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zetalial · 5 years

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FMA 03: Fathers

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

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

Regardless...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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elfpen · 6 years

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Inequivalent Exchange

"I'm gonna go show this to mom!"

"Yuriy! Get back here!"

Trisha Elric, blonde, blue-eyed, and hanging backwards over her father's shoulder, giggled as they spun. Edward pointed a finger as his son, who was already halfway to the door.

"Don't you dare - you can't go downstairs without pants! Yuriy, get-" Ed ran, stooped, and scooped up his son in with his free arm, "-back here. Honestly, your mom would kill me." Excited by the running and lurching, Trisha squealed with delight and clapped her hands. Ed carried his children back toward their shared bedroom.

"But I made it!" Yuriy complained, holding up the crudely-constructed mechanical dog.

"Yes you did," Ed said, dumping his son onto his bed and pulling out a dresser drawer with his foot, "and your mother will love it, but you can't show it to her if you don't have pants on. You'll scare away our customers."

"My underwear isn't that scary," Yuriy complained as his father helped him, one-handed, into a pair of corduroys.

Ed snorted, but made sure the pants were all the way up - and buttoned - before turning his son loose toward the front door. "Don't run down the stairs, you'll lose a leg!"

"Mom has plenty!" was Yuriy's carefree response. Edward shook his head and turned his attention to Trisha, who still had sticky hands from her breakfast. Ed took her to the kitchen to clean her up.

"Your brother is silly, isn't he?" he cooed. She tried to clap while he was wiping her hands, and got honey residue all over his wrists. He ignored it. "Hopefully not as silly as your mom. He gets it from her side of the family, but don't tell her I said that."

He'd barely finished cleaning up when Winry's voice echoed up through the floorboards,

"Edward!"

Oh, hell. Yuriy was wearing pants, he was sure of that. But he hadn't checked to make sure the kid was wearing shoes. Had he slipped and fallen on the stairs? Had he taken his shirt off again? Was he making customers look at his skinned knee?

Trisha balanced on his hip, Edward leaned out the front door and looked down into his wife's automail shop. "Yeah?"

Yuriy was showing off his miniature automail creation not to his mother, but two uniformed figures at the front of the shop. Winry turned to look up at him.

"We have visitors."

Yuriy saw his father and waved, and the two uniformed figures turned to look. Edward's face went slack.

"Colonel?" he said.

"It's General now, actually," smiled Roy Mustang, taking off his hat and tucking it under his arm.

Riza Hawkeye stood next to her commander, and in the filtered sunlight, Ed could see a new silver bar adorning her epaulette. He smiled at her.

"Captain Hawkeye, it's good to see you."

"It's been a while, Edward," she glanced at Roy, who was scowling at Edward's failure to recognized his promotion when he'd so easily recognized hers.

The Major General Bastard's annoyance made Ed smile wider.

"I'll clean up here," Winry announced, "Ed, put a pot of coffee on. It's so great to see you both!"

"Alright, so why are you really here?" Ed asked once he and Mustang were alone. Roy looked over to where Winry and Riza had retired to the living room to catch up. Riza bounced Trisha on her knee and laughed at something Winry had said. Yuriy was sprawled out on the floor with piles of nuts and bolts that Winry had given him to tinker with.

"What, I can't make a social call once in a while?"

"You never have before," Ed pointed out. "And definitely not in full uniform. What do you want?"

Roy took a sip of his black coffee and set it carefully back down on the table. "Your assessment is coming up soon, and I want to make sure you've got something good."

Edward blinked at him, utterly nonplussed. "I'm not in the military anymore."

Roy stared him down. "Were you ever discharged?"

Ed blinked at him again. "I'm not a State Alchemist - Roy, I can't do alchemy anymore." he'd only ever used Mustang's first name a handful of times, and he'd expected it to elicit a reaction, but the General only sighed and shook his head.

"Of course you didn't think this through. You ran off to Resembool and then to the West, then to Rush Valley, confusing the certifications office and leaving your overworked commanding officer to fill out five separate change of address forms for you, because you're apparently too busy." Roy tilted his head, fixing the stewing blond with a curious look. "Yet somehow, you've found the time to make three kids."

"Two and a half," Edward snapped. Roy shrugged, and continued to drink his coffee.

"Well before you get started on a fourth, you should really consider what you're turning in this year. I've deferred your assessment for years, but the bureaucrats are catching up with me. You'd better make it something good."

Ed's jaw was hanging open, coffee abandoned and growing cold on the table in front of him. "How the hell," he said, and realized he was raising his voice. He eyed Yuriy, and leaned forward to hiss at Roy, "How the hell do you expect me to be a state alchemist if I can't do alchemy?"

"You're a state alchemist if you pass your assessments, and you will pass your assessment, Fullmetal."

Ed spread his hands, "With what? I can't perform alchemy."

"Alchemical research is not all about performing alchemy," Roy demurred. "You'll think of something."

Ed was annoyed - no, he was furious. How dare this bastard come into his home and remind him of what he'd lost, and act like he owed him something? "What the hell is wrong with you? I'm not an alchemist! I'm a state-at-home dad, for god's sake!"

Roy's whole demeanor changed, and he loomed over the kitchen table, dark eyes glinting with a determination that Edward had seen just a few times, the times when Roy had talked about becoming Fuhrer.

"You were the youngest state alchemist in history, you performed human transmutation and bound a human soul in a blood seal when you were eleven years old, you learned more by the time you were fifteen than most alchemists learn in their entire lives, you saw the Truth, you beat the Truth, you comprehended the solutions to the oldest questions that alchemy has to offer, and you're telling me that it never once crossed your mind to write it down?"

Edward stared at him, dumbstruck but still furious. "No," he spat back.

Roy leaned back in his seat. "Well maybe you should." He reached behind him to the coffeepot still on the counter, and poured himself a new cup. Edward hadn't moved a muscle, mind reeling.

"I've deferred your assessment for one more year, but even with this promotion, I'm on my last leg – sorry," he glanced at the metal foot peeking out from beneath Ed's trousers. "If you don't pass your assessment, you'll lose access to your research funds, and I'll look like an ass."

"I haven't even tried to access my funds for years," Ed said. "You saying I still have an account?"

Roy laughed. "A very full one, if you've left it alone. You might want to look into it." Roy glanced over to Riza and Winry, and Ed's eyes followed him. The two had been exchanging stories and news all afternoon, but now Riza reached out a lay a hand on the distention of Winry's four-month pregnancy.

"Has she started kicking yet?" the captain was asking.

"No, not yet, and I'm enjoying it while it lasts. How are you so sure it'll be a girl?"

"Because she's not making you sick - considerate. If it were a boy, he wouldn't even think." They both laughed.

"Winry's business is doing well, I know," Roy said, voice going uncharacteristically soft. "But I also know that no matter how much commission she earns, three kids is a lot. If your family keeps growing, it won't be enough. You don't have enough bedrooms as it is."

"And how is that any of your damn business?" Edward demanded.

"It's not, of course," Roy shrugged. "But your assessment is. You still have your watch, don't you?"

Ed sulked, watching Yuriy show off his skinned knee to Riza, who held a sleeping Trisha to her chest. "Probably," he said.

"Good. They'll ask to see it for assessment. You have one year to prepare."

Edward's head was beginning to hurt. "What the hell am I supposed to one year?"

"I don't know, but the good ambassador tells me you've been working on something new since your sabbatical to the West. Maybe you could start there."

"The ambassador?" Edward frowned. Roy blinked at him, and then nodded in realization.

"Ah. Yes, the Xingese are not quite as fond as telephones as we are, so you probably wouldn't have heard: the Fuhrer recently appointed Alphonse Elric as the new ambassador to Xing." Edward's eyes grew wide in elation, but Roy cut him off, "but please do me a favor and act surprised when he tells you."

"Ambassador?" He grinned, "That idiot never tells me anything – that's incredible!"

"Yes, the Fuhrer expressed particular interest in a new 'principle' Alphonse told him about. Something about taking ten and giving back eleven. It's a fascinating concept, and would turn the principle of equivalent exchange on its head."

Edward shrugged. He'd spent years working on it with Al, but even now he knew they'd hardly scratched the surface. "If we can prove it works, yeah."

Roy downed the rest of his coffee in one large gulp and stood to his feet, hat tucked under his arm. "Well in that case, you have one year to overturn the foundation of all alchemy. Get to work."

"You couldn't have given me more notice, could you?" Edward griped, glaring up at the General above his cold coffee.

Roy did not answer the question. Instead, he reached out an open hand, "I'll be needing that 520 cens back."

"W-wait, what?" Hadn't this bastard just insinuated that they didn't have enough money to support his family?

"Don't tell me you forgot about that, too."

Glaring at Mustang the entire time, Edward dug around in his pockets and came back with the owed change. "There," He slammed it into his palm. "But I'm going to need to borrow some more money, you know that, right?"

"Of course," Roy reached into his pocket and pulled out a prepared fold of cash. "One hundred and fifty dollars."

Winry and Riza must've hit a pause in their conversation, because the number rang through the house louder than it should've and they both turned to look. Roy ignored them.

"One-hundred and fifty…" Ed was genuinely shocked. He looked up at the General. "What…?"

"It should just cover the cost of a typewriter - I saw a handsome one in the store across the street. You know how to use a typewriter, don't you, Fullmetal?"

"What, are you saying I don't?" He didn't - he was horrible at typing.

Roy smirked. "Good. I look forward to reading your book by this time next year. Captain," he called, and Riza looked up at him.

"Sir?"

"We should go. Thank you for the coffee and your hospitality, Mrs. Elric," Roy nodded at Winry, who stood alongside Riza. "But I have another appointment outside of town."

"It was good to see you again," Riza embraced Winry and patted her stomach. "You need to tell me when this one comes along - I'll bet you five dollars it's a girl."

Winry laughed. "I'll take you up on that."

"Keep an eye on your dad for me, Yuriy," Roy saluted the young boy, who saluted back.

"Yes, sir!"

Edward scoffed.

"I'll warn you, he's a handful," Roy said.

"That's what momma says," replied Yuriy. Edward scoffed louder, and Winry cackled.

Roy and Riza walked out the front door, and while Riza turned to shoot the family a smile, Roy didn't look back as he waved.

"See you around, Fullmetal."

One year and three months later…

"Ugh, it's freezing out there!" complained sergeant Fuery, hanging his coat up to to dry on the rack. He shook snow off a bundle of mail.

"A letter for you, Captain," he reported, dropping by Riza's desk.

"Thanks, sargeant." As he handed off the mail, Fuery caught sight of Roy Mustang in his office. Back turned to the door, he was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped on the desk, left fingers twirling through the telephone cable.

"How's the General doing? He's been holed in his office all day." Fuery stood on his toes to see into the window of Roy's office.

"Edward's new book arrived yesterday," Riza flipped over the envelope to see the name of the sender; she smiled. "He stayed up all last night reading it."

"Edward? Elric?" Fuery seemed surprised. He grinned. "Who woulda thought… Didn't peg him as a writer. He sure is full of surprises."

Riza opened the letter to find a five dollar bill, a picture of Winry Elric in the hospital holding a baby swaddled in pink, and a note: You win! Sarah Nina Elric congratulates you, and invites you to come and gloat over tea (or wine!) any time.

"He sure is," Riza said, still smiling at the photo. She wondered if Sarah would have her father's fiery golden eyes. She put the five dollars aside and resolved to use it to buy Sarah a gift. "Who knows? He's still got a lot left to do."

Fuery laughed as he returned to his work. "Nothing too dramatic, I hope."

If she listened closely, Riza could hear Roy talking on the telephone, voice muffled by the closed door of his office:

"Fullmetal… Congratulations on your certification… As a matter of fact, I was just reading it. Could use some work, but overall… don't interrupt, Elric. I was calling to ask if your wife would be interested in relocating her business to Central – there's a shortage of automail engineers here, and… No, not exactly. A job opened up, and I've pulled some strings for you… You can still stay at home with your kids, most of the year, but in the fall… Well, tell me, Elric, have you ever thought about becoming a professor?"

Riza stood with a smile, fetched her coat, and went out into the winter streets to buy Winry a congratulatory gift.

#fma #fmab #edward elric #roy mustang #winry rockbell #riza hawkeye #fanfiction #my writing #my fanfic #elric family #post-canon #alphonse elric

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