#Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Chapter

[bonniehooper]

Top Picks of 2023

My Top 20 New Favorite Actors - #3: Mackenyu Arata

Introduction to Him: One Piece

[noxtivagus]

oh man i still love ffxv so much 🫶🏼

[komindal]

[coockie8]

Roy: *Arrives at the Cult with no other desire than getting Ed out of this in one piece*

Ray: 👀👀 Fire User?? 👀👀👀 Pure Desires??? 👀👀👀👀 Worthy Conduit???? 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

[tossawary]

"Fullmetal Alchemist"'s use of fantasy elements is interesting to me because of the way it... reduces... certain horrors to these unflinchingly direct basics. (Warning for spoilers and unorganized overview discussion of canon-typical violence.)

Like, the violence and pain is depicted in hideous, nightmarish detail, and/but the pursuit of power at the expense of other people's lives is simplified at the climax into an equation so straightforward that it hurts. All previous prizes of land and resources, which are forms of power, have been stolen by the Amestris military by way of terrible, hateful bloodshed. Father's Promised Day array then throws all that aside, throws it onto the fire, and takes a step further to directly exchange human lives for godlike power.

Another example is that Roy Mustang is not permitted the false distance of a bomb, but has the effect of one using his own two hands. The result is the same, but State Alchemists are not permitted separation from their tools: they ARE the weapons of war. A gun is nothing without someone to hold it. It really underlined to me that if Roy HAD used bombs instead of alchemy, it still would have been his hands that killed an unimaginable number of people.

I don't think FMA is above criticism, but this specific aspect felt to me an incredibly effective narrative tool, especially because things like "our military was created from the beginning to do evil" are accompanied by / backed up by normal humans knowingly going along with Father's plans out of greed and fear, as well as normal humans supporting the country's crimes out of idealism and fear and hatred and selfishness and confusion. It's not just "oh, it was inhuman monsters secretly manipulating everything from the shadows all along"; it's "oh, it was inhuman monsters secretly manipulating everything, representative of humanity's most deadly sins, appealing to our most selfish desires and basic fears, and we all WENT ALONG with it".

From the very first chapters, all of the friendly adult characters were directly saying things like, "Edward, you shouldn't be a part of the military. It's corrupt. I have killed innocent people for nothing and it haunts me." In the final battle, inside the command building, the Armstrong siblings and their allies are straight-up fighting against mindless, starving, created soldiers that kill everything they come up against and stop for nothing. The fascist Amestris military, after years of violent, fabricated conquest and violent, inhumane research, is EATING ITSELF FROM THE INSIDE.

And, of course, the characters cannot use their magic system to escape reality: the Elric siblings cannot undo their mother's death. Life is so incredibly precious because some things cannot be undone. And grief and arrogance allowed to run rampant takes heavy tolls on Edward, Alphonse, and Izumi's bodies.

The only way to miss the messaging in FMA, to have the point go over your head, is to intentionally duck it, because the author is throwing it at your face like a brick. Repeatedly. There are so many bricks. It's not subtle. And I enjoyed it.

[osspial]

thinking a lot about fullmetal alchemist and due to the power of my adhd being medicated i have a lot to say about it

(i finally started reading the manga after having watched FMA:B a few times)

(spoilers below cut)

i didn't really pick up on this before, it's really hitting hard how the core theme of FMA is Hiromu Arakawa trying to process the trauma of growing up in post-war Japan, thinking as a child that their country is just and right and good, and then slowly discovering the extent of Japan's war crimes and the depravity and evil that the country sunk to during the war. (there are MANY. Unit 731 seems particularly relevant to Marcoh's philospher's stone research). and discovering how, at the end of the war, Japan's leadership was fully willing to sacrifice the civilian lives of the entire country to maintain their own personal glory (lots of similarities to The Father's plan to destroy all of Amestris in order to achieve godhood).

and like, in that context, Edward/Alphonse and Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye are such brilliant foils for eachother. both Edward and Roy Mustang are incredibly driven people with no fear of personal pain that are willing to do absolutely anything to achieve their own goals and better Amestris. but Edward is young, and hot-blooded, and a loose cannon, and (at the start) unaware of the evils committed in Amestris's name. and he gets angry when he discovers those. meanwhile, Mustang is older, and more measured and much more constrained by the military hierarchy he's operating in, and he directly helped commit many of the war crimes that Amestris perpetrated. but he's racked with guilt over the innocent lives he's taken, and rather than drifting through Amestris solving problems as they come up (like Edward), he's fully committed to working within Amestris's evil fascist dictatorship and pulling wires behind the scene in order to become the supreme leader of Amestris and make the government more righteous with the full power of an entire country behind him.

I've got less to say about Alphonse and Riza Hawkeye, but they both are committed to Edward/Mustang to the point of death. both Alphonse and Riza are more level-headed than their partners, will do anything to protect them, and have gone through a lot of personal pain in order to help them achieve their ultimate goals. Neither Edward nor Roy would be where they are without Alphonse or Riza's help. Both Alphonse and Riza were active partners in the sins their respective duos committed (human transmutation and war crimes). and, even separated from their partners, both Alphone and Riza are incredibly capable individuals that are more than able to hold their own.

this extends to the character design. look at how Edward and Mustang mirror eachother in their hair (bangs in particular) and angry expression

and look at how Alphonse and Riza mirror eachother -- also in their hair and their large, expressive eyes

what an incredible piece of art. love seeing the amount of love and care that went into this.

(P.S. Royai is like peak relationship goals. i want what they have)

(P.P.S. there's a lot of depictions of common people as honest, good, hardworking, and faithful people that are trapped in horrible machines beyond their control, esp. in the first few chapters (the Leto arc, the mining town arc). i really like how Arakawa goes out of her way to absolve the common people of the sins of their circumstances. it's good stuff)

[qs63]

Roy Mustang's observation diary review

I finally read the “Roy Mustang's observation diary”, and I have to say that it's a shame this isn’t translated to English. This bonus chapter is just hilarious.

For those unfamiliar with it, the “Roy Mustang's observation diary” is a Fullmetal Alchemist bonus chapter released in Japan along with the manga's 6th volume on 2003. Unlike the other bonus chapters this one is written as a Journal written by Havoc, Breda, Fuery, and Falman instead of being a graphic novel chapter.

In this bonus chapter, Central Command has grown bored of the annual evaluation to East Command and has decided to assign each East Command personnel a person to evaluate instead of sending someone from Central to do the job. Jean Havoc gets Roy Mustang. You see, Roy had recently “stolen” Havoc's crush, and Havoc is bitter and determined to teach Mustang a lesson. So he enrolls the team, sans Hawkeye, to help him observe Roy, 24/7, for 5 days and shenanigans ensue. xD

Some of the my favorite moments were:

Roy trying and failing to feed Hayate half of his lunch sandwich.

Havoc waking Roy up from a nap to “check if he was breathing because he was being too quiet”, and Roy chasing him out of the room while screaming that “Of course, I can't breathe if you cover my nose and mouth”. Come on, Havoc, you just wanted to torture him a little, didn't you? xD

Riza using her shotgun on the shooting range when Roy’s procrastination led to her workload increasing. I guess it's easy to guess when she's pissed.

Roy getting sick from Riza's tea, and Fuery being an absolute sweetheart, finding it odd because the military’s terrible tea tastes better when brewed by Hawkeye. Roy, Havoc, Breda, and Falman profusely disagree. “It's your imagination, Fuery.” Either Riza is bad at brewing tea or — most likely — she uses the tea to punish the boys when she's pissed. lol

All the Havoc and Breda banter. Poor Havoc got called out by Breda every single time he tried to spin something in his favor. Breda is such a ruthless BFF. XD

Really, this was pure gold. I totally recommend it. I love this silly team so much.

The “Roy Mustang’s observation diary” can be found as part of the “Fullmetal Alchemist Chronicle” book. As I mentioned earlier, this is not available in English, currently you can get this either in the original Japanese edition — which I own — or an official French translation.

[canmom]

Comics mini-Comints: Dungeon Meshi

reread dungeon meshi through to the end. still such a great manga. here are immediate thoughts - if I end up having time and energy I hope I can write something that goes deeper!

ironically i was only a few chapters from the end when I stopped keeping up, but I was struggling to remember all the characters and context, so reading it through in one go was definitely an ideal way to achieve maximum impact there.

ryoko kui does a very elegant job of handling a transition from 'silly antics' to 'big dramatic fantasy' while still keeping the central thematic throughline - eating and being eaten, belonging to an ecosystem, the significance of sacrificing others to achieve your own desires. a lot of setups pay off in a way that feels meticulously planned - and of course the crux of the final showdown revolves around characters attempting to eat each other, of course the big payoff is a huge feast that symbolically unites all the conflicting factions. it is maybe a bit too neat and happy for my taste, but it's undeniably tightly executed - it never loses sight of what it's about. especially compared to something like Frieren, it's an incredibly coherent serialisation, up there with e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist.

kui's art style deserves all kinds of praise - it feels effortlessly simple, but it clearly communicates all sorts of different shapes and body types and it's really fun to see her play around with remixing the different visual elements when she switches the races around. in general Laius's autistic monster loving ways clearly reflect kui's own deeply felt appreciation for all the ways people and animals live (accentuated further by all the extra sketches the scanlators tuck in). in a way you could kinda call it like Parts Unknown the fantasy manga.

the stakes of the final conflict are interesting - there is much to be said about the framing of 'desire' and its fulfilment, of this occult idea of 'the infinite'. lots you could put in relation to other manga, and also buddhism. (in particular I really want to develop a comparison to Made In Abyss, there are so many parallels, it just might be too spicy for tumblr lmao).

one thing I really like about it is how much its fantasy dungeon-exploring setting owes to D&D and other TTRPGs, rather than videogames. monster ecology has been a fascination of that game since the early days of Dragon magazine, and Kui sharply zeroes in on some of the intrinsic conflicts baked in to that fantasy milieu, notably the lifespan thing, while smartly avoiding the traps of 'evil races'. there's some really fun nods to the weirder monster manual entries. and in a story with so many characters and factions, it does a genuinely incredible job of furnishing everyone with understandable, reasonable motivations, conflicts drawn from their context just like the monsters are explained by their ecology.

and one thing that I particularly appreciate is like... how much it is able to simultaneously understand and sympathise with a character and also show us how and why they'd rub others the wrong way. it's impossible not to like our main group, they're all such charming dorks and the manga leads you along with all the crazy rpg party shit they do, but at the same time you definitely find yourself thinking 'guy's got a point' in the kabru chapters lmao. I'm projecting hard bc i don't really know a thing about ryōko kui but laius def feels like the sort of depiction of having an autism that you can only do if you've lived it.

but yeah, it's a fuzzy ending where it all turns out well. but what's the deeper thrust of it all? there's a funny moment where marcille is like 'maybe in the end our journey is about learning to accept death' and the grouchy old gnome guy completely laughs this off as naive, because death doesn't mean anything. and indeed their big plan pays off, and falin does indeed come back just fine. but still, through all of this it asks you to bite the bullet that being a living creature means eating to survive, at the cost of other creatures, with the other side being that one day you too will be eaten. in contrast to this honest way of being is the beguiling fantasy of infinity, where all your desires are immediately fulfilled - this is shown as a dangerous path of corruption that produces madness and manipulability. having limits and rubbing up against the wishes of others, or 'doing things you don't want to do' as izutsumi's arc puts it, becomes necessary for having some kind of definition as a subject. the thing that makes the demon concrete as an entity is a desire, or appetite, that can't immediately be fulfilled.

of course we can connect this to the idea of narrative conflict. a standard advice for putting together a plot is to ask what each character wants and why they can't get it. wanting something implies movement. and indeed over the course of this story, we see that while having too many desires fulfilled too readily leads to incoherence and callousness, equally a character who is left catatonic as their desires have been eaten by the demon must be reawakened to activity by finding a new desire.

it's kinda Buddhist innit. neither the opulence of the palace nor asceticism. desires are what tie you to the world. but mixed with ecology: what a creature does to find the energy to live is what defines its lifestyle, its form.

this is probably where I'd start talking about entropy gradients and shit if i wasn't typing this on a phone at 1:30am lmao.

but yeah - it's a powerful move to go from 'D&D monster recipe show sendup' to 'living with the inherently violent nature of being an organism fated to live in a finite sum game' and yet Dungeon Meshi makes it feel natural and convincing, while remaining tremendously charming and funny throughout. ryōko kui is definitely some kind of genius, and I can't wait to see what her next act is gonna be. it's all definitely making me appreciate the act of eating a lot more.

next story on my plate is probably The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, which sounds like it will present a very gnarly thematic contrast.

[scienceoftheidiot]

Royai week, day 1 : Curiosity

Chapters: 1/1

Word count : 2,5K

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang

Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Roy Mustang

Additional Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Scars, Burns, Memories, Established Relationship, POV Roy Mustang, Mentions of war crimes and human experimentation

Summary:

After the Promised Day, Roy and Riza allowed themselves to find reprieve in each other (and more). Once, twice, as many times as they could, in a clandestine place.

One day, Riza finally asks the question that has kept her wondering since that first happened.

[danceswithsporks]

Awake- Part 2

Crosshair x Innkeeper!Reader

*Not canon to Season 3*

Part 1

Chapter Summary- The calvary arrives and you feel something familiar.

Authors Notes- Here we are! Part 2 finally! Once I found Crosshairs voice I was able to bust this out in a day! While his voice doesn’t come easy for me when it does come it comes FAST!

Sleep, Crosshair’s escape from the sanity-breaking torture of Tantiss.  He dreamed of countless different things from past missions to reuniting with his brothers. Things he would have done differently in his life and what he’d say to make up for his mistakes. But most importantly, he dreamed of her.

He wasn’t sure when she started appearing in his dreams but he could pinpoint when she started becoming important to him. It had been four months ago after a particularly intense session of torture from Hemlock. He’d passed out from the pain and that’s when she’d appeared. Her name was always a muffled sound to him, her looks fuzzy and hard to make out. But that voice, maker, that voice was everything to him. 

It was soft and gentle, filled with love and kindness. When she spoke his name it was like hearing it said for the first time, every time. It was like a breath of fresh air filled his lungs whenever she spoke his name. He became almost desperate for the torture and attempts at re-education to end just for him to finally be able to get back to sleep. In sleep was where the woman who was saving him was. 

If only he knew her name.

“Your name. Please. What is your name?” 

She laughed like an angel. “You’ve always known my name, Sniper.” Humming softly, she stepped around the couch that had appeared and sat down, but not before she moved a doll out of the way and onto the small table in front of her. 

Crosshair stared at her as she called him the sweet nickname. It sent a shiver through his body as he walked around the couch and sat beside her. His eyes fell on the odd doll for a moment before he looked back at her. “How? I’ve never met you before.” 

“No. You haven’t. But one day you will.” She reached up and stroked his cheek with a feather-light touch.

He had to laugh at that. How would they ever meet if he was stuck here? “How? When?”

She leaned forward and kissed him softly. 

To his surprise, as he kissed her, those fuzzy eyes cleared for the briefest of moments and he finally could make them out. They were perfect. 

“Cross, all you need to do.” She pulled away and reached for the doll on the table. “Is wake up.” 

“No.” It couldn’t be over already! It had just started. 

“Yes. Wake up, Crosshair.” The couch they were on began to stretch, her body fading into the darkness. 

Crosshair shook his head as she faded away, those deep eyes one of the last things to fade. “No!”

He sat up with a gasp as the faint whisper of her begging him to wake up filled his ears. At the door of his cell stood Hunter, begging him to wake up. 

-*-

“Your arm, what happened?” Hunter looked down the hall towards the cameras. Howzer stood on the other end quickly working through the door mechanisms to get Crosshair’s door open. 

“Hemlock” was all the sniper said as he stood from the bed and made his way to the door. “How are you here? How did you find this place?” 

“ A contact of ours had someone on the inside. She managed to get lucky and mixed with our intel. Finding this place was easy at that point.” The door three doors down from them hissed open and a thin and confused clone staggered out. He looked at Hunter for a moment before staggering down the hall. 

Someone had helped them? “Why would they help you?” 

Hunter sighed as he heard the next door open. Crosshair was ever the cautious one.  “She’s helping us all. But she’s also looking for someone.”

“Who?” The door to his cell slid open finally and suddenly there was nothing between him and his brother. They stared awkwardly at one another. Were they supposed to hug now? Run to one another and cry?

“Fox. She’s looking for Fox.” Hunter stepped forward and placed his hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. “It’s good to see ya.” 

Fox? “Fox isn’t here. Not that I’ve heard.” Hemlock had told him when Cody was brought in, as well as Wolffe. There was no doubt that he would have told him that Fox of all people was there. He relaxed slightly at the warm feeling of his brother's hand on his shoulder, thankful that he’d broken the awkwardness first. “You too, Hunter.” The two of them walked out of the cell and looked towards the exit. “What about Omega?” 

He wasn’t there? Damn. He’d hoped to find the Commander as a ‘thank you’ to the Senator. It seemed they’d have to continue searching. “Wrecker found her about five minutes ago.” Hunter pointed down the hall and began the long walk with his brother. 

“And Hemlock?” There was no way that the slime should be allowed to live. 

Hunter sighed as the two of them worked their way through the ongoing carnage. Troopers were firing on prisoners while clones, who were no doubt with Hunter, fired back in defense.  Bodies of all three sides littered the long halls of the research base “running with whatever data he could grab as well as his helpers.” 

“Nala Se is willingly going with him?” That was a surprise to the clone. 

“No.” Hunter stopped and looked at Crosshair carefully. “When we arrived the alarm was triggered. It seemed Hemlock had a feeling we’d be coming. All non-essential personnel were executed. As well as anyone useful to the rebellion. Including Nala Se.”  He shook his head at the memory of the room full of executed personnel. 

Was Crosshair emotional over Nala Se’s death? More than he expected. The woman had created them, given them life, and made them who they were. Even during his time here on Tantiss she’d been the one to take care of them all when they were injured. Crosshair swallowed the lump in his throat that had surprisingly appeared before continuing towards the exit. “Hemlock can’t be allowed to escape.” He’d get revenge. Not just for him, but for Nala Se, Emerie, and the countless others who’d died because of the fucking Empire. 

-*-

“In here”  Crosshair pointed to a room he’d passed on countless occasions, one that he’d attempted to break into on his first escape attempt months ago. The Armory. Back then the door had been closed and required a datapad to open. Now it stood open and free to all in the base. Most of the blasters were gone, with a variety of a few remaining on the wall. Unsurprisingly, the two sniper rifles sat untouched in their mounts on the wall. They’d be useless in an assault like this for the normal troopers who ran around the base. It took them far too long to line up their shots to be useful. But for an expert like Crosshair? They were just what he needed. 

Hunter watched Crosshair walk over and grab one of the rifles with his good hand. “Think you can still shoot?” He motioned to the broken arm in its sling. Crosshair had always joked that he could shoot with an arm tied behind his back. Never did he think he’d have to prove such a thing. 

Crosshair pulled the rifle off the wall and used his hip to swing the weapon onto his shoulder. “I’ll make it count.” 

“I got eyes on Hemlock.” Howzers voice crackled in Hunter's earpiece. “He’s heading towards the loading bay Charlie.” 

“Slow him down however you can. Don’t let him escape.” Hunter spoke quickly while motioning to Crosshair that it was time to go. 

“On it.” Gregor’s voice sounded off before the sound of blaster fire. 

Echo was the next to sound off. “Take him alive if possible. We need to know what he was doing here.” 

Hunter’s eyes shifted to Crosshair who was adjusting the sniper rifle. He doubted the sniper would allow Hemlock to live after what he’d been through. The broken arm was a clear indication that things had been bad. “We’ll do what we can. No promises.” It was all he could give him. 

-*-

Gregor dodged behind a barrier and held his blaster close. Overhead, shots flew by him in rapid succession. “Hemlocks on the ship. We can’t hold him back any longer!” He yelled into his communicator. 

“Don’t let that ship leave. Do what you need to do to ground it!” Echo ran down a hall away from the landing dock. He’d delivered Cody safely to one of the shuttles and was now heading to find his family. As badly as he wanted and needed Hemlock alive, he’d rather he be dead than escape. 

“In here.” Crosshair motioned to a control room that overlooked the landing docks. Running to one of the consoles, he pushed the slumped-over corpse of an imperial to the floor with a thump before placing the rifle down. 

Hunter pulled his blaster out and shot out the window to ease Crosshair’s shot. “Ya got one shot, Cross.” 

The sniper sighed loudly as he looked through the scope. “I’ll get it.” He adjusted the magnification on the scope a few times before adjusting the windage turret as well. “Hunter, your bandana.” 

Even after almost two years of being separated, Hunter remembered exactly what he was asking for. The bandana around his head was undone quickly and tied to the end of the rifle. He watched as Crosshair slid the gun's muzzle out of the window and the bandana began to blow to the left. If Cross missed this shot then that would be it, Hemlock would be gone. Hunter brushed his sweaty dirty hair out of his face and watched carefully as his brother adjusted the scope once more. 

Thirty degrees to the right, wind speed at ten knots, elevation an additional six and a half degrees, lead the shot. Crosshair watched as the ship hovered for a moment before leaving the hangar. Lead the shot. Plan where the target will be, not where it is. Crosshair took a deep breath steading himself before releasing the breath. He adjusted once more, led the shot, and fired.

-*-

 

“I can’t believe you made all of this just from a holo, Stitches.” You placed a hand on one of the many stacks of clothes that your friend had seen for the batch. “They look really good.” 

Stitches looked up from the dress in her lap and smiled softly. “Thanks. I’m hoping they fit the two I haven’t met yet. Going off the holo alone can only give me so much. Plus from what Wrecker said, it was an old picture of all of them.” Still, she’d done her best with the little she had. 

“Are you sure you don’t mind giving up a few of your rooms for them?” Chai walked in from the kitchen and passed you a cup of sweet tea. Your favorite, especially the way she made it. 

You took the cup from her and sipped the cool drink happily. It was a warmer than usual day on Pabu so the cold drink hit just the right spot. “Not at all. It’s been slow and the rooms are sitting empty. Besides, It’ll probably only be three of them.” You winked at Chai who blushed brightly. “Right?” 

The seamstress in the room nodded as she took a cup from Chai as well. “Wrecker and Omega will be staying here with me. Hopefully, Tech will be staying with Chai.” 

Chai felt like her cheeks were on fire. She knew you guys were only poking fun because you wanted them together. It was the fact she was hearing it said out loud that was making her blush. She and Tech hadn’t even solidified what they were yet! Now everyone was talking about them living together. She had to admit she did like the idea. 

“Oh, you’re thinking about it right now. Aren’t you?” You wiggled your eyebrow at your friend and watched as she nodded sheepishly. “Knew it!” The three of you giggled playfully filling the room with laughter. The sound made you smile. Your two dearest friends were going through some rough times right now. It had been nearly a month since their boys had left and they hadn’t heard from any of them in three weeks. The stress and worry were eating at them both and you could see it. This time together was hopefully helping to calm them both. “Mmm,” a thought came to you while you sipped your drink. “I still haven’t seen the holo.” You walked over and picked up her datapad. “Can I?” 

“Yeah. Of course. Would help you to know who to look out for when they get back.” Stitches reached over and tapped the screen a few times before a holo came up. “There they are. Wrecker said it’s an old picture before Crosshair and Echo left. But I’m guessing they look close to the same.” 

Your eyes shifted to the holo and you felt your breath freeze in your throat. “What’s this one’s name?” You pointed to the bald-looking one holding a long gun. 

Stitches looked up from the dress in her lap and over to where you were pointing. “That’s Crosshair. He’s their sniper, well, was.”  

“Crosshair,” you said the name and it suddenly felt familiar on your tongue. Somehow you felt like you’d known that name forever. Looking back at the picture you squinted at his eyes for a moment. They also felt familiar, how strange. 

“You okay?” Chai walked over and looked at the holo as well. She let out a little sigh as she spotted her Tech. She missed him more than she’d admit. 

Head tilted to the side, you nodded slowly. “Yeah, just having one of those déjà  vu moments.” You pointed to Crosshair and tapped the screen gently as Chai and Stitches both gave you odd looks. “He looks familiar is all.” 

“Maybe you saw him on Coruscant when you used to go there?” Chai looked at the stern-looking clone. For clones, they really didn’t look alike. One of the benefits of being from their special group it seemed 

You chewed your lip in thought. Before the war ended you did go to Coruscant a few times with your grandfather. Maybe she was right and you saw him in passing. “Yeah. Maybe.” Passing the datapad back to Stitches, you picked up your drink once more. “What do you know about him?” 

Stitches shrugged while continuing the hem on the dress she was making for Omega. “Not much. Wrecker doesn’t like to talk too much about him and neither does Omega.” 

“Tech called him his twin. Said they were two halves of a whole it felt like. I could tell it made Tech sad to think about him.” Chai took a seat on the couch and watched the way Stitches’ fingers moved expertly over the material.  

“Hmm, interesting. Well, I look forward to meeting both of them.” The familiar feeling was still nagging at you. How could you have met someone like him? You’d remember meeting a clone, especially one that looked like him. Still, there was not much you could do about it now. You’d just have to sleep on it.” You moved away from the girls and over to one of the windows where you watched a few birds fly by as you sipped your tea. No matter what the source of the feeling was, you’d no doubt be meeting him soon. You thought about his name once more as another one pulled at your mind but you couldn’t recall it. Mulling the name over in your mouth for a moment you let out a soft breath as wind swept by the window. With a breathy whisper, you spoke into the wind and let it carry your words someplace safe.

 “Crosshair.” 

Tag List:

@rndmpeep @sarahskywalker-amadala @queenariesofnarnia a @idoubleswearimawriter @bambambunny @ravenclawbitch426 @jupitersaturnapollo @mzjakao @heylosers06 @dangraccoon @impala1967666 @andrakass2 @ducks118 @motte-the-goblin @rintheemolion @merkitty49 @jediknightjana @onyxtides @moon-wrecked @mssbridgerton @griffedeloup

Want to be added to the Taglist? Let me know!

[watertribe-enya]

What are your thoughts on Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist (manga/Brotherhood)?

I have many thoughts on Scar, because I love him to pieces. Best character in both anime and manga

One thing that bothers me even among people who are staunchly pro "Scar did nothing wrong (except the one time when he was completely out of it due to immense trauma)" and "Scar should have been allowed to kill more people" , is that they completely overlook that Scar just doesn't enjoy killing people. He does it because he feels that those who denied his people the right to live would never face justice for their actions otherwise. And also because he's really, really mad at them of course. Actually the part about justice might be moreso the fandom's view of it, and Scar's desire for vengeance is his primary motivation(when you look at what he said while fleeing through the desert). So Scar feels he's doing what is necessary, but he doesn't usually take enjoyment out of it. The closest he came to show glee during a fight was when Mustang showed up to intervene in chapter 7/ episode 5. And that was more grim satisfaction than anything. He doesn't even show any joy when mangling Envy and Kimblee, who kickstarted the genocide and brutally murdered his family. Every action is trenched in anger, and that anger is born from tremendous pain and loss.

So Scar doesn't want to kill (or at least doesn't want his whole life to be centered arround it). He wants to protect. He wants to do something for his community, his people. But for the longest time he felt that he had lost the chance to do so forever. His immense relief at finding out how many Ishvalans had actually survived was wonderful to behold.

Now you might say "But he's doing the right thing by killing those unrependant war criminals! He shouldn't feel bad about it!" And while that's correct (at least from my perspective) you have to look at Scar's other circumstances too. It's not an enjoyable life if you spent your days solely focused on the people who brutalized you. And Scar is doing it all alone, with no help or support system. With no breaks from the struggle for survival and recurring death battles. It's good that he stopped killing (outside of the necessary battles), not because Edward and the other good guys kept whining at him, but for his own sake. Because he finally feels he's actually doing something for the people he loves again.

Anyhow, how painful is it that Scar who was afraid about his brother creating or turning into a human weapon via alchemy, became exactly that?

"Your brother may discover a way to gain enough power to face those state alchemists, and perhaps even enough to destroy their army. With power that far surpasses theirs, to retalitate against them with alchemy! Make them pay for their sins with blood!'

I'm crying.

Another great thing about Scar is that you can guilt trip this thirty something, hardened warrior with "You'll make your brother sad." And he has no proper reply for that.

To end this with my personal headcanon, Scar outlives all the remaining State Alchemists sans Edward, and dies aged 103 surrounded by his 20 grandchildren.

[tare-anime]

Fullmetal Alchemist

Welp, finally I read this manga.

So very late, yes I know, but this and that happened and I've finally able to binge read this amazing 10 years work (2001-2010) in a little more than a week.

Tbh, the first book was mostly world building and kind of slow paced, but starting from the last half of second book.... I can't stop reading.

Wow. Just wow.

As a reader who usually has to wait a week or two between each chapter, being able to read a series from start to finish in a week is quite a different experience, tbh 🤣🤣 I need two days to take a breath and comprehend the story. There must be details that I missed that I need to reread.

Overall, the highlight of this series is the impecabble characterizations and the growth of each character, and character dynamics.

And not only Ed and Al as protagonists, or Winry, Roy, Izumi as the closest support characters but also the people around them up until the minorest characters. I love Scar, Barry the Chopper, the Homonculus, and even the main antagonist Shadow in the flask.

All of them get their moments to shine. All of them got their share of development, and most important, all of them got to do something in the plot!

The world building and plot also been done amazingly. From the current timeline, up until events in the past, and all loose ends being tied up in the end that give me the most satisfactory endings. It is still an open ending, but at the same time the epilogue feels enough.

And of course, this manga contains so many amazing female characters, and each one of them is so badass. They have their strength and weakness and impact to the people around them.

My favorites mommies.... Izumi Curtiz and Olivier Armstrong.

OmG!!!! Especially in these badass moments??? 🛐🛐🛐🛐 My Queeeennn!

Of course, I will always love black haired beauty with knives. LanFan my beloved 💖💖💖💖

And last but not least, Granny Pinnako!

I mean, this person has been there, and will always be there through sweet moments and sorrows. Supporting Trisha and Hohenheim, Ed and Al, Winry. She stands strong for them. She is there when these people needs some strong hands to steady their wobbly legs. And pushes them to carry on with their life.

That is.... one amazing woman right there!!

As far as pairing ships, being a TwiYor fan I am, I've always been bombarded with Royai fanarts (and I'm not complaining). Yes, I noticed the tragic pasts, the relationship, and how supportive Royai can be (and it is quite similar to TwiYor in a way), but I think for FMA, I lean more to Ed and Winry ship.

Don't get me wrong, I love both ships.

But seeing Ed and Winry grow from little boy and girls, do their share of hardships, realize their feelings, and finally voice their awkward proposal. Auugghhh!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

My favorite moments for these ships are:

Yes yes, I will still love angst and hurt/comfort whenever I go 🤣🤣🤣

Oh, other ships that I like: LanFan and Lin, Izumi and Sig, May and Alphonse, Mr and Mrs. Hughes.

All in all, what an amazing series. I'm glad I finally able to read this 🥰🥰🥰🥰 and will do a reread while waiting for the next spy x family chapter.

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 107

I've never commented on any of the title pages but I really want to talk about the one for this chapter.

When I first saw this image, I made it my computer background for a long while. There's just something about people coming together for a united and just cause that makes me emotional.

And there's just the wonderful touch that this includes EVERYONE who is united under this cause, including those who could not or did not make it. We can see the hands (and hairbun) of Hughes, Foo, Havoc, Pinako, Winry, Buccaneer, and ...

KIMBLEE!?! So yeah, Pride's actions last chapter disgusted Kimblee so much that he opted to throw his full support (meager as it was for he was just a single soul in Pride's body at that point) into stopping Father. If he was still alive, he more than likely would have fought alongside the heroes in the final battle.

An alternate joke interpretation: They're all playing rock-paper-scissors and Xiao Mei won cause she was the only one who chose paper while everyone else chose rock.

What's the point of having powers if you can't use them for more mundane purposes like protecting yourself from bits of debris.

And that's a nice little detail that Greed is protecting Lanfan from it as well. He doesn't get along with her at all, but he's still going to protect her because it's just in his nature.

And look at the elegant craftmanship that could only be created by the beauty of Alex Louis Armstrong's Alchemy.

Olivier Mira Armstrong finally trusts her brother to lead.

There is so much out-of-context Royai bait this chapter.

Major General Armstrong didn't get the memo that Scar is on her side. Her troops all have guns pointed at him.

Now that there's nothing else for her to do, Olivier is able to take time to process Buccaneer's death and grieve.

Before there was Smash Ultimate, this fight was where the phrase "Everyone is Here!" applied. Anyone who could make it participated in the final battle and it was the most hype thing ever.

Imagine you're playing an RPG where you only ever get to use 5 party members max during the whole game. Then you go into the final battle and you pick your 5 mains. And when you press Confirm, a message pops up saying "All party members must be selected."

This is a fight where the hype is due to how everyone is getting to participate. And it does an excellent job because the entire strategy is keep Father on the defensive and burn out his stone. He cannot attack and defend at the same time so it will take a whole army to beat him because anything less will not be able to keep up the consistent pressure.

Once again, I feel like a page is missing in the chapter. Ed is pinned and Father is going to try stealing his soul. And Al immediately decides to trade his soul so Ed can regain his arm. Maybe I'm just spoiled because the final battle in the anime managed to be even more hype and we have a scene of Al screaming and trying to crawl his way toward Father only to realize his bloodrune was about to be damaged by the crack in his armor.

He understands his soul is about to get separated permanently, so he might as well use it to give Ed a fighting chance.

Every shot of Ed's right shoulder after really makes me wince. The metal socket for his automail is still there. His arm was just attached over it. He's going to need surgery after this is over.

Ed transmuted the exact same spear he made in chapter 1 and he finally got to use it.

And seeing all this, this "ultimate power" being utterly defeated and everyone putting their hopes on Ed, Greed has a moment of self-reflection.

He's spent his life trying to get that power Father has gained, and it is nothing. But he hears everyone cheering Ed on and he realizes that's what he'd like.

Greed is his own person, but he still has many of Father's faults. In particular, he can't feel content with anything because he's always looking up at those with more than him.

He wishes he had friends and companionship so strong that everyone would put their trust in him.

I used the below image and NASA's simulation of the 2023 eclipse to estimate how long it took the heroes to beat Father.

Father spent roughly 350 years to achieve his plot to seal god within himself and become a perfect being. He was defeated 35 minutes later.

back

[edlingao3feed]

Come Home to Me

SomePsychopomp https://archiveofourown.org/works/57366277 by SomePsychopomp When they were only boys, Edward Elric fell in love with Ling Yao before he even knew it. When the revelation dawned upon him, he knew in his heart that it was best to leave such a love alone. How could they ever be together, separated by a sea of sand and with countless lives resting upon Ling’s shoulders? No, Edward could never burden Ling with his love. But he forgets that Ling was once the embodiment of greed, and perhaps that left some sort of lingering stain upon his soul. Or maybe he was always destined to become this way: hungry, ambitious, and unrelenting. As the Emperor of Xing, Ling will find a way for them to be together. And once he finally has Edward Elric, he will make certain nothing can ever come between them again. (Simply put, Ed loves Ling a healthy amount. But Ling’s love might outweigh the world itself.) Words: 6397, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Edward Elric, Ling Yao, Alphonse Elric, Lan Fan (Fullmetal Alchemist), Pinako Rockbell Relationships: Edward Elric/Ling Yao, Edward Elric & Ling Yao, Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Lan Fan & Ling Yao Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Post-Promised Day, Emperor Ling Yao, Edward Elric Keeps Automail, Adult Edward Elric, Protective Alphonse Elric, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Ling Yao, ling's still got that greed in him, if u know what i mean, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Xing (Fullmetal Alchemist) This post was automatically generated from an RSS feed of all new AO3 works tagged 'Edward Elric/Ling Yao'.

[theliteraryluggage]

I want more body (I want more soul), Ch 10

Fullmetal Alchemist | Febuwhump 2024 | M | Ch 10/10 | Rape/Non-Con | Edward Elric/Truth | Existential Horror | Heavy Angst

“No.” “N—what do you mean, no?” “I mean no. We don‘t have a deal.” Edward took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. He‘d just punched out one God, and this one was skirting the line. He was exhausted, his entire body hurt, he was dizzy with blood loss and he just wanted to take Al home. “You‘re telling me my Gate isn‘t enough of a toll?” Truth tilted its head, a thoughtful twist to its impression of a mouth. “It‘s enough”, it said, “but I don‘t want it.” – Edward bargains something else for Alphonse’s body, because there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his brother.

Chapter 10 is up and with that my Febuwhump 2024 fic is finally complete!

If you've been waiting to binge it, now's your time! 🤭

[polypolyanna]

The Dwarf Still in the Flask (3583 words) by Polymatheia Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Father & Van Hohenheim Characters: Father (Fullmetal Alchemist), Van Hohenheim, Souls of Xerxes, Original Characters Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Original characters because canon characters haven't been born yet, Will tag characters when they appear, Obliterating canon with one move, Anxiety, Depression, Panic Attacks, These are all for Hohenheim because he's a hot mess for a while Summary:

The day is finally here, the day Homunculus will finally get his rightfully deserved body with his blood kin at his side. Yet disaster strikes, despite years of meticulous planning Homunculus is still trapped in the flask.

A minor setback. After all, Van Hohenheim’s ascension was successful, and with over a million human souls at their disposal, he can still get his body. All he has to do is get Van Hohenheim’s help. Unfortunately, Van Hohenheim hates him for what he’s done.

Perhaps this is a major setback.