ART & OCs

The No-Thing

The No-Thing, Old One of Paradox.

It is unknown what exactly The No-Thing is, some suggest it is an ancient eldritch being much like the other Old Ones, others that it is an invisible mass of particles which come together to form a hive-mind of sorts. However, one thing is certain, with all the countless attempts to define or even describe The No-Thing, no being has been able to do so accurately without creating a paradox. It is for this reason that The No-Thing is often referred to as the Old One of Paradox.

"The Old One of Paradox, The No-Thing, is impossible. It is so riddled with paradox and incongruities that it destroys all its possible definitions... The reverse of nothing is something... any attempt made towards the concept of nothing will always garner, no matter how infinitesimal, another 'something'... The No-Thing cannot be nothing, for nothing is always something." [Unknown~Watcher, -3902*].

The No-Thing's name may differ depending on species and culture, some of those names include, The Void, Nothingness, The Enlightenment, and The Becoming. Despite the many names and various accounts of The No-Thing, it is generally believed that it is a non-being, a formless 'no-thing' with cosmic power so vast, that it can only accurately be described with the ancient Celestial word 'Luhnu', which translated into English roughly means 'sublime'.

It is often debated by scientists and philosophers of varying species, what The No-Thing is made up of, a question which is made increasingly difficult to answer due to the mystery of what The No-Thing actually is. Most suggest The No-Thing is made of a yet to be discovered matter, some would say 'yet to be discovered non-matter'. Others speculate that like the other Old Ones, The No-Thing is made up of anti-matter. Despite these debates on what makes The No-Thing, it is generally believed that The No-Thing similarily to the other Old Ones is an 'embodiment of nothingness', something which creates a whole other paradoxical issue.

The Old Ones in addition to being 'embodiments of nothingness', are also believed to be the absence of meaning and by extension, beings of evil and destruction. However, this is not the case with The No-Thing, although it and the Old Ones are both portrayed as 'embodiments of nothingness' and absence of meaning, The No-Thing is rarely referred to as a being of evil. In fact, it is quite the opposite, often being related to the sublime, creation and enlightenment. An example of this can be seen within Human Japanese philosophy, a culture which holds The No-Thing or 'Mu' as a central theme within their philosophy.

"Mu [The No-Thing] is not a lack of existence, is not nonexistence... it should not be met with fear or dread... It is the beyond of all concepts and ideas of somethings, anythings, and nothings, it is able to offer enlightenment... another way of seeing which one should embrace." [Gooding~Human, 2000].

Although The No-Thing is undoubtedly known by all in some way or another, it seems that the only ones who have been attempting to truly know The No-Thing are people of craft, artists, writers, and philosopher's alike. Countless scientists have also been attempting to know The No-Thing but with a different aim in mind, they have hopes of understanding the capacities of its cosmic power for technological developments rather than to truly know it. 

The No-Thing is said to be able to impart "the moment just before the very first thought of creation is realised" [Mayzon~Centurii, 1963]. It is for this reason that The No-Thing is near worshipped within many creative and art communities, so much so that these communities have claimed The No-Thing as 'The unofficial and universal God of creation and creativity.' There is also noted to be an Astrans religion which revolves around The No-Thing as being a creator of all, although followers of this religion seem to be on the decline in recent years, to just the momentous reach of The No-Thing.

In addition to being able to grant the 'before moment of creation' to creative and thinking beings across the cosmos, it has also been suspected that The No-Thing is the sole creator of the Elder Djinn, 'the first messengers of good fortune'. Much like the answer to what Th No-Thing is, no one is really sure why The No-Thing created the (then called) Djinn. Some speculated it is because it wanted to offer something material back to the many who worshipped it with their creative ideas. On the other hand, some people believe that the creation of the Djinn was merely an accident, or by chance, much like the creation of many planets within the universe. 

This text has briefly looked at some of the paradoxical issues that The No-Thing creates by existing, as well as its similarities and differences with the other Old Ones. It has touched upon how The No-Thing is viewed within different species and cultures, also of its still almost undefinable powers and creation of the Djinn. The No-Thing is truly something shrouded in mystery, something which seems far beyond our knowledge yet always by use in pre-creative thought. To put in the words of Mayzon [~Centurii, 1963], The No-Thing is "the nothing with the power of a thousand infinite somethings".

Text written by Isavix Sulvan, Krenn conceptual artist and explorer of The No-Thing.

Text translated by Matilda Brooks, S.H.I.E.L.D, Linguistics Division.