• A new LGBTQ+ forum is now being trialed and there have been changes made to the Support and Advice forum. To read more about these updates, click here.
  • Hey Trainers! Be sure to check out Corsola Beach, our newest section on the forums, in partnership with our friends at Corsola Cove! At the Beach, you can discuss the competitive side of the games, post your favorite Pokemon memes, and connect with other Pokemon creators!
  • Due to the recent changes with Twitter's API, it is no longer possible for Bulbagarden forum users to login via their Twitter account. If you signed up to Bulbagarden via Twitter and do not have another way to login, please contact us here with your Twitter username so that we can get you sorted.

Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

i'd pick it up in a heartbeat given how so many people seem to like it, but for the past few months i've had a really hard time finishing any shows or games i've started... i haven't touched cuphead since like december, and i found that game super fun
 
Recently, I've been thinking about how I prefer mixed bags over things that are consistently good. I used to talk about Cars 2 a lot in my YouTube videos simply because it was interesting. While Brotherhood has a more cohesive story, it lacks the raw emotion that made me love 2003, the only TV show to ever truly grip me.

Speaking of 51-episode anime that diverge from their Shounen Gangan manga, I've been interested in Soul Eater for a while.
 
i'd pick it up in a heartbeat given how so many people seem to like it, but for the past few months i've had a really hard time finishing any shows or games i've started... i haven't touched cuphead since like december, and i found that game super fun

I'm a huge multitasker, and "watching shows" usually requires your full attention, lmao, which is probably why I rarely finish them (especially longer series). So I only really watch during meals or when I'm in places that makes it hard to multitask (ie., riding a bus, waiting for car oil change). It takes a while to finish shows this way, but still. As long as the issue is that my brain runs a little too fast to not be doing several things at once and not that the show sucks, it works.
 
I wrote this, got it published in an anthology, and forgot about it for several years.
tumblr_n91809G8wY1s10yito1_1280.png
 
I was thinking again last night about how I came to love FMA, and I realised that I probably wouldn't like it if it wasn't for '03. '03 has shaped what my perception of "raw" Fullmetal Alchemist is - the episodic adventures of the Elric brothers as they help people along their quest to fix a problem they caused. The idea of the "proper" FMA storyline being some big, grand, world-saving thing is so weird to me, even after all these years.

I finally realised that the reason I feel like Brotherhood is lacking is because there's no breathing room; unlike the manga, it doesn't ease you in by introducing the characters before the crazy stuff comes up.

But Fullmetal Alchemist was never designed to go on forever, and FMA03 is one-fifth of a preexisting story with a rushed ending that makes it seem like the creators overestimated how many episodes they were allowed to make. I love FMA03 in its early episodes because there's breathing room between emotionally heavy moments, but by the end it's turned into an avalanche of plot twists.

I suppose if you view it as a tragedy, it becomes a bit more palatable; Edward Elric is gone, but his actions have touched the lives of many. In practise, though, it feels weak because no-one apart from Alphonse really cares that he's gone.

But... when I think about FMA03 in concept, it's absolutely beautiful. It could have easily been a cash-grab - making an adaptation of something that's not even close to being finished - but the creators worked with what they had to create an adaptation that offers its own experience, and since the crazy world-saving stuff hadn't come up yet, they created a far more human story. If one FMA isn't your thing, the other might be.

I wouldn't mind seeing another adaptation give a story "the FMA03 treatment".
 
I was thinking again last night about how I came to love FMA, and I realised that I probably wouldn't like it if it wasn't for '03. '03 has shaped what my perception of "raw" Fullmetal Alchemist is - the episodic adventures of the Elric brothers as they help people along their quest to fix a problem they caused. The idea of the "proper" FMA storyline being some big, grand, world-saving thing is so weird to me, even after all these years.

I finally realised that the reason I feel like Brotherhood is lacking is because there's no breathing room; unlike the manga, it doesn't ease you in by introducing the characters before the crazy stuff comes up.

But Fullmetal Alchemist was never designed to go on forever, and FMA03 is one-fifth of a preexisting story with a rushed ending that makes it seem like the creators overestimated how many episodes they were allowed to make. I love FMA03 in its early episodes because there's breathing room between emotionally heavy moments, but by the end it's turned into an avalanche of plot twists.

I suppose if you view it as a tragedy, it becomes a bit more palatable; Edward Elric is gone, but his actions have touched the lives of many. In practise, though, it feels weak because no-one apart from Alphonse really cares that he's gone.

But... when I think about FMA03 in concept, it's absolutely beautiful. It could have easily been a cash-grab - making an adaptation of something that's not even close to being finished - but the creators worked with what they had to create an adaptation that offers its own experience, and since the crazy world-saving stuff hadn't come up yet, they created a far more human story. If one FMA isn't your thing, the other might be.

I wouldn't mind seeing another adaptation give a story "the FMA03 treatment".

Saw this a minute ago. Relevant.

That being said, I'm on episode 8 of Brotherhood now, and it's not appealing as I remembered, though not sure if this is a "second watch syndrome" issue because I know everything about Brotherhood already or if my younger self was much more easily impressed.
 
I have a similar problem where I have this mentality that 2003 is the "correct" version of Fullmetal Alchemist (minus the weird confusing stuff at the end), and that everything after Dublith in the manga is "missing something". I wish I could find a work of fiction that recaptures the magic of FMA03. I find something charming about the awkwardness of early FMA03 episodes.

Another reason I like FMA03 so much is because I came into it knowing who the characters were, but not knowing what to expect from the story. I didn't know anime clichés back then, so I didn't expect Ed to get together with Winry at the end. (Spoiler alert: they don't.)

It's a love/hate relationship. FMA03 might possibly be my favourite work of fiction because when it gets good, it gets really good, but I don't love it completely because of how poorly-paced the last three episodes are. I'm also indifferent to Conqueror of Shamballa.

I could a video about this.

Also, why has no version of Fullmetal Alchemist ever made a "promise written in blood" metaphor? It'd be perfect.

I worry that I'm annoying people by talking about FMA so much, like I did back in 2014.
 
One more thing: I've recently been thinking about how big franchises have a "core" face, and a "marketable" face. The "marketable" face is like a superficial version of the franchise, where the deeper stuff is glossed over. The first half of FMA03 feels like Fullmetal Alchemist's "marketable" face, and was the basis for a lot of early tie-in games.

Another example of a franchise with "core/marketable" faces is Klonoa. The main console games have surprisingly in-depth stories and not too many characters, while the handheld games are more lighthearted have a cast of cute 'n' marketable anime furries.
 
Currently I'm reading a reference book called Oxford Guide to Plain English. One of the best example text to demonstrate the opposite of "plain English" is this one:

The said aggregate further single premium shall be apportioned equally among the existing Policies and consequently in relation to each such Policy the Further Minimum Sum Assured secured by the part of the said aggregate further single premium apportioned thereto shall be a sum equal to the aggregate Further Minimum Sum Assured specified in the Schedule divided by the total number of the existing Policies the Further Participating Sum Assured so secured shall be a sum equal to the aggregate Further Participating Sum Assured so specified divided by the total number of the existing Policies and the amount of the further single premium paid under each of the existing Policies shall be a sum equal to the further aggregate single premium so specified divided by the total number of the existing Policies

Talk about the officialese and legalese used in some specific professions that not even people in those professions may understand it.
Why do they even bother to developed these "languages"?
 
Alright, I just realized something about my postings on Fanfiction, and may have determined why the viewership is so poor: my transitions aren't uploading like the rest of my text! Gah! Who knew that a '~~~~' wouldn't go in with the rest! Now I have to see if I can fix that! I would really rather not move to a different transition, since its so simple and noticeable...
 
I doubt a simple transition is causing your problems, unless '~~~~' completely breaks ff.net's formatting somehow.

It might depend on when you're posting. I've noticed that the most attention seems to be given to stuff that is posted somewhere around 3 PM EST, as the largest audience will be getting online soon after. This has applied to practically everywhere I post things, be they reddit, youtube, deviantart or larger forums. Any other time, things get buried quickly without much attention.
 
Oh, I don't mean people not noticing my work; I mean the transitions not showing up! They are necessary for everything to read well, and I haven't noticed for nearly a year! For some reason, the text editor doesn't save them, but if I put them in single quotes, they appear, so I'll be busy getting that fixed.
 
Yeah FF is pretty restrictive to what you can and can't use formatting wise. One of the reasons I stopped posting there.
 
Err, not really sure if there's somewhere I'm allowed to just say hi to all you authors. But, uh, hi! I'll be around, hopefully. I enjoy reading, but am an absolute novice at writing. Hopefully I'll be posting something here soonish. Nice to meet you all. ^^
 
@Ambyssin Welcome to the Workshop, my dude! I'm going to let you in on a little secret: we're all kinda novices at writing ;)

Looking forward to seeing you around!
 
hello ambyssin!

j remembered i posted a story here lol... guess i got too inspired by the awards. which also reminds me i need to post reviews still. can you tell i struggle with time management? :f

question for y'all, do you find that most of your writing is done in big chucks, or very small chucks that add up over time?
 
Back
Top Bottom