#automail freak and alchemy freak

[zumazozuma]

Hey. FMA Fandom. I freaking did it ok.

Lan Fan's *FULL* automail design from the manga? Yeah. It now finally exists.

Please accept this humble offering as fanon:

NOW EVERYONE DRAW HER!!!

ARAKAWA I HOPE YOU'RE PROUD!!!!!!!

Edit: I thought I'd leave some manga panels to point out a few things I don't have the skills to successfully translate in this ref sheet!

Explanations under the cut!

The armor plates on the shoulder are bigger than what I drew (I tried to put them at an angle but they just look smaller lol) I recommend just enlarging the top plate from the middle! It's supposed to hide most of the upper arm.

If you draw her in full uniform, she of course has bandages and that cool spiky leather strand around her wrist. The spiky knuckles appear to be a separate accessory as well.

The automail isn't all open right on top of the forearm, but on its side, as you'll see in the manga panels. I should've drawn the hand seen from the side but I wanted to show the screw on top of it beheheh.

The thought process behind Lan Fan's automail appears to focus on being as light as possible so that she can keep fighting with speed. Compared to Ed's very solid and armored automail to be as enduring as possible, Lan Fan's trades durability for lightness!

The mechanism for the hidden blade is basically just rings inside the fingers, to which are attached wires that are tethered close to a tiny hook. My thought process behind this is that we most likely want to avoid accidentally unsheathing the blade, so LF has to literally reach for it! It's a safety measure, but I also like that it makes her do a hand move kinda similar to Scar's whenever he's about to use his alchemy/alkahestry destruction for an attack!

For the port, have fun with it! I tried my best to give it an interesting look but I struggled with giving it a 3D metal feel. I focused more instead on where the support would be since the port can't be drilled on most of the chest. Drilled on the back it is!

Finally, if you notice the tiny lock I inserted in the simplified design, no it's not made to render the arm immovable; rather it's just there to secure the automail in the port. You know, during the process to connect the nerves. You attach the little wires, screw the bolts, and lock it all in neatly!

With this, I hope everyone will have fun drawing Lan Fan's full automail! It may not be canon, but it's at least better than nothing! So many art pieces just hide her automail because of that lack of reference, so I hope I helped change that!

(Note: the scars I gave LF on her right shoulder and left side aren't canon either. I saw an art piece way back when and somehow convinced myself that I just had never noticed in the show lol. But you can't tell me the bodyguard to a prince that canonically survived a bunch of assassination attempts wouldn't have a scar or two!!)

NOW DRAW YOUR HEARTS AWAY!!!

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

If you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top favorite fics that you've written (feel free how much that you want to list)? Why they're special to you? Is there a specific inspiration when you wrote them?

Oh this is such a fun question, no one's ever asked me this before! Okay ummm... in no particular order because these are special to me in different ways ー

A Fangirl's Dream (still in-progress, I'm just slow TAT)

Ivy has it rough. She's no anime fan or FMA fan. But when she somehow crosses the gate, she finds herself in the worst possible position: a protagonist of an Another World fic trope. And between the alchemy, automail, lack of plot knowledge, and struggling with her attraction to a pretty blonde mechanic, Ivy reluctantly teams up with the main characters in her journey to get home.

This is a fic years in the making and I'm not talking about how the little hiatus it is in. This was a fic I started working on in about middle school as a pair of sister stories that I deleted on an old FFN account. It was going to be some sister stories about two friends that end up in FMA at different times before their stories coincided with one another and they crossed paths in their separate adventures in Amestris.

One friend was an established fan of FMA and the other wasn't an anime fan at all. AFD covers the journey of the friend who isn't a fan of anime in general, having only watched a handful (NANA, Naruto, DBZ). FMA, is not one of them.

In middle school these fics were going to be EdOC for AFD and for Swept Away (SwAy) it was going to be LingOC because at the time, those were the characters I was most obsessed with.

A handful of years back I decided 'you know what, I'm going to rewrite AFD and SwAy and finish them no matter how long it freaking takes!!!!' And in the process, new ships evolved and different journeys for the OCs, Ivy (AFD) and Akasha (SwAy) were developed. Ivy and Winry had such good chemistry, imo, that I decided to shift the story to be about them whereas I had more of a darker descent planned for Akasha who couldn't distinguish that while these were characters she knew and loved, they are real living people in front of that won't act according to the scripts she's crafted in fanfiction's passed.

I'm hoping to get back to writing some chapters for this soon so I can finish AFD and finally starting working on SwAy and make past me proud to have finished them.

The Different Rules of Summer

‘Okay so you think ghosts are fake but totally think that bigfoot and mothman are real?’ Lance scribbled furiously on the piece of paper in total disbelief. ‘Ghosts are total BS, man’ Keith look disinterested. ‘This is why you’re single' Lance didn’t expect that his summer vacation would be spent at a library arguing with his deaf co-worker about why cryptids totally aren’t real. Keith volunteers at a library to keep himself out of trouble while his brother works. The worst part of his day? Explaining to some moron why Mothman is definitely a real entity and why the first moon landing was fake. Funny enough, this is the highlight of both of their summers.

This was such a fever dream of a time to write but in the best way possible. VLD was still ongoing and thing going on in my mind was that I wanted to write a multi-chaptered fic and finish it. So I decided to make a personal challenge for myself that I was going to write a fic with 40 chapters for 40 days.

1 chapter everyday, it didn't matter how long each chapter was as long as I wrote one.

Beginning, middle, end. And I did it. Some days I was cutting it close and it felt like a chore to push the chapter out but I did it. I wrote 40 chapters in 40 days, 1 chapter a day and I'm really proud of myself for doing that. I honestly lwk recommend other people try out this sort of challenge themselves if they're ever up to it and have the time!

So I drafted up 40 chapters to write in the draft, some dumb but memorable titles for said chapters and got to writing and wow did this story unexpected blow up? I was not expecting this story to become as popular as it did but it was so fun to write and talk to the people reading it. Especially the Deafies who found the fic and thought I was accurately portraying Keith's experience as being Deaf.

It's not perfect, there's a lot of mistakes and clumsy writing but I fucking did that and no one can take this away from me.

Man is the Breast, Heaven is the Playground + A Blazing Star Sought Refuge in my Chest

(csm manga spoilers ahead)

You might be the only one in your division not utterly smitten with your partner, Makima. Call it disinterest, call it being observant that her smiles never reach her eyes. Either way, you have no interest in bridging the gap between you both. But one day, an attempt is made, and it isn’t by you. + Your contract was simpleー the Control Devil would not use her powers on you, you just needed to stay with her forever.

My beloved Makima duology that someone on twt deadass tried stealing and passing off as theirs. That shit aside though, wow did I love writing these.

At the time, I was really frustrated by the state of the Makima x Reader tag. Because it was usually just Dom Makima smut. Which, there's nothing wrong with that but because what I wanted to read was something that explored the depth of Makima's character, the goals that motivated her terrible actions in the manga and the loneliness that wracked her sense of self..... I decided that I wanted to read that story, I would have to write it myself.

So I did. And because people loved HBHP so much, I felt inspired to write a sequel that included Nayuta.

A lot of love and care when into writing these stories and it makes me happy when I still see people reading them if they find them in the tag. I didn't expect to like writing for Makima as much as I did, I honestly want to write more concerning her if I'm being honest. I do have a WIP on that right now, it's just taking forever to get my vision just right...

The Summer Moon Was Born to be Loved pt 1 + The Summer Moon Was Born to be Loved pt 2

You got pregnant and the ghost of university days past finds out five years later.

Months in the making as there was a lengthy hiatus between both chapters but this was something I had a lot of fun writing. I wanted to write my own spin on a trope I've seen established and simply wanted to write it well. I had been talking with a friend of mine about it and we discussed how we thought the events would go with different characters from Mitsuya and Hanma from TokRev to Nanami and Gojou from JJK. I thought as far JJK went, Gojou had the potential for most mess and decided to write a story involving him.

And in that, I ended up including a lot of one of my favorite things in the world: the ocean. Utilizing oceanography terminology to showcase the emotional states of the characters, the events happening between chapters, I had a lot of fun doing that.

And I think that I had a pretty clear and concise ending as well. So yes, another personal favorite for sure!

Lost Girl (in progress)

Believing your father’s concerns as the last black family living in the secluded mountains of Wall Maria to be simple paranoia, a you naively set out on YOUR own to discover the world and what it truly holds. Yet after encountering another family secluded in the mountains, the Ackermans, you realize that maybe his concerns weren’t so unfounded in the terrifying yet beautiful reality you live in. Befriending their daughter, a fellow survivor in what it means to be the last of their kind, you find your path leading to the horrors of the Fall of Maria and the 103rd Cadet Corps.

Not my most popular series but one I'm updating slowly nonetheless.

This story has had multiple incarnations. UtSD ver 1 was an OC fic before I turned it into a reader-insert. But version 3 came as LG, another reader-insert but one I think is more polished.

My inspiration for making this was simple. I wanted more Mikasa fic content out there and I wanted to read a fanfiction story where the OC/reader in question were black like me. It's something that's permeated through my brain since high school back when we knew little of where SNK was heading as a story.

What would it be like if you were living in the Walls and black? How would your treatment fair, the beliefs bloomed about you and your kind? Especially if you're decidedly the last of your kind within the Walls. And the comfort that may possibly come from having some sort of like you except not quite.

I don't care if people who aren't black also read this story and partake in the adventure. All I care about is writing something everyone can enjoy, especially if they're someone like me or if they want to read something different.

I hope to one day see more unapologetically POC OC and reader-inserts scattered about the tags alongside ethnically ambiguous ones. I personally usually write ethnically ambiguous characters so everyone can enjoy my fics by not specifying hair texture, saying that your cheeks warmed instead of blushing and things like that. But sometimes, I wanna write something that's really just for me.

Se réjouir, se réjouir

The sun; Neuvillette is the sun. And Furina? She’s not fit to even be the moon. There is a surprising loneliness to freedom.

Wrote this some days after after the 4.2 patch update and finishing the Fontaine AQ. This was a ship I fell quite head over heels with and I had a lot of thoughts in my head about them that I decided to get out of my head by writing something up for them.

I talked about the dynamics that I liked between Neuvillette and Furina already and all the coinciding NeuviFuri material Mihoyoverse was shilling out with their commissions wasn't helping my brainrot either.

For something I pretty much shot out not too long after the update when live, I think I did a pretty damn good job. I had fun with the dynamics and trying to dig into the brain of the characters.

A Little Pain (still in progress even more slowly than AFD)

At the age of 7, there were a few things Hinata Hyuga was sure of. One, her father, Hiashi Hyuga, was the strongest shinobi she knew. Second, just the thought of her having to one day make decisions for her entire clan terrified her beyond belief. Third, her younger sister Hanabi, at the age of 2, was very easy to impress. Hinata Hyuga never wanted to lead her Clan and when she is stripped of her title and essentially an outcast in her home, she finds solace in the brief comforts of a pink-haired girl named Sakura. Though little did Hinata know that losing her heiress title would send her life spiraling down a path of self discovery, bravery, and the realization that changing yourself is a possibility is the most powerful jutsu of all. But... perhaps stopping yourself from fainting whenever you happen to be around your crush is a start. And convincing the entirety of Konoha that it's first all-kunoichi team won't be a complete and total failure should be prioritized before any of that.

Another one of my 'I started this in high school' stories that has been through a rewrite and I'm trying to finish little by little. SakuHina is one of my favorite Naruto ships, has been for years and as someone who has been reading over a decade of Naruto fanfic tropes, I've seen my fair share of 'what if A was on Team 7' fics.

(Here's a post I have on that lmao from my old blog before it got accidentally axed)

So I decided to write my own version of that but the new team in question is Konoha's very first all-kunoichi team. Also, Hinata has a crush on Sakura this time around instead of Naruto. And boy do I have a lot planned for this story, I'm excited every time I get back to my google docs and get to typing little by little.

[kiingleoturtles]

Explaining Elicia's Frostbite Alchemy

Okay fellas I'm finally making a post explaining the science of Elicia Hughes' alchemy technique which currently appears in two of my fics (Satisfaction as well as Simple and Clean) so let's start this.

Quick shout out to @kaethefangirl for helping me work out some of this stuff and designing the transmutation circle below

Elicia's frostbite alchemy is an adaptation of Roy's flame alchemy, but whereas his has a triangle (three points for the three elements needed to make fire - oxygen heat fuel), her's has a pentagon (five points) for the five elements needed to make a glacier:

90% water

9% oxygen

1% hydrogen

0.1% carbon

0.01% nitrogen

Her alchemy can be used to create ice and mostly uses her own breath to do so, given the fact that breath is a mixture of oxygen and water molecules so she can form ice from thin air!

However, she is also a little freak (probably from losing her dad at a young age and attempting human transmutation to bring him back and then joining the military when that failed) so she also tends to freeze the blood in people's veins. Some of the chemical components of blood include hydrogen and oxygen, so her alchemy can be used to freeze blood.

Her alchemy is similarly activated to Roy's (another thing due to basing her technique off of his) and so subsequently she uses alchemy gloves with the transmutation circle from earlier on them. Although it is harder to snap with her left hand (automail) she has gloves for both hands.

Speaking of her automail, it's made in the same style as Briggs automail is so as not to freeze over (although if you've read enough of Satisfaction you'll know that didn't work when her alchemy backfired on her).

Being both fifteen years old and the inventor of this new type of alchemy, Elicia does find it hard to control so sometimes just does regular transmutations instead but she likes to try and impress her uncle Roy occasionally by using her new alchemy (he's still upset she tried human transmutation though).

And that's all I can think of for now! But if anyone has any more questions then my ask box is always open and I'd love to chat about it!

[imorphemi]

Today on Morph brainrot hours: Hermitcraft FMA AU!

except its kinda only Boatem and also Gem and kind of Skizz because. There's too many hermits I can't accurately au them sorryyyy

So! Role call!

Pearl - Lieutenant Colonel Seyche Pearl, the Shifting Earth Alchemist. She became a State Alchemist before the Ishvalan Civil War and joined eventually joined the war. She was assigned to protect the military doctors. After the war, she was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and transferred to Central, where she now does field work and assists with the alchemical laboratory research efforts, specifically with Gem.

Gem - Major General Taylor Gemini, the Mending Alchemist. She was one of the top military doctors during the war, not just for her skill in the medical field but also in the literal warzone. Though she wasn't involved in the work with Philosopher Stones, she did hear rumors about it from the other doctors. She started researching bio-alchemy, earned her State Alchemist license, and eventually became head of the 4th Laboratory.

Impulse - Major Stevens Impulse. Impulse transferred from East to Central shortly after the war and came under Pearl's command. Old friends with Grian, Scar, and Skizz back from the military academy and through the war. He frequently accompanies Gem and Pearl, who are...notoriously bad at watching their backs.

Grian - The Windstorm Alchemist, I haven't decided on his real name yet but most people just call him by his title. Became a State Alchemist right before state alchemists were called in to Ishval and Impulse, Skizz, and Scar came under his command. Some time after the war ended, Grian decided to remain a State Alchemist for research opportunities and transferred to Central, coming under Pearl's command. Both of his arms are automail.

Near the end of the Ishvalan Civil War, Skizz died during a skirmish. Impulse did not take this very well and was transferred to Central not long after the war ended. Grian and Scar blamed themselves for Skizz's death because Grian was his CO and Scar's negligence was partially the cause of his death (though Grian would argue otherwise). While Scar was not a state alchemist, he does know alchemy.

So Grian and Scar decide to bring Skizz back to life. With predictable results. The rebound cost Grian's arms and Scar's legs. The two managed to drag themselves to Mumbo's workshop, leaving the poor man to freak out over his two friends who are both missing half their limbs.

Mumbo, with some help from his boss Tango, makes Grian and Scar new automail limbs. Scar decides to resign from the military and chills in Rush Valley with Mumbo, but Grian continues with his research.

After Grian transfers to Central, he, Gem, Pearl, and Impulse make some headway into Gem's investigation about Philosopher Stones, discovering the passageway under Lab 4 leading the Lab 5. Gem and Pearl go in first, discovering a philosopher stone and barely escape with their lives, Grian and Impulse following them to give backup. Grian gets ahold of Marcoh's documents before the Library burns down and him, Gem, and Pearl all have an aneurysm trying to decode it. No one is happy with the results when they're done anyways.

Also this is all happening in tandem to the canon events of FMA. This is about all i have right now lol I just needed to spill these thoughts from my head XD thanks for reading

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 13

Ed finally got some comeuppance for how he acts.

Ed's automail dislocates right as he's about to fight Lust and Envy and Envy takes out Ed in one blow. As he falls unconscious we get a good shot of the mural in the room.

I had to try doing some research on it. Since I don't know Latin, I can't guess what the first bit of the mural is saying but I looked up the scene in the Brotherhood anime and the first half seems to be "patar abavo estcre ator". When I ran both parts through Google translate, it wasn't able to translate "FILTVS" but the rest translated to "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The contractor did not pay."

Now don't take me as any sort of authority on this; everything I'm about to describe came from Google searching Alchemy symbols. An upright triangle represents fire while a circle with a smaller circle in the center can mean the sun or gold. I don't know if there's any meaning behind the sun symbol inside the fire symbol though. Meanwhile, I think the symbols in the center of the star are supposed to be Mercury (the planet) which represent the mind and transcending death.

I also tried to see if the diamond quadrilateral has any meaning and the only thing I found was "soap". I don't think that's relevant.

Barry's taunts have gotten Al to the point he nearly lost their fight. And now it's putting a bit of strain on Al after the fact. Maria and Danny shot Barry in the hand.

The lab is destroyed and Barry escapes. Surely he won't come back into the story. The prisoners are freaking out over the explosion, except for one prisoner named Kimbley. That scene establishes he was involved in the Ishbal War. He has two transmutation circles on his palms.

On his right palm is the symbol for water and gold. On his left is the symbol for fire and silver.

After waking up in the hospital, Ed gets a good slap to the face and a lecture from Maria. He accepts that he deserved it. We also find out State Alchemists have the equivalent rank of Major.

This is a totally unimportant detail but I really liked it: The bandage on Ed's left arm is from the IV drip next to his bed.

Pinako totally knows Winry screwed up Ed's automail repairs.

Maybe the sun symbol in the fire symbol in the soap symbol represents propane cause it makes a clean-burning fire.

back

Spoiler Discussion

Along with what I said about the mural, Ed mentions in chapter 53 that the sun and moon represent the soul and spirit respectively, while the stone of the mural is the body. So the whole thing is a mural about the Philosopher's Stone. If my translation is accurate, the mural might represent bypassing the toll to accessing the Gate of Truth by using the Philosopher's Stone.

Envy took Ed out in one hit. Admittedly, Ed is already weak from blood loss, but Envy is far heavier than they look so that blow would have hit way harder than it looks.

Maria Ross pretty much said the whole moral of the story here. Ed lost his leg because of trying to use human transmutation. While Father mocked him as being forced to lose his ability to stand alone, I'd say a kinder interpretation is the Truth is demanding that Ed learn to rely on others and not do everything by himself.

[misfitsandmusings]

@whiskeysmulti // continued from here

She could hear it in his voice. Knew him far too well to suspect this chance visit was anything other than the latest in a line of calls he'd made to have her patch him up when... whatever he was up to led to the destruction of one of her beautiful automail works of art.

And she knew good and well that Edward 'Too Busy To Pick Up a Phone and Say Hello From Time to Time' Elric had not come all this way because he wanted to see her. "Yeah, right," the mechanic grumbled under her breath, one cheek puffing out in irritation as she folded her arms across her chest. "That'll be the day."

She wished he would venture this way just to see them from time to time. This close to the outskirts of the Ishvalan conflict and its many injured parties, there was work enough to keep Winry and her grandmother busy - usually. But even at their busiest, there was always time for the silence to creep in around her, and each time it did her thoughts would drift to the brothers on their adventures.

But as confident as Ed was that his mechanic would always be there to patch him back up, Winry was just as certain that that would never happen. Until those boys found a way to get their bodies back, it would be just her, Granny, and Den.

Her attention shifted back to the alchemist as he pulled off his signature cloak. Something between a strangled wail at the sight of her carefully crafted prosthetic in its damaged state and a gasp of horror as she considered what he must have been involved in to bust it up so badly escaped her chest.

The alchemy freak was very lucky she didn't have a wrench on her for once. "My beautiful automail!" Winry screeched. "Ed! What did you do this time?! How dare you mess up another of my wonderfully constructed works of art" Sapphire eyes fixed him with her most intense glower, but it was concern more than anything that glimmered in their depths. What were he and Al doing? They were going to get themselves killed!

[qs63]

You're right there is a lot we agree on, but also stuff where we differ, and that is a pretty cool thought experiment about text interpretation!

In terms of translation there's not much of a difference. In the Japanese manga Hohenheim roughly says: as for the organs that were taken away, it is the mark of your crime, therefore I can't put them back.

It's a little too vague for my taste. From Hohenheim's words alone he could totally mean he's physically unable to give her back her organs. That's what he's saying outright. I do think we have evidence elsewhere to prove that it's not exactly the case.

First I'll make a distinction between:

Human transmutation/the taboo

Alchemy healing/human transformation

Exchanging with Truth

I agree that you can't/mustn't create/replace something that has been taken away by Truth, or just any human flesh in general.

When Roy mentions he's going to create a charred corpse, Breda freaks out and asks if he's going to perform human transmutation. Roy responds something like: don't be silly I'm going to transmute something that fakes the appearance of a human corpse. The implication here is that even creating a human corpse would be trespassing. It makes sense, if alchemists could easily transmute body parts they wouldn't need automail. But it's not impossible to create flesh, the brothers did create that monster like body, the price is just way too heavy.

Healing is different, you can mend and transform stuff that already exists in the real world. Ie. Father fixing Ed's broken arm, Hohenheim rearranging Izumi's organs, Mai closing Riza's neck. But also transforming a human into a stone doesn't count as taboo, Marcoh hasn't been through the door, nor does transmuting a human into a chimera, Shou Tucker did not go through the door.

It's the act of creating flesh itself that's taboo.

So exchanging with Truth shouldn't count either. You're not creating flesh, you're just making an exchange. You won't go through the portal or have to pay a new toll by doing this. So the times the brothers saw truth while making an exchange and the times that people saw Truth after breaking the taboo are different circumstances.

Ed sort of explained this to Ling and Envy when he said he would commit the taboo again by recreating his own flesh, hoping the portal would open that way. He wasn't even sure it would work, because he didn't know whether deconstructing and recreating a living human being would satisfy the conditions for the taboo. It did work and Truth was happy to accept someone else's soul as payment in this case.

Regarding him not seeing the knowledge again. Well, he most likely did, we just don't see it outright. Arakawa didn't illustrate Roy, Izumi, or Hohenheim seeing the knowledge either. She doesn't have to. We know what happens thanks to the brothers, and she has other ways of showing us when the portal is being opened and when it's not.

The eye of truth, aka the true form of the portal.

When Ed gets Al's soul he doesn't go through the door, and there is no eye of truth. He performs a transmutation and we see Truth take his arm that's all. Same when Al gives Ed his arm back. He performs the transmutation and appears in the white space out of nowhere. The door is never shown to open. Not once we see the eye of truth in this scene. And again when Ed gets Al's body back. Ed performs a transmutation and appears in white space far from the door. The door does open at the end, but there's no eye of truth shown at any moment nor are they dragged away by the hands. The two of them just seem to go back to the real world, not through the portal aka the eye.

On the other hand the eye opens every single time a human transmutation is performed. It shows up with Hohenheim's and father's, with the brothers's, with Roy's, AND with Ed's second transmutation. The graphics for Ed's second transmutation and his first are actually quite similar, which is not the case any other time the brothers see Truth to exchange payment.

Below is also the contrast between Ed opening the door by committing the taboo (from within gluttony) and him going to see Truth to exchange payment (when getting Al's body back). There's no eye of truth, and he doesn't arrive through the door in the second scenario.

Arakawa seems to at least be trying to make a difference between committing the taboo and exchanging payment. Going to see Truth to exchange something does not seem to open the portal. So what Ed did inside of gluttony was 100% a second human transmutation with a new toll to be paid, both per Arakawa's drawing intention and Ed's own explanation. I think it's just hard to know what new knowledge he gained, if any, because he's already seen it once.

Yes, Truth accepting the stone here can be read as a contradiction to Hohenheim's words. That's why I interpret his "I can't" a bit more ambiguously. Like he can't do it because he doesn't agree with it. Or even, he can't do it because he can't afford to use any of the souls within him yet.

Otherwise you end up in a situation where the toll can and can't be paid by a stone. The stone was okay for Ed's second payment and Roy's retroactive one. So that's two scenarios vs Hohenheim vague words. And while it wasn't a stone, Al's retroactive payment wasn't personal either. He didn't lose his alchemy, Ed did. That's quite convenient for Al if the price to pay truly had to be personal. Or is Ed in God's eyes somehow completely responsible for both of their sins and that's why Al is allowed to get away without paying anything himself while other people can't?

Lol I don't know. Hohenheim being his usual unhelpful and enigmatic self is what makes sense to me.

I think one of the few genuine plotholes in Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood & Manga) is the fact that Roy Mustang can get healed by the Philosopher's Stone in the end.

Hear me out.

Quite often, when something isn't answered in the text of fma(b), the answer can still be procured by building up from the existing canon. The magic system of the world is solid and consistent enough for us to create very solid and coherent world building.

Which is why it always irked me in the end when the Stone works on Roy's eyes.

Why?

Because it is heavily implied that not even a Stone has the power to restore what was lost to the Gate. This is of course, not something we as the audience know or believe from the get-go. We are introduced to the Stone via the Elric brothers, who mostly just know that this mystical stone can do the unthinkable. The impossible.

But, as we later learn, not even the Stone can bring back the dead. Death is eternal and cannot be reversed. It is one of the hard truths of the show. No matter how much power you hold, you cannot bring back the dead.

Even Father's showing in the last fight, when he brings back the people of Xerxes, fails to actually deliver on Hohenheim's taunt of "creating life" - because he is just returning souls he already carries within him to the physical realm.

So, that's the first limitation of the Philosopher's Stone firmly established.

But there's a second one.

We know the Stone can heal - Marcoh uses it to heal countless people in his town, some even from deadly diseases and such. We see Father heal Edward's broken arm and create an entirely new arm for Alphonse after his got eaten. Edward uses his own soul like a Stone to close the wound in Baschool, so, yes, healing is firmly within the realms of the Stone.

It is probably far more effective than Alkehistry when it comes to healing, because it CAN ignore the boundaries of the body. I'd actually go so far and say that someone talented and medically knowledgeable could maybe even restore a limb with the help of a Philosopher's Stone. We've seen it do the impossible after all.

But I don't think a Philosopher's Stone could ever actually restore Ed's limbs. Not in the classical sense at least.

Why?

Because when Hohenheim encounters Izumi and tries to help her, he cannot restore her lost organs. He cannot walk that path for her. He can heal her - he rearranges her inner organs and heals the open wounds within her gut, probably giving her another ten years of healthier living, but he cannot return to her what is lost.

He also never offers Ed to give him his limbs back, even after everything has been revealed and they're preparing for the Promised Day.

(He does promise to sacrifice himself for Al in the end, but we'll get to that in a bit)

This is something the Elrics don't know - they don't know what Hohenheim did and did not do for Izumi. They believe, up to the end, that they could restore their bodies with a Philosopher's Stone, but they choose not to.

I think, actually, that Hohenheim might be the only one who knows that it is not possible.

Because what they have lost was a price paid for pushing past the boundaries of humanity, it is a punishment for arrogance just as much as it is a toll for knowledge gained. They didn't lose their organs during childbirth, their arms and legs on the battlefield. All of them walked into god's domain and paid the price.

It is the Unforgivable Sin, after all, the Ultimate Taboo.

This is not something you can reverse by paying a bribe (the souls of the stone) - not unless there's a personal sacrifice bound to it as well.

Which is why it probably would have worked if Hohenheim had given his own life for Alphonse - because it would have been the sacrifice of a father for his son. Equivalency restored.

To get back what you've lost from the Gate, there needs to be an Equivalent Exchange - and the souls of strangers don't do it in the Eye of Truth.

Which doesn't mean that you cannot open the Portal of Truth with a Philosopher's Stone. We've seen it. It is possible. But never once successfully when it comes to the restoration of a body. You can push through the Gate using a Stone, you can heal, you can force someone else through the Gate... but you cannot restore what the Gate itself has taken.

That is a much more personal gamble, a much more personal exchange.

It is the second limitation of the Stone: you cannot gain back the toll you paid for stumbling into god's realm without sacrificing something yourself.

Which brings me to my original point: the fact that Roy Mustang's eye sight could be restored using a Stone.

It's a plot hole.

It is one of the few plot holes in the show/manga, and even as I write this, I am trying to think of a watsonian explanation. Maybe it's because Roy didn't do the human transmutation out of his own free will. Maybe it's because he was forced through. Maybe it's because Truth feels responsible for what happened to him. Maybe the story is lenient to him and his wish to see the future.

But the truth remains, that every time I encounter this story, that part of it trips me up.

And now you know it too.

[winryofresembool]

theothardus replied to your post “EdWin one-shot: A Food Fight (of sorts)”

I loved your rendition of Ed's crib design... LOL it was definitely his taste! I enjoyed this, thank you for writing!

@theothardus, @automail-freak-and-alchemy-freak, @criis55 Thank you guys ♥ I’m so glad you enjoyed it :’) You can believe me Ed tried to convince Al to make the crib that way for a looong while but he didn’t give in. Thankfully x)

[fmasecretsanta2020]

Shhh...  Can you keep a secret?

Sign-Ups are now open for the 2019 Fullmetal Alchemist Secret Santa Gift Exchange!

Our schedule is as follows:

11/10/2019 - 11/25/2019:  Sign-Ups Open! 12/01/2019 - 12/07/2019:  The mods will contact you with your assignment. 12/17/2019:  Check-ins. 12/24/2019:  Posting Begins! 01/07/2020:  Posting Ends.

If you have any questions about participation, please visit our FAQ page or send us an ask.  We’d love to hear from you!  Please reblog to spread the word, and don’t forget to follow this blog for fantastic Fullmetal Alchemist content.

Special thanks to @automail-freak-and-alchemy-freak for the fantastic art commission!

[criis55]

I'm gonna post it also here :)

This is a present for @automail-freak-and-alchemy-freak I hope you get better soon♥

[humming-fly]

Purple, fuchsia, and coral

PURPLE = I don’t talk to you but I really love your blog.

FUCHSIA = Your blog content is gold

CORAL = You’re a meme

only the best of terrible memes on This blog

[edwardslostalchemy]

*sends hugs*

Thank you friend. *hugs back* I've been needing a hug. I haven't felt well today. I stopped feeling anxious, but I'm so exhausted and my eyes burn. 😞

[edxwin-elric]

Hello! :) first off I just want to mention that I absolutely l o v e your fanfics! I always love reading (and rereading) your works. I’ve been wanting to try writing my own fanfics for awhile now but am nervous about how they will turn out/how people will like them. Any advice? Thanks in advance :)

OMG. You are so nice!! This made my day so much better. Seriously, thank you so much!!! I love hearing when someone enjoys my writing.

As for advice, the best thing you can do as a writer is just write. Start with whatever idea you have and go for it. Get a first draft out and then read over it. If you aren’t satisfied, reread and edit. Find friends or other writers you know to beta for you and give you constructive feedback. A lot of time writing is actually the time spent rewriting, but that’s okay.

Worrying about how our writing will be received is something all writers do. However, you should never write for someone else. Write because you want to, and write the story you want to tell. If you’re writing for other people, your writing will automatically suffer, in my opinion. It’s always great to know others like and appreciate what you create, but you have to be satisfied with it regardless of what anyone else thinks. 

I’ve been writing for a long time, and when I decided my book was finished, and ready to be published, it was when nerve-wracking because I didn’t know if anyone would like it. My friends all read for me and told me it was good–making them cry was the benchmark of my success, actually–and they told me it was good, but ultimately, I had to be pleased with it.

I hope this is helpful. I’ve never really given writing advice before, but this is advice that was given to me in one form or another, and I’ve found it to be sound. 

[pineapple-coco]

Twisted wonderland x Alchemist Mc

Mc is from the same world of Fullmetal Alcemist: Brotherhood and fought during the promise day. Mc has saw truth by trying to bring their older brother back from the dead, he studied alchemy and ended up killing himself after finding out the truth about the philosopher stone. Mc can use sapphire fire alchemy (their brothers work) and lost their right arm.

———

Mc cleaned ramshackle in a day, with just clapping their hands and doing some alchemy.

Crowley: Yuu... is this the same dorm I gave to you!?!

Mc: Yeah, I just used some alchemy to fix it up and all.

Crowley: I could use this to make the whole school shine better then RSA!

Mc: Not a chance am I doing that for you.

Crowley: I will not not give you any extra cash.

Mc: This is abuse of power.

———

Alchemy class is confusing for them as all they do is potions and understand the laws of it. Mc just sleeps through the whole class as they already know everything about it.

Crewel: Ok so dose anyone know the laws of equivalent exchange.

Mc: Mankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return.

Crewel: Good puppy! See maybe I should make everyone stay for extra lessons as it seems to be working.

Mc: Nah it didn’t work at all, in my world I am an alchemist so I already know the rules.

———

People finding out about Mc having automail and having them freak out.

Mc: It’s so hot in this gash darn room! *takes off sweater and gloves to be in a tank top*

Deuce: Y-Yuu! What happened to your arm?!

Mc: Oh... I committed a taboo among alchemy.

Ace: So committing this taboo gives you a cool metal arm?

Vil: No you potatoes! Yuu tried human transmutation and saw truth!

Mc: As punishment of doing it I lost my arm... to make it worst I was just 10 years old when I did it knowing it was wrong.

Rook: You must have tried to bring someone you love very much back to life.

Mc: Some other alchemist who committed the taboo found out it really wasn’t the person they were trying to bring back... mine was the same.

Kalim: That must feel bad suffering for someone else you didn’t want to bring back.

Mc: No I am happy as I didn’t make my brother die twice and the pain I went through is what I needed to move on from his death.

Vil: Strong words for a potato, now everyone back to work!

———

Mc having interesting conversation with diasomnia.

Sebek: Human! We will be needing your help.

Mc: What do you need my help with homunculus?

Sebek: I am not a homunculus!

Mc: Yeah I don’t think anyone beside a homunculus would look down upon humans!

*Tea with Diasomnia*

Lilia: Mc why do you hate being called human when that what you are?

Mc: Oh you see in my home country the king was a homunculus that was just going to use the whole kingdom as a giant sacrifice for a philosopher stone!

Malleus: So you were stuck knowing what was going to happen.

Mc: Only some of us knew but we did what we could and took them all down including the master mind of who they called father.

[promptmaker]

EdWin Smut Prompts

Below is a list of smut prompts for Ed/Winry from FMA. Some are old, some are new. If you want to use one, let me know and I can cross it off or I can leave it open if you want!

The prompt is in bold text. Regular text is my suggestion for it.

(Ed doms a stressed out Winry) Winry has been stressed out with work orders lately and has been working late nights. Ed tries to get her to take a break but she is too stubborn to listen. So Ed takes matters into his own hands. Donning his Dom persona, he gets Winry to submit and finally take a break. (D/s is part of their relationship. All consensual)

(EdWin goes sex toy shopping) Winry Drags Ed to a new sex shop in Rush Valley to see their wares. Ed is reluctant at first but Winry is quick to tell him of the benefits the items of the store have and they do not go home empty handed. They spend the rest of the evening testing them out.

(EdWin sneaks off for sex during a Central party) Ed and Winry go to a fancy party/gala in central (Mustang’s Coronation?). They make a date night out of it and try to get through the event while keeping their hands off each other. They catch up with team Mustang after years of not seeing them and they learn what has been going on in the world at large. But soon they get bored of the party and more interested in each other and sneak off to an unoccupied room or balcony.

(Ed and Winry get frisky in a hot spring) Ed and Winry visit Xing for their wedding anniversary. Ling sets them up in a fancy room at his palace with its own private hotspring. After some drinks with the Emperor, the couple heads back to their room and a frisky Winry decides they need to test out the hotspring and have some extra fun in it.

(Ed and Winry do porn. Modern AU) Ed is fresh out of college and needs to make some cash on the side. His friend suggests he could make that money in the Adult Film industry, so Roy decides to give it a shot. Once in the industry Ed learns that his first scene is to be with Winry Rockbell. She is an old friend he hasn’t seen in years who has been in the industry for a while. She is more than happy to show him the ropes.

(EdWin do it in their broken down car) Ed and Winry (married/together) rent a car during a trip to central but when it breaks down Winry goes into full mechanic mode trying to fix it.While watching her go to work, Ed decides that he has never been more turned on.

(EdWin in a dressing room) : Ed takes Winry shopping in Central for her birthday. He bemoans being dragged to clothing stores until she has him come into the dressing rooms with her. Ed enjoys watching her try on clothes for awhile but soon can no longer contain himself and they go at it in the dressing room and have some fun with its mirror.

(EdWin has a spontaneous threesome) Ed and Winry visit Liore years later for an Automail convention and to visit Rose. They stay at her place where they notice she is a bit flirty with them. Then one night over drinks she admits she has a crush on both of them. They have been considering expanding their sex life a bit a she seems more then a willing participant. She confirms this when she stumbles into them having sex and they offer her to join them.

(EdWin alone in a train car) Ed and Winry get to travel in the new luxury train. They get their own private train car and it's like a fancy hotel room. They have a romantic dinner while enjoying the sights and of course, make use of the bed.

(Ed does to well a job distracting Winry from a surprise party) EdWin visits Rush Valley for Winry’s birthday. She doesn’t know that her colleagues and customers are throwing a surprise party for her at Garfiel’s shop and Ed has been tasked with keeping her occupied until then. When she starts to get suspicious of Ed’s motives he tells her that his leg needs another oil rub down and Winry is happy to help with the new wax she just got (or whatever excuse you can think of). But once Ed’s pants come off she is distracted by something else entirely and Ed seduces her. They are going to be late to the party…

(EdWin Sexting while they are long distance. Modern AU) Winry is home alone while her husband Ed is away on a business trip in central. Having just finished with her last customer of the day, she is alone, bored and quite frankly horny. Ed has been gone for 2 weeks and she plans on jumping him as soon as he gets home. It’s at this moment that Ed texts her from his hotel room, letting her know he will be home the next day. Winry informs him of what she plans on doing to him when he gets home. They flirt a bit before it devolves into full on sexting. Which leads to sending nudes to each other. They end their night with phone sex and excitement of seeing each other in person soon.

(Ed unintentionally distracts Winry when she’s trying to work) When the two of them are stuck home together, Winry decides to work on her backlog of automail orders. Ed gets bored and decides to hang out in her workshop in just his boxers. Winry must decide which needs her attention more: her work or her husband.

(Edwin plays Strip poker) A bad storm preemptively ends EdWin’s poker night with their friends. But they already got everything set up so they have a game with just the two of them. But of course they have to make it more interesting so they up the stakes with clothing and sexual favors.

(EdWin have some fun after working out) Since Ed can no longer use alchemy, he has turned to working out and staying in shape as a pseudo-replacement. Much to the appreciation of Winry, who loves to watch him work out and often joins him in their home gym. They are often competitive and sometimes, when the work out isn’t enough, they go at it right there in the gym. Putting their new strength and flexibility to the test.

(Winry wears Ed’s jacket) Winry learns very early in their relationship that Ed is easily turned on by seeing her in his clothes. Especially in his jacket. Winry often uses this against him when she wants his attention when he is distracted by alchemy research. Her fully naked in just his jacket, never fails to get his attention.

(Winry casually strips down after work and Ed internally freaks) Ed and Winry have just started living together as a couple and are already pretty comfortable with each other. But what Ed has to get used to is Winry stripping down as soon as she gets home from work. She is usually eager to get off her greasy clothes so she strips down without a second thought. Ed enjoys the view but mostly doesn’t know how to act when she does this. But Winry is very aware of his reaction and uses it to toy with him. How long can Ed resist?

If you want any more details or input to work with on the prompts above, send me a DM! I will update the list whenever I think of something.

[felixcloud6288]

Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 10

This chapter gives me the same vibes as the episode "Joker's Favor" from the 90s Batman cartoon.

2nd Lieutenant Maria Ross and Sergeant Danny Brosh are the real stars of this chapter. They are two very ordinary military officers with no connections to Alchemy, the Elrics, or anything for that matter. And we get to see how freaking weird these boys are through their reactions to everything going on.

Yes, it is weird that a guy walks around in a full suit of armor. It is quite wild to meet someone who can copy thousands of pages from memory. I'd be just as freaked out if a kid casually handed me a check for a life-changing amount of money. I'd be shocked if they had a casual conversation with someone I'd never dare speak to unless spoken to.

Over in the B plot, We learn Roy is not on the best terms with Major General Hakuro with the implications Hakuro thinks Mustang is out to take his position, which is true. Back in chapter 4, Roy casually said Hakuro should just die in the train hijacking. And we learn Roy wants to take over the entire military. The panel where he says this paints him in a more sinister light. His eyes are a different color.

Oh look! A map of East City. ...It's worthless. There aren't any discernible markers and we never go back to East City anyway.

Lust mentions not needing to tail Ed now that he's in Central most likely meaning someone else in her organization will take over from there. I wonder who this new tracker could be that Lust would withdraW RATHer than continue her assignment.

Scar gets into a fight with Gluttony and still has a small wound from when Hawkeye shot at him.

Back in the A plot, we learn State Alchemists hide their research notes in code. Ed's looks like a travel log and Roy's looks like a dating calendar. I have to wonder what part of Marcoh's recipe book corresponds to a human soul. I'm going to assume either love or cinnamon sugar.

As a side note, this chapter takes place over 15 days. It took Sheska 5 days to write down all of Marcoh's notes and another 10 days for Ed and Al to decode it. The scene with Scar happens before any of that in the chapter and we can assume it happened before that chronologically from some extra context clues.

We can assume the trip from Central to East City takes less than a day because Hughes and Armstrong managed to do that back in chapter 6. Meanwhile Pinako said she'd get Ed's arm made in 3 days and no one said she didn't pull that off.

Assuming the trip to East City and Resembool takes a day, even with the detour to meet Marcoh, here's a rough timeline of events since chapter 8 as far as I can tell:

Chapter 8: Ed, Al, and Armstrong head to Resembool. Along the way they meet Marcoh and get the location of his research. Lust later forces Marcoh to give her the same info.

1 day after chapter 8: Ed and company arrive in Resembool. Pinako and Winry begin working on making new automail for Ed.

4 days after chapter 8: Ed gets his new arm and leg.

5 days after chapter 8: Ed and company leave Resembool for Central City, likely with a layover in East City. Lust destroys the 1st Branch Library.

6 days after chapter 8: Ed arrives in Central City and meets Sheska. Sheska starts transcribing Marcoh's notes. Lust returns to East City. Gluttony attacks Scar.

11 days after chapter 8: Sheska finishes her work. Ed and Al begin decoding it.

21 days after chapter 8: Ed and Al finish decoding. End of chapter 10.

Anyway, I'll explain why I got so hung up on this next chapter cause it's more relevant there and this has gotten long enough already.

Hughes brought up Tucker.

Nina Trauma Count: 3

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