edward

APPLICATION

Player Name: Scarlet
Plurk Handle: scarletscar
Player Status: New Player

Character Name: Edward Elric
Fandom: FMA: Brotherhood
Character Journal: clapslapboom
OU, AU, or OC? OU
If canon, canon point: In the middle of Brotherhood episode 41, right before he gets stabbed by rebar.

History: Here

Personality:
Edward Elric doesn't have a winning personality. He's stubborn, cynical, and short-tempered. The first time you meet him, he's likely to be disinterested (unless you can help him on his quest) or dismissive—depending on how you approach him, he edges right up to outright hostility. The kid has been through a lot, and it shows in his personality.

There's a lot of wonder in alchemy but incredible amounts of horror, too. While Ed initially become a State Alchemist to learn alchemy and try to restore his body and his brother's, he definitely had a naive picture of what he'd find there—and a one-sided experience. His relative genius let him coast. Other alchemists weren't so lucky. Both he and his brother trusted Shou Tucker. They thought his interest in chimeras might help them. They didn't see Tucker's desperation to produce research results until far too late.

Maybe if Tucker had just used the brothers for his own gain, the end result wouldn't have left Ed quite so jaded. But Tucker destroyed his daughter's life in the process, and Ed was so blindsided by it that it reshaped the way he interacts with the entire organization of State Alchemists going forward. He trusts people far less after, especially alchemists. He holds back asking for help going forward, feeling people out until he knows he can trust them.

His refusal to lean on others comes from a number of sources. Part of it is, yes, his distrust for other alchemists. Part of it is that he doesn't want to drag people into his messes. While Hughes chose to become involved in Edward's hunt for a way to restore his body, what he knew got him killed. Other people's relation to Ed—and what they know about his and Al's situation—has put them in danger, too. From Roy Mustang to Ling. Every person who becomes involved in Ed's quest gets hurt, and he knows it. That's part of the reason he dodges questions from General Armstrong at Briggs. By talking around the truth and giving her half-answers, he's hoping to protect her.

The crux of Ed's stubbornness stems from his desire to atone for his childhood mistakes. He knows that he's the reason Al has no body. He knows he's the reason his own arm and leg are missing. If he hadn't wanted to bring their mother back, if he hadn't suggested it, if he hadn't convinced Al, they would be happy. They would be whole. He is the one who made the mistake, and so he is the one who has to fix it. Ed is devoted to this cause. It defines him and motivates him. Alchemy is interesting, sure, but he's not interested in it for its own sake. He doesn't care about the military. He's not interested in fame (though some extra fortune for food wouldn't be out of the question). Ed is tenacious for the sake of his brother, self-sacrificing to the point of destruction.

And that's where we see Ed shine. He is absolutely short-tempered, prone to cynicism and the general belief that people are garbage. He's bark and bite both. But for the people in his life who matter, he will stop at nothing to protect them. To help them. His trust is a thing hard-earned (Scar is still a monster to him, no matter what his motivations were), but once someone has it, Ed will do everything he can to help them.

Like a dog with a bone, he will pursue every means and every end. His soul is already tarnished, so he really doesn't care if he blackens it more (though he draws the line at killing). For those like Al and Winry, Ed will make every sacrifice. If he can save Al, he will finally be able to lift his burden of guilt. For him, that has to be enough.

Canon Powers: Alchemy. Ed's specialty is with metal, but his ability to use alchemy without a transmutation circle makes him incredibly versatile. He's able to adapt other alchemists' powers and work them into his own fighting style to great effect. He is still bound by the rules of equivalent exchange, and so can't create something out of nothing. If he has an ounce of stone, he can't make a functioning spear.

Freebie Powers: n/a

Power Selection: Native Superpowers

Game Powers:
▶ LEAD INTO GOLD | Per game rules, Ed will no longer be able to transmute anything into a precious stone or valuable metal. If the mods would be amenable to it, I would love to allow him to do this on a timer even shorter than in the canon (he tricks someone into handing over a deed in exchange for a pile of gold that turns back into rock within hours) mostly so that angry shopkeepers can remember him as that kid who tried to bamboozle them. The precious stone or metal reverts into its original state no more than 3 minutes after the initial transmutation and takes a considerable amount of effort. Let's just say Ed's not going to be running any marathons after doing this.
▶ MY HOME IS YOUR HOME | Alchemy will let Ed create rough shelters, no better than rock lean-tos (likely decorated with skulls and pitchforks, because this kid is weird). There will be no alchemy mansions. The energy for that is just way too much anyway.
▶ EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE | While it sometimes looks like Ed can create something from nothing, this isn't true. If he wants to deconstruct one material into another, he needs to have enough component parts in that base material to get to the new object. Bales of hay can't become machine guns, though he might be able to fashion them into crude, wooden spears. He can still create a steel spear out of a pile of rocks, but it's much harder for him to do in the Wilderlands. Though not quite as exhausting as something like turning lead to gold, this kind of transmutation is draining enough to make it impractical to do once he's into the swing of a fight.

Non-Powered Abilities:
▶ MARTIAL ARTS | Ed is an exceptional fighter, small and quick yet still able to pack a punch. Though not deliberately called out in the show, he excels most when he stops trying to be super clever and just punches someone.
▶ WILDERNESS SURVIVAL | Training at the hand of Izumi meant spending a lot of time with Al in the wilderness as a very young kid. Though by no means an expert hunter, he knows how to lay traps and build shelters, whether from alchemy or basic materials.

Setting/Suitability:
Ed isn't happy about being here, but every opportunity to learn something new is a good one in his mind. If he's stuck here, he's going to milk as much knowledge from people that he can. This world isn't his world, but he can still learn. Maybe if he's lucky, he can bring some of that knowledge back to Amestris to help Al and himself get their bodies back.

Based on the canon point that Ed comes from, I also want to grow him interpersonally. At this point in canon, he's gotten better at asking for help from people he trusts, but now he's in a situation where he can't reasonably trust anyone. He doesn't know what taboos exist in this world and if the local powers will look down on him (or consider him a monster) for human transmutation. Quests provide a great chance for him to be reminded that a man isn't an island.

SAMPLES

Prose Sample: Ed on the TDM

Network Sample:
[Ed hates this. He stares at the face reflected in the mirror and he hates every minute of it. Talk to yourself, they said. Give him some wisdom, they said.

Why? Why bother? The greatest wisdom Ed ever gained was in the stupid thing this kid has already done. Just as the mirrors connected, Ed had felt a flash of hope that he might be able to tell himself not to dabble in human transmutation. That he might be able to change history.

Then he saw his younger self's eyes and knew this conversation was happening too late for that. Knew that he might not try to change history, even if he could.

Whoever did this doesn't understand that there's nothing left to tell someone who has seen the wreckage of a human that isn't even their mother wheezing for air. They don't understand that once you've opened the Gate of Truth, peered inside it, and used its knowledge to trade your arm for your brother's soul, there isn't much left to say. You can't look into the eyes of a five-year-old and give them some new kind of wisdom. Tell them it's going to be alright. That they'll figure it out.

He wishes the younger him would say something, but he knows that's not going to happen. The kid isn't allowed to talk.

This is so much trouble. Ed sighs heavily.]

I dunno if it's going to be alright. [He doesn't look into the mirror as he talks.] I dunno if it is alright. But I can't say we made a mistake either. We're struggling to restore ourselves. But because of what we did... [His expression hardens, and he meets his own tired, golden eyes.] Because of what we tried to do, we can help a lot more people. [That counts as wisdom, doesn't it? It has to.

It has to be enough. He's too busy giving to everyone else to have anything left to give to himself.]