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[milkisgross]

[Edward's been seeing all of these different posts come up. It's obnoxious to him, but he can see the potential of being able to communicate with so many like this, so he decided to give it a try.]

It's come to my attention that there's a few people here who use "magic." From what I've seen, there's nothing like it where I come from and I have a few questions for anyone who's willing to answer.

In science, you've got different laws that everything follows. Is that the same for magic? Does some magic have laws while others don't?

Are there different fields of magic? What are they?

Where does the energy or power come from?

What makes it "magic" and not a field of science?

Comments

[bloodisthicker]

Oh... so I'm guessing that isn't all feeding the Earth King mercury because he thinks it'll make him immortal, then.

[see. he's making a different reference than LEAD INTO GOLD THAT'S GONNA CAUSE INFLATION TO SKYROCKET AND WRECK THE ECONOMY. he's doing good.]

Anyway, I think they'd probably interact in different ways... an airbender would be able to blow steam around rather than interacting directly with it, while a waterbender would be able to work with the water suspended in the air. I'm mostly theorizing on the airbender end of it, since I only actually know one of them.

Anyway, it's genetic and based on national origin, for the most part. Neither of my parents were benders, but I'm from the Water Tribe, so my ancestry means that I probably inherited it from a grandparent. There are more mixed families than there used to be these days, so you occasionally have families that have, say, one child who's a firebender and one child who's an earthbender because of their parentage.

The Avatar is... complicated. Basically, they all have the same spirit, and when one dies, the Avatar spirit is passed on to the next nation in the cycle. I believe that's the reason why they can bend all four elements, along with the ability to communicate with their past lives. Bending is kind of a spiritual thing in and of itself, so that adds to the whole thing.

[milkisgross]

That's the funny thing, actually. When you read about the early development of alchemy, you do get a lot of stories like that. Those practices supposedly died out after the Philosopher from the East arrived in Amestris and taught the people what alchemy really was.

[That was actually pretty spectacular. I'm impressed!

Meanwhile Ed's over here trying to wrap his head around this Avatar stuff.]

So, bending is considered a genetic trait that's passed down. But the Avatar can bend all four elements because it's somehow tied to their spirit which is reincarnated over and over?

[Yeah, he wasn't kidding when he said this was complicated.]

Is this 'talking with past lives' thing just speculation, or is this something that's been witnessed somehow?

[bloodisthicker]

Well, I'm glad they cleared that up. Wouldn't want basically every monarch to poison themselves into insanity, after all.

Yes, that's the basic gist of it. As for the other point... well, I haven't observed it myself because I never met the previous Avatar and the current one is still in training, but I'm told there have been observed instances where the Avatar can manifest as one of their previous lives, so it's not just like we're just taking their word for it.

[milkisgross]

Tell me about it. Early alchemy wasn't very scientific.

The past lives thing is tripping me up. I'd think that there'd be some continuity with the reincarnated soul and that the lives would all blend together somehow. In alchemy, it's stated that a person is made up of a body, spirit, and soul, with the spirit being the connection between the body and soul, making them compatible with each other. There's been instances of people binding souls to other bodies and the two rejecting each other because of that. I guess it's different with the Avatar then?

[bloodisthicker]

I won’t pretend to be clear on the metaphysics of the whole thing, since I’ve never really looked into it beyond what I might need to know for practical reasons. I’ve got a few acquaintances who could probably talk your ear off about it, but as far as I know I’m the only one here from my particular version of reality.

[milkisgross]

I see. Thanks for telling me about your world though. You were a lot of help.

Would you mind if I asked you for a demonstration of this bending? I'd happily show you some alchemy is exchange.

[bloodisthicker]

You’re welcome. I’d be happy to discuss it anytime, but like I said, my knowledge is limited in some areas.

Anyway, that would definitely be interesting. Would you prefer to do it in person, or would you like to switch to the video mode of our devices?

[milkisgross]

I'd prefer in person if you don't mind. The video function is pretty good on this little thing, but it still doesn't beat seeing something with your own eyes.

[OoC: If this is something you'd like to play out, just let me know! I'm not sure it would go any further than them showing each other their powers, but I'm sure it'll be fun regardless.]

[bloodisthicker]

Oh, I agree. I've been checking out some of the locations, so maybe we ought to head towards the beach so there's some space? It's probably the best place for it for obvious reasons.

[let's do it! I think it will be fun even if it just stops there. i've got an open post over here.]