#Model Railway Hints

[backwardshatnick]

𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗌

in which matt still does not know how to tie a half windsor knot.

pairing: influencer!matt x high school sweetheart!reader wc: 1.2k notes: (rewriting) i'm turning this into an au surprise-surprise! inspired by that one role model tiktok & the wedding-italy vlog. credits to those who have done influencer!matt/chris paired with high school sweetheart!reader because i know i have seen them around before and i enjoyed them :) masterlist here. divider by @koosuvi <3

Matt adjusted the collar of his crisp white shirt for the thousandth time, staring at himself through the full-length mirror of the hotel suite, its luxurious bedding covered in torn Prada tissue paper while the soft hum of city traffic and railway bled through the windows. On his neck laid his silver tie, droopy and wrinkled, each crease telling a mocking tale of his failure.

He had tried YouTube, TikTok and hell, even video-called his brothers and father for instructions but to no avail. Every knot that he came up with ended up looking like a sad twist of puff pastry, all ready to crumble and unsnarl within minutes.

The bedside clock glowed a warm yellow hue, signifying the time that Matt was left with to be prepared for the Prada pre-show dinner, an event where he was compelled to look like he belonged— all prim and proper, polished and camera-ready before being bombarded with more pressure to feel in place at the actual Spring/Summer Show.

But he did not have the energy to fake it all tonight.

Sighing, he grabbed the hotel room’s telephone by his bed and started clicking on numbers for the front desk and cleared his throat before a man’s voice was met on the other side.

“Good evening, this is the front desk, Carl speaking. How may I help you?”

“Hi, um. Sorry, but…” Matt stuttered, voice crisp but laced with jittery nerves, “Is there anyone who could help me tie a tie? I know it’s not in the job description but I am really desperate and hopeless right now.”

There was a pause and hesitation in Carl’s voice, “There might be someone from housekeeping who knows. From which room are you calling, sir?”

“Room 832, East Wing. And thank you so much, Carl,” he replied, embarrassed.

A few minutes later, there was a gentle chime of the doorbell resonating throughout the suite, followed by an also gentle, “Housekeeping!” signalling the arrival of Matt’s saviour.

Matt, who was sat on the edge of the hotel bed, immediately stood up to walk over to the door, mind not fully concentrating as he opened the door, “Hey, thanks for coming. I really need—”

He stopped and froze. Shock visible through his expression when his eyes met with the girl in a white iron-pressed housekeeping uniform, hair tied back in a loose braid with a folded laundry cart full of used linen and towels accompanying her. She blinked when she finally looked up to see Matt’s sapphire orbs, lips now curled into a forced smile which clearly was not reflected in her silent eyes.

Her face had hit him like a thousand bricks, his heart undeniably skipping beats but nothing could overpower the dryness of his throat when her name escaped his lips like it was a forbidden word. A mantra that he used to chant but was now cursed to never utter.

“Bloom.”

“Hey, Matt. Still can’t tie a tie, huh?” she responded, tone sarcastic and bitter, but smooth as if it had not been years since they last saw each other.

Bloom stepped inside of Matt’s hotel suite, stride full of confidence, not a hint of dread and fear evident like everything was normal. Like they had never ghosted each other the night of the senior prom when they had spent months and months curating the perfect shared playlist, planning sneaky late night phone calls and movie nights and the one disastrous kiss that left them both scared of craving for more.

Like there was never anything between them.

Matt’s brain buffered, hazed even but managed to murmur a low, “You work here?”

The girl nodded in response, “Attachment program. Just until I finish my semester. Come here. I’ll help.”

He took an awkward step forward to where Bloom was, the distance now close but not close enough to feel each other’s warm breath fan on their skin. His chin reached just below her head, where her glistening sweat had caused the wild strands of her hair to stick, the crystal gem in her earring glinting somewhere else, tempting Matt to fix them for her. His right hand twitched, but he knew better than to scare away the girl who had left him speechless.

Matt looked down to where Bloom’s hands were. Her fingers were steady, as always, quiet and careful and always pristine, the nails never polished any colour but a pale ballet-slipper shade, always cut in an oval shape which complimented the gold ring on her middle finger, a staple jewellery she has worn since the beginning of time.

She did not ask what he was doing, all alone, in a place as luxurious as this, or why he now had decided to keep his facial hair. Bloom simply looped the silk fabric around Matt’s neck like it was any other Wednesday afternoon back in high school, the familiar scent of her berry hand cream wafting around Matt’s nose which brought back the memories that he did not deserve to remember.

When she was finally done, smoothing out the lapels of his black blazer and neat white collar, Bloom gently tapped Matt’s shoulder and stood smiling proudly at her work, “There you go. Half Windsor, The Classic Matt, just how you always liked it.”

Matt swallowed hard, “You remember that?”

Bloom finally looked up at him, and he hated just how much of her that he could still recognise with his eyes and ears closed. She was always the quiet kind, speaks only when spoken to and independent. The type who never needed much, except for maybe the one thing that he never gave her.

A choice.

“I remember a lot of things. You’re good to go,” she replied, the bitterness still not leaving the inflection in her voice.

He felt guilty upon hearing the timbre, “Bloom…”

“I know I should’ve called,” Matt hesitated, “Back then.”

A shrug was given in reply, “We were seventeen. Forget it. You don’t owe me forever,” her voice slightly raised at the last word, hurt now dominating her anger and pettiness.

Matt simply stood in between the doorway, far enough to now only smell the fresh laundry scent which clung on her work clothes, with the silver tie looped in a clean and neat knot breaking the clash of monotone colours of his outfit. Bloom took a step back further away from him, her hands now on the cart, ready to go.

“You’ll look great out there. You always did,” she huffed, reaching for the door handle, “I’m happy you finally found the perfect crowd.”

And then she left. No lingering glance, no second take and certainly no exchange of phone numbers and promises. Just the quiet click of the door where it lacked the habitual embrace and kiss on the forehead, cheeks and lastly, lips.

Just when the door was closed, Matt returned back to face his reflection on the full-length mirror, where the Half Windsor now sat clean against his upper body. Tight and neat. Hand hesitant to touch the knot as he could feel the knot in his chest tighten, too.

[ask-indigo-park-swapped]

WELCOME TO INDIGO PARK SWAPPED AU

what if indigo park was a fantasy rpg and also i swapped everyones roles? let's re-meet everyone in this new exciting alternate universe!

Mollie Macaw :: the protagonist! daring explorer, journeying from land to land in a neverending adventure! she tinkers with model planes in her downtime.

Rambley the Raccoon :: a helping hand! he runs the railways between locations and always knows a bit about everything! he's no expert though, just knows enough to get by. he bakes in his free time.

Ranger Lloyd :: terrain expert! he knows everything there is in navigating safely through any environment, and is always willing to help travellers along the way! not knowledgable on much else though. He knits in his free time - Mollie's scarf was made by him!

Salem the Showstar :: shopkeeper and narrator! always inexplicably there, in the thick of things. their helpful commentary on everything may even provide hints to a puzzle, another path through, and even upcoming challenges! They mix drinks in their free time - always keep an eye out if theyre selling anything useful!

Serpent of the Deep :: main antagonist! an odd mystery, but generally harmless. he always lurks around, looking for pretty treasure to collect - be careful that he doesnt collect you!

these characters are now open for asks! talk with them as they solve puzzles, delve deep into old ruins, and explore a vast fantasy world!

[Current Arc: Pre-game (Tethered Isles Exploration)]

[Mollie is the only one currently available for asks asks currently closed because college. please check back in after christmas]

[Want to read through the blog chronologically? With none of the out-of-story posts like reblogs or moderator chatting? You may now visit ask-indigo-park-swapped.tumblr.com/tagged/chrono/chrono for just that!! updates periodically]

[...? is that a curtain?] [peek behind it?]

<hello. im the guy behind the ask blog. you may call me mod pikachu.> <i'll pop up from time to time to pull back the curtain and explain things in an out of character/story way.>

[tttea1blog]

While this is not really related tttea1, I figured I would post it here with the sketches.

So this was based on a conversation with a friend about the transformers ttte designs, and I decided to have a go at it since I felt like they could be a bit better. And I ended doing some lore for it.

Is this more of a crack au? Yes.

Is it ment to be taken seriously? Nope XD.

So enjoy this little thing I did.

Beware this is long, and there may be some scary imagines ahead.

First our boy Thomas:

- He is a pretty average, but slightly smaller tank engine compared to the rest of his E2 class.

- But like his brothers and sisters before him, his he has an axe for a main wepon and generally is skilled with handling wepons.

- His personality is overall the same to the normal series.

And here is the sketch:

Ok now our red boi:

- James is a mixed traffic, tender engine. Not one of the large engines of course, but he likes to act like one.

- His wepon was not ment for him originally, but it was gifted to him to try and give him some "power", also if James swings it too hard he will swing himself in circles due to how comically big the mallet is.

- His personality is overall the same, however he is a bit more like his Magic of Railroad counterpart.

And here is the sketch:

Allright, now the Green Caterpillar:

- Percy is... Actually... No one knows what Percy exactly is, he is kinda a mixed of multiple classes, all that's known is that he is a saddle tank.

- So Percy doesn't really have wepons, since he is more hand to hand combat, sometimes he does carry around a gun just in case.

- His personality is more like his railway series one, with hints of the model series in it. Don't call him dirty Percy.

And here's the sketch:

Alright let's get to our wise old iron:

- Edward is also a mixed traffic, tender engine, a bit of a smaller one, but is just as powerful.

- Edward does a wepon, it is a gun that is on his right hand, yes, he technically has a buster thing.

- His personality is overall the same personality as his railway series and model series counterpart.

And here's the sketch:

Allrighty, let's do big G now:

- Gordon is a Doncaster tender engine, one of the big engines who does the heavy work and is the dear brother of Flying Scottsman.

- His wepon is a gun, a sniper to be accurate, though many don't know due to him not using it alot.

- His personality is very much like his model series counterpart, and I am pretty sure the picture alone speaks for itself.

And here's the sketch:

This is getting long so I will do the rest in another post.

[fragments-of-despair]

So thanks to justonegamr uploading a really good let's play, I got to watch the entire first chapter/prologue of Master Detective Archives: Rain Code. And I have some....thoughts. Nothing bad, really, just....some concerns.

I'll keep any spoilers under the cut and will tag this as "Master Detective Archives Spoilers", "Rain Code Spoilers" and "MDA:RC Spoilers", in case anyone wants to filter out tags.

With that one last warning, onto my thoughts.

To start: Positives!

Music: Once again, Masafumi Takeda is a Master Composer, and the soundtrack is one of the strongest he's put out so far. I enjoyed listening to the music and felt it did great at establishing the tone and I feel like it'll be the most memorable part of the game for many.

Art and Character Design: As with the music, the character designs by Rui Komatsuzaki is spot on as always and every single character looks fantastic. And the designs translated pretty well into 3D. For anyone who had worries given how UDG's models look in 3D, rest assured, everyone looks great in the Unreal Engine. On top of that, the setting is very vibrant and interesting, despite it all being mostly in one location for a good amount of the opening chapter. The Mystery Labyrinth is very colorful and creative and it was fun seeing Yuma explore. Shimadoriru did excellent work and I'm excited to see more of his art in the setting of Kanai Ward.

Player Character/Protagonist: I WOULD DIE FOR YUMA KOKOHEAD. I adore this little guy and I find him to be quite entertaining. If Wato Hojo from Process of Elimination is what would happen if you fused Hajime and Shuichi, then Yuma Kokohead is what you'd get if you mixed Makoto and Shuichi (or if you want to imagine a Naegiri child, that is also an apt description of Yuma so far). He seems to have an ability to let him feel when someone is using their Forensic Forte, almost like some kind of magical physical empathy.

I want nothing but good things for him. Protect Yuma Kokohead.

The First Mystery: Without going into too much detail, the way the culprit of this first case managed to pull off the murders was rather clever. I have family that has been working railways for decades now, and we've been train fanatics for years, so the car switch trick was definitely clever. Not the first time this trick has been used in mysteries. In fact, I'd say it's a classic in train-centric murder mysteries. But Rain Code's example was really good in that not only was it clever for the murderer, but also was good to help establish more about our big bad and give hints to the difficulty of the enemies to follow. Overall, a solid mystery.

Now for the negatives. Or rather......concerns......Okay, a mix of both really.

Last chance to turn away before MAJOR SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Gameplay and User Interface: From what I've seen this game is not going to be friendly for those who have vision issues. There were points where I was finding it difficult to read and that affected my ability to enjoy the investigative portions. And I'm watching on a small flatscreen TV I use as a computer monitor. Playing this on small screens is going to be hard for some, which I don't think was really taken into account during development. Aesthetically it looks fantastic, but unless you got really good vision or some super strong glasses, you'll probably have as hard a time as I did. (this will be especially hard in the Pirate Pop Up minigame that seems to be replacing Hangman's Gambit. We truly cannot avoid that game being hell, can we?).

Also, there were parts where, as I was watching, it looked like there might be issues regarding whether or not the controls will read properly. It looked like justonegamr should have managed to dodge some things but in the end, the game read that they didn't. I imagine a lot of it has to do with the font and the size of the hit box. Just know that if this was an issue for you in UDG, it might be a minor problem in Rain Code as well.

Also, there were points during the game that I thought that the concept of the Mystery Labyrinth was....for lack of better words, it felt very gratuitous at points. I think the story is trying to set up something with them, so I'll hold my full thoughts off until then, but with what we're presented with so far, it's pretty much coming off as "What if we took the trials of Danganronpa and made it a Persona 5 dungeon", and it isn't really working for me.

Oh yeah, Climax Reasoning is back. Forgot to mention that. It's....fine? I guess? I think it leans too far in the aesthetics and had trouble reading most of the questions and hints personally. It's kind of hard to top the Climax Reasoning from Goodbye Despair and V3......

The Rest of the Cast and Overall Story: Oh boy. This one is going to be a doozy.

I just want to say, before we go on, that what I am about to say is my personal thoughts and if you do not agree, no hard feelings. It's just my own personal silly little opinion and you're free to disregard it.

With that being said, I am severely disappointed in how Five of the Master Detectives that were advertised were treated.

I hope no one here were fans of Pucci, Zange, Melami, Zilch, or Aphex based on their designs, Character Profiles, and Forensic Fortes. Because they're all dead.

That's right. FIVE of our detectives are dead right now. What had happened was, Amataratsu Corp. hired a hitman to kill the detectives. And that hitman was Zilch. Or rather, someone disguised as Zilch. Or maybe it was Zilch. See, the explanation we're given is that there was a Master Detective named Zilch, but that he was killed before the others and his identity was stolen, while his body is stored on the train somewhere. The Imposter Zilch then drugged everyone, killed Pucci, Melami, Zenge, and Aphex by burning them to death, and then used Aphex's body to help fake his own death, before hiding in the control room in a blind spot and framing Yuma for the crime. The train car swap was done using a split track and a tunnel as well as leaving a car behind at one station (it was supposed to be five cars long but was four for the trip to pull off the trick), and having another prepared at the end point. The real Zilch is supposed to be on the car that was left behind on at the station.

But according to Shinigami, completing the Mystery Labyrinth and letting her reap the culprit's soul there kills the culprit. And the culprit looked like too much Zilch to make me believe it wasn't. Shouldn't it have looked more like the actual character? Or perhaps be similar to the Grey Man we see in the Climax Reasoning if they wanted to keep it more vague?

Also, throughout the prologue up until their deaths, it really felt like they were building up these detectives to be interesting acquaintances to Yuma, and I was looking forward to seeing how they'd all work together and grow. Aphex actually ended up being my favorite of the five because what little interactions we got were that impactful to me. So you can imagine my surprise to find all these detectives not only dead, but that Zilch (my second favorite) wasn't even the real Zilch. I wasn't shocked like I was when playing Danganronpa or going through Process of Elimination and finding these characters dead. I was left feeling hollow, frustrated, but mostly, I was disappointed. The hype around these characters and their talents was enough to get me hooked, and what little we got made me want more. But now we're not going to get anything. It's like being given a taste sample at Cold Stone only to be told that the ice cream you were offered was just taken off the menu by corporate and they're not allowed to serve it to you anymore. This is going to make a lot of people put down the game I think if they were hoping to investigate with any of those five and experience their Fortes in more interesting and dynamic cases, and I wouldn't blame them. If they bring them back somehow, it'll have to be pretty damn convincing because as things are now, they can't without making it feel like an asspull.

And as for Shinigami.......

I'm so sorry everyone, but I just cannot get behind her right now. She's a lot like if you fused Junko, Genocide Jack, and Ibuki in terms of personality, for lack of better ways to describe her. It was those three I was thinking of whenever she spoke or was on screen. But there's a reason characters like Ibuki, Jack, and Junko work, and a lot of that is moderation and balance. They're used moderately, balanced with the rest of the cast or with the character they're primarily spending time with. But since for most of the chapter she's your primary partner, that moderation isn't there. And there were so, so, SO many times I just wanted to hit her. I'm sure she's going to have a lot of fans, and there were parts about her that I enjoyed (usually when her behavior was more toned down and when she was not using Yuma's pain as humor), I know a lot of her actions are due to the mystery of the contract she made with Yuma and that will be revealed in time, but there were times where I wanted Yuma to just tell her to stop. And her talk about death and despair...... Yeah, as a Danganronpa fan, that's setting off a LOT of alarm bells. (I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this did turn out to secretly be a Danganronpa game given how she's being written so far).

If her overall character becomes more balanced or goes through well written growth, then my opinion will probably change, but as is, she's on the bottom of my list of characters I'm enjoying from this game.

Also, Yakou Furio is..... there. So yeah.

FINAL THOUGHTS (so far):

Between the characters we lost and the ones we still have and the rules of the Mystery Labyrinth, I'm really concerned about how the overall story is going to go. The game has a lot to do to earn back my trust after what happened to the first five detectives we met, and the writing is definitely going to need to pick up in ways that'll hook on the players who might consider putting this down after Chapter 0. The UI could have been better implemented and more accessable, and the future Labyrinths will need to really do something to justify their need to be included in the narrative going forward.

But the character designs, art, music, and Yuma alone make this game worth at least watching playthroughs of. And I do want to see Yuma's continued growth with the remaining detectives.

If you're a die-hard Danganronpa fan who just wants to have every part of Danganronpa Team's works in your collection, this game is worth a place there, I think. The Soundtrack especially is worth the price of the base game imo.

But if you're debating if you'll enjoy this game overall, I'd suggest waiting a couple of weeks for a more solid consensus before investing $60-$100.

As for Kakera's thoughts? Overall, I'm not mad. Just confused and disappointed.

[lhs3020b]

Technology in Faerun

This is a) an extremely "me"-ish post, b) one you basically have to be me to care about and c) also EXTREMELY spoilery, especially for Act III of Baldur's Gate 3.

Still, this is a topic I've been thinking about, and you're reading my Tumblr (so sorry!), so here we go...

On the one hand, the tech level in BG3 does seem to be oriented more around "rule of cool" than anything else. But on the other, there are some interesting little details, and perhaps (while it's subtle) a hint or two in-game of a scenario that fits it all together.

First of all, for maximum whiplash, should you get into the prison underneath the House of Hope, you'll have a complex battle involving magic, bladed weapons, bows and so on ... and in the background you can watch the Saturn V-style rocket motors that hold the whole complex up in the air over Avernus. No, really, you literally can. Here's a relevant screenshot:

It even looks like the Saturn V engine, you know?

(Apparently Raphael - or perhaps Hope - has done some really interesting work on in-flight stability and fuel injection; the House of Hope has remarkably-minimal turbulence and there's no hint of any kind of asymetrical thrust issues. Anyway.)

Across most of the game, the technology level seems to be vaguely late-medieval/early-Renaissance, though with a few interesting oddities. (I can't recall seeing a single horse anywhere in the game - which, interestingly, may also explain why the lance is a weapon-class that's not present.)

The first hint that this wasn't the entire situation came in, of all places, the hospital in Reithwin. You find an elevator there that's strongly-implied to be electric. It's located in an area where the shadow curse is strong enough to put fires out, which also would presumably prevent steam-driven systems, but it still works, and it even has glowing lights on it. Also, and I guess this is the money shot, if you look closely, the machinery emits sparks when it's in motion. Like badly-maintained electrics might. Also, inside the operating theatre, if you look carefully on top of some of the bookcases, there are things that look remarkably-similar to early, crude electric filament lamps. Granted they might not be that - none of them are operational, anyway - but, it's an interesting possibility.

But there's more. If you explore far enough in the Underdark, you'll find an abandoned wizard's tower. In the basement, there's a machine canonically-called a generator; feed it sussur blossoms and it powers up the whole building. You actually get treated to a cutscene of all the lights coming on and the elevator waking up. You can also find a note in the building referring to the work of one of its former occupants, and their "lightning inventions".

Well. Lightning. There we have it - they canonically do have electricity at least in a few places in Faerun. The means by which it's generated, at least at the tower, in interesting. It's not quite spelt out, but the most notable property of the sussur tree is its anti-magic field, so this kind of implies that the generator is somehow using this to produce electricity. (It also implies a connection between electromagnetism and magic - Faerun's physics model must be "fun"!) Elsewhere in the Underdark there's also something that looks suspiciously like a railway line, albeit one that's inoperative. Later on, if you explore far enough into the Underdark, you'll find the Grymforge, which while obviously at least partly-magical in character, is also clearly a rather-advanced piece of machinery.

The biggest surprises, though, come in Baldur's Gate itself.

Inside the Steel Watcher factory, you find things like this:

Wiring, pipes, cybernetics, glowing bulbs, spinny vaguely-dynamo-ish things ... while the vibe is all "dark and Satanic mills", it's also kind of turn-of-the-20th-Century too. This isn't medieval technology here. This is stuff that's not so far removed from what we use.

And interestingly, it's not just restricted entirely to this location, either. If you find your way into the Counting House vaults, you can find a note warning against using "devices powered by bottled lightning" inside the main vault, due to flooding. Bottled lightning - OK, so the bank apparently has power too! But then, the alarm systems in the main area do look suspiciously-electrical in some ways ... now, if only they could get their plumbing sorted out!

However, the pockets of semi-modern technology do seem to be quite localised. Most of what there is seems to be either highly-experimental (a powerful wizard's personal science project) or associated with powerful and wealthy institutions in the big city. And even there, the most advanced systems seem to be associated with the Gondians and their work. There also seems to be a suggestion that these innovations are quite new, and there doesn't seem to be have been many attempts to scale or mass-produce the equipment. The one exception to this pattern might be Reithwin, but the game strongly suggests that pre-curse Reithwin was a prosperous place, and on a main trade route to Baldur's Gate too, so it's entirely-plausible that the local elite might have been able to benefit from new ideas in the metropole. Perhaps the House of Healing in Reithwin was able to acquire a few very early prototypes from the Gondians' workshops, just before the curse fell? That could explain the elevator, and what I suspect are filament lamps?

As for the lack of wider advancement in Baldur's Gate itself, honestly I think we can pin the blame for this one directly on the city's horrifyingly-toxic politics. Gortash is a devotee of the God of Tyranny, so of course he doesn't want to share his toys. The city is allowed to have just enough advanced industry to support his plans for his dictatorship, but of course he's not going to share that power with the wider population! (The Counting House is presumably a special case for this rule - I wouldn't be surprised if there's quite a complex dynamic of power-balancing between Gortash and the financiers, but it is in his interests to share some things with "the money", if you will.)

Lastly, another factor might be that most of the actual R&D work seems to be happening either with the followers of specific gods - such as Gond! - or various wizards. What we see of their world is rather mixed - many wizards are awful (hi, Lorroakan!), though there are exceptions too (overall Rolan is, ultimately, a decent person). They don't seem to tend to work together, and as far as I've seen, there doesn't seem to be any equivalent of a university system or public education system. If a wizard dies, it seems quite possible their research might die with them, which is surely going to put a crimp on development! Meanwhile, with regards to the more "industrially-minded" gods like Gond, who knows how willing they are for their devotees to share their work widely? (Let's face it, a lot of Faerun's deities kinda suck - Gale has a point when he warns against seeking divine intervention, I think.)

Anyway, food for thought...

[mjalford98]

I'm still slowly working my way through editing all the still images, from Warley at Statfold, but just by way of a hint of what's currently going through the sausage machine, here's the three photos I took of the model that was probably my greatest reason for going - a static display model of Brunel's experimental atmospheric railway. This used steam power to pump air out of a tube running between the rails, into which was inserted a piston connected to the train through a slot sealed off by continuous valves. The piston which would be pushed along by the difference in air pressure, pulling the train along. Unfortunately, however, the system's underpowered specifications, combined with continual malfunctioning of the continuous valve system led to the mechanism benig abandoned. It does, however, illustrate the incredible ingenuity and innovation of the 19th century, even if some if not many innovations ultimately proved impractical, not entirely unlike some of the crazy ideas we see floating around the tech space nowadays.

[swirlingdisobedience]

Multi-disciplinary Site-Specific references

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Brooke Bond Taj Mahal tea has created the installation called the "Megh Santoor" at the Vijayawada Railway station. The huge Santoor, which is 150 ft wide, has been designed such that with every rain shower, the water interacts with the santoor strings recreated on the billboard to present a rendition of the Raag Megh Malhar, the raag of the rains, -a tipical Indian classical music piece. Legends say that this raga has the power to bring out rains in the area where it is sung.

Taj Mahal Tea from Brookebond is a well known brand of Tea in India. 

Nike - Advertisement for a London-specific campaign.

Saint Laurent - Desert Runway women's summer collection 2021.

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https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/alexander-mcqueen-1)

HIGHLINE New York.

The High Line is both a nonprofit organization and a public park on the West Side of Manhattan. Through our work with communities on and off the High Line, we’re devoted to reimagining the role public spaces have in creating connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities.

Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through gardens, view art, experience a performance, savor delicious food, or connect with friends and neighbors-all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City.

Nearly 100% of our annual budget comes through donations from people like you, who help us operate, maintain, and program the park.

The High Line is owned by the City of New York and we operate under a license agreement with NYC Parks.

History

Believe it or not, the High Line was once destined for demolition. Luckily, the community rallied together to repurpose it instead, creating the park you see today, for everyone to enjoy. It has since become a global inspiration for cities to transform unused industrial zones into dynamic public spaces.

https://www.thehighline.org/history/

1999

In the decades of disuse, many people were calling the High Line an ugly eyesore (Mayor Giuliani signed a demolition order, one of his last acts in office). But few of these critics saw what had secretly taken over the structure: a thriving garden of wild plants. Inspired by the beauty of this hidden landscape, Joshua David and Robert Hammond founded Friends of the High Line, a non-profit conservancy, to advocate for its preservation and reuse as a public space. Friends of the High Line remains the sole group responsible for maintenance and operation of the High Line (and is funded by supporters just like you).

Trampoline House - Documenta 15 underpass.

Trampoline House’s contribution to documenta fifteen, Castle in Kassel, hints at the physical and metaphorical representation of territorial power and the exercise of ownership. Physically, the “castle” is a territory marked by a circle of chalk on the floor. Inside the circle, there is a public program of performances, debates, and screening of artworks that puts into perspective the Danish asylum system and attitudes towards refugees and migrants. The participants of a theater workshop with asylum-seekers, rejected asylum-seekers, and refugee youth write and perform sketches about life in the Danish asylum system. A creative writing workshop facilitated by Jean Claude Mangomba examines the criminalization of asylum seekers and a retracing of the rights lost in an unjust and discriminatory system.

Castle in Kassel is not merely site-specific. With its walls easily erased, the castle presents its own antidote to a discriminatory system, tied together through live streaming and documentation to convey Trampoline House’s vital role.

Located in the underpass at Platz der Deutschen Einheit, The Walls Have Ears is a hidden sound installation by Sudanese Artist Khalid Albaih from Trampoline House that consists of hidden speakers placed in random locations along the tunnel telling stories of asylum seekers in Denmark.

Trampoline House was formed in 2010 by a group of artists, curators, refugee rights advocates, and asylum seekers as an antidote to Denmark’s asylum, refugee, and immigration policies.

Balenciaga chips wallet:

$1,800 chip bag wallet. 

Balenciaga: Runway shows

Hito Steryl MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: BELANCIEGE

The video installation MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: BELANCIEGE presented at Trafó Gallery reveals similar ’invasions’ of history and emphasizes their cyclical nature by turning towards the processes of economic and political realignment that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall, and by featuring examples that target our hyper-contemporary world armed with trend analysis, data mining, political advertising and audience targeting. The video installation is co-created by Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze, Hito Steyerl and Miloš Trakilović and is based on their lecture in 2019 at n.b.k. - Neuer Berliner Kunstverein. Almost 30 years to the day after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the lecture reflects on post-1989 transformations and political rearrangements in the former Soviet territories, sheds light on the interconnections between culture and populism, and examines in a broader context the mechanisms of oligarchic-capitalist culture that emerged during the 'privatisation' of the former Eastern bloc. The luxury fashion brand Balenciaga acts as a starting point for the artists’ reflections on politics, culture and populism, and reveals connections between trends, social media and political processes, such as the success of alt-right movements, the manipulation of the US presidential elections that enabled Donald Trump's victory, or the rise of populist and neoliberal politics in the countries of the former Eastern bloc.

Posters "Picó" Cartagena, Colombia.

En medio del calor tropical, y el mar caribe existe un fenómeno musical, en el cual gira toda una cultura: Los pick ups. Estos no se promocionan con afiches impresos ni con litografías, sino con afiches artesanales; diseños hechos a mano por los artistas de Bazurto. Se han convertido en un símbolo de patrimonio cultural del Caribe.

El mercado de Bazurto en Cartagena, es el templo en donde reside el alma de la champeta. Allí, en pleno corazón, encontramos al maestro de los Carteles Picoteros: José Corredor Rodelo alias “El Runner”.

Pocas veces se tiene la oportunidad de ver personificada la tan conocida manera de trabajar de las hormigas. Día tras día, el Mercado de Bazurto en Cartagena alberga a un artista de la gráfica popular y sus discípulos, vivo ejemplo de trabajo arduo, disciplinado, organizado y en equipo.

El “Runner”, desde las épocas de colegio cuando, su maestro de idiomas decidió apodarlo de ese modo, hoy con 50 años de edad y sin ninguna agencia publicitaria tiene a su cargo la mayor Empresa (informal) de carteles populares de la Heróica.

[project1939]

200 Films of 1952

Film number 169: Denver and Rio Grande

Release date: May 16th, 1952 

Studio: Paramount 

Genre: western 

Director: Byron Haskin 

Producer: Nat Holt, Harry Templeton 

Actors: Edmond O’Brien, Sterling Hayden, Kasey Rogers

Plot Summary: In 1870 as work begins on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, a rival group, led by McCabe, hopes to complete their own railway in the same area. McCabe is willing to resort to any means, including deadly violence, to sabotage the D & RG. Jim Vesser, one of the D & RG’s head men, fights back with his own extra-legal plan. 

My Rating (out of five stars): *** 

Although there is nothing spectacular about this film, I did find myself engrossed in it all the way through. I’m a big dork who has always found the history of building railroads and telegraph lines in early 19th century America kind of thrilling. In just a few years it totally transformed a country it was believed would take hundreds of years to populate. I also wanted to watch it because I love Sterling Hayden. Overall, it’s not a bad way to spend 90 minutes, even if it’s no cinematic masterpiece. (some spoilers)

The Good 

Kasey Rogers! She was the revelation of the film for me. She took a role that could’ve been boring and thankless and elevated it to one of the most interesting. I was really impressed with her acting. Reading about her in real life only increased my affection for her. She was on Bewitched in the 1960s, she was pretty liberal, and she wrote several books. Most badass of all, she got interested in Motocross racing in the 1970s and worked at getting more women into the sport! She helped establish the first association for a women’s pro-league! I found a new love! 

Sterling Hayden as a bad guy. I like him a lot as an actor, but he was so good at making me hate him in this! The gross fuzzy beard he wore definitely helped though! 

Edmond O’Brien. He was effective as a tough frontier dude- he really looked the part. He’s so much of a man’s man, I didn’t find him all that attractive personally, but I think a pretty boy type wouldn’t have worked as well in the role. 

I liked the hint of the romance that happened in it. We saw no kiss or direct evidence of it beyond a little flirting. A slight arm around the waist was more emotionally stirring than a smooch would have been. 

The story was interesting and filled with constant back and forth combat. There were several impressive explosions, and I’m not someone who’s really into that stuff. The movie didn’t give you time to get bored, even if you could fairly easily predict the final outcome. 

The use of real trains was also impressive. Most of them did not appear to be models. 

There was also a lot of nice location footage. 

Technicolor always looks better inside a studio than outdoors, but I thought it looked quite good here. 

The Bad: 

The “good guy” “bad guy” stuff was a little too simplistic at times. There weren’t many grey areas to add complexity.  

It wasn’t too difficult to predict how everything would turn out in the end. 

There were sooo many gunfights! Yes, I know it’s a western, and gun flights are obligatory, but I got pretty bored with them after a while. 

All the extra-legal stuff! It was brought up several times that Vesser should wait to let the law handle things rather than become a billboard for vigilante justice. I kept hoping the film wouldn’t reward him or glorify him for maneuvering outside the law. It did reward him, unsurprisingly. Worst of all, the Sheriff tried to give him some legal repercussions at the end, but when the General in charge of the whole project said, “You’ll have to arrest me too,” the Sherriff totally backed down. So not only did vigilante justice win in the end, it won by proving the law is less important the more power you have. That’s certainly true in real life, but I didn’t like that it was portrayed as a positive thing in this movie! 

The comedy relief characters fell flat to me. I like Zasu Pitts, but her escapades with the Irish engineer made me cringe instead of laugh. 

Re: the movie poster, who was Laura Elliot? Shouldn't the name Kasey Rogers have been there? Wait, I just figured it out- Rogers was billed under the stage name Laura Elliot earlier in her career. Huh.

[agbpaints]

Actually of my 3 unified paint scheme forces, two are my Cappies and Kuritans. This won't be for a canon group, though. I'll give you a hint- I'm a bit early because I'll be traveling in a little bit but the timing's relevant.

The basing material is some sand with some gravel for doing model railway scenery glued on!

Do I have a huge Mercs KS order on its way as I post? Yes. Did I buy the IS Fire Lance for an upcoming Project? Also yes.

[trainsinanime]

Possibly relevant for people in Hamburg, Germany: The Miniatur Wunderland, the biggest model railway in the world, is offering free entry on select days in January for people who can't afford it.

To use it, go to the cash register and say "I can't afford it" (or write it on a piece of paper or make it known in other ways), and you will get free entry. There are no conditions or verifications, they will simply trust you. The only problem is that there can be long wait times because this attraction is always very busy; their homepage gives hints on when the wait times should be the lowest.

You can find more information here in English:

And here in German:

[roselightfairy]

If you're still doing fic recs, do you have any favorite AUs?

Oh, do I!! This is an EXCELLENT prompt, and I’ve had a lot of fun compiling this list tonight. I’ve ended up grouping it into two different sections: modern AU (because there are a lot of those!) and “other,” which are…non-modern AU, haha. For the most part I’ve left out UA (universe alteration, in which the universe is the same but something about the story changes), because I can’t think of any of those right now – but I know there are some really good ones of that as well!

So:

Modern:

like, comment, subscribe by DeHeerKonijn

Summary: A collection of fics that take place in my modern ‘verse, wherein Minas Tirith is a bustling city, Gimli is a professor at the university, and Legolas is a model-slash-influencer-slash-layabout.

…

Come on, you all knew this was going to be first on the list. The amount of worldbuilding @deheerkonijn has put into this series is absolutely breathtaking, and what you see on Tumblr is probably only the half of it. (Go stalk her Twitter, even if you don’t have a profile – I do it all the time!) This series is all she’s written for it so far, plus the fic that we cowrote about the OC roommates. But aside from that, the series has a whole assortment of always sexy, always funny, always sweet stories about Legolas and Gimli; go read them all!

No Place Like HoME by Flamebyrd

Summary: In which our heroes play a MMORPG called Heroes of Middle-Earth.

…

THIS IS SO GOOD. I love this premise so much, haha – Legolas and Gimli are just regular humans (with regular names, even!) and a rivalry they don’t even know about – but it turns out they’ve been playing each other in a game for quite awhile! It’s cute, fun, and creative, and I wish there were more.

life’s just a game (and it’s just your turn) by plinys

Summary: Legolas and Gimli try to have phone sex (or well, headset sex) with some unforeseen consequences.

…

I ADORE that these two as gamers is a fic idea that exists more than once, and this one is so fluffy with just a hint of spice (and a hefty dose of embarrassment, haha, but they deserved it!). Read it and grin!

Hold My Number by katajainen

Summary: It's a Saturday night at the A&E, and Gimli only wants to get to the triage nurse and be done with this whole stupid business.

That is, until he meets a tall, dark stranger (a ridiculously pretty one).

…

I LOVE THIS FIC SO MUCH. The crowning glory of meet-cutes (though it’s more of a meet-ugly, really), in which Legolas and Gimli meet at the emergency room for very embarrassing reasons . . . and hit it off right away, in a way that is adorable, delightful, and funny to watch. Read for their embarrassing stories, their adorable dorkiness (they’re gamers again!), and their undeniable chemistry.

Perfect Fit by mssileas

Summary: "Both of them were painfully aware that their physical differences were shockingly obvious – much more so than their also very different personalities. And that they usually led people to assumptions they weren't shy of declaring."

Or, Legolas single-handedly disproves all prejudice, and Gimli loves it.

…

This is a lovely (and smutty, so be warned) modern AU oneshot that challenges the stereotypes of these two based on how they look – and how they would probably be treated, if they were a couple in our world. If you’re interested in the modern AU premise but not the smut, there’s another oneshot set in this ‘verse, Christmas Body, that is mostly just fluff!

Other (non-modern):

The Earth Moves Under Our Feet (It’s A Loco Motion) by notanightlight

Summary: The West is still Wild. Gimli is working on the railway, Legolas is a gunslinger, and someone needs to turn this train around.

…

WILD WEST AU WILD WEST AU!! This story is one of my favorite things ever because it’s a WILD WEST AU and Gimli is an Irish immigrant and Legolas is an outlaw and they meet in a near-death situation and bond! It has wonderful worldbuilding, excellent banter, and little moments of flirting that almost hide below the surface of the aforementioned near-death situation, but not quite. ;) Please go read it, or listen to the amazing accompanying podfic by Morvidra, which is an astounding performance.

Nothing Doth Fade (But Suffers a Sea-Change) by notanightlight

Summary: Gimli has always heard stories about the seals that lived near the cliffs of Castle Durin. “They aren’t what they seem,” they’d tell him. Gimli never knew what to think of those stories, until the night he met a stranger on the shore, with the sea in his eyes and moonlight on his skin.

…

@notanightlight has too many amazing AUs to list them all here, but I have to give a shout-out to this one because SELKIES but also ANGST and SORROW and BETRAYAL but FORGIVENESS and HOPE and – I don’t know. It plays with a common and really sad trope, but gives our characters a way through that is hard and painful, but worth it, in the end – a story in which everything is not all okay, but in which that doesn’t have to be the end, if everyone is willing to work. Plus, Thranduil makes an appearance and he is magnificent.

Wild Hunt by consumptive_sphinx

Summary: There’s a knock on the door.

It isn’t quite dusk; it isn’t too dangerous yet. But still, it’s late to be out on Midwinter’s Night. What if he was held up somewhere?

Legolas takes a nail with him when he opens the door. “Gimli. It’s late.”

…

Fae AU!! consumptive_sphinx has many wonderful AUs and you should check out their whole profile, but I had to give this one a shout-out. It’s mysterious and tender and packs a whole lot of story between the lines of its 917 words and made me yearn for more!

The Monstrous Fellowship by IchijouKenichiro

Summary: Astrin's cousins Fíli and Kíli left to fight the forces of Mordor over two years ago, but there's been no word from them for the last six months. Being a woman of action and the one who always is there to get them out of trouble, Astrin disguises herself as the male warrior Gimli and joins the army to fight for them. But the regiment she joins is anything but typical. With troublesome hobbits, a religious fanatic, the undead, a golem, and even an elf, are the greatest dangers to come from her fellow man? And what secrets are they all holding onto?

A parody of Terry Prachett's "A Monstrous Regiment"

…

THIS IS NOT A DRILL. This is ACTUALLY a Monstrous Regiment rewrite of LOTR, with the Fellowship in the place of the Regiment, and the characters are – actually matched up really, really well. Full disclosure: I read this before I read Monstrous Regiment and went in fully prepared to ship Polly and Maladict… but it turns out they were extremely shippable anyway, so that turned out all right. ;) Seriously – this is an excellent fic, such a fun story, and such a good homage!

Aulë’s Gift by daisynorbury

Summary: "Our friendship endures these strange periods of inequality. You can't remember, and I can't forget."

A new chapter in Adina's classic Back to the Beginning cycle, wherein Aulë granted Gimli perpetual reincarnation. Two thousand years into the Fourth Age, Legolas meets the ninth version of his dearest friend. Told mostly from Gimli's amnesiac POV.

…

I don’t know if this story fully counts as an AU, but I’ve been longing to rec it for several lists and just – couldn’t ever quite find a category it fit into. AU is close enough, since even though the world is meant to be Middle-earth far in the future, it’s different enough to feel like another world. This is a reincarnation story of Legolas and Gimli set in the series referenced above (and recommended in a different list), and it deals with the extreme complication of the situation with so much sensitivity and grace that it rivets me. Even if I didn’t know @daisyfornost, it would be so obvious to me that an absolutely unbelievable amount of thought and care went into the worldbuilding, the writing, the creation of this story. It is such a labor of love, and that love is evident throughout the whole thing. Please go read it, but I warn you that you will have lots of feelings.

…

Thank you again for this amazing prompt, anon! Reminder to all that this is in no way a comprehensive list – I’m sure I’ve left out so many other wonderful stories. Please feel free to add your own, if you reblog this! And my usual reminder to please leave the author a comment if you read any of these and enjoy it. <3

[e-merge-2021]

₹105.25/L

The title indicates a price that has become a serious topic of discussion on the highest platforms of the country! Was certainly referring to the Prime-Time discussions on NEWS channels @9pm and not the Parliament. 105.25 rupees is the price the public pays to secure one litre of petrol for their daily commute in Bangalore. Given the fact that these prices are subject to change, 105.28 was one of the highest ever prices paid for a litre of Petrol in Bangalore and some other cities have it worse where the Petrol prices have touched as much as 110 rupees per litre. The common understanding here is that fuel prices have extremely soared up and the consumption for the same seems to be picking up heavily as the COVID norms have been relaxed in most of the states. The fact remains that the pollution levels associated with the fuel and their prices have gone up which is a big NO-NO situation for both the public and the environment. The government needs the revenue but it’s not very sustainable in the long run.

So, what’s the long-term alternative?

Sustainable and Renewable sources of energy!

Many international forums look at India to be a powerhouse for Renewable energy sources in the future for its geographical advantage and huge availability of resources like Labour, Demand for cheap energy and Barren Lands. The Indian government although has taken few initiatives to launch large scale Solar and Wind energy projects, still has not fully realised its potential. There are some mega projects like the Bhadla Solar Park project in Rajasthan that generates an estimated 2,250 MW of power and other projects like REWA Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh that supplies a small amount of electricity to the NCR (800 km away), mainly powering the DELHI METRO. There are many other such proposed plans all over the country but they seem to be taking a lot of time to take off. Fossil fuels are not just used for transportation but also used to power other secondary sources. Renewable energy sources cannot fully replace the use of Fossil fuels but can cut the usage of the same by a big margin.

The question here though is the large-scale implementation of Renewable energy projects that will cater to the mass-energy requirement from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, covering all four corners of the country!

Task at Hand:

You are the Project Development Head of a Special Energy Council under the NITI Aayog of the Indian Government and you are required to draft an extensive plan to increase the Renewable energy infrastructure in the country for the next 10 years.

Deliverables:

You are required to address the following areas:

1. Detailed explanation on:

· The Locations chosen and strategic reasons associated with it (must cover at least 3 different regions across the country)

· Type of Renewable energy Projects planned and the Break up on the amount of energy expected to be produced by these projects

2. Provide Strategies for/to:

· Create an effective implementation plan of EV Infrastructure in India as a result of the proposed projects

· 100% Electrification of the Indian Railways using the proposed plans (Hint- use the strategic locations chosen to facilitate the electrification process)

· Distribution Channels of the energy generated across the regions from the location of the projects (Do mention the uses of the energy generated too)

3. List the number of collaborations with State governments or Private Companies/Investors/ Countries/World bodies etc

4. Draft a Press release on the announcement of the project and the collaborations on behalf of the NITI AAYOG

5. Make 1 Print Ad promoting the Renewable energy project in any of your chosen locations

6. Mention the Workforce Allocation (workforce allocation can be in a small table)

7. Financials

· Financial budget with a detailed breakdown

· Return on investment in the next 10 years and Break-Even Analysis

· Revenue Model based on your strategies

· Profit and Loss Statement for the next 3 years

Submission Details:

A ppt of not more than 12 slides A report covering all the above topics

Email: emerge.eh.2021@gmail.com Subject & File Name: Team Name_Task Name

Note - Make a short report but cover all the topics and important points. Focus on your ppt. Research is key.

Deadline - 8:00am, 18th August 2021

For any queries, contact: Harish: +91 9916083725

[secretive3amramenmaker]

More Fire Force Opinions That Literally Nobody Asked For (pt.2)

Guess who finished the manga~ Guess who finished the manga~ This gal~ I’m surprised that my Fire Force rant/essay meta was so well received by the fandom, thank you guys so much!!! Anyways, today I’ll be discussing some a lot of my ideas, opinions, thoughts, future predictions, and commentary on moments from the Fire Force manga.

Warnings: Spoilers for future Fire Force Season Two arcs, and for the Fire Force manga. Read at your own discretion! Now that the warnings are over, onwards! ヽ(ヅ)ノ

(I’m actually trying to order my opinions via arcs, but I feel that this is really important, so I’m putting it first.) 

1. There are no iPhones in the Fire Force. 

This is so sad? My favourite characters don’t know the joy that is staying up late, scrolling through social media, watching YOUTUBE, having MEMES, KNOWING👏THE👏GREATNESS👏THAT👏IS👏VINES!!!

I’m slightly disappointed that Vulcan, who is literally named after the god of forging himself, who can make frickin’ HOLOGRAMS, didn’t bring back any of the pre-Catalysm technology to recreate, improve, or experiment with. As an expert engineer (I say this 0.2% seriously, with the two years of high school engineering course experience under my belt), I would’ve been interested to see what kind of gadgets Vulcan could whip up. *insert ‘Inspector Gadget theme song*

Please have this very sad Jigglypuff to show how sad this is.

2. Sister Iris and Religion in the Fire Force Storyline

In the beginning of the Fire Force series, I’ve accepted the fact that Iris' role as noncombatant, meant to act as the religious and public face of the Eighth Company. I think it is a fascinating role, because it allows the story to explore the idea of religion and belief in depth, which I was really looking forward to. I was excited how the author would handle Iris’ character, but I’m somewhat disappointed that it took so long for us to see Iris and other side characters like Maki and Tamaki become more fleshed out (I’m not counting Iris’ and Hibana’s backstory in Season 1. I felt that was more backstory to flesh out Hibana’s character rather than Iris’).

Throughout Fire Force’s story, some of the things I looked forward to the most were the religious elements, motifs, themes, and questions that are sprinkled throughout the story, one of my favourites being the portrayal of the dichotomy of religion. In Joker’s backstory, we see the darkness of the Holy Sol faith, and what happens when any religious belief is taken TOO far, without any regard for human life or rights. This idea of viewing humans as a collective, no regard for the individuality and feelings of a single person in the pursuit of faith is embodied by the captain of the Shadow of the Holy Sun, Joker’s former captain and abuser. However, we also get to see the goodness religion and belief can achieve in Iris’ mini arc, which focuses on Iris’ internal struggle as she struggles with her faith after being informed of the Evangelist’s part in the founding of the Holy Sol’s religion. Shinra and Huo Yan Li, the bucket hat 1st Brigade lieutenant (Seriously, which is the correct way to pronounce this guy’s name? Huo Yan Li?? Foien Li???) interaction in the Iris arc really summed up the arc and Iris’ character beautifully. Religion and belief gives people closure, hope, and strength to keep on moving forward. Seeing the anime adaption was an amazing experience. Fire Force’s animation was the reason I decided to watch it in the first place (before staying for the intriguing plot and religious side plot), but this particular episode?? Pure art. The colouring, ambience, storytelling? So good＼\ ٩( ᐛ )و /／

Like, the little detail of the burning nun in Iris’ eyes? (lmao sorry for the extra trauma, sweet child) *chef’s kiss*

The importance of belief is also hinted in the Asakusa arc, where all the district’s inhabitants believe in Benimaru, and expanded upon in later manga chapters, when we learn that Adolla is linked to humanity’s perception and beliefs about the world around them.

I would’ve liked Iris a lot more if we got to further explore her character and the affects of religion on others more deeply, perhaps see Iris visiting the Infernals’ families and loved ones, trying to help give closure through the nation’s (mostly) shared faith in Sol. They mentioned offhandedly in both anime and manga that Iris visits the deceased’s families, and I felt it would’ve given the deaths more significance and depth if we get screentime of how families are affected by the death of their loved ones. It would have also given the Holy Sol’s religion more depth and meaning if we saw believers of Sol’s actions due to their religion, (also giving more impact when we learn surprise surprise! The Holy Sol temple is founded by the Evangelist!) since belief without actions is just lip-service.

I would have also liked to see how Iris’ prayers affect others in the Eighth company. We do get to see this, 140+ CHAPTERS LATER in the mini Iris arc does Shinra (finally) mentions how Iris’ prayers helps him not lose sight of why he serves as a firefighter and kills Infernal. I’m glad that we got this scene, because better later than never, especially since Iris’ and Shinra’s discussion and overall the entire Iris mini arcs shows the power of prayer, but I would’ve like to have this topic discussed sooner.

2. Obi’s Sole Flaw

I think that Obi was an okay character, but they kind of pushed the boundary of his “normalcy” when we saw him topple pillars and rip railways out of the ground with “brute strength”. There are limits to the human body, it is fragile, and it doesn’t matter how much conditioning or “going beyond your limits” you do. People do experience boost of adrenaline, which is probably what the very anime-like titled “Pressure of Death” is based on, since life or death situations can heighten your performance and strength. However, I do understand that this IS shonen, and it isn’t meant to be realistic.

What made Obi’s sole flaw (and a physical flaw, at that!) was his “normalcy” while surrounded by more powerful individuals then he, and having to make up for something he can’t help by working twice as hard as everybody else. Now, although I was disappointed that Obi didn’t have any character/moral flaws, what made Obi’s character mediocre to me wasn’t the choice of Obi’s sole flaw. In fact, I could see how this could be an interesting character narrative IF WE LEARN MORE ABOUT OBI’S BACKSTORY, THEREFORE EXPLORING HIS CHARACTER MORE!!! (We only know Obi was a regular firefighter, being decorated twice, and then having his titles revoked for prioritizing the lives of citizens before becoming the captain of the Eighth.) No, what I didn’t like about Obi’s character is that we never see him STRUGGLE with his flaw, how others were born “superior” to him thanks to there invulnerability to flames, how he lives knowing one day he could just burst into flames. There’s SO many interesting things about Obi’s character, that could explained further, making him so much more interesting!!!

On the other hand, Obi’s character is a great role model for what a “normal” person can do (while jacked up on adrenaline, and when they manage to overcome flight reaction in fight or flight). He works hard, training to the best of his ability, doing what he CAN do, pushing his limits so that he can go above and beyond, overcoming the “Pressure of Death”, and staying true to his ideals, something very hard to do in a world where you might burst into flames at any given moment. I know that if I were to wake in a world where I could die any second (I mean, I could die tomorrow in Real Life™, but what are the chances of that?), I would definitely find myself struggling with my faith, and staying true to the morals I admire and was taught by my parents, especially if I was putting myself in danger despite of this weakness.

3. Asakusa Showdown Arc and Shinmon Hibachi

The Asakusa Showdown arc. Yes. Just yes. I-

It was amazing, periodt. The art, the overall aesthetic, the storytelling. *Cue violent fangirling* I took SOOOO many screenshots of the fight between Benimaru and Hibachi, I’m pretty sure my camera roll is 95% manga caps now. I love how the author actually gave a (fairly) valid reason for the cool Japanese aesthetic of this arc, in that Adolla is slowly gradually colliding with the Fire Force universe, causing people’s perception of the fight to seep into the universe. Overall? It. Was. Amazing. Albeit not my favourite arc, (that honour goes to the mini-Iris arc) I think that the Asakusa Showdown arc is easily in my Top 5 Fire Force arcs.

The Asakusa Showdown Arc mirroring and showing the ideals taught in the Mini Iris Arc was quite clever, though I’m not sure if this was purposefully done Okubo, or if I’m just scrabbling at crumbs.

In the Mini Iris arc, we see how religion and belief gives closure; a stark contrast to Asakusa with its proto-nationalist/atheist values. In THIS arc, centering around Asakusa and it’s proto-nationalist inhabitants, we see what happens when there isn’t enough effort to emphasize or give closure in what happened to Hibachi, and his subsequent death. 

Shinmon Hibachi, as the leader of the neighbourhood fire watch, understood the significance of killing Infernals; of taking somebody’s life. But because of the unwillingness to let others (i.e. the inhabitants of Asakusa, that one kid who stabs him) understand the weight of killing Infernals and gain closure through understanding the reasons behind his harsh actions, Hibachi shoulders the consequences of both his and the actions of his predecessors’ ALONE, therefore leading to his demise. 

The kid who stabbed Hibachi was still a CHILD, and children don’t always have a comprehensive understanding of death and the consequences of responsibility (no matter how much that kid believes he was ready to be an adult and support his mother).

3.5 Extra Worldbuilding Questions About Asakusa

I also have so many questions about Asakusa in general! How is Asakusa powered without being supported by Amaterasu, which is the country’s (and isn’t that mind boggling, that a whole country is supported by one power source with no backup source or other forms of energy/electricity, because of patriotic pride in a machine that might one day shut down, cough manga readers where u at?) I’m assuming that Asakusa mainly use coal, candles, and lamps for energy and lighting, since we did see one example of lighting in Asakusa (an ancient oil lamp), but I’m not sure if that would be sufficient to support a whole district of people. People were able to do that in the olden days, but back then there was a smaller concentration of people, and power necessary to support them.

Is Asakusa a district that is mostly atheist or polytheist? Do the inhabitants believe in no gods, not just the Sun god brought by the White Clads and Raffles I, including the Shinto or Buddhist gods from before the Catalysm, or do they believe in multiple gods/ancestor worship and they just don’t want to worship the Sun God like the rest of the Tokyo Empire because they’re unwilling to accept the new culture, immigrants and religion caused by Amaterasu, wanting to keep up the old Japanese traditions?

4. Arthur Deserves Better Parents 2k20 (Hint of Arthur’s Secret Ability?)

When Team Vulcan + Arthur found Arthur’s parents in the sewers Nether... Honestly, I don’t want to touch on them much, since I want to be (fairly) logical in my opinions on them, not letting my personal feelings twist my hypotheses for what may happen in the future of the Fire Force storyline.

Putting aside Arthur’s parents obvious neglect and bad parenting, I’m curious if Arthur's dad is actually a prophet or did he just get lucky with his delusions. Is this related to how Arthur can notice the difference between dopplegangers and real people? Perhaps because Arthur’s delusions of knighthood are so different from how he truly is (an abandoned child who deluded himself as a knight), therefore allowing him to notice the difference between dopplegangers and Adolla, as they are created by people’s perception of a subject.

5. Let Sho Be a Normal Kid at the End of the Show 2k20

Please let the small child be happy at the end of the manga. I mean, being raised by a cult underground isn’t exactly a Hallmarks childhood. For example, in the beginning of chapter 231, look at how Sho looks longingly at those kids on scooters and was so happy when he got a balloon from the firefighter mascots! (bruh, same balloons bring me so much joy)

I hope that in the end of the manga Okubo lets Sho, Shinra, and Eighth have some quality time. In one of the early arcs (with the first speaking demon, Minamoto?) Shinra saw some kids going to school wearing school uniforms, mentioning that if Sho was still alive, he’d be old enough to go to school. I’d be so sweet if at the end of the manga, Sho would have the chance to go to school, maybe the Fire Force academy (if it’s still running if by the end of the manga they’ve discovered the reason behind Human Combustion), makes friends and beat up anybody who badmouths the Eighth.

6. Cool Combat Medics!

I’d love to see more of the cool combat medics from the Sixth! We only saw the captain, Kayoko Huang, in action with her Asclepius staff pyrokinesis, which, might I add is a fascinating and terrifying ability. Think about it, she’s controlling CELLULAR DIVISION!!! She could start creating tumors in the bodies of her enemies! Could disintegrate people cellularly and no one would know, because fire snake, so no fingerprints!

Anyways, that is all I have right now. Thank you for reading my opinions about “Fire Force”, and for the nice response I got when I published my first opinion piece! Bruh, it took so long for me to edit this... 😔 I’m thinking of doing another meta going more in depth with my theory on Arthur and how he’s able to distinguish the difference between people and their dopplegangers, but that’s for another day. Feel free to discuss about your own ideas or thoughts in the chat, or tell me what you think! I promise I don’t bite. Have a wonderful day!

[slavmaedasaga]

Cracking “Journal of Slavmaeda” Enigma-encrypted text

EDIT: Do not reblog this post. If my interpretation of the rules is correct, it’s forbidden by the fanfic’s author.

Greetings. On September 7th, 2020, at 7:20 PM, CEST, @fieldofsunflowers8 found a piece of fanfiction titled “Journal of Slavmaeda” on Archive Of Our Own. As of September 8, 2020, 8:00 PM, CEST, the work has three chapters. The link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26341903?view_full_work=true

At the end of Chapter 1, it contains something coded in Enigma:

cqgwp zwgiz vdolj brhed eidnr pmbfg fssyf iqdgb mcjfi vvyzd bkqcr quvca grbqe pqdnc nwiir wyrbc fxbuo qzzpu cbrkf mprlh mqhin jimiw okrzk kgedj jeats tsxyt jpnzw swzrw iimdg iku

As of August 8th, 2020, 8:02 PM CEST, the meaning of the message is unknown.

Some words were italicized in the text:

enigma, machine,  Kirigiri Jin, Momota Kaito, like Komaeda Nagito, blood, Kuzuryu,  too, Owari, like, 3,  Komaeda Nagito, chest

Based on “enigma” and “machine” we deduced that the text is coded in Enigma, while with “Kirigiri Jin” and “Momota Kaito” we deduced that the model is most likely Railway Enigma “Rocket I”.

Other than that, our ideas were not enough to decrypt the text.

We got some hints in the second chapter:

Too is a homophone.

Rocket is correct.

You are misinterpreting the word like.

I wish you luck. [Note: in the fanfic, the word was underlined, however, I cannot see this option on Tumblr.]

I should note that we were interpreting the word “like” as indicating similarity, rather than fondness.

Our attempts still are not enough to solve this.

Later, the third chapter was posted, and provided us with a word scramble:

otSua, siTiumk, a dnlbeo oewsh tlsa mnea gesnib ihwt S.

[Translation: Satou, Tsumiki, a blonde whose last name begins with S.]

The three names refer to characters related to “Twilight Syndrome Murder Case”. “A blonde whose name begins with S” refers to Saionji Hiyoko. 

I should note that other characters involved in it include Koizumi Mahiru, Kuzuryu siblings - Fuyuhiko and Natsumi, and Mioda Ibuki.

It was also noted:

“If decoded and interpreted correctly, a passing remark of mine may become the only evidence that is needed. Let it be only a last resort.“

I personally suspect the “passing remark” may be one of those three sentences:

I wish you luck.

V igorous it may be, but  I ’m sure it is not hard to discover. [Note: V and I are separated.]

A small breakdown or nothing at all.

And six sentences, out of which two are stated to be true:

All numbers are irrelevant to the rotors.

Like does not refer to Hinata’s chest size (91) or Hinata.

The blood type of Komaeda is the ring letter of rotor 1.

Kuzuryu and Owari are in italics to confuse you and are completely unrelated to the solution.

Kirigiri Jin and Momota Kaito are not both intended to figure out the enigma model. Only Kirigiri is.

Most of the positions and rings are by letter, but the third rotor is based on numbers.

I should note that there are fifteen possible combinations of true and false sentences.

It was also said that:

I will grant you a hint but at a price. You are figuring out what is true and what is a lie.

Glitter stated that she apparently is good at figuring out “truths and lies”, and pointed at those two sentences as true:

Kuzuryu and Owari are in italics to confuse you and are completely unrelated to the solution. 

Kirigiri Jin and Momota Kaito are not both intended to figure out the enigma model. Only Kirigiri is.

As of September 8th, 2020, 9:12 PM CEST, it is unknown if she was right. We also do not have any other clue than this.

---

Less than a minute after posting the latest update on our progression, I found that the fanfic updated:

The separated V and I were nothing more than mistakes from an undone clue. In that way, you could think of it like a cheat sheet. An answer to the lie puzzle.

In case you cannot understand, think of boots and connect the dots.

The word scramble results have no connection to Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. Koizumi Mahiru and Mioda Ibuki will not come into play. Neither will Tsumiki Mikan or Saionji Hiyoko.

I suspect the first statement means hints I and V are true, or, is the position and ring number of some rotor.

Statements I and V are:

All numbers are irrelevant to the rotors.

Kirigiri Jin and Momota Kaito are not both intended to figure out the enigma model. Only Kirigiri is.

As of September 8th, 2020, 9:20 PM CEST, I have no other ideas.

---

On September 9th, 2020, around 6-7:30 AM CEST, I have discovered that the fifth chapter was posted. It contained another message in Enigma:

zmyjn rdjxb ojbfm tejwm mfkng kfccm qsgtw rmynt spezc kepzf iiing pcjsi vqoqf aapdi gespd vdayg fkons tnlgr gtlmn zejlc hkvja azbbm adwfc hatdw oizje mveqa mncxd wnwev bodzu zsnjy atvbv opmow oev

This time, it was stated that the code was simpler. Also, more data was already provided:

The message is encoded in Enigma I. The rotors are all I.

Rotor I position and ring: Hot pink, purple, blue.

Rotor II position and ring: Yellow, white, purple, black.

Rotor III position and ring: Pink, white, purple, black, blue.

I quickly recognized that those are pride flags: bisexual, nonbinary and genderfluid.

Putting in their shortened forms did not work. The fic was later updated to say that:

I apologize. It seems I have given false information. The 3rd rotor is actually III.

I have quickly updated the rotor number and got:

the solution to the word scramble you currently have is incorrect

only the first rotor is one 

the position of the first rotor is p and the ring is t representing komaeda nagitos like of pretty things

Interestingly, the author of the fanfic also included six rules:

There are 6 forbidden actions. I use the term rather than rules because they are irrational.

1) You cannot ask for hints at all for this code.

2) You cannot speak of this chapter in the Slavmaeda channel.

3) A former Slavmaeda tumblr head cannot share their solution with anyone but a fellow former Slavmaeda tumblr head. You can say you have the answer or hint at what is true, but giving the solution or showing it is unacceptable.

4) You cannot tell others of this chapter in the Slavmaeda channel in any situation. If it is mentioned in a post, you cannot share that post in the channel until you have properly decoded the text.

5) If I suspect that you have broken a rule above or witnessed a rule being broken, I am allowed to take action.

6) All rules except 5 are invalid if Firanka is participating in a discussion.

I currently do not know why all discussion of this chapter is prohibited unless I am present. 

----

My apologies for lack of updates. The rules have been changed to my disadvantage.

From the time I last updated this post, seven new chapters have been posted.

We have cracked the original enigma.

It says:

My name is Slavmaeda. I have stolen the title of Russian president from Ouma Kokichi-san. As the man who danced alongside myself in the "Fingers in His Ass” video would say, get dunked on.

We were enraged, as we expected the solution to tell us the identity of the author.

Chapter 6 forbid me from speaking about this fanfic on my own on days other than Wednesdays.

It also provided additional tips for solving the enigma.

Between the release of Chapters 7 and 8 we finally cracked it. I included the solution above.

Chapter 8 provided another enigma and a promise of a game. The enigma was never solved.

xy nqo bdji rpeq ue. b pn acbh oqdeduuxw. dspc hvh rvt jojbk, l zev rs umtv fwvqhm axvtx hnw fn. noklt mqtgddk pi ea elq. yh sml rk doqvm ugi jtxgwe btv zyoohuc.

hbj z ydp'h qgcmo vxsganv, nyv j? wncl erye.

tq'm irpmfsp ceyx

z vuv gnm adyy esjqslv, oss?

We also received tips:

lllIIlllllIlllllllllIlllllllllll

Fried sugar, 6m

1 October, 4m

First Blow, 10m

Breathing Hana-san, 12m

With Chapter 9, we found out about the nature of the game - the title was “Secret Hitler”. Its rules were also described within the chapter.

Chapter 10 provided the link to the game. The victors were Marshpy and Glitter, who received additional tips.

After that, Author-san joined Tropical Despair Discord server, and the new Slavmaeda Discord. They later invited us to another game, “Buffet”. It was a game invented by Author-san themselves. We were provided around 60 words, most of which were dummies, and six phrases, which we were supposed to define with the phrases. While Author-san said it should take us around 10 minutes, it actually took us several hours. We still needed a high amount of assistance, and we only had the solution once Author-san revealed it to us.

Author-san also stated they are Glitter, and Glitter confirmed it.

The meaning of the word scramble was confirmed to be:

Satou, Tsukimi, a blonde whose last name starts with S.

Which, rather than tying into “Danganronpa” series, referenced characters from “Your Turn to Die”.

A later chapter stated that this was not true. As of September 16th, 2020, 22:15 we do not know the true identity of Author-san.

Today we also received a new chapter, and another game offer.

Interestingly, the chapter, despite its number being divisible by two, did not wish us luck in any way.

[ethanlivemere]

Half-Life²: Anticitizen - Chapter 1

Note: if you haven’t read the Half-Life²: Anticitizen Prologue yet, go read that first here.

Chapter 1

Now Arriving: City 17

The shrill scream of a train horn makes me jolt up as numbness starts leaving my body. I pant and shiver from the cold air. As my heartbeat calms down I start taking in my surroundings. I am sat on a row of hard plastic chairs that extends along the side of a dilapidated train car. The gentle shaking of the cold surface beneath me and the clattering sound I had been hearing before tell me it’s moving.

“Hey there buddy, calm down. You scared me,” a gentle voice sounds. I turn my head and see a dark-skinned man, probably in his late thirties, sitting in a seat on the other side of the aisle. His eyes are dark and tired and his short beard is trimmed irregularly. His arms are resting on a plain black suitcase in his lap and his clothing consists of blue denim pants and a beige shirt. “Had a bad dream?” he asks.

I rub my head as I turn, taking my feet off the chairs to sit normally. I now notice I am wearing the same, rough fabric clothing as the other passenger. Well, so much for having earned the H.E.V. Suit. At least I still have my glasses.

“I didn’t see you get on,” he continues talking. “Are you being transferred to City 17 as well?”

I take a better look at the interior of the vehicle. The worn down red carpet that stretches from one end of the car to the other is littered with scraps and cigarette butts. About half of the ceiling lights are either dead or flickering. The walls and many of the windows are covered with posters and advertisements, most of them torn off or faded beyond recognition. Here and there, there is an intact, more recent looking poster of an owl-eyed man looking down on the passengers with a solemn expression. All of them have some variation of the same brief message: THE CONSUL SAYS… RELAX. THE CONSUL SAYS… REPORT.

“This is my third transfer this year, you know,” my co-passenger continues, ignoring my continued silence. “I spent my last trimester in City 49, and 45 before that. But no matter how many times I get relocated, I… I never get used to it.” He softly shakes his head and looks down at his fingers, playing with a loose bit of leather that has peeled off his suitcase. “The name’s Samuel, by the way,” he says in a lighter tone, sitting up. “I noticed you don’t have a tag on your uniform.” He brings his hand up to his chest and taps a stitched-on strip of grey fabric with his index finger. It says ‘G-11789RF’. “You’d better do something about that before a Metrocop catches you without one.”

My head spins. The sudden overload of impulses is too much for my still foggy mind. While trying to piece together what is going on I look to my left. There is another passenger sitting some ten feet away from me, his arms crossed and his suitcase on a seat next to him. I spot a third passenger, an Asian-looking woman, at the far end of the car, sitting next to the door. Everyone is wearing the same uniform. None of them look like they want to be on this train.

I suddenly realize that I have been avoiding looking out of the windows. There is a pit in my stomach, a sickening feeling of dread that tells me I already know what I would see. I do it anyway. I shift in my seat, turning my head around to look out of the window behind me. It’s even worse than I expected. Just like in the vision, the landscape is a desolate wasteland. Skeletons of trees crown the small hills that pop up all over the plains. The ground is cracked and there isn’t a stream of water as far as the eye can see, which isn’t all that far. The sky is completely covered in dark, greenish gray clouds that sometimes drift down to envelop the land in a disgusting smog. The sun is nothing more than a slightly brighter spot in the thick carpet, standing low above the horizon. Here and there a silhouette stands out from its surroundings by its jagged, square shape: abandoned buildings that look as if they have been picked up and dropped from a great height. A pipeline runs parallel to the rails, and I see another train track in the distance.

Just when I think the world is completely devoid of life, movement in the periphery of my vision catches my attention. Something is running beside the train, flashing past because of their lower speed. I recognize the green, three-legged creatures. Their piercing, supersonic squeals still echo through my head. Looking further into the distance again, I start noticing more signs of life. I spot a bullsquid, the large amphibian beast with acidic spit that almost cost me my life several times, in a muddy ditch. I am also relieved to see what seem to be normal crows flying to and from some of the trees, but there are some things creeping around that I have never seen before. A flat reptile with a wide mouth and four chimney-like limbs protruding from its sides, with tufts of hair on the end of each of them. Tall, tripedal insects with ambiguous organs dangling between their stalky legs. Somewhere deep inside, the scientist in me is fascinated by the alien sights and wants to study them more closely. But that man died the moment the crystal hit the beam. This Gordon Freeman just wants to avert his eyes and hope never to see anything again that reminds him of how terrifying the universe can be.

A train slides into view on the parallel track. It seems to be freight train, but it’s a model I have never seen before. The locomotive is tall, streamlined and has a sharp nose with a single headlight illuminating its path. I don’t see any windows or other indications of a control room. The thing is made of a dark, obsidian-like metal that also covers the wheels, making it seem like the train is just sliding over the dusty ground. The cars directly behind the locomotive are in the same style, but further to the back there are also some more normal looking cars with containers. I notice Samuel has gotten up from his seat and is looking over my shoulder. “Look!” he says, pointing in the distance. On the path of the other train, a gargantuan shadow looms over its surroundings, hunched over, arms spread as if bracing for impact. Its dark blue exoskeleton and single glowing red eye almost seem to mirror the image of the vehicle speeding towards it. A low, wailing horn sounds from the train as the distance between the two shrinks. The monster doesn’t flinch. It stands its ground, determined, until the train hits. The locomotive doesn’t even slow down. The monster, despite being quite a bit taller than the train, gets violently pushed out of the way and, though it is hard to tell from this distance, quite possibly cut in half by the locomotive.

“Razor Trains, man,” Samuel says with a hint of awe. “I would feel much safer if we were aboard one of those.”

Our view of the other train gets obstructed by a nearby building. There seems to be a sudden increase in the number of ruins near the track, as brick walls suddenly make up all we can see through the window. “Looks like we’re almost there,” Samuel notes. I try to look ahead and see we are heading towards a gigantic wall made of the same dark metal as the Razor Train. Behind it, tall apartment buildings and skyscrapers stand in much better condition than the buildings on this side of the wall – though they, too, show signs of ruin and neglect. “There it is,” Samuel says, “City 17.” He scoffs. “They all look the same from the outside, don’t they?” The wall grows ever nearer, until everything suddenly goes dark as we enter a tunnel, the only source of light now being the few functional lamps on the ceiling. “I heard living conditions are supposed to be much better in 17 than they were in 49, though. The air is much cleaner here since it’s so close to the Air Exchange. I guess that’s why the Consul moved here.”

The other male passenger, who visibly has been growing increasingly bothered with Samuel’s talking, suddenly speaks up: “Yeah, well, there’s also much heavier security, so if you don’t want to get us all into trouble, you’d best quiet down a bit once we’ve arrived.” Samuel looks at the man offendedly. He opens his mouth for a rebuttal, but decides against it and looks the other way, shaking his head.

When we emerge from the tunnel, it barely makes a difference for the amount light streaming in through the windows. The already dim light the sun manages to squeeze through the clouds is now also blocked by the tall buildings. It might as well be nighttime. The view outside is somehow more depressing than the wastelands: near-empty streets lit by slender lampposts, only inhabited by abandoned cars, trash and a lone citizen clutching something against his chest as he makes his way from one patch of light to the next. The railway is elevated a good fourteen feet above the street, and now and then I catch a glimpse of people behind the windows of the second floors we pass by. They fly by too fast to properly see what they are doing, but the rooms in which they reside all seem as bare and featureless as the beige shirts they are all wearing.

The train starts to slow down and I see the female passenger stand up and pick up her suitcase. The man also stands up and grabs onto a metal bar that runs along the ceiling for stability. Shortly after, the train comes to a shrieking halt at an empty platform. Once the carriages have stopped shaking and the train lets out a sigh of relief, the doors on either end of the car open, letting in a cold draft that paces down the aisle and brings life to the scraps dotted around on the once-red carpet. Samuel stands up and arches his back. “Well, end of the line,” he mutters before following the other passengers outside. I stand up on still shaky legs and do the same, stepping down onto the hard ground of the outside world.

The train platform is a desolate concrete slab, flanked on both sides by the steel and plexiglass walls  of trains and cut in half by a row of benches and pillars that support the overhead shelter. At the end are stairs leading into a hole in the ground that hungrily swallows the passengers heading down. I keep following them, heading down into a chilly tunnel that reeks of rotting trash. Our footsteps echo as we walk past branches of the tunnel that have signs with arrows and numbers to guide non-existent travelers to their platforms. As we follow the main flow of the tunnel I start hearing a distant voice from up the large stairs at the end, but by the time I reach the stairs, it has stopped.

We emerge into what must once have been the majestic main terminal hall of the station, but has now been transformed into a twisted version of its original purpose. A roof of translucent glass arches over a gaping abyss that cuts through the hall, leaving only a narrow strip of the original black and white tiled floor around it. The gap is about thirty feet across and has a chain link fence surrounding it. I walk up to the fence and look down. Several train tracks run along or across the ravine at differing heights and angles. Several trains are stationed on the rails, suspended above the seemingly bottomless gorge. All of them are the same model as the train I saw plow through the creature on the wastelands – Razor Trains. The smoke that pours down from the locomotives and the tunnels, combined with the cycloptic headlights on the trains, make for a mesmerizing display of light and shadows.

There’s a walkway across the chasm, accessible through stairs to my left. Seeing no other way forward, I take the stairs up to the walkway, only to see a strange figure standing in the middle of the path, watching over the passengers traversing the room. A man in a black uniform with red markings on the chest and shoulders. His face is enveloped by a white gasmask with lenses that glow a faint yellow. His leather glove is clenched around a baton that he softly taps against his hip as he follows passing civilians with his obscured eyes. I suspect this might be one of the “Metrocops” Samuel mentioned, and I know that whatever he is, it can’t be good news for me if he sees me.

As I’m looking around for another way, my eye falls on a large vertical screen hanging in the center of the largest wall, in front of a circular stained glass window. It displays only a set of strange symbols on a bluish green background, but suddenly a face appears on the screen. I immediately recognize it as the balding, solemn-faced man from the posters on the train. Under the face, a message appears: THE CONSUL SAYS… WELCOME.

“Welcome,” the face starts speaking through unseen speakers, “Welcome to City 17. You have chosen, or been chosen, to relocate to one of our finest remaining urban centers.” His voice is stoic, but strangely comforting. “I thought so much of City 17 that I elected to establish my administration here, in the Citadel so thoughtfully provided by Our Benefactors. I have been proud to call City 17 my home. And so, whether you are here to stay or passing through on your way to parts unknown…” The Consul smiles warmly, “Welcome to City 17. It’s safer here.” The Consul’s face fades away, and the screen goes back to the illegible symbols. I look back to the Metrocop, only to see him looking back at me. I freeze.

“Move along,” a voice sounds from the mask, distorted as if through a walkie-talkie. He gestures with his baton, and I realize it’s in my best interest to just walk past him as if nothing is going on. I have just passed the Metrocop when I make the mistake of looking down, through the metal grating, into the abyss below. I am not usually one to get vertigo – I had gunfights on cliffsides and on rocks floating between dimensions for crying out loud – but the sight makes my head spin, and I have to lean on the railing for a moment. As I’m catching my breath, I hear the low bellow of a Razor Train horn coming from underneath me. I carefully look down again to see another train arrive on a track that runs along the side of the ravine. Judging from the disgusting greenish splats on the locomotive, it might very well be the one I witnessed plow through the monster – or maybe that is something that regularly happens. I then notice something walk to the nose of the train on a steel platform besides the track. From my top-down perspective, it’s hard to tell what it is – but it sure doesn’t seem to be human. I see brown robes, a white, oval head and long, slender arms holding something that resembles a flamethrower. It points the nozzle at the train at starts spraying it with jets of sickly green… gas? Liquid? Fire? Energy? It’s hard to tell, but when the spraying stops and the being walks over to the precarious, narrow platform on the other side of the track to start spraying the other side of the locomotive, it seems to have removed all of the filth from the train’s hull.

The voice of the Consul startles me as he repeats the same welcoming message. I glance over my shoulder and am relieved to see the Metrocop doesn’t seem to be paying attention to me. I decide to get a move on and quicken my pace as I continue traversing the walkway. When I finally reach the other side, I go down another set of stairs and see a doorway leading into another room. The tables that are spread around it and what seem to be the remains of a shuttered counter lead me to believe that this used to be cafeteria. Now it just has a few tired travelers resting their heads on their hands, the only voice heard being the Consul’s coming from another large screen. I make my way between the tables and dilapidated potted plants to another doorway. Passing by, I hear a man at a table quietly mutter to himself: “They’re always departing but they never arrive… and the ones that do arrive, they never leave… you never see them go, they’re always full… no one ever gets on but they’re always…” He keeps muttering, when there’s suddenly screaming on the other side of the room. I see a man struggling against two Metrocops, thrashing around and shouting that he didn’t do anything. One of the Metrocops lifts his baton, which suddenly glows with electricity, before bringing it down on the man’s back, bringing him to his knees. The man doesn’t stop struggling and tries to crawl away. The other Metrocop pulls something from a holster on his belt and points it at him. There’s a loud bang and then a brief silence… “Welcome to City 17. It’s safer here,” the Consul’s ever hollower sounding message echoes. The two Metrocops drag the man away. Everyone goes about their business, and I decide to do the same.

The doorway from the cafeteria leads to a corridor. Posters on the wall catch my attention. They are bigger than the ones I saw on the train, but look just as much like textbook propaganda. They all bear the number 17 in one of the corners. One of them depicts the Consul with the words “It’s great to be part of the greater good”. Another depicts a Metrocop and says “Civil Protection: They’re here for you”. But one particular poster catches my attention: it shows a familiar figure in brown robes holding a flamethrower-like object. I can now more clearly see its head: it’s white, metallic, and shaped like flattened ball. It has two beady, tubular eyes and a third orifice that probably serves as its mouth. “Keep it clean… or he will”.

As I’m walking through the corridor, looking at the posters, I notice a vending machine. “The Consul’s Private Reserve”. It takes me a moment to realize that it dispenses cans of water. For free, it would seem. I’m looking at the buttons on the machine, considering pressing one, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. A bewildered looking man spins me around and grabs me by my shoulders, bringing his face very close to mine.

“Don’t drink the water,” he says. His eyes frantically dart around and his breaths are shaky. “They put something in it, to… to make you forget. I don’t even remember how I got here…” He slowly lets go of me and looks around. “I…” His voice trembles and he walks away, shaking his head. I decide to pass on the water.

The corridor leads me around a corner to a fenced-off waiting line, where citizens cue up to be scanned by a camera-like contraption hanging from the ceiling. Most people are sent straight ahead, but some get taken aside by a Metrocop and are escorted through a gate marked “NOVA PROSPEKT”. I’m not sure what exactly is going on, but I know it is a situation I would rather avoid. I turn around to leave, but am suddenly stopped by a voice: “You, citizen!” I turn back around and see a Metrocop beckoning me from a side door. “Come with me, now!” I look around, weighing up my options. Can I run? No, that’s ridiculous. The scene in the cafeteria proved that Metrocops are ruthless, and without my H.E.V. Suit I don’t stand a chance against multiple armed individuals. I have no choice but to follow him and hope I can overpower him when he’s alone.

I follow the Metrocop into a narrow hallway, past a door behind which I hear a man protesting and trying to defend himself. I get lead into a small office. “Back up,” the Metrocop says with a soft push before closing the door and walking over to an alien looking console with a triptych of monitors above it. I frantically look around the office – a desk, a filing cabinet, another of those ceiling scanners, a chair with leather straps on the armrests and suspicious red stains on the floor around it… Anything I can use as a weapon? Perhaps the desk lamp…

While I am frantically looking around for a way out, the Metrocop pushes some buttons on the console and the scanner disappears into the ceiling. “Yeah, I’m gonna need me some privacy for this,” he says with a chuckle. Before I can make a run for the lamp, he turns around and brings his hands up to the sides of his head. “Now…” There’s a click as the front part of the mask comes loose. When he takes it off, I, for the first time in too long, look into the eyes of a friend. “About that beer I owed ya!”

Chapter 2

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So, here is chapter one of Anticitizen! I’m so excited to finally get this out there. I have a couple more things to say, but first, as promised, here are a few images to aid the visualization of some of the things I described. (Don’t take any of the images literally, there might be differences between them and the story)

Wasteland

Wasteland creature 1: Stampeder

Wasteland creature 2: Tripod hopper

Razor Train

Train Station Abyss

Beta Metrocop

Consul

Propaganda posters

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So, this first chapter was very descriptive but I had to do a lot of scene-setting. Even if y’all know what a Metrocop looks like, I have to describe them from scratch because (1) I want this story to be readable for people who have never played HL2, (2) I need to make clear to all you HL2 fans what looks the same and what looks different and (2+1) since it’s from Gordon’s perspective I can’t just go “oh look it’s a Metrocop” since it’s his first time seeing one.

Undoubtedly you are now bursting with anticipation for the next chapter. Well, you can probably guess what I’m about to say: it’s gonna take some time. I have started writing it and it’s mapped out and all, but you know, I still have to actually write most of it.

Oh, before I forget, following a suggestion by @perfect-trash-king​ (thanks by the way) I will be posting this story on Ao3 Ao2+1 too, so if you for some reason much prefer that platform over Tumblr I guess you can head over there. Or you could follow it on both platforms. And don’t forget it’s also being uploaded to Fanfiction, so you could follow it there as well. Or don’t. You do you.

Thanks for reading, stay awesome and I’ll see you next time :)

[cowgirlontheloose]

The Man Who Cried At Railway Stations

1.  You grew up in the country, so diversions for you and your brothers were mostly outside. Trees to climb, bushes to hide in and a weedy ditch where you collected tadpoles or sailed sticks and leaves. Best of all though, were the CPR locomotives billowing smoke and glory past your home that brought you running always. 

Your ribcage vibrated to 17 tons of thunder and steel huffing by. The engineer with his red neckerchief and one elbow leaning from the window, waved and pulled the cord to ding-dong the brass bell of enchantment. You were close enough to see his moustache and easy smile.

You don’t recall how many trains passed daily, but certainly a couple and at least one night flyer at 11 p.m. heading for Hull, Ottawa and Montreal. You know that for sure. As a kid you lay awake for lonely hours fretting about school which you despised; wondering if you could play sick again. Maybe a stomach ache this time. Finally, thankfully, you heard the first distant chuff of the train. By the time it wailed past the house, your bed had transformed into a magic carpet drifting off to dreamland, the train labouring far below, streaming smoke and sparks into the night. 

Decades later you read accounts by others online who had the same experience. You also find an endless trail of sites offering statistics, studies, commentary, facts, fantasies and minutiae about trains. You find photos and videos, such as an 8-hour train sound track on a site called Virtual Dreamer (”We design sleep sounds for insomnia, tinnitus and noise masking.”) You note that over three million people have visited the site. One fan comments: “I almost cried when I saw this. I thought I was the ONLY ONE who had to hear the sound of a train horn in order to have a peaceful sleep. God bless you.

There are medical studies too. Some indicate that trains passing at night can raise heart rates and lead to cardio-vascular issues. Others enthuse about the calming and reassuring effects of the same. You also discover that people of all ages on the autism spectrum are fascinated by trains. Dr. Amanda Bennett of Philadelphia encourages parents to use this as motivation to reward desired behaviour in kids by “taking the train,” either with a model train or through Youtube videos. 

2.  Your son, now a parent of teenagers, may have genetically inherited his train love from you. The unpretentious depression-era brick farm house where he grew up was far enough from town that only the faintest sounds of passing trains (now diesel) could be heard if the wind was blowing from the south-east. But more likely, it was your partners influence that did it. This man, who spent six years in your lives, brought with him, besides a wicked sense of humour, an abiding affection for all things train.

He constructed, with your blessings, a waist high model train platform ostensibly for your son. It took up half the living room. Together and separately, son and partner tinkered, repaired, upgraded, dusted and ran that railroad like highly paid pros. Yes, they wore engineer hats. You have the photos to prove it. 

One evening as you lie aching in bed with a fever, you begged your man to fill a water bottle with near scalding water from the kitchen kettle. He disappeared downstairs. You waited. And waited. You moaned loudly, hinting. Then from the living room you heard the murmur of voices and yes, the clicking-clack of the model train rocketing across vast plains and through tunnels. You had been sidelined by an obsession. 

3.  At a writing course in creative non-fiction at the University of Minnesota, you meet a delightful couple. Greg and Jean are both in their early 80s. They are feisty and frail, full of curiosity and ideas drawn from long lives of exploring and risking in whatever situations they found themselves in. They became the dominant force in the group in a most charming way. Jean walked heavily with a cane and wore her white hair in one pigtail. At first you wondered if Greg had dementia, or whether he even knew where he was, but you soon discovered otherwise. Although quiet for long periods where he seemed to doze, he would suddenly open his very blue eyes and offer a thought with clarity, insight and humour. 

You all grappled that week to understand what creative non-fiction is or isn’t. You never do get clear about it, but really, who cares. The best explanation is written by Laura Wexler in an excerpt from “Saying Goodbye to ‘Once Upon A Time.’” She says:  “People tell stories to serve their political and psychic needs. Most of the stories aren’t the basis of their truth. Postmodernism allows us to see that even the most unreachable stories -- the stories in which truth seems to purposely hide in the shadows -- can be written as nonfiction by focusing as much on interpretation as event.

So you all write and read aloud some of your own shadowy truths. Several times readers pause when tears well up. It’s hard to explain that sort of thing, but it’s gorgeous when it happens. You yourself choke up reading aloud about your first cookbook and again over a day spent with three biologists and hundreds of rare snakes on a tiny island in Manitoba. Your tears are neither nostalgic nor sad. You are grateful to say them aloud and have them acknowledged with such tender respect.

When Greg reads you are blown away. His very short piece is titled “This Man Cries At Railroad Stations.” He describes how as a small boy, he and his brother spent every weekend without fail riding the transit system around the city. They did this to escape their scary parents. The brothers invented their own transportation system and wove names like Forty Fort, Wounded Knee, Fiery Siding, Temperance River, Steamboat Spring and Thunder Bay into fancied railroad schedules, rejoicing in the evocative, liberating names. It saved them from the hell at home.

As an old man, Greg said he still cries at railroad stations.

You never forget them. You tear up now as you write about them. Somewhere you still have a wee yellow ticket Greg gave you. It says “Good For One Fare Between Minnehaha, Minnesota and All Points West.