Mostly bc I was dumped yesterday . On Thanksgiving <| sep |> Nah it ' s obviously Wickerbottom because heshe is holding a book . <| sep |> Didn ' t know there was an actual term for all those artisan grilled cheese sandwiches I ' d make after I ' d come home stoned from hanging with friends <| sep |> I ' d expect that they would view it as a kind of magic , though a fairly foreign one . Badly interpreted versions of it would be skimmed over in books about what foreign wizards do . That ' s what alchemists would be to them foreign wizards . Unless of course , they encountered it first being used by muggles then it would be some stupid muggle thing that isn ' t worth paying attention to . The first perspective would actually be correct , mind you Amestris ' s alchemy and Xing ' s alkahestry are exotic kinds of magic . It has scientific theories developed on top of it , and used to better execute with it , but the fundamental ability to use alchemy is provided by the Gate of Truth , and it ' s even possible to trade away your Gate of Truth and permanently lose your ability to use alchemy , even if you know the science of it quite well . Scientists can ' t trade away their ability to read or use electricity in a bargain with the malevolent spirit that provided those things .