#the train that disappeared

[puttingwingsonwords]

Dracula scrambling around the castle pretending to be his own servants is so important in showing that aside from being a super powerful evil vampire-sorcerer he is also a huge loser

[testormblog]

The Train That Disappeared

Railway employees kept an unwritten code of silence.  They didn’t report incidents or confess to anything untoward.  Everybody protected each other’s back and hoped somebody’s lips would remain sealed for their mistakes one day.  They all desperately needed to keep their poorly paid jobs to feed their families.  Engine drivers regularly drove their engines through the points that controlled trains’ right of way on the lines.  Their engines then travelled off the rails.  Men were called out to set the engines back on their lines.  Officers rostered for duty swapped their shifts with others because they were intoxicated.  This even happened at Bethania Station.  Nobody said anything about these episodes nor claimed any overtime for them.

Sometimes though, something occurred where the circumstances couldn’t be quietly ‘swept up’ because of the ramifications.  Then somebody made the problematic decision to escalate the issue to Central Control.  Unfortunately, Central Control usually exacerbated the situation.  Consequently, the fallout fell on seemingly everybody; even those who were innocent participants.

I liked to quietly eavesdrop on my father’s conversations with other men.  These were generally about the Railway and spurious goings-on, so of great interest to me.  I listened to numerous discussions about the train that disappeared between Beenleigh and Bethania.  Whilst I wouldn’t attest to this tale’s facts, I surmised from the snippets, I overheard, that the following happened.

Just south of Beenleigh, a small branch line connected the Beenleigh Rum Distillery to the main line.  Goods trains detoured via the distillery at night to leave behind empty wagons and to collect loaded ones before proceeding to Brisbane with its freight from various sources.  One night, the engine driver and the fireman may have enjoyed an extended break at the distillery and also may have sampled its product whilst the night’s consignment was loaded.

Afterwards, the engine driver and the fireman drove the train towards Bethania but stopped it midway on the long bridge at Holmview, the same one I had been caught on.  Their manoeuvre isolated the guard at the train’s rear from themselves.  With the train parked on the track, the guard couldn’t hop down from his carriage nor walk along the sleepers to the steam engine at the front.  Neither was it safe in the darkness for him to hike the few kilometres back to the prior station to obtain assistance.  He could do nothing, except perhaps have a snooze in his chilly carriage whilst the others kept warm with the engine’s embers and their booze.

When the train had departed Beenleigh, its station master had notified his counterpart at Bethania by a code ring of two bells on the dedicated telegram line between the stations.  This advised the train had departed and could be expected to arrive in the specified time for the distance.  Alas, this train didn’t arrive at Bethania on time but much later.  Once the engine driver and the fireman had finished the quantum of rum, they had souvenired from the distillery, they refired the steam engine and continued the train’s journey to Bethania.

On its arrival, the Station Master, in consultation with the guard, assessed the engine driver’s and the fireman’s condition, and wouldn’t permit them to proceed with the train.  He walked up the road to the first Railway employee’s house, that being ours.  Like most people, we didn’t have a telephone.  He knocked on our front door to awaken my father.  He wanted Dad to take charge of the train and the two miscreants.  This meant Dad was to oversee the train’s journey into Brisbane.  After assessing the situation, Dad agreed the driver and fireman weren’t in a fit state to operate the engine.  However, he disagreed with the plan.  He wasn’t fit to drive or fire the engine either.  He didn’t have the necessary tickets.  This was a serious situation given the gravity of a loaded train being significantly delayed.

To cover their backsides, the Station Master called a doctor from Beenleigh to drive out to examine the men.  Time was ticking by.  The doctor arrived and checked the men over but failed to make any diagnosis for either of them, never mind one supporting the general observation of their drunkenness.  He and the engine driver belonged to one religious flock whereas Dad and the Station Master were of another.

This left the Station Master and the guard with a difficult predicament.  If the train didn’t leave, the early morning trains on the Brisbane Beenleigh line couldn’t run through Bethania.  Eventually, they found another engine driver and fireman to take control of the train.

Subsequently, an official enquiry was held into the events that transpired.  Even though Dad was an innocent bystander to the shenanigans and acted honestly and responsibly in terms of his abilities, he scored a hefty fine.  Despite him being an unskilled labourer, the Railway contended he should have taken control of the train and the miscreants to enable it and them to continue the journey to Brisbane unhindered.  Without an accurate diagnosis and blood test from the doctor, he didn’t have a defence.  Neither could he afford to pay for one.  I didn’t hear what consequences the other men suffered though the engine driver continued to drive engines.

I suspected Dad was set up as the scapegoat.  Whatever action he chose that night, he was boiled in the stew.  Unfortunately, the others didn’t stump up his fine.  The Railway docked this from his wages until it was paid.  At least, it didn’t dismiss him.  Railway men, they foolishly stuck together like glue.

[transhawks]

this fandom doesn't get dabi tbh. Like outside of the aesthetic, if given half the chance, he would have become a workaholic to rival his dad. Like he'd complain about it more than Enji tho, but he'd still be out there working his ass off.

[andoutofharm]

[notbecauseofvictories]

I know my experience is not universal, but I biked 5+ miles to do my errands today and I genuinely think we'd be much happier as a human collective if we increased residential density and switched to largely alternative modes of transportation.

[arielluva]

healed by the power of lesbians. goodnight

[newvegascowboy]

Ok so i personally believe that interstate trade in the wasteland is alive and well, especially along the coasts, but there HAS to be some like. Linguistic weirdness happening in the wasteland. With radio communication, I'm sure there's a "standard english" that prevents a lot of people from getting tooooo granular of a dialect, but it doesn't take that long for languages to change, really. Where are the pidgin languages? The new expressions? The funny sayings? The things that no vault dweller would understand because they come from an entirely different culture?

You'd probably have a lot of languages that are related, like the romance languages, or even Esperanto, where someone can parse the meaning even if they aren't a native speaker. Lots of English/Spanish variants of course, but can you imagine giving the Appalachian dialect 200 years to marinate? Cajun? Minnesotan?? The people in the Commonwealth should be speaking like theyre from another planet. The sole survivor is talking like a Jane Austen novel, unable to comprehend the words a Bostonian mind has had 200 years to come up with.

[saydada]

dnd au ( insp by @alkalinefrog !)

i tried to make hiccup less ooc in this clip ksdhsj

[wandixx]

Ghost of fries and hero of cookies final part

All work words count: 14 643 Words in this part: 244 Summary of whole work: Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay Or Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of local hero? And he looked like he needed bad day combo anyway This part summary: What happened to Dani (author needs a certificate for being little shit) Beta read by @audhumla-sailor though English is second language for both of us, so proceed with this in mind. I also know all of the charaters through fics alone, so probably ooc. Stay catious if it's something you don't like

First part, Previous part

Dani packed her stuff as soon as she got back from patrol. While doing it, she called Tuck and Sam to coordinate travel plan with them and to make sure she heard where and when correctly. Danny’s birthday were coming, an alien’s autograph would be a good present. Unfortunately she wouldn’t have time to get any of his merch on her way so the sky map she printed in Gotham’s Public Library would have to make it. Because of Sam’s demand she stocked herself in protein bars, other high calorie snacks and tons of drinks. Guy at the register looked disturbed but correctly guessed it wasn’t his business. Thanks for physics meets magic mess that made her backpack lighter. It worked like thermos in a way, though she didn’t even try to understand it.

This flight was going to be challenge not only to her speed but also, mostly, her stamina.

Ancients let her survive.

*

Turns out, phones couldn’t survive falling from over a hundred feet at around 60 miles per hour. Well she had all important numbers (Jazz, Val, Tuck, Sam non- and yes-emergency Danny) on paper phased inside her hip. From Sam’s money she could buy one in Los Angeles and explain the change of number then. She would have to come up with an excuse though.

She wasn’t going to admit she got distracted and bumped into a bunch of pigeons, got startled and dropped her phone like a silly child.

********

I know I could and should post it with previous part but I wanted to build the tension.

Batfam: We will finally meet our almost niece! Dani: Oh, look, plot convienient reason to leave city fast! Dani was setting up most intense and insane work-out playlist known to mankind to get her through her journey when she bumped with these pigeons face first

Starting notes are longer than this part.

Shit, I really should put it with previous part but the tension and potential for drama aaaa I couldn't resist

and @audhumla-sailor is an enabler

Tag list: @pickleking8 @mynameisnotlaura

[ratwithhands]

Pulled your and your bestie's mom ✨

Of all things I was listening to Oops! by Yung Gravy and I was like "what if I drew this with Emmet". I'm too busy to do a rough animatic but this is him with both player moms.

[forbiddentaako]

more monochrome practice I suppose

[sidetongue]

I sat them in front of a log and then released them didn't even cue them to jump, and moby ATE that leap!!

[elitadream]

Hey do you want another angsty scenario? Mario and Luigi get called off to another adventure while Peach stays back and watches the kingdom....except the brothers just don't come back. She sends out search parties, contacts other kingdoms, nothing. Did they die? Did they go back to Brooklyn? Did Mario abandon her for someone else? It keeps her up for weeks, months and absolutely wrecks her.

Omg... ;_;

I can picture what such an ending would be like. Months after having chosen to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom to start a new life there, the brothers would one day hear of a strange surge of energy being spotted near the oustkirts of the realm, causing a mild fright to the local fauna. Curious, they would decide to go and investigate.

"Are you sure you don't need me to accompany you?" Peach would ask, casting Mario an insistent glance.

"Not to worry, Princess! I'll watch over him," Luigi would chime in with a wink, ruffling his brother's hair on his way and hefting their toolbag over his shoulder. Mario would mutely follow, his gait however slightly more hesitant than usual.

"Be safe!" The Princess would call after them, feeling inexplicably unnerved at the sight of them leaving.

Mario would stop at the door, pausing to give her a reassuring smile. His deep blue eyes shimmering in the morning sun, his expression one of tender affection and gentle regard.

"We'll be back before you know it, I promise."

And with a small parting nod, he would turn and exit the front gate.

...That would be the last time Peach ever saw him.

No one had believed the magic portal would ever return. But it had. And with its final, abrupt vanishing, it had taken everything from her. 🥀

[real-reulbbr-band]

little baby Jemima knew how to communicate with her powers before she could properly speak.

when Demeter would tuck her in for bed she’d hear the faintest sound resembling a voice saying “goodnight” to her and she'd stand there momentarily baffled thinking she was hearing things.

Until it kept occuring, a faint little voice that wouldn't say much more than a word or two every now and again. It always happened when Jemima was around, but Jemima’s lips never moved. When she wasn't alone and heard it Demeter tried to ask if anyone else could hear it, but they couldn't. So, Demeter allowed herself to think it was just in her head, a funny occurrence, or perhaps a manifestation of wishing her daughter could respond to her.

But part of her still believed that wasn't the case, and it wasn't too long until she was proven right. Bombalurina visited Demeter’s den often, practically daily when she knew Demeter wouldn’t be going out. But she’d keep on swearing she heard Jemima say her first words, greeting her, or when saying goodbye, but Demeter claimed she heard nothing at all.

Demeter only started taking this especially seriously when Alonzo had brought up similar claims of what sounded like a younger voice trying to speak with him. Saying things that happened to sync up with what the little kitten was doing.

Which eventually led them to suspect she inherited some sort of magic but old Deuteronomy only confirmed that later on.

Demeter was partially concerned, she worried if Jemima inherited anything else from her father, anything more sinister. That fortunately wasn’t the case, and Jemima eventually did communicate verbally, but Demeter always wanted her to have some air of caution toward her abilities.

Away from the backstory of it all, and focusing on the In-show context for my little interpretation:

In “Memory” when Jemima starts singing with Grizabella no one reacts to her or even acknowledges Jemima’s singing at all.

I'm not saying it's completely out of character at this point in the story for the jellicles to prohibit her from singing with Grizabella, but you’d think they’d at least turn around momentarily to see what was happening.

I know you can only see Alonzo in the clip, but everyone is in the same lane as him, (atleast in most productions I’ve watched) they’re only looking at Griz as if Jemima isn't singing at all. This leads me to think Jemima is singing to Griz in a way that only Grizabella can hear. In her mind.

[puppetmaster13u]

DC x DP Prompt Where it's like Twilight Princess-esque

Midna-esque Danny who needs to get back to the Ghost Zone and get rid of Pariah before he invades the world with an army of the undead. But he's stuck in small almost baby-man esque form or possessing a shadow.

Enter batfamily member (or maybe all of them) who can see him, but have also gotten turned into an animal. Kind of hard to do things in Gotham or wherever they are when you don't have fingers nor can you ask for assistance. But well, invasion by the undead? Banished prince? Who only they can see thanks to being partially dead??? Breakdowns later, stopping the end of the world now.

Time to find a way to the Lazarus pits to try and cleanse the guardians there, which apparently is a thing?? The batfam didn't know that but apparently it's been corrupted for a while- and hopefully they don't slip into like, an in-between state of existence or something. Now if only there weren't several people and ghosts trying to stop them- and they have to avoid the government too?? Some sort of anti-ecto acts?? That's something they'll have to deal with later, after the whole, freeing the lil ghost-prince's siblings and dad and taking down the ghost king...