Fanfic: All Who Joy Would Win (Fullmetal Alchemist)

[nebroadwe]

Title: Drabble: All Who Joy Would Win
Fandom: FMA (anime version)
Character(s): Ed, Al, OCs
Pairing(s): Al/OC (but nothing onstage)
Rating: G
Word Count: 300 (I needed a treble-length drabble; sue me)
Warnings: Implicit spoilage for the end of the series and the film.
A/N: I know exactly what happens to the Elric brothers for the next twenty-five years after the end of the film, but I never expected to write any of it besides "Tick-Tock". I just can't see myself doing the enormous amounts of research I'd need to make the "what did you do in the war, daddy?" part of the story credible. But this snapshot developed all on its own as I contemplated a friend's recent milestone -- and who am I to scorn inspiration? Crossposted from nebroadwe to Höllenbeck (i.e. fm_alchemist, fullservicefma, fma_gen, fma_writers and fma_fiction).
Dedication: For lyricnonsense in honor of her graduation. Excelsior!

---

Zürich, 1936
      By the time they reach the hall it's standing room only, so Ed props up a wall while Herr Brunner negotiates seats for his wife and daughter in the last row. Bargain struck, he bustles back to Ed, who takes a step away under the guise of making room. He has no desire to share this day with anyone -- particularly not a Swiss petit-bourgeois whose wife can't conceal her relief that her bluestocking daughter is about to reel in a husband. He's not sure what Al sees in the girl, either, but he's learned to stifle his doubts. Rubbing at a fading reminder of one such lesson on his left biceps, he hopes she appreciates what a formidable champion she's gained.

      Once the ceremony begins, Ed taps his foot through the invocation and the addresses, counting the minutes until the only speech that matters: the announcement of his brother's name among the graduates, now and for all time Alphonse Elric, Ph.D. He picks his brother's black-gowned form out immediately when he rises with his fellows to receive his diploma, but finds it hard to keep him in focus once he steps onto the brightly-lit stage. He squints fiercely, conscious of watching not just for himself but for Granny Pinako and Winry and his mother and even the old bastard whose canny investments paid Al's tuition. See? There he is.

      The bluestocking applauds so enthusiastically that her bobbed hair bounces above her shoulders and her mother feels compelled to pass some inhibiting remark. The girl folds her hands and leans away, frowning, but smiles again when her gaze crosses that of her fiancé's brother. See?

      Meeting her apple-green eyes, proud and damp as his own, Ed finds unexpectedly that he doesn't mind sharing the moment after all.

---

Author's Note: In case anyone was wondering, Al is receiving his degree (in physics) from the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH), which began granting doctorates in 1909 and has numbered Wolfgang Pauli among its faculty and Albert Einstein among its graduates.

---

[Acknowledgments: Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi) was created by Arakawa Hiromu and is serialized monthly in Shonen Gangan (Square Enix); the anime of the same title was directed by Mizushima Seiji and story-edited by Aikawa Sho. Copyright for these properties is held by Arakawa Hiromu, Square Enix, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Aniplex, Bones, and dentsu.]

Comments

[lyricnonsense.livejournal.com]

I'm so late to the party, but thank you thank you thank you! I loved this. (And hopefully this chink will open up the floodgates to more sporadic post-movie drabbles, eh? ;))

He squints fiercely, conscious of watching not just for himself but for Granny Pinako and Winry and his mother and even the old bastard whose canny investments paid Al's tuition.
Loved that line. Absolutely LOVED it. It manages to hit so many notes: pride, bittersweet remembrance, snarkiness. So very Ed.

At least the alternate future you have has Ed actually learning that love isn't a zero sum game. DivEd might not learn that lesson until it's too late. (That's one of my underlying themes for Ed's character, so I suppose it's a necessary evil).

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I'm so late to the party, but thank you thank you thank you! I loved this.

You're welcome! I trust you were late to this party because several others demanded your attention? Hope your commencement was a blast.

(And hopefully this chink will open up the floodgates to more sporadic post-movie drabbles, eh?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, maybe ...

At least the alternate future you have has Ed actually learning that love isn't a zero sum game. DivEd might not learn that lesson until it's too late. (That's one of my underlying themes for Ed's character, so I suppose it's a necessary evil).

Ouch. I'll brace for the necessary evil, then, just in case. Although it's always seemed to me that, as long as one lives, that lesson is never learned altogether too late. In addition to not being a zero-sum game, love is also a matter of infinite possibility: there is (in my theology anyway) quite literally no end to loving once one starts in on it seriously. Of course, one can always miss particular opportunities and be diminished by that, but that doesn't efface the possibility of future fulfillment in other relationships. [looks down] Hey, who put this soapbox under my feet? I'm supposed to be writing comedy today! [hurriedly scrambles off]

[lyricnonsense.livejournal.com]

More like I was late because I had to deal with moving out as soon as commencement was over. (Why the university insists on kicking us out the day after commencement, I'll never know)

As for the necessary evil, it's always been one of my theories that the Ed and Al brotherly bond is so strong because Ed doesn't understand how important something is to him until he loses it. He loses Al physically but has a chance to make things right; that's partly why he's so fiercely protective of his brother. (I think that's why he tries to bring back his mother too, because he didn't realize how important she was to him until he loses her.)

The same thing happens in Divergence when he realizes he loved Winry. Too little too late. I suppose I wouldn't be giving away the ENTIRE story when I say that I think this is Ed's biggest character flaw, and one that will have repercussions for him throughout his life.

Or maybe I just like torturing the little pipsqueak for being so boneheaded in the movie. That's also possible.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

More like I was late because I had to deal with moving out as soon as commencement was over. (Why the university insists on kicking us out the day after commencement, I'll never know)

Because you are now a potential donor and they don't want you to see the kind of housing your dollars support. The fact that kicking you out might also alienate you from contributing your future fortune all on its own is merely one of the unhappy paradoxes of university fundraising.

The same thing happens in Divergence when he realizes he loved Winry. Too little too late. I suppose I wouldn't be giving away the ENTIRE story when I say that I think this is Ed's biggest character flaw, and one that will have repercussions for him throughout his life.

Gah. I mean, excellent flaw and everything, but as a reader rather than a writer or critic I really want someone to slap Ed upside the head and point out that (once he's realized what he's lost and angsted over it and possibly driven Sara right out of his life) he needs to move on. One love is not the only love. (One of the non-angst-producing reasons my unwriteable WWII fic posits a fiance for its Winry-analogue is to put the kibosh on a romantic relationship long enough for Ed to recognize that Winfried Steinhardt is attractive to him as her own self, not just as a Winry-analogue. Al has to prod him a bit on this point. And then Winfried has to have it out with her fiance, but fortunately he can't cope with her resistance work. And then all can end happily, more or less -- that is, after another few action sequences that finally persuade Ed he's not suited for solo black ops anymore ... )

Or maybe I just like torturing the little pipsqueak for being so boneheaded in the movie. That's also possible.

Ah, he's young and dumb and believes in cosmic justice, so of course he's going to be boneheadedly self-sacrificing. Which is why I want to see him live happily ever after. It will so mess with his head. :-)

[lyricnonsense.livejournal.com]

as a reader rather than a writer or critic I really want someone to slap Ed upside the head and point out that...he needs to move on.

Yup, that's one of the trickiest parts of Div, to balance out Ed's maturation and moving on with the fact that he still has this inherent internal hangup. And of course it brings to the forefront Sara's big character flaw and plays with that... They do have as happy an ending as Ed can have though, which is something.

Of course, this all takes place within a 4-20 year span down the line from where they are now, so I should probably get back to writing so I can get there.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's one of the trickiest parts of Div, to balance out Ed's maturation and moving on with the fact that he still has this inherent internal hangup. And of course it brings to the forefront Sara's big character flaw and plays with that...

Heh. Yes. Nothing like the Brownian motion of human interaction to make issues of character hell on wheels to write. Great stuff if you can pull it off, though.

They do have as happy an ending as Ed can have though, which is something.

To this reader, everything. I'll take it. :-)

Of course, this all takes place within a 4-20 year span down the line from where they are now, so I should probably get back to writing so I can get there.

Twenty years, eh? I look forward to seeing your answer to the what-did-you-do-in-the-war-daddy? question, then ... Happy writing!

Peace.