#mechanics of love 1955

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

Love is a many splendored thing

It's the April rose that only grows in the early Spring

Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living

The golden crown that makes a man a king

Once on a high and windy hill, In the morning mist

Two lovers kissed and the world stood still

Then your fingers touched my silent heart and taught it how to sing

Yes, true love's a many splendored thing

Love is a many splendored thing

It's the April rose that only grows in the early Spring

Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living

The golden crown that makes a man a king

Once on a high and windy hill, In the morning mist

Two lovers kissed and the world stood still

Then your fingers touched my silent heart and taught it how to sing

Yes, true love's a many splendored thing

Mechanics of Love (1955), dir. Willard Maas & Ben Moore

[vincekris]

Willard Maas - The Mechanics of Love 1955

[diana-andraste]

The Mechanics of Love by Willard Maas and Ben Moore, 1955

"Erosion of emotion. The act of love portrayed through poetic symbols."

You can watch this short film (5:43 min) at the link.

[toiich]

The Mechanics of Love (1955), dir. Willard Maas

[knickynoo]

Back to the Future Part II, The Novel by Craig Shaw Gardner: Thoughts, commentary, and general ramblings

Part 2: Marty McGamblerPants

Previous posts here

• As Marty ventures into the Café 80s, a lot of what unfolds is pretty close to the movie, so not much to say there. There is an interesting line as Griff and Biff exit the café, though, where Biff says, “Listen, Griff, don’t you go loanin’ that McFly kid any money—even though he probably needs it, him and his old man both.”

I wonder: is he saying that just because he wants to take a dig at the state of the McFly family’s finances or because Griff has loaned money to Junior before? If he has, that’s quite the interesting thing to ponder considering I don’t see Griff as being the type to do much of anything out of the kindness of his heart, but I absolutely do see him loaning money to Junior just to be able to use it against him and force him into doing things.

• If I’m remembering correctly, Junior doesn’t actually say no to Griff in the café. He mentions it being dangerous, says he should discuss it with his father, and then eventually says okay once he’s thrown over the counter. Book Junior does say no, though, and he says it like this:

You know that’s Marty’s boy; he’s got nice manners just like his dad. I love Junior so much.

• When Marty gets approached in 2015 about saving the clock tower, the book notes that the guy asking for the donation is Terry. When Marty won’t donate the hundred dollars, Terry goes on to talk about how, back when the clock was struck by lightning, “—a hundred bucks was worth something.” He then points to Biff (who is across the street) and starts to talk about how Biff, “—tried to shaft me out of three-hundred bucks for fixing his car.”

I kind of wish they had included this context in the movie because it was only a handful of years ago that I realized the guy asking for the donation is Terry the mechanic from 1955. And while that information isn’t important, it would have saved me a good deal of confusion in those hundred or so watches growing up when I had no clue who he was. And the thing is, I could see the obvious old-age makeup, so I knew he was supposed to be someone, but I didn’t know who until I read it online after starting this blog. Before that, I was always like, “Why did they go through the trouble of badly doing old age makeup on this random guy for this one scene? Why didn’t they just hire an old man?”

• The discussion about the Cubs between Marty and Terry just reminded me of the unnecessarily long Dudes Talking Sports conversation between Marty and Doc in the novel for the first movie.

•The book makes it very clear that Marty’s motivation for buying the sports almanac is due to his anxiety over finding out his future self is a “loser.” Like…there is no other reasoning—not even the general lure of wealth—noticeably at play here. Marty just desperately wants to avoid being described as someone who “flushed his life down the toilet” and he sees the almanac as his guaranteed way to prevent that fate.

Why wasn’t this included in the movie?? All my times watching it, and I’ve NEVER gotten the sense that buying the almanac is the result of Marty being afraid of what he learned in the café. It always just seemed like Marty was simply being impulsive, irresponsible, and greedy. And frankly, it also has always struck me as a little out of character for him. He’s impulsive, yes, but good-hearted, honest, Marty McFly wanting to cheat at gambling for fun? Never seemed quite in line with who he is.

The way the book frames it changes it so much though! It’s so much easier to be sympathetic toward Marty buying the almanac with the context that he’s doing it to save himself and his family. Kind of flabbergasted, honestly. This would have been a great detail to have in the movie. Imagine seeing the excited grin and the “I can’t lose!” and him telling Doc with a mischievous grin, “Maybe we can place a couple bets?” replaced by a Marty who’s conflicted about his decision but desperate not to become someone everyone around him is ashamed of. Because there is no sense of that in Movie Marty. He just sees the almanac and does this

Now I’m wondering: is there anyone who watched the movie and DID conclude that Marty bought the almanac specifically to avoid being a loser? Is it only me who thought he was just chasing easy fame and fortune for funsies??

[christiangeistdorfer]

for the f1 ask game: 15, 37, 68? 👀

/ @hyypersofts

15. Is there a driver that you disliked in the beginning but now like?

mike hawthorn! all i really knew was what happened during the 1955 le mans race and how he kept racing even after the accident. but thanks to @cazzyf1's amazing work, my whole perception of that incident changed dramatically ! he did really want to stop the race and was unfairly villainised by the press !

37. Is there a race win that really touched you and why?

the two that spring to mind are 1991 brazilian grand prix with senna's win. i have mentioned before but the radio when he won!!! i remember actually tearing up because it was such a human reaction from the normal unflappable senna for all the effort he put into finally winning his home grand prix [after EIGHT TRIES!!!]

the other one is the 1981 british grand prix with john watson. all the fans doing a track invasion and his face in pictures where he is just in awe of all these people celebrating his win is so sweet <3

68. Is there anyone from a team that you think deserves more recognition?

i'm not alone when i say the mechanics!! OH MY GOD !!!!!!!! i wish i could name them all individuality because they deserve recognition for all their work!! like fitting a new fucking wheel in like 2 seconds is just MENTAL. i feel like the last couple of races everyone has seen how much they put into the races. god i love them.

question time

[compneuropapers]

Interesting Papers for Week 22, 2024

The influence of natural image statistics on upright orientation judgements. A-Izzeddin, E. J., Mattingley, J. B., & Harrison, W. J. (2024). Cognition, 242, 105631.

Noradrenaline tracks emotional modulation of attention in human amygdala. Bang, D., Luo, Y., Barbosa, L. S., Batten, S. R., Hadj-Amar, B., Twomey, T., … Montague, P. R. (2023). Current Biology, 33(22), 5003-5010.e6.

Diverse mechanisms of taste coding in Drosophila. Dweck, H. K. M., & Carlson, J. R. (2023). Science Advances, 9(46).

Goal-Dependent Hippocampal Representations Facilitate Self-Control. Edelson, M. G., & Hare, T. A. (2023). Journal of Neuroscience, 43(46), 7822–7830.

Reliable population code for subjective economic value from heterogeneous neuronal signals in primate orbitofrontal cortex. Ferrari-Toniolo, S., & Schultz, W. (2023). Neuron, 111(22), 3683-3696.e7.

Need for cognition moderates the relief of avoiding cognitive effort. Gheza, D., Kool, W., & Pourtois, G. (2023). PLOS ONE, 18(11), e0287954.

Developmental changes in exploration resemble stochastic optimization. Giron, A. P., Ciranka, S., Schulz, E., van den Bos, W., Ruggeri, A., Meder, B., & Wu, C. M. (2023). Nature Human Behaviour, 7(11), 1955–1967.

Early visual experience refines the retinotopic organization within and across visual cortical regions. Heitmann, C., Zhan, M., Linke, M., Hölig, C., Kekunnaya, R., van Hoof, R., … Röder, B. (2023). Current Biology, 33(22), 4950-4959.e4.

Hippocampal neurons code individual episodic memories in humans. Kolibius, L. D., Roux, F., Parish, G., Ter Wal, M., Van Der Plas, M., Chelvarajah, R., … Hanslmayr, S. (2023). Nature Human Behaviour, 7(11), 1968–1979.

Judging the difficulty of perceptual decisions. Löffler, A., Zylberberg, A., Shadlen, M. N., & Wolpert, D. M. (2023). eLife, 12, e86892.3.

Against cortical reorganisation. Makin, T. R., & Krakauer, J. W. (2023). eLife, 12, e84716.

Complex spikes perturb movements and reveal the sensorimotor map of Purkinje cells. Muller, S. Z., Pi, J. S., Hage, P., Fakharian, M. A., Sedaghat-Nejad, E., & Shadmehr, R. (2023). Current Biology, 33(22), 4869-4879.e3.

Periodic attention deficits after frontoparietal lesions provide causal evidence for rhythmic attentional sampling. Raposo, I., Szczepanski, S. M., Haaland, K., Endestad, T., Solbakk, A.-K., Knight, R. T., & Helfrich, R. F. (2023). Current Biology, 33(22), 4893-4904.e3.

Neural landscape diffusion resolves conflicts between needs across time. Richman, E. B., Ticea, N., Allen, W. E., Deisseroth, K., & Luo, L. (2023). Nature, 623(7987), 571–579.

Variational log‐ Gaussian point‐process methods for grid cells. Rule, M. E., Chaudhuri‐Vayalambrone, P., Krstulovic, M., Bauza, M., Krupic, J., & O’Leary, T. (2023). Hippocampus, 33(12), 1235–1251.

Preserved neural dynamics across animals performing similar behaviour. Safaie, M., Chang, J. C., Park, J., Miller, L. E., Dudman, J. T., Perich, M. G., & Gallego, J. A. (2023). Nature, 623(7988), 765–771.

A thalamo‐parietal cortex circuit is critical for place‐action coordination. Simmons, C. M., Moseley, S. C., Ogg, J. D., Zhou, X., Johnson, M., Wu, W., … Wilber, A. A. (2023). Hippocampus, 33(12), 1252–1266.

Neural mechanisms to incorporate visual counterevidence in self-movement estimation. Tanaka, R., Zhou, B., Agrochao, M., Badwan, B. A., Au, B., Matos, N. C. B., & Clark, D. A. (2023). Current Biology, 33(22), 4960-4979.e7.

The shared and unique neural correlates of personal semantic, general semantic, and episodic memory. Tanguay, A. F., Palombo, D. J., Love, B., Glikstein, R., Davidson, P. S., & Renoult, L. (2023). eLife, 12, e83645.

Temporally specific patterns of neural activity in interconnected corticolimbic structures during reward anticipation. Young, M. E., Spencer-Salmon, C., Mosher, C., Tamang, S., Rajan, K., & Rudebeck, P. H. (2023). Neuron, 111(22), 3668-3682.e5.

[ifjgh]

Second, is everyone's favorite Japanese Jock, Manzo Tsuyoshi.

Here's some basic info! <3

Goes By: Manzo Nicknames: Monzo, The Ox DOB: Oct. 21st, 1955 Age: 22 (until his B-Day) Gender: Male, but isn't too picky on his pronouns (He/Him/They/Them) Sexuality: Bi/Pan Ethnicity: Japanese Occupation: Student (Health and Medicine Major), Two Possible side-jobs, Leading Quarterback for the Football/Soccer Team Socioeconomic Status: Lower-Class, got in collage due to a sports scholarship Place of Birth: Kyoto, Japan Family: Younger sister, Loving Mother and Father who try their best for their son like working extra jobs to pay for the things he and his sister needs Height: 6'8” Weight: 240 lbs. Disabilities: None (?) Possibly being a bit too big for things. Fashion Style: Jock Up Top, Biker Down Below, Colorful Coordination (or lack thereof): Out on the field in a game, extremely coordinated and in his element, off the field, bull in a China shop and not really spatially aware Personality Type/Trait: Campainer - Enthusiastic, Creative, Free Spirited, Can always find a reason to Smile, Energetic, Aggressive, Self-Assured Introvert/Extrovert: Major Extrovert, total Party Bro, will go to anything he's invited to and anything he's not Intelligence: Below Average, if it's not a subject related to sports, he'll know next to nothing about it and he'll probably never will, usually get's help from Attilio's tutoring, but even then he still gets barely passable grades, very air-headed Self-Esteem: At a good place, he loves being the big guy on campus, but he's usually not a braggart about that, but he might brag a little bit about being the best on the Football/Soccer Team though, which is more then earned Hobbies: Sports (watching, playing, talking about, whatever), Making friends, riding and taking care of his motorcycle (she's named Mayumi, btw), supporting and helping others Skills/Talents: Strongest of the Main 8, Courageous and will never back down from a bet, can get any vehicle working to it's best potential (aka excellent mechanic), is a great cook (learned from parents so he could cook for his sister while they worked) Loves: Mayumi, Football/Soccer, Car Magazines, Pranks Morals/Virtues: Courageous, Fairness, Respect, Humility, Loyalty, Generous, Family Phobias/Fears: Being seen as weak, nerd, or a “chicken”, flunking out of collage, crashing Mayumi, Bugs Angered By: Genuinely Mean People, Others being taken advantage of, people touching Mayumi Pet Peeves: Being told what to do more then once, bland food Obsessed With: Mayumi, Sports, Cars Bad habits: Not listening when he needs to, Zoning out in general, Being a bit too pushy Desires: To prove how strong he is and help as many people as he can Flaws: Always looking for his next “battle” to win, kinda dumb Secrets: He's constantly worried about his family back home, and works extra hard at his jobs to so he can send a little bit of money back home each month. He'll never let his worry show, no one is allowed to worry about him either, but he knows he can't hide it forever. Doesn't have a legal license to drive Mayumi (He's got a legal license back home in Japan, but not here in the States) and he probably never will. Regrets: Not being able to support his family as much as he “feels” he should. He wishes he wasn't so dumb and could pay attention in class more. Accomplishments: Star quarter Back for the Football/Soccer Team, has won a few Strong-Man competitions here and there Languages Known: Fluent in Japanese and has decent English, and has picked up on some Italian (From being Attilio's roommate, it's mostly swear words) and a little bit of Gaelic (From hanging out with Patty)

(Things are subject to change the more I get things fine tuned, I've also kept some things secret for the time being. - Crow <3)

Bonus! Basic Profile Sheet, for funsies! X

[thedolldoctor]

This is a lore dump post for my oc’s. If you don’t know who these characters are, refer to my previous post.

Lore/Story:

Jeanie and Martin live in a liminal space, eventually making contact with a lonely out of universe child, who believes they are imaginary friends at first and uses them as an escape from emotionally absent people in their life. Child discovers that they can shift into said liminal space with them, complete with not aging themself, however, time still passes as normal in the other reality, and they are unable to control when they leave. they can return to the liminal space only through contact with Jeanie and Martin, and Jeanie and Martin have no contact with anyone in the child’s reality but the child. (This could change in the future)

IMPORTANT CANON INFORMATION: Jeanie and Martin are happily married, emotionally aware and have a healthy relationship. They are slightly uncanny/eccentric, but never threatening, evil, or malicious. Kind and Sweet all the way through. Please do not portray them in a horror fashion.

Extra lore: (Jeanie/Martin information)

Non changing vintage Appearing Liminal space. Entry though contact with characters listed below.

Time/approximate appearance of universe: 1955

Name: Jeanie

Gender: Female

Age: 30

Race: White

Eye color: Blue-green

Hair color: Red-Brown

Height: 5’ 8”

Relationship status: Married

Occupation: Housewife

Time of age passage cease: 30

Notes on clothing/voice: Jeanie is constantly in pajamas. Pastel colors with silly little prints are the norm. Shirts always match pants, her bathrobe is always blue. Shoes are always penny loafers. Speaks like a child’s television show host.

Name: Martin

Gender: Male

Age: 35

Race: White

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Brown

Height: 6’

Relationship status: Married

Occupation: Auto Mechanic

Time of age passage cease: 35

Notes on clothing/voice: Martin is dressed as if he is about to walk out the door most of the time. Golf polos and khaki colored pants are the norm, however he can also be seen in a t shirt and plaid pajama pants. Shoes when not in pajama’s are 50s style sneakers always (think Mister Rogers) Speaks like a 1950s radio announcer, but more relaxed.

Character use/Boundaries

Do: Cosplay, make art, write stories/make skits (within canon relationships only, if uncertain, please ask)

Don’t: no NSFW content, please don’t separate them, ship them with other characters, (including your own) or make them have an unhealthy relationship dynamic. Also: i don’t give permission for them to be used in DND Campaigns unless it’s by me, sorry.

Do not take the art made by my friends off of this blog, or pass these characters off as your own.

Do not sell anything you make with these characters

Please tag me if anyone chooses to make anything, I’d love to see it!

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

Top 10 Innovative Cars

The cars of today owe a lot to the vehicles that came before them. Car design has always been about innovation and breaking new ground, but it's rare to find an automobile that can genuinely be said to have changed everything that came afterwards. The cars in this list were not your average motors - each and every one of them had an influence that reached far beyond their original conception. Here are the unique stories of ten of the most innovative and influential cars ever produced.

Ford Model T (1908)

The first massed produced automobile.

The Model T - colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie - is generally regarded as the first affordable car in the world, and the vehicle that opened up a world of automobile travel to the middle classes. Ford's assembly line production made it all possible, setting a standard of manufacturing that influenced almost every industry in the world. Produced between 1908 and 1927, more than 15 million Tin Lizzies were sold, and the car gave mobility to the masses. For that reason, it is often considered to be one of the most influential developments in the history of design and production.

Rolls Royce Silver Ghost (1908)

The first military car.

At the time of its development, the beautiful Rolls Royce Silver Ghost was considered to be at the forefront of luxury car design. However, it was to become something much more important than a toy for the rich. In 1914, all Silver Ghost chassis were re-purposed to form the basis for a brand new armored car, and the vehicles ended up playing a significant part in World War I, the Irish Civil War, the Turkish Wars and even World War II. In doing so, the Silver Ghost gave birth to the modern concept of mechanized military conflicts and ended the days of the horse cavalry.

Austin Seven (1922)

The first 'people's car'.

The Austin 7 is a legendary British car that was hugely successful both in its home country and abroad. It is often seen as the forerunner to the modern automobile as we know it, and made a huge impact on the economy car market that was comparable to the innovative inroads made by the Ford Model T fifteen years before. It is seen as the first 'people's car' that further popularized motoring, and it was re-bodied to form the basis for the first cars produced by BMW, Nissan, Lotus, Jaguar and the Australian firm Holden.

Volkswagen Beetle (1938)

The mechanical innovator that became a cultural icon.

It's hard to find another automobile with the rich history of the Volkswagen Beetle. The brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche, it was one of the first rear-engine automobiles and was specifically designed to travel at 100kph on Germany's autobahn highway system. It also featured one of the world's first air-cooled engine designs, but its impact went way beyond its mechanical innovations. Its production lasted for 65 years between 1938 and 2006 - the longest ever run for a single design concept - and it was the first car to truly become a cultural icon (helped by the 'Herbie' films of course), showing that motor cars had a place in wider entertainment.

BMC Mini (1959)

The early 'hot hatchback'.

Another car that gained an influence outside of the motoring world is the much loved BMC mini. It was conceptualized as a car for everyone and went on to be produced in over 100 variants in countries all over the globe. It was also one of the first modern front wheel drive cars, and made the idea of the small 'hot hatchback' cool. This simple, little car which came to symbolize the 'swinging' 60s, was one of the first efficient 'city' cars and became a rally car, racing legend and movie icon in pictures like The Italian Job.

Citroen DS (1955)

The groundbreaking car that influenced car design for years.

The Citroën DS always occupies high places when experts are looking to crown the best car of all time, and with good reason. This executive car was years ahead of its time and it's widely accepted that every modern car model can in some way trace its design back to the DS. It was the first mass production car to include disc brakes, featured an aerodynamic body design considered futuristic at the time but standard today, it had hydraulic suspensions and revolving headlights, and sold a then-record 12,000 units on its first day of release. It remains one of the most influential automobile designs ever produced.

Jaguar E-Type (1961)

The luxury icon of the 1960s.

The Jaguar E-Type is one of the most beautiful sports cars ever to grace the road, and a legend of 1960s design. At a time when most cars were more about practicality than style and performance, the E-Type boasted top of speeds in excess of 150mph and could travel 0-60mph in under 7 seconds. It was the first production vehicle that didn't feature a body fixed to a separate chassis, instead, it employed a 'racing design' where the body was attached to a tubular framework. It will always be associated with high performance and sleek sophistication, and it influenced sports car designed long after it left the production line.

Lamborghini Miura (1966)

The world's first super car.

The Lamborghini Miura was the world's first super car, and pushed the boundaries of what people thought was possible in automobile design. It ushered in the era of the high-performance, two-seater sports car and was lightning quick - comfortably the fastest road car in production when it was first released. The design shared much more in common with the race cars of the day, rather than the sleek touring car designs that had previously been favored by car firm bosses, including Ferruccio Lamborghini himself, who objected the original concept for the Miura, forcing the company's engineers to design it in their spare time.

Chrysler Minivan (1983)

The first ever multi-passenger mini-van.

In 1983, Chrysler effectively invented the Minivan and changed the way cars were conceptualized for good. The Minivan's design grew from the need for a vehicle suitable for larger families, which still retained the driveability of a normal car. It looked boxy, but had a sliding side door that made loading the kids in the car easy, yet it was small enough to fit in a standard parking spot. Owning one came to symbolise both financial, adult success and, paradoxically, 'lost youth' in 1980s America. The car changed the landscape of automobile design forever. 

Toyota Prius (1997)

The world's first mass-produced electric hybrid vehicle.

The Toyota Prius was the first mass-produced hybrid, electric vehicle in the world, and its influence is probably yet to be fully realized. Just as the Model T and Austin 7 brought automobiles to the masses, the Prius broke new ground in the important quest for an electric powered alternative to modern gas guzzlers and remains one of the most environmentally friendly cars sold to date (now in its fourth generation, it remains in production). For all these reasons, the Prius deserves its place on this list of the most innovative car designs of all time.

[phantomladyoverparis]

Mechanics of Love (1955), dir. Willard Maas & Ben Moore

[certainwoman]

Mechanics of Love (1955), dir. Willard Maas

[trainalt22]

1955-1956

In 1955, the traffic to the NWR showed no signs of stopping. The express went from 6 coaches to 8, and Gordon enjoyed the new challenge. However, with Thomas on his branch line and Edward overseeing the Suddrey branch line, Tidmouth was left without a pilot. This meant that the big engines had to marshal their trains, much to their detriment. In February of 1955, the three big engines went on strike.

The new Fat Controller was furious that he could have gone six months without an incident. He went to Tidmouth to investigate. When he arrived, he was frustrated that his engines would strike over something as petty as this. But he soon reached a compromise with the engines. They would go back to work immediately, and as they did, he would look for a pilot. They reached an understanding and soon left for their trains.

Sir Topham came across an offer for a small saddle tank. From the looks of it, they were a kitbash of some kind from an independent workshop, a rarity in the time of British Rail. The engine, Percy, was cheap, and he needed a quick fix to the issue at Tidmouth. Percy was elated to have been bought. He saw more use in the industrial sector than on a railway. His kit-bashed nature made Topham wary of purchasing him, but after ample testing, Percy was in full mechanical order and ready for work.

Thomas's schedule was shifted so that he could have more time between trains to help Percy learn how to marshal trains. The two got on immediately. Percy found his gruff, sarcastic nature reminiscent of his old manager at the steelworks where he was built. Percy was a quick learner. He had experience shunting, but his size made it far easier for him to slip into tight sidings. He soon zipped around the yard. Of course, Thomas said he could do it better, but he was proud of how far Percy had come in such little time. By April, Thomas's schedule had gone back to normal, and Percy was adapting to his new job running the yard and bringing smaller trains from the yard to the docks.

The Tidmouth Harbour saw an increase in traffic as well, and Percy was soon overwhelmed. So Sir Topham approached the Tidmough Harbor board to buy a new locomotive. The board couldn't find an engine quick enough, and by spring, the port was soon overwhelmed. The Fat Controller, annoyed with the bottleneck of traffic, loaned an engine from British Rail. As Sodor had limited infrastructure for the newer "revolutionary" diesel locomotives, BR begrudgingly sent a steam engine. Montague was his name, but he preferred Duck, a nickname he picked up in his days as the pilot for Paddington Station.

The port was soon sorted, and the Fat Controller saw it fit to take a holiday to East Anglia. While there, he discovered a disused tram line, and against his wife's wishes, went snooping around. He found a small engine shed showing signs of overgrowth. Inside was a slumbering tram engine, a C53 from the looks of it. They were in pristine condition. They soon awoke, startled by the man who they believed to be a vandal. But after introductions were exchanged, the tram engine, or Toby as he liked to be called, was curious about the holidaying railway controller. He listened to his tales of the North Western from when he was a boy. Toby asked the controller rather bluntly if he had room for him as retired life wasn't what it was cracked up to be. The controller promised that if he needed a tram, he would come to Toby post haste. This pleased the tram, and they soon said their farewells.

Meanwhile, back on Sodor, Percy was getting bored of his station pilot duties. And while Duck was a lovely engine, he was trying at times. He would always go on and on about the great Western way, which Percy found to be too strict and disciplined for his industrial laid-back attitude. Thomas, on the other hand, was well-acclimated to his branch line. He would take passengers to Tidmouth and trucks to the harbor. But it was getting a bit much for the tank engine, although Thomas didn't mind the hard work.

It wasn't until the Fat Controller got back from his vacation that Thomas ran into an issue. The old constable that was in charge of Ffarquar retired, and a new, younger officer was hired. The first time he saw Thomas, he flagged him because Thomas didn't have any wheel coverings. It was illegal for him to run on the tracks from the quarry to Ffarquar station as they passed through the town on the roads. As such, Thomas was forbidden from running up to the quarry unless he had proper wheel coverings.

Sir Topham Hatt soon arrived to find Thomas and the officer in a full-fledged argument, shouting back and forth. After he was able to defuse the situation, he was told that if he couldn't find an engine to the requirements, then he was forbidden from going any further up the line than the officer's post. And if any of his engines were caught going through Ffarquar without the proper modifications, then he would be fined. He thought back to Toby and quickly went home to write to his controller.

By 1956 Toby was on Sudrian soil and being repaired to full working order and started to work up in the quarry his schedule was earlier than Thomas's but for good reason, he would take the first shift of workmen up to the quarry and bring the stone back to Farquhar

This soon turned into an issue however Toby had a significantly shorter trip than Thomas so stone trucks were just piling up in Farquhar and Thomas couldn't pull all of them down to the Harbor

With an overflow of trucks at Ffarquhar

It became apparent that another engine was going to be needed on Thomas's branchline however after Toby's purchase the board of directors voted against buying another engine

Thopam soon found a solution and went to Tidmouth Harbor to find Percy

When asked if he would like to work on a branchline instead of being a station pilot Percy immediately agreed luckily the harbor board found an engine to purchase they were a class 08 diesel fresh out of the works they didn't have a name just a number D3102

They arrived in Sodor later that year and soon proved how revolutionary diesels were he could be ready to go at the twist of a key and usually was the first out of the shed shunting the early morning trains like the flying kipper or overnight goods

Duck however was fed up with the new diesel as he was extremely prejudiced against steam engines saying how they all had outlived their usefulness and were heading for the torch

Duck scoffed at this but deep down he was concerned he was only on loan from BR if he went back he could be cut up

This drove Duck to be better than D3102 or diesel as he was the only one of his type on Sodor it made for an easy nickname

Duck strove for greatness he kept up with diesel at every turn sparking a heated rivalry between the two

Duck had managed to convince a line of trucks to hold back if Diesel tried moving them to which they gleefully agreed with the trucks ready duck feigned illness to get Diesel to move them and when he tried they wouldn't move an inch diesels wheels slipped on the wet harbor tracks as he pulled harder and harder until the coupling snapped launching diesel into the buffers at the end of the key

Diesel hung precariously over the edge of the key below him was the sea and a swift demise he screamed for help and Duck rushed to his aid with the two attached ducks gave a swift heave but Diesel was heavier than he expected ducks wheels began to slip and diesel swayed his middle wheel was close to sliding off the pier when a barge slid under him but he didn't have time to question it as the coupling gave and he fell onto the barge slightly damaging his front end

Duck and the barge captain were praised for their quick thinking while Diesel was certain that Duck planned the accident but without proof, he couldn't go to the fat controller

Later that night Henry was set to take a goods train when he arrived in Tidmouth the trucks in the sidings all called him square wheels and a useless engine

Who was undeserving of their rebuild Henry was appalled angrily bumping the trucks when questioned they said Duck told them about his rebuild

Later that week James passed Duck pulling a goods train to Ellsworth and the trucks began saying that James's red paint made him look like rusty scrap iron duck didn't hear so he just smiled at James when he overtook him

Gordon who was napping at Tidmouth station was awoken by some truck singing

"Old number four that gallant galloping sausage always pulls the express what a bore to rush from place to place as that big blue disgrace" they giggled loudly as Gordon stormed off in a huff

The three big engines summoned the fat controller to Tidmouth sheds that night they made their complaints known rather bluntly calling for Duck to be sent away in disgrace sir topham however summoned Duck to Tidmouth so he could defend himself

The big engines welcomed Duck harshly calling him a liar and a manipulator diesel who was in the yard approached the scene cautiously he interjected that he speculated Duck caused his accident because of how quickly Duck came to his aid after saying he was ill

This and the insults that the others had received forced Sir Topham who believed that Duck hadn't spread the rumors to send the poor pannier away for the time being he sent him to work with Edward at Welsworth

[daryfromthefuture]

“Safety” for Mixed Bag One-Word Prompts!

thank you for the request! as per your wish, i shall do doc (and some marty) for this one :)

"Another day, another downpour." Emmett commented as he adjusted his goggles and took another look at the repair instructions his older self had left him in the mine. The schematics appeared more complicated on the paper than they actually were. Or maybe he simply perceived it that way - those drawings did come from himself, after all.

Marty, who was sitting on the workbench, sighed as he watched the raindrops race each other down the little window. "Yeah. It's getting boring, watching the gray sky every day."

Doc lay aside his screwdriver and wiped some sweat and dirt from his brow. All this mechanical work, though easy, still was a bit of a challenge - Emmett was more of a theoretical guy; he loved to think about science and sketch plans and schemes. God knows how many unused blueprints he had piling up in his drawers.

Well, he'd have to construct the DeLorean in the next 30 years anyway. Might as well prepare himself.

"At least the work isn't all too difficult," Doc said with a smile, taking a proper look at Marty now that he could afford to take a break from building the contraption that was meant to replace the fried time circuits.

Marty just gave him a thumbs-up. "You're the doc, Doc."

The scientist had to laugh. "I guess I am, huh?"

He cleaned his oily hands with his lab coat and sat down next to the boy. The duo stared into the distance for a moment, the roar of the thunder outiside well audible due to the brief silence.

"Are you hungry? I apologize, I got so caught up in fixing the car that I forgot about lunch," Doc asked, beraking the quietness.

But Marty shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about it. I'm not hungry. Can't say that about Copernicus, though." A small grin appeared on Marty's face as the mention of Copernicus' name caused the dog to whine from the other end of the room.

"Oh, thank you for reminding me." Doc got up and went to a shelf where he stored some dog food - in case he didn't have the time to go up to the house and feed his pet during his work. He opened a can and poured it into the small dog bowl right beneath the shelf. Copernicus wasted no second in throwing himself at the food.

Emmett smiled. "For such a small dog, you sure are hungry." He pat his dog on the back before making his way to Marty, who was now once again staring outside, his head in his hands.

"You had quite a bit going on lately, haven't you?", Emmett asked with sympathy in his voice. He had have no idea that he had the ability to be this gentle with someone, let alone a frightened child.

He had always seen himself as rather unable to comfort others.

But with Marty, it seemed to work just fine.

"Yeah, it's- I won't get into the details, but some shit happened and- well, you're stuck in 1885 now - as you know," Marty said, his voice shaking ever so slightly.

Doc hesitantly raised a hand to place on Marty's shoulder. He gave it a friendly squeeze. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll get this sorted out. We'll get this sorted out."

Marty chuckled. "I don't have any doubt about that. I trust you."

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, and a wind howled through a tilted window in the back of the lab.

"Whoop! I didn't know that was open!" The inventor hurried across the room and quickly shut the window.

Marty followed Doc with his eyes and relaxed a little. This all seemed very familiar to him. Sometimes, these moments even made him forget that he was in 1955. Doc was Doc, and this was Doc's lab - a place he knew was one where he'd never be harmed - in whatever decade.

Not even a minute later, Emmett was back at the teenager's side. His hand moved back to sit on Marty's shoulder, well aware that Marty appreciated the gesture.

"Alright, how about I make us some nice, warm tea, and then we can resume our work after we've taken a short break?", Doc suggested.

Marty took in the atmosphere. The cold November storm outside, from which the lab shielded him. Doc, always the guiding presence, caring about him even though he'd only known him for a week. Copernicus curled up on the floor, making a happy expression in his sleep.

In a way, this was home.

Marty looked up at Doc. "You know what? I'd like that."

[swissmissficrecs]

Hey there, do u know any good Johnlock fics where john and sherlock are both women??? Thank you

Reply: This isn't my usual wheelhouse, so I don't have much.

I think this is the only fic I have on my lists:

How the mouth changes its shape by breathedout (132K, E, fem!Johnlock) Summary: 1955. Under the placid veneer of suburban playparks and middle-class conformity churns a hidden London: femmes and butches dancing close in basement bars; clandestine love between women. To Sherlock Holmes, struggling private detective and mistress of disguise, it’s a realm she renounced years before. To Johnnie Watson, daredevil ambulance driver turned auto mechanic, it’s become a little too familiar. But when someone is murdered in the washroom of the city’s most notorious lesbian club, the investigation will lead both women to reconsider their assumptions about themselves, each other, and the world in which they live.

I know okapi has written a few. You'll have to look through their catalog yourself, but here's one to get you started:

The Cup 'verse by okapi (51K, E, fem!Johnlock) A gender/cisswapped AU with Sherlock as a vampire that prefers menstrual blood and John as a human.

I can also offer these fanvids:

Title: fem!Sherlock Vidder: junbeyourself Summary: Lara Pulver as fem!Sherlock Amanda Abbington as fem!John

Title: sherlock holmes & joan watson [femlock] Vidder: zakupan Summary: Sherlock Holmes - Eva Green Joan Watson - Carey Mulligan

[rhetoricandlogic]

Gary K. Wolfe Reviews When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

May 19, 2022 Gary K. Wolfe

I suppose there are plenty of human-dragon metamorphoses in fantasy novels, but they aren’t what immediately came to mind when reading Kelly Barnhill’s first adult novel When Women Were Dragons – in which 642,987 American women suddenly transform into dragons on a single day in 1955. Instead, I was reminded of Ionesco’s 1959 play Rhinoceros, in which the residents of a small town all gradually turn into rhinoceroses. In Ionesco, though, the transformation was largely about conformity, whereas in Barnhill’s novel it’s very much about agency, about the relentless pressure of society to keep women and women’s lives ‘‘small,’’ as some of the dragon women put it. This may be one reason Barnhill chose to set her tale in the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which the pressure cookers of feminism and civil rights were notably building up steam in the United States. Conformity does become another important theme for Barnhill, not so much in terms of the ‘‘dragoning’’ itself, as in the response to it from government, schools, and other institutions. The House Un-American Activities Committee retains its power well into the 1960s, all mention of the dragoning is expunged from schools and text­books, and even scientists who attempt to study the dragons quickly find themselves blacklisted. In fact, with all the efforts to censor or suppress science, to ignore an obvious reality, to stigma­tize a new population, and to simply pretend that change isn’t happening, it sounds more than a bit like our own era.

Barnhill is not particularly interested in the sort of formula standoff her main conceit might sug­gest; this isn’t Planet of the Dragons. Instead, the novel unfolds, rather surprisingly and wonder­fully, as an almost Dickensian personal history; the subtitle of the first-person narrative-within-the-novel is ‘‘Being the Truthful Accounting of the Life of Alex Green – Physicist, Professor, Activist. Still Human. A memoir, of sorts.’’ Alex – her first small rebellion is calling herself that in defiance of her family’s insistence on Alexandra – is the daughter of a chilly, remote father (who turns out to be the real monster in the book) and a gifted mathematician mother, so beaten down that her talent only shows up in her skill with complex knots. The most rewarding part of Alex’s child­hood is her colorful Aunt Marla, a former pilot and skilled auto mechanic whose life as a gay woman in the 1950s has its own challenges, and Marla’s baby daughter Beatrice, who becomes Alex’s beloved ward. After Marla transforms into a dragon and Alex’s mother succumbs to cancer, Alex finds herself not only Beatrice’s surrogate mom, but is also at the mercy of a disinterested father whose behavior is increasingly appalling and an educational system designed to oppress women. Only a sympathetic librarian and the love of her new girlfriend Sonja serve to mitigate Alex’s at times almost melodramatic miseries.

While Alex’s tale is the novel’s anchor, Barnhill also offers interspersed chapters which range from historical case histories of dragoning to tran­scripts of HUAC testimony. The case histories, ranging from classical antiquity to recent labor confrontations, are drawn mostly from docu­ments written by one of those scientists whose research has forced him underground, Professor H.N. Gantz, who later becomes an important figure in Alex’s life. They not only provide a broad social and historical context for Alex’s story, but help prepare us for the latter parts of the novel, when the dragons themselves come to play an increasingly important, and increasingly controversial, role in society. It’s possible that some younger readers, viewing the 1950s and early 1960s as a period of bland conformity and sitcom fantasies, will be shocked at the implicit psychological violence directed again Alex as a budding mathematician and scientist – such as being called into the principal’s office in eighth grade because of consistently getting the top exam scores in math. ‘‘The boys see her loafing in class,’’ the principal, tells her mother, ‘‘and yet still claiming that top score, with no thought at all to their feelings. I ask you, what does one do with a girl with so little regard for others?’’ It’s the sort of scene calculated to trigger your own sense of rage, and Barnhill is consistently bril­liant at making such scenes work, whether the instigator is a school administrator, Alex’s awful father, or a clueless politician in a Congressional hearing. While When Women Were Dragons is at center the frankly heroic story of Alex fiercely holding on to her educational dreams despite the monolithic forces aligned against her, it’s also a compelling fantasy that resists easy allegorization. At its best and most furious, it makes you want to breathe fire.