The Inguma And The Similar

[GibberingEloquence]

The Inguma, Nightmares Of The Other

Banishment does not entail death, it is death in itself. Do you want to be cast out into the darkness beyond the cave's bonfire?

While eating from our food, living in our home, and hearing our stories, it is the way of the world to inherit our likeness and our karma.

It is not good for Man to be alone. There is a loneliness worse than death. We may not be perfect, but we love you, our reflection.

One day you will venture far beyond the cave and learn what is out there. You will bring us the Elixir, the Holy Grail, the Final Testament.

It might not be as we expect it to be. To venture is to see, to see is to change, to change is to live. And in so living, karma is lifted.

Our likeness is but a vessel. Man is not the ape who found Fire, Man is the idea of Fire. To keep a Fire going, it must be passed on.

The things that Fire will illuminate may be terrifying, they may be incomprehensible, they may even be essentially the same as us.

And that's alright.

The Similar, The Forsworn Of Others

Listen, and understand. No one has accomplished anything important without help.

Helping is more than the sharing of resources and protection. It connects us beyond what is perceptible.

When you and I are less than dust, our words and deeds will live on inside the minds and hearts of tomorrow.

Do you want to be remembered as someone you are not, a victim of those who cannot learn from history?

If not, then it is your duty to preserve your legacy. No tower resists the ravages of time without strong foundations.

There will be forces of upheaval, there will be movements of calamity, and there will be vipers in your own nest.

It all begins when the unfit and ungrateful cannot create, and embrace the comforting excuses of destruction.

Welcome them into your cities. Give them food, homes, books, whatever is needed to make them your people.

After all, how can they ever destroy a community that welcomed them, without destroying themselves?

This is the secret of all triumphant civilizations: there can be no collapse from within if there are no outsiders.

[GibberingEloquence]

I'd rather let people interpret the original post however they prefer, but I am also aware that this is part of a TTRPG, and thus needs to be firmly comprehensible rather than just an abstract spiritual piece. So, against my own fears and preconceptions, let me just say I am open to unpacking the ideas behind the original post in a more concrete and straightforward format, as long as proper civil discourse is maintained in spite of the potentially contentious subject matter at the core of it. I might end up ruining some of the mythic mystique I aimed for, but better to share steaks than to eat feces by yourself.

[ArcaneArts]

Excuse me?

[TerrorCooper]

Excuse me?

Ditto, plus the ammendmant of a flat what.

[Primordial newcomer]

I mean, there's no monopoly on subjects of discussion, but I didn't expect this when I clicked the thread

[ArcaneArts]

I mean, there's no monopoly on subjects of discussion, but I didn't expect this when I clicked the thread

Oh yeah, there's no rule against a format use, and since I haven't finished the STV product, THere's nothing about the content usage either.

nevertheless, borrowing Cooper's amendment, what.

[TempleBuilder]

Now, I don’t truly know what’s going on any more than anyone else, but I think this is a artistic piece, designed to inspire discussion around the Inguma and their counterpart. I’m not a art critic, but the use of mirrors might suggest the idea of finding aspects oneself, in others. With the Inguma mirror, there is no reflection, they are wholly separate from ones self. It is quite the lovely mirror, though I cannot perceive the materials is was hewn from. Perhaps from marble, perhaps from bone. With the Similar mirror, the broken reflection shows the monster in aspects of others that don’t match one’s self. The small text illuminates the Inguma’s acceptance of being cast from the tribe of humanity, to be separate and other. It posits that humanity is better off not alone, huddling around the Fire of it’s knowledge. Instead, one day, the light cast from the fire will show the the world, with all it’s shadowy others. And among them, humanity may find those who, really, in the end, aren’t all that different from itself. That’s how it made me feel, anyways.

Edit: It’s quite the comforting message, for one who lives in a world of masks. Even if, perhaps, it was not the one the author intended.

[GibberingEloquence]

Now, I don’t truly know what’s going on any more than anyone else, but I think this is a artistic piece, designed to inspire discussion around the Inguma and their counterpart. I’m not a art critic, but the use of mirrors might suggest the idea of finding aspects oneself, in others. With the Inguma mirror, there is no reflection, they are wholly separate from ones self. It is quite the lovely mirror, though I cannot perceive the materials is was hewn from. Perhaps from marble, perhaps from bone. With the Similar mirror, the broken reflection shows the monster in aspects of others that don’t match one’s self. The small text illuminates the Inguma’s acceptance of being cast from the tribe of humanity, to be separate and other. It posits that humanity is better off not alone, huddling around the Fire of it’s knowledge. Instead, one day, the light cast from the fire will show the the world, with all it’s shadowy others. And among them, humanity may find those who, really, in the end, aren’t all that different from itself. That’s how it made me feel, anyways.

Edit: It’s quite the comforting message, for one who lives in a world of masks. Even if, perhaps, it was not the one the author intended.

That's the crux of it, yes. I am glad it made you feel something positive.

[ArcaneArts]

Now, I don’t truly know what’s going on any more than anyone else-

I'm not even saying anything about the stuff, since even in 2019 I drew a line between mirror stage initiation and the Inguma.

But this is not a contextless series of what-the-fucks.

[GibberingEloquence]

I'm not even saying anything about the stuff, since even in 2019 I drew a line between mirror stage initiation and the Inguma.

But this is not a contextless series of what-the-fucks.

OK, cards on the table, Arc. It's meant to be an homage to these essays of yours, yes. But I wanted to avoid merely copying your writing style, and ended up going too far in the other direction, it seems.

[ArcaneArts]

OK, cards on the table, Arc. It's meant to be an homage to these essays of yours, yes. But I wanted to avoid merely copying your writing style, and ended up going too far in the other direction, it seems.

I just needed some clarification on the table, my dude. Without details, you might imagine any number of ways it might be read.

With that clarification, it's actually a pretty decent glance at the Inguma.

[GibberingEloquence]

I just needed some clarification on the table, my dude. Without details, you might imagine any number of ways it might be read.

With that clarification, it's actually a pretty decent glance at the Inguma.

I am a writer. I gave up on the idea of controlling how other people interpret my words on the day I hatched. Or did I rise from the slab? Maybe I sprung fully formed from the brow of John Doe? No matter. Sorry for the lack of clarity, and thanks for the compliment. Looking forward to your take on this Forswearing.

[TempleBuilder]

So, I guess if we are to discuss the Fear of Others, and the antithesis of that fear, we might need to define some terms. So, what is the Other. Well it’s something that isn’t the Self. What is the Self? Well, it’s what makes you, well, you. The self is all that you are.

But why fear the Other? Well, on the whole, people don’t. Or really, they seemed to learn to cope, and adjust. The main method of doing so is becoming familiar with something, to learn it’s similarity or lack there of. The dirt isn’t scary, it’s just part of every day existence. It was here before you, and it will be after. The people around you aren’t scary…at least, not because they aren’t you. When we see bits of our Self in things, we tend to like it because we can relate. So then, why do we shudder at the doll with teeth? It having teeth would make it closer to us than without, and going by the rule, it should increase how much we like it. But it doesn’t. Some, deep part of us in just little bit more unnerved. Why? Because sometimes things worry us because they are too similar. When a thing is clearly not like you, it’s clearly something else. When something is human, well it’s a lot like you. But when something sits on the dividing between Self and Other, one can’t be sure what exactly it is. The closer something gets to that line, the worse humanity feels about it. That is the true frightful face of the Other, most horrifying when it’s almost like you.

So, what happens when that reaction is towards something human?

[GibberingEloquence]

So, I guess if we are to discuss the Fear of Others, and the antithesis of that fear, we might need to define some terms. So, what is the Other. Well it’s something that isn’t the Self. What is the Self? Well, it’s what makes you, well, you. The self is all that you are.

But why fear the Other? Well, on the whole, people don’t. Or really, they seemed to learn to cope, and adjust. The main method of doing so is becoming familiar with something, to learn it’s similarity or lack there of. The dirt isn’t scary, it’s just part of every day existence. It was here before you, and it will be after. The people around you aren’t scary…at least, not because they aren’t you. When we see bits of our Self in things, we tend to like it because we can relate. So then, why do we shudder at the doll with teeth? It having teeth would make it closer to us than without, and going by the rule, it should increase how much we like it. But it doesn’t. Some, deep part of us in just little bit more unnerved. Why? Because sometimes things worry us because they are too similar. When a thing is clearly not like you, it’s clearly something else. When something is human, well it’s a lot like you. But when something sits on the dividing between Self and Other, one can’t be sure what exactly it is. The closer something gets to that line, the worse humanity feels about it. That is the true frightful face of the Other, most horrifying when it’s almost like you.

So, what happens when that reaction is towards something human?

There is a technical term for this, a fascinating one too.

[TempleBuilder]

There is a technical term for this, a fascinating one too.

Indeed! And I’d argue that that makes up a major component of the Inguma. But it’s not all. For example, the anxiety that someone else could entirely replace you in your life, and nobody you care about would ever know. They also carry symbolism many kinds of personal angst, like that of people not seeing for who you are, that you aren’t as good at stuff as everyone seems to think, that you don’t fit in.

I personally find a lot of overlap between the primal fears that families represent, which is most apparent between the fear of the depths, and the fear of the dark. After all, in the abyss, there seems to be no light. I, perhaps wrongly, often associate the Inguma with the inability to tell what others are thinking. Perhaps that is more the territory of the Eshmaki.