Writer's Blog #8 - Fullmetal Alchmist: Brotherhood

Maybe about 10 years ago, I decided to write a novel that was great on 4 fronts:

1. Words (in a poetic sense)
2. Plot and Story
3. World building (which includes magic systems)
4. Philosophy

I didn't know at that time, but the correct phrase for #4 is literary themes. That, every character can be seen as a metaphor for something, and this link applies to their actions and choices, and ends up tying into the narrative as both a whole and as a subset.

Anime is the only medium I know, that are not old literary epics, but the characters carry the same weight in their action and choices.

Watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood again in 2023, I noticed lot of heavy and deep symbolism that I really didn't get the first 2 times I saw it.

It was a classic, and scores strongly on all 4 points with great quotes, entertaining story and narrative, extremely functional (intuitive) magic system with themes that stand the test of time.

Maybe that's where my drive came from.

On that note, here is a great article, with heavy spoilers, on the significance of 7 characters in the show.

Lot of the articles online talk about symbolism, and I want to talk about an alternate theory. This comes under fan theory, and yes, it may spoil your experience of the show.

Spoilers (and some gore) ahoy!

What the characters do is essentially pay a price for breaking the taboo, which is enforced by Truth at his discretion.

The price is costly, especially personally. For example, one brother loses his entire body.

In return, the characters are given (almost?) endless knowledge, that allow transmutation without a circle.

This allows for combat, but also near invincible versatility.

Now, while the symbolism is apt, I think something far darker is going on.

I think what the characters do, is something akin to flesh sacrifice - in the pagan or tantric sense.

Like, how Odin meditated upside down for 9 days and 9 nights, and gave up an eye, for all the knowledge in the world.

He hung upside down on a branch of the world tree, another common motif in fantasy - maybe, it increases blood flow to the head.

The pain and shock, trigger an emergency response from the character, which overrides their normal safety mechanics, triggering an awakening.

Once the awakening is triggered, yes, they see the world as it truly is, and gain enlightenment, which includes an intimate knowledge of reality. This is supported by the prayer mudra, which is a canon comment by another character.

I think they touch themselves to trigger their gate, and gate is a loaded word in Asian mysticism. Once grounded, they can (again) access their complete integrated self, and transmute without a ritual or transmutation circle.

In other words, truth is not god - it's the darkest and deepest version of the taboo breaker.

This has been covered in another video, already.

My point is that the mystical experience characters go through, is a hallucination through their shock, which has shared cultural overtones, and triggers an awakening based in pain.

The scene where Edward loses his leg, and then offers his arm, is different from real life, because in the real world, the sacrifice would come first.

If we ignore that order of events, then everything he went through, can be explained in terms of a theory where shock overrides his safety mechanisms, triggering action with an intimate understanding of how reality works.

It's important to keep in mind that he was a prodigy, and well read by then. Alongside the harsh training by his teacher, he was well versed with Alchemy, both in theory and practice.

Metaphorically, the mangaka did the right 'artistic choice' because:

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

- Proverbs 16:18

That is, by making the sacrifice an unforeseen cost, she did a good job representing what happens to those who seek to rival the impossible, and the consequences they find themselves in.

This is a great example of how this 'magic' goes unquestioned in a narrative focused on the human condition, and sin. This is because at its heart, the only magic is in the reverse order of manifestation, not the act itself.

Contrast the act of breaking a taboo, to transmutation, which is magic, but considered non-taboo in their world:

In general, the anime does a great job exploring the meaning of resistance, pride, and the role of vice in a human's life, contrasted against different kinds of evil and life in general.

If we look at truth - as an inner being that needs to be confronted, accepted, and integrated - then culturally, it also makes sense that every character goes through the same process, as revealed to us, the viewer.

Just like how every Yogi and Daoist hallucinates, or actively imagines very similar things, while somehow also being great poets, dancers and artists.

Since Alphonse lost his entire body, Edward must have stayed conscious long enough to anchor the spirit of his brother.

That pain must have served as an anchor for another self sacrifice, making him a double amputee. His talent and potential are both immediately hampered, though he ends up saving the world anyway, and making peace.

For those under 18, for whom my point is not clear enough:

I am advocating against ambition, and pride, which can be an advanced form of self harm.

It doesn't look like it, especially when you earn a lot, are praised a lot, or are very happy.

In my opinion, it's worth asking 'What am I losing here?' before making that purchase.

Please use your heart too, not just your brain.

Hence, Alphonse can't do the instant transumutation until he gets his memories back - but once his memories are unlocked (complete integration), he can do the rune free, instant transmutation.

So the Truth that is seen with access via a mystical portal, which gives knowledge, for a price, is actually the person themselves. This is explained well in that video, which references the alchemy in our world, before it became a pseudo science, separating from chemistry.

My point is that "breaking the taboo" might actually be flesh sacrifice, and save for that, everything else in that scene is very plausible.

As a child, I read a story of 3 brahmins and their servant, in Amar Chitra Katha.

Their teacher taught his students how to bring back the dead, using the bones of the dead.

Excited, the 3 found a tiger skeleton, and wanted to test their new knowledge.

Their servant was frustrated - sutra, or no sutra, tigers were tigers. The knowledgeable were not listening.

He ran up a tree, and watched helplessly as once brought back to life, the tiger ate all of the brahmins.

Now.

I am guilty of the pursuit of knowledge. I have paid a huge cost for it - I was literally sucked into the process of writing, instead of being methodical and disciplined about it.

I wasn't a writer - there was only writing, and everything, myself especially, was the price.

I had no faith in the process; I was impatient, and afraid I would neither be published, nor get recognition for my writing, nor be able to make money, nor be able to live.

At the same time, yes, while I was personable and intellectually humble, there is that arrogance that what I say is worth saying, and therefore, it needs to be said.

It's not the traditional definition of arrogance - but I like it because in such a mindset, I (and artists in general) can forget their rank in the hierarchy - that Mother Nature already created us, and is going to be fine without our creation.

Basically - reality. I would feel very bad when my writing wasn't 100% original, and I would work to create something a 100% original.

Several sufferings later, I have realized that while 100% originality is possible, it's so hard to do so, and maybe, I can never do it in my lifetime.

I already spent too much time trying to prove it's possible 😆

The 15+ years of writing is reflected in the quality of my words - and it wasn't a normal 15 years, I feel triple my age at times, even though I am not old yet.

It's like in order to train quickly, but in recognition of the realistic constraints of becoming the world's best writer, I traded in my experience and intent (also) to meet my goal, in addition to spending time, money and energy, and giving up everything that wasn't writing - a social life, friends, steady income, purchasing power, vacations, and visibility.

The martial art equivalent is dreaming about counters to a problematic style, while your body rests.

Everywhere I went, every person I met, everything I did - 99% of my brain was on 3 questions:

1. How do I write better?
2. The Question of the day. Here are some samples, for your laughing pleasure:
   1. In this beautiful scenic view of mount rainier, how would elves ambush a dwarven gunboat?
   2. If a fantasy is made too real, will it still be a fantasy?
   3. How can a writer hope to recreate the fantasy of earth?
3. How do I remember everything I am learning, so I can get the data for my own world?

I simultaneously had access to the best questions, and some answers, without the energy to communicate them in the real world, or use that wisdom well.

From those deep dives into reality, very few concepts can I actually explain, and even those I don't have the time and energy to express beyond a blog article with well researched opinions.

When Magnus Carlsen thinks about chess all the time, I get it. It's the equivalent of a yogi accelerating his journey, through more and more intense study - what can be done in a 100 lifetimes, gets done in 100 years.

It's the law of equivalent exchange, except my plotting skill still sucked by the end of 2023. My knowledge base is fantastic, though.

I know which came first - both the egg and chicken are part of a cycical process, emerging at the same time.

To those familiar with both, the question of which came first is a riddle.

To those who know evolution, or Hegel, or Marx, will recognize that all dualities are separated from each other through reality, flipping every few generations or so, or merging, or dividing.

Rajnikanth may know Victoria's Secret.


But I know which came first, chicken or the egg.

The real question is why did the chicken cross the road? 😉

Now that I see the parallels of flesh sacrifice, I cannot unsee the reality, making the anime no longer a fantasy, but a difficult watch.

Which in full metal irony, is both my life in a line, and the series in a line.

The questions I posit to anyone reading:

Is the truth worth it?

Have you ever given everything you had, only to be dissatisfied with the end result, and never getting that time back makes you feel cheated twice?

Have the gains you got (like my writing skills - could be your body, wealth, or a degree, etc) justified your path in darkness?

Do you have any regrets?

Just remember that while Edward saved the world, and became a recognized alchemist, the entire first half of the show was him dealing with the arrogance of thinking he can bring back the dead.

To regret the effect, is to regret the cause - that he was a child who chose to do something, instead of grieving his mother's death. Hind sight is 20/20.

Like the show communicates, the devil can come in the disguise of good deeds, good actions, and good intent.

It's why Gandalf refused the ring - sometimes, common sense is king.

But we can at least learn from what happened, use those skills for good anyway, and learn through hard work, what was missing before, instead of relying on shortcuts.

This is my answer to those 4 questions.

If you think, no matter what, that you won't have any regrets, then not only will you gain the skills worthy of legacy, and join the greats of the real world:

You also have no idea what you are talking about - the fact that you can is precisely the problem, since you will end up hurting yourself that way.

For some, the ability to do, but not not to do, is the problem worth facing, because just because it can be done, doesn't mean they need to do it, with emphasis on:

1. they - maybe, someone else can.
2. need - maybe, it's not a need.
3. do - maybe, there is nothing to be done.
4. it - maybe, that's the wrong solution.

Someone in 2023 told me that just because good things need to be done, that doesn't mean I need to do it.

That's wise of her, and easy to forget, while remembering that it's also true that if no-one does it, sometimes nothing happens.

While I emphatically have no regrets about sitting in my room for an upwards of 10 hours a day, having no social life, no friends, little money, and no results, I also love the craft of writing.

And, I thought I knew what I was doing.

At the same time, I also needed this much suffering, to even say I am a writer (I am not even published yet).

I am my very own book - so, at the very least, if you are thinking about your life, be smart about what you are letting go, brave about what you are attempting, and honest with yourself about why you are doing it.