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edwardelricsrightarm · 3 years

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"A lesson without pain is meaningless. For you cannot gain anything without sacrificing something else in return, but once you have overcome it and made it your own...you will gain an irreplaceable fullmetal heart." - Edward Elric

In honor of disability month and the FMA 20 year anniversary I wanted to address some Thoughts™️ about the series.

It's not often you see a disabled protagonist in media where their disability is integral to the story without taking up their entire character, even more so with anime. Yet, Fullmetal Alchemist has not just one disabled Protagonist, but two. The Elric Brothers are an exemplary representation of disability in media that I find myself reflecting on often as a disabled person myself. If you haven't completed the manga or Brotherhood, skip this as it will be brimming with spoilers.

(Mangahood will be my point of reference because while 03 is good on its own merits it's not as fresh within my immediate memory, and I am far less familiar with it. Keep this in mind, I've watched FMAB 10 and a half times whereas I've finished 03 only once years ago.)

The story highlights their disabilities immediately, Edward being a double amputee and Alphonse being without his ENTIRE body, only having the senses of proprioception, sight, and hearing left. Yet, despite this being key to the story and an integral part of their characterization, it is only one facet of their motivations and doesn't take center in the narrative, which is refreshing. It's not inherently negative to make a narrative centered on the characters' disabilities, but often this model of a story goes very wrong very fast and starts to feel hollow (no pun intended). FMA avoids this by making their disabilities a clear part of the plot and their motivations without allowing it to consume the entire story, so the Elric Brothers don't suffer the "my disability is all of my character" problem that many disabled characters are relegated to in a vast portion of media, all while being strong and competent.

Recap:

The brothers wished to revive their mother, but their good intentions cannot change the atrocity of their mistake, Truth makes this abundantly clear from the start. Edward loses his leg first, a punishment for "stepping" into God's shoes and transgressing the place of humans in their world. Alphonse loses his entire body, unable to feel any warmth or simple comforts like food and rest, when all he wanted was to feel the warmth and comfort of his mother's embrace again. At first, Alphonse's entire being is consumed by the gate, but Edward acts immediately, refusing to lose his little brother and refusing to allow his arrogance in this plan to cause his brother's death for only following his lead. Edward gives his right arm to have the gate give back Alphonse's soul, and stated clearly in his panic that he'd give his entire self to save Alphonse if that's what it would take, but Truth took his dominant arm only, showing something akin to mercy, although the character of Truth is capriciously strict and hard to describe as "merciful".

Through giving up his right arm, Edward regains his Right Hand Man, his little brother and best friend. His only remaining family, who he feels responsible for protecting in the absence of their parents. He felt immediately that he'd made a grave mistake, instantly full of regret as he realized the gate had taken his brother. In that moment he was willing to give anything to take it back and undo the suffering his arrogance caused his brother, yet Alphonse was still to suffer more to come. Ed tied Alphonse's disembodied soul to one of Hohenheim's collected suits of armor, managing to at least keep his brother alive in some way. One could say that Alphonse's punishment functioned as a secondary punishment for Edward, showing him how easily his hubris could have cost him what he has left in his obsession with regaining what they'd lost, their mother. A very clear symbolic reminder of the weight of his actions and how he'd misled his brother in his own naive ignorance. Even in giving another limb away to drag his brother's soul back out of the gate, he couldn't offer enough to bring him back intact. Thus is the law of equivalent exchange.

Now that we've reviewed some of that basic symbolism and the motifs the story draws upon with limbs and body parts in relation to characters, let's move on to each individual brother and break it down, shall we?

Edward Elric is a very realistic protagonist, this is one thing a majority of us familiar with this series can agree upon. He feels like a believable teen boy, with layers of complexity to his character while also showing arrogance and immaturity that is unsurprising at his age. He expresses unwillingness to kill and avoidance of unjust violence from the beginning, and has a strong moral code after the ordeal of committing the taboo.

In some characters his cocky personality would typically become grating, yet the story explains in itself why he is this way, then builds upon this to develop him into an incredibly mature character who is willing to admit when he's absolutely wrong and adapts to new information and context for the crisis unfolding around him as it comes, even if he remains crass. This arrogance is shown from the start to be a manifestation of insecurity, self loathing, and repressed guilt. Edward is a logic driven person, he has a very unique thought process, which is where my interpretation of him as autistic comes in. Edward's awkward social demeanor, somewhat abrasive and cold approach to some, and his trouble coping with nonsensical societal structures all stand out in this way. Furthermore he clearly shows hyperfixation, hyperactivity, special interest, and infodumping behaviors that are all too familiar. He's picky with food (*cough* the milk thing), has very little filter and speaks his mind bluntly even if this can warrant conflicting responses, yet at the same time struggles with vulnerable emotions, and he is frustrated when his own routine or itinerary are interrupted by forces beyond his control. All of these things Scream autism with comorbid ADHD. Many traits are shared between the brothers, and I'm quite certain they're both on the autism spectrum based on behavioral patterns. Neurodivergence aside, Edward's physical disabilities are undeniable.

Despite his bratty persona, Edward is fundamentally kind and uncharacteristically gentle and soft around the edges for a shonen protagonist in many ways. He cries openly on many occasions even if he struggles talking about his trauma and burdens in words at times, he feels pain, grief, and compassion so intensely it throws him into action on a regular basis in the narrative. In this way he's also a fantastic example of non-toxic masculinity (though in other ways he has displayed more toxic traits, he's just a kid). He acts on his heart, even if he's led by his mind and logic in most things. His humanity, value for life, and care for others will always win over his logic, and he shows a sense of personal responsibility for doing the right thing even if it harms him in the process. Ed is clearly shown having ghost pains in his lost limbs which is honestly an interesting detail to include, I don't think I've ever seen that aspect of amputation shown in media aside from FMA. It's also shown that when Ed's automail arm breaks this is a HUGE problem for him, but he's also shown to be very good at working around this in difficult circumstances. He doesn't become completely helpless, even if majorly weakened.

Alphonse is an extremely lovable and compassionate boy, brimming with altruism and care for others. Even in his noncorporeal state he pursues a better future and he's not helpless by any stretch. Edward clearly states Alphonse is the superior fighter for example, and it's not just because of his armor body being so large. He's *talented*, that's a fact. Al is every bit as clever and capable as Ed, moreso in some ways, and I love that about his character *because* he's so clearly disabled. He has no sense of pain, he is completely incapable of sleeping, he can't eat, can't relax or find comfort, he can only exist and think. This causes him to overthink in all his time alone, this is debilitating. He clearly is absolutely sick of the loneliness this causes, and he often feels helpless though he's not. He has doubts and fears that consume him in relation to his armor body, he questions his own personhood, even. Yet, Edward is stubborn and staunch in affirming that no matter what he's dealing with, he is fundamentally still a human being that is loved and irreplaceable. Alphonse is powerful and his body gives him some advantages, but it also sets him back, and the brothers know this even when others claim Alphonse's state is somehow a good thing. I have hEDS, a disability that comes with advantages as well as the major downsides, so I can understand and relate to Alphonse here. I too am told my disability is a boon because of flexibility and because I'm less likely to fracture bones, but I'm twice as likely to injure my ligaments and joints, which people ignore.

The brothers are both disabled, both flawed, both show weaknesses, but they are competent, determined, and strong in their own right. They are rounded characters that exist for more than to be pitied or condescended to by able bodied characters around them. They put their entire being in everything that they do no matter what that is, and they don't know the meaning of giving up. These traits that they're made of truly make them a shining example of disability in protagonists for others to look to for reference when writing their own disabled characters.

Even though by the end Edward has regained one limb and Al has regained his body, this also doesn't just deus ex machina reverse their disability or make it go away. It's clear that Alphonse's body is weak and has to be rehabilitated upon recovery, and Edward is still missing his leg and bears the scars and pieces of the port from his automail arm. They weren't suddenly made able bodied upon recovering these things, they reclaimed what was lost through struggle and grit, but the narrative didn't give the impression that their disability in itself was something to be fixed, which is important. They wanted to recover their bodies, but this doesn't erase the effects of their disability.

It was about Edward atoning for leading Alphonse into their mistake and saving his brother from suffering further, it was about them proving they can keep moving forward no matter what, not about getting rid of their disability in itself or putting themselves down because of the disabilities. This, to me, as a mentally and physically disabled viewer, is so important. They achieve their goal, but this doesn't in any way erase or undo the effects of their initial losses, they find ways to adapt and move on but they're still affected and still disabled. They always will be. That can be so important to see in comfort characters, and as a disabled individual who's had both brothers as comfort characters since I was a child, their impact on my own journey is surprisingly tangible for fiction.

#fmab #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #fma #edward elric #alphonse elric #elric brothers #character analysis #disability month #disability positivity #disabled #fma 20th anniversary

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flourchildwrites · 3 years

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“I want all my alchemists, current and former, to lay low for the time being while we reassess the State Alchemy program. I am here to ask what you want in return for your service and your discretion.”

Behind the reflective surface of his horn-rimmed glasses, Grumman’s eyes shift to the foot of Alphonse’s bed where Izumi’s cookbook sits open. “Your just deserts, as it were,” he adds with a smirk.

Alphonse doesn’t have to ponder what their plans are.

“All we want is to go home, sir, to Resembool,” Alphonse answers. He smiles to lighten the mood; loose skin pulls around the corners of his grin. “And I’d also like to see a few friends. Maybe try some of the foods from my list before we leave Central."

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga

Relationships & Characters: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Izumi Curtis/Sig Curtis, Gracia Hughes, Elicia Hughes, Grumman, Winry Rockbell, Pinako Rockbell

Genre: Character Study, Post-Promised Day, Recovery, Just Deserts

Trigger Warnings: Underweight Character

Rating: G

Word Count: 2,967 words (Complete)

A/N: I'm incredibly excited to share the fic I wrote for @fmacookbookzine, Tastes of Amestris! Most of the desserts mentioned in the story have recipes in the cookbook. I owe a special thanks to the zine moderator as well as my betas, Tas and @vino-and-doggos. I appreciate kudos, bookmarks, subscriptions, comments, likes, and reblogs if you feel so inclined.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. The repair becomes part of the object’s history and enhances its beauty.

...

There is a plate in the china cabinet of Pinako’s kitchen that Alphonse likes best. It looks the same as the others with pale pink vines looping along the fluted rim. Yet, this particular piece is set apart from the rest. Once cracked in half, Alphonse’s favorite plate has a vein of gold that binds the fractured parts together.

He was there when it happened on Winry’s sixth birthday. Ms. Sarah assembled an unorthodox birthday dessert in honor of the occasion, an elegant presentation of fresh berries, whipped cream, and puffs of baked meringue. The final touch was a pinch of mint, and once combined, Winry gazed excitedly at her mother’s handiwork stacked atop the fine china. In her wonder, the child’s footing faltered.

All told, it was an everyday accident that had Pinako tutting softly under her breath as she picked up the pieces; however, precious little went to waste in the Rockbell household—a place where broken things (and sometimes people) came to be restored. With the conscience of a healer and the precision of a surgeon, Granny carefully glued the jagged edges together with golden lacquer. Raised lines stuck out along the break and dried, leaving the piece even more beautiful for the story it had to tell.

When Alphonse looks in the mirror now, his face also tells a story. Though, he thinks that it is not a tale the hospital staff wants to hear. They are thankful for the large red letters that read ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ stamped across his medical chart. They look away from the sunken eyes and gaunt cheeks that stare back at Alphonse from the mirror Sig is holding for him. Each time Alphonse sees himself, he half expects to confront a gunmetal helmet with half-moon holes glowing red and horizontal vents instead of gutting cheekbones. The reality is disorienting but not unwelcome.

Like the metallic bond holding together his favorite plate, Alphonse likes the way his golden eyes gleam with the satisfaction of seeing his and Edward’s bodies restored. All except for his brother’s leg, and perhaps Edward does not regret that loss. It was a price paid-in-full for the people the Elric brothers helped and the lesson they learned, albeit the hard way.

Alphonse’s fingers tremble as he grasps the razor. He glances up from the mirror to the burly bear of a man holding it. “Press the razor to your face and gently pull upward,” Sig kindly instructs. “Let it do the work for you.”

The young man nods and does as instructed, ready to savor the task of shaving for the first time with the most patient person as his teacher. Alphonse takes his first pull of the razor, and it glides across his upper lip with little resistance until, at the very end, his hand trembles again.

He feels a sharp sensation, and while examining his visage in the mirror, Alphonse notices a red mark above the corner of his mouth mingled with traces of shaving cream. Sig holds out a handkerchief.

“You should have seen my first attempt. You did well,” Sig says with a pleasant grin.

A warmth fills Alphonse’s hospital room, crammed with four people who function as a family, just as they did back in Dublith. Edward reclines on the bed next to his brother with his arms stretched lazily behind his trademark braid. Izumi watches the exchange between her husband and Alphonse with a small smile, barely keeping up the pretense of reading her recipe book. She keeps her vigil at Alphonse and Ed’s bedside despite her injuries.

There’s a staccato series of knocks on the door. Between the abrupt sound and the sudden appearance of an officer drenched in Amestrian blue, the spell of domesticity is broken. It is replaced by a colder reality: Ed and Alphonse Elric are being kept by the military. They remain unsure who is being protected from whom and to what end.

Their guard straightens up. A sheen of sweat collects on his brows and the collar of his woolen uniform. His voice is strained as he pulls up into a rigid salute to address Ed. The Fullmetal Alchemist cocks his brow incredulously at the formal display.

“Sorry to intrude, Major Elric,” the officer finally announces, “Mr. Alphonse Elric. You have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” Ed parrots; a sharp remark is already on the tip of his pitchy tongue. “If it’s that Colonel Bastard, again, you can tell him-”

“It’s not Colonel Mustang,” the officer interrupts. “It’s Genera- I mean Führer Grumman.”

The collective attention of the room turns as a shorter, older man emerges from behind the guard. He moves slowly and smiles through his thick, white mustache. The deep blue of his immaculate uniform contrasts the faded fabric of the lower-ranking officer ahead of him. Service ribbons in every color weigh down the left side of the gentleman’s long jacket.

“Acting Führer,” he corrects with adroit, disarming syntax. “But then, we’re all friends here. Who cares about a little thing like formalities?”

...

Alphonse scratches at his freshly shaven upper lip as the usual introductions are observed. It seems that Ed will be doing the talking, and with that in mind, Alphonse expects a brief visit. Nevertheless, Grumman paves the way for pleasantries as well as business. Not five minutes into the discussion, Alphonse realizes that the new acting Führer speaks with authority.

It would be wise, Alphonse decides, to listen carefully.

When Führer Grumman asks Izumi and Sig to step out for an afternoon cup of tea, the request is not a suggestion. The strong-willed teacher rises with the help of her husband, and the couple leaves begrudgingly. Alphonse grins sympathetically at them as they exit. It bolsters his confidence when Izumi returns his smile with an assertive nod.

Grumman does not hesitate to fill the seat their teacher vacated. Gravity bears down on Alphonse’s frail shoulders, but he sits as tall as he can.

“The way I hear it, you boys saved the day,” the Führer proclaims, flashing a set of pearly whites. “I’d say my government owes you both a debt of gratitude.”

With all the rough-edged diplomacy he can muster, Ed responds. “Yeah, well, we didn’t do it for the government, old man. And I’m done being a dog of the military. Whatever plans you’ve got in mind, count us out.”

The Führer’s reaction is nearly nonexistent. Instead, he leans against the hardback of the chair and immediately winces.

“Dreadfully uncomfortable,” he announces, shifting forward. Grumman waves a hand to draw the guard in closer. “Be a helpful lad. See that Mrs. Curtis is given more comfortable seating.”

The young officer scurries off, closing the door behind him, and the older gentleman turns his attention toward Alphonse.

“Oh, I understand perfectly. The military will ask nothing further of you if that’s what you want,” he replies. “But the situation we find ourselves in is unusual—a conspiracy in the upper echelons of the government, a nation-wide episode of unconsciousness, the condition of Alphonse’s body, and the inexplicable connection it all has to alchemy. These are the sort of concerns that fuel the rumor mill.”

The older gentleman pauses, idly twisting the ends of his mustache between his fingers as he divulges the political landscape of Amestris.

Behind the reflective surface of his horn-rimmed glasses, Grumman’s eyes shift to the foot of Alphonse’s bed where Izumi’s cookbook sits open.

“Your just deserts, as it were,” he adds with a smirk.

Alphonse doesn’t have to ponder what their plans are.

“Your list?” the Führer asks.

“It was in a book he used to keep,” Ed explains. His tone softens, as it always does when he speaks of his brother. “It listed foods he wanted to try when he was inside... Anyway, I think we lost it.”

“I see.”

Grumman’s response is curt. With a final flourish, the old man straightens his cap and rises from the chair. It seems that he’s heard all he needs to hear.

“I’m going to keep an eye on you boys,” he concludes. “Just the one, mind you, for whatever that’s worth. It’s a fine idea for you both to return to Resembool. Recuperate and rest, and when you figure out what you’d like to do with your time, give me a call.”

The old man produces an ivory card from the pocket of his uniform; a phone number is scribbled on the front. The card itself is an innocuous thing, but the peace offering reeks of political maneuvering. Ed frowns as Führer Grumman places the card on the small table between the brothers’ beds. Alphonse is torn, equal parts intrigued and wary of the strings attached to this phone number.

“The good people here tell me that Alphonse will be ready to travel in four months,” Grumman continues. “In the meantime, I’ll see that you are allowed visitors and suitable food that Alphonse would like to become reacquainted with.”

Alphonse focuses on the task at hand. He thinks of the timeline and of the way Edward approached his recovery from the automail installation. A determined glint ignites in his golden eyes, almost glossy with the lacquer of conviction. Alphonse is weak, but his spirit remains tireless.

“I’ll do it in two,” he says.

Edward, only too happy to put the politics of Central City behind them, nods in agreement.

...

A month’s time sees Alphonse with his hair clipped short; his once sunken cheeks have regained some fullness. Edward, Sig, and Izumi have long since been discharged, but they take turns keeping Alphonse company from the spare couch of his hospital room. Just like Führer Grumman promised, it’s more comfortable than the standard chairs, but that doesn’t mean Alphonse is content to linger.

Now more than ever, he’s determined to go home, walking unassisted down Resembool’s roads. However, for the moment, it’s all Alphonse can do to steady his awkward gait by digging his toes into mats and bracing his arms against the parallel bars. He thinks something as simple as walking should come easily; his legs have other ideas. Another fall brings his physical therapy to an end for the day, and Alphonse returns to his hospital room.

He takes the bumps and bruises in stride. He makes it a point to smile at the staff even when their treatments bring him pain alongside progress. From the confines of a wheelchair, Alphonse greets his guard—a man called Doug who likes comic books and whistles to fill the silence. Doug never pries and is quick to look the other way when Ed overstays his official welcome.

“Ready for more visitors?” Doug asks.

Alphonse’s face lights up with anticipation, and he cranes his neck to peer around the doorframe. Tawny brown hair and emerald eyes fill his field of vision as the small body of a precocious child lunges toward him. She nearly jumps into his lap before her mother pulls her back while balancing a covered plate with one arm.

“Elicia! Ms. Gracia!” Alphonse greets. Recognition washes over both visitors' faces at the sound of Alphonse’s voice.

“So that’s what you look like,” Elicia observes. She giggles madly, rocking back and forth from heel to toe.

Alphonse is quick to change the subject; he also refuses to think about the way Elicia’s gregarious nature reminds him of a certain someone.

The visit is pleasant and predictable. Gracia frets about his weight and serves him a double portion of adorable pudding domes that mother and daughter whipped up for the visit. The vanilla concoctions are cleverly molded into cat-shaped faces, painted with slanting eyes and curving mouths. Soft and creamy with a hint of coffee, they are as sweet as Elicia.

Between the confection and the company, Alphone passes an hour or more catching up on life and letting the child bounce between the walls of his hospital room. When mother and daughter depart (with promises to return with quiche), the silence feels harder to swallow. Alphonse cannot help but think of Winry and Pinako, of apple pie and strong coffee mixed with the smell of automail oil.

He wants, more than anything, to go home.

...

The doctors are surprised when Alphonse meets his deadline; Ed, ever faithful, is not. Alphonse leaves Central City General with his head held high and only stops to rest when the hospital is out of sight. His senses are overwhelmed by the feeling of a starched collar against the back of his neck, the pull of a new vest across his chest, and the weight of Grumman’s card in his pocket.

Alphonse follows Ed’s lead through neat cobblestone roads that feel familiar and yet entirely different, steeped in a tactile reality that he can touch, feel, and taste. Thick exhaust from passing cars sticks to the back of his throat on their way to the train station. Yet, the stench is suddenly replaced by delicious aromas wafting from a nearby café.

His rumbling stomach is drawn to a wide store window where rounds of raspberry mousse cake sit proudly on display. Chilled pink and green tinted layers sit beneath a tempting red glaze that appears sticky, smooth, and oh-so delectable. Alphonse imagines that the confection tastes tart and tangy with notes of brandy and pistachios. He wants to charge into the cafe and order every morsel that’s for sale, but his brother has other ideas.

“Better get going,” Ed says, throwing an arm around Alphonse’s shoulders to steer him away from temptation. “We’ve got a train to catch. You’ve been waiting a long time for what Winry’s whipping up.”

Reluctantly, Alphonse tears himself away from the sight but not before committing the name of the confection and the café to memory. He leaves Central swearing that, when the time is right, he’ll be back.

...

Their return isn’t quite as Alphonse imagined. There’s no hero’s welcome; only a few nods of recognition are offered as they make their way down Resembool’s country roads. But as soon as Alphonse sees the Rockbell residence, a place that marks their journey’s end, accolades don’t matter.

Edward offers to carry him, and Alphonse refuses, bracing himself against his walking stick instead. With gratitude, he thinks of the people that have propelled the brothers along their quest—especially the travelers from Xing. He hopes that they, too, made it home.

And in the blink of an eye, their dream is realized. Den pounces upon Alphonse, recognizing him despite the amount of time that has passed. Winry isn’t far behind. She tackles the brothers to the ground and wraps her arms around them. The trio is a mess of blonde hair and tears of joy.

“Dummies, welcome home!” she exclaims, and for now, Alphonse is inclined to believe this is where he belongs. In this home and amongst these people, he intends to reconcile the pieces of himself while his appetite for the sweet things in life returns.

Winry serves him her famed apple pie on the pink porcelain plate, its halves still bound together by golden lacquer. It’s wonderful and not just because of the flaky crust that crumbles under his fork or the cinnamon sweetness of the soft apples. It’s wonderful because, for the first time in a long time, Alphonse is precisely where he wants to be.

...

Many apple pies are shared around Pinako’s dinner table. There are also birthday cakes for Alphonse (two to be exact) and pans of bread pudding served with blueberries and vanilla sauce. He eats and laughs and grows stronger by the day.

When Alphonse looks in the mirror now, he still likes what he sees, and the girls in town tend to agree. His favorite white-collar shirts hint at the toned torso hiding beneath, and his square jaw exudes newfound confidence. Yet, his ambition to make their world a better place remains the same—too loud for a quiet country backdrop.

Alphonse realizes that the path he is meant to walk extends much farther. His studies, inspired by the prospect of adventure and letters from a feisty alkahestress, resonate with the Dragon’s Pulse. Finally, Alphonse is compelled to dial the number scribbled on the back of the old ivory card and is delighted when he’s connected to the nation’s most powerful man straightaway.

“Had your fill of Resembool yet, son?” Führer Grumman asks. “Are you ready to add to that list of yours?”

“Funny you should bring up my list,” Alphonse retorts, more than willing to play Grumman’s game of allusion. “There’s this Xingese dessert that Princess Mei Chang goes on about in her letters, a red bean soup. It would be a shame if I never tried it, don’t you think?”

Grumman chuckles. “Suppose you could use some diplomatic credentials for the trip. Try not to cause an international incident until Mustang takes over.”

The golden glint in Alphonse’s eyes makes no guarantees. His well-mannered innocence is tempered by past mistakes and fused with a gunmetal resolve.

“I can’t make any promises,” he replies.

#fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #alphonse elric #edward elric #grumman #character study #post-promised day #just deserts #kintsugi #flourchildwrites #and uses Oxford commas

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cakelanguage · 3 years

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Merry Christmas @okay-sky! I’m your secret Santa for the @fmasecretsanta2020 #fmasecretsanta

I had an absolute blast writing this for you and I hope you like this RoyEd piece as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have a happy holidays and I wish you the best.

You can also read this on AO3

The snow was a foot deep and maneuvering through it was a pain in the ass, but Roy was determined to make it to the post office in North City. Normally, Roy rarely makes the trip unless he's on the last dredges of his food supply but the potential for one of Ed's letters to be there had him pushing onward.

For the short amount of time he'd gotten to spend in Central, he'd spent a large amount of it enjoying the company of the Elric brothers, specifically Ed. It was like an old wound had finally stopped aching when he got to see the man. And he was now. A man, that is. A maturity he never thought he'd see from the older Elric permeated his actions. While he still had a temper he didn't bare his teeth at the smallest of teases. He seemed wiser now and Roy wondered what he'd experienced in this other world.

His interest and desire to spend more time with Ed wasn't one-sided either. The man--amidst Roy’s own scramble to steal his attention from Miss Rockbell and Alphonse-- found him at all hours of the day to discuss anything. From alchemic theories to the property damage done while he was away, the two never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

When he'd been forced to return up North, Ed had been the one to suggest keeping up a correspondence through letters. Roy didn't mention that he’d have to essentially hike to the post office and instead happily agreed. Ed promised to write often and Roy said he'd do the same.

And he intended to.

Which brought him back to his every other day trek.

He didn't know when he'd receive his first letter so he just kept coming back. For the first time, Roy was thankful for the cane that the doctor suggested he get for strenuous exercise in case the scar tissue flared up. He'd been adamant about not using it for the longest time, but out here -- where he wasn't surrounded by people who unintentionally put him on a pillar-- using the cane didn't matter.

His breath puffed in the frosty air as he took a moment to rest his legs. He could already see the city so he'd only have around another 30-minute walk if he continued at the pace he was going.

North City was as lively as it could be for one with near-constant snowfall. While the population consisted mostly of military personnel there were still plenty of families and small businesses dotted amongst the abundance of government buildings.

These little businesses felt like they’d been plucked out of a different location, the warm glow of the fluorescents glimmering through the large windows. Roy's favorite was a little bookstore that specializes in customer requests. They'd take a poll from an assortment of people to find out what they wanted and go from there.

Roy indulged in much of the literature they had to offer and the sweet family-run shop told him he was welcome to make any requests he wanted.

Ed would've salivated at the thought.

On the outskirts of the inner city lies the post office. It was never terribly busy which was a blessing so Roy had no trouble siddling up to the counter.

"Well I'll be," the scruffy man at the counter whistled, "you're back again already."

Roy gave him a tired smile. "Glettner, I just don't want to miss the letter I'm supposed to be getting."

"I guess, but you don't live in the city so you gotta walk here." He shuddered. "Couldn't pay me to make that hike more than once a year and I've lived here for over a decade."

"I want to be punctual."

Glettner rolled his eyes, but those eyes only held mirth in them. "Well Mr. Punctual, you're in luck, a letter for you arrived yesterday evening."

Roy wasn't sure what his reaction was but it garnered him a chuckle all the same.

"Ah-ha!" Glettner cried victoriously and walked back over with the letter. "This person must really like you if they're willing to use four stamps and Express delivery." He shook his head. "Express is always so expensive.”

The letter in his hand was hefty with Ed’s tell-tale god awful handwriting on the front. He brought the letter close to his chest with a content hum.

“Ugh,” Glettner whined, “Go read your letter somewhere else if you’re gonna be looking like that when you only read the cover.”

Roy sent him a flat look. “I’ll see you, Glettner,” Roy called over his shoulder, tucking the letter safely into his coat. “Stay warm.”

“Speak for yourself! Try not to get yourself killed walking to the post office you flame-brained moron.”

Glettner always did say the nicest things.

Back in the relative safety of his cabin, Roy was able to settle down and open the letter. Carefully, he pulled the small bundle of papers jammed inside, out onto the table. Offhandedly he stoked the fire a little more with a snap of his fingers.

Admittedly, he’d missed the ease that using his alchemy allowed him with certain tasks.

Colonel Bastard,

Roy snorted and shook his head. He’d already told Ed he wasn’t a colonel anymore, but apparently, the fact hadn’t stuck in the shrimp’s mind. He wondered if Ed still had his infamous temper tantrums about his height.

Something to find out later.

The other man seemed to have grown up a great deal in the past two years, but Roy doubted Ed would’ve been able to calm himself down when it came to his height and the lack thereof.

I hope this gets to you fast, and that you haven’t frozen solid up there. Havoc told me about your cabin and I’ll be honest: sounds shitty. But they did say you had a fireplace so maybe it isn’t too bad as long as you don’t move from in front of the fire. Though now that I know what your job entails I can honestly say that you might be fucked.

Seriously, who wants to stand out in all that snow to watch for potential attacks from Drachma? That’s what Briggs is for. So get your ass back here before your ass freezes to a chair or something.

He couldn’t stop the laugh that burst from him. The letter was just wholly Ed and it almost felt like the other man was here in person.

Al wants me to tell you he says hi, so that’s from him. He’s doing okay, he’s kinda got everything figured out now. I mean he obviously did before, he was doing fine while I was gone. He’s made a name for himself even if he did kinda steal my look.

He doesn’t need me anymore.

The ink is smudged and blurred in spots and Roy’s heart clenched in his chest when he realized that those were probably tears.

I expected it and I’m glad he was able to keep moving forward with everyone’s help. I don’t know. I guess I didn’t realize how that’d make me feel when you were here. You’re kinda distracting even when Al’s around.

No higher praise than being able to pull Ed’s attention away from his little brother.

Resembool is the same, which is weird. Germany seemed to change every day. There were always new people coming through or some kind of showcase going on. Did I tell you about the rocket we were building? It’s hard to remember that I’m no longer in a world governed by the laws of “modern science” instead of Alchemy.

I wish you were here. I miss your stupid, smug face.

Oh did he ache for Ed to be able to insult him in person.

It’s your turn to write a letter.

-Edward Elric

Beside his name, Ed had drawn what he assumed was a self-portrait of him sticking his tongue out in a cartoonish style. Charming.

Roy set the letter on the table and rubbed at his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Somehow, the letter only made him miss Ed more. He wanted to ease Ed’s worries and reassure him that he was needed.

Well, he had a letter to write.

Fullmetal,

I thought telling you four times was enough, but maybe your ears were too tiny to hear me correctly. I’m not a colonel anymore so the name isn’t correct. Haven’t we known each other long enough to be a little less informal?

You’re right, it’s freezing up here, and staying warm is near impossible without the fire. I wear two layers of wool socks and I’m still wary that I’m going to get frostbite on one of my watches.

Briggs is in charge of guarding our border. I’m just in charge of keeping watch on the trading routes that weave along the mountain valley for any sign of trouble.

Al may not need you in the same capacity that he did, but I guarantee he’s happier than he’s been in the last two years now that you’re here. From what I’ve heard from both Hawkeye and Miss Rockbell, he always seemed to be looking over his shoulder for you when he’d accomplish anything.

You are absolutely needed, and not just by Al. Never forget that Edward.

Small towns don’t change often so I’m not surprised it seems the same. People grow older, but small towns keep to themselves for the most part. Every once in a while fresh meat joins the community and they’ll be a stir and things might change a little, but generally go back to normal quickly.

City life is vivacious and ever-changing. A bigger place and more people means more changes. My aunt runs a bar and I remember how often the city would change around us.

If by rocket you mean the one you released into that crowd of people, then yes I remember you telling me about it. But feel free to tell me again, you have a knack for storytelling that I didn’t think you’d have.

I wish you were here too. I miss your impish face.

-Roy Mustang

A week later, Roy received his second letter.

Glettner gave him a wry grin and presented it to him with a flourish. “Your sweetheart replied,” he tittered, “should ask for a lock of hair in your next letter or a care package.” He winked at Roy. “Maybe something for those long, lonely nights.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Roy grouched, “it’s not from a lover.”

Glettner sighed dramatically. “Well, certainly not with that attitude! You’re clearly pining, can’t you see it?”

He raised his only visible eyebrow at the man. “Really?”

The other man waved him off. “Nevermind, just get out of here. I’ll see you in a day or so.”

“Take care, Glettner.”

“Yeah, yeah, go read your damn letter.”

Bastard,

FUCK YOU, I GREW.

Not that much Ed, Roy thought with a chuckle.

I hope that’s a better name for you. And I’m not Fullmetal anymore, not really. Sure plenty of people are going to keep calling me that, but I’m not part of the military right now. Still gotta prove I’m not dead and shit.

Do you know how hard it is to try to reinstate documents after they’ve listed you as dead? I was literally two seconds away from straight-up murdering a lawyer who was at city hall because he kept saying I needed more identification. Which is bullshit because I’m DEAD to the government.

This would’ve been really handy when Al and I were running from the military, though. But not now! Luckily, it is being sorted out and I shouldn’t have to wait much longer before I have all my documentation in order.

That was good. Ed had just started the whole process when he left to return to his post and it’d given him a headache just thinking about it.

So you lived with your aunt? Did you grow up in Central?

As much as I’ve traveled, I’m a hick at heart. I still enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside more than the noise and life of the city. I can live in either though.

A corner of his mouth lifts. Ed preferred anywhere he could read and learn without interruptions. That hadn’t changed.

Are you lonely up there by yourself? I feel like you’re probably spending way too much time criticizing all your past actions and moping. Fuck that. Tell me about something you want to do when you come back to Central. What’s on Roy “Smug Bastard” Mustang’s agenda?

-Ed

Oh, and thanks for saying that. I think I needed to hear that from someone. I’m glad it was you.

Ed,

I guess if you can so kindly call me something else, I can just use your name. And as much as I appreciate your affectionate nickname for me, you can just call me Mustang or even just Roy, it wouldn’t bother me at all. But if you insist on a nickname I suppose I can give you one too, shorty.

I haven’t had to deal with retracting a declaration of the deceased before so I honestly don’t have any advice for you. I’d suggest going through all the hoops that they line up for you to jump through even if a shortcut looks promising. Other people were claiming to be you for fame or what-have-you so they aren’t intentionally trying to be difficult.

Why am I not surprised you actually thought about how useful the situation would’ve been back then… Maybe you’re getting predictable.

I did grow up with my aunt as my legal guardian. Both of my parents passed away when I was a young boy and she took me in. It was a rocky start. I was mourning my parents and terrified of my new living situation. But Chris Mustang always did her best to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of whether it was food or new clothes.

But she also put me to work. I obviously couldn’t work at the bar, but I bused tables and cleaned the place once we closed for the night.

Her bar doubled as an information network with her girls -- my sisters-- acting as spies while going about their business. People talk a lot during sex and will let their guard down if they feel comfortable. I learned my networking strategies from them.

I don’t know if I can imagine you as the typical hick. It’s something about all that rage and attitude that makes me think more of small town punks. But there is something nice about the quiet of the countryside.

It’s not I’m not I suppose I am a bit lonely out here. I don’t really have much communication to speak of besides your letters. They’re the highlight of my days. The only other person I normally talk to right now is the man who runs the post office. I feel like I’m disconnected from people nowadays. Whether that’s because I was part of a coupe that unsettled them or my demeanor is just off-putting. Let me know what you think.

When I get back to Central, the first thing I want to do is look for an apartment. Then I’m not sure. Maybe go back to pursuing the title of Fruher. After the whole Homunculus debacle, I stepped down in a rush to… run as far away from what had happened as I could.

After that… would you like to go out sometime? Get something to drink, eat a good meal with good company?

You’re probably going to have to fight to spend time with me at first. The team kept reminding me that when I was there that they missed me. But I’ll make plenty of time for you.

-Roy

“Roy, you have a package,” Glettner commented the third time he came into the post office that week. “Did you take my advice and ask for a token from them?” He leaned over the counter with a lewd grin. “There’s no telling what’s in here.”

Roy huffed and held out his hand. “Box, Glettner,” Roy ordered. He thought Glettner was funny and the man reminded him of an older, grayer Havoc with all his teasing and good-natured ribbing. It made him miss his team, though.

Glettner deposited the box in his hands before holding out a box cutter, handle-first to Roy. “Can I convince you to open it here? I can even let you use the back room for some privacy if you want.”

Roy shook his head with a put-upon grin. “You seem more excited about this package than I am.”

He shrugged “I don’t think you realize how boring it can get here. Usually the most exciting thing I get in this place is the military personnel transferring sensitive documents.” He scrunched his nose. “I don’t know, guess the whole thing makes my romantic heart sing.”

“You trying to get me to feel sorry for you so I’ll open the package here?”

“That depends, is it working?”

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Fine, take me to your backroom.”

Glettner threw a fist in the air and gestured to a door on the right. “Follow me, lover-boy.”

He grumbled but followed after the perky man. They weaved through the stacks of boxes and came across a desk. Glettner shoved a few papers to the side so Roy had a spot to put his package on.

Roy set his box down and carefully ran the knife along the taped edges. He shifted through the newspaper that’d been carefully positioned around the gift.

And what a gift it was.

Nestled inside the box was a phone that was almost the exact one that’d sat on his old desk. He gently pulled it out of its protective paper. Now that he could see it fully he noted the wear on some of the parts. The rotary dial was a polished bronze and looked to be the newest piece on the phone. The body of the phone consisted of a few welded pieces of metal but the job was near seamless so unless Ed knew someone who could weld, he’d probably done it himself with alchemy.

He thumbed at the handset and couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face. It felt like the same metal as Ed’s new arm was made of and he knew Ed had made that choice on purpose.

“They sent you a phone?” Glettner asked, interrupting Roy’s casual admiration of his gift.

“I’m pretty sure it’s so we can call each other in case we don’t want to wait for the mail system to deliver our messages,” Roy explained.

The other man turned his attention to him sharply. “So I won’t see you anymore?”

Roy shook his head. “No, you’ll still have to see me,” he nodded his head at the phone, “Even with a phone I won’t have a guaranteed connection with where I am, but it gives us the option if we…” He paused, his smile going from soft to joyful, “to hear each other’s voice.”

“Aw fuck,” Glettner sniffled, “you’ve got that mushy look on your face.”

Roy’s face closed off. “Better?”

The postman shook his head. “I think whatever you two are, it makes you better.” He rubbed at his nose and shrugged. “Take that as you will.”

Setting up the phone was relatively easy after he finagled a makeshift antenna to the roof of the cabin. He’d picked up a few pieces of scrap steel and transported his load back to his cabin. With a quick transmutation, he’d constructed an antenna that would ideally not break if the storms got bad.

Ed had suggested he use steel in his letter and if he trusted anyone when it came to metal knowledge it’d be the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.

He glanced over at the letter he’d set on the table and reread what Ed had written.

… Winry and Al pointed out to me that I could be calling you if I didn’t want to wait to get a letter. But when I asked Riza how to call you she told me you didn’t have one.

What kind of bullshit is that? I figure everyone has a phone but then you get relocated and haven’t bothered to get a phone in the two years you’ve been gone?

There's a large inkblot on the dot of his question mark as if Ed had paused to gather his thoughts but forgotten to pick up his pen.

Sounds like you were in a bad place.

Ed had always had a special gift of understanding why Roy did what he did. Even more so now that he'd matured more and had gone through a similar mindstate.

I get that. I’ve been there. But I’m taking away some of this forced isolation you’ve coveted for yourself.

I’m not telling you that you have to start talking to people now that you have a phone, but try. You may have lost an eye, but you aren’t blind. And you have tons of people who care about you and I know you can see that so don’t keep shutting them out.

Like that.

Everyone else had given him ample space to adjust to his vision change and his disillusionment of the government he'd put so much time and effort into. But that space became hard to contain and soon he'd pushed almost everyone behind the protective wall he'd crafted for himself.

He needed someone to tell him that what he was doing couldn't-- nor should it-- continue.

I’ve written everyone’s number down on the back of this letter just in case you forgot, old man. I hijacked the Rockbell’s landline so I can have a phone in my room. Feel free to call whenever after seven.

I don't care if it's ass o'clock in the morning, call me if you need me or wanna talk or whatever.

Talk to you soon, hopefully.

-Ed

He didn't use the phone for a good three hours until the hands on the clock were just shy of eleven. He tried two fingers of scotch to help him sleep, but it left a smoky aftertaste in his mouth that brought up too many memories of being a walking crematorium.

He finished spinning the dial and waited for the call to be picked up or ignored. It wasn’t that he thought Ed was lying about being able to call whenever, but Ed couldn’t guarantee he’d be by the phone at all times.

There was a click and then a familiar voice echoing through the receiver. “Rockbell Automail, the store hours are from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. but if this is an emergency we’ll see what we can do,” Ed recited before continuing with a knowing tone, “Unless this is a certain soldier out in the middle of nowhere up North who received his package and decided to give me a call.”

Roy wasn’t one you would call a religious man, but he considered praying for patience. “Hello, Edward,” he conceded.

“Fuck… holy fuck Roy,” Ed said with the sort of casual blasphemy only he would dare. There was a shuffling on the other end of the line. “You actually called.”

“Time hasn’t made you any less explicit,” Roy teased. He imagined a metal middle finger jerked at him in return.

“It’s been what? A month?” Ed snorted, “If my cursing hasn’t changed since I was a kid then a month has no chance of changing it.”

He grinned and propped his head up with his hand. “You’re right about that.” He looked around the room for something to focus on, landing on Ed’s letter. “How are you?” The question came out softer than he’d like, but it’s what he meant.

Ed made a noncommittal noise. “It’s weird. The old lady and Winry keep treating me like I’m still a little kid. Maybe it’s because they didn’t get to see me grow up over the last two years. But they’re doing their best to adjust.”

Roy hummed in understanding. “It’s not dissimilar to a person coming back from deployment. They know the person who left, not necessarily the person who comes back.”

“Yeah, I guess… It’s still taking some getting used to. How come you didn’t treat me like I was the teen you last saw?”

“You’re a brat, but it was easy to see you’d changed.” That golden hair pulled back into a ponytail instead of his signature braid. The broad shoulders that filled out his brown trenchcoat and the bookish outfit underneath. He might mourn the loss of the man’s leather pants, but he looked every inch of the man he’d become. His thoughts made him brave. “You’ve become quite the looker, Ed.”

A sputter from the other line had Roy chuckling into his shoulder. It’s enchanting to hear Ed’s embarrassment over the phone and a longing yawned in his chest to see the ruby flush against the man’s cheeks. To see the way he’d turn incredulous eyes to gawk at Roy like he’d spoken gibberish. To see Ed fight the smile that’d reveal his teeth in joy instead of a threat.

He just wanted Ed. Here, with him. Or him with Ed. Together.

Glettner was more aware of Roy’s feelings than he was.

“-up! I hope you’re not mocking me you ass,” Ed grumbleing finally making it through Roy’s thoughts.

“I’m not mocking you, you really are beautiful.”

The line remained silent for a stretch and Roy wondered briefly if he’d pushed Ed a little too much. That he’d made the man uncomfortable with his sudden forwardness.

“You look pretty good yourself,” Ed mumbled.

His heart skipped a beat in his chest and his cheeks grew warm. “Not much to look at compared to you,” Roy managed to say.

“Yeah, okay, sure,” the eye roll unmistakably tacked onto the statement. “I’m guessing you couldn’t sleep.”

“Couldn’t I have called you because I wanted to hear your voice?”

Ed actually laughed at that. “You could and I’m flattered, bastard, but I can hear the exhaustion in your voice.”

“Alright, yes I can’t sleep.”

“What do you want me to do about that?”

What indeed. He already felt better after hearing Ed’s voice so perhaps more of that? “Tell me about your day.”

“As long as you're willing to pay anything the Rockbell’s might be charged for the long-distance call, I’ll talk all night.”

“Just until I fall asleep should do the trick.”

“Well get comfy and I’ll tell you about my return to city hall.”

Roy settled as comfortably as he could on his couch and closed his eyes, letting himself drift upon the lilts and steadiness of Ed’s voice.

As they reach the two-month mark of their separation, Roy was getting antsy. His transfer back to Central seemed to be in a stalemate. Too much silence from both sides for Roy’s patience to tolerate. He already sent another letter to Ed to inform him that he still didn’t have a timeframe for his return.

With no set date for his relocation, he got wrapped up in his thoughts. The snow bit angrily at his cheeks and he’d started moving his post office trips to every three days because he couldn’t get his body to plow through the snow. The cabin’s walls were thin and the flames fanned uselessly in the fireplace no matter how close Roy put himself to the heat source.

Loneliness he’d been able to ignore for years was near intolerable now. He’d talked to his team, reconnected with Riza, or at least started mending the relationship that’d been damaged in the wake of Bradley’s defeat and the loss of his eye.

But ever since his realization during the phone call with Ed, nothing seemed to fill the Ed-sized space in his heart. He pondered on the feelings he’d developed for Ed, questioned why he loves him but only came up with Ed himself as the reason.

He took a sip of his tea when he heard a knock on his door.

The suddenness of the noise was enough to startle him into almost dropping his mug and he turned a wary eye to his door. He didn’t get visitors, not out here. The only time anyone had visited him it’d been about the strange phenomenon that ultimately led to Ed returning home to them.

He doubted something that severe would pop-up again in such a short span of time, but stranger things had happened so he couldn’t rule out the possibility.

Slipping on his gloves, he cautiously approached the door. He waited until he heard another knock before he openned the door, his fingers poised to snap.

And there’s Ed.

Snow and ice clung to his clothes and he noted that Ed’s trench coat seemed to now be lined with a fur of some kind. He took in Ed’s wind-chafed skin and red nose, saw the ice crystals that had attempted to attach themselves to his lashes.

This couldn’t be real. He must’ve fallen asleep and he’s dreaming. He had to be.

Except Ed was waving his hand obnoxiously in his face, grinning at him with the pride of a show dog. “You still in there or did I break you?” Ed asked.

He gaped uselessly at the figure that stood in front of him. “Ed?” He rasped, still not believing his eyes.

“The one and only.” He tilted his head to the side, his smile going lazy. “Are you gonna make me stay out here much longer? Because I’m pretty sure my toes have fucking frozen off and I only have five. I really can’t lose them.”

Roy snapped his jaw shut with a click and stepped back to let Ed in. “Yeah, of course, come in.”

Ed blustered in with all the hesitation of a tornado, stripping out of his dripping coat and unwinding the scarf from around his neck, hanging both over his kitchen table.

“Thank fuck you have a fireplace,” Ed grunted, holding both of his hands out towards the heat source. “If Winry and Granny hadn’t hooked me up with this new automail I would’ve really gotten frostbite.”

Roy nodded absent-mindedly, still stuck on the reality that Ed was here in his cabin. “How-How did you get here?”

Ed’s forehead furrowed. “Well after I took a train up here I asked around if anyone knew where I’d find a soldier with an eyepatch, the postman pointed me in the right direction.” He shrugged. “Then I walked here.”

He'd have to thank Glettner the next time he saw him. Or avoid him at all cost because the man was never going to let him live this down. He probably felt like he was some sort of matchmaker, guaranteeing Ed made it to him.

“Through all the snow?”

The man squinted at him. “Yes?” It came out as a question more than an answer. “Are you okay? You’re really stuck on this whole ‘Ed’s here with me’ thing.”

And what’s he supposed to say to that? That he’s still convinced that this could only be a dream because this sort of thing doesn’t happen to him. “I just never expected you to come here.”

He gets a bemused expression from Ed for that. “Why not? I got your letter.” He huffed and lounged on his couch. “So they can’t even give you a date?”

He shook his head. “Not now, maybe in a week or two, I’ll get an answer from them.” Roy shuffled awkwardly for a moment trying to decide what to say. “Do you want some tea?”

Ed snorted, his nose crinkling. “I could go for some tea, but I’m fine with something stronger if you've got it.”

He cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms. “Don’t you mean if I’m feeling generous?”

“Nope,” Ed chimed.

“Let’s start with tea,” Roy snagged the only other mug he owned and poured Ed a cup, “get you warm first. After that?” He handed the mug to Ed who took it gratefully. “We’ll see about alcohol.”

Humming in agreement Ed took an aborted sip, cursing as the liquid scorched his tongue. “Fuck, dammit you could’ve warned me it was this hot,” Ed grumbled, glaring at his mug.

“I didn’t know you were expecting cold tea.”

“Bastard.”

“Brat.”

The jibes were gentle despite themselves and Roy felt the familiar contentment in his being that he’d been getting when he was with Ed in any capacity. Whether it’s a phone call or in-person or even in a letter. Ed remained a stained glass masterpiece in his heart.

They sat in campanionable silence. The flickering of the fireplace casted a red glow around the room except for Ed. Ed’s always an exception. Instead of the red overlay across Ed, he glowed gold.

His skin -- tanned and scarred-- reminded Roy of wedding rings and sun-warmed bronze. His eyes of finely crafted jewelry and the lace-gold details in famous paintings from the west. And his hair. The finest silk, bundled into a ponytail that trailed to at least the bottom of his shoulder blades.

He desperately wanted to say something to hear more of Ed’s voice. A voice that had haunted his mind for the past two years. A desperation to take, take, take until he had all of Ed.

“I didn’t get to say this before,” Ed said, finally breaking their silence. “But I’m a fan of the eyepatch.”

From anyone else, he would’ve ignored the comment, but Roy knew that Ed was being serious right now. “It was a necessity after Bradley got it,” Roy said, setting his cup down and bringing a hand to the patch. “It isn’t a pretty sight, even Hawkeye had trouble looking at it.”

“I doubt that,” Ed took another sip from his drink, “if anything she probably still feels guilty that you lost it at all.”

He made a noncommittal noise. “No one should feel guilty about this, I got it taking Bradley down. And I survived.”

“You did.” Ed grinned at him. “And I think the patch makes you look rugged.”

Roy snorted and quirked a brow at him. “Sure that’s not just from living out here for the past two years?”

Ed’s eyes rolled so hard that Roy’s surprised they didn’t just pop out of his skull. “You haven’t grown any stupid facial hair yet so I’d say it’s the patch.”

“You don’t think I’d look good with facial hair?”

The tips of Ed’s ears flushed. “I didn’t say that,” he mumbled, “I am saying you’d look god awful with a moustache.”

There is a niggling temptation to grow one just to get on Ed's nerves but he pushed that thought aside. He heaved a dramatic sigh. "I suppose I'll refrain for now."

Ed laughed and it reverberated through him with the warmth of an embrace. He wanted to bottle the noise up and tuck it into the spaces between his ribs. Roy couldn't remember the last time he felt this content.

The other man was still looking at him when he focused back on their conversation. "Can I see it?"

Roy’s face closed off and he shifted awkwardly on the couch. “You… you want to see it?” He clarified because surely he'd heard wrong.

Ed shrugged and scooted a little closer. “Why wouldn’t I?”

He asked like it should be obvious to Roy, but doesn’t comment on it. Roy couldn't bring himself to deny Ed something that Roy was readily willing to give. Wanted to give. And maybe there's a small part of him that wanted to show someone. To not have someone shy away from the topic. To look at all of him now and not who he was before.

Maybe he didn't just leave Central because he wanted to still help his country through a corrupt system.

Maybe he was tired of hiding.

He reached his hand up towards the strings that held his eyepatch in place but hesitates. "Are you sure you want to see it?" He wondered if he would want to see it if this was someone else. He knew for sure that he’d want to see Ed. Roy swore to himself that he’d never hesitate to look at Ed’s scars, not a single one of them would be skipped by his eyes.

Ed's eyes softened and he moved himself closer to Roy. They were barely a foot away from the other, their knees knocking together. The solid press of Ed’s automail knee against his own was surprisingly grounding. He wonderd if anyone else felt this way about Ed’s prosthetic limbs.

Ed didn't hesitate when he cupped Roy's face with his metal hand. He expected the harsh metal to be icy to the touch – unlike his leg that was still covered by the thick material of Ed’s pants – but it was heat-licked by the fire. Roy couldn't help but lean into the touch with a pleased sigh.

Mirth twinkled in Ed's eyes like honeyed gold. He ran his thumb along the bottom edge of his eyepatch. "I'm sure."

I want to see you. That’s what Roy heard inbetween Ed’s words. It didn't need to be said. Ed had already proven his surety with his touch, but it comforted Roy to hear it all the same.

The satin ties of his eyepatch were easy enough to undo after he loosened the knot and soon the patch was fluttering down into his lap. He kept the eye closed for now, letting Ed see the mess of scars from the enucleation and trauma from Bradley’s blade. He watched Ed’s face for any reaction through his good eye, watching as he took in his face as a whole.

The first brush of Ed’s metal hand on the scars had him letting out a shuddering breath. His heart was pounding erratically in his chest and he couldn’t stop his sudden panic. It’s just Ed. Edward was the only one here with him. It’s just them. Together. Here. Now and not then. This steel was warm and nothing like the biting edge of a blade.

A second hand joined the first, this one with calluses and worn nails that worked their way through his hair. Instantly, he found himself relaxing under the ministrations of Ed’s talented fingers. Losing time or just forgetting everything that wassn’t Edward Elric.

“Come on, lemme see those eyes of yours, Colonel Bastard,” Ed urged, his thumb teasing along Roy’s cheekbone.

Despite himself, Roy found himself smiling. “Not a colonel anymore, Fullmetal,” he reminded Ed, “and I only have one eye.”

“Not Fullmetal anymore, Roy.”

He could hear his name on Ed’s lips for the rest of his life and Roy would never stop feeling his heart skip a beat. “Ed.”

Slowly, he opened both of his eyes and went back to watching Ed’s face. The breath hitched in Ed’s lungs for only a second before it settled back to normal. Roy couldn’t blame him. The clear conformer that prevented his eyelid from collapsing into the socket gave a clear view of the hollow interior. He hadn’t bothered getting a prosthetic eye, not when he’d been out here by himself for so long. His doctors still weren’t sure when he would even be able to wear one given the damage done to his eyelid and ocular cavity.

Instead of the multitude of reactions that Roy had prepared himself for, Ed gave him a gentle smile and cupped his face with both hands. “There you are.”

“How do I look?” Roy asked as though he couldn’t see the way Ed looks at him.

Maybe he couldn’t, because there’s a touch of uncertainty to Roy’s question that he couldn’t write off. Whether it’s over the way the scars mar his handsome face or over what Ed might think about his appearance, Roy couldn’t decide.

“Like you can take on the world,” Ed said without hesitation.

Stealing himself, Roy closed the distance between them and sealed their mouths together. Ed’s lips are chapped from his journey through the snow, but warm and solid against his own. He didn’t intensify the kiss, keeping it chaste since Ed hadn’t started to kiss him back.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from Ed trying to catch the younger man’s eyes. Did he ruin this? “Ed?”

“Kiss me again,” Ed ordered but didn’t bother waiting for Roy to act, instead grabbing two handfuls of his shirt and smashing their lips together.

It’s messy, too much tongue and their teeth clack painfully against each other like Ed wanted to devour him, but he dived right in. He took control of the kiss, guiding Ed’s lips to slide against his own at a more sedate pace. The corners of his mouth turned up when Ed sighed against his mouth, a near-silent moan escaping him.

Roy trailed a hand up Ed’s back until he reached the end of the man’s ponytail. He wrapped the silken strands around his fingers and tugged lightly. Ed splayed his hands against the plains of his chest, releasing his shirt from his grasp.

When he found himself desperate for oxygen, he pulled away once more. Ed made a displeased groan but sat back enough to stare at Roy.

The affection and happiness that sparkled in Ed’s eyes was overwhelming and he couldn’t help but tell Ed exactly how he felt. “I think I love you,” Roy whispered.

Ed smiled back at him, his lips kiss-bruised and tempting. “Why do you think I’m here, Roy?”

He didn’t have to say it because Ed always showed you how he felt. So when Ed tilted his head back, Roy capitulates to the silent request, sealing their mouths together again.

A flame captured by the glint of gold and steel.

#fmasecretsanta2020 #RoyEd #fma 03 #falling in love #secret santa #fma #fanfic #royed fic #roy's eyepatch as a plot point #eye trauma is mentioned but very briefly and it doesn't mention any blood #letter writing as a wooing tactic #Roy is PINING #Ed is PINING #They're idiots in love until they aren't #Ed's CoS outfit #conqueror of shamballa and end of 03 mentioned #Glettner is any RoyEd fan really #my fic #my fanfic

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kittypryde-bipride · 3 years

Text

limbo

Trouble finds them – it’s never far behind Ed, even these days – and their peaceful days in Ishval are brought to a brutal end.

They’re being attacked by a group of rogue militants who had been loyal to Bradley, a mixed collection of soldiers and just a few alchemists, and they tear apart the start of the society they had been trying to build.

The moment there was a sign of trouble, Hohenheim and Catherine both pulled Ed between them in a desperate bid to keep him safe- there’s a day that he would’ve done the same for someone else, back when his automail arm was an asset rather than a liability and he could use his alchemy and creativity to turn the tide of any fight, but now he’s the one considered the weakest link and he’s getting pissed. There’s something to be said for his notoriety, but it’s liable to make things worse: the already gruesome scene could be made worse by the sight of the Fullmetal Alchemist, famous for his role in defeating Bradley and desertion of the military. Still, it’s not Ed’s way to hide from a fight.

He surveys the area around them, the structures they’d spent weeks toiling over being reduced to sand by horrifically grinning alchemists with some ready-made arrays, ragtag soldiers still wearing their blues wielding massive guns and turning them towards anyone who steps out of line.

All of their warriors were slaughtered years ago during the genocide and the remnants of Ishval gathered here are not fighters- they’re tough and wise, having witnessed horrors greater than anyone ever should, but they’re not fighters. There are no alchemists here but Hohenheim and Scar to turn the tide of battle, and those two are easily kept at bay by the soldiers pointing weapons at the more helpless Ishvalans present. Both of them are too weak to do the damage necessary- Hohenheim has grown old, over the past year, and Scar has not fully recovered from his fight with Bradley.

The remnants of Bradley’s regime finally recognize Hohenheim and Catherine uses her impossible strength to keep Ed pressed to her, hand pressed hard over his eyes as she struggles to keep him from following his dad- she doesn’t want him to see whatever happens.

After writhing furiously in her arms, he squirms enough that he manages to get his eyes on Hohenheim, just in time these soldiers firing a bullet into his chest at point-blank range.

Catherine’s arms loosen in shock, for just a moment, but it’s enough for Ed to break free and run to his dad. His breath is coming in fast, wheezing and clenching at his chest, and Hohenheim is breathing heavily too.

“N-no,” Edward says brokenly, ignoring the glares of the soldiers around him- it feels like time has slowed, has stopped for just the two of them. He looks up and sees the cold eyes of these murderers frozen as they glare towards him, sees Cat stopped with terror in her eyes and hands stretched towards him, Scar staring at him in silent resignation and regret. “I just got you back, Dad, I can’t-”

Hohenheim grasps Ed’s hand and smiles weakly, blood trailing out of his mouth. “It’s okay, Edward.”

But it’s not okay- Ed can practically feel the life draining out of Hohenheim, can tell that whatever bit of sacrificed souls that had been powering this Philosopher’s Stone has finally run dry, after thousands of years.

The moment is passing – whatever time these souls had granted them will be over soon, he can feel them practically screaming at him, telling him to do something while he’s got the chance – and Ed can see the worry in Hohenheim’s eyes as he glances towards the scattered Ishvalans, preparing for death.

“Ed-Edward,” he gasps, clinging to Ed’s hand ever tighter. “Help them, please.”

He feels rather than sees when time restarts and things start moving around them – Cat cries out for him, the last remnants of a nation are holding onto whatever hope of survival they can grasp, a soldier grabs the back of his shirt and tries to yank him away from his dying dad – and Edward screams, a raw and guttural thing.

Tears are streaming down his face and he’s terrified but the only thing he can seem to think is what will Al do if he lets their father die in vain, if he leaves him alone?

He grips tightly onto Hohenheim’s shirt and knows that he has to do something – but he’s useless without his alchemy – because these people are good, and he won’t let himself be connected to another total annihilation of a culture. He is one of the last pieces of Xerxes and he is burdened with the responsibility to protect the world from those same mistakes. He can do this.

His dad is the most powerful alchemist to ever live, but he was never human- Ed’s not really human, either. Hohenheim is a living Philosopher’s Stone, even weak as he is now, and the whole purpose of the stone is to circumvent the rules of the gate. For better or for worse, Ed is half Philosopher’s Stone- he was born to be an exception, rather than a rule.

It’s just like in Briggs, when he broke down his existence to a stone powered by a single soul, and he can see into Hohenheim, just like he did when he broke apart Pride.

It’s fighting him, it hurts to do this, but he forges forward and slams his hands into the Philosopher’s Stone that is his father, and pictures the metal guns in the soldier’s hands warping into something useless. He goes further and weakens the sand beneath these destructive alchemist’s feet, sinking them to their shoulders and trapping them so they can destroy nothing more. He grins, drinking in this power he’d thought was lost forever, and reconstructs the buildings they’d spent weeks on in mere seconds, building them tall and strong and beautiful. It feels so good and he looks up finally, to survey what he’s done, and he realizes his surroundings are—

-shining, all-encompassing white.

His pulse quickens and he spins around to see Truth’s twisted grin, a glowing silhouette made humanoid by Ed’s missing arm and leg, and Hohenheim’s gone.

“Hello, Edward Elric,” Truth drawls, their mouth stretching wide in an imitation of a smile. “Fancy meeting you, again. It’s funny- I’d thought we’d agreed there’d be no more of these visits.”

“I,” Ed starts, immediately panicked. He just reneged on an agreement with a god, and Truth has never cared about intention- he might be leaving Al alone, despite his greatest efforts. “I had to help them, my dad-”

Truth laughs, cutting him off. “I didn’t say I was mad about it. I like seeing you- you’re interesting. If you’re smart enough to perform alchemy without a gate, who am I to stop you?”

Ed takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself now that there doesn’t seem to be any immediate danger anymore. It doesn’t quite work. “Then…why am I here? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well, you did go back on our deal,” Truth drawls, stepping towards him- stepping away from Ed’s gate, covered in ancient words and thick, heavy chains. “Human transmutation or not, that warrants a conversation, doesn’t it?”

“I’m sorry?” Ed manages, trying to push through his underlying panic at being trapped back here. “Does-does this mean I have my alchemy back for good?”

The idea makes his breath quicken- it’ll mean an end to his journey, a reason to return to his loved ones. A reason to return to Al. He could return to Central, see Mustang and Hawkeye and Madame Christmas, talk to Teacher and Winry, eat with Gracia and Major Armstrong. He could rest, having accomplished something worthwhile.

Truth’s mouth stretches terrifyingly wild, splitting at the edges of their face, and they lean towards him conspiratorially. “No.”

“What-” Ed starts, stepping back. “Why would you bring me here, then?”

“Edward Elric, you are a fascinating person,” they say quietly, staring at him with their faceless gaze. “Did you know that not one person in history has survived coming to me five separate times? You’ve transmuted your mother, your brother’s soul, you were brought here through Gluttony’s stomach and then you returned – willingly, mind you – another time to restore your brother. Do you know how impressive that is?”

“But why am I here now?” Ed asks.

Truth goes on like they hadn’t heard him. “There are very few interesting things in the world, when you’ve lived as long as I have. Hohenheim and the Dwarf in the Flask were fascinating for a while, to be fair, but it was all so elementary- a broken man searching for a family, a soulless creature striving to become something greater. And now that’ll be over, in just a moment, when your dear ol’ Dad dies.”

Ed flinches, but the Truth forges onward, brutal as ever.

“But you and your Brother? Now, that’s new!” They exclaim suddenly, clapping their hands together- the sound echoes through the expanse surrounding them, and Ed struggles to hide his shudder. “Two children, born the last survivors of a long-dead race, carrying the blood of those long-lost souls? But that on its own couldn’t have been that great- being half Philosopher’s Stone will only get you so far. What makes you really special – you, Edward, you in particular – is who you’ve chosen to become.”

“Chosen to become?” Ed echoes, uncertain of where this was going. Truth had met both him and Al, he couldn’t understand why they’d develop a focus on him.

“That’s it, right there!” Truth bursts out, stepping ever-closer. “You are unique and you can’t even see it- you refuse to! You’ve made it here and back, five times, because you want to help others- you’ve dedicated your whole life to protecting the people around you, at the expense of yourself! It’s fascinating.”

Ed bristles and glares at Truth. “It’s my job to protect them, it’s my fault that things get so bad-”

Truth bursts out laughing and it’s unhinged. “You were a child when your father left and your mother died. You’re a child now. How could you ever think this was your fault?” Ed opens his mouth to reply, but Truth keeps going, ignoring him. “You are perhaps the most human person I’ve ever encountered, but you’re barely even one! What is the rest of the world doing, when they let you – a child – fight their battles like this?”

“You…sound like you’re rather attached to me,” Ed hedges nervously. In all his research, in talking to Teacher and Al and Hohenheim, he’s never heard of the Truth even once engaging in an actual conversation- in taking an interest in anyone.

“Of course I am!” Truth bursts out. “I have spent all of eternity as a god, alone in this void, only visited by reckless and corrupt fools, and then there’s you- and you just keep coming back. You are the first interesting thing in millennia.”

Ed’s frozen where he stands, but he does his best to think of something – anything – to say to that. “Are you going to let me go back?”

Truth steps closer again – and Ed tries to step back, but the void seems to be shrinking and Truth manages to throw their arm over his shoulder, pulling him close. “Yes, I am, Edward Elric. The truth is, I want you to be happy.”

Ed blinks slowly and he leans away from where Truth leans on him. “You- you what?”

“I want you to be happy, and I can’t figure out how to do that,” Truth says carefully. “I had hoped that you giving up your alchemy would help you find a new purpose, even if that meant giving you up. But I see now that wasn’t the case.”

“Giving me up?” Ed questions, wary. “Were you planning to keep me?”

Truth looks up towards him and smiles. “Eventually, yes. You’re not human, Edward Elric. You won’t be able to move on in the same way.”

“Oh my,” he murmurs, then shakes his head. “Is Al-?”

“No,” Truth answers. “You’ve never forgotten about your brother, have you? He’s more successful, in your petty mortal realm, but he’s holding you back from finding more worth somewhere else. Yes, I think I see it now- your purpose is too tied up in your brother. You won’t be able to find solace anywhere else, will you?”

“No, you’re wrong,” Ed bites back angrily. “Al helps me- he makes me better. I wouldn’t have been able to do half this stuff without him by my side-”

“But you can do it now, can’t you?” Truth’s smile grows ever wider, and Ed can’t even try to hold back his shudder now. “You’ve been on your own, now. You’ve paid your debts to your brother, even moreover. And now I think I know how I can help you.”

There’s a growing sense of dread pooling in Ed’s gut and he tries to get Truth off of him, but their grip has grown unbreakable. “What do you mean?” He asks weakly.

“The only way to give you a better future,” Truth begins, standing right in front of Ed’s face, “is to take away what ties you down to your past.”

“No, wait!” Ed tries to say, but Truth grabs his face with both hands and holds him tightly.

“Goodbye for now, Edward Elric. I’ll see you later.”

Ed wakes up, surrounded by chaos and draped over a mortally wounded man. He looks around frantically, off-kilter from being thrown between reality and the gates like this, and searches for a bit of familiarity. He can see Cat running towards him, throwing down the soldiers between them, and Scar is weeping openly as he takes in the rebuilt nation and weaponless soldiers.

The man tugs on his hands weakly and smiles softly up at him – it’s full of love and genuine feeling, unlike Truth’s – then speaks. “Thank you, Edward, for giving these souls a final purpose.” Ed watches frozen as the man breathes his last, then is torn away as Cat finally reaches him.

“Oh, Ed, I’m so sorry- are you alright? You were amazing!” She cries out, hugging him closely. “How did you do that?”

“The alchemy?” Ed asks, and she nods. “I’m not sure. I think I got thrown back into the Gate, with Truth, but I can’t remember anything they said to me.” He stares at his hands, uncertain.

She looks down, past him towards the man lying at their feet, and she gasps. “Ed, is he-?”

“Yeah, he’s dead,” Ed mumbles, all the adrenaline from using alchemy and fighting suddenly gone.

She pulls them down next to him, and silently closes the man’s golden eyes. She looks back up at him, and he’s surprised to see that her eyes are full of tears. “If you need to talk about it, I can-”

Ed frowns at her- this isn’t the first time he’s watched someone die. “Why would I need to talk about it?”

“Ed,” she begins, searching his eyes cautiously. “I know you had a tense relationship with your dad, and I don’t really know any of the details, but don’t you want to-”

“My dad? He left when I was a child, too early for me to remember him. I don’t any of my family,” Ed says.

Cat stares at him with surprise and unfiltered horror, then pulls him back into a close hug. “Oh, god Ed, what happened to you?”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26252785/chapters/69928110

#fmab #fma #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #edward elric #catherine armstrong #ao3

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scentedbygunpowder · 5 years

Text

Moms Made Fullmetal Week, 2019 Day 6: Lost/Found/Family Word Count: Author: Katie/Ally (scentedbygunpowder) Rating: 2973 Characters: Riza Hawkeye, Alphonse Elric; Minor/Mentions: Roy Mustang, Edward Elric, Winry Rockbell, Mei Chang, fankids Summary: Alphonse has sometimes felt lost in the military life, at other times he’s been found because of it. But through Hawkeye’s gentle touch he’s found himself a family again.

~*~

Lost/Found/Family

It was difficult to keep up with things in the military sometimes. Alphonse was usually alright following his brother around, but sometimes he couldn’t, sometimes he just felt like he was in the way, and sometimes he got bored. But whenever he found himself separated out from Ed, Alphonse found himself feeling a little bit lost. It only seemed worse when he was lost on military premises. After all, he wasn’t a soldier. He wasn’t a member of the military. He was just an eleven-year old kid in a huge armored body.

Right now he was standing in an unfortunately busy area of East Headquarters, trying not to be in the way, but feeling like he was just getting in it more and more. He kept apologizing, but he just felt like people were getting more and more irritated at him. It just made him feel worse and worse. It wasn’t his fault his body was so big and difficult to move in! He was trying to stay out of the way! It was times like this that he felt like, if he could cry, he might, just because he felt so bad and was so embarrassed. (not that the crying would have been any less embarrassing, just a different kind, and at least a release).

To make it worse, he had no idea where to go to get out of the way, or how to at least get back to the hallways where the Colonel’s office was located. They were quieter and he could stay out of the way better there. He was lost, and he didn’t know what to do about it.

“Alphonse?”

His head turned towards the voice, and with relief he saw Lieutenant Hawkeye coming down the hallway. “Lieutenant!”

She had a friendly look on her face as she walked towards him. It wasn’t what he’d call a smile, but he was coming to learn that she did smile, it was just more subdued then most people’s smiles most of the time. Still, smile or not, he was more than glad to see her.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked him.

“Oh! Well, um, the Colonel said that he had something to discuss with Brother, and then he said that I had to leave. But I didn’t know where to go and I tried to get back outside, but I got a little lost.”

She was nodding understandably, and Alphonse felt a bit of relief.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s easy to get lost here, especially when you’re new.” She paused, thinking. “Tell you what. I could use a hand. I have some boxes to move. Do you think you could help me with them? It will mean less trips, especially since all of the dollies are in use.”

“Oh! Sure! I can do that!” He didn’t mind helping her out; it gave him something to do. Besides, the Lieutenant had always been nice to them. Maybe he could pay her back a bit by helping her.

“Good,” she said, with one of those light smiles again. “Follow me.”

Alphonse did, feeling much less out of place as he walked with the Lieutenant. She talked to him as they walked, pointing out different departments and rooms before they got to the storage room that contained the boxes she needed to move. They were old reports that needed to be sent to Central to the records department, and the boxes were heavy. She had four she needed to move, and Al insisted on taking three of them, leaving her with one. That was one perk of his body. He was really strong, and he could help people with his strength. It didn’t take them long to make it to the loading docks where he dawdled around while Hawkeye filled out some paperwork. He watched the workers loading and unloading things, looking at how hard they worked. It was like a busy hive of activity, all well planned out and hard working.

“This all, Lieutenant?” one of the workers called out.

“It is for now,” she said. “We shouldn’t have another shipment from the Colonel for a few months, at least.”

“You sure got them down here faster than expected.”

The Lieutenant smiled, and patted Alphonse on the arm. “I had good help. This is Alphonse Elric. He’s the younger brother of our newest State Alchemist, Edward Elric. The Major is in meetings with the Colonel, and so Alphonse lent me a hand.”

“Oh, um, it was nothing Lieutenant, really!” he said, trying to shake off her praise. It really wasn’t a big deal. “I didn’t mind helping! I really didn’t!”

“Boy, we could use someone big and strong like you around here,” one of the men commented. “You’d be a big help.”

Alphonse sputtered a little, trying to figure out how to respond. Hawkeye saved him, though.

“Why don’t you stay, Al, and give them a hand? I’m sure that they’ll take good care of you. I’ll make sure your brother knows where you are,” she said.

“Are you sure it’ll be okay?” he asked.

“I’m positive.”

“Well… alright then.”

One of the men grinned at him. “Well alright then! You can help us with unloading that truck first, okay? We’ll keep you busy until your brother comes for you!”

“I’ll see you later, Al,” Hawkeye said. “I’ll come back by to check on you later.”

“Alright, Lieutenant Hawkeye! I’ll see you later!”

Alphonse turned back to the man who was gesturing for him to follow him, and listened to his instructions, getting to work. It didn’t occur to him until much later that while he was helping he felt much less lost in the giant machine that was the military.

~*~

“Alphonse!”

Al looked up at the voice, taking his attention off of the battle that was happening at the moment between his brother, the Colonel, and an alchemist he didn’t know. The Lieutenant was moving towards him quickly, her gun out and ready. She glanced around the area as she moved, keeping an eye out for any other enemies.

“Lieutenant?” he said as she quickly moved into place beside him.

“I’m glad I found you.” She said, her eyes looking him over. She grimaced. “I see he got to you, didn’t he?”

Alphonse looked down at himself, at his crumbling armor. It wasn’t the worst it had ever been, but it was bad, and it had taken him out of the equation for the time being. He wasn’t even sure what had happened, honestly. He had been out buying some food for Edward while his brother gave a report to the Colonel. He honestly hadn’t wanted to be there for that one. He knew it was just going to end up in a shouting match, and sometimes he got tired of being his brother’s voice of reason. So he found a reason, and he left.

But while he had been there, this man had attacked the market place he was at, wrecking it. It didn’t take Al long to figure out that the man was an alchemist and, as a fellow alchemist, he felt a duty to stop him. Unfortunately, it seemed that this was the worst alchemist that Alphonse could have gone up against—he had a specialized knowledge in metals. Alphonse had avoided his attacks as best he could, but small touches here and there had gotten to him, doing small bits of damage to his body until he finally had felt it crumbling. Of course that’s when the Colonel and his brother had shown up and taken over.

“Shouldn’t you be looking after the Colonel?” he questioned, his voice with a slight edge of panic to it.

The Lieutenant glanced at the fight. “Honestly, with this man’s skill set, I’m more worried about you. He manipulates metal. You are metal. And two of your brother’s limbs are metal. I think the Colonel is in the least danger. Its why I went looking for you first.”

“Well, I suppose you found me, Lieutenant,” he said, a bit of disappointed frustration in his voice.

“Yes, I did—and I’m grateful for it.” She moved her eyes off of the battle and back to Alphonse. “I’ll always do my best to find you boys when you’re in danger.”

Something about that warmed his heart, although he wasn’t sure exactly what it was. But there was something nice about someone wanting to find him and help him, even if he was much stronger and sturdier then most people.

Hawkeye was looking around, seeing part of his leg nearby. “If I get that, do you think you can repair yourself enough to walk?” she asked him.

Alphonse shook his head. “No. Only Brother can do that. The best I could do would be to make a crutch or something to walk on. Besides, I’m not sure what that man did, exactly, but I know that there are parts of my armor that are really fragile right now.”

The Lieutenant leaned closer to take a look. “Looks almost like it’s a different composition there,” she said, frowning. “Did he change the type of metal to something more fragile?”

Alphonse blinked at her, a little surprised that she could tell that. “I’m not sure—but I know that if that’s the case, it’s not hard to guess what kind of metal my armor is made out of. So if he knew that, he might be able to. Brother has done it to Greed before. He’s altered the carbon bonds to make it a weaker form of carbon.”

“Clever,” Hawkeye said. “Well, if that’s the case, then I suppose it’s a good thing I found you, isn’t it?” It was clear to see that her mind was spinning. “That might be the key. Stay here.”

Before he could say anything else, she was running into the battle, yelling. “Colonel! Edward! He’s changing metal compositions!” She had to hit the deck as the alchemist sent pieces of metal flying towards her.

“Retreat, Lieutenant!” Mustang ordered, and Hawkeye didn’t waste any time in complying, going back to Alphonse’s side.

“Lieutenant, are you alright?” Alphonse asked her, worried as he saw a cut on her cheek.

“I’m fine—I’m just glad I found you, Al. That was a crucial bit of information.” She watched as Edward and the Colonel worked together to trap the man and take him down. She looked back at him with a tight smile as the situation was handled. “I was worried about you—especially when we found out his specialty was metal.”

“You shouldn’t worry about me,” he said. “I’m sure I would have been fine. Brother would have showed up.”

Riza smiled at him, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Alphonse, I’ll always worry about you. If I hadn’t of found you so quickly, I would have worried until we had. I looked for you first.”

There wasn’t time for more as Edward came running over, worry clear in every bit of him. Hawkeye retreated then, heading towards the Colonel. Alphonse watched her go, his heart warming at the thought that she would have been looking for him until he had been found.

~*~

“Alphonse!”

Al looked up from where he was standing on the platform at Central, hearing the voices of his brother, Winry, Mei, and the gaggle of children disembarking behind him. His eyes looked around for a moment, until they landed on a familiar blond head.

“Lieuten—Sorry, habit. I mean--oh, wait, are you a Colonel now?”

Riza smiled at him, a broad smile, bigger than usual, showing just how pleased she was to see him. “Yes, just a few weeks ago,” she said, reaching out towards him. He responded, letting her fold him into a hug, even if he was taller than her again. She pulled back. “How have you been? It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen you. You look healthy.”

He smiled at her. “I am. Mei looks after me all the time. She makes sure I’m eating well, and that I stay in shape. Honestly, I don’t mind. It feels good to be able to have that to worry about.”

“I’m sure,” she said, glancing back behind him. “Looks like you’re traveling with a full compliment.”

Alphonse laughed. “Yes, I thought that we were going to need the whole train car at one point. Ed’s bunch are rambunctious and mine are sneaky.”

She grinned widely again. “I wouldn’t expect anything less,” she said. She gave his hand a squeeze, then moved to help the rest of them get off of the train and out of the station. She had a car waiting and, although it took a little squishing and maneuvering, they all managed to fit inside, Alphonse sitting up front with a nephew on his lap.

“So why did you call us back?” he asked her. “An invite to the whole Elric family? It must mean something big.”

“Has that jerk finally decided to retire,” Edward quipped. “If he does, I’m not paying him back the money I owe him.”

“You owe him money, Ed?” Winry cut in. “When did this happen? Have you been borrowing money without telling me?”

“No! No, it’s nothing like that!” Ed protested. “It’s—well—it’s more of a loan?”

“He’ll tell you when we get there,” Riza said. “You should also know that the rest of the team is coming in tomorrow too.”

“The rest of them?” Edward asked, the fight between him and Winry temporarily paused.

“Yes,” Riza said. “But we wanted to talk to you first.”

That seemed to settle the car into a sense of contemplation again, and Al eyed Riza suspiciously. The rest of the car ride was pretty calm, the adults pointing things out to the excited children as Riza drove them to the rather impressive house that she and the General lived in now. They all got out, each of them taking some luggage to help carry in. Mustang came out to greet them, taking the luggage from Riza’s hand as he escorted them inside, only half arguing with Edward as they all piled inside. Rooms were settled, kids were sent off with one of the guards, and the adults settled into a tastefully decorated room.

“So what’s this all about?” Edward asked, point blank. Alphonse exchanged a look with Mei. He could tell that they were thinking along the same lines.

Mustang—Roy—reached for Riza’s hand. The two had been wed, finally, some years back during a period of time when they had been forced to work separately. They had, of course, ended up working together again, on a project that it was agreed both of them were needed for, and an exception was granted. It had just stuck, and their marriage hadn’t seemed to interfere with their work, so the powers that be had just been satisfied to let them stay that way.

“Well, we have some news,” he said. “Riza and I… we’re expecting.”

Winry and Mei squealed, Mei proclaiming “I knew it!” while Ed and Al offered their congratulations.

“Wait,” Riza said. “There’s more.” She waited for them to fall silent. “We talked it over, and we’d like it very much if you—all of you—would agree to be the godparents of our child.”

Once again, looks were exchanged, and Alphonse smiled at the couple as he answered for all of them. “Of course. We’d be honored to.”

Bot Roy and Riza seemed to be relieved at that, and the congratulations and questions started up again for a bit until the conversation turned to the other reason they had been called here—Mustang was about to announce his intentions for the Fuhrership. As Edward and Roy got to fussing, Alphonse couldn’t help but notice Riza slip off. With a look at his wife, he headed out after her, finding her on a small balcony that overlooked the backyard where the kids were playing.

“You alright?” he asked her.

She turned to look at him. “Yes. Just… just a lot on my mind.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “It’s exciting, you know? Pregnancy. And being a godparent. It’s nice to be family.”

She smiled at him, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. “You were always family, Alphonse.”

Family. The word warmed his heart. He had considered them all family for years, but hearing it said aloud made him more than a little happy.

“I just don’t know if I’ll be a good mother.”

“Of course you will,” the words were out of his mouth without hesitation.

She turned towards him, blinking at him in surprise. “You think so?” she said. “What makes you think that?”

He smiled softly at her, and put an arm around her shoulder. “Because you were a great mom to me and Ed.” She looked at him in astonishment, and he continued. “We were just kids when we got involved with the military, you know. We didn’t know what we were doing. And it was especially easy for me to feel alone and lost. But you never let us feel that way. You helped us adjust to our new life, showed us how to function in it. You always came and found us when we were in trouble or hurt. We never said it, but we came to rely on you a lot. And while Mom will always be our mom, you were like another mother to us.”

Riza was quiet for a moment, then let out sigh and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Alphonse,” she said. “I always did feel protective over you—like you were my kids I needed to protect. I’m glad that it was a mutual feeling.”

“Always,” he said with a smile. “We’ll always be family.”

#moms-made-fullmetal-2k19 #riza hawkeye #Alphonse Elric #fma fanfiction #FMA fanfic #writing #my writing

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schrijverr · 5 years

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Professor Elric?

After The Promised Day Edward is sent on a miliary mission to Hogwarts where he will teach Alchemy to his students. He is told not to interfere with their business, but he has a hard time not getting involved with this weird Voldy prick

On AO3

Chapter 1 out of 10

Warnings: none

Ships: none

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eward Elric was grumbling to himself as he was shoving his body into a specially tailored Army Uniform. He had saved the country and his brother and now he had to do this!

Wait, maybe there should be a little explaining beforehand. The Promised day has passed, but Truth, who was so ecstatic that Ed had given the right answer had allowed him to keep his alchemy if he agreed to keep his metal arm. Ed had agreed, a bit suspicious, but whatever.

After that he had tried the country life, but it wasn’t for him, not anymore. So he found himself knocking on Mustangs door a few weeks after and before he knew it he was back int the military, but now with costume. It was all fine until he got this assignment, he had to be a teacher… at a school… with children… where people believed in magic… and thought alchemy was magic…

Ed hated his life, right about now.

He was still grumbling when he entered Mustangs office for his last briefing before he went off. The man in question seemed way too smug for Edwards liking, so he grit his teeth and said: “Well, get on with it.”

“With pleasure. So, you will be teaching Alchemy, it’s the same as here. You are doing that so that we can create allies with this “wizard world”, and we need allies after what happened here. Since you are the face of Amestris we have decided that you will wear your uniform.”

And there it was, that smug smile on that bastards face. He had done that specifically to piss Eward off, he just knew it. He hadn’t even realized he was exploding until he was in the middle of yelling at Mustang.

When he was out of breath and heaving angrily Mustang gave him another smug look and said: “Just a joke Fullmetal, but you will wear it at the introduction dinner at the beginning of the year and at holidays, do you understand?”

Edward gave him a menacing look, but knew that protesting would never work in his favor, so he begrudgingly agreed. Mustang continued: “You have to tell Professor Dumbledore if you would like to be referred to as Colonel or Professor Elric and he will discuss the basics with you when you arrive. This is also an intelligence mission, but I guess you already knew that.”

Edward nodded, if this really was just an allegiance mission they would have send someone with more tact and less skill. If Ed was perfectly honest, he was sure that they would have send Hawkeye if it wasn’t for the fact that she wasn’t an alchemist and Mustang couldn’t survive a day without her.

“I do, how many times will I report in and what will I focus on?” Edward replied.

“You will send monthly reports about your findings. We need to know how dangerous these people are and if this magic stuff is legit. If it is, we need to know if we can use it, if it really is limited to certain people and if those people live in Amestris as well. You also need to know if these people are capable of starting a war, what sort of military they have and how fast they can organize. Dive into their history, see how violent it is and how they’ve dealt with things as rebellion or power exchange. Is that clear?”

Edward nodded, if it was anyone but Mustang he would have said ‘Yes, sir’ or ‘Yes, ma’am’, but it was Mustang and Mustang was a bastard who shoved him in a uniform and called him short, so he didn’t deserve that.

Mustang closed his folder and said: “That will be all, go home say goodbye and report back tomorrow at 8 o’clock sharp. A lift will be waiting.”

The next day a lady was in, the now, General Mustangs office. She had a but of a sour face and glasses, her brown and already graying a bit hair was tied into a tight bun. She wore a green dress, with actual robes and to complete the cliché she had a pointed hat on her head. She stuck out her hand and with a strange accent she introduced herself: “Good morning Colonel Elric. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall and I am here to take you to Hogwarts.”

He put down his suitcases and shook her hand and told her he was pleased to meet her, he then asked about the means transportation they would use since he hadn’t seen an unknown vehicle outside.

She gave him a smile and said: “We will be using a portkey.” she checked the time, “and we are almost late. I hope you are packed, Colonel Elric, because we must be going.”

Edward held up his suitcases and cheerily said: “Try not to ruin the country while I’m gone, General Bastard! Oh, and tell Colonel Hawkeye I’m sad I missed her. Bye.”

Mustang just rubbed his face and yelled after him: “Just get out before you shrink more than you already have.”

Lucky for Mustang and the first impression they wanted to make on their, hopefully, new allies the door had already shut behind the duo.

Said duo was now walking outside towards a cane. Edward raised his one of his eyebrows and sceptically asked: “I don’t know if we can both fit on that, ma’am.”

She shot him a sharp look and said: “Colonel Elric, I know you are unfamiliar with our world, but I must ask you to try to be respectful. You may believe what you want, but know not to judge people or things on their looks.”

Edward didn’t know how she did it, but she had struck a nerve. He though of how people had treated Al, just because of the suit of armor and how they looked down on him because of his height and on Winry because of her gender. So, he apologized and made a deal with himself to only judge once he had seen.

She took one of his suitcases and ordered him to grab the cane, he obliged quickly. For a moment nothing happened and Edward almost ran his mouth off again, but he was cut of by a tugging sensation just below his bellybutton and the world started to spin. He felt like he was in the middle of a typhoon and he was clinging trying to not fall off. He heard McGonagall tell him to let go, so he came to the conclusion that she had gone mad and this was where he would perish.

She yelled at him again and he let go. He didn’t want to see the ground just before he splattered on it. He was okay with never seeing his final resting place, so he closed his eyes. For a moment he was weightless, then he crashed down, making full impact with the grass. Blearily he opened his eyes and saw McGonagall slowly walking downwards through the air. He blinked, still the same, he blinked again, still nothing changed, he rubbed his eyes and looked again, McGonagall stood perfectly safe on the ground.

She must have seen his confusion, because she explained: “It’s always difficult to land when you first travel with a portkey, but you did great.”

Explaining and positive reenforcement, she really was a teacher.

He shrugged the dirt of him and took in his surroundings. He was standing on a field of grass, close by began a forest, there was a cottage close by and some sort of sport arena in the distance, but the most eye catching of all was the gigantic, beautiful, old castle in front of them. He was momentarily awestruck as he just let the view wash over him. McGonagall was obviously used to the view and the reaction, because she just smiled with an amused twinkle in her eye and let him take everything in before she said: “Let’s go, Colonel Elric. Professor Dumbledore is waiting on us.”

She lead him to the gaits and through corridors lined with paintings or armors. The people in the paintings moved and watched them curiously, some even followed them. It was everything Amestris was not, so he commented: “This is nothing like home, home is more straight lines and harsher colors.”

“Our youngest students are eleven years old, we don’t want to frighten them.” she told him, “You are used to a military base, so I am glad that there is a difference.”

Edward shrugged, that made kind of sense. Everything back home was more military like, but it was much more, it was vibrant cities, small country side villages, miner towns and small lively cities. It all had a newer feel to it, Edward couldn’t explain it.

And at the moment it didn’t matter, because they had arrived at a big statue of some kind of bird. McGonagall said: “Pepper Imps.”

Edwards eyebrows rose, but he bit on his cheek and didn’t say a thing. He was soon to release his cheek in favor of letting his mouth hang open, because the statue started to rise, creating stairs as it went up. He quickly followed McGonagalls lead and stepped on the stairs.

She knocked on the door and Edward followed her inside, there a man with a strange gray outfit, half-moon glasses and long gray hair and a beard was waiting for them. He stood up with a flourish and said: “Colonel Elric, it is an honor. I am the Headmaster of this fine school, Professor Dumbledore. I welcome you to my staff and hope you will like it here.”

Eward smiled and shook the mans hand as he answered: “Thank you, sir. It is and honor and Eward is just fine.”

“Very well, then you can call me Albus.” Dumbledore replied, “We have some basic things to discuss and then you are free to explore, I hope you don’t mind me walking you around, showing you your classroom, while we dot the last i’s.”

“Not at all, sir. Show the way.” Edward said, he hoped he was being respectful enough. He had taken some lessons from Hawkeye about basic courtesy and military protocols, he couldn’t stay the young brash kid if he wanted to stay in the military. And he thought he had become quite good at it, it also helped that he was pretty high-ranked, so he almost never had to salute first and most of his commanding officers he knew so well that he didn’t have to salute them.

Dumbledore lead him through the maze of corridors again and started the conversation: “First order of business, would you like me to introduce you as Colonel Elric or would you prefer Professor Elric?”

Edward hot him a glance and said: “Well, I’ve never earned the title of Professor, my brother went back to school, he’s Professor Elric of us two. I’m afraid I’ve never even finished school, sorry.”

Edward was curious what the Headmasters answer would be. He had read many books about wizard-education, but he’d never found anything about a way to earn a Professors title, yet all the teachers seemed to carry it. Dumbledore had observed him for a moment in which Edward had kept his expression carefully blank. The man then replied: “That won’t be a problem, Edward, it is more a formality here.”

Edward was secretly mad at how easily they threw around the title. In Amestris a title meant a lot, the military was important and ranking was a high priority. Professors were held in high regard and only few had the honor of referring to themselves as such. Edward himself was quite proud of his little brother and would often call him Professor Elric for kicks. He decided not to word any of these thoughts and said: “I hope you won’t be offended if I stick to the title I earned, sir.”

A twinkle of amusement was found in Dumbledores eyes as he said: “Of course not, Colonel.”

They walked on and got to a classroom on the first floor, it was a huge room with a gigantic black board that could expand, there were a few rows with school desks, in the back there was big mat and some benches surrounding it. Edward inspected everything, when he was done he nodded satisfied and said: “It’s perfect, thank you.”

“No problem, though I am quite curious what the mat is for.” Dumbledore said.

Edward smirked: “You must train your body as well as your mind. I don’t expect many of my students to understand that either, most will drop out, probably.”

“You don’t seem to have much faith in them, Edward.” Dumbledore said.

Edward shrugged: “Alchemy training is hard, few of the people in my home country have what it takes to get through the training, although I know it can differ form teacher to teacher. My teacher left me and my brother on a deserted island for one month, before we could even start on Alchemy training. I don’t plan to go so hard on them, but it will be rough and you have to have passion if you want to stay.”

Dumbledore nodded, but didn’t comment. He then showed Edward to his living quarters, which was through a door that was next to the blackboard. It wasn’t a big room, but it had a bed, a desk, a closet and a bookcase with a few books already there. Edward put down his suitcases and said: “Thank you.”

“It really isn’t a problem and I am glad you are interested in our world.” Dumbledore said, with a nod to the books.

It was right that Edward had asked for books about Wizard history and general Wizard knowledge. If he was going to teach there (and spy on them, but shhh), he would need to know all the basics his students would know. He needed to understand references and how some relations came to be. With a big smile he said: “Well, I am a student by heart and there is so much to learn.”

After that Dumbledore explained that the students would arrive the next evening and he would be introduced then. He was free to do as he pleased until then and if he was lost he could ask the paintings for directions, which was completely nuts, but also awesome. If he wanted to write home he could borrow one of the owls, which again, completely nuts, but also kind of cool and more efficient.

When all that was done Edward was left on his own. He plopped down on the bed and decided that the room could use some more decorations (translation: the bed, chair and desk got more skulls and gargoyles). Then he cracked open the first book, deciding that he could unpack later.

#RR writing #fma brotherhood #FMA AU #Harry Potter #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood and harry potter crossover #fullmetal alchimist brotherhood #bamf edward elric #edward elric #Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore #minerva mcgonagall #Roy Mustang #riza hawkeye #colonel Elric #Professor Elric #Professor Elric?#Professor Elric? Chapter 1

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animeimagineposts · 5 years

Text

Second Meeting (3) FMA Brotherhood

KIMBLEE

You saw Kimblee quicker than you expected, one day to be precise. The medical bay was empty for once, so you were able to breathe and put your feet up. However the door slams open and Kimblee comes stumbling in covered almost head to toe in blood, and most of it looked like his this time.

‘Kimblee!’ You shout, rushing over to the alchemist before he can collapse.

‘Hi Doc, I can’t keep away from you,’ he laughs and coughs up blood.

You get him onto a bed and prepare what you needed to put your Alkahestry on show wanting to impress the Crimson Alchemist, ‘just relax, and I’ll have you fixed in no time.’

You clap your hands together and put them on his chest watching the wounds close up one by one. Kimblee watches you with a mixture of awe and shock on his face, ‘now I know why they call you the Life Alchemist y/n.’

You wash the blood off your hands while Kimblee gets up from the bed like he hadn’t been close to death only minutes earlier. When you turn back around Kimblee’s stood in front of you smirking, looking kind of manic still covered in blood, ‘we’re going to do wonderful things together y/n.’

GREED

When Greed said he was going to enjoy you, he meant it. After that night you never expected to see him again, but you bumped into him the day after at a market where you were shopping.

He slings an arm casually around your shoulder and leans in to whisper in your ear, ‘hello beautiful.’

You can’t help but shiver and blush, this man knew the effect he had on you, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

‘What are you doing here, Greed?’ you ask, trying to keep calm.

He throws his head back and laughs, ‘not letting any other guy near you y/n. I don’t like people looking at or touching my things.’

You shouldn’t be cool with Greed calling you his possession, but your ex never cared much about other guys looking at you inappropriately. Maybe you could get use to Greed after a while.

LUST

‘Lust, what are you doing here?’ you ask, shocking seeing her when you opened your front door.

‘Aren’t you going to invite me in y/n?’ she replies seductively.

You step aside and let her in, but what she does next takes you by surprise. She pushes you up against the wall a little roughly and claims your lips with hers. You gasp, and she takes the opportunity to slide her tongue in. You kiss her back, wrapping your arms around her shoulders.

‘y/n we haven’t seen—‘ Al stops himself.

‘WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING HERE Y/N?’ Ed shouts.

You pull away from Lust feeling your cheeks blush.

Lust laughs, ‘don’t you boys know how to knock? You interrupted us.’

You could already see the steam coming from Ed’s ears, as Al grabs him by the collar and drags him out of the apartment.

You pout, ‘you knew they were coming, didn’t you Lust?’

Lust licks her lips before enclosing you in her arms once more, ‘don’t pout, you’re too pretty to pout y/n. I knew they were coming, but even if they weren’t, I would have still come to see you because you’re special y/n.’

ENVY

It felt good getting back at the Elric’s, and Envy knew how to get under their skin. Your part was making them paranoid which you succeeded at, and it was safe to say you’d gotten your payback.

You wipe tears of joy from your eyes, ‘thank you for this Envy.’

Envy grins, ‘you’re a good partner in crime y/n. Maybe you should join our side.’

You shrug your shoulders, maybe. It depends on how much they push me next time.’

Envy cracks their knuckles and begins to walk into the shadows, ‘I’ll be seeing you very soon y/n.’

BUCCANEER

Just like you’d promised, you’d gotten yourself transferred out here much to Ed and Al’s upset. You find Buccaneer down one of the corridors and clear your throat. He turns around, and his eyes widen.

‘y/n, why do you look like a fort soldier?’

You walk towards him and give a little twirl, ‘got myself transferred. Don’t you want me here anymore?’

Again he turns his face trying to hide a blush, but it’s too late because you’d already seen it. Days and nights were going to be more interesting now you were around to liven things up.

MARIA

Danny was back, but Maria insisted the two of them needed a third set of eyes on the Elric’s. You got on well with Danny, but you and Maria were an unstoppable force when it came to keeping the Elric brothers in check. Whenever Ed or Al tried to charm either one of you to their plans, the other would come in and knock them down a peg or two. You’d never had this much fun before, and you were getting paid to hang out with a close friend.

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secretariatess · 4 years

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LEN/MIDORI for uh T, Y, U?

T- Truth1. Are they honest?You’re more likely to get a straight answer from Midori than you are Len. She’s pretty honest unless she’s got a reason to hide something. Len’s somewhere in middle ground because I wouldn’t say he’s completely dishonest. Depending on what’s being talked about, he’ll give half-truths, roundabout answers, or flat out lie. Those who can break the wall (or were already behind the wall) he has, he’ll be more honest.2. Can they tell if someone’s lying?They both have a gut sense that tells them if someone’s not being truthful, though Midori can be easier to trick. Len fits the phrase “takes one to know one,” so anything that fools Midori isn’t going to fly by him.3. Is it obvious when they’re lying?With Len, you never really know. If he gives you answer that’s not roundabout, then it could be the truth, a half-truth, a joke, or a lie, and as far as anyone can see, he’s got no tell. Midori has a certain tell that Len’s able to pick up on, and will be exaggerated the bigger the lie is. So little lies she can get away with. With big lies it’s obvious, but she says it with such determination and rigidness that it’s clear she won’t give you the truth as it is.4. Have they lied about anything they regret lying about?Midori’s thrown harsh words (such as “I honestly hate you”) to family members she really loves, but in a moment of built up anger wanted to hurt them. It was several years before she could come face to face with them again and amend what was said. Len’s numbed himself to the guilt of lying, so it would have to be a really big moment for him to feel regret over it. At the moment, I can’t think of anything he regrets lying about.5. Have they told truths that were spread against their will?Not that I can recall at the top of my head. Both of them are not easy trusters (now that I think about it, it’s amazing they let each other in enough to get married), and don’t tell people they don’t trust deep truths about themselves. Or other truths they don’t want to spread around.

U- Underdog (My mind insists on either putting these in the form of a word or alphabetically)1. Have they been bullied?Midori’s experienced being bullied when she was young. When she became a teenager and entered in Riverside, a foster boarding school, she exuded almost a tough girl mien as kind of a defense without realizing it. Len actually strays more towards being the bully, so that’s next question.2. Have they bullied anyone?Midori’s only done defense. Strike first, and she’ll make you regret it. Len would be considered more the bully. He does a lot of practical joke kind of stuff or daredevil things (collecting spiders from around Riverside to plant in a breakfast dish in the cafeteria, and going to the top of roof to try and climb all the way down). But he also does a lot of teasing and annoying because he loves reactions. Not stuff like flat out insulting, but things he knows will get under someone’s skin. when he was younger he did it a lot to Midori because he liked her (and she gave the most visceral reactions), but he’d also do it to people he didn’t care for. Like a girl named Relsha who was infatuated with him. Even if he didn’t intend on being mean, his tactics to some came off rather harsh and hurtful, and not everyone took what he did as a joke or trying to get under their skin.3. Have they ever been physically attacked by a bully?Len’s had abusers/tormentors before he went to Riverside, so if they count as bullies, then the answer would be yes. However, I feel “bully” is too soft a word for that. Midori’s also been physically attacked. And because of the situation and the fact that the bully who would physically attack was a sister, the issue was never addressed in time.4. Have they ever been doubted?Both of them have. Midori was considered the weak link in her family. She ended up gathering a group of friends that took down the evil part of her family. Len . . . was always expected to cause trouble and it was widely believed by many adults who were put in actual charge of him without a harmful agenda that he wouldn’t amount to anything.5. Have they surprised people with being good at something?Midori’s surprised friends with her prowess with fighting. But that was more because she never shared her life before knowing them, so they never knew that she was trained when she was young. Len surprised staff at Riverside with becoming the top Search Agent in the country, which is basically a bounty hunter meets private investigator, to put it simply.

Y- You1. How old were you when you created them?Uhhhhhhh . . .. Twelve? Thirteen? Around there. Len’s actually been around longer, but his name wasn’t originally Len. I think I made him closer to when I was twelve, and Midori closer to when I was thirteen.2. What inspired you to create them?lol, um, the Vocaloids. Eyyyyeaaaaaah. I had an idea of creating my own Vocaloid like characters. They weren’t originally supposed to be a part of a big story as they are now, but here we are. 3. Were they different when they were first created?Oh yeah. Midori not so much, but Len definitely. Midori was inspired by Miku Hatsune, and her earlier designs had her in a costume that was based off Miku’s own traditional costume. But with the development of her character, her taste in clothing led her away from that design and more into rough and tumble clothes (actually, no skirts now! Only on special occasions). Hair and eye color remained the same (mint green) and her hair had slight variation in style. Her personality has become more defined and she’s a lot more strict than she used be. Len was ORIGINALLY named Kuro Ameiro. Kuro had black hair that went slightly past his ears, wore a coat like Ed Elric’s without the symbol on the back (though I didn’t know who he was at the time), had a sword as his weapon of choice, and had a bit of a more serious personality. Now, he’s known as Len, he has really long blond hair that’s kept in a ponytail 99% of the time, wearing a coat like Ed’s isn’t something he’s opposed to but wouldn’t last long, daggers and other bladed items that can be thrown are his weapons of choice, and he’s definitely not as serious anymore. I actually didn’t want to name him Len because that was his original draft name (guess where that came from), but Kuro was not fitting him (also, “Shiro”, Kuro’s sister, wasn’t fitting Liesha correctly). At this point, however, I think he’s developed enough and styled differently enough that while the inspiration can be seen, he’s a different character altogether.Maybe one of these days I should do comparison art of the two to show how much they’ve changed.4. Do you enjoy writing them more than other characters?Len is one of the character I enjoy working with the most, and definitely more than Midori (sorry honey), but the both of them, yeah. They’re part of the original seven characters whose story ultimately opened up the world I have now to something bigger, and had even opened the door to restarting older stories I had abandoned by the time I created them. So they have a special place in my heart and are part of the reason why I don’t really want to write the decalogy I have planned. Because then that’s the end. It’s such a melancholy feeling.5. What’s your favorite thing about them?Their personalities and their relationship dynamics. Just imagining their married life together, and how they grow to a point where their personalities actually end up complimenting each other. Also, it’s so fun writing the scenes where Len pesters Midori, before they admit they like each other, because there’s so much hidden intent and other things behind it that they either don’t know or won’t admit to.

Thank you so much for asking, and thanks for you patience! ^_^ I was at the church for most of the day, showing it off and such. XD

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lovely-qualms · 5 years

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FMA Secret Santa 2018 Gift!!

Ahh, I’m cutting it so close, I’m so sorry I didn’t post it earlier! This is for @sassyfirealchemist (who coincidentally was also my Secret Santa!) for the Secret Santa exchange by @fmasecretsanta2018 !

I hope you like, and I’m sorry for the lateness again!

Title: Fortunes and Feelings

Rating: T+

Relationships: Roy Mustang/ Edward Elric

Tags: Historical (Victorian-ISH), Romance, Humor, Policeman!Roy, Psychic!Ed, circus

Find this fic on: FF.net and AO3

There were two things that Roy believed were working rather valiantly towards making his morning effectively terrible- well, three were he not used Hughes’ incessant early-morning ramblings. The first was the apologetic woman standing at the entrance of his favorite coffee spot who dared tell Roy the place had closed due to bankruptcy (immediately after this, a passing carriage horse had kicked a puddle directly at his boots, which did nothing to Roy’s sour mood). And, well, the young policeman and his chatty colleague currently stood in the midst of the second noisy, colorful, terrible thing.

The bloody circus.

“When I bring Elicia she’ll win every prize there is! Oh-Roy- she’s going to be so excited about that carousel! Don’t you think?” Hughes nearly squealed in delight at the thought of his daughter running around the amusements (wastes of money, in Roy’s opinion).

“Yes Hughes, I’m sure Elicia will have great fun here. Why a circus needs two policemen to keep guard in the ass crack of the morning I’m not sure.” Roy grumbled. It was currently rather cloudy and windy, and the few people actually here that weren’t staff or guard seemed to regret their forwardness of schedule.

Hughes shrugged, “You know pickpockets and drunkards love to ride the coattails of these kinds of places. Oh, look! There’re the acrobats!”

Just as Roy rolled his eyes at his friend’s behavior, a young blonde man swathed in thick brocade and fluttering silks approached them. Looking around, Roy pegged down a similarly silky tent that must belong to this man that lay to the right of them.

Roy and Hughes shook his hand (which Roy silently noted was automail) before he spoke, “Good morning, Officers. Chief Grand sent you, right? I’ll be giving you a little tour of the area, as our ringleader has a lot of last-minute preparations to take care of before the crowds really set in.”

“Do we get a name, o tour guide?” Roy asked, masking his displeasure with veiled sarcasm.

The blonde’ mouth quirked into an amused smile, “Ed. My brother and I are psychics.” Out of adherence to decorum, Roy refrained from rolling his eyes, but his skepticism must have shown through because Ed gave him an unamused look. “Let’s go see some hot spots of potential crime, shall we?“

….

They made their way slowly through the large field of gallantry and show, Ed pointing out various tents and shady areas that needed ‘special supervision’. The young man seemed incredibly familiar with the layout of the area, even though the circus hadn’t been set up for but a day or two. When asked, Ed simply explained that their layout was similar wherever they went, and he knew whose tents were whose and “all that shit”. His teasing personality got on Roy’s nerves, especially since his day hadn’t started out particularly well either.

“Those are where the drunkards like to drink and flirt with ladies and whatnot” Ed gestured to several gaps between tents sporting respectively, an ashcan and several empties liquor bottles.

“Attractive,” Roy muttered.

Ed cast a quick, annoyed glace at Roy, “Jeez, Who spat in your breakfast?”

Roy ignored this remark, turning to Hughes instead, “I’ll patrol northern half of the grounds, you get the Southern. We can switch at noon.”

Hughes gave the teasing affirmative, “Sir, yes sir,” going as far as to offer Roy a salute before turning away to his patrol before Roy could snap back. When Roy turned around to Ed, he realized the blonde had disappeared into his nearby tent, leaving Roy alone to work.

————————————

Roy didn’t see Ed until the next week, as the circus was incredibly busy in its opening days. Between shifts patrolling the northern or southern blocks of the fairgrounds, Roy and Hughes made it their personal goals to find the most ridiculous attraction there.

Roy, in a valiant attempt to top Hughes’ sighting of “world’s hairiest man”, decided to test his luck with the fortune tellers’ tent on his break that Thursday. Surely some ridiculous prognosis of his life would override some bloke who doesn’t shave enough.

Roy easily recognized the tent- it was the reddest, most decorated tent of the lot (outside of the central Big Top of course), huge lettered sign notwithstanding. Because of the time and cool morning breeze, not many people were out yet, so Roy took the opportunity to slip through the silks hanging in the doorway and into the small room.

Inside, the tent was considerably darker than outside. The thick canvas walls blocked out the sun, and only a few candles and a dim lantern lit the inside. Ed sat on the opposite end of a small table covered in yet more silks, cards, books, and glass knick-knacks.

When Ed recognized his new customer, he smirked. “Officer, don’t you have a patrol to keep up?”

Roy sat casually in the chair across from the blonde, “I’m on my break. Decided to come check out the validity of the local psychic.”

“Well, you don’t get to check me out for free.” Ed snipped, cringing a second later when he realized how his words came out.

Roy rolled his eyes and dropped two coins into the box by the door, “Now may I check you out?”

Ed glared, “Just sit and show me your hand.”

Roy did as he was told. Ed grabbed his hand, explaining as he picked opened a large book with his free hand, “Today I’m giving palm readings. I want to switch it up every week or so, but this is a pretty simple method. Good for the start of the week.”

“You don’t really think my hand will tell me my future.” Roy stated, already not on board with Ed’s ‘methods’.

Ed looked up at Roy blandly, “Your hand’s not telling you. I’m telling you, based on how your palm lines read.”

“Well then, what do my palm lines say?”

Ed looked intently at Roy’s hand for a second, tracing down one or two larger lines, “Well this one represents your inclination towards your friends over your family, and this one here means you’ll have good luck in love….” Ed explained.

Roy snorted, “Now I know you’re phony.”

“Hey, I’m just reading what it tells me.” Ed huffed, still concentrated on the hand in his grasp. He drew a finger down Roy’s hand lightly, “Let’s see now… despite your thrilling occupation, your occupational future looks fairly calm- see, that’s this line here.” Roy refrained from rolling his eyes yet again. Ed already knew his occupation; of course, he could deduce that he lived a relatively more “thrilling” life than others.

Silence reigned for a while as Ed analyzed the finer trails of Roy’s palm, going so far as to open a reference book somewhere around the base of his thumb. The silence lasted long enough for Roy’s palm to become lightly clammy under the pressure and heat of the other’s hands before Ed broke his gaze, looking up at Roy’s face almost apologetically, “Everything else’s too vague, especially since all I’ve got is this candlelight. It sets the mood, but really messes up my vision.”

Roy, taking this admission as proof of Ed’s position as more of entertainment than of divine reading, stood, “Well, Edward, your services have been most interesting.

Ed wrinkled his nose, “My services- You make it sound like I’m a prostitute or something.”

Roy laughed, “Hey it’s you who said it.”

Ed looked exasperatedly at the policeman, “Don’t you have some drunkards to kick around or something?”

Roy, still amused, left the tent ever more intent to return.

-------------

He returned to Hughes after their shifts were over, finding the other man fawning over a large selection of goodies that, quote, his “darling Elicia would win for sure”.

“Well, you’re still winning. The psychic’s more sarcastic than he is ridiculous, not that I believe a word of that superstitious crap.” Roy sighed, leaning against the wall of a large pink booth.

“Where’s the ‘but’?” Hughes asked, knowing his colleague all too well.

“I have to make sure, so I’m going to check out his tent again next week.

Hughes’ smirk was enough to make Roy wish there hadn’t been a ‘but’, “Sure that’s why.”

----------------------

Ed intrigued the policeman, and he was a far shot easier to talk to than the stuffy women who waited outside of attractions while their children wreaked havoc inside. So, with two coins and a healthy dose of skepticism, Roy returned the next week. Instead of palm books and cards, atop the tablecloth sat a box of stones, metal nubs, and string.

Ed, who had been fiddling with a string tied around a purple stone, looked up with interest, “Officer, I didn’t think you’d turn up. Crime’s been pretty high recently.”

“I can take a small break, can’t I?” Roy responded.

“You wouldn’t be shirking your duties, would you? An upstanding police officer such as yourself?” came the rebuttal.

Roy tossed his coins into the nearby coinbox, “Well, tell me my future and maybe I can dutifully return to my post.”

Ed barked out a laugh, “You’re kind of stuck up, you know that?”

Roy smirked, “So I’ve been told.” He glanced at the stones and string atop the table at which he now sat, “What’re all of these for?”

Ed’s grin grew as he drew into his element, “Pendulum reading, it’s a personal favorite of mine.”

“How does it work?”

Ed picked up a thin chain, “I’ll show you. What’s your birth month?”

“February. Why?” Roy asked.

Ed sifted through his collection on stones which all had little metal loops at their bases. He pulled out a skinny little amethyst from the depths of the box, explaining, “Your birthstone- It makes the reading clearer.” Roy hummed in acknowledgment, but let Ed focus on his work. He’d taken out various maps and calendars, and he had fixed the amethyst to a small chain. Once he was set up, Ed asked, What do you want to know? Location usually works best.”

The reading was fun enough. Roy asked a lot of trivial questions, watching the crystal swing around until it stilled over a location on the map (he was fairly certain Ed was manipulation the rock, but he didn’t comment). He liked chatting to Ed about the questions and their answers more than he did the actual reading, however.

Eventually, Roy stood up, noting his need to actually work before excusing himself from the tent.

------------------

Over the weeks, Roy saw Ed frequently through the circus grounds. They usually chatted briefly and went their separate ways. Every week, Roy also made a point to visit Ed’s tent for a reading of some sort. He had given up on trying to tell himself it was merely intrigue that brought him to Ed’s tent. He was fully aware that he wanted to be in the spirited blonde’s company.

Despite their daily meetings in the grounds, it wasn’t until two months after the circus’ arrival that Roy saw Ed outside of the grounds, in plain, civilian clothing. It was a Sunday, the one day the circus was closed, and coincidentally Roy’s day off.

He had been strolling down the city’s main line of stores, gazing into windows for a birthday present for Elicia, when he had seen the telltale flash of golden hair through a window reflection.

After the first incident, Roy began to see Ed in the marketplace rather frequently. He never bought anything, only talked to store owners and looked into the window of the now-vacant coffee spot. Roy always saw him at side-glances and in passing, so he never actually got around to talking to Ed outside of their occasional on-duty meetings until the next Sunday.

Exiting the local grocer’s, Roy nearly collided head-on with the small man he’d seen around town. Ed let out a colorful array of expletives, cursing Roy for making him drop his food without even looking up to see who he’d collided with.

Roy couldn’t help his amused smile, “For a fortune-teller, you’re not so perceptive on the streets.”

Ed, finally recognizing the recipient of his verbal attacks, snapped his gaze up at Roy, “Officer guy! You should’ve looked where you’re going.”

“I prefer ‘Roy’ off-duty, thank you.” He clipped back, moving from the doorway of the grocer’s to let passers-by through. Ed definitely looked different in plain clothing (just a button-down and some brown slacks), though Roy did notice how the button-down’s rolled-up sleeves did well to Ed’s general appearance. It showed off his masterful automail wonderfully, as well. If anything, he looked more mature than he did in his circus getup.

“Want a hand?” He added as the blonde was struggling to fit his wares into the crumpled paper grocery bags.

Ed shrugged, and Roy took it as an invitation to help. He fit the remaining containers into place and, before Ed could protest, took one of the bags in his arms with the excuse, “I’ve got nothing better to do.” In reality, Ed had become something of a fancy to Roy, and he intended to spend his valuable time seeing that fancy through. After all, the circus wouldn’t stay in Central forever.

Ed looked away, either embarrassed or frustrated, muttering, “Wouldn’t wanna damage your ego too badly by denying you, seems like you wouldn’t be too used to the concept.”

“Oh yeah, I’m never told no. The criminals simply run into the police car. In fact, they have to fight over who gets a ride; it’s simply infuriating!” Roy replied, shifting the bag a bit as they crossed a stopped road two blocks from the circus grounds.

Ed rolled his eyes but didn’t look particularly offended. He changed the subject, “That old coffee shop downtown: Why did it close?”

Roy shrugged, “The owner’s daughter said bankruptcy. It’s weird, because the location is great, and I never saw the place empty.”

Ed nodded but had fallen in a contemplative state that Roy felt uninclined to break him from. They reached the circus grounds at this point, and Ed snapped out of it to take Roy’s grocery sack and bid him adieu.

----------

The circus was packed up two days later. Roy tried to hide his indignation, but he could tell that Hughes sensed his mad mood.

“Come on, Roy, we can go back to catching the big guys now.” Hughes stated as they watched the pack of acrobats walk into the big tent with their equipment tied into large bundles.

“Yeah.” Roy stated mildly, pushing off the wall, “I’ll make a round.”

Hughes’ sigh didn’t escape Roy as he ambled through the falling tents and scattered flyers. he found himself outside of Ed’s tent before he knew where he’d walked. The fortune teller’s blonde head poked out from behind the curtain-door, “Roy, hey! You haven’t come around in the past few days.”

“Yeah, there’s been a lot of ruffians trying to get their final few crimes in before you all go off.” He shrugged, “Need any help packing?”

Ed gave Roy a rare smile, “Yeah, come on in.”

He was tasked with placing all of Ed’s fragile-looking crystals and glass relics into boxes full of hay, which was difficult when the objects were all awkward shapes and curves that didn’t fit nicely into a rectangular space. While working, Roy kept looking over at Ed, who seemed oddly peppy. He’d have thought moving around would be laborious and frustrating, but Ed smiled almost secretly to himself. When they were done with his packing, Roy turned to find Ed looking at him searchingly.

“I guess all that’s left is the tent, huh.” The policeman stated.

Ed looked around, “I guess so, but I can take that down myself. Thanks for the help.”

“It’s no problem,” Roy dismissed, not sure what to do, “Um, I guess have good luck in the next city…”

Ed rolled his eyes and stepped forwards, grabbing Roy’s arms and planting a light kiss on the other man’s lips. Roy froze, not quite comprehending what was happening. He hadn’t even considered his crush being a shared attraction. Through Roy’s stunned silence, Ed smirked, “I don’t like goodbyes. Get out of my tent, asshole, I’ll see you around, yeah?”

Roy couldn’t help his smile, “Yeah, see you around.” He left the tent with a small skip and didn’t explain to a confused Hughes how a patrol round of the grounds had so drastically changed his mood.

-----------

He didn’t see Ed around that day, unfortunately, as they were all gone the next day. Only a mess of paper and trash remained of the circus, and Roy felt all the more dejected for it. It was his day off, and he walked down the downtowns strip, trying to find some way to waste his time and, maybe, distract himself from the day before.

He left a clothing store empty-handed and looked over longingly at the closed doors of the closed coffee shop, really wanting some of their past wares at the moment. What he didn’t expect to see was the door open, and a young man with short, dirty blonde hair adjusting some tables outside. Curiously, he walked across the street to the man.

“Good Afternoon” he greeted, and the man looked up with a happy expression.

“Hello, you curious? We’ve had a lot of questions.” He replied.

Roy shrugged, “I guess I am. Not many shops here go back into business so quickly.”

The boy smiled, “My brother an I just bought the place yesterday. We were part of the circus that just left, and needed a change of pace.”

“Oh?” Roy’s interest had been effectively piqued, “What kind of store will it be?”

A voice from the doorway answered, “We’re selling oddities and psychic services.”

Roy whipped around, “Ed!”

The blonde laughed at Roy’s surprise, “I told you I’d see you around.”

“You didn’t have to be so cryptic,” Roy responded, but couldn’t hide his excitement. Ed had an equally happy quirk of a smile behind his trained natural look, “Where’s the fun in that? You don’t look like you’re working, wanna help set up instead of standing here pestering Al?”

Al protested his brother’s comment and Roy rolled his eyes, already crossing the threshold behind Ed, “I get it- you just like to use me.”

Ed feigned exasperation, “Took you long enough to figure it out.”

Roy helped Ed set up shop for the rest of the afternoon, but not without first pulling him out of Al’s sight and properly reciprocating Ed’s earlier kiss.

His day went much better than planned.

#fmasecretsanta #fmasecretsanta2018 #fma #royed #victorian #edward elric #Roy Mustang #circus

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bleedingcoffee42 · 5 years

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Eureka AU- Part 8

My weekend mini-nano is coming to an end, what a ride. 16k words on a make-it-up-as-i-go fic. Fun as hell, wish I could do this every day. But for now, outta writing time. Fear not, I’ll finish this week but I’ll sure as shit leave it for now as a cliffhanger.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

xxxxxxxxxx

Roy sat by Riza's side after Knox relocated her to Al's lab under much protest, however the medical equipment was easier to move than Al's. Roy went over all the theories and data about a dozen times and eventually gave the green light on Project Hawk's Eye. He told Knox he would be the one to inject the syringe full of nanites into her IV, that was not going to be on the doctor if this all went wrong.

If he lost her, he didn't really care about the repercussions of everything coming down on him. He'd stave it off as long as he could in order to go after Raven and root out his accomplices in this theft of relics and trail of murder, but he had no misconceptions about it all catching up to him. He'd step down from the head of the facility first, have someone appointed to take his place that had it's best interests in mind, and spend his money and limited freedom on hunting everyone down. He prayed it don't come to that.

“We're ready.” Al said. “I injected a few into myself to test it and they are operating as they should.”

“What the fuck Al?” Ed gasped.

“Like you weren't going to do the same thing.” Al mumbled.

“I'm not the genius who can control the little bastards!”

“Which is exactly why I had to do it.” Al replied. “They're my creation, I can't ask someone to test out what I create if I am not willing to do so myself. Especially not Hawkeye.”

Ed walked over with the syringe and handed it to Mustang. He almost didn't want to let go of it, scared it would be the cause of her demise. Scared because if it didn't kill her, the lack of another option would.

“It's OK Ed.” Roy said and took the syringe over to the IV line and paused as he took the cap off the needle. He looked over at Riza and bit his lip. Not the kind of shot she expected to be in danger of dying from, he was certain of that. So he stopped costing more time and injected it slowly so there was no chance of clumping the microscopic robots anywhere. Then, syringe empty, he retracted it and put the cap back on and set it down to wait; Wait and watch her vitals for a spike to tell him this was the wrong answer.

“Ok, I have data.”

Roy looked over to Al. “And?”

“I've sent them on a mission to disperse and target anything with their similar profile. I already have data coming back.” Al said and put it up on the screen for everyone to see. “Well the good news is it's biological and not nanotech.”

Roy took a deep breath. The Elrics were great at mentioning things after the fact.

“Money can't buy you, Al.” Ed said appreciatively. “You're the only one this good.”

Marcoh waved his hand at the screen. “Can you send this information to my tablet?”

“Already on it's way.” Al said. “I have them targeting and following the virus. That way we don't waste time when you give me the modifications.”

Roy sat down beside Riza and held her hand again. No change was good news at this stage and he could feel Knox hovering and waiting for something to happen. Marcoh was scribbling loudly on some paper, preferring to work out things the 'old school' way instead of taking advantage of all the technological advances around him. Roy wanted to help, wanted to be able to use his knowledge and education for something but he couldn't help here. All he could do was physically be here and comfort his wife in a way he hoped she could feel, perhaps there was something to that joke of theirs about using him for his body after all.

He turned his attention to thinking about how much Riza had changed his life. They got off on the wrong foot and they continued to meet in the middle on everything, mainly because she wouldn't get out of his way. She blocked him every time and forced him to compromise. The resolution always produced good results and finally he came to her with a peace offering of dinner. The town needed her, she was someone he had grown to respect and in a few months of fighting with her he had to admit he looked forward to her barging into his office telling him off.

He never expected her to say 'yes'. It was just his charismatic womanizing facade coming out and trying to charm her, but she had said 'yes' in the most hostile and satisfied way possible that made him question if he had in fact been played. He owed her dinner for all the times she had to spend time off duty cleaning up his scientist's mistakes. It better be expensive too. He countered the best he could, saying and expensive dinner require proper attire and a dress uniform wasn't going to cut it. And her smile, god she smiled like she was the Queen of Hearts and he was about to get decapitated. At that moment he sat back in his chair and realized that it might not be so horrible to lose this chess match of theirs after all.

When she did show up for that promised dinner at his house, insisting on picking him up because he was a terrible driver who never paid his reckless driving tickets, he opened the door to the most amazing sight he had ever laid eyes on. Riza Hawkeye stood on his doorstep like an angel, setting sun behind her with a glow of the glory of God radiating in the background. A long gown that looked like it was made for her and probably was. She had made friends in Eureka, certainly someone like Alex Armstrong had told her he would make her the perfect dress to stop Roy's fucking heart as soon as he laid eyes on it.

And that it did. However it was less the dress and more the woman wearing it. Something about how she owned that presence and could be wrapped in satin and lace and not lose herself in any of it. There was more to her than he gave her credit for, more than the hard ass Lieutenant who became their disciplinarian Sheriff. More than the soldier who was quick to order everyone around when the situation went to hell. More that he desperately wanted to find out about. It was more than she bargained for because she was not expecting him to be the one cooking her dinner at his house.

Checkmate.

It didn't phase her, she entered his house as if it was a royal palace and not a suburban home. He had his best tux on, carefully planned and cooked four courses and dessert and served them all by candlelight in his dining room. There was no hostility as they both silently agreed to a truce for the night. They talked about work, since that was always the adventure of the week, and accidents they could now laugh about.

And she had the most incredible laugh.

Night turned into morning as they relaxed on the couch and dared to show each other their personal side. Her caring for the men of her command, how much she missed being in the field because of this special assignment and how much she was actually enjoying being the Sheriff of this small town. The people were special, she liked having someone to protect. He admitted he wanted to do anything to keep this town safe, to keep the people free to work and funded to do so. Something he never openly admitted to anyone. She eventually said it was getting too late and it was time to leave, he asked her to stay. To his surprise, she accepted his offer.

He wondered why she accepted any offers of his, especially the first one to take the job as Sheriff of Eureka.

Now he couldn't help but wonder if she was deliberately sent here by her commander to get her away from her men. Exiled because she had seen too much and had too much integrity to just forget it happened. There was no reason that a qualified officer like herself would be sent here to the middle of nowhere to babysit scientist unless she was someone who could be counted on to be in his pocket. She'd never be that, not for Raven. Exiled until he had a chance to figure out how to erase the evidence of his actions.

But Roy had been the one to pick her from a field of candidates. That was what bothered him, Raven had to know what he was looking for in a choice for Sheriff. He had to rig the choices so there was only one option. Roy wanted to drive down to the Hotel right now and beat the truth out of him, beat the life out of him. Ensure he didn't get away with this.

“I have it.” Marcoh announced. He walked over to Al's computer and said, “Bring up the diagram. I'll show you want to rearrange. Then you can program them to eat the other virus.”

“They're robots.” Al replied. “They don't eat.”

“They just ate several billion dollars worth of military super soldier contact lens.” Ed reminded him. “Just let them tear it apart.”

“And lose their form? They're currently bonded as a virus. You want me to release them and let them float in the bloodstream? They're too tiny.” Al replied.

“Strangle the virus then.” Ed said.

“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.” Roy said, quoting Sun Tzu. Everyone went silent, he must have sounded authoritative even if he felt lost. “Make your nanites more attractive to the virus than the cells it's attacking. Make it look like the original Xerses virus instead of the watered down immunity in her system. Let them latch on to the nanites so we can tell the robots to leave her body and take the virus with them. Riza can't be the battlefield, she's put up enough of a fight on her own. Let's draw the enemy out.”

#fic #royai #eureka au

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sloth-incarnate · 6 years

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Weeb Wednesday: Fullmetal Alchemist

Original 2003: 51 episodes Brotherhood 2009: 64 episodes

Fantasy, sci-fi, adventure, drama, comedy, mystery, shonen

Fullmetal is a Japanese shōnen series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine between August 2001 and June 2010; the publisher later collected the individual chapters into twenty-seven tankōbon volumes. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution and set in a fictional universe in which alchemy is one of the most advanced scientific techniques. Alchemy in this world is more akin to the spiritual/supernatural kind with which people are able to perform what seem to be acts of magic with principles based on scientific laws. The story follows Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers from a small country town. After their mother passes due to illness, the two decide to learn alchemy and attempt to break one the art’s most forbidden laws, human transmutation, in order to bring her back to life. However, after the experiment goes horribly wrong, the chemical reaction creates a vortex which absorbs Alphonse, the younger brother, and part of Edward’s limbs. In order to bring back his brother, Edward does the unthinkable and sacrifices another of his limbs in order to bring back as much of his brother as he could, managing to conjure back his soul and tie it to an empty suit of armor. Now the two search the land for the infamous Philosopher’s Stone, a famed alchemical artifact said to grant unlimited power, in order to restore their bodies to normal.

Today is October 3rd, (Fullmetal Day) as well as Wednesday, so I have decided to talk about my favorite anime. Fullmetal Alchemist is probably my favorite show of all time. It has one of anime’s most original, riveting, and revolutionary stories ever written. It is an understatement to say that Fullmetal is, in simple terms, iconic. Not only is it a great show for beginners to delve into the world of anime, but it is also a great and rich work with many intricacies and thought-provoking ideals and dialogues. It is simple and relatable enough for younger audiences, while also being subtle, dark, and nuanced enough for more mature or experienced viewers. There is a reason why Fullmetal is one of the pillars of shonen manga/anime and that is because it tells a story that is both personal and universal both at once.

The anime series is actually divided into two iterations: the original from 2003, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood from 2009. There is a huge debate among fans about whether one iteration is better than the other, but I believe they actually are both good and vital to one another for a complete experience.

The original boasted great visuals and artwork, as well as an impeccable soundtrack. However, the issue with the first one is that, since it began airing before the manga was finished, the latter half of the story takes on a completely different direction from what the final product was. Another major complaint is the amount of filler episodes this first series has, something that felt more evident after subsequent viewings of the show. Nevertheless, despite all this, it was still an amazing story that captured millions around the world and brought attention to the series. Both series were also blessed with one of, if not the best English dub in the business. Definitely go dubs for this one.

Brotherhood overall is a complete facelift for the show. Although the original boasted good visuals for the time, Brotherhood just took that and cranked it to 11. The animation is some of the most fluid and gorgeous in the medium, and certainly made Hiromu Arakawa’s designs stand out a lot more. Brotherhood also features heavier amounts of action and fight sequences. The music is as strong as ever, the ending of Brotherhood is definitely the better of the two, and again, this one follows the original manga, so this is often considered the “true” Fullmetal story. However, some issues that Brotherhood faced was that pacing was somewhat rushed, specially in the beginning, and some of the more impactful scenes which were redone in Brotherhood did not feel as fleshed out or did not have the impact that the first series had. Due to its faster pacing, a lot of characters are also not given as much time to shine, causing them to kind of fade into obscurity. With such a large cast, this is of course inevitable, but the slower pace of the first series overall made these characters a lot more well-rounded and dynamic.

The verdict on this is that both shows are equally important. The first series, rather than shonen, is more of a sci-fi, fantasy mystery adventure with a heavy emphasis on the drama aspect. A lot more focus is placed on the characters themselves as well as the world that surrounds them. It gives a grounded feel to an otherwise fantastical setting. This one is also accompanied by the movie The Conqueror of Shamballa, which overall gives a definite end to the Elric’s adventures as well as exploring the idea of parallel worlds. Brotherhood is definitely shonen. From the completely different opening episode, it is evident that this show will be replete with fast action and great moments. Brotherhood is fast, strong, and thrilling, and is sure to give you quite the adventure. Watch the original for character development and world-building, then watch Brotherhood for the true story.

Overall, regardless of which one you see first, you’re in for quite a ride. The show is a great discourse on a wide variety of subjects including religion and science, morality and lack thereof, military and corruption, shadow organizations and world order, family and relationships, existentialism and materialism, and of course, the main and recurring theme of the series, brotherhood. The bond between Ed and Al is definitely the driving force of this show, and whether you can relate to having a sibling or not, this show will make you cry one moment, then laugh the next. If you are an anime fan, and have not yet watched Fullmetal, you are doing yourself a disservice. FMA is a classic.

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fullmetalirin · 6 years

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FMA Brotherhood: Episode 19

FMA Brotherhood Episode 19: "Death of the Undying"

Kain Fuery manages to save Hawkeye, with Mustang coming to defeat Gluttony. Alphonse meets up with the group and they pursue Barry, who chases his body into the depths of the third laboratory. The group splits into two teams. Mustang and Havoc are ambushed by Lust, resulting in both men being grievously wounded and left for dead. Lust then confronts Barry, slicing him to pieces. Hawkeye, believing Mustang to be dead, desperately shoots Lust repeatedly with minimal effect. Before Lust can kill Hawkeye, Mustang appears, having cauterized his wounds, he repeatedly incinerates Lust until her philosopher's stone is depleted. No longer able to regenerate, she crumbles to ash. Barry's soul survives, but his blood seal is scratched out by his human body, which kills both of them. Edward returns to Resembool and heads toward the Rockbell residence where he sees his father Van Hohenheim at the grave of his mother Trisha Elric.

Mustang flashes back to Hughes' death when Riza doesn't respond and freaks out.

Then we cut back to Ling expositing. Oh joy.

Gluttony is strangling Riza. She's emptied her clip into his head but he's not dying. It's pretty gruesome, we see his wrecked eyeball. She empties another clip and pushes him back a little, but they're out of ammo again. For some reason, they just stand there like idiots instead of running. Fortunately, Mustang steps out of his teleporter and uses magic to generate force out of nothing to throw Gluttony out the window.

Riza yells at Mustang for saving her because lolwomen. Later she does thank him and then he's the one telling her to keep in professional, because women are just crazy nagging hags who don't say what they mean and need strong manly men to keep their heads in the game.

I really don't like the cracked-skin effect on the homunculi. It looks so fake, like a low-res CGI model.

How did Alphonse know where they were? Did Ling tell him?

Al informs them about homunculi's powers. Despite this they're going to continue to waste all their ammo shooting Lust later, because they're idiots.

Mustang uses Barry's rampage as an excuse to investigate the laboratory, which is clever. Barry doesn't kill anyone because serial killers are such polite people. Al has cartoon face during this, which I guess is appropriate since he really doesn't fit in here.

Lust shows up and Havoc gets distracted by her jiggle physics when he looks at her tattoo. As Tumblr helpfully explained to me, this is actually groundbreaking feminist representation because while it looks indistinguishable from normal anime objectification see it's actually making fun of Havoc for being a pervert and no, Tumblr, it's pandering. Perv pandering doesn't stop being perv pandering just because a woman drew it. But okay, sure, it's not that bad by the very, very low standards of anime, so maybe I can put up with it as long as it doesn't…

…do… that.

Guys, this is not making fun of perverts. Havoc is a hero and Lust is a villain. This is letting perverts be in on the joke. Tumblr, please for the love of God shut up about Brotherhood being so tasteful in its depiction of boobs, because it's not.

Anyway. Lust taunts Mustang about Hughes' death and then… looks actually pained when he shoots her (where Gluttony barely flinched). Why did she do that if bullets actually hurt her.

There is some gross banter about getting Lust on her knees. I'm sure this has also, through some strange Tumblr alchemy, been transformed into groundbreaking feminism.

Then Lust shows off her Philosopher's Stone because the author needed a way for the characters to learn a homunculus' weakness and couldn't think of a way to do it that didn't involve handing Lust the idiot ball. I've heard this is slightly less stupid in the manga and she only does this after Havoc gets injured, is that true?

Like I said before, this reveal utterly baffles me. So after all that buildup, the homunculi are just... monsters powered by magic. That’s so boring. They can no longer be used to ask questions about personhood and humanity -- I mean, maybe they could if the show actually committed to them being alien and different, but it doesn’t. What this comes down to is just that Philosopher’s Stones and rulebreaking magic is cool, so the homunculi have them so they can be cool boss monsters. Except they’re not cool. In OG, they were puzzles that required special knowledge and preparation to defeat; that’s cool. In Brotherhood, as we’re going to see, you beat the homunculi by just punching them in the face until the author decides they’ve run out of HP. They’re just damage sponges. And just as I revile damage sponges in video games, I revile them in TV shows too. Characters just throwing the same attacks at each other for five episodes is not interesting.

I also hate that this means Philosopher’s Stones are absolutely everywhere in this continuity instead of something actually special, a theme that will continue.

Lust says homunculi still have human feelings. Wow, what a dumb idea that no one would ever want to read about. It sure is a good thing Brotherhood decided to completely forget about this and just make homunculi boring boss monsters, huh?

Then, despite Lust using her claws as instant-kill ranged attacks in every prior fight scene, she now switches to sloppy, easily-dodged melee swipes, because Lust is really hogging the idiot ball today.

Mustang says he can decompose the water into hydrogen and oxygen to create an explosion even with wet gloves. This is totally inconsistent with what we're previously told, which is that creating oxygen is the easy part for him. He shouldn't need a spark to manipulate the air content, that should be a separate thing. This just seems like the author showing off a trick she remembered from chemistry class. It sure would be interesting if alchemy actually worked like this all the time, but Mustang never needs to do anything like this elsewhere.

Then despite having just been told that homunculi don't die when they are killed they walk right back into the room, because the idiot ball's really getting around today.

Cartoon when Mustang complains about being treated like a match. Because a climactic battle is definitely the time for that.

Then Lust FINALLY uses her spear-claws and stabs Havoc through the spine which, in a rare appearance of consequences, actually does paralyze him until the epilogue when Dr. Deus ex Machina heals him because consequences are for losers. I'm also a bit unclear on how she severed his spine without also severing his aorta.

Mustang realizes he can use Lust's Philosopher's Stone to heal Havoc and rips it out of Lust's chest. Lust screams in agony, implying this does actually hurt her, so again, why did she show it to him?

Lust's body disintegrates, but she's able to reform around the Stone. It's really gruesome. Somehow this does not crush Mustang's hand in the process, but she does finally stab him… nonfatally, because she's got the idiot ball again.

Bradley shows up outside.

Lust says Mustang was a candidate for sacrifice but she's killing him anyway. Uh, did she run this by the others? She then leaves him for dead instead of finishing him off because the idiot ball is strong this episode.

We then catch up to Barry, who tells us souls reject incompatible bodies. Al freaks out at this, but fortunately this will never matter for him.

Lust shows up to whine about how she has to kill Al. No, you don't. Just leave. You control the government. Bradley can give you another hideout at a moment's notice. The most important thing hiding here was you, and you just blabbed all your secrets anyway. Just cut your losses. You idiot.

Lust once again taunts someone into shooting her and once again staggers and screams in pain, because the idiot ball's terminal now. Shouldn't she also know she's running out of lives and this is maybe not the best idea right now?

Al vows to protect Riza because he’s tired of watching people die. It’s a nice moment that also happens way, way too early in his character arc. I like Al as the childish, out-of-his-depth foil to Ed’s easy confidence. This moment works better as a climactic ending reversal than as an offhand detail a third of the way through the story. If he’s just another noble heroic alchemist, he’s redundant with all the others we already have.

Meanwhile, Riza is hysterical and ineffective because she's a woman in a shonen anime.

You know, more seriously, I would like to point out that giving a female character awesome gun skills doesn't actually mean anything in a story about how non-guns are really awesome. We see a lot of great gunplay from Riza, but it's always alchemy that actually saves the day and gets all the focus. It's moving the goalposts. Sure, we'll give the woman a cool skill… that we will then choose to make useless in the context of the story. It's such tedious faux-feminism, going through the motions so you can say, technically, that you have a "strong female character" without actually doing anything to respect them or integrate them into the narrative. For every "strong female character" in Brotherhood, there's a male character who's stronger. Women are still, fundamentally, supporting characters – they're awesome because part of the male fantasy is an awesome support staff, but the boys get to be more awesome and the boys get to be who the story's actually about.

I really want us to start being more critical of representation like this. Treating strong female characters like a list of checkboxes is so totally wrongheaded. Characters don't exist in a vacuum. A skill that's impressive in one narrative or one power level may be completely meaningless in another. We need to look at characters within the context of the narrative they inhabit, relative to other characters and the framing of the work.

To prove my point, our resident Gary Stu has just appeared to show Riza up and beat the boss fight literally without moving a single step.

BUT TELL ME AGAIN HOW THIS SERIES IS GOD’S GIFT TO FEMINISM.

Mustang is using Havoc's lighter for a starter, despite explicitly establishing that it was busted earlier.

Mustang fireballs her again.

He also drew a perfect transmutation circle in his own blood and perfectly cauterized his internal bleeding despite explicitly saying he doesn't know medical alchemy. Now that his jacket's opened, we also get to see he's been hiding a Superman physique this whole time. You could put this in a parody of male power fantasies and I'd say it was too unbelievable.

Mustang fireballs her again. We get a gruesome close-up shot of her skin burning off.

Mustang fireballs her again.

Mustang decides he can kill this regenerator monster powered by the thing that supposedly has infinite energy by just killing her enough times, because he's read the script.

Mustang fireballs her again.

We get a closeup of her Philosopher's Stone, and coincidentally also a closeup of her tits.

Mustang fireballs her again.

And again.

I'd like to point out that every single one of these fireballs is ENORMOUS. Alphonse has to create a stone wall to hide behind so Riza isn't charbroiled too. We can see the entire room lighting up. I'd also like to point out this is in a SEALED UNDERGROUND ROOM, and FIRE REQUIRES OXYGEN. OXYGEN IS NOT INFINITE. If he lights the whole room on fire, he is DONE. HE USED UP ALL THE OXYGEN IN THE ROOM. HE CANNOT KEEP SPAMMING FIREBALLS. And I don't care what fanwank you can pull out to justify this, because the bottom line is that someone winning a fight by endlessly spamming the same move is terrible writing. This is not a climactic boss fight, this is just the Gary Stu showing off how awesome he is.

And through all of this Lust has done absolutely nothing except writhe and scream in agony, because Mustang is a Gary Stu therefore fire stunlocks everything. Only at the very end does she actually try to attack him, remembering she can spear people through the brain just in time for him to kill her while her spear is INCHES away from his face, because he's very awesome.

Also, HOW IS HE NOT BURNING HIMSELF HERE. HOW. HIS ARM IS IN THE EXPLOSION. HOW.

Meanwhile, Lust can still talk but somehow not extend her spear one more inch. Her Philosopher's Stone disintegrates, so the woman has nobly died to teach us that you can kill homunculi by just hitting them until they run out of HP, because that's so interesting.

And then Mustang collapses from his wound now that it no longer matters, invoking the very important power of the Not-Sue: see, he did all that while he really was one step away from death, that totally makes him less sueish and not more!

Mustang ignores Riza to praise Al for protecting her.

Bradley, our other resident Gary Stu, is revealed to have been watching the whole thing. He for some reason does not kill Mustang, thus establishing who has the greater Sue power.

Winry is sulking and hoping the man comes back safe because that's her purpose in life.

Then we end with more Barry, because we really needed that. His body is somehow still not dead, and erases the seal on the one part of the armor that stayed intact, killing them both. What was the point of this?

Then the show remembers Ed is supposed to be the protagonist. We cut to him for five seconds to discover Hoenheim has conveniently returned to Resembool at the same time as him.

Conclusion

A lot of people tell me that OG was misogynist garbage and Brotherhood is super progressive.

I don't know what anime they watched, but I just saw the sole female antagonist – and let's take a moment to reflect on the fact the sole female antagonist is Lust – die a gruesome, disgusting, sexualized death less than a third of the way through the story because she was too busy flashing her tits to actually fight, for no other reason than to show how awesome a dude is.

This is my breaking point. There is no coming back from this. I don't care how awesome Olivier is. Anyone who recommends this show as full of ~great female characters~ without thinking this content deserved even the teensiest of caveats is not anyone whose judgment I trust.

And sure, let's be real here, I watch anime, I'm willing to put up with some misogynist crap if there's something else worth my time. But this has established, very definitively, that there absolutely will not be anything worth my time. Lust, as we will see when we continue with OG, was an incredibly important and complex character in the original anime, absolutely crucial to the narrative of the homunculi and many of the things I loved about the story. And this is what Brotherhood does with her.

And that's not even the only awful thing about this episode! Ed wasn't in it at all! Mustang's takeover of the narrative is complete. He's the one who got to solve the mystery, fight the villain, and save the day, pretty much singlehandedly. And I'm sorry, but even if he wasn't an insufferable Gary Stu, Mustang just doesn't interest me as a character as much as Ed. I like him as a deuteragonist to Ed's protagonist, not the other way around. So no. This episode really hammers in that there is absolutely nothing here for me.

But lucky you, I read a plot summary of all the episodes after this, and I know the very next one is something I want to complain about too! So we'll keep going for one more episode. One last nail in the coffin.

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

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darkstrangevirgilanxiboi · 7 years

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Reasons I Love Edward Elric

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST WILL ALWAYS BE SPECIAL TO ME, I AM NAMING ANY POSSIBLE FUTURE CHILDREN AFTER THE CHARACTERS I LOVE MOST Spoilers ahead , stop here if you're not caught up !~~~~~~~~~ This is an appreciation post for my all-time favorite character in the series ( tied neatly with Ling Yao and Alphonse of course ) Edward Elric ! - Says FIGHT ME a lot but the second he's actually in a fight he's all ' oh shit they accepted I'm gonna die ' - Full stop street brawler , this kid will put you in the hospital - So kind hearted that he literally swindled his way through saving a town and pretended not to care the entire time - BIG BROTHER TO END ALL BIG BROTHERS???? I MEAN HE LITERALLY GAVE AN ARM FOR HIS BROTHER'S SOUL AND WOULD HAVE GIVEN HIS OWN HEART IF IT MEANT HIS BROTHER LIVED, IDEAL OLDEST SIBLING TROPE THERE NO BUT THE WAY HE LOVES AL IS MY FAVORITE THING AND I WILL FIGHT YOU IF YOU EVER SUGGEST THE ELRIC BOYS COULD HATE EACH OTHER No but like seriously I cannot get enough of Ed and Al and their pure bond , I cry a lot about these brothers - SIDE NOTE HE WAS SO YOUNG WHEN HE AND AL PERFORMED HUMAN TRANSMUTATION TO TRY AND BRING BACK THEIR MOM, HE WAS ONLY LIKE 11 OR 12????!!!! SO YOUNG. One of the reasons this series resonated so strongly with me is because I lost my mom at around the same age Ed did , I also have a poor relationship with my father , and I would do anything for my siblings . Like ???? I fully understand how hard the pain of losing a parent is , and how it's worsened by the surviving parent being distant ( even though it wasn't Hohenheim's fault ) Bruh I lost my mom when I was 9 and if alchemy existed in our reality ??? I high-key would have tried to bring her back . Going through grief like that in childhood really changes you , but then adding in the extra trauma the boys go through???? LOSING TWO LIMBS, THE PHYSICAL BODY OF YOUR BROTHER, AND FAILING HORRIFICALLY TO RESURRECT YOUR MOTHER ALL AT ONCE????? Ed my poor baby He's so strong despite all of the trauma and I love him so much ???? He's a HUGE influence on me actually - Smol ( not at the end of the series but for most of it !) bean - Literally wears his signature snazzy red coat because he thinks red is a badass color ( it is !) - Worries 24/7 about other people more than himself - NO BUT LIKE WHEN HE AND LING GOT LITERALLY EATEN ALIVE ED WAS 100% MORE WORRIED ABOUT AL THAN HIMSELF - When he finds out Scar killed Winry's parents, he's shocked and furious but doesn't kill him, and later on stops Winry from killing him herself because he knows that it's not the right path and that revenge isn't necessarily good - LING. LINGGGGG. HE NEVER STOPS BEING FRIENDS WITH LING EVEN WHEN LING GETS RECKLESS AND BECOMES A HOMUNCULUS, ED STILL STAYS BEST BROS WITH LING AND I JUST??? I JUST LOVE THIS FRIENDSHIP - Adopts half the people who've tried to murder him and becomes their friend ( Edward Elric was Steven Universe-ing before Steven Universe ) Most notably he adopted two chimera guys ( human animal hybrids) that had tried to kill him and then later saved his life ( it was a complicated situation , they helped Ed get un-impaled ) and they become fairly crucial in the last boss battle later on - His relationship with Roy Mustang , adoptive father figure extraordinaire Like Roy is THE reason none of the top brass military guys found out Ed and Al performed illegal alchemy and he comes up with all the cover stories and excuses in the book ( you have a future as a con artist Roy , but you have to be the leader of Amestris so save that for retirement ) . Like Ed bickers endlessly with Roy but they both respect each other so much and worry about each other a lot and they are family ???? - WINRY ROCKBELL. WINRY. ROCKBELL. W I N R Y. R O C K B E L L. HIS ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP WITH HER IS JUST SO ORGANIC AND RAW AND REALISTIC AND YES, THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A LOVE STORY. Ed has so much obvious respect for her from the very beginning - literally making special trips to visit her whenever his automail is damaged because he KNOWS that nobody can fix it like she can ? Even though there's probably lots of other automail mechanics , it's always Winry for Ed. He trusts her and only her! And the way he looks at her , the way he worries about her and tries his damnedest to keep her out of harm's way , the gentle way he speaks to her when she's most vulnerable .... I love how much he loves her. It's beautiful and sweet and so so pure. - He tries really hard not to kill anyone even if they're trying to kill him??? He's got such high value for life and I love him for it - His sheer determination???? LIKE THE STRENGTH IT MUST HAVE TAKEN AFTER ALL HE SUFFERED TO KEEP GOING IS JUST.IT'S STAGGERING. - He's a genius but he's also very down to earth ??? Like he's actually very very VERY smart but plays it off like it's NOTHING! But he could read high level alchemy texts as a child well enough to actually try and succeed in performing alchemy !( and so did Al!) Pretty sure your average six year old couldn't do that. And he comes up with battle strategies on the fly , alters his alchemy within seconds of learning new information , uses experimental techniques often , and is THE YOUNGEST STATE ALCHEMIST EVER IN AMESTRIS. He's skilled enough that when he's stuck on a train hijacked by terrorists and Roy hears about it , Roy laughs . ' Fullmetal's on that train . We can go home early , boys. They don't stand a chance. ' And Roy was RIGHT! Ed and Al take down a group of armed terrorists with barely a scratch . And other military officials see Ed the same way! Like no one's ever worried that Ed might lose a fight, they're just worried he'll get hurt winning . ( okay Winry is worried he might lose but don't tell him that ) He's a prodigy and so many people respect him ??? - SUCCESSFULLY BOUND HIS BROTHER'S SOUL TO ARMOR This is a very rare technique and incrediblely hard to do. It takes most alchemists years of study and training to even attempt alchemizing souls. And Ed did it on his first try while in a HUGE amount of pain and suffering severe blood loss. - He always tries to learn from other people Ed always tries to keep growing and changing his view of the world and never belittles other cultures or beliefs ( except in the case of Leto , but that religion was a fraud and Ed knew it ) - Tries hard to better lives with his alchemy and devotes his life to helping people who've suffered due to alchemy - Makes the best faces - OKAY BUT HEAR ME OUT THE ONLY TIMES HE CRIED IN CANON WERE RIGHT AFTER THE TRANSMUTATION THING HAPPENS AND HE'S SO AFRAID THAT AL MIGHT HATE HIM BECAUSE AL LOST HIS BODY AND ED BLAMED HIMSELF, AND WAS SO UPSET OVER IT THAT HE CRIED HIMSELF TO SLEEP FOR DAYS OVER IT. AND THE SECOND TIME HE CRIES IN CANON IS IN THE LAST BOSS BATTLE SCENE, AFTER THE ENEMY IS DEFEATED AND AL HAS BEEN BOLD AND RECKLESS AND SACRIFICED HIMSELF TO GET ED'S ARM BACK FROM THE TRUTH GUY, AND ED IS DESPERATE TO GET AL BACK AND HOHENHEIM OFFERS HIMSELF AS THE TOLL TO OPEN THE GATE. HERE HE IS, DISTRAUGHT AND WOUNDED AND E WEARY AND AFRAID HE MIGHT NEVER SEE HIS BROTHER AGAIN, AND THE FATHER THAT'S BEEN ABSENT SO LONG IS SUDDENLY SAYING TO HIM' YOU AND YOUR BROTHER ARE THE MOST PRECIOUS THINGS IN MY LIFE, LET ME GIVE MY LIFE TO BRING HIM BACK. ' Because Hohenheim left to protect them , to try and save everyone he loved , because he was afraid of what would happen if 'Father' found his weakness . ( don't touch me , I cry often over poor Hohenheim ) And Ed cries because he's barely just getting to know his father and his father is proving that he does care. - That thing he does where he closes his eyes and grins really wide ( not sure if he got it from Ling or not , but I live for this cute habit of his ) - That Mood he gets in whenever somebody is stupid enough to threaten Al Enemy : Hey uh I'm gonna kidnap your brother Ed : HOW ABOUT YOU CATCH THESE FISTS INSTEAD Literally exactly how I get when someone upsets or hurts my siblings - Super thoughtful of Al and how he feels , especially after Al gets his body back??? Ed mothers Al so much after that and it warms my bitter heart 'Al are you sure you can walk this far ??? You're still on crutches ' ' BROTHER I'm FINE.' ' Did you eat enough ??? Did you eat too much ? Are you sleeping okay ? You look tired , sit down !' ' BROTHER ' - Puts other people first a lot - Even when he's injured really bad he's always more worried about someone else I mean ???? ( Hufflepuff Ed FTW ) - Super awkward around Winry whenever she's fixing up his automail and it's the cutest thing Like at one point he flips out because he suddenly becomes intensely aware of Winry holding his automail hand and the fact that he has his shirt off and it's just a nice reminder that yes , he is indeed 15. - Probably hasn't punched everything that's ever upset Al or Winry but by God he's TRYING - Wise ??? He says a lot of really wise things in the manga and I love it Like when Winry was trying to kill Scar , Ed takes the gun from her hands very gently and slowly and says to her ' Your hands aren't meant for hurting people. They're for helping people live. ' And that was exactly what she needed to hear at the moment and Ed meant it with all his heart. - BEST BIG BROTHER TO EVER BIG BROTHER I'M JUST SAYING

#edward elric #winry rockbell #ed x winry #edwin #alphonse elric #roy mustang #colonel roy mustang #van hohenheim #ling yao

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