#Then ed goes away saying that trisha hated him and that al was

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Diverging Paths (18/31)

Summary: Xerxes falls and the only two survivors walk away from the dead city.

Homunculus is keen to make the most of the new human body he now wears, and he goes out into the world, still planning his ascension to godhood as he strips away his vices and turns them into homunculi.

Van Hohenheim believes he has become a monster, and he hides himself away, befriending the other abominations of the world, failed human transmutations doomed to agonising half-life without the intervention of a Philosopher’s Stone.

Years later, Homunculus meets Trisha Elric and sires two sons with her before vanishing into the night, whilst Hohenheim tries to foil his doppelgänger’s schemes.

Years after that, Edward and Alphonse Elric are caught up in the middle of it all…

A Father-Hohenheim role reversal switcheroo, following Mangahood’s main plot with elements of ‘03, based on the premise ‘what if Father was Ed and Al’s father and Hohenheim was the one hiding under Central?’

Rated: Teen

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[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [Five] [Six] [Seven] [Eight] [Nine] [Ten] [Eleven] [Twelve] [Thirteen] [Fourteen] [Fifteen] [Sixteen] [Seventeen] [AO3]

==

Eighteen

Edward could say, categorically and completely, that he absolutely hated the north. Oh, it had been very pretty when they had first stepped off the train in North City and taken a look at all the snow. He only remembered snow in Resembool once in his childhood, and he and Al had ended up spending far too much time engaging in snowball fights and building snowmen when they perhaps should have been paying attention to their map and making their way towards wherever it was that Hohenheim felt they ought to go to in order to further their goal. 

Now, though, Ed was very cold, and very wet where the snow had melted into his clothes, and his stumps were killing him, aching in the cold and grating on the join. Winry had said, way back when he’d first got the prosthetics, that he would need to tell her if he was going anywhere with extreme temperatures because she didn’t want his automail burning him or giving him frostbite. He hadn’t thought that the north really counted as extreme, but now that they were making their way into the heart of the Briggs mountain range, he was definitely reconsidering it. 

It had started to snow heavily, but there was no wind, so at least he didn’t have to deal with a blizzard and a wind chill factor on top of the rest of his misery. They’d hitched a ride on a cart as far as it would take them, but now they were truly in the middle of nowhere, and a small part of Ed was convinced that Hohenheim was in fact working in league with his evil twin and had sent them out here to die of exposure. 

“Ed, he knows full well I can’t die of exposure,” Al said once Ed had posited the theory to him. “We’ll be ok, we just need to keep following the map.”

“How!” Ed exclaimed. “All I can see is snow for miles around! Snow in every direction! We might be running around in circles for all I know! This is the least helpful map in the history of unhelpful maps! And it was drawn by a man who lives underground and barely sees daylight! How on earth does he know where anything is up here?”

“We’re not going in circles. We’re heading towards that forest on the horizon, which has been getting closer for the last few minutes. According to the map there should be some woodcutters’ cabins around here and that’s where we’re supposed to be headed. We can shelter there, and you can dry out and warm up.”

“There’d better be,” Ed muttered. 

“Look, there, smoke, you see?” Al pointed out a thin plume of smoke rising from the trees, and Ed did feel his heart lift slightly at the prospect. Smoke meant fire, which meant heat and light and hopefully an end to this interminable, ridiculous snow. 

“I wonder who we’re supposed to meet out here and what we’re supposed to do,” Al mused as they continued to trudge through the white stuff. Ed was more concerned with not sinking into the drifts up to his hips; it would have been most ignominious to have to get Al to dig him out. 

“Maybe Patience snuck out of the catacombs,” he said eventually. “Although I don’t think that they could get away with wearing their insanely patterned waistcoats up here. I’m not sure how much protection they’d be against the cold and they’d likely aggravate the bears.”

“Says the guy wearing bright red.”

“Hey!”

“I’m just saying that I don’t really think you have any room to be critiquing Patience’s fashion choices.”

“I.. What… You…” Ed spluttered, rendered speechless by indignation at Al’s stylistic betrayal, but at least the heat of his anger warmed him up a little bit, and by the time he’d calmed down and stopped defending his outfit, they had reached the tree line, picking their way through the forest towards the source of the plume of smoke. 

It was not long before they came upon a log cabin, with a figure heavily muffled against the cold stacking firewood in a lean-to outside. Ed and Al looked at each other. On the face of it they had arrived where they needed to be, but the possibility of them having walked straight into a trap was one that neither of them could ignore. They approached the cabin carefully before Ed decided that it would be best to announce their presence.

“Hello?”

The figure turned and stared at them for a moment before a mixture of recognition and astonishment spread over his features, and Ed was pretty sure he was wearing a similar expression himself. 

“Dr Marcoh?”

“Edward Elric?”

“I guess Abrams wasn’t lying when he said we’d find old acquaintances up here.” Ed was vastly reassured with the doctor’s presence here, knowing that Marcoh held no love for the military and was indeed actively on the run from them. Hopefully they were among friends now. “How did you end up here?”

“It’s rather a long story.” Marcoh waved them over towards the cabin. “Shortly after our first meeting, the homunculi showed up looking for me as a potential candidate for sacrifice. I escaped by the skin of my teeth with a little help from Chastity and the others, and they agreed to keep me hidden in the tunnels under Central in case the homunculi came back for a second round. Then Hohenheim suggested that we make the journey north to continue the fight.”

“Wait, were you in the catacombs at the same time we were?” Al asked, at the same time as Ed asked the far more pressing question of “who’s we?”

Ed’s question was answered first by pattering feet running out of the cabin. 

“Did you say Edward Elric? The Fullmetal Alchemist?”

The newcomer was a small Xingese girl with long braids and what appeared to be a kitten sitting on her head, staring up at Alphonse with an expression of utter adoration. 

“No, May, that’s his brother Alphonse,” Marcoh said, and he pointed to Ed. “That’s Edward.”

“What?” May looked Ed up and down several times with incredibly intense scrutiny for someone who couldn’t be more than about twelve years old, and she gave a shriek of indignation. 

“You’re the Fullmetal Alchemist? The Edward Elric I’ve heard so much about? Dashing and handsome…”

Ed grinned. 

“...And short and ugly!”

Ed dropped the grin and glared. 

“Who are you calling short! You’re one to talk you little…”

“Brother, calm down, let’s all just be rational about this.” Al had grabbed Ed around the waist to hold him back from launching himself at May and he tried to wriggle free, finally giving up and just fuming silently. Beside them, Marcoh gave a heavy sigh, shaking his head in despair. 

“Why did I agree to do this again?”

“Because you want to save the world, Dr Marcoh.” May patted his hand and came over to Ed and Al, alternating between glowering at Ed and looking adoringly at Al. “Are you an alchemist too, Alphonse?”

“Erm, yes, I am.”

“I bet you’re way better at it than your brother.”

“What?” 

“Erm.”

“May, I think you’d better go back inside,” Marcoh muttered from behind his hand. 

“Ok.” May skipped back into the cabin, and Al finally let go of Ed. 

“Who is she?” Ed exploded.

“Her name’s May Chang, she’s the seventeenth princess of Xing and she came to Amestris looking for the Philosopher’s Stone. And you, apparently.”

“Princess of Xing on the hunt for a Philosopher’s Stone, huh. What is it with the Xingese Royal Family and searching for immortality and also being a pain in the damn neck?”

“Why don’t we go inside?” Marcoh indicated the door. “You must be freezing after the trek from North City.”

Before they could take Marcoh up on his suggestion, another voice came out of the cabin.

“Marcoh, I have to leave. Kimblee is heading north looking for us and I don’t want him to go anywhere near the Ishvalan village looking for clues, I want to head him off before he can touch them…”

The words trailed off as the speaker exited the cabin, and for a very long time, there was a heavy, almost palpable silence as Scar and the Elric brothers looked at each other. 

Marcoh sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Please don’t kill each other in front of May. In fact, please don’t kill each other at all, or Hohenheim will kill me.”

Ed, still completely speechless, just gestured from Marcoh to Scar to the cabin and back again, his mouth trying to form words but utterly unable to. 

“You’re here with Scar?” he managed eventually. 

“Yes.”

“He nearly killed us!”

“I know.” 

“He killed Winry’s parents!”

“I know.”

“He killed a bunch of State Alchemists, at least one of whom wasn’t even in Ishval!”

“I know, Edward, believe me, I know, but Scar and May are quite possibly our only hope of getting out of this armageddon countdown in one piece, so sometimes, needs must.”

“No.” Ed turned on his heel and began stomping off through the snow. “I don’t know what Hohenheim’s playing at but I don’t want any part of this.” 

Al caught his hood and pulled him back before he could go too far; Ed probably should have been grateful, the snow was up to his knees and it would not have been a dignified exit. 

“There’s something wrong with Amestrian alchemy,” Scar said bluntly. “My brother saw that and was determined to find a way to set it right with his research.”

Ed scowled. “I thought alchemy was forbidden to Ishvalans?”

“It is, but that did not stop Fahim from being determined to use it for the greater good to prevent a bigger tragedy. His notes may provide the key to fix what is broken. You can stay or you can leave but don’t get in our way. Marcoh, I’m going now, I’ll be back in two days.”

With that Scar was off, pushing through the snow without a glance back at them, and Ed was shocked into silence again. 

“Ling said the ground felt wrong,” Al said presently, and it seemed to come so out of the blue considering what had just happened that Ed had to give him an incredulous look. “Ling said that the ground felt wrong, how did he put it? An impression of multitude.”

“Yes.” May had come out of the cabin, no doubt having heard all the commotion going on outside, and she was nodding gravely. “There are people in the ground, screaming souls, just under the surface. Mr Scar thinks that his brother’s notes may be able to do something about that.”

Screaming souls under the surface, their father, a being made from pure alchemical knowledge and stuffed full of the agonised souls of Xerxes, creating homunculi from his own flesh and Philosopher’s Stone, with the ability to control alchemy itself…

“It’s a Philosopher’s Stone,” Ed said, startling when Marcoh spoke in unison. 

“There’s a Philosopher’s Stone under the ground, a giant one,” he continued. “If it’s just under the surface then it could be used as a buffer to prevent us from accessing the tectonic energy for transmutation, that would be why we couldn’t transmute when we were in the Fuhrer’s office.”

“Yes.” Marcoh nodded his agreement. “May’s Xingese alkahestry does not use tectonic energy, so she’s unaffected, and Scar’s brother researched and performed a hybrid form of alchemy with elements from both Amestrian alchemy and Xingese alkahestry. He may well hold the key to neutralising the Stone under Amestris, but his notes are complex and we’ll need time to decode them.”

“And I guess you need all the help you can get, which is why Hohenheim encouraged us to come up here. Safe, out of the way, and still working towards saving the world as we know it.” Ed sighed, grimacing as he shifted his weight and the graft on his thigh grated. 

“Why don’t you come inside?” Marcoh said, catching his expression of pain. “You’ve had a long journey and it’s cold out here. We’ve been expecting new arrivals; there’s a room in the cabin loft space that you can take as yours. I understand that this is not at all what you were expecting to find here, and that this is going to take some getting used to. If you want to go, you’re free to go, but with everything that’s at stake…”

“We’ll have to think about it,” Al said quickly as they entered the cabin and its welcome warmth. 

“Please stay,” May said, although she was addressing herself entirely to Al and Ed got the impression she couldn’t care less if he left, and he snorted. They had a couple of days before Scar came back, and they should take advantage of the warmth and the rest whilst they had it. Ed made it up the short ladder into the roof space and collapsed on the floor next to the cosy warmth of the stove chimney, Al following him up with some food.

“I guess I can see why Abrams didn’t tell us who we would be meeting up here,” Al said, settling beside Ed as he wolfed down the bread and ham. “You know what you were saying about nothing going right for us?”

Ed nodded. “Yep. I think we can add ‘being forced to team up with a guy who tried to kill us’ to the list.” He sighed. “Do you think that we can trust him?”

“I think it depends,” Al said. “I mean, he’s here with Marcoh, and Marcoh has not been exploded, and Scar definitely has more reason to want to kill Marcoh than to want to kill us, since Marcoh was actually in Ishval and did some pretty horrific things whilst he was there. I think he can be trusted not to kill us. I don’t think he’ll ever like us, and I think it’s obvious that we’re all only here in the same place and working together because Hohenheim and the homunculi kind of tricked us into it. But when we’re talking about something that’s as big and crazy and all-encompassing as we’re talking about right now, when the fate of the entire country rests on it, then I think we have to trust that everyone’s on the same side. Whatever we might think of Scar, he obviously has respect for his brother’s memory and work, and if that work is what is going to help us defeat Father, then we all need to grit our teeth and put our differences aside for a little while and get it done. Ultimately Ishval is still part of the nationwide transmutation circle and it’ll be just as affected by what’s going to happen on the Promised Day as the rest of Amestris is. Scar has nothing to gain from letting the world burn and everything to gain from helping to save it.” Al paused. “Of course, I can’t guarantee that he won’t kill us as soon as it’s all over, but for now I think we’re safe.”

“Yeah. Thank you for that stunning vote of confidence, there, Al.” 

“I’m just trying to be pragmatic about the whole thing. Let’s face it, we have a very limited time before the Promised Day arrives, just a few months. We can’t afford to spend our time fighting among ourselves when there’s something so much bigger than us all out there.”

“I know.” Ed rested his chin on his knees. “I know, and deep down I know that I need to take heed of that and put it all aside and just suck it up and get on with it, but at the same time, I just can’t get out of my head the fact that he killed Winry’s parents. He killed Nina. He killed so many other people. I can’t let that go, he has to answer for it.”

“I know.” Al did not say anything more, and Ed was left with his own thoughts. 

It was a cycle, an endless cycle of death and vengeance. The Amestrian military had killed Scar’s family, so he was killing the Amestrian military in return, which then spurred others on to take their revenge against him, which turned him against them, and so on and so on until there was nothing left but blood on everyone’s hands and bitterness in everyone’s hearts. 

He thought back to that confrontation in Central, to Winry’s shaking hands holding the gun, tears streaming down her face as she’d almost done it, almost pulled that trigger and perpetuated that cycle. It had been so stupid, just a stupid passing chance that she should have found out. It was only by chance that Ed himself had found out, learning second-hand from reading the colonel’s file on Scar in Central Command whilst they’d been talking about the potential need for a protection detail for the Elrics. Scar had been the one to kill Winry’s parents, attacking them in the clinic where they’d saved his life. And then circumstances and chance had conspired, and Winry had found out too, even though Ed had never intended her to know, never intended for her to have to feel that pain, never intended to make her cry again.

But Winry hadn’t done it. In the end, she’d let Scar live. And now, Scar had let Marcoh live. Maybe they could take something from that, a sign that the cycle was beginning to break, and it would be foolish for them to keep it going now. They could want justice for the Rockbells, of course they could, but it was not their justice to dispense, not their judgement to make. That was reserved for Winry, and Winry had made the decision not to pursue that course. Ed had to respect her decision, for all he had helped her come to it. 

Thinking of Winry, though… Ed grimaced, flexing the fingers of his automail one by one. The joints were beginning to seize up, and he didn’t know how much longer he would be able to manage up here in the biting cold. He wanted to be able to pull his weight whilst they were all stuck here together, and he couldn’t do that if his automail was playing up and he was in pain from it all the time. Something was going to have to be done, but he didn’t know what. They had come off the grid now, gone incommunicado. They couldn’t just take off down south again for a quick trip to Rush Valley for some northern grade automail. Questions would be asked and their plans might well be stymied, and Winry would end up in even more danger than she was already in. They couldn’t exactly ask her to come here either, effectively trapping her with them off the beaten track, unable to go home again until all this was over and done with. Especially since they’d be trapping her up here with Scar. 

There was a polite knock on the ceiling below them and a moment later Dr Marcoh put his head through the opening. 

“Are you all right up here?” he asked. 

“Yeah, we’re fine thanks.” Ed winced as he clenched his fist and straightened the fingers again, and Marcoh gave him a pointed look. 

“Are you sure? I’m not a mechanic but I am a doctor and that doesn’t look good.”

“It’s fine, it’s just the cold.”

“Ok. If you say so. Like I said, I’m not a mechanic and it’s your arm. But it’s not going to get any warmer out here for a while, so if we’re in this for the long haul, then it’s something to bear in mind. Anyway, May has made some tea, if you’d like some.”

Ed nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good, thanks.”

Marcoh disappeared back down the ladder again and Ed sighed, leaning back against All. 

“I need to work out what to do before it gives out completely. This is not going to be a fun winter.”

#FMA Brotherhood #FMA Fanfiction #Edward Elric #Alphonse Elric #Fic: Diverging Paths

[lenanorth7]

Have some young ed from the manga :)

#mom's favorite #fma #fmab manga #edwardelric #fullmetal alchemist #anime #There is this extra amazing chapter in the manga #basically young ed was picking up on al so trisha yells at him and tells him that he's his big brother so he shouldn't treat al like this. #Then ed goes away saying that trisha hated him and that al was #Then hohenheim asks him to hold a bucket full of water and then after a short while ed gives up and says that it's too heavy #hohenheim tells ed that he used to weigh like that before he was born and that if trisha loved him she wouldn’t carry him for 9 months #ed goes and apologizes to al #this is such a fun addition :) #reasons to read the fma manga

[fullmtal]

EDWARD / THE ELRIC BROTHERS + HOLIDAYS / OR EDWARD IS AN UNDERCOVER KIND GREMLIN. tl;dr: WITH BITEY TEETH.

I like to imagine on special holidays that Edward while loathe to bring any trace of Resembool (out of protection) beyond basic details to Central ? He specifically either early or late canon goes with his little brother laden because I also headcanon Granny Pinako STUFFS him with country cooking for the journey? He is a country boy after all, to carry with the rest of his luggage laden with books, his ‘travelogue’ (alchemical codes / notes no one but he can read they’re so damn complicated) and just goes out awkwardly asking if anyone wants  / needs some leftovers to take home / stock the pantry. It’s his silent and roundabout way of asking if anyone wants fried apples, some pie, though you really have to do equivalent exchange on the pie because Edward isn’t one to really share food, he eats like a horse --- no really you’re risking your life -

-- it’s different on the holidays. His mother always made it grander and funner than anything he ever dreamed, -- when all they needed was her smiling in the snowy months -- didn’t have to be religious, he made it plain to her early on he wasn’t interested, as was Al, who tends to follow Edward’s lead, much in one instance (that red night) to a deference that cost them both before we see him gradually break away from being constantly following his big brother’s lead / opinions / insight as much as he roasts him, Alphonse trusts his big brother to make good choices because no one knows how unselfish his heart is but him when it really, usually, always matters. Or good. Even if Edward tries to bury it, a good person can’t hide their light so they say. And Edward’s is blinding as much as he muffles it because he doesn’t think he deserves it annnd that’s a whole can of another analysis.

So it isn’t uncommon if Fuery or Hawkeye or hell, including Mustang (who probably in the weirdest form of affection, gets every time his favorite dish of leftovers which is absolutely delicious) all this food. While the Rockbells have no love for the military, they have to place their trust in Mustang and his crew to a POINT, for having Ed and Al under their watch and after Armstrong comes along the first time in canon they go back to Resembool to fix their broken bodies and Al gets put in the sheep cargo hold? I headcanon that Armstrong is Pinako’s favorite because he’s a sweetheart how can you hate him? so he gets all the sweets and goodies and Edward almost dies from a hug / quickly bolts before Major Armstrong can scoop him in his arms and cry.

Basically the entire team gets the best food in the form of leftovers you could imagine, and Ed tries to brush it off but he isn’t for once, fooling anyone unlike Alphonse, more blatant in his affection for them and the Hughes family, post Maes’ death and prior, ( yes they visit with loads of delicious food and a few toys they made with alchemy for Elicia ) unlike his guarded, naturally wary brother. He has to be. He’s the oldest, and he has to make sure the people they’re surrounded by are semi-safe or Edward will beat them sideways if Al doesn’t for looking at his baby brother wrong.

It isn’t Trisha’s - Rockbell holidays, Christmas, Halloween, etc. But Ed will admit there’s some kind of weird warmth in feeling for once, as a kid who long died and broke too hard, almost young, in these festivities. 

Some say even that the Fullmetal Alchemist smiles more; a pep in his short step and a swing in his braid. Safe to say be it Gracia, Maes, Elicia, or Armstrong, Brosh, Ross and Mustang’s crew, no one goes hungry on the holidays if the Elrics are involved.

#𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀 * ── the anatomy of a heart of steel. #it also brings with it so much melancholy but ed as usual hides it with arrogance and a sun blinding smile. #he tries to make it as fun for alphonse primarily. #this is the boy that really genuinely is implied to not care even half as much if he gets his body back but alphonse? #he'll die on a venture for that outcome. #as kim said edward is disturbingly selfless for someone who presents himself the way he does. #and....he really does want the people who actually give a damn to be well fed for the holidays #he isn't immune to what everyone likes or dislikes and it's always on point. #he always knows what the characters like because as a genius he's so freakishly observant. #pie though...how do you share pie #basically edward and alphonse are the goodest of boys

[catquarry]

Wavedwhelk’s FMA Fic Masterlist

IN ALL MY YEARS IN THE FMA FANDOM I HAVE NEVER MADE A FIC RECOMMENDATION LIST....Well I decided it was about time to fix that

This is what I’ve compiled in the last 9 years. A few of the fics are deleted but reuploaded by me (or others) so the reading format might be a little wonky

Also none of these feature ships (if they do it’s really mild edwin or royai)

PDF version of this list can be found here

Fic Status Key

Active - Updates reliably (Once every 1-3 months or more)

Dormant - Fic updates, but sporadically (Once every 4-12 months) with occasional updates from the author on other websites

MIA - Fic hasn’t been updated in more than 12 months and there’s no updates from the author

Dead - The fic hasn’t been updated in 2 or more years and the author seems to have moved on

Complete - The fic is complete

Harry Potter/Fullmetal Alchemist Crossovers

Circulus by Phenobarbital

Official Summary: 

They're still not sure exactly how they ended up on the magic side of a place called London, but Edward and Roy are not new to dealing with the unexpected.

Needing to find a way back to Amestris, back to their own time, together they figure out how magic energy works, and how it can work for them specifically and in the end, the decision to go to Hogwarts is a mutual one. Edward will have to go to high school and Roy will have to get used to using a wand.

Neither of them are prepared for what they find at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.

There are secrets, liars, murderers and too many people with very dangerous agendas, no one seems trustworthy, so naturally they should stick together...

...but then Ed starts lying to Roy.

My Thoughts:

THIS IS HONESTLY MY FAVORITE FIC. I don’t want to spoil anything but everyone is written SO well and the plot goes far beyond the standard “FMA characters stuck in the HP world”. Ed’s also kind of evil (partly an act and partly for real in his own Ed way) and that ups the suspense significantly. Basically if you’re not going to read anything else on this list PLEASE read this one

Fic Status: Dormant

Warnings: Tags mention pairings that will be revealed in the future, but for now nothing’s definitive 

The Colours of the World by MiaKusakabe

Official Summary: 

When Roy Mustang went to retrieve his eyesight from Truth, he wasn’t expecting to end up doing a job in exchange. It couldn’t even be an easy job, of course, because Edward’s assessment of Truth was a pretty accurate one.

My Thoughts: 

THIS IS MY FAVORITE ROY OUT OF ANY FMA FIC. GOD he is written so well here. Unlike most of the other fics here, Roy willingly chooses to go into the HP world, and because of that there’s less stress on Roy trying to get home and more on him living in the world and working around it. Overall a really incredible fic and I highly highly suggest reading it

Fic Status: Dormant - Occasional updates on the authors patreon

Harry Potter and the Eastern Sage by LiteratureWork

Official Summary: 

Nicholas Flamel was famous for creating the philosopher's stone, but like Lockhart's smile it was all a lie. Flamel stole a part of the stone and it took Edward 642 years to get it back along with the souls inside of it, one which was his brother. But after traveling to Hogwarts to retrieve it, Dumbledore has other plans for the ancient hero.

My Thoughts: 

A REALLY interesting take on a HP/FMA crossover. It’s a half-AU where Ed turns into a Philosopher’s Stone at the end of FMA:B (with everyone from Amestris in the stone) and him being flung into the Harry Potter world. The author put a lot of time into worldbuilding and carefully weaving Ed into the HP universe so it seems completely normal that he’s lived in that world for 1,000 years

Fic Status: Dormant

Cerulean Silver vs Amber Gold by hikaranko

Official Summary: 

Edward Elric has been put on his stupidest assignment yet: babysitting. Everyone else calls it undercover work. To Ed, it's babysitting. But there's more to this assignment than what's on file…

My Thoughts: 

A lighter and more fun HP/FMA crossover that centers around Ed and Draco’s interactions. Draco hates Ed and Ed hates his job basically. Not super plot heavy, but the character interactions makes up for it

Fic status: Dormant - Being rewritten on AO3

About a Boy by EstaJay

Official Summary: 

Portkeyed away on the night of his parents' murder, Harry Potter grows up as Roy Mustang. Magic is nothing more than another one of his aunt's stories but after the Promised Day, his past catches up to him. With the Elrics suddenly in London and his dormant magic finally and violently revealing itself, it's a cross continent journey to get the brothers back. If only wizard transportation didn't involve so many explosions…

My Thoughts: 

Was really unsure about this fic initially - the premise just seems too farfetched to enjoy, but after the first chapter you realize the author put in a lot of time to make sure Roy/Harry and the rest of the cast stayed in character. I think it’s a really cool twist on the standard HP/FMA crossover formula and definitely worth a read

Fic Status: Dormant

Penance by Laora

Official Summary: 

The Gate was opening; the black arms stretched toward him and Pride. Ed knew he had no say in the matter. He would be pulled to this parallel dimension, alternate universe—whatever it was—and Amestris would be left to die. Truth merely grinned.

My Thoughts: 

It’s been a couple years since I read this, but I remember I really liked the twist that Pride was stuck in the HP universe along with Ed and Al

Fic Status: Complete

Playing God by The Flamel Cult

Official Summary:

 I thought the dull aching was something other than my demise. As it turned out, I was sorely mistaken. Perhaps I should listen to Alphonse more; maybe then there wouldn't be another bloody tragedy that would, inevitably, end it all. For good.

My Thoughts: 

There’s a twist in this fic that I LOVE, and while I refuse to spoil it I suggest reading just to find out what it is. It rocked my world the first time I read and I’m pretty sure I cried for like 3 days

Fic Status: Complete

Warnings: I haven’t read this since 2013/2014, so just be warned if you decide to check it out

Other Crossovers

More Than Just a Murder by AkitaFallow

CSI/Fullmetal Alchemist Crossover

Official Summary: 

As bodies pile up and evidence remains scarce, the CSI team has to fight against increasingly strange circumstances and an even stranger suspect in order to solve what is likely the most complicated case they have ever encountered.

My Thoughts:

 I know this seems like a weird premise but hear me out: this fic will Change Your Life. It’s so incredibly well written and the character development is phenomenal. If you don’t like CSI (I personally didn’t when I started reading) you can easily substitute random forensic scientists in and it works just as well. The real sell to this fic is watching Ed stumble through 2009 Las Vegas lmao

Fic Status: Complete

Warnings: This fic follows FMA 2003 ONLY, so if you haven’t seen that yet I highly suggest waiting to read.

AU’s (Alternate Universes)

Disorient by Esama

Official Summary:

 Who was he, what had happened to him, why did he have automail - and how was he there, in the past? 

My Thoughts: 

One of the best time travel fics I’ve ever read from any fandom. There’s so much time put in to fleshing out Ed’s new character (Nicholas) as well as his relationship with the younger version of Al and himself. Less plot heavy and focuses more on the day to day life of Resembool with Nicholas there

Type of AU: Time Travel + Amnesia

Fic Status: Dead

Warnings: This was a fic that got deleted in 2012 that I managed to grab before it was gone. If this list goes outside of my own circle and the original author wants me to remove this I will gladly do so (just message me @wavedwhelk on twitter or tumblr). 

A Boy Named Ed by BelloftheSea

Official Summary: 

Ed knew he was different. It wasn't just that he was smarter than the other kids or even that he had automail. No, it had more to do with the way people would occasionally look at him, like they were expecting somebody else. It was the way his mechanic cried the day she met him. It was the way his dad would sometimes slip – and call him Fullmetal.

My Thoughts: 

What I really love about this fic is that it’s a reincarnation AU that makes SENSE in the FMA universe - it doesn’t give a half-assed reason for why it happened, but rather works within the confines of the universe. Also I really love watching Ed go to school and pretend to try and be a normal kid while hiding the fact that he’s the Fullmetal Alchemist

Type of AU: Reincarnation (kind of)

Fic Status: Dead

My Master Ed by Blue Teller

Official Summary: 

Slave number Twenty Three didn't know what to make of his new Master. The strange boy was nothing like other slave owners. Short on both height and temper, yet strangely kind to him, Master Ed seemed to know something about him that he didn't himself. Just what was it?

My Thoughts: 

One of the best fics that takes place in the Xerxes time period IMO. I don’t want to spoil too much but you see a lot of the consequences for Ed’s actions and it can get really really intense (but in the best way)

Fic Status: Dormant

Type of AU: Time Travel

Warnings: This gets surprisingly deep. Prepare Yourself

Men and Angels by Laora

Official Summary: 

Trisha can't understand; she's terrified, but she has to stay calm. Her boys are gone, replaced by her sons from the future...and something, she knows, is terribly wrong.

My Thoughts: 

A time travel fic that changes time for both current Ed/Al AND past Ed/Al (when they were 6). I think my favorite part from this fic has got to be how Mustang’s team reacts to (and tries to take care of) the frightened baby Elric’s. There isn’t a ton of plot but the character interactions drive this fic - if you care deeply about these characters you’ll really enjoy this

Type of AU: Time Travel

Fic Status: Complete

we haunt ourselves by sekalaista

Official Summary: 

"There's something funny about that kid," Maes says. "I just can't put my finger on it."

My Thoughts: 

Literal perfection jam packed into 1000 words

Type of AU: Canon divergence

Fic Status: Complete

and then it wasn't by GentleTouchGinger

Official Summary: 

When Roy notices his smartest student is struggling, he does some snooping and discovers some startling truths about his home life.

My Thoughts: 

Probably one of the best modern AU’s that I’ve found so far for FMA. It follows a pretty normal structure (Ed and Al are in foster homes, Roy notices something’s wrong, etc etc), but the character’s are kept true to their in-canon personalities and the plot is interesting enough to keep you on your toes. Also I cried once I finished reading it so there’s that

Type of AU: Modern/School AU

Fic Status: Complete

Truth Revealed by Fallen Crest

Official Summary: 

A lesson without pain is meaningless...to save their future, they will suffer through the truth. Brought to a room to view FMA:Brotherhood, the FMAB characters learn the dark secrets that surround Amestris. Follow the drama, the suspense, the laughs, the friendships that grow, and the pain they suffer in exchange as their future is laid out before their eyes.

My Thoughts:

 I’m actually right in the middle of reading this right now (it’s 2,500+ pages…...be ready) and it’s SO fun. Not really the kind of fic I ever expected myself to like, but everyone’s in character enough to enjoy their reactions and the interactions in between watching. The pain factor also makes things more interesting. Overall I really suggest checking this out even if it seems like something you wouldn’t enjoy

Type of AU: Characters reacting to the show

Fic Status: Dead (Destroyed by copyright)

Warnings: This fic was taken down due to copyright, but luckily some people managed to save it and upload a download link

Project Rainbow by Missy Skywalker

Official Summary:

 It took him coughing up blood on five different occasions for Edward Elric to finally give in and see a doctor.

My Thoughts: 

I cried for 2 hours after I read this and that’s all I’m saying

Type of AU: Ishvalan!Ed and Al

Fic Status: Complete

Number Twenty Eight by Sevlow

Official Summary: 

As of today, Edward Elric had been missing for four months, two weeks, and five days.

My Thoughts: 

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW DARK THIS FIC GETS. It’s probably the darkest FMA fic I’ve been able to sit through in its entirety. WITH THAT BEING SAID...if you can manage to read it all it ends on a happy note. I don’t want to spoil too much but basically: Ed gets kidnapped, experimented on, and turned into a dog chimera

Type of AU: Chimera!Ed

Fic Status: Complete

Warnings: REALLY DARK, mentions of rape (not explicit or shown), animal death

Misanthropical by nebluus

Official Summary: 

Alfonse and Eduard are best friends living in Germany. When an experiment gone wrong brings in a new yet familiar face, it will be up to them to get their friend home...and not get killed in the process. 

My Thoughts:

 I ended up finding this fic back in 2012 but it’s surprisingly held up pretty well. It was unfortunately abandoned pretty quickly into its plot, but the worldbuilding that’s there is really interesting and makes it worth it to read

Type of AU: Dimension Travel

Fic Status: Dead

Warnings: This fic takes place in the FMA 2003 universe ONLY, so if you haven’t watched that I highly suggest you don’t read yet!

General Fics/Non-AU’s

Firstfruits by toosolidcuuj

Official Summary:

 For the past eleven years, Edward Elric has been raising his family and recovering from the Promised Day. Some memories are easier to talk about than others, but he's made his peace with them. Of course the one that comes back to haunt him is the one he tried to forget about completely.

My Thoughts: 

This fic treats the topic of rape with nuance; the author admits that they don’t struggle with PTSD, but have reached out and done as much research as they can on the subject. I ended up really liking this fic for what it was setting out to do and what it accomplished, and while I did find it difficult to read at times due to the subject matter I still found myself appreciating it 

Fic Status: MIA

Warnings: This fic deals with the trauma that comes along with rape, however it’s never described in detail and the focus is solely on how the character copes with it. Please mind the tags and rating (mature)

Skin Deep by Batsitousai

Official Summary: 

Trisha and Van's first child, Edith, was born a beautiful, healthy girl. The only problem? Ed knew he was a boy.

My Thoughts: 

IM SUCH A SUCKER FOR TRANS ED I don’t want to say too much but I found it really heartwarming (especially the conversations between Mustang/Hawkeye and Ed) and just overall a really strong fic

Fic Status: Complete

Anything but Normal  by DAsObiQuiet

Official Summary: 

Fifteen years after the Promised Day, Selim Baker leads a life like any normal human. Then an attempt on his life throws his world into chaos and begins to show him just how much of a monster he really is.

My Thoughts: 

I’m not usually one to read fic’s that don’t revolve around the protagonists, but this peaked my interest enough to check it out. The author does an amazing job in fleshing out Selim (both his human side and Homunculus side) and it’s interesting to see how Selim reacts to things post-canon

Fic Status: Complete

An Overbearing Legacy by Missy Skywalker

Official Summary: 

Elicia Hughes was tired of trying to live up to her father's reputation, so on the night of her thirteenth birthday, she decided to run away. Luckily, she gets interrupted by someone who knows what losing a parent is like.

My Thoughts: 

I don’t have a ton to say but I found this fic really sweet and I enjoyed getting to see some character development in an older version of Elysia

Fic Status: Complete

At the Very Ports We Blow by baka deshi

Official Summary: 

Edward Elric has made his way to the University of Munich, where he faces a new challenge in the eerily familiar face of his peer and colleague, Alfons Heiderich. There's just one problem: the two of them have to get along.

My Thoughts: 

This has gotta be one of my favorite CoS compliant fics. I really love the idea that Alfons and Ed actually hate each other leading up to the events of CoS and have to actively work on themselves and their friendship before they can work on the rockets

Fic Status: Complete

Warnings: This fic follows FMA 2003 ONLY. If you have not seen it, I highly suggest waiting to read. 

Where The Corners Meet by sahrmael

Official Summary: 

The year is 1934. The change in the Amestrian government has finally brought great peace and prosperity to the nation. But one eager boy, the son of former State Alchemist Edward Elric, has made it his duty to uncover the tragedies of his father's past, and to correct the mistakes of his own.

My Thoughts: 

Like the warning says, I remember really liking this fic, but since I haven’t read it since 2012 I can’t remember if there’s anything weird in it or not. I’ll reread it soon to make sure

Fic Status: Dead

Warnings: I haven’t read this fic since 2012 and debated whether or not I should even add it on here, however I remember REALLY liking it back then so I ultimately decided to. Basically proceed with caution because I can’t remember all of what happens in this fic

#fma #fmab #edward elric #fma03 #Please enjoy this took like 3 hours last night #Me @ tumblr as I slink back to twitter and never check this website again: You Do Not Perceive Me

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 2

All right, time for the next episode! Following anime tropes, since the last one was scene-setting I’m guessing this one will be more world-building and backstory. Not a hard deduction, given the post-credits scenes of Baby Elrics. Onwards!

“Alchemy: The science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter.” Thanks for the definition! Caveat that it’s not an all-powerful art, though: You can’t create something out of nothing. To obtain something, something of equal value must be given. And what the heck is with all the creepy faces in what I guess is a blood drop? Anyways, that’s the Law of Equivalent Exchange...

Equivalent Exchange Count: 2

...cornerstone of Alchemy. Which leads to an Alchemy-wide taboo: Human transmutation is strictly forbidden.

First thought:

Abridged!Nail: “There’s a special ability our people share, forbidden even amongst our most sacred clans.” Abridged!Piccolo: “...and we’re just going to abuse it?” Abridged!Nail: “Oooh, maliciously!”

Second thought: And “human transmutation” means what, exactly? You can only cast on objects like walls or elements? Cause my understanding is that the body is an object too. Last episode I saw people launching boulders and summoning fire. What makes the body different?

“For what could equal the value of a human soul?”

… well ok then, question answered? Alchemy only works on inanimate objects? Maybe a stretch to boil the water of another person or manipulate your own blood, but nothing beyond that? In any case, souls in this setting are off-limits. You hear that, Incubator?!

I’d then ask why the Elrics would attempt this forbidden technique… but given the sight of the grave in the last episode, I’m afraid I can guess. This isn’t going to be a happy episode, is it?

Intro sequence! Second viewing I can recognize a few more people, and can tell the difference between Roy and Hughes this time. Still don’t know the names of some others.

Ah well, even if things get sad later we can have fun with captions now! “[train whistle] chugga chugga choo choo”. Ed’s scowling out the train window. Finally caught their ride out of the city that Mr. Freeze delayed? Al asks Ed about ‘this priest in Liore’, if the stories of his miracles are true. Ed doesn’t seem that convinced that someone can transmute flowers out of thin air, thinks it might just be slight of hand… but it could be the “real thing”.

Flashback! Captions helpfully date Ed as Age 11, reading about a “celestial stone” that destroyed the Xerxes in one night. It goes by many names, but goes back to one consistent trait: some kind of object that amplifies alchemy. The Philosopher’s Stone.

Shot of Ed in a chair? Aw dang it’s after the botched Human Transmutation, isn’t it? Ed’s in a wheelchair sans arm and leg, and a big suit of armor’s sitting nearby. Ed’s saying that if they could get ahold of the Stone, they might be able to get Al’s body back. And then starts ranting about how the damn books tell everything but how to find it. Well, sure. If this Stone can actually subvert Equivalent Exchange, get something for nothing, it’d be the most valuable thing in the world. The only thing with value, really. Nobody’s going to write out “here’s a map to this priceless object” rather than go off and get it for themselves.

Flashpresent! Ed’s in a better mood now, says he has a good feeling about this one. Whelp, that settles it, this trip’s a bust. Buddy, it’s the second episode of a two-season show, and you just showed optimism. You’re doomed. Al just digs them deeper as the title comes up.

Episode 02: “The First Day”

Flashback, 10 years earlier in Resembool. A lady named Trisha is calling for Ed and Al. Momma Elric? She finds them *daaaaaawwww lookit the widdle babies with their books and chalk and dawww so cute!* Ahem. She finds them in their dad’s study, Little Al reading while Little Ed sketches out a Transmutation Circle. She says they shouldn’t scribble, but Little Ed says they weren’t and summons a small wooden bird in the circle with an electric shock. Trisha seems a bit shocked. Well, yeah? This is magic, in any setting an extremely dangerous tool, and these are a couple of kids, not even 11 since Little Al looks even younger than Wheelchair Al. Even Hogwarts knew better than to give kids wands before they were 11.

Trisha asks if their dad taught them that, Al fires back “How can he teach us anything if he’s not here?” Hmmm, that’s twice she’s said “Your Dad”, is she not actually Momma Elric? And dang, absent father already, that’s got to be a record. In any case, they just read the books. Oh, but Trisha’s happy about “her little geniuses”? So she is their mother? Yup, Ed’s saying Mom’s encouragement made them obsessed with learning alchemy.

But then, that same year, an epidemic came. And the sickness took her.

...Well dang, that’s what, thirty seconds screentime? What a ripoff, I was just getting to know Momma Elric! I demand more screentime!

(Edit: Oh good Alchemy why did I ask for this?!)

The Little Elrics are sitting in front of their mother’s grave. Little Al says that he’s cold and hungry, asks if they can go home. Once Dad gets back- Little Ed burst out yelling at the mention of Absent Dad, says that bastard doesn’t care about them. He didn’t even come for Momma Elric’s funeral? What the hell, Absent Dad?

So, yeah. Sad motherless kids sitting at a grave, sad music… and now comes the part I’ve been dreading, knowing that the Elrics are the way they are now from a botched human transmutation attempt. Little Ed suggests there might be a way to bring their mother back. Little Al says that all the books say that trying to make people using Alchemy is “A STUPID IDEA, DON’T DO THIS, SERIOUSLY DON’T”. Like, kids? I know it’s sad that your Mom died, but if it was possible to bring a person back using Alchemy, then there wouldn’t be any death in your setting rather than books saying “DON’T TRY IT IDIOT”. But no, Little Al says it’ll be their secret.

Someone named Winry thought she’d find them there? Oh, it’s the third Blond Kid! She says her Grandma says to not cry for lost loved ones, because it makes them feel sad in the next world too. Little Ed insists that they’re not crying, and that she cries anytime her own parents go somewhere. Little Winry insists that she doesn’t, Little Ed keeps teasing her. First off, if Momma Elric’s looking down she’s not very pleased with you teasing a girl in the shadow of her headstone, buster. Second, love interest? Because nothing says “potential love interest” between two anime children like teasing. Little Winry runs off saying she’ll tell her Grandma not to make them dinner, Little Ed immediately caves under the threat to his stomach and runs after her.

Later that night, all the kids are saying thanks for dinner at a house with an “AutoMail” sign out front. Ooh, is this where Ed got his metal parts from?

Granny - oh hey, it’s the lady with the dog from the intro! - says that Little Ed should drink his milk too. He refuses because he hates milk, she just says that if he doesn’t he’ll stay short forever. Ha! Whoa, and here’s a “You’re short!” “No, you’re short!” argument between the two. I like this Granny! Little Winry and Little Al are just eating their food with closed eyes that scream “I am so tired of you two.”

School bells! And the Blond Kids sound a bit older now but not Present age, I’ll call them Kid ____. Kid Winry’s asking about the weird books they’ve been reading in class, Kid Al says it’s a secret and Kid Ed’s a little less refined in his response. Kid Winry does not like this and pfft that is a silly face.

Later Kid Ed’s gushing about how the inventor of stew was a genius: it tastes good even though it has milk in it! But he might actually have a point: the leap of imagination to pour milk into soup for the first time? That’s how a scientist thinks!

I like how this setting is treating Alchemy as a science, all rules and stuff. For one, I get to have fun exploring the rules and trying to minmax it. For another, as much as I like some mystery in fantasy, I feel like it’s more impactful when you can grasp the reasoning behind it.

Although Kid Ed isn’t taking the best lesson from this, talking about how “all it takes is one leap”. Sure, some science comes in leaps, but you’ve gotta be careful where you land.

And so they studied, trained with a humourless-looking alchemy teacher, researched for years to see their Mom’s smile once more.

[optimistic, yet ominous music playing]. Well, that’s encouraging!

Kid Ed’s signing off on a piece of paper with a TC on it, says that they’re ready.

Gah crow! Ok, screw you show, did not need that. Guessing it’s sunset now, given how the spookily-angled house is in shades of red. I get it show, shit’s about to go down. Kid Ed’s reciting chemical amounts, pouring water and drawing out the TC. And finally, some “soul data”, aka blood.

Damnit, stop smiling boy. You don’t know it, but you’re about to cripple yourself and lose your brother in this effort.

The Elric Kids kneel by the TC, and there’s the noise of an eagle screeching as it lights up and starts sparking. Both boys look eagerly at the chemical mix in the center… and then start looking uncertain as the edge of the circle starts smoking and the light turns red. Not good. Al says something doesn’t feel right and music turns ominous as JESUS CHRIST THAT’S AN EYE.

A great big eye just opened up in the TC and oh no Al’s hand just shattered he’s screaming as small tendrils reach out. Ed screams as his own leg breaks and he falls down, seems shocked that it’s “a rebound”. And Al screams and screams as the tendrils tear away at him, his arm reaching for Ed is shattering and his face and

There’s a big black door against a white background, Kid Ed standing in front of it. Where is he? Kid Ed seems uncertain what he was just doing gah creepy voice. “Truth”? Kid Ed’s looking at a white humanoid form, specks of black around it. String instruments start plucking as Kid Ed asks who they are. Truth seems happy to be asked that, says that (she? voice seem female) is the world, the universe, God, Truth, all, one, and him. The door opens behind shocked Kid Ed and argh the Eye is back.

“You have dared to knock on the door. Now, the door is open.” Gah the tendrils are reaching for Kid Ed he tries to get away but they grab him and drag him back. Truth tells him to be quiet, isn’t this what he wanted? Kid Ed screams in terror as Truth says she’ll show him the truth, and then it slams shut. A piano plays as Kid Ed’s dragged down to streams of pictures. Present!Ed says that it was like all of the information in the world was being poured into his brain, he screams for it to stop. Pieces of him are flaking away… but he says for an instant, he was the truth of everything. Getting shades of black hole event horizon here.

The light solidifies as the form of Momma Elric, Kid Ed calls out to her. She reaches out

Kid Ed stands before the Door again, gasping for breath with hand still outstretched. Truth sounds smug as she asks “How was it?” I don’t think I like you, lady.

Kid Ed turns back to the door… and starts rambling that his theory wasn’t wrong, just missing something. Oh dear. Kid, your alchemy theory is great and all, but I think you have more pressing concerns, like the demon you just turned away from.

But Truth says she can’t show him anymore, all that was for the toll of his leg. And suddenly Truth has a smug mouth, says it’s the law of equivalent exchange-

EEC: 3

-and Kid Ed seems to come to gripping the bleeding stump of his leg by the sparking circle. Well, that ain’t good. And crap those are Kid Al’s empty clothes, he’s really gone isn’t he?... ok, all this badness is kinda being undercut by the bouncy, almost carnival-like music playing right now. What’s up with that?

Kid Ed cries about how Kid Al’s gone, how this wasn’t supposed to happen, calls for help, calls for Mom

Oh. Oh God.

The… the TC has stopped glowing. And in the middle there’s an overturned bucket and…

Something that I really hope isn’t alive.

Kid Ed, still bleeding profusely from his missing leg, knocks over the suit of armor and drags himself over saying that they won’t take Al too. Draws a bloody pentagram while calling out that they can take his leg, arm, heart, anything. And casts Alchemy.

…

Wow. Ok then, that was brutal.

Whoa, hold up, that was only the first half of the episode? Jeez, I wasn’t even looking at the time, what else is gonna happen?

Hmm, seems it’s the present again. Clipboard with file on Mr. Freeze? Ah, Hughes is surprised to see Roy still in Central, who says he’s heading back to Eastern Command in the afternoon. Hughes jokes that he expects Roy to come back with a promotion. He gives Roy the final report on Isaac McDougal/Mr. Freeze, since it… hasn’t reached his office yet? Any reason for that?

Roy checks it out, seems shocked to see “Xingese Alkahestry”. Hughes says it’s something “they” have. Who’s “they”? Neither of them know what it is. Something for later?

Walking down the hallway now, Hughes attempts conversation by asking how the Elrics are doing, Roy says that he’s their CO, not their father. Where is good old dad, anyways? Still not shown up? Hughes asks why Roy decided to make Ed a State Alchemist, even though he’s just a kid. Military life’s rough, after all. Roy doesn’t seem to say anything, just waves goodbye… but walking away he thinks that both boys have seen plenty of hell already.

Flashback, four years earlier. [epic strings] as a slightly younger Roy looks down at the bloody TC. Someone named Hawkeye asks Roy oh hey it’s that short-haired blonde lady who had his dry gloves, she reports they aren’t in back either. Roy demands to know where the Elric brothers are. Looks like the authorities know what they attempted. But seriously, Hawkeye? First Fury, now Hawkeye? How many other Avengers are we gonna get out of this?

At the AutoMail building, Granny tells the dog Den to not bark and opens the door- before Roy strides right past her. She chides him for barging in, but Roy just looks around… and sees Kid Ed sans arm and leg, wheelchair held by giant suit of armor with glowing eyes. Roy grabs Kid Ed by the shirt and yells at the shocked kid. Kid Ed lowers his head, and an armored hand gently grabs Roys arm and a far, far too young and sad voice says that they’re sorry, that they didn’t mean it what the HELL is wrong with this show?

Roy’s sitting at the table now talking to Granny as Kid Ed and Al stand by, says that he’d heard about a brilliant alchemist in town so he came to check them out. But he didn’t expect to find someone skilled enough to attempt Human Transmutation or bond a soul to armor. More than capable to become a State Alchemist. If he accepts the position, he’ll serve the military in times of national emergency, in return for privileges and access to restricted research materials, with the potential to recover their bodies, “or even more”. Well, that’s one hell of a carrot. What’s the stick?

Granny raps the table, says that after the boys arrived at her house she went over and saw that… thing. She says that alchemy created that abomination, nearly killed them, and now Roy wants to throw them headlong into it:?

Hawkeye is sitting in the living room, when Kid Winry offers her some tea. She then takes a seat and talks with the Lieutenant, who says to just call her Riza (thank goodness, I couldn’t take her seriously as just Hawkeye), who seems pleasant enough. But Winry seems too subdued for a handshake… and then asks if Riza has ever had to shoot anyone. Jeez, going for the heavy questions here.

Winry says that she hates what “you soldiers” do, that they’re the reason that her mom and dad left during the war, and the reason they’re dead. Um. Wow, ok. And now they’re there to take Ed and Al away too. But Riza says the decision to go will be theirs and theirs alone? Really? Cause here I was expecting a pretty sizable “You attempted a forbidden Alchemy so we have cause to lock you up and throw away the key” stick.

But no, it’s just an offer of a possibility, the chance to move forward rather than stay still. Sit in the chair and wallow in self-pity, or stand up and seize the chance of the military. Their choice, their own path. The slim hope of getting their bodies back. This doesn’t seem to be getting through Ed though, he’s staring ahead with dead eyes.

Winry seems thoughtful now, asks why Riza became a soldier. Riza just smiles and says that there’s someone she has to protect. Roy walks out and says they’re leaving, but Winry shakes Riza’s hand before they go. Roy seems confident that the Elric brothers will follow, but Riza says she’s never seen someone look so defeated. But Roy says he saw fire in those eyes.

Back to the present with [train whistle] chugga chugga chooooo. Aaaand back to the past, Granny asking if he’s sure they won’t regret it. Not why we needed a few seconds back with Present!Ed, but whatever. Kid Ed’s in an operating room now, looks like this is when he turns cyborg. Surgery and rehabilitation will take about three years. Determined Ed says that he’ll do it in one. Granny remarks that he’ll be spitting blood doing that, but he’s eager to get Al his body back soon.

[inspiring chamber music] as a longer-haired Ed spars with Al, trying out his automail arm and leg. Al remarks that he seems to be in perfect shape, and now to try alchemy… huh. Al is surprised and amazed that Ed can now perform alchemy without a TC, like their Teacher. But he can’t, and didn’t see the same Truth that Ed did.

...and then wrench to the head, from a frustrated Winry telling him not to mess up her automail. Heh, ok, after all the gah that’s been this episode, seeing this simple-drawn scared Al and beat-up Ed is a nice change of pace. Heh, and the snarking continues between Ed and the girl who made his automail. Ooh, and a smirking Al? Methinks there’s a shipper on deck!

At Central now, a man with the unfortunate designation of [Subordinate] remarks it’s unusual for Fuhrer Fury to observe the examinations, I assume for State Alchemists. But it’s also unusual for a 12-year-old take the test as well. Fury cheerfully asks about Ed’s automail arm, and Ed’s… confused about who this guy is? You’d think that he’d recognize the Boss, who his neighbor says is… ok, what? “Fuhrer King Bradley”? So the title is Fuhrer King? Pretentious much. Ed likewise does not seem that impressed with the title.

Fury starts the examination as Roy watches on, an Alchemist asks if Al needs something to draw with. [chugging adventure strings] start as Al casts on the ground, Roy is shocked to see he’s not even using a TC as he pulls a spear from the ground. Only Fury seems nothing more than cheerful as he remar- Ed what the hell are you doing? Ok, um. Ed just charged at Fury and got his spear to his neck, at gunpoint he remarks that the examination as is would be a good chance to take out a VIP. Yeah, “nerves of steel” is one way to put it Fury. But Fury walks off saying he still has much to learn about the world… and wow the tip of Ed’s spear just slid off. And now we see Fury walking off with sword drawn, cartoony “ha ha ha ha” symbols above him. Ok, legitimately impressed there. Fury is fast to put it mildly. When did he draw his sword?

Wind blowing the hair of an older-looking Winry, she’s standing next to Al. So Al’s not a State Alchemist, just traveling with Ed? Aw, but Winry’s asking if they’ll go away if Ed passes the exam and becomes a State Alchemist.

Oh, we don’t see the rest of the exam? Just Ed getting a silver pocket watch for his badge? And Fury shows his ironic streak, assigning Ed the code name of “Fullmetal”. Officially Ed is now known as “The Fullmetal Alchemist” (titledrop!). And aw no kid, don’t make that face. Yeah, the name is “nice and intimidating”, but thanks to my lovely commenters I understand the snark behind it.

Back to the train again! [thundering train sounds] chugga chugga. And Ed’s finally sleeping, before being woken by Al because they’re almost there. And yup that’s the cathedral we saw the Goths in last episode. Things are about to go down. Ed’s thinking “Could it really be there? The key to finally getting Al his body back… The Philosopher’s Stone!”

I’m gonna go with “No.”

Post Credits! In Liore, the Elric Brothers encounter Father Cornello, a priest who claims he can perform miracles. Ed does not seem impressed in this scene, though. A lady kneeling at an altar? “Blinded by his promises”, his followers fail to see the blood-red stone on his finger. Which… isn’t a Philosopher’s Stone, is it? Because seriously, there’s no way it can be the all-powerful macguffin this early. So what’s the secret?

Episode 03: “City of Heresy”

“What happiness can possibly be gained by looking away from the truth?”

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 2

[alchemic-elric]

On the Topic of the Elric’s first interaction with Scar. 

What we really should be talking about is Edward and Alphonse’s relationship and how it changed and built at that point in time. 

Please always remember that up to now  Edward was the lead in this relationship and Alphonse followed whatever his brother did. It’s to my belief that sometimes Al thought Ed hung the stars in the sky himself. That Ed could do anything and Al was always very meek about speaking his piece - not that Ed ever wanted him to be that way - it was just how their relationship was. 

Because as I’ve said in previous posts.  Edward had to become “the man of the house” at a very early age and despite having Pinako and Winry to help care for them - the fact of the matter is Trisha Elric died when Edward was five and he had to learn how to care for himself and his brother pretty early on.  

Like I feel like there’s this wide belief that Pinako just kinda took over for Trisha when she died but that’s not really what happened.  Pinako fed them sometimes, but we don’t know how often and I like to believe that Resembool it’s self pitched in to take care of the boys too because let’s not let Trisha’s kids die and all  but it’s not like they lived at the Rockbell home. 

They ate dinner there on occasion yes: 

but at the end of the day, Edward and Alphonse still lived in their childhood home, as we see them sleeping / studying in the basement. 

They did this for six years, granted some of that time was with Izumi but in the manga they say it was only a few months. 

So they spent 5 and a half years in that house alone. 

Please think on that.  

Edward and Alphonse Elric from the ages of (5 / 4) - (11 /10) spent all that time alone with little to no adult supervision.

Ever wonder how they got away with the taboo? That’s how. 

And Al never piped up during any of that time. 

Alphonse just followed after his brother and studied along side him in order to bring mom back - 

SO MY POINT BEING

When Al reaches out that big metal hand and grabs him around the collar of his shirt and pulls him in real close, his face does this:

TOTAL surprise. He doesn’t see it coming at all but Al just watched Ed nearly die and enough is enough.  He’s not expecting for his brother to get in his face- he’s certainly not expecting to get yelled at - and he’s definitely not expecting to get called an idiot repetitively. 

But he does, and his face goes to this: 

Total defeat. He really fucked up this time. He really hurt Al this time and he’s so scared that Al will hate him for everything that happened that to get yelled at by him just completely crushes him. He can’t handle getting reprimanded by his brother of all people.  Alphonse holds every card in Edward’s deck - he always has, Al’s just never thought to or been willing to play them out before.  

Whatever Al wants, Ed would do it for him - 

A) because he’s drowning in guilt over what happened and he takes complete and utter claim to that fault placing none of it on Alphonse’s shoulders 

and 

B) Al is his only living family and his precious little brother / best friend in the whole world and he’s completely and utterly devoted to him and loves him so dearly he would do anything for him.  

If Edward could hang the stars in the sky, he’d rearrange them in whatever pattern his brother desired.  

He tells Al “easy on the idiot stuff, I’m still your older brother - got it?!”  and he gets “I’ll say it all I want to!” in response before he’s tugged forward and continues to get lectured by his sibling.  Ed doesn’t know how to process everything that just happened. 

The day before he lost one of his dear friends, and almost beat her dad to death with his bare hands, and then while setting in his depression almost got murdered by a serial killer the next damn day, ran for his life, and ended up trading his life for the safety of his brother only to not die and some how by the grace of some flow of the universe  (because the Elrics are agnostic, come now) survive and now he has his brother not only slugging him multiple times but yelling at him and lecturing him too. 

What the hell is going on?! 

Ed’s whole world gets turned upside down in the matter of two days and in those two days they are filled with nothing but blood. Needless to say those two days for Ed (and Al) were rough.  

I have no doubt in my mind that Ed still has nightmares about it and that for a while there Ishvals make him some form of nervous. Red eyes probably honestly freak him out for a while (and he states as much in the 2003 anime) because those red eyes almost murdered him. How could they not?

But I mean after their little tiff, the two boys just kinda set there and it’s like their both processing and for as much as Ed’s still in his head at this point he’s in his head in the here and now and not questioning everything around him but more like everything that’s occurred. It’s snapped him out of his depression and forced him in a state of thankfulness because for the boys (no pun intended) this is a hollow victory.  Like they got away with their lives but otherwise, they were left utterly defeated mentally, emotionally, and psychically.  

But it’s this point in the series where we start to see Al stop being so meek about his thoughts and opinions and Al to start take a partnership role in this and less of a tag-a-long role. He’s not playing second fiddle to Ed anymore, he’s in this just as much as he is. 

But like, even after they get them all scooped up off the street and back in Mustang’s office Ed’s still in his damn head. 

He’s listening and he’s taking it all in but he’s not truly there. He’s contemplating everything that’s been thrown at him in the past few hours and how close Al came to dying and how close he came to dying but most importantly Al’s words to him.  

Al means everything to him. The whole damn world, so of course even harsh criticism has him replaying over and over and over and over in his mind.  This in the point where Ed’s mindset changes. 

It’s no longer “Al I’d die for you.” and it becomes “Al I’ll live for you.” 

“Because choosing to die is something only an idiot would do.” 

#mun speaks #ooc #headcanon #about the muse #relation: precious little brother

[zetalial]

FMA 03: Fathers

Okay, I thought I’d do a post about Father’s in FMA 03 like I did with Mother’s in this post and...

Ha, Ha, Ha. Fathers are terrible in FMA, aren’t they? There’s like one bright spot. I will be speaking mainly about fathers in regards to the Elric brothers.

Regardless...

I’ll start with episode 1. We’re introduced to someone called Father Cornello. Of course, it’s a title to indicate that he’s a holy man rather than seriously meaning a paternal figure. If it is in any way an intentional theme (given he does want to present himself as a caring man who can take care of Liore) well soon enough his true nature as a fraud who’s really interested in power is revealed.

His falseness can be contrasted with Rose who is later given the title Holy Mother - she didn’t seek the title herself and her care for Liore and its people is genuine. Where Cornello makes great speeches full of lies, Rose is mute and yet honest in her intentions. But I digress.

Moving on, Ed and Al do not have a father. Their father abandoned them at a young age and all they remember of him is his absence. Likewise, both of Winry’s parent’s are dead and they grow up without any sort of father figure. I like the phrasing of the dub here. “I wouldn’t say I hate him, I don’t remember him enough.” 

With the death of their mother this morphs into a firmer dislike from Edward (Alphonse still wants to know their absent father). Despite their father’s absence they take after him, learning alchemy from his books including the forbidden stuff. Their attitude can be contrasted with the Tringham brothers in episode 11-12 where their father is dead and they’re learning alchemy in honour of his memory and to be like him. It’s why they’re so motivated to save Xenotime such that they’re convinced to use insidious methods. Ed meanwhile hates to be compared to his absent father.

The one exception to the absent or terrible fathers is, of course, Maes Hughes who seems to genuinely care for the brothers. He helps them for no other reason than that he cares for them. He is great. He throws Edward a little birthday party, sits and talks with him at meals, gives him help and advice, sends Armstrong to tail them as protection. They have a great relationship. 

In the above scene, Hughes decides to tell Ed that Scar was responsible for Nina’s death rather than deciding to keep the information from him. Even when Maria Ross suggests its too dangerous for the Elrics to continue searching for the stone, Hughes continues to enable them while giving them protection as he knows that otherwise the boys would just strike out on their own. Edward in turn opens up to Hughes, deciding to tell him about the homunculi behind Lab 5. Obviously, he is not just fatherly towards the Elrics but dotes on his own daughter and loves his wife. So of course the homunculi kill him.

Hughes great family can be contrasted with Shou Tucker and his daughter. Tucker welcomes the Elrics into his home and soon becomes sort of like a father to them, providing them support and a home while they prepare to join the military. He’s kind and offers them advice where he can, even recommending they stay away from the military. He seems to love his daughter Nina too. But just like with Father Cornello, it’s all a facade. Just as Cornello made chimeras that sounded like real people to maintain his illusion of power and respect, Tucker turns people into chimeras in order to keep hold of his life as a respected State Alchemist.

Tucker turns Nina into a monstrous chimera in some misguided attempt to retain his old lifestyle showing that at his core he is awful and selfish. Just like that, Ed and Al’s replacement home has been destroyed as thoroughly as their initial home. And it was a home for them. That’s partly why the reveal shakes them so much. Their worst fears confirmed in the worst possible way.

I guess they do still have Sig Curtis. I mean, they’ve been avoiding him and Izumi for years but when they are with him its okay. He’s nice and cares for the boys though he’s ultimately a pretty quiet person who tends to follow his wife, Izumi’s lead. Maybe he could be a good father but we never see any moments of the Elrics bonding and looking to him for advice unlike Hughes or Tucker. We never see him show any care towards Wrath in the series either. Mostly he’s just there for Izumi.

I haven’t mentioned Mustang, have I? That’s because he an absolutely terrible father figure as well. He does care for the Elrics but that’s really not enough. Upon seeing an unconscious crippled 11 year old Edward, he... recommends they join the military. Yeah. Become a child soldier and leave what’s left of your childhood behind.

His amazing ability to show he cares continues when he tells a crying Edward to just get over Nina’s horrific death and move on with his life. Upon learning about Liore he decides not to tell Edward in order to protect their innocence - this just ends up backfiring, He also keeps Ed in the dark about Hughes’ death. Edward ends up furious that these were kept secret from him. Seeing Ed is in a bad mood after his fight with Scar and he’s missing his arm while Al’s armour is wrecked, Roy decides to make fun of him in an effort to get a rise out of him. Truly it should come as no surprise that Edward does not trust Mustang. Ed is surprised to learn Roy cares at all when Mustang finally opens up in episode 43. Yeah, Mustang could be an alright friend to the Elrics - they do have a fun, teasing dynamic - but he makes a terrible father to the Elrics.

And finally, Hohenheim. He is absent for most of the story. When he finally does show up, he doesn’t offer any excuses for his behaviour, doesn’t really offer them anything at all. When Al is interested in getting to know him, he does spend a bit of time with him, only to leave once more in the middle of night.

Hohenheim is pretty aware of his failings and does attempt to do the right thing in confronting Dante. It goes badly. We do learn that he’s been equally terrible towards Envy, creating the homunculi and then abandoning him to Dante presumably because he saw Envy as a pale imitation of his long dead son.

At the end of the series, Ed is with Hohenheim and he’s forgiven him, it seems. He’s been pacified with the revelation that Hohenheim did love Trisha and is saddened by her death as well so Ed’s let go of some of his hate that was the result of blaming him for Trisha’s death. They’re an odd pair but Hohenheim is trying to at least give Ed the needed support in the new world. I doubt they’re truly close, it’s more that circumstances have pushed them together. Still we do see him giving Ed some advice and encouragement while letting him go seek out his own answers.

And that’s basically all the Fatherly figures in the series barring, like, the innkeeper from Yousewell who was an alright guy, I suppose. And there’s Pride who I guess is a bit of a fatherly figure to his soldiers. Very friendly and personable with that sort of Grandfatherly persona. Yet again, it’s all fake though. He has cultivated this image with a perfect-looking family but he won’t hesitate to strangle his son and start wars.

Er, maybe Armstrong could be read as fatherly? He is kind to the Elrics, taking care of them and worrying over them. I always struggle with Armstrong, I’ll be honest. 

-

Yeah and that concludes this post. We’ve got absent fathers and people who pretend to be fatherly and people who fail at it. And we’ve got Hughes who is wonderful. And dead. 

Maybe I should’ve done this post for Brotherhood instead? Mustang and Hohenheim are more fatherly and there’s a villain called Father. Eh, but then they do less with Hughes and Tucker. I don’t think anyone would want to hear me talk about Brotherhood anyway.

#fma #fma 2003 #edward elric #my posts are always about ed in some way #this is mainly about figures who are fatherly towards him #or not rather #thats why every picture has ed in it #i did not expect to talk about cornello of all people #never really thought to compare him directly with rose #or tucker #i was going to say fathers were presented worse in fma than mothers #and like show the image of Pride strangling his son #then i remembered that Izumi strangles her son at one point #and so its more like yeah the shows made up of terrible and damaged people #and ed and al grow up in the cold military instead of a loving family #good job roy #hes so manipulative #i dint even mention the fact that hes basically blackmailing ed and al #threatening to reveal that als a hollow suit of armour if they dont listen and obey his commands #he probably would not actually do it #but the brothers believed him #that al would be sent to be experimented on as a lab rat #top notch father figure #mustang is truly a friend not a mentor #despite the age difference #meta #myposts

[weirdoldmanhoho]

Hey, happy fma day! Could you please do a prompt or like headcanons ideas of what would have happened if Ed and Al and the homonculi were siblings/cousins? (whichever inspires you more) it would be wonderful and funny, sure as hell

Happy FMA day! OMG yes this is my favorite ridiculous, silly au. Prepare for some ridiculousness.

Okay, so Father shows up randomly at the Elric (Hohenheim?) house a couple years into Hoho living there and is just like “hello, my dearest, oldest friend, so good to see you.” (Hoho is like, yeah, I’ve been rethinking our relationship ever since you literally committed genocide in front of me.)

Father tells Hoho he’s turned over a new leaf. No really, he says, no more murder. He’s content to live out the rest of his life with the one Philosopher Stone he already made and definitely has no plans whatsoever to make another one – what? How could his dearest, oldest friend – who he NAMED and cared for before anyone and helped gain him his freedom – doubt him? What is he talking about that the map of Amestris looks suspicious? Does he really think he could control how an entire country was built? His oldest, dearest friend (“seriously, stop calling me that”) has too high of expectations for him.

Anyways, Father says he showed up because he ended up with 7 kids somehow (“totally an accident. Just happened.” “…uh-huh.”) and he has absolutely no idea how to handle them and they’re all driving him absolutely crazy, and he heard that Hoho has two boys of his own (congrats, by the way, didn’t know you had it in you, your wife is lovely, good job) and maybe he’s managed to figure out this whole fatherhood thing better than he has, so can he bring the family and stay for a while? Just a bit?

And because Hoho is ultimately a sympathetic sap, he says yes. (Trisha literally might kill him. She won’t talk to him for two days. She threatens to take Ed and Al and run away. “This might be good for him, Trisha. He might actually learn to be better and care for people if he lives around humans for a while.” “If any one of his ‘children’ touch our children, I WILL find out how to kill an immortal and after I’m finished with them, I’m coming after you.” “I love you so much.”)

So the family moves in. Ed and Al meet their “cousins”. The homunculi meet the Elrics under strict orders not to hurt them. It goes about as well as you can expect.

Envy really likes screwing with Ed and Al. Their favorite hobby is transforming into one of them and trying to get in as much trouble as possible (pulling Winry’s hair, throwing things at Den, hitting the other real Elric brother, etc.) Jokes on them, though, because Trisha has gotten REALLY good at figuring out when it’s Envy in disguise and just happens to “accidentally” hit them with things. Like, she “accidentally” trips when Envy is in the kitchen as Ed and drops a metal pot on their head. (“Oh no! Edward, honey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there!” She definitely did. She definitely aimed for the head on purpose.)

(In secret, all the Elric/Hohenheims have come up with tells to let each other know they’re not Envy. They might be putting up with them living here, but damn it all if Trisha is just going to passively let them torment her family.

Greed and Envy hate each other, so Greed teams up with the Elrics to help harass his sibling, and ends up actually becoming a big brother figure to them. And somehow, damn it all, he’ll deny it until his dying breath, he’s actually grown a little fond of the tikes. He lets Ed try on his ugly fur vest once. He puts on the invincible shield and lets them hit him with things (look just because he actually tries to play with the kids doesn’t mean he knows anything about appropriate games for human children. Envy and Lust and him hit each other all the time – and usually with a lot more blood and death involved – surely that’s fun for his little “cousins” right?)

Trisha walks outside once and sees her sons just beating on Greed with any weapon they can find and just…walks away. She doesn’t even care anymore. As long as it’s her sons beating one of the homunculi and not the other way around, she’s not going to stop it. She considers that this might be teaching her children bad lessons for the future – such as its okay to just beat people with sticks – but considering it’s also teaching them it’s okay to beat up homunculi, she thinks the pros outweigh the cons.

Lust tries to act like she’s above everything, but she usually gets dragged into arguments. She just kind of randomly flip-flops between helping Envy screw with the kids and teaming up with Greed to defend them like a guard dog, with no apparent rhyme or reason to which she’s going to do on any given day. Ed and Al are both terrified and slightly in awe of her. It’s pretty much exactly how Envy and Greed feel too.

One of their “cousins” looks suspiciously a lot like the former Furher of Amestris (who randomly disappeared a couple months ago, stating “family emergency” before vanishing). Wrath wears a whole bunch of ridiculous disguises every time he takes the boys into town. I’m talking like fake moustache over his real moustache and sunglasses. Really ridiculous hats. Hawaiian shirts. A fake nose once. (“This is just sad,” Envy tells him. “I’ve seen humans disguise themselves better than this.” “I’m not taking advice from someone who willingly walks around looking like that.” Envy has to be held back from trying to maul Wrath by Lust, because Envy has already lost FIVE LIVES since living here – one of them might have been from Trisha, but she won’t confirm or deny anything and only cackles quietly to herself when she looks at Envy sometimes – and if they keep it up they’re going to actually die FOR REAL by next year. “DO YOU THINK PHILOSOPHER’S STONES GROW ON TREES?” Father booms, then goes immediately to Hoho and is like, “That was the right phrase, right? I also tried grounding like you suggested.” “You’ll get this fatherhood thing in no time. Also, you can’t end the grounding no matter how sad they look. That’s what Trisha says.”)

Side note: Mrs. Bradley definitely moves in with them too and now she knows exactly what her husband and son are and still loves them just as much. Pride is confused and slightly mortified, but also touched – he’ll never admit it. Wrath just really loves this human woman he chose. He and Hoho trade stories about their adventures wooing strong-willed, slightly scary mortal women. They get drunk together once and cry into the night about how wonderful their wives are and the fact that their children are growing up before their eyes – “I don’t grow, Wrath, what are you talking about?” “My son sounds so grown up!” Both men sob harder.

Trisha and Mrs. Bradley become fast friends. They run a So-You-Married-an-Immortal support group. Currently they’re the only members. Meetings basically consist of them exchanging stories of the weirdest things they’ve ever seen their husbands do.

Pride becomes weirdly protective of the baby Elrics. Mostly because he believes Father wants to keep them safe and he’s the most loyal devoted son who will do anything Father wants, so he takes great pride (ha) in protecting the baby Elrics from every harm he can think of. He also looks the most similar in age to them, so he lets Father enroll him in the local school and watches over them while in class. The rest of the class and the teacher are absolutely terrified of him, because he mostly just sits behind Ed and glares at everyone who moves too close.

Ed and Al grow up with a really weird understanding of shadows – ie, convinced that they can definitely move independently and are physical things you can touch, because that one time Al tripped, a bunch of shadows definitely grabbed him before he hit the ground, placed him back on his feet, and patted his shoulder reassuringly for good measure.

Sloth does nothing, of course. He’s just happy he doesn’t have to dig that tunnel anymore. He mostly sleeps and Ed and Al try to figure out how much they can stack on him before he wakes up. Or how many times they can poke him. Or how loudly they can shout. Etc.

Somehow it turns out mostly okay though. Ed and Al make it into their teenage years without dying or any serious maiming. (Only Greed and Envy have been maimed, but their injuries heal so it’s fine.) They have at least two homunculi that are fiercely protective of them, one that usually at least has more fun fighting their enemies than them, one who acts like a weird uncle and showers them with gifts and random melons, and two that are pretty indifferent as long as they’re left alone. And Envy, who definitely still wants to make their lives as miserable as possible, but is at least usually outvoted by the other homunculi.

The Elric/Hohenheim family is very weird, but most of them (and Resembool) have accepted that. Trisha definitely would still kill any of them if they hurt her sons though.

Thanks for the prompt!

#I don’t know what this is #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #damn #homunculi #c: edward elric #c: alphonse elric #elric brothers #c: father #c: van hohenheim #c: trisha elric #c: pride #c: greed #c: envy #c: lust #c: sloth #c: Mrs. Bradley #c: king bradley #ask #my post

[fullmetalirin]

Fullmetal Alchemist: Episode 44

Fullmetal Alchemist Episode 44: "Hohenheim of Light"

Rosé and Lyra descend a secret staircase in an old church and meet with the homunculi who bow to them. Later, Hohenheim decides to confront the leader of the homunculi, Lyra. He calls her Dante and offers to tell her why her body rots, if she leaves his sons alone in exchange. Ed and Al learn about Hughes' death.

The church looks like a Christian one. It's in disrepair, and Dante says it's from an old religion that is no longer practiced. Rose says it looks like the temple of Leto. So it seems my hypothesis was likely correct; these monotheistic faiths are splinters of Christianity.

Dante uses alchemy to repair a stained-glass window containing a transmutation circle that activates the secret passage. Seems like it'd be more efficient to just activate the secret passage, unless different circles have different energy requirements.

Dante says the old religion only recognized one god and declared all others as heathen, and waged lots of wars over it. So yeah, Christianity. Rose says that's awful and that religions should be used to help people. A purposeful jab? It's an interesting choice, considering anime normally loves Christian imagery.

Back to the Elrics. Cartoonface on Sheska when Al reveals Bradley is a homunculus; everyone else has serious expressions.

And a quick cartoon skit when Ed reveals Sloth's a homunculus and Sheska still thinks she's an alien. Ugh.

Team Mustang can't believe Bradley's a homunculus, citing all the plausible deniability he's built up. Good planning, Bradley!

Only now does Ed apologize for injuring Fuery and Havoc. But at least he does apologize.

The subject of Ed's watch comes up. Cartoonface when Al explains, which I think is appropriate. It leads to something serious: they learn about the red stones!

Mustang reveals that was something they did during the Ishbal war, and Ed flips out at him for knowing about the red stones and not telling him. Ah, because if he knew he could have told them at the start. Mustang defends himself by saying he thought the research was discontinued, but Ed still yells that he can't trust him.

Al tries to stop him and gets thrown into the river by the alchemic blowback. Ed freaks out, but Al pops back out like a majestic dolphin. LOL.

Al blabs about being the Philosopher's Stone and even takes off his helmet to show the red glow. It's a bit stupid of him, but he is pretty giddy, and he's been established as childish before.

Hohenheim is on a date with Ross. He's actually pretty sweet, though this seems like it contradicts his later statement that Trisha is the only woman he's ever loved.

Ed runs up and punches him. A much better introduction than in Brotherhood. I approve.

Al runs up as well, but stalls when he realizes Hohenheim won't recognize him. But Hohenheim does anyway! Aw, that's sweet.

Then Hohenheim tries to connect with Ed by asking if he still hates milk, to which Ed gives his standard rage and kicks him (with the metal leg!). Hohenheim cries hilariously.

Brosh angsts over how Ross prefers Hohenheim over him. While I don't like the trope of the opposite-gender background characters always needing to be in love, the subversion is appreciated.

This leads to a serious bit where Ed says he always hated Hohenheim's cologne… just like he hated Dante's perfume. Foreshadowing!

Ed says Hohenheim never sent them a single letter, even though episode 3 was all about that. Oops, plot hole!

Hohenheim overhears them mentioning Dante and gasps. He realizes he was holding the dog's leg too tightly, and apologizes.

Winry goes into a jealous rage over Ed even mentioning Lyra because lolwomen. :/

Mustang talks to Hohenheim outside about Bradley being a homunculus. Hohenheim displays a surprising amount of knowledge about homunculi, and confirms that they get their form and powers only after they eat red stones. He speculates that Bradley is changing his appearance over time to give the illusion of aging.

Hohenheim says that whatever the case, the country seems to be doing fine, so they needn't worry themselves.

Al asks why homunculi can't use alchemy, and Hohenheim says it's because they come from the other side of the Gate.

He quickly changes the subject to catching up on all the time he's been away, but Ed gets angry. Al insists he wants to stay outside with Hohenheim.

Ah, because he wants to talk about the Philosopher's Stone. Hohenheim says he could use it to attach his soul to another person's body. Foreshadowing! But Hohenheim insists the only way to get Al's original body back is to give back whatever he obtained for it. Al thinks that defeating Sloth will accomplish this.

The next morning, Hohenheim leaves from his tent.

Riza salutes Ed as she leaves. Ed hesitates, and chooses to wave instead. That's a nice detail.

Ed figures out the homunculi were behind the Ishbalan war as well, and have been instigating conflicts to create Philosopher's Stones. Sheska lets slip that Hughes must have been killed because he found this out too. Ed flips out and tries to chase after Mustang for keeping this from him.

There is discussion over how Mustang could temper his feelings so much. Sheska says she thought he didn't care about Hughes, but realizes that he's actually trying to achieve his goal of becoming Fuhrer, and not letting personal feelings get in the way of that. Ed insists that's still not an excuse. It's interesting to have all this so soon after Scar.

Cut to Hohenheim blasting the door open in Dante's sanctum. He says he recognizes Dante from her perfume.

Cool alchemy battle. Dante summons gargoyles, and Hohenheim fights them with animated ice statues that look like Al.

Dante's rot stops around her waist. I wonder if it starts in the center and radiates outward?

We end on Ed digging up Trisha's bones.

Conclusion

Once again, I'm amazed by how well-written Hohenheim is here. He truly feels like a regretful deadbeat trying and failing to reconnect with everyone. He's much less cool and untouchable than he was in Brotherhood; he's not all business, and in fact tries to skirt around the topic even as Al tries to push for it. He's no longer just a plot device in human form. I feel sympathy for him, but also sympathy for Ed's frustration and Al's confusion at Ed's frustration. There are so many complex emotions interweaving here.

And to say nothing of the plot! There is so much plot here! So much foreshadowing, so many answers we're getting followed by new questions, and the characters are finally putting all the pieces together themselves. The villain's identity has been revealed at last. Everything is coming to a head.

#fullmetal alchemist #fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fma 2003 #liveblog

[anthropwashere]

@proserpine-in-phases tagged me in a thing about writing, so naturally I’m going to do this instead of write!

1) is there a story you’re holding off on writing for some reason?

A lot of my deadfics end up stalling out over research roadblocks. I’ll flub my way through one scene with the intent to come back after I’ve done my Google-fu, and then another, and another, aaaaand that’s now too much work. 

2) what work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

A JTHM fic I wrote in high school that ended up deadfic because I ran off to BMT. It was well-received at the time but looking at it now? It’s just so ow, the edge. I’ve low-key considered tearing it down and rewriting it, but it’s been ten years and I can’t even recall where I was going with it. 

3) what order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

90% chronological with a lot of snippets for later scenes piled haphazardly at the end of every Gdoc. of all the things that might have been was the big exception. There’s 28k posted and another 50k trapped behind a heap of writer’s block. :C

4) favorite character you’ve written?

Gee, I wonder!

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing?

Winry Rockbell. Not my usual character type to write by far, but she was just as surprisingly fun to write.

6) something you would go back and change in your writing that it’s too late/complicated to change now?

A ton of older fic on AO3 has a lot of weird formatting and grammatical errors. I think it’d be easy to get hung up over changes I’d want to make to various giftfics I’ve written over the years as well.

7) when asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

I can count on one hand the number of real life people who know I write and have fingers left over. I hate talking about my writing face-to-face. 

8) favorite genre to write?

Mmm, suspense/horror? Whatever you call ‘presenting a problem to a character that gets insurmountably worse, and also it would be justified if the character just huddled screaming under a blanket instead of confronting it.’

9) what, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Read other fics that handle similar topics/ideas. Look through the literal GBs of refs I’ve got saved. Get out of the house and do something even a little bit out of my norm. Get lost on Wikipedia.

10) write in silence or with background noise? with people or alone?

Music always, rarely near people.

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

Man, I’ve been writing and posting fics for 15 years now. I have to hope every aspect has improved since I was friggin’ 12 years old writing garbo Mary Sues.

12) your weaknesses as an author?

I can’t concentrate on anything long enough to finish it. More fic ideas than I’ll ever have the energy to commit too. Run-on sentences. I don’t write women almost at all. COMMAS. 

13) your strengths as an author?

I feeeeel like I do a good job of getting the reader into the character’s headspace? I adore limited narrative so when I write a fic I try to commit to that character’s style and personality. I also think I do horror/suspense decently.

15) why did you start writing?

11 year old Lorelei found ffn and went, “Oh shit, this is a thing? Sign me up.”

16) are there any characters who haunt you?

...I’m not sure what this means? 

17) if you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

It’s okay to write positive endings, edgelord. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes more is good too, but damn girl, tread carefully. 

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

These seems like a dangerous rabbit hole to fall down, so I’ll just link the most recent fic whose style and impact left me speechless the first time I read it (and envious, and determined, and more than happy to read it three more times).

Divine Right of Kings by Oedipus Tex

19) when it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

Badly! Which is why I’ve never successfully finished a longfic! But I do try and make outlines or at least a tidy splash of notes at the bottom of the Gdoc. One fic I’m working on right now requires spreadsheets.

20) do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

Little spurts. NaNo’s been excellent in the past at making me do more than a couple hundred words on a good day. Alas, the last Camp NaNo I signed up for I dipped out of because of my migraines, and I didn’t even bother signing up for July.

21) what do you think when you read over your older work?

For the most part I consider it all passable, as far back as AO3 goes at least. Anything earlier than that I pretend doesn’t exist. 

22) are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

Intimacy, be it porn or fluff. Anything technical I can’t gloss over with some hastily gathered Wikipedian knowledge. Comedy.

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

I don’t think so? Not much of my personal experience has been applicable to what I’ve written. A bit of geography, maybe?

24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?

I’d never claim to be an expert on anything, but I do try and do my research for fic. Learning new things is my favorite part of writing.

25) copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you’re particularly proud of

You may have a snippet from my four biggest FMA wips (all of which are over 15k words and nowhere near done, send help).

- We Are Sisyphus (03 fic where alternate Ed lives.)

Other Ed and Alfons are unpacking groceries, picked up on their way back to the tiny flat above not-Gracia’s flower shop that seems all the smaller with a fourth person inside. Gratia’s come up as well, bearing fresh vases of flowers too damaged to sell but still smell just as sweet. It helps to mask Hohenheim’s reek, something he can’t really help with how advanced his decay’s gotten in their time apart. 

“Surprised you even recognized him,” Ed says under his breath, under pretense of showing him some of the notes he’d brought back. He gives Hohenheim a long, quelling glare out of the corner of his eye. “I mean, considering you left when Al was still practically a toddler.”

“There were more recent pictures at Pinako’s house,” Hohenheim replies, apparently uninterested in taking the hint to back off. “But it’s the way you look at Herr Heiderich that made me realize just who he reminded me so sorely of.”

“Oh yeah? And how’s that?”

“Like you’re grieving.”

- your head will lie in dust (Father wins, makes the five sacrifices immortal. AKA, the Hohenheim fic with the group chat that can’t stop, won’t stop.)

“There was a cut on your cheek,” Hohenheim says.

Edward brings shaking fingers to his face. He digs his nails in as if he’ll tear his skin open just to spite Hohenheim on principle. Then he stops. Shuts his eyes. Lets Mrs. Curtis slide from his lap. “I,” he says. “You’re wrong. You have to be.”

“I’m sorry,” he says. He has said this so often now, to so many people over so many years, that the words have lost all meaning. He tongues at the space where regret should be and finds only an empty hole. “Do you hear them?”

Edward flinches in slow-motion, an exercise in arranging the muscles of his face into a tense knot to display his anger, his fear, his grief. Little words for emotions greater than any person should have to bear. Edward flinches and struggles to breathe. He presses his hands over his ears and tilts rigidly to the floor.

- our hands were first to forgive (The Mustang remains blind and gets automail AU nobody asked for.)

It’s unsettling, how easy clapping alchemy has turned out to be.

He’d expected it to be difficult, to be something he’d have to learn through trial and error. He doesn’t know why he thought that. Edward’s never shown any hesitation in the use of it—though when has Edward shown hesitation in anything? Bad example. Not that there are a lot of examples to choose from, and of those he’s only been able to see Alphonse transmute without a circle. That’s a somewhat recent development, isn’t it? Before the boys went up to Briggs. He never thought to ask what had happened to allow Alphonse to abandon circles. It hadn’t occurred to him to think that anything needed to have happened to allow it at all. Knowing the source of clapping alchemy, he doubts it was anything pleasant. One more thing to ask after, once he can see again.

This ability, this… gift? He hesitates to call it that. Unwanted, unasked for, received all the same. Fine. This gift wasn’t learned. It feels grafted into him, weird and rough at its edges, like the scars on his torso his shirts still catch on months after burning Lust to ash. Unnaturally a part of him, but a part of him still. For all the knowledge that was poured into his mind in the Gate, he doesn’t feel like he learned anything.

He feels burned.

- Pour Out Like Light (9 years post-series, Ed finds out Trisha’s illness is hereditary. This absolute bastard of a wip is currently stalled out at over 46k words and nowhere near done.)

He peels a potato, sets it down. A broken, twisted hand reaches over his shoulder to pick it up.

He sets down the vegetable peeler. “Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t you tell Granny?”

“Tell Granny what?”

“You knew it wasn’t the epidemic, didn’t you?” He cups the potato in both hands, in the hand he’s always had and the hand he’d traded away and Al had given back. “If you knew, why didn’t you warn her I’d get sick too? Why didn’t you warn me?”

She doesn’t answer. Instead there’s the heavy, loose-limbed thud of a body collapsing to the floor. It has a wet sound to it, a splattering sound. Her death rattle sucks the sunlight out of the kitchen, strangled and thick with fluid. There is almost, almost the sound of his name.

This post is huge now, wow. Um. Never sure who’s cool with being tagged in these kinds of posts. @ladyyatexel @leda-x @haikujitsu I don’t really talk writing much w/ any of you but you’re all fantastic and it’d be cool to hear some of the thought process behind the fics? No obligation, of course.

#writing #my writing #ty for tagging i love doing this stuff #i never think about the process of writing so much as just daydream all the stuff i want to write oops

[shanastoryteller]

fem!ed/havoc happy au

@arrowsbane well i guess we’re going to just have to keep being inspired by each other. i read her amazing post HERE, which was in turn inspired by my post HERE and you don’t need to read any of these to read this, but can i just say –

holy shit. havoc/ed. what a brilliant fucking paring that i’ve never even thought of before. holy shit, it’s perfect.

so – to set the scene. trans female ed. trans ed who performed human transmutation not to bring anyone back to life (both her parents are alive, but gone, trisha was not content to be left behind this go around) but instead to give her the body she always desired. and she succeeds. she and al are still trained by izumi curtis, and this gives ed her driving passion, her goal in life – to be a housewife.

so she and al go about her adventures, dragging winry along more often than not, but they stay away from central and they always come home. and ed’s about to turn twenty, and pinako is talking to her old friend ellie, and ellie is moaning about her unmarried grandson, her grandson who refuses to inherit the general store and won’t settle down and is off in the military, of all things. he’s a bright, handsome boy, elle says, he just has his head in the wrong place.

and pinako taps her pipe and goes – you know i’ve been raising three kids right, my granddaughter and my neighbor’s kids, a boy and a girl. and ellie is surprised, she thought both elric children were boys, but she dismisses the thought easily. she remembers ed as a tomboy, of course, and with that name who can blame her. but no one’s first thought is unprecendented human transmutation when presented with someone’s who’s a different gender than the one she remembers.

ellie is like oh, is winry looking to settle down? but pinako scoffs, says she’s a career gal through and through. but her other girl, eden – she has a wandering spirit, but she’s a good girl, a lovely country bred woman who’s looking to be a housewife (ellie’s idea of housewife and ed’s idea of a housewife vary wildly, but pinako’s not about to bring that up).  so pinako sends a message to her children, and ellie sends one to her grandson: she’s sending a young woman to central from their hometown. she’s single, and looking to settle down, and the granddaughter of an old family friend.

so jean havoc gets this letter, completely and utterly horrified. the whole team makes fun of him. but grandmother eleanor rules the family with an iron fist, and havoc better come up with a damn good reason not to marry this girl. he’d not interested in a country mouse for a wife. before he can think of one, eden has already agreed and is on a train to central. she convinces al to stay behind, just for a couple of weeks, because she doesn’t want him scaring this jean havoc off.

ed is gorgeous, and a genius, and an absolute terror. she’s dated a lot of men, slept with just as many, and hasn’t found a single one worth her time. she doubts she’ll be interested in a boy from their little rural town, but pinako knows her and she trusts the old woman’s judgement. if she thinks jean havoc is someone who could make her happy, eden is more than willing to give it a shot.

so havoc has to leave early from work to meet his amost-maybe-fiance at the train. obviously, the team minus hawkeye follows him. they’re dying to know.

a country girl. they were expecting a country girl, someone wide eyed, unpolished, a little out of her depth. instead they get eden elric, a girl who’s been to cities and knows how to dress for it. they get eden elric, black boots and black leather pants and a black shirt with a dramatic red coat flaring out behind her. eden elric, golden eyes and golden hair and in the setting afternoon sun just golden. she smiles when she sees him and jean’s mouth goes dry and his heart goes zing! and havoc is going to send his grandmother some really nice flowers. “you must be jean,” she says, voice low and smoky, eyes crinkling at the corners. “you look like your father.”

“i, you,” he fumbles, holding out his hand to shake and stepping forward to take her bag at the same time. “hi.”

“hi,” she repeats, and he’s screwed, she’s already laughing at him and it hasn’t even been five minutes. “did you know you’re being followed?”

he sighs and doesn’t look behind him. “those would be my coworkers and my superior office.”

“delightful,” she says, dry and completely unimpressed, and she’s from resembool, his job and his rank is worse than useless with her, it’s a detriment. none of that crowd like the military. his mother hadn’t talked to him for over a year after he enlisted. “that won’t do. we’ll have to ditch them.”

“how?” he asks, and she grins, sharp. he takes her to his car and she shoves him in the passenger seat and climbs in the driving one, breaking about a thousand laws as she careens down crowded city streets. jean’s horrified for about thirty seconds, then he’s egging her on and cheering, directing her down roads whenever she hesitates and laughing the whole time.

they make it to where he was supposed to drop her off, beaming. “usually men throw up when they drive with me,” she says, beaming.

“nah, that wasn’t scary, it was fun,” he says, and he’s already kissed this relationship goodbye before it’s started. she’s beautiful and brave and exudes the same type of easy confidence the colonel does, and that’s not something he’ll ever be able to match. she’s no country mouse. she’s a supernova, and he’s stardust.

eden smiles at him, and says, “would you like to meet me for lunch, jean?”

havoc peers up at the building, and it’s central university. he wouldn’t have expected a country girl / wanna be housewife to be pursuing a degree, but clearly he should toss every preconceived notion he had about eden out the window, because none of them are going to be right.

“yes,” he says, because eden will make an effort with him for a while, he knows, since she’s here on the insistence of both their grandmothers. but she’ll grow tired of him eventually, like they all do, and jean intends to spend as much time with her as she can before that happens.

except it doesn’t happen. she’s kind and smart, so unbelievable smart, and dry and biting. she snores when she sleeps and get snappy when he interrupts her reading, refuses to drink milk and hates brushing her hair, so more often than not it’s up in a truly awful ponytail. he likes these things about her best, because her little imperfections, her temper and her skittering attention, the messy way she eats, all make her human. she’s flawed, and each new one havoc finds delights him, because the fact that she leaves crumbs on the counter brings her just a little closer to his level.

they keep going out. the brother shows up, and gives him one overly-firm handshake, then takes his lead from eden. she’s happy with him, so alphonse is happy with him, but he imagines the easy friendship he shares with the other man would disintegrate the second eden indicates she’s moved on from him. eden talks about her classes and the kids in them, which ones are good students and which ones aren’t, and havoc keeps meaning to ask what exactly she’s studying but it keeps slipping his mind. he listens to her talk about it for hours, but it’s all science mumbo jumbo and honestly goes in one ear and out the other. he just likes listening to her talk when she’s excited.

she follows him home about a month in, and the sex is so amazingly mind numbingly good it almost doesn’t seem real.

she comes to office one day to meet him for lunch, a first because she hates his office and his work and the impasse they’ve managed to maintain about his career is that they just don’t talk about it much. but she shows up, pretty pale pink dress and softly curled hair, looking close to the delicate country girl they all expected her to be. havoc is running late, and when he shows up it’s to eden sitting on hawkeye’s desk and laughing with the woman. it’s a terrifying experience. he didn’t know hawkeye could laugh.

but she’s around more after that, befriends hawkeye, and jean finds out that eden met catherine armstrong on campus and they’re fast friends, she spends a lot of time at the Armstrong mansion. and havoc is sure that’s it, that eden will meet strong, rich alex and their relationship will go out in flames. but it doesn’t happen, eden keeps asking to see him and he keeps saying yes.

it’s been almost a year when eleanor barks down the line, “are you going to marry this girl or not, jean?”

“i don’t know if that’s something she’s interested in,” he says, because he’s not the marrying sort, but for eden? he would be willing. he’d be a husband if it meant having eden as a wife.

his grandmother scoffs down the line, “she’s a smart girl, jean. if she’s still seeing you, she’s interested in it. she didn’t move to central to date you. the girl wants to be a housewife.”

and jean hems and haws, but the thing is he does love eden. and maybe, just maybe, eden loves him. so he goes to hawkeye for help, and she goes, “oh thank god, finally.” havoc is offended for all of two seconds before realizing that means eden’s been waiting for him to propose. yes.

he’s walking down the street with her after a movie, holding up his jacket over both of them as some sort of minimal protection from the rain. there’s a ring burning a hole in his pocket, but thanks to the torrential downpour this is not the romantic evening he intended. they see roy, and are confused for about to seconds until they see serial killer scar going to attack him. havoc yells at eden to run, and she does – right at the serial killer.

but then she does something he’s never seen her do, she claps her hand together and blue energy cracks in the air, and – she’s an alchemist?

he really should have had that conversation about what she’s studying at university.

she good, incredible good, and he knew she worked out, but he didn’t know she was combat trained. she launches a relentless alchemica/physical attack against scar that has him running away with his tail between his legs. ed’s helping roy up when jean runs up and grabs her by shoulders to shout, “you’re an alchemist!”

“what,” she blinks, “of course I am? i talk about it all the time! i know i teach the advanced theoretical alchemy seminar, but my knowledge isn’t theoretical. what kind of professor would i be if I didn’t’ test my own theories before teaching them?”

“teach,” he says faintly, “professor. right.” he’s such an idiot, eden isn’t attending central university, she’s teaching there.

she gives him an odd look, and okay, his girlfriend is way more awesome and too good for him than he previously thought, but that doesn’t change anything.

“will you marry me?” he asks. they’re sweat, rain, and blood soaked. roy has horrible gash on his side, and he thinks eden might have a broken arm. he had a speech planned, but he can’t remember it right now. “you do still want to be a housewife, right?” he knows better now, that eden will never be the traditional housewife. but he can give her a home and his name, and, oh god, kids, when she wants them. he’ll give her everything within his power to give her, if only she’ll take it.

“finally,” eden and roy say at the same time, and havoc doesn’t have the time to get flustered before she’s kissing him.

and they all lived happily ever after

#arrowsbane #my fic #fandom fic #fma #TRANS GIRL ED #is so important to me honestly #she fits so well with havoc im crying #not in star crossed lovers kind of way #but in a slow burn best friend kind of way #which is almost better #pinako and eleanor are so proud of themselves its almost unbearable #ed pulls off three impossible things before breakfast everyday #have undersands none of them #he finally meets sig and izumi and suddenly everything makes sense #he and sig becomes fast friends #they're in the same bout #boat #husbands to wives that are better than them in every conceivalble way #and loving it #fandom ficcery

[arrowsbane]

Okay, so there is something to be said for not eating cheese before falling asleep in the mid-afternoon sun, because as fun as it sounds, it can mean for some seriously weird dreams. I am 1000% blaming @shanastoryteller for this, because right before I dozed off, I read this post here that she wrote and it hit a wall, turned 90 degrees east and ran off into the sunset of hell half-frozen over.

So. First let me tell you this, I am not writing this as a fic. Just no. It’s bad enough as it is. Also, while I’m somewhat known for genderbending, I am not really a fan of Fem!Ed. Kind like how I can’t handle Fem!Yuuri from YOI. It’s just… these precious babies are perfect just the way they are and I cannot bear to change them. But, I am down with reading Fem!Ed if there is a reason – like… gender reassignment. (See the aforementioned post). Or maybe Truth just likes to fuck with Ed. Idek.

So. On with the insanity:

So. For some reason, poor Edward Elric is a girl born in a boy’s body. Or maybe he’s just a boy who is more at home in the female shape. I don’t know okay. I’ve always been comfortable exactly as I am, and I’m not going to insult anybody by pretending that I know everything. The point is - Edward is not comfortable in his own skin. Edward knows that his body is somehow wrong. And he’s smart, and brilliant, and a goddamn whiz with Alchemy. And so is Al, who just wants Ed to be happy, no matter what.

So, crazy brilliant brightsparks that they are – with a supernova burning in place of a soul, and the universe in their eyes – they draw up a circle, and Ed goes before Truth.

Truth, of course, isn’t too happy at being faced with a tiny scowling boy who insists that he is a girl; but Truth does understand that sometimes bodies can be uncomfortable at best, and soul-destroying at the worst of times, and this insanely brilliant child is going to be the source of a shit-ton of entertainment for years to come.

So Truth helps.

For shits and giggles, because why not.

...

Trisha is… understandably puzzled. She went to bed the night before, a mother of two sons, and then woke up with a son and a daughter.

Um, what?

They are grounded. Of course they are. Origami cranes are one thing, but this? What were you thinking? You could have been rendered braindead, you could have blown up the house. Or the universe. You could have died!

It should be noted that Trisha ranks her kids’ lives above that of the universe continuing to turn, and reality not peeling apart at the seams.

As any mother rightly should.

...

Time passes, as it is wont to do, and Edward grows into a lovely young woman with a talent for mass destruction and reconstruction.

(although, it must be said that when puberty came rolling around, there were more than a few curses, and Ed had to be physically stopped from reopening the Gate in order to yell at Truth. Because Fuck you asshole!)

Officially, her name is Elizabeth on all the paperwork, but here’s the thing: Ed might be a girl now, but she never stopped being Ed. You can change your shape, but you can’t change who you are. And hell, Ed loves confusing the fuck out of people when she introduces herself as Edward.

[Teacher didn’t discourage this. If anything, she encouraged it.]

It becomes a joke – wherever she goes (and Al is with her, because in what universe would he not be? Don’t answer that. Because that probably means Al is dead in that universe and you can all go to hell before you hurt my little cinnamon roll), leaving chaos and destruction and generally uprooting tyrants for fun; leaving only the whispers of a red coat, long blonde hair and the names Edward and Alphonse Elric: Alchemist Extraordinaires’.

...

[Somewhere in the East, Roy Mustang is tearing his hair out trying to track down a pair of genius brothers. Here’s a hint: It’s not going so well.]

...

Now this? This is not love story for Roy and Ed, oh no. My weird ass dream is twisted, and somehow, I love it. Even though I don’t ship this…

So. It’s summer, and it’s bright, and Edward is now… what? Seventeen? Eighteen? Who cares? The point is, there’s a massive inter-village party going on, and alcohol is involved. She dances the night away, laughing madly the whole time and winds up going for a roll in the hay with a charming chap from two villages over who’s on leave from the military. Not her usual choice, but hey – he’s funny and he pulled out her chair for her, and calls her “ma’am”, and he made her laugh. He also turns out to be brilliant in the sack, so hey – Ed reckons she made a good choice of partner for the night.

She wakes up to a lazy grin, and work-roughened fingers gently teasing straw and dried grass out of her tangled mess of hair – because I’m not joking about the phrase ‘roll in a hay’. It’s round about then that she realizes she forgot to introduce herself, and so she holds out her hand, “Elizabeth,” She tells him. Because hey, he did good last night. He did more than good. She can play nice.

“Havoc,” He replies, shaking her hand, “Jean Havoc.”

Ed fucking laughs at him.

“What?” She asks, “You gonna tell me that you’ve got three brothers called Mischief, Chaos and Trouble?”

He laughs as well, and they’re both still laughing when they tumble over each other and go straight for round two.

...

On and off, the whole summer, these two wind up together. In bed, at dinner, just generally wandering about causing trouble. And then Havoc has to go back to work.

And dammit, Ed finds that she’s missing him. What the hell? Ed doesn’t do pining. She does quick flings, and moves the fuck on. But apparently not anymore.

Al figures it out before she does.

And then when she does, he sits her down and listens while she rants and raves, and curses Havoc out because she did not plan on falling in love. I mean, yeah, she’s got plans to be a Housewife someday, because Teacher was ah-mazing and all that – but no. She had not planned on marrying a military guy. Why would she? The military is E-vil. (And wow, Ed has no idea just how right she is there).

So Ed hmms over it for weeks and then she gets that stubborn look in her eyes, packs her bags, and scoots off down to East City because dammit, she’s getting married. Whether he likes it or not.

Al and Winry are cheering her on, and Trisha isn’t really sure what’s going on anymore.

(Yes, Trisha got ill and shit, but Ed got even more stubborn and kinda maybe might have been more interested in Alchemy and it’s healing properties in this ‘verse, and yeah, she paid a bit more attention when she met Truth. She doesn’t know it yet, but she gave something in trade to the Gate. There’s a reason she doesn’t have Daddy Issues here – she doesn’t even remember him. There’s nothing left to hate.)

...

Ed shows up in a hurricane of energy and barges her way back into Havoc’s life without so much as a by-your-leave. He’s not really complaining. Not even when she storms up to him in a bar when he’s out for a night with the boys, yanks him down by his collar, and tells him that they’re getting married.

“Um… Don’t I get a say in this?” He asks, blinking down at her. Her hair is a mess, and she’s breathing heavily from beating the tar out of a guy outside because he tried to put his hands where they weren’t welcome – but goddamn, she’s still the most beautiful thing Havoc’s ever seen, and in all honesty, his question isn’t so much a “no,” as a bemused “oh really now?”.

Ed straight up growls at him, and he laughs, scooping her up and tossing her over his shoulder.

“Oi! Breda!” He shouts down the bar, “Get your coat, I’m getting married.”

Breda chokes on his drink, and then he starts to laugh. “This I gotta see.”

...

So they get married in an office, with a half-sober Breda and some random person they grabbed off the street as witnesses.

Havoc’s collar is unbuttoned, he smells of beer and cigarette smoke. Ed is wearing jeans and a tank top, her hair is a tangled mess of gold and there’s dirt smeared on her left shoulder.

They don’t have any family members there, and Ed makes their rings out of her earrings and Havoc’s watch. But that’s okay. Trisha and Elaine can yell at their kids for eloping at a later date. And then ask about grandchildren in the next breath. Al will laugh himself sick, and Winry will demand to be Godmother when they get around to it.

Not that they plan to – I mean, practicing making the future babies is fun and all, but neither of them want kids just yet.

...

More time passes, and you know what? It works for them.

Ed is a freaking genius who sometimes gets so into her work that she forgets to eat or do the dishes, but that’s just fine because Havoc grew up on a farm where folk did whatever needed doing. So he cooks, and coaxes food into her. He washes dishes, and folds laundry, and he’s even brave enough to pull her away from her books for long enough to get her to sleep.

And then once she’s done with her bender, Ed spends days making it up to him. Because she’s a hundred percent the kind of person who gives stuff her all.

Havoc doesn’t understand one whit of what she’s doing, but hey, it makes her happy. He doesn’t need to know anything more than that.

…

The first time he accidentally catches sight of her notes over her shoulder, he thinks she’s going to kill him, because Alchemists are nothing if insanely secretive of their work.

But hey, no, not Ed. Not with her husband.

She smiles at him, and then yanks him down onto the floor next to her.

And then she starts explaining the basics to him.

…

Because here’s the truth. Ed’s been worrying over Havoc’s complete obliviousness to alchemic circles for a while now, especially seeing as he’s almost always on the team chasing the crazy (in a bad way) alchemists – and dammit, she wants him in one piece. So come hell or high water, she’s going to make sure he knows what is safe and what means he should be hightailing it out of there.

…

The next time he’s closing up a case with the team – a crazy wannabe alchemist had been messing with the structural integrity of a building, and was also apparently a complete and utter moron, because even he knows better than to use those two particular equations in conjunction together.

He says as much, and is treated to looks of utter amazement and disbelief from his teammates.

“What?” He asks, “I know stuff.”

Breda is sniggering behind his back, because unlike the others, he was there when Havoc married the crazy alchemist lady. Come to think of it… Breda might be the only one on the team who even knows that he’s married. Oops.

He really hopes that Hawkeye doesn’t shoot him for this.

…

So yeah, things go fine. Mostly.

Havoc learns when to run away from the crazies, and Ed wanders off with Al to save the world, or sometimes just turns entire cities on their heads by sticking her nose where she shouldn’t – see Youswell, Liore, ect…

And all the while, Mustang rages over the antics of the famous Elric Brothers.

…

It’s actually rather pathetic, and it takes Havoc a long time to put the pieces together.

He’s more than a little bit embarrassed to be honest.

Mustang is halfway through a rant on how Liore has descended into chaos – two raging factions; and Havoc’s eyeing the pin-board, feeling strung out and an odd sense of de ja vu.

Penny in the air?

Huh. Wasn’t Ed in Liore the week before last?

Penny drops.

Oh. Havoc thinks. Oh, shit.

He’s so used to her going by her legal name in public – because while Edward Elric writes alchemical papers and rescues kittens from trees, it’s Elizabeth Havoc who fails epically at knitting, burns scones and actually has a bank account – that he forgot (and wow, is she going to laugh herself sick tonight) that when she’s off gallivanting across the country with Al, she uses her birth name.

Son of a –

He’s been trying to track down his wife and brother-in-law the whole time.

The wife who sleeps in his bed, and the brother-in-law who camps out on their couch.

How is this even his life?

…

Ed does indeed laugh herself sick that night.

Mean.

…

He reckons that he should probably tell Mustang, if only to save Eastern Command from being set on fire the next time the Colonel loses his temper, but hey – Havoc likes living.

So he sleeps on it.

And he sleeps on it.

And he sleeps on it.

Eventually, Friday rolls around, and Ed is giving him that look – the kind that says ‘man up, or I’m buggering off to cause mass chaos and destruction without you,’ and so Havoc swallows his pride.

That day at work, he waits until Mustang is once again ranting on about the Elric Brothers, and then, carefully, warily, pipes up with: “So, um, Chief? I might have a lead.”

Mustang freezes, and then pivots.

Ack. He looks like he might breathe fire at any moment.

“What?”

Havoc gulps. And then he starts to fidget.

“Well, actually,” he admits, “it’s my wife that you’d be wanting to talk to, sir.”

Mustang looks at him like’s gone mental.

“You’re… married?”

“Yes?”

“She’s way too good for him,” Breda snickers, leaning back in his chair.

Mustang blinks, frowns, blinks some more, and then moves his mouth soundlessly for a few moments, clearly furious.

Then, finally, he grinds out a short command of “Call her.”

“Yes sir!” Havoc yelps, diving for the phone line and praying that Ed is at home.

She is.

And she’s more than happy to come down to Command and set the record straight.

She’ll even bring Al with her.

Havoc sort of wants to curl up into a ball and cry.

...

Ed glides into the office, all grace and charm, looking exactly as people would expect an innocent modern-day country housewife to appear. Her blonde hair is carefully braided up into a milkmaid’s style, and there’s a touch of flour dusting the hem of her peasant’s blouse.

Havoc feels like he’s in the twilight zone, because she’s even wearing makeup. Since when does his wild dustdevil of a wife wear makeup?

Al catches his eye and winks – he himself is dressed in neatly pressed clothes and sporting a pair of glasses (why? He doesn’t even need them for fucks sake?) and looks the textbook image of a wet-behind-the-ears scholar who probably couldn’t even find his way out of a paper bag.

“Mrs. Havoc,” Mustang smiles, offering her a seat, with his charm turned up to eleven.

“Hello,” Ed smiles, and there’s a devilsh look in her deceptively innocent topaz eyes, “Edward Elric, at your service.”

She sweeps into a genteel bow, and then gestures to Al.

“Alphonse Elric,” Al grins. “Nice to meet you.”

Havoc sorely wishes he’d called in sick that morning.

…

So… Okay. He’s probably going to die.

Mustang practically has a fit, and Hawkeye’s hand is on her gun, which means Havoc has to try really hard not to flinch.

Once he’s done making a series of choking noises that sound like a dying weasel, Mustang straightens his back, puts on his ‘the military wants you!’ face, and says: “Enlist.”

To her credit, Ed only blinks twice, before her mouth curls into a mischievous grin to anybody who knows her, and a dangerous snarl to the uninformed.

Al grins.

Havoc cringes.

“I,” Havoc’s wonderful Valkyrie of a wife thunders in a flawless imitation of her Teacher, “am a Housewife!”

Oh god. The look on Mustang’s face is priceless. He can’t help it.

Havoc starts to laugh.

BONUS:

Wondering why Father never managed to take over the world?

Funny story actually, Ed kinda might have just happened to be wandering by Briggs when Kimblee (the fucker) conned the Drachmans into attacking the fort, and hey, she kinda likes Amestris you know, being Amestris and not Drachma 2.0

So she drops a mountains worth of snow on them.

Funnily enough – carving a blood crest does not fucking work if all your victims die of air deprivation, or being crushed under several tons of ice and snow. Because, y’know, not enough blood being spilled and all.

Basically? The bad guys ran out of time – and it was all Ed’s fault, because no matter what they tried, she kept fucking up their plans by accident.

And then Honoheim owned their asses.

The End.

#fma #shanastoryteller #ramble fic #rambles #ed is a girl #I am going to hell #I wish I could say I am sorry #but i don't think i am #roy #alphonse #edward #roy mustang #edward elric #alphonse elric #mine #but also... sort of not mine? #what even the fuck is this? #riza hawkeye #jean havoc #riza #breda #havoc

[pumpkins-s]

Where would you put them in this AU? Like I imagine Riza in a suit of armor and Ed!Roy where he probably tried to bring Maes back. And Al wants to be Führer and Ed hates government but is there to keep his brother safe.

bby don’t worry I spent half the night thinking about this AU I got this:

This is one of those AUs where it’s basically an ages/positions/(sort of) motivations swap, but not a personality swap or, say, a background swap. 

Ed & Al are still raised by Trisha, and Hohenheim is still their dad/leaves them as children. Differences being here that it’s a decade earlier than it would have been in canon-- So Ishval hasn’t happened yet, and Trisha never gets sick and dies (when they’re children at least, whether she passes away later or not is up in the air). As such, Ed and Al never attempt human transmutation, though both do still grow up as alchemists, and Ed still grows up to be an angry, idealistic little shit because... Well, he’s Ed. 

I’d think the brothers join the military as a mix of things-- Because A. They’re young and idealistic like Roy was when he joined in canon, and might genuinely believe it’s a way to help people and Do Something Worthwhile with their alchemy. And B. It’s like... highly possible Trisha was once like “oh the military? Yes your dad was Not A Fan” (gee, I wonder why), and Ed is just. “mOM I’VE FOUND AN OCCUPATION” 

After Ishval they’d stick it out because they’ve witnessed the absolute nightmare of what the military can actually do, and Ed decides the only way to atone for all state alchemists as a whole is to aggressively dismantle the whole thing from the inside out. It’s corrupt, and while he doesn’t know the extent of it, he just knows it is. (Al just kind of... One part agrees and one part gets dragged along). Ed’s not Roy, though, so realistically I wouldn’t think he’s in this to become Führer, because as much as he wants the system destroyed there’s no way in hell he’d ever consider himself capable of being the one to fix it. He’d probably just look to take Bradley out of power and hand over the metaphorical crown to someone worthy-- Maybe his brother or Olivier Armstrong. Or. Basically anyone not involved with Ishval.

Roy’s still raised without parents and taken in by his aunt/Madame Christmas, the difference here being it’s a decade or so later, so Ishval happens when he’s a child, and instead of being apprenticed to Master Hawkeye as a teen(?), it’s as a younger child-- Say eight or nine-ish (realistically, we don’t know how long Roy was apprenticed in canon, or how young the average starting age is, but given Ed & Al were under 10 when Izumi began training them, and she didn’t react as if it was particularly strange, it probably happens). 

He and Riza grow up together, and instead of Master Hawkeye passing away when they’re 18-19 (guesstimating from canon?), it’s when they’re 10-11. Roy’s used to not having a Proper Family, per say (like... His aunt does genuinely try, but being raised by a network of spies disguised as a brothel must be fucking weird for a kid). This is the closest thing he’s ever had to a “normal” one, with Riza and Master Hawkeye (even if Hawkeye wasn’t what he’d call overly parental), and he doesn’t want to lose that, doesn’t want to go back to his life before (and he’s been through being an orphan and the foster system, and Riza living her life as he has is terrifying to him, she doesn’t deserve that. Master Hawkeye asked him to protect her and he must.)

So he basically goes to Riza and is like “I know you’re not an alchemist but how do you feel about us trying to transmute your Dad” and Riza, who’s like eleven here at best and has just lost her father and is terrified of some family member living god knows where swooping in to take her away from the person she considers her brother and never seeing him again, basically goes “Yeah, teach me.”

So they do. Roy teaches Riza transmutation and they spend months hidden under books in Roy’s room in the Madame’s house, and they, two kids way too smart and way too determined to take back their lives as their own for their own good, figure out the way to perform human transmutation (in theory, at least).

And they open the portal of truth and it takes Riza’s body, and Roy’s voice, because one of the most crucial things he’s been taught living in a house of spies and performances is that his words have immense power, and to a boy who’s spent his entire life desperately trying to control his own fate, few things such as that power could be more valuable. The portal spits them back out a living corpse, halfway already to dead, and Riza is gone, and Roy doesn’t think beyond the fact that the suit of armor Master Hawkeye kept as an old relic is here and he cannot lose the one person who he got to choose as his own (and him as hers).

He binds Riza’s soul to the armor, and Truth looks inside him and asks what this little girl is worth to him, and he says everything, she is everything.

So Riza lives, a girl’s voice in a suit of armor meant for a grown warrior, and the Truth takes Roy’s ears and his strength, and leaves him with ringing silence and an unsteady heartbeat, so that the boy who only wanted to be loved and control his own life may never hear someone say it to him, or hear the words he relies on to understand how to manipulate the world around him-- Or live long enough, with a heart full of love but not a strong one, to see either, anyways.

(And when Edward Elric, the Fury of Ishval and the alchemist known to force metal and stone to his will without question, comes knocking at their door, looking for whatever sick fuck carved that transmutation circle into the floor of what was once a great alchemist and did the unthinkable, he finds a boy who cannot speak and cannot hear, but still knows one thing-- How to burn down the things he loves.)

#wOW THIS GOT LONG #I put the rest under a cut because j e s u s #if it's not obvious i already lied to myself and am basically already writing this fic #for context Maes and Winry also switch places #so Winry is Ed & Al's childhood turned military friend who works as a state-employed doctor after the war #and Maes is Roy & Riza's childhood friend whose soldier parents went off to die in the war #Fullmetal Alchemist #role reversal AU #Anonymous #asks #questions for Nik

[purging-foxfire]

Prompt: Theme C: Legacy

Length: Around 1′825 words

Notes: I thought about writing something little around 500 words, but I got to excited... Also sorry for Al... Tomorrow’s prompt is family so he definitely gets his spotlight!

“Who are you?”

Dark eyes that speak of many tales, bore into him, almost as if they could look through him into his soul.

“Edward,” he mutters, before he straightens himself and speaks up, louder than before. “Edward Hohenheim.”

He hates that name, but if he wants to achieve his goal, he must use it in every way possible.

“Hohenheim… Hohenheim the Light’s son?!”

Mutters fill the hall and now thousands of gazes settle on him, searching for answers to their questions. Answers he might have – or might not. The man with the darkest orbs he has ever seen, looks at him with an unreadable mask.

“What might the great Hohenheim’s son want here?”

Besides the hall in which everyone was standing, there were only ruins. Ruins of houses and places, that once stunned and stole the breaths of every person, that took a step into this forgotten city among a sea of the clearest water he has ever seen.

“I’m seeking for something,” he answers, but doesn’t bother to specify. If everything goes his way, the people would end up with a reconstructed home, and he would have the information, and maybe even, the means to get what he wants.

The dark one narrows his eyes, but soon his expression is once again devoid of anything.

“And you mean to find it here? In nothing but mere ruins?”

“No,” Edward speaks, nothing but truthful. “I won’t find it here. Though a way to find it…”

And he doesn’t end his sentence, because he knows the other understands what he’s saying. It’s silent for a while, everyone too curious to disturb their conversation. Suddenly, a woman with blond hair steps forward, her brown eyes staring at him, like steel, unwavering.

“Riza!” the dark one whispers harshly. There is concern hidden in the voice, and Edward knows this woman is important.

“How do you plan to get whatever you want? You don’t believe someone will just tell you anything?”

Her voice is unforgiving and cold, but he can hear the curiosity in it. He snorts, surprising a lot of the people. “Of course not, I have thought this over though. There is something that I could offer.”

Now everyone’s face is filled with wonder and suspicion. They don’t trust easily, a good quality to have.

“And what would you offer be,” speaks the dark one, now standing in front of the woman, trying to shield here.

Edward smirks, as his eyes shine in the light of rays, that come through some gaps in the roof.

“The restoration of your city; in simple words, I’ll reconstruct every building here.”

Gasps fill the hall now, and everyone starts whispering. Even the dark one looks mildly shocked.

“How…,” whispers a man in the back, with blond hair and blue eyes.

“Hohenheim’s legacy,” he answers simply, and everyone understands, because they all have heard about the legends and tales of Hohenheim the Light.

“Well? What’s your answers?”

The people look at each other for some minutes, before the dark one speaks up.

“I’m Roy Mustang… and we’re willing to handle with you, if you show us prove.”

And showing them prove he does, once he clasps his hands and pretty building stands in the middle, of what once has been dirt and stones. Before he knows it, there are people cheering, shouting and laughing, as they stand in the middle of a gorgeous city with shining buildings.

Roy and Riza stare at him with the most grateful gaze he has ever seen.

“Tell us what you want to know – anything.”

And thus, he tells them about corpses, red stones and a dead little brother.

It started when they were kids, Alphonse nine, and Edward himself ten. They had a loving mother and hardworking father. So hardworking and absent, that he didn’t notice how his wife was rotting away, in only the company of their children. Or maybe, he noticed, maybe he knew all along. Edward wouldn’t put it past him.

Like mentioned, the mother, Trisha, was dying slowly and painfully – though very good at hiding it despite the pain. And one day, when they last expected it, she collapsed – and never opened her eyes again. It was one that fateful day, where they father came back, every intent to make things better, as he showed them a red stone (oh, how much Edward hated that stone, despised it to it’s core). He didn’t make things better – he made them so, so much worse.

There is always price for everything, anything. And like a fool, Hohenheim believed his life would be price enough for his beloved Trisha – except that it wasn’t. It never could be, and never would be.

Truth, the probably cruelest and yet wisest god he has ever met, doesn’t take too kindly to people, who try to verify the price of a live.

“A life for one? Don’t make me laugh! What about the memories? The experiences? The age? The amount of love and everything? You see a life is unpriceable.”

A speechless father and two scared children. Truth took his price.

“A man, a child and two limbs – there you go, have your beloved wife back.”

And Edward woke up to a deformed corpse, missing two limbs, and with only the last words of his father and brother to remember them by.

“Destroy them – this was a horrible mistake; how couldn’t I see? Destroy them all, Edward! Do you hear me? Des..tr.. the.. all – th… red.. sto…”

“Brother!! Don’t… do… anything stupid… I love…y…”

Edward doubted he would ever try to repeat what his father did.

“My best friend, Winry, and her grandma, Pinako, found me and gave me two metal limbs upon my wish. Then we buried the corpse – Pinako and me, Winry shouldn’t have to see… it… - after that, I searched through the things in my father’s studies. Those stones… there were a lot of them… I found his notebook with the location of every stone… He never put them in the same place… too scared someone might find them and take them all.”

“Obviously, people found them and tales were told. As for the notebook… some of the papers were torn and it was clear, that not every location was in the notebook… but I promised myself and Al – heck, even that bastard of a father, that I would destroy them all. And the one I’m searching… it’s the last one, and I heard people here would have legends and…”

He doesn’t finish speaking – too exhausted, too tired and they respect that.

They give him the knowledge he wants – the last red stone’s hiding place. In the middle of a desert of course, and Edward - something cold and dark settling in his stomach – already knows which one. Of course his bastard of a father would hid it where his hometown once resided. Stupid, he chides himself. He should have known.

“Thank you,” he says, ready to leave. But they stop him. Roy, Riza and four other guys.

“We’ll come with you,” Roy says, and there is determination in his voice and fire in his eyes. Fire that could burn worlds.

“And don’t you dare to protest,” Riza speaks, and there under the shining light of the sun, besides Roy, she is water. The water that could drown worlds, that holds Roy’s fire in check – and Edward agrees, too stunned to say anything else.

They travel some days and he gets to know them. He gets to know Havoc with his driving skills and cigarettes, he gets to know Breda with his funny jokes, he gets to know Fuery with his knowledge about technology and his shy manner and he gets to know Falman with his knowledge on everything.

He sees Riza’s gentle side, as she gives him her jacket when she thinks he is too cold, and he gets to see her strict side, as she chides him from injuring himself – even if they are mere scraps and scratches.

He sees Roy’s serious side, as he explains the danger of some actions to Edward and commands him to stay by their side, but he also meets Roy’s fun side, which is all about teasing and ruffling Edward’s hair.

And Edward notices – of course he does – they behave so weird around him, almost like - like parents.

But he ignores it, because he doesn’t have parents, and he certainly doesn’t have a life after this.

They find the stone among ruins (how funny) and Edward destroys it. The legacy of his father is gone. It’s that simple.

But it gets difficult once he turns around, facing the people that spend the last weeks with him. Which he grew to like – which grew to like him. He doesn’t know what to say, but he knows what he wants to say – goodbye.

(Or does he?)

He tells himself that it’s better soon – to vanish completely, too take that terrible knowledge with him into the depths of nothing, but forgetfulness.

But then he looks up and six pair of eyes stare at him with happiness and relief for him, with love. And he wants to cry so badly and he remembers.

“Hey, Ed? How old are you even?”

“… 15. I’ve been doing this for five years.”

And he remembers how they always used to ask him what he would do once he was finished – as if they didn’t doubt he would finish.

“Well, Pinako and Winry live somewhere else now… we were the only ones in that town and after – I guess they wanted to see some new sights… And I guess… I have no idea what I’m going to do after this.”

He was always too scared to tell them, that he planned to die after everything.

“Hey… Edward…”

And now Riza is standing before him, a hand on his shoulder, looking at him with… uncertainty and something like fear?

“Would you like…” Roy continues, and Edward is too used that those both simply know how to end each other sentences. They do that often and he knows that comes with their knowledge of each other and time.

Roy wears the same look as Riza, and Edward is worried.

But then Havoc grins, as he lies and arm around Roy shoulders.

“Come on!”

And Fuery smiles encouragingly at Riza. Then both, Roy and Riza, stare at each other, communicating with each other, before looking at Edward.

“Would you like to live with us?”

“We have a spare bedroom.”

But he hears the words hidden in their sentences – Would you like to start off new? We wouldn’t mind looking after you.

Like parents, like family.

And suddenly he knows he can cry. He does, in front of them, and the panic.

“Brother!! Don’t… do… anything stupid… I love…y…”

Don’t do anything stupid.

“I… I would love that… living with you.”

A new legacy to carry one. A better on.

A family.

#fmaauweek2017 #fma #fullmetal alchemist

[sapphossweetheart]

First Event: The shit in Liore, except their intention IS to start the riot and it doesn’t just happen. The event plays out roughly the same as it does in canon, in terms of the exposure, but they go with this shit being entirely planned.

Second Event: Envy, Lust, and Gluttony arrive in Liore to take over and give the Elrics ‘constructive criticism’ on their work. The Elrics hear on the radio that the Sewing Life Alchemist has been killed and their daughter is now missing. Scar is the culprit according to the radio.

Third Event: The Elric brothers go to the Youswell mines and the events are basically the same except the Elrics mostly did it because they hate Yoki’s mustache.

Fourth Event: They return to central, where they meet Scar. Ed’s arm is destroyed and Al’s armor is damaged. The extra light in his suit weakens Al’s powers.

Fifth Event: They return to Resembool for repairs. Along the way, they meet Dr. Marcoh.

Sixth Event: They find out how philosopher’s stones are made and they feel torn about their goals and their own stones. They still do the whole research thing and thus Ross and Brosh know how stones are made.

Seventh Event: Ed and Al escape out the window to do something for Father (a patrol?) and get pounced on by Scar, this time targeting Al bc even tho he doesn’t know what he is, he’s 100% sure it aint good. Ed takes the injuries that he otherwise would’ve taken in the 5th lab fight. They almost die again but the other Homunculi come in and drive Scar away, but he gets away. Causes a lot of damage to the area. They that the police n shit are gonna come and they don’t wanna get discovered so they leave Ed and Al in an area where they are easily seen and can be taken to be cared for without causing suspicion on their part.

Eighth Event: Ed needs his automail fixed again and Winry comes up to fix it. All the homunculi are in the hospital room checking on Ed and Winry finds it weird…. Roy also comes in to question Ed on what happens and says that the damage was caused by Scar in their fight. At some point one of the Homunculi come in and tells them their next assignment from Father: which is to head to Dublith and look for the missing Homunculi ‘Greed’ because he’s also a deserter and Father believes this is his location. They are also advised to avoid combat, and that Wrath will do the work once they find him.

Ninth Event: Winry goes with them bc she wants to visit Rush Valley. They get off with her because they wanna stick with their friend. This is also when they meet Paninya and The Gay Lesbians happen. It plays out similarly to how it does in canon. However, when the birth of that Lady happens, it completely floors Ed and Al and they begin their rethinking about humans bc look at that! A whole new life! They knew about that shit before but they never really thought about it.

Tenth Event: Dublith Time. They go all Sneaky and figure out Greed’s Location and report it to Wrath and Father. While they’re scouting, Ed makes eye contact with Izumi. Ed is like “oh that person looks familiar” but dismisses it, meanwhile Izumi sees the gold hair and red eyes and dark skin and roughly how old Ed is and is 100% sure it’s Ed or Al, and definitely follows him. The two lads sneak into the Devils Nest but get caught by Greed. They immediately attack, assuming the worst based off of what they know, and assume that Greed would’ve also attacked. Meanwhile, Greed is just confused as to why these kids are in his home and attacking him. He attacks back, but only to try and scare them off. During the fight, Ed or someone let’s something slip and Greed is also to really quickly put the dots together that somehow these two are connected with Father. Tho, based on the automail he knows Ed isn’t a regular homunculus, and he doesn’t know what the fuck is going on with Al but he assumes the same. Greed tries to appeal to them like “yo, this Father dude isn’t a good dude, you should come with me, it’ll be a lot better”, and as it goes on Ed and Al become more and more unsure about who’s in the wrong here. They know that Wrath is coming though, and they decide that even if they’re unsure, Greed should live.

Thus, they tell Greed to get his dudes outta there, and they escape before Wrath comes. Ed knows that Father will be pissed for letting Greed get away, but he’d probably die if father knew it was intentional. So he tells Greed to put some injuries on him so that it LOOKS like he lost a fight but he rlly didn’t. Al also detaches a couple armor limbs so it looks like he was also put out of the fight. This, sadly, is when Izumi finally finds and catches up to Ed, and (quite understandably) completely misinterprets the situation and just sees a grown ass man hurting the shit out of a child. They end up fighting, and Izumi doesn’t hear Ed trying to tell her what was actually happening because her vision is fucking red. Their fight doesn’t last long until Wrath end sup coming in and properly defeating Greed, And Ed and Al are filled with nervousness about what the actual fuck is gonna happen to him. They also get questioned by Wrath, who is also trying to determine whether or not they’re considering deserting. Wrath leaves with Greed and is satisfied with their answers.

Now it’s time for the Izumi Questioning and Reunion time. Izumi immediately goes to Ed and is like “Are you Edward or Alphonse Elric?” And Ed’s like “WHAT THE FUCK HOW DO YOU KNOW”, and Izumi explains who tf she is and they’re like “OH HOLY FUCK IT’S YOU!!!” And they end up having this really heartfelt reunion.

Eleventh Event: On the way back to Central, Ed, Al, and Winry meet Ling in Rush Valley. Ling is interested in the brothers’ unique chi and knows they have the secret to the philosopher’s stone/immortal life. They fight, and the Elrics win. Ling falls for Ed, HARD. When Ed returns to Winry with his now-trashed arm, Ling is also there and continues to pester the brothers. Winry talks to Ed about her gf (Paninya!) and Ed realizes he’s got feelings for Ling (bastard!). Insert flashback to when Paninya and Winry first started dating and were hanging out together, being silly and stuff.

Twelfth Event: Winry, Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu tag along with Elrics on the train back to Central. Winry is there to spend time with the Hughes family, and Ling + his crew are there because they’re stubborn and Ling is in l-o-v-e. The Elrics report back to Father about the stuff with Greed and Father tells them that they need to see the consequences of desertion. Greed, who is crucified, is melted down in a vat of molten gold. After witnessing this, the Elrics are horrified by Father’s brutality and come to realize the homunculi have been doing the wrong thing. They decide that they will try to secretly be less helpful to the homunculi and work to ruin their plans.

Thirteenth(?) Event: Ed and Al come clean about their identities and background to the Mustang gang, but not Ling (YET). They show proof about their own existences to Mustang (Al’s stone, Ed’s Homunculi lines, etc) and show off their own abilities. With proving the fact that they aren’t bullshitting out of the way, they tell them everything they know. They don’t know about the nationwide transmutation circle, but they know that there are places that need to be sites of mass bloodshed for Father’s plan. They know that Ishval and Liore were two of these, and they also know that Briggs is the next place on their list. Ed and Al tell them that it’s because of that that they are planning on heading north to try to stop their plan.

Fourteenth Event: The bros want to get away from Central and look for answers about Hohenheim, so they take Winry and they take a train to Resembool. They tell everything to Winry, and tell her that she needs to be careful because the homunculi could disguise themselves as anyone (and the Fuhrer is a homunculus). In Resembool, they ask around about Hohenheim and find out some things from Pinako. In the graveyard, when Ed goes to visit Trisha’s grave, he meets Hohenheim again. Ed is bitter about his relationship with Hohenheim but they go back to the Rockbells’ house to talk.

Fifteenth Event: Hohenheim tells Ed and Al about the creation and purpose of Amestris + the homunculi, and about why he left Father and then his mother. He also tells the bros about what he knows about Xerxes, and the original Van Hohenheim.

[shioritsumi]

I won’t say I didn’t like the original FMA anime, bc lord knows I did. But the further I got in the manga, the more disappointed I was that the anime diverged from it so much. Sloth as Trisha never sat well with me, to be honest, too....I wanted Trisha to stay dead in all forms. Dragging her back out felt unnecessary. Most of the hurt in FMA is necessary and serves a purpose. 

What did making Sloth Trisha serve? Aside from torturing Ed and Al and bending/possibly breaking the laws of transmutation? Which, if you’ll recall, is kind of the point of the entire series-that these laws of transmutation are unbreakable. It’s one of the draws for the series, everything in alchemy can be explained through a reasonable explanation. EVERYTHING CAN BE EXPLAINED. One of the rules is...you can’t bring the dead back to life bc science cannot recreate a soul. By bringing Trisha back as Sloth, it just broke several of these rules-because she even still had traces of her memories as Trisha.

ONE: This would mean 2003 Sloth had Trisha’s soul, or at least part of it. TWO: Most likely, given what was necessary to turn Ling into Greed, this means Trisha’s body would have had to have been dug up to be used to turn into Sloth. No such evidence. They imply that they created an exact duplicate of Trisha’s body WITH her soul out of thin air AND THE LAWS IN THE SERIES SAY YOU CAN’T DO THAT! JESUS!

Phew. Moving on. I felt that having Scar be the one who killed the Rockbells made more sense. Oh, sure, have Roy be sent there to kill the doctors treating the enemy. What military does that, even THIS army? Rather, they’re killed by Scar, an injured Ishvalan who’s in shock, and already predisposed to hate every Amestrian he sees because THEY CAME TO HIS COUNTRY KILLING HIS PEOPLE, and it’s a knee jerk reaction he feels really bad about when he comes to his senses later and realizes they were just doctors trying to help as many people as they could. It helps accentuate the psychological damage war can have on people. 

And Pride...god, Pride. Pride was always that thing that caught me off-guard in the manga. I was disappointed when they made Bradly into Pride in the first anime. It suits his public persona, but he’s Wrath. He lashes out, he takes as many lives as he can, and when he has to he does as much specific personal damage to his enemies as possible. He is the quiet seething anger under a good cover, and that’s the worst kind. Pride is darkness in the form of a child, spoiled and bold and unafraid of the entire world. He’s the kind of boldness and pride only a child can get away with. If Pride appeared as an adult, you’d realize something’s wrong with him right away. But as a child, he easily goes unnoticed for literally years. Ed even talks with him and pats him on the head and tries to protect him when he learns Bradley is Wrath bc he thinks this is an innocent child who needs to be protected from his father’s true identity. 

THIS IS THE HORROR OF PRIDE’S REVEAL. He all but flailed his identity around, displayed perfect Pride behavior in how boldly he approached Ed and Al every time, and no one looked at him twice. In retrospect, even Al admits he saw the signs and ignored them. 

I’m not saying that the 2003 anime is bad. It was enjoyable and I liked the writing and animation. 

I’m saying that Brotherhood was just SO AMAZING IM STILL CRYING GODDAMMIT THEY GET TO PUNCH GOD AND RESTORE WORLD PEACE....