I Love You

(during the war, but before the alchemists came through, chapter 58)

Crowded markets.

They have watermelons <3

Riza says it's nothing more than rocks and sand there. I know watermelon can grow in hot, dry areas, but they'd need a fair bit of watering. I wonder if it's imported from an ally like Aerugo (who were also shown to be importing weapons for them, up to a point), or if Riza never got to see the spots suitable for growing this kind of produce before the Amestrian military destroyed it.

(a warrior priest teaching young students, chapter 58)

Shoes off before they step on the rug. Sitting on the floor together. The teaching area is so close to the public area, not hidden away.

Also, I'm starting to really pick out the plain+ornamentation kind of style. It's partly the art style, and how much Arakawa likes to give the eye something to focus on without cluttering the panel - but the Ishvalans specifically seem to have this contrast of plain (clothes, architecture, decoration), with a little bit of ornamentation. I'm looking at the plan stone of the building, with one rug (detail implied) and an ornate vase(?) in the centre. I'm looking at the plain, rectangular pillar with little decorations down at the bottom - the same decorations also on the curtain next to it.

(Ishvalans bury their dead, chapter 58)

Every culture has its rituals around death. Burial with a headstone is presented both in Amestris (Hughes) and here in Ishval.

One of the grieving women wears a veil over her face.

Still looking at architecture, the buildings above are shown with flat roofs, some with jutting up bits that seem to indicate walls around a surface that could be accessed. Could be used for storage, a space to dry out wet laundry, or an open area for the occupant to be in. Buildings shown here typically have multiple floors.

(it looks like Arakawa really wanted to show the Ishvalans as having their own culture and style, rather than just brushing them off as 'other', chapter 58)

The buildings follow the decorative look with a little embellishment: the first metre or so of them seems to be built of a more textured medium, like brick or stone, and then up from there is a smooth surface. This looks like an architectural choice rather than a visual shortcut for "I didn't draw this bit" because of the abrupt cut-off.

Windows sometimes have bars, sometimes nothing, sometimes have cloth hanging over them. Doors typically seem to have a cloth entrance.

(the consistency of this style gives it significance, chapter 58)

The decoration around the above building is just really nice.

(even as there's little left of Ishval, we keep seeing it, chapter 59)

This tall building - one window high up - could have been a bell tower, a storage area, or a watch tower. Still, at the top, there's that little bit of ornamentation.

(and in the end, this is what Amestris leaves, chapter 59)

This is the other part of the manga that Brotherhood absolutely truncated. Most volumes get 2 or 2.5 episodes to cover them. Volume 15 only got one episode (with a few short scenes moved elsewhere). And I suspect highly it had nothing to do with timing or pacing.

Because this is in fact the entire recount of the Amestrian military's involvement in Ishval and--for reasons I'd have loved to listen in behind closed doors to learn--the Brotherhood adaptation neutered quite a lot of it. And I specifically mean removing or toning down the more heinous things the military did, or offloading them to some nameless hegemony of 'horde of Amestrian soldiers' instead of how the manga actually handles it.

That's

That's Roy Mustang

Just the opposite.

Roy "I grew up with 10 sisters so I know how to disguise covert information reconnaissance as flirting" Mustang.

"I grew up with 10 sisters so I know how to weaponize my sexual charm to disarm others and win favor."

Roy led every higher-up to believe he was just a fuckboy and a manwhore in this for his own ego and that they shouldn't view him as any kind of violent revolutionary like "no sir I'm just a slut."

Which. is an absolutely batshit primary character backstory to mention once, late in the series, and then immediately move on from.

And actually Hiromu Arakawa did it so well that every single fan interpretation of Roy Mustang for the FMA03 anime treated him as an honest to god man-slut. Bought his whole act hook line and sinker.

“Really? Are you sure?”

This collage of cut card stock, origami paper, washi paper, bamboo tissue, lokta paper, and amate paper is based on a portion of a panel from chapter 72 of Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist manga. 

It shows Roy Mustang standing in a phone booth and holding a handset. He is having a phone conversation with Riza Hawkeye and expressing his concern for her.

My references for the colors of the phone booth and handset include color illustrations on page 3 of volume 6 of the Fullmetal Edition of the manga and page 18 of The Complete Art of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Randall died one episode ago. When Billy introduced Silver to him at the beginning of season one, he said that Randall had been injured while in service of this crew and that the crew owed it to him to take care of him despite his infirmity — because of his infirmity. As a disabled man, Randall has no future outside Flint’s crew in the harsh world they live in.

Silver knows this. As we approach the end of season two, he’s slowly becoming a true member of the crew, “I” becomes “we” and “the men” becomes “my men” or “my brothers,” but he can still walk away from them if he chooses to do so. By cutting off his leg, even with the best intentions in the world, the crew is tying him to them more securely than any contract or blood pact to these men and — for the time being — to Flint’s captaincy. His very ability to walk away from them is literally being limited, which we see in the beginning of season three as he struggles with his new wooden leg.

Silver has gained the infinite loyalty of these men at the price of his leg and maybe even of his independence — he can still leave them and try his luck elsewhere, he knows how to make himself useful, but no matter how charismatic he is, the first thing people will probably always see is his wooden leg. He has become Randall. Despite being in the throes of immense pain, I think Silver realized what he was about to lose. Even if a part of him had still been entertaining the possibility that this was just a temporary situation, from this point on, he has no choice but to serve these men to the best of his ability because now they’re in a symbiotic relationship.

i havent lost a limb like silver, but i do use a mobility aid and have chronic pain and joint problems that make working even part-time in a typical entry-level job difficult and unbearably painful at best, impossible at worst.

you are absolutely right that his disability cuts him off from other paths. even though he becomes very nimble on his crutch later on, and owns multiple mobility aids, disabled people are just not very desirable employees. we have Needs, you see. and no boss wants to invest in a stranger who needs something from them. silver still needs access to mobility aids, treatment for his still-healing leg, and accommodations like the ropes he holds onto on the ship.

the crew of the Walrus are willing to give him these things because he has their trust and loyalty. but he earned that when he was abled. he cant just walk out of there and start over with others; they won't see a clever young man with valuable skills. they will see a cr*pple, and they wont give him that chance.

silver is a character who is terrified of losing his apparent 'value'. flint kept him alive because he had value, multiple times over. having apparent value was what allowed him to survive his ship being taken by flint's crew. and when he feared flint would kill him, he secured his safety by making himself valuable. and when he felt unsafe, he made sure the men saw him as valuable.

to silver, being deemed 'too much work' or 'not worth what you put in' is death.

and honestly? silver's situation is a bit more extreme, but i think it reflects the fears that a lot of disabled people have--especially those of us unable to work. we know that our disability means we've lost part of our 'value'--to the workforce, to society, to the world. we often rely on aid--whether that's accommodations, aid from the government, hired help, or help from friends--and we're all waiting for the day someone will decide that we're not worth it.

currently, im living comfortably because my grandparents think it worthwhile to feed and house me. but they have been clear that they want me to work. i worry that there will come a day when they decide i am not trying hard enough, or i am too much work, and i wont have that security anymore. i worry that my SSI application will be denied because keeping me alive is too costly for my government. i worry that my options in life are limited by my disability.

so i understand silver's fears. its a quintessential disabled fear--i cant make it on my own. will the people taking care of me today do the same tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, on and on until we both end?

Late afternoon procrastination in the office