#prettywitch rambles

Characters announcing things you’ve seen before or commenting on how “stupid” said cliché or “observation” is, as if they were people in an online chatroom and not characters in a show. 

Seriously! I know Youtube comments are not the most reliable source to get a gage on how people are feeling, but I’m getting really sick of people calling Bucky “emo”.

Yes, because the man who was brainwashed into being (essentially) a human Terminator for nearly a century, was dead for five years, recently lost his best friend and (initially) refuses to talk to the one person whose trying to connect with him clearly wouldn’t be grumpy!

Or be deflective...

Or project his own feelings onto others...

Or not wanna talk about how he’s feeling with his therapist...

Or be edge and feel disconnected from people-

You know what? I’m gonna stop myself before I go on a long tangent.

The point is the internet is stupid and people on it are assholes most of the time...Screw it, all the time!

Sorry. Maybe I’m being biased, but this is the first time I’ve ever been invested in Bucky’s character and it bothers me that people are reacting to it as if he’s this “brooding bad boy” for fangirls to swoon over...when he has every right to be brooding. At least at this point in his character development.

I love Parental Royed, and I think that Roy did teach Ed some valuable life lessons (in a roundabout way). But what I mean is that Hughes gave Ed something that Roy was unable to do on most occasions; trust.

I know a lot of people like to interpret Ed as hating Roy’s guts, but if you look at like 99% of their interactions, it’s pretty obvious that Ed not only admires Roy, but wants to put his trust in him. But except for very few occasions, Roy doesn’t tell Ed things, either because he’s trying to spare his feelings and keep him a child for as long as possible, or because he doesn’t trust that Ed won’t do something reckless because of how emotional he is.

Whereas Hughes does tell Ed things he should know about, for better or worse. The best example of this being when he tells Ed that Scar was most likely the one who killed Nina.

A bit questionable considering Ed’s vengeance boner clearly went up hearing he might have found Nina’s killer? Hmm...possibly.

But it shows that Hughes trusts Ed enough to make the right decision when bringing Scar to justice.

.....

So Mami is Galaxia.

Sayaka is Sailor Star Healer

Homura is Sailor Mars

Kyoko is Sailor Neptune

and Madoka and Sailor Saturn

All of the Holy Quintet (minus Nagisa) are now Sailor Guardians, that’s awesome!

As we all know, many of the characters in 03 have serious physiological issues;

- Ed suffers from post traumatic stress disorder that results in him not only distancing himself from Winry, but also denying that he and Al brought Sloth into this world until he is literally forced to confront/admit it.

- Roy suffers from PTSD that has hardened him as a result of his experiences and has made him suspicious of anyone and everyone. He was suicidally depressed for awhile, and is still most likely suffering from either clinical or high functioning depression and is most likely an alcoholic.

- Al loves his brother very much, but is clearly co-dependent on Ed and even ends up unintentionally enabling his and Ed’s misunderstandings about the world and society. And really doesn’t come into his own until late in the series.

- Wrath has mommy issues and mild PTSD from being taken back through the Gate

- Envy has daddy issues

- Riza most likely has endured some trauma and has been hardened from her experiences in Ishbal (if her monologue to Winry in Episode 36 is any indication).

- Rose was catatonic for awhile after she was raped.

- Not to mention the countless Ishbalan survivors who most likely suffer from PTSD if Rick’s reaction in Episode 36 is any indication

None of these things are ever really addressed in the story...and that’s okay.

The story of FMA is not one of overcoming past trauma, it’s a coming of age story of how the world isn’t perfect and more complex than we pretend it is, but that life is still worth living. 

The fact that many of the characters have suffered from issues trauma is more or less there to give them some depth and to make the audience empathize/sympathize with them before it’s an excuse to “cure them”.

And I think that’s something you don’t see very often acknowledged; overcoming great adversity doesn’t automatically make you happy. It changes you, it drains you. You probably might feel distant and unable to relate to someone. And you just have to learn to live with it.

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw2hIbbJe_Y)

Controversial Opinion Time, again!

I often find it strange that people don’t talk more about this, but to be honest I love that Roy doesn’t seek revenge for Hughes’s death in 03. At least not until the end, anyway.

03 on the whole was interested in exploring the nuance of vengeance. What motivates some people to get revenge, when it’s justified and when it isn’t. And even if it is, will taking vengeance cause more problems in the long run.

The series explores this through various characters and how it affects them. From Scar’s justified feelings of vengeance and hatred that eventually blooms into wanting to stop the military from wiping out what remains of his people, to Martel wanting to kill Kimblee for selling out her friends, to Winry wanting vengeance for what Roy did but knowing she can do nothing about it, to Ed and Al’s hypocritical stance on vengeance.

Everyone’s perspective is given time to be explored and no one’s is put above the other. But truth be told, I think Roy’s perspective is arguably the most mature take.

I think it’s safe to say (based on the first scene) that Roy was most likely looking to avenge his best friend’s death at this point, but learning what he does from Armstrong only confirms that now is not the time to act.

He’s smart enough to recognize that while he wants to see whoever killed Hughes brought to justice, there’s quite literally nothing he can do about it. I mean suppose he did go in half cocked and looking for Hughes’s murderer? It could end up leading to a snowball of consequences he didn’t intend. And any sacrifices Hughes made for him in the past would be rendered null.

It takes a mature mind to recognize that revenge is not so black and white, but it takes a mature person to recognize that even when it’s justified, there is nothing to be done about it.

Now while this plants the seed for Roy (at the very least) starting to question his own way of doing things, I think it also demonstrates the real difference between Ed and Roy that becomes exemplified once again, and becomes a focal point when we get to Episode 44 and the boys find out about Hughes’s murder.

Roy Mustang is an adult; he wants to see his friend’s assassin brought to justice, but knows that he can’t do anything about it. Pursuing it would just lead to more complications (and even that’s brought into question with Roy’s own guilt over the whole thing and Sheska choosing to take action where he won’t). Edward Elric is a child. He says revenge is wrong and that he doesn’t want to kill, but he has no problem trying to kill Scar later over what he did to Nina (although really, that was a mercy kill!). And when he learns about Hughes, he’s all ready to go ring Roy’s neck for not telling him and nearly blow his and Al’s cover in the process.

It’s why I say that (while it was indirect) Roy did affect some change on Ed; because while Ed has a hard time grasping that not choosing vengeance is a choice an adult makes, he does seem to get over his vengeance boner within the following episodes and instead focus on stopping the Homunculi.

...........................................

In short, I love this bit very much and I think it’s an under appreciated part of 03′s story, even within the 03 community. 

Don’t get me wrong, I know you’d have to rewrite it so that Bella doesn’t come off like such a bitch whose’s just using him, but Jacob actually cares about her and wants to see her be happy...before the jealousy settles in, mind you.

You could rewrite it to where maybe Bella is trying to get over Edward, but is still having issues. Then Jacob comes along and they start hanging out, and she slowly finds herself forgetting all about Edward until Alice comes back into the picture.

Then, you can end the story with Bella going back to Edward, still have the love triangle in Eclipse, but have it end with Bella realizing who she truly loves is Jacob. Then they end up together and BAM, end of series!

Sigh.......

Look, I know people love Wanda, but really, funko!? REALLY!?

Couldn’t we have gotten another Stephen variant? One with him in his little ranch outfit from when he goes to visit Wanda?

Or Stephen in a three piece suit?

Or hell, a variant of him without the cloak on? Giving us a chance to see the gorgeous detailing on his new tunic?

Or hell! Clea! You know how much I’d KILL for a Charlize Clea pop instead of waiting another two or three years for that to become a reality!?

But, you know? We can just have Psycho Wanda puppeting Housewife Wanda! That works, too!!!