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Old 08-22-2009, 06:02 PM   #1
JCD
 
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Default Please Discuss and Correct

A Brief Discussion on the nature of Resonance, Dissonance and Discord

It starts with Angels. Angels do not get Kewl Powrz because they are Angels, but because they are the powers in a real way. Seraphs contain Truth, Mercurians embody Politics, Malakim are (supposedly) distilled Honor. They are created with this intrinsic in their sense of self. It does not occur to a Seraph to lie, because that is not how they are built.

How wrenching is Dissonance? It is as wrenching as any number of human taboos which MUST NOT BE DONE. Now, occasionally, one may have to break such a taboo, but it involves a great deal of self disgust. Dissonance kicks the Angel farther away from the Symphony (God's Creation...because they DENIED God's Creation by their actions) Now a little deviation can be acceptable. Bad things happen. But while you might accept that your buddy Fred did (X), if he does so frequently, you are probably going to have a few questions about if he's starting to enjoy it.

Dissonance is embracing "My Will, Not Thine" which is the antithesis of what being an Angel is all about. Angels work toward God's Will (the fact that they have frequent noisy disagreements about what exactly that Will is keeps them from being mindless drones.)

An Angel becomes a Demon when he essentially says "Screw it, I'm doing everything my way." At this point, he is broken. Angels have the Symphony running through them and are protected from a lot of grief like Sorcery or Self Doubt. When an Angel Falls, all he has left to keep his Forces together is his own selfish Will.

Demonic Dissonance, therefore, is Self Doubt creeping in. When he fails to affect the world, he becomes less confident in his future ability to do the same. This snowballs.

Discord is essentially accepting breaking apart the Forces which make up the Character. There is no fatal amount of Discord, but certainly enough to make one problematic to play.

Last edited by JCD; 08-22-2009 at 10:40 PM.
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Old 08-22-2009, 08:44 PM   #2
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Default Re: Please Discuss and Correct

"Dissonance kicks the Angel farther away from the Symphony (God's Creation...because they DENIED God's Creation [of themselves] by their actions)"

"Discord is essentially accepting breaking apart the Forces which make up the Character."

Note that Dissonance can be made right or forgiven, but Discord is much harder to remove.
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Old 08-23-2009, 01:52 AM   #3
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Default Re: Please Discuss and Correct

Quote:
Originally Posted by JCD View Post
A Brief Discussion on the nature of Resonance, Dissonance and Discord

It starts with Angels. Angels do not get Kewl Powrz because they are Angels, but because they are the powers in a real way. Seraphs contain Truth, Mercurians embody Politics, Malakim are (supposedly) distilled Honor. They are created with this intrinsic in their sense of self. It does not occur to a Seraph to lie, because that is not how they are built.

How wrenching is Dissonance? It is as wrenching as any number of human taboos which MUST NOT BE DONE.
...

An Angel becomes a Demon when he essentially says "Screw it, I'm doing everything my way." At this point, he is broken.
Almost begging the question, What is I/me/mine to an angel? If a Seraph is intrinsically truth, then a lie is more than flipping the bird to God. It's consciously deciding to violate, eventually change, his own basic self.

I was musing about characters (as I often do) on the bus ride home last night, and thought of it this way. Character knows about seraph resonance, and needs to exploit this to get at an uncomfortable truth. He tells someone to "go ask that guy what it is. He can't lie. Okay he can lie of it's life or death, but it would be about as comfortable to him as sh--ing in public."

That big a taboo. Horrifying, humiliating, please there has got to be another way feeling.
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Old 08-23-2009, 07:49 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC View Post
Almost begging the question, What is I/me/mine to an angel? If a Seraph is intrinsically truth, then a lie is more than flipping the bird to God. It's consciously deciding to violate, eventually change, his own basic self.

I was musing about characters (as I often do) on the bus ride home last night, and thought of it this way. Character knows about seraph resonance, and needs to exploit this to get at an uncomfortable truth. He tells someone to "go ask that guy what it is. He can't lie. Okay he can lie of it's life or death, but it would be about as comfortable to him as sh--ing in public."

That big a taboo. Horrifying, humiliating, please there has got to be another way feeling.
Yes. I removed an even more uncomfortable analogy from the original post involving sexual taboos.

But there IS an I/me/mine. Angels are seperate from the Godhead. It is only their poximity to the same which changes their Faith to Devotion. They have more knowledge of the Truth, but it is not unlimited. But since there is no unity of opinion in Heaven, much less on Earth, one runs the risk of deviation, particularly on Earth

Earth is a Hell assignment. For a Seraph, it is kind of like Sewer Diving, a necessary civic responsibility, with AN upside, but the downside stinks.
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