#cj's commentary sort of meta?

[cuchufletapl]

There's. Something. About the fact that the Flamel Symbol in FMA was ascribed to the three human characters that willingly committed alchemy's greatest taboo and lost (a part of) their bodies as a result.

As I understand it (and I should do more research on it, so take this with a grain of salt), in real-life, historical alchemy, the Flamel Cross is pretty much analogous with the philosopher's stone. And because western alchemy wasn't just about the science but rather had a strong religious component to it, the philosopher's stone itself was never really about obtaining gold in the most literal sense (as a valuable metal for monetary reasons); it symbolises the achievement of spiritual and physical perfection. (And excuse me for being pedantic for a second, but I feel like it's relevant here to know the etymology: in Latin, perfectus -a -um means "finished", "complete".)

Edward, Izumi, and Alphonse aren't whole, they lost a part of themselves in trying to do something that was out of their reach (Al in particular is physically nothing), and yet from the very beginning of the story they're the closest to illumination, they met god (essentially) and knew the knowledge of the world.

I don't believe Arakawa ever told us when Izumi got her tattoo (the extra chapter about her past as an alchemy apprentice has her cleavage completely covered), but I would venture that she got it after her failed human transmutation. There is nothing in the manga to suggest that she did it earlier, at least. Meanwhile, Edward and Alphonse definitely started wearing it after they tried to resurrect their mother — or, more accurately, after they set out on their journey to restore what they lost.

We are never told the reason why they decided to take on Izumi's emblem, interestingly enough. We don't even see them make the decision, they just start wearing it from one page to the other. Chronologically, the first time that we see Ed wear his red coat is in chapter 23, when he travels to East City to take the State Alchemist exam. However, in the one panel where he has his back towards the reader, his arm is positioned in a way that hides the symbol. Al isn't present for the exam, and the next time that he appears, at the beginning of chapter 24, when they burn down their childhood home, we're not shown his left shoulder — only the right. Nevertheless, we could infer that he already had painted the Flamel on, like we can infer that Ed's coat had it as well, and infer we shall!

I read someone here point out how both Al and Ed carry things of the people they love with them, giving the Flamel as one example of it. (I'd quote them properly, I know I reblogged it at the time, but I can't find the post.) And while I'm sure that's part of the reason, an homage to their master, I can't help but think that it isn't a coincidence that Izumi's symbol specifically resonated with them.

Again, we're never told what the Flamel means within the universe of FMA, it's there but not mentioned, a subtle literary symbol — but given that Arakawa had other real-life alchemical symbols in the series mean the same thing that they meant historically... well. Ed and Al are alchemists, after all, so they would know that the Flamel Cross represents spiritual perfection.

I think that the Watsonian and Doylist explanation for the Flamel is the same here — Ed, Al, and Izumi chose in-universe to wear the Flamel for the same reason that Arakawa chose to identify them with that symbol.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting at here, to be honest. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say. I don't quite have a conclusion to offer. This is why I don't usually do meta lol

But it just feels like it means something, to have these characters, who were overtaken by their grief and punished for their hubris by taking away their bodies, be identified with a symbol of completeness.