Elphi

(Sorry to Hare for hijacking her post to say this; none of this is in any way a reply to what she shared <3)

That's not to say that you aren't autistic; of course you might well be! Just that it's possible you're not and that's fine 👍

I can confirm from experience (me + a few people I know) that it is entirely possible to be anxious, geeky, “different” in some ways, and also not autistic. I’ve thought about it, but I just don’t identify with it or fit the criteria. Neurodiversity doesn’t just mean “autistic vs allistic”, y'know?

Isn't that meant to be the point? His is the only nice garden, his neighbours go around poisoning everything and complaining about birdsong

Yess, love that comparison 😂

Also, I reckon the randomness is addictive in the same way that the randomness in social media algorithms make them addictive

This is a really interesting point, just one of the many things that makes TM better than any other comedian-competition show. A big thing that sets TM apart is the comedians *genuinely* care about the scores. And to see that we need the scores to quite often be unfair and frustrating.

No I also reckon this is a thing - I've often suspected that my blondish hair is one of the reasons I've so often been mistaken for being much younger than I was. People just associate it unconsciously with childhood.

Ah, as a one-off and in a live show, absolutely (although I'm still not convinced I'd like it anywhere near as much as the real thing). But that's a very different situation and vibe compared with a tv show

Sure, Taskmaster is a very mainstream show and its fans are a broad church. But I think there's something about Taskmaster that it just wouldn't work with people who are starstruck, or all trying really hard, or self-conscious about what they're doing

Sorry to hijack a day-old post with a different point. But I think the no 1 reason Taskmaster with ordinary people wouldn't work now is that ~99% of people who applied would be Taskmaster fans and Taskmaster fundamentally wouldn't work with a cast of Taskmaster fans

Only tangentially related, but you watch The Traitors, right? I'm fascinated by how often they use "yourself" to try and sound more polite/soften the harshness of the "you" when they're accusing somebody

She really is a beautiful cat. Much black and ginger fur, huge white whiskers, a serious, intent expression. She sits on top of The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

11/11

A huge, brushy, frizzy tail wafts over The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin

10/11

This time the delectable little paws rest on Tim Key's L A Baby!

9/11

The cat lies, as if protectively, over A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez

8/11

Same beautiful cat standing with front paws on Winter in Tabriz by Sheila Llewellyn

7/11

A perfect little white, ginger and black leg standing on Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

6/11

The cat is licking one of her fluffy white paws, standing on One Minute Away by Mark Watson

5/11

The cat is shoving the side of her face in your face, while standing on Jackie Kay's Red Dust Road

4/11

The cat, a beautiful fluffy tortoiseshell with impressive white whiskers, sits on top of The Other Wind by Ursula Le Guin, looking alertly off into the distance

3/11

The cat rests two white-socked paws on top of The Secret Lives of Numbers, by Kate Kitagawa and Timothy Revell

2/11

The paws of a fluffy cat sitting neatly on top of a hardback copy of Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis

🧵Books I have read and the cat has sat on this year (this Venn diagram is a circle)

1/11

I don't know if you've seen their reply on Discord, but another very important piece of context is that the other person they were using as an example is themself :)

Nice one, this is really cool and important 🙌 But also whenever I see something like this I can’t help thinking: I wish the people who have the opposite problem were half so self-aware and willing to work on themselves. Would save the rest of us a lot of bother!

A feature I’ve written about a very important topic and good cause, and one that I’m actually quite proud of!

Ooh small world, my sister's fiance works for Sonic Bothy! I always enjoy hearing about them, they seem like such a brilliant organisation 🙂

Maisie's little "Ohh, wow." at the very end was utterly perfect and possibly the funniest moment of the series 😂 #Taskmaster

Think that might be my favourite episode 10 ever #Taskmaster

Related: I'm always fascinated when a Hull person says "O" and southern English people write it as "er" while I (Scottish) hear it as "oo" (and absolutely *nothing* like "er", like literally what is that about)