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felixcloud6288 · 7 months

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Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 44 part 1

This chapter is secretly a mythology info-dump.

At the conclusion of Ed's investigation, he wanted to give a proper burial for the remains of his creation. He understands it's not his mother, but he still feels guilty that he made something only for it to suffer and die. It's the least he can do as an apology.

Now that Ed's been able to recontextualize what happened on that day, he's starting to gather information to form a new hypothesis. After confirming with Pinako that he and Al are Trisha's genetic children, Ed just says he was correct about the soul but still failed. He reaches out to Izumi about her attempt at human transmutation but she hangs up.

He and Pinako visit the Rockbells' graves. Ed tells Pinako about the people he met and likely passes their thanks to them. He hides how one of their patients killed them though.

The image wasn't detailed enough for me to read the names on the gravestones, but the FMA wiki says the husband is Urey and the wife is Sarah. With that info, I could make out the writing does roughly match for Urey, but the wife seems to be spelled "Sala" instead.

Pinako tells Ed to tell Hohenheim Trisha's last words "I couldn't keep our promise."

I love the background bit started in chapter 42 where the hotel manager is getting increasingly annoyed with how Al and Winry can't pay their hotel bill because Ed is away. He's more happy to see Ed than Winry is and I'm so glad he's finally going to get paid.

Ed's reaction to Al's condition after the Super Heist as well as seeing Lin and Lan Fan freeloading off him AGAIN is appropriate.

And now we get Ed building a new hypothesis. The details he and Al go over:

Humans consist of body, soul, and spirit

The spirit connects the body and soul

The body and soul are naturally drawn to each other

Al has memories from before the transmutation that Ed does not, and Winry can confirm they're true; meaning Al's soul is the real thing

Alphonse can still form new memories which means his brain must still be functional somewhere

Al saw his body being taken from him on that day and his soul was dumped into the body Ed and Al created.

That last point was an unexpected detail for Ed.

But Al's soul exists in the living realm and Ed was able to pull it in and bind it. That wouldn't be possible if Al had died during the Transmutation so his body is somewhere.

Then Izumi calls them and provides a second data point which aligns with Ed's experience. Human Transmutation cannot bring a person back to life, and Death completely cuts one off from the living realm.

Izumi made a family lineage tree when she wanted to confirm if she had transmuted her child and I just want to point out how lopsided the information was. One tree goes back three generations and includes a great-aunt or uncle. The other is just the parents.

I don't know if I'd rather assume Izumi has an expansive family history while Sig's just like "My parents moved here and never said nothing about their families", or if I'd rather assume Sig comes from a close-knit clan that's run that butchery for generations while Izumi was a rebellious child who ran away from home the first chance she got.

Al and Izumi both take the news the way Ed did. They acknowledge what they did was wrong, but they weren't responsible for killing someone they loved. Like Ed, they can truly move forward.

Ed and Al have a heart-to-heart about how to move forward. Ed's standing on the stairs causing them to be eye-to-eye and speak as equals.

They no longer have to be on this journey as some act of penance. They did something wrong, but they didn't kill their mother. And Ed doesn't have to feel guilty for what's happened to Al. Despite what Al is, they've met other people whose bodies aren't fully human. And even though Al has a limited time until his soul is rejected by his armor body, it's no different from how people will die suddenly.

No more guilt. No more shame. No more repentance. They can stop. There is no longer anything forcing them to move forward against their will.

But Ed would like to one day see Al's smiling face and Al wants to stop being alone through the night. So even though they could stop their journey without regrets, they're moving forward because now they want to do it. And they finally have an idea of how to reach their goals.

Ed's entire demeanor has changed. He walks with a greater confidence and Winry notices.

When they started their journey, Ed and Al likely thought they'd need to perform a correct Human Transmutation to restore Al's body. They sought the Philosopher's Stone thinking it was needed to pull that off. But now they have a completely different understanding. They won't need to rebuild Al's body. It still exists somewhere. So even though they're starting over, they're already closer than they've ever been because they can be certain they can find Al's body.

I got too into drama-posting. There's still more to this chapter and I haven't gotten to all my thoughts and details on it. And I promised a discussion on the chronology thing too.

I'm just going to make a part 2.

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#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist reread

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worryinglyinnocent · 2 years

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Fic: Diverging Paths (5/31)

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

[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [AO3]

Five

As soon as the Elrics had rushed out of earshot, Mustang groaned, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

“I had hoped that conversation would go better,” he muttered. Hawkeye closed the office door again and came over to the desk.

“Sir, I really think you need to go home and get some sleep. I know how committed you are to finding Lieutenant Colonel Hughes’ attacker, but you’re no good to him running on empty.”

“I don’t need to sleep,” Mustang snapped. “Hughes is sleeping enough for both of us at the moment and I can’t rest until he wakes up.”

“Sir, it’s not your fault any more than it’s the Elrics’ fault. Neither you nor they are the ones that did this to him. I know you wanted to spare them the feeling of responsibility for what happened to Hughes, but that doesn’t mean that you have to take it upon yourself instead.”

Mustang sighed. “I know that in theory. It’s harder to put it into practice. If I could just find out what he knew…”

“I am sure he’ll be able to tell you that in time,” Hawkeye said. Her tone was gentle but firm, brooking no arguments, and Mustang knew that she was right.

To say that the last few weeks since Hughes’ attack had been frantic would be putting it mildly. The longer that he went without finding out who had stabbed and shot him, the longer that person was still running free and the more opportunity they had to come back and finish what they’d started. Lieutenant Abrams had done an admirable job of standing guard outside Hughes’ hospital room so far; in fact Mustang was beginning to think that he never went home, but he couldn’t be there all the time. And, of course, if as Armstrong had surmised, Hughes’ attacker was working within, or at least alongside, the military, then it would be as easy as anything for someone to turn up and relieve Abrams of his duty, only to slip in and finish off Hughes whilst he was so helpless and unable to defend himself.

Truth be told, he still wasn’t entirely sure that he trusted Abrams, but the young lieutenant had volunteered himself for guard duty before the need for guard duty had been established - indeed, Mustang had arrived in Central to find out what was going on the morning after Hughes’ attack and had found Abrams standing outside the door, having received no orders to do so but taking it upon himself to be prepared anyway.

(He said he didn’t mind the monotony. It got him out of doing paperwork.)

So far nothing had happened, and now that he and his team had moved to Central permanently, he could set up a much better protection detail, but the worry still remained.

At length, Hawkeye left him alone, going back to her own duties, and Mustang stared down at the papers spread in front of him, not really seeing any of it when his mind was filled with military conspiracies and the like. How far up did this all go? Armstrong had said that the Fuhrer himself was the one who had warned Hughes and the Elrics away from their line of investigation. If it went all the way up to the top, if Bradley himself was involved in it…

In the midst of all the hustle of Central Command, slap in the dead centre of Amestris’s most populous city, Mustang had never felt more alone. There were so few people that he could trust anymore, and he could already feel himself drowning in the depths of the quagmire that Hughes had unwittingly drawn him into.

He checked his watch; he was due a lunch break and he might as well use it to go over to the hospital. The nurses were used to seeing him there by now, a regular fixture in Hughes’ room. They said that talking to coma patients helped them to recover, but they weren’t exactly good conversation partners, and what Mustang really needed were answers, answers that Hughes couldn’t give.

Still. At least if he was unconscious then he wasn’t spilling secrets that the military did not want aired, so perhaps this state was simply buying Mustang more time to unravel all the mysteries.

Gracia and Elysia were just leaving as he arrived, and Gracia gave a tired sigh when she saw him.

“When was the last time you slept, Roy?”

“I’m fine.”

“Burning yourself out isn’t going to help him, you know. You need to take care of yourself, Roy. The doctors are taking care of Maes, but there’s no one taking care of you.” Gracia smiled weakly. “I can appreciate all that you’re doing to try and work out who did this and why, but I don’t want you ending up in the bed next to him because you’ve collapsed from nervous exhaustion.”

“I know.”

“Maes will come back to us in his own time, Roy, and then he can tell you everything he knows, and together you’ll do what you do best, like you always do. Take care of yourself, and if you ever find yourself in need of a good meal, because I’ve heard Maes complain about the Central Command cafeteria food enough to know it’s terrible, then you know where to find us.”

“Thank you, Gracia.”

They said their goodbyes and Mustang went into Hughes’ room. He was just the same as he had been yesterday, and the day before that, and every single day since he had been attacked. Although the doctors were fairly optimistic, it was hard for Mustang to feel the same way when he saw his friend like this.

He settled into the chair that Gracia had just vacated, resting his elbows on his knees and trying to make sense of everything again. He had no idea whom in the military he could trust anymore. Was it just Central Command’s top brass he was looking at here, or had things spread out across the entire nation? He shivered at the thought that Grumman might have been involved in anything nefarious whilst they’d still been out in the east.

And now, on top of it all, the Elric brothers were back in town. He knew that it had been a pipe dream to try and keep this from them, not when they had got on pretty well with Hughes when they had been in Central and he had always looked out for them; they would want to know what had happened to him, and Hawkeye was right, it would have come out sooner or later and they would not thank him for treating them like children at this juncture.

Still, they’d been through so much, it would have been nice not to have to add this to their already piled-high trauma. Not to mention the fact that now they were here and Scar was here. He really had been intending to get them a protection detail now that they were back in town, but that had been completely derailed by the news of Hughes’s condition. What with trying to keep an eye on Hughes and trying to keep an eye on Elrics, and not knowing whom he could trust outside of his own team and Armstrong’s direct subordinates, Mustang was running out of people whom he trusted to provide protection duties. All he could do was hope that Ed and Al would keep their heads down now that they knew Scar was back on the prowl. At least Scar worked alone, and if he didn’t know that the Elrics were back in town then they would be fairly safe from him. The military, though… That was harder to fathom, and far more dangerous. In the end, Scar was just one man, and he was just a man. The military could call upon hundreds of thousands of people if necessary, and with these inhuman creatures on side as well…

Mustang was vastly outnumbered. He’d been vastly outnumbered before, but this situation was very different to Ishval and he couldn’t just burn his way out of it. Not this time. This was going to require subtlety.

He needed to know just how far this conspiracy had spread throughout the military, and he needed to know which of his superiors he could confide in.

Soon, he was going to have to try and infiltrate the generals. Not yet, though. For now, he wanted to keep an eye on the Elric brothers and make sure that they didn’t do anything that could get themselves killed.

“We’re going to get ourselves killed.”

Ed sighed. “It’s a risk that we’re going to have to take if we’re going to get anywhere with working out who the homunculi are and what they want.”

“The colonel specifically told us to lay low and not cause trouble!”

“Since when have we ever listened to what the colonel tells us?”

Even though Al’s expression didn’t change, Ed could tell that his brother was glaring at him.

“Even if Scar doesn’t kill us and the homunculi don’t kill us and the colonel doesn’t kill us, you do know that Winry is definitely going to kill you when she finds out that you’re intentionally going to put yourself into a situation where your arm could potentially get blown to smithereens.”

Ed winced at the thought of his arm being smithereened for the second time in far too short a space of time.

“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said. “The homunculi will turn up before that happens, I’m sure of it.”

Al was clearly not convinced, as he continued.

“And once she’s done killing you, she’ll then kill me for letting you do it, and once she’s done killing me, she’ll probably kill you again just to make sure.”

“Al, a little optimism here, please?” Ed pleaded.

“No one’s going to get blown to smithereens,” Ling said.

“You can say that, but you’ve never met Scar,” Al pointed out, before turning back to Ed. “And even if the homunculi do show up, it won’t exactly help us against Scar because these three will be distracting the homunculi!” He gestured towards Ling, Lan Fan and Fu, sitting on the windowsill where they had unceremoniously decided that they wanted to be a part of the homunculus capturing expedition.

Ed would admit that it was probably not the most thought through of plans, and it was definitely flying in the face of all the promises that they had made to various friends and family members that they would be careful in their ongoing quest. This was about as far away from careful as they could get, using one enemy to lure out another enemy, but if they wanted to learn more about the homunculi’s plans, then the only viable way to do that whilst still retaining the upper hand was to get one of them on the back foot. If they could time it right and force things into a Scar versus Homunculus free-for-all, then maybe they stood a chance, but right now, a hell of a lot had to be put down to sheer dumb luck.

Still, fate had favoured them in the past, and who knew? Maybe the other mysterious friends would show up again and wade in, for better or worse. Maybe it would give Ed more of a clue of where everyone, the mysterious friends included, landed in this grand scheme of things, and whether or not they could be trusted to have his best interests at heart, or whether they were simply pursuing their own agenda that sometimes just so happened to align with saving his and Al’s skins.

There was a knock on the door, and Ed turned to Ling, Fu and Lan Fan, but they had already vanished out of the window, off to who knew where. They were really going to have to do something about them appearing and disappearing at will, and Ed considered locking the windows right now whilst they were still out there hanging on the outside of the building. That said, they were going to help them with capturing a homunculus for interrogation, so perhaps he should be charitable. Just this once.

Al opened the door, and Ed was surprised to see Lieutenant Hawkeye standing there.

“Hello Lieutenant,” Al said. “What brings you here so late?”

“We’ve received some bad news, and I wanted to make sure that you heard it from me as soon as possible.”

Ed felt his veins turn cold, and he could almost tell what Hawkeye was going to say as she said it.

“I’m afraid that Lieutenant Colonel Hughes passed away earlier this afternoon.”

Considering that he was only fifteen, Ed felt that he’d been to way too many funerals in his life thus far. They were all the same. They were always cold, no matter what the weather. There was a chill in the air that seemed to emanate off the very mourners, and no one was paying any attention to what any of the people were saying in their speeches and eulogies. Ed just kept staring at the coffin as the earth was thrown over it, listening to Gracia crying, feeling Winry shaking where she’d grabbed his hand and wouldn’t let go.

It wasn’t until the service was over and people were beginning to move away from the graveside that Ed noticed the group right at the edge of the cemetery, almost too far to make out facial features properly, but he recognised three of the four nonetheless. It was their Mysterious Friends from the fifth laboratory, and the pale-haired woman from Liore. The fourth he didn’t recognise and it was hard to make out her face with her hood up against the wind, but he startled as he focussed on her.

She looked like Mom.

“Al…” He patted Al’s arm to get his attention, but by the time he turned back, the mysterious woman had turned and was walking away from them with the other Mysterious Friends. Only the stranger from Eastern remained, looking at them with a certain degree of scrutiny before they too turned and followed the others further into the cemetery, no doubt heading towards the back gates at the other side of the site.

For a moment, Ed wanted to run after them, ask them what the hell they were doing at Hughes’ funeral in the first place, and what the hell they were doing in general in the second, and to see whether that fleeting glimpse of the woman who’d looked like Mom at first glance would be any different close up, but something stopped him. He still couldn’t decide if he wanted to meet them properly or not, even if they weren’t in a life or death situation like they had been all the other times. This was definitely a much calmer prospect, but at the same time, a cemetery really wasn’t the best place for a potential confrontation, and Ed didn’t want to think about how the conversation might go if it turned out that the Mysterious Friends weren’t quite as friendly as they seemed. As long as he never met them properly then the illusions would never be shattered, but at the same time, if they were going to be a threat then Ed wanted to know, even if they might not be the same kind of threat as the homunculi were right now.

“Them again,” Al said.

“Yeah.” Ed didn’t say anything about the woman who had looked like Mom, figuring that it would be best to keep that to himself. Maybe he’d been mistaken. He’d been thinking about Mom, after all, or more specifically thinking about her funeral. Maybe a wire had got crossed in his brain somewhere. He’d only seen her for a couple of seconds.

It was getting late by the time they made it back to the hotel, Winry making her excuses and going straight into her room. Ed couldn’t blame her; it had been a bad day for all of them and he wasn’t exactly feeling sociable himself. Tactfully, Ling, Lan Fan and Fu had chosen not to break in to continue discussing their plans for drawing out the homunculi, but they had left a note telling the brothers to give them a sign when they were ready to proceed again. Ed lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling with a sigh. A part of him felt like it was pointless to think about these things now and it would be callous to start making plans again so soon after Hughes had died, but the rest of him couldn’t help but think about the promise that they had made to Gracia, that they wouldn’t give up and they wouldn’t let what happened to Hughes be in vain.

If the homunculi had been involved in his attack somehow because he knew too much, then capturing one made even more sense; they could ask it what it knew about Hughes’ death and who had killed him, as well as what was going on with the Philosopher’s Stone and the fifth laboratory.

“What do you think?” Al was still looking at the note from their Xingese… Friends was pushing it. Acquaintances perhaps? “Do you think we ought to go ahead with the plan again?”

Ed gave a long sigh.

“Yes,” he said eventually. “Yes, I think we owe it to Hughes to find out exactly what happened, if nothing else. The colonel isn’t exactly making any headway by trying to find things out within the military. This might get us on the right track to learning what he’d found out, and once we know that…”

He didn’t really know what would happen after that. All he knew was that if it was important enough for someone to have killed Hughes for it, then it was something that was big enough to need to be found out and acted upon.

“Yes,” he repeated. “The plan goes ahead.”

“The Elrics are back in town.”

“Again? I still say they’re following us. Shall we take bets on how long it’ll take them to get into trouble again?”

“Don’t joke about things like that. You were the one who decided to keep an eye on them in the first place.”

“I know, and sometimes I regret that decision. All right. I suppose we shall just have to be on our guard.”

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

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weirdoldmanhoho · 2 years

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I was gonna say, give me a list of ways Al completely outclasses Ed, but that might never end... howabout some thoughts on how the Resembool kids would spend their days? What kind of Calvin & Hobbs shenanigans did they get up to? How much did all the other kids fear/hate them. etc.

jafkldjafljdlsa you know me too well

(Look, I do love Ed a lot, I just feel like Al gets overlooked in some ways with Ed as the main character, so I just feel the need to sing his praises lol)

Oh my gosh, pure unadulterated insanity is what they got up to.

You have three incredibly brilliant child prodigies living in a very small town that likely has one school and a handful of teachers if not just one . They were probably SO BORED in class. Actually, we KNOW they didn't pay attention in class because that's actually canon lol. Ed and Al spent all their time reading alchemy books under the table and Winry literally slept through classes because she'd stayed up all night dismantling her radio to see how it worked or helping Pinako in the shop. They were so far ahead of the material being taught and so under-stimulated I bet they were absolutely terrible to teach. The only reason they didn't start skipping school completely is because none of them wanted to disappoint their parental guardians.

And then the chaos they got up to OUT of class - oh boy. The combination of skilled but not quite polished alchemy and engineering genius sounds like a wild combination.

How many weird things did they try to create? Ed reads one sci-fi book about robots and that's the whole afternoon right there. It never does start working, but it does manage to absolutely terrorize the neighbor's cat.

One time there's a new house being built and there's all this leftover scrap material and the three of them decide to build their own house because honestly, how hard can it be, right?? They construct a full fort and while it's not the prettiest thing ever, it does stand upright and attracts basically every other kid in the neighborhood to come play mock battles and sieges in it until one concerned parent demands Trisha make them tear it down before someone gets hurt. Every kid in Resembool mourns Fort Elricbell. Or Fort Rainbow. Or Fort Dragon. No one could agree on a name.

(And I know young Winry is depicted as being scared of alchemy, but I have to imagine that she got used to it growing up next to them. It became normal, and then it became a tool for shenanigans, and then it didn't become scary again until, well, you know. Afterwards.)

You know Winry tries to take apart like every piece of machinery in her house. Pinako is a terrible influence on this habit, because she completely understands the obsession, and she wants to encourage Winry to figure out how things work on her own. The only rule is that she has to figure out how to put it back together when she does.

Hohenheim is also, surprisingly, a big encourager of this because he loves encouraging learning and he's just so proud to see his best friend's granddaughter take after her.

Winry has one really faded memory she barely remembers of Ed and Al's kind of scary dad approaching her when she was over for dinner one night and telling her her grandma had said she's really interested in machines, then revealing a tiny wind-up automaton he found at the same kind of place he went shopping for vintage armor. (Winry still has it. It's been buried in a drawer in her room ever since Ed and Al's weird dad left and they got sad about it.)

They went on SO MANY adventures. They were certain that they were going to trek to the capitol once, packed bags full of snacks and chalk and clothes, and set off in the general direction and when it got dark, Trisha and Yuriy gathered them up and helped them set up a tent in the Rockbell's backyard, promising they could start up their journey to the capitol as soon as the sun was up. Ed tried to tell ghost stories and scare Winry, but he and Al both ended up being too scared to spend the entire night outside, and in the morning Winry smugly told them she won.

I think the other kids of Resembool maybe thought they were a little odd, but also loved them, because if you hung out with the Elrics and Winry for the day, YOU KNEW you were going to have the most fun and most crazy day of shenanigans ever. Al would go up to a group of kids at recess and be like hey, after school we're gonna try to dig a tunnel all the way to Aerugo because Winry told me it isn't possible, but Ed and I think that if you made sure to reinforce the structure of the walls so it doesn't collapse, and had enough people to dig, you absolutely could, so we're gonna prove her wrong, wanna help? Everyone would be like hell YES we do that sounds amazing. And then Trisha would have 15 kids in her backyard trying to dig a tunnel with Alphonse standing over them ordering them all around in a nicely organized system while Ed tries to figure out what the right alchemical circle would be for this situation and Winry tells them loudly several times that it wasn't going to work.

They were crazy smart kids with too much curiosity for their own good who grew up in a small country town where they could run free and if they did anything REALLY wild, Ms. Hart down the road would definitely let Trisha know, they got up to SO MUCH insanity.

(And when things go weird, the rest of the kids in town think, huh, it would be the Elrics, wouldn't it?)

Fantastic ask, thank you!! I loved thinking about this!! Also the association of young Resembool trio and Calvin & Hobbes is perfect.

#some of these were inspired by real life lol #alphonse elric #edward elric #winry rockbell #fullmetal alchemist #fma #resembool trio #c: alphonse elric #c: winry rockbell #c: edward elric #ask

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zombifish · 2 years

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“I could just use a hug.”

This one goes out to all the ‘Ed gets kidnaped and Roy goes dad crazy’ fic writers, yall are a hoot and I love ya.

When Edward Elric was younger he liked to pride himself on being independent. That he could handle himself, and take care of his little brother Alphons Elric. Stand on his own two feet and try to be that pillar of support.

Unfortunately, this became a far greater challenge upon the passing of their mother Trisha Elric. If you were wondering about the boy’s father, well he up and left a long time ago. So with an absent father and a mother now six feet under with no other living relative they know of, it left the two boys alone. Only ever being checked upon by the Rockbells, a family friend. Occasionally (that’s a lie, it’s always) going over for a meal or any other necessity that didn’t revolve around alchemy. Speaking of which, about a year after their mother’s passing they met Izumi Certus- a housewife and a powerful alchemist, but most importantly a housewife.

She taught them not only alchemy but how to defend themselves. Looking back on it, despite how terrifying that woman can be, she really was like a second mother to the two even if they, more so Edward, wouldn’t admit it (the same applies to Sig Certus, Izumi’s husband, next to Mr. Rockbell he showed them what a true father looked & acted like.)

After a year with their monster of a teacher, the two blonds were back home and ready to commit the ultimate taboo.

Human Transmutation.

Another bust! Damn it stupid Mustang and his stupid false leads!

At this point he’s just having them deal with the shit he didn’t want to deal with, the lazy bastard.

Edward Elric - The Fullmetal Alchemist, Hero of the People was seething.

Since losing his leg in the taboo and his right arm to bind his brother’s soul to a suit of armour since Alphons lost his whole ass body to fucken Truth. (a bastard Ed just wants to punch silly-Mustang being the first, tied with Hohenheim that is)

Making his way through central headquarters Edward arrives at the front of Mustang’s office, Alphons having gone back to the barracks. Before he can kick the poor door in he spots a note tacked on it.

Okay, that’s odd, that like never happened before, not even when they were stationed in Eastern Commanded, what the fuck is happening? Did something happen to the office and they had to relocate temporarily?

Fullmetal,

If you’re reading this, it means we haven’t come back yet.

The team has been dispatched to XXX.

You can leave your report on my desk and take the rest of the day off. If we’re not back by the following afternoon it would be appreciated if you could meet us at our location.

- Colonel Mustang

“Bastard” The blond muttered pocketing the note, and for once entering the office like a normal person, and made his way over the Mustang’s personal office and placed the report neatly to the side.

It was odd- odd not seeing anyone here. It felt empty.

Empty just like their old house after…

Shaking his head to rid of old nightmares Edward stretched, some bones popping as he did so.

‘Damn when did everything get so stiff?’

Just as he exited into the main office area the door creaked open, tensing Edward became hyper-aware of his surroundings. Having been attacked more than once in a closed-off space does that to a person, apparently. When the door fully opened it revealed a blue military uniform and a somewhat familiar face. Edward relaxed a little at that, but he was still very aware of his surroundings, not the first time military personnel have tried to lull him into a false sense of security only to strike.

What can I say? boys got issues.

“Major Elric! There you are, heard wind that you were back in central.” Ha, now Edward remembered him, all thanks to that scratchy voice of his. Colonel Marks, someone upon first meeting Edward didn’t like. In all fairness, no one on Team Mustang liked the guy, it was clear as day man had a thing against their Colonel, and was too blind to see they had already figured him out. So it was an unspoken rule to just avoid him, the same applies to all military officers that rub any of the team the wrong way(and to beat the ever-loving hell out of the ones that so much as look at Edward the wrong way but shhhhh the golden boy doesn’t know that rule)

“Colonel Marks, is there something I can help you with?” Edward said, his voice indifferent not wanting to make his distaste for the man known just yet.

“Yes, in fact, there is! One of my subordinates came across a strange-looking alchemical formation earlier this week.” ok that was interesting.

“And you want my help? Can you just take it over to one of the research labs for something? ``A valid question, after all the military's research labs, would be more suited to handle this than some random state alchemist.

"Ha well, we actually did! But they were preoccupied with more important things" Okay bullshit, Edward has checked out the labs and they have nothing remarkable going on(especially since the Tucker incident). Best to say no to this guy and be on his way.

"Sorry Colonel, but I can't help. My superior is off on a mission with the rest of the team and left instructions for me to stand by" not a total lie. Mustang’s note said he had the rest of the day off and should meet up with them at their location tomorrow afternoon if they are not in by then. Besides this left him and Al a good chunk of time to research the philosopher's stone, he wasn't going to waste it doing work for another Colonel. Mustang may be a bastard but he's Edward's bastard and will only report to him, the General and King Fuhrer Bradly himself, not some random Colonel with an inferiority complex.

"Are you sure?" Marks pushed, Edward walked past him to the exit of the office.

"Yes I'm sure, now if you'll excuse me I actually have to leave now my brother is waiting for me"

As Edward stepped out into the hallway, making his way to the barracks the creeping sensation of some kind, like the one when you're being followed but you're not totally sure riddled his anxiety. As the Blond picked up the pace, he rounded the corner and something hit him dead in the face, causing the Fullmetal Alchemist to blackout.

Did they really have to call in military enforcement for a protest? A god be damned protest! It’s not like these people were rioting; they had poorly made signs for heaven’s sake. And being forced to spend the better part of a week watching in case it did turn violent? What in the actual fuck was the General thinking giving them this assignment.

THEY WERE PROTESTING FUCKING MEAT FOR FUCKS SAKE!

Fucking hell man these are mostly vegans and animal rights activists, the MP’s should be handing this not the fucking military, let alone a state alchemist!

Needless to say, the great Flame Alchemist was seething. The only thing that made it worth it was not doing paperwork-then again he’d have to write a report to hand it in.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

(no disrespect to vegans or animal rights activists(the VeganTeacher is the exception)- it was just the first thing that popped into my head)

At least he can make fun of Fullmetal, that’s always a win.

Speaking of the pipsqueak, where is he? They had just entered Central Command and were making their way back to their designated office space, and it was just about noon, they should have caught the brat if was making his way over to check for them, well that or he was in the office waiting to see if they’d come back but knowing the blond he would hold himself up in either the library or dorm with his brother and a mountain of books and scattered paper before realizing what time it was and scrambling to follow his commanding officer’s orders unless he wished to be court marshalled. Not that Roy would actually do that, as much as he pretends the older alchemist has a soft spot for the younger. And if anyone dares bring it up, pray that they are fireproof.

Upon entering the office Roy was surprised to find it empty, as everyone filed in and got cozy, finishing off any conversation in preparation for writing the report due later in the week.

Okay maybe he missed Fullmetal because of how small he is, so he peaked back outside, not seeing his major concern start to rise. Despite Edwards' abrasive nature, he’s never more than a few minutes late to something.

‘Kids probably sleeping in just to spite me’ Roy reassured himself after all this wouldn't be the first time, then again the last time this happened Edward ended up getting kidnapped and almost smuggled over the border by spies. Okay so maybe there was something to worry about.

Just as Roy was about to call in Fullmetal’s absence the clanking of armour caught his attention. Oh, thank GOD, Alphonse! And where ever the youngest Elric is the oldest is sure to be with him. Unfortunately instead of the office door getting kicked in like it usually does when Edward’s in, it was opened like, like when Al had to drop in and deliver field reports when Ed wasn’t able to. Sure thoughts days are far few and in-between, and Roy means far like it only ever happened maybe three or four times in the last two years.

“Colonel Mustang? Have you seen Ed? He didn’t come back to the dorm last night.”

Aww shit

When Edward woke up, he had a splitting head ake.

‘Son of a bitch by head’ as the blond started to gain focus in his sight. With each blink, Edward became more and more aware of his surroundings. As he was getting his sight back in working order, Edward started listening, for well anything that could give him a hint as to what was going on.

“Well well well, it seems that the Fullmetal brat is finally awake” Colonel Marks, that damn bastard! How dare he- FUCKING HELL MAN Edward knew that colonel was up to something but kidnapping a State Alchemist? REALY?! To hell with the military the second Edward gets back he’s transmuting all the uniforms pink- then again that might be an improvement-

“So, what ya want?” Ed asked a hiss of curses hot on his lips.

“...no what’s happening? What are you going to do to me?” Marks inquired now genuinely confused. Edward gave him a dry look.

“Not the first time I’ve been Kidnapped you, shithead, now answer my question what the fuck do you want from me?!”

Recovering from his confusion, Marks backhanded the boy.

“Shut up! I’ll be asking the questions here!”

‘Welp I didn’t miss the physical abuse that comes along with kidnapping’

“Now, what did I need for you? Oh, that’s right! I’m sure you remember Dr. Tucker”

“Ya, how could I forget…”

“Well before the military archived or destroyed his documents I stashed a few. And I must admit Dr. Tucker was an ingenious man- but his taste in test subjects is left to be desired” Marks walked off to the side, Edwards gaze followed him as Marks stopped at a nearby table. Marks picked up a stick, examining it. Despite the lighting, Edward was able to see a chunk of chock secured on top.

I think we can guess where this is going.

“Using regular average people, and regular almost common and unintelligent animals, bah what a waste! What about the real animals the rare and exotic kind? The ones that have greater brain function!” as Marks made his speech he waltzed over to a switch, and flipped it, turning on the lights. BlinkingEdward’s eyes finally adjusted to the light, and his ears were met with the sound of several different animal cries.

“And what batter human test subject to fuse them with than a Prodigy?”

‘fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck’ Edward swallowed heard. It took everything to keep his breathing even, to not show fear.

Back when Tucker had fused Nina and Alexander(the dog) there was a nagging part of him that always questioned why Tucker didn’t use him as a subject for his experiments? In fact, if Tucker used Edward Nina would be alive! But then, Ed would be…

AGHH this is so frustrating- frustrating and scary, very scary.

As Marks started making the circle Edward tried formulating a plan. The idiot had left both his arm and leg, sure they were tied down but he could still try to carve an alchemy circle in an attempt to free himself, wouldn’t be the first time but definitely not the last.

Just as Edwards had carved out half of an alchemy circle with a screw from his Automail arm, into the backside of the chair he was bound to Marks grabbed the chair’s head and tossed it onto the now complete transmutation circle. The force used tipped the chair on its side causing it to fall side wase and for Edward to his is head on the floor, screw falling loose out oh his hand.

“Now~ what animal to fuse you with hm?” Despite the throbbing pain in his head Edward was trying his damned hardest the unscrew another bolt. Sinelty prayed to whatever god could hear him,(despite not believing in holy ghost) that this was just a bad dream, that it wasn’t real- that Al would come charging in w-with Mustang and Hawkeye and everyone else that, that he could just escape! Escape this mad man and his deranged experiments!

“Links, bobcats, lions, apes…hmm squid maybe? No, they may be intelligent but one good hit and it’s dead. OH how bought a cheetah! Or or maybe an elephant!”

“I know, how bought a crow? Common yes but they have great learning capabilities and like parrots can vocalize! I would have actually used a parrot but that shipment came in late and the blasted things ended up dead and I need living test subjects-” Marks continued to ramble as he approached the cage that held the blackbird. As Marks took the bird out of its cage(the poor thing squawking up a storm) inspecting it to make sure its flight feathers had been clipped the door burst open, a pillar of flame erupting from the now doorless entrance as the fire dimmed and the smoke cleared there stood one(1) vary pissed Roy Mustang, hand poised and ready to snap again.

“Well isn’t this a surprise” Mustang hissed

“Colonel Marks I’m going to ask you this once let my Major go and ill only burn you a little” And just to be clear when Mustang says ‘a little’ he means A LOT!!

When all was said and done Marks was arrested and awaiting trial. Edward was taken to a hospital, despite saying he didn’t need to go to the hospital, to have his injuries looked after.

Alphonse had stepped out of the room for a little. While he’s glad his brother is safe he for some reason couldn’t help but think that Marks was working with or for someone, so to ease his fear that his brother was being stalked he opted to look around for anyone suspicious. Besides the younger brother, Mustang had opted to say a little longer as well, he was the boy’s legal guardian after all. As an added bonus he gets to slack off from his paperwork!

“So how are holding up Fullmetal?”

“...I’m fine”

Roy let out a sigh, of course, the kid would say that.

“You know it’s okay if you’re not right? Damn it Ed you were almost turned into a Chimera for crying out loud! By a fellow military personal, no less- doesn’t that bother you at all?”

Ed just stayed quiet dwelling on his commanding officer’s words. He wouldn’t lie and say it wasn’t scary, it was. If the Team hadn’t arrived when they did Ed wouldn’t be human anymore, or well less human than he already believed himself to be.

“I-” Roy raised an eyebrow arms crossed as he looked at his subordinate.

“I could just use a hug,” The blond said truthfully.

This was supposed to be fluff but here we are-

Josh, it’s been 7-8 pages on my Dox… that is over 2,500 words!

#writing prompt #My writing #fma #fmab #fma roy #parental roy #fma edward #ed gets kidnapped #edward needs a hug #this took fucking forever #on to 4

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fangirlingpuggle · 3 years

Text

Sooo can’t sleep so very dumb FMAB AU idea I just had.

Just AU where Scar after he’s injured leaves Ishval and somehow stumbles into Resembool and somehow gets adopted by Trisha Elric.

Just Scar stumbling in angry and traumatised and the Trisha just swoops in and is like ‘hello new kid’ Scar’s just like ‘wait what no stop I what?’ and then suddenly two baby alchemists are looking up at him and asking about his arm with starry eyes and they remind him so much of their brother and oh…he’s fucked.

(If in this AU Scar’s responsible for the deaths of Winry’s parents that gets dealt with Pinako being angry but also understands hate won’t do anything and this entire situation is beyond fucked up and this is all awful and yeah your clearly super traumatised and kid I’m sorry what do you mean that’s your brothers arm???)

The people of Resembool are all protective and whenever soldiers come through they say nothing and make sure he’s safe.

And Scar’s just there with Ed and Al following him around like ducklings…and then Winry as well and eventually he’s like…this may as well happen.

Then when Trisha dies she asks him to look after Ed and AL and he agrees cause Tisha is the best…he also has decided when he finds the boys dad he’s going to find the bastard who left all alone and destroy him…Ed, Al and Winry all want to help.

When the boys want to find an Alchemy teacher Scar tags along he doesn’t like alchemy at all hates it…but their so much like his brother…and the puppy eyes…the fucking puppy eyes he doesn’t stand a chance.

When Izumi meets him she just nods at his muscles and then asks about his arm and totally chill…even though the two deeply disagree on training.

‘YOU LEFT THEM WHERE?’

‘It’s fine it’s training’

Scar doesn’t know what the two of them are planning and they wait til he’s out vising Pinako to try, he comes back and…and he hated alchemy before but after he despises it so much more… he’s so angry at them for trying but also their children who want their mom back.

He also can’t just destroy anything to do wit alchemy because alchemy is the only reason Al is still alive. He really wants to though…he may of destroyed Hohenheim’s library when he and Pinako check on the house…a lot.

He’s so close to murder when Roy and Riza show up. So close. It’s only Pinako hitting him over the head that stops him. He hates them even more when he hears about the boys wanting or really having to join the military.

But…he knows it’s the only way they’ll get their bodies back…and he ahs a feeling that blood seal…is not going to last forever.

He stays with Winry and Pinako at first because…he knows he’ll doing something very stupid if he see’s certain state alchemists…(he may have come up with assassination plan for King Bradley…Winry helped)

But then Ed and Al start getting involved in more and more crazy shit and Scar can’t sit back anymore so gets involved in the instantly….

He also just runs into Mei and is like…sigh yeah that seems about right, cause he already has 3 kids that follow him around like ducklings what’s one more.

Sorry this is really really dumb...I need sleep

#fmab #fma brotherhood #FMA #scar #au #edward elric #Alphonse Elric #winry rockbell #trisha elric #humor #fic prompt #Fullmetal Alchemist #this is very dumb and the result of far to little sleep

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jostenneil · 3 years

Note

Additionally, I also got spoiled with this but the ending was to be expected after watching b*each and naruto, but I can’t believe ametris continues to run as a militant, imperialistic state! I know you talked about the characters and what you wished what was addressed, but is there something you would change with the plot or writing? I think my overall thing among the several other poor plot points, i wished there wasn’t a “big bad.”

i have a few ideas so i'll just bullet point them

have ed and winry be confronted with their racism during the briggs arc and begin to slowly reformulate their stances based on that. with winry esp i think there was a lost opportunity when she was traveling among the slums that ishvalans migrated to bc it would have given her an idea that these were people who suffered far more than she ever did

quit having other ishvalan character patronize scar by telling him he's being too violent or that he can only solve the problem from within the system. acknowledge his agenda as specific and calculated to address state alchemists and their genocidal power, and acknowledge it as a valid one

let riza kill roy in the tunnels lmao! i have meta about that here and here so i'm just gna link it instead of rehashing my thoughts on that

fit hohenheim into the narrative regarding the ishvalan war. this is actually one of my bigger gripes that i think goes pretty unaddressed in fandom bc people are so focused on hohenheim as a father. where was he during the ishvalan war? as someone with such overwhelming power and what with him being intimately familiar with genocide being used to make philosopher's stones, how did he not have a part to play when the ishvalans were dying?

also regarding hohenheim, let him survive another year after the main events of the series are over. i think another big tragedy with him is he has such vast stores of knowledge and a far broader world view than either ed or al possess, and it's like. why kill him before either of them can be exposed to that like i get that it's about him coming home and being prepared to die at trisha's side finally but idk. another year wouldn't have prevented that

OH! also something i've talked about previously but let winry find out her parents chose to stay in ishval and that they treated as many ishvalan patients as they could despite the threat to their own lives. that way she recognizes their selflessness in comparison to her selfishness and can begin to sympathize with the ishvalans the way they always did

an obv progression, but let the war tribunal actually happen after the series is over lol. let the disaster of the coup and the military corruption pave the way for a new form of government to take shape in amestris rather than just propping up another fuhrer with not entirely righteous intentions

make the effort to restore ishval a civilian one. why would the ishvalans ever let the military back onto their land regardless of how sorry they are. let people like ed and winry and the people of liore or other similar slums who also know what it's like to be rendered into collateral damage of war and selfish intentions come together to help ishval prosper again. the military can send their money instead lol

i realize i haven't mentioned al enough but let him actually have more political presence within the story. i love his character and his arc is impt but it's undeniable that he's mostly used to prop up ed and that esp holds for him as a political presence bc he pretty much. . . has none. he obv voices outcry about the philosopher's stones being made from human lives but it doesn't extend much beyond that and idk i think it's such a disservice to his potential bc i think his specific experience lends him the potential to not be nearly as narrow minded in worldview as ed is. also i think it would be interesting to explore another aspect of how al challenges ed to be better

make ed and al leaving the military not just be about the fact that they only wanted peace for themselves but also as part of a stand against what they realize the system has become. also they need to be political activists like i'm sry but the fact that they just retire and get to live their lives in peace is such a liberal fantasy ajkfjgfklh at the least they should be dedicating themselves to helping rebuild ishval or even better to actively campaigning for abolishment of military practices esp those related to alchemy

i probably have more but this is what i can think of for now lol. i def get what you're saying about there not being one "big bad" like obv there had to be given father orchestrated. . . everything but it's definitely true that bc he was so emphasized we lost the plot with the military being a bad, corrupt entity and that was bad jgkdjgljfl

#fullmetal alchemist #fma #mine:meta #asks

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officersnickers · 2 years

Note

For the ask game: how about FMA?

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

FullMetal Alchemist got sooo many awesome, strong, funny, conventional good looking characters adored wildly by the fandom – and I decided to stan Scar from all people. Yeah, that‘s right, the big, always fiercy looking genocide survivour got to me the more I was learning about him. At first, I couldn‘t stand him at all (especially his religious talk) and thought he would be a lame, annyoing side-villian. Well, how the tables have turned. Arakawa knew how to write him and oh Lord, Scar‘s whole character arc and development is just the best. He‘s just the best ❤️❤️❤️

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Baby Ed and Al. They are just too adorable for this wolrd. The perfect baby shapes™

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Hohenheim. He‘s an idiot, a moron, a complete failure as human being – but oh boi, he‘s also so damn interesting! Characters with this obscure aura around them, hiding their true intentions/ power/ personality and then fuck you up are always favourites of mine. If we could get more of Hohenheim, wheter it be his backstory from several hundred years ago or just the time he spent with Trisha and and the boys, I would gladly consume it 😅

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

Scar‘s brother. He deserved the world he helped to save, and every single second he‘s on screen or paper, my eyes linger over him.

poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Scar, again. He‘s capable of living through an ambush of three state alchemists as well as several soldiers, survived the genocide of his people, gruesome injuries and Kimblee‘s madness – and still, he‘s my poor little meow meow. Good thing he was adopted by May and Miles. His life can only become better now.

(and if this picture alone doesn't scream poor little meow meow I don't know either)

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Envy and Kimblee. They both suck for different reasons, and I wouldn‘t even care if they are tormented for all the sins (hehe) they commited.

But in the end, I guess Kimblee would find it even funny to be put in the plinko, the sicko he is.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Again, Envy. Kimblee was literally already in superhell (while being devoured by Pride), but at least the bastard had one last genuine action and that‘s fine by me. Envy on the other hand sucked till the end. And that‘s even worse than constantly getting on my nerves and killing as well as hurting my favourites

~~~

Thanks for the ask, @the-silliest-idiot! And sorry for the low quality pictures and the long wait 😅

#fullmetall alchemist #fma #ask game #Scar and his brother are just constant favourites of mine #you would see so much more art with them by me if I could depict them right #Snickers babbles

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confused-stars · 4 years

Text

... do y’all want this? it’s a “Trisha doesn’t die” au so everything is fine and nothing hurts The last thing Hohenheim expected upon coming home was to be punched square in the face. And yet. "That was for leaving!" Edward is glaring up at him with a fierceness that is all Trisha, and his right hook is way too impressive for a fifteen year old from a tiny, peaceful town.

Then, Hohenheim is surprised again as Edward grabs onto the front of his vest and holds on tight, weight tipping forward to lean his forehead against Hohenheim's chest. Edward reaches up to his chest now, almost to his shoulders. How strange.

"And that's for coming back," Edward adds, clearly trying to keep his voice from wavering.

Hohenheim has just enough time to awkwardly pat him on the back - how long has it been since he's had any human contact? How long has it been since he's held Ed in any way? He was always scared of tainting his sons, but Trisha would call him silly and put them in his arms anyway.

"I was always going to. I'm sorry it took me so long." Ten years is an awfully long time for anyone that isn't him, huh? But Trisha probably understands. She's always understood him.

Edward pulls away and looks him over. "You look like a tired, old man. C'mon, Al's making stew."

Hohenheim isn't even sure where to start there. His brain gets caught up on the fact that Alphonse is cooking. His tiny little Alphonse, who would cling to the back of his brother's shirt all day, trailing after him like a puppy. Cooking. Edward looks amused at how stunned he is, and Hohenheim tries to shake himself from his state and steps inside. It's that easy.

There's the smell of hot comfort food wafting out from the kitchen, and Hohenheim can feel his stomach contract with hunger. It's been a while since his last meal, and it smells like Trisha's cooking.

"Al, look what the cat dragged in!" Edward calls out as he enters the kitchen, and Hohenheim can't really do anything but follow after him. "Huh?" Alphonse is standing at the stove, and he's tall, taller than Edward, but his face is rounder, more youthful. There's less of Trisha in it, except for his eyes. His eyes that widen at the sight of Hohenheim.

"Dad!" The ladle drops into the stew pot and some of it lands on Al's shirt. But he doesn't seem to care. And Hohenheim is too busy with the word 'Dad' echoing in his brain. He blinks rapidly, and misses the moment when Alphonse launches himself at him. His hold is strong and warm and Hohenheim manages to keep his balance and hug back.

"You're home," Alphonse murmurs into his shoulder, and Hohenheim's throat feels tight. He's missed them. His boys. His clever, kind, wonderful boys.

"I've missed you," he murmurs to Alphonse, who tightens his hold in response.

"So, how's saving the world been going?" Edward asks from where he took Al's position by the stove. Hohenheim pulls away from his youngest to look between them. "... Trisha told you." "We're old enough to know," Edward replies with a half shrug, "She thought it'd help if we understood why you were gone."

Hohenheim feels a familiar, heavy feeling in his chest. "... did it?" Edward doesn't reply. Alphonse sighs. "It's definitely better than thinking you didn't want us and that's why you left."

It's stated plainly, with a soft undertone, and it breaks his heart. Hohenheim swallows. "I'm... sorry."

He's about to say something more, and from the look in Edward's eyes, so is his son, but they're interrupted by the front door opening. "Boys, I'm home! And I brought Winry for dinner!"

Trisha. Her voice sounds just like he remembers it, like a song, like the sun after a long period of rain. Hohenheim feels rooted to the spot for the first time in his life. "Oh, wait. Wait. Al, stall them!" Edward orders, shoving his brother out the kitchen door. Hohenheim frowns at him, startled. "Into the pantry, old man." "... what?" Edward huffs impatiently. "We're surprising Mom! Honestly, and you claim to be the greatest alchemist of our time."

"I never claimed anything like that," Hohenheim murmurs, even as he allowes his son to push him into the pantry, shutting the door behind him. He stares at the dark wood. Huh. Edward still has that mischievous energy, then. That's nice.

He leans forward towards the door at the sound of voices. Alphonse talking excitedly, something about sweet potatoes and mushrooms, and there - a light chuckle that makes Hohenheim ache. Trisha. Just on the other side of this door. The clattering of dishes.

"Ed, honey, isn't that one too many?" Hohenheim can hardly hear over the pounding of his heart in his ears.

"Nah, that's Dad's," Edward says, sounding nonchalant.

Silence.

"... what?"

Hohenheim takes his cue and opens the door into the kitchen.

A gasp. Then, a blur of motion. And Hohenheim finds himself tackled by a family member for the second time this night. He wraps his arms around Trisha and buries his face in her dark hair, and she's clutching at his chest and crying and he thinks he's crying, too. The empty spot in his chest begins to fill itself.

"Trisha... Trisha," he murmurs against her, and she sobs, shaking in his arms.

"I kept it," she says, muffled by his travel coat, "I kept my promise."

And Hohenheim has kept his.

He still has one last trip to make, on the Promised Day. But that's months away, and he doesn't want to think about that. Not now. Not when he's with his family. Not when he's finally home.

#fma #fmab #happy october 3rd yall #heres hohenheim centric stuff #my writing

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astridthevalkyrie · 3 years

Note

Do you think AOT is better than FMAB?

sorry not sorry for the blunt answer but no, never, not in a million years, not even close, not for a number of reasons.

few reasons under the cut, because apparently I’m doing this instead of focusing in class. obviously there will be spoilers for both shows, and obviously some of this will be based on personal preference.

1. Genocide/Oppression

so both shows have some vivid imagery of nazi germany. bradley is addressed as the fuhrer in fmab, and the eldians wear stars on their sleeves in aot. and even if the aot writer wasn’t pretty much confirmed to be a nationalist and raging anti-semite, it’s rather painfully obvious which show handles it better.

in aot, the eldians are oppressed because they can turn into titans and were originally trying to take over the world or something, which is so blatantly anti-semitic that it’s terrible. shows are allowed to tackle these kinds of topics, but they should handle them well, not be a stand in for nazi propaganda. this is something so many fucking shows do wrong whenever they make an oppressed group of people - there’s always somehow a reason for having them be oppressed. take bbc merlin. wizards are oppressed because they can do magic and so they’re dangerous, just like how eldians can turn into titans and so they’re dangerous, and that’s a bad thing to imply, because it implies that jewish people somehow deserved what happened to them and that’s a fucking dangerous idea to put into an already anti-semitic world.

and that’s exactly why i was so relieved and appreciative of how fmab did the battle of ishval. it is clear who the bad guys are in that scenario, and it’s clear that it was never deserved and that the soldiers who carried it out are war criminals and deserve to be put into jail. riza says as much herself. while i think scar shouldn’t have been as guilted as he was (sure, he shouldn’t go after innocent people, but him killing winry’s parents is not comparable to what happened to him and doesn’t put all of them on equal footing), i was pleasantly surprised that he lived and wasn’t killed off in some stupid form of “redemption.” if roy deserved to live, so did scar, a hundred times over.

2. Characters

characters in fmab are done ridiculously better than in aot. let’s compare similar characters!

edward and eren - the protagonists

up until the third season onwards, eren is very one dimensional and uninteresting. he’s entertaining, but his one and only goal is killing the titans and it’s super frustrating because they lay down the groundwork for more, but it’s never really addressed. show more how he cares about his friends, show him dealing with his trauma through anger and how it’s unhealthy. (actually, a lot of problems could be fixed if they showed more of the cadets’ training days. i feel like i wasn’t feeling as betrayed by annie and reiner and bertholdt because i never really felt they were that close to eren.)

ed is a delightful main character. he too is angry and doesn’t mind talking with his fists, but at the same time, he’s starchly against killing anyone and has multiple goals. ofc his primary one is getting their bodies back, but when he finds himself in the conspiracy about amestris, he doesn’t hesitate before making that his problem as well. every relationship he has is wonderful. i could get bored with eren on the screen, i wasn’t bored with ed.

armin and alphonse - the deuteragonists

i’m sorry but armin is literally just “the smart one.” that’s it. he’s also the dreamer but it only comes up when they’re about to do something dangerous.

i feel like i don’t even need to go into how good of a character al is? he’s very obviously multifaceted and the epitome of sweet and badass at the same time.

winry and mikasa - the love intests-ish

i don’t like referring to either of them like that, but while mikasa is the tritagonist (or deuteragonist, her and armin can interchange there), winry is not.

and surprise, surprise, this is actually where i’m not so sure winry comes out on top. mikasa is, in my opinion, the most interesting out of the trio. she also has a very single-minded goal, but seeing her interact with other characters (armin, jean, levi) who either fall in line or disagree with that goal is fun to watch. she’s also obviously super competent and i have a thing for competent characters.

winry is a good character and i love her, but it’s always bothered me how out of place her scenes feel in relation to the entire show. and as much as i know it doesn’t deter her agency, there’s just something off about ed telling her to have an apple pie waiting for them. it actually brings in one of my few problems with fmab. while its female are pretty good, they’re far from perfect, and that’s because nearly all of them exist because of their relation to the more important male character. winry is ed’s mechanic and the elrics’ family friend. riza is roy’s lieutenant. lan fan is ling’s bodyguard. izumi is the elrics’ teacher. i’m not saying that’s all they are, but this is a major part of their role in the story (olivier and mei stand out as female characters with goals relating to themselves and not a guy around them.)

so who’s the better character? mikasa is more fierce and winry has better lines that aren’t just calling out the protag’s name. i’m gonna give it to winry, but by a short shot.

roy and levi - the op fan favorites

this one’s much easier. roy is not just a badass who’s also the hero’s direct superior like levi is, he’s a person with clearcut goals and weaknesses and he has to make sacrifices and work for what he wants. levi has all the makings for a great character, a tragic backstory and a chill personality, but he doesn’t have a reason to stay in the scouts, he just...does. out of loyalty to erwin, i guess? it’s not clear and it’s even worse if you don’t watch the ova. roy’s reasons are clear and relatable. he also has a dorky and endearing side, plus the political side of things he brings to fmab is interesting and an equally important part of the story. his fight with envy is satisfying and thrilling. levi’s fight with the beast titan, while it is super well animated and cool, kiiiinda falls flat because there was no set-up for him being the one to take the beast titan down (should have been connie). it also ends a bit too fast, honestly.

but hey, you say, aren’t you the one writing 15k worth of fanfiction for levi within two weeks? didn’t see you writing that much for roy. yeah, well, unfortunately, my attraction doesn’t determine the better character and i never said i was proud of this, please leave me alone.

there’s more comparisons i could make - carla and trisha, hohenheim and grisha (ha, trisha and grisha rhyme), roy can also be compared to erwin, there’s multple side characters, but fmab wins, you guys get it.

3. The Story, Plot, Deaths

listen, i get it. aot is a bloody, brutal show and you’re not supposed to get attached to characters. i’m not gonna complain about pointless deaths, because that in itself is the point. it’s like twd or got, it’s gonna have lots of death. but the deaths don’t have to be so stupid. i’m specifically thnking of levi’s squad, because the way they die is so dumb. gunther should not be taken down by a cadet, petra shouldn’t be flying so close to the ground, oluo should know not to engage the female titan alone. these were elite titan killers, they knew not to be stupid. there were ways to kill them off without making them look so stupid. and if there’s not, consider not killing them off just for shock value.

fmab’s deaths mean something, especially since one of its central messages is that life is precious, no matter whose it is. everyone’s life means something and no one dies in vain.

there’s more i could go into, but i just spent my entire classtime doing this and now my second one for the day is about to start, sooo i think i’ll stop here. thanks for the ask!

#fmab #anti aot #anti fmab #at some parts #aot is anti-semitic please be careful when watching it and think about the media you're consuming

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lilyundertaker · 2 years

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Headcanons Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood of being the younger twin sister of Edward Elric and a splitting image of Trisha Elric who hated her father more than her brother does in fact she threw her boot 👢 right at father's head with clear intent on hurting him because he didn't deserve the talent of metal and spike thorn nature that she had as the Rose thorn alchemist because he wasn't there to support her when she was at her lowest of depression of wanting to commit suicide when Trisha passed away from an illness when she was very young and she yelled at Van idiot father of all of those negative feelings she had growing inside her of all those years because she looks like her mother as angry tears appeared in her eyes as she went on and on as her voice rose in pitch as well of how she sent the letters she sent over the years not giving up..to all of the places he had been as tears dropped down into the grass and then she said "You know..maybe Ed was right. I can't believe you. Parents are meant to be there for their children during those bad times..WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST WHEN WE NEEDED YOU THE MOST!? HUH?! TELL ME!"

Edward's reaction and Al Elrics reaction to witnessing the sight of their usually kind gentle sweet younger twin sister/older sister snap at their father..even Den the dog whined sadly at the loud tone of the teenagers voice.

Note: I haven't seen FMA in such a long time, though it's definitely an amzing series! I might've left some things out from the ask and changed others, but I do hope you enjoy this!

Headcanons:

You couldn't believe your eyes to what you were witnessing;

Righ beside the grave of your mother Trisha stood your elder twin Edward, who had most likely come to pay his respects as he did, but in front of him stood a figure, which you despised the most in this world - Van Hohenheim;

Your younger brother Alphonse stood behind you, most likely as shocked as you were, though it wouldn't show on his armor of a vessel;

With the rage of ten men you stomped over to him, rage and pent up emotions blinding your thoughts, leaving no time for him to react as in a split second you threw your own boot straight at his face, only to be followed by the other one;

You were ready to rip out a tombstone and throw that in his face as well if only Alphonse wouldn't have stopped you with his physical strenght;

You goddamn piece of flesh, how could you?! - you screamed at him whilst struggling to activate your Rose Thorn alchemy, but were unable due to Alphonse pressure... or rather your own mental and emotional exhaustion;

Where the hell were you when mother died? Where the hell were you when she needed you, when we needed you...when I needed you?! - you sobbed, loosening up your muscles in Alphonse's cold, metal arms;

Ed stood still, shocked beyond everything, seeing his sister's outbreak, her deepest darkest emotions just pouring out all at once, but it was even worse, when he realised that You had been holding this in for years and it must've eaten you from inside like an acid;

Van Hoheinheim was silent as well, most likely because there wasn't any reason big enough to justify his actions, but his silence did no good to lift the tension of this situation;

Alphonse finally released his grip, allowing you to stand on your own two feet and harshly wipe the tears off your face, leaving only resentment;

You know....parents are meant to be there for their children, especially when the worst thing imaginable happens - You continued, - But I guess Ed was right...there is no point in believing you anymore!;

You turned around and left, still oozing with hate, but now also feeling heartbroken and completely orphaned.

#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #you #reader #oc #edward elric #alphonse elric #van hohenheim

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aquietwritingcorner · 3 years

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Writers Month Day 22: House Word Count: 531 Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: G/K Characters: Von Hohenheim Warning: NA Summary: Hohenheim comes home, only to find it isn’t there. He takes a few moments to ruminate on this discovery. Notes: There are plenty of stories about Ed and Al and how they felt about their house burning down or what have you. I thought one from Hohenheim’s perspective about coming back and finding his house burned down might be interesting! AO3 || ff.net

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House

Von Hohenheim stood just beyond the edge of where his house used to stand. It had, obviously, burned down. It wasn’t the first time Hohenheim had seen a burned down house. He had seen plenty of them, helped to put some out, caused some, and even been caught in one a time or two. The difference was this was his house. His, and Trisha’s, and the boys’. It was their home. And now it was just a pile of ash.

He wondered, briefly, if anything had been able to be saved from the house. He’d be satisfied with the safe removal of his family. Likely, they were at Pinako’s, which is where he would go next. Even if they weren’t there, Pinako was likely to know where his family had gone. He hoped that they were provided for and taken care of.

His eyes roamed over the remains of the house. It had burned some years ago. That was easy enough to see. Raising two boys without anything would have been hard. Hohenheim knew that Pinako and her family were likely to help, and the community as well. Hopefully, though, they had been able to save some things, like clothing, or quilts, or something. He had some very old and very rare texts in there too that he was sure would be useful to many alchemists—or to sell for money, if needed. And then there were the keepsakes. Trisha’s wedding dress. Edward’s baby blanket. Alphonse’s first shoes. The china passed down through Trisha’s family. Family albums. Memories.

Hohenheim began walking around the edge of the burned area. He could clearly remember what each place had been. He had built this house. He, and Trisha, and the community. He hadn’t used his alchemy on it, wanting to build it by hand. Fortunately, he had a host of neighbors and several souls inside him that knew what they were doing and helped to guide him in the process. It had taken some time, but the house had been constructed, and constructed well.

He had good memories here. They were some of the few that he had. Trisha had made him learn to live, to truly live. He experienced pure happiness with her. He could remember fights with flour that happened in the kitchen, dancing in the living room together, that time he slipped in the tub, she came rushing to see what had happened, and he was tangled in the curtain and his towel, water sloshing about. He remembered tender nights in their bedroom, being by her side during births, the first cries of his boys. He remembered watching her be such a tender, loving mother, of his sons’ upturned and smiling faces, of the toys left scattered about.

There were so many memories that he cherished that happened here.

And now his house was gone.

Perplexed and not having any answers, Hohenheim turned to head back down the road. Hopefully Pinako still lived in the same place, and she or her family could explain it all to him.

He just hoped that he hadn’t missed too much in the time he had been gone.

He supposed he would find out soon.

#writersmonth2021 #von hohenheim #fma #Fullmetal Alchemist #fma fanfic #fullmetal alchemist fan fiction

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princess-of-the-corner · 3 years

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Human After All: I'd like to know more about A) Lust realizing that Hohenheim had an actual life in Resembool and B) everyone's reactions to Ed and Al sneaking off to do the human transmutation and the aftermath.

Oh boy here we fuckin go!!!!!

Lust realizing that Hohenheim had a life in Resembool:

Oh boy. Okay so this has some setup.

When Lust first meets Ed and Al, she assumes the situation is a lot different. Basically They're close enough to be mistaken for twins, so she thought it was more "one night stand and disappeared from town but their mom remembered the name and told the kids". Because... Why would he stay?

But then Lust babysits Ed and Al on a trip back to Resembool to visit Winry and her grandma. And like.

Lust gets curious about some things. And she happens to see a photo album out that she can't help but look through.

Of course Granny finds her snooping but just lets her look through it and explains that it's from Winry's parents' wedding. And Lust eventually flips to a page where Hohenheim is in the photo.

Lust pauses on it because it's so strange. First in general, of how Hohenheim looks just like Father but also nothing like him at the same time. Physically identical, but the way they carry themselves is.. Entirely different.

Especially as this picture is kinda goofy. Granny tells her how everyone was hinting to Hohenheim that he should marry Trisha since they were already "basically married". And the newly married Sarah Rockbell had given up pn subtly, and chucked her boquet right at Hohenheim's face with a "sorry I was aiming for Trisha!"(which no one belives because she has incredible aim).

Lust asks more on that. And Granny mentions how Hohenheim and Trisha had been together for a bit amd were already living in the same home. And that pretty much immediatly after that whole "lack of subtly" the pair decided "despite not going through legal paperwork we are married now fuck you' and also bonus pregnancy announcement. Which has Lust relize Ed and Al aren't twins.

But it's weird to her. Because like. Hohenheim had a life here? He was with this woman for a few years and essentially got married (clearly the "don't go through the paperwork" is because he doesn't legally exist). But like. He had a wife and kids. One of the kids seems to have been actually planned. Why would he do that? And why did he leave? No one has answers on that, but Granny says that if he did leave, it was for good reasons. Not whatever the town gossips make up for fun.

Granny is a little sus about Lust's interests in all this because like. I kiiinda mentioned this before on my artblog but he way I draw Lust she actually looks a lot like "if Ed was a girl" and considering how much Ed looks like Hohenheim... They basically look somewhat related. Granny points that out and kinda pulls some Gaslight Girlboss Gatekeep of "nope no relation whatsoever my father just worked with him long ago but it's totally not relevant to anything!"

Anyway!

Later, Lust is wandering around Ed and Al's home because that fucker hasn't burned yet. And she just... Sees more of it.

True. It's been just the boys for years but there's still things like his clothes in the bedroom closet or something casually put on a shelf too high for Trisha to have reached.

The two rooms that really hit are the bedroom and the study.

Tbe bedroom is mostly untouched. But she sees a shelf of little statues. It's strange to her, but she realizes all the statutes are made from Alchemy. About half of them have very obvious marks, a sign of a talented but inexperienced maker. Seeing two distinct styles, she cam guess Ed and Al made those.

The rest are perfect. Intricate and flawless. If they weren't on the shelf with the others, she would've thought they were made by some master clay artist.

Alchemically made trinkets as gifts for someone they love.

The study is another beast altogether. A whole library on Alchemical texts. Some even older than Lust. All marked up with someone's notes in the margins. The same person's notes, as the handwriting doesn't differ. Clearly all these are important. So why leave them?

The real hard hitter is a journal Hohenheim left. Of course Lust reads it. The fact that the journal is written in Xerxian is just another punch to the gut, but thankfully Lust can read it.

It has a lot of things but the main info she reads is an entry from when Ed was just born and Hohenheim is discussing worries over how his whole "Philosophers Stone in Human Form" deal might be effecting Ed in terms of like. Genetics and stuff.

But the main thing Lust focuses on is that Hohenheim mentions discussing those fears with Trisha. That he told her what he was and his whole history and everything.

It's... Confusing to Lust. Why did Hohenheim just settle down here in this small ass rural town with a normal woman? What was it about her that compelled him to stay in one place so long? To settle down after years and have a kid? Having a second kid? And telling her about... Everything?

She finds no answer because, from all accounts, it seems like Trisha was just a normal, small-town girl. She didn't even have an interest in Alchemy! Just gardening. Why her? Why not someone at least... Great and powerful to match what he was? Even if no one could truly compare to what he was.

Everyone's reactions to Ed and Al sneaking off to do Human Transmutation:

Oh boy. This is a big plot point.

So the boys had quite a plan to trick the adults. Lust has gone on trips out of town for weekends(reporting back to Father), and she's also babysat the boys on a trip to Resembool before. So the boys wait until one of her trips and tell Roy and Riza that she's taking them on a different trip to Resembool. None of the adults know this until Lust comes back without them and has no idea where they were.

They put it together real fast and all three book it to the train station. Several hours of worried pacing of what could've happened.

Roy and Riza are entirely in the dark of what might happen. Lust though... She knows how the Gate works. And what could have happened.

She knows that There's a Price to pay. And while she was planning on encouraging the boys to go through the Gate anyway, she was supposed to be involved with it so she could trade a part of her Philosopher's Stone for their safety. Obviously just so they don't loose a Sacrifice to blood loss or later infection! Not because she cares or anything! But yeah without her, who knows what the Price may be?

They check the boys house first. They see plenty of blood, which is a terrifying sight. But they also see a trail leading out. And that if the boys are still alive, they probably went to the Rockbell place.

Which yeah. Granny's already waiting for them. She wants to yell at them for failing, but it would be hypocritical sinve she didn't notice the first time around.

She tells them the boys are alive but fucked up. Ed lost a couple limbs and Al is... Hard to explain.

Lust is the first to notice the suit of armor in the living room. The way it's arranged like a child, curled up and hiding, barely peeking out from behind the "arms". Light in it's "eyes", like someone's in there watching her.

She remembers the experiments done on the death row inmates. Puttin Souls in suits of armor. She's horrified, but not surprised, when it moves.

That is a whole conversation. Lust has to pretend she doesn't know how that works(while also questioning how the boys managed it). Al tells them what he remembers, which is just everythiny going wrong and then being in the armor and Ed missing some limbs.

We have a long emotional scene when Roy goes to talk to Ed.

Ed is very much not okay at this point and he's trying to be angry but it's just not really there. And he just asks why Roy is still there. He failed to keep them from fucking up why does he still care? Just go back home and leave them so he doesn't have to deal with them anymore.

Well that's just heartbreaking. Roy just talks to him about a lot of things. And the main thing was that this wasn't just "I'm gonna try and stop you but whoops failed that bye bitch" situation. He's not just going to drop the kids because he failed once. He's not even going ti drop them after months of pushing him away and being stubborn about the whole situation. They're a family now damn it.

And Ed kinda feels like that might be worse, because he threw that away ti go fuck up. But Roy tells him it's not "thrown away". They're still going to be here for him. And figure things out.

Later at night, Roy, Riza and Lust all kinda sneaknout individually. Which does lead to some comedy until Granny catches them and calls them idiots. But all of them were thinking of going to the boy's house and looking over their notes.

Roy and Lust are the only ones who can make heads or tails of the notes. Riza can follow some but gets lost and Granny never was an Alchemy person. Roy's looking more for "what went wrong" while Lust is focused more on "what went right". And Lust does find that though they came very close to making a Homunculus, they did do everything pretty right. She accidentally comments on that, which leads to a horrifying theoretical of "what if the boys managed to make a fake Trisha that looked and acted like her but wasn't her?". This also leads to the more disturbing question of "what was it they did manage to make"?

This is a thing that came up in Canon, but here they get answers of the thing that they made wasn't their mom, and you can't bring back the dead. Ed and Al take that news about as well as they did in Canon as well.

The "possible homunculus" thing comes up too with the others wondering if Al really is Al and not just... Something vaguely like him that Ed accidentally created. (Lust knows but can't tell how she knows rip!). Riza to the rescue on this one by asking Al about something Ed shouldn't know about. So that existential crisis is averted!

Of course there's discussion of what to do to help Ed and Al. Which... Does lead to getting back toward Canon of "have Ed become a State Alchemist". It's debated a lot because ya know. Sure it's the best option to help them have the freedom and access to stuff tk find shit but. Ya know. Roy already feels like he failed to protect these kids once already this is not helping.

Anyway! One more fun scene!

Please imagine once Ed gets the automail arm and just does the clap-slap Alchemy. And Roy and Riza are like "yo what the FUCK???"

#human after all #haa au

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worryinglyinnocent · 3 years

Text

Fic: Haven (49/50)

Summary: They say Resembool is a haven, and they’re right. Lush pastures, quaint country town, farmers’ markets on Saturdays: a bucolic paradise.

But it’s more than that. Resembool is a haven for the runaways, the deserters, the people who don’t want to be found…

The Resembool community knows there’s something odd about Hohenheim, but they’re not going to let that stop them helping him out. This is Resembool after all, a place where no one has to hide and neighbours help neighbours, be they building a fence, chasing a sheep, or trying to save the country from an evil they inadvertently helped release centuries ago…

Or: A series of slices of life in an AU in which Hohenheim never leaves, and several broken state alchemists find hope and home in Resembool.

Rated: T

Haven

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [AO3]

Summary: Trisha reflects on the relationship between Ed and Winry and hopes that it is, as she suspects, evolving into something deeper.

Characters: Trisha, Hohenheim, Ed, Al, Winry

Pairings: Ed/Winry, Trisha/Hohenheim

Trisha will admit that she’s been wondering about Ed and Winry for a while now. They’ve always got along as neighbours and friends, with the usual amount of playful bickering and not at all serious disagreements. They’ve always vehemently denied having any kind of finer feelings for each other every time someone has mistaken them for boyfriend and girlfriend - not that such an occurrence has happened often, because once it happened the first time, word got around the village as to the violence of the reaction and the mistake was not made much again.

But Trisha knows her eldest son, and whilst she can’t claim to know Winry anywhere near as well, she’s been around both of them long enough.

She knows better than to actually raise the subject, but she can still smile to herself when she sees them together in one of their less antagonistic moments. The less antagonistic moments seem to be happening more and more frequently now, and they’re really quite adorable when they’re quiet.

It’s late summer, and they’re sitting out on the bench together, talking in soft tones about something that Trisha can’t make out and doesn’t want to; she doesn’t want to eavesdrop but she can’t help that they’re in her line of sight as she’s standing at the sink washing the dishes, and she gives a happy little sigh at the two of them getting along. Maybe they’ll finally admit their feelings to each other soon.

A tea towel obscures her line of vision and she glances sideways to where Van has been patiently drying the dishes beside her. He’s wearing that amused smile that’s reserved for whenever anyone does something particularly endearing. It’s a smile she’s got much more used to seeing over the last year since the Promised Day was averted.

“Leave them alone,” he says. “They’ll never get anywhere with you watching them like a hawk.”

“I’m not watching them like a hawk!” Trisha protests. “I’m just… invested in seeing where it goes.”

Van raises an eyebrow and she continues.

“Come on, anyone can see that they really like each other. Unfortunately Ed seems to have inherited your traits when it comes to romance. I feel like someone needs to give them a push or they’ll never get together.”

“You and I got on fine without anyone giving us a push.”

“That is entirely untrue. I know because I was the one doing all the pushing, you oblivious idiot.”

“You love me really.”

“I do.” She slips her arms around her neck, going in for a kiss. She even gets one foot off the ground like in the cheesy romance novels. When she finally lets him up for air, she sees that Winry and Ed have turned around on the bench and are looking in through the kitchen window with a mixture of disgust and intrigue. Trisha just gives a genial wave as Van buries his head in his hands.

“Maybe it’ll give them inspiration?” Trisha suggests.

Van swats her arm with the tea towel and returns to drying the dishes, and Trisha smiles to herself. Ed and Winry have gone back to focussing on each other rather than the adults making out in the kitchen, but they’re still sitting at a respectable distance on the bench and she knows they’ll stay that way as long as they know they have an audience. Even if the audience is somewhat distracted.

Dishes finished, she decides it’s probably a good idea to leave them alone.

“There’s definitely something there.”

“Is there?”

“Well, I don’t expect you to be able to see it. How long did it take for me to convince you that I really was helplessly in love with you?”

“Months. But we’ve known Ed and Winry for years.”

“Yes. I think that Ed must have inherited your genes when it comes to romance.”

Van just snorts, but at least he doesn’t contradict her, and Trisha takes that as a victory.

She supposes that he does have a point. Winry and Ed have known each other for pretty much their entire lives and they’ve been friends for so long. It might take them a while to realise that the feelings they’re feeling now go deeper than just a lifelong friendship. And they’d want to be careful about taking that next step for fear of ruining the friendship, but at the same time, Trisha really does hope that they take that chance on each other. She can see that there’s something there even if they can’t yet, and it would be a shame if it never came to fruition out of fear.

Van also has a point in that she does need to leave them alone if they’re going to get anywhere with it. The circumstances are different to her and Van, and acting as matchmaker for her own marriage is not at all the same thing as acting as matchmaker for someone else. She managed to keep her nose out of Roy and Riza’s burgeoning relationship when that was still young and fresh. She has to trust that Ed and Winry will find their own way forward.

In the end, it’s Al who’s the catalyst, a couple of days later. Trisha has noticed that where he, Ed and Winry used to be a terrible trio, Al is finding more and more excuses to leave the other two alone together. Some of the excuses are so ridiculously contrived that she’s amazed Ed doesn’t pick up on them, which is how she knows that he’s not really paying any attention to his brother and is more focussed on Winry instead. He leaves them in the garden and retreats into the kitchen with Trisha, watching surreptitiously out of the window.

“You think there’s something there as well?”

Al nods. “Absolutely. Granny thinks so too. In fact I think everyone thinks so apart from them. And perhaps Dad, he’s not exactly observant.”

Trisha fails to stifle a laugh at that summation.

“I think they’d be good for each other,” Al continues. “They work well together.”

That can’t be denied. Winry and Ed have always been each other’s biggest cheerleaders, no matter what they might be doing. Ed has always championed Winry’s automail skills and is the one who’s been encouraging her to go out to Rush Valley in the fall, pushing her forward towards her dream whenever she has cold feet. And Winry is just as supportive of Ed and his grand plans to go out to the East, to help Roy and Riza and the others in Ishval and then to keep going, to head out across the desert and see Xerxes, investigating his ancestral homeland and maybe even going as far as Xing.

Van comes into the kitchen and rolls his eyes on seeing both of them by the window.

“You will not help matters by giving them an audience. Come on. Both of you.” Trisha lets herself be shepherded away, and Al doesn’t protest either. At least she knows she’s not alone in her inkling, and later, when Winry calls her goodbyes to set off for her own home, Ed escorts her there, and Trisha can see that they are definitely holding hands.

It’s an excellent start.

#FMA: Brotherhood #FMA Fanfiction #Trisha Elric #Edward Elric #Winry Rockbell #EdWin #TrishaxHohenheim #Fic: Haven

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alchemic-elric · 4 years

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“SHE’S DEAD!”

His anger consumed him like a rapid poison. The last thing he wanted to do was travel back to Resembool, black suit and tie to attend the funeral of his long time best friend - practically family member, Winry Rockbell. He was warned. He was warned that due to his arrogance and his refusal to cooperate with them, he’d be punished. They’d be punished, but even as Fuhrer Bradley said these things. Even as Edward crammed his blood crusted pocket watch back into the right side of his pants, taking an obedient seat before him - He knew something was wrong.

He got the call three days later. A frantic call from Pinako demanding that the boys come home this instant. She gave them no room for argument. She gave them room to plead their case. Her voice was firm as she spoke out her demand, and with little to say to it - they were off to Resembool to find out what was going on.

Edward didn’t know what to do when he stepped through the door and Pinako was there in seconds. Pulling him into her arms. She’s reaching up to his face, hands at his cheeks as she pulls him down to her level. She’s reaching for Alphonse just the same - however with less success due to the armored boy’s height. They were practically her sons at this point. She’d done more for them than any other adult in their life next to the Colonel.

Pinako Rockbell had been there for them since they were just boys - young boys who just lost their mother. Pinako Rockbell had been there for them long before that - long before Trisha died and Hohenheim left. When their parents wanted privacy, he can remember spending time at the Rockbells. The Rockbells were their second family; their second home. The loss of Yuriy and Sarah was hard for them too - their Aunt and Uncle gone to the war. Family gone to the war.

There was no blood relation but there may as well be. The Elrics and the Rockbells were practically the same family and now - now they were missing yet another member. Pinako looked at them both with a sad look in an attempt to be strong for them both but when they frowned at her, she broke in an instant with a river of tears rushing over old cheeks as she explained to them both that her granddaughter had been killed.

That was the first time in several years that Edward had heard his brother scream. Alphonse became furious in that moment and the reverse consumed the elder. He was a flood of tears. A river of emotion, dropping to his knees and sobbing into the old woman’s shoulder. It was his fault. It was his fault she’s dead. This is what he meant. This is what he meant when he told him that they would be punished for moving against them. It was a message.

They used Winry Rockbell to send them a message. They used Winry Rockbell to force them into their place and demand their obedience. They used Winry Rockbell.

They used their family to warp them to their will.

It was a blow to the chest Edward didn’t know if he’d ever recover from. It was a blow that left another crack racing down Edward’s already fragile heart. Would it shatter next time? Would it shatter this time? Did it just need more time to finalize the damage?

He’s positive he’s still in shock and he stays that way for several days. It’s hard to leave even after the funeral. It’s hard to stand through that funeral without shedding a tear. It’s hard to stand through that funeral in a black suit and tie - dressed the same as when they lowered his mother to her eternal rest and now his sister to join her. Grandparents weren’t supposed to out live their children. Grandparents weren’t supposed to out live their grandchildren either.

It’s hard to leave her. It’s hard to leaver her because even when Pinako pushes herself forward she ends up breaking down at least once or twice a day. It’s hard to leave her and the brothers end up coming to an agreement. Edward would continue their mission. Edward would continue their work while Alphonse remains in Resembool to help Pinako with things around the house and provide her with some kind of comfort - at least for a little while.

He was the one who wasn’t tied to the military after all - and unfortunately, it’s been made perfectly clear to them that when they said Jump, Edward was to respond How High?

He doesn’t know how to function without her. He doesn’t know how to function with his brother there to focus him, and as he sets now in the office of his Commanding Officer he tries to think through it all. Whatever Mustang is going on about - he’s not listening. It’s all going in one ear and out the other. He can’t focus, even if he wanted to. He hasn’t explained to anyone what happened. He hasn’t explained why they rushed home in a fuss - not more than “Grandma wants us home and home like yesterday.”

That was as much as he gave them, even after the funeral. Even after they were gone for two weeks without so much as a letter or a phone call. He just showed up on Central Command’s doorstep a changed man. His eyes look colder now. His face looks harder. His soul is breaking and he’s doing everything in his power to hold it all together.

But the anger - the rage is consuming him.

There’s the sound of snapping at his side and he turns drawn to it, seeing a displeased look on the face of his Superior and he sighs. There’s something wrong with him but he won’t speak to it. Who knows who they’ll kill next if he disobeys them. Who knows who they’ll go after next if he forces their hand.

They took her from him. They stole her.

He knows it was them - but he just doesn’t know which one did it.

He’ll kill them. He’ll slaughter whoever did it. He’ll - He’ll - He’ll end them.

They stole from him. They stole her away.

What was he supposed to do without her?

“I’m sorry Colonel, what’d’ja say?”

||| @wyrdify

#v; the hatred consumes #wyrdify #wyrdify - Mustang #{{ I hope one day you look at me and see a man you're proud of || Wyrdify - Mustang }}#|| in which Kai and I spent the night coming up with another fucked up AU #tw; death #tw; character death #tw; major character death #tw; depression #tw; mental illness #tw; grief #tw; murder mention

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