#it's so funny going back to listen to that clip and realizing it actually is Bård

[starchaserr]

new Hotel Nufsefjord lore just dropped!

[thoughtsonkm]

Goodbye, for now

BABY? HONEY? BOYFRIEND SHOT? Jikook you're too much!

This episode was truly the best way to end the show, maybe even the best episode of the series. (Neck in neck with episode 2 of course) The way they enjoyed it so much but were also so sad it was over. The hot tension all around, the soft boyfriends mood who can't stop flirting and name calling each other with the most low-key couple-like sweet names. They could not stop laughing, they could not stop touching and they couldn't stop being hilarious without even trying.

~

SK Spotify daily chart end of November 2023 :

Jimin Jungkook Jimin Jungkook Jimin Jimin

~

It would be such a full circle moment if Jimin posted the boyfriend photo (which won't happen). Would almost be like a soft launch of some sort.

Not the underwear too?? Gosh I love my little gay freaks!! (didn't understand why Jimin would quote their 'yet another inner joke meme' right at that moment but I've learned to not question their inner workings)

~

Sorry but i have to be pretty one last time and say that I kinda had enough of seeing so much from the crew around or even in Jikook's shots and angles. It breaks the fourth wall a little too much and ruins the whole bubble idea. Ok I'm done lol

~

Returning to the issue at hand, the "seeing the beds for the first time" scene keeps getting funnier and funnier. As if they don't already have designated sides of the bed 😏

~

Ah the never ending bickering gives me life. Peep the half korean half english talk when they playfully get on each others nerves 👀😂

I better not speak on the scuzzi jacuzzi shenanigans cause otherwise.. Let's just say the photo speaks for itself..

NO YOU KNOW WHAT IMMA SPEAK. We all know that jacuzzi time is always intimate, relaxing and personal for people that's why I wish Jikook had enjoyed it fully without cameras. Yes I'm pissed on their behalf, that they had to film the whole thing with 382929 different angles. lol

His face is literally saying "oh so you're really gonna make me do it huh? if I was in your place I would've folded immediately and would've never let you go through with it!!" 😂

~

No one ever:

Jikook every 2sec : HONEY OH HONEY

(I was actually listening to the song while writing this and idk why it's so funny to me even tho it's a sad love ballad)

~

They must've loved getting the chance to at least see one episode of the show, plus the idea of watching it together..

Jungkook being so entertained by it meanwhile Jimin being mortified about half of the things that happened. HILARIOUS

HAHAHHAHAHA all parties were concerned if they'd be able to pull it off, I can't

BEST BELIEVE they're always gonna find a way to touch. Consciously or unconsciously.

~

This show made me realize that my favourite thing ever is Jk making food for Jimin, then making him hysterically laugh and therefore getting to hear Jimin's adorable giggles.

~

"Hello it is I the one and only, the only one who can touch Jimin's head ble ble ble ble" - JK

Jk was like: How can you imagine Jimin without me in your dream? Are you crazy? What is this delusional dream world you live in Jin hyung??

~

Tbh it's so meaningful and a huge thing saying that these trips were literally the best trips of your life. I think the statement almost went over people's heads.

I can't get enough of Jimin looking pretty and cuddly and Jungkook's immediate thought being: I HAVE TO FILM YOU

Them saying they can do a reboot when they come back gave me some hope that maybe just maybe this is not the end of AYS 😭

The ending bonus clip left me fulfilled but also sad and with goosebumps all over.

Thank you Jimin & Jungkook for letting us peek into this trip and getting to witness some of your precious moments.

Signing off, J&J 🥹

Ps. So I'm guessing the 52 minute video that comes with the photobook is probably the 3 bts videos combined that they've been reviewing for 48392 months right?

[gffa]

Final verdict on Padawan's Pride? Feel free to spoil as I'm really curious about your thoughts on this!

I braced myself before listening (knowing how much anti jedi stuff bleeds into anything star wars these days...) but I'm about an hour in and surprisingly (tentatively) enjoying it! There have been a few moments that genuinely made me laugh out loud! Like Anakin straight up going "What would *you* know about intimidation?" to poor Obi-Wan sfghdjdkdlkl & Obi-Wan insisting to Yoda that they both deserve to be punished for Anakin sneaking off even after the council basically lets them off the hook and Anakin furiously shaking his head at him to shut!! up!!! & that mini Vader tease when Anakin's getting ready for the race!!

I'm enjoying Obi-Wan's characterization in this a lot so far, and I don't want to punt Anakin off a cliff like I usually do, which is nice.

Obi-Wan still grieving for Qui-Gon and spending his nights staying up to investigate his death got me right in the feels :( Him over thinking every single thing he does with Anakin while Anakin's thinking he's basically emotionless,,, but then when Obi-Wan's trying to awkwardly apologise/connect with him later and being vulnerable, Anakin is completely uncomfortable & internally going OBI-WAN??? HAS?? FEELINGS??? ABORT!! ABORT!!! DO NOT WANT!!!

I can't give a final verdict yet--I got about an hour and a half into it, realized, okay, no, there's just too much I wanted to quote and clip out for liveblogging and Jedi Citations, so I started over and am converting to text as I go, so now I'm back up to about an hour in.

And so far I love this book! Yeah, there's a couple of moments that made me wary, like I didn't know where this was going, but honestly I think the book is doing a really, really good job of presenting the characters as having the space to actually be characters.

What I mean is, for example, Anakin saying that the Jedi Temple is a prison and he hates it--Obi-Wan's response cuts through that, (Oh, well, perhaps we should take a trip to see the younglings with the laser swords, a thing prisons are famous for.) but not at the expense of Anakin's understandable frustration. He's a bored kid who craves excitement and the rush of adventure, which is understandable! It's something he's trying to work on, he's not evil for it, it's totally reasonable and understandable, just as it's totally reasonable and understandable for Obi-Wan to point out the flaw in that statement.

But what really made me love the book is when that comment comes up later and Obi-Wan makes a joke about it, and Anakin grumbles, "I wondered when you were going to throw that in my face." and Obi-Wan smiles and says he did, too. They were bantering about it! They made a joke about it! They found it kinda funny! This is what's delightful about the book, that the feelings they both went through earlier are genuine, but they're not Direly Serious in this moment in time.

They're allowed breathing room to not be mouthpieces for a meta essay, but instead characters in a story going through things.

It's the same for Anakin being all ABORT!! ABORT!!! ABORT!!!! when Obi-Wan is having feelings at him, it's the same when Obi-Wan insists that, no, they should be punished for Anakin's mischief (when the Jedi Council basically said, okay, what we're going to do is send you on a mission, instead of any kind of punishment for either of them), it's the same when Anakin misses his mom and Tatooine.

The moments are allowed genuine emotional weight, I have such affection and heart-wrenching feelings for both Obi-Wan and Anakin here, but it's characters being given space to be characters with their own personal motivations and reasons, to have conflict between them, but both doing their best to reach out to the other, and you can see the foundations being laid for their future incredible friendship.

I'm also utterly delighted by just how many times these two are psychically connected, like they are CONSTANTLY sensing each other--Anakin sensing Obi-Wan scratching at his incoming beard is HILARIOUS, no wonder Anakin hates Obi-Wan's beard, I'd hate it, too, if it was in my mind making me itchy!

But also that they know each other, they don't have to even be looking at each other to feel what the other feels, because that's what a Force bond is--knowing someone so well that they're connected to your soul, even when you're cranky af at them.

I still have three hours of the book left to go but I've enjoyed so much already and I apologize in advance to those who are exhausted by the two hundred screenshots I'm going to be yelling about. :D

[juststarlo]

so I kinda wanted to talk about how I felt about the whole thing with biter soot, this is prob gonna be me just ranting to the void so feel free to ignore

ok first of all i don’t support the Brighton biter like, at all.

I haven’t really talked about it because alot of what I would want to say has probably been said by someone else In a smarter way, obviously if you haven’t already, go listen to his actual victims talk about their experiences,

ok here we go:

I guess I kinda just feel betrayed? Lied to? He was one of my role models, I thought he was so cool and funny, all for him to turn around and for it all to just be a lie. Now I look back at 2022 and 2023 and I realize he didn’t just stream as little as he did because he was a busy guy or something, no, he had us all wrapped around his finger he would only ever stream when he needed a quick buck, and we all flocked to his streams and we made tik toks with clips from the streams and in between the streams we would beg him to come back and do another stream.

And now we found out that we were just numbers to him, we weren’t people who looked up to him and thought he was the coolest, we were just wallets to him.

Now we found out that he was a two faced, liar! He always put on the mask of being a cool funny guy on camera only to turn around and be an abusive dick-wad! To alot of people! Shuble might have been the only one to come out about it but I’d be willing to bet that alot more people have story’s about him.

hell! He admitted on stream that he threw an apple full speed at Technoblades arm where he had just had surgery! Why the hell did we all just ignore how much of a red flag that was!

and it fucking sucks! I loved sbi and crime boys content, I read Sbi fanfics every night before I went to bed for two fucking years straight! I would watch so.many. twins duo, crime boys and sand duo compilations on tik tok!

I know alot of people (me included) used making/consuming fan content of sbi to keep the memory of Technoblade alive, and now it all just feels so…tainted.

I guess all this to say: I don’t miss him or who he was, I miss who we all thought he was

[feelbokkie]

For the entire year that I've been following your blog I have no idea how you became a STAY. So here I am asking for Allie's STAY origin story 🤲🏽

Hm, it’s not exactly a cute or happy story so if that’s what you were hoping for, sorry to disappoint.

The short story is that I became a STAY in February 2023 after a rough few months because of Lee Felix Yongbok.

The longer story…

I know I’ve mentioned this a few times so if you already know the Allie lore, you can go ahead and skip

Technically, I found out about skz in late 2022. I just say December bc it’s easier but honestly the second half of that year is a blur so I don’t know exactly when. I just remember scrolling through reels while waiting for my professors to walk in or procrastinating on my assignments.

But so much was happening between September-December with graduate school, work, and my brother being in the hospital that I quite literally didn’t have the energy to really focus on anything else so I kinda just ignored them for the most part. I can’t remember if I stopped watching reels or if I stopped getting them but I forgot about skz for a bit.

And then my brother died right before Christmas and it was bad. I was bad. I was quite literally on autopilot. I don’t even remember much of those months. I don’t know if you’ve watched or read the Twilight series but it was very much like that montage of when Bella was staring at the window when Edward was gone. Everything was grey. I didn’t talk. I didn’t eat. I only had enough energy to go to work and then go home. I was on a long winter break but if I had been in school I probably would’ve flunked out. It was the lowest I had been in a while. Even my screen time was down, I couldn’t even listen to music. I did go to a Harry Styles concert because my original show was canceled (and when that happened I thought that was the worst thing to happen for me) but I was still pretty numb. I even reread Ouran High School to feel something.

I don’t remember why but I started using my phone again and going on reels. I saw clips from Case 143, Maniac, and Christmas EveL and I liked them. But it wasn’t until I saw Felix’s mischievous ass during kingdom week when he called his mom to have hher call Changbin’s mom so could call him and win his challenge. And honestly I know that moment isn’t that funny but it was the first time I laughed in months. Like actually laughed. It caused something to switch in my brain and I went and watched the entirety of kingdom week. And then kingdom. And then I went and listened to all of their music. And I watched so many tiktoks and reels.

Honestly it kinda felt like I was Frankenstein’s monster and SKZ was the electricity to bring me (back??) to life. I went out to target and bought my first physical kpop album, Maxident (I had been listening to Got7 since 2014 but that was back when I would buy music on iTunes). I watched more videos and got to know the boys more through that and found comfort in their bond with each other and their music. I started reading fics on tumblr in an effort to seek more comfort and without even realizing it I found myself with a home in Stayville and now, almost 2 years later I’m terrorizing Stayblr with my fics

I’m still not completely fine but SKZ made things a lot more bearable and I literally would not be here without them.

I know there’s a saying that you don’t find Stray Kids, they come and find you when you need them most and for me, that’s so very true. Stray Kids made me stay in every sense of the phrase.

I know it’s a lot, I kinda got carried away 😅 sorry

[christian-zelda]

Spoilers for Epic: The Vengeance Saga if you haven't heard it yet

Ya'll, I'm losing my mind! Every thing about this was so amazing! I'll share my opinions on each song. My opinion on each song under the cut.

Not Sorry For Loving You: I already knew I liked this song (because I had heard the clips) but I love it so much more now! The sound quality difference between the clips and official song is amazing! I'd give this song a 10/10.

Dangerous: again, I had heard clips of it before, but the beginning and ending of the song adds so much more to it. I love the reference to the 600 men. And the reference to Athena at the end, mwah, chefs kiss. Another 10/10.

Charybdis: loved hearing the storm motif in the song. I don't have many thoughts about this one, though it's pretty good. The ending with Odysseus realizing Poseidon is back was amazing! Overall, I'd give this one a 7 or 8/10.

Get in the Water: it's really cool to finally hear it with Poseidon's official voice. I loved how Poseidon almost seemed like he was willing to quit but then he got crazy and angry again (maybe it's just me, but it almost seemed like someone else forced him to that. I know no one actually did, but that's just the vibes I got from it.) The ending with all of his dead friends killed me! It was so good! I'd give this song 9 or 10/10.

600 Strike: I absolutely loved hearing the references to "Keep Your Friends Close", and "Full Speed Ahead"! I found kind of funny how Odysseus used the wind bag as a jet pack. And the ending! How Odysseus kept repeatedly stabbing Poseidon, and the things he was saying while doing it! AHHHHHH! I'm going insane! And that final line; absolutely EPIC! (pun intended). Definitely a 9 or 10/10.

And those are my thoughts on every song in The Vengeance Saga; thank you for listening to me rant. I'm going to bed now.

[kpopmakesmequestionmylifechoices]

Did you know, the average age of NCT 127 ist 27.22222?

- A realization of an old kpop fan

Did you ever wonder if YouTube is broken because one of your faves didn't get millions and millions of views within the first few days of their comeback?

48 mio. views vs. 4.7 mio. views - a bug or reality?

Did something happen? I wondered. But no, nothing out of the usual kpop chaos happened. So they just became irrelevant? I googled. "The company failed them". "There was a boycott". "They don't use ads anymore to promote the MV".

Ah yes, the fans were quickly there to defend the old lads.

Aren't they too old for kpop anyways with an average age of 27.22222? The kids I once stanned when I myself was barely an adult (18 to be clear) now are grown-ass men. Who don't even make a quarter of the views they made back then.

The days where NCT was the new big star in the idol world are long over, I know. We are in an era where 05-liners are taking over the industry with 2 min long songs that are non-stop promoted in short clips via tiktok and co. I'm getting old.

Just like the groups I used to stan. But despite their mind-boggling oldness they still got their fans. They still got people like me who tune in to new MVs, who occasionally watch some funny clips and then go on with their daily business.

And this made me realize sth.

Mass streaming and meticulously planned "support activities" are easy to engage in when you're a young kid. But as you grow older and your interests and responsibilities shift you'll ultimately set your faves up for failure. How dare you getting old? How dare you having other interests? Your faves need you! According to the kids out there us older fans are just being old hags anyways.

But being an old hag comes with a positive side effect: You prioritize. The views you're willing to give some groups are genuine. You watch because you're interested, not because you feel obliged to join in mass streaming.

The views become more real. They reflect actual interest. Because seriously, do you really think that 48 mio. individual people actually watched that SKZ MV? No. And that's the case for all the bigger groups. How many views are actually real? How many fans actually are out there who share your interest? Are you one of 48 mio., or are you actually just one of 20 mio. who discovered the world of streaming bots?

I find comfort in the thought that eventually, all our faves will face the reality NCT is facing right now. As the fans grow older their interest in kpop gets pushed aside by responsibilities and other hobbies. In the end, none of the millions of mass streaming and bot views have any value for your older self. The real value lies in the emotions you feel when silently listening to your playlist and a one decade old song comes on, causing you to rewatch the MV and sing along to something that once was so important to you. Those memories won't fade. Don't waste your time kids, enjoy music and make memories.

[tiny-sassy-aggressive]

DAN AND PHIL REACT TO PHAN TWITTER REACTIONS w/ timestamps

.03 sir please don’t crack your hands in my ears.

.11 way to early in the video for a phude Jumpscare

.16 DIP AND PIP ?!!!??

.26 tbh shoutout to Phil for acknowledging that even tho we have fan accounts, not everything we say, create, post is something we would want them to see. Love the self awareness. Appreciate the space he provides

.35 rip Dan memes and tumblr tags

.56 I actually needed to be told I am gorgeous and intelligent, I knows it’s fake but it’s nice to hear even if fake

1.37 WHY IS HE **** ********* THE MIC N O NO NO NO NO WHAT??????

2.08 chill Phil we weren’t gonna fight about it. You’re Edward… OKAY

2.25 how many times are they going to watch pinof 1 ! Babes you can do that anytime you want not just on camera

2.37 Phil is in FULL CRISIS realizing how messy he is as if they haven’t already talked about this before

3.09 TUMBLR NEVER LEFT. YOU LEFT.

3.29 the synced lean in as they discovered the dan has something in his teeth bit was a video

3.40 SO SO SO GLAD THE SOCK VIDEO MADE IT. AND HES ACKNOWLEDGING

3.46 SHOES SOCK VIDEO JUMPS ARE😭😭😭

4.24 “keep reading” oh goodness that. Sir. Okay.

4.44 hi just realized is Dan wearing a muscle tank under the see through shirt????? Side note. Want the see through shirt

5.03 FANTASTIC FOURSOME JUMPDVARE

6.14 NO DAN NOT KATE THEY ARE LISTENINF. DONT BECOME INVOLVED IN ANOTHER ROYAL CONSPIRACY

7.41 absolutely fire meme. I laughed so loud I actually had to pause the video. Worst part? I had already reposted on twt yet still reacted to it

8.05 he is staring into my soul. Hell how is he staring THROUGH my soul

9.17 no words. “It’s not a bad look” alakakakak???

9.22 So suddenly it’s not “we” anymore, huh?

9.53 rip Phil’s slit😫

10.08 I just through Dan making a joke then immediately hitting Phil to let him know he was joking was really funny. Stuff I do with my friends I am tactile

11.46 I ALWAYS thought that image was edited to have all of them. I didn’t realize it was a real photos

12.38 OH MY FOS????? JUMPSVARE WHAT THE HELL

12:45 those pounds weee so aggressive. It sounded like they really hurt. I’m hurt listening

12:46 Phil is watching that monitor like a HAWK he is NOT losing monetization bc Dan wants to wap

13.00 Phil saw and saved this and nobody knew. He lurks. Nobody is safe.

13:36 about nine “what can I say”s in. Dan has a genuine look of terror and confusion. He looks like he’s playing up his reaction a bit in the beginning, laughing and stuff and acting annoyed but this point is genuine horror and realization. This is so gold. Will be giffing later. Also precious Phil

14.50 okay the editing kinda memes his monologue a bit but i was high key inspired. He’s so wrote. Everything is a story that must be concluded. I love that thought process. Clearly bc I am also a grade a yapper but still

15:50 oh the immediate IMMEDIATE regret in Phil’s face

16:35 we love a self aware king. The poster was a tad rough

16:56 THUS CIDEO AND COMMENTARY JS SO SO SO GOOD

17:38 YES THANK YOU THE WADVERT WAS RVEFHONE. We couldn’t eat sleep or think without seeing it

18:11 please wash your blanket? Guys? Like? You can clean, wash, or dry clean anything. Please?

19:00 tbh saw under the robbing blanks and it wasn’t even that bad? Compared to every horrific demon phannie thing that has been seen? Not bad! Could have been worse

19:45 2021 period???? Hello??? You were gone since 2018? At least from dapg??

20:44 yet???? Capitolestor strikes again

20:50 did they not have a keep calm and something on poster in their apt at one point??? Some people?? You mean you???

21:16 I SAW THIS WHEN IT DROPPED. love dami sm. This video was so good

22:24 JUMPSCARE

22:55 “1992” “Daniel” calm down

23:25 “you also let me” guys??? How is this forced situation? Who decided??

24:20 he needs to back away from the mic I can feel him breathing in my ears my goood ess??

24:34 I’m screaming bc they used a clip from the section before we all thought they got high. This section they posted was just a cute section

24:54 literally speechless. Also jumpscare?

26:30 the entire dan induced conclusion is beautiful I love them and their banter

26:54 nvm can you lean into the mic closer and tell us you’re proud again??? Needed that???

[fortemelody]

Sometimes I wanna send asks but I don't actually know what to ask but.. what's your most interesting and/or controversial Sonic the Hedgehog take? Could be about a specific game or series or about Sonic in general.

LMAO you’re all good, i prob wouldn’t know what to ask myself either

wellll hmmm let’s see, i actually gotta think about this one a bit

i did already go on a whole rant in a different post about how much i hate dulcy the dragon, but i wouldn’t say that’s much of a controversial opinion considering most people don’t know who she is 😭

i don’t have many tbh but i’ll share the few i do have

first off i don’t like sonic x that much and it’s definitely a lot of people’s favorite sonic show. i think there’s a generational difference, seeing as though my fav sonic show is sonic boom 💀 i’ve only seen the first season so like my opinion could very well change if or when i finish it, especially cus i’ve seen clips of later stuff such as shadow and the chaotix being introduced and that seemed cool and a lot more interesting to me compared to the formulaic things i’ve seen so far. i think the argument that sonic is barely in his own show is a decent one too, bro literally never wants to do anything but nap and avoid chris (which i can’t blame him for that part). i personally also just haven’t gotten back into anime in general for several years becus i’m tired of the whole “you gotta wait for it to get better” type thing and i would rather just watch mindless stuff but everyone has their cup of tea and i don’t think it’s an inherently bad show at all either. it can never be as bad as the knuckles show…*shivers*. and ofc animation wise it’s fantastic and super nostalgic.

next hot take is about the song “almost dead” from shadow the hedgehog. it’s one of the most hated songs in the fandom however i LOVE it. i will blast that shit in my headphones thanks to the kind soul who uploaded it to spotify podcasts. the criticism that it doesn’t really match shadows character is valid, and it especially makes sense becus it was also in a horror movie. but as just a song in general my brain goes “ooo funny noises” and doesn’t really think about that part. i’d say the other infamously hated sonic song is sweet dreams from sonic 06 (and while i haven’t listened to it in awhile so i can’t be certain) i remember that song being pretty bad imo so i agree with that part at least

lastly i’m just gonna say that i’m not a fan of the ships sonjet, sonilver, and blazamy. this is not me hating on them at all!! and i have seen super cute fanart of them as well. the only ones i straight up despise are the ones that are illegal (looking at the weird ass sontails shippers on this app…). i just don’t particularly like them becus of either personal headcannons and/or just a gut feeling. with sonic and silver i feel like they have kinda like a sibling or cousin dynamic. for sonjet and blazamy i feel like they haven’t had enough interactions to really warrant a relationship, and i think they would be better off as playful besties. also i just realized that all three of these are gay ships and i really really hope people don’t think i’m homophobic for this especially also becus i spam sonamy on my page GUYSSSS IM A MULTISHIPPER I LOVE SONADOW TOO AND IM FRUITY MYSELF DONT KILL MEEEE 😞😞😞

anywaysss i think that’s all i got! sorry it took me awhile i got busy and forgot to respond but i always enjoy rambling about sonic so tysm mootie 😋😋

[never-not-ever]

The Last Hour

I'm scrolling on Tik Tok and I land on a clip from Girl Interrupted. It's not triggering or anything so I search "girl interrupted" and just scroll through there. Even a clip of Daisy's suicide didn't bother me.

What got to me was a clip of Lisa in the beginning being dragged out of a room about to be restrained and IM'd. That just brought me right back to the unit. How traumatizing it was, hearing restraints, seeing my close friends in the chair. Lisa in the clip begging "no" echoing what I heard on the unit.

So I went in my kitchen and sat down on the table. There's no chairs and it's not even used as a table it's just against the wall. This table has become a new place for me when things get too much. As I'm typing these words I'm realizing that this table is the corner at the end of the unit, in between a shower room and the QR. I'd sit in that corner because not a lot of people walked down that hall. That corner was my place to go on the unit when things got too much and now this table in my kitchen has become my place. Sad.

Back to the last hour. So I sit on the table and I start recording a video just to get the thoughts out of my head. I don't know why I didn't just type out a note, I guess it's easier to just talk. It was a short video just explaining what had happened (second paragraph up top). And then I was hit with this realization. You see I am my worst critic, I invalidate myself, I worry how things will look if x, y, and z happens. I tell myself you're just playing out these "would be" conversations because you want them to happen. You keep thinking you're going to end up back in the hospital because you want to go back...

I owe a lot more of an update than just the past hour but for the past 3 weeks yes it's been a worry. I've said "I'm surprised I'm not back yet" and "it's probably going to happen soon". But the past few days it's becoming more of a legit fear and I really want to have the conversation with my therapist tomorrow about it. She's a new therapist and I've said those two things above but like it's not actually talked about like reasons to go back, how I would feel, etc.. and for the first time I'm actually going into therapy knowing how I want the session to go.

And my point of this whole post is that I'm finally validating myself that no I do not want to go back to the hospital. My inner critic tells me all the time that I just miss the safety there and being cared for, that I want to go back and I don't need to go back. But after tonight why on earth would I want to go back to a place that has given me so many traumatic memories? Sure there was "safety" although in my case there was only so much they could do to keep me safe and I still found ways around it. Sure it was a "comfort" at times. The staff would listen and I could tell they cared.

But none of that outweighed how much the acuity of the unit affected me. For months all I wanted was to leave, was actually playing a role in my discharge and actively trying to make it happen. All I wanted was to leave, even the day I left when I was filled with so much anxiety and fear, I still wanted to leave. So why on earth would I want to return to that?

go out for a drive whenever I want

cooking

cuddling with my cats

spending time in the bathroom with privacy

walking around my apartment in shorts and a tank top

being able to take my time doing my nails

being able to use my laptop and phone while they're charging

sleeping in total darkness

It's a sad, short list that mostly involves being at home.. *spoiler alert* I'm not in PHP anymore and don't have a job nor do I have a social life. But we'll save all that for an actual update at some point? It's funny all I have is downtime, you'd think I'd be on here live blogging my pathetic excuse of a life.

But for real.. I've grown used to my comforts here and I know for a fact I'm not going back inpatient unless it's needed for my safety.

I guess this post was basically just me proving a point to myself.

[skitskatdacat63]

catie let’s discuss vettonso headcanons what are ur favs

*sends you to my vettonso tag* shsjkdkf kidding kidding, but wah this is so weirdly hard to answer despite the fact that I think about them literally every day of my life, ig they're just kinda intrinsic to me 😭 but I'll try my best!

I think Fernando really resented Seb for a while, especially during the championship fight years, and originally was very unhappy when Seb then went on to take his Ferrari seat away from him too. But then while he was gone from f1, he kept track of f1 still and realized Seb was going through the same ferrari bs and pain and failure to realize your childhood dream that he himself went through, and he then softened on Seb.

I find them literally to be the same person(but their narratives are offset.) And I think that's a big reason why they never really became friends, they're *too* similar to the point where it annoys each other too much fhfkkff Especially bcs theyre always ahead of one another in the narrative(fernando won his wdc before, fernando is in ferrari before Seb, seb is in Aston before Fernando, etc.) It's just weird to kinda witness someone that's so similar to you, but at a past stage in your life.

They would be the best and most annoying teammates ever. I think they'd both just constantly try to out-compete each other, and maybe it would be toxic back in the day and make the team fall apart like 2007 mclaren or martian rbr, but if it happened at Aston, I think it would actually make the team stronger and the car better. Like fighting for "who can give the best feedback" "who can do the most sim time" etc etc, I think it'd be really sweet 🥹🥹 I just imagine them making post-race debriefs last like 5 hours, except everyone else snuck out of the room at the hour mark, and they've just been debating abt the telemetry at each other, cause they only have eyes for each other <3

^ but yeah seriously think they have the type of competition that could bring each other together, not drive each other apart. Especially at their softened old man age. I guess I think, being forced into such close quarters with each other, they'd be able to realize how similar they are. Bcs otherwise it's just too easy for them to avoid each other. I mean I think a lot about the japan 2023 pics, them talking over the car that was practically the product of their joint effort, and that makes me so emotional 🤧

They absolutely love irritating each other, irs like a sport. I like to think though that Seb kept doing it soooo much pre-Fernando first retirement, and Fernando was always like 😐 just sooooo done with it, and often unwilling to fully play along. I love how seemingly Seb is one of the only ones who can kinda make his mask break, and have him show full annoyance. Like think about the "you must leave the space" clip, Fernando is sooooo annoyed, its just so funny. But yeah I love how Seb kinda forces Fernando in a way most others don't, if that makes sense? And then he comes back, rejuvenated, different mindset, and is suddenly willing to play along??? And now Seb is the tired one :( but Fernando has realized all he was blocking out before, and is willing to engage :,) BUT YEAH! see again, think about the fact that Seb literally paid a fee to not listen to Fernando talk. Mutually they are the only ones that annoy the other so much that they crack to that point, and I love it seemingly swapped over time. They're just such equals in that way.

Here's the interesting thing, I find them to be mirrors, right? I think like if they met each other when each were at the same place in their career(i.e. ferrari Fernando with ferrari seb, renault wdc fernando with rbr wdc seb), I think they'd have a better chance of getting along. Cause they understand where the other is at deeply, but the way it is in real life makes it so they're at different points and suddenly are at odds with each other. Ig that's why I wish we got them as teammates at Aston! It was pretty cute with alpine fernando x aston seb, but ah man if only we got the actual "conclusion", I would have loved to see what they'd be like when genuinely in the same parts of their career together. I think a lot about timeswap AUs I guess. Like both of them at ferrari being able to commiserate together, their wdc selves bragging about how many races they won(until they find out who the other had to beat to become wdc, and then they choke each other out.)

Me: ill try!!!

Also me: six paragraphs

Though I think if you asked me abt one of my AUs, I could come up with more than just daydreaming about their dynamic sjfkkg. Hope this was what you were asking for???? Also lmk, what are your favs!!!

[vellichorom]

sudden out of the blue question but does Thierry even have bones??? like the man can be a squishy mush of mess but does he have structure of keeping his body whole??

ok listen you might be being funny but-

actually, he legitimately DOESN'T!

given thierry's physical body is a product of code, more or less made to be there for show & therefore, has little-to-no realistic internal structure nor a need for it ( unless he so chooses to implement it, ) thierry doesn't actually have bones or a legitimate skeletal structure, save for his teeth.

it's not something anyone's really going to notice, of course. he can stand, walk, bend just fine, & he LOOKS & FEELS perfectly human, & just as dense & faceted as though he had all the proper equipment, & hell, he still even ACTS like he's got a skeletal structure ( ie; can have his back cracked ), but the truth comes out when one realizes that, despite set limb joints, those can't actually be broken.

feel free to bend his limbs in ANY inhuman direction, & there'll be no consequences, nothing broken. the worst that could happen might be his model clipping or twisting funny, but nothing long-lasting or painful.

his stability & ability to keep upright & formed? all made to be, of course!

[o-uncle-newt]

Cabin Pressure Advent Day 26: Zurich Part 1

At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to do this one, because I usually listen to Zurich 1 and 2 sequentially, usually when I have a long train/car ride back from something shitty and need to smile. But then I realized that this could be my first time listening to them separately since that first time almost exactly nine years ago, and I knew I needed to do it.

That time was pretty crazy- I was traveling abroad and my time zone was ahead of the UK, and where I was staying there was only one room that had internet access, so I had to sneak down there past security in the middle of the night to listen to the first new Cabin Pressure episode in almost two years... two nights in a row! But it was worth it to open up BBC Sounds and just bask in it, while making as little noise as possible so nobody would know I was there. Ah, memories.

And of course, it was so worth it! Incidentally, I don't know if other people remember this but they actually released an advance clip beforehand, which was when Arthur shows up in the new "ice cream van." I don't remember if it was the FULL clip, but it definitely had him showing up and definitely had the ice cream chimes. I remember laughing myself sick at that, while also wondering what they were thinking releasing the funniest part of the episode beforehand, because wouldn't it take away from the obviously less-funny rest of the episode? Obviously, though, I had nothing to worry about.

You might be wondering why I'm just sitting here rambling about what I remember from 2014, and the answer is, to a certain degree, that John Finnemore kind of already did the definitive writeup of Zurich in his Farewell Bear Fact here. I've cited it here before, because it's just that critical. At a certain point, going too much into character arcs and motivations would just be me rehashing what he said, but worse.

That said, I definitely have some of my own comments, like how without listening to Yverdon and Zurich 1 in a row (which I basically never do), I'd forgotten that the pre-credits scene in Zurich is basically just a lesser version of the ending scene in Yverdon... I get that unless they wanted to commit to Arthur having an allergic reaction throughout the scene they couldn't just repeat it, but I'm still a bit sad we lost Arthur's thing about being a hotel guy. That said, transferring the scene over and reinterpreting it was done beautifully, and I love how Theresa showed up right at the key moment, not only for plot reasons (so that Martin needed to admit for real that he had the job) but because having her there as well really differentiated this scene from the prior one.

(I also want to say, my single favorite joke on this whole fucking show is in this episode, and it is "like in Casablanca, where the woman gets to go on the plane.")

The wait from Yverdon had, of course, been agonizing by the time we all (and by "we" I mean all of us but the lucky bastards who saw the recording) listened to it, and I remembered wondering how they were going to handle it- and was both surprised and delighted that Martin's attempted subterfuge was revealed immediately. It had felt like a cliffhanger for the sake of a cliffhanger- and of course, to a degree, it was (if JF hadn't wanted one he wouldn't have written one) and keeping didn't feel sustainable, which indeed it wasn't. And in general, the kind of farce that comes from keeping secrets isn't usually my favorite kind of comedy, which is a bit funny considering how much I love Frasier but I digress. So when everything was out in the open and they all just had to move on and deal with it, that was like a breath of fresh air.

And I LOVE how JF made this episode remarkably self contained! We'll see tomorrow in Part 2 that there are lots of dangling threads just begging to be tied up, but the episode is still utterly enjoyable on its own terms. I've seen/heard/read Part 1s that feel like they're just set up, but here everything is funny, sweet, heartwarming in its own right, even without Part 2 to provide the finishing touches. If the last we'd gotten of the Carolyn/Herc relationship had been her allowing him to say that he loves her because it's a special occasion, it would have been a basically fitting send off, even if what we'll end up getting in Part 2 is better. And of course the auction scene is perfectly self contained and hilarious, just amazing. (Though I have to say, a British radio comedy writer having GERTI as "lot 42" is possibly a trifle on the nose, but hey, everyone does it, why shouldn't he be able to...)

I'll admit that the first time I listened to this episode I thought that Douglas was serious about trying to get Gordon to sell the plane to Carolyn (for decent motives), right up until he explained his plan. Now relistening I'm not sure why I ever thought that, it makes zero sense in the context of the broader story and the characters. It was, of course, so much more exciting to me to realize that they were about to embark on a mission to go steal GERTI back.

[trentcrimminallybeautiful]

another snippet... michelle happens to run into trent crimm on her visit to england, very briefly. (timeline? what timeline. i did not check a timeline)

(ao3.)

The man bumps into her, and then says, voice crisp and polite (she still isn’t used to the posh accents!), “Oh, sorry.”

He has long hair streaked in silver, and glasses, and he’s holding a little notebook and pen.

When he sees her, he blinks. “Oh,” he says, “Hello, I was just looking for your husband, actually. Trent Crimm, the Independent.”

“Ex-husband,” Michelle says, before she can stop herself, because it’s almost a relief to hear out loud.

The man’s—Trent Crimm’s—eyes widen with surprise, something almost like shock flashing over his face, and then he snaps his notebook shut.

“As a journalist,” he says, voice a little higher than before, “I didn’t hear that.”

Right. Fuck.

“Shit, sorry,” she says, “I should—I should watch my mouth, jeez, what am I thinking—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Trent Crimm says, almost gently, “You’re, ah. off the record. Divorce is—” he shuffles slightly, a little awkward, and then says, “it’s. hard.”

Ah. Seems like he might be speaking from experience. Part of her wants to say you too, huh? or try and talk to him, but—well, dumping this on a stranger in a pub would be a bad idea anyway, but she isn’t actually stupid. He’s a journalist, after all, and even though she thinks he seems sincere enough, she still probably shouldn’t say anything else.

“Yeah,” is all she says, a little glumly. “Um, anyway, I think—Ted’s over there?”

Trent Crimm’s eyes dart over to where she gestures, but then his lips tighten a little and he says, “I should probably go, actually. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. L—” he falters. “Um.”

“Michelle,” she says, smiling, a little amused and refusing to give him a last name to work with, because British folks were so funny about that.

Sure enough, he grimaces a little, but obliges her and says, “Michelle.”

He gives her a little half-smile and then ducks out, disappearing into the crowd.

She worries a little about the interaction, but—he seemed like a decent sort, right? So she doesn’t say anything to Ted just yet.

It’s only later when she goes back to her hotel room and Henry is asleep that she thinks to look the journalist up.

Naturally, the first thing she finds is a clip of him calling Ted a fucking joke on live TV.

Fuck.

“Ted,” she says, in an abrupt phone call too late in the night to be polite. “I might have messed up.”

“What?” Ted says immediately, a little panicked, “What happened, do you need me to—” there’s shuffling noises like he’s throwing himself out of bed to get dressed, and she says quickly, “no no no, just.”

He pauses, ready to listen, and she says, “I. I’m sorry, I mentioned our divorce to a reporter.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line.

“You… what?” Ted says, not sounding mad so much as baffled.

“I just—it just slipped out, I wasn’t thinking,” she said. “I know you’re under a lot more media scrutiny here, but he said it was off the record but that was after I said something and I—”

“Michelle, Michelle,” he said, “Hey. Hey, it’s alright, if it’s gonna be a big deal, they’re gonna find out anyway. Don’t you worry about a thing, alright?”

“I looked him up, though,” Michelle says, more distressed than she’d like to be, “He called you a fucking joke, if he already doesn’t li—”

To her surprise, Ted… laughs. Brightly, the genuine one and not the cheerful I’m-pretending-everything’s-fine one she’d grown to hate.

“Oh,” he says, and there’s a release of tension she hadn’t even realized was in his voice. “You talked to Trent.”

“You—what am I saying, of course you know him,” Michelle said.

“Trent’s fine,” said Ted, with a sort of cheerful finality. “If he said it was off the record, it’s off the record.”

“He literally called you a joke,” said Michelle, unimpressed. “On television. Oh, I shoulda given him a piece of my mind—”

Because while she wanted to divorce Ted for a reason, goddamn it, no one who called him a fucking joke on live TV was in her good books.

“He didn’t know me yet,” Ted said, like it was that easy, and she wondered if he was being too forgiving for his own good, like he always was. Sometimes it felt like he never stood up for himself at all, just let people hurt him. It could be exhausting.

“Here,” Ted said, “look up his first article on me. No, hang on, I’ll just send it to ya, it’s short.”

Sure enough, she fumbles to open her messages and Ted’s just sent her a link with a little smiley face. Once it might have made her smile. Now she just sighs and clicks the link.

It doesn’t take long to scan through the article; to reach the last line.

“Hm,” she says. “Not exactly glowing.”

“That,” Ted says, “from Trent, as far as I can tell, is about the same as Beard nodding his head.”

“Oh, wow,” she says, suitably impressed.

“Anyhoo,” he says, “I trust Trent to keep his word. If he said he wouldn’t say anything, he won’t.”

There’s something about how he says it, about that laugh he’d given when he’d realized, that makes her stop. This doesn’t feel like his usual—she’s pretty sure Ted at the very least actually likes this guy, which, well. despite Ted’s flaws, he isn’t actually stupid. And he’s a good judge of character.

“…alright,” she says. “I’m sorry for calling so late.”

“Hey, you can call me anytime,” he says, a little too sincerely, and something in her chest feels tight. We aren’t married anymore, part of her wants to snap, to remind him sharply, but she knows that isn’t fair, and she knows he’s well aware.

So she just sighs, and says, “Goodnight, Ted.”

And he says, “Goodnight. I—goodnight.”

And then the call ends, and she’s left staring at the ceiling.

It’s too painful to think about the divorce, about Ted, about what she’s going to do now, so instead, she lets her thoughts turn back to Trent Crimm.

Trent Crimm, who’d called her then-husband a fucking joke on TV, made the entire room laugh at him. Trent Crimm, who’d smiled awkwardly at her and said not to worry about it, that he understood how divorce could be. Trent Crimm who Ted apparently liked for real.

What a character. She’d have to keep an eye out.

(Years later, Trent Crimm will write an entire book about her ex-husband, and she’ll purse her lips and think ah. And then she’ll meet the man himself again, wide-eyed and blushing and very much in his pajamas—pulling a robe defensively over his bare chest—in Ted’s kitchen, and she’ll think, ahh.)

[scattered-debris]

#FFF229

A/N: yay for first submissions. (just realized time zones make this late whoops--regardless). I had seen a post on here discussing the Scott Pilgrim comic, which had a clip of Ramona explaining the concept of subspace highways to Scott. I wanted to riff on the idea, so here's that.

"Well, are you sure this is the way?"

"I mean, I think so, this is what the map says."

"The map has been glitching out ever since we got it! It told us to get off of Sub-I-A where there wasn't even an exit, and that was a highway. There's no way it's going to know where a subspace road is."

"We'll just have to feel it out then, won't we? Put our academy lessons to good use."

"Ugh, you know I hated those exercises, especially that one. Like--"

Hands spread out in front of them, or they would've if they had actual hands in this sub-cranial region. This motion was lost on Everett, who also could not see Jamie's hands (or lack thereof).

"--there's nothing here!"

The statement rang out into nothingness. Or really, rang out into Jamie and Everett's temporary neural link they used for communicating, and at a volume a touch too loud for Everett's liking.

"We'll be fine. Here you go first, and I can help get you started."

Jamie stepped out ahead of Everett. Thankfully, they had a sense of where the other was, but that luxury was only in place so they didn't drop into each others subconscious. It took far too long to convince their boss it was a necessary mod to install. Unthankfully, the sense of each other was about the only sense they got. Once, little underlings had asked Jamie to describe what they saw when travelling through someone else's subconscious via subspace highway, not knowing that it was a question neural scientists had been debating about for the past four sub-cranial conferences. Jamie had answered, "Uh, gray?" before the little underlings sighed and moved on. Really, Jamie thought subspace travel looked like how white noise sounded, but hadn't been able to articulate that very well on the spot. 

"Ok, so right now, you're on the road. Can you feel it?"

"No, Everett."

"Then take a step to your left, you'll be off of the road. Can you feel the difference?"

"Not really?"

Everett sighed inwardly. Jamie heard it.

"What does it feel like to you, Everett? Maybe that will help. Here you go." Jamie stepped back. Everett stepped forward, and pacing left and right slowly, humming. 

"It feels a little clearer-- being off the road, surprisingly. Like, when I'm off it, I have more of a sense of where I'm going, what I'm doing. When I'm on the road..." Everett paused, then started again. "I mean, think about it: the whole reason subspace travel works is because we're relying on people's neural pathways to move around. We're stuffing our consciousness into theirs for a brief period of time, and the particular neural pathway we end up using might not line up with ours. So everything gets all hazy, ya know? Nebulous."

Jamie said nothing and stepped forward. The subspace input jumbled in Jamie's head. It was everywhere, like getting full-body pins and needles while watching TV static and listening to white noise. It caused an odd, simultaneous feeling of nothingness, nowhere-ness, to Jamie, what they imagined floating in a sensory deprivation tank would be like. They felt Everett cringe at the image. But underneath all the input, Jamie felt (saw? heard?) what they hadn't before. If those underlings asked again, Jamie would say now that it felt like a river. An extremely subtle, but stubborn current, a silent riptide that would lead Jamie...somewhere. Jamie could guess where they and Everett would end up, but the current was certainly unsympathetic to it. 

"It's funny. It's kind of contradictory when you think about it. A road is a defined means by which to travel. It's not a trail, or a footpath, it's something established. But this one is hazy--nebulous, like you said-- and it's existence, what sets it apart from the rest of the subconscious for us, is its very obfuscation. A subspace road is a freakin' oxymoron."

"Huh!" Jamie felt Everett's consciousness return next to theirs. "Yeah, you're right. I didn't even think about that." What Jamie guessed was their heads both looked out onto the road. 

"Well, whatever. Come on, let's go. A road doesn't stop being a road, no matter how confusing it is, and we gotta get to the next sub-cranial region."

@flashfictionfridayofficial

[snaitf]

Rathbone Holmes, attempt #2

So I asked @blistering-typhoons about Rathbone Holmes awhile back. I tried getting into it in high school, and couldn’t get past how dirty they did Watson, cause Watson is my absolute favorite. BUT, I had seen their unironic delight at the adaptation and wondered if there was something I had missed. Even Granada Holmes, which is undeniably fabulous in terms of adaptation, had some hit and miss episodes. (The Last Vampyre. Why.) Maybe I had just had a bad, or at least particularly egregious, example.

Typhoons gave me three episodes to try out. I will go over them, and my impressions. I try not to give egregious spoilers in my discussions, but be aware they likely exist in some way.

The Pearl of Death

Okay, this is a fun and solid adaptation of The Six Napoleons. The fact that the thief/killer/monomaniac busted up a bunch of china to obfuscate the fact that they were after the plaster busts is actually a nice double blind that provides an additional hurdle before the picture becomes clear. The inclusion of the Creeper is kind of… weird? Is this a Creeping Man reference?? (looks it up) nooo, but apparently the Creeper had… his own spin-off?? What?? EXPLAIN your reasoning, 1940s Universal Studios.

I simply MUST, very briefly, go off about the knife book trap. It’s… look, it’s objectively silly. It’s an Adam West Batman level of silly trap. But, since we don’t actually see what the asshole is doing with the gift in the hallway before giving it to Watson, it’s set up as an homage to the Dying Detective, which means we get like 30 AGONIZING minutes of Watson just-barely-not springing the trap. (Note - I’ve looked back at the episode and it’s barely 5 minutes. Why am I so obsessed with this scene lmao). If I had realized it was a sproingy dagger rather than poison, I think I actually would’ve been less stressed. Because LISTEN, if there is ANYTHING I LOVE, it is a DYIN AU where Watson accidentally springs the box trap. There are surprisingly few of them out there, at least that I have found. Katie Forsythe did an excellent one. (if you know of any more PLEASE SEND THEM TO MEEE).

So much digression, sorry. All of this to say, Literally up until Holmes walked in the room, I wasn’t completely convinced they weren’t going to turn the tables on us with the music box trap. Like, the tension was absolutely obvious, but I felt it!

And now we get a little bit into my impressions of this Watson.

This Watson is… I can’t read him as dangerous. I have a hard time believing “former army doctor” from this chap. He’s affable, a bit absent-minded, and fiercely devoted to and protective of his Holmes, but when push comes to shove, would he brain a blackmailer with a chair? I dunno. (If there is in fact a later episode where he actually brains Milverton with a chair, PLEASE.  PROVE ME WRONG THAT WOULD BE SO FUNNY). But I think what I like to take away from this Watson, which I’ve seen in a LOT of fanfic and which seems like a touchstone of Sherlock Holmes mythos, is this: it’s nearly impossible not to like Watson. Where Holmes can range from purposefully insufferable to intensely unlikeable, Watson is just. A good man. He’s just a good guy that I’d like to sit down and have tea with. Part of that is the “I’m just the humble narrator” everyman of the original stories, but. I dunno. There IS something about this Watson that’s incredibly likeable.

I think the reason the knife book trap hit ME so well is that the idea of THIS Watson falling victim to a trap set for Holmes is especially galling. This guy?! Who misplaced a paper clipping he was in the middle of gluing into his commonplace book? You’re gonna ACCIDENTALLY murder THIS MAN? The stupid knife book got me where the “You MURDERED my best friend!” bluff at the end of the episode absolutely did not. XD

Anyway, Holmes walks into the room and immediately knows the book is a knife. On to Lestrade.

I didn’t think it was possible, but somehow they’ve done Lestrade even dirtier than Watson in this adaptation. Like… yikes. I know the early stories had a lot of contempt for the Yard, but come on!! It’s the SIX NAPOLEONS! Lestrade’s opportunity to say “look, there are no actual hard feelings, we actually LOVE you at the Yard.” You don’t gotta make him… just, the worst. Although, I have to say the sass-off between Lestrade and Watson is very fun. It’s about the only bit of fun Lestrade gets to have.

The House of Fear

I promise this will be shorter than the previous entry. And honestly, I’m kind of bummed about that. I WISH I had more to say. But I have to be honest.

A 1940s-era locked room mystery, in a big isolated house that they can’t leave, where the guests are picked off one-by-one, and two guests have to join forces and wits to stay alive and get to the bottom of it? I’m sorry, but the whole time my brain was going “Ah man, I want to be watching And Then There Were None.”

I am entirely biased in this point, I have to say. When I was a kid, I was sent for several summers in a row on a week-long visit to my grandmother. She had some frankly incredible stories - if she’s to be believed, she potentially met Nikta fucking Kruschev on a vacation abroad. I regret that it was hard for Young Snaitf to really connect with her, except in one topic: mysteries. We had wildly different tastes in a lot of things, but on those week-long visits we both found out that no one in the house would object if an episode of Murder, She Wrote was on the TV, and we both genuinely loved the Rene Clair adaptation of And Then There Were None. If you haven’t watched it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The whole opening sequence establishes every single visitor to the island - their quirks, foibles, and flaw - without a single line of dialogue. It’s masterful.

Against the double barrel shotgun of nostalgia and a genuinely masterful adaptation, I’m afraid House of Fear holds no contest for me. Watching this episode just made me think of Grandmother Marie, and made me want to watch the movie. Sorry, ya’ll.

Pursuit to Algiers

Typhoons called this the “Big Daddy herself” and I can’t say I disagree. I really, REALLY liked this one.

The initial set-up of random street- and pub- people feeding Holmes clues and cryptic warnings was so incredibly effective. It was off-putting, how very blatant it was to both Holmes and the audience. I believe they were trying to use Watson to juxtapose with the innocent reaction, but honestly the fact that he didn’t pick up on the sinister vibes just came off as weird. Unless his “I don’t like fish and chips, sorry” is his way of brushing them off. “No creepy murder pubs for US today, sorry.” Unfortunately for him, they’ve managed to intrigue Holmes.

I like that Watson’s loyalty really gets to shine here. The plot is explained, and it’s one they genuinely can’t turn away from. And then a perfectly reasonable explanation is given as to why they have to separate, and Watson is just Not Having It. When the fish factor is so high that even this Watson calls bullshit, you KNOW it’s bad.

Typhoons referenced a very specific and emotional scene, and I’m so sorry typhoon. I fucked up. I was paying attention to the notice board, where the name of the boat was inscribed, and I ABSOLUTELY LOST MY SHIT about the fact that we’re on the Friesland! WE’RE ON THE DUTCH STEAMSHIP FRIESLAND. (I don’t know how I didn’t put this together until this very moment, forgive my shit listening skills) and I missed at least half of the emotional impact of this scene. I have to agree, though. There is this… weight of “what am I to do now?” that I really wish we’d gotten a little more time to sit in. Maybe a Watson left to his own devices would still befriend the singer lady and find out about the stolen jewels. Alas, Watson is given about five seconds to absorb this development before he’s pulled in another direction.

Anyway, none of these reviews is very comprehensive, and I didn’t take very many notes, so all I have is this last impression that I wrote down: Here we see a Watson that’s a step behind Holmes, because that is where Holmes prefers him to be. They didn’t have to make him stupid to put him there. And he was genuinely part of the plan the whole way through, in a classic (if assholey) Holmesian way: Holmes does not tell him the whole plan, so that Watson’s reactions will be genuine. I feel that this worked particularly well in Pursuit to Algiers, in a way that managed not to irritate me. Well bloody done.

in summation: I think I see the appeal.