Comments | bob_fish: Fic: The Compass Rose, Chapter 4/9

bob_fish

Fic: The Compass Rose, Chapter 4/9

Feb 28, 2013 19:35

Title: The Compass Rose: Chapter Four
Characters/Pairings: Roy/Ed, Riza/Miles, Havoc/Rebecca, Al, Winry, Team Mustang, Ling, Ran Fan, and more
Rating: R for swears, violence and horror at about the same level as in the manga itself
Word Count: 9790 this chapter
Summary: An infant Homunculus under the command of an idiot ruler: this can't end well. ( Read more... )

[fandom] fullmetal alchemist, [pairing] havoc/rebecca, [chapterfic] the compass rose, [odd tag out] ling, [pairing] roy/ed, [fanworks] fic, [fic series] wrong turn 'verse, [pairing] riza/miles, [fanworks] art

Comments 16

japanimecrazed March 1 2013, 01:16:46 UTC

I like this chapter! Ling and Mei are great. I was happy for Ed in the first part and sad for him in the last. :( I'm looking forward to finding out where you take this!

bob_fish March 1 2013, 20:00:08 UTC

Thank you! My first time writing Mei (but far from my first time writing Ling), I'm really glad to hear she worked for you! I'm looking forward to keeping the story moving!

havocmangawip March 1 2013, 03:12:07 UTC

I was so happy to see an update.

Haruko's regime is terrible and NEEDS to go! Summary execution of the resistance? They probably didn't even have real proof... Ed needs to get over the "bloodless" idea. Hakuro needs out... by any means possible, and now he IS a War Criminal.

I love Xing. :)

bob_fish March 1 2013, 20:12:59 UTC

Yay! I promise Havoc and Rebecca are actually in this, and have things to do! Everyone is scattered all over the place, but the pieces are slowly coming together.

Yes, Hakuro's regime is awful - he's a weak tyrant, as Roy said last chapter - and needs to go before someone stronger and worse takes power. War, guerilla warfare and resistance mean dirty tactics and moral compromises. A terrible part of me likes taking Arakawa's genuinely good characters, especially the younger and more pure-hearted, and making them consider what they'll do if they need to. Roy, Riza and Havoc are old and jaded enough to know about fighting dirty, but the prospect is harder on the Elrics and Winry.

Thank you for lovely comments! <3

bay115 March 1 2013, 03:15:35 UTC

I too thought Ling and May are great in this chapter. Haha just today while at work I was thinking about the epilogue pictures and how fast May grew. That's have Ed not make short jokes about her anymore. :P A secret assassination totally doesn't sound like something Roy would want to do unless it's necessary but seems he has no choice (kinda reminds me a recent update of a webcomic I'm reading and has a somewhat similar situation). The next part shall be interesting.

Another quick comment is ouch over Ada's execution. D: Not a surprise Roy will mention about her in the radio announcement.

Still enjoying this a lot so far, looking forward to more!

bob_fish March 1 2013, 20:07:44 UTC

Yay, so glad that you enjoyed! I'd never written Mei before - it was kind of a challenge to get into her headspace and to imagine her aged up three years, but once I got there I found she's a lot of fun to write. It's really good to hear she was working for people. (She's still short - just less short than she was!)

Ooh, what's the webcomic? I love things with intrigue and dirty politics (you will be surprised to hear XD). Roy, who wanted his bloodless coup (in the manga as well as in this 'verse) is an idealist but also a realist in that he knows the way these situations can go in history. He's recognised now that he needs to win even if he has to fight dirty - how dirty, he can't know yet. Ed, on the other hand, is younger and more uncompromising. This stuff hits him harder. It's challenging to take the characters into situations where they have to make moral compromises that the manga didn't ask of them, but to keep them themselves. Winry's in this situation too.

Glad you're enjoying! I'm looking forward to putting out more.

bay115 March 1 2013, 20:18:24 UTC

The webcomic is called Homestuck, which is about four kids playing a Sims-style like game and then a lot of crazy stuff happens so they must win. It's really confusing unless you're caught up with the comic, but there's one part where one of the characters was using a large group of other characters as bait to lure in one of the villains that was causing chaos. The character explained how she had no choice but to do this. Not exactly dirty politics (it's more adventure/action) but kinda similar to me haha.

bob_fish March 1 2013, 20:35:55 UTC

Ah, I know of Homestuck! People keep recommending it to me but I've found it hard to get into. I hear it's really addictive, though. It sounds like it gets pretty complicated - the people I know who like it keep talking about shipping quadrants and troll biology and it's all very hard to follow. XD

Thread 6

skelody March 3 2013, 02:42:16 UTC

Mei <3 I'm teetering on the edge between YEAH ED GET WITH THE PROGRAM and YOU JUST WAIT THEY'LL PULL... SOMETHING... OFF....

What's the "Xh" in "Xhongdu" stand for?

bob_fish March 3 2013, 08:42:01 UTC

Oh yay, I'm glad people liked Mei, because this was my first time writing her! Yes, this is a dicey situation especially in terms of how dirty this war might get. We'll see … (And I'm glad you're still reading and enjoying!)

The 'Xh' doesn't stand for anything in particular! Zhongdu is Chinese for 'Central Capital'. Xhongdu, on the other hand, is my typo (which I've now fixed). Whoops. Thank you for picking it up!

(If you were wondering about the name, which you probably weren't: historically, there was a city called Zhongdu where Beijing is now in the 12th century. I tend to follow Arakawa's example and pinch place names from history and mythology, especially when they're in languages I don't speak. The Xingese language=Chinese language is well-embedded in manga canon already with names like Xiao Mei (Little Mei), rentanjutsu, and with Ling's message to Ran Fan written on his sash in hanzi (which Japanese readers could understand as kanji).)

skelody March 3 2013, 21:43:10 UTC

Ahhh okay, I just assumed it was some historical romanization-system or something; you can't put anything past those romanization-systems :P

I think you transposed her energy and earnestness to an older age-level in a very believable way!

bob_fish March 3 2013, 23:48:12 UTC

Those multiple romanization systems are most unreliable! But no, this time just a typo. Thanks again!

That's great, because that was pretty much my exact aim! She's very young in the manga and besides just growing up, would have been through so much in the intervening years in terms of court politics, helping Ling seize the throne. It took me a bit of nerding and thinking to work out how she might be a few years older, but once I got her there I found it's a lot of fun to write aged-up Mei! Xiao Mei, on the other hand, has pretty much not changed at all. XD

sky_dark March 17 2013, 15:54:17 UTC

First I have to say poor Ling, always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Second is holy shit you can stir up some mess. I'm with Ed, how far will he go in the name of what's right? I can see it for Roy, it's easy to know Roy will do whatever it takes, but it's never been so cut and dry for Ed. I have a feeling he'll need Roy to pick up the pieces before everything is through.

bob_fish March 17 2013, 16:07:42 UTC

Hello! Thanks for keeping up with the plot-and-tough-times fest. XD Yes, poor old Ling. It does seem like in any given story or series with both Roy/Ed and Ling/Ed, Ling never gets the alchemist in the end. If it's any consolation, in this 'verse, he and Ed were really more friends with benefits,

And yes, poor Ed. Between worrying over Al and being separated from him and from Roy and coming to terms with what it means to be caught up in a civil war, these are very testing times for him.