#brotherhood of Love

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Little Shadow 2/2

[ 1\2 ]

When I was little I thought my brother was the coolest person in the world. I wanted to be just like him!

Now that I’m older though, I’ve grown into my own person. Now, my brother and I can stand on equal footing, side by side. Whenever he asks for my help or advice, I will always remember how much he helped me when I was young, and I am immensely grateful to be able to do the same for him.

I don’t know if he misses having a little shadow, but I know he’s proud of me :)

[hyolks]

ohhh early 2000s protagonists save me

[scarymonsters-andsupercreeps]

Meow

Original:

[jopjab]

almost forgot to post this here oops. had lots of fun drawing this :3

[mardyart]

the gang

[thenerdyalchemist]

I love a dysfunctional little family

[lavendorii]

completely independent and well adjusted woman

[g4yh3nn4]

This is so ed and al core💜💜

[sassydefendorflower]

No, but you don't understand! It is so important that (one of) the last pictures we see of Ed is him holding his son with the biggest fucking smile in the entire world on his face!

Because Ed is Hohenheim's mirror!

Ed's narrative parallel is his own father (oh, how he would hate knowing that - how he fights against that realization) - Ed is the one who leaves Winry behind, just as Hohenheim left Trisha and the kids. Ed is the one who burns their childhood home down, just as Xerxes is destroyed in the wake of Hohenheim's naiveté. Ed is the one who commits an unforgivable sin and seeks atonement following his own shortcomings, just as Hohenheim unknowingly helps the Dwarf in a Flask destroy an entire civilization and carries that responsibility with him for the rest of his (long, long) life.

Hell, Hohenheim telling Ed that him burning the house down because he is running away from his past - while horribly cruel - is really just Hohenheim talking to himself. He wasn't lying when he said that Ed reminded him an awful lot of himself at that age!

And in every choice Ed makes throughout the show, he's always trying to be unlike his father, while unwillingly playing into the same pattern. Ed's complete disregard for Hohenheim, his hurt in the face of the father that left, is what ultimately pushes Ed to make similar choices - he doesn't want to see himself in his father, so he doesn't see the similarities of leaving Winry behind to Hohenheim walking out the door without ever looking back. There's a reason Winry has a thing about "backs in the distance" - and there's a reason why the Openings and Endings of fma Brotherhood often position the boys as walking away, only showing the audience their backs as they walk off.

But in the end?

Ed mirrors Hohenheim. Hell, they even stand in the same spot in the two family pictures. Hohenheim and Ed, both on the left side, both holding the oldest of their two kids, both- well, Hohenheim is crying, while Ed is the happiest he's ever been.

And that's only because Ed stopped running from his past - Ed found happiness in the end, and part of that was accepting Hohenheim as his father. It's not a story about forgiveness, but acknowledgement. Just Edward calling Hohenheim "his rotten father" in the end is enough for him to move past his refusal to engage with the realities of Hohenheim. The realities of his own father leaving in relation to him growing up.

By the end of the story, Ed dresses more conservatively and still travels - he looks more like Hohenheim than ever. But unlike before in the story, when Ed was fighting this relation, he is now happier than ever before. Happier than Hohenheim ever was. Because with Ed accepting all the qualities he shares with the man, he can also embrace all the differences between them.

Ed managed to grow alongside his guilt. He found happiness in his family, a loving wife, children, research and travel, philosophy and friendship. Edward gets to be happy. He gets to learn from his mistakes (from Hohenheim's mistakes) and return home.

And that's where the mirror breaks.

As all mirrors are wont to do.

[slushglow]

where are my edward elric fans in the crowd tonight

[druidonity2]

[tsukk1]

i’m so normal about baby shouto and big brother touya

[hyolks]

dance with a devil

[thebeloathed]

They all could be switched around and it'd still be true

[ahbogman]

help him

[mardyart]

kiddos