#fma readthrough

XDDDDDD

Well, this comic is featured in the manga and thus, technically it's part of a readthrough. Still, I chose to upload it like that for it being easier to read (I always had to cut the pics in half, otherwise) and it (and the rest) will still be filed under the readthrough tag :)

Edward quickly briefs Alphonse of their current situation. They are in the underground tunnel with father, it's only the human sacrifices with the addition of May (and Xiao Mei!) and the newly added 'member of the sacrifice club' Roy..

I like the emphasis we get on Roy's toll here. But not only because I adore him :'D

All we have seen from the gate and Truth and the toll up until now were memories. Sure, we have seen the Brothers' quest and the hurt and self-doubt both have faced during their quest, but it's still different to see the whole extend of it. We only saw Edward's physical pain shortly. We only saw shortly how painful his automail surgery was, how he despised himself for putting his brother in this situation. We only saw Izumi cope with her loss in the present.

Yet, we have never seen someone grieve the loss of their bodyparts right away, when shock still dominates their thoughts. The boys were too distracted by the well-being of the other while we weren't shown how exactly Izumi reacted after the first pains. Of course they all have grieved and were shocked, but only now it is shown. And that makes it nearly worse (for me anyway). It's always harder to see someone disabled who suffers under it than someone who is able to embrace and seek strength out of it.

This is the moment of doubt some tumblr user has once pointed out to me when I said "Roy and Edward trust each other". I still think they trust each other. Obviously, they must stand at different points of trust; I think both acknowledge that the other is a very talented alchemist and thus when I once said "Roy trusts Edward's judgement that human transmutation is impossible", I was mostly refering to their mutual trust into the others' alchemic knowledge. Maybe we can settle on that (and that's mostly what I wanted to say, I didn't explain it very well the last time)? Of course, this is different on a personal basis. Edward has any right to mistrust Roy to a certain degree; he knows Roy is a very gifted strategist, the Maria Ross incident is surely still fresh on his mind and he knows exactly how manipulative Roy can be. I still dare say that this question does not only stem from the fact that Edward believes human transmutation is something Roy would definitely do, but from the fact that he simply doesn't know of any other way to get access to the gate apart from the Philosopher's stone - and at the point that the Doctor came into view, Edward had already been teleported away. This was the most likely option as a forced human transmutation was unknown to him.

I want to remind you, we just saw the lights of Alphonse's helmet go out as he reaches out for his real hand...

Wow, this scene gets heavier to stomach by the panel. First, Alphonse finally finds his body again, then he reaches out for it, only to hold back because he'll be completely useless with a malnourished, atrophied body

This is a 15 year old boy whose main goal in life was to return his and his brother's bodies to normal. He's been looking for his body for a third of his life - and it may very well feel like half of his life considering he most likely doesn't recall any memories of his early childhood (until age 3 or 4 unless it's a major event, I guess... when did Hohenheim leave again? He would - and does - remember that definitely).

I found that to be very interesting. I mean, we saw that Barry's body and soul did not collide or anything when they just happened to meet, but I still had anticipated something like a really hard pull to his body. I was genuinely suprised that Al could just go out again and leave his body back.

Isn't he adorable? He practically promises himself to return ;( And that light-streak in the third panel? I bet you it's a way to show Alphonse's soul cry. Any person would cry if they had to abandon their life's goal. Especially a child of merely 15 years!

Damn, that gives me the creeps everytime I read it. Not only the words (which are so, so true if only for a short time, thankfully), but especially his expression. I don't think I have to emphasize again, how much I adore Alphonse because of his gentleness and kindness which are always visible on his face. To have him say those grave words with that expression - it definitely gives me the creeps! Now, that I see it: What could Alphonse's body possibly mean with his words? I mean, whether or not he chooses to return with his armor or body, the world will be in despair (since Father can achieve his goal). It's not like Alphonse could have stayed at his gate until the solar eclipse is over, could he?