#we crossed her into fma

[dreadlord-mr-son]

It's funny to work through all the implications of us deciding Wynn's dad was Hohenheim's son from a fling Hohenheim had before he met Trisha.

Ed is freaking out about unknown branches on the family tree. Part of him thinks it's awesome but he has so much family-related trauma. Al, who took his trauma in a different direction, is latching onto new family like a bear trap. She cannot escape, she is his now.

[frostbitebakery]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

I got tagged by the lovely @thejediandthemandalorian thank you 💜💜💜

1.) How many works do you have on ao3

15

2.) What's your ao3 word count?

147,444 words

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

"Writing" is such a strong word. Codywan is the one that inspires me the most at the moment to the point I want to add little backstories.

4.) What are your top five fics by kudos?

I Got My Head Checked

Outtakes of IGMHC

Art for IGMHC

black

Codywan Art and Hubris

5.) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to!! When someone is kind enough to leave a reaction, I should thank them at the very least! Excuse Number 1: I get overwhelmed easily. Excuse Number 2: Especially with long or thoughtful comments, when I answer those I feel like that's the end of that interaction and I don't want that to end

6.) What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's gotta be one of the Mood Color Panties that ended with an emotional cliffhanger...

7.) What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhhhhh in terms of happy ending to fic setting ratio? Probably the MCU/Snowpiercer crossover that ends somewhat like the movie wherein they discover that not everything on the outside world is dead and gone.

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet? *crosses fingers*

9.) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I have written smut. With BDSM and lingerie. But I don't feel the smut groove anymore. Once in a while I do like to dabble in erotica when drawing though

10.) Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've officially written one (1) crossover of MCU/Snowpiercer. Unofficially, I've chucked words at friends about The Covenant/Fantastic Four where Johnny Storm and Chase Collins are roommates for whatever reason and Chase is trying to close a portal to Hell and fighting off demons while Johnny is oblivious to it all until his Lucky Charms are gone.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of. Plenty of art got stolen though.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yus! A smutty stucky one-shot got translated into Russian

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Does The Unlucky Ones count??? I just wanted spoopy Cody but I can't not do backstory for AUs, so my mind is churning out the lore. Then @adiduck was like, “hey, I have some ideas for TUO, how about--“ and then I buried her in the sandbox. The only bits I wrote (with Adi's blessing) are the snippets on the artworks. She is writing the fic while we both excitedly yell at each other.

14.) What's your all time favorite ship?

Just one???? All of them have a special place

15.) What's a WIP you'd like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I don't have any fic WIPs atm

16.) What are your writing strengths?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh quite a lot of people pointed out that my pacing is good, and some people like my humor! Thank you <3

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm too rushed. And like, a whole lot of technical stuff I don't know.

18.) Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I like it. It can add a lot of things to the characters, plot, or setting. What I personally don't like if the words in another language are in italics.

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

Weiß Kreuz. It's in German and the forum it was posted on is long gone. There's an FMA fic on ff.net still. You won't find that one either.

20.) Favorite fic you've ever written?

I Got My Head Checked :D It started as a naive "lolol what would I want Sithywan to look like? just the once", grew to "But listen, Glimmer, it would be so funny if Sithywan is like "I need a week" as his estimation for how long he needs for Cody to spill every secret ever to him, and it ends with Sithywan just getting up in the cell like he's never been injured/tortured at all and going like "Thank you, that's all I need" like some method acting Black Widow type, but internally starting his journey of “omfg I want him carnally and emotionally””, and then it spiraled into 75k words with more catharsis for me as a person than should be possible. And a greenhouse. More IGMHC trivia!!

Oban Ouaine, Qui-Gon's Cody's Venator, is Gaelic for little green bay. I wanted a connection of Qui-Gon and his fandom plants. And I thought Oban Ouaine sounds a little bit like Obi-Wan

the original plan was that the whole Venator is like a jungle with plants everywhere. @elwenyere brought up "they have a greenhouse?" and I ran with that instead, not knowing it would turn into a central stage for hope and healing for the characters

TAG YOU'RE IT: @adiduck @elwenyere @ifonlyweknewwhatiwasdoing @meebles @merlyn-bane @wrennette @lttrsfrmlnrrgby and anyone who wants to bc this was fun!

[patron-saints]

fma rareship weekend: day 2, fantasy au

written for @fma-rareships's day 2! this ficlet is lust x riza x roy and takes place in a d&d style au. "we saw you from across the bar and we thought you looked... evil."

~~~

the gunslinger and the flame sorcerer are sitting at the wooden ram bar when the woman walks in. the gunslinger—their companions have taken to referring to by her last name these days, though in her head she still called herself riza—feels the strongest surge of something rush over her when the stranger crosses the threshold. it’s power, it’s magic, it’s a deep set feeling of danger, and it’s absolutely attraction. she taps her fingers on her partner’s hand, but he’s already looking. he glances back at riza quickly, mouthing something that looks like ‘evil wizard?’

riza shrugs.

the woman orders at the counter nearby to them and takes her drink to the other side of the bar. she’s not ignoring anyone, rather letting her eyes fall on the establishment as a whole. her hair is long and dark, and it falls in waves down her back. her gloved fingers curl around the edge of her glass. riza can tell just from the elegance of that movement that the woman is deeply accustomed to somatic component spells. which is to say: she’s good with her hands. and riza’s desperately trying to avoid her gaze falling any lower, but the woman herself appears unafraid of anyone staring at her chest, having clearly dressed to flaunt what the gods… or a good spell gave her.

they came here looking for a wizard. does it really matter if she’s evil?

“get her attention,” riza murmurs, but she should have known she doesn’t have to ask. fire dances between mustang’s fingers, like a pet snake at the end of his hand. he’s showing off; both the exact degree of heat he hopes for and the precision required for a trick like that are near impossible, but he does it while sipping his ale, like there’s nothing to it. riza knows how long he spent practicing that trick though, and to her, that makes it even more impressive. even if he’s an asshole about it.

it works, because of course it does. the woman’s eyes land on his fingers and she watches the fire for a moment, but then her gaze slide over to meet riza’s. riza feels her heart stop.

they came here with a job posting. she has to remind herself of that.

but still, when the woman raises her glass to them both with a wink, riza thinks, gods, i wonder if she’d come home with us tonight.

[gayemeralds]

Whats your honest opinion aboutnthe fandoms love for sonic and tails brotherly bonding biven that canon is not as strong on that regard

sorry for waiting like. months. to answer this question i’ve been pondering the best way to answer this for literally. months.

i guess the thing is i’ve never really thought about the domesticity of their relationship? a lot of fan things that depict them as brothers are very domestic, the little interactions between them living together and all that. sonic brushing tails’s fur. sonic telling tails to eat his vegetables. them shopping together. things like that. like, i do think they are brothers, and that they view themself as brothers, but i guess i don’t see them as conventional brothers? i’m not quite sure how to articulate this. like they ARE brothers, and they care about each other, and have a different sort of relationship than knuckles and sonic, and sonic and amy, and sonic and cream. but i wouldnt say they’d be anything like ed and al from fma. hm. it took literally thirty years to hear sonic call tails his brother in a game.

like, when i think of them, i’m inclined to think of my sister and i’s relationship. we’re about six years apart, no siblings in between. we love each other a lot, but we don’t see each other a whole lot, because we’re just in super different parts of our lives. i don’t live with her, but i’ll crash on her couch every once in a while. i don’t see her often. i am excited to see her when she visits.

so like, i think sonic did raise tails, in a sense. i think sonic probably took care of him when they first started hanging out and tails was literally just four years old. but sonic’s independent by nature and older by a good chunk of years, and i don’t really think he’d actually enjoy taking care of someone. sonic CARES and loves tails but i would not say he’s a nurturer, and he doesn’t want to be tied down. so once tails got a workshop, assumedly around sonic adventure (at least, a stable one), sonic ditched. i don’t think the two of them live together. sonic’s literally homeless and loves to wander the world for like, months on end. i don’t think sonic and tails do chores together. i don’t think sonic’s at tails’s workshop for long periods of time. maybe to crash on his couch and read a book every once in a while.

sonic visits, yeah, but i also think there’s just long periods of time where they don’t see each other. early sonic games from adventure to the “dark” era of sonic games indicate they don’t see each other for long periods of time (”long time no see!”) and when they do see each other, its often because of a new scheme from eggman or a danger to the world. like, sonic 06- they didn’t even plan on meeting each other, they just happened to cross paths.

i don’t know if this particularly makes sense. i just don’t really see them being particularly domestic together. neither of them are conventional people, and sonic especially is the type to enjoy alone time and adventuring; tails is a little more inclined to stay in place so he can work on his new machines, traveling usually for research or to help sonic. they’ve got different motivations and hobbies so i think they don’t actually spend a lot of time together. it’s probably similar to how much time sonic and knuckles spend together, since knuckles is almost always stuck on angel island with the master emerald.

(plus, if we consider the timeline sega’s been trying to tell us, where every game seems to happen in the span of a year, and tails has always been eight and sonic’s always been 15, or something similar, where tails isn’t a literal toddler when they meet, i really don’t see them doing anything domestic together at all. sonic’s always on the road and tails is off doing inventing or occasionally helping sonic out. if tails wasn’t four-ish when they meet, i don’t really think sonic would... like, take care of him the same way a “parent” would. amy rents her own house in station square, and she’s like twelve. it seems to be the norm, at least in our perspective, that young mobians are allowed to be left to their own devices; like, we still don’t know what’s up with charmy and the chaotix. sure, he could ahve been adopted by vector i suppose, or are his parents just super chill with him hanging out with a bunch of detectives? lmao. and besides, tails is a pretty smart cookie. he really can take care of himself, and sonic would just leave him be since he seems “old enough”, at least in the sonic world, to do so.)

[cuchufletapl]

There's. Something. About the fact that the Flamel Symbol in FMA was ascribed to the three human characters that willingly committed alchemy's greatest taboo and lost (a part of) their bodies as a result.

As I understand it (and I should do more research on it, so take this with a grain of salt), in real-life, historical alchemy, the Flamel Cross is pretty much analogous with the philosopher's stone. And because western alchemy wasn't just about the science but rather had a strong religious component to it, the philosopher's stone itself was never really about obtaining gold in the most literal sense (as a valuable metal for monetary reasons); it symbolises the achievement of spiritual and physical perfection. (And excuse me for being pedantic for a second, but I feel like it's relevant here to know the etymology: in Latin, perfectus -a -um means "finished", "complete".)

Edward, Izumi, and Alphonse aren't whole, they lost a part of themselves in trying to do something that was out of their reach (Al in particular is physically nothing), and yet from the very beginning of the story they're the closest to illumination, they met god (essentially) and knew the knowledge of the world.

I don't believe Arakawa ever told us when Izumi got her tattoo (the extra chapter about her past as an alchemy apprentice has her cleavage completely covered), but I would venture that she got it after her failed human transmutation. There is nothing in the manga to suggest that she did it earlier, at least. Meanwhile, Edward and Alphonse definitely started wearing it after they tried to resurrect their mother — or, more accurately, after they set out on their journey to restore what they lost.

We are never told the reason why they decided to take on Izumi's emblem, interestingly enough. We don't even see them make the decision, they just start wearing it from one page to the other. Chronologically, the first time that we see Ed wear his red coat is in chapter 23, when he travels to East City to take the State Alchemist exam. However, in the one panel where he has his back towards the reader, his arm is positioned in a way that hides the symbol. Al isn't present for the exam, and the next time that he appears, at the beginning of chapter 24, when they burn down their childhood home, we're not shown his left shoulder — only the right. Nevertheless, we could infer that he already had painted the Flamel on, like we can infer that Ed's coat had it as well, and infer we shall!

I read someone here point out how both Al and Ed carry things of the people they love with them, giving the Flamel as one example of it. (I'd quote them properly, I know I reblogged it at the time, but I can't find the post.) And while I'm sure that's part of the reason, an homage to their master, I can't help but think that it isn't a coincidence that Izumi's symbol specifically resonated with them.

Again, we're never told what the Flamel means within the universe of FMA, it's there but not mentioned, a subtle literary symbol — but given that Arakawa had other real-life alchemical symbols in the series mean the same thing that they meant historically... well. Ed and Al are alchemists, after all, so they would know that the Flamel Cross represents spiritual perfection.

I think that the Watsonian and Doylist explanation for the Flamel is the same here — Ed, Al, and Izumi chose in-universe to wear the Flamel for the same reason that Arakawa chose to identify them with that symbol.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting at here, to be honest. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. I don't quite have a conclusion to offer. This is why I don't usually do meta lol

But it just feels like it means something, to have these characters, who were overtaken by their grief and punished for their hubris by taking away their bodies, be identified with a symbol of completeness.

[silvyavan]

BLACK CLOVER CHAPTER 350 LEAKS

LORE AND PREMISE CHAPTER

11 pages and we're on break next week, so next leaks will be around 14th to 15th February on valentines ish, mostly because Tabata has to prepare for it with volume 34 color page, maybe a front page drawing AND something for the 8th anniversary of the series on top of a chapter.

Lily is very sad and upset over saying such horrible things to Asta and how she hurt him, with Asta being best boi and saying none of it matters

We get some inner reflection and lore about church in Clover kingdom

Apparently the church is just as prejudiced and, with the cross and clover being worshipped there, I'm assuming the main form of worship is the 4 main element spirits (sylph, undine, salamander, gnome(?)) And mana in general

Lily gives us exposition of Lucius plan and apparently, with the Cocoon Sibs in his control, he's able to make whole ass humans that's compared to god like power. Now, if Tabata has seen/read fma then he'd likely know having soul magic and a perfect body alone won't be enough. Question is if Lucius is dipping his hands into some lake of souls like some fisherman or how he's getting them.

She also says that Lucius' plan is to take control of all mana in the world, including Hino, so naturally that's gonna be shit. I'm assuming that Lucius originally sent her there because of Ryuuya (he has Morris manipulated with heart Kingdom archives or not is yet to be specified, but I'm assuming he'd want all of the time related powers) or Ichika (Yami's sister with a lot of potential and as we've seen, dark magic can affect anything, both regular devils and purified ones).

Sister Lily apologises for releasing the dragon and the harm she's caused, even more sadness and Asta says its not her fault and he won't let her take the blame.

Apparently she's not dead when the whole transformation completely unravels, but she does faint and the only way to wake her up is by defeating Lucius.

Makes sense as there need to be consequences but not as dire as her dying, since it would mean nothing but backwards character development for Asta. So fumito takes her in to keep her in check.

Asta makes a determined statement saying he WILL defeat Lucius.

Five headed dragon is still running amok, even after Yrul and Lily are unconscious so Asta says he'll slay it himself with this big dick energy page.

Break next week and in two weeks, we'll likely get HEAVENLY MAIDEN ASTA moments.

One detail I absolutely love is how Asta still has the light in his eyes but its smaller than it usually is and now he has Supreme Devil Level Eyebags.

[princess-of-the-corner]

To be fair, I remember a scene from S1 or S2 episode, where Ladybug judo-throws Chloe in a way that should result in latter's neck spine snapping like dry twig (due to it resulting in her hitting a floor head-first). In that case Ladybug did that due to thinking that Chloe was Akumatized Villain's minion trying to sneak up on her from behind.

Fair yeah!

But also like. Again:

Shows like this will usually have... proper context clues. To let us know if this sort of violence is supposed to be cartoony or not.

I've talked on this before, both with ML but also shows like fma or bnha. Where some of the 'we are sparring I am not trying to kill you' moments or even the straight up slapstick comedy can look just as life-threatening as the actual fighting.

But the context around the scenes give the audience a clue to know what we should think of these actions. Should we take it as some comedy? As them safely sparring? As them trying to murder each other?

And ML.... used to do that. So yeah scenes like the above(iirc it's Zombizou?) are slapstick comedy. Scenes like Adrien and Kagami's match in Riposte? Intense but no danger. Most of the Akuma fights? That's the danger.

But ML now has three problems for the whole scene of Ladybug attacking Chloé.

1.) Canon has shifted to say that the cartoony actions should be taken seriously. This was mostly focused on the whole thing with Marinette's overdramatic anxiety stuff and stalker tendancies with Adrien are to be taken seriously. But once you cross that threshold of 'this stuff you brushed off as comedy? Yeah no that's serious and fucked up!' it mixes everything.

2.) That scene of Monarch throwing Marinette into a wall so hard it cracks. Because by all of the context clues, that should be a serious fight with a serious injury. Even if she's just 'vaguely injured' because it's a kid show, at least show her limping instead of getting back up. But yeah no that is just brushed off.

3.) Due to the surrounding circumstances of the whole 'Ladybug attacking Chloé' thing, if the lines weren't blurred by the previous things, then the context says that things happening here /should/ be taken seriously.

[badfanficsforlyfe]

Wakingdeath Alchemist CH. 2 (FMA FF) (2012) (Age 13/14) [Posted to wattpad]

Chapter 2

I ran as far as I could and as fast as I possibly could go. The farther I went the more sulky I got about the whole situation. I had murdered two guys, got my mom taken away, sliced off the cook's hand, confessed to being a killer, and just ran like a criminal did.

Once I thought I was far enough and couldn't move anymore, I stopped and dropped to my knees breathing hard and almost coughing myself to death.

"I g-guess I should have b-brought water. That would h-have been smart." I coughed and looked at Kuagra who meowed in agreement. I sat with my legs crossed on the grass and wiped sweat from my face. "We have to find Alphonse sooner or later. But first we need a map to find the dang place." I took a couple more deep breaths before I stood up straight and stretched reaching for the sky.

The sky was beautiful. I had forgotten how the sun made the clouds look as it was slowly sinking to the other side of the world. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and raised my arms soaking in the good and excreting the bad. I was trying to find peace in my mind.

On my last deep breath I opened my eyes and lowered my arms slowly.

"Well Kuagra. It's just you and me for a while. But of course you're going to have to catch us dinner." I winked at her and she scowled like she was not amused. "Well, how else are we going to live silly?" She snuffed and followed me while I walked forward. "Once we get into a different town, we'll ask for a map or at least directions for Resembool."

We walked through the forest finding some trouble with larger animals like the old times but we approached these problems differently. With what had happened, I didn't want to risk our lives and I didn't want to kill again that day. I had to call off Kuagra and we ran for it like cowards. We did eventually catch dinner...well found. There was a useful apple tree in the middle of the forest telling me that we were near the edge.

We stopped to eat under the tree and rest while I talked to her about our past memories and how fun we had taking on new quests and battles. Kuagra was in my lap nibbling on her apple.

"We should probably go now. You done with that apple?" I asked and she meowed in response. "Okay, I guess we'll go n-" A twig not too far away from us snapped and caught my attention. "What was that?" I whispered looking around.

After a couple minuets with nothing moving, I stood up and stretched again. "Well it must be my imagination. We did go through a lot didn't we? We should probably find a nice dry and safe place to sleep for the night. It looks like its going to rain. Come on Kuagra." I smiled as I noticed dark clouds gathering just above us and walked on seeing the hesitation in my snow leopard's steps. "What is it girl?" I asked and I heard a deep grumbling sound come from her chest. "Don't scare me like that. What is it?" I asked with stress, anxiety, and fear.

I looked all around me but could see nothing that didn't belong because it was getting darker.

She bolted forward into the bushes. A lot of rustling went around but a yell came out of nowhere. "Hey!"

I ran in the direction where Kuagra disappeared. I separated the bushes and found Kuagra on top of a boy who was struggling to get her off of him.

"Ferdinand!?" I yelled.

"Get this thing off of me!" he breathed and I hesitated.

"Kuagra, you heard him. Off...now." She sensed the seriousness in my voice and softly stepped off of him with a whimper.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Before you go all crazy on me...I've always been here." My mouth and eyes dropped.

"What?" I demanded again. "You mean you have been following me?!" I screamed making him wince.

"What else do you expect me to do? You just ran off!" He stood up and brushed himself off glaring at Kuagra who was growling at him while baring her teeth.

"After all these years of ignoring me, you chose this time to-" I let out a frustrated sigh and turned around stomping away.

"Wait! I can explain!" he shouted after me.

"I don't need an explanation because you're going to stop following me!"

I walked on not hearing anything from him. I hope I didn't make him feel bad, I thought and went to turn around but he wasn't there. "Good." I said to myself and turned around to where I was originally heading to. I jumped back and gasped because Ferdinand was right in front of me.

"Good what?" he asked curiously. I sighed frustrated and punched him down in the face.

"Oww! What was that for!?" he shouted standing up and rubbing his cheek.

"You scared me you idiot!" I kicked his ankles making him fall again. "Come on Kuagra." I said and started running again but Ferdinand caught my ankles and tripped me. I slammed on the grass drizzled in fallen leaves and had my arms to cushion my forehead.

I coughed wiping my nose and stood up staring up at him. He was a year or two older than me so yes he was taller and much stronger.

"Why aren't you scared of me like everyone else was?" I asked skeptically.

"I know you a lot better than everyone else."

"Then why did you stop being my friend?" I seethed.

"It wasn't my fault! My mom said I couldn't play with you anymore," he pouted.

"I can't get rid of you can I?" I sighed putting my fists on my hip and shaking my head. "Nope." He rocked on his heels and smiled. "Fine. But you listen to MY rules and do as I say when I say it or I'm going to ditch you." I pointed my thumb at my chest and he sighed like I was hopeless. "Come on, we have to find shelter for the night," I said and started walking ahead. "Kuagra, don't eat him while we're sleeping," I said causing a frightened expression to pop up on his face making me laugh on the inside but stay serious on the outside. Him staying with me was no laughing matter.

We ended up finding an old dusty shack just on the outskirts of a town that I had never ventured so far before to find. It smelled of old people and we all kept sneezing but it was better than nothing.

"Okay, find a corner and stay there. Ferdinand, I want you far away from me as possible. Got it?" I said strictly. He laughed nervously and nodded. "Good. Lights out."

I had found some old dusty rugs to sleep on instead of the hard ground, but it was still was hard to sleep.

"Is it true?" I heard him say from the other side of the room.

"Is what true?" I asked with very little patience.

"That you're going to learn Alchemy?"

"Yes. There's nothing wrong with it. It's going to help me find my mom."

"How?"

I sighed, my patience decreasing even more. "I haven't figured that out yet. I just know it will. Now will you be quiet and go to sleep?"

"Okay. Sorry."

In the morning we all had our stretching session before sneaking out of the old shack leaving nothing but broken wood, spiders, and a whole lot of dust that had all of us sneezing.

About thirty minutes of walking later, we entered this lively town. It was filled with busy people, smiling, and conversing to other people. It was just a little bit too cheery for me...

About five minuets later, we passed this bakery and the smell coming from the open windows was amazing. I groaned and held my stomach imagining my stomach biting my hand off just then. I shuddered.

"Ferdinand, you don't happen to have money with you do you?" I asked tiredly.

"Uh..." he said nervously.

"Idiot," I muttered and I heard him growl at me. We were both very tired and hungry so I wouldn't blame him for growling at me, so i just shook it off.

"Do you think we can work for food?" I asked looking at Ferdinand.

"I don't know, maybe we can try back at the bread store," suggested Ferdinand.

"Race you." I smiled and took off in the other way hearing him complain how he wasn't ready yet.

We kicked up dirt on the trail and passed by people fast. I was loosing my energy all too quickly and Kuagra was three yards behind us. I stopped suddenly and set my hands on my knees bending over. As I caught my breath, I felt Kuagra rub her cheek on my leg making me laugh. I looked ahead and saw Ferdinand waving his hands at me. I stood up straight and walked of the rest of the way there.

"What's the matter? Are you not in shape? Or is it that ridiculously heavy looking tool belt around your waist plus that satchel with god knows what's in it, slowing you down?"

"That could be a possible explanation but I bet if I didn't have these on, I would have beaten your butt," I snickered and read the sign above the door. "Wheat Obsession." Boy was that an...interesting name?

I opened the door hearing the ring of the bell that welcomed us and walked in.

"Ah, welcome. What would be on your menu today? We have dark bread, light bread, toasted bread, buttered bread, loaves of bread, sandwiches, crackers, baked bread, toast-"

"Sorry ma'am, but we aren't here to buy anything. We don't have any money-"

"Then why don't you get your little behinds out of this store." She smiled but pointed towards the door. She seemed cheerful but serious at the same time. Her dark hair was wrapped in a bun that had strands poking out everywhere. She had light wrinkles on her face and seemed friendly enough...

"That won't happen." I continued on. "Actually ma'am, we were wondering if you needed any help in the store."

She thought for a moment. "Nope. But thanks little cuties." I found it strange the way she talked to us.

I stood there for a couple seconds unlike Ferdinand who spoke up. "Maybe we should leave now and find another place." I shook my head and held my hand up to stop him from talking any further.

"Now there's a great idea!" she chirped. Sweat was glimmering on her forehead and wore brown leather gloves and overalls.

I smiled at her while I said; "Not happening." I put on my serious face and took the steak knife out of my sleeve. I have never once accidentally cut myself with any knife. I was careful and good at handling them. I slammed the knife on the counter and looked at her with my scary serious face. The knife stuck up with its pointy end stuck in the wood. "I can cut your bread for you. You look like a lady with too much on your hands." I smiled slyly making her stutter.

"Where'd you g-get that t-thing?" I didn't think she was afraid of a kid with a knife, but when she saw the dried blood on it I knew that it was her newest fear. Murder.

"If you let us work here and give us food in return, I'll tell you." I smiled a little wider and took the knife forcefully out of the counter. I slipped it up my sleeve and said, "Don't worry; I don't kill people with it...usually." I felt really bad about that part because I really did kill people with it. I wasn't telling her a white lie to get her to cooperate. I was telling the truth.

"Just c-clean that u-up before you s-start." She said pointing behind her to the kitchen.

I smiled and squeaked a thank you before walking behind the counter to the kitchen.

I walked over to the sink and thoroughly washed my knife using the cheap soap that she kept on the counter. After that, I dried it off and went to the loaf of bread on the cutting board. I started to cut the thing like I was a professional chef just chopping it up like bell peppers. While I cut the bread, I heard Ferdinand whisper to her but it all stopped when I shouted. "Ferdinand! You should bake the bread while Miss Lovey Dovey over there mixes the ingredients! Sound good?" I asked and they both nodded.

The whole day I sliced, Ferdinand cooked, and Miss Lovey Dovey (that was her new nickname) mixed and made. The whole day went by quickly and more customers came in each hour. The customers left happy and laughing with their family and friends making their way onto the trail. Something I couldn't really do anymore...but I let that thought fade away and kept working hard.

After the day was finished, we all sighed a breath of relief. "My, my. You kids are mighty fast when it comes to bread. Especially you. You cut through the bread like nobody's business!" she exclaimed happily. "Here's the deal. How about you work with me for a week until my other workers come back from their vacation. I'll supply you with shelter and food. Sound good?" she asked while smiling.

We both nodded in agreement.

[kattythingz]

My beloved wife, I’d be honored if you answered 7, 12, 25/26, and 28 😩😩😩😩

Why, husband dearest, you flatter me! Of course!

7 - Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

One of my favorite projects isn't nearly as popular as my other ones, but I adore it to pieces, and it's my teen wolf stalia fic. Stalia is a ship that I hold very dear to my heart, and the fic I wrote for them was the first time I really breached "longfic" word count and felt proud about it. A lot of research went into it, and a lot more stress near the end of it. But it's so important to me still to this day. Scott and Malia's whole subplot and relationship development was particularly sth I was proud of back when I first wrote it, hence the chosen snippet:

“We can’t just kill every person that crosses us!” Scott yelled, his wound-up nerves finally snapping. “It’s one thing to kill in a fit of blind rage, but to do it just because you can? That sounds like something Peter would do, not us!”

“Yeah, well, maybe Peter’s right about something for once!” Malia shot back. “Maybe if you didn’t spend every moment making friends with your enemies and letting them walk away, your own pack wouldn’t feel unsafe despite the presence of an alpha!”

“This isn’t about safety anymore, Malia! This is about murder! This is about all the people that’ve died to similar methods that you’re seriously considering right now! How could you be okay with that?”

“Because it saved Stiles! Do you think Stiles would still be here if I hadn’t arrived when I did, Scott? Do you think Garett would’ve waited for instructions from Violet before tracking down Stiles again?” She swung her arm toward Stiles. “Stiles is still alive right now because I did what I had in order to protect him! And if you can’t be happy with that fact, then it’s no wonder he landed here in the first place!”

Malia didn’t know which one of them was the first to stand up in their rage, but she did know that Scott was the first to falter. The first to stagger like he was the one lying strangled and muted in a hospital cot.

12 - Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

Hmmmm, this question's a little vague. For my current hyperfixation, ig, it would be ep44 from FMA 03. I love the dynamics between Ed and Team Mustang, and I love Ed's beef with Hohenheim, and I love the fact that we're spending a little time away from the plot to just let the characters (mostly Ed) ruminate on what's happened and just exist together. I go back to rewatch it pretty often.

25 - What do you look for in a beta?

Fishing for compliments I see. Subtle, Jinx. Real subtle. /j

Okay, so, genuinely: one of my first considerations is whether I'm friends with the person. Not because I'm looking for bias (I'm literally avoiding that with a beta?), but because there's a certain... comfort to it being a friend? If it's a complete stranger, no matter how nice they are, I'll always misread and/or overthink their tone in feedback. With a friend, however, I know for certain that they mean it well.

I also look for someone who knows the characters as well as or even better than me, because my insecurities about my writing aren't really in the technical aspect, but rather the characters. Consistency, OOCness, Would He Fucking Say That; that sort of stuff is the one thing I can't trust myself on.

It's a nice bonus if the person is also a good writer themselves, which I was very lucky to stumble on in my current beta <3

26 - Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?

Often, yes! If my official beta is for character purposes, then I am the technical beta that dings myself on grammar and language bullshit. I used to post fics without proofreading them. Keyword: used to.

28 - Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Oh, oh, first person that comes to mind is @shanastoryteller! Their Untamed fics are my EVERYTHING, from the headcanons to the characterization to the prose??? I can't even pick a favorite fic from them—actually, wait, I can. Rotten Work, easily. crust and sugar over too... but that's another fandom, oops. I've read basically all their stuff kjvnwjbw. Raberba_girl on ao3 too has SUCH amazing httyd content, dear god. The Dragon Queen of Berk is my everything. And uhhhh... I can't think of a third that's not you lol. GOOD 'NUFF

[galvanisticen]

Burn the Witch (placeholder name).

The more im writing this the more it seems like reverse fma so here we go

Instead of alchemy we doing magic because im a sucker for magic stuff. Powers are like jjk instead of CE its mana. Everyone has a mana pool and its genetic of how large it is. Usually redheads have a large amount of manapool but theres a small amout due to salem witch trails. As you age your manapool increases. Gray hair also represents high manapool. If you were to eat someone you can inherited 4/5th of their manapool. I love the idea of cannabilism as a symbol of stuff

Gonna be some rock paper scissor shit:

Religion -> Magic -> Physical -> Religion

Crosses can kill magic, magic can like fireball normal people-> normal people can stop believing

afterlife is going to be based on The Boy and the Heron and like even if you die, if you still believed up till death religion still gains power

Marcy:

- main character

-representation of lust

-Brunette

-sober to death by car seat headrest

-Satanic

Marcy is the main character. Her end goal is to create an artifical human using magic and shit so reverse fma: instead of human transmutation being the orgin its going to be the end.

Instead of father being some like diety or something its going to be the mother. Name right now is "Danish Sweetheart" bc its my favorite mitski song. Because of her mother being this figure, she has an abnormally high manapool. Instead of it increasing linearly with age it will increase exponentially making her seem as a prodigy.

Sober to death because this character is going to be based off that song. "take my hands off your neck and hold onto the ghost of my body" Story goes like she made a deal with the devil and one thing leads to another and the devil is basically her stand. Its going to prohibit her from taking about sex (TV girl reference). The ending of sober to death when he says "you and me will be alone no more" and its just his isolated vocals. She will be cannibalized at the end in order to help her lover with something but i have yet to figure that out.

[coruscatiio]

There is something that has always bugged me about the assumption that Deliora's attacks happened somewhere that was not Fiore. Key being that four minors, under the age of ten, were able to get to Fiore without much hassle (?). Those minors are Gray, Sherry, Tobi and Yuuka who all wind up in Fiorean guilds. I know that there is a Gray-centric manga that explores his journey, but really? We are supposed to believe that he crossed several countries without any serious intervention from a responsible adult who says "wait, it's kinda screwed up that a kid travels this far!" I know that no one really seems to care about orphans in this manga and does not mind them being raised in questionable circumstances and places (like a guild that pretty much doubles as a bar), but Gray being able to travel that far seems like a stretch even by the logic of the manga.

It is also strange to me that a non-Fiorean Gray would have known about Makarov/Fairy Tail to the extent that he would place his entire hope (remember, he initially goes to the guild to ask Makarov to undo Iced Shell) on a faraway wizard. Sure, Makarov is a wizard saint and likely famous. However, we have since come to learn that there is a ranking among the Saints which might explain it beyond the obvious answer (Gray needed to have heard about the guild and its master so that he could go to Magnolia and join the guild). There are just two issues: a. Makarov does not rank particularly high, able to be fifth spot at most and b. Makarov is not a dedicated ice magic user. If he was famously an ice user, it could be overlooked and even called logical—Gray would of course seek out another powerful ice user for answers.

However, due to what has already been outlined, this logic does not track. It simply does not exist.

Disbelief might be suspended if there was any main story mention of Gray having sought out more local mages that specialise in ice magic and that going to Makarov was a desperate last ditch effort, but there is nothing in the story that would convey the emotional distress of Makarov being the last resort. It is also just a touch strange that after travelling, allegedly, across continents and countries alike, Gray would just go 'oh okay' when a non-ice user tells him that undoing Iced Shell is impossible. Sure, Makarov is a wizard saint, but what exactly is his qualification to make a definite statement about Iced Shell? The only people we have ever seen use or try to use the spell are Ur and her students, adding to my theory that Ur created Iced Shell. Due to the circumstances, it would make more sense for Gray to take Makarov's word for it if he had not just vaguely heard of Makarov's magical prowess but if he had grown up in an environment where Makarov had been discussed more frequently.

So, here is a proposed and hopefully more logical sound explanation: like almost anything else in the manga, Deliora's attacks happened in Fiore. Probably along the border to Bosco which would account for a few things. The location where Deliora met its end is called Brago. The only thing really known about Brago is that it is not on the map that was shown at one point, early on. (It is also known that Mashima only really planned out Fiore and that the surrounding countries are just there to fill in the spot. Which is fine.) It is also supposedly in 'Isvan'. We later (much later) learn that the continent that Fiore is on is called Ishgar.

This following point is a bit of a stretch and admittedly based on my experience with FMA where the same location was called both Ishval and Ishbal, depending which FMA adaptation is considered, and Ishbar in the German Translation, but I think that those two places---Isvan and Ishgar---are the same thing which allows me to proceed without further ado, especially that all we know about Isvan is derived from one sentence Ur said---that there are more powerful mages west of her location---which seems to indicate that the location is in the east. If we assume that what Isvan equals Ishgar, then what she might have meant is that more powerful mages can be found in the more densely populated areas of Fiore where the guilds are.

One could spitefully say that this is supported by the fact that in the war that, according to canon, hit the entire continent, only Fiorean mages did anything remarkable that was worth any screentime.

Also---if Gray is from Fiore, a lot of plotholes close or are not even opened to begin with.

Note: I generally assume that most canon events take place in Fiore due to the aforementioned fact that pretty much every other place is terribly underdeveloped and I would hope that Mashima would have at least some idea about the place one of his main characters is from. (This does include my belief that the Magic Council is a Fiorean organisation that deals with Fiorean mages since otherwise, I envision it to be one gigantic mess as it is more or less canon that the Royal Family does not really have much to say about the mages living and working in Fiore. Which, uh, sure is a narrative choice that absolutely does not create messy legal situations!)

Why did he know about Fairy Tail/Makarov? Insert any explanation, ranging from a Fairy Tail mage having done work in his hometown prior to Deliora to Gray having read about them in the newspaper. Again: Makarov is a wizard saint. So is Jose Porla, of course, but to a child, Fairy Tail has to sound more appealing than Phantom Lord. And those two are the only wizard saints that are easily accessible to a child as they are guild masters and guilds (at least Fairy Tail) appear to be public spaces that can be entered by non-members.

To refer back to the earlier thought: that Gray might have heard of Makarov before. This really is not a stretch. Makarov is of course not going to show up in any publications like the Mage I Want To Be My Boyfriend ranking the way (I'm fairly sure) Siegrain did, but there is a canon interview that the Sorcerer Weekly magazine conducted with the entire guild. To think that Gray would have had access to newspaper articles or other publications does not seem like much of a stretch---he was born a mage, after all, and why would his parents keep him about information about other mages?

Why did he speak the Fiorean language? Well, he is from Fiore. It is generally doubtful if there are even multiple actively spoken languages in Earthland due to the fact that no matter where the characters go (and that includes a Mirror World), they can be understood and they understand others. The only character speaking a different language is Minerva when she calls upon the God of War. Then there is the script Freed uses for his magic, but I cannot recall if he or somebody else ever reads the script out loud.

A lot about Deliora, actually. The entire Deliora Plot that is witnessed during the actual manga also unfolds in Fiore. We can assume that Sherry's magic played a big role in getting Deliora to Galuna Island for the Moondrip Ritual, but even with that in mind, the entire story unfolds much smoother if Deliora was already somewhat in the vicinity of the island when Lyon started his plan.

His silence about his backstory. In a previous headcanon I said that one of the reasons why Gray and Natsu clashed as children was the very different way they dealt with their respective trauma. Natsu copes by telling everyone about Igneel---perhaps because saying it again and again helps him feel reassured that it was real, that despite what some adults say, it did happen. Gray copes by bottling his trauma about the deaths of his parents and Ur's sacrifice up. He cannot talk about it. He feels guilty* about his role in it. Makarov obviously has to know about where Gray is from and what the kid went through as Gray would have had to tell him in order to ask for help. I think Gray's silence becomes a lot more impactful and interesting if Deliora did happen in Fiore. If people around him know about the demon and heard the whispers about the end it met. If for ten years, Gray stewed in the knowledge that his choices spelled the end for someone who is now revered as a hero. As a saint.

* This guilt is obviously not healthy and it is undeserved. Gray should not feel guilty as it was not actually his fault but more or less a chain of events that, once triggered, could only lead to a bad outcome, but if guilt was rational, then there would be much less angst. Likewise, if anyone in this manga would seek the help of a therapist, then they might actually be well-adjusted.

[firewoodfigs]

so sorry I haven’t replied to all the lovely messages and comments but I appreciate every single one of you so dang much, you have no idea 🥺💖 I’ve met so many wonderful people through tumblr / FMA / ao3 this year and my heart just feels so immensely full aaaahhhh I love y’all and I hope you’re all keeping warm and toasty amidst fall/winter!!! 🥰

[clonerightsagenda]

You have to feel bad for Mei trying so hard to net a job she doesn’t want in order to save her clan, when she doesn’t seem to get that she never had a shot at keeping it, possibly because she’s young enough she thinks people will actually play by the rules.

Pitting the clans against each other is great for the Emperor while he’s alive. People will keep sending you bribes, and no one is going to kill you because they don’t know for sure that it will benefit them. After he dies though, it’s just going to be chaos. His approval doesn’t mean much when he’s dead; even if he handed you the throne personally, you have to have the power and connections to keep it. Mei simply doesn’t. I would be surprised if she made it a week. Ling seems to halfway grasp this - he mentions that he just wants to up his standing a little and then take over the throne on his own. I can’t remember if he says this in the show, but in this version he straight up says he intends to use the stone to make himself immortal, which would definitely help him hang onto power after the Emperor died. Still, his larger clan means he has more resources, and at the same time I think he’s young enough for the whole ‘quest for immortality’ adventure to turn his head and send him rushing off to a foreign nation when the real intrigue is back home. We don’t see any other contenders running around. If he’s 12th, many more heirs are probably too young to be in the running - 15 is already pushing it for foreign powers to take you seriously. The older 11 probably had the sense to stay home and start setting up alliances or prepping for a fight. That’s what’s going to win you this thing.

I would guess what really gets him the throne isn’t showing up with a jar filled with dead people. It’s saying he’s going to protect the other clans, because that’s the only lifeline the groups who never had a shot are going to get. (Mei seems convinced that smaller clans traditionally get wiped out when power changes hands, so anything is going to be a step up at that point.) If you get enough of those groups behind you, when the Emperor dies and everyone’s looking around like 'is it civil war time’ you have enough of a faction that people hopefully decide outright violence isn’t the way to go and just send assassins after your ass instead. But if you’re going to convince people that it’s worth allying with you and you can actually deliver on those promises of protection, you need to be negotiating from a position of some power, so poor Mei was doomed from the moment she was born.

[rayshippouuchiha]

My brain decided to inflict me with the not very original cross-over idea of FMA:B x BNHA

But not in the sense that they live in the same world or they got reincarnated. Just some time of quirk/alchemy fuckery happened and the FMA ppl would very deeply like to go home now. Shit makes SENSE there.

But like, someone looking at Momo's quirk and being all "so nobody let Ed know she exists okay? Okay."

And someone squinting really hard at the pro-heros who are complaining about the villains and then gesturing towards Snipe like "my guy. You have a person with a gun. The solution is obvious"

The elric siblings being their standard off-putting genius selves.

"We just got done successfully staging a coup and rebuilding our government, I'm not doing it AGAIN!"

Also, the idea of AFO trying to steal Ed's alchemy (I lean towards him having it, but it could be a weird miscommunication thing) thinking it's a quirk and the fucking GATE being all "who the fuck are you!?" Because Ed dealt with that bitch so many times you know it's camping out in his skull now.

Especially since he has so much info from it. Your bitch potato looking ass didn't pay the toll, you don't get the info.

But since you wanna STEAL it! And then AFO gets harmed in some manner by the Gate and the FMA ppl that have dealt with it are like "well, I don't what to tell you, Ed has defied God (the closest thing we have to one) so many times that it will protect him out of spite because if anyone is gonna kill Ed it'll be the Gate."

Ed takes one look at Momo and is like "it's an exchange principle, I don't like it, it's stupid but it's also not my problem" and everyone is like "wow we dodged a bullet there".

But then Ed meets Uraraka hears her quirk be called Zero Gravity one time and starts foaming at the mouth like "yeah no that's not how your quirk works" and Izuku just loses it like "THANK YOU! THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING" and everyone on both sides feels dread trace down their spine because oh no ohhh nooo their fucking gremlins have met and they're already agreeing with each other over something.

[azurelyy]

!!Azurelyy’s 100 Supporters Event~!!

I’d like to thank all of you for 100 supporters! This blog has helped me through a lot of personal shit and I want you all to know that each and every interaction, follow, comment, etc. means so much to me! This event is to celebrate you all and is my way of saying thank you. <3.

Okay, now that the mushy stuff is over with... On to the fun!

I have fluff and smut dialogue prompts from a collection of my favorite movies/tv shows/books! You may choose any prompt with any character from: Naruto, Avatar the Last Airbender, FMA Brotherhood, Kingdom Hearts, or InuYasha (so long as they aren’t on my will-not-write list, found in my rules).

Rules

- This event will last from July 28th, 2022 - August 31, 2022. This is a celebration, after all! 

To participate, you must send in an ask/message me and indicate your request is specifically for the event.

You must choose a line of dialogue from the list AND the character to go with it. Please specify if there is anything else you want (ie. specific setting, a specific trope/kink, or if you have a preference on whether the char or reader says the dialogue line you chose.)

The requests will be posted on my own time. I will try and get to all requests before the end of the event on August 31. 

Please make sure to specify gender for Smut requests. I mainly write f!readers, but can do m!readers if requested. Gender neutral smut requests will be implied only (how the character feels, etc. without specific descriptions).

These requests will (hopefully, this is me we’re talking about) be shorter than my usual requests. I am hoping to keep these as drabbles that are 1.5k words or less!

Once a prompt is chosen, I will cross it off. If you choose one and it has been taken, I will allow you to pick a new one - if you want!

All requests will be tagged under “azurelyy.100event”

You have to follow my rules.

Have fun! Thank you guys again for 100, and I hope we can celebrate more milestones in the future <3.

Fluff Prompts:

“Don’t forget: I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”

“So, it’s not gonna be easy. It’s gonna be really, really hard, and we’re gonna have to work at this every day. But I wanna do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me. Every day.”

“I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

“You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love… I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.”

“It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together, and I knew it. I knew it the first time I touched her. It was like coming home, only to no home I'd ever known. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car, and I knew it. It was like magic.”

“I’ve fallen in love. I’m an ordinary woman. I didn’t think such violent things could happen to ordinary people.”

"Love isn't patient, and kind, and humble. Love is messy, and horrible, and selfish, and bold. It's not about finding your perfect half. It's the trying, and reaching, and failing."

“I can't see anything I don't like about you.”

"I am done being scared, and I am done keeping secrets. I love you."

“But mostly, I hate the way I don’t hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.”

“Why me?” “Because you saw me when I was invisible.”

 "I've come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is, and always will be, yours."

"You're late." "You're stunning." "You're forgiven."

"As you wish."

"I'd rather fight with you than make love with anyone else."

"I'm the exception..." "You are my exception."

"Me? I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw, I’m scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I’m scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I’m with you."

“I can’t remember anything without you.”

“You had me at hello.”

"What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey, that's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon." 

Smut Prompts:

"I wish I knew how to quit you."

“Now, try your best to stay calm.”

“Put that thing back where it came from or so help me.”

“You must forgive my lips... they find pleasure in the most unusual of places.”

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

“You’re only in trouble if you get caught.”

“You should be kissed - and often - and by someone who knows how.”

“Take me to bed or lose me forever.”

“Either you have feelings or you don’t.”

“Oh, how we’re going to hurt each other.”

“The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield it.”

“Tonight, I will make you mine.”

“I desire you. I burn for you.”

“I need to taste you.”

“What are you doing?” “Making you feel really, really good?”

“I need you... do you feel how I need you?”

“Will you be quiet?”

“Where did you learn to kiss like that?”

“Beg for mercy. You can’t have it, though, not yet.”

‘I didn’t say I wanted an apology, did I? I said ‘Bite me again.’“

[harcidian]

fma post-series predictions

with Arakawa's new content coming up on July 12th, 2021, I wanted to share some details I tied together to form a general idea of how the series can possibly continue beyond the canon timeline, based on all the clues in the manga and in brotherhood. Even if Arakawa doesn't follow this theory, at least I'm able to get it out of my system.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying these are canon, or that these should be canon. These are mere observations and some are completely assumptions, so take it with a grain of salt.

Let's start by enumerating the characters' goals in the future, then defining the basic symbols, then drawing out assumptions on how these can be connected.

For this discussion, we'll be following what the silver pocket watch looks like in the manga. I have no idea why both FMA 2003 and brotherhood changed it, so if anyone knows, feel free to share!

note: I'm also using this headcanon for my ongoing post-fmab fic, meridian :)

(also this is very lengthy, so just click keep reading if you want to read more)

Due to Tumblr's photo limit, I wouldn't be able to add a picture for every point. But all these are from the mangahood unless otherwise stated, you could cross-check if you like!

Character's goals

EDWARD ELRIC, ALPHONSE ELRIC, CHIMERAS

At the end of the series (both anime and manga), the Elric brothers mentioned two goals.

first

"a new rule to counter the law of equivalent exchange".

Alphonse told Gracia that receiving "ten" and giving back "ten" only amounts to a zero-sum gain. So he proposed that if they receive "ten", they will give "eleven" in return.

In real life, this could be analogous to how interest rates work.

Gracia then asks Al what keeps them driven to come up with this principle, and he told her it's because of "a little girl we couldn't save."

This leads us to their next goal.

second

"once we pool what we learn from east and west together, maybe we'll find a way to help those who are suffering from alchemy".

Ed plans to head West, while Al plans to head East. Both of them seek knowledge on bringing chimeras back to their original bodies.

Al also mentioned studying the PURIFICATION ARTS in Xing.

The chimeras also strategized on how they would get their bodies back.

First, they take the soul out of the body and keep it safe in a separate location, then they take the body and separate it. They also cautioned about the "SPIRIT", which connects the soul to the body, and if it gets cut the soul can't come back to the body.

ROY MUSTANG, RIZA HAWKEYE, AND THE MILITARY

There were also two things that the mangahood hinted on what the future has in store for the military officers.

first

In Volume 16 of the manga, Riza tells Ed that their first priority is to "restore power to the parliament and move the country towards true democracy". Then she also shares that they plan to "negotiate with other nations to reduce our armaments" and "abolish the state alchemist program". Lastly, "end up on trial for the injustices we committed in Ishval".

However, the last plan should be taken with caution. There is an anomaly between the idea of getting hanged for their crimes and what Volume 15 is connotating.

In Volume 15, the highest-ranking priest in Ishval wanted to offer his life in exchange for the lives of thousands just to end the slaughter. However, Bradley tells him that one life is still equal to one life no matter who that person is. (It makes sense, in a way, but then again they only need it for the transmutation circle).

So I'm not sure if Arakawa wants military war criminals to experience death by firing squad or something but I guess it just depends on the way you interpret it.

Sidenote: After hearing about Roy's plan for "self-destruction", it appears that Ed has his own way of telling Roy to "stay alive". When Ed told him "you won't go far in life being that petty", he decided not to pay Roy back until he becomes the Fuhrer. And when that time comes, he'll borrow some more and will pay it back when Amestris becomes a democracy. Roy tells him, "then I've got a long life ahead of me". Ed also tells him "not to worry the Lieutenant."

second

Manga: Dr. Marcoh tells Roy that he would only use the Philosopher's stone to restore his sight if he agrees to restore Ishval.

Brotherhood: Roy already plans to restore Ishval without knowing that Dr. Marcoh can restore his sight. First, he plans to call off the military occupation from Ishval, then he'll return the holy land to the Ishvalans living in the slums.

In Riza's words, "This may not erase our sins, but it's the least we can do to fix it." (in the English dub but it has similar connotations in the manga)

OUR HEROES FROM XING (LING YAO, LAN FAN, MEI CHAN / MAY CHANG)

For now, I admittedly don't have much evidence on what's to come for them, but I think it's important to note that Ling Yao canonically becomes the Emperor two years after The Promised Day, where he decided to accept all clans.

I think that's all I have for the characters' goals, I'm sure I missed some, so feel free to let me know!

Now that all of that is in place, let's talk about the common symbols and how these are clues to what could possibly happen next after the series.

SYMBOLS AND THEIR CONNECTION

1. The "star" symbol on the silver pocket watch and its relation to the "spirit"

Again, I can't help but notice that the star symbol on the pocket watch looks different in the manga and the anime (and it honestly bothers me) so I'm going to have to rely on what it looks like in the manga.

So let's talk about this symbol.

In alchemy, a hexagram represents "the fifth element", the "quintessence", the unity of all elements [1] (it's Wikipedia lmao but it has citations. I'm too scared to check on other sites, I don't wanna dive too deep into alchemy)

We know that Hiromu Arakawa follows this symbolism since she used triangles for Flame Alchemy

(fire: plain triangle for fire, air: a triangle with a stripe on its top, and earth: an inverted triangle with a stripe at the bottom) [2]

I find it interesting to know that Arakawa specifically placed it on the silver pocket watch.

Caution, this is more speculation than observation and I've used it for my fic. I believe it stands for Time, and time has many connotations. The length of an event, a process from one point to another, and, of course, FMA's theme: immortality.

In an alchemical, philosophical, and chemical sense, time can be seen as the period that a substance exists, also known as volatility.

The volatility of a substance is central to alchemy, where alchemists believe that mercury is the most volatile substance. And it's interesting to note that alchemists code mercury as the Spirit.[3]

Remember when we were talking about the Spirit? About Ed and Al's plan to bring chimera's back to their original bodies?

SPECULATION: I, therefore, surmise that the quintessence, that time, that the Spirit, has something to do with splitting the soul of the chimera and putting the human soul back to the human body.

It's also interesting to note that volatility is a property used in Distillation (both a chemical and alchemical process). In Distillation, a liquid mixture is separated back into a pure component by heating it until the component with the lower boiling point (or higher volatility) evaporates.

And Distillation is one of the 12 Purification Arts that Al talks about, based on the magnum opus [4] [5]

Another interesting fact is that Ed and Al's goal of "fixing the volatility" have been foreshadowed all along.

2. Ed, Al, and Izumi's symbol

This represents the Crucified Serpent, where Arakawa modified it and placed wings and a crown on top of it.

I find it interesting that this site has defined what a crucified serpent means, and at the same time, defines what Ed, Al, and Izumi's symbol meant in relation to that.

So “fixing the volatile” generally means stabilizing the active principle, something which can separate harmful and beneficial elements from each other or even transform the harmful (pure active, too active) into the beneficial (balanced active).

The symbol that Izumi, Ed and Al wear, however, is not the crucified serpent alone. It is the crucified serpent winged and crowned. As we can see in many manuscripts, wings are used to mark progress or advancement of an alchemical solution toward perfection. Crowns mark the final stage of a spirit or solution: perfection, completion, ascension.

If we interpret snake = Mercury = spirit, which is a common symbol chain, then the symbol can suggest that the final “rendering” of the spirit, by death or enlightenment, will produce the pure, perfected, incorruptible spirit that, in alchemical terms, tends to go along with an incorruptible body. In this reading, the symbol indicates immortality, the standard promise of the philosopher’s stone. [3]

Basically, Arakawa is telling us that Ed and Al's goal has always been to fix the volatile or "render the spirit".

From the same quotation, another important factor we should look into is "Mercury", "volatile" and "snakes".

Do you remember another FMA symbol with snakes?

Yes. It is in Riza Hawkeye's tattoo.

This will be the last thing we'll interpret for this post and is the symbol that basically says it all.

3. Riza Hawkeye and the emblem of Flame Alchemy

Manga and Brotherhood

Source of the last picture [5]

I'm honestly a little skeptical of the last picture, because, in the mangahood, Riza's tattoo does not look like that, unless this was revealed in one of Arakawa's FMA guidebooks.

Anyway, we see that the snakes in Riza's tattoo look like an inverted Caduceus, which is the staff carried by the Greek or Roman god Hermes or Mercury. It is a symbol for medicine, and it also has Biblical roots where Moses crucified serpents to cure diseases back in the day [6]. Yes, we've gone full circle, we've mentioned the crucified serpent earlier, where it also mentioned the crucified serpents being related to Moses' healing [3].

We also know that snakes = mercury = volatility, and based from soterianyx's analysis:

Master Hawkeye meant for these two representations (the sun and the serpents) to be deciphered as one unit. When sulfur (the sun) and mercury (the moon/the serpents) are placed together, they are usually depicted in alchemical illustrations as the “Red King” and the “White Queen,” respectively. Riza would be considered as the White Queen, and whoever successfully decoded the array as the Red King. [5]

In alchemy, sulfur is related to the sun, fire, ambition, and is non-volatile, and mercury is related to water and volatility (correct me if I'm wrong, also I'm too scared to link it directly here but you could see it as the first result when you search "mercury and sulfur alchemy")

And if you remember that fire has the triangle symbol, and water has the inverted triangle symbol?

Yes, this merge forms the hexagram = the quintessence = time = life!

And in alchemy, this union between two dualities, fire and water, masculine and feminine, the Red King and the White Queen, is called the Alchemical Marriage [7], where two things become one.

(will edit this from time to time I'm so sleepy right now asksksakjd) Note: If the last picture is indeed true, then there's one more thing I'd like to point out.

Surrounding the largest circle in Riza's tattoo are 12 symbols. These 12 symbols are also known as the Zodiac signs. Interestingly, these signs are also used as a cryptography for the 12 Purification Processses in alchemy (the one we also talked before) [4]. This observation is also noted by soterianyx [5].

Calcination (Aries) ♈︎

Congelation (Taurus) ♉︎

Fixation (Gemini) ♊︎

Dissolution (Cancer) ♋︎

Digestion (Leo ) ♌︎

Distillation (Virgo ) ♍︎

Sublimation (Libra ) ♎︎

Separation (Scorpio ) ♏︎

Ceration (Sagittarius ) ♐︎

Fermentation (Capricorn ) ♑︎

Multiplication (Aquarius ) ♒︎

Projection (Pisces) ♓︎

Whew finally done.

How'd you like that? Thank you for reaching the end.

I also used this headcanon in doing my post-series fic, meridian . You might want to read it if you want to know more of my speculations since I'll be making my own analysis in the worldbuilding I'm doing there.

Other FMA blogs: @royriza - for royai stuff

@fullmetalanalyst - for my analysis