1st place in Derby #190: Magic, with 1102 votes!

Nerds and magic, is there any sweeter pairing? Both dress oddly, both reference strange deities, both carry tiny keepsakes to link them with larger myths, and both quote strange texts from memory in a way that “mundanes” just can’t comprehend.

And when they gather in their places of power, like Stonehenge or Dragoncon, the regular folk feel… what is it, exactly? Is there a word for the dread in the pit of the stomach, that need to run back to a world of their own, the scary moment when they see a flash of light and cower before something they could never possibly understand?

Of course, this works both ways, too. It’s why the guys at the I.T. desk don’t go to boardroom meetings. Black robes and White robes, baby. Live and let live.

Wear this shirt: in the bus with your high school debate team.

Don’t wear this shirt: to your grandmother’s society tea party. She’s your grandmother, jerkface! Wear a collared shirt!

This shirt tells the world: “There’s a very high chance I can tell you exactly where they’ll be showing the midnight movie.”

We call this color: Asphalted Peanut. Sorry, we can’t tell you the entire joke. You might die.

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