Liminal Parasites & Corruption
As a planet hand-crafted by the most powerful entities in Entirety, made long before the logic of the universe was even mostly settled, Siderea has an abundance of raw anima mundi and prima materia even to this day. Its core, in fact, is little more than a glob of prima materia with a bit of anima mundi here and there, allowing Siderea to keep spinning despite being an overwhelmingly illogical place.
Because of the excess amount of raw primal energies the planet holds, Siderea literally overflows with potential, prima materia leaking out from caverns and abysses and where roots stretch too deep. This leads to things like the formation of liminal parasites, entities born from Chaos that feed on reality. Note that liminal entities are not exclusive to Siderea. Anywhere close to Chaos one way or another might have some of these entities running around, they're simply just so common on Siderea that it makes sense to put this here and write about the Siderean experience with them as framing.
Exposure to prima materia on its own is dangerous as well, leading to corruption. It isn't the only substance to worry about, either, as anima mundi and viriditas - the elements of the High Star (Frenzael) and Vast Glow (Humilia), respectively - can cause corruption as well...
Liminal Parasites
Liminal parasites are entities hailing from Chaos, leaking in through holes in Entirety and seeking to become something. As Chaos is nothing more than an infinite sea half-thoughts and dissolved concepts, these liminal beings - as they are generally classified outside of Siderea - are difficult to perceive, much less comprehend. Dicro tries his best to describe them in Toxicology Report, but why he can see them while wasted is a whole different story. They do not necessarily have forms nor do they necessarily trigger senses, often failing to interact with the world in any meaningful way outside of an odd feeling or intrusive thought. They are, after all, just conglomerations of abandoned thoughts, and on Siderea things like intrusive thoughts and random bursts of inspiration are explicitly thought to be liminal beings passing through*.
Many liminal beings, however, seek to be more. Seek isn't the right word, necessarily, as liminal beings inherently lack thoughts or desires of their own. They are existential concepts, not even capable of being compared to animals and their instincts. But the purpose of Chaos is to come together as Creation, and thus stray crumbs of Chaos have the "instinct" to become real in some way hard-wired into their "being". In order to start being rather than "being", liminal beings seek out what is real and latch onto them. This is why they're all just lumped in together as liminal parasites on Siderea: even an innocuous one that gives you a weird snack concept is one that infested your thoughts and become a real thought that did whatever you pleased with. This is the fate of most liminal beings: they successfully become subsumed and accepted as a genuine thought without intruding on a suscept's life.
Some parasites, however, end up attaching to non-sapient things, clinging to the reality of minerals, plants, etc. They feed off of their reality and begin to become real themselves, now capable of being properly perceived to at least some extent. Typically a liminal parasite will first attach to small things like pebbles or grass, then come to infest insects or small animals as they ingest their current host. Once infesting a living being a liminal parasite's primordial instincts will meld with the primal instincts of its host, combining the need to exist with needs like eating. Thus hosts will typically become ravenous, consuming whatever they can to add to their reality, becoming capable of eating things they normally wouldn't be able to, like inorganic compounds and toxins. The host's body will warp based on the "reality" it adds to it, mutating to don traits of various things it consumes that serve no nutritional purpose.
Should a host be consumed by something larger, even this late into the parasitism the liminal parasite will make its predator its new host, combining it with whatever it was infesting before. Through the food chain liminal parasites can grow into immense beasts, who eventually will become the apex predator of their habitat. These mutated beings are often referred to as monsters, given their obvious monstrous appearance. Through parasitism all manner of entities can end up existing, from eldritch monstrosities and chimeras to things that resemble common mythical creatures like dragons - albeit with a decidedly cosmic flavor.
Sapient beings like humans and Sidereans are suscepts as well: while in its initial form a liminal parasite is mostly harmless to beings that think, once it's built up a solid foundation of "reality" it can infest sapient beings just like any other. Typically this happens when someone eats a plant/animal they didn't examine closely enough or gets attacked by a monster. This new host may not realize they've been infested at first, but will soon experience a variant of corruption (see below). The onset and severity of parasitic corruption is much quicker than normal corruption, with the parasite's desire to become ever more real lodging in the host's brain.
From here the host will have something of a crisis over feeling like they might disappear, needing to do anything they can to anchor themselves to reality. Anxiety over this often keeps them from sleeping or otherwise resting. Like prior hosts they'll often become voracious, even if of a species that doesn't require sustenance. They seek constant stimulation of their senses to help feel like they're real, becoming obsessed with sound and feeling and often becoming clingy to those around them. Increased sex drive, becoming an adrenaline junkie, and turning to mind-altering substances are all common results of liminal parasitism. They as well still have the drive to be added to, often turning to seduction and sometimes to violence in order to take as much from others as they can.
In general, though, hosts can be prevented from violence or other acts that might harm themselves and/or others simply by offering them enough physical and mental stimulation to stave off their primal fear that they'll wither away into nothingness. Food, music, snuggles, scented candles, and pretty lights are all enough to keep them occupied so long as they have more than one at once. The more unstable the host is, however, the harder it becomes to stabilize them.
Liminal parasites generally cannot be removed as they infect reality itself, infecting their hosts on a conceptual level. Trying to lure them out with the realest reality you have to offer will just make them try to mush their host into the lure or vice versa. Hosts can still be saved, however, dealt with in the same way as corrupted individuals. See the Stabilization & Recovery section for more information.
The existence of liminal parasites is the main reason paranoia exists toward Fadelikes. The natural traits of Fadelikes can resemble the symptoms of parasitism and/or corruption, causing people to worry that Fadelikes are carriers come to feast on their reality. Ironically, Fadelikes are highly resistant to liminal parasitism thanks to the high levels of prima materia in their bodies and souls making them near-indiscernible to liminal parasites. Starlikes, meanwhile, are common targets due to their abundance of anima mundi making them Extra Real, but their Extra Reality makes it easy enough for their bodies to quickly subsume any parasites. In other words, liminal parasites don't really recognize Fadelikes or view them as kin and Starlikes have strong enough "immune systems" to make most of them non-issues.
* Some people theorize that Geminorum, being a combination of multiple souls, must attract liminal parasites, explaining why they're so bizarre and cursed. The fact of the matter is, though, they're really just like that normally. It's hard for people to cope with.
Corruption
Corruption can resemble liminal parasitism, but they aren't quite the same thing. Liminal parasitism involves being infested by a being of Chaos struggling to attain reality, while corruption results from coming into contact with raw prima materia. If liminal entities/parasites are living parts of Chaos, then think of prima materia as being like. Chaos blood. It's inert, simply a raw element of Entirety, but that doesn't mean it's safe. It's still Fucked Up Juice, though and it absolutely will fuck you up.
Prima materia, being the material that fills in all the authors don't know or neglected to explain, smoothing over plot holes to permit reality's continued existence instead of collapsing into paradoxes and other logic errors, is needless to say unpredictable and difficult to work with. When handled improperly - and the "proper" handling of it would get far too off topic to get into here, but needless to say it's not particularly intuitive - corruption occurs.
Prima materia corruption is somewhat akin to data corruption, in that it distorts what already exists into unrecognizable forms. Rather than latching onto and feeding on reality like liminal parasites do, it latches onto reality and promptly fails to be comprehended. Reality doesn't understand how to incorporate it, so the victim ends up with prima materia awkwardly wedged into their being.
Depending on how much prima materia they were exposed to, the victim may recover, remain stable with their level of corruption, or be corrupted into literal oblivion. In cases of minor exposure - such as through being Jupiter'd in the chest and having the arrow removed - the inherent anima mundi within all beings will "explain" the prima materia in time, restoring the victim to normal functioning.
Stabilization is something better left for the Stabilization & Recovery section below, so on to the fun stuff: when it gets worse! Corruption is an uncommon but well-known malady on Siderea, given the amount of raw prima materia lying around and the existence of monsters who can inflict corruption on others. In fact, many monsters are borne from corruption rather than through liminal infestation, created from animals who thought that watering hole over there was all dark and sparkly just because it was extra tasty or w/e. The symptoms, naturally, are well-catalogued.
The most common forms of corruption involve exposure to the body, meaning the most common symptom is the corruption of said body part into prima materia. Take, for instance, someone who decided to try wielding a Celestial Weapon without being a god and having no idea how use them. After a long day of Marsing people in the skull, their hands and arms would likely take on the appearance of prima materia, no longer bleeding or responding to stimuli as normal.
From here the corruption may be stabilized, but if not it will continue to spread across the victim's body. If stabilization fails to take amputation of the limbs may be considered, but it's possible the corruption has begun to spread internally as well. Still, reducing the amount of corruption could aid in healing and stabilization. Given that uninhibited corruption inexorably leads to one's doom, it's worth a try. Libras are a bit fortunate in this case, in that presuming the corruption hasn't taken root in their soul they can easily be moved to another vessel, be it permanently or while their former vessel is being dealt with.
(Of course, an abandoned corrupted vessel is liable to become a monster - so you are going to deal with it, right?)
If the source of corruption is due to using prima materia as a magical catalyst or due to ingesting it (intentionally or otherwise), the corruption is likely to begin within, perhaps even from the soul. With no specific body part to focus on, the onset of corruption looks a bit different, featuring the following and in rough order of typical appearance:
- Star-like sparkling on the skin, eyes, hair, fur/wool/carapace/scales/etc., and organs.
- Blackening of extremities, eventually taking on a standard starry appearance.
- Blackening of the sclera.
- Blood being replaced with prima materia.
- Dissolution of internal organs and other structures into prima materia.
Note that these steps will also occur in exposure-based corruption should it continue to take root in the victim.
As corruption progresses, other less physical symptoms arise, potentially including but not limited to the following:
- Scattered thoughts and the inability to focus.
- Fatigue and disorientation.
- Dreams of the primordial void and difficulty waking.
- Magic going haywire: unintentional spellcasting, spells being the wrong intensity, spells failing to fire outright, etc.
- Hallucinations.
- Unpredictable mutation of body parts.
- Loss of senses and motor functions.
- Memory loss.
- Listlessness giving way to a sense of eerie peace, frequent discussion of returning to the void if/when lucid.
A corrupted individual may suffer through any or all of those symptoms, but all corruption - if uncured - leads to the final point. Those experiencing extreme corruption become attuned to Chaos and have a primal desire to return to the womb of creation and be reborn infinitely across infinite Entireties by becoming one with Chaos again. This realization may come quietly and serenely or may be expressed with religious fervor, trying to convince others to join them.
Whatever the case, eventually the corrupted will choose to Disappear, in the Siderean sense. They will crawl into some abyss and never be seen again, without fear or hesitance. Should the corrupted be restrained their response will vary depending on the individual, either expressing patience because they cannot be kept from their fate or lashing out at those who would keep them from their destiny. On Siderea it is common for them to pray to the Great Fade to take them unto her once more.
Should they continue to be restrained, eventually they will vanish the moment no one is looking at them. If they are constantly monitored, then the circumstances will inevitably and mysteriously arrive to permit them to vanish from perception soon enough - and then, at long last, from existence.
As with liminal hosts, Fadelikes can often end up as mistaken for the corrupted. While not as damaging to their reputation, it does at times keep people from forming bonds with them out of fear that they're going to end up disappearing or furthering their supposed corruption. Of note is that Fadelikes can in fact become corrupted, though their inherently better relationship with prima materia renders this uncommon. Still, if they push themselves too far, it can happen. Once more Starlikes are more resistant to corruption thanks to their higher levels of anima mundi, but not immune either.
Corruption is not all that uncommon on Siderea, mainly due to the fact that among the zodiacs, at least, it's intentionally brought on. Those who seek to gain magic on par with the gods and beyond will often intentionally corrupt themselves in order to free themselves from the shackles of reality and thus the bounds of their magic potential. It typically goes poorly, but for those so hungry for power consequence seldom comes to mind. It also often pops up in worship of the Great Fade (Asena) by those who seek to become closer to her. In religious cases it's typically carefully controlled as a rite, with prayer often involved for the Great Fade to express through either the elimination or spread of the corruption if she wishes for them to continue serving her or become one with her. Among the most devoted it's common to corrupt the terminally ill and elderly when they feel their time has come, offering their lives unto the Great Fade while they still have the ability to actively express their gratitude for having been allowed to exist in the first place.
Minor note I'm too lazy to work back in: should a Piscean's cords become corrupted, their halves may end up unable to communicate with each other, stranding them on their respective sides of reality. In the case of Andromeda and Antarmada, sleeping and/or intertwining simply makes their minds experience the void. In less severe cases, the connection may end up "glitchy", with some memories and aspects of identity failing to transfer over and symptoms like disorientation and hallucinations being more common. Much like how magic will often misfire and can be activated unintentionally, Pisceans may end up intertwining randomly.
Other Cases
idk where else to talk about these dudes so i just made this section.
When it comes to folks like Poe and Jerry, another way to end up corrupted is through being sacrificed to Asena. The exacts of their sacrifices are unclear, and all that's really understood is that something went a bit awry with them and they both wound up like. Skirting the bounds of Entirety and also rapidly clipping in and out of Asena before she picked them up and went "lmao". So to speak.
While their particular sorts of corruption manifest differently, both are different from normal corruption on account of Asena herself being directly involved. They have a bit more power & control than normal and despite the extent of their corruption they're mostly stable, likely thanks to Asena's intervention. Externally, you wouldn't even be able to tell either of them are corrupted unless Poe's having one of his Issues:tm: again, allowing them to live "normal" lives.
Poe is a bit less stable, but this ties into sort of how prima materia functions at a fundamental level. To make a long story short, Poe's simultaneous curiosity and fear of his condition as well as his interest in exploiting his corruption to advance his magical studies means he's less stable and more prone to random mutations. Jerry, meanwhile, is a bit more chill and concerned with other things in life (like their Twitter follower count), their unique situation mostly just coming up when it's funny.
This becomes relevant when discussing Halim, whose corruption has come to consume almost the entirety of his body and yet who hasn't sought to vanish. Again this would sort of require me to do prima materia 101 to get into in full, but Halim's ability to handle so much corruption is thanks to his degrading mind combined with his indomitable will in regards to his loyalty toward 2gnis and desire to protect his sister. Though his corruption continues to grow, this only works in 2gnis' favor as what remains of his mind is stubbornly fixated on obeying him, overwriting any concern he might have toward his condition and any primal urge to dissipate into Chaos. He is somehow incredibly stable and incredibly unstable at once, making him frightening to face and capable of things beyond explanation so long as it aligns with his will.
Stabilization & Recovery
Fortunately, both liminal parasites and corruption can be recovered from, though severe cases are obviously difficult to handle.
When it comes to treatment, the most important thing is to establish confidence and identity in the victim. Chaos is a thing of uncertainty and potential, and thus the best way to "solve" it is to "choose a path", so to speak. Those who lack self-esteem or a clear understanding of themself, those who live in fear and despair, and those at metaphorical crossroads are the most difficult to save. This is especially relevant for those with liminal parasites, who are plagued with the sense that they aren't real.
For liminal parasites, this is in fact the most common treatment: simply convincing the victim that they're real enough. If they fail to accept this, treatment shifts to doing small things to convince them that the parasite is becoming weaker and giving them exercises to exert power over it, more or less using the placebo effect to train them into trusting in their own reality.
The second most common treatment - and the most critical for corruption in particular - is the application of anima mundi. Anima mundi is prima materia's opposite, helping to more or less "solve" it and change it into reality. Raw anima mundi is far less common than prima materia, however. On Siderea it isn't so rare as to be an issue, but elsewhere in Entirety it means healing those who have been corrupted can be next to impossible. It is typically applied either through being utilized as a catalyst for healing magic or ingested in small doses to encourage the production of "reality". Of course, it's important not to use too much, lest... well, you'll find out.
Another form of treatment involves trying to siphon out prima materia in order to reduce the amount of prima materia the soul must overcome. This typically involves using magic or physically chipping away at the corrupted area, drawing and infusing blood, and/or using specialized devices forged with viriditas to serve as a sort of magnet. Humilia can't get rid of something more powerful than she is, but she designed viriditas to do as much as it can to alleviate suffering.
Similarly, for Fadelikes and more stable corrupted folk, absorption is a possibility. As seen with Poe, beings high in prima materia can take the corruption of others unto themselves, though this causes them to run the risk of becoming further corrupted themselves.
While especially on Siderea both liminal parasitism and corruption can be dealt with, they each have unique consequences to deal with. With liminal parasitism, the mind is commonly eaten away at and the body altered with whatever mutations the parasite brought along with it. Memories may be able to be recovered and the body can be altered with magic, but in particularly severe cases the cured host may end up having become a different person entirely.
With corruption, the primary obstacle is that the body has been eaten away at. In lighter cases healing the prima materia will restore limbs and the like, but in severe cases outright curing could mean death. Andromeda is the most relevant example of this: the unique circumstances of her corruption meant that much of the left half of her body had been completely eroded away and replaced with prima materia. Scorpius could tell immediately that just loading her up with anima mundi or siphoning/absorbing the prima materia out would have just led to her dying instantly afterward*, but the inexperience of others throughout history and lack of education on the subject elsewhere in Entirety has led to many avoidable deaths.
In cases like these, stabilization is all that can be done, though it's certainly no easy task. Even with being a Fadelike god with billions of years of research and experience under his belt, Scorpius took a number of days just to get Andromeda conscious again, much less completely stabilized. Once stabilized, the patient will have to live with whatever changes have been made to their bodies and whatever losses they may have incurred as a result. They must carefully monitor themselves for any resurgence of symptoms and spread, though it's expected that they'll have to deal with the more minor symptoms at least occasionally. On the plus side their magical potential is greatly increased, but so to is the risk of becoming unstable while exploring their new limits.
* = Scorpius could have asked Serpentarius, as Makemake's power is so absolute as to be able to fix anything, but. Well. They don't have a very good relationship, to say the least. Scorpius doesn't like having to lean on the privileges of his godhood when interfering with the lives of mortals, anyway.
Anima Mundi Corruption
As alluded to earlier, there are dangers in excessive anima mundi exposure as well. It is, however, exceedingly rare and almost unheard of outside of Siderea due to the rarity of raw anima mundi. Because of this, no one is entirely sure how to treat it: the logical solution of applying prima materia is roughly as effective as dumping an ice tray into a wildfire.
Anima mundi looks like an anima mundi version of corruption: mostly the same symptoms, but blue. Minor corruption is automatically stabilized, so to speak, although seemingly permanent rather than going away over time as with prima materia. Anything more than that, though, and anima mundi corruption spreads extremely rapidly.
The mind seems to quickly blank and the victim's vibe elevates beyond what their body can handle. The area whites out around them, as seen when the gods and Them elevate their vibes, possibly frying the minds of those around them since they have no control over themselves or their vibe. Their may partially melt into anima mundi before the rest of it completely evaporates from existence.
Needless to say, even if one knew how to treat it, it would be difficult to actually administer treatment.
No one knows what happens to the victim's soul and/or consciousness in time, but the theories are many. Some say the power is so much that it ascends them to a higher plane of existence, perhaps even to the above plane of Entireties. Others believe their soul explodes and enters the Greater Soulstream as most do, becoming one with Entirety in a more exciting way than usual. Some believe the soul explodes into Chaos instead, ascending beyond Entirety in a sense but so overwhelmed with power it can no longer explain its own continued existence. Others believe their souls, ascended beyond comprehension, drift throughout Entirety like spirits, omniscient and all-powerful but so beyond mortal minds that they seldom choose to interact with lower beings. And others still think that their soul must return to the High Star's, becoming one with Creation themself.
Don't mess around with anima mundi. Just because it's more stable than prima materia doesn't mean it's any less dangerous. Drinking author juice is extremely not advised.
Actually, on that note, at times animals will do exactly that bc hey man, it looks like water! Somehow corruption seems not to spread so rapidly or as far as it does in sapient beings, perhaps simply due to the will of the author. They more or less become cryptids - though peaceful and in many legends actively helpful to wanderers - and many seek them out as familiars, hoping to get answers as to the truth of anima mundi corruption. But has anyone ever managed such a feat...?
Viriditas Corruption
As viriditas was made by Humilia rather than being a fundamental force of Entirety, it isn't as dangerous as either of the previous two substances. There is something sort of like corruption for it, something Humilia installed to serve as a warning sign for those who push themselves too far.
Excessive exposure and/or usage of viriditas - primarily when used as a channel for magic - causes glowing flowers to sprout from the victim's body. If usage is extremely excessive, vines will be added to the mix and form a cocoon around the victim. This can look terrifying and painful, but fortunately it's completely painless. In fact, painless is the name of the game, as viriditas corruption causes the victim to become overwhelmed by a pleasant numbness and a desire to sleep. The victim will inevitably drift off, dreaming pleasant and abstract dreams of being loved and whole... and when they awake, their symptoms will slowly recede.
The intent of Humilia ensuring viriditas featured such corruption was for it to force whoever is clearly overextending themself to rest while signaling to those around them that they need said rest. Should the corruption come from using it on oneself for healing purposes, it allows them to be freed from their pain while healing is underway. It is thus recommended to be as excessive as possible when healing oneself while out alone, as the intent of the vines is to protect them from danger while they're being healed if they have no one else to help them and thus no other choice but to render themselves unconscious.
...Of course, this has led to the unintended consequence of people abusing viriditas as a sort of drug, but Humilia supposes there are worse things for Sidereans to latch onto for comfort.
Animals and the like can end up being "corrupted" as well, but the effects are different. It'll heal them if they're injured, of course, but eating a tasty Humilia leaf will instead turn them into white glowy flowery versions of themselves, often with angelic and botanical overtones as with Glowlikes. They gain a sense of empathy and the ability to communicate with others through something akin to emotional telepathy: not exactly speaking, but able to get their points across to even just other animals. They are renowned for being guardians of the wild, coming to the aid of the lost, and healing the injured. They're very common for magicians to adopt as familiars.