#Ed noticeably more so than Al

[coockie8]

Do you think the reason for Brotherhood's popularity level is partially to blame for the original FMA anime having such deep connection and lust between the Elric brothers?

I don't know if either series' popularity was overly impacted by 03's seemingly unintentional queer baiting.

03 is kinda just Like That™, because it focused pretty heavily on character relations more than anything in that version, which, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you wanna look at it, tended to err a bit on the homoerotic side in areas (the Conqueror of Shamballa movie in particular is an Experience), but I don't think that they meant it like that.

[oatmealaddiction]

Okay but the weirdest thing about the whole "Brotherhood is better you should skip 03" discourse that's become commonplace now, it sort of forgets the world Brotherhood came out in and why you should watch the original Fullmetal Alchemist. When Brotherhood came out, the original Fullmetal Alchemist was one of the most beloved and most watched animes of all time. Brotherhood assumes you the audience have already seen it because of course you have, everyone has seen it, so it skips important information and speeds the story up because it doesn't want to bore you with things you already know. Have you ever wondered "hey why does the first episode of Brotherhood kind of suck, and why am I being introduced to like 50 new characters, and why are they acting like I know what the hell an alchemist is?" It's because Brotherhood thinks you've seen 03.

The first 7 or so episodes of Brotherhood constitute dozens of chapters in the manga, and the first 25 or so episodes of the original Fullmetal Alchemist. The Nina Tucker episode in Brotherhood, in FMA 03 takes up nearly three episodes. Yoki gets a backstory in 03 and it's genuinely one of the best episodes and taken directly from the manga and Brotherhood glosses over it because: duh, you've already seen it. And so if you skip the original you miss out on dozens of really great character building episodes like Ed and Al meeting Hughes for the first time and getting to spend a whole episode helping him free a train from terrorists, or Ed and Roy having a duel that expands on the relationship they have, or episodes where the brothers just help out random people in towns before the major story gets going.

The original also paces itself quite a bit better than Brotherhood and is more in line with the mangas storytelling. In the manga we don't find out about The Gate until nearly two dozen chapters in, and the same goes for the original anime. Like, that's a twist reveal in those stories, and it's weird that the most watched series is the one where they tell you all about The Gate in the first two episodes because they assume you've already seen the original show.

What's more, people don't know that Hiromu Arakawa helped write for the anime while she was still in the middle of writing the manga, and as a result was inspired to write scenes in Brotherhood that the anime did first. That scene of Edward getting impaled by a falling beam? Directly inspired by a similar scene in the original anime. There's a lot of little instances of that and they're great when you can recognize parallels and things in Brotherhood that are direct references to the original anime, but people don't notice any of that anymore. Because the original anime is just an automatic skip these days, and it's a bummer because people don't realize what a giant it was back before Brotherhood was released. They treat it as *bad,* not realizing it was one of the most beloved anime of its time and the problems people take issue with have a lot more to do with personal taste than any kind of actual flaw in the writing. Brotherhood was never meant to dethrone it, and the original anime was always supposed to be part of the viewing experience which is why those first few episodes of Brotherhood are so fast paced. So like, please stop telling people Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 is a skip, or it's bad, or you don't need it because Brotherhood is better. Regardless if you think Brotherhood is better or not, the original wrote Brotherhood's check. It was huge, it was beloved, and Brotherhood is *banking* on the knowledge you've seen all of it and loved it. And trust me when I say there is so much to love about the original series. It's still my favorite branch of the FMA franchise, and it's worth your time, I promise you.

[esyra]

Killing 1300+ Jews in barbaric ways does not make you the good guys. Israel retaliating is Hamas’ fault. Hamas surrendering would mean peace. Israel surrendering would have more dead Jews. But i guess that’s the end goal.

No, we're always the barbaric terrorists. Israel is the good guy for killing 9,000+ Gazans the past 25 days, and trapping 1,000+ under the rubble which will definitely turn out dead if they ever get the proper equipment to lift it off them. Israel is the good guy for killing Shireen Abu Akleh. Israel is the good guy for killing Ahmed Erekat. Israel is the good guy for killing Nadim Nuwarah and Mohammed Salameh. Israel is the good guy for opening fire on 2,400 protesters and killing 52. Israel is the good guy for holding over 1,000 Palestinians as "administrative detainees," meaning they are held indefinitely without charges.

In fact, Israel has been the good guy ever since they got the British to help them colonize Palestine and get rid of the Arabs, as they admitted to wanting it themselves. After all, as Winston Churchill said himself, the colonization of Palestine was righteous because as the Red Indians of America, and the black people of Australia, "a stronger race, a higher grade race, or, at any rate, a more worldly-wise race, to put it that way, has come in and taken their place."

Palestinians, be it on Gaza or the West Bank, can never retaliate or defend themselves. We're to either die and be violated quietly or we are terrorists which will be gleefully eradicated with the help of every colony-based State in the world. Otherwise, we'll disturb the comfortable privilege your racism and religious intolerance ensures.

When Hamas didn't existed the occupation began and the British violently suppressed anyone who opposed. When Hamas didn't exist the Nakba happened. When Hamas didn't exist the Deir Yassin massacre happened. But, you know, that one's fine because it happened after Israel had made Palestine agree to a peace pact, and they would never act unfairly so the brutal murder of over 100 Palestinians is obviously being misunderstood. Hamas doesn't operate in the West Bank, but they're still expelled from their homes, brutalized and murdered. Since October 7, West Bank had 115 killed, more than 2,000 injured and nearly 1,000 others forcibly displaced from their homes because of violence and intimidation by Israeli forces and settlers. They'll bomb mosques with exit points created to save people from settlers' violence, then claim they were used for terrorism. Proof? They don't need it. They'll bomb first then ask questions later.

Do people who blindly defend Israel do anything other than victimize yourselves? Do you even read any actual Israeli news that said the IDF "shell[ed] houses on their occupants," because they're too incompetent to do anything other than bombing everything? Do you ever wonder why the people Israel swears were burned and beheaded always came from reports from houses absolutely destroyed by what could only be shelling? Do you ever hear testimonies from survivors of the massacre saying IDF shoot at their own civilians? Do you ever read about past al-Qassam attacks and noticed they've never had mass casualties because IDF never responded like this? Do you even know what al-Qassam is or do you live to regurgitate whatever you're fed and being spoon-fed your information?

If Hamas' militia surrenders, Gaza will be wiped out and Gazans — those who are not murdered — will be exiled into Egypt's Sinai. That's the end goal since 1948, and that's what you're defending. But who cares? Arab blood is cheaper and racism is always fashionable.

[girlgenius1111]

throw it all away

part 1 of 2 if no one is noticing any changes, there must not be a problem. but then, someone does notice. and there is a problem. that just isn't a reality you really feel like accepting. [putellas!reader]... alexia realizes you're struggling. how does she help you with something she doesn't understand? tw: this is a fic about r struggling with an ED. proceed with caution.

—

“You’ve lost weight.” 

It wasn’t said with an impressed nod or smile. It wasn’t said like a benchmark you’d met. It wasn’t said like it was a good thing.

Somehow, you knew it wouldn’t be. 

Instead, the physio’s voice was gentle, concerned. He spoke to you like he knew how you got here, but he couldn’t. How could he know?

No one noticed. Not your teammates, not your friends. Not Spain’s physios. Not even your sister. 

And that’s what you wanted. 

“Okay…” You said, like you didn‘t understand why he’d  brought this up. 

“Not a little weight. Enough that I’m concerned.” His eyes were squinted a little, like he was trying to see right through you. Still, you maintained your composure, kept your face blank. 

“Well, I didn’t have much of an off season. It’s been pretty nonstop even since the end of the league season. I’m just in shape.” 

He shook his head, now looking almost pityingly at you. “That’s what the issue is? You’re sure?” 

You did what you’d been doing for months: you lied. 

“Yep. Can’t think of anything else it could be.” Your tone was light, even as the weight of the unspoken words settled heavily on your chest. 

“We have to be careful with these things, you understand. We’ll change up your meal plan, and see how you are in a week. You’ll be on light training anyway, like the rest of the girls coming back. If it’s a matter of being overworked, we’ll get you back healthy in no time.”

He didn’t say what would happen if things didn’t go back to normal; if this wasn’t just being overworked. He didn’t need to. He was giving you a chance to correct this yourself before he has to involve the doctors and the coaches. And your sister. He was giving you a chance to fix this before it became a much, much bigger deal. 

As you left the medical room, you wished more than anything that this was a chance you could take, but you knew that it wasn’t. 

—

You knew the physio had opened his mouth a week later when he came out during a water break to pull Alexia, Irene, and Pere aside. He spoke to them quietly for a few minutes, all three of them furtively looking over at you every so often. You knew what you were in for when you got home; probably a very angry Alexia. Angry that you were jeopardizing your career and your health, throwing all your hard work away. For Alexia, football was the most important thing in the world. Sometimes it felt like it was more important than you, and you knew that she wouldn’t understand this. She would see what you were going through as a weakness, something you needed to quickly resolve, and get back to the most important thing. 

It was just that you weren’t capable of handling Angry Alexia right now. Not when you already felt kind of faint from training on an empty stomach, horribly grumpy because you were fucking hungry, and honestly still in denial that anything was wrong. It would lead to a whole blow up fight you didn’t want to get into, and as such, you weren’t looking forward to going home. Alexia surprised you. 

She’d started off angry, moving to stomp over, grab you, and haul you home so she could yell, when Irene grabbed her wrist and encouraged her to just listen for a second. 

“This is going to ruin her season.” Alexia seethed. “Does she not realize that she’s hurting the team?”

Irene regarded her incredulously for a moment, having to remind herself that the other woman’s brain just worked differently than hers. “Ale, she’s hurting herself. Whatever she’s doing isn’t a selfish decision she’s making. She’s sick.” 

Your sister grew quiet, chewing on her lip as she thought through Irene’s words. 

“You can’t yell, Ale. You can’t be mad at her. She needs help, and she isn’t going to want to accept it. You have to be careful with this, gentle and patient and kind. Okay?” Irene said, staring hard at her co captain. 

“Yeah.” Alexia said quietly. “Pedro, do you know why… or how?” 

Pedro shook his head, worry clouding his face. “I asked her about it a week ago, and she pretended she had no idea what I was talking about. I told her she had a week to get back on track, but she didn’t. I don’t know how, or why. Those are both questions for your sister.” 

Alexia nodded, her gaze stuck on where you were stretching, just inside the gym tent. “Pere, can we go? I need to talk to her, and I know there needs to be a conversation with everyone, but she’ll just feel cornered if that’s where we start. I want to take her home to talk.” 

Pere agreed immediately, telling Alexia to take as much time as she needed, and reach out to the club for any help they could provide at all. Irene walked with the blonde in the direction of the tent, her arm slung across Alexia’s shoulders. 

“She isn’t going to want to talk to me.” Alexia murmured. “She hates talking about her feelings, especially with me.” 

Irene frowned. “You’re her sister. She trusts you more than she trusts anyone. Just stay calm and don’t get angry. I know when you worry you tend to get angry, but try not to let that happen. It won’t help.” 

Alexia nodded, having arrived at the entryway of the gym. Irene patted her on the back, telling her to call if she needed help, before she headed inside. She called you over, receiving a few odd looks from her teammates at the strange tone of her voice. 

Your sister could see how terrified you looked, even from all the way across the gym. Her heart clenched at the brave face you were trying to put on; it didn’t hide how scared you were.  

“Yeah?” You said, trying to act casual as you walked over to your sister, even though you felt kind of dizzy, and your head was pounding with a headache, not to mention the anxiety that was coursing through your veins. 

“We’re going home, we need to talk.” Her tone wasn’t clipped or sharp like you expected it to be. Her face wasn’t set with anger, her hands weren’t clenched into fists at her side. She looked strangely… calm. 

“Talk? About what?” You questioned, feeling defensive even if your sister wasn’t mad. 

“We’ll talk about it when we’re home. Let’s go.” With that, she led you out of the tent, back towards the main building. You stumbled slightly, the dizziness and nerves combining to make you a bit unsteady. 

Your sister steadied you, both her hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” 

If you’d had any hopes that Alexia didn’t know what was going on, those disappeared. Her eyes flitted over you, her grip strong, as if she was worried you’d collapse or something. 

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Your voice was shaking, for a reason you weren’t quite sure of. 

Alexia softened, surprising you as she wrapped her arms around you tightly, pulling you into a hug. It was nice, comforting, and you sank into it, taking just a moment to allow yourself to be weak. 

It wasn’t comforting for your sister. Suddenly, all she could feel was the bones of your spine, more pronounced than they should be. It was a noticeable difference, and she knew that it likely felt more dramatic than it really was, considering the information the physio had given her, that this wasn’t that bad yet, that it was fixable. Still, your sister wanted to cry at how small you seemed against her. 

More than that, she wanted to cry that she hadn’t noticed this happening. 

—

You kept waiting for her to blow up. All the way to the locker room and to the car, all the way home, but she didn’t. She watched you carefully out of the corner of her eye, she carried your bag for you, and she insisted you drink an entire water bottle on the drive home. Alexia was worried, more than she was upset, and that was beginning to terrify you. 

She didn’t even really talk upon arriving home. She just set your bag down, looking around for Olga like the brunette would have all the answers to fix this. 

“Go shower, we can talk after, okay?” Alexia said over her shoulder, disappearing in the direction of the office Olga worked out of during the day. 

As you headed up the stairs, you wondered if the screen still slid out from your window as easily as it used to, when sneaking out was a bit of a habit. 

You wondered if your body could even take the jump down to the ground underneath your window. You wondered whether you even cared, if it meant that you’d get away from this conversation, escape the walls closing in around you.

—

Downstairs, Alexia was pacing a hole in the rug spread across the office floor. Olga was watching her march back and forth, waiting for her girlfriend to talk herself out, which she didn’t seem anywhere close to doing. 

“How could I miss this? Do I not pay enough attention? Is this my fault? Have I pushed her too hard? How long has this been going on? How did no one notice before now? What if-”

Olga stood, grabbing her girlfriend’s hands and putting her movements to a stop. “Amor, take a second. Relax. None of these questions need to be answered right now.” 

Alexia leaned almost imperceptibly into her girlfriend’s touch, desperate for anyone to tell her what to do here. 

“We need to talk to her. That’s where we start, and that is going to be hard, Ale. She probably doesn’t want to hear anything we have to say about this, and she might lash out, but you have to remember how much she must be hurting right now. You have to be patient, okay?” 

Alexia nodded her jaw tightening as her resolve strengthened. She’d be the most patient person in the world, if that’s what you needed. She’d do anything you needed her to, but the possibility that this wasn’t something that she could fix for you was terrifying her. She just wanted to help. 

—

When you came back downstairs after your shower, you knew you were in for an intervention. Ale and Olga were sitting on the couch next to each other, speaking in hushed tones. You approached them warily, sitting in the armchair across from the couch. 

Your sister took a deep breath, her eyes scanning over the piece of paper on the sofa next to her. It was a few notes that Pedro had given her, a few reminders she had for herself, and a few that Olga had added. 

Don’t get angry. She needs help, she doesn’t need your anger. 

Don’t push too hard, but don’t let her off with excuses.

 Be firm, but be kind. 

Don’t threaten to tell Mami, because she’ll just run. 

“I’m not mad.” Alexia started. Now that you were sure she wasn’t going to yell at you, you realized how much easier that would have been. You hated the concern on her face, the worry in her eyes. “You were looking at me earlier like I’d be mad at you, but I’m not mad.”

“Why would you be mad?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest. Playing dumb always infuriated your sister, yet this time, she didn’t take the bait. 

“I talked to Pedro and Pere earlier. Pedro has some concerns, about you.” Your sister paused, looking at her girlfriend next to her, as if for reassurance. Olga nodded encouragingly, and Alexia straightened up. “I think you know what these concerns are, hermana.”

“I don’t.” You said quickly. “And I don’t appreciate you talking about me behind my back.” 

“You do.” Alexia said, still annoyingly calmly. 

“I really don’t, Alexia.” 

“Pequeña, please. I know that you aren’t okay. You don’t have to lie to me about that.” 

You wilted a little, eyes anywhere but on your sister, but she leaned forward, seeing an opportunity; a fracture in your walls. 

“I want you to be okay. I want you to get better, healthier.” Alexia said gently, her eyes flickering to the piece of paper in front of her every so often. It was a mix of her handwriting and Olga’s, though you couldn’t make out what it said. 

“I am better. I am healthier, Ale.” You argued weakly, finally looking at your sister. You half believed yourself, half knew that you were very far from healthy, the two conflicting sides waging war in your head. Would it be easier to admit defeat? To break down and let your sister fix you? You found that you didn’t really want to be fixed.

“Hermanita, this isn’t okay. You can’t keep going like this. It’s not safe.”

You shook your head defiantly, a single tear tracking down your cheek. “Alexia, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”

You didn’t think about the times you’ve cried yourself to sleep after having no choice but to eat a full dinner. You didn’t think about the way everything is just a touch more exhausting, now. You couldn’t think about that, you wouldn’t. You were fine. Why couldn’t Alexia see that? 

She just stared at you, blinking rapidly. Fighting back tears, you realized with a start. Her hand gripped Olga’s tightly, and you couldn’t fight the wave of guilt that hit you like a truck. She was worried, and you knew she should be. Somewhere deep inside, you knew. And that was the most terrifying part. 

“Cariño, I am so worried. You aren’t okay, I don’t understand how you can’t see that. You are an athlete, you know you need to fuel your body in the right way. You know this isn’t normal. Can’t you admit that?”

You shifted uncomfortably in your seat, for the first time showing even a hint of emotion. It wasn’t anger, or sadness. It was fear. 

“I have it under control, Ale. I promise you, it’s under control.” Your voice wobbled, no confidence at all behind your words. Alexia shut her eyes tightly for a minute before blinking then open and looking at you in a much more intense way. 

“I don’t believe you.” 

You stood up, feeling a flare of anger surge through you. “I don’t care what you believe.” Moving to walk out the front door, though not sure where you were going, you froze at the sound of Alexia’s voice behind you. 

“You can leave, but we’re still going to have this conversation. I can wait, but the sooner we talk, the sooner you’ll be allowed back at training, and back on the team sheet.” 

You whirled around, hands balling into fists at your sides. “Since when am I off the team sheet?!” 

“Since today.” Alexia didn’t raise her voice to match yours, and she didn’t stand either. She remained sitting next to Olga, both of them looking at you so sympathetically, it made you want to sprint out of the house that instant. 

“How could you do that?” 

Alexia almost flinched at the genuinely betrayed tone of your voice, but she just shook her head. 

“I didn’t do anything, pequeña. The physios and Pere made this decision themselves, based off the information they have.” She replied, nodding towards the chair across from her again. “The only way you’re being allowed anywhere near training is if you talk.” 

“I don’t want to talk about this.” You snapped, throwing yourself down in the chair. 

“Well, we have to. I won’t watch you hurt yourself like this without saying anything.”

You flinched like she’d struck you. “I am not hurting myself, Alexia. I have it under control, it’s not dangerous, it’s not anything. It’s fine.” 

“You are hurting yourself. I don’t know how, but I know that you are. Whatever you are doing to make sure your body doesn’t gain weight is hurting you!” 

"You're being ridiculous, Alexia. Completely ridiculous." You spat back.

Nothing Alexia was saying was working. You remained just as defiant, just as frustrated. Nostrils flaring, hands clenched into fists, you refused to back down. 

Olga squeezed her girlfriend's hand, the blonde falling silent as she did so. 

“Pequeña, listen to me. We both love you so much. You are my sister, maybe not by blood, but in all the ways that count. And when you care about someone, it’s so hard to watch them go through something like this.”  

Olga’s voice was soft and gentle and somehow, the most threatening thing you’d heard. It was the way she looked at you, the way she spoke; like she knew what she was about to say would challenge you. 

“If this was anyone else doing what you’re doing, you’d have something to say. If this was a friend or a teammate, and you saw them doing this, you’d do something. Am I wrong?”

You found that you couldn’t lie, so you just shook your head. 

“Give yourself that same kindness. Give yourself that same love and care. You would get someone else help if they needed it, no matter what. Can you let us help you?”

Another tear ran down your cheek, your lip trembling as you fought to hold back your sobs. Only Olga’s hand in hers kept Alexia from leaping over the coffee table and pulling you into a hug. 

“I’m scared. I don’t want to.” You said finally. Your eyes fixed on Olga, refusing to look over at your sister and see the disappointment you knew was simmering. 

“But you need to. And you know you need to.” Olga said carefully. She watched as an array of emotions flashed across your face, until you finally landed on… resigned. 

“I… I don’t know where to start.” 

“That’s okay!” Alexia jumped in. “You don’t need to know. We can take it one step at a time. We’ll get through this, hermanita, I promise.” 

The way Alexia was talking made your stomach twist. There was no ‘we’ here. Alexia didn’t close her eyes when she got dressed in the morning, didn’t turn her back to the mirror before she showered. She didn’t have to come up with excuses to go to the bathroom after a big meal, she didn’t know exactly how to move her food around her plate to look like she’d eaten more than she had. Alexia loved you, and you had no doubt that this was hurting her, but there was no comparison to what you’d been putting yourself through. Alexia couldn’t fix this for you, couldn’t even really fix it with you. It was something you had to entirely be committed to, recovery, something that would take strength from the deepest parts of you. Alexia couldn’t promise that you’d get through it. It wasn’t up to her.

You didn’t say any of that to your sister. What good would that have done? Instead, you dropped your head into your hands, and tried to breathe. You still couldn’t quite believe this was happening, and a part of you wished you’d wake up and it would all be some horrible dream, and no one would actually know. Another part of you, though, felt like sobbing in relief that someone had finally noticed. 

Unbeknownst to you, Alexia and Olga were having a silent conversation. Alexia wanted to drag you into the kitchen and make you eat lunch, since she was absolutely sure that you hadn’t had breakfast. She wanted to talk, and talk some more, and find you a therapist, and call her Mami and tell her what was going on. She wanted to do every little thing she could think of, because she was sure if she tried hard enough, she could control this enough for you to be okay.

Olga knew better. She looked at you and could tell that you were barely restraining yourself from curling up into a ball and crying. She knew trying to make you eat a full meal in the way Alexia intended to right now would push you too hard. She knew that you needed time and space to process and breathe. The brunette could see how easily you’d be overwhelmed here, and it was this knowledge that had her firmly telling Alexia what she was to do. 

“Go upstairs and shower. I’ve got her.” She whispered, kissing Alexia’s cheek softly. 

Her girlfriend looked at her in confusion, both of them exchanging a few glances before Alexia gave in. 

“Please try to get her to eat something.” The blonde whispered back, standing and beginning to head upstairs. She paused at your chair, opening her mouth to say something before thinking better of it. Instead, she just kissed the crown of your head and headed upstairs. 

Only once Olga heard the shower turn on upstairs did she finally move, walking around the coffee table and crouching in front of you. 

“Nena?” She called softly. 

You looked up apprehensively. 

“What do you need right now? You tell me, and that’s what we’ll do.” 

Control. Olga was giving you control, but you didn’t know what to do with it. You felt overwhelmingly lost, not even sure if you could put one foot in front of the other without someone telling you how to. 

“I… don’t know.” You replied, shrugging your shoulders. 

“That’s okay.” Olga assured you. “We don’t have to talk any more today, but I’d like you to try to eat something. It doesn’t have to be big, or a whole meal, but something. Is there anything you’d like?” 

No, there wasn’t, you wanted to snap. That was part of the problem. Instead of snapping, though, you found yourself thinking. “Protein shake?” You requested shakily. 

Olga nodded, smiling proudly at you. “Protein shake and a piece of toast, I think.” 

You found yourself agreeing, somehow, rising from your chair and following Olga into the kitchen. You tried to think of what would be worse; eating or talking. Both seemed like pretty abysmal choices, but Olga set your small meal down in front of you, and you knew there wasn’t really a choice. As quickly as it had been handed over to you, you felt the control slipping out of your grasp. The shower turned off upstairs, and you reached for the glass, bracing yourself for everything you were about to feel, and everything Alexia was probably about to say.

—

back in my two parter era. let me know what you all think :)

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Pride! Something FMA or Untamed?

continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

While Eden genuinely does want to catch the serial killer murdering innocent young women, her plan does have a secondary motivation.

She's getting antsy.

They don't usually linger this long in Central. Mustang is clearly punishing her for not coming to report in person the last two years by having her spend several months hanging around doing fuck-all.

Well, okay, she's actually getting a lot genuinely useful research done, and of course she's very grateful for the time spent making friends with Catherine. But she doesn't exactly love Al stomping around where anyone could figure out he's hollow, and while Mustang and his crew have so far been too stupid to figure out she's a girl, the longer they're here the more opportunities they have to catch a clue.

Not only does hunting a serial killer take her mind off things, but if she's successful in catching him, that will get everyone paying attention to her. And since Mustang's whole use for her is for her to be so distracting that no one pays attention to him, it will then become in his best interest to send her as far away from him as possible.

The phone rings and she bounces off her bed to pick up. She's never bothered to requisition a phone for her dorm before, preferring one less way for anyone at the office to get ahold of her. If they needed her that badly, they could send someone. Besides, the damn things are always tapped anyway. Catherine, however, had taken issue with this.

So far she's the only one Ed's given this number, but eventually the notice will get to Mustang's desk and then she'll never know peace.

"Hey," she says,

"You're taking me out on a date tonight," she says. "Show up at seven."

Her lips twitch up. "Alex bothering you again?" The rumors of Catherine dating the Fullmetal Alchemist are doing wonders for her social status, but apparently Armstrong keeps bursting into tears about their star crossed romance, what with Ed on a mission to restore Alphonse's body over everything else.

Fortunately, this ruse also provides Catherine with the perfect excuse to leave with Ed, rather than having to sneak around with Eden.

"I really can't be expected to deal with this," she says crossly. "Mama is being no help at all. Don't be late."

"Yes ma'am," she says, but just receives the dial tone in reply.

[steddielations]

“Evening, sir.”

It’s the Harrington boy. Again.

“I told you, son, it’s Wayne,” he manages a smile, harder to do these days, like chipping it out of cement and dusting it off. But he gets it done.

Steve doesn’t have the Henderson boy with him today, that’s a first.

“Where’s the curly one?” He steps aside, letting Steve into the trailer door, more rickety than before. No money left to fix it after repairing the bulk of the earthquake damage.

“Dustin? He doesn’t wanna watch the game, and trust me, you don’t wanna listen to that kid complaining the whole time,” Steve walks by, sorta chuckling to himself, “I always miss the replay ‘cause he makes me change the channel to those D&D cartoons during the commercials, just like—”

He stops in front of the couch, looking over his shoulder at Wayne like he’s afraid he messed up somehow. Wayne noticed that look often from him, less and less, but still often. All that confidence he carries can drop on a dime, sorta reminded him of—

“Like Ed?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“S’alright. I don’t mind talking about him if you want,” Wayne manages another concrete smile, but he means it. Steve always waits for him to bring up Eddie first, like he doesn’t want to remind him if it ain’t on his mind, but Wayne likes to be reminded. It’s nice to feel like he’s not the only one missing him. “But the game was yesterday and y’know the cable’s out.”

“Yep, got it covered. I uh, I taped it,” Steve fishes a VHS tape from his back pocket. Fancy. Wayne would worry about him using that for his sake, but he has a feeling Steve’s folks aren’t around enough to notice.

“The Colts win?”

Steve flips the tape around, “Haven’t watched it, so we can bet on it if you’re feeling lucky.”

It doesn’t feel so dry and heavy when Wayne laughs a bit then, waving Steve to go ahead and start up the TV. He already caught the game on the radio, but he bets on the Colts anyway. Loser’s supposed to do the dishes after they scrounge together some soup, but Steve does them anyway.

Wayne would make a stink about it but he can tell Steve just wants to help, to feel like he’s helping. Same thing when the Henderson boy comes around to see him, wanting to hear all the stories, even the scary ones. So Wayne doesn’t mind letting Eddie’s friends feel like they’re helping him.

His nephew didn’t have many friends. Real, cover-your-six kinda friends. The boys he played his music with, they’ve come by a couple times, Wayne always liked Jeff despite the racket. That older fella that’s doing time now, Wayne wasn’t too fond of. And some of Eddie’s dungeon buddies he talked about were the only few.

Now, casual acquaintances? Anybody who didn’t have anywhere else to sit when he had an empty spot at his table? Sure, Eddie had those in spades.

His boy was good at that, putting on a good old show for his crowd, on a stage to keep his distance. That damn Al did him in good, never could trust easily, having his old man pop up and drag him into his mess before he took off again. And Eddie’s poor momma would’ve done right by him, if she hadn’t gotten sick so young.

Took Wayne a long time to get Eddie to depend on him, to trust this was his place to stay and he didn’t have to earn it, Wayne wasn’t just filling his head to scheme something out of him.

Love ain’t a transaction that way. He wasn’t ever any good at saying it, but he tried to show Eddie the best he could.

His boy though, always carried a debt with him. Like he owed Wayne something for taking him in, had to graduate quick and make it outta here, do something with the better life he gave him. Al dug him in so deep, Eddie stayed roped into whatever his latest scheme was (the cars, the dealing, the gambling, thank God Eddie wasn’t there when the goddamn robbery went wrong, 25 to life) like maybe it’d be enough to keep him from running off again.

The odds have never been in favor of people like them, poor folk in a town that’s stuck in its ways, where everybody’s just like their old man, but Al made his choices and Wayne made his. Rest their mother’s soul, she did her best. Part of Wayne was relieved when Al got locked up, at least Wayne had a better chance of keeping Eddie from going down the same path, try to raise him right.

Being a Munson wasn’t a crime. He didn’t owe a darn thing to anybody. Eddie could graduate at his own pace, play whatever games and music he wanted, dress however, that didn’t mean he was up to no good. And a lot of boys get into dealing for a little easy extra money around here, he was gonna grow out of that just like Wayne did.

It worked until all this mess.

That’s why Eddie ran off after what happened to the poor Cunningham girl. He gets spooked when something goes wrong, like it’ll be the last straw he can’t make up for so he runs off. Like the first time he didn’t make senior year, went and hid out with that Rick fella that Wayne never did like, got Eddie deep into that business he tried to keep a secret.

‘Course Wayne knew. He knows exactly what and where his boy hides. If those damn cops weren’t tailing him, he would’ve gone straight to get him.

That was before he knew it would turn into all of this. Now he wishes he would’ve done it anyway. Gone right to Eddie, told him it wasn’t his fault that everything got all turned upside down. Told him he knew he was innocent right from the get-go, and got him away from this rotten old town.

But he didn’t.

He didn’t go get his boy.

So now he’s just trying to be there for Eddie’s boys, since he can’t.

“You have a night shift tonight right? Gonna put on a pot of coffee,” Steve says once he’s finished up the dishes.

Wayne hums. There’s usually more noise going on during these visits. Steve’s still alright at carrying on, even without the Henderson boy’s chatter to fill any gaps.

It was strange, the first time the two of them showed up. Wayne knew Eddie was close with Dustin, but he didn’t have a clue that he was chumming it up with the Harrington boy. Just don’t seem like the same type of company. He might not believe it if it weren’t so obvious that Steve cared about his boy. He suspected before, but now with Steve showing up here alone, he knows.

Steve misses Eddie in a different sorta way than Dustin.

“No cream or sugar, right?” Steve looks humored by that as he passes the mug of black coffee to him, “How are you related to Eddie again?”

Wayne’s mouth turns upward, remembering his nephew’s god awful sweet tooth. He picked up a box of Honeycombs the other day in the store out of habit. “Just happened to be standin’ there when they beamed him down.”

That gets a good chuckle out of Steve. Nothing wistful weighing it down and Wayne’s glad, watching Steve pour himself a cup of coffee too.

Then bitter-sweetness swirls in his chest, seeing the mug that Steve chose for himself. Must’ve dug it out from one of the boxes Wayne hadn’t hung back on the walls yet. The earthquake did a number on his collection. That Garfield one was the only one he’d gotten around to gluing back together.

“What is it?” Steve asks, cup paused at his mouth.

“Ah nothin’ just,” Wayne waves it off, “That’s the mug Ed always used.”

“Oh, I can use a diff—”

“Nah, nah go ‘head. It’s fine.”

Unconvinced, Steve takes a wary sip.

Mostly these days, Wayne just feels like a watch without a ticker, a chest with nothing beating inside it. He can’t name the feeling he has at seeing Eddie’s old mug being used by someone else, but at least it’s something.

“Y’know, he used to put everything in that sucker. Soda pop, soup, cereal, you name it,” Wayne shakes his head, mouth twitching into a smile, “I’d have to wrestle it away from him just to give it a good washing. It’s well loved, alright. Leaks now.”

As if on cue, Steve has to grab a napkin to sit underneath it.

Wayne lets out an amused hum, “He uh— Didn’t have much stability ‘fore he came to live with me, so he’d get real attached to things like that.”

Carried around a stuffed dragon they picked up at a garage sale ‘til Wayne couldn’t sew the wings back on anymore. Never wanted to throw anything away. Got real anxious about Wayne going to work sometimes, even when he was too old for a sitter. Held onto him saying “Stay home just today, Dad, please.” Which, he didn’t mind Eddie calling him that. It always softened him up, made him give in. Wishes now that he’d told Eddie upfront. Maybe he never would’ve stopped.

“Thought for sure he’d marry that damn guitar one day.”

Steve nearly sputters his coffee, laughing at that, “Yeah, those two are made for each other.”

It’s nice, seeing the way that story lit Steve up. Sorta like his boy can still make someone happy. Hurts like hell that he ain’t here to do it himself, but Wayne was always good at telling stories. That’s where Eddie learned it from.

“I’m uh,” Steve deflates after a minute, looking down at the mug, “God, I’m just really sorry, Wayne.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry too, Steve,” he says, because, well.

Wayne gets the feeling that his boy was Steve’s boy too.

Read the rest on Ao3

[selfawarejester]

True North | Edward Elric

pairing: edward elric x gn!reader

summary: ed has thoughts about his soulmate. Soulmate AU, fluff/angst.

word count: 1.5k

a/n: instead of doing my English assignment (which is the same amount of words, mind you), I decided to do this. First fic for the FMA fandom (finally)! Please enjoy <3

Ed could be considered the perfect example of a man of science. After all, despite all his loud and often-inflammatory (to his poor brother’s lament) proclamations against God, he treated science, specifically Alchemy, as a sort of religion itself — he knelt at its altars (or the arrays) and clasped his hands together “in prayer” to make miracles happen. Miracles that were completely logical and comprehensible to him, regardless of their complexity or intricacy.

But one thing still baffled him: one thing that was proven and real, and yet had no scientific basis whatsoever.

The soulmate bond.

Plenty of alchemists have been trying to figure it out for centuries. What makes one seek out their so-called “one true love”? What causes the tug, the force of which increased every passing year after one’s 15th birthday, or the closer you were to that person? What are the deciding factors as to one’s soulmate? These were questions that were slaved over, entire lives spent trying to puzzle out, volumes upon volumes of journals and articles dedicated to the phenomenon; and yet, there was no conclusive answer.

He didn’t like not having answers.

He especially didn’t like how crazy it drove his little brother.

“But isn’t it wonderful to think about, Brother?” He bites back a groan, but still rolls his eyes violently as Al started on another rant about the phenomenon. “A tangible link to the person you’re fated to be with!”

“Yeah, it’s a real doozy.” Ed mumbles, rolling his eyes. “Can we maybe get back to our research?”

Al sighs, and even though he can’t see it, he knows the brat’s shooting him that look — “Why are you so pig-headed, Brother?”, he can hear his innocent little voice.

“Brother…” Al starts off, armor creaking as he shifts behind him. “Haven’t you gotten your soulmate link yet?”

Ed stiffens, page in mid-turn.

Alphonse had been kind enough not to ask, but he’s been expecting the kid to pop the question for weeks now. After all, there was no one more romantic than his little brother; that much was obvious from the novels he snuck around and hid from him.

(And who could have given him those novels except-)

He shakes his head, knocking the thoughts of that person out as well.

“Sorry to disappoint, bud.” He sounds more confident than he feels, that eternal pressure tugging behind his sternum again. “Do me a favor and go through that pile over there, okay-?”

“And you call the Colonel a slavedriver.” A dulcet voice tsks behind him and he stiffens again.

Alphonse doesn’t notice, too caught up in greeting you, clambering up with a delighted call of your name.

The pressure burns now, causing a tremendous aching that makes him squeeze his eyes shut to push past it.

It just had to be you, didn’t it?

He flashes a smile over his shoulder, lifting his hand in a slight wave before going back to his research. Another person might be offended, but of course you aren’t.

You’re an understanding person, after all, who (as a part-time employee) sees all types in this library that the Elrics put up shop in for days at a time.

You’re a sweet person, who smiles gently when you not-so-subtly threaten to kick them out if they don’t take care of themselves.

It’s not that surprising it’s you.

For a little while, he thought it was Winry, as his heart kept tugging endlessly towards the direction in which the train to Resembool always ran.

It’s not until a month after his birthday that you returned, recounting your hometown visit (only a town over from where he grew up), and his chest almost exploded as you walked in, that he realized who his soulmate was.

There could have been worse soulmates, he thought as he watched you speak to Alphonse over his shoulder, not nearly as sly as he wished to be.

You and Al were such great friends — sure, it pissed him off a little, doubly jealous as both of you took up so much of the other’s attention — but it would’ve devastated him if you guys couldn’t get along.

You weren’t difficult on the eyes either — but that could have been the effect of his feelings or the soulmate bond, because though you were the most gorgeous thing he ever laid eyes on, he knew logically that you couldn’t have been the prettiest person in the world… but it sure did feel like it, though.

You were pretty smart — of course, he wouldn’t have cared if you weren’t, not everyone could be the prodigies he and his brother were, but he liked that you could follow along with the basics of what he was saying… even if you were completely uninterested in alchemy.

Which brought him to perhaps your most important quality, your patience. You sat there, day in and day out, listening to his rants and rambles even when it got to the point that common courtesy would have allowed you to flip him off and walk away.

And you just watched him from under Alphonse’s arm with gentle eyes, even though you both knew you were each other’s soulmates.

“Before I forget,” You interrupt Al, looking apologetic. “That new book you were asking about-“

“The one with the-?!” Al stops abruptly, snapping to look at Ed — who, in a moment of utter grace, flips around hard enough to bang both his elbow and his knee on the table.

But the pain and embarrassment might have been worth it to hear your laugh, loud and snorting and musical to his ears.

“I’ll go pick it up right now.” Al whispers way too loud, making you snicker. “Go distract Brother.”

“You got it!” You whisper just as loud, and Al giggles before sneaking off.

Ed bites the inside of his cheek, trying to will his cheeks back to their normal color when you plop down next to him, leaning your head on your palm.

“You ever gonna tell Alphonse? Or even make a move on me?” You were blunt too, awesomely to-the-point even to military officials like State Alchemists. Even Mustang went silent that one time you saw him berating your soulmate and stepped in, asking him about a book that was considerably overdue. He walked away with his chin held high, yet trembling under the disapproving glare of the Lieutenant.

Ed sighs. He knows you deserve better than him. He’s not unaware of how painful this if for you — it’s just as bad for him. He was never interested in romance or soulmates beyond a few discussions between the brothers and Winry about what they wanted their soulmates to be like… which usually ended with Alphonse rolling his eyes and Winry declaring that he would die alone.

He remembers declaring that he would be fine if he never had a soulmate. After all, his mom and that tall, bearded jerk who fathered him were soulmates. The stories their mother told the boys, twinkly-eyes and nostalgic, were what rooted their views on the concept: Alphonse yearned for it, deeply, and Ed grew bitter about it, understanding that even soulmates could ditch you and your two kids.

Until he met you, and suddenly he wanted… more. He wanted to try, to learn, for you. He knew you deserved so much, and even though he wasn’t sure he could give them to you, he wanted so bad to try. He was overcome with guilt and longing every time he saw your beautiful eyes.

But there was another guilt, a greater guilt and responsibility that came first. He mumbled your name forlornly, wishing so bad that he could say it the way he wanted to.

“I have to focus on this first. You know-“

“I know, I know.” You nod, but your eyes at downcast now, and he hates himself so much more now. “It would be nice to be acknowledged, though.”

He leans forward, putting his hand over yours.

You gasp; Ed’s not one to initiate physical contact, having jumped away the first time your skin touched his. The intense look in his eyes as they fix on your face doesn’t help, either.

“I’m gonna do right by you.” He swears right then and there, in his sacred place of worship, surrounded by the greatest works on Alchemy. “I’ll get mine and Al’s bodies back, and I’ll come find you.”

“Yeah?” You breathe out, eloquence stolen from you by his determination.

“Yeah.” He nods, squeezing your hand, a small smile curling up his lips. “I’ll take you to that café you like. It’ll be nice.”

A sudden urge to take it back, to pick another destination you might like better throws him; a café, how dumb was that?! You went there all the time! He couldn’t think of anything better than that?!

But you surprise him, laughing and biting your lip.

“Sounds great.” You say, completely genuine. At the sound of heavy footsteps, you rise, readying yourself to take your leave.

As you round the bookshelf that obscures his workspace from the rest of the world however, you stop for a moment, looking back.

“And once you’re done, you know how to find me.”

And you go, with a cute smile on your face.

And his heart tugs.

[mostofthingsmostofthetime]

I just finished the first episode of Heartstopper, so here are some of my thoughts in no particular order.

The opening song is cool (will probably look up the shows soundtrack like I did with XO, Kitty).

Why did the camera focus so much on Charlie's bag & Elle's drink? Is it product placement?

Wow, no hate to the actor, but Charlie's eyebrows are THICK!!!!

Tori is beautiful but also kind of looks like a ghost (I think she’d be great for the role of  Violet Baudelaire from A Series Of Unfortunate Events) & why was she so pushy about the "dream guy" thing? Like let the poor boy breathe.

Is Nick's actor that much taller than Charlie's? I hadn't noticed.

I’m sorry, but knees are so weird to me lol. Also obligatory, 🎵 she's a runner she's a track star🎵.

Wait, is that PE teacher that will later interrupt the team theorising about Nick & Charlie's relationship? It's crazy how they’ve found actors who look so much like the characters in the graphic novels (other casting directors should take notes).

Ok fair enough about wanting your team to be good & wondering if the quiet, skinny, nerdy, boy is even into sports but the shit about him being gay is so stupid (bet it was Harry that said that).

Glad Charlie didn't get injured learning rugby, lol.

Nick's shorts seem a lot smaller than Charlie's ones do, but maybe that's the costume designer's way of helping Charlie’s actor look more skinny?

Omg Stephen Fry, what are you doing here lol?

Wow, people weren't kidding. Olivia Colman really did show up just to say one line. What a legend, lol.

Ben, did you really make Charlie walk all that way for such a lame ass kiss? Also, let him talk about his Christmas, you jerk!

I don't think that Form tutor is very good at his job (while Nick thankfully turned out to be nice) it’s usually not a great idea to put the skinny, gay, nerd that has already been bullied with the bigger, popular, seemingly straight, athlete, especially at an all boys school!

Ben, you dick. Like I get wanting to keep your relationship secret, but you did not need to pull the 'who the hell are you!' card. All you had to do was say hi in a confused/uninterested tone (then apologise later). If anything, your reaction came off more weird than what Charlie did.

I'm sorry, but I don't get the leaf animation. I mean, I GET it, just why leaves? Why not flowers or hearts or something? It just doesn’t seem that impactful to me, but maybe they have a deeper meaning that I'm just not grasping yet? If so, please let me know.

Ok, so I'm torn over the gay teacher. Like artistic? That's cool. Those glasses? Cute. Him giving Charlie a safe space to eat lunch? Great. Him being worried over Charlie potentially being bullied again? Awesome (take notes, Form guy), but his advice to Charlie seemed slightly lacking. Obviously, honesty & communication are important in relationships, but I'm a little surprised that possible safety concerns weren't addressed at all, especially from a fellow gay guy. Like I get that he doesn’t know the kind of guy Charlie's "dating" & that just because someone doesn't want to come out yet doesn’t mean they should be labelled as dangerous but internalised homophobia can make some people lash out & after everything Charlie's been through his clearly more likely to be vulnerable to situations like that.

Nick is a golden retriever in human form, they're 100% correct 😊.

Isaac? What happened to Aled? I hope he still shows up. He may be quiet, but he was so cute during Charlie's 15th birthday in the graphic novel.

Interesting to get to see Elle's time at Higg's (fuck that transphobic teacher & whoever was throwing sandwiches at her). Sad she doesn’t have any friends but I'm sure that'll change when she meets Tara & Darcy. Wow, is it strict over there, though, like you can't even be on your phone at lunchtime? Damn! Surprised they did it this way, though, as I was assuming they'd just make Truham co-ed so all the characters could be in the same place.

Tao, my guy, the drink thing is sweet but that hair is.....certainly.....a choice 😅.

The shots of Charlie looking at food, without eating, make me ☹️.

I gotta be honest, the montage of Nick & Charlie saying hi to each other was a little cringy to me compared to how it came across in the graphic novel, but they're meant to be teens, so I'll let it slide. It's also an effective way to highlight how differently Charlie's "boyfriend" treats him compared to an acquaintance.

Ben's hand covering up Nick's smiley face got me like ☹️/😠. They're not even together yet & I already felt like telling him to get off Charlie, like that boy is not for you! It’s ridiculous, lol.

Ben what you did was fucked up but it's hard to be scared of someone who looks so much like a meerkat in a wig (no hate to the actor) also did it seem like he just....skidded away when Nick pulled him off Charlie? Like, was the actor wearing Heelys lol? Or had someone just mopped the floor without telling anyone? Also, it's lame to wear a coat when you're cold? What in the toxic masculinity are you fucking on about Ben?

Omg the bathroom scene was so adorable, but I wanna know what kind of pen Nick was using because being covered in that amount of ink is crazy 😆.

Overall, it's very cute. I like Nick & Charlie. It’ll probably take a bit longer for me to really care about the other characters. Ben can catch these hands! And I’m looking forward to watching the Narlie relationship develop.

So while not overly ground breaking (though obviously important for LGBTQ+ rep) it's definitely enjoyable in a comforting sort of way which (considering medias fascination with marginalised suffering) is obviously important for queer youth but also must be quite healing for queer elders. Because you deserve wholesome, cheesy, romance just as much as anyone else.

[caycaysdiamond]

Lovepotioned? Not!

Request for Anon: "do you think you could do something for Scarabia, and maybe Ruggie if you can fit him in there, where reader is very loving with them to the point where people think they've been love potion-ed and kinda question the boys because reader is usually pretty tame and calm but in reality reader just really down bad for their boyfriend?"

my google doc for this alone was 10 pages??? ne ways!! I had a lot of fun with this but oh my god the more i thought about this prompt I was like...this would probably be the most annoying rumor to have at a magical school yk?? like damn you think I can't pull?!? (I can't) you think I don't have rizz??!? (I don't)

Characters: Kalim Al-Asim, Jamil Viper, Ruggie Bucchi Established relationship, rumored hypnosis/non-consensual relationship, non-prefect reader, lovesick reader, and lovesick boys. Chapter 4 spoilers in Jamil's part. Long asf post

Kalim Al Asim

When it came to Kalim, you weren’t just the star in his sky, no, you were his entire galaxy. Likewise, if Kalim was a planet, well, he was your universe. It didn’t take long for people to notice the difference in your personality when you were with Kalim. Your usual calm, soothing, regal personality is a breath of fresh air compared to the scheming personalities of many of your contemporaries. Yet when Kalim was around, you were a lovesick puppy! Excited, doe-eyed, and clingy. When he was brought up in conversations with you it was even worse, suddenly a boring conversation became so much more exciting and you were singing praises all for Kalim!  It was…concerning to many to say the least. I mean people don’t change that much in a relationship, right? 

It was Riddle, surprisingly, who first thought you might be under the control of some sort of potion. You were his fellow Equestrian club member, it was his sacred duty to free you of whatever control you were under so he quickly got to work on a potion that would reverse the effects of whatever magic you might be under. He worked diligently after all his duties were done and away from any of the rather nosy student body of NCR late into the night. He was out past his bedtime and his eyes grew heavy but he finished the potion and snuck into your own dorm to slip an invitation for tea under your door.

“They’ll be here soon,” Riddle mumbled to himself as straightened out the cups sitting on the table for the 10th time that afternoon. To give you the potion discreetly, he thought inviting you for tea would be perfect. He made sure that the recipe for the potion he chose was tasteless, odorless, and didn’t have any adverse effects on you or the hot temperature of the tea. Everything was perfect, of course, nothing less would come from the Queen. 

“I’m not late, am I?” 

Riddle turned to the source of the question with a polite smile, “No,” he glanced at the watch on his wrist, “In fact, you’re perfectly on time, Reader.” Riddle motioned you over and pulled out your seat, you bowed to the redhead before taking your seat. He poured your drinks and sat down quickly after that, no doubt that there was a rule about how long you must be seated after your guest you thought. 

“I’m honored you invited me to tea, Riddle,” you smiled, “It’s been a while since we’ve hung out.” 

Riddle agreed, “Both of us have been busy.” 

You nodded, “Yes, midterms have been stressful, to say the least, but I know you’re doing amazing.” 

“You flatter me too much,” Riddle took a sip of tea, he noted that you hadn’t taken a sip yet and chose his next words carefully,  “But you are busier than me, yes? I mean you’re in a thriving relationship right now. That must take a lot out of you.”

Your eyes sparkled at the mention of your relationship, “Kalim is an amazing guy, I’m so lucky to have such a beautiful, kind love! Actually, I was with him before coming here. Honestly, Scarabia is my second home at this point! Hmm…but for what you said, being in a relationship doesn’t make me busier in any way, I just find ways to intermingle Kalim into my usual responsibilities!”

“Oh yes, you two are quite… inseparable.” 

You laughed and continued your mini-rambling about Kalim. Riddle only mentally punched himself, noting that you still hadn’t touched your cup.  

“...And I think I’ve helped Kalim with his grade just a bit while keeping mine up! Oh god, I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’m so sorry, I always get carried away talking about him, I do really love him a lot!” You finish, taking a long swing of your tea and Riddle celebrates a bit in his mind. It was about time, god. 

“It’s fine, everyone can see how much you two care for each other,” Riddle gave you a polite smile, “Makes me hope I can find someone for myself one day.” 

By the end of your tea with Riddle, Kalim somehow didn’t come up anymore and you were back to your calm nature. You thanked Riddle for the afternoon tea and rushed off, saying that you had some dorm activities to take care of. Riddle smiled to himself, you were back to normal right? So that meant you were actually under a spell, huh? 

“It’s too early to celebrate, Riddle!” Riddle was speaking aloud to himself as he cleaned up, “The book I got the potion recipe from said it could be anywhere from ten minutes to 24 hours to take full effect so I’ll reach out to them again in two days…just to be sure!” 

Riddle heard you and Kalim before he saw you two and he knew that the potion didn’t work. You both were loud, giggling in the school’s courtyard during lunch. 

“Hey, I was gonna eat that!” Kalim whined, loudly, “Sweetheart~! Gimme a piece…sunshine, please!” 

“Beg a bit more, handsome~!” 

Riddle mentally punched himself for doubting how much you truly loved Kalim. I mean, why would Kalim even use a spell to make you fall in love? It was nothing like him! Doubting his fellow classmate and house warden was so unbecoming!

“You look perplexed.” 

Riddle nearly jumped two feet in the air and turned to whoever spooked him, “J-Jamil, at least warn someone when you’re gonna talk! Honestly, you nearly scared me half to death. Have you no manners?” 

“I could ask you the same thing, eavesdropping on Kalim and Reader like this,” Jamil said, expression unchanging. 

Riddle cleared his throat and tried to come up with a convincing lie, “I was just…jealous of how in love they were, that’s all.”

Jamil shook his head, “It’s hard to believe to most, I’ve noticed. Even some go as far as saying Reader is under some spell.” 

Riddle fidgeted a bit and Jamil continued, taking notice of Riddle’s slight change in demeanor, “I asked them about it once actually, they’re very aware of what people think. They told me that being with Kalim gave them a kind of peace that they haven’t felt in a long time where they felt they could shed any layers that had been built and just exist. A nonjudgemental, radiating love that’s the type of love they receive from Kalim. One that’s their haven.” 

An understanding of your relationship finally reached Riddle and he smiled softly,  “That’s…lovely. Thank you for telling me, Jamil.” 

Riddle walked off and sighed. Not only did he reach an understanding of your relationship but he reached an understanding of his own—his thoughts on love or rather preconceptions of what love can look like are completely wrong. 

“Perhaps I am actually jealous…of love,” Riddle whispered to himself, “Yes, I think that’s quite right.”

Jamil Viper

Jamil knew all about the rumors that exacerbated his relationship with Reader, they were stupid, at least to him. The two of you got together long before your relationship went public, so why was it so unbelievable that you loved him as much as you did? That sweet, caring side of yours was for him and him alone. Isn’t it normal for people to act slightly differently around their significant others? Why was your change the talk of campus? More importantly, why was it so unbelievable that you could be that happy with him?! The scowl on Jamil’s face grew more and more as he thought about the rumors of him “lovepotioning” you. 

You weren’t lovepotioned! You were just a damn simp! 

A groan escaped his lips and his bad mood could be felt by anyone walking near the sophomore in the halls. Irritating, stupid, dumbasses—everyone at Night Raven, except you. Jamil couldn’t stand them. He made a sharp turn and arrived at his destination, his locker. Swiftly putting in the combination, the locker opened with a loud unintentional bang that echoed bringing almost every conversation in the hall to an abrupt stop and all attention to the vice house warden. 

“What a downer,” some Heartslabyul student said, eyeing Jamil, talking just loud enough for him to hear, “I can’t believe Reader’s with that. No way it’s willingly.” 

“Come on, man don’t say that! He could hear you, he’s right there,” another Heartslabyul  student said to his friend. 

“There are rumors of him using some sort of spell on Reader,” A Pomefiore student spoke up next, “Such as love spells or potions.” 

Jamil pretended not to hear the conversation behind him. 

Don’t entertain stupid people, Jamil.

They’re not worth your time, Jamil. 

That’s what he kept telling himself at least, as he urged his school supplies into his bag faster.

“Don’t care, I mean you’ve seen how the Reader gushes over him. It’s unnatural,” the student crossed their arms, “The love spell rumors have to be true. How does the usually silent, calm, oh-so-ever-popular, and cute barista of Monstro Lounge suddenly become a mindless simp for him! Besides, they could do so much better looks-wise. I mean I think Reader and I would look so much better together…” 

A loud bang rang through the hall, intentional this time as Jamil slammed his locker shut, almost breaking the old, rusted hinges of it. The students who were talking about him stopped, knowing that this was their fault. An eerie silence was setting in the hall and once again Jamil knew all eyes were on him again.

Don’t entertain stupid people, it never ends well. His motto is, you should know. Yet in a moment, the silk-city native found himself in front of the group of gossips. Why? He didn’t know. Maybe he simply had enough. With an icy glare and venom dripping off his tongue, he spoke, “Care to say all that to me directly?” 

The students shook their heads quickly and started stuttering out excuses. 

Jamil clicked his tongue and walked off, he wasn’t a jester meant to entertain after all. 

If God didn’t like Jamil Viper, he could have said that. First, the interaction in the hall, and now here he was standing in Azul’s VIP room. Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Jamil’s mental nicknames for the Leech twins, stood on opposite sides of their boss's desk. A cold and calculated smile from Tweedledee contrasted Tweedledum’s almost crazed look and Azul, of course, sat and smiled at Jamil. 

Jamil wanted to run off or kill them, but he wasn’t sure which yet. 

How did he wind up here exactly? He just wanted to see you, his love, and the only thing keeping him sane at this point but as fate would have it before he could make it to the post that you worked in the lounge today, he was hauled here by the devil’s twin sons.

“Jamil, it’s always nice to see you,” Azul finally spoke, breaking the heavy silence of the room. 

Jamil rolled his eyes, “Funny, I never find myself wanting to see you or them.” 

“You wound me,” the Housewarden covered his heart as if in pain but the playful tint in his eyes contrasted the gesture, “And here I thought we had something special.” 

“What do you want this time?” 

It was Jade who spoke up next, “We know all about the rumors plaguing your relationship with Reader and wanted to clear them up.” 

Floyd cracked his knuckles, “Starfishie is my favorite starfish so if you’re hurting ‘em, I’m gonna have to squeeze ya really tight. Better not be usin’ love potions and spells on ‘em!” 

“You also think I used a love potion on them?” Jamil questioned, “You’ve got to be kidding.” 

“Not exactly,” Azul said pushing up his glasses, “I mean you wouldn’t have to with your signature spell.”  

The implication that he would use his signature spell on you was enough to make Jamil snap.

Through gritted teeth, the vice warden spoke, “Why would you think such a thing? Do you know how much worse that is than thinking I used a potion or some regular dumb spell?” 

Azul’s smile faded, “You act as though you haven’t tried to use it already once to get your way.” 

“And you act as though that ended well!” Jamil raised his voice, “As though you don’t know how I almost ruined my life.” 

“Watch ya tone, sea snake,” Floyd began to walk toward Jamil but Azul’s hand going up swiftly stopped him. 

“The love you have for Reader and the contempt…the hatred you had for Kalim are two sides of the same coin,” Jade spoke as smoothly as ever, “You would understand our worry if you were on our side looking in, would you not?”

“No, because I know how to mind my business, unlike other people at this godforsaken school!” Jamil spoke harshly but his thought was cut short by a knock at the door. 

“Get the door, Floyd,” Azul commanded and Floyd did with no protest, glaring Jamil down as he passed him on the way. He swung the door open and revealed the annoyed form of you at the door.

“Starfishie!” Floyd’s mood seemed to perk up as he greeted you, ushering you in. 

Jamil turned to face you, the scowl he had been sporting for his previous conversation hadn’t left yet. You walked over to him and clung onto his arm, pulling him close before speaking, “I wasn’t expecting you here, love.” 

“I came to see you but Azul wanted to talk,” was all he replied. 

You nodded and then turned to address Azul, “I just came to tell you that the business partner you were expecting is here and that I’ve already clocked out and done all the pre-closing I could for the evening and night shifts.” 

“Thank you, Reader,” Azul continued, “Jade, Floyd, please go greet our guest.” 

The two twins left and Jamil shifted a bit under your grip, you let go and spoke to him, “I’ll meet you up in my room, I have one more thing to talk to Azul about.” 

Jamil nodded and kissed your cheek, without acknowledging Azul. He was thankful that he could leave, any more time in that room wouldn’t have ended well for him or for your boss. You watched your boyfriend leave, only being satisfied when you heard the click of the door meeting the lock and footsteps echoing away.  

“I heard everything, Azul,” You said. 

“I know, I wasn’t expecting anyone important here today,” Azul cleared his throat, “A clever lie, on your part.”  

“I understand why you decided to question Jamil, I know the rumors surrounding our relationship but you took it too far. I love him and that shouldn’t be questioned by you or anyone. He didn’t need a love potion to have my heart, he had it before he even knew,” You turned to leave, “Besides, I asked him to be mine, not the other way around. If anything it would have been me to put a spell on him.” 

As you left, the twins took your place inside Azul’s office. You gave them both an aggravated glance before heading to your room. 

“I don’t like the look starfishie just gave me, do they know?” Floyd pouted, “Awww they’re not gonna let me squeeze ‘em for like a week now that they’re mad!” 

Azul brushed off Floyd’s comments, “Make sure the rumors about Jamil and Reader stop completely, do whatever you like in order to make it happen.” 

Jade bowed a bit, “Of course.” 

Azul rolled his eyes and grabbed his pen from its holder, “It’s the least I can do, after all.” 

Ruggie Bucchi

It wasn’t surprising that rumors always were popping up about your relationship with Ruggie. Ruggie wasn’t known to be trusting, even less so affectionate. Everyone knew that the unofficial vice house warden of Savanaclaw always puts himself first, others only came second and only when he knew he could get something out of it. Well, at least that’s how it was before you wormed your way into his heart. Ruggie looks out for both of you, thank you very much. But, combined with Ruggie’s usual self-preserving attitude and your 180 change when talking about the hyena beastmen everyone came up with a new convincing rumor that would ‘prove’ why you both were together.

He had used a love potion to make you fall in love with him! Duh! 

Yet, even though this rumor was so persistent no one actually bothered to question either of you. I mean if someone truly thought you were “love potioned”, don’t you think someone would try to help you from your non-consensual love? Slip a cure into your drink? Question you? Question Ruggie? 

No, seems like no one cared about you that much, or more like the right person hadn’t heard just yet. 

Silver had just woken up after falling asleep in class, he cursed to himself about it and looked around. Most people were already gone but a few others stuck around, chatting amongst their friends. Silver ignored them and started gathering his stuff to leave.

“Have you heard about Reader?” A student near him spoke to their friend, “Heard that Ruggie lovepotioned them.” 

Silver started gathering his stuff a bit slower.

“What? A love potion? Hmm, I guess it makes sense, I mean have you seen how they dote on Ruggie, it's so odd. And like, they only act like that around him or when talking about him!” 

“Yeah, that’s why people think they’re lovepotioned,” The other student replied, “Anyways, I hope it's just a dumb rumor. Ruggie can be…questionable sometimes but I can’t imagine him doing something like that you know?” 

Silver left the class with a bitter taste in his mouth. Was his friend really lovepotioned? Every rational thought in him said no but isn’t there a possibility? Before he knew it, he found himself confiding in his father about what he heard after class today. 

“If they were truly lovepotioned, the only way to reverse those effects would be drinking an antidote,” Lilia explained, “Love potions are odd, most don’t work the way people think they do so it’s unlikely they’re actually under any effects.”

“So I shouldn’t worry?” Silver questioned. 

“They’re odd,” Lilia explained again, “But then again this school is full of gifted youths who are often misguided, there’s a possibility. How about we create an antidote for this hypothetical love potion and you find a way to give it to them?”

Silver nodded, “If they’re not under the effects of anything, what would happen?” 

“Nothing, everything would be the same and Reader would never know what they drank. You would have to slip it into a drink of theirs though.” 

“Kalim’s throwing a party tomorrow, they should be there,” Silver bit his thumb, deep in thought, “I should be able to do it then.” 

Lilia giggled, “Perfect! Well, let’s get to work shall we?”

Kalim’s parties were usually extravagant, but this one was particularly much. The whole school had to be here, no doubt. Scarabia’s dorm never felt so small as Silver shifted through the crowd, looking for you. 

“Silver!” 

His head turned towards a familiar voice and a smile rose to his face. 

“Hey! You made it!” You greeted him with a small hug and Silver noted that you had a drink already in hand.

Well, that certainly made his job easier. 

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting this much though,” Silver glanced around, a lot of unfamiliar party-goers seemed to show up. He even caught a glimpse of Riddle and his Vice Warden coming in earlier. His thoughts then shifted, you were alone—Ruggie wasn’t around, “Where’s Ruggie?”

“Food tables,” You giggled, “I was heading over there soon but I didn’t want to lose one of the only seats still here.” 

“I can sit here and you can go grab some stuff,” Silver offered. 

“Great! Hold my drink, please, I’m gonna need both my hands and I will make sure to grab enough for my bestie!” You promised before handing over your drink and disappearing into the crowd. 

Huh. This was going surprisingly well. Silver grabbed the small vial of the antidote out of his jacket pocket and slipped it into your drink. He waited for you before spotting both you and Ruggie with a surprising amount of food between the both of you. 

“I'm back! Thanks, Silver,” you grabbed your drink back from the Diasomnia sophomore. 

Silver nodded. You three shared the food amongst yourselves and hung out for the rest of the night. Silver noted how much you just seemed to love Ruggie, your whole demeanor was just different around him. There was a sparkle in your eyes only for him and you had a different air around you, love, Silver thought. The same was for Ruggie too, which the rumors didn’t note as much as they did your change. 

Love was supposed to look like that, was it not? At least that’s what he thought and what he picked up through stories Lilia sometimes told about the various lovers he’s had throughout the ages. So unsurprisingly, after a week there wasn’t a change in your behavior. Of course, you weren’t lovepotioned but a pang of strong guilt wrapped around Silver for doubting Ruggie and, by extension you. 

He had to come clean to you both about everything. So here he was in Savanaclaw’s common room confessing his sins and expecting some divine judgment from you two. 

“So…that’s everything. I’m sorry for doubting you Ruggie, I should have just asked.” 

Ruggie smiled and ducked his head low, “I can’t believe you would doubt me.” 

Silver gulped, “I really, really was stupid-”  

Silver was cut off by the sound of laughter from Ruggie. 

“God, I’m SO sorry but I tried to take this seriously but geez you look like you just killed someone’s cat and it’s killing me,” Ruggie explained through his laughing fits. 

You elbowed your boyfriend but still was laughing, “Stop! He’s sincerely sorry! It’s not funny!” 

“Why are you laughing then, huh?” Ruggie wiped away tears, elbowing you back.

“Am not!” You coughed and gained your composure, “Silver.” 

“Um…yes?” He questioned, not sure of what exactly was going on.

“I’m so honored that you care about me so much that you would make an antidote for me, truly the bestest friend I’ve ever had. You know no one else would do that, all my other friend’s just like…have stopped talking to me,” You roll your eyes, “You are forgiven.” 

“Thank you,” Silver bowed. 

“BUT!” You added loudly, “Now I owe my significant idiot, money!” 

“What do you mean?” Silver asked, confused once again. 

“We made’a bet. I said that if you found out about the rumor you would try to make an antidote or confront me, but they said you had to already know and decided not to do anything. Shihihi~ How great for me!” 

Silver just smiled at you both, no doubt that you two were made for each other.  

[frogadir]

Hughes commenting on winry being ed and al's "older sister" I forgot that they actually said that in 03... like it doesn't matter that much she and ed can't be more than a year or so apart but tbh I never noticed she was holding a plate of corn in this scene

[lorbanery]

Been thinking a lot about FMA 03 lately and I realized something I'd never thought about before.

It's established canon that Mustang uses Ed like his own personal Plausible Deniability Torpedo. Ed normally gets a lot of leeway in where he goes, when he goes there, and why, and he's very vocal about hating it and hating Roy whenever he actually gives Ed assignments. So when Roy notices something fishy somewhere under his jurisdiction, he gives Ed the most boring assignment that requires him to go check the thing out specifically as a State Alchemist and a ranking officer in the military, pulls a "Oh well I guess if you don't want the responsibilities of a State Alchemist then you don't want the privileges either so I'll just take that pocketwatch~" so that Ed is already pissed off when he shows up to wherever and is all primed and ready to fuck some corrupt asshole's shit up. All without it having to be on record that Mustang sent him there specifically for that purpose, or Ed getting knowingly tangled up in Mustang's decade-long coup plot.

He did it in Youswell, he did it in Lior, he did it on the train Ed and Al took to get to Central to take the licensing exam.

But all of those cases had a followup where the audience saw Mustang admit that's what he was doing and/or Ed realized it and accused him.

Which brings me to Shou Tucker.

Mustang was the one who sent Ed and Al to Tucker to help them prepare for the licensing exam. I think I'd always interpreted this as Mustang realizing that the higher ups were starting to get suspicious of him, and that Ed already had a lot against him without being seen as a protege of Mustang's. Another chance for Ed to prove he was capable of without Mustang manipulating him into motivation. Maybe even a genuine attempt to place Ed and Al somewhere that they'd get the information and support they needed; since not only was Tucker's specialty tangentially related to Ed and Al's research, he also had a kid so presumably could look after them better than the guy who splits his free time between plotting an assassination and being haunted by the faces of all the people he murdered in Ishbal.

Anyway, the question I'm pondering is: Did Roy Mustang suspect that there was something suspicious going on with Tucker and his chimeras?

We know that one of the reasons Ed put it together was the coincidence of Tucker's wife leaving the picture around the same time that Tucker created the first talking chimera that allowed him to pass the exam, plus the fact he hadn't been able to produce another one since.

It certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Mustang also noticed those two points of information, got suspicious, and decided to send Ed in thinking he'd be able to sniff it out?

I'm more and more convinced that that was the case.

I do also think that Mustang was banking on his deep, personal understanding of how the mind of the nerdiest of alchemists work (because he is also one) to be the impetus for either Ed and Al to go looking for Tucker's original secret notes on making the first chimera; or Tucker to actually share them with Ed and Al, seeking the validation of a fellow alchemist interested in anatomical-related alchemy.

I don't believe that Mustang ever suspected that Nina was in any danger, or that he might be sending these children he'd thrown his support and protection behind into a situation where they might have to witness the horrific thing they did. Assuming he didn't know that Gran was threatening to take Tucker's funding away, Mustang had no reason to not assume his history of being unable to produce another talking chimera wouldn't just continue. If he did know about the threat and thought it was a possibility that Tucker might attempt to create another one, I think the natural assumption would be that Tucker wouldn't even think about using his four year old child; that even to someone who'd (allegedly) used his own wife as materials, that would be a bridge too far. He might have thought that Ed might end up as a target, but been confident that he and Al could fend Tucker off. More likely, though, I think Mustang probably suspected that Tucker would find some random stranger to use.

But then the followup to that is, if Mustang did send Ed to Tucker expecting him to expose Tucker's crimes, only for the most unthinkably horrific thing to happen, did that change Mustang's tactics from then on? Was Youswell the next target because it was just a Sheriff of Nottingham over-taxation issue rather than a "his favorite movie is Human Centipede and I think that's a red flag" issue?

Did it take him a while to get comfortable pointing Ed at sketchy people allegedly doing weird shit with human beings again? Did he ever get comfortable with it? Did he just come to the conclusion that he didn't have any other as effective method of dealing with those people? Did he just learn to accept that if Ed heard the same rumors he'd go on his own anyway, so Mustang wasn't even actually protecting him from anything?

I just have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Mustang's particular brand of protectiveness towards Ed and Al. How he was definitely already going to murder the Fuhrer before he ever even met them, but once Bradley starts targeting them, he's extra super special definitely going to move up his timeline on that. Because it's important to Mustang that plots be plotted and moves be moved as discreetly as possible. But it's also important that this man not be the cause of another child's death that Roy could've prevented. That he already has images of Ed at his most traumatized burned into his brain and he won't let Ed be added to the already too long list of children whose deaths were his fault.

( ... I may or may not be writing an "Ed makes it home before the events of CoS" purely for the sake of rectifying the tragedy that is that me, personally, never getting to see Ed realize just how much Mustang was actually doing to protect him and Al.)

[weatheringtea]

FMA Cafe

While I was in Japan, the FMA cafe opened up :D I've never been to an anime cafe before, so this was perfect! I went once a week (so 3 times in total) so I could try a bunch of different dishes and collect coasters lol

I tried to put this under cut because it's long and full of pics, but adding the read more ruined the formatting of the pics so I'll leave it.

The first trip was March 22, kind by accident LOL. I was in the area to see Shinjuku Gyoen and the cafe was on our walk back to Shinjuku stn. The lobby was empty, so I gathered my very out of practice JP skills and asked if it was possible to get a seat as a walk-in. They said yes :D

Word hadn't gotten around yet it seems, so it was very empty upstairs too LOL. Great for pics :D

There's a ¥1,000 sitting fee and you get a drink with that. There's a QR code given to you for the menu (it matches to your table number so your orders are tracked). Menu was a bit clunky, probably because my JP reading skills are in the toilet, but I figured it out! They played the same 10 minute video the entire time (for the FMA mobile game).

Because I showed up late I only bought one thing to eat (last order for food was 18:00 and I didn't really sit down and get things figured out until 17:45-ish), and it was Lust's chocolate cake. It was very good (and very heavy lol). I got the Edward Elric drink first and the Roy Mustang drink second. Both came with mystery coasters. Ed's drink was better imo.

At the end the couple of us on the 2nd floor snuck up to the 3rd for pics before leaving.

I went back the day before I left for Osaka :D (27th)

Word had gotten around by now about the cafe and merch shop and it was busy this time! I popped in at 12:15 and asked if they had any seats available. No, they're full. He offered to book me in for 14:30 though! So I putzed around Shinjuku for 2 hours and went back :D

It was packed this time!! On both floors.

Winry's pie was alright. Heavier than I was expecting. Ed's fries were fun! They came with a white paper bag that you transfer the fries into, and you add whatever mix of spices you want from the spice cups it came with, then shake in the bag. Neat! Also tasty.

Drinks were Olivier's, Bradley's (with matching coaster!) and Ed's drink again (I should have gotten Roy's again dammit, I tried to take his glove hand home from the first time, but it got wet, the ink bled, and it ironically fell apart...)

Olivier's was the neatest looking drink, but also my least favourite. Bradley's was my favourite drink - very good!

I went back on April 4 before I went home ;A;. This time I made a reservation. I asked for a seat on the 3rd floor, since my first 2 had been on the 2nd, but I think seating is actually based on how early you get in line. I got in line early and noticed everyone in front of me also got 3rd floor, so I think they just fill the 3rd before dealing with the 2nd.

ANYWAYS

Great seat. A+. My spot had 2 table numbers and I asked if it was okay and they just were like "yeah yeah it's fine no worries". Okay!

By this point they must have been besieged with tourists. Poor woman hosting the floor couldn't speak English to save her life (and half my floor was tourists). She got to me and tried to suffer through a few English words and I stopped her. I'm fine with the instructions in Japanese :') please don't suffer more on my account.

Bradley's drink again, Ed's Milk Hater drink, and the classic FMA drink BECAUSE I CONTINUE TO FORGET ALL ABOUT ROY...

Ed's milk drink though... you pour the milk into the mug filled with soda(??) and ice. It tasted like a float without the cola?? It was unique... the most interesting drink to try for sure (Bradley's still my favourite).

I bought the mug at the gift shop :')

LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS AL PUDDING. This was amazing and fun. There is a little cake, there is a little ice cream, there is a little pudding, there's a little idk what it was but it was chocolate and good, and there are cat themed cookies under the pudding cup LMAO. Then there's the blood seal inside the tin. A+ Al wins. That was so much fun, I'm sad I left that until last, I probably would have gotten it again.

You could have totally sold me on this mug too if it had been for sale.

Look, I did remember Roy sorta :') I got his doughnut. It was HEAVY and the icing was so thick on top it was rock hard. Sticky, messy finger food.

So that's it :D I've run out of picture space lol. I wish I'd gotten to taste test things in the second round later in April (ARMSTRONG'S HASHED BEEF ;____;) but I hope they enjoy all the money I gave them while I was there LOL. I had some neat food and had fun doing it :)

[lotusthewriter]

Dead Souls (They Keep Calling Me)

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) Rating: T Relationships: Alphonse & Edward Characters: Alphonse Elric, Edward Elric Summary: Al watches Ed sleep. Turns out things haven't changed much. Word count: 770 AO3

A/N: I literally dreamed I wanted to write more Elric Brothers. So I decided to do that today. Especially considering how cold it's been where I live.

This takes place after Conqueror of Shamballa.

TRIGGER WARNING - Mention of alcohol.

DO NOT SHIP THE ELRIC BROTHERS. P/ROSHIP DNI.

--

He figures Ed isn’t as loud in his sleep as before.

Ed used to have recurrent nightmares. Al remembers them well.

Nowadays, his older brother sleeps peacefully. Unfortunately, Al knows the reason why. All those bottles in Ed’s bedroom…

Al doesn’t know how to talk to him about it. He knows it’s not an easy conversation to have, not when the Elric brothers have to focus more on the war and the people the government has been persecuting.

Now that Al has restored his memories, he’s no longer dreaming of this world, dreaming of the day he could reunite with Ed.

Alphonse now has nightmares.

His brother probably has no idea.

And it’s not like Al wants to disturb him. Not now that Edward actually sleeps without waking up in horror.

The younger Elric is sitting on the cold floor, sometimes analyzing the entirety of Ed’s room beyond the bottles of scotch. He sees his brother’s previous prosthetics, which are not as resistant as Winry’s looking from there… Many, many books, reading glasses on the table, Ed’s one loyal, oversized coat.

You might even see the picture of Ed’s previous roommate on his desk.

Al sighs.

He’s relatively close to the bed, but he’s not too glued. Mostly because he doesn’t want to wake Ed.

Al doesn’t want to go back to his room, either.

He needs to hear another living being.

Because Al can’t always feel himself.

So, Ed’s nonsensical, quiet sleepy noises comfort him. His big brother might be dreaming of home.

… if anything, he seems to be annoyed at Al.

“Al, you little…” Ed grumbles.

The younger boy can’t help smirking.

“Al…”

Ed turns around, slowly opening his eyes. Al raises an eyebrow, wondering if he’s waking up.

Well, the former’s jolt answers that question.

“ACK! What the heck?!” Ed exclaims. He calms down a little more when he realizes who’s there. “Al?”

“Um… hi, Brother.”

“Ugh, don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry.”

Ed’s grumpiness softens at Al’s low voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Then why were you watching me sleep like a total creep?”

“I don’t know, Brother! I just… like doing it. I’m sorry.”

Pause. “You couldn’t sleep?”

Al shrugs.

Ed sighs. “Just- Just get off the floor, it’s freezing tonight.”

He’s freeing some space in his bed for Al, who shyly joins him.

“How are you not wearing socks?” Ed notices, shocked. “You’re cold like ice!”

The hands touching Al’s face only now has him realize how cold he really is. Even Ed’s automail is warmer than him, and that’s saying something.

Ed’s left hand is holding one of Al’s, trying to warm it up.

“How long have you been here?” The older Elric questions.

Forever. “... not sure.”

Al doesn’t really look at him.

“You have a lot in your mind?” Ed guesses. Most specifically pointing at Al’s restored memories.

The other frowns a little instead of saying anything.

“... You didn’t want to be alone?”

Al clenches his free hand in a fist.

“It’s okay, Al.”

“I didn’t want to wake you, Brother.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I just want you to be safe.”

“I want you to be safe, too.”

Of course.

“I… I come here when I can’t sleep. Because at least I know you’re safe.” The bottles of scotch are judging Al from somewhere he can’t see. “It’s… home, I guess.”

“Oh, Al… come here.”

He lets Ed wrap his arms around him under the heavy blankets. Al shivers now that his brother hugs him, which might feel like the old days.

Ed is so, so, so warm.

“You can tell me when you can’t sleep.”

“I’m not a little kid anymore.” Liar.

“You’re not an armor anymore.”

Al’s brown eyes tear up.

He finally returns the hug, crying in Ed’s chest.

“... Sometimes it doesn’t feel like that,” Al whispers.

“I know.”

Ed squeezes him more, as if trying to protect Al from the cold, from the Gate, from everything else.

“I’m just glad I can hold my little brother,” the former says, relieved even if pained.

‘Little’ doesn’t sound too bad.

Al was always bigger and taller than everyone else… but now he isn’t.

It’s just odd having the mind of an older boy when he’s stuck in a younger body.

And yet his big brother loves him just the same.

“Me too,” Al replies.

Ed kisses his forehead and keeps him close and warm.

He really is home.

Different.

But… home.

Home is really wherever Ed is.

He hopes Ed won’t have to drink to sleep well, and that Al won’t lose sleep as often anymore.

Maybe one day.

[charaznablescanontoyota]

You mentioned Al being kinda girl crazy in one of your posts, and it got me thinking that the reason he never flirts with Aubrey or Trish is because his gaydar is on point.

(And also realistically that would be an annoying thing for a GMPC to do)

SO. YES, A LITTLE BIT BOTH OF THESE THINGS (audrey even says she's gay in ep4 lol)

BUT ALSO, CANONICALLY, al doesn't flirt! there are a bunch of bonus illustrations and 4komas where he makes a big deal out of wanting a girlfriend/wanting to come off well to girls and hes like, very polite to girls because he's polite to pretty much everyone, and girls LIKE him but every single time a girl expresses romantic interest in him he's just like "haha okay :)" and Doesn't Get It. he only talks himself up to mei because he wants her to think he's cooler than ed and then like...doesn't really notice when she develops a big obvious crush on him. another classic case of 'both of the elrics are Like This but ed is just way more obvious about it so al gets away with it' lmao

king of fumbling the bag

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Holidays! ❄️❄️ more from What They Expect please! I love that AU!

continuation of 1 2 3

It’s been well over a year since she’s seen Mustang. Al’s all aflutter about it, and how puberty has her looking like something other than a twelve year old boy, but she’s really not worried. Mustang is so involved with his own shit that he doesn’t have the time to care about hers. It would be a damning quality if it wasn’t exactly what she needed from him.

She is, sort of, a little bit worried about Riza. Not worried as in she actually thinks something is going to happen, but just that if anyone out of Mustang’s little idiot brigade would figure her out, it would be her.

Maes is a distinct possibility, but also not really. The thing that saves her, always, is that no one’s really looking. She’s loud and flashy and angry and no one thinks she’s too short to be a guy because of how sensitive she is about it and no one notices she’s pretty because they’re too busy dealing with her being mad and scowling and, with these guys, she’s got an extra ace up her sleeve.

They think they already know all her secrets.

They know about human transmutation and binding her brother’s soul to a suit of armor and every questionable and terrible thing she’s done since in her pursuit to fix it.

Why the hell would she be lying about her gender? It’s not even a thought in their heads, and if it ever becomes one, they’ll dismiss it before he even has a chance to.

Eden binds her chest tight extra tight, so her chest is nearly flat, and puts on her baggy tank top and giant red coat that hides the way her hips curve and the giant stompy boots that she really does love, sets her face in a familiar scowl, and goes off to war.

If war was child’s play, that is.

“Where have you been?” Mustang demands, towering over her and nostrils flaring.

Well. Sort of towering over her. She must have had a growth spurt, because he’s really only got a couple inches on her, which is sort of hilarious. She hadn’t noticed that he was short before. “Uh, lots of places. Haven’t you been reading my reports?”

She does not laugh in his face at the way his eyebrow ticks. She spends so much time meticulously writing everything down in dedicated code in her travelogues, she really doesn’t have the energy to spare when she gets to her reports for Mustang. Besides, he doesn’t really care what she’s doing, only that it’s big and flashy enough to distract from whatever he’s doing.

Is she supposed to know that? She can’t remember. But it’s so obvious that it doesn’t feel like something that can be a secret.

Then again, the rest of the brass haven’t caught on, so.

“What were you thinking in Liore?” he snaps.

Eden blinks. “Liore? That was forever ago. Did something happen? Rose didn’t mention anything in her last letter.”

“Yes, Edward, it was forever ago, but since you declined to answer my summons to come here and explain yourself, we’re discussing it now,” he says.

God, she’d forgotten how bitchy he gets. “Okay, well that priest guy was pretty strange-“

“I don’t care about the priest!”

She stares. She had to kill the guy twice and he doesn’t care? Honestly, she thinks it’s sort of memorable.

“What were you thinking messing with that river?”

Ed tilts her head to the side. “You’re upset about the river?”

He glares. “Of course I’m upset about the river!”

She bites the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Al’s really worried over nothing.

Mustang is never paying attention to the right things.

[tare-anime]

Fullmetal Alchemist

Welp, finally I read this manga.

So very late, yes I know, but this and that happened and I've finally able to binge read this amazing 10 years work (2001-2010) in a little more than a week.

Tbh, the first book was mostly world building and kind of slow paced, but starting from the last half of second book.... I can't stop reading.

Wow. Just wow.

As a reader who usually has to wait a week or two between each chapter, being able to read a series from start to finish in a week is quite a different experience, tbh 🤣🤣 I need two days to take a breath and comprehend the story. There must be details that I missed that I need to reread.

Overall, the highlight of this series is the impecabble characterizations and the growth of each character, and character dynamics.

And not only Ed and Al as protagonists, or Winry, Roy, Izumi as the closest support characters but also the people around them up until the minorest characters. I love Scar, Barry the Chopper, the Homonculus, and even the main antagonist Shadow in the flask.

All of them get their moments to shine. All of them got their share of development, and most important, all of them got to do something in the plot!

The world building and plot also been done amazingly. From the current timeline, up until events in the past, and all loose ends being tied up in the end that give me the most satisfactory endings. It is still an open ending, but at the same time the epilogue feels enough.

And of course, this manga contains so many amazing female characters, and each one of them is so badass. They have their strength and weakness and impact to the people around them.

My favorites mommies.... Izumi Curtiz and Olivier Armstrong.

OmG!!!! Especially in these badass moments??? 🛐🛐🛐🛐 My Queeeennn!

Of course, I will always love black haired beauty with knives. LanFan my beloved 💖💖💖💖

And last but not least, Granny Pinnako!

I mean, this person has been there, and will always be there through sweet moments and sorrows. Supporting Trisha and Hohenheim, Ed and Al, Winry. She stands strong for them. She is there when these people needs some strong hands to steady their wobbly legs. And pushes them to carry on with their life.

That is.... one amazing woman right there!!

As far as pairing ships, being a TwiYor fan I am, I've always been bombarded with Royai fanarts (and I'm not complaining). Yes, I noticed the tragic pasts, the relationship, and how supportive Royai can be (and it is quite similar to TwiYor in a way), but I think for FMA, I lean more to Ed and Winry ship.

Don't get me wrong, I love both ships.

But seeing Ed and Winry grow from little boy and girls, do their share of hardships, realize their feelings, and finally voice their awkward proposal. Auugghhh!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

My favorite moments for these ships are:

Yes yes, I will still love angst and hurt/comfort whenever I go 🤣🤣🤣

Oh, other ships that I like: LanFan and Lin, Izumi and Sig, May and Alphonse, Mr and Mrs. Hughes.

All in all, what an amazing series. I'm glad I finally able to read this 🥰🥰🥰🥰 and will do a reread while waiting for the next spy x family chapter.