#literally one of the highlights of a new episode is getting these messages i love them so much

[eardefenders]

Sherlock & Co - Mailbag Episode 2 Transcript

00:00-00:30 Intro Music

00:27-00:34 *Sounds of a violin playing fade in*

00:34 Sherlock: You see? You see what I mean?

00:37 John: I…don’t.

00:39 Sherlock: Listen! *scoffs* Listen, closely this time. Shh. *resumes playing the bit from the fade in*

00:43 John: Argh. *pause* For God’s sake.

*Sherlock keeps playing*

00:46 John: Sherlock, please mate. We’ve got questions to get through here.

*Sherlock keeps playing*

00:52 John: Maaaate. Matey, mate mate mate mate.

00:55 Sherlock: Did you hear it this time?

00:57 John: Yeah. Sure. Uhh, right. So let’s dive into the discord chat. The brand spanking new discord for Sherlock and Co members. Brimming with Stamfords, Irregulars, and Diogene-sohmy God. There’s thousands of messages. Um, right. Should probably been keeping tabs on those questions. All right I’m going to scroll up and pick one f-from um the sssixteenth of January. Here we go! Come on down…IdleVice! Uh, your question is, “If you could make a Spotify playlist for each other of your own favorite songs, what would some of the highlights be and would you be willing to share the playlists with us. Ooh hoohoho. Uuuhhm. I don’t know if I’d ever get around to actually, y’know, putting the playlist together, as, as such, but what I-I would get Sherlock to listen to. Ummm mmmm probably Elbow? Elbow are a band from the north of England. Uh, Salford I think. But they have, uh, a few strings sort of. I-I don’t know what it’s called-but, elements that involve violins. Um, and all that jazz. Heh. Uh well not jazz! Uh, literally, not jazz. Uh, yeah, Sherlock, what about me?

02:07 Sherlock: Hm?

02:08 John: If you could make a playlist of songs for me what would it be?

02:12 Sherlock: I probably would never do that, Watson.

02:16 John: Okay. Uh, could you expand on that?

02:19 Sherlock: It’s a task that I wouldn’t find that fulfil-Vivaldi.

02:23 John: Uhh, right. Vivaldi. Yep. Anything else pop into mind?

02:29 Sherlock: Pop.

02:31 John: Pop? Is that-what’s that?

02:33 Sherlock: It’s a genre of music.

02:35 John: Uh, right, you’d make a pop playlist for me?

02:38 Sherlock: I’d probably enlist Mrs. Hudson to do that.

02:41 John: Fair enough. And why pop?

02:43 Sherlock: Because it’s an abbreviation for ‘popular music’.

02:45 John: No, I know that.

02:47 Sherlock: You like popular culture, therefore pop music could very well be your cup of green tea.

02:54 John: It’s, it’s just cup of tea. Bu-uh-uh, well, okay, uh, thank you for that. Uh, back to the discord dudes and dudettes. Um, not that I was implying any kind of masculine energy to the use of the word dudes. Dudes will remain, uh, um, an-an-an-androgynous here. My…dudes. Bit like the word mate! I do throw it around. Ummm. Some people just think it’s for blokes. Don’t know why. Uh, anyway. Here we go. Leaf-onk, layff, layfonk? I hope I’m saying that right. Uh, Leif-Leif*onk* asks, ‘Has Sherlock ever hit a vape?”

03:28 Sherlock: Yes.

03:29 John: Lovely. They’d also like to know the flavor.

03:31 Sherlock: Menthol.

03:32 John: D-do you want to expand?

03:35 Sherlock: Mm, not really.

03:37 John: Did you like it?

03:38 Sherlock: It was satisfactory, I suppose.

03:41 John: *sighs* Another thrilling q and a session with the master detective. Here we go! Number one archie fan-He-he-heeyyy! Archie! Found your number one fan mate. Heh. Think they also go by potpourri. Not sure. Don’t really know how discord works because I was born in 1989. Anyway! Number one Archie fan asks, do you have a favorite classical piece? Or a favorite composer, perhaps?

04:05 Sherlock: Mozart, generally. Can often be tied to my mood. What about Vivaldi? You said Vivaldi earlier?

04:12 Sherlock: That was a recommendation to you.

04:14 John: But not you?

04:14 Sherlock: Definitely not.

04:16 John: Great.

04:17 Sherlock: Uh, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky. But I am often driven by whatever phase I feel I’m in.

04:23 John: And we’re in a Mozart phase now, are we?

04:26 Sherlock: We are indeed.

04:27 John: Fab. Right, uh, Reeonk asks-ohkay, ok, I see what you’re doing now. Cause of. Cause of Jonk. Okahaha. Let’s all laugh at Jonk-John, I mean.

04:40 Sherlock: *laughs*

04:41 John (affectionately): Oh, ge-Shut up, you big idiot.

04:44 Sherlock: *still laughing*

04:45 John (affectionately annoyed): Shut it. Ha. Uhhhh, we’ll cut that bit. I swear to God. Right! Reonk, who I think also goes by Perfo, if I click here. But yes, as I was saying, millennial at the wheel. Sorry. Reonk’s first question, “Hey John, if you were an animal, what animal would you be?” Uhhhum, *clicks tongue* look, I’ve got to be something airborne. Um, uh I’m sorry, but I have to. Y-y-you can’t have the chance to fly and turn it down, so, uh, I’m a bird.

05:09 Sherlock: Or a bug.

05:10 John: S-s-sorry?

05:11 Sherlock: Bugs. Insects. They’re airborne. Hm, as is some bacteria.

05:16 John: Great, yeah. Let me just decide between a gnat and a germ.

05:19 Sherlock: By all means. Take your time.

05:21 John: I’m being sarcastic. I’m not a bug and I’m not bloody…germs. I’m. *sighs* I mean it’s too much pressure being an eagle, isn’t it. Um, *clicks tongue three times* I don’t want to be something that’s crap at flying, like a swan or a goose or something. Shoutout to Heather, by the way. Ehhh, aw come on John, come on John. Um. Ooo! Tell you what. Now this is going to sound stupid, but if it was my brain in the animal-

05:47 Sherlock: Yes, this is going to sound stupid.

05:49 John: Shh-sh-shh. Yes, if it was me. In the animal. I’m going pigeon.

05:54 Sherlock: Pigeon?

05:55 John: Pigeon. Ehh? Right, listen, ok. I can still live in the city. I cou-I could even live in my room, really.

06:01 Sherlock: You absolutely cannot.

06:03 John: What? Why not?

06:04 Sherlock: I’m not flatsharing with a bloody pigeon, Watson.

06:06 John: It’s me.

06:07 Sherlock: Yes, in the body of a pigeon.

06:09 John: Listen, let me finish my point. I’m a pigeon. I’ve got my room. I can fly about London, y’know? See all the sites, dive bomb some tourists, do a little poo on the House of Commons. I could nick a bit of decent grub. Yeah, go on walks with Archie and Mariana in the park. And no one is the wiser. If I was an eagle or a, y’know, like an albatross, I couldn’t do that, could I? No? It’d be great flying across town, even take the tube. Saw a pigeon on the tube the other day.

06:39 Sherlock: Yes, you said. Twice.

06:41 John: I could look through people’s windows, you know go in their gardens, on their patios….That makes me sound creepy, doesn’t it? Ah, pigeon! *clears his throat* The answer is pigeon. Second question, “What kitchen appliance would you be?” *clicks tongue twice and sucks air in thorough his teeth* Hm. Not being a microwave. No way, don’t get cleaned enough and, uh, having curries and bloody pizzas blowing up inside me, geezus. Uh, fridge. Maybe. Mmm, but I’d see a lot of rotting food, wouldn’t I? Especially if people are away for a while. Probably go with something fun, y’know something where I come out of the pantry or the, y’know, the cupboard or whatever, and all the family go ‘yaayyy, heyhey here he is!’-Wafflemaker, I’d be a wafflemaker. Everyone loves waffles. No one’s getting board of me. I’m getting cleaned. Perfect. Pigeon and a wafflemaker. Ha! That’s not a bad name for our band, eh Sherlock?

07:32 Sherlock: We’re not making a band.

07:33 John: Yeahhh, it was a joke. Right! It’s biscuit time! Saren says ‘Question for Sherlock: What kind of biscuits are, in your opinion, the best?

07:42: *sound of someone walking away*

07:43 John: Uhh, what’re you doing?

07:44 Sherlock: Answering the question.

07:44 John: Well, that would involve sitting down and talking into the mic.

07:48 Sherlock *sound of papers*: Here.

07:49 John: This…is an essay….on biscuits.

07:52 Sherlock: Yes.

07:54 John: By you.

07:55 Sherlock: Yes.

07:56 John: Okay.

07:58 Sherlock: Well, read it. My findings are in there.

08:01 John: Whaaa…it’s thirty-nine pages long.

08:03 Sherlock: Indeed.

08:04 John: Thi-this is supposed to be a snappy question and answer segment. Y’know it’s supposed to be a patreon reward, not a bloody punishment. *sarcastically* ‘Aww thanks for giving six quid everybody, here’s an eleven hour lecture on biscuits.’

08:15 Sherlock: They asked the question.

08:16 John: Right, ok. So, uh, he was eating a lot of custard creams the other day. Um, for those of you who aren’t British, uh, a custard cream is, uh, a sort of sandwich structured biscuit, wouldn’t’cha say?

08:26 Sherlock: Correct. Yes. A sandwich in structure. Two light shortbread pieces acting as the bread. Often stamped with a Victorian inspired Baroque design. And the filling was once a buttercream, but now is a custard flavored cream based on vanilla custard. Not egg custard.

08:43 John: Right, yeah. It’s, it’s that. Um, they’re nice. They are nice. Very moreish. Um, Ellionk, or Ellie, I think, when they’re not ‘Onk’ified, want’s to know ‘Favorite Supermarket: Tesco or Sainsbury’s?’ Um, well, both have gone downhill in recent years, I have to say. So, I’m going to go for neither and say co-op. Yeah, cause every now and again you find a really really good one. But if I’m in fantasy land, it’s M&S Foods or Waitrose. *clicks tongue* Yeah. Uh, there’s a chemistry question here from Ranger Pip which I don’t even begin to understand, so I’m going to move on. Sorry, Ranger Pip.

09:18 John (cont.): Right, last one! ‘Question for possibly John or Sherlock, not sure, lol. What is the story behind the theme tune. Just have to say whoever composed it, the musicians need an award and a shoutout on the podcast.’ Uh, yeah, well it’s a great theme tune, isn’t it? It really is. It’s called ‘Mad Prodigy’. *clears his throat pointedly*

09:39 Sherlock: Why are you making that noise?

09:41 John: Ah well, just saying mate.

09:43 Sherlock: I’m not mad. Or a prodigy.

09:46 John: Hey, uh, I-I’m not saying anything. Um, yeah, it’s it’s by a guy called Jody Jenkins. Uhhh, the reason why I don’t release it like some people asked me to is because it’s owned by a royalty free site. Um, *clicks tongue* the reason why Jody Jenkins doesn’t release it, is the same reason. I-it’s owned by a royalty free site. Uh, that’s generally how they work. I-I pay a fee. Well. Goalhanger pay a fee, use the track, and it belongs too…yeah. Audio Network. Um, I think he’s fab, yeah. But as far as crediting him out loud on the podcast, um, some artists don’t want royalty free work assigned to them. Um, they just do it for a paycheck. Some do. I don’t know him obviously and of course, I-I could piss off the company that actually owns the audio if I just mention him and uh, not-

10:34: *phone vibrates*

10:36 John: Message from Mariana. ‘You’re waffling. These people are paying us their hard earned money.’ Right! Soundproofing in these old houses aren’t what they used to be, are they? Um, *clicks tongue* yeah that’s the reason songwise. Nothing for or against Jody Jenkins. I’m just playing it safe cause these things s-scare me. *chuckles* Corporations and blech, yeah. Uh, horrible stuff.

10:54: *phone vibrates*

10:55 John: Um, message from Mariana. Right, yeah, I’m gonna wrap this up. Uh, thanks for your questions my lovely friends, we’ll be back soon. And, now to play us out, the one and only, Sherlock Holmes.

11:08 Sherlock: What?

11:08 John: Play! Play a song!

11:10 Sherlock *pleased*: Oh. Excellent! Uh, okay. Here we go!

11:14: *violin playing starts up*

11:17 John: Bye bye guys!

11:32: *sherlock’s violin playing cuts into Mad Prodigy

11:32-12:02 *Mad Prodigy carries us out to the end*

[asystol]

KISS OF LIFE

HIGHLIGHTS

their debut showcase was the first stage nakyung’s been on since iz*one disbanded and she was just shaky with nerves the entire time.

the members were all equally nervous though so they all comforted one another.

with a few exceptions, some of her iz*one members did come to the showcase and visited her backstage!! due to schedules, some weren’t able to such as j-line besides sakura 😕

yunjin also came as they were pledis trainees together!

for those that couldn’t come, she, of course, got a kkt from them congratulating her for her re-debut <3 iz*one girlies aside, she also got messages from idols like chungha, itzy’s ryujin and chaeryeong, fromis_9’s nagyung, and chuu.

it made her super emotional as she missed them a lot and wishes they could’ve all still been together in a group but also she really likes where she is now. she’s more than content with her present and future path.

nakyung had changed so much from her iz*one days, she thought fans wouldn’t like her anymore or forgotten about her since it’d been so long😭

but she did get a lot of support from fans all around the world and in korea

her intro ment. <3 “hello, i’m kiss of life’s nakyung. it’s nice to finally be on stage again and i’m so excited to be here with my members. thank you for being here. we’ll work hard so please take care of us!”

she was soo overwhelmed by the amount of support and the change from what it used to be but she was certain she’d get used to it again.

as every stage went by and their fanchants got louder, she got visibly so much happier !!

she made sure to read every letter she got from a fan, even if it made her lose sleep. she was determined lmao

for her solo song, it’s named heart attack <3 she had a lot of fun with this song and she didnt participate in the lyrics (PUBLICLY!!) but she had fun filming the mv and even performing it when she did

her solo lore is about how she ‘fell in love’ with performing. the mv focuses on her chasing after her idol dream !!

heart attack was reallyyy well received by the public!! it gained kiof more attention, especially with intl fans

she made sure to do shhh challenge with chaeyeon, chaeryeong, newjeans’ danielle, zerobaseone’s hanbin and matthew, and literally anyone she managed to meet during music shows

also she was promoting kinda at the same time as bts’ jungkook and was lowkey freaking out every time they were in the same vicinity. somehow it felt different seeing him than any other time back in iz*one.

i feel it’s also important for everyone to know that natty is the reason she joined s2 lol

also her hair was blonde/honey blonde very important idc

nakyung showed up for kiof’s episode on ITSLIVE !!! like she was rehearsing over everything she was so excited

she also went solo on youngji’s nothing much prepared and it was fun, she doesn’t like drinking alcohol a lot so she’s kind of a lightweight which is how she announces to youngji and the viewers that she collects her bias’ photocards 💀

she regretted it so much the next day.

they also got to perform shhh at seoul fashion week?? crazy

as the era came to an end, she was sad about it but knew this was only a new beginning. and it could only get better.

PHOTOCARDS

POPULAR FANSITE SHOTS

HEART ATTACK OUTFITS

( FIRST IS AT KARAOKE, SECOND IS AT AUDITION, THIRD IS ‘ON STAGE’, FOURTH IS THE STUDIO, FIFTH IS FANSIGN )

HEART ATTACK MV

the mv starts with nakyung entering a karaoke bar with her friends, arms linked with another brunette girl.

the scene leads to her performing on the karaoke stage as the song ‘heart attack’ starts, a surprisingly upbeat song for the dark atmosphere of the karaoke bar.

she’s having fun! the crowd, however… is not enjoying it. her friends are torn between cheering her on or having secondhand embarrassment before the brunette girl she was with pulls her off the stage and out the karaoke bar. the song abruptly cuts off before the first verse ends

she’s confused and slightly angry, wanting to go back and finish her performance but the friend pulls her back. the viewers can’t hear what the friend is saying, hearing muffled sounds of water instead. but nakyung is visibly getting more upset and angry, tears rising to her eyes but refusing to fall.

she takes off, walking home in the dark in angry and upset silence until she catches sight of an audition flyer for a company. she tears it off the wall and the scene ends.

the scene starts with nakyung nervously staring at a door before following an older man inside. a camera is facing the wall, three people, one man, two women, are behind the camera, facing her.

with a deep breath, she bows and introduces herself. this is the first time the viewers have heard her voice. the woman tells her to start when she’s ready.

nakyung starts to sing heart attack again and the background changes from the room to a large stage, now changed into different clothes than before.

the viewers are shown a large crowd, all holding red lightsticks in the air but too blurred they barely even look like lightsticks— all you can see is the red glow.

nakyung is dancing to the choreo along with other girls dressed in simple black clothes; her backup dancers.

the scene switches to her in a recording studio, still singing heart attack. it turns to the staff behind the window, nodding in satisfaction.

the scene switches again to nakyung holding fansigns, talking to fans and signing albums.

the viewers are shown nakyung performing on stage in the same red outfit, the song and fanchants coming to an end as she smiles at the crowd/camera.

the viewers hear the crowd roar with screams before the scene switches, changing back to the green screen and same room before.

the woman raises her brow expectantly, “well? are you going to start or continue wasting our time?”

nakyung stares at her before bolting from the room, tearing her audition paper off her body and aiming to throw it in the trash but it bounced off and fell to the ground.

as she runs out of the building, she bumps into another girl. it’s natty. they stare at one another before nakyung runs off again.

natty turns, looking at the paper and picking it up. it focuses on the name— 이나경.

BYE MY NEVERLAND OUTFITS

BYE MY NEVERLAND MV

nakyung trips as soon as she’s out of sight from natty. when she gets up, her knees are bleeding. she hisses at the pain and walks faster to get home.

a car passes by nakyung, splashing water on her from the previous rain. she gasps in shock, looking up and making eye contact with julie who is looking back in concern before the car turns the street quickly.

she has a solo shot of her, still wet and shivering only in a shirt and skirt, walking past belle, who is on the ground with her head in hands. she hesitates as if debating on whether to ask her if she’s okay or not, but ultimately continues walking away. belle looks up in time just to see nakyung walking away, back facing her.

she’s seen looking up at the fireworks in awe along with the rest of the members.

somehow she’s made her way back to the girls and back to where the audition was— showing up just in time to watch julie’s car hit natty. her mouth drops open, watching natty try to walk it off.

the mv ends but i imagine julie offers her a ride home seeing she’s soaked and cold </3 she also felt bad

SHHH OUTFITS

( FIRST IS IN KITCHEN, SECOND IS AT PARTY, THIRD IS WHEN THEY’RE DANCING/DEBUT SHOWCASE, FOURTH IS DANCE PERFORMANCE VIDEO )

SHHH MV

along with julie, nakyung walks through the door in the morning. she’s putting the groceries away, noting that the fridge is empty. she turns her head, making eye contact with belle as she walks in the door.

nakyung nudges julie, nodding her head to the bruises and scrapes on natty’s body. she shakes her head, watching as julie just wraps the bandages over her limbs.

nakyung hugs natty around the shoulder as they start having a mini fashion show, getting a black dress thrown at her head.

she’s changed into her jean dress, pulling belle by the arm when she stops in the doorway.

the next scene, she’s on the other side of natty and looking off.

nakyung’s back is facing haneul, but she turns around when julie does. she spots the boy following after haneul, immediately taking off after them with the girls.

nakyung reaches the boy first, shoving him back and letting natty push him into the stall while belle grabs the trashcan and dumps it over his head. she turns and follows behind natty and haneul.

nakyung’s running with belle and julie, and sits in the middle of the backseat with belle and natty.

nakyung adds the heart on haneul’s finger with nail polish.

at the gas station, she tries on sunglasses and grabs a keychain to … “buy” before heading to the gas pump with natty, handing her a candybar.

in the parking lot, natty pulls nakyung up to dance. she dances to the correct part of the choreo, following the rest of the girls to the railing at the end of the song.

nakyung meets natty and the rest of the girls at the top of the stairs, eyebrow raising expectantly with a small smile on her face before they all get into position.

TRACKLIST

쉿 (Shhh)* TITLE

안녕,네버랜드 (Bye My Neverland)

Sugarcoat (NATTY Solo)

Countdown (BELLE Solo)

Kitty Cat (JULIE Solo)

Play Love Games (HANEUL Solo)

Heart Attack (NAKYUNG Solo)

LINES

SHHH

잊지 마 You’re so special

One thing I know about you [ 0:25 — 0:29 ]

It’s so sweet

날 따라 당당하게 네가 상상한 대로 [ 0:48 — 0:53 ]

알잖아 We want it more [ 1:27 — 1:29 ]

I wake u up up up UP [ 1:48 — 1:51 ]

Just like this

내 꿈은 On your lips [ 2:00 — 2:05 ]

[NAKYUNG/BELLE/HANEUL] And we going hard, Cuz we are [ 2:28 — 2:35 ]

날 따라 당당하게 네가 상상한 대로 [ 2:48 — 2:51 ]

Bye My Neverland

시계 위로 달려 장면을 넘겨

멈추고 싶지 않아 [ 0:45 — 0:51 ]

난 더 숨고 싶거나

감추지 않아

Don't wanna stay more [ 1:35 — 1:40 ]

So, I won't stop my time

아파도 자라고 싶어 난

I get a little bit lonely [ 2:16 — 2:23 ]

(Ooh, yeah) [ 2:53 ]

I’ll never come back [ 2:55 — 2:56 ]

Heart Attack (NAKYUNG Solo)

[ 0:00 — 3:14 ]

[maryhadalittlehobby]

Recap of IWTV Screening and Conversation at 92stY

(Please dont repost/reupload my pics or vids from here or IG anywhere else. Sharing/linkinh is ok. Thanks!)

I started the day with a fang gang meetup hosted by Black Girl Talks Fangs. The restaurant was cute and the food great. I'm not a big wine drinker but got a blood red Chateau in honor of the occasion. After, we headed over to the event space.

In my experience attending different events there, the actors typically come in just before the event starts or a few minutes into the screening.

In this case- it was both.

Eric strolled up super casual and had a convo with myself and a few other fans asking if we had read the books and what we were looking forward to. He gave a parting message that the season is amazing and he is not just saying that because he is part of it. I believe him. He was super personable and down to earth.

Delainey arrived next and again kind and generous with her time. She has a very chill energy. Her outfit was more casual this day but I thought chic and the face card never declines. Her makeup artist does her right! And can we talk about that sleek ass ponytail

She complimented my cosplay and said she thinks my beret might be the screen accurate one!

She asked to touch it and said mine was softer!

She also said Carol Cutshall gifted her the beret so she owns Claudia's.

I put this cosplay together in 3 weeks which is barely enough time. Thankfully I had the idea knocking around since October when we first saw this fit in the trailer that dropped at NYCC 23.

Myself and a few fans waited till about 15 minutes into the start of the screening before we gave up on waiting for Jam Reiderson.

While running to the screening I nearly literally ran into Rolin. I asked for a quick pic which he obliged.

The episode was amazing. Very much on par of season 1 so far. Can't wait to see the full thing. Delainey fit into Claudia seamlessly.

The panel itself was great as well. I have a few vids in my IWTV highlight on IG and a few others in an upcoming youtube video I will make AFTER the episode drops. There are some spoiler bits plus 92Y is dropping the full panel too after the ep airs.

Highlights include watching Jam Reiderson literally communicate telepathically- what was the fun on set story?!

Sam slapping Jacobs' lower inner thigh in front of god (Rolin) and everyone.

Working together is like putting on an old glove. An old sock?! Lol what. 'Is that dirty?'

Assad trauma dumping on main. "Armands lost...like me." "I'm intimidated by the cast" Sir please!

Assad also being spicy saying he thinks Armands memory of Lestat is pretty accurate. Drag him king😄

Delainey and Jacob gushing about how they immediately bonded and established their father/daughter/sibling vibes.

Eric calling Jam puppies and Jacob saying "I'm a grown man a parent"lol Sir you are a baby girl as evidenced by

Rolin saying that's a book and this is a show. To me that said was book lovers have the book and you always will but this is a new thing that respects the source but isn't tied down to every single detail.

Then Sam saying there are contradictions even within the series. Please lets talk about it.

And I love this new narrative everyone is spinning, even Sam, who seemed to be in the Lestat is right and Louis is lying boat last press go round. Now everyone is saying there is no right and wrong or truth and lies-the story is told by different people with different perspectives and that's all. Which yes! that's ALWAYS how I saw it! Just because Lestat became the main character and most favored doesn't mean he is infallible.

Jacob and that plushie. Who would have imagined he'd love it so much. Another fan was coming with their Lestat. I don't know if they had intentions of giving it to Sam but sadly they didn't make it.

After the panel I went back to the spot and aimed to get Jacobs signature on my Street of Immortality print which I managed.

I would have loved to get Sam's to but I also wanted to give other fans the chance to get photos and autos. I was already so lucky.

They signed for a loooong time. So long I thought our side wouldnt have a chance or only a few people would. Turns out fans were conducting mini interviews with them lol Someone needs to collect all the questions and answers.

Also they are the smallest cast you've ever seem. Pocketbsized. Everyone one of them is so unassuming.

Overall I had a super good time. The audience vibes were immaculate. The person beside me during the screening/panel was losing their shit then apologizing. But honestly I was here for it lol

Also you could 100% tell it was an audience full of the online fandom.

I ended the night checking out the Time Square ad. It was awesome to see our vamps represented. Hopefully we get a ton of new fans from all the amazing marketing this year.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/21/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Birthday Boy; Rachel House; Taika Waititi; You Wear 50 Well; #RhysRadness; Stats; Watch party Reminders; Articles; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

Wow, I'm sorry all, I literally fell asleep at the computer last night and just.. didnt get up til this morning. I apparently was pretty wiped out! So tonight's recap is this mornings recap! PS: Im behind on all my messages so please dont think im ignoring you :)

== Birthday Boy ==

As you can imagine, Rhys was everywhere today, on his birthday on this side of the world! Some more stills from Uproar from Caravancarparkfilms IG

He also posted some old and new pics of our captain!

Dan Schreiber Posted a video of Rhys starting to sing My Sharona! Thanks @kiwistede for getting that over to tumblr!

Samba also gave us some more pictures!

And then there was the merstede cameo he did!

= Rachel House =

I keep wanting to post more about Rachel's new movie The Mountain but there's been so much Rhys stuff going on I keep forgetting! So here's some sweet promos for the movie that's in select showings in Aotearoa right now!

== Taika Waititi ==

Great news all! Taika got your lovely letters :)

== You Wear 50 Well ==

More tributes to the birthday boy!

@nika_market

@The_MovieDweeb

= Tumblr Highlights! =

Lots more gorgeous tributes by our tumblr sibs!

@ammdakin

@emcolbs

@illustoryart

== Adopt Our Crew ==

Stede Bonnet won #RhysRadness! As well he should! Our leading man in his major leading role. Congrats Stede!

https://x.com/adoptourcrew/status/1770823288752640358?s=20

== Watch Parties ==

= Newark, Newark =

When: Saturday 23rd March @ 7 pm GMT / 3pm EST / 12 pm PST Where: BBC iPlayer, Now TV

Hosted by @lamentus1

Extra Note: The Rhys Darby Faction Discord will be streaming it as well at 5pm GMT / 1 pm EST / 12 pm PST

​Watch Party Hashtags:

#NewarkThePlank

#OurFlagMeansDeath

== Wrecked ==

Today is the series Finale!

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST. Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each. Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags: 

#WreckedPirates

#SaveOFMD

#RhysDarbyFaction

== Fan Spotlight ==

Today's cast card is none other than our fellow crewmate Hugo Pierre Martin! He's been supporting the SaveOFMD effort for a while as well as being a part of the show's cast! Thank you @melvisik for highlighting our lovely friend!

== Stats ==

Thank you @/meowzawowza_ on twitter for these awesome stats!

== Articles ==

‘Night Court’ – ‘The Duke’s a Hazard’ Post-Mortem Interview with Rhys Darby

== Love Notes ==

Hey Lovelies, I fell asleep last night writing so I'm gonna paste in something from our dear friend TheLatestKate today. Definitely get some rest if you can, we can all persevere tomorrow.

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika==

Today's Theme: Button downs and smiles Taika Courtesy of @kiwi-taika Darby Courtesy of @fandomsmeantheworldtome

[quickstappen]

track 006: secrets spilling (you can't stop them)

A/N: two parts less than two months apart?? what is happening here? well, now that exams are over i've got way too much time on my hands, enjoy this one (there might be some mistakes here, don't give them much thought please)

masterlist | previous next

liked by lewishamilton, sebastianvettel and others

marcilazzaro1 life is good 💚 didn't know how much i longed for peace before i experienced it for the first time in a long while :)

see all comments...

shithappens you don't understand how precious this is to me 😭

sebastianvettel I told you I'll change your mind about gardening 💚

↳ quickstappen i'm sorry- sebastian what do you mean

↳ redmilton ariana, what are you doing here??

alexandrasaintmleux The views are incredible, can't wait to see it in person! 😍

↳ marcilazzaro1 trust me, it's so worth it

lance_stroll did he make you plant the greens too?

↳ marcilazzaro1 he did... it wasn't so bad

↳ lewishamilton Liar, liar 🙄 you literally texted me that you loved it

↳ sebastianvettel You loved it?

↳ marcilazzaro1 it was a lot more fun than i thought 💚

gorgeous_aa23 sebastian stand up man 💀

nyoomf1 so she's definitely in Switzerland 👀

screwderriaf1 it's so weird not seeing her in the garage 🥺

↳ pierrespookie it's amazing 😍 don't have to look at the bitch during race weekends

↳ madi_races girl,, get the fuck out 💀

darth_nando is anyone else lowkey shipping her with seb now? 💀

sarah_scott we need a girls night asap

↳ clairobernie_x i second that

↳ marcilazzaro1 get over here then

albonohypetrain where is she staying in Switzerland?? she bought a house?

↳ blondecedes i may be wrong but it looks like she's staying with Seb??

↳ albonohypetrain oh my god 🥹

brunolazzaro_03 is that coffe?? 🤨

↳ marcilazzaro1 it's black tea, chill

↳ lewibear hmm 🤔

maxverstappen1 who's gonna be on babysitting duty now that you're gone?

↳ marcilazzaro1 P is welcome to visit at any given time, she's always gonna be my favourite 😉

view more...

marci's messages:

lewis' messages:

marci's messages:

liked by charles_leclerc, lance_stroll and others

sarah_scott only good vibes at the sleepover (of course the only certified baker had to win the cupcake competition)

tagged: marcilazzaro1, clairobernie_x, location: Switzerland

see all comments...

liza_mercf1 i hope you had fun! when's the new episode coming?

↳ sarah_scott don't worry, the new podcast episode is going live at 5pm this friday as always 🩷 this week with Callum Ilott

nyoomf1 oooh she's visiting Marci in Switzerland!!

redleclerc i love that they're still friends with Claire 🥹

lance_stroll with the amount of bags you had one would think you were leaving for at least a month, not 3 days

↳ sarah_scott i took a lot of housewarming gifts

↳ lance_stroll sure

↳ strollingaway 🤨 what's this then

brunolazzaro_03 did you vandalise the kitchen?

↳ clairobernie_x who do you take us for? of course we did

lewibear okay, now it's getting suspicious 🤨 no body shot again?

ilpredestinatox this looks so fun,, i also want a sleepover with this guys

albonohypetrain i can't wait for the next episode, those are the highlights of my week, seriously

clairobernie_x not my fault I'm just naturally talented in the kitchen babes 🩷

charles_leclerc ....a sleepover? 👀

↳ sarah_scott you have something to say Charles?

↳ charles_leclerc yeah, why wasn't I invited?

↳ sarah_scott we were gossiping about you, hard to do when you're there 😉

↳ charles_leclerc right, that's valid

↳ screwderriaf1 girl 💀

gorgeous_aa23 soo... they're all in Switzerland right now

madi_races we need more content with this three, this is everything

marcilazzaro1 see if I invite you ever again, the kitchen was a nightmare to clean 🙄

↳ clairobernie_x you looooovee us 🩷

view more...

marci's messages:

madi's radio: hello, another one is here, a little text message heavy, I'll try to post most frequently really, also,,, does anyone speak croatian? it's one of the languages I'm studying and i could use the practice to be honest

click here to be added to the carved my name taglist!

taglist: @sunny44 @rockyhayzkid @biancathecool @unluckyyoshi @woozarts @janeholt3 @celestialend @formulaal @d3kstar @yoremins @rd1410-blog @mess-is-my-aesthetic @callsignwidow @blaaahblubb @evans-dejong @lwstuff @emilyval1 @r0seandth0rns @fletchingarcher @blaaahblubb @notyaslol @dear-fifi @zimm04 @thewritingofspencerrose @elliegrey2803 @anthonykatebridgerton @firetruckstuckley @casperlikej @anephemeralwoe @vroomvroommuppett @taytaylala12 @kuskumu @clemswrld @bella-1 @leclercdream @evie-119 @tallrock35 @dannyleclerc @charkachow @flusteredmoonn @beslerek @fandomchaosposts @pied-pipper (xxx - couldn't tag you)

DISCLAIMER: i do not know anything about this people, this is not real life, this is just something for fun, i do not know anythings about their life or personalities!

[witch128chick]

So it's that day again

Time for...

Separate Tides!

Now before we start.. i'd like to highlight the message of this episode. Both Luz and Lilith want to face their struggles on their own, thinking that's the only way they can make it up for their mistakes. It speaks so deeply to me and it's so important, since i find it incredibly hard to reach out and admit that i need help. I literally let my tongue get burnt instead of doing anything bc i didn't want my struggles to be noticed. And yea it went unnoticed but my tongue hurt for two days. It's just a silly example but still an example. If it makes any sense

Anyway

Let's dive in!

(I think i'm gonna change how the post looks like bc it kinda makes more sense to have the pic first and then the text that relates to it but omg i hate changes SM. even if it's as small as this)

New intro!!! (And darker too)

But this is so cool i love it

We're starting off strong with the meme faces of s2!

She's so cute i can't 😭😭😭

Atla reference yesss!!!

YES MORE CLAWTHORNE SISTERS MOMENTS!!!

Ah i love them sm in this episode they're so chaotic (i mean they have to make up for all those years.. it's so sad)

I love how she singlehandedly did all that

LUZ IS SO STRONG

Yes some nice mom-child moment

Child is getting scolded for possibly getting unalived on a pirate ship by mom who robbed said pirate ship

Now THIS was an entrance

"I am not one to be trifled with, BEEZZZZZZ. I am a witch... UNHINGED!"

Iconic

Alright come back for a rb!!!

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

wild blue yonder

the tardis can regenerate itself...... !!! I mean, wait we knew that already kjhkjh but I just connected the dots now that... that means The Time Lords mined and mauled the child just to make their cars better, as well. Damn...

in classic who u used to have to use ur imagination to pretend everything wasn’t a wobbly set... now u have to use ur imagination to pretend everything isn’t a greenscreen :/

"is that who i am now?" the shocking thing isn’t that he is gay (that’s what donna interprets) the shock to himself is voicing how horny he is lol

Someone is gonna say gravity and that's gonna be fucking weird

"it would take trillion years to get that far” chills!

"no one is ever been this far. till us. and this ship" colonialism fiction dna shining thru

“you little streak” <3

"she'll move on" "not shaun, he'll go to that alleyway every year..." \ten at the alleyway to see rose parallel....

Ghost aroma!!!

blue and orange motif....…………… 13 aesthetic moments.... [13 and Swarm coded? / aka entropy/life coded?/donna and the doc...]

“maybe there's a tribe and they worship it… (…) time passes and the city falls... and there's the tardis" beautiful!! I'm could do somth w/ re: w/ the doctor and their companions. (eyes emoji)

"it got complicated" UNDERSTATEMENT OF A CENTURY #2

"The notion of shape is strange." "it limits" literally current architecture theory

This is so nofna solar system-core

love a classic “anti matter hates matter” story

[the no-bodies…?....cousins to the the could have been king ... with his army of never wheres…?]

This feels very [doctor trying to figure out their body in each regeneration] [intentionally?] this is so end of evangelion poster-core

"it’s strange enough my face coming back, but not this big" / [metaphor for reboots?]

This episode is like the clamoring for us to get a castrovalva 2 escher-like world again next season

"that's not gonna work either" i love these idiots

"why does it have to be one last trip?" rtd ringing moffat / gatiss / gardner / etc and being like like -

ok but follow this reasoning: if the doctor is the same person bc they keep their memories (as the show makes a point of.... constantly) ... and if the memories make the person ... then indeed an entity that copies the memories is the same person, is it not? Where do we draw the line between who’s “real” and who isn’t, in this scenario?

A CREATION I DEVASTATED / literally watched WoM two seconds before this w/ ten all "everything i do just makes it happen" sdjsdkf this is what i mean when i say the doctor has never Processed anythingggg since that Bottom Pit moment

"it wasn't your fault" "i know! (but it stil sucks!!!)" me at therapy like

"WHY DOES HE NEED YOU?" me, Pavlovian tone: because he is lonely...

“when something is gone, it keeps existing” → highlight this!!!! this is gonna be the new thesis statement about Grief!!! this is gonna be The Point for the next 4 years lol

It's very fun to watch this after marath6ning all of ten's era bc it's like... that boy never processed any of that shit. did 11 process shit? did 12? 12 maybe a little but really i think they just got even more trauma (bill ): ) dkdksks and don't get me started on 13. basically what im saying is the doctor Never did get a break on between waters of mars up until now... [and i guess to go further never did get a break after since like....... freaking ghost light skskskskkjkj seven is still There. we don't think about that enough.]

Donna being a clone fucker is not a headcanon ever thought i had but im glad its been confirmed now "donma doesn't think she"s stupid" im sure rtd has launched this exact same rant on so some unwilling family members while browsing ao3 "stop copying and make up your own minds" social commentary / commentary on reboots again / core "individualism > society" dr. who 101 messaging

The not things are kinda.... cute? skdksk if they weren't murderous they look like ppl to hang out w/ and play videogames......

"what do you want?" "you tell us" fundamental doctor-companion dialogue....

"love letters don't travel very far" put a pin on that...

ok.... ARGHGHGHH LET ME THINK THINK THINK skskks me failing at CBT be like

What if the doctor is from our universe. what then the doctor being like we have to mill ourselves immediately feels very 13

this is like "what if turn left and midnight but they go through it together this time <3" fic "where the walls are thin and anything is possible" eyes emoji

"that copy was 99% donna" so maybe re:earlier... what the show is saying between copy vs real is that it's all about the x factor, the 1%....

CONCLUSIONS! lived up to the hype! i think it's a bit 13-era vibe in that it's clearly influenced by all the prestige space-base-isolation scifi we see in the ~cinema now every year. the aesthetic is hitting that vibe (and going to the root, there's also a very clear Alien influence). kinda wish we had more one offs just like this one :( bc i feel the other 2 specials have too much Work to do, so there's not enough time to do.Fun like lore and character stuff. Execution wise is very successful. the switcheroos work. the callbacks work. there's a lot of character stuff happening ("I just realized I'm still working through that!") but it doesn't interfere w/ the adventure itself. My one grip is there's a couple shots that do feel too green-screen-y, but overall the ep is visually amazing. def only a story you could do now. also I love that the NMDs were like "rtd is gonna retcon the timeless child!!! everyone hated it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and he was like "cool. now watch this" lollll king moments. rare moments where it feels like we live in the best timeline.

[softhanni]

2024 Media: 63. Suite Precure♪ (2011) - 4/10★ I'm so sorry, I really really wanted to like this season but it was such a slog to get through. (Mass of text as per usual under the read more <3)

I really liked Hibiki and Kanade not getting along for a decent amount of time because it brought us a new type of interaction between the cures, however I didn't really care too much about either of the characters so I wasn't invested in their arc. I love Ellen, her focus eps were definitely my fave parts of the show. Despite that I feel like her arc didn't emotionally grab me like Setsuna's (that's the only comparison I have right now) which is a shame, she had some really funny moments that were the highlights of this season for me (': Hummy was SO precious all the way through, honestly I think Hummy was my fave character of the show T.T. On the flip side the show dragged at the beginning and the end for me. I didn't feel invested until literally half way through the season and it didn't manage to hold my focus enough even then. I think it doesn't help that I enjoyed heartcatch SOOOO much that coming straight from that, Suite felt really underwhelming. I feel like Muse didn't get enough focus too, she joined the team so late but unlike previous mid season cures I feel like we didn't get a lot of time with her before that (Kurumi was there for ages as Milk and Setsuna as Eas for example.) I feel like there was a nice message behind the main villain but the last few episodes could have been condensed into one or two episodes imo and it dragged so much that by the conclusion I really was just waiting for it to end rather than enjoying it (could be a different experience if you watched weekly or at a more casual pace than my hyperfixation tbf.) Shoutout to Ako's dad and grandad for being such peak characters!! Fave eps: 6, 8, 20, 24-26, 28, 41,

[graygiantess]

I have to say, I can't tell you how many times I've reread that 'Armand has a sad/low day' A03 piece of yours -- truly it's exceptional. Small things about it always stick with me. I really like the nuance with which you present Armand especially <3! You do Daniel great too <3, I have re-read that one a lot, it's always so great especially in terms of atmosphere. I also finally just realized that the Daddy piece is fiction [not just a comic, I mean], I hadn't figured it out from the summary line for some reason, and it's very enjoyable, love it! So funny <3 Also I just read the new 'low day' piece and it's SO good. I love the way you have Armand truly be himself, with all the complexities of that [ethics etc] -- so good!!!

Hey Nonny,

Thank you so much for your lovely message!

Silver Lining is one of the fics I'm the most proud of, so I'm always delighted to hear that it resonates with others!

It just occurred to me yesterday that Daniel’s flippant S1 line about Claudia not being held enough in between ritualistic murders also describes Armand down to a T. 🥲

I think 99% of the problems TVC vamps have and create for each other boils down to a deep-seated sense of loneliness, fear of that loneliness, and the desire to belong/be loved.

I think the show is doing such a gorgeous job of exploring that in Armand this season (in a just world this season would sweep awards season just on Assad's control of his facial expressions alone!) and I really needed to give him a hug after watching episode 4.

RE: Daddy.

I'd literally just finished the first draft of the fic when @verimuru and I got to talking about doing a potential collab. Based on their previous comics, I thought Daddy would work well with their style of storytelling and they agreed!

I really wanted to highlight the comic when we posted it, but I also wanted to include the 'written-out' version, because:

1) it was there and I liked how it turned out, but mostly

2) it's almost like a BTS feature in that it shows some of Daniel’s internal dialogue and how that informed certain decisions RE: the art AND shows you which elements were added while we were working on the comic. Armand really being physically in Daniel’s face, him pulling Daniel into his lap, and the way they're visually almost at the club already on pages 7 and 8 were all Verimuru's ideas, and IMO those choices elevated the storytelling SO MUCH.

I mean, 70yo Daniel Molloy literally sitting in Armand’s lap just before putting on the very expensive outfit Armand picked out for him and then saying (paraphrased), "Where do you get off suggesting I'm your sugar baby?" is just so completely hilarious to me. 😂

I've said it once and I'll say it a million times: working with Verimuru was an absolute joy! (And you probably haven't seen the last of us yet.)

I'm so glad you liked both versions! Thank you again for your ask. 😊

[mrschwartz]

Alex Turner on the Arctic Monkeys' musical evolution

By Mark Savage (published on October 22 2022)

Alex Turner is out of breath.

The Arctic Monkeys frontman has just blazed through a guitar solo on Body Paint - the swaggering, Bowie-esque centrepiece of their new album, The Car - on TV institution Later with Jools Holland.

"You've parched me out there," he pants. "Could someone get me a water?"

Unusually, the Arctics are the only band in the studio. For the first time in 15 years, the show is devoting an entire episode to a single act - an honour reserved for rock legends like REM, Radiohead, Metallica and Oasis.

Turner and his band-mates appreciate the enormity of the situation. They film additional takes and switch up their setlist to ensure the new music is conveyed with appropriate punch and panache.

"Gotta make this one count," says Turner as the recording runs into its second hour. "We'll do an acoustic one, and then Born To Run."

The promised Springsteen cover never materialises. Nor does the band's hellraising 2007 hit Brianstorm, despite guitarist Jamie Cook idly bashing out the riff between takes. But, with almost twice as much Monkey business as they'd bargained for, the audience leaves on a high.

"I enjoyed it a great deal," agrees Turner, on the phone to the BBC a couple of days later. "I'm a big fan of that show and I have been for a long time, even before we put the band together."

In fact, his highlight in the run-up to the show was getting access to the Later vaults, to pick a performance that influenced him for broadcast on the show.

"I kind of lost myself in the archive back there for a minute, Mark, to be honest with you," he says. "I found myself gravitating to performances from 2002 and going, 'Oh God, yeah, I remember seeing that and getting excited about it.'"

Of course, 2002 is the year the Arctic Monkeys formed in Sheffield, where all four members were pupils of Stocksbridge High School.

Turner and guitarist Jamie Cook had only received their first guitars a year earlier, as Christmas presents from their parents. The first song they wrote was called "Matt Dave Rock Song" - named for a singer who subsequently left the band, and which they subsequently described as "junk" and "total crap".

But they progressed at speed, developing a sharp, nervy sound full of searing riffs and witty, literate lyrics. By 2005, people were eagerly swapping bootlegs, demos and gossip on dedicated message boards.

When their first album, Whatever People I Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, arrived in 2006 it became the UK's fastest-selling debut of all time, just weeks after Turner's 20th birthday.

Arctic Monkeys were suddenly the most written-about, talked-about rock band of their generation.

They responded by closing ranks.

Back-slapping events like the Brit Awards were avoided, the band accepting prizes in mailed-in videos, dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz. When they played Radio 1's Live Lounge, they subverted their "rock saviour" image by covering Katy B's On A Mission and Girls Aloud's Love Machine.

"I can't really remember the impetus behind that decision," reflects Turner, "but it was a lot of fun".

Musically, Arctic Monkeys went from strength to strength, particularly on the hard-hitting Humbug (2009) and the leather-jacketed rock of AM (2013).

They last graced the charts in 2018 with the space-jazz concept album Tranquillity Base Hotel & Casino, which explored themes of consumerism and politics through the concept of a luxury resort on the moon.

Turner composed its languid, meandering songs on piano, declaring the guitar "had lost its ability to give me ideas".

Critics were divided. Rolling Stone called the album "indulgent", but Q Magazine thought it was "strange and wonderful". Fans sent the album to number one, but it's the only Arctic Monkeys record not to be certified platinum.

Released on Friday, The Car is tighter and more immediate than its predecessor but it spins in the same sonic universe.

Opening track There'd Better Be A Mirror Ball is all woozy keyboards and staccato string stabs, while Jet Skis On The Moat sees Turner slip on his velvet jacket for a brooding lounge-pop ballad.

"I made a big deal about the piano on the last record," says the singer, "but when I look at it now, the shift in sound between that record and the one before [AM] is more to do with the fact that my writing process [changed] around that time".

In the Arctic Monkeys' first decade, he explains, he'd take a song "into a rehearsal room and work out how it goes with the band". That's gradually become more insular, with Turner building up songs in his home studio until he feels they're ready.

"So the piano had a part in it, but being able to record myself and write to those recordings is perhaps what got us into this mess."

That's not the only thing that's changed.

"I can vaguely remember times in the past where I've been struck with the inspiration and written something quite quickly, but it feels like that happens less these days," he says. "But I'm not worried if it takes a little bit longer."

In fact, some of the musical motifs on The Car percolated for three years before he "persuaded them to be a pop song".

Among them was the instrumental refrain of Big Ideas, a gorgeous electric piano melody that "felt like it had aspirations to be a movie theme".

"It hung around for ages, that melody, and I'd play it whenever I found myself sitting at a piano [until] one of the band asked, 'Is that one of yours?'

"And that's about as excited as they get," he jokes.

Their enthusiasm encouraged him to build the passage into a song that describes a songwriter's (favourite) worst nightmare.

"I had big ideas... the kind you'd rather not share over the phone," Turner sings. "But now the orchestra's got us all surrounded and I can't for the life of me remember how they go."

It's one of many lyrics that hint at instability and dislocation.

The music, meanwhile, reflects his emotional turbulence. The band often sound like they're fighting to be heard - bursting through an orchestral swell to gasp for air, only to be dragged under the surface again.

"There was much discussion and deliberation" about those "push and pull dynamics", Turner says.

Some tracks, like Sculptures, were recorded with several different arrangements, then reconstructed in the mix.

The track was born when guitarist Jamie Cook wired a Moog synthesizer up to a drum machine, creating an ominous, industrial sound. Then it "went on its own journey", evolving into a full-band recording, before the original idea reasserted itself.

On the finished version, "it's almost like there's a button for the band and you press it and they step in for a bar, then they disappear back and you're in that synthesizer place," Turner explains.

"That, of course, is not the kind of idea that I would have had before we started. That's something that revealed itself during the process.

"So I'm thrilled that you mentioned the dynamics because that's something we attempted to explore and get a handle on this time. And yeah, I think I think we did a better job in that respect, than we did last time around."

Back on stage in Alexandra Palace, Arctic Monkeys are still figuring out how to play the new material live, taking a couple of passes at the funky, sqawkbox riffs of I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am before they're satisfied.

Without a string section, the songs become harder, more full-blooded - giving an idea of how they'll nestle up to Fluorescent Adolescent and RU Mine on tour.

And while some bands (cough, Radiohead, cough) abandon their old hits when they settle on a new sound, Turner has no such inclination.

"There's certain numbers from the early records that I should think we would continue to keep playing. And there are other numbers we haven't played for a while that we could imagine knocking the dust off. "

"Nothing has been ruled out," he concludes. "Although Love Machine might be a stretch."

[twwpress]

Briefing #83: January 21st - January 27th

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from January 21 – January 27. Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing! 

Challenges/Prompts:

Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote or know of one we’re missing? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

@thefinestmuffin and @JessBakesCakes are hosting the 3rd Annual Josh/Donna Rom-Com Fest. Anyone can prompt or claim, and the fest reveals on February 14. Details here. 

This Week in Canon:

Welcome back to This Week in Canon, where we revisit moments in The West Wing that occurred on these dates during the show’s run.

Season 1, Episode 13: Take Out the Trash Day aired on January 26, 2000.

Season 2, Episode 12: The Drop-In aired on January 24, 2001.

Season 6, Episode 13: King Corn aired on January 26, 2005.

Season 7, Episode 12: Duck and Cover aired on January 22, 2006.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from January 21 - January 27:

Allison Janney posted a screenshot from Deadline about her upcoming role in Miss You, Love You.

Allison Janney posted a screenshot from Variety announcing her role in season two of Netflix’s The Diplomat. 

Allison Janney posted photos of herself from a recent photo shoot. Bradley Whitford posted a poster for a Natalie Morales and “The Night Crew” event he will be appearing in at the Lodge Room on February 3.

Dule Hill posted photos and a supportive message celebrating POC actors nominated for Oscars this year.  

Dule Hill posted an image announcing his nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series for the NAACP Image Awards. 

Mary McCormack and Melissa Fitzgerald posted photos of themselves with Allison Janney and an announcement about their upcoming book about The West Wing, called What’s Next? which will drop in August and is now available for preorder. (Allison Janney, Dule Hill, and The West Wing Weekly also posted photos promoting the book.)

Rob Lowe posted a video of himself and Kevin Bacon talking for his podcast, Literally. 

Donna Moss Daily: January 26 | January 27

Daily Josh Lyman: January 21 | January 22 | January 23 | January 24 | January 25 | January 26 | January 27

No Context BWhit: January 21 | January 22 | January 23 | January 24 | January 25 | January 26 | January 27

@twwarchive: January 22 | January 23 | January 24 | January 25 | January 26 | January 27

Edits/Artwork

#joshlyman: boyfriend material by @nacejisbon [VIDEO EDIT]

Editors’ Choice: 

We’re skipping recommendations this week. We’ll catch you with more great stories next week! 

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own. 

Josh/Donna

Locus Amoenus by spooky_spacegirl | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

like a kennedy when camelot went down in flames by MarvelousAvengfulSlytherin | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Joey Lucas/Sam Seaborn | In Progress

Come Back, Be Here by MatthewsMary | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete [Editor’s Note: While this fic is listed on AO3 as complete, it has continued to update and appears to be a WIP]

Taking Care of You by wootcanal | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

where time of our lives is all we have by flowersinapril | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Surprise Suprise by Shonio | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete

Fairytale Ending? by Tyrols | Not Rated | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

everybody talks (it started with a whisper) by JessBakesCakes | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

CJ/Danny

oh, and I will be with you to feel the California sun by Luppiters | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | Complete

Make the Leap by  onekisstotakewithme for daylight_angel, miabicicletta, Luppiters | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | Complete

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

A Different Life by PreppyPrincess5103 (JAG crossover) | Rated M | Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie/Sam Seaborn | In Progress 

And the Silence Haunts our Bedchamber by unseenacademic | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | Complete

written in red ink by helsinkibaby | Rated G | Will Bailey/Kate Harper | Complete

Multiple Pairings

What Sons Do by kcat1971 | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Helen Santos/Matt Santos, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet, Ainsley Hayes/Sam Seaborn, Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young | In Progress

War & Peace by miabicicletta for krazykitkat, onekisstotakewithme | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress 

Interpreting by ladyemma42 | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Joey Lucas/Josh Lyman, Joey Lucas/Donna Moss, Donna Moss/Kenny Thurman | Complete

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: weeklypressbriefing@gmail.com

Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

[ear-worthy]

Season Finale of “Spotify: Mic Check” — South African Amapiano Artist Tyla

Spotify saved the best for last on its season finale this week of “Spotify: Mic Check.” In this episode, we learn about Amapaino music, which is a Zulu or Xhosa word loosely translated to “the pianos”, is a subgenre of house and Kwaito music that emerged in South Africa in the mid-2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, jazz, and lounge music characterized by synths and wide percussive bass lines.

 In this episode, listeners will head overseas to South Africa to learn more about South African Amapiano artist Tyla whose sound fuses pop, classic R&B, and African Beats. 

You can listen to the full episode here. 

Tyla discusses her beginnings in South Africa, her DM to Drake, the pivotal moment when she almost gave up on music, working with accomplished producers like Tricky Stewart and Kooldrink, the impact of joining Spotify’s RADAR program in Africa and sharing a sneak peek of her new single, “Water.” 

 RADAR is Spotify’s program created to spotlight up-and-coming music talent — allowing them an opportunity to broaden their fanbase and supporting them in their path to superstardom through comprehensive marketing, content, and editorial campaigns. 

 Available to stream for free exclusively on Spotify, please see below for interview highlights in the episode. 

Tyla on growing up in South Africa. “… I always wanted to actually grow up in America. When I was younger, I just always thought, ‘If I were born in America, I would have been famous by now,’ and all of these things. But I mean, now that I’m older, I just realized how amazing my childhood was. Just like the culture, the music, the food, the people. Yeah, South Africa is amazing. I still believe that everyone needs to visit South Africa at least once in their life.”     Tyla on sending one of her earliest songs to Drake via direct message on social media. “Literally, when my first song started doing well, I unsent the message. I was like, ‘There’s no way he’s seen this small little girl on his phone singing.’ So no, he hasn’t. But I have a feeling one day soon he’s going to reach out.” 

 Tyla on what makes a song fit into the Amapiano genre. “I feel like it’s a genre that grew over time. There are definitely roots in Kwaito and jazz, South African house. But I feel the thing that makes it Amapiano is that log drum. The log drum that just slams you, like, I feel that’s what makes Amapiano.” 

Tyla on why she believes her first single, “Getting Late,” resonated with so many people globally. “You know, I was actually so surprised. Initially, I was just like, ‘I like the song and hope it does well.’ And then, when people from America, Europe, and all of those people started jumping on, I was so shocked. I was like, ‘Why? Okay, this is cool.’ I feel the dancing, the song, the music video. I feel like it just made a whole package for everyone to consume, and then they just loved it, I guess.” 

 Tyla on working with famed music producer Tricky Stewart who has worked with the likes of Beyoncé and Rihanna. “Crazy. Like, when I heard that I was going to work with him, I was like, ‘You guys are lying. You guys are literally lying.’ But then we met, and he’s such a good person. Such a nice person. I always imagine these hectic producers to be serious, you know? But he’s just so fun and he was very welcoming. And I don’t know, I just love working with him because you can see his passion for music. So, yeah, just the fact that he worked with Rihanna, with Beyoncé, all these different artists. I was just so grateful to even be there.” 

Tyla on being a featured artist in Spotify’s RADAR Africa program. “Yo, the opportunities that I’ve been given, like billboards and a documentary that’s coming out soon — I’m excited about it! My whole family was in it. They keep asking me every day, “When can we watch the video? When can we watch the video?” I’m just so happy that Spotify was able to do this for me because, I mean, it’s a huge opportunity. And yeah, I’m excited to see how much further we can go with it.”

You can listen to the full episode here.

[kiirotoao]

S2 rewatch highlights pt 4

Episode 7

OHHHH the TV showing “Action News 8” OKMGJGKF

Oh wow the yellow lights everywhere - she’s on a soul search

“Mouth breather” made me laugh out loud - I love how the word is just like a gentle “f— u” for El, or like a “you’re not worth my time”

“Outside the Realm” played between Byler and Jancy and also between Kali and El! I didn’t know the song was played this many times.

Awwh El did hear Hopper’s message!

“I’m a fighter. I’ve killed.” Okay I really like how the show emphasizes here that you can kill and still not be “fighter” - it’s clear that the gang’s intentions vs El’s are much different

“Festered” = “spread” Kali equates. Until she confronted it and it eased the pain. Oh my gosh if this ends up being true to Will, too. My heart

Alright as a former Winx Club girlie I am a sucker for transformations so I love the outfit change sequence

Okay side note “Shirley Temple” is so endearing to me as that’s also one of my nicknames haha

AWGFGF Funshine’s care bear mask

Oh El’s compassion when she sees the family photo :(((((((( <3

I love how you can hear Kali’s style of voice in Brenner!

And when she sees Brenner it seems that the light is more yellow and less red/purple once again I stand by my yellow = heart agenda

El clings to the first time Mike gave her the nickname, Dustin and Mike at the cliff, Hopper taking her in, and Hopper and the “compromise”

I LOVE WHEN THEY ALL FREEZE AND KALI MAKES THEM INVISIBLE AHHHHHHH Oh the camera panning around to them being gone is so cool. Every single time man

Oof wow the crescendo when El parts with the gang and runs as they drive off was really powerful wait what song is that???

Oh and the window transition!!! I love

Poor Kali! Please I hope we see her again

Episode 8

POOR MIKE no one's listening to him because everything moving so fast and the panic but omg he's right on the money

OH HAHA I forgot that electricity went out in the lab at the start! I didn't really pay attention to when it happened lol

OUGH. The stagnation and fear in Billy's eyes from his dad. Yikes.

Wow the way I held my breath for Bob AHHHh

BOB NOOOO ohhhh Joyce's trauma here OH YMHERATT I know that it's addressed next season as Joyce has flashbacks but like... does she do anything about it??? NOO and my heart I am shaking omg

“I should have been there” Jonathan self parallels from s1 HHHFJJGGJG 😭

AWW WAIT OMG Steve getting emotional when he looks at Nancy and Jonathan and Will omg????? Babygirl???

I forgot how heavy this season is for Joyce. Oh my gosh EULOGY PLAYING WHEN HOPPER ENTERS THE ROOM SOMEONE STOP ME I'M BOUTTA JUMP ONTO THE HIGHWAYYYYy /nsrs

Wow Mike comes up with a lot of the plan!!! AWW poor baby damn literally he wants to lead but he can't!!

OHHIHO JONATHAN ADN MIKE ARE CRYING OMMGHGHG

If we get a "proud [of you]" moment from Joyce to Will when he comes out to her I will be SICKKK

"It was the best thing I've ever done" SEDATE MEEEEE

Joyce and Jonathan holding each other in fear I AM ILL PLEASE just let this family have peace please I am on my knees

[possiblyimbiassed]

The lying liars who lie

Years and years late to the party, I’ve finally gotten my hands on all the DVDs of BBC Sherlock, and I thought it would be fun to watch the extra material carefully, one piece after another, and also listen to at least some of the show makers’ commentary of the episodes. But at this point, after S4 where DVDs seemed to be a constant lying device in general, I tend to look at them with a bit more suspicious eyes...

I still love the show of course, but now that I’ve taken this deep dive into all the special features, I find them a truly hard thing to try to wrap my head around. Even this long after the fact, I’m amazed by the amount of shameless, self-congratulatory BS in the DVDs, where the people involved can’t have enough of complimenting each other and their show, while they skillfully avoid to discuss anything actually meaningful about the plot line. ;) For example, Moffat claims in the S2 DVD that “In fact, you’ll never see a more obsessively authentic version of Sherlock Holmes than this one”. But if we follow their light-hearted commentary, which basically takes the show at face value, I’d call that not just hyperbole, but an outright lie. If you want to see the ‘authentic’ stories from ACD’s work in this show, you’ll definitely need to go much deeper into the subtext and meta levels - neither of which are mentioned on these DVDs of course. Here’s my own (rather subjective) ‘review’ of the whole thing, trying to pinpoint why I view most of the commentary of the show from its own makers as an advanced art of deception. 

(My musings under the cut)

Series 1 - a wealth of extra material

First of all - as many of you probably knew already - the whole of the Unaired Pilot is added to the DVD of S1. In the extra material about the making of the series, they (Sue Vertue, Mofftiss and others) talk about what things they changed between the Pilot and ASiP, claiming that many changes were necessary improvements once they knew that they had a whole series and a lot more time at their disposal. 

Which I can perfectly understand and agree with in general. But I think what’s missing in their discussions is more interesting than what’s actually there (”Mind the gap” ;) ). Things that I would expect from the show makers when they go to the trouble of comparing the pilot version with the aired product. There’s not a word, for example, about the fact that they added both Mycroft and Moriarty to the story in ASiP - two characters who later turn out to play major roles and appear in almost every other episode until the end of TFP. Or about the choice that one of the screenwriters would play Mycroft. 

Neither do they discuss why they chose to relocate the place where Sherlock was challenged by the cabbie from 221B to Roland Kerr’s School of Further Education. Instead they focus on the details, like for example the new design of the interior of 221B.

Not to mention the fact that almost every scene in the Pilot is mirrored in ASiP (as pointed out long ago by @kateis-cakeis X), but at Angelo’s in the Pilot Sherlock follows the events with the cabbie while looking in an actual mirror. I even noticed that in the Pilot the cabbie is offering Sherlock dark-coloured bottles with the pills in them, while in ASiP those bottles are transparent, as if the cabbie is offering Sherlock to play Black or White in the chess game that he is simulating. What’s with all these mirrors, though? Not a word on the DVD... ;)

Now, even though these rather remarkable choices are neglected together with a great bunch of minor ones, I still think that the most interesting fact about all this is that they actually included the whole pilot version within this DVD, which is sold by the franchise. Why even do this, when it raises far more questions than it answers? The only logical reason I can come up with is that they’re laying out a track of little hints that anyone with a deep enough interest in the show to actually buy the DVDs can try to follow. And it seems to me that lying by omission is one of the first steps in the long line of cryptic and misleading author comments on this show. But at the same time, they clearly want the fans to have access to it all, even the abandoned version.

Moving on to Series 2, time for bigger lies 

In the extra material of this DVD Benedict himself describes how his character "faces one of his deadliest enemies in the shape of Love, and it comes in the form of Irene Adler, who is this extraordinary dominatrix [insert here a bunch of superlatives regarding Adler]...”. And then we see how Adler whips Sherlock with a riding crop (without any kind of consent, I have to add) while he’s lying on the floor, and we have Lara Pulver telling us how it was to have a go at Benedict on set. So Holmes whips dead bodies and Adler whips living; seems like a match made in hell! :))

Gatiss claims, grinning with his whole face, that “they’re clearly, absolutely made for each other”. OK, so I think we can see Sherlock being intellectually impressed by Adler, and even trying to protect her from Mycroft, and we can see John acting jealously. We can also see her being dressed and styled as a perfect, female mirror of Sherlock. But I’m still at a loss what all this has to do with love on Sherlock’s part? Especially since he’s not even responding in any fashion to her various attempts at seducing him. 

And there’s more: Paul McGuigan, the director of ASiB, claims that the scene where Sherlock has a conversation with Adler inside his Mind Palace about the crime case with the car that backfires "is a part of a kind of love story, if you like...” No, I don’t. Maybe it’s just me, but if their aim really was to convey to their audience a love story between Sherlock and The Woman, I think they failed miserably. All I see is a guy ’mansplaining’ to a clever woman how to use her brain, while she’s trying to flirt with him by expressing her admiration (to no avail, though) and make deductions at the same time. Nothing new under the sun, really. John did the same thing repeatedly in ASiP (without making own deductions) and got far more attention from Sherlock, but I’ve never heard any of the show makers call that ”a love story”. But by ’lie-splaining’ the scene with Irene to the audience, they try to manipulate us all to see it as such...

In all the direct commentary of this episode, where Steven, Mark, Sue, Benedict and Lara are present, I get the impression that every time they even touch on the relationship between Sherlock and John, they hurry to add the term “friendship” or “man love” or similar words in case they forgot them at first, avoiding even the tiniest possibility that there could be anything more going on between them. They even explain that when Irene calls them “a couple” she does not mean anything romantic. This whole approach feels almost paranoic in the midst of all the laid-back jokes and light-hearted talk about the filming. It’s as if a sort of restrictive, heteronormative filter or blanket is being constantly applied, to teach the audience the ‘no homo’ lesson of it all. And the more I listen to this, the more tiresome it becomes.

In the commentary Moffat does reveal an interesting detail, though: that the ‘Flight of the Dead’ in ASiB was inspired by a cut out scene in the Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. To me this is just one more reason to question the ‘authentic’ quality of this scene, as opposed to possibly taking place in Sherlock’s Mind Palace. But I digress... 

Listening to the commentary in general, it’s like it’s aimed to distract the attention from what’s going on at the screen rather than highlight it and try to explain their intentions. They do mention that Irene didn’t actually ‘beat’ Sherlock in the end of ASiB, but there’s no explanation of this obvious deviation from canon, where Adler does indeed fool Holmes, taking advantage of his prejudices.

The rest of the extra material of S2 is mostly about technical stuff, special effects and such, and also about filming techniques and Benedict’s delivery of fast deductions. But the part I really do love is the one where Andrew Scott talks about how much he enjoyed playing the scene where Moriarty dances before breaking into the Crown Jewels. That’s one of my favorite scenes of he whole show. :) Also, the takeaway message from this DVD is Moffat’s words at the end: 

“These are still the formative years of Sherlock Holmes, and the most important thing about this series is not that it’s updated; it’s the fact that those two men are still young and they’re still at the beginning of what they don’t yet know is gonna be a lifelong partnership”. 

And then comes Series 3... 

...and its extra material, with the most blatant attempts at deception so far, I believe. At this point Sherlock is called a “psychopath” by both the show’s characters, John’s blog, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as if it were true, which is a big deviation from ACD canon. That simply doesn’t happen there; while Holmes is sometimes described as eccentric, no one in the books is ever claiming that Sherlock Holmes has some kind of mental illness leaning towards cruelty and egotism - not even his enemies say this about him. In the show, however, they begin in ASiP with making him torture a dying man for information (something that is not included in the Pilot). And in S3, where they avoid discussing the reason why they turned Mary Morstan into a ruthless assassin, this major shift is glossed over by the fact that in the same episode (HLV) they also turn Sherlock into a murderer, who cold-bloodedly blows the brains out of a blackmailer for threatening to make said assassin’s crimes public. 

But without ever getting into the “why” of it all, the cast and crew seem overly happy and smiling describing these rather morbid choices as something positive; “fantastic”, "fresh and new” and "amazing” are their choice of words. Benedict claims that Mary, who has literally shot and almost killed Sherlock in HLV, is now "a new best friend of Sherlock’s”. Amanda claims that Mary “is protecting John” when she shoots Sherlock in the chest. Now they’re both psychopaths, and poor little John is forced to stomach them both because he’s addicted to danger. In Amanda’s words, Mary also “kind of gets in between the two of them, but she wants them to be together as well”.  Which is a load of BS considering that Mary tries to kill the protagonist of the story.

Lars Mikkelsen thinks it’s “such a good script” because “you’re mislead as an audience”. But he never gets the chance to expand on what the misleading actually contains, because then Mofftiss cut in to express how much they love playing with “what ifs”. As if this whole mega-budget project of a show were just a big experimental playground without any actual story to tell. 

Benedict repeats his line from HLV that Magnussen “preys on people who are different” and Moffat also says he “exploits people who are different”. Which is really confusing, considering what we can see Magnussen actually do in the show. Lady Smallwood and John Garvie are two well-established, powerful governmental politicians whom Magnussen blackmails by finding their respective pressure points. In Garvie’s case his pressure point seems to be alcohol problems in his past, but according to media he’s later arrested on charges of corruption. Lady Smallwood is blackmailed on the basis of her husband having sent compromising letters to a minor many years ago, in spite of later claiming that he thought she was older and stopped when he found out the truth. And then Magnussen is blackmailing an assassin who recently threatened to execute him but shot Sherlock Holmes instead, in order to try to get at Sherlock’s brother Mycroft, another powerful governmental figure. 

But what does media seeking out dirt on certain people in power and their families have to do with “people who are different”? Despicable as the method may be, isn’t this unfortunately how political power play usually works in our society? Or are TPTB somehow a repressed minority group now? Unless this whole “people who are different” accusation is actually about something entirely different, something that none of the show makers even cares to mention... ;)

In these DVDs, none of the involved persons is ever discussing the change of roles with regards to canon, though, or the (lack of) logics in this turn of events, or even a hint about the narrative motivation behind them. It’s all about the great Drama, the extraordinary visual effects and the aim to endlessly “surprise the audience”. Which is fine by me to a certain extent, but when this is all that’s being said, it feels extremely superficial, as if the audience is merely seen as a bunch of consumers that have to be triggered more and more by horror, special effects and cliff hangers to be able to appreciate the show. (“Warm paste” indeed, like Gatiss has later criticized some viewers of wanting...) While the "why”; the idea behind this surrealistic adaptation, made by self-proclaimed fanboys of ACD, is not even touched upon. Around this, the silence is total and therefore totally confusing.

Maybe I shouldn’t even go into Series 4...

...but why not, since I’ve already started? :) 

First of all, there’s a lot of extra material on this DVD and I particularly love the parts about the music and composing and Arwel Wyn Jones’ work with the design and build-up of John’s and Mary’s flat and the interior of 221B. Those bits are truly enjoyable. What I could live without, though, is the leading commentary that kind of instructs us, the audience, how we should interpret the show. 

Benedict is on it again on this DVD, telling us that in TST they picked up where they left off in S3 and “It’s a very happy unit of three people that then become four.” Why does he feel the need to make this statement, considering how S3 ended? Actually, if there’s anything I totally fail to see in S4, it’s happiness. The banter between the three  of them may seem entertaining for a while, but who could have a relaxed, warm relationship with someone who tried and almost succeeded to kill you less than a year ago? Without any sign of remorse? Now there’s a dark tone of discomfort and mean jokes that feels forced and not even a bit happy to me. 

But Martin tells us how excited John and Mary are about starting a family and Amanda mentions how much they’re looking forward to the baby. Again and again it’s repeated, as though trying to rub it in: “they’re in a good place, they’re a loving, married couple”. Yeah, right - a child that (judging by TSoT) wasn’t at all planned and now with an assassin for a mother... Twice we see the new parents complain that their daughter has the mark of Satan on her forehead and debate which horror movie she’s from. The clichéd hypocrisy of it all is sickening, and I’m willing to bet that it’s really meant to be. ;) 

But Gatiss chimes in, deciding for us all that the christening of Rosie is “a funny scene” and “they’re enjoying each other, enjoying being on adventures as a three”.

An interesting detail is that Gatiss also tells us that the working name of this episode was “The Adventure of the Melting power Ranger”. So this little blue guy was that important? :) And - even more interesting - is when he says: “Cake is now the code for violent death”. So how should we interpret Sherlock, John and Molly going out to have cake in TLD then, on Sherlock’s (supposed) birthday? 

These might be jokes, though, but when they tell us that Sue cries every time she sees Mary’s death I strongly believe they must be joking. How could anyone feel truly moved by this overly sentimental long monologue where far more efforts are put into reacting to Mary’s speech than saving her life? And John’s mooing like a cow, is that also moving? :)

One thing Martin says about TLD that actually disgusts me is regarding the morgue scene where John assaults Sherlock and Sherlock lets it happen: “From there, really, their relationship can only sort of rebuild, that’s the absolute worst it can get”. As if outright physical abuse would be something that makes you want to rebuild a relationship? Wow - just wow... How far can they go with this crap?

Anyway, when we finally arrive at the absurdity of TFP and Sherlock’s ‘secret sister’, everything is of course discussed as if she actually does exist on the given premises, and everything she does is ‘real’, no matter how impossible it would be in real life. The abandonment of any attempt to have the story line make logical sense is skillfully covered up by more distraction with fascinating technicalities of the film making process. This is where Gatiss makes his now almost classic statement that after Sherlock and John jump out of the window at 221B when a grenade explodes there, it’s just “Boop! And they’re fine.” 

Of course there’s no serious attempt at explaining this logically. Except perhaps Gatiss claiming that they both landed on Speedy’s awning - whatever good that would do to them, since the awning is leaning downwards, but never mind... But we never even saw that happen, did we? A great deal of time is then dedicated to show all the precautions to have Martin and Ben jumping safely at low level onto a madras supported by empty cardboard boxes.

Sian Brooke did say something interesting about Sherrinford, however, that got me thinking. She said that Eurus “wants revenge for the years and years that she has been held captive” there, isolated, and that in TFP the Holmes children are now “lab rats” and “it’s an experiment”. On a meta level, I think we can indeed see this episode - and maybe the whole show - as a kind of experiment, but maybe we, the audience, are also lab rats? Since Sherrinford is slightly shaped like a film camera (not commented in the extra material, of course), it leads my thought to all the adaptations through the years and years where Holmes and Watson have not been allowed to be together. A whole century when Sherlock Holmes has been held captive, restricted by the very same sort of heteronormative filter that all this extra material imposes; it’s like Sherrinford, isn’t it? Which gives all the more meaning to Moriarty’s arrival to the island, accompanied by Freddy Mercury’s “I want to break free”...

I think I’ll let the final words in this little exposé come from Mark Gatiss in The Writers’ Chat (my bolding):

“Moriarty is a fascinating thing in that in our sea of ongoing lies, one thing we’ve genuinely been completely consistent about is telling people he’s dead. But no-one believes it! And it’s a rather brilliant thing.”  Again - self-congratulatory statements. But instead of providing some actual evidence of the death of this character, who has kept popping up in almost every episode since his supposed demise, they think that the more a confirmed liar repeats something, the truer it gets? And the more we’re supposed to believe them? Well, all we can do is wait and see. :)

Tagging some people who might be interested: 

@raggedyblue​ @ebaeschnbliah​ @sarahthecoat​ @gosherlocked​ @lukessense​ @sagestreet​ @thepersianslipper​

My earlier meta on a similar topic (X)

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E116-119 (Dec. 15, 2020)

Hi! I missed the first three minutes or so and opened the stream to Brian giving an absolutely incoherent ...ad? for some jewel game? Six thousand jewels just for logging in? Some app in the app store and he’s literally been talking about this now for six minutes and I don’t know what he’s talking about. He finally wraps up, Laura brings the show to a close, and we’re all a little worse than we were before.

Ashley tries to get us back on track and Henry bays over her. Brian tries to ask the first question and breaks off into feigned sobs halfway through. This is chaos incarnate.

Tonight’s guests: Laura Bailey & Ashley Johnson.

How’s Yasha feeling right now about Molly? She and Jester both are desperately curious about whether there’s a spark of Molly left in Lucien that can be brought back. It’s not the same as when Yasha was controlled by Obann; this seems more like just the way this is now. They’d settle for even finding the good in him, like they did with Essek. Brian jokes that they can monitor his mental state if Matt’s Irish accent starts to slip a little bit.

Jester is a little wary about scrying on Lucien now since he’s able to see her back.  She’s interested to try again now that Fjord’s given her the necklace.

Ashley has to run and grab a replacement set of headphones from Brian after hers get “crunchy.” It’s pretty cute seeing them run around and smooch on another screen. Brian teases that he doesn’t have any more questions for Jester since Caduceus has been doing all the healing lately. Laura tells us indignantly that she had Heal prepared for Caduceus in that last big fight, but Fjord got to Cad first. Brian explains how this is the same as all the good jokes he always lines up for Talks but never tells. Ashley’s crunchiness continues and we go briefly to a technical difficulties screen while Brian hops up to fix it.

Dani pips in to get this show back on track. Save us, Dani!

Ashley hadn’t thought about the aspect of Lucien controlling his friends’ minds, but finds it really creepy. It’s a cool game dynamic, and it’s a little different because they’re there willingly, but it’s really weird.

Jester thinks that “the tarot cards know all. She wants to buy into it real hard.” If it doesn’t make sense now, it will later. Laura has an Idiot’s Guide to Tarot Reading.

They’re super interested in why Aeor is like it is. Were they more advanced than us? Did they evolve along a different line? Ashley loves sci-fi and is all about this, especially since she wasn’t there for Happy Fun Ball time & hasn’t been able to get caught up on some of the things she missed in between, so she’s using this as an erstwhile replacement. She can already tell there are some things from this campaign that will bother her the way the unopened box did from C1. She and Laura both seethe at the camera about having to leave the spider behind.

Cosplay of the Week! Harland3r on instagram with a gorgeous winged Pike with a shield & mace. It’s an incredible photo and the wings look great.

Travis distracts Laura by dancing like a Trex offscreen. That seems right for this episode.

Jester’s encouragement of Yasha pursuing Beau was important in a lot of ways, not least because Ashley considered herself as uninterested in D&D romance as Travis & was a little unsure of activating a romance among her friends. However, it felt really natural within the game and it was really helpful to have Jester’s in-game encouragement. Yasha’s grown a lot and is in a much more positive place and is ready to find out what’s possible. Laura: “Jester from the get-go has seen Yasha as this wonderful soul from the beginning, and has seen how sad Yasha’s been through everything, and to see the difference that she exhibits when talking about Beau is drastic and wonderful. Jester’s joy in life is helping others find joy.”

Ashley points out it’s also so fun to “yes-and” with Laura because you’re like a little kid being dragged along by the hand - you don’t know where it’s going, but you know it’s going to be fun along the way.

Ashley does have a sense of “thank goodness Marisha isn’t jumping right into this” so she can coax herself into it, but when she tried to figure out the poem she had a lot of drafts that didn’t survive. She intentionally crafted the letter to give Beau an out if she didn’t feel the same way. There’s a lot going on with Lucien right now and there’s constantly a running thought in the back of her head about “maybe Beau is not into this.” Even the last couple episodes with Jester & Fjord have had Ashley finally understand shipping.

Brian brings us to the moment “almost as romantic as the pre-season finale of the Bachelorette.” Jester was “goo” afterwards. Early on in the campaign, Jester was very forward with her flirtations with Fjord & he shut her down. And then he kissed her underwater and immediately went and slept with Avantika, and Jester automatically shut herself down, because she thought she was misunderstanding & would only be hurt by those emotions. She deliberately focused on just being there with her friends, making everyone healthy and happy. These last few episodes where Fjord was flirting back felt like “my teenage heart again, my first kiss, the boy I like actually likes me back!” and she was able to open back up.

Yasha definitely has some instrument plans for those bones. She doesn’t know if she’s going to add to her harp or create a new one.

Ashley and Laura cheer about Travis stepping out his comfort zone. Laura thinks it was really good that he was doing it with her, his real-life wife, to see if he likes that sort of stuff in his D&D campaign. “It was just so sweet. It was just so sweet.” Brian says he’s actually a really romantic dude & Dani is so glad he asked before the kiss. Brian: “It’s going to be so sad when he breaks your heart and goes back to the corpse of Avantika.” Laura: “It’s fine, Jester will be long dead by then anyway.”

Jester does believe the four-year time trade was worth it, but that the city leaves “a mark on your brain,” especially as in-depth as she saw it. “Jester’s always been reticent to talk about her age because she’s aware she’s perceived in a juvenile way by a lot of people, and she’s insecure about that. She grew up by herself without a lot of social interactions and is experienced in a lot of ways now and naive in others; she’s very aware of human emotion around her, but chooses to see it in a certain way.” Losing the time makes her wonder if she needs to grow up & become an adult about certain things now. Laura: “I think actually she’s closer to Fjord’s age now. Actually, I’m not sure about his age. I don’t know how old he is - I’ve never even asked Travis!” Brian: “I think he’s definitely fifteen.” Laura: “Travis, how old is Fjord?” Travis, off-screen: “Sixty-five,” but he’s had the Mask of Many Faces up this whole time. Later, he adds that he’s in his early 30s.

Ashley has really enjoyed digging into Yasha’s more humorous side lately. It’s how she gets comfortable as a player, making it fun and light in a way that this year needs. “It’s also really funny to think that Yasha doesn’t know how Message works.”

Brian congratulates Laura & Ashley both on their game awards nominations. Brian vamps trying to get himself in as the presenter, but incidentally refers to Laura as his sister in the conversation and it’s super cute. “I would like to be the one to give the award to either my fiancee, or my sister!”

Fanart of the Week: @ethanmaldridge with an illustrated page from the Katzenprinz book. It’s just beautiful.

Jester’s polymorph gambit was terrifying, but the stakes got even higher when everyone else got stunned. She does lament choosing a bunny at the start. “Frickin’ Fjord’s armor!”

Yasha loves being polymorphed lately. She thinks it’s kinda funny, especially given her rigid upbringing with such defined roles.

Laura feels like Jester and Vex are weirdly two halves of herself. Brian: “You see the very bargainy, I’m gonna use my wit & smarts to negotiate situations. But at the same time, you’re very open to what people are thinking & feeling and navigating that. What you end up putting out (though it comes across as innocent and naive) is something pure because she truly believes it.” Laura thinks Yasha and Pike are the same way for Ashley, though Ashley feels a little closer to Yasha right now. Sometimes you just feel really exposed. Laura compares how much idealism she put into Jester to her character from Fruits Basket.

Since Yasha didn’t belong to either side in the war, she’s not hugely concerned by the fallout; she more wants to make sure her found family are okay and safe. Jester is the same way, Laura tells us. Jester doesn’t have any greater vision of the Empire & Dynasty interacting; she cares about the people, and it hasn’t been until the vision with the city that she kind of woke up and realized they have to really stop this now. It feels bigger than the Dynasty/Empire. Ashley: “It seems more of a thing for Beau and Caleb to care about.”

Really, up to now Jester was mostly concerned about getting Molly back, but now the stakes seem much higher. “We have to do this. We have to complete this, to beat them, to keep them from doing this.” Yasha is just going with the flow for now. There’s a lot coming at them and they are ready to find out what’s next.

And that’s that for tonight! Brian thanks the crew especially for working incredibly hard on switching everything to home-based streaming. He then gets stuck halfway spinning around in his chair and the last thing we hear is him idly wondering “What’s Fjord taste like?” which seems pretty on brand for tonight’s show. Is it Thursday yet?

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#13: Return of the “Toxic” Chloe Fans

The very first post I made on this blog (barring the introduction) was about Astruc's uncomfortably strong feelings against Chloe and why she's supposedly “irredeemable”.

Unsurprisingly, I wasn't the only one to hate this explanation that only wasted time on the show that could have easily been spent on literally anything else, like a story or character arc that actually goes anywhere. So the hashtag #JusticeForChloeB started up, and a few months after “Garbage Fire” “Miracle Queen” aired, Astruc found out and naturally had a few problems with some fans “harassing” him.

Yes, there have been a lot of people who have sent negative messages to Astruc, insulting him and his family, and I have talked about that in some of my other posts. The thing is that a lot of the people Astruc replied to had relatively calm arguments, and refrained from personally insulting Astruc. Unfortunately, he still saw them the same way he sees the actual toxic people who attack him.

First off, I love how Astruc phrased that last tweet. “I know you all love a character that I created, but you don't have to be mean to me about it.” Same kind of humility that we all love about him.

Second, the disappointment that everyone felt when Chloe betrayed Ladybug is nothing like what Ladybug went through. The plot of the episode was so fast-paced, she didn't get any time to really scold Chloe for her actions other than a single line. If you wanted to show how crushing her betrayal was, have the characters actually react to it other than treating it like their kid stole a cookie before dinner.

In fact, I know this is like comparing Othello to Shrek: The Musical, but a good example of a show that really highlighted how painful a character's betrayal was is Avatar: The Last Airbender. Like Chloe, Zuko had gotten a fair share of episodes during the second season that made it seem like he was going to turn a new leaf. He was still conflicted, but it felt like he was still making progress. And much like how Hawkmoth manipulated Chloe to betray Ladybug and Cat Noir so she would recognize how great of a superhero she was, Azula manipulated Zuko to betray Aang and Iroh so he could finally reclaim his honor.

The difference? When Zuko betrayed the heroes, it had a far bigger impact on the characters and the audience.

We saw how disappointed Iroh was in his nephew, with just his look saying a thousand words, and because of his actions, Aang barely escaped with his life. Even in the next season, Zuko still felt conflicted about his choice, until he finally started to start anew and turn on his father.

It's fairly obvious that Chloe isn't going to do any kind of thinking like that next season, especially given how much Astruc has complained that people actually like her. Though it wouldn't surprise me if Astruc pulled a 180 and tried to redeem Chloe next season just to appease the fans while claiming that this was obviously part of his plan all along.

So Astruc continues to reply to anyone who simply acknowledges that they just wanted to see Chloe get better, or that he's being a little rude to his followers, and sees them as the enemy.

I understand that there are people who are willing to personally attack Astruc, and those people go too far. The difference is that this has had a negative effect on him, causing him to see anyone who disagrees with him as “toxic” or “spamming”.

There have also been people who have called out those who use the #JusticeForChloeB hashtag to attack Astruc, even if they still want Chloe to get redemption or not. Hell, one person tried to explain to Astruc that those people don't really represent what the point of the hashtag is. Guess how he responded?

Do you think you'll ever give us a citation on those surveys, Astruc? Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to buy that a survey was made when you don't show the results of said survey other that saying “Uh, yeah. These kids totally agree with what I believe in”. Seriously, he sounds like one of those parents who posts online about things their kid didn't actually say just to get brownie points on social media.

And last, we have my personal favorite argument Astruc made on this thread.

Oh, so you don't like arguments made purely from someone's own judgment instead of citing the work to back up said argument, Astruc? Okay, good, I just wanted to be sure. It's a good thing you've never done anything like that when responding to criticism, like that time you said a character design wasn't racist because you hired a Chinese actor to coach the rest of the voice cast without citing anything from the episode to explain your point.

Or that time you claimed that there was character development in your show based solely off of the fandom's reaction to two specific characters without citing anything from the show to explain your point.

Or that time you brushed off someone's concerns that the comic based off your show might be racist because it had characters named Public Enemy and Ghetto Blaster in it without citing anything from said comic to explain your point.

Or that time you called fans sexist for wanting Adrien to get more focus while claiming that Ladybug was the leader without citing anything from the show to explain your point.

It's a good thing you've always backed up your arguments without letting any of your personal judgment write your responses, Astruc.

But we're not done with this user yet, as they continue their argument, poking holes in the show's writing, all while being completely respectful to Astruc as a person.

How does Astruc respond? With another one of his go-to rebuttals.

If arguments like “You don't understand what X represents.” or “Children understand this according to this survey that may or may not have been conducted.” don't work, Astruc will simply break out the old “You haven't seen the whole thing yet so you can't judge it!” argument.

People can still judge a story in progress or at least critique how it's going so far. Even if a story ends, history can make its reputation even worse when people think about the way the story went.

When The Force Awakens came out, everyone loved it and were looking forward to seeing what  was alluded to in the sequels, like the mystery of Rey's parents. After The Rise of Skywalker came out, many Star Wars fans, even those who liked the divisive entry, The Last Jedi, lambasted the entire sequel trilogy because of how pointless most of the plot threads set up went nowhere.

Maybe Chloe goes through some major development in Season 4, but again, given everything Astruc has said about her, I highly doubt it. This is just another excuse for him to brush off criticism, and it is just ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.