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alchemical theory
Stuff I worked out talking to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stariceling and niqaeli:
I previously posted on even-pointed, bound arrays versus odd-pointed, unbound arrays, and that's going to inform all the following theory on alchemy.
I'm going to go ahead and post the spoilery list of odd-pointed arrays that that entry eschews.
Odd-pointed arrays:
The triskelion is special on another count--it has rotational symmetry but no reflectional symmetry because of the curvature of the legs. The Amestrian arrays are big on rotational and reflectional symmetry.
My current theory of the development of alchemy is that Hohenheim basically founded the standard Western/Amestrian thought on the subject, which involves the even-pointed arrays, which reflect the power back inwards and basically have the law of equivalent exchange designed into them. I also think that he had a gender bias and as a result the State Alchemy program, which is based on his teachings, has no women.
Then there's Dante's branch. All of the female alchemists we've met have gravitated to her (namely Lyra and Izumi), possibly because it's hard for women to get alchemical training from state or state-trained scholars. Dante is the main person who deals in the odd-pointed arrays. We don't really see Izumi's arrays because she does arrayless alchemy so often. Lyra, interestingly, before she met Dante (as far as we know) had the only two-pointed array in the series--
--and it had the spiral curvature like the triskele that makes it rotationally symmetrical but not reflectionally symmetrical.
Also re: Dante's line, I think the flamel was Dante's symbol that she taught to Izumi and then indirectly to Ed and Al (which is not a new idea). I think that Izumi didn't get a flamel tat, and nobody painted Al's flamel on his shoulder--I think that doing human alchemy brands the signifying marks of the array you use on your body. So Izumi has the mark of the flamel, and Al, and probably Ed has one somewhere on his body (probably his butt, because his shirt comes off too often). Scar's brother wasn't using a flamel array, but the phoenix array ended up on his body--and I don't think it was tattooed either, because it all transferred to the arm he gave to Scar.
Ishbalan pseudoalchemical art uses tribal designs that are reflectionally symmetrical but not rotationally symmetrical. Actually, so do the Tringhams' plant-manipulating arrays, which is kind of bizarre--but then, they are dealing with life, even if it is not animal or human life.
Questions:
What happens if you put an array inside an array? (And when can you tell if you have, because the larger arrays have multiple circles.)
Does size matter? Current theory on this is that the only effect a larger array has is that you have more room to draw detail into, so larger and more detailed arrays are for more complex or precise transmutations.
On the flip side of the detail/precision with which the array is drawn--we often see alchemists hand-draw arrays in high-stress situations, which means they're not regular, perfectly circular, etc. I think the more perfectly the array is drawn, the more exact the transmutation will be. But, say, in an instance like Roy drawing the salamander array on his hand in blood to do the Führer in--that wasn't a job that required any finesse like toasting Bard lightly around the edges, that was a blunt force blow shit up job. So it didn't have to be exact.
Back to the size thing--we wonder if Ed could get more power out of his hand-clap alchemy if he had longer arms. Heh.
I think arrays are amps for a process which is mostly mental, because when I take apart something like how Roy controls flame, there's parts that I just can't see how the hell he controls with an array that is always the same. He has to be doing it in his head. Flame control breaks down to: size and heat of flame, duration of flame, and shape of flame. I can see that he could control size and heat by how much power he poured into the array, and he could control duration by cutting off the power he put into the transmutation, but how can he get different shapes of flame, directions and arcs that go just so far and no further to scare people? That information isn't written into his glove, because it's different every time. That's something he controls mentally. Likewise, Al has a six-pointed array that he uses for just about everything--it's non-specific, it's just to boost his power levels to the point he can do stuff with them. But what he actually does with the power, whether it's to make a toy pony or reconstruct a radio, is something he controls mentally.
So, in short: alchemy is mostly in the head. The array acts as an amp to get power levels to the point where you can do stuff, and, if you're doing a complex transmutation, you write the details of what you're doing into the array so you don't have to concentrate on them quite so hard.
I always disliked Scar's claim that Ed was creating a circle with his arms, because it's so not. A circuit maybe, but not a circle. My latest idea is that he's creating a shape that you would inscribe inside the circle--a square or a pentagon.
But what happens if you don't put a regular geometric shape with some finite number of points into the circle of an array? Isn't a circle techically a regular geometic shape with an infinite number of points?
Common media we see for drawing arrays: chalk (because it's easily erasable?), tattoos and embroidery for arrays commonly used by the alchemist in question, scratching the array into a softer surface. We see blood alchemy in a couple of places in the series. Ed says Al's array is in blood to bind to iron, and I think using blood arrays on skin has some effect, but other than that I don't think blood boosts the power of an array. Like, the only reason to use blood to draw an array on a wall or something would be because it's the only thing you have on hand to draw with.
Can Ed draw an array with alchemy? He modifies the array on the floor of lab 5, and then copies it to the ceiling... hm.
stariceling and niqaeli:I previously posted on even-pointed, bound arrays versus odd-pointed, unbound arrays, and that's going to inform all the following theory on alchemy.
I'm going to go ahead and post the spoilery list of odd-pointed arrays that that entry eschews.
Odd-pointed arrays:
- 3 points
- the first array Lust teaches Lewjon in episode 35, Reunion of the Fallen. (Contrast standard western alchemical theory, where the simplest array in use is the four-pointed array, which is what Ed and Al use to make Winry a dolly when they're little kids).
- the triskelion Dante uses, and also that Al finds in the undercity in the movie.
The triskelion is special on another count--it has rotational symmetry but no reflectional symmetry because of the curvature of the legs. The Amestrian arrays are big on rotational and reflectional symmetry.
- 5 points
- Central city has a five-pointed star visible in its street pattern from above. I think the capitol is at one of the points, because you can see the acute angles of the buildings near it.
- Dante uses five-pointed arrays to open the gate with Rose's baby
- the array to seal sins is five-pointed
- 7 points
- Ed's variant of the phoenix array, which he modified in Lab 5 and later used to raise Al at end of series
- Hohenheim's skull/scorpion array, which he used to create the original philosopher's stone in the first place, 400 years ago. (Or possibly he already had a stone and was using the array to try to raise his son? The flashbacks are kind of wonky). Has the tribal pattern like the phoenix array, but all inside the circle, not flowing outside it.
My current theory of the development of alchemy is that Hohenheim basically founded the standard Western/Amestrian thought on the subject, which involves the even-pointed arrays, which reflect the power back inwards and basically have the law of equivalent exchange designed into them. I also think that he had a gender bias and as a result the State Alchemy program, which is based on his teachings, has no women.
Then there's Dante's branch. All of the female alchemists we've met have gravitated to her (namely Lyra and Izumi), possibly because it's hard for women to get alchemical training from state or state-trained scholars. Dante is the main person who deals in the odd-pointed arrays. We don't really see Izumi's arrays because she does arrayless alchemy so often. Lyra, interestingly, before she met Dante (as far as we know) had the only two-pointed array in the series--
--and it had the spiral curvature like the triskele that makes it rotationally symmetrical but not reflectionally symmetrical.
Also re: Dante's line, I think the flamel was Dante's symbol that she taught to Izumi and then indirectly to Ed and Al (which is not a new idea). I think that Izumi didn't get a flamel tat, and nobody painted Al's flamel on his shoulder--I think that doing human alchemy brands the signifying marks of the array you use on your body. So Izumi has the mark of the flamel, and Al, and probably Ed has one somewhere on his body (probably his butt, because his shirt comes off too often). Scar's brother wasn't using a flamel array, but the phoenix array ended up on his body--and I don't think it was tattooed either, because it all transferred to the arm he gave to Scar.
Ishbalan pseudoalchemical art uses tribal designs that are reflectionally symmetrical but not rotationally symmetrical. Actually, so do the Tringhams' plant-manipulating arrays, which is kind of bizarre--but then, they are dealing with life, even if it is not animal or human life.
Questions:
What happens if you put an array inside an array? (And when can you tell if you have, because the larger arrays have multiple circles.)
Does size matter? Current theory on this is that the only effect a larger array has is that you have more room to draw detail into, so larger and more detailed arrays are for more complex or precise transmutations.
On the flip side of the detail/precision with which the array is drawn--we often see alchemists hand-draw arrays in high-stress situations, which means they're not regular, perfectly circular, etc. I think the more perfectly the array is drawn, the more exact the transmutation will be. But, say, in an instance like Roy drawing the salamander array on his hand in blood to do the Führer in--that wasn't a job that required any finesse like toasting Bard lightly around the edges, that was a blunt force blow shit up job. So it didn't have to be exact.
Back to the size thing--we wonder if Ed could get more power out of his hand-clap alchemy if he had longer arms. Heh.
I think arrays are amps for a process which is mostly mental, because when I take apart something like how Roy controls flame, there's parts that I just can't see how the hell he controls with an array that is always the same. He has to be doing it in his head. Flame control breaks down to: size and heat of flame, duration of flame, and shape of flame. I can see that he could control size and heat by how much power he poured into the array, and he could control duration by cutting off the power he put into the transmutation, but how can he get different shapes of flame, directions and arcs that go just so far and no further to scare people? That information isn't written into his glove, because it's different every time. That's something he controls mentally. Likewise, Al has a six-pointed array that he uses for just about everything--it's non-specific, it's just to boost his power levels to the point he can do stuff with them. But what he actually does with the power, whether it's to make a toy pony or reconstruct a radio, is something he controls mentally.
So, in short: alchemy is mostly in the head. The array acts as an amp to get power levels to the point where you can do stuff, and, if you're doing a complex transmutation, you write the details of what you're doing into the array so you don't have to concentrate on them quite so hard.
I always disliked Scar's claim that Ed was creating a circle with his arms, because it's so not. A circuit maybe, but not a circle. My latest idea is that he's creating a shape that you would inscribe inside the circle--a square or a pentagon.
But what happens if you don't put a regular geometric shape with some finite number of points into the circle of an array? Isn't a circle techically a regular geometic shape with an infinite number of points?
Common media we see for drawing arrays: chalk (because it's easily erasable?), tattoos and embroidery for arrays commonly used by the alchemist in question, scratching the array into a softer surface. We see blood alchemy in a couple of places in the series. Ed says Al's array is in blood to bind to iron, and I think using blood arrays on skin has some effect, but other than that I don't think blood boosts the power of an array. Like, the only reason to use blood to draw an array on a wall or something would be because it's the only thing you have on hand to draw with.
Can Ed draw an array with alchemy? He modifies the array on the floor of lab 5, and then copies it to the ceiling... hm.