#REALLY LONG RESPONSE WOW

[keepyourpantsongohan]

I have a Venn Diagram to share

[knockknockitsnickels]

Thoughts about Prison3r bc she's making me go insane

Spoilers under the cut (also minor spoilers - chapter name & brief discussion of other routes - in the tags, so don't read those lol)

I have a feeling the Cage is going to get overshadowed by Sp3ctre & Happily Ever After, but I was really surprised by the direction they took her in, and I think she makes Pris all the more tragic as a character.

IMO, the Prisoner route kind of functions as a giant trust fall. You've established in the previous chapter that you're skeptical of this whole setup (hence voice of the skeptic, lmao) and willing to help the Princess, and this route puts that to the test. Can you focus on what's important without getting caught up in questioning irrelevant details (the empty shackle)? Can you trust the Princess enough to give her your weapon? And on the other side of that, can she trust you to understand her plan?

Part of what makes the Prisoner compelling to me is the unspoken trust she has in the player (part of why I've never understood the take that she doesn't actually care about you? Maybe we've got some Autism2Autism telepathy going on though). Her lines in the Shifting Mound fight (if you free her) talks about how "shared skepticism blossomed into trust", and the Drowned Grey further implies that she put a lot of trust and hope in the player which they ended up betraying.

I was expecting Prison3r to play with that betrayal of trust - she showed we could trust her, but her trust in us was misplaced. It doesn't really matter if you leaving the head was an honest mistake or not, we still let her down. I was expecting a scenario where we'd be stuck apologizing to a Princess who couldn't bring herself to trust us again, no matter how sincere we were being. I was expecting her to be angry. I didn't expect her to just... give up.

If the Drowned Grey is meant to represent the Prisoner (metaphorically) letting go of the tight control she has of her emotions, (literally) drowning you in her (metaphorical) grief and rage, then the Cage is the opposite, locking her emotions even deeper away. Shifty describes her as (paraphrasing here, emphasis mine) "someone who wishes she could be just a set of eyes and ears." The Cage isn't angry with you for leaving her behind. Why should she be? It was her mistake, after all. She shouldn't have been so stupid to think she could break the cycle and actually be freed.

The route also plays with the contrast between the Princess and the Player (via the voices) in fun ways. While the Cage is already resigned to repeating the cycle, skeptic (and paranoid, if you get him) are panicking for the whole route, trying desperately to find a way out of it while unintentionally forcing you to into the same patterns as before (by forcing us to take the knife. Thanks guys, very cool).

It honestly feels like the perfect response to the common fan complaint of "Why is the Prisoner mad at you for leaving her head behind? It was an accident!". Well, here you go. She's not mad at you. It would honestly feel better if she was.

[sharknark]

⬇️rant about a really good hengren (reverse renheng) fic i read. link at the bottom give it a whirl

i've never read a fic so well-catered to my tastes before in my life and the best part is that i was so caught off guard by how good it was cuz the tags and summary had me like "right this is some omegaverse-esque, rawr XD mating shit"

but from the very first paragraph i realized it wasn't just ao3-typical possessive mating shit it was (dare i say) IN CHARACTER possessive mating shit. underappreciated dan feng lore is the two hearts shit, duty expects him to smother his own empathy and perform cruelty obediently (and that being in his dragon form literally numbs his empathy towards mortals) but then it's flipped around and he's criticized for being too heartless

there aren't a great many english fics that take advantage of the 'numbed empathy' thing, so this fic using that to explore the toxic codependency that drove dan feng to making yingxing immortal in the first place is so!

dan feng's dragon heart prioritizing it's own indulgence and power, his human heart screaming against it for empathy and restraint, but both hearts united in this possessive adoration of yingxing... dan feng is possessive to the point of harming his partner, forcing them to take his affection, inherently contradictive to the protective impulse to see the other unhurt.

dan feng makes yingxing immortal in a really sketchy operation, despite knowing that yingxing is literally defined by his pride in being a short-life. he wants yingxing to be with him so badly that he does the one thing that would hurt yingxing the most, too blinded by possession, this sickly overbearing affection, to empathetically respect yingxing's death.

yingxing lived cramming every second he could into his craft and his goals precisely because he has so much less time than all the immortal species around him, but when he's forced into immortality, his hands are scarred and ruined past the point of ever crafting again. he suddenly has so much time, all this time he would've cherished as a mortal, but is totally useless to him now that his purpose for living and passion is gone.

so there being a scene in this fic where dan feng is moping "yingxing doesn't wanna fuck because he's glued to his workshop", being followed up with a scene of dan heng fucking blade while kissing his scarred hand and crying that he's "so sorry", yeah no shit asshole, his dragon heart got what it wanted, blade has all the time in the world to fuck and nothing competing for his now limitless attention and no one's happy about it.

as arrogant about being a short-life as yingxing was, it really is compensation for the discrimination he faced for it. other immortals looked down on him, so having dan feng, THE top dog, be so deeply enamored with him stirred his own toxic codependent urges. he was so desperate to have dan feng's eternal regard that he's willing to die for him (as in the sedition), his death being the force cementing his place in dan feng's heart forever.

so the fic having yingxing ruminate on this, that he had hoped for dan feng to love him even centuries after he inevitably died, only for the fic to end with:

yeah yingxing... you left an impression... he made you immortal.... everyone's upset by this

(that's what makes dan heng forgetting blade was ever yingxing to begin with all the more painful because, you went and turned him immortal and when it backfired horrifically you went on and fucking forgot, bitch i'd be pissed to the point of centuries long bloody pursuit of vengeance too.)

here's the fic go read it and leave kudos and a comment, technically porn but i got so invested in the character study that part barely registered. also yeah if you hadn't realized already super dead-dove:

blah blah "renheng is toxic" sorry that's why i like it

[britneyshakespeare]

Should I ignore Man or should I hear him out

[themissingnumbers]

[@blue-tearss - previously, yet again.]

WARNING: At this point this entire thing is getting pretty intense in general. Warning for descriptions and illustrations of gore (specifically face and eye trauma), and a general emphasis on horror.

As the knife comes down upon him, Red does not fight back.

Red takes it.

Each swing. Each cut. Each slash.

over and over and over and over and over and

Biting pain.

The burn of an old blade.

It stings. Gods, it stings.

But to hurt is to be alive. To bleed is to be real.

He's something that is living.

Even if 'something' is not human.

Even though he's not sure what it could be anymore.

So he lets the knife glide through his skin.

Lets himself be flayed and mangled and marred.

Lets the blood flow from his wounds, and from his throat.

Because he knows it, sees it, tastes it in Blue's code.

How familiar this dying face is to him.

It makes it all the more hilarious.

Red's face, shoulders, and chest are a sanguine mess of ragged lacerations, staining the front of his shirt with the hue of a dark, dull purple, colored like rotten blood from a lifeless body. Even through the blue dye in the air, he refuses to be colored like everything else- colors of the Missing One prevailing, even with the lack of the man's typical palette corruption.

As if in tandem with the sudden absence of those horrible flickering bars that typically crawl across Red's skin and hair, Glitch City... calms. The mass eating at Blue relents when his assault ends. There's a distinct heaviness to the air, though. Each piece of the world that craved to rip and tear and consume, now twitching, bubbling, boiling underneath them. A dreadful kind of suspense.

A predator waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

It is waiting.

Red runs a hand down his face, over flesh marred beyond recognition, fingers tracing the dips and exposed muscle even though it burns more and more under the contact.

A single in-tact eye burns into the other.

Somehow, he still.

fucking.

SMILES.

"Y'know, I never thought I'd end up on the receiving end," he croaks, voice half-drowned by the blood that flows freely into his mouth.

"I'd always wondered what the motherfucker upstairs had been through. Thanks for giving me something educational to take from this, pal."

He spits his words at the other, underlined by the awful wet noises of viscera catching in his throat.

He steps forward, aiming to meet the other in the middle. Blue can see him trembling, shaky, unsteady on his feet- it hurts, oh Gods it hurts. It hurts more than he can describe. This pain is unfamiliar. Even if he welcomes the lack of numbness, it still hurts. It hurts. Each step he takes is more and more akin to a shambling corpse, a zombie freshly risen and struggling to hold itself upright. It hurts. It hurts.

"It's a little funny how you say you're not desperate while tryna hack me to pieces, y'know," he continues, voice growing all the raspier.

Frankly, he should be impossible to understand at this point. But there's something supplemental under his gargled mutterings- whispers on whispers from every side, quiet, but just loud enough to make each and every word clear.

"Whaddya think, that I'm stupid, or are you just in denial that badly...? I mean, when I get bored, I don't go out of my way to slaughter some doppelganger of the guy I hate most, in th' boring ol' way I did it every time before... Where's the fun in doin' something different if ya go about it the exact same, huh? You're BORED, but you aren't lookin' to change a single fuckin' thing, just attacking some pooooor defenselesss motherfucker that ya don't even know anything 'bout, don't got any grudges t' hold against...

But heyyy, heheh, it's allll in a place where your actions don't matter, cus it ain't even yyour world, must be sooo much easier, no aftermath t' worry about, that must be what yyYOU think, hhahaha..."

As he goes on, each word is more drawn out, quieter and quieter and weaker and weaker, yet biting with a sharpness that stabs deeper than Blue's blade. He babbles and slurs as if drunk- probably going delirious from the blood loss.

But he keeps chuckling, low, soft, and quiet. Barely a giggle under his breath...

Until it begins to crescendo.

Laughter slowly rising, Red tilts his head back, until he's thrown himself into a loud fit of cackling, RIGHT in the other's face, 'til he's wheezing, barely able to BREATHE through his manic laughter, 'til he looks like he could fall backwards if he doesn't catch his breath.

Suddenly, he snaps his head forward- and there IS an audible snap, like bones loudly clicking into place in a single grotesque movement- bringing himself eye to eye with the other. Sickly dull purples flicker into that distinct violent RED with a flare of corruption, cutting through everything with a vivid, bloody color.

"This place is HELL," he snarls, suddenly speaking clear as day, the amusement still glimmering in his one good eye, "but you fail to understand something important; this is MY Hell. And 'infested?' Does not even BEGIN to describe it."

His hand surges forward, grabbing Blue's knife-wielding hand by the wrist. His nails dig in, his fist closes around Blue's, forcing the other to tighten his grip on the handle. Red blood, running down his arm and to his hand in a deluge, mixes with blue, running and swirling together like mismatched paints dropped into a sick palette.

"What happened to MY Blue? You're asking the wrong question. Didn't anyone tell you to do your research before traveling, buddy? You should be asking what happened to ME. Because BLUE is free. BLUE is exactly where he is supposed to be. Far, far away from HERE. Living. Breathing. S A F E. I wouldn't wish him here for ANYTHING- shit, I wouldn't wish this on ANYONE. In fact, I genuinely feel fucking BAD that YOU managed to stumble into this shithole, y'know? You're tryin' awful hard to kill my pity, but I really am giving you the benefit of the doubt for how STUPID you're acting."

His hold on Blue's hand strengthens. With a harsh pull, and a grip threatening to either draw blood or break bone, he wrenches the other's fist down-

Forcing him to point the blade directly at his stomach.

He leaves the tip of the knife digging through his shirt and poking his flesh, only just gently enough to avoid breaking skin.

"But lookie here, yeah? Check THIS out, hahaha! If you're ACTUALLY as bored as you say, you must REALLY wanna see something new, right? If you wanna keep using me as your new punching-bag motherfucking PLAYTHING... Start HERE, would you? I bet you'll LOVE what happens next."

In a staggered motion, he releases Blue's hand where he left it. Knife still pointed forward, straight at Red's guts, but now with the freedom to let the other decide his next move.

"Still, though... Hey, let me be CIVIL and give you some actual advice," he continues, and he's heaving again, struggling with every breath, excess blood spilling from between his teeth. The surge of strength falters, and he slumps forward, putting one hand over his chest, gripping his shirt until his knuckles go white. His other hand lingers, the one he'd grabbed Blue with, shaking worse and worse with each passing moment. Red feels sick, his heart and a dozen other horrific things brewing inside of him pounding faster and faster against his ribs, restless and angry, ready to explode out of that cage of bone, simmering just below the surface. It's a nauseating feeling that's synchronized with the greater behavior of Glitch City, all while he struggles to stay awake and keep his mind clear.

"If you have ANY sense of self preservation still about you..." he drawls with an uneasy laugh, eye unfocused as he tries to stare at Blue, "then I suggest y'put that fucking thing away and start looking for an exit before shit gets REALLY ugly. But whatever ya do next, well... it's up to you...!"

Even with his lips tattered, torn off his face, Blue can feel how Red's grin widens.

"Just don't say I never warned you."

[cuteniaarts]

@katkastrofa, circa 40-ish hours ago: Hey, what if our newest bunch of OCs adopted a baby from one of the other brothel girls who knew she couldn’t afford to raise one? That would make for some fun shenanigans :D

Me, with a notoriously non existent sleep schedule, instinct of self preservation or concern for my poor wrist: Alright, bet. Watch how fast I can make you fall in love with this hypothetical baby >:)

Daneli as a gentle and loving caretaker-turned-adoptive-mother is something that can be So Personal, actually, and originally I was going to leave it at this quick sketch, but then I got carried away thinking about what this child will grow up to be like raised by this little gang of misfits, so…

Here she is!! A little older and so, so beautiful, I need more of her in my life immediately, she’s way too precious

And, because I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t also add a sapphic element to this absolute cinnamon roll, a small crack ship that I’m only half serious about for when she’s a little older still:

All in all, we may be getting impossibly far from canon, but I for one already cannot get enough of sweet darling Kumisai <3

(I fully drew three pieces from scratch in 9 hours I cannot feel my brain or my hands anymore send help)

[fuckmeyer]

Wiggins!) the bizarre thing about the vampire men in the cullen family all seem to be at least subconsciously what Smeyer wants Bella to have but can’t seem to get over her initial vision of what she saw in her drafts or whatever. It’s odd that every single one of the Cullen men are like strongly devoted (but mostly devoid of personality because it’s so Bella centric) but when you compare them to Edward they seem interesting in some ways. Like Narratively we’re supposed to have this threat that Edward is constantly holding back from killer her but I don’t feel like we see that. Conversely, Jasper is constantly the one who is suffering about human smells and is the more vampire-like. But he’s also a glorified lap dog. So it’s like ‘oh he’s a monster but he’ll never hurt me” (things Alice has said out loud. Man even psychics slip up. I swear her powers weren’t so accurate until Smeyer needed an excuse for plot reasons)

Emmett feels like when some women say they like waifish guys because they don’t want to seem like they’re vapid for liking “big dudes with muscles” so of course you pair Emmett with the “shallow blonde”

Carlisle, I swear only exists so Edward has someone to model but I would also argue that he’s proto-Edward before whatever reworking she had to do when writing Twilight for a YA audience and brought him back as a different character.

Yeah a rant

hello again bestie Wiglet! (note to self: learn Photoshop so i can shop Jacob's bad wig onto a pic of Piglet)

this is such an interesting take! thanks for sharing. i totally see what you're saying. in all the Cullen men we see both a blend of softness & devotion *and*, interestingly enough, a patchwork of patriarchal ideas of what a man "should" be. & this idea comes to the forefront with the depiction of the love interests

smeyer wants us to see Edward as the chivalric gentlemen from the Days of Yore. we see this in the opening doors, the cutsey little romance taglines ("you are my life now," "look after my heart; i've left it with you," "so the lion fell in love" etc), the knight saving the damsel in distress, the expensive tokens of his affection, etc.

at the same time, in both Edward & Jacob we see the crude traits of the Patriarchy Dreamboat kinda guy. if i had to sum it up, it's like the guy you see in 80s movies. "bad boy." "opposites attract." he's a jerk. he's a hunk. he's domineering. he's allowed to show emotion only & especially if that emotion is anger. he's persistent in his efforts to get the girl, going so far as to kiss her without her consent if it's For a Good Cause (Edward in New Moon post-Volterra, Jacob in Eclipse). he's a cool guy who's In Control 👉😎👉

perhaps that's why the Twilight saga appealed so such a large swath of women & girls. the women, who grew up with the notion that they could have the true love of their dreams so long as they submitted to the patriarchal social contract, saw the contract being fulfilled in Edward. (i.e., "you can be the king if you treat me like a princess.")

on the other hand, the 90s/00s girlies who grew up in the midst of a feminist revolution & who could see the glimmer of a dismantled patriarchy on the horizon were attracted to Edward for the flashes of radical feminist love they saw: the unapologetic expressions of emotion, the honesty of him sharing his vulnerabilities & weaknesses, Bella's ability to override Edward's will when necessary, etc.

sorry, i know this isn't really the crux of the rant you submitted, but it is extremely interesting to see these contradictions playing out in all the male characters of the saga. it's almost like smeyer is having this internal debate with herself without even realizing it...

[seyaryminamoto]

Hey, I just wanted to ask if you have abandoned the fic: How they all Reacted. It seemed to have ended with a massive cliffhanger, and you've also teased the next chapters, despite them not being there. Is the Reason-Origin of Pro Bending AU abandoned?

I don't like thinking I've abandoned fics, it's very sad to think of it that way... but the truth is I have been a liiiittle too distant from that timeline and the likelihood that I'll return to it shrinks more and more every day. It's unfortunate, I know... it was a pretty sweet, dorky fic, but I won't make promises I won't keep. I can give you a rundown of what I wanted to do in the remaining chapters I meant to write for it, if that'd help, but it's still nice to know that someone's still interested in that fic timeline. I really don't know if I'd be able to get back into the mindset for it to write the chapters properly, but thanks for asking nonetheless <3

[unproduciblesmackdown]

forsooth reread the first part of lackadaisy and just a few excerpts, particularly w/a visual focus

like i said, that i started reading this in '07 (which, consulting the copyrights, means the end of this section was still Currently Updating at that time, very fun for me, i do also remember A Break b/w the end of that section & the first page of part two b/c i remember being so [oouhh hell yes] when that updated)

mentioning the off the shits quality right from the start and like, around this age maybe already starting to draw a bit more / beyond like doodles to pass the time at school or at home largely; not being at all very Online yet to know abt what the hell people post anywhere so like my god people not only just make their own comics, not only are they essentially ongoing graphic novels, someone can also just be making something this high quality....intriguing and just holistically inspirational on the artistic front, that people just Were out there able to just do this kind of stuff, nonprofessionally, b/c they wanted to. and just the intrigue of like, i loved keeping up with it as a whole then & since, the historical element is fun, the drama & mystery elements, the dynamic adventure aspect, the slightly lighthearted playful nature of the work overall (jellicle...), the constant relevance of Character and the constant progression of Story

but also it sure occurred to me that a big like Artistic Illumination & Motivation element of it is how immediately effectively quasi three-dimensional the art is, especially with the figures: the realistically consistent geometry in changing perspectives / characters being consistently constructed out of would-be three-dimensional shapes, the Lighting/Shading doing a ton to define the 3D shapes, the use of fabric wrinkling adding not just visual detail but following form & movement....middle school / would-be high school years as sure a particularly transformative time for my drawing like, hey, i can just do stuff, hey i can make & post niche fanart so that i'm motivated to draw just a lot more b/c i really am hardly moved to do it outside of that lmao....and i imagine that having This dropped in my lap and like, its feeling pretty immediate was this inspiration of like, organically selling this approach of Constructing Figures / to be thinking of things very three-dimensionally even when it Wasn't actually like, animation or an elaborate still life. like evidently my own art is very Line focused but i would say i'm also definitely thinking of figures as 3D like this / striving for the linework serving that too, or just generally striving for more [the Geometry works "realistically" despite obvious stylization, as it clearly does w/lackadaisy]

[wewontbesleeping]

ok dentist was fine. fine. it was hellish and i hated it but that's to be expected at the dentist so it was Fine. i talked to them about getting invisalign though. so that could be interesting. and extremely expensive. cool. really fun.

[krockat]

I hate feeling so embarrassed I get heated up, the worst. esp after doing some shit mistake.

augh. i hate how bad i am at relationships

[skeletalheartattack]

hi, i've been readin dragon ball for the first time these past few weeks and just finished the part where they're on planet namek. I Understand What You See In Him.

he's fucking something right??? ohhh straight up, you should see (and hear) him in the anime as well if you think you have the full picture. i've been absolutely obsessed forever

[tojipie]

˚ ✧ ────────

you’re 5 minutes into your first round and to be quite honest, you’ve never been more sure that fushiguro toji and his god given ability to dirty talk is something you’ll take to your grave.

you’d been with other guys before, ones with a nasty habit of running their mouths during sex. ones that’d grab you by the neck and whisper sweet nothings in your ear, telling you how good you felt, how tight you were, how they couldn’t wait to fuck you again.

toji is entirely different. nothing, and i truly mean nothing, compares to that old man when it comes to mouthing off in the bedroom. he’s formulating sentences you never thought possible, spewing stuff that would have you clutching your pearls and running for the hills any other given day.

you’re holding onto your composure by your teeth hearing him say the things he does, thighs and arms burning as you rock back and forth on his dick.

“take what you need pretty. uh huh, keep fucking me,” he chuckles, winding a fist into your hair to pull you back onto his cock when he notices you trying to crawl away.

you honestly don’t think you can take it anymore. if the way your guts were currently being pummeled into oblivion wasn’t enough, the way he’s talking to you right now has you in crisis.

it’s all too good, suspiciously good, and embarrassingly enough, you think you might be nearing your edge only 7 minutes after making it to his bed. your arms fail you as you try to crawl up the bed and away from the too-good feeling currently frying every wire in your brain.

“awww, you runnin�� from me?,” he laughs, letting your hair go to cage you in from behind, two solid arms settling on either side of your head.

your words escape you each time you muster up a response, eyes rolling back and he takes over again, shoving you face down and absolutely destroying that special spot tucked away inside of you. toji’s like a furnace, cooking you alive with the heat the radiates add his abs and chest.

“told ya you couldn’t handle it,” he teases, watching you writhe under him. “not with this dick.”

you feel something wet—a tongue you realize— traveling up the base of your spine and tapering off at your neck before solid teeth clamp down on the skin there.

okay, wow. fuck. you realize he’d lapped up the moisture settling in the dip of your back, licking the sweat from your skin like an animal.

“gonna let me taste every part of you? hmm?” he says in that too sweet voice you only hear when he’s teasing. he lets go of your neck with a pop to admire the bruise his bite leaves in its wake, sucking another one right under it for good measure.

you fall over the edge with no warning, so overwhelmed with pleasure that your mind and body continue to work separately.

the sound toji makes is beautiful. low, long, and guttural. radiating from the deepest part of his chest like a fan, and for a minute, you think he might be feeling the same overwhelming pleasure you are.

“ughh-hah don’t move, don’t move,” he whispers over and over, massaging the fat of your ass while your body flutters around him. you feel something viscous leak out of you, dripping down the seam of your heat and onto the sheets.

“when the fuck did you have time to cum?,” you finally muster. you don’t think you’d be able to move if your life depended on it, limbs sinking into the mattress like tubes of jelly. you really can’t move once you feel 200 pounds of laughing muscle settle on top of you, keeping you grounded like a paperweight on a measly little envelope.

“what, y’ quitting on all of this?” he laughs, gesturing up and down himself so you know just how irresistible he thinks he is. the worst part is that he’s right, just based off of how hard he’d rocked your world in the last 10 or so minutes.

you feel invigorated by some stroke of a miracle, pressing back on his still-leaking dick as a silent invitation.

“what, more? y’need more of me you little minx?” he laughs, grrriiiinding his tip right up against that fleeting spot you would have never been able to get to on your own.

and just like that he’s back to fucking you, pulling you into him like a toy at that same perfect pace.

“bite me hard if y’ want me to stop, you hear me?” he commands, shoving your face back into the pillows once he sees you nod.

[secondwhisper]

Lee tagged me on this one because I worked with INDOT for about five years. Most of that time was spent as a scoping engineer for roadway projects, but I did have some other roles, and I had some familiarity with coworkers who interfaced with highway and transit grants.

So, let's dissect the contest idea. Oh god this got so long I'm sorry.

Yes, generally speaking, grant funding pretty much is already a contest. You get a lot of applications, and you choose the best few big ones + the best few small ones (the small ones sort of fill in the gap left when the next big project would cause budget overrun). So why is this contest not just a grant application or RFP? The premise being each jurisdiction¹ is tasked with submitting² three proposals³.

Grants are usually opt-in. This "contest" sounds like it would be required. What is the consequence for a jurisdiction¹ not submitting to the "contest"? Normally for a grant, the consequence of not applying is that you definitely don't get the funding. But if you demand each state¹ provide three proposals², and they don't meet that, what's the consequence? Are we pulling federal funding from bridges, roads, ports, existing transit?

1. Why am I saying "jurisdiction" where the original post said "state" and "metro area". The state does not design, construct, or maintain local infrastructure. Each state has jurisdiction over state and national routes in its borders (plus some other weird stuff sometimes). The State of Illinois, for example, might provide some of the funding (via grant awards) for Chicago transit development, and will definitely want to review the proposals to make sure the funding is appropriate & that state code / design standards are met, but the state crucially does not actually develop that infrastructure! So who does? The local jurisdiction! Often, that's an individual city or town. But when we're talking about a metro area, ie serving the city core(s) & their suburbs (but still not the rural surrounds...), you've entered the world of the Regional Planning Commission.

So, if we're saying each state's three largest metro areas (whether the cities themselves or their affiliated regional planning commission) need to submit² proposals³, who faces the consequences if they don't? The core city(/ies), every municipality in the metro area, the regional planning commission, the county/parish, the state?

Speaking of metro areas by state, does this mean Kansas City and Chicago-Hammond-Kenosha and Louisville-Scottsburg and Spokane-CDA and DC get to double- or triple-dip, because they cross state lines? Does it make a difference if they share one regional planning commission, or if the metro area is large enough to support multiple regional planning commissions? What about transnational metro areas?

Speaking of metro areas by state, does this mean Maryland and Virginia get to propose rail connections to DC, but DC itself doesn't get their share of the pot, since DC is after all not a state (and only have the one metro area)? So, do we include territories? Do the American Samoan people or does the fed get to decide what their 3 metro areas are? (They only have one zip code after all, and colonial vs traditional organizational divisions are from what I can tell an ongoing tension.) Can an indigenous nation get in on the contest funding, with or without a federally recognized reservation? Do they still have to identify three metro areas? (What would it mean for their sovereignty if they have to propose a plan?)

2. Why am I saying "submit a proposal" when the original post said "design a proposal". I basically just wanna be really clear that the scoping process and the design process are distinct steps that both need funding. Scoping is the part of the process where we say "how far should this line go" and "where are the problem areas that will need more attention" and "are there any obvious environmental or archaeological concerns near the project area" and produce initial drawings and estimates. Scoping usually does this for two to five project options (what if we add a signal vs what if we add a roundabout, what if we install a subway vs what if we install a streetcar, what if we add a sixth interstate lane vs what if we buy two new train cars), and then compares the alternatives, choosing one to suggest for full design. For large projects like new³ rail transit, that'll be consulted out instead of done in-house, and consultants are expensive, so I hope that every jurisdiction required to submit to this contest gets a guaranteed consulting budget regardless of proposal success. (I believe that a scoping report is what is most commonly submitted to grant proposals, not a design.) If the scoping report identifies an alternative preferable to doing nothing, and if the estimated budget and timeline work out, the project continues being developed. Then, public interest meetings are held, preliminary environmental/archaeological/historic investigations are conducted (with intensive investigations and reports if necessary), and geotechnical investigations happen. Only then does a design get produced! The design will have things like material specifications, utility relocates, construction phasing, and a much more accurate estimate. This design will also be prepared by a consultant and will also be expensive, so if a full design is necessary to submit to this grant-contest, I'd hope that every jurisdiction is also guaranteed design consultant funding regardless of proposal acceptance. The original post only indicated that grant-contest awards will be for construction cost, which means that jurisdictions that can't spare much budget for an initial high-quality consultant report are gonna be sooooooo screwed over in deliberations. (And if the award only covers construction, will small jurisdictions try not to get selected, or be pushed toward a P3, because if awarded they wouldn't be able to dedicate an adequate operating & maintenance budget post-construction?)

(Anyway the whole concept -> scope -> investigations -> design -> construction process does take a long time usually. That's good. It might take months to get adequate public feedback, and more months to analyze those responses and iterate with a community to see what works. You might have to redo the proposed route because of a previously undocumented burial ground. You might have to tell your design consultant it's so obvious they copied and pasted this analysis from another report and they'd better redo the whole thing before trying to submit it for real. You might have to spend three years on soil and water remediation due to an old refinery or dry cleaner. You might find out that there's a bedrock shelf where you thought it was a smooth slope and now your bridge has to be redesigned. A sinkhole might open up and you should probably not just pave over it and pretend it never happened. Not all delays are bullshit. A lot of political pressure to do things quickly is bullshit.)

3. What exactly is meant here by "rail transit proposal"? That is, what are we asking each jurisdiction to actually propose? If we're looking to expand the reach of rail transit, that likely excludes proposals to buy a few new streetcars for an existing line to run service a bit more frequently, and certainly excludes simple operational funding of existing lines. Does double-tracking an existing line count as sufficiently new construction? Extending a current line? Restoring a station that went defunct forty years ago? Or do we only consider proposals that add new lines or create new rail systems? Could Los Angeles or Nashville or Aguadilla get a public funicular or two with rail transit contest funding? A funicular isn't quite a train and definitely serves a different purpose than most urban light rail. Could Indianapolis, IN, get trolleybus infrastructure to count for rail funding, since urban light rail is illegal there? A trolleybus doesn't have tracks, but it does have a set route with overhead cables.

My point with "what even counts as rail" is less that jurisdictions might push for something that's literally not rail, it's that in a grant-contest award scenario, there will be a deliberations committee. Their criteria for "best" are probably things like "lowest cost per track mile" and "serves the most people" and "most thorough operational plan / most likely to succeed" and "looks most like what we expected". I say this because I have been at funding deliberations where we argue things like "I know it has to be done eventually but more than $20M for half a mile of port connector is just so expensive" and "sure, [festival town] still doesn't have ADA compliant crossings, but the permanent population is only like 12 people" and "do we trust [infamously corrupt city] to actually see this one through or is the army corps going to get involved again" and "wait remind me how we fund buggy routes, are they trails or roads, let's table that one for now you might need to bring that to a different deliberations meeting". Alaska, Hawaii, and overseas territories are going to have absolutely exorbitant construction costs due to materials import. If Wisconsin needs heated rails due to heavy ice and snow, well, that's a cost that Missouri need not factor in. Does Arizona want to elevate the tracks for monsoon season resilience, well, that's a lot more materials both on the train lines and to make the stations accessible, and anyway the population density is so low compared to New Jersey, it just won't serve that many people. If Gilette, WY, where the only public buses are paratransit, submits an elaborate proposal for six tram lines, they're simply not going to look reasonable when compared to a city like Denver, CO, that might be looking to add one airport spur to a well established light rail system. If Aguadilla wants a funicular, or Indianapolis wants a trolleybus, or the Gullah-Geechee Nation say that trains don't make any sense on the Sea Islands but they would like transit funding for a public ferry system thank you very much, well. Is our goal public transit generally, trains specifically, or something in between?

70% and 50% awards suck ass especially if jurisdictions are required to submit proposals. Federal grant monies for infrastructure are usually 80/20 federal to local (sometimes the state has secondary grants to cover some or all of the 20% for localities that need it, and they frequently do need assistance with that 20% even for normal road resurfacing contracts). Can you imagine being fucking idk, Bangor, ME, and you submit a $500M brand-spanking-new 10-mile-long streetcar proposal to this mandatory USDOT "contest" and you "win" an award of $250M that you have to spend on only the construction (not even the design) of this project, and you don't know where that other $250M is gonna come from but now you gotta find it somehow because you "won"? And no major construction project comes in under budget anyway. A normal 80/20 grant might not have even been feasible because you're fucking Bangor, ME, and now you got stuck with a 50/50. (Bangor, the third largest city in Maine, operates the entire city on an annual budget of $130M. The whole city, not just transportation infrastructure.) The funding on this from the feds would have to be upwards of 85%, ideally closer to 95%, if you want any smaller or more remote community to have a chance of actually constructing anything, even with state assistance.

So like, say this is ultimately a $50 billion grant pool. Fifty one-billion-dollar-ish awards. That's surprisingly feasible for the feds if they're really truly committed (the BIL was like $1.2 trillion; the annual average federal infrastructure allocation if I'm reading correctly is like $920 billion). (It just, you know, doesn't usually spend much of that on transit.)

Constructing things on time and on budget with competent workers is gonna be hard if there's a national scramble for rail construction. Remote areas and areas without a temperate climate and areas with lots of brownfields are going to have additional cost complications that mean they will get less mileage (of a certain quality at least) for the money. Jurisdictions that already operate light rail are best equipped to convince others that their populace will embrace light rail and that they can operate light rail competently and that their drivers and pedestrians know how to behave around light rail. This is a problem with existing grant funding infrastructure and part of why we don't seem to see much progress in public transit.

Where existing (state) transit grants go is, from my limited knowledge of one state, as follows. A portion goes to municipal public fixed-route buses. The rest of it goes to small-town and rural paratransit. A lot of these programs have one or two accessible buses and two to four part time drivers. Grant awards pay for fuel, driver's wages, maintenance on wheelchair lifts, cleaning, and even the occasional new bus. Door-to-door paratransit is immensely important and, somehow, both more and less expensive than you'd think. Door-to-door paratransit service cannot be replaced by light rail. (Indiana's single commuter rail line mostly gets federal funding, iirc, not state. And Amtrak is a separate thing.) I don't have a good sense of where federal transit grants go, but it can be discovered if you're willing to wrangle some .gov links and tables and publications.

Hey did you know that public infrastructure grant applications often have a question like "how does this project further [jurisdiction]'s 20-year plan?" or 50-year plan or whatever. Your city or county or regional planning commission probably already has a long-term "vision" of their infrastructure and neighborhoods and developing tax sources and stuff. These plans can be changed and I'm not really experienced on the regional/urban planning end of things, but like. These visioning plans already exist. (They just might not have light rail on them.)

Oh, in case it wasn't clear, each funding source (federal government, state government, city government, private grant entity) will have designated pools for different transportation infrastructure types. Like, maybe it'll be 40% bridges, 25% minor highway, 20% major highway, 5% commercial (ports, airports, local commercial rail), 4% institutional (military, recreation, prisons), 4% misc (at-grade rail crossings, bike infrastructure, scenic railways and canals), 2% public transit. Those are suuuper rough estimates of a somewhat typical federal/state distribution; cities are gonna be pretty different. These proportions are designated at allocation (federally, some states) or encoded into state law (some other states I think). So all the grant proposals from all the transit councils might be awesome and valuable and worthwhile, but the total allocation is never gonna go over that 2% or whatever of the total available infrastructure budget. Bridges are really expensive. And most wear and tear on highways and bridges is due to water/weather + commercial traffic (semis) so unfortunately just building more public transit will not meaningfully reduce the cost of highway maintenance long term, that's a freight logistics problem and a climate (change) problem.

I'm not saying it's impossible, it's pretty possible, it's just that this contest premise adds some unusual complexities and also skims over some pretty normal complexities. I don't know how much of the public infrastructure development process is understood by the general public so I'm sorry if I over-explained any parts of this.

I think it would be really interesting to do a program where each state is tasked with designing a rail transit proposal for their largest 3 metro areas and then the federal government awards a really large grant, like 70% of construction cost to the 30 best proposals, and like a 50% to the next 20 best. I think it would seriously improve transit and give us long term plans for the vast majority of major US cities. The one issue is I don't know how viable the USDOT running a contest would be

[piningpercussionist]

i knew you could do it kim, congrats ❤️

(ooc: it is extremely fun to use asks like this)

Kim taps her fingers against the rim of the sink, staring at herself in the mirror. What the hell are you doing, Kim? she asks herself, trying to keep measured breaths. She's replaying herself back, in her mind; from before the party to now, in the wake of it, struggling to adjust to the tide.

She'd had her cool when she'd first shut the door, but once she'd gone to dry her hands, she'd met her own eyes and was stuck in a bit of a loop with herself once again. Back and forth she'd go with herself, trying to muster up the nerve to step back out of the room.

Just open the god damn fucking door and go out there... toughen the fuck up.

And yet, somehow, the added expletive from the last time she'd insisted such doesn't provide the additionally spurring that she wanted. She wasn't even sure what the roadblock here was, necessarily; was it just the usual distrust? Unkillable, ugly thing- but a useful tool, perhaps simply trying to serve its purpose... The corner of Kim's lip twitches downward, eyes narrowing.

She'd be right to be distrustful, wouldn't she? Every time something's going right for her, it falls on its face- so how can Ramona make such bold claims? Especially given the woman's history! The track record so far with her partners hasn't exactly been the greatest; it isn't exactly a comfort to think back on some of them now, and how things ended for them, finally breaking her leering match to look down into the churning water.

She slowly shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. Just thinking that's made her feel guilty, something heavy twisting uncomfortably in her chest. How can she even think that, still? After the way Ramona had so sweetly held her, and tried to reassure- even when she'd been pulling back from it, though unconsciously. She'd really believed what she was saying- that's what Kim had thought, at least, when she was searching her eyes the whole while. I really am a bitch, aren't I?

She grits her teeth and turns around, leaning back against the sink to prevent another staring contest. She listens to the water rush as she resumes her tapping, now facing a new problem. She didn't want to go out there with this heavy guilt still twisting her up... even if it would probably resolve things neatly.

She takes out her phone and navigates to her inbox, looking for a distraction- and apparently it's just the place; she sees a couple waiting for her, and sets about reading the first.

Seeing the familiar name, she actually smiles, sitting up a little. She still remembers her embarrassed agitation at the prodding, the night before, and how they'd even apologized later, even if a little flirty- and still riling her up for what she'd inevitably do, as acknowledged here.

Were you at Julie's party, or did you hear about it somewhere? Good grief... Thank you though, I guess. I blame whatever the hell Julie had at the drink table last night.

She answers the message privately, shaking her head a little. But then she stops, thinking again. They'd been alone in the room, save for the bunny apparently- or at least, she was pretty sure they were. Shit... Probably all the stragglers I was pushing over dragging Ramona out of there...

..That was so stupid, of course people were gonna know- they'd probably hit the nail just by assuming. That was a ludicrously bold move on her part, and were it not for the excuse of the booze, she'd be an idiot for not having considering that.

Trying not to kick herself too hard over it, she clicks her tongue in mild agitation, opening the next message.

[wriokitty]

part two

Starting an internship at the company Satoru’s father owns but you don’t know who he is just yet.

He’s annoying. He always comes back from lunch late, lets his phone ring at his desk (that’s conveniently placed next to yours) past the three ring policy, writes emails with silly and immature sign-offs, cracks jokes during meetings, and somehow, despite always finishing his paperwork late, he never manages to lose his damn job.

You try to mind your own business. But you can’t help but feel him slowly grate at your nerves as he acts so unprofessional and for some weird reason, not one person seems to care.

He seems pretty intrigued with you, too, if matters couldn’t get worse.

“Hey,” he grins. You try to ignore the tilt of his lips in amusement as you just barely fight off rolling your eyes.

“Can I help you with something?” You sigh, “I’m currently in the middle of something that requires my full attention, but maybe we could—”

“You really love your office jargon,” he hums, cutting you off with a wider grin, “so dedicated.”

“Oh, my apologies,” you smile tightly. He seems to straighten a little, some sick, twisted form of excitement rushing through his system at the way he seems to get under your skin. “Allow me to use simpler language for you to understand: go away, I’m busy.”

Someone has to stand up to this prick, you think. He puts in half the effort, and somehow, you’re pretty sure your boss has a soft spot for him. You don’t understand it, and quite frankly, you’ll be damned if a lazy, lackluster man snags a promotion before your hardworking self.

“Oh wow,” he snorts, “breaking your strictly professional streak, are you? You must be really occupied. I guess I’ll borrow your stapler later.”

Gritting your teeth, you give him yet another tight lipped smile before grabbing the stapler off your desk and handing it to him. (A small part of you resists the urge to throw it square at his face. Maybe the image of him on the floor with a bloodied nose would make your day a little easier, but then you’re sure you’d be jobless).

“Here you go,” you say with as much kindness as you can muster. (It’s not a lot). “Please do bring it back when you’re done. Some of us actually complete paper work, so the stapler is a necessity.”

“Oh yeah?” He tilts his head, eyes sparkling with mischief, “don’t worry, I won’t hold your stapler hostage for too long. I wouldn’t want to disrupt the flow of your productivity.”

You watch with wary eyes as he walks back to his desk, stapling some small, tiny note of sorts before walking right back, handing the paper and the stapler to you.

“What’s this?” You raise a brow.

“Some paper work for you to fill out,” he grins, the vagueness of his answer making a vein all but pop in your forehead.

Before you even have a chance to tell him that you most certainly will not be entertaining whatever silly prank he’s playing, he walks right off, sagging into his chair as he does an obnoxious little spin and goes back to typing at his computer. Probably yet another email with a ridiculous ending, you think to yourself.

Against your better judgement, you stare at the note, eyeing the small flap he’s stapled over an index card. You lift it up, quickly scanning over his scribbled writing.

Want to grab coffee during lunch? Check your answer:

▢ yes! ▢ absolutely! ▢ most definitely!

Your eye twitches.

Grabbing a pen, you quickly add a box underneath his (very confident) options, checking it off and writing in neat, pristine handwriting:

▣ not a chance!

You stand, walking over to his desk and ignoring his perked up, excited little smile as you drop the note back on the table and head back to your own desk. A tiny wave of satisfaction weaves through your body when you notice him read over your response and deflate, a small pout forming over his lips.

Regretfully, a small part of you can’t help but acknowledge that he’s actually…kind of cute when his lips are curled like that. But a larger part of you shakes that thought away and cringes internally. It’s a shame his personality ruins the genetic blessings he seems to have been bestowed with.

And you think that’s the end of it—but of course, with someone like Satoru in the office, there’s never the end of anything.

You watch as an email pops up on your screen, opening it only to stare blankly at his name and roll your eyes at the subject line:

────────────────────────

Follow-Up on Submitted Paperwork

Greetings office neighbor,

Thank you for submitting the paperwork. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but notice that it does not fully align with the outlined guidelines. Could you please provide clarification or revise the submission accordingly?

Thanks a million,

Gojo Satoru :)

────────────────────────

And there he goes again with those obnoxious sign-offs, you think bitterly. Instantly, you’re clicking away at your keyboard as you type back an agitated response. Of course, you really shouldn’t entertain his ridiculous schemes, but something about him gets under your skin enough that you simply can’t help yourself.

You huff in approval at your response as you read it over before hitting send.

Instantly, as if he was waiting, you see his hand reach for his mouse and click on his screen to open your email as his eyes scan over your reply:

────────────────────────

Thank you for reaching out,

Unfortunately, I was unable to fully adhere to the outlined guidelines, as they are not viable in this situation. To address this, I adjusted the submission to align more effectively with a more practical outcome.

Hope that helps!

Your office neighbor :)

────────────────────────

Just when you think he’s given up, he rolls his chair over to your desk, causing a couple of annoyed heads to tilt up and glare at him for the noise before turning their attention back to their work. You pinch your nose as his chair rolls to a stop in front of your desk.

“Yes?” You grit through your teeth.

“Hey, office neighbor,” he hums, “just wanted to clarify your most recent email with you. I’m a bit confused.”

“Which part confused you?” You bat your lashes in faux charm, sarcastically smiling at him as he hums, grabbing a piece of candy from your little bowl of sweets at your desk and helping himself.

Your eye twitches a little at the gesture. Those are for you to enjoy throughout a miserable work day.

“Um…” he trails off as he pretends to think, “I’d say all of it.”

“I see,” you nod slowly, fighting every bone in your body not to snap at him with a colorful choice of words. “Essentially, the options in your original document did not highlight a plausible set of deliverables, so I corrected them for you with a more realistic one. Make sense?”

“Not really,” he sighs dramatically, pretending to scratch his head in confusion. You want nothing more than to grab those snowy locks and slam his face into your paper shredder. “Could you go over it one more time? I’m still lost.”

You’re just about to lose your patience with him when suddenly, the entire office seems to collectively take in a sharp breath, everyone scrambling to look as productive as possible while a tall, older looking man with suspiciously familiar white hair and blue eyes walks through the office. Something in your brain sets off alarm bells, but you can’t quite completely piece it together what it is about him seems so….recognizable.

“Who’s that?” You frown, scrunching your nose in confusion as everyone straightens up.

“That would be the final boss,” he snorts. You roll your eyes at his word choice before blinking and straightening up yourself.

“Oh my god,” you gasp, voice a panicked whisper as you ask, “you mean the owner of this company?”

“Yeah,” he drawls, raising a brow at you in amusement. “Never seen him before?”

“No,” you hiss, “I’m just the intern! Now go back to your desk before he thinks we’re goofing off, I’d like to keep my job, please.”

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” he hums.

You send him a nasty glare, just about at your wits end as you whisper-yell, “I am going to throw my stapler right at your—”

“Satoru, I need you in my office,” comes a stern, deep voice, interrupting you as you quickly shut your mouth.

“You got it, old man,” he salutes in mock seriousness. Suddenly, your spine goes rigid and your eyes widen. The man walks off with a firm nod as Satoru stands, giving you an innocent smile.

Suddenly, it dawns on you just why he looked so strikingly familiar.

“Did you just call him old man?” You blink, mouth agape.

“Yup,” he winks, walking backwards as his eyes stay trained on you while he heads for the elevator. “I’ll put in a good word for you when he’s in a better mood at home tonight. I think we can discuss the specifics over coffee during our lunch hour, yeah?”