yes i am space nerd

ive spent all day

on this

:D

Typography Tuesday

Today we present some fancy Caslon capitals, borders, and ornaments from The Manual of Linotype Typography, printed by the Plimpton Press for the Mergenthaler Linotype Company in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923. William Caslon (1692-1766) famously introduced the first superior British Roman font in his 1734 specimen sheet. Various iterations of the Caslon typefounding house persisted until the 1930s when it was acquired by Stephenson Blake, but the Caslon Roman typeface remains the classic British font.

View another post from this manual.

[Image Description One: A depiction of the character of Ghessel, who is an agender and demisexual shepherd living in the area of Salois beside the Long River on the continent of Kyrema over 25,000 years after the Collapse of Modern Civilisation in the Great Cataclysm of 2036-2037. Ghessel is depicted standing here underneath a clear blue sky full of white and fluffy clouds beside the ruins of the Gateway Arch. They are surrounded by a whole flock of fluffy white sheep and are dressed in a simple outfit consisting of a loincloth and a cape and a conical hat while carrying a shepherd's staff. The drawing is set in perspective far away from Ghessel so that the audience can see the whole of the field and the Arch most especially, though we can at least see Ghessel's dark tan skin underneath their cloak]

[Image description Two: A recreation of a Persian miniature designed to have the appearance of having been created in the city of Agrabah in the year 1485 CE/909 AH. It depicts Aladdin I and Yasmin I in their old age examining the Palace Garden which they have been tending for many years as a metaphor for all of the good things and fairness and justice that they have brought to Agrabah over the years of their rule together. Both of them are older and Aladdin I is wearing a modified version of his iconic Prince Ali outfit while Yasmin I is now dressed in a modest light blue outfit with a hijab and a light blue dress. The sky is a light grey above them and the whole of the painting is surrounded by a golden border decorated with brown-coloured depictions of leaves and flowers. There is also a fountain towards which Aladdin I is pointing while Yasmin I holds on to his arm. The whole painting is designed to evoke real life portraits of Mughal and other Persian descended rulers from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, reflecting how these two rulers are still celebrated and beloved by their people centuries after their deaths]

[Image description Three: A depiction of the character known as Princess Matilda of Otranto and Theadora, the peasant woman with whom she met and fell in love while she was imprisoned in the dungeons of Matilda's mother Princess Ippolita on the orders of Princess Ippolita's consort and Princess Matilda's father Manfredo. The two of them are sitting underneath a tree that casts its shadow upon them with Theadora being more covered by the tree shadow than Matilda is. Matilda has long brown hair and a dark blue dress and a circlet on her head symbolising her status as a noblewoman of this place and era. Theadora, meanwhile, is a trans woman while Matilda is a cis woman, and she is wearing a peasant woman's headscarf that is white in colour alongside a green dress and she also has long blond hair mostly concealed by her white headdress. The two of them have just escaped from the dungeons of MAtilda's family's castle, and Theadora is still stressed out and nervous about the whole ordeal and the possibility of recapture by Manfredo's forces while Matilda looks at her with concern and sympathy. Matilda is promising the woman whom now she loves that they will both survive whatever MAnfredo and his forces throw at them and they will soon escape Otranto on a ship and find a place where no one recognises them and they will be free to live their own lives free of the burdens of royalty and the generational curse that has plagued their castle and their family since the days of Ippolita's grandfather Prince Riccardo]

it's really interesting looking back at both iterations of the story and how stratt and grace's rapport hinges on unrequitedness. there's obviously the karaoke scene in the movie acting as grace's bid for human connection vs stratt's necessary refusal in order to do her job. the book rarely if ever interrogates stratt's interpersonal relationships in the project and how her sense of duty and utilitarianism extends to them (well, aside from grace. more on that in a sec). She's a History major and an administrator and She Loves Humanity, but it's a characteristic that when analyzed deeper rings pretty hollow (possibly because the author thinks social analysis/critique in science fiction is stupid and thus doesn't exactly have much to say about People like someone in the humanities would. SAD!) so that's an addition to her character from the movie that i'm deeply pleased about. what i don't like as much is that the bid for connection starts from grace.

because book stratt and grace? the one sidedness of their rapport is the driving emotional conflict of the entire pre-launch plotline—and of grace's character development throughout the whole book.

like most scientists on the team, grace was brought onto the project by force, but he's the only one who fulfilled his purpose, was allowed to return to his own life, and then came back of his own volition, out of a sense of personal duty and responsibility. which is the reason stratt takes him back on! and why she begins to rely on him more and more, as an administrator, as a mediator, as a scientist, as an advisor. she has all the more reason to do that when she discovers he's coma resistant, but she was already doing all that baby!

grace spends the rest of their relationship half-assing that sense of responsibility. one thing i adore about book phm is how merciless it is with grace's "modesty" "insecurity" and "social anxiety". children are easy to dote on. they're not stupid, obviously, but on an interpersonal level they're not your equal, they have no way to actually demand accountability from you and call your ass out. he doesn't actually think he's a failure, he's not blind he should know damn well he's not like the other scientists. "science lapdog", "ooo i'm just a little guy cmonnnn i'm just a middle school teacher", he downplays his own importance because if he genuinely grappled with the level of responsibility she holds him to towards the people in the project he'd run like a fucking dog.

Looping (Trade)

1. I put in an Annual Leave request form almost 3 weeks ago and my boss has not approved it yet

2. I went into my office today and replaced every single writing utensil with crayons in preparation for April Fools Day on Monday

3. Whilst searching for pens to remove, I found my unsigned Annual Leave form in my boss’s drawer

4. I placed my unsigned Annual Leave form in a photo frame and put it on his desk

5. The frame I used was from a photo of his kids that I deemed less important than my Leave form

6. My boss sometimes goes into the office on Saturdays to work

7.

* New student, very small. Grace said it was pebble. Pebble is small Earth rock. Pebble likes name.

* He found out Eridians have no gender rules.

* Students brought him mineral sample. After he stopped crying he said he loves show-and-tell game. Human naming conventions oddly literal.

* I told him Earthsun grew bright.

* I took him up atop atmosphere bypass elevator to look at stars.

* He woke up from nap and found me still with him. I did not wait on his chest; he says I am heavy like “elephant” and he “couldn’t breathe.” I laid my arm over him instead, kept him close, feeling safe. He said “cuddle” was warm.

* Before class he heard younglings singing.

* He has plants in house from sprouts on ship. Plant grew “bud.”

* Engineers got seawater temperature right. He took off shoes and stood in water, sighing. He didn’t care about pants getting damp. Cried until shirt was also damp. Humans very endlessly wet.

* He missed “Doritos.”

* Adrian helped food scientists make taumoeba dried paste. Made it crunchy after heating. We fused it into triangle form. Told him it was Tauritos. That made him laugh-cry. Laugh-cry is rare and precious.

* He remembered Eridians have no gender rules.

* We made him celebration outfit. Used metals he calls pretty. He can see frequencies named “colorful” and “shiny.” These make humans happiest.

* I gave him hug when he wasn’t expecting it. Easier to hug close now with exosuit. Hug when Grace sitting down so he does not fall over.

You can also just mash the keyboard at random, but you might end up with a gibberish name no one can pronounce.

yeahhh, they can take care of each other out there ㅠㅅㅠ

my shaylas ( ˃ᯅ˂)

made a matching drawing to my Iron Lung fanart, because to me, they are two sides of the same coin (same side of the coin, imo) they go hand in hand 🤝 also the little kibty is named Felicette! she was the first cat to go to space and come back safely 🥹 she is often forgotten in the history of space travels, and for what she had to go through, i wanted to have her here as well because she deserves it 🧎