#i have a terrible memory though

[korovaoverlook]

shifty’s a big crybaby. he tries to be a stone-cold badass but he’s just not. he doesn’t make the impression on fiddleford that he wants to. (the mabel sweater isn’t helping either)

[ruporas]

post ep 11

[trickstersaint]

Hi! I've just stumbled across your 'patron saint'-quiz and I love it! 🖤 The way you put the answers to the questions is flawless, especially the 'heart'-question and the afterlife-question, not to mention the results! One gets the impression that you really put your heart in this quiz. My results are eerily fitting - same for a friend who I made take your quiz as well.👍 I'm wondering whether it is possible to read the other result texts somewhere as well? (Or would I have to play through the quiz again with some different educated guesses?) Thanks for creating this quiz and all the best for you. 🫂 Enjoy the day/night 🤗

hi!!!! so glad you like the quiz!!!! i definitely had a lot of fun making it, and it's been really fun seeing people's reactions to it too :)

happy to share the other results! putting them below <3

[bloodcoveredgf]

longlegs is a movie about mother/daughterhood for real. throws up thinking about it actually

[coyotetatertot]

Promotional for Tate's company in my interp of A Better World AU.

FULL TEXT BENEATH THE CUT‼️‼️

God, I love exploring what he can do if he hadn't suffered through his father abandoning them and then YEARS of caretaker burnout as he tried in vain to heal his dad. What if he hadn't learned to fear his intellect and skill. What if Appalachia hadn't been cut out of him by being raised in the Bay Area. What if his abilities and cultural identity were both nurtured and encouraged by loving parents and a strong educational support system. What then. 👁️

I think he definitely still has his issues, because public figures often do lol. Fame causes so many problems. But fuck if I don't wanna let this lil scruffy genius out of his mental cage of repression, burnout, and depression. I think he's wild, enthusiastic, and has so much heart and spirit underneath all those layers of bullshit. 30 years of suffering and he is in his 30s, the divergence of the AU puts him on a radically different path from childhood and that makes him a TOTALLY new person.

On the highest peaks in the world, the strongest tethers aren't your rope, but the emotional ties which unite your climbing team and keep you connected to those waiting for you back home. Whether it's by blood or by choice, Tater Higgs McGucket understands the importance of family. Son of revolutionary inventor and co-founder of the Institute of Oddology Fiddleford Hadron McGucket, Tate describes his father as his closest friend, collaborator, and mentor. In collaboration with family friend and other co-founder of the Institute Stanford ("Ford") Pines, the three first designed their renowned supplemental oxygen delivery system after an expedition studying anomalies in the Himalayas.

"Our investigation took us to Camp 1 of Manaslu," Tate described in an exclusive interview with Mountaineering Monthly last week, "And I was shocked by the amount of traffic. This was some of the roughest terrain on the planet, but we saw more people out there than on some of my hiking trips back home in Oregon. . . Ford was our interpreter, and after talking with the locals, we realized that there were all these companies selling tickets to the top — with sherpas puttin' themselves on the line just to ferry tourists to the summit."

The influx of inexperienced climbers has had disastrous consequences, as Tate witnessed firsthand. "A lot of these people, they're physically and mentally capable of makin' that kinda climb, but maybe they don't follow best practice. You can summit without any oxygen, if ya stop and acclimatize along the way. But that takes a while, so it can be really temptin' to ignore your body and throw an oxygen bandaid at the problem. But then you're puttin' yourself in an emergency situation if it fails. While we were there, one of those climbers ran out, and a sherpa had to run more oxygen up there. I told him there was a storm a-comin', but he went up anyway. And we ended up losin' 'em both."

Tate's growing twang was underscored by a nervous bouncing of his leg, and he took a moment to collect himself before resuming the interview.

"Dad and I had a look at these open circuit breathing apparatuses. While they were reliable, we saw they were plum wasteful. Knew we could make somethin' better. There's a growin' culture of risk-takin' 'round them mountains. And maybe we cain't stop the industry that's causin' these problems, but we can at least make it safer for them climbers. 'Cuz at the end of the day, regardless of what ya think about these people? With an accident like that, there’s people left behind that're a-hurtin' somethin' fierce. Partners, friends, kids without parents. I mean, just the thought of losin' my dad like that is enough to break my heart — but that's reality, for both the families of that climber and the sherpa who died tryin' to save him. . . Naw, I reckon we can do better."

That was how the youngest McGucket, who had become a household name in the 1990s for his work in designing personal computers with his father's company, first ventured into the world of alpinism. But what he hadn't expected was to fall in love during the process.

"I always needed nature," he explained, "I get overstimulated awfully easy, and so I go out there to clear my head. Been hikin' and fishin' since I was a kid. . . And so, after workin' with climbers to test this equipment — I saw a lot of them eight-thousanders up close, right? And one day, I just knew I had to see it from the top."

But having become familiar with the dangers involved, Tate knew that preparing himself for such a climb would be no easy task.

Luckily, he found a trainer in Ford's twin brother, Stanley Pines.

“Stanley is a stand-up guy. Real old school. Throws a hell of a punch, catches a hell of a catfish.” Tate said of his mentor, “He’s a fighter. So I knew I needed him, because all it takes is one slip up or act of god for these expeditions to turn life-or-death. And he’s been great. Neither of us knew much about rock climbin’ or mountaineering before all this. But we’ve learned together. And having summited a few eight-thousanders now, I can tell ya, I wouldn’t be here without his help.”

Also aiding in his expeditions were his prototype real-time weather and vital monitoring systems, which have since become standard issue in all McGucket brand protective wear. But Tate is most proud of his high-frequency beacon system, which allows climbers to communicate with their partners and first responders — even from inside perilous crevasses.

"The danger of avalanche or serac collapse is real. There are times when your life just ain’t in your own hands. Our systems allow climbers to communicate when they’re entering or exiting a perilous area, and can send out an SOS. They’re also constantly pinging, so in the event somethin’ does happen, they’ll help your climbing partners or first responders find you.”

But high altitudes aren’t the only place you’ll find the twin peaks of McGucket Mountaineering. Tate’s inventions have seen heavy use by first responders of all stripes, from firefighters to wilderness search and rescue — and he has recently signed a contract to manufacture respirators for medical use.

"At the end of the day, it’s all about making it home safely.” Tate concluded, “You gotta prioritize what matters most. You can do incredible things in this world, but none of it matters if you can’t share them with the people who love you.”

[icewindandboringhorror]

There's always a slight yearning in the back of my mind wishing I had been born in the right place, time, family situation, income level, etc. to have just lived in one single house for my entire life. Imagine being born in a place that still suits you, even through all of your personal evolutions and etc. The idea of deep familiarity with an area because you've lived and explored it for 40+ years, being encased in a web of memories and connections. Being able to clean out your old childhood bedroom and find personal artifacts, to dig in the yard and remember. I know those lives can still be plenty imperfect, but there's just something so seemingly solid and stable and Grounding about it that I sometimes wish I could have.. (At least from my outside perspective as someone who's moved around a bit geographically and even within the same area, never lives in the same house/ apartment /etc. for more than a few years usually.) Like... having a place that is printed upon, fully your own, rather than chronically a visitor, every thought of a space always tempered with the notion that one day soon you'll have to pack it all up again, etc. There's something peaceful about the permanence.

[mad-hunts]

my daily visual and actually serious headcanon for y'all today is that barton does not like cheaters at ALL. and i'm specifically talking about in romantic relationships right now, though i may talk about other kinds of cheaters on a later date. he hates them SO much, in fact, that pretty much the only real instance that barton has ever committed arson was against a guy in organized crime who he had been dating for about 8 months (anddd this guy also tried to kill barton, BUT back to the story) who he found out had cheated on him multiple times with a woman he had been working with.

and as you can imagine, that did NOT bode over well with barton, so he torched his house... with him in it JSJSJ yeah, i know, it's beyond awful + he also came out of there with singed eyebrows and partially burnt clothes, but he honestly couldn't care less. thus, needless to say, i would really not suggest doing it to barton because there is a good chance he will make sure that you regret it xxx / j (i kid, i kid LMAO but still)

[spectrumtacular]

Top first-time watches of 2024 (feature film edition)! Top documentaries here.

My thoughts under the cut.

The Twentieth Century (Rankin, 2019)

A Mackenzie King biopic for people who have something wrong with them so naturally I loved it. Genuinely though it's brilliant bit of satire that cuts straight to the heart of Canada's national impotence, the way we're a nation that doesn't know how to define itself and doesn't think enough of itself to care, as embodied by our longest serving PM. Plus I looooove Rankin's visual style here; it's Caligari meets My Winnipeg meets Zero Patience, and I couldn't get enough of it. Also shoutout to the Diefenbaker easter egg, that was a personal highlight as I'm obsessed with him.

The Battle of Algiers (Pontecorvo, 1966)

....and at the reverse end of the political cinema spectrum we have The Battle of Algiers lol. This one's a triumph of neo-realism, a revolutionary call to action that grabs you by the throat and squeezes. Riveting plot, powerful themes, excellent sound design, effective use of that newsreel style, with solid performances all around, I get why this is considered one of the all-time greats -- it really is that good.

Pennies From Heaven (Ross, 1981)

If you have ever asked yourself what it would be like if Brecht made a technicolour Hollywood musical, this is the movie for you. It's a dynamite deconstruction of the genre, a really engaging exploration of musicals-as-escapism as seen through a Depression-era sheet music salesman's descent into crime etc. It's also a technical marvel; BEAUTIFULLY choreographed and shot, I think "Let's Misbehave" + "Let's Face the Music and Dance" are some of the greatest musical numbers ever put on film. My only qualms are that the sexual politics are a little iffy and that Steve Martin was maybe not the best choice for a dramatic role, but the whole lip-syncing device is cool enough to make up for it.

She's Gotta Have It (Lee, 1986)

In my Spike Lee era this year and it's entirely because of She's Gotta Have It, I think the introduction of Mars Blackmon rewired my brain chemistry. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant style, the cinematography + editing + score had my jaw on the floor from start to finish. Also has a really engaging plot with some terrific dialogue, especially in the first half. I will say that Nola's a little flat and Lee REALLY fumbled the rape scene, but otherwise I think it's a great exploration of female sexuality + the male reaction to it.

Police Story (Chan, 1985)

Some of the finest action sequences ever captured on film!! Extraordinary choreography on all the fight scenes, lots of big and inventive stunts that had me at the edge of my seat, and slapstick that was laugh-out-loud funny. Even beyond the set-pieces, Jackie Chan is such a pleasure to watch -- the moonwalk scene had me grinning ear to ear, as did the bit where he's juggling four phone calls. NEED to see more of his movies in 2025, they're just an absurdly good time.

Elevator to the Gallows (Malle, 1958)

Best noir of the year for sure. Plot is predictable, but done well enough that I was still thoroughly engaged. It helped that it was GORGEOUSLY shot; looooved the opening robbery sequence, everything in the elevator, and the interrogation room in the third act. Also, the score!!!! Miles Davis the man that you are!!!!

Brand Upon the Brain! (Maddin, 2006)

Genuinely what's going on in Winnipeg that makes every director from the city Like That™? Is it all the snow? Is the Jets? Is it the fact that the rest of the nation simply does not care about Manitoba, not even enough to make fun of them? Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, love love LOVE seeing some Winnipeg Weird; I think Maddin's the best thing that's ever happened to Canadian cinema, and this is probably my second favourite film of his (after My Winnipeg obv); a surreal visual treat, playfully made, with an engaging Freudian nightmare plot... how do we get the rest of the nation to match this energy, I need another five million of these things STAT.

The Human Tornado (Roquemore, 1976)

The pinnacle of so-bad-it's-good cinema, a hysterically funny action spectacular from Dolemite himself, Rudy Ray Moore. Kung fu! Stand-up comedy! 70s fashion! Visible boom mics! Exploding cars! Lengthy sex hallucination sequences! Jump cuts for literally no reason! The most fun I had all year! Stream The Human Tornado on Tubi TODAY!

Friday Foster (Marks, 1975)

Another dynamite blaxploitation flick, but one that's like genuinely solid; sure, it's cheaply made and the plot's paper thin, but Pan Grier and Yaphet Kotto are so incredibly charming as a buddy-cop duo that I didn't even notice until like halfway through that the movie made no sense. Also has a great score, great costumes, great chase scenes... it's incredibly fun, just a rip-roaring good time.

[mariana-oconnor]

The Bruce Partington Plans pt 2

Last time, we had a very full complement of characters with both Mycroft and Lestrade involved. And a man was found dead on the underground with top secret papers in his pocket, some of which were missing.

I really do wonder why only some of them were missing. It takes more time to go through them and choose some than to just grab the lot and go. Or maybe he had the most important ones out and was showing them to his killer. It's weird.

“Have the carriages been examined for any sign of violence?” “There are no such signs, and no ticket has been found.” “No record of a door being found open?” “None.”

Ghost train...?

I mean, no, this is probably the most spurious supernatural possibility I have thus far suggested. But if he got a ghost ticket from a ghost ticket seller and had it checked by a ghost person at the turnstile and then the ghost train he got on evaporated into thin air after leaving the station?

No?

Fine.

“And a curve, too. Points, and a curve. By Jove! if it were only so.”

...Hm. Well the train would have to slow down for the curve, but also if it's unexpected and he had the door open, I guess the points might cause a bit of a jolt, the curve sets him off balance and out the door he goes. Maybe losing a few papers along the way?

Other than that, and my previous idea that there should be maintenance access particularly to spots where there are points, I can't see what Holmes is getting at here.

“I fear not, Mr. Holmes. The train has been broken up before now, and the carriages redistributed.”

Was this standard practice? It seems very inefficient to separate every carriage of every train and mix them around all the time. Why not just keep them going as they are unless you absolutely need to change them?

'Meanwhile, please send by messenger, to await return at Baker Street, a complete list of all foreign spies or international agents known to be in England, with full address.'

That doesn't seem very secure. I feel like that information should also probably not be sent out to random residences.

Why does Holmes insist on referring to his brother as 'Brother Mycroft' in this story, as well? Has he taken up holy orders and become a monk since we last saw him? We know he's your brother, Sherlock, you don't need to keep repeating it. I know not everyone is as clever as you, but you don't need to keep beating us around the head. We get it.

“The end is dark to me also, but I have hold of one idea which may lead us far. The man met his death elsewhere, and his body was on the roof of a carriage.”

Ah, yes, the curve and the points dislodged him, just off the roof, not out of the door. So he was accosted on a bridge and thrown over the side? Also there'd be less blood from a postmortem injury from falling onto the tracks, or alternatively the blood from the original injury would be elsewhere.

(Although I have no trust in anyone's pathology skills in these stories anymore because... well...🐇🐇)

“Sir James, sir!” said he with solemn face. “Sir James died this morning.”

Oooh, the plot thickens. If this is not related then it is very coincidental.

“Good heavens!” cried Holmes in amazement. “How did he die?” “Perhaps you would care to step in, sir, and see his brother, Colonel Valentine?”

Look... I've been trying not to say 'it must be the Colonel' because I feel like at this point, the joke is too obvious. But now we have the Colonel's brother dead and Colonel Valentine is right there and...

Guys.

Guys.

If the Colonel turns out to be a dick again...

...an instant later we were joined by a very tall, handsome, light-beared man of fifty, the younger brother of the dead scientist. His wild eyes, stained cheeks, and unkempt hair all spoke of the sudden blow which had fallen upon the household. He was hardly articulate as he spoke of it.

Well, this is not a typical Watsonian description of a bad guy. It's a very flattering description, actually. And he seems upset by his brother's death. But is that just put on? Have all of ACD's previous creepy colonels been a long-con mislead for this one Colonel who is good?

“It was this horrible scandal,” said he. “My brother, Sir James, was a man of very sensitive honour, and he could not survive such an affair. It broke his heart. He was always so proud of the efficiency of his department, and this was a crushing blow.”

I had assumed brain fever, but no... broken heart. Not even brandy could have saved him. Just terrible.

“I know nothing myself save what I have read or heard. I have no desire to be discourteous, but you can understand, Mr. Holmes, that we are much disturbed at present, and I must ask you to hasten this interview to an end.”

I know he's grieving, but trying to end the interview early is a bit suspicious. Not a lot suspicious, but still a bit. I mean, he's a colonel.

"Arthur was the most single-minded, chivalrous, patriotic man upon earth. He would have cut his right hand off before he would sell a State secret confided to his keeping. It is absurd, impossible, preposterous to anyone who knew him.”

Hey... his name's Arthur? I had kind of assumed that he just had the first name Cadogan, but no. Double surname. This has happened before. Arthur is a far more boring name than Cadogan. Pity.

New theory, to explain why he only had some of the papers on him. He knew that the plans were stolen and went to recover them, but was murdered by the real bad guys (maybe a colonel? who can say) and then they slipped the unimportant papers into his pocket and threw him off the bridge onto the top of the train to frame him for the theft and ensure no one was looking for another mole.

“No; his needs were very simple and his salary ample. He had saved a few hundreds, and we were to marry at the New Year.”

Nowhere is inflation more apparent than the line 'he had saved a few hundreds'. Lolol! Although even with inflation this would be a few ten thousands, which won't last you very long today. Especially with a wedding coming up.

“Yes,” she said at last, “I had a feeling that there was something on his mind.” “For long?” “Only for the last week or so. He was thoughtful and worried."

As you would be if you knew there was a spy and you were worried about confronting them and stopping treason. Perfectly reasonable.

“He said that we were slack about such matters—that it would be easy for a traitor to get the plans.”

It's official, the only competent person in the government has been killed trying to cover for everyone else's incompetence. I mean, he still failed to protect the secret, but still. The Colonel's all 'my brother was so proud of his department's efficiency', when his department was as leaky as a sieve.

RIP Arthur. I believe in you.

"We walked, and our way took us close to the office. Suddenly he darted away into the fog.”

Impressed that he managed to witness the crime when the smog was so thick people couldn't even see a body fall off the roof of a train in a tunnel. But sure. This would have been earlier in the day. Although in November the sun would be setting at, what? 4:30/4pm? Unless they were going to the matinee, there wouldn't have been daylight.

“It was black enough before against this young man, but our inquiries make it blacker”

I assume Holmes must be thinking along the same lines as me. Also suddenly dashing off in the middle of the fog and leaving your fiancee as witness would be a terrible heist. If he's been planning this for so long, surely he'd come up with something better than that.

Mr. Sidney Johnson, the senior clerk, met us at the office and received us with that respect which my companion's card always commanded.

Ooh, a new suspect. Or has he been mentioned before. I don't remember him, though. But he has the potential means and opportunity.

He isn't a colonel, though, so clearly that's a mark against him in the suspect pool.

“The place is disorganized. The chief dead, Cadogan West dead, our papers stolen. And yet, when we closed our door on Monday evening, we were as efficient an office as any in the government service."

I feel like there might be a disconnect here between 'efficient' and 'secure'. Clearly they're cutting corners on security to get things done more quickly.

“Only Sir James Walter and you had those keys?” “I had no keys of the doors—only of the safe.”

You know who has access to Sir James' keys? His brother the colonel! Well, and Sir James himself. Maybe he did it and then died from the shame and guilt.

Or it was the Colonel

(Is it going to be the Colonel? Seriously?)

"One other point: if a clerk in this office desired to sell the plans, would it not be simply to copy the plans for himself than to take the originals, as was actually done?”

I mean, yeah.

“It would take considerable technical knowledge to copy the plans in an effective way.”

Would it? Would it really? I can copy out a sentence in Korean so that people can read it. I can't read or write Korean, but I can copy it. I feel like copying things doesn't require a lot of technical knowledge. A photocopier can do it, after all. You just have to have a steady hand and an eye for detail.

"The double valves with the automatic self-adjusting slots are drawn in one of the papers which have been returned."

... did you have to be that specific. These are secret plans, right? Maybe don't go talking about the details of them with people?

Finally he asked the chief clerk to close the iron shutters, and he pointed out to me that they hardly met in the centre, and that it would be possible for anyone outside to see what was going on within the room.

In the smog? In the dark? I guess the dark would help, because whoever was in there would have to light a lamp, but still. Arthur and Violet must have walked really close to the building. Super secure building.

"Why did he not do so? Could it have been an official superior who took the papers?"

Or a Colonel?

Or Sir James, I guess... or Mr Johnson. We shouldn't stereotype colonels just because almost all the ones we've met so far have been dicks. They weren't all the bad guy. Some of them were just dicks.

It's possible there's one good colonel left in London.

'There are numerous small fry, but few who would handle so big an affair.'

It's so amusing to me that Mycroft just knows this about the spies. He's just like 'these are the important spies' and Mycroft just has a list of their addresses ready to go. They have a real 'I know that you know that I know that you know, but no one is saying anything because that would cause an international incident and we have no proof we can actually use' vibe going on here. Espionage is so weird, guys.

'Am dining at Goldini's Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington. Please come at once and join me there. Bring with you a jemmy, a dark lantern, a chisel, and a revolver.'

Well that's certainly a place to end the section.

Sounds like next time will be a lot of fun.

But is the Colonel the culprit? He doesn't seem to have any sort of implication towards him at this point. It's far more heavily weighted towards his brother being overcome by remorse.

But... he is a colonel.

[claitea]

i'm normal now. lying also

[romans-empire]

I made a new Spotify account so now I'm trying to recover all my private playlists by remaking them with the songs I remember. I'm also remaking my Lucky Patch playlist but it's hard when I had 3 of them and only one was public due to it being a collaboration with my friend.

[secretsoftheuniverse1987]

One thing about me is that I simply do not believe anywhere Zachariah sent the Winchesters is real. Sandover Bridge & Iron? Obviously, canonically fake. The blueprint. Sam and Dean's "heaven"? Real memories but certainly not their favorites. Hand-selected to drive a rift between the two of them. The Endverse? Not an actual potential future. Basically Dean's worst nightmare, built to scare him into conformity.

[zincbot]

i gotta say, 13 hours into omori, i don't get why people call it a horror game

[todayisafridaynight]

did you ever post your thoughts on shishido on here ??

if i did i dont think i said anything major beyond 'hes neat :)'

[rainbowcarousels]

Heyoo^^

Just wanted to let you know I absolutely LOVE your Nicki-finds-Armand-after-his-suicide-attempt AU. Their interactions are hilariously macabre and your Nicki voice is one of the best I have ever red. Yeah, just wanted you to know:)

Thank you so much for saying so!

Nicolas was one of the characters that I very much latched onto when I very first read the books - in fact, Lestat/Nicki was my first ship before I read QOTD and I always found the lack of utilisation of him in fandom really disheartening. I even got my hopes up when Lestat couldn't find him in Memnoch but so sad that he's one of the only constants to remain dead. I understand that's part of the tragedy of him, but I guess I thought if the others from the era get their shot at a life after, he ought to as well.

Trying to balance Nicki's difficulties - Lestat saying joy was hard for him is such a sucker punch because of how frequently in TVL Lestat draws lines between Nicki running his mouth or making a show compared to genuine feeling and how he can see the difference in his face - while showing that I suspect some of the worst of his early vampire mania came from the absolute trauma conga line that preceeded his being made into one is not the easiest, but I hope I'm managing.

I think once he got past his own sense of betrayal and managed to settle himself with the trauma if not deal with it, it wouldn't be all that different to Armand which makes their interactions fascinating to me. They are both dealing with a percieved sense of betrayal and their world view being thrust upside down at the same time and I think Armand did the best he could given the state he was in, but they deserved a chance to rebuild. Especially given Nicki's known for being acerbic and not holding back when I think Armand needs a sense of harshness because the softness, the pity, the compassion of the others is just not something he can deal with at that point. He's too raw.

I do have parts of the next bit written but I want to get it right because Nicki meeting Louis has been something I've wanted to do a for a long time.

This is also a reminder that I really need to give that AU a name now there's a few things in it.