#Human Conduct

[adventuresofalgy]

The weather birds had promised Algy a brief respite from the drenching Scotch mist, and he was gratified to discover that for once their forecast was correct, for the next morning was decidedly brighter, and although the rain – and no doubt the mist too – would surely return, it was pleasant to see the world again, and to be able to relax without having to shake the water off one's feathers every few seconds…

Flying back to the edge of the peat bog, Algy settled down on a convenient bank of heather, which bordered one of the many small pools to be found scattered across the treacherous marsh. Leaning back happily on the accommodating wee bushes, he pondered the mysteries of the wild west Highland weather, and thought how very much more agreeable it was not to be soaking wet… If only it could last!

But for now he was both dry and comfortable, and so – forgetting about his recent drenching and the dreariness of the short, dark days – Algy turned his thoughts instead to his human friends who were beset by quite different concerns and miseries. He knew that many were greatly worried about the human conduct of the world, and some were perhaps even falling victim to its excesses.

Reclining in the tranquillity of a wilderness where "the great heron feeds", Algy recalled a particularly apposite poem, and he very much hoped that those of his friends who were troubled or distressed would also be able to come into the peace of wild things and rest for a while…

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

[Algy is quoting the poem The Peace of Wild Things by the contemporary American writer Wendell Berry.]

[fieriframes]

[BEFORE GETTING INTO THE MOVIE INDUSTRY. AND MORALITY IS SELDOM A SAFE GUIDE FOR HUMAN CONDUCT. I HIT MY WALL AND SAID, "ENOUGH'S ENOUGH, AND I WANT TO GO COOK AGAIN."]

[a-journey-to-true-self]

Lessons from Surah Al-Qalam: A Deep Dive into Divine Justice and Human Conduct

Surah Al-Qalam, the 68th chapter of the Quran, serves as a profound reminder of the principles of divine justice and human morality. This Surah, revealed in Mecca, addresses both the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the disbelievers, offering lessons that are relevant to all of humanity. Here, we explore key themes and lessons from the Surah that guide Muslims towards righteousness and…

[stuckinapril]

Went from being totally lost as a teenager to finding solace in aesthetics and fitting urself into a template in my late teens and now I think I struck a healthy intermediate where I know who I am as a person generally but I’m also completely subscribed to the idea of evolving and would never deny trying something just bc it doesn’t fit the image of myself I crafted in my head

[stealingyourbones]

Short DPXDC Prompts #656

the Green Lantern Corps get word of the Anti Ecto Acts. This is against everything they stand for. Time to do something about them.

[toastcryptid]

Continuation of this

[gingermintpepper]

Sometimes I am so overwhelmed by my fondness for Phoebus Apollo.

Re-reading the Iliad is always such a treat for me because I just love seeing Apollo's arc parallel Achilles' so entirely. There are a ton of examples I can pull from but I'm mostly thinking of that very first argument between Achilles and Agamemnon about returning Chryseis and how Achilles accosting Agamemnon quickly gets derailed when Agamemnon threatens to take Achilles' own prize from him (which prompts Achilles to say that his hard work isn't being respected, that he's earned this, that the men themselves agreed to let him have Briseis and Agamemnon doesn't have the right to overturn their communal decision, that he'll take his men and leave if Agamemnon refuses to respect him and the men out there dying on Menelaus' behalf of a plague propagated by his unworthy brother of all people) and how that comes around in Book 21 when Poseidon levies a challenge at Apollo's feet for more or less the same reasons but Apollo flat out refuses to lose sight of his purpose in the war. Even after Artemis herself calls Apollo's pride into question and tells him that if he chickens out of the duel, he better never boast again, Apollo refuses to fight against Poseidon, very staunchly citing that, to the gods, to him, the war is a job, that it is mortals who are emotionally invested in the outcome of this battle and that their squabble is not worth disrespecting his uncle over.

And I love that so much because if any of the gods had a reason to be as petty as possible about this war, it was Apollo. Disregarding how much he adored the royal family, disregarding how much he adored Hector specifically, two of his beloved sons were brutalised by Achilles, the premiere Greek fighter, his temples had been sacked and defiled, his image was being completely disrespected and yet, despite everything, the one line he refused to cross was taking out any of the frustration he was feeling on his family - even if it was the uncle that was openly and frequently disparaging him and antagonising him.

And I just think that's so so neat.

[kaiserouo]

i just wanna see drifter and stalker daddy it shouldn't have to be this hard to do

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

this is what I've learned about the practice of politics over the past 8 years:

the time for talking about abstract political ideals is during the primary.

after the primary, the die has been cast, and your two choices are there whether you like them or not. your practical political responsibility still exists. any choice that seems to lie outside the two candidates is an illusion. to cast a vote for a third party or to not vote at all is still, practically speaking, a choice for one of the two main candidates.

furthermore, you are not voting for the candidates as people, you are voting for them as policy. voting for a person is a luxury most countries don't have anymore. you think Canadian Christian voters ever get a truly Christian ticket on either side? Norwegian Christians? Japanese Christians? America might still be able to vote for people in the primaries, but we don't have that luxury in the general election. the general election is about policy, and the candidates are only pieces in a larger game of chess.

the only thing that would persuade me NOT to vote for Trump this time around is if he had the exact same policy platform as Kamala Harris. if Trump ran on all of Harris' policies except for immigration, I would still vote for Trump, because it's materially worse for my family, friends, and neighbors to allow illegal immigration than to stop it. and as a voter, I have the power to stop it.

[mummer]

they should let you choose whether or not you’re willing to pay for military spending with your taxes. how wide is the gulf between being drafted and having your money forcibly diverted to fund military operations. you should be able to be a conscientious objector to both. Vonnegut voice I have also told them not to work for companies which make massacre machinery and to express contempt for people who think we need machinery like that.

[vagun1ka]

i have finished watching g-witch and Belmeria is person I relate the most to.

[socialprawn]

Qué rara

[i-have-41-protons]

Ah yes, me and my friends: discussing whether or not Ezra Squall would mew, in the group chat. Perfectly reasonable, mhm

[a-journey-to-true-self]

Lessons from Surah Al-Qalam: A Deep Dive into Divine Justice and Human Conduct

Surah Al-Qalam, the 68th chapter of the Quran, serves as a profound reminder of the principles of divine justice and human morality. This Surah, revealed in Mecca, addresses both the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the disbelievers, offering lessons that are relevant to all of humanity. Here, we explore key themes and lessons from the Surah that guide Muslims towards righteousness and…

[mindshelter]

i've really had xina and miguel's dynamic under a microscope lately; right now my object of scrutiny is xina's use of "kevorkian" in issue #26. it's a quick, tongue-in-cheek comment about miguel's suicidality; kevorkian, at the time of publication, was routinely making headlines for his stance taken and assistance in physician-assisted suicides.

we know early on that xina is, as miguel describes, a "twencen freak," which manifests the most prominently via a love for old pop culture, but it doesn't stop there. she notably talks about alchemax's habit of erasing history, has a lifelike version of a old political figure in her home, and, in this case, brings up a name that's big in bioethics debates.

importantly, she says it very offhandedly, implying that she and miguel have had these discussions before—and i doubt the state is particularly eager to bring up any talk of ethics to their scientists-in-training.

my take on miguel sinking deeper into alchemax's agenda is that while he really doesn't care for the institution itself, he's mistakenly convinced himself that he's chosen the most politically neutral option possible. science is anything but apolitical; it is deeply, irretrievably steeped in concerns about morality. at the time miguel and xina were drifting apart, this wasn't something he wanted to mull over. (after all, once he realizes he's an accessory to state-sanctioned oppression, he wants nothing more than his life to end.)

xina is smart, yes—and i think, knowledgeable, specifically, in ways that directly challenged the delicate mental gymnasium that miguel had started to build for himself. it's not just that xina being more intelligent became a problem. she was also probably (and rightfully) challenging the value of his work, the completeness of his knowledge, and becoming a huge source of cognitive dissonance.

he's the geneticist, but xina, who specializes in an entirely different field, was engaging him in talks about the ethical implications of the work he was doing. trying to get him to think for himself, appealing to the good person she sincerely believes exists in this strange new version of her friend.

[irenespring]

Me: I'm going to get back into writing fanfiction for a fun creative writing outlet, while I work on other humanities and social sciences in classwork :) Also me: Has now read at least one official medical study, multiple interest/support group and government reports, and several online testimonials re: House's possible amputation vs. non-narcotic pain treatments sans amputation, and now has a pretty good mental chart going of decidedly STEM things.

I have been tricked into researching STEM. Creative writing has betrayed me.