#inobservant

[the-dot]

having a thought but dont have words and don't want to open myself to disk horse and i'm too tired to really be coherent. thoughts in tags because i'm a coward. this post was originally about how e*rovision trying to say their event isn't political is idiotic. it kind of got away from me because i've slept maybe 6 hours in the last 2 days

[squishosaur]

mao isara and phoenix wright and takumi fire emblem and kozume kenma and touma akechi do not have the same voice actor. that is simply not true...

[druidposting]

To me Phineas and Jonas' relationship is like a schrödinger's box. Its like trying to observe quantum entanglement. Are they a familial bond? Are they romantic? Are they platonic? You fool, theyre all of it simultaneously. We thought Jonas and Phineas quantum particles were chilling in the paternal zone and then we looked at them and suddenly theyre kissing.

Their relationship is inobservable. Intangible. Fundamental. Its everything you think it could be.

[sweetchcolate]

The way Akane's voice goes airy and fluffy and how she blushes when addressing her crush is so cute ^^

Honestly it's insane how observant Ranma can be (figuring out an opponent's weakness, strategising on the go, sussing out Akane's crush on dr Tofu in an instant) and yet how INobservant he can be when it comes to feelings (especially Akane's towards him later on in the series).

[emohorseboy]

I'm so interested in all of your posts about mad liberation. I've never seen anything that puts my thoughts on the whole psych complex into words. I'm really curious to learn more about this. No pressure if not, but do you happen to know of any more comprehensive resources on this? Like books maybe?

Hi, I can definitely give you some recs! My list is a little bit UK centric because that's where I'm based but hopefully it's useful:

In terms of books:

I read 'Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health' by Micha Frazer-Carroll this summer and I can't recommend it enough.

I'm also making my way through 'Call Me Crazy: Stories from the Mad Movement' by Irit Shimrat, which I think is out of print but can be read as a PDF here (hopefully)

I've only dipped in and out of his books for my dissertation but Andrew Scull has written several well regarded books about the history of psychiatry ('Museums of Madness' is the one I've read bits of, 'Desperate Remedies' is on my TBR)

Some books on my TBR: 'The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease' by Johnathan Metzl, 'Drop the Disorder!', 'Searching for a Rose Garden: Challenging Psychiatry, Fostering Mad Studies', 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' by Robert Whitaker

Some really good articles:

'Abolition Must Include Psychiatry' by Stella Akua Mensah

'Mad Activists: The Language We Use Reflects Our Desire for Change' by Lisa Archibold

'Not a naughty child: people’s experiences of service responses to self-injury' by Alison Faulkner and Rachel Rowan Olive

More resources!

The Campaign for Psychiatric Abolition - UK based, they have a lot of really great resources including an extensive recommended reading list, a Psych Abolition 101 Zine, and a resource for making a crisis support plan.

Asylum Magazine - again UK based, radical mental health magazine. To read full issues you need to subscribe (I recently paid for a subscription for a year of digital editions for £10, physical copies are a bit more) but the website has plenty of articles that you can read for free so well worth exploring.

Psych Survivor Archive - US based this time, there is so much on here, the Psych Survivor Zine is the main event but they also have a really great resource list (some of the links are dead though).

Mad in America - publish a lot of really interesting and impactful stuff on their website, I also really like their podcast (particularly recommend this episode about ECT, this one about esketamine, and this one about 'prolonged grief disorder'). There is also Mad in the UK and a number of other country specific sites that exist as part of their Mad in the World Network.

Folks to follow:

Dolly Sen - UK based artist who does and is doing a lot of cool stuff, notably at the moment they are the lead artist for the Birdsong From Inobservable Worlds project. This podcast episode they did is also great.

Nicole / lacey_art_ - another UK based artist, she wrote a poem about a bird recently that I can't stop thinking about (she does a lot of other cool things too).

Rachel Rowan Olive - brilliant and funny artist, she is also on instagram and etsy.

Luna Tic - artist and activist who has been involved with a lot of really brilliant stuff, including the successful StopSIM Coalition here in the UK which managed to bring an end to SIM.

There are so many more I could name and so many more things I could recommend but this post is already so long! I really hope it was helpful. I started trying to be brief and then gave up but I did cut out a fiction and literature recs section because I thought that was overkill lmao. Thank you for giving me an excuse to make this list I had a great time.

Learning about the Mad and psych survivor movements has been so transformative and empowering for me and I could honestly talk about it all day. Please do feel free to send me a message if you want to chat about it more!

[jjsanguine]

No one noticed Phum + Pheem spent all night spooning 🫵🏿😐INOBSERVANT

[grasshopperdoingdogpaddle]

It's the Dragon Boat Festival, but Omi's just sitting by the river, practicing as usual. He's being oddly inobservant of the holiday this year, and Chase can't help but notice.

[thomasrheault]

AU character!

Turin M̶e̶n̶d̶a̶l̶ Dolga LI: Thomas Rebel Hair Color: Black with almost inobservable white streaks which are the result of poliosis. Eye Color: Originally red but she mostly uses black eye contacts Likes: Astronomy, art, debates, luxurious places/things Turin Mendal is Jason's little sister

Backstory: The Mendal family was under lots of threats due to their nefarious activities that formed the main strategy of Goldreamz company. Turin had experienced one of the most catastrophic thing a 10 year-old-child could experience- to witness the bombing of their own house with their parents inside the building. Luckily both Jason and Turin were outside the building, physically getting no harm from the attack. From that day Jason started to run the Goldreamz company while taking care of his little sister as well. He sent her to private schools until she reached a certain age. To keep his sister away from such severe threaths, Jason mostly kept her away from public before creating a fake identity for her. Later affording her a villa which was in a less populated area. He frequently visits his beloved sister in her villa.

With a fake identity, Turin works as an agent for Goldreamz's benefit. She is a serious young woman. Her way with words are very potent. For his brother's sake, she had manipulated many, one could even say she is specialized in it. There were almost no one to suspect her when she worked as a 'casual worker' in companies which were mostly Jason's decleared enemies.

Turin valued knowledge, often searching about her intelectual interests. Thanks to that, she came across Thomas' writings about various topics which were as qualified as reaserch articles. As - That was the reason why Jason insisted her to join Devenementiel after he found out that she was interested in Thomas. Even though Turin mentioned that it was a vague interest, it didn't stop Jason from trying to get these two closer as it was his priority to satisfy his sister. And since normallly Turin showed almost no enthusiasm towards anything nor to anyone, now this was a perfect chance! [Jason called Thomas to ask him to join his company but Thomas refused]

(On this story there weren't any Devenementiel and Goldreamz rivarly to begin with, Jason just made it up so he could have an excuse for his sister to work alongside with Thomas. At the time when Turin started the work at Devenementiel, she informed Jason about various things rather frequently. Not to seem suspicious, she did so with an another smartphone in her villa; not in the office. She didn't hesitate to give all the information. Jason reasoned out that it'd be wise for her to get closer to Thomas since he knew quite a lot. And since it was for her brother's business, she didn't show much of her feelings towards Thomas despite getting closer to him to learn information.

DISCLAIMER!!! Remember that this is an AU, so some things may not have a common ground with the original story. [WIP story]

[elliemarchetti]

Wrong Program

A Jilypad domestic entry for @stag-microfic's prompt 19 (scale)

Words: 340

James looked at the numbers on the scale with suspicion, then, for good measure, took off his glasses, wiped them with the fabric of his pyjama shirt, undoubtedly tighter than usual, and put them back on his nose, realizing with horror that nothing had changed. He had gained weight, and quite a bit.

“I told you you were eating more than usual,” Lily gloated from behind the wooden door, when his silence lasted long enough to be an undeniable confirmation of her theory.

“Don’t worry Prongs, you’ll still be our favourite Quidditch player even with the dad bod,” Sirius added, trying his hardest to hide the relief in his voice. He couldn’t believe he really fell for it, the plan put together so quickly it was mainly based on his best friend’s renowned inobservance in the early hours of the morning.

“Thank you,” Lily murmured, as they went down the stairs. “I know they would��ve given him a new uniform anyway, but I didn’t want all the wives on the team to know I can’t even run a washing machine without causing some kind of damage.”

“My wonderful, capable, and sometimes inexplicably insecure doe, I’m pretty sure none of them knows what a washing machine is, despite the quite self-explaining name,” replied Sirius, placing a stray lock of red hair behind her ear and thus trapping her between his body and the kitchen countertop. He was just about to lean down to graze her lips with his own, as always incredulous but grateful to be able to be so happy and carefree, when a booming voice called him from the small landing.

“Sirius Orion Black, are you perchance kissing my wife while I’m in the middle of a crisis?” James asked, his tone more similar to the one of a spoiled child looking for more attentions than those of a grown adult worried about his non-existent weight gain.

“Perchance,” Sirius responded, probably too quietly to be heard, before drowning out Lily’s laughter with something more passionate than a gentle peck.

[cryingalexanders]

frankly I don't understand why clark continues to think lex would react badly to his secret after shattered/asylum and works against him so he won't remember it. because the show never gives us a valid reason for his fears which isn't directly contradicted by something shown to the audience.

does he think that lex will hate him for failing to rescue him? except that clark tells him that later and lex forgives him right away

does he think lex will tell the world about his powers? his dream in "slumber" seems to indicate so, except that lex kept his secret while rotting in belle reve in a month, even when offered the opportunity to escape, and never has the inclination to tell anyone else even when he discovers it and tries to kill clark at the end of s7. even evil!lex in onyx didn’t threaten to tell anyone, just cursed his own blindness and wanted to use clark for his own ends.

does he think that lex will react badly to him being an alien? except that lex only started growing fearful of alien threats after being possessed by zod in s5. before that he was simply driven by obsessive curiosity about the meter showers and connections to the kryptonian symbols, he never displayed any fear or prejudice. he told clark he's always wanted to meet an alien back in s2 and clark just scowls like he thinks he's being facetious? I can understand that because there's a difference between being able to accept something in theory and in reality, but it reminded me of the scene where lana tells clark she finds the idea of him being bulletproof comforting and clark still chooses to keep lying to her. he ignores even the most blatant signals of 'it's okay you can trust me' and to an extent the breakdown of his relationships is his fault because of this

does he think that lex will sell him out, especially to his father? except that lex warned clark about lionel after dr walden raved about clark being the key to the caves in front of them. and after nixon, lex was always protective and actively tried to direct people's attention away from clark. and he rescued clark from lionel/summerholt's clutches in memoria even having no idea why he was there. and clark not only worked with lionel in memoria (which resulted in him being betrayed and captured at summerholt) but worked with lionel again after he told him he reformed in bound, so it's not that.

does he think lex will hate him forever for lying to him? this one is more valid, I admit, because we do see lex getting more and more bitter over this as it goes on. and there is a scene in s2 where he tells clark that he never forgives people who lie to him or something of that nature. but there's also a lot of scenes in the early seasons where lex can clearly tell that clark is blatantly lying to him about something and lets it slide. I don't know if this is clark's inobservation and paranoia popping up again, or if he's deluded about how good he is at keeping his abilities from lex's notice and genuinely believes he has no idea clark isn't normal (chloe even points out his denial of this with lana in "lockdown", so I think this is actually pretty likely).

but then the way the show treats lex knowing about clark's abilities in s5 onwards is just so weird. they try to backpedal and write lex as more clueless whenever they're writing him eviler, and it treats him having suspicions like it's immoral and a threat to clark regardless of what he does with them. haven't the writers ever heard the phrase "the cat's out of the bag"?

it's a good character flaw for clark to have, and the idea that it's all a misunderstanding is actually really interesting! but the thing is the show doesn't commit to that. it never has clark learn his lesson or accept that his lying and refusing to trust lex hurt him, even when tess tries to call him out on it later (and considering that she was the one behind the memory-wipe in the finale, she clearly came to believe that lex knowing anything was too dangerous as well). it's all so aggravating for the waste.

[fadran]

There are a lot of different kinds of stupid people; right now, I'm going to talk about two of them.

They're categorically connected, in the sense that their views are directly perpendicular, intersecting at a single point of Ultimate Stupidity: the idea that Religion can disprove Science, and the idea that Science can disprove Religion.

Now, I should note that I'm not religious. I was raised LDS, but have ultimately landed somewhere between Atheist and Agnostic now that I'm older and have a mind of my own. I should also note that this is Tumblr, the gayest site in the universe (by volume), and that I see a lot of religious trauma and persecution translate into hatred; and, frankly, I have nothing to say against that. I'm a straight white male, so I've never really been attacked for who I am or what I believe, and I certainly don't have any direct religious trauma - I only want to clarify that nothing I'm trying to say here is meant to attack anyone in particular or any specific institutions.

So, onto the first Stupid Person Archetype: "Religion Disproves Science."

I doubt I have to describe what I mean here. You see it all the time on Twitter (previously known as X); conspiracy theories and far-right extremists who reply to NASA or Bill Nye or whoever else is saying whatever really simple scientific facts happens to be relevant at the time. Climate Change, Vaccines, Evolution, etc. Things like "What you're ignoring is the simple TRUTH that JESUS LOVES YOU and GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE IN HIS IMAGE" or whatever the fuck it is people think actively disproves... well, anything.

It's always completely circular logic. Why is this proven fact false, you say? It's because the Bible said so. What makes you think the Bible is a source of reliable fact and logic? Because it disproves these facts that I don't want to believe. If I'm going to try to debate someone's opinion on a particular subject and they try to cite The Bible, a hodgepodge of dozens of metaphors and traditional stories, then there's no debate to be had. They claim that it's the "truth," that it's "reason," that it's "logic," but it's just not because the Bible is not a scientific journal. It was not peer-reviewed. None of the experiments have clearly-defined parameters, and they certainly haven't been repeated in separate studies. If you're claiming that The Bible is the ultimate truth, then we're playing on two separate fields, and there's no point in even trying. If you claim that The Bible provides empirical or otherwise reliable evidence, then I can easily disprove you.

Now - allow me to turn your focus to the other Stupid Person Archetype: Science Disproves Religion.

When people claim that their religion is a greater truth than putting actual effort into trying to learn more about the world, they're just getting what they think from an echo chamber; they're just deluded. But when people claim that Empirical Evidence and cold, hard rigour can somehow... disprove something entirely inobservable, like God or Faith or the Soul? I'll sometimes tell people that this second archetype is even dumber than just believing God is real and Science is anti-truth propaganda, because you cannot claim to have a focus on the scientific method - hypothesis, observation, cross-references, peer-review - and say that you know for a fact that something strictly unknowable is true or untrue.

I would also like to point out that people will turn to Philosophy for answers, which is... still not great, but better. A lot of people will cite the Epicurean Paradox (God cannot be Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Omnibenevolent all at once) or maybe the Ontological Argument (which I dare not utter here); and this is fine, I guess. At the very least, you're drawing your own conclusions from something well-regarded by educated individuals the world over; but I would urge you again to not regard this as the One and Only Truth.

God cannot be proven or disproven. The is the point. There is no Faith without Uncertainty, there is no Doubt without Uncertainty. That is the singular point that these two utterly foolish views cross through, the Interception of their Folly. What you believe is based on your experience and the conclusions you arrive to in your own mind, and thus limited to you and you alone. To claim a "Truth" is to claim to assert your own Belief over someone else's, and that is something no one can ever Truly do.

[spectralgecko]

I'm just gonna say this for anyone who, like me, is technologically quasi-incompetent/inobservant:

If you are on a Windows computer, the windows key + period opens your Emoji window. Anywhere.

Under that emoji window are of course emojis and gifs, but also typed out emoticons and, even more valuable, other language symbols, math symbols, symbols like ™, other currency symbols, etc.

Tons of 'em.

It's lovely.

[abomnibus]

Aplatonic, Aromantic, Asexual in a "Perceives no division between 'you' or 'I' (or the divine) and therefore struggles to stratifiy relationships and/or attraction to any degree; You are Us, I am You, We are the universe observing each other in exponential elliptical orbit.

Our 'attraction' is every atom in the cosmos reacting to one another ad infinitum, driving forces into observable and inobservable forms, magnetized, electrified together, beyond death, beyond time, in Quantum entanglement."

kind of way.

[snapeingturtle]

Rating some of the Marauders era / snera™️ ships (ships involving ppl the Marauders and Severus went to school with) I've been exposed to because I'm drunk and feeling spicy. Romantic ships only, I have different opinions on the brotps. I could talk about this all night but I chose not to make a long post.

Disclaimer: this is heavily influenced by headcanons I've convinced myself are canon and generally my opinions. Not in order from best to worst because I am drunk and I'm not proofreading this.

Prongsfoot/Starbucks/James x Sirius 10/10. James is just as inobservant as Harry. Of course he didn't notice that Sirius had a crush on him. James didn't even notice he himself was into Sirius. Love it.

Jily/James x Lily 2/10. In my heart Lily is a lesbian. Jily has some potential as a comphet storyline where they're both actually gay and think of each other as the man/woman they're supposed to like. Other than that it's a no from me.

Wolfstar/Remus x Sirius 1/10. Unpopular opinion again, I know. I see Remus having a one-sided crush on Sirius before the prank, but honestly I'm a Ronks stan because I can project my insecurities on Remus and have been in love with Tonks for years and I hate the idea of them being in a relationship with anyone else but each other. Plus, I really don't see Sirius committing and definitely not to Remus. Sirius is a bachelor for life and I identity with that. Another reason to dismiss this ship.

Snily/Severus x Lily 1/10. The only reason I don't rate this at 0 is because they're one of my favourite brotps. She's gay and not his type, they're sister souls, just look at the doe patronuses, they found security in each other like does in a herd etc. and I hate it when people say there were romantic feelings involved. I could accept this with fem!Snape though.

Starchaser (wtf is this name)/Jegulus/James x Regulus 4/10. I think it's funny to have James falling in love with his best friend's brother. I don't have any negative feelings about the ship itself. HOWEVER. As someone who has been exposed to Jegulus content despite not looking for it and Snily content despite not looking for it. Jegulus feels like m/m Snily for people who hate Snape. The content (I've seen) has the same vibe and I cannot get over that.

Remus x Lily 3/10. If I were able to see Lily as not a lesbian I would love this, not as an endgame thing but more as a teen romance that ended on ok terms before they both moved on. No strong feeling about this tbh.

Snegulus/Severus x Regulus 4/10. They're definitely not in love but they're both sluts so they probably fucked and it was probably hot. That's all.

Lily x Mary MacDonald 3/10. I would consider this as another one-sided crush situation. Mary is the token straight in their dorm and that's unfortunate for Lily.

Snucius/Severus x Lucius 8/10. They're not endgame. But they fuck. I refuse to consider Sirius calling Severus Lucius's lapdog anything but calling him his sugar baby. I don't rate this higher because Snucissa is better than just the men.

Lily x Pandora Lovegood 10/10. I don't know if they ever interacted or if they even went to school at the same time but I'm in love with the idea of them together.

Severus x Mulciber 3/10. Another one-sided crush sitch. Snape was infatuated with Mulciber at a certain point, Mulciber (forgot his first name sorry) knew and took advantage of it. That's Snape's slut origin story.

Snupin / Severus x Remus 3/10. They would never date. Doesn't fit my fantasy or the reality of their relationship. But hate-fucking in one of their offices while Remus is employed at Hogwarts? I see that. I dig it.

I also headcanon Dorcas as queer but I don't see her with Lily but I don't have any feelings about that ship in either direction so 3,5/10 maybe?

[yolkchild]

The Eternal Novice, or Why I Love Eggs

A personal essay

Growing up, adults would always praise me for my intellect and artistic ability, whether they were looking at my rants on Coca-Cola being unhealthy or my first attempts at a Twilight Sparkle, things technically every other kid could do but somehow, I perceivedly had a more advanced perspective on these things. I didn't start worrying about grades until around high school. It's safe to say I had the gifted kid experience, but with the caveat that I narrowly dodged the workloads or routines that stretch you thin, those co-created by adults who act as if your capabilities are not only beyond others', they also extend to infinity. At least I avoided them early on: I had a stint like that in my mid-teens completely self-imposed, from years of thinking what everyone else thought about what I could do—and achieving it! I could go 9 hours straight at work or studies or other projects, but at the cost of suffocating my soul. I'm as much victim of grindsets and hustles as many others out there, and combined with my budding ego issues, it leads to quite the frustration when you realize you're not the hyperproductive hyperthoughtful machine you cracked up to be.

Anyway. There was no field of knowledge I found more than finite; everything had a beginner level, then an intermediate one, and then a master's that would every now and then push its ceiling to fit new discoveries. When you grind out books on algebra and geometry and calculus you get a very linear and causal-consequential sense of progress, same with physics or chemistry. You can tell how things flow into one another and it's all very logical, when you're done with the section that's another progress bar ticked, and look how much you've learned. Learning, then, is just a matter of knowing how these models and techniques relate to one another, and then you go up a level on the thousands of levels within this set of things that are True; the good news is that it's really all set in stone, it's just a matter of decrypting it for ourselves.

Here's what's not easy to measure or deduct: retention, applicability. Will I remember it exists when I need it, will I remember how to do this, how to make sure it's the right tool for the job? If you're an expert on matrices yet crumble at the first real-world personal situation that could use them, are you really an expert?

Much like the weightlifter who can only grip barbells and machine handles, I learned to learn rather inflexibly. My application of knowledge would depend on how familiar the context was, and oftentimes it had more to do about everything around the problem than the problem itself; tricks that wouldn't require thinking too hard or double-checking my conception of something. "I know the history teacher is an annoying center-leftist, so I only need to pick the most lefty-sounding answer on this test." What if there's some truth to this perspective on this historical event, or what if other perspectives corroborate an opposite point and if so what would that be, or what if I remember things all wrong or not at all and the lefty answer might not be the lefty answer I think it is? I'd never know, because as much as I liked a challenge, I'd only feel inferior if I entertained something so out of my element for too long or too hard. And what kind of smart and knowledgeable student questions themselves like this? Just know the right answer, and only the right answer, the objective one, it's that simple.

Here's something that is absolutely impossible to measure or deduct: Truth. The capital T Truth. How the cosmos objectively works, the realest of the realities, the only order. I sure knew early on that what they fed me at school wasn't all true, and many of the alternative study routes I'd gander at weren't all true either—but truth isn't quite the word here, more like incomplete or inobservable (if not hard to observe) or warped at the angle. To go back on the earlier example, Gramsci-influenced history was less valid in my eyes, and I thought I'd seek refuge in "truer" revisionist history or whatever else was bundled for radical extremist study. Needless to say, you kill a good portion of nuance when dividing something as complex as history into two polar opposite fields---biased retellings and totally unbiased truth. And this is true for everything, really. It's often more accurate to conceptualize things in spectrums and greyscales, with incountable facets, infinite points of perspective, all the way down and everywhere you look. Truth itself is the same way.

This doesn't come as intuitively when you perceive reality to be set in stone, just like how you yourself are set in stone; that under all the apparent humility you really are something Special and High-Value, just as gravity is ~9.8m/s² or as water's volume is that of its container. Surely, self-discovery is just a matter of decrypting the stone, and personal growth is polishing what's already there. But you know what they say about polished turds. At least most people around me tell me I'm no turd, so it must be true. Right? If I'm good by nature, I couldn't ever act otherwise, I couldn't ever prove them wrong, nor prove myself wrong, right?

One way to never grow is to avoid learning. Sometimes learning requires from you too much humility, because there might be more obstacles and failures on the way than you first expect, and if you find them hard, what does that say about you, as a smart and talented individual? Even worse, what if you end up at what's not the capital T Truth, when being smart and intelligent is so often about being able to find the Truth? That you were wrong, and you're not so smart after all, and so you lied, and this characteristic you attached so strongly to your self-identity barely even exists. And if you're not smart and talented, you're probably just a turd.

————

Religion is stupid, right? The only Truth to it is that no one seems to give a satisfactory proof as to why their system is the Truest one, or any form of reliable observation that couldn't immediately be described in secular terms. Visions, ghosts, demons, angels, people talking in your head, just psychosis. Good things happening to you are as much coincidence or environmental response as the bad things are. The good book doesn't even work as a historical account: the Israelites were just Canaanites in a new paint and they had to convince everyone else they were somehow different, and it's unclear whether they even suffered as slaves in Egypt, and there's no way Noah lived so absurdly long. As far as rationality goes, these just seem like feel-good mythologies to replace real understandings of nature, or tools for oppression and capitalizing on others' guilt, mass hysterias or delusions taken too far, maybe all of these at once.

So theology is entirely about things that ultimately don't matter, just like literary analysis. Sure, you might get the occasional good advice or some philosophical insight, but these are just stories and should be regarded as such, like Plato's cave or the myth of Sisyphus. Their valuable insight isn't inherent to any sort of spiritual authority, you could likely derive a lot of these ideas within a secular context or framework, so no need to be too harsh about it.

But even so, how can you tell how much your thought systems are based on secular, logical, objective and rational patterns? How can you tell that there's not the smallest hint of emotional exaggeration or irrational assumption gluing this thing together? If you could hunt and kill the illogical bugs in your thinking, would there really be an end to them? Would you really want to spend your life in constant scrutiny? And to what end? What has correctness and objectivism done for you, aside from giving you a perceived high ground? Are you making better decisions after all? Are you happy?

You might not be as mechanical as you think you are. But as above, so below, and you might find the universe isn't either. How is a reality legitimized, and to what extent are your senses truer than your neighbor's?

————

Eggs are delicious, with nutrient density in the same leagues as organ meats, yet in a much more compact and accessible form. Its fatty contents are admirable, full of essential—and rare, especially nowadays---micronutrients. Vitamins unique to fat-based foods, a wide array of minerals, cholesterols essential to blood functioning, they just taste like life, a pre-biotic. They also make for a highly versatile ingredient in both baking and savory cooking. Emulsifying creams and sauces, giving an aerated puff, binding and founding the strength of powders to liquids. Eggs can be fermented for bonus nutritional makeups, courtesy of microbes that came with your environment.

Eggs are also wonderfully diverse across different species—different regions, different cultures, different sizes. To match, humanity's reactions, perceptions and uses of eggs are diverse as well: some are allergic, some aren't too fond of the taste, others like it underfried and others like it hardboiled, some put it in sandwiches and others put it raw in smoothies. Mayo and Alfredo sauce share it as a basic ingredient, and people have different opinions or uses for each.

An eggshell is also an ideal canvas. Blue eggshells are beautiful, so are pasture brown and classic white, or the quail speckled. You can paint whatever you like onto an egg, and it'll be every bit as beautiful as you want it to be.

But not everyone thinks all these things or not at once, despite being common interpretations of an egg. An egg's value and meaning therefore live in the eye of the beholder.

————

So this capital T Truth may or may not be impossible to attain, and you're maybe a turd and you're maybe the intellectual they all took you for. How do you know yourself? What makes yourself, anyway? Is yourself your mind and thoughts or is it your soul, or is it the mouth that chews or is it the hands that write? Maybe you're the electromagnetic phenomenon, or the biochemical one, or the metaphysical one. Is a mirror a perfect copy of yourself? How can you look at yourself without inevitably warping yourself in the process, say, by extending your eyes such that they U-turn toward you? How to observe an inobservable object?

English Prime is not only a linguistic exercise, it's also an ontological one. If you remove verbs about being, how do you describe an object of observation?:

I find the name Yolk comfortable and symbolic enough for myself in this state. I often shy away from speaking my mind, as I fear others might mistake the ideas I play with to weigh more seriously than I believe them to. I watched Moral Orel last year, but its significance took a while to set in my heart—and thankfully so, because I don't think I had the conditions to grasp it at the time either. I like partaking in unseriousness because I already had my fill of serious, but not necessarily serious as in negative, moreso as attachment.

This is still a sorely incomplete description of myself, but I'd never truly do myself the justice, and I don't have to. It doesn't actually matter if I am a turd or if I am smart, because beyond being vague terms, they're not very measurable at all, especially if you attempt to do so in the realm of cultural agnosis.

Additionally, as with the continuous simultaneous processes of the weather or the cardiac pulse, it's all change and transformation, every instant. When I wake up in the morning I'll be(have) someone else, and descriptions I once thought accurate fade away. Whatever is consistent makes the mean average that you can more reliably describe and observe. The good news is, as a continuous process, yourself also has tremendous power for change of path, and therefore the power to change consistency and character. Just bear in mind, yourself holds a very complex and multi-faceted system; in purposeful change, the biggest challenge is in recognizing the relationships between factors and consequences.

————

There are just so many different points of theory in spiritual and religious matters, it's hard to find footing in these waters. Thousands of Protestant (or Protestant-leaning) denominations spawned after Luther, simply because many found themselves no longer beholden to a central authority for means of Correct interpretation and practice. And even before Luther, there's already so many denominations split from disagreements on so-called heresy or doctrine or practice, given the multiple Catholicisms and Orthodoxies. So many perspectives, so many arguments, so many regional, historical, political, economic and cultural backgrounds influencing them. Nevermind the ecumenical councils attempting union between them—how does one even try finding any truth, or worse, if they're still stuck on that folly, how does one find a Truth without sticking with pre-conceived notions?

You don't. Like with the self-identity and self-description. What is most consistent in your reality? What empowers you the most? If you wanted to play, how would you, and why not do it always? In the realm of the irrational and the metaphysical, what do your emotions and instincts crave? Why not try a bit of everything and see what sticks? When truth is what you can discern, why not do some housekeeping, decorate the place a bit?

You might find the philosophical insights you find in belief systems around the world have a lot more emotional impact if you open yourself to it. You might end up with a new formative experience that grows you into a more fulfilled, complete character in this cosmic play. But only if you let yourself drift along the streams, rather than drown swimming against them.

————

Across the world, there's a couple consistencies in how eggs are perceived and symbolized by humanity, beyond its obvious dietary aspect. Namely, as an essence of creation, a primordial source of the Cosmos, a rebirth and renewal, a stage in the cycle of life. You may be familiar with the Ourobouros, the snake that eats its tail in a constant cycle of life and death and rebirth; in this manner it is a sibling of the egg. This happens with the Hindus, the Egyptians, some Native American mythologies, and even Finnish folklore. In simpler abstractions of this, eggs can also symbolize fertility, creative and positive potential, good luck for the future.

Christians especially go hardcore on the eggs, and not just out of "pagan" syncretism. With God as the primordial source of the Cosmos, and with Jesus being the Son of God, and also God, and also the Son of Man; with Jesus' story bringing change and renewal to the Hebrew faith of His time; with the hopefully positive future of unity with Christ and God, His story is neatly enveloped and concise in the egg. It's no wonder that the eggs sustained even the commercial, secularized interpretations of Easter—Christ transforms the world as Spring transforms every year, and that's a powerful image.

————

Hopefully I can act as an eggshell canvas for others to springboard their own ideas, or just to provide some value of my own. I hope to humble and empty myself so as to stay open for new perspectives, new modes of being. And hopefully, by cultivating a continuous rebirth cycle of the self, I can be the yolkchild I aspire to keep being.

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Pysanky eggs taken from here.

[kariachi]

Followers may remember this reboot fic, featuring an Argit going 'I have to meet this kid who built this watch'.

There's a quick little sequel now.

~~

Argit didn’t get involved with the fight at first. He wasn’t a fighter, he’d told them, especially not to be going up against Vilgax the Conqueror. Pointing out that he’d handled him before had done nothing. It wasn’t until the hind-end of the fight that he joined in, quilling Vilgax with ease. Shrugging and letting off a ‘you always said I was most like Ma’ in response to his betrayed expression as he collapsed.

Kevin was not so inobservant as not to notice it had happened the second time Vilgax had seemingly taken him out of the fight, when he’d promised to make sure he didn’t get back up this time.

Even if he hadn’t, the way Argit immediately bee-lined to his side while Ben cleaned up was unmissable, one ear focused on the fight as he tended Kevin’s wounds with practiced ease.

Maybe that was why, when he wandered off again, he let him tag along. Maybe it was the way he’d scoffed at the idea of sticking comfortably with the Tennysons over roughing it with him. All that talk before, of hearing about his earlier encounters with Vilgax and needing to meet him. His indignance at the rest of the galaxy being seemingly uncaring towards him, towards his accomplishments. The way he openly laughed at his jokes and pranks.

How those big yellow eyes had shone as he patched him up, talking about Kevin being exactly what he’d expected and more in a tone like he was describing some natural wonder…

Whatever the reason- and later Ben and Gwen will both give him knowing looks he’s going to have to put salt in their sugar container for- Kevin can’t help but let himself be impressed with the ease at which Argit steals them dinner. To listen with rapt attention to lessons on running proper cons. As he talks them out of bad situations, and Kevin out of bad ideas. To fall into two-sided language lessons with ease, unable to make himself get angry when Argit laughs at his stubborn attempts to pronounce sounds humans surely aren’t meant to make. Gain a whole new appreciation for things that sparkle and shine, watching Argit’s head just about twist off his neck every time they pass a jewelry counter.

If nothing else by the end of the month, curled up in a motel room they’d broken into, Kevin slipping into the kind of sleep he’d only started managing again in the prior weeks, Argit warm at his back, he can happily call it one of his better decisions.