#i hope this answers ur question dksjgh

[saphushia]

Consider: Nano's infection started on her arms, assumedly, but Lalna's appeared on his face. If we were to ignore canon for a second - would Lalna comparably go crazy faster? As the flux would take way less time to get to his mind

alright, SO, have you ever been painting and reached for your drink but you grab your cup of paint water instead? ok so, imagine that, but you’re an idiot scientist awake at 1 am and you have an open jar of flux on your desk instead of paint. this is a long-winded way of saying i hc that lalna’s an IDIOT who got infected because he DRANK FLUX back in tekkit.

this is gonna get a tad long so more beneath the cut, but tldr lalna’s a water balloon full of flux and lost his marbles long ago

now what’s important here is i hc that lalna and nano have 2 slightly different kinds of flux. nano’s is external, and lalna’s is internal (and these aren’t perfect classifications because nano’s still affects her bones and similar stuff inside but it’s the basic gist). this is because nano was infected from skin contact with flux crystals, but lalna was infected by being a dumb bitch and chugging a jar a flux and shrugging assuming it’d be fine.

UNIVERSAL SYMPTOMS

interacts strangely with mechanical implants- seems to take them over and become similar to organic organs

affects sweat glands, resulting in gooey purple discharge from skin. despite the lack of functioning sweat glands, subjects do not seem to suffer in hot temperatures, and possibly have a higher tolerance to heat than they would otherwise.

deep muscle infections can cause subjects to develop strength disproportionate to their actual muscle mass.

infection shows high activity levels at times, particularly when the subject’s adrenaline levels spike, or they are nearby large concentrations of flux. during these periods subjects have been shown to blackout, and sometimes display a temporary loss of sanity. subjects seem to return to their normal state of mind once flux activity levels decrease.

EXTERNAL FLUX (NANO)

infection is largely in the outer layers of the body, primarily affecting the skin, external organs, and bones

infected sensory organs (eyes, ears) often sends bizarre signals to the brain, resulting in hallucinations, in advanced cases the organ will cease it’s regular function entirely, instead sending only false signals.

often causes involuntary muscle contractions in infected areas, which can cause the infected skin to seem as if it’s pulsating or moving.

creates spikes or horn-like growths along cartilage and bone

commonly caught by inexperienced thaumaturges not using the proper precautions when handling highly charged materials

INTERNAL FLUX (LALNA)

infection is almost entirely focused inside the body, primarily affecting blood and internal organs

causes issues with blood flow and clotting due to the thickening of flux infected blood

severe infections can reach the nervous system, including the brain, which over time can cause dramatic changes to the subject’s psyche

infection of the tear glands results in constant tear-like discharge, similar to that produced by sweat glands

typically exhibited in either the very skilled, or very stupid

(lalna’s flux presents externally when around nano due to her flux levels being high enough to send lalna’s flux into a hyperactive state)

important things to note: most of lalna’s internal organs are infected with flux. if you cut him open he’d just be a grape gusher of otherworldly magic disease. also, nano hears and sees mother because of the flux infecting her ear and eye. the flux takes over her senses but not her mind.

now, as for lalna going crazy faster than nano because of this- yeah. that’s what wizard school was (in my opinion lmao). moron’s flux didn’t disappear when he got seperated from nano it just stopped showing up visibly so this absolute GENIUS of a man went ‘heehoo, flux gone- im gonna taunt it~’ and proceeded to FILL HIS TOWER WITH FLUX. this man scavenged through his cat’s hairballs, if that’s not a sign of descent into madness idk what is. (and oh boy, i could make a whole nother post about how lalna’s behavior in wizard school and fb4 feed into my 'lalnable is just another timeline lalna who didn’t get his nano back after fb4’ hc/cracktheory)

in canon nano actually remains about as sane as she started, beyond the occasional conversing with an eldritch abomination. her personality doesn’t change dramatically- she learns to stand up for herself more, becomes bolder, more confident, a little less forgiving. but all of that strikes me more as normal character development than flux driving her crazy.

even back in tekkit and the apprentice, after lalna gets into thaumcraft he seems to calm down somewhat. become less paranoid. am i reading too far into things? absolutely. but also consider the flux already infecting his mind and him not even noticing. because of course, how would you notice a magic disease from another dimension slowly warping the very person you are?