#Soteria

[lufdraws]

a song for parting, a song for resting🎶🍃 bday present for the wonderful @/evefaucillien (on twt) of a transformed soteria, whom orpheus joined in resting under the trees💚

[thefirstknife]

Category 1 billion important lore event happening.

So I finished the exotic glaive quest which was super cool and interesting. A lot of stuff about previous Cloud Striders and their lives and how much their heroic images told to people clash with who they really were. Fascinating stuff, well worth the time to do the quest and read.

The lore book is Cloud Strider Legacies and deals with four specific Cloud Striders connected through their knowledge about something in the CloudArk. This something turns out to be a... friendly Vex Mind. Called the Occlusion. The first Cloud Strider discovered it and left it there because it appeared to be useful somehow.

When you finish the quest, there's a huge thank you note from the archivist Quinn and also some data from Occlusion meant for us specifically. The text, part one:

REALLY GOOD. If I'm reading this correctly, this Vex Mind was connected or made from or influenced by Soteria, the Augurmind, which is the AI submind made by Braytech and Ishtar fusing warmind technology and Vex technology. Soteria is responsible for Neomuna existing.

Not sure how much of a connection there is, but either the Vex found Soteria or Soteria found the Vex and somehow merged or influenced them. It resulted in the friendly Vex Mind called Occlusion who is just kinda chilling in the CloudArk. But it also sent a message. About some sort of "paracausal hero." It also says that "it endures." This might be referring to Soteria itself as enduring within Occlusion or something entirely different. This might end up being relevant when we delve more into the Vex again.

The next part:

Also really good. This means that the header is a general description that is attached to the start of the files and that all files could be containing years worth of data. And now for the kicker, the urgent file attached at the top:

I am VIBRATING OUT OF MY SKIN RIGHT NOW. "Saturn VI" or Saturn 6 is another designation for the moon Titan. So like. Titan has to be coming back and also we have something or someone to find there. Something that is an enemy of the Witness and that has to be preserved "if still living."

Going insane right now. This will be all I talk about until this shows up in the story this year. Titan is coming back Titan is coming back Titan is coming back!!!!! No clue when but hoping in Season of the Deep. No clue what this thing might be but whatever it is, it's important and like. I am so normal right now.

[howtobecomeadragon]

super interesting that they weren't calling it Soteria yet.

[heriugena]

"Eschatological time [...] defines the present as 'evil', [...] the situation of the 'fall'. It is supposed that in the future there will only be further tests and catastrophes, corrected by episodic periods of relative improvement, connected with the activity of religious devotees or new prophets. The past is thought of as 'Heaven', 'the Golden Age', a period for 'imitation'. Thus, time flows downward. The perfect, harmonious world belongs to the sacred past. The present is a fall and suffering, and ahead lie greater tragedies.

Religion sets in opposition to downward flowing time an alternate path, which we can call a 'vertical path', a 'path leading upward'. This vector opposes the inertia of time and strives to change the direction of its flow. As a result, a specific time emerges: the time of salvation, soteriological time or messianic time.

The world moves toward the end through descent. The faithful must move contrary to time, along the axis of a 'different time', which flows perpendicular to usual time or against it. Thus, alongside time as regression (a feature of the world as such), religion asserts another heroic dimension, projected onto a particular future and comprising the sphere of religious eschatology.

Eschatology is a distinctive feature of time in the society of the narod. [...] The characterisitic quality of the narod appears in it: the project, the will, the lunge into the future, the dialog with the forces of fate. Religious time sees in the future the denouement of the heroes' battle against evil. This denouement is an end, an 'eschaton'."

[givehimthemedicine]

🧲 let's talk about power and magnets and soteria real quick

not feeling super coherent tonight but *gestures vaguely* constant symbolic and literal connections between psionic power and electrical power and magnets, and to power being surged / shut off / drained / stolen. I don't even have enough room for screenshots of Joyce's whole magnet plot.

according to this article, Brenner's MKUltra experiments on Terry Ives involved not just drugs and sensory deprivation, but electromagnetic stuff. by ~1970 he's not just making random shots in the dark - he already knows what forces are involved with strengthening psionic powers because he already knew how to suppress them in ~59.

soteria isn't magic, it's something ordinary old Brenner was able to develop using ordinary old science - and it didn't take years of research after obtaining Henry, either (I figure he had to have it already in the tattoo scene or the restraints wouldn't have mattered). my money says it involves magnets interfering with Henry's electromagnetic blablah or maybe just creating a small but constant drain on his battery. maybe his powers aren't shut off, just weakened, like he said?

as for tracking him - if he's telling the truth about that part - idk what GPS technology was like in `59, but if soteria has magnetic properties, I wonder if Henry could be tracked in the same sense as Dustin's compass needle deflecting to the gate?

now about Will:

admittedly this is based on a shaky series of assumptions and limited understanding, but just to toss the thought out there -

HNL took scans of Will's brain when he was possessed in season 2. IF these are MRI images, and IF I'm right about soteria involving a magnet, that seems to me like a vote against the idea that Henry put soteria in Will's neck while he was in the UD.

that thing made a distinctly metal noise when it hit the floor. if you've ever had an MRI, you know you can't go in there with any metal on or in your body, because an MRI is a REALLY powerful magnet, and if you have anything metal in you, it could get dislodged or pulled out, and/or the metal thing can heat up and burn you, and/or it can screw up the image.

if Will had an MRI not knowing he had soteria in him, it could have gotten ripped out like El ripped out Henry's, or at least pulled on his skin painfully enough to alert him to it. there are kinds of metal that are nonmagnetic and MRI safe, but the whole point of this thing, I'm theorizing, is that it involves a magnet so

even aside from soteria, I'm curious about the possible effects of a super magnet on Will while he has the MF in him.

actually wait one last tangent. anyone who cares, can you check out the particles-coming-alive scene in 3x01 (try about 11:30)? I'd gif it but the detail is too fine.

is ALL the debris I'm seeing throughout the scene shadow particles, and the particles are just not totally homogenous? or are the ones we first see shimmering on the floor metal bits (this being the floor of an abandoned steel works after all)? once the shadow takes shape, I'm sure I see distinct areas of shadow-cloud and other shimmery reflective stuff. am I to understand this as metal shavings being swept up with the shadow? in other words does it have a magnetic pull?

imagine Will's body being thoroughly infused with magnetic particles and going in an MRI tube lol

[telestoapologist]

maybe a deep cut but, soteria from the spire? for the bingo thing

BLORBIS BONGO // ACCEPTING

F1SH I'M ACTUALLY CRYING I HAD NO IDEA SHE EXISTED UNTIL NOW AND I'M LOSING MY MIND.... AIs willingly defying their creators to care for and/or protect others my beloveds... she deserves the world for her sacrifices.

[hopepetal]

What's your favorite piece of personal writing? It doesn't have to be something shared on Tumblr.

Hmmmm

Oh gosh, I really don't know. I can't remember all of my writing... but I do have this one unfinished bit with ocs! (Set in the FFXIV universe, slight Endwalker spoilers ahead!) Would love if this got some attention, but doubt it because it's not my usual stuff lol

Persephone often found herself in Elpis, by that lone pink tree surrounded by vibrant purple flowers. It was a place she came to in order to calm herself, destress, take her mind off things, and generally just enjoy the view. From the vantage point on that tiny sanctuary in the sky she could look out upon the rest of Elpis with a caring gaze, watch the sun set and rise, or just lay back and close her eyes, feeling the soft breeze bring strands of her hair to tickle her cheeks.

Not often, however, were others there. Given her tendency to take respite from her duties at the strangest hours, it was rare that she ever ran into another during her time off. It was to her surprise to find a familiar person sitting in the grass, staring blankly towards where the lightening skies promised the sunrise. As Persephone drew closer, she noticed how Soteria's hand twitched slightly– the only sign that they knew someone was there. Having grown closer to them after what everyone had taken to calling “the incident”, Persephone had learned much about them. Their tells, body language, how their soul would seem dim compared to the vibrancy with which it would shine before it had been torn apart and pieced back together.

When Persephone first laid eyes upon Soteria's soul, she had been, for lack of a better word, heartbroken. Before the incident, the bright shine of their soul had only been rivaled by the vibrancy of Venat's, the previous Azem as well as Soteria's mentor. Battered and broken, she knew it would never be the same again, just as the bearer of the soul would never quite be the same. Persephone knew this to be true the moment she saw that one of Soteria's eyes had become the same blue shade of their soul. Just like Eleos. A nagging thought that she quickly swept away. ‘You did the right thing,’ she told herself, ‘sacrifice is necessary for the greater good.’ And yet she could not help but recall those vibrant eyes, the way Eleos had clung to her, looked to her for guidance and comfort, and how she had begun to find comfort in them as well.

“May I?” Gesturing to the ground next to Soteria, Persephone waited for the muted nod they gave her before she sat down. The grass was soft and dewy, the sky beginning to bleed oranges and pinks, gold ichor mixing with calming reds to paint the background for a lovely sunrise. Persephone's gaze briefly turned to Soteria, who was continuing to silently stare out at the sunrise. Their hair was down, she noted, seeming much longer now that it wasn't in their usual braid. They looked tired, bags under their eyes like those Hades would have after a long day of meetings with the Convocation of Fourteen. Without their mask and cowl, it was much easier to notice...

And that's where I left off! Lemme know what you guys think?

[friendsdontlieokay]

001 couldn't use his powers because he had a soteria inside of him which was precisely attached inside his neck, and recall how Will touches his neck whenever a connection between Hawkins and the Upside Down form? I think he has powers

[thedarkdevours]

“I don’t understand how you can bear to linger in this wretched place,” Hades sniffed, eyeing the gentle snowfall with distaste.

Soteria patted his arm, looking up at him with a sympathetic smile. "You can return, you know? I'll be okay!"

"Hmph. 'Twould simply be a hassle for the Fourteen to find a new Azem if you froze out here."

[cassiopeias-art]

I ended up going with the middle. Their name is Soteria when female presenting and Soter when male presenting

[gayofthefae]

Hey, so...

bringing back the peculiarly unique Will Byers experience that Billy wasn’t able to keep the mindflayer at bay within him a single time - not from the first day. 

But Will Byers fought him off for nearly a WEEK, by the end of it still never truly losing complete control.

So many things. So many things in lore than were so cleverly manipulated so the audience thought we were being introduced to universal lore only to later find out...that isn’t how it happens for anyone but Will Byers.

[thefirstknife]

Another thing I wanted to talk about is how new information coming from Neomuna is giving us some questions (and answers!) about previously established origins of the colony.

Originally, Spire of the Watcher dungeon lore gave us information that Neomuna was founded by a rogue AI's attempt to save humanity from the Collapse by effectively stealing a single ship from the ECHO project, embedding herself into it with a piece she partioned away before the rest of her were sealed in the Spire.

ECHO project was Clovis' colony project, aiming to colonise the Andromeda galaxy. The project was a joint operation between Braytech and Ishtar Collective. They worked on the colonisation effort and specifically on the AI called Soteria. Soteria, the Augurmind, was an advanced AI based on Braytech's codes and Ishtar's Vex research. Soteria was able to make accurate predictions about possible colony worlds, best routes to get there, viability of travel and so on.

Given that Braytech was involved, Exos were included in the project; Exos were aboard the ships to serve as effectively immortal stewards overseeing human embryo development to start the colony.

During one of the test flights for an ECHO ship, Soteria suddenly deviated from orders. Clovis tried getting her to follow but she refused. She insisted she must take control of the ship and drive it to a safe location to hide it and preserve humanity. At this point, she had already detected the Black Fleet. Clovis refused to listen and ordered her to be pilloried. However, the pillory process is not instant so she managed to section off one piece of her, attach it to one of the ECHO crafts and pilot it away, hidden, to safety. The ship went to the edge of the system and "crashed through azure clouds."

This was obviously meant to mean Neptune. We were led to believe that this was the ship that made Neomuna. But that means Exos were on board and we have not seen or heard of any Exos or Exo technology on Neomuna. Odd! And as a matter of fact, not only are there no Exos, Neomuni apparently did not even believe that living Exos exist!

Scientists have recently confirmed the rumored existence of living Exo units on Earth. Long believed extinct, Exos were creations of Clovis Bray, the result of extended and inhumane experiments on human subjects.

Furthermore, the original ship that made Neomuna is referenced as Exodus Indigo. From Tropopause:

The archivist went on. "We've got historical texts both pre and post-Exodus Indigo...

And some flavour text on weapons:

"Now this puppy came off the Exodus Indigo herself! Though it handles like it was manufactured yesterday."

Neomuna does have some Braytech influences. You can see it in the designs of some areas where there's literally the same assets being used. But also there's much more open references to the Ishtar Collective. More than Braytech! Braytech is left in the designs, but nothing speaks of it.

We also know that Maya Sundaresh (and her wife, Chioma Esi) are one of the founders of Neomuna. This was the first hint that ECHO perhaps wasn't what made Neomuna, at least not directly. Maya and her wife certainly wouldn't have been passengers on a test flight of a colony ship, especially not after Maya resigned from the project because Clovis pilloried Soteria without her permission.

If Maya hadn't been there, then this wouldn't have been an issue, but she was! She founded Neomuna!

But why would she choose Neptune as a destination? Well, Maya spoke extensively with Soteria about colony worlds. Maya was personally pissed off about Clovis partitioning Soteria. Maya would have detected Soteria's flight and tracked her trajectory to Neptune.

Perhaps Maya wanted to see what happened to the ship. Perhaps she wanted to salvage Soteria. Perhaps she believed Soteria's choice of a safe world to hide from the impending doom. So she chartered her own Exodus ship, Exodus Indigo and followed the trail Soteria left. Since the ship didn't aim to leave the system, it would've been able to get to Neptune and disappear.

The Exos being nonexistent on Neomuna suggests that ECHO's "crash through azure clouds" was lethal. That's the only thing that would've killed all Exos aboard and left Neomuni to speculate about Exo survivability. The ship may have been found and salvaged, which would explain the Braytech influences. Also everyone on the Exodus ship would've come form the Golden Age where Braytech designs were probably ubiquitous and well known to everyone. They started building on the things they've known: Braytech and Ishtar.

Really interesting twist and turn! Soteria and ECHO ship are still crucial to Neomuna's existence, as Maya would've absolutely known about where it went and why, as well as trusted Soteria's judgement. And Maya definitely found Soteria there, because she's referenced in the files as having survived and possibly merged back with the Vex, as per her origins. Soteria's (and Maya's!) legacy continues with her involvement with the friendly Vex faction. Without Soteria, her stolen ECHO ship and Maya's trust in the AI, there is no Neomuna.

[xivartref]

Soteria

[padfoot-lupin77]

So, after st season 4 many people went crazy about 001 having that “soteria” in the same place in neck as Will when he touches his neck, BUT:

Did you know that soteria is the Greek word for salvation?

Just thought to contribute :)

[nym-of-jex]

United in Dream

Naught but a dream, gone with the dawn.

Nym with her Azem- Soteria, together only in dream

[mageintheory]

A bond, unbroken across the shards.