Descriptor categories

Impressions are logged one at a time, each in a category. The categories follow McMoneagle's descriptor hierarchy, which roughly matches the order in which information tends to arrive. Do not force that order. Log what comes, tag it, move on.

Gestalt

The dominant impression of the whole. "Water meeting land." "Something tall and man-made."

Sensory

Raw sense data, often phrased as "like a". "Rough, like unfinished concrete." "Smells damp."

Aesthetic

Your own reaction to the place. "I like it here." "Cramped, unpleasant."

Emotional

Emotion present at the target, from people there or from the site itself. "A crowd's excitement." "Heaviness, grief."

Conceptual

Purpose, function, intangibles. "A place for waiting." "Something ceremonial."

Dimensional

Scale, proportion, spatial relations. "Much wider than tall." "A vertical rising out of a flat plane."

Temporal

Sequence, age, change over time. "Old, recently repaired." Viewer-produced dates and times are the least reliable output there is. Log them, trust them least.

AOL and the tentative flag

An AOL, analytical overlay, is your mind naming the signal: "it's the Eiffel Tower." It may or may not relate to the target. Do not fight it and do not believe it. Tag it as AOL and keep going. A tagged AOL is data; an untagged one is a conclusion.

The tentative flag is a different axis, not a smaller AOL. It is atomic filing: log an impression as provisional, awaiting a further pass, without committing to it. It is available from your first session, at White. AOL is a recognition skill the reference introduces at Orange, and its tag unlocks there. One impression can be tentative, an AOL, both, or neither. The goal state behind both is the same: maximize input, delay conclusion.