I have coined a new fandom term: VAS, or Vanishing Al Syndrome. Fics, particularly EdWin or RoyEd fics, where Al has inexplicably vanished from Ed's life without a mention or a trace.
Seriously, people. I can understand if Al isn't your fave character, or if it's hard for you to write him. I can understand that you want to write about Ed getting it on with Roy. That's fine. I want to read it. But let me spell it out for you: Al is the center of Ed's life during his teenage years. He never even leaves Al's side for more than a few hours. His motivations, goals, plans, routines, all of his thoughts include and center on Al. You CANNOT WRITE ABOUT ED WITHOUT MENTIONING AL.
That would be like... *gropes around for a suitable comparison* Like writing an Une-centric fic that never mentioned Treize. Or a... or a Hisoka's-angst-centric fic that makes no mention of Muraki.Or talking about Blair's foreign policy without ever mentioning Bush. Even these comparisons don't cover it; I'm having trouble thinking of ANY other anime characters who are as closely pair-bonded as Ed and Al. When a certain person is at the center of a character's universe, and you suddenly remove that person, then your character is going to scream OOC.
You don't have to have Al in your fic. He doesn't have to appear in person at all. But the longer you spend following Ed through his life and through his thoughts -- and the longer this goes on without a mention of Al -- the more pronounced the absence is going to be. The reader is going to wonder what the heck is going on. Is Al at home baking cookies? In another town? Getting it on in human form with Winry in Riesenburg? Staying up late waiting for Ed to phone and say he's not coming home tonight? Did he inexplicably drop dead, and if so, how did Ed manage to stay out of an insane asylum? Even if Al is not physically present, it's bizarre to suppose that Ed would never think about him -- where he is, what he's doing, how Ed's current actions will affect him. To do otherwise is -- plain and simple -- out of character.
Vanishing Al Syndrome. Avoid it, people.
Seriously, people. I can understand if Al isn't your fave character, or if it's hard for you to write him. I can understand that you want to write about Ed getting it on with Roy. That's fine. I want to read it. But let me spell it out for you: Al is the center of Ed's life during his teenage years. He never even leaves Al's side for more than a few hours. His motivations, goals, plans, routines, all of his thoughts include and center on Al. You CANNOT WRITE ABOUT ED WITHOUT MENTIONING AL.
That would be like... *gropes around for a suitable comparison* Like writing an Une-centric fic that never mentioned Treize. Or a... or a Hisoka's-angst-centric fic that makes no mention of Muraki.
You don't have to have Al in your fic. He doesn't have to appear in person at all. But the longer you spend following Ed through his life and through his thoughts -- and the longer this goes on without a mention of Al -- the more pronounced the absence is going to be. The reader is going to wonder what the heck is going on. Is Al at home baking cookies? In another town? Getting it on in human form with Winry in Riesenburg? Staying up late waiting for Ed to phone and say he's not coming home tonight? Did he inexplicably drop dead, and if so, how did Ed manage to stay out of an insane asylum? Even if Al is not physically present, it's bizarre to suppose that Ed would never think about him -- where he is, what he's doing, how Ed's current actions will affect him. To do otherwise is -- plain and simple -- out of character.
Vanishing Al Syndrome. Avoid it, people.
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