#just can't have enough shou tucker

[phantomrose96]

Thinking about Edward Elric as the Amestrian Military's specialest little unfireable boy

State alchemists can be fired for underperforming. We know this up front from the likes of Shou Tucker. And this makes a ton of sense from the homunculi's standpoint since the state alchemists are sacrifice candidates, and the homunculi would want to cull the weakest candidates and focus only on cultivating the strongest ones who stand the best chance of opening the portal.

........Then there's Edward. Who's already opened the portal.

There's no need to cultivate him. No gamble taken on whether he's good enough to open the portal. He passed the final test already. Graduated 4 semesters early.

And as such, has a free pass to do Absolute Fuck All.

And I'm imagining how funny this is from like an outside perspective.

Some newish state alchemist who'd only ever read up on the stories of Edward Elric, ready and excited to start their career of being paid handsomely with endless freedom to research and travel and do anything they want in the pursuit of science... surprised and confused to find themselves put on probation their first month for things like "ignoring orders." Which is, as best they had thought, a famous Edward Elric pastime.

Roy showing a slight bit of stress about his yearly state alchemist report, and Ed just snorting and rolling his eyes at Roy because every year HE just hastily does his on the train ride over (canon in the manga, a travesty it was left out of the anime) and it gets rubber stamped. Ed not realizing that other alchemists' reports get genuinely scrutinized and torn apart while Ed is free to turn in whatever absolute bullshit he thinks of 36 hours ahead of time. One year his report was about whether alchemy could be done via dance (conclusion: no it can't) and no one cared. Roy WANTS to tell Ed there's some kind of unknown favoritism around Ed making him literally bullet-proof but Roy has no way to phrase this that doesn't sound like he's just in denial and mad at how good Ed's train-reports are.

Guy from the Internal Amestrian Affairs sector who's responsible for auditing other internal military personel for any suspicious activity hitting about 1 million red flags for Edward Elric, issuing a STRONG and URGENT recommendation to suspend the alchemist pending further investigation into things like "literal bunk-buddies with two members of the Xingese royalty (enemy nation)" and "spent $10,000,000 of his stipend on a librarian to make her re-copy (what he seemed to interpret as?) military records in some extremely transparent effort to unearth state secrets (it was a recipe book but he was literally asking her about state secrets)" and "literally has never once obeyed an order, ever, not even once in his career, and is on public record having said 'I do not care about the goals and protections of the Amestrian Military. I am in fact only pursuing my own interests several of which are diametrically opposed to the safety and well-being of the governing body of Amestris'"

The issued recommendation is intercepted before it even reaches its intended desk. President Bradley himself has taken issue with it and denies it before a single set of eyes has seen it. The President's veto stamp is a terrifying hammer, used rarely, and it is now sitting on the auditor's desk.

The auditor sleeps with one eye open from then on out.

#fma #fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood #fma:b #literally anything about the dynamic between edward and the amestrian government is so so so funny to me #im begging you to come pick up your alchemist he keeps committing treason #Roy: absolute perfect ass-kisser and career-man playing the part 24/7 to disguise his treasonous ambitions and still #not flying under the radar #Edward on his public Twitter: bored. might tear down the Amestrian government for fun.

[superpointlesschicken]

FMA AU- Nina & Al £>

So Al becomes a state alchemist after he tries to bring Ed back after he died from illness, no one can stop him either because Trishas also dead.

Al goes to study with Tucker because he wants to know more about biological alchemy (as per manga cannon). Al can't talk (bc his ability to do so was taken by the gate(so were his legs)) once nina finds this out she does enough talking for the both of them. Al teaches her a bit of Amestrian sign language.

Al has this feeling in his gut one day when he's leaving the Tucker household, it's similar to how he felt the whole time Ed was sick. He decides to go to the house earlier than he did the days prior. He walks in silently and finds Shou crouched at the outside of a circle with Nina sitting patiently inside. Nina notices him immediately. Al decks shou. Ninas freaking out. She yells at Al asking him what he's doing.

Al lets go of Shou and hugs Nina tightly. He takes her to Riza's place because Riza is like a mom to him. He explains to her what happened and Riza explains it to Nina. Nina is shocked and clings to Al because he saved her and Alexander, who just followed them when they left.

Al starts adventuring with Nina and continues to teach her things. And he starts looking for a way to get his voice back so it can be easier on Nina.

Thoughts?? Like I have other ideas for what could happen with Nina, so if you wanna hear 'em...

#nina tucker #alphonse elric #fma #fma au #au fanart

[tfseeds]

TF Isekai World Concept

I have NO idea where to put this idea, but I've been needing to scream it into the void somewhere so it doesn't fade away inside my head.

World/Story concept: An Isekai "people get yeeted to this fantasy world to fight as heroes and slay monsters" but the twist is, there's a curse involved. You could think like the 'ambient horny energy' of CoC. Basically, people from another world *have* to slay monsters in order to maintain/restore their humanity. If they go without monster slaying for too long, the curse starts to degrade their form, with each hero having a specific animal they transform towards.

Far as I've thought so far, the monsters are generic stock - slimes, skeletons, mindless shadow beasts, monster plants, that sort of thing. Aberrations created by ambient chaos magic maybe. Basically, things that are okay to kill without worrying about the ethics too much.

So killing aberrations gets you +humanity rather than +experience points, and killing stronger monsters restores more humanity (and maybe extends how long you can resist the curse before starting to transform again?)

But the transformation process isn't the same every time. Like maybe the hero's first experience is having their ears and nose start to change, making helmets tricky. But after returning to human, their next curse process goes for their hands first, starting to make fingers swell into pads and claws, making thumbs clumsy. Another time they grow a tail. They have to figure out how to wield their weaponry and modify their gear around a constantly changing state of handicaps.

And while defeating monsters restores humanity, losing a fight speeds up the curse. Heroes who aren't outright killed in a fight find themselves suddenly progressing a lot farther into their curse, making it difficult to recover sometimes.

There is an ability to "share" humanity with a fellow hero though. It evens out the level of curse between the two involved in the exchange. It can only be given willingly though, no one can steal humanity (at least that we know of, will stow that idea away for antagonist ideas later).

The natives of this fantasy world are very matter-of-fact about it for the most part. There's an adventurer's guild with support networks for the cursed heroes. They're not super-prolific, but common enough that most towns have one or two in residence. It'd probably be hard to have too many in one place if they thin out the local monsters too much - there's definitely conflicts over "poaching" monster hunting territory.

Failed heroes eventually end up as animals - Maybe some keep their intelligence, while others just fade completely? There may be secret wilderness areas where the Failed Heroes migrate towards to survive.

Random plot brainworms that I've had include a human who's managed to masquerade as a native, working as a small town merchant, and keeps a monster farm in their basement that they can slaughter each day. It's pretty terrible, like Shou Tucker from FMA vibes. Another is a veteran loner hero who is bird-themed, maybe a hawk or red cardinal. Aloof, cool, successful. At some point our newbie hero in their journey finds him beat-up and struggling in a severely transformed state. Like he can't fight effectively due to his hands going full wings. This is where the humanity sharing comes in to play as our good boy helps sacrifice his own levels to get the veteran hero back into a combat-capable state.

#transformation #transfur #world building #tf stories #gosh I haven't touched this side tumblr in YEARS but it's great for shouting ideas into the void at least

[sassydefendorflower]

hey rora 7, 17, and 37 (no pressure tho :smek: )

Roma!!! Hell yeah!!! (and put the pressure on -smek-)

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

That's an evil question and you know it ;D Well... let's see where I shall begin.

There is, of course, i am apart (everything is connected) - i put a lot of thought into the worldbuilding for that fic. The idea of the belief system of the person influencing their metaphysical connection to the universe and as such alchemy and alkahestry was something I created for this fic, even if it has since firmly morphed into a general headcanon. This fic is also doing some stuff politics-wise that I really like - some of it is more subtle, like the hints on how I imagine the Imperial Court System in Xing to function, and some of it is more overt: the real troubles of slowly changing a country and returning to peace after years and years of war.

I am also deeply proud of my worldbuilding in an undertaking of deconstruction - more commonly called the Eastern Liberation Front AU. Because in this I get to play around with background characters, their world views, and the workings of an anti-establishment movement. My POV character (mostly Ed) doesn't see the world in all it's complexities, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. If anything, this is something that allows me to explore Scar's backstory, Shou Tucker, and even Roy and Riza's relationship through a different lens - and with that comes a lot of worldbuilding and geopolitics :D

But I can also mix it up with a bit of DC! A Constellation of Complications is a cyberpunk space-noir case fic in which Dick Grayson, bar owner and spy, has to solve a series of cyborg murders. This fic was a lot of fun to create because it deals with the question "what is a human? what is a person? and what is a cyborg?" only to fundamentally decide: it is all arbitrary but the system is so broken, we have to act within it. The laws are unjust, society broken, and yet... our protagonists can't escape those definitions and secrets and consequences. Lots of fun with that worldbuilding for SURE!

17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

-sobs in my pillow in sorrow-

I mean... the Eastern Liberation Front AU is right there. This AU is so large and detailed in my head... I could write a thousand fics about and it would still not be enough. Especially since the fandom doesn't seem to share my unadulterated joy about... Ed and Al as "terrorists" and enemies of the state.

But there is more! Of course! Roy and Riza reaching their goal and then having to deal with facing the consequences of their actions - in a way that respects the good they did since then, but really delves into the nitty-gritty of "some things are just unforgivable"... and that deals with how liking someone makes it hard for the people around them to acknowledge their faults and misgivings and that that's--- okay. This one is truly more a vibe AU than anything else...

Super specific and somewhat cringe.... The five sacrifices get teleported to 1915 Europe instead when Father tries to teleport them to his lair - and now they are in our world, in the middle of a war, without alchemy (Shamballa-style). BUT what makes this AU way weirder and funkier and niche... the Truth basically sent them there with a "once you manage to find a way how to stop father sucessfully, i'll get you back but I really don't want father to eat me so.... have fun" and now the five sacrifices are immortal... (or something similar enough) and stuck in a different time/world. And then... this somehow turned into a Marvel/FMAB crossover? As in Roy and the Elrics are involved in the Super Solider Program, but the Elrics leave because they don't actually want to help any government at all, and they then just travel the world, join universities, and make low scale trouble until in 2014 the Avengers notice a similar heat signature from some files in 1915 and search for them to figure out what the fuck is going on.

Is this specific enough? :D

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

Hm... to stay on the FMAB train... Hero Of The People, the second part of my Eastern Liberation Front AU. It's the Shou Tucker incident but in an alternate universe in which Ed and Al never joined the military. Instead, they end up at Shou Tucker's place after one of their informants tells them about his library - they have to be sneaky because Roy and Riza are hot on their tails after Ed almost killed Hawkeye during an alteration in a train, and Nina is a breath of fresh air (but we all know how that story ends).

I like it a lot because it plays around with Ed being a lot more angry and unrefined than he is in canon - and yet he and Al still want to save little girls and learn how to change the laws of the world. They are the same, and yet their different story changed them and the world around them. Also... Scar's there and that encounter does indeed go very different than it does in canon.

I don't know--- I just have an eternal soft spot for that story and the world it is set in.

Thank you SO MUCH ROMA!!! <3<3<3

[ask me a question for fic writers]

#roma107 #ask game #fanfic ask game #fmab #fma #edward elric #alphonse elric #THANK YOU SO MUCH LOVE!!!

[katyspersonal]

Happy New Year, sister. You turned my world upside down, but I don't know where I'd be without you. You have the gift of Rom's eyes, and the fandom has become so much richer from your ability to shed light on things shrouded and overlooked. You're a worthy student, not only because of your passion for learning and analyzing, but because you always have something to teach others who can't see what your eyes can.

Thank you so much!!!! I am really happy to be recognized as THE vessel for Rom's wisdom, and I am glad my ability to notice Literally Everything is something bringing inspiration and joy! It is just really enjoyable to dig into ridiculously dispersed lore bits because Miyazaki decided Dark Souls was enough of directly shared story and made Bloodborne a masterpiece of conundrum xD

I only mention it in literally every lore post but you helped me and some others too now tho! We now know that Caryll and Izzy and Paarl have 101% male names, that Yurie and Logarius actually have rather generic local names (Julie and Rodgeriusz), and generally that most characters have Slavic or Hungarian names... Bloodborne is middle Europe yall! (Edgar having French name and Archibald having British name killed me because I wrote them as rivals tho 💀)

And even that aside, you helped me with lore a LOT too - Micolash lore would be half less fucked up elaborate without you and I finally figured what went down with Research Hall and how siblings got Kos' blessing to ruin everything! Not to mention getting into Star Trek and recovering interest to FMA and other cool things! You like and analyze media in such a way that it makes me instantly interested and attached! I mean who else can talk about Shou Tucker of all characters in a way that will make me like the guy????? Never lose that unique approach to media you absolute madman xD

And yes, thank you for all your time and patience! You've been a help in many ways... I mean my chaos can scare Micolash himself you know?? But he is still here <:3

#ask replies #positive #new year wishes #i love being insane about both lore and religions together xd

[fitia]

Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood

Send me a fandom and I'll tell you:

the character i least understand

Idk, I think I have a pretty solid grasp on most characters? Probably not enough to answer anything in-depth, but enough that I understand why they are the way they are and why they do what they do.

interactions i enjoyed the most

I just think Ed and Al are generally a very well done relationship and an entertaining duo. Even more when Winry's in the mix. I love them.

the character who scares me the most

Kimblee and Tucker...... the callous disregard for human life they both have... and as a side-note I don't understand why people don't hate Kimblee as much as they hate Shou Tucker. I mean I know it's bc y'all do not care about anime characters who are not the colour of a bleached wall but like. seriously.

the character who is mostly like me

I don't think I relate to any of them that much? I mean back when I was in my edgy atheist 13 y/o phase I would've said Edward but now... not really

hottest looks character

Lust

one thing i dislike about my fave character

Manga and Brotherhood really suck about how they treated Scar and the topic of race in general. Scar moving past revenge and aiming to rebuild rather than destroy would've been a much better arc had a more sensitive and politically conscious author approached his story.

one thing i like about my hated character

I don't hate any characters but the character I morally object to the most is Kimblee and I sincerely can't find anything nice to say about him. He's not even that attractive he looks like if Greed were racist.

a quote or scene that haunts me

Scar waking up to see his home village completely destroyed nearly moved me to tears. The civil war was, honestly, very well done.

a death that left me indifferent

Y'all memed Nina and her dog and Hughes so much I don't even care anymore, lol. I mean yeah it's sad but we've been through this over a thousand times with 4 different iterations.

a character i wish died but didn’t

Everyone who deserved to die did, and so I am satisfied.

my ship that never sailed

Is Royai even canon I don't even know if they are, they just feel like they're in an odd limbo between canon and not canon iirc

#Anon #Ask #thank you #Watch me make every FMA post about my Scar grievances

[steve0discusses]

The Fullmetal Alchemist Live Action Movie Part 7: More Philosopher Stones than their PC Farm Can Possibly Render

So last we left off, a bunch of weird stuff was happening. Mustang just set Envy on fire, Lust and Gluttony kind of walked up from stage left, and Ed and Hawkeye just broke out of bougie jail and barged through a chain link fence on some Jeep. Good thing Mustang is here to explain it all to us:

(FYI I am so bad at spelling homunculus. I don’t even know which way is real anymore.)

What is incredible about this movie is just how much everyone else already knows, while Ed knows freaking nothing. Also, if you know about homunculi, then you know about sorcerer stones, and you’d know about...most of the things in Fullmetal Alchemist. Assuming that Mustang, who can look at a homunculus tattoo and be like “yep that’s a homunculus” doesn’t know anything else is kind of a big leap.

This actor had fun. I legitimately enjoy the actor who plays Mustang, I really do.

Anyway, we do get a little bit more explanation at this point by going back to the part where Hughes dies and just...showing it a second time but with this extra  reveal:

(see Hughes die yet again under the cut because this movie did it not just once but twice)

It’s at this point that Hughes turns to the phone and in his dying breath is like “It’s lab 5, go to the old POW camp, at lab 5” but not only did I think that the person on the line was the general (Because Hughes originally said it was the general) apparently now the person on the line is...Mustang? And that’s why Mustang knew about lab 5?

Like it’s...it’s just kind of confusing. I know this plot because I’ve seen the anime, but if you have not seen the anime beforehand or read the books, you’d be so freakin up a creek right now about why we saw this scene twice, and why it was completely different both times.

To make things even more confusing, that whole Tucker side plot is so random, that not even our baddies know what is going on with that whole Tucker side plot.

Anyway we have to give Gluttony and Envy have to do something in order to make their presence make sense. Honestly Gluttony just needs to have a single line in this movie.

Just everything is that same shiny neutral Phong. Look at all that Phong. Like other parts of this movie are passable, this was just so hilariously overlooked.

And like I dunno if this was a teeth harness or not but damn. Damn that looks stupid from the back, hahaha. He kind of lumbers slowly after these 9 dudes (same extras we’ve seen everywhere else, ps—this is still just the same guys) and it’s not all that scary because like...they can easily outrun him. The only way you can die to Gluttony is if you trip and then take a nap for a little bit.

Mustang gets hurt and it’s kind of funny how they shot it. It was actually rough to cap because they have to do so many tricks to not show us exactly what is happening, so they rely on sounds, on zooming in on people’s shocked expressions, because they Do Not Have The Budget to do more than this.

I don’t remember if this happened in the anime, too. Like from this point forward everything is kind of like “can you spot the source material?” because it’s just become so jumbled at this point.

Ed, who as you can imagine is a bundle of emotions by default, suddenly gets really protective of his mean Dad although like...we’ve barely made Mustang seem like a Father. Hell, we’ve barely made Ed seem like a kid. Why would he get weird and conflicted now?

Just the awkward teenage energy that only occasionally stems off of Ed is very unpredictable.

This is a full grown man.

Finally, we make it to Lab Number Five, the correct one this time. It’s got an alchemy circle…

It’s got a ceiling full of...zombie corpses, if you squint real good because I have to shrink all these images (Yes, they fit in the zombie corpses, but could not fit in the North or Father or Ling Yao or like anything Armstrong) It’s got everything that we need to put that nail into that Fullmetal Alchemist coffin, but ran out of time to fully explain or do.

It’s even got Al!

Yep, this is happening now, this part of the show. Ed is just having a WILD TIME trying to keep up with it and so are we.

So apparently Shou could just turn Al “off” this whole time. This explains why Al was just chilling under a blanket for 36 hours, but like...doesn’t really explain how Shou can do this or why he is bothering to do it right now.

But we need Shou because...well someone has to tell Ed what the plot is and what he should be doing at this very moment.

(Winry is here too)

So, with the threat of Winry getting shot in the head, Shou Tucker demands that Ed make it impossible to do any magic, because magic is very expensive and hard to animate. I could be wrong...but I’m pretty sure he also took off his right arm in the show at some point nearish to the end...I think? Forgive me, everything before 2020 is kind of a haze in my memory.

PS him ripping his hand off with all these sparks everywhere gave me serious Star Wars prequel vibes that I can’t explain. Something about the CGI, something about this contrived mess was like “Ah, I’ve felt this insanity before...long ago in a simpler time” and it was kind of nostalgic for me.

GOL LOOK AT THAT.

This Mickey Mouse glove just hot chilling on that sparking end. Hahaha I love it so much!

Shou just...delivers one of the most important reveals, sending Ed on a bit of a spirit journey because the stones he’s wanted for so long are actually very bad.

As you can imagine, because Ed likes to freak out, he has a big ass freak out, to top all freak outs. This actor spent like sooo much of his time just screaming at the ground. Which, I mean this is a shonen, so that checks out.

I’m just letting you know in case you decide to watch this movie and you have some epilepsy issues--skip this part. Just skip it. I don’t personally have it, but like...they went kind of extra in this part.

Now unlike the show, this movie has like...no apology for Dr Marcoh. Freakin stabbed him through the chest and was like “I don’t care if it means we can’t have the original FMA ending I freakin hate this guy” and you know...good on you, movie. Dr Marcoh was a really bad person. Thank you for not even attempting to justify this godawful man.

This crazy ass fanfiction movie.

Anyway, Shou directs Ed to look 10 feet up to get the rest of that juicy content. That Juicy FMA DLC that was within eye distance this entire time but youknow...cropped offscreen so it just didn’t exist.

Can’t believe this wasn’t the FIRST THING you’d notice when coming into this room, since Ed has been hardwired for red stones for like 10+ years. But youknow.

Anyways, we’re getting a ton of visual elements from FMA, just checking off that check list here in the last 1/3 of the movie. But wait, it gets weirder.

What I love about this is that Shou tells us all of this stuff because I guess Ed asked for Philosopher stones once, and even Shou is like...heyyy I figured it out! But like...hell would anyone even want to do this though?

Because that’s what happens when you have Shou freakin Tucker reveal the big master plan when he is not the big master. Like this explains nothing about Father, about Ed’s Dad, about the homunculi, about the corpses in the ceiling, like there’s just no explanation, other than just –“hey! Look at this atrocity I found just now!”

There is actually a horror element to that, where you don’t need to explain everything if you’re doing horror. If this were a horror movie, this would probably...be fine. You could have a fully explained movie by just saying “they turned POW camp people into rocks and now the zombies are here!” and that would be fine.

But it’s just...that isn’t this movie. I had so many expectations. And honestly...I expected way too much from 1.5 hours of content.

So Shou pulls a gun on Ed, which makes sense. Ed is lookin to make stones, and if stones are made out of people—then it’s time to kill Ed. First thing that make sense in this movie, but I don’t know if it makes sense coming from Shou freakin Tucker who made it seem like he just wanted to kill Ed because Ed got him arrested that one time.

It may have been just the translation on my end but like...Shou’s reason for pulling a gun out here was a little nonsense. But Shou himself is already a little nonsense anyway.

So we say goodbye, for the last time, being honest—he’s fully dead—he’s not coming back—to Shou Freakin Tucker. You were a mess Shou. I won’t miss you.

And if I forgot that this guy comes back, I fully apologize ahead of time, but I am 99% positive that I remembered that this guy never comes back.

(He might come back.)

And then Lust is like “Hakuro why did you do that? Like what are you even doing???”

And everyone else is like “Oh, the General. Of course. Why didn’t I uhhh….see that coming?”

Because they had to condense a whole bunch of corrupt Generals for this movie into one character, and so I guess Hakuro took it for the team?

Also these guys are here.

Just every single person standing in this room is pretty confused, as you can imagine. No one really expects to open up Volume 2 of FMA and it’s accidentally printed the last page of the entire series.

Anyway, that’s all for this 15 minutes (It was actually a little short 15 because there was ton of caps) I’m very tired because I did this workout routine with bro that was like 300 squats and I don’t know what day it is. I wrote “update blog” in my bullet journal (because it’s January, so I’m bullet journaling) so I’m just gonna do that because I want to use this green sparkly jelly pen and cross off all of today. Mm. Satisfying.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/fma/chrono

#FMA #Fullmetal alchemist the live action movie #live action #fullmetal alchemist #recap #photo recap #ed elric #al elric #though putting al as a credit in this one seems like a stretch cuz he just freakin sat there the whole time #hawkeye #colonel mustang #maes hughes #shou tucker #just can't have enough shou tucker #Can you even believe that this went so quickly when I finally just did it? Amazing. Amazing how little productivity I had last year wow. #Hopefully this year I can get this blog back up to old productivity #we'll see what happens because it's still a bit of a weird situation outside

[hatzuikhaz-art]

FMAB is a bad adaptation 2, electric Boogaloo

Are we ready to talk about how much brotherhood fucked up Scar's reveal, and subsequently his character and the treatment of the ishvalan subplots, are not.

Because let's be real here, fmab can't handle a dramatic reveal to save their life, and it shows.

In the manga, the first time we ever see Scar is when he is entering Shou Tucker's home. It is raining, he kills the guards, and then proceeds to terminate Tucker. When he sees Nina, Scar looks honestly remorseful, and it's sad when he kills her becuase not only is she Nina, but because this mysterious character treats is as a sad event. A sorrowful moment that could have been avoided, had humanity only listened.

He prays when leaving the house, to a God we as an audience not know yet, and leaves the scene just to have Hughes reveal the fact that he is a serial killer targeting state alchemist in the next chapter.

But is not just him revealing 'Oh yes, this is a sk we know'. Huges is snappy , sarcastic. You can really feel how tired he is of the chase, and the fear everyone feels when it's reveal that Scar has already killed one of the strongest state alchemists out there (put a pin on that, is coming back.)

Then we have the Ed and All fight, wich is epic, and the last piece of the puzzle is revealed. Scar is Ishvalan, and the past of Amestris is bloodier than we as the audience could imagine.

This is the first time Ed's sircumstances really sink in. We've known he is supposed to be a human weapon, but the destruction he could be forced to bring only settles in right then and there.

It's an amazing, powerful reveal, all taking place along volume 2 of FMA Manga.

The anime gives us two badly paced episodes, that don't care about the reveal, only the action.

First problem, we learn about the Ishvalan war of extermination on chapter 1, so the weight of the reveal is immediately lessened. We already know there was a genocide, but the anime treats is as a backstory detail that we shouldn't care that much about yet.

The second problem is in chapter 4, wich starts by showing an epic fight between Scar, and the iron blood alchemist, Basque Grand.

This is not a fight we are meant too see, because Scar didn't attack upfront. Scar is a coward, who attacked when his target was distracted and unable to react fast enough and defend himself. That reveal later on, on volume 15, gives us valuable insight in the direction Scar's character will take, but that's beyond the point.

The real problem with this episode opener, is that suddenly chapter 4, the Nina episode, gets cut short in favor of following Huges as he chases after Scar.

What is supposed to be a dramatic episode about the truly terrifying destructive potential of alchemy, and the depths humans will go to in order to keep their positions of power, is now a mystery thriller "catch the bad guy" episode. It really hurts the Nina subplot, and too this day brotherhood is the only FMA version that has failed on making me cry during the "Ed-ward" scene.

Cue to the fight scene between Edward and Scar, wich I also have bones to pick with.

How could they miss the point of Edward's character so much that he gives up HALFWAY THROUGH?!

Becuase in case you haven't noticed, in the Manga Edwars fights with all his might and wits in order to escape. It isn't until Al is in serious danger, that he pleads for Scar to have his life if it will make him allow Alphonse to leave the scene alive.

It's heart wrenching, because even facing his posible death upfront, Edward still looks determined to save his little brother. Because Edward Elric dosen't give up.

THE FIGHT SCENE IN BROTHERHOOD IS PATHETIC. I understand that maybe they wanted Ed to look younger, wich go off I guess, but making him give up and stop fighting, only for that to end with Alphonse getting hurt, is stupid.

Having Edward give up on life halfway through the battle is pathetic and so out of character it hurts. And you can tell the team knew this, because his almost s*icid3 attemp is never mentioned or acknowledged again.

Add that, to the fact that the subsequent "Civil war" reveal is cut short, and this whole Two episodes just feel dull and lifeless.

#fma brotherhood is a bad adaptation #fma #fma brotherhood #edward #edward elric #scar #fullmetalalchemist manga #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fma headcanon #fullmetal alchemist analysis #long post #boy this is getting long #spoilers #fma spoilers

[shinxeysartgallery]

What’s ur opinion of fma 03

Well, I might as well do a full opinion piece, eh? I've seen the entirety of FMA '03 (including CoS and the OVAs), and I honestly didn't really care for it that much overall. I can't really say it was bad or anything like that, though. There were things about it that I honestly hated, but stuff about it that I liked, too. I'll go through them both here under the cut. (Spoilers for likely both animes and the manga.) Also, this is gonna be a bit long, so brace yourself. And before I begin, I just want to say that this is my own personal opinion and isn't meant to hate on '03 nor its fans.

I think the main thing I disliked about FMA '03 was how it seemed to focus way too much on drama at times and it made the story kinda drag, imo. I'm not saying that having drama is bad at all, but there were several points when I was watching the show where I just got bored because literally nothing was happening other than characters talking. It was enough that it made the pacing feel really off, imo, especially around the 5th Lab arc. On the contrary, the first two episodes in particular seemed really rushed to me. The ending was the next part I didn't like. Whether you count the 52nd episode or CoS as the series finale, it just honestly wasn't a satisfying ending. There were still loose ends that were never tied up or acknowledged, and it just wasn't really a good ending overall (not necessarily a bad one, but not a good one, either). CoS was also like a fever dream, I swear.

Other than those two main things, the rest are tiny gripes, mainly about changes.

-The fact that the Gate is tied to the real world and the entire plotline surrounding that was really weird. That whole plotline is part of what made the ending so crappy to me, tbh. I think removing that part from the plot would seriously improve the overall story.

-The Homunculi's origins. Granted, the storyline surrounding that was done well, I just honestly wasn't a big fan. I do much prefer their origin story in FMAB/the manga. Despite their story being done pretty well, there were still some holes that were left unanswered by the end. One in particular being that Envy mentioned that Lust was the "new Lust", and that was brought up several more times within the show. I believe it was mentioned with Sloth and Wrath, too. So that brings the question: What happened to the old Lust? The old Sloth? The old Wrath? Also, since in this version, they're created when someone attempts human transmutation and then fed red stones and they're all named after the Seven Deadly Sins (relating to the sin of their maker), what happens if eight people attempt it? What happens to that eighth Homunculus? When Scar's brother made Lust, did Dante go and kill the old Lust to have room for the new one? You never do see the old one or get mention outside of them existing at some point, so is it possible there's two Lusts, and if so, where IS the old Lust? Well, we'll never know, because that was never answered! :D

Also in regards to their origins, most of them have an origin story; Wrath was Izumi's baby, Sloth was Ed and Al's mom, etc. But what about Pride and Gluttony? We know Dante created them, but who were they? Where did they come from? Why did Dante "revive" those two? How is Pride able to age, while the others can't? At least FMAB/the manga gave an explanation for that because FMA '03 sure didn't.

-Also the fate of some of the characters/alternate characterizations. Most notably, what happened with Shou Tucker. And my god, some of the changed character designs were UGLY, ngl. I get that they changed the art style and coloring a bit because of budget (or at least that's what I've been told), but man... Like Dolcetto, for example. I love the guy, but my god, his '03 design is ugly. What did they do to my poor boy? :(

-And finally, sometimes the soundtrack seemed to drown out the voices, and that got kinda annoying. But that's minor.

Well, this wouldn't be a full opinion if I didn't also talk about what I liked about the show, now would it?

-For starters, I REALLY loved Lust's character arc. The mystery of her origins? The questioning of humanity? The eventual betrayal of Dante? Chef's kiss Beautiful. I actually prefer this characterization to her canon one, ngl.

-On the subject of the Homunculi, I also really loved this version of Sloth and Wrath. They were cool. And this version of Sloth is more interesting than the canon Sloth, ngl

-I like several of the other '03-exclusive characters, too, but especially the Tringham brothers. They're precious... <3

-I also like how Martel got to do more in this version. I wish the same could be said for the other chimera, but I'll take what I can get. lmao

Also I know I said I hated a lot of the altered character designs, but I actually kinda prefer Martel's '03 design. IDK I just think the pink tattoo especially suits her more than the green.

-I also really loved the dynamic between Mustang's group. Not sure which version I like more, tbh, they're both great.

-While bits of it are kinda shaky in places, I do think that '03 adapts the beginning better than FMAB in several cases, most notably, the Dublith arc minus the second half of Greed’s arc (ESPECIALLY the part about Ed and Al's time on the island). It actually includes the train and Youswell episodes, too, so that's awesome (still dunno why FMAB cut those, especially considering the important context of the latter, but whatever). Granted, other things, like the 5th Lab arc, I think FMAB did better, but it didn't do EVERYTHING better.

-The overall soundtrack is awesome!

Overall, I still think FMAB is the better anime, but they both have their flaws. After all, we know the manga is the best version! Still, though, I don't think the original anime should be ignored because there are some good things that you miss out on by not seeing it. Who knows? You might decide you like the OG anime more. And if you do, that's awesome.

#anon ask #shinxey's asks #fullmetal alchemist #opinion piece

[kingofthewilderwest]

A thought just occurred to me about the different types of alchemy that all the characters in FMA do. Because the Elrics can pretty much do all sorts of things with their alchemy and they don't have any big restrictions, whereas Roy pretty much only does flame alchemy and is even deemed useless in rain because he can't use it. So does that mean that he can't use any other type of alchemy? If he can why doesn't he, in the rain in example? Why does he have this limitation when the brothers don't?

Ooooo this is a fun topic bless bless.

I don’t remember where I first read it, but I think it describes the Elrics well. I remember someone saying both Ed and Al embody the jack of all trades. They don’t seem to be profound experts in any one alchemical field, but they know key information here and there about multiple fields. So, following from that, I think where Ed’s greatest strength is his ingenious application of alchemy; it’s his creativity that gets him out of binds (sometimes), and it’s his out-of-the-box thinking that makes him realize he can trade his alchemy abilities to bring back his brother’s body.

What makes the brothers shine more than anything, though, is clap transmutation. As you say, the Elrics can do all sorts of things with their alchemy, and it does make them appear less “limited” in some senses. They’re at least more diverse and creative in what they do with alchemy. They’ve got the advantage because they’re not restricted by having to draw transmutation circles. I’m not sure if they need to have the circles memorized in their heads, or what sorts of scientific information their minds need to process prior to clap transmutation, but that form of transmutation has obvious advantages: they don’t have to draw or carry around “prepared” circles. They can just do whatever they need to, with whatever they need to, on the fly.

All other State Alchemists are “limited” to their specialty and what transmutation circles they carry/wear on them as part of that specialty. Part of this limitation is the natural thing that happens when you become a specialist. The more specialized you get, the more information you know about an increasingly smaller scope. Of course, these guys all would have had to start with alchemy’s basics (we see this referenced when young Mustang visits Berthold) before moving to advanced topics. 

Background basic knowledge solidified, they then would have been able to go into more complicated forms of the science, specialize, and attune their focuses. Shou Tucker is going to keep all his concentration on chimera research. He’ll know a lot about those things, but probably only the basics of other forms he doesn’t really use. And especially for actively fighting State Alchemists in the military, they’re going to focus on their special alchemical attacks. Soon enough, all of what they easily recall and can do, will be their area of specialty.

Each State Alchemist seems to hone one particular alchemy attack and that’s about it. They have their circle pre-formed by wearing gloves, gauntlets, or tattooing it on their body. Solf Kimblee, Alex Armstrong, Basque Grand, Roy Mustang… I see all of them on the same “par” for how they handle their alchemy. They perfect the attacks they can do with that one transmutation circle they wear on them. Maybe they could’ve been more resourceful and carried other pre-drawn circles for secondary attacks, but welp. 1). The State Alchemy program is new. 2). Well-educated adults often specialize into narrow interests. 3). Most day-to-day alchemists don’t need to have their transmutation circles prepared ahead of time. 4). Because of their unique abilities, State Alchemists are probably pretty confident on winning their fights with their one prepared attack form. 5). And maybe there’s something to be said about holding to their own “brand recognition” and sticking to the alchemy they’re famous for. ;)

It’s not that they don’t know other transmutation circles and alchemical information, but it’s the practicality of being an active fighter that we see people like Mustang be so “limited”. Roy won’t have time to grab chalk and start scribbling circles on the ground when an enemy rushes him. He’s going to rely on Flame Alchemy because that’s the alchemy he has available with that transmutation circle on his gloves. Unfortunately, that comes at the cost that, when he’s wet, he can’t light sparks with his gloves and use his one prepared transmutation circle. Ergo, he becomes useless in the rain for any average fight.

There are many indications Roy knows more forms of alchemy. We could talk about the 2003 show, where we see his notes of complicated formulas for human transmutation research, but I’m going to stick with Arakawa’s intended chronology only. There are multiple instances I recall in FMAB / the manga where Roy uses alchemy that isn’t Flame Alchemy.

First, he makes a “body” to fake Maria’s death. He knows the needed “ingredients” off the top of his head; while they’re not complicated, he’s not looking anything up for what he knows he’ll need. He quickly jots his list down inside a phone booth and hands the note straight to Breda. Roy knows he’ll be able to form those into a fake corpse. It shows some non-Flame Alchemy knowledge here. It’s possible he then did some reading before making the “corpse” with alchemy, of course, but books or no, he regardless does non-Flame Alchemy. He even matches Ross’ tooth record for his crafted dummy.

And he knows ahead of time what the teeth will need to be made of.

Second, Mustang transmutes the sign on a truck into a different logo. We’ll get more to this instance of alchemy later. I like this instance.

Third, Mustang uses an oh-so-common combat alchemist tactic: reforming the ground before him into a shield. Clap transmutation moment for the win! Now that he’s not required to draw circles, he’s taking advantage of non-Flame Alchemy in combat.

Fourth, there’s the omake where Roy’s using Flame Alchemy techniques with the same transmutation circle, but in non-Flame Alchemy ways. We know for Flame Alchemy, Mustang manipulates oxygen concentration levels to direct his flames. Changing oxygen concentration levels can also… get people to pass out. Oh dear. Buddy. Buddy, we need to talk.

Last, Roy thinks he can use Lust’s Philosopher’s Stone to heal Havoc. Mustang says, “Medical field alchemy is outside of my expertise, but by using this to increase my abilities…” I don’t know how the Philosopher’s Stone exactly works since, again, you don’t need to draw a transmutation circle with it. How much are you still doing yourself with your own abilities and practice, and how much will the Philosopher’s Stone “fill in the gaps”? But the way that Roy is talking, he seems to at least think that the Philosopher’s Stone isn’t going to do the alchemy for him - it’s used to increase his abilities rather than give him new ones. I say that indicates that, while medical alchemy ain’t his specialty, he thinks he can do something with it. There’s still some questions I have about how working with a Philosopher’s Stone goes down, but regardless. Roy knows how to do some basic biological alchemy!

Honestly I’ve always found the ice cream truck moment most interesting when it comes to Roy’s non-Flame Alchemy. You see lots of alchemists do something like rearrange the earth to block attacks. Given he’s a soldier, knowing bits of medical alchemy is obviously practical. But changing the outside appearance of a truck is somewhat random - not necessarily complicated to do, but random and menial alchemy nevertheless.

We know Roy wouldn’t be carrying books on him to look up the transmutation circle for changing the truck logo. He would’ve used his memories to draw that transmutation circle. In FMAB he casually comments, “Changing the outer appearance of the vehicle is no trouble at all.” For whatever reason, Roy recalls what to do off the top of his head. It’s no trouble. And if he remembers some small random trick like this off the top of his head, what else does Roy actively recall about other forms of non-Flame Alchemy? I think this moment indicates Roy actually does carry around with him some decent memories of non-Flame Alchemy transmutation circles. Exactly because it’s some small random trick, it makes it all the more an indication Roy’s got a decent memory and practice for other forms of alchemy. Especially, I imagine he likes to remember some alchemy for deceptive stunts, since he has his fair share of tricks everywhere.

Honestly, even the fact that he decoded Berthold Hawkeye’s tattoo and learned Flame Alchemy shows that he’s got to have great understanding of alchemy as a whole. Prior to this, Roy knew nothing about how to do Flame Alchemy. At the same time, Berthold said that his alchemical notes (on Riza’s back) were “indecipherable to the average alchemist.” Either that means they were attuned specifically to Roy (which I find somewhat doubtful), or they were difficult to crack and understand - in which case Roy being able to learn this information is a feat to his prowess in alchemy as a whole. He’s no average alchemist; he’s a gifted and brilliant one able to learn a novel, new field.

He’s got his expertise, Flame Alchemy, and he’s damn amazing at it. He’s specialized, as we’d expect an advanced State Alchemist to do. Roy also shows that he has dabbled and remembers the information to some other forms of alchemy.

So I think that, in summation, to answer your question:

Roy (and other State Alchemists like Alex) narrow their alchemy to a specialty and almost exclusively practice that one form in combat. They’d enter more diverse research and application (though still circled around their expertise) in calmer scenarios. However, Mustang’s going to primarily use Flame Alchemy because that’s what he knows best, that’s where he can consistently do the most damage, and that’s what transmutation circle he has on his gloves to work with. In combat you only have the chance to use what you’ve prepared ahead of time in alchemy - unless, MAYBE, you’re a very fast drawer, have some time, or can clap transmute.

Roy’s useless in the rain and doesn’t use other forms of alchemy mostly from time constraints. He wouldn’t have time to scribble out new transmutation circles on rainy days in the middle of a fight. So… once his gloves get soaked, he can’t use Flame Alchemy. He’s done. He better shoot his gun or stay back. He’s also not going to be an expert in other alchemical forms. But time would be his biggest constraint making him “useless”.

Roy and the other alchemist’s “limitations” (compared to the Elrics) come from the fact they can’t clap transmute and they rely HEAVILY on their specialty with their pre-drawn circles. The Elrics, meanwhile, can clap transmute and are jacks of all trades.

That’s how I see it, anyway! Would be interested if you have any other thoughts, though, that I missed!

#long post #non-dragons #FMA #FMAB #Fullmetal Alchemist #Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood #Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood #I am so happy I got to talk about thissssss #and chat with you since we both love FMA a lot #Roy Mustang #analysis #my analysis #ask #ask me #the-lady-of-the-blue