#Hero of Ishval?''

[dailypearldoodles]

Day 534

Yup it's more fma au aha

Decided to go ahead with the idea that Pearl was given a Philosopher's Stone during Ishval, thus also gaining the title The Red Pearl Alchemist for a short time. The stone is returned after the war ends, but later she finds it again in the Fifth Laboratory with Gem

[sassydefendorflower]

As much as I want Roy and Riza to spearhead the restoration of Ishval post-canon, I want Roy to be barred from going to Ishval to do the work himself even more.

Hear me out.

There is something incredibly selfish about Roy wanting to be the one to return the Holy Land to the Ishvalen people. It makes sense for him to strive for that goal - he feels personally responsible for the destruction of Ishval, he sees its restoration as part of his path towards becoming the Führer of Amestris, he considers it to be the rightful way to ease some of the guilt weighing him down.

It is also the easy way out.

Because if you think about it, Roy being the one to do all that, is not a narrative that centers the Ishvalen people. And I think they deserve to be the driving force behind their own salvation.

There is a reason General Armstrong doesn't try to take on the Ishvalen restoration at the end of the show - and it is not just that she has no personal investment in the matter. No, if anything, she entrusts it to Major Miles. She entrusts the future of the Ishvalen people with a man who shares their past.

(her blind trust into the military state be damned)

And who does Miles choose to help him rebuild what was once lost? Scar. He chooses the feared serial killer. The Savior of Amestris. The Scarred Monk. The One Who Killed A King. The Hand of God Striking Down a Monster.

He chooses someone who suffered through the Ishvalen genocide, who was raised not only in the culture, but was an active practitioner of the most common religion of the region.

These are the people who rebuild Ishval for the future.

I think Roy would only ever do it to escape the past.

And if we're being honest, I don't think anyone in Ishval would greet him with open arms. These people might hold a great ability to forgive within their hearts, but I think many of them would consider it an insult to let the man who burned down their cities back into Ishval to become their savior.

To become the public face of the restoration of their Holy Land.

And being denied the ability to spearhead this campaign, it would hit Roy hard. Because in a way, hard labor and the arid desert air, would have felt like a just punishment. Being hollered at by the survivors of the genocide he participated in would have felt good. Getting blisters and sunburns and swallow down his own spit... pain was always a sign of hard work. Of doing the right thing.

But forcing him to stay in Central? To pull the ropes behind the scenes? To be denied this public repentance? To be kept from the most straight-forward way of repaying his sins?

The restoration of Ishval was never the end-goal, and it is just one part of a long list of things both Roy and Riza want to fix before facing a trial, but I think Roy hoped he could pay for that in blood. Cut-up knees and burned hands, dry throats and countless hours spent digging up wells.

But facing up to what he's done isn't that easy - and the people of Ishval deserve to live a life free from Roy Mustang and his damned flames.

[mikeys-bike-slut]

This man had a chokehold on me for a good 16 years...

[flameleadsarc]

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐀𝐬 𝐀 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧?

you killed the hero, and you regret it

the sun was in your eyes. you lost sight of where you were going. you never expected to get this far, let alone succeed. this was supposed to change things for you, but now you've got this ache in your throat that makes you think that maybe you were wrong. you're still sitting here three hours later with the body of your hero in your arms, and all you can think is /what have i done/.

[kattythingz]

I feel like people don't linger enough on the fact that Mustang is literally dubbed "the hero of Ishval". As in, Mustang's flame alchemy actively sped up and worsened the genocide process. Now, would Bradley still have continued the genocide even without Mustang? Yes, obviously. But it would've been much slower. Certainly slow enough for more Ishvalans to even have a chance at fleeing. Mustang didn't NEED to participate. Nobody was forcing his hand but himself.

But he was still out here decimating hundreds with a snap of his fingers. Because ooooh woe is him, he can't just resign, he has to become Fuhrer one day!

Fuck that. Fuck that shit so much. Mustang DESERVES to feel like the scum of the Earth for his stupid fucking title.

[qs63]

Basque Grand might be the character who changes the most between FMA 03 and FMA manga. He appears so little on BH that I keep forgetting he's not supposed to be the unhinged villain we see in 03.

For context, in FMA 03 Grand is one of the masterminds of the Ishvalan War, he thinks little of people's lives (Amestrian or Ishvalan), he's the one that orders Roy to kill Winry's parents, and he's very critical of Marcoh leaving the military and tries to hunt him down.

Meanwhile, manga Grand is doing his best to protect lives, charging to the front to protect his subordinates, being pissed at the way they're using them as cannon fodder, and even trying to stop the war without further bloodshed. He takes a big personal risk by committing mutiny and killing his superior officer, all so that he can arrange for Supreme cleric Lowe to meet Bradley for peace negotiations.

Too bad Bradley stomped all over Lowe's and Grand's efforts.

Furthermore, he — not Mustang, not Armstrong — is the one to approach Ed after he gets his State Alchemist certificate and asks him: Did you know many State Alchemists quit after Ishval due to anguish? Which is short from him telling Ed to run because the title isn't worth the trauma.

He was obviously not happy with the Bradley administration, and seems to have fundamentally disagreed with the decisions taken during the war (enough to kill a superior officer to circumvent his orders). It's a shame we didn't see any of these scenes in BH.

His death at the hands of Scar was probably more detrimental than anything in the long run. It's extremely likely he would've sided with the "heroes" against the homunculi, considering his past decisions. They could have all benefitted from his abilities and experience during the Promised Day.

[memesmadefullmetal]

🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROY!!! 🎉

To celebrate, we’re asking you 🫵🏻 to choose your favourite nickname for our resident fire starter! 🔥

Vote for your favourite from the series, and let us know if we missed any notable ones! Or create your own in the tags and notes! 😉

(For example, Mod Hawkeye likes to call him soggy poncho man every so often, but dumbass works too 😌)

- Mod Mustang & Mod Hawkeye 🔥🦅

[chrysopoeias]

opinion posting about riza hawkeye/otp on something i see a lot around town but i disagree with.

Anyway. One thing I see more often than not is the idea that Hawkeye joined the military in order to chase after Mustang because she wanted to protect him. Or that she chased him while in love. But that is actually not true. I know ‘Because I have someone to protect’ is meemed into everyone’s head, but that was not her reason for joining the army. And it does not make sense either.

Like in a strategy guide to get Riza laid any% speedrun, what option is most logical?

1) Go completely no-contact with Mustang. Attend possibly multiple years of the military academy, likely in a different region from where he is. Get into a speciality that is wildly different from him. Git gud at that and then hope that maybe, if all the stars align her future boss will one day for some random reason put her in the proximity of this magic scientist she has not spoken to in years. And then ??? profit?

2) Literally just call Roy on his phone number, perhaps sent him a nice letter, or visit his address.

Sure, the first thing is what actually happened. But it's way too uncertain for that to have been planned. She did not need to be a soldier to be close to him. Roy was not a stranger to Riza, she had his current up to date contact info. He gave it to her on page/screen after her dad died. 

When she first sees Mustang in Ishval Hawkeye looks angered and shocked to see him. The first thing she says to him is ‘Do you remember me?’. These two had no contact at all between 1905 and 1908. Mustang got flame alchemy and skedaddled out of her life (even though he was supposed to look after her lmao) and Hawkeye also had clearly no intention of seeking him out when she could have done so easily. She did not join the army to protect him. And also, she says why she joined:

She wanted to improve the lives of the people of Amestris. So am I saying it had nothing to do with Mustang? Well no. Her reasons for joining the military are the same as his. 

She looked up to him. Here is this young man who has been to places beyond her sad little town and graduated from the military academy, he is a genius alchemist and must know what he’s talking about, right? That is on top of whatever their relationship was like before then, and whatever adoration she had for him already. She trusted him and thought his dreams were wonderful. Riza also wanted to believe in a peaceful future. Remember that they live in a totalitarian military dictatorship that has been in continued armed conflicts since the middle ages. There has never been a time of peace, ever, since the country was founded. And from the normie Amestrian point of view, they are just defending themselves from outside attacks. I believe that if Hawkeye and Mustang were sent to a border conflict instead of the civil war, they would have never questioned their government.

Anyway, Riza saw an opportunity to be useful with her own two hands, beyond being a walking notebook. Even if she could die in the process, it’d be worth to try. (And the military would also give her a salary after growing up in poverty and a place to live that is not the house she was abused in). She was a teenager with no family, no guidance, no idea what to make of herself. But this was something she could do. (She could have chosen many non-violent paths instead too, to be fair, but I digress).

And then it all went to shit obviously. You cannot become a sniper and never expect to kill. Selling your agency to the state means you can’t just play hero when you want to, you will be sent where ordered whether you like it or not, and forced to commit horrors or die a traitor. Believing the naive ideals of protecting her country was a mistake. Blindly admiring and trusting Mustang was a mistake. Smarter people than me can go expand on that.

But the ‘because there is someone I have to protect’ reason Hawkeye gives for being in the military is actually the reason why she stays. She could have gotten her diploma after Ishval and leave the military behind. But she chose not to.

She stays and will continue to kill because flame alchemy is her responsibility and she has created Mustang, all his kills are mentally hers. If she quits or kills herself while he does not, flame alchemy is still loose in the world outside her control. And just like Roy, she never fully gives up on her dream about protecting everyone. There must be a way to make all this worth it. There is still a way to change the country so future generations won’t have to go through what she did. She’s already doomed so she will take that responsibility so others won’t have to. She violently and fully clings to that.

If Mustang dies before doing anything positive for the world with their dreams and his abilities, all Hawkeye has done with her short life is cause destruction, murder and create a murderer, all the suffering would have been a waste. She cannot life with that guilt or continue the path alone, she will give up and kill herself. Especially in the scenario where she kills Roy herself, and with that her only hope.

There is no way out for them. But their murder-suicide pact was not planned for since they were young. They never intended to see each other again and spend their lives like this. You can blame dad for setting them up for failure.

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Hey I thought your post in response to that ask articulated really well why I don't like mangahood's approach with the ishvalans. And your line about how the bulky, towering scar is contrasted against the cowering form of winry made me think, and I went back and checked and yes, even though the manga does do more to show the ishvalans during the genocide, it's still showing only men. Men dying, young and old. There are no women or children there. We do see the children who have been treated by the rockbells and those are boys too. It really shows how dehumanised Poc men are. Because if arakawa actually showed mustang burning little toddlers or wailing mothers or trembling teenage girls that look like winry it might make us actually think that *gasp* he is a monster in a way him killing ishvalan men who are actively fighting back does not. Also one of the reasons why 03 Rose's stated SA makes the 03 version "darker" for many people than the on page deaths of ishvalan men other then SA being much more horrifying for people than violence like that.

You really hit the nail on the head regarding mangahood's choice of showing rebellion only from the perspective of Ishvalan men, and the mass slaughter of only Ishvalan men. Barring the Ishvalan child who Envy kills to throw a match into the amply-built tinder that was Amestrian occupation of Ishval (and once again, note who does the "unthinkable evil" against a "real innocent": Envy, not our lovable human war criminals), Ishvalan women and children evaporate from the scenes and topic of genocide.

The audience can logically infer that women and children have been murdered in the ethnic cleansing of Ishval, but by hiding this infuriating imagery we spare the creators and audience the additional horror that people are primed to feel when it isn't men being mowed down. This is what I mentioned regarding in-built biases of the audience being catered to by the narrative, as well as baked into the narrative.

There is a cisheteronormative and patriarchal bent to fma that people, even supposedly feminist fans, struggle to identify and contend with. Particular to mangahood especially, as fans continually pedestal this continuity as being "filled with strong, powerful, fleshed-out girls and women". It's not that this statement isn't true to some extent, but (without my rambling for 6 trillion paragraphs solely on a tangent) there are major holes where women/girls are treated with normative sex/gender constraints or wholly erased. Ishvalans are a massive blindspot here. Ishvalan women and girls barely exist in mangahood. The only figure we really see in Brotherhood, who even has any lines whatsoever, is the elderly woman who is sure to regale Ed about how monstrous Scar had been to the kindly Amestrian doctors.

So this leaves the men who, again, there are barely any that can be considered capital-c Characters (Scar and Miles. That's it.) But, they make excellent fodder for our heroes to butcher and feel sad about, and for our noble national coup to also butcher, but no one even acknowledges that loss of life. el-oh-el. And when we're not seeing them as vicious rebels who dare point their weapons at Amestris, Ishvalan men can stand in the background making this face 😟 at Scar's actions. If, ala the manga, we meet any who suffered from the genocide and hold animosity towards Amestris/ians, we can both feel some sadness for their situation while also feeling alienated from those who would hate our beloved protags.

I love trotting this out, but the fact that everyone can easily despise Shou Tucker for what he did to Nina and his family, but they cannot fucking connect the fact that Mustang, Riza, Hughes, Armstrong, Marcoh, and every single other participant in the genocide murdered children, families, girls and women by the hundreds of thousands means anything these fans have to say about fma as a story about genocide and imperialism is grotesquely lopsided at best, outrageously racist at worst. Tucker has actually enacted fewer atrocities against children alone than the staggering numbers Mustang et al committed. But Tucker killed his little white daughter. Mustang et al murdered invisibilized brown children. Don't mention the elephant in the room.

And to swing back to the point about the magnitude of dehumanization men of colour, and thus men characters of colour, face: yeah, the scores upon scores of murdered Ishvalan boys and men hardly registers as anything more than mildly off-putting to most fans. A sad factoid of the show's and manga's canon, nothing more.

(Or. Y'know. Excellent whump material for your fave military ships and light-skinned characters to grow. Haha. Ha. Haaaa. 😐 Don't worry, this isn't just the fans either. Arakawa, ma'am. Wut.)

Fma 03, in contrast with mangahood, really didn't fuck around with this topic. Again, not enough major named Ishbalans and Ishbalan women, but women and children ARE shown being decimated by the Amestrian forces. We actively talk about the horrors they too suffered. We don't sugarcoat that Mustang et al are war criminals first and foremost. We don't pretend like Winry is the greatest victim of the squashing of the Eastern Rebellion. And the truth is, 03 paying direct attention to Liore (and the choice to depict Liore as a predominantly brown ethnic group) is another way to show that this is systemic. That it doesn't matter who is in the Amestrian military: they will follow orders to invade, murder, and rape their targets. Ishbalan and Lioran men, women, and children are not spared. And this isn't revealed so you can weep for fascists, it's so you can see the fascism inherent to nationalism and the military.

People run from 03 because it's "too sad," "too dark," "makes the lives of its characters hell," but they love genocide when it's feel-good, (imperial) family-oriented, and ship-fodder! When it says "All Lives Matter," not when it says "Your life is built on the mountains of corpses your nation piles high for its own gain. And you are no less culpable even if you didn't pull the trigger yourself."

"Rose gets raped in 03, and because we think rape is an untouchable topic, we're going to slander the team behind this anime as racist misogynists," people who say this shit couldn't analyze media or politics in any meaningful way if their lives depended on it. Yet this is a common enough refrain, even amongst some 03 fans. Depiction is not inherently endorsement, and far too many people are exceptionally terrified of the reality that rape, sexual assault, sexual slavery, and trafficking are war crimes. Any war, any invading soldier, will have been party to or directly committed rape. They are routine to the point of mundane actions that imperial armies utilize.

Rose, as well as 03's narrative and characters, never demean, mock, sexualize, or reduce her down to the atrocity Amestrian soldiers (and likely Hakuro) did to her. But mangahood and some 03 fans? Boy, they sure as fuck do exactly that! Great job, assholes! Is this feminism? The denial of systemic misogyny as it aligns with imperialism? Not girlboss shonen action wholesome #inspirational enough for you to look directly at and address, instead of bluster and hide away from?

Cough. I'm getting off-track here.

Rape is not a uniquely worse form of violence than murder, let alone mass slaughter. Genocide and ethnic cleansing includes rape. Though girls and women suffer rape from the soldiers of imperial forces at a higher rate than boys and men generally do, they too can be and are raped as well. But, once again, we can't and shouldn't think about that. We can't think about and shouldn't witness that in our silly fun media. We can't discuss this in fan spaces. We can't consider rape on par with tearing brown men's bodies apart in an explosion. We can't see girls and women as brutalized victims of our protag war criminals, period. All of this, murder and rape, violates autonomy, the body, the people, but one form of violation is deemed 'worse' than the other and so that makes 03 "too dark and edgy with nothing to say" while mangahood is "so deep, so anti-imperialist, so anti-military."

All while fans and the narrative forget (willfully and otherwise) that Ishvalan men are being mass violated by the thousands.

Scar killing their violators, his violators; the rapists and murderers of Ishvalans, is villainy. So says mangahood, so says Arakawa, so says the Broho team, so says the fans.

Good thing Scar gets ~~~~~reformed~~~~~

--

Thanks for the ask! I'm glad I was able to articulate some mutual feelings on the mishandling of genocide, Ishvalans, Scar, and the Rockbells. And I appreciate that you double-checked the manga to see how it stands up in comparison to its 09 anime adaptation!

We cannot One is All, All is One our way out of white supremacy, imperialism, nationalism, and racism/colourism. No matter how desperately people close themselves off from acknowledging the truth.

[flameleads]

@hughesxmaes asked for a dance:

Hughes was walking over toward Roy, having just came back from the bathroom, as he moved to where Roy had been sitting on the couch doing paperwork that he was playing catch up on. They were both wearing their pajamas they usually sleep in at this point of the night. With a sly grin on Hughes face as he gazed upon his best friend, the room was filled with soft jazz music that had been playing in the background. There was a glass of whiskey on the table followed by some water and a little extra coffee for Roy as Hughes saw the other focused on his paperwork. Hughes wasn’t drunk or anything, he’s been taking his time with his drink so that he still had a clear mind and could move around because he had an idea and he wondered if Roy would go along with it. He knew the Promised Day was fast approaching so Roy had been focusing on figuring out his plan and catching up with loaded stacks of paperwork. The lighting was soft and it hit Roys face just right as he looked at him through his glasses. He began to watch the others focused eyes even though the place was a mess in front of him. He always wondered how the man could even focus on doing work with the amount of mess going around in him. Maes always saw Roy for the mess that he was though and that’s never changed. It was one of things he loved about Roy. This man kept him moving, kept him entertained, loved bickering at him at times, but it was all in good fun. He never found his time with to be unpleasant. Sure there were moments where their time in Ishval had been upleasant, but they had each other in the end to keep each other safe. To look after the other, and he knew Roy always was there for him. That was one of the reasons why Hughes fought to stay alive, to make sure they both made it out alive together. Roy saved him from losing himself completely, after everything Hughes had gone through after almost dying and then losing his family. Roy had been there to help pick up those pieces of his shattered heart. He kept him sane, kept him from doing something stupid, because he wouldn’t have known what to do had he not been able to see Roy again. It made him realize how deep his feelings were for this man alone. He loves him, every part of him, the messed up broken parts of him too. He wanted to be by his side for as long as he would let him, even if they were just best friends. His feelings continued to grow the passing months and it actually scared him a little, because honestly he’s never thought he love a man so much, he never thought he would even be at this point to even think about these deeper feelings he held for the man known as Roy Mustang. The Flame Alchemist, people who called him a Hero for something he didn’t want to be named or called. This man who meant so much to him and that he noticed every little thing he did and would admire him in secret. He held these feelings tight where nobody not even himself could realize till after it was too late when he got married and he try to squash those feelings down for the sake of his family. Now that he has lost that family, with Gracia finding a new partner to help move on with, he now had more time to really sit on these feelings he had kept pushing down. That’s when he finally focused on Roy, finally focusing on these feelings that he was so scared of having. Focusing on Roy, Maes thought it would be the perfect moment to do this because he enjoys catching this man by surprise and seeing what reaction he would make from such things he normally would never ask him. Finally reaching the couch where a busy Colonel had a pen in his mouth, deep in thought Hughes stands there a moment before speaking. “Hey, Roy.” He starts a soft smile upon said features as he bowed his body down, offering his hand out to him the soft jazz music was still playing softly in the background fitting the mood perfectly, “May I have this dance?”

He hadn't meant for the paperwork to explode all over his apartment. After he got home and changed into his pajamas, Roy's original plan was to keep his work contained to the coffee table in his living room. But, he needed almost that entire table just to see the layout of the Armstrong mansion, never mind go over the logistics of how the Northern troops planned to use it. More details needed to be planned out afterward, which included where those troops would be on the Promised Day, the signals he and his team needed to give them, how much communication they would have--and that was one portion of the plans.

That ignored his daily paperwork as well, which sat on his dining table. As usual, he didn't mean to get this behind. With a team, this workload had been much easier. Now? There was a reason for the almost empty glass of whiskey sitting on his side table, partially buried by budget proposals. It helped with the nerves, he told Hughes.

Hughes.

Maes Hughes was alive, a fact Roy cherished every single day of his existence.

How he survived was still unclear. The Homunculi weren't forthcoming on details, and it was clear they either blackmailed Hughes to not say much, or they purposefully kept him in the dark. Roy bet on the former considering he knew his friend's habits and how perceptive he was. All they told him was that he got to keep Hughes for a price: his compliance. The file sitting on the other side table next to a cold and almost empty cup of coffee, full of every scrap of information he could find about Hughes' case, was proof he didn't follow that order.

So was the rest of the mess. He had a government to overthrow. Hughes understood, but, as Roy chewed on the end of his pen, he knew he would still apologize to his new guest for being a poor host.

Apologizing, and shoving himself into all of this work, was easier than having any sort of deep conversation about their living situation, the implications, and any feelings beneath the surface. Roy knew what his purpose here was: to be a pillar of stability and refuge, to comfort, and to keep him safe. Maes Hughes had his entire life ripped away from him mere months ago when the Homunculi pulled their stunt. Now? He couldn't go back to it. Not for Gracia and Elicia's safety, especially when Gracia was seeing someone else. This was his home now--with someone he trusted, someone who had his back, someone who wouldn't hesitate to protect him if needed.

Someone who loved him with every fiber of his being.

Waking up to see Maes Hughes alive every single day was a gift. For months, he couldn't breathe, suffocating without oxygen in his lungs. These days, his system struggled to keep up with the influx of fresh oxygen, Maes' smile at him enough to make him dizzy. He couldn't ignore how his heart pounded in his chest by the mere sight of those hazel eyes either. The voice he longed to hear on the phone just one more time spoke to him every day, the sound almost bringing tears to coal eyes each time with just his name. Every brush of their hands was enough for the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he yearned for more. Dare he say to be held? To be caressed? Kissed?

Maes couldn't want him, though. Especially not now. His life was in flames. He didn't need the Flame Alchemist adding more to it.

Thus, Roy did what he spent years doing: he put those feelings away, and he worked. His pen stayed in his mouth as he grabbed the budget proposal. Wait, hadn't he already read this? He felt like he read this one earlier. Where were his notes? Right, he didn't make any because he got distracted. This one was simple anyway: no way in hell was he approving this budget. Now, to write that in a professional way...

When did Hughes come into the room? A minute ago? He said something too. It took a minute or so for Roy to register his name, his pen not moving as he brought his gaze up.

"Hmm?" What was he... bowing? Why was he--oh, the music. Right, he turned that on a while ago to see if it would help him focus. Dark eyes widened as they stared up. He wanted to dance? But he had to--but he needed--he couldn't--why? Why did Hughes ask him to dance of all things? They never danced. Why? And why now? He was--he had to--

But, Hughes smiled at him, and Roy couldn't say no. He couldn't say no to that smile, those eyes, this man wanting to hold his hand--not when it was all he ever wanted. Putting his pen and papers to the side, he gave his hand to Hughes so he could pull him up.

"All right, I'll humor you," he replied with a grin, "I could use the break anyway. But you better know how to lead."

Hopefully, his little joke hid the fact that his heart raced, and his cheeks threatened to turn scarlet. This was fine. Just one dance.

[kimbleefucker]

Hey. I’m a mega fan of FMA and it is one of my top 4 anime of all times besides Naruto Shippuden, AOT and My Hero Academia. And my fav are Isaac Mcdougal, Edward, Roy and Kimblee. If can, can u elaborate me about Kimblee backstory and what’s he like before Ishval

Well we really don't know, it's never been revealed. My own thoughts are that he comes from a fairly respected family. I've always considered his family running a textile mill that provides the uniforms to the military, giving his name some respect in those circles.

Likely an only child with few to no friends, alchemy is an easy thing for him to fall into. Kimblee within canon believes that all alchemists are inherently self centered and posture themselves above God- to do so, you must first believe in a God to believe you're above it. I think hid family are fairly Orthodox Jews, but he is less spiritual and more cultural and his views on God fall in line with the Jewish practice of questioning God and any higher beings authority.

Kimblee is shown to have no service ribbons in Ishval while Roy already has a few, meaning Ishval is Kimblee's very first job. He also has no personal attachment to rank or military career. Thru this we can gleam that he likely did not attend the military academy nor did he become a state alchemist and a solider, but rather just an alchemist like Ed or Tucker for the resources and was then drafted into Ishval when Bradley signed the respective order to do so.

We also know that Kimblee is aware he is neurodivergent and actively chose to mask to pass the exam. To what extent is unknown however because we have seen the depth of the military corruption and know many of his views on things like, war or murder, would be big pros for them rather than cons. He's kind of a weird guy (read: very autistic and schizophrenic) so he is probably mostly masking his need to talk back or his specific delusions, to the best of his ability.

Because of this we know he is about the same age as Roy and Hughes (approx. 30 at time we see him at Briggs or so) so he's really spent most of his adult life in Prison being that he was there for 7 years.

Some people like to go crazy with it and say things lime "he's an orphan" "he killed his parents" "he had severe trauma" but I think all of that is missing the point that he is the way he is simply by birth and also, despite being abnormal, he is equally capable of normalcy and being jusy a regular person as well.

[crystalrainfall]

Dear fma fans, would you defend a nazi?

A common thing that annoys me in post Canon brotherhood fics is the fact that the authors try to pass on the message that all is well with the government and that everyone can live happily ever after because they all got pardoned.

Excuse me what?

Now, alot of people say that the characters were forced by the shadow government

(convinient right? Because that was only revealed later, at the time the characters didn't know that, but they still committed all those crimes willingly. Can't blame it now. You still did it.)

And that they helped so much, because they saved the country and what not...

So that coupled with the fact that they were forced to anyway should be enough to forgive them right?

Now most would realize that this is a common defense used to defend literal nazis. That's why this exists : "The defense of superior orders is no defense if the accused knows the act is illegal"

They damn well knew what they were doing.

No amount of making up will ever compensate for anything.

That's what brotherhood preached too right?

That there's nothing of equal value for a soul?

That human life is precious because once it's gone, it's gone?

So why? Why do this stupid thing of making them "make up" by rebuilding ishval. Which pause. Why the fuck would the ishvalans let that guy help him? And be hailed as a hero? For helping them??? He killed thousands, and now wants to sweep in as some tortured soul who wants to play hero and make up for all his sins..? Now he takes all the credit making headlines for being oh so generous for showing common human decency.

Like wow the military isn't all bad! See? They're saving them!

Let's continue boot licking the military, Hey, Maybe we should all stop being racist, because, See! Our military overlords changed their mind!

(I highly doubt that the ishvalans didn't receive any racism from the general public and only the military. Their lives aren't getting better, because an entire crowd doesn't change their minds after their leader is dead. Don't ignore reality.)

And I think I ranted about it before but post Canon fics that still refer to the current leader as Führer and doesn't seem to really strip the military of any power, aren't fucking fixing the problem!

See the problem wasn't that the wrong guy was in charge, it was that fucking system to begin with!

Because, if it was, say democratic, pulling something like that (ethnic cleansing) would've been a tad bit harder wouldn't it??

That's why it pisses me off to no end whenever Mustang or Olivier say that they want to be Führer... Like , I know that you can't really announce proudly you want democracy within a military dictatorship, but at least privately clarify exactly what the hell you mean by, "I want to be Führer."

I'm not telling you that liking your favorite character makes you evil or some shit I'm saying that you should still be able to acknowledge their faults and that they're a horrible person that deserves every bad thing moving forward. And I get it, I like some of these characters too, and it's the ugly truth that nags you when you draw them or like a post with them, but don't look away.

[actuallyidontgiveadamn]

Really out of nowhere but I rewatched some of fma03 eps and im gonna rant

I'm just so done with smiling politely saying that fma03 and fmab are both great sorry i cant anymore. Just no

So if you in love with fmab im warning you it probably won't be a good read for you, so feel free to ignore this, block me or idk read this and give it a thought

0. I really dont understand the glorification of manga over anime adaptations. Like people who are making the adaptation are not artists and creators themselves? What makes mangaka better than others and absolutely indisputable, seriously?

1. 'Oh no long introduction and fillers' that actually allowed for Hughes' character development before his death. Seriously if i mention his death among my homies I'll get lots of faces clearly going through some ptsd level flashbacks, it was that impactful. I still need to take a breather when im rewatching before diving into that ep.

2. Nina. Yet again got more time to grow on us and thus aquired higher trauma inducing levels.

3. Ishval massacre and aftermath are WAY MORE VISIBLE in fma03. First of all Ishvalans are depicted as human beings, and not some background, and we get lots more on their sufferings, raids on camps, racism towards them, etc etc etc

4. Scar. Oh boi how do i even go about this. So without raging much about that beefy obviously wrong dude who got 'sense' bitten into him and started working with the oppressing gov in fmab, we have a wronged and tormented survivor of a genocide, who was justified in his vengeance and rage, was depicted as an attractive person of color despite his antagonistic role and was seriously almost cheered on in his actions by the narrartive. His interactions with his people and his moral dilemmas made his character possibly the deepest and most thought out one in the series.

5. The Rockbell doctors being killed by their own government. That's a waaaaay more interesting and damning detail on our government affiliated protagonists than just dumping their murder on a delirious patient.

6. Homunculi had their own will and desires and a way more developed story arc that had a huge impact on protagonists' morals. Being created by the humans who were desperate to bring back their loved ones and both parties are getting tormented by it?? Characters strongly driven by their own goals and staggered by their relations to their creators vs some indifferent goons in fmab. Just compare Sloths and their impact on the stories and protags.

7. Final conflict being a fight with god and his intricate plans in fmab, versus final battle vs a selfish pretty much usual person who had thrown everyone under the bus in pursuit of immortality. Adds so much more desperation flavor. Suddenly your hero journey doesn't end in epic battle for the sake of the mankind, as you would like it to be. It's just to oppose one awful person with too much power and zero care about anyone else. That's raw and that's way more plausible and relatable in our mundane lives.

8. Overall darker tone and themes of the fma03.

9. MUSIC. I dont remember a single track from fmab, but i went really out of my way in my teenage years to find internet access and pirate fma soundtrack and cry listening to it

10. ART. Sorry but don't tell me fmabs flat colors are anything to 03's soft tones and lighting

So yeah sorry, but I'll take the dark and gritty tragedy over just another shounen with doubtful messages each and every time

[experimentalfma]

@oniric-multimuse-rp

"Hiya, Roy!" Hughes burst into his friend's tent without announcing himself, with far more energy than he ever really felt these days. The desert's scorching heat and the senseless slaughter of the Ishvalans could wear down even the most upbeat personalities. The fighting seemed to be over for the day, but the promise of more impending violence hung heavy in the air.

He dropped down heavily next to the alchemist and gave him the most convincing smile he could muster, though it never reached his eyes. "I heard some interesting news today. They're saying we're getting better rations tonight. Calling it a way to boost morale, if you can believe it." He shook his head. "As if the higher-ups actually think that means something. Anyway, why don't you come with me to get something? I'm sure you could use it after a long day."

Small talk. That's all it was, but whatever it took to get them through another day, no matter how inane or minor, was worthwhile. Besides, he knew Roy's involvement in the war had to be taking a toll on him with his newfound status as "the Hero of Ishval," and if anything he could at least try to distract him for a few brief moments.

[flameleadsarc]

There is a part of Roy that relishes how much power he has as the Flame Alchemist, what he can do, and that no one else can do it.

And he loathes it.

To understand this part of Roy Mustang, we have to go back to the Ishvalan War of Extermination. Roy was an effective State Alchemist during said war, later touted as the Hero of Ishval, a moniker he holds with disdain. Roy viewed his orders with disgust and horror, which he shared with both Maes Hughes and Riza Hawkeye more than once. During one of these conversations, Solf J. Kimblee happens to listen in and offer his insight, namely to Riza:

Riza, who is fresh out of the academy, freezes. The very thought is dreadful. How could Kimblee ask such a thing?

We do not see Maes respond to Kimblee in either the manga nor FMAB. Roy, however, is quick on his feet with a fight response:

In looking at this scene, we might think Roy's anger comes from a place purely to defend his friend. That would not be inaccurate as Roy cares deeply for Riza. Everything we know about Roy's character leads us to believe he would not sit idly by while someone he cares about is threatened or hurt. This war also has most people on edge. Such an emotional response is in the realm of normal.

But, it's not the only thing that bothered Roy here. Kimblee in this scene makes an excellent foil to Roy's fraying idealism and self-image. He runs almost completely opposite as he views his work as a State Alchemist as a job, which he takes satisfaction in. He also acknowledges what this war is and what they're doing, giving his famous speech that Riza eventually quotes back to Edward:

"Don't avert your eyes from death. Look straight ahead. Look squarely at the people you're killing. And don't forget them. Never... forget them. Because they won't forget you" (Chapter 60: In the Absence of God).

This entire confrontation between Kimblee and Roy forces the latter to come face-to-face with uncomfortable truths about himself and the war. The one that got him angry in the first place, though? There was a part of him that took pride in what he did on the battlefield. There was a part of him that enjoyed using his flame alchemy to kill.

Just like everything else, he compartmentalized that part of himself. It could never see the light of day again. Every time he used his flame alchemy after that, it was with the specific purpose of ensuring he and those around him survived---or, in the case of Fullmetal vs. Flame, it was for training purposes.

Flames of Vengeance, however, was the exception. The man who enjoyed using his flame alchemy to harm and kill came out then, and he was not quiet about it. Listen to and/or read how he speaks to Envy when he describes what he is doing with his alchemy. It is sadistic, and it is terrifying.

And, underneath all of the fury, there is pride.

In conclusion: Roy Mustang compartmentalizes almost every facet of himself in order to get ahead. This is just another part, one he hates, and it is perhaps one of the deadliest of all.

[lanfan01]

WARNING: BLOOD!

I like the theme so i made 3 versions (see more for more ahaha)

Orchestra of the dead, 'Hero' of Ishval, An arm and a soul

Orchestra of the dead: Lust

(a concert to die for)

"Hero" of Ishval: Riza Hawkeye

(blood of war victims)

An arm and a soul: Lan Fan

(Lan Fan's arm, Fu's soul)