FMA: Dogs of the Military by mystryl-shada on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

"Mustang you jerk, this is all your fault!" -Edward

And it's done! Finally! All visual reference for drawing this pic came from the manga. Colors came from the anime.

Beware, I say rather spoilish stuff in this commentary. Spoilish for the manga at least, because that's what I know and like best.

My first official and digital fanart for Full Metal Alchemist! Featuring the main military cast. There are some other military characters, but they didn't go in because they're either minor characters or they're dead (why Hughes? Why?? ) Maybe I'll do a pic for them later; I dunno.

I imagine this takes place in the manga (because it's waaay better than the anime), probably in a future time. The inspiration for this pic came when I was rereading the mangas for the upteenth time, and I realized that a lot of dooming foreshadowing was going on with Edward. People keep bringing up the subject that if a war started, all alchemists would be called to fight, including the kid. What really convinced me that something was up was the scene between Mustang and Armstrong in the bathroom in volume 9, where Armstrong asks if Mustang would put Edward in that kind of situation, to which Mustang replies "he knew the risks when he joined this organization."
With all these hints, I'm really starting to think that the series is leading up to a big war in the North, where Edward might be called to full military duty (the fact that a lot of main characters are starting to gather in the North only makes me worry more). So I picture this as the group gathering at the main door of Northern Headquarters, having one last laugh (at Edward's expense, since he'd probably be forced to wear an actual uniform once in active duty) before things get really serious. Chances are, actual events in the manga are going to go a lot differently, and the whole group may not end up there, but with all the foreshadowing I'm pretty sure that Ed at least is going to have to end up seeing some pure military action. Especially if he's still under that General Armstrong woman's thumb; she's scary.

EDIT: Oh shoot, I just remembered...poor Havoc wouldn't be in this pic if it took place later in the manga. Currently, he's retired from the military due to being paralyzed from the waist down by Lust. O_o Um...maybe he gets fixed? Not sure how to explain that off...

If you can't tell, I follow the manga as it comes out in Japan (I still buy the mangas the moment they're published in America, though). I've got several good fan scanslators that I use.
For chapters 1-59 I go to [link]
For chapters 44-current (right now it's ch. 65) (a new chapter comes out every month), I go to [link] (THIS NO LONGER WORKS; SORRY)

Background is the door to Northern Headquarters. I got a little fancy with patterns on my vectors this time, and after a whole day's goofing off I ended up with this. Let me know if it's too distracting, because I think it might be. If it ends up being a problem, I'll come up with a more abstract one. I dunno; I hardly ever am sure about the stupid backgrounds. But hey, at least I've got some pretty good looking cobblestones! ^_^

Thanks to a new book I got, I finally figured out Ed's height! He's about 164 cm (5'3" or so) if you count the antennae on his head and his elevator shoes, but without them he's only 150 cm (4'11") Geez, no WONDER he's got a Napoleon complex! I think he could look Yami Yugi (from Yu-Gi-Oh) in the eye! Don't worry Ed, you'll hit your growth spurt after you get your brother back! I know it! (In fact, the manga almost confirms it...in fact, I'm pretty sure he puts on at least a few inches throughout the manga) Knowing his actual height, I fell better about making Ed a little shorter than what I thought he was. I also saw a height chart, and yeah...he's that short in comparison to Mustang. Poor little guy; don't worry we still love ya. *runs from Ed's reaction to being called "little"*

Ed's being forced to wear a uniform now, and naturally blames Mustang because he's the one who got Ed involved in the military in the first place.
Mustang's kinda giving Ed a look that says "Yeah, and just what are you going do do about it, squirt?"
Hawkeye just wishes they'd act their age for once.
Furey's not sure what to think.
Havoc seems to be evaluating the situation to see if he can wedge his own comment in without getting attacked. I can see him saying something about how hard it would be to get a uniform in Ed's size. I also noticed while coloring that his cigarette is in his mouth backwards...but left it that way as my own personal statement that smoking poisonous fumes into your lungs is rather silly (if you're a smoker, please don't get mad at me, I don't mean that offensively).
Armstrong's proud of Ed to see him looking so grown up, but is probably secretly sad that Ed even has to wear the blue thing.
Falman's probably thinking that loitering in front of the Northern Headquarter's front door is a little unorthodox.
Breda's not even bothering to hide the fact that he finds a kid in a uniform rather funny. Even more so because Ed's so uncomfortable. Breda's kinda lost weight, due to the fact that I just couldn't draw him right.

Fullmetal Alchemist and all characters involved are copyrighted by Hiromou Arakawa, and anyone that has the anime and manga publishing rights.