thisavrou_log | june intro log overflow

[Luke gapes over all of it with clear sense of wonder and curiosity.]

It's so intricate! How do you have the energy? Where does it come from?

Well, it's just knowing how to use the energy. Snow is just water, you see, and water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, so if I know how the kinetic energy in that works, then I can use that same energy to manipulate it. It helps that the makeup of the things around us can also be found in our own bodies. Once you can understand that and feel the flow of the materials, then you're set. So it's a little of bit me and a little bit of the snow, too.

[ Ed grins, quite happy to talk about alchemy to someone who has clearly never seen it before. ] There are rules you have to follow, too, but it's pretty complicated.

Oh, I know that. [He says with a pssh and a wave of his hand.] You didn't use any components that weren't already there. But things don't just-- how did it reorganize? How did it know to move to your specifications?

Well, most transmutations start with a circle, that helps give the transmutation shape. So, let's see. [ He crouches in the snow and draws a transmutation circle for Luke to see. ] Every time someone wants to perform alchemy, they use one of these. This one is about as basic as they come, but you can add to it or redesign it.

So you can have a circle for the four elements and much more. But you use those four elements to build any circle. Most things are made up of those elements and their parts, so that makes starting out pretty simple. You change your circle based on your outcome. The more difficult task you have, the more complex the circle might have to be. We had a lot of books on it growing up and a pretty great teacher, but it's just about understanding the order of things, that's all. Let's do one for water, yeah?

[ He makes a different circle. ] So this helps direct the energy. I know what water and ice are made of, so I design my circle around that. You can't transmute anything if you don't know what it's made of.

I want to make something small, out of snow. I use the energy the circle releases and my own to manipulate the particles according to the transmutation symbols, that's all. I have to work within the confines of my array. If I try to ask too much, and not enough mass is available from it, well, it'll rebound. [ He touches the circle with both hands and thinks for a moment before a little electricity passes between his hands and the circle itself. The outcome? A tiny snow man, with a lock of hair sticking up much like Ed's. ] But this one won't rebound. It's equivalent exchange, nothing is lost or replaced. See?

Edited 2016-06-17 20:16 (UTC)

[Luke watches quietly, brow furrowed. He can mostly keep up with it; it's just basic chemistry, once you look past the strange symbols and spontaneous generation.]

It seems simple enough. But I don't understand where the impulse to change comes from. Or is this a naturally occurring process on your planet?

june intro log overflow

my fav tbh.

his dumb face.

no subject

god sorry for the tl;dr

pfff its fine