Re: FMA 39 - The Secret of Ishbal


"elsie" <lcubbison@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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>
> "Dave Baranyi" <a_nospam.b_nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1upnf.828$El.133747@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> "elsie" <lcubbison@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:M8pnf.3129$3Z.875@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>
>>> "Eric Schwartz" <emschwar@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>> news:eto3bkyp1xt.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> "elsie" <lcubbison@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> snip
>>>> I think he's dissembling a bit, even to himself. I don't think Scar
>>>> truly intends to live through what he's doing-- this is some sort of
>>>> fucked-up suicide pact he made with himself after his brother died.
>>>> Why the circle, though? If he truly intends to live through this
>>>> transmutation, then he has to be, consciously or no, intending to kill
>>>> himself, because I don't see how he can live with himself afterwards.
>>>> Yes, he's killed many people, but they were (almost) all State
>>>> Alchemists, and thus guilty. He can't pretend the people of Liore are
>>>> all guilty of war crimes the way he can for the military.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I've suspected for a long time that the alchemist is part of the
>>> sacrifice of lives to the philosopher's stone.
>>>
>>
>> What gives you that idea?
>>
> I'm not sure I can explain it. It was a thought I had during "Created
> Human." And I'm not sure that there's anything in the text I can point to.
> But it seemed to me that the philosopher's stone is a lot like the forlorn
> hope mirror that figured in an episode of Yu Yu Hakusho. People want the
> philosopher's stone because it can fulfill their desires, but the ultimate
> irony would be if the one whose desire was strong enough to make it would
> be consumed in the process and so his own desires would be the ones to go
> unfulfilled. At least, that's how I would tell the story. But it also
> seemed to me that if the philosopher's stone would is constructed of
> souls, then the soul of a powerful alchemist would be an especially potent
> ingredient.
>
>>>> It seems like the next episode, we're going to learn exactly what
>>>> happened to give Scar his brother's arm, so I'm reserving judgement
>>>> until then. I still think the odds of him living much longer are very
>>>> very slim.
>>>>
>>> Me too, which makes me sad. He's one of the hottest adult males in
>>> anime.
>>>
>>
>> Ah, then the next three episodes will definitely be "special" for you...
>>
> Sigh. They're going to rip my heart out, aren't they? Rip it out and tear
> it into pieces. It was just after I talked about how hot Hughes was that
> he got killed. I don't want it to happen to Scar too.
>
> Damn. You guys with your loli-cons and gainax bounces are lucky.

LOL, for those of us who like the Gainax bounces, they do wear thin after a
while. It seems we have gone from slight realisum to absolutly no realisum
in those kinds of things.

Bobby


>My lust objects seem to end up dead: Hughes, Spike, Wolfwood, Folken. Well,
>if anything bad happens to Kakashi in Naruto, don't tell me. My heart
>couldn't stand it.
>
> snip
>>>> I think Ed still isn't ready to handle it-- what's the first thing he
>>>> does after he finds out about Liore? He brokers a deal with Archer to
>>>> go back to Liore so he can "fix" it. Is he ever going to learn that
>>>> Humpty-Dumpty can't be put back together again? That seems to be what
>>>> this show is trying to teach him; I just hope it doesn't kill him in
>>>> the process.
>>>>
>>> You're right about his fix-it complex, but that's quite a bit different
>>> from how Mustang and his people expect Ed not to be able to handle it.
>>>
>>
>> Ed deals with Archer (who Ed considers a non-entity) in order to be able
>> to get at Scar. That's why Ed didn't go to Mustang - Archer isn't smart
>> enough to suspect that Ed has motives of his own.
>>
> Yes. In fact, I think Ed is learning how to play the game. He uses the
> rivalry between the two men to get what he wants, which is to go to Lior
> and to find Scar.
>
> snip
>>>> I don't know what the show is trying to say about Truth here. It
>>>> seems pretty clear that Ed can't handle the truth-- for all his
>>>> protestations that he should be trusted with it more often, he
>>>> invariably handles it badly when he is presented with it. How can he
>>>> possibly be surprised that people are reluctant to entrust him with
>>>> it? And yet, he would be able to start making more adult decisions if
>>>> he had more information-- he's being hamstrung in his development by
>>>> the very people who are trying to protect him.
>>>>
>>> And isn't that the truth about adolescence though? I see that with
>>> college students all the time. Sheltered by their parents, they don't
>>> ever learn how to be responsible for themselves.
>>>
>>> But Ed has gotten the truth from some places: Marcoh's notes, the exile
>>> in the refugee camp, Greed. He knows far more about the current
>>> situation than any of the military gives him credit for. He handled the
>>> truth about the Grand Arcanum fairly well, compared to previous
>>> revelations.
>>>
>>
>> The photo simply confirms Ed's fears. But Ed has no intention of sharing
>> what he knows with Mustand and Company.
>
> So, he's joined the men witholding truths. He is learning how to play the
> political games.
>>
>
>>>> You guys are thinking way too narrowly. Sure, Archer (and Tucker) are
>>>> doing something nasty with his pocketwatch, but think about the two
>>>> things the loss of the watch do to Ed: One, it makes him safe from
>>>> Scar, whom he encounters in the very last scene of the show-- Scar
>>>> likes Al, and respects Ed, so if Ed isn't wearing his watch, Scar
>>>> isn't likely to harm him straight off, and may even try to recruit
>>>> him. Two, it symbolizes the releasing of Ed from his vows as a State
>>>> Alchemist; this is the freeing of him to act as an entirely
>>>> independent (adult?) being. Mustang wanted to keep him safe; Archer
>>>> just set him free. What he does with this symbolic freedom will tell
>>>> him a lot about himself-- if he ever stops to look, that is.
>>>>
>>> Hey, you're right. It does free him up. I hadn't thought of it that way.
>>>
>>
>> You are missing the point about Archer. He believes that removing the
>> watch reduces Ed's abilities. Archer is a "one move" chess player...
>>
> Which is also what Cornello thought, remember.
>
>>>>>>> The shopkeeper turns to look. "Lucky timing, mister!" the
>>>>>>> shopkeeper says, making a prayer gesture. "You get to see the Holy
>>>>>>> Mother." Down the street is coming a procession of women in gray, a
>>>>>>> woman in white in their midst. The townspeople are happy to see her.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I knew this was gonna be Rose.
>>>>
>>>> Yeah, you could see it coming a mile away. Most of the time, I'm
>>>> (mentally) smacking around the character in Ed's situation, thinking,
>>>> "You dumbass, of course it's going to be <foo>, how could you miss
>>>> that?" This show, however, has me really considering what Ed is
>>>> thinking and feeling from his perspective-- he never saw Rose in that
>>>> sort of light, so he's completely unprepared that the townspeople
>>>> might.
>>>>
>>> But also, I can see Rose becoming that figure because of Ed. She's the
>>> one he told, " You've got a good strong pair of legs, Rose. You should
>>> get up and use them." And then she repeats that line to Hakuro later. If
>>> she hadn't met Ed, and he hadn't talked to her the way he did, she would
>>> not have had the strength to be whatever kind of leader she is now.
>>>
>>
>> I mentioned this to someone else - pay attention to the title that the
>> people are calling Rose, and ask yourself why...
>>
> Holy Mother (of God).
>
>>>>>> Marta, you are a BIG FUCKING IDIOT. And you will probably soon be a
>>>>>> dead
>>>>>> idiot...
>>>>>
>>>>> Yeah.... (grieving)
>>>>
>>>> Don't forget Al. He's there, and watching this, and is the one person
>>>> who's both immune to Kimbley's power, and completely believable by
>>>> everyone else. If Al were to accuse Kimbley, the only way Archer
>>>> could save him would be to set him on the rest of the military
>>>> contingent. Is Archer that committed? I think he thinks he is, but I
>>>> don't think he's right.
>>>
>>> You know. I want Al to lay down some righteous anger. I think he's just
>>> about ripe to do it too.
>>
>> Al will lay down alright...<extremely evil laugh>
>>
> As long as he's not taking anything lying down, there being a key
> difference between lie and lay in terms of agency.
>
>> Dave Baranyi
>>
>>>>
>>>> -=Eric
>>>
>>> laurie
>>>
>>
>>
>
>


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