Omg...wtf

[evilhippo]

I was going to write about this morning (which, on the scheme of things, is far more important than this). But I feel compelled to do a bit of shouting about FMA 57.

See, it was all the usual words words words I can't understand, talking talking hmm, I really want a translation oh look, tiny bit of flashback but this is not enough to satisfy me!. Then... then... OMGWTF.

And that is all I have to say on that. Just... omgwtf. Double-yoo tee freaking eff. That's pretty. And plotty. Am I a bad person for thinking that is a beautiful thing? Because omgsquee the character development that must come of this. Backstory! Plot! Character development! Ahh!

I think I'll give myself a few minutes to dwell on this. Ahhh, I want to see where this is going so badly now. (Also, Ran Fan is very pretty. And wtf Gluttony! AHH! And aww, that's sort of cute, in an an incredibly-disurbing-when-you-think-about-it sort of way.)

... I think if I really concentrate I might be able to pull off talking about what I really should be talking about, though. Because I finally, finally declared as an English major. I got up at ten this morning, printed out my Civ paper and the form I needed to finish before the end of this quarter for English majordom... filled it out, and went to campus. I turned my paper in at 11:30, then headed to the English office, where I sort of stood around looking lost for a minute before I got up the courage to hunt down a secretary and figure out who I was supposed to talk to. Then I still talked to the wrong person, but there were two people in the room and the secretary-type didn't really point out which one. And then it took like, two minutes... and now I'm officially an English major. Then I talked to my advisor so I'd be official in the system. And that was that. I went to lunch at noon. But... um... well, hey, I have a major now! Officially-like. Yay!

But dude... FMA 57. WTF! My money's on it having to do with the homunculi... if it weren't for the scarring, I'd say it was recent, while she was being held hostage. But... well, I dunno, maybe it's healing over. I refuse to believe this sekrit alchemist thing. I'll come up with a better theory when there's a translation. WTF!

P.S. Hey, solitaryjane, looks like my handwriting approximations weren't far off. She does use loopy letters.

Comments

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

Ooh, chapter 57! *downloads*

*reads*

*FLAILS OMG*

*iz ded* It is pretty.

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

::attempts to revive?::

Just... wow. Omg. I was so expecting this to be a normal sort of chapter without horrible cliffhangers. Geez, Arakawa-sensei! ::flails:: I want to know the reason for that so badly!! I really need to go re-read the flashback chapter where she's got her sniper rifle trained on Roy. That might explain something... (Unless, of course, I'm remembering things totally wrong).

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

*iz revived to make important further observations!*

1. This will be a plot point in every single smutfic written about her from now on.

2. That's why she always wears those high collars!!! (I always wondered about that.)

3. My roommate says, "there sure have been a lot of showers in Fullmetal Alchemist lately."

4. Roommate also suggests that possibly the tattoo originally had some kind of practical but perhaps not benign function, and that the scarring was added later to disable it--by, say, an alchemical flame.

5. It's definitely the same sigil as the one on Roy's gloves, just more elaborate. But...what does it mean???

It's really damn frustrating, but I'm also so glad to be reading a manga that actually comes out now and then and is promptly made available online (unlike Fruits Basket) and is always exciting (unlike Death Note, though that might be changing oh God I hope).

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

1. Oh dear.

2. ... How did I not even bother noticing that that was weird? ... I think I wrote it off because Hughes always wore the turtleneck under his uniform in the anime, so it didn't seem weird that Hawkeye did it in the manga. But.. yeah. Hmmm.

3. Fanservice! And equal-opportunity, at that. (Though Riza's is slightly shorter.)

4. That scarring is a little weird for an actual injury.

5. I want to knowww! Darnit, why don't I know alchemy yet? Who knows about this, where did it come from... what does it meeeean??

I haven't read Death Note since about chapter 65... and I'm not sure if I should catch up or not. Is it worth it?

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

2. I really noticed it for the first time when I saw the official art of her wearing a high-necked swimsuit. Of course, that was anime art, but still. Wait, does that mean she has the tattoo in the anime? OMG WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? Anyway, then I thought maybe there was no big reason, she just preferred high collars, because sometimes she does wear button-down shirts, but I never thought it might have been because she wanted to cover the back of her neck.

3. You never know; there's the beginning of chapter 58 to consider. Actually, it's kind of suggestive...Hawkeye, alone in her apartment, taking a shower...Ed comes over for reasons that don't appear particularly urgent...she answers the door topless and dripping...ahem.

5. I totally bet they're discussing Hawkeye's giant back tattoo in the car at the beginning of the chapter, and we just don't know about it because we don't read Japanese.

Um. Depends on what you mean by "worth it". If you mean, "as good as it was when L was around" then no. (Damn, I miss him to the point of going all conspiracy-theory, like I did after Order of the Phoenix. L: Dead Like Sirius.) But I'm enjoying it all the same, and the fandom's rather intelligent and talented. And there's a live-action movie coming out in...June, I think? Two, actually. The second one's in October.

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

2. I'll write the anime bit off as a carry-over from the manga. And, well... it is part of her style, reasons or not, I s'pose. Ahh!

5. I agree completely with your scanlated version. Especially the waffles.

Yeah I... sort of missed L so much I gave up reading. (And I'm lazy.) I think I'd probably pick it up again if I knew where to find the scanlations anymore. (L is so alive somewhere! Possibly with Sirius. And they will come through the Gate and... um... explain Riza's tattoo.) I heard about one of the movies, but I had no idea there were two. Those I will definitely have to see, whether I catch up on the manga or not.

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

Well, Roy does love his waffles. :)

My scanlations come from StopTazmo and the scanlators' site.

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

Ahh, thank you! I've been having odd luck lately with the popups at StopTazmo having viruses in them, so I've been avoiding having to download things from them. The scanlators work, though... yay!

[verie.livejournal.com]

Gaaaah. Seriously, there needs to be translations of some sort. Hawkeye's tattoo just has me spasming way too much for it be healthy. The design of it kind of reminds me of the gate... only... crossed with the flame array, so I have no idea what it means. x_x;

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

That array is nuts. You've got the oroborous snakes and fiddly-writing and Roy's array and... I really wish I had a better understanding of the symbolism.

(There is a text translation (http://csakuras.livejournal.com/229557.html#cutid1), at least. Which means ZOMGFTA ought to have it actually scanlated soonish. ^_^)

[verie.livejournal.com]

The writing's apparently Latin, but it doesn't look like people have managed to make much of it yet. Hopefully someone will be able to figure out what it means.

And thank you! I hadn't seen the text translation. That's something, at least.

Gaaah. I want the next chapter. How does she manage to end every month on a cliff hanger?

[evilhippo.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I sort of totally disregarded the writing, since I'm used to it being mostly irrelevant (like the human transmutation array). Not that trying to read it would do me any good, though, since I have no idea when it comes to Latin. (-;

All these cliffhangers are getting evil. It's going to get the point where suddenly one month it'll end on a normal note and everyone will get really, really paranoid.

[verie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm used to it being completely random, too. But whatever straw I have to grasp at, I'll go for it. Plus, it's other people trying to translate it. XD They lost me after "liberi et"... since, that's the only Latin I know.

They are. x_x I'm not certain what I'd do if a chapter wasn't a cliff hanger... I'd probably be paranoid. I get paranoid anyway, though, so it might not make much of a difference.