[thefullofshitalchemist]

Now how about them apples?

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Now how about them apples?

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Me 24/7

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Happy FMA Day!

[thefullofshitalchemist]

I’m beginning to regret my post on the Rockbells. In all honesty, especially as an exclusive fan of the 2003 series, I don’t really give a shit about Winry’s parents on an emotional level. I wrote that post to reach out to fans who take Arakawa’s framing of the Rockbells at face value and who act like they weren’t culpable in what their military was doing to the Ishvalans, but I feel I inadvertently played into the white savior narrative without meaning to. It’s just that Brotherhood presents the couple in this light, and I only wanted to explain how we shouldn’t allow that to let them off the hook. If they were really exceptions to the rule, then we need to acknowledge that their decision to treat Ishvalans was a deliberate rejection of their position as Amestrian doctors, not just the natural result of some inherent “goodness.” If they were good people, then they were good people at the expense of their status in the Amestrian military. The manga shows us that even if Scar hadn’t killed them, the powers that be were planning to assassinate them anyway. It’s absolutely imperative that fans do not ignore their role in the story in favor of sanctifying them simply because they were Winry’s parents.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Anybody remember seeing the post that goes “no don’t join the military you’re so sexy haha”? It was a joke about real-life soldiers, but someone reblogged it to put “hawkeye to mustang” in their tags, and I just want to say how astounding I find people’s complete dedication to lying through their teeth about FMA.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

This is so funny.

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Here goes Al!

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…and here goes Ed!

[thefullofshitalchemist]

I’ll take Al smiling indulgently at his older brother as he gushes about how delicious stew is despite being made with milk and how much more awesome alchemists would be if they just learned to think like mothers over that stupid “fuck yeah!” joke any day.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

On the Rockbells

I feel a lot of fans view the Rockbells as saints and martyrs. I believe they were good people — really, I do — but by placing them on this weird pedestal, these fans prove they don’t actually understand the moral weight of their decision. They like to divorce them from their privilege and their response to that privilege (using it to save Ishbalan lives), and act like they had no culpability in the genocide. Every Amestrian had culpability in what their military did and continued to do to Ishbal. That is precisely why the Rockbells began treating Ishbalans despite direct orders not to. It’s why they were exceptions to the rule. That is, the rule of Amestrian soldiers who slaughtered innocent men, women, and children. The rule that Scar was all too aware of when he awoke in that camp delirious and on the verge of death, which is the very reason he reacted so violently. Scar was not wrong to hate Amestrians. He was not wrong to distrust them. I’m not saying he should have killed the Rockbells or that they deserved to die, but we have to understand why Scar did what he did to understand why killing the Rockbells was a tragic mistake. We can’t pretend they were good people merely because they were doctors, but because they put their own lives on the line to treat their Ishbalan patients. If they were really as upstanding as everyone says they were (as Arakawa wants us to believe they were), then they must have been fully prepared to die to fulfill their duties, even at the hands of their patients. Even if it was ultimately an unfair and completely unforeseen situation. They were there to help people like Scar — Ishabalans who may very well have despised and resented them — because they valued their patients’ lives for their humanity alone, not simply because they were on the same “side.”

That’s the lesson these characters should teach us.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

...they must have been fully prepared to die to fulfill their duties, even at the hands of their patients.

I did not at all mean to imply the Rockbells should have let any of their patients harm them, but reading this line again, I realize that’s a possible interpretation. I only meant that they didn’t let the potential risk to their safety stop them from treating Ishbalans or going onto the battlefield in the first place. This is something they would have thought through.

Again, I do not view the Rockbells or doctors like them to be martyrs, and I do not believe doctors and other caregivers should sacrifice themselves. I hate the Rockbells being discussed this way, because as I said, it’s often used to place them beyond reproach and vilify Scar. When fans spend all their time sanctifying Winry’s parents, all they end up doing is stripping their actions of any moral weight.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

[thefullofshitalchemist]

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Everyone praises the scene in which Ed acknowledges his racism, but we forget the conversation was ultimately prompted by Leo turning on Scar, as well as his rage and frustration at everything that had happened to him by that point in his life. Ed saying he didn’t want to kill Scar, that he didn’t want to kill anyone, is something we as the audience know is sincere, but to Leo, it’s just more empty words. He liked Ed better when the latter was willing to kill Scar because it was exactly how he felt.

Leo always channels his grief into anger. When he thought his mother had betrayed him and his little brother, he was furious. He swore off religion and kept that flame of hatred burning in his heart. Finding out about her failing eyesight may have allowed him to properly grieve for the mother who loved him, but it didn’t exactly make all his pain go away. He still harbored so much resentment. In a complete 180, he embraced his mother’s faith and clung to it as he and Rick continued to struggle on, and when Scar became a big part of his life, he clung to him as well. Then everything at Kishua happened, and Leo felt even more betrayed, not just by Scar (who had committed the taboo and therefore also “betrayed” his mother), but by everyone and everything. The world wanted him dead, and he hated the world for it. When they were all caught and he and Rick were shipped off to the “residences” anyway, it was just more confirmation for his deeply held resentment.

I don’t think anyone can blame Leo for lashing out at Ed, something that, quite frankly, was less than he deserved (and more, if you look at it from the angle of how it benefited him). For his part, Ed had such a limited understanding of Leo’s situation. After all, it was Al who heard the whole story, not him. All Ed knew was that Leo had hated his mother, and now he didn’t. All he knew was that Leo had loved Scar, and now he wanted him dead. The reason Leo gave was about how Scar had gone against God, which Ed recognized as something Leo had been taught, not something he truly felt. Why get so angry about Scar if he didn’t really care? So even though in some ways Ed still didn’t get it, I think he was successful in using the tactic he did. Ed knows very well how things taken as a given by society can lead one down the wrong path. He accurately surmised that what Leo actually thought of Scar was different than he let on, so he prompted him to rethink what Scar had actually done, what he actually meant to Leo, because it was infinitely more important than what he thought he should feel.

No matter how Leo decides to take Ed’s advice, no matter what he comes to believe—about alchemy, about outcasts, about Scar—he needs catharsis and the space to grieve. Blindly condemning Scar did not help him; it only hurt him. Until he can acknowledge the man he knew and respected had committed the taboo, but that he loved him still despite this, Leo will never reconcile his faith with his emotions. He will never move past Scar’s death. He will never reach that catharsis.

So… yeah. Where was the scene of the news of Scar’s death reaching the Ishbalan community? Where’s my scene of Rick and Leo grieving the loss of a man they had loved, who had loved and protected them? What about Scar’s teacher? How did he take the news? I mean come on! Once Scar was dead, the Ishbalan characters were written off completely. We don’t even get to see them in the movie.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

I’m worried I didn’t at all word this correctly... I’m willing to admit I’m not equipped to speak on this subject, but I do feel the purpose of that scene is to show how Leo is hurting himself, because he can’t base what he believes and what he thinks on anger and hatred. I know from experience that such things can be damaging to our hearts, our minds, and our bodies.

Leo is still so young, and he has a lifetime to foster his faith (and here I mean his personal spirituality). As he grows older and learns more and more, he will come to better understand why his mother believed what she did. Otherwise, there’s no meaning in it for him. His mother cared a lot for her sons’ wellbeing; she was dedicated to her work and wanted the best life for her children. She wanted them to come to know God and find fulfillment in their community. She was so much more than he and Rick were able to comprehend.

It devastates me that Rick and Leo will never come to know their mother better as a person, and it breaks my heart seeing Leo struggle to make sense of his conflicting emotions over her and Scar, two people he loved dearly. Like I said, no matter what he decides for himself, he needs to grieve for Scar. He needs to come to terms with his death, with his mother’s death, with the life he will now have to lead without them.

I’m still not sure if I’m articulating this well.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

On the Rockbells

I feel a lot of fans view the Rockbells as saints and martyrs. I believe they were good people — really, I do — but by placing them on this weird pedestal, these fans prove they don’t actually understand the moral weight of their decision. They like to divorce them from their privilege and their response to that privilege, and act like they had no culpability in the genocide. Every Amestrian had culpability in what their military did and continued to do to Ishbal. That is precisely why the Rockbells began treating Ishbalans despite direct orders not to. It’s why they were exceptions to the rule. That is, the rule of Amestrian soldiers who slaughtered innocent men, women, and children. The rule that Scar was all too aware of when he awoke in that camp delirious and on the verge of death, which is the very reason he reacted so violently. Scar was not wrong to hate Amestrians. He was not wrong to distrust them. I’m not saying he should have killed the Rockbells or that they deserved to die, but we have to understand why Scar did what he did to understand why killing the Rockbells was a tragic mistake. We can’t pretend they were good people merely because they were doctors, but because they put their own lives on the line to treat their Ishbalan patients. If they were really as upstanding as everyone says they were (as Arakawa wants us to believe they were), then they must have been fully prepared to die to fulfill their duties, even at the hands of their patients. Even if it was ultimately an unfair and completely unforeseen situation. They were there to help people like Scar — Ishabalans who may very well have despised and resented them — because they valued their patients’ lives for their humanity alone, not simply because they were on the same “side.”

That’s the lesson these characters should teach us.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Everyone praises the scene in which Ed acknowledges his racism, but we forget the conversation was ultimately prompted by Leo turning on Scar, as well as his rage and frustration at everything that had happened to him by that point in his life. Ed saying he didn’t want to kill Scar, that he didn’t want to kill anyone, is something we as the audience know is sincere, but to Leo, it’s just more empty words. He liked Ed better when the latter was willing to kill Scar because it was exactly how he felt.

Leo always channels his grief into anger. When he thought his mother had betrayed him and his little brother, he was furious. He swore off religion and kept that flame of hatred burning in his heart. Finding out about her failing eyesight may have allowed him to properly grieve for the mother who loved him, but it didn’t exactly make all his pain go away. He still harbored so much resentment. In a complete 180, he embraced his mother’s faith and clung to it as he and Rick continued to struggle on, and when Scar became a big part of his life, he clung to him as well. Then everything at Kishua happened, and Leo felt even more betrayed, not just by Scar (who had committed the taboo and therefore also “betrayed” his mother), but by everyone and everything. The world wanted him dead, and he hated the world for it. When they were all caught and he and Rick were shipped off to the “residences” anyway, it was just more confirmation for his deeply held resentment.

I don’t think anyone can blame Leo for lashing out at Ed, something that, quite frankly, was less than he deserved (and more, if you look at it from the angle of how it benefited him). For his part, Ed had such a limited understanding of Leo’s situation. After all, it was Al who heard the whole story, not him. All Ed knew was that Leo had hated his mother, and now he didn’t. All he knew was that Leo had loved Scar, and now he wanted him dead. The reason Leo gave was about how Scar had gone against God, which Ed recognized as something Leo had been taught, not something he truly felt. Why get so angry about Scar if he didn’t really care? So even though in some ways Ed still didn’t get it, I think he was successful in using the tactic he did. Ed knows very well how things taken as a given by society can lead one down the wrong path. He accurately surmised that what Leo actually thought of Scar was different than he let on, so he prompted him to rethink what Scar had actually done, what he actually meant to Leo, because it was infinitely more important than what he thought he should feel.

No matter how Leo decides to take Ed’s advice, no matter what he comes to believe—about alchemy, about outcasts, about Scar—he needs catharsis and the space to grieve. Blindly condemning Scar did not help him; it only hurt him. Until he can acknowledge the man he knew and respected had committed the taboo, but that he loved him still despite this, Leo will never reconcile his faith with his emotions. He will never move past Scar’s death. He will never reach that catharsis.

So... yeah. Where was the scene of the news of Scar’s death reaching the Ishbalan community? Where’s my scene of Rick and Leo grieving the loss of a man they had loved, who had loved and protected them? What about Scar’s teacher? How did he take the news? I mean come on! Once Scar was dead, the Ishbalan characters were written off completely. We don’t even get to see them in the movie.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

I feel Ed’s pain because I, too, look like my father.

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Happy Father’s Day!

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Now how about them apples?

[thefullofshitalchemist]

Me 24/7