History Literature / FineStructure

* SuperWeight: Ranging from 0 for normal humans to 6 for the Imprisoning God, and everything in between for high dimensional beings and the various supers.

* ShrugOfGod: At least one question in the comments on the [[http://qntm.org/?faq Q&A]] is answered "Who cares?"

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Because the Imprisoning God breaks it once you use it (not after merely one use at first, but faster and faster over time.)

Finally, there's Mitchell Calrus, the [[IntangibleMan "Four-Dimensional Man"]] at the center of the story, and thus SpoileredRotten. He has a mysterious backstory, inexplicable (even by the story's standards) powers, and he's very good at [[GuileHero long-range planning.]]

** Mitch Calrus/Xio can become [[IntangibleMan Intangible]], and extend the effect to things he touches. He can also [[XRayVision see through things]]. Evidently he also has MoreThanMindControl, but just how often he uses it is up to the reader's interpretation.

** The most notable examples of this are an explanation for ''what'' Anne is (She earthed a fraction of the Imprisoning God in herself in an independent experiment) and Klick's destruction of Berlin being reverted from an EsotericHappyEnding with everyone in Berlin ascending to higher dimensions to a KillEmAll ending due to the [[invoked]] FridgeLogic of the Imprisoning God.

* KillEmAll: Other than Mitch/Xio who gets to go home, only one (''maybe'' two) major named characters survive to see Oul destroyed, although a few die of old age offscreen.

Once a year, a random person gets struck by lightning and gains FlyingBrick superpowers. They are creatively known as "Powers". Each is twice as powerful as the last, and when a [[CapitalLettersAreMagic Power is Born]], they go berserk for 15.8 seconds (in their CaffeineBulletTime, that's a lot). This means that there's a good chance every year of someone leveling a city.

** It is implied Xio may use similar techniques on Anne and a few other scientists, partially because Anne is necessary for him to remain immortal, but also to cover his tracks. However, it's left open ended if he truly does or if Ching's accusations are wrong, with "Marooned" being explicitly labeled as OptionalCanon.

* OptionalCanon: Marooned, by WordOfGod. See RetCon below.

* RetCon: [[http://qntm.org/?marooned Marooned]], formerly the second segment of the final chapter of ''Literature/FineStructure'', changed the accepted fact of when Mitch/Xio came into his powers, implying a much darker characterization for him. It was sufficiently controversial that it was, itself, retconned out, and is now considered OptionalCanon.
* RiddleForTheAges: Mostly to tie in with the OptionalCanon story "Marooned" and Xio's motivations. What exactly is Mitch's relationship to Xio? Did Xio brainwash physicists? With Marooned as OptionalCanon, those questions are left up to interpretation with no clear answers either way.

** In the OptionalCanon story "[[http://qntm.org/?marooned Marooned]]", something similar to Oul's Egg is described, shortly before Mitch's accidental death and subsequent possession by Xio. By parallel, this would be Xio's Egg.

* NotSoDifferent: In the final installment, [[WhamLine Ching reveals that he's figured out that Xio has been mind-controlling the various scientists, just like Oul has.]] There is even some doubt as to whether [[UnreliableNarrator Xio or Oul is the aggressor]] because Xio would have been as destructive as Oul if he had the power, though [[WordOfGod Sam clarified that Xio's story was not misleading]].

-->1. ''Every year, a randomly chosen person on Earth is struck by [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning]] and gains superpowers.''\\
2. ''Each new superhuman is twice as powerful as the previous one.''\\
3. ''This has been going on for ten years.''

* TeleportersAndTransporters: Teleportation works by swapping two areas of space. The very first teleportation experiment results in Anne Poole being sealed in a coal seam. The consquences only get worse from there - later, four scientists are simultaneously killed. Finally, an entire building is teleported underground, and ''teleportation is excised from the fabric of the universe''.

* AndIMustScream: Anne Poole, who ''[[{{Immortality}} cannot die]]'', is sealed inside a coal seam for eighteen months. Her mind is completely destroyed by the sensory deprivation.

** Ching at least points out quite rightfully that from the beginning, Xio's only motivation was his own self-interest and he brainwashed scientists just as much as Oul.

* BoltOfDivineRetribution: Anyone who uses a forbidden technology will find themselves subject to this, either on a personal or regional level. Ching abuses this to destroy Oul.

* EarthShatteringKaboom: In the FinalBattle.

* EleventhHourSuperpower: Ching, already a RealityWarper, obtains the Solution to the Script and earths all of Xio's remaining power in himself, gaining indescribably immense power just before the FinalBattle.

* WordOfGod: Anything Sam says in the comment threads is this. He generally only clarifies points in his stories, rather than giving new information. The [[http://qntm.org/?faq Q&A]] is the major repository of WordOfGod.

* RiddleForTheages: Mostly to tie in with the OptionalCanon story "Marooned" and Xio's motivations. What exactly is Mitch's relationship to Xio? Did Xio brainwash physicists? With Marooned as OptionalCanon, those questions are left up to interpretation with no clear answers either way.

** The most notable examples of this are an explanation for ''what'' Anne is (She earthed a fraction of the Imprisoning God in herself in an independent experiment) and an inversion AscendedFanon with Klick's destruction of Berlin being reverted from an EsotericHappyEnding with everyone in Berlin ascending to higher dimensions to a KillEmAll ending due to the [[invoked]] FridgeLogic of the Imprisoning God.

* BrainUploading: Mitch, to avoid death. Also, AlternateUniverse humanity uses this to save anyone whom they come across with seconds or less to live, such as everyone on Earth 0.

** The resulting retaliation against the US after their Powers, which had basically made them control the entire world, afterwards is implied to be one of the primary reasons for the Hot Wars.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Whatever other sentient species existed in 3+1 dimensional space did ''something'' before being destroyed by Oul. It's specifically mentioned that several laws described in Eka no longer work because the other species used them and the Imprisoning God excised them from reality.

* LanguageOfMagic: It's science, not magic, but the fact remains that various people gain RealityWarper powers by becoming fluent in Eka. (Or possibly its secondary form, Dvi.)

** Xio uses the same thing on Anne and a few other scientists, partially because Anne is necessary for him to remain immortal, but mostly to cover his tracks.

--> ''There was a war in Heaven and the debris fell to Earth.''

** Ching ultimately gains the powers of a self-aware RealityWarper, but he can only warp reality in a particular way once before that option is excised by the Imprisoning God. Any [[LanguageOfMagic Eka]] speaker theoretically has this power, Ching just has it to an incredible degree due to earthing all of Xio's power in himself. [[spoiler: In the final battle, Ching breaks so many fundamental laws of physics in such rapid succession that his death not only takes out Oul, it also ''breaks'' the Imprisoning God and undoes the severance of the solar system from the rest of the multiverse.]]

** To the [[AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit Kardashev Scale]] in "Last Ergs"; a starship capable of travelling between universes is named the "Kardashev V".

** To "The Elements" by Music/TomLehrer (a song) in [[http://qntm.org/?parable this was supposed to be a parable about the power of the imagination]].

* ShoutOut: To "The Elements" by TomLehrer (a song) in [[http://qntm.org/?parable this was supposed to be a parable about the power of the imagination]].

** Ching ultimately gains the powers of a self-aware RealityWarper, but he can only warp reality in a particular way once before that option is excised by the Imprisoning God. Any [[LanguageOfMagic Eka]] speaker theoretically has this power, Ching just has it to an incredible degree due to earthing all of Xio's power in himself.

* KillEmAll: Other than Mitch/Xio who gets to go home, only one (''maybe'' two) major named characters survive to see Oul destroyed (though a few die of old age offscreen).
* LanguageOfMagic: It's science, not magic, but the fact remains that various people gain RealityWarper powers by becoming fluent in Eka.

* KillEmAll: Other than Mitch/Xio who gets to go home, not one major named character survives to see Oul destroyed (though a few die of old age offscreen).

* UnPerson: The result of applying an anti-memetic weapon to a human being. Such a person cannot be remembered or recorded. As far as anyone is concerned they ''don't exist''. This happens to [[spoiler: Thomas Muoka]], and as a result, we, the readers, cannot ever know why.[[note]]Ching thinks he realized what Mitch really was and/or realized he was brainwashing the others. Otherwise, it was probably the Imprisoning God {{redirecting a Forbidden Technology|GoneHorriblyRight}} before making it illegal, again.[[/note]]

* UnPerson: The result of applying an anti-memetic weapon to a human being. Such a person cannot be remembered or recorded. As far as anyone is concerned they ''don't exist''. This happens to [[spoiler: Thomas Muoka]], and as a result, we, the readers, cannot ever know why[[note]]It's implied he realized what Mitch really was and/or realized he was brainwashing the others[[/note]]!