Hi! I'm loving the designs for your FMA cowboy AU, especially Al's! I was wondering, would he have any sort of speech impediment from his lower jaw being metal? It sounds like he still has his teeth, palettes, and tongue, but what about sounds that need both lips, like M, B, and P? Just curious if he'd struggle with those. Love your art!
thank you sm!! :") al's design has been both really fun to parse out and also a nightmare. thank u for this question this is getting me to tackle the things i hadn't particularly thought out
heads up! intense injury cw!
initially what i had for Al was that it was just his jaw was replaced with some scarring along the right side of his head and neck. my initial drawings actually didn't incorporate any neck connection but the most recent times ive drawn it it's extended to the neck bc tbh that makes more sense to me, idk what i was thinking originally. theres no additional support for the automail jaw. what was i THINKING.
so a little more than half of al's jaw is actually missing. he's got automail for the right side of his jaw, a replacement for the TMJ and some jaw muscles, as well as extending a bit further down his neck for muscles that impact movement. the jaw that we actually see (that's similar to the armor in fma) is a cover for wiring protection, and it extends over to the other side of his face both for balance and for aesthetic purposes
al retains his upper lip and at least a portion of his lower lip. he's missing up to his lateral incisor on the right side of his lower jaw, and he still has his tongue. his jaw's range of motion isn't super extensive, and is also constrained due to scarring on his face
i think al would have similar issues that come with TMJ irritation/TMD. some ppl with tmd mention sounding like they're slurring or mumbling, as well as speaking slower to articulate better.
since he's still got a portion of his lower lip, he'd be able to make p, b, m, v, f sounds, but they're a little more whistle-y. same with s and z
his normal speaking voice would be pretty soft, hoarse, and a little wheezy. people mistake him for mumbling a lot. he tries to move his jaw as infrequently as possible, so it often sounds like he's speaking with his teeth together
thats about all of my thoughts so far!! feel free to send in any thoughts/corrections!!! :")
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