The Imagisphere is a daydream universe (commonly referred to as a "paracosm" or "neuronarrative".) constructed by Mike (known as incursus on Tumblr and Trocryst on this very wiki).
The story focuses on The World as Myth, and in the past, on the universe in the centre of it, with the latter being the eponymous Imagisphere. Connected to our world, it's a world of both established fiction and new, unusual worlds.
Keep in mind that before what I like to call Arc -1, lots and lots of things happened, but I won't be listing most of them since I forgot around 70% of the lore, characters and everything else. Only some events happening before that (in plot continuity terms, at least) are relevant.
The documented Arcs are as follows:
- Arc 0: Aline's Alignments - in which the Cycle of the Planar Astrolabe reaches it's summit
- Arc 1: Plug 'n' Play - in which ancient races battle over dreams both real and virtual
- Arc 2: Of Corporations and Starlight - in which the Cosmic Entities take notice, and shit hits the fan
- Arc 3: The Grand, the Grander and the Timeless - in which Time sets itself on a new course
- Arc 4 Part 1: Playing with Fire - in which the Favorites return, and the Prophecy is revealed
- Arc 4 Part 2: Interdimensional Capers - in which jobs, and chases, are completed across portals
- Arc 4 Part 3: Through the Covered Mirror - in which Other and Same become unclear
- Arc 4 Part 4: The Great Game - in which the dice is cast
- Intermission 1: Constants and Variables - in which each goes their own way
- Arc 4 Part 5: META-INF - in which [DATA CORRUPTED]
- Arc 5 Part 1: The Stories I've Been Told - in which Chaos intervenes, and mysteries are unraveled
The story of the Imagisphere provides examples of:
- Aerith and Bob: There are characters named Archibald, Noer and Pascal existing alongside ones named Simon and Brad.
- The surnames, however, are really weird across the board. Examples include Unnuntium, Elenson and Dammerung, just to name a few.
- Arc Number: There's... multiple ones.
- A LOT of numbers have symbolism in this paracosm. For example, 5 is the number associated with Authority and the Monarch, as well as being the number of magic and "unnatural" things. Other numbers get their meaning from combining the meanings of their constituents. For example, 10 is 5 (unnatural things) times 2 (ambition, the Villain) and so it means oblivion and death and is considered a cursed number in Quali symbolism.
- The most important numbers seem to be 4 and 8; 4 means "the Imagisphere, the Hunter, Cunning, nature, the world" and 8 (4 times 2) means "the universe, balance, the Inventor, Wisdom, knowledge, imagination". The latter was also considered a lucky/holy number by the Precursors.
- Studying the symbolism of numbers that appear in the Imagisphere is even its own branch of imagilogy called hypermetry.
- The numbers 618 and 413 make regular appearances, but they aren't really super important to the story.
- Bizarro Elements: They're called Forms. Each canonical character is attuned to one, and together with their inherent Class creates a certain Title. Titles are basically only important to any members of a Council of Favoritesnote - nobody would consider a Stanley a foe, but they definitely would fear a "Charlatan of Force". Each Form has a specific quasi-elemental motif, relating to both the Form itself as well as most of the story's overarching themes. They're also Color-Coded for Your Convenience.
- Force. Color: red. It's The Power of Blood, strength, ancestry and bonds, with a splashing of Extra-ore-dinary. Wielded by Wainwright and Stanley.
- Ability. Color: orange. Practical and physical, hard-working and transforming, it represents Playing with Fire. Soren wields this form, as well as Heimerdinger.
- Vision. Color: yellow. Deals with illumination both physical and mental; has connections to Shock and Awe, Holy Hand Grenade and Blow You Away. Fiddleford and Bill wield this Form.
- Cunning. Color: green. At its core, it's about assasination, strategy, stealth and wit. Has some connections to poison and nature as well. Wielded by Alistair and Betty.
- Authority. Color: cyan. Associated with control, magic and of course being An Ice Person. Wielded by Simon and Aurelia.
- Destruction. Color: blue. Has some relation to oceanic depths, but mostly deals with Casting a Shadow and The Power of the Void. Gaster and Ivor wield this Form.
- Creation. Color: purple. Represents SCIENCE!!! and "scientific" powers such as space and radiation manipulation, as well as stars. Wielded by Stanford and Rick.
- Wisdom. Color: magenta. Related to records, knowledge and civilization. Also associated with psychic abilities and Technopathy. Wielded by Newton and Star.
- Conductor is the only character who is seen using more than one Form: in xyrs case, xe uses Force, Ability, Authority and Destruction.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Almost everything in the Imagisphere is color coded in some way.
- Color-Coded Elements: The Forms, see above.
- The Corruption: The Corruption, a Grey Goo-like possibly sentient Nanite substance apparently originating from Before Time.
- It's actually more akin to an Alien Kudzu that only affects technology than an actual Corruption. The only people that have ever been somehow empowered by it are Viro and Facsimile/Facson.
- Create Your Own Hero: A very long and complex example: the Grandiose (and by extension, Sunweld) engineered their own demise.
- In Arc 3, it's revealed through Time Travel that a long time ago, Olivia tried to seduce Archibald for Sunweld's ends. She tried to use "her" Power of Love on him (which usually worked with everyone else), however due to Incompatible Orientation it didn't work.
- Later, she swore revenge on him and Sunweld seeing as his minion won't be happy without that insignificant person dead, he ordered Nikolai to put a bounty on Archibald, which caused him and Lowe to leave Nikolai and accidentally stumble upon Patricia. The rest is history, but in the end, Dawn was sealed away with Dusk and Olivia disappeared.
- In Arc 3, it's revealed through Time Travel that a long time ago, Olivia tried to seduce Archibald for Sunweld's ends. She tried to use "her" Power of Love on him (which usually worked with everyone else), however due to Incompatible Orientation it didn't work.
- Create Your Own Villain: Conductor kills a small part of the Lock in the centre of Syncordia. Justified, since without Arc 2 and a long chain of events, xe wouldn't exist.
- Deathless and Debauched: Downplayed for Wainwright and Alistair. Thanks to their rewfound immortality, they have become MUCH more self-serving and hedonist than in canon. They are often seen smoking, drinking, duelling, going to interdimensional casinos and hunting great big interstellar monsters. Because of their Healing Factor they are also free to indulge in their kinks; let's just say that between them, it's sane and consensual, but DEFINITELY not safe. Good for them, I think?
- In A 4 P 5, Moonward claims to be punishing them for this exact reason. In reality, she just wants their power, but she does have a point. After Wainwright gets better, the two of them go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Dream Land: Unterdream. Discovered and then locked away by the Precursors, it opened again at the beginning of Arc 1 and was re-closed by Hypno at the end of the next arc, this time with a Lock that only lets those with sufficient thoughtpower enternote .
- It is made out of 4 facets: Parabola, the Mansus, the Dreamscape and Omniprospit and Grandersenote
- It also doubles as a Prison Dimension: the Unterdream contains the Corruption, and Syncordia, located inside, contains the Dawn. Both prisons prove ineffectual at one point or another.
- Expy: The Imagisphere has its fair share of expies.
- Conductor is an expy of G-Man, down to the immaculate suit, business manner and mysterious eldritch employers.
- Archibald and Lowe both started as shameless expies of Wainwright and Hammerlock, respectively, but eventually ended heavily diverging from their sourcenote
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink: As a side effect of being the world of fiction, the Imagisphere contains almost everything considered fantastic, from Psychic Powers and Precursors to Functional Magic and Physical Gods. It's no surprise very few civilizations survive after discovering the verse's true nature.
- Fantastic Science: The field of imagilogy, which is the study of "imagispheric mechanics". It's a massive combination of engineering, astronomy, philosophy, physics and sociology, studying things like the Anatomy of the Soul, why Magic A Is Magic A, and above all sufficiently analyzing creonic mechanics.
- Fighting a Shadow: The Shapers are a clear Type 2. Their vast shadowy bodies reside in the Outer Shell and the fleshy eldritch things Creators are known for hunting are just small parts of them.
- Surprisingly enough, it's played with so it kind of loops back into Synchronization - when a Shaper's projection is killed, their actual selves also die, are carried away by the Lifestream and into the Gardens where they become Deltas.
- Nikolai is an inverted type 1: the Imagispheric body is a semi-incorporeal Heart Drive projection of eir mind, while eir actual physical body still resides in reality.
- Friendly Address Privileges: Lowe WILL NOT HESITATE to blow you up if you call Archibald "Archie".
- Consequentially, the only people allowed to call Wainwright per "Winny" are the other Favorites, and they're still in for suspicious looks from Alistair most of the time.
- Nikolai finally gains these in A4P3, allowing em to call Conductor per "Axi Elare" and not per "Conductor". Ey decided to address xem per "Mx. Elare", much to xyrs chagrin.
- Good Needs Evil: And evil needs good. In the Sphere, the Balance Between Good and Evil (or just the Rule of Balance) is an actual cosmic law, much more binding than something like the Law of Conservation of Energy.
- Every invincible Creator has an invincible Destroyer (or Villain) for this exact reason.
- In the old days, the Creator was responsible for maintaining this Rule, but the Celestial Bureaucracy involved has since been automated.
- I Have Many Names: Really common and goes for both people and locations.
- The Unterdream is also called the Mansus, House Without Wallsnote , Parabola, Grand Derse, Omniprospit, and The Sleepwalk Outside.
- The Void Between the Worlds is technically split into parts, however the names for those parts are sometimes used interchangeably with Voidnote
- Many is an understatement when talking about the Cosmic Entities - some of them have over 4 names that are used through the course of the story and many more ways to refer to them in-lore.
- Even main characters aren't spared. Sleepwalker, Sovereign, Creator, WARD-001-Ω, Hero of Time, Conqueror, Invader of Creation... all those are names of a single person.
- Imaginary Friend: Literally the second exaggerated example, except Nikolai is Charlie and the universe contains non-original elements.
- Legacy of the Chosen: The Archetypes, a group of both Precursor Heroes and Predecessor Villains, somewhat unintenti
- Magic or Psychic?: Basically any power the Creator or the Favorites ever possessed. It's called "form powers", is Cast from Hit Points (or more specifically, it "takes a toll on the body"), and is technically distinguished from both magic and psionics, but it could be considered both.
- Magitek: Well, it's not always called magic, but when you combine creone and death rays, something is bound to happen.
- Even the (often referred to as a machine) Imagisphere is like this, though in this case it's called "thoughtek" and based more on creative energy then Mana or Life Energy. The Great Nebula contains stacks of modern-looking servers even though most are decayed by the Corruption, there's a "source code" demidimension only a Creator can access made of tubes and walls lined with colorful diamond-shaped plates, and we haven't even mentioned the constantly developing management AI.
- The Metaverse: Warrennuchi. Differs from a typical Cyberspace in that it's an actual physical place that you can access from the Shattersphere.
- It's actually just a demiversenote with an exceptionally strong thoughtlink to the Zeroth Verse, except only with tech and not human thought. Algorithms or programs are personified there and obey similar rules to typical spirits or ghosts with Warrennuchi being their Spirit World. There's even a "ruler" called an Admin, however because the Internet is free their role is mostly about maintaining the lack of a link between Real Life and "The Worlds Of Thought".
- And yes, this very page can be found there inside Tropespire.
- Mindlink Mates: Usually, Archibald requires physical contact to use his powers. For some reason, this isn't the case with Lowe - the two have a weak Psychic Link that allows them to telepathically communicate even at a distance.
- Mythopoeia: The Imagisphere, almost every demiverse and even the Omniverse itself composes and is influenced by a massive mythology spanning multiple kinds of time and space. Keep in mind most of it is never actually relevant to the main story, or only used later.
- For example, the creation mythnote : in short, it describes how the Day was there before time and space were even concepts, and all was the Day; except the Elder somehow surrounded the Day and grew bored with it at some point in not-time. They broke the Day by creating the Rule of Balance, which manifested Sunweld out of it and Moonward to balance him. In the same moment, Spaceowner was made manifest from the combined eldritch will and Timekeeper just... appearednote .
- Nebulous Evil Organization: Dune. An organization spanning half of the verse and having loads of control over the other half, Dune has hundreds of front companies and is comprised of people across the board: from benevolent matriarchs, corporate leaders and Manipulative Bastards, to ruthless overlords and gods planning the end of times.
- New Age: The Imagisphere borrows many new agey concepts, usually putting an unique spin on them.
- Vibrational life force? It's called creone and can be used to break natural laws. Auras? They're called Presences, unique to canonical or otherwise beings tied to the Sphere itself. Higher selves who we are only projections of? Nikolai is a straight example, while Imprints, Archetypes and other kinds of cosmic correspondents are variations.
- Not Wearing Tights: The Imagisphere started off as a relatively wacky, but still serious superhero based paracosm (its biggest influence being Teen Titans Go!. Despite it drifting away from it piece by piece, the Paracosm Original Sin remains.
- Brad, or Veryman introduced in Arc 4 Part 1 is meant to be one massive parody of this trope, as well as Movie Superheroes Wear Black. Ironically enough, his costume is a mix of spandex and actual body armor.
- The alternatenote , superhero themed Councils, Creators and Villains from that one escapade in Arc 4 Part 3 aren't wearing tights, either.
Hypno, the First Imagispheric Villain: I ditched the "super" part a long time ago, and ey did as well.
- Portal Crossroad World: The Crux of Dimensions, a sort of "pinch" in the fabric of reality that moves between the Imagisphere's many demi- and semiverses, manifesting in different ways. For example, in the Oldest House, it takes the form of a room with many Portal Doors.
- The Remnant: The aptly named Quali Remnant, a massive network of Cyborg self-replicating synthetics that maintain and operate any structures left by quali themselves.
- Rule of Cool: The Shattersphere runs mostly on this, Rule of Symbolism, Rule of Fun and Rule of Funny. Rule of Creepy and Rule of Drama get an honorable mention.
- Conversely, Rule of Cute and Rule of Glamorous are almost always broken and parodied.
- If the Rule Of Parody or Rule Of Self References existed, the Imagisphere would be the top example.
- Sacred Scripture: The Finalmost Conquest Of All That We Madenote , an old Qualian text that claims to be a faultless prophecy. It's comprised of 21 chapters, each one detailing the story of a different "Archetype". The chapters themselves are arranged in order of numerical association and not in chronological order, but considering how time acts in the Imagisphere...
- Science Foils: Fiddleford (Mr. Fixit Techno Wizard with a mad streak) and Stanford (near-omnidisciplinary theoretician and supernatural enthusiast). It helps that they're married.
- Theme Table: In accordance with the Rule of Symbolism which is so prevalent in the Imagisphere.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Arc 2 begins with a cut to Lowe and Archibald finishing another mission for their boss. The Creator only gets involved later, when the Cosmic Entities choose their Heroes.
- The World as Myth: At first the Imagisphere only existed to provide grounds for a Massive Multiplayer Crossover, however the cosmology expanded to later include a whole multiverse. In a nutshell:
- The Imagisphere, is connected to the Zeroth Multiversenote by thoughtlink, a special kind of trans-dimensional link. In the case of such a link, it is unclear if the thoughts create the worlds or the worlds create the works, but it's clear they influence each other.
- At the center of the Sphere lies the Great Nebula, containing most of the [[Magitek thoughtek]] machinery that keeps the Imagisphere operating, much like a "thought processor". (The rest of it lies inside the source code, but that's only accessible by the Creator.)
- The multiverse's rules are incredibly mutable - allowing for characters to move from one universe to another and have their stuff still work, averting Your Magic Is No Good Here.
