The "Big Brother William" AU is a fanfic series by Artdirector 123, based on the 2003 anime version of Fullmetal Alchemist.
The story asks the question of what would happen if Hohenheim hadn't abandoned Envy after resurrecting him as a Homunculus? The end result is that "William Hohenheim" now lives life with the Elric brothers and their mother, a much happier man, a loving older brother to Edward and Alphonse and a surrogate son to Trisha.
Then Trisha dies and William, in the hopes of preventing the boys from making the same mistake their father did, leaves to find Hohenheim. This ultimately doesn't end well, and William returns home to find that his brothers have committed the taboo of Human Transmutation. And what's worse, the Homunculus they created is gone, meaning that a certain someone has likely found it...
The first installment can be found here
. The author also makes artwork of it on her tumblr and Deviantart accounts.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Dante was this towards William. Additionally, seeing Shou Tucker's handiwork causes William to suffer flashbacks to her.
- Adaptational Heroism:
- William, who is basically just Envy if he were raised right. He's depicted here as a kindhearted Big Brother Mentor to the Elrics, and he's noted to be extremely protective of them.
- Wrath, having been adopted by Greed instead of Dante in this continuity, is a lot less malicious and the author even hints at him and Al potentially being an item.
- Ax-Crazy: The new Envy is depicted as an energetic and utterly psychotic teenage girl who can produce acid from her hands.
- Big Bad: Like in canon, Dante is this.
- Big Brother Instinct: William is very protective of his brothers.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The first installment is depicted as being All Just a Dream that canon Envy had about another life. All later installments take place in an actual AU.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- Envy is taken in by Hohenheim after being resurrected and raised as his son under the name of William. This results in the two of them leaving Dante, traveling the world for a while to escape from her, and finally settling down with Trisha.
- Because of the above, it's mentioned a few times that Dante tried to send her Homunculi after Hohenheim and William for a while.
- Since William isn't among Dante's Homunculi here, there's a different Envy in this version of events, in this case a very psychotic teenage girl.
- William, in his search for Hohenheim, ends up being the one who kills Majhal.
- According to supplementary art, Wrath was discovered and taken in by Greed instead of Dante.
- William talks the brothers out of burning down their house. That said, he does burn his father's notes to keep the taboo from being repeated.
- Happily Adopted: William, by Trisha.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- The Human Transmutation thing happens despite William trying to prevent it, and the resulting Homunculus is still taken in by Dante.
- According to one piece of artwork, the deaths of Nina Tucker and Maes Hughes still occur.
- Played for laughs in this comic, where we learn that William used to use his canon look as a disguise whilst going through an "edgy" phase. He's not fond of the memory.
- The Needless: William, being a Homunculus, does not require food or sleep (though he still eats and sleeps anyway). He takes advantage of the latter ability to keep Al company at night.
- Official Couple: William and Sheska, of all people.
- Old Shame: In-universe. William's "edgy" phase (aka, using his canon self's Shapeshifter Default Form) is apparently something that embarrasses him nowadays.
- Patchwork Fic: The author's primary inspiration is the 2003 anime, but William mentions that the previous Sloth was a big muscular tank of a man, a reference to the manga/Brotherhood.
- Secret-Keeper: The Elrics know that William is a Homunculus and generally keep this fact a secret from everyone else.
- Ship Tease: Between Al and Wrath, of all characters.
- Voluntary Shapeshifter: William. He uses this power to entertain his brothers.
