#truth of the divine

[sajirah]

Ampersand, Cora, Kaveh, and Nikola from Truth of the Divine.

I started this forever ago and have finally accepted that I’ll likely never finish it. So if you see any unfinished parts, no you didn’t.

#my art #fanart #truth of the divine #axioms end #lindsay ellis #noumena #ampersand #cora sabino #kaveh mazandarani #nikola

[artbyvampiraptor]

Struggling struggling struggling to make a good Ampersand design, my alien cyborg blorbo,help I just wanted to draw something because the Apostles of Mercy cover was recently released and I'm vibrating with excitement

#noumena #ampersand #axiom's end #truth of the divine #apostles of mercy #lindsay ellis #noumena fan art #amygdalan #alien #this series activates my autism like something else is2g

[noumena-ramblings]

I swear I’m gonna be normal I’m gonna be so so normal about this

#noumena #axioms end #truth of the divine #lindsay ellis #own #apostles of mercy

[amygdaline]

Thinking about the different relationships characters have with “Truth” in Axiom’s End and Truth of the Divine...

- For Nils, truth is a human right but some people are more human than others. Nils’s slogan is “truth is a human right.” But his actions in TODT paint him as either cognitive dissonance-ing himself away from his own lies, or as a blatant, corrupted manipulator. Truth is a human right, except when he secretly blackmails Kaveh, schemes to indoctrinate his children for gain, and requests political favors in exchange for information. 

- For Kaveh, the means to truth do not justify the ends if the means cause more suffering than the ends prevent. Kaveh worked with Nils on at least one of the same projects, outing government atrocities that Sol was wrapped up in. But Kaveh believes this is a truth that needs to be outed to save lives and hold the government accountable, not to get his name in an article or book. When he has the truth of what Nils is willing to do his own integrity as a truth seeker and human being helps him make the easy decision to never want to work with Nils ever again. 

- For Cora, lying is seen as a way to protect herself and protect others, but if she goes too far it does the opposite. Cora tells little white lies, usually in the pursuit of peace. “I believe you,” she says when she doesn’t believe somebody, but doesn’t want to fight. She manipulates and minces interpretations of Ampersand’s comments for the sake of keeping peace. Her omissions of truth rarely cause great harm but neither do they ever help anything. However, as her illness progresses, little white lies snowball until she’s lying about the state of her own mental health, until she breaks. She hurts herself and her loved ones by proximity.

- For Luciana, it feels like telling the truth has only caused harm in the long run. Luciana wants to believe in her own goodness, and therefore cannot conceive that she would ever do something like breaking a NDA or hurting her family. She’s so concerned with being correct that she hurts her family, anyway. And still, that truth hurts. 

- For Ampersand, the truth will only make you suffer, so omission is an act of self-sacrifice; his instability for your stability. Ampersand always lies by omission, telling half truths or distracting from the real truth. He’s exactly like Cora but to the extreme, omitting truth because he believes the truth will hurt those around him. However, he’s gone so far down this hole of omission that his problems never get solved; he hurts himself, he hurts all his loved ones, and he knows he needs help but feels too broken to seek it. 

- For Nikola, there is no reason why he needs to lie or omit; the end is near, anyway. Nikola only tells the truth, as he understands it. His truth is pessimistic but his actions optimistic, something Kaveh notes about their friendship. When he says he’s ready to die but takes care of his body and mind, he isn’t lying about wanting to die. He wants to have hope but he is compelled to let the humans understand the odds of their hopelessness, all the same. 

- For the pequod superorganism, truth is a tangible thing they can hold in their hands, and they consume it like their sister-species “consumes” planets. The general pequod society, if Nikola is right, thinks that they can keeping going and going and going, that the universe is a black-and-white thing they can pull apart. But Nikola sees it as something bigger and incomprehensible than either pequod or human beings. There is a divinity- the unknown- which they can never touch. But the superorganism will keep trying to understand, anyways. They will destroy themselves and the miracle of other intelligent life in their endless pursuit of black-and-white.

- For the human superorganism- particularly the USA where the story is set- truth is only a tool. General Porter thinks he deserves the truth on the basis of his position of power and very likely his ethnicity and sex. He wants to use it to kill people. The general government agencies depicted, including ROSA, think they deserve to know everything they can squeeze out of Ampersand, even at the expense of their alien guest’s health. Political parties want the truth by any means to use it for their own political campaigns. Even those with less power- middle class to poor people- use truth and speculation of the truth for their own agendas, to discriminate against others, particularly Jewish and Muslim communities. The truth here does more harm than good, fought over like a commodity, manipulated and repurposed. You have the truth, now what? “He was a hero,” “he was a species traitor,” he’s great for views.

#axioms end #axiom's end #truth of the divine #TOTD #noumena #im not sure how to place sol's relationship with the truth #he doesnt seem to be a liar nor an omitter hes just along for the ride #however he DOES have an accurate lie-dar and i think he knows cora has been lying or omitting for most of the books #even if he doesnt always know the exact depth of her omission hes been trained on lying and probably assumes lying of most people

[nerves-nebula]

Diversity win! This heterogametic functionally agender female alien uses he/him pronouns (as a social play to be taken seriously & seen as superior to his human translator)

God I fucking love this series I wanna savor it so bad but I can’t stop listeningggg

#nnstuff #rambling #truth of the divine #axioms end ampersand #cora sabino #axioms end

[fe-noumenal]

I ship Kaveh/Nikola so much 

#truth of the divine #noumena #kavehxnik #monster romance #nikxkaveh

[whatthesquids]

I can’t believe i spent so much time thinking of this meme art AND made it AND THEN forgot to post it

#my art #axioms end #truth of the divine #noumena series #ampersand #cora ortega

[titles-for-tangents]

So there I was checking to see if there was a summary was up yet for "Apostles of Mercy" when I spotted this little rather telling detail

There's no summary up on B&N yet as of this posting but it's up an Amazon, and both have three quotes of incredible praise. Let's zoom in on this one in particular by the incredible, indelible Jamie Loftis:

"Lindsay Ellis shows us that humans are just as much the other as their alien counterparts with incredible detail, humor, and empathy, and never better than in this un-put-downable conclusion to the Noumena saga. Cora Sabino has officially joined the pantheon of first contact heroines." - Jamie Loftis, New York Times bestselling author of Raw Dog

CONCLUSION?!!?!

I knew Noumena was originally published under a three-book deal with Macmillian Press, and that it would hopefully go to a full five-book series depending on the success of the first three. What then, pray tell, on earth happened to the other two?

#i have questions #apostles of mercy #noumena #lindsay ellis #jamie loftis #books #quotes #macmillian #barnes & noble #book series #axiom’s end #truth of the divine #I have many more speculations

[ijustreadthisbook]

Top Five Books I've Read (so far) In 2023:

5. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (Audiobook): One of the more unique novels I've read in a while, this book bounces around in time and place slowly weaving each dispirate story together around the fictitious ancient greek story of Cloud Cuckoo Land. Each character is so well created, and the slow thrill of putting the pieces together was so satisfying. The ending made me stare at the wall for a few moments before I could come back to earth.

Read if you like: Ted Chiang short stories, The Birds by Aristophanes, Margaret Atwood sci-fi

4. Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis (Physical book): The sequel to her debut novel, Axiom's End, this book takes the monster fucking story to a whole new level exploring the concepts of attraction, loyalty, love, and humanity. The world building is incredible, the main character doesn't have that awful trait that a lot of sci-fi audience inserts have where they cannot possibly make logical connections and answer questions themselves. Cora is smart, and Ellis assumes you are smart too. Plus the recreation of 2007 era America is fucking perfect.

Read if you like: Early 2000's nostalgia, Jeff VanderMeer books, Axiom's End, 90s alien movies like Contact, Independence Day, Aliens

3. The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka (Physical book): I've read a bunch of romance this year, and this was one of my absolute favorites. Certainly not the spiciest I've read, but the interplay between the two points of view creates a romantic, sexual, and professional tension that is so palpable and delicious. I loved the meta narrative of two people writing a book together about two people writing a book together, and the exploration of what making art together means and the intimacy required to do it. It's a little predictable, but that's what you want from a romance novel. This was a fun book with just enough stakes and just enough stress to make the payoff so worth it.

Read if you like: Emily Henry books, movies like You've Got Mail, Something's Gotta Give, Always Be My Maybe

2. The It Girl by Ruth Ware (audiobook): I love Ruth ware. I love her. I have read everything she has written so far and will read anything she puts out. I selected this one for my list because I love the setting of a close knit school campus, a shining bright young woman with a dark secret, and the real time unravelling of a murder mystery through the eyes of someone on the ground. This book explores the idea of how little we can know about the people we are closest to, and how easy it is to blind ourselves to the truth because of what we want to be true. It's a captivating read, easily finished in a day or two.

Read if you like: One by One by Ruth Ware, Gossip Girl, Jennifer's Body

1. The Secret History by Donna Tart (physical book): I cannot believe how long it took me to read this book. It was one of those books that kept getting recommended to me, but I was worried it was over hyped and would be awful. I tried to read it about two years ago and couldn't even get through the first chapter. And yet, somehow, I picked this book up and did not put it down for a week and a half. It's incredible. An absolute masterclass on Dark Academia, tension building, atmospheric storytelling, all the things I love the most about literature with all the modern trappings of an aesthetic I have also come to love. Rich kids in a private school testing the boundaries of privilege through the POV of an outsider desperate to be accepted is one of my favorite tropes and this book is the definition of how to do it right. It's dark, its academic, it's murdery, it's the 90s, it's excellent. I'll be reading this one again.

Read if you like: A Separate Peace, Brideshead Revisited, Gentlemen and Players, The Talented Mr Ripley

#books and reading #my favorite books so far #the secret history #the it girl #truth of the divine #the roughest draft #cloud cuckoo land #anthony doerr #donna tart #lindsay ellis #ruth ware #emily wibberley #austin siegmund-broka #book recommendations #book review #book reviews #i just read this book

[genuflectx]

🐜🧠

#axiom's end #axioms end #truth of the divine #totd #terato #art

[thursday-in-theory]

I just finished Translation State by Ann Leckie and my thoughts are not fully baked yet but it got me thinking about Embassytown and Truth of the Divine and yeah basically I just really like books about truly alien species trying to relate to each each other despite that being kind of impossible and want to read more stuff like that.

#translation state #embassytown #truth of the divine

[theboarsbride]

A warmup doodle of Ampersand from the Noumenia book series by Lindsay Ellis!👽🛸

#axioms end #truth of the divine #lindsay ellis #alien #alien art #alien character #sci fi

[noumena-ramblings]

So, I woke up at excited today

#truth of the divine #own #noumena #axioms end #lindsay ellis

[amygdaline]

“But they are never unidirectional; they always flow both ways. So if I was able to do it to you, then you were able to do it to me.”

I was literally just thinking about a human being the instigator for a human/amygdaline or human/human bond when I reached a chapter of TOTD with that quote- where Ampersand confirms if he can bond to a human then a human could do it to an amygdaline… and that’s super interesting…

I hope we learn more about that in book 3; imagine finding out that humans were bonding to each other the whole time and not even knowing it, but then again I think people would have noticed if they had a version of high language.

I like the idea of, after the time skip for book 3, Cora, Ampersand, and Nikola forming a phyle either intentionally or unintentionally. Like, with Cora being the instigator. I could totally see Nik being 100% down like "oh shit yeah let's see if you can do it" out of scientific curiosity, but also it would be 😚👌 if Cora bonded to Nik accidentally out of a developed affection (as unlikely as that is)

After hundreds of years as an oligarch not allowed to have a complete family unit, a phyle would probably feel so comforting to poor Ampersand... probably all of them tbh.....

#axioms end #noumena #truth of the divine #amygdaline #totd

[nerves-nebula]

Nils Ortega when he’s planning to paint his daughter as delusional and her friend as a predator to the general public:

#nnstuff #axioms end #truth of the divine #nils Ortega

[fe-noumenal]

Possible origin of amygdaline design

When I was gathering references for my own amygdaline design attempt (which is still in works) I came upon this animatronic of Edgar the Bug  from Men in Black. In the final cut the digital model was used instead, which was much less interesting.  

It fits pretty close to the description of Genome and transients - it has almond shaped eyes, insect mandibles, a mic of exoskeleton and skin, the mantid like hands with sharp fingers. 

It even has scorpion like tail.

I think, with little modifications, it’s what Lindsay imagined. 

#noumena #axiom's end #truth of the divine #lindsay ellis #apostles of mercy #amygdalines