#(this is all my limited observation + conjecture)

[sergeifyodorov]

i don’t know much about mcgroarty but i do know that i love his fake sounding name

98% of what i know about rutger is that he's an american umich boy and although many of you seem to be very invested in umich i must admit i don't care. this is fine though

ANYWAY rutger mcgroarty IS a top tier American Hockey Player Name. many American Hockey Players have exceedingly fucking fake sounding names and this amuses me greatly

[max1461]

Here is an observation of common attitudes I see in tech-adjacent spaces (mostly online).

The thing about programming/tech is, at its base, it's historically and culturally contingent. There are of course many fundamental (physical and mathematical) limitations on what a computer can and cannot do, how fast it can do things, and so on. But at least as much of the modern tech landscape is the product of choices made by people about how these machines will work, choices that very much could have been made differently. And modern computing technology is a huge tower of these choices, each resting on and grappling with the ones below it. If you're, say, a web developer writing a web app, the sheer height of this tower of contingent human decisions that your work rests on is almost incomprehensible. And by and large, programmers know this.

I am not dispensing some secret wisdom that I think tech workers don't have. On the contrary, I think the vast contingency of it all is blindingly obvious to anyone who has tried to make a computer do anything. But tech is also, well, technical, and do you know what else is technical? Science. I think this has lead to a sort of cultural false affinity, where tech is perceived, both from within and without, as more similar to science than it is to the humanities. Certainly, there are certain kinds of intellectual labor that tech shares with the sciences. But there are also, as described above, certain kinds of intellectual labor that tech shares to a much greater degree with the humanities, namely (in the broadest terms): grappling with other people's choices.

From without, I think this misplaced affinity leads people to believe that technology is less contingent than it actually is. But I think this belief would be completely untenable from within; it just cannot contend with reality. I've never met a tech worker or enthusiast who seems to think this way. Rather, I feel there is a persistent perception among tech-inclined people that science is more contingent than it actually is. I don't think this misperception rises to the level of a belief, rather I think it is more of an intuition. I think tech people have very much trained themselves (rightly, in their native context) to look at complex systems and go "how could this be reworked, improved, done differently?" I think this impulse is very sensible in computing but very out of place in, say, biology. And I suppose my conjecture (this whole post is purely conjectural, based on a gut sense that might not be worth anything) is that this is one of the main reasons for the popularity of transhumanism in, you know, the Bay. And whatnot.

I'm not saying transhumanism is actually, physically impossible. Of course it's not! The technology will, I strongly suspect, exist some day. But if you're living in 2024, I think the engineering mindset is more-or-less unambiguously the wrong one to bring to biology, at least macrobiology. This post is not about the limits of what is physically possible, it's about the attitudes that I sometimes see tech people bring to other endeavors that I think sometimes lead them to fall on their face. If you come to biology thinking about it as this contingent thing that you must grapple with, as you grapple with a novel or a codebase or anything else made by humans, I think it will make you like biology less and understand it less well.

When I was younger and a lot more naive, as a young teenager who knew a little bit about programming and nothing about linguistics, I wanted to create a "logical language" that could replace natural languages (with all their irregularities and perceived inefficiencies) for the purpose of human communication. This is part of how I initially got into conlanging. Now, with an actual linguistics background, I view this as... again, perhaps not per se impossible, but extremely unlikely to work or even to be desirable to attempt in any foreseeable future, for a whole host of rather fundamental reasons. I don't feel that this desire can survive very well upon confrontation with what we actually know (and crucially also, what we don't know) about human language.

I mean, if you want to try, you can try. I won't stop you.

Anyway, I feel that holding onto this sort of mindset too intensely does not really permit engagement with nature and the sciences. It's the same way I think a lot of per se humanities people fudge engagement with the sciences, where they insist on mounting some kind of social critique even when it is not appropriate (to be clear, I think critique of scientific practices/institutions are sometimes appropriate, but I think people whose professional training gives them an instinct to critique often take it too far).

So like, I guess that's my thesis. Coding is a humanity in disguise, and I wish that people who are used to dealing with human-made things would adopt a more native scientific or naturalist mindset when dealing with science and nature.

[knoepfl]

Can you do L Lawliet with an extremely intelligent (like so intelligent, she's like the smartest sentient being on the planet, but L doesn't know that) fem! reader and L goes to her apartment, which is filled from top to bottom with books of all kinds and L asks her to prove how smart she is, to which she responds by stating some of her observations, such as his age, his blood sugar levels and even his exact IQ level and she even starts speaking in complete unison and eventually predicting what he says and thinks, and L, completely shocked by this, asks her for her help, to which she already knows about and tells him she's not interested as she doesn't get involved with people anymore as she's afraid she'll turn into a Machiavellian mastermind and become worse than Kira as she states that "Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. All that power in my brain. Can't let loose. I'm a glass cannon. Can't let my brain allow me to turn into a sociopathic monster."

Ofc!!! It was a bit hard to write someone smart for I am not smart but I hope I did it alright XD

The Glass Cannon

Characters:

L Lawliet: The enigmatic and brilliant detective, driven to solve the Kira case.

You (Fem!Reader): A reclusive intellectual, the smartest sentient being alive, who fears the destructive potential of her own mind.

Trigger Warnings:

Mentions of mental health struggles (self-isolation, fear of corruption).

Themes of power, morality, and ethical dilemmas.

Psychological tension and manipulation.

Allusions to sociopathy and violence (in context of the Kira case).

Masterlist

Words: 1157

---

L Lawliet rarely felt out of his depth, but stepping into your apartment was like stepping into another world. The space was an intricate maze of bookshelves packed to bursting, the walls almost buckling under the sheer weight of bound knowledge. Books littered every surface—thick leather-bound tomes, paperbacks, journals with illegible titles in languages long forgotten. Even the floor wasn’t spared; piles of books and notes formed precarious towers that left only narrow walkways.

You were already seated, perched in a plain wooden chair, a stark contrast to the chaos around you. Your posture was perfect, hands folded in your lap, a faint smile tugging at your lips as you watched him observe the room. L’s gaze flicked to you, sharp and calculating.

“This is… impressive,” he said, his tone as neutral as always. “But I didn’t come here to admire your library.”

You didn’t respond immediately. Instead, you leaned forward slightly, resting your chin on your hand. “And what did you come here for, Mr. Lawliet?”

L didn’t flinch at the use of his name, though he hadn’t introduced himself. Instead, he moved to sit across from you, settling into a slouch in the oversized armchair you had cleared for him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sugar cube, popping it into his mouth before speaking.

“They say you’re brilliant,” he began, watching for your reaction. “But brilliance without demonstration is merely conjecture. I want proof.”

Your smile widened just enough to be noticeable. “You want me to prove I’m as smart as they claim. Fair enough.”

L nodded. “Go on, then.”

---

You straightened in your chair, brushing a stray strand of hair from your face. “Where should I start? Perhaps with the basics. You’re twenty-four years old, though you present yourself as older through calculated eccentricity. The slouching, the dark circles under your eyes, the obsessive sugar consumption—they’re all designed to give the impression of someone perpetually overworked and overburdened. And you are, but not to the degree you’d like others to believe.”

L blinked, the faintest flicker of surprise crossing his face. “Interesting,” he said, voice measured. “Go on.”

You continued, your tone steady, almost clinical. “Your sugar consumption is remarkable, yet your blood sugar levels remain within acceptable limits. This suggests a high metabolic efficiency paired with genetic predisposition for rapid glucose processing. Likely a result of continuous mental stimulation—you don’t allow your brain to rest, and the sugar compensates for the energy expenditure. As for your IQ…”

You paused, tapping your fingers lightly against the arm of your chair. L’s gaze sharpened, intrigued.

“184,” you said finally. “Give or take a point.”

This time, L’s hand froze mid-reach for another sugar cube. His dark eyes narrowed. “And how, exactly, did you arrive at that conclusion?”

“Simple deduction,” you replied, your voice cool. “Your pattern of reasoning, the speed at which you process information, your ability to hold multiple trains of thought simultaneously—it all points to a genius-level intellect. And before you ask,” you added, raising a hand as he opened his mouth, “yes, I knew you’d ask that question. And no, I’m not reading your mind.”

---

For a moment, L said nothing, his mind racing to piece together the puzzle you presented. Then, cautiously, he asked, “If you’re not reading my mind, how do you—”

“Predict your thoughts?” you finished in perfect unison with him. “I’ve studied people, Mr. Lawliet. Their patterns, their speech, their behavior. Most people are painfully predictable, even you. Your genius doesn’t make you immune to patterns; it just makes them more complex. But complexity is still manageable if you know where to look.”

L leaned back in his chair, his thumb pressed against his lip as he studied you. You were speaking in perfect synchrony with his thoughts now, predicting not only what he would say but how he would say it. It was unsettling, even for someone like him.

“You’re not just brilliant,” he said finally. “You’re extraordinary.”

You inclined your head slightly, acknowledging the compliment without letting it land. “Perhaps. But brilliance is a double-edged sword, Mr. Lawliet. You’ll understand that soon enough.”

---

“You must know why I’m here,” L said, cutting to the chase. “The Kira case. Your intellect could be invaluable in catching him.”

You sighed, leaning back in your chair for the first time. Your eyes flicked to the books surrounding you, as though they were a fortress protecting you from the outside world. “Of course I know why you’re here. And my answer is no.”

L raised an eyebrow. “No? You haven’t even heard my proposal.”

“I don’t need to,” you replied calmly. “The answer remains the same. I don’t get involved with people anymore, Mr. Lawliet. It’s safer that way.”

“For whom?”

“For everyone,” you said quietly. “You’ve heard the saying, haven’t you? ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ My mind is a weapon, and I don’t trust myself to wield it responsibly. I know what I’m capable of, Mr. Lawliet. If I let myself get involved—if I unleash the full extent of my intelligence—I could become something far worse than Kira. A sociopathic mastermind with no limits.”

L’s gaze darkened, his voice losing some of its usual neutrality. “And you think isolating yourself is the answer? Hiding your mind away like some dangerous artifact?”

“Yes,” you said simply. “I’m a glass cannon, Mr. Lawliet. Fragile, but capable of immense destruction. If I let myself slip, even once, I could become the very thing you’re fighting against. And I can’t let that happen.”

---

For the first time in a long time, L felt outmaneuvered. He prided himself on his ability to understand people, to manipulate and outthink them. But you were different. You had outplayed him in a game he didn’t even realize he was playing.

He leaned forward, his tone uncharacteristically urgent. “But what if your brilliance is the only thing that can stop Kira? What if your isolation allows him to continue killing?”

You didn’t flinch under his gaze, your expression calm. “Kira will be stopped, with or without my help. The world doesn’t need me, Mr. Lawliet. It never has. My involvement would be a liability, not an asset.”

“And you’re content with that?”

You hesitated, your gaze dropping to your hands. “Content? No. But I’ve made my peace with it.”

For a moment, the two of you sat in silence, the weight of your words hanging heavily in the room. Finally, L stood, slipping his hands into his pockets. “Thank you for your time,” he said, his voice quiet. “You’ve given me much to think about.”

You didn’t respond as he left, the door clicking shut behind him. Alone again, you glanced at the books surrounding you, your fortress of knowledge. You had built it to protect yourself from the world—and the world from you.

And though you would never admit it, a small part of you wondered if you had made the right choice.

[patchwork-crow-writes]

The RalsAlmanac, Volume I

Okay, here it is! A series of essays that will attempt to definitively explain just who or what Ralsei is, referring to scenes from the game as evidence, as well as external sources where appropriate.

There will be some conjecture, as there's just so much we don't know about him, and what little we are given isn't exactly the most revealing. However, I've done my best to cleave as closely to the source material as I can, and I believe there's a strong case to be had here.

Hopefully you'll be able to see where my points come from, or at the very least you'll learn something you didn't know before. Either way, thanks for your consideration!

Volume I - Ralsei Is A Character In A Role-Playing Game.

Self-indulgent reference out of the way, lemme ask you a question.

Who is Ralsei?

It's a question that seems like it should be easy to answer. He's the Prince From The Dark, the third of the three Delta Warriors, he exists to serve the lightners, and is the most precious little cinnamon roll that ever lived. He enjoys baking and crochet, can hold a tune, is a decent interior-decorator, and holds his friends Kris and Susie in very high regard.

Thing is, that's about all you can really say about him without veering into speculation and headcanons, and they're more surface-level observations than anything else. What exactly does "Prince From The Dark" mean, for instance? Prince in what sense, exactly? Ceremonial, or with the actual power that royalty conveys? Where does he rank in comparison to, say, King or Queen, both actual rulers of actual kingdoms? The title of "prince" would suggest that he answers to them, but while they rule their own municipalities, Ralsei's title implies he rules over ALL dark worlds. You could go on asking these questions forever, but I think you see what I'm getting at.

A more productive avenue of questioning might be: What role does Ralsei play in the story of Deltarune? Perhaps more of his underlying character and motivation could be gleaned by looking at what he does for the story and the game. And this would be correct... sort of.

We tend to think of him as the squishy healer of the party, the Heart and moral centre of the Fun Gang. And he absolutely is that, but he's also quite a bit more. He plays all sorts of different roles and character archetypes in the first two chapters of the game, including but not limited to:

the old man whose purpose is to wax poetic about the ancient prophecy...

the know-it-all tutorial fairy who walks you through the basic game mechanics...

the straight-man DM trying to keep everything on the rails...

the young sheltered noble experiencing the outside world for the first time...

the demure love-interest to the main protagonist...

the Polyanna determined to see the good in everybody...

the mysterious waif who knows things he shouldn't...

...eye candy…?

...and so on and so forth.

And so what, I hear you cry. Characters in video games can have more than one personality trait, after all. And yes, this is true! But usually, the different aspects of a character's roles, how they interact with, reinforce or contradict each other, can tell us more about their inner world - what motivates them, what they actively like and dislike... in short, it grants them depth and allows us to engage with them as actual people, rather than just a series of game functions and character traits dressed up in a pretty bow.

But that's not what we see with Ralsei. In fact, far from showing us any real, deep aspect of his character, each new guise he dons and part he plays in the narrative further obfuscates him from us. We learn no new meaningful information from any of these exchanges... except for one thing, but we'll come to that in a moment.

This vexes us, because we WANT to know more about him, but all we end up getting is stock JRPG tropes dressed up in a warm, fluffy coat. There HAS to be something deeper, we reason - he's hiding things from us, so he must be a secret villain. Or his backstory is so tragic, so traumatising, that he cannot properly articulate it to us right now. Or maybe what we see really IS what we get - a simpering, airheaded fool whose only desires in life are to be cute, please his betters and do what he's told. Yet even this explanation seems... unsatisfying, especially since we KNOW he harbours some angst about himself and his sense of identity.

And speaking of which, that one thing we learn? Right at the end of Chapter 2's Acid Tunnel sequence, he utters a single sentence:

This is arguably one of the most significant lines of dialogue in the entire game up to this point. But what does it mean, exactly? I believe most people assume it means he doesn't have a clear sense of who he is outside of his ordained purpose, which is certainly valid, and definitely something I believed for a long time. And yet, this explanation does not deepen our understanding of his character in any meaningful way; looking back over all his interactions with the cast, it does not allow us to glean any further information about him.

And you can say that's because he himself doesn't know what he's like... but again, this doesn't actually change anything, and we just end up with a circular logic trap. We don't know anything because he doesn't tell us anything, and he doesn't tell us anything because he doesn't know anything, so how can we be expected to know anything, except that no-one seems to know anything about him… which is very frustrating to us Ralsei scholars, and gets us no closer to truly understanding him.

But look at what he says again. Really look at it. It’s a very strange way of saying “I don’t really know who I am”, isn’t it? After all, if that’s what he means, then why doesn’t he just say that? I’m certain you’ve realised by now, but it’s because that’s NOT what he’s saying at all. He literally has no clue what being “himself” is supposed to be, because he wasn’t even created with a sense of “Ralsei-ness” in the first place. Little wonder, then, that we can’t discern anything about his internal world, when there is nothing there to be discerned.

But before I elaborate any further, I want to talk about a couple of scenes in Deltarune that are just... puzzling. This is relevant, I promise. The first is during the dialogue with Rouxls Kaard before the rematch with K.Round. Ralsei says something interesting in the lead-up to the fight:

Note Susie’s baffled reaction to this. Then not long afterwards, he continues with:

Throwaway joke, right? We laugh because Susie's right - K. Round and its crown do look exactly the same to us, and so Ralsei's dramatic utterances are deflated and lose their impact. We laugh, beat the boss with Susie's help and forget all about it. But here's the thing - if K.Round looks the same to us, and it looks the same to Susie, and presumably by extension the rest of the in-game characters... when why exactly does Ralsei take the time to insist otherwise?

Is he... lying? Our most precious little boy, guilty of perjury? Say it ain't so! :O

The second scene is in chapter 2 - Queen has challenged us to a game of Punch-Out on her absurdly tall arcade machine, and we can talk to the characters before trying to interact with it. Talk to Ralsei, and if you answer "Gaming is my life" to his prompt, he says this:

Most people don't even come across this in their playthrough, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's new to you reading this. But again, note this strange discrepancy between what Ralsei reports is happening and what Susie says is actually happening. It becomes apparent to most people that Kris can affect the tone of their voice when saying what we tell them to, which affects how the response is taken by other characters and gives us a subtle clue about how they actually feel about certain characters or situations.

Are we to assume, then, that Ralsei isn't actually listening to how Kris says things, but only what they're saying? And if that's correct, then... what does that say about him?

Taken at face-value, within the context of the game, neither of these events really make much sense. It just looks like Ralsei is being overly-dramatic, or lying, or perhaps even insensitive to what their friend is trying to tell him, which doesn't quite track with his per-established shallow traits of kind, all-loving and moralistic. It's perplexing and seemingly out-of-character for him. So it might help to consider, in each of these scenarios, who exactly Ralsei is talking to.

Is it Kris and/or Susie? This would make the most sense, but it's actually not that likely, considering the aforementioned discrepencies between his descriptions and Susie's observations. So is it himself? Again, if he can see things the same as everyone else in-game, that wouldn't make much sense, because then he's just saying stuff that... isn't true? Or in the latter example's case, just completely ignoring what Kris is saying, which doesn't seem to entirely gel with what we know about him.

So, who does that leave? Well, the only other person - or should I say entity - who is present for both of those scenes is... us. The player of Deltarune. And that might seem even stranger than the previous options, until you realise what it is he's actually doing - providing flavour text, additional exposition informing us of details that we wouldn't - or shouldn't - be able to make out on a pixelated display with no voice-acting, attempting to give us a richer sense of these events in order to increase our sense of immersion in the game and world of Deltarune. In effect, he's playing the part of a character in a role playing game, doling out “flavour text” that contradicts another character’s experience of the same scenes, and he's doing it entirely for OUR benefit. Not Kris’s, not Susie's – ours.

He tells us that K.Round's crown is different, and that it is in pain from its forced control, to try and increase the stakes of the fight, and to give us a motivation that's not "here's the exact same boss again lul". He responds to Kris's words the way he does, not because he doesn't understand the nuances of their tone, but to try and amp us up for the upcoming challenge, and to validate our choice when we select the dialogue option "Gaming is my life". Because we cannot hear Kris's tone of voice - and Ralsei knows that. To him, Kris's tone literally doesn't matter, because he doesn't believe it matters to us in that exact moment.

And here’s the thing: if not for Susie’s asides immediately contradicting him, we’d likely take what he says here as what’s actually going on. To Ralsei, the reality he and his friends experience is not important – it’s the image of that reality that he’s trying to convey to the player. It’s like he knows he’s part of a game, meant just for us to experience and enjoy, as opposed to a real world filled with real people having real experiences.

And the reason I brought this up is to illustrate what I believe Ralsei to actually be - namely, that he a walking, talking, singing and dancing amalgam of stock JRPG characters and tropes that's trying very hard to present as an actual person, to the point of knowing absolutely nothing about who he even is outside of that. Put in even blunter terms, he's literally a fluffy goat-shaped vehicle to set the player on their journey through the game, to keep them playing and to keep them invested. People looking for deeper aspects of his character come up short and are disappointed because they're looking for something that does not currently exist.

And just so that I'm clear, I do not mean that Ralsei is "acting", or that he's "wearing a mask", because that would imply that there was actually something underneath his "facade" to begin with. No, this is who the Prince of the Dark is - a very convincing fascimile of a person, following his directive to ensure that the story of Deltarune is resolved, and that the game of Deltarune is played to completion. And once you realise that, a lot of things that Ralsei says and does that seemed strange before suddenly make a lot more sense.

As for the why... well, that'll have to wait for another time. But hopefully you can begin to see how my future essays in this series all tie in to this one, because I think you can only really understand those with the framework that this text provides. I hope that my reasoning made sense and wasn't too difficult to follow, but I'll be happy to provide additional information, clarification, or even just discussion on any aspect of this essay... even if we just wind up (respectfully) agreeing to disagree. Would love to hear what people thought about this!

Thanks for reading!

[taxonomicon-idiot-edition]

Taxon Genesis Evangelion 2: The FAR Side

Having previously explored the specimens for which ample morphological data is available, we now turn to the second and final installment of our journey to the Messenger's Earths. Join us for Taxon Genesis Evangelion 2 below the cut, where we tackle the Seeds and the First Ancestral Race.

The Pedant finds itself caught in the realm of apocrypha and conjecture. Of our two subjects, one is almost completely unknown, and the other is very nearly as mysterious. We begin with the former - the rumored, but never seen, First Ancestral Race.

The First Ancestral Race

FIGURE 1: The only known depiction of the First Ancestral Race, though even this identification is conjecture.

The First Ancestral Race are, if apocryphal stories are to be believed, the origins of all Peoples of their realities, having carried out a deliberate panspermic campaign using the 'Seeds' in order to produce new life-bearing worlds along the two patterns predetermined by the 'Fruits'. Beyond this, we know almost nothing at all. There are further apocryphal claims that the Race's objective was to produce new vessels for their own souls to inhabit and that all known Human (and Angelic) souls are in fact those of the First Ancestral Race, but this is unconfirmed.

Given this lack of information, we resort to an older taxonomic scheme of the Temple. Unable to offer a morphological taxa, we nominate the FAR as incertae sedis FAR for its hierarchical taxon, but are comfortable placing it under the mythotaxa, Progenitorum generica mythicoteknika nonappearus. They join the large body of Progenitorum generica species who disappear but leave behind a cosmos littered with their works, including descendant peoples who may or may not share a meaningful morphology with their distant progenitors, and little in the way of records and motives to interpret.

The Seeds

FIGURE 2: The known Seeds. In clockwise order from top left, Lilith, Lilith, Adam, and the Adams.

Fortunately, more is known of the Seeds, with five having been directly observed in the form of Lilith and the Adams. A Seed is, from what we are able to ascertain, a genetically human being used as the generative engine for panspermic biogenesis on different worlds and the termination device for that same life once it has reached a certain level of development.

All known Seeds share an essentially humanoid bodily plan, and it is not clear whether each contains the possibility of organization around both Fruits or only one. What morphological or genetic relation they bear towards the First Ancestral Race is also unclear. Allegedly, the presence of more than one Seed on a planet at a time is a mistake, producing inter-Seed warfare as a 'failsafe' to prevent more than one Fruit taking hold in a single generated population.

Allegedly, seven exist. The significance of this we will revisit in the conjecture section at the conclusion of this post. For now, we turn to taxonomy. It is clear that the default morphology of the Seeds is essentially humanoid, albeit gargantuan. From that basis, we assign the following taxa, niche taxa, and mythotaxon: Faberhominidae (Gargantua) Panspermogenitora annospermae Astraprogenitorum selenopilotum anthropogenitor Gargantuambivalens monstrogenitor metaphorica

Conjectures and Theories

We now turn to an area the Pedant usually refrains from [but see my main blog for wild-eyed Eva theories] - conjecture. We confine ourselves to conjecture of taxonomic interest, focused in on certain traits observed among the Peoples.

Adams and Lilith

Our first conjecture is that there is no meaningful physical distinction between the different Seeds. We have observed that the metaphysical biology of the Anno Cluster prioritizes 'soul-driven' phenotypical expression over genetic phenotypical expression, and extending this out, we believe this applies even to the choice of 'Fruit'. Seeds may either possess the ability to bestow both (but not together) Fruits, or be limited by the soul implanted within them.

This conjecture is primarily evidenced by the existence of the Evangelion Unit-01's Core, the assumption of which predates its pseudo-cannibalism of the Angel Zereul. Unit-01 is, we are informed, grown from a direct cutting of Lilith's own tissues, and all other known Lilithiformes lack a Core. This leaves two possible explanations:

That Unit-01 received infusions from Adam, rendering it a unique hybrid entity; or,

That the raw material of all Seeds contains within themselves the potential to express both forms of Fruit, but a suitable Soul is required to give full phenotypical expression of what is manifested.

We find the second more persuasive. Even in the absence of a Soul, it is known that the Evangelions were grown after the pattern of the presumably core-possessing Adam, and it seems likely that human will and massaging is sufficient to substitute for Soul-driven phenotype expression.

Angelic Origins

It is commonly accepted among scholars of the Anno Cluster that all Angels observed in the First Messenger's Earth [that is, the series] are the children of Adam, the Seed discovered at the South Pole. This claim is made within local traditions and is not unreasonable in itself. However, the known existence of multiple Seeds presents an alternative possibility: that not all Angels within either the First or Second Messenger's Earths are descended from the same Adam.

It is plausible that the different morphologies displayed among Angels represent not merely divergent morphology within a single clade, but multiple clades. To that end, we would like to nominate four specific possible lineages.

GROUP ONE - 'SKULLFACED ANGELS'

The first are those Angels that bear a 'Skull Face' - Sachiel and its Fourth Angel counterpart, Zereul and its Tenth Angel counterpart, the Seventh Angel, Gaghiel, the Eighth Angel, and in modified form, Israfel. These Angels share an osseous face plate not found among the other Angels, and with the exception of Gaghiel and the Eighth Angel, all possess the ability to project beams of high-intensity light from their eyes as offensive weapons. This grouping is morphologically diverse but distinguishable.

FIGURE 3: Group One, the 'Skull Faced' Angels. Observe the osseous face plate present among all specimens. (e) and (h) depict the modified osseous plate of Israfel in its two forms, while (b) and (g) depict the near identical plate of the Tenth Angel and Zereul. Gaghiel's plate, depicted at the top of (c), is almost vestigial.

Group One, we propose, constitutes the direct offspring of, in the case of the First Messenger's Earth, the Earth's Adam, and in the Second, one of its five Adams. We also tentatively group Sandalphon within this group despite the lack of an osseous face plate. The final development of the embryonic and larval Sandalphon is unknown, and the initial embryonic form is strongly similar to that of Earth's Adam.

GROUP TWO - COLONIAL ANGELS

The second grouping consists of three specimens - the Ninth Angel, Bardiel, and Ireul. These three Angels lack any clearly organized Core and appear to be colonial organisms that require the use of tools to interact with the world. In the case of Ireul, the AT-field is notably distinct in appearance from that of other Angels, suggesting distinction. All three Angels arrive mysteriously as contamination, and in the case of Bardiel and the Ninth, they occupy stratospheric weather formations. These three Angels are highly divergent from Angelic norms, and their existence as colonial organisms of necessarily communal existence appears contradictory to receiving the Fruit of Life, with only one other specimen known to have received the Fruit and to exist in any kind of plural existence.

FIGURE 4: Group Two, the 'Colonial' angels - (a) and (b), Bardiel and the Ninth Angel; (c) and (d), Ireul. Observe the complete lack of any macroscale body, and in (d), the atypical AT field manifestation.

This being the case, we submit that it is possible that Group Two constitutes a distinct Seed lineage from another 'Lilith' figure, arriving from space in a repetition of the original panspermic distribution of Seeds and encountering an alternative Fruit of Knowledge life-form, perhaps for the first time.

GROUP THREE - THE EYES

The third grouping consists of three members - the Eighth Angel, Matarael, and Sahaquiel. These Angels all exhibit a characteristic stylized Eye with vibrant colouration. Two members descend explicitly from space, and the third - Matarael - is spoken of as having a 'projected landing point', suggesting a possibility that it too descended from the stars. All three Angels possess a non-humanoid bodily plan (we have previously taxonomized the Eighth Angel as an Adamiforme, but concede that this was principally a matter of initial morphological convenience, though we also note that this specimen is less clearly part of the 'Eye' family) to pair with these two characteristics, and their shared 'Eye' pigmentation is joined by geometric patterns and vibrant colouration. Additionally, Matarael and Sahaquiel appear in quick succession, and all subsequent Angels with the exception of Zereul and Tabris exhibit increasingly non-Humanoid bodily configurations, with at least one more explicitly arriving in orbit.

FIGURE 5: Group Three, the 'Eye Clade'. Observe the prominent ocular patterns in (a), Matarael; (b), Sahaquiel; and (c) and (d), the edge case Sahaquiel-cognate Eighth Angel, where (d) depicts the moment in which the 'iris' of the eye is made visible.

We again propose that Group Three may constitute a distinct Adamic Lineage in both the First and Second Messenger's Earths. This lineage, like Group Two and Group Four, appears to have arrived from space, perhaps drawn by the flash of Second Impact. Unlike Group Two, Group Three appears to be in receipt of the Fruit of Life.

GROUP FOUR - THE MENTAL ANGELS

The fourth and final grouping consists of a triad of Angels with an unusual interest in human minds - Leliel, Arael, and Armisael. The three share little morphology save that all three possess highly abstracted morphologies associated with extreme energetic states - Arael seeming to be made of pure energy emanating from its spaceborne core, Leliel an entity tied directly to an infinite sea of negative energy, and Armisael a ribbon of, again, seemingly pure energy. All three Angels appear to be intelligent, socially aware on contact with a human mind (in rough order, Leliel, Armisael, and Arael, though we note that Leliel had the most prolonged contact and its seemingly greater emotional intelligence may be the product of this extended study), and all three appear with even less warning than other Angels.

FIGURE 6: The members of the tentatively assigned 'Group Four' lineage. Observe the shared emphasis on white patterning and lack of conventional corporeal bodies.

Group Four, we suggest, may constitute another 'Lilith'-derived lineage - perhaps even the products of successful Instrumentalities of other Peoples. This would explain the emphasis placed by all three Angels on becoming one with the People they encounter rather than pursuing the 'shared goal' of the Angels, and perhaps even the comparative readiness of all three to accept death, a property shared with Ireul and, though he belongs outside these categories, Tabris. This, however, is wildly speculative even by our standards, and it is equally plausible that they are simply more 'conventional' angels. The presence of a core within Arael complicates this proposal further, though we note that the known clone of a Fruit of Knowledge Lilith, Unit-01, also naturally maintained a core.

A Competing Taxonomy

Having undertaken a morphological taxonomy with a speculative assessment of origin, the Pedants would now like to acknowledge an older taxonomy of the Angels. Unfortunately, we are unable to endorse this taxonomy in either its first or second forms. Regarding the first, we note a degree of taxonomic confusion around Amorphia having arisen within this work's early stages, prompting a reclassification from Vertebrata Amorphia to Vertebrata Pseudomammalia due to the relocation of the Amorphia under Placazoa. While we salute the effort towards taxonomic clarity, we note that it is perhaps unsatisfactory - the lack of a definite shape of the Angels, and certainly the lack of mammalian characteristics in all but two varieties, suggest that classification in the Amorphia was more correct than Vertebrata Pseudomammalia. However, in turn, we feel it necessary to scrutinize the class Amorphia so adopted, which appears to untenably collapse many clades under the phylum of the Placazoans that may be better classed as amoeboids and at least one post-human entity that retains distinctly non-Placazoan features.

Regarding the second, we find the placement of the Angels within the Kingdom Spiritia - dedicated to 'noncorporeal entities' untenable. The Angels are corporeal, though composed of particle-wave matter, and necessarily cannot be included within Spiritia as a result. We also suggest, in the unlikely event that the collected authors of this older taxonomy are reading, that the placement of the noncorporeal and divine Spiritia at the Kingdom level initially is itself mistaken, and urge the consideration of a new corporeality-agnostic (and indeed, 'living'-agnostic) root level that can encompass Superdomains, Empires, and Domains of non-corporeal life.

These caveats aside, and while we have found it necessary to reject the taxon assigned to the Angels, we salute the efforts of these taxonomists as a valuable contribution to this noble calling, and hope they take this critique in the collegial spirit with which it is intended. Taxonomy is made better by many voices.

[verona2314]

Judgment of the Damned (translation) PART XI

Link part X

Summary:

In the realm of Limbo, where souls deemed too good for Hell but not virtuous enough for Heaven reside, Victoria finds herself thrust into an unprecedented mission. When a notorious sinner, Sir Pentious, achieves redemption and ascends to Heaven, it sends shockwaves through all realms. Tasked with unraveling this mystery, Victoria, a minor judge of souls, is sent to the infamous Hazbin Hotel in Hell. For the first time, an emissary from Limbo steps foot into the fiery depths, tasked with observing and judging the denizens of Hell for their potential for redemption. As Victoria navigates this unfamiliar territory, she captures the unrequired attention of the enigmatic Radio Demon, Alastor. Amidst the chaos of demonic antics and the pursuit of understanding redemption, Victoria must confront her own beliefs and judgments. As she delves deeper into the secrets of the Hazbin Hotel, Victoria uncovers hidden truths about sinners, redemption, and the ultimate fate of souls caught between damnation and salvation. With each soul she encounters, Victoria's journey becomes not only a quest for answers but a personal voyage of self-discovery in the heart of darkness.

Chapter 11: Defying the Limits

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Hello everyone! I apologize for the delay with this chapter. Once again, it was a bit challenging to translate due to Zestial's archaic dialect. I hope you enjoy it!

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Zestial

To say he was furious would be an understatement. The Overlord was indignant as if he had been directly attacked. It couldn't be a coincidence that the radio demon had asked about the Limbo just before the appearance of a judge. Alastor had blatantly lied to his face, and that wouldn't be overlooked. However, Zestial was not someone who let himself be carried away by strong emotions, as it denoted a lack of character and control. No. He preferred to act with intelligence and take advantage of the situation. Therefore, without announcing himself, he showed up at the Hazbin Hotel with the intention of unsettling Alastor and, hopefully, locating the minor judge. Zestial sensed that the radio demon had managed to keep her close.

Once in front of the door, he knocked gently on the stained glass, admiring the building. Clearly, the reconstruction had greatly benefited the hotel. The details in the architecture seemed curious to him, but tasteful. After a few minutes, the door was opened by a timid, frail sinner, whose eyes looked at him in astonishment. Zestial knew it wouldn't be difficult to scare him and thus enjoy a delightful scream of terror, but his priorities at that moment were different.

“Good day, young sir," he greeted courteously. "Pray, what be thy name?" "Adrian," the boy replied timidly. Zestial couldn't help but smile. This boy was intimidated by his mere presence. He seemed like a fairly new soul and doubted he was very cautious. He decided to seize this opportunity. "Very well, Adrian. Permit me to present myself, I am Zestial. I have ventured hither in pursuit of my esteemed comrade Alastor. I surmise he is presently engaged. As an Overlord myself, I can empathize."

"Also an Overlord?" the boy replied, widening his eyes. "Unfortunately, the radio demon is not available at the moment. I believe he is hosting his radio show at the station."

"In sooth, might I speaketh with thy grace, the judge who resideth in this inn?" he inquired nonchalantly, trusting the sinner wouldst be ensnared in the stratagem

“Do you know the judge?" Adrian asked, surprised.

"Verily!" he replied, barely containing his laughter. The young man had unwittingly validated his conjectures. The judge did lodge at the inn. "I have e'en kept vigil over her from afar since her advent into these realms.

"Really? But she has never mentioned you," the young man inquired, with a hint of skepticism. Perhaps he wasn't as naive as Zestial had thought.

"Of course she hasn't mentioned me," Zestial expounded. "Thy lady had to keep her connections hidden. Now that her presence in the infernal realm is no longer shrouded in secrecy, there is no utility in maintaining discretion. Thus, I would be beholden to thee if thou wouldst lead me unto her.

"You speak a bit strange," the young man observed, then sighed. "She's still a bit weakened. She woke up just yesterday. It's okay. Just because you're a friend of hers and Alastor's. But don't tell Vaggie or she'll probably kick me out of the hotel."

The Overlord contained a smile. He couldn't believe how easy it had been to convince this young man. Luck had played in his favor, as if someone else had opened the door, this scenario would never have unfolded.

As Adrian led him through the hotel corridors, Zestial took the opportunity to memorize every detail: every nook, every corner, every elevator. He decided not to let his guard down in case he encountered anyone else. However, his concentration was interrupted by the sound of tiny footsteps behind him. Turning around, he found a small lady with a single large eye watching him with a disturbing smile. Zestial merely looked at her with curiosity.

"Uh, you seem like a very bad boy... very bad and scary," said the red-haired woman followed by a chilling laugh.

"She's Niffty," Adrian explained nervously. "She's a bit odd, but she's not bad. Anyway, I recommend you don't be alone with her."

Zestial remained silent, feeling unsettled by the way the little woman was looking at him. He simply nodded. The lady started walking towards him, which put him on alert.

"Niffty! I forgot to tell you that someone dirtied the windows in the lobby," Adrian urged. At this, the tiny sinner made a sound of annoyance and proceeded to leave. Zestial found himself surprised, sighing with relief. "We'd better continue before she finds out I lied to her."

Zestial trailed behind the youth, casting occasional glances rearward. Though loath to concede, he hadn't experienced such discomfort in centuries. The prospect of encountering that dame anew held no allure. Finally, the young man stopped in front of a door, indicating that it was the judge's room. Adrian knocked softly on the wood with his knuckles.

"Yes?" came a pleasant voice from within.

"Judge Victoria, you have a visitor," Adrian continued. Now Zestial knew her Honor's name.

"Let them in," the woman's voice came after a few long seconds.

Zestial entered the room without Adrian. Lying on the bed was a woman with chestnut hair and amber eyes, looking at him defiantly yet with a hint of intrigue. The judge's presence was striking, her upright posture adding to her aura of dignity. Zestial held his breath for a moment. He was facing a strong woman not easily intimidated. She reminded him of Carmilla, whom he deeply respected. However, he didn't know if this judge felt any compassion or had someone to protect, unlike Carmilla, who was willing to do anything for her daughters. The woman didn't avert her gaze from him for a single moment and slowly began to arch an eyebrow.

"Well?" Victoria asked in a calm yet firm voice. "How may I assist you, Mr. Zestial?"

“I should not marvel that thou knowest who I am. I suppose thou camest prepared to these domains. I am sorry for troubling thee even in thy weakness, but thy appearance in the news deeply caught my attention. It was imperative for me to finally meet thee,” he responded with a slight bow. He chose to show himself respectful and courteous.

"I sense you wish to know what brings me here," the judge concluded, remaining calm, with a slight smile on her lips.

"Verily. Furthermore, I shan't deny that having thy friendship is advantageous. Besides, I wish to inquire further about the Limbo. I have always been fascinated by the legends surrounding that domain," responded the Overlord, taking a few steps forward. The woman was intriguing. Zestial could wager that Alastor was already doing his utmost to gain the lady's trust. A challenging endeavor, undoubtedly.

"I must inform you that I cannot divulge much information. Nor do I intend to favor anyone. What I can say is that I have come here to report on the situation of Hell to the Supreme Judges. It has been a long time, and it is necessary to update the information we possess. To do so, I intend to remain as neutral as possible," said Victoria, with a cunning gleam in her eyes. "That being said, I am very glad to have your presence here... what better than an Overlord to speak to me about this circle of hell?"

Zestial could not refrain from a light laughter. The judge was playing her cards to gather information. "I understand. Yet it seemeth more suspicious to me that the supreme judges wish to update their knowledge about hell at this moment. As thou thyself didst point out, it hath been a long time. Surely there is some event that motivated such interest. Regarding the other matter... Dost thou not already have another Overlord by thy side?"

"Perhaps you are giving too much credit to the supremes and they simply needed something to entertain themselves with. And about Alastor, he hasn't been in hell as long as you have. When exactly did you arrive in hell? Was it difficult for you to be an Overlord? Do you think you are different from the Zestial who arrived in these domains?" said Victoria with genuine interest.

"Why dost thou inquire so deeply into me?" he asked, somewhat surprised. He could perceive that the judge was being genuine. However, that did not imply that she had no hidden motives behind that curiosity.

"I already told you. You managed to catch my attention. After all, you managed to make your way to my room by tricking Adrian, I assume... Is your curiosity about a minor judge that strong? What motivates that curiosity? What sparked that aspect of your personality? What are your motivations and what are the sources of those motivations? I believe it is convenient for me to fully understand such an ancient Overlord as yourself to infer the impacts that your presence has had on hell and how it influenced the current state of this circle," Victoria pointed out with great eloquence

Zestial began to laugh. This girl knew how to get someone talking, and he wasn't going to deny her that. He decided to sit in the chair beside the bed, conjuring a cup of tea. The girl was charming. He thought she could be a good ally of Carmilla's, or at the very least, a friend. "Very well, Your Honor," he said, getting comfortable. "Thou hast convinced me with thy eloquence. I shall answer thy questions, but I want something in return. Nothing complicated. Allow me one of these days to introduce thee to a friend of mine." The Overlord saw the judge nod. The girl inspired confidence. Her elegant presence and charisma made her a being with great potential. Zestial dared to think that this girl might even get the nobility on her good side and influence them. Perhaps she was the pawn they were looking for to unify the masses and have the princess under their influence. "So, Your Honor. Where do we begin?"

Alastor

After finishing his broadcast, he decided to linger at the station for a while. He tried to stop thinking about yesterday's events, but he found himself making excuses to visit Victoria. The judge had openly recognized his ability as a radio host and had also sincerely thanked him for his small rescue. Every time he thought about it, he felt a certain pride, but then the whirlwind of thoughts would come crashing back. He still had many questions to ask her, but he needed to find a way to confront her without his mind descending into chaos. On the other hand, he couldn't waste too much time, as she was now in the spotlight of prominent figures.

The judge was the key to his freedom. He needed to get her to nullify the contract that bound him, even if there was no real legal basis for it. She must have sufficient authority or at least the necessary knowledge. However, he found it difficult to believe that she would act corruptly. He would have to convince her somehow that it was for the greater good, or simply deceive her. But that would have to wait. For now, he needed to learn more about the Limbo and the Supreme Judges, because why limit his ambition only to Hell when he could aspire to also pull the strings of Limbo? Everyone had a weakness. Lucifer's was Charlie, for example. Surely the Supreme Judges were no different. Moreover, Alastor had no doubt that those beings could also die. Patience was needed.

"Alastor!" he heard Vaggie shout from outside his studio. "You better come out of there. Niffty is being more weird than her usual self, and I can't find Adrian anywhere. Take care of it."

Alastor frowned in irritation. Weren't they capable of dealing with anything on their own? Interrupted in his moment of peace, he had no choice but to investigate what was going on. He transported himself out of his studio with Vaggie, concealing his annoyance. "There's no need to shout. It's quite annoying," he informed the former exterminator.

"Ugh, don't you hear the commotion?"

"Mmmm no," the radio host responded mockingly. "We all have the right to rest from others, and I've learned to ignore them, like white noise. Well, let's not waste any time. I'll go see what's going on with our little companion." Once again, Alastor transported himself, arriving in the lobby, where Niffty was running frantically around everywhere, beside herself. Then, the small woman headed to different areas of the hotel, non-stop. Eventually, Alastor stood in front of her, causing Niffty to bump into his legs. "What's going on, Niffty? Some particularly elusive insect?"

"Something like that, Alastor," she replied with that disturbing laughter. "A very bad boy slipped away from me. Adrian tricked me with the windows."

"I beg you pardon?" he inquired, confused. Had Niffty's instability reached the point of delirium?

"Adrian brought us a very, very bad man, Alastor. With four eyes and a spider leg bow tie. Taller than you. I'm looking for him to take something from him and add it to my collection," Niffty continued, even more unrestrained

Alastor felt a chill run down his spine. That description matched Zestial. How could he have underestimated the Overlord so much? It was only a matter of time before he connected the dots and appeared at the hotel, but he never thought it would be so soon or in such an inconspicuous manner. How had no one noticed his presence? Without wasting a second, he appeared in Victoria's room, finding an unexpected scene.

Sitting upright on the bed, with a cup of tea, was the judge, engaged in a friendly and lively conversation with Zestial, who was casually seated in the chair next to the bed. Both fell silent and looked at him when they realized his abrupt arrival in the room. Zestial smiled at him, squinting his eyes.

"Alastor," Victoria called out. "It's rude to appear like this in someone's room," she scolded, tilting her head.

""I would venture to say the offense is greater considering that this is a lady's chamber," the old Overlord added indifferently, but Alastor knew that Zestial was enjoying his humiliation.

"My apologies, dear judge, but I thought your integrity might be threatened upon learning of Zestial's presence in the hotel," he reluctantly replied. Of course Zestial would play the role of the gentleman!

"My integrity threatened by Zestial? Oh, don't be absurd," Victoria chuckled lightly. "This gentleman is very kind, with impeccable manners and a fascinating story. We're simply learning from each other."

"Verily, thy grace hath a silver tongue," Zestial continued, his gaze fixed upon Alastor. "Yea, she is a charming damsel. I comprehend why thou didst keep her hidden, Alastor. But thou needst not bear the task of her welfare alone any longer, for we are now comrades," the archaic Overlord said, placing his hand on the judge's shoulder.

"Splendid!" replied the broadcaster, masking his irritation. Zestial had barely interacted with Victoria and already he called her his friend! Not only did he have the audacity to touch her shoulder, but also to proclaim himself her protector when only he had that right. "But Zestial, believe me, it wasn't merely out of preference that I hid the judge's presence. Her grace insisted on keeping her visit confidential," he continued, feigning indifference. "I hope there are no hard feelings between us." Alastor felt his ego being attacked by the Overlord and was unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing him irritated. He wanted to deny it, but he was deeply frustrated that Zestial thought it was so easy to gain the judge's trust, as if all the efforts he, Alastor, had made so far were worth nothing. It was like being a spectator in his own play. No, Alastor had already decided that Victoria was his source of entertainment, and he wasn't willing to let anyone else monopolize that fun. After all, she was his challenge.

It's reassuring to know that I have the support of two Overlords," said Victoria amiably, taking a sip of tea. Her carefree attitude infuriated Alastor even more.

"Well, dear judge, I fail to see why bother Zestial when I am more than enough," replied the radio demon, not holding back his words but maintaining a cheerful tone. "After all, he's already somewhat Carmilla's protector. Besides, you seem to have a knack for causing trouble, don't you?"

"Really? Well, Zestial, you do seem to enjoy looking after people, don't you?" Victoria remarked, looking at the archaic being, ignoring Alastor's sarcastic comment.

"Verily, I cannot gainsay it. 'Tis but individuals of worth. Both possess determination and strength of character. 'Twould be naive not to wager on thee," replied Zestial with pride

"In that case, Alastor is right. I truly don't want to inconvenience you. And from our conversation, I can tell that you are a busy individual," remarked the judge, setting a certain boundary with Zestial. "But don't doubt that I will come to you if I need help."

"Fear not, Judge Victoria. I expect no more. And Alastor," continued the ancient Overlord, transporting himself before him, "There is no ill will. Your grace has vouched for thee already."

Alastor glanced at Zestial. Clearly, those words weren't entirely honest. The archaic being was going to seize any opportunity to level the playing field. He didn't blame him. Certainly, the situation could have been worse. "How delightful to hear that, dear friend."

"I bid thee farewell for the moment. We shall meet again, Judge," concluded Zestial as he departed the room.

Alastor remained silent, gazing at the chair where Zestial had been sitting just minutes ago, trying to contain his annoyance. How could the Overlord claim friendship with Victoria as if it were so easy? He hadn't even interacted with her enough to arrogate that title. How could he be losing ground so easily? And why on earth wasn't Victoria seeing through Zestial's machinations? Didn't she see that he, too, was an opportunist looking out for his own agenda? Why did it bother him so much that she was giving in so easily? Why did he hate that someone else was trying to enter the game between them? It churned his stomach with irritation that Zestial would seek to win the favor of the judge in the same way he did.

"He's a pleasant fellow. Don't you think?" Victoria remarked with a smile. That was the last straw.

"Are you out of your mind? Do you really think Zestial is a good fellow? Don't be naive! You're cautious with me, but with him, you let yourself be fooled by pretty words and manners? He's another opportunist seeking his own benefit. Like everyone else here!" he reproached, barely containing his frustration.

"Oh, come on," she replied with a small laugh. "He was quite pleasant and helpful. And he didn't even make much effort to hide his true nature."

"Does your arrogance cloud your judgment? Getting involved with him will only bring trouble. Don't trust him," he continued, growing more frustrated at Victoria's lack of seriousness. "Zestial is an ancient being who knows perfectly well how to play his cards. After all, I couldn't get rid of him back then. And here you are, playing tea party as if he were a harmless rabbit."

"You're exaggerating. I assure you this won't affect your own interests," the judge replied, shrugging.

Alastor bit his lower lip, feeling frustration and confusion creeping over him. He didn't know how to explain to Victoria what he was really feeling because he couldn't even understand it himself. Why did he always end up questioning his relationship with her? Why did her opinion of him matter so much? He couldn't help but feel a certain... emotional connection, despite his efforts to deny it. But no, it couldn't be. This is just a game, a pastime. Or is it? A means to an end. Alastor decided to try another angle and be honest. "Victoria, I didn't lie yesterday when I told you that you've earned my respect. I hope to be able to have a camaraderie with you," he finished, thinking of Rossi. Curiously, it didn't leave him satisfied, but for now, it was enough to calm his mind.

"Alastor, didn't I tell you not to underestimate me? I thought you had already learned that," Victoria said with a soft, kind and playful voice. "I understand Zestial's intentions perfectly well, and I don't take his words seriously. I simply played along. I know he's cunning, but it was necessary to enter his courtesy board to get what I wanted."

"What do you mean?" he asked, feeling curiosity slowly replacing his irritation.

"My job, Alastor. Remember that I'm here to determine if there are redeemable souls here. I hope that this investigation ends with a staggering number of salvageable souls and thus achieves a change in the system, an improvement. For that, I need to have information on as many souls as possible. And I don't just mean the story of their lives. For that, I could simply lock myself in the Limbo archive. I need to know their motivations, the source of their decisions, every introspection they've made since their arrival in hell, their reflections, hopes, and shattered dreams. I need to know the depth of their hearts." Alastor absorbed Victoria's words, surprised by the depth of her mission in hell. For a moment, his mind shifted away from frustration and immersed itself in the seriousness of the task she had undertaken. "So, is Zestial just a pawn in your larger game?" he asked, seeking to fully understand Victoria's strategy.

She nodded with a smile, her eyes shining with determination. "I hate to call it a game, but yes. Zestial is just one of the many players on this board. My goal is to gather as much information as possible to make informed decisions about the fate of these souls. To truly make a change. There are many things I don't agree with in this system," she explained. "I can't afford to overlook any opportunity to obtain valuable information, even if it means playing the role Zestial has for me. You must understand that to achieve this, I must be open with the souls of this place and show a genuine interest in them, something I truly have. I'm not here just for the Supreme Judges; I'm here for myself and for my ideals."

Alastor couldn't help but let out a small laugh. The Radio Host couldn't help but see himself reflected in the judge's ambition. She looked at him confused for his reaction. "Don't misunderstand me, my dear judge. I'm not mocking you. I just find it incredible how, despite being so different, having such divergent goals, we both long for something greater. The pursuit of power and knowledge, the need to challenge the limits imposed on us. Darling, you want to challenge the status quo, playing this game to achieve your goals. Your methods may not resemble mine, but whether you like it or not, you and I are not so different," he concluded, leaning on his cane with a wide smile. Realizing that her presence went beyond blind obedience confirmed his suspicions. This woman was much more than she let on. She was a force that not only had to be reckoned with but also mastered.

The judge looked at him perplexed. Her mouth moved as if she wanted to deny his words, but she couldn't find a way to argue against them. Her amber-colored eyes looked at him completely open. Alastor couldn't help but smile conspiratorially at Victoria's confused expression. He had never seen her put on such a different expression from her elegant and dignified aura, from her usual calm demeanor. It was a sight he was deeply enjoying. "Perhaps you're right," Victoria replied, looking away.

"Don't be so surprised, my dear judge. After all, we are two forces sharing a determination that defies established norms. Beings like us always strive for something, be it power, knowledge, justice, or simply freedom." Alastor fell silent after his exchange with Victoria, letting his own words resonate in his mind. The feeling of discomfort was making its presence felt again, but this time he wasn't going to let it dominate him. He had to face it. He couldn't deny it anymore; it was impossible to continue rejecting any hint of an emotional connection with the judge. He had convinced himself that these interactions were just a game, a strategy meant to satisfy his own desires and ambitions, to find an endless source of entertainment. He scolded himself. He should have listened to his instinct when it screamed at him to stay away. The situation was completely bewildering and inexplicable, but a fact nonetheless. How could he have allowed this to happen? To have an emotional attachment? It was ridiculous, and it infuriated him. He felt as if he had betrayed his own nature and identity. He still had time to distance himself, but a part of him refused to do so because he still had goals to achieve in which she was an important card. Once again, she was his challenge, and now he had even less reason to allow anyone to claim her attention, time, or interest.

"I find it hard to admit that you understand me more than I thought. I thought there would be mockery or disdain from your part. You're more insightful than I had anticipated," Victoria admitted with a small smile curving her lips. "Perhaps this camaraderie you seek is a good idea."

Those words were enough for Alastor to feel that warm sensation in his stomach again. However, that feeling was quickly replaced by the frustration that all of this caused him, by the betrayal he felt toward himself. Without thinking, he approached Victoria and leaned towards her. The judge looked absolutely surprised.

"My dear judge, I'm glad you understand," Alastor said in a cold voice, "but for that, it's crucial that there are no secrets between us," he continued, taking her chin so she wouldn't look away. "Tell me, my dear Victoria. Why do you bleed red?"

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TAGLIST!!

@slytherin4ever

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Link part XII

[castlebyersafterdark]

i feel like ST is the most parasocial fandom I’ve ever been in, especially when it comes to like show/film fandoms as music fandoms are another story. Do you get that sense too? I wonder if it’s mainly because lots of people grew up with the actors? The only other real comparison I can think of would be like Harry Potter, but from what I recall, people weren’t nearly as parasocial with the actors?

Idk, I was young then, so maybe they were. But my understanding is that most of the intensity was directed at the brand itself, not the actors as much? ST just feels different. But maybe it’s largely due to the role of social media? Maybe that’s just how things are now? But I feel like I’ve been in other fandoms in this era and nothing’s quite like the stranger things fandom.

Also irt Millie, I feel like she has the craziest stans which doesn’t help. I’m sure she’s a nice person in real life but her fans see her as the Queen Bee for mean straight girls and it’s odd

Yeah, it was a bit of a shocker when I jumped ship and started actively browsing this fandom. I've been in wild fandoms before, but never this odd and obsessive about the actors. I love celebrities and I love Hollywood but I've never been one to track their every movement and thought and post so it's been an adjustment even, what, two years into this sometimes delightful sometimes frustrating mess? I've always had a strained relationship with social media and wow oh wow does this fandom love itself some social media. I think there's just a lot of emotional investment into every aspect of the fandom and just maybe a bit of a healthy distance is needed at times. With social media and the bulk of the cast being so young, they've all also very online so maybe it appears the lines are flimsier, but they really aren't. Though, I do like the gossip and info and conjecture gained, I'm not gonna pretend I'm above it because I'm not. I just prefer to get it filtered down through reports elsewhere.

I've said the big thing I was involved in before here was Marvel and it was so huge I'm sure there were pockets where parasocial behavior was happening but that wasn't my personal experience. Marvel was a beast barely comparable to ST. Also huge, but very different. But in my last months of Twitter usage there was a fandom in particular that was prevalent on my timeline that I wasn't in but it was unavoidable. I didn't like the show but you really couldn't escape it and wow, very very parasocial and way too involved with the actors and show runners from what I observed. And it seemed to me that fandom in particular skewed older, and much older than me. So it's not behavior strictly limited to younger fans. I think fandom breeds emotional investment and it's a tough balance to regulate excitement and passion and healthy interaction with media. I know I get a bit too emotionally invested with my interests at times, but I recognize that and know when to chill the fuck out and step away for a little while. Many would also benefit.

[tma-entity-song-poll]

Battle of the Fear Bands B1R2: The Spiral

Slide into the void:

"Technically this song is about control (the game) but this is an incredibly spiral coded song. It has everything - the breakdown of the mind, of reality, mazes and fractals and dreams oh my."

Where is my Mind:

"A classic. Also it's on every movie soundtrack where the characters have some sort of mental trip"

Lyrics below the cut!

Slide into the void:

You hear our words, but you forget Push your fingers through the surface to the wet We wait in the stains, we build you 'til nothing remains In the name of the sound of the name

Repeat the word. Repeat the word. Repeat the word Egg cracks and the truth will emerge A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy You are home. You remind us. Happy. Hurt

At the edge of understanding, the border of the known The breaking point of reason, where logic is dethroned Where sense is defenceless and festers on the bone You'll find entropy's offensive is rendered in the stone

As you roam through the Oldest House Home to all that you weren't told about Trapped within a labyrinth, it goes without saying That we're praying that they don't get out

Prison for the isn't, sitting hinged within a schism Of half-reflected architecture, dark unending prisms Part objective, part conjecture, partnered with tradition Where the paperwork is worshipped and the rituals are written

When the Black Rock cracks and the Firebreak ends The Director is left as the line of defence When the Trenches have fallen to forces unknown Perhaps you should answer the phone

If you can't place the pin Where patterns end and you begin Follow the Director Else you're gonna slide into the void But if the world you knew Has cracked and fallen through Go to the Projector Load another slide into the void

There's the strangest correlation observation will present In the systems we can witness and the signals they have sent These forces yet unknowable, that ripple through cement Inscrutable intrusions. Altered World Events

Where reality cracks and impacts on the next Dimensions fragment and the Astral projects On benign, undefined, archetypal objects Until Ordinary's torn up, and normal defects

In effect, what you're left with are OoPs Objects of Power, a flying TV A light that can hijack your mind as you see A safe that's encased in a shield of debris

These frequencies are frequently the key to what's perceived to be And vis-à-vis are feeding off the reaches of the mind But recently, the sequence has repeated and repeated And it leaves me with the theory that they're trying to get inside

You hear our words, but you forget Push your fingers through the surface to the wet We wait in the stains, we build you 'til nothing remains In the name of the sound of the name (How do you say "insane"?)

Repeat the word. Repeat the word. Repeat the word Egg cracks and the truth will emerge A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy You are home. You remind us. Happy. Hurt

If you can't place the pin Where patterns end and you begin Follow the Director Else you're gonna slide into the void But should your world collapse And fall right off the maps Go to the Projector Load another slide into the void

The Director is the Bureau's one connection to the Board Obey the mighty Bakelite and file your reports Telephony in effigy must never be ignored So if you hear a ringing, you had better pull the cord

And explore the décor of the Oceanview Where the doors only open for a chosen few Check your logic at the desk, you won't need it to progress A dream is just a test to be broken through

Like the smoke entombed in the rooms of the ashtray Furniture fractals, the carpet cascades Lost in a labyrinth of lounge chairs and lampshades Wallpaper warps into infinite pathways

There's no limit to the dangers of phenomenon we keep Or the chaos that would reign should the Panopticon be breached This never-ending edifice is perched upon the precipice Since we let in the Resonance, the future's under siege

If you can't place the pin Where patterns end and you begin Follow the Director Else you're gonna slide into the void But if you see the seams Where motels meld with dreams Go to the Projector Load another slide into the void

I've analyzed the data, I've catalogued the signs Run every simulation, every sample I can find I'd give an explanation, but we haven't got the time We're drowning in the waveforms and our minds are in the tide

Of elegant malevolence, sequestered in the Resonance Nesting in the head of every denizen Tell me, is it heaven-sent? Is the Devil even relevant? When questioning the presence of dimensional intelligence?

Thresholds unfold as a door that knocks In the ticking, in the ticking, in the ticking of the clocks We are holding the key, we just don't see the locks Paradise and parasite, in parallel, in paradox

We stand on a mantle where matter divides To abstractive fractures that tangle and writhe Through cracks in reality, trapped in a slide Such intangible sanctuary Hedron provides

Breaking the first, the second, the third The fourth wall, fifth wall, no floor, you fall Earworm humming in a dream Baby, baby, baby, yeah. Just plastic

You want to listen You want to dream You want to smile You want to hurt You don't want to be

You want to listen You want to dream You want to smile You want to hurt You don't want to be

If you can't place the pin Where patterns end and you begin Follow the Director Else you're gonna slide into the void But should your towers fall Free your mind and heed the call Go to the Projector Load another slide into the void.

Where is my Mind:

Ooh Stop

With your feet on the air And your head on the ground Try this trick and spin it, yeah Your head will collapse If there's nothing in it And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Where is my mind?

Way out in the water, see it swimmin'

I was swimmin' in the Caribbean Animals were hidin' behind the rocks Except the little fish, bumped into me I swear he was trying to talk to me, koi-koi

Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Where is my mind?

Way out in the water, see it swimmin'

With your feet on the air And your head on the ground Try this trick and spin it, yeah Your head will collapse If there's nothing in it And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind? Where is my mind? Where is my mind?

Way out in the water, see it swimmin'

With your feet on the air And your head on the ground Try this trick and spin it, yeah

[jonathankatwhatever]

It’s 11 Oct 2024, and I’m still confused about the role of Epsilon in the conjecture. Or more accurately, confused why

It’s now 12 Oct 2024, and I lost the sensation, the clarity of work yesterday. I became involved in other things, like rearranging furniture and working out possible paint colors, and thus themes.

I know the answer is about finite uniqueness. The only handle I can find is that a rad reduces a number to its unique gsPrimes. Like 64 is rad2, because it’s all multiples of 2. That of course is crucial, and it’s something we’ve worked out, that it is this relation, captured in this concept of radical, which enables, which is the scaling of identity, the formation of identity through various combinations, and the continuity and discontinuity of identity. There may be more, but that’s what I came up with off the top of my head.

That would seem to be fundamental. It came from hearing within myself that the Pathway is always defined by greater identity, which has the effect of excluding more unique terms, and I drifted back into that conjecture, came back with more understanding about uniqueness. The part that has always bothered me is the characterization there are finite many solutions. I like the result, but what does it mean and where does it come from in gs terms? The confusion for me has been that gs counting runs backwards or bidi or SBE where S and E are the same existence separated only by the counting of Between, which we can reduce to the minimum, to the invisibility generated by that minimum occurring across so many objects in so many fields that we experience the sensation while observing. More of the fundamental I//I of Observer-Actor and Actor-Observer.

Oh, I see: if we generate from 2 perspectives, then the composite takes turns. Yes, failure to recognize this causes a lot of problems in the world. The two warring natures idea is ancient though. But the concept of conquest, of eliminating the other nature when it is encoded within you?

So, math. Counting backwards invokes n-1, which means the cut off of what may fit. Just think about that in SBE/fCM identity terms. The uniqueness rooted in the rad then always is greater than the sum C of A and B. The relationship of that A and B to equal C never again changes sign in that way. What does that mean?

I walked onto the terrace, and startled starlings I could hear over the road noise, over Chopin, at the far end of the room as I sat with my back to the door. I hear them now. They motivate me to move. There is a gs attractive force, one which says see what we’re doing. And it is worth it to watch the flock’s shapes.

So this is about radical uniqueness relative to the value of C, the sum of A and B. It sums up the relationship by saying here are the values where C is more than its own radical. That means what? That the uniqueness of the sum exceeds the core represented by the rad. Now what does that convey?

This is going to drop before 1, right? Because adding an Epsilon of 1 to 1 is 2, and squaring the rad is going to really limit what might fit. I need to translate this but am out of mental energy.

[eternalvault]

More GBF Lore Discussions/Thoughts

Okay so now that To Feed the Machine (link to Ao3) is really starting to kick off, I want to visit my thoughts about Lucifer.

I feel like in some ways, having finished the track of WTMSB + Stars and Skies has hindered my characterizations just a little bit.

(More under the cut - spoilers for WMTSB Trilogy + Stars and Skies)

We know Lucifer has been torn between duty and desire. But that's not really something we start to see until Paradise Lost at the earliest - when he's actively dying. And even then he doesn't allow himself until the very end to voice what he wanted to say.

It's something even Sandalphon noticed and by that point those two still weren't communicating yet:

"Are you going... to deny yourself down to your final breath? Don't you have anything to say, not for the world, but just for yourself!" - WMTSBII Chpt 5, Ep 3

And this isn't something just limited to his interactions with Sandalphon. It happened with Cosmos too, some five-hundred years earlier. Cosmos does - whether intentionally or not - what Lucifer cannot bring himself to do: Interfere in the worlds affairs. (A parallel to Sahar that I will probably get into another day.)

I'd like to think Lucifer is self-aware, to a horrible, oppressive degree. He knows exactly what it is that could alleviate his own suffering, but still refuses to take that step. He is afraid.

A few more little snippets to prove my point: "No longer are you an observer but an active piece in the Sky Realm, spurring advancement..." - Lucifer to Cosmos, Stars and Skies Chpt 8 Pt3

"I understand. I won't try to persuade you to stay. Regardless of what you might think, you're as much a piece of the Sky Realm as I am. A primal beast caught between duty and aspiration, who desperately searches for a future." - Lucifer also to Cosmos, a little further in the above chapter.

I want more of his story. We've seen it through the lens of Sandalphon and Belial. Even through Lucilius to some degree. Through Cosmos and her tale. I want to see it through Lucifer's eyes because we can make plenty of inferences on his reactions to other people, but until we get a proper glimpse into his head it's all conjecture.

To continue onto my point now that I've gotten the basis across - I'm struggling with allowing more of Lucifer's inner thoughts to show than I am his outer persona. I'm sitting here writing Chapter 7 of To Feed the Machine and questioning whether or not I'm moving things along too fast or just right. If any of you have read Chapters 5 and 6, I'm curious as to what your thoughts are.

[solardick]

What if president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and president Vladimir Putin are working together. He being a secret russian spy. Why do they have the same name? And why are both their terms « extended »? Is it a play on the good angel vs. The bad angel? Which one is which? The one offering peace terms or the one asking for more money for more war?

So far at work. The Indians are my favourite.

Time travel and the speed of light? If one moved faster than light ine could travel back in time. Except time is infinitely measured. Even at the speed of light time can be measured smaller. Time doesnt cease movement. Neither the reversal of time if movement was faster than light. At most time would at one point cease to move for the limitations of perception. A second may always be reduced to a smaller fraction.

If experienced was to be measured according to aset structure that never failed adherence then time travel would be possible according to a set bypassing personal memory. Though this is only at a conscious level. If technology whee to enable a downloading of consciouness that the physical travel back in time would depend on the implementation of the reception of that conscious state into a new body. So one could only go back to far as the dawn of that age defined by that technology. This is an interesting conjectural observation. For the the future consciouness would then be able to return to any point on or passed that age and modify that present tense leading to a modified nee reality future.

The chances of this are rather limited outside an undeviating A.I. And that dawn marked new age would be in a constant flow of flux. Where it would have to hold all knowledge of the future up to a point. And evolution forward would depend on the state of the present technology slowly inching forward against to constant returns from the future. Where a reboot system would then erase that present tense of time for the implementation of future knowledge coming back correcting the future. Or a secondary system would become the primary point of the age. Time wouldn’t stop but its measurement would effectively be faster than the ability to measure light itself and the universe for all intent and purposes would cease to move, or atleast have the perception thta it didn’t outside the frame of mind of a person.

Best to stay away from the war in europe and all the dumb shit about it. I picked a side. Don’t care about the details. Nothing in life is real anyway. My entire world is a machination. I dint get to have a say in life. Never did. Never will. Lif eis onesided agaisnt you and it always was. All that is now is because of them and what they create. And im just the poor sloe caught inbetween of their stupid degenerate bs. I wont shed a tear if the entire americas burn. Along with everyone ive ever met. For strangling all the best parts of me and feeding the worst. All i can say for a certainty is that god is agaisnt them. But that matters very little in hell.

And i hope this disease goes away. Incant function. Allmprogress gets halted. All focus goes away. Inhope the world butns. And incan dies soon. They stolenmy second vhande ofmlife. With more perversion amd violence and chaos

Yay nothing but hard pluto saturn and uranus apsects. While living a mock reality. All personal uplifting aspects dont matter. Fuck astrological. All there is are outter planters. No personals. No growth. Just torture. Its all o know. Outside influenves fucking everything up always beleive they are in the right. Even though their morons. Pluto swaure uranus. Uranus conjucntion mars, uranus opposite saturn, and pluto swuare plotu. After uranus conjucnt sun. pluto squared sun, neptune conjucnt moon. And unranus conjucnt NN. While being jnjected with poison bombarded by abusive degenerates. Beaten by my family and spochogically raped and sexually abused. While watching everyone arounf me give me those perverted sick concksuckees crooked smile of withheld information. And then its what uranus opposite uranus?! What?! Midlife crisis. Pls. My ebtire life has been a crisis. Ill probably just kill

Myself like ive been withholdinng these last 26 uears. Gor to take the full blint of the trauma since im only allowed being by myself while being manipulated hybteh entire fucken planet to degenewrte ever further.

Also by 2036 the end of putins term and the change of degree from julian the 7th of january to the 8th. Is a nuptune sun cinjunction. This whole fucken war is a fake reality ti fuck with me. Also on that date is a plutonmars square. Yeah. I was born foe the sole purpose of being abused. Putin retires and i probably soend that last few years in a hospital beign abused by nurses.

Why dont they donthe american thing and assassinate the presidents. One president frees the slaves and get shot. Another president tried to create a communism without money and he was shot. Another guy invented the amart ohone collectivizing rhe entire planet in the same technology and he mysteriously dies. Russia tries and free itself from liberal totalitarians and he gets half the world sissy slapping each other?….. the worlds going to end ip being a communism anyway. Under a supreme intelligence of an A.I.

I no longer have repentence or shame on anythignnive ever done. Y’all’v taken that feom me too.

So lets see whats next in their book of satanic bs and raping my life reality. Ive only been watch for the last 20 years. Going through all the motions. Even having my family give me those same perverted degenerate smiles. Listenign to constant dialogue around of stupid degenerate bs. Coming up to me a rubbing it in every chance there is. 39 years of this shit. It nevera ends in hell. Where eveyon ewants to rule. Apparently. Playing a nice dmfacade to everyone and supporting them whenever it comes to it while knowing the fucken of my life by them at the same time. Locking me into this bs script. Waiting to see what ever is next. The next stage in the plan. 39 fucken years. Of neglect to my person and being beaten on by the entire world around me at all times. The friendlier influemces promoting degenerating experimeces. Form my first memory to now. Wich i knew about the magic behind cliud shaping and all that. But, thats not for me i guess. The only true compassion is from nature. I want to see the world burn. And it can start over again drom scratch. Like a forest or a “civilization”. While this disease plagues my body and mind. And the olague of humanity suckin gof the devil.

Maybe i could contact russia and ask for refuge. But, considering ym entire reality is machinated. They would never allow.

[wisdomrays]

PUTTING AN END TO A LONG JOURNEY: Part 5

We cannot say that we have comprehended taqwa with its place in God’s sight and with all that it promises. I have neither been able to comprehend nor explain it. I have lowered it below from its heavenly horizon and presented it in the narrowness of my capacity of perception and description. Who knows what other heavenly truths like taqwa I have transformed into earthly concepts due to my limited ability. However, if the highest level of taqwa is, according to some, remaining distant from everything which will contaminate the spirit, keeping silent in any matter that is not pleasing to God, avoidance of even any image or conception in opposition to God’s decrees, always pursuing His good pleasure and living with the intention of feeling, seeing, and knowing Him only and attaining His company, and always breathing with Him with the mention of “He!” in utter oblivion of one own self—if taqwa consist of all these, then it is beyond our capacity of perception or description. Those who experience it at this level travel and live in the realms that are beyond any dimensions we know, saying:

The lights of my eyes are “He!”, and the decree guiding my intellect is “He!”

The utterance of my tongue is “He!” and what is manifested from my wailings is “He!

The recreation of my heart is “He!” and the beloved of my soul is “He!”

….

Its fasting is “He!”, its festival is “He!”, and its abstinence and piety are “He!”

Its meeting with God is “He!”, its separation is “He!”, and the remedy for its ailments is “He!”

As for me, I can only approach and describe it according to my capacity of perception and on the map of my spirit.

There are some other states like excellence in worship and other states and actions even beyond excellence such as always living in awareness of God’s omnipresence and uninterruptedly pursuing the truths that cannot be attained through eyes or other external senses, not even through the mind. People like me either keep silent concerning these or lend ears to those who are qualified to talk about them, only making conjectures. Those who attain these states observe many truths that are hidden to others, scattering around many ever-original gems from the treasures of the Unseen, and offering those who follow them exquisite things from among the Divine gifts that are given to them as presents for their insight. A hero of such a degree of ecstasy and immersion gives voice to his boiling feelings as follows:

The Beautiful One has once more shown me His Face from His Palace of Majesty;

I am once more a wailing, mad lover intoxicated with the eternal wine;

The veil of ignorance has once more been removed from my eyes and heart;

A call has come to my soul from among the calls of the All-Transcending One.

In Emerald Hills of the Heart, we have tried to sometimes picture what we have heard from the specialists concerning this multicolored map, sometimes that which we have attained and perceived from relevant books or booklets, sometimes that which we have read on the faces of certain happenings which are common and legendary, and sometimes what has been experienced, spoken, or reported through ages—we have tried to picture these and say some things in the name of the provision and the principles of the journey of the luminous travelers of the Sufi path.

It would be an exaggeration to say that we have been able to interpret according to the Book (the Qur’an) and the Sunna whatever has been said concerning the matters discussed. However, I would like to say that I have done my best and acted with great sensitivity so as to be able to interpret every approach and consideration according to these two basic sources of Islam. The tears I have many times shed over the black lines, which I regard as my sins of thinking, are witnesses to this. I have many times trembled with the consideration that I have not been able to present the elevated, transcending truths in accordance with their essential reality or real nature, and have nearly decided to give up continuing to write about them. I must admit that I have had difficulties in finding religiously true bases for some ambiguous utterances of people of deep spirituality—statements that are apparently incompatible with the essentials of the Religion—or in conforming perfectly to the unique place of the Religion in God’s sight and the fact that the people of deep spirituality are the living representatives of it. I have continuously shuddered with the fear that while trying to remain respectful for the transcending position of the truth and the Ultimate Truth of the truths, I have not been able to explain relevant matters in accordance with their original, essential reality or true nature.

I cannot claim that whatever I have written is true. It is God Almighty Who knows the exact truth of everything. If all that I have written and done is the expression of the truth and has been written and done with the intention of pleasing God, it is from Him and by Him; while whatever mistake has been made, even though I have intended God’s approval and reward, any failure in the pursuit of God’s good pleasure, is from me. I seek refuge in my Lord with the excuse and veil that “All children of Adam are subject to erring much, and the best of those who err much are the oftrepentant,” and request that God also open for me the door of repentance and contrition, a door that He has opened for those who have come before me

[fruitlicense]

The cosmology class I took this past spring briefly covered parallel universes/multiverses, and while I’m not gonna share my prof’s lecture slides on tumblr, I am going to summarize the concepts he went over because that shit is fascinating!!!

DISCLAIMER: I just finished a degree in physics, so I have more background in this than the average layperson, but I’m still a student and not an expert by any means. If something in this explanation is wrong, it’s cause I was cross-referencing my class notes instead of citing academic papers. This is for fun, guys. :)

So, there’s four levels of multiverses - basically, four frameworks to think about ways we could have different universes existing in parallel. Reminder: this is THEORY, but it’s based on mathematical logic and our current observations of the Universe, so it’s not cold hard fact but it’s not complete conjecture either.

A Level 1 multiverse hinges on the difference between our observable Universe and our actual full complete Universe. The observable Universe encompasses the limits of what we can see and detect, and it has a hard boundary based on the age of the Universe as a whole. The Big Bang was 13.7 billion years ago, and being a singularity, no information can get to us from “before” it, if “before” the Big Bang is even a thing. Effectively, time in the Universe started from zero 13.7 billion years ago. That’s a finite age, and light has a finite speed that it can travel at (3 x 10^8 m/s), so there’s stuff in the Universe as a whole that isn’t part of our observable Universe because there’s no possible way that light from it could have reached us yet. No information travels faster than light, so anything outside of the horizon of the observable Universe will always be unknown to us in every sense. And this is before accounting for the expansion of the Universe and the fact that as space expands, stuff is going to zoom away and disappear behind that limit even as the limit grows with time. TLDR: we will never see most of the vast infinity of the Universe.

Now, the Universe overall is infinite. I know that makes me referring to it as “complete” very hand-wavey, but whatever. The point is, just over from the boundary of our observable Universe is another observable universe that’s in the same overall Universe as us, but we’ll never see them and they’ll never see us. Think of the Universe like a sheet of cookie dough and each observable universe as a cookie - if you’re making your cookies right, none of them will overlap, but they’re part of the same sheet of dough. If you’re working with a standard baking sheet, none of those cookies will be identical, but think about an infinite sheet of cookie dough. Eventually, in an infinite cookie dough Universe, you’ll run out of ways to uniquely arrange your chocolate chips, and you’ll have two identical cookies separated by many cookies in between. Particles in the Universe are just like chocolate chips in your dough. We only have so many kinds of fundamental particles in the Universe, and there’s an unthinkably large amount of ways they can be arranged, but eventually, statistically, you will get patches of Universe that will never detect each other, but that are identical down to the quark. You’ll have even more patches of Universe that are very nearly identical save for a few particles. So in an infinite Universe with infinite parallel observable universes within it that don’t overlap, there are identical AND near-identical versions of every one of us somewhere out there!

Personally, I think that’s cool as fuck. :)

Since all universes in a Level 1 multiverse are part of the same cookie dough sheet, if you will, they have the same physical constants, laws of physics, dimensions, fundamental particles, etc. If you could go into another universe in a Level 1 multiverse, it wouldn’t have a different law of gravitation or speed of light or anything crazy like that, because it’s just a different piece of the same larger Universe. In a Level 2 multiverse, you don’t have that guarantee that the laws and constants are the same.

Explaining a Level 2 multiverse takes some understanding of our early Universe right after the Big Bang and how it influences some weird shit about the Universe now. Our problems include that we can’t explain why the average temperature of the Universe (and of the Cosmic Microwave Background, which you can look up because it’s too much to go into detail about here) is more or less the same everywhere we look, we can’t explain how that could happen in regions that are too far away to communicate with each other (ex. places on opposite sides of our observable Universe), and we can’t explain why our Universe appears to be exactly flat when it’s had a lot of time for any not-flatness to become very detectable. Except that we can explain all of those problems (and one more that I don’t feel like explaining but you can look up magnetic monopoles if you’re curious) with the theory of inflation. In the very early Universe, if the Universe had an inflationary period where it went from a more “normal” expansion rate to expanding exponentially and then went back to a normal expansion rate, all of those problems would make a lot more sense. Areas that look the same used to be in causal contact, any fluctuations in flatness were smoothed out, etc.

Level 2 multiverse theory asks, “well, why the hell do we assume that inflation works the same in all parts of the Universe?” The universes in a Level 2 multiverse are separated by their different inflationary periods. One might have expanded exponentially for much less time than ours, or for far more. Another might not have been flattened out by the exponential expansion enough to avoid having curvature. Situations like that could lead to very different-looking Universes because fundamental constants like curvature actually determine a lot about the way things work in our Universe. Level 2 multiverses are harder to explain with the cookie dough analogy, but I guess it’s like if you rolled out the dough kind of funky? Each universes of a Level 2 multiverse can also be its own Level 1 multiverse, so the cookie dough metaphor kind of starts to fall apart there. :/

Level 3 multiverses are somehow easier to understand than Level 2 multiverses, which I find lowkey hilarious, but I think it’s because the idea made its way into the pool of general knowledge a little more easily than the ideas of Level 1 and 2 multiverses. You know the concept that every choice you make could split off an alternate universe where you made a different choice than the one you actually did? Level 3 multiverses are based on the quantum mechanical version of that. In the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, every time a particle makes a “choice” about what state to be in, a parallel universe splits off where it’s in the unchosen state (or parallel universes, if there were more than two options). Quantum particles change state all the time, so that’s a lot of universes! I won’t lie though, I don’t really understand Level 3 multiverse theory beyond what I’ve typed here. How do the parallel universes split off of our Universe? What “space” are they splitting off into? How would we know if we’re in the original Universe or not? Search me, I don’t know.

Speaking of things I don’t know, Level 4 multiverse theory is impossible for me to explain because I don’t understand shit about it. Paraphrasing from my prof’s slides, “if the underpinnings of mathematics change and we have different mathematical structures, we get different fundamental equations of physics.” What does that even mean??? How would that work??? I’m no mathematician, so it may just be a mystery to me forever (or at least until I beef up my understanding of the type of crazy abstract math that people with PhDs in it do, which I don’t anticipate happening anytime soon).

Anyway, this has been the very very basics of multiverse theory with @fruitlicense! Level 1 multiverses are my personal favorites, if anyone was curious. :)

[jonathankatwhatever]

One like we used to do. Take 13. Add 5. That’s 8 attached to Mag10 or 2SBE3. That says the 8 loads from CM64 appearing orthogonally. And that’s at the End of a Mag10 so it would be the fit leading in and out to something else. And the f&b of the 18 compares so the result may pass to another gsProcess.

Holy moly, this is from Storyline too. The actual strategy discussions in Group Strategy 7 were this sort of calculating. And I see now that it was GS7 and gs1 where the latter is general. That explains the job. There were other GS and I ran GS7 because that was the localization of gs1.

I see rings now as enclosures which may be views as chains because they may be enclosed Triangularly. This means that what we see is curved relative to the Observer level, so we trace a circle and it is a length. Or the other way round: an Extent can become a 0Space Boundary because the 1Space relates to a Triangular and the bT form. In other words, that isolated the transition.

The aggregation of discrete existences.

Why this exercise? Because SBE is 3 and if we Attach that to Mag10 then adding a hand to make 18 treats that 13 as a hand. That enables the 12+1 and more.

This constructs filters which can be removed to reveal better information, better direction.

Internally generated filters. Reflection.

How would you explain turbulence in the generation of gsSpace? That it is the reduction of higher dimensions into a CM1, into a localization where the fit is turbulent.

Never realized how much Eminem’s voice owes to Stevie Wonder. Listening to Higher Ground.

I think all of the Clay problems are now solvable if I can translate the ideas. BSD is getting clearer. I’m confident with Hodge. Navier-Stokes is weird because turbulence is expected to come after. Not sure how to translate that. Yang-Mills is clearly doable. Need to translate some axioms.

I think BSD requires translating the meaning of a 0, which we have, with the concept of curve rank. The answer is becoming obvious since the points of the curve are over the 0 from the 1Space renditions, like into its Taylor series. I really do use a lot of Ts in my thinking. You give meaning to the 0. I’ll let you play with that.

So make that a bit more rigorous and the intractable is tracted.

Hodge seems to need a limiting to rationals. That is inherent to the de Rham cohomology. I ts in the continuity requirements because that imposes a depth limit locally which thus must resolve to rationals.

I am enjoying that this material is simplifying as I was told it would.

If this is accurate, then we have a very good handle on the mass gap: ‘a more precise definition is that the mass gap is the greatest lower bound of the energy of any state which is orthogonal to the vacuum.’ We got the orthogonal. And the lattice!

Listening to we want the funk. Turn this mother out.

Freddy’s dead. The musicianship. The quality of the musical thoughts. Curtis. You can hear the jazz it could be.

That math is getting clearer by the moment. Cool.

Why was Rare Earth able to sound so live? Done at the same Motown? The mix makes it white soul.

Just realized that we can use the solved Poincarre conjecture as a test. Which appears to work.

Need to walk.

[teaandcrowns]

If I had to wager a guess on how it's related to purity culture (which I agree with you on that), I would point at two things: one, the ascribing of liking the "unproblematic" ship/part of media to one's personal morality; and two, not stepping "out of line" from the guardrails of canon.

For the first point, this goes toward something we see a lot in how, for example, certain ships or types of tropes or types of fanfiction are demonized as being "bad" or "problematic," particularly when they explore darker themes (even mildly dark themes) or when they simply seem darker, even if they're not (see: zutara). Because a person find something about a fictional ship, trope, or story interesting or enjoyable in any way, that must mean they enjoy it—or want to enjoy it—in real life, therefore they must be an immoral or amoral person. In short, a bad person. But if you ship the canon ship, the one endorsed by canon, the one treated by canon as correct and thereby "good,"(1) (even if, upon analysis, it is not a morally good or unproblematic relationship), then by extension, that is also a reflection of what you want in real life, and makes you a moral person. A good person.

I feel like most people who are regular denizens of fandom have come across plenty of examples of relationships and tropes that fit this first aspect, but the second is where my own conjecture based off observation, reading the thoughts of others, and logical extension come in.

It seems to me that, while there have always been some people like this in fandom, I feel like there has been a rise in purity culture more in younger folks in fandom. There was a great post I saw some time ago that I desperately tried to find again to link here, but failed(2), but in it, the user discussed how a lot of younger people who would describe themselves as progressive and try to be progressive still end up falling into authoritarian and conservative mindsets about what are considered progressive topics. The user postulate this was because not a small amount of them recently had frees themselves of very conservative and typically authoritarian parents/households, thus those way of seeing the world and approaching the world were the only tools in their toolbox. Applied to the issue of only shipping canon ships and/or only seeing canon ships as the good/valid/worthwhile ships, I would propose that it is a reflection of being told by a given narrative that the canon ships are the correct ones, and since the limited tools in their worldview toolbox are still coming out of that conservative/authoritarian mindset, a lot of people just accept it as How It Should Be, or take Word of God as the one and only way.

I'm not trying to demonize younger folks (or even older ones) for having that mindset mostly because while they may have broken free of that home life (working off that referenced post's postulation), they still haven't learned new ways of approaching the world, and need to both unlearn that approach while discovering new ones through experiencing different perspectives. The trickiest part, I would think, is allowing themselves to set outside those guardrails of what a person of authority (to their perception) has said is "correct," or even the only thing, and explore other avenues and options.

I feel like I might not have made the connection I'm potentially seeing strong or clear enough, but I hope this all makes some kind of sense, or something in the neighborhood of sense.

___

(1) this does not typically apply to ships that do not conform to social norms, such as incest or age gap relationships, but it does typically apply to toxic relationships that do conform to social norms, such as a jealous and controlling male character over a submissive female partner in a heterosexual relationship

(2) please if anyone knows the post I'm talking about and can provide me a link, I would greatly greatly appreciate it!

(Edited because somehow a whole line of my first footnote got eaten during formatting)

I feel like I've been seeing a lot more posts about how both the Kat//ng and Zutara fandoms should stop fighting and tolerate each other more, and while I understand, and to an extent, agree with the sentiment, it bothers me a little because these posts tend to make it out like both fandoms are equally as toxic, when in my experience, that simply isn't true.

I am a multishipper, and even though I mostly just participate in the fandoms for my absolute favorites, I still enjoy lots of different ships, including ships that "contradict" each other.

In AtLA, even though Zutara is my favorite now, I also used to ship Kat//ng. Kat//ng used to be my favorite, and only ship for the series that I actively engaged with. I saw the appeal of Zutara (and others), but for a long time my opinion on it was "it's not canon, so why bother?" and I mostly just ignored it.

But one of the biggest reason I stopped enjoying interacting with the KA side of the fandom was because I saw a vastly disproportionate amount of other KA shippers going out of their way to harass Zutara shippers. And I don't mean simply talking badly about the ship itself, or the characters involved, but personal attacks against the real life people who ship Zutara.

Have I seen Zutara shippers harass Kat//ngers? Yes, of course. But not nearly as much as the other way around. Literally not even half as much. And not just here on Tumblr, but Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Deviantart. All across the internet, I saw KA shippers constantly badmouthing Zutara and Zutara shippers, even in the comments of Kat//ng art and fics, completely unprompted.

It bummed me out, and while it isn't the reason I stopped liking the ship itself, it did make me feel uncomfortable interacting with it's fandom. Kat//ng shippers are, ironically, a big part of the reason I started actively shipping Zutara. Because after seeing the way they went on about it and it's fandom, I thought "Surely, Zutara and the people who like it can't be that bad." So I took a deeper look at the ship and it's fandom, and.... I was right. They weren't as bad as other Kat//ngers had told me they were. Not even close.