merry happy

[kindkit]

I hope those of you who celebrate Christmas are having/have had a good one.

I spent much of today muzzy and tired, after having been fool enough to take Benadryl last night (when I was feeling the kind of frazzled-tired that means I can find it hard to sleep). In my intervals of consciousness I ate chocolate (I'm giving myself a break from carb restrictions for a couple of days) and, in the tradition of Christmas ghost stories, listened to several episodes of The Magnus Archives. I've now listened through episode 55, "Pest Control," nearly halfway through season 2. I love the show enormously, but I also increasingly feel like the lore is getting so interconnected and complex that it's hard to follow. (I know there's a wiki, but I am really really spoiler-averse so I mostly avoid it.) Relatedly, I would like to ask Sims-the-writer what the hell he was thinking when he named two very different characters "Gerard."

I'm worried about Jonathan, who is quietly losing his mind. He has good reason to be paranoid, but still. And of course he is least cautious about Sasha, who as far as I know is the person entity he ought to fear the most.

I'm hoping Martin isn't secretly evil, because Jonathan needs someone to help him. And to give him hugs and possibly also kisses. (I'm not really shipping them that hard, it's just that Martin is the only person who seems to care about Jonathan. And Jonathan occasionally shows small signs of caring about him! They're the only two people in the Institute I like, so I reflexively want them to get together. And then to resign from the Institute and go and live somewhere very very dull.)

Tim is an asshole, but I confess to being amused by his complicated love life/network of informants.

Some days and several episodes after first listening, I am still freaked out by "The New Door" and Michael. That fucking laugh, my god. And the fact that he somehow lured/forced the estate agent back into the corridor maze after she escaped. It's not fair! Once you've escaped, you ought to be safe! Something about the escape that isn't really an escape is especially chilling, to me. Anyway, I think whatever sort of alliance Michael may be offering the Institute is a devil's bargain.

Returning to Christmas-y stuff: I treated myself to a copy of John Le Carré's Agent Running in the Field, bought in hardcover because it was only a couple of dollars more than the e-book. I haven't started reading it yet but I'm looking forward to it. I rewatched part of White Christmas last night and may get around to the rest of it tonight; it's frothy and fun and I do my best to ignore all the ways it's problematic because Danny Kaye brings Big Queer Energy. Here he is camping it up like mad with Bing Crosby (plot context: the sisters who normally perform this act needed to leave town hastily, and Kaye's and Crosby's characters are trying to buy them some time).

Watch on YouTube

I love Danny Kaye so much.

My plans for the rest of the evening include eating Christmas lasagne (store-bought, because I did not want to cook) and more chocolate. Perhaps I'll look at Yuletide at some point, though every year it seems I know fewer and fewer of the fandoms.

Comments

[kindkit]

It reminds me, in a much lighter vein, of one of my favorite bits of "Sparks Nevada" from The Thrilling Adventure Hour. Don't know if you're familiar with that, but it's a comedy, and there's a running joke where various characters are temporarily impersonated by an alien spy whose voice and behaviors are nothing like the people he's replacing, but no one ever notices.