thoughts from around midnight

[cornerofmadness]

1. Does anyone else wonder if Roy and Olivia end up in a civil war after Grumman dies or does one try to kill the other before that?

2. Kimbley's essence pretty much comingled with Pride's. Wonders if Mrs. Bradley is raising Kimbley 2.0

3. what the hell did Roy and Riza look so depressed about in their photograph? That's it XYZ years down the road and their lives are still in the same self denial rut?


Hero Tales evil_little_dog told me about it, Arakawa's new project. I have the first volume. Expect a review up at bookheaven in a day or two.

Comments

[corposant.livejournal.com]

I think the only thing I was upset with the final chapter is how little Roy/Riza was in it! Their story felt so incomplete to me.

[andromakhe001.livejournal.com]

I don't think there will be a problem with Maj. Gen. Armstrong. I thought Armstrong showed little genuine interest in ruling Amestris. I wish I could remember the exact scene but she said something during the battle at one point that led me to believe she actually had no real interest in being Fuhrer.

I didn't think Roy and Riza looked depressed, just focused. But who knows, maybe Grumman is taking longer to retire than Roy thought he would. :D

Actually Riza did look a little depressed or worried, but I though Roy looked intense and focused. Maybe the new, apparently, fairly successful Ishvalan policy has made him some new enemies and she's worried about someone trying to kill him. Seems a very Hawkeye thing to worry about and it would make sense such a major change of policy would ruffle some feathers.

I did notice Roy's hair was different too, though not as obviously as Riza's. It seemed a little shorter and was pushed back on top. He hasn't often worn it combed back on top(I remember it during Hughes' funeral) so that's a change.

[andromakhe001.livejournal.com]

Also, Roy did get a fairly sizeable promotion. By the time of that photo, he has been promoted 4 levels. He's one level below Fuhrer going by his stripes and stars(Colonel General). Amestris being loosely based on Germany, that level is one level below their highest rank in the past, which was Field Marshal.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Ling looked depressed in HIS photo, too. Or at least very Un-Ling-Like.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I thought Ling just looked Official Picture Formal (he's going to be one of those Haroun al-Rashid emperors who drives his subordinates nuts by insisting on wandering around his empire in plainclothes every now and again, I can tell -- with Ran Fan in exasperated tow).

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I read the first 2 volumes of Hero Tales and have to keep reminding myself that this is a collaboration among Arakawa and some friends from her doujinshi days and that she isn't necessarily handling the scenario (why, why, why are Japanese mangaka all so confounded secretive? I've heard rumors that Arakawa is just doing character design for HT, but I can't get any solid confirmation of that). Also that it took FMA a couple of volumes to perform its bait-and-switch ("Here, my pretty, have a shounen picaresque -- oops, did I say picaresque? I meant demi-novel ... here, have another installment, I know you want one ...")

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

is that who this is with? Yeah I'm assuming she is not writing it but only drawing it. That said this is the first time i'm having trouble telling her characters apart.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I would like to think that's true

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

UGH for formal picture, though. This is LING.

And yeah, he would be very nosy about his subjects. "Everyone getting enough to eat? Hmm? FOOD IS IMPORTANT!"

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

that was my thought or he was trying to be all official

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that, too, but...this is LING.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yes I did notice that promotion

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I agree about Olivia. She was very actively plotting when she was trying to recruit Scar. Frankly I think she would be better suited as Fuhrer as far as the people would be concerned. She has family clout. Roy is at best raised by a spy who ran a bar at worse a spy who is a prostitute

I could definitely believe that Roy has earned new enemies in his attempts to improve the lot of the Ishbalans (well I ought to, I've been writing that for a couple years now). I was also wondering if that might have been Grumman's funeral.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yes very much so

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Like I said to Enemy, look at the toll leading takes on someone (just looking at Obama in two years). Ling could be freaking miserable

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, and such a desparate country, too, and the warring factions of the clans? Just because he says they have to stop fighting, doesn't mean they will.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

haha so true

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

exactly. Ling's too young to understand what he's getting into

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Poor Ling.

Plus the death threats Ran Fan wil have to resolve....

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

oh yes

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

THERE ARE SO MANY UNRESOLVED THREADS.

*headdesk*

On another note, I think our copies of Gangan got shipped. The email's in Japanese, so it's...hard to guess. But I'm thinking that's what happened.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

hahahahaha well that's good to almost know

damn unresolved threads

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I guess I'll know in a couple of days. FedEx is quick to deliver (I got something from Japan in less time than it takes to mail something to Orlando).

"That's what fanfic is for." EXCEPT THERE ARE SO MANY THREADS.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

well good

and yes there ARE so many threads

[andromakhe001.livejournal.com]

You know with the Scar thing, for some reason took it differently. I've gotten the feeling Maj. Gen. Armstrong likes to "mess with" people sometimes, not necessarily out of maliciousness but just to see how they deal with it, to force them to be tougher, not let things throw them off their game.

Basically, I thought she was messing with Roy. Scar was killing state alchemists before after all and Roy would have been one of his targets. Sort of like her version of a "gag gift" - "Hey Mustang, here's the guy that a year ago would have tried to kill you. Hahaha!!".

She also probably wouldn't have known much about their interaction during the whole Envy incident and it's aftermath, so she may have miscalculated the discomfort Roy would have over it - otherwise the line doesn't make much sense to me and I can't believe Arakawa wouldn't have thought of that.

She says something like "When Mustang sees him alive, his blood will run cold" - yet we, the reader, have seen him and Scar working together just recently. I can't think of any reason at this point that Mustang would be bothered by the fact that he is still alive at all.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

You have some very valid points there. I can't argue that. Frankly Scar and Roy and MIles are probably now completely working together with Marcoh in the years we haven't seen.

[raceulfson.livejournal.com]

I agree. I got the impression Olivier and Roy had some history - she named him in her will, and he makes some comment about getting dinner with her yet which left me the impression there was some sort of bet. I think she was more gloating that she had scored with "stealing" Scar to work with Miles out from under Roy and his plans for the East. (even if the end result is the same) They seem to be more friendly rivals than anything.

[andromakhe001.livejournal.com]

I love that thought. Mustang, Miles, Marcoh and Scar(if his real name began with an M it would have been perfect:) all working together to rebuild Ishval. And who knows, I mean maybe Arakawa was planting seeds for the idea of future disagreement with Armstrong and I just didn't pick up on it, it just always seemed more to me like racefaulson mentioned, they had a friendly rivalry, which in and of itself is kind of an interesting idea to explore. I always enjoyed their scenes together and wonder just how it is that they seem to know each other as much as they do.

I could definitely believe that Roy has earned new enemies in his attempts to improve the lot of the Ishbalans (well I ought to, I've been writing that for a couple years now).

I really like that idea. I think I might have read one of your stories(about that specifically, I've read quite a few of your stories recently) but I'm not sure. Are all your stories on this LJ? It's interesting to imagine, now that the manga has ended, what sort of enemies and difficulties he might find himself in, not to mention Riza and his team needing to deal with it too.

While I'm a bit disappointed there wasn't a little bit more detail on Roy and Riza's future activities in rebuilding the government, etc I have to admit I like that it was left open-ended enough to still imagine some pretty exciting stories for Mustang and Co. She basically left it so that his story ties into the characters from Ishval, Xing--esp. interesting considering the speculation he might be part Xingese--and the rest of the military and government. It's got some epic potential.

I don't write fanfic, but I like to imagine those who are imaginative and talented enough to do so will be creating some great work in the future. :)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I have absolutely no doubt that Olivia and Roy have a past. She does actually seem to, if not like him, tolerate him at least (and has lots of meaningless sex with him, ooops, fantasies showing).

Whatever she actually wanted with Scar is yet another unresolved plot line. bah. Olivia and Roy sharing the role of leader could also be highly impressive

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Well since Scar invited Olivia to name him, his name could be an M name.

I do think that Olivia and Roy have a friendly rivalry (and Olivia is one of the people I DO ship Roy with so I prefer to think of it that way)

The story I referred to in particular was Sorrow's Dark Array and yes all my stories are on here. sadly I'm an idiot and just figured out how to group the stories by pairing (or lack there of) and am still on the A's when it comes to putting them into their proper groupings.

I definitely plan to speculate some on these themes (and maybe even finish the ones I have started that won't be using these themes since they were started long before the end)

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Mm! So by...Wednesday? I should have it, I'd think.

SO very many.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

cool

[a-big-apple.livejournal.com]

I heart Hero Tales, though I hear it is on hiatus at the moment.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

oh geez well that would suck. Book 3 is supposed to be out around my birthday in a week

[a-big-apple.livejournal.com]

It was on OneManga up to chapter 19, which is when I saw some kind of notice that it was going on hiatus, so there will be a few more volumes in English before it hits a wall...but now the chaps aren't up anymore, because of Yen Press yanking all their stuff from scanlation sites.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

i can't blame yen press for that. The scanlation sites are putting the publishers out of business. Since MY stories were up on pirate sites within 24 hours of publication and I lost all that money as result, I can definitely understand.

[a-big-apple.livejournal.com]

I'm on the fence about it, some days I'm annoyed and some days I agree. But I can at least see their perspective, and I know not everyone is like me, who reads the scanlations and then buys the books anyway.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I can understand the conflict.It's not like I don't look at some scanlations but very few and usually I buy the book (Unless of course i didn't like what I read)

Right now if the publishers of Saiyuki don't get their heads out of their butts the scanlations will be my only recourse.

but i know Genon animation went under from pirating and a few of the manga publishers are pulling out as a result here in the states. I have no idea how the Japanese publishers are being impacted b ut I can't imagine well

[bob_fish.livejournal.com]

I'm so with you there. He's going to love going incognito. I bet he's hoping to run into trouble and save peasants from bandits, etc.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

certainly a good story idea in that