#and a few for the expression actually

[waffles-and-flapjacks]

I jumped in the river and what did I see?

black-eyed angels swam with me

[hinamie]

unconditionally

[kendallcodedromangirl]

Roman Roy / Gerri Kellman / Bakkhai by Anne Carson / Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald / Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin / Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson / Fuck It I Love You by Lana Del Rey / Georgia Pritchett The Hollywood Reporter interview, 2023 / Jesse Armstrong NPR interview, 2023 / Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman

[turbo-tsundere]

Chibi Gonta for the soul <3

[whiteboardartstudios]

I SAID I WAS GOING TO DRAW THAT CAR SO HERE WE ARE (I hope you enjoy this is the stupidest thing I've drawn in months /affectionate)

(I put the image descriptions in the Alt text this time because there's so many images. If it doesn't work please tell me and I'll yeet them in the actual post!!)

happy finale of Wild Life everybody! :D

[seishiroses]

This episode was amazing because we got:

Nagi being so cool 🔥

Nagi being so cute 🥺

But most importantly

Nagi being absolutely spooked 🤣

[stressfulsloth]

I've seen a couple of takes about Disco Elysium being copaganda going around recently, and beyond the fact that DE is relentlessly critical of the police force in general and makes explicit reference to the failures of the system that allow the officers in game to abuse their power, I also think it's important to note that there very literally is an in-world version of copaganda that the writers of the game use to parody that romanticised view of the brutality of policing. The RCM at their inception were structurally inspired by in-world copaganda- their culture, their "fashions, even weapon preferences, borrow heavily from classic Vespertine cop shows." Every investigation is it's own little drama, every officer imagining themselves to be the bad-ass hero of their own crime serial. Detectives name their cases like they're naming episodes of a TV series in a "robust but literary system"; a title that "draws inspiration from snoop fiction and Vespertine cop show staples". They give themselves nicknames to sound like cool, suave fictional officers- Ace, Dick Mullen, etc.- from the cool, suave world of copaganda.

The legend of the RCM's inception, the "point of contention" over its uncertain origins, is even an extention of that; the whole organisation is shrouded in this self-fictionalising mythos that allows for distance that in turn obfuscates much of its violence to the officers that participate in it. They get to convince themselves that they're not abusing their power; they're the hero of the story! The dichotomy of "good guy" taking out the "baddies," a manifestation of the libertarian fantasy of the "good guy with a gun" who does what it takes, just like in Annette's detective novels, and at the same time who rails against oversight bodies like Internal Affairs/'the rat squad' because due process slows down the immediate satisfaction of Swift Justice, despite Internal Affairs existing to protect the citizens from overreach on behalf of the police. "Wanton brutality" from police in their real world is a cold bitter reality but Dick Mullen was "made to crack skulls," "bend the rules and solve cases no one else can," and which version of that story is more comforting to the overworked, underfunded officers of the RCM?

The level of fantasy and detachment required for the cops to still see themselves as the good guys after everything that they do in the line of duty mimics The Pigs and her breakdown too; she parallels Harry so clearly. Both "did right by the kids" in the past, hoping for a better future- Marianne (The Pigs) by looking out for Titus and the Hardy boys when they were young, Harry in his role as a gym teacher. Both abandoned and left behind by the system that the RCM uphold- a brutal capitalist landscape with no safety nets. Both turning the source of their trauma into a costume, a performance, a shield, shaped by "radio waves and cop shows." The Pigs uses RCM items scavenged from the Esperance where they'd been thrown away, while Harry uses the Dick Mullen hat that Annette gives him but both are essentially in costume.

Harry identifies himself with the fictional detective as a kind of wish fulfilment; Dick Mullen is "wicked smart." He doesn't fuck up his cases and when he's sad it's not pathetic; it's effortlessly cool brooding and everyone sympathises. Everyone loves him. His violence- "skull crack[ing]"- is justified because he's a "good guy" enacting that violence against the victims of police brutality sorry "bad guys". He doesn't ever face repercussions; "Dick Mullen won't be sent to the clink for the sake of some legal niceties!" So if Harry is Dick Mullen then his failures, his breakdown, they're all just a part of being a "bad-ass, on-the-edge disco cop." He's not wrong, he's a hero! This idealised fictionalised idea of the police force, this "new, sadly better, reality" that both Harry and The Pigs cling to is "escapist stuff," "receed[ing] into a ludicrous fantasy world," so far removed from the brutal material reality that they're in.

My point is, idk. Disco Elysium is so far from being copaganda. It is a multi-million word long dissection of it, of the purpose of policing, of state sanctioned violence and its interaction with capital and the fallout experienced within the wider community as well as the trauma cycle created for individual officers. A dissection of how copaganda interacts with RCM culture and perception, and by extension how we interact with irl perceptions of police through that lens.

[biblically-accurate-dca]

moon looking at my sleep schedule lmao

[charliespoorasshole]

as much as i enjoy the idea of jitka finding out about hansry and helping them hide it and hans and jitka having a friendly platonic marriage while the three of them de facto raise heinrich together, i personally cannot wait to see hans being the worst husband ever

jitka, despite being nervous and scared out of her mind still being hopeful, and immediately losing that hope when she sees the dead and empty look in hans's eyes at the altar.

any excuses she had thought up fleeing her mind like a gut punch as she pretends not to notice hans slipping out of the bed on their wedding night and not coming back.

pretending how it doesn't feel like she's being strangled that hans couldn't be happier whenever he's being called away from her company, that he never stays in her bed chamber longer than he has to and that he never slept through a whole night with her.

eventually coming to terms with the fact that let alone hans's love, she will never even have his affection or a scrap of his attention. eventually not caring, and growing just as distant when she bears him his son, and trying not feel stung when hans doesn't even seem to notice.

but when she stops caring, she starts letting herself notice. starts to notice how whenever she sees him around, it's beside kobyla's bastard. how he can't seem to ever run out of reasons to summon him, how he never runs out of jobs for him to do, to keep him around, keep him close. how he always has a reason for him to accompany him on hunting trips, on political talks, on 'just needing to get away for a while'. away from her, away from their son.

how he always insists he's the only entourage he needs.

and how eventually she decides, fine. if this is how you want to play it, so can i.

[mcytegg]

lifesteal double life au ^-^ !! basically what it says on the tin:

i put all of the lsers into a randomizer wheel and paired them off. in my mind its kind of just a one off event that takes place during s6, its like its own little arc that goes for at least two weeks, possibly a bit longer tho!!! and i have removed certain players simply bc i cannot realistically imagine them logging in even for day 1 of the event LMFAO.

ls mechanics are the same— you kill you (and ur soulmate) gain a heart, you die and you (and ur soulmate) lose a heart. ADDITIONALLY, i heavily fw the idea that if ur soulmate is banned, you Also get banned ^-^ even if ur on 20, your hearts simply drop on the ground after u die if ur banned bc it makes things ✨️interesting✨️ tho thats all i have so if anyone has any other ideas or disagrees w me then pls feel free to tell me all abt it bc im just saying shit LOL

anyways! soulmates will be under the cut :D

[the people who have been excluded are leo, mrcube, redd, spep, terry, and vortex @_@ im sorry to fans of them i just can nawt imagine them participating for even a day]

and. dear fucking LORD do we have some crazy match ups oh my god?? 😭😭 the balancing is fucking insane bc to me hearts are NOT given or taken away for any sort of balancing purposes, they have what they had before the event started yk? so soulmates taking care of each other and communicating is even MORE important than anything

and like theoretically people are still in the teams they had before the event, theres technically no rules saying u Need to dedicate urself to your soulmate but considering the type of server ls is, keeping ur soulmate close to u is very likely life or death. like esp for a pair like say...planet and minute bc anyone who has a bone to pick w minute could so easily farm a planetlord over it nd ban them both from the server so being able to protect ur soulmate is just as important as staying safe yourself yk?

its crazy bc u have teams that are definitely just fucking cooked like planet & minute (current 7 heart chungus) or like pangi & jepexx, but u also have teams that are hella fucking cracked in Theory like mapicc & subz bc theyre both cracked at pvp but i actually just dont know how well theyd work as a pair or if theyd EVEN work together or if theyd just do their own thing and expect the other to not die LMFAO.

like, its just so interesting to think abt soulmate dynamics and how this event would affect each preexisting teams. how loyal people would feel towards their soulmates & whether this would change things after the event in regards to Team loyalty and who would grow attached to their soulmates after the fact......or who would hate their soulmates, and who would become enemies bc of this event LOL

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 811: 0m above sea level!!

Pag 1

2: Next is Hakogaku's attack!!

Dammit!!

3: There are

4: 6km left until the finish line!!

Pag 2

1: Hakone Academy's number 12, the ace assist Takadajou!! He's pushing with all his strength and leading number 11, the ace!!

They opened a gap in an instant!!

Pag 3

4: Don't go up to zone 5

Yes

5: There are still 6km left until the finish line

For now

Pag 4

1: Zone 4 is enough!!

Yes!!

Pag 5

1: Dammiiit

Hakogaku is too fast!!

2: Stick to them Ninoshima!!

4: The guy who said that downhills are “about fruit juice and choosing a pine”....

5: Gunma moved forward!!

Pag 6

1: Hayaaaa

2: I won't let you escape!!

Yon!!

4: Sohoku....

5: and even Kyofushi are on it

Pag 7

1: and chasing at the same time!!

4: Jou-san

What is it

Pag 8

1: As expected, they won't let us escape that easily

2: As expected... huh?

Pag 9

1: We're back at the starting point again!!

4: They're too fast...

Too strong...

While we're already at our limits....

5: Whe.... where will the next attack come from... will it be Sohoku? Or Kyofushi again!?

Pag 11

1: Or Gunma!!

8: What do we do, Higashimura-san!!

9: Once we pass this tunnel the finish line will be even closer!!

After we pass under the railway overpass and reach the national highway 10....

Pag 12

1: the course takes a huge right turn!!

Pag 13

1: There, the long downhill is over!!

2: Almost 0m above the sea level!!

3: Until the finish line there are

4: 5km left!!

6: They moved!!

Here!?

7: The one who attacked is....

Pag 14

2: Sohoku!!

It's number 2, Naruko!!

Pag 15

1: Ooruaaaaa

2: He jumped forward with a terrific acceleration!!

Naruko!?

3: Jou-san, Naruko-san jumped forward!!

4: Naruko jumped ahead!!

Imaizumi too....!?

7: The red one jumped ahead, but what about the other one!?

Pag 16

1: He's not moving!! Naruko alone is riding in the lead!!

2: They're sending only one person ahead!?

Is it a tactic!?

3: Huh

4: Did the small red assist one leave the ace behind!?

No.... that's

Pag 17

3: Do we chase him? Jou-san!!

No.... wait....!!

4: Which one... which one....

5: This is an attack that only Sohoku can do!!

6: Were it Kyofushi, I'd mark Midosuji

7: or were it Gunma, I'd mark Kiji

8: Which one....

But Sohoku.....

Pag 18

1: Kakaka...!!

I don't know which one of them is the ace!!

Pag 19

1: I can really see the ocean!!

2: Is this to allow Imaizumi to attack?

Or does he intend to keep going like that?

3: I'll chase him!!

4: Well, since we got this far, let's take a look

Pag 20

1: At the Inter High's first day's final gate, too!!

First!! me!!

2: Next there are the coastland's flat roads....!!

This is bad.... this is bad, Higashimura-san

I heard that...that small red guy... he was originally...

3: a sprinter!!

[thatonechocogirl]

some headshots of bear boy :]

[catenary-chad]

AC/DC is a VERY smart song, one of the reasons it’s my favorite lyrically in the show is that it’s so explicitly about electric trains and has multiple references to super interesting issues/traits with them. This doesn’t go into the broader electricity puns (which are shockingly versatile), just the ones most relevant to trains

“Feel my magnetism”

I’m still trying to figure out if this is an issue with remotely modern electric trains and motors, but I have heard a claim about a turn of the century New York Central S-motor (one of the very first mass produced electric locomotives!) basically “picking up and stealing” some tools left near the track this way and then dropping them when switched off.  Basically the whole “pulling in things with magnetism” has at least some real life precedent with trains.  

“AC/DC it’s okay by me/ I can switch and change my frequency”

This was perhaps the defining feature of the CC 40100 Electra’s helmet was based on.  Due to inconsistent electrification systems (due to early 20th century tech limits) it’s very common to have 2,3, even 4 voltage locomotives and EMUs since it’s cheaper and easier than replacing all that infrastructure.  Having both AC and DC compatibility is actually super old, the New Haven Railroad had one of the first AC-powered lines ever and the very first AC locomotives there had to be equipped for both it and the existing DC third rail in other sections.  But being able to run on multiple AC frequencies is much more recent, and the CC 40100 was an early example of it.  The Northeast Corridor in the US actually requires trains capable of running on THREE different AC voltages/frequencies, being able to “change your frequency” is an important requirement there (and in continental Europe)  

Basically, silly 70s-80s era bi allusions are just how electric trains are.  It’s so out there but so on the nose.  It’s probably the single smartest writing decision of the show because it works so well and talking train media otherwise NEVER talks about these aspects of electrification.  

“I can shock you, I can set you on fire”

The history of diesel and electric trains involves so, so much spontaneous combustion.  Exploding is almost exclusively a steam engine thing, but if they wanted to dramatically kill Electra or Greaseball or any of the Nationals, this is always an option and weirdly underused.  

“I can reach up and pluck down the lightning/watch the conductor, see the live wire”

Direct reference to overhead electrification and how pantographs are raised to make contact.   Also fun play on train conductor/electrical conductor, which is popular in trolley/train jokes.  This system is something almost exclusive to trains and part of why they are so established, efficient, widespread and convenient as electric vehicles.  They’re genuinely absurdly OP vs basically all other forms of traction since they don’t have to carry their own fuel/power supply and can have ridiculously high single-unit power since the only limit is how much capacity the power grid has (and how much can be practically used without wheelslip).  Due to their fixed paths they can run this way vs needing batteries and totally bypass the decades of density limits those had.  Even today batteries are not really practical as a main power source for anything bigger than commuter EMUs and switchers.  

(Trolleybuses are a thing and there’s been attempts at sticking pantographs on trucks… and I guess bumper cars technically count too lol) 

Shoutout to Stexico for having a very different chorus with somehow the exact same sentiment. 

“Macho/Hembra es mi conector” (Male/Female is my connector)

This is just a hilariously matter of fact statement about the electrical connections on AAR standard passenger engines and coaches, which I think Mexico uses since their rail system is so US-based but I could be wrong (privatization axed basically all their passenger services around the time Stexico came out and there’s very little even today).  The stuff about “with my switch I connect you” is also incredibly matter of fact because there’s usually a separate switch or dial to turn on head end power on locomotives.  

Electra is based on this very 70s bi stereotype/trope that lumps in the botanical definition of “bisexual” and makes characters “both male and female” in a way that’s inconsistently trans, GNC, and/or literally being 50/50 both in a way that doesn’t work that way in humans.  Velvet von Ragnar from Never Too Young to Die is almost IDENTICAL in this regard as another example.  But the hilarious thing is that it’s just… incredibly matter of fact and literal when applied to electric trains because so many of them are able to run on both AC and DC power because rail electrification is so messy and many of them are technically “both male and female” going off electrical connections.

Anyways, tangent aside

I do not know enough German to appreciate the intricacies of stuff like word choice or idioms in the translated lyrics but these ones are fun because they’re explicitly about overhead wires

“Steh unter Spannung”

I’ve seen the translation given as “I’m a live wire” but the more literal one seems to be “stand under tension/power/voltage” which I honestly like more no matter which one “Spannung” means here.  I know voltage is sometimes called “pressure” as in water pressure in English, which this might be a case of.  The allusion to voltage/power in overhead wire is obvious, but  literal catenary wire tension is also SO important specifically in rail electrification.  The wire has to be tight and straight enough to make proper contact with the pantograph (and getting the upwards pressure on those is also important).  Europe has mostly reasonably modern lines with adjustable weights to keep wire tension constant but the northeast US has HUGE issues with outdated systems with fixed wires that sag in the heat (then get snagged on pantographs and torn down) or snap in the cold when they shrink/expand.

“Ein Griff von mir” (A grip of mine)

“Holt den Blitz aus der Leitung,” (Takes the lightning out of the wire)

Also seems to be a direct reference to pantograph pressure/contact with overhead lines, similar to the English version of this line.  There’s a strong hand/arm association with pantographs in general due to their design, modern ones bend in arm-like ways and “touch” the wire in a very particular way.

Also this is probably just wild coincidence but “Griff” makes me laugh because Zaine Griff was the workshop Electra.  

[hibiscus-intern]

YOOOOO DAISUKE! congrats on the internship, tho how the heck did you end up in the freighter business??? didn't think that was ur thing... or that they did internships over there in the first place LOL. how's it been so far?

Maybe this is where I find my thing! Boss has me doing so much reading that my eyes are starting to huuurt. I've got to learn something!

Slight elaboration on the second panel in tags!!

[vaguely-concerned]

some excellently good and wonderful to me personally ingellvar moments from the first jaunt into blackthorn manor with emmrich! I love the little touches included to really make it feel like mourn watch mage rook is also a necromancer, and that they and emmrich are colleagues. the 'ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to please put that death lantern full of murdered souls down and step back before someone gets hurt' energy... I must reiterate my point that ingellvar carries themselves like something between a cosmic janitor or plumber and a first responder arriving at the apocalypse.

+ as is tradition around these parts: some bonus emotional support lucanis coming along on mourn watch business and having the weirdest time of it that anyone has ever had. the sheer ben affleck smoking meme energy he manages to exude just. Standing there in the second johanna confrontation... he is everything to me you see. the things a man does for love. at least he gets to have the competency kink tingles whenever rye breaks out his Watcher Voice, that can get a person through a lot. a newly discovered realm of and after all this im still horny. the human spirit is unbreakable etc. to help him weather the horrors

[perfectlyfrosty]

*throws this at u*

I think he’s funny