#in cos he sacrifices wrath for ed

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Thank you sooo much for your lovely response to my long ask a couple of days ago!!! I really do agree with you wholeheartedly (especially about Scar's post-Briggs characterisation), and something that irritates me about my fellow mangahood fans is that they love the complications in the plot introduced by the reveal that Scar killed Winry's parents (immediately after his own family died in an alchemical explosion + experiencing the world's most traumatic arm replacement).

I get that the point of having Winry confront Scar and point the gun at him is to make Scar reflect on their shared wrath...but I don't it's remotely comparable fhsjfjdj

Like yes it's tragic that the Rockbells died, but unless I am hallucinating they were fairly confident that the military wouldn't have actually killed them because they were Amestrians and thus why they continued to treat Ishvalans in their field hospital even after they had been warned. Now I think it would have actually been interesting if they were then later killed by the military that they trusted to spare them because of their Amestrian blood!

And then the Elrics + Winry having to deal with the fact that the institution they respect/work for/interact with is the same institution that killed the Rockbells - something mangahood treats like an unforgivable sin when Roy "War Criminal Extraordinaire" Mustang and Kimblee™️ are right there😭😭😭 They even show us the military scheming to kill the Rockbells, and then Arakawa has Scar do it at his most unstable to make a point about The Cycle of Hatred from a man whose pain is the most justified😭

And not to be petty but Ed's line about how Winry's hands were made for saving lives and the fact that her parents are doctors - Scar was a warrior monk whose hands also saved lives because he defended his people; and in fact that scene in the manga when he said he had nothing left to protect so he will instead live for vengeance went hard and is soooo indicative of his character😩

Unlike the war criminals and their accomplices, Scar's primary motivation throughout the genocide was to protect his people! And when they were slaughtered and their homes destroyed, that motivation developed into vengeance for his people! And I actually think it's quite powerful that Scar is willing to sacrifice his own peace of mind and the integrity of his soul by using alchemy - it's the fact that he is willing to kill the living to prove that the dead did not deserve it!

He is in fact the consequences of the rotten core that is the foundation of Amestris! So why do brohood fans insist on acting like it's his responsibility to end the cycle of hatred when the Amestrians were the first to pull the trigger? What's he supposed to do? How is he meant to continue living when everything was taken from him?

If we had even just a couple of scenes showing more of the Ishvalan perspective; like tell me more about the Ishvalan who refused treatment from Uriy Rockbell because Amestrians killed his father or the Ishvalan man in the desert mutilated by Roy's flames - there should be more angry Ishvalans in the series, and I think the Elric brothers (and fuck it Miles also - we saw an Ishvalan slum in North City) interact with them and deal with the horror that their nation inflicted upon the Ishvalans for no reason other than to serve the rotten core of the nation - Father & co.

But nooooo let's act like Scar killing the Rockbells is comparable and actually worse than the Ishvalan genocide🙄

(I am SO SORRY I just had to rant because I saw an annoying mangahood fan praise Scar's "redemption" arc when he doesn't need one😭 I even like that he got to return to his homeland and even reclaim his pre-genocide identity, but it should have been achieved through actual mutual understanding instead of my babygirl giving in to Arakawa's politics🗿 I know he's depressed and unhappy but to make his sudden cooperation realistic Arakawa should have has characters like Elric brothers and Miles should have done more reflecting on their complicity with the institution instead of bailing out of a difficult plotline)

Haha, no need to apologize for the rant! I'm right there with ya. The way Winry and the Rockbells get inserted into Scar's story feels so precisely calculated in order to both equivocate the violence of genociders with the violence of the oppressed, as well as (more directly) knocking Scar down himself.

[Long analysis after the readmore]

It's a perfect example of this method of narrative framing:

All anyone can focus on is Scar and the Rockbells, and that's by design, particularly with the 2009 anime adaptation.

For anyone paying attention to Scar's backstory with an anti-imperialist lens, it's clear he has correctly assessed who his enemies are and what to do about them. He's right to despise and destroy state alchemists and soldiers. And in order to "muddy" his position, Arakawa threw the Rockbells into the mix.

Again, with an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist framework this wrinkle to his backstory doesn't change shit. He is in the right to kill members of the militia. An accident doesn't erase the system of power that enacts imperial aggression. An accident doesn't negate a need for direct violence against a genocidal entity. Unfortunately Arakawa, the team at Studio Bones behind the Brotherhood anime, and the majority of people who watch Broho or read the manga don't see things this way.

Now I haven't read the manga myself, but as you've mentioned the Rockbells did seem to acknowledge the very real risk of death that can befall them while working in a war zone. Correct me if I'm wrong (and I may very well be) but don't they leave a letter behind in the manga, imploring that no one blame any Ishvalans who may instead harm them? Take this with a grain of salt, as I'm working off of a recollection of a post from someone who did read the source material. If I'm in the right ball park here, then Brotherhood cutting this from the story is an even more blatant attempt to tar Scar with a level of villainy (a trite description for the topic of genocide, even a fictional one) as the Amestrian war criminals.

Except the Amestrian war criminals are not seen as villains. The only ones characterized as villains for committing this (and other) genocide(s) are the homunculi, Bradley's council, and Kimblee. Following orders apparently is wholly excusable, even for a voluntary military. Both the "pain" and "anguish" of these 'do-gooder' genocidaires and Winry herself are elevated to near-martyrdom status in Brotherhood. Winry's parents especially so, and thus Winry's loss is seen as so poignant, so heartbreaking, that the audience (and Ed) are moved to an almost smug derision of Scar. See? It's the ~cycle of violence~. That's why his actions are ~wrong~. He doesn't parade around an idealism as a form of penance that makes him inspiring like Mustang (I have to laugh), he doesn't bat big doe eyes while looking so mournful like Riza (I have to yawn), he didn't have a lovely cis heterosexual family unit to create or protect like Hughes (please don't acknowledge Scar's family or community, in fact don't inquire about them at all) (also mangahood Hughes. Oh god, mangahood Hughes 😬). No, Scar is a violent man, an 'awful hypocrite", he harbours none of these 'heroic' qualities that everyone defends in the military characters, so therefore stopping him and bringing him to an Amestrian standard of justice is paramount.

The way this scene is constructed, in both the manga and the show is so blatant in its weepy-moralizing. Scar is contrasted as brutish, towering against a white teenage girl's trembling, collapsed position before him. His race cannot be ignored from the composition of this moment. The racism that under-girds the real life bogeymen of the "wanton violence of SWANA men" and the "foreign savage threatening our pure, fair, delicate women and children" is manifested in fma mangahood.

We're supposed to see these young (white) Amestrians as the hope for a reformed nation. (Abolition and decolonization are not vocabulary in the fma ethos. This isn't a unique lack for fma, most media can't be bothered to contend with truly ending a system or a nation that serves as its own sort of protagonist.) The end of ~the cycle~ will be because these golden-hearted white kids will choose pacifism (a useless paradigm when dealing with an aggressive entity). Ed assesses that his military superiors should not be held responsible for the mass destruction and slaughter they rendered with marvellous aplomb, Winry is too good to sully her hands, and Scar is a monster who's hand(s) are, it seems, meant to kill.

This is how we're guided to view things: The soldiers and generals are proud idealists to be respected and aided. Ed is a spunky genius who gets to use the coffers of the state's ill-gotten wealth for himself and his brother, and Winry is a saint who truly lost the most from the Ishval War. The Ishvalans shouldn't have fought the Amestrians, the Ishvalans shouldn't have resisted occupation, the Ishvalans shouldn't have retaliated for the murder of an Ishvalan child, the Ishvalans shouldn't have been where the military took aim. Scar shouldn't have been so human as to be loved, to be saved, to be physically and mentally harmed, to be so thoroughly concussed and delirious (neurologically and psychologically), and he shouldn't have ever hated Amestrians. Then the Rockbells could have returned home to Winry.

(If we throw in the ridiculous speech from Miles, Scar should have also, somehow, joined the military simultaneous to being in their crosshairs as Ishval was torn asunder.)

And that's what the framing, the script, the animation, everything in Brotherhood bellows: Winry is the truest, most blameless victim of the Ishvalan genocide. The death of two white, blond, blue-eyed humanitarian doctors is worth hundreds of thousands of Ishvalans. Where Father and Wrath both see each life worth only that life as a means of efficient resource extraction, and where the philosophy of One is All, All is One is meant to unify the value of each life, we get a much different, more bleak weighing scale from Ed, Scar's arc, and from the in-built bias of the audience: Scar's brother, his neighbours, the web of individuals, communities, and every generation of Ishvalan is worth markedly little in the holy light of the Rockbells and Winry's suffering. Scar's past and present are mere excuses; Winry's past and present are his sins.

This moment is also a tacit ploy to make people think of the families and loved ones of the fascist pigs Scar has already murdered by this point. The implication of those people as a trail of Winrys left in his wake also equivocates the pain of the imperial citizenry and the lives they enjoy thanks to ceaseless land, resource, and human acquisition, with that of the endlessly angry, 'dangerous' Ethnic Other. Surprisingly, given how little tact Brotherhood has as a visual narrative, the anime (thankfully) never outright shows these bereft loved ones from the murdered war criminals. However, it hangs invisibly in this scene with Winry as well as the one in the abandoned mining town in Briggs.

And to make a quick aside: I find it to be in very poor taste that the tragedy of Scar's life is being used to further the romance between Ed and Winry. Just. Please. Who the fuck asked for a brown man's oppression to be the backdrop for the growing passion between white teens??? What in the goddamn, man.

Getting back on track: Brotherhood wants us to see Ishval and Amestris as two equal parties foolishly destroying one another. It's the fallacy of both-sideism and we see the very real deployment of this propaganda every time an imperial power wages its (nowadays proxy) wars. But like real world targets of imperialism, Ishval has every right to fight back. Scar, even with the deaths of these doctors thrown at his feet in an attempt to manufacture a toothless, sanctimonious tale of "two wrongs don't make a right," is still fully in the right to have sought and destroyed the fascist boots that trampled him and his people.

The Rockbells assumed they would be safe from their own nation, and as you said we do get confirmation that the military was going to send someone in to assassinate them for their treachery. Kimblee (because we could never make any of the ""Good guy"" soldiers do this, only the strawman fascist) was given the task. In a twist of fate, Kimblee's assault on Scar indirectly gets that particular job done. I, for one, hate this writing decision. I've talked about it before, but fma 03's choice of making Mustang and Marco the Rockbells' killers is a far better choice for the broader anti-imperialist theme 03 focused so heavily upon. Hell, any serving soldier would have been a better, less nakedly military apologia than Scar. It would better reflect the real world strategies deployed by imperial armies: decimate medical facilities, staff, and humanitarians (including those who are citizens of their own nation state). Arakawa choosing a roundabout path to this outcome, one that vilifies Scar while sparing the ""Good"" reformable soldiers, because it's actually all Kimblee's actions anyway, is a cheap trick.

It drives me nuts that the Elrics and Winry are never truly confronted with the horrors of their nation and its governing institutions. Anytime they get a taste of what makes the military so vile it's coated in a million red herrings about who is "actually" responsible for this wretched state of affairs. It's not that militaries are the violent arm of the state meant to slaughter people and capture/maintain land as property of the state, no! That's the fucked up thinking of Bradley, his council, Father, and Kimblee! Look, our ""Good"" war criminals and soldiers actually ~understands~ that the military exists to protect people! (Which people? And from whom? Shut up, don't ask questions, you're ruining the wholesome idealism here!) With them in charge post-coup, everything will be better! Any harm Amestrians have faced from their own military's invasions is actually the fault of the military's targets: Resembool received collateral damage because Ishvalans fought back! So obviously this is akin to Ishvalan imperialism, right? Both sides? We shouldn't see race? Reverse racism is real? But look, Winry is suffering because Scar is a reverse racist! So it is real!

Everything you said about Scar is 100% on point. It's so good that I'm gonna highlight it here again:

Scar was a warrior monk whose hands also saved lives because he defended his people; and in fact that scene in the manga when he said he had nothing left to protect so he will instead live for vengeance went hard and is soooo indicative of his character Unlike the war criminals and their accomplices, Scar's primary motivation throughout the genocide was to protect his people! And when they were slaughtered and their homes destroyed, that motivation developed into vengeance for his people! And I actually think it's quite powerful that Scar is willing to sacrifice his own peace of mind and the integrity of his soul by using alchemy - it's the fact that he is willing to kill the living to prove that the dead did not deserve it!

What more can I say? This illustrates perfectly what a lot of fans seem to entirely miss or dismiss. And listen, I'll give Arakawa some credit, because she wrote this into his character! She wrote Scar to be more than just Big Bad Hypocrite, and Ed's view of him is in fact wrong. I appreciate that Scar doesn't fall over himself to explain to these Amestrians what happened on his end. But all the same, with other Ishvalans being used to essentially rat Scar out (the ones taking refuge in the ruins of Xerxes), and that there was no sympathy or solidarity given to him by his own people who were there in that makeshift hospital still shows what the primary perspective on Scar should be.

To Arakawa, he is wrong.

The Amestrians rebuke him, his own people (the refugees in Xerxes, his own Master and the refugees within Amestris) rebuke him. Miles rebukes him. Ed, Al, and Winry rebuke him. The Ishvalans rebuke his one-man insurrection on his and their behalf to instead stoke the flames of Ed's righteous animosity towards Scar. Why? Because not all Amestrians. But certainly all Ishvalan rebels. It doesn't matter to Arakawa and Studio Bones' Broho team that Scar's hands were already fighting to save lives; he has to be beaten down and cowed to agree to save Amestrian lives, reformed for Amestris' betterment. This is how he will pay for his "cruelty". Meanwhile the war criminals, sans the leader of the nation and Kimblee, get off scott-free.

A core problem with the ~cycle of violence~ rhetoric is that the buck is almost always passed to the latest victim of violence, particularly if that victim entertains the path of self-defense or retaliation. If you initiate, or are a major player, in that violence then you are practically absolved of your actions and intentions once you create a chain effect of harm. This, in my opinuon, is partly why fans see the responsibility of ending violence to be on Scar's shoulders. Combined with what I discussed regarding the "positive" qualities of our protag war criminals winning the hearts of audiences; that they are written to be as charming, inspiring, and pitiable as possible, with a sufficient lack of melanin to align with the colourism and racism imbedded in most societies and cultures irl, we end up here. With Scar seen by many as a villain/former villain.

Remember, don't argue against pacifism. And don't bother questioning what other routes he could have reasonably taken, because the manga and Brotherhood answers that question!

He should have been living "peacefully" with other Ishvalan refugees in their nice little "peaceful" (slums) settlements. After all, they had no real qualms with their "peaceful" new lives. We're hit over the head time and again by how "content" these refugees are, in spite of the ethnic cleansing and marginalized, hidden existences they suffer. And I scare-quote peaceful because this isn't peace. This is the hegemony of Amestrian "peace" forcing a people it wants fully eradicated to hide and remain quiet for their own safety. So peaceful. But that's what Scar should have done instead! (Or become a fascist to solve fascism, ala Miles' stunning advice.) Brotherhood keeping the majority of Ishvalans as an amorphous monolith, without identities or perspectives, who make do with the hand that's been dealt (it seems like all "violent Ishvalans" were slaughtered in Ishval during the war, since only Scar continues to fight afterwards) means we can digest the Amestrian perspective and internalize it without issue. It's an intentional choice.

Even the manga at least shows Ishvalan dissent a bit better, but it seems to lose any interest in pursuing the perspective of refugees as the plot progresses. A lot of entertainment media can only garner sympathy for victims of genocide so long as they have an innate "pacifism" to their people (this too is racist framing). You can only feel bad if the Indigenous and the racialized are simply too kind hearted and pure to ever raise their hand against the gunmen who fire at them. The narrative can only imagine Scar having the potential to reform into the acquiescent, useful native if we see that most of his people are horrified by any violence against their colonizers. If they're horrified of him, then they and Scar can be forgiven (for being what they are, for being victims whose victimization harmed the soldiers, the Rockbells, and Winry). So what more could the Ishvalan perspective hold in Brotherhood, when that's all that's needed of them to begin with?

I sorely wish we weren't fed such an awful concoction of racist, military-absolving story telling. All major fma media isn't necessarily perfect about consistently handing the mic to different Ishbalans/Ishvalans, but Brotherhood is the absolute worst of the three in this regard. The manga at least has Ishvalans who openly reject Amestris and Amestrians for the atrocities they suffered at their hands, as included in your ask. Brotherhood doesn't even bother with any of that. It's just a spotlight on Scar, and he made Winry an orphan. Not Amestris, not its military, not Father, not Kimblee, but Scar. And to Broho fans, that is the ultimate sin anyone in this series could ever commit.

I'm glad mangahood Scar gets to return to Ishval and rebuild. I'm glad this version of him gets to live, because this continuity has nothing of value to say had it killed him off or prevented him from reconnecting with Ishval. Of course Scar didn't need the "reformed" military to grant him that permission. And he abso-fucking-lutely did not need to earn it via "redemption". Such a crock of shit. To have to earn your homeland by joining the very forces that ruined thousands/millions of lives is one of the most disgusting outcomes of this story. People love his "redemption" because it makes them comfortable about real, heavy matters. It tells them "Their nation, their nationalism, their militarism can be good and healing after all." Fuck off.

Scar deserved infinitely better. Every Ishvalan deserved better than to be a morality lesson about what the oppressed ought to do instead of having a spine. And Winry shouldn't have been a pawn for distracting us from the evils of the military.

--

See, this is why no one should apologize to me about sending me a ranting ask. 😅 I'll take any opportunity to rant x10. And hey, you're always welcome to send long asks! I hope the long reply isn't too frustrating to read through, and I hope I didn't miss any of the great points you made.

Once again, I fully agree with you. Our babygirl being tied up with the Rockbells is straight-up poor storytelling. Mangahood had the potential to not be racist and pro-military about these storybeats, but instead chose to make an example out of the primary brown character.

Any Broho fan who can't handle this critique is weak. Period. But I'm always grateful that there are those like yourself who can handle it AND make that critique themselves!

[Sorry it took some time to reply. I briefly lost this ask after saving my first draft, since apparently tumblr hides ask drafts not at the top of the draft pile, but somewhere in the middle (???)]

[alchxmical-rxduction]

So, Wrath holds a place near and dear to my heart, because of many many reasons I can't explain on the internet without this turning into a vent post LMAO. So here's a list of my projecting on him, surrounded with non-projection headcanons. Small-text because. Wall.

Physical

Wrath, because of the way he was created, is one of the only homunculi who actively scars. Not as much as a human would, but noticably more than the rest of the homunculi.

On that topic, after Sloth's death, where Wrath was fused with Sloth during the ethanol incident is still scarred, and this never fades. Many of his scars do eventually, faster than human scarring, but this doesn't. Neither do the scars around his automail from between the anime finale and COS. Because of the effects of the gate, those wounds will never fully heal.

Because of his ethanol-incident damage, his hearing on that side is a little fuzzy, and his jaw/inner ear are prone to pains- his vision's a little fuzzy as well.

Speaking of pain! Wrath has like. No pain tolerance compared to the others. He can take a beating just like the rest of the homunculi but he crashes hard. Once he reaches a certain point, whether his nodes are targeted or not, he essentially shuts down. He never passes out entirely, but he does become unaware and unresponsive. (Unfortunately for everyone involved, it takes him a really long time to enter this state during the automail port surgery.)

Mental/Emotional

Wrath needs to be part of a family in some way. He was literally made to be somebody's child. There is nothing so angry as a child who doesn't get what he wants. And all he's ever wanted, all he's ever known, is a desire for family that wants him, someone he can cling to. A son, a brother. He has to be something along those lines, or he is lost.

When Izumi dies between the '03 finale and COS, Wrath has no clue why he's upset. Why it hurts so much. Pinako says it's grief when Winry brings him back to Resembool for maintenance, but it can't be that- he hated Izumi, still hates her. It doesn't make sense.

He sleeps so little partially because of his own sheer will- he can't sleep or he'll dream of the gate, of screaming and crying babies, of his body being ripped apart- be it the first time to gift him Edward's limbs, or the second time to take them away.

When Wrath sacrifices himself in COS, it's to see his mommy. It's the only thing he knows, and there are only two women who could be Mommy: Izumi, or Sloth. But he's come to understand that Sloth never wanted to be his mommy. She was simply doing her job, both the one she was made for (to be Ed and Al's mom) and the one Dante gave her (keep Wrath under control). Izumi is his mother, and in the end, he is desperate to accept it. He's tired of hiding, he just want his mother's embrace.

[gayleviticus]

Alphonse Elric or Wrath (03) for the ask game :)

ALPHONSE ELRIC

favourite thing: I love how nice and gentle and sweet he is despite everything going on, but also in 03 how he has this anger and almost self disregard bubbling as time goes - when he's captured by envy thinking he should have died so many times in the past, when he tries to rip wrath arm off to give it to ed, when he recklessly sacrifices himself to try and save ed

least favourite thing: I feel like cos shortchanges him way too much. we get such a compelling insight into ed throughout the whole series even if much is implicit, but cos doesn't really reckon with either al losing his memory and how he feels about that or have time to deal w him regaining it and what that means for him and ed. and I get it's prob partially intentional because amnesiac al feeling more unknowable deliberately alienates us from him - he genuinely feels different, and we have to wonder if the recklessly cheery attitude is a facade to cope w missing ed. but nonetheless it feels like cos kindve demotes al from the co protagonist position he had throughout the series

favourite line: not fav for any deep content but i love the delivery - the bit in cos where ed lands in the armour pile, sees a helmet that looks just like al - and then its eyes light up and you hear a 'niisan..? NIISAN!!'

brotp: ed and al!!!! I love their relationship so much it is so deep and powerful. but also scar and al is such a nice duo - the way scar vicariously lives through the elrics brotherly love because he regrets letting his crush on human lust get in the way of telling his brother he loved him 😭 also al/wrath post COS bc the film left so much of their relationship unexplored and I need to know

otp: I think al/fletcher could be kindve cute. al/wrath too - I know some ppl find it icky bc of wrath viewing sloth as his mama but I feel like aside from the sloth/trisha distinction it doesn't really create a brotherly relationship btwn the elrics and wrath. and im just as content w it as a brotp too anyway so

random headcanon: not cis and not straight - being trapped in a body you don't recognise and feeling cut off from really living and engaging w the world is dripping w queer subtext! more specifically I like nonbinary gay al but I can really see it going in any direction. (altho I can't think of any girls I would want to ship him with in 03 or fmab)

unpopular opinion: uhh... I don't know how unpopular it is but him and mei as a couple in fmab does not make sense to me lol

song: currently I literally only listen to fma ops lol so I can't answer

fav pic: this is a tough one.... but

WRATH (03)

fav thing: he is just such an interesting addition into the gaps of the source material?? making izumis baby who she tried to transmute into a homunculus is soo interesting even just in a meta sense, and the whole parent child switcheroo between sloth/izumi and wrath/elrics is so good

least fav things: I need to know more about him post COS and his relationship w al and winry and izumi!!!! especially since he was one of the few people who really knew wtf was going on down in the underground city along w rose

fav line: 'she was your mama too' when the elrics kill sloth. brutal

brotp: as above him and al but also I'm dying to know what his dynamic w winry was. and come to think of iit envy too honestly

otp: al/wrath ig (per the disclaimers above) but aside from that idk lol who do you ship him with

notp: I guess like with any adult I just don't like those kinda pairings. sloth w izumi would be especially yuck

random headcanon: he likes cats too. idk. just popped into my head

fav picture of them: DO I HAVE WRATH PICTURES? I'm sorry... my folder is dominated by the elrics... lemme see... I have this shot from the 4th ED lol

[cosalphonse]

I haven't watched CoS in a long time so I probably missed something that explains this but why does Al dress like his brother in the movie? It's always felt weird to me. We know Ed changes his look obviously living in Germany he can't go around in a red/black goth outfit anymore, it will make him stand out even more but why does Al?

I know he goes back to looking like himself at the end when he's reunited with his brother but I never understood what the point was for him to dress up like his bro. Especially since it's not even Eds exact outfit it's like his own version?

it's never outright stated, and i think every fan kind of comes up to their own conclusion as to why. for me, i see it as al trying to keep some sort of connection to his brother. al woke up with no memories of the last four years AND without ed, which would be jarring to say the least. while he doesn't have memories of their journey together, he definitely got stories and pictures from others. so maybe he wanted to connect to his missing brother in any way he can, including holding onto the jacket that everyone always saw him in. a lot of the changes are pretty minor but make sense for al, such as him wearing regular shoes instead of platform boots (he doesn't need the extra height LMAO)

another reason is more thematic. al in cos doesn't just look like ed, he acts more like him too. he's much more reckless and selfish, going so far as to let wrath sacrifice himself so that he can open the portal. al in cos is a far cry from his patient and selfless self that he was in the first part of 03. so, to further push that similarity, al resembles ed both in spirit and in physicality.

[calangkoh]

All this discussion of CoS had me rewatching it and wow, something is... off about Alphonse? Like the memories, etc Did Ed's resurrection of his brother truly succeed or... is Al just an advanced homunculus? It's making me think of the buildup to Alphonse wondering if he really is Ed's brother

[this became one of my more rambly answers. i apologize for the essay. im also writing this with a LOT of background noise so it might be a little all over the place]

you are not alone in this feeling because al is DEFINITELY “off” in CoS. i dont KNOW if its intentional the way he feels sorta....unhinged? but he does to me, and im relieved to know others feel the same. there’s actually a theory about al not being al, which was originally by @fizzybubblespop [x], and i expanded on it in a different direction here [x] (this was written years ago so it might be a little cringe in quality lol). both are takes on the idea that al was never really al to begin with. sad. i dont believe them, tbh. i dont think canon has the intention to ever imply al isnt really al. but its still an intriguing theory that makes you question life and existence. the fun stuff. 

but yeah, i think ed really did manage to do the first ever successful human transmutation, because in 03 (unlike mangahood) its implied to be somewhat possible. that it can be done, except no one can do it right due to problems with the alchemist themselves. i interpret that ed created al’s body (because while they do question “maybe als body is still in the gate” it doesnt make sense for him not to have aged, since wrath was able to age somehow--idek how that works either tbh), and was able to pull al’s soul from the gate like al was able to do with ed, because they had JUST died. 

so i think a successful human transmutation, a true resurrection where the person is definitely the same soul and not a copy, requires: knowledge of how to create a body with alchemy, a proper transaction (which im not sure how that works either, because alchemists dont choose what they sacrifice, and when ed DOES choose, the gate still takes something different. and the gate in 03 isnt operated by a conscious entity like Truth--either way, al’s transaction was the philosophers stone, which included his own soul. ed’s was his arm and leg, undoing al’s sacrifice, and also him ending up in london. because a life doesnt equal a life. ed had to give up something more.), and the soul has to be “within reach,” as in, it has to have just died and be waiting at the gate. sidenote that in al’s case, he had ed’s fresh body right there with him (ew thats a creepy sentence)

and since most alchemists lose the person, and then spend tons of time developing the theory before doing the transmutation, it has never been done. 

just to expand, and the following is just me brainstorming...i think ed’s sacrifice makes sense and did work because of his experiences up to that point. yknow how in mangahood, you could say “wow but couldnt ed have sacrificed his gate way earlier?” but it doesnt really work because the lessons he learned to arrive at the conclusion “hey i could sacrifice my alchemy” were necessary to the sacrifice? like, the sacrifice wouldnt have worked or made sense if he just...thought of it with no work. if he just one day thought “hey i have an idea ill sacrifice my gate of truth” it wouldn’t have worked. at least imo. because the point of his sacrifice was the journey he had to finally look Truth in the eye and say “ive been through everything ive been through and i know i dont need it.” 

similarly, ed’s sacrifice at the end of 03 only works because of his experiences. all the adventure and excitement as well as the pain and hardships had meaning. the lessons and the bonding with al and the way everything shaped who he is. it had meaning to him. maybe by ending up on the other side of the gate, he’s essentially sacrificing the meaning to his suffering, and since he has been through so much, he’s sacrificing the meaning of most of his life, and the meaning of your life is what would be worth more than the life itself (because a life doesnt equal a life). so, if ed had made the sacrifice earlier, to just give up his whole mind, body, and soul, it wouldnt have worked. the gate wouldve just taken him and he woulda gotten nothing from it. 

both series have the optimistic nihilism approach (though 03 leans more into addressing the nihilism, while fmab kinda contradicts it to lean into the optimism), where yes we’re all just tiny specks and are insignificant in the long run and cant fight the flow of life, but that just gives us more power to give ourselves meaning. 03 ed gave up that power by ending up on the other side of the gate, and he can understand the war veteran more than ever who says not all losses and gains are material or visible. they cant be adequately quantified or explained by logic or rules. we assign the meaning. and maybe the gate takes that into account, and it knew ed assigned the most meaning to his shared experiences (cough shared trauma cough) with al. hence, hohenheims speech explaining what ed had to have given up to be worth more than his life to bring al back. 

[fma03envy]

Hmm I am having thoughts about Wrath again

I've changed my mind and decided that Wrath being 13 at the end of 03 and 15-16 in CoS is the best timeline actually because I've now realized that would mean his and Al's ages would be flipped the first and second time they were both in the underground city

And like... would Wrath think of that? Would he see himself in Al's past self?

Al, who last time tried to sacrifice himself to get Ed back to them just as Wrath was planning to do now?

Idk dude I think too much about how it must've been for Wrath just calmly marching to his death in CoS

[hexandbalances]

Lupercalia pt 3.

Chthonic, Apotropaic, Purification, and Fertility

Let us continue with Lycaeus. Classical Greek religion, as it was with the Italian Ligurians, was a blend of the cults of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the Aegean Sea (the Pelasgians) and Aryan settlers during the Bronze Age.

The Pelasgians were agrarian, buried their dead, and exhibited a belief in the afterlife. They had an earth mother as a supreme object of worship, similar to the Rhea or Cybele. She personified the life giving qualities of the earth, rain, crops, and fertility, but was also fearsome: she inflicted disease, attacked herds with predatory beasts, or unleashed the buried dead. As the Pelasgians were a settled people Her worship was highly localized. Figures of men in animal skins found on gems or seals are interpreted to be her priests, honoring her by wearing the pelts of sacred animals.

Homage was paid to her in the form of fertility rites to secure the rains and good harvest. If She withheld her boons her devotees would turn to rites of purification to rid themselves of the offending human sin. This would involve human sacrifice, as seen in archaeological evidence and in fables such as the Minotaur. This chthonic religion is uniquely non-Hellenic, bearing no resemblance to primitive Aryan religion.[x]

The Aryans were nomadic in lifestyle, their dead were cremated, their gods were anthropomorphic and traveled with them. This is reflected in the Homeric Poems: indifference to chthonic deities, the use of funeral pyres, no tombs or cults for the worship of heroes, and no dread of ghosts or demons. They worshiped variations of a supreme sky god or All-Father. In time, the integration of the Aryans into the Mediterranean displaced goddess worship, subordinating Her to he who would become Zeus.

The Aryans, finding themselves settling down in a new land among established peoples integrated the gods they found there rather than risk either divine or political wrath (a strategy that persists into the Roman Empire). And so the Pelasgian chthonic deities did not fully disappear but rather changed form to the rites of Brauronian Artemis, the Elysian Mysteries, and (more relevant to us) human sacrifice to Zeus Lycaeus. Those regions with the least Aryan transfusion - Attica, Arcadia, Crete, Boetia, and Lycia - had the strongest presence of chthonic cults. As we have seen the pattern of deity displacement and absorption with Aryan immigration, we might conclude whenever worship is localized to a tree, natural structure, or a place there is a strong probability that the root of the worship is pre-Aryan.

Lycaeus

In Arcadia the most venerated cult belonged to the god Varro and Isidorus named Lycaeus, meaning wolf. The seat of the cult was Mount Lycaeus, its capitol Lycaon (reputedly the oldest city in Greece). Lycaeus was a destructive, chthonic god, a protector of animals, and sender of rain. He was the embodiment of the prowling danger. His shrine was something of a wildlife refuge as no men were allowed to set foot there for fear of death.

Every nine years the festival of Lycaea or Lykaia (the prototype of the Lupercalia) was held. Sacrifices were expiatory;  made to appease Lyceaus and keep him from preying upon the people and their flocks. Pausanias relates the practice of human sacrifice with the sacrificial blood sprinkled on the altar and the entrails given to the priest as sacrament. It was believed those who ate of the sacrificial victim would be transformed into wolves and sent into exile until the following festival.

Frazer (the Golden Bough, iv, 83) suggests that these priests may have disguised themselves in wolf pelts to perform the rites. If so, this echoes the worship of the Pelasgian Goddess and the numerous animal disguises depicted on Cretan seals. Similarly to the tale of Valeria Luperca, the legend of the king Lycaon being transformed into a wolf by Zeus may function as an analogy for the disgust the Hellenes held for human sacrifice, their (somewhat unsuccessful) attempt to stamp out the old ways, and the installation of their own All Father. Thus Lycaeus became an adjective for Zeus Lycaeus.

As we will see in the next post this subhumation did not quite fit Zeus, and fell to another god: Pan.

<< Pt. 1

<< Pt. 2 

>> Pt. 4

Further Reading

Evans, A.(1901). The Mycenaean tree and pillar cult, and its Mediterranean relations (vol. XXI, pp. 99‑204).  New York, NY: London: MacMillan. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/mycenaeantreepil00evanuoft/page/98/mode/2up

Franklin, A. M. (1921) Lupercalia: rites and mysteries of wolf worship. Retrieved from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/FRALUP/home.html

Hawes, C. H. And Hawes, H. B. (1922). Crete, the Forerunner of Greece (pp. 139‑43). New York, NY: Harper & Brothers. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/Crete_the_Forerunner_of_Greece.html?id=AxQOAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

Hogarth, D.E. (1908). Aegean Religion. In Hastings, Selbie, Gray (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics (Vol. 1, pp. 141‑148). Toronto, Canada: Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofr01hastuoft/page/140/mode/2up

Lutfullina, V. Wolf Strider, edited. Retrieved from https://arcusxx.tumblr.com/post/155457634588 via Pinterest

Mackenzie, D. A. (1937) Myths Of Crete And Pre Hellenic Europe (pp. xliv‑xlvii,  59‑60, 159‑62, 293‑312). London, England: Gresham Publishing Co. Ltd. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/Myths_of_Crete_and_Pre_Hellenic_Europe.html?id=7hIaAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

Tsountas, C. and Manatt, J. I. (1897). The Mycenaean Age: A study of the Monuments and Culture of Pre-Homeric Greece (pp. 294‑302). New York, NY: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Mycenaean_Age.html?id=rO3OAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 29

Quick moment to check out last episode for a post-credits scene, seems Gluttony’s just a bit worn out from the fight. Uncle- [Uncle]: “There’s no need to worry. You’re not my son.” Proceeds to rip out Gluttony’s Stone

Leto! Ok, so Gluttony’s out of the picture. Uncle says he’ll bring him back later with all his memories (including getting Kali Ma’d?). Last time: We had a semi-family reunion, the Protagonists faced the Dragon just a little too early in the story, and Ling got a personality change. Onwards!

Envy’s gone back to his humanoid form, and is walking the Elrics to an elevator. So after everything that’s happened, Uncle is just letting them go? I mean sure, they can’t really do anything against him right now, but talk about a blow to your pride. “I am so far above you that even after you invade my inner sanctum, I’ll have a minion walk you to the door.” Oh yeah, Uncle DNGAF about any “threat” from the Elrics; they got shown to an elevator that goes directly to Central Command, and the first thing that Envy says is that they look filthy and takes them to the showers. The brothers take the time to update each other, including the good news that Al’s body is (more or less) ok. Now they’re even closer to getting it back! Aha! Called it, Shao May is hanging out on Al’s shoulder, which means that May Chang is there too! Close your eyes little ones, Al’s not decent! Wait, just May? Then how did Scar get away? Pffft! Ok, no sympathy for Envy. That’s what happens when you barge into the bathroom, dude. Episode 29 - “Struggle of the Fool” Freshened up, Envy shows the Elrics to their new babysitter Wrath. You may know him better as King Bradley, your Fuhrer? The Goth’s having tea with a very annoyed Colonel Mustang, who breaks the news that the rest of the Conspiracy have been shuffled all across Amestris. No “practically” about it, Wrath is holding them hostage. So we’ve got the two Protagonists and their strongest ally in a room with only one Goth who’s not even fully armed. But if any Goth can be confident they can handle those odds, it’s Wrath. Oh crap, be quiet May! Play it cool, Elrics! While the Soul Armor fakes a cough Ed confronts Wrath, demands answers. Wrath just calmly tells him to sit down and shut up, stop digging any deeper. He’s “important”, after all. Ed’s not having any of it, throws aside his watch and resigns as a State Alchemist. Swears he’ll warn the others- [Wrath]: “What was that lovely young girl’s name again? Ah yes. It’s Winry Rockbell.”

Now really Ed, how did you think that Wrath was going to respond? He already did the subtle “look at me having tea with your friend” method, since that didn’t seem to work he’s putting it plainly: shut up or Winry pays the price. What else can Ed do, but take the watch back? Oh well, at least Wrath oh so graciously agrees to let them keep searching for a way to restore their bodies, and tolerates Roy’s ambition to climb the ranks. Not like it matters to him, anyway. They’re free to g SWEET LETO WHAT THE FUCK NO NO NO NO what Wrath just shanked Al went right through his armor but no blood how no blood tried to kill little girl how he miss did May dodge or what how Whew! Ok, while the Elrics have a little freakout we see that the Mays were hiding in Al’s legs. Way too close! The brothers just bummed some spare change from Roy (phone call?) and ran off, he’s off to find Riza. Hey, The Mighty Armstrong! And Riza’s still around, good. She’ll be tied up working for Wrath now, but at least they’re all still around. Winry! She gets a call from Ed and immediately assumes that he’s broken his automail again. To be fair, that does seem to be the precedent. He’s calling- ...well, he’s calling from that DAMNED PHONEBOOTH WHY DID YOU HAVE TO SHOW THAT LETO-FORSAKEN PLACE AGAIN AAAAARGH anyways Ed’s calling Winry to make sure she’s safe, no creeps hanging around the shop. Dawww, she’s speaking softly and twirling the cord and it’s sweet and cute and she has no freaking idea what’s going on aaargh. AAARGH it’s Greed! Dude’s just leaning against the Booth, chides them for their desperate worry that makes them so easy to manipulate. Shock and terror! But he’s not here to fight, just pass on a piece of cloth. “Your pal” asked him to pass it on? Hmmm, now why would Greed agree to pass on a memento for his host? He doesn’t get anything out of it, after all. He just claims that he has more class than using this as a trap and that he doesn’t fight women. And he never tells a lie? Man, Greed is really playing up the Noble Demon personality here, following his own code. And he’s off, with his new catchphrase of “It’s still Ling!” Very dramatic mid-episode pictures of Colonel Mustang and Doc Marcoh. So is he showing up this episode? Hey, Scar! So while May hid in Al’s armor I guess Scar just booked it out of there under the cover of steam. He’s still in the sewers killing monsters, when he runs into a familiar voice. Hey Doc! Gonna patch up the Ishvalan? Yes yes, he’s the serial killer Scar, but right now he’s your best chance at- [Marcoh]: *Mad laughter* “My God! This must be fate! I’m the Alchemist responsible for the extermination of your people!” Um. A) Probably not the best thing to say to your potential rescuer, and B) I remember there being quite a few more Alchemists involved in the Civil War. Back on the surface it seems the other Doctor (sorry I can never remember your name dude) is diagnosing May with a mild concussion, she just needs a bit of bed rest. Speaking off, dude is ticked that our heroes are treating his place as a hospital. Seriously, where’s he supposed to sleep?!

Speaking of injured, Lan Fan should probably not be out of bed right now, but she’s worried about Ling. Yeah, about that… Al passes on the message. He’s written that he found a Philosopher’s Stone? Well, he’s not lying. Greed’s up on top of Central, looking out over the city when Wrath comes up to have a word. Greed crows about having a royal body, how Ling just let him take over his body. Wrath derides the boy for his political ideals, all “caring for the people” as if they mattered- [LING]: ”Shut the hell up! Don’t underestimate humans!” HA! Called it again! And oh my Leto that wide-eyed look of delicious surprise on Wrath’s face! Oooooh, this is so satisfying. Ling’s still there, surviving in his body and capable of taking even the slightest bit of control. And this is being revealed to Wrath, the guy who was made a Goth like Ling was and doesn’t even know if his surviving soul is the original. The strength of will to exist alongside a Goth? That’s something that he may very well have not have. In your face! Roy, Riza and The Mighty Armstrong are crammed into a car as Roy breaks the news about the Fuhrer. The Mighty Armstrong is shaking with fury at the reveal, how he’s only wanted to protect his fellow people but now knows that he serves a monster. Roy remarks that he could resign, that he would suffer knowingly serving with his disposition. The Mighty Armstrong- Ah. It’s a flashback to Ishval, Mustacheless-Armstrong cradling the corpse of an Ishvalan child in his arms and crying out about how wrong the war is. His CO just dismisses him for disobeying an order and moves on. Armstrong is left kneeling in the dust with the body, we get the intro image of him crying at the wrongness of the war. In the present Armstrong grits out how he’s been haunted by his decision ever since, how he hates himself for giving up his beliefs to follow orders back then. Now? The Mighty Armstrong faces the choice once again, and refuses to run away again. Roy? Well, he calmly remarks about how he straight up told the Fuhrer that he wasn’t going to give up his ambitions, and that Wrath was apparently eager to reveal his true nature. To clue Roy into knowing even he has a commander? Wrath really is treating this as a test for Roy, isn’t he? Roy’s just happy to have another fight like with Lust, to live fighting monsters. Back to Lan Fan, who’s been updated about Ling. And of course she just blames herself for failing to be the perfect bodyguard. Welp, time for a new arm! You know an engineer, right? Al knows That Look all too well from the past, agrees to introduce Lan Fan when she’s got her strength back. Time to get some food oh hi May! Shouldn’t you be resting? Wait why did Lan Fan react in shock to that name? Gah, kunai! May, why are you trying to kill Lan Fan? Unless… Ha! For the third time this episode, called it! May Chang is actually the Chang heiress, 17th daughter of the Emperor, Princess May Chang. Oh yeah, they are totally going to throw down. May wants to stop her competition for the secret of immortality, Lan Fan wants to protect her Lord, and even Al can’t calm them down from their duel. This is gonna [PISSED OFF DOCTOR]: ”WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” *Slams bowls onto their heads* [POD]: “You’re supposed to be resting in bed!” [May]: “Quit trying to interfere with the affairs of our-” [POD]: “I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE AFFAIRS OF YOUR COUNTRY, DUMBASS!!!”

So after the Doc shuts down ‪the clash‬ of the clans, he gets Al to help him clean up around the place. And geez, I may not have the tidiest room but that has got to be a health hazard. Al comes across a picture of the Doc’s family, and given this show’s focus on that subject obviously doesn’t like hearing that Doc doesn’t talk to his wife and son. He’s seen the other side of that. Back outside, it seems Ed’s back to patching up damage around town with his restored Alchemy. Some MPs remark that they had some other Alchemists were called in earlier that day, but their Alchemy just so happened to not work. Looks like Uncle’s Anti-Transmutation Field reached a bit further than just that room. Ed’s walking along later, thinking about that poor soul he had to sacrifice to get them out of the Stomach. But along with that, even when they were depowered by Uncle Scar and May were still able to fight. A weakness in Alchemy that’s not in Alkahestry, that if he can learn may help him get Al’s body back, and “take down that bearded bastard.” But first, he needs to give Roy his gun back. Credits! Post credits: Oh hello, the song’s been cutting off at Winry greeting the sunrise, but now it continued to Central at night and faded as it went down to Uncle’s Mancave. Uncle’s sitting in his as Doc Marcoh explains how the Goths made him make a Stone using the lives of the Ishvalans OK THAT’S GROSS did not need to see a little baby Gluttony crawling out of Uncle’s robe. Meanwhile Marcoh’s telling Scar he’s being used in another plan that may cause genocide, begs for the murderer to kill him. Guh. I mean, Scar’s whole deal is that he’s been an avenging killer striking down those who murdered his people, but after seeing Winry and learning that the instigator was Envy he has a chance to stop, to change. To go from that to Marcoh kneeling and begging for death, saying that his appearance is like a god? Scar is not happy.

[daylighteclipsed]

I know what cos was going for with Ed choosing to close the gate on our side and sacrifice his chances of ever going home again; it shows he values the other world, doesn’t just see it as a dream, has a duty to take care of it, blah blah. But the fact that Wrath, Hoho, and Alfons died, all to get Ed back home again, and then Ed doesn’t even stay there in the end, feels kinda like....why

[dreadlock-detective]

All of my 5th ed D&D characters together, by order of appearance: Adi the Paladin (Crimson Crow Campaign), Beatrice the Monk/Cleric, Cirilisa the Wizard, Dindelion the Sorceress, Elenor the Ranger/Wizard, and Adi the Cleric (Curse of Strahd Campaign) (yes that’s A B C D E, and then A again)

My characters tend to have rather large issues that would, if they were left on their own without their respective groups/getting caught up in the campaign, ensure they’d never actually succeed in their goals. As such I’ve really enjoyed distilling each of them down to a single word, an essence of what lays behind their entire psyches. And they’re all bad. Yes, even “Justice”, due to the circumstances~ Ramble about each of them after the cut~

Adi the Paladin (of the Crimson Crows) is a bit of a special case, the only one whose impediment to their success isn’t strictly speaking herself. The child of nobles who collected ancient artifacts, it is said one day they lost themselves to madness. Adi was taken in by her aunt and uncle who raised her the best she could, but as she grew they found she too was prone to bouts of madness and hysteria. One day, when the man they had hired to exercise whatever demons lay upon her mind was found upon the floor, the girl bloodying his face with her fists, she was deemed incurable and quietly shipped away to join a peace-keeping force of ex-criminals and other undesirables known as the Crimson Crows.

She always thought of herself as a hero - a warrior of good and bringer of justice. The problem lays in that she was, originally, a warlock/barbarian of a Great Old One (Nyarlathotep), which warped how she saw the world to fit how she saw herself. For example, if she killed someone, it’s because that person deserved to be killed - if not for the reasons she was attacking them, then for something else. A self proclaimed Hero of the People who’s powers came from something far more likely to destroy the world, manipulating her towards its goals.

She had a rather happy ending, though - some of the other PC’s betrayed her trust and managed to sever her connection to Nyarlathotep, afterward she became a Paladin and through the power of friendship (with a colony of Mind Flayers - its a weird story) she managed to become the hero she always thought she was, ending a war with minimal bloodshed and bringing down an ancient evil.

Beatrice the Monk/Cleric of Death The young Bea, in a desperate attempt to save her clan from a powerful and deceptive mage, ended up selling her soul to a litch, turning her into a pseudo-undead herself. As it turns out, her clan who hunted the undead as abominations and mislead by the mage didn’t take kindly to that story, and she joined the Crimson Crows instead of facing their wrath. Faced with the knowledge that she had become the thing she had sworn to destroy to save those that now cast her out, she lost hope that she could ever reclaim her soul and, even among her new family of misfits, feared they would abandon her as well.

Sadly, she never got an end to her story - she got switched out for Adi when the campaign Adi was originally in was abruptly abandoned. Later on her and her wizard friend (another PC who had left the game) who both were hunting that evil mage found themselves mind-controlled into helping him resurrect an ancient draco-litch. She was saved by Adi & co, but now was worse off than ever, having played a pivotal role in bringing back a terrible undead horror, no matter how unwillingly. If we ever play another campaign in that world, I’d love to give her a proper story.

Cirilisa the Wizard Oh precious Ciri, the littlest Drow~ When a rival house murdered her entire family she became a young murder hobo in the underdark, growing up sickly and frail. Eventually she attempted to get her revenge but only managed to steal and sell some artifact from the family, along with getting a massive scar across her midsection from a blast from the family’s matriarch. Somehow escaping to the surface, her unconscious body was found by scouts of the Crimson Crows, who brought her back to relative health and gave her a new home, where she eventually set herself on becoming a moderately accomplished wizard. Her loss in childhood had deadened her already drow heart, but living among the surface world she saw so many people with so many emotions. She didn’t understand them, but she secretly coveted what they had.

I had planned that she would start to fall in love with the first PC that went out of their way to protect or help her from a serious problem - a plan that was designed to end poorly. The three candidates were a loner dwarf who didn’t want anything to do with anyone else, a were-bear orc who was 100% gay, and a minotaur who was already in a committed relationship. But even though the feelings wouldn’t be returned, she would FEEL things and grow as a character... well...

I didn’t expect that character (the orc) to protect her from drow assassins who nearly managed to kill her... and then THE NEXT NIGHT sacrifice his soul to a revenant of a man he had killed to protect the party. Before Ciri even had a chance to start acknowledging or understanding what she was feeling the object of her affections was dead and buried along the roadside. Instead of love, she grew bitter and angry, desperate to find a way to save the orc’s soul, all without really knowing why. She died before she could - her heart ripped from her chest by a wraith of vampiric spirits in a climatic boss battle. But that group’s leader, a PC vampire named Walter, destroyed the wraith, took it’s title and powers as Blood Lord, and raised her as a vampire. She’s still a ball of piss and vinegar, but she’s in a way found herself in a new family, charging herself with constantly keeping the Blood Lord in check and making sure he never gets too full of himself.

Dindelion the Sorceress If you don’t know about Dindel you haven’t been following me long. A homeless vagabond who hides her natural born ability to heal others for fear it would be exploited, she’s internalized many negative things about herself and rarely trusts herself to make decisions that won’t end in disaster. Add in a mother that disappeared when she was young, a drunkard gambler of a father, and a city decades in decline full of poverty and abuse by those in power and she’s got more than a few trust issues for other folks as well. She also has absolutely no idea how a healthy relationship is supposed to work, and a head full of stories and romance that have absolutely not lined up with her experiences since the campaign started.

Her father, the only constant in her life and the other half of a fairly unhealthy co-dependent relationship, got taken away by essentially the mob for not paying debts and it’s up to her to find some way to pay it off. To her great luck, she ran in to the wandering soldier Vale who, apparently wanting to make up for past sins, agrees to take her along to join a new venture he heard about, leading to the campaign proper. She was actually specifically designed to have too many trust issues to actually get in a relationship with anyone, but between how Vale cares for her and how absolutely shitty she’s found the outside world to be, those issues have actually mutated into something new as their romance has grown. Its... not any healthier a mental state though. I’m excited to see where it goes!

Elenor the Ranger/Wizard Elena was once a promising apprentice wizard, learning the weave with 4 other students. Always feeling a step above the others and not content with how slowly their teacher was progressing them, she devised a plan to work with the others to impress their teacher - to show her they were ready for bigger things. They were going to summon a creature from the planes of hell! Specifically, a Lemure, a relatively harmless blob of a twisted soul. An impressive feat and without much risk from the creature being summoned. Definitely within the capability of someone as great as her.

As sharp chains lashed out from the summoning circle her left arm was torn away. A great beast emerged, tossing her across the room. As she looked up she saw her rival, a young man named Osvaldo, brandishing an axe, standing over her, and looking quite pleased with himself. And the axe came down.

She would come to in a crypt standing near a coffin bearing the family crest of Osvaldo. Her body stiff and her mind cloudy, she slowly realized she had not survived that night at all - she was now a reanimated corpse, but had somehow regained her sense of self. She also found the nearby townspeople did not care enough to distinguish between mindless undead and herself. Eventually she found the place she had once studied - destroyed, some time ago it seems, by that night’s events. Lost and adrift, the life she once knew was over, even her memories were fragmented, but she would forever remember the names of the four who had done this. Osvaldo had convinced them to change the ritual - to summon that creature, and to use it to kill her. She was certain of it. And that hatred kept her going as years of nothingness passed her by. One day she was hired by a tunnel elf, a professed seeker of knowledge, as a guide through the wilderness and though she could not stand him they soon encountered others, mostly strange folk - a tabaxi, a triton, and a snake-like dragonborn in particular - and she stuck around to entertain herself.

Little did she know they were about to be pulled into saving the world from consumption by a forgotten and terrible deity. She thinks their chances aren’t even worth mentioning, but still she cannot allow existence to end before she has wrought what vengeance she can on those that wronged her, and so she will fight with everything she has to keep the world going.

Adi the Cleric of Nyarlathotep As Adi of the Crimson Crows discovered as she worked with the mind flayers, she was not the only Adi. Not even close. Hers was a soul connected to a power outside of time and space and finds itself drawn into worlds over and over, each incarnation as much the same as they are different. Perhaps the Crawling Chaos did not want to repeat what had happened before, maybe it was just twisted curiosity, but this iteration of the girl was born through his direct influence, raised in a town he had visited and driven mad. She was his disciple, and she would spread his teachings across the land.

Through a series of misunderstandings she has found herself in the land of Ravenloft, under the watchful eyes of the vampire Strahd, and in this land she came upon a terrible, bewitched house. A house with paintings of the owners and of a woman bearing a striking resemblance to her. A house where the ghostly children said their littlest sister was named Adi. The child had died in infancy, sacrificed in some dark ritual by its father.

And down in the depths of that place Adi found it was the truth. And there, along the alter, sat a book bound in human skin that called to her. A book of rituals devoted to her god, the Faceless Father. And there, upon the alter, she left the corpse of one of those who had traveled with her, who had brought her there.

She isn’t certain why the Faceless Father has guided her to this land, but she will carry out his will or die trying, though all things considered, perhaps the world would be better off with her in the ground, the cult’s voice silenced

[zetalial]

Aah, this cringy post is getting notes again. It’s practically the first thing I made on this blog and it’s so low-quality it hurts. That said, the idea behind it did basically possessed me at the time. 

I call it: linking the two FMA universes via Wrath playing as truth.

-So during CoS, Wrath gets sacrificed in a transmutation to open the gate. He does it for his lovely friend, CoS Alphonse. 

-He ends up inside the gate with his automail wrecked and goes exploring the space between dimensions.

-One day, he’s minding his own business when young Brotherhood!Ed and Al pops up. 

-Wrath has missed Al and happily takes him into the gate so he has his friend to spend time with.

-Seeing Ed again is weird as little Ed doesn’t seem to know him. When Ed asks him who he is, his mind flashes back to one of the first things he remembers his version of Ed saying.

Wrath sort of ad-libs from there, talking about payment and such. He can’t resist taking Ed’s leg again like last time.

Ed’s back a minute later and Wrath is happy to take Ed’s arm (again) though he’s upset that Al’s soul is taken away from him. Of course, he knows how much the Elrics love sacrificing themselves for each other. He finds it extremely funny to be caught up in it yet again. 

While Wrath has Ed’s arm and Leg again, for some reason he hasn’t got Ed’s alchemy this time, which is a shame as it means he’s stuck in the gate still, amusing himself with his new Alphonse.

Some time passes and one day, Ed is back at the gate - this time he’s travelling with a Scary version of Envy and a foreigner Wrath doesn’t know. (Wrath quickly pushes the Envy and the stranger away back into their world but Ed gets to stay to say hello to his brother. 

Wrath doesn’t want to lose Alphonse and has come up with the perfect rule - that only Alphonse can take Alphonse’s body away. His Alphonse only has a little bit of soul in him and Alphonse has always been really gullible so he believes him. 

Then the gate opens and in comes Izumi, Ed and Alphonse. Seeing alter!Izumi is extremely disorienting and Wrath quickly lets the gates pull her and Ed back into the world while Wrath freaks out a little. Seeing Alphonse trapped in that armour makes Wrath feel extremely bad. This time, he’s resigned. Al should go back into his human form to be with his brother as it’s always meant to be. 

Wrath is extremely surprised when Al leaves his body at the gate.

The gate opens again and this time Mustang comes along. Wrath has never really liked the military. He didn’t know Mustang very well but he remembers his Mustang was missing an eye. He decides it would be very fitting to take this Mustang’s eyesight as well!

Next, the gate is opened in the sky. It’s very strange! Wrath senses lots of Alchemy energy from dead souls everywhere and isn’t sure what to do. He is seeing Ed, Al, Izumi, Mustang and Ed’s father in the centre of it and can see they’re in trouble. His feelings about them all are quite conflicted. Ed’s sort of his longtime enemy/rival. Al’s his friend but Al also cares for his brother far more than he could care about him. Izumi may sort of be his mother, but this is another Izumi altogether and she did try to strangle him that one time. But he also went to her funeral and remembers her being buried.

Whatever the case, Wrath doesn’t like the idea of this bad guy trying to control them and take over the gate so Wrath reluctantly stays inside the gate as much as he’s interested in leaving. Eventually all the alchemy power settles down, to his relief.

The gate opens one more time and Al has come back and pleads with Wrath to give Ed his arm back and in return he’ll stay with him, body and mind this time. Wrath finds all his predictions about the brothers making more ridiculous sacrifices were correct though he didn’t expect Al to trade himself just for Ed’s arm. That’s odd even by Elric standards.

Then the gate opens yet again and it’s the bad guy again, this time as a black blob. It starts making demands and pleads and Wrath just smirks and blows him off, being his usual impertinent self. Wrath makes up some stuff about surely him knowing what he did wrong. Wrath doesn’t really want to keep him in the gate with him so he throws him to the other side of the gate.

Somewhere on the other side, Post!CoS Ed will be very bemused to wake up to a random monster in a flask coming out of the gate. They end up having some very bizarre conversations when Ed or Al has some free time to spend with the helpless monster.

Then Ed shows up again and makes a nice speech about all he’s learned as he’s here to make a trade for his brother. Wrath is not even slightly surprised that Ed’s here to sacrifice himself. He’s thinking of just accepting and sending them both to live on the other side of the gate with the alternate pair of brothers.

Then Ed surprises him by offering up his alchemy. Wrath is very interested. With Alchemy, Wrath can finally get out of the gate! Seeing that Ed is sincere, Wrath tells him he got the right answer and takes the alchemy in return for Alphonse. 

With his newfound power, Wrath is finally strong enough to leave the gate and end up in a new world once more. 

[icameheretowinry]

ling!!

HOW I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO TALK ABOUT THIS GOOF. BRING. IT. ON.

How I feel about this character:

First of all, I love him. Second of all, I love him. Third of all— *ahem* How does this story have so many great characters??? Ling is one of my absolute favorites because of (surprise, surprise) his complexity. Also, remember that comment I made in my Kimblee post about Arakawa graying the chasm between good and evil? Boy oh boy that ever come into play with Ling’s character development. Buckle up, kids, we’re about to break. this. down.

The first thing I love about Ling is just how much of a goof he is. In the first few minutes he’s on screen in episode 15, he already got several laughs out of me. He comes across as a lighthearted boy with a wacky sense of humor, a voracious appetite, and a penchant for getting himself in trouble. Funny enough, he reminds me a lot of my younger brother at that age. His presence was a refreshing contrast to the Elric brothers as well. While Ed and Al certainly have many funny moments, they tend to take things rather seriously. His interactions with Ed are comedic gold. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s the first time Ed’s had to go toe to toe with a boy his age or just Ling’s contrasting personality, but either way, it works incredibly well. 

On the flip side, Ling really surprised me with his battle sense when facing Wrath and Gluttony. He’s observant and collected, easily figuring out how to use Gluttony’s own regeneration abilities against him. His ambitiousness and determination were incredible to watch, and really made me rethink just how I viewed him as a character. I never expected Arakawa to simply leave him purely as comic relief, but making him an actual badass? Heck Y E S. Plus, you have to consider that he faced off against two freakishly powerful immortal beings without the help of alchemy. 

It’s also impossible not to appreciate Ling’s intense sense of duty and respect for loyalty. While likely instilled in him due to his princely upbringing, these aspects of his character are also largely entwined with his emotions. That combination becomes uniquely powerful when someone he respects/cares for is in danger, or when he’s given an opportunity to further his goal of obtaining immortality. And as a quick side note, that quest itself never appears to be selfish when tied to Ling’s character. He says he’s doing it for the benefit of his people, and honestly, it’s really easy to believe he has the best intentions. 

However, his self-sacrifice and ambition, as we all know, pushes him to the limit of even giving up control of his own body to Greed in order to obtain immortality. While this could be seen as those traits taken to a fault, it’s actually a springboard not only for Greed’s character development, but also Ling’s own. But don’t worry, I’ll be getting into that a bit later! 

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

As one of the four cardinal fma ships, I’m here to talk about Lingfan. While there isn’t a lot of screen time of these two spending time together like Ed and Winry, it’s impossible to ignore the intense emotional connection between them whenever they do interact. It’s beyond obvious that these two respect each other. While Lan Fan protects Ling with her life as his body guard, he reciprocates on an equal level, possibly when he is isn’t technically obligated to. He saves her from Wrath. She cuts off her own damn arm to ensure their escape. (Nothing will ever be as raw as that moment feel free to fight me on that one.) Ling admits weakness in comparison to her willingness to sacrifice herself for their mission. Lan Fan goes through automail installation and rehabilitation in six goddamn months (get rekt Ed) in order to support him. While this intense respect and loyalty don’t necessarily lead to romance, I will argue that the foundation is there. Just take a look at these two gifs and try to deny the emotional connection between them. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

You know, I was going to put Ed into this category because, well… FIST BUMPS

But the more I thought about it, the more I decided Greed would fit this category that much better. While Greed and Ling don’t really get along at first, Ling’s influence on Greed’s character development is such a treat to watch. For the first time, Greed has to contend with a soul powerful enough to stand up to his possession. Unlike Wrath, who’s forgotten much of the man he was before he became a homunculus, Ling is very present within Greed, and has the distinct ability to facilitate change within someone, who could’ve so easily continued being a “villain,” from the inside out. With Ling’s influence, Greed recognizes his desire for friendship, a sense of duty greater than himself, and how to properly grieve for those he’s lost. 

Greed is one of my top favorite characters due to this development, and it’s all thanks to the humanity Ling brings out in him. The trope that the immortal being who supposedly knows all about humanity and how the world is, only to be taught and humbled by a human works so damn well between the two of them. And this relationship goes both ways. While Ling initially used Greed for his immortality, you can’t tell me that they didn’t highly respect each other, and weren’t friends, by the time they parted ways. Seriously, take one look at the scene of Fu’s death. Greed lets Ling take control when he realizes that Fu’s in trouble. Greed covers Ling’s arms in the ultimate shield when Fu tells him to protect him, yet still leaving Ling in control. They BOTH yell to Fu to stop his last ditch effort to take down Bradley. Greed even tells Lan Fan to let them fall to take care of Fu; seeing her bleeding at the strain on her automail. And he knows it. In short, Greed not only concerns himself, but becomes in entwined with Ling’s quest and those he cares about the most. Their friendship ENDS ME. 

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Dang… I just want more of the internal interactions between Ling and Greed. They’re excellent when they happen in Brotherhood. I just. want. more. Hell, it could make for some great filler I wouldn’t mind watching in the least!! There’s really nothing bad I can say about him???? 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

GREED, LING AND CO JUST NEED TO ALL GO LIVE HAPPILY IN XING OK IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK

[mysterylover123]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter by Chapter: Chapter 6 “The Right Hand of Destruction”

WARNING: SPOILERS, SPOILERS EVERYWHERE

Chapter 6: First released January 2002 in Japan; adapted into Brotherhood “Rain of Sorrows” aired 5/3/2009 in Japan, 3/13/2010 in US; 2003 Anime “Destruction’s Right Hand” aired 1/10/2004 in Japan, 2/12/2005 in US.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS:

EDWARD ELRIC:

Ed’s opening dream explains what his hangup here is truly about; he can’t put his mom back together with alchemy, any more than he can fix what happened to Nina. The Brotherhood adaptation makes this explicit, bringing Nina and Tucker into the nightmare too (and even adding that thing they made, good God will we ever sleep again?). Thins only get worse, of  course, when he finds out they both got killed. This begins Ed’s little self-destructive spiral in this Chapter; he can’t seem to run at first when Scar attacks, he reflects that he’s often doing things to make others hate him, etc; this builds up to Ed’s behavior in Chapter 7, which is another pivotal moment in his character arc. That mental note, slightly different in the manga scan-lation and Brotherhood dialogue, is in both versions a bit of self-effrontery on Ed’s part. Ed does have a slight streak of self-loathing mixed in with his arrogance, perhaps an inferiority/superirotiy complex.

RIZA HAWKEYE:

Riza is the one to alert Ed and Al of what happened to the Tuckers. These chapters set up Riza’s ability to help and handle the Elrics, in a way that others cannot; she and Ed actually get along pretty well. She’s kind not to show them the bodies; the previous chapter had Riza acknowledge that the Elrics are still children, something others tend to ignore.

ALPHONSE ELRIC:

Al dives into his motivation about here, admitting that he can’t feel the rain on his face and wants to go back to being human. Throughout the series, Al is repeatedly met with astonishment that he’d want such a thing - after all, his body can’t die, right? But the series also shows that being human is a good thing, something to admire and aspire to in the end. During the chase with Scar, Al is shown fighting back and striving to stay alive much more than Ed; he tells Ed to run, even when he himself is in pieces. Al’s greater tenacity on life, both his own and his brother’s, is an important part of his arc and character. He’s a kid deprived of the ability to live like a normal person, and so has much more reason to appreciate life and how finite it is. Al is someone who can envy (hey, Envy debuts here, how bout that) everything, from feeling rain on his face to being able to eat. So he has a strong appreciation for things most people take for granted.

MAES HUGHES:

Our baby debuts! Hughes’ introduction mostly involves rather dry exposition about Scar, but he does inadvertently save Ed and Al’s lives by prompting Roy, as a friend, to double down on security.

LUST:

Lust turning up indicates our heroes are suffering from bloodlust. Scar’s urge for vengeance ties into that; Lust’s remarks on humanity’s “Hatred begetting hatred” are important thematically for this chapter, since it’s about Scar taking revenge for the Ishvalan war. Her disparaging attitude towards humans remains pretty consistent; of all the Homunculi, Lust seems the most indifferent to humanity, never manifesting even Envy’s jealousy of them, Pride’s curiosity, or Greed and Wrath’s odd camaraderie. The only human she ever responds to is Roy (later on). She’s affectionate with Gluttony, but rather condescending to Envy; she expresses her frustrating with Ed delaying their plans, but agrees that they can’t kill a Sacrifice.

GLUTTONY:

Gluttony displays his eagerness to “Eat the ones that die” here; more of his personality comes out in this issue than in his debut, as well as his closeness to Lust. Gluttony’s appearance rarely corresponds with characters exhibiting his sin. Ed occasionally exhibits gluttony, but since we know that’s tied into Al’s body feeding off his nutrients, that one is rarely dissected as a Sin.

ENVY

Envy and Hughes debut in the SAME CHAPTER. Holy crap. Just realized that. So anyway, Envy’s first appearance has them pretending to be Father Cornello - one of the only times in the series Envy impersonates an old man. From a character standpoint, Envy’s remarks on humanity  indicate its need to pu them down to prop itself up early on. Envy’s choice to “be young and cute” and its humanesque preferred form add to this. As with any appearance of a Sin, Envy’s arrival indicates the heroes are suffering from a bit of envy; Ed is currently feeling down on himself for being unable to save Nina, and Scar may harbor some envy for the peaceful Amestrian lives.

SCAR:

Scar killing the guard here is another moment wherein he kills an innocent. Scar’s attempt to go after Ed is probably the most egregiously wrong part of his whole murder spree. Ed is 15 at this point, too young to have had anything to do with the Ishvalan war (Ed didn’t even get his State Alchemist’s license until after the war was over), and since Scar knows who he is, he must at least know that much. Either way, he can clearly see that Ed is a child, and chasing down a kid who did nothing to him, who has nothing to do with the Ishvalan war, simply on the basis of his State Alchemist’s license, is a sign of how far gone Scar is at this part of the story. True, there are lots of arguments to be had about whether Scar was right in pursuing murderous vengeance (although the series hammers in again and again, with Winry and Roy’s little breakdowns later on down the road, that revenge is wrong), but whichever side you come down on, in my opinion trying to kill Ed is what renders any justification moot. Revenge on the people who actually harmed you is one thing (Not great, but still at least justifiable), but going after a kid who had nothing to do with it is definitely going too far. He even growls “You’re not afraid” when Ed and Al start fighting back, as though to indicate he wanted them to be frightened - a part of vengeance.

Title: Most likely the title here refers to both Scar’s violence, and the violence Envy and co are begetting in Liore/Reole.  

Adaptations: This one gets adapted into Brotherhood Episode 5, along with Chapter 7. One important change between the two: In the manga, the clock striking snaps Ed out of his temporary “can’t move” phase, while in Brotherhood, Al pulls him out of the way. I like this addition; since Al is the one who tells Ed, in Chapter 7, to never give up like he does there, it feels like a strong connection between the two moments. The story is a bit condensed in the Brotherhood adaptation, but less so than some of the previous arcs, since the pacing on this storyline is pretty swift anyway.

[scarwasright]

@combustiblegarbage: re: unpopular opinions, lots of people wind up shipping him with al. i've always def seen them more as brothers, and wrath as weirdly taking over a sort of Older Brother position when he sacrifices himself for al's sake in cos. it's an extremely strange dynamic cuz of how Babyish wrath was in the series, but after al's regression i think wrath, like.....idk, i think he felt like he Owed it to al to show him the right way? it's sort of an echo of ed's sacrifice

I think this is a really strong read of canon! Because you’re right, Al definitely wasn’t... leading the way in that relationship once CoS hit. Really interesting perspective.

[calangkoh]

conspiracy theory: cos al isn’t actually al

whaaaaaaaaat? so this theory largely stemmed from @alwrath‘s theory. only a different take. cos al, while being a successful human transmutation, is NOT a successful attempt at bringing the dead back to life, since such a thing is confirmed to be impossible. you cannot. resurrect a soul. once the soul has disappeared in the Gate (and we did witness Al’s soul disappear after appearing in front of Ed’s), it’s gone forever. 

we know a homunculus’s memories and identity is based off of the alchemist’s subconscious projection of their loved ones. and since to an individual, other people are defined by their relationships to that individual, lust’s identity revolved around being “an Ishvallan woman deeply in love,” and sloth’s identity around “a mother with endless devotion” (sloth chose to ignore that identity, but you get the point that the identities revolve around surface-level traits...no matter how well you know a person, your version of them will never match the complexity of the real them). so what im basically saying is

cos al isn’t really al from the series. in my last post i talked about how the reason for cos al being so overly obsessed with ed is because he lacks a personal identity. well same thing applies here. this “al” does not have an identity beyond ed’s brother. he doesn’t have any depth beyond how ed perceived him. he doesn’t have any motivation outside of being ed’s brother.

cos al not having memories falls in line with ed idolizing his younger brother, and wanting the innocent and pure al back, the al before his negative character development. towards the end of the series, and even early on where it was more hinted and talked about, we see 03 al becoming aggressive (03 really nails in that al’s deadly sin is wrath, while ed’s is sloth...a theme reinforced by who these two characters fight--al’s sloth showed in him not speaking up or taking action against the transmutation, but other than that he is not slothful at his worst like ed is; he’s vengeful and angry.), selfish, and of course deeply scarred by the sloth fight (reminder that sloth: tricked al into believing she was a successful transmutation so that they could use him, attacked ed while using emotional manipulation that ed wouldn’t fall for but al believed, turned al against ed and had al genuinely angry with ed for going behind his back and for attacking his mom, got inside al’s armor to attack ed with, and died in front of al at ed’s hands). not only was al deeply scarred, but ed was also ashamed that al had to watch him kill their mom. so, naturally, the al that ed would subconsciously want to bring back is the al from before all these horrible things have happened. al is brought back as a ten year old, because that’s how ed sees al still. when he looks at his reflection and sees al in its place during the lab five arc, it’s obviously ten-year-old al he sees. 

cos al is scary obsessed with ed. to the point where he doesn’t think of consequences and is stubborn in his goal of getting his brother back. our al would never sacrifice wrath; he would stop and try to look for a better way. at the end of the movie, he says all he wants is to be at ed’s side. gee doesn’t that take on a much darker meaning when you realize his entire purpose is to embody ed’s ideal of his younger brother and his relationship with him. 

how’s it gonna go when they separate? will ed ever find out? can we even consider cos al a real person or is he truly a living doll (A HOMUNCULUS) with artificial feelings revolving around his Purpose as an alchemic creation? if al were to find out, how would he feel, knowing that fear that “he” once had about his memories being false is a totally valid and real fear? would he try and separate himself from “al” and try and make his own identity, or would he be unable to? how would ed feel about it? would he accept this fake al or would he become distant and essentially start treating him like alfons heidrich (”you’re not really my brother but because you also kind of are, i can’t bring myself to leave.” and start becoming emotionally distant while also feeling regret for pushing “al” away)? 

[daylighteclipsed]

It's so nice that you're enjoying both series!! Especially when fandom is so divided over them.

I’m over 30 episodes into 2003 now. I haven’t finished 2003 or Brotherhood yet, but I think both series are necessary to get the full experience. I see fma as one universe. Brotherhood has breadth and 2003 has depth. Brotherhood gets you interested in these characters, and 2003 (at least, for me) makes you care about them. 2003 fills in the gaps that Brotherhood leaves behind, especially in the first season like:

Ed and Al’s childhood; Ed’s journey to becoming a well-known state alchemist at 12; how the boys become acquainted with Hughes, Roy and the others; the extent of the boys’ bond with Nina; Barry the Chopper’s backstory; Yoki’s backstory; how Riza got her dog; why Al loves cats; Roy’s PTSD; Ed’s PTSD outside of nightmares; everything about Liore; Ed’s big appetite; the extent of the struggles the Ish(b/v)alans still face against racism and oppression years after the war; how corrupt the military is and how Roy and co. are not exempt from that corruption.

The Amestris military is painted in a less sympathetic light. They’re much less trusted by Ed and Al, and although that means a lot of the chummy interactions in Brotherhood are missing, I think its important to see this side of things too. I think its important to not find Roy and co. as “likable” and to see the tension between Ed and the group because Ed doesn’t approve of what they’re doing (obeying orders against their better judgments, truly behaving as “dogs of the military”). Ed often goes behind their backs to do what’s right, and I think that gives more meaning to what he chooses to wear, red and black in a sea of blue and white.

It’s uncomfortable to see characters you’re fond of in one adaptation be deliberately shown as not great in the other, but I think you need that other perspective to fully appreciate the themes of racism, genocide, fascism, militaristic nationalism trying to be told in both stories. You can enjoy/sympathize with the characters, but you NEED to be uncomfortable with what’s going on. You NEED to understand the horrors Roy, Riza, Hughes, Major Armstrong, Jean Havoc, etc. are taking part in as soldiers. You need to see that they’re racist. Even Ed is racist.

One of my favorite parts of 03 is Ed acknowledging his own inherent racism and realizing he and others have to make a conscious effort to unlearn it: “There’s something that’s had me afraid: your red eyes. The first time I saw Scar on those library steps I was scared of him. He was the first Ishbalan I’d ever seen. But now…Well, I’ve learned that you can’t always trust the way that you feel, and you can’t trust everything you’ve heard about people like me either. Not from mom, dad, because even they can be wrong. That’s why we’ve all gotta find our own answers.” 03 is riddled with powerful themes like this that give more meaning to the fma universe as a whole.

Most of all though, 03 develops and fleshes out characters and relationships that aren’t explored much in Brotherhood. Characters like Winry, Sheska, Rose, Maria Ross, Izumi, Lust, even Trisha (…all women characters, yikes). You see Winry interact with girls and have friendships with Paninya and Sheska. And you get a really cool dynamic between Al and Scar that isn’t really brought up at all in Brotherhood. The similarities between them, the unspoken understandings between them, are super interesting to watch.

Al’s character is 100 times more interesting because of 03. His struggles, feelings, and flaws are given way more attention as he and Ed more evenly share the main protagonist role. His idealism and sensitivity get him into trouble. You actually see how much being a suit of armor bothers Al, how painful it is for him, how scary. His doubting he was ever real is built up over many episodes, so when that conflict comes to a head it makes sense. Even more so because there’s already tension between Al and Ed. Their relationship is not smooth and easy. Al has issues standing up to his older brother, and Ed doesn’t really listen to him. It’s revealed Al was never 100% on board with trying to bring mom back to life. Al wants to talk about things that are bothering him, but Ed doesn’t.

But on the flip side of more conflict, you see more of how much the boys love and depend on each other. And you get an interesting look into Al’s character regarding the darker side of that love. Al admits that if Ed was killed he’d want revenge on Ed’s killer the way Scar wants revenge for his brother. He threatens to tear Wrath’s arm and leg off because they belong to Ed. That’s a side of Alphonse you do not get in Brotherhood. He’s much more human and responds to situations the way you’d expect someone in his place, at his age, would. I really didn’t care much for Al until I watched 03 tbh. He just seemed perfect to me, and his attempts to warn Ed against doing things seemed pointless because everything Ed did ultimately turned out OK. Now Al’s a real person to me.

The same goes for Ed, just less drastically because I already found Ed kinda interesting in Brotherhood. Both of the Elric brothers in Brotherhood are kind of just your ideal heroes who don’t have to develop much because they’re already, unquestionably the Big Good. Their flaws don’t create serious problems. They don’t have to learn much, and they’re not forced to change. They’re always strong, always win, always do the right thing. Sure, they could let people like Winry help out more, but its not really treated like much of a problem. They’re pretty standard characters, and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as the plot makes up for it–and I’d say Brotherhood’s plot does because I find Brotherhood really enjoyable–but I think you’re missing a lot about these characters if you don’t watch 03.

Ed in 03 has to learn to care more about others outside of his own self-interests. His arrogance as a young child is actually comparable to the Icarus myth he mentions in Liore. He’s stubborn and cynical to a fault, and he and Al butt heads because of this. His unwillingness to open up and communicate is an actual problem that’s prevalent in all of his relationships and it is not easily overcome. He’s defeated a lot, and alchemy can’t solve all of his problems. Like Al, he responds to situations the way you’d expect someone in his place, at his age, would. He cries. People don’t put up with his bullshit as often, and his bullshit has consequences. Things don’t just always turn out OK for him and everyone else. His core is challenged. His morals and goals are challenged. Like Al, the question of how far Ed is willing to go for his brother is posed. He has to sacrifice his childhood and his innocence and you really see the effects of that.

The Elric brothers are complex, human characters so their relationship is also complex and human. It’s the core of the fma universe, and I think 03 does a brilliant job of illustrating that, the conflicts and the profound sibling love between them. In Brotherhood how deep the connection runs didn’t really register to me. Watching 03 I’m like oh my god? They are bonded through soul and blood? Ed wrote that sigil anchoring Al’s soul to this world with his own blood?? They burned down their house. They are each other’s last living remnant of home. They ARE each other’s home. They really feel like all they have is each other. And you get all these really precious scenes between them, like one time they shack up with a stranger and share a bed on the floor, curled up beside each other on the mattress like little kids. The opening(s) often show them staying outside with Ed asleep against Al, which I think emphasizes the fact that home is not a place to them but a person. 

But anyway. Like I said I haven’t finished Brotherhood or 2003 yet, but I really like both of them. I think together they create one complete universe.