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felixcloud6288 · 8 months

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Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 46

We see Hohenheim isn't a regular human being, but when he calls himself a monster, we cut to a scene with real monsters.

Wrath isn't even making a token effort to hide his association with Gluttony. He does not intend to let Lin or Lan Fan escape alive. He also might not be aware they have any connections with anyone else, so even if Lin escapes, it's no big deal.

"You rely too much on your eyesight, Bradley!!" Wrath's immediate response is to reveal his ultimate eye and expose his identity rather than risk fighting without his vision. He proved Lin was correct and that statement is going to come back to haunt Wrath several times.

And we get a glimpse of Wrath's personality in this chapter. He's nihilistic and hearing someone preach at him about ideals made him genuinely angry.

The sword Wrath threw at Lin is the one Lan Fan broke.

We have a scene of Winry having a heart-to-heart with Gracia about Hughes. Her last memory of her parents is seeing their backs as they walked away with conviction, and Winry admired them for doing what they believed in. Maybe that's part of the reason she paid attention to Ed's shoulders in chapter 44. He was walking with the same stride her parents did.

The more time she spends around Ed and Al, the more she realizes how dangerous their lives have been. In her first appearance, Ed shows up after his arm was completely destroyed, and Al was in literal pieces. Then she has to do maintenance on Ed and he's in the hospital and his new arm is already covered in scratches. Then she learns Ed and Al were investigating something that resulted in Hughes being killed to keep him quiet. Then Al runs off to help the colonel with the Super Heist and he returns to Winry with parts of his armor being sliced through. And then she hears they're fighting a dangerous serial killer who has murdered several State Alchemists, and as she approaches the battlefield, she sees all the destruction that's occurred

The more she learns, the more she relives that scene of her parents walking away and never returning.

This shot really shows how dynamic a fight using Alchemy can be. The terrain is constantly changing so the fighters have to be constantly aware of their surroundings. The ground beneath Ed and Al shifted and they're responding to keep on their feet. Al is stepping on a small platform that appeared in front of him while Ed is using a slab of stone that appeared to provide him more force to jump way from Scar's attack.

That stone hand Al used to save Ed was about to break under its own weight.

Al was just trying to help Ed catch his breath. He wasn't even thinking about Nina until Scar mentioned East City. And the worst part for them is Scar is absolutely right about what would have happened to Nina if she had lived. They can't argue against Scar's actions because he at least did what he thought was right while they did nothing.

But then Ed changes the subject to the Rockbells. He clenches his hand so hard it creaks from the strain.

Bringing up the Rockbells shocks Scar. Did he even know they had saved his life or was he burying that memory and hoping to forget. And the whole thing is worse when Winry shows up at the worst time to learn that Scar killed her parents.

And Scar knows he's wrong and he's knowing looking down the barrel of that cycle of vengeance his master warned him about.

Nina Trauma Count: 6

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Spoiler Discussion

Lin's initial fight with Wrath leaves him with two cuts: One on his left cheek and another on his left wrist.

The cut on his cheek is what Father will use to insert Greed in his body. The cut on his wrist, while not important, is the reason Lin's hand will be bandaged up and will allow the more dramatic reveal of Greed's Ouroboros.

#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist reread

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whumpinaheartbeat · 1 year

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Rest My Little One, For You Are Loved

This fic contains conversations of self harm through neglect and disordered eating, please read with discretion.

In the rush of everything else, there was a problem that nobody had considered.

In fact, it hadn’t really been a problem because Al’s body was so weak from being held at the Gate of Truth for so long that he spent the first few days sleeping through most of the day, only being able to greet one or two well wishers and maybe being coaxed to try to drink a little water before his consciousness drifted off and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Edward barely left his side of course but Riza was keeping her eye on Ed also, knowing full well just how much he had been through recently. While Ed had been medically cleared with the caveat that he keep his newly reformed arm in a sling until he was strong enough to get the bolts removed, the sling was currently nowhere to be seen as he used both arms to properly retell a story.

Al was sitting upright, he had been gradually regaining his strength too, but there were stacked pillows behind him just in case he needed them. His arms, real flesh arms, were mottled with bruises from all the blood tests and IV’s, the latest of which was already developing around the newest tube that was giving him much needed hydration.

It had been a few weeks since the Promised Day but Alphonse was still making up for years of depending on Edward’s nutrition and sleep schedule, things that were famously horrendous, so he was no where near being discharged like Ed and Riza had been fully aware of Al’s growing frustration. The joy of simply being alive, of being in his real body, was slowly waning as the reality of years of physical therapy and probably chronic pain and exhaustion was starting to set in.

It was only a matter of time before that frustration overwhelmed the sweet boy, he had already done so well for so long.

Riza should have expected it then, the culminated meltdown that had been brewing for weeks now. Yet when Al yelled so loudly, so suddenly, she found herself reaching for her gun all the same, her mind screaming that she was in danger. Edward had flinched back also, hands already pressed together as if to transmute despite no longer having Alchemy while Roy raised his hand, ready to change the composition of the air.

Roy dropped his hand first, the guilt clear on his face, but Ed rushed to Al first, an apology already on his lips.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” Al snapped.

Ed stilted, his eyes wide, but he kept his distance all the same.

Riza settled her own racing heart first, forcing herself to stand slowly as to not spook anyone in the room.

“Colonel,” She said. “I believe that Garcia and Elicia were waiting for you at the cafeteria. How about you take Edward with you?”

“What?” Ed whipped around to her. “No way, I’m gonna stay with Al.”

Riza met his eyes. She offered a smile, trying to convey that Alphonse would be safe with her. Ed clenched and unclenched his fists, warring with himself, until he twisted on his heel and stormed towards the door.

“You coming Colonel Idiot?” Ed demanded.

“I was giving your little legs some time to get ahead.” Roy said tightly, eyes still locked on Al as he made towards the door.

Riza waited for the both of them to disappear down the hallway, their voices still being heard as they bickered, before she twisted towards Alphonse.

The anger had drained from him just as quickly as it had risen up but Riza knew that it was deeper than just annoyance at Ed’s exaggerated story.

“Do you want to tell me what that was about?” Riza asked.

She kept her tone even, non judging but also not giving him a chance to deflect. Al did not look at her, more likely could not look, gaze focused on picking at the threads of the blanket. Riza did not repeat her question, Alphonse had heard her.

Al would speak when he was ready; he always did. He could be stubborn of course, taking a while before he allowed himself to be vulnerable, but Riza knew that she herself was much the same and if she was being honest she also knew that her stubbornness streak was stronger.

At least, she had thought it was but maybe the last few weeks and nearly dying more times than she could count had lessened her tolerance for waiting. Maybe she had to be the one to bring it up herself, if only to get Al talking. Riza gave him another few moments to respond but Al just kept messing with the blanket.

“I know you haven’t been sleeping.”

Al jolted, golden eyes at last snapping to her. Like she had suspected, the boy had genuinely believed that he had fooled everyone by simply closing his eyes and giving off the occasional snore. Roy had been fooled totally, at least that’s what Riza chose to believe, out of sheer desperation for everything to be okay. With Edward being as smart as he was he probably knew full well that Al had been faking rest for the last several days but he too was just a kid who wanted to pretend at least for a little while that everything was okay.

Riza did not mind being the one to confront Al, coming from her would be better than coming from a Doctor or somebody else, she only wished that she didn’t have to.

“Sweetheart,” Riza sighed. “You can’t stay awake forever.”

“But…” Al’s voice cracked. He went back to the thread, if only to keep himself focused. “But I was awake. For years.”

“I can’t pretend to know what that was like.” She said. “No one can. But I also can’t pretend to not know that you’re hurting yourself.”

“I’m not hurting myself.” Al said quickly.

“When was the last time you slept? Fully, totally slept and not just passed out from exhaustion?”

Alphonse returned to picking at the thread.

“Al…”

“I don’t need your pity.” Al snapped.

The boy ducked his head, tired eyes watering. He mumbled an apology but Riza assured him that it was okay.

Riza came over, sitting on the edge of the bed. It wouldn’t help accusing him, not when he was probably very much aware of what he was doing. She should appeal to his scientific mind instead.

“You know how the human body works.” Riza said. “What does it need?”

“Nutrients.” He mumbled. “A combination of carbohydrates, fibres, proteins, vitamins and minerals. And water.”

Al shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the IV in his arm. He looked away just as quickly again, looking a little ill.

“But I can’t tolerate food yet.” He said. “I… I can’t eat Gracia’s pie.”

“Your list.” Riza said.

Al nodded, his lip trembling. He lent over, nearly overbalancing, but Riza let him do it by himself if only to prove to him that he could. Al’s hand at last found the notebook from his travels but when he tried to lift it, it fell.

“Fuck!” Al growled. Then, just as quickly, his scowl dropped into pure misery. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s not a word that I have not heard before,” Riza said lightly. “You should have seen Breda when he came back to the office to a bunch of puppies. Now that was impressive.”

“Mom always said not to swear.” Al said. “At least… I think she said that. I don’t really remember.”

“Doesn’t Izumi swear?” Riza asked.

Alphonse laughed then, a real genuine laugh, and Riza felt her heart soar if only for a moment.

“Like a sailor.” He said. “But she would always make us train harder if we swore. Something about not needing impolite kids who depend on curses to get their message across. It’s why I like to get creative.”

It was so strange to see Al’s expression change so overtly, the way his lip twitched up into a smile and his golden eyes sparked with the cheekiness of a young teenager. Riza had grown used to Alphonse as a seven foot suit of armour but she had never seen him not as who he really was, she had simply gotten used to reading his body language more than his non-changing expression.

Al’s shoulders moved just as often as they used to be and Riza found that she liked that familiar gesture.

She leaned down, grabbing the journal from the ground and passing it to Al. He flicked through it, his gaze shifting between excitement and frustration with each page. He had always looked forward to trying all those foods yet even with his real body he was still unable to eat any of them without getting incredibly sick from them. As much as Riza knew he would be frustrated, she could not even imagine what it was actually like for him.

Now that the tension in Al’s shoulders had eased a little again, Riza tried to guide the conversation back to what it was needing to be.

“Okay,” She said. “You have your nutrients through IV’s and feeding tubes but you are working towards real food. What else does a human body need?"

“Appropriate levels of sleep.” Al grumbled.

“Which is?”

“It’s not like I don’t know that I need sleep.” Alphonse said hotly. “Of course I know I need it.”

Riza stayed silent, giving Al a moment to decide what he wanted to say next. He could deflect, change the topic back to food or even back to curse words or any number of things. But Al wasn’t just physically exhausted, he was emotionally exhausted too.

“I did try.” Al whispered. “At first. But I just kept seeing it.”

“The Gate?”

Al jolted again, hissing when he pulled at his IV. A hand rushing to his arm, thankfully not having displaced the tube, Alphonse looked right at her.

“How did you know?” He asked, no, demanded.

Riza tried not to balk under his intense stare. She reminded herself that he was easily overwhelmed right now, Al simply could not control his reactions.

“The Colonel sees it too.” Riza said.

Al’s face dropped, that look of misery back.

“Of course, he doesn’t want you boys to know but he sees it. Every night.” Riza’s hand raised to her throat. “I do too.”

They lapsed into silence for a long moment, neither one willing to break it.

“I was scared.” Al said at last. “I would have done anything to keep Ed safe but… I was scared. That I was going to die.”

“You were just a boy.” Riza said. “You still are.”

Alphonse shook his head and if Riza could hug him without risking him getting overstimulated again, she would have. Riza settled for resting a hand onto his own, not looking at the page on Apple Pie in his journal.

“I keep thinking it will take me back.” Al said. “That this has all just been some dream, that I never actually got my real body back.”

“I know that it doesn’t count for much,” Riza said. “But this is real. You are safe. You are loved.”

“It counts for a lot.” Al said. “Coming from you… It’s everything.”

“You know that I’ll always be here for you Alphonse. Whatever you need.” Riza promised him, squeezing his hand tightly.

That look of cheekiness was back, that quirked brow and twitching lip and Riza had to train her own expression to be neutral.

“Including making me get sleep?”

“Absolutely.” Riza said. “If you need a brick, I’m sure there’s space in the Colonel’s budget for it.”

Another laugh. Pure, unadulterated, laughter. Even Al’s laugh was different to what it had been like in the suit yet at the same time it was the exact same. His shoulders still shook, he still tilted his head a little.

The boy before her was the same as he had ever been. Alphonse simply had a smile now, a smile that Riza would treasure for all eternity.

When Roy came back a while later, carrying a coffee for his Hawkeye, he found Riza laying down beside Al. The boy curled up against her chest but even if Roy could not see them he knew that Al’s eyes were closed.

He was asleep, truely asleep, in the first time in who knows when, and Roy could not be prouder.

It was going to take time but maybe everything was going to be okay after all.

#my writing #fanfiction #ao3 link #whump #under 18 whump #febuwhump2023 #febuwhumpday18 #Fullmetal Alchemist #Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood #Alphonse Elric whump #disordered eating #self harm

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steve0discusses · 3 years

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The Live Action Fullmetal Alchemist Movie Part 6: Let’s Kill Hughes

Hey guys, I’ve been having some issues with the blog not...updating my drafts. So in case you’re wondering, that’s where I disappeared to. Give a round of applause to the support team for finding a solution until it gets fixed but as of right now I’m on like a private window with my extensions turned off and writing this from both tumblr and a LibreOffice document. Hello ads, nice to see you back.

Last we left off, we were a hop and skip away to lab 5. In the anime, this was a sequence where there was a bunch of fighting with suits of armor, and they kept that in this movie, but...not the people you think would be fighting are going to be fighting.

Listen I’m not like super knowledgeable about the world of Matte painting, but I like that they’ve unintentionally made this world building where whoever is in charge of making these red bricks basically owns everyone’s nuts. Everything is made out of the same red bricks. Like I know this is a show about homunculi ruling the world but I feel like the red brick guy is hellllllla more egregious. Freakin Monsanto over here.

I assume they had a 3d model and was like “we can just keep using it” and damn, they sure did. And inside of this brick building is, unsurprisingly a lot more red brick (although I think this is partially, if not entirely, an actual real life set.)

This next part is...such a lesson in pacing. Not necessarily a lesson to follow, but definitely a lesson to learn from maybe their non-example.

(watch Hughes die under the cut)

And what’s interesting is that there were a lot of good lines in this upcoming segment. There were a lot of good moments—bu there’s just so many. Maybe too many. You gotta prune your script occasionally, it’s like a tomato plant.

Like I’ve been doing a stress garden to cope with quarantine and Covid and 3+ months of life endangering wildfires, and I learned that you gotta prune the sucker vines off your tomatoes, although sucker vines can also make tomatoes. It sucks to do because I love tomatoes, and I want as many tomatoes as possible, but when you prune the plant, you get bigger better tomatoes that are more worthwhile than the suckers that can infect your plant and make it really sick.

Sorry that made me sound like 5000 years old with that gardening analogy. If you need me to solve your small town murder mysteries, I’m ready.

So it’s like...kind of tragic that it came together as kind of nonsensical when you can tell that it’s so close to being something better.

Like we have some reason up to this point to believe that Ed would have a freak out here...but like...a sobbing on the floor screaming at the walls type of freak out? Was there enough time devoted to this blow up, or did he walk into this room and immediately start screaming? Because he sure did walk immediately into this room and start screeching like a broken bird.

Like last recap, which was about 2 minutes ago in screentime, was this fun and quirky montage with Hughes. Now we’re sobbing into this rusty factory.

And I know what’s going on because I’ve seen the anime, but if you haven’t seen it—would this emotional break down make any sense? We were told by Dr Marcoh, “check out lab 5,” but we were only going to this factory on kind of a wish and a prayer. I really wonder if people who don’t know this show could follow past this point.

And then while we’re still adjusting to “yo, Ed just took it from a 2 to a 10 like immediately” Al is like “Hey I noticed no one is paying attention to me, and I have to lay a wicked fart:”

and then both brother’s just have a freak out. Gotta all be freaking out in this random ass Unity asset that was probably also used for some college grad’s first battle royale.

Pacing is just everything. And what’s SO HARD about Full Metal Alchemist is that there really is a lot of content to cover, there’s a lot of emotions to go through, and when you only have about 7 minutes to cover what was about 3-4 episodes, if I remember correctly, it’s kind of a zany mess.

And if you were going into this movie hoping they wouldn’t illustrate Al as a large idiot baby, then you share the sentiments of most people who saw this movie. Al is like...kind of reduced to a whiny big baby and is...not cute. Like Al is low key kind of menacing throughout this movie, not just because he has this CGI armor thing going on, but also because Al is...so impressionable and unhinged.

Something that I didn’t appreciate enough when I watched the anime was just how important Barry the Chopper was for Al’s logical character development.

Yo...These bangs…

...I’ve realized that every show I recap here just has the worst hair styles. I honestly never thought much about hair at all until I watched like 200 hours of Yugioh and all of this movie and also 6 seasons of Once Upon a Time which featured some LOOKS (but only recapped like 3 episodes, sorry if I got some of y’all excited. That was when we had no reason to cap everything because the capping community for Once was very alive and very exciting.)

By hitting him with a wrench (Al does not feel pain, ps, so he doesn’t need to be hunched over like this) Winry reminds Al that Ed would not risk his life for a fake brother (which may be a line from the anime or the manga but I don’t remember) and crying just...a lot.

Like it felt as if she had to shoot all of this out of order. Same with Ed’s freak out here. Movie’s aren’t really shot in succession and it’s up to the director to make it feel coherent and logical...this felt scattered, like the actors really didn’t know what was happening in the scenes leading up to it so they just cranked it to 11.

And then I guess Ed was either so insulted that Al punched him or was so upset that Al made Winry cry (again, this movie really tries to sell the EdxWinry ship and from me that’s a really big compliment), that Ed just started laying punches to extend a fight scene that was kind over before it started.

But symbolically there is a lot nice things going on here, Ed only uses his fleshy hand so he bleeds all over Al, hurting himself as much he’s hurting his brother. Implying more than just this fight, but suggesting that their whole journey of trying to find this sorcerer’s stone is just going to hurt both of them in their quest to save the other.

And then Al says something along the line of “it hurts!” to infer that he’s got this broken heart which is when they both finally just freakin stop.

Such a shame the pacing, which was a mix of too quick, and too many tomatoes, kind of made it hella blindsiding.

Again this was so many episodes of FMA and they stuffed it into so few minutes, it’s wild.

Especially since Ed is like...he’s cast as an adult! He’s an adult! At no point in the movie so far have they called him a kid, and they’re not pretending that he is one. But like...he acts like such a child because in the original, he was one. And, while this movie steps so far away from the source material, if should have committed and either stepped completely away or committed completely. Of course “should” is one of those things where we’ll just never know. A wish into the ether of hindsight being 20/20.

But lets get to the thing that you all came here for. This is where this movie gets BONKERS:

So Hughes actually draws out a pentagram between the different places in Armestrias, including Ishvaal, leading us to think that he’s figured out the whole dealio of turning the country into an alchemy circle. But, for some reason only helps him find the real lab 5.

It didn’t...that’s a different thing.

And it has been a long time since I’ve seen the ending of this movie—and maybe it was so offhand that I forgot if they actually do bring up turning the country into an alchemy circle--watch me eat my words, it could happen—but yo, we are finally killing Hughes—but we’re over halfway through this movie. And you may wonder...so uh...what...then what could possibly happen? There’s too much anime left!

Now I’m glad they kept this scene really close to the anime, although I haven’t watched the anime in a hot minute. It’s kind of an iconic scene so you don’t forget.

Like I do genuinely enjoy the campy parts where they were bringing up some of my favorite nostalgia of the original.

and then when you are like “ah, this is exactly the same as the anime. I can relax and watch as all my expectations are fully realized.” This twist happens.

YAH.

It’s a change!

So in the anime we had a really fun arc where we were trying to save Lieutenant Ross for being framed for killing Hughes. It’s probably my favorite part of Full Metal Alchemist, actually, it was so clever and a really thrilling chase. It was also like...half of season one.

Anyway, they cut it. They reduced half a season into 7 minutes. I know that, because each of these recaps is about 15 minutes of the movie.

You may look at this recap and be like “wait...this all happened in 15 minutes??” because yeah, this all happened in 15 minutes.

The same squad of people we see in every single scene of soldiers comes up to arrest Ed, which is weird, because I thought this band of soldiers was the military under Cl. Mustang’s command so like…shouldn’t they be arresting themselves? Mustang was over the command of more than 2 people. If we are suspicious of Mustang’s buddies then everyone in this movie would be in trouble.

And that’s when I realized that these guys were just unnamed soldiers and not a part of Mustang’s band. They only had like this many extras and just hoped we wouldn’t keep track of who is who, but I KNOW I’ve seen these guys this whole time. There are only like 6 people in this army. I see you movie magic—I see what you’re trying to do.

Anyway, Ed gets thrown into an old timey opera house that occasionally gets to be used for Middle School graduations. Or maybe also a mortuary where they charge you for funerals.

Like I know it’s supposed to be the capital building but like...this looks so weird when it’s live action. I remember the anime had this kinda feel to it but in live action it’s like…

...this is a weird ass capital building…Why do they have curtains like a Granny Holiday Inn in Reno, Nevada?

Thankfully, Hawkeye is here to explain to Ed what just happened because we, the movie viewers, were kind of surprised by that plot twist.

Like there were many ways you can condense half a season into 15 minutes, and I dunno if I would have just changed the murderer. It is a solution you can do. You can just point blame on Mustang and skip that whole Ross segment but like….

…then why write the movie?

Obviously, they had to make the movie, it had already been funded, people were really excited about the idea, and I do not envy the people that had to hack and slash with the Full Metal Alchemist script, but it is interesting what they decided was important to the original content, and what was unimportant. All that stuff that showed how Mustang was brilliant and two steps ahead of everyone else? Unimportant. All that stuff we had that showed how Mustang cares a lot about protecting other people and also cares about Ed and Al? Unimportant.

It really changes the dynamic, and it’s kind of fascinating to go into this cold because it’s been like...a year for me since I’ve watched it...and just see how different everything is without all those supporting characters that when I watched the anime I just assumed were mostly useless (Though fun). Turns out they all had a pretty significant part of making me care about Ed, about Mustang, about Al, about all my main characters.

FMA is very character driven, and this movie is mostly just...plot driven. There’s kind of a great debate in literature about plot driven vs character driven. Movies and TV tend to be very plot driven, because they are very expensive to make, so they follow pre-formatted plot beats like “Save the Cat” or “The Heroes Journey” and other ones (there’s several to choose from).

They’ve made a fine science out of at what point a TV show should introduce the main, at what point they should suffer doubt, at what point they should shun their hero’s journey, etc etc. They know it down to the page number of the scripts they are writing. I know this, because it’s readily available on the internet and people fight about it all the time. This is why a show may suffer developing a character—because they just don’t have time and they just don’t have the resources to do something out of the box. Movies doubly so, because every minute of film can cost thousands of dollars.

What’s interesting about this is that FMA, the original FMA, does follow these beats. It was a manga sold by a huge publisher so it had to follow those beats. But, it has managed to do it while still being character driven. Yo, that’s so hard to do. This story was already written to be hyper condensed and structured when it was made into a Manga, and then it was condensed again for an anime, and then it was condensed yet again for this movie. It’s like a game of telephone, and at one end you have a very character driven story, and then at the other, it’s just totally plot.

Like it’s just a really huge risk to take. This was really, really risky.

PS did you miss Shou? Did you think we’d be done with Shou Tucker? No. Because this movie is gonna end at some point and rather than introduce other people...we’re just gonna stick with Shou and only have one miniboss.

(It has a freakin radiator in it?)

So then this next part happens and it’s low key hilarious.

The whole time.

Mustang and Hawkeye knew what lab 5 was this entire time but Ed just never asked for some reason despite working with those two for what is inferred to be YEARS since his childhood.

Hey PS, did you miss that brick building? Because it’s back.

Anyway, Mustang decides to take this underground where we can recycle the tech crew posing as extras that we used in the shot above us. Would not be surprised if a few of these are someone’s husband or wife on set.

Usually when I watch a movie I don’t get this feeling so much. But this movie...the latter half is like...EMPTY.

...this is going to be all movies made during Covid, I just realized…

Mustang is stopped by an angry Lieutenant Ross, and then we get this series of events.

And when you’re like “...Sorry?” Mustang’s like “I can make it weirder.”

And he just, without any warning or anything, lights Lieutenant Ross on fire. Multiple times, and it’s pretty intense and everyone who’s holding a gun just watches it happen is like…

...well I guess it’s too late to just shoot the guy...

…and like do you seriously not carry around a fire extinguisher when you are trying to manhunt Mustang? This is the one guy you want to wear fireproof clothes around. You have the technology. You at least have the technology for buckets of water. Like no one want to throw a blanket on her?

Just want to...watch? I guess?

Mustang just looks like a nut from this series of events instead of a genius--which is what I think they were originally going for. The pacing does that, youknow? Pacing.

And, out of the corpse pile stands Envy.

Envy has a pretty good look, I appreciated his whole look and that unlike the anime where you only find out Envy is a guy because someone told you on a forum somewhere and you were like “wait WHAT?” the movie is live action so you won’t make that mistake and embarrass yourself online.

Ed has only ever seen Lust once, and she walked in from off screen, stabbed a guy, and walked off. He’s just like...having a time because he’s done zero research into homunculi, and really, at no point in this movie are we going to give him time to figure it out.

Also, there’s this shot where Lust and Gluttony just walk in from behind them in the tunnel and it’s like…

….so no one noticed these two just hanging out back there?

It’s so freakin funny. This movie is gold. I love it.

Now If you just got here, this is a link to read all these recaps in chrono order:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/fma/chrono

Have a good one, and stay safe! 2021 has been...weird nuts...and it’s still January somehow??? Weird times. Overall, please stay safe, it’s weird out there.

Also, if you’re like “I don’t remember this scene actually” here’s the original Hughes dies scene that inspired the movie (since the movie definitely was like “we’re only going inspired for this one nerds, get mad”)--some shots were inspired cut for cut.

youtube

And obvi this is on Youtube so it’ll probably get taken down eventually, but that’s why it’s flipped.

#FMA #FMA movie #FMA live action movie #recap #Fullmetal alchemist #hughes #roy mustang #ed elric #al elric #winry #I've had to write these tags twice now because tumblr won't SAVE MY DRAFTS #photo recap

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welttrichter · 3 years

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oh boy, i remember writing this drabble when i was watching the last bit of 03 but also wanted to post it here. its also really how i would see ed and talking through his pov and stuff. theres heavy 03 spoiler-s just warning you now. Basically edward ending up on the other side of any fandom tbh. (main one being yugioh)

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I remember that moment, the moment where my life changed forever. It was the day I had died twice and came back both times, both reasons were the cause of Equivalent Exchange, I had to give something up.

Well, not really had to give something up in my end, people did that for me. I didn't want that to happen, the first person that sacrificed their life for me was the other side version of me. I had ended up in his body, and had to run with my Father. He told me that he couldn't come back to our world, that he was forever trapped there, I on the other hand was able to make it back there, because my body was still somewhere in the gate. He told me to open the gate inside of me, only then I could end up in my true home.

The thing was... even if I went back, where was my home? I didn't have anywhere to go, but Alphonse needed me so of course I had to go back and that's exactly what I did. Had I known that I'd be in a wreck with a blimp and that the fire that surrounded me made me dizzy before trying to find a way back to my side, but before I could even think about that, pieces of the blimp surrounded me and I was engulfed with darkness.

Where I was? Well, no other than the gate itself, I had to find a way back through. Back through to where Alphonse and those creeps that held him captive were. I didn't want to give up, I needed to save Al, before they used his stone that was inside his armor.

When I got back there, moments later I was already in another fight, this time it was with Envy. He would continue to tease me by changing forms, I'd beat the shit out of him before he had the chance to stay in one form, then it'd be another of a person I knew that was already dead.

He just wanted to get a rise out of me, didn't he? He wanted to make sure that everything would upset me. Which it did, and I just wanted to clobber him and tell him to show his true self.

That on the other hand was the worst thing I have ever seen, had I known my old man transmuted his old son before he turned into that thing... What was I to do? I was in too much in a state of shock to DO anything. I let my guard down too soon before he stabbed me in the heart.

Blood... trickling down my shirt, my heart slowly stopping as I watch in sheer agony as I slowly begin to fade from existence. Hearing a faint voice that was saying my name, I turn only to spit out any remaining blood that exists in my mouth, and not only do I see my Brother, but Rose as well.

What was my purpose here? Why did I fail you, Al?

Blood, blood begins to leak out of me, through the wound which was left from Envy's hand that had transformed into a knife or sword, much like how I used with my automail hand. How could I have let my guard down was beyond me. I shouldn't have done that, because now I was fading until all I could see was darkness.

I'm sorry, Al.

I'm so very sorry.

I failed you as a brother.

"EDWARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD!"

Was the last I heard, before I ended up at the gate once again. I stood right there, lifeless in golden orbs as I just waited for something, anything. Tears were streaming down my face, and I had no reason to keep going. What was my purpose anymore?

I waited, and waited... it felt as if time had slowly stopped, but I had nowhere to go, no one to see. I just couldn't think of anything anymore. I wanted to be happy, but I wasn't. I was just there, dead.

A few minutes after dying, I felt a strange presence. Gazing at the gate, I thought I saw Al appear before, before he vanishes again.

'Al?'

Then I feel another soul appearing before me. Envy stood there as if he has no idea what just happened.

' What's going on? Where am I, Worm? ' Envy sneers.

' The gate.. ' I whisper to him, before Envy looks up to see the gate itself before before him.

' So, what's on the other side of it? ' He asked.

'I don't know... ' I shrug as I give him no expression whatsoever. I'm not angry or sad, or happy. I honestly don't know what I'm feeling at this point. ' For me it was a place called London if I remember right? At least that's what my old man said. '

' Old man? You mean Hohenheim of Light?! '

' Yes. '

' You're telling me he's still alive?! '

I nod my head as Envy growls, walking towards the gate as I watch him do so.

' I wouldn't do that... ' I warned as he tried his best to open the gate. It was bound to take him to the other side and he'd never be able to return if he did so. ' There's no telling where it will lead you to. '

'Like Hell there isn't! I'll tell it exactly where to take me! '

Once he opens the door, he grins happily as he calls out to the shadow tentacles.

' I'VE COME TO KILL HIM! TAKE ME TO HOHENHEIM OF LIGHT! '

Arms are spread out wide as he waits for them to take him to the place he so truly desires and I don't know what happens to him honestly as I watch him disappear through the gate, the doors closing.

' Al...? '

I call out as my eyes open and I see a figure and it turns out to be Rose. I feel tears running down my face, not knowing the reason in why I had done so.

' Ed, can you hear me? ' She asked looking down at me to make sure that I am okay.

'...Yeah.. ' I sniffle as I then begin to rub my eyes. ' Why am I crying though? ' I ask her sitting up from my spot.

' Al..? '

' He used alchemy to bring you back, Ed.. after you died.. ' She responds. I look at her before realizing what my brother had exactly done.

' The Philosopher's Stone... He used it to fix my body and pull my soul from the gate... Then what happened to him!? ' I was scared, so fucking scared. I didn't know how to react, other than look at Rose in surprise as she does so to me, before she turns around her eyes are solemn.

My eyes widen at the realization of what was happening, and I know what exactly my brother had done. He had sacrificed his life for mine.

' D-Don't tell me he's gone, Rose... ' I whispered. This can't be true, it just can't. HE CAN'T BE GONE FOREVER!

I stood up, looking around for him as I continued calling out his name.

' Al? Al...? AL!? ' Just then I hear a baby's cry. Turning my head I see Rose holding her baby as she tries to rock it to calm it down. I sigh and looked at the ground in sheer sadness. I seriously could not believe this was happening. I honestly could not. What am I supposed to do now? I'm alive sure, but my baby brother wasn't and I couldn't do anything about it. I felt so helpless in that moment.

No, I need to do something. I need to give something up again, and I know just what I want to do.

I take off my vest and shirt, leaving only my pants and my boots on. I look around to find some blood that was left from my fight with Envy earlier, drawing alchemic circles on my chest and arms. I stood in the transmutation circle that was once from where my brother had laid before I had died.

Looking at the ground sighing, I remember the last words I said to Rose before this happened.

' You better get moving. I hate to ask this... Take him to the surface too. ' I tell her referring to Wrath who was laying there looking over at us with an utter sadness that I had no idea what was on his mind at the moment. I noticed his arm and leg were detached which were the ones I used to own, I don't think I'll ever get them back, either. That's okay, I've learned to accept it, I can't worry about myself anymore. This was all about Alphonse, not me.

' What about you? '

' I'll destroy this place, down to the last plank. So no one ever gets the idea to make a Philosopher's Stone this way again. '

' Very well, I'm pretty sure no matter what happens, you'll find your way out. ' She smiles ‘You've got strong legs, you'll get up and use them, won't you Edward? ' She asks using my old quote against me.

I smile at her and give her the biggest grin I could muster. She was right, I couldn't give up, I'll try my hardest to bring back my brother's body and soul.

' If what my Dad said about the gate is true... Al's and my old body should still be there and now Al's soul should be there too. Maybe life has no equal trade, maybe you can give all you got and get nothing back. But still... Even if I can't prove it's true, I have to at least try, for your sake, Al. '

I whisper before I clap my hands together and fold them to touch the symbol on my chest. Bright lights begin to shine around me and all I can see is white, before I ended up in a world I've never been to before

#long post #death cw #blood mention #drabbles

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rachetmath · 4 years

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Optimistic Realism: Support Character Purpose

This may be my last rant about this show. As usually it’s my opinion and if you agree then like or reblog, your choice. If you want to add on to this or have a question then comment. If you disagree, fine, but afraid to leave a comment. Read this at your own will and time.

I know I been talking about RWBY a lot, mainly about Jaune Arc, however I am going for a new approach. I am going to discuss what I feel should have been implied in the show between team RWBY and JRN from the beginning and how it should have played in volume seven. And that is with in the title, Optimistic Realism. It’s basically a combination of optimism with realism. But, before we discuss this, let us first know what they mean individually and see who fits in with that definition.

Optimism as stated on the internet, "Is believing no matter how bad things get there will always be a bright future ahead." Basically, staying positive. Team RWBY fits this definition considering each of them are based on characters with these traits. We have seen that in volume one through three on their missions and during the fall. They always go with the flow and stay positive even when things seem impossible. Even in volume four and five they had to regain some of their courage in order to continue forward but to win the battle at Heaven. In volume six, even put their positivity to test, considering what they learned about their world and Salem. Knowing that information crippled them allowing the Apathy to take over, and them barely making it out alive.

Now for realism. Basically "Having to deal with a situation at hand, to the best of your ability." Team JNR fits this well because their based-on warriors. Warriors in order to get stronger they must train, and gain experience while going through hardship. In volume one to three Jaune had to get stronger because of world he chose inhabit. Pyrrha had to deal with being outcasted by her peers and teachers. Ren and Nora do to the fact that they have no home to return to, being hunters was the only thing they had going for them. When the fall happened Pyrrha died leaving team JNR broken. In volume four, Jaune mourns over Pyrrha just like Ren with his home. In volume five, team JNR were ready to fight Oscar the moment he mentions Ruby’s name and Jaune still attacked Cinder, all for realistic reasons. And in volume six, team JRN like team RWBY were upset with the information they were given, and in order to continue, they realistically have no choice because one; Pyrrha died for this. Two; they came to far to fail. And three; might as well not let the next generation have to deal to with Salem. Even volume seven they act real. Jaune and Nora may have stated facts about James’s actions but due to the situation at hand they still followed orders.

Now before I continue let me explain what I believe a support character's job is. Support characters do not just heal or defend the main character. The support characters help the main characters by being stronger, smarter, or have a better since of their emotions than they do. They do not have to be cool or invincible. Zoro, from One Piece, is Luffy’s second in command because he asserts authority. And Nami is third because she can make a plan for the crew to follow. Luffy is too carefree to do any of that. Edward, from Full Metal Alchemist, has Scar, Winry and Mustang. Scar because he knows more about alchemy than Ed does. Mustang considering, he is a soldier of the military, knows more about the complications of city affairs and knows when to take necessary action over being pacifistic. And both are more powerful than Ed and Al are. Winry despite not doing much continues to encourage Ed to get stronger, to see his goal through, and goes anywhere Edward may be to help repair his arm and leg. Basically, the support character's job is not just to be some cheerleader, but serve as guidance and guardians, people who act in the main characters best interest even when he or she may not know it yet. Or if it is mixed in with their own.

Now with that out the way, let us discuss how optimism and realism could affect their actions in volume seven. Yes, James was acting like a nice guy, however it ran the risk of us hating our main characters for their actions. To me, volume seven was like Clover said, "The right choice is the hardest to make." However, his words hold no weight when we the audience had no choice but to side with James because the other two factions were doing nothing but stealing and lying in his face. So here is how I would in some levels re write volume seven.

In volume seven, let us keep half of everything the same. The group become professional hunters, Penny is framed, Jacque still wins the election, Robyn goes criminal and Yang still tells her everything. Instead of team RWBY and JNRO thus far doing nothing, they should have been more active. Now after Yang tells Robyn the truth and lies to the Ace-ops about her getting away, returns to Atlas to their dorms, only to have everyone waiting for them. Ruby decides to talk somewhere private where James or anyone outside their group could not hear them. Truth of the matter is Ruby and the others were already suspected of Yang and Blake, since one, Yang never backs down from a fight and two, Blake has a history of rebellion. The two know they cannot hide, so they admitted to what they done. This led to an argument amongst them with Weiss and Oscar taking Yang's side and Ren and Nora, not so much, until Ruby and Jaune silence them, demanding they return to their dorms and discuss the matter tomorrow.

The next day, early in the morning, Ruby and Jaune decided to talk about the matter themselves. This led to them arguing with each other. Jaune using levels of facts while Ruby uses levels of reasoning and opinion. Both continued to yell at each other until they reach a conclusion. Ruby and Jaune both agreed what Robyn is doing is wrong, but they cannot deny James recent actions to be affective either. So, they made an idea to mix their teams together with Jaune going after Robyn and Ruby staying in Atlas trying to talk with James. Jaune teams up with Nora, Yang and Blake considering all three of them want to help Mantle. Ruby gets Ren, Weiss and Oscar, since Weiss knows Atlas, Ren sides with James and James will not let Oscar out of his sight. Now the real fun begins.

Jaune and his new team JNBY, goes around the streets of Mantle along with Penny to fight grimm and come up with a strategy to capture Robyn and the happy huntresses. However, Jaune wanted to be clear that he is not trying to arrest her but persuade her to surrender and go talk to James. He tells them while Ruby and Oscar tries to reason with James and investigate Weiss's father, they will be watching for Tyrian while chasing down Robyn. Basically, they are trying to make two factions come together and fight against a common enemy. Jaune and his team later manages to capture Robyn only for the citizens to shame them and demand they let her go. Jaune does release them out of their cuffs, however, remember, Jaune is representing realism, so while the crowd is cheering and Robyn celebrates her victory, Jaune makes it clear to her on what is happening. Jaune using facts, expressing his experience and asking questions in which Robyn could not answer, made her think for moment that something big is coming and she will not be able to protect the people from it. Basically, Robyn was sorrowing up in the air, only for Jaune to slam her back into reality and making her choose a realistic approach to solving a matter, even if the people may not agree with her. Putting her in James’s shoes.

Ruby and her new team RWRO, goes on missions to defend and find resources for the new tower. Oscar would continue trying to talk to James but also trains. Weiss tries to figure out if her father had cheated the votes only for Jacque to stop her at every turn. Ren was still being true to James, reports to him but keeps their secret about Jinn and Salem from him. At first, Ren was about to squeal but when James heard what team JNBY were doing, he became skeptical about it and order his men to keep an eye on them. Even willing to fight them if they pose a threat. When Ren heard this, he started believing James may not be as noble as he thought he was. So, he kept his mouth shut and informs Ruby on what is going on. Ruby then informs Jaune in return that way James's soldiers do not get in their way. Finally, when she hears team JNBY captured Robyn and persuaded her to talk to James, she was happy but after the links James went through, because of his suspicions, she decided to tell him the truth. Once he heard everything, he was furious and more importantly scared. However, Oscar using his words persuaded him to see things through. James accepts the truth and was willing to talk to Robyn. Good timing too because team JNBY were about to fight the Ace-ops.

This is when we can consider James a villian or an anti-hero. James turns from being a reasonable man to an unreasonable dictator when him and Robyn meet face to face. Robyn agreed to his demands to return all the stuff she stole as long as James continues to protect Mantle. However she still wanted the wall to be repaired, and the security to be moderate as Atlas so no one can gain control very easily as they did at the rally. James refuses, believing it to be a waste of time. This is where Ruby and Jaune get angry. Jaune tells James what was on his mind about Robyn, believing what Robyn states is fair considering half of the soldiers down in Mantle are robots, and she was willing to return what she stole and maybe assist them in capturing Tyrian. But James believing in his military might does not listen. He then told his Ace-ops to take Robyn away, only her to pull off one last trick up her sleeves. She fired a heavy flash arrow grenade, blinding everyone and escapes.

After that, Ruby and others were in the training room, trying to practice, only to feel apathetic. They felt defeated. Qrow and Maria tried to cheer them up but decided to let them be. Ruby apologized, thinking she never should have told James anything, only for Yang to say the opposite, stating at least he knows what’s at stake. Jaune questions her statement based on what they already saw so far, feels James has no clue at all, only for Oscar to calm him down before he goes too far. Weiss asked what they are going to do now. Nora suggested they just leave and go to Vacuo, Ren suggested maybe stay in Mantle and try to keep it safe, only for Ruby to tell everyone to be prepared for the worst. The gang were surprised and turns to Jaune, only for him to nod his head in agreement. Jaune stated facts, if they turn on James, they will be wanted national criminals. If they go about recklessly it could makes things worse than they already are. And if they do not know what Salem could be planning then they might as well be setting Atlas up to be destroyed. Everyone despite how cruel they feel, understood and decided to keep training and prepare for the next day.

And that is all. Salem never shows up, James still wants to continue with the new tower, Robyn is relevant and RWBY and JNRO are now fully active. Basically, what I hated about the seventh volume is it was completely one sided. James was the only good guy, the main characters were not active but reactive to their situations, and Robyn was just some nobody who could have served a purpose in story. Nobody but James was given any sort of character. And those who did get some character, did not deserve it. Like Yang, who was supposed to have more of a problem with keeping secrets especially from James.

So, what do I want out of all this? Simply, give everyone a role to play other than the main characters. The main characters do not have to do everything. If team JNRO can relate to or handle a situation better than team RWBY can, then let them do their jobs. Team RWBY can still be stronger than them but they cannot always be wiser or more decisive than everyone else. They can be reckless but give a group like Jaune, Ren, Oscar and Nora an ability to grab them by their hairs or the collar of their shirts and know when to tell them; Jaune to Yang: "Calm down and think."; Ren to Blake: "Focus."; Nora to Weiss: "It's okay."; and Oscar to Ruby: "Slow down and listen." Team JNRO unlike team RWBY suffered the most out all the characters. Jaune lost Pyrrha because she was stupid to go back to fight Cinder. Ren and Nora lost their homes and families because hunters were never there. And Oscar literally had to leave his home behind and may never see his aunt and uncle again, since he could die or fade from existence. What I am saying is give support characters room to breathe and grow so they can continue to do their jobs. Which is to act in the main characters best interest.

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thealchemyfreaka · 3 years

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He just wanted to get a rise out of me, didn't he? He wanted to make sure that everything would upset me. Which it did, and I just wanted to clobber him and tell him to show his true self.

What was my purpose here? Why did I fail you, Al?

I'm sorry, Al.

I'm so very sorry.

I failed you as a brother.

"EDWARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD!"

A few minutes after dying, I felt a strange presence. Gazing at the gate, I thought I saw Al appear before, before he vanishes again.

'Al?'

Then I feel another soul appearing before me. Envy stood there as if he has no idea what just happened.

' What's going on? Where am I, Worm? ' Envy sneers.

' The gate.. ' I whisper to him, before Envy looks up to see the gate itself before before him.

' So, what's on the other side of it? ' He asked.

' Old man? You mean Hohenheim of Light?! '

' Yes. '

' You're telling me he's still alive?! '

I nod my head as Envy growls, walking towards the gate as I watch him do so.

'Like Hell there isn't! I'll tell it exactly where to take me! '

Once he opens the door, he grins happily as he calls out to the shadow tentacles.

' I'VE COME TO KILL HIM! TAKE ME TO HOHENHEIM OF LIGHT! '

Arms are spread out wide as he waits for them to take him to the place he so truly desires and I don't know what happens to him honestly as I watch him disappear through the gate, the doors closing.

' Al...? '

I call out as my eyes open and I see a figure and it turns out to be Rose. I feel tears running down my face, not knowing the reason in why I had done so.

' Ed, can you hear me? ' She asked looking down at me to make sure that I am okay.

'...Yeah.. ' I sniffle as I then begin to rub my eyes. ' Why am I crying though? ' I ask her sitting up from my spot.

' Al..? '

' He used alchemy to bring you back, Ed.. after you died.. ' She responds. I look at her before realizing what my brother had exactly done.

My eyes widen at the realization of what was happening, and I know what exactly my brother had done. He had sacrificed his life for mine.

' D-Don't tell me he's gone, Rose... ' I whispered. This can't be true, it just can't. HE CAN'T BE GONE FOREVER!

I stood up, looking around for him as I continued calling out his name.

No, I need to do something. I need to give something up again, and I know just what I want to do.

Looking at the ground sighing, I remember the last words I said to Rose before this happened.

' What about you? '

' I'll destroy this place, down to the last plank. So no one ever gets the idea to make a Philosopher's Stone this way again. '

I smile at her and give her the biggest grin I could muster. She was right, I couldn't give up, I'll try my hardest to bring back my brother's body and soul.

#- long post #drabble -#fma 03 spoilers -#blood cw -#death cw -

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wheremytwinwatches · 4 years

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[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 12

Episode 12 - “One is All, All is One” We open with whoawhoawhoa it’s Beardy from the intro. Papa Elric? Do we finally get backstory on Absent Dad this episode?

Beardy doesn’t look happy about something. And Ed wakes up in shock. More points towards it being Papa Elric, and also it not being the healthiest of families. But hey, this is anime, good luck finding any Protagonist families without Drama. Al says they’re almost at Dublith, asks if Ed was having a bad dream. Then stays oddly quiet when Ed says it was about ‘him’. Jeez, what’s with this guy? In town, both boys are very unenthusiastic about seeing Teacher again. And now the screens suddenly shaking, the door creaks open ominously gah bloody knife what the Oh dear. A very very big man has just stepped outside. Seriously, this guy looks like he could give Armstrong himself a run for his money. [Ed]: “Um… hello, Sig.” [Al]: “Long time no see.” Ah, a butcher! Got it. He’s rather chill about seeing the Elrics after so long, just patting them on the head and commenting on how they’ve grown (and can I just say how it’s adorable for the Giant Fanged Suit of Armor to be happy about having his head rubbed? Daw.) Sig pokes his head through a window, tells “Izumi” that the “Elric Shrimps” have come for a visit, she puts down an Alchemy book and says that she’s feeling a little better today. You’re right Al, that doesn’t sound good. What’s wrong with Teacher? Oh. Oh dear. Ed just got done kicked in the face across the street. I believe I have a good read on Teach, now.

To menacing music, McKickyFace steps outside, looking down on Ed with shadowed face and glowing red eyes. [McKickyFace]: “Hello, my stupid pupil! I hear you’ve become one of the military’s dogs!” And then the creaky door betrays Al’s hiding spot, she turns… and Al’s cuteness factor is unstoppable, McKickyFace instantly transforms to Izumi, commenting on how Al has grown. Aw, that’s nope never mind just a ruse to easily throw Al to the dirt. Jeez, for someone “not feeling well” you’re tossing these chumps around like ah that’s blood. No Teach, I don’t think you’re “perfectly fine.” Sig tells her not to exert herself and oh they’re married. One, that’s adorable, and two, ok that explains why they went to Sig. But above all else that’s adorable. Also funny how their love is so overpowering that Ed’s just standing there unnerved, getting bumped in the head by floating hearts. Inside, the four are sitting around a table, the conversation as typical being about the Philosopher’s Stone. Teacher doesn’t know much about it though, says it doesn’t hold much interest for her. Why’s that, do you know the secret or just have that much faith in your own abilities? Sig contributes that there was one guy in Central who knew about it. A guy called Hohenheim? Whoa Ed what’s wrong? And Al, do you recognize it too? Ah, image of Beardy! Teacher asks why the reaction to the name, Al confirms that it is indeed Papa Elric. Who “ran out” on them when they were little? Damnit man, why do you have to perpetuate the trope of Absent Anime Father? Flashback! Mama and Papa Elric are standing at the door, Baby!Ed and Baby!Al happened to be up early in the morning. Mama’s of course all over her children, but Papa Elric… just glares down at Ed, that’s the only description I can use for that look. Then he turns without a word, and walks out the door. ...seriously? Dude, dick move. So Mama Elric did say later that Papa left, but not with any finality. Then we get various scenes of Mama Elric and the Babies being cute, until… Mama Elric collapsed on the floor. Back in the present, with Ed still lost in Flashback-Land, Ed asks if Papa Elric had said anything about the Stone. Teacher says it was something about a life-long dream coming true. Even happy when he said it. Then she gets up, punches Ed out his sulk, and says that they’re going to eat.

At the dinner, Sig offers Al some food… uh oh. Have the Brother’s really not explained about Al’s state? Wow, really subtle attempt to change the subject to the last episode there Ed. I can tell Sig’s not buying it, he just looks to Izumi drinking her tea. Another flashback? A big storm in their hometown, the young Elrics are looking down with the other townsfolk as men try to keep a sandbag barrier holding against a flood. The wall’s breaking, everyone’s pulling back- except for Teacher, who’s striding past them as the epic string music picks up. With a clap of her hands (ooh, so Ed picked up on not using TCs from her!), she earthbends a bunch of walls up to hold back the river. And then Sweetie Sig walks over with an umbrella as she turns to the crowd. Who don’t recognize her? Ah right, a passerby, she lives in Dublith after all. And then she vomits blood again. Oh dear. Ah, so the boys were too short to see the blood this first time, all they saw was someone being Awesome and Saving The Town. So of course they run up and ask her to be their teacher. Buuut maybe don’t call her “Old Lady”. She refuses at first, she doesn’t teach and she’s just passing through, but when she’s told that they two boys clinging to her arm are orphans? [Pretty Lady]: “How am I supposed to say no to that?” And now for the first lesson: apparently, getting dropped off on an island and left to fend for themselves. Without any alchemy, even. Lady, I have to question your teaching methods.

Titledrop! “One is all… and all is one.” They have- one month?! Good Leto woman, you’re leaving them on their own for a freaking month? Yeah, the boy’s aren’t doing too well their first night. Trying (and failing) to sleep on some palm leaves, stomach’s rumbling. A lesson in wilderness survivalism, then? Ad-break picture of Sig and Izumi looking ready for a fight, shows last name of ‘Curtis’. So what’s their story? Sig seems to be working away as a butcher, a proper butcher unlike a certain Pudgy we’ve met before. But what about Izumi? Where did she get her training, and learn how to do non-TC Alchemy? Aaand where the first picture was of them looking tough, the second is of Big Tough Sig fanning his blood-spitting wife. Lady, maybe you should get that looked at. Oh, show’s answering my question already, apparently they work the butcher shop together. Sig’s wondering if they’re doing alright, Izumi stands by her lesson as being the best way to learn the essentials of alchemy. The same way she was taught, even. Casual throw of sharpened knife to Sig who does a two-finger catch (making me wonder if he has any training?), Big Butcher says he’s more concerned about their lives being in danger. Izumi scoffs, saying her training began with fighting bears for a whole month in the mountains. In winter, no less! ...couldn’t help but notice that you look a bit older that the Elrics in that picture, Izumi. On the island itself, the Brothers have just caught a rabbit in a snare! However, it leaves them with a live rabbit, so they’ll have to kill it themse- Oh that is just not fair. Rabbit’s going full Cute Anime Mode to avoid being dinner. The Brothers are playing Hot Potato with the knife to avoid using it. Until a passing fox takes advantage of the easy meal, and runs off with the rabbit. But look! The fox took the rabbit to feed its cubs! Aw, that’s sweet. Then the cubs start eating, and the Brother’s quickly decide to try fish instead. Yep, kinda hard to fish without rods. Maybe you can carve a spear? Or just build a lean-to, and go without food for a few more days. Yeesh, Ed’s not doing too well. Had a moment where he hallucinated Al as food and chomped, and now is alternating between nomming on ants and screaming about how gross they are. Oh, turning point! Ed’s talking about how he’s alive because he ate the ants. Um, no? I seriously doubt those few bugs gave you enough calories to make up for a few days foodless. Or rather it’s a metaphorical thing, how Ed’s alive because he consumed life. And then I guess he resolves that if he’s going to eat life to live, and by Leto he’s going to be at the top of the food chain! Cue montage of the Brothers going all Lord of the Flies, fashioning tools, chasing down a rabbit and killing it before a passing fox this time, starting a fire. They even get to the point that they toss some cooked food to the fox cubs in passing. Finally, it’s the night before Teacher’s to come back. Al asks Ed if he’s figured out what she meant by “One is all, and all is one.” Ed confirms that after he ate the ants, he thought his body feeding the ants, going to earth and becoming grass that the rabbits would eat... ...if I wasn’t doing a Professor Moody theme this episode, this would be a perfect spot for a Lion King gif. So yeah, Ed thought about the food chain. But also the island, how long ago it was under water, and thousands of years from now it could be the top of a mountain. It’s an “all things are connected” lesson, how in the span of the cosmos even our Main Characters are smaller than ants are to them. Test time! Teacher arrives and asks for their answer. [Al]: “All is one!” [Ed]: “And one is me!” Teacher… bursts out laughing? But she accepts the answer, and says the real training starts now. Now in Dublith, Teach is casually reading a cookbook while she lectures about TCs as the basis of Alchemy and absently spars with the Brothers. Sick moves lady, her technique seems to be all about deflecting and redirecting their attacks. That’s Judo, I think? Reviewing the lesson, Al calls her out on not using TCs when she casts, they ask how she does it. Teacher says something cryptic about herself being the matrix, that it might be something they learn if they see the truth. Wait… truth, or ‘Truth’? And yup, Ed wakes up with a realization: Teacher has seen the truth too. The next day, the Brothers are meeting with Teacher in the front yard, presumably to ask her. But she suddenly Alchemizes a spear from the wall, strikes out at Ed who has to TC-less change his arm to a blade in defense. That, on top of Al being armor and Ed missing two limbs confirms it for her: Edward’s seen it too. Which begs the question: how did Izumi see the Truth? Did she try Human Transmutation too? Yep, she did. And the rebound struck her… stomach. And in the center… Ah. That’s who she was trying to bring back. Izumi confirms the sad tale, why she committed the taboo. And when she says that it must have been awful for them, the Elrics adopt their customary bravado about it. ‘Not a big deal’, Al’s got his list of stuff to do, ect ect... [Izumi]: “You darling little idiots. It’s ok to hurt.” ... [Ed]: “Forgive us.” [Al]: “We’re so sorry, Teacher.” [Ed]: “Please forgive us.” [Al]: “We’re so sorry.” [Ed]: “Please forgive us.” [Al]: “We’re so sorry.” Flashback to the island, the young brothers expounding on living being the deconstruction and reconstruction of old life to new life [Ed]: “Alchemy is part of that flow. And the flow is life itself.” End-credits. Oof. Started out as a mostly amusing episode, was mostly looking for details on Absent Papa Elric. But nope, Brotherhood continues to be brutal to my emotions.

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 12

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danwhobrowses · 5 years

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Whatever Happened to: Sheska?

So, as promised, the first of hopefully many posts of the ‘Whatever Happened to’ series, where I bring up characters that just, fell off the map. For our first one we will begin with a character disappearance that always confused me, Sheska from Fullmetal Alchemist Manga and the Brotherhood anime There will be Spoilers for the story so if you haven’t read/watched it then...maybe you should

When was she last Seen? While in the 2003 anime series Sheska maintained a recurring role as Winry’s female friend and helping uncover the dirty secrets hidden by the Homunculi and in turn the Military. However, in the Manga and Brotherhood anime, Sheska is last seen in Chapter 34/Episode 16, both titled ‘Footsteps of a Comrade-in-Arms’. In it she is revealed to be covering for Mustang as he digs for information regarding Hughes’ death - mainly out of solidarity since Hughes did give her the job that pays her bills and keeps her mother in a nice home, and the least she can do is assist in helping find the culprit. She unfortunately lets this slip to ‘Captain Focker/Fokker’ who is Envy in disguise (but still a Focker if you ask me), which leads to the whole Maria Ross frame-up. From there we never see or hear from Sheska again, we don’t see her at Central when it’s attacked by Briggs, we don’t see her fall victim of the countrywide transmutation circle and do not we see her in the Chapter 107 splash

Which, frankly, is ridiculous given that characters dead, alive and barely in the story like Sheska was are here, including Fu, Hughes, Grumman, some no-names in the bottom and one no-name at the top right corner, Rebecca, Mustang’s old Ishval squad and Henschel. An oversight maybe, but it still leaves the question mark, what DID happen to Sheska? Theory 1: Sheska was Murdered Leaking that she knew about Mustang’s digging, covering for him and her photographic memory is two very dangerous tidbits of knowledge for one person to have, even if the Homunculi look down on humans up to this point they have been extremely efficient in not leaking their own information. So a worst case scenario could be that the Homunculi killed Sheska, quietly disposing of her and maybe even covering it up, she was on a heavy workload and could’ve ‘crumbled’ and disappeared to work in a nice undisclosed village. The fortunate thing that goes against this theory is that Mustang would notice, and since Hughes’ death she had been a lot more relaxed with her workload, it would also be in the Homunculi’s nature to only take care of things when it looks like a critical moment. Another plausible way Sheska may’ve died is via the Mannequins or when Our Father freaking Kamehameha’d half of Central Command, but then she would have to be fighting the Mannequins and not escaped Central when the Briggs soldiers gave them a chance, and Sheska would run if she were there. She may’ve also suffocated under a mountain of books like how she almost did when we first saw her, if she ever actually gets to go home anymore. Theory 2: Sheska was Dishonorably Discharged Given that Mustang is treated with contempt for digging into the Hughes case and his actions in making people believe that he scorched Maria Ross, it would be possible that the higher ups would use this as an excuse to discharge her from the military, to sever a connection Mustang would have in Central who could provide him information on Father’s plans. Envy may’ve been a lighter hand as Focker but Focker himself or any other members of Bradley’s high council may opt to picture it as harboring criminal activity. Sheska isn’t exactly one to come crying to the Elrics about this either so it’s not like it’d be huge news, the reason this may not work however is that Sheska still has all the dots Hughes had, she just hasn’t connected them yet, and the Homunculi keep tabs on people like that. Theory 3: Sheska was Transferred Like most of Mustang’s crew, Sheska may’ve been moved by association. Her absence from Central Command would fuel this and after she’s finished completing all the records there’s not much else she is useful for in the eyes of the military. Since she has no career goals, she could’ve simply been moved to a smaller military office - her ignorance to the happenings protecting her from being in warzones but not out of the country circle’s range. She may’ve also been transferred normally, maybe another library got burned down or maybe they rebuilt the Central Library and had her repopulate that with all the normal books and secret alchemy cookbooks and actually declutter her apartment with all the books that are there (okay it bothers me, where does she sleep? Does she have a book bed, next to her book oven and book fridge and cooks book eggs for bookfast in her book pan in her book kitchen?). Theory 4: Sheska left the Military on her own accord While she never expressed displeasure in working for the Military we leave Sheska in a pivotal moment in the plot, the next episode/chapter Mustang supposedly burns Maria Ross to a crisp. Not knowing it part of the plan, Sheska may’ve felt partly responsible in the ‘murder’ of Ross and disgusted by Mustang’s actions, which could have led her to leave the military. There are other reasons she may’ve quit her job also, she may’ve found a new calling or as said before the Library could’ve been rebuilt and she could’ve gotten her old job back from that or another closer-to-mother library/general job, she may’ve left to tend to her ill mother if her condition worsened or simply moved to a job with a career track - hell if you wanna go wild maybe she went to become an Alchemist, that photographic memory would be handy if she had the aptitude. The backdrop of this like the previous theory of her leaving the military is that this’d prevent the Homunculi from keeping tabs on her, while it is possible that Ross’ death would’ve prompted her to leave, the military may’ve offered an alternative of transfer or another government job so to keep and eye on her. Theory 5: Sheska slept through the whole thing A comical theory, but the records department isn’t something one would frequent in a lot, I mean Mustang was able to sleep in a storeroom for a bit completely undetected. It would be funny if Sheska did miss all the action from falling into a comatose sleep in a basement or something having been overworked, and given the isolated placement completely missed the Mannequin Soldiers, thought the Circle stealing her soul was a nightmare and then napped again through the whole Father fight. This is unlikely because it obviously didn’t happen, as I said Sheska’s workload doesn’t take a huge toll on her anymore so she wouldn’t pass out...not until after the Father Fight when she has to rewrite all the paperwork destroyed by Father’s Kamehameha, it’d be a good laugh though. Theory 6: Sheska was there, you just didn’t see her One of the most plausible theories is simply that it happened but there was no need to focus on Sheska while it was happening. Falman also had a great memory and worked with the Briggs men and the Armstrongs had worked in Central for months, so her talents weren’t exactly needed for the situation, she likely escaped the mannequins and left Central Command intact. It’s likely but it’s still annoying, we could have shown her in this scenario, even if it’s when Buccaneer saved those women (imaged in manga since I couldn’t find a screen of the scene in anime) they could’ve thrown in Sheska, could’ve shown her losing and regaining her soul, at least some closure on that would’ve been nice given that we saw every other player and the people of Liore during the Promised Day.

Theory 7: Sheska still works for the Military, she just wasn’t There The final theory that is as plausible as the prior, Sheska was basically away that day. We saw it with Brosh who only arrived at the scene because he was disgusted by Mustang and then elated that Ross was alive, a ‘bookworm’ like Sheska may’ve taken time off to witness an eclipse, and if she didn’t she may’ve simply had the day off. Another thing she could’ve done is gone on holiday, I doubt she went to Xing to meet the Armstrongs while they were statue hunting but maybe she went out of Central. She could’ve visited her mother, visited other family, gone to a place with other libraries and stuff she may have hobbies in. The downfall of this theory is that none of it escapes the circle, hostilities with Creta, Aurego and Drachma mean the only way out of the country is by crossing the desert, which doesn’t seem up Sheska’s alley, which means we circle back to why didn’t we show her? We showed Liore, Kanama, Resembool and Rush Valley, the latter just to specifically show Paninya - someone who had less screen time than Sheska, no offence to Paninya but if we gave time for her lying on a random floor (lucky she wasn’t fixing a roof) we could’ve just put Sheska in a room face first in a book for a second and that’d be that. So yeah, the mystery of Sheska racks my brain, mainly out of desire for closure but also because she still played a valid part in Ed and Al’s journey. Without her they would’ve never obtained Marcoh’s notes, which meant they would never have found out the properties of a stone, they would’ve never gone to the Fifth Laboratory and thus never learned about the Homunculi marking them as a sacrifice - since Ross got framed because of her, Ed would’ve never gone to Xerxes either, meaning he wouldn’t have figured out the transmutation circle or found the Ishvalan slum to discover that Scar killed the Rockbells, that discovery led to the confrontation that became a turning point for Scar’s redemption arc too. Sheska also inadvertently was necessary for Mustang’s plot also; had the brothers not gone to the Fifth Laboratory they would’ve never gotten Barry the Chopper as an ally (who in turn busted Ling out of jail, meaning everything Ling contributes to is a byproduct of Sheska’s action) but if she hadn’t have told Envy about Mustang’s digging they would’ve never framed Ross, which meant that they never would’ve had opportunity to capture Gluttony, kill Lust or discover that Bradley was Wrath. These are big things as well! Could someone just like, poke Arakawa for an answer? Or are we just gonna expect a Launch situation (save her for another day). Out of the 7 theories I would rank them as Most to Least Likely: 6, 7, 3, 4, 2, 1, 5 Most to Least Preferred: 3, 5, 7, 4, 6, 2, 1 Maybe one day we’ll find out, but for now it’s all headcanon, but whatever did happen to her, she is not forgotten.

#fma #fmab #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist #theories #sheska #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood

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zetalial · 5 years

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BH rewatch episode 23

Previous Episode Next Episode

Episode 23 Girl on the Battlefield

Wow. What was this episode? So much happened. I’m not sure if I can even have an opinion on anything as something else happens before I can digest what was happening. I’m exaggerating slightly – I have lots of opinions

So Alphonse is chasing after Scar. Edward is still in the alley with Winry, comforting her, and he gives her his red jacket. He doesn’t stick around long though as he needs to go and help his brother. Winry sits there feeling useless, that all she can do is wait (yeah we hear Winry’s thoughts all the time. It’s almost strange because we rarely hear the inner thoughts of other characters except when they’re expressed aloud.). Edward orders some of the soldiers to take care of her as he runs off.

Meanwhile, Ling is running away from Wrath with Lan Fan still over one shoulder. (Is Ling supernaturally strong and fit?) Yeah, he got out of the room somehow. I swear last episode he was practically cornered but whatever. Wrath gives chase.

As Wrath is chasing them, he hears that Scar is still out and about and orders Gluttony to deal with him. Why does he even think Gluttony can deal with Scar? Scar can just blow him up every time he gets close, which Gluttony has to given his only weapon is his face and he’s not very smart.

I am also wondering where Envy is. Last time we saw him, he was still just hanging around Central. He should really be helping out too. With his powers, he’d theoretically be able to be quite discreet in watching over the Elrics. He’d be far better than Gluttony.

Anyway, Lan Fan tells Ling not to be noble, that a leader needs to be there for his people and they need him alive. He doesn’t want to abandon her though. Lan Fan is looking at her severely injured arm and realising she’s useless to him while injured like this and she’s only weighing him down. We see her lifting her good arm to make a strike but we don’t see what she does before the scene shifts.

Al is still fighting Scar, saying he’ll make him pay for Nina and the Rockbells, Ed soon joins him. Oh, Scar notes Al is in a metal body and wonders at how he can use Alchemy when it put him in that form. Al points out that the alchemy also saved his life and he’s thankful to Edward for it. Now the fight is in a much more open space.

Then Gluttony appears and Ed and Al identify him as a homunculus and so the three of them all start working to fight Gluttony. It seems its Scar’s first time hearing that term though he has fought Gluttony before. Honestly that Gluttony even manages to bash his face into Scar is impressive. The homunculus is hopelessly outmatched.

Then, Ling appears from the Sewers and he’s taken his yellow shirt off to show off his muscles and cuts Gluttony in half with his sword. He asks Edward to make some restraints and Ed creates some metal coils. Ling quickly ties Gluttony’s regenerating body with them. He does it so tightly that Gluttony’s body is stuck constantly trying to expand but can’t because of the coils and so he’s completely trapped.

Riza appears in a car then, and shoots Scar in the leg. She’s in a paper-thin disguise of glasses and her hair down. It’s to trick the watching soldiers as she takes Ling and the trapped Gluttony away.

So Ed and Al have cornered the wounded Scar and intend to… capture him I assume? But then Mei appears, kicking Alphonse back. She calls Edward short – apparently unaware that she is a complete midget herself. She’s meant to be like 13 or something, right? Anyway, she makes three Alkahestry circles, causing a reaction from a distance to cause some explosions covering the area in smoke. Ed is very interested by this as he recognises it’s not normal alchemy. Mei then escapes with Scar.

Mei doesn’t seem to be aware that Scar is a killer. She has no idea why a group of Amestrian soldiers and Ed and Al were attacking him and she never asks! She just heals his injury. I hate that she’s just ignorant here. It’s so much more interesting if she knows and decides to help him anyway. Or at least have her be curious but show Scar trying to hide the truth or something. But, no, it’s just never addressed. (Also how many daggers does she have? She just used 15 of the things and 10 of them are definitely lost to her. Where does she keep them? Mei’s ridiculously powerful (throwing those 10 daggers perfectly) which I’m fine with but her being so out of the loop and how little information we get about how her power works is a little more annoying.)

Oh, Al has her panda. There’s a brief comedy scene of him holding on to him in spite of Ed’s protests about stray animals. The panda has this gag of a pyramid of hierarchy of Al on the top. I’m not sure why Ed was on the bottom with Yoki – it barely met him - more jokes at Ed’s expense?

Okay, so Lan Fan cut off her arm and attached it to a dog as a decoy while she and Ling escaped into the sewers. Wrath is fooled by this. When he follows bleeding arm and discovers this, his response is basically. “well-played”. This is a nice trick but I really think we should have been shown a bit more of it. Wrath was following them reasonably closely. He’s very quick while Ling was carting around Lan Fan on his shoulder. I would have liked to see them attaching the arm to the dog and then hiding in the sewers. Otherwise too much is happening offscreen. Like, when Mustang was fighting Lust, he cauterised his wound, walked through the empty laboratory and drew his array in his own blood all off-screen. (And got Havoc’s broken lighter working.)

Honestly, I’m not sure this is really feasible. I’m not sure I can believe that Ling really got away from Wrath long enough to pull off this bluff.

Oh well. So Lan Fan is wrapped in Ling’s jacket in a pretty dire state. Ling is in a car with Riza and convinces her to go and get Lan Fan. They take her to Doctor Knox’s place – Mustang got him to reluctantly agree as per usual. Wrath notices Riza and recognises her despite her ‘disguise’ and decides its best he deal with Mustang.

So we cut to Winry, who is waiting in the military and she’s talking with Wrath – well Fuhrer Bradley anyway. Ed comes in to see her and Bradley gives him a subtle warning that he should take care of her.

Winry gets a phone call from Rush valley and all her customers are begging for her to come back. (She was only there from Episode 11-15 and there’s dozens of automail shops and she’s only 16. Why on Earth are they trying to make her skills so ridiculous? This is way too extreme.) Just as she was having tough feelings about being stuck always waiting.

So she heads out on a train and they say goodbye to her as she leaves for Rush Valley. Ed tells her that she’s not going to cry again until it’s tears of joy when they’ve got their bodies back. She agrees. As they leave, Winry realises she has feelings for Ed. (Yeah more of her inner thoughts are being stated to the audience.)

Ling gets introduced to Mustang who thanks him for all his help. Ling, Lan Fan, Ed, Al, Mustang and Riza are all in this safe house together as Lan Fan wakes up. Ed apologises for her getting hurt but Ling says that it was his plan and Lan Fan was willing to make the sacrifice, doing what he could not.

Oh and Ling informs them that Bradley was a homunculus. Huh, a few episodes ago they seemed close to deducing that themselves but yeah it makes sense that Ling can just tell them. They act with typical horror as you’d expect. (Ling foreshadows that Bradley is different from other Homunculi too.)

Lan Fan explicitly draws attention to how her distraction plan was based off her and Ed’s fight. Aww, I thought it would be cleverly not mentioned. But they had to say it. (I’m just disappointed because I was feeling clever for noticing the parallel.) Lan Fan notes again that she is useless to Ling and Ed recommends automail.

Mustang wants to use Gluttony’s Philosopher’s stone to cure Havoc’s injury. Ling protests, saying how Lan Fan just got injured for it and he deserves the stone. Ed cuts in, pointing out how he needs the stone to fix his brother’s body as they’ve been searching for it for so long. It an interesting dilemma. Ed should be pretty urgent to fix Al knowing that his soul is being rejected but on the other hand Ling’s got a duty to his people and he is chiefly responsible for this capture (though it was only possible with Ed and Al luring the homunculi out).

But the argument is quickly cut short as Gluttony reacts to the mention of Mustang, who killed Lust, and with extra determination breaks out of his bonds. Nice to see he cares so much about Lust. His stomach opens up to show the giant gateway inside with the eye inside. It’s eating power takes out what looks like an entire wall and a car.

—————-

And finally, finally the episode is over. Wow, they stuffed in a lot. Can you believe it’s only normal length? Course, everything was very brief as a result. Sometimes the pace is too much. I guess I like it but more time could certainly have been spent on some events. I’m mostly thinking about Ling and Lan Fan. Their storyline is way too rushed here.

You know I’d like a reason to like Ling but how can I if it’s going to rush through the part where he is horrified as he ties his best friend’s bloody arm (which she just cut off for him) to a dog while she is practically bleeding to death next to him and he’s in a hurry. That’d be just the sort of scene to make me sympathise with him. We’d get to feel his guilt, mixed with a sense of duty and the dark side of Lan Fan’s loyalty. Instead we get him telling her not to do it and then a cut to him jumping out of the sewers with his shirt off and cutting Gluttony in half. Yeah, I get it, he’s ‘badass’ and a loyal friend. But his most interesting scene was offscreen! Instead we’re messing around with setting up Ed/Winry.

I’d also have appreciated lengthening the Philosopher’s stone argument. It’s interesting to see Edward, Ling and Mustang all in an argument where they all have compelling reasons. They’ve all sacrificed a lot after all. It’d be great too as it’d make the moment where Ling offered the Stone to Edward at the end of the series more meaningful.

I’m going to keep a watch out for the use of inner thoughts being stated to the audience. Often thoughts are expressed out loud but I think inner thoughts being shared is actually pretty rare. I feel like Winry’s thoughts have been shared before (just the other episode she was thinking in her head about Ed’s broadening shoulders). I don’t recall any other characters having this happening but maybe I can’t remember. Either way, I’ll keep an eye out in the future. (I’m curious if this is unique to Winry. Which would be weird as she’s not the protagonist of the story and I don’t see why her inner thoughts would deserve special treatment.)

But it’s not a bad episode or anything. A lot happened and it was good, I just wish more time was spent on some of these events not that any of them were bad. But they don’t have the full impact if there’s not a chance to dwell on them a bit.

#fma #fmab rewatch #Gosh imagining that heart-wrenching offscreen Ling scene #it would have been amazing #I'm honestly a little angry it was offscreen #Why?#For a twist reveal when he pops up out of the sewers?#That's nothing compared to the scene we lost.#where he would be handling Lan Fan's arm #with urgency but his emotions would be getting in the way #but sorry Ling it was offscreen so I still can't like you yet #Do I seem like I hate Winry?#I don't #her additions in this episode were just bad is all #they didn't touch on her feelings about Scar at all #just her feelings of being left waiting #and her feelings towards ed #meta #myposts

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madefate-a · 5 years

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+ body talks

True, there are plenty of things about this body that are inconvenient... but it's nothing I can't live with. I don't need anyone's pity -- least of all from you. My brother used alchemy to save my life. To regret the form I have now would mean not only rejecting alchemy but also turning my back on him. I believe in my brother, and I believe in alchemy. I will not lose faith. I want to believe!

// headcanons.

real talk: this might be the most important of all of al’s quotes. it summarizes so much about his world view, his experiences, and his innate character. there’s a lot to break down about this quote so i’m going to stick the particular facet of his relationship with his armored body, because it’s incredibly telling about who he is as a person.

he doesn’t deny that it has its limitations, and we’ve seen al struggle with different aspects of his situation throughout the manga’s timeline. importantly, he doesn’t arrive at acceptance in one fell swoop -- it, like everything else, is a process. it’s built by confronting individual things and learning not how to ignore those difficulties, but actively live with them. there’s the problem of displaying emotions, from the side story. the realization that he cannot sleep & the subsequent loneliness. the fear of being a created person. the lack of feeling (voiced first during his encounter with greed in dublith, i believe). the truth of the philosopher’s stone. the realization of his mortality and, following that, the bouts of unconsciousness. al doesn’t arrive at the conclusion that this is fine and then breeze through these issues -- he finds a way to overcome each one of them as they appear, and in doing that he actually winds up building a very stable worldview.

for the most part, that worldview is based on other people. he may not believe that ed & winry will understand what he’s feeling when he cannot make faces to convey those feelings, but he very clearly believes in them. that they love him, that they will always be family together. in the end, it doesn’t matter if he can express himself, because he has them and that’s enough. that’s how alphonse rationalizes most of what he encounters. learning of the philosopher’s stone ingredients is all he needs to abandon that search. confirming with ed that he is not, in fact, a created being is enough to assuage that fear. and when scar attempts to break his convictions, al only doubles down on them because he wants to believe in the people he loves.

to make something absolutely clear: al does not set himself on fire to keep others warm. he does not prioritize others to his own detriment when he can help it. his approach is very balanced -- made much easier that he has so few physical needs. he also does not use others as a crutch. al has decided that his life is best lived for and with others, so he looks to the people of love to decide how he feels about himself, and that is how he keeps moving forward.

after a while, there is also the fact that al genuinely views the armor as his body. his little feather thing is his hair, his helmet is his head. it’s not just an act of gratitude for being alive -- he’s made the decision that he’s human and living, and decides to just. live. which is why it’s a point of contention ( and kind of just a little hurts ) when he feels so distinctly othered or pitied. because as much as he’s got his heart set on finishing his goals and getting ed’s limbs back ( and his own, original body ) he’s still alive. he can still do things, be with people, study and research and see new sights. he’s still him, so people separating the concept of him from the armor body is a disquieting thing -- because beyond it implying that he is anything less than grateful to his brother, it implies that his choice to live to the fullest he can is an invalid one. and, stubborn child, he doesn’t like being told he’s wrong.

#( alphonse. )#( alphonse hc. )#god it feels SO GOOD to think about ANYTHING OTHER THAN ARCHIVAL RESTORATION #remember me fondly im getting sucked back into work tomorrow LOL

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fullmetalirin · 6 years

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Fullmetal Alchemist: Episodes 50-51

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 50: "Death"

As zeppelins rain bombs upon London during World War I, Edward and Hohenheim flee the city. As they watch the attack from a distance, Hohenheim explains that in this world, on the other side of the gate, the science of physics has developed instead of alchemy but, because Edward's soul was transferred over without his body, the Gate of Truth within himself can be used to return to Amestris. Meanwhile, with Hawkeye's help, Mustang has sneaked into the Führer's mansion to confront him and avenge Hughes. Gluttony, moping over Lust's death, is forced by Envy to begin gradually eating Alphonse's armored body to complete the Philosopher's Stone within him so Dante can use the stone to switch bodies with Rosé. Annoyed with Gluttony still mourning the loss of Lust, Dante alchemically destroys his mind so he can be nothing but an eating machine just as he begins gradually eating Alphonse. Wrath, still moping over Sloth's death, tries to intervene by using alchemy so he can use Alphonse to revive Sloth, but Dante has Edward's original limbs removed from Wrath's body so he can no longer perform alchemy in doing so. After repairing his relationship with Hohenheim, Edward returns to Amestris and tries to stop Dante's plans and set Alphonse and Rosé free, only to be distracted by Envy, who begins tormenting him in battle. When Edward angrily demands to see Envy's true form, Envy gleefully obliges, transforming into Hohenheim and Dante's deceased son, causing Edward to hesitate in sorrow. Dante reveals that Envy was the first ever homunculus, created when Hohenheim attempted human transmutation to revive his son who died of mercury poisoning. As Envy admits this is the reason why he hates Hohenheim for abandoning him to start a new family, the homunculus instantly transforms his arm into a blade and heartlessly kills Edward by piercing him through the heart while a horrified Alphonse, Rosé and Wrath watch.

Hm, I forgot he transferred to WWI London. I thought Amestris was equivalent to Nazi Germany.

Ed is impressed by zeppelins and airplanes. Hohenheim says their mechanical engineering is better than in their world, but Amestris has pretty sophisticated manufacturing too. Trains are apparently about a century old, which is about on par with our timeline. I guess you could presume that technology hit a plateau as people figured alchemy was better for more advanced applications.

Bradley keeps his remains in his house. He's read the Evil Overlord List! Selim saw the safe, so Bradley entrusts him with the key. That's pretty smart, since it's unlikely Mustang will think the kid is relevant.

Riza has dispatched Bradley's guards and is at his door. I presume this is a diversion, because we cut to Mustang sneaking in by… jumping over the wall? I'll presume that was alchemy-assisted.

Archer is still not dead.

We cut to Ed and Hohenheim and get my other favorite scene. Hohenheim explains conservation of energy, explicitly drawing a comparison to our very first example: Al fixing the broken radio. The souls of the dead from Earth pass into their world and provide the fuel for alchemy. This makes perfect sense: we already know the Philosopher's Stone, which amplifies alchemy, is powered by souls, so it's only logical that regular alchemy work the same.

Hohenheim explains he really did love Trisha, but left because he didn't want them to see the rot. I think this is a flawed but reasonable explanation. The rot represents more than just itself: it's a mark of his sin, a reminder that this body is not his own and that he's committed atrocities to obtain it. I see this more as him being unable to bear the answer to the inevitable question, "Why are you rotting, Dad?" It's horribly selfish and cowardly of him, but at the same time, it's understandable. Humanity is flawed.

Back in Amestris, Dante needs Gluttony to eat Al to complete the Philosopher's Stone. Apparently Dante designed him to refine red water. However, Gluttony is still BSODing over Lust, so Dante destroys his mind by removing his ouroboros tattoo.

Hohenheim confirms that Dante can't create a Philosopher's Stone on her own.

Hohenheim leaves us with the bright side of Dante's philosophy: you can gain something for nothing too. When a parent loves their child, he says, there need be no cost or reward.

But Ed still clings to equivalent exchange, admitting his only argument is that he doesn't want to believe a sacrifice could go unrewarded. He believes he just has to keep trying.

And then a zeppelin falls on him! He returns through the Gate just in time, but the poor boy he was inhabiting is still certainly dead.

Back in Central, Riza tells Bradley Mustang is after him… why? To get his family out of the way? Bradley goes into the wine cellar to fight Mustang, and the door is alchemically sealed behind him.

Bradley gives basically the same speech as Dante, saying really he's helping people by keeping the Philosopher's Stones from them.

Bradley explicitly says Mustang's fireballs will be less effective in an enclosed space. Thank you!

The Gate takes Wrath's arm and leg, but not the rest of him.

Ah. Ed realizes he used Earth!Ed's life to make the jump.

And now we get confirmation Gluttony killed Marcoh way back then.

Envy has a lot of fun running through forms to taunt Ed.

Alchemy can't be used because the activation of the Philosopher's Stone makes it too reactive. What does "activating" it really mean, though? We haven't seen alchemists need to do anything special to use it before.

Seeing Envy's true form stuns Ed, but… it doesn't look that recognizable? Ed says it looks like Hohenheim, but Hohenheim had a beard, and we just established he was willing to punch his mom's face. I remembered it as him looking like Ed, which would have made more sense. Still, it's a neat reveal. I've heard Brotherhood fans say it's a worse motivation than the one he has in Brotherhood, but, eh, his Brotherhood motivation was clever in theory but felt totally contrived and out of left field. Daddy issues might be cliché, but it's fitting for the more human homunculi, and it makes for a powerful parallel with Ed – further emphasized by them both being his children. I still think it'd have been stronger if we didn't learn it earlier, though.

Also, I do like that Envy violates talking-is-a-free-action to shank Ed while he's distracted.

Dante says Envy was the first homunculus ever created, so I guess Dante and Hohenheim were the first alchemists?

Rose appears to break out of her trance upon seeing Ed die.

Let's update our homunculi list real quick before the last episode:

Greed is wasted.

Lust defects, and is killed out of vengeance for a loved one.

Sloth is paralyzed.

Gluttony refuses to eat, and is made a slave to base desires.

This one is actual irony. He's spent the whole series only caring about eating things, but now, when he's actually ordered to, his human emotions get in the way. He's killed by an absence of gluttony, and becomes the embodiment of gluttony – a slave to base instincts. I find that a lot more clever than "Gluttony is eaten" – that is just so utterly trite and banal, you don't get points for that.

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 51: "Laws and Promises"

Alphonse breaks free and attempts human transmutation as he sacrifices himself - using what's left of his Philosopher's Stone within him to revive his brother. Envy appears at the Gate of Truth, having failed to stop Alphonse, and encounters Edward's soul. Learning that Hohenheim is still alive on the other side, Envy gleefully decides to head through to kill him against Edward's advice, disappearing into the distance as a green, serpentine dragon. Edward reawakens to see his body fully healed as well as his right arm and left leg are now flesh and blood. However, Alphonse has been taken by the Gate of Truth as a consequence. After having Rosé take an injured Wrath with her and flee to Resembool, Edward attempts human transmutation, offering his own life, allowing Alphonse to return to his body, albeit his memory is recalled up to when the brothers tried to resurrect their mother. Meanwhile, Mustang successfully kills Führer Bradley with the help of his son Selim, who unintentionally weakens his adoptive father by bringing him the remains of the human from which the Führer was originally based. The Führer responsively strangles his son to death out of anger before Mustang takes his advantage. As he takes Selim's body and leaves the mansion, Mustang is confronted by Archer, who apparently shoots him in the left eye. Hawkeye arrives in time to save Mustang's life and kills Archer. Dante escapes into an elevator to find the Führer to help her exact vengeance, only to be devoured by Gluttony, who fails to recognize her. Alphonse is back in Amestris now and Edward is pulled through the Gate of Truth and is currently in Munich. The brothers both resolve to reunite again someday.

Dante snarks that maybe Ed just didn't pay enough to deserve survival – "We always come just a little short of the price."

We actually see Mustang drawing the transmutation circle with his blood. So much cooler than him doing it offscreen!

Al destroys Gluttony's jaw. Gruesome.

Mustang successfully destroys Pride. Since he didn’t use a sealing circle, I’m guessing he really did exhaust all of Pride’s lives. See, that’s acceptable to do once as a climactic cool moment. Notice also that we skipped straight to the end instead of watching him use fireballs for two minutes straight.

Riza saves Mustang by being the only person smart enough to shoot at Archer's human half.

Envy jumps into the Gate in pursuit of Hohenheim, and even manages to shake off the souls trying to eat him. Hardcore.

After the scene with Dante and Gluttony, we see the elevator open to an empty chamber. Creepy.

Ed's lost limbs are restored when he's resurrected, but it costs all of Al's Philosopher's Stone.

Sheska says Amestris is no longer a military dictatorship, but the current wars will still continue. However, they've become more tolerant towards Ishbalans.

Roy has an eyepatch. Just like Bradley! Riza said her outing him and then doubling back was part of the plan, but I'm not sure how or why.

How did Hohenheim get to Germany? The year is 1921, so he somehow survived 7 years even though his body looked to be at its limit.

Ed thinks Einstein's theories are bunk. Heh.

Ed says he planned to offer his life as the price for restoring Al. The fact that he didn't makes him wonder if he got something for nothing.

The ending spiel is a twist on the standard opening spiel: Al recognizes that equivalent exchange is not the law of the world, but he still hopes that hard work will pay off, and that one day they'll be reunited: a promise, not a law.

Conclusion

I think this is a good finale. The cutting around is a bit disorienting – it perhaps might have been better to resolve Mustang's side of things earlier? – but not uncalled for. I like how Mustang is actually challenged and injured in his fight scene instead of just effortlessly coasting his way to victory; he's cool without being overpowered. The final boss fight with Envy is a bit meh, but huge fight scenes were never what I was watching for in the first place (and Mustang vs. Pride kind of has us covered on that front). In terms of how this interacted with and resolved the story's major themes and questions, I think it was excellent. We learn what is behind the Gate, we learn the truth behind alchemy, we get discussion on the theme of equivalent exchange, and the protagonists' driving motive, the restoration of their bodies, is resolved. It's an open-ended finale, but not an unsatisfying one. The villains are defeated, the characters have learned important lessons, and they're going to keep on living.

Mustang's side is probably the weakest part here – Cyborg Archer is really weird and random and seemingly just there to add more tension and battles. His fight with Pride feels a bit truncated since we keep cutting away from it. I'm still not totally clear what his plan was or if it made sense, and it was very dumb of Ed not to tell him how to fight homunculi. I do like that Riza saves him in the end, though.

Ultimately, this is again the rare OG arc that I feel could have been better spread out over more episodes. Getting all the characters into position is rather rushed and relies on a bit of contrivance, and the finale itself feels like it's trying to say more things than it really has time for. But I'm still happy with what we got.

Now, this is more subjective, but I find the dual sacrifices way more emotionally meaningful here. I plan to do an ending comparison post where I will discuss this further, but for now, I think it's very powerful that Al finally has his moment of triumph. He's spent the whole story as a damsel in distress, even getting literally turned into a MacGuffin for this finale, only ever watching helplessly as people make horrific sacrifices for him while he can do nothing to save them. So here and now, he says screw it, for once he has the power and he's going to use it to save the person he loves more than anything in the world. It's so strong that it's an absolute mirror of what Ed did for him, and extremely meaningful that in a series that started with and revolved around the impossibility of resurrection we end with a true one.

But Ed, stupid, stupid Ed, can't be content with what Al gave him and refuses to learn his lesson, so he puts them back where they started. I'm not sure how I feel about that – it makes him into a very stagnant and stubborn character who refuses to learn the narrative's lessons even when they've been so firmly pounded into his skull. The point of Dante's speech, to me, was that you cannot keep throwing good lives after bad – Ed has hurt himself and so many others on this journey, justifying it to himself with sunk cost fallacy. The correct option is to cut his losses and go home, to be happy with what he still has instead of throwing away even more. Even the very fact he planned to kill himself to bring Al back shows he's still ignoring him – Al has said over and over again he doesn't want Ed to do that. Are these brothers doomed to be trapped in an endless spiral of self-sacrifice for the other? But… I gotta say, Al staying dead would have been too much of a downer. They've been through so much that they do deserve a miracle. (There's that stories-as-just-worlds striking again!)

I actually have never seen the movie, so maybe it resolves some of these things! I shall see. But for now, let's complete our list…

Greed is wasted.

Lust defects, and is killed out of vengeance for a loved one.

Sloth is paralyzed.

Gluttony refuses to eat, and is made a slave to base desires.

Envy kills himself out of jealousy.

Pride is killed by his son.

Wrath outlives them all.

An ironic pride death is easy – hoist them by their own petard. This show takes it a step further, and has Pride undone by his namesake. I'm pretty sure it is said somewhere that Selim is his biological child in this continuity, and that the capacity to sire children was one of Pride's human traits. That makes it deeply ironic that the son is the reason he dies.

I never bought Wrath's Brotherhood death as "irony". Wrath being killed by wrath… I don't even know if that's poetic, it just kind of… is. We say those who live by the sword will die by the sword, and for good reason. Wrath dying to wrath isn't unexpected or at all clever. The volatile, self-destructive sin being the only one to live, though? That's irony.

And oh my god you guys Brotherhood!Envy kills himself out of PRIDE not jealousy, he could not have been more explicit about it! Know your sins if you're gonna be smug about what deep symbolism they are!! This one is still a bit of a reach – wrath is a closer fit – but there is a case to be made that he is doing this out of a desire for the connection and satisfaction that other children have yet was denied to him.

Lastly, I think you could make a case that Dante embodies all the sins and is undone by all of them simultaneously. She believes herself above humanity, yet she is easily frustrated, slothful in her attitude towards the homunculi, envious of others' bodies, and greedy, lustful, and gluttonous for life and power. Wiping Gluttony is an act of impatience, frustration, greed, and arrogance in the assumption she could still control him.

Even aside from that, though, this is such a fitting end for her. She's spent her whole life plotting in the shadows, never allowing herself into a position of personal harm, and just as she tries to slink away to do it again she's undone by her own tangled web. Work behind the scenes, die behind the scenes.

#fullmetal alchemist #fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fma 2003 #liveblog

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scribblescrabblebabble · 6 years

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RoyEd Week Day 6 (LATE!)

Title: All in One

Rating: T+

Relationships: Roy Mustang/ Edward Elric

Chapter: 5 (Together/Apart) [Masquerade Ball ‘03 reunitation because I’m in denial]

Cross- Posted on AO3 and Fanfic.net links- AO3; Fanfic.net

Best quality reading will be through the links, not on Tumblr itself because I’m too lazy to do italics and shit right now

Roy's face itched. More specifically, the mask that obscured half of his face chafed against his jaw as he talked, and thus his face itched.

Not that he could really complain, though, for as it were, his mask was comparably lighter than many of the men and women populating the sparkling ballroom. For once in his miserable life, Roy found that he couldn't afford a mask so extravagant for the annual military masquerade.

It was astounding that he was actually here, if he were perfectly honest with himself. He wouldn't have even known it was the right time of year had Riza not shown up at his snowy cabin weeks before and demanded he come; the days all seem to blur into one when the only thing for miles is barren snowy wasteland. Roy had agreed to go, but only because he was fairly positive nobody would try to invade at the current height of winter.

He felt a tap on his elbow, and turned to find the aforementioned blonde, eyes and forehead masked in shimmering blue and an uncharacteristic smile gracing the corners of her mouth, "Glad you could make it," She greeted simply.

"Glad I could leave that hellhole for a weekend," Roy murmured back, "Five years its been since I traveled any further than the nearby town for food."

"Your eye hasn't been a trouble?" Riza asked, nodding towards the masked area of his face. Roy had forgone his eye patch in favor of the mask, but visually it didn't make a huge difference- this just itched a bit more.

"I've gotten used to it. Care to dance? I'll have to warn you in advance; I haven't danced since before I lost my depth perception." Roy offered Riza his hand, which she took, and led her to the center of the large ballroom, where couples twirled glitteringly.

Luckily, Roy's muscle memory seemed to be unaffected by time, as he found himself easily maneuvering the steps of each dance smoothly, only occasionally hit by a woman's dress tassel as she swung about or brushing another dancer's back when the temp increased suddenly. As the mass of people began to become vibrant blurs of beads and feathers, Roy caught a glimpse of gold. There was a lot of gold in the room, but only one set of golden eyes that pierced through a mask of tanned, ornately carved leather.

Roy only realized he'd stopped moving when Riza prodded him sharply with her elbow, and several annoyed dancers cursed him. Although he couldn't see her facial featured amazingly, Roy could read the concern that poured Riza's blue eyes like a current. Roy hastily moved them to the edge of the dancing crowd, smiling apologetically at his former subordinate, "I have to go check on something."

"What? Is something wrong?" Riza asked, reaching down to place her fingers at her thigh, where Roy could assume her trusty pistol was strapped.

He shook his head, "No, I just… I need to find someone."

"Okay…" The blonde woman nodded, "Well, I'll go make sure Jean hasn't gotten himself wasted on champagne."

Roy nodded absently, already intent on his curiosity. As Riza melted into the crowd, he began to ponder. Had he really seen golden eyes? Or was he just projecting his wants into the extravagance of his current setting? Was he really that sad and desperate?

He decided to slip through the crowd, keeping a very sharp eye out for the leather mask and golden set of hair and eyes, towards a gigantic stone balcony, whose doors were kept open for the partygoers to admire the expansive gardens of whoever's wealthy family home this was.

He assumed the air was cold for central at this point of winter, but he simply couldn't find the air anything but pleasantly fresh and not violently windy. It wasn't even snowing! Just to feel the chill he once mistook for real cold, Roy shed his jacket, holding it folded under one arm.

The smell of freshly mown lawn hit him as he approached the edge of the balcony, resting his arms against the ornate railing. The stars twinkled above him as populous and vibrant as the dancers behind him. Several glass lanterns hung from hooks along the balcony, shedding light into the otherwise dark nooks not brightened by the flood of ballroom light. He appeared to be the only person on the balcony, he guessed because of the apparent cold.

The golden eyes claimed his mind. How long had it been since he had last seen the gleam of confidence- of total faith in success- that had rested so permanently in those eyes?

Ed would be, what, twenty now? Was it futile to believe he was still alive, as Al so ferociously persisted? After all, they hadn't found a body, and the Rose girl had said that she saw Ed sacrifice himself for Al.

Was it possible, after all this time, Ed had found his way from the gate?

He vaguely heard the sound of footsteps behind him. The steps stopped a few paces away from Roy, and then resumed until they stopped again on his blind side. He was too focused on his thoughts to really care about whoever currently stood beside him.

The dumbfounded, "You gotta be fucking kidding me!" broke Roy from his stupor. He turned around to find Edward Elric's golden eyes burning into him behind the leather mask, "There's no way you're not cold right now."

"Fullmetal." Roy said stupidly, unable to really process the situation.

Ed rolled his eyes, pushing the mask to the top of his head, "No shit- took you long enough to see me, I've been standing here for like five minutes." He looked older, unsurprisingly, but seemed to have maintained his small frame.

"Y-you're standing in my blind spot," Roy momentarily flipped up his own mask in explanation, exposing the rough scarring that now replaced his left eye, "Where the hell've you been? It's pretty rude to up and leave everyone worrying about you for nearly five and a half years, you know."

The blonde looked off to the side, resting his arms against the railing as Roy had previously, done, "I was in another world- on the other side of the gate. Alchemy wasn't a thing there, so it took a bit of creativity to find a way back."

"Another world?" Roy repeated, "What kind of world was it?"

Ed paused to think, "It was like… the same, but… I don't know, not?" Roy must have looked incredibly confused, for Ed slid a hand down his face and elaborated, "It's a lot. The people there were the same people as there are here, like everybody has a doppelganger from this world in that one, but they were all… off, like something wasn't clicking to make them just like the people here- FUCK, it's cold."

"Inside, then." Roy suggested.

"Yeah," Ed agreed.

They left the balcony to seep in the nighttime darkness. The air back inside was much nicer, but the noise was obscene. Ed led Roy to a cluster of tables, one of which was empty in the very back corner of the room. He had pushed his mask back down over his face, as was the dress code of the night.

They sat in silence for a minute, Ed with a conflicted look on what Roy could see of his face, "…There was- I mean- I met you there. Like, your other version."

Roy raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" He hadn't expected Ed to tell him something so specific.

"Yeah, we were, uh… friends," Ed explained, a blush poking out from under his brown mask that made Roy question Ed's use of 'friend', "Every bit as stupid as you, but he was more… naïve, I guess."

"How do you mean?" Roy asked, choosing to ignore the 'stupid' comment.

Ed sighed, "I don't know, I guess it was just because he's like my age there? I guess I've always been closer to adults than people my own age, so a lot of my peers in Germany just seemed so naïve, especially with that Roy. I couldn't help comparing him. Same thing with Al's double; I saw him and could only see how much he wasn't Al," Ed frowned, but quickly snapped out of his stupor with a change of topic, "How'd your eye go?"

It was Roy's turn to sigh, "Archer's bullet got me after I was done at Bradley's mansion the night you left. As you can imagine, I was demoted to Enlisted Man as soon as I came to, and I've been cooped up in a cabin up north freezing my ass off ever since. This is actually my first night away from that shit shack in five years."

"And you were about to spend it alone on a freezing balcony." Ed snarked, crossing his arms.

Roy laughed, "Trust me, the outside here is like a fresh spring morning compared to my post right now."

"...That's my fault, isn't it? I made you go kill Bradley." Ed asked tentatively.

"Ed, I wouldn't have gone if I didn't think it was the right thing to do. I chose the outpost over one in Central, you know, because if I stayed here it could only remind me that I was bleeding out when I could have been down there helping you. Maybe you wouldn't have had to sacrifice yourself then." Roy explained, doing his best to keep eye contact with the young blonde, even if he wanted to look away out of embarrassment. He hadn't had to face people and emotions for five years, and the fast refresher was like lemon juice in a wound.

Roy stood, raising a confused and slightly disappointed look form Ed, "You know, I didn't travel hours from my post for the first time in half a decade to attend a masquerade ball and not dance."

Ed realized what Roy was hinting at and shook his head violently, "Not a damn chance, Mustang. I can't dance for shit."

"And I don't have depth perception. We'll be the perfect annoyance to the higher-ups out there."

"You danced pretty well with Lieutenant Hawkeye," Ed retorted.

"She's one of the best dancers I know; it'd be extremely hard to look bad dancing with her," Roy replied, "Were you watching me dance?"

Ed blushed, "N-Not like- I just saw- don't make this fucking weird! You know what? Yeah, lets go dance," Ed stood hastily and grabbed Roy's arm whilst the older man laughed at him.

They moved into the throng of dancers in between songs so they were able to somewhat gain their bearings when the next tune began. Ed wasn't a bad dancer. In fact, he was surprisingly good, if not a bit uncomfortable, but that all really came down to experience.

The dances grew longer, and they all began to blur into one, with he and Ed following the steps of the crowd the whole while and laughing at each other when they messed up.

Roy didn't really know how it happened, but he and Ed were dancing in the ballroom at one point, and then somehow found their way back onto the deserted balcony, and then he was kissing Ed against a wall. The music's orderly and elegant tempo hardly matched the pace of their kiss- on Ed's part it was almost desperate, whilst on Roy's it was astounding relief.

Later, they would have to talk, and Roy would probably have to ask Ed exactly how close he and this 'other Roy' were to each other. They may just hook up for a night, or allow their feeling to flourish into something more.

But that could come later.

{END}

#royedweek2018 #Royed Week 2018 #royed #safe RoyEd #edward elric #Roy Mustang #riza hawkeye #masquerade ball #balls #dancing #Fullmetal Alchemist #fma 2003

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edxwin-elric · 6 years

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Say the Words, Handsome

Rating: T

Pairing: EdWin/Edward x Winry

Disclaimer: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Word Count: 1332

Title: Say the Words, Handsome

Description: EdWin Drabble/Fluff

EdWin exchanging their wedding vows.

A/N: Request by @protectjackaboy. Comments are always appreciated. Enjoy!

ffn || ao3

Winry

“Ed, where are you taking me? The ceremony starts in like ten minutes! You’re not even supposed to see me yet!”

“Shh!” he hisses over me and continues to lead me out of the church into the garden.

My protests die in my throat as I glance around. There’s foliage everywhere. It’s like we stepped out of Amestris into a magical land. Outside of time.

“Okay.” Ed’s voice snaps me out of my trance, and my eyes go to his. “We don’t have a lot of time, obviously,” he starts, waving toward the door we just came out of.

Where our family and friends are all waiting for us to get married.

“But you said you wrote your own vows, and I…” He pauses and glances around nervously. “Well, I didn’t.”

“Oh.” I frown. “That’s okay.” I shrug. “I didn’t really expect you to. I sort of thought we’d just say the traditional ones, and I could write mine down for you or something.”

It’s Edward. It’s not like I haven’t known him his whole life. I knew there was no way he’d have his vows prepared for this. Even if it is our wedding.

“No.” He shakes his head and grabs both my hands. “I mean, yes. I think we should say the traditional vows when we go in there, but… I do have things I want to say to you, and I want to do it now. Right here.”

“What?” I blink. “You mean…you say your vows and I say mine without anyone there–”

“Yes. Just us. Right here.” He nods, his head tilting down so his forehead is pressed against mine. “I’m marrying you, not them.”

I sigh and inhale the scent of him—musk and something spicy I’m not familiar with. I bet Al gave it to him.

“Okay,” I murmur, pulling back. “Do you want to go first?”

“Yes,” he blurts. “Because yours are going to be perfect, and I’m just…saying words.”

I bite my lip to keep from smiling and lift my hand up to his face.

“I’m ready whenever you are. Say the words, handsome.”

“Uh, right. Okay.” He takes a deep breath and shuts his eyes as he exhales.

When he opens them, there’s fire inside. I feel the heat of it all over, even down to my toes.

“Winry,” he starts softly. “I can’t believe you agreed to marry me. That I get to call you my wife after today. I love you so much my chest feels like it will burst when I think about it. I’m stuck in between wanting to plan for our future and wanting to live in the moment, because every moment I’m with you is this magical impossible thing I can’t describe. I know we fight over things at times, and usually it’s my fault. I apologize in advance for all the stupid things I’m going to do in the future. And I promise to always forgive you. No matter what.

“I promise to love you more every minute I’m alive. And if I can love you after that, I promise that, too. I swear I’ll never leave you or let you struggle when I can help. If we have kids, I’ll be there for every second. Day or night. I promise to always support you with your work and tease you about being a Crazy Gearhead as often as possible.”

I let out a wet laugh at that, ignoring the tears streaming down my face, totally ruining my mascara.

“I vow…” he murmurs, reaching up to wipe my face. “To never make you cry, and always fix it when I do.”

I press my cheek into his palm and close my eyes, focusing on his voice.

“And, finally, I promise to always keep you safe no matter what it takes…I love you, Winry.”

I lift my head and nod, swallowing the lump of happy tears that are still trying to break free. He’s quiet for a minute while I collect myself, and when I’ve got it together, I meet his eyes again.

“Edward Elric,” I begin softly, taking his hands. “Today, I take you as my husband. As my lover, my best friend, my confidant, the future father of my children, and the only man who can irritate the hell out of me at the same time he’s making me fall in love with him.”

I see him start blushing, but I continue anyway.

“I don’t ever want to see a sunrise where you’re not with me, or a sunset when we’re apart. Distance can never separate us, and I hope nothing else ever does. As your wife, I promise to take care of you, even when you say you don’t need help. I promise to ride you about your automail, even though I like that you need me to fix something since you always are the one fixing me. I promise to always call you out when you’re acting like an idiot.” I pause when his eyebrows lower in a frown. “And I expect you to do the same for me,” I finish quietly.

“I vow to stay by your side no matter what comes our way, and never to keep secrets from you. I promise not to hide my feelings—good or bad, even if they include tears, which I know you don’t like. And I vow to always be careful with yours. I promise to love you through all the ups and downs of our life, not just when things are good. I vow to be the best wife I can be, and the best mom, one day.”

I pause to take a breath, and Ed’s hand release mine, coming up to hold my face.

“I…I love you, Ed,” I murmur. “A lot.”

“I love you, too.”

And then he’s kissing me. Deeply. Like a groom kisses his new wife.

Maybe we’re supposed to wait for it to be official with the rings and the officiant to announce it, but we’ve never been traditional. Hell, he proposed using alchemy terms while he was getting on a train to leave me for months. This is us.

When he pulls back, we’re both breathing heavily, and I’m pretty sure my hair is ruined.

“Brother! Are you out here?”

“Shit,” Ed hisses as Al appears in the doorway. “We’ve gotta go.”

Grabbing my hand again, he starts pulling me down the sidewalk to a different door than the one we came through.

“Wait,” I tug at him. “My hair—my makeup!”

“Winry, you look beautiful,” he tells me firmly, pausing with his hand on the doorknob. “Now, are you ready to go stand in front of all those people and become my wife?”

“I just became your wife,” I tell him gently, lifting the heavy skirt of my dress. “But since everyone is here…we might as well.”

He curls his hand around my neck and kisses me again before opening the door.

“God, I love you,” he whispers as I slide under his arm.

“See you at the end of the aisle,” I return quickly before picking up my skirt and running toward the place where Paninya and Mei are waiting for me.

I’m sure I look like a hot mess when I arrive, but I don’t care. It’s funny, after all the planning and stressing about this wedding, trying to perfect every minute detail that it doesn’t seem to matter anymore. As far as I’m concerned, I just married my husband in the garden, so anything that goes wrong from here on, doesn’t count.

When the time comes for us to say our vows in front of our guests, we recite the old words, well-worn from generations of use. But I know what he’s really saying, the same way he knows what I am. The words might be different, but the blaze in his eyes is the same.

And after everything has been said, he kisses me.

Again.

Only this time, it’s official.

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karinakamichi · 7 years

Text

Some rather important cut scenes from Fullmetal Alchemist: Conquerors of Shambala (read more under cut)

1. Izumi’s death scene: Life is the same as always at the meat shop. Sig is selling meat in the storefront. Izumi’s voice: It was about two months ago… Izumi is laid up in bed.

Winry has come. It feels like she’s become hardier having returned from her training. Her outfit has also changed, wearing an automail technician’s toolbelt and such. Winry is looking worried, talking with Izumi.

Izumi: (With a coughing fit) I eventually become unable to move… I told Al to go. There wasn’t anything else I could teach him. Winry: Is… that so…. Izumi: He… had a terrible talent for absorbing alchemy… now he might even surpass Ed. Winry nods. Winry: But… he still hasn’t given up on Ed, has he. Izumi: He believes. …That Ed is alive, somwhere…At first I thought maybe he just didn’t really understand how he’d disappeared, but… That’s not it. It seems he… feels… something.

Winry: …

Izumi has a coughing fit. Izumi: It seems he’s seeing, in dreams…. Dreams of Ed… Himself, in the body of a sickly 17 year old boy, living with Ed. There’s a rocket or something like that that they’re… working on… Winry: Izumi-san, that’s enough, please rest… Suddenly Izumi’s eyes flare open and she stands. Winry: Izumi-san? Izumi staggers outside. Izumi comes out of the back door looking ready to collapse. Winry and Sig follow her. Sig: What are you doing? Winry: If you don’t sleep…! Izumi brushes them off. Izumi… desperately walks forward. Izumi: So you’ve… come…. Looking ahead along Izumi’s line of sight, Winry gasps. Winry: …. There is Wrath. He stands, with rusted and broken down automail.

Izumi: …Son… Izumi reaches her hand towards Wrath and… like that, collapses. With a start, Wrath starts to flee. Winry: Wrath. Wrath jerks to a stop Winry: You can’t go… Isn’t she your mom, after all… Wrath: Homunculi don’t have mothers… We’re… fake lives made with alchemy… Wrath, with a look of suffering, approaches Izumi. Izumi takes hold of Wrath. Izumi: Then… I’ll give you… a real life… Wrath: … Suddenly, Izumi hugs Wrath tightly. Like that she dies. Winry: Izumi…-san? Izumi-san?! Izumi has taken her last breath, holding onto Wrath with a smile. Sig’s tears overflow… without a word. Wrath is spaced out. Winry bursts out sobbing. (End direct scene translation.)

(For the line where Wrath is encouraging Al to sacrifice him, there’s this wonderful note): “Here we have a scene that showcases the difference between Al and Wrath’s feelings. Wrath is saying that there’s no need for Al to sacrifice himself and furthermore that this is all Wrath thinks he CAN do for him. The Elric brothers are, in a way, the children of the mother figure Izumi. While Wrath is protecting them as his own brothers in a way, he may also be thinking that with this, he wants to take back his own mother.”

Hohenheim’s speech about Envy is a little different in the Prototype. There’s a writer’s note that says while they changed it, the sentiment or thought didn’t change, but as he is being chewed on by Envy him talking too long is a bit hard to pull off and with the movie at the climax they want to keep the pace up.

Hohenheim: Envy here is… also my son. Ed: …He’s a Homunculus. Hohenheim: Without so much as a single display of affection for him in his life, I abandoned him… So, if it’s what he desires then… I want to be killed by him.4

((((I don’t care what anybody says, I want to count those last words as canon rather than some line about Envy being a ‘monster’.))))

Nextly, the scene where Roy and Winry confront each other:

Beneath a cloudy sky, one man stands before a tombstone. It’s Mustang. He is not in uniform. He’s just staring downwards at Hughes’s grave. He suddenly notices behind him, crisply in uniform, is none other than Hawkeye. She was walking slowly and came to a stop at a respectable distance. It’s their first meeting in some time so while there may be many thoughts she wants to speak, ultimately she remains cool.

Hawkeye: I am certain you were sent orders to re-station, so why have you not reported in to headquarters?

Mustang says nothing.

Hawkeye: A special assembly has been called for former State Alchemists in regards to the simultaneous earthquakes in two separate cities and the armored figures that appeared in Liore. There were those saying you would be chairman of the committee.

Mustang takes out the envelope with his orders, holding it up as it is without offering it out to her at all. Mustang: I have no such right. Hawkeye: Parliament decided on it. Mustang: In refusing this I am saying: I no longer intend to serve the military. Hawkeye stares at him, as if to question his determination. Mustang drops his envelope on top of Hughes’s gravestone and walks off as Hawkeye watches. [ At the entrance to the graveyard ] Mustang passes by with a cane. He passes by a lone girl. He realizes it’s Winry. Mustang: … WInry: It has been a while. It seems you chose a very remote station. Mustang: It seems I’ll be parting from that station as well. Winry: You’re quitting? The military? Mustang answers without a word. Winry: To stand at the top of the military, and to change the nation, to make sure another war doesn’t break out. Wasn’t that your dream? Mustang: For that dream, there were many casualties. Hughes was one. ….Edward Elric was another. I have no right to even talk about dreams. Winry: Ed… isn’t dead. Mustang looks up in surprise. Winry: Al… has always believed that, and even now he’s looking for a way to see him. Mustang: …. That… must be hard on you. Winry glares sharply at Mustang. Winry: It is hard, but even so we’re moving forward one step at a time. What else can we do besides that? We’re still alive. Mustang gives a short laugh and walks off. Winry continues to glare at his back.

“It’s difficult to say say whether Ed’s decision was necessarily all that hard on Winry or… She, in her own way, has passed these two years by training and completing Ed’s new automail. In being able to give that to him she has moved on from him, I think. I wanted her to develop an identity beyond her brothers, so I tried to develop it thusly. ”

4. The cabin scene.

Breda: Setting aside your standing and applying for this position out in the country is very you, I think. I suppose this is your way of taking responsibility for assassinating the Fuhrer. Havoc: But the military needs you, Colonel. Roy: I want to serve for the nation from here as a Corporal. I no longer intend to stand above anyone. Breda: Colonel! In the name of “building the nation” they’ve started mutually raiding the budget. Nobody’s showing any direction for what this nation’s goals are. (Then Havoc tries to light his cigarette, Roy gets a match, and it’s back on track with the movie for a few lines.) In the original script, they explicitly state that it is not (Captain) Hakweye he’s waiting for but Ed, and Havoc muses that Roy supposes Ed disappeared because Roy didn’t make it to him to help him. Aikawa notes that if it were a novelization, he’d keep it explicit, but as a movie, it was better not said so plainly.

Ed: Al, you can tell by looking right, these guys are bad guys! Al: Mou! Don’t talk to me like a child! I’m twelve years old!

Ed looks with a start. Ed: (With a pained smile) Is that right, twelve huh. Then let’s do it.

Rather than Haushoffer saying he doesn’t think it’s Shamballa on the other side and being shot by Eckart after she tells Hess to go relay that it’s been confirmed, Haushoffer questions she herself really being the one to go 'confirm’ it, she asks: “Is there any other who will conquer Shamballa?”

Alfons’s final scene is a little different and there’s a note appended to it about his development as a character by the staff and writer: Ed: Wait, I never said anything about going to that side. Alfons: I want you to go.

Ed: … Alfons…. So, I’m in the way? Alfons shakes his head and breaks into a cough. Alfons: I… we… aren’t parts of your dream. Ed: …. Alfons: I am… definitely… here… Even as my life fades out, I’m not a dream. Ed: Al… I…. Alfons: Don’t… Don’t just write us off as a dream! Alfons decisively pulls down the hatch. He operates the machine.

Alfons: It seems like Edward-san doesn’t have any interest in anything in this world. Noah: Because he comes from another world? Do you believe too? Alfons: ……I don’t know. But he doesn’t know how to get back to his world, he doesn’t know what to do, and so finally he’s lost the will to live… There are times when he looks like that. (Alfons is looking into his coffee.) Alfons: But he… he just wants to go anywhere that isn’t here. Noah: Is that such a bad thing? Alfons: But in reality he’s living here. That person’s home might only exist inside of his own head. Noah: Isn’t that fine, too? (Alfons tries to take Noah’s arm) Noah: (Gasping) Don’t touch me! (An image of Alfons’s brain activity floats across Noah’s mind.

But, Alfons misunderstands.) Alfons: S… Sorry… (Releasing her hand, he stands up.) Noah: Alfons Alfons: I have, work to do… important work. (Alfons escapes and holes up in his own room. Noah, without a word… worries about Ed.)

Then the armors start going back into the gate, back to the final cut script. Gracia is pretty different in the original cut: they originally wanted to emphasize that, face aside, Shamballa Gracia is a completely different character, it says in a footnote regarding why she talks about war happily. Gracia: We haven’t seen much of Edward-kun lately, have we? Noah: Yes. He said that he was just going out, but then he’s always… Gracia: But Alfons-kun is kind, so you’re doing all right, right? Noah looks at Gracia, surprised. Gracia: But I guess it’s no good if someone’s just kind, is it? Noah turns her face away and stirs the cooking. Gracia: How long do you plan to stay here? Noah: Eh?? Gracia: It’d be best not to be in Munich. Noah: Why is that? Gracia: (Sounding happy) Because, a war might be starting. Noah: War? Alfons returns home and Gracia serves them stew then leaves them be, cue the scene where Hughes get the door shut in his face, as in the final cut.

When Alfons and Noah are talking about war, Alfons says he just wants to make rockets and adds on “Unlike Ed, I’m realistic.” (scene translation pickup) There’s something that could be considered cold about those words. Noah:… Ed… He couldn’t possibly have returned to his own world, could he. Alfons looks surprised. He forces himself to smile. Alfons: Noah fully believes him, then. As for me… I half believe him, half doubt him, still. Noah: …. But, there no people who can lie with those eyes! Alfons turns from that gaze. Alfons: That person… has never gotten a proper job and won’t get too deeply involved with anybody but myself. I’m sure it’s because he plans to return to his world some day… Because he’s thinking this is a dream…. (Alfons starts to seem annoyed.) Even if you say to him that Germany’s going to beat France and even England… All he ever says is that. “War is meaningless. No matter how many times it happens, Germany will lose” … he says. According to that person, this world is all somebody else’s problem.

Ed: Take you with me all day? Alfons said that? Noah: Yes. He says he has a meeting with an important sponsor today, so he can’t stay with me. Ed: Hnnnn, he’s really taking a lot of interest in you… (Not that he meant anything too deep by that when he said it but… Ed is troubled.) Noah: You won’t call him Al in front of me? (Ed stares at Noah.) Noah: Earlier, you had said 'Al’ so… Ed: He’s… not Al. Noah: Then Al is… Ed: My little brother. Hughes is a little “cuter” with Ed when meeting him, playing around more, being more halting and clearly hiding his own worry behind saying it’d be a problem for Gracia if Ed and Al got taken in by the Gypsy. When Ed suggests he go take care of Gracia himself, Hughes has a more played out stutter response. Noah apologizes for “deceiving” Ed, Ed says he doesn’t think she’s deceiving him. Ed: You saw that the first time we met, didn’t you? What’s in me… (Noah casts her eyes down) Ed: I’m not the type to believe in unscientific things like that but when I came to this world, I’ve been hit like 'bwaaa!’ with one thing after another, with everything I’ve seen. It shows some of the things Ed’s seen through the Gate and he does a voice over, probably not said aloud (and that’s just what it says in the script notes): Ed: And besides that, there’s… this world’s magic that I’ve come to know. In that instant, I was being touched by everything in the world… That same feeling, when you touched me… During the scene where Noah says to call her a Gypsy or a Nomad or whatever he likes, a good line of Ed’s that got cut is: Noah: We don’t need a name. Ed: Is that why you ran? Noah: ? Ed: Even if it means being poor, even if it’s hard, you just don’t want to belong to anybody.

“Alfons’s sickness is lung cancer. He got it because he breathed in damaging gasses every day.” (if anyone needs to cite this, it’s footnote 1 on page 105 of the Shamballa Scenario Book. )

Alfons tells Ed he has no right to say anything about him wanting to leave proof he lived. “In truth, more important than Germany, more important than Ed’s world, the rocket is, more than anything to Alfons, simply proof that he had lived. He wants to impress upon Ed that he really lives here, even while Ed himself lives here as if he’s in a dream.”

While Al is still a child and has straight forward thoughts like “if Nii-san is on the other side of the Gate, it just needs to be opened again” without any thoughts of what it might entail or how dangerous it would be, Aikawa didn’t want the reunion to be too happy, and he wanted to show that there was the problem of whether it was right to open the Gate again or not.

The scene when Ed had mentioned he may be able to go back to Alphonse.

“Ed couldn’t be sure if Al was really still alive, so he stayed with Alfons as a source of trifling reassurance he needed to get by. But at this point he’s met with Al in the armor and has confirmed that he’s alive. so at this point Alfons’s own existence has become a moot point for Ed. In this scene, Alfons gets a sense of this. In short, Alfons has quickly and already just become something unnecessary for Ed at this point.” At this point Ed is only thinking about going home and also hasn’t realized what it may entail yet.

(When Alfons tells Ed he wants him to go.) “Alfons doesn’t have anything else on his mind other than that he finished his rocket and the sentiment that he can send Ed home. He’s telling Ed to look at reality. After all, he hates seeing Ed so listless and idle. Ed keeps saying 'I might be able to return home, if I can just find out how’ and Alfons is, after all, able to show him that how.” Alfons tells Ed not to forget him. “Because Ed and Alfons have a special relationship, this line doesn’t mean to remember that he existed. It’s a message to those who can’t affirm the world they live in, that Alfons wants— that those who feel how short their lives are want to convey. No matter where we are, the place we’re born into or the place we make a living is ours. For someone to refuse to even recognize that place of his is very irritating to Alfons.” As Noah screams for Ed, being left behind in a world with no place for her and doomed to be shuffled out yet again, Ed’s feelings are completely different. As he goes back to the world he was born into, a part of him wonders how he should face it again.

When Ed asks if Heiderich thinks it’s all made up, Heiderich says he believes Ed’s from someplace else, but he can’t believe in a world with alchemy actually working. Ed asks if he’s heard of Paracelsus, whom Heiderich has. Ed muses that he existed in this world, too. A note on the script says Ed has realized that that’s Hohenheim, but since expanding on Hohenheim’s role in spreading alchemy would take up a lot of screen time it was all cut, including that line.

“We were incredibly unsure how to end it. In the prototype, it ends with Roze’s line. But, it’s abrupt, isn’t it? With that said, there was something off about ending it on Ed’s line too… In the end, like many things, I left some elements there for the director to decide on for me.

In two ending notes, Aikawa says, in summary (1) that this time the story he told with FMA had a main theme of the relationship people have with the world. We should take responsibility for the world we live in. People can’t just reach one conclusion, confirm it fits and make as if that’s the end of it,. They’ll keep making mistakes. There’s no human being who can always do the right thing. That goes for anime characters as well. He wished to include that obvious human trait in the characters.” Special note 2: “Watching a movie talks about an hour to two hours out of a person’s life. But if that’s all the time it takes from a person’s time, I personally believe there is little point. With that in mind, this time I thought in writing Fullmetal this time I’d like to make it a movie-like movie. When you finish viewing a movie, it shouldn’t end with the viewers who return to reality going "Aah, that was fun!” There is no meaning to that, I think. From there on what kind of color does it leave on their world, I want to make it like a book that leaves something with you. I hope you will take this movie it an opportunity, to take interest in the various things the world has to offer…“

Source of info: start from http://sinnesspiel.dreamwidth.org/1141.html and use the arrows to direct through stuff.

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welttrichter · 3 years

Note

The scene near the end of the 2003 anime where Ed was killed.

Meme || Accepting!

oh boy, i remember writing this drabble when i was watching the last bit of 03 and i made a separate post on it in the drabbles tag but i figured i'd post it on this post too bc why not?. its also really how i would see ed and talking through his pov and stuff. theres heavy 03 spoiler-s just warning you now. Basically edward ending up on the other side of any fandom tbh. (main one being yugioh)

-----------

He just wanted to get a rise out of me, didn't he? He wanted to make sure that everything would upset me. Which it did, and I just wanted to clobber him and tell him to show his true self.

What was my purpose here? Why did I fail you, Al?

I'm sorry, Al.

I'm so very sorry.

I failed you as a brother.

"EDWARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD!"

A few minutes after dying, I felt a strange presence. Gazing at the gate, I thought I saw Al appear before, before he vanishes again.

'Al?'

Then I feel another soul appearing before me. Envy stood there as if he has no idea what just happened.

' What's going on? Where am I, Worm? ' Envy sneers.

' The gate.. ' I whisper to him, before Envy looks up to see the gate itself before before him.

' So, what's on the other side of it? ' He asked.

' Old man? You mean Hohenheim of Light?! '

' Yes. '

' You're telling me he's still alive?! '

I nod my head as Envy growls, walking towards the gate as I watch him do so.

'Like Hell there isn't! I'll tell it exactly where to take me! '

Once he opens the door, he grins happily as he calls out to the shadow tentacles.

' I'VE COME TO KILL HIM! TAKE ME TO HOHENHEIM OF LIGHT! '

Arms are spread out wide as he waits for them to take him to the place he so truly desires and I don't know what happens to him honestly as I watch him disappear through the gate, the doors closing.

' Al...? '

I call out as my eyes open and I see a figure and it turns out to be Rose. I feel tears running down my face, not knowing the reason in why I had done so.

' Ed, can you hear me? ' She asked looking down at me to make sure that I am okay.

'...Yeah.. ' I sniffle as I then begin to rub my eyes. ' Why am I crying though? ' I ask her sitting up from my spot.

' Al..? '

' He used alchemy to bring you back, Ed.. after you died.. ' She responds. I look at her before realizing what my brother had exactly done.

My eyes widen at the realization of what was happening, and I know what exactly my brother had done. He had sacrificed his life for mine.

' D-Don't tell me he's gone, Rose... ' I whispered. This can't be true, it just can't. HE CAN'T BE GONE FOREVER!

I stood up, looking around for him as I continued calling out his name.

No, I need to do something. I need to give something up again, and I know just what I want to do.

Looking at the ground sighing, I remember the last words I said to Rose before this happened.

' What about you? '

' I'll destroy this place, down to the last plank. So no one ever gets the idea to make a Philosopher's Stone this way again. '

I smile at her and give her the biggest grin I could muster. She was right, I couldn't give up, I'll try my hardest to bring back my brother's body and soul.

@thelovesofthegods

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