see, it reads 1:58 A.M.

“Shit,” he whispers. It’s a two-hour difference between Amestris, whose time is ahead. He closes the pocket watch and returns it to his back pocket. With his luck, she would be asleep, his late night call waking her. She was always grumpy when woken. “Shit, shit, shit. Please don’t be sleeping.”

“Can’t sleep when I have orders to fulfill.”

The voice on the other end fails to greet him, perhaps missing her chance with his talking to himself. The tension in his shoulders fades, and Edward lets out a sigh in relief. Even after losing her number one customer after the Promised Day, Winry Rockbell still worked through the night to ensure her customers were taken care of. It was why she had quickly made a name for herself in Rush Valley, as well as the automail community. Come to her in need of urgent repairs or replacements, and she would see to it that it was done. He loved her for it—she’s passionate with her craft as he is with alchemy, but the all-nighters always worried him. Rather than chastise her, however, he’s glad he’s caught her on a busy day.

“You have no idea how nice it is to hear your voice,” he says.

There’s a pause as Winry drills something into place, the sound loud in his ear. He pulls the phone away from his ear until the noise stops.

“Buttering me up won’t work, Ed.” There’s venom in her words. He’s about to be lectured. “You promised to call me as soon as you arrived in Creta. I know damn well you didn’t just get there.”

He threads his fingers through the hair at his neck and gives the strands a slight tug. “I didn’t, you’re right, and I’m sorry for not calling sooner. As soon as I got to my room, I collapsed on the bed.”

He can hear the noise of her soldering gun. As though he was in the room with her, he can see her with her magnifying goggles on, working with the wiring within her creation. He loved watching her when he was home. Now, he could only listen.

The noise from the soldering gun stops. There’s a faint thud, and he guesses she’s set the tool down. “I was worried, you know. I got a call earlier today and I thought it was you. It was Al.”

The mention of his little brother causes his heart to sink. He hadn’t spoken with him, either, since seeing him off to Xing. Had he worried him, too?”

She continues, not giving him a chance to respond. “He’d wanted to know if you had called, yet. I’m supposed to tell him where you’re staying, and the number to the hotel.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I hadn’t heard from you.” The venom that dripped from her words dries up. Instead, there is a pain in her voice. “He did his best to reassure me that you probably got distracted in a library somewhere, but I could tell he was worried.”

His lips set in a line before bending into a frown. He drags the body of the phone across the bedside table, and lies down on the mattress. The springs squeak beneath his weight. For a moment, he returns to staring at the center of the ceiling fan, taking comfort in the gentle breeze against his face. He’d laid like this several times in Resembool, his arm around Winry’s shoulders, fingers playing with her loose hair as she slept against his bare chest.

His eyes close as the ache beneath his breastbone worsens.

“I miss you.”

Those three little words tumble from his lips far too quickly to reel them back in. While they were true—God, they were so god damn true—he can’t help but worry that he’d uttered them far too soon.

On the other end of the receiver, the sound of the soldering gun resumes. He pictures her working with a furrowed brow, hunched over her workspace, attaching wires to one another. He can almost smell the hot resin in the air.

Winry sighs, and the sound of the soldering gun being set down can be heard. “You have a funny way of showing it.”

“Winry, I—”

“Don’t you Winry me!” she admonishes. “Do you have any idea how worried I was when I didn’t hear from you? When you spoke with me in South City, you promised me that you would call as soon as you got to your hotel.”

He drags his hand down his face. He had promised to call, and yet, he’d broken that promise, all because he was too busy feeling sorry for himself, moping about in his hotel room for hours on end. “I know, but—”

“And don’t even get me started on how worried Al was when I told him I hadn’t heard from you! He stays in one place for less time than you. I can’t just call him and tell him where you are—I have to wait for him to call me!”

That was true. Locating Al would be impossible given the size of Xing. The young man wanted to see its entirety. There was no way he would stay in one place for more than two or three days.

Ed pinches the bridge of his nose. There’s a pause in the conversation as he struggles to find his words. “Do you have any idea how shitty it is to be alone? Like, truly alone?”

There’s another pause. He waits for Winry to rebut his inquiry with the fact that the brothers had left her alone for years, but he’s quickly reminded of just how smart and empathetic she is. While it was true that they had left her, she had always had constant company, whether it be Pinako or Garfiel and the lot from Rush Valley. Winry had never been truly alone, not like he was, now, without the constant companionship he’d had throughout his life.

“Ed…”

“I keep expecting Al to walk through the door, or to roll over in bed and find you there with me. It didn’t hit me on the train because I was surrounded by people, but the moment I stepped foot into my room, I laid in bed and started feeling sorry for myself. I miss Al, I miss Den and Granny, I miss the idiots back home that looked at me like I didn’t belong, even! Can you believe that?” His palm covers his eyes, an odd smile twisting his mouth. He sighs through his nose and bites his lip. “I miss you, Winry. I miss you like crazy.”

There’s movement on Winry’s end, and he guesses she’s moving the receiver to her other ear. He waits, the ache in his chest subsiding. “…I miss you, too. Of course I do.”

“I’m happy to hear that.”

He can practically hear her rolling her eyes. There’s a smile in her voice when she says, “You’re such a weirdo.”

“Takes one to know one.”

He’s weightless, the mattress beneath him like a cloud embracing his body. He moves his hand from his face to his belly, hiking up his shirt. He yawns. “You should sleep, Win.”

“Me? What about you?”

“I wanna talk to you.”

Seated at her workbench, Winry removes her magnifying goggles and twirls the phone cord around her finger. She had gone without phone calls for extended periods of time while the brothers were on their journey; perhaps it had been silly of her to anger so quickly at his failure to do so as he promised. At the end of the day, he was still Edward Elric, certified pain in the ass, but she would be lying if she’d claimed to be surprised at his late night call. It was rare for him to break a promise, and while he hadn’t stuck to his intended schedule, he had managed to call her. That was just the type of man he was, the type of man she’d fallen in love with.

She leans back in her chair and stretches out her legs. “Okay then, what city are you in?”

She receives no response.

“Ed?”

Nothing.

“Hello? Earth to Ed! I asked you a question.”

On the other end, she can hear a soft snore.

He’d fallen asleep.

She giggles. “Goodnight, dummy.”

———

And in the morning, when Edward finally wakes, he’s overjoyed to discover that his fiancée had remained on the other line through the night, ready to greet him as he yawns.

#fma #edward elric #winry rockbell #edwin #otp: equivalent exchange #my fics #help this made me sad

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