Map of Amestris

[lynx212]

Hello all,

First I would like to say thank you to all of the readers for Underneath it All. **grins** I am in the midst of editing this map of Amestris so it will include the cities and towns I have created just for the story.  If any of you have any suggestions for the names of some new (outside of the Anime or Manga verse) places feel free to leave them in a comment and I will gladly add some of the suggestions to the map.  As the story progresses our favorite characters will find themselves all over the place. 

Also does anyone have any clue as to where Xenotime is in relation to Central City? I know Xenotime is only used in the anime but I would love to have it plotted on this map.  

THANKS!! 

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/zakai_/]

Xenotime is between Lior and East City. They don't tell you explicitly, but in the anime, Ed is on his way back from Lior (from the first two episodes) when he goes to Xenotime (episode 11 and 12), then after that he goes to East City (episode 13).

Hope that helps ^_^

Thank You

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

That actually helps a lot. There are quite a few unlabeled points on this map and you just narrowed it down to having to chose between 2 or 3 possibilities.

Thanks ^_^

Re: Thank You

[evergrnterrace.livejournal.com]

actually.. depending on what the lines that connect the points are(I'm going to assume they are railways...) and I'm pretty sure they traveled by train from Lior to East City.. So it would be the only one connecting the two on the line... (Which is a logical deduction at best... I doubt anyone will dispute it though, since it is in that general area. :P)

Re: Thank You

[http://users.livejournal.com/zakai_/]

*randomly comments on someone else’s comment*

The lines very well might be railways, but since the geography differs a little from the manga to the anime, it can be a little confusing. Aquroya is before Xenotime on the way from Lior to East City. *shrugs* in this case I would just go with whatever works best for the story (or just draw in a couple of lines, put in a dot, and try to get it all to fit in hehe).

Okay, I'll shut up now.

*slinks away*

Re: Thank You

[evergrnterrace.livejournal.com]

haha! I'm such a dork.. I didn't even realize it was your comment thread I was replying in..
:P Howdy!!!

Anyway.. True.. I'm not super deep into the manga or anything, but I've noticed small differences.

Then again, I haven't seen any maps in the manga at all thus far.. *shrugs* I guess she just needs to play by ear? Or eye, as it were.

Re: Thank You

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

And play it by eye I will! (that comment was funny by the way) *giggles*

Thanks

Re: Thank You

[evergrnterrace.livejournal.com]

Yay!

Glad you enjoyed!!! :) This whole thread has put me into a much better mood, thank you!!!

I'm not real good with names.. :P But maybe you could use some from the Kushiel series?

((Like Alba, and some others I can't recall right now.. XD)

But yeah, hope that helps.

Re: Thank You

[caitlinneko.livejournal.com]

They show maps quite a few times that I recall, but usually they're too hard to read real well. Though there's one that mgiht be useful...hm..

Re: Thank You

[evergrnterrace.livejournal.com]

I didn't say they didn't, just that I hadn't seen any yet(I mentioned that I'm not real far yet. :D I think I've only read to Volume 6?)

Oh? Do you recall where? It may prove to be very useful!!!


((P.s. Please don't take anything in here wrong.. It seems a bit snarky to me, but it wasn't intended as such!! I'm smiling! I promise!!))

Re: Thank You

[caitlinneko.livejournal.com]

I guess I just misinterpreted 'deep' differently, then. I'm super far in the manga, myself...XD

I can think of two off the top of my head right now - one is just before the events on what would be (to the anime) episode 25. It shows the map in the anime, too, but there's the manga version - complete with Mt. Fuji, if I recall O_o
The other I remember is in a much later chapter...they mention a number of places involved in Amestrian history (thus I'm not sure how many would still be around), but I don't recommend looking for that one, since the dialogue around it is very prone to spoilers (but I can still find out chapter number for you, if you'd like?)

I think the Guide book type thing I have might prove useful...

((It's okay, I didn't take it that way ^^;; ))

Re: Thank You

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

No need to feel as if you have to slink away. I think your suggestion is wonderful and will work out perfectly (this is after all one of the many perks to writing fiction based on fiction ^-^ tee hee)

Any suggestions on some fictitious city names?

Re: Thank You

[http://users.livejournal.com/zakai_/]

Well, I think it would depend. Will they just be random cities that the characters never visit? Something to put on the map? Or will these cities be visited and explored? Will the be cities, or will they be towns? Towns often have more 'quaint' names that seem a little more homey, while cities have more robust names to fit their... well... large cityness haha.

If you're looking for random city names I'm sure I could come up with some ideas for you, though if the city will actually have more of a place than just a dot on the map, I wouldn't feel comfortable suggesting anything without knowing more about the city/town ^ ^; Hope that makes sense.

Really though, by looking at the city names you've created it seems you're doing just fine ^_^

Re: Thank You

[http://users.livejournal.com/zakai_/]

You're welcome.

I looked at the map again and one thing you might want to remember is that in the anime, there is a city called Aquroya in episode 10 that Ed and Al go to first so I'm guessing that city might be one of the dots that is closer to Lior than Xenotime would be.

Re: Thank You

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

You are absolutely right, thanks for reminding me of that city **hugs**

:o)

[caitlinneko.livejournal.com]

There were some places from the novels and games, too, that aren't in the anime OR manga...I can look up those, later, for you, if you want to include them?
And later I'll take a better look at your map, and scour to see if I remember any places from the anime or manga that you missed (that aren't mentioned in the comments, thus far). ^^;;

YAY!!

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Anything you feel like looking up and sharing would be wonderful! ^_^

Thanks for taking the time to do so. **BIG hug**

Re: YAY!!

[caitlinneko.livejournal.com]

I'll have to remember to take a look sometime tomorrow for you, 'kay? :P

*hug* Anytime ^^

[esteltinuviel.livejournal.com]

You might be interested, you might not, but for our AU rp amestris_high my mod and I created the town East Grinstead right outside of Central (a 30 minute train from central). We haven't thought about a West Grinstead, but maybe that's on the West side of Central or just close to East Grinstead. It's completely fictional suburbia-type place.

And there's a map of Amestris in the English Manga Profiles book. Google it or you might even find it on Wiki. That should fill in any gaps you have for towns and other locations.

:o)

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Thanks I think East Grinstead is a wonderful name and thank you very much for allowing me use it. ^_^ As soon as I get it (and possibly West Grinstead) plotted I will upload a new version of the map.

Throw all the names you want my way I have plenty of empty dots!! ^_~

[greedy-lover.livejournal.com]

if it is up there sorry, btu what about where teacher lives and the island?

Good idea

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Where Is Izumi from? I am not sure, if you have this information please do share.

Thanks :o)

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Any luck on finding out where Izumi is from? I plan on posting the new map this weekend. If not, there's no rush, take your time I am sure this will be edited a few more times.

^_^

[greedy-lover.livejournal.com]

Dublith. i had to rewatch. the island is york island. hope that helps.

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Thanks I will have the new map up in a day or 2 (tonight if my scanner cooperates)

[ketita.livejournal.com]

Hm. We don't actually know that Amestris has a seaport. For some reason I always think of Amestris as being land-locked. In the part where they talk about Xing, the only reference is that taking the sea route is "the long way around", which could mean that you still have to go through Aerugo.
That said, I don't know if you're familiar with this map (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c84/arilinn/amestrismap.jpg), which would actually be even more helpful if those tiny little kana were visible =/ (they're certainly too small for me to understand...)
However, I would suggest for place names looking at a map of England, and using names similar to what you'd find there. Either way, given the heavily English (language, not country) influences we've seen on peoples' and places' names, I would argue that a place called B'Lina (which I saw you came up with) is out of place, considering that the use of an apostrophe that way is not really native to the language at all.

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

This was very helpful indeed, and so was the link to the map you sent. I see your point about B'Lina being somewhat out of place, but alas...I have already written it in a previous chapter (b4 I decided to do this whole map thing) and now I will have to live with it.

Thanks for info and thus far I have three different spellings for the town that Ed an Al grew up in. I believe I will go with the Manga spelling? What do you think?

[ketita.livejournal.com]

Glad it was helpful :)

Well, that map I sent you has it listed as "Resembool", which is what I usually use (calling it 'Liesenburg' or some of the weirder spellings always seemed a bit strange to me). I think that almost any spelling you go with will be fine, considering the fact that everybody spells it differently anyway ;)
And I can see your difficulty with B'Lina. Ah well, I sympathize, but it's not that big of an issue anyway.

I found it interesting that the map calls it "Reole", which is one of the few spellings that never seems to have caught on with the fans. Everybody persists in calling it Lior/Liore

[http://users.livejournal.com/zakai_/]

>_> sorry, couldn't help breaking in on this one...

I think the problem with the whole Reole/Lior thing is the fact that the Japanese have no 'L' in their language, therefore, the person translating this map (who was probably not a native English speaker) probably just came up with some English spelling, but in English it makes no sense to actually try to say it that way, or may not actually be what was originally intended. Also since Japanese has no 'L' it would be an honest mistake to change the R and the L around Reole (e would be silent) as opposed to Lior or Liore (in which the e would be silent again).

I'm guessing this was the problem because the names of the cities in FMA often actually have a meaning as to why they’ve been named what they have (not all, but a lot of them). Lior is actually a real name which means "My Light" (though you probably already know this hehe). If you think of the first two episodes of FMA and what is happening there with the whole "sun god" thing, it really makes sense.

Okay, now that I've inserted my over opinionated remarks I’ll just wander off now haha ^ ^;;;

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Thanks for clearing that up quite a bit. I had actually not considered some of the things that you mentioned and now that I have read your comment it all makes perfect sense. **hugs**

Thanks for sharing and feel free to drop some name suggestions for some of the unlabeled dots on the map. ^_^

[ketita.livejournal.com]

I know about the whole 'L' vs. 'R' thing going on *learned Japanese for two years*
And I also noticed the meaning of Lior, which was cause for much amusement :)

But the thing is, based on this map and the map in chapter 67, I believe Reole may in fact be the official spelling (as is Ishval). Given the tendency of things like street signs to be written in English, I believe that the map in chapter 67, and the map here, are not fan translated but the real McCoy. If you look at the format in the maps, especially the one I linked to, the English is part of the map, and it doesn't come instead of the katakana. In translations they usually overwrite the kana...
So I may be wrong (and anyway, I think most people are used to using 'Lior' XD) but I think this map may have the official spellings and stuff.
Not that it's that big of an issue anyway...

No, I'm not overanalyzing the whole business at all ^_~

[http://users.livejournal.com/zakai_/]

*grins* I know you would never overanalyze this! haha

*nods* it's possible that it could be the official spelling, though I think the only real way to know would be to contact Arakawa herself you do it hehe and ask. But the thing is that I wasn't trying to point out that the map was fan translated. I was trying to point out that the Japanese person who wrote the English, who was working with them, sucked at putting Japanese words into English. >_>

I think part of the reason why I think that it's actually 'Lior' is because if it had been 'Reole' it would have been pronounced completely different when they put it into the dub. I mean, yeah, we all know that many English Dubs have slaughtered the names and titles of things from the original Japanese, but Reole and Lior would sound waaaay too different in English because we have such a hard 'R' sound. Even the idiots at FUNimation couldn't mess that up... Well... never mind. Let's just not go there. haha ^_~

*chuckles* oh well. You're right. It's not that big of an issue, but admit it, you totally like discussing this type of stuff :p <3

[ketita.livejournal.com]

Bah, you got me. I'm a total sucker for this.

Your point about the dubbing is good - I didn't think of that (though, since I watched the entire series subbed 'cause we don't have it on TV here, that might have contributed to the fact that I didn't think of that)
Well, I'm not about to start calling it 'Reole' in fanfiction anyway...

And...I mean, look what Viz did with Xerxes! I don't know who looked at it and thought that calling the country 'Cselcksess' was a good idea. >_< sometimes official translations can really mess up.
In short, it's a big mystery *nodnod*

^_~

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

I think I will change the spelling on my map to Resembool because that is what I have always called it and that is what you hear in the anime as well.

Thanks again. ^_^

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Hello again

You had so much knowledge at your disposal when I did the map I figured you would be the one to ask about the "money" used in the FMA anime/manga is it cens? Do they have paper money or is it all just coins? any info you have would be useful.

[ketita.livejournal.com]

Wow, well, I'm certainly flattered that I seem to be any sort of authority ^_^U
I do know that the money is most often listed as 'cens' or 'cenz', but I honestly can't remember even a single instance in the series where we actually see any money. I can dimly recall Ed looking in a coin purse in one episode, which would imply that they have coins, but I seriously doubt that a culture anywhere would exist without paper money, especially in a world parallelling the 1920's. (if it was ancient times, maybe - but modern money really doesn't have much worth in and of itself, it's mostly symbolic worth, and we've seen no reason to believe it should be otherwise in the FMA world).
Now, if it's true and the money is never actually shown in the series, you could always do something cute where all the cens have little holes in the middle (like Danish money, for instance), or something creative like that - if it's at all relevant to the story, that is.

Um, sorry if I wasn't terribly useful this time 'round. I suppose I could comb the manga and see, but it's all at home and I'm in university :( (and sorry it took me a few days to get back to you)
Hope it was even a bit helpful....

[/my two cens] ha, ha...

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Not a problem and I thank you for the input. ^_^ You were very helpful in confirming that it is indeed 'cens' or 'cenz' and that is enough for me.

Thanks for taking the time to reply *hugs*

[grass-angel.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly sure (and by looking at the map that ketita posted) that Dublith is not the southern-most town. South city is supposed to be the southern-most, and Dublith is between it and Rush Valley.

As to names, you'd need a West City and North City on there. I'd pick out random words/place names and have fun making them look slightly different.

[lynx212.livejournal.com]

Thanks I can't believe I hadn't thought of the need for a West and North City. Your suggestion is simple genius!! *bows in gratitude*

I have been having a ton of fun with the entire project so a new map will be done and posted soon. ^_^