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#psychological entropy
entropywritez · 1 year
Text
SPACELOGARCHIVETEXT:FULL:2232023
(translation: Space Log Archive text: full: March 23 2023)
When an interstellar ship is docked into the Main Ship for repairs, only one human is sent up to keep watch over it. Isolation in the natural world is difficult enough, even more so in the artificial. Even considering this, the human sent up does not cope well with the deafening silence of space.
Warnings - animal and human death alluded to, suicide, brief conversations about religion and superstition. Much of the literal text is abbreviated technobabble, in a similar format to the untranslated title, which may be difficult to read. 
Wordcount: 1.8k
Text is under the cut!
INFRMTNREQ#589573851-589573856:8:36AMSENT:
CPT#678234 MLTRPRSNL:ALL
NO LOGGED INFORMATION.
CPT#678234 CVLPRSNL:ALL
1:MAYSIM ABDULLAH;27YRS;OCCU:NONE;RELATIONSHIP:PARTNER;STATUS:DEAD
NO OTHER LOGGED INFORMATION.
CPT#678234 CVLPRSNL:DPND
NO LOGGED INFORMATION. 
CPT#678234 PROFILE
RANIAH ABDULLAH;28YRS;OCCU:GNRL;STATUS:UNDT
NO OTHER LOGGED INFORMATION.
CPT#678234 LOGARCH:ALL
LOGTRANSM#1147634:8:46AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES: THIS IS WHAT, MY THIRD TIME BABYSITTING A SHIP? THE NOVELTY’S WORN OFF, BUT IT’S STILL UNNERVING.ANY TIPS FROM MAIN SHIP?
LOGTRANSM#1147634:8:46AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147634:9:14AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES: KEEP YOURSELF BUSY. MAYBE CHECK ALL MAIN SUITS OUTSIDE. POLISH THE WINDOWS.
INSTTRANSM#1147634:9:14AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147635:8:28AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:GAVE ALL THE SUITS A TRY. #9, THAT YOUNGER RECRUIT’S, HAD A COUPLE SURPRISES FOR ME. HIGH SCHOOLERS ARE HIGH SCHOOLERS, I FIGURE. FOLDERED, IN MY LUGGAGE FOR RETURN TO LAND. THE WINDOWS SURE LOOK A LOT SMALLER WHEN I’M INSIDE, NOT POLISHING THEM. EVEN I KNOW NO ONE GETS USED TO LOOKING DOWN AT MAIN SHIP. THE WORD MILLION DOESN’T STICK AS WELL AS LOOKING AT THE FUCKING SCALE. WHO’S ANSWERING THESE TRANSMISSIONS, ANYWAY?
LOGTRANSM#1147635:8:46AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147635:8:52AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:LT. COMMANDER GOLDE-DIAZ OF THE INFORMATION WING SPEAKING. I HOPE I WON’T GET SWITCHED OUT. SURE WOULDN’T HELP WITH BEING UP IN SPACE ALONE, WOULD IT?
INSTTRANSM#1147635:8:52AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147636:10:53AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:WLLCHCK
ADTNNOTES:NO MESSAGE YET RECEIVED. EVERYTHING ALRIGHT, CAPTAIN?
INSTTRANSM#1147636:10:53AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147637:8:17AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:PERFECTLY FINE. POPPED OUT OF BED, DECIDED I’D START READING SOMETHING INSTEAD OF WORKING ALL DAY. LOST TRACK OF TIME.
LOGTRANSM#1147637:8:46AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147637:8:51AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:WLLCHCKRES
ADTNNOTES:GOOD TO HEAR. MAYBE SET AN ALARM TO KEEP TABS ON LOGS. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN READING, CAPTAIN?
INSTTRANSM#1147637:8:51AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147638:8:32AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:DABBLING IN DIFFERENT CLASSICS. DIDN’T EXACTLY STUDY THEM IN SCHOOL, FIGURED THERE’S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT.
LOGTRANSM#1147638:8:32AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147638:8:37AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:WATCH YOURSELF, CAPTAIN. SOME OF THOSE CAN GET PRETTY HEAVY.
INSTTRANSM#1147638:8:37AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147639:8:35AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:STARTED CHECKING DEFENSE MACHINERY. NOTHING OF NOTE TO REPORT SO FAR. JESUS, DO OUR OPERATORS LIVE IN THESE THINGS? THEY’RE DISGUSTING.
LOGTRANSM#1147639:8:35AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147639:8:41AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:IN RECENT CASES, THAT WOULD BE A REASONABLE CONCLUSION. SPACE TRAVEL TAKES A WHILE IN OUR WARP VEHICLES. WOULDN’T BE SURPRISED IF SOME OPERATORS SPEND A FEW MONTHS IN THESE THINGS TO REACH THEIR ASSIGNMENTS.
INSTTRANSM#1147639:8:41AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147640:1:47PMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:DEAR GOD. SOME KID TRIED TO BRING THEIR CAT IN WITH THEM IN THE SUIT. ANY PROTOCOL AGAINST SPACE BURIALS?
LOGTRANSM#1147640:1:47PMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147640:2:04PMSENT:
ORDERS:REFRAIN. PRECAU:OBEYPRTCOL PROTOCOL:DEBRISPREV
ADTNNOTES:HAD TO DO SOME RESEARCH. UNFORTUNATELY, YES. TINY MASS CAN DO SOME SURPRISING DAMAGE IN LOW GRAVITY. RECOMMEND SEALING AND STORING IN FREEZER.
INSTTRANSM#1147640:2:04PMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147641:9:17AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:DONE. SEEMS DISRESPECTFUL SOMEHOW, BUT I’M MORE AFRAID OF HULL BURSTS THAN CAT GHOSTS.
LOGTRANSM#1147641:9:17AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147641:9:20AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS, CAPTAIN?
INSTTRANSM#1147641:9:20AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147641:9:22AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:NO, AND I SURE DON’T WANNA BE PROVEN WRONG HERE.
LOGTRANSM#1147641:9:22AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147642:9:16AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:CAN’T GET THAT CAT OFF MY MIND. STARTED TRYING TO GERMINATE SEEDS FROM TOMATOES AT BREAKFAST. WILL UPDATE AS I CONTINUE. NOT ENOUGH PLANTS IN PATROL CITIES.
LOGTRANSM#1147642:9:16AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147642:9:20AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:PLEASE DO. WOULD BE USEFUL INFORMATION FOR IMPROVING OPERATOR MORALE IN THE FUTURE.
INSTTRANSM#1147642:9:20AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147643:8:23AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:ARE YOU A RELIGIOUS PERSON, LT. COMMANDER GOLDE-DIAZ OF THE INFORMATION WING?
LOGTRANSM#1147643:8:23AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147643:825AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:NOT PARTICULARLY. GREW UP CATHOLIC, DECIDED I WASN’T CATHOLIC ONCE I MOVED OUT. YOURSELF?
INSTTRANSM#1147643:8:25AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147643:8:26AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
CASUALLY. I GO TO THE MOSQUE FOR EID, GET MY PRAYERS IN, BUT I’M NOT EXACTLY A PRIEST. TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, DAILY PRAYERS ARE ONE OF THE FEW REASONS I’M EVEN KEEPING TRACK OF THE TIME.
LOGTRANSM#1147643:8:26AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147644:8:48AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:TRIED OUT THE AUTO-TENNIS TODAY. OPERATING A SUIT’S PRETTY TAXING, BUT SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED SOME GOOD OLD EXERCISE TO KEEP YOUR MIND OFF OF WHATEVER YOU’RE DREADING.
LOGTRANSM#1147644:8:48AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147644:8:50AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:DREADING, CAPTAIN?
INSTTRANSM#1147644:8:50AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147645:8:32AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:BEEN HAVING TROUBLE SLEEPING HERE. I’M TOO USED TO THE CONSTANT PATROL CITY BUSTLE OUTSIDE MY QUARTERS. TONIGHT I’LL TRY PUTTING ON SOMETHING TO DROWN OUT THE RINGING IN MY EARS.
LOGTRANSM#1147645:8:31AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147645:8:53AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:BEAT ME TO THE SUGGESTION. DON’T TAKE ANY SUPPLEMENTS JUST YET. FIGURE YOU JUST NEED TO GET USED TO IT.
INSTTRANSM#1147645:8:53AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147646:10:39AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:GOD, ALREADY A WHOLE WEEK UP HERE. TIME FEELS DIFFERENT WHEN IT’S NOT RATIONED OUT BY ORDERS. EYES ARE STARTING TO HURT FROM THE 24/7 LIGHT.
LOGTRANSM#1147646:10:39AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147646:10:41AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:I COULD SEND YOU SOME ORDERS IF NEEDED, CAPTAIN. START WEARING SUNGLASSES AROUND. 
INSTTRANSM#1147646:10:41AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147647:5:33AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:HIT WITH DEBRIS FROM SOME IDIOT KID’S ABANDONED SHIP LAST NIGHT. IT’S FUNNY. EVEN THOUGH IT’S ALL PASSED, I STILL GET THE SENSE OF THUMPING ECHOING ABOVE ME.
LOGTRANSM#1147647:5:33AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147647:8:17AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:UP ALL NIGHT, CAPTAIN?
INSTTRANSM#1147647:8:17AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147647:8:22AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:I SUPPOSE I WAS. KEPT WAKING UP TO THE FEELING OF SOMEONE WAS PULLING MY HAIR. NOT THE WAY TO TREAT A LADY, HM?
LOGTRANSM#1147647:8:22AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147649:8:52AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:CHECKED ON THE CAT BEFORE BREAKFAST. I’VE TAKEN TO CALLING HER SECOND-IN-COMMAND. SURE HOPE SHE APPRECIATES THAT. NO TOMATO SPROUTS YET. EVERYTHING UP HERE’S TOO DEAD, I SUPPOSE.
LOGTRANSM#1147649:8:52AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147649:8:54AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:I’M SURE SHE WOULD.
INSTTRANSM#1147649:8:54AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147650:4:48AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:DEACTIVATED
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:STAYED UP ALL NIGHT AGAIN. DECIDED TO POWER OFF AND CLEAN THE STEERING THRUSTERS. NEEDED SOMETHING DIFFICULT TO FOCUS ON AS A DISTRACTION.
LOGTRANSM#1147650:4:48AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147650:8:34AMSENT:
ORDERS:NONE PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:NONE
ADTNNOTES:DISTRACTION FROM WHAT?
INSTTRANSM#1147650:8:34AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147651:12:27AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:DEACTIVATED
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:I CAN STILL FEEL MY PARTNER’S FINGERS RUNNING THROUGH MY HAIR AS I FALL ASLEEP. IT’S BEEN TOO LONG SINCE I’VE HELD HER.
LOGTRANSM#1147651:12:27AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147651:8:23AMSENT:
ORDERS:RESTDAY PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:HLTH374
ADTNNOTES:CAPTAIN, YOU’VE BEEN ORDERED TO TAKE A DAY OFF TO SLEEP AND REST YOUR MIND. MAYBE WRITE HER SOMETHING FOR US TO SEND TO YOUR PARTNER.
INSTTRANSM#1147651:8:23AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147651:8:32AMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:DEACTIVATED
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:NEGATIVE, LT. CMDR. SHE’S ALREADY HERE, PETTING THE CAT.
LOGTRANSM#1147651:8:32AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147652:9:30AMSENT:
ORDERS:LOGREQUEST PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:MISNGLOG
ADTNNOTES:NONE
INSTTRANSM#1147652:9:30AMRECIEVED. LOGTRANSM#1147652:1:26PMSENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:DEACTIVATED
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:I KEEP HEARING CHATTING AND A CAT’S PURRING. DIDN’T GET TO SLEEP UNTIL THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING. STILL CLEANING AROUND THE SIDE THRUSTERS.
LOGTRANSM#1147652:1:26PMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147652:1:29PMSENT:
ORDERS:RESTDAY PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:HLTH374
ADTNNOTES:I’M CONTINUING THE REQUEST FOR YOU TO DEDICATE A DAY FOR REST AND SLEEP.
INSTTRANSM#1147652:1:29PMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147653:9:30AMSENT:
ORDERS:LOGREQUEST PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:MISNGLOG
ADTNNOTES:NONE
INSTTRANSM#1147653:9:30AMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147654:9:30AMSENT:
ORDERS:LOGREQUEST PRECAU:NONE PROTOCOL:MISNGLOG
ADTNNOTES:CAPTAIN, PLEASE PROVIDE A STATUS REPORT. I TRUST YOUR LAST MISSING LOG WAS DUE TO A REST DAY.
INSTTRANSM#1147654:9:30AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147654:10:42SENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:DEACTIVATED
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:I’M NOT ALONE ON THIS SHIP, LT. CMDR. I’LL NEVER HAVE TO BE ALONE AGAIN.
LOGTRANSM#1147654:10:42PMRECIEVED.
INSTTRANSM#1147655:7:13AMSENT:
ORDERS:SECRTCHK PRECAU:SHLD;STN;FZE PROTOCOL:UNIDEDOBJ
ADTNNOTES:UNKNOWN STRUCTURE FOUND CLOSE TO LEFT SIDE THRUSTERS. PLEASE BE PREPARED FOR HOSTILES WHILE INVESTIGATING.
INSTTRANSM#1147655:7:13AMRECIEVED.
LOGTRANSM#1147655:8:29SENT:
LIFESUPRT:FUNCTIONAL
MTHRSTRS:FUNCTIONAL
STHRSTRS:DEACTIVATED
INTRTRANSP:FUNCTIONAL
HD/NCYC:FUNCTIONAL
ARTFPERSN:FUNCTIONAL
ADTNNOTES:IT’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, LT. CMDR. I WON’T LEAVE ANY FREE-FLOATING DEBRIS.
LOGTRANSM#1147655:8:29PMRECIEVED.
AUTOMNSHIPLOG#3785235:10:22AM:SGNFLOSSLOG
LIFESUPRT:NONE
HMNPRSNL:1 LOSS;CPT#678234;LFLRDNG:FZE BEAM INJURY HEART;LCTN:L14THRSTR
ARTFPERSN:1 LOSS,4 INJR;IRDNG:FZE BEAM REMNANTS AFTER INVESTIGATING HUMNPRSNL LOSS.
MAINSHIP:NONE
MTHRSTRS:NONE
STHRSTRS:L14THRSTR;LFERDNG:FZE BEAM DAMAGE,LSS/IMP/TMP EQUIPMENT.
HD/NCYC:NONE
ADTNNOTES:SHIP NOW UNSUPERVISED. RESTORE HUMAN PERSONNEL.
HMNNOTES:NONE
6 notes · View notes
sexofword · 2 years
Text
Entropy
"The entropy of an isolated system not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium"
Yes yes, but is the universe an isolated system?
8 notes · View notes
breadsquirrel · 9 months
Text
Thinking about Entropy going from following her father’s orders to following her sister’s hopes to following her new benefactor’s directions. Losing herself in the singular focus of making their desires come true until she can’t find herself anymore. First realizing she doesn’t know what she wants in a conversation with her sister
“What are you gonna do after you escape this life?”
“Mm, dunno. What do you wanna do?”
A laugh, they’ve talked about what Nile wants before, in hushed whispers. A normal life, whatever that is.
“But we can’t stay together forever, right? You have to want something for yourself, don’t you?”
“I’ve… never thought about that before.”
“Oh… well, we can figure it out together!”
Learning to think ahead past tomorrow, and coming to terms that they can never really escape. Not together at least. Not if they turn a blind eye to the underworld’s activities. Someone has to make sure no one is coming after them. She’s the stronger one. Nile is weak but she’s smart, she can figure things out on her own.
Freedom is for those who want it. And Entropy doesn’t want anything but for her sister to be happy.
The look of betrayal on her sister’s face when Entropy offered herself to their benefactor for her safety. She tries to forget it.
“Enny? What are you doing.”
“I’m sorry, Nile. There’s no other way.”
“Bullshit. I can think of several different ways to do this.”
“Oh, my apologies for being such a moron, do enlighten me.”
“You wanna go back to following orders that bad?
“I-”
“Well, you’re not getting any from me. Think for yourself for once.”
“And that’s not an order?”
“No. Just a wish.”
And then all of a sudden, years have passed and Entropy hasn’t seen her sister face to face since. One night she visited the house Nile’s made a home in and looked in the windows. Just a quick stop between jobs.
Whatever normal is, she seems to have figured it out. The house looks like it could be any of the many she’s broken into. Nile had settled down and started a family. A crib rocks gently next to a bed for two. A stuffed moon and sun dangle over a bundle of blankets. One of Nile’s hands rocking her baby to sleep as her eyes are closed, clearly tired from the baby’s antics during the days.
A body, her partner most likely, shifts next to her and Nile stirs. When she opens her eyes just a crack, Entropy is gone. Outside the window is just a tree branch swaying in the wind.
Is this what she really wanted? To go back to what her life would have been without her sister in it?
It’s lonely.
1 note · View note
quotes-by-dilanka · 9 months
Text
In all chaos, there is a cosmos, in all disorder, a secret order, Every civillzed human being, whatever his conscious development, is still an archaic man at the deeper levels of his psyche.
—Carl Jung
1 note · View note
leggerefiore · 10 months
Text
Entropy
cw: giratina volo, pokehybrid au, volo centric, 3333 words,
pairing: Volo/Reader
summary: Volo escapes from his banishment and plans to forcibly usurp the powers of Arceus. Sadly, he finds himself played in a trap by the deity with a certain human sent to stop him and his own feelings.
-----
It was a lonely existence that he lived.
He lived in shadows, in a corrupted, distorted world that was unlike the one he could only observe from a distance.
Why was he banished here, unable to interact with others, you may ask? Well, the Renegade pokemon had perhaps made a certain creator deity a bit too mad with his violence. Still, Volo could not help but feel anger for his situation.
Cogita – Arceus – Whatever the damn deity wanted to call herself today, banished him to this world and prevented his reentry into the one he observed. Sure, he had foolishly attempted to stand against her and take her power as his own, but her own strength and that of Dialga and Palkia sent him here and left him. He felt his blood boil the longer he watched humanity through his empty glances.
Hisui, the land in which Arceus supposedly first made, had caught his attention for numerous reasons. It was where his first violent outburst had happened. The blond sighed.
Was this envy? Desperation? Did he want the deity that had created him and then refused to take responsibility for him to be forced to lay her eyes on him once more? He was lonely, he knew.
His long wings, shadowy and like tendrils, swished behind him as he moved. He wished to leave this place. It was both his home and his prison, but he was tired of being locked inside. Centuries of isolation could weigh heavily upon even an immortal being like himself.
His eyes landed upon the clans of Hisui, led by the two that had helped seal him. More rage bubbled up inside him. There had been enough of him waiting around.
An attack called forth from him, slashing the very fabric that tethered the space and time of where he was trapped and into the other world. Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
For a moment, there was nothing.
Then… there was everything. His body forcibly shifted in this world, wings fusing together into a singular entity and his ridges along his neck sealing into the pale flesh underneath. He gasped in a breath. Icy winds lashed around his as chilled water fell from the clouds. He tried to flap his wings, but he had not yet adjusted to his new form. The ground grew closer and closer…
And he crashed.
Volo laid on the muddy ground, eyes peering at the sky distantly. The portal slowly closed, leaving him where he was. He felt exhausted. Everything around him was too distant for him to gasp on to. His eyelids felt like lead as they slowly began to close.
Suddenly, however, a weight crawled onto him. He opened his eyes from the surprise to see a small pokemon had got onto his chest. The pokemon was egg-like and let out a small chirp, nuzzling into him. Confusion rushed through the dragon's mind. Carefully, he reached a hand out to touch the pokemon. It rubbed its cheek against his skin.
Volo felt completely awake.
A smile spread across his lips.
He had made it.
Arceus could no longer restrain him, and he would usurp her power for certain this time.
~
Time passed, Volo entirely managed to hide his features that gave away his true nature, both physically and psychologically. A merchant's guild had taken him in and employed him, much to his luck. He easily became a friendly face among the humans of the Galaxy Team and the clans. A travelling merchant who preferred to spend his time staring at ruins and artefacts rather than selling things.
He felt lucky.
His disguise had given him a perfect opportunity to go to the temple that lied at the peak of Mt. Coronet and begin his plan.
Once again, he unleashed his move and tore a rift in space and time above all of Hisui.
He watched as a poor sap was pulled through from some other place and time in the world. There was little reason for him to seek after the by-product of his destruction, however.
Over the coming days, he watched as the populace of Hisui became aware and frightened of the looming portal hovering above their lands. The person who had fallen through his portal had not a single a memory of what had happened to him before waking up in the frigid lands of the north most icelands. A certain pokemon of the lake had made sure of that.
He watched as speculations went wild, but not one dared to involve him. Volo escaped any suspicion of foul play by his friendly yet distant nature as a merchant.
Soon, the portal would force the clan leaders to act and try to stop the portal, lest it pull them in itself. Dialga and Palkia would fail, he knew. This trap of his design was impossible to stop otherwise.
That was what he thought, but then something he never could have expected came forth.
Arceus sought to spite him by bringing out a human to stand against him. Taken from out of space and time, falling through a portal similar to his own. He encountered them carefully, observing how they acted. They were nearly as confused and lost as the person he had accidentally brought through his own portal. He even challenged them to a battle to observe their capabilities there.
Needless to say, they easily beat his low level Togepi. He could feel their potential and pondered how to stop them before they became too much of an issue for him. There was something that he noted as they spoke to him, however. A twinkle of trust in their eyes toward them. He could not understand it himself, but any opportunity that bared itself to him would be exploited.
The legendary would set out to become your trusted ally. His friendly demeanour was obviously a welcome change to the harsh looks and suspicious glances of the Galaxy Team. He felt smug as he watched you head out to do your tasks, keeping an eye on you from a distance. Even scaring you once, much to your obvious distaste. You gave him a glare, but he offered you catching advice and an amicable grin.
It was only after you truly quelled a raging Noble, another side effect of his plan, that he realised that you would truly become a problem if he did not stop you. Volo felt frustrated Arceus would spite him with such an odd and cruel punishment. He felt even more mortified when you presented him a plate of Arceus.
… But Volo was no idiot. If his first plan failed, having a backup would never be a bad idea. You had a plate. A plate he knew very well could call out Arceus from her realm.
Poor you just had to be dragged into this by a cruel deity.
Volo's continued monitoring involved battles and attempts to dissuade you from your actions or helping you to the best of his abilities. It was most unfortunate that these involved your random bursts of bright smiles or blissfully ignorant words.
It was only after he found you utterly dejected after being banished from Jubilife when you had just helped everyone with their nobles that he realised something. A strange feeling had been beginning to bud within him for a quite a while. You were pitiful, truly. Brave and reliable, but pitiful. An outsider forced from your home by a deity to fulfil its job since it refused to play its game. When he called out to you, he watched as you turned to look at him, completely deflated. Even the clans had denied you assistance in your grave time of need, fearful of Team Galaxy.
He wanted to laugh at how pitiful the gods of time and space had proven themselves to be. Softly, he laid a hand on your shoulder and promised to take you somewhere for you to stay.
His campsite was certainly lacking, but it was not as though he could take you to his true home. Then you would be fully aware of how easily he was playing you. A pokemon from the team had appeared not long after you settled down. He shook his head at the action. If they truly cared for you, why would they have allowed your banishment? Volo understood your situation with ease. Which is why he decided to go with his second plan completely now. He was well aware of the plates you had collected through your journeys.
That is why he helped you mend the very disaster he had started. Gathering the power of the lake trio and using the red chain to stop Palkia and to stand beside her to stop the frenzied Dialga. He felt annoyed, watching from a distance, but amazed that you had the willpower to stand against the very people who wished ill-will upon you and stand alongside legendaries regarded as deities so easily.
Of course, he remained out of sight and away from them for good reason. One glance at him from either of those two would blow his entire cover completely away. Even disguised as a human, they would recognise him. He did not miss the glance back they would give back to his general area when he stood out too much.
Volo felt something when he watched Dialga embrace you after snapping him out of his frenzied state. Rage poured into his heart. Something about you made him want you all to himself, just as pitiful as you were during your stay in his camp. His plans were to keep you at his side after he stole Arceus's power for his own.
He would just have to convince you now, to help him with his next plan. After all, gathering the plates now on his own would be useless, as he only had a single one in his possession. Besides, he found himself oddly entranced with the idea of spending time with you.
Of course, you eagerly agreed, clearly happy to spend more time with him and wanting to know more about the mysteries of Hisui, too. Volo easily led you around the region, searching for the item required for his next plans. An unintended side effect of his plan unfortunately arose as he spent more and more time with you.
Hi chest tightened when you smiled at him, leaned against him during colder nights, hugged him after a difficult battle, or said such sweet words to him. There was no time to second guess himself at this point. He was too far into his plan to lure out Arceus once more to snatch you away and hide you in his dimension for all eternity, but, he supposed, if this plan failed, he would do just that.
Somewhere in the middle of his hunt with you, a familiar woman appeared before him and you while searching for information on the final plate he needed. Her grey eyes identical to his own, and an ancient, primordial energy swirled around her. He bit his tongue, knowing better to play her in her own domain. She just sighed and shook her head at you both. You tilted your head at her sudden appearance in the village.
“… Volo,” her voice was filled with heavy disappointment, “Have you learnt nothing?” Your gaze went between them curiously.
“Mistress Cogita, how rare to see you,” he forced a smile on his face to continue playing his part, “You know very well how deeply I love to learn about Hisuian legends and myths more than anyone.” As if he had not watched them develop over time from his prison as her unwanted child. She shook her head.
“You haven't then, I suppose,” her attention shifted to you, “He hasn't been too awful, has he?” You shook your head and turned to him with a sweet grin.
“I… I really like him, actually,” your voice was soft, “Doing all this with him has really made me see how much he loves his hobbies…” Cogita's eyebrow raised curiously.
“… I see,” she turned away from them both and gave one last look over her shoulder, “The Pixie Plate is in the Ancient Retreat. You know the place well, Volo.” With that, she walked out of the village and disappeared.
You looked at Volo curiously. He sighed and made up a story about her being his grandmother. They were distant, and that is why he never mentioned her before. You believed it easily. Assembly much easier than you would have believed her to be, the very being you were working towards summoning.
When he told you the story of Giratina, himself, as you walked to the remote location of the location given to you both by Cogita. Your brows pressed together as you listened to him carefully. In the end, he wondered what your opinion of the situation would be. You stopped dead in your tracks and hummed.
“If Giratina was unwanted, why would Arceus make it then?” you asked him curiously, “… You make it sound almost personal, actually. Do you sympathise with Giratina, Volo?” He froze, too. How astute were you? He supposed his bias was not hidden.
“I do,” he said plainly, “I believe Arceus should have taken more responsibility for its creation rather than banishing it. You should know all too well how cruel banishment is.” You were the stunned one this time. Your eyes went to the ground, but your hand grabbed his own.
“I do, Volo, I do know,” you told him, “But… I suppose I can understand why Kamado did, too… I don't know. Is Giratina still banished even after all this time?”
“… Yes,” he said simply, “I'm hoping it will make its appearance at the Temple of Sinnoh after we obtain all the plates.” You nodded but kept your hand locked with his. Stepping to his side, you leaned against him.
“Well, maybe after freeing Giratina from its banishment, it will understand why it happened,” you wondered aloud. Volo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Still, the feeling of being so close to his goals, and you, made him elated.
~
The time came as Volo stood in his true form at the destroyed Temple of Sinnoh. Cold winds lashed at his skin as he stared intently at the sky where his portal once reigned. You were going to arrive soon. How would you react to this truth? Anger? Rage? Dare he even consider… Acceptance? Either way, you two were about to stand opposed. He could already tell that you would not support his urge to create his own, better world than this one.
As much as he had come to care and even… love you. He knew you could not support this, not as Arceus's chosen one. His brain had been a mess since that horrid portal spit you out and laid you before him.
“… Volo,” your voice was soft as he turned to face you. Your eyes were not wide but rather red and glossy. No words had to be said, you understood it all at a glance. “… You were behind it all, weren't you?” you decided to ask the question which held the weight of the world.
“Of course,” his eyes grew cold, but he would still try to have you see his side, “This world is cruel. Ruled by an apathetic deity who would rather banish a being she created rather than take responsibility for him. She is only intervening now as a means to preserve her power. I will create a new, better world.” His hand reached for the pokeball of the first being that had greeted him in this world. You shook your head and imitated his action.
The battle was intense. Volo had not shown you his true hand until now. Battling was something that came naturally to him, especially in a moment where everything lied upon his victory. You were no pushover, either, obviously experienced in your own way. Even after you defeated his last pokemon on his team, he refused to accept it.
If he…
If he lost, he would be banished again. Left in complete and utter isolation and only able to observe distantly.
He would lose you.
In his madness, Volo himself took to battle against you as Giratina, both of his forms employed. Still, even despite the harsh adversity of going against someone as physically strong as he was, you managed to rip victory from his hands.
He fell to his knees. Rage and terror brewing heavily with him. Sadness creeping in from the edges. You breathed heavily, watching him for any more unpredictable actions.
Nothing came.
A hand rested on his shoulder as light poured too brightly behind him.
“… Volo, that is enough,” Cogita's voice was harsh yet pitiful, “I do not hate nor do I consider you unwanted. I simply do not trust you to interact with humans and pokemon of this world without harming them.” You gasped at the sight of her, thoroughly different from the dark clothing she had worn in her human disguise.
You stood up tall.
“Please… Don't banish him alone,” you begged her, “Don't banish him at all… I'll watch him. So, please.”
She gave a curious glance at you and shook her head with a sigh. “Volo… You claim you love them, do you not? Why not protect the world they so love, then?” she questioned him. His head remained low.
You had been through so much pain, just as he had at the hand of Arceus. You were kindred spirits, but you had her favour while he did not.
“… Would you even allow me to come and go into this realm as I pleased,” he wondered? Cogita gazed down at him intensely.
“Of course, if you swear to quit causing problems,” she knelt down and softly brought a hand to comb through his hair, “I do care for you and want you to be happy despite what you believe me to be. Why do you think I even bothered to let you do all of this?” He froze from both her words and the unexpected affection.
You smiled down at him. He felt stuck. If he denied everything Cogita had said, he would be banished back into the Distortion World with no hope of ever escaping, and you would be let here alone. If he agreed, he did not know what to do.
“Fine,” he relented, “… Just don't expect me to be like those two.” Cogita laughed, unexpectedly.
“I never expected you to be like Palkia and Dialga in the first place,” she stood herself and him up. Her eyes, now glowing green, turned to you, “I will hold you to your words to watch him.” You nodded.
You walked over to carry him on your shoulder as you took him from her, his injuries from the battle still needing to be tended to. She watched you both with curious eyes.
Before she left, Cogita leaned into your ear and whispered that Volo was truly her favourite of the three before disappearing into the clouds above. You understood her feelings entirely as you watched the blond man barely keep himself on his feet.
“I love you, Volo,” you told him plainly as you headed back towards the nearest base camp, “I didn't want you to be alone again… I didn't want you to be banished from this world.”
He was silent for a moment after your confession. Closing his eyes, he soaked in the feelings that the words brought him.
“I love you, too,” he managed to get out.
Sadly, despite your love, he was still a wanted criminal in Hisui for the whole nearly destroying the world thing, so he had to return to his dimension for the most part. On the bright side, you could visit him and get away from the stresses of your Survey Corps duties.
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fras-redacted-shapes · 3 months
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If The End of Time is another version of The Dark Place I hope that means it's the inevitability of it happening the element that Remedy devs will be integrating.
Both already have similar properties: fucked/non linear time, only a narrow set of people are able to traverse it, Door/Hatch, etc.
Quantum Break's tragedy is the futile fight against death and entropy. The End of Time will happen no matter how much anyone fights it. It's science horror. You cannot avoid it, and every attempt at that only seems to strengthen its inevitability.
The Final Draft was a far more hopeful ending. The Dark Place being more a psychological/emotional torture chamber, several people have broken out of it or were successful in navigating it and using it for their own goals.
This contrast between The End of Time's monolithic inevitability vs The Dark Place's malleability is such an interesting playground.
The things that make me think some fucked up, world-altering catastrophic event are the images in Dylan's final cinematic, Zane emerging from the well in Yötön Yö and The Dark Presence being dormant in Alan when he first comes out. Dylan has the potential to be another "unsuspecting" carrier of a destructive entity into the outside world.
A Nightless Night over a frozen landscape, exit well, the world overtaken!
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And maybe it's just me, but a return to the status quo is such an overused and expected result. I'd prefer it if the world would also survive the trauma of existence and proudly wear the scars alongside its inhabitants.
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minniiaa · 21 days
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(One Piece, Law x Luffy, Explicit)
Law spent ten years praying that his soulmate would never find him. He couldn't accept that his life would be decided by something as arbitrary as "fate." Even after he meets his soulmate, Luffy, Law still desires to break free from the chains of a lifelong commitment he never asked for.
Luffy had been waiting for his soulmate for as long as he could remember. He is overjoyed when he meets Law and he's everything Luffy ever dreamed. He just can't understand why Law won't simply love him as fate decided.
Together, they face a problem much bigger than their feelings on soulmates and each other—soul bindings are absolute. If you reject your soulmate, you die.
Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Rejection, Smut, Self-Harm, Eventual Happy Ending, Law is Fucked Up, Psychological Trauma, Dark, Emotional Manipulation, My Inner Demons Wrote This, Angst and Fluff and Smut, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Romance, Switch Trafalgar D. Water Law, Switch Monkey. D. Luffy, Forgiveness, Fantasy elements, Manipulation by a Strange Entity, Occasional Telepathy, Trafalgar D. Water Law Needs a Hug, Monkey D. Luffy Needs a Hug, Soulmates
Length - 8 Chapters // 71,676 words
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lightlessentwine · 3 months
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I don't believe Miquella to have simply failed at the hands of Mohg. I think he is trying to subject himself to a literalization of the alchemical process related to self actualization; essentially his goal has been to become a human philosopher's stone the entire time.
By making Radahn let go of his grasp over gravity and thus spacetime, the Eclipse may come to pass. within Elden Ring, entropy exists outside of spacetime which is why Death may persist in the many ways it seems to, or why Rot still spreads and Gold still tarnishes (Rot is the embodiment of stagnation and thus flourishes in the lands between as things are; pure Gold staves off the effects because it is a symbol of pure Faith; it grants the will of the user based on their belief, which can fade causing the Gold to tarnish)
Miquella has likely separated body and soul via the haligtree to leave a corpse in the blood of the formless mother- the outer god of truth. meanwhile, expecting capture, their spirit spreads faith as a ghost-like spirit, under the guise of St. Trina.. Miquella has found a way to traverse what i twntatively call "The Lands Between The Lands Between".. spreading faith in their spirit through their dreams-- as in Miquella/St. Trina. Miquella is Saint Trina, the same way Radagon is Marika. i think Miquella/Trina have managed to separate their spirit and give each their own identity.
St. Trina is the Spirit of Miquella. in fact, Trina is a reflection of Miquella, and i mean that on multiple levels: they are demonstrating understanding of the alchemical principle of "The Unity of Opposites" which ties into both alchemy and (the somewhat dated practice of) jungian psychology. basically, they're carefully planning and gambling on their every move as they position their twin spirit to contrast in a perfect dichotomy.
"Shadow of the Erdtree" could take place at a point where all is aligned in Miquella/Trina's favor, allowing their separate personas to re-emerge as one perfectly balanced entity known as a Rebis
The Dark Moon's presence could spur Deathroot to grow much stronger and faster. the light of the Golden Erdtree now gone and no longer even burning, The Dark Moon then strangles and bends any remaining Erdtrees. the lack of light pollution now reveals a light source; a previously unseen ball of light in the sky; a proper Sun. These massive, Erdtree-sized Deathroots grip and squeeze golden sap from the Erdtrees that once bore life and formed miraculous crystals. as the Dark Moon crosses the sky in front of said Sun, Death becomes life itself, the concepts overlapping as Life's inseperable counterpart flourishes.
from here, like a sick Easter in the Lands Between; The Body of Miquella awakens soulless and without a will of its own. Alongside it, the corpses of Godwyn and Ranni.*
as the light of Gold wanes, the namely Shadow of the Erdtree is cast by a Sun that, beyond some lost or forgotten Belfry or passage, was once blocked from shining light where Trina's spirit presently slept. She now awakes from her slumber, the returning Sun acts as the signal for her to act. She collects the golden sap from the wrung trees on her quest to reconvene with her body as it lay soaking.
the putrefying body of the sun lie slumbering within an egg. the Spirit of the Moon and patron saint of slumber, a reflection of the light of the Sun.. the physical body soaked in the red blood of truth and their ephemeral spirit wringing the golden yellow sap of faith from the branches that once bore them like fruit
all is in perfect pull of one another, and every aspect appears to be in place for their transformarion into a Rebis: a Blackened Corpse, a Pure white reflection, the Red Blood of truth and the Golden sap of Faith
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pigeoninabowl69 · 5 months
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Thermodynamic lawyer thing
So i haven't seen much people talking about thermodynamic lawyer's themes (except the bozos who think Will's an ableist cuz of the autistic baby in a ceiling fan, crying)
So the song mentions a woman that were on a relationship (maybe platonic, maybe romantic idk) with TL's protagonist (from now on im referring thermodynamic lawyer as TL)
And just to say at least she's the definition of a DOUCHEBAG
according to the song she's an extreme asshole and blames it on *checks notes* ah yes, mental illness how classic
so basically she's like the typical jerk you would find on COD lobbies:
-type of person to ruin the fun (or if the song was literal then just give spoilers to everyone)
-can't accept losing on anything, and even worse, getting aggresive when told they're in the wrong
and blah blah
The last part when it says ''so all that i see absolute entropy as the chemical bonds fall apart'' is def a metaphor on how the relationship is pure chaos and their chemistry is becoming more notorious to be nule
so they break up
The protagonist has some issues after the break-up, not because the actual separation but because the girl was sooo shitty she left him with some psychological damage
and even tho he's left ''broken'', he's happy they broke up and i mean, who's not?
now, the last LAST part of TL (in the OG version) just says repeatedly ''(kill yourself) YOU CAN GO FUCKING DIE'' and even tho it's pretty aggressive and direct the remake was kinda more uhh how do i say this
here's the quote:
''YOU CAN GO FUCKING DIE (get cancer!)''
''GO FUCKING DIE (Get AIDS and...)''
''KILL YOURSELF AND GO DIE (kill yourself!)''
like man, she must be REALLY shitty
anywho
just thought the song was trashing non-existent person how's just a douchie but it wasn't until i read all the lyrics it was trashing a maybe maybe not existent person who's a DOUCHEBAG
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phospadparadscha · 3 months
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Disco Universe Pale thoughts-
Instead of being the physical manifestation (de-manifestation?) of entropy, maybe the Pale is instead a phenomenon that causes rapid erosion. Gems without adequate protection are basically getting hit by the world's shittiest sandblaster. The effects are similar to canon Pale exposure, with the added bonus of visible damage. The Paledriver has nicks and scratches across her gem, while Joyce uses some sort of clear coating to obscure hers.
Of course, those lost bits of gem don't just evaporate, they join the rest of the dust making up the Pale. The Pale is mostly inert rock, but there's still a significant amount of gem dust in there. With enough exposure, a Gem can get so worn down they can no longer hold a form and are functionally indistinguishable from shattered gems. I.e., they're fuckin dead.
Harry's druzy damage is rare, because those colors are didn't come from nowhere; they're deposits from other Gems, and the conditions under which they formed wpild normally be lethal. It's why the Skills aren't really whole people; they're miniscule fragments of other Gems, joined together. Almost like the Cluster on a very small scale.
I really really really like this Blue. FIRST of all let me thank you for being so involved in this crossover with me and giving me the enthusiasm to keep illustrating and theorizing for it, it means a lot that you and others as into this as I am because I LOVE both of these medias so just a quick thank you lol. More of my answer below so I don't flood people's dashboards:
I was wracking my brain on how to incorporate the skills into this AU and what to do with the Pale, and for a while I had a vague sense of the pale being a cosmic phenomenon rather than limited to one planet like Elysium in the game. I go into some detail about that and the failed rebellion here.
I agree with you that the pale would be something that causes rapid erosion, and that gems need to prepare physically to protect themselves (like buffing or coating). However I disagree that the Pale wouldn't be psychological in origin still. Steven Universe is a very emotional and interpersonal exploration of characters and I do think that the entropy and psychological horror of the Pale and of fragmented gems can coexist very well in this crossover.
Gems develop listlessness in their stagnating and deteriorating society in Steven Universe and the depleting resources causing physical deformities in gems like peridot and amethyst requiring limb enhancers to accommodate them. I think this idea- of a government failing its people contributing to a miasma of hopelessness and deteriorating sense of self in and outside of the Pale- works very well within the context of both the game and the show, and is part of why I think this AU can work the way it does despite the show and game being wildly different in world building and tone.
Gems like Volleyball for example are what I think the result of Pale damage would be. Volleyball's eye is cracked on her projection. This is a result of the psychological damage to her gem from Pink Diamond's abuse. It cannot be repaired like other cracked gems- it is deeply embedded in her gem and the data that projects her. And when sufficiently stressed, it can even spread. I think this aspect of the Pale damage and rapid erosion you mention would work similarly. The Pale is psychological deterioration and torture. It erodes the sense of self, and the gems themselves in a very permanent way. It is a lot like a sandblaster, but not just for the gem- also for the gem's minds as well, a bit like Houseki no Kuni where if the gem loses its inclusions their memories are lost as well.
What I love MOST about this ask is the way you incorporate the gems as particle dust into Harry's Skills, or furies, or voices. They dust over Harry's gem and erode his own at the same time, in a way that removes a large chunk of his data (his memory and gem coloration / density / powers) and dusts it with the shattered remains of past gems as well. The only issue I see with this theory though is that Harry's skills have been with him since before his wipeout in Martinaise, and are part of why Dora left him and why he was known as a can-opener. So perhaps Harry has always been able to hear these voices on the wind somehow, and only after Martinaise did they nearly over write his own gem. This is one aspect of the theory that I am not sure how to proceed but I think definitely that the drusy formations on his gem being particles of gems lost in the Pale manifesting as his Skills makes a great deal of sense.
Anyways I'm sorry for the long ass response lol I just love this crossover and I'm really glad that it caught your attention Blue because you've brought so much to the table!!! If you ever have art requests or anything at all please let me know and feel free to spam me with ideas and messages bc I'm always on that damn phone lol.
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A Mind's-Eye View
Dear Diary,
Well, it's been yet another one of those delightfully disjointed days where reality decided to take a cappuccino break without me. I swear, one of these days I'll find the negligent barista who keeps unplugging my perspective from consensus reality and put them on a strict drip of decaf.
It all started this morning when I was brushing my teeth, gazing lazily into the mirror's reflection. Suddenly, something seemed…off. Like my face belonged to a vaguely familiar, but distinctly different person entirely. I quirked an eyebrow in that signature way I do and…nothing. No reaction. My facial pantomime skills were being sorely upstaged by an utterly indifferent spectator staring back through the looking glass.
At that point, I figured I must still be aimlessly somnambulating through the gauzy realm of dreamland. So I employed my trusty reality testing checklist: Pinch skin? Check - Felt that sting. Ask Alexa something only I would know? Check - My haunted virtual spirit guide confirmed my deepest persona non grata status. Okay, I was regrettably among the waking world, just…disconnected from the main stage somehow.
By lunchtime, my mind had taken its metaphysical troubeshow on a roving tour. One moment I was chopping veggies, the next my subconscious had astral projected me into observing some stranger's culinary chopping ennui from the foreground. A real out-of-jaw experience, let me tell you. When you're not all there, might as well make like aeball and split, am I right?
At least tonight's dissociative detour came with the upside of some much-needed psychic numbing while navigating my apartment's chaotic blackhole of entropy. Sifting through towers of sentient Point Dexter piled high and aimlessly pondering what plane of existence that shirt-turned-demi-lifeform may have originated from? Just another multidimensional mind shift for the folk over here.
But I've learned not to fight these fugue state fugitives too hard. Like a resigned ballet dancer, I just try to relax into the disassociated flow, appreciating it as a whimsical reprieve from the grounding of unified selfhood. A mental siesta of split perspectives, if you will. Though I could do without the stubborn psychological lMonoglorian rattling to rejoin the singular mind numberland.
In any case, I've accepted these are just more curious tracks on the winding album that is my deliciously dissociated life experience. Vintage vinyl episodes to savor and chuckle over before the next round of out-of-body riffing begins anew. At least my mindstream has some solid Spotify quality, diary! Who needs monotonous cohesion when you can masterfully shuffle between myriad headspace remixes at any given moment? Your pal has frontrow seating for an experimental existential concert, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
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muzzleroars · 1 year
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What if anything would be able to calm your version of V1 down? Like if V2 just greeted and hugged it when they first met vs attacking it on site would it calm down even a little bit or is it always running at 200%?
hello it's time to talk about v1's psychology!!!
oooooh a good question...my idea of v1 is really centered on two things that define its character, which are war and errors. v1 is an intrinsically hostile being, built purely to engage in combat and given only the bare minimum of social protocols in order to not be completely unmanageable by humans. its default state is conflict, it chooses violence as its primary course of interaction, and i think its ai has determined the world is in a perpetual state of war which leads it to constantly be "on" - that is, it presupposes every encounter will be hostile and responds accordingly (which is continually reinforced since it's in hell lol).
HOWEVER...v1 is also incredibly intelligent and riddled with errors at this point, leading it to engage in a lot of behavior that's unnecessary or unrelated to its goal of "war" - it enjoys exploration, it's curious and wants to learn (i love the idea that it likes reading, but it still has an algorithm that cuts it off if the information isn't "pertinent". it hates this) and most importantly, it's able to learn and modify its behavior to a certain extent. one of the reasons it tends to be so hyper aggressive is because it's running on the idea that it's constantly engaged, it is currently in a war, and because it's been left to iterate on its own in a mind that was never properly limited due to its project being cancelled, it's become animal-like in its pursuit of prey. but, if it can be convinced another being is approaching it peacefully, it CAN switch over to its curious nature rather than its conflict nature. due to the reinforcement i mentioned, this can be difficult - it will continue to assume hostility due to previous encounters and the general bad vibes in hell, but it's not beyond reasoning and settling down.
this quieting is admittedly fragile - its social modules are weak and it has to dedicate much more processing power to simple communication than to the most sophisticated battle strategies, yet i think in all its vast intelligence, it suffers from loneliness and isolation. it is acutely aware of what it’s doing, even in its revelry and the reward it experiences at its mass destruction, it understands entropy, collapse, and the finite resource that is its fuel. but it cannot be conservative. to be conservative is contrary to its nature, to its runaway war programming. so while it stares into an ever-growing abyss of its own making, while existential anxiety suffocates it further and further by its own hand, it never slows its wanton killing, a part of it continues to to be uncaring, to be proud, to laugh at the infinite loss of life it’s causing. it exists in both spaces constantly, errored mind and corroded code internally tearing it in two...but if it can just be persuaded the battle isn’t here, not right now, even if there is a war outside it doesn’t exist in this moment, that constant, exhausting loop can be suspended for a time and that’s how it calms down. it will still be destructive, it will still be too hard and too fast, but it can be talked to and it can learn to interface in gentler ways. and its intelligence, its sophisticated and ever expanding mind still with those little social protocols, wants to be able to do this, wants to hold onto something that it won’t break and lose forever.
and this is another part of its tragedy because it can’t really start that process. it must engage in combat, it will always choose to attack before anything else BUT if its enemy survives that encounter it can create a connection. and being able to survive it is key because v1 requires violence in its relationships, it will need to fight and spar to properly connect with another being in between quieter moments because brutality is its paradigm. it’s still not an easy process, it’s constantly leaning toward harm, it doesn’t fully comprehend its more sentimental emotions and when it does, it can consider them dangerously corrupted code and attempt to block them because its system flags it as a fatal error...but it can, in spite of all the software put in place to keep it solitary, connect with others due in large part to the “errors” it’s accumulated. of course i think about this a lot in the context of its relationship with gabriel as it learns to be gentle with him and to want to be gentle with him (like i mentioned in some tags, it likes climbing on him in part because that’s its way of getting his attention without violent means) but i really do think v1 and v2 could have worked together. they would have an inherent understanding of one another due to being built on the same firmware and similar hardware, plus i think v2 could intuitively understand why v1 acts as it does. they have major differences, such as v2 being much more socially oriented and v1′s mind being left uncompleted, but they had the capacity to connect even if they would likely always be at least competitive. it could have been tempered into a rivalry rather than on sight death matches, but with the world so broken, with communication and cooperation long forgotten, v2 engaged with it on v1′s terms, on the principles of war every being now operates on.
and since war is intrinsic to v1′s existence, it has a constant upper hand
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snoutbleed · 8 months
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ACHTUNG! This story is 18+ for gore and suggestive content! (This intro is outdated. Expect a revision soon.)
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[art by @mjsty]
Telling someone's story takes guts.
As a crime scene photographer, Sören Heinrich can't ignore the nauseating lump bubbling in his throat when detailing someone's darkest day. He's come to accept the suspense through his camera lens. But when a series of baffling murders strikes, the mounting tension becomes impossible to ignore. As the questions pile on, he finds his long-lost brother's prints all over a scene, and the line between his professional and personal life blurs. Sören dives into a web of secrets to get answers about his brother's disappearance, learning they're an important piece of a paranormal puzzle.
Welcome to Berlin, where ghosts are beginning to take hold.
Crime has spiked in the two years since the Berlin Wall fell. Among the cases, a string of murders is baffling police--descriptions of the various perpetrators' appearances and methods read straight out of folklore. These "anomalies", which some have coined, are festering in Berlin's underbelly, leaving mangled corpses in their wake. Additionally, prominent criminals showing up dead indicate that these anomalies are upsetting the criminal hierarchy, but investigators worry this goes deeper than a gang war.
In the shadow of the fallen wall, Berlin's crime wave takes on a supernatural twist.
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Long Story Short is best left forgotten.
In hindsight, there's reason to reflect on the events of this story as a bad memory. Everyone initially keeps to themselves as they're swept up in their own kind of gore and grief, but a post-war conspiracy brings them together. No one can escape this paranormal ballet.
Read the fine print in #LONG STORY SHORT.
#The Filing Cabinet -- scan the profiles of those in the know. #Bloodstained Polaroids -- view the images of lives gone astray. #Evidence Board -- learn the details of secrets best kept. #Mystery Signals -- behold the mind melt shaping the anomalies. Face the music in the official Long Story Short playlist!
Meet the players in this supernatural symphony.
Sören Heinrich -- ( tag | bio ) a jaded crime scene photographer charging into the unknown head-on, despite the mental toll. Ukko Heinrich -- ( tag | bio ) a hardy crime boss investigating the supernatural phenomena whittling down his gang. Umeya Romanova -- ( tag | bio ) a callous BKA official letting on more than she knows about the string of killings. Marieke Reiss -- ( tag | bio ) a brash psychology student who swears she's being hunted after a supernatural encounter. Don Jae Hale -- ( tag | bio ) a charismatic police inspector with authority under siege by the paranoid public. Reinhardt Müller -- ( tag | bio ) a fatherly ex-detective making up for past sins. Vorwitz Albrecht -- ( tag | bio ) a witty gardener who disposes bodies for gangs.
This list is subject to frequent updates!
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Entropy knows no bounds.
Mystery signals aren't isolated to Germany. No matter where you are, there's always something interesting unfolding. Behold my headworlds--complete with their own spirits.
Face the madness in #TALES GONE STALE.
LAID TO WASTE -- an abomination stirs in the bayou, its secrets poisoning a township.
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The mind behind the melancholy.
Greetings Writeblr, you can just call me Dissy (she/her). I'm a writer with stories and ideas always bouncing inside my head, especially this one. I also do novice photography, especially with Polaroid cameras - I own seven!
Feel free to ask me about myself, my writing, my characters, or anything else. I promise you I can bark up a tree for hours.
I also encourage comments, critique, etc. about this setting. I want to take my time writing this WIP, therefore I have all the time I need to refine this where I can. I don't expect this story to come out for a while anyway, especially as I run it through critiques. Hell, this pet project wouldn't have come into fruition thanks to the feedback of some incredible friends.
Shoutout to PYRY for doing character design and art for this setting, as well as giving his ideas and characters for the Heinrich plotline. Go check out his killer art. This story wouldn't exist without him.
Additionally, I do not draw - all art I post will be credited.
Thank you for checking out my little landscape! Readers like you keep me going.
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shepherds-of-haven · 1 year
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Because you talked about how being good at both shifting and wild magic is kind of like a good painter also being good at biology (not that those would be the equivalent subjects), I was wondering if you had roughly equivalent subjects in the real world for the types of magic? Also what kinds of people tend to be good at what types of magic? Thank you!
Hi, thanks for your question! I don't have a 1:1 equivalency for subjects in the real world versus magic, as I think the inherent experience of using magic is so different from real-world pursuits that it's hard to compare them! But I have noticed that I definitely think of arcane magic as more mathematically-inclined or more scientific-minded, with Shifting requiring a knowledge of molecular science and biology, Binding definitely seeming more like engineering and programming (with more chemistry if you're an Alchemyst), and Conjuration somewhat involving more math and calculation aspects? Whereas I feel like psionic magic requires opening yourself to the outside world in a way that I've sometimes heard of the arts being talked about, sort of like how artists in the late 1800s/early 1900s thought themselves to be "channelers" who would open themselves up the spiritual or psychic world in order to paint, or how a writer makes themselves free and pliant for inspiration or "the muse" to take over, or how a pianist lets the music flow through them in order to play? So in that way I think Divination can sort of be akin to painting or the arts, where you let the vision come to you while still being focused and searching for it, if that makes any sense at all... And Enchanting and Wild Mage are sort of like that, too, opening yourself up to these outside forces and intelligences, but I'd say Enchanting is also along the lines of psychology and speech/debate with sprinklings of social sciences like anthropology, and Wild Magic is influenced by animal behavioralism and zoology as well! Astral magic seems very kinetic to me and doesn't have a straightforward equivalency other than being very in-tune with the external world, its forces, and its energies: obviously battle magic involves athleticism, combat, physics, and kinetics; healing involves anatomy and medicine and all its many branches; and and elementalism has always had a flavor of meditation and spirituality to it, at least to me, since it heavily involves being aware and making use of the interconnectedness of the world and its elements; though of course you could argue it also has flavors of more kinetic "sleeves in the mud" physical activities, maybe like gardening, hunting, fishing, swimming, metalsmithing, knitting, building, woodwork, or even to an extent cooking or baking, or where you have to become one with the thing you’re doing, in a certain sense; labor-intensive science like geology or botany; while mixed with more cerebral sciences like thermodynamics, meteorology, entropy, and physics!
...So to break it down, as I said, there's no simple 1:1 magic-to-real-life study, since I think the different types of magic involve so many different elements and aspects and are so foreign to our reality that it's hard to compare, especially in a straightforward, clean-cut way. 😅 But I'd maybe think people who tend to be more mathematic, logic-based, or scientifically or engineering-inclined tend to be drawn to the school of arcane magic; people who tend to be more creative or artistic might (?) be stronger or more at ease in psionic magic; and people who are more kinetic or physical could be more astral (?). But definitely take that with a huge grain of salt; I don't really think of them in this way when I'm writing, so this is not something that's set in stone! Like, I don't think of Idalia (who's talented in Battle Magic, Healing, and Elementalism) as a particularly "physical" person, and I don't think of Isodel (who's talented in Wild Magic and Shifting) to be both "artistic" and "science-y", so these distinctions probably don't mean anything at all--they're just different subjects you can be good in, I guess lol! Because the type of magic you specialize in doesn't often dictate what kind of hobbies you're into or your strength in other non-magic areas, so I don't think it really has a strong correlation. :) So maybe even discount everything I just said. XD Hope that all makes sense though!
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compneuropapers · 9 months
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Interesting Papers for Week 26, 2023
Saturation of visual responses explains size tuning in rat collicular neurons. Baranauskas, G., Rysevaite‐Kyguoliene, K., Sabeckis, I., & Pauza, D. H. (2023). European Journal of Neuroscience, 57(2), 285–309.
Reconstruction of sparse recurrent connectivity and inputs from the nonlinear dynamics of neuronal networks. Barranca, V. J. (2023). Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 51(1), 43–58.
Population codes enable learning from few examples by shaping inductive bias. Bordelon, B., & Pehlevan, C. (2022). eLife, 11, e78606.
Cerebro-cerebellar networks facilitate learning through feedback decoupling. Boven, E., Pemberton, J., Chadderton, P., Apps, R., & Costa, R. P. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 51.
The role of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex in creating cognitive maps. Costa, K. M., Scholz, R., Lloyd, K., Moreno-Castilla, P., Gardner, M. P. H., Dayan, P., & Schoenbaum, G. (2023). Nature Neuroscience, 26, 107–115.
Functional geometry of the cortex encodes dimensions of consciousness. Huang, Z., Mashour, G. A., & Hudetz, A. G. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 72.
Optimal Control Costs of Brain State Transitions in Linear Stochastic Systems. Kamiya, S., Kawakita, G., Sasai, S., Kitazono, J., & Oizumi, M. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(2), 270–281.
Do cognitive and physical effort costs affect choice behavior similarly? Lim, L. X., Fansher, M., & Hélie, S. (2023). Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 112, 102727.
Deciphering functional roles of synaptic plasticity and intrinsic neural firing in developing mouse visual cortex layer IV microcircuit. Liu, S., & Li, Y. (2023). Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 51(1), 23–42.
Arithmetic value representation for hierarchical behavior composition. Makino, H. (2023). Nature Neuroscience, 26, 140–149.
Altered integration of excitatory inputs onto the basal dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome. Mitchell, D. E., Miranda-Rottmann, S., Blanchard, M., & Araya, R. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(2), e2208963120.
Introducing the Dendrify framework for incorporating dendrites to spiking neural networks. Pagkalos, M., Chavlis, S., & Poirazi, P. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 131.
A statistical foundation for derived attention. Paskewitz, S., & Jones, M. (2023). Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 112, 102728.
Rapid synaptic and gamma rhythm signature of mouse critical period plasticity. Quast, K. B., Reh, R. K., Caiati, M. D., Kopell, N., McCarthy, M. M., & Hensch, T. K. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(2), e2123182120.
Lingering Neural Representations of Past Task Features Adversely Affect Future Behavior. Rangel, B. O., Hazeltine, E., & Wessel, J. R. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(2), 282–292.
Evidence for entropy maximisation in human free choice behaviour. Rens, N., Lancia, G. L., Eluchans, M., Schwartenbeck, P., Cunnington, R., & Pezzulo, G. (2023). Cognition, 232, 105328.
Choice selective inhibition drives stability and competition in decision circuits. Roach, J. P., Churchland, A. K., & Engel, T. A. (2023). Nature Communications, 14, 147.
Information-processing dynamics in neural networks of macaque cerebral cortex reflect cognitive state and behavior. Varley, T. F., Sporns, O., Schaffelhofer, S., Scherberger, H., & Dann, B. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(2), e2207677120.
Transformation of acoustic information to sensory decision variables in the parietal cortex. Yao, J. D., Zemlianova, K. O., Hocker, D. L., Savin, C., Constantinople, C. M., Chung, S., & Sanes, D. H. (2023). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(2), e2212120120.
Hippocampal spatial representations exhibit a hyperbolic geometry that expands with experience. Zhang, H., Rich, P. D., Lee, A. K., & Sharpee, T. O. (2023). Nature Neuroscience, 26, 131–139.
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thefirstknife · 10 months
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Idk if you saw, but there's another Esi log available!
https://youtu.be/xoxf0LFYtNk
Looks like Neomuna did have Exos at the start but the Veil is, uh, unhealthy for them. And the Von Neumann mention suggests that the Veil is somehow related to consciousness and memory.
I JUST saw it! Had no clue that the first decrypted log is already available, although I do remember seeing a quest marker at the console when I finished the quest originally. Except you can't get back in there from the Veil room and there was a timer.
Anyway, if you've finished the Lightfall quest, you can go back to pick up another log (there's no combat, there's an option to load directly into the room with the console when you click on the Veil Containment on the map).
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Clickable link!
This is everything we wanted. It's a really detailed look into the timeline of the Veil and the original research on it. Can't believe we'll get 15 of these. Transcript for the first one and a dive into it (it will be under read more because it's long af):
Chioma Esi, research log: the Veil. [sighs] I don't even know where to start. When we landed on Neptune, there was... something waiting for us. An alien structure. It's an electromagnetic anomaly. No mass, but a tangible surface area. It's like a thesis statement to the Von Neumann-Wigner hypothesis. It's definitely paracausal, like the Traveler. Maya calls it the Veil. She says she heard the name in a whisper when... when she looked at it. When I asked her who whispered, she said it was... her own voice. I still haven't had time to process that. Everyone on the initial survey team died. The minute they touched the object, they entered a state of... of brain death. All of them. To make it worse, the EM radiation emitting from the Veil is causing psychological distress in the Exos that came with us. They've all described moments of intense, hallucinogenic reverie. Some of them went silent and rigid and just... stopped. Maya called it "billboarding." Something from the early days of Clovis Bray's Exomind project. She doesn't seem afraid. Or surprised. She's convinced this thing—in her own words, she says—it'll be our "salvation."
First of all: the Veil arrived before Exodus Indigo so Savathun put it there prior to their arrival on Neptune. Don't know if it predates the ECHO ship, as it depends on the timeline in general and when it launched in relation to the Collapse. Savathun took the Veil from Nezarec, and Nezarec showed up when the Collapse started so. I will hazard a guess that the ECHO ship predates the Veil on Neptune and Savathun put the Veil there in between ECHO and Exodus Indigo landings.
As suspected, the team was immediately confused about the Veil and couldn't really process what it is. They immediately recognised that it's paracausal so that might throw some possible research avenues down the drain. The mention of the Von Neumann-Wigner hypothesis is definitely a link to consciousness and memory which is a nice in-universe confirmation (so far we've only had the quote from the artist who designed the Veil). If you want to go down the rabbit hole of quantum mechanics to try and understand this fully, feel free. I would add that this also might signal that not only is this related to what we already know (consciousness and memory), but possibly also entropy and time.
The next part about Maya knowing its name by hearing it being said in a whisper, by herself, is intriguing. She heard it only by looking at it; it may have made a link to her consciousness and she may have experienced something like a vision. A reminder that Maya worked with Vex simulations as well as the Device, a machine she called a "mind-ship" and that can also be described as a mind-forking device that was capable of displacing the user's consciousness and allowing them to see through different timelines or futures. Once again I am becoming more and more convinced that the Device connection between consciousness and time is true and that all predictive abilities are possible because of the same thing. The Veil may be that thing or a powerful amplifier of that thing or something along those lines. Either way, Maya was able to almost instinctively connect to the Veil, maybe because of her prior work with other consciousness-splitting technology.
The next bit is bizarre and also incredibly interesting. The Veil's electromagnetic radiation was severely disrupting to Exos. This explains why there's no Exos on Neomuna and why Neomuni were confused to see living Exos. To them, they simply can't survive there. Guardians are very likely exempt because they're Guardians, so they're fine. Mentioning "billboarding" is important however: billboarding was something that was happening to first Exos before Clovis figured out what he needs to make the alkahest work. Relevant excerpts from Clovis' journal:
The major obstacle to a viable exomind is the loop/billboard/crash cycle.
Early attempts at uploaded consciousness were haunted by fears that the upload would suffer "cryptic loss of qualia": the unseen death of the first-person, conscious mind. The upload would then become a so-called billboard, a flat imitation. I lobbied the ISO to establish a standard for a "certified conscious simulacrum." Any emulation of a human brain must display neural activity correlated with consciousness, particularly in the nuclei of the thalamus, midbrain, and pons. (Modern philosophy is satisfied that all qualia have neural correlates.)
Many researchers refer to this criterion as the "zombie detector."
The problem with exominds is that they quickly stop passing the zombie test.
The first stage of the breakdown is looping-the same repetitive, stereotyped behavior once observed in zoo animals. Prototype exominds begin to repeat similar conversations and action schemes. This stereotypy descends from high-level social behaviors, through cognitive programs like memory recall and task selection, into basic motor functions. The mid-stage symptoms are pacing, chewing, rocking, grunting, striking limbs against walls or furniture, and facial tics. This is a result of depressed activity in the higher brain. Without input from the prefrontal cortex, the basal ganglia stops selecting new motor programs.
We're already seeing the issue. The issue is uploading consciousness. It wasn't possible without eventually billboarding the human as it no longer possess the ability to continue producing brain activity. Clovis concludes:
The driver of this degenerative loop is a process we call "billboarding." No matter how actively we stimulate the exobody, how rich we make its social and cognitive environment, and how powerful its senses, we still observe the gradual shutdown of exoneurons. The neural correlates of consciousness in the midbrain are among the first to die. The exomind-despite acing the Turing test-no longer meets ISO standards for consciousness. It is a philosophical zombie.
Clovis continues:
I believe the human mind is engaged in constant self-correction. In order to filter out external causation that might disrupt our self-loops, the mind screens out errors (caused by cosmic rays, EM fields, prions, chemical misfires, irritating conversations, etc.) by running a kind of constant checksum on itself. Perhaps this recursive self-checking is even the source of consciousness itself!
Exominds, however, are immune to these natural sources of error. They are not messy enough. They do not suffer enough jitter, enough degradation.
And:
Without countervailing entropy, the very self-corrective processes meant to maintain the human mind calcify and kill it.
I believe this is why the exominds fail.
If the exominds are to be viable shelters against mortality, I must find a useful source of noise. Emulation of biological error will not be enough-the exomind is designed for total immunity to such fleshy noise, after all.
That source of error must be Clarity. The effect generated by Clarity Control.
And he was right! Clarity aka the Darkness was able to purify the base Exo juice (radiolaria) and give it that necessary background noise and perhaps even consciousness itself. Clovis says:
The Vex radiolarian fluid is obviously too virulent for use in exominds. But if exposed to Clarity, the Vex patterns break down, and the fluid takes on some of the properties of Clarity itself—namely, its reductive effect.
Introducing a tiny aliquot of this reified Clarity into an exomind solves the loop/billboard/crash cycle. As far as I can tell—permanently.
But the Veil has a negative effect on this. It resets the billboarding. Almost as if the Veil negates everything about the exposure to Clarity; maybe nullifying it or blocking it or extracting it. Clarity was already causing Exos to receive dreams; collective dreams even, dreams they all share, possibly because they're all connected to the same source of consciousness. Don't forget also that they all share the vision of a dark tower in their dreams, a tower that might be the Darkness structure that Clovis and his team saw on the Vex world Volantis.
Around the glass, a shallow sea trembled with tiny, intersecting waves. In one direction, a cloud of mist obscured a shattered tower, its form uncannily different from the surrounding architecture. Above us loomed structures linked by bolts of lightning, reminiscent of the Citadel ruins on Venus.
And that was when, in spite of the awesome power on display, I felt crushing disappointment.
There was no trace of Clarity s influence here at all. Except perhaps in that mysterious tower...?
Possibly important as well to understand why the Veil reverted the billboarding which Clarity initially solved:
The exos are intrinsically robust; the seed of Clarity within them has natural anti-Vex properties.
Strange. Another strange detail is the Vex-Maya that attacked Clovis. The Vex-Maya only attacked him so that he would show her Clarity Control:
Now take me to Clarity Control. Take me to the garden's seed. Take me. Take me. Take me. Take me. Take me. Take me. Take me. Take me—
Again, I'm seeing this vague and constant background link to the Vex that keeps coming back and is present in some way when we deal with any of this. Even the Exos themselves could not function before Clovis made the alkahest: radiolaria exposed to Clarity. The Vex are crucial for giving life to the Exos.
All of this is beyond wild. Connected in some way, but almost impossible to know which exact thread to follow. It's very intriguing that the Veil was able to effectively render the Exos dead just by proximity, by affecting/removing the aspect of them that relates to how their consciousness was stabilised: Clarity Control exposure. I'll definitely need more information and more people collaborating on solving this with other ideas as well.
And of course. The ending of the log is a bomb. Maya was not concerned about this. She was convinced that the Veil would be their "salvation." Concerning, but fascinating. I'm sure Maya was a lot more connected to the Veil than we currently understand. And the mention of "salvation" is also, of course, a direct link to the Witness. Maya was someone who spent a lot of time exposed to various dangerous elements related to consciousness such as Vex simulations, the Device and then the Veil. She may have knowingly or unknowingly, well... witnessed the Witness out there somewhere and perhaps even channeled it or see through its eyes or through its past (or future). Throwing random possible initial ideas out there. Maya saying that is significant for our understanding of the Witness, the Veil and her for sure.
The conversation between Osiris and Nimbus is nice because it recaps what we learned from the raid. So for people who don't get to raid, this is a nice summary of Savathun killing Nezarec, stealing the Veil from his ship and transporting it to Neptune.
Anyway, yeah. I am normal about this quest's lore. And there will be more of it. So much more. Category 10 lore event is happening. If people are wondering btw, this never would've fit within the campaign. It's too much and too long and too complex. This is why we didn't get any proper information immediately. The campaign was an action move; this lore would've turned it into a mystical scifi epic. It's one of the most interesting things I've ever read in Destiny and I'm glad it wasn't shortened and glossed over to fit in the base campaign, but was given time to build up and then be revealed over time step by step to give us time to truly process each log. Fascianting stuff. Absolutely in love with every word and the possibilities and speculation it enables.
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