In the process of refining my own creative universe, the concept of the “twilight of the gods”, in which all the deities and all the giants of the earth did battle with each other, and eventually destroy each other, resulting in the deaths of all but a few surviving deities (and the dragon Nidhoggr, who survives by feeding off of the corpses of the slain). Not entirely sure why it is referred to as a twilight, but I digress. I stumbled upon it, thinking of the state of my creative universe, the world in which my “altar ego” lives in and interacts with.
In this universe, deities and demons fight each other, deities fight monsters, humans fight monsters and demons, and more often the balance of power and the balance between energies is disturbed by humans seeking to tip the balance of light and dark powers in order to fulfill their own twisted ambitions, usually a desire for a “perfect world”, a deluded desire to “save the world”, or a desire to rule to the world. Sometimes demons or deities do the same, either because they have malign ambitions of their own, or because they are guided by cults and/or the negative desires of humans. And sometimes, humans still fight each other. The tension exerted by constant conflict would sustain the world/universe he lives in, it would sustain life, liberty, and, in a way, order (in the sense that the fighting preserves the delicate balance. And this tension would go on for all eternity, and since deities and demons never truly die, or if monsters keep coming back, old battles may return, or they may wage new battles. Perhaps that which has happened in this universe before might be destined to happen again, like an eternal return. If that’s not enough, then if hypothetically this tension were ever to end, then everything would freeze, stagnant, and decay, in an everlasting peace that brings only death by stagnation.
Of course battle isn’t all that my alter ego (or myself as that character) would do in this world, in fact if I was in that setting I’d be getting to do whatever I want which can include an array of things other than fighting. In that sense, if this universe can be considered the place I am united with after this life (not in a merging with God sense), then that’s still basically a lot like the Norse heaven-realm Valhalla, where those who died in battle were rewarded with entry into a realm of constant battle and constant pleasure, but the difference would be that you wouldn’t have to die in battle to get to this world, unless battle means something different (like struggles of the soul).
Getting back to a concept within a creative universe, The Great Twilight can’t be the only possible name for this state of affairs. The Great Tension is one viable, albeit dry, name for it, but in the meantime I’ll keep thinking on it.
You might be wondering I would want to live in such a world where conflict is a constant? Because at least, it is mine. And there would be a lot more liberty than in our world, and the evils of our world would have no real power, and humans would certainly be different, truly free. If anything, the conflict or tension that often pervades the world I imagine would be the only real trade-off for a world where liberty and virtue are unabated.
Aleph's Heretical Domain 