Perspective: Void

[Fang Archbane]

In lieu of the upcoming Anniversary, and at the behest of Demonic God, I have decided to make a rather questionable quest. With even more questionable rewards.

I am not like most, whether that be for the better or worse, we might never truly know. A book can not be examined until it is done, and it is both my fear and hope that the book of MD never ends.

I have, but a simple question. What does the Void, mean to You. I should preface this by explaining something very clearly however.

I am not asking for the technical response. Some out there, have ventured into the very Void and back. They know exactly what it truly is. This is not the answer I seek.

The correct answer to this question, is any and every honest answer from ones personal Inner. I will pick the 3 answers that best fit my criteria.

First place will go to the answer that fits closest to my own. An unfair request, as very select few can even begin to understand how my shattered psyche functions.

Second place will go to the most creative answer. Third place will go to the absolute most insane answer.

A keen eye will realize that the rewards for second and third, slightly narrow down what first place is not looking for.

I should once again, clarify that I do not know the technical answer to the Void, and do not have any desire to discover it. My reality is my own. Such is the way of the Phoenix of Mt Kelle'Tha.

I evolved as a survival mechanism. A natural process that I had quite little say in. Littered about my papers you might find clues to how I think. When I think. If I think ( ^^)

So CreatorSpeed and best of luck to all the participants. Below will follow the list of rewards pre sponsors. If any sponsors do show up they will be edited as necessary.

First place: a fully grown and maxed SHMSH (I will also pass you 1 silver so you may keep it's stats wherever possible without any personal loss).

Second place: 1 Gold

Third place: 10 Silver

Happy thinking, and may you all enjoy this beautiful magical world, as well as find what you do here useful in this and all other realities.

{The only deadline is the day after the Anniversary. This may be pushed forward if some late applicants need extra time to flesh out their ideas}

[Aia del Mana]

Should those who do wish to participate do so as a response within this Forum-thread for all to observe, or in a message to thee, away from prying eyes?

[Fang Archbane]

Oh heavens, I'd much prefer they do so here in public, for the sake of transparency and fairness. Everyone will be judged equally so, no need for curtains and smoke :3 ????

[Pipstickz]

The mountain with a cloud passing through

[lashtal]

 

 

[Fyrd Argentus]

The void is a blank canvas waiting for us to put our psychic impressions upon it.

 

[Dracoloth]

The void is the unknown, darkness waiting for a light.

[Aelis]

That which is always there, but will never be here.

[Aia del Mana]

The eternal wait for yesterday to arrive.

[klatdees]

The screams of my unborn children, wishing they were here.

[MaGoHi]

[Steno]

Desire for that which can never be, for the ineffable beyond-ness from our known world.

[Demonic God]

The representation of nothing as a concept. An idea that revolutionized the world (invention of zero, mathematical concept). Something that's always there, yet could easily boggles the mind of those unaware of it. The opposite of yet another mind twisting concept: infinity.

[Tissy]

Time. The time past left the existence you could never touch. You know everything about it but you just can’t do anything to reach it. 
 

Also the love you accept the fact of fruitless yet cannot stop missing the one ever. It drains all your mindpower, silently. 

[Yoshi]

The Null and The Void
 

The Void is calling,

whispering silent screams for me.

Do I let them be,

or do I give in to the falling?
 

I cannot surely ignore the beckon,

for I am afraid that I am weak.

Do I only take a peek,

for it would merely be a second?
 

A wonder to stare into its depth,

only to be consumed.

Would I eventually be exhumed,

or left without breath?
 

Seconds turn to hours,

and with time it all grows larger.

Would I be able to departure,

or be trapped in all the flowers?
 

Perhaps to master the Void,

one must be a Null.

But before I try to cull,

must I not be undestroyed?
 

To be a Null would be an achievement,

to be something not important.

But is something so forgotten,

even truly worth attainment?
 

If in the end the Void cares not for me,

I fear I would not care about myself.

Is it worth losing sight of yourself,

only for a taste of impossibility?
 

I must learn to preserve myself,

especially in darkest times.

Can I walk between the lines,

and put the fear up on the shelf?
 

I feel I must remain steadfast,

and not be coerced to either side.

But how long can I run and hide,

from the dead hand of the past?
 

I will refrain today from looking,

for the Void will not be winning.

But will tomorrows bringing,

make it all again alluring?
 

The Void is calling,

whispering silent screams for me.

Do I let them be,

or do I give in to the falling?

[Fang Archbane]

@Chewett, if only one of my quests should get sponsorship it should be this one. I see too much proper thought and attempt going into this from the community to be able to reward them all properly myself. If you have the time and such, please consider it. I'll do what I can solo either way but this... This is surpassing expectations in the most grand of ways.

[Fang Archbane]

Friendly reminder, this is your last day(ish) to submit any answers, round em up as judging will begin tomorrow(ish)!

[MaGoHi]

On 4/14/2021 at 2:20 PM, MaGoHi said:

[Duskwish]

Something that is undefined and doesn't have constraints on it to tell it what it is and what it is not; the other side on the coin of infinity. Infinity is endless defined 'something,' while void is infinite unspecified potential, but isn't something yet. The more information something (an event, an object, ect.) has, the closer it gets to infinity, and the closer it gets to none, to closer to void it gets. Things in our lives don't reach either end, with the more 'void' something has, or lack of boundaries, the more potentials or uncertainties it has; and observing something locks things down and makes it further from void. 

(This was a ramble of ideas on the spot so it isn't super coherent or reasonable or really well thought out: apologies.)

[Else]

For me the void is an intangible space where the soul of a dead goes before the place it is supposed to go. It is dark by the lack of light...

[Granos]

As many of you know, this is a subject I am quite fond of. I share similar views with many of you and some will differ. Given I am The Seeker of The Void I figure I should at least leave some input on this.

To me the void is both tangible yet intangible. It is what the beginning and the end will and are. Some will claim that the void is associated with darkness, like a great blackness that just engulfs all things. While this may not be wrong, I see it more in line with a great whiteness(the potential for all colors). When you break things down into very basic ideas, there are two colour pathways. On one path you can see that black pigment is an amalgamation of all the colors while absorbing everything, and you have white which is the absence of color. Then on the other path you have the opposite. You can see that white light is an amalgamation of all the colors while absorbing everything, and you have black which is the absence of color. Statements such as 'white is the absence of color' is both true and false but it comes down to our perspective, knowledge, and how we attempt to perceive that which is supposedly imperceivable. To me the void is limitless but also finite at the same time, such as the infinity sign, each side has limited space but still continues on forever. It is all that we cannot comprehend. Thus when we attempt to understand or quantify it, our perceptions are tainted by that which we cannot possibly understand. Our minds simply are not equipped for it. 

A small example now:

Imagine a giant circle. That circle is then surrounded by numerous other smaller circles. Let us call the giant circle MD(Magicduel), and the smaller ones the players. Each smaller circle has a line connecting itself to the larger one, connected to other lines and smaller circles within, which we can call our avatars. The space outside these circles can be called the void. Eventually over time these circles erode and crack, and through these cracks we catch glimpses of the void, but our minds cannot understand this. These cracks show up in many ways, one of the most common is with mental illness, that is my Taint. They become tainted by something they cannot understand. So we begin to fill the gaps that we cannot comprehend with information, and things we know from our own realties. These can be called numerous things from hallucinations to visions, or even that sense of deju vu(ghosts, demons or even aliens). Our minds know something is not as it should be, thus they replace these glimpses of the void which we will never comprehend, with what we have of our own memories.

I can go on about ideas and thoughts on the void but for now this will have to suffice. Feel free to come speak with me on this or other topics...

[Lazarus]

The classic understanding of the void have always been the representation of nothingness, emptiness, zero, void, and this is often associated with darkness.

Since personal perspective is being asked of, I will define it based on my subjective experience of the concept of the void.

The void is not darkness, emptiness, nothingness or any other similar concept people often associate it with, for one to recognize that it is empty or dark is to recognize that no-thing is making it evident, it acts as a container of the existence of the perceived "nothingness." This is very difficult to explain with just words since it is bordering on both philosophy and metaphysics, so I'm going to give an oversimplified example that may or may not be alien to most people:

In Dzogchen teaching, there is a concept of groundness, a pristine awareness known as "Rigpa" - which is of no origin and primordially existent, the purest most fundamental form of consciousness. It transcends the boundaries of the mind and the perceived sense of self. It encapsulates everything in our own subjective experiences generated by our own senses.

When our stream of consciousness stops for a brief moment, we are present and we truly become free, we call this our "flow state" where there is nothing else in our minds but the present moment, which gives birth to creativity and new ideas. While this only last from milliseconds to a few seconds, it's significant enough to make a difference. The mind rests on the consciousness and consciousness is recognized by the Rigpa.

The Big Bang theory says the same thing about the void. Billions of years of chain reaction from no-thing guided by a deterministic universe have lead us to where we are now. Everything that we see, hear, care about, our history - all are offsprings of this concept.

Emptiness, darkness, nothingness - sits on the very same ground and is contained in the void. The void itself is both the substrate (containment) and the observer (Rigpa). The void can contain nothing and something simultaneously. It can create and destroy things that can arise from its nothingness, for the void is of no origin and we humans are its creations.

[Fang Archbane]

The results are in! Please find me in game so I can give you your rewards, if sponsorship follows I'm sure they'll send it out asap as well ( ^-^)

1st Place (Closest To My Own Mindset) : Lazarus

2nd Place (Most Creative) : Yoshi

3rd Place (Most Insane) : Klatdees

[Lazarus]

Thank you, Fang. Perhaps you should also share with us what the void means to you and why.

[Fang Archbane]

20 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

Thank you, Fang. Perhaps you should also share with us what the void means to you and why.

An interesting request, and one I'm not about to shun. Well played, it's never easy to get me to comply but here goes.

To me, the Void is simply a place, both free from all other existance, yet part of a larger mechanism all the same. The Void to me, is the peace I find in deep meditation, what I envision to lay beyond even the point of consciousness, possibly even beyond reality itself.

It's a timeless encapsulation of raw perception, one that threatens to assimilate you once you feel you truly understand it. Truly, it is what I consider Zen. A place with nothing but you, your mind, and all the possibilities of an eternal, neverending multiverse.

I have a bad habit of thinking we might just live in a Fenth. A small reality divided by a thin veil from the next.

Whenever I slip into my subconscious meditative state, it's hard to come back with any memories, lucidity if you will, and thus it's difficult to retain on a conscious level the lessons you've learned there.

Yet this is when I truly feel closest to the Void. A place full of infinite possibilities because nothing is there at the moment. A beautiful superposition of raw self. A place where journeys both begin and end, if such concepts are even accurate. The Void is One.