#homunculus al

[lotusthekat]

[ID: A digital cover art called "What I've Done", inspired by Linkin Park's song of the same name. This cover refers to a Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 AU where Al is the homunculus Wrath, created in the same night as Sloth. Here, Ed stares at the viewer with a tired frown, hands curling into fists. He's mostly colored white with the exception of his red coat. Behind him, Sloth and Wrath are drawn with white ink against the black background, the only colors being Sloth's purple eye and the homunculi's Ouroboros marks. Sloth is on the left, also staring at the viewer with an indifferent expression, even if only her eye and eyebrow are seen. Wrath is on the right and he's turned around entirely, only his back seen. That exposes his Ouroboros, located on the back of his neck. His right arm, which has transformed into a blade, also shows a red scar; that's Ed's lost arm. Finally, the title distributes itself above each character, from left to right: What (Sloth) I've (Ed) Done (Wrath). Only "I've" is colored red. /End ID]

I do not guarantee an official final product out of this AU, but I would love to write a complete story one day. Maybe I'll just post the concepts on their own for now, though.

If you're curious about the AU, feel free to check the #homunculus al tag on my blog :) some posts are kind of outdated but it's still the same premise for the most part.

DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION!

#fullmetal alchemist #fma 03 #edward elric #alphonse elric #trisha elric #fma sloth #fma 03 sloth #fma wrath #fma 03 wrath #homunculus al #alternate universe #fma au #fma 03 spoilers #my art #fan art #digital art #cover art #artists on tumblr

[lotusthewriter]

What I've Done - Chapter 1

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

Rating: T

Relationships: Alphonse (Wrath) & Edward

Characters: Alphonse Elric (Wrath), Edward Elric, Sloth, Dante, Envy; other characters to be added

Summary: "As soon as the homunculus decides to shove these feelings down his throat and take the alchemist to Dante for once and for all, his troubled opponent finally dares to say something that stops the world from going.

“... Al?”

It paralyzes Wrath."

A Homunculus Alphonse Elric AU.

Word count: TBA

AO3

A/N: I thought of this AU back in 2021 and it changed a lot since then, but I was at least able to write the first chapter and hopefully the second will be up soon. The rest of the AU is mostly loose concepts and I'm not sure if I'm really going to finish this story concisely, I was still excited to introduce this AU in writing form.

I will be adding the trigger warnings for the whole AU, not this chapter necessarily. Please read them and try to look after yourself if you can.

TRIGGER WARNINGS - death, repressed trauma, child abuse, physical and emotional abuse, emotional neglect, canon-typical violence, self-sacrifice, suicidal thoughts, blood and injury and loss of limbs. (More might be added)

P/roship DNI.

--

“It’s time.”

Someone like him could easily be spotted and not recognized as a human. Pale skin, purple eyes, purely long, black hair… and in his case, two limbs that don’t belong to this body. Whoever it must belong to, Wrath is not aware.

Everyone else already got to meet the young alchemist that seeks the Philosopher’s Stone. Wrath, however, has never actually left Dante’s mansion until now. When she wasn’t teaching him alchemy, Wrath would be alone in his room, bored out of his mind, but knowing he couldn’t leave or do anything about it.

This is the very first time the homunculus goes on a mission. He’s all on his own. Well, even if he wanted help, he wouldn’t get it: either because they don’t care about him, or they outright hate him. So, he’s not entirely disappointed by being alone. If anything, Wrath has gotten used to it.

He only has one mission: bring the alchemist back to the homunculi, alive. They failed in the first try, but Dante rests assured that Wrath will change the course of fate.

The boy is driven by his want to impress Dante and the other homunculi, so they would finally see that Wrath is worth something. He’s trained a lot to be part of their battles, and he needs to prove himself useful if they want him around.

Thus, Wrath is hidden behind the endless green of the forest, moving slowly, not making a single sound. While Dante receives her former student, he hunts down the alchemist in the wild, knowing he stormed off outside.

“You know what to do.”

It’s simple.

It doesn’t actually take too long to find a presence in the wild, not much far from the mansion. Wrath, already camouflaged, takes a peek where the light touches. Immediately, he detects braided hair, blond like gold, and overall black clothes. From this angle, the alchemist looks… short. He’s young but that was the only detail Wrath was informed of.

The teen appears to be thinking, hands inside his pockets. He’s rather quiet, looking up at the sky. Judging by his low shoulders, the prodigy seems… sad.

Wrath will definitely be detected.

So, he waits.

Observes.

For someone with such lively colors, the alchemist doesn’t reflect on them at all. He’s seeking the Philosopher’s Stone, like every other alchemist who tried, so he must be trying to bring someone back, right?

Before Wrath can even wonder, the homunculus shakes his head to focus instead on his enemy’s movements and noises, to advance in the perfect moment.

After a couple more minutes of nothing, Wrath is a bit surprised when the other boy takes something in his hand. The former can’t see it very well from here, but he hears an opening noise, kind of metallic.

“... Don’t forget…”

Wrath is able to leave the tree, slowly, as the blond’s attention is entirely on whatever is in his hand. The former’s arm has already been transmuted into a blade made of stone, so he can threaten the alchemist with it. If he’s fast enough, that is.

His purple eyes remain focused, whereas the other doesn’t seem to care about the world around him at all. Just this one object.

“... I won’t.”

Wrath does not make a sound.

The perfect spot.

“I promise,” the tired voice speaks out to the above, “I’ll make it up to you…”

Now.

Yet whatever name the alchemist was going to say, is never known.

Because he’s quick to also use a blade of metal out of his right arm, defending himself from Wrath’s attack.

But the homunculus is not going to give up so easily. He’ll do whatever it takes, for everyone’s sake.

The human alchemist is thrown off, panting, eyes wide. Eventually, he seems to calm down as he processes what has just happened, analyzing Wrath and frowning in confusion.

“You’re… a kid,” he notes. “But… you’re just like them , aren���t you?”

Wrath doesn’t reply.

“Wait, your arm is”– the other gasps in realization –“you can do alchemy?!”

Again, the prodigy gets no answers.

Only another fast attack, so the blond can only dodge and even throw Wrath away, but not taking off the latter’s stance. He can barely breathe.

“You don’t talk too much, do ya?” The alchemist tries to joke. “Not even a sad backstory?”

Wrath doesn’t show any emotion, not even annoyance or hatred. He just attacks.

That leads the blond to use the ground to create walls behind walls, only for them to be destroyed by Wrath’s own alchemy. The purple-eyed boy can also create spikes, shields, pretty much everything the other is using to fight. It’s like Wrath knows his enemy from the palm of his hand, despite the fact they’ve never met before.

For most of the fight, the human prodigy is stuck in the defense, never given one second to rest as Wrath is intent on immobilizing him. The alchemist is growing increasingly tired; after all, he’s just a human teenager, doomed by his physical limitations.

In the middle, Wrath realizes that his opponent’s right arm and left leg are made of metal. For one, the latter can transform his arm into a blade like Wrath does. But mostly he could tell by the strength and hardness of said limbs. The homunculus is his very opposite, bearing human limbs in a pale, soulless body, but it’s still the right arm and left leg, too. Wrath never quite understood where his human parts came from. His memories are a haze, he can only remember quick flashes of different moments, unsure if they were from the human he was supposed to be, or his existence as a cursed creature of Earth.

Wrath’s body is mostly hidden by his clothes; after all, he wouldn’t want to be spotted and captured. When he finally has the chance, he uses his shirt to trap his enemy. The latter defects most of the containing shreds, only for two of them to grab his metal arm, and his exhaustion only catches up with him. For the first time in the battle, Wrath smirks, even if subtly. The prodigy has no way out.

As Wrath starts closing the distance between them, the alchemist rages as a last resort. He pulls the other with full force, aiming his metal blade at Wrath’s head, giving the homunculus little time to dodge. Thankfully, Wrath doesn’t actually get hurt, but he stumbles and almost trips as he and the human boy go separate again.

Only this time, Wrath is the one who’s shocked. Maybe because this is his first real fight, and even if he’s a homunculus, getting sliced in the head sounds far from a pleasant experience.

He feels like something was taken from him. He feels… incomplete.

His human and artificial hands have black hair strands in them.

Then it clicks.

Most of Wrath’s hair was forcibly cut. Even just turning around a bit, he can spot the black mess lying in the grass. And for some reason, his enemy just… stands there. He doesn’t try to attack Wrath, even when the latter is now vulnerable.

Wrath feels something intense. Anger.

He knows he’s not supposed to be impulsive. He needs to focus his anger on the right things, and fight for the greater cause. Yet it’s like something boils inside him the more he stares at the lost black hair. Wrath consciously chose to let his hair grow, to be his own person, to be accepted by Dante and the homunculi.

This part of him was taken away from him, like everything else.

Tightening his fists, Wrath seethes and attacks again, but not calculatedly. After remaining silent the entire fight, he growls and yells, except he gets no reaction from the other end, therefore he traps the stubborn alchemist against a tree, left arm trapping him while his right prepares to punch his enemy in the face.

However, Wrath doesn’t hit him just yet.

Not with the way the blond is staring at him.

Golden eyes staring at him with a look so pained that Wrath has never seen in his life. The alchemist’s lips quiver in the same way his human body shakes. Regardless, he isn’t afraid. He’s horrified but… in a guilty way. Mournful, even.

It’s like… he knows Wrath.

As soon as the homunculus decides to shove these feelings down his throat and take the alchemist to Dante for once and for all, his troubled opponent finally dares to say something that stops the world from going.

“... Al?”

It paralyzes Wrath.

His fist is no longer firm.

Something resurfaces.

Yelling.

…

“Al?”

The voice sounds far away.

“Al, can you hear me?”

It’s cold.

“C-Come on, Al, say something.”

Dark.

“Please. Please, Al.”

Metal.

“No…” the voice sobs. “No, no, no!”

It sounds painful.

“I gave up my arm! Give him back! GIVE HIM BACK!!”

The pounding against metal is loud, scary even, especially the inside.

Instead of more angry yelling, there’s only mourning sobs and sniffs, until it quiets down.

“He’s my little brother… please…”

The tears aren’t felt or seen, but heard.

“Al… come back…”

As there’s no other answer, the pounding returns, and the voice growls in frustration.

“No! Al! AL!”

“AL!!!!”

…

Wrath unconsciously stumbles back, far away from the alchemist, this time the one wanting to escape from his painful, grasping look.

… his name is Ed, isn’t it?

The same voice…

Despite Ed’s shock, he still approaches Wrath slowly. He might as well cry.

“Al…”

That.

That name.

It brings more memories.

Learning alchemy, bonding, trusting…

It hurts.

When Ed dares to reach out a hand, Wrath slaps it away and runs away.

“Al!” He hears from afar.

The boy finally yells, “MY NAME IS NOT AL!”

Wrath merges with the forest once again, soon out of the other’s sight. Even if he’s quick to return to the mansion, he can still hear Ed yelling that name far away…

Somehow, Dante’s disappointment is the least of his concerns right now. Instead, it’s that lonely nightmare and those yells of grief, so intense… and so full of love.

--

Next chapter

#fullmetal alchemist #fma 03 #alphonse elric #edward elric #elric brothers #alternate universe #homunculus alphonse elric #homunculus al #death mention tw #long post #fanfiction #fma au

[homunculusalphonse]

homunculus al is already very rare, and when i do find the crumbs, i just... i don't get why he is usually pride. i know bh al and 03 al have different storylines, but i just can't see him being pride in either of them. if anything, ed is more suitable as pride (in bh) than al. 03 al would definitely be wrath, but bh al... i'm not sure. but not pride in my book.

#captain's log #fullmetal alchemist #fma 03 #homunculus al #if you disagree it's cool #please don't be mean #i'm not hating on anyone #it's just my alphonse elric brainrot taking over me is all

[wickedcriminal]

Consider

#something something al's soul stuck to the thing they made in the human transmutation #and through fma2003 logic he became a homunculus #greed is actually a great fit for al imo #not to mention he can still do all the tank-y stuff his armor could do with his Ultimate Shield #fmab #fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #greed the avaricious #alphonse elric #edward elric #my art

[jimkinnz]

homunculus facts¡

homunculi survived the permian·triassic event' largely due to the fact that we,re not a natural species' but who,s counting¿

since homunculi are so finicky' only a master alchemist can temper one to a perfect shine•

if i sleep inside an accordion' i awake with a pair of coke bottle glasses• i don,t know where they come from• my hair gets curlier too•

henry higgins failed to teach me elocution• i didn,t marry him either•

i ate a very large jar of pickled ginger this evening• i hope i don,t get bad heartburn•••

the devs have decided to nerf the powers of all homunculi still used in competitive• we were dominating the meta too strongly•

#homunculus #homunculus facts #wizardposting #unreality #alchemy #paleontology #the great dying #chocolate #weird al #my fair lady #sushi #esports

[clonerightsagenda]

So Mei gets to the country's border pretty quickly after splitting from Scar's group but then decides to turn around and... falls off the map for the entire timeskip. What happened. Did she keep trying to find them but couldn't catch up because she is a 10 year old traveling on foot. Did Envy keep giving her bad directions. The people demand answers.

#kat reads fma #Mei spends months carrying a homunculus around in a jar.... her brother IS the jar #Al also gets to be the jar briefly #hey father your kids are really taking after you #Meigate 2k23... Where Is She #perpetual perpetual ladies night

[greedsbutt]

#greeds butt #ling yao #greedling #fmab #FUCK WHAT I SAID IN THE TAGS A FEW DAYS AGO #I LOVE ANIME #THIS WHOLE SCENE > EVERYTHING ELSE #FUCK ED CALLING HOHENHEIM HIS DAD #FUCK AL GETTING HIS BODY BACK #THIS SCENE >>>>>>>>>>> #ASJGKDHGDALHSGKSD #OOOHHHHH and i LOVE how everyones like 'is that ling or the homunculus?!' #THATS THAT GOOD SHIT #NOBODY KNOWS EXCEPT THEM AND I LOVE THAT FOR THEM #THEYRE WORKIN TOGETHER SO GOOOOOOD HEREEEEEEE #monster boyfriend

[yo-soy-la-justicia]

#había paneles que me gustaron bastante #si los shipee para que mentir #se agradece que el autor no le tuvo miedo al fanservice en cualquier caso #homunculus #yamamoto hideo #manga #estoy regresando a escribir aqui tiempo después porque aun no lo supero #pero ellos se besaron #lo había olvidado completamente #chispas

[italoniponic]

I had, once again, almost bawled my eyes out at Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood final episodes (re-watching for the 2nd with my parents, 3rd time in general) and I'm feeling GREAT!

#fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fma brotherhood #just... #fmab spoilers #fma spoilers #(just in case) #greed realizing that the void in his heart cannot be filled with material things but with meaningful friendship #homunculus being thrown into despair for being a little shit #ed sacrificing his truth door to save al #may crying her heart out for al!! #roy putting his own health second in favor of a friend in need ONCE AGAIN #and edwin having the most beautiful iconic romantic exchanges in the entire anime universe you can quote me on that #no kiss no spicy things only 'OMG we're a couple of nerds' #perfect for me #hiromu arakawa is amazing #cherry's mumbling about fmab

[polypolyanna]

What if Trisha was Xerxian and she and Hohenheim got married and had Ed and Al? And of course Homunculus is there. A nice happy little family.

#fullmetal alchemist #fmab #van hohenheim #homunculus #edward elric #alphonse elric #xerxes au #my art #i haven't seen a lot of this au around #if someone has more art or fics of it send it my way

[lotusthekat]

[ID: Two doodles, one colored and the other black and white. On the left you have the Elric brothers hugging, except it's teenage Ed hugging a ten-year-old Al who has black hair. Al is crying while Ed's expression is unclear. On the right is Wrath, a boy with long black hair with a saddened look, as if he's staring at the scene. /End ID]

"Your deepest wish... is to hug your enemy?"

"He's not just an enemy. He's my brother. Or at least he used to be."

DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION!

Don't tag as ship. P/roship DNI.

#fullmetal alchemist #fma 03 #edward elric #alphonse elric #fma wrath #fma 03 wrath #homunculus al #my art #fan art #digital art #sketches #artists on tumblr #(pretending i didn't make up the dialogue just now) #fma au

[lotusthewriter]

What I've Done - Chapter 3

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

Rating: T

Relationships: Alphonse (Wrath) & Edward

Characters: Alphonse Elric (Wrath), Edward Elric, Sloth, Dante, Envy, Izumi Curtis; MINOR - Roy Mustang; other characters to be added

Summary: “As soon as the homunculus decides to shove these feelings down his throat and take the alchemist to Dante for once and for all, his troubled opponent finally dares to say something that stops the world from going.

“… Al?”

It paralyzes Wrath.”

A Homunculus Alphonse Elric AU.

Word count: TBA

AO3

First chapter | Previous chapter

A/N: I actually already had this chapter planned but I hadn't written it out, so here you have it!

The next chapters will take longer to be posted, though, but I want to keep dedicating myself to this AU, because I really like exploring these characters and the idea of a homunculus Al. Even though this chapter specifically will focus more on Ed's side of the story.

If you want to check out my concept art for this AU, you can check out my art blog, @lotusthekat! I usually post it under the #homunculus al tag :)

Alright, so big trigger warning for suicidal thoughts/ideation in this chapter. It applies to the whole fic, but it's very present here.

TRIGGER WARNINGS - death, grief, repressed trauma, child abuse, physical and emotional abuse, emotional neglect, canon-typical violence, self-sacrifice, suicidal thoughts, blood and injury and loss of limbs. (More might be added)

P/roship DNI.

--

“... AL! ALPHONSE!”

His throat is sore at this point.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been in the forest, looking for that kid. Someone like that shouldn’t be this hard to be spotted.

Edward coughs roughly, exhausted both from the search and the fight that once took place. He has fought many, many powerful enemies before, but he never thought someone would be as quick as Ed, knowing his every move.

Ed has pretty much lost his strength at this point, unable to run or perform alchemy. He’s glad his automail hasn’t broken, but there’s too much inside his head and Ed doesn’t know what to do about it.

As he drops to his knees on the dirt, not caring about it dirtying his pants, there are desperate steps coming in his direction. Ed almost wants them to be that boy, but it turns out to be Ed’s alchemy teacher, Izumi, who also seems to have been hopelessly searching for someone in the woods.

“Ed!” Teacher exclaims. “Where the hell were you?! I’ve been looking everywhere-!”

She stops the yelling when she sees the state Ed is in, her eyes softening in concern.

“Oh, Edward… what happened to you?” She asks as she helps him stand up.

Ed looks away, gulping in fear. Izumi was really angry with him when she found out what he had done, so he doesn’t want to make her mad again. She notices, hence why the woman gently rubs his cheek, probably to clean off the dirt in his face.

“Hey,” Izumi whispers, “you can tell me, Ed.”

He’s not entirely convinced.

Thus, she sighs.

“I… I’m sorry I never made you feel safe enough to come to me all these years,” Izumi apologizes. “So, I want to do this one thing right. I want to be part of your journey. I wouldn’t have come all the way to Dante if I didn’t.”

Her smile is… truly soothing.

Ed doesn’t feel scared of her right now.

Though, it’s really not just her. It’s the fact that everyone involved with Ed will only get hurt or disappear. He doesn’t want that to happen to his teacher, either.

Regardless, Ed finds himself relaxing, letting out the deepest sigh.

“Okay.”

--

Close.

So damn close.

Yet Ed couldn’t even do this right.

His little brother’s hand was gone.

And there’s a monster in the transmutation circle.

He failed.

But most importantly, Edward failed his little brother.

And he couldn’t bear that.

With his own blood and an absent leg, Ed yells at the beyond, hopefully to bring Al back even if in this armor for now.

Once again, the bright light obfuscates the dark basement.

And Ed has no right arm.

Except…

“Al?”

The armor doesn’t show one sign of life. Other than the monster, there’s no other sign of life at all.

Still, Ed, obviously struggling, manages to cling to the metal armor, to see if it’s going to move.

“Al, can you hear me?” The boy begs.

Nothing.

“C-Come on, Al, say something.”

Ed starts shaking the armor, though pathetically since he only has one arm to do that.

“Please. Please, Al.”

It smells like tears, blood, and rotten flesh.

And dead metal.

“No…” Ed’s voice is a pitch higher. “No, no, no! I gave up my arm! Give him back! GIVE HIM BACK!!”

He’s pounding on the metal armor, hating it with every force out there, and yet unable to rip it apart in two. Ed is so angry that not even destroying a thousand armors would ever satiate the feeling.

Edward gradually sobs more painfully, growing numb to the pain and the blood coming out of him.

“He’s my little brother…” he whispers, his true priority. “Please…”

He’s probably going to die.

What’s the point, anyway?

"Al... come back..."

He won't.

The older Elric growls loudly and pounds the metal with force, not even caring about hurting his only weak hand.

"No! Al! AL!" He yells. "AL!!!!"

Ed lost everything.

And he’s going to die alone, all because he was too selfish.

“I’m sorry…” Ed cries, vision slowly darkening.

He has nothing. Nothing.

…

There are steps coming downstairs.

They sound like… boots.

Ed already feels rage just imagining who that could be.

Not him of all people…!

The steps rush to Ed’s direction.

The boy growls, “Go away…”

Whoever is there scoffs quietly. “Kid, you are literally bleeding to death.”

“I don’t care!” Ed ends up whining instead of sounding actually angry.

It’s not like he’s even able to resist much considering half of his limbs are gone, so Ed feels himself being held in the stranger’s arms.

“So, you did all of this…” the man mumbles.

The boy’s golden eyes are filled with tears again.

“It hurts…” Ed sobs.

He realizes he’s losing more and more touch with reality.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t see Mom or Alphonse once he leaves.

“... Winry,” Ed whispers nonsensically, his last hope. “Rockbell…”

There’s silence, then a sympathetic sigh.

“You’ll be alright, kid.”

Beyond his better judgment, Ed finds himself hiding in that stranger’s firm arms, clinging to his wet coat. It’s far from comfortable, yet Ed has already lost everything to care.

The only things Ed will remember then are blurs.

--

When Ed wakes up, he’s in bed taking soup, Winry eyeing him with curious yet terrified blue eyes.

Winry and Granny are apprehensive, neither of them daring to speak. It’s quite a miracle that Ed survived, according to Granny. He expected her to give him a full lecture, and maybe she was about to do so… when Winry asked Ed about Alphonse.

With silence as their only answer, Granny is not even cranky. If Ed isn’t seeing things, she might be letting out tears in secret. Winry appears to have cried, too, and she still does every now and then.

It’s raining too much outside.

Ed knows that creature is still there in the basement, but maybe it’s just going to die due to its state.

Al, then… never came back.

Ed knows he can’t say anything. Nothing will be enough to explain what happened. No apologies will ever bring Mom and Al back. There’s absolutely nothing to justify the older Elric.

Unlike the Rockbells, he’s too empty to cry. Like all the tears were gone with the rain.

The boy doesn’t feel any pain.

He has nothing.

Nothing at all.

He could’ve just… died.

Why didn’t he?

Ed already lost everything.

What was the point?

He’s nearly claimed by the deep rain when the guy that saved him – and Ed already hates him for it – returns, after borrowing the house phone for the moment being. Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, apparently, was looking for the Elrics’ father thanks to a couple of unsent letters. Ed tunes out of the conversation entirely at the mention of that old man, almost wanting to tell everyone else to leave him alone to die.

Ed is staring at the window, golden eyes deprived of any hope, when he hears the same boots coming to him… gently this time.

“You may not think so right now… but I know you have talent, kid,” Mustang lowers his voice to him. Ed refuses to look back, and the man understands it. “If you want to use it, well… I hope you are ready for the next State Alchemist exam.”

Now is the time Granny Pinako yells at Mustang, appalled that the Lieutenant Colonel would suggest something as such to a bleeding eleven-year-old. At least he leaves before the older Rockbell can kick him out with her wrenches and automail limbs.

Ed, for the first time that night, frowns.

None of them see it.

State Alchemist…

--

“... everything has been for Al.”

Izumi’s black eyes are deep with sadness.

“Nothing else mattered,” Ed explains to her. “I would do everything to get my little brother back. I joined the military, I fought the fiercest and most dangerous enemies, all just for Al.” He could only stare at his automail arm… now knowing where his real limbs must have gone.

His metal limbs make noise, shaking.

“I… I never thought… I-I’d see his face again.”

Izumi tenses. “What do you mean?”

Ed’s head is lowered. “... homunculi.”

She gasps. “You mean…”

He sniffs.

“He fought just like Al, but he was much stronger and faster than me,” Ed narrates. “He was… the only homunculus I’ve ever seen performing alchemy.” He blinks. “I didn’t know why at the time… but I think he has my limbs, Teacher.”

Izumi grabs some of her own hair. “No.”

Ed chuckles bitterly. “Turns out I haven’t lost my right arm for nothing.”

His metal fist tightens, almost breaking into pieces. Winry would disapprove instantly.

“He really wasn’t like them. He only focused on fighting me. Until… I cut his hair with my automail, and he was suddenly really angry,” Ed recalls. “His hair was long and it covered most of his face, so it was only when he was about to punch me in the face that I… saw him.”

Growling teeth, intense purple eyes, profound hatred and resentment…

“It looked like… it was really him , Teacher.”

“Edward,” she warns, “you know that isn’t true.”

“It wasn’t just the- the physical appearance, it was like the real Alphonse wanting to beat me up for everything I did to him,” Edward’s voice breaks just imagining his little brother hating him. “And it’s even worse that the moment I called him Al… he looked terrified. He ran away from me. It was like he hadn’t heard that name in years, and… it meant something to him."

Izumi looks like she wants to deny that the homunculus is Al, yet she’s too pained to dismiss Ed’s suffering.

“I’m pissed off, too, that the homunculi never told me about him,” he bites. “They must’ve known this whole time, and they decided to play with my feelings to get what they wanted.” Ed can only remember Nina’s dead eyes staring deep into his soul, after he also failed to save her, after she brightened his darkest days without Alphonse’s sunlight.

The woman sighs. “I’m so sorry, Ed.”

“It’s not your fault, Teacher. It’s all mine.” His eyes grow wet, only for his left arm to dry them. “I’ve already suspected something was off for a while… but after seeing that boy…”

He doesn’t finish the sentence, refusing to come up with the conclusion. Izumi notices, and while she does not force him to spit it out, she grabs him by the shoulders gently yet solidly, her eyes now serious.

“Edward,” she calls him, “you can’t run away from the past anymore. You have got to make a decision, to take up responsibility for what you’ve done. You must, or else you will regret it.”

The pain of a mother giving up her own child, and unable to turn back on it, is heard beneath Izumi’s stoic nature. Ed swallows the tears of his eleven-year-old self, the tears that rarely come out nowadays because he lost everything that night.

Izumi cannot ever go back on her choice. Ed wants to believe he can bring his brother back, but now that the truth has come to take him down itself…

He doesn’t want to give up on this. He can’t let Al go.

Ed doesn’t think he could handle living with his absence any longer.

“It’ll be okay,” Izumi reassures him, wiping his unseen tears for him. “I promise.”

She hugs him like he’s her own child, loving him despite all the mistakes he’s made.

Ed isn’t entirely soothed by the embrace, which is not Izumi’s fault. He knows she’s trying her best and will continue to do so.

The knowledge, however, of that lost boy in the forest, running forever and ever without a destination, and that ghost that keeps haunting Ed whenever he’s near the Führer…

He won’t be ready.

…

Not yet.

#fullmetal alchemist #fma 03 #edward elric #alphonse elric #elric brothers #izumi curtis #alternate universe #homunculus alphonse elric #homunculus al #fma au #suicide tw #suicidal thoughts tw #death mention tw #grief tw #fanfiction #long post

[calangkoh]

homunculi being failed human transmutations was the most baller story change decision the fma03 team made and they milked the hell out of that concept. you got the theme of what makes you human (memories? presence of a soul? what does that even mean?) that ties in with al’s identity crisis (that didn’t really make sense in mangahood but was built up and thematically rich in 03), you got the drama of alchemists having to face a distorted version of the loved one they tried to bring back (the best version of Came Back Wrong ive ever seen), you got the concept that a person is so much more than just your own idea of them and bringing them back through human transmutation really only brings back a one-dimensional version of them (how each homunculus was only really the version of that person the alchemist had in their head, and not a full person themselves, and each reacted to this fact differently), you get the existential crisis all of this gives you when you consider what makes you YOU and how do you prove your own humanity and memories and identity, you get the characters of the homunculi like envy and lust who were given so much more depth than their mangahood counterparts, and AAAAAAA its just so good and if we can give fma 03 ANYTHING that’s objectively better/more interesting than mangahood’s plot (which i normally say is overall objectively a better written and more cohesive story) i 100% believe its this change from the manga

#fma #meta #fma 03

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Valentine’s Day! More edling engagement?

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

"I don't think I can kill another country's leader before I'm emperor," Ling says.

"Actually," Al says, "if you're going to, it's probably for the best if you do it first. Less political implications that way." He frowns. "Not that I'm advocating killing the Fuhrer. We don't even know if he's a homunculus!"

"Guess we could just try and kill him and see if he dies," Ed suggests.

"Okay, but if he's not a homunculus, then we've just murdered the fuhrer!" Al says, voicing going a little shrieky at the end.

Mei raises an eyebrow. "Oh, so murder is bad when it's for a philosopher's stone and acceptable when it's the head of your government?"

It's mostly a scale issue, but, "Uh, yeah? Ishval? Hello? I'm not shedding any tears over that asshole."

There's a calculating glint in Ling's eye that Ed hates. "So you're saying that if I can gather a small country's worth of war criminals-"

"No, Ling," he says firmly even though, you know, maybe.

#prompt answers #prompts are closed #asks #anon #fma

[sassydefendorflower]

There is such a power in FMA only telling Ed and Al's story.

By the end we can see glimpses of all the other people we met throughout the boys' journey, but for most of them the future in uncertain.

In a way it is a very... un-shounen ending. Because while, yes, Edward does get his happy ending (his brother, Winry, and a future in which he can be a happy and attentive father) for everyone else the future is uncertain. Oh, it is certainly hopeful - but it is not written in stone.

We know that Roy got a promotion, but Brigadier General is still three to four ranks away from becoming Führer and it is likely going to take years if it's going to work at all. And while Grumman is definitely not a Homunculus, he is still human - and FMA shows us again and again what horrors humanity is capable of. He's a moderate and on Mustang's side, but in the end we don't know how his and Hawkeye's story ends.

We don't know if they achieve their goal. If they ever end up paying for what they did in Ishval.

We know that Ling ends up becoming Emperor, and we know he has sworn to protect the Chen Clan. We don't know if his goal of creating peace between the warring clans of Xing will bear fruits. We don't know if his reign will be long and prosperous, and we don't know if he will ever find love - he is, after all, a man for whom duty comes first. Lan Fan and Mei are much the same.

We know Scar reclaimed his heritage - maybe even his title as a monk - and that he and Miles are in charge of rebuilding Ishval. We know Mustang has plans to end the occupation of the annexed country. We know there is hope for a people who had every reason to loose it. But we won't ever know what reparations were paid, what troubles were had, what hurdles almost destroyed them.

We know Winry will have friends in the future, and children. We can hope that her automail business becomes a success and that she fulfills all her dreams - we have reason to hope, her happiness is Ed's happiness after all, and we know he would do everything for her.

We see Al travel, and we see him and Ed share ideas and knowledge and dreams. We can imagine a world in which they live long lives and experience more adventures - but at the same time, their story is over.

FMA answers a lot of questions at the end, telling us that for now, everything is okay, our heroes saved the day, their friends (mostly) alive and well.

But it will never give us the ultimate happy end - it will never give us a "and now everyone is happy and everything is good". Oh, it comes close, because it offers us something else, something central to the themes of the story:

It offers us hope.

The hope that Roy and Riza will succeed, that Ling and Mei and Lan Fan will change the Imperial System, that Scar and Miles will create safety for their people, that Winry will be happy, and Amestris a country worth living for.

We will never know for sure, because it is not their story.

(and thank god for that - the possibility of failure is what makes the hope worth it)

(I'm sure Ed and his automail leg would agree)

#fma #fmab #edward elric #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #alphonse elric #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fullmetal alchemist #ling yao #fma meta #my stuff #wined #winry rockbell

[psuedostar]

Just thinking about how Ed's automail hurts whenever the weather changes. Not just day to day weather but in extremes, like gloomy rainy days. Or hot humid heat. Either way his ports hurt and body aches.

In the cold the metal starts to freeze and brings down his own body Temperature, along with the fact that metal contracts when cold. His ports would get to tight to walk or move comfortably. Since he's always cold, his immune system goes down and he gets sick more frequently. Frost bite being another big possibility.

In the heat he suffers just as much, his automail heating up and thus the ports heat up his skin making him more susceptible to hypothermia, even heatstrokes and heat rashes (hyperthermia when it gets cold) ,even burning him at times.

Both sides of the coin can also potentially damage his automail. The condensation from the humid heat and the water from frost and snow can lead to the possibility of it rusting his joints and making his automail weaker in combat. Making his reaction time slower due to the bolts and hinges not moving properly.

All these reasons gave me the idea that resembool is the perfect place for him and his automail. The weather doesn't really change, only during rare times of a rainstorm or an unusually hot summer but overall it's a place that's constant. Kinda how Winry is a constant for Ed, with everything else being so hectic and unsure ( the homunculus, the government, foreign royalty, even the possibility of them not being able to get their bodies back) winry and resembool are the things that Ed knows for sure are waiting for him.

It's also where he first was fitted with his new arm and leg. He did his recovery there and so his body has essentially healed and adjusted to the areas conditions. I mean anytime he and Al need to rest or take a break it's usually at resembool, sure it may be for matienence but they feel most at peace there.

#fma #fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #edward elric #fmab #headcanon #unintentional edwin #fma angst #Ed angst #fmab angst #hurt/comfort