#tfw + vehicles

[shallowseeker]

There is...one more Cas-adjacent car to discuss, but I don't quite have it all straight in my head.

LOOK! It's not the same tan sedan, but it IS interesting. (4x03 & 13x01) Isn't it? Let's ramble:

////

Look at this cute little tan sedan that Dean drives in 4x03 In the Beginning!

This is one of his very first interactions with Cas, and our first on-screen date car drive.

They've interacted very little at this point! Previous appearances with Cas n' Dean were 1) their first meeting in the barn and 2) the very tense middle-of-the-night meeting in the dream kitchen.

Anyway, this is the vehicle Dean drives throughout the episode. It's our first car ride with Earth and Heaven teaming up.

///

Dean is ghostly as he bears witness to the tragedy of Samuel Campbell's death (stabbed in the gut, just as Mary was before she burned), Deanna Campbell's death (broken neck), and John Winchester's death (broken neck).

Azazel is killing all of Mary's support system to better weaken her resolve and entrap her in a deal.

Young—afraid—alone—distressed. Mary would have taken any deal, surely.

(Mary's Fate is not unique, exactly, but it's definitely got its own signature. It's an off-rhyme parallel in Supernatural. She did not, in fact, barter her soul, or go to Hell, as John and Dean will eventually do. No, she unknowingly Rumpelstiltskin'd her second child.)

Mary looks sadly over her shoulder at Dean, who was unable to help her. Then, John breathes in air with a shuddering gasp—returns to life.

Dean gasps, too, and Cas returns to his side. They disappear together, leaving only mysterious tan sedan in their wake.

Mary turns to look one last time, and we now have the setup of the scene: John—Mary—tan Cas Car (lights on)—black Dean Car.

///

Mary’s voice was so small when she asked if Azazel would revive her parents, “M-my parents, too?”

(Of course Azazel said no. Mary has to take what she will get, and she may have made a terrible mistake, but she knew enough not to barter her soul.)

So, Mary gazes at her father—the protector—lost as he failed to protect her, just as she will fail to protect Sam. (Oh, and her mother? She's dead, too. Mary's world has shrunk. And the world is so, so much scarier after your father dies. He’s supposed to be invincible.)

This failing of his child will haunt Samuel Campbell beyond the grave and entangle him in a demonic deal of his own. (Just as Cas, too, will be drawn into an Empty deal for Jack, post-resurrection.)

///

"I'll tell you one person that you're not gonna save. Your Granpappy."

Deanna, very nearly victorious in her bid to go for the gun on the ground, gives herself away with a grief-stricken scream:

We've seen this ghost before. The demon comes through the door. It kills the protector. Then it seeks to kill the second line of defense, before moving onto the rest of the vulnerable family members.

///

Now, we come to 12x23 All Along the Watchtower and 13x01 Lost and Found. And well, it hurts.

Nothing is one-to-one in Supernatural. All parallels are based in the specter of missing bonds and of lost love—whether that's a child, a comrade, a sibling, a parent, or a lover. It's a symphony of harmonizing pain. :(

So, in 12x23/13x01, Cas dies. Dean and Sam are stunned speechless.

In 12x23, it's Mary who leaps into action, and Dean can only stand, a paralyzed witness to Jack's twin fate of The Lost Parents. (Jack's mom, Kelly? She dies. Dean can't save her. Jack's chosen father, Castiel? He dies, too. Dean can't save him either.)

(Both Deanna and Kelly die with their eyes open.)

But Mary is triumphant. She is a Doomed Child fighting back. She protects Jack from Lucifer, even though she could not protect Sam from Azazel. (Echoing this, Crowley serves as an inverse: he spurned his mother's protection from Lucifer and bit off more than he could chew to further the security of his career/position. His death, surprisingly, tears Rowena in two and unfreezes her heart.)

///

But thanks to Mary's heroic efforts here, her own kids are spared this time, and Jack, too. (From here, Mary will go into another world where she never made her deal, and she will make peace with her past.)

Of course, Dean bears witness to his own off-rhyme parallel fate to Mary, The Death of the Lover, at the hands of a Luciferian figure. Cas falls at his feet, and Dean falls to his knees.

Dean is also like John. He can only watch as his loved one's sacrificial debt comes due, with no hope in sight, like how Mary's sacrifice came due--those cosmic consequences.

(And later, Jack, in a painful echo of Azazel, will resurrect The Lover but become destined to kill Mary.)

Later, still in North Cove, Dean pleads with God on the landscape of his broken dreams—Washaway beach, (a cruel nod to the beach trip he will never take), a valley without people or friends in it, and a car.

Like Mary, he looks over his shoulder to find a mysterious tan sedan (but its lights are off & it's enshrouded in darkness).

And there's nothing for Dean here. No miraculous resurrection. No deals that can be made. Not for Dean. Dean's happiness, and the happiness of his loved ones isn’t important enough. The universe turns a blind eye. The father doesn't care if he lives or dies, and his happiness certainly never mattered to Him.

It isn't fair.

His voice shakes, and his lip trembles. "Please. Please, help us."

But God's not listening. "He doesn't give a damn."

///

And we're left with a similar setup to Mary's tragedy, another off-rhyme: we return to the lakehouse and we have...a black Dean car. A tan Cas truck, at cross positions to one another, as they were in 4x03.

But like John, Dean is now left with just Sam n' Jack, and he's ill-equipped for parentally supporting either of them.

///

But Dean just keeps looking and looking and looking. Hoping.

He looks like he's about to faint, actually.

(A kitchen. A dining table. An empty chair at its head.)

But this is how it goes with Cas. Dean tries to stop him from walking away, and in reality, he's powerless to stop him from going anywhere.

Having faith when miracles happen and when they don't? What good is it? It just hurts more.

[kitwilsonsass]

Appointment for tomorrow to look at my stupid tooth hole. Been at the tire place for two hours today waiting on my back brakes even though its dead because the place is a shit show and apparently the manager got fired.

[gideonisms]

just drove to and from the store and yep driving still sucks! Confirmed

[mvshortcut]

Same energy

I love Riddle of Ages because it's just like. yeah ever since Curtain's defeat in Book 3 the Whisperer (the terrifying main existential threat of books 1-3 and the means by which thousands of people had their memories erased) has been just. collecting dust in Mr. Benedict's attic. That is, except for when Constance makes her friends haul it out of the attic so she can sit in it during their rooftop tea party.

Like sure, why not, the Evil Chair can have a villain decay arc too. As a treat

[mbari-blog]

#tfw your spirit squad shows up 👏🏽🙌🏼🎉⁠

⁠As we filmed this deep-sea octopus, Graneledone, gracefully walking along the seafloor over 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) beneath the waves, a rattail fish came into the shot (followed by a cutie krill sidekick).⁠ ⁠ Rattails, also known as grenadiers, are often attracted to the lights on our remotely operated vehicles. These friendly fish are very curious and will come to investigate any disturbance on or around the seafloor. Presumably, this helps them find food in the darkness of the deep.

[mylordshesacactus]

"In fairness to [sahuagin PC], I also have passable knowledge of what a computer is but lack the ability to drive a nuclear submarine."

--tfw you pass the INT checkbut completely fuck your vehicle handling roll

[okkos-ferrum]

tfw a random side character takes down the big bad instead of the mc (mini carmen sandiego rant)

i love gray he is my favorite

never will shut up abt him

BUT i can never get over this show having him being the reason vile is exposed. HOW DO YOU EVEN WRITE SOMETHING LIKE THAT

the show is called carmen sandiego but not even the titular main character, who has devoted EVERYTHING we see of her in the show to taking down vile, takes it down. Not even her found family takes it down in her place, to show that the bonds forged with people outside of your controlling family can leave such an amazing impact. NOT EVEN ACME TAKES VILE DOWN. like i wouldve preferred maybe julia and chase going behind chief's back to use acme resources to do their own investigation, but still, to not even have the organization built on stopping vile get that moment is insane.

hell maybe even carmen's old classmates defecting slowly could be worth something thematically

yeah no lets have the guy who was literally

a) meant to be the narrative vehicle for carmen to info dump the backstory in the first episode and intended to be written out

b) was bonked in the head with amnesia and only made a brief reappearance in one ep is s1 and an ep in s2 and no speaking lines in "s3"

c) had a focus in the first half of s4 which ended with him picking vile in the end only to have another change of heart the moment he returns as an antag in the final two eps

be the guy responsible for leaking vile to acme. no high stake rescue mission or final heist or deep investigation. nope just some guy tattle tale-ing lol to bring down an entire criminal organization.

yay female empowerment (jk kinda this show is good at writing female characters as just normal characters but it does greatly rub me the wrong way that carmen get side-lined in the finale of her own show by gray and shadowsan and yet the show claims to be empowering. easily could just be a writing issue tho and nothing to do with gender)

[fandom-hoarder]

I am forever thinking about this moment in 15x13 Destiny's Child

1) We assume the car is THE car, the impala, Baby; and in context wtf else CAN we assume? We've seen some vehicles in the bunker but no other car that Dean cares about enough to get angry

And

2) the sequence of scenes sure makes this feel like Dean is rushing them off as soon as they get back (albeit they're back in their own clothes)

But

3) TFW took the impala with them to get the Occultum

HOWEVER

4) it honestly would've made more sense plotwise for them to leave the impala in the bunker and take a different car; they should know by now that Chuck sees the car as his special character also

And, all that set aside...

The way this possible writing gaffe opens up the possibilities of og-verse Sam and Dean and Huntercorp Sam and Dean cohabiting long enough that Huntercorp Winchesters can joyride Baby 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

[copperbora]

So my brother sent me this TFW preview of the new Studio Series Ultra Magnus by Black Convoy. Truly this is a great Ultra Magnus; I mean, just look at him:

But then I saw his vehicle mode.

Poor Blurr, trapped up there.

I have a new appreciation for Ultra Magnus; he is the least fun bus driver ever. Autobots dread having to be loaded onto his trailer, knowing that he will force them to listen to a multitude of many-hours-long horrible audio recordings of super fun hits like:

- the Autobot Manifesto

- Autobot army regulations

- galactic law

To make certain that nobody is trying to occupy their processors with far more fun things, like music, or audiobooks of actual books, Ultra Magnus forces a pop quiz on his trapped trailer victims whenever there is a break in the subject or chapter.

He's like that one school chaperone whom nobody wanted to be under on field trips, even their own kid.

[goodplace-janet]

tfw u thought ur vehicle got stolen bc u forgot where u parked it

[shallowseeker]

Sam likes to appear nondescript.

"Normal," even. He likes to hide in plain sight. Here's Sam's preferred vehicle choice discussed in season 4x21:

DEAN: He's switching up. Any other cars stolen in Jamestown? BOBBY: Two. 1999 Honda Civic, blue. Nice and anonymous, like Sam likes. DEAN: What was the other one? BOBBY: White oh-five Escalade with custom rims. It's a neon sign. DEAN: You're right. He'd never take that. Which is exactly what he did.

And here's a Honda Civic, circa 1999. Sam prefers to appear "trustworthy," which is why he favors blue, the color that you wear in court to provoke feelings of Stability, Practicality, and Innocence.

///

Therefore, we can reasonably assume that the blue 2019 Ford Fiesta is Sam's car. Plus, it has awesome gas mileage, and Sam is secure in his masculinity and practicality.

[chloeth6969696969420]

I love kerbal space program, have hundreds of hours in the first one. Got KSP2 when it came out early access bc I simply love the game. idc about the bugs, just wanna show off my ship I made. Been playing a lot more since the exploration mode released since that was the game mode I enjoyed most.

Anyway, this ship I spent many hours building and then assembling in space is gonna do like 3 or 4 different missions (and as I type this I just remembered I forgot the tiny lander meant for The Mohole (TM) so I'll have to add that on the very tip of the station, luckily I have a small docking port available to attach onto).

At the tip is the return vehicle for my crew of 3 (specifically 3 bc one of the missions). Below that is the lander they will use to land on Ike. The side things in green are just satellites so the probe parts of the station can operate without a kerbal on board. Then in grey is the scoence part. Do science, collect science. Orange is the solar array arms. I had those folded up along the side of the science part for launching into space, detached in space, then aligned correctly. Pink is the main engine of the station which will be used after the red side engines are depleted. There is so much fuel on this bad boy. 4 Nerv nuclear engines on each side part and 5 on the middle.

Hopefully the kraken leaves me alone for this mission. Already had an encounter with it in assembly. Also, all the parts of the station makes the fps pretty low lol. tfw early access.

[max--phillips]

Chicken and Ramps

TFW the blurb u just wrote turned into 949 words. Anyway, thought process behind this was “damn. I wanna forage back near Lexington KY where I was in October, but like, now with all the spring stuff… lol what if Whiskey retired from Statesman and lived on a very rural plot of land in KY, and reader spotted some stuff on his land and got caught” so here . Have this

Pairing: vaguely implied future retired!Whiskey x gn!reader

Warnings: nothing glaring, mild cursing, Jack has a shotgun but it’s never pointed at anyone, since he’s retired I decided to give him graying facial hair so y’know

Words: 949

You were driving through some back roads carefully, though not so slowly to cause suspicion, hunting for something. Fairly easy to spot if you knew what you were looking for; it was bright orange most of the time after all. You’d been trying to keep track of what was and wasn’t occupied property so you didn’t accidentally trespass, plus you intended to stay pretty close to the road, and that would at least give you plausible deniability if a resident came out and complained.

Finally, after some time of driving and a handful of stops for other things you spotted, you came upon your target: a fallen log, just a few steps in from the road, adorned with a plethora of bright orange shelf mushrooms. Chicken of the woods.

You cheered, slamming on your brakes and throwing your car in park, turning the hazards on just in case. You grabbed one of your foraging bags and hopped out of your car, looking around you carefully to ensure you were both alone, and no cars were coming. Met with an empty road and empty woods, you crossed, and began harvesting a few mushrooms. You wouldn’t take all of it, of course, a responsible forager only takes what they need, leaving some for other foragers and the wildlife that also needed to eat.

Once you were set, you stood upright and fastened your bag closed. As you did, a touch of bright green caught your eye in the leaf litter several yards from where you were standing.

Ramps?! This late in the season?!

You weighed your options. Get further from your getaway vehicle and risk actual trespassing, or cut your losses and get back in your car. But ramps… You thought for another moment, took a deep breath, and stepped around the fallen log, towards the ramps. You bent down, and started picking some leaves. This was a pretty big patch, and you would only take a leaf or two from each plant, so you were getting plenty.

Then you heard someone clear their throat, and you about jumped out of your skin.

“Fuck!” You scrambled upright, looking over in their direction, taking a couple steps back. A tall, handsome gentleman with a salt-and-pepper mustache and scruff looked back at you with a slightly amused expression. He wore a cowboy hat, a denim jacket, different colored denim jeans, and cowboy boots. He also had a shotgun, thankfully resting on his shoulder and not pointed at you.

“Y’know, you really shouldn’t be taking things from someone else’s property,” he said. His accent was far too smooth to be from around here, but there was an Appalachian twist that made you think he’d lived here for a good while.

“I-I didn’t—I’m so sorry, I thought this lot wasn’t occupied,” you said, holding your hands up, still gripping your foraging bag and ramps. Unfortunately this was not the first, nor would it likely be the last, time you’d been threatened with a gun. “This is all I’ve taken, there’s still more, but I’ll give them back if you want.”

He looked at you for a second, then to your hand with the ramps. “Those ramps?”

“Uh, yeah, I noticed them while I was picking some chicken,” you answered. “It was a lucky find so late in the season, I couldn’t pass ‘em up.” You gestured to the patch next to you.

“Huh,” he said. “Never noticed those back here for some reason. Good to know.” He sauntered over, squatting down and picking a couple himself before standing up again. “What’s your name?”

You gave it to him. “Again, I did not intend to trespass, if you want this back—“

“Nah, keep it,” he said. “More’n enough for both of us. My name’s Jack.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jack, I’m sorry if I scared you or anything,” you said. “You also have a pretty good chicken of the woods crop by the road.”

“I was actually on my way out here to check that log, taken some from it before,” he said. “That’s how I found you.”

“Oh, well, I’ll, uh, let you do that and get out of your hair,” you said, gesturing that direction.

“Now hang on a minute, you got a phone on you?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course, why?”

“Go on and take it out, lemme make a new contact for ya,” he answered.

So you did. You opened your phone, went to your contacts, and started a new one. He put in his name and number, and an address. One road over, must be his home.

“Now get your car off the side of the road there and park it in my driveway, and I’ll show you some other stuff I got growing around here.” He got a little closer to you, his voice low like he was afraid someone would overhear even though you were alone. “I may or may not know a very good spot for morels.”

You gasp. “Jeez, Jack, isn’t that a little fast? We just met!” you teased.

Jack laughed, and you grinned. “Not often I see anyone foraging out here. Usually just hunters who think they can set up wherever they want without consequences. Plus you look like you can keep a secret.” He then winked at you, and you felt your whole body heat up a degree.

“Trust me, I know better than to divulge an armed man’s morel spot,” you told him, raising your right hand as if to swear, even though you were still holding those ramps.

“Very good. Alright, sugar, move your car, we’ll get this show on the road.” He winked again, then turned and started walking.

[argumate]

GUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov stated in an interview with Forbes that the Russian offensive is so ineffective as to be almost unnoticeable and noted that Russian forces have been rationing shells and ammunition to sustain assaults on the Bakhmut, Lyman, and Vuhledar directions while conserving shells in other areas. Budanov's statement coincides with ISW's assessment that Russian forces are prioritizing the Bakhmut and Lyman directions and have yet to launch a significant push to advance in areas west of Donetsk City. Budanov added that Russian artillery stocks decreased to 30 percent of the total number of shells.  He claimed that Russia has imported a test batch of artillery shells from Iran and is currently attempting to procure another batch of 20,000 shells. Budanov previously estimated that Russian forces fired about 20,000 shells per day in late December 2022, down from 60,000 shells per day during the early stages of the war. Budanov also observed that Russian tactics around Bakhmut and Vuhledar have largely shifted from artillery and mechanized attacks to infantry assaults due to the lack of shells and armored vehicles. Budanov noted that Russia had committed more than 90 percent of its 316,000 mobilized personnel to the frontlines, which further confirms Western and ISW's assessments that Russian forces do not have significant untapped combat-ready reserves. Budanov noted that the Kremlin's stated objective of producing 800 tanks per year is unrealistic and stated that Russia can only produce 40 cruise missiles per month, which they use up in a single round of missile strikes. Russia has already lost at least 1,500 tanks and possibly as many as 2,000, as ISW has previously reported.

tfw you can't even feel their assault

[mbari-blog]

#tfw you don't know which way is up #HumpDay⁠

⁠Volcanic activity on the seafloor creates scattered oases known as hydrothermal vents. These underwater geysers spew superheated water rich in dissolved minerals. When that scalding-hot water comes in contact with frigid deep-ocean water, the minerals crystallize, raining tiny flecks of “ash” to the seafloor. Those mineral deposits build up over time, creating breathtaking spires and “chimneys” that can grow to hundreds of feet tall.⁠ ⁠ Less than 25 percent of the seafloor has been mapped at the same level of detail as the Moon or Mars. MBARI’s mission is to advance marine science and technology to understand our changing ocean—from the surface to the seafloor. For nearly four decades, MBARI has explored the deep ocean, recording thousands of hours of video with our remotely operated vehicles and mapping thousands of kilometers of seafloor using advanced robots. Together, these tools are helping to create a clearer picture of the amazing environments hidden in the ocean’s inky depths. ⁠ ⁠ The astonishing communities that live on and around hydrothermal vents have evolved to flourish under extreme temperatures and chemical conditions. The remarkable tubeworms, crabs, clams, and more that thrive here are found nowhere else on Earth. Now, with more companies looking to extract mineral resources from the ocean, it is more important than ever to study the deep sea and the wonders it holds. The maps we create and data we collect can help resource managers make informed decisions about the ocean, its inhabitants, and its resources. Together, we can safeguard these unique biological and geological treasures.

[bluecoolr]

tfw Meadow, Jas, and I literally talked about angst and how I often make my OCs suffer like the day before yesterday, and I brought up how Sol and you are the ultimate masters of angst (and tbh Jas is quite good at it herself)

I may be mean at times but you both make me want to protec ur babies 😭

let them he happy 2k24

(affectionate btw ily and ur big brains but i also live in a universe where everyone gets happy ends (even if that means everyone else suffers. let them be evil and break the world. as pomg as they're happy))

Me? A master of angst? 😮😮 Thanks, Cy 💖. I can never resist giving my oc's a little break or an alternative happy ending anyway, so I always consider myself weak in the angst department.

If you let me be sappy and ramble here: I use my oc's as vehicles to process some emotions that I'm not encouraged to show or acknowledge. So there's this pervasive theme of anger and grief and neglect or loneliness in my stories and characters. I guess being mean to my oc's is a coping mechanism for me? And letting them find some semblance of peace or achieving their goals in the end is my way of subconsciously convincing myself that all will be ok. Character-making is a very cathartic activity for me.

It always makes me feel happy when my oc's get positive attention. I love seeing people want to take care of them and protect them. Since I put so much of myself in them, it kinda makes me feel like I'm deserving of that, too.