mikkeneko

The anon meme. I've done it before, I'm sure. If you correctly guess yourself, I'll cross that one off the list.

Done by random number generator!

1. I don't know you very well, except as an OTP writer. Please continue to bring your stunning talent to my communities! But could you stand to lighten up a bit?
2. You'd better be taking good care of my imouto over there. *eyes you* I expect her back in less than three pieces. Get that? <3
3. You're one of the biggest drama queens I've ever met. Your problems may be real, I have no way of knowing, but I don't want to be the one to help you deal with them.
4. My only regret is that you don't have AIM! Think of all the havoc we could wreak! Alas. I still owe you that Saiyuki fic, too.
5. Your OTP writing is gorgeously lyrical! But I hear you write Ed/Envy, too, which scares me. O.o
6. I think you worry too much. Have some faith in yourself! Write what you want to write; you can't get through life (or fandom) without stepping on some people's toes.
7. Your icons make me swoon every time I see them. I stand in both respect and fear of your mighty snarking skills. And I always enjoy talking with you.
8. You're not one of my close friends, but I see you're a force to be reckoned with in the circles we both travel! Your subject lines always make me laugh.
9. You are AWESOME! I wonder if I'll get to meet you again before you leave the States?
10. You give me more wonderful fic ideas than anyone else I know. And then make me feel guilty that I can't write them all. Damn you!
11. You are a friend I am happy to have in this fandom as well as my last one! Plus you write OTP, bonus.
12. All I can think of for you is "the girl with the adorable icon," but you seem like a very nice person. A shame you share half a name with a girl I can't stand.
13. I knew you from my last fandom, too, although our pairing lines seem destined never to cross! Ah well. I respect and enjoy your evil from a safe distance.
14. You can be a real prick at times, but I love you anyway. I always look forward to reading your posts or seeing you on AIM.
15. We share pairing loves, but not fandoms any more; that doesn't matter, though, because you're a person of amazing insight and astonishing quiet strength. I wish you only the best.

And now, the fic/bunny request.

This started, as they all do, on a dark and stormy conversation with

tavella about new and interesting ~~ways to make Ed's life hell~~ plot ideas.

I'd been playing for some time with the idea of how automail was powered, and speculated that if it is powered biologically somehow (as opposed to alchemically) then it must be one heck of a drain on Ed's system. Then there was the revelation, late in the manga, that Ed's body is still physically linked to Al's, and Ed is essentially supporting Al's metabolic load in addition to his own, thus explaining his voracious appetite. So when you put that together, you have an Edward who is burning calories at almost three times the normal rate. Whew!

Which led to the question: If Ed were to be deprived of food for any length of time, which would stop working first? The automail, or Al? Or Ed? (Another interesting question would be what would happen to Al if Ed were deprived of sleep for any length of time, but that would be a somewhat more complicated scenario.)

Tav's opinion was that his link with Al, at least, was likely to be of the parasitic variety; like a pregnant mother, it'd take nutrients from his body to allow Al to continue functioning. As for the automail, I'd at least hope that Winry and Pinako could devise some safeguards that would shut it down if it ever became too much.

Then, of course, we get into the question of how do we make this into a fic? Tav and I came up with the following scenario:

Ed and Al are attached to a combat unit commanded by Roy, somewhere to the north and very cold. Their unit gets cut off from their supply train, and nobody's sure when they'll make contact again; so in the meantime, everybody is put on short rations. For Ed, this means the days of being able to just walk into the supply tent and demand food at any time are over.

Ed gets very hungry, very fast. By the end of the second day he's alraedy transmuted any available plant life in the vicinty into food and eaten it. He's not aware of either the link with Al (though he might suspect) nor the drain of the automail, so he can't give Roy any good reason why he should be given special treatment. Roy (and everyone else) figure that Ed is just being overdramatic and grumpy, and/or is too young to be familiar with real hunger, and ignore him.

After a few days (less than a week, most likely) Ed's automail stops working. Al attempts to steal food for Ed, but is unfortunately not terribly stealthy, and fails. On around the fifth day, Ed collapses in the middle of the camp and is taken to the medic, who is rather shocked to discover Ed is on the brink of death by starvation. Whoopsie. ♥

I beg one of you extremely talented writers to take up the flag!