#hes like half xerxes which is literally in the fucking desert so no he's not white

[canthejustboremetodeath]

EDWARD EDWARD EDWARD EDWARD EDWARD

My hyperfixation shifted over to fma and I've got 34 h a week on ao3, it is probably mostly hp x fma crossover fics. The sad thing about this is that the fma fandom is basically dead😭 so there's not a lot of new stuff to see and I've burned through most of the fics that interest me and like rewatched more than half of the series😭😭😭💀💀💀

[halfofxerxes]

Housekeeping notes before the read more, this is going to be a headcanon post that goes into child exploitation, abuse in both adults and children, slavery, narcissism, and will likely include more than a few segments on sexual exploitation as a theme.

If you wanted to use any information in this post, please plot with me first. Hohenheim does not talk about this, and it is very rare for him to open up about any of this.

While most general catagories of abusive behaviour and descriptions will probably be present, I want to make it clear that if you're thinking about reading this and you're not 100% sure if you're ready, then maybe don't lol. I'm going to attempt to describe the mentality behind the acts, which I personally can find more disturbing than the acts themselves.

It takes a lot to normalize this kind of behaviour, and lack empathy to other living beings, especially other humans. This sort of thing does happen in real life and to real people. While Xerxes is a fictional place, the attitudes I am describing are very much based in reality and things that people have done and will continue to do.

'The true monster is man... And canablism is frowned on in New York' -Brain David Gilbert

Xerxes sucks. Okay bye.

Slavery in Xerxes comes from the idea that people must have some sort of function or that they are useless. Even free Xerxeans are encouraged to produce value, though it can be art, farming, food, science, maths, or other thoughts. They don't care much as long as the individual has a task they devote themselves to.

Children are routinely given up to be slaves for currency, especially when no one wants to take care of the child. Depending on how old the child is, they usually go into manual labor or jobs that require high level cognitive function rather than personal servitude as they are stronger and more equipped mentally to do tasks correctly. This also means that they have higher rates of buying themselves out of the system and becoming free again.

In some cases this ends up not being called slavery but enforced apprenticeship, but tbh it's still slavery. Just because it isn't rights systematically stripped from birth doesn't mean it isn't still awful. You'll still get whipped and starved. You're just probably gunna resent it more.

Unsurprisingly, a lot of people who would be uncomfortable with slavery are a lot more okay with sending their unwanted children to be apprenticed. Some people might even claim that because it isn't true slavery, it's fine and doesn't contribute to the problem (if they see it as a problem at all.)

It also means that those who have freed then are more likely to replace their masters and perpetuate the cycle. When Hohenheim proved himself as valuable to his master, he switched slave classes from chattel to servent which... Might not seem gr8 from an outside perspective, but until Van proved himself a component alchimest he stayed on this class.

Xerxes is affluent in the sense that it is comfortable and produces enough exess for the population to turn to leisurely activities. The demand the slaves fill are cheap labor and cheap sex, and as the population itself is providing the labor, most slaves that are bred are bred for the later.

Xerxes is home to extreme views, which includes a strong xenophobia. They understand the value of trade, Xerxes is also the oasis in the middle of the desert making it a part of the trade routes. However, they have an incredible ability to think of groups of people as 'other' than them, they do think of themselves as 'the master race' or the peak of humanity.

...They're really fucking inbred.

They are really into the idea that even their 'impure slaves' are better than the rest of the world and would rather have a slave that looks like them, especially one they're trying to get horny with, than someone who looks like a stranger.

It is a choice that is made deliberately and repeatedly to raise slave children for a singular task. The parents of these children are very rarely born slaves, and are usually people who were given to slavery young enough that they don't really know how to get a better life, but too old to manipulate into behaving how Xerxes likes them to.

Hohenheim's parents are odd in particular bc his father was privately owned and had a name not bc he was free at one point but because his family before him had a debt with the people who owned him. You know, making him something between a pet and a slave which-- by the way is also a thing that happens. Hohenheim vaguely knows about this, but his family line doesn't intrest him much, because Xerxes records are so fucked that if he wanted to track down the story he would literally have to go through business transactions rather than names of people and that kinda freaks him out tho he doesn't like to admit it.

His mother is something he doesn't like to think about because she very much was a sex slave and it makes him really sad to think about, even more than his dad does lol. Both his parents died in their 30s and though he as a child never thought this, it is the reason he projects 'middle aged' onto his 13/15 year-old self even tho he's. You know. 450.

He only found out about these records after Xerxes fell but between them and the people who actually knew his parents who live inside of him now... He gets strange when he thinks abt it. He has trouble conceptualizing the idea that people are okay with abusing other people despite having gone through the abuse and also having half of-- well you know.

Unlike Hoho who fundamentally believes that all living things have value, Xerxes common attitude is one of narcissism and disdain. Homeless? Hurt? Sick? Well have you tried not sucking? Have you tried improving yourself? Have you tried not being weak? It is more important for Xerxeans to protect the idea of Xerxes than it is to protect each other.

This isn't a headcanon either, in the manga there is literally a panel where Hoho is like >:/ gosh I hate the fact that rebel slaves are rebelling against Xerxes! Like Ho, baby, 1st of all that's the king killing his people, and 2nd you were literally a slave my dude you should know how much it sucks ok. But go off I guess. I get it Hoho, I used to be mormon we have bad takes as brainwashed kids.

It also means that both slaves and citizens are taught that there is value in loving the state, if you work within the system you will have your needs met, if you do not then you will be fed to the system. Xerxes is a cycle of canablism, even before the dwarf did his thing.

Xerxes becoming literally cannibalized into pure energy is literally what they have been doing to their own people since they became homogenous. I'd say they didn't deserve it, but yeah. They did.

Hohenheim has trouble thinking of it in these terms, the people in Xerxes don't think of themselves as evil, they don't think what they did was bad. Owning a slave wasn't a crime after all, it doesn't count if the child you hurt wasn't going to live long anyways. No one would actually Hurt a child that was Worth Something after all.

Wouldn't it be better for them to use slaves so that the Population would never have to be hurt by dark urges?

Even if they do grow up, then they'll be entertainment and decorations. It's not like a slave would ever be worth anything more than the money you pay for him.

Some Xerxeans are externally pissed about Hohenheim being alive.

A system cannot work unless people around to it consent and participate it. In my opinion, the fact that the opinion Hohenheim expresses in canon to the idea of a revolution is anger, says more than anything else. Once a society actively resists change that would result in more people experiencing happiness, that society is corrupt.

Like the Roman Empire collapsing under its own weight, Xerxes was doomed to extinction.