#the lost universe

[swedebeast]

NASA release a tabletop roleplaying game

No joke.

[theguywithaoriginalname]

Nasa TTRPG! whaa

[vaguegrant]

A NASA module for your own table

I don't know that I'd want to play this, because it has a little bit of that "take a good thing and make it EdUcAtIoNaL" vibe I find offputting—but I would absolutely tear it apart for bits to use and the sheer joy of using "the NASA adventure" at my table. And frankly, it doesn't look awful!

A dark mystery has settled over the city of Aldastron on the rogue planet of Exlaris. Researchers dedicated to studying the cosmos have disappeared, and the Hubble Space Telescope has vanished from Earth’s timeline. Only an ambitious crew of adventurers can uncover what was lost. Are you up to the challenge?

This adventure is designed for a party of 4-7 level 7-10 characters and is easily adaptable for your preferred tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) system.

God I love the raw geekery on display here. You know some engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center is cackling gleefully to themselves about being paid to write a D&D module on government time, and good on them. And you know, the blend of fantasy and science isn't the worst I've seen by a long shot. Good work!

[canisalbus]

✦ Freshly ordained ✦

[sourkreem]

apparently, dick and jason's love language is to crash their baby brother's first date

[gamesatwork]

e458 — Generative Podcast

AI thought experiment on replacing all music with Taylor Swift covers, AI software engineers, engaging talks at Monkigras & NASA’s game “The Lost Universe”

Photo by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash Published 18 March 2024 Michael M and Andy get together to talk tech while missing Michael R – focusing on AI thought experiments, engaging talks at Monkigras and NASA’s tabletop game “The Lost Universe”. Starting off with an article from NewScientist, Andy and Michael M engage in the thought experiment of whether an AI could replace all music (ALL music) with…

[dddemigirl]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hubble Space Telescope (@nasahubble)

[bixels]

Learning that fans hated Applejack and called her "boring" is crazyyy to me because I genuinely, unironically believe AJ's the most complex character in the main six.

Backstory-wise, she was born into a family of famers/blue collar workers who helped found the town she lives in. She grew up a habitual liar until she had the bad habit traumatized outta her. She lost both her parents and was orphaned at a young age, having to step up as her baby sister's mother figure. She's the only person in the main gang who's experienced this level of loss and grief (A Royal Problem reveals that AJ dreams about memories of being held by her parents as a baby). She moved to Manhattan to live with her wealthy family members, only to realize she'll never fit in or be accepted, even amongst her own family. The earlier seasons imply she and her family had money problems too (In The Ticket Master, AJ wants to go to the gala to earn money to buy new farm equipment and afford hip surgery for her grandma).

Personality-wise, she's a total people-pleaser/steamroller (with an occasional savior complex) who places her self worth on her independence and usefulness for other people, causing her to become a complete workaholic. In Applebuck Season, AJ stops taking care of herself because of her obsessive responsibilities for others and becomes completely dysfunctional. In Apple Family Reunion, AJ has a tearful breakdown because in she thinks she dishonored her family and tarnished her reputation as a potential leader –– an expectation and anxiety that's directly tied to her deceased parents, as shown in the episode's ending scene. In The Last Roundup, AJ abandons her family and friends out of shame because believes she failed them by not earning 1st place in a rodeo competition. She completely spirals emotionally when she isn't able to fulfill her duties toward others. Her need to be the best manifests in intense pride and competitiveness when others challenge her. And when her pride's broken, she cowers and physically hides herself.

Moreover, it's strongly implied that AJ has a deep-seated anger. The comics explore her ranting outbursts more. EQG also obviously has AJ yelling at and insulting Rarity in a jealous fit just to hurt her feelings (with a line that I could write a whole dissection on). And I'm certain I read in a post somewhere that in a Gameloft event, AJ's negative traits are listed as anger.

Subtextually, a lot of these flaws and anxieties can be (retroactively) linked to her parents' death, forcing her to grow up too quickly to become the adult/caregiver of the family (especially after her big brother becomes semiverbal). Notice how throughout the series, she's constantly acting as the "mom friend" of the group (despite everything, she manages to be the most emotionally mature of the bunch). Notice how AJ'll switch to a quieter, calmer tone when her friends are panicking and use soothing prompts and questions to talk them through their emotions/problems; something she'd definitely pick up while raising a child. Same with her stoicism and reluctance at crying or releasing emotions (something Pinkie explicitly points out). She also had a childhood relationship with Rara (which, if you were to give a queer reading, could easy be interpreted as her first 'aha' crush), who eventually left her life. (Interestingly enough, AJ also has an angry outburst with Rara for the same exact reasons as with EQG Rarity; jealous, upset that someone else is using and changing her). It's not hard to imagine an AJ with separation anxiety stemming from her mother and childhood friend/crush leaving. I'm also not above reading into AJ's relationship with her little sister (Y'all ever think about how AB never got to know her parents, even though she shares her father's colors and her mother's curly hair?).

AJ's stubbornness is a symptom of growing up too quickly as well. Who else to play with your baby sister when your brother goes nonverbal (not to discount Big Mac's role in raising AB)? Who else to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your crying baby sister when your grandma needs her rest? When you need to be 100% all the time for your family, you tend to become hard-stuck with a sense of moral superiority. You know what's best because you have to be your best because if you're aren't your best, then everything'll inevitably fall apart and it'll be your fault. And if you don't know what's best –– if you've been wrong the whole time –– that means you haven't been your best, which means you've failed the people who rely on you, which means you can't fulfill your role in the family/society, which makes you worthless . We've seen time and time again how this compulsive need to be right for the sake of others becomes self-destructive (Apple Family Reunion, Sound of Silence, all competitions against RD). We've seen in The Last Roundup how, when no longer at her best, AJ would rather remove herself from her community than confront them because she no longer feels of use to them.

But I guess it is kinda weird that AJ has "masculine" traits and isn't interested in men at all. It's totally justified that an aggressively straight, misogynistic male fandom would characterize her as a "boring background character." /s

At the time of writing this, it's 4:46AM.

[poppitron360]

Underrated moment in TLH:

When Leo just fucking KNOWS how to fly a helicopter. He like puts a hand on it and can instantly recite the make and model, knows it’s top speed and altitude and how much fuel it has left. And then he fucking flies it. He’s 15, untrained, and unlicensed, and he’s flying a helicopter. Has anyone talked about how Hephaestus kids are seriously OP?

[pbnmj]

(not) your guy in the chair

[yourimaginaryfriiendd]

dp x dc prompt or smth

Danny was lost. Yes, lost.

“Hey, can you point me in the direction of the bathroom?” He asked a random dude.

“HOW DID YOU GET IN THE BATCAVE?!”

“Jeez no need to yell, I just want to find the bathroom man.”

—

Danny was lost again, damn he has bad luck.

“Hey man, do you know how to get to Crime Alley (or really any other street)?”

“HOW DID YOU GET HERE?! WE’RE 3,000 METERS UNDER THE OCEAN?!”

“My phone won’t work :(“ He says as he looks at his phone, which was not working.

[botanyshitposts]

public libraries are so crazy man. like you’re telling me I can read this book for free

[i-eat-mold]

Fun fact! Did you know ch117 didn’t happen?

[vielesundnichts]

- reyna biddy

[nancywheeeler]

hopeless time loop. the way out isn’t to save everyone. the way out isn’t to save even one person. the way out isn’t to change anything. the way out is accepting how it happened the first time is how it always will be. that’s how you acted, that’s how they acted, that’s how you would have acted every time if you weren’t given the curse of hindsight. the way out is accepting you can’t fix the past; you can only forgive yourself for it.

[mydirtyvalentine]

you won’t like the answer