#context is important here though

[artificialcaretaker]

I’d rather be me (with you)

[WOW we have come a long way since my shipping chart where I said she was completely apathetic towards him. This is what claiming characters and adding shit to them does to people it’s a slippery slope guys.

Anyways if anyone has been near my Twitter, which is unlikely especially considering that I specifically tell people on Twitter not to look for my Tumblr, although it isn’t the same here y’all can try to find me there if you really wanna but not the other way around the Twittypets wouldn’t understand. Ok anyways I’ve started shipping them but in, like, that “I’m starting to wonder if you respect me” “Oh Mr. Universe, you’re hilarious” kinda way. In the way I rotate them in my brain I think they do genuinely both enjoy each other’s company, but the relationship would be inherently toxic because there’s, like, no equal sense of respect in it. Dennis would probably be a major pushover and not set any boundaries cuz he’s just like that and Citra is. Citra. But maybe just MAYBE if they stopped being so fucking weird all the time then just MAYBE we could have some heterosexual yuri going on here. Realistically would never happen, but it COULD.

[royalarchivist]

Quackity: Lately, I have been participating in events and projects, and unfortunately it's become clear to me that my presence and name have only been used to attract the attention of my national and international community with the objective, as I see it, of generating more attention towards controversies - destructive controversies, and a rupture that is very clear in the community. [...] In advance, I ask the organizers of any type of events and projects like this to please show more respect to me and my community, because I've shown lots of sympathy and cooperation in these various projects and events, but it's become clear to me that their only interest is in using my name. My name and my community have been used to attract all this attention for distorted purposes, and I will no longer allow that to happen. That is not what my content is about - not me nor my content nor anything I’ve done.

Here's Quackity's commentary on respect and his reasoning for distancing himself and his projects from future events and awards shows.

[ Full Transcript ↓ ]

-

Quackity: Before I leave, I would like to talk about something that is very serious for me and something that I would like to tell you about. Because for me it is a very serious topic and it is a topic that- well, I had my mind on and I want to express it- [reading Chat] yes, thank you. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas.

Anyways, lately I have been participating in events and projects, and in these events and projects, unfortunately it's become clear to me that my presence and name have only been used to attract the attention of my national and international community with the objective, as I see it, of generating more attention towards controversies - destructive controversies, and a rupture that is very clear in the community, and this is what I want to say: I'm NOT ok with these types of dynamics or stuff like this, and I want to make it very clear to my stream, my community, and everyone that, for this exact reason that I just mentioned, I want to make it clear that I want to distance myself and any of my projects from the Esland Awards, which you all know is coming up.

Sadly, the Esland Awards have been an event with a history of much controversy, a lot of division, and a lot of divisions within the community, and as you guys know, as you know, my content has never been characterized by seeking controversy or divisions or anything like that. It's for this exact reason that I don't want to be involved with these awards.

In advance, I ask the organizers of any type of events and projects like this to please show more respect to me and my community, because I've shown lots of sympathy and cooperation in these various projects and events, but it's become clear to me that their only interest is in using my name. My name and my community have been used to attract all this attention for distorted purposes, and I will no longer allow that to happen. I don't want it to happen. That is not what my content is about - not me nor my content nor anything I've done. That's what I want to make very clear here.

That's about it. I'm going to continue with the projects I'm doing and I want to thank my community so much for the support and love. I appreciate it very much, but I wanted to make this clear - I wanted to make this clear. This is just a topic I wanted to address quickly.

Thank you for all the love and support, I love you all so much.

[meirimerens]

straight up not respecting some of the alleged p2 characters' ages as they were given on the VA's papers bc you're telling me this is a 27yo man on the left & a 35(!)yo woman on the right? you jest. this woman is in her 20s at most. she doesn't have a wrinkle of age on her face. just worry. i know men age like milk this is taking the piss. i know patho 2 is the "hot blemishless 20something white(-passing) women" game but at this point own it. don't try lying to me. she doesn't look a day past 29. got friends below 25 with more winkles. in the first half of the 20th century too. where would she be getting her anti-aging serums.

you're telling me this woman who's a chronic worrier, dealing with chronic pain, who smokes like a locomotive to cope is allegedly 5 years Older than this guy who's been drinking himself to sleep for like 5 years.

(mike's mic voice) don't piss me off

[autisticlee]

sometimes people who struggle like to make jokes or find positives about their condition that causes them to struggle so they can escape the constant negative and struggle. sometimes autistic people will say things like "the 'tism" or use the "autism creature" or say their autism helped them have a *positive trait* to feel better about their struggles. because living your life only focusing on the struggles and negatives is depressing and makes it hard to want to live, even if those struggle take up 100% of your life and you can't actually escape them. sometimes any little seemingly positive thing can help a lot.

but there's so many other autistic people that hate when we do that and call it "reducing autism to a cute trendy thing" and say it takes away from *their* struggles and is bad and shouldn't be used. maybe *you* want to only focus on your struggles, but some people can't live in constant negative and need some positive or to find ways to make their condition more positive so they can feel better about living with their struggles. life is hard. I take anything I can get.

I cant get jobs. I can't make and keep friends. I can't get help and support for doing "normal" things so sometimes I go weeks without being able to shower and without eating more than a bowl of cereal a day. most times can't even do things I like. struggle to communicate. have meltdowns. i'll never be able to live independently. I struggle a lot. but instead of sitting here always depressed and having no motivation to live, i'd rather try to joke about "my 'tism is acting up again" when i'm struggling (just an example. don't think I ever actually used the 'tism thing but i saw others use it) or say "i'm just being a creature" when I need to stay in my dark room because everything is too much and I personally find it cute to be a little creature meant in a positive way. i'm not actually downplaying mine or anyone else's struggles. I still acknowledge them and that silly jokes dont make them go away. i'm not trying to be trendy. i'm not doing any of the things people say we do by making silly little jokes. i'm using the silly little jokes to convince myself life can be a little more than pointless, painful garbage all the time.

(continue in tags)

[lilacerull0]

i feel like reading/watching mbf immediately means knowing who i am as a person and... i cannot allow this

[brotherofbagels]

There needs to be more nuance in how people view the situation but the internet doesn't allow for that.

[moe-broey]

Smartass guy with a flat affect vs guy who almost always sounds like it's joking and likes to play dumb. Neither immune to the urge to over-explain themselves in earnest. Fight.

And now I'M gonna over-explain myself 😤😤😤😤😤 Because this piece captures like. Some headcanons of mine that are so precious to me, and SO much. Of the Moefonse dynamic and friendship... the heart of how their back and forths work.

But first close-ups/text descriptions for easier reading!

From the very start, Alfonse is playing. That's his intention. To say something he knows will get a good response out of Moe. But his delivery is either too dry and flat or too genuine. He's extremely subtle, and his humor doesn't tend to land because of that.

Meanwhile, Moe can be unaware... generally. But just as much, if not more, it's deeply attentive towards the things it cares about. It takes these things SO seriously. Moe... really hates being misunderstood. It struggles with empathy, and its sense of compassion is entirely self-centered. Which seems unrelated, but all of these things contribute to it making a joke, and then feeling a need to immediately explain the joke. Just to make sure we're all on the same page, here. Nobody is left out.

So just. Joke (passed!) + Joke (also passed!) into Joke (passed, carrying on the bit), into Worry (Joke check: failed.) into Worry/Reassurance (You're my dear friend and I love you. No need to worry) into Understanding/Reassurance (yeah that WAS funny). Which, as a side, really flatters Alfonse... that's not something he gets often. He gets it A Lot from Moe though LMFAO

AND ... FINALLY..... FINAL TIDBIT OF CHARACTERIZATION

This doodle was closer to what the final panel was supposed to be (under the thought bubble), but I got distracted and forgor..... but it has essential characterization.... honestly both drawings do. So it's fine LMFAOOO

But it is So important. That neither of them are acting on their feelings. And it is sooooo important. That they're extremely verbally affectionate with each other anyway. And it all comes full circle, to the top caption. Moe sounds like it's joking here. But it is SO genuine. Also Moe might as well have said "I want you, like carnally" with that. Endlessly ambiguous guy. And for better or worse, Alfonse is built the Exact Same Way. 🧍

Oh yeah and. The. Posts. That inspired this LMFAOOO

They're both doing this. Btw.

[smile-files]

this might be a hot take... but if you care about disavowing media made by bad people out of fear of looking like a bad person yourself more than you care about actually doing good things... you might have your priorities (and your morals) screwed up a bit :/

(see my tags for more of my thoughts on this topic! please try to avoid making make bad-faith assumptions about what i mean!)

[ei-mugi]

one time i was talking to my american online friends about stuff and i was like "haha yeah people always say i look ambiguously european but cant place what i am specifically" and they were like "i dont think europeans have a look though." what do you mean. you dont believe different ethnic features exist...?

[universalthaumaturge]

ok i get why anthy has creature of delirium now

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

When did Edward get his branch line? My friend says 1923. I saw somewhere that it was 1945, it might have even been here on your blog. What is canon? 

- A Former Anon

Welcome to non-lurkerdom, Former Anon! Pull up a chair. Get yourself a profile pic. Stay a while.

*strokes chin philosophically* What is canon, indeed...

First, let's stipulate that we're talking RWS. I don't actually think TVS contradicts anything I have to say here but its weird-ass chronology certainly doesn't help so let's pretty much set it aside.

Second: you might be thinking of a time way back—like, way back—when I cited 1948. That was what TTTE Wiki said in 2020, and I hadn't read all of RWS in order so I trusted it. However, I don't think there was ever any canon basis for this date specifically—and I think the Wiki editors realized it too, since that fact has long since been scrubbed from the site. It's still not a bad choice, though; just way too specific to be called canon.

Third, and tl;dr: As far as I can tell, you could say anywhere between... 1923 and 1965 and still be canon-compliant?? Yeah, that's right, a spread of forty-plus years. It's actually kind of incredible to me that the window is that wide open but there you are.

Now, it is extremely common for fanworks to have Edward "get his branch line" in the early 1920s, like after TTRE or TTTE. But I don't think that's a good reading. Technically it's not incorrect but it doesn't harmonize well with what we see him doing in canon throughout the FC1 era—which, again and again and again, is main line work.

The confusion here, I think, is that as early as Thomas the Tank Engine (set 1925) Wellsworth is referred to "Edward's station" (and in this book Edward even refers to it as "home").

But! All these references, from here and throughout the next 10+ books in the series, only mean for sure that Edward is resident shunter/banker there. We don't actually have a clear reference to "Edward's branch line" until Main Line Engines (1965).

Yeah, you can argue this is splitting hairs I guess? But, the thing is, Edward as a sort of main line utility/rescue engine as well as Wellsworth station pilot makes far better sense of what the heck he's doing in the FC1-era stories. During all this time, we don't even have a confirmed sighting of him on the Brendam branch. No, not even throughout all the Edward the Blue Engine (1952) stories. (Personally I imagine his accident in "Cows" took place on the branch but, fact is, it's entirely ambiguous.) A non-exhaustive list of what we do see him doing in the FC1 era includes: "odd jobs" at the Big Station, filling in for Henry when Henry fails on his passenger train, picking up goods at Tidmouth harbour, dropping whatever the hell he usually does to help out in the aftermath of the big engines' strike, being on hand at what Rev. Awdry identified as Vicarstown to shunt Gordon prior to the Ditch Incident, etc., etc.

The first time he's confirmed to ever set a wheel on the branch line is when we find that he's timetabled on the evening Tidmouth-Brendam "fast" in MLE. Which, as mentioned, is actually the same book we find out that "Edward's branch line" is, like, a Thing. So, a reading that makes the answer to your question "1964/5, right before Awdry started writing, when Edward and BoCo were assigned to manage the line together" is actually perfectly plausible (*small voice* and kinda cute. This would also mean that, even as BoCo is being trialled, the enthusiasts' train was also part of a trial period to decide whether Edward should be in charge of the line's passenger work... and that's certainly a Take. an unprecedented Take i believe, but a valid one.)

For my money, though, the most plausible year is 1952. After the "Old Iron" overhaul.

Lemme end with what I think is the most probable timeline for Edward's Sodor career. I'm not gonna break out all my canon citations coz this post is already ungodly long for such a simple ask... but feel free to ask for the receipts for anything in this timeline:

1915-1920 — pretty much the main line engine. especially as the other wartime loans are sent home. probably in charge of the express (which existed in a lighter and probably less tightly-timed form than we know it from Gordon's day).

1921-1922 — as the railway manages to acquire a motley collection of big, new, powerful, and extremely volatile engines—largely troubled prototypes—Edward is knocked down the roster to eventually being "the spare." since "these big engines" are "always going wrong," especially during this crazy period, that actually keeps him plenty busy until, well... things start to settle down. FC1 clearly doesn't feel the need to reassign Edward right away (anticipating, correctly, more instances of Confusion and Delay at Vicarstown, where it's nice to be able to shout "Find another engine!" and not have the answer be "... there's only Thomas??"). but before he does Edward turns on the puppy dog eyes and his new driver proves that Ed could be really valuable as station pilot at Wellsworth...

1923-WWII — Edward is based at Wellsworth to manage the depot, shuttle some goods to and from Tidmouth, and bank trains as needed. i'm gonna guess that he's often tapped at crazy hours when FC1 has what i am sure were his roughly-biannual clandestine "business meetings" where he either obtains or deploys blackmail in order to drive his devilish bargains. but Edward also remains a main line pinch-hitter, and does odd jobs all over the place until...

WWII — sometime during or after the war, another engine replaces Edward on banking duties (the goods trains at the time having gotten significantly heavier). Edward is assigned a couple of main line "Locals" each day while still fulfilling the rest of his old utility role

1948 — the clay pits at Brendam are opened. Edward makes a lot of the deliveries required for them to set up shop. he also meets Bill and Ben when they arrive. his ability to keep the new engines (roughly) in line is a powerful pull factor in getting him down the branch line more often, though his role doesn't officially change yet.

1952 — post-overhaul, Edward is assigned to the morning and evening Tidmouth-Brendam fast trains. so from here on he's on the branch line daily and thus, given his long experience at Brendam and especially at Wellsworth, is considered to be in charge of the line

1959 — despite his new role as a branch line engine, Edward is not completely relieved of all his main line utility work (in particular, please take note of Edward carting Rheneas around, the type of job to soon become very Caledonian-coded) until both Donald and Douglas are purchased. this frees Edward up to take on more branch line goods

1965 — BoCo is acquired and takes over Edward's share of the branch line goods work, which leaves Edward free for the ever-increasing special trains (stuff like excursions or wedding trains or other charters, which are frequent during the summer and holiday seasons). of course, while both are pretty happy with their usual jobs (the magazines established that BoCo doesn't really care for passenger work, and i find that harmonizes well with his appearances in canon/basis history so i accept it as canon) they do swap timetables sometimes for a change of pace

aaaand then we get to the Christopher Awdry era, where Nothing Ever Changes, and the TVS era, where Time is Meaningless, so i suppose that's that forever. cheers! (she said, with slight sarcasm)

[stormvanari]

zine i made for a literature final: delving simplistically into H and W's meeting (ignore the pink eraser: it’s used to pin the zine down)

Text below cut:

Cover: Heart Assembly

Page 1: We are Disassembly Drones, autonomous robots sent by the humans to kill runaway AI for our interstellar parent company: JCJenson In SPAAAAACE.

Page 2: Normally, we are sent in squads to do our job...but I separated from my own because our leader was always bossing us around. And our pilot was also a bystander whose cowardice around our leader pushed him further away.

Page 3: I didn't care, really. I liked hunting alone and my antagonism towards the Worker Drones (the runaway AI) for being free from autocracy increased without "stage directions."

Page 4: That is, until I entered the Cabin Labs, a dark facility filled with dead Disassembly Drones. I met a peculiar one named Wilma: she greeted by biting me. But it turns out she was starving due to being trapped in the facility for weeks. It was hard for her to get oil due to giant birds lurking outside of the restroom she was stuck in called the Sentinels.

Page 5: I decided to stay...and regretted it instantly. Wilma began fussing about my supposed wrongdoings like "carelessly going outside of our hunting area," which I was actually exploring the entire office room while bringing in Workers for us to snack on. Wilma also interrupted my reading by trying to convince me to let her customize my hair. I immediately stormed out of the restroom because I was hungry, but she was actually annoying to stay with.

Page 6: and I didn't think that a Sentinel will be chasing after I picked up an immobile Worker inside a cubicle. It was difficult for me to lose the Sentinel despite it clumsily crashing into every corner. Then, the Sentinel called more of its kind and I fought to a dead end. One of the birds' eyes glowed and, looking at the Worker's boot-looping visor, I am about to face death.

Page 7: Suddenly, the Sentinel's head exploded and it collapsed in front of me. I saw Wilma, her back facing me with a rocket launcher replacing her right hand and a mirror as the left hand, yelling at me to follow her back to base. But when I passed her, she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me throughout the escape.

Page 8: Back in the restroom, or "base" as we called it, I tried to pull my arm away from Wilma, but her grip was strong. She turned to me with an expression combining both worry and anger. As soon as I opened my mouth, Wilma shut me up and we exploded into an argument. Slamming the Woker on the floor, I complained about her being a nuisance.

"I was just trying to help you!"

"By annoying me?!"

"No! By making sure you stay alive!"

Page 9: " Until I die here to you!"

"Unlike my squad in their rooms over there!"

I stopped and let Wilma show me the restroom stalls she pointed at. She opened one to reveal a headless Disassembly Drone clad in a black poncho and dress. His name was Oakley. Another stall contained a Disassembly Drone with voluminous hair tied into a ponytail and a big beret. Their jacket covered their body like a blanket. Her name was Leni.

Page 10: Taking said Disassembly Drone with her, Wilma began brushing Leni's hair while telling how she led her squad to the Cabin Labs, with other squads following, only to get ambushed by the Sentinels. Wilma, Oakley, and Leni were able to slip away until their foes became more aggressive. Oakley and Leni took cover for Wilma to reach the bottom floor, but she was forced to take shelter in a restroom halfway when one of the Sentinels almost killed her.

Pages 11-12: After the coast was clear, Wilma searched and carried what is left of her fallen squad mates. Even if they kept her company and talked to the bodies as if they're still alive, Wilma really felt alone. Not even Oakley and Leni's tails on their leader alleviated the feeling. "But they helped me discover something else," she smiled and pointed her comb at her heart. I looked down on my chest, then up to Wilma with a skeptic brow. She let out a thoughtful sigh, "Do you think your squad is looking for you right now? Like the family of this drone?"

"Doubt it," I blurted out. "Actually, I don't believe they'll mourn me at all."

"Well, I do to my own squad," Wilma proceeded to spray yellow paint over fading spots of Leni's hair. "It turns out we develop a special identity the longer we hunt here on Lanthanum-57. Specifically, we begin to see beyond our directive."

In my old squad, my leader would kill me if I did a single thing that does not involve racking up a kill count. Wilma wasn't bothered when she saw me reading a book about a crow. Moreover, she was genuinely worried about my impending death to the Sentinels. "For instance, you kept bringing in Workers to keep me alive." Wilma put her hand on my shoulder. "But I trust you will plan better?"

I pondered long. I only gave her Workers so I can prepare to lead her to the bottom floor of the Cabin Labs. But her story made me think otherwise. I have to admit, it brings me pity to imagine a Disassembly Drone dying alone in a treacherous facility, especially when they're the last survivor of their group--or rather--their squad.

Page 13: I stared down at Wilma, who is waiting for my answer. "I promise I'll give you space when you really need it, okay?"

I didn't want to admit that she was part of a nice squad and I'm not, and I felt jealous thinking about that. So I sighed, "I'll try."

But Wilma brings up an interesting point:

Drones have real emotions.

[ratatatastic]

ngl its absolutely crazy how much winning a cup has rewritten history and the narrative™ because hearing "theres nothing negative you can say about being a florida panther" NOW. KEY WORD ON NOW. Because this absolutely was not the fucking case even since the franchises inception like even this year yall were making fun of our attendance numbers despite them being one of the best theyve ever been LIKE HUH. WHAT DID WE FORGET THE WHOLE SOFLO IS NOT A HOCKEY MARKET WE SHOULD MOVE THIS FRANCHISE. WE'RE BEGGING PEOPLE TO FILL THE LOWER BOWL. OH I FEEL BAD FOR SASHA AND EKKY FOR BEING DOOMED TO A FRANCHISE. THIS PLACE IS AN EMBARRASMENT. ETC. are we forgetting all that. are we just not going to acknowledge that.

[birbs-in-space]

heard someone say (irl) a while ago that a partial solution to the housing crises/young people generally being priced out of owning was to build more condos.

except here's the thing. i'm financially better off than most of the people in that group. im privileged enough to have savings. i could not afford even a 10% down payment for anything other than a shoebox, and once i moved in, i'd be hit hard by monthly hoa fees, because yes, most condos in the area are in hoa areas. i'd be lucky to get 1k sqft condo for the equivalent of what my dad bought his 2k/7k house for at the turn of the century.

here's the other thing. landlords love to buy up condos and rent them out because in most places in california, condos aren't subject to rent control. i know this because i rent a condo. also? owners also don't have to even worry about common area management because they put their property into the hands of a property management company who just pays the previously mentioned hoa fees.

so. idk i guess it could be temporarily good for temporary slapdash construction jobs but it just feels like an incredibly ineffective solution when, simultaneously, there are literally a large number of massive mansions sitting empty 10-11 months of the year because they're someone's summer home.

[aeide-thea]

an impulse i don't get—

or rather, so as not to be disingenuous, an impulse i get perfectly well but strongly dislike when i'm faced with it, which means i need to reexamine it in myself when i generate it—

is the impulse to sit in judgment about What Counts As Queer. like. yeah, okay, i do get it really, we're all disempowered by hegemonic culture and setting ourselves up as petty kings shores up our egos! but if there's anything i've loved about discovering queerness in and for myself, it's been the realization that there were worldviews beyond my own—and that there still are, almost certainly! that the world is a firework show of exploding possibility, and that i and my current understanding of myself and everyone else are just one bright spark in a whole connected series of them, and that more will come after me, bringing new colors and configurations to my field of vision, if i just keep my eyes open…

and so i just always feel. god. how close-minded, to shut your eyes to someone else's vision of queerness, to say not just 'that isn't a version of queerness that i recognize or feel represented by,' but to say categorically, 'that isn't queer'! if someone's saying in all sincerity, 'this feels alien to the framework i grew up with, and exciting or comforting or both to me'—i want to hear them out, and make space in my own understanding for a multiplicity of queernesses. i'm not always perfect at it! but i want to.

because what's the alternative? join with the biphobes and transphobes who would've said my gq4gq relationship with my transfem ex was really just straight, or at least enough of a union of opposites for government work? join with the aphobes and arophobes who are constantly insinuating that if you're not actively sucking or fucking, you're a square—never mind those of us who are isolated, or traumatized, or anxious, or any of the thousand other reasons why our queerness might not be siting itself in sex or romance, right now or ever! join with the people who sneer at poly and flinch from kink, as if reexamining those relational conventions were somehow cleanly separable from reexamining all the other ones—as if we should want it to be?

anyway, this is about a lot of things, really, and at least one of them i pretty actively don't want to talk about in specific; but i just think, god, i wish we could all learn a little more generosity, and a little more humility. we know the world, and the human heart, encompass more than is dreamt of in kyriarchal philosophy; why then are we so resistant to the idea that they might also encompass more than is dreamt of in our own? movement after movement of queers have come, and built, and been built upon in turn; our personal convictions are not, i feel certain, the final course to be laid down on the great work of enlightenment and liberation—and how depressing it would be, if they were!

[ardentpoop]

“you deserved to be saved” is such a Thing for dean to say to sam after what he did to him w/ the panic room it makes me ill lmao