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for my fellow london ed fans out there

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ed is racist!

like that is a fact! that is the starting point baseline for edward elric and indeed all of the amestrian characters in either fma03 or fmab. i think accepting that fact is key to understanding how race and racism is portrayed differently between the two series.

in 03 ed learns that the things he's been told about ishbalans aren't true, and is called out specifically for assuming things like the ishbalans weren't as "culturally advanced" as amestrians because they didn't have a manufacturing society and lived in the desert. he sees that and recognizes that and acknowledges that he was afraid the first time he saw an ishbalan!

in fmab...well... ed winds up lecturing a member of the persecuted minority on how we should all just look past race and how he doesn't care that miles (or scar, or anyone) is ishvalan. it shouldn't have a bearing on how they get treated! and that attitude is really just a rehashing of the idea of being "colorblind" - and we all know how that ultimately does not serve to protect, lift up, or help communities of color in any way.

i think that a lot of people look at that scene with ed and take him seriously because they're coming from the understanding that ed is a Good and Righteous Main Character and his morals guide him, and his morals are correct. but they aren't!! neither version of ed can possibly be anti-racist because the foundation of his culture, country, and childhood was on the back of dispossession and genocide of ishvalans, justified through nationalism and imperalism.

ed is racist! you and i are also racist, actually, because the societies we grew up in ARE RACIST! the way that we respond and grow and learn and listen is what defines us. and in that way, hooooo boy does fma03 outclass fmab

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I have a question for an FMA blog, and you were the first that came to mind :) Do you have any idea if Ed and Al are, like, genetically Hoenheim’s children?? I mean, he body hopped. From what I understand, he transmuted his soul into another body��so does that mean Ed and Al are biologically the children of whoever the random guy was Hoenheim stole the body from, or…? This was one of my first questions when finishing the show a few months back and I’ve still never come across or found anyone discussing it.

okay i've had this ask sitting here for a while and i honestly have no idea how to answer it. i think you're right that it's possible they aren't "biologically" hoenheim's kids. we do get a glimpse of envy's "real" form which looks a lot like hoenheim, but in reality, we don't know if he's telling the truth. he says early on in the series that he forgot what he originally looked like, but that could've been him bluffing.

envy does physically see hoenheim in the body we primarily see him in (and promptly try to beat him up) before his fight with ed, so it's very possible he simply made up a human form similar enough to hoenheim that ed could immediately see the resemblance.

there is also the possibility that hoenheim stole a body that he was related to in some way, like a distant relative a few generations down the line, but that is honestly quite horrific lol. all we know is that he stays in his bodies much longer than dante, we really don't know how many times he's done it or how he is getting the bodies he chooses to hop into.

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Ya ever wanna club yourself in the head for deciding to draw a short comic that, although it hasn't ballooned in length, it instead ballooned in work? And it's stupid as hell (for a JOKE no less) and you're wondering why you're even doing this and oh god can it be done already son of a bitch I'll have to render thisfuckshitfuckwhydoesthislooklikecrapohgodwhy

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03 vs Brotherhood: The Two Alchemists (Liore Part 1)

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hello gamers I can't sleep here is a fic chapter

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speaking of full metal alcjemist. as im not puttinf all that shit* on my blog (*the original parts not @fullmetal-scar-simping's response. That part was good) here is my own perplexed reaction to thaf one anon about olivier Actually Having Really Nuanced Beliefs And Shes Not A Social Darwinist Because Something Something She Hates The Central Guys And Shows Her Subordinates Mercy On Rare Occasions.....

& The thing is, about that. is that none of the examples they gave actually contradict the observation that her entire worldview is based around strength as a birthright to authority. the way these things are presented to us By The Series, her moments of generosity and alignment with the main characters are obviously MEANT to endear her to the audience and signal her as somebody whos Harsh But Ultimately Fair. and if all youre doing is looking for "parts where the author wanted to tell you shes a good person deep down" then yes youre going to find those.

however: morality should ideally exist in our minds beyond authorial intent, and its exactly that "fairness" of oliviers that ultimately still amounts to a social darwinist, and, yeah kinda fascist, philosophy? she hates the generals for being cowards, not for any of the shit that they did. aka she thinks theyre weak. aka undeserving of respect and authority. she shows mercy to her guys by... not enforcing an arbitrary time limit on Operation Escape The Murder Hole, and i truly do not know how you could look at that and go ah yes, a meaningful rebuttal to the principles set forth by her stated code of ethics despite the fact the series wants you to be touched by it. wow shes not a complete dick to her own ingroup. fuck everybody else thoufh. you see its completely understandable because shes a hashtag woman in stem* and you have to consider all the evil foreign spies she has to worry about. shes just one little general doing her best and isnt that the most any of us could ask of her

*stem here stands for Systematic Torture, Evisceration & Murder

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! Jumping ahead here, but I hope your stylus gets (or has already been) repaired/replaced. Would love to see more of your art 👀

Oof, Miles and Marigold labouring under the unspoken belief that they don't yet deserve a life of happiness, that it needs to be earned, sums them up well. So Marigold was already on rocky terms with her family prior to meeting and eventually marrying Miles. Her choosing this person she loved was both a profound standing up for herself (and him as well), yet it would lead her to tragedy when Miles gets arrested and her health nosedives. Her family leaving her to die alone, and allowing formely-Petunia to rot in the orphanage system is so cruel.

Very sad for them. I almost wish their fantasy could have succeeded but of course the world isn't a racist and sexist meritocracy, where you beat the system by becoming a model citizen. It's just playing the game set-up by people who hate you, ruining lives in millions of overt and subtle ways.

Haha, I'm glad I could be of some help. 😁 And since you mentioned that Miles may potentially choose Briggs/the military over his daughter and the Ishvalan liberation front, then emphasizing his (perhaps desperate) gratitude towards Olivier and his dreams would slot in well with the fact that she maintains his delusions. Doesn't matter how much of his family is put into the ground (not his Ishvalan side, not his wife, not even his still-living daughter), he's doing 'real good' by working at the Drachman-Amestrian border! Keep the agony at bay by building those deluded walls higher!

Guh, the way you're characterizing and fleshing out McDougal is so good! He absolutely shouldn't be in any position to care for a young person. You're not sanitizing him or making his good intentions wholly translate into consistently kind, calm, and loving actions for The Girl. He's trying to fell a travesty of a regime, having done its bidding and ACTUALLY regretting it, while dodging the bounty on his and his fellow deserters' heads. I fully agree that his PTSD should be more evident than the tidy demeanour of the fan fave military characters. They live such clean lives, they're so blase about serving the institution that they traumatized themselves under (I refuse to give willing conscripts the benefit of the description of victimization). Meanwhile folks like McDougal are out there living underground lives within Amestris or otherwise outside of its borders, and actually attempting to demolish the regime without rewarding themselves for doing what desperately needs to be done.

Super appreciate that The Girl isn't being naive about soldiers and that blue coat, even if it's in part because of her complicated feelings around her father. And ough, the feedback loop between her and McDougal, his guilt and self-disgust, her disdain towards him keeping the damnable military uniform, him being such a wreck that he lashes out at this kid who doesn't deserve it whatsoever, hardening her in ways that don't actually aids or serves her, magnifying their separate pains. “[F]iltering every emotion through anger to hide her vulnerabilities,” goddddddd! Magnificent, it's exactly what would come out of relying on an ex-soldier for your survival amidst these horrendous circumstances.

As for him still holding onto his uniform, besides what you mentioned of the Doylist reasons (which I believe to ultimately be the case as well, given the break-neck pace of that first ep and the one-off nature of McDougal's existence), I often view it as a symbolic gesture on his part, at least when he's attacking Central. Here stands one of your soldiers gone rogue, whose skills that the state used to eliminate Ishvalan lives in service of a grander near-future extermination, now wielded against them. The tattered uniform as a declaration of retaliation and violent rebuke. I could also see it as symbolic of whatever grand idealism that perhaps McDougal once had (similar to idiots like Mustang) having been tarnished by a grim reality, and unlike the aforementioned idiot, instead of being unable to relinquish that idealism McDougal keeps it as a reminder of his hand in Amestris’ atrocities. Of course we could imagine numerous reasons for him wearing the damn thing, but those are the ones that come to my mind.

Omfg, the guilt being a factor in his going off alone...! ;___;

Oooh, Amiran. I rather like the placeholder name. The genderplay could be a fun bonus, but I get wanting to be more certain about which real world cultures you want to take inspo from. Hopefully a name and culture(s) align in time

Naming things can be the worst lol I don't envy being in the position of having to come up with so many too. 😅But I like the loose details of this factions actions and goals. The closer they get to the State itself, even if it’s just keeping their crimes against humanity in circulation, would certainly have them on the government’s radar. But what’s this about a tall butch lady You need to get that stylus up and working again, I’d love to see her made real!

I know that the manga is juggling numerous threads (and a rather bloated cast) but it’s odd that there seems to be nothing there to flesh out the Yao and Chang clans a little tiny bit. I do kind of appreciate that the other clans aren’t mentioned or seen in so far that it would be realistic that not every one of them would just congregate in Amestris, but c’mon now. Not even a flashback sequence or two for the main clans we do get to see?

Describing them as feeling insulated from their clans is spot-on. The narrative doesn’t do enough to underline the urgency Ling and Mei are operating on, in part because their people just feel like concepts. I wouldn’t suggest that Arakawa or Studio Bones should have created an entire side story that might otherwise derail the pacing and story of the main plot, but giving us SOMETHING more would have done a lot to bolster the Xingese characters. With Mei we just get a flashback to how she met Xiao Mei and why the panda is small. Which is. Cute. But like, ok? Where’s her clan tho

(Personally even if I got a smorgasbord of Yao clan backstory and characterization, I would still remain unmoved by the whole “A king is nothing without his yada yada” since, no, monarchies are not based on nor beholden to their vassals and commoners/peasants. So it’s just more nation-leading idealism that I personally don’t stomach. :P Still, more characterization please!)

As good-hearted a lad a Ling is, definitely contrasting the efforts of him and his bodyguards to save his own people against Mei, Daughter, Scar, and the rebels seems like solid narrative mirroring. Placing him as more as an antagonist (not a villain) puts him and his actions under a new light. I know it was delved into a bit with Manfred’s mangahood AU, but perhaps teasing out the more calculating and ruthless aspects of Ling’s personality would facilitate the tension that would feed into his storyline in your own AU. Definitely vibing with Ling’s blindspot towards Mei’s people only having her to rely on for their long term future, therefore allowing Lan Fan and Fu to be cutthroat against Mei.

Daughter learning alkahestry while in Xing with McDougal and tying that into how she meets Mei sounds good as hell imho. The journey to Xing could also be a rich opportunity for Daughter to ruminate on her Ishvalan heritage, perhaps seeing refugees, new settlements, or nomads on the way.

(That couldn’t have possibly been handled well by McDougal in this hypothetical tho. Perhaps any excitement that breaks through the hardened veneer would be awkwardly ignored, mumbled through, or snapped at. Or perhaps he would keep his distance if she got a chance to interact with anyone? Or they didn’t encounter anyone and I’m just rambling.)

LMAO @ Daughter’s constipated brain trying to help a struggling Mei by offering herself as locomotive punching bag. But Mei would definitely struggle to balance her training and frustrations against her crushing burden, so I really like the idea that this moment of vulnerability could serve as the point that these two meet and connect. All the details around that may need hammering out, but it works well as a central point for them!

Mei’s 12 no? Did I hallucinate that? I swear she (or somebody else?) says something like that in Broho at least. Because for awhile after Mei got introduced I assumed she was, like, 8 years old or something LOL And then at some point in the show somebody said she’s a tween. Anyway, 10-13 thereabouts if I fever-dreamt that detail.

THEIR DYNAMIC! Yes, it makes a lot of sense. Like an unspoken but deeply felt and mutual (and mutually known) support, empathy, and camaraderie built on their similarities. They need someone in their corner, closer to their respective age range, who has struggled and feels they must lift themselves and their people from poverty and suffering. “I’ll support you through anything” *Sobs* 🥺😭

Ah yes, the rebel group, Ishval (if/when liberated), all through Mei and Daughter vowing to help each other is a great way to stress the tensions, negotiations, and rejections between Ling and Mei. Nice teasing of the Greed theme there, with Ling’s diplomatic proposal for the Chang clan’s survival to simply become one of His Vassal (things). Without a philosopher’s stone in his hand however, Mei certainly wouldn’t settle so easily.

It shouldn’t fall on Daughter to have to lay out her lifetime of struggles and the racism/fascism she has been subjected to just to satiate Winry’s curiosity, but I can appreciate that Winry would wonder about such things. With a (mixed) Ishvalan teen around, this would more likely open Winry up to inquiring about the Ishvalan perspective on the war with the refugees (as you yourself said lol).

I’m fairly certain Winry was there after she and Al split from Ed. That’s when they all go back to decipher Scar’s brother’s research. So yeah, that allows the story time for Winry to ask some questions or inadvertently get into a conversation with some folks. Or Marcoh himself. I can also see the Mei route too, though I wonder if Winry would interpret that as Mei simply being overprotective of Daughter and Scar? Though maybe that frustration at what feels like an unfair bias towards her parents’ killer could be further motivation for her to seek answers with the refugees and/or Marcoh? Or Marcoh could chime into the convo as it’s happening? A lotta options here

“A theme of anger as a motivating impetus, a clarity instead of blindness, something that protects and defends you from mistreatment, it's something that stands up and says “no. I don't deserve this.”” Perfect theme, 10/10. Very much agree that Winry’s anger and pain shouldn’t be dismissed or discarded, but unlike the canon that shows her pain having to be kept in check by her kindness as a means of rising above those who don’t deserve it (barf) and breaking that stupid fucking “cycle of violence” crap, I feel like her getting more perspective on the horrific reality of Amestris’ actions and why any of this happened to begin with could steer her character towards a less reductive and more interesting route.

See, it’s funny that you bring up being unsure what to do with Al following the AU’s theme of anger. 03 Al is angry. Very angry. It bubbles under the surface and informs his diverging opinions and actions from Ed’s (unlike mangahood Al, who is mostly just Ed’s double or prim defender). He starts to see the necessity of violence, or at least why someone would take a violent path given the losses some people have suffered in part because of his codependence on Ed and how he would feel if he ever lost him (which tbf may not be effectual in a mangahood AU), as well as more directly interacting with Ishbalans and Scar. And all of that sympathy for those who are not seen as wholly human ties into his existential nightmare and inherently dysmorphic life as a soul tethered to an object. He’s dehumanized physically and in mentally/socially. So! All of that is to say, there’s a depth of anger that Al 100000% should have by the very nature of his constant dehumanization that mangahood neatly sweeps away (because Al could neeeeeeever be truly hurt by Ed, because he knows Ed loves him and love never hurts anyone and he forgives him because feeling even some doubt against Ed hurts ED which is BIGMEAN to Ed, Al needs to apologize- where was I?) Tapping into that, plus weaving in Al’s time in the Ishvalan camp could be useful for your story. I know he starts dipping out of consciousness around this point in the canon due to Ed nearly dying, but I think you can jiggle those details around to suit what you’re doing. His interactions with Daughter and Mei should be fruitful territory to make use of him + anger theme.

(03 Al>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>mangahood Al 4ever)

Scar IS anger as impetus! His actions can’t be divorced from his anger and pain, and unlike Arakawa’s perspective that this is wrathful and thus a sin (snooze), his anger being treated as clarity fits both his overall canon characterization pre-Briggs-induced-bootlicking and the focal points of this AU perfectly. He struggles with himself and what awaits him once his duty of killing his and his people's murderers ends one way or another in canon; but given he hasn't lost his ties to Ishval, in the vein of his involvement in a resistance group as well as guiding this young Ishvalan girl, he may be better able to help piece someone together in the throes of her own heartwrenching revelation. Or rather, show her how to channel that into a solidified way, that doesn't just combust against herself and everyone around her. That she doesn't have to be the bearer of those around her who cannot see or honour her and her pain. That she need not be people-less. Being up against her father and his allegiances, and what that did to her, her mom, and her people, must feel like so much cruelty from someone she already felt complicated about when she thought he was still incarcerated or dead. That feeling of having your world rocked to such a destabilizing magnitude would be all too familiar to him. Ugh, Daughterrrrrrr 😭😭😭

Man, my head is swimming with the possibility of Miles sticking with Amestris here instead of eventually tearing himself away (and parts of himself out) for his child! I want to root for the guy to get a clue and make the right choice, but it would certainly feel in-character for him to bury himself deeper into the fabric of a society he can't seem to stop feeling beholden towards. And how would that then impact her and the resistance if he essentially declares himself their enemy? Does Olivier and the Briggs faction still side with a coup led by Mustang and Grumman? Is the coup still going to happen? Does he report this to Olivier, and if so, what does she do with this info? Will Miles essentially end up at war with Daughter? (I'm sure these things and more are all being percolated and marinated on, I just wanna babble about the possibilities because DUDE!)

I have no doubt in my hater's heart that Olivier would see the Ishvalans, these once adept fighters (as per the manga, apparently), having their country and their people fully ransacked by the state's alchemists as evidence that they were indeed too weak and unworthy of their land and lifeways to continue on.

Ooooh, the rebel leader up against Grumman you say? 👀 Fully rooting for her and the resistance to decimate him and his men. Very curious what plots he (and Mustang?) concoct in regards to the Ishvalan Resistance.

Wish I had a suggestion for Mei's epithet after all this time, but I got nothing. 😶

Fair enough re: myself not being in the fandoms/a fan of the source for which your other fics are based on. But the fact that you've plunked away at such details in previous works is admirable and no doubt needed even in those other fandoms. Fans are not great about expanding the scope of their focus on the things they love, let alone tackling politics with any sort of skill or penache. (Looks at official published works like fma that fail in that way too lol)

I really can't wait to see more from this AU, but even just getting to read the details and some of the workshopping around how things will take shape has been a blast. Daughter seems like she'll be a wonderful character, and I'm a fan already.

Hi hi hi! Tis the OC anon, now off-anon! (That was fast ngl but whatever I'm here to have a good time on a quality blog) and yeah!

If you won't mind, here are some more tidbits about the AU:

Miles got arrested via the manga iirc where Ishvalan soldiers got rounded up and executed for “treason” but Miles got off scot-free supposedly because of his diluted lineage (which I have some doubts about, maybe he chose to swear allegiance to Amestris somehow and that's why he was spared, but I could very well be wrong and it really was just a matter of blood), he was held there for a while, during which time his wife collapsed and passed away while his daughter got shipped off to an orphanage bc Marigold's relatives did not want to raise an Ishvalan child.

By the time Miles gets out he's like “Where's my wife? Where's my daughter?” and while he gets a definitive answer regarding his wife (oof, feels guilty for being unable to be there for her), NOBODY KNOWS WHERE HIS DAUGHTER IS.

Our little daughter (nameless though I did give her a name) faces so much mistreatment in the orphanage that she decides to haul ass and try living on the streets instead and runs into Isaac McDougal.

In this AU, there would be a faction of former Amestrian soldiers who went “no fuck this shit I ain't gonna slaughter civilians what the hell” and defected from the military, which of course the government wasn't happy about so they got bounties on their heads.

Isaac is one of them.

Their cause might or might not expand to ally with other ethnic minority movements that the Amestrian majority has caused problems with.

Anyways, she gets picked up by Isaac (she must be, what, 11?) who is decidedly NOT suited for raising a child, much less a traumatized one. Also he was a bluecoat and she's an Ishvalan kid.

Some foils could be drawn between Miles and Isaac, I realize, both with ties to the army, one choosing to stay despite everything and the other leaving because he couldn't bear the injustice, both “father” to the girl, both probably less-than-stellar parents...

She becomes a brash, harsh, no-shits-taken, borderline reckless type of person.

Anyways he might or might not teach her water alchemy. Also via the anime I've seen some folk headcanon that Isaac can use alkahestry so maybe he went to Xing and took the girl with him too and they both know alkahestry?

They're both part of the coalition that wants to get rid of the current system of government.

Isaac abruptly discovers the whole nationwide alchemical circle thing and leaves on his own to go and put that to a stop, gets killed by Bradley a la canon, our girl who was not told what he discovered was like “????? I'm gonna go find out”

Which kicks off the plot, and... originally I just had it stick to canon for the most part (except the ending) just told from a different perspective but methinks I should really lean into the whole AU thing and go off the rails somehow

Anyways for fear of the ask getting too long here are some rapid-fire bullet points:

Mei becomes the Emperor in the AU. Sorry not sorry, I don't care about Ling all that much.

Miles' daughter offers to be a bodyguard for Mei and help her win the throne in exchange for her helping Ishval later. She agrees, and a badass duo is formed.

Our girl felt shame for being disconnected from her culture, she feels like she's not “Ishvalan enough”, even her name is Amestrian, so she discarded her name, just like Scar.

If she could allow herself to be vulnerable enough to say it aloud she'd tell Scar, “I wish you were my father instead” but homegirl is kinda constipated where her insecurities are concerned.

Complicated dynamic with Winry

Does NOT get along with Ed unless he gets his shit together and grows

Running into Miles in the North would be... a catastrophe

She thought her dad was dead all along but he's alive AND IN THE MILITARY?

I need to map out Miles' development if I'm not gonna stick w canon, he can't be Arakawa's mouthpiece who only appears once in a blue moon he gotta be a presence somehow

Marigold... haunts both Miles and their daughter. Miles' guilt, the daughter's anger and hurt and not understanding why her parents won't say anything beyond “be a model citizen and prove them wrong”— and of course, grief at losing Marigold, losing both her parents, even if they weren't perfect by any means.

I don't know if it's feasible for Miles to recognize his daughter whom he has not seen in years but the girl would absolutely recognize Miles. Yeesh.

Anyways Miles will have much to think about. And will eventually get his shit together but not right away. He's quite shaken after seeing his daughter again for the first time, though. Probably happens when the north crew had Scar trapped and Mei + the girl come to his rescue. To add to the absolute fucking MESS.

Scar and the girl would eventually take on new names as part of their healing or whatever, as their old name selves kinda “died” long ago? [Scar] died when his brother died, [the girl] died when she fell through the cracks of the system and never came back up.

Also Kimblee deserves no dignity he should've been killed by Scar.

Mustang does NOT get to use the fucking Philosopher's Stone to heal his eyes, if he even comes to need it— he might not even get yeeted into the Gate in the AU, someone else might have to take up the burden or things never come to that point, the Ishvalans are given back their dead and Marcoh gives either Scar or the girl or both the way to destroy a Stone. So they do. As part of a funerary rite for those who got turned into a Stone. It doesn't erase what was done to their people, but... it's closure, at least.

On the topic of that, the other day I went to check the Ishval tag after sending my previous ask to you, and. Uh. Uhhhhhhhhhh.

There was a post going “wouldn't it be so cool for Mustang to have red Ishvalan eyes since he used a Stone made of Ishvalans to heal his eyes?” and I had such a visceral reaction to it that I immediately exited the tag.

Yeahhhhhhhhhh

Regret™

Oh and there's also a couple underdeveloped Ishvalan OCs I have one of whom wants to be a doctor and may or may not become the girl's love interest? He's a soft boy.

This AU didn't really get all that much developed compared to my other AUs so I'm still up in the air on how the cast would react to my OC(s)— Olivier could be like “whomst the fuck is this upstart tyke and also that's a threat” and that could potentially drive some conflict between her and Miles, Miles is, understandably, distraught over everything, Ed... probably wouldn't like her tbh, no idea on how the Mustang gang or the homunculi would react to her, it's just a whole bag of ?????

Omg @heartisrote you wanna draw my baby? 🥹

Here are some older drawings I did back before I had the means to do digital art (when the earlier versions of the girl had a younger brother, unfortunately he got scrapped, he may get inserted again in another shape, question mark?) and after that, before my stylus fucking broke 🥲 (that's her potential love interest next to her)

Anyways, apologies for rambling so much in your inbox!

Hey Egg! Hope hopping off anon wasn't too intimidating. Maybe the cool Miles/Scar anon will get in contact with you in the near future.

Also, hell yeah, OC AU breakdown! Loved all the details you provided; I'm really digging the outline of the story so far.

Ah, so Miles' arrest is a manga detail that was eschewed for Brotherhood. Sigh, I really do have to read it don't I? But good to know, since it makes sense given the actions of the Amestrian government. They disbarred Amestrian Ishvalans from the service, so I thought it odd that Miles was spared. Initially I thought perhaps Olivier had thrown her pedigree behind keeping him in her squadron (which could still be true) or that his placement at Briggs provided plus his mixed blood gave him some leeway. But now I wonder if Briggs and Olivier only enter his military career and life post-arrest. 🤔

Excuse my ignorance, but is Miles canonically married? Doesn't matter either way, this is a cool AU, but I realize that my recollection of Brotherhood is perhaps spotty in that regard, or maybe the show also elided that info. Anyway, rip Marigold

So the poor daughter was utterly rejected by the Amestrian side of her family and gets sent to an orphanage. Man. It's realistic tho, since many families under a racial-class system deny, hide, or disown members of the "wrong" racial/ethnic makeup. Miles must have been distraught by both losses.

Good for her for running away from her abusers. Love that McDougall and his merry band of insurrectionists take her in! He may not be parent of the year (especially given the parallels between him and Miles in this AU), but it had to have been better than being at the mercy of a racist, indifferent orphanage. His death must have been like losing yet another parent.

With how much has shifted in the AU's plot, divergences are all the more likely to occur/become necessary. Especially once you get into the nitty-gritty of it all.

Lmao oh shit, Ling doesn't get the thrown. Ripppp, all hail Mei! Daughter becoming allies/friends with Mei on the agreement that, should Mei ascend to emperor, she and Xing aid Ishval is smart political maneuvering on Daughter's part. (If there's some other way I should refer to your oc, lemme know). With the alchemy/alkehestry thag Isaac taught her, Mei can further sharpen Daughter's alchemic skills.

And of course the two of them becoming an inseparable duo puts them in-line with meeting Scar. 🎉 Man's gotta properly father two tween girls while hunting down fascist pigs (thankfully they're both capable and willing to throw down). No surprise she's emotionally constipated, but hey, Scar's just as blocked up. But I gotta say: awwwwww 🥺

Oof yeah, her dynamic with Winry would be messy. And Ed, maaaaaan. Maybe in this AU he can actually shape up to be a better person (but unlike what Miles believes, that's not Daughter's nor Scar's responsibility)

Omg, that meeting between Daughter and Miles will be ROUGH. And during that scene in the Briggs mining town?? Nobody is prepared for the earthquake to follow

Yessss, the pair of them having to reconnect with who they will become, who they want to be, questioning who are they without the lives they once lived, with so much pain to come. Having someone else in similar straits would be an interesting dynamic

Amen. Kimblee got off easy in mangahood, when he shoulda had his spine ripped out by Scar (glad he gets murked by Scar in 03). Glad he gets his in this AU

Seems like Mustang's fate has been solidified quite yet, but I can appreciate that the Ishvalan philosopher's stone will not be misappropriated for him and his posse. It returns to its rightful people to receive final rights.

Ok, that post in the Ishval tag that you encountered. What the actual fuck. Wtf wtf wtfffffffffffffff

This fucking fandom, man

Anyway!

Fine tuning the interactions between your OCs and the canon cast will be quite the task, given the length of mangahood's story. There's no way Olivier (probably the entire Briggs unit) won't seriously complicate things with Daughter and Miles, but it's promising that Miles is slated to get his shit together eventually.

And the character designs! I really dig Daughter's design, she looks so good! The way you draw her hair is 🤌 Rip to the scrapped brother, but I can see how his passing as Amestrian would have thrown a wrinkle into her life and her insecurities. The love interest is adorable af. He's the one who's going to become a doctor, yeah?

Time to get some artwork of your oc done. Godspeed, heartisrote!

Thanks so much for sharing your OCs and AU! No apologies necessary for the length of the ask, I enjoyed reading it. 😄 If it gets posted anywhere, lemme know.

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Social darwinism is when the character is referred to as an Ice Queen in canon, but y'see we then learn that she doesn't emblemize the concept of the selection of strong individuals rising above the "drek" of society to rule and guide civilization to it's most "natural" rightful order because! [drum roll] She has feelings actually~.

Checkmate, you misogynist heretics against Arakawa and the holy book of FullMetal Alchemist

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

speaking of full metal alcjemist. as im not puttinf all that shit* on my blog (*the original parts not @fullmetal-scar-simping's response. That part was good) here is my own perplexed reaction to thaf one anon about olivier Actually Having Really Nuanced Beliefs And Shes Not A Social Darwinist Because Something Something She Hates The Central Guys And Shows Her Subordinates Mercy On Rare Occasions.....

& The thing is, about that. is that none of the examples they gave actually contradict the observation that her entire worldview is based around strength as a birthright to authority. the way these things are presented to us By The Series, her moments of generosity and alignment with the main characters are obviously MEANT to endear her to the audience and signal her as somebody whos Harsh But Ultimately Fair. and if all youre doing is looking for "parts where the author wanted to tell you shes a good person deep down" then yes youre going to find those.

however: morality should ideally exist in our minds beyond authorial intent, and its exactly that "fairness" of oliviers that ultimately still amounts to a social darwinist, and, yeah kinda fascist, philosophy? she hates the generals for being cowards, not for any of the shit that they did. aka she thinks theyre weak. aka undeserving of respect and authority. she shows mercy to her guys by... not enforcing an arbitrary time limit on Operation Escape The Murder Hole, and i truly do not know how you could look at that and go ah yes, a meaningful rebuttal to the principles set forth by her stated code of ethics despite the fact the series wants you to be touched by it. wow shes not a complete dick to her own ingroup. fuck everybody else thoufh. you see its completely understandable because shes a hashtag woman in stem* and you have to consider all the evil foreign spies she has to worry about. shes just one little general doing her best and isnt that the most any of us could ask of her

*stem here stands for Systematic Torture, Evisceration & Murder

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Been hitting the wasp's nest long enough, so an ask to another blog vague'ing my ass was bound to happen

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

"Skin deep view of her because she's a woman" she's furious at her brother for failing to follow the orders of fascists and not further annihilating more Ishvalans. Culminating in Armstrong's character arc being his apology to Olivier for failing his duty as a soldier. The reason Olivier is a social darwinist (and thus a "hypocrite" indeed when she herself gets to decide she should receive help AND reject the orders of her own superiors) is in part her staunch allegiance to the military and its rule over non-military classes (civilians, the occupied lands Amestris rules over).

She's a fucking cop. That plays an immense part in solidifying her beliefs and the purpose she serves in the story. A wealthy leader of a squadron from a long line of noble military blood is unsurprisingly of the belief in survival of "worthy" and "fit" peoples. Killing off those she deems ill-fitting to her ideals isn't a contradiction, no matter how hard some of you want that to be the case. Hilariously that seems to elide fans' attention when they encounter even one drop of critique against her or other fandom faves (don't worry, Mustang and all the dude pigs get just as dragged through the mud for their own imbecilic nonsense). Skin deep.

"If you're paying close attention she's never shown as unfeeling" and that has anything to do with what? Does anyone here even know what social darwinism or anti-military/anti-cop critique is, or...?

And the fact that this entire post reduces the critiques against her, or analysis that is less than glowing about her character down to misogyny is peak comedy. Yeah, no one is dragging any other fma cop, just Olivier. Absolutely 100%, it's just misogyny because that's convenient. And the classic "critics are too stupid to understand Arakawa's 8 dimensional chess plot and writing for teens." It's like clockwork.

Small rant: I think Olivier is a character that needs to be appreciated better for the things she says and stands for. At first she seems to promote the idea of rugged individualism, but then Raven and Kimblee in the scene provide better nuance for her beliefs. We later find she doesn't actually idealize "darwinism" when she shows mercy and when she tells the generals how much of a coward they are doling out pain and suffering like it's "some noble gift". She accepts the world is tough and wants others be tough, but she doesn't idolize it like some cruel social darwinist asshole. Later on we see her start to show empathy and vulnerability when she is beaten pretty bad and has to rely on others for help and tells Izumi about how she was touched by the way Ed refused her orders. Also that speech about how the Central soldiers can either follow orders, kill her her and then die, or don't follow orders and defend humanity is *chef's kiss*, and feels very relevant.

We love this! 👏🏻

We also think Olivier is great because she really demonstrates the difficulties of a woman in power trying to navigate a male dominated space. Of course, there are other military women (Riza, Maria Ross, Rebecca Catalina etc.) but Olivier is a Major General and that’s different territory.

The kind of skin deep view we’ve seen a lot of people read about Olivier is actually what we think Arakawa wants us to see initially, which is typically how society treats and views women in power: that they must be stoic, brutal and unfeeling to succeed (i.e., they must sacrifice their femininity). Certainly, Olivier utilises and almost weaponises this view of her very deliberately to solidify her rank and power but she does this with the intention of protecting her people. It’s also one of the ways she’s able to pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes during the Promised Day.

In our opinion, if you’re paying enough attention, she’s never really shown as unfeeling. She is shown to be vulnerable and have a strong sense of righteousness. She cares for her patch and her people. She’s a matriarch protecting her pack and we love her for it! She just doesn’t have much time for people that aren’t her people for the most part which, like, mad respect tbh 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏼‍♀️

- Mod Mustang & Mod Hawkeye 🔥🦅

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

I've been watching FMA 03 videos recently because October I guess, and one thing I think a lot about is the Gate and how the way it was presented in 03 disturbs me to this day. It doesn't have a voice, it doesn't talk or give the audience any exposition, we just see Ed talking and responding to it in complete silence. Ed is desperately banging on the doors, asking to show him the knowledge one more time, then he pauses like the Gate tells him something and asks, "Payment for entrance?", and in the very next scene he's screaming and bleeding out. The silence of the Gate is really indifferent and oppressive and its nature is incomprehensible, which really adds to the horror of the situation, and you don't need to be told that it's "God" or "The Truth" after seeing what just happened.

The Truth meanwhile is some funky little exposition dude and it's not even a horrifying scene, it talks to Ed and its bizarre behaviour played for laughs to juxtapose the same limb tearing scene I guess. The "God" having a form of whoever enters the Gate and talking to them directly really doesn't do anything to show its nature, it explains itself to the audience and has too much of a defined personality instead of a presence. I'm not sure what tone this sequence was supposed to have in the manga, but in Brotherhood with its over-exaggerated presentation of the entire sequence the Truth is kinda jarring.