#fma briggs

[decoloraa]

Casther my beloved wolf boy

[jojaydoodles]

The adventure continues aith a hing of mystery. My stupid doujin entered the Briggs mountains.

--- find out more on ko-fi huge thanks to @fullmetaleditor for generously letting me use her Marcella OC in the story.

[eelektrossfan]

Happy 15 year anniversary to FMAB I definitely knew that was today

[memesmadefullmetal]

FAVE OBSCURE BLORBOS ROUND 2: Match 8 of 8

[waitineedaname]

shoes in FMA rated on how comfortable they'd be to fight in

Edward Elric

considering Ed's uhhh very distinct taste in aesthetics, these could be a lot worse. they look relatively comfortable and don't seem like they'd be difficult to move around in. they are platforms though, which I imagine makes things more difficult. I'll be generous and give these a 7/10

Most of the Amestrian military

pretty much everyone in uniform wears the same shoes, so I'm lumping them all together. these are Roy's, if that matters. they look fine. I imagine that because it is part of a military uniform, it's designed to be moved around in and worn for hours on end, so ideally they're relatively comfortable. it doesn't look like there's much traction, but they're usually fighting on flat surfaces so whatever. 8/10

Fu and Lan Fan

these shoes fucking rule. the picture I've included is Lan Fan's, but they wear p much the same shoes. I fucking love these things. they have spikes. Edward Elric fucking wishes. considering this seems to be part of the bodyguard uniform, I'd imagine they're as easy to run around in as the military shoes, if not better since they're expected to be doing martial arts in them. but most importantly, they have spikes. 10/10, no notes.

Ling and Mei

on the topic of doing martial arts, both Ling and Mei wear these.... I'm not sure what they are. flats? slippers? it's unclear. (EDIT: they are apparently Kung Fu shoes!) they seem relatively easy to move around in I guess since they're not very cumbersome and both Ling and Mei rely on being very nimble. they look like they have absolutely no support in the soles though, which is gonna get painful after a certain point. also depending on what fabric they're made of, they could definitely start chafing. I've worn flats. I know that hell. 7/10 for the potential blisters, but at least they're designed specifically for martial arts

Greedling and Bradley

it's hard to get a good shot in this scene because neither of them stop moving, but I swear to god, they're fighting in dress shoes. I cannot stand them. this CANNOT be comfortable. I know Greed prioritizes aesthetics over function so this was probably a compromise between his and Ling's tastes but ohhh my god. he was probably wasting so much of the philosopher's stone just passively healing the million blisters on his feet from running around in these things. there's a chance Bradley is wearing the military uniform shoes but I think he was in more formal dress when he got blown the fuck up, so I don't think so. no wonder he complains about being sore, quit running around in dress shoes you fucking moron. 4/10.

Greed

THESE FUCKING THIIIIIIIINGS. WHY ARE THEY POINTY AT THE END. WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE SOMEONE HIT HIS FOOT WITH A MALLET AND FLATTENED THEM. he's so dumb. I love him. looking at these things tells me he would probably wear goth cowboy boots if he could, and tbh that would probably look better. 3/10 for Greed's overall silly as hell fashion sense

Lust

okay. the heels make sense considering her whole vibe. however. these are part of her fucking BODY. when she gets incinerated, they grow back. can she even take them off???? I'm scared to ask. I guess if theyre part of her body, she doesn't have to worry about adjusting to balancing in them like you would normally with heels, but oh my god. she can never wear normal shoes. I would also be murderous if I had to wear heels all the time. 4/10.

Father and Izumi

guys. these are sandals. it has been four hundred years and Father is still wearing the same outfit he was wearing in the damn desert. find a new outfit man. Izumi is apparently wearing bathroom slippers (hence the WC) so idk why she's even wearing those out of the house. Father gets 0/10 and Izumi gets 1/10 because she still manages to kick everyone's asses while wearing these, so respect

Envy

PUT YOUR FUCKING TOES AWAY. -10000000/10

[areyousanta]

If you haven't painted the D palette, I would love to see who you draw with it :)

This pallette was made for Miles

[calamitaswrath]

Speaking of nameless background characters that I get briefly but wildly obsessed with when I rewatch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood every year, there's also this bank employee that has maybe a minute of screentime:

[clonerightsagenda]

Honestly it's pretty wild that Ed was part of the military for 2 years without learning much about the genocide. It speaks to his privilege as a member of an ethnic group that can easily be mistaken for a white Amestrian, his laser focus on his personal goals at the beginning of the story, and the fact that since he was already sacrifice material the higher ups let him do whatever he wanted. This kid was not reading dossiers or sitting through briefings. He treats the military as his own personal piggy bank and that's valid of him, but given how bizarre the whole situation is, it's reasonable that Scar saw this famous alchemical prodigy and interpreted him as a potential threat. He joined up, which means he must be willing to do the job, right? I don't support exploding children's faces but I understand why Scar would look at him and see a bomb ready to go off.

[jemwolf]

Chapters 27 and 28 of Briggs Beast are up! We have hit the chapter where @decoloraa actually lost our minds /pos

[just-trying-my-best-everyday]

Imagine... Lan Fan does go to Winry for automail and they become the C-plot... Both Winry and Lan Fan remain more time in the story... They go to Briggs together... And Olivier loves Lan Fan... And Lan Fan trains under Buccaneer... And her arm is directly inspired by his...

[yutamayo]

You're my dreamgirl's dreamgirl, Sir.

[decoloraa]

Thought it’s important to show that if I draw Olivier short, it’s not a personal headcanon of mine. It’s a FACT

Buccaneer being a giant is kinda obvious, but Miles being relatively average is a bit of a surprise!

[mayhaps-a-blog]

Rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), I may have been too harsh on the ending - I definitely prefer Brotherhood, but the 2003 canon definitely has its charms. Definitely a mixed bag, as most shows are, really!

My pros and cons list got long, but here:

The good: Dante is a fascinating villain, and a neat character! Her attempts to vaguely justify her actions while clearly having completely lost touch with humanity were interesting to watch, and her interactions with the homunculi were great!

I also liked the homunculi - I think I prefer Envy from Brotherhood, but Lust and Sloth's struggle with their memories and yearning for a life that was never theirs added an interesting dimension to their characters. Wrath is an incredibly tragic character and watching him scream for his mother, any mother, only to be faced with abuse is heartbreaking.

Rose's story is likewise more extensive and tragic than in Brotherhood. "More extensively tragic" is true of a lot of 2003.

The themes of the cost of human transmutation are much more focused - human transmutation, its causes and its consequences, are the main theme of the story rather than a means to a different end (I could go on... but I already made a post about that). The show also deals a lot with child abandonment, and abuse - with Wrath as the scared, angry child who is drawn into a dangerous group through his desire for a mother, Envy as wrathful to the point of hating everyone, and Ed starting down Envy's path, but veering into something closer to acceptance, if not forgiveness. Al is the one with forgiveness. We see the why, we see the how - and for Nina of course, and Selim too. And that lends some interesting depth to the story.

The actual ending isn't as terrible as I remember thinking it - I liked Mustang's epilogue, but I wish they'd left Ed's ending ambiguous. But I like it when shows leave the future somewhat mysterious :)

The bad: I am still not a fan of the WW1 plot. It feels unnecessary, and I can think of a lot more interesting answers for "what's behind the gate" than a sudden surprise isekai story. Frankly, I don't even want an answer to what's beyond the gate; like God, death, and souls, that's the big mystery none of us should or could ever know, and any attempted answer in media ends up mundane and boring compared to the grand mystery. And the excuse of the deaths in our world somehow echoing back through time to fuel alchemy just raises more questions than it answers. The whole idea raises more questions than it answers, which is not what I look for in a show finale! Speculating over what comes next is one thing, having to scratch your head to figure out how the universe works when it's stated and supposed to follow clearly defined rules is just annoying.

Another answer that brings up more questions is Hohenheim. His backstory with Dante is fascinating - and almost completely unexplored. The fact that he is a mass-murderer, multiple times over (he changes bodies at least twice, the original switch and into his current body, and given Dante's original appearance the bodies do still age - he'd need a few to manage 400 years!) is never fully addressed other than "well he's not doing it again so it's fine I guess." But really, when exactly did he realize murder is bad, actually? (Yes, even if it's "witches and plague victims", like, seriously?) It apparently took 400 years - was it meeting Trisha, or something before then? Did he wake up one day and realize his marriage sucked and decide to hit the bricks? Was it some kind of immortal's mid-fourth-life crisis? Can we really ignore all the murder just because he's nice now??

Finally, the ending does feel a little rushed compared to Brotherhood, probably because of the fewer episodes (while close in overall length, 2003 spends 25 episodes on the content that Brotherhood covers in 10). A few plot points feel forced or unrealistically rushed - why would Russell and Fletcher's father have been shown the underground city? Dante has her own house to teach alchemy in! And Mustang's rebellion felt like it was really forced through for the plot - he could at least have leveraged the soldiers' experiences in Ishbal, etc. instead of demanding they commit mutiny with no evidence. I'd expect them to mutiny against him! But that's stuff a few more episodes may have fixed.

In summary...

FMA (2003): Excellent characters, excellent characterization, I wholeheartedly love episodes 1-25 (except maybe Barry's introduction, that aged horribly if it was ever decent at all), the time we get to spend with Hughes and Mustang's team and all the little mini arcs is great! I like that they brought in some of the earlier characters to work with, I like the way they took their themes and (most) story arcs. Would recommend watching, preferably before Brotherhood.

Brotherhood: Definitely the stronger plot to me. I like Father as a villain and prefer Hohenheim's backstory here; I definitely prefer the whole deal and ambiguity with Truth and the gate to the surprise!isekai in 2003. Brings in some absolutely fantastic characters and the buildup to the finale feels less rushed - more things feel realistic and well-thought out, like Mustang's rebellion, with the extra time to let characters get their chess pieces into place.

Overall, I still prefer Brotherhood - but 2003 has grown on me with this rewatch! I'd definitely still suggest watching it before Brotherhood, and will add at least episodes 1-25 to my regular rewatch list. If I can still find them. Plus Mustang's team's episodes. As far as I'm concerned, those are all totally canon to all versions of the story!

[the-catmans-offical-2]

Edward's Mercy

Ed:) I drew this for my buddy!

[memesmadefullmetal]

FAVE OBSCURE BLORBOS ROUND 1 (PART 2): Match 15 of 16

[waitineedaname]

the combo of ling's "it's my duty to protect and take care of the people I consider my own" + greed's "everything is mine, including people" to create the extremely potent philosophy "everything is mine, including people, so it's my duty to protect as many people as possible"