#HES A DAD WHO LOVES HIS DAUGHTER AND HIS TIGER BF WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT!!!!!

[daiisiy]

Gricko Grimgrin is the most character ever. He adopted an owlbear as his daughter. He went to goblin college. He tries to appeal to kids with rap. He eats cigars. He saw his best friend getting plowed behind a tree and was totally okay with it. He accidentally killed his own uncle. He had an imaginary friend who was an eldritch abomination. He got fey cursed into being handsome so many times he ended up actually becoming handsome. He's british.

[circular-time]

Spare Parts Liveblog 6 - Disc 2 

Dinner break! Okay, the Doctor and Nyssa leave after the ep 1 cliffhanger, and they never get into any trouble at all. JUST KIDDING.....

Track 2.1 “Necessary Force”

Part Two opens with something that’s a stock scene in new Who, but rare in classic Who, especially with Nyssa of all people:  the companion and Doctor in a shouting match. I remember when Tegan was dissed by many fans because bossy/outspoken women were not popular. Then again, she did it all the time; Nyssa saves it for special occasions.

“And if you won’t get involved, then I must stay behind and do it by myself” —Nyssa

Every time I hear this bit, I cheer and wince all at once.

Never forget that Nyssa. Has. GUTS. The moment she realizes it’s the homeworld of the Cybermen, after she’s seen just how miserable and horrible and hopeless life is there, and knows she’ll probably die of starvation or consumption or be carved up for spare parts— that is where she, child of privilege who grew up in an idyllic paradise, decides to end her days. To help. Which is the sort of thing she does: she did it on Terminus. Big Finish keeps hammering home this basic aspect of her character.

While fighting, she and the Doctor run smack dab into the recurring dilemma of Doctor Who: you want to help, and you have a time machine, but you can’t alter history. Nyssa: I want to give these people some hope! I want to stop the Cybermen from coming into existence! Doctor: Yes, very laudable, but you can’t do it on your own! You’re not an army! You can’t turn the whole of history around on a sixpence! Nyssa: I’ve seen you do it!

(Again, Nyssa has guts, and  also, long before Clara was doing it, Nyssa had a very dangerous habit of trying to be Just Like the Doctor). 

The whole scene is so well-acted by Peter and Sarah. Chills down spine.

Also we get a chance to hear them face their pain about Adric’s death at the hands of the Cybermen, something Earthshock and Time-Flight really didn’t address. 

[Doctor talks about running after disasters with a stretcher.]

“A pity that didn’t occur to you before when it came to sacrificing Adric!” Ouch, Nyssa. Ouch. [she’s still mad they didn’t run after Adric with a stretcher.]

Which gives her an additional motive for wanting to stop the Cybermen from coming into existence: it will save Adric’s life.  Oh, Nyssa. 

Doctor, after she finally lashes out: “So much that never gets said. Bound to boil over sooner or later.” Yeah, with scriptwriters who actually think about the story’s impact on the characters.

However, they are very dear friends and rational people, and by the time Nyssa’s collected her belongings to leave, they’ve both cooled down; Nyssa apologises for that barb. 

And the Doctor honors her wishes and lets her go. 

Or would have done, if she hadn’t mentioned bringing a cybermat into the TARDIS. At which point he goes all angry-squeaky-Five:

YOU BROUGHT A CYBERMAT INTO MY TARDIS!!!!!!

oops. 

Track 2.2 “The Thousand Natural Shocks”

Oh FINALLY. I had a huge crush on this badass lady when she played a space pirate and crack pilot on Blake’s 7: 

(hooray for farrah fawcett hair) 

So I’m stoked that Sally Knyvette playing Doctorman Allan, the morally-grey-area scientist developing the Cybermen.

She’s cynical. She defies the Committee and laughs when she hears about the Doctor’s troublemaking— she’s about the only person with enough privilege/power to risk thinking for herself.  She’s alcoholic (because Mondas is too horrible to deal with sober— and so is her conscience). She really is trying to save her people, but she’s got a brutal way of doing it: turning the weak and sick into a cyber-workforce to serve the strong. Eugenics ahoy. And she’s too damn proud of her creations, a standard Ethically Challenged Scientist trope. 

She teases Sisterman Constant at every opportunity, making fun of her hypocrisy, (e.g. calling the Hartleys her “patients” when they’re just terrorized citizens). Sisterman Constant is a religious type, but actually she’s just another version of the secret police.

So anyway, we get Allan’s first scene treating “crewmen” from the surface and arguing with the Sisterman.

When I first listened, I had trouble with of “-man” used as a suffix to denote profession. A Sisterman is a nun (Constant prays to the “sky above” at one point, their heaven), a Doctorman is a doctor, an Electriman is an electrician, and so on. Sounds odd, but then so does the universal “he.” 

I also appreciate how many female characters are major players in this story, typical of Big Finish especially when Gary Russell was director. They don’t fall into stereotypical villain/victim female roles. (While Yvonne is a victim, she has a rather atypical part to play too.)

Got to meet Sally Knyvette a few years ago at a signing in Barking, but alas I took the worst picture AND stuck my foot right down my throat. Ah well. Good thing is that actors meet so many fans they’ll forget your foolishness.

(still with the great hair, damn her) 

Track 2.3 “Onto the Carpet”

Back in the TARDIS, testy!Doctor is frantic about the cyber-pest loose in his TARDIS. Just as bitterness about Adric’s death made Nyssa lash out at the Doctor, Nyssa endangering his TARDIS makes him lash out at her.

And go all squeaky. Of course.

He blows up at her, but once the Cybermat shorts out and she’s apologized again, he apologizes as well. Typical deflection: he rather awkwardly asks her to see what she can do to fix the damage: “Please, take a look. You’re good at this sort of thing. I’m going out for some fresh air.” 

Exactly as he used to do when Tegan got under his skin and he needed to calm down. Have I mentioned how good Platt is at capturing the nuances my favorite TARDIS team? 

Except this is the moment when the Doctor makes a FATAL mistake: HE GETS INVOLVED and leaves Nyssa, who is not going to stay safely put for very long. (And I note that it is partly Nyssa’s fault he gets involved, and/or her compassion makes things more difficult. See also: Creatures of Beauty, Emerald Tiger, trying to rescue the Doctor in Masquerade and screwing up the interface, etc.) 

Scene jump to Doctorman Allan arguing with the ominously robotic voice of the Committee. She wants to slow down their Cybermen program and try to improve the process to save lives. The Committee, ignoring her pleas, decide the city is consuming too many resources and must be shut down. Why look after the interests of the people you represent when you could just eliminate them? 

A parable of Tories shutting down UK social services over the past 20 odd years? Not sure, but the GOP is voting on Trumpcare in the US this week.

Allan: “What could possibly be more important than saving people?!”  Committee: “We. must. survive.” 

Every time i hear a new Who Cyberman say “delete” or “upgrade,” I shake my head. They just don’t have the Scary Motto down like their predecessors. 

Outside the TARDIS, the Doctor finds a Cyberman, Allan’s drone. I think it was Platt’s idea to make them used for surveillance.

Frank shows up at the TARDIS to inform Nyssa that Dad Hartley is all sad; his daughter’s been called up for the work crews. Again, tying into Nyssa’s backstory; she knows what it’s like to lose a family member (and she guesses Yvonne’s being cyber-converted). Whereas Frank’s oblivious and angry he didn’t get what he thinks is a glamorous, well-paying job.

He’s been pretty angry and self-centered through the story so far. Then again he lost his mom pretty recently, so he’s suppressing grief. 

Track 2.4  - “Bones to Pick” 

Act II means taking action, although not necessarily effective. The Doctor is upset that the riot he started last night seems to have died off. 

He wants to stir up the resistance some more. (Not realizing the cost they’ll pay, or else knowing the cost will be 100% fatal if they don’t do something soon.) This time he’s trying to draw attention to the graverobbing by hijacking a lorry and scattering its shipment of bones all over the street. I love his pre-smart-device kettle and ball of string approach to grave danger, although it doesn’t always work. 

Meanwhile the Committee’s decided to cyber-convert the remaining population. Or at least that’s what Allan guesses. She’s drinking to keep from thinking. Sisterman Constant, selfish git, says the Selectors (the nuns) should be exempt; they’re the ones who choose “recruits” to be processed, making them elite. Whereas Allan can read the writing on the wall.

Track 2.5 - “Processing Credit”

Poor Yvonne. Constant blesses her while sending her to the slaughter. The victims being taken for Cyber-processing have their clothes stripped, exactly like prisoners in Nazi interment camps. Deny them their humanity before taking it away, whee.

Scene switches to the Committee (one thing I don’t like about BF -- too many modulated weird voices I have trouble understanding). Moment of doom (if it wasn’t before): They’re recalling Commander Jeng from the surface to take over. Military coup in progress.

But bringing Jeng down endangers the project on the surface, which has hit a critical juncture: radiation’s really high; laborers die off quickly, They’re caught on the horns of an impossible dilemma, and unfortunately a soulless Committee with no compassion is in charge of choosing. Sound familiar?

At LAST. Back to Dodd, disreputable rogue, being mean to Mr. Hartley who’s signing away his own organs just so he can feed his son.. Mondas is so horrible.

Mr. hartley passes the Doctor on the way out. Tells him Nyssa will make a good doctor, considering how she helped him. 

“Oh, really?” the Doctor says, a bit dubious. But she will, in both senses: as a doctor on Terminus and, once she’s older, she starts behaving more and more like him. (Jupiter Conjunction, Mistfall, Entropy Plague to name a few examples.) 

But that’s to come. Now the Doctor is pestering Dodd again.

Track 2.6 - “Taking Stock” (the track names on this audio are great) 

The Doctor wants Dodd to help him break into the Committee’s central HQ. Dodd has other ideas, involving locking him in a freezer with the other spare parts.

Meanwhile Nyssa handily beats off a swarm of Cybermats with her nerdy smarts, electrocuting them.

Frank: It worked! Amazing! Nyssa: Not really. But worryingly satisfying. 

She’s a gentle soul. Usually.

Sure enough, the Doctor’s been gone too long, so Nyssa grabs some food to go help Mr. Hartley. 

Doom. Doom. Doom. JUST STAY IN THE TARDIS.

___________

Poor Yvonne. We get to hear her final moments as a human, begging for her Dad. Heartbreaking. Ugh: sound of a dentist’s drill just to trip all the horror nerves.

“You will join us. We are the future.”

Again, the Cybermen in this story are so much scarier than shiny robots saying “delete” and “upgrade.”

Because they are like the Borg— long before the Borg— people being assimilated into walking corpses. No wonder Death in Heaven tried to bring back this aspect of them, remind us what’s inside the armor. 

____________

Doctor escapes Dodd and a random Cyber-policeman, and promptly tries to steal the guy’s horse. Using his Tristan credentials, the Doctor tries talk to the beastie.

Shades of Black Beauty in this bit, I think, although I haven’t read it in so long I’m not sure. “the whips are hard, the feed stale....” 

Alas he doesn’t succeed in escaping; Allan rescues him from being executed, but requisitions him.

Track 2.7 “A Cracking Holiday”

Poor Mr. Hartley is in shock after losing Yvonne a second time, watching her last shreds erased before his eyes.

I love the way Big Finish often uses the sound of a teakettle going off as a sort of shorthand alarm: it’s warning of imminent danger, but the heroes are being too British and Keeping Calm and Carrying on 

And now everything goes to hell. The power cuts out, the Cyber recruits escape in the confusion, the roof cracks, the lights go out, the cyber-police are trying to herd everyone into the Committee Palace for processing, and rioting breaks out— it’s apocalyptic.

Amazing how an audio with just a few voices and sound effects can suggest the death throes of an entire world... this  hollow, terrifying world, the claustrophobic city in a cavern. It’s epic. 

Because our imaginations are still a damnsight scarier than CGI.

DOO WEE OO.

[flslp87]

6x17  Thoughts

Like most weeks I rewatched the episode on Monday allowing myself to get my thoughts together, however this week I enjoyed the episode SO much that I watched it 3 times yesterday and some parts (you know which ones) I watched more than that.....

A few notables....  Rumple was ‘woken’ by David?  Interesting and makes a few things make sense.  Tiger Lily and her connection to the BF - I can’t wait.  And Captain Swan - again I can’t wait.   So on with my thought break down. 

Snowing - what can I say?  They were magical.  I loved the dream walking and finding out that 10 years into the first curse they actually woke up and had an opportunity to bring Emma with them, or to go off on their own, yet they made the sacrifice to drink the potion and allow Emma’s fate to play out.  Could I have done that?  No, but it fit well in the story and for whom Snow White and Prince Charming are together and for what they have always stood for.   The fact that it was David who wanted to jump through the door and grab Emma was heartwrenching and that it was Snow who had to make the difficult decision was very typical of the show as they have written female characters who often have to make decisions that are very difficult - and let’s face it, usually involve children.  In the present, both David and Snow providing individual support to Emma was so touching and exactly what she needed as well as when she needed it.   ----In response to why the flower survived Emma telling her mom it was because it needed to was a really nice compliment to the next scene when  Snow told David that we have to have hope that she is strong enough to grow up and find us when she’s supposed to.   ----Interesting to see how this season has been about accepting who we are today and that it is ‘because’ of what we have gone through - and the scene with Snow leaving Emma and then Emma making the comment about the flower were a nice call back to that theme.    ----Snow’s comment when she woke up from the curse and said something about her family growing I thought was a nice call back to Killian making the comment to David about allowing his family to grown when he asked for his blessing to propose to Emma.  ----Another thing I noted was the BF saying something about Emma being alone and as soon as Snow woke up she said that is the way we are going to beat her is by working together - which I feel has been a strong message pushed the last 2 seasons.  That when there is an external problem they fight it best together, ie by sharing the burden.  I think this is going to be the key to defeating the BF ultimately. 

Regina - she stepped up and I was really happy to see this.  Even when David pointed out that it was the curse that ‘she’ cast, she acknowledged this.  I always thought that Regina would be the eclipse to break the Snowing curse but it was the entire town which was quite touching, esp after everything that Snowing gave up for them.  She even seems to have put aside her issues with Zelena to get her help when magic is needed.  And when Killian pulled out the ring, I loved how she took Henry’s arm and scurried into the bedroom to give them some privacy.  

Zelena - I know she’s working with the heroes but I just don’t trust her.  And I did find it very interesting that when it involved magic Zelena was allowed to help, but when it involved ‘family’ time - both at the loft when Regina was hanging with them as well as in the office when they broke the curse Zelena was absent.  Is there a meaning here?   Her character has been worthless this season so I think something big is going to go down with her, I’m just not sure what. (plus I am still salty that she was kept and not Robin so that could affect my viewing of her character.)

Tiger Lily - I have so many questions about this character.  I really loved her but the look on her face a few times just made me think that she was thinking “things are working perfectly’ -  --- She knew his real name.  How?  At the time when they were on ‘skull rock’ would he have introduced himself as Killian Jones?   ----She says “Only way we have of winning the coming war.”  So why is she including herself in this way and how does he know?  (I was looking for a globe or a dream catcher) --- I’m not sure why Killian thought how showing her a ring would convince her that his love and the savior were one and the same, but after she saw it, the look on her face made me go hmmm.   ----How did she know the BF was already in SB?   ----Why does she have only part of the most powerful wand ever made – was the entire wand hers? When asked how she got it, she evaded the question. Does the wand need to be forged with something else to make it whole?  if so ‘could’ it be the CS TL sapling? The Snowing TL Sapling was introduced to ‘trap’ the EQ but she broke it, could it be that the CS TL sapling is the answer to defeating the BF? ---- She also said “If anyone should have stopped her from walking down her dark path, it was me.” – why? With that specific episode showing how a mother sacrificed for her ‘people’ AND then in the present sacrificed for her daughter made me wonder.  Was TL the ‘head’ fairy, the ‘mother’ of the fairies?   Could the little girl be a de-aged BF?

Rumple/BF/Gideon - The BF’s comment to Rumple about being the family like we were meant to me makes me think that what we saw spoiler wise in SB for the finale is her HE.  Who casts that curse, I wonder  Is it her or is it Zelena?  I want to say Z because she makes a deal with the BF to save her child. I did enjoy that Rumple seemed to unsettle the BF by knowing that she had G’s heart and by tossing out there that info about the pixie flower.  In the past, he needed the name Emma to come out of the curse but then as soon as he figured out it had only been 10 years and mixed the potion for them all to drink.  I DO NOT believe that he drank the potion.  I have always felt that he had an ulterior motive for everything that he was doing that was “MORE” than just finding Bae because once Bae was found and died, Rumple didn’t change.  He kept pushing for ‘something.’   So even though there wasn’t magic in SB during the first curse, somehow he was able to locate Emma and find out that she had given up Henry and arranged for Regina to adopt him.  THEN just as Henry was losing hope and the book ‘appeared’ for Snow to give it to Henry - I’m wondering if that book was put there by Rumple. He seems to have his fingers in most of the puzzle pieces, why not the book also?   The show really seems to be leading us to believe that there is going to be something with Rumple vs the BF.  I think there is a possibility that there might be 2.  One he will try to do alone and he will fail.  THEN he will work with the entire group and together they will defeat the BF.  

Captain Swan - Oh man I’ve watched their proposal dozens of times and it’s amazing every time.  Killian’s single-minded mission to get to Emma and Emma finally asking her father ‘how he does it? - ie keep going and working w/ her mother when they aren’t together - and then her dad telling her that Hook was working his way back to her.  Killian tossing out there ‘the woman that I love’ over and over again was so sweet.  And when Emma used the pixie dust and the portal took her directly to her man and she burst through that door and pushed those boys aside to grab Killian’s hand and pull him through the door was just ugh....And then the proposal - words can’t describe and the way they looked at each other and wouldn’t let each other go.  I just hope that him falling on her and them asleep on the office floor isn’t all the ‘action’ we get.  

Next week I’m expecting the BF to threaten to baby and Zelena to try to ‘fix’ it on her own.  In the past, I think she gave up her friend to keep her power so I’m expecting her in the present to put her baby first.   BUT will the BF take the baby?  Is that what pushed Z to run over the BF in 19?   To save her baby will she make a deal with the devil?   Will she sacrifice others for her own needs?  I tend to think so but can’t wait to find out.  

Tagging my spec girls.  @whimsicallyenchantedrose  @idontdothatveryoften  @hellomommanerd   @linda8084  @ladyciaramiggles  @onceblog    

[justjoeyyy-blog-blog]

Day 23-29

6-6-17 Day 23: I totally forgot to write the other day about passing out fliers. You have to pass out schedules for circle c around the lido deck. I went up to these 2 girls and said "are either of you in between the ages of 12 and 14" one of the girls looks at me and says I'm 20...and she's 18" I just said okay! And walked away. I was so embarrassed. Training was good today. Besides the fact that I couldn't keep my eyes open. After that me Elle and Rain took a long ass taxi ride to where all the shops are as well as baby tigers! We got to hold one and it was amazing. I'll seriously never forget that. The view on the way was incredible as well. Ensenada is pretty nasty but driving up the mountains and getting to see the entire area was so cool. There's random houses all over the mountain. It's a really dirty area though. Lots of random animals and just crap everywhere. It's so weird to me that people live there and have a life there. The ocean there is very dirty. And not a beach people go to for pleasure. It's full of seals and it smells horrible. The kids in my club are fucking crazy. I'm sitting up on the sports deck because we were playing capture the flag. One of the boys from the older club sat by me and we were talking (we met the first night he's hilarious) He started telling me that earlier when I wasn't there one of my kids climbed over the railing and was facing towards the ocean with his arms holding him from behind him...I seriously had no words. The boy told me that people were bugging the guy and he thought they would think he was cool if he did it. I saw the boy later and asked him about it. He told me he has no self esteem so he did it. At first I was joking around with him and said "so I heard you were hanging around today". And then he got all serious and I felt bad. He told me it meant a lot to him that I cared. Some of the other kids told me another one of my kids was doing it too. I later found that kid sleeping in a booth on the lido deck lol. It's 1:48 and I'm laying in bed. My roommate has slept out ever since I told her that her bf snores. And tonight he's sleeping here. She didn't say anything to me about it, he just came in and they're in her bed. I'm praying my room switch request gets approved so I can move in with Rain. I'll be much happier. I start work at 12 tomorrow so I can sleep in a little. It's a sea day tomorrow so lots of work and little rest. 6-7-17 Day 24: these hot flashes are literally taking over my life here. This morning I took a shower and put some lotion on my face then went and ate. I sat down and touched my face and the lotion was melting down my face it was so gross. There's literally no reason for this to be happening. It affects my whole day. Because then my hair gets nasty and I have to put it up and I just feel like I look like shit. Me and my kids watched the magician today. He's seriously amazing it freaks me out. And now he says hi to me whenever he sees me with his big ass eyes and his top hat. We also had team building an hour ago. They bought snacks for us while we were in Ensenada and they're so much better than American chips. The Doritos and cheetos in Ensenada have a tang to it. And a little spice. Our next meeting will be saying bye to Eleanor :( I'm very excited tomorrow is a port day in Long Beach. If it's nice enough I might go relax at the beach or something. My kids this cruise were seriously insane. They never listened to me which was really upsetting. They would literally throw their candy wrappers and stuff on the floor and never cleaned up any of their shit. Rain said I need to start being more strict and tell them that I will call their parents if they're not going to listen. Of the couples in my club kissed last night. It was the girls first kiss. She was so excited to tell me it was so cute. Yesterday I was given a binder that said O2 and circle c and the word shhhhhh on the front. There was a page in there discussing an incident on a prior cruise and that the family was coming back. Little did I know that one of the daughters was in my club and that me and her dad had been chatting the entire cruise. He even told another family to come and see joey at circle c. He tipped me $10 too. I'm so happy that I was able to make their experience better this time. Last cruise they went on was the dad grandma and 2 kids. They were in 2 rooms that were connected. The shower head in one of the rooms burst and completely flooded the room. The boat they were on did not have any open rooms that were connected and the family said it wasn't possible for them to not be together. So carnival paid for someone to pick them up at the next port and drive them back to Long Beach, completely missing the entire rest of the cruise. This time around was much better for them and I'm super happy that I was apart of that. There's been lots of drama going on. The other circle c girl supposedly "hates me" because I brought to my directors attention that the hard drive was missing in the stereo that plays the music. The other circle c girl was having the DJ put new music on it. For some reason she thought it was a huge deal that I went to our director and she told one of the girls that she hates me lol. She also thinks I do certain things in the club when really it's our supervisor or housekeeping. She had boxes she was saving and questioned me where they went. Answer: housekeeping threw them away. Same situation happened with something one of the kids made her that kept falling off the door. And the most recent was how our director took her name off of the door (in huge letters she put her name up) and she thinks it was me. She also questioned me on where the twister game was when it was on the shelf the entire time. Like bitch this is my position. You were subbing until I got here and now you need to step back. It makes me so mad because I didn't do anything wrong. And if I did I would own up to it. No roommate and bf tonight :) which means I can sleep in peace without hearing moans from her bf in the middle of his sleep. But we all know she'll come in tomorrow morning and turn the light on as if I'm not even here. I can't wait to move in with Rain. But it's bittersweet with Eleanor leaving. I might get off tomorrow. I need a new water bottle. The one I've been using that I bought right before I left is leaking. This little piece of rubber came off the lid and now it leaks if it's not upright. It was seriously the size of a grain of rice. I need to also buy those balls you can put in your shoes to make them smell better. I've never had issues with smelly feet my entire life and now it's taking over my cabin. I'm even wearing brand new socks so it has to be my shoes. I wear them all day everyday so that's most likely the issue but damn it's an awful smell. 6-8-17 Day 25: I am so bipolar about this job. When I'm having fun I think it's the most amazing thing in the world. And when it's bad I want to leave so badly. Today was good for a little. I went out to eat with Rain Elle and my roommate Stephanie. It was nice to eat out somewhere. I forgot to set up circle c before I left and thankfully my supervisor didn't realize. She wants me to try and pass out at least 20 fliers and it's impossible. I can't tell who's in between 12-14 and half of them are in the pool. I'm supposed to document 20 though. I met my kids and it's a really small group. They're pretty weird and immature compared to my other groups. My supervisor called me to let me know that they moved down a 17 year old who has autism to my club (there are special times when we are able to do this). I sat in my club waiting and a dad and his son arrived. Right away I knew that's the family my supervisor was talking about. The boy was extremely close to me and shoving his card in my face. He instantly went from one game to the next and it made everyone feel extremely awkward. I went through normal procedure and asked the dad (who was also odd) if his son had any food allergies or special needs in which he said no. The dad left and I called my supervisor wanting to clarify that the family I just met was the one she told me about prior. She said the 17 year old with autism was a girl and that the boy that was in my club was someone else. I immediately started to freak out inside. This boy was the definition of high functioning autism. He was extremely close to everyone and didn't understand personal space. All of the other kids kept looking at me because they were so uncomfortable and didn't understand what was going on. I looked over and the boy was practically sitting on one of the other boys laps because he was trying to sit in the window with the others. I called my supervisor to let her know what was going on. I was in such shock that the dad said his son had no special needs. I'm not a doctor but I can easily tell when someone is special and needs a little extra care. I guess we'll see how tomorrow goes but by seeing his behavior tonight it makes me nervous, especially knowing that the parents don't admit to their son needing extra care. It's hard to explain to people from other countries how autism works. I've really tried to make it clear that when it comes to autism I know what I'm doing. People from other countries that I work with look at it as it's nothing or children that don't need special care. It's hard to explain that to them. So for me to tell my boss that this boy needs extra help doesn't mean anything to her. It's hard. If he comes back tomorrow I am going to try and explain to the kids that he is different and to try and go about their activities in a normal manner. If it becomes an issue then I will talk to his parents. After work I went to crew bar with Elle and Rain. I freaking love going to the crew bar. It's fun to gossip. There's been lots of drama with the other girl doing circle c. She told one of my coworkers that she hates me and wants to beat me up. So nice right? She got in trouble the other day because she took the hard drive from circle c with the music on it and didn't return it. And somehow that's my fault. Her boxes and something else a kid made for her got thrown away by housekeeping yet I'm to blame for it. If I did something wrong I would 100% own up to it. But I didn't and it's not fucking fare. I brought it up to my supervisors attention. When I got home tonight my name tag on my door was on the ground. I have it held up by multiple magnets so it's impossible it "fell down". I'm going to ask my supervisor if she can bring alannah in so we can talk because this is ridiculous and I don't deserve it at all. She's salty because I took her position when in reality she was subbing until I got here. And I'm here and she still switches with me every week. I don't know why it bothers me so much. She's going to my friends and talking shit and I did nothing. 6-9-17 Day 26: I had crowd control training this morning. It was actually really interesting. Especially on my ship because we have 4 and 3 day cruises aka a drunken mess of people that don't want to listen. In an emergency guests are told to go to their cabin and grab medication, warm clothing, and their life jacket and then walk to their muster station. Which I personally feel is so unrealistic. If I heard an emergency signal my ass would be up on a deck, not down into the boat. After training I went to st nicholas (the "resort" in Ensenada. I went with the other intern Sarai (britnys roommate). The weather was perfect. The people there don't speak any English. Sarai asked for queso and the guy had no idea what we were saying. The food there is cheap though and really good. And authentic! I got a salad and chips and guacamole. We have a burrito bar on board at the lido bar. It's kinda like chipotle where you can go up and pick what you want. It's only open at lunch though so I've only had it a few times. Life on board is definitely getting better. I've been having a lot of fun recently but when it comes to my supervisor it just goes downhill. The kids are super fun and everything is always great until she says 1 little thing and it just completely changes my way of thinking. She blames things on whoever is closest to her at that time. I was in club O2 the other day for karaoke and she yelled at me because the scissors were out...wtf that's not my club. I was just sitting here watching my kids do karaoke and somehow the scissors are my problem. The girl in charge of O2 was right there...she did it with Rain the other day too. The cd turned off during registration while I was in there. Rain walked in a little later and my supervisor questioned her as to why the music wasn't on...she was working on the slide the entire time. Makes no sense. It's little things like that that are unnecessary and need to stop. We have a new supervisor coming soon 🙌🏾 I can't take her much longer. I got to take my kids to the show tonight. Our cast is so amazing I don't even have words. I get chills every single time I watch them perform. We also did Imagination prom tonight. The kids loved it and the prom queen and king were so cute. He even bought her a bracelet today while off the ship with her name on it. Supposedly they kissed and all the kids came running at me screaming THEY KISSED THEY KISSED! All the guests were staring at me like wtf? Some drunk guest sat down next to me and would not stop talking to me. He just kept repeating himself and going into weird topics. As I'm sitting there trying to write notes to my kids and their parents. I went to the crew bar after work. I love getting to talk to people there and get to know them. And then there's the random weird guys that come up and try and hit on you but don't understand when to stop or to just not do it at all. Tomorrow is a sea day and for some reason I work the most out of our entire youth department.....which is annoying and doesn't make sense. I also have a cut in my nose that will not go away and it hurts so bad. It keeps getting worse too. 6-10-17 Day 27: wow today was long (sea day) we had karaoke up in club O2 and my ears were seriously bleeding. These older boys thought they were so freaking cool and would hold the microphone but have it down at their hips. They were screaming every single song and would like jump on each other while they were "singing". I kept yelling at them and I could tell they were like who the fuck is this girl? After we went back down to circle c and hung out. The boat was incredibly rocky. I had some of my kids go get me pizza because I felt so nauseous and eating usually helps. After we had a staff meeting where we said bye to Eleanor. They all know she's allergic to seafood yet as her going away food they got sushi...I also got approval to move in with Rain which will happen tomorrow morning at 845, which will be tricky because Elle doesn't leave until 10. After the break I napped and then went right back to work. I was so close to tears tonight. These kids were making me so upset. The disrespect is insane. I shouldn't have to remind a 14 year old to not throw your pizza crust on the ground if you don't want it...there was tons of drama with them tonight. Prom king and queen kissed last night. They were "together" and so was the 2 runner ups. Well today was different and the relationships changed. So then the prom king was kissing the other girl who was runner up! They were actually making out in my club I had no words. Then another "couple" were kissing and holding hands and hugging each other as if your hugging your loved one who is leaving for the war or something. While this all happened I sat there nauseous as ever sorting rubber bands by their color. There's one girl in the club who is sooooo annoying and during karaoke she thought she was a freaking pop star singing sensation. She was AWFUL. She's like one of those people that go on American idol and think they're gonna win and they don't even make it past the first round. She had this huge round belly and would do just dance all day. I tried to stay away from her as much as I could because I couldn't handle her and then she comes up to me and goes joey I'm gonna miss you so much (I didn't even know how to pronounce her name) I felt really bad after that because I was being so sassy towards her. Then I started to clean Circle c and noticed some writing on the ledge above the couch. She fucking wrote rionna was here (in pen) I seriously don't understand what goes through these kids minds! She writes her name in pen on a perfectly white surface. I could not get it off to save my life. I really wish I would've called her parents. I was so mad I just ignored all of them the rest of the night. Their drama is so petty and honestly sad. It makes me cringe watching it. After work I stopped at crew bar for Eleanor's last night. Rain couldn't stop crying. They've been together since the start. Almost 6 months. I've only been here a month and thinking of being here without Elle is really weird to me. I seriously love her and will miss her a lot. Now I have to find another English friend so I can enjoy their accent everyday ❤️ 6-11-17 Day 28: I have officially been on this boat for a month. Which is absolutely crazy to me. If I get approved to leave early for my cousins wedding then I'll only have 6 weeks left. Rain leaves in 5 weeks. We had to say bye to Elle this morning. She did not like this job though and wanted to leave so badly so I'm happy for her. And now that she left I got to move in with Rain. I already love it so much more. And I actually have hooks I can use because Rain actually knows how to share. Last night the other circle c girl came up to me and the bar and said if I've been hearing things to not listen. She said she doesn't hate me and if there's ever a problem she will just tell me. She said she's been upset because I came in and took her position so she was salty. She also got mad about the hard drive the other day, but she left another youth staff alone and she wasn't supposed to do that. I didn't get off today. I caught up on my sleep which was amazing of course. We had a new guy coke today. His name is kody. He's from Canada. This isn't his first contract though so he kinda knows what he's doing. He seems really fun though. He's only here for 7 weeks on a swing contract which is what I want to do. Rain and Alina are going on the breeze in September and October which could be a huge possibility. I just don't think I can do 6 months. Work tonight was pretty chill. I did night owls which is supposed to go until 1am but we didn't have any kids so we got to leave at like 1145. It was great. I went to crew bar with Rain and Alina. The new cast of performers (divas) came today. I met a couple of them. Nothing will compare to what we have now though. We went up after and got pizza in shorts and a t-shirt which isn't allowed but it felt so good to just relax in my own clothes for once. I swear every single time I go to get ice cream the machine is off. I just want something sweet 😳. I might get off at Catalina tomorrow. I want to lay out but only britny can get off and she has to be back at 2 whereas I have to be back at 5. I've really been thinking about my next contract and if I want to do one or not. A bigger cruise that goes to better places and is a week long compared to 4 and 3 day cruises would be so much better. The clubs would be bigger and updated compared to this boat. There's a ton of staff members on the boat but you feel like there's no one. I pretty much know everyone that's well known on here. 6-12-17 Day 29: I got off in Catalina for the first time today. It's interesting to me that it's still technically an American port because it's in Baja, California. It has these huge mountains with the most amazing houses on them. There's also tons of shops and places to eat. The shops are like actual stores though, not a bunch of people standing outside begging you to buy their stuff. We ate at a place called luau larrys. It was great to eat some normal food. Next time I definitely want to go parasailing and look at the rest of the island. Britny had to go back early so we didn't get to do much. Just looked in 1 store and ate lunch. We don't have a port in Catalina (which they also call Avalon) so we have to take tender boats back and forth from the ship. It's only like a 3 minute ride but it takes a lot of time waiting for the tenders and loading and unloading. Whereas in Ensenada you can just walk right off the boat but there's nothing to do. There's also quite a walk until you even get into town. Probably like a 5-10 minute walk. And Ensenada smells like absolute shit. There's seals everywhere which I assume has a big reason to do with that. It's also very industrial. There isn't a view there. Just shops and their main attraction which is the blowhole but it's a 45 minute drive. I definitely want to see that before I leave. I'm settled into my new room. The bathroom here is even smaller than the last room which I didn't know was possible. When I go to the bathroom I have to rest my arm up on the sink because it's not possible for me to have it down. The toilet in here also doesn't really work well so you have to put water in it from the shower to help it flush 🙃 being able to get off the ship and do fun things on the boat definitely make it all worth it. I love going to the performances, the comedy shows, and just getting to meet so many people from around the world. Our supervisor is leaving on June 29 and then we get a new one who is from America. I'm so excited about that. I feel like work will be more realistic with the new supervisor. I'm also still waiting on my uniform...I have pants and I have polos that say camp ocean (which is every other week for me) and 1 jacket that says club O2 (which I don't work in at all). I don't have a single thing that says circle c which is my actual job. And I also don't have shorts or the main jacket that everyone wears. Our supervisor said she ordered them when I first got here but now I'm not sure what to believe. I had night owls tonight. We had a lot of kids but they ended up leaving early. Then we only had 2 siblings who told their parents they wanted to stay until 1 (when we close) even though there was no one else there...very frustrating. I've been going to bed so late every night. It's almost 2am and I've just been sitting in bed for an hour. I've been going to crew bar pretty much every night. There's nothing else to do otherwise. Shows are usually from 8-11 which I can't go to if I'm Circle c and not this week either because I'm night owls. I don't start my days until later because of it but then I sleep all day rather than getting up and doing something. Tomorrow I'm getting off and going to the "resort" to lay out.