I don't particularly post anymore, mostly because I've felt less motivated to as of late. I've always had friction with the posting process; the formatting, the polishing, the tagging. Writing has mostly been a thing I've done consistently privately, so this is just a return to form, mostly.
But I have the Limitless paper, at least. And I am proud of it. So I've returned to put it out on my blog.
The common complaint regarding "hard" magic systems is that they remove the ineffable element, that they turn magic into Just Advanced Technology. But I have zero issue with this.
What is a problem is that fans of "hard" magic systems are THEE most obnoxious human beings on the planet. There is no one more pedantic, more insistent on explaining minutiae, more intent on strangling any attempt at fun in the name of preserving the sanctity of a system someone else made up.
Ok so in the webcomic Aurora, the “main” character Kendal is an entirely new uncategoriseable entity, a god’s incarnation that survived the god leaving it and developed its own mind and personality.
Now the god that this happens to is the hero god of the city Vash and, like the Ancient Greek Eros or Nike is named after his domain. So what we know about Vash is that he cut his teeth in this god business by defending his city from and defeating the storm god Tynan, the way he does this is explained here with an in universe telling of the story. What we know is that an alien metal and jewel was worked into an incarnation of Vash at a thematically appropriate moment and became an extremely effective power up, enabling Vash to defeat the hitherto undefeated Tynan.
Now how this works in the world built magic system of Aurora is really interesting. So in Aurora it appears they're are two (or eight depending on how you count it) fundamental substances of magic, the elements and soul energy, now we know where elemental magic comes from as a central piece of lore in the main storyline so far has been about the ancient war between the elementals and a Void Dragon and how the elementals died defeating this Void Dragon and their bodies meshed together supplying the materials as the world, but the elements still count, and can be persuaded to act, as one body essentially unique to the other elements and so because they belonged to a living entity with a soul can exist in two states, the material element and a sort of potential/soul element held in other materials or channeled by mages to enact elemental effects.
Now soul energy is something very different and despite the excessive amount of time I've spent explaining the elements, is what we’re focusing on here. Soul energy is what living things are “made of” being literally the material of souls, now I could be wrong but from I can figure out everything alive contains and in someway uses soul energy, and soul energy has a connection with other soul constructs allowing for an in any capacity uniform group of living things to develop a larger social soul that becomes a god. Vash for instance is a city of people and so through the interaction of their soul energy, construction of early incarnations, and people assigning these incarnations personality or motivations became the hero god the city imagined, as the god itself is made up of the whole cities population who once saw incarnation interpreted them a certain way and influenced some of their aspect. Basically, because the god is their domain how they are viewed by the creatures in their domain effects their personality and most comfortable form.
So what does this really have to do with Kendal. Well if Vash’s sword was constructed from an alien metal, a solid substance, which issomething almost impossible to make without an elemental, after Vash worked his soul energy into like soul shaper monks do with human prosthetics, which would more than likely work some of this starmetal soul energy into his own soul lattice. Then its likely that Kendal’s soul is made of what little of soul star metal was in the solid material of the meteor. And it’s not just background lore magic systems backing this up.
In the series of pages telling the mythical story of Vash’s Sword we find out that it’s being told through the framing device of the smith god who forged it, to a similar style god to Vash of the Fire influenced race of Ignans. Now while why they're talking and what this incredibly effective smith who uses the arcs and emotional journeys of the wielders of his weapons in his smithing process is doing with a god of fire and fire people directly related to one of our adventuring party is incredibly plot important and personally intriguing, there is something else I wanted to focus on here.
In these panels Tahraim appears to be talking about Dainix, a character Kendal is currently imprisoned with and who are jelling suspiciously well. Now we can see that Tahraim is using his Xanatos gambit forging technique of social engineering to forge out a weapon and fighter for Caliban (probably to fight the fire demon from Dainix’s backstory (who is probably another elemental emissary for Fire (like two other characters currently being heavily associated star metal soul Kendall (I see you Red, with each subsequent layer of brackets I get closer to the truth, witness as my bracketry grows)))) and describing some of the forging fires he’s using fo this weapon (who is probably Dainix, if not definitely)calls one of them “the divine blade”, referring to Vash’s starmetal sword currently held by Kendal, but the blade its self is isnt world shaking, its been around for millennia and everyone is very familiar with its power and prowess as a sword because Vash is an incredibly well known god. But that’s only as a sword, and we know Kendal is world shaking after his discussion with Ilia here where he is told explicitly that the gods fear what he represents but respect the fact that he is an incredibly powerful being with all the strength and ability of a godly incarnation but with no responsibilities of upholding a domain or the limits of staying within they’re domains range. And so the theoretical soul that is Kendal in this incarnation must be made of whatever remainder of star metal soul is left from the solid star metal in the sword. That had been given the shape and properties of a human/incarnation soul by being weaved into and by Vash and then had the Vash soul ripped apart from they’re shared incarnation leaving the star metal soul to have to develop as its own being in this body
And if all you wanted is proof of this theory you can honestly stop reading here. So far this is dense and a lot and I wanna run through some stuff with this head cannon to nerd out. So if you don't wanna have to read anymore, my argument for this theory is basically through
Kendal being the star metal soul can provide a reason for, guess plot dent instead of plot hole? when Vash takes Kendal to where he is being held by the Collector. The reason this could be a plot dent is that one of the working theories for why Kendal exists can be found in the Sentinels. Essentially building sized stone statues animated by a god semi incarnating in them, its hard to explain so if your interested read here (Also read the comic, it’s really, really good. Like really good. If you get into the extra lore on the website and then scroll through Red’s Aurora Tumblr answers you get to appreciate how truly spectacular her worldbuilding and magic systems are. I mean clearly they’re cohesive and well thought out enough that just off of the magic system you could make a (if I don't say so myself) well reasoned prediction for a major character reveal.) the theory being that because these Sentinels can develop these echoes after being un-possessed by a god over time, the unique way Vash was taken out of his incarnation without dis-corporating it that the body developed a similar echo and is now ambient soul energy drawn into the empty body. However, this wouldn't make sense with Vash taking Kendal to the Collector’s hideaway in his sleep, as if Kendal is made of ambient soul energy he has no actual connection with Vash’s soul and so Vash shouldn't be able to bring him to the crystal he is being held in. But, if Kendal is in fact the star metal soul then he would still have that connection with Vash, as they are the same soul but different parts made of different materials, and so ca operate separately whilst still being so intricately connected.
On one final note, there is one character that already seems to know all this, Tahraim. That Kendal in everyway is the weapon he forged, that they're is a capacity for new elements and therefore different soul energies, that Erin has been possessed by the Void Dragon, and that the Collector has revived life, who has taken Alinua as an emissary, and is using this information not for his own divine or dastardly machinations but on commission. Which is A) a potential threat if Tahraim turns out to be a tad more amoral than he first appears, working as effectively for the next customer instead of esoterically guiding events for the cause of good and B) show cases an incredible mesh of world building and character work with gods being influenced by how their perceived and a god perceived and heralded as an unachievably proficient smith knowing more than any other character or entity we’ve ever seen before and doing exactly what is necessary to forge his commissioned weapons into the most powerful and effective instruments they can be almost only because of how in the magic system some gods are made from ideals and interpretations instead of groups of living things and actually fits the way they are most commonly perceived
With special guest @Unclaimed demigod (Celia) we dive in and discuss the very intricate elements of these two Riordanverse series in relation to their magic systems. Who will come out on top? Find out in this magical collab!
I think we should just accept that shonen power systems have a lot more soft magic in them. Not just hard magic. It would make things easier for everyone.
This isn't even subtextual, power increases based on extreme emotions? Outright stated in some cases. Everything is Nen or Chakra or Curses? Yeah, and no two people use it exactly the same. Oh, you're not allowed to do this thing? That's because you're not the protagonist and/or main villain.
Soft magic systems are not about the mechanics of the magic, they're about the themes of the story.
So I haven't posted anything lately. Unfortunately, this is due to scope creep on my next project. Here's a taste of what's to come:
...It's way too high-level and way too dry for fandom consumption yet, but this is my next... fan-work? Theoretical physics paper? It's a...
Phenomenological Model of the Limitless as a Regularized Hydrodynamic Manifold
....Yeah, that's a lot. I honestly have no idea how I'm going to make this into a suitable Blog Post for Tumblr, but I want to smooth out the rigor of my model first. There's a few bumps left, but I'm fairly certain about the raw meat of my model now.
To break down the title for those who are not in STEM:
Phenomenological Model: A model built on observation, not based from bottom-up fundamentals. I watched Satoru Gojo do his Limitless and I made a model out of it.
of the Limitless. The Cursed Technique.
Regularized: It's controlled infinity. Actual infinity in unchecked models lead to breakage.
Hydrodynamic: It's about "fluid." Space fluid. Space water.
Manifold: It takes place in regular space. The space part of space fluid.
The below is still an active work in progress:
This is what I have so far for the unified field equation. It needs some more work, of course. There's some constants I kind of just threw around to make the model work that I need to define properly. But if you're curious about why I chose hydrodynamics as the model of my field, here it is.
I do want to get back to the rest of my work, of course, but writing something like this demands it to be finished before I move on. Coming back to papers like this after a break is a headache.
Sorry for the delays on my more... normal works. I hope there are people who can appreciate this kind of rigorous model for a fictional magic system out there.
The paper's nearly done. The one that I struggle to describe in blog-friendly terms, mostly because it's not exactly a blog-friendly paper.
It is the Phenomenological Model of the Limitless as a Regularized Hydrodynamic Manifold.
...Limitless Fluid Paper works fine for now.
Well, yes, it is nearly done. It is around 30 pages long, it probably requires an undergraduate degree in physics to understand, and it is also a character piece about a grieving niece formalizing her uncle as a form of memorial.
....Surprise! This is a writer's blog, and I'm still going to write fiction, even in a paper like this. Besides, it would be all too dry if the author of the paper was just... generic academic physicist voice.
There she is, putting her name on my work. My little Gojo creature. The girl with the Limitless and no Six Eyes.
Now, the paper is practically done. The only work left is honestly me figuring out how to post this in a way that is readable to like... I'm aiming for something that's understandable to STEM Bachelor's holders... with the basics available for everyone. The paper itself is a bit... too far for that? But that's fine. I'll figure out the bridge somehow.
I'll throw out a few more fun(?) things. Sneak peaks.
These are our major symbols. If you're formally trained, you might get the general shape of what I'm doing from this alone. At least... hopefully... all the important symbols should be here.
And there it is.
Lime Green.
We must have Lime Green, after all. A theoretical physics paper that doesn't use its model to predict is a worthless physics paper. And I'm not going to be boring and naming it "Technique δ" for being the fourth offensive Limitless technique. It has to be Lime Green, dammit.
And here, a linguistic fun fact. It will be important later.
That's all from me this time. It's difficult for me to tell what people find interesting about this project from the outside to include in these sneak peeks. More equations? I'm not sure about the level of understanding most readers have on fluid dynamics, so I'm not sure if my personal usage Navier-Stokes equation would garner interest, even if it is famous (to me, at least).
For those who do know of it, we beat the shit out of it to simplify it down to the Stokes equation and then rip out the mobility limit to actually use. Because no, the full thing is not worth the bother, and hopefully I justified it properly enough.
