#views from the train

[mansionworld]

[writtenbygrimes]

Human

We laugh We cry We do our best, And sometimes fail But we move Big moves and small Most always with intention Trying – reaching Striving toward our imperfect goal Ourselves

[briansolomonauthor]

Great Western Railway—views from the train.

I made these photos of the English country-side with my Nikon Z7-II from the window of our train on the way to and from Oxford. In post processing, I adjusted the camera’s NEF RAW files to help compensate for the effects of the tinted window glass. Generally, I got my best results when I kept the camera lens pressed against the window with the aperture wide open (f4.0) and the shutter speed set…

[bloobydabloob]

Lil Hal design ideas that kept glitching and posting weird. Let’s give this one last shot.

Dirk and Hal ramblings under cut if you want to give them a read.

Screenshots this time because I am not formatting this text for the fifth time. Good lord.

+ An extra doodle for your troubles. Thanks if you read any of that

[ukulelegodparent]

Taking the train is so fucking great! I've barely been on it for 30min and I've already seen a bunch of geese and deer and a heron!

[wannaeatramyeon]

Gun Park with Reader: Junkyard shenanigans

CH460 spoiler - no plot spoilers tho. G/N. Crack. Inspired by @razypie tag.

"Gun... Seriously?!"

You yell, squinting at the figure making its way higher and higher, up the heap of discarded units.

For a brief moment, his body stills then he continues on as if he didn't hear you.

Bastard.

At first that idiot tried to fucking jump. And yeah, he may be strong as shit but even Gun Park wouldn't be able to jump however the fuck high that is.

...Actually. You did think he could, but the way he fell back down, somehow still landing on his feet like a cat, made you cackle.

The furious look and 'fuck you' he threw your way did nothing to halt your laughter.

He would never admit it, but you reckon this is something to do with aesthetics. The 'cool' view of him smoking at the top.

Sure, it's not a pile of bodies like James Lee once sat upon (the impressiveness of that particular feat spread throughout all of Seoul and is still a sore point for Gun and Goo to this day.)

For Gun, you suppose, this pile of junk would have to do for now. Until he decides to fight some poor souls and recreate a higher and better mountain of victims to make himself a throne out of.

("Compensating for something? Yes your throne will be much much bigger than James Lee. Good for you, Big Boy." You had said to Gun when you were feeling particularly mouthy and brave. Luck was also on your side as you managed to dodge his kick aimed for your head.)

Goddamn. Sometimes you truly forget that he's only 20 years old and then he pulls shit like this.

That's not even considering his atrocious outfit. Topless with those brown track pants and loafers. How is he supposed to look cool wearing that? What was he even thinking?

Taking your phone out of your pocket, you click record to immortalise forever the image of Gun Park clambering up on all fours. Leg occasionally slipping like a dog trying to find purchase again.

Goo is going to get a kick out of this.

[tabbi-mysteries]

Episodes 1-800 of Mouri Ran's Wardrobe!

+ Films 1-19 & OVAs 1-11 & Lupin TV Special & Magic Files 2-6 & Lupin Movie + multiple TV specials + Magic Kaito 1412 appearances

(Better quality images under the cut)

Managed an update just in time for Christmas! This is becoming a kind of insane length haha but there's like 300 more eps to go that'll I'll be working on in the new year! See you then and Happy Holidays!

Let me know your favourites / least favourites in the tags / comments!

If there's an outfit you want to see in clearer quality just send me an ask, this is just the only way I can even attempt to get it all into one post!

[inksandpensblog]

We completely misinterpreted the hug scene

I was going to make this into a nice, well-composed essay, with each section talking about a different aspect of the episode's construction or execution, and about narrative theming and character arcs, and about why so many people thought this scene was enough to ruin the episode for them. I was going to do that, but then it took me eleven hours to try and narrow down what the actual problem with the scene was, when taken into context with the entire rest of the episode and episode 29; and then another three hours to realize what the actual intent of the scene had probably been and why nobody, including myself, seemed to have picked up on it (except for Lui and @k1ttyadventurer apparently-). So instead of the nice essay, you're getting a conceptual overview of my entire thought process, from beginning to end, as I tried to figure out the deeper reasons behind why everyone hated this scene so much, and then why we all had it wrong. You're welcome.

For the sake of internal consistency, I'm invoking author's bypass and using the names my server-mates and I have picked up for these characters. King shall henceforth be known as Mango, his child as Apricot, Purple's dadfigure as Cobalt, and Purple's momfigure as Orchid.

--

What started me on this path, was this thought: We didn't like Mango's reconciliation with Purple, but aside from pacing issues, Mango's arc (thematic, character, narrative, etc.) is pretty solid. So if the problem isn't with Mango's side, it must be with Purple's.

So, what was wrong about the way Purple's arc was written? Was it just that reconciliation scene in episode 30, or was it something from back in episode 29 that didn't show its full implications until now?

But, again, Purple's arc in episode 29 alone is pretty solid. So, the problem was just the reconciliation scene. And, again, for Mango's arc the scene works, it's only for Purple's that it doesn't.

So, what's wrong with it? Does this scene contradict episode 29 in some way? That's how a lot of us felt, at first, I think. Purple learned last episode that he didn't need acceptance from Cobalt, and he follows through on that in this episode, choosing to do what HE thinks is right and not what he thinks will earn him approval, and his reward is...symbolic acceptance from Cobalt? It didn't make sense, and sat wrongly with many of us.

--

But I still couldn't pin down why this didn't work, so I circled back. Maybe it was the relationship dynamics? Was that why many of us didn't like the idea of Mango being Apricot's father instead of their older brother, at first?

--

But then I noticed something amazing: if you watch the episode while viewing Apricot as Mango's sibling, and then watch it while viewing Apricot as Mango's child...nothing about Mango's arc actually changes, on a thematic level. It all still works, no matter which interpretation you go with.

Why, then, is the distinction given so much emphasis? Why is it important that we know that Apricot is canonically Mango's child, if it doesn't change anything about Mango's story either way?

Because what it DOES change, is the implied dynamic between Mango and Purple, and the number of inverse parallels in their stories.

--

I also think that at this juncture it's important to note that Mango seeing Apricot in Purple is something nobody seems to have had a problem with, even people who didn't like the episode. It's literally just Purple seeing Cobalt in Mango that people had issues with. Purple's side of the story, again, is the one that seems to be flawed in either its construction or its execution.

--

Now, while the status of who Apricot is, to Mango, doesn't influence Mango's story much, something about Apricot that does hold heavy sway over Mango's story is Mango seeing Apricot in Purple. And, since this seems to be paralleled by Purple seeing Cobalt in Mango,  we'd naturally expect this element to have an equally weighty effect on Purple's story. But what does Purple seeing Cobalt in Mango actually DO, for Purple's story?

--

@kikoqueenofrats and @luizastarry mentioned how after seeing Mango's backstory, seeing him be likened to Cobalt felt wrong. Specifically, that if Mango was meant to become a new parental figure for Purple, then having him become the new Cobalt, instead of, say, the new Orchid, felt really wrong, given how poorly Cobalt treated Purple (and, in my opinion, given how well Mango appears to have treated Apricot, whom he had recently likened to Purple earlier in the scene).

This is when Lui first brought up the idea that maybe the hug scene wasn't supposed to be a comparison after all, but was actually supposed to show how Mango and Cobalt were different. @iluvylalevu brought up pacing issues again, as a possible reason why the idea wasn't communicated clearly enough to the audience. Then they both discussed how some different body language from Purple in reaction to Cobalt's approach would've gotten this story point if it was indeed the intended point of the scene across to the audience a lot better; made the irreconcilable differences between Cobalt as Purple knew him and Mango as whoever he became over the course of this episode a lot clearer. 

I missed what Lui had already figured out, though, because my eyes caught on the body-language conversation, and it made me remember something: Cobalt, again and again, no matter what, forcing Purple to get up again when he fell.

--

So, I muted the video, and watched the hug scene again, and observed Purple's body language. He doesn't look like he's expecting he'll need to fight, but...in my opinion, it doesn't look like he's expecting a hug, either.

--

...maybe what he was seeing, during that moment in episode 30, hadn't been Cobalt turned around and returning to accept him, like he'd learned to stop yearning for in episode 29. (And really, would it be in-character for Purple to imagine his dad doing that? I think he knew his father better than that.) Maybe he’d seen Cobalt coming to admonish him, again. He had just defied Mango, after all, and then failed to stop him. And Green and the others weren’t here, to accept him regardless of his failure. And Orchid wasn’t here to catch him, all that was left were petals. And when it wasn’t Orchid standing over him to shelter him, it was always Cobalt, looming. But he knows it’ll be worse, if he stays on the ground. So he gets up.

And then the hug closes in, and Cobalt is gone, and it’s Mango.

--

The episode isn’t trying to compare Mango to Cobalt, like some questionable construction and execution choices for the scene led audiences the web over to believe. Instead, it’s contrasting them. Mango isn’t “the better Cobalt,” he isn’t “who Cobalt should’ve been.” He isn’t “the Cobalt Purple needs,” because episode 29 established that what Purple NEEDS is to get out from under the shadow of Cobalt’s expectations. Mango isn’t Cobalt. Mango is Mango. And Mango accepts Purple, not because of anything Purple did, and not even because he saw Apricot in Purple; the only time Mango saw Purple as Apricot was in the wall drawing, never when they were looking directly at each other, never the same way that Purple mistook Mango for Cobalt. Mango accepts Purple, because he’s Purple. Just like Green said his friends would.

Which is much less of a rancid vibe than what we’d all thought we were seeing, when all of us most of us first saw the episode.

--

I'd like to thank my server-mates for letting me figure this out, and for asking me to make sure it's shared.

[augustlaven]

Choose your type!

(Click on the image for better quality)

Thomas: "Hey, y/n, do you want to go fishing?" / "Hmm, so what if you're cute? I have absolutely no interest in spending time with you. Maybe sometimes…" / "You know you can't get rid of me, don't you?"

Edward: "In the moments when I see you, I rejoice even more that my left eye still sees!" / "…Stop it, I need to work, not talk." / "Believe me, I'm only doing this to protect you! Please, y/n, don't call the police… I'm begging you…"

Henry: "It's always so cozy next to you..." / "I'm g-giving the flower to you b-because I'm running out of space in the shop, okay? I'll make sure you take good care of it!" / "Ah, y/n!~ I had to dig up the ground to plant daisies for you. I'm just a little dirty, don't worry."

Gordon: "Oh, I was worried I wouldn't catch up with you!" / "You are an absolute weakling, y/n! I'll have to train you until jogging becomes a normal activity for you in the morning!" / "I can't let an inferior being like you be around me. I'll have to teach you how to behave appropriately for my status."

James: "Oh, you're so lucky that I agreed to accompany you! Believe me, you won't be bored with me!" / "What? Of course I didn't sew up the holes in your socks, y/n! I don't do such dirty work, you silly dumbass!" / "I made this especially for you, you know? What do you mean by how do I know your clothing sizes? I just have a good eye."

Percy: "Oh, y/n, can I walk with you? I have free time right now!" / "I was looking for Thomas, that's why I ran into you! This is a complete accident!" / "I'll follow you anywhere. You give me confidence in myself, I can't let us part."

[mansionworld]

[writtenbygrimes]

Honest answers

Maybe see a doctor?

[andromedasummer]

f1s always been a back and forth of someone/some team winning for years and then it switching and another team/person winning for years and then it switching which. worked. until the public saw dominance from the sports first black man (70 yr old sport) who overcame poverty and racism to achieve acclaim and championships. so f1 did what theyve always done when an era goes too long and hit the regs with a hammer until the dominant team broke. so another team takes the lead .

and now, our new frontrunner is. a guy who says slurs and isnt challenged because drivers fear he will crash them out. who got into the sport because his rich ex-driver dad. and a championship team were taking in random juniors for fodder and he happened to be faster than them. the same team who are making weirdly racialized comments about the last champion. and also you realize this new guy never won a feeder series. and won the championship because the guy in charge fucked up. and the commentators are insisting hes overcome so much to be here. but youre pretty sure the worst you've seen him face was when people on twitter pointed out his girlfriends dad is a fascist. and his weird culty fans are harrassing people online and in person. f1 are waiting for you to clap.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

thinking so so hard about LaughingStock and how that'd go down. disastrously, probably

[carefulfears]

thinking about how expectant of her own death scully always was, but how completely struck by shock she was in mulder’s, despite how clear it had always been that he would one day die for the cause. tragedy in the x-files as something you should have been prepared for, but never could be, in scully standing at a funeral, as her mother had stood at her father’s, and barely being able to speak. she should be able to do this? bred to be a war widow, attached to an endless line. but no matter how many times she saw him put that gun to himself, or run off in front of another, she really did believe that he would always come back. she really did believe that there would never be a day where he didn’t just appear in the doorway again.

[jesse-cosay]

No one talks about how Tulip is Lake's only frame of reference. Lake learns by watching Tulip and how she responds to things.

Don't you think the divorce would affect them too? Don't you think that watching Tulip avoid her problems by blowing off her loved ones gave Lake a slightly warped sense of relationships and what to expect? Don't you think Lake is scared of treating people that same way?

That they're terrified of caring about someone who won't return the sentiment? That even a good relationship can crumble and fall apart?