Net.element

The net.elements are the primal substance of the Usenetverse.

Cosmology

In a sense, all newsgroups are composed of these mystical elements; in another sense, they each have their own cosmologies, unique and unreproductible; in another, they are mundane worlds composed of chemical elements and fundamental forces; and in yet another, they are bits on a hard drive and electrical impulses on wires. All are true, from a certain perspective, and within a certain narrative.

But from the perspective this entry is concerned with, the net.elements make up the Looniverse, the Omnilooniverse, and the worlds beyond, expressions of the fundamental Source Code which drives us all.

Many net.heroes evoke, manipulate, affect or are affected by the net.elements (including, of course, the Net.Elementalist), and many mages draw upon their powers. According to the Crossover Queen, some people also have a spiritual affinity with particular net.elements based on their personalities. Each net.element has an associated Inner Net.Plane; the Inner Net.Planes are said to surround the Source Code and embody its energies, creating the material of the Net.

Net.Elementals

Some beings are net.elementals; they do not merely interact with the net.elements, but are linked to one of them on a deep, essential level. This is mystical and weird.

Great cosmic beings known as Cosmic Net.Elementals also exist, and they're even more mystical and weird.

Known Net.Elements

Classical Four

Flame

The most straightforward element, linked to both physical energies, burning, sparking and shining, as well as the energies of passionate emotion, constructive and destructive, fannish creation and trollish insults. It is the counterpart of fire.

Mister Horrible and Invisible Incendiary are both flame net.elementals. Marvel Zombie Lad draws his power on his passion and frustration with Marvel Comics. Manga Man Gold's connections to the power of art and the power of rage flow through Flame. The Flamebroiled Force may be a Cosmic Net.Elemental of this.

See also Flame.

Thread

The flow of the net, thread is the water analogue. Crossposting powers draw on this element, as do killfiles.

Doctor Killfile has some potential in this, but has focused more on his devices. His mystic clone, Kid Killfile, had this potential brought out fully as a net.elemental, while his daughter, Captain Killfile, seemed to be entirely device-dependent. The great Killfile that shrouded Earth-20 for years was a great block in the natural flow of Thread.

Net

The medium for everything, this is the equivalent of Air. This is perhaps the least understood of the classical net.elements, and perhaps the one closest to the Source Code.

Net is a medium of change and possibility; WikiBoy's infinite flexibility has something to do with it, as does Lass Lad's genderfluid shapeshifting. Lag is an impediment of Net; Lagneto taps this element, and his mystic clone L-2 was a full Net net.elemental.

Keystroke

The building blocks of net.matter, Keystroke is the net.element of solidity, reliability, and fact, the net.elemental equivalent of Earth. It is sometimes split into two subgroups, Punctuation, which focuses on grammar, and Character, which focuses on spelling. Spelling Boy and Grammer Lad are specialists in this sense.

CAPTAIN CAPITALIZE, Typo Lad and LetterinG MaN all have some control over this element, and Ellipses King has been retconned into a full fledged Punctuation Elemental. Footnote Girl's abilities may be related; the constructs she created as the Footnote Fiend were said to be a type of punctuation net.elemental. Doctor Killfile II speculated that Deathspork: The Terminator's powers are linked to Punctuation, which is why he has a colon in his name.

Full control allows one to break down physical reality itself or create anything imaginable. This is perhaps the most fully understood of the elements, yet is possibly the most difficult to master. It is sometimes referred to as Pixel.

Newly Revealed

Timeindex

A net.element added in modern times, it is the counterpart of elemental plasma. It controls the rate of posting and the flow of threads. Macroman's powers are tied to it, and Moment is the Cosmic Net.Elemental of this element.

Compress

The net.element that the least is known about. It is the counterpart of the Bose-Enstein Condensate state of matter. Singularity is its Cosmic Net.Elemental.

Discourse

The net.elemental counterpart of Light, expressed as communicating. Catalyst Lass and Hell Catalyst's powers are connected to this net.element, as is some aspect of PC Person.

Lurking

The net.elemental counterpart of Darkness, expressed as listening. This is a popular theme; there are quite a few LNH characters connected to Lurking.

Other Systems

Archive

The net.elemental equivalent of Ice, part of the Norse system of elements. Within the Looniverse, only Occultism Kid has been seen to use it.

Yet More?

Many have speculated on the possibility of an Eastern set of net.elements, the counterparts of the originally-Chinese system of Wu Xing. "Macro" and "Processing" have been proposed in place of Metal and Wood, but these have not yet been observed in the wild.

Given the existence of net.elemental planes similar to D&D's Inner Planes, there are likely to be Para.Net.Elemental and Quasi.Net.Elemental Planes as well.