#had to rewrite this so many times trying to avoid info dumping

[bunnyscar]

The Siliven's Request: Part 19

“Is she waking? Is she waking? I want her to wake up!” a child’s voice exclaimed, somewhere above Alaine.

“Quiet, Fanny! You want the soldiers to hear us?” a boy’s voice muttered, sounding irritated.

Alaine groaned. Her head ached, and she felt sluggish and weary. Even opening her eyes felt like an impossible task. “She said something!” the child cried. Suddenly, she felt water being forced into her mouth and poured down her throat. Swallowing and lifting her head slowly, she struggled to open her eyes and saw two Siliven children, a boy and a young girl, kneeling next to her and peering at her curiously. They started as Alaine sat up suddenly, looking about herself in confusion. They were in what appeared to be a small shed-like building, barely lit by a dim lantern.

“Who are you? Where am I?” Alaine asked in bewilderment.

The girl squealed in delight and bobbed up and down on her knees. “Oooh, oooh, she woke, Chess, she woke!”

“I know, I can see,” the boy said, rolling his eyes. He frowned at Alaine and answered her, “I’m Chess, and this is my little sister Fanny. You’re in a little cabin near the Siliven army lines. We found you out in the field and brought you here, before any of the soldiers could find you. You were lucky you fell into a hole in the ground and somehow got shielded from the bombs.”

“Soldiers? Bombs?” Alaine repeated dazedly. “What bombs?” Suddenly she remembered the loud sound and the flash she had seen just before she lost consciousness. The color drained from her face. “Wait, you said the Siliven army—is this a battlefield?! But, the war shouldn’t have been that close yet,” she said in a trembling voice. She looked anxiously about the room. “Did you find anyone else? A human and another Siliven?”

Chess cocked his head. “No, you were the only one out there.”

Alaine clenched her hands. Were Manas and Pim dead then? Manas might be able to escape, since he could use his metal abilities, but Pim would have no protection. And what about Alf and the others? Had the bombs reached their camp? She shook her head. No, she had to believe that they were still alive, that they had somehow escaped. The alternative was too horrible.

“But, why did you bring me here?” Alaine asked. “If you’re on the Siliven side, aren’t I an enemy to you?”

Chess shifted uncomfortably. “Well, technically you are,” he said slowly.

Fanny interrupted, “But we want to talk to a human! We don’t never get to see or talk to any humans! What do you eat? Is it true you’re all weak and can’t do any magic?”

In annoyance, Chess lightly rapped his sister on the head. “Fanny, don’t ask such stupid questions!”

Alaine smiled. “I don’t mind. I would assume humans eat pretty much what you do. And while there are a lot of humans who don’t do magic, there are some magicians,” she said.

“Can you do magic?” Fanny asked, her red eyes sparkling with delight.

“Err, well, yes,” Alaine stammered. Changing the topic, she asked quickly, “But, if I’m your enemy, why are you keeping me alive?”

“Grandpa says killing people, even humans, is bad,” Chess responded. “Besides, killing a defenseless girl is one of the most shameful things a person can do, isn’t it? I’m not about to be like Uncle Ven or Aunt Chen, who kill just for fun,” he said savagely. Alaine blinked. Uncle Ven?

“What were you doing out there, anyway? You really didn’t know the war was heading this way?” Chess asked.

“We had hoped we could get to the capital before it reached us,” Alaine sighed.

“You were traveling with someone, then,” Chess said, watching her keenly.

Alaine nodded. “Yes, I’ve been traveling with my friend Manas, and we recently joined a group of refugees heading to the human capital,” she explained.

“Oooh, you know Uncle Manas?” Fanny asked eagerly.

“Uncle? Are you somehow related?” Alaine asked in surprise.

“Fanny, it might not be the same Manas,” Chess scolded his sister, who was bouncing about with excitement. Warily, he said to Alaine, “We do have an uncle named Manas, but he’s obviously a Siliven, and used to be part of the royal family at that.…”

“Yes, that sounds like the Manas I know,” Alaine confirmed.

Chess stared. Fanny cried, “How lucky! You got to see Uncle Manas! Does he really have weird eyes like they say?”

“They’re not weird,” Alaine replied. “They are a bit different, but they’re actually kind of beautiful, once you get over the first shock of seeing them.”

“Why are you traveling with a Siliven? And why with that particular Siliven?” Chess asked with a frown.

“We made a deal together, to help each other find a place to live and work,” Alaine said hesitantly. Even to her ears, it did not sound convincing; but she still remembered Manas’ warning to not reveal her magic ability, and though these children seemed nice, she was still uncertain what their intentions were.

Chess considered a moment, then shrugged. “Kind of strange, but I guess I’ll take your word for it. Not like it really concerns us,” he said, surprisingly indifferent.

“Did you know him very much?” Alaine asked.

“Not really. He’s our mother’s brother, but they never let us near him when he was still at the palace. And then he got in trouble, and, well, he was banished,” Chess explained.

So Manas had a sister. Alaine vaguely remembered from his memories that he had a couple sisters, but they had not been as prominent as Ven in the memories she had seen.

“You mentioned your grandfather….does that mean he’s…” Alaine hesitated.

“Grandpa is her highness the queen’s father. So, he’s really our great-grandfather, but we just call him Grandpa,” Chess replied. “He’s the one who takes care of us. Since mother doesn’t care about us at all,” he said bitterly.

“Surely that’s not true. Every mother feels something for their child,” Alaine responded, then immediately regretted what she had said, seeing Chess’s glare.

“You don’t know our mother. Once we were born, she didn’t want to have to do anything with us, said we were too troublesome and passed us off to nurses and then to Grandpa. She doesn’t care about anything but herself and being comfortable,” he snapped. Alaine bit her lip. She should not have assumed things; hadn’t she seen how Manas’ mother had rejected him? Not every mother was as nice as hers. And it seemed there were a lot of problems within Manas’ family. Though, if this great-grandfather had told Chess and his sister that killing was bad, perhaps there were Silivens even among the royal family that were not all mean and cruel.

"Your Grandpa has rather different views than some of the other royal family," Alaine said cautiously.

"Yeah, you could say that. Part of it's because he wasn't born royal," Chess said. Seeing Alaine's confusion, he explained, "In the Siliven land, you don't necessarily have to be royal or even nobility to become part of the royal family. Magic ability is more important in determining who you marry. Grandpa was actually a doctor before he became the queen's father, but when it was discovered that Grandpa's daughter had the same magic ability as the king, she was chosen to be the king's wife. Grandpa became part of the royal family as a result, but that doesn't mean he thinks like the rest of them."

"I see," Alaine murmured.

Chess sighed. "But, they also know he doesn't see eye to eye with them, so as a result he doesn't get much respect or authority in the royal court. Even though he deserves it," he muttered.

There was a pause as Alaine digested this information. A new thought occurred to Alaine, and she asked in concern, “By the way, what are you two doing here? Isn’t it dangerous for children to be so near a battle?”

Chess smirked, in a way that was quite reminiscent of Manas. “We might not be as young as you think, considering that Silivens live a lot longer than humans,” the boy replied in an amused tone, then said more seriously, “It’s a Siliven tradition that children in the royal family attend battles in order to learn how to fight and lead the soldiers, since eventually they will take charge of the army. Not that anyone is really teaching us or even paying any attention to us, besides Grandpa.”

“That seems rather harsh, to have children go to war,” Alaine said in concern. “For us humans, we try to shield them from war.”

Chess shrugged. “It’s only a tradition for the royal family, though. Most Siliven children don't go to the front lines. Grandpa didn’t want us to come either, but we had to, so he compromised by coming along with us so he could make sure we were safe.”

“Yeah, and we’d be in biiiig trouble if he found out we actually went out onto the battlefield and brought you here,” Fanny giggled, half nervous, half excited.

“Indeed, I’d say you are in big trouble,” a deep voice spoke. The children froze, turning to the door guiltily. Alaine looked up to see that another Siliven had noiselessly entered the cabin and was standing to one side of the door, in a dark corner of the shed. How long had he been there? She hadn’t noticed him come in at all. He appeared to be a much older Siliven, his face wrinkled and his hair a rusty orange. His purple eyes looked over Alaine with a piercing gaze, inspecting her closely, though not with hostility.

“Grandpa!” Fanny cried, jumping up and running over to the man. He patted her head tenderly, but said sternly, “Didn’t I tell you two to stay away from where they were bombing?”

“We didn’t go out when they were launching the bombs,” Chess said quickly. “We made sure they were done, and we only went a little ways. Besides, we found this human and brought her here to be safe.”

The old Siliven considered Alaine, who bowed her head slightly in greeting. Though he did not carry himself regally as Alaine would have expected of royalty, there was something about this Siliven that made you want to respect him, a certain wisdom and experience that showed in his eyes. A shiver ran down Alaine’s spine. Despite what Chess had said, she felt a little fear of what the queen's father might do to her.

“Very well, I’ll let you off this time, but there won’t be a next time, got it?” Grandpa admonished the children, looking them both in the eye. They nodded. He turned his piercing gaze back towards Alaine and asked, “And who might you be?”

“My name is Sara,” Alaine answered a bit nervously. “I was traveling with a group of human refugees, and we got caught in the front lines, it seems.”

“I see. You were trying to escape the war, is that it?” the Siliven said. Alaine nodded.

Fanny interjected, “Grandpa! Grandpa! She knows Uncle Manas! She says she’s friends with him.”

The Siliven gave Alaine a curious look. “Manas? What would he have to do with a human female?”

“Well, we made a deal to travel together and look for jobs,” Alaine said awkwardly.

She wanted to shrink under the scrutinizing look the Siliven gave her. Finally, he said, “I highly doubt Manas would join you just for that purpose. Not after what he did. Sara, is he trying to take advantage of you?”

“N-no. I mean, maybe at first, but not now…,” Alaine stammered. It was hard to keep her composure under those piercing eyes. It was not that they were mean or accusing, more that she felt like they could see into her mind and tell that she was not revealing the whole truth. Yet there was something in them that caught her gaze. They were stern eyes, hardened by the harshness and of the world, yet deep within them Alaine could see something else, something gentle and compassionate. And suddenly she wanted to tell him everything.

The Siliven sat down next to her. “My name is Kelsin,” he said. “You seem to have a history with Manas. Why not tell me?" Seeing Alaine hesitate, Kelsin assured her, “You needn’t worry, I don’t plan to use the information against you or Manas. Though I was never allowed to get close to him, and so I have no personal relationship with Manas, I still have some interest in his whereabouts. He is my grandchild.”

Alaine’s eyes widened at those words. In all Manas’ memories, she had not heard his parents ever call him their son, and he had never really been treated as family by them or his siblings. Yet this man had just called him grandchild....

“I—Manas found me first, when I was living with my uncle,” Alaine began haltingly, and she ended up telling Kelsin the whole story, from when Manas had taken her out of her uncle’s shop until they had been gathering firewood just before the explosion happened. She told him about her magic, about Manas’ abilities, even about Manas’ past and the deal they had made. She left nothing out, except for her true name.

When she had finished, Kelsin regarded Alaine with a softer expression and said kindly, “You’ve had quite an adventure, haven’t you?”

Alaine nodded, tears popping into her eyes unexpectedly. She suddenly felt drained. It had been a long time since she had confessed so much to someone besides Manas, and telling Kelsin felt like a weight had just been taken off her back. She had not realized how heavy it had become to carry the knowledge of Manas’ past as well as the fears of both her and his futures.

“So, is Uncle Manas a good person?” Fanny asked. She had started braiding Alaine’s hair while they had been talking, and now peeked around Alaine’s head curiously.

“Yes, deep inside at least,” Alaine said, wiping her eyes.

Kelsin asked, “You trust him? Even if he’s murdered people? Your people?”

“I know...most people would say it’s unwise, maybe even wrong to forgive him. I know he’s done bad things, and I’m not saying they should just be ignored. But he doesn’t want to do those things again. He wants to change. Is it wrong for me to choose to trust and help him, to give him a second chance?” she said, looking earnestly into Kelsin’s eyes.

Kelsin regarded her a moment, then rested a hand gently on Alaine’s shoulder. “That is for you to decide. I won’t stop you if you still choose to follow Manas and try to help him. As I never knew him personally, neither when he lived in the palace nor now, I cannot say whether he is really changing or if he is a murderer at heart. Though for your sake and his, I certainly hope he is as you believe. And to forgive others is good. I would caution you, though, to be wise. You cannot always save a person, no matter how much you desire to,” he said, a note of sorrow entering his voice.

Alaine gazed up at him and smiled somewhat tearfully. “Thank you,” she sniffled.

“You intend to look for Manas, I suppose?” Kelsin asked.

“Yes. I can’t give up hope that he’s alive,” Alaine said determinedly.

"Yes...If that is the case, then I should let you know of his condition,” Kelsin said slowly.

Alaine blinked. “His...condition?” she asked in confusion.

Kelsin paused, then said, “You already know that the color of his eyes are connected to his ability to see the magic aura of others. There’s more to it than that. While it may seem his eye color is a side effect of that ability, it’s actually due to a sort of disease.”

Alaine started. “Disease? Manas never seemed sick,” she said uneasily.

Kelsin continued, “It’s a very rare disease, one that most people have never heard of. I only learned about it, because I was asked by a certain person to research it back when Manas was just a child. The disease occurs at birth, for unknown causes. It’s a cruel disease, one that slowly kills its victim by poisoning them.”

Alaine’s eyes widened in horror. Kelsin said, “You may know that each race has their own innate ability. Elves have an ability to communicate with plants, dwarves can mold rock into any shape, faeries can change their size at will, and we silivens can turn our limbs into weapons. This disease, however, causes these natural abilities to poison the body. The more the ability is used, the more poison accumulates within the individual, and the sicker they will become. If the ability is used moderately and only once in a while, the disease can be slowed and does not show many side effects. But if an ability is used too much at one time, that person could become seriously ill and die suddenly. And even if a diseased individual uses his ability very sparingly, the disease will still progress, simply because the person has the capability to use his or her ability. Whatever one does, eventually it will kill him or her.”

Alaine began to feel like an iron claw was slowly closing around her heart. “You mean—Manas is—slowly dying?” she said, her voice trembling.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Kelsin said grimly. “Frankly, it's a miracle that Manas has survived this long. The disease shortens an individual’s life severely. Of the few cases that I could find information about, none of them survived past adolescence. And judging from how much they forced Manas to train his ability as a child, his life span has probably been cut in half—perhaps even more.”

“Half?” Alaine said faintly.

“It’s very dangerous for a diseased child to use the ability when young, since he or she is still developing. But Siliven teachers are notorious for pushing their pupils to the limits” Kelsin replied solemnly.

“But—Manas never seemed ill, even when he did turn his arm into a sword or an axe. He said that he could use regular Siliven abilities for ten minutes without feeling sick. I mean, he seemed a bit tired whenever he used his liquid metal, but still…” Alaine murmured.

“He may have trained himself to endure the immediate effects for a few minutes, but it would still progress the disease,” Kelsin responded. “Though I don’t know about his liquid metal abilities; they are rather different from the usual Siliven qualities, and may affect him differently. Even among the few diseased Silivens I was able to find in my research, none of them could do what Manas could.”

Alaine stared at the wooden floor boards beneath her, her mind spinning. Manas was dying. Had been dying, right in front of her, and she had never known. Perhaps he didn’t even realize it either, for in his memories she had seen nothing about this disease nor had Manas mentioned it. Was there no way to cure it? Nothing they could do? What would Alaine do if he did die? At that thought, a dark chasm of despair opened in her heart.

Seeing Alaine’s pale and troubled face, Kelsin gently put his hand on her shoulder and said kindly, “I am sorry, I did not mean to worry you. If Manas has survived this long, he may yet have many years to go, at least as long as a human life.”

Alaine took a deep breath and nodded, her mind retreating from the black pit of despair it had almost fallen into. Yes, she had to cling to the hope that Manas would be alright. That he would live. For now, she just needed to find him and keep him from using his metal abilities as much as possible.

“Come, you should leave,” Kelsin said, standing.

“Aww, but I don’t want Miss Sara to leave!” Fanny pouted.

Chess, who had been frowning thoughtfully this whole time, scolded his sister, “Don’t be like that, Fanny. Do you want her to get in trouble with the queen?”

“No,” Fanny said miserably.

Alaine smiled and patted Fanny’s head. “It was really great to meet you. Maybe we’ll meet again someday,” she encouraged.

Fanny brightened. “You will visit, won’t you? Once the war is over?” she said eagerly.

Alaine hesitated and said falteringly, “Y-yes, when the war is over.” But even if the war did end soon, would it really be in a state that she could visit Fanny and Chess in peace?

Chess turned to Kelsin and asked, “Grandpa, how are we going to get her away without the soldiers seeing? Our army is crawling all over the place here, except for this cabin and the bombed field.”

Kelsin smiled, a somewhat mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Haven’t you noticed? The way out is right underneath us.”

The others looked blankly at him. Kelsin reached down and pulled some of the boards up off the ground, revealing a large gaping hole that sloped downward into a tunnel. “How did you know that was there?” Chess exclaimed.

“I noticed it when I entered. It’s easier to see when you first come in,” Kelsin responded, then turning to Alaine said, “I don’t know where this tunnel will take you, nor how far it may go, but I think it might be your best bet at getting away.” Alaine nodded. Handing her the lantern, Kelsin smiled gently and said, “May the light guide you, child, and may you find Manas soon.”

Fanny hugged Alaine and squeezed her tight. “Do come back sometime!” she sniffled.

“Um, if you ever need help and we’re nearby, know that we’re happy to help,” Chess said somewhat awkwardly. Alaine smiled and thanked them. She turned to the tunnel, took a deep breath, and entered its dark depths. She would survive and get out of this battlefield. She would find Manas, and she would not let him die.

Link to Part 18:

[thetreestumptherapist]

So, I was writing a reply, but my internet dumped as I was finishing it and I had to refresh the page after the internet came back so I lost the rather long reply and then it took me a while to find this post again so I'm just going to bullet point it because I don't have it in me to rewrite that whole thing normally. (editor treestump here. I started this as a reply, but copy and pasted it here because I had to turn it into a reblog because I ran out of room to say everything I wanted to say and I do not have the mental capacity to polish it and do it "properly" rn💀)

I accidentally read it as he is a gamer. This is no fault of yours and is purely due to my lack of care in reading things properly.

2. I agree if he is not a gamer, he will be skipping cutscenes. Does this annoy everyone who is involved in this situation? I'm thinking probably.

3. If he IS a gamer, cutscene skipping depends on his mood and how many times he's seen the cutscene before.

4. Gamer or not, I do not think he would play games like cod, x-com, etc because that is literally what he does for a living.

5. I do not think he would be able to stand more peaceful games such as animal crossing or minecraft. (I am aware Creepers and Phantoms exist just to spite us, but minecraft is a relatively peaceful game comparatively speaking.) It is possible he would enjoy building and customizing a whole island/world and being in charge of his own life for awhile, but also he would know it's just a videogame and is not real and it would make his depression worse and would become an addiction and he is too in control of himself to let himself become addicted to something like that so he just avoids it altogether.

6. I think he would need a game that has either no pinpointable enemies, like tetris, or minesweeper, or a game with a primary big bad for him to fight towards taking out.

7. Because of points 4-6 , I think the legend of Zelda would be the optimal videogame for Master Chief to play. It has a primary big bad, is not too peaceful unless you want it to be, (In BOTW, I was trying to trigger a panic moon and have eliminated a majority of the monsters. It is very peaceful rn. Still no panic moon tho :( Tips and info would be appreciated), and it's a very different style of war and fighting from the ones he's used to and the ones depicted in cod, x-com, etc.

once again thinking about how i think chief wouldn't be a gamer but if you got him to play games, he would definitely be that person smashing the skip cutscene button

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 36

Last time: Sloth wished he had a jacket or something, our heroes found the Goth’s illegal mining operation, and M.G. Armstrong was offered immortal soldiers. Onwards!

No intro again, we’re starting with oh it’s Beard. Alright buddy, what are you up to now? Reciting names? While undressing? Who are you talking to

oh um Well this is a thing.

So… after saying a bunch of names, Beard apologized that he had to “use” them, then jammed his fingers into his chest to pour some blood onto the ground, which then swirled around and went into the earth.

Beard’s not the Big Bad, is he? It’s Uncle.

Tephi is currently sniggering at me.

Crazy Theory In Light Of New Scene Time! *deep breath*

So all this time I’ve been ranting at Beard for being the Big Bad, but what I’m guessing now is a Frankenstein situation; Beard got caught up in his research trying to expand Alchemy and create a Homunculi (with the Philosopher’s Stone? Without?), created Uncle who then decided that he was a superior being to mere humans and went on to create the Goths. Beard goes into hiding/on his endless fishing trip, is he trying to stop Uncle or has given it up as a lost cause? He also appears to have the same Philosopher’s Stone blood that Uncle has, experimenting on himself before making Uncle? Who knows! Still don’t forgive him for abandoning his family, even if he has some excuse like “I did it to protect you from the Goths.”, because we can see how well that worked out.

In any case, I think I understand all the blocks of spoiler text now, if he actually is a good guy then I apologiz- no actually I don’t apologize, dude is still sketchy as hell and abandoned his wife and kids. He’s still got a long way to go before he makes a Homura recovery on my List.

Episode 36 - “Family Portrait”

This looks like it’ll be another Beard episode like Interlude Party (which I just went back to re-read my post and I’m cringing at my anti-Beard rants), but with The Reveal I think I’d be ok with getting some more info on this guy. Just as long as we can get back to M.G. Armstrong catfishing Raven soon.

Yup, flashback episode. Baby!Ed and Baby!Al are sleeping, Beard by their bedside. Mama Elric says he can hug them if he wants, but Beard doesn’t want “the monster” to spread. So he already has his Philosopher’s Blood at this point?

[Mama Elric]: “Please. If it could spread that way, don’t you think I would have caught it a long time ago?”

I did not know I needed sassy Mama Elric until I got it but now I have a mighty need

The standard Creepy Tinkly Piano Music starts up as Beard

[Beard]: “Since I got this body-”

?! No no, I can’t stop and rewrite all my theories every other sentence or we’ll be here all night.

Beard is saying that ever since he got this body he’s seen a lot of death, tried to pass it off as the natural flow of the universe. He’s seen a lot of new things flourish over his life, accepted his body and kept on living. But then he met Mama Elric and created two sons oh ok I can see where this is going. Easy to accept death when it happens to Others, but to your Own?

...or not since he just compares himself to his aging sons, calls himself a monster. Damnit man I was giving you a noble backstory stop messing up my theories

Later, Mama Elric summons Beard from his Lair/Lab to surprise him with a photographer! Oh I get it, they’re getting that family picture (title drop-ish) that Beard took with him when he stopped by Resembool. Mama Elric passes Beard Baby!Ed, and good Leto man you’ve been a father for how many years? Not wanting to disturb them while they were sleeping was one thing but you’re acting like someone handed you another child, surely you’ve had some practice and carrying your own sons.

The Elrics pose while the photographer takes oh never mind Mama Elrics giving her “we’re taking this picture for the memories” speech even though he just asked for everyone to stand still. This is an old-timey camera lady, if you keep talking it’ll end up with everyone else ok but you with a great big blur where your mouth is.

[Mama Elric]: “He’s taking it. Smile, dear.” [Beard]: *Complete opposite of a smile*

Aw. Ok, I can understand why they crop out his head in that picture all the time now, that’s just depressing.

Huh. So that’s Beard’s motivation, then. He’s decided that immortality isn’t worth watching his loved ones age and die around him, so he’s of course researching a way to make them immortal as well nope he just wants to reverse his immortality so he can age and die with them. Ehhhhhhh ok whatever we aren’t getting back into the “is immortality good or bad” thing seeing as the only in-universe way is Stupidly Evil, let’s just focus on going back to Plain Old Human.

[Beard]: “That bastard…”

Are you talking about Uncle? Truth? Because I swear if this show goes and pulls out another Big Bad “for real this time you guys” I’m going to scream.

Aw, Beard’s fixing up the tree swing, we get an amusing moment where he falls down that let’s be real is only amusing because it’s A)in an anime so Physical Comedy is the rule, and B)he’s at least a semi-Goth so physical injuries are just a nuisance. Mama Elric comes out to check on him, and he gives the inevitable reveal that he’s going Absent Anime Father. Mama Elric is… surprisingly chill about this.

Beard’s trying to sneak out while the kids are asleep, but we know how that worked out. Mama Elric goes to distract them as Beard frowns (upset that his secret plan to sneak out secretly and avoid Familial Interaction failed?), then sees Baby!Ed looking up at him.

Way back in Episode 12

Flashback! Mama and Papa Elric are standing at the door, Baby!Ed and Baby!Al happened to be up early in the morning. Mama’s of course all over her children, but Papa Elric… just glares down at Ed, that’s the only description I can use for that look. Then he turns without a word, and walks out the door.

Context!

With both of his sons looking at him, Beard’s self-composure wavers ever slightly before he regains his glare and turns away.

Hey, it’s the campfire from the intro! Beard is looking at the family picture, before looking up to the night sky. “Just a little while longer…”

Whoa, all that was just before the intro?!

Oh come on! I was getting invested in more Beard Backstory, it’s almost a letdown to go back to Fort Briggs. Almost.

A bunch of Briggs soldiers are scouting the Goth Tunnel, seems their radio’s dead. Interference by the Military? The CO says they’ll keep going to find where all the rubble got dumped, but his horse shies and the ominous flutes start up. Who else is down there?

Black Shadows! Eyes! Teeth! Impalement!

Run Smith, run! Flee the Gate of Truth never mind he wasn’t fast enough. Sorry dude.

Ed’s listening to Raven’s “immortal soldiers” offer, and M.G. Armstrong’s baaaarely restraining herself from killing this old creep who’s all up in her personal space. She asks if the whole immortality thing would be for all her troops as well as herself, Raven says he can tell her “later”. So now she has to choose between accepting his offer and assisting his plans for Briggs (which could go very badly for the troops she commands), or refusing and getting pushed aside like General Grumman.

Before she can say anything, a mook’s knocking at the door to report that “something” has happened to the underground tunnel team- whoops, Raven overheard and is inviting himself along to go see. The eavesdroppers head out as well, after Ed Transmutes up some rope to “make it look convincing”. Right they’re still prisoners.

Whew, good thing they got the rope, they’ve run into Sideburns showing Kimblee around the fort. Ed recognizes The Crimson Alchemist, and oh yeah they’ve never actually met before, so Kimblee makes the mistake of thinking The Fullmetal Alchemist is the giant suit of armor instead of the pipsqueak everyone’s pointing to.

[irate!Ed]: “If one more person makes that mistake…”

Down in the pipe room, M.G. Armstrong’s getting the report of lost contact, aside from Smith’s horse with what they assume is his arm (man, arms just do not stay on people’s bodies in this show, do they?). M.G. Armstrong orders a rescue tea- nope shut down by Raven who claims the tunnel is too dangerous. Now, about that immortal monster she was talking about earlier?

Wow. General is straight up ordering M.G. Armstrong to grab the monster they put on ice, put him back in the tunnel and seal it up behind him. Obviously the nearby flunky balks at burying any possible survivors in the tunnel, but Raven just paraphrases the Law of the North about obeying strength and power. Now, is M.G. Armstrong going to refuse an order from her superior officer?

Mid-ep pictures of Crazy Grin Raven and steadfast Olivier Mira Armstrong.

Raven’s visiting the Elric Brothers in their cell, happy to see that they’ve been “keeping their mouths shut”. Ed’s just a little annoyed to have his friends held hostage and be locked up, but the ever-helpful General assures them that they can go soon. He then assures the boys that they don’t need to worry about the tunnel, M.G. Armstrong’s being a good little soldier and following orders.

Something that her own troops seem to be having a little trouble with now, the flunky from earlier is arguing with M.G. Armstrong about the lost team until she snaps at him to be quiet and obey. Kimblee’s watching everything from the walkways and snarks that even “The Impregnable Wall Of Briggs” bows to authority. Here’s hoping she proves you wrong soon.

Hey Sloth, how was your nap? Raven tells him to wake up and get back to work, apparently Pride explained it to him already. Now with his orders to get back to, Sloth returns to digging while Raven spouts some drivel about Sloth being a “chimera” working for Central, and since it was a top-secret mission they had to cover the hole and guard it.

[Raven]: “I’m counting on you soldiers! It’s people like you who make this country what it is!”

...wow. Ok, I’m pretty sure that M.G. Armstrong knows that the offer of immortality is intended to be at the cost of her own troops now. Way to eff things up Raven. Now if you had couched it as harvesting Drachmans to empower herself and her troops it might have been different.

Hey Marcoh, hey May! Still going over the notes?... wait, how long have you been at that hut? What have you been eating? Anyways, Marcoh says the important parts of the book are written in Ancient Ishvalan, which he can’t make heads or tails of. If only they had an Ishvalan Monk who could translate. Yeah, where is Scar?

Ooooh shoot. The Briggs snowtroopers have found the girl with the weird cat now, they draw their guns and move in when suddenly Scar! Man, good timing. Meeting up with the Doctor and the Princess, Scar confirms that they have the notes and says it’s time to move NOW HOLD ON. Did you really just take those two soldiers’ uniforms and leave them in the snow? Dude, not cool! At least move them into the hut so they don’t freeze to death.

Uh, timeskip apparently. Raven and M.G. Armstrong are overseeing the sealing of the tunnel, Raven’s confirming that the “weak” will be sacrificed to make the chosen few immortal. Man, Raven just has no redeeming qualities beyond that beard, does he? He’s just cheerfully talking about how the weak will be the foundation for the strong, completely missing the Death Glare that M.G. Armstrong’s leveling at him.

Sideburns is still having to babysit Kimblee, takes a moment to ask how the punk he was threatening in a hospital just a few days ago healed so quickly, let alone how a convicted murderer of officers got to walk free. Kimblee’s not exactly forthcoming.

Raven’s still cheerfully going on about how the country was founded with the plan to Mass Sacrifice its population, and how his generation gets to reap the rewards. He clasps her shoulder and damnit stop being a creeper you traitor-

[M.G. Armstrong]: “Hmph. There’s no need.”

Wait is she HELL YES

Screw you, you old coward! Just stand there with her sword through your arm as you feebly protest about her being a “chosen one”.

[M.G. Armstrong]: “I don’t need a new seat from you. You’re going to lose the one your moldy ass has clung to for too long! Right about now, Raven! You old TRAITOR!”

Oh hey, how convenient that there’s a fresh pool of concrete for that jerk’s corpse to be hidden in.

[Armstrong the Great]: “General, you are among the weak who will become the foundation for this country. Literally.”

Ha. Now we can get to work! Get some gloves free of traitor’s blood, find Sideburns and the other unwanted guest, and get that concrete nice and level.

Oh my Leto shut up Kimblee, stop trying to antagonize Sideburns with taunts about Ishval. Just as he starts to snap back Sideburns is called aside to hear that he doesn’t have to distract Kimblee anymore. He goes back and claims that “nobody can find General Raven”, so Kimblee… uh oh. Kimblee’s got standing orders to act as he sees fit if Raven’s not around, so they probably should give him a car to leave the fort. After all, one disappearance can be put down as bad luck. Both Raven and Kimblee? They can’t show their hand so soon.

Aw, the flunky who argued for the rescue mission is still pleading with Armstrong the Great to check the tunnel before it’s sealed. Ooh, but Ed made a second door earlier! That… may not have been such a good idea, I know that these guys haven’t seen what killed the tunnel team but still.

The mechanic stops by the Elrics’ cell to say Raven’s taking a concrete nap, then walks off. Wait, you’re still leaving those two in jail? Raven’s dead and Kimblee’s leaving, you don’t need to keep up the prisoner facade! Damnit, let the protagonists out to do their job!

Awww, hell. Kimblee’s shown up, wants to talk with the Fullmetal Alchemist. Fine whatever, just… what do you mean, “a visitor”?

CRAP. Winry! Or, is that Envy in disguise? Nah, probably Winry given how she’s yelling about Ed not getting his automail adjusted before going north. Someone from the military contacted her?

...Kimblee get your hands off her shoulders right now.

Damnit. Right as we get Armstrong the Great acting against the Military in defiance of the immortality temptation, we’ve got the Goth’s attack dog reminding them of the hostages. This is-

The end of the episode? Really? Wow, ok then. This one seemed like we got a short story on Beard (that just raised

so many new questions

) and a partial arc with Fort Briggs. What’s gonna happen next?

Wait hold on, this is one of those post-credit scene episodes. Roy’s meeting with one of the bar girls who’s reporting on Kimblee’s rapid recovery after Raven showed up. After paying her for the info a passing flower merchant teases him about just getting a “nice seeing you”... before saying she has a message from Armstrong the Great.

[Roy]: “I’ll take every flower you have in that cart.”