Entry tags:
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Player Information
NAME: Fossil
AGE: 28
JOURNAL:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
armoured
PLURK:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
bibbety
RETURNING: No, new!
Character Information
CHARACTER NAME: Alphonse Elric
CHARACTER AGE: 15
SERIES: Fullmetal Alchemist
CHRONOLOGY: Just before the final fight with Father
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Randomised (Heropa #31 on acceptance)
BACKGROUND: Background (World) and Background (Character)
At the turn of the 20th century, in a country known as Amestris, Alphonse was born to Trisha and Hohenheim Elric. His early life was mostly idyllic, set against the beautiful mountain scenery of the village of Resembool. His older brother, Edward, didn't take to having a brother at first, but soon came around and they have been inseparable since.
However, things rapidly took a turn for the worse when Al was only around four or five years old. His father left, abandoning the family, and only a short time later their mother died of disease. Al and Ed went to live with a family friend Pinako "Granny" Rockbell, and her granddaughter, Winry. Despite being accepted like part of the family, they pined for their mother to return. Being exceptionally talented alchemists for their age, they recklessly decided to embark upon a taboo transmutation - human transmutation - to try and restore life. To this end, they left Resembool to study, and to train with their eventual teacher, Izumi Curtiss.
Unfortunately, after a few years they thought they had perfected the idea behind human transmutation, and when Al was only ten and Ed only eleven, they attempted it. They resurrected a ghastly creature that died quickly, and learned that a few minerals are not an equal exchange for a human soul. In order to pay the price, Ed lost his leg and Al lost his entire body. He would have died if Ed hadn't given up his arm in exchange for binding Al's soul to a nearby suit of armour.
Barely a year later, and Ed was offered a place in the military as a State Alchemist, due to his talent. He accepted as the resources and connections offered with the position allowed the brothers to begin their search on how to restore their bodies. Now they travel around Amestris, searching for a way to bring back what they have lost and, now, save Amestris itself.
PERSONALITY: Alphonse Elric is the very definition of 'don't judge a book by the cover'. His outward appearance is that of a towering and intimidating suit of armour, decorated with conical spikes, and looming head and shoulders above mostly everyone else. But after only a few minutes of conversation, it wouldn't be hard to find out that he's anything but intimidating. In many ways, Al is a perfect foil for his older brother. Where Edward is hot-tempered, impulsive, and often impatient; Al is gentle, kind, and much more accepting of everyone around him.
One of the most defining things about Al is definitely his ability to keep hope alive, and to keep looking at life through optimistic and happy eyes. He naturally sees the glass as half full and, even in the darkest or most painful situations, he can find a way to put a positive spin on things. The most prevalent way this shows itself is in his attitude towards his armour body. For example. even though he desperately misses sleeping, eating, and even simple things like feeling the rain, he manages to put a positive spin on things by keeping a list of foods he will eat when he gets his body back.
Even Al can't deny that his armour body is a burden on many occasions, but he is still thankful to be in possession of it nonetheless, despite his brother's fears to the contrary. Ed saved Al's life by transmuting his soul into the armour, giving up his own arm in the process, and Al sees this as something to be incredibly grateful for. The depth of Ed's sacrifice showed how much he cares for his younger brother, and because even life in armour is still life and that means there's still hope that things can get better in the future.
It's in this viewpoint of looking to the future, that Al's hopeful optimism becomes intermingled with his impressive determination. The combination of these traits are what allows him to keep single-mindedly moving towards his ultimate goal - the restoration of both his and Ed's bodies - without becoming bitter from what they have already endured, or despondent about how far they still have to go. From burning down their own home so they had nowhere to return to, to following the slimmest of leads across the whole country, the theme of 'moving forwards' and continuing to hope is a strong one that never fades away. Yet despite this determination, Al remains a very moral person and never lets the end goal justify committing atrocities. For example, even though the philosopher's stone may be able to help restore his body, both he and Ed refuse to use one once they find out that human sacrifice is required to make one.
An almost natural progression of his sunny outlook on life, is Al's capacity for kindness and forgiveness towards others. He hates seeing other people hurt, and it's the injuries to the people that he and Ed meet along the way which cut him far more deeply than any hurt to himself. He often goes out of his way to attempt to shield and protect others, such as hiding a chimera girl inside his armour to try and keep her safe from the military, even if it ended up backfiring. This desire to protect and care for others, builds to such a point that eventually he snaps and declares that he "won't let anyone else be hurt for them [he and Ed] any longer."
His willingness to forgive and believe in the goodness of people, is shown the most clearly in his relationships with both Hohenheim and Scar. Hohenheim, the father of Ed and Al, abandoned their small family unit when both boys were very young and didn't return even when their mother died. Understandably, Ed is bitter and angry towards him; however, Al is shown almost immediately accepting his far-fetched life story and calling him 'Dad'. Scar has murdered many State Alchemists, and even attempted to murder Ed, but Al still entrusts the safety of May to him when it becomes absolutely necessary. All of this might make it seem like Al is a very naive and innocent person, but he's actually quite mature for his age and well aware of what the world is really like, it's simply that he chooses to believe that it can be better.
However, all of this kindness and optimism aside, Al is a very human boy at heart and, as such, has some very human failings of his own. He's by no means immune to fits of sadness and despair. His armour body is often a cause of distress to him, though he may try to cover it up, because of its severe limitations. He can't sleep or dream, he can't eat, he can't feel anyone touch or embrace him, and he can't even cry if he needs to. He desperately longs for his body back to regain all of these things, and sometimes the reminders of what he has lost are too much for him - for example, when he haltingly admits to Ed that he isn't sure how many more nights of loneliness he can bear.
His body can also make him very sensitive to the observations of others, as well as sometimes wavering in his own self confidence. He dreads being seen as something other than human, and the brief period when he allowed Barry the Chopper to plant doubts in his mind that he ever had been human led to some of the worst depression Al suffered during the series. He knows he is human within, and Ed knows he is human too, but he is always acutely aware that others may not see him that way, which hurts deeply. Of course, the loss of his mother and the subsequent attempt to revive her using human transmutation has also left deep scars on Al emotionally. The burden of guilt over what he and his brother tried to do, as well as the physical pain that Ed endured for many months afterwards, is something that never truly leaves him.
Finally, it would be impossible to talk about Al, without mentioning his relationship with his older brother, Edward. The two brothers share a connection and love that stems from being all one another has, and is deepened by the experiences they have gone through together. A large part of Al's strength comes from Ed, and his belief in his brother. He looks up to him, admiring his passion, his dedication, and his strength; and in turn takes comfort from knowing that Ed holds him in equally high regard. Yet, despite their closeness, the relationship never crosses the boundaries of being co-dependent. Al knows that Ed is competent, and so trusts him to take care of himself and return safely whenever they are separated.
POWER: 1. Alchemy: Alchemy is Al's main ability. Alchemy is a scientific form of deconstruction and reconstruction. It allows the alchemist to break down an object into its component elements, and then reconstruct it into something else, or fix it if it was broken. Alchemy has a couple of limits - firstly, equivalent exchange must be used. This means that the object created can only be of equal mass to the one destroyed (so Al could make a statue out of earth, but it would leave an equivalent crater in the ground). Secondly, Alchemy is limited by the knowledge of the alchemist. Al, as well as his brother, are both prodigies, but they are far from knowing everything and so there are some things they simply can't do - healing the human body, for example.
2. Armour body: This is a curse as much as it is a power. Alphonse is just a soul bound to a suit of armour, which means he is hollow. He can take himself apart piece by piece and, as long as the blood seal remains in tact, he won't be hurt. He can't feel pain, cold, heat, he doesn't need to eat, or sleep, and he is incapable of even doing simple human things like crying.
CHARACTER SAMPLES
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: [These devices are still a lot different to the phones that Al knows from Amestris - they're much more advanced, much more confusing, and really not designed to be worked with massive metal fingers.
There are a couple of mishaps, some random beeping noises, and then a close up of Al's face. He's accidentally enabled a video type broadcast, and then held it up to his ear as if it were a normal phone. His voice comes in a little muffled because of this, and echoing with an ever-present, faint tinniness.]
Someone called me a hero today... actually, a lot of people have called me a hero since I arrived, and I'm still not sure I'm a hero in the way they think I am. I haven't rescued anyone from a burning building, or, uh, saved a bus full of orphans... [Good analogy, Al. Not.] Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, maybe I can still be a hero despite all that, and maybe you can too. We can be heroes in small ways, helping one person at a time, and I don't think that makes us any less heroic.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
Some things never changed, no matter if he was in Amestris or Heropa... The nights were always the hardest time of all.
Hours of cloying silence and endless thoughts when everyone else was sleeping, leaving him alone and trapped in his stupid, incapable of sleep, body. He had learned to dread the nights, learned to dread how inhuman and different he always felt by the time dawn came.
Sometimes the darkness was punctuated by a nightmare from Ed, a horrible flashback of their mistake, a mistake that could never be erased or forgiven. But even that made him feel worse even as he comforted his brother, because he never suffered that way, he never... He had never even cried after what had happened, and it seemed unfair.
Tonight was somehow worse than ever. The sun had been beating down outside in an extended heat wave all day, not that this was unusual for Florida, and all evening everyone had been complaining loudly of the discomfort and the sweat, when Al would have given literally anything for a single moment of that heat.
Just when he felt that he couldn't take any more of it, a sudden scream rent the night. Someone in trouble...! Al had never become entirely comfortable with his 'role' here as a hero, but right at that moment, he welcomed it with open arms. Perhaps he had been wrong, perhaps the nights here in this rarely sleeping, always troubled city were a little easier to bear.
Sometimes.
NAME: Fossil
AGE: 28
JOURNAL:
armouredPLURK:
RETURNING: No, new!
Character Information
CHARACTER NAME: Alphonse Elric
CHARACTER AGE: 15
SERIES: Fullmetal Alchemist
CHRONOLOGY: Just before the final fight with Father
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Randomised (Heropa #31 on acceptance)
BACKGROUND: Background (World) and Background (Character)
At the turn of the 20th century, in a country known as Amestris, Alphonse was born to Trisha and Hohenheim Elric. His early life was mostly idyllic, set against the beautiful mountain scenery of the village of Resembool. His older brother, Edward, didn't take to having a brother at first, but soon came around and they have been inseparable since.
However, things rapidly took a turn for the worse when Al was only around four or five years old. His father left, abandoning the family, and only a short time later their mother died of disease. Al and Ed went to live with a family friend Pinako "Granny" Rockbell, and her granddaughter, Winry. Despite being accepted like part of the family, they pined for their mother to return. Being exceptionally talented alchemists for their age, they recklessly decided to embark upon a taboo transmutation - human transmutation - to try and restore life. To this end, they left Resembool to study, and to train with their eventual teacher, Izumi Curtiss.
Unfortunately, after a few years they thought they had perfected the idea behind human transmutation, and when Al was only ten and Ed only eleven, they attempted it. They resurrected a ghastly creature that died quickly, and learned that a few minerals are not an equal exchange for a human soul. In order to pay the price, Ed lost his leg and Al lost his entire body. He would have died if Ed hadn't given up his arm in exchange for binding Al's soul to a nearby suit of armour.
Barely a year later, and Ed was offered a place in the military as a State Alchemist, due to his talent. He accepted as the resources and connections offered with the position allowed the brothers to begin their search on how to restore their bodies. Now they travel around Amestris, searching for a way to bring back what they have lost and, now, save Amestris itself.
PERSONALITY: Alphonse Elric is the very definition of 'don't judge a book by the cover'. His outward appearance is that of a towering and intimidating suit of armour, decorated with conical spikes, and looming head and shoulders above mostly everyone else. But after only a few minutes of conversation, it wouldn't be hard to find out that he's anything but intimidating. In many ways, Al is a perfect foil for his older brother. Where Edward is hot-tempered, impulsive, and often impatient; Al is gentle, kind, and much more accepting of everyone around him.
One of the most defining things about Al is definitely his ability to keep hope alive, and to keep looking at life through optimistic and happy eyes. He naturally sees the glass as half full and, even in the darkest or most painful situations, he can find a way to put a positive spin on things. The most prevalent way this shows itself is in his attitude towards his armour body. For example. even though he desperately misses sleeping, eating, and even simple things like feeling the rain, he manages to put a positive spin on things by keeping a list of foods he will eat when he gets his body back.
Even Al can't deny that his armour body is a burden on many occasions, but he is still thankful to be in possession of it nonetheless, despite his brother's fears to the contrary. Ed saved Al's life by transmuting his soul into the armour, giving up his own arm in the process, and Al sees this as something to be incredibly grateful for. The depth of Ed's sacrifice showed how much he cares for his younger brother, and because even life in armour is still life and that means there's still hope that things can get better in the future.
It's in this viewpoint of looking to the future, that Al's hopeful optimism becomes intermingled with his impressive determination. The combination of these traits are what allows him to keep single-mindedly moving towards his ultimate goal - the restoration of both his and Ed's bodies - without becoming bitter from what they have already endured, or despondent about how far they still have to go. From burning down their own home so they had nowhere to return to, to following the slimmest of leads across the whole country, the theme of 'moving forwards' and continuing to hope is a strong one that never fades away. Yet despite this determination, Al remains a very moral person and never lets the end goal justify committing atrocities. For example, even though the philosopher's stone may be able to help restore his body, both he and Ed refuse to use one once they find out that human sacrifice is required to make one.
An almost natural progression of his sunny outlook on life, is Al's capacity for kindness and forgiveness towards others. He hates seeing other people hurt, and it's the injuries to the people that he and Ed meet along the way which cut him far more deeply than any hurt to himself. He often goes out of his way to attempt to shield and protect others, such as hiding a chimera girl inside his armour to try and keep her safe from the military, even if it ended up backfiring. This desire to protect and care for others, builds to such a point that eventually he snaps and declares that he "won't let anyone else be hurt for them [he and Ed] any longer."
His willingness to forgive and believe in the goodness of people, is shown the most clearly in his relationships with both Hohenheim and Scar. Hohenheim, the father of Ed and Al, abandoned their small family unit when both boys were very young and didn't return even when their mother died. Understandably, Ed is bitter and angry towards him; however, Al is shown almost immediately accepting his far-fetched life story and calling him 'Dad'. Scar has murdered many State Alchemists, and even attempted to murder Ed, but Al still entrusts the safety of May to him when it becomes absolutely necessary. All of this might make it seem like Al is a very naive and innocent person, but he's actually quite mature for his age and well aware of what the world is really like, it's simply that he chooses to believe that it can be better.
However, all of this kindness and optimism aside, Al is a very human boy at heart and, as such, has some very human failings of his own. He's by no means immune to fits of sadness and despair. His armour body is often a cause of distress to him, though he may try to cover it up, because of its severe limitations. He can't sleep or dream, he can't eat, he can't feel anyone touch or embrace him, and he can't even cry if he needs to. He desperately longs for his body back to regain all of these things, and sometimes the reminders of what he has lost are too much for him - for example, when he haltingly admits to Ed that he isn't sure how many more nights of loneliness he can bear.
His body can also make him very sensitive to the observations of others, as well as sometimes wavering in his own self confidence. He dreads being seen as something other than human, and the brief period when he allowed Barry the Chopper to plant doubts in his mind that he ever had been human led to some of the worst depression Al suffered during the series. He knows he is human within, and Ed knows he is human too, but he is always acutely aware that others may not see him that way, which hurts deeply. Of course, the loss of his mother and the subsequent attempt to revive her using human transmutation has also left deep scars on Al emotionally. The burden of guilt over what he and his brother tried to do, as well as the physical pain that Ed endured for many months afterwards, is something that never truly leaves him.
Finally, it would be impossible to talk about Al, without mentioning his relationship with his older brother, Edward. The two brothers share a connection and love that stems from being all one another has, and is deepened by the experiences they have gone through together. A large part of Al's strength comes from Ed, and his belief in his brother. He looks up to him, admiring his passion, his dedication, and his strength; and in turn takes comfort from knowing that Ed holds him in equally high regard. Yet, despite their closeness, the relationship never crosses the boundaries of being co-dependent. Al knows that Ed is competent, and so trusts him to take care of himself and return safely whenever they are separated.
POWER: 1. Alchemy: Alchemy is Al's main ability. Alchemy is a scientific form of deconstruction and reconstruction. It allows the alchemist to break down an object into its component elements, and then reconstruct it into something else, or fix it if it was broken. Alchemy has a couple of limits - firstly, equivalent exchange must be used. This means that the object created can only be of equal mass to the one destroyed (so Al could make a statue out of earth, but it would leave an equivalent crater in the ground). Secondly, Alchemy is limited by the knowledge of the alchemist. Al, as well as his brother, are both prodigies, but they are far from knowing everything and so there are some things they simply can't do - healing the human body, for example.
2. Armour body: This is a curse as much as it is a power. Alphonse is just a soul bound to a suit of armour, which means he is hollow. He can take himself apart piece by piece and, as long as the blood seal remains in tact, he won't be hurt. He can't feel pain, cold, heat, he doesn't need to eat, or sleep, and he is incapable of even doing simple human things like crying.
CHARACTER SAMPLES
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE: [These devices are still a lot different to the phones that Al knows from Amestris - they're much more advanced, much more confusing, and really not designed to be worked with massive metal fingers.
There are a couple of mishaps, some random beeping noises, and then a close up of Al's face. He's accidentally enabled a video type broadcast, and then held it up to his ear as if it were a normal phone. His voice comes in a little muffled because of this, and echoing with an ever-present, faint tinniness.]
Someone called me a hero today... actually, a lot of people have called me a hero since I arrived, and I'm still not sure I'm a hero in the way they think I am. I haven't rescued anyone from a burning building, or, uh, saved a bus full of orphans... [Good analogy, Al. Not.] Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, maybe I can still be a hero despite all that, and maybe you can too. We can be heroes in small ways, helping one person at a time, and I don't think that makes us any less heroic.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE:
Some things never changed, no matter if he was in Amestris or Heropa... The nights were always the hardest time of all.
Hours of cloying silence and endless thoughts when everyone else was sleeping, leaving him alone and trapped in his stupid, incapable of sleep, body. He had learned to dread the nights, learned to dread how inhuman and different he always felt by the time dawn came.
Sometimes the darkness was punctuated by a nightmare from Ed, a horrible flashback of their mistake, a mistake that could never be erased or forgiven. But even that made him feel worse even as he comforted his brother, because he never suffered that way, he never... He had never even cried after what had happened, and it seemed unfair.
Tonight was somehow worse than ever. The sun had been beating down outside in an extended heat wave all day, not that this was unusual for Florida, and all evening everyone had been complaining loudly of the discomfort and the sweat, when Al would have given literally anything for a single moment of that heat.
Just when he felt that he couldn't take any more of it, a sudden scream rent the night. Someone in trouble...! Al had never become entirely comfortable with his 'role' here as a hero, but right at that moment, he welcomed it with open arms. Perhaps he had been wrong, perhaps the nights here in this rarely sleeping, always troubled city were a little easier to bear.
Sometimes.