These are bloody amazing! You have this beautiful writing style that can afford to be beautiful, without ever becoming obtrustive, or overblown. There's an invisible line where readability and aestheticism interact, and you never fail to capture that line. In specific:
"Creators and Destroyers" You do a fine job of delineating the characters, without ever mentioning their names. Scar's characterization feels both true to canon, and elaborated. The woman's (Lust's ?) characterization provides a sense of mystery, but still gives the reader a sense of her personality. The two work well together, being almost foils of each other - two people who have very different views on the world, but more in common than they think. What I liked best, though, is how you established a strong feel of the culture, even in such a short piece. The religion; the people's mindsets; the small bits of etiquette - each of these provides a real sense of the time and place, without ever being obvious about it.
"Deciphering" I absolutely love your Gracia! She is sweet, but she is also obviously very intelligent - which, I have to say, is one of my main draws to female characters. And the relationship between her and Hughes is priceless. They're in love, but they're also friends, which, to me, is the most important and telling part of the relationship. I love their banter! And I had no idea that Ed and Alicia shared a birthday. Need to rewatch episode 6. (It's episode 6, right?)
"Mechanic" Oh, but your Winry needs a hug! She is such a sweetie. The vignette reminded me strongly of episode 17, without being derivative. I think my favorite part is where she contemplates writing a letter, but knows that there's only one thing for her to say, and she's afraid to say it. That strikes me as very true to both Winry's character, and to reality. Your contrast between humanity, machines, and Winry's perception of both is really, really well done.
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"Creators and Destroyers"
You do a fine job of delineating the characters, without ever mentioning their names. Scar's characterization feels both true to canon, and elaborated. The woman's (Lust's ?) characterization provides a sense of mystery, but still gives the reader a sense of her personality. The two work well together, being almost foils of each other - two people who have very different views on the world, but more in common than they think. What I liked best, though, is how you established a strong feel of the culture, even in such a short piece. The religion; the people's mindsets; the small bits of etiquette - each of these provides a real sense of the time and place, without ever being obvious about it.
"Deciphering"
I absolutely love your Gracia! She is sweet, but she is also obviously very intelligent - which, I have to say, is one of my main draws to female characters. And the relationship between her and Hughes is priceless. They're in love, but they're also friends, which, to me, is the most important and telling part of the relationship. I love their banter! And I had no idea that Ed and Alicia shared a birthday. Need to rewatch episode 6. (It's episode 6, right?)
"Mechanic"
Oh, but your Winry needs a hug! She is such a sweetie. The vignette reminded me strongly of episode 17, without being derivative. I think my favorite part is where she contemplates writing a letter, but knows that there's only one thing for her to say, and she's afraid to say it. That strikes me as very true to both Winry's character, and to reality. Your contrast between humanity, machines, and Winry's perception of both is really, really well done.