*slams hands* man im curious. People following me who haven’t read or watched FMA (bless your patient hearts) what’s the most confusing thing about the series you’ve seen me say/reblog/tag?
I’m a huge slut for out-of-context interpretation
and Greed
Fuck pal you’ve got it! Armstrong, Al, Darius, Fire Lord Mustang, Bradley, Hawkeye, Ed, Greed the gang’s all here. Student has become the master. You pass you now understand FMA
Hello yes I am HERE for badguy!Mustang AU.
And you know, you’re right. This isn’t even all that off-base. The manga, up through the end of the Maria Ross incident, leaves it as a perfectly valid interpretation that Mustang is a bad person. Hell, “things Mustang does up through the end of that arc”
Callously recruits a then-11 year old child to become a soldier by framing it as Ed and Al’s only chance of becoming normal again (which bolsters his own reputation for finding such a talented alchemist)
Openly states that he would be okay with the president getting assassinated because he would be able to move up in the ranks (so far Bradley seems like a likable and compassionate leader)
Threatens to have Al shipped off to a lab for experimentation if Ed rats him out for his above disloyalty
Finds out Ed is on the same train as the hijackers and is thrilled with this because it means Ed will handle the situation for him, rather than being concerned for the safety of his teenage subordinate
Frequently antagonizes Ed/flaunts his power over him
Take the death of Hughes personally and makes it his mission to incinerate Maria Ross himself, despite her innocence, and shows no remorse following said incineration
Punches Ed and yells at him for forgetting his place when Ed sees Maria’s burned body (someone who cared for Ed and literally saved his life)
Takes flirty phonecalls after Hawkeye leaves him (presumably because her loyalty has been shaken by the Maria Ross incident), after. having. just. murdered. an. innocent. woman.
The end of episode 17, with Mustang having killed Maria, and getting Ed “out of the way”, and planning out his date over the phone, left my roommate convinced that he was the bad guy.
Brotherhood actually cuts out a lot of these (threatening Al, his insubordination, the train incident) perhaps because they want Mustang to be more likable from the beginning. Mustang DOES have a few moments of showing genuine compassion too–he’s undeniably worried when he realizes Ed is out unprotected with Scar on the loose (though you could interpret it as “oh no my prized state alchemist recruit!”), he’s broken over Hughes’ death, he lies to Ed and Al about Hughes, commenting after that he’s being too soft on them. But if you stack up all of Mustang’s cards up through Maria’s death, he really is more of a villain than a hero…
Until we realize what lengths he went to to fake Maria’s death and let her escape, until we realize he’s trying to climb the ranks because Bradley destroyed Ishval and Mustang wants to fix it, until we realize that Mustang uses “pompous, cocky, arrogant, uncompassionate womanizer” as a mask around most people so they don’t suspect “disloyal insurgent” instead–
–well, Mustang damn well acts like the villain.
“Acts like” is even too light. Mustang invites this interpretation. His name is never cleared (during the series at least) concerning the Maria Ross murder. Everyone except a select few of his most trusted soldiers were left believing Mustang had killed her. Maria’s own parents were left believing this. And considering Mustang was surprised when she got involved in the Promised Day, you can bet he planned to keep up that reputation. Envy calls him out on “having murdered an innocent girl” when Mustang says he knows Maria didn’t kill Hughes. Mustang doesn’t say “Ahah, but what you don’t know is I saved her like the good guy I am!” Mustang tells Envy to shut up. He makes no effort to explain himself to Envy. (Contrasted, for example, to Ed and Tucker, where Ed tried desperately to defend himself against Tucker’s accusations)
Ed likes appearing like a good guy. He takes issue when he’s mistreated or hated for something he doesnt feel he’s done wrong (The Yueswell coalminers kicking him out for being a state alchemist, Miles accusing him of being at fault for Amestris’s actions in Ishval, everything to do with Scar, again–Tucker)
Mustang is not like that. Mustang takes hatred in silence. Mustang doesn’t care about explaining himself when he’s guiltless, especially if that hatred disguises his less-than-loyal ideals.
Mustang invites people to hate him, because it’s the best way to achieve what he’s set out to do.
¯_(ツ)_/¯ 
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