How I feel like everytime when I post some art

thank

*sobs incoherently*

Someone added it!!!! Thank you!!!!!

<3 <3 <3

Well I just finished my 3rd rewatch of Brotherhood. As requested today I present you all with the Lan Fan and Bradley parrels essay. Someday I may make a video essay version if there's enough interest. I have no clue if this will be very long or very short. Either way i'm VERY happy to be writing this. Lan Fan is easily my favorite character and I’ve always felt like she doesn't get enough love in the fandom. (Which is partly to blame on Brotherhood cutting out most of her screen time). Bradley is my second favorite villian of the show (First is Pride) and I feel like Bradleys actual writing is underrated. I'm going to TRY and get everything but keep in mind im currently on my first read of the manga version. So there will be SOME manga mentions but this will largely cover brotherhood. I’ve seen most of the manga so there shouldn’t be too much I miss but I’ll update it if I find anything! This will also include a lot of how both Bradley and Lan Fan parallel Scar because to understand their parallels to each other you have to understand their parallels to Scar. There's a reason those 3 end up in that room in the end. Im aware not all of these will be 100% intended but im a nerd for analyzing media so I like to pick up on things even if their accidental.

☆~~~~☆~~~~Wrath~~~~☆~~~~☆

This one is fairly obvious but Wrath. Every character in full metal has a sin and they are typically a parallel to the homunculus of this sin and are forced to fight them in the story. An example of this would be how human transmutation is seen as a very prideful act. Which is why Ed is the one that always fights Pride. Scar is also wrathful so he fights Bradley. Mustang in the early show is shown to have the one goal of becoming Füher and thus he’s very envious of Bradley. Ling is very greedy so he becomes Greed. The main point is that I think Lan Fan is wrath. Now before you get out your pitchforks I don't mean it in a bad way. Or that she's some heartless soldier. Lan Fan is actually one of the sweetest characters. So how does she represent wrath? Well while Bradley and Scar represent wrath in the name of destruction, Lan Fan represents wrath in the name of protection. This girl protects Ling no MATTER what. Not enough people talk about the scene where Ed talks shit about Ling and Lan Fan tries to POKE EDS EYES OUT. She also has a clear love for explosives. She BRUTALLY beats up Gluttony (And Envy in the manga) and these are all in the name of protecting Ling. The one time she represents wrath in the name of destruction is when she tries to kill Bradley in the name of revenge. The reason she fails is that she gives Bradley time to say his last words. In this time Bradley dies naturally. I feel a lot of people miss the fact she's visibly upset at him dying naturally instead of her killing him. In this sense she was prevented from causing destruction and it was BECAUSE of her compassion. I would argue the exact reverse is true for Bradley. His battle with Scar is HIS attempt to protect. I know that sounds strange for Bradley but look at the scene before the fight. Our heros (Or more so our lovable side characters plus Hawkeye, Mei and Scar) state that Bradley is here to prevent them from reaching Father. This isn’t a good reason to protect he’s helping to destroy the world but Lan Fan didn't have a bad reason to destroy she wanted to avenge Fu. So does this mean Bradley succeeded where Lan Fan failed? She failed to commit her act of destruction but Bradley successfully

fought Scar to protect Father. No. Bradley failed in the same way Lan Fan did. The same way her compassion held her back, his bloodlust held him back from protecting father. Instead of chasing after the group and stopping Mei from reaching Father he instead chooses to fight Scar. He takes several chances to monologue even and draw out the fight. He could have killed Scar several times but fails due to his monologue. Hey wait, that's the EXACT reason Lan Fan failed to kill Bradley. I just realized that while writing this soo…Good job me for thinking of another parallel? Anyways this next category kinda builds off this and i'm bad at transitions so..

☆~~~~☆~~~~The room~~~~☆~~~~☆

Ah yes the final battle. Scar vs Bradley. It happens in the exact room Lan Fan confronts Bradley mere minutes before. These 3 end up in this room all at the same time..All bleeding (Lan Fan reopened her wound holding up Greedling) all there with the intent to kill someone. It's genuinely one of the most beautiful things because it perfectly wraps up all of their character arcs. Scar learning creation alchemy doesn't just represent forsaking his Ishvalan origin to save the world it's him embracing both sides of wraths. Wrath of destruction as he fights Bradley the physical representation of wrath to destroy and wrath of protection as he is helped by Lan Fan to activate the circle and protect Amestris. Lan Fan showed up to kill Bradley and failed because she could only seem to commit wrath in the name of protection, Bradley showed up to protect Father but failed because he could only seem to commit Wrath in the name of destruction. The only one who successfully reached their goal in that room was Scar because he committed both acts. Early on I implied Scar was only wrath of destruction like Bradley but that's not true. But he's also not wrath of protection like Lan Fan. Full metal is a story about balance and he's the balance between them both. This is why Scar succeeds where Bradley and Lan Fan fail. Also Scars arms come into this but there's a whole section dedicated to arms later so I’ll save that for later. Now stepping back to the main two focuses. Bradley and Lan Fan fail to achieve the goals they came here for however they do achieve other goals. Bradley succeeds in finding peace. He is finally able to stop fighting and even dies peacefully. Lan Fan also succeeds in finding peace but not for herself. She finds the philosopher's stone that Ling needs. The one he uses to end the war between clans and become emperor. In a way she brought peace to all of her county except herself while Bradley took peace from all of his country but himself. Bradley dies in that room with a peaceful look while Lan Fan watches alive but with a troubled and emotional look. Their final chat also draws a parallel to Lan Fan and Mrs Bradley. Bradley talks about the responsibility Mrs Bradley had as queen as Lan Fan tenses up. LingFan is HEAVILY implied here tbh. Lan Fan realizes Bradley is indirectly talking about her. She loves royalty and could debatably become queen? (This is debatable because no way Xing culture would really allow Ling to marry a retainer. However Ling famously probably doesn't care.) Lan Fan seems angered at the fact Bradley doesn't seem to love anyone. She spent her whole life with Ling and Fu. Even when she met other people like the Elrcis and Mustang they all had people they love to protect in ways that mirror her devotion to Ling. Ed protects Al, Hohenheim protects the Elrics, Hawkeye protects. Mustang and vice versa, Winry protects Ed, even Scar protects Mei to an extent. All she knows. Her only purpose in life (As drilled in by her culture and Fu love him or hate him for it) is to protect. And meeting all these people almost seems to have reinforced that. Everyone has someone they love to protect. So when she sees Bradley she simply doesn't understand. He’s a flaw in the system. She’s a very anxious and closed off person (better portrayed in the manga where she actively struggles to thank people) and the fact Bradley doesn't have anyone like Ling in his life challenges her ENTIRE worldview. Her tone is angry but there's almost confusion there as well. There's a lot of reasons Lan Fan will never forget Füher Bradley. He took her arm from her, her grandfather from her, died infront of her and yet another reason she may never forget him is because she doesn't and likely never will understand him. He’s like a burning question she may never learn about. The complete opposite of her in every way down to his very purpose in life.

☆~~~~☆~~~~Artificial limbs~~~~☆~~~~☆

This is a smaller one. However both Bradleys left eye and Lan Fans left arm are artificial in some way and act as a secret weapon. Lan Fan gets an automail arm after Bradley cuts off her left arm. She uses this automail as a weapon as well, hiding a hidden blade in it. She typically doesn't unveil this blade till it's needed (Though my memories are hazy I believe she does take it out needlessly during Lan Fan vs Gluttony just to show off..Edward must have been proud.) On the contrary Bradley doesn't technically lose his left eye however it turns into an artificial eye. His ultimate eye also works as a secret weapon he keeps hidden. I forget exactly how it works but I believe it sort of works as a warning sign. It predicts any incoming attacks unless his view of someone is blocked, seen when he fails to predict Buccaneer stabbing him. We see him take his first real damage only AFTER Greed cuts the eye out.

☆~~~~☆~~~~Fighting styles~~~~☆~~~~☆

This one will largely draw from three specific fights: Bradley vs Greed, Lan Fan vs Envy (Manga exclusive) and Lan Fan vs Gluttony. In each of these fights they battle the same way. Bradley attacks Greed relentlessly never offering him a chance to heal. Lan Fan attacks Gluttony and Envy in the exact same manor. You could connect Mustang to this thanks to Mustang vs Lust but Lan Fan and Bradley specifically use swords to do it. They both fight relentlessly and speed (I think they match eachothers speed? Lan Fan is fast enough to block his attack and shows similar speed feets to Bradley during Lan Fan vs Gluttony) They are also part of the 4 or 5ish charecters that fight with swords instead of alchemy (The others being Ling, Fu and Olivier.)

☆~~~~☆~~~~Arm injurys~~~~☆~~~~☆

People don't talk about this much so I simply must. So we all know during the breif fight that is Ling and Lan Fan vs Gluttony we see Bradley shows up and attack Lan Fan damaging her left arm around the shoulder area. She escapes and flees into the sewers using the jacket of the one she loves and protects to cover the wound and prevent her from bleeding out. HOWEVER during the battle at central command Bradley is shot in his RIGHT shoulder area. He falls then escapes into the sewers. However with nobody he truly loves nobody is there to stop the bleeding. (Yes he loves Mrs Bradley but he was never truly commited to her so in the end she wasn't there to save him the way Ling was for Lan Fan.) Now theres more to this. Scar’s destruction alchemy is tattooed on his right arm the arm Bradley was shot in and his creation alchemy is tattooed on his left arm the one Lan Fan lost. This further shows that Scar is the balance bewteen the two types of wrath.

☆~~~~☆~~~~Child soldiers~~~~☆~~~~☆

Part of the beauty in fma is how charecters parrel eachother. No charecter is restricted to parrel one charecter only. Its almost like a web of charecters that connect. Bradley being raised a child soldier is mostly a parrel to Ed. Its a literal version of how we view Ed joining the military so young. However we can ALSO make the connection of this parreling Lan Fan. She is also very much a child soldier in a more traditional sense. Bradley was trained from birth to weild a sword and protect Father. He was taught his life had no value and it was ONLY an extension of Father. He lived to serve Father to the end. From birth to death thats all his purpose was. Its implied Lan Fan has obviously had YEARS of traning. We don't know for sure how long. Shes around 15ish (We just know shes vaguely Ed and Lings age) so it could of started a year ago or around the age it started for Bradley. Given how both Fu and Lan Fan speak of themselves we can infer Xing bodygaurss are treated as 2nd rate humans. I’ve always seen Ling genuinely being kind to Lan Fan as one of his greatest shows of charecter. He is one of the few politicians worthy of being emperor he’s kinder then the rest. He genuinely values his citizens. From how Fu talks during the Bradley fight he literally calls himself Lings sheild an ideal Lan Fan seems to share. Lan Fan like Bradley was trained from a young age to weild a sword and protect Ling. She was taught her life has little to no value and she only lives to sheild Ling. She’ll serve him till death. This girl is around 15 and already lost an arm and most her family.

☆~~~~☆~~~~Loyalty~~~~☆~~~~☆

The three most loyal charecters in fma are almost undebatably Lan Fan, Hawkeye and Bradley. Eariler I mentioned that Lan Fan couldn't understand how Bradley had nobody to protect but thats only her veiw. Technically Bradley DOES have someone in Father. The loyalty she has for Ling is seen in Bradley with Father. He dies carrying out Fathers will. His life was created TO protect Father. However its still not the same. Lan Fans loyalty to Ling repersents a real genunie bond that goes beyond the line of duty. However Bradley and Fathers bond seems to stop at duty. There are no scenes of them bonding. As far as I can tell Pride seems to be Fathers favorite. So while Lan Fan had Ling to save her life because he genuinely cared, Bradley had nobody because Father simply didn't care enough to save Bradley. Lan Fan and Bradley also both have superiors (In the forms of Fu and Pride) that criticize them harshly. Yet still are like family to them. Bradley had a genuine bond with Mrs Bradley but never enough. Never enough to save her from Fathers plan.

☆~~~~☆~~~~Other parrels~~~~☆~~~~☆

Theres a few smaller parrels like the panel I showed in my initial post where Lan Fan had a similar expression to Bradley and we were specifically focusing on her left eye same as Bradley. Beyond that theres not much else I can think of at the moment. Both of them are seen pretty much exclusively in their soldier uniforms until injured where they remove the top part (Lan Fans shirt and Bradleys jacket.) though that's so small it likely wasn't on purpose. As I read the manga im sure I’ll find more visual parrels. Theres also the fact he shatters their mask in their first meeting but she willingly removes it in the last!

☆~~~~☆~~~~Closing~~~~☆~~~~☆

Well here we are. In the end Lan Fan repersents protection while Bradley repersents destruction. These are all the parrels I could think off the top of my head. Im a huge fan of analyzing media especially comfort charecters so this was fun. I of course enjoyed analyzing Lan Fans charecter more though I also found alot of new enjoyment in Bradleys charecter from this. His bloodlust holding him back wasn't something I really thought about but it seems clear now. As for what comes next I feel like I probaly missed SOME parrels between Lan Fan and Bradley so mabye i’ll write a part 2 to this. Im also aware not all of these may be intended but the beauty of media is the freedom to interpret it. Like I said before I’d love to make a YouTube channel and expand this into a video essay if theres any intrest in that. I have alot more essay ideas. Such as why I think Pride is the series best villian and not as one note as people describe. As well as how Father is more tragic then people realize. And I’d love to do more essays on parallels like between Ed and Pride or Mustang and Envy. Hell I could do more Lan Fan parallels like Lan Fan and Ed. Or mabye another essay discussing the wrath trio of Bradley, Lan Fan and Scar in greater detail. (Mabye throw Olivier in there but my hot take is theres another homunculus parallel that fits her and Armstrongs storys better) for now though im glad I got the chance to do this :). Im always happy to talk about Lan Fan so feel free to give more Lan Fan conversation ideas! I hope to see more fanart of the parallels bewteen these to aswell! Im also open to writing essays on things other then fma like Jjk, mha, twd, atla or I have JUST started watching attack on titan but im only ten episodes in so I still need to finish that lol. But for now thats it from me!

The Lan Fan and Bradley parrel essay is written however its not showing up in tags for me (Idk if it is for anyone else) so im out here alerting people like that one dude who yelled the British are coming. Any way to boost engagement heres random Lan Fan pics from my camera roll :)

FMAbruary day 27: sacrifice

You know how some headcanons are so repeated in fanfic they're basically treated as canon? Like for example, the Emperor's bodyguard being called "Shadow".

Well, here's a headcanon I think should be treated as canon:

Lan Fan found the Philosopher's Stone that made Ling Emperor. Thus, she should have the "Kingmaker" epithet. Lan Fan Kingmaker.

That's all, thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

If I can draw this from memory, so can YOU!

Draw manga accurate Lan Fan TODAY!!

MY MUTUAL @guardianspirits13 SPILLED SOME ABSOLUTE TRUTH IN THOSE TAGS EEHEEHEEHEE

This community needs more of this energy GWAH LET US ALL UNLEASH THE GUSHING!!!!

FMAbruary Day 25: Watch.

I listened to two whole Taylor Swift albums while doing this and honestly???? This one might be my favorite this month. Very soft, very cozy.

Day 24 | Day 26

Reference below the cut:

King Bradley ⚔️