Iâve long been a lurker on this website, and have seen the world rise and fall with the coming masses. It hasnât always been pretty, but itâs been a home, still.
I donât like confrontation, but, needs must, at times, so I will make do with what I have, and actually participate on this new frontier, when I can.
(Which, might just be once in a blue moon, but, it is what it is.)
Iâm WishMoon, older than dirt and younger than the stars. Please take care of me, and I do so hope that we can all get along.
(At least on this blog, where I will avoid being too out there for some of you more vicious, anti-inclined folk.)
While youâre here, come check out my Zine Carrd, and have a look through my wares.
https://wishmoonlion.carrd.co/
Weâll see how much use we can put my AO3 account through, as well.
Now presenting, our incredible word-weavers! Here are five of over forty creators for âMagical! Tales Of Ladybug And Chat Noirâ- a Miraculous Ladybug magic zine:
Thanks to @miraculousladybugmagiczine for bringing me on as an Artist, Merch Artist, and Writer! Iâve had a lot of fun designing and contributing to the zine, and am excited to see it enter its preorders phase in the coming months!
Weâve hit our first checkpoint, everyone! This means our team is currently at the thumbnailing and rough draft stage of production. Here are some sneak-peeks into the wonderful work thatâs been happening behind the scenes!
Weâre so incredibly pleased to finally introduce the team for âDeadly Ever Afterâ! Make sure to check out this talented array of authors and illustrators, and stay tuned to see everyoneâs work on this zine! đš
⏠Links to everyoneâs socials below ⏠(Part 2)
Weâre working through some challenges with manufacturing the huge amount of wonderful merch in the Anthology and finalizing the last items. Thank you for your patience!
We are now targeting to ship orders BY DECEMBER 25, 2021.
Digital copies of the zines will be emailed out at approximately the same time that orders ship.
Thank you so much for 200 PRE-ORDERS, Anthology fans!! đđ
With holo unlocked on @crowingoverthisâs prints, can we reach 225 & add a sparkly finish to @pinceauarcencielâs fabulous âMei Visionâ sticker sheet? â¨â¨â¨
premise: early spring, 1923. Edward has become listless, past losing faith in rocketryâs analogy for alchemy as a means for him to get home to the other side of the Gate. This feeling of disconnect has even begun to seep into his relationship with Alfons, which has naturally developed into something beyond friendship (but which neither of them dare to formally define). Sensing Edwardâs lack of inspiration for flight, Alfons aims to enliven his spirits with a surprise: a hot air balloon ride.
written for the Equivalent Exchange Anthology and featured in digital extension project 2 (sfw ship pieces)! pre-orders end on October 3rd, 2021: order your copy here! (see below the cut for image descriptions and citations)
notes: for it wouldn't be me if there weren't any!
A. "ad astra per" is "to the stars through/by..." but I won't finish it here, for it's a spoiler, as it were.
B. yes, this is a ship 'fic (an AIRship 'fic, ha ha ha--) but it's rather PG. it is also terribly sentimental.
C. I learned SO much about ballooning for this.
image text - story excerpts:
1. âItâs not a kidnappingâyou consented,â Alfons answers from behind the map that heâs unfolded and positioned mere centimeters in front of his nose. [...] The sky is only just beginning to lighten in the distance, outlining the very edges of the hills. Whether theyâll reach their mystery destination before the sun climbs over the precipice remains to be seen. Itâs an unfair game, however: only one party in this race knows the coordinates of the finish lineâwell, two, if one counts both Alfons and the sun.
2. âIf youâre taking me to see the sunrise,â Edward grumbles, ignoring a paradoxical, somewhat mortifying twinge of pleasure at that previously unanticipated possibility, âthen Iâm going to tell you there were easier ways to do this. Likeâwhatâs that church off Marienplatz? Not the Frauenkirche; the tower. Old Peter. Might be a thousand goddamn steps, but I swearââ
âItâs not that,â Alfons chuckles, though he winces at the idea of climbing the stairs and reflexively presses a hand to his chest.
[...] Edward needs a moment to parse all of this visual information into something that makes senseâand all the while Alfons is nearly doubled over laughing, shaking with delight as though heâs lost his mind, and rushing to get his words out first:
âDo you see? Itâsââ
âA balloon!â
3. [ Edwardâs surprised ] at the peculiar feeling of going upward, as though in a lift, but feeling so exposed; at the ground getting smaller and smaller beneath them and the horizon growing wider, spreading out into the vast expanse of sky. At once he feels incredibly human and like some sort of god of his own, at the mercy of a spike of raw, unexpected fear teetering on the edge of wonder. Maybe this is what Alfons feels when he imagines space flightâterror and exhilaration.
4. They fall into silence, Edward and Alfons shoulder to shoulder as they watch the red orb of the sun give them chase and climb higher, its pinks spreading out into the blues and running into oranges. Now that theyâve stabilized, Edward finds it laughable that he was so frightenedâwhat an idiot, letting an unfamiliar sensation get the best of his brain! He loosens his grip on the basketâs edge and even chances a glance downward. Fog swirls around the checkered land, decking the yellow fields, dirt patches waiting for sprouts, and verdant stretches of fledgling crops alike. Alfons nudges him to get his attention, and Edward follows his outstretched hand to the dramatic outline of the Alps in the farthest distance, towering over the humble hills and flatland leading up to them. Edward isnât often given to such sentimentality, but somehow it strikes him as incredible now: the power of the earth that moves to form these mountains, andâthough itâs not possible hereâthe amazing ingenuity of the brain that can draw from these elements and move nature itself with alchemy.
image description and sources - visuals:
1. A map of Augsburg and the western outskirts (source)
2. A serendipitous ad for the August Riedinger Balloon Factory in Augsburg, found by accident at the back of the English translation of the Pocket Book of Aeronautics (source)
3. Excerpt of the title page of "Eine Ballonfahrt" - 1896 sheet music. I learned that "aeronautical love songs" is an entire genre from the turn of the century. (source)
4. Another map of Augsburg and its southern outskirts (source)
5. Paul Klee, "the Balloon," 1927; during his Bauhaus years. (source)
premise: 1921. Edward Elric has only been in Munich for a month when his father Hohenheim disappears⌠leaving Edward with only instructions to find his own housing. Strapped for cash and still meandering in mind and spirit, he resigns himself to an irregular schedule by renting a flat as a day tenant. At the same time, Alfons Heiderich moves from Augsburg to Munich and rents the same flat as the night tenant, a holdover until he can find longer-term housing when he returns from Romania. In this liminal time frame, without meeting each other in person, the two young men learn about each other like true scientists â through observation and hypothesis.
written for the Equivalent Exchange Anthology and featured in print project 1! pre-orders end on October 3rd, 2021: order your copy here! (see below the cut for image descriptions and citations)
notes:
A. in projective geometry, two parallel lines intersect at the line at infinity (also called the 'ideal line') - ha, ha
B. I borrowed the premise of this story from my favorite live-action series, Babylon Berlin
C. this was very fun to write and I look forward to sharing the story!
D. the timespan of the images in this preview post is somewhat wide; I hope you'll accept this!
image text - story excerpts:
1. Alfonsâs dream is to design a machine that will travel into space. For nowâgood luck, he wishes, as he drops the envelopes into the post box and then taps the brim of his cap in greeting [...] âhe hopes that one of these will make its way back to him with positive news.
2. For years, Edward had been in constant motionâthey had, he and Al. Itâs hard not to slip into a strange inertia without him. [ ⌠] He sighs and stands, with a creak from Hohenheimâs prototype limbs. The dexterity is awful; itâs no Rockbell work. Alchemists should stick to alchemy, mechanics to mechanics; each to their respective craft.
Then again, even Edward is trying to dabble outside of his usual sciences. Einstein, Oberth, heâll see whoâll come out for the betterâand come out on the other side.
3. [ Edward ] drops inelegantly onto the bed, only to bolt upright, with a hiss of pain, twisting around to find whatever jabbed sharply and unexpectedly into his back.
A book?
Hardcover, looking like itâs traveled its fair share: a collection of fictional stories. Edward leafs through the pages, unimpressed and irritatedly rubbing at the sore spot that H.G. Wellsâevidentlyâdug into his spine with its own. [ ⌠] Edwardâs eyes are drawn to a particular passage, underlined in careful pencil:
âFace this world. Learn its ways, watch it, be careful of too hasty guesses at its meaning. In the end you will find clues to it all.â
4. Fairy tales? But then Alfons looks further: red, yellow, blue script in Latin that confounds his schoolboy proficiency, save for someâSulphur, Aquaâinscribed above kettle-shaped glass flasks, which house small colorful spheres or even smaller humanoid figures. He flips the page. A translation in English, which he scans until:
âConvert the natures of the Elements and thou shalt find what thou seekest.â
He snaps the book shut. Who is the person occupying this same space during the daytime? Is it a historian who sleeps in his bed? Perhaps an artist, a novelist? An occultist? Or a Time Traveler, Alfons chuckles, somewhat sheepish at the absurdity of that last supposition. Think more rationally, like a scientist or an engineer.
image description and sources - visuals:
1. Postcard of Munich, Germany, from 1907, showing the Frauenkirche and Rathaus and the skyline (source)
2. "Flying Machines" excerpt from the English translation of "The Pocket Book of Aeronautics, Hermann Willhelm Ludwig Moedebeck, 1907 (source)
3. A photograph of a prosthetic leg from the 1920s (source)
4. The title page of "The Time Machine," H.G. Wells, first edition (source)
5. Alchemical diagram of a flask containing black liquid and colored spheres; the text is Donum Dei, an Austrian or German alchemical text (image source) & (text source)
We know what youâre looking for⌠MORE STONES! (And one that you can wear as a pendant!)
Look no further: every printed zine bundle pre-order now through September 27, 11:59 PM PST will be entered to win the Stone on the left above!
As before, if you pre-order a printed zine bundle between September 28th and October 2nd, youâll have a chance to win the second Stone on the right! â¨
Check out all of the bundle options in our shop and build yourself an Anthology!
Summer may be over here in the northern hemisphere, but Anthology pre-orders arenât! âď¸
Whatever you love about FMA, with 4 zines and TONS of merch, we bet weâve got it â check out the shop to view all of our awesome bundle options, and pre-order yours by October 3!
We know that itâs still summer⌠but given that the Anthology will be shipping out in November, it would sure make a great gift for a fellow FMA fan with a December birthday, or for any winter holiday you celebrate! đ
Pre-orders are open until October 3! Check out all of the options in our shop! đ
