#I like to think ed and winry's kids grow up with cool uncles who can turn into animals as a fun party trick

[waitineedaname]

Having read and appreciated your latest FMA fic on team greed, what are you thoughts on Heinkel and Darius as characters? And not saying this is up your alley, but how would you feel on them as a couple post-canon or during the later events?

I love them! I think the appeal of Team Greed fics is exploring these four (five?) getting used to each other, because we see them when they first start working together and then skip ahead several months and the dynamic shifts somewhat! I like that at first, they're like "this Ed kid is fucking annoying but at least he isn't Kimblee and I guess he saved our lives so we owe him" and then by the end, they seem to genuinely get along as a team! they might bug each other (like Darius and Heinkel getting on Ed's case about being rude to his dad) but they check in on each other during fights and I think Ed has grown on them by that point lol he does that. he's like a moss.

also one of my favorite scenes is their first fight with Ed because the dynamite thing gets me so bad. I love that they know the ingredients to dynamite. they could've just been meathead hired muscle kind of guys, but instead they follow along Ed's chemistry quiz until they realize what he's about to do to them lmao

I also really enjoy that the two pairs of chimeras introduced in the north have different perspectives on being chimeras, and neither perspective is presented as better or worse than the other! Zampano and Jerso really want to get their human bodies back, so they work with Al towards that goal (I love them debating alchemy theory in the manga, they're the best), meanwhile Darius and Heinkel are like "nah our chimera bodies are pretty cool actually, we wanna stay like this" and that's treated as just as valid. actually, as I type this, I'm realizing that makes them kinda reflect their respective Elric brothers -- Al desperately wants his human body back, while Ed is less concerned with his own missing limbs and is more practical about it, and neither perspective is better or worse, it just depends on their circumstances

also I am a big fan of Darius and Heinkel being a couple :] middle-aged bear4bear rights

[elfpen]

The Elric Kids

I said I’d outline my take on the Elric kids eventually. Here’s my take on Ed and Winry’s collection of little monsters:

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Yuriy: Born 1921

Tall, lanky. Gold hair, gold eyes, tan skin. Yuriy is the oldest. He looks just like his father. but his heart has always been a bit more like his mom’s. He falls in love with automail and becomes his mom’s assistant from a young age. One thing he does share in common with his father is his sense of style. He loves edgy styles and crazy color combinations, gets several ear piercings, and is constantly changing his hairstyle. Eventually he settles on a mid-length cut with undercut sides, a style he claims is perfect because it looks cool both up and down, and also doesn’t get in his way when he’s working. His parents are skeptical but supportive. In his work he likes making cosmetic embellishments to automail limbs, which Winry bemoans when he’s still young, but eventually, Yuriy turns this into a service to help people, especially young kids, feel comfortable with their new limbs after painful losses and surgery. Yuriy is very outgoing and loves a challenge. His biggest insecurity is that he can’t be the older brother his dad expects him to be; he sometimes resents his parents for having so many kids, especially when he’s a teenager. But at the end of the day, he loves his weird family and takes care of them all as best he can. He harbors special affection for Heimel, his only brother, who he’s constantly trying to drag out of his shell, as well as Sarah, his baby sister who can do no wrong in his eyes. When he turns 18, Yuriy legally changes his surname to Rockbell, so he can carry on the name of the family business. When he does this, he has his uncle Al draw “Elric” in Xingese and has it tattooed on his wrist because he wants to show that he’s still immensely proud to be an Elric, even if he is officially a Rockbell.

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Henrietta: born 1922

Tall for a girl and fairly thin, flat-chested, blue eyes, gold hair that puffs up in odd ways. Henrietta, or Henry as most call her, is the second eldest child of Ed and Winry. She’s only one year younger than Yuriy, and the small gap in age difference as well as Henry’s serious, mature personality means that she is the only one of the Elric kids who can go toe to toe with Yuriy and win on a consistent basis. Unlike her brother, Henry is fairly reserved but no less confident in her skills. She is a bookworm, and grew up spending most nights with her father in his study while her mother and brother tinkered in the shop. She found alchemy came to her rather easily, and became adept enough at the science that by a young age she could correct most of her father’s college students with ease. She’s not super great at expressing her feelings (though she has many), preferring books and ideas to people, because people are confusing, especially boys. To her utter dismay, she develops a crush on Roy Mustang’s oldest son, but has no idea how to deal with it. As an adult, Henry becomes an academic for a while before branching out into writing, both fiction and nonfiction. Eventually, she writes the combined memoirs of her father and her uncle.

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Trisha: born 1924

Ed was hesitant to name any of his children after his mother, but when his second daughter was born she appeared with dark brown hair that could have only come from his mother, so they called her Trisha. She has dark brown hair and her mother’s blue eyes, and all her life was fairly conventionally pretty, taking after her mother in personality. She is two years younger than Henry, but in many ways acts as the older sister in their relationship, helping Henry navigate fashion and crushes and schoolyard politics, while Henry stands by ready to pommel anyone who hurts her sister. Trisha is nearly magic in how much she can get away with by looking the right way and saying the right things, a fact which made her a subject of intense sibling rivalry growing up. She is particularly fond of her uncle Alphonse, and Al’s wife Mei is her ultimate hero. She is susceptible to ideas of romance, and wants to see the world. Of all his kids, Edward has perhaps the biggest soft spot towards Trisha. Later in life, Henry realizes that this is probably because the older she gets, the more Trisha looks like Ed’s own mother, and he still feels like he failed to keep her safe.

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Heimel: born 1926

In a family of strong personalities, confidence, and stubbornness, Heimel is the exception. He has yellow hair like his mother but his dad’s Xerxian gold eyes. He’s extremely shy, to the point that as a child his parents were afraid he might need developmental help because he took so long to talk. He is a sensitive soul and observes far more often than he engages with anything. He likes to explore, but on his own. He likes to read and also draw, though he’s not very good. He enjoys learning about alchemy but also likes other sciences, social sciences, anything that helps understand other people. Ed is often baffled by him, and they often have a hard time connecting. As Heimel grows older, Ed realizes more and more than Heimel inherited much of his personality from Hohenheim - which is fitting, considering they based his name off of that of his grandfather. Heimel remains a sensitive man throughout his life but eventually becomes more confident and, when needed, assertive. He is always quiet, but if he does ever get angry, it is terrifying. As an older teen, Heimel spends several summers in Xing learning Alkahestry with his uncle, which inspires him to pursue medical school. After earning his degrees he works as a pediatrician.

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Sarah: born 1929

Yellow hair, blue eyes, petite in stature. Sarah is the baby of the family, and she knows it. She is more like her father in personality than her mother, but she grows up virtually inseparable from her mother’s side. She is extremely competitive and is willing to fight just about everyone even though she’s a pipsqueak. That being said, she’s far more cheerful than her father was as a child. She likes both her sisters, but finds Henry often too dour and Trisha not daring enough. She could eat Heimel for breakfast. Her sibling bestie is Yuriy, and when the two are together they raise absolute hell. Sarah often thinks it’s a shame she and Yuriy are eight whole years apart, or else they would’ve been able to really grow up together. Ed and Winry are both very grateful they did not. Sarah is interested in everything, but has no real sense of purpose. She works for Yuriy for a little while, and then helps her father at work, and drifts from job to job. Failing all else she eventually enlists in the military, a decision that nearly makes Ed pass out of anger and fear, not least of all because she didn’t warn them. In the military, however, she finds that she is excellent at thinking on her feet and shouting above loud crowds. Eventually, she rises to the rank of Colonel, and commands a battalion of men three times her size who all adore her and would obey and protect her at all costs.