#i can't read roman numerals for the life of me so all my info on that is from Google

[fma03envy]

For Edward's note about Gluttony, I put each part through a roman numeral translator and got 1-800-701-[?] The last bit apparently isn't a valid roman numeral (V=5 and M=1000 and reversed as MV=1005 but as it is VM isn't an actual number?)

So without the last part idk what the actual reference is but I think it's fair to assume that it's referencing some 1-800 phone number?

(According to Google 1-800-701-0501 is the phone number for a health insurance thing in New York. On the one hand I do think that putting that as a note next to Gluttony's profile would fit with Ed's snarkiness probably. But on the other hand if that's what this is it would be a very niche and American reference???)

Also apparently if you put 1-800-701 through an UTF-8 decoder you get XP (uses a different x character than the standard one but Tumblr won't let me copypaste it) which I sort of doubt is what's actually being referenced but is at least a funny coincidence as a tongue out emoticon would be fitting for Gluttony

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) Special Edition guidebook transcript, including Ed’s decoded notes

What it says on the label. The Blu-Ray special edition of FMA 03 came with a ton of cool shit, including a hardcover artbook with the character profiles originally from the DVD booklets as well as some other, “handwritten” notes from Edward. Since I know not a lot of fans got their hands on this set, I promised a WHILE ago that I would transcribe it! Someday I’ll have scans, but I don’t have access to a scanner atm.

I’ll be listing the character notes by 3 categories: Profile Text, Edward’s Notes, and Edward’s Coded Notes.

Profile Text- the brief character blurbs that were already published in the DVD guidebooks that came out in Funimation’s original localization. Most recurring characters got one.

Edward’s Notes- The book’s title page indicates that it was issued by the Amestrian State Military, and that it belongs to Ed. Little handwritten notes, presumably from Ed, are scattered throughout the character profiles. Some are silly, some are… very not silly.

Edward’s Coded Notes- Some of Ed’s notes are written in a very simple code that replaces the English characters with symbols. It’s straightforward enough that I was able to break it in about an hour - I posted a key over here.

Not included in this text are the image captions associated with the characters’ model drawings, since they don’t make any sense without context. Stuff like “Al age 7, Ed age 8.” There are also many artist notes in Japanese, and I am anything but a Japanese speaker, so no luck there.

Fair warning, there are Royed, Royai, and if you squint, Edvy jokes in the coded text. I’m just writing what’s in the book.

Full transcript behind the cut!

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