#all you need is greed

[punk-chicken-radio]

ax trax of the week

shakin’ stevens - all you need is greed

well this was an unexpected new release, and a pleasurable one.

-ax

[icestardragonhc]

Just some thoughts about Belos/ Philip Wittebane from TOH (ramble)

For all of his shortcomings and aborent qualities he has one single thing that makes him stand out among a cast of characters with plenty of positive and lovable personality traits. He's the most hopeful character in the show. Lemme explain:

When he really shouldn't be. Sure it's part of his delusion but at the end of the day he doesn't have any good reason to do anything he does in the story and deep down, he knows that. Ultimately he does everything he does to justify the death of his brother. But that's clearly not his true wish. All he want is his brother back, take back what he did and make that his brother never left. Return to a version of reality that can never be obtained. His brother will never return and he knows it. Considering he killed every grimwalker copy, the 20 or so he made of Caleb. Despite being a smart man, he refuses to grow up and accept change (or death) as we see in Hollow Mind. For 400 years. This child like naivity translates into a neverdying hope that finishing his plan will change anything, fix anything. It's not even about personal revenge as much as it is an escape from reality. He could have wiped out Caleb's decendants anytime in the 50 years he had total power in the empire or even way before that. But he didn't. Killing the Grimwalkers also seemed to upset him but he deems it a necessary step to fix what went wrong all that time ago. But the Grimwalkers never are like his brother, they only vaguely resemble him. For him it's not killing his brother again and again (ignoring he's killing actual individuals), it's rebuilding him stone by stone. It's all for nothing. It serves no purpose and is meaningless. And I think he knows. But he refuses to accept it, no he is completly unable to accept it. Much like a child who can't accept that a specific obscure and crazy dream of his will never come true. This dedication to that meaningless cause is even more visible once the Collector pretty much oneshots him at the end of season 2. He's reduced to a puddle, a soul without a body and he's most likely in a perpetual state of pain and confusion, now returned to the human realm that is nothing alike to what he left behind. Which he can't even interact with properly like he wished to do. Giving up, just dying would be easy and probably is an attractive alternative to his constant state of agony. Yet he clings onto the last bit of life remaining. Despite his carefully made masterplan he took decades if not centuries to realize failed horribly. Knowing he will have to face the seemingly all powerful Collector eventually who squashed him like a bug. He stays alive against impossible odds to "right his wrongs". For the slightest chance to see the reality he gaslit himself into believing was possible. A reality where his borther could have stayed, for a reality where his actions were justified, a reality where he didn't waste the entirety of his extended life, a reality where he's the hero, not the villian. He clings onto hope like a scared, hurt beast. Hope is powerful and scary. It can make a normal man go through hell and become what he swore to destroy. Hope as much as it can build a new future can also raze it to the ground. The sweet and horrific duality of hope.

[giantkillerjack]

the average person doesn't expect you to be a perfect ethical consumer, that's not possible for the vast majority of us. but what youre saying is it's better to do nothing at all and choose the worst possible options (sweat shops, overseas shipping waste, idea/product theft, all wrapped up in SHEIN) than to put even the tiniest effort in where you can.

[they are referring to this post]

What I said was "some people are doing literally everything they can to survive and have no extra bandwidth to spend extra time and money on their purchases, and it is cruel and therefore un-punk to gatekeep punkness and add additional shame to these people's lives based on that fact."

I think it's still a good thing to try to ethically consume; I literally never said it wasn't. I had never even heard of SHEIN before. Rather, I am much more concerned about what I saw as arbitrary gatekeeping based on ability and income.

And frankly how dare you claim that I am supporting sweatshops and abuse by saying that this additional work you are demanding (in this case, presumably, vetting every clothing company you buy from) is not always possible for people. It is not a light accusation to accuse me of supporting abuse.

"How dare you say we piss on the poor", Etc. 🙄 this isn't Twitter. You are determined to enforce moral purity, but you are failing to see the nuance.

Because when I say "no extra bandwidth," I mean no extra bandwidth. This is not the "car shows it's on E but actually secretly it has a lot of gas left" situation that abled people constantly assume disabled people mean when they say they are at their limit.

This is "the car has stopped moving, and to move it I'd have to break my body pushing it." This is "at a certain point, people will hit a wall in terms of money and time and energy, and any energy spent after that comes directly out of their life force."

So the argument "okay but just spend a little more time money and energy actually" is not a valid one.

And the argument "if you are not able to do this specific task, then it means you're not doing anything else to make the world a better place" doesn't exactly impress me either. You said yourself that it is impossible to be a perfectly ethical consumer for most people.

How do you know what else people are doing to resist oppression? How many hours per week until your standards are met?What if someone works 3 jobs? Does that mean it's harder to be a good person if you're poor?? Why do you get to decide what specific avenue of bettering the world is the most morally repugnant or acceptable? What kind of proof of goodness and effort would make you satisfied enough to lay off on the shame?? Who are you helping??

Clothing is a fundamental human need, and some of us have to buy cheap fucking clothes quickly. Billionaires are buying their seventh yacht this month. The people who own fast fashion companies are abusing their workers and putting local affordable clothing stores out of business - and this applies for basically every company with price points that low because governments are failing to regulate corporations to enforce basic human rights.

I have $300 to spend on a new wardrobe as my old clothes have fallen apart or become too small. Do you have a way for me to get a new winter coat, 3 flannels, 10 shirts, 3 dress shirts, new sandals, 10 pairs of pants, 5 bras, 12 pairs of socks, and 10 pairs of underwear within that budget and also definitely 100% ethically sourced, with free returns in case it doesn't fit? Or will I simply have to use the cheap stores?

I have about an hour to spend on this per week. Many mainstream stores doesn't make clothes in my size, and I am now in *year 5* of needing an electric wheelchair and being unable to get one; plus I live up a flight of stairs, so I can't even bring my walker out with me - so thrift shopping is not gonna cover this. Should I continue to wear small and tattered clothing until I have the time, money, and energy to meet your standards?

Did you know there are more empty homes in this country than homeless people? If I decide to splurge on only 100% ethically-produced products, and I can't make rent, and I become homeless, are YOU going to be there for me?? Or are you too busy litigating the endless tiny shames of poverty in your own community?

So I ask you again, are you SURE this is where you want to direct your punk energy?

Because there are a whole lot of rich people relying on people like us punching down and to the side instead of looking up to see where the money is going.

Because energy and time, as it turns out, are limited resources. And I would never expect you to secretly have more than you claim to have.

[moonchild-in-blue]

Oh.

[mylastmoleculeofserotonin]

I think I’ve finally put my finger on the reason why I (and people in general) love to watch “kids’ shows” when they are older teens and adults: because empathy and love, especially platonic love, are arguably humans’ most valuable trait and yet, in our society and in “realistic” media is treated as a weakness or at least at odds with being successful. Like, empathy isn’t even unique to humans, it’s found in and is integral to so many species of animals (and maybe even plants too!!), especially what we consider to be some of the most fearsome predators like lions and wolves. But humans have have “gone all in on” empathy and the capacity to form bonds with other humans, even outside familial circles, which is the reason we outlived the homo erectus which lived at the same time as humans since we were able to form larger communities. And all that’s to say that seeing shows where moral goodness is synonymous with empathy and friendship and wins the day is probably very satisfying for our brains since we don’t often see empathy treated as the essential part of us that it is.

That’s why shows like Hilda or Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts are my personal favorites because the main characters’ defining trait is being empathetic and is, at least in the beginning, their only way of avoiding trouble. And these shows in particular feature the main characters advancing the plot and achieving heroic feats through simply talking it out and generally being a kind and helpful person. When I first watched these shows I, admittedly, saw such events as cheesy, but when I took time to think about it, it not only makes sense why it worked, but was quite literally the best possible way to fix the problem at hand because empathy is a very natural thing for humans and is literally how we have become the apex species so of course it can work when someone gives it a chance.

It’s human nature to be kind and empathetic and is why it’s so satisfying to see it spotlit in kids shows.

[fumifooms]

The core of Fullmetal Alchemist: All is one and Dwarf in the flask

Dwarf in a bottle is in my top 5 favorite FMA characters. No, not Father, that emotionless bland white bread empty husk, Dwarf, the whole. The sort of ball of void, the existential anomaly, so inhumanely human full with sins and individuality.

Fullmetal Alchemist is about willpower. About determination, about pursuing your goals without relenting. It is also about humility and about knowledge.

That is reflected in both the protagonist and the villain, though it is a theme common in most characters.  Both Edward and Dwarf in a bottle pursue their goals with great determination and will. Then, what is good with the manner of one and wrong with the other’s?

I believe a lot of it is about the very concept Dwarf symbolizes. Dwarf in the flask is artificiality.

An alchemy-made life. An artificial family. An artificial pursuit of knowledge and power, without caring about the journey of self-betterment that comes along with it, without caring to understand alchemy and its place in the world. Not only an artifical physical being, but also artificial emotionally; ripping apart his feelings and personality traits deemed negative to make himself into a “superior” being.

I think it’s also worth noting that yes, purging sins out of himself makes him lose those traits, even feelings. Then, if not greed, if not it all, what is pushing Father to pursue power? Greed said it himself: greed isn’t inherently bad, it’s the act of wanting. Father isn’t spiraling into a mad passion for alchemy, a pursuit of knowledge for innovation, or anything, he pursued his plan because he went through the motions, simply. As his feelings left him, all that stayed was the conviction without reasoning that since it was his plan before, he should see it to the end. Or perhaps it’s the course of action he logically came to. Perhaps alchemical enlightenment was deemed the obvious ultimate goal to have, without being interested in why it is or why it should be. Regardless, he lacks the passion and emotional intelligence to actually see the value in what he is doing, in alchemy, and ultimately that is what is punished.

I want to do a full dissection of the whole homunculus family, but I’m going to touch on some aspects of it here because it’s such an interesting topic to me. Disregarding Lust’s claim that homunculi are all individuals with a full range of emotions for a moment, I want to analyze what their traits mean in the angle that they fundamentally formed a whole all together as Father, or Dwarf in the flask.  The homunculus that is shown to be the most attached to his family members is Gluttony. The homunculus that is shown to be the most attached to relationships, in general, is Greed. Greed and Gluttony are then the homunculi, the traits, that care about people the most. And that makes sense, no? You don’t want to lose things you care about, you want to bathe in their love and their presence, and you want to keep having them for as long as you want, greed and gluttony aren’t unsimilar. Greed is interested in friendship and having companions, in possessing people’s hearts and loyalties, in making new connections and bonding with new faces. Gluttony is more interested in getting more of what he already has, more love in that way he already likes by the person he already loves, like wanting more of the familiar taste of its favorite meal. Other similar traits are pride and envy, the traits that affect your self-image. The feeling that you are remarkable and great and the feeling of wanting what others have or are, valuing yourself vs comparing yourself to others. By detaching parts of a whole, things get lost; Pride feels wholly superior but is ready to do anything to preserve himself including lowering himself to inferior beings going against his own code, while Envy only covers up his self-hatred and jealousy but would rather end himself before accepting to sully himself with the compassion of someone he looks down upon. Pride makes one value self-preservation, while envy is self-destructive by nature, perhaps. It is interesting that both feel prideful, yet Pride doesn’t reflect the fact that as part of a whole it also felt shame and low self-esteem, otherized, and Envy doesn’t reflect that Dwarf actually feels pride over traits they possess, as well. The truth is that these things coexisted in the one being that was Dwarf. Fragmented as they are, they only tell an uncomplete and incoherent story, like a puzzle. It’s ironic that maybe together, all these sins balance each other out to become healthier, less dysfunctional. Like a family, they can offer counterbalance to a trait when it becomes too central to the individual, offer support through their grounding presence. Someone slothful may feel unmotivated without greed to give them goals, pride without envy will make you stop striving to better yourself and envy without pride will give you self-loathing.

An analysis of Dwarf isn’t complicated to do: it was a being brought about by scholars and complex alchemy, enslaved, and it wished to get the power to free itself and become an individual equal/superior to everyone else. Unable to become physically and fundamentally human, he attempted to become a proxy, close enough to it; making a family, gaining a human form, etc. It ultimately wished to pursue superiority through alchemical power and knowledge when he found the result lacking, when it still didn’t feel human, couldn’t connect with others, still felt fundamentally different, like his place in the universe was somewhere else, like striving for that higher calling would solve it. Blinded by lust to find belonging, wether it be in a place or in a role, it pushed itself to extremes of alchemy in the hope it will all make sense once he gets there. Ultimately futile, as he will end up feeling betrayed and abandoned by Truth itself, not able to rise up to its own expectations once more: because there’s no magic able to make one feel whole. He seeked to sculpt himself into a perfect being, one that could be anything and do anything, one that couldn’t be reproached, if not by humans, then the world itself would confirm and showcase his objective superiority for all to see.

Much like with Shou Tucker, this pursuit for knowledge and power is all for external factors, there is no inner fuel for it besides pride, shame, desperate want that was displaced onto alchemy instead of the self-introspection that alchemy promotes and necessitates. Dwarf ended up missing what was right under his nose, and subsequently failed the test of Truth and lost everything. What he was working towards ultimately meant nothing, not to anyone and not even to himself.

Edward was able to face Truth right because he took the time to understand, learned to not abuse it, reflected on what it all meant, on the place of things in the universe. That is terrifying for Dwarf, who is terrified he may simply have no place in it, but it is nonetheless essential. The other homunculi are proof enough: Greed had friends, was accepted in the friend group of our heroes as a trustworthy and dependable person, Ling would have preferred him to stay with him forever instead of leaving. Selim gets a second chance at life with someone who has loved him with all her heart… Which is the most confusing part of FMA I have no idea how he didn’t die ngl but I’m glad for the precious lil guy~ Even Lust and Gluttony found companionship and care in being together.

Dwarf has always had a place. He simply refused to philosophizes, and alchemists are ultimately philosophers. Not thinking power through, not analyzing it, is what leads to corrupt military states. Dwarf wanted to be recognized and accepted by god and the world itself, by showing himself worthy of it and demanding it, but he was the one who rejected the nature of the world first:

One is all, all is one.

He is the very embodiment of refusing that. Dwarf always had a place in the world, artificial anomaly as he was. Perhaps Dwarf wasn’t meant to be part of this all or this one initially, not created by the world, but. Dwarf seeked to become both all and none at once. He was born artificial, but never cared to learn the rules of nature and accept the limits of the world, seeking to destroy and warp them; he was the one that desired to make himself even more distinct from the world and label himself as a perfect, artificial being. Rejecting individuality to become some empty looking glass was the mistake Edward Elric didn’t make, growing to find the value in every type of life and finding the strength to keep going through every horror of the world. Dwarf’s folly was thinking that he was separate from the rest of existence.

The philosophical dimension to the value of gold or philosopher’s stones are the important part of alchemy, power isn’t what you achieve enlightenment through. May your pursuit of knowledge be wise and your resolve aim true.

–+–+–+–+–+–+–

I recommend this analysis by another tumblr user as complementary reading!! It goes over way more than I did and encompasses more of fma than this post, I just wanted to focus on a fraction of the themes and narrative that I found summed up the story’s key points well… Idk idk I’m a humble Dwarf enjoyer I don’t want to come across as pretentious 🙇 I can only hope this was a nice read. If you don’t remember the ending of the manga/brotherhood well I imagine this being very confusing, I should do something about that

[corpus-chorus]

the utter euphoria when you find a new hyperfixation youtube channel and the utter despair when you realize you got through all their videos in like two days

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

FEED US DRAGON!GETO THOUGHTS PLSPLSPLS 😫🫣

ANON IF YOU WANT ANSWERS TALK TO IO SHE’S THE ONE WHO BROKE MY BRAIN WITH THIS CONCEPT 😭😭😭 but . aaaaaa . he is just so possessive and twisted <33333 a dragon hoarding his treasure from the rest of the world <333333 io said it’d end with him either destroying himself to protect you or killing you out of pure love and i just think that’s sooooooo twisted and soooooooooo tasty and sooooooo geto . dragon!geto. he’s awful

[clearbun]

why is nobody talking about the most perfect ship in all of Fullmetal Alchemist: Greed the Avaricious x Barry the Chopper

[dragonofthestone]

(For Tim's father) (@experimentalfma )

The most recent roll of film had finally been developed, and Hughes held the packet of brand new family photos close to his chest, a warmth already blossoming inside him at the prospect of seeing all of those recent memories brought to life. He'd planned on reviewing them with Gracia once he got home, but a quick peek on the way back wouldn't hurt.

After a quick glance upward to make sure he wouldn't walk into anyone, he gave in and dove into the packet, his smile growing with every photo he flipped through. Unfortunately, however, he was sidetracked enough the didn't look up as he automatically rounded the corner and bumped straight into a man on the other side of the sidewalk, scattering photos all around them.

"Sorry, guess I got a little distracted there." Hughes smiled apologetically and bent down to gather the fallen photos, breaking into a wider grin as he held one up for the stranger. "But how could I not be? Adorable, right? She just turned four last month, and we brought her out to the field to pick flowers for her party. My wife was trying to teach her how to make flower crowns, and I still have the one she made me. Have you ever seen someone working so hard on making one so beautiful?" In the photo, Elicia wore an exceptionally concentrated expression as she tried to figure out how to weave a few flowers together. As far as flower crowns went, it was barely wearable, but in his eyes, it was perfection he couldn't help but share, even with a perfect stranger.

--------------------

It had been a long time since Nikolaos had set foot in Amestris, let alone central. Back when he was a much younger man with quite a few less grey hairs, and not even a wife or kids to speak of. In truth despite the current problems between the countries he did miss traveling and had even missed Amestris itself.

The city had changed quite a bit many more buildings then last he remembered, many quite tall as well. Far different from the quite countryside town back home.

His cane lightly tapped against the stone sidewalk as he took in some of the sights, only wishing he was there on better terms. The chances of actually finding Tim seemed slim but he'd had to take the chance, while cautious to whom he spoke and what he said he still held some hope that someone may know something. Perhaps he should try getting in contact with the man from Dublith, he'd helped him once years ago before and if anyone knew anything.. he might.

Whump

Rather unexpectedly he found himself stumbling back a couple steps but managed to keep balance, photos flying everywhere and fluttering to the ground he placed his cane on top of one before a breeze could take it away.

Carefully he crouched down letting go of the cane to help the younger man gather up the photos, many of which seemed to have the main focus of a rather darling little girl.

"It's alright, no harm done," He smiled. Nikolaos could spot a new parent a mile away and this man fit the bill for sure, while every parent adores their children there was always that extra special something about ones first.

As the man continued Nikolaos paused from gathering to look at the offered out photo, the flower crown in question was clearly barely being held together and very well may have fallen a part not long after the photo, but one couldn't help but admire a child's efforts no matter how poorly the attempt end up. He couldn't contain a light chuckle quite endeared by the photo and reminded of when his own was that small,

"I see, if she keeps working like that I'm sure she'll be making plenty more in no time."

[vegaseatsass]

Ah I have to not be online for a few hours but I want to write so much more about Sol My Stand-In when I come back. I just feel like so much of fandom is sleeping on how actually dimensional and interesting and human he is! Maybe because a lot of us have Nice Guy baggage it's intuitive to transplant onto him, but that's not actually what's happening here... i m o

[waitineedaname]

The silence in the backseat was so profound that they twisted around just to make sure they hadn’t driven off without Ed somehow. Ed was staring at them, a vein twitching in his forehead. “Greed?” he said. “Yeah? What, you didn’t expect to see me?” Greed smirked. “You’re back?” Ed all but screeched. Ling and Greed’s minds blanked at the same moment, and they came to a sudden realization in unison. If Lan Fan’s sudden inhale beside them was any indication, she had too. “No one told him,” she said. Oops.

Greed's back. Everyone forgot to inform Ed.

[flufflecat]

au where ed agrees to teach greed how to bond his soul to a suit of armor and 2 weeks later greed rekidnaps al and is like "hi its me again. i may have made a mistake. do you know how to not be armor anymore."

[nerdy-talks]

[cesium-sheep]

aaaaaaa okey I ordered the speaker and the star projector. (and a beauty blender and a neck support and the new volume of yona and the garbage disposal cleaner matt wanted.) it was still only $35 actually out of pocket and I get my allowance in the morning which will completely replace that amount. I will definitely like the speaker and if I don't like the star projector arin will.

[danwithouttheplan]

why. the fuck. do I need to be connected to the internet to play a single player game without potentially losing all of my save data?