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duskbornraven · 24 days ago

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Absolutely Not

One of these days I'll find out how to meet a doctor without an injury. This isn't that day. also can't stop talking about Jack even when I try to, so sorry

Paring: Robby x f!reader

Summary: Someone is being haunted by the roof of the hospital. You happened to be haunted by the roof at your parents. We've all heard of brother's best friend but what about uncle's best friend? Aka the reader eats it off the roof helping out at home and happens to be one Dr Jack Abbot's only niece.

Warnings: Some 18+ content (mdni), Mentions of Injury, twist on dbf dynamics, age gap, doctor/patient but very light, female reader, having Jack as an uncle, no beta I'm dying like a man (also my beta reader is going through it)

Word count: 6.5k

It had been a few long weeks since the night from hell that had been Pittfest. The department had slowly recovered. Robby could feel the general shift towards the positive, towards healing even in himself. It was more evident in the way normalcy returned to the long, taxing days playing catch up.

Today was no different. It was mid afternoon and decently warm, which meant they had already seen a handful of injuries related to home improvement, it was something you came to expect once the ladders and hammers were broken out every spring through mid summer. As if on cue the moment a space opened an ambulance rolled into the bay.

“Twenty nine year old woman, fell off the roof during a home renovation.” New med students also meant the occasional spike in new paramedics, this one among the new and unfamiliar faces.

“Any medical history that would maybe cause the fall?” He met them at the bay doors, leading them into the opened room.

“Other than genetic clumsiness none. No underlying medical history or anything in the immediate family” A second voice spoke over the paramedic. A far too familiar voice. Dressed in jeans and an old t-shirt Jack had half jogged to catch up to the bed. His hand white knuckled on the hand rail as he caught it, focused solely on the younger woman laying in it.

“I can also talk.” The poor girl on the bed shot a look over her shoulder, wincing almost immediately at the movement.

“That is a fair point” His attention focused back on the patient. “Any medications or allergies we should worry about.”

A shake of the head, and he nodded, before counting out your move to the hospital bed. An agonized noise followed and Robby didn’t miss the way his college winced. “Jack, get yourself some coffee, come back when she’s settled.”

The other man made no effort to move or even acknowledge that Robby had spoken to him, his eyes locked on yours. When you were little your dad had insisted your uncle could connect telepathically when he looked at you like that, and right now you really were starting to wonder if there was any truth to it. The burning worry in those eyes was as clear as if he had spoken out loud.

“I'll be okay Uncle Jack” You offered him something more of a grimace than a smile. He lingered but let himself be pulled away by a nurse you weren’t sure you recognized.

“Oh I don’t like that” Robby was also watching the pair of them disappear from sight. “Seeing Jack with family is like seeing your teacher outside of school.”

“Try seeing him panic.” You laughed, wincing immediately in response “All my life he's been the rock, one nasty fall and you'd think the world was ending. Never seen someone go white so fast.”

“Most people don't come off the other side of the roof in a joking mood.” He caught your eye, catching the faintest hint of amusement behind the pain.

“My dad likes to say we got all the funny bones.” Another wince as he put pressure on your ribs.

“Not the lucky ones apparently.” That got him an actual laugh, followed by a hiss of pain.

“Laughing hurts, put that in the chart or whatever doctors do.” You were still fighting laughter, tight and painful sounding mixed with pain.

“I will make a note that until we get you properly medicated nobody should make a bad joke in your presence.” You fought off your laughter this time around, wincing slightly. It was the first time he caught the way amusement sparkled in your eyes, unfairly attractive in the too bright overhead lights.

Robby ignored that, ignored the way your eyes tracked his movements. You were a patient. Not to mention Jack’s niece and he could not be distracted by those damn eyes, intense and laser focused, and far too pretty for someone he was supposed to be professional around.

“I will be back when we have better answers and some of those medications have kicked in.” His hand landed on the rail of the bed, stopping himself from the impulse to pat your leg on the way out onto the floor. Catching himself before he did so, “I am also realizing that I didn’t introduce myself, Doctor Robinavich but please it would be incredibly weird to hear anything other than Robby from Jack’s family.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you then, mostly good.” There was something in that smile that he pretended didn’t make the back of his ears burn as he left.

You would be waiting for a while, which was unfortunate for him, fortunate for you since it meant that you weren’t in immediate danger of dying based on how early labs had come back. He was relieved that it wasn’t a worse case. The thought of keeping Jack calm if you were actually in danger wasn’t something he wanted to consider.

While he waited he used the excuse of other cases to keep himself busy, glancing in every time he passed by, always seeming to catch you looking in any other direction than at him. Either watching the nurses station or focused on the finer details of your room. Never at the doctor circling past your room.

Jack himself rematerialized almost too soon from his coffee run. Robby spotted him leaning against the counter, cup in hand and his phone to his ear. “She's in good hands.” A pause. “You know I can't do that. Medicine gets messy when it's personal. Look, get down here safe and then we can talk. I promise I'm keeping an eye on her”

He sighed, watching you through the glass of the doors. “He leaves me with her for five minutes while he runs to get dinner. She has to lose her footing and take a fall.” A hand scrubbed over his face. “Her mom is going to murder me.”

“You got her down here, that's worth something.” Robby made an effort not to steal another glance when he spoke, his gaze focusing instead on the tablet in his hands.

“How's she looking?” He didn’t turn around, staring at his coffee cup like it could undo his afternoon.

“It's not great. But we’ll know more when imaging comes back. So far she’s holding vitals better than I would have expected.” Adding, more to change the subject than out of actual interest. “Your brother or sister's kid?”

“Brother's. He was the one on the phone, he's on the way but it might take a minute with traffic.” Still stiff and almost unwilling to look at his friend as they talked.

“We'll make sure she's taken care of while we're waiting.” He finally let himself look back at you, alone and watching the pair of them through the glass. “You can go see her if you want.” Robby gave a jerk of the head towards you laying in the trauma bay.

Wordlessly Jack walked away that furrow in his brow never fully leaving. Robby watched the door slide open, Jack’s focused effort not to read the screens as he talked with you, a hand on the arm rail of the bed. The way your hand circled around his, and some of the tension left his shoulders when you did. The way his head fell forwards, guilt impossible to miss even if he had been a stranger.

“No pressure on this one.” Dana was at his side, watching him more than the pair of you in the room.

“She’s lucky, how lucky depends on how these x-rays come back.” His arms folded uneasily across his chest, unwilling to look over at her.

“I wouldn’t want to be the one to break the news to the family if her luck doesn’t hold.” That got him to turn his head, eye focusing on her before answering.

“You and me both.” Robby sighed, forcing himself to move on, orders were in and there wasn’t much else that he could offer. He also didn’t know if the anxious energy rolling off of Jack would infect him as well, and that wouldn’t do anyone any good.

He hadn’t made a full pass through the other rooms when he was called back to yours, results ready in hand. He also had the joy of meeting a very stressed out father, standing beside Jack and gently brushing a stray hair from your face.

Some part of his mind made the connections that he had missed while he was focusing on getting you comfortable, and making sure you weren’t dying on them. Small shared details between the three of you. It was a little unsettling that he also happened to notice that you had a very pretty smile as you laughed, especially now that your pain was being managed. The thought was swept away as soon as it entered his mind. He would never recover from it if this did not go perfectly, especially with Jack hovering around. Which was the other fantastic reason he could not be caught watching you.

Opening the door cut the conversation short, attention solely on him. Another reminder that you were related, all the details connecting like yarn on a sting board in the back of his mind. Your father stepped forward first, taller than his brother, a little border. His hair may be a little more grey. “How is she? Will she need surgery?” His arms folded, an eerie mirror of Jack at his shoulder.

“Oh nothing so exciting. We're looking at four fractured ribs and a break here” He indicated the x-ray, “in the Radius. Your head and neck scans came back clear and overall you are very lucky.” He addressed you first before looking between the three of you, trying very hard not to let his eyes linger on your face too long when he delivered the news. Ignoring that you didn’t look away when he did, that your eyes focused only on him even when your father turned back to you. “You’ll be going home tonight, we’ll keep you for a little longer just to be safe, let ortho take a better look at you. But you’ll be able to rest up better at home than here.”

“How long will it be for her to heal?” Jack drew attention, like always. A polite doctor’s version of asking how bad it actually was without making it worse for his family.

“I’m going to check my estimates once we get her up stairs for follow up conults but I’m going to say ten maybe twelve weeks depending on how well the body heals.” That got a nod in response.

“I will send someone down shortly to get you a bed upstairs and we will go from there.” His eyes finding yours again turning to face you. “I’ll see if I can’t put some pressure on them, get you all home sooner rather than later.”

“Thank you Doctor Robby.” You smiled as you said it, the kind that radiated genuine warmth. He forced himself to leave the room, a polite smile, a nod and back to central. He could feel the heat racing up his neck, feel color staining his cheeks, forever grateful he decided to grow the beard out.

Mercifully he didn’t have time to examine whatever reaction that was to just a smile. He was pulled onto another case almost as soon as he left the room, stopping only to make sure someone got you off the floor before he needed to check back in.

He was drawn back over sooner than he would have liked the sound of a, unfortunately not uncommon, family argument drawing eyes across the floor as he walked between rooms not even fifteen minutes later.

“Jack, come on.” Your father's voice cutting through the noise of the floor.

“I can’t. I keep telling you, we’ve got plans that week.” Arms folded, unblinking as he met his brother's glare with one of cold indifference.

“Can’t you cancel? We can’t get a refund on this trip.” A pleading note in the way he pressed the issue.

“What’s the issue here?” Robby interjected, looking between the pair of them being reminded painfully of an unstoppable force and an immovable object.

“My brother wants me to cancel one of the most important trips of my life because his fully capable adult daughter fell off his roof.” He didn’t look away, didn’t move. “So he and his wife can visit Greece.”

“I just don’t want her left alone while we’re gone. Do you?” The blow landed, based on the way Jack scowled.

“Hire someone then.” Anger finally seeped into the controlled tone he had managed to keep.

“I can swing by, if it’s really that big of a deal. Call Jack and I even for some favors? Save you some money?” He said it without really thinking. “It would have to be after my shifts when I’m working but it wouldn’t be an issue.”

“You would do that?” Relief slipping into the older man’s frustrated tone, glancing back at Jack like he expected his input.

“Let’s see if we even think it will be that serious. I’ve got ortho on the case and we’ll take it from there. Once we get her home it should be easy to see how she manages on her own” He glanced at Jack, the stiffness of his posture.

Had he thrown it out there to stop the whispered argument in the hallway? Mostly. There was some truth in still owing Jack a favor or two. If he was honest with himself, which was a rarity, it was also to spare you from having the guilt. Someone’s week was going to be ruined and it might as well be his.

Maybe ruined wasn’t the right word. Disrupted fit a little more accurately. He wouldn’t be able to disappear into solitude for a few hours after work, but maybe that wasn’t the worst option. It also meant that he could maybe leverage his friend for another favor after this. It was easy to ignore the small voice in his head that meant that it would also be an excuse to see you again, not at the hospital.

Weeks passed and he had almost forgotten about Jack’s niece and the unexpected trip to the ER. Almost. But man did your smile seem to want to replay in his head at the worst possible moment. For example when Jack had stopped him on his way out the door, annoyance was as easy to read in his posture as ever.

“I’m supposed to ask if you really are okay stopping by to see if the kid needs anything.” He scoffed. “I would just say that I had and leave it alone. But my sister in law can be a real detective when she wants to be. I don’t need the lecture if she finds out I didn’t bother.”

“Just for a few nights?” He could make that work. Mostly.

“Just a few nights. I think they’ve run out of people to ask.” He sighed, stress clearly weighing on him as his own trip approached.

“She doesn't have any friends who can swing by?” It was a weak attempt to get out of this, the way you had said his name replaying in his head unhelpfully.

“You can just say no Robby.” He could say no, could walk it back and point out that someone else really should be the one to do it.

“I offered. I can do it.” Or he could double down, imagine some other guy helping you get comfortable in bed, your arms around his neck when it could be him. Then shake that image from his head as quickly as it had manifested.

“I'll send you her number then.” This was a terrible idea, if he couldn’t handle the idea of it should he even stop by?

“Good luck tonight.” Jack scoffed at that, disappearing deeper into the department, sparing him a scornful look. Robby headed out ready to collapse and pretend that he wasn’t a little excited about the idea.

He sent out a text on the walk home, nothing too serious. Letting you know it was him and he was willing to come by your place, if you still even needed him. Giving you an easy, inoffensive out if you didn’t want to have an old man come by your apartment.

It hadn't taken long for you to reply with your address once his text came through. Letting him know you'd get him spare keys by the end of the week so he would be able to let himself in when he could come by. Come Thursday, true to your word, he had an apartment key in his hand with the address scribbled on a piece of paper delivered by a tired looking Jack.

When the shift finally came to the end a few days later Robby mentally prepared for the night to come. He was sure it would be fine. He was overthinking this, like always. Catching the T down to the block you were on was easy enough, a surprisingly short ride from the hospital to a decent complex lined with townhomes.

Taking a breath before opening the door. The inside was nice, what he expected from a young woman living alone. He took in the entryway for a moment, noticing all the little things that gave him a glimpse at who you were. Pictures hung from the walls in your apartment, and as if he needed a reminder that you were too young for someone like him and who you were related to. One caught his eye immediately, a much younger Jack in his dress uniform holding you in his arms at what must have been five or six. It was surreal, a disconnect in the wires in his head. Like looking into a past he hadn’t been invited into, a snapshot of something that he knew existed but had never experienced.

“It's a good one. I think I have one somewhere of him holding me in the hospital in his uniform. Or maybe that's at his place?” Robby startled at the sound of your voice. “I know it exists.” You shrugged.

“What was the occasion?” He studied the too dark picture as if it would answer instead of you.

“Some school thing. My dad had a work trip and Uncle Jack was home on leave so my mom asked if he would take me.” You moved closer, leaning past his shoulder to get a better look, just shy of pressing against his back.

“Bet he loved that.” Robby scoffed examining the photo. “But it must have been nice to have someone there.”

“It was, but try finding out that your childhood best friend is now married to an army vet because of it.” You pointed at another photo. Here you were standing between a couple, the man also in his dress uniform. “She told me he changed her brain chemistry as a kid. Never took her seriously until she married Zach. She always wanted to sleep over when I mentioned Uncle Jack was in town.”

You moved back down the hallway, a gentle nod of the head encouraging him to follow further into your apartment. He did so obediently, taking in more photos of you through the years, with friends and family as you grew older. Taking in the personality that oozed from the walls and decorations around the apartment.

You had settled easily onto the couch while Robby trailed behind you, glancing around uncertainly. Trying his damndest to not notice the way your shorts had slid up your thighs or the way you winced when you leaned forward to adjust them a moment later.

“You can sit down.” You threw your head back on the couch to look at him lingering in the hallway. “I’ve just been watching bad TV with my uncle and mom the past few weeks. Dad is getting work done for the trip.”

He did sit, after a moment of agonizing over it. Settling down as far away as he could. He wanted to sit next to you, sit as close as you would let him. He was only moderately disappointed that his resolve was crumbling, he hadn’t been holding on all that well at the hospital. Here in your apartment that smelled like you and whatever candle was burning on the table, it was bound to be more of a draw.

Your eyes tracked his movements, he could feel your eyes on him, something he hated and loved at the same time. It took a few episodes of your trash TV show for him to relax fully. Feeling himself drawn into the onscreen drama even though he really didn’t want to be, finally finding his voice. “You watch this?”

“Not normally, but I am out of media to consume and this is something my friend loves.” You shrugged “At least you let me watch it, Mom and Uncle Jack make me turn it off as soon as they get here.”

So Robby planted himself and suffered through every trash reality show episode you had in you before your yawns became more and more frequent, your head falling into your hand and propped up by the arm of the couch next to you. When the credits finally rolled you clicked the TV off, the room becoming suddenly much darker.

“You can stay if you don’t want to head back this late.” You didn’t give him the chance to answer before continuing. “Everyone else has been using my bed. It’s easier for me to sleep on the couch, at least right now.” You said it all very fast, like you had to get it out or you’d never forgive yourself.

“If you want me to stick around I can.” He had been half prepared to stay if you needed him an hour ago, the comfortable couch mixed with being allowed to just be mostly undisturbed, had pulled him closer to sleep than he had expected to be. The reasonable voice in the back of his head reminded him that this was maybe a bad idea, but the idea of not having to leave to go to bed was winning out over it pretty easily.

“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want you here.” A pause, a sudden flash of panic across your features. “Not that I want you here. I just meant that I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to stay.”

“I knew what you meant.” He was willing to pretend he hadn’t but that was a different conversation, one he needed to have with himself for what felt like the hundredth time tonight. “What do I need to help with?”

It was easy enough to get you settled on the couch and comfortable with the promise that he would have his phone on him if you needed anything from him while he was upstairs. Once he was sure you were good he made his way up the surprisingly steep steps to your second floor. His focus on the steps he almost missed the contuniting span of photos of what must be your family. Old photos of you with your father and uncle seemed to be more common than any others.

One in the hallway caught his attention, you with who he assumed was your mother at a Pirates game, your arms around each other. It must have been pretty recent based on the photo quality. You were toasting the scoreboard with a beer, showing a Cincinnati win that must have been some time last season.

Robby pulled himself away from the photos and made himself finally push the door to your room open. If he had doubted that your bed had been used by others it took a glance down to the dresser to see one of what had to be a pair of Jack's scrub pants kicked against it, gloves still sticking out of one of the pockets. Setting himself on the end of the bed it hit him again where he was and what he was doing.

His sole comfort was that he had kept his cool and had not tipped his hand, at least he had hoped so. He was going to be fine. He had made it this far and not made a complete ass out of himself, which was saying something. A few more days and he would be free to return to pushing you out of his head. So far so good, nothing had gone sideways on him.

Night three is when it inevitably went sideways. It had been nice getting to actually sit and talk to someone who wasn’t actually in medicine. He imagined it was like when parents made non-parent friends.They could talk about anything they wanted. Like how your mother had raised you incorrectly as a Reds fan, hence the offending John Smiley jersey you were wearing when he walked in. That also connected with the photo he found himself glancing at every night before he crashed in your bed, drowning in the scent of you, letting you invade his normally miserable dreams.

He had let his guard down, because man did it feel good to just be Michael for a while with someone else. There wasn’t any pressure when you just wanted someone to talk to while a movie played in the background. He might not have noticed the way he slowly shifted closer to you, every shift on the couch pulling him just that tiny bit closer. You on the other hand were very aware, feeling your heart rate pick up every agonizing inch. Praying he didn't change his mind as he got closer and closer.

He was too old for you, not the same age as your dad but close enough really. He worked with your fucking uncle. By all accounts he was off limits, you should have been off limits. But something in you melted the second those warm brown eyes had found yours that first night he stopped in.

It didn’t help that you admittedly really liked him. The man was too funny for his, and maybe your, own good. This whole mess probably had the makings of a crush when you left the hospital. It likely would have turned into something at some point, maybe longing glances every time you saw him. A school girl’s daydream about the handsome doctor you met once upon a time.

But then he was in your apartment, leaving the scent of the hospital and his shampoo on your couch. He had insisted on actually taking you to a baseball game this season, and promised that it would be better than watching it on your parent’s TV and having to hear them bicker over teams while you sat between them. It might even top the last time you took a trip to Cinci with your mom to see a game. Something to look forward to while you rotted on the damn couch the next few weeks.

Your leg brushed the fabric of his pants and you were snapped out of your spiralling thoughts that only seemed to point to the obvious. That you were doomed from the moment you fell off the fucking roof. The second those rich brown eyes had focused on yours you were almost certain to fall for him. You knew it, had known you didn't stand a chance when he showed up at your door, giving up his free time to make sure you were okay for your family.

You hadn’t moved nearly as much as he had, you were still mostly sitting on the couch cushion you had begun on. Robby had inched most of the way to meet you, seemingly also realizing what had happened. Shifting his weight away from you. Your hand landed on his knee, a silent ask for him not to move. That simple action freezing him in place, testing his resolve. For the life of him he couldn't make his body move away from you. It was just so damn nice to have some human connection outside of work, outside of everything else.

It couldn’t be called cuddling, it was more two people sitting closer than they needed to on the couch, nothing wrong with that, just two adults finishing their stupid TV show in quiet comfort. Nevermind that he could feel the way his heart was racing and was drowning in the scent of you. So the pair of you stayed like that for the rest of that night, until you had to fight to keep your eyes open, head occasionally threatening to dip onto his shoulder before you caught yourself.

The next night was electric from the moment he walked through the door. Something had shifted between you, the acceptance that you might actually want him, not just appreciate the kindness of some poor old man.

Despite the normal exhaustion after a shift there was this anxious sort of energy while he fished your spare keys from his bag. The sort of charge that filled the air before a massive storm front rolled through. Robby found you where he always did, lounging on the couch, half paying attention to the TV, half distracted by your phone. Tonight you at least seemed more alert than you had been the other nights he stopped by. Considering you were on your fourth week of rest he couldn’t really blame you.

“Productive day?” He slid his shoes off, setting them next to his bag by the door.

“As productive as desk work from my couch can be.” You had already set the phone to the side, all your focus now on him. The space he had carved into your tiny isolated recovery bubble growing a little bigger as he took his usual seat letting the ache of twelve hours of being on his feet fade.

You were in the middle of some garbage movie that had looked like it would at least be a fun type of bad, this however was just bad. The plot made next to no sense and you still weren’t sure if there was even a main character you were supposed to be rooting for in all the absurdity that was playing out on screen.

By the time the third act started he had you tucked under his arm, more deliberately than the night before, a little more confident in the act. But he still had the nagging feeling that this was actually a bad idea, the nagging thought that this could blow up in his face in so many different ways.

You didn't seem to have the same worries he did. He caught you watching him more and more as the stupid movie rolled on in the background. Finding new ways to get just a little closer, testing where the line was. Embarrassingly enough he didn’t seem to have one, he let you lean against him as much as your healing body would tolerate. He said nothing while fingers traced patterns absently against his leg.

When the credits rolled he took the remote from your limp grasp, “You have lost your rights to this while I’m here.”

You reached across him for the stupid thing, or as much as you could tolerate reaching. Pressing your body impossibly closer. Your breath fanning across his skin, “it's my TV though.”

He looked down as you spoke, making it painfully clear just how close you two were, faces just inches from each other. You moved first, the gentle tilt of your head, the slow inch forward. His eyes breaking from yours to glance at your lips, that familiar creep of red marching across his features.

“You sure? no promises that you're going to be able to take it back.” The words ghosted between you. Head still cocked to let you in, if you wanted it. There was something in his tone, like maybe he wasn’t just warning you.

You didn't move, frozen just like he had the night before. You wanted this, you were pretty sure. At least you wanted to know what this could be, if he would let you. And of course he was going to let you, had only been able to think of you all day. He pressed forward taking one last deep breath before capturing your lips, sealing his fate. Helping keep your balance when his insistence threatened to push you underneath his weight, just managing to keep you upright and avoid your still tender ribs.

He broke the kiss with so much hesitation it felt like he was sure he'd never get to kiss anyone ever again, let alone you. His face flushed, eyes dilated. Forehead pressed against yours as a slow ragged breath escaped him before pressing another tender, burning kiss to your lips. An arm pulling you closer. Swearing you would be able to hear the way his blood rushed through his veins.

He shouldn't be doing this, really fucking shouldn't be doing this. But if that was the case then why did it feel so right to feel you pressed against him? The brush of your hands on his skin sure made it feel like something he should have been doing this whole time.

You shifted to face him better, which earned you a sharp aching stab in the chest. A pained hiss escaped you and that made him pause. Pulling away, you could almost see the doctor side of his brain kick into gear. The desperate momentum shattered in an instant.

It ached to watch him slide back on the couch. Assessing you carefully. “This might be proof that this was in fact a terrible idea.” Hands settling over sore ribs like he could soothe them with his touch. “Does it hurt now?”

A shake of your head “Just when I moved. I’m okay really.” A hand settled over his, almost too small as your fingers mapped his. “I’m ready for things to stop hurting when I step wrong though.”

“Shouldn’t be too much longer. Hopefully, bodies are complicated.” He knew that maybe he should pull away. Let you get more comfortable, but sitting here, knees touching and hands overlapping was just, nice. A tiny taste of human contact that he had been desperately missing recently, and reminded him that you wanted him too.

As if reading his mind your hand cupped his face, pulling him from his own head back into the moment. Leaning in once again you took the lead. Lips brushing his letting him guide you more gently. Your lips moved against his like you were trying to memorize every detail. Gentle and deliberate and slowly building in intensity.

You shifted again, letting him guide you down onto his lap, facing him without hurting yourself this time. His body heat pressing into the exposed skin of your legs, strong hands slid along your bare back, dancing beneath the fabric of your shirt.

Lost in each other the sharp sound of plastic cracking against the floor snapped his focus away from you. Hands stilling, catching himself working to unclasp your bra. The remote had tumbled from the arm of the couch snapping you both into the reality of the moment.

His hands shot away from you like he had been burned. Eyes wide in the dim light, an apology half formed on his lips when you kissed his cheek. “It’s not a terrible idea by the way.” whispered against his skin, that damn smile pulling at his heartstrings when you moved away, settling gingerly next to him on the couch. “At least it doesn’t feel like one yet.”

He had no idea what to say. What to do in this moment. He had felt like glass for weeks even before meeting you. Now it was like glass being spun with gold, something beautiful mixing with the shattered mess he felt like he had become. Robby was saved from answering when you suppressed a yawn.

“Do you want to lay down? It is getting late.” The subject change wasn’t lost on you, but the weight of exhaustion mixed with medication was bound to win out once again so you nodded.

He had stayed with you every night he had stopped by. Asleep in the bed that he shouldn't have ever seen. Robby hadn't expected it to be any different this time. So here he was in the doorway of the tiny half bath on the first floor of the apartment. Waiting for you to finish getting ready for bed.

Instead those tired eyes met his own. “Can we go upstairs?”

“We can” His arms folding across his chest, his head tilted as he studied you. “If you think you'll be comfortable enough up there.”

“I want to.” There was a familiar determination in your voice that he knew better than to argue against.

He nodded, arms uncrossing. It was easy to get you up the steps, cautiously following a beat or two behind. He ignored the photo in the hallway this time, focusing instead on helping you gently settle on the bed. Making sure you were propped up correctly against pillows, doing what he could to make you comfortable. You noticed the way your bed had started to take on the warm scent that Robby himself gave off, his presence lingered in every thread of the fabric, every crease in the sheets.

When he stepped back your hand caught his, your expression tired and vulnerable. The silent plea for him to stay up here with you. To try and lay in the same bed, just to see if it would even work. Against his better judgment he did, let himself settle gently beside you. Let you keep a hand resting against him after sleep took you.

He let himself stay over and over again while you recovered, then let you call when you had a hard time sleeping when you were finally alone in the apartment at night. Let you climb into his lap weeks after you were recovered, let himself leave marks across your skin. Let you get on your knees for him, let himself ruin your throat desperate and needy for you, your name on his lips when he came. Even when he was alone in his own home, spilling over his own hand.

He let the pattern continue. He came to you when work was too much, fell heavy into your arms and broke over and over again while you put him back together. You never judged him, never made him feel weak for needing you. You just held him, like he held you when things went wrong in your life. When a fight with a co-worker left you in tears he was the one who you called the door swinging open to let him pull you against him.

When that stupid fight got you fired unexpectedly he was the first one you called again, crying into his lap while he pushed hair from your face. Promising that it would all work out and they would regret letting you go.

Neither of you could agree when your first date was, not the official one anyways.You were certain that it was that promised baseball game. Robby was convinced that it was the night he came by after a hellish shift and you wound up getting take out, watching another of your terrible movies. It was only a matter of days apart but it was a hotly debated topic between the pair of you. The thing that mattered was that he had you, had you from the moment you were wheeled into that ER. Just like you had him from the second you smiled just for him from that hospital bed.

#michael robinavitch #michael robby robinavitch #the pitt x reader #the pitt fanfiction #x female reader #fanfiction #michael robinavich x reader

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network-rail · 3 months ago

Text

A very long complaint about the trains in Stardew Valley

So there is this indie farming game called Stardew Valley that you may have heard of (although knowledge of the game is not essential to understand this post), and there is a railroad with the occasional train in it. The point of the train is that it sometimes drops items (not especially rare ones either), but that's not what this is about. You see, I have many problems with the train from a rail enthusiast perspective rather than a gameplay one (although it could use some improvement in that regard as well) so I'm here to complain about those instead.

Anyway, intro over, time to rant about this stupid train.

So, first of all, let's start by taking a look at the railroad (this image is from the wiki, and shows the station):

Looks mostly normal, right? Sure, there might not be any station buildings –just a platform and a shelter– but this is a small rural town, so that's not too surprising. And it is a little odd how the spacing between the sleepers/ties is inconsistent, but maybe it's just old. Not to mention, there isn't any ballast or track bed, but that does sometimes happen on less-used rural lines. However, if we zoom and enhance, we discover several problems that, once spotted, will bother you forever.

Firstly, if we look at the level crossing sign (the actual crossing is just to the left, out of the image, but it's not important right now) we can see that the image is clearly one of an electric train, with a pantograph more or less the only feature visible (other than the window) at this scale. But when we look at the tracks, do we see any overhead wires? No, we don't, and later on we will discover that it gets worse in regards to what sort of traction is used (no, not battery electric, it's not that bad). Of course, while promising us electric trains and then immediately disappointing us through a lack of wires (and a subsequent lack of electric trains) is not a good look, it isn't too bad – after all, some level crossing signs in real life promise steam trains and then fail to deliver as well. But the problems with the Stardew Valley Railroad (or SVRR, if you will) go beyond misleading signage, as we will see.

Second, if we look at the tracks themselves, we notice something unusual going on: the rails appear to have had nails driven through them to attach them to the sleepers/ties, which would make the ride much more bumpy, and if the heads of the nails were worn through by the trains, then the rails could easily be knocked out of alignment. This is why rails are attached at the sides, so that the surface for trains to travel on is smooth and the trains do not wear away the things connecting the rails to the sleepers/ties (and therefore disconnect the rails from the track).

While this might seem bad, it's the sort of thing you would expect from someone who isn't a train enthusiast and has only rudimentary experience sticking things together (perhaps the occasional piece of IKEA furniture). The thing is, once the train shows up, it somehow gets even worse.

Before we get to the epitome of this mess that is the train locomotive, we must first look at the train carriages themselves, of which there are two basic types (by appearance, anyways; there are ): passenger cars and hopper cars.

Now, there are several things wrong in this image, but we'll go over them car by car, so as to not overwhelm the reader.

First, all but one of the cars in this image are hopper cars, of which one is not covered. We'll start with that one: it seems to be filled with cupboards of some sort, which is quite frankly baffling; as furniture would never be transported in aggregate hoppers (The SVRR aren't british rail, though they may be taking inspiration from them). This is a problem with several of the open hopper cars (although none of them are visible in this image), as these hopper cars can drop items for the player, and the contents can be seen from outside. Some of these items, such as coal, stone, iron ore, and copper ore are normal things to put in hopper cars (although the stone drops from hopper cars carrying bricks, which is a whole different can of worms we won't go into), but some items – such as wood – would never be transported in a hopper car (it makes no sense, hopper cars are for loose material, wood goes on a flatcar).

Now moving on to the covered hoppers, there isn't anything really wrong with these, as they appear to be perfectly normal modern hopper cars. Except for when they have livestock inside. (see here, again) HOWEVER, as we will see in the next paragraph (stop reading ahead, learn some patience) this modern appearance is itself a problem.

We're in the next paragraph now (aren't you glad you waited?) and we're going to talk about the passenger cars. First of all, the passenger cars have open platforms at both ends, and generally resemble earlier North American passenger cars, where passengers would leave through doors at the ends of the carriage and disembark from an open vestibule. However, the passenger cars also have side doors, which is very strange, and don't really fit with the style of the car. Next, we have something to consider: these passenger cars appear to be modeled after earlier North American passenger cars, what with their wooden appearance and open vestibules (side doors notwithstanding); but the freight cars appear to be modern hopper cars. Not only that, but the hopper cars and passenger cars are often found ON THE SAME TRAIN, which is a safety nightmare, especially for wooden carriages. If that train derails, those passenger cars will be turned to splinters (and the passengers into tomato sauce) by heavy hopper cars filled with lumber, gold ore, and cabinets. There do also seem to be venetian blinds over one of the windows, although that's not really much of a problem compared to everything else.

You may have noticed that up to this point, there is one part of the train that we have avoided mentioning (except for a passing reference to it not being electric), and that's the locomotive. In case you hadn't figured it out. Why? Well, I'm saving the best for last, and by best I mean worst.

So, without any more nonsense, here's the absolute travesty that is the SVRR locomotive!

This locomotive – a 4-6-0 steam engine – just keeps getting worse the longer you look at it, especially if you know anything about trains (which I do).

There's a lot to unpack here, so for this we'll be using bullet points to keep things concise:

There's a massive gap between the rear drive wheel and the front ones

The middle drive wheel is not attached to the coupling rod

The coupling rod is only connected to the wheels, not to the piston (how is it moving?!)

The leading wheels are incredibly small (WHY?!)

The leading wheels are stuck to a large metal box that I can only assume is meant to be a bogie (what else could it be?) that has very little clearance with the track

There is no coal tender or attached coal bunker (where is the fuel?!)

There's some sort of pipe sticking out of the cab (what is it for? is it a radio antenna?)

What's that box at the front? Is that where the side rods are meant to connect to the pistons? Because they aren't, so it could be a transformer box or a cabinet for all I know.

It's a steam train pulling modern hopper cars (the passenger cars do fit with steam trains though), and in a setting which has the internet, robots, buses, electricity (very anachronistic, especially since it doesn't seem to be a heritage railroad)

It's a steam train that travels through some rather long tunnels. How long? We don't know, but since the railroad doesn't appear anywhere else on the map they've gotta be long (if you don't know why this is a problem, you try breathing in smoke inside a tunnel for several minutes)

And more! Why don't you try to find something else that's wrong with the locomotive so I don't go insane?

One thing that annoys me specifically is that it's a steam train, rather than electric. This would normally be forgivable since steam trains are very iconic and good-looking, but this rather ugly locomotive looks like someone with a limited knowledge of trains attempting to draw a steam train entirely from memory. I would not advise attempting this even if you do know a thing or two about trains, since steam trains are rather complicated creatures. If you don't have a reference of some sort, you should stick to drawing electrics and diesels; since those have far fewer complicated external mechanisms to be messed up in such a spectacular fashion. Of course, since the internet exists, finding a reference should be easy. Should be.

Indeed, the complete shambles that is the entire Stardew Valley Railroad seems to be summed up by the locomotive: a railroad drawn apparently from memory by someone who isn't familiar enough with trains to pull it off convincingly. Of course, this is from the guy who brought us the famous Grandpa's Bed, so I'm not that surprised.

Anyway, this concludes my rant about the train in Stardew Valley. Fortunately, the train is fairly out of the way, and not that important in gameplay, so you don't regularly encounter it while playing the game. If the train actually looked good and made sense, I'd probably complain about how rarely you get to see it, but in its current state, it's fine that it doesn't show up that often.

#trains #stardew valley #network rail essays #the game is fun I just wanted to complain about this one specific grievance I had with it #I know a few things about trains and I rather like them so I care about them being portrayed accurately in media #or at least inaccurately in a way that still looks cool #but since this train is neither accurate nor cool-looking it really bothers me

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morphimus · 7 months ago

Note

since as far as i've seen there's no official release of the blsmp modlist yet, do you know if it'd be ok for me to make an unofficial one and share it publicly ?

I can just look through the mod folder and list them for you.

Minecraft version 1.20.1

Forge 47.3.10

AutoModpack

Aether Delight

Aether

AI Improvements

Alex's Caves

Alex's Delight

Alex's Mobs

Amendments

Aquaculture Delight

Aquaculture

Aquamirae

Architectury

Arts and Crafts

Athena

[Balloon SMP mod]

Better Archaeology

Better Chunkloading

Better Days

Blueprint

Bookshelf

Bountiful

Chipped

Citadel

Clover

Collective

Collector's Reap

Connectivity

Corn Delight

Coroutil

Corpse

Cosmetic Armor Reworked

CraftTweaker

Create Less Ticking

Create

Create Deco

Creative Core

Cupboard

Curios

Custom Player Models

Delightful

Dungeon Now Loading

Enchantment Descriptions

Enemy Expansion

Exposure Catalog

Exposure

Farmer's Delight

Fastload Reforged

FBD_Snapshot_24w02a (not sure wtf this is to be honest)

Ferrite Core

Framework

Fruits Delight

Gardener's Dream

Geckolib

Handcrafted

Immersive Melodies

Immersive Paintings

Inventory Sorter

I wanna skate

JEI

Kambrik

Kotlin

Krypton Reforged

Let Me Despawn

Let's Do API

Let's Do Beach Party

Let's Do Herbal Brews

Littleframes

Localized Chat

Logprot

Memory Leak Fix

Mobtimizations

Modernfix

Mowzie's Mobs

Mysterious Mountain

Mystical Oak Tree

Neapolitan

Nether's Delight

Noisium

No Stronghold

Obscure API

Ocean's Delight

Octolib

Pehkui

Playdate

Polymorph

Quicknick

Radium

Mr. Crayfish Refurbished Furniture

Relics

Resourcefullib

Ribbits

Server Core

Slice and Dice

Smooth Chunk

Sons of Sins

Sound Physics Remastered

Spark

Spyglass of Curios

Starlight

Create Steam & Rails

Structory

Structure Gel

SuperMartijn624 Configlib

Supplementaries

Table Top Craft

Terralith

The Conjurer

TreeChop

Twilight Delight

Twilight Forest

Ultimate Spawn

Villager Names

Voicechat

Watermedia

WorldEdit

Xerca Paint

Xlpackets

Yungs API

Additional clientside mods I personally added to my install:

Distant Horizons

Paper Doll

#jmc #ask #Anonymous #minecraft #minecraft mods #modpack #balloon SMP

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queenie435 · 1 year ago

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THE WORLD'S FIRST ELECTRIC ROLLER COASTER

Granville T. Woods (April 23, 1856 – January 30, 1910) introduced the “Figure Eight,” the world's first electric roller coaster, in 1892 at Coney Island Amusement Park in New York. Woods patented the invention in 1893, and in 1901, he sold it to General Electric.

Woods was an American inventor who held more than 50 patents in the United States. He was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. Self-taught, he concentrated most of his work on trains and streetcars.

In 1884, Woods received his first patent, for a steam boiler furnace, and in 1885, Woods patented an apparatus that was a combination of a telephone and a telegraph. The device, which he called "telegraphony", would allow a telegraph station to send voice and telegraph messages through Morse code over a single wire. He sold the rights to this device to the American Bell Telephone Company.

In 1887, he patented the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, which allowed communications between train stations from moving trains by creating a magnetic field around a coiled wire under the train. Woods caught smallpox prior to patenting the technology, and Lucius Phelps patented it in 1884. In 1887, Woods used notes, sketches, and a working model of the invention to secure the patent. The invention was so successful that Woods began the Woods Electric Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to market and sell his patents. However, the company quickly became devoted to invention creation until it was dissolved in 1893.

Woods often had difficulties in enjoying his success as other inventors made claims to his devices. Thomas Edison later filed a claim to the ownership of this patent, stating that he had first created a similar telegraph and that he was entitled to the patent for the device. Woods was twice successful in defending himself, proving that there were no other devices upon which he could have depended or relied upon to make his device. After Thomas Edison's second defeat, he decided to offer Granville Woods a position with the Edison Company, but Woods declined.

In 1888, Woods manufactured a system of overhead electric conducting lines for railroads modeled after the system pioneered by Charles van Depoele, a famed inventor who had by then installed his electric railway system in thirteen United States cities.

Following the Great Blizzard of 1888, New York City Mayor Hugh J. Grant declared that all wires, many of which powered the above-ground rail system, had to be removed and buried, emphasizing the need for an underground system. Woods's patent built upon previous third rail systems, which were used for light rails, and increased the power for use on underground trains. His system relied on wire brushes to make connections with metallic terminal heads without exposing wires by installing electrical contactor rails. Once the train car had passed over, the wires were no longer live, reducing the risk of injury. It was successfully tested in February 1892 in Coney Island on the Figure Eight Roller Coaster.

In 1896, Woods created a system for controlling electrical lights in theaters, known as the "safety dimmer", which was economical, safe, and efficient, saving 40% of electricity use.

Woods is also sometimes credited with the invention of the air brake for trains in 1904; however, George Westinghouse patented the air brake almost 40 years prior, making Woods's contribution an improvement to the invention.

Woods died of a cerebral hemorrhage at Harlem Hospital in New York City on January 30, 1910, having sold a number of his devices to such companies as Westinghouse, General Electric, and American Engineering. Until 1975, his resting place was an unmarked grave, but historian M.A. Harris helped raise funds, persuading several of the corporations that used Woods's inventions to donate money to purchase a headstone. It was erected at St. Michael's Cemetery in Elmhurst, Queens.

LEGACY

▪Baltimore City Community College established the Granville T. Woods scholarship in memory of the inventor.

▪In 2004, the New York City Transit Authority organized an exhibition on Woods that utilized bus and train depots and an issue of four million MetroCards commemorating the inventor's achievements in pioneering the third rail.

▪In 2006, Woods was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

▪In April 2008, the corner of Stillwell and Mermaid Avenues in Coney Island was named Granville T. Woods Way.

#black history #black history month #roller coaster #granville #Granville T Woods #1910s #circa 1885 #1884

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kabsey · 3 months ago

Note

“Close your eyes” for the Veilguard prompts!

Thank you for the prompt! <3

-------

The knife was in Lucanis's hand before he was even fully awake. He swung at the shadow looming over him, but it blocked his forearm at the last moment. He jabbed with his other fist, which connected with the shadow's middle. It let out a grunt and then a startled yelp as it fell backward over the footstool that Lucanis used to reach the ties for the curtains around his bed.

With an annoyed sigh and a pounding heart, Lucanis flopped back against the mattress. He tucked the knife back under his pillow before rolling over to glare at his cousin sprawled on the floor.

"What do you want, Illario?" he demanded.

His eyes had adjusted enough that he could make out the other boy's shape. Instead of answering, Illario kept his head down and his eyes on the floor.

His silence did not improve Lucanis's mood. "It's just a dream," he snapped. "Go back to bed."

"It's not just a dream," Illario mumbled mulishly, though he still didn't meet Lucanis's eyes. "It happened."

"A long time ago," Lucanis retorted. "If you stopped thinking about it so much, you wouldn't dream about it."

Another moment of silence passed. Illario sniffed and covered his eyes with his elbow.

"Can I stay?" he asked. It was muffled by his pajama sleeve.

Lucanis lay down again with a groan. They were getting too old for this. He was already ten. Illario would be soon. They weren't kids anymore.

But he knew that if he refused, Illario wouldn't sleep the rest of the night. He'd be slow-witted and heavy-limbed in training, and Nonna would punish them both. Internally Lucanis railed against the unfairness of it. Why should he go without supper because Illario failed to dodge a strike? He had protested out loud once—but only once.

When he didn't say anything, Illario curled up on the rug, taking his silence for the reluctant acquiescence it was. Lucanis closed his eyes and tried to focus on how comfortable and warm he was in his bed. It always took him ages to get back to sleep when Illario woke him. His cousin's presence was a reminder, a crack in a door in his mind that led to a room he never wanted to enter again.

"Do you think they'll ever come back?" Illario whispered.

Lucanis grabbed his extra pillow and turned on his side so he could hold it over his head. The tiny pocket of space it created made it easier to keep his breathing slow and even.

"They're dead."

"What if some of them escaped? We did."

Lucanis lifted his pillow enough to snort at his cousin. "Escaped from Nonna?"

"She's not perfect," Illario grumbled.

Lucanis laughed. "I dare you to say that to her face."

"I'm not stupid."

"Could have fooled me."

He laughed again when one of Illario's slippers hit the pillow over his head. He snatched it up and threw it back, only a little disappointed when Illario caught it deftly.

"You have to leave before Adelina comes to light the fire," Lucanis reminded his cousin. "Or she'll tell Nonna."

"I know," his cousin drawled, and Lucanis could hear him rolling his eyes.

"Close your eyes and sleep then."

For a few blessed moments, his room returned to its previous peaceful quiet. Lucanis settled into his little cocoon of pillows and started the breathing exercises that Heir had taught him to fight his insomnia.

"Do you think Adelina is pretty?"

"I will stab you if you don't shut up."

"Fine, fine. You're no fun, cousin."

#lucanis dellamorte #illario dellamorte #prequel fic #dragon age: the veilguard

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lavrneryo · 2 months ago

Text

Got Me Looking so Crazy Right Now

Politician!Suguru who is loved by his people, doing his job as a public servant without any records of corruption. He frequently visits places in the country himself to evaluate his term's performance. He connects with the people, often asking them for feedback towards his administration's leadership so he could work on more improvements while elected.

Politician!Suguru who usually stays in his office way beyond office hours, assessing and signing towers of paperwork. He prefers seeing the project proposals and other reports first hand rather than assigning them to his secretary and other executives. Talk about workaholic.

Politician!Suguru who is usually calm and stoic, only smiling politely when necessary, does his best to always look put together and respectable. His long hair neatly arranged into a bun, glasses perched on top of his nose, suit and tie tailored to fit him so well. He also always has his name pin and brooch pinned into his suit.

Politician!Suguru who's extremely over-educated. He isn't afraid to call out injustices and discrepancies within the industry of politics, even on national media. That is why he's feared and idolized at the same time.

Politician!Suguru who frequently entertains interviews, especially if they are about his plans for the upcoming years. Though it cannot be helped that people become a little too curious, sometimes prying into his personal life and asking him when he'll have a first lady, since he has never publicly talked or even entertained the idea of a relationship. He'll immediately dismiss the idea, claiming his first priority is public service.

Politician!Suguru who almost always declines when he is invited to a formal party, saying seeing other politicians who pretend to be so high and mighty while profiting off of the people disgust him more than words can express, claiming attending such events are a waste of his time and he'd much rather attend to his work matters instead. Except this time, he was forced to go by his assistant. He internally groans, but figures it wouldn't be so bad for a change.

Politician!Suguru who sees you there, young and relatively new to the industry. He wasn't completely clueless, of course, he's watched interviews of you before. He can say that you spoke very eloquently and you seemed like you knew what you were doing. Though he wasn't one to judge based off of a couple of interviews, he knows politicians are also great actors. Safe to say you sparked his interest.

Politician!Suguru then asks his assistant about you, to which his assistant immediately decides that it would be a great idea to approach you and introduce him, adding too much unnecessary information and pizzazz to his name which causes him to grimace slightly as he notices your amused smile.

He then shakes your hand, giving you a smile and a polite nod as his assistant scurries away to mingle with more people of authority, probably off to humble-brag about working for him. You return the gesture, introducing yourself formally. He stands next to you, leaning on the glass railing of the luxurious venue, drink in hand.

As the night deepens, you feel yourself loosening up a bit more around him. You've found out he's almost the same age as you, albeit a bit older, and that he views others the same as you do, mumbling something about "lying, stuck-up, pretentious pigs", in which you giggle at. Politician!Suguru smiles, hearing your giggle for the first time that night.

Politician!Suguru also finds out a lot about you. He figured you were an honest public servant who wanted nothing but equal rights, transparency with the use of public funds, proper taxation and just living wages. He was impressed with how passionate you sounded talking about your occupation, to say the least.

You both exchange numbers that night, personal ones, which he never does, he only has his family saved on his personal phone. (but ofc he won't tell you that). His chauffeur and assistant exchange questionable glances on the way home. Often times, he'd ask to be taken home early. Claiming he still has work to do. Except this time he smiles at his phone, looking at a picture you both took, in which you were both smiling and clinking your glasses together. He might've just found his first lady.

_____________________________________________________________

first time writing smth, I NEEDED TO GET THIS OUT OF MY HEAD PLS,,,,,some power play maybe???? idk part 2 will probably be smut hehe plz don't b mean i'm sawft hashashsas geto except he's a politician and not a cult leader PLUS he's actually good ykykyk yes

#jjk #jjk smut #geto suguru #jujutsu kaisen #jjk geto #jjk suguru #jjk fanfic #jujutsu kaisen smut #power play #politician #politician geto #RRRRRRRRR #imsothirztyforhimplz #yes sir #yes please

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townpostin · 11 months ago

Text

Vande Bharat Train Arrives in Chakradharpur, Route Remains Uncertain

New High-Speed Rail Sparks Excitement and Confusion Among Kolhan Residents A state-of-the-art Vande Bharat train has arrived in the Chakradharpur railway yard, generating buzz and uncertainty about its future route and operational timeline from Tatanagar station. JAMSHEDPUR – The Chakradharpur railway yard is currently home to a state-of-the-art Vande Bharat train, which has piqued the interest…

#Aditya Chaudhary DCM #जनजीवन #Chakradharpur railway yard #Chennai Coach Factory #high-speed rail India #improved rail connectivity #Indian Railways updates #Kolhan region transportation #Life #Railway Board directives #Tatanagar Station #Vande Bharat Train

0 notes

petermorwood · 6 months ago

Text

The Slow Train...

...is a song by Flanders & Swann, commemorating the little rural stations which got the chop from the Beeching Axe, and was mentioned by @lizamezzo in connection with this post.

*****

@dduane and I travelled on something similar back in 2000, going from Freiburg-im-Breisgau to Jechtingen by way of Breisach.

The trains got smaller with each change, from an ICE high-speed to a Regional to the last one, a diesel railbus rather like this - some of which, I've read, needed only six paying passengers to turn a profit.

That sounds a bit optimistic, IMO, though at the time we were travelling (mid-afternoon) it was full of schoolkids as well as people who'd clearly been to the market in Freiburg.

During a mere 15-minute run through the woods and vineyards between Breisach and Jechtingen, it stopped at three other small stations to let various folk on and off - which looked very like "properly serving the community" to us.

*****

It's always been highly suspicious that Dr Richard Beeching was instructed to "improve railway efficiency" (i.e. close unprofitable lines) by the same Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples, who had "an interest in" (i.e. was making money from) the companies which were building motorways - and who later fled to Europe just before his prosecution for tax fraud...

In addition, Beeching may have massaged his figures by recording only the rail use at slackest times, rather than at morning and evening rush-hours, but that too is only a suspicion.

Anyway, here's the song.

youtube

*****

On The Slow Train.

Miller's Dale for Tideswell ... Kirby Muxloe ... Mow Cop and Scholar Green ... No more will I go to Blandford Forum and Mortehoe On the slow train from Midsomer Norton and Mumby Road. No churns, no porter, no cat on a seat At Chorlton-cum-Hardy or Chester-le-Street. We won't be meeting again On the Slow Train. I'll travel no more from Littleton Badsey to Openshaw. At Long Stanton I'll stand well clear of the doors no more. No whitewashed pebbles, no Up and no Down From Formby Four Crosses to Dunstable Town. I won't be going again On the Slow Train. On the Main Line and the Goods Siding The grass grows high At Dog Dyke, Tumby Woodside And Trouble House Halt. The Sleepers sleep at Audlem and Ambergate. No passenger waits on Chittening platform or Cheslyn Hay. No one departs, no one arrives From Selby to Goole, from St Erth to St Ives. They've all passed out of our lives On the Slow Train, on the Slow Train. Cockermouth for Buttermere ... On the Slow Train. Armley Moor Arram ... Pye Hill and Somercotes ... On the Slow Train... Windmill End.

#Youtube #Flanders & Swann #The Slow Train #nostalgia #train travel #railbus

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ftl-faster-than-life · 1 year ago

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Flash Headcanons that are semi-canon: -Iris is autistic and low-empathy and her hyperfixations are crime and horror. -The revenue from the Flash museum and associated tourism and merchandising goes directly to improving Central City and Keystone. -Barry freaking hates cars and driving and that may have been one of his driving reasons for helping to push high speed rail in and out of Central City. Give him a train any day of the week. -To be fully connected to the Speed Force, your human body has to be destroyed. If you do not have a full connection to the Speed Force then you're subject to rapid aging and other issues. Being born a speedster means you are born with a partial connection but something is going to have to solidify it for you. -The warping effects of the Negative Speed Force are a product of self-image. The NSF asks "What does a monster look like?" and then holds up a mirror. Eobard Thawne shows minimal warping because he already views himself as a monster. -The Speed Force can also warp a conduit's physical body if their self-image becomes damaged, because a (fully connected) conduit is not really a human being, they're a collection of energy arranged to look like a human being. -The Speed Force's bonds are emotional and non-linear, meaning if you will be attached to someone one day, you are and have always been tied to them and will always be. To be loved by a speedster is to have always been loved and always be loved. -Iris and Linda sometimes proof-read each other's work but have sworn off making suggestions--they have very different creative visions, so they stick to writing mechanics.

#barry allen #the flash #eobard thawne #reverse flash #iris west #wally west #bart allen #avery ho #ace west #jai west #irey west #linda park #jesse quick #jesse chambers #jess chambers #max mercury #daniel west #jay garrick #johnny quick

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jjmcquade-misc · 3 months ago

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California's Endless Highway: A 17-Year Odyssey Under Governor Newsom

March 27, 2025

SACRAMENTO - For 17 years, California Governor Gavin Newsom has presided over a highway project that has become a symbol of ambition, delay, and political theater. What began as a promise to revolutionize the state’s transportation infrastructure has morphed into a saga of grandiose announcements, ballooning costs, and minimal progress. As the current date marks March 27, 2025, this article chronicles the timeline of this elusive highway, critically examining the gap between Newsom’s triumphant rhetoric and the stark reality on the ground.

2008: A Vision Takes Root

The story begins in 2008, when California voters approved Proposition 1A, authorizing $9.95 billion in bonds to fund a high-speed rail system, not a traditional highway. Newsom, then mayor of San Francisco, championed the project as a transformative step toward a sustainable future. While this initiative was technically a rail project, it laid the groundwork for Newsom’s later focus on transportation infrastructure, including highways, as he ascended to the governorship. The rail’s promise of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco captured imaginations, but it also set a precedent for ambitious timelines and optimistic funding projections.

2019: Newsom Takes the Helm and Shifts Focus

Upon becoming governor in January 2019, Newsom inherited the high-speed rail project, already mired in cost overruns and delays. In his first State of the State address, he acknowledged the rail’s challenges, scaling back the original vision to a 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield. Yet, alongside this recalibration, Newsom began emphasizing broader infrastructure goals, including highway improvements. That year, he signed an executive order redirecting some gas tax funds, raised under Senate Bill 1 of 2017 -from road repairs to rail and transit, prompting criticism that highway maintenance was being sidelined. Still, he promised accelerated highway construction to complement the rail, framing it as part of a “build more, faster” agenda.

2020-2022: Promises Amid a Pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic gripped California, Newsom’s administration leaned into infrastructure as an economic recovery tool. In 2021, he touted a $13 billion investment in transportation, including highway upgrades, funded partly by federal stimulus dollars. Press releases highlighted plans to repair bridges, widen lanes, and enhance safety on major routes like Highway 99. Yet, progress reports were scarce, and critics noted that much of the funding was earmarked for planning rather than construction. By 2022, Newsom announced the “substantial completion” of preparatory work on several highway projects, but ground-level evidence, such as visible construction, remained limited.

2023: Streamlining and Celebration

In May 2023, Newsom unveiled a legislative package to streamline infrastructure projects, including highways, by cutting bureaucratic red tape. Standing at a solar farm site in Stanislaus County, he declared, “We’re building more, faster,” promising thousands of jobs and modernized roads. The Los Angeles Times reported that this initiative aimed to leverage $180 billion in state and federal funds over a decade. Later that year, he signed the package into law, celebrating it as a historic reform. However, specific highway projects, like the widening of Highway 46 in San Luis Obispo County, remained stalled, with funds still held in reserve.

2024-2025: Milestones or Mirage?

Fast forward to 2024, and Newsom’s administration claimed $13 billion had been invested in transportation that year alone, with a focus on “climate-resilient roads and highways.” Press releases cited new bike lanes, bridge repairs, and wildlife crossings along Interstate 15 as evidence of progress. On January 7, 2025, Newsom broke ground on a railhead near Bakersfield, doubling down on his transportation legacy with a nod to highway synergies. Yet, as of March 27, 2025, no single highway project spanning his 17-year political career, from his mayoral days to now, has been fully completed and operational under his direct oversight, raising questions about the substance behind the fanfare.

The Money Trail

Financially, the picture is murky but staggering. Since 2008, the high-speed rail project alone has consumed over $20 billion, with estimates now exceeding $128 billion for the scaled-back Merced-Bakersfield line, according to official updates. Highway-specific spending is harder to isolate, but Senate Bill 1 has generated billions since 2017, supplemented by federal funds like the $6.5 billion from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Caltrans reports suggest hundreds of millions have gone to highway planning and repairs, yet tangible results, completed miles of new or upgraded highway, remain elusive. Critics estimate that at least $2-3 billion has been spent on highway-related efforts under Newsom’s watch, with little to show beyond press conferences and partially funded initiatives.

The Current Reality

Today, California’s highways are a patchwork of aging infrastructure and incremental upgrades. Highway 99, a frequent target of Newsom’s promises, still suffers from congestion and unfinished widening projects in Madera and Tulare counties. The Sacramento Bee noted in 2019 that $17 million for such work was deferred, a pattern that persists. Meanwhile, the high-speed rail, often conflated with broader transportation goals, inches along with 119 miles under construction in the Central Valley, hardly a highway, and far from the statewide network Newsom once envisioned.

Final Considerations: Propaganda vs. Reality

Governor Newsom’s 17-year highway narrative is a masterclass in political optics. His annual triumphant announcements, laden with phrases like “world-leading,” “transformative,” and “faster”, project an image of decisive leadership and progress. This propagandistic angle leverages California’s appetite for bold solutions, casting Newsom as a visionary tackling climate change, economic stagnation, and infrastructure decay. The reality, however, is a sobering contrast: billions spent, years elapsed, and a state still waiting for its promised highways.

The disconnect lies in execution. While Newsom’s administration excels at securing funds and crafting legislation, the follow-through, turning dollars into asphalt, lags. Environmental reviews, legal challenges, and shifting priorities (e.g., rail over roads) have bogged down projects, a fact he acknowledged in 2019 but has since glossed over. The money spent to date, potentially exceeding $3 billion on highways alone, has yielded planning documents and piecemeal repairs rather than a cohesive, completed network. The citizens skepticism, and with users decrying a “$128 billion train to nowhere” and questioning highway progress after 17 years.

In fairness, Newsom faces systemic hurdles, California’s stringent regulations and a fragmented funding landscape, but his reliance on hype over substance invites scrutiny. The governor’s narrative suggests a golden age of infrastructure is imminent; the facts reveal a state stuck in neutral, with taxpayers footing the bill for a dream deferred. As 2025 unfolds, Californians await not just announcements, but results.

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