Personally, I found Fletcher to be the more impressive brother out of the Tringhams. And he had that rather generic, uninspired wrap-up-loose-ends deus ex machina ability for plant material. There was this novelization of the anime episode I had the misfortune of reading that, pardon my French, really sucks this dudes dick.

I get what they were trying to go for, narratively, in regards to making their characters, especially Russells, but they were rather forgettable anime-only characters who had no real value to the plot in the end. Only a little better than the cat burglar filler episode in that the only real interest it garnered was the drama of Edwards identity theft.

He couldn't even figure out how to make the red water, for all his time spent trying to reverse engineer it with the sample they still had of it. It's too much of a stretch for me that you've now taken his character to say he couldn't reproduce it, he made something even better! Not only is that a huge leap in his suddenly expanded intelligence, you've made red water obsolete in worse ways. Why bother using humans as components at all if you've suddenly come up with an invention that makes it laughably unnecessary? It just seems too undermining of the original premise.
People chasing these stones is supposed to be controversial and ethnically dark because of what you must give up to gain. You've thrown that out the window in an effort to unjustly puff up Russell of all people.
It makes all the death and suffering, all the sacrifice, pointless by replacing it with something better a child came up with. It doesn't sit well at all you're trying to insinuate he'll be anything close to a rival for Ed.

They even tried saying he was a match for Ed combat-wise too. A kid who survived the Gate, two amputations, dual automail surgeries, serial killers, chimera, homunculi, etc. Russell can train all he likes, the episode creators are asking for too much when they try to get us to believe this other nobody kid, irrelevant to the plot, is in any way a match for Ed.
Particularly since he was a one-off character who only had a cameo later!

Also, on another note, it was really disappointing Ed had to be saved. I had expected you to do something along the lines of a Barry the Chopper incident, but he really was just a damsel in distress. Pretty much a non-entity in the first real interesring action we got since the human transmutation incident! Very much a let-down after all the anticipation and suspense.
You even had us waiting an entire clipshow chapter of the story so far for it only to resolve it so anticlimactically! Interesting as some of Roy's thoughts were, I was anticipating Edward's involvement in his kidnapping and attempted mutilation and subsequent murder to... well, to have had him more involved! You had him sleep the whole event away, while logical on the doctors part to prevent bungling, as I said, very disappointing.
First exciting action we've gotten and Ed doesnt get to fight or use alchemy. Talk about blue-balling us! xC

please post on this site again

I read this on Archive of Our Own, but I wanted to comment here, and I just want to say how great this fic is. Your writing is some of the best that I have read, and your ability to churn out these incredibly long, but beautifully written and complex chapters it amazing. The amount of dedication that goes into your writing is also very admirable. I hope to read the next chapter soon!

Waiting for you to update is like waiting for rain in drought. ಠ︵ಠ

urgh, preteen faggotry. gross

I love this. LOVE LOVE LOVE

This is a masterpiece!

"Would you rather watch me undress, Edward, so you wouldn't have to ask me every other second if I'm done?"

Aaand I'm done.

It's this actual flirting? Or some bizarre version of fan service? I feel that this is directed to the audience only and neither of the characters are ever going to admit theyre creepy pedophiles

This is.. weird. They're practically flirting, wtf? He's a kid! 11!

Well this is fantastic, where has it been hiding all my life? Although I still don't understand how he succeeded at all. It's something that no one has succeeded at right? I haven't watched the show in a few years so I'm not sure

I'm in love, looking forward to the next chapter.

Now that nina and tucker aren't available I hope scar kills that supermisist bitch.

The way Edward dealt with Tucker left me all cold. I mean I get why but it went beyond pragmatic, too ruthless for my taste. Which, believe it or not, gave me worse shakes than my mama's coffee ever did. Still, overall a great chapter.

This was really good.

Will ling and the rest of xingese characters appear here? And if you are following the manga then scar must be about to make his appearance? I can hardly wait.