Chemistry & Timing

Kate. Been here since the shoelaces and mostly reblog Outlander and shows that are over because I refuse to move on. Not spoiler-free.

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Ok, sitting down soon to watch the finale.

I have such low expectations tbh, but here's my wishlist: --Raya Yarbrough returning to sing the theme --Continued Claire voiceover to bookend with the beginning (unrelated, loved the very fitting Jamie looking back at William) --I'd like for it to do one of the following: a) End as close as they can to "Bees" given how ep 9 went, but pick a point in the book that isn't a cliffhanger, but ends in a way the audience can imagine them picking up the next day and continuing off-screen OR b) If they want to make up and ending (since book 10 isn't out), Do something that is generic enough that it doesn't massively conflict with the book. I hate when the show is so radically different that it gets confusing trying to remember "did that happen in the book? or the show?" Didn't Diana say the show ends "in Scotland around 1800"? If so, after the battle of King's Mountain they could do a series of generic vignettes of them around the ridge right after and have Claire voiceover saying something like "Even as seasons changed, the one constant was that our life together was never easy. The challenges were different, but everpresent. But even after all that we fought through, it was always worth it, and we'd never change a thing because ultimately, through the good times and bad, we built our family, helped to build a country, and against all odds were able to return home" and end on two side-by-side headstones up past Lallybroch with a young fiery-redheaded child watering some forget-me-nots at their base or something. Maybe a parent calls for them from the distance and as they run toward the house they yell "Coming, Ma! I was visiting great-granda!" or something. Pan back to the stones, down to the flowers, and fade to black. Idk. Just how I'd do it if someone had handed me a pen and said "this is how we end ep nine, write the series finale" Oh, and did I mention I hope Raya sings the theme again? Yeah. That.

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Thank you all so much for your kind words and prayers,

I hit post and ran and hid for a bit because it feels awkward but my you all were so generous with kindness, understanding, and advice, that it made the "hard days" easier. And I've never really understood what it mean to actually feel uplifted by prayer, but I did. And I'm so grateful to you all. Still no baby, but (right now at least) I'm feeling so much more at peace and keeping Psalm 27:14 at the forefront

"Wait on the Lord" Thank you all again. If all I walk away from this show with is a group of women (and men!) supporting each other, I'll count that as a win :)

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And unrelated to Outlander, I have a prayer request. Which feels weird from strangers on the internet, but pride has no place here.

I just hit six months of TTC, which if I were to go to a specialist now would be diagnosed as "infertility." We're not ready to ring the "do all the tests" bells as we're concerned --I'm concerned--that that kind of pressure will only add to my stress hormone levels and stress management is one of my biggest struggles. (Too many years in "fight" mode -- a big part of the reason I've taken a step back professionally and have a foot in, but have removed myself from the rat race.) Doing all of the tests and adding in more cortisol to the mix and things would likely just get worse. But we are asking for prayers. It's hard. I know many of you or your loved ones have faced this as well, and understand.

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Hi all, how are we doing? Been watching the new Outlander season in "batches" as it's a busy time of life still. Not professionally, that's stalled currently (annoyingly) and AI isn't helping. I'm kind of "sitting tight" figuring out the next move in that arena while living my best life homemaking. Highly recommend if you're able to do it financially. It's also garden prep season, and mine is going to be triple the size this year so I'm excited! But anyway I got caught up to 8.07 and well, woof. Brain dump thoughts below for anyone who wants to hear someone else complain about it, too.

I'm the last person to condemn changes from the book to the show, the books are 900 pages and they're different mediums, you can't just translate them 1:1. But these are big story arc changes. And questionable focuses. I thoroughly enjoy the "Ian and Rachel" and "Bree and Roger" stories in the books (though I think I'd prefer they be spin-off books, not 1/3 of the og series but w/e, in the books it's fine because you still get the full J/C story) but in the show they've massively sacrificed the core couple, the core story, for side quests. Even the Cunningham story, why was that dragged out so much? It's the last season, they couldn't flesh it out due to time, it's not a story that's going anywhere, so it just wasted what few episodes they had left. And it's not as if the book didn't have enough J/C to fill the season. I assumed, since this is the last season AND book 10 isn't a thing yet, that they'd just pick the primary J/C storyline in Bees (and a few side moments with the others) and flesh it out nicely and end the season just as the book ends, with the Frasers and Family continuing on as they do. This a) leaves the door open to do a movie after book 10 is out, but if that doesn't happen it b) leaves the audience/story/characters in a good place. There was never a doubt in my mind if that'd be what they'd do. Because 'obviously that's what they'll do.' They didn't do that. Now I'm a little above the average when it comes to mental horsepower but I'm not some genius. And the showrunners of a massive show like this aren't dumb either. So I can't imagine they "didn't think to just do it that way"

I'm trying to give benefits of the doubt where possible, but with what we just saw, it's getting harder and harder. It feels more like they wanted to create their own story, not just follow what we've all read and been waiting to see. Which, for Show Only fans, the story choices are bad enough as it is (described below with spoilers) but for Book And Show fans it feels self-indulging on the part of the showrunners. Like, Matt, if you wanted to write fanfiction, you can. There are many sites that welcome it. Otherwise, sure, put the "TV" spin on it, but make the book in to a show. Don't radically change the book. What's next? Let me guess, Jamie gets bit by a radioiactive spider and he can time travel now and he's actually Frank's dad? Ugh.

SPOILERS BELOW OF 8.07 in italics **********************************

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers Letting HC survive the fire? Solid change for a visual medium on a show that's about to end and the loss won't further the story other than to put the characters in pain for 3.25 more episodes. Having Fergus die? Really not sure what that accomplishes with -- 3.25 episodes left. The William storyline -- hot mess. I don't understand the "why did this make the screen" for most of it. And so help me if they had Fergus die so William could hit up Marsali or something like that. And none of this is even getting in to the Faith storyline. I'm currently doing a re-watch with my husband as he's never seen it and we needed something else to watch as we anxiously await the return of Clarkson's Farm, and we just finished "La Dame Blanche." And already, knowing how the show changed things, dulls the Faith storyline and I haven't even rewatched that ep again yet. I won't be telling him as he wouldn't want the spoiler but it's frustrating. While painful to watch and invest in, the Faith story was so powerful. It wasn't just a death to put J/C through peril; it shaped the people they were going forward. It changed them both, especially Claire. And outside of the show, that story gave voice to every mother watching who has faced that loss.

Going back on it, having Faith secretly live, and try to find them, and then get killed by pirates in the process, is sloppy. And unnecessary. Again. ONLY 3 EPISODES LEFT. spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers ************************************* END BIG SPOILERS ^^

Like I said, the showrunners have clearly "forgotten" that they are adapting a book series, not writing their own. And that the viewers will absolutely forgive not having a 1:1 translation of the page to the screen, that there will be omissions, changes, due to the different medium. But huge plot changes? Especially one that CHANGES a past season? It feels like an "it was all a dream" rug getting pulled. Needless to say it doesn't feel good as the invested viewer. And that's not even going in to the other nonsense. The moving target premiere dates during the 18 months between 10-12 episode seasons to convince subscribers to keep paid-up during the release of BomB, the lack of promo, etc. I was expecting a beautiful bookend season. 12 episodes of primarily J/C's storyine, some Claire voiceover harkening back to season 1 (got some of that at least), and Raya back singing the theme song. I expected it to end as Bees ended, with all looking forward to "the day after" I expected the door would be open to do a movie if the opportunity presented itself and all were on-board after book 10 was out. I expected a really fun lead-up to the season premiere, and I expected to be excited to "watch at midnight" every week. Because man these last eps are going to be brilliant and prioritizing watching them over sleep will be a no-brainer. Boy was I wrong. How disappointing. Anyway. At least it'll be time for some "tractoring" soon over in the UK. (on prime, not an ad, Clarkson's farm really is just a fun watch.) Jeremy and Caleb would never. Wonder if Lisa will ever actually keep just hyper-local produce in the farm shop and if the Council will ever let them put in that proper car park. Time will tell. But you know what is telling? That I'm far more excited to watch the "top gear" guy try to run a farm than I am to see the last three episodes of the show I've been watching and loving for years. LAST SECOND ADD BEFORE HITTING PUBLISH: Oh, re-reading for a quick proofing and it hit. MBR is setting up spin-offs. He must want a boat, or another house. He's testing how the audience responds to the side characters to decide who to spin-off first. And he's doing it at the expense of the couple we're all actually here for. That's the "why" he's doing it like this. Doesn't explain why he's changed the story though, just why he's focused so much precious time on the other characters. SPOILER AHEAD: The irony is the only couple I'd really be interested in watching spun-off (and I think he successfully *could* spin-off as an independent story without Jamie and Claire having to be there regularly, and that the actors could carry their own show) would be the one couple that he just killed half of. How dumb. Oh well, off to metal detect in my back yard some more. It was built on 1800s farmland so I've been finding fun old stuff. Need to get more practice as this summer we're going to do the family farm before it gets sold.

Hope you're all well!

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Few things are as unattractive as weakness, though I’d say a couple that are close are dishonesty and manipulation. Not sure which is objectively worse, but as weakness can lead to many other unattractive qualities, I’ll go with that. Stana Katic once said "Never marry your muse, it shatters the illusion" or something like that. I think the idea that applies more broadly is "Don't make your favorite public figure your hero, because no one can live up to that standard."

I won’t go in to it too much as I've been largely offline and have no time to fully catch up, but what I will say is neither my husband nor I would find the other acting like that with a long-running co-star out of costume in a promo acceptable. It’s not normal, or necessary.

So while we’ve known everyone’s been lying for years, the question becomes which “option” is the lie, and how far would they go to sell it. How morally bankrupt are they, really?

Either they’re together and have - for years - consented to lie and hide it (**it could have been in that first, usually 6 season, contract) and on top of that take “the narrative” route, to further sell it. The problem is that at the same time they were claiming to be “like brother and sister”, they were not suppressing behaving in a way that suggested otherwise when they knew they were being watched. Saying one thing and blatantly doing another. “Look at us!” “WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT US” type stuff back and forth. Why not just…not comment on your personal life? Don’t be touchy-feely in interviews, act normally, and ignore it when people talk. Either of those two methods would be forgivable - for a while. But we’ve exceeded that time frame. Either sell what you’re saying, or fess up.

OR they’re not together, have never been, “the narrative” is true and they’ve been playing the “pretend to be secretly together to keep internet buzz going” game since 2012. This happens early on in shows, when buzz can make the difference between cancellation and renewal. But we’re a decade past that, so they keep saying “we’re not together stop speculating” while still acting like they are together well outside of playing Jamie and Claire. Moreover, there was zero off-set behavior change post husband, and that’s massively telling of both of their characters if in fact he is the husband. How disrespectful. Both options for “which is the lie” are bad, but this one is worse. One is making a friend look like a fool as he pretends to be a spouse, the other is actually disrespecting your spouse and setting a terrible example for what is appropriate off-set when in a marriage.

Lying to this degree in either direction is gross. But lying to fans, while professionally damaging, isn’t over the line like disrespecting a spouse, and an allegedly-in-the-church marriage, would be.

So again, how morally bankrupt are they?

Time will tell which it is, I guess. And as I’m the eternal optimist I’m still hoping for a third option that hasn’t been made apparent that'll make it OK.

Also I’m hoping to be able to enjoy the final season without the nonsense getting in the way, but for now this is where I am. We’ll see.

Anyway, real life calls, hope you’ve all been well :)

And truly don't make your favorite public figure your hero. All are human, and no one can live up to that standard.

[yeoldenews]

It’s Dear Santa time again!

This is the 15th (!) year I've spent December posting children's Dear Santa letters.

Publishing letters to Santa in the newspaper first became widely popular in the late-1890s, though scattered newspapers did so as early as the mid-1880s. I believe this sudden explosion in popularity was at least partially the result of the famed "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause" editorial which was published in The New York Sun in September of 1897.

In large cities Dear Santa letters often acted as a method of getting needed clothing and supplies to impoverished children when parents might be ashamed to ask for charity. Subscribers to the newspaper could choose a child’s letter and provide the items they asked for. The most common requests were shoes and coats.

Often newspapers offered prizes for the best letter (which I suspect often acted as another clandestine form of charity as the winners were often letters asking for basic clothing and school supplies.) Though these prizes could range from the ordinary (a sled or a doll) to the extravagant (a $20 gold piece or a live pony.)

Sometimes local stores would enter children in a drawing if they mentioned the store in their letter - which on occasion would result in children hilariously name-dropping every store in town just in case.

Writing Dear Santa letters was also commonly an activity done at school, often following some rough form letter. These letters are fairly easy to spot as they often hype up what a good student the child was and include effusive praise for their teacher (who would likely see the letter before it was sent.)

So why have I spent hundreds of hours of my life over the last 15 years reading tens of thousands of these letters?

Children's voices are largely absent from the historical record.

Dear Santa letters offer an extremely rare opportunity to see history unfold through children's eyes - in their own (often creatively spelled) words.

1914′s “Remember the children in Belgium” becomes 1918′s “Please visit my brother in France”.

During the Great Depression the very common phrase “I know you’re poor this year too Santa” gives a glimpse into parents' attempts to explain to their children why they might not be getting as much this year.

1939′s “Be careful flying over Europe” becomes 1945′s “Since the war is over you’re making bb-guns again right?”

Requests for toy flying machines become aeroplanes become fighter jets become space shuttles.

Dolls and wagons become Shirley Temple merchandise and Erector Sets become Barbies and Star Wars action figures.

But through all these changes one thing remains clear throughout 130+ years of letters to Santa, despite the rapidly changing world around them - children have always been children.

I hope you enjoy these letters as much as I do! (All decade+ of posts are tagged “Dear Santa” if you'd like to see more - but I will be reposting quite a few old favorites this year as well.)

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season! I hope you can delight in whatever brings you joy, be that family, friends, food or just curling up with a hot cocoa and a good book.

But whatever you do, please don't forget the true meaning of the season - feeling awful sorry for Patti.

Hapy Holadays and Marry Crimes!

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Hi all - sos crowdsourcing info, has anyone ordered from azazie? Specifically a dress in the red/burgundy family? We’re finding the colors are much redder/pinker than they appear on the website.

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Happy new year !

Have you been watching the new season of ol?

Do you like it ?

Happy....Late August! Wow this was sent an age ago, I apologize. Life has been life, very good, but very little spare time. Anyway.

I did watch, and thought it was decent.

I remember being very back and forth about it though, I'd go from "Oh man, this is so good I want to go to scotland for six months, get a work permit, and try to get on s8 or the spin-off or whatever is still casting just to be a part of this" to "Oh yeah, new Outlander eps have been airing, better get caught up on the last couple because it's enjoyable but also it feels like the magic is gone."

To be fair, the constant airing delays over the years (covid delay was valid, promising a "double next season" to "make up for this season getting shortened" that was in reality two seasons called A and B with a solid year between new episodes was a manipulation at best and a lie at worst to retain subscribers and I don't appreciate that.) left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth that could be to blame for my lack of enthusiasm.

Also, life has been busy so another part of the blame could just be me and my circumstances.

But even in spite of all of that I'm very curious where they're going with this, and unless I get screeners before my "$24 for a whole year of starz!" instagram ad promo rate subscription expires, I'll re-up with another instagram promotion when the new season comes out.

Did you watch 7B? What did you think?

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Hey all! Long time, how you been?

I have a couple of inboxes and tags that I'll try to very belatedly get to (if they're even relevant anymore...sorry about that) but thought I'd pop on here and check in since I'm on the film nomination committee this year for the SAG awards and have a couple of pieces of info (no spoilers of course) that the Outlander side of tumblr may be interested in.

1 - The very first screeners OVERALL (not just starz or OL-related) I got access to are Blood of my blood episodes. No mention of OG-Outlander, just the new one. So the trend of just promoting the new show is continuing. Which is crappy, TPTB shouldn't assume the OL fans will automatically be there. Yet here we are.

2 - So speaking of the screeners, I've seen more than are released but not all 10 and honestly? Pleasantly surprised. It's not Outlander, but I watched with the attitude of seeing a new show so I found it enjoyable. Do I have critiques? Of course, and we can discuss those when I'm not at risk of forgetting which ep something happened in and leaking spoilers and finding myself in actual legal trouble. But overall it's better than much of what's on offer. And It was fun the first couple of episodes figuring out who everyone was before names were said etc. It felt like being in on a secret knowing where the main players will ultimately end up :)

3 - But for real, Starz really should stop taking advantage of the strong original OL fanbase and throw a bone once in a while. Like I said, I've seen more than half of blood of my blood and it's good, but probably not good enough to build a new base big enough to support this level of budget with how content is consumed in 2025. And I know many of you on here aren't interested in investing in another project with this team, but I'd personally like to see it get a chance. There isn't quite the zing-magic as OL, but I'd still classify it as "a good show."

Starz, if you happen to have a rep reading this, "Don't harden your heart" against the original fanbase. Blood of my Blood has solid potential, but please don't keep stringing the original base along. Finish up airing Outlander, don't stretch it out to try to retain its subscribers that are continually waiting for the premiere that never comes hoping they'll get hooked on your spin-off. Court them, and continue making a good product, and many will follow. But if this bitter taste keeps coming back with every unnecessary premiere delay, you'll lose them. Thank you for your consideration to this matter.

Anyway, back to tumblr-land. I hope you've all been well! Anyone else watching and actually cautiously enjoying? Anyone else just waiting for another "$24 for a whole year" of starz promo ad to pop up on instagram before re-subscribing in time for the alleged "early 2026" (vague per usual anymore, seriously Starz, give a date.) OL premiere?

Can't believe it's already almost September - HOW?!!!!

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The fires are bad.

Regular people are losing homes, jobs, and in some cases their lives. It’s not not just celebs who can afford to rebuild.

Pray for rain in Southern California.

I am safe, nowhere near, moved my “primary location” a while ago but two of my three closest friends - the places I stay when in town and not in a hotel on production’s dime - are threatened or burned.

I’ve never seen anything like this.

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Interested in your take on the latest posting of " She Knows" interviews, videos, and photos of Sam and Caitriona. Any tea?

Hello Anon, and Merry almost Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah, or Joyful whatever you celebrate! Admittedly it’s been a whirlwind of a season in my personal and professional life and I’ve had very little time to keep up. I’ve seen the photos and gifs, and watched a couple of clips, but haven’t seen the whole thing in its entirety yet. That said, I don’t have tea per se, but I can certainly share a few thoughts. Or more like brain dump while the cookies bake and hope it at least somewhat makes sense lol

1) The “booo shut up” answer: It’s promo, it’s not real. a) the caveat: Normally after two costars have proven their chemistry long ago, they don’t really need to “sell” it anymore. That’s why you’ll often see the super sexy photoshoots in early seasons, but then they calm down. That said, the show was off the air for a year, during which many viewers unsubscribed (it’s me, I’m viewers) and lost a lot of enthusiasm. (again, guilty. I’m still behind. yes, I’ve been even busier and traveling more than usual, but in previous years you bet I would have been watching the new eps ASAP in the airport, not using those hours to just listen to music and relax.) Therefore, they may have wanted to … up the ante a bit to entice people back. 2) My gut feeling about it all: Again I’ll have more when I actually watch the whole thing, but with what I’ve seen so far it all still caught my eye. There’s just that je ne sais quoi about the two of them. And while you can manufacture some of that to a degree, there’s a piece that you just can’t. Lightning in a bottle. I forget which actor said it, but I wholeheartedly agree that there are two things you can’t believably fake as an actor, a laugh and a kiss. 3) Not really tea, but a little bit of my personal inside baseball: If I was at the promo for s7 with s8 already wrapped and with executive producer credit I wouldn’t be doing anything I didn’t want to do. And if I had a husband and child and was wanting to avoid yet another round of rumors about me and my costar/on-screen husband, I’d only do the sexy photoshoots when in costume. I’d do some playful stuff when doing interviews etc, but not the bedroom eyes come hither burn the place down eye contact stuff. I definitely wouldn’t be dancing up on my costar. It’d feel wrong. And disrespectful to my real life husband. And unnecessary. And frankly manipulative of the fanbase after so long of my words and actions not matching up. It’d be a crappy thing to do. And I try hard to not do crappy things. But maybe that’s just me. Maybe they both just suck. Or they caved in their contracts for more money and they’re still being “ruled” by tptb and she's acting like that even though she doesn't want to. Or they’re too weak to just say no. Or maybe there’s more to the story. Occam’s Razor: When searching for explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest one requiring the fewest assumptions is usually most likely to be correct. Cheers! 😜 Now off to frantically prep for the next three days of celebrations and travel and more celebrations. I love this time of year but Wow I could use a nap. And I don’t even have kids yet. Mad respect to all of the moms and dads making the season look effortlessly magical :)

[scotianostra]

My friend David Wilkinson aka Scotdrone, takes you inside Midhope Castle, Outlander fans know it as Lallybroch.

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Bitcoin 👀

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Thank you for continuing insight. Any ideas on a possible denouement?

Hello! You sent this a long time ago, and it got lost in the shuffle of a very busy season. Sorry about that! Anyway Yes, but nothing revolutionary. I can still see several ways things could play out, but nothing new :)

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What would you advise current drama students to pivot towards given the entertainment industry doesn’t have much work available?

Hi! You sent this a week ago and I've started typing out a response several times but with all of the variables it always gets too long and in the weeds even for me lol

Are you or is someone in your life in this position? If so, would you mind sending me either on or off anon a little more detail? Nothing too personal, but things like

-how old they are -are they in a "top" drama school (Tish, Juilliard, CMU, USC, DePaul, etc) or are they in a good program, but not one of those “name” schools? I don't need to know which school, just if it's one of the names with big connections and big reputations. -What region do they live/go to school in (not specifics, but if you want to be a film/tv actor and live in Montana it’s very different than if you live outside of Atlanta) -and most importantly, what specifically is it they want to do in the industry? Theatre? Film? writer/actor type?

Those questions will help me narrow down how to answer; without knowing those things I was going too deep in to too many possibilities, and it got disorganized and very hard to read and follow.

All that said, if it’s a general question and you don’t have anyone in particular you’re asking for, I can certainly just tell what I’ve been doing because a lot has changed, as well as give an overview of what I'd suggest for someone considering going down this path :)

[tallmadgeandtea]

Benjamin Tallmadge after the Battle of Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777, found in his memoirs

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Heyy ladies and gents! How we holding up? Those photos from the filming wrap - crazy that they’re done and the previous season hasn’t even begun airing yet. It’ll be two years before we see what they just shot if the pattern holds.

What I’d give to get a peek at their contracts.

But anyway.

In addition to “all the feels” if you’re wondering if I’ve been exaggerating the state of Hollywood and how it’s been in a downward spiral and it’s experiencing a “slow and then all at once” semi-collapse, check out producer.patrick on ig. He’s been laying it out for quite some time.

I was just introduced to him and it’s so validating of the literal and professional moves I’ve made lately. Hollywood’s a cluster. Indie is going to become the thing that employs most creatives. Idk what’ll happen to what remains of network original scripted programming in the next 5-10 years, but my guess is more reality/game shows and the trend of there being more and more lower budget scripted programming on umpteen streamers will continue with a few big budget things peppered in.

Either way.

Yeah.

Many changes over here and more to come, it’s a clunky transition for those of us on my end but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, it’s just … going to be bumpy for awhile.

Cheers! 🤪