crimson’s arbitrary laws

Right or Wrong?

In the Crimson City, they like to think Good and Bad are obvious. You point at something and say “that is bad”, and everyone nods. Easy. Smooth. Civilised. But when you look closer, the rules are often arbitrary, incoherent, cultural, temporary, and sometimes just silly.

Look at this:

• Alcohol is good, but drunkenness is bad.
• Sugar is bad, but everyone craves it.
• Getting bad grades in school is bad, but doing the job you like is good.
• Being attractive is good, unless you say you are attractive, because that is bad.
• Having a purpose is good, unless you are too sure of it, because that is suspicious.
• Making judgements is good, unless you give critique, which is actually bad, even if everybody says they think critique is good.
• Sex sells everything, but open desire is shameful.
• Money is shallow, unless you already have it.
• Rest is healthy, unless you are poor, then it becomes laziness.
• Health is moralised, while the environment is designed to make people sick.
• Children must be protected, except from humiliation, pressure, advertising, surveillance, religious fear, family shame, and algorithmic addiction.

Still following? Me neither...

Cultural Blindness

Every culture has arbitrary rules. I speak mostly from Western culture because that is the City I know best.

Take male circumcision. In many Western countries, cutting a child's genitals is considered normal. People defend it with hygiene, tradition, religion, aesthetics, or simply because everyone does it. Yet if another culture performed a similar procedure for similar reasons, many of those same people would call it barbaric.

Crimson culture often calls foreign violence barbaric and domestic violence tradition. This is not really about circumcision. It is about the mechanism. Culture teaches you what is normal, then tells you it is morality. Sometimes it is. Often it is just habit wearing a crown.

The Codex Rules

The Codex is pretty simple. Good and Bad are not universal categories. From a personal perspective, things can absolutely be good or bad. If something helps you survive, protects your Stone, or improves your Life, you may call it good. If it harms you, you may call it bad. But from a larger perspective, the Universe does not sort reality into neat moral boxes.

Death is not automatically Bad. Desire is not automatically Bad. Anger is not automatically Bad. Pleasure is not automatically Good. Pain is not automatically Bad. The Codex does not give moral theatre. The Codex gives consequences.

Consequences Instead of Moral Theatre

The question is not: "Is this Good or Bad?"

The question is: What does this do? What does it create? What does it cost? What does it feed? A thing can look good and carry a hidden cost. A thing can look bad and carry a hidden boon. This is why the Timeseer learns to find the third side of the Coin.

Evil

The Codex does name Evil. But Evil is not "thing I dislike". Evil is not "person who breaks my cultural rules". Evil is a pattern dedicated to Chaos and incapable of changing itself through self-reflection. It destroys, then refuses to see the destruction. That is why true Evil is rare and yet common at the same time. Most people are simply confused, wounded, trapped, ignorant, scared, or following incentives. The truth is usually more boring than people want.

The Third Side of the Coin

When you feel ashamed, wrong, cringe, dirty, too much, not enough, or afraid of judgement, ask yourself:

• Will this kill me?
• Will this seriously damage my Stone?
• Will this seriously damage another person's Stone?

If the answer is no, maybe the thing is not actually Bad. Maybe it is just the Crimson City whispering. Ask yourself:

• Why do I think this is bad?
• Who taught me that?
• What is the boon hidden in the Bad?
• What is the cost hidden in the Good?

Find the ridge of the Coin.

Droplet Manners

The Droplet is one of my favourite archetypes in the Codex. A Droplet is a tiny piece of a Cloud. Small, insignificant even. Yet still part of something much larger than itself. It falls, dances, evaporates, returns. It does not need permission from the Crimson City to exist. I see the Droplet state as something deeply human.

Humour is a fundamental property of the Universe according to the Codex (Element 3 /// Eye-1). Droplets know this. Fun is built into reality. World Tree is not some grim cosmic accountant keeping score of every awkward thing you have ever done. World Tree is strange. Beautiful. Terrifying sometimes. But also funny.

The Crimson City wants you to be embarrassed all the time. Embarrassed about your body. Embarrassed about your voice. Embarrassed about your interests. Embarrassed about your joy. Embarrassed about being seen trying. Embarrassed about dancing. Embarrassed about singing. Embarrassed about caring. Embarrassed about loving something too much. And the Droplets slowly stop caring.

Want to be a Good Ghost in the Cloud? Then, embrace Droplet Manners.

• If you greet the same bird every morning and one day feel like singing to it, sing to the bird.
• If you want to dance while walking home, dance.
• If you want to wear something colourful, wear it.
• If you want to draw dragons, draw dragons.

If people laugh at you, let them laugh. The Crimson City laughs at many beautiful things. If it harms nobody and costs no serious Stone, perhaps the laughter is simply the price of being alive. Those are Droplet Manners.

Droplets Clutch the Stone

The only thing a Droplet must watch carefully is Stone. This is where many people might get confused. The Codex is not telling you to become reckless. The Codex is not telling you to ignore consequences. The Codex is not telling you to become the village idiot because "World Tree told me so." Stone still matters.

If your weirdness costs you your livelihood, your safety, your shelter, your freedom, your reputation, your relationships, your legal standing, or another important form of Stone, then you should think carefully. A Timeseer does not throw away Stone for no reason.

If singing naked in a public park gets you arrested, perhaps keep your clothes on, Droplet. If telling your boss exactly what you think gets you fired and unable to pay rent, perhaps choose your timing wisely. If your harmless expression becomes self-destruction, you have wandered away from Droplet and into Chaos. Do not confuse Droplet with stupidity. The goal is not Chaos. The goal is dissolving fake fear. The goal is noticing how much of your behaviour is controlled by shame rather than consequence.

Many people obey rules that do not exist. Many people fear judgements that never come. Many people shrink themselves for audiences that are not even watching. That is what the Droplet learns to see.

And what if you are the one mocking the Droplets? Tsk, tsk, tsk... That is not very nice, dear Ghost... Spread too many fears and you might become a Bad Ghost. The Crimson City has enough of those already.