please? please? essay about Ling being suncoded? pretty please? bark bark?
I think it's been long enough since my original post now, hehe.
So. Sun and moon-coded edling. The common take is, obv, that Ed's the sun and Ling's the moon. My hot take, however, is that ppl only attribute the moon to Ling because the sun's already taken by Ed, and the dynamic obv needs a moon to be completed!!! (False)
Walk with me here. Ed being the sun is easy, right? He's got the looks, he's got the fiery temper, and he's got the even warmer compassion for all things living and the staunch refusal to take a single life. All very sun-coded things. What makes Ling the moon, though? He's multi-faceted, sure—he hides his true nature and changes in the blink of an eye, etc... but that's kind of it.
Nothing else about Ling screams moon-coded. It seems to me that ppl just ascribed that to him as a second thought after Ed, and that sort of dismissive characterization (or blatant mischaracterization in most cases) is a common enough issue I've seen across most edling writings. Ling can't be his own character, and most ppl don't bother with his character, period.
Which is some bullshit.
Having been writing in Ling's pov for quite some time now and taken the time to study his character: I think Ling is the sun to Ed's moon.
Exhibit A: this man's sheer goddamn ambition, bordering on icarian. Once again, it's extremely easy to attribute this to Ed too, but the way I see it—Ed's already made his icarian act by reviving Trisha. Even if he still has lots of growth to do, he's already been humbled a little, at least.
Ling fucking Yao, however. This man not only wants to become emperor, but he also wants to free all the clans. He arrives in Amestris literally thinking he can just swoop up a Philosopher's Stone from under Ed's nose and skedaddle home with it, and that that would just fix all his problems. And then, when that fails, he goes and gets himself the ultimate power of a homunculus. You know, only the villains.
I cannot stress Ling's sacrifice enough. He realized his plans had failed, and he realized how his overconfidence had lost Lan Fan a literal arm—and his solution was to willingly take Greed's power in order to protect his family and people better. And he thought he could maintain control of that power.
He thought he could control a homunculus. He thought he could control Greed.
Forget icarian, he's straight-up pulling a Dwarf-in-the-Flask. And he feels zero regrets about it! He literally isn't sorry!!
AND THAT'S WONDERFUL.
The sun is so often flattened to just symbolize life and warmth, but I think we've forgotten that it also means pure, unadulterated ego. Ambitions beyond capability.
Ling was biting off far more than he could chew, and he couldn't have given less of a shit. He was confident to the end that he could make the best of his situation with Greed.
Returning to the "freeing all the clans" point too—that development isn't until far later, after he's connected with Mei. Before that, he was entirely in it for his clan and his clan alone. He's a bit of a Mustang vs Kimblee situation; his goal is only perceived as good and true to us because he's introduced to us as a hero. On paper, his goal is extremely selfish. He was really prepared to go home with only his clan's safety secured and nobody else's.
It makes Ed's ego look like nothing, frankly.
And, speaking of Ed: how is he the moon, you might be wondering? As we've established earlier, ppl tend to perceive the moon as quieter and more mysterious; always hiding in the sun's shadow.
Ed does not hide in Ling's shadow, not one bit. However... there is someone he does orbit as a greater purpose than himself.
His little brother.
Think about it. Everything Ed has ever done since his great fall has been for Al. He searches for miraculous stones, he fights his way out of monster's stomachs, he gives up his fucking alchemy—all for Al.
Ed might've been a sun, I think, pre-human transmutation. But, after it, when he's dedicated his entire life to someone else's? Essentially putting his purpose in someone else's shadow?
That's the fucking moon, baby. Eternal devotion and—when it comes down to it—quiet ambitions.
Ed won't scream from the rooftops that he's doing all these things for Al. He simply acts, and yearns for Al to know these truths without a word spoken.
(And, if you really think about it, Ed does support Ling's higher goals to become emperor while keeping his own, humbler goals of just going home to his family. There's a royai parallel in there somewhere.)
So, yeah. Ling's the sun, and Ed's the moon.
Feel free to argue with me if you must, but I've already set up my picnic on this here hill.
lan fan eyes red rimmed from sobbing her eyes out: ed did automail surgery and recovery in a year? ill do it in half
ed eyes also red rimmed and swollen because they've both been crying in this stupid little hospital bed for like seven hours straight: is it crack? is it crack you smoke?
LMAO YEAH. I do not believe Lan Fan's recovery time for a second. She's just smoking some REALLY good shit
I know what I’m getting into by asking this for the ask game, but I gotta know: 03 Ed AND Broho Ed.
Chen you know the language of my HEART
(red for 03 and yellow for broho)
So 03 Ed's chart speaks for itself. No notes, perfect character. I love love LOVE his tragic development, I love that he's called out to fix his goddamn prejudices and I LOVE THAT HE DOES. I LOVE THAT HE GROWS TO UNDERSTAND SCAR'S MOTIVATIONS AND MR. MILITARY BOY DOESN'T PREACH TO THE BROWN MAN BUT MURDER IS WRONG!!
03 Ed is frequently schooled and he just keeps and keeps growing from it, and he never feels stagnant. I adore him to pieces.
Broho Ed is... less great to me.
He reeks of privileged White boy energy and I know the manga claims to tackle the nuances of war and racism—but it sure fucking flops at it. Ed's sheer audacity to tell Miles, AN ISHVALAN, that bombing one station was just as bad AS AN ENTIRE MASSACRE AGAINST HIS PEOPLE??? ED BEING FUCKING PRAISED FOR THE SOOOO COOL CLAP-BACK? I WOULD'VE SLAPPED ED FOR THAT SHIT NO JOKE.
If 03 Ed is challenged and grows from it, broho Ed's prejudices are PRAISED and never once corrected as a result. I'm also just not a fan of how he ends up... marrying, having kids, and settling down VERY young? Like yes yes Ed does deserve to settle down after what he's been through—but he LOST HIS ALCHEMY. It's incredibly idealistic to assume he'll adjust well to settling down so soon as a simple househusband? He has to be even a little depressed about the abrupt shift. And that's not even mentioning how he looks NOTHING like himself anymore. The new clothes I can excuse, 03 does the same, whatever. But WHY did he need to grow taller? In fact, why does the manga hate him being short so much? Why is it such a gag? Legit WHAT is wrong with Winry loving her short king as he is?
The constant jabs at Ed's height just start to feel so mean-spirited after the first few times, and I despise it. I swear he only got taller because Winry said she'd only marry someone taller than her so it was supposed to come full circle or sth. I dunno. Winry going from independent work in Rush Valley to naggy wife in the last few episodes didn't help my opinion of edwin and Ed in relation.
I UNDERSTAND that a character arc is supposed to change a character even in looks. No shit. But the changes broho Ed visually goes through in the end are so extreme. I don't look at that and think Edward Elric. I look at that and think Hohenheim 2.0.
It's not great. I can't even rewatch broho anymore for edling's sake :/
i was stalking your tumblr and i saw this post you made about how ling is more sun coded than ed and ed is really the moon character so, now i have to draw it. this is just a concept sketch to see where ill go with it (the dragon is meaningful, just you wait)
what do ya think?
OH MY GOSH HEY??? HEY.
That looks SO good. And it's based on my silly idea? 🥺 I love all the details here, but I esp love the halo hairpiece he's wearing and the staff design. Great choice of colors too!
13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?
Using commas to emphasize pauses! It's not a technique I see often utilized in fics—which is a shame, because nothing hits like a creatively placed comma that forces you to stop and put weight on a word. Much sexier than overusing italics, in my opinion.
20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?
I almost never write in the povs of my actual favorite characters. If I'm writing about my fav, then you best bet I'll be doing it through the eyes of someone else JUST for the excuse to wax poetic about the fav. This has also meant, however, that literally every one of my fics turned into character studies along the way. It doesn't matter whether I love or hate the pov in question, I WILL get to the bottom of Why That Bitch Is That Way or so help me.
24. Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?
See, the funny thing about advice is that, some of it is just not for everyone. The best advice to someone could be someone else's worst. In my case, the worst advice I personally could've received was to stop editing as I write.
I understand, obv, that this is a very real issue that can halt writers in their tracks and get them to never get out of wip hell—but it's honestly the reverse for me. If I leave off a scene feeling extremely that it sucks or that it just isn't what I want, I cannot just walk away from it. I can keep bulldozing forward and get a couple thousand more words in, but I know damn well in my chest that I will hate what I've written and that it WILL be scrapped.
It's just better for my personal sanity to edit as I go.
