#also tangentially

[1863-project]

NJ Transit 40th Anniversary Weekend Extravaganza!

Pay your engineers and give them a contract.

Okay, now that that's out of the way...

This weekend I got to spend some time with my dad aboard NJT's 40th Anniversary Express, a special train they put together in conjunction with the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey to commemorate 40 years of NJT's rail service. Normally I'd have just been content to watch, but they hooked me with a GG1 reference so naturally I had to go because I will do anything for a GG1.

The URHS of NJ loaned the Hickory Creek out for the event, along with a few other passenger cars they own. It was weird to see it at Penn Station instead of in Grand Central Terminal, but they still rolled out the red carpet for it as if it was attached to the 20th Century Limited. (This is where we get the phrase "red carpet treatment" from, by the way. It has nothing to do with Hollywood and everything to do with one crack passenger express train.)

I did not ride in the Hickory Creek itself because I do not have that sort of money, but Dad and I were in the Tavern Lounge No. 43, another New York Central car. It was a lovely ride.

The highlight of the trip was in South Amboy. Historically, electrification of the North Jersey Coast Line ended here. Today, it ends in Long Branch. Here's where the GG1s come in. There would be an engine change at South Amboy. The GG1s, electric locomotives, would be switched out for other locomotives to go further south. It was steam at first, and sadly became diesel later. Yesterday, they recreated this engine switch for us, complete with an NJT heritage unit painted to look like a GG1. This is the closest I'll likely get to seeing one running within my lifetime, so I'll cherish it.

The engine change. NJT 4636 stood in for my beloved GG1s, and two of the first locomotives built for NJ Transit, a pair of F40-PH2s (4119 and 4120), took over. You rarely see the latter in passenger service these days because they usually pull work trains, but they're the last two members of their class in NJT service.

Much to everyone's delight, we got to watch some brakeman work in action, because they manually flipped the switches. Note the heavy-duty gloves the conductor is wearing for this purpose.

It takes quite a bit of setup...

All clear!

Once the locomotives were swapped, we all boarded again and went on down to Bay Head. Since it was cold and rainy out, a few of us had some hot chocolate, which hit the spot and was incredibly wonderful.

Eventually, we made it to Bay Head. This is how I found out the president of NJ Transit was on the train with us, because the NJT engineers are ready to strike because there's no contract right now, and a group of them were protesting down at Bay Head because they knew he'd have to see them. Excellent move.

At Bay Head, we got to go around the loop in Bay Head Yard, something passengers don't normally get to do.

So we had views that most people don't get to have, and that was really cool.

At Bay Head, they fed us and gave us NJT swag. There were also some vintage buses from Public Service there, which was great because nobody stopped me from getting into the driver's seat of them.

My right hand is on the gearshift in this photo - it was huge and came out of the floor. Neither bus had power steering - that's a relatively new feature in motor vehicles.

I can and will attempt to drive anything.

Back to trains - after lunch, everyone got back aboard and the 40th Anniversary Express made its way back up north to Newark Penn Station. Whilst we were at Newark, we were allowed to get out and take some photos, so I investigated the staff car and was delighted to see that it had a conference table with a PRR K4 pictured above it.

You know me, I love my 4-6-2 Pacifics.

Eventually, the train came into Hoboken Terminal, and that was the end of day one.

Today, the entire heritage fleet was on display at Hoboken Terminal, so I made my way back for more photos.

I love GG1s and wanted to thank my new friend for giving me the opportunity to come so close to that experience yesterday.

4101 and 4109 are the surviving sisters of NJT 4100, a locomotive I'm rather attached to. It was nice to get good photos of them instead of the ones I usually have to snap through the window when I'm actually out on the rails!

Erie-Lackawanna 3372 is a labor of love for the URHS of NJ. They've done a beautiful job restoring her so far, but there's still a lot of work left to do.

The thing that really did me in was this old Pennsy diesel here, an E8A numbered 5711. She's in incredible condition for something built in 1952, and they had a cast of an old Penn Station eagle next to her, too, just to break my heart into a million pieces because I'll never be over what happened to Penn Station.

In all, I had an amazing weekend, and NJT and the URHS of NJ knocked it out of the park with this. It was just wonderful to be surrounded by other railfans for a couple of days.

Some other highlights:

Talked about trains the entire ride with the folks in our car. At one point we all got to sharing cat photos. An older couple had a cat named Lake, short for Lake Shore Limited. I cannot tell you how much that delighted me.

I love being around other railfans. It's one of the rare places I can be myself, since there's inevitably going to be a lot of other autistic people there besides me so I don't have to mask. I cannot even begin to articulate what it means to me to be in a place where I don't have to mask.

The hobby has actually changed a lot since I was a little kid - and in a good way. I wasn't the only woman there, for one. I was still greatly outnumbered gender-wise, but there are a lot more women in the hobby now, and it's also a lot more racially diverse than it was back then. Additionally, I saw a LOT of young people - it's going strong! It doesn't feel like it's being gatekept by the old white men anymore. It's really wonderful. Trains are for everyone. They always were, but now you can visibly see it.

When we were on the platform at South Amboy getting set up to take photos, someone yelled "Everybody smile!" behind me and I nearly died. Because, you know:

Whoever you are, give me your phone number.

As a final addendum, of course I brought them with me, as per usual when I go out to do railroading stuff. Here they are seated in Tavern Lounge 43!

This was just an absolute banger of a weekend and I hope more events like this happen because it's so fun to engage with history hands-on and see other people who care about it as much as you do. It's the best! Perfect!

#I like trains #NJT #NJ Transit #New Jersey Transit #also tangentially #Pokemon #Submas

[msfeatherfreckles]

So i just saw a video on tiktok about the "new way" to soft launch a relationship on Instagram. It apparently used to be you post a picture of your two (or more, polyamory is a thing) drinks, no people in the shot. (This is what started my wheels turning re Rob and Ruth.)

But apparently the new way is to do a photo dump of a trip to somewhere with lots of touristy pictures, and then put a selfie with the beau in the middle somewhere.

*war flashbacks to jensen's 2019 upfronts-jib-dubai-ahbl photodump*

*war flashbacks to danneel's 2022 upfronts photo dump*

#cockles #jenmisheel #also tangentially #rob and ruth

[styxnbones]

new vampires just dropped*

*tehcnically they already existed as part of harper's backstory but they have names and faces now

Augustine "Born To Be A Malewife, Forced To Be A Mob Boss" Giovanni

Livia "What if Morticia Addams Was Actually Evil" Giovanni

Primo "Has Suffered More Than Jesus" Giovanni

#augustine oc #livia oc #primo oc #also tangentially #harper oc

[rowenabean]

me: if i edit 4 pages today then i'll only have 4 pages to go!

me:

me: ...or i could make a wee guy

#pottery #tbh i think his head may fall off when he dries #so we'll see if he survives long enough to fire #also tangentially #ro writes

[blujayonthewing]

biting my FUCKING fist thinking about how Ambrose is deeply sentimental and part of the underlying drive for his work is a deep love for the emotional core of people being people throughout history and the way a life or a people or a culture is preserved beyond death through memory and stories and then two of the artifacts the party has uncovered ended up being 1) a journal found buried with its owner in a makeshift grave in a collapsed ruin, with a letter tucked in the pages that, upon translation, turned out to be a love letter and 2) a mysterious magical device that we later learned records and plays back memories-- the one we found depicting a sunny day with children laughing and playing in the lost city whose ancient ruins we were standing in

#DO YOU EVER CRY BECAUSE-- #LAYING ON THE FLOOR IN A HEAP THINKING ABOUT HOW IN LOVE I WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH THIS CAMPAIGN IF IT ONLY-- #my boy typically maintains a pleasant and mild-mannered poker face for character reasons #but the way EXPERIENCING THE FIRSTHAND MEMORY OF A LONG-DEAD PERSON WHO WAS ONCE ALIVE AND FILLED WITH HOPES AND DREAMS AND JOY #made him nearly COLLAPSE TO THE FLOOR--!! #I'M SUPPOSED TO BE BUILDING MECHANICS BUT I'M MAKING MYSELF CRY FDKJHDKFJHG #I love him I love him so much and this campaign and this setting and this DM were gonna be SO fucking perfect for him I JUST #wails into the NIGHT #about me #my OCs #Ambrose #also tangentially #irl frens #for how fucking cool and great of a job this DM did as a first time DM #ugghhh UGGGHHHH

[emilyhopebunny]

Tiktok achievement unlocked! First video response to a comment I made!

#tiktok #violadagoomba #robert is a great person to follow if you're on the clock app #also tangentially #though i have no intention of looking for alternatives to she/her pronouns any time soon #it does occur to me that ey/em would align well with my name #'i will be visiting em tomorrow' #is that a pronoun or a nickname? #it's both!

[regicidal-defenestration]

A bus is basically the classic thing to wait in the rain for

#it is Cold #also every time I listen to the Cure I remember the bit in Lisa Frankenstein where she's like they help you emotionally #like they are a very good band but I don't think From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea is imbuing me with anything but melancholy #welcome to night vale #Well tangentially but like You Know

[hoofpeet]

This guy's a freak...

#hoof draws #hoofology #<-more on the idea of bunny having some kind of weird. Thing for being predated #does this count as suggestive #also tangentially on the first panel. I'm SO mad there's no gyro places here- not even an hour away #got spoiled by the dino's in st paul evidently and now I MISSS lamb meat #suggestive #cannibalism #<-as per request

[egophiliac]

Tl;Dr - I stopped playing the game but I like the characters and I wanna draw them but idk if the wiki I use is up to date for cards

Do u know any wikis that have up to date cards for all the twst characters-

Asking specifically bc of Malleus cause I can't tell anymore if he has any more new cards bc HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A 100 DISNEY ANIVERSARY CARD IN THE WIKI I USE 😭

Like compared to everyone else in Disanomia, he has 12 cards (in the wiki I use) and then Lilia has 17 cards 💀

Cause I think Malleus has a Bean's Day card as well, but that could just be a fanmade one, I don't have JP twst nor ENG twst anymore so I can't confirm it myself urhghrhevw 🫠

Malleus doesn't have a Beans Day card, so that would've been fanmade! and the 100 anniversary cards are actually the new round of birthday cards, so most of the characters don't have 'em yet -- Malleus should be getting his in a couple of days, when his birthday event starts! oh god my keeeeeys

I think the wiki.gg stays pretty up to date? it looks to me like they have everything that's currently up through JP, at least. :O I did go through and do a quick count just because I couldn't believe Malleus only had 12 cards, but. he really does have the least...defeated only by Silver with 13...astonishing. we need his gargoyle club wear immediately.

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #...maybe? tenuously? i have no idea #i think lilia and floyd are tied for the most at 18 each #twst loves the chaotic gremlins #granted card quantity is separate from card rarity/significance/whatever #i remember all of us losing our minds when vargas camp 2 came out and trey FINALLY got an event ssr after a million years #anyway i am looking forward to the upcoming magift cards and all don't get me wrong #but i am VERY VERY excited to see what the gargoyle club wear looks like #i NEED to 1) know what malleus thinks gargoyle fashion is and 2) see him in it #jade is also in a weird club by himself but at least that. y'know. has a gear theme and everything. #tangentially i do sometimes think about the fact that malleus and jade are both in single-member clubs #despite how in...i think lilia's robes story the music club was in danger of disbanding because they only had three members #although i do genuinely believe that crowley is too scared of both jade and malleus to tell them they can't have their clubs #so y'know. it tracks.

[literallyjustanerd]

i think they should be allowed to make fashion choices, i just don't think all of those choices would be wise

or: how social media came to be blocked within The Resolute's airspace

(kix can be a little goth. as a treat.)

#sw tcw #star wars: the clone wars #501st shenanigans #501st battalion #clone wars #sw tcw fanart #clone medic kix #arc trooper fives #arc trooper echo #arc trooper jesse #arc trooper hardcase #commander cody #captain rex #and also very tangentially #codywan #abbey does art stuff

[theminecraftbee]

if you'll forgive the rare mention of shipping from me. okay. so my brain LOVES generating weird, slightly fucked-up aus. and so. okay. sometimes i think about the joke that jimmy is the oblivious protagonist to a harem anime or a dating game in most of his smps. which is obviously a fandom joke more than anything else but like, he DOES have a bunch of these ships. and then i ALSO think about the sometimes-valid, sometimes-invalid way people complain about shipping warping his and other people's characters. (for the record that's just how fandom works shipping or not shipping i take a neutral stance on this, it's just important for the au idea.)

so my brain came up with: the jimmy dating sim au. in which jimmy suddenly wakes up and his life is a dating sim. and at first he's... very very jimmy about it. he preens. he LOVES the fact the world suddenly seems to revolve around him. it's GREAT. he can see dialogue options and he still somehow sounds like an idiot when he talks to people but that's fine because he still chooses the BEST OPTIONS. he's doing GREAT. this is the BEST THING THAT'S EVER--

although. hm. it's... a little weird the world is revolving around him? grian and joel aren't being mean enough actually, which seems like a silly thing to complain about, but like, look, he likes it when people are mean. and tango is silly and sweet but he's--he's not normally that focused on jimmy. he's a project guy. and scott is--look, it's weird he's not flirting with anyone else, right? like, that's weird? and, and okay, he's... not sure how to name what's going on with fwhip but there's not enough animosity, and whatever martyn is doing is like, look, jimmy's used to being shot down more on this one, and--

and once jimmy starts seeing it he can't stop seeing it. the world's warped around him. he's the main character in a dating game. every time he picks an option that makes one of his friends (his friends!) like him more, it's like another little piece of their personality is chipped off of them. and as much as he loves being the center of attention, he misses being mocked. he misses people paying attention to other things. he misses the bits that are being sanded off. he doesn't want to be the one to break his friends. he misses the relationships they had, sharp edges and all, because goddammit, he likes that kind of relationship.

but he doesn't know how to stop it.

he doesn't know how long he can go down someone's route before the changes get irreversible.

and so jimmy sets out on a journey to figure out how to break the dating simulator he seems to have gotten stuck in and get his friends back to normal. before it's too late.

ANYWAY IF I HAD TIME AND/OR MORE EXPERIENCE WITH VISUAL NOVEL GAME ENGINES IMAGINE--

#empiresshipping #trafficshipping #<- for blacklist this isn't. really a shipping post. you know how it is. #jimmy solidarity #anyway periodically this pops up in my head again #and i'm like. man i don't know how exactly to write this. but i would love it if it existed #so i am breaking my usual silence on anything tangentially related to shipping to bring it to you all. in case you all also like it.

[stromblessed]

Mizu was wrong to let Akemi be taken because they both deserve better

First, a confession. When I saw this for the first time:

I was relieved. I knew that was what Mizu was going to say and I felt like it's what I would have said in that situation too.

When Akemi does this:

I cringed, because if we know anything about Mizu, it's that she (1) isn't quick to make friends (though to be fair, even though Akemi did try to kill Mizu, so did Taigen - multiple times! - and look how that turned out lol), and (2) doesn't take orders.

So when Akemi and Ringo and later Taigen get angry at Mizu, are they being unfair?

Sure, Mizu isn't obligated to treat Akemi - or Taigen or Ringo or anybody else - nicely, or to serve them, or to be honorable, or be a hero to them, or whatever. No human being is obligated to any other human being. We all have the choice to do whatever we want to anybody else. But the point of flawed characters in storytelling is the tension between those characters and their potential. Their growth into someone who can choose the higher, harder path, who chooses to be obligated to others, who chooses kindness and compassion.

Because Mizu's problem isn't revenge. Nobody is preaching at Mizu that revenge isn't the answer. Her circumstances do suck, her life has been incredibly unfair, she is marginalized, and as far as we and Mizu know for most of the season, she is a child born of violence and no one is saying that that violence doesn't deserve to be repaid in kind.

Mizu's problem is isolation. And the fact that she thinks she has no responsibility toward her fellow human beings, because her hatred of her own circumstances and her having no life outside of her quest devours everything else. This is a problem because it turns Mizu into the worst version of herself. A version that hurts the people who like Mizu, the people who care about her.

Practically, Mizu has just taken on an entire army almost by herself. She's hurt. She's exhausted. If she were to defend Akemi now, it'd be yet ANOTHER fight, this time against horsed and armored samurai.

But that's not the reason Mizu gives Ringo. Mizu's ability or willingness to fight isn't even on her mind. All she says is, "She's better off."

"She's better off" is Mizu deciding what's best for Akemi. Akemi's entire story is about her being a caged bird longing to fly free.

One after the other, every man and woman in Akemi's life makes her decisions for her. She has to grovel and smile prettily and lie through her teeth just for the chance to be heard. Mizu judges Akemi for being a rich princess who isn't being more grateful for what she has, all without understanding Akemi's situation, and without any curiosity for why Akemi feels the way she does. From Akemi's perspective, Mizu is just one more person (one more man!) in a long lineup who ignores Akemi's wishes and (casually!) makes a decision for her that impacts Akemi's life greatly.

In the end, even Seki concludes that Akemi should get to decide what's best for Akemi. What others think that Akemi SHOULD want does not matter compared to what Akemi wants for her own life. As Madame Kaji said - Madame Kaji, who despite calling out the weirdness of Akemi's situation as well as the childishness of her decision to run away - is the only person Akemi meets who doesn't try to make decisions for Akemi, but instead only challenges Akemi to work for and be worthy of what she wants - she needs to decide what she wants for her own fucking self, and then take it.

Mizu being born female does not make her automatically wiser for letting Akemi be taken, and it does not preclude her from having a hand in giving Akemi back to her jailers. A patriarchy that Mizu knows full well would stop Mizu from achieving her own goals if she didn't present as male.

Mizu is still understandable here. She just had to kill Kinuyo, a disabled girl sold by her father into prostitution, a girl in a situation so far beyond Akemi's worst imaginings that I can practically feel Mizu's world being rocked just by comparing them in her mind the way she most likely is. That still doesn't make it right for Mizu to let Akemi be carried off to be sold into marriage by her father against her wishes. Those "good options" Mizu thinks Akemi has don't exist, no more than they ever existed for Mizu. Akemi and Mizu both have to get creative, make the best of their circumstances, take dangerous risks, and break rules in order to have any control over their own lives.

Even on my first watch, when at first I thought that Mizu had made the right decision and that Akemi was being unreasonable, Akemi screaming Mizu's name while being dragged, LITERALLY DRAGGED, back to her father was haunting as hell.

Mizu had the power to help Akemi, and simply chose not to.

Mizu lets Akemi be taken, Akemi who has just begun to trust Mizu. Mizu calls Ringo weak and quickly - seemingly easily - turns her back on him. Mizu values her quest over Taigen's life, after Taigen has endured days of torture to protect her, and she not only risks his life in the process, but doesn't tell him that Akemi is engaged to someone else, or that she came looking for Taigen, or that she is in danger.

Mizu's sword breaks because it is too brittle. Too pure. Too singleminded. Mizu only melts down the meteorite metal when she mixes the metal with objects from parts of her life that have nothing to do with her quest. Objects from the people she cares about, and who care about her.

All I'm saying is - Mizu doesn't have to be a hero. But she is the better version of herself when she reaches out to help and connect with others. When she's just a decent, kinder human being. And I think that's what this story is telling us that we should want for Mizu.

#blue eye samurai #mizu #akemi #bes #I have so many more thoughts about Mizus tangential relationship to honor and heroism but that is for another post #also reviewing these scenes made me realize that when Mizu calls Ringo weak she LOOKS POINTEDLY AT HIS (LACK OF) HANDS #she legit calls him weak for his disability after EVERYTHING THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH #like Ringo was def disappointed that his master chose not to behave like the (nonexistent) samurai ideal #but what made him ANGRY was the weakness comment and I did not clock that before #also to be explored more in another post #a third thing to explore in another post is how both mizu and taigen have wronged akemi on the basis of Edo period society being A Society #though Mizu starts to correct her own mistake by going back for Akemi - its Taigen whos on thin ice lolol

[aberfaeth]

personally im collecting all the rat grinders into my arms like fucked up little packbonded feral cats absolutely soaking wet from the rain and also blood bc theyre all right out of mauling some other animals to death. theyre going right next to aelwyn on my compellingly shitty pathetic creatures shelf. i hope they get their asses beat to hell and then have to live and be better anyway

#this is a tangential thought but like you could put a little lonelyeyes flavor on jace and porter if you were brave and wanted to. also. #dimension 20 #d20 #fantasy high #fhjy #fh #c.txt #i hope they did it for lucy and it doesnt work and it doesnt bring her back #i hope it brings her back and she never forgives them

[royalarchivist]

Fit: It's all good, Sunny. It's all good. Like I said

Tubbo: Fit, I'm sorry for trying to ruin your date, but in my defense, it was really funny. It was really funny.

Fit: Well, it's all good.

Tubbo: Like, I just imagined you guys leaning in for the kiss, then suddenly he disappears, and then I'm like, "SAVED IT! Cock blocked again! Telepathically cock blocked!" Yeah.

Fit: Yeah. Well no, you gave it 100%, so–

Tubbo: In my defense, that was very funny.

Fit: –it's admirable. You tried as hard as you could.

Tubbo: And also, can you at least compliment my Photoshop skills? That was so good, that was like, pixel perfect. I painted fcking pixels, bro.

Fit: Um. Well, congrats! Yeah, it was–

Tubbo: Thanks man. Thanks.

Fit: It fooled me! It fooled me!

Tubbo: No it fcking didn't! I heard your fcking reaction from the roof of the cinema! There was no- it didn't fool sht. [Turns around and sees Empanada and Sunny twerking] Oh dear God.

#Tubbo #FitMC #QSMP #Hideduo #FitPac #tangentially #Fit #January 15 2024 #That's sweet that Tubbo apologized #also Sunny and Ramon made up! #morning crew

[manichewitz]

why is it that 90% of criticism of the song of achilles just boils down to not accepting the conventions of romance as a genre and wanting it to simply be a different book than what it is? because seriously if you can’t get with the fact that the song of achilles is a queer romance story first and a retelling of the iliad second you’re never gonna make a criticism of it that’s interesting to me. if i wanted to read a book that was accurate to the source material then i would just read the iliad. if i wanted to read a queer romance unfolding on the backdrop of a mythical war i would read the song of achilles. if you dont understand the difference between those two things then your beef with that book is just a waste of time to me

#tangential but i think tsoa had a little bit of a hunger games effect #where it inspired so many knockoffs of itself that it retroactively is percieved as worse than it actually is #also at the end of the day its obviously not meant to be about the iliad its about tragic queer love in ancient greece #it frustrates me a lot that people really just cant understand that lmaooo #.txt #alex talks #books #bookblr #the song of achilles #the iliad #the classics #patrochilles #achilles/patroclus #ya #ancient greece #ancient rome #greatest hits

[uncanny-tranny]

I think people have a misconception of emotions in regards to people who take testosterone, and it's really affected the way we're treated.

For instance, take the idea that we're unfeeling beasts on testosterone - fueled only by our anger. This is misplaced precisely because it implies that those taking testosterone fundamentally change, from our emotions to our personalities. It implies that we have downgraded in some way since taking testosterone, because let's be real, who enjoys enraged people? Who wants to be an enraged person all the time?

I can only speak from personal experience, but testosterone has made me happier than anything. I can't cry as easily, but the emotions that make me cry are still there. Just because you can't physically see emotion through crying or whatever doesn't mean they don't exist. Testosterone has given me pause to actually feel - before I was just responding to stimulus, I didn't feel alive. Even when I'm angry or upset after starting testosterone, I feel alive. It's a hard feeling to convey, but I feel alive. Testosterone has not changed who I am, it's just made me happier and healthier. It's made my skies clearer.

Testosterone is a (morally) neutral hormone - we all need some level of it in our systems (this level obviously depends person-by-person), so it's weird to specifically single out those of us who take testosterone. You are absolutely entitled to say that testosterone in higher levels isn't right for you, and I respect the position. Estrogen in high levels made my life miserable, I can empathize. But please remember not to overgeneralize and say that who you are fundamentally changes, because that isn't accurate.

#trans #transgender #lgbt #lgbtq #ftm #nonbinary #wrote this after i drew up some testosterone because today is shot day :p #i personally have found it hard to cry but i've also found it hard not to be at least a little happy #tangentially related to my last post but hey