Fanfic: The Gambler (Fullmetal Alchemist)

[nebroadwe]

Title: Drabble: The Gambler
Fandom: FMA (anime version)
Character(s): Roy Mustang
Pairing(s): None.
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Warnings: None.
A/N: Kenny Rogers ain't got nothing on Roy Mustang. Crossposted from nebroadwe to Höllenbeck (i.e. fm_alchemist, fullservicefma, fma_gen, fma_writers, and fma_fiction).
Dedication: For cornerofmadness, as a slightly belated birthday present. The inspiration was obvious. :-)

---

      Roy Mustang doesn't gamble. Maes Hughes used to say it was all that kept him from being a rake straight out of the Age of Wits, a dapper buck breaking faro banks and maidens' hearts while sipping claret. Roy always retorted that he couldn't stomach claret, either, but his friend made the comparison anyway whenever Roy declined a round of blackjack or craps. He wishes Maes could see him now, pushing everything he's earned to the center of the table, calling the bet of a man whose poker face no cardsharp can match.

      Because Roy Mustang doesn't gamble ... with money.

---

[Acknowledgments: Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) was created by Arakawa Hiromu and is serialized monthly in Shonen Gangan (Square Enix); the anime of the same title was directed by Mizushima Seiji and story-edited by Aikawa Sho. Copyright for these properties is held by Arakawa Hiromu, Square Enix, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Aniplex, Bones, and dentsu. All rights reserved.]

Comments

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

My dear, you are unmistakable. :-) I'd noticed you were in the middle of a creative fit -- can't help doing the puppy-eyes for more of what I like to read. (Just ask evil_little_dog how many times I've inquired about the tea-party story.) Sorry for siccing the AMV bunny on you ...

... okay, no, I'm not. You do good work; there should be more of it. Attack, my lapine minions, attack!

[fractured-chaos.livejournal.com]

^_^

Well, the good news is, I -finally- got the bridge just before the "So many different worlds..." verse to a satisfactory level. I tend to story-board AMVs like I outline stories; which is to say, barely. I know where I want to start and I know where I want to end up... getting there is more often than not a rambling, back-roads, take-the-scenic-route affair that only goes in the -general- direction I need to.

You should see the file I have just for this AMV. It's... disturbing. I had a -ton- of frame-by-frame edits (somewhere on the order of over 500 frames I'd edited in PhotoImpact) that didn't get used. That's just for that one 11 second sequence.

My mouse screams in terror whenever I try to click on that particular icon now. XD

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Eep. I have the greatest respect for people who do AMVs and other such things -- aside the technical know-how, I am in awe of the mind sufficiently attuned to pictures to be able to sort them into a properly related set. Even if it does create enormous honking amounts of film for the cutting room floor. (Does one's personal computer have a floor? Mine just seems to recede into an endless distance ... )

[fractured-chaos.livejournal.com]

I would assume mine has a 'floor' of approx 300Gb ;) (that's the size of my slave drive).

The folder for Brothers in Arms if currently sitting at 4.96Gb, and the folder for the raw frames extracted in the video editor for later use (which is 98% BiA, 2% other stuff) is at 3.5Gb. Neither folder would be that large, though, had I been more organized in the first place. What happened is I finally learned how to use the photo editing program, and with anything I learn, I tend to abuse the hell out of it for awhile (experimenting, etc). I'll have to wait until the AMV is finished before I clean it up, though. All those 'project' files have to be saved (the file that allows you to pick up where you left off in the video editing program), because so many of the special effects and edits I have had to be done as separate projects from the actual AMV (Things like, doing a sequence of 175 frames has to be put together and rendered into an actual video file before I can add it to the project because otherwise it'll severely bog-down the AMV project due to not enough RAM, and the enormous file size of the AMV project all on its own -- plus certain visual effects require the use of several filters and all 6 overlay tracks, and there just isn't enough 'room' in the main project to do so)...

Um... I geeked out on you there, didn't I?

Beyond that... Well, imagining pictures set to music is like any other creative skill, when you think about it. You suck at first, but if you keep at it, and learn from your mistakes, you get better. I've gotten better with timing now, so I don't need the Cool Edit Pro nearly as much as I did before (which is an audio editing program that I don't utilize nearly as much as I could... I mostly use it because it'll show me a song's wave-form at 30 frames per second, so I can get my timing right on in the AMV).

And, like with anything creative... once you start, your mind becomes a fertile breeding ground for various breeds of idea-bunnies. ;) (I've got one eating at my brain now for Styx 'Renegade', starring Scar.... AAAAGGGGHHHH!!! Too many ideas!) XD

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Um... I geeked out on you there, didn't I?

Just a bit, yes. But I'm used to that -- I am, at the moment, one of only two humanities types in the local group of friends (the rest being biomedical sciences, helping professions and computer techies). I'm told I've developed a very good "my, how interesting!" expression. ;-)

And, like with anything creative... once you start, your mind becomes a fertile breeding ground for various breeds of idea-bunnies. ;) (I've got one eating at my brain now for Styx 'Renegade', starring Scar.... AAAAGGGGHHHH!!! Too many ideas!) XD

Hear, hear! If only they would mature as fast as they breed ...

[fractured-chaos.livejournal.com]

I'm told I've developed a very good "my, how interesting!" expression. ;-)

*giggles* And I've been told that I've developed the uncanny ability to hear eyes glazing over (even on the 'net) ^^;;

Hear, hear! If only they would mature as fast as they breed ...

NNnnnnnnoooooo! I wanna keep the new ones babies until the others have finished maturing! XD Otherwise, I'm -literally- hopping all over the place.