does anyone know when the chapter is coming out on MSN?!
if anyone here can upload it there, for the love of FMA- have pity on a fellow reader and upload it!
::sniffle::
the suspense is killing me!
(and yes, i would go onto zomfg site but i can't figure out where the hell the register button is for the site.)

You don't need to register for ZOMGFTA. You can just go to the projects page and use the username "fmanga" to download chapters. This week's password is the abbreviation for "whiskey tango foxtrot".

Thanks for where to get the chapter information!

Hey, here's a question. Why, at the end of the chapter, is Ed standing to the side of Riza's door with his back to the wall? He's not doing it casually either, is it just random? It's the way you'd stand if you were expecting the person inside to attack you. Maybe he thinks she'll throw a wrench at him for not calling first and for coming so late.

OK! i'm usually just peeking but like at LJ, this chapter is too awesome *TOTAL FANGIRL GROOVE*

My speculations
-Riza is somehow related to Ishbal and probably met Roy there.
-Riza is not gonna be evil
-Royai rules the world
-Riza is probably the antithesis of a homunculus


Now i must say i am not surprised coz i imagined something like that to happen (but never dreamt to see it in real XD)

FMA plays a lot with the law of conservation n ying-yang stuff, in this respect to balance things, if there are sinners (homunculi) where are the virtues ?...Riza's for sure loyal to death and her tattoo is REALLY different when you compare it with the sinful one(ouroboros).

Of course its only my thoughts, i like the speculation about Xerxes tho, the tattoo is not like Scar's ...its more detailed and totally awesome

Hmm...I was looking over the tattoo again, and the one Roy uses is definently the exact same one in the center of hers. I think there has to be a relation between them, whether they realize it or not.

Actually, i'm now wondering....Riza said she had to protect someone until they obtained their goal...obviously we have to assume she's talking about Roy. But what if this was more than just her wanting to do it....what is she was entrusted by someone or some group or whatever to work with Roy? What if there's a lot more to Roy's character than we've been told? Because it can't just be coincidence what she has the same tattoo as his alchemy array (although we all know hers is a bit different).

Then I'm still going on with my theory that she was kidnapped during the war and had that put on her....even though the tattoo isn't Ishbalan in origin...that doesn't mean someone in Ishbal didn't know how to make that array. And then if Roy burned the mark on her back to save her or something like that.

Ok, so they're two different theories...I'm just thinking as I type, lol.

same here. Nah, I would still read it..but...I would be a nun xDDDD
THAT or I would be on a psychiatrist.



Agreed




Can't agree, the tatto is clearly the complete version or an extended version of the fire transmutation circle Roy has on his gloves. That means it has nothing to do with human beings or transmutations, and so "the virtues".

For me, the sigil suggest some kind of invocation of the fire into the one that has that tattoo (see the "channels" drawn on the north, east, west and south of the circle -Also they could mean the power that flows throught those channels from "the sun" (God) to the earth by the circle). What does that mean? I have no F idea, that's Arakawa's power. The letter around it probably mean the power and the extenssion of the trans. circle, and the serpents are the ones that carry or place that power on the earth.

I thought she had made that tattoo on her after the scars to have some easy theory, but it seems she had it before those scars, so now I'm completely lost. Does anyone know how long the war took place?

Also, from my experience and what's been said on this forum since I joined, I know that every theory we are saying is wrong. She'll surprise us, you'll see.

Ed tells us that the sun is a symbol for the soul when he's in gluttony's stomach. It's still true that it looks like the power is flowing from teh sun- but could that be Riza's soul? If it's flowing directly from her sould, she might not need any alchemical talent to use the array.

Gahh...MonsterEnvy, I can't believe you know so much about alchemy lol

Hey Chibi, welcome back around here

Well, there's the Latin (altho' I saw yesterday that the Philosopher's Stone circle in the 5th lab also had Latin )...

And this (The post on Naga and Ishvala, whatsoever).

Since this is about Ishval we're talking about, it's more probable it's from there. Xerxes... they didn't even know anything about it, just the legends, till Ed went there by himself. If Roy or Riza had known of the existance of such kind of complex circles, wouldn't they have told Ed to go check there before?

YES! Finally some1 else who comments about that. It was about time, specially after shower!Ed, darnit
Banzaiii!} \( `A´)/

Yes, that's what I was hoping... That we would see Roy doing sth in the lines of what he did with Maria Ross, whcih would have moved Riza so much, to the point of becoming his "pet dog" (Wrath dixit )

Agree about Izumi... I said it in the character importance thread, her importance is character-based (that is, her influence over Ed and Al) than plot-based (she didn't ever do much in the main story...)

The Naga or Nak, some ppl call it, is popular in SE Asian countries. Though its not the kinda serpent that you mentioned, its all over Buddhist Temples in Laos and Thailand. The ones in SE Asia either are just one serpent or one serpent with 9 heads, to represent the 9 mountains in Nepal or India that had some significance in Buddhism.

You can see them coming from the roofs of the temples. I think the Naga was ridden by Buddha to fend off a demon. Other stories showed the Naga drinking all the water on the earth. Maybe I'm mystakening the Naga for the Singha. The Naga in Laos was represented as a protector, thats why its on Temples and what not.

Its actually quite funny. The Naga is seen as the enemy of the Garuda. The Garuda is the National Symbol of Thailand. The Naga is really popular in Laos. In the past hundred years or so, the Thai and Lao people have had a rivary between them, since Laos is communists, the Thais' believe they are lesser people than they are.

The Alchemy tattoos i've seen reminds me of Thai and Lao buddhist Tattoos. They're called Sak Yant. There was a site dedicated to these tattoos but its now down. The tattoos were said to protect from anyting, depending on the design or animal used. During the Vietnam days, Lao soldiers would get these tattoos to protect from bullet wounds. The Naga is one of the animals that would be tattooed to people.

Heres some pics.

This one is of a popular one, but its a smaller version of the popular kind. Its got nine points, with a symbol of buddha, and on top of that has a spiral going into a straight line to represent the path to nirvana.
[attachmentid=4242]

This one I don't know anything about. Though I know that the characters inside the square are numbers in Thai. It does look like a transmutation circle (cept... its not a circle) to me but I know I read somewhere that Arakawa got her inspiration for the Transmutation circle from the Key of Solomon.
[attachmentid=4243]

I googled Naga Sak Yant. That site that had so many pics of these tattoos is still down but the pics still show up on google, only really small. I forgot to mention, its a tattoo of a few Nak's interwined with eachother.
[attachmentid=4244]

Sorry for the long post, I don't think it really has anything to do with this chapter besides the Naga tattoo.

*Feel free to beat me up after reading my post.... yea, I admit that I didn't bother to read thru all 4 pages of stuff here since it will hinder my homework + studying...*

(Please just disregard what I said if it has been mentioned in this thread already)
After staring at Riza's circle on her back... the following kinda came to mind...
1. so is Riza on the Homunculus' side after all?
2. There is a sun on Riza's circle... does it mean she could be one of the "points" required for the "circle" that Sloth could be digging underground?
3. Since breda and the others are sent to different places... could they also have something similar on their back (note: I did not go back to early chapters to check every page to see if any of their backs were exposed already... so if they were, then this theory can go to trash. XD) and they will be used for the circle too?
4. Maybe Roy is also on the Homunculus's side too! *gets bricked*
5. Heck, maybe the next Chapter Ed would wake up and realize that it was only his dream *gets killed with spork*
6. now... do I have to say more? I don't make sense whatsoever anyways XDDDDD
7. Last guess... Riza has dedicated herself to be the final "weapon" of Roy to be used to save his life...? (but then again, this doesn't make sense either as in Chapter 37, Roy risked his own life to save Riza... hahaha)
8. I just don't think Riza would be Pride tho........
9. ... someone shot me.

now, free feel to beat me to pulp. XD *goes back to studying*

Now... why the hell did I drew a crappy looking Riza when I am supposed to study? *gets shot*




... There IS an offical timeline tho... I Think zomgfta released it. Maybe you want to look at that offical one and just add to it instead of pondering your head off to make it?

OR... can you read chinese? If you can, I will just give you the scan of that timeline page straight off the perfect guidebook 2.

@Armor-alchemist:

No. Think back to the chapters where Roy kills Lust. Riza and Lust didn't know each other at all. There was also teh time that gluttony tried to eat Riza... and a hundred other times when Riza was in danger from the homunculi.

The Sun represents the soul. Really, does anyone read the posts about the tattoo symbology?
The points are places where lots of people have died (as far as we know). Riza is not a place, and as far as we know, there are no mass murders/deaths because of her. It seems unlikely that any points would be entrusted to humans- especially those that the homunculi have almost killed so many times. Besides, the tattoo is "broken".

Riza has her own story. She's always been a character who seems to be important and is given a lot of 'screen time', but didn't have anything major going on. Now, we're going to see what her real importance is. The rest of mustangs team will probably fade out of the manga (except maybe havoc.) Another character like this is Pinako. She has some sort of history that could be important...

Bricked very hard, for a very long time. apart from the fact that he killed lust, and was almost eaten by gluttony.. no. Just, no. Roy is awesomer than that.
(also, conversations with the fuhrer, telling the higher echelons of the military that the fuhrer is a homunculus... we can assume that no humans are actually working for the homunculi.)

Would Ed really have dreamed about Riza in the shower?

The array is borken. Maybe at one time, but not anymore.

There are a number reasons why we haven't met pride yet. i think I listed them in the other chap 57 forum, if you're interested.

And she got pissed at him and said she was capable of handling it on her own...

Yea I know... well, I rarely read theories and stuff anyways because it's too time consuming. I don't read fanfics either for the same reason. As I said I just randomly made up all those stuff I have put down and is expected to get them all crushed and trashed right away anyways, heh.

... *might as well admit that I forgot all about FMA chapter 57 to be coming out 2 days ago until my friend on MSN poked me and asked if I have read it yet.... hahaha XD*

Cliffhanger never bugs me. Yea really. (well, not for over 3 hours anyways.)

i'm almost about to cry. thank you!!!
you are what is right with the world. I just went out by my sister's insistence with her ex-boyfriend who I never met and let's just say I need this chapter of FMA to make my world go back into orbit. (around ed and company where it's supposed to be!)
god bless you. if there was a smily icon that bowed to someone, i'd insert it here to you.
am I going to read these insanely long, complex posts during midterm week? no. but I'm sure it's all incredibly insightful adn I'll smack myself on the head for not reading it all at some later point.

Here's something I don't think was mentioned. Ed is standing just inside her door, he has not seen Riza's back yet. Do you think he will?

^No not unless he wants to get slapped

Riza would beat him up, Black Hayate would bite him, Roy would shoot him when he found out about it, Winry would hit him with a wrench. Maybe that's why Ed is standing to the side of the door, he's scared to make a wrong impression and have everyone kill him.

i hope ed does sneak a peak, so then we might get a long explanation for the tattoo by riza before everyone lines up to beat up ed

That would be something! Everyone lining up to smack Ed around. He he he! I do like Ed but that would be funny.

I have an unrelated note about Hohenheim

Here, Father refers to him as an "it". What does that mean?

Any ideas?

I say that he performed human transmutation on himself, like what Ed said in Chapter 53. That might explain why he got shot and didn't die...

Could Hoenhiem be Pride?An homunculus that can preform alchemy...

But there is still the fact that he had Ed and Al, so he can't be.


I know everyone's thinking about Pride, but I'm more curious about Sloth.

How come that means he can't be Pride? Wrath has a son, Salem (or however it's spelled). I almost wonder if Father isn't some kind of Frankenstein's monster that Hoho accidentally (or purposely) created and it got out of control.

Wrath adopted his child.

Pride seems to be in leauge with Father, at least. He has spoken with Envy and Wrath on a few ocasions. Hohenhiem, however, seems to be enitrly off on his own. It is possible he's Pride, though VERY unlikely.

Yes...Sloth. I'm more curious about Pride, yes, mostly because we've never actually seen him. I still bet that Hohenhiem is headed to where Sloth is "working"....

My first post! Gosh it took me a long time to read all the posts
Anyways, it seems that the conversation has turned back to hoho and pride. With the isvalan flashback due, we might not get to see what hoho and sloth are up to for a while. Unless ofcourse, Arakawa-sensi chooses to put it in between flashbacks...

Arakawa really doesn't have that kind of writing style though. After all, when she did the flash back on Ed and Al, it was just the flashback of Ed and Al.


I like it that way. It's less confusing.


Oh, and welcome to the forums!

I'm pretty sure Sloth is Stong Mad.
He's(?) probably digging out a transmutation circle.I'm curious about his powers.Digging isn't that impresive.

Moving on;
So Prde and Hoho aren't one in the same in all likelyhood.
Wrath said he (Pride) only showed up at the worst time.
It's not Riza because she was with Roy,Ed,Al and Ling looking after RanFan and Gluttony while Wrath was talking with Pride about something.That Rulse out Roy and the Doctor aswell.
It's probably a comletly new character we don't know yet.

Homestarrunner? I haven't been on that site in....months...Maybe a year or two.


*cough* I agree.

I'm just wondering why Father would call Hoho an "it".

Maybe he's just genderless?

Okay, seriously, he referred to him almost like an object,

I dunno.Mayb Hoho is a Chimera.Those would be refered to as it's yb Father.(Who looks alarmingly like Jesus )

HOHENHEIM IS NOT PRIDE.
PRIDE DISDAINS HUMAN CONTACT.
Sorry, but calling everyone whose identiity isi suspect is beginning to get old. We probably haven't met him for above reason, and many more.
Hohenheim is probably not fully human. My hypothesis: In Xerxes, when Father got someone to transmute himself, Hohenheim somehow resulted from it. Maybe Father performed the transmutation, and "split" himself? I think that Hohenheim and Father ended up walking away from the disaster in Xerxes, however they ended up there, and Hohenheim was created because of it. Then, they parted directions. Sage from the West and Sage from the East? The questions remaining are how Hohenheim was created, and why he isn't still in Xing.

Good theory.

I don't like the idea of Pride being Hoho either.

Oh, what's up with those men who were putting the stone in Wrath? Who are those guys?


OH! I just remembered something Mustang said! He said that Marcoh AND the stone that he made were taken. What's Father gonna do with this Stone?

Oh really? Man, I keep missing things like this in the Manga. I need to go back and start re-reading some of the chapters again. Okay, I don't think Hoho is Pride either, I was just wondering how having children was proof of that.

Not sure but Hoho did look like one of them.

Is it ever mentioned in the manga that homunculi can't have children nor perform alchemy?

http://groups.msn.com/FullMetalAlchemist/c...to&PhotoID=7592

As for the alchemy abilities, how do you think they use their powers? They're basically using the Phil. Stone's in their bodies to perform alchemy on themselves. This has been stated many times in previous posts.

( n_n)-b

Gotta wonder, tho', where's the alchemy in Wrath's power... I'm sure Arakawa sensei will explain, "I have faith", but for now I just can't see where's the understanding, deconstruction or construction in foreseeing your rival's moves (or whatever his power is, we don't even know that, exactly U ).

I'm not really following the manga, nor reading much threads in this part of the forum. Thank you for clearing up the sterile part, I didn't know about that but I know about the homunculi and alchemy. I just asked that because it seemed there was some anime/manga confusion in some posts above.

Where can I find 57 in English? I can only find the Japanese version.

Try google searching "Fullmetal alchemist manga {insert chapter #}"
Thats how I found 56.Torrent spy.ocm
I'm not sure if they have 57 up yet.I prefer devils nest though.Much quicker.

Anyone else notice Roy has a tattoo under his gloves?


It's faded but it's definatly there...

The english translation can be found here.

Yeah, there definitely is. I went back and read the chapters again that dealt with it all. Figured out why I fogot about it in the first place to, it's only a few seconds before Gluttony does the Ultimate freakout and starts sucking down everything to try and get Roy. Of course I missed that little comment! In the Anime Salem, as far as we're ever told, is Pride's biological son. In the Manga we're told that Salem (or however you spell that kid's name) is adopted. There's a big difference between the Anime Homunculi and the Manga Homunculi so that's where it gets confusing.

Popogeejo- When that tatto gets shown, Roy is referencing back to his fight with Lust. In that sequence she destroyed his gloves so he either painted an array onto his own hand with his own blood or he cut/burnt an array into his bare hand. You can tell in the picture that the array doesn't look complete, I thought it was the array from the Lust fight and it was just slowly fading. I was confused as to why it was taking so long, it's been several days by this time and the array should have just washed off. See, you can go here to see when it's originally shown and the comment is made that Roy did it himself with blood because Lust destroyed his glove. It's the same array on the same hand.

http://www.readmanga.com/view.php?currtitl...chap=039&img=34

Sorry,Riza's Tatt has me looknig for any hints of others.(Cures my obsesivness)
Maybe Roy just doesn't wash his hands....

EWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

i've just read it,
the 57 chapter,
and scar oh scar ! ! !

its not very interesting until Ed's scene...
and Riza ! ! !
what what what ???

Well, actually those marks are to dissipate any doubt... it was hard to believe that a just drawn with blood circle would last so much (some people commented that they thought it could've been cut). Now we know why for sure: he DID carve it on his hand. That is just the scar that's left.

Yeah, I went back and looked at the picture I posted from the Manga. If you look at his hand you can see the blood smeared out on the edges like it would do from a cut. Otherwise, if he'd smeared it on there, it would look smeary. I guess he actually cut it into his hand, maybe that's why Lust sounded so shocked. It's actually smarter that way I suppose, blood just smeared on could be erased or damaged when he's moving. If he cut it in there, then it's not going away any time soon. I don't think he cut it deep enough to permanently scar though, looks like it was slowly healing to me.

Interesting chapter. Mei and Ran Fan's reactions to each other was funny, as was Dr. Knox's interruption.

Marcoh and Scar's encounter was pretty standard, nothing unexpected there.

Very very interesting in that brief glimpse of Gluttony being "reborn", really want to see where that's going.

And of course, Riza's tatoo, and of course she looks great in the shower

I also like Ed's reaction when he realizes that Bradley will be there if he tried to return Riza's gun the next day.

And what else... oh yes... Ran Fan's going to get her automail soon it seems, which means Winry will finally be making another appearance (a longer one I hope then chapter 56) so yea since I love her so much.

It'll still take LanFan 6 months to get better and I can't see things being calm for that long.Atleast this showss that the manga is gonna be going for quite some time...unless LanFan dies.