RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Eleven Episode Five — Dolls, Monster Balls, and Elvira!

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So… Elvira. I’ve been a fan of Elvira since I was a kid and Elvira was… younger? She seems ageless. The queens discuss the latest elimination as well as the budding relationship between Miss Vanjie and Brook Lynn. It may be herstory as far as relationships between queens on the work floor.

The queens get a challenge with the help of Trixie Mattel… in which, funnily enough, they have to get dolled up as dolls!

Raja O’Hara wins the challenge as she looked fantastic.

RuPaul announces that they will be throwing a Monster Ball. I immediately think of Lady Gaga when I hear Monster Ball, and you? They will be doing three looks — Trampy Trick or Treater, Witch Please!, and a look called MILF Eleganza.

Yvie Oddly explains that MILF is Monsters I’d Like to Freak. Well sure, that works. Or is it werks?

RuPaul asks Nina West (my wife met her recently at a Sasha Velour performance… in the audience, mind you… such a lovely queen!) what her favorite character is in film in the relevant genre and she says… Bride of Frankenstein.

Brook Lynn Hytes says that she only started sewing a couple of years ago and knowing what was most her look recently… but she wasn’t too familiar with scary movies. Eep! Probably would have been good to have at least one look up her sleeve.

We finally get the history of the name Yvie Oddly… she says she had a dull name and then decided that she was, well, a bit different than the other queens out there and so wanted to reflect that in her name.

Scarlet Envy throws on what looks like gold silk all over and announces she will be doing the Creature from the Black Lagoon for her MILF look. A lot of the other queens quietly comment to themselves that it does not suit her.

Seriously. Elvira. She looks amazing!

A’Keria C. Davenport comes out looking like a casino dealer with the table attached. Impressive. Miss Vanjie was a Victoria’s Secret Angel. Plastique Tiara was a “sexy playboy bunny” and succeeded. Scarlet Envy called her look “stomping the plank” and looked a bit like a cross between a pirate and cowboy. Nina West came out looking like the pirhana from Little Shop of Horrors.

Raja was all pink (my daughter’s favorite) as a cat! Shuga Cain had more of a toll look. Brooke Lynn came out on point in mummy. Yvie Oddly did a nice dinosaur look. She adapted a kid’s costume. Silky Ganache looked fantastic as a unicorn.

The Witch Please! looks… a lot of black.Nina West had a funny look of a Salem era witch being burned at the stake. Rajah actually was head to toe in emerald green a la the Wizard of Oz. Yvie Oddly used white contacts and wow. Silky also had a not black all red dress.

The MILF looks were all the most frightening! Rajah in particular was impressive as was Brook Lynn Hytes.

The judges had quite a lot to say!

Yvie got criticized for not being glamorous enough in the MILF challenge. Elvira told Silky that she liked her unicorn look. Her monster look, on the other hand… did not meet the needs of the challenge. “A horn does not a monster make,” Elvira said.

Brook Lynn Hytes was the winner of the challenge. Hooray!

The bottom two were Shuga Cain and Ariel, who had to perform “I’m Your Baby Tonight” by Whitney Houston.

Ariel Versace stumbled during the lip sync and ultimately was eliminated.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Eleven Episode Two

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The queens play bang, marry, kill while waiting for the week’s challenges… because of course. RuPaul comes on and tells them they need to do celebrity photo bombs. The photos in question are celebrities… doing things? The results are quite funny. Brooklyn Hytes and Silky win the competition.

The main challenge is to take part in one of two films — Good G-d Girl, Get Out (based on the fantastic horror film Get Out as well as Why It Gotta Be Black, Panther? based on one of my favorite films, Black Panther.

The team leaders are asked how they picked people for the team. Silky is criticized for not just having a strong personality but being obnoxious. Silky (the team leader for the other team) is asked the same about organizing her team and she boasts about having a master’s degree in team leadership.

Michelle Visage and Ross Mathews help the queens prepare for their scenes. Back in the workroom on elimination day, Silky boasts about being loud and proud. Ariel is the first to speak up and be critical. In a more serious moment, Mercedes talks about being on a no-fly list due to having being Kenyan and having a Muslim name.

Bobby Moynihan and Sydelle Noel (of Black Panther fame) are the guest judges.

The theme for tonight was the horoscope. I liked Miss Vanjie as Libra. Scarlet Envy as Pisces was interesting as well with bubbles.

The actual performances were a bit underwhelming, to be honest. I won’t go into detail here but for me a lot of the jokes just fell flat.

After the judge’s critiques, Kahanna and Mercedes were up for elimination, but Mercedes won the lip sync battle and Kahanna was sent home.

SciFi Mystery Romance Cover Reveal for @JennNixon

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Killjoys meets Helix in Jenn Nixon’s next SciFi series coming this April!

 

Mari Yosoto has been keeping a dark and dangerous secret from everyone since her life-changing accident. No one would believe the truth anyway, her ex-fiancé had seen to that. Instead of wallowing in misery, she stays busy, shuttling cargo to the Moon and back, enjoying the easy work and time alone. When an old EarthCorps acquaintance asks for her help finding a missing girl on Mars, Mari can’t say no, even if it means working with the ex’s former best friend.

Although Trevor Nash took the Mars job to help his former commanding officer, deep down he needed to see Mari again. After trying and failing to find out what happened to her, Trevor makes the best of an odd situation, hoping he can remind Mari of their budding friendship and finally get answers. When their rescue mission goes sideways and they find the not-so-missing girl, a centuries-old conspiracy theory emerges and the only thing more unfathomable is learning Mari’s secret.

Together with their newly formed ragtag team, Mari and Trevor team up and undertake a mission unlike anything either of them has faced before with life-altering and possibly deadly consequences.

Sneak Peak:

Chapter One

Beep. Mari’s heart thumped so hard her ribcage hurt.

Beep. Beep. She lifted her head, shielding her eyes from the bright lights above her head.

Beep, beep. Beep, beep. There was something wrong with her hand. It didn’t feel right.

A pair of voices echoed from behind her, muffled and indecipherable through the fogginess filling her mind. Half of her body felt numb and cold, the other covered in fiery pins and needles. When she cried out in agonizing pain, the pair of brown eyes that filled her vision seemed familiar.

The accident flashed in her head.

Breathing became impossible.

Beep, beep, beep.

“You’re okay, Mari,” the male voice said, making her heart race faster.

Beep, beep, beep, beep. She lifted her arm, stared at her hand and screamed. “What did you do to me?”

 

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Eleven Episode One — Miss Vanjie Returns

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So… Miss Vanjie is the first to enter the workroom, and she immediately hides so she can check out the competition. She talks about how she made lemonade out of lemons from her failure last season.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BucqhLvj7Wb/

Scarlet Envy courtesy of her Instagram page 🙂

Next, Nina West comes in and thinks she’s the first one. She talks about her influences (comedy legends) and winning awards and how Sia copied her dress design.

Shuga Cain then enters and says she’s twenty-four but is in fact forty. She says she’s been doing drag full time for only a year.

Plastique Tiara comes in and talks about Vietnamese influences and being young (twenty-one.)

Mercedes Iman Diamond, from Kenya, comes in making the most startling sound that surprised my son.

Scarlet Envy (also from New York) comes in and is happy to see other New Yorkers.

Followed by another New Yorker, Honey Davenport. Shuga says she’s thrilled to see her.

They speculate about who could come back and all say Miss Vanjie which is when Miss Vanjie pops out.

Next is A’Keria Davenport. Two Davenports in one season, yes.

Spooky music brings on the entrance of Yvie Oddly, from Denver. One of my best friends lives there. She claims Alexander McQueen as an influence. Nice.

Next up is a cookie eating Silky Nutmeg Ganache, who does a dance as she enters. She claims she has jumped on a postal truck during a show. Sure!

Brooke Lynn Hytes (ha!) is actually from Nashville but apparently spent time in Toronto. She was a former pageant winner.

Ariel Versace then comes in and we are told that she’s what happens if Lisa Frank threw up on a dress. She talks about herself in the third person.

Ra’Jah O’Hara comes in and says her middle name is Davenport. Really.

Kahanna Montrese comes in and announces her name should be said seductively.

Lastly is Soju, whom I learned is a fifth degree Tae Kwan Do black belt instructor during the day and has a YouTube channel.

The episode kicks off with a photo shoot. It looks a lot like what I remember old west photo shoots looking in Six Flags Great Adventure. The photographer is Albert Sanchez. They pair up with drag race legends to pose with them to see if they can pose well together. RuPaul decides that Silky won the mini-challenge and I had to agree.

Next, RuPaul tells the girls that their luggage was lost and they all need to create a legendary look from former drag race legends. Silky gets to assign the trunks. Silky takes Peppermint. Scarlet gets Violet Chachki, Yvie gets Alaska, Sochu gets Kim Chi, and so on. Nina West got Thorgy, which seemed appropriate. Miss Vanjie got Valentina. Oh… why? “The final look needs to be your style,” RuPaul says.

Silky apparently does not like the things in her box and spends a lot of time entertaining people instead of working on her presentation.

Everyone is excited when Miley Cyrus comes into the room in drag as a crew member. Silky carries her around the room. Miley talks about the importance of not being too scared to try and to breathe to stay calm.

Brooke Lynn Hytes has a superhero look.

Honey comes out with a lovely flower look.

Ariel reminds me of Poison Ivy and she confirms that was her look.

Yvie reminds me of a Sasha Velour look.

A’Keria has a sort of future science fiction look.

Scarlet Envy looks more like Scarlet O’Hara!

Soju has a great purple look.

Raja reminds me of a bit like Captain Marvel crossed with a rainbow road.

Shuga Cain had a great look.

Miss Vanjie looked fantastic.

Nina West says she doesn’t even like what she’s wearing but is doing her best to serve it nicely.

Kahanna wore an intriguing half covered outfit.

Mercedes was a bit strong in blue.

RuPaul told A’Keria that she was impressed with how many wigs she was wearing.

Ross tells Miss Vanjie that he really likes her look.

Nina West has apparently been auditioning for NINE YEARS. Wow.

Brooke Lynn Hytes won this week! Nice. 🙂 (Still odd since she’s not from Brooklyn?)

Soju and Kahanna are up for elimination and have to perform The Best of Both Worlds by Hannah Montana. Soju was eliminated.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten Finale – Tens All Around (But only one Winner!)

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RuPaul introduced the queens from season one and reminds us how far we have come as a community of fans and supporters of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Oprah appears in a video clip and talks about what great things the show has done.

RuPaul asks Aquaria why she should be crowned America’s Next Drag SuperStar and she explains that she’s been a fan from the beginning and says she sees herself in Nina Flowers from Season One. She remarks that this season is the best yet.

RuPaul asks Asia who is rooting for her and she says hopefully the world! She says that she hopes to marry her boyfriend. (Apparently this is news to him!)

Eureka says that if she wins, she will use the money to pay off her mother’s medical bills. Wow.

Kameron tells RuPaul that she and her mother share shoes (same shoe size) and RuPaul surprises her by showing a video of her grandmother telling her how much she loves her and supports her.

Very impressively, the queens of seasons one and ten do a mega-mix of a variety of songs from RuPaul’s Drag Race herstory. It’s great to see season one queens next to season ten queens lip synching to Sissy that Walk and We’re All Born Naked (and the Rest is Drag.)

Before the lip sync battle I would like to list the order I think of the top four queens :

Asia O’Hara, Kameron Michaels, Eureka, and Aquaria. I realize that’s not how it will likely go down, though.

So the top four lip sync will work like this, we are told. Two are chosen, they lip sync. Then the other two. The winners of each have a final lip sync. Kameron Michaels is chosen by the wheel and she chooses to lip sync against Asia. Asia chooses one of two boxes and it is Nasty, by Janet Jackson. Asia releases what appeared to be live butterflies from her outfit. Kameron is declared the winner and I already am wrong (it is interesting that my list has them in the order of the sync performances.)

Aquaria and Eureka lip sync to If by Janet Jackson. Uhm… and RuPaul says shantay, you BOTH stay.

The original winner of Miss Congeniality, Nina Flowers is introduced. The season ten queens apparently voted on this year’s Miss Congeniality and Monet X-Change won! I would have rather she just won the crown.

One last lip sync battle. Bang Bang by Nicki Minaj, Jessie J, and Ariana Grande. I think this is the first time I am hearing it.

Good gravy. Aquaria won. Oh my. Not gonna lie. I had a feeling this would happen but kept telling myself it wouldn’t because I didn’t want it to.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten Episode Eleven – Evil Twins!

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And… I’m back? Sorry about missing a few episodes there. I guess my evil twin stopped me from posting here. Speaking of evil twins, the theme of tonight’s episode is evil twins that sabotage us. I certainly have one of those, it seems.

The mini-challenge was to make a drag brunch complete with pancakes. This is funny because my wife has attended actual drag brunches and they of course always include pancakes.

The guest judges were announced to be Lena Dunham and Ashanti.

Out of the five remaining queens, Miz Cracker and Cameron seem the most nervous. Miz Cracker practically loses it over a tussle with a sewing machine.

Each queen has to come up with a design for both a good version and evil version of themselves.

Miz Cracker went with a Marie Antoinette look for her good look and what I would call a cave woman using bones for design for her evil look.

Eureka had a bit of a Cher from Clueless look versus Divine from John Waters films.

Aquaria had an elegant look versus a more sinister look with an animal print. Later, RuPaul called the evil look one of the top ten looks in the whole show.

Asia O’Harra had a brilliant look both ways. Her dark / evil look was the most evil of the episode, I thought.

Kameron Michaels also had a caveman look for the evil side. She was put into the bottom two.

Aquaria is declared the winner of this week’s challenge.

Miz Cracker is the second queen up for elimination.

The lip sync challenge is Nasty Girl by Vanity 6. That’s funny, I was reading about a new Prince release earlier today.

Miz Cracker is sent home. She says she felt completely crushed. Understandable. “If it’s thin, white, and salty, it’s probably a cracker!”

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten Episode Seven – Snatch Game, Y’all!

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RuPaul announces that they are doing a reading for the mini-challenge because reading is… fundamental. The reading glasses look a bit different this year. Eureka comes and declares that she’s aware that she is heavy set and does a great job roasting the others and is declared the winner. Two thousand dollars for eyewear? The way I buy eye-wear, that would buy about six or seven pairs at least!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiUtI0tgr9_/

The Vixen decides she’s going to be Blue Ivy. Quite impressive.

Bianca del Rio makes an appearance to help out with people.

Eureka explains that she’s going to do Divine with a tiny Honey Boo Boo. RuPaul doesn’t seem impressed by her Divine impression.

Monique Heart goes for Maxine Waters, of reclaiming her time fame. They love the idea as an anti-Trump Congresswoman.

Asia bombs in front of RuPaul doing a couple of impressions. She has no idea what she will do.

Kate Upton and Audrey McDonald are the guest judges.

Cameron Michaels is radiant (perhaps that’s the wrong word) as Chyna. Monet X-Change did exquisitely as Maya Angelou. I suppose it’s funny that Beyonce and Blue Ivy are both on Snatch Game. We also have “Melania Trump” with “Michelle Obama” written in front of her. (Good one!) Finally, there’s Eureka as Honey Boo Boo.

Watching the game, I felt that the Maya Angelou performance was the best.

Alex Trebek comes on as a video recording with a funny question about Jeopardy.

RuPaul gets Maxine Waters with a simple question of what district she is in. Oops! At the end RuPaul declared herself the winner and said she was going to watch Judge Judy. Bianca made a reappearance as Judge Judy.

The Vixen makes a comment about how very difficult it is to be a black gay drag queen in America.

The runway look was Mermaid, of all things. Mermaid in a wheelchair, to be exact. Uh… what? Oh right, because they can’t walk. Wow, I am slow tonight. Monet had the most interesting look with a huge weapon like a mace.

There’s a bit of a vicious argument between The Vixen and Eureka after everyone is asked who has the most room for growth. Nearly everyone says The Vixen.

Aquaria is declared winner of the challenge.

Eureka, Monet X-Change are both safe.

The Vixen is predictably put up for elimination. Monique Heart is right up there as well. They have to lip sync to “Cut to the Feeling” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Watching them perform it is hard to say that one is necessarily better but Asia does a talking head bit where she says that one of them clearly doesn’t know the words.

Monique Heart is sent home. She says she appreciates the opportunity before going. Oh. Apparently she was the one that didn’t know the words.

Apparently there was a meet and great that I could have attended tonight for only ten dollars with The Vixen. That might have been awkward after tonight’s episode. “So, uh… how about that part where everyone threw you under the bus, huh?”

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten Episode Six – DragCon

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The episode starts with a mini challenge about sitting on things and figuring out what is being sat upon. I’m quite sure a clip from this will be on The Soup The Joel McHale Show starring Joel McHale.

Queens are split into groups of queens that will represent different aspects of drag including wigs, body, and makeup. I was amused to find out that young Blair St. Clair works with a theater group (making wigs) and RuPaul made a joke about her extreme youth.

Kameron talks about the struggles with doing drag as a body builder. Monet admits her parents don’t even know about doing drag.

The guest judges are Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon, who made the brilliant film The Big Sick.

The body panel talks about just that. Kameron talks about using padding in different places. Monet says she’s a big booty Judy (my mother in law loves saying that) and finally Eureka talks about being made fun of for being big yet using padding to proportionize. They take questions from the audience. Well, one – about the importance of doing drag in today’s political climate.

In the makeup panel, Aquaria talks about how liberal her parents were and teaching herself to apply makeup. Monique says she learned how to do makeup through drag. A person asks for makeup tips and they say to experiment and see what works. Monique shows off some techniques on a pit crew member. Aquaria and Asia then show techniques on themselves including blowdrying your lashes and applying glitter properly.

Blair St. Clair, The Vixen, and Miz Cracker do a wig panel that starts off a bit… underwhelming, based on the audience reaction, but then picks up. I keep being amazed how Blair St. Clair puts on ten years when in drag. The judges don’t seem too impressed as it goes on. They take questions and make jokes. Blair stumbles doing the presentation but ultimately does okay. At the end of the panel, they throw wig into the audience. Well that has to count for something.

The runway category is Hats Incredible. Kameron Michael comes out looking like a comic book girl. Monet X Change looks like a model in church on a Sunday. Eureka is head to toe in houndstooth. I’m not a houndstooth fan but she looks fine. Aquaria comes out as a rabbit in the magician’s hat. Monique Heart has what I would call a disco ball look. Asia O’Hara has a beautiful dandelion look including a huge head. Miz Cracker has an Eliza Doolittle look that impresses my daughter because it involves pink. Blair St. Clair wears a Broadway / Kentucky Derby look. The Vixen has a great floppy black and white look.

Kameron, Monet, and Eureka are the top three.

Miz Cracker, Blair, The Vixen are the bottom three.

The rest are safe.

Oh crap. Blair talks about being raped at a college party and the need to bring a positive spirit. Everyone is moved. Michelle calls The Vixen’s look to be a bit of a mishegoss.

The judges give props to Eureka for doing so well but pan Miz Cracker for doing poorly and then say that Blair got bulldozed in her performance.

Eureka was the winner (second week in a row) of the challenge.

Blair and The Vixen must lip sync to “I’m Coming Out”, one of my favorite songs of all time. I thought Blair did a more passionate performance, but I will freely admit to being biased toward her at this point. RuPaul did NOT agree and sent Blair St. Clair home.

NOT HAPPY. (I’ll get over it.)

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten Episode Four – The Ball at The End of The World

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For some reason I am reminded of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe — anyone else? RuPaul tells the queens that they’re going to do a ball — the Ball for the End of the World! They will have to do three “lerks” — looks, that is. The themes will be : Alaska Winter, Miami Summer, and Mars Eleganza Extravaganza.

Asia O’Hara gives sewing advice and is given the name Black Martha Stewart, or Blartha. #Blartha, everyone.

Blair St. Clair does a one on one with the camera and points out someone making a rather bad error — the Mars outfit is looking to be a corset and underwear, which has been repeatedly warned against on the main stage. No actual warning to the person making the mistake, though.

RuPaul speaks with Asia O’Hara about her background in making costumes — apparently as a full time occupation.

The Vixen talks about how in Chicago growing up her grandmother had her sew her name on a napkin to learn to sew.

Blair St. Clair tells RuPaul that the look she’s working on for the Mars look is a mod look. RuPaul points out her youthful appearance and Blair says that he’s often underestimated (even on RPDR) because of that.

RuPaul announces that the guest judges will be Logan Browning from “Dear White People” as well as Tisha Campbell-Martin… from Martin, My Wife and Kids, and all three House Party films of course.

Out of all of the Alaska looks, my favorite is Blair St. Clair with a nice pin-up look.

Monique Heart came out in all pink and my three year old daughter was extremely happy to see.

Asia O’Hara, on the other hand, came out with what looked like a fur coat over a leopard dress.

Then Miz Cracker came out even pinker, as it were, than Monique.

For the Mars Extravaganza Eleganza, Eureka came out purse first, and Monet came out looking like “a million bucks” or a “black Marilyn Monroe.”

The Vixen came out with a lovely blue look, hair included, that I would call Tiffany Blue.

Aquaria had a superhero look.

Now it was Blair St. Clair’s turn for pink. Definitely one of the top looks of the night.

Mayhem Miller, Eureka, The Vixen, Blair St. Clair, and… yeah, they were announced too fast. All Safe.

Monet X-Change was told that the Mars look was sloppy though Tisha says she loved the gas mask.

Aquaria is given rave reviews.

Dusty Rays Bottom tries explaining her Martian look, which really looked more like a fairy than Mars. Tisha later comments that if you have to explain your look (as she did) you failed your look.

Asia tearfully explains how much time she helped others. She is told she needs to focus on her own work first, like a parent putting their oxygen mask first before putting it on their child.

The judges say that Miz Cracker and Aquaria’s outfits were the tops tonight. Aquaria is judged to be the winner of the challenge and Miz Cracker is safe. Kameron Michaels, similarly, is safe.

Dusty Ray Bottoms goes to the bottom two. Asia O’Hara is relieved to hear she is safe. Monet has to lip sync for her life against Dusty. They do “Pound the Alarm” by Nicki Minaj.

RuPaul says it was quite impressive. Monet X-Change is told she will stay and that Dusty Ray Bottoms, though always tops with Ru, must sashay away. As she walks away she says “WAPPS!” quite cheerfully. She cries a bit while telling us that we haven’t seen the last of her!

RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Ten Episode Two – Pharmacological Musical!

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I really needed a dose of what was being served tonight from a pharmaceutical perspective as I’ve apparently come down with a cold or something.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg7EKTrjhMY

The queens first had a mini challenge to impress Andy “I say Mazel but not Tov” Cohen, who ultimately chose Asia and Vixen as the best performers — they had all gotten speed dragged up and done a country routine.

The maxi challenge involved splitting them up into two groups with team captains Asia and Vixen. They got help from none other than Alyssa Edwards, and put on a number of parody ads for pretend pharmaceutical products including ones that shall we say… stiffen you.

The guest judges tonight were Halsey and Padma Lakshmi. You may recognize Padma from the cooking program Top Chef and Halsey from the music industry.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgiZDyyBo67/

Vixen’s group came out judged on top and so The Vixen was the winner.

That meant that everyone in Asia’s group was technically up for elimination, but all but two were kept as safe.

The queens that had to lip sync for their lives were Kalorie and Eureka. I wasn’t expecting Eureka to come out on top after the lackluster performance. She did, though, and then half tearfully apologized and promised to do better. Mama Ru said — don’t apologize, just be fierce!