Originally Posted by
Tristanh666
In the second picture i imagine whats going on is when you press on the lever its just pushing the housing which in turn presses the pad together
It's not as different as you might think. Both ways pull the end of the cable away from the end of the cable housing. The only difference is which of those sides is bolted to the handlebar.
Also, the second picture above is how you route cross levers with road brake levers on the same bar.