Roy Mustang is Xingese and useless on rainy days

I am aware it might be shit. But again - ungodly hour lmaooooo

Do you think CoS/03 Alphonse Elric would stand face to face with Manga/Brotherhood Alphonse Elric and look at him with horrendous envy? Desire? Revile? Or maybe he would just be happy that somewhere out there was a version of him that didn't have to rewrite himself without his brother at his side. Do you think Manga/Brotherhood Edward Elric would look at 03/CoS Edward Elric with pity? Disgust? Terror? Knowing that there existed another version of him. One that allowed himself to rot from the inside out so completely, unsure of whether or not his sacrifice even worked. Do you think Manga/Brotherhood Alphonse Elric would look at 03/CoS Alphonse Elric with sadness? Sympathy? Fear? Knowing that there was a version of him that clung so desperately to the mere idea of seeing his older brother just one more time that he left everything else behind in the process. Do you think Brotherhood/Manga Edward Elric would look at 03/CoS Alphonse Elric and say he was sorry?

the body spread out over the floor like cottage cheese. that was the first association ed could make. that his mother’s body was in uneven lumps over the basement floor, gooey balls of flesh in congealed blood, mucus, sweat, and other fluids. ed wanted to look away but his eyes were firmly planted on his mother. this was his responsibility, after all.

alphonse whined as the lumps began to slug their way into each other. they undulated and rolled, stacked and shivered, until ed could make out an ankle here, a thigh there, the beginnings of a torso. he didn’t know how long the process took only that his mother was there at the end, fetal and wet, the leftovers of curdled human bits laying flat around her like pancakes. eventually they started to hiss and sizzle, evaporating into the circle.

ed held his breath as his mother stirred. she pushed herself up to her knees, her hair sticking to the goo still on her face, obscuring one eye and half her mouth. her breasts were slowly rising with fat.

when mustang hears that scar is ishvalan, he says that, in many ways, his killing of state alchemists is justified, although he's still not keen to become a victim of it. when scar is faced with the daughter of the doctors he killed, he bows his head and tells her that justice is hers to deliver, and that he will not fight if she chooses to bestow it. roy is never told that he must forgive envy, or that hes wrong to want them dead; only that, should he choose to kill them, he will no longer be the kind of man he wants to be. the kind of man he can be. they all agree that envy must die - ed never says that roys anger or grief is unjustified, that his vengeance wouldnt be deserved. instead, he asks "is that the face you plan to wear when you lead this country?" he says your anger is earned, your violence is justified. if you burned them to death like you wanted to, no one would say they did not do it to themself. but is a man who burns a defeated enemy to death the kind of man you want to be?

when scar finally decides to stop killing state alchemists, he doesnt do it because he has learned to forgive, or because they do not deserve it. there is no forgiveness for the things amestris has done to his people, and arakawa never suggests that there could be. rather, he stops killing state alchemists because he cannot build a better world on top of more corpses. his anger is justified, but his violence will breed more violence, his hatred more hatred. it will kill him if he does not stop it first, and it will lead his people to even further ruin if he cannot escape it.

alphonse is dependent on edward's survival to function. after fighting scar for the first time, alphonse is literally in pieces. he can't walk or anything until edward is in a position to fix him. similarly his body is dependent on nutrients from edward's body. like there's the point towards the end where edward gets impaled and alphonse collapses. furthermore, these periods where alphonse collapses start to become debilitating towards the end of the series and massively alter his daily living.

also, alphonse constantly talks about how upsetting it is for him to not feel any physical sensations. yeah, he's not feeling physical pain, but he's also not feeling the warmth of a fire, the sun on his face, or the fluffiness of the cats he keeps petting. he talks a lot about not being able to eat or sleep, and how there's a lot of foods he wants to try.

there's another thing that highlighted by edward at one point. alphonse's body doesn't regenerate at all. the parts scar destroys are gone forever; edward stretches out the metal that alphonse has left to repair his body. and obviously human beings don't regrow limbs, but imagine if your skin didn't ever heal over a cut. how long would your body last?

also alphonse gets told several times that his body is great throughout the series, and he literally argues against it every time, because to him it is shit. like he is missing some of his senses just for some supposedly immortal body that isn't even immortal.

Lanfan (in the manga)? Ass kicked. Ling? Ass kicked. Marcoh? Ass kicked. Mustang? Ass kicked.

Everyone can kick Envy’s ass

cos ed + text posts part 2 🦾🦾🦾 (added some aroace ones this time because i need to live up to my username more lmao)

part 1 here

I don't think it's rude to IDs to fanart. I don't do it very much because I have issues, but many people do.

If you won't mind, here are some more tidbits about the AU:

Miles got arrested via the manga iirc where Ishvalan soldiers got rounded up and executed for “treason” but Miles got off scot-free supposedly because of his diluted lineage (which I have some doubts about, maybe he chose to swear allegiance to Amestris somehow and that's why he was spared, but I could very well be wrong and it really was just a matter of blood), he was held there for a while, during which time his wife collapsed and passed away while his daughter got shipped off to an orphanage bc Marigold's relatives did not want to raise an Ishvalan child.

By the time Miles gets out he's like “Where's my wife? Where's my daughter?” and while he gets a definitive answer regarding his wife (oof, feels guilty for being unable to be there for her), NOBODY KNOWS WHERE HIS DAUGHTER IS.

Our little daughter (nameless though I did give her a name) faces so much mistreatment in the orphanage that she decides to haul ass and try living on the streets instead and runs into Isaac McDougal.

In this AU, there would be a faction of former Amestrian soldiers who went “no fuck this shit I ain't gonna slaughter civilians what the hell” and defected from the military, which of course the government wasn't happy about so they got bounties on their heads.

Isaac is one of them.

Their cause might or might not expand to ally with other ethnic minority movements that the Amestrian majority has caused problems with.

Anyways, she gets picked up by Isaac (she must be, what, 11?) who is decidedly NOT suited for raising a child, much less a traumatized one. Also he was a bluecoat and she's an Ishvalan kid.

Some foils could be drawn between Miles and Isaac, I realize, both with ties to the army, one choosing to stay despite everything and the other leaving because he couldn't bear the injustice, both “father” to the girl, both probably less-than-stellar parents...

She becomes a brash, harsh, no-shits-taken, borderline reckless type of person.

Anyways he might or might not teach her water alchemy. Also via the anime I've seen some folk headcanon that Isaac can use alkahestry so maybe he went to Xing and took the girl with him too and they both know alkahestry?

They're both part of the coalition that wants to get rid of the current system of government.

Isaac abruptly discovers the whole nationwide alchemical circle thing and leaves on his own to go and put that to a stop, gets killed by Bradley a la canon, our girl who was not told what he discovered was like “????? I'm gonna go find out”

Which kicks off the plot, and... originally I just had it stick to canon for the most part (except the ending) just told from a different perspective but methinks I should really lean into the whole AU thing and go off the rails somehow

Anyways for fear of the ask getting too long here are some rapid-fire bullet points:

Mei becomes the Emperor in the AU. Sorry not sorry, I don't care about Ling all that much.

Miles' daughter offers to be a bodyguard for Mei and help her win the throne in exchange for her helping Ishval later. She agrees, and a badass duo is formed.

Our girl felt shame for being disconnected from her culture, she feels like she's not “Ishvalan enough”, even her name is Amestrian, so she discarded her name, just like Scar.

If she could allow herself to be vulnerable enough to say it aloud she'd tell Scar, “I wish you were my father instead” but homegirl is kinda constipated where her insecurities are concerned.

Complicated dynamic with Winry

Does NOT get along with Ed unless he gets his shit together and grows

Running into Miles in the North would be... a catastrophe

She thought her dad was dead all along but he's alive AND IN THE MILITARY?

I need to map out Miles' development if I'm not gonna stick w canon, he can't be Arakawa's mouthpiece who only appears once in a blue moon he gotta be a presence somehow

Marigold... haunts both Miles and their daughter. Miles' guilt, the daughter's anger and hurt and not understanding why her parents won't say anything beyond “be a model citizen and prove them wrong”— and of course, grief at losing Marigold, losing both her parents, even if they weren't perfect by any means.

I don't know if it's feasible for Miles to recognize his daughter whom he has not seen in years but the girl would absolutely recognize Miles. Yeesh.

Anyways Miles will have much to think about. And will eventually get his shit together but not right away. He's quite shaken after seeing his daughter again for the first time, though. Probably happens when the north crew had Scar trapped and Mei + the girl come to his rescue. To add to the absolute fucking MESS.

Scar and the girl would eventually take on new names as part of their healing or whatever, as their old name selves kinda “died” long ago? [Scar] died when his brother died, [the girl] died when she fell through the cracks of the system and never came back up.

Also Kimblee deserves no dignity he should've been killed by Scar.

Mustang does NOT get to use the fucking Philosopher's Stone to heal his eyes, if he even comes to need it— he might not even get yeeted into the Gate in the AU, someone else might have to take up the burden or things never come to that point, the Ishvalans are given back their dead and Marcoh gives either Scar or the girl or both the way to destroy a Stone. So they do. As part of a funerary rite for those who got turned into a Stone. It doesn't erase what was done to their people, but... it's closure, at least.

On the topic of that, the other day I went to check the Ishval tag after sending my previous ask to you, and. Uh. Uhhhhhhhhhh.

There was a post going “wouldn't it be so cool for Mustang to have red Ishvalan eyes since he used a Stone made of Ishvalans to heal his eyes?” and I had such a visceral reaction to it that I immediately exited the tag.

Yeahhhhhhhhhh

Regret™

Oh and there's also a couple underdeveloped Ishvalan OCs I have one of whom wants to be a doctor and may or may not become the girl's love interest? He's a soft boy.

This AU didn't really get all that much developed compared to my other AUs so I'm still up in the air on how the cast would react to my OC(s)— Olivier could be like “whomst the fuck is this upstart tyke and also that's a threat” and that could potentially drive some conflict between her and Miles, Miles is, understandably, distraught over everything, Ed... probably wouldn't like her tbh, no idea on how the Mustang gang or the homunculi would react to her, it's just a whole bag of ?????

Omg @heartisrote you wanna draw my baby? 🥹

Here are some older drawings I did back before I had the means to do digital art (when the earlier versions of the girl had a younger brother, unfortunately he got scrapped, he may get inserted again in another shape, question mark?) and after that, before my stylus fucking broke 🥲 (that's her potential love interest next to her)

Anyways, apologies for rambling so much in your inbox!

Hey Egg! Hope hopping off anon wasn't too intimidating. Maybe the cool Miles/Scar anon will get in contact with you in the near future.

Also, hell yeah, OC AU breakdown! Loved all the details you provided; I'm really digging the outline of the story so far.

Ah, so Miles' arrest is a manga detail that was eschewed for Brotherhood. Sigh, I really do have to read it don't I? But good to know, since it makes sense given the actions of the Amestrian government. They disbarred Amestrian Ishvalans from the service, so I thought it odd that Miles was spared. Initially I thought perhaps Olivier had thrown her pedigree behind keeping him in her squadron (which could still be true) or that his placement at Briggs provided plus his mixed blood gave him some leeway. But now I wonder if Briggs and Olivier only enter his military career and life post-arrest. 🤔

Excuse my ignorance, but is Miles canonically married? Doesn't matter either way, this is a cool AU, but I realize that my recollection of Brotherhood is perhaps spotty in that regard, or maybe the show also elided that info. Anyway, rip Marigold

So the poor daughter was utterly rejected by the Amestrian side of her family and gets sent to an orphanage. Man. It's realistic tho, since many families under a racial-class system deny, hide, or disown members of the "wrong" racial/ethnic makeup. Miles must have been distraught by both losses.

Good for her for running away from her abusers. Love that McDougall and his merry band of insurrectionists take her in! He may not be parent of the year (especially given the parallels between him and Miles in this AU), but it had to have been better than being at the mercy of a racist, indifferent orphanage. His death must have been like losing yet another parent.

With how much has shifted in the AU's plot, divergences are all the more likely to occur/become necessary. Especially once you get into the nitty-gritty of it all.

Lmao oh shit, Ling doesn't get the thrown. Ripppp, all hail Mei! Daughter becoming allies/friends with Mei on the agreement that, should Mei ascend to emperor, she and Xing aid Ishval is smart political maneuvering on Daughter's part. (If there's some other way I should refer to your oc, lemme know). With the alchemy/alkehestry thag Isaac taught her, Mei can further sharpen Daughter's alchemic skills.

And of course the two of them becoming an inseparable duo puts them in-line with meeting Scar. 🎉 Man's gotta properly father two tween girls while hunting down fascist pigs (thankfully they're both capable and willing to throw down). No surprise she's emotionally constipated, but hey, Scar's just as blocked up. But I gotta say: awwwwww 🥺

Oof yeah, her dynamic with Winry would be messy. And Ed, maaaaaan. Maybe in this AU he can actually shape up to be a better person (but unlike what Miles believes, that's not Daughter's nor Scar's responsibility)

Omg, that meeting between Daughter and Miles will be ROUGH. And during that scene in the Briggs mining town?? Nobody is prepared for the earthquake to follow

Yessss, the pair of them having to reconnect with who they will become, who they want to be, questioning who are they without the lives they once lived, with so much pain to come. Having someone else in similar straits would be an interesting dynamic

Amen. Kimblee got off easy in mangahood, when he shoulda had his spine ripped out by Scar (glad he gets murked by Scar in 03). Glad he gets his in this AU

Seems like Mustang's fate has been solidified quite yet, but I can appreciate that the Ishvalan philosopher's stone will not be misappropriated for him and his posse. It returns to its rightful people to receive final rights.

Ok, that post in the Ishval tag that you encountered. What the actual fuck. Wtf wtf wtfffffffffffffff

This fucking fandom, man

Anyway!

Fine tuning the interactions between your OCs and the canon cast will be quite the task, given the length of mangahood's story. There's no way Olivier (probably the entire Briggs unit) won't seriously complicate things with Daughter and Miles, but it's promising that Miles is slated to get his shit together eventually.

And the character designs! I really dig Daughter's design, she looks so good! The way you draw her hair is 🤌 Rip to the scrapped brother, but I can see how his passing as Amestrian would have thrown a wrinkle into her life and her insecurities. The love interest is adorable af. He's the one who's going to become a doctor, yeah?

Time to get some artwork of your oc done. Godspeed, heartisrote!

It was not mentioned where Miles was stationed before the Extermination order went through— and we know the Extermination thing was only issues a couple years into the civil war near its end when the State Alchemists were brought in, and the arrests happened accompanying the order for the Extermination. Miles mentions that he was stationed at the North during the Extermination aka the later phases of the war, with no mention of where he was or what he was doing before that point. We... don't know, when he was first assigned to the North. I previously assumed it was only after his imprisonment that he got carted off to the North but now I'm not so sure.

Miles is canonically married, indeed. There used to be many translations of the manga when I first read, but there's only one everywhere now, and that one doesn't mention a wife only a mother saying his “grandmother, father, and mother don't have Ishvalan blood” which I think is a mistranslation because I distinctly remember him pronouncing the word “妻 (tsuma)” meaning. WIFE. IN THE ANIME. Back then I checked the raws to make sure and came back out with the conclusion that he did have a wife, but I can't seem to find the raws to confirm it again.

I did, however, went to check the anime again, and extracted this sentence from it, “私には確かにイシバール人の血が流れている。だが、祖母、父、ちなみに妻も違う人族だ。” aka, meaning, “While it is true that I have Ishvalan blood running in my veins, my grandmother, father, and also my wife are of a different race.” with no mention of a mother anywhere.

It's been a debate since I first got into the anime, I was obsessed with Miles back then as one of the only two prominent Ishvalan characters because I loved the Ishvalans as a wee lil 11yo or smth. People have suggested that well maybe he was talking about his father's wife who may or may not be his mother or stepmother but... I dunno, the Japanese line shows no connection between “father” and “wife” like “父の妻 (my father's wife)” and if it's his mother that's a WEIRD ASS WAY to refer to one's own mother, and if it's a stepmother then... what does she have to contribute in this bloodline conversation? She didn't donate no gene to him????

Anyways that's how lil kid me got the idea to append a wife and daughter to this man, though of course both the wife and kid characters have evolved beyond what my child self had in mind.

Marigold... a woman frail of body and health who did believe that things could be changed by an individual, rather than things being systemic, who also bought into the “prove them all wrong” kool-aid her husband drank, but fell into a deep depression and physical decline after the arrest (or more like, has been consistently worn down by life and the society around her for as long as she's been dating/married to Miles which is neither of their fault it just sucks, but she was in Denial Central until she couldn't deny anymore, the arrest was the last straw) and until the very end she only had their daughter by her side as her family didn't come for her and her husband was trapped. A deeply tragic figure who impacted her daughter a lot— the girl was traumatized by her mother's breaking and... yeah.

Miles. He, in an attempt to make sense of his character which doesn't seem to make sense in canon (why oh WHY are you STILL in the institution that SLAUGHTERED YOUR FAMILY), maybe clung harder to this lie of a dream he had because he lost everything and needed some reason to keep on living. Maybe. Maybe Olivier is the one to instill that into him that he must man up and be brave and live. I don't even know if that makes sense.

Aka, he becomes more similar to how Marigold navigated her life before her breaking point, clinging to a dream that's impossible not because of their fault but... yeah.

McDougal has... issues. Traumatized from war, carrying the guilt, the kid he's raising is from an ethnicity he was supposed to eradicate (even if he quit halfway through and fucked off it doesn't erase the fact that he participated for a while and he knows and acknowledges that), he has never raised a child and doesn't know how, all leading to problems with him raising this kid who herself is traumatized from all the abuse in her life— they have a complicated dynamic of dependence and fear and guilt and resentment and love in equal measure directed at each other, it is by no means healthy or good but it is what they had. Also hey he was on board with the girl becoming a member of the resistance despite her incredibly young age. All in all my attempt to do a realistic take on all those “Mustang and Riza adopt an Ishvalan kid and it's fiiiiiine, guys! It's atonement! There's nothing wrong with this!!! :)” headcanons I suppose. I don't know how successful I am at that. Despite all this baggage though, the girl does mourn him when he dies, and his sense of responsibility on protecting her does go beyond just his guilt.

The difference between Miles and McDougal in the girl's life, I suppose, might be something of a “Miles buys into this dream and so tries to give his daughter hope through it, but while he's trying to be encouraging it's so out of touch from what his daughter is experiencing that it feels indifferent and dismissive of her struggles in her eyes” and “McDougal does no such thing as protect her from the truth unfortunately he's a deeply deeply angry and unhinged and traumatized man who in turn has no idea how to treat a child and thus scares and traumatizes this poor child, oops”

I like to think Scar strikes a balance between the two, or is a whole category in of himself. I like to think he has experience in instructing younger priests and apprentices in the past, and so would be able to be a good father figure to the girl.

(her former name is Petunia, because petunia flowers can represent resentment and anger, hahahahaha, I really need to find a way to refer to her as anything other than “the girl”)

I do definitely think the AU will inevitably have to diverge from canon— especially since there actually exists a faction that is formed of deserting soldiers and other ethnic minorities that Amestris tried to flatten into a singular cultural hegemony, and they're not exactly a small faction, unlike in canon where there's no such mention of such a faction, and they might actually fast-track the “get rid of the government BYE” thing rather than wait for the Promised Day. I... still don't know how.

I'm sorry, Ling just Does Not Compel Me. I don't know what it is about him, his Greed thing and rulership themes did not resonate with me, rather they felt... superficial. Wouldn't it have been more compelling for a girl who knows poverty to greedily seize any chance she gets for a better day, shouldering the responsibility of her impoverished clan, a girl carrying so much on her shoulders, to have these themes of greed and rulership juxtaposed against, I dunno, ugh Ling vs Bradley on a thematic level just felt forced.

It's one of the reasons why the two bond— both girls shouldering a burden far beyond their age, both growing up in poverty from a clan/people that were not granted the same fortune of peace and wealth as others. In a way, both of them are “greedily” reaching “above their station” to make things better for their people.

The family dynamic is just hilarious. We have this sunshine girl Mei between two emotionally constipated people LOL. Daughter must be like 17 by the time canon starts, if I'm remembering my timeline correctly.

Maybe there's something to be said about Mei-Daughter and Ling-Fu-LanFan but I don't know what. Team Yao Ling does not compel me one bit I'm trying so hard to incorporate them into the AU and my brain keeps coming up blaaaaaaank 😭

I want to give Winry something to do beyond “Ed's love interest” in the AU but I'm... marinating her. I'm marinating Ed, too. I want Ed to grow as a person, though.

The reunion between Miles and Daughter. Mm. In a way it's a cold reality shock to jolt him out of the denial dream he's trapped himself in to cope. Daughter, who thought Miles was dead all the while, is also shook but filled with more anger (to be fair, any emotion of hers is filtered through anger bc of her trauma— being vulnerable has not served her well, not with Miles and Marigold in her childhood, not at school, not at the orphanage, not with McDougal). In hindsight this would probably make the start of her dynamic w Winry start on an even worse note than if it had happened at any other point in time because the girl is reeling from the betrayal that her father is still in the place that perpetuated such violence on their people.

(could Miles follow them to that Ishvalan slum in the North? would the wary cautious reactions he's met with by the people there make him reconsider his path, perhaps? could father and daughter have another confrontation there?)

I need to refresh my memory bc it sucks but was Winry and Al with Scar when they got split up? Maybe something could be done with that.

Also instead of Scar being all self-deprecating against Miles who's supposed to be “better” his reaction to this entire mess is “dude, what are you DOING”

On the bright side(?) this whole debacle could actually lead to Scar and the daughter bonding a bit more. Talking about names. How she discarded her name both because she can't be the same again but also for the shame of being raised predominantly Amestrian and it made her insecure about being disconnected from Ishvalan culture. She'd already been eagerly (though she tries to hide it) taking any scrap of information on Ishvalan culture Scar provided (she also would've encountered Ishvalan refugees in her life before Scar but let's just assume he can give more bc he'd been a priest who knew a lot, a holy man), maybe Scar can start explicitly and directly offering her more.

Kimblee gets 100% done in by Scar and gets given no dignity sorry I hate him and I don't understand how anyone ships him with any Ishvalan character aaaaaaaaaa

Mustang's fate hasn't been quite solidified yet, but I do know that he won't have a part in the new government that's coming to be, it'll be made of those members from that resistant faction, which means I will have to make more OCs which is. ARGH. To be fair I do enjoy making OCs and coming up with cultures (of the two fics I'm writing and have published for two fandoms, one has seven OCs introduced in the first 2 chapters, the other has 10 in the first chapter alone, out of sheer necessity to fill the roles their canons respectively ignored— aka, commoners for the first one, any and all Uzumaki for the second), but still. I will complain of having to do more work. There probably will be a trial. It's just that I have no clue if they will get executed or imprisoned.

Yeah. Yeah. That post was way fucking wild and I hate it.

The Briggs crew would definitely complicate Miles' journey bc he feels a loyalty and an obligation to them, they were his family when he lost his, a steady presence in one of the worst period of his life, and now he'll have to choose between them and his daughter. He will have to leave them behind if he wants to cause any actual change.

Also, I don't like Grumman... at all... I don't want this man anywhere near a position of power please and thank.

I really do need to create and develop more OCs and more Ishvalan OCs, this is supposed to be an Ishvalan-centric AU after all and I refuse to just slap the Ishvalan label on Amestrian characters (I don't know why but Ishvalan Elric AUs or Ishvalan Riza concepts don't really... sit right with me, and I can't tell if I'm being oversensitive or not)

I really want the daughter to be referred to by an epithet of sorts Mei gives her. Something Xingese/Chinese referring to her guardian status or something else, like how John Blackthorne from Shogun is referred to as “the Anjin” or “Anjin-sama” by the Japanese cast. I, unfortunately, do not speak Chinese, but hey I guess I can rely on Google Translate? If anyone has any ideas, please give this idiot some help 😭 (from a country right next to China and can't speak Chinese, lmaoooo)

I do definitely want to turn this into a fic and publish it as I have two of my other AUs (my AO3 is IdiotWriterEgg!), I just need to develop this, and hopefully find someone I can rubber duck to to develop this further lmao.

[Gonna put my response behind a readmore just to keep things tidy]

Oh yeah I should put stuff under the cut too this post is, uh, getting Long™.

Oof, Miles and Marigold labouring under the unspoken belief that they don't yet deserve a life of happiness, that it needs to be earned, sums them up well. So Marigold was already on rocky terms with her family prior to meeting and eventually marrying Miles. Her choosing this person she loved was both a profound standing up for herself (and him as well), yet it would lead her to tragedy when Miles gets arrested and her health nosedives. Her family leaving her to die alone, and allowing formely-Petunia to rot in the orphanage system is so cruel.

Very sad for them. I almost wish their fantasy could have succeeded but of course the world isn't a racist and sexist meritocracy, where you beat the system by becoming a model citizen. It's just playing the game set-up by people who hate you, ruining lives in millions of overt and subtle ways.

Haha, I'm glad I could be of some help. 😁 And since you mentioned that Miles may potentially choose Briggs/the military over his daughter and the Ishvalan liberation front, then emphasizing his (perhaps desperate) gratitude towards Olivier and his dreams would slot in well with the fact that she maintains his delusions. Doesn't matter how much of his family is put into the ground (not his Ishvalan side, not his wife, not even his still-living daughter), he's doing 'real good' by working at the Drachman-Amestrian border! Keep the agony at bay by building those deluded walls higher!

Guh, the way you're characterizing and fleshing out McDougal is so good! He absolutely shouldn't be in any position to care for a young person. You're not sanitizing him or making his good intentions wholly translate into consistently kind, calm, and loving actions for The Girl. He's trying to fell a travesty of a regime, having done its bidding and ACTUALLY regretting it, while dodging the bounty on his and his fellow deserters' heads. I fully agree that his PTSD should be more evident than the tidy demeanour of the fan fave military characters. They live such clean lives, they're so blase about serving the institution that they traumatized themselves under (I refuse to give willing conscripts the benefit of the description of victimization). Meanwhile folks like McDougal are out there living underground lives within Amestris or otherwise outside of its borders, and actually attempting to demolish the regime without rewarding themselves for doing what desperately needs to be done.

Super appreciate that The Girl isn't being naive about soldiers and that blue coat, even if it's in part because of her complicated feelings around her father. And ough, the feedback loop between her and McDougal, his guilt and self-disgust, her disdain towards him keeping the damnable military uniform, him being such a wreck that he lashes out at this kid who doesn't deserve it whatsoever, hardening her in ways that don't actually aids or serves her, magnifying their separate pains. “[F]iltering every emotion through anger to hide her vulnerabilities,” goddddddd! Magnificent, it's exactly what would come out of relying on an ex-soldier for your survival amidst these horrendous circumstances.

As for him still holding onto his uniform, besides what you mentioned of the Doylist reasons (which I believe to ultimately be the case as well, given the break-neck pace of that first ep and the one-off nature of McDougal's existence), I often view it as a symbolic gesture on his part, at least when he's attacking Central. Here stands one of your soldiers gone rogue, whose skills that the state used to eliminate Ishvalan lives in service of a grander near-future extermination, now wielded against them. The tattered uniform as a declaration of retaliation and violent rebuke. I could also see it as symbolic of whatever grand idealism that perhaps McDougal once had (similar to idiots like Mustang) having been tarnished by a grim reality, and unlike the aforementioned idiot, instead of being unable to relinquish that idealism McDougal keeps it as a reminder of his hand in Amestris’ atrocities. Of course we could imagine numerous reasons for him wearing the damn thing, but those are the ones that come to my mind.

Omfg, the guilt being a factor in his going off alone...! ;___;

Oooh, Amiran. I rather like the placeholder name. The genderplay could be a fun bonus, but I get wanting to be more certain about which real world cultures you want to take inspo from. Hopefully a name and culture(s) align in time

Naming things can be the worst lol I don't envy being in the position of having to come up with so many too. 😅But I like the loose details of this factions actions and goals. The closer they get to the State itself, even if it’s just keeping their crimes against humanity in circulation, would certainly have them on the government’s radar. But what’s this about a tall butch lady You need to get that stylus up and working again, I’d love to see her made real!

I know that the manga is juggling numerous threads (and a rather bloated cast) but it’s odd that there seems to be nothing there to flesh out the Yao and Chang clans a little tiny bit. I do kind of appreciate that the other clans aren’t mentioned or seen in so far that it would be realistic that not every one of them would just congregate in Amestris, but c’mon now. Not even a flashback sequence or two for the main clans we do get to see?

Describing them as feeling insulated from their clans is spot-on. The narrative doesn’t do enough to underline the urgency Ling and Mei are operating on, in part because their people just feel like concepts. I wouldn’t suggest that Arakawa or Studio Bones should have created an entire side story that might otherwise derail the pacing and story of the main plot, but giving us SOMETHING more would have done a lot to bolster the Xingese characters. With Mei we just get a flashback to how she met Xiao Mei and why the panda is small. Which is. Cute. But like, ok? Where’s her clan tho

(Personally even if I got a smorgasbord of Yao clan backstory and characterization, I would still remain unmoved by the whole “A king is nothing without his yada yada” since, no, monarchies are not based on nor beholden to their vassals and commoners/peasants. So it’s just more nation-leading idealism that I personally don’t stomach. :P Still, more characterization please!)

As good-hearted a lad a Ling is, definitely contrasting the efforts of him and his bodyguards to save his own people against Mei, Daughter, Scar, and the rebels seems like solid narrative mirroring. Placing him as more as an antagonist (not a villain) puts him and his actions under a new light. I know it was delved into a bit with Manfred’s mangahood AU, but perhaps teasing out the more calculating and ruthless aspects of Ling’s personality would facilitate the tension that would feed into his storyline in your own AU. Definitely vibing with Ling’s blindspot towards Mei’s people only having her to rely on for their long term future, therefore allowing Lan Fan and Fu to be cutthroat against Mei.

Daughter learning alkahestry while in Xing with McDougal and tying that into how she meets Mei sounds good as hell imho. The journey to Xing could also be a rich opportunity for Daughter to ruminate on her Ishvalan heritage, perhaps seeing refugees, new settlements, or nomads on the way.

(That couldn’t have possibly been handled well by McDougal in this hypothetical tho. Perhaps any excitement that breaks through the hardened veneer would be awkwardly ignored, mumbled through, or snapped at. Or perhaps he would keep his distance if she got a chance to interact with anyone? Or they didn’t encounter anyone and I’m just rambling.)

LMAO @ Daughter’s constipated brain trying to help a struggling Mei by offering herself as locomotive punching bag. But Mei would definitely struggle to balance her training and frustrations against her crushing burden, so I really like the idea that this moment of vulnerability could serve as the point that these two meet and connect. All the details around that may need hammering out, but it works well as a central point for them!

Mei’s 12 no? Did I hallucinate that? I swear she (or somebody else?) says something like that in Broho at least. Because for awhile after Mei got introduced I assumed she was, like, 8 years old or something LOL And then at some point in the show somebody said she’s a tween. Anyway, 10-13 thereabouts if I fever-dreamt that detail.

THEIR DYNAMIC! Yes, it makes a lot of sense. Like an unspoken but deeply felt and mutual (and mutually known) support, empathy, and camaraderie built on their similarities. They need someone in their corner, closer to their respective age range, who has struggled and feels they must lift themselves and their people from poverty and suffering. “I’ll support you through anything” *Sobs* 🥺😭

Ah yes, the rebel group, Ishval (if/when liberated), all through Mei and Daughter vowing to help each other is a great way to stress the tensions, negotiations, and rejections between Ling and Mei. Nice teasing of the Greed theme there, with Ling’s diplomatic proposal for the Chang clan’s survival to simply become one of His Vassal (things). Without a philosopher’s stone in his hand however, Mei certainly wouldn’t settle so easily.

It shouldn’t fall on Daughter to have to lay out her lifetime of struggles and the racism/fascism she has been subjected to just to satiate Winry’s curiosity, but I can appreciate that Winry would wonder about such things. With a (mixed) Ishvalan teen around, this would more likely open Winry up to inquiring about the Ishvalan perspective on the war with the refugees (as you yourself said lol).

I’m fairly certain Winry was there after she and Al split from Ed. That’s when they all go back to decipher Scar’s brother’s research. So yeah, that allows the story time for Winry to ask some questions or inadvertently get into a conversation with some folks. Or Marcoh himself. I can also see the Mei route too, though I wonder if Winry would interpret that as Mei simply being overprotective of Daughter and Scar? Though maybe that frustration at what feels like an unfair bias towards her parents’ killer could be further motivation for her to seek answers with the refugees and/or Marcoh? Or Marcoh could chime into the convo as it’s happening? A lotta options here

“A theme of anger as a motivating impetus, a clarity instead of blindness, something that protects and defends you from mistreatment, it's something that stands up and says “no. I don't deserve this.”” Perfect theme, 10/10. Very much agree that Winry’s anger and pain shouldn’t be dismissed or discarded, but unlike the canon that shows her pain having to be kept in check by her kindness as a means of rising above those who don’t deserve it (barf) and breaking that stupid fucking “cycle of violence” crap, I feel like her getting more perspective on the horrific reality of Amestris’ actions and why any of this happened to begin with could steer her character towards a less reductive and more interesting route.

See, it’s funny that you bring up being unsure what to do with Al following the AU’s theme of anger. 03 Al is angry. Very angry. It bubbles under the surface and informs his diverging opinions and actions from Ed’s (unlike mangahood Al, who is mostly just Ed’s double or prim defender). He starts to see the necessity of violence, or at least why someone would take a violent path given the losses some people have suffered in part because of his codependence on Ed and how he would feel if he ever lost him (which tbf may not be effectual in a mangahood AU), as well as more directly interacting with Ishbalans and Scar. And all of that sympathy for those who are not seen as wholly human ties into his existential nightmare and inherently dysmorphic life as a soul tethered to an object. He’s dehumanized physically and in mentally/socially. So! All of that is to say, there’s a depth of anger that Al 100000% should have by the very nature of his constant dehumanization that mangahood neatly sweeps away (because Al could neeeeeeever be truly hurt by Ed, because he knows Ed loves him and love never hurts anyone and he forgives him because feeling even some doubt against Ed hurts ED which is BIGMEAN to Ed, Al needs to apologize- where was I?) Tapping into that, plus weaving in Al’s time in the Ishvalan camp could be useful for your story. I know he starts dipping out of consciousness around this point in the canon due to Ed nearly dying, but I think you can jiggle those details around to suit what you’re doing. His interactions with Daughter and Mei should be fruitful territory to make use of him + anger theme.

(03 Al>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>mangahood Al 4ever)

Scar IS anger as impetus! His actions can’t be divorced from his anger and pain, and unlike Arakawa’s perspective that this is wrathful and thus a sin (snooze), his anger being treated as clarity fits both his overall canon characterization pre-Briggs-induced-bootlicking and the focal points of this AU perfectly. He struggles with himself and what awaits him once his duty of killing his and his people's murderers ends one way or another in canon; but given he hasn't lost his ties to Ishval, in the vein of his involvement in a resistance group as well as guiding this young Ishvalan girl, he may be better able to help piece someone together in the throes of her own heartwrenching revelation. Or rather, show her how to channel that into a solidified way, that doesn't just combust against herself and everyone around her. That she doesn't have to be the bearer of those around her who cannot see or honour her and her pain. That she need not be people-less. Being up against her father and his allegiances, and what that did to her, her mom, and her people, must feel like so much cruelty from someone she already felt complicated about when she thought he was still incarcerated or dead. That feeling of having your world rocked to such a destabilizing magnitude would be all too familiar to him. Ugh, Daughterrrrrrr 😭😭😭

Man, my head is swimming with the possibility of Miles sticking with Amestris here instead of eventually tearing himself away (and parts of himself out) for his child! I want to root for the guy to get a clue and make the right choice, but it would certainly feel in-character for him to bury himself deeper into the fabric of a society he can't seem to stop feeling beholden towards. And how would that then impact her and the resistance if he essentially declares himself their enemy? Does Olivier and the Briggs faction still side with a coup led by Mustang and Grumman? Is the coup still going to happen? Does he report this to Olivier, and if so, what does she do with this info? Will Miles essentially end up at war with Daughter? (I'm sure these things and more are all being percolated and marinated on, I just wanna babble about the possibilities because DUDE!)

I have no doubt in my hater's heart that Olivier would see the Ishvalans, these once adept fighters (as per the manga, apparently), having their country and their people fully ransacked by the state's alchemists as evidence that they were indeed too weak and unworthy of their land and lifeways to continue on.

Ooooh, the rebel leader up against Grumman you say? 👀 Fully rooting for her and the resistance to decimate him and his men. Very curious what plots he (and Mustang?) concoct in regards to the Ishvalan Resistance.

Wish I had a suggestion for Mei's epithet after all this time, but I got nothing. 😶

Fair enough re: myself not being in the fandoms/a fan of the source for which your other fics are based on. But the fact that you've plunked away at such details in previous works is admirable and no doubt needed even in those other fandoms. Fans are not great about expanding the scope of their focus on the things they love, let alone tackling politics with any sort of skill or penache. (Looks at official published works like fma that fail in that way too lol)

The first thing we came up with was 大姐 which just translates to "big sister" (it's common to refer to friends as "sister" or "brother" even if they're not related). But that isn't really something that Daughter could ask people to call her since technically you can call any girl roughly your age "sister."

Her name Petunia translates as 矮牽牛 but that wouldn't make a great nickname either -- 牽牛 refers to a character from a very romantic Chinese story but the character for "cow" is in the name and it would just make an awkward nickname. 花姐 “flower sister" also wouldn't work because it sounds like "red light district" lmao.

Since I feel like Mei's nickname would probably come from Mei's first impression of her, maybe they fought via alkahestry the first time they met and Mei gave her a nickname based off of that. Maybe she gave Mei a faceful of water or something and that left an impression on her. If Mei thinks she's pretty 水仙 (literally "water fairy") might work (referring to women you think are pretty as fairies was kind of a thing). My mom doesn't like it because it most commonly means "daffodil" but maybe that's a good thing if Daughter simply does not want anything to do with petunias and would prefer to be another flower? We also like 水仙姐 shuixian-jie (most literally "water fairy sister," but would register to native speakers as "daffodil sister.")

I think what might be really funny is if this was partly a joke due to Mei getting splashed in the face, but also partly due to a mistranslation. Maybe Daughter introduces herself as Petunia but Mei misremembers which flower it is. And it just sticks and Daughter goes along with it because she doesn't like her birth name anyway. Idk let me know what you think--if you don't like it I can talk to my mom again and think of some more ideas!