mikkeneko

I will help.

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Hold this. *gives one end of the fire hose*

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Also, ::bawls on you::

Please be bluffing, anime-people! You've just convinced me that YES, there IS something WORSE than ending this series by killing Al. Which until now has been my worst fear.

::cries more::

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I'm a little undecided about whether I'd rather have Ed die, or Al sacrifice himself for Ed.

I DON'T WANT EITHER OF THEM TO DIE DAMMIT.

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I lean ever so tentatively towards having Al sacrifice himself for Ed, because even though I love Al to itty bitty little iron filings, and as awful as it would be, I just can't take another "main character dies but every other goddamn character comes out okay, even the assholes we hate" ending.

That being said, FMA is full of characters I adore, as well as those I loathe--I hope Al deconstructs Envy, by the way--but I would trade every last one of them for both Ed and Al to come out okay. Screw Roy, forget Izumi, bye bye Winry, c'est la vie--or is that c;est la morte?--Armstrong, hasta luego Sczieska. Just gimme my Elrics.

Remember Planetes 24? I was absolutely convinced that by 25, Tanabe would either be dead, or permanently scarred by having had to kill to survive. The show surprised me, and did it in a way that didn't feel like cheating. It can still happen. Maybe they'll even get a nice farm, like in Scrapped Princess.

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The show surprised me, and did it in a way that didn't feel like cheating. It can still happen.

Yeah. An ending doesn't have to be depressing to be good, dammit! In fact, a well-done happy ending is better than a well-done unhappy ending, IMO, and I can't imagine FMA giving us a BADLY DONE happy ending at all.

Farm. Yes. Farm would be nice. Nice farm out in the nowheres of Risembourg, where they can let the military fight over who's gonna be the new Fuhrer in peace.

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kalikamaxwell.livejournal.com

Ditto 1 and 2.

As for 3...I refuse to read the comments in all those ep 50 spoilers entries. It's driving me up the walls. Ed will be ok. Al will make it ok. Al has to make it ok... Dear god, its like they want me to get hysterical. But then again I picked up some more tidbits that seem hopeful, so. *clings to hope* Fixitfixitfixit!

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I'd be less mad if many of the people who are claiming that the only possible way the ending could be good is if Ed stays dead weren't the people who admit outright that they hate Ed.

Bastiges.

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I actually take some comfort from that. It's just petty fandom politics; there aren't a lot of people who actually think the show would be better if Ed died horribly at Envy's hands. I can safely dismiss all future commentary from them as being worthless and (based on a couple of comments regarding Ed and Al's relationship) potentially stated out of malice, not a desire to discuss.

I'd like to state for the record that anyone who thinks that any of these people are Teh REAL HERO of Full Metal Alchemist: Envy, Roy, Hawkeye, Havok, or Winry--is officially invited to BITE ME.

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I'd like to state for the record that anyone who thinks that any of these people are Teh REAL HERO of Full Metal Alchemist:

How bout Al?

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He's not on the list, is he? Al, you could argue for. I doubt I'd be convinced, but I think one could put forth such a line of reasoning.

But nobody else.

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In all seriousness, this time: a large portion of the story is devoted to Roy, and the people who surround him, and his own motivations and quests even when they don't converge with the brothers'. I think the show is also about him. There has simply been too much time devoted to him for him to be the same level of secondary character as, say, Izumi or Winry.

But that's just how I judge it. And he's still not THE main character -- he's one of three, and still less important than Ed.

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I think he's important. He's a major character, we spend a fair amount of time getting to know where he's at, and his actions consistantly affect the course of the plot.

That being said, I still don't think he's on the same level as even Al. He is probably the third most important character--unless you want to argue for someone like Dante, who's pulling the strings, or Trisha-by-absence, although I think she's more in a category with Nina, i.e. Plot Device.

But the Real Hero? The guy it's actually all about? The person whose hopes and dreams and loves and hates dictate its core themes and are most intimately tied into its plot? I think that belongs either to Ed or to the Elric Brothers.

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><

Teach ME not to read your post carefully before replying.

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Retraction duly noted. :)

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... why do people who hate Ed watch the anime? It's named Fullmetal Alchemist for fuck's sake. It's all about Ed.

*baffled*

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To answer seriously, because the world is complex and developed enough and there are enough other wonderfully developed characters that cyou could watch it for them and still enjoy yourself.

...But I'm damned if I can understand it either. 9_9

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Yah. To bring up Trigun again, it's like watching Trigun if you think Vash is a whiny loser. Yeah, there's lots of other stuff going on, different people to like for different reasons--but ultimately, the show is about Vash. Vash's journey, Vash's relationships, his pain, his past, he needs, his dreams, his nightmares. I can't imagine investing that much effort into a show if I didn't like the main character. I will drop a show literally at any point--from the first episode to five minutes before the end of the last--if I decide don't like the main character enough to care about all that stuff. (I never did watch the last episode of Koi Kaze, because the longer the show went on, the more I disliked the protagonists.)

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Well, there are people who watch Eva even if they think Shinji is a whiny loser. But as a general rule, I don't like those people either. Probably because they're determined to hate everything Shinji does, so they're destined to have a miserable time watching the show (not that the show doesn't inspire it) but ultimately it only creates negative feeling. *sigh*

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I thought about mentioning that, but I don't know whether people who hate Shinji normally slog through to the ending. A lot of them seem to be very into Asuka, though.

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Well, yeah, but how do you make it through the Ed-centric early episodes to get to, say, Roy and learn enough about him to enjoy it? So, so weird.

For the record, I wouldn't mind if Ed dies at the end of the series. I think the way he's apparently died in 50, though, is kinda cheap. If he's going to get himself perished ... while it's terribly realistic for his death to have no meaning whatsoever, it lacks a certain something from a storytelling point of view.

Besides which, we have a whole 'nuther episode to get through, and somehow I doubt we'll get through it Ed-less. There seems to have been no preview for 51 at the end of 50 - which would make sense if they don't want to give away that Ed is somehow not completely dead yet and manages to avoid becoming that way (shades of Princess Bride natch).

There was something else I wanted to say, but it just flew out of my head, bah.

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For the record, I wouldn't mind if Ed dies at the end of the series.

Argh, no! *flings plate at*

*collects pieces of plate, repairs with handy alchemy* I'm fairly certain that this is a bluff -- a lot of the dramatic/logical evidence would support it. But that doesn't stop me from being very emotionally involved and upset about it, drat it. In fact, I'd be in less of a state if we knew for sure that he was dead and there was no hope of him coming back. Which is the point. But I still don't want him to die.

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*gets knocked unconscious from thrown plate*

I don't want him to die either. I've kind of been expecting him to ever since I started watching the series, but then I saw the movie site and decided he was going to live after all (and I was almost disappointed by knowing this). And I don't think he will die, not anymore. I'm just saying it wouldn't destroy my faith in FMA if he does.

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Hmm, okay, fair enough. :) *offers icepack for head* What would destroy my faith in FMA would have been if they went the route it was looking like after episode 48 -- when it seemed possible that Ed was going to betray and kill his brother out of some abstract ideal of doing the right thing. That, taking the most beautiful relationship in the series and flushing it down the toilet for the sake of an angsty ending, would have destroyed my faith in the series. Major character death -- less so.

Still. *clings fiercely to denial*

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Hmm ... if I were writing FMA ... Ep 51 would go something like this:

Rose suddenly throws off whatever kind of evil Spell o' Alchemy has been placed on her by Dante, and runs up to the transmutation array. She scuffles with Gluttony, and gets eaten, but in the process Gluttony, being the big fat dumb rock he is, damages the array. Al escapes from the array, runs over to Ed, and performs a miracle of human transmuation made possible only by the fact that he IS the philstone - he uses medical alchemy (copyright 1904, Tim Marcoh Enterprises) to heal Ed's body, and then transmutes Ed's soul and binds it back to the body.

Ed, having passed through the Gate waaaaaay too many fucking times by now, wakes up groggy and disoriented. Al has been damaged by this use of alchemy - he's got enormous holes now - and Dante is furious that her precious philstone is being used up on a worthless wretch like Edward. She sics Envy on Al. Ed joins the fight - so does Wrath, and they have an advantage in that Dante doesn't want Al damaged any further. Dante opens the Gate again, wanting it to eat Ed and Wrath, but instead Ed grabs Al and uses the fact that the Gate is right there and open to pull Al's body back through the Gate.

There isn't enough philstone left to complete the transmutation. Ed is willing to sacrifice whatever it takes - the Gate wants some vital shit indeed. Al's soul is transfered from the disintegrating philstone-armor to his body ... but because he used so much philstone to save Ed, his blood seal is gone. The re-binding of Al's soul is left incomplete.

Ed and Al die in each other's arms. Dante is disgusted, grabs her surviving homunculi, and stalks off. Something or other happens to Roy.

Now, aren't you glad I'm not on the writing staff? :)

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Dante opens the Gate again, wanting it to eat Ed and Wrath, but instead Ed grabs Al and uses the fact that the Gate is right there and open to pull Al's body back through the Gate.

I like it about up till here. :o

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Heh! Well, I like the idea of Ed and Al dying together, with the last thing each of them sees or feels being the other one. They would leave beautiful corpses. *le sigh* If I weren't so allergic to writing character death in fanfic, I'd totally write that.

And y'know, having (finally) read through the fm_a comm, I have to agree that all the "Ed should die" bullshit is annoying as fuck. While it does make literary sense in some cases to kill your protagonist, Ed dying HERE is obviously 1. wrong, and 2. not going to happen. Especially that one person, who apparently thinks that Ed didn't give a shit about Al when Al ran off in ep 23/24. Was s/he watching the same ep I was? I saw Winry holding Ed back to keep him from following Al, and Ed getting up out of the hospital with a fucking hole in his side to go chase after his brother. That's what I do when I don't care if someone lives or dies, yep *rolls eyes*

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Well, I like the idea of Ed and Al dying together, with the last thing each of them sees or feels being the other one. They would leave beautiful corpses. *le sigh*

...well, Ed would. Al's corpse would still be kinda big and armory. >_>

I'm trying to decide if I'd rather have both of them die together than just one and it's a little... jeez, tough question. As much scorn as I have for the usual mutual-death-like-simultaneous-orgasm device, Ed and Al kind of are each other's reason for living, and... well. It's not inconceivable.

All of which is irrelevant because NEITHER OF THEM ARE GOING TO DIE. *firm nods*

Especially that one person, who apparently thinks that Ed didn't give a shit about Al when Al ran off in ep 23/24.

GRRRRrrrrrrrrrr. *chews on person's sleeve*

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In my version of ep 51, Al's body is restored, but he can't survive because the binding of his soul is left incomplete. So they both leave beautiful corpses, with their limbs entwined, and are left there by Dante and Company to sleep forever in each other's arms.

This is what passes for romance in my world. :)

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This is what passes for romance in my world. :)

That's right, you were the one who wrote Sightless Lightning, weren't you? @_@;

and are left there by Dante and Company to sleep forever in each other's arms.

I dunno. I can't see Envy passing up the opportunity to mutilate their bodies.

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That's right, you were the one who wrote Sightless Lightning, weren't you? @_@;

Not done with it either. *angelic smile*

I dunno. I can't see Envy passing up the opportunity to mutilate their bodies.

Ummmmmm ... Envy was eaten by the Gate! On accident-like, when Dante summoned it to eat Edward. *uses handwaving*

And when Dante leaves, she turns out all the lights, so there is darkness on Ed and Al unto eternity.

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Ummmmmm ... Envy was eaten by the Gate! On accident-like, when Dante summoned it to eat Edward.

Well, as long as Envy dies, I'm happy. :)

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I dunno. I can't see Envy passing up the opportunity to mutilate their bodies.

::chokes::

Good thing episode 50 already killed me.

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Well, he's Envy. He sucks that way. *wants him to die*

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I could do without even a meaningful death in 51. But then, I'm burnt out on angsty anime endings (heh, I just watched X tv for the first time. The tragic end is broadcast loud and clear from the very first episode, and I still had a hard time with that one). I can take angst, and I respect a show that can make us hurt without being cheap--but the shows I have the most respect for are the ones that put their characters through hell and then let them live and grow and heal. I don't like characters to die just for shock value, I'm not convinced that either Ed or Al has to die for a good, aesthetically satisfying ending, and I'm tired of the relentless message that the only way to end a serious story is with the protagonist's death.

::shrug:: I'm not saying it has to be happily ever after, or that the show will be ruined for me if it does end with Ed or Al dead. I'd simply prefer a happier ending for characters I love so much.

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