#BR class 40

[the-time-lord-oracle]

Lego locomotives at the Severn Valley's Brick Weekend.

[supertrainstationh]

0980D 40122 Gateshead 9 Feb 85 by Dave58282

[weirdowithaquill]

How Did the Big 4 Affect Ideas About Scrap for the Steam Engines:

Alright, so in the Railway Series, we know that scrap and the idea of scrap is horrifying to the engines. But the real question is: was this a universal thing? Were all the engines equally horrified, or were there differences.

I mean, from that one infamous illustration in the Railway Series, it seems pretty universal...

But I think that if we dive a little deeper, there may be a few other factors at play, which collectively create very different views on scrap - and they all have to do with the Big 4. I'm going to explain them by size, so let's start giant and get smaller.

LMS:

The LMS engines would not be as surprised to hear they're being replaced and scrapped as other companies. Why? Well, we have to look back a bit. In the 1920's, the LMS was a bit of a hodgepodge of constituent railways and their engines. The Midland 'small-engine' policy did mean that a lot of the bigger engines were frowned upon, but in general the engines were just... there.

This changed with Stanier. When Stanier came along, he began building larger, faster, more powerful engines - and thus a lot of the older, smaller classes were axed. Engines classes like the Black Fives, Coronations and 8F's could do the work of these older engines much better!

There was only one class of engine built by the Furness that survived into BR ownership, and they weren't the only company with this happening. The engines of the LMS would've been accustomed to these ideas. And where does D261 come from? Well, the Class 40 diesels were used on the West Coast Mainline - D261 would be very used to the steam engines being very accepting of the idea that this was 'their time', and therefore stunned at how the Sodor engines acted.

The opposite end of this was that smaller engine classes were very afraid of being withdrawn. Edward's a great example of this - he watched his entire railway be taken over and all his friends and family replaced - and he fears he might be next. It drives him to extreme lengths to prove his worth, just to try and gain a few more years. Donald and Douglas are another example of this; as Caledonian Railway engines, they were generally under the threat of being scrapped all through their careers, and this created a desire to prove themselves and survive.

The LMS as a company committed to this 'purge' of smaller, older classes, and thus the engines of the LMS would have been far more used to and accepting of the idea of being scrapped as compared to others. It was part of the company culture! It wasn't universal by any means, but it had an impact, especially in the English part of the LMS.

LNER:

The exact opposite of the LMS. The LNER was a railway that was throughout its existence very, very poor. And while it did build some stunning-looking express engines...

... in actuality, many of the engines running on the LNER were constituent engines that were just kept going. A good example of this would be the C1 Atlantics, which were introduced in 1902, and weren't completely withdrawn until 1950!

The LNER just didn't have the money or the ability to commit to a drastic newbuild scheme like the LMS did. That isn't to say that old engines weren't scrapped, but it did mean a lot more of the older classes weren't. And when a large body of engines survive for 50 odd years, the culture of elongated existence survives with them. Gordon is so badly affected by the Modernisation Plan personally because his company culture was one of preservation and extended service. His brothers would have quite happily told him that even when they were supplanted by the A4's that they'd be around for a long time yet, because that's how the LNER worked. And then they weren't and Gordon was stunned.

And remember, the LNER is the railway that preserved City of Truro alongside a bunch of its elderly engines at York. This railway had a culture that was built around a sort of trickle-down duties. As express engines were supplanted, they simply moved down the chain.

Speaking of City of Truro...

GWR:

This is another railway whose engines are stunned by the Modernisation Plan, but for a very different reason. Both the GWR and the LMS scrapped a large number of engines in the 1930's, but unlike the LMS, the GWR focused on engines who were at the end of their useful lifespan.

City of Truro was around 30 when withdrawn. For an engine introduced at the same time as the C1 Atlantics, this seems short - but its about average for the GWR at the time. The shock to the GWR engines is not the fact they're being scrapped - it's the fact that engines not at the end of their useful lifespans are being scrapped.

The King class was built in 1927 and nearing the end of their lifespan, but the Modified Halls weren't, and neither were the 9400's. Their withdrawal and subsequent scrapping was what really shocked Western engines.

Oliver's class was built in the 1930's, and would have expected to survive into the late 1960's and 1970's. The sudden withdrawal of them all would have been a great shock, and one of the driving factors behind his escape.

And then in the Railway Series, Duck doesn't act all that surprised to hear steam engines are being cut up - but he is hostile to diesel engines. The reason? Because diesel engines aren't just replacing the old engines in the natural GWR order of things, but supplanting the entire lot. He's relatively fine with Bear though because unlike many of the other diesels, Bear's class could be very easily perceived as being a natural progression of GWR engines. They took over the jobs of Castles and Kings - engines built in the 1920's and nearing the end of their GWR lives. There is of course also his outburst, which gives off a very GWR vibe - telling an engine off for insulting another railway? I wonder which of our Famous Eight has also done that...

Southern:

Right, so the Southern is possibly the most interesting case of them all. And the reason for that is this:

The Southern Railway was both the smallest of the Big 4 and the most passenger orientated. As such, they naturally gravitated towards a program of electrification, which they saw as the best way to maximise their profits. Engines on the Southern would have been invariably told that they would be withdrawn someday when the electrification reached their part of the line. That is a level of certainty that would have a massive impact on how the engines viewed their fate.

It also meant that the Southern Railway was not focused on replacing the steam engines they already had with new ones. This allowed some truly ancient engines to make it to British Railways.

This is Fenchurch, and when withdrawn in 1963 he was the oldest engine working on British Rail. He was built in 1872 - so that's a career of 91 years. And another class that was hitting pensioner years in British Rail was the Adams Radial Class, built in 1882. Both Southern Railway engines that found a niche duty that wasn't going to be electrified or upgraded anytime soon.

Even the E2's had their own niche at Southampton docks! They were a failure of a class when built, and yet were still in service in the 1960's. Thomas the tank engine himself has remarkably little to say about modernisation in the books - his job is threatened by a diesel, and while he's horrified that it's a diesel, he's not shocked he's being replaced. Even though he spent a tiny amount of time in the south, its culture managed to penetrate his smokebox.

But there is one other railway that has a central role in this, and it is of course British Railways.

British Railways:

Right, so this is the one company that is the cause of much of the above commentary to become obsolete. When amalgamated, British Rail was meant to electrify the country's railways slowly and steadily, with steam engines making up the difference. And at the onset, they withdrew and scrapped many of the older, smaller classes of engines and replaced them with the Standards - something very similar to LMS and GWR practice, and also not unfamiliar to the LNER. The really problem comes with the Modernisation Plan in 1955.

The Standard Five class were built until 1957 - two years after the publication of the Modernisation Plan which explicitly stated that BR would scrap all steam. The 9F's were being built until 1960. At the longest, these engines got less than twenty years. At the youngest, some were withdrawn after only five years.

And that's what shocked all the older engines. It's not the fact they're being scrapped - ever since the conception of the railways, engines have been being scrapped. It's the magnitude of the scrapping and the wanton destruction of young, healthy engines. It's not that they're being replaced - that was always going to happen, all the engines knew that. It's the speed of the Modernisation Plan, the scrapping of brand new engines and the fact that steam engines were replaced with Pilot scheme diesels who were mostly failures.

That's what caused the engines to fear scrap and hate diesels.

And while I would love to delve into the diesels and what happened to them, that's its own massive thing.

I would like to note that this does not really take into account specific incidents, but rather general trends that would have led to more widespread knowledge. The single incident involving one engine in Aberdeen doesn't really permeate railway gossip and ideology, but an entire class being withdrawn does.

I would also like to acknowledge the fact none of the above pictures are mine.

[guerrerense]

111. 60007 NYMR 26.09-14 por Mike Brook Por Flickr: LNER Class A4 Pacific 4-6-2 No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley in BR Blue departs Levisham Station, working the 12:40 Grosmont to Pickering Pullman service on 28th September 2014, the third and final day of the NYMR Autumn Gala.

[trainalt22]

1960

As the 1960s began, the twins proved to be invaluable despite making some mistakes and causing accidents. Percy was deputized to speak on behalf of the Tidmouth Engines about purchasing Donald and Douglas, and they were acquired. However, there was another surprise in store as the Fat Controller also purchased Duck. The twins and Duck were relocated to the Tidmouth to Harwick branchline, while the fishing industry started to boom. The harbor board agreed to have D3102 be the pilot for Tidmouth and shunt the harbor. The harbor board also bought another Class 08 D3866. They were timid and barely spoke to anyone, just went on with their duties.

Edward's enthusiast train kept drawing more and more people to see the scenic side of Sodor, a slower-paced train that went from Tidmouth to Brendam and back.

In March of 1960, Edward had settled into his new life of pulling enthusiasts when James pulled into the yard. He complained about taking a Goods train, and Edward tried to make conversation with him while his fireman ran to get clearance from the signalman.

Edward sat and listened to James's complaints when he noticed James's driver climb out of his cab, annoyed. Edward watched him stop over to the signal box. James noticed it too and started to complain about the delay. Edward politely smiled and nodded along with James's rambling.

Soon, the pair heard the crunching of ballast, but Edward could still hear the driver and fireman in the signal box. To his shock, he heard giggling from James's cab. Confused, he looked and saw two schoolboys fiddling with James's controls. He hoped they didn't find his regulator when James suddenly shot forward as the school children jumped clear and scattered.

Edward and his crew gave chase, and James was yelling for help. Edward gave it his all, slowly but surely gaining on James. The main line was shut down as the two raced through Crosby. Edward was cheered on by the workmen and even Gordon, who was waiting for clearance as they shot past. As they neared Knapford, Edward's fireman wrapped the rope around James's buffer, and Edward slammed on his brakes.

They came to a stop just outside Knapford yard, and Edward's driver jumped across and closed James's regulator. James was eternally grateful to Edward, and all that Edward asked in return was to be treated better, to which James agreed.

Later that year, BR sent more types of diesel for trial at Sodor. It was stressful, and the engines and their crews had to work twice as hard to stay ahead. It was during this time that BR sent one of their newest diesel classes to Sodor. The class 28 Metrovick D5702 was sent to take over the Nor'wester.

Gordon was outraged. He had pulled the Express for nearly 40 years, and to have someone steal it from him made his safety valve burst. The diesel in question was rather polite and didn't try to start trouble. Gordon waited for him at Brendam Harbor as the Vicarstown bridge was out of order, and the poor diesel was stuck at Brendam for a week while BR and the Fat Controller came to an agreement.

While he was stuck there, the diesel, or Boco as he introduced himself, met Edward, and the two quickly became friends. It was also where he met Bill and Ben, the clay pit twins.

While Gordon was waiting for Boco, the twins played a prank on him, frightening him before Boco got the twins to scatter and an opportunity to introduce himself. Gordon surprisingly acted cordial towards the new engine, even wishing him well once he departed from Tidmouth. James, on the other hand, was shocked and called Gordon a traitor for befriending his replacement.

Hey yall sorry for the wait on this one life is a pain right now but I'm still trying to plug away at the timeline (and some short stories. Maybe coming as well but I'm sorry for the wait once the timeline is complete or near complete I'll start work on the Fic proper lucky for me after 1969 everything kinda stabilizes on Sodor that's my rambling done hope you all enjoy what I have been cooking up and I'll see ya -alt

[the-railways-of-seidrey]

So, let's talk train reporting numbers and Sodor

This is a train reporting number, also called a headcode

Made up of the first number denoting what class of train it is (class 1 being express, 2 being stopping train, etc. 7 here is express freight, livestock, or ballast train not fitted with continuous brake), the letter denoting destination (this is what we're going to talk about), and the final two digits being individual train identifiers.

Now Sodor almost exclusively uses headcode discs, as shown here (this hesdcode is denoting parcels, fish, fruit, livestock,milk or other perishables with all vans fully fitted with continuous brakes or empty coaching stock)

They also use them on diesels that IRL had headcode boxes (Bear here had express headcode discs)

However, we know that train reporting number boxes do exist, as shown by this image

The class 40 has split headcode boxes, although they're a bit difficult to distinguish (also look how the door just melds into their face). Here's what they look like IRL

Now on to what I'm wondering: what are the North Western Region's area reporting letters, both within the region and for trains going between regions. Here are the codes used for interregional trains:

E: Eastern

L: Anglia

M: Midland

O: Southern

S: Scotland

V: Western

X: Special Load

Z: Special or short term working (trains not in the timetable)

And prior to 1967 N was used for the North Eastern Region until the region's dissolution.

These were used for trains travelling to that region.

Intraregional codes designate what line your traveling along, for example in the Scottish Region, H stood for trains around Inverness, Kingussie, Elgin, Kyle, and Wick (as well as other things, these are sometimes reused for different routes), and odd and even numbers identify train direction.

So: what was the North Western Region's code? The short answer is we don't know. But we can join the world of headcanon.

As both M and N were used, BR didn't seem too fussed with letters looking like each other. And as N was already in use, so we can't use it for North Western, we can use W. Trains travelling to Barrow and beyond would carry the M code.

Now for intraregional trains. This is wild ass speculation, and as always I'd love to hear others' input on the topic, this goes for the whole post.

I think the mainline could be T, for Tidmouth.

Most all the branch lines are easy because of the names all have a different first letter

The Little Western could be A for Arlesburgh

B for the Brendam Branch

F for Ffarquhar

K for Kirk Ronan (although I'm not sure if this line is used anymore)

N could be Norramby, intraregional and interregional codes did sometimes overlap, for example the Scottish Region's N meant the Dumfries - Carlisle - Newcastle route, but we could make operations easier and letter the Norramby Branch R

P for Peel Godred Branch

Now, I also don't know if when IRL regions lettered their routes for headcodes, they just went down the alphabet. As names for routes seldom line up with the letter assigned, this may be what happened, but that's somewhat boring, and who knows, Charles may have done his own thing.

Anyway, that's all I really had to say on the subject. I'd love to hear y'all's thoughts on it. Maybe there's info I don't know about all this! I'm by no means an expert.

[veryynormal]

I know I'm too late for June goals, so here are my second half of June goals.

-> Subject wise goals

1》 Math

Finish the first three chapters from state text book (Trignometry E)

Do 100 questions apart from state book -> Cengage 40, PYQ 40, NCERT 20

Start complex numbers: watch Arvind Kalia complex number lectures + do the DPPs

2》 Chemistry

Finish Reading Periodic theory from NCERT + exercise

JD Lee, Periodic Table 40 questions

Watch BRS classes IUPAC lecture 6-11

Practice basic Mole questions (30) from N. Awasthi

Rewrite + revise atomic structure notes

3》 Physics

Cengage - Vectors Mains 60 questions

NCERT - Motion In a Straight Line, Excercise questions

HC Verma - Rest and Motion Kinematics finish the chapter

Other than that my goals are to do all the homework the same day I get it, revise class notes every single day, ask teachers how to prepare for tests and then do exactly that, yoga once a week, journal twice a week.

[klein-sodor-bahn]

Germany’s “little” Tsarina

Oleksandra my beloved. She’s a DR BR 130 or V300 Diesel engine. Her class and subclasses are endearingly called Ludmilla.

Here’s a bit of lore and trivia

They were built in what is now Luhansk for not only East Germany but other Eastern block states. Oleksandra or Sascha for short is a fictional addition to the first series and came to Germany in 1974. She was Charlie’s bestie and when Charlie became a generator was heartbroken, but promised to look out for Heinrich. Shortly after the German reunification her class was sent to be scrapped, but her driver bribed the owner of the scrapyard and hid her in a shed. 40 years she gets discovered by Henry and Bear and gets restored. She endearingly calls Bear “Mishka” which translates to little bear because he’s a tad smaller than her. She’s rather timid despite her great strength and speed. One annoying flaw her class in particular has is that they can’t heat coaches themselves. So they were a 140 km/h freight loco. She now lives on the Klein-Sodor-Bahn with Henry, Edward and Marie( a diesel shunter).

[bloodanddiscoballs]

I have a somewhat embarrassing question. What is TF2.

It's not embarrassing at all! TF2 stands for Team Fortress 2, a game that was released on October 10th, 2007, by the game studio Valve. It is a first-person shooter where you pick to play as 1 of 9 mercenaries, each with their own unique skills that are separated into three separate classes:

Offense: Scout, Pyro, Soldier

Defense: Engieneer, Demoman, Heavy Weapons Guy

Support: Medic, Sniper, Spy

The game is set up so you are either on team RED or team BLU, each team holding 9 players, and you play through matches and game modes such capturing points by stealing the enemy intelligence (a physical briefcase you pick up and run with) or capturing control points and battling to defend those. There are variations of these as well as some other game modes you can choose from. It's free to play and on Steam for both Windows and Mac users. (though it was originally offered on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3).

If you ever played Overwatch, you already have an idea of how the game is set up for you, but in my opinion, TF2 is MUCH more fun.

If you want the "lore" behind the game and the characters, you should definitely check out their website. They have write ups on each character which also shows you who you might be interested in playing, as well as comics, the short films they've put out (including fan made ones for the Saxxy Awards), full descriptions of the major updates, music, and official art. You've got a beautiful 15yrs to look at that is just oozing love.

What has kept people coming back to this game for so long is in the art, the humor, and the Community Workshop - a place where you as a fan can upload your own creations for customization for the characters. TF2 is affectionately nicknamed The Hat Simulation Game/Hat Dress Up Game cause that's a secondary part of it. While you can earn and pick up different weapons for your characters, you can also unbox crates that have cosmetics inside to make your characters look fun. Things like a hot dog hat or a banana hat or reindeer antlers, all of which only serve to make your guys look goofy and fun. There's also chest pieces and the occasional shoes or little shoulder pets. A LOT of these are made by fans who then submit them to be voted on by all players, and if they get accepted into the game, you'll have a chance of unboxing them. There are taunts as well, such as conga dancing or high fives or rock paper scissors that allow you to interact with other players regardless of the team. There are even many of the maps that you play that have been made by people in the community, making TF2 something that feels like something to be interacted with as well as to be played.

While the ultimate goal of each game in TF2 is to kill the opponents and to win points, most of the games you'll end up playing include some air of messing around. There are lots of times when matches will take much longer than they need to because someone started dancing and now half the players are dancing with each other. The map 2Fort is notorious for this, and I'd say it's about 70/40 of screwing around to actually capturing intelligence. I can honestly say that TF2 is THE game to always have me laughing and enjoying myself, especially compared to other games with similar setups. It never takes itself too seriously, though if you'd like to play competitive, there is an option for that. More often than not, the palyers are fun people, and even if you run into the occasional asshole, you can just drop out of that match and find a new one pretty quickly.

TF2 has lasted as long as it has because it is, in its bones, all in good fun. It takes the whole 60s-70s era dangerous mercenaries and spies in a secret organization and cranks up the ridiculousness of that to an 11. Each of the characters are from different parts of the world, but they're all such over-the-top representations of their cultures that it becomes something a lot like a Mel Brooks-esque setup. Shakespearicles was the strongest writer who ever lived and invented the two-story building, but everyone had to use rocket launchers to get up to the second level until Abraham Lincoln invented stairs 100yrs later. Every Halloween, you have to battle Soldier's old roommate who is a powerful wizard because Soldier turned his old castle into a raccoon sanctuary. All Australians are ripped as shit, have amazing mustaches, and Australia-shaped chest hair.

PLAY TEAM FORTRESS 2

[livedtoserve]

Flora Stats Meta 01 ~ Fates Numbers

As Fates is a much larger game compared to what I usually dealt with before (i.e. Shadows of Valentia, Heroes(?), Cipher cards...cool games on your resume). With that in mind, this meta focusing on Flora's base stats and growth rates will very likely be shorter, and hopefully more concise compared to my previous characters' metas.

That being said, I already do have a stupid reason to split this into section(s) somewhat, so without further ado...

Part 1: Okay which Flora are we even talking about

As with everyone else from Fates, Flora's raw stats are technically split up between the three routes of the game: Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation. Or, technically Flora only has stats in two of these three routes, as Flora is not playable in Birthright.

Who ever said we were talking about playable Flora, though? As my Flora in TOA canon follows the events of the Birthright route, this meta in particular will observe Flora's stats as shown during her boss battle in Chapter 17: Lost in the Ice.

I could have likely tried comparing all of her enemy appearances, as Flora does fight the player on all three routes, funnily enough. However, Birthright is where Flora is fought the latest and her stats would be greatest, and is the one that falls in line with my portrayal. Therefore, I will be looking at Lunatic Difficulty of BR Chapter 17 for this meta. Lunatic chosen for the highest stats, and honestly they don't change too greatly between Normal or Hard.

Oh, and as a side note: Flora's growths are consistent over any route, so when it comes to her potential in a stat, there should be no issue...kind of.

So due to being a game where you are encouraged to class change, every class has its own base growth rates that get added to a character's. As this can get confusing real fast, plus Flora has been a maid for nearly her entire life, Flora's growth rates will be considered only when as a Maid.My source for images today will be from the Fandom wiki, as Serenes Forest doesn't really have a good place to present enemy Flora as far as I'm aware. This source's growth rates consider Flora's growths combined with her Maid class, so they fit the above restrictions.

Part 2: Birthright Stats & Growths

With the conditions being set, here are the relevant pictures from the above wiki source:

At first, I was going to approach this like a normal stat analysis. But I quickly realized how weird this would be, given how level 9 Flora here has much greater stats than she would have in any playable state. This is why I am going for a simpler approach that appeals to her narrative here: comparing her directly to her twin, Felicia.

Specifically, their growth rates since their base stats would be ridicuously different. Here are Felicia's pictured below, from the same Fandom wiki:

HP: LOWER GROWTH

To start, Flora and Felicia have very similar HP growths, though Felicia barely beats out Flora's 35% with a 40%. Especially with Felicia's position in Fates, always joining the player character either at the start or in the middle of the route, she has much time to build up the endurance that can be related to the HP stat.

On the other hand, in Birthright, Flora has quite the bulky 41 HP for her boss fight. (For reference, Normal/Hard only has her at 5 less HP.) Considering this fight is a much greater last stand compared to the state of her Conquest or Revelation battles, it feels in character to have a high HP for this situation.

STR: HIGHER GROWTH

This one relatively surprised me at first sight. Flora emphasizes in her support with Felicia that the pink maid is better in combat than the maid with a birthright. And yet growth-wise, Flora holds a more standard 50% compared to Felicia's mere 20%. If this is the case, why does Flora consider herself weak when it comes to fighting?

This really can just be for gameplay purposes, though it can also symbolize Flora training hard after the initial sparring matches that shamed her during youth. Though even after steeling herself hard, for herself and her people, she still lacks the confidence to believe in herself when battling. In any other route, she is at least able to admit this fault with Felicia. But in Birthright, it does leave her with a high 21 strength to defend the Ice Tribe with.

MAG: LOWER GROWTH

I think this section makes up for the potential inaccuracy with the STR segment. Flora only has a 30% MAG growth to Felicia's 45%, a sizable difference. In-game, this is only relevant for Birthright Felicia while using the Freeze staff on Lunatic. However, I do believe magic is an important strength for Ice Tribe members to have, and Felicia outpaces Flora in this regard.

Even if maids themselves do not use offensive magic, cutscenes show that Flora and Felicia can release icy gusts or blizzards on command. Most definitely an act of magic, though obviously not translated in gameplay to avoid breaking it. Cowards.

With the higher growth, Felicia has the greater potential to handle ice magic rather than the tribe's future leader. Although they mainly use their magical prowess as maids to heal or inflict status, I am sure Flora is uncomfortable being beaten on this front, further contributing to her inner envy toward her twin.

SKL: HIGHER GROWTH

Both sisters are decent enough in this growth, though Flora does have the higher 60% versus Felicia's 45%. This makes good sense for them. Felicia is portrayed as the clumsy, accident-prone maid who, even if she is fine on a battlefield, does always manage to mess up basic tasks. Flora, on the other hand, is seen as a perfect servant and has the skill to back up any of her endeavors.

Not much to really add here, honestly. She gets the job done and gets paid! Well, actually they probably don't pay her. Sorry.

SPD: LOWER GROWTH

They are pretty close in this category, with Flora's 45% losing to Felicia's 55%. With only a 10% difference, they can somewhat keep up with each other in a game of speed. Flora would eventually fall behind, though due to being lower. As the "left brain," more careful of the two, this feels in-character for her stats.

LCK: LOWER GROWTH

Okay so here is the funny "what does LCK even mean" part of Neku's metas. Flora does have only a 45% in this growth compared to Felicia's 65%. I do think this contributes to the pair's general dynamic. Despite all of Felicia's slip-ups, she does end up successful in her career at the end of the day. And Flora herself isn't inherently unlucky, but the right things always seem to happen to Felicia rather than her.

You know, like being favored during their childhood training. Or not having the burden of potentially disappointing your entire tribe from your failures. Or being able to leave to join your lord during the war instead of defending a fallen tribe. The simple things.

DEF: HIGHER GROWTH

Defensively, Flora has a better growth on the physical end at 35% over Felicia's 20%. For defense stats in general, I like to imagine they fall in line with their offensive equivalents, so DEF links to STR while MAG links to RES. In this sense, Flora is superior in STR to Felicia, so her being slightly better at tanking physical hits makes sense too.

RES: LOWER GROWTH

And just like the MAG side of things, Felicia wins in the RES growth with a 45% over Flora's 40%. Pretty close to each other, though it is nice to see the ice maid sisters share a better prowess in tanking magic attacks over physical ones, something reflected in their base stat spreads as well. Most likely coming from their more magic-based backgrounds.

Conclusion

As I said at the start, this meta is a bit shorter and to the point, mainly because trying to tackle Flora's stats is trickier to me. Partially due to Fates' route layout as a whole, but there are so many characters I could compare Flora to (both on ally and enemy sides) that I think a simpler 1v1 with her most relevant confidant made more sense.

To review, Flora's accusation of Felicia being the better one in combat is not baseless. While Flora holds greater ground regarding SKL and the physical stats of STR and DEF, Felicia beats her out in a majority of stats, most importantly in MAG, LCK, and RES. They are still quite close to each other, partially thanks to sharing the same growth bonuses from the Maid class. Still, superstitions about not being a worthy inheritor of the Ice Tribe do not sit well when directly comparing the two.

[the-time-lord-oracle]

40106 Atlantic Conveyor at the Severn Valley's diesel gala, 18/05/2024.

[puzzlehat]

okay so the wifi i'm on right now is shitting itself despite this being a popular study spot on campus but REGARDLESS i'm studying for my third organic chemistry midterm right now (my class grade is a 90.2% so i'm barely hovering around an A and i'd REALLY like to keep it that way as unrealistic as that may be) and as much as i am absolutely loving this class i'm struggling a little with remembering all of the mechanisms (final exam review sheet posted by professor indicates 40 different reactions we need to know).

granted, a lot of them share the same patterns, but i don't know what format i'll need to compare-contrast all of them in in order to have them down pat for may 2. so right now i'm just focusing on this exam, where we've gotta know

radical substitution of alkanes and allylic substitution, the funky alkyl halide ones with the fishhook arrows. the simplified mechanism looks like halogenation except these are done with heat/light. these go through three stages: initiation from nonradical to radical, propagation from radical to radical, and termination from radical to nonradical. you get your radical intermediate via homolytic cleavage, you react it with a hydrogen coming off of the most substituted carbon, you get your next radical intermediate once the hydrogen is gone, you react all your radicals together to tie things up nicely. if your radical is on a carbon that neighbors a double bond, you have a nice stable allylic radical (thank you resonance), but if your radical is on a double bond, that's a vinyl radical and we don't like those... you also gotta pay attention to where your alkene is because that'll affect your stability too. if you're happening to do your reaction with peroxides, you'll be reacting your intermediate with the less substituted area. a halogen? on MY terminal end?

elimination and substitution reactions Sn1/Sn2/E1/E2. these are silly and complicated and i need to make a chart to understand them better, but the substitution reactions will substitute a nucleophile in for the leaving group, and the elimination reactions will make an alkene out of an alkane using a base, and the 2-reactions are concerted with steric barriers while the 1- reactions have a carbocation intermediate with stability as the barrier.

alkyne reactions, including deprotonation (basically acid-base shit), alkyne formation (using acetylene, which makes good internal alkenes and looks like Sn2, or dibromides, which looks like two E2 reactions and can be done with bromides on the same carbon or on adjacent carbons), halogenation (nonregioselective concerted anti-addition of halogens using Br2/Cl2), hydrohalogenation (markovnikov addition of Br, can happen twice if you have two equivalents of HBr, carbocation intermediate), hydration and hydroboration-oxidation (markov and anti-markov reactions, respectively; adding a hydrogen and an OH, keto-enol tautomerism where you end up with the double bond on the oxygen), and three reduction reactions (Pd/C yields alkane, Lindlar/H2 yields a cis(z)alkene, Na/NH3 yields a trans(E) alkene).

anyway i have practice problems to do and the sn1/sn2/e1/e2 reaction comparison chart to make but i'm drinking my first monster energy (ultra paradise. it's good) and i'm getting dinner w at least one of my friends in 25 minutes... calc homework still due tonight but i think i'll be able to get it... exam in 3 hours... feeling good!

[inspiredwriterstory]

HELLO INTERNET! WELCOME TO THOMAS THEORY!

The show that is not original in the slightest but doesn't care! Before we start I figured I should explain some things. This is not meant to be taken seriously and if I say something as a joke, please don't attack me. I'm not trying to hate on these creators. But with that out of the way lets get into this!

Now for those who don't know somehow The Stories of Sodor is A Thomas and friends fan series made by the Australian YouTube Victor Tanzig in his own unique take on Thomas and friends and his work is PHENOMENAL. The man won an award for it in The Steamy awards! But in season 5 I got to wondering about Mr Hall's Seam Diesel Conversion, otherwise known as SDC. Basically you put a motor in a steam engines boiler to save money which in theory should work, but I'm not so convinced. I think that behind the scenes Mr Hall is unintentionally bankrupting BR.

So if we go online the average cost for a Diesel engine varies but since most the engines on Sodor are mainline tender engines I just used the class 40 diesel motor as a baseline. Now I couldn't find the exact numbers as the price would only be calculated for the whole locomotive at about $3,00,000. So we'll just say about $1,000,000 as my best guess. Now that's a LOT of money for conversion not including the gears and modifications that need to be made. On top of that engines like Emily are extremely old and would probably need complete rebuilds to make the old metal they have able to keep up with the stress. Now the recent April fools episode leaked from Victor's Patreon isn't canon however Patrick makes a good point about engines needing to be completely changed to fit bigger engines as technology advances or else they can't keep up.

So there you have it folks! Mr Hall has unintentionally bankrupted British Rail! I think metal fatigue is gonna be the least of your worries. But hey! That's just a theory! A THOMAS THEORY! Thanks for listening!

[copperbora]

Moar Dog Breed Research!🐶

So, after some advice from friends, I have readjusted my obsessive list of suitable dog breeds which should work for me. This list will have several more metrics than my previous list, plus it is much shorter, but the basic rules are:

- The dog breed must be at least 30 lbs as an adult and therefore classed as a medium sized breed. This is because as a backcountry hiker, I need them to be at least theoretically capable of defending themselves from a coyote (Canis latrans,) as unfortunately coyotes (which weigh 30-60 lbs depending on region, age, sex as well as other metrics,) tend to be understandably opportunistic and they seem to believe that small breed dogs have the potential for great tastiness.

- They must have at least a medium length coat, because hazards exist out on the trail. A good coat will help protect the dog from sharp twigs, burrs and inclement weather. It gets cold at night in the mountains!

- They also must be at least somewhat heat tolerant because July-August temperatures where I live range between 30-40 Celsius, and 50 degrees Celsius happened in 2021.

- It'd be nice if they could carry their own poop in a backpack.

- They have to have an off-switch because I do not hike every day; I am an artist and writer. Hiking is a weekend activity so I need them to be okay with shorter walks during the week and playtime.

- It must be cuddly.

- I don't mind shedding but I want a breed that's easier to groom.

- Absolutely NO brachycephalic breeds.

- There can't be any danger of them eating my cats.

I will rate the breeds by best, good and maybe.

Best

🐶Silken Windhound

Pros: A nearly perfect size (20-55 lbs,) good coat, good temperature adaptability, big enough to carry a lil' backpack, won't be too expensive to feed, doesn't eat cats, they love to run and they are fun to watch! They also aren't too big, so if I have to I can carry one out of the backcountry. Easy to groom. Couch potatoes in the house. Some can prick up their ears and they are generally quiet. Awesome agility, ideal hiker, especially with their tendancy to want to stick closer to their human than other sighthounds.

Cons: Being a slightly rarer breed they probably cost at least $3 K. Also, most Canadian breeders are in Ontario, but at least there are some in Canada, right? (I live in British Columbia.)

Biggest Pro: Difficult to choose from their great attributes!

Biggest Con: Probably expensive. Also they wouldn't be able to carry much of their own gear.

_____

Good

🐶Cardigan Welsh Corgi

Pros: Great weather resistant coat, good size at 25-38 lbs with great agility which might allow them the upper paw in a confrontation with a coyote, great with cats, prick ears, good a daily walk and some play/training, can tolerate hot weather just fine but likes cooler days a bit better (rather like me actually.) Great 1st time dog breed! Also I have experience with them and unlike their cousins the Pembroke Welsh Corgis, they always have tails and their legs are slightly longer. Breeders exist locally!

Cons: Due to status as a teckel breed (abnormally short legs to long back ratio,) I probably shouldn't put a backpack on one unless it is very lightweight. Can be a teensy bit barky and they have poor endurance.

Biggest Pro: They're definitely my speed according to my real life experience with them.

Biggest Con: Although cardis have better backs than other teckel breeds (notably the dachshund,) their short legs makes them poor candidates for hiking dogs. While they could certainly handle a short day hike, there is little hope for them as an backcountry expedition buddy.

Even Bigger Pro: I'm friends/workmates with a local breeder who has promised to flatout GIVE me one and I sm good friends with the sire dog Whisky.

_____

Maybe

Nothing here right now!

_____

Disqualified

🐶Borzoi

Pros: Good coat, decent temperature adaptability, can definitely carry their own poop in a backpack plus more, doesn't generally eat cats; like their descendant breed the windhound, they're really fun to watch run and they're house spuds. No solo coyote in their right mind would ever mess with one. Canadian breeders exist! Generally a quiet breed with great agility and strength.

Cons: There's still a chance of a borzoi killing my cats. They're big at 55-105 lbs but I could pick a pup from parents at the lighter end of their size range. Being bigger they will have a larger food bill. There are less borzoi breeders in Canada than for other breeds on my list, including, surprisingly, the windhound.

Biggest Pro: Can definitely carry their own gear (which I love,) and with their size not only can this breed defend itself from a coyote, they would also offer an excellent hug!

Biggest Con: They're big, and therefore eat more. Their size means that they can get life threatening bloat and if that happens, or they get a bad injury, I would have trouble evacuating them from the backcountry. Unknown to me whether preventative stomach tacking is a thing.

_____

I'm not ready for a dog yet but whichever breed eventually steals my heart, I will always keep it leashed when hiking (regardless I will train it in recall.) I'm open to mutts but I need to be able to meet my dog's parents and have access to their health records. In any case I think I have narrowed my list down nicely, however, if there's a breed that you believe that I should research, please make me aware of it!

Edited February 22nd 2023.

Early concept art of my coyote character Sedge considering a beaver for his supper. He's perched on a log which the beaver is swimming under and Sedge is about to be splashed in the face by its tail.

[campuscomponent]

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[ther-man]

The R-Lore #4: The Writer

How it began

In 2008, a just turned 10 year old boy in the small European country Austria was bored during his class, where he thought about "What if Sonic was in our world?" and thus his mind started racing. With this thought, he started something that lasted for many years.

The invaders and the group

Sonic, Tails, and Eggman appeared outside of his classroom and after a short fight, Sonic and Tails ran off.

When the boy went to sleep at his home, he interacted with Sonic and Tails (who turned themselves into his plushies) and got the idea to protect the world from Eggman (and potentially other villains) as a group.

About two years later, the boy read the 4th(?) issue of "Sonic der Comic"("Sonic the Comic") and came across the short comic "Mr. T and the T-Force". After a short read, he got the idea to name his imaginary group "R-Force", after his first name "Roman".

Many adventures and the " end" of the group

After 4 years filled with imagined adventures of the "R-Force", Roman decided to put a nice end to his group after "defeating his evil Twin brother called 'Böser Roman'('Evil Roman')".

The big finale between the R-Force, now filled with characters from different cartoons and video games, versus the "X", an organization filled with villains from cartoons and led by "Böser Roman"(shrotened to "BR") ended when Roman graduated middle school

The start of "The Adventures of Roman"

One day in 2013, after going home from computer class, Roman got the idea to make an anime... in his head.

The anime turned into a mix of "Guy gets isekaied to an anime" and "What if guy got superhuman powers, he had his whole life". In that anime, "Roman Mayr"(yes, a self-insert) was turned into the protagonist with a special gimmick that gives him "god-like" powers. At first, that gimmick was unnamed but after having the gimmick "out of his body" it was named "Emerald Heart", based on its appearance of a Chaos Emerald from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

In another "episode", Roman replaced Yuzuru Otonashi (the male protagonist of the anime "Angel Beats") in his respected anime and during the story, his unnamed powers got the name "Scart Skills"(it would be actually "Guard Skills" but I misheard it in the anime as "Sguard Skils" and that turned into that name)

Many TAoR seasons later

Roman had a lot of fun to create his own anime in his head, but sadly the anime went much longer then expected... over 40 seasons with an unknown amount of episodes.

The second iteration

At one point, around the end of 2017/beginning of 2018, Roman decided to end his anime in a two-part movie. The first part is a "What happened after the final fight", where his grandson will find the girls from DDLC and learns about the R-Force(and everything that happened in those over 40 seasons), and the second, where his grandson has to face "Ruppet" who came into the original series after about 35 seasons.

After he imagined the two movies, Roman was still not satisfied to end it there. So he decided to make "TAoR 2.0", which consist of many MANY OVAs split into multiple timelines.

In one timeline, the R-Force became an intergalactic band who has to win a tournament to get the "Super Phantom Ruby"(the same Phantom Ruby from Sonic Forces, but much powerful to influence the whole universe), and in another, Ruppet became good but that triggered the destruction of the dimension and the main unit got kidnapped by the X a month before the dimension got extinct.

The third iteration

"TAoR Alternate" is Romans third version of his anime(and the current one), where in 2020(without COVID) he suddenly get visited by a succubus who he has to protect from the succubus hunter "Ruppet"(not the same Ruppet, he appeared later in the series) and then learn about his new heart. That version had not so many seasons, like the first one, but its timeline spans over one thousand years.

It started nearly the same as the first version, but many changes were made. For example, a new villain named "Kai"(the R-Force supercomputer "Ai" infected by Ruppets virus), "White"(he was actually always there since the first version... also he looks like Friagne from Shakugan no Shana but with the face of Sebastian from Black Butler... somehow), and lastly the destruction of Ruppet(he is now stored in a stone in his original dimension).

Currently, his successor "Mika"(with help of Charlotte Wilthsire, Scarlett Eyler, Henrietta "Anri" Warhol, and all nearly three thousand "Gods Hearts") has to face a new incarnation of BR, who has taken over hell and could be powerful enough, to eradicate the whole R-Force and the linage of the "Gods Heart".

The fourth iteration

Back in 2020, after looking for an artist and rigger for a new model, I needed to think of a background story for "him".

And that's when I decided to create this.

The fourth version of TAoR has started in January 2021 as an interactive experience. So, follow me as "The R-Man" and as "Ronika"(and also as Ruppet) in this version, where you have to either get R-Man back to his original dimension or let Ruppet loose onto this world.

More about that in the stream, that should've started by now.

-Roman "The Writer"