One of you lunatics promised me a humorous death for Gluttony. While it wasn’t funny-ha-ha, there’s definitely some morbid irony in the personification of pigging out getting eaten in the end. So, if we had a score card out, that’s two Homunculi down for sure, two sort-of gone (Greed and Envy) and then three left, am I right? Huh… we're actually making some progress here (though it makes Lust look like that much of a push-over in comparison.)
It’s kind of peculiar that I’m getting this much of charge out of the Homunculi being bound by such specific weaknesses and restrictions, but I am. When it comes to fantastic storytelling, I always say that the quickest way to lose my interest in something is to tell me it’s about vampires, werewolves, zombies or any variation on Frankenstein’s monster. I really don’t think those monsters are relevant to modern fears and, on a more basic level, I see their use as a sign of a lazy imagination. While I don’t know if the Homunculi can be understood as abstracts for any especially modern fears like Kira can, I do like how they’re a new kind of monster - - or, at least, a spin on a rarely-used monster.
The whole deal about Pride being vulnerable in anything but specifically-dim light situations - - that was legitimately intriguing to me. Oddly enough, all the talk about the nature of shadows and what-not brings me back to a speech my old priest gave at my confirmation dinner about the paradox of whether light can be defined as the absence of darkness, or vice versa. I don’t know if that specifically means anything here, but I know that no lame vampire story has evoked that from me.
I suspect Mustang’s going to really unleash the wrath of… Wrath. Remember that little interrupted, throwaway line Bradley had with Olivier about how Selim means nothing to him, but he still actually chose his wife? They’re going to be pushing the wrong buttons (or right ones, depending on your outlook) with this kidnaping plot. I don't think Father's got a proper assessment of the emotions of his "son."
Watch this episode, “The Oath in the Tunnel,” below and decide for yourself, then read my comments on the previous episode here.
Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of HYBRID BASTARDS! & UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon here & here . Follow him on Twitter: @tompinchuk
