#arc: amestris no more

[alchemic-elric]

⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ God damn he hates this fuckin' place. He's been walking for what feels like ages and he doesn't have a goddamn clue where he is. This whole fuckin' place can go to fuckin' hell for all he cares. Nothing makes sense here and it's a still all just endless stretches of fuckin' DIRT. Worst of all of it, he doesn't have a fuckin' clue where Alphonse is because the dumb bastard manages to get his ass separated from him.

Now they are both aimlessly wandering this hell hole and neither one knows where the other is. A loud groan leaves him as the blond reaches both hands up to tug at his hair while the groan drags out in frustration. This was fuckin' stupid.

He just wanted to go home or to see a familiar fuckin' face. He just wanted to find his damn brother and he swears to high hell if he ever gets stuck in a place like this ever again so fuckin' HELP HIM -

This was like Liore all over again!!

"ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

All he can hear is his own voice echoing out and then back to him. A lotta fuckin' good that did. Who knows where that fuckin' tin can was? Nothing makes sense in this damn place. He is tired. He is hungry and he wants to fucking sleep. He's been out in this fuckin' heat longer than he cares to remember and he hasn't seen hide or hair of anyone he could talk to for who knows how long?!

This was bullshit.

Where is his goddamn brother? He's been here so long he's lost track of the time. He swears if he ever makes it home he won't call the Colonel a jackass for a whole week when they're at work. A whole week he promises.

Just send a face he knows. Anyone. Anyone would do. He's so sick of being out here alone.

Alphonse has to be around here somewhere. He couldn't have fallen that far could he?

[symphonicsoul]

@dont-call-me-a-lyre asked:

bother cid you say? 🛠️ + Are you offended by Kain knowing more about Kumo than you? What are your thoughts on him in general, actually?

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ "Odd question but no actually. Why would I be? Kumo has accepted Kain as a romantic partner from what I've gathered so it would make sense that Kain knows more about him than I do. I wouldn't be surprised if Kain knows more about him than Kaze does now and that makes sense to me.

The thing about Kain isn't so much as being offended but instead curious. I've spent the better part of a year trying to crack that man open and get him to talk to me and I've succeed here and there in certain places but in most of them Kumo is still very much a locked door.

I never want to or have wanted to force things out of him. I've never pushed him and I never will. I don't know what hell he went through when he lived in Gaudium but I know it wasn't good. I will never try to pry information out of him unless it's for his better health.

I can't say I'm not a little jealous though. Kumo's never felt safe enough to speak to me about his home or his family or even his language. I've learned here and there just by being around him but I don't even know when his birthday is or what his favorite color is. Kumo has always kept himself very closed off from everyone.

So really when it comes to Kain, it makes me wonder what he did that was different. It makes me wonder how he's managed to crack his way through that thick shell so quickly. Kumo is kind and talkative when he feels comfortable but he still keeps his secrets and he still plays his cards close to his chest. He's always been secluded even with the kids.

He's close to Ai and Yu but he even kept them at a distance so what is so different about Kain that he's not just managed to crack Kumo's shell but also to cause Kumo to fall in love with him. Kain is a curious case. I would love to know more about him. He's great with his hands and he's got one hell of a mind of technology and mechanics.

It's nice to have someone else to be able to talk to about it, but really Kain is just a puzzle to me. I don't have a clue how he did what he did but Kumo spends every second he can with him and Kain does the same. They're practically glued to each other's hips and that used to be Kaze for Kumo but it's not anymore.

You can tell Kumo still very much cares about Kaze but the way he looks at Kain.... that's the first time I've ever seen real magic."

[symphonicsoul]

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ "Herra Breda." He sounds in a casual tone, no form of malice to be found. "You don't need to stand in the hall. You can come in. I'd like to explain this to both of you so I don't need to repeat myself if you would be so kind."

His ears are too sharp to have missed the sound of the other's movement and since he is explaining the Maken and all that has happened he really would much prefer to not have to explain the quirks of this world twice.

So he waits until the man appears again before he starts speaking. He understands that Herra Breda only has Herra Fuery's best interest in mind but he just thinks the fiery man could find a better way to go about it.

"Lovely." He starts with a pause as he lets his hands fold over the sword that rests upon his lap and a jaded colored gaze scrolls the room from one set of dark eyes to the next.

"Now then, to explain to you both where you are."

There is an emphasis on the word as he pauses again shifting his gaze between them just to make sure they're both engaged.

"You are currently in a building known as The Comodeen. This is a resistance group that helps to maintain order in this world. This world is a place known as Wonderland and it currently has no ruler. As Herra Breda already heard before on his trek through the villages here, it was once ruled by a man known as Earl Tyrant or simply The Earl but he has since died a year ago leaving Wonderland rulerless.

There are still remnants of his followers however, we refer to as the Gaudium Faction, and currently they are clashing with the Comodeen. If you ever run into a Gaudium supporter, I ask that you attempt to speak with them as little as possible as they tend be quite fanatical and potentially dangerous. The people who supported The Earl were dangerous folk. So I only ask you try to avoid engaging these people wherever possible."

There is a pause and a smile. A sigh for a moment as he gaze shifts to make sure both of them are following. This is a lot of information and he has already had this conversation with Miss Riza and Eversti more than once so he knows how difficult it was for them to take it all in and he doesn't want to bog down Herra Breda or Herra Fuery when he explains it all to them.

"Now Wonderland is a special sort of place that is made of what once was. I'm sure Herra Breda already experienced this and I know Herra Fuery had quite the run in with a Bandersnatch enough to know that there are beings here that are nothing like what you know on your Earth. Myself included.

Humans are not the dominant species here and there are many that carry a strong distaste for them or anyone who looks like them. This goes for beings like myself and my counterpart, Black Wind. While we both may appear human-esque in nature, neither of us are, so I ask that you please do your best to remember this. Black Wind's appearance is far more deceptive than my own however, I promise you, that man is full blooded Windarian and far from human."

He's shifting for the a moment to glance between them both before he gives them a smile with upturned brows.

"I just want you both aware of the circumstances. Wonderland can be a beautiful place but it can also be quite cruel as I'm sure you both have learned over these past weeks. It would be in your best interest to exercise caution if you should decide to venture out again. Just know that the Comodeen will always have a place for you, though I do not run it myself nor am I a member of it's group. If you'd like to speak who's in charge you'll need to speak to a man named Knave. I can introduce you, if you'd like."

Your senses are quite sharp.

In a less-serious situation, he would have laughed and explained his eyesight definitely is far from "sharp", but the laughter does not come. Instead, he has to listen to the end.

Lady Tiamat - his goddess, she exists in that blade. And somehow, she had not... hurt him, really. It had only been a light jolt, not unlike a minor shock he'd receive during his normal work.

If that isn't enough information, it turns out his new friend - Kumo, now, to him - is immortal so long as his blade remains unharmed and near his side.

What about the chip in the gem, then? Is it some weird aesthetic choice?

He doesn't feel up to asking right now. Instead, he only pulls Chicken into his arms to pet him and offer Kumo a small nod.

"You can trust me, yes. I'll make sure the Maken gets back to you, I promise," he replies. He'll endure the zapping if he needs to - he does not want Kumo to die again.

Again. Mustang killed him.

On accident.

"And- uh. You don't need to worry about me and the Colonel. He... I know it had to have been an accident. So- if you were worried about me getting mad or anything, I'm not."

Not about that, anyway. He has plenty of other reasons.

"He usually tries to use fire as a diversion, not an offense. Something had to have gone really wrong. I'm not mad at him over it, so there won't be a fight or anything. Thanks for... being honest. And sticking up for me. But Breda means well, he's just... kinda rough sometimes."

The lieutenant leans against the doorframe when he comes back, catching only the very last handful of sentences. Something about the Colonel, from the sound of it, and he finds himself agreeing with whatever assessment Fuery's making.

Roy isn't usually cruel with his flames. He has Hawkeye to actually take out most threats.

And at least this cloud guy seems to have Fuery's best interest in mind. At least Breda can agree with him on that front.

He moves from the doorway to just outside the room again. No point in interrupting.

[alchemic-elric]

@lilhub asked:

💭 + Hey Edward. Whaddaya think of Cloud Puff?(for Wonderland Ed) Also. How did you even end up here?

"Sugar Cube? I dun't know what ta think'a'im yet. 'e's fuckin' weird though. I mean I dinn't know Fuery was in'ta guys... 'er aliens but sure I guess. Whatev'r makes'im happy. I ain't really got much'ta say 'bout the guy when some shit went down n' 'e told us ta run.... then the next thing I know Fuery was callin' the shots n' 'e was draggin' 'e behind'im. Then we met a couple'a tall fuckers n' I still don't know what ta think'a them either.

N' this place? Wonderland? Is that what we're callin' it now? Well it's just as fucked up as it is in that book so I guess it makes fuckin' sense that way. I don't 'member how I fuckin' got 'ere though. Al n' I were downtown n' then some fuckin' where along the way I blacked the fuck out n' woke up in this hellhole. Sure like ta know what the fuck is goin' on though. That'd be fuckin' great... n' where my goddamn brother is. Not knowin' where Al is, is really startin' ta piss m' off fer sure. That answer yer question?"

[terroreigns]

Continued from [ X ]

...Well, now that was quite the unfortunate development.

The magician could only watch as the crevice in spacetime swallowed up the younger of the boys, screams cut short as his body was warped to an entirely different location. A twitch of gloved fingers signified an action withheld; The facade was firmly in place. For now, at least. A shift of displeasure somewhere within their very core, the deity of the wretched place known as Wonderland entirely unhappy about the setback.

"Told you so..." The man in dark sea-green muttered in dull monotone that somehow still conveyed irritation. The woman, who had since dismounted, elbowed him in the ribs and shook her head.

The remaining alchemist boy was frantic, gaze of gilded orbs darting between the ground and his candyfloss savior, latching onto their closest arm in open terror. The Troupemaster's brows angled in concern, before gloved hands seized the youth's shoulders and their posture stooped to bring their (already quite similar) heights closer together.

"Look, I'm going to need you to calm down now, as outrageous a request as that probably sounds like." The pink-haired man (or, at least, a being of a notably ambiguously gendered visage) spoke with a firm and grounding gentleness. Their voice was soft and smooth as silk, almost too flawless a tune to belong to a human. Then again, was anyone even human around these parts...? Wonderland had a tendency to gleefully disagree.

Familiarity was the kind of luxury not easily afforded in a puzzle of worlds, after all. And now, the boy's sole kin was whisked away between the cracks.

"I'll help you. I promise I will. But for now, we have to get out of here, lest we share his fate and get scattered every which way. Not a fan of that personally, as I'm sure you would agree. Come!"

The magician's hand found one of metal; A reminder of the child's part machine identity. Whatever had happened to render his limbs of flesh away from him...? A question that begged for an answer, but the being of Wonderland knew well not to inquire too hastily.

Almost as if on cue, a thin line crisscrossed the ground where Edward had stood just moments prior, snaking and writhing as reality itself struggled in vain to regain shape. The entire sector was unstable due to the influence of the great shattered beast, the Mind of which was now yelling for them to run as a handwatch clicked all over again, enveloping the merry band and the boy alike in a bubble of accelerated spacetime.

"Wow! Talk about immediately relevant foreshadowing!~" The person in pink giggled with a not insignificant degree of nervousness.

"Quickly! The connexon..!" The plantlike woman called out, a motion of her parasol causing vines to emerge from the soil and climb upwards rapidly, forming an improvised bridge that led back to the overlooking cliff.

There was another rift, far more stable than the flickering and spreading ones left below. This time, it led seamlessly to some strange black and red dimension, the ground beneath giving way to a smooth crimson surface.

It was only then that the group finally stopped running, the sound of panting and the occasional cuss overtaking the otherwise perfect silence of this strange inbetween. Were the boy to look over his shoulder, he would be met with the warped image of the sunless realm of fungi, quivering like the surface of a disturbed pond before it flickered out altogether, leaving a gaping chasm of nothingness where there once was land.

Like a wound upon the world, leading straight out into the depths of space. Somehow, physics seemed not to mind the sudden window into the vacuum. The particles of air were thankfully not too keen on being violently sucked out and taking everyone else with them. Now that would be quite the unsatisfying conclusion to the renowned Fullmetal's story.

"Wow, I sure am glad we're not dead!" the magician recovered their breath and promptly announced, in a tone far too perky for the situation at hand.

All was well that ended well - or so the rumors said.

[alchemic-elric]

°✩₊ 𖤓 ₊✩° "Horns?" The armored boy echoes for a moment as his attention shifts from sibling to sibling. He can't imagine anyone normal with horns and somehow his mind is painting a picture of some scary monster with white hair covering it's entire body and massive dark purple horns. The next thing they're going to tell him is that their friend spits fire... or maybe the other one does. A man as tall as he is? Sounds more like Major Armstrong... but if he's friends with this 'Kumo' fellow then he can't possibly be normal either.

Nothing in this place seemed to be that expect these kids. Even their chickens were oversized.

Still the other one - the boy - Yu - wanted to know what the people Brother was with were like so he's shifting his weight for a moment - as well as one can when they were an empty suit of armor only to let a half hmmm sound while he thinks about it.

"Pink." He starts. "I didn't get a very good look at them but there was a man with them and he was very pink. From his clothing to his hair. He just materialized a weapon out of nothing. It was like alchemy but at the same time not. There were others but I couldn't see them that well. A man in a long coat and a hat. A giant monster looking beast and a woman. She was also pink. Pink and green. I - " he pauses for a moment as he tries to think harder on the subject but only can remember falling straight through the ground.

"- don't remember much beyond that. Sorry. Does that sound like anyone you know? Maybe we'll be able to find them again and find brother, but knowing Ed he'll be his usual idiot self and not stay with someone so he's easier to find. But Brother's so loud we're bound to find him pretty easy."

He hopes.

He can only hope that Ed will stay with someone and find someone to help. He can only hope that Ed won't go running head long into this world in an attempt to find him without any sense of direction. Not that Ed has a sense of direction anyway.

"- So then your friends. Where do you think we'd find them? Do you really think just yelling for them, would be that easy? Are they close then?"

They may not know everything there is to know about Wonderland, but what information they could provide should be serviceable, especially for the questions that were being asked. Yu is the one to begin speaking yet again, as Ai already seemed back on the hunt for their Unlimited friends.

"This is a place called Wonderland- I might have said that already but I'm not sure-" he starts. "It's sort of hard to describe it, really- The best way to say it, is to call it some kinda patchwork world- There's bits of a whole lot of worlds in here, so it's no wonder you got stuck-" He opts not to mention the danger their world is in yet, not due to any lack of trust, but because the children can't be sure what happened to the young man before coming here. A flash didn't seem like enough to mean the end of a world as they knew it, but who could be sure?

But then, the people they met... Why did it give him such an uneasy feeling? Everyone in Wonderland was a bit strange, it shouldn't mean anything to him. And yet, he almost feels prompted to ask, "What were they like? I mean, it'd be good to know, right? Especially since there's a whole lot of weird looking people around here-"

Ai perks up when Yu falters a bit, mostly at the mention of the friends in question. "Well, we didn't lose these guys, we met up with them a lot on our first trip here, and they're super helpful! We wanted to find them because we got worried about something, and wanted to warn them about it- Their names are Kumo and Kaze! Kumo's got white hair, and has big dark purple and shiny horns, and Kaze's a big ol' guy, almost as big as you, and he's super grumpy all the time-" It makes Yu think, once she brings it up again. Could this be the problem they'd been alerted to? Were the forces of Chaos getting active again?

No, he shouldn't worry so much. Right now, the trio had to stay focused, they all had people to find. If Ed was on the way, great! But if not, at least they'd have more sensitive and careful ears to fall back on.

[symphonicsoul]

@hawksightshas been practicing:

"Yö tervehtii, White Cloud." Upon seeing their friend, Riza smiled, eyes aglow as they gazed up to him. Hopefully, their Misterican practice with the Colonel paid off. Both of them were eager to learn their friend's mother tongue, and Riza spent extra time ensuring their pronunciation was just right. Maybe it was silly, but they wanted White Cloud to be just a little proud of them--or at least approve of said pronunciation.

"It's good to see you. Are you busy?" Probably a foolish question since everyone always wanted White Cloud's attention for something. Riza's request was much more inane in comparison---in their opinion, anyway. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit up on the roof with me. I was going to sit by myself, but I'd really appreciate your company."

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ The sound of his own tongue is enough to catch him off guard a little but what gets him a bit more is the use of proper cultural phrasing. One of these days he needs to tell them what the exact translation of that actually is because it's not quite what the Amestrians use when they say "Good Evening." Same general concept but a slight different intent behind the two sayings.

Still it has his brows raising as the Misterican looking over his shoulder as he turns to see just who it is and a smile creeps onto his lips as jade meets warm brown. They explain that they were simply wondering if he had a moment and if he wanted to set up on the roof with them.

"Yö tervehtii, Miss Riza." He sounds back allowing that tone shift in his voice to return that somehow makes his voice sound all the more his than it normally does. "I always have time for you. I would be happy to sit with you for a moment. You've been practicing. You've nearly got the pronunciation perfect. I'm proud of you."

He's tidying up the area he was working, to put away the soft cloth in his hand he was using to polish the Maken before he lifts himself from his seat and replaces the blade back at it's home upon his belt.

"Did you want to climb the stairs or would you rather I fly the both of us up there? It's no problem."

[azula-hates-men]

i recently finished watching fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood and it gave me ideas of how caitlyn could've had a better resolution to her character arc. the show definitely has its problems. for example, scar wanting to kill the soldiers responsible for the genocide of ishvalans is portrayed as just him wanting revenge or how the ishvalan genocide is mostly told from the perspective of war criminals, the conflict in fma has a better conclusion compared to arcane.

in fma, characters like roy, riza, and alex all express guilt for what they did during the ishvalan campaign of extermination and believe there should be consequences for what happened. by the end of the show, roy becomes the leader of amestris and talks about helping ishvalans return to their homes and restoring their culture.

what should've happened in arcane was caitlyn feeling guilt over oppressing zaunites and at least try to use her wealth to alleviate the poverty in zaun. caitlyn losing an eye is similar to roy losing his eyesight but the latter is more powerful as symbolism since he acknowledges his role in the genocide of ishvalans and is remorseful about it, the same can't be said for caitlyn.

this is why i don't think caitlyn losing an eye is redemption and is meaningful symbolism. roy becoming blind symbolizes how he was blind to the corruption of the military. in comparison, caitlyn losing an eye doesn't feel substantial since she's never confronted by anyone for what she did to zaun.

[valtsv]

you like '03 fma better? i'll be honest im not surprised!

its themes are more appealing to me; i prefer the greater emphasis on the horror and tragedy of the story, particularly the more explicit acknowledgement of the corruption and state sanctioned violence of the military police state of amestris (which was amply covered in brotherhood, i'm not denying that, but '03 felt like it took that more seriously and addressed some of the darker aspects more unflinchingly) and the mercenary ruthlessness of the state alchemist scheme, which allows ed to be recruited and subsequently severely traumatized as a child soldier. and the homunculi being former humans who died violent and untimely deaths, resurrected and brought back as twisted, unrecognizable versions of themselves driven by a terrible hunger to be something more than just half-formed monsters wearing the faces of people who were loved makes them far more compelling imo. lust's arc in 03 made her one of my favorite characters.

[symphonicsoul]

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ He can't say he's not concerned and the more Kain speaks - the more questions he asks - the more the engineer's heart starts to seize a little on his chest. What does he mean the Maken is chipped?

If the Maken is chipped then - Kumo is - then Kumo's soul is - Oh no.

"Yes, Kaze is tied to the Magun like Kumo is to the Maken. Almost more so I think. It's complicated when it comes to Kaze. The Magun is his heart and it's integrated into his biological system. It can't be removed from him in the same way Kumo could possibly be separated from the Maken."

A pause as he thinks about the concept entirely.

"Not that I ever would. I can only imagine the consequences Kumo would suffer by doing such a thing and I can't imagine any of them would be good."

There's a sign and shift and he ne da to think about this. The Magun could - did it repair itself? It was broken at one time, yes - but it doesn't seem to be now. Did that have anything to do with Kaze's ability to be in the same room with Kumo without the man growling his name and brandishing a gun in the Misterican's direction on sight? It had to.

Kaze's calmed down so much since their face off against The Earl...Kumo on the other hand seems to just keep slowing down physically with each and every new injury a little more each time.

And now he's got a report that the gem at the Maken's hilt is chipped. He can't bring himself not to think that such a thing doesn't have anything to do with Kumo's new found inability to stay awake. He's been sleeping so much in recent days...

He knows the swordsman wants to help the Amestrians but he needs to take care of himself too.

He sighs again.

"The Magun was broken once, yes. About a year or so ago when we first met Kaze. The Magun couldn't be fired at will. It hence has seemed to have repaired the issue on it's own but Kaze's temperament has changed drastically too.

You see when we first met Kaze he was obsessed with finding Kumo for reasons we still don't know but he was so furious with him and he would call Kumo "his mortal enemy." He spent that whole year trying to kill him. Kaze would get crazed whenever Kumo would show up.

But within the last year - ever since they fought The Earl, Kaze's been different. He seems very subdued when it comes to Kumo now and over the course of the last year they've become practically glued at the hip. Kumo follows Kaze around every where and Kaze hasn't made any move to be violent against him. In fact it's the opposite. Kaze gets defensive and aggressive if someone else is aggressive to Kumo. He doesn't take well nowadays to Kumo getting hurt or killed. It's a complete 180."

And he doesn't know how to explain it. He doesn't know what part of him changed so greatly that he is no longer shoving the barrel of his shotgun in the swordsman's face at every given opportunity, but something changed and he assumes the Magun being in working order has something to do with it.

Something major.

There's another sigh as his shoulders fall and he thinks about it. He can't say the Maken can repair itself - he honestly doesn't know. He doesn't even know how the Magun did. So he doesn't want to give him false hope but he also doesn't want to tell him all the wild thoughts that are running through his mind at the information of the Maken's gem being chipped.

"Honestly, I don't know." He explains. "Far as I know, the Maken's never been chipped and I didn't even know it could. So I'll have to ask Kumo about it. Truly, thank you for telling me Kain. I - I'm worried too." '

||| @forgotten-teammates

The comment about tech makes Kain laugh a little, for just a split second. He understands exactly what Cid means there.

"I mean, objectively, it can get confusing - we've got a million abbreviations and most of those are made of jargon anyway, right?"

Kain takes in a deep breath, letting it out in one huff against Cid's chest as he waits for the explanation he's not sure he wants.

Well, if anyone gets it, Cid gets it. Kumo can say he's immortal all he wants but Kain still knows he can feel pain. He has a working nervous system and a conscious mind and so therefore he can still suffer just the same. Cid doesn't want his friends to be hurt, Cid says it does something to him and Kain finds himself silently agreeing.

And maybe there's a limit, maybe Unlimited isn't entirely an accurate word, because if Kumo is slowing down... if Kumo is not healing quickly, if he is intrinsically tied to the Maken-

"... Does... does the Magun work like the Maken, Cid? Is it part of Black Wind just like the Maken is part of Kumo?"

He never said he wouldn't tell anyone about the condition of that blade. He never promised that. And even if he had, it's something he'd be willing to break right now because if the Magun is still in perfect condition then something is deeply wrong and he needs to tell Cid about it. He can't just let Kumo get hurt worse and worse and worse.

"And- and is it... damaged like the Maken is? Because... because I... Kumo left the Maken alone with me for a minute, and there's a chip on one side and... I'm really scared about it. Does the Maken heal itself too?"

There was no denying the presence of that blade, contained in brilliant crystal. He had never believed in any specific deity, not truly, until he had been left alone with her. And though he is not made of Mist, though Lady Tiamat is not over the domain of people like him, he has thought of her and worried for her every night since then. He did not understand whatever was conveyed by her while he was reaching for the handle, but that chip... is she hurting too? Is Kumo in pain?

He can barely stomach the thought. Hopefully Cid will have a better answer, but... he's starting not to think any of Cid's answers right now are good news.

"I'm worried too."

[stackslip]

like i'm all about critiquing the execution of 03's ending and how sloppy cos is as an actual conclusion bc there's stuff that can be excused (the rushed production and cancelled final season and how little time/money they had and how much stress they were under) and stuff that can't (i love terminarcher objectively but it is deeply silly; winry's arc should have been concluded; imo it could have been executed better as much as i love the themes and ever since i learned of the original plan to finish the show in liore again i have been dying about it; cos is frankly a disaster on the amestrian side and nothing about the way it treats roy and riza makes sense except that the military are fan favourites who HAD to be in the big budget shounen movie)

but you cannot, for the love of everything holy, tell me with a straight face that manga/brotherhood's ending is better, nevermind perfect. like is it all tied up neatly. yes it is and herein lies the issue, again, bc it's so desperate to be a good happy ever after for everyone that it chooses to ignores the most vile implications of many characters' fates and plot threads' endings just so the Designated Good Guys can get domestic married and roy can be a benevolent military dictator. i've even seen people say that bh's ending inherently values winry more because she gets married to ed and settles and has babies with him. and yknow for how fucking messy the ending of 03 is, and how much of a weird mixed bag of a follow-up cos is too, for how out of context it SOUNDS weird but really if you've actually been following the plot and themes it fits perfectly, the ending to 03 is actually thematically coherent with its themes from the very beginning and drives home all its most salient points as hard as it can.

like sure the ending to brotherhood is much simpler and effective but you think about it for more than like five minutes and want to throw up. roy uses the souls of ishbalans to heal his eyes and becomes the fucking führer. ed and al have done nothing wrong ever. all the evil of the amestrian military comes from this Big Alien Bad Guy who Just Felt Powerless and when he's gone amestris is now a benevolent society that just happens to use ishbal as a frontier colony. scar wails and sobs about how evil he was for killing the people who actively participated in the genocide of his people while being scowled by an amestrian soldier. winry gets a domestic het ending. ling is gonna be cool emperor now and i guess mei can just deal with it. did any of the women ever really matter bc i keep being told brotherhood is a feminist masterpiece but what do any of them do besides return to the status quo with their boyfriend/husband/master or get domesticated and then olivier keeps being a fascist girlboss i guess. yay happy ending and don't you dare think about it deep it's not THAT deep, says the same crowd that calls og fma an anti imperialist masterpiece and a perfect series

meanwhile no matter how much 03 stumbles it legitimately feels like it's taking a look at all of these contradictions within the manga and slowly strangles them to death while looking you dead in the eye. THERE IS NO WAR THAT DOES NOT CONCERN US, ALCHEMY AND YOUR VISION OF PROGRESS ARE BASED ON MASS DEATH AND ATROCITIES, YOU CANT SAVE THE WORLD SINGLE HANDEDLY BUT THAT IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT FACING THAT WORLD FOR WHAT IT IS AND STILL CHOOSING TO TRY TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BETTER. and then i have to hear all about how grimdark and supposedly lacking in hope it is when it literally ends on the realization that you cannot separate yourself from the world or ignore its issues you have a duty to it and it is bigger than your dreams or selfishness. anyhow

[raucous-cacophony]

thinking a lot about fullmetal alchemist and due to the power of my adhd being medicated i have a lot to say about it

(i finally started reading the manga after having watched FMA:B a few times)

(spoilers below cut)

i didn't really pick up on this before, it's really hitting hard how the core theme of FMA is Hiromu Arakawa trying to process the trauma of growing up in post-war Japan, thinking as a child that their country is just and right and good, and then slowly discovering the extent of Japan's war crimes and the depravity and evil that the country sunk to during the war. (there are MANY. Unit 731 seems particularly relevant to Marcoh's philospher's stone research). and discovering how, at the end of the war, Japan's leadership was fully willing to sacrifice the civilian lives of the entire country to maintain their own personal glory (lots of similarities to The Father's plan to destroy all of Amestris in order to achieve godhood).

and like, in that context, Edward/Alphonse and Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye are such brilliant foils for eachother. both Edward and Roy Mustang are incredibly driven people with no fear of personal pain that are willing to do absolutely anything to achieve their own goals and better Amestris. but Edward is young, and hot-blooded, and a loose cannon, and (at the start) unaware of the evils committed in Amestris's name. and he gets angry when he discovers those. meanwhile, Mustang is older, and more measured and much more constrained by the military hierarchy he's operating in, and he directly helped commit many of the war crimes that Amestris perpetrated. but he's racked with guilt over the innocent lives he's taken, and rather than drifting through Amestris solving problems as they come up (like Edward), he's fully committed to working within Amestris's evil fascist dictatorship and pulling wires behind the scene in order to become the supreme leader of Amestris and make the government more righteous with the full power of an entire country behind him.

I've got less to say about Alphonse and Riza Hawkeye, but they both are committed to Edward/Mustang to the point of death. both Alphonse and Riza are more level-headed than their partners, will do anything to protect them, and have gone through a lot of personal pain in order to help them achieve their ultimate goals. Neither Edward nor Roy would be where they are without Alphonse or Riza's help. Both Alphonse and Riza were active partners in the sins their respective duos committed (human transmutation and war crimes). and, even separated from their partners, both Alphone and Riza are incredibly capable individuals that are more than able to hold their own.

this extends to the character design. look at how Edward and Mustang mirror eachother in their hair (bangs in particular) and angry expression

and look at how Alphonse and Riza mirror eachother -- also in their hair and their large, expressive eyes

what an incredible piece of art. love seeing the amount of love and care that went into this.

(P.S. Royai is like peak relationship goals. i want what they have)

(P.P.S. there's a lot of depictions of common people as honest, good, hardworking, and faithful people that are trapped in horrible machines beyond their control, esp. in the first few chapters (the Leto arc, the mining town arc). i really like how Arakawa goes out of her way to absolve the common people of the sins of their circumstances. it's good stuff)

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

This image perfectly articulates why most "Ishvalan Elrics" AUs are trash.

You know someone's grasp on racist systems are total dogshit when they make "what if we changed nothing else in this story about racial oppression but instead race swapped the racial majority/white characters to the oppressed ethnicity instead" stories. Classic "what if Indigenous people from [insert European-colonized lands here] colonized Europe instead? 🤪" type of crap. Or "What if the anti-Nazi resistance attacked a Jewish Nazi collaborator? Wouldn't that be fucked up on the part of the resistance?"

So Ed's Ishvalan now. Ok. Still grew up in Resembool? Alright, how would he have been treated by the Amestrian villagers? Given the blowback the village suffered due to Amestris' occupation and its destruction of Ishval, do they share a similar (racist) point of view to canon White Ed? Does Ishvalan Ed still blame Ishvalans for that too? If so, why? If not, why? Does he still think that the minor harm Resembool suffered (which is still Amestris' fault) compare whatsoever to full scale occupation, genocide, and ethnic cleansing? If not, why? If so, why? Why would he tamper with alchemic taboos given potential changes to how he was raised (for example, an Ishvalan Trisha may not have encouraged her boys to practice alchemy whatsoever)? And given that he has automail in the above image, meaning he does try to remake his mom, why then would Ishvalan Ed even consider becoming a State Alchemist to restore himself and Al? Would he even be allowed to join the military after the State disbarred, imprisoned, and executed serving Ishvalans? How hyper fucked would """good guy""" Mustang have to be to see a newly amputated Ishvalan child and think "Yeah, I want them to suffer within the military that wants him dead." How would Ishvalan Ed react to other Ishvalans, especially after learning the depths of the horrors that had been committed against them?

It's already clear that the majority of Ishvalan Elric AUs, particularly those that change nothing but their race, cannot grapple with any of these questions. But Scar here reveals the heavier racism within the fandom.

Scar is shown here attacking Ed no differently than he would the white child soldier of canon. Why wouldn't his tact change in response to encountering an Ishvalan teen being exploited by the State? Why would you race-swap this scene to instead depict Ishvalan retribution against an Ishvalan, with the implicit sympathy framed towards the Ishvalan fascist child soldier?

Why does this fandom so ardently believe that Scar's actions were so unprincipled?

The ugly truth that we see throughout the fandom is that people not only revile the violence of resistance when enacted by the oppressed, but they specifically buy into the propaganda that resistance fighters/revolutionaries, notably those who are also racialized and combatting that axis of oppression, are actually mindlessly violent monsters who simply conduct wanton violence in every direction, their own people be damned. And mangahood's canon already villainizes Scar this way, so the fans simply extend it to these stupid fucking Ishvalan Elrics/Riza/Mustang/every other Amestrian under the sun AUs.

To this fandom, Scar is just violent for violence's sake, an out of control 'terrorist' who would murder a random Ishvalan infant without a second thought if he found a state alchemist's watch clutched in their hands. And what's more, he doesn't get the extremely dubious 'benefit' of the "shoot and cry" excuse that the light skinned fascists get in canon.

Those soldiers don't need redemption arcs because despite how many Ishvalan children they slaughtered, they already felt sad about it. But Scar in an Ishvalan Elrics AU ala the drowned post? He wouldn't shed a tear if he inexplicably attacked an Ishvalan kid. Because "both sides".

[symphonicsoul]

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ "For one, true immortality does exist and while I really wish it didn't, I can promise you I have a very reliable source to tell you that it does. It's a curse placed upon any man but more over The Unlimited. Tasked with keeping that beast at bay for all eternity. I can't say I'm a fan."

His voice is groaning as it drags out of him. Hands folded in his lap around the glass of water that exists within them and he rests there for a moment against the propped up pillows at the head of his bed with his eyes closed. This whole room is much too bright for his liking.

"Chaos cannot die because it is impossible to truly slay a being that feeds on the negative emotions of living beings."

His words come bluntly as his eyes fail to open as he speaks. There is a long breath pulled into pressurized lungs only for mist coated lips to part and a thin stream of white to fall from them and into his lap. He's positive that if he just speaks plainly Miss Leota will understand. Of all the humans he's had to speak to in recent days she seems to be the one who is clocking the fastest - no offense intended to the others. They are just ruled so strongly by their emotions and she seems to be ruled by other things. Like facts and numbers. Equations and Math.

Opettaja Aamunkoitto would have adored her no doubt. Surely they could have had quite the conversation.

"So to assume Chaos can be equated to whatever monsters exist in your Amestris is not only brash but foolish. Wonderland at it's essence is Chaos. That is why the beast allows pieces of the worlds it consumes to survive. That is why it traps us here. We're only here to allow that beast to continue to feed with each and every nasty emotion we feel and the Unlimited being here only amplifies the problem."

He's sighing again, more of the thing white substance floating into the air only to sink down to the ground and hover just over the floor as it appears from seemingly nowhere. His head hurts too much for this but he told her he would answer all her questions if she helped him get back to this damnable prison cell that Cid insists is his room...he supposes it's better than Gaudium.

"So I really need you to get the idea that any of you Amestrians could do anything to harm it out of your head." His voice is blunt as he continues to lay there, eyes never shifting to face her as he pauses to take a long drink from the glass still nestled within his grip.

"It's arrogance at it's finest, and bluntly put, it's exhausting. If simply finding a core was all it took we would have done it by now and then neither of us would be in the nasty predicament we've landed ourselves in. It makes it sound like we haven't been doing anything and I can assure you, Miss Leota, that is hardly the case."

Somehow this conversation seems to have gotten a little bit personal all too quickly. Perhaps there's more that the cloud isn't saying....

―  🜛  ―  not one to miss the opportunity to learn regardless of current feelings, she stretched out her fingertips and began combing her hair back in idle thought. Again and again. Combing. Again and again. Absorbing. Inhaling information like a bird seeking the touch of the skies, taking in each bit and guiding it beneath her wings. Soaring higher toward the sun. Perhaps to any other person taking in these words, it would be too much to handle at once  ―  had that been the reason he had spoken to her with such irritation? Surely by now he realized that she was not so common a whelp that simple explanations would harm her more basic functions. That her mind would swell and crack through the cranium? 

Somehow, like that wind beneath her wings, this too only adds to her need for heights even higher still. She continues her pacing as he speaks of these problems, taking it in as if each word had been writ as a tattoo upon her mind. No different than sitting within a classroom . . . the genre of that subject regardless, she takes it in. Once taken, it is kept. Even if it's not information that she particularly agrees with, it's best to understand the people she's dealing with. 

The thoughts continue to swirl around on her walk toward the chair for further rest ―  Chaos is not an 'it' or a figurative entity, but a 'he'. A world devourer that holds a physical form. Understood. This person ruled over Wonderland from . . . space? Inconceivable. Immortality? Something that can be killed but not permanently? 'We' have killed Chaos, but he doesn't remain dead. That he is just as immortal as the Unlimited . . . could she perhaps be going too far with his words to piece together that 'WE' could mean 'Unlimited', as in 'White Cloud, is an Unlimited who can only kill this Chaos'? A remark for later. At the very least, her ears seemed to perk up at his description of the immortal Chaos.

     " Hah. From the water to the monsters, ey? "     Truly. It was almost laughable how similar this world was to her own. The Alchemist slouched in her chair, arms hanging off the armrest like a bored child, but it was not a sign of disrespect from her. At least not this time. So now she speaks, smiling while concentrating at a spot on the ceiling and waving her arms about. Wafting in the waters of disbelief and attempts to understand this ludacris world. 

     " For one. True immortality does not exist. Where I am from, there were indeed beings to which I presumed such. I was young, before the massacre in my homeland, before my eyes had been opened to what Alchemy was truly capable of. I believed them immortal. And yet, they were felled and never came back with much effort put behind it. Roy Mustang, for example. . . "    her lips parted to parrot the story that Wrath had told her, but they closed when remembering that Roy was already here and would most likely be best to retell it himself. After all, he was directly involved. Weary arms rise and fall across her eyes to shield the light. Humming in thought.

    " Mm. No. Best let him regale you with that story another time. Regardless of the storyteller, what exists cannot exist for all time. By what reason does Chaos return after he is killed? For the Homunculi, it had been their inner core that was reviving them. And when that core had been destroyed, so were they. Its power, out-powered. And so on. By the amalgamation of worlds here, surely, surely there is some bit of power that can render the deathless to oblivion? "  

[alchemic-elric]

In reference to ( x )

⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ Cloud Fluff was fuckin' missing. It's been two god damn days and he hasn't shown his fuckin' face at all. This wasn't like him. This wasn't like him at all. Where was that stupid sonnavabitch?

The blond is racking his brain trying to think of what could have happened when the dumbass said he was only going to be out for a few hours. He didn't die, did he? No. He's immortal...but he's royalty and they gotta worry about like assassinations and shit like that right? Did he get abducted? Royalty has to worry about that bullshit too, don't they?

But seriously, who would want him? He's just going to set there and complain about Sunglasses and ramble on and on for hours until he finally gets hungry and whines for sugar. He doesn't know what the motive is here, but that sounds fuckin' annoying to him. Like Cloud Fluff is a good guy, but damn the fucker could talk.

And on that note, maybe that was all that this was. Fucker got so caught up in conversation that he stayed for dinner and spent the night. Really, he wouldn't put it past him. But it was a fucking problem now because that asshole has papa and all the other Mistericans in an uproar and it makes him wonder for a moment why Cloud Fluff didn't take along that Revon guy. He was supposed to be his guard, wasn't he?

He didn't know the details of the entire situation. Maybe he did. He didn't fucking know. All he knows is that spear boy is just about losing his fucking mind trying to figure out where Cloud Fluff ran off to. Sunglasses isn't here either. Both those fuckers have just up and gone missing. Maybe they're together. Who fuckin' knows? Woulda been fuckin'nice to get told though.

He's meandering his way through this palace (and damn he never thought he'd be living in one of these fuckers but Cloud Fluff insists) to find his brother because maybe he's been able to figure more out than he has because right now the elder of the Elric pair is coming up with a whole lotta nu'hin'.

"Yo." He sounds towards the (much to his dismay) taller blond causing a pair of nearly matching golden eyes to turn in his direction and face him. "You seen Cloud Fluff anywhere? Ev'rybody's freakin' the fuck out."

There is a frown pulled onto pale lips as the younger sighs for a moment and blond brows stitch themselves upward in half worry-half annoyance.

"No Brother, White Cloud has been missing for two days. No one knows where he is and he's made no contact since he left the other morning to check on sector 73. He said he'd only be gone a few hours but he needed to go speak with a few towns personally. He should have been back by now."

"Yeah well, all this worryin' he's got ev'rybody doin' is fuckin' dumb. 'e's bein' real heavy headed 'er whatev'r the hell 'e's always sayin' is. Ei'her way 'e's bein' a fuckin' idiot."

"Aren't you worried?"

"No." The elder replies plainly. "You know what that asshole can do just as well as I do. Fucker took down like god or some shit a few years ago. You really wanna fuck with that? You think anyone wants to fuck with that? Fuck. No. I don't and I don't think any sane mother fucker does either. Cloud Fluff is a nice guy and all but that bastard is a walking army. I don't think anyone is stupid enough to cross him."

Alphonse's arms cross over his chest and he frowns a little deeper as he thinks about it all for the moment.

"And we have the ability to manipulate basically anything with our bare hands and you know full well that people still mess with us being fully aware of this fact."

"---God Dammit Al. Are you trying to make me worry?"

"No. I'm trying to get you to see reason, because I know you like him quite a bit and I don't want you to either numb yourself to it and ignore it or panic yourself silly like Dad's doing. We need sharp minds to tackle this, so I think we should take a couple chocobos and investigate. We know he was in sector 73. So at least we know where to start asking questions."

The elder is groaning as he listens, mismatched arms crossed over his chest in half annoyance as he does.

"God I fucking hate it when you're right. Let's go. Everyone else is too busy losing their heads over this. Someone needs to find his dumbass."

"So it would be counterproductive if we lost ours. C'mon brother let's go."

[commander-revan]

I was talking with my partner earlier about how I prefer reading manga over American comic books, since manga is typically written by one person all the way through, so it's easier to tell if I'm actually interested in the story or characters in a series enough to continue it. While with comics, if there's a character I like there's always several different writers' runs of that character and I might only prefer a handful of people's interpretations of those character's arcs and stories, so it can be a bit harder to get into.

However, I kinda wish we could have that with My Hero, given how hard Horikoshi dropped the ball at the very end. I'd be so curious to see how maybe Oda (One Piece) would handle the social political commentary and how hero society would have changed after the Final War since Horikoshi brought up so many flaws within that system and how it failed people, and then changed literally nothing in the end.

Or, I'd fucking love to see how Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist) would have handled the League of Villains' fates since while Scar was a murderer and antagonist at the start of FMA, he had very fucking valid points against the government (given the genocide and all) and then later in the epilogue he had become an important figure working to make peace between Amestris and Ishval. I think she could have done a lot with the League's issues with society and have them work with the heroes to change things so what happened to them wouldn't happen again. (She definitely would have handled the heteromorph discrimination issues better than Horikoshi did.) And I'd love to see her rewrite the entire Todoroki family subplot as a whole. I think she'd actually make Endeavor suffer consequences for his horrific actions, and Rei and Fuyumi would have much more prominent roles, as they should. (Can't believe we never get to see Touya talk to/apologize to Rei when that was the first thing he wanted to do after he woke up from his coma. Especially when she's the main one who saved him in the end, besides Shoto.)

All this to say, I don't think I'll ever stop being pissed off about the end of My Hero. I've read a lot of finished manga lately, and while not all of them have ended the way I prefer, and I usually have things I would have liked to see more of or characters I thought could have had more screentime/development, I don't feel anywhere near as angry and betrayed by those writing decisions as I do with this.