→ OOC
□ Name: Jenry
□ Age: 27
□ Contact: plurk @ arashiko or AIM at shadowdancer29; parodysue@gmail.com
□ Journal:
□ Do you play anyone in Ariel?: No longer, but played Alec, Ivan, Reeve, and Arthur previously.
□ Is this a re-application of a dropped character? If yes, when was the character dropped?: It is not.
→ IC
□ Name: Alphonse Elric
□ Journal: ironysoul
□ Series: Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga)
□ Canon point: epilogue/postcanon
□ History:
http://fma.wikia.com/wiki/Alphonse_Elric (specifically, “human form” and “manga/2009 anime” are applicable. There are some points in the wiki I interpret differently, which I’ve hilighted below.)
Since I’m taking Al from the epilogue, which is even skimpier than the Harry Potter epilogue, I have some supporting headcanon that fleshes out the last two years of his life. Arakawa glosses over Al’s recovery in the series, and at times is inconsistent about how damaged his body was by it’s time beyond the gate. I tend toward a more extreme view of Al’s health and recovery after the Promised Day, and how it’s affected his journeys in Xing.
Throughout the manga, Al’s human form is shown to be extremely emaciated. It’s suggested that his only source of sustenance is the residual alchemic bond between him and Edward, and that he’s essentially draining off just enough nutrition from Edward to stay alive. (This explains why Ed eats so much and still doesn’t grow.) Arakawa has Al walking long distances within a month of his return to his body, which I find improbable, given how much emphasis is put on his fragility earlier in the series. He may have mentioned specific journeys through sheer willpower, but he clearly doesn’t have the muscle tone to be physically active all the time. I headcanon Al’s recovery as being much more protracted -- 6 months to a year, at least, after his return from the gate. Most of his body has returned to a healthy weight and muscle mass with careful training, but his legs will never be fully healed. He still uses crutches to support his weight at times, especially in cold or damp weather, which is hard on his joints. (This is supported by canon in the gaiden.)
Arakawa never addresses the effects on Al’s immune system or neurological system at all, so this is all completely headcanon. For roughly six years, Al had absolutely no contact with any bacteria or viruses whatsoever. Whatever childhood immunities he developed in the first 10 years of his life are more than likely gone. A major part of my headcanon is that when exposed to new bugs -- even common childhood colds and fevers -- Al will get sick, because between his body’s frailty and his complete lack of natural immunity, he’s basically a germ magnet. (This probably won’t come into play in Ariel much.)
Al also spent 6 years in a state of sensory deprivation. There’s literally nothing beyond the gate, and so his body lived without physical sensation or any exposure to light and sound. The result now that his soul is returned to his body manifests something like a sensory spectrum disorder. Initially, loud noises, bright lights, and all physical sensations were overwhelming and painful, though Al has begun to adapt. He still is sensitive to sudden or loud sounds, and light or ticklish touches, which he has an extreme distaste for. By contrast, he prefers deep pressure and compression, which he can process easily and finds soothing. He often wears several layers of clothing (generally including a waistcoat or vest, supported by canon) to achieve some level of compression throughout the day. He also avoids loud or shrill noises and bright lights when given the opportunity, since he still finds them unpleasant.
Small note of disagreement with the wiki: there’s a brief scene, presented from Hohenheim’s memories, of Ed and Al as very young children. (Al is somewhere near a year but not much older, which would make Ed just under 2. Of course, they’re Elrics, so their development is much more advanced.) In the scene, Ed is being punished for “bullying” Al. The scene revolves around Ed’s jealousy toward Al, who is monopolizing Trisha’s time. The wiki actually uses the term “abuse”. Putting on my ECE hat for a moment: Around 1 year is generally when sibling rivalry begins to manifest, as the younger sibling is no longer a baby and begins to manifest autonomy. Ed is 2 in the scene but presents behaviorally as 3 or 4 (he’s able to demonstrate an understanding of cause and effect and communicates with clear and complete speech) which is also the age at which empathy first begins to develop. TL;DR his behavior is exactly typical for a child of his age reacting to a sibling Al’s age. In fact, if anything, his empathy is highly developed for his age. (A trait he carries through the series). This is incredibly minor but I have to put it in to avoid any misunderstandings: there is really no case for any level of sibling abuse in Al’s childhood. (How much they manipulate each other is an entirely different can of worms that I’m not even addressing here.)
□ Personality: To understand Al as an adult, it is important to understand Al's growth through the series. The wiki states that Al is frozen in a childlike state of development, which I highly disagree with. He grows and matures emotionally throughout canon, and while he retains a kindness and optimism that could be viewed as childish, he clearly evolves his thinking.
At the beginning of canon, most of Al's life revolved around his brother. He defined himself as Ed’s counterpart, polite where Ed was rude, thoughtful and prepared where Ed was brash and impetuous, and calm where Ed was... Ed. The overall effect made Al seem kind of like a doormat, since he spent a lot of his time following Ed around, abiding by and apologizing for Ed’s decisions. It also made it difficult for him to be identified as something other than “Fullmetal’s younger brother.”
However, behind the quiet exterior, Al proved himself to be just as smart and skilled (if not more so) than his brother. He was very reserved and polite, but not a pushover. He spoke his mind if he believed someone was behaving poorly or unfairly. And, as he and Ed grew apart, he became more and more independent, especially in making his own decisions.
The greatest change over the course of their journey was to Al’s sense of justice. He used to worry a lot about "wrong" and "right" and while he knew there were shades of gray in between, he tried as hard as he could to paint over them. While he was a very reasoned, intellectual, mature individual, emotionally he was still a little boy who'd never had a fair chance to learn about the world. He persisted in believing the best in people, in carrying his optimism over into naievete. Their journey knocked that out of him fast.
Both brothers faced unimaginable horrors (including genocide, mass murder, and child-murder). However, Al spent the second half of canon in a state akin to a terminal illness. Al’s soul began to reject the armor body it had been bound to, which forced him to grow up much faster than his brother. Al compromised on the goal of restoring his body and accepted his death as inevitable. In the process, he compromised his morals as well. He became much more willing to use a philosopher’s stone (the product of genocide), or to cooperate with morally ambiguous allies like Scar and even (for limited periods of time) the homonculi.
As a result, the Al who got his body back is a very different person than the one who set off to fix his brother. While he is still optimistic and cheerful, still fiercely protective of his loved ones (judging by the photographs, he frequently travels from Xing to visit) he is no longer idealistic. He has a calculated, almost cold side, that will allow him to weigh the risks and make the hard decisions. He no longer believes in the strictly just scientific law of Equivalent Exchange.
That doesn't mean that he is cruel, or that he will hurt or sacrifice others: he will always spare pain, or take it on himself to protect others. His new rule, as he explains it to Gracia, is "Equivalent exchange + 1" - for everything you receive, you add a little more of yourself and give it to the next person. Al also remains sunny and optimistic, willing to see the best in people. The difference is now, when they don’t live up to his beliefs, he isn’t shocked or taken by surprise. Instead, he’s disappointed -- and prepared to handle the fallout. While cheerful and kind, Al can be brutally realistic.
Al is also more independent now than he was portrayed in the series, thanks to the time he and his brother spent apart in the later part of their journey. While Edward appears content to retire to Risembool, Al is still adventuring. He is still bright and curious, and he wants to keep learning. Ed's needs no longer supersede his own, as evidenced by the fact that he is able to leave Ed and travel to Xing on his own journey.
A note on Al and sex: I play Al as asexual/demi-romantic, which is headcanon but (in my mind) supported by canon. Al spends the majority of canon as a 15/16 year old boy, one who rarely shows romantic or sexual interest in anyone or anything. Even making allowances for the fact that he has no physical form, for a pubescent boy, that’s unusual. While most of the cast is set up with an explicit sexuality or love interest, Al is very much the oddball out. Unlike his brother, who is oblivious, Al seems aware of May’s interest in him, but does not return it. Even the epilogue, which goes to great length to establish post-canon relationships, is very vague on Al’s relationship with May. They aren’t pictured together romantically, even in passing. Nor is Al pictured romantically with anyone else.
Al is aware that he’s ambivalent toward sex (though not sex-averse or sex-repulsed by any means.) He attributes it to “something going wrong” while his body was at the gate (a thought he would never utter in his brother’s presence, since he knows Ed would blame himself.) My stance OOC is that it’s 50/50 whether it’s stunted development or whether Al is just ace by nature. I certainly don’t want to give the impression that you can only “become” ace after experiencing a trauma. Either way, Al isn’t bothered by his asexuality. Given what he’s experienced and suffered, in his body and out of it, it’s very much a non-issue for him. He has a wide variety of interests outside of sex, and his social and emotional needs are fulfilled by the deep friendships he’s formed. He doesn’t feel like anything is lacking or missing.
In terms of how it will affect him in Ariel, I mentioned above that Al isn’t sex-averse specifically because of those deep friendships. Al bonds very tightly with people, and one of his identifying traits is his willingness to go to great lengths, even self sacrifice, to accommodate the people he loves. Given how strongly he forms attachments, if he entered a romantic relationship with a sexual person, he would happily participate for their benefit. He finds the physical sensations pleasurable (though sometimes overstimulating), he’s just not interested in pursuing sex as a goal.
Al will also have sex for pragmatic reasons, which I foresee being a big influence on his decision making in Ariel. It won’t take him long to figure out that there’s a reward system in place for maintaining a certain level of sexual activity, and if it means more food, abilities, and resources, he will sit down and plan out a color-coded schedule that maximizes his productivity. Getting his alchemy back will be a huge motivator for him. He’ll also have sex if he or a partner is endangered by not doing so. Drugs, chip glitches -- any situation in which someone would be imperiled by his inaction is a situation Al cannot let go. This probably falls under the “dubious consent” umbrella, since ‘I have to fuck you so that you don’t go out on the streets like that’ is not exactly free and informed consent, but the point remains that Al will go to any lengths to protect others. If sex is the most logical and safest way to do that, then sex it is!
□ Age: Canon is fuzzy -- Al was born in winter/early spring 1900, and the Promised Day is just after their birthdays in 1915. The epilogue is approximately 2 years later, so I’m calling it 17.
□ Gender: Cisgendered Male
□ Appearance: Al is a fit but bordering on too-thin young man. He’s not tall, but he’s taller than Edward, which is what counts. His eyes are the same gold as Ed’s, and his hair is just a shade darker. Unlike Ed, he wears it short -- cut around his ears with the bangs parted to the left. On occasion he gets distracted and forgets to cut it, in which case he pulls it back into a short pony tail.
In terms of physiology, as I mentioned, Al is still recovering from half a decade of neglect. While his body is strong and healthy, he will never look like someone who’s never felt hardship. His bones are pretty close to the skin, and it doesn’t take much to have him looking gaunt and half-dead again. The atrophy is especially noticeable in his legs, which have never fully healed. By contrast, after years of using Lofstrand crutches, his arms are actually very well built and definitely stronger than the rest of his body.
□ Abilities/Powers:
Intelligence: Both Elric brothers are extremely intelligent. I disagree with the wiki, which suggests Ed is smarter than Al. In the 2003 anime this is specifically stated to be false. (Al finishes the State Alchemist exam, which Ed is unable to do.) The manga/09 anime makes no definitive determination, but there are a few hints which indicate that Al might be the more intelligent Elric. One of the largest is that Al is able to debate and keep up with Ed, despite being the younger, which would suggest that he’s even more advanced. Not that it matters whether he’s smarter than Ed or not, because they’re both scary level intelligent. Canon demonstrates that Al was talking in full sentences and potty trained by one, and appears to be reading not long after. At 5, he’s able to debate the finer points of advanced science, and by 11, he and his brother are the foremost experts in their field. So... take from that what you will. In addition to being a genius, Al has studied alchemy extensively. This means he is very well educated in chemistry, math, physics, and of course, the actual science of alchemy.
Martial Arts: In addition to training in alchemy, the Elric’s teacher, Izumi Curtis, was one of the best martial artists in the country. In fact, Al may arguably be the best fighter of his generation. Other than the homonculi, there are very few opponents he can’t defeat (including Ed), even at the beginning of canon. By the end of canon, when he’s working with May Chang to learn Xingian martial arts and Alkahestry, he’s almost unstoppable. Now, back in his human body, though he’s weaker than he was in his armor, he’s still incredibly skilled. He’s trained hard to make his body as strong as it can be, which is a good part of why he’s recovered so well. In addition to being well-trained and powerful, he knows his weaknesses -- which is in and of itself an ability. Because his legs are still weaker than the rest of his body, Al will try to stay out of any fight that requires him to use them excessively, or requires excess stamina. If he can’t avoid a fight to begin with, he’ll do his best to end it quickly. While he could conceivably be outnumbered or worn down and overpowered, just the fact that he’s aware of it means he’ll work as hard he can to stay out of those situations to begin with.
Alchemy: Of course, the most identifiable ability in FMA is alchemy. Alchemy actually not considered a power in canon, but a science. (Which will make Al extremely ticked off when he finds out he can’t perform it. It’s not an ability, it’s science!) Like all sciences, it follows strict laws. The most important is the law of equivalent exchange. “To give up something, something of equal value must be sacrificed.” In other words, Al can make a beautiful wooden horse statue using alchemy, provided he has an equivalent amount of wood in some form. Give him a heap of scrap metal, however, and he can’t make a wooden horse. Alchemy is very exact: if he has more material than he needs, or material of different kinds, he must either incorporate them or find a way to disperse them. (For instance, excess water is often dispersed in transmutations as steam.)
Most alchemists require a matrix (in most cases, a complex transmutation circle drawn on paper or inscribed in some way. However there are certain non-circular runes called arrays that can be used.) There are, however, very few alchemists who can transmute without a circle. Al is among them, because he has been to the Gate and seen Truth. Only alchemists who break the law of human transmutation, as Al and his brother did, can transmute without using a circle. However, the alchemists must remember seeing Truth to be able to perform alchemy without a circle. Between the ages of 10 and 15 (roughly) Al didn’t remember Truth, and so he had to use transmutation circles. If he were to lose his memories again, he would lose the ability to perform clap alchemy.
Because Al is one of the few alchemists who has seen Truth, I think it makes sense for him to get his alchemy back in stages. If it’s okay with the mods, I’d suggest regular alchemy (with a transmutation circle) at level 3, and clap alchemy at level 5.
Alkahestry: Al’s last ability is that of Alkahestry. Alkahestry is the Xingian (read: Chinese) form of alchemy, which varies slightly from Amestrian alchemy. Alchemy, in short, is about the manipulation of energy and matter. Alkahestry views the world as the Great Dragon, and the energy which flows through it’s veins, as chi. Chi literally nourishes the earth and everything on it, whereas in alchemy transmutation of living things is discouraged and transmutation of humans is strictly taboo. Therefore there is virtually no healing in alchemy, but healing is one of the principle tenets of alkahestry. Like alchemy, it is accomplished using a matrix of some kind. Alkahestry also uses markers (scrolls, or May Chang uses her knives) as anchor points in the array. Al has only studied alkahestry for two years, and is much less adept at it than he is at alchemy. Provided it’s alright with the mods, I would like him to regain his alkahestry abilities at level 4.
□ Personal Items: 1. 3 suits of clothing (comprised of shoes, socks, trousers, button down shirt, waist coat, tie, and jacket.)
2. A set of “casual” clothes. (Shoes, socks, pants, and a soft cotton pullover shirt.)
3. Full button-down pajamas.
4. A pair of crutches.
5. A pocket watch. (not a state alchemist’s watch, just a normal one.)
6. Two family photos: a pristine copy of this:
http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/19600000/New-family-photo-edward-elric-and-winry-rockbell-19641162-830-467.jpg and a creased and dog-eared copy of this:
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31700000/Elric-family-full-metal-alchemist-31707006-416-295.jpg![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
