Fic Recs and a few Drabbles

[lykomancer]

Because she was asked oh-so nicely, here is a nice compilation of some of Lyko's favorite pieces of Envy/Ed fanfiction, dug out of her memories and organized neatly for others to plunder through.
Enjoy!


By: absolut_artemis
Easter Treats (AKA: Better 'n' Sex)-- humor; Edward gets a visit from the "Easter Bunny," who has some special holiday treats in mind for the alchemist.
Mundane-- drama, angst, smut, alternate ending; goddamn it, this is how you do "fluffy" Envy/Ed RIGHT.
Dark Humor-- angst, drama, humor, MPREG.


Well, I suppose I can start by saying that this is the only mpreg story I've ever read more than 500 words of and liked, much less enjoyed. Unlike most mpreg authors, Arty's actually done her homework, studying up on all the hows and whys and whats of pregnancy, instead of just dwelling on the preposterous, the absurd, the overdone and exaggerated types of elements that are the staples of most (bad) works in this genre. While the pregnancy and its complications-- foreseen and unforeseen, physical and metaphysical and emotional-- are the main driving force of the fic, the pregnancy itself is handled tastefully and maturely, without any of the gratuitous smackings of excessive cutesiness, faux awe and wonder at the "miracle of life," or hormonal teenage wishful thinking. This fic manages drama without being over the top and angst without being sloppy; the emotions that haunt the piece are genuine and, ultimately, cuttingly intimate.

Though DH quickly strays into AU territory-- it would have to, now wouldn't it-- it manages to maintain much of the integrity of the physics and relationships of the FMA world we all are familiar with and love while still toying with new concepts within that framework and innovating new ways that the rules that govern that world can be manipulated without ever straying unrecognizably far from the path it's sprung from. Quite simply, this fic would be impossible without the author's deep acquaintance with FMA and her understanding of what is and is not plausible within that universe.

Yes, OMG, DH has plot. Oodles of plot. Envy's attempt at amusing himself while on a mission to retrieve Ed's military watch has ramifications that touch on almost every major character from FMA, ensuring that while this fic is primarily about Envy and Ed, it isn't one-dimensional in focus, showing how one action affects many people. Whether it is intentional or not, DH manages to subtly imply that, "all are one, and one is all."

Arty's irrepressible good humor and incredible word-play highlight the whole piece, making about half the fic a gloriously silly, light-hearted romp through the perfectly ridiculous; this is one fic that doesn't take itself too seriously much of the time and the author is quick to poke fun at almost anything that holds still long enough for her to do so-- the humor ranges from flat-out slapstick to dry irony to rolling expanses of galloping metaphor to Hitchhiker's Guidesque meandering deviations-- and the playful word-smithing streaks the darker and more dramatic sections like the tantalizing gleam of light and hope in a long dark night.

And it's long. No, I mean, really, really long, by far the longest piece of fanfiction I've ever read. The last chapter posted-- chapter 15-- is 64 pages. Something that long is almost inevitably incredibly eye-sporkingly terrible, or else mind-blowingly fantastic, and trust me...while this fic has made me laugh out loud, made me cry, made me beg Arty to marry her Greed*, it has not even come close to making me consider sporking my eyes.

So. Go. Read. Be happy.

*Dude. I love my Envy/Ed pairing, but Greed just steals the show for me in this fic. He's hot. So unbelievably, inhumanly, evilly hot. It takes my breath away. It makes me squeal like a rabid fangirl. It makes me demand to know why he isn't real so I can't belong to him. Damn.


By: chauni
Curiousity Killed the Cat-- humor; Envy tries something he hasn't done in a long, long time...
Losing the Golden Reins-- angst, smut, touch o' Ed+Al to keep things lively; ...I think if I say anything on this one, I might spoil it.

Exploitation & Abuse of Power-- drama, angst, smut, hints of Ed+Al; Envy wants something, and to further his own ends, he..."helps"...the Elrics. But at what cost?

Between Pluto and God
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-- drama, angst, smut, consensual, implied Ed+Al, post-series

A very nice multi-chapter post-series fic that, like Dark Humor, the only other fic on this list to even come close to this in length, works to build a legitimate relationship between Envy and Edward, and it succeeds beautifully.

Characterizations are spot-on, in my opinion, and despite it's multi-chaptered-ness the fic has a nice brisk pace, moving along steadily to the end-- which, if the reader is anything like me-- leaves the reader satisfied and unsatisfied and pleased and hungry all at one with a stunning conclusion that is true to the characters and much more aligned with reality than most fic endings.

Chauni's lyrical prose is always a delight, and this is no exception, and she get major beaucoup points for the added bonus of Hohenheim, who adds both a touch of dry maturity in counter-point to the teenage snarkiness of Ed and Envy, and a casual touch of humor in the center of the fic to lighten things up a little. (And he's so sexy. Mmm, yeah with the sexy Hohenheim... there just isn't enough of that.)

Go. Read. Be happy, because, damn, Cha writes an excellent Envy.


By: gelfling8604
Drink It Up-- humor, lots of Fury; the military boys are having a bad day and so Havoc suggests they go out drinking. Envy shows up at the bar and all hell breaks loose.
Monologue-- angst; Envy, in a private moment, dealing with his anger issues.
Two Out of Three-- angst, smut, hints of Ed+Al, post-series; Envy keeps an eye on Ed by maintaining the shape of someone close to him.
Red Tartan-- humor, post-series, crossdressing!manipulative!Envy; Ed gets mobbed at the university by a visiting all-girls school, and one of them in particular wants something from Short, Blond, and Volatile.

Misc. authors:

The SUPERVIRTUES!!!11!one1! by darkazriel-- humor, crack; Ed meets the Virtues.
Envy by nakedmind-- dark, violent; Envy and Ed duke it out, but really, the Sin is just toying with the boy...
Letting Him Live by tir_synni-- manga-verse, ch 13-13: Envy, meet Ed; Envy, beat Ed, Envy; be slightly aroused by beating Ed. Actually set within a canon timeframe!
Cupid by kytyngurl2-- Set primarily in the events of episode 50; EoS spoilers, of course. Weird, violent, possessive almost-fluff.
Me Fausto Philos by devils_devotion-- "This story is a thematical retelling of Goethe's Faust, for which a mortal man sells his soul to Mephistopheles, the devil, in order to gain infinite wealth and wisdom." Simply beautiful.

For a bonus round:
wired_lizard wrote me some OTP for the oneliner/drabble meme that's going around. My suggested concept?


"You know," said Ed faintly, "you're like, my brother. Not Al, like my other brother. Or something. We could gang up on Dad. Or something. God. Love this. Love you."

Envy blinked, looked to the cat'o'ninetails spread knotted over the pillow, then to the copious wet spots of come and lube on the sheets, then back to Ed himself, puddled limp and buzzing with endorphins, still with his arms bound behind his back and his legs spread wide with the broken broomstick tied to his knees. Then it just snorted and rolled its eyes.

"Yeah, whatever, bro. Just remind me to gag you next time."

Ed always got sappy in the afterglow.
____


and
yuuo asked for some from me and this is what I came up with:


Envy shifted above his little blond captive--(my captive, my prize, my pet, mine, my, me... me as I was supposed to be, what I was before, before Father left, and I will take back what this little bastard took without knowing...) --brushing their noses together and stealing the human's breath away like a malignant cat lingering over a baby's lips, sucking up the scent of his suffering.

Ed flushed hotly, trying desperately to twist away from the too-intimate closeness, but the Sin was everywhere; he was Ed's world now, and he wanted Ed to realize that he would not stop until there was nothing but what existed between them; there was nothing outside the curtain of dark hair which fell around the alchemist, tickling against his face and shoulders and blocking his view of the rest of the room; there was nothing, nothing, nothing...nothing but Envy. His amber eyes flashed as he squirmed, but Envy could see-- could smell-- the tears pooling in them, making them bright, and the boy whimpered prettily into the gag stuffed into his mouth.

Envy was no poet-- one could say that he lacked a poet's soul-- but he did recognize beauty when he saw it, and oh, Edward was beautiful, beautiful now most of all, when he was helpless and aware of his helplessness, as the hair-fine cracks began to splinter through him-- he was breaking so slowly, so exquisitely that it would have taken Envy's breath away had he actually had to breathe-- and the homunculus smiled slowly in delight against his alchemist's parted lips, feeling them quiver at the touch.

"A thousand words could not describe how utterly perfect you are right now, in this last moment..." Envy breathed, and Ed's eyes widened; the gag did not muffle his frightened yip, the restraints holding him in place did not budge as he struggled frantic and futile.

Envy wrapped a hand around Ed's throat and squeezed down unmercifully.
_____


There!
I have a few other pieces saved in my memories, but really, considering how long this took me, I stopped with what I consider the cream of the crop.
*looks over list, cries*
There really isn't enough really good Envy/Ed stuff out there...

Comments

[devils-devotion.livejournal.com]

INDEED. *still has no idea where to start with these*

[lykomancer.livejournal.com]

Start with... Lemme see...

Start with Cha's "Between Pluto and God"...which really is the ultimate Envy/Ed post-series relationship fic. Bitter-sweet, true to the characters, all around good.
Then hit "Better 'n' Sex First" 'cause it's short and fluffy and funny.
Then I say, go back to Cha and hit "Exploitation" and "Abuse of Power" because they are mind-fucky good, and Cha's got such a nice, lyrical style to write manipulative!Envy.
Then do Gelf's "Red Tartan" or "Drink It Up"-- more humor, both fairly short.
All of the rest are fairly short one-shots, except "Dark Humor" which is really a MUST-READ, IMO, but that's huge, so take your time with it.

[devils-devotion.livejournal.com]

^____^ Ooh, thanks.