ellexa1622

[ellexa1622]

[ellexa1622]

That whole discussion was so important.

Ginny & Georgia 3x07 | That's Wild

[ellexa1622]

i love the -with mama trend but sometimes i get sad because that is clearly papa and he aint getting any credit raising those darn kids...

[ellexa1622]

georgia shouldve killed gil

[ellexa1622]

An Analysis of Ed’s Gate: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

So, we’ve all noticed that the Gates (or the portals) of Truth appear differently depending on the person who’s been summoned before it, right?

Al’s gate is a relief from “The Marrow of Alchemy” , a 15th Century Italian Alchemy text. 

Roy’s gate is inscribed with the Flame Alchemy array, similar to what’s tattooed on Riza’s back. 

According to the wiki, the Gate of Truth is source of all alchemical knowledge, and serves as the entrance into the domain of God, where men are not meant to tread. The engravings reflect each person’s innermost self, and their understanding of “The Truth” i.e., the Universe and all contained within it. (does this mean that Roy’s perception of reality is only viewed through the lens of Riza Hawkeye and/or Flame Alchemy? Maybe. Maybe not. Up to you to determine if that makes them soulmates. MOVING RIGHT ALONG.) 

What I found really interesting about this is that while every gate IS truth, a person’s perception of the universe will change how they view it. Understanding Ed’s gate through this light is fundamental to his character and how he perceives the world around him. And that’s the ride we’re going on today, because Ed’s gate is FASCINATING. 

Ed’s gate is the Tree of Life. Versions of the Tree of Life  can be found in practically every religious tradition from ancient Assyrian religion to modern-day Christianity. Most commonly, the Tree of Life is a symbol of knowledge, connecting heaven to the underworld and connecting ALL forms of knowledge together. 

Ed’s gate isn’t just a bastardization of any Tree of Life. It’s specifically the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, called Eitz Chaim, from the Jewish tradition of Kabbalah. 

Kabbalists believe that that Tree is a representation of how the universe came to be. Branching out from the Tree are words for God (Elohim, El, Eloah, Adonai, and so on). The Tree ALSO represents where human knowledge of the origins of the Universe END. The tree flows from pure nothingness and energy to actual physical universe, in the roots, and then this process is thought to reverse itself. “Thus, the Kabbalist seeks to know himself and the universe as an expression of God and to make the journey of return by means of the stages charted by the spheres, until he has come to the realization he sought.” (source) 

even MORE interesting, The Tree of Life can be interpreted as the very same tree that Eve ate the apple from, became “knowledgeable like God”, and was thus kicked from Eden. 

So, what does this it mean for Edward “I don’t believe in God” Elric that the very essence of his being is tied to knowledge as an expression of the very divinity he refuses to acknowledge? Especially when we think about Al’s gate which is simply about the nature of alchemy, just knowledge for knowledge’s sake, what does it mean that Ed’s perception of Truth is indelibly intertwined with Faith, with God? 

We know that Ed views himself as Icarus and that his attempt to bring his mother back was flying too close to the sun. That he’s bitter over having bitten the apple of Knowledge, and thus been kicked from Eden. The fact that his gate insists on there being a natural stopping point to what can be known by man, and it all flows back to God, seems almost antithetical to Ed’s character. 

However. 

I posit that it’s not. It’s not, at all. All gates are truth. The idea that energy is not limitless, that it starts from one place, intangible, flows to become physical, and then back again, losing none, only being transformed, is EXACTLY what Ed believes: In order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be given up in exchange. 

Ed’s belief in equivalent exchange is so strong that it bypasses a simple alchemical truth that must be learned to perform transmutations and becomes his very perception of the universe- his truth, or perhaps you could call it his faith. Whether or not this faith is “true” in the way one could evaluate religion is irrelevant; we know equivalence is a law of the universe, and Ed’s belief in it is what matters. 

So, with this in mind, remember what Ed does to retrieve Al? 

He gives up his gate. He literally destroys how he perceives what Truth is. I don’t think this means that Ed no longer believes in equivalence, but that he understands that there are powers that supersede conservation of energy. 

After all, the Tree of Life is not only about energy changing forms, but about God creating the universe out of (in many interpretations) love. And when Ed destroys his Tree, destroys his ability to manipulate matter and participate in this great exchange, even destroys the natural stopping point that protects him from flying too close to the sun, does he not do that out of love, too? 

[ellexa1622]

Spin this wheel first and then this wheel second to generate the title of a YA fantasy novel!

(If the second wheel lands on an option ending with a plus sign, spin it again)

Share what you got!

[ellexa1622]

someone save alphonse elric and may chang from a very long suffering year

[ellexa1622]

art by Aliya Chen\chenalii

[ellexa1622]

can we just appreciate how harry potter truly gives no fucks?

he will choke you in broad daylight on a public street for stealing something from his dead godfather.

he will beat you bloody, again in broad daylight in front of his entire team and an entire stadium of people for mocking his best friend.

he will use an unforgivable torture curse on you for spitting on one of the few adults he actually respects.

he will laugh at and mock and wave at the death eater, who just killed his godfather and is trying to kill him, for how much trouble she’ll be in with the darkest wizard ever for failing to get the prophecy like he instructed.

he will call some random boy’s mother stupid for believing bullshit stated in the prophet.

he will mock the spoiled boy for his father being in jail when it was him that put the boy’s father in jail.

he will also mock the spoiled boy’s mother for her shitty husband being in jail even though he’s the reason her husband is in jail and will also dare her to take a shot at him there and then in a public store.

he will mock his dead father’s friend to his face for trying to be a daredevil like his godfather and leaving his pregnant wife behind.

he will make fun of the same girl for crying because:

1) she thought his best friend of four years was his girlfriend

2) she lost the quidditch match to him

3) her best friend who sold out his illegal resistance group and his best friend put a permanent acne jinx on her best friend

he will send his bitter teacher across the room with a protection spell and treat said teacher like he’s his subordinate.

he will throw a badge at his best friend’s forehead for not believing him and mock him for being jealous of his fame.

he will lie saying his godfather is a convicted murderer to get his abusers to abide his requests.

he will threaten to reveal his identity as a wizard to their guests if they fail to meet his commands.

he will carry out masterful psychological warfare using the memory of his death mother on a member of authority to get what he wants out of him.

harry’s jar of fucks is empty and collecting dust on the shelf. the fucks he gives are buried six feet under with his family. it’s so funny to me when people who haven’t seen the books call movie harry rude or bitchy or annoying because it’s like mate, YOU HAVE NO IDEA. these weaklings would NOT be able to handle book harry.

he’s so iconic.

[ellexa1622]

T E A M M U S T A N G

[ellexa1622]

“Ariel sold her voice for legs just because of a guy“

Meanwhile Ariel with legs;

Ariel already loved the human world long before meeting Eric (you don’t get a collection like hers overnight) and when she finally got a chance to explore it, she took it.

Ursula made it more about Eric than Ariel ever did.

[ellexa1622]

good god.

[ellexa1622]

Captain Buccaneer’s smirk and salute when Major General Olivier Armstrong rolls out of the elevator in a fucking tank is arguable one of the best scenes in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

[ellexa1622]

Happy Pride!

[ellexa1622]

do you ever suddenly realise that every last alchemist in fma is a nerd

they’re scientists. they’re nerds.

and yet somehow…… they also manage to be jocks.

they are the perfect combination of bro and loser. alex has more muscles than friends. roy sulks like a wet puppy when he can’t use his magic flames. ed can’t ride big rollercoasters.

only True Jock in this franchise is Riza Hawkeye and i think that’s beautiful

[ellexa1622]

i keep forgetting mustang is like 10 yrs younger than basically everyone else colonel or above. no wonder olivier hates his guts he’s fucking 12 years old

[ellexa1622]

another era, same diva