#fire tender

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Rosenbauer Panther 6×6 Electric, 2024. The Austria specialist manufacturers of fire-service vehicles have revealed an electric version of the Panther 6x6 tender. Over 90% of the Panther’s duties can be discharged on electric power. For the rest, there's an “Energy Backup System” diesel generator, ensuring continuous use of the high-performance pump in emergencies. Its tanks have a capacity of up to 12,000 litres of water, 1,450 litres of foam, and 250 kilograms of powder. 

[nelc]

Half-track fire trucks

[vaguely-concerned]

can you even imagine what a fucking horror show the early game is from spite's perspective, though. not only is this funky forcibly severed little slip of the fade having to deal with the reverse cosmic horror of physical reality as perceived by a spirit and being trapped in it against its will -- existentially confused and disoriented and hurting and nothing makes any kind of sense, at the mercy of human cruelty at its most deliberately sadistic. and then the one source of comfort and compassion and some kind of safety and clarity that lucanis surely must have been to him in the ossuary despite everything just goes and shuts himself in his room inside with a seemingly passive aggressive number of locks between them and no explanation and won't speak to him and they're STILL in the fucking ossuary. rook came and found them and they could be free now (rook is here!) and still lucanis keeps them in the ossuary even though he PROMISED he promised they'd get out of there together!!! what the fuck DO you think at that point? like did he trick me that whole time??? he wasn't like zara before, so why is he doing this to me now? why isn't he saying anything? 'he won't move. I can't reach him'. at least in the ossuary they had a deal, a goal, a hope -- each other. at least he wasn't entirely alone, before.

this poor poor poor little spite spirit really was ferried into the real world like 'hey welcome to reality! as your first introduction to it you're first getting horrifically tortured and then getting to vicariously experience one of THE most distressing and harrowing psychological conditions the human brain can cook up for itself (a fully fledged and deeply entrenched freeze response flaring up with catastrophic severity due to an unbroken ongoing and unlikely to let up any time soon chain of Unfortunately... Recent Events). I think spite is being extremely reasonable and patient about the whole thing, when you put it into perspective. I'm not saying let him eat the self-lighting candles or anything, but he's got some extremely valid points along the way lol. spite is not only child-like, the metaphor work going on is a lot more pleasingly flexible and complex than that, but he is also helplessly existentially dependent on lucanis in a way that, if anything, is a heightened version of the way a child (or child part) has to depend on a parent to navigate the world and survive.

tl;dr: we truly don't give enough sympathy to spite for having to live in the head of lucanis dellamorte. a place even lucanis dellamorte would prefer not to be. to be fair to him I think lucanis would be the first person to agree with this lol

[feral-ballad]

Gosdantin Erzengatsi, from Anthology of Armenian Poetry, ed. & tr. by Diana Der Hovanessian and Marzbed Margossian; "If we meet"

[shisasan]

Letters to Véra by Vladimir Nabokov

[zhoudadudugongjin]

[cern1cal0]

a small moment

[stanford-photography]

Misty Memories 01 By Jeff Stanford, 2024 Buy prints at: https://jeff-stanford.pixels.com/

[emergingghost]

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I got a job as the tree tender for my local park but the only way to get to the trees was through a machine that composts tree waste. I got fired for getting to the trees through the front door.

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Maserati Quattroporte CEA Vigili del Fuoco, 1967, by Carrozzeria Grazia. An AM107 series modified to function as a fire tender for race tracks. It was commissioned by fire extinguisher company CEA, because the Tipo AM 107/1 260bhp 4.7 litre V8 powered Quattroporte "truck" could get to the scene of an F1 crash more quickly than any fire trucks of the era.

[truths33k3r4]

TMNT au Writing/Sketching Prompts! ~TMNTember 2024~

These are some silly, angsty, peaceful, comforting, and bizarre prompts you can use to really explore your characters in your au!

Going for a walk after being inside for a whole week

Carnival ride gone wrong

Aftermath of a scary situation

Betrayed by someone they trust

Exercising to cope

Sibling catches them cheating in schoolwork

Forced sedation

Bribing a tattle tale sibling

Sibling's voice changes over night (Piercing HIGH/drumming LOW)

Battle with siblings for the bathroom in the morning

Forced to go to doctor/hospital/medic- "I don't want to go! Don't make me go!!"

Trying to keep a secret from parent/older sibling at dinner table, while other sibling continually tries to reveal secret

Realizes they're poisoned after the battle is long over

Younger sibling uncharacteristically fighting back at older sibling

First time alone in the house

Playing pretend with siblings outside

Unexperienced medic forced to re-locate sibling's dislocated arm/leg

Knock out dart/knock out gas

Tea Party

Finding an abandoned baby

"This is going to sting. ... Like a lot."

Strapped down and experimented on

Freaky Friday- Body Swap

Fake smiles for a photo

Finding out they have a tail now

A silent, pleading prayer

Panicking as they try to turn off a scary movie

Nightmare serum injected by villain

"I'm ready. I... am READY."

Turtle Pile

Hope anyone who wants to try this has fun!! The purpose of this exercise is to really push yourself out of your writing/sketching comfort zone. Many of these prompts are vague enough where you can choose if they'll be comforting, angsty, quiet, or full-on angst. Have fun with it!!!

(Just a heads up- this challenge is just for fun! You do NOT have to do every single prompt! Do whichever one you want! :) )

And please feel free to tag me if you use this! I'm going to be doing this exercise this month to hopefully stretch my artistic/creative abilities too! And I'd love to see what you guys come up with! :)

If anyone wants, they can send me a number of a prompt and the name of a character from my au, "The Strength in Weakness", and I will either draw a sketch or write a short fic on it. :)

HERE'S WHAT I HAVE SO FAR!!

Going For a Walk After a Week of Being Inside

Carnival Ride Gone Wrong

Aftermath of a Scary Situation

Betrayed By Someone They Trust

Exercising to Cope

Sibling Catches Them Cheating in Schoolwork

Forced Sedation (comedic and angst versions)

Bribing a Tattle Tale Sibling

Sibling's Voice Changes Overnight

Battle with Siblings for the Bathroom

Forced to Go to Doctor/Medic/Hospital

Trying to keep a secret from parent/older sibling at dinner table, while other sibling continually tries to reveal secret

Realizes They're Poisoned Long After the Battle is Over

Younger sibling uncharacteristically fighting back at older sibling PART 1 and PART 2

First Time Alone in the House

Have fun creating, guys!!!

~ Melissa

[waterflowing-under-ground]

I've seen some posts from people in the Witcher fandom (usually who are into both the Netflix show and the books) being confused as to why book fans think Geralt being mean to Dandelion (Jaskier) is a canon divergence in the TV show, when in the books, there are times when Geralt can be very cutting and even a bit mean to Dandelion.

My takeaway from their relationship in the books is that this conflict has the purpose of developing both of their characters (and serving as allegory because we KNOW Mr. Sapkowski loves allegory, and we love him for it! Or at least I do), and there's context around why they can be this way with each other. There's a rich history in this friendship, a comfort and casualness with one another that one wouldn't have with someone they weren't that close with, which in a lot of relationships comes with a safety to BE cutting and blunt with each other at times and know that having these conflicts is not going to mean an end to their relationship. They tend to move on from their arguments and all is forgiven (sometimes after a period of distance, but that's also normal after a hard conversation I feel - both parties sometimes need to process and lick their wounds, or wounded egos), and it's implied (at least to me) that their friendship is an "always" thing, even when they do blow up at each other, and even when the things they say are harsh.

Furthermore, there's so much "off screen" (off-page?) time between them that we don't get to see. But their closeness is implied by others and themselves throughout the entire saga and the short stories. And the things they say to other people indicate how important they are to one another as well.

I do want to point out that my personal take on their relationship is tempered by me being in my 40's and having more than one long term relationship (namely my closest and longest-running friendship which is going on 25 years now, and my marriage which is almost 15 years old this year) where there IS that familiarity and "safety" to sometimes have cutting conversations, or at least "brutally honest" conversations, telling each other things we might not want to hear, but perhaps need to.

My best friend, for example, saw me through a 6-year relationship that was actually abusive. She felt that she had to tell me some truths that I needed to hear, and while some things she told me were hard to hear during that period, I'm so glad she felt safe and comfortable enough with me to be honest about what she saw happening.

She is not a fuzzy-wuzzy cuddly person. But she is MY person. She has been my rock for nearly a quarter century. I would actually trust this woman with my life. I would donate a kidney to this woman if I were a match and she needed one. We are not cutesy fuzzy with each other (although most of the time we're warm, generous, and supportive like a certain witcher and minstrel duo). She's not the type to say "I love you" out loud, so we don't do that because I know that would make her uncomfortable (she's even like this with her partner of several years - some people just aren't as demonstrative with saying the WORDS, but it doesn't mean they don't FEEL it). But we LOVE each other dearly. We don't have to actually say "I love you" to say I love you to one another.

Because we're all human, we can even at times slip up and not be as tactful and sensitive with each other as we should be, or even in a moment of vulnerability get angry and snap (which is completely Geralt in Baptism of Fire). Some of the conflicts I've had with my best friend and my spouse can look a lot like what we encounter in the books between Geralt and Dandelion when they do get into a heated discussion or argument. But these relationships are, to me, "safe" and "always" in my mind and heart. I know we'd have to do something truly *despicable* and abusive to one another for those relationships to end entirely.

What I think people are saying, when they say, "Book Geralt would never *be mean* to Dandelion," isn't that Geralt could never *literally* be mean. It's that the portrayal of their friendship and the conflicts they could have were lacking any kind of context whatsoever. Furthermore, the Netflix show didn't make us believe they were ever MUTUAL friends who loved each other (mutually) in the first place, didn't do enough to build up their relationship and show its history and why they're so bonded to each other, why they're proud of each other, show us HOW the "opposites attract" thing actually works in their relationship, how they add value to each other's lives by having different but complementary personalities, why they had such a strong connection in the first place, why they loved each other, why they enjoyed and valued each other's company and place in their lives.

Instead they made it seem like Geralt was simply tolerating this silly little guy who gets him into trouble all the time, and then out of nowhere you get a tirade of verbal abuse that goes on about how this silly little guy ruined his entire life, and basically a "get out of my life" tirade which is extremely hurtful and broke the show character's heart (understandably enough). Geralt also punches Dandelion in the show, and while they have their share of verbal arguments in the books, Geralt never lays a hand on Dandelion, and even goes out of his way to protect him and save him from violence and physical danger multiple times throughout the entire saga.

Geralt's attempts to push the Hanza away in Baptism of Fire are often cited as the example of Geralt being mean, by Netflix viewers who are confused by book fans saying Geralt being mean isn't canon.

But I think book fans pretty universally agree that Geralt's "meanness" in Baptism of Fire actually stems partially from him wanting to protect the other members of the Hanza from danger, and partially from feeling like he's messed everything up so badly he doesn't *deserve* help or support, or that he can't *truly atone* for Ciri's separation and unhappiness unless he completes the mission entirely alone.

He tries to emotionally push everyone away by being, well, a jerk (which if one is looking to push people away, that can definitely be an effective way of doing so). But his friends see right through this defense mechanism, seem to intuitively know where it's coming from, and seem to understand what he's going through, and are not afraid to call him out on it!

They rightfully roast him for it, but in a way that to me comes across as loving, albeit tough love. To me it's in the vein of, "We see right through your nonsense, we know why you're being like this, because you think you're leading us right into harm's way and you don't want to do that, plus you're losing your mind because you're in a lot of pain and you've lost your daughter and de facto wife who you were JUST beginning to mend fences with before she and your daughter were ripped away from you, so you're freaking out and not being rational. This isn't going to work on us, we're not going to leave you, so just sit down, chop these veggies, and eat this fish soup with us, and shut up you silly man." My favorite moment is when Milva makes the remark about how wolves don't actually hunt alone. Wolves are, after all, pack animals who work as a team to survive.

Modern toxic masculinity harkens a lot to his idea of "alpha males" and "lone wolves" which is total fallacy and nonsense and runs completely counter to what real life is actually like. People, like wolves, are communal animals. We literally need one another to survive. Interdependence, not independence, is the optimal way of being human. Having love, comeraderie, and support are not just frivolities, they're necessities!

To close this, I think the heart of why book fans take issue with this portrayal of their friendship is that Dandelion and Geralt are the longest running thread through the series, each other's "always" person (which in a long lifetime often IS someone's closest platonic relationship, whether that be a chosen best friend or a close sibling for example), and they're so instrumental to each other's character development, that to bludgeon that in the show just runs so counter to what I feel as a fan of this series is one of its central themes, which is that nobody actually CAN do everything alone and without support, that being isolated and alone really leads down a dark path for us as human beings. By stripping away this piece of the story (Dandelion and Geralt's friendship in its true nature, not a contrived one) it fails to adapt the story on that level.

Keep in mind that these are just my opinions. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[vaguely-concerned]

having seen at least the rough outlines of all the romances now I have to say that I think emmrich's is probably objectively the best in terms of coherence and completeness of story arc (with the understanding that ultimately the 'best' romance is whichever one makes YOUR heart sing anyway so objectivity is a silly thing to claim that way, it just felt like it's the arc with the most well-paced focused content and the least dangling threads)... but lucanis' is my favourite haha. just. the whole kneeling before your beloved full of reverence but without any of the distance that usually implies??? his complete undramatic certainty and calm in every scene with rook after this, having spent the whole game caught between fear and longing???? mr. lives in a pantry but it says nothing about my psyche don't worry about it it's purely for tactical reasons that I keep myself contained in a small dark room not entirely unlike a cell, love among the parsnips -- finally coming to rook in their room and it's so comfortable and comforting???? after all the times rook supports and comforts him through the game he's finally able to return the same to them when they need it while being so calm and steady and it's so fucking sweet and feels so effortless and with no price attached?????? he basically assigns himself the role of your bodyguard and he WILL stab a god over it??????????????? the turn to protector (which was in his heart all along longing to get out and find a place) of it all????? he sounds like he's found himself unexpectedly stumbling into such a soul-lightening state of revelatory existential relief, full on 'you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves' mary oliver style, and he goes and he shares that with rook and protectively envelops them in it when they're hurting??????????????????????????? hello for the maker's sake hello can anyone hear me?????

[satanslittlepup]

Happy Birthday Alcryst!

Some screenshots of him being precious below

[masked-alien-lesbian]

Hana x Raelyn 2024 Christmas Shenanigans 🔥

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you 🎵

Look how beautiful they are! @sazanes bust her tail off to get this done for me before Christmas and did so good! Thank you so much! Superb work as usual! 🫶🏽

Inspired by the chibi version I commission from her

Bonus: some wip @sazanes made for me to decide which pose I preferred. I was switching between the 3 and realized it could have been snapshots of a moment in time.

Raelyn teasing Hana in wip 1, the wip 2 pose I decided on and than Hana teasing Raelyn back in pose 3 pulling their hair lol