FMA recs
Posted on September 20, 2008
Filed Under small fandom recs, anime/manga fandom, Fullmetal Alchemist |
Another new fandom for me :) See my review of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime here.
Usual drill:
## means “loved to bits OMG!”
# stands for “liked.”
[] means “rather liked,” on the brink between “liked” and “not my thing.”
If you want my reviews of manga and yaoi manga that I liked, click here. Other fandom recs are here. Or use the nav bar above.
FMA places to check:
gossymer’s FMA fandom intro post, with rec lists linked
Ship manifesto: Elricest (Edward and Alphonse Elric)
Ship manifesto: Roy Mustang/Edward Elric
fma_yaoi LJ comm
Touka Koukan, a Fullmetal Alchemist yaoi fanfiction archive
Scimitarsmile, another FMA archive
FMA recs people gave me when I asked
FMA recs at Try This Fic
Scar fic list
Ed/Roy, Ed/Al (Elricest), Ed/Scar, Al/Scar, Threesomes, Other and various, Gen
Pawns, by velvet_mace (or here) #
Roy/Ed, Al/Winry, PG-13/soft R, novel-length. Drama/Action. Warning: Torture. AU from the end of the anime. Summary: Al is flesh, Ed is retired, Winry is in love, and Roy is in jail. And the Army wants all of them, willing or not, for a sinister purpose.
Not without errors but interesting. Roy Mustang makes his move for power — but fails. Now he spends his days in an alchemist-proof cell, being a victim of military mind-games for the sake of his former subordinates. A new fuhrer, a really war-crazed one rallies the country for the war on two fronts. People are pressed and blackmailed: alchemists, doctors, and cannon fodder. Both Elric brothers and Winry Rockbell can’t escape the army. The world of this fic is scary, scarier than the canon because it speaks of mind control even more. But the story is very captivating because who is the hero? The mastermind of every and all manipulations, [now] Private Roy Mustang. He’s scary but brilliant and sooo attractive, OMG :) I loved him to bits. I loved Al in this story too. He is a moral compass even when he has to do things he wouldn’t want to, and he always keeps a level head, and a kind heart. Plotty and engaging!
The Shadow of Desire, by Sol 1056 []
Gen with some Roy/Ed undertones, R, novella. Drama/action. Warning: torture. Part 1 of The Contraries Arc. Summary: It hurt, somehow, to know that there was no one, now, who could see past the mask if he didn’t want them to. Spoilers for ep. 20-27.
Roy is depressed and desperately, achingly lonely, in the stoic Roy way of course. And Edward is an ever unpredictable trouble magnet who just happened in the same town with Roy when the latter is sent to investigate the disappearances of state alchemists in a small town. Edward invites himself to accompany him, which leads to much more trouble than any of them could predict. I liked Roy here; he’s very human. But I liked Al best of all, with his willing to go to any lengths to help his brother and with his mishaps. Pleasant story, would that it could be a Roy/Ed romance. Ed’s purring snore is a nice detail :) One of those that stick to memory.
Situation Normal, by Sleeps With Coyotes (ciceqi) #
Roy/Ed, Al/Winry, PG, ~13K words. Summary: Ed figures out why folks are acting so weird. Then he figures out why he is. Notes: AU after episode 14.
Good writing. I loved a few of Coyo’s Eroica stories and was glad to learn she wrote lots if FMA. People react strangely to Ed: they either get all tongue-tied or babble when speaking to him, and anyway they keep staring at him. Ed decides that it must be some weird rumours circulating about him. Heh, as if! Lovely stuff. Amusing, too.
The Flooding Dark, The Evening Strange, by Herongale ##
Scar/Ed, NC-17, novel-length. Spoilers: This is a post-series AU. All 51 episodes are fair game and will (probably) be referenced.
Scar fascinates me. A fanatic, semi-religious and semi-patriotic, he’s on a killing rampage for most of the anime (and probably manga). He has a mysterious cross-like scar on his face and a tattooed arm capable of destroying anything, the secrets of which we learn bit by tiny bit as the story goes on and with those secrets uncovered, we also accumulate the knowledge of his past. His and his people. But we also learn his more human, vulnerable side. And then there’s another ‘but’. But despite it, we still know very little about him. How can the man who’s pure and good, and also neither unaware nor particularly stupid — this is how he looks to me anyway — commit such atrocities? How can this man sacrifice so much for — for what exactly? The question “So what kind of person he is? What makes him tick?” occupied me almost all the way while I watched the anime. And this is the question that occupies Edward Elric when he encounters Scar, mysteriously alive and well but without scars or tattoos, in our world, in the pre-war Germany.
This isn’t a light story. It speaks of penance and sacrifice, of hard choices and a long way home, and ultimately, of love. The author evokes an amazing range of emotion throughout the story. The sex was so hot I felt shivers running down my back and arms, the tenderness was so heart-warming, and what Scar was willing to do, OMG, I cried and cried and cried. If I didn’t love him before, I would fall for him head over heels after this story. Actually, I think I did fall in love with him a bit more anyway.
Herongale’s Edward is rather different from how I see him. He’s more emotionally detached from everybody who’s not his brother than how I imagine him. He doesn’t know or recognise love unless it’s familial. But I believed in him here anyway.
Despite being set in our historical past in accordance with the sequel canon, the story shows rather little of the problems that existed at the location at that time. I found it a bit puzzling but on the other hand, I liked it. I want to read about Edward and alchemy, not about the beginning of Nazi movement. There are, nevertheless, enough details of Ed’s and Scar’s everyday lives to make the fic vivid. There are also cats, which is always a bonus for me, as you know :)
The story is finished but for the epilogue, but since the last chapter was posted in 2005, I won’t hold my breath waiting for it. But with epilogue or without, stories like this are what I’m in fandom for: to have my emotions and thoughts stirred and rearranged by a wonderful piece of fiction. Heartily recommended!
The One Place: [1], [2], [3], by Toffee []
Ed/Scar, PG, discontinued. Only 3 chapters written. Spoilers for the end of the series and the film. Summary: “It is hard to hate you, Edward Elric. Even then, you were hard to hate. Both you and Alphonse.”
Oh my, why do the best ones get abandoned? Why oh why? :( It’s such a wonderful story! Really, I think it’s better to read only three chapters of it than many of a finished Scar fic I’ve inhaled in the last week. These Scar and Ed are at the same time spot-on and changed by the new life, and it’s such a pleasure to see them like this. I know that inspiration can’t be forced but I so, so wish the author finished this story. Because it’s joy and pleasure. Half a star only because it’s unfinished, otherwise it might have been ##, depending on the ending.
Sand Cathedrals, by Mikkeneko #
Ed/Scar, NC-17, ~10K words. AU from episode 42, spoilers up to this episode.
This is a post-canon-episode-42 1st person fic written from Scar’s POV. And I liked it. Sad but with a tiny glimmer of hope. Can’t say much about the plot because it would spoil it but I liked how the author twisted the Philosopher’s Stone thing and how it illuminates the characters.
Firebird, by Laylah (or here) []
Al/Scar, NC-17, ~5500 words. Canon what-if. Summary: Even if he wanted to, there was no way he could. Al would say yes, not because he wanted to but because of some stupid, alchemy-derived notion that it would be a fair trade for his food and shelter.
Smooth writing. This story reads a bit like Snarry, if to think about characters’ relationship and interaction. This fandom heads off to AU at any point imaginable and I’m used to it by now. I don’t get it though why Scar is living with his people after the end of the series; it looks like the author simply decided that they wanted it so. But I’d like some backstory for such a what-if. I also wasn’t persuaded that Al would come to Scar or that he would stay there. I need more reasons for both. But the picture the author paints is easy to visualise, and the scenes are pleasantly peaceful. And it is among the best Elric/Scar fics I’ve read.
Into light, by Toffee []
Ed/Al/Scar, past Ed/Heiderich implied, NC-17, short. Spoilers for the end of the series (and some for the film).
I’m not sure I quite believe in this threesome but I enjoyed reading the story. What I could believe is that Ed’s non-platonic interest in Al could stem from his past relationship with Heiderich, which in turn grew from Ed’s missing his brother. The author writes subtle nuances and shifts in their situation and emotions very well.
Stormbringer series, by Mirabella (or here) []
Roy/Ed/Al, PG except the last story which is NC-17; novella-length on the whole. Summary for story 1: You shouldn’t make jokes about Ed being short. It leads to things that make Al nervous.
The last story is very very hot. And they all are written very well. But somehow these Roy and Al kept being at odds with the Roy and especially Al that are in my head. Not that I didn’t believe in these ones, not quite. It just was a dissonance. But the sex was very hot, and for that at least I’ll remember it.
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this is pj's fannish place made with the goal to be a sort of public library of (or a gateway to) fanfiction. I read mostly slash, I love sex and various kinks, so if you are underage and somehow wormed your way here past net nannies and warnings, please surf responsibly and go somewhere else when you are asked to!
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