#the time of the nerds has come

[todayontumblr]

Thursday, August 24.

Chandrayaan-3.

India has become the first country to land at the lunar south pole, and we consider this very cool space news. Among the very coolest of space news, perhaps. And truth be told it is truly *monumental*. While many are discussing the usual geopolitical gossip that seemingly goes in tandem with such cool space news, the significance of the landing not for any one nation, but potentially for the human race, is huge. So today, to the nation of India, its brilliant scientists at Isro, and all those who worked towards #chandrayaan3, we salute your fine, very cool space work.

One of the mission's principal aims will be to search for water-based ice that, scientists believe, could support future human habitation on the Moon. However, we would ask you to spare a thought at this time for the plucky little rover, who will wizz (albeit slowly) around the Moon's south pole for one lunar day (around 14 Earth days.) Named Pragyan, which means “wisdom” in Sanskrit, the rover will analyze the elemental composition of the Moon’s surface, and assess the composition of elements like magnesium and aluminium in the lunar soil around the landing site. 

But we can't help but think of this cute little rover, its six wheels leaving imprints of Isro and India’s national emblem on the lunar surface, up there frightened, away from home, all alone :( 

[zephyrchama]

I like to sometimes think that the OM! demons and angels have a heightened sense for noticing other beings, like they know when someone or something is nearby even if it's incredibly still and silent. But they're so used to MC being around that MC can completely slip under their radar. MC's presence is a totally natural, constant part of their daily life. For better or for worse, they're too used to it.

They're just chilling in their room, doing whatever, until MC coughs. It really spooks them. Maybe they jump a little.

"How long have you been there?"

"I came in, like, three hours ago."

"What have you been doing that entire time?"

"I dunno, just... sitting here?"

"The whole time?"

"Yeah."

👀

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

This one is dedicated to @shirokokuro, who made a lifeguard AU fic to fill the void where there was none.

Read it here! It's great: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51598429

[swordheld]

hi! your blog is one of my favourites and i absolutely adore reading your thoughts. my grandfather recently passed away and it feels like i lost myself with him. how do i continue living after this? there is this constant weight on my chest and it feels like an emptiness has made a home inside of me. how do i go on when it feels like the world crashed on my shoulders?

hello, love! this is so very sweet and kind of you, and i hope you're treating yourself gently and kindly right now - there aren't words for a loss like this. that heaviness is difficult, and hard, and painful. it's okay if things don't feel okay, right now, or even soon - i think that's something that a lot of the people i know that have gone through similar grief feel: like they should be able to get back to a relative 'normal' in a [insert far too short period of time].

but it's okay if it hurts. that's where i'd like to start. you're allowed to feel that emptiness, that world-crashed feeling that goes beyond words, beyond time. don't feel like you have to rush this to feel some sort of better. things get easier with time, i promise you this, but sometimes painful feelings are important to feel, too. cry, scream, feel your emotions. they're a part of you. grieve.

it's perhaps a little silly, but when i think about death i always think about a couple of space songs: mainly drops of jupiter by train and saturn by sleeping at last. there are perhaps others that speak to the emotions better, but these two have always hit something a little deeper for me, and are popular for a wide-reaching reason.

and while personally i don't know much about grief like this, i do know a lot about love; and i think they're a lot of the same thing.

the people we love are a part of us, and this is why it takes from us so deeply when we lose them, because it does feel like we've lost a part of ourselves in the wake of it. but it's because they were so central to our experiences of living - our lives, that the separation introduces a hollowness - a place where they used to be. a home that now goes unlived in.

an emptiness, like you said.

but just because they're not here physically, doesn't mean he's not still there, in your heart, in your life, your memory. you can hold him close in smaller ways, as well: steal a sweater, or cologne/scent for something a little more physical and long lasting for remembering. hold onto the memories you cherish, the things that made you laugh, the ease of slow mornings and gentle nights. write them all down, slide a few photographs in there, go through it and add more when you miss him. keep them all close, keep them in your heart.

you're not alone, in this. he's still there, with you, it's just - in the little things.

he's with you in the way you see and go about your daily life, in doing what he liked to do, in the ways he interacted with the world that you shared with him. the memories you recall fondly when the night is late or the moment is right and something calls it into you like a melody, an old bell, laughter you'd recognize anywhere.

but i think, perhaps most importantly above all others - talk about him. with your family, your friends, his friends, strangers; stories are how we keep the people we love alive. the connections they've made, the legacies and experiences they've left behind, and so, so many stories.

how lucky, we are - to love so much it takes a piece of us when they go. grief is the other side of the coin, but it does not mean our love goes away. it lives in you. it lives in everyone who knew him, in the smallest pieces of our lives.

the people we love never really leave us, like this: they're in how we cook and the way we fold our newspapers, our laundry, in the radio stations we tune in to and the way we decorate our walls, our photo albums. they're in the way we store our mail, organize our closets, the scribbled notes in the indexes of our books. the meals we love and the drinks we mix, the way we spend time with one another. they've been passed down for generations, for longer than history - and we are all the luckier for it.

think about what you shared with him, and do it intentionally. bring him into your life, like this, again. whether it's crosswords or poetry or sports or anything else. if one doesn't help, try another. something might click.

i hope things feel a little easier for you, as they tend to do only with time. i hope you find joy in your grief, even if it is small and hard to grasp at first. know that your hurt stems from so much love that there isn't a place to put it properly, and that it is something so meaningful and hurting poets and storytellers have been struggling to put it into words and sounds that feel like the fit right for eons, and that it is also just simply yours. sometimes things don't have to make sense. sometimes they just are - unable to be put into words or neat little sentiments, as unfair and tragic as they come.

but i promise it will not feel like this forever. your love is real. and perhaps, on where to begin on from here - i think it's less on finding where to begin and just beginning. and you've already started. you've taken the most important and crucial step: the first one. wherever you go, after that, from here? you'll figure it out. you always have, and you always do. it'll come, as things always do. love leads us, as does light - and you're never alone in your hurt. in your grief, your missing something dear to you. i think if you talk about it with others, you'll find they have ways of helping you cope as well - and they have so much love of their own to spare, too.

as an aside, here is the song (northern star by dom fera) i was listening to when i wrote this, for no other reason more than it makes me think of connections, and love, and how we hold onto the people we love and how they change us, wonderfully and intrinsically. it's a little more joyous than the others i've mentioned, and plays like a story, and it made me think of what is at the core of this, love and stories and i am here with you, and maybe it'll bring you some joy, if you'd like it. wishing you all my love and ease 💛

[johnbly]

[goldensunset]

surprise art attack!!! here’s @deityofhearts ‘s cashmere, everyone’s favorite whimsical tiefling

[thefarminggoblin]

Yugioh pet names

I’ve been on a rewatch of YGO while I embroider because it requires a lot of my attention. Dear lord does it need the Dragon Ball Kai treatment…

Also, I feel recently there’s been a resurgence of the fandom for some reason. Soooo here’s some dumb headcanons that refused to leave my brain about the boys who play children’s card games.

🃏 Yugi: cutie, baby, honey, sweetheart, my love, bunny. This man is a ray of sunshine and will use them often. A total sucker for pet names. Will blush with the more serious ones, giving and receiving, but always says them with a smile.

👑 Yami/Atem: my love, my dearest, darling. Takes it very seriously, won’t do it unless he has your full attention. Often accompanied by a gentle caress of your cheek.

🐉 Seto: Princess (derogatory), babe (derogatory), moron (affectionate), brat (affectionate). Honestly I can see him using two pet names seriously: darling and your first name. Uses darling extremely sparingly. But call him darling he will become a flustered mess.

🐶 Joey: Doll, cupcake, Princess, babe, sweet cheeks, darlin’ - this man is BIG on pet names, teasing or not. Unlike Seto he overdoes it to annoy you. Throw them back at him and enjoy the cringe contest! Winner gets a kiss~

☀️ Tristan: baby, hun, pretty lady, gorgeous. He’s a simple man with simple tastes, but he says them from the heart.

🇬🇧 Ryou: sweetheart, my love, beautiful, dear heart. Can see him as a romantic, will always blush when he says it, even if you’re in a long term relationship.

🎲 Duke: babe, Princess, gorgeous, sunshine. Always with the flirty inflection, a wink and a smile. Possibly a kiss on the back of your hand if he’s feeling particularly cheeky.

🥩 Bakura: idiot (affectionate), my beloved, my dear. Surprisingly uses them often, and even more surprisingly is he’s serious about it. If he calls you by your actual name it would probably shock you.

🏍️ Marik: habibi, my love, my dear. Yes I know habibi is very basic, but hey, I see him as someone who keeps it simple but also takes it very seriously. Will probably blush like mad when he does it. Until he finds his confidence.

[strangesickness]

losers playing ttrpgs... losers playing ttrpgs save me...

mike is running a multi-year homebrew ttrpg campaign that is basically just a combination of any rulebook the losers can get their hands on + anything they come up with. i know it to be true. the campaign started as a call of cuthulu campaign but it is now a terrifying mix of call of cuthulu, dungeons & dragons, and cyberpunk with elements from a dozen other games including star wars: the roleplaying game, warhammer, harnmaster and somehow alma mater(??? idk how. but i know this happened). richie was like. "mike man, i love you forever, you're great at this. but why don't i have magic powers?" and he pointed at ben's collection of d&d rulebooks he'd been browsing through and he sounded so earnest and excited that mike knew in that moment he was going to sacrifice the integrity of his cool mystery campaign so richie could cast vicious mockery (99% sure vicious mockery didn't exist yet... don't quote me on that but it doesn't matter because the idea of richie using it constantly is hilarious)

they've all been playing the same characters for years and they keep convincing mike to add more stuff so they're all like super powerful and mike keeps having to come up with more and more powerful enemies.

mike's dice collection is so so so cool he has so many dice, and whenever he introduces a new important character he goes out and gets dice that fit their theme and it is such a moneysink but it's worth it because ooooh pretty dice

after four occasions where the losers decided to adopt a random npc mike hadn't planned anything for, mike has started planning every single npc out down to the specifics of their childhood education. he has endless character sheets hanging out in his room with characters he's created that populate his game world.

okay hanbrough agenda time: bill is the most oblivious guy in the entire world. i know this. (he is the guy who looks at brokeback mountain and goes "what do you mean it was gay? why can't men be friends anymore?" this is based on that one passage at the beginning of the book where he goes on one of those "why can't the curtains just be blue because they're fucking blue" rants lol. he does not know what media literacy is. to me) and mike is. increasingly frustrated and feels like he's losing his mind. he is like head in hands because he asked bill to go to prom with him and bill was like "yeah sure man! sounds great, you're my bestie forever!", and he has no idea what to do, because how is this man this dense, so he just starts having all of his NPCs fall head over heels for bill's character and flirt like madmen. it is painful for everyone involved. except bill. who still has no idea what is going on. that is a very unfortunate month.

mike and ben hang out a lot and ben helps mike brainstorm for the campaign so ben has all this insider knowledge and mike will just look at him before something insane happens in the campaign. they'll like make eye contact and ben will be like holy shit holy shit holy shit :0 and mike just drops some insane new lore. it's very special to me.

[onewingedsparrow]

Six Sentence Sunday

Tagged by @novafire-is-thinking! Thank you! <3 I know this was a tag from a while ago, but here it is, finally, lol Rise of the Beasts has inspired me greatly, so I wanted to write something for it ✨ ~ Optimus stared intently at the projection Arcee’s visor was generating. Such a curious hologram it was—some sort of oblong, hunched-over being, with narrow but chunky appendages, and transparent protrusions on its back, boasting a fuzzy frame splashed with bold markings of black and yellow. “B,��� said Optimus Prime, “what is this creature that you are showing me?” As the knobby horns of his helmet perked, the young bot straightened his back; his optics seemed to shine brighter as a soft, shy voice answered from his radio, “Bumblebee.” So this is what you spoke of, Optimus realized, as even this small piece of new knowledge transformed his entire perspective towards the name he had never before understood. He then touched a hand to his friend’s shoulder, fully aware of how his voice became huskier as he replied, “Your human friend chose aptly...’Bee.” ~ Tagging (only if you want!) @louwhose @maqiisan @afaroffsong @flutefemme @zelzenik and anybody else who wants to join ;) Also tagging @novafire-is-thinking in case you wanted to do this again! :D

[mooremars]

Generally I think the 2023 Camelot cast recording does a very good job of conveying the onstage vibe of pretty much all the songs with the dialouge snippets. However in my heart of hearts I truly believe the Simple Joys of Maidenhood feels incomplete without the moment of Arthur realizing Guenevere has run away and right to him after she sings her intro. I'm sure I could choose many hills to die on for cast recording opinions but apparently the one I feel the most is a particularly good delivery of the word shit.

[zebrafiz]

my face after looking at all the dog breeds in cas and seeing 5758493748593 doodles but no belgian malinois

[discordiansamba]

spitballing about the altean empire AU, parallel reverse, a bit here because that's the mood I woke up in this morning.

it is, of course based very strongly on the alternate universe arc from who you are in the dark. I kept worldbuilding for it and this is the result.

the main plot focuses on Akira Kogane, our Keith parallel, who unbeknownst to him is half-Altean on his long absent mother's side. He's still raised in foster care, and still wound up under the mentorship of Sven (and still stole his car. some things never change). They have the same close bond that Shiro and Keith do, because of course they do.

They end up in a rebellion against the Altean Empire together, alongside the parallel versions of the other paladins- Tsuyoshi Garret, an engineering teacher from the Galactic Garrison, Isamu McClain, a cargo pilot instructor and Katie "Cat" Holt, whose entire family went on a 'diplomatic' meeting to Altea and never came back.

She stayed with Sven while they were gone (and then never came back), so she ends up knowing Akira quite well.

Akira always possessed an odd ability to temporarily disrupt the hoktrils upon making physical contact with them. This is wildly useful to the rebellion- but also caught the eye of the Altean Empire... and it's current Empress.

Eventually, Akira, Cat, and Tsuyoshi are captured during an ambush and taken back to Altea, where Akira is separated from the other two- and ends up learning more about his mother than he ever wanted to.

It turns out his mother, Lia, was one of the few Alteans who still possessed alchemical abilities, and that she disappeared on a quest to find Oriande. It means he's half-Altean, a fact which he can't deny after the Empress breaks the illusion his mom cast over him before he left Earth, that kept him looking so human.

Since Akira himself also clearly possess her same talents, the Alteans are very eager to convince him to join them. Akira wants nothing to do with the Empire, but he also sees the groundwork of a way to protect both Cat and Tsuyoshi from the hoktril. So he cuts a deal- he'll join them, if they spare them both from it.

(Turns out, the Alteans aren't wildly enthusiastic about applying the hoktril to a race that looks so eerily similar to themselves.)

This saves Cat and Tsuyoshi, although they do both get slapped with a much more old-fashioned pre-hoktril version of the Empire's 'rehabilitation'- effectively, shock collars. Akira can at least pull strings so that they're basically put into his service since apparently all Altean alchemists are brought into the royal family. Which means he's a prince now. what the fuck.

oh yeah. he guesses he's also betrayed the rebellion now too- he did kind of have to sell out one of their bases to really get the Alteans to trust him. Good thing he knows Slav has absolutely cleared the place out by now... but that doesn't stop him from being thrust back into the conflict on the Empire's side now.

he hates everything about it. but if wants to keep Tsuyoshi and Cat safe, he doesn't have much of a choice.

(he's also way too good at selling it for his own comfort. Sven hates him now, he's sure.)

He also learns that not all Alteans have fallen in line with the ways of the Empire. There's a resistance effort within the Empire itself, and they very quickly smoke each other out. This gives him a chance to pass intelligence to them, which they can in turn, pass onto the rebellion.

He also realizes that if he's able to master this alchemy stuff, he might have an actual opportunity to kill the Altean Empress himself and he's not going to pass that up.

In the process of trying to learn more about his talent, he stumbles upon an AI created from the memories of an Altean named Coran, who was killed shortly after Altea became an Empire...

(...and there's a ghost of a woman haunting the halls of the Castle that only he can see.)

[guardian-angle22]

#Settlers of Catan Defense Squad

[meistoshi]

@tapuhauko sent : "Hey. If you were to fight a deity, how would you go about it? Fistfight I mean."

no clarifying question is asked. not because satoshi knows what hau's talking about, but just ... because it feels like a perfectly normal question to start off a conversation. what's strange about this ??

❛ hmmm ... i guess it depends on their typing. majority of any punch & kick could count as a fighting type move, so probably not very good for any of the weather trio or the tapus, especially tapu lele, & i think lugia's a bad match for that too ; i'm pretty sure a whole bunch are partly psychic ... oh, & absolutely useless if you're talkin' about lunala, or hoopa. there are a few pokémon punches of normal typing, & dark typed attacks that are mostly just fighting dirty ; those could work for some ... ah, there's only so many physical attacks the average human can recreate. ❜ if he glosses over special attack capabilities, it's because he doesn't see them being relevant right now.

a tilt of his head as he thinks more. ❛ if you'd asked me a few years ago i'd have just said i'd go in swinging, but ... there's way too much to consider ; they're all so different !! did you have anything more specific in mind ?? ❜

[rxttenfish]

tbh tho this is EXACTLY what merfolk relationships look like

and they just keep track of this. in their heads. all the time.

[thedreadvampy]

sorry I'm on one now. Narnia is one of my Big Rant triggers.

but like. I would be lying if I said I didn't love Narnia

(everything except the Horse and His Boy, which a) even as a tiny kid made me uncomfortable with how fucking racist it is (literally there is ONE. ONE. character of colour who isn't evil, selfish, greedy and violent. even when you're 5 and white and don't really understand racism it's like. sorry there are just no nice people in this whole country? and every Narnian is lovely?) and b) is just fucking DULL partly bc of the 2 dimensional racist caricatures populating the world)

but I can't pretend for a second that it isn't specifically built around a Christian theology that's explicitly racist, hierarchical, supremacist, colonialist and The Bits I Like Least Of Anglicanism

and my FAVOURITE books in the series (except the Silver Chair which tbh is WAY less theological and way more mythology-nerd) are the first and last, which are by far the most explicitly Christian. even more so than TLTWATW.

and I can just about stand by the Magician's Nephew bc it's mostly just a mix of Christian creation myth and CS Lewis's sci fi interests in the esoteric and multiverses and it honestly feels fine. but my all time favourite most iconic Narnia book is The Last Battle and I just. cannot. justify it for a second from a political or philosophical standpoint.

it's got it all bc it's the book where Lewis is like ok hold up let me lay out explicitly what my theology is. and what he thinks it's important to say is:

Almost all Muslims are bad and evil

They worship Satan by doing Bad Evil Deeds to please him

There are a couple of Good Muslims who do good deeds. they need to be brought to the light, understand that the voice calling them to do good deeds is the Christian god, and they too can achieve the kingdom of heaven

Some people will use Christianity as a mask for exploitation and mistreatment. They are bad and their faith is false (ok fine)

...and they're doing that because they're CONSPIRING WITH THE EVIL MUSLIMS TO OPPRESS GOOD CHRISTIANS

...and THAT'S THE ONLY REASON ANYONE WOULD TELL YOU THAT GOD AND ALLAH ARE DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE SAME GOD. because they're either conning you or because they've been misled and can't really think for themselves.

DID I MENTION. THAT MUSLIMS ARE EVIL AND TRYING TO BRING DOWN CHRISTIANS.

and other than the GOD AREN'T MUSLIMS JUST THE WORST of it all, he also goes back over to more fully explain several points he's made throughout the series, such as:

white Christian public school kids are the god ordained leaders of the world and attempts to think otherwise are heretical

god places people where they need to be to serve his purpose

free will is largely an illusion - your only choice is faith or chaos, and as a godly person your actions are preordained

the problem is though. he's kind of a really good character writer? and in The Last Battle he pulls out most of his best classics (hi Reepicheep! hi Frank! hi Jill!) and gives us a whole wealth of really fun new characters (Tirian and Jewel, Emeth, Puzzle, Shift, Griffle and Ginger are all just SO FUN) and it's such a solid adventure. for me it's hands down the most FUN Narnia to read and an effective and affecting end to the series.

but like. god its unjustifiably fucked philosophy is baked into every single character and event. it's so hard to ignore. it's my favourite book in the series. it's the book that makes me angriest. it's everything right with Narnia and everything wrong with Narnia. I like it cause it asks me to engage critically with Lewis' philosophy and I hate it cause it requires me to engage critically with Lewis' philosophy.

in conclusion, Narnia is a land of contrasts. also occasionally brownface.