#... honestly

[ejkreader]

I read The Poppy War during a 12 hour flight

That book did NOT end how I thought it would

It was also completely fucking amazing

And I will be reading it again once my sleep schedule rights itself ;)

[senboago]

WHY DO YOU HURT?

because you have made mistakes you cannot swallow

mistakes come back to you like echoes in an empty cave. you have been trying since you started but does trying count? is trying good enough? every night it visits you, the pain that you have caused with your clumsy hands and venom-tongue. life careens onward, onward, with the moon hung in the sky and the sun the day after, but you walk backwards on this path so you can keep sight of what you did. the destruction still feels fresh. it still feels like fire, where you burned them. fire is supposed to be warm. it burned them, and it will swallow you. blow out the candle. let it rest. some things are better left behind in the dark.

Tagged by: @nightbeat-cat​ [ this took so long to do! ] Tagging: @kenpxchi​, @bellringerbrawler​, @despairforme​, @jibojiki​, @kogane-jidai​, and anyone else interested.

[fvaleraye]

That's awesome! I'm super happy for you!!!! *Hugs*

aaaaaa thank u, doodles ;w; *hugs u back*

[sevi007]

As it stands right now I have, uh, four or five GotG fanfictions that I've begun and one that I haven't even begun and at the tempo I'm writing or deciding which one to write I will be still be working on those next year.

Well then, we all have something to look forward to for next year, then.

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

📂 (ayyo why does sid sound like me-)

... why am I not surprised in the least. 

Anyhow, goddammit Pile, I was all caught up except for the War-and-Peace-length Tornado essay! 

Sssoooo, to try and get my inbox back down to 1, um, yeah. Please enjoy this summary I have tucked away of my characterizations of Edward’s oldest brothers, the four original Seagulls: 

(It is arranged in “order of withdrawal from service,” for your cheer convenience.)

Lowtone: FR 122 as of Re-Grouping (LMS 10132 after). Outgoing, popular, and, notably, “the normal one” of the four… until WWI, perhaps.   

Thoroughly enjoyed the adrenaline and drama of war work. “Hot” trains, scary? Pah! More like awesome! Since Armistice, has found it hard to find much interest in his days. Then add the FR’s closure and Re-Grouping. Like many of his contemporaries, he was just Not About the corporate takeover life.

Within the first six months of LMS management, Lowtone sustained some mild-to-moderate damage after a signal mix-up. Resignedly told the managers to not bother mending him (managers, basically: ‘well. glad you said it. makes things easier all around!’) but requested to wait at his current depot until Nought’s time was also up. Nought: FR 120 at time of Re-Grouping (LMS 10130 after). Anxious and very shy. Had an infamous Noodle Incident when first turned to freight that was immortalized on three railways in a funny and innuendo-laced song. (Stack helped to ‘write’ said song, and it took Lowtone fifteen years to even begin to forgive him.) After this experience, went from ‘shy’ to ‘as close to a hermit as a working engine can actually be.’   

The LMS had pegged him from the start as ‘we definitely aren’t seeing much of a future for him with us,’ and predictably Nought offered little resistance to his proposed timeline for withdrawal. Especially when it was arranged that he and Lowtone would be sent off to scrap together. They had always, in an ‘opposites attract’ sort of way, been exceptionally close. Patch: FR 121 as of Re-Grouping (LMS 10131 after). Reserved, worldly, and dry. Also, probably low-key depressed for years now.   

Engines generally expected Patch and Stack (‘the other pair’) to last significantly longer than the first two. They are regarded as intelligent and canny and tough—none too easy to push around. But, although inseparable, they have a blow-up after Lowtone and Nought depart. Stack was incredulous and really angry at them, far too angry to ‘respect their decision.’ Eventually, Patch gets ‘round to revealing that… look, the idea of doing the thing on one’s own terms doesn’t actually sound crazy to him at all.   

Still, he sticks things out (and works through considerable pain due to lack of maintenance), unwilling to abandon Stack. However, a boiler fault eventually decides things more-or-less for him. More-or-less—because shed staff don’t see any problem. Patch, however, is positive that he’s on the verge of a boiler explosion, and refuses his next job rather than put his crew at risk. The predictable result is that he’s sent off immediately, without a chance to say goodbye to Stack.   

(After his firebox is cut out, the imminent fault is confirmed by the scrappers. Patch’s long-time driver is deeply rattled by all this. Stack finds the poor man’s guilt Really Useful when he is fundraising for his illicit revenge campaign on “the red berk”!) Stack: FR 123 as of Re-Grouping (LMS 10133 after). Skeptical, sharp-tongued raconteur with a taste for grudge matches and keeping score.   

Smarter Than You, and absolutely not about to let you forget it.   

Lowtone and Patch eventually attempt to heal the longstanding Seagull-Sharpy clan rivalry through diplomacy. You can goddamn guess which 'Gull was Not On Board with this. (That said, Stack himself gets on very well with the Sharps, these days.)

He had actually been the first of the lot eyed up by new management for withdrawal, since Stack had a lot of extra wear from his... um... extracurricular activities. (Fighting and biffing trucks, mostly.) They even stopped his repainting into LMS colors halfway through. They were unprepared for the level of stubbornness they were dealing with, however... 

[cynoirsure]

some texts i dont remember sending this morning

[revradio]

billie joe's anti-anti-precision eye liner? jesus christ. where was this 15 years ago??