No like Bradley and Ling

the craziest parallels. Ready?

+ Bradley was the 12th soldier to be injected with the philosopher stone. Ling is the 12th son of the emperor.
+ Bradley was the first to survive the injection of the philosopher stone (turning him into Wrath). Ling was the only other person to survive a philosopher stone’s injection (turning him into Greed)
+ Despite being homunculi, they are both human based (originally human).
+ Both have wills and desires of their own. (Bradley chose who he wanted to marry and also his own death. Greed was born within Ling’s body, and yet Ling’s soul wasn’t smothered and even occasionally switching places with Greed—like in moments of great concern).
+ Both homunculi die peacefully (and the only ones).
+ Both were raised to be warriors.
+ Both fight to protect.

Man i’m sure there is way more, but those are the ones I can think of on top of my head.

But I think what’s most important the one thing that makes them different from the other. Bradley is KING Bradley. He is already a King, or Emperor in Ling’s case. Ling isn’t. His goal is to save his people and rise to the top. Ling meets Bradley and sees the King he doesn’t want to be, but what I think Greed/Ling finds so frightening about Wrath/King Bradley is that he is everything Ling seeks to be an Emperor. Strong. Determined. Charismatic. Ambitious. Caring. Of course Ling is horrified that someone with these characteristics is strong, determined, charismatic, ambitious, and caring for the wrong team and all the wrong reasons.

Jokes on you Ling/Greed because you pretty much are Wrath/Bradley. Lols.

I found it really weird at first that Scar was the one to due in Wrath/Bradley and not Ling/Greed (it makes perfect sense though and I’m glad it was done this way. Scar sought revenge for Ishbal by killing of state alchemists, but the real terrorist was Amestris or the state military, and what better to find closure by killing the leader, the face of Amestris and the state military?) but then I concluded by Ling/Greed killing Wrath/Bradley is equivalent to suicide. Being a king is not easy. You WILL face many of your sins. You WILL commit many sins. Ling judging Bradley for what he’s done, is naive (of course he has every right to because, you know, Bradley executed MASS genocide. Bradley is in the wrong, but Ling’s is quick to make assumptions of what a King really is, when he himself has no right to make such assumptions being a fifteen year old and a total punk). He doesn’t realize that by him becoming Emperor he will face decisions that have no right answers. He himself will commit sins (THUS THE IRONY IS THAT LING (FUTURE EMPEROR) A HUMAN WELCOMES GREED WITH OPEN ARMS AND KING BRADLEY IS ALSO WRATH).

So they don’t kill one another, but they also don’t ever see eye to eye. THere is no moment of understanding. In fact, their relationship grows worse. They grow to hate the other so much, even with Greed in control, there is no sympathy/empathy because as Kings, they cannot accept what they have/will become. They must remain strong and holdfast to their resolves. By showing sympathy toward one another and their choices is not a sign of weakness, it’s a way of admitting that they are/will not be the King they want to be. And Bradley gets that. There are no true kings in this world. Perfection.

fma meme: favorite episode
↳ episode twelve: one is all, all is one (5/17)

“Men can build a lot higher than this. In Oldtown there’s a tower taller than the Wall.” He could tell she did not believe him. If I could show her Winterfell, give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. We could bathe in the hot pools, and love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched over us.

leebarguss:

(by amelie niederbuchner)

D’you remember that cave? We should have stayed in that cave. I told you so.

mysticmoons:

I’m not a lady. I’m a wolf.

i was thinking about why I like FMA so much (i should tell you now that I hate it when people say “i liked it” or “i didn’t like it.” Why WHY WHY DIDNT YOU LIKE IT? WHY DID YOU LIKE IT? TELL ME TELL ME YOU NEED TO THINK DEEPER. READ IT AGAIN. WATCH IT AGAIN. ANALYS). And not just as a manga, but like top five favorite things to read EVER and I realized that I’ve never read something that is so fluid in both plot and character development (then there’s the whole concept and philosophy that flows through out the story. that is a WHOLE different rambling).

Like, how they hell was she able to create characters with ambitions and purpose and then entwine them with the core plot AND THEN have each character dart in and out of the core plot and other characters plots and developments while still pursuing their own god damn goal without it feeling ill paced or cluttered into individual arcs (which is LITERALLY the formula for manga. Everything is in arcs. not that it’s a bad thing, but arcs are so geometric in my mind). Like, that is hard. You’d have to have really distinguished characters that hold their own (along with their own set of secondary characters that actually contribute to character’s characteristics and plot) without the author giving too much for the readers to remember. and then you’d have to make sure his/her ambitions are clear and justified according to plot, rules of setting and unforgettable (the benefit of manga is you can simply show determination without describing it or dialogue).

AND THEN SOMETIMES THE MAIN PLOT DISRUPTS THE CHARACTERS PLOT LIKE IDK, PEOPLE GOING BLIND AND IT’S LIKE WELL THAT FUCKS SHIT UP DOESN’T IT? SO NOW WHAT WTF DOES THIS MEAN

You have to put a lot of faith in your audience. You’d have to have a lot of confidence in yourself and your writing. If you’re too confident your characters come across underdeveloped and too wild. NOt enough confidence your characters become too complicated and almost not round enough.

This is more about character, story placement than FMA. Sorry i’m not sorry.

yvyb:

First love By YvyB

i seriously just ate like five small cup cake things and a bowl of kettlecorn. iT’S V-DAY SO IT’S OAKY RIGHT

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. And then, one not-so-very special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever. The End.