I really like your portrayal of Envy, like seriously, you´re a really great and is always a pleasure see you in my dash, but i would love see an Envy a little more broken. You´re really good writing angst for other people, but what about angst towards Envy? I would love see how would you manage that with they :)
// Broken. That’s a nice word. And this is very, very good advice.
Slapping this under the cut because it got personal.
I’m always going on about how much I dislike Envy, how they disgust me, how they embarrass me, how they’re ugly, how they make me cringe — really, the more I say things like this, the more true they become. And I used to be able to understand Envy (even on an emotional level; mostly, in fact), so it follows that I should still be able to do so. I used to talk all the time about the vice, but recently, I’ve stopped. I’ve taken a more logical view toward them; I’ve both detached and distanced myself; even my analyses are more and more half-assed because I don’t allow myself to feel with the character. I get what you’re saying, and you’re absolutely right.
But you’re right. They’re broken and they keep breaking and I don’t want to portray them with any softness because I feel bad. I feel like I’m doing something wrong — not in making them ooc, because it wouldn’t be, just… wrong. I don’t know why this is, and I’m not sure how to explain it.
But Envy, the character, is the most emotional of the homunculi (barring second Greed, and perhaps Wrath? the human-based homunculi), and the one who acts most on their emotions (same addendum). And the vice? It breaks a person, it eats you from the inside and fucks everything about how you interact with the world, and with yourself, and you don’t even realize it. All my talk about the nature of the vice and about Envy’s identity in concrete adjectives does nothing if I can’t get it across in practice.
Okay I’ll be honest here and admit that I know exactly /shit/ about anything FMA aside from like … the basics ? BUT I do know that, for one, I absolutely adore your Envy. Your passion for the character comes through in just about everything you do, and it’s really incredible to see you write all of these in-depth analyses of different facets of their personality and like, you even talked about their dancing, once? YOUR WRITING IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL and I enjoy reading anything you write? You’re very well thought-out and descriptive and engaging and I just LOVE how you write their inner dialogue and their dialogue versus just their prose; and the formatting compliments EVERYTHING that you write and just GUH I LOVE READING EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY like you’re so intelligent and funny and kind and I love having you around so never leave tbh 8||||
okay I’m sorry I’ll leave your submit box alone but bottom line — you’re 100% fantastic and everything you do ever gives me chills because it’s so visceral. <3<3<3<3
yo have you ever heard for you by staind?? idk i think it fits envy's chararcter well
// I actually looked this up when you first sent the message, and I wholly agree. Even without the first line of the song, it's about a familial relationship; likewise, understanding Envy's relationship with their family unit, and with individual members, is vital to understanding Envy as a whole, and it's really cool that at least part of it can be related to a song. Envy's emotional quality makes it very difficult to find songs to relate to them -- especially for someone who doesn't listen to a lit of rock or metal.
I don't know of I've mentioned it much on this blog, but the way I see it, there is an envy that directs itself primarily inward, and an envy that is focused outward; Envy's is obviously the latter ( this is where you find the denial aspect; self-denial is not an inherent aspect of the vice. ). This song emphasizes a need for attention, which is a part of the way their vice manifests, and one that I keep overlooking.
` ITS FUNNY BC MOST OF mY FRIENDS RP CHARACTERS THEY HATE & THEY PLAY THEM SO SO PERFECTLY & ur one of them ayyy 8))) ♡ }}
// jfjsjzhdgs thAnK YOU.
It takes me a million years to respond to anything i’M LauGHiNG i’M sORRy. I’m hating Envy a lot rn, and I think that’s in part because I’ve been seeing a lot of a fanon interpretation that makes me cringe. I dislike the cutesy, gratuitously violent Envy; it makes me more embarrassed with the character than I usually am. They are casually cruel, certainly; it is the violence I find overblown. I interpret Envy as lawful evil for a reason. I’m actually going to be writing out a meta/analysis about this soon. But Envy was one of my favourite characters in the show for a while, and sometimes I need to stop and remember that, and why.
There is this grand tendency for any fandom to reduce every character down to a single prominent trait. If it’s emphasized in canon, even slightly above the rest of their characteristics, a fandom will latch onto it. Edward is short and hates milk; Greed just wants friends; Alphonse is sweet & gentle & gullible. Raikou has an atrocious fashion sense; Kamina thinks he’s the greatest thing on the planet; Miharu is apathetic. Some may be accurate, but others are complete misinterpretations. Either way, they reduce the character. Envy is surmised as mindlessly violent in a way that I do not think applies to them.
Envy is pathetic, and I hate them. I have never had any sympathy for them. I can hardly stand to watch their death because of how miserable and pathetic they are, because they had an opportunity but would rather give in to their own vice, their own parasite, than admit it was there, much less take it. I am still disappointed, still upset, that they didn’t take that opportunity, when it was as good as an offer. I do not find that scene sad. Sad as in disheartening, perhaps. This are a creature that wholly embodies what used to be my greatest vice, and your only hope with enviousness is to grow beyond it. ( Essentially, you are trapped. ) Envy remains trapped in that way to the end of their life; it is that, ultimately, which kills them. And that, for me, sends a very strong message. Envy is a fatalistic character, and their story, the message therein, is even more so.
Some characters grow, and give me hope that I can do the same. Envy is the exact opposite.
hey bby ; w ; i just wanted to drop in & say good luck on your finals !! you're gonna do super great tbh & we're all rooting for you ok? boops ur nose try not to stress out too much -- that'll only make things harder on you uvu xoxo ♥
// what you’re so sweET ???? ??
Seriously, thanks a bunch !!! And yeah, that’s absolutely true, and I’m definitely trying not to stress. I’ve just got a couple more days of non-stop work and then I’ll be free.
i use from the ashes by in this moment for envy's singing voice,although i'm not sure if it would seem accurate. have a look?
// You and I have very different interpretations of Envy, my friend.
Okay, on a more serious note. I checked it out, and that is a fantastic song. ( Fits the character very well, too. ) I can see what you mean; I actually think I might want to see this if I hadn’t chosen a different interpretation. It’s like… I’ve turned away from this interpretation as I solidified my interpretation. But I’ve settled on one for my Envy that is much more muted, for lack of a better word, than they are in canon. I’ve described it as sentimental. Withdrawn into their headspace, an Envy that interacts with the world through the layers of their body, from a viewpoint removed from it like through a tunnel. The stone at their core. Do you follow ?
Voice can tell you a lot about a character, and I must admit to the pang if regret that I can’t have the interpretation this song/vocal headcanon hints at. ( I can almost feel this interpretation; I’ve seen it once before, and I loved it. )
There’s a lot of power in the vocals, and they’re very rich. Envy has that force in them. There’s a certain fullness to the voice that you don’t hear a lot. ( Considering it for Envy, it’s almost dramatic. )
Thank you a ton!! I really, really love this, and I agree with you. The sort of realistic Envy I’ve been wanting to be able to construct… if I wrote an Envy who could have this voice, man, wow, I could do some pretty fantastic things with them.
Anyway, this is certainly an alternative voice claim. Maybe not for my Envy, but for Envy as a character.
