[ SECRET POST #1126 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1126 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 078 secrets from Secret Submission Post #161.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 4 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - take it to comments ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

TBH, this is one thing that really bothers me about the writing of FMA. Because so few of her characters much depth, it often feel like the plot is moving along inorganically. Many of her characters, heroes and villains alike, seem to have been stitched into an already woven tapestry. When, ideally, I feel like the characters should be the ones (or at least seem to be the ones) weaving that tapestry.

[(Anonymous)]

Some people prefer to have the plot take precedence, though this is a matter of taste. And tbh, the characters are woven in to a big tapestry- it's kind of a big thing in the sotry of FMA, seeing as they're swept up in a plot spanning centuries. Thematically, it fits.

And being too character driven in an epic plot can lead to disaster. *cough*EndofBattlestarGalactica*cough*

[(Anonymous)]

That's not a problem to do with a story being character driven; it's a problem to do with the writers not knowing what the fuck they're doing.

[(Anonymous)]

Also, I tend to find the plot seems to be inorganic when you're waiting months between chapters- it helps to go back and reread it all in one go, it seems much smoother.

And I do think that things started moving a little fast post-Briggs, but I'll take "A little fast" over the months of pointless battles that are in most shounen any day.

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

Dude, I wish I knew who you were, because that is precisely my problem with the FMA manga. (At least, one of the problems, in any case.) It's nice to know there's someone out there who feels the same.

I know some people will pass it off as a matter of taste (plot-driven story vs. character-driven story), when it is anything but. It is very possible to have an epic, sprawling plot that is still character-driven at its very core. George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is a good example of a character-driven epic story. It doesn't feel as if there's a hand hovering in the air moving the characters around like chess pieces. It feels like the characters themselves and their motivations are moving the plot forward. It's not external, it's internal. Plot-driven and character-driven stories are not mutually exclusive, no matter what most people say. Because the story starts with the character, when you break it all down. You can have a story without a plot, but you cannot have a story without a character.

[(Anonymous)]

It's funny that you should bring up A Song Of Ice and Fire, since I often think of it as something to contrast with the FMA manga. It has a comparably-sized cast, a similar storytelling style, and a plot that is arguable even more far-reaching and epic. And yet, it seems to avoid all of the biggest flaws found in FMA.

I like to think that A Song Of Ice and Fire is what happens when the characterization and tone of the first anime is combined with the large-scale, solid plotting of the manga.

You can have a story without a plot, but you cannot have a story without a character.

I agree completely.

[adraekh.livejournal.com]

I'm very curious regarding your identity now, anon. (Mostly because you sound so much like me it's somewhat frightening. I've been comparing A Song of Ice and Fire and the FMA manga for so long and I've never come across someone else who's done the same thing.)

A Song of Ice and Fire is the series I like to pull out when people tell me that characterization needs to be sacrificed for plot when you're going for an epic story. All I can say is that they're not inversely related; it's just that many authors either don't have the skill or are too lazy to pull the threads together to make a coherent whole. But when you do combine plot and characterization effectively, you get such an amazing story with so much fucking depth.

Also, I'll throw in this: A Song of Ice and Fire is not too scared to get down and dirty with anything and everything. When people tell me the FMA manga is "dark" because "Arakawa is not scared to kill off her characters", I can do nothing else but laugh.