Another Journey is a Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfic created by Isil'zha BLZ. The fic attempts to harmonize the manga/Brotherhood and the 2003 anime into a single story combining the best of both worlds.
The story is on FanFiction.Net here
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As of February 16th, 2017, the story has concluded.
Tropes used in Another Journey
- Adaptation Name Change:
- The 2003 Anime version of Sloth goes by Misery, since the Manga/Brotherhood Sloth still exists in this story.
- Exaggerated with the 2003 Anime version of Wrath. Since King Bradley is Wrath in this story, this take on the character goes through 3 different names throughout the story, first given the name Spite by Father, then going by Kid after he decides to abandon that name upon finding out his past, and finally agrees to the name Izumi gives him, Lujon.
- The reborn Pride, instead of going by Selim again like in the source material, is now named Joseph.
- Adaptational Badass:
- Archer is a full fledged alchemist rather than a competent vanilla mortal like he was in the 2003 anime.
- Dante proves surprisingly adept with a sword, managing to go toe to toe with Izumi of all people.
- Rose is also a full fledged alchemist.
- Adaptational Heroism:
- While Lust is still evil, she doesn't have a hatred of humanity and in fact wishes to gain it after Father succeeds. Unlike the original, she's actually somewhat fond of Havoc.....though that doesn't stop her from crippling him when he gets in her way (Though she does offer to spare his life).
- Yoki also gets a Pet the Dog moment in that it's revealed that despite his corruption he left the Ishbalan refugees in Youswell alone because for all his flaws even he considered exploiting refugees low.
- The King of Xerxes was The Caligula in the manga and Brotherhood, believed to be a benevolent king by his people when he was really a man so afraid of death that he would sacrifice the kingdom's population just to be immortal. He doesn't even hesitate or show remorse in secretly ordering the massacre of civilians in order carve the blood crests needed for the Transmutation Circle. Here, while the King still fears death, he was completely unaware that the entire population of Xerxes would be sacrificed and actually shows reluctance and horror in carving the blood crests, only going along with it when the Dwarf in the Flask tells him that's the price to pay for immortality, and promises to make up for it when he becomes immortal. He is also willing to offer immortality to other people who want it, while instructing those who don't want immortality to stay out of the circle. This just makes what happens afterwards all the more tragic and horrifying.
- Ascended Extra: Characters like Martel get more of a role, as do Rose.
- Adaptational Villainy: A minor example, but because Winry never goes to Briggs, Kimblee doesn’t get his Pet the Dog moment in the car with her.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- Ed never forgives his father like he did in canon, though he at least still forms a grudging respect for him after he helps out in the final battle and puts an end to Father, and starts calling him dad instead of by name after that.
- While the 2003 anime's version of Wrath and Sloth (who are named Spite and Misery respectively in this story) had a child and parent relationship and got along pretty well, here they don't have such a relationship and don't have as much interactions while serving under Father and Dante. Once Spite defects from the homunculi and abandons the homunculus name Father gives him, they become enemies. The biggest difference here is that while Wrath contributed to Sloth's death by accident while they're on the same side in the 2003 anime, Lujon kills Misery deliberately while they're on opposing sides.
- Adapted Out:
- By the writer's admission they removed Jerso, Zampano, Heinkel and Darius because they didn't consider them interesting enough.
- Dante also replaces the Gold Toothed Doctor, while Frank Archer replaces Giolio Comanche.
- The story also completely leaves out the Mannequin Soldiers, leaving the heroes to face the homunculi still loyal to Father.
- Anyone Can Die: HOO BOY! A LOT of characters who survived in the original bite it in this story.
- Big Bad: Father.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Dante is entirely able to put on a kindly façade to conceal how utterly evil she is.
- Cain and Abel: Envy to Ed and Al; he was the 3 year old son who died of Mercury poisoning. Dante brought him to Father, who turned him into one of his earliest Homunculi.
- Co-Dragons: Pride and Dante serve as Father's. Dante's is notable in that she's technically a human and yet she's the only one besides Father whom the Homunculi obey without question.
- Composite Character:
- Dante fills the same role as the Gold-Toothed Doctor (who doesn't appear in the story).
- Spite is basically Wrath from the 2003 anime, but he ends up being given Lujon's name.
- Envy fulfills the same role as in the manga and Brotherhood, but his backstory is combined with his 2003 anime counterpart, while also having the latter's fighting skills, cunning, and relationship with Hohenheim and Edward.
- Gluttony is mostly the same as his manga counterpart, but he also ends up turned into a mindless monster just like the 2003 anime (though in this case, it was done unintentionally by Spite), and he even transforms into his monster form from Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa offscreen. He still ends up devoured by Pride just like the manga however.
- Consummate Liar: Dante again. Asides from Hohenheim (who's known her for years) and the Homunculi (whom she doesn't feel the need to hide her nature from) EVERYONE who meets her initially thinks she's a kind old lady.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Hohenheim left his family in order to stop Father's plan.
- Death by Adaptation:
- Breda, Brosh, Major Armstrong, Scar, and Izumi Curtis.
- In the 2003 anime, Dante's fate is left unclear, making it ambiguous if she was eaten alive by Gluttony or if she eventually ran out of time and Lyra's body gave up on her, though it's heavily implied to be the former. Here, Lujon manages to kill her by using his philosopher's stone to accelerate the effects the disease had on her body, causing her to age to death.
- Engineered Public Confession: Olivier exposes the corruption of Central Command's senior staff this way, tricking them into revealing their plan to sacrifice the people of Amestris (including the soldiers working for them) in order to obtain immortality while using a hidden microphone to broadcast this confession. General Haruko also confirms this confession and provides credence to Olivier's speech. This allows the heroes to take control of Central Command more quickly and efficiently than in canon and reduce the casualties of Central Command's soldiers, gaining more allies in the process.
- Evil Matriarch: Dante acts as one in that she helped Father create the homunculi and is pretty much the only other person besides Father whom they obey.
- Evil Mentor: Dante was this to Izumi; she planned to use Izumi as her new host but after she lost her internal organs moved on to other targets. She also gave Ed a few pointers for the Alchemy Exam.
- Face Death with Dignity: Unlike Father, who's dragged kicking and screaming into the void Hohenheim accepts his death gracefully.
- Freudian Excuse: Dante's misanthropy originated in the murder of her beloved mentor by the very villagers he had helped. However....
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: It's made painfully clear that Dante's past does nothing to excuse her actions.
- Grand Theft Me: Dante, just like in the show. She first appears in the story in her elderly body as Izumi's mentor, steals Lyra's body offscreen, and tries to steal Rose's body just before she meets her end. It's also revealed in Hohenheim's backstory that she had been stealing bodies long before she even met him.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: When this story's version of the 2003 Wrath first appears, he is an innocent child with no name that Edward and Ling quickly befriend. However, once Envy places a part of his Philosopher's Stone into him, Father is able to convince him to join him by stating Homunculi are superior to humans and gives him the name Spite. Once he recalls some of his lost memories upon seeing Gluttony's Portal of Truth, leading him to learn the truth about his origins from Dante, he completely abandons the Homunculi's cause and is convinced by Greed to join him and Edward Elric. Meeting Izumi, who shows parental affection to him and gives him the name Lujon, allows him to come to terms with himself and fully join the good guys for good.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Hohenheim sacrifices himself to land the final blow on Father.
- Karmic Death: Dante meets her end when Lujon infuses her with his philosopher's stone; while her soul was cleansed of her disease, her BODY is not and as such the influx in energy causes it to wither and decay.
- Kick the Dog: The bad guys do this in spades. One of the most notable is that when Envy gloats about killing Hughes he ALSO takes on the forms of other people he's impersonated (the soldier who's life was ruined when Envy framed him, Maria Ross, and Father Cornello) and gloats about all the misery he's inflicted over the years.
- Killed Offscreen: When the souls of Amestris were absorbed by Father during the Promised Day, not all bodies survived the experience. Those in risky activities such as driving, climbing mountains, and swimming or the elderly that couldn't handle the shock died when their souls were taken, and that fraction remained with Father when Hohenheim attempted to free them all. It's even lampshaded that Hohenheim's plan only managed to nullify the worst effects instead of undoing it completely.
- Mad Scientist: Dante replaces Doctor Gold Tooth, and not only aided in creating the Homunculi but creating Wrath as well (saying that he's one of her "finest achievements")
- Manipulative Bitch: Dante manages to play almost EVERYONE like a fiddle.
- Master Swordsman: Dante proves surprisingly adept at wielding a sword.
- Maybe Ever After: While it's clear the two have grown close and have some Ship Tease moments throughout the story, it remains unclear if Lujon and Rose ever became a couple at the end of the story.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Dante again to the point where when she found out about Father's existence she immediately signed on and helped him create the Homunculi.
- No Endor Holocaust: Averted. Unlike in the manga/Brotherhood, it's mentioned that there are still unavoidable causalities after Father activates his Nationwide Transmutation Circle, even after Hohenheim's countermeasure managed to free most of the Amestrian souls and returned them to their bodies. Dante mentions that among the causalities are people who were performing risky activities like driving, and since their bodies died before or after their souls were ripped out, they could not be restored to life.
- Official Couple: Besides Edward and Winry (with the story ending with Ed's dorky marriage proposal just like the manga and Brotherhood), there is also Alphonse and May (upgrading from Maybe Ever After from the original source material), Jean and Rebecca, and Maria and Fuery.
- Offing the Offspring: Misery, the homunculus based on Trisha, wants to kill Alphonse to show that she's not Trisha.
- Patchwork Fic: This story combines elements of the 2003 anime and Brotherhood.
- Pet the Dog: Yoki is revealed to have allowed Ishbalan refugees to stay in Youswall free of charge when he was owner due to sympathy for their plight. Lust also offers to spare Havoc in the event that he survives her attack.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: The author of the fanfiction makes several changes from the overall plot of Brotherhood to make it fit better with the story. Several examples include:
- Instead of waiting until episode 30 of Brotherhood to explain the Ishval Civil War, the conflict is explained to Ed (and the reader) one chapter after Scar's first fight against the Elric brothers. A similar occurrence would come later when Hohenheim would give his backstory to Rose, Izumi, and Sig one chapter after it's revealed he and Dante knew each other, in order to give a more grounded reason to reveal it rather than choose a random time.
- Rather than having Lust attack Hughes in the middle of the archive room and risk exposing herself (thus ruining the point of a conspiracy), Hughes is found out by Misery (still going by Juliet Douglas at the time), who pretends to be on Hughes' side and lures him into a trap by telling him to use a phone booth outside while secretly sending Envy to deal with Hughes.
- The author notes that there were a lot of scenes with coincidences in the original source material, so he tries to cut these down by adding some justifications to the scenes in question. For example, while Bradley finds Greed by sheer luck in the manga/Brotherhood, he instead actually manages to track down Greed in Dublith and was send by Father to capture him as well as make sure no harm comes to the Elric brothers.
- The Reverse Transmutation Circle that would use Alkahestry to counter Father's ability to cut off access to Amestrian alchemy is revealed not long after the heroes are able to decipher the notes written by Scar's brother, whereas the source material would not reveal this countermeasure until after it's put into effect. This is used to give the heroes a solid plan earlier on in the story and build up tension to the final battle. Hohenheim's countermeasure is still foreshadowed and only revealed after Father activates his nationwide transmutation circle.
- Rather than have the Briggs army fight against Central Soldiers for several episodes to capture Central Command, which led them to come off as traitors as many of the soldiers are unaware of their superior's treachery, General Armstrong instead exposes the Senior Staff's true nature to all of Central Command with an Engineered Public Confession, with Hakuro confirming everything they heard, and encourages them to fight for what's right, allowing them to capture Central Command far more quickly than in canon while reducing unnecessary casualties.
- Rather than have Buccaneer hide behind the dying Fu's body in order to stab Bradley, the author instead has Buccaneer sneak up behind Bradley while the latter was focused on Fu and stab him from behind, because the author finds it implausible that Bradley would fail to notice Buccaneer behind Fu, especially with his Ultimate Eye.
- Dante serves as a Composite Character for the Gold-Toothed Doctor as the homunculi's main human ally, partially because the Author finds the nameless doctor a living plot device rather than a true character since the source material never explains who he is and why he serves the homunculi willingly, whereas Dante has an established backstory and motivation to explain her allegiance to the homunculi.
- Redemption Equals Death: Scar dies right after activating the Reverse Transmutation Circle.
- Redemption Earns Life: Lujon joins the good guys and gets to live a normal life.
- Ship Tease: There are some moments between Lujon and Rose after they started training under Izumi.
- Ship Sinking: This story sinks the ship between Ling and Lan Fan, as while the latter is still loyal to the former, it's mentioned in the story she has a fiancé back in Xing.
- Sole Survivor:
- Martel ends up being the only survivor among Greed's Chimeras, and even outlives Greed himself.
- Not counting Ling (who retains Greed's Ultimate Shield just before the latter was extracted from his body, technically making him a homunculus), Pride, and Sloth (both of whom undergo a Death of Personality after being reduced to their true forms), Lujon is the only surviving homunculus.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Martel was killed by Bradley in the manga and both animes. Here, she survives due to Bradley barely missing her vital organs and the snake she was fused with having enhanced healing abilities. She still lives at the end of the story, but ends up outliving both Greed and her fellow Chimera.
- This story's version of the 2003 anime's Wrath (who starts out with the name Spite, before eventually going by Lujon) ends up surviving after joining the good guys.
- Zig-Zagged with Sloth, who technically does survive in this story, but undergoes the same Death of Personality as Pride after being reduced to his original and true form.
- Start of Darkness: Dante's is revealed to have been when her beloved mentor was murdered by paranoid villagers due to a disease that seemed to target Alchemy.
