Thoughts of Something or Other

d0cpr0fess0r:

NUMBER 1: The Punch Heard ‘Round the World

ALRIGHT. HERE WE ARE. Number one. End of the list.

I’ve been waiting for this. This is a long time coming.

I really could’ve put the entire fight in this as number one, the whole last battle of the entire series with Father, but this scene really just sells the whole thing. Have you ever seen a more perfectly executed left hook in your life? That is a work of ART, my friends. They should put that in a museum, it’s that good.

There’s a lot more going on in this final battle than just everyone pooling together their strength to take Father down. I mentioned a few days ago that the homunculi are not as deep as the rest of the characters and I want to follow up on that. One of the primary themes in Fullmetal Alchemist surrounds the concept of humanity being able to unite, to support one another. FMA has a very “fuck yeah humans” feel to it, sometimes stated explicitly (the reason Envy killed himself) or somewhat obscured (this final battle).

The final battle with Father isn’t Ed and Al fighting Father, with other people’s support. It’s a fight with EVERYONE against Father. Mustang and his troops, the chimeras, the Xingese, Izumi, Briggs troops. Everyone is pitching in. Every single person there has come together, putting aside differences and conflicts, to fight this one target. Throughout all of FMA, we see it happening. Ed and Al gain new allies and friends, bonds are formed, connections are made. There’s an intricate web of communication that Mustang runs secretly through Central. The entire six-month timeskip that takes place near the end of the series was spent calling in favors and uniting people to a common threat. This all serves the message of humans being able to accomplish anything because they’re able to rely on each other.

Compare this to the villains, the homunculi. Hohenheim calls Father out for creating a family, even though it ended up being a mockery of one. That’s why the homunculi are so shallow! This was on purpose! They were designed to be pale imitations of human beings, only the most surface, base emotions put into them. The homunculi never worked together, never cared when one of their own fell. Pride absorbed Gluttony without a second thought, Wrath captured Greed just for deciding to leave. These aren’t your typical uncaring villains, they literally don’t have the mental capacity TO care about their own. Father just wanted to create a family because he was jealous of humans. But it wasn’t real, there were no bonds between them. Compared to the humans, who have so many relationships of all kinds. Friends, family, lovers, coworkers, rivals, mentors, students. I love all the different ways the cast of FMA is connected to one another.

This is a serious contrast from FMA03, which didn’t have a real climactic battle like this one. The bonds weren’t really there, not nearly as strong as they are here. There was no sense of triumph or accomplishment at the end of the first anime. It sort of sputtered out. Compared to the manga, though, just look at it. That single punch alone just makes you feel GOOD. It feels SATISFYING. I think endings need to have that. Not everything needs to be sunshine and rainbows, but the ending of a series needs to FEEL satisfying. It needs to feel like this is the only way the series could have ended.

So there you have it, folks. 30 days of Fullmetal Alchemist. The 30 most badass moments in the entire series. But we aren’t exactly done yet! Stay tuned tomorrow for a bonus day of the five moments that didn’t quite make the cut!

If I might add in here… You don’t really seem to be pointing out another portion of why this moment is oh-so-epic? You have the point of why it feels good to get rid of the villians, why they have to fall, but not so much why this moment is so very, very perfect.

I mean, just look at the image there. Edward is punching Father. Edward, who just lost his brother for the second time. Edward, who just got his arm back. Who was barely holding keeping alive a minute ago. Who is full of this pure rage at the injustice that this one being has caused, from Xing to indirect harm to the Elrics, from murdering family men like Hughes to causing a years-long genocide.

Edward, who just got his arm back and is in both physical and emotional pain and probably damn close to running on empty after a relatively long fight, is punching Father, who is pretty much the one that has caused everything in the history of this series.

And again, we see Arakawa’s realistic dodging of poetic-ness. Yes, the expected conclusion would have Edward using his right arm, the one that Al just sacrificed himself for, to take Father down. Instead, even if not consciously, he knows that that arm is weaker from years of misuse (like Al’s body, kept in the Gate), plus it’s probably got a lot of damage from having scraps of automail embedded in it from when it reformed. Even though he’s probably used to throwing harder punches with his right by now, since a metal hand would do more damage than a flesh and bone one, he uses his left to deliver most of this beatdown.

Ed’s instinctively applying logic to this, showing just how far he’s come since the fight with Greed where he needed to let himself get beat up for a minute so he could think about a strategy.

Fandom: FMA (Brotherhood)

Rating: Let’s say T for rating/tears (if I wrote this right)

Summary: “Their father was an old drinking buddy of mine.” One that caused quite a lot of issues for Pinako.

A/N: Kinda scared for ICness here… sorry guys! But I hope it works.

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d0cpr0fess0r:

NUMBER 8: Ed Takes Down Pride

People might disagree with me, but I really think one of Ed’s strongest points is his desire not to kill anyone. Several times throughout the series, characters comment on how he and Al have taken the harder path by choosing not to kill. They have such strong resolve, and have never taken the easier way out. Even for someone as vile and cruel as Pride, Ed won’t break his oath not to kill. Instead he chooses to spare him, give him a second chance at life. It says a lot when even Kimblee, the psychotic killer, gives Ed credit for his resolve.

Ed once again shows his intelligence while fighting, utilizing his knowledge of the Philosopher’s Stone and human transmutation as a weapon. Transmuting himself not only takes the willpower and strength, but also the intricate knowledge of humanity that only someone like Ed can understand. This is exactly the kind of thing that sets him apart from other shonen protagonists!

Something I never thought about before! But Ed really doesn’t ever kill anyone does he?

Has anyone ever called Ed not-badass because he adheres to no killing though? Idr.

But it’s interesting to point out OH HEY ABILILTY TO KILL =/= BAMFNESS

d0cpr0fess0r:

NUMBER 18: Izumi Tells Greed What She Is

You don’t stand in front of a mom trying to get to her boys. You just don’t. Especially if that mom is Izumi Curtis. (And don’t try to tell me they’re not her boys)

In case you haven’t been reading this list, let me just tell you right now that there are so many badass ladies in Fullmetal Alchemist. There are badass soldier ladies, there are badass mechanic ladies, there are badass ninja bodyguard ladies, there are badass parkour thief ladies, the list goes on and on.

And sitting at the top of that list is Olivier Armstrong. But occasionally Izumi will sneak up and throw her and the chair off the edge of the list and park herself up top. Especially in moments like this. She’s right, you know. She is a housewife. She is an angry angry housewife looking for her stupid brat of a student and she will eat you if you try to stop her. They say every Briggs soldier can kill a bear by themselves. But you mention the word “housewife” around them and they start shaking.

“In case you haven’t been reading this list, let me just tell you right now that there are so many badass ladies in Fullmetal Alchemist. There are badass soldier ladies, there are badass mechanic ladies, there are badass ninja bodyguard ladies, there are badass parkour thief ladies, the list goes on and on.”

“In case you haven’t been reading this list, let me just tell you right now that there are so many badass ladies in Fullmetal Alchemist.”

“there are so many badass ladies in Fullmetal Alchemist.”

“many badass ladies in Fullmetal Alchemist.”

“many badass ladies”

GET IT FOLKS?

Presented in the form of my conversation with Lobster while I watched.

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ENVYS TRUE FORM IS PERFECT

JUST…

IT’S REPULSIVE AND DETAILED AND I CAN’T LOOK AWAY

AND THE MULTIPLE VOICES

PERFECTION

something about how the reverb was applied…? idk but it’s really creepy to me

GAH HOHENHEIM

WHY DO YOU SOUND MORE VILLIANOUS THAN FATHER

(srsly this is… gah. i like the fma dub! but hohenheim doesn’t sound right, envy is way too raspy compared to the first series and it’s jarring, and ling’s voice kinda has odd delivery every few lines? plus al sounds more like an 8 year old than 11-14? **sigh**)

i love the detail when the homunculi regenerate, the layers and all.

“She’s got the tattoo…”
“First I’ve seen of it sir!”

**BOING** 

Is it bad that I thought “Mustang’s Angels”? xD

1. Al’s carrying a bag that has bread and such in it.

2. They are wearing the same clothes as when they attempt to bring back their mother, and it’s late at night.

Conclusion:

Both are right! The Elrics are both buying groceries and buying the ingredients for human transmutation.

I mean, he gets annual research grants.

He’s been a State Alchemist for 3 years at the time of most events in the storyline.

He and Al probably have only spent money on travel expenses; at the least, we have no evidence that they would need a lot of money for experiments. Most of their efforts are in tracking things down, not creating or trying new things.

Add to that his State Alchemist salary, which would presumably be different from the research grants….

So yeah, it’s really not that surprising that he could apparently give Sheska a lot of money.