BQ Sera
BQ Jetsetter
Queen Amethyst
bq syzygy
Connection established.
BQ Sera dropping in, everyone pretend to pay attention!
Is it getting hot in here, or did BQ Jetsetter just show up?
Queen Amethyst has arrived, turn up the party in the house tonight.
It's bq syzygy, party's over.
Alright, is everyone here? No issue?
Nope,,
None here!
praise be to fukat
Praise Fukat
Praise Fukat!
I'll buy them a drink later. It's a good thing this got set up before the lockdown came into effect.
game night had to be canceled :(
whichever idiot bought the flu into the library is gonna get a syzygy kuck to the face
kuck
kuck
kuck
fuck off
anyway, sera, werent we here to discuss somethin
Right. Unfortunately, this is a far more serious matter which we should've had a face-to-face meeting for, but this will have to do for now.
A bit unusual, but living in interesting times and all
To put bluntly, gods are dying en masse, in nearly every universes.
You mean atheists will get the last laugh? Fuck.
You've all done your investigations, we're just putting it in perspective now.
Situation
Objects of divinity (or pluripotent entities, in more bureaucratic language) are disappearing at an alarming, yet consistent, rate according to recent records from our sisters.
Senescence of the divine is a natural thing, be it from decline of worship, beliefs fading from living memory, or subsumption into larger ideatic forms - But even the larger, less mutable divinities are beginning to 'shrink', implying an improbably large systemic issue that threatens the greater subconscious as a whole (henceforth "the decay").
Repercussions are limited to death of minor gods for now, but long term prospects suggest the total collapse of human thoughtspace (and by extension, death of consciousness.)
yikes
I haven't made much headway into the origin or cause of this, and we're still waiting on how the other Black Queens' investigations is going.
In other words, we're flying blind as a bat leading other blind bats!
grumble grumble
On a side note, this seems like something the Jailers would look into. What your iteration be doing, Sera?
As one may expect of hubris incarnate, trying to engineer their own god.
this will surely end well for all partys involved
so we gonna forgo the usual prez, since this seems p all encompassing?
Everyone got their findings ready?
Ye
I'll set the first subject then!
Instance from A-033.
Reptile of Commerce
A god of commerce and trade, taking the form of local species of reptile. Capable of predicting changes in the stock market and foreseeing profitable investments, although the efficacy of this ability is limited, and likely diminishing in light of current event.
Historical and archeological evidence suggests prior to the modern proliferation of trade, it also embodied ideas such as health, balance, vegetation renewal and fruitfulness, and associated with, but not necessarily representative of, fertility and wealth.
Instance - Timeline A-033
Western fence lizard - This one answers to the name Business Lizard, Stocks Lizard and similar, currently in this iteration's Foundation custody. Only lucid some of the time, but otherwise like a normal cute house pet!.An adorable specimen, indeed.
Their Mythology and Folkloristics's sleuthing found a possible link to Asclepius, but no idea if this fella is an eroded thoughtform or some distilled symbiotic attachment..Asclepius is the staff with two winged snakes, right? .thats caduceus, Asclepius is the guy with one-snake stick
Instance - Timeline A-178
Southern African rock python, ostensibly in the joint care of Wilson's Wandering Stronghold and the Manna charity, but far as I can tell, it’s roaming all over Africa doing pick-me-ups for the downtrodden.Really living up to the Manna name, huh?, though sightings have been getting very scarce. An effect of this decay, maybe?
Three things of note, this one's been round the block for centuries, it's possible there's more than just a single snake, and Christians got a real hate boner for them..Say, does Mamy-Wata exist in your universe? .Yes? .leave it to the fundamentalists to discriminate local beliefs
Instance - Timeline B-900
not sure which species this is, but definitely reptile-like. worshipped as the feathered serpent in mesoamerican history.
its dead, and the skeletons hanged up in some spanish museum..…Hm.
Well that's depressing,,,
Does the death of one instance accelerates the demise of every other ones?
We can't exactly rule it out as a possibility. We'll see once our sisters organize more formal inquests, but the trend isn't looking up.
so instead of universal oblivion, we only need to worry about multiversal oblivion lmao
Fret not, we've also compiled some points of interests that may serve as remedies.
Or at least, starting points.
Clothing made with "How to Sew with Love"’s instructions.
How to Sew with Love
A small handwritten journal on sewing and handmade paraphernalia found on the shelf of the Library, origin unknown. Widely read among niche, but active, sewing circles of the Serpent's Hand.
Content of the journal is not magical in itself, but the practice thereof has a profound, if somewhat inexact, positive effect on mental and cardiovascular health.
Not that this isn't interesting, but how is sewing supposed to help us?
ur implying this is some sort of divine ritual, sera?
Of a sort. More specifically, the entity(?) connected to this was, for all intents and purposes, the 'god' of its eminent domain. But that's why it's relevant to our focus.
"was"? So…
They're either dead, or no longer exist in a reachable plane of existence.
Did the decay get to em?
Unclear, leaning towards natural senescence.
But more interestingly, the concepts associated with this entity (philia, kindness, self-love, among others) are still in noospheric circulation, despite the apparent death of their original locus.
Oh! They're being perpetuated by the acts itself spread throughout a network of participants, rather than single-modal!
Nerd
But let me guess, you gotta keep doing it for the love of the game itself, otherwise it's going the way of the Neverwere.
Very likely. Still, if we have to devise a fallback, this isn't a bad framework.
I'm down for some sewing lessons
The little patterns are so cute!
A very useful model, I admit.
Still, I think I have a more immediately persistent example on hand
Let me pull it up
Artistic depiction of the Mither.
Finnfolk & Orcadian Divinology
The divinity worshipped by the Finnfolk and related entities.
The central figure of worship is the Mither, reportedly the originator of the finnfolk species, though other extant historical evidences also point to her being an etiological myth of the universe, manifested into physical form by early foundational cultural practices.
Regardless, the active presence of the Mither retroactively shaped their fundamental understanding of the world, and gave rise to rapid technological, spiritual and sociological advancements..A god openly interacting with their people is quite notable. .from what i know, "interacting" is putting it lightly
Notably possesses an exceptional resistance to divine senescence.
Instance - Timeline A-700
Little baseline deviation.
Experienced persecution and mass killings throughout the known world at the time, culminating in the destruction of Finnfelheim towards the end of the Bronze Age.
The Mither's avatar, having expended her strength in the Sealing Wars, was thought to have disappeared from the physical world.
The surviving finnfolk population went underground and cut off all known contact with humanity.
Instance - Timeline B-001
Little initial baseline deviation, with notable exception being the finnfolk's invention of the escape velocity drive.
Using this advancement, they launched Finnfelheim into orbit to evade typical persecution, and assisted other pockets of finnfolk survivors' escape.
By the early 20th century, the species became entirely spacefaring and achieved FTL interstellar travel.
Whoa!
what the hey
someone ping fukat pls
looks like a bug or sumthin
Do get your eyes checked dear, I am very clearly a beautiful and inimitable goddess ;)
And no need to try and expel me, I mean no harm to you all hard workers~
The Mither, I presume?
Correct, queenie! Heard my name mentioned, so I decided to drop in and see what the hubbub's all about :>
Feels like a bit of a security breach, ain't it?
not even the first time someone crashes in
Pleasure to make your acquaintance then. Since you're already here, what do you make of the situation?
The tides of time and the eyes of heart are constantly shifting, everchanging
So much so, that it can blind one to the truth of it all
Some things fade away as naturally as the wind blows, others forcefully robbed of their place
What comes next is perseverance, so hold on beauty and hope as your north star
Like an ark that won't fade, fade away.
…must you speak in riddles?
Really? I thought I was being quite clear ~3~
Well, I suppose even with my unique constitution, it's not like I'm completely immune to this decay
But I love my children, and vice versa; should the worst comes to pass, I know in my Heart they will be alright.
You seem certain things won't take a turn for the worse
You of all people should know how important reciprocal faith is, little god embryo.
'god embryo'?
mcscuse moi?
Wait what
Oh my. Do they not know?
I was intending to bring it up later,,,
I'll bet. That godtree hay fever you kicked up in the Library isn't exactly down low you know >.>
THAT WAS YOU??!?
I promise there's a good explanation for this
There'd better be, Amethyst.
I'm pulling up the file rn
Immature World Tree in the Library's Sea of Tear, measuring ~150m in height.
World Trees
Offshoots of the Original Growth, coming in numerous speciated varieties, based on locales and cultural beliefs.
[Extraneous information truncated.]
Due to elevated noospheric priority, attached ideas, concept and/or figures can undergo divine ascension, characterized by the Tree emitting an enormous amount of quasi-pollens with pistisogenic properties.
World Trees are extraordinarily hardy, and require little upkeep. However, it is still possible (albeit rare and poorly documented) for even mature Trees to wither and die, which would result in a loss of stability for dependent life forms and accelerate their cessation of existence.
So this is, what? A power grab?
No
Well, yes technically
But that's not the aim, it's a safety net for all of us
by ascending to godhood at a time where they die out like gros michel banana?
not a very good safety net, numbnut
I would be inclined to agree with Syzygy, but this isn't all, yes?
Yeah. I discovered something about us.
All Black Queens are already semi-divine in nature.
For real?
As it turns out, calling ourselves Queen multiplied by near-infinity, and forming a self-enclosed network of communication rapidly approaches actual godhood
And given our inclination of, and I quote, "knowing we can can always rely on myself", we are effectively both the patron goddess, and the devoted worshippers
i suspect some of our lineages also contributed
And this makes us directly susceptible to the decay, I'd wager?
Unfortunately - we possess dominion over our particular individual niches, but only that. Otherwise it's all downsides and no upsides,,
So we're even closer to being extinct blind bats than we realized. Greatttttttt.
So ascending us to actual godhood help with that, in some manner?
Not 'us'
Synthesizing all the Black Queen 'pantheon' means it can only be occupied by one individual
And I'm confused again.
no
oi idiot amethyst, dont tell me ur planning to take on the burden of full divinity in place of all us
That is reckless. Are you even sure this would work?
We should at least hold a Full Forum once everyone else's finished with their investigations.
As long as the World Tree in my possession is well-maintained, it should hold for a very long time.
And Sera, by the time we can confirm attendance, we may already be too late.
Jazz passed last month, and we thought it was because she inherited that anomalous dementia trait from dad
But in retrospect?
Not to mention how we've lost contact with some of our sisters
When's the last time you talked to Treble? Cosma?
Gnosis?
you think theyve been decayed
Watching Jazz struggle to remember her own name as she withered away day by day was the worst experience
I'll be damned if I let that happen to anyone else
What, and we're supposed to be OK with that happening to you?
No, but I hope it'd be the last of this crisis if it happens
Sera's research confirmed that even if I'm gone, there still exists a model that lets the Black Queens continue unaffected
That'll be the backup in case I'm not enough
You're jumping the gun, Amethyst! Do you even know if there are any side effects!!
Sorry, but I really do think this is the most pragmatic course of action
Sera, I'll send the rest of my files over later. I'm counting on you.
Queen Amethyst has departed, everyone say bye-bye.
Gah! It's like talking to a brick wall!
Quite an awkward child, that one.
oh, youre still here
Well, you all were having a ConversationTM, so I deigned not to interrupt ’3’~
She's being patently ridiculous is what it was
A smack upside the head should knock some sense into her!
BQ Jetsetter blasting off again!
i better go with her
one black queen is smart[citation needed], a monarchy of bq are dumb panicky animals
also amethyst is due a syzygy kick with her name on it
bq syzygy left the queue; is the party back on?
So a group of black queens is called a monarchy
Clever
What about you, pink one? Not going to follow them?
I'll leave them to it for now.
As much as I want to refute Amethyst, she isn't incorrect that a safeguard is necessary, now that we're aware how vulnerable we are.
Given your experience as a god, what are your thoughts?
Hmmm
As far as delaying the inevitable goes, it's one of the better plans, that's for sure
But not for the reason your headstrong sister thought.
Can you clarify?
It is the nature of all existences that the heart wants to persist as long as possible.
Not forever, perhaps, but always just a little more time.
Under certain conditions, an inextinguishable feeling can leave an imprint heavy enough to punch a hole in the world.
Of course, said feelings are often the negative kind, which inform the shape of that hole.
Sounds… quite terrible, actually. I do not think that's an optimal course of events.
No one ever said feelings aren't messy ╮(╯ _╰ )╭
But queenie, you've already shown what a positive feeling is capable of above
You mean the journal, "How to Sew with Love".
That journal's owner understood what it meant to sincerely connect with one another, and how precious yet fragile those ties could be.
So at their end, they carved that hole right into their heart, and hoped that in time, even simple acts of sewing and sharing can show people how to mend the gaps by themselves, so long as they put in the efforts.
And Amethyst knew this?
No, but I recognize her kind of conviction - to take on all your burdens, and burn herself along with them if it means the rest wouldn't have to.
After all, surely the Black Queens are intimately familiar with the hurt of losing a family member.
That's
Thank you for your insight, Miss Mither. I believe I should get going.
You're welcome, dear~
And one more advice for the road: Give yourselves time to mourn, lest it eat into your time to live.
So long, and thanks for all the squids!
…Easier said than done.
BQ Sera moved on.
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