The Human Nerd

Nerd, Geek, Fandom. Nonbinary (They/Them) Pagan Witch

[humannerd12]

Consider:

A human crochets or knits a cardigan for their vulcan s/o as a thanks. Vulcan seems less than enthusiastic (of course) upon receiving said gift, so human isn't sure that their s/o will actually wear it.

Cut to Vulcan in a meeting wearing said cardigan (and low key showing it off).

[humannerd12]

I realized today that I forgot to mention to my friend that Spock has a wife.

Her reaction:

[washington-wilds-wod20]

A series of "bookmarks" and a banner I made for the Tacoma by Night section of my WoD worldbuilding, with photos of different landmarks around the Tacoma area.

Not all of these splats are going to be represented all that much, Demon and Wraith primarily, but there are themes and aspects present still.

[anotherchariotpulledbycats]

The push and pull between players' and writers' ideas as to how factions and game mechanics in Vampire: The Masquerade should function, is a neat comment on dehumanization. Mind you, I fully understand the reasons for the recent changes White Wolf -and it's publisher, Paradox Interactive- made to those concepts. The Sabbat, as a faction, are awkward to work with, because they actively flout two of the game's core mechanics: Humanity and Masquerade. And wanting to avoid the discussion of how Kindred fuck minus Blush of Life is also an understandable move. I mean, I get it. Who wants to fuck a cold clammy dead body? I sure don't.

I'd fuck a vampire, though. And that's a reanimated corpse too, isn't it? It's just pretending to be alive. Imitating the motions and speech of a living person so it can manipulate and exploit you and your body and those of everyone you love. And that fear has never manifested in real life, right? So, I'm a trans woman. I'm counted among a category of people essentialized as some monstrous existential threat that has to be contained and eliminated to 'protect the children'. It happens with Jews, it happens with Black folks, it happens to gay people, and it happens to trans people now, too, because humans never learn anything. And excuse you, but I would never sink my fangs into anyone that isn't at least twenty years of age. I have standards. But vampires are different, right? They're parasites, exploiting other people to survive and producing nothing of value of their own! It's kind of sad, really. They're not even really alive. It's practically a mercy to kill them, right? So, I'm also disabled. I trust that I don't have to go on about this. Vampires are part of a wide bestiary of creatures -monsters to robots to aliens- who attract a kind of people who, themselves, are dehumanized. Denied the dignity of 'real' people or, at least, implied that they should be. A fundamental mechanic in Vampire: The Masquerade is Humanity. You are a monster that is struggling against the monstrosity inside of you, clinging to whatever shred of the life you lived before to avoid degenerating into a nigh-mindless creature called a Wight. There are no upsides to having lower Humanity: As it declines, your character will struggle to mimic mortal activities like eating, drinking, having sex; even tasks like handwriting become more difficult as the Beast eats away at all parts of your consciousness not immediately tied to feeding and survival (I am now imagining an EATEOT spin-off depicting a vampire slowly losing their Humanity). But there are vampires who don't walk the Path of Humanity, who have found other ways to fend off the Beast. Paths of Enlightenment, practiced by one of the three major vampire factions: The Sabbat. I know a few people of the otherkin persuasion who are attracted to the concept of the Sabbat specifically because the faction rejects Humanity. They're not human: The Kine would reject and seek to kill them if they revealed themselves. Why wouldn't you reject Humanity, when Humanity did it first? By the way, my pronouns are she/her, but I'm keeping it/its in a cupboard somewhere in case I need it. Don't get it crossed like being Sabbat was some progressive and liberatory option the writers wrote out: Most of the Sabbat Paths are a means for them to justify killing and torturing whoever and whenever they want. Honestly, if this setting were even 0.2% more realistic, the Sabbat would've burned itself out centuries ago. These motherfuckers are having bimonthly murder orgies in Montreal and no one's figured that out? I dunno, maybe that's normal for Montreal, I've never been. Anyway. Uh, I had a point to make here, I think. The design of Vampire: The Masquerade continues to centre Humanity as a core mechanic, and I suspect that will continue for a while. It is a great mechanic and concept: After all, when you're denied personhood, it's a natural thing to want to take it back. But, I dunno, maybe it could be good to have stories in the setting about reevaluating what it means to be human without having to hang out with a guy whose chairs won't stop screaming. Obviously, using walking corpses that drink human blood as an analogue for a minority group is a bit of a fraught idea, and I don't expect the writers to change course too soon. Probably better to leave those ideas in the hands of players wanting to write a homebrew timeline. Maybe a... post-Masquerade AU, huh?

[lonestarflight]

Apollo 17 vs Artemis II

[mementochao]

Despite everything, it's still you.

-------------------------------------------------

Also prev tags:

That's really cool actually

[tanoraqui]

#excuse me but are you telling me that the Apollo pic is made with the help of the SUN and the Artemis one with the help of the MOON??? #that's actually so poetic i want to cry

@gorandomshesaid wait i need to sit with this one. wait.

[humannerd12]

Our sorcerer after any noise following a suspicious encounter with a raven in Barovia: IT'S THE CROW!!!

Me, in the group chat:

[ruinedchildhood]

[humannerd12]

When my (less chaotic than the rest of the party) character gets to be unhinged, and the party tells them that they're supposed to be the lawful one.

[lilgothbee]

the art of learning is one of the most powerful things about witchcraft.

the fact that i can pick up an old book and read someone’s entire life’s dedication is so beautiful to me.

i know i can’t speak for everyone, but if you’re new and just starting out - it’s okay to ask us questions (with permission), it’s okay to be inquisitive, it’s okay not to know the answer to everything all at once.

you have people here with 10+, 20+, 30+ years of experience excited to share their stories, their mistakes, their own journey - do you know how beautiful that is? how inspiring? how powerful?

and do you want to know the best part about the community? we still don’t have all the answers. so you know what we’ll do from there? we’ll study, we’ll cross reference, we’ll compare.

do you know how many times i’ve been wrong on something i thought i knew well?- too many to count.

and that’s the art of learning.

you spell things wrong.

you make mistakes.

you start again.

you learn.

don’t let the fear of being new at something, stop you from becoming something great <3.

[humannerd12]

'A cold hand squeezed his own. “It will be okay, Beck.”

Beck looked over and realized that tears had begun to well up in his eyes. He quickly swiped them away and squeezed Drogo’s hand. “It doesn’t feel like it.”

“I know it doesn’t… And there is nothing I can do to really take these feelings from you. I have seen many empires rise and fall over the centuries and the millennia during which I have lived. I can promise you that it always ends; from this rubble rises progress and forward movement. That does not mean a linear movement, for the fall of each empire- each tragedy- leaves the survivors with a lesson. This lesson is carried and passed down. Now, once this system has crumbled and the dust settled, those who survive will have a decision to make. What was the lesson we learned and how do we ensure this never happens again?”'

[lankybrunettepartdeux]

I never guessed that in my adulthood, I’d be relating to Calvin’s parents as much as I do in this comic.

Because damn … Calvin’s dad was so right.

[rawshaide-deactivated20220128]

This is part of an arc where their house got broken into and they have to deal with the ensuing fallout.

Calvin and Hobbes was some real shit, my dude.

[slavetomyheadcanon]

Reading Calvin and Hobbes as an adult is a VERY different experience than reading it as a kid.

[randomslasher]

I always liked this arc because they were out of town when the house was robbed (I think at a wedding?) but Calvin forgot Hobbes. So when they get home and realize they’ve been robbed, Calvin is super scared Hobbes might’ve been stolen. For some reason the last panel when the parents are happy that Calvin has his buddy again just always moved me. 

[randomslasher]

Also this part: 

[malcolm-reeds-pineapple]

Sesame Street posting techniques for comforting children during traumatic world events feels so fucking dystopian but here are the slides they posted just in case you or a loved one has any little critters at home right now

No one is doing well right now, but being a little critter right now has got to be terrifying. This is such a crushing series of images, especially considering PBS’s funding got slashed. While I’m happy Sesame Street continues to keep the wellbeing and education of children as a major priority, there’s a certain amount of innocence that Sesame Street represents and this is giving me such a visceral feeling rn

[the-mortuary-witch]

THE SABBATS

credit: thehourofwitchery on pinterest

[humannerd12]

My brother's and mine's DnD characters trying to escape the Death House, but we keep hitting 0 hp

[humannerd12]

The party: stuck inside the church in Barovia, Strahd standing outside the door.

Strahd: Ah, but my brother always told me not to play with my food

A'pok, just coming down from a dream pie: Where's the fun in that?

Strahd: You're right. Where IS the fun in that? *proceeds to enter without an invitation*

A'pok:

[humannerd12]

Vincent Drake learning that the crucifix won't save him from the 12,000 year old vampire he just pissed off

[humannerd12]

Trekkie idea:

A Klingon meets a human with tattoos for each loss they've overcome in their life.