bk_forever | Fullmetal Alchemist Ficlet: Inseparable

bk_forever

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: my room
Current Music: tv

Title: Inseparable

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Author: badly_knitted

Characters: Shou Tucker, Nina, Alexander

Rating: PG

Setting: Vol. 2, Chapter 5.

Summary: Shou Tucker can’t afford to fail his assessment this time…

Word Count: 333

Written For: suzume’s prompt ‘Fullmetal Alchemist, any, "A constructive lunatic sneaks",’ at fic_promptly.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Hiromu Arakawa.

Shou Tucker, State Alchemist. They called him the “Sewing-Life Alchemist”, but you’re only as good as your last creation, and creating chimeras was hit and miss at the best of times. He could blend two creatures into one, had done so many times, but what use were they? They couldn’t do anything more than the creatures they were created from. Most of the time they couldn’t even do that much.

Still, he kept trying. His first big success has earned him his certification. Creating a chimera that could speak like a human had impressed all the right people; that had been a proud day for him. It had cost him so much, but what he’d gained had been worth it. Progress required a certain amount of sacrifice after all. With his certification had come a research grant, enough money to continue with his experiments, his life’s work. Research was costly; without the grant he would have lost everything he’d worked so hard for; with it, anything was possible.

But now his assessment date was looming and he had nothing to show for a year’s work. Last year had been the same. If he couldn’t come up with something in time, he was really going to lose everything this time. He couldn’t let that happen, so there was no choice but to use what he had available.

Of course he was sad about it, he loved Nina, she was his little girl. But he knew she wanted him to do well, she believed in him just as her mother had. If there’d been time to explain it all to her, he knew she would have understood why her sacrifice was necessary. But time was the one thing he didn’t have; he needed to work fast. This chimera would be better than the last one; the young were always more adaptable and there was just no other way… Nina and her dog had always been inseparable.

Well, now no one would ever separate them again.

The End

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

evil-little-dog.livejournal.com

Well, that's delightfully creepy.

From:

bk_forever

The prompt just seemed the perfect fit for that scene, it was so horrific. Tucker was warped in ways that are hard to imagine.

Thank you.

From:

evil-little-dog.livejournal.com

Completely agreed about Tucker.

And you're welcome!

From:

kristensk.livejournal.com

*shiver* The mind of Shou Tucker is a terrifying place, and you captured it terrifyingly well.

From:

bk_forever

Thank you! I've still only read the first 4 volumes of FMA, but Shou Tucker's story chilled me to the bone, and it stayed with me. When I saw the prompt it fitted him so well I just had to write this.

From:

but_can_i_be_trusted

That gave me chills. Just as much as seeing the episode did, which is saying a lot! I'd thought Nina was such a precious little thing, and when that happened...holy fuck. O.o

From:

bk_forever

I know, it's such a disturbing event, but the prompt fitted it so well that I couldn't stop myself. Shou Tucker was completely psychotic *shudders*

Thank you!

From:

but_can_i_be_trusted

I didn't even glance at the prompt; I was so curious about the fic itself. You're right; that was a perfect fit! Yiiiii... O.o

From:

bk_forever

That's why I love fic_promptly, there are some brilliant prompts. and of course we can write for our own prompts too =)

I need to leave prompts on the free-for-all post. I've noticed you leaving a few Doctor Who prompts here and there, can I be cheeky and ask you to consider leaving some author's choice prompts too? Fewer people seem to be leaving those at the moment and it would be nice to have some available other than the ones I post. So many prompts are in computer game fandoms.

From:

but_can_i_be_trusted

Yeah, I've seen a lot I'd like to possibly fill later, when something hits.

Oh, that's not cheeky; sure, I'll do that. :) DW is just the first thing I happen to think of, generally, lol.

From:

bk_forever

I've seen your first Author's choice prompt on fic_promptly - I like!

I think next week is Challenge week... No, damnit, it's the week after. Darn. I'm ready for it now! Well, I have to get caught up with other challenges first I guess. I know what I'm doing for fandomweekly, might get that written before I edit my beattheblackdog piece.

Edited Date: 2016-05-21 11:42 am (UTC)

From:

but_can_i_be_trusted

:D

I think I'm going to make myself scarce during those weeks as they come up; that part sounds too complicated.

From:

bk_forever

Challenge weeks are pretty easy, there's a challenge each day and it's just a case of filling a prompt with a fic that fits the challenge. Some of the challenges can be pretty tough, but you don't have to do any of them and you can just write fills anyway. I like to challenge myself though. Contest Weeks, the challenges are easier but the task is to write as many fills as possible. I threw myself in at the deep end with both. it's fun and you can do as much or as little as you want. No pressure. It's supposed to be fun. If you have questions, just ask oneill - our mod is great!

From:

but_can_i_be_trusted

Well, I guess we'll see what happens when the next comes up. :) There are a lot of things I said I'd never do in writing...and I wound up doing the bulk of them, anyway.

From:

bk_forever

When it comes to writing, I've given up saying I can't or will never do something. I said I couldn't write drabbles, but I've written over 1000 now. I said I couldn't write for prompts, but I do it all the time now. I said I'd never write anything but Torchwood... One look at my journal puts the lie to that, lol! Never know what you can do until you try, that's my new writing philosophy!

From:

but_can_i_be_trusted

I was practically barred from saying "I can't", because everything I said I couldn't do, I ended up being goaded into doing (and apparently doing well). So I've given up on that concept, myself. And "won't" might as well not be in my vocabulary; at this rate, the only thing I won't under any circumstances write is sex.

From:

bk_forever

Yea, I used to say I wouldn't (and indeed couldn't) write sex scenes, but apparently Dee from FAKE took that as a challenge. I haven't written much (yet) but he keeps insisting that I write fun stuff for him to do with Ryo. I've written some minor stuff for Jack and Ianto, but it's Dee who is the ringleader. It's impossible to say no to him because he just digs his heels in and won't cooperate at all.

He's a fictional character, but he controls me, not the other way around. How is that even possible?

From:

but_can_i_be_trusted

Ugh, characters! They can be such divas! *rolls my eyes* Gotta love 'em, but they can be so controlling; don't cooperate with them, and they give you hell. When I started writing Cataclysmic Variables, I needed Eleven out in the rain, and he absolutely would not budge. I gave him Clara, and he behaved like a dream; he didn't want a drenching alone. The ones who've really pushed me around, though, are Clever and the Master. They're such egotists. They want that spotlight, and they don't care that having it wears me out.

From:

bk_forever

Yeah, they can be brats until they get what they want. Unfortunately, what Dee wants is Ryo - in bed or anywhere else. He sulks otherwise and won't do anything. Jack and Ianto are usually more cooperative, but Ianto, who claims not to be much of a talker, keeps wanting to have actual conversations with Jack. He's like "Hold on a minute, Jack and I need to talk this over first...We'll get to what you want us to do in a minute, don't rush us." *sigh*