So the spirit copies someone you trust. For Tome that was Reigen. For Reigen that was Mob…
And for the spirit possessing Reigen (Rusty) that was becoming Reigen, because you can see his head forming from the Mimic spirit. Which is sad but expected, as it means the few nice words and promises Reigen gave Rusty to trick it were the best it ever heard, side no other face appears on Mimic.
from pages 122 - 123 of Fullmetal Alchemist Character Guide
T/L notes: [comments/additions]. I did not translate literally, as usual, but I tried my best to keep the essence/tone of the sentences.
Four men + α (with no girlfriend) will answer questions about Mustang! Let’s reveal the secrets of the Colonel!!
Q: With whom did he spend his 30th birthday?
HAVOC: Somebody finally asked! [lit. trans.: I’ve been waiting!]. He was so proud that he celebrated every year with everyone, but only for his 30th birthday, he was alone and lonely, and went home and drank all by himself. Colonel Mustang — the king of popularity — drinking alone!! He was busy with the transfer to Central, and that’s on top of the mess with Barry, right? Moreover, he was confined in a military hospital so he could not make an appointment for a date. Serves him right!
FALMAN: While he [Mustang] was in the hospital, a bunch of visitors arrived at the headquarters [looking for him]. There weren’t any for the second lieutenant, though.
HAVOC: SCREW YOU!!!
Q: Is it true that he is the type [of person] hated by dogs?
FUERY: Instead of saying hated, I feel that it is at the same level as being regarded with dislike. In his attempt to make the dog obey, the colonel approaches it bossily, which in turn, makes the dog wary of him. He tried to lure it with bait before, but it seems he failed. So even the colonel has his weak points…
Q: Is it true that he has a habit of sleeping with his mouth open? [it comes with the picture of Roy in the Archives Room with Szieska waking him up]
FALMAN: It’s true. While on duty, he is quite focused on showing that he is finishing his work that is why he is exhausted. I’ve also heard of a testimony that he was sleeping while hugging a pillow and was drooling with his mouth open in the nap room of the Eastern Headquarters. [this is based on Havoc’s report from Roy Mustang Observation Diary]
Q: How does he code his research notes?
BREDA: It seems that everything is [coded with] female names. Furthermore, his notes are written as a date diary. Well, in that case, he has to come up with women’s names one after the other.
Q: Did he really steal someone else’s girlfriend?
HAVOC: Some guys were jeering [at Mustang] when he fought Ed in the parade grounds in the past [in Flame vs. Fullmetal battle]. That would be unjustified resentment from a misunderstanding if the break-up line was “I have someone else I like.” Even so, I understand the desire to think that the girlfriend was stolen. Me too… *tears*
Q: Is it true that his drawing [skill] is bad?
FUERY: Rather than saying he is unskillful, [we can say] he is as good as an elementary school student. An alchemist is someone who can draw a perfect circle with his bare hands, but this is quite interesting. Edward seems to have the same level of drawing skill as the colonel.
Q: Is it true that his type of woman varies [i.e. he has a wide scope]?
EDWARD: He is on the same level as everyone else!! This is annoying~ You’re right. The Colonel smiles at any woman — no matter who she is — and he says the sweetest things to her that teeth could fall off. He’s a scary bastard. I think older women are no exception.
Q: Which part of a woman is the most attractive?
MUSTANG: Wow. I would say a woman is attractive no matter where you look at, I can’t decide. *laughs* But if I may dare say, it’s the “thigh.” [yes, I triple checked the translation, it’s not the leg, but thigh!!]. With that said, Havoc…
HAVOC: BOOBS~!!
I really like the questions from this Q&A (OMG, the first and last Qs killed me!!), but translating Edward’s answer was such a pain. His speech pattern is so informal, I got confused with the words several times!!
I was laughing my head off while translating because Team Mustang (especially Havoc) is epic <3 Falman’s replies are very polite. Fuery’s answers are kind and cute. Havoc’s bitterness and snarky comments are absolutely hilarious. Ed is being annoying and angsty, while Roy is smooth as silk as usual.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. There are still some interesting Q&A pages I’ve bookmarked from FMA Institute DX that I’d like to translate. I hope I find enough motivation to do them!! Until next time~
i think the reason why tome’s arc in s3 eps 7&8 is so blindly gorgeous isn’t just because of the amazing animation, but also because tome desperately wanted to know that she wasn’t alone in the universe and she felt like she was running out of time. then she learns that’s she’s NOT alone in the universe, because she’s surrounded by people who love her and want to support her passions, and that there is always time for the things we love.
and then she actually discovers aliens and just fucking kicks it with them all night
👍
original:
I've been in this fanbase 5 years and in my time indulging in it, i never saw a dedicated online space for it, and upon seeing a post asking for dedicated places to discuss it, i started the psycho helmet forums!!
The psycho helmet forums are a place to talk about EVERYTHING mob psycho, character fun, meta analysis, roleplaying, arts and crafts, just the stuff people normally do BUT! In one place!
We're actively against bigots, bootlickers, and incestuous/pedophilic shipping!
It's small now, but with time we hope that it'll become the holy land for mobheads.
Sign up here :3
Roy and Riza's journey in Fullmetal Alchemist is the struggle of the naive idealism of youth against the cynical realism of adulthood. At the core of their characters there is a tenet: that Alchemy — or rather power — should be used for the benefit of the people. Like many things in FMA there is an irony in this. This belief that's so crucial to their characters is something they inherited from someone who, in a way, represents the antithesis of this idea.
Berthold Hawkeye.
The Manga goes out of its way to tell us this is something Behold believed in and passed on to them. First when Roy uses it to justify why he joined the military, and then when Riza admits that she believed in her father's words.
The thing is that there is a dissonance between Berthold's teachings and his character's actions. Berthold is a recluse living away from the people his hoarded knowledge is supposed to help. Roy and Riza know this, and they call him out on it.
They both fervently believe in Berthold's teaching, and they don't understand why he's so adamantly against putting it to practice. When they join the military they don't do so to spite him, they do so because they believe in what he preaches, so much so that they want to prove his cynicism wrong.
The problem is that Berthold is right.
He's sooo freaking right.
Their government is corrupt. All that talk about protecting their people is pure propaganda. His cynicism is the pain of someone who was burned too much by the world's cruelty. Berthold is an idealist that has given up, much like Hohenheim before Trisha. He is someone that once wished to help people, and probably came to the same painful realization that Roy and Riza eventually had in Ishval. The path to hell can be paved with good intentions, and sometimes you're completely powerless to do anything about it.
Now, what makes Riza and Roy such great characters, is the fact that instead of falling into despair and secluding themselves like Berthold did, they decide to fight back and continue clawing at the world with their own — no longer so naive — idealism. They have seen where defeat leads to, and they refuse to walk that path.
My favorite example of Roy's acceptance of both Berthold's teaching, as well as his rejection of Berthold's character, is his conversation with Hughes in Ishval.
This conversation is such a beautiful call back to Berthold telling Roy that alchemists die when they cease to think. This is Roy doubling down, acknowledging that yes he was naive — the world is a much more complicated and painful place than he realized — but still he refuses to give up on the face of reality like Berthold did. Where Berthold accepted his fate, as a man who was already dead inside, Roy and Riza continue to struggle to survive.
Berthold might have taught Roy and Riza that power should be used for good, but his biggest lesson to them was perhaps serving as an example of what happens when you allow your dreams and hope to die.
Ps. This thematic of children following on their parent/mentor footsteps and surpassing them is constant on FMA. Winry being a mechanic like her grandma and deciding to be like her parents by forgiving Scar. Ed and Al becoming alchemist like Hohenheim, but also embracing their familiar bonds and continue to help people despite their trauma. Ling Yao becoming emperor and dismantling the infighting his father had promoted. Scar embracing his brother's alchemy and dream. It is then fitting that Roy and Riza also inherited something from Berthold and then surpassed him.
hey, i think i just Got it.
Reigen not really understanding what Mob is going thru (him not being a psychic) is the perfect parent/teen child analogy. Like, he kinda pretends to get it, but he doesn’t really know – until the end. and he says, “I didn’t know! Is that what you’ve been going through? something this big?” That line just cuts me to my core and it’s because… isn’t that what we all wanted to hear from our parents when we were 14 and at the mercy of our uncontrollable emotions? to be seen, to be validated in that way? wow
the clickbait title: Amazing! This manga has the power to heal your childhood trauma!
Riza misquotes Shakespeare at one point in the manga and it got me thinking about what kind of plays they’d like
nora - she/her - yelling about other things in @extra-spicy-fire-noodles
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