So like, what is an Interstice? What's a caustic, as it pertains to sets?
Ooh, ooh~! Good, fun questions! Thankfully, these are questions which are common enough knowledge that I can safely answer them, too!
An Interstice is someone who has fallen, as it were, between Well-Worlds (or just 'universes,' as you'd likely know them~). The term is derived from 'interstitial,' meaning a narrow gap between things. In this case, those 'things' are Well-Worlds, and that 'between' is the Bifröst.
In other words, 'Interstice' is our handy-dandy term for 'real' things within the Bifröst. People, places, even events can be capital-i Interstitial!
Before we move onto what a caustic is, let me explain a set first. You generally know what a set is, I'm sure (I wager you're familiar with set theory, at least~?), but the way we're using them here is a touch different.
A set, in our case, is a potentiality. A way things could be arranged. The Bifröst, and I, are often called the 'set of all sets,' as we are a collection of all potentialities. In other words, anything that is possible is certain to have happened somewhere in the Bifröst. Infinite Bil-sets, infinite Nova-sets, infinite deaths, infinite lives. Infinity's such a funny thing~!
Now, of course, not every set is interstitial. Not every part of the Bifröst is foreign. Sometimes, the Bifröst creates things which are unique to itself, but modeled off of 'real' (Well-World) contents. This is referred to as a caustic.
If the Bifröst is the infinite light between worlds, and the worlds are grand bodies of water, the caustics are where the light and water meet. Where the Bifröst scatters across their surface in rainbow imitation. Anything originating within the Bifröst itself is referred to as a caustic!
When something is described as 'more' or 'less' caustic, that's in reference to how many aspects of Well-Worlds it is paralleling. Most things aren't very caustic at all, and imitate only specific parts of a world. For example, a locational caustic (a non-Interstitial Zone) that reflects the Grand Canyon of Earth would not be very caustic. But if it tried to imitate that, a science fiction novella, a fanfiction setting... it'd start to blur, get messy, get overlapping and caustic. That overwhelming overlap and co-existence is parsed by most people as rainbow light, which is where the Bifröst gets its name!
I hope this all makes sense~?
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