Non-Pony Plot Bunny Theater: Old Wounds · 4:47pm Feb 3rd, 2020
Howdy, folks! First and foremost, as always, Adorable Applejack:
She's been at this for hours...
Now then...
Andrew Joshua Talon, the guy behind the very popular Human in Equestria fic Hands, as well as my favorite raunchy comedy Beating the Heat, does these blogs called "Plot Bunny Theater." In them, he lays out little story ideas that he likely won't ever write, but finds too intriguing to simply ignore. Well, as we learned in a previous blog, I am completely comfortable jacking ideas from other, more talented people! However, for my first one, I'm actually not going with a pony story.
I'm not an anime guy. Lord knows I've tried, though. Seriously, think of any big named or highly respected anime, and I've likely watched a few episodes of it. But I just can't get into the common tropes, cliches, and the general feeling of... Japan-ness, I guess. That said, there have been three, technically two, animes that I watched and enjoyed. One is Assassination Classroom. It's about this all-powerful being who blows up the moon, and then says he's going to destroy the earth in a year. His only demand? To teach a class of middle school delinquents. And seeing as how there's a bounty of billions of dollars on his head, all the kids are naturally trying to kill him. It was a lot of fun, but I kinda stopped watching a little bit into Season Two.
The other, and the one that concerns us today, is Fullmetal Alchemist. I found this show way back in 2006 on Adult Swim. What initially made me curious was that instead of an adult woman, they got an actual little boy to play the role of Alphonse. I know that's becoming more common now, but it didn't used to happen, at least I don't think. Either way, I was hooked instantly. I loved the vaguely World War I European-style world, loved how they made the magic adhere to rules, and the characters were just a treat. Also the fact that one of my favorite main characters had the same last name as me helped. What's funny is that when I found this show, I was studying for the promotion board... and the show aired at like 1 AM. So at a time when I needed a lot of rest and had to focus and study, I was staying up til almost 2 AM watching anime. What a fucking weeb...
I said two, technically three animes I like, because the third was Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. See, the original anime was made before the manga had ended, so about halfway through, they had to make shit up on the go. And... I really didn't like how it ended. Brotherhood is just better in nearly every way, except for one thing, and it is the reason we're here:
Yeah, yeah, we all know the memes. "Hur-hur, Nina and Alexander are so close, they're basically inseparable!" "Cow goes moo, duck goes quack, dog goes 'Ed... ward..." "Nina can't play today, she's feeling a bit ruff!" YoU hAvE aChiEvEd KoMeDy!
Like I said, the original handled her arc better. In Brotherhood, we only had one episode with her before tragedy struck, but in the original, we got a bit more time to see her bonding with Ed and Al, which made it more impactful. In the original anime, she breaks from from her cage and runs off, then Scar kills her. I think that also happened in Brotherhood, though they may have just carted her off, I can't recall. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is due to a picture I found recently that set my mind ablaze with ideas.
In this story, poor Nina Tucker endures on. After years of therapy and a bit of alchemic intervention, she has come to grips with her twisted body, and her slightly lessened mental abilities. Think a person with high-functioning Down Syndrome: able to care for herself, but a bit slower than normal people.
We'd open with a young boy in the Central City Grand Archives. Shaking like a leaf, he turns down an isle and stutters out a question to the massive, eight-foot creature before him, asking for a book off a high shelf. Nina smiles and rears up onto her hind legs, retrieving the book and smiling to the boy, telling him in her slightly halting speech that it's one of her favorites. He smiles and walks off. Nina works her way to the front desk and tells the head librarian that she's taking off for the day.
She walks down the streets of Central City, paying no mind to the occasional stare or gasp. After all these years, she's somewhat known around town, everybody whispering tales of the deranged alchemist who ruined his poor daughter. Suddenly, she is assaulted by two small children, both shouting out, "Auntie Nina!" The boy and girl begin to climb over her furry body, babbling about their recent activities, while she smiles and lets them use her as a jungle gym.
A voice tells them to dismount her, and the kids run over to their approaching parents. Winry apologizes, but Nina tells them it's fine. Lagging somewhat behind are Ed and Al. Al greets Nina warmly, but Ed is grumpy, until Winry elbows him and tells him to lighten up. AL says they're here to "support her." Ed grumbles that this is a bad idea. "That bastard doesn't deserve your time." Still, they walk on together, until they finally reach their destination: Central City Penitentiary.
Stepping inside, they are greeted by Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye. She says that General Mustang couldn't make it, adding that he wanted her to be sure and convey his annoyance at how many strings he had to pull to "make this happen." The group makes their way to a secluded door with no window. Hawkeye simply says, "He in there. You have ten minutes." Al offers to go in with her, but Nina just smiles. She reaches a somewhat trembling paw to the door, opens it, and eases her hulking figure inside, closing the door behind her. Inside is a simple table, and sitting in a chair on the opposite side, hands bound and chains preventing him from standing, a frail old man offers her a tiny smile completely devoid of warmth. "Ah, Nina! How good to see you again!"
"Hello... daddy."
She tries to engage him in conversation, telling him about her job, how much she loves Ed and Winry's kids, a bit of gossip about some girl that Al has been pining over, etc. But he just sits there with that off-putting smile. When he eventually does speak again, he only asks her scientific questions. She realizes that he only sees her as a science project. Finally she manages to say, "Why... did you do... it?"
He tells her about what you'd expect: that it was a necessary sacrifice, an important step for alchemy, and that hey, everything seems to have worked out. He really is a genius!
"B-But, I was... your daughter. And... mommy." Still, he doesn't show an ounce of remorse, and is even proud of what he accomplished. As tears start to fall, she confesses that she doesn't think she'll ever be able to forgive him for the pain he caused her, not only the unbearable agony of the procedure, but the physical pain of her recovery and the emotional pain of his betrayal. Still, "You... are my... daddy. I... still love... you."
"That's nice. Oh! Have they made any calculations as to how big you might get? You're already such a large specimen!"
She leaves the room, not speaking to her friends as she exits the building. Once outside, she collapses to her haunches. Ed and Al embrace her dearly as she quietly weeps. After several moments, her tears dry up. She stands, an apologizes to the brothers. They wave it off, Ed saying, "Hey, you're our little sister." Winry and the kids join them, and she suggests they go get something to eat. The story ends with Nina walking down the street with her family. Her real family.
Yeah, I know, it's pretty sappy and a bit cliche. But I just hate tragedy and love a good happy ending. I firmly believe that nearly any tragedy can lead to a better day.
So... yeah! Hope you found that interesting! Til next time stay safe. stay free, and stay metal! Jake The Army Guy out!
Oh. Oh wow. This certainly does reopen old wounds. Bad enough to have seen Nina's fate. I'd never thought about what could have been. Well done.
......Oh, oh fuck. Yep, old wounds officially reopened.
I'm reminded of Adventure Quest for reasons that aren't immediately obvious. See, the people behind the game occasionally do this thing where they go back to old quests that haven't aged well and remake them to be less bad. It turns out that this extends beyond the mechanics; when the end of the vampire questline mentioned a high-ranking werewolf named Jacob, I thought I knew exactly what to expect only to be completely blindsided by Jake the Dog and Finn the Human as werewolves. Upon further research, the equivalent werewolf quest naturally has its "Edward" but it's this Edward complete with Nina instead of the one you'd think it was.
She’d probably be good friends with the other chimeras like the lion dude and the spiky frog guy.
If you're into a much slower anime, Spice and Wolf might be interesting. It's about a merchant in a pseudo medieval Europe.
Great idea for a moving story, but if I can make a suggestion - it lacks a conflict to raise the emotional stakes and give a stronger contrast with the closing scene of Nina’s reunion with her “real” family. I propose that you add in the interview an element of conflict where her father shows disbelief that she wouldn’t agree that it was worth it, and he would get outright resentful that she disagrees with what he’s done to her, and that she’s an ungrateful child (ramp up the sociopathic narcissism) . Show by Nina’s very humane response how different and better a human being she is, even under the limitations imposed by her transformation.
I could maybe enjoy the first act of this, a heartwarming after-canon story of what could have been better. I'll agree with Daf, though, that if you're gonna do the second act, also adding a third as conflict resolution would be better.