#and this is the man who sent laura's spirit to the world as a force of ultimate good or something. because LAURA IS THE ONE.

[selfinflictedgunshotwound]

having twin peaks thoughts & theories bc i just started watching the return (i know spoilers ofc) and i have literally nowhere else to put my thoughts so i'm just gonna dump them here.

obviously i don't every single thing about twin peaks was meant to just be like... One Thing and that's it. i think there's room for interpretation for a reason butttt the one thing i just keep going back to about the show is just that. like. it's about the corruption of innocence and the perversion of family. of cycles of violence and abuse. children being sexually taken advantage of by "trusted" adults. teenage prostitution rings. barely a single relationship in the town wherein people aren't cheating on someone/cheated in the past. bob being "the evil that men do" (tbf this is technically just albert's theory but i choose to believe it) and now this weird thing with judy/the experiment (are they the same thing? idk yet) being the thing that CREATED bob? there's this weird thing i get with the black lodge/waiting room like... good people can't survive there without disappearing completely (nonexistence) or being permanently changed (in the case of annie, ig)

and then ofc you have the tormented souls being trapped there (laura, maddy, caroline(tbh idk what was going on w her doppelganger being there?), leland(he was originally a victim too, i'm getting there)) because of the things that were done TO them. i was thinking like. in regards to the frogmoth that crawled into sarah's mouth (when she was a child) and everything that's going on w/ her in the return (watching insanely violent things on tv, "eating" men, etc.) ... compounded with leland's story about bob "I was just a boy. I saw him in my dreams. He said he - he wanted to play. He opened me and I invited him and he came inside me." ... mr. c's introduction song being a twisted version of "american woman" (i've heard this is also related to diane's doppelganger, as well. makes sense) w/ the stand-out lyrics (aka the backwards ones) being "all my headstrong women... don't let em put you in a corner. make em salute you like a flag on the fourth of july." and sarah palmer having a shortened and remixed version of "good man" blaring in her house that just repeats the lyrics "i'm a good man. i'm having fun." like. there's smth to this i'm not insane...

anyways to go even FURTHER... there being specific emphasis on being in the right time and the right place. opposites (giant and dwarf, young and old, black and white, etc.) and the planets jupiter and saturn.

the experiment violently killing that couple that was watching the glass box bc they were having sex? or because they were(n't) watching? or both? the experiment very obviously being the thing inside of sarah but it pulling off it's own face within sarah and revealing a smile that looks eerily similar to laura's (even if not exact... ppl are such pedants about things being exact in this show where literally everything is drenched in like 8 metaphors at any given time) AND the laura in the black lodge/waiting room removing her own face in the exact same way. it's weird that in this instance, laura's dialectical opposite or opposing force is her own mother who she claims she has so much in common with. but this goes even a step further because when the experiment spawned in the glass box, it has a gold orb (or smth like it) like the one laura's like... spirit? was born from? AND APPARENTLY there's a little clip of what sounds like sheryl lee's voice saying "gone" or "the one" or something like that while the experiment is flying towards them (not unlike an owl) to kill them... hm. not to mention the experiment has a proboscis-like knife that comes out of its mouth that it uses to kill the guy sexually harrassing sarah at the bar... and carrie page has a dead guy in her motel room that has a hole in his head... could obviously def just be a bullet-wound LMAO but idk let's have fun w it!

i do think there's a crazy connection between sarah, laura, and the experiment/judy/whatever. "the room seems different... and men are coming. something happened to me. i don't feel good..." obviously, i will be able to make more connections and add to this theory as i watch more but from what i've seen i think there's a huge connection to children and how easily it is for them to be taken advantage of (literally every member of the palmer family was taken advantage of as a child when an evil entity entered them. i mean. how more on the nose can you be!!) or for their innocence to get stolen (prostitution, drugs, murder, becoming child brides to abusive older men... the list goes on). and there's obvious themes of intense sexual violence and dreams and blahhhh. it's like 5:30am and i'm theorizing about a show that will never have an actual answer LMAO... to be fair though it's not ABOUT actually "solving" it for me. i think most media works well when you get what you want or need from it and just kind of make that The Point and, for me, twin peaks will always be about the tragedy of laura palmer before it's about anything else!

i really do like that theory that dale cooper is just like. an entity that laura dreamed up to save her originally but in the end, after she had finally escaped being laura palmer and that life and that house and her trauma, he ended up bringing her right back to it. it's like. how does that not make people insane?

[princeescaluswords]

Why Call It Racism?

I’ll start with what should be an unnecessary disclaimer:  This is my opinion. 

I had a friend complain that he couldn’t criticize a character of color without being called a racist.   Well, I’m sure that it feels that way sometimes, but you can criticize/dislike characters of color, it’s just that – like everything else you might do in this world – how and why you do it is also important.

It’s important to remember that racism takes many forms, especially in entertainment.  It’s not always some white bro with a Confederate battle flag decal on his pick-up truck screaming hatred at black people while wearing a white sheet.  It can be double standards, prioritization, and editing.  It can be an audience seeing Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem as unpatriotic and dangerous, but that same audience celebrating automatic-weapon-armed protestors on the steps of state capitals defying anti-pandemic civil instructions as the Spirit of America ™.   If you ask the people angry at Kaepernick, many of them will insist that his race has nothing to do with it.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that Heroes of Color have a difficult time in fandoms.  When I say Hero of Color, I mean a character of color that the narrative, that the dialogue, that the actors, that the producers, that the advertisements indicate should be admired and that their actions are presented as positive.  I mean characters, for example, like Finn from Star Wars, Iris West-Allen from The Flash, and – the one I am most familiar with – Scott McCall from Teen Wolf.   They have all been the target – not just of fandom disinterest, though they are ignored quite a bit – but also of fandom hatred.  

I’m going to go over what I see as the main manifestations of subtle racism in fandom and I’ll be using examples from the Teen Wolf  fandom, because not only is it the one I’m the most familiar with, but it’s also super easy with multiple characters of color being targeted.

If you can state that you hate a character of color, but you cannot or aggressively will not explain why you hate them, then people might suspect you are influenced by racism.   For example, if, in 2020, you still think Alan Deaton is shady and a secret evil mastermind, even though 100 episodes revealed no agenda from him other than his desire to help others on his own terms, you could be reacting to the racist archetype of the Magic Negro, where the black character exists to help white characters.

If you criticize a hero of color for behavior and use it to condemn them but turn around and excuse a similar or even worse behavior from a white character, then people might suspect that your employment of a double-standard is influenced by racism.  If you argue that Scott McCall’s thoughtless comment in Magic Bullet (1x04) about Derek’s accusation that the Argents burned down his house (“Well, then they had a reason”) is justification for Peter and Derek cornering a half-naked Scott in a darkened locker room and mentally violating him, but you also argue that Derek breaking into Scott’s home, lurking behind him, assaulting him, and threatening to kill him, does not justify Scott and Stiles having him arrested for Laura’s murder, you are holding them to a double standard.   If you criticize Kira, in danger of being consumed by her fox spirit due its manipulation by Theo and the Dread Doctors, for honoring her deal with the Skin-Walkers in return for their help and sending Theo underground, but you think that Liam constantly threatening Theo with being sent back underground is a sign of their blossoming romance, you are holding a pretty big double standard.  

If you edit the actions of a hero of color to make them look bad and you edit the actions of an antagonist against a hero of color to make them look good, then people might suspect your editing is influenced by racism.  If you claim that you don’t like Scott McCall because he ditched Stiles for Allison and then Isaac by editing the story, you might be looked at suspiciously.  The only person that Scott ditched was Allison, once for Stiles, and agreeing with Isaac over Stiles for 20 seconds is not ditching.   If you claim that you don’t like Scott because he treated Derek as a villain in Season 2 for no reason, pretending that he didn’t abandon Jackson to death, endanger Isaac’s freedom, seduce an underage Erica, have Scott beaten for defying up to stepping on his throat, kidnap Stiles, kidnap Jackson, attempt to murder Lydia in Scott’s own home, and then lie to Scott once more, you also might be looked at suspiciously.

If you prioritize the white characters in your fandom pursuit even in defiance of canon or common sense, then people might suspect that you are influenced by racism.  If you create a gifset of the Hale Pack, with Derek as Alpha, Stiles as Emissary, Peter, Isaac, Erica, Liam, Jackson, and Lydia (Lydia is a mighty stretch, yet sometimes they even include Allison), some people might suspect you only care about white people.  If you don’t see a problem that Talia Hale features in 4128 Teen Wolf fanfiction stories on AO3, when she was dead 6-10 years before the start of the show and only appeared in flashbacks in two episode – one of which she had no words because she was a wolf, but Noshiko Yukimura only features in 328 Teen Wolf fanfiction stories on AO3, when she was in 16 episodes.  If Talia Hale is cool-as-hell because she’s a full-wolf shifter and a powerful matriarch who deserves to be explored, why doesn’t a 900-year-old cool-as-hell celestial kitsune deserve it as well?

Disliking Scott McCall doesn’t make you a racist.   But you can’t really blame certain members of the fandom for suspecting that racist thought does influence your dislike when we’ve seen a vast majority of people heavily invested in defying the show’s premise that he’s a good person and a hero.   You can’t really blame members of the fandom for suspecting racist thought for influencing fandom when they see well-established racist tropes applied to characters of color.  No Scott fan pushed the ‘Scott is sexually obsessed with Allison which is why he doesn’t work with Derek’ trope, they only pointed out that the ‘sexually obsessed’ stereotype has been historically assigned to Latinos.   And it’s not just Scott.  How many people force Boyd into the silent giant stereotype when Sinqua Walls is only an inch taller than Isaac’s actor?

And as I stated at the top of this essay: it’s not just Teen Wolf.   Finn from Star Wars was portrayed as lusting after another man’s woman and/or infantilized.  The actress who plays Iris West-Allen from The Flash has had to defend her character publically.   It’s not unreasonable when someone criticizes a Hero of Color to wonder if it’s just another example of a wide-spread phenomenon.

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

A Look at the slate of Countdown to Christmas Movies airing this year on the Hallmark Channel

Jingle Bell Bride  Premieres: Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Julie Gonzalo, Ronnie Rowe Jr.  Official synopsis: “Wedding planner Jessica Perez (Gonzalo) travels to a remote town in Alaska to find a rare flower for a celebrity client and is charmed by the small town during Christmas, as well as the handsome local (Rowe Jr.) helping her. 

Chateau Christmas  Premieres: Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Merritt Patterson, Luke Macfarlane  Official synopsis: “Margot (Patterson), a world-renowned pianist, returns to Chateau Newhaus to spend the holidays with her family and is reunited with an ex (Macfarlane) who helps her rediscover her passion for music.” 

Christmas With the Darlings Premieres: Oct. 31 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Katrina Law, Carlo Marks  Official synopsis: “Just before the holidays Jessica Lew (Law) is ending her tenure as the assistant to her wealthy boss to use her recently earned law degree within his company, but offers to help his charming, younger brother (Marks) as he looks after his orphaned nieces and nephew over Christmas.”

One Royal Holiday  Premieres: Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, Krystal Joy Brown, Victoria Clark, Tom McGowan  Official synopsis: “When Anna (Osnes) offers a stranded mother (Clark) and son (Tveit) shelter in a blizzard, she learns that they are the Royal Family of Galwick. Anna shows the Prince how they do Christmas in her hometown, encouraging him to open his heart and be true to himself.” 

Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater  Premieres: Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Ashley Williams, Niall Matter  Official synopsis: “Single mom Maggie (Williams) is facing Christmas alone until Lucas (Matter) crashes into her life and becomes an unexpected houseguest. Together they overcome Christmas while finding comfort in their growing bond.” 

On the 12th Date of Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Mallory Jansen, Tyler Hynes  Official synopsis: “Two seemingly incompatible game designers team up to create a romantic, city-wide scavenger hunt themed for The 12 Days of Christmas.” 

Christmas in Vienna  Premieres: Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Sarah Drew, Brennan Elliott  Official synopsis: “Jess (Drew), a concert violinist whose heart just isn’t in it anymore, goes to Vienna for a performance. While there, she finds the inspiration she has been missing, and a new love.” 

A Timeless Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Ryan Paevey, Erin Cahill Official synopsis: “Charles Whitley (Paevey) travels from 1903 to 2020 where he meets Megan Turner (Cahill), a tour guide at his historic mansion, and experiences a 21st century Christmas. 

A Nashville Christmas Carol  Premieres: Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Jessy Schram, Wes Brown, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, RaeLynn, Kix Brooks, Kimberly Williams-Paisley  Official synopsis: “Vivienne Wake (Schram), a workaholic television producer in charge of a country music Christmas special showcasing newcomer Alexis (Raelynn), never lets personal feelings get in the way of business. On the verge of accepting a job in L.A., and with the return of Gavin Chase (Brown) — her childhood sweetheart and manager to the special’s headliner, Belinda (Evans) — she receives a visit from the ghost of her recently deceased mentor, Marilyn (Judd). Her mentor warns her current path leads to a dark future and has recruited both the Spirit of Christmas Past (Brooks) and the Spirit of Christmas Present (Williams-Paisley) to help her get back on track. The Spirits’ time-jumping adventures force Vivienne to take hold of her life." 

The Christmas House  Premieres: Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Robert Buckley, Jonathan Bennett, Ana Ayora, Treat Williams, Sharon Lawrence, Brad Harder  Official synopsis: “Working through some difficult decisions, Wade family matriarch Phylis (Lawrence) and patriarch Bill (Williams), have summoned their two grown sons — TV star Mike Wade (Buckley) and Brandon Wade (Bennett) — home for the holidays. It is their hope that bringing the family together to recreate the Christmas house will help them find resolution and make a memorable holiday for the entire family and community. As Brandon and his husband Jake (Harder) make the trip home, they are anxiously awaiting a call about the adoption of their first child. Meanwhile, Mike reconnects with Andi (Ayora), his high school sweetheart.” 

New movie to be Announced  Premieres: Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: TBD Official synopsis: TBD 

A Christmas Tree Grows in Brooklyn  Premieres: Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Rochelle Aytes, Mark Taylor  Official synopsis: “Erin (Aytes) is planning the town’s Christmas celebration and must win over firefighter Kevin (Taylor) in order to obtain the beautiful spruce tree from his property for the celebration.” 

A Bright and Merry Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Alison Sweeney, Marc Blucas  Official synopsis: “Two competing TV hosts (Sweeney and Blucas) are sent to a festive small town over Christmas. While pretending to get along for the sake of appearances, they discover that there’s more to each other than they thought. 

Five Star Christmas (Working Title)  Premieres: Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Bethany Joy Lenz, Victor Webster  Official synopsis: “After moving back to her hometown, Lisa (Lenz) plots with her siblings and grandparents to help her father’s new bed and breakfast get a five-star review from an incognito travel critic (Webster), but ends up falling for him, not knowing he is the real critic.” 

Christmas by Starlight (Working Title)  Premieres: Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Kimberley Sustad, Paul Campbell  Official synopsis: “Annie (Sustad), a lawyer, must help her loved ones this holiday season. Her family’s restaurant, the Starlight Café, is slated for demolition. The heir to the development firm responsible, William (Campbell), makes her an unlikely proposition: He’ll spare the café if Annie spends the week ‘appearing’ as the legal counsel his father is demanding he hire in the wake of some costly mistakes.” 

Christmas Waltz  Premieres: Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Lacey Chabert, Will Kemp, JT Church  Official synopsis: “After Avery’s (Chabert) storybook Christmas wedding is canceled unexpectedly, dance instructor Roman (Kemp) helps her rebuild her dreams.” 

If I Only Had Christmas  Premieres: Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Candace Cameron Bure, Warren Christie Official synopsis: “At Christmas, a cheerful publicist (Bure) teams up with a cynical business owner (Christie) and his team to help a charity in need.” 

Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing  Premieres: Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Holly Robinson Peete, Colin Lawrence, Rukiya Bernard, Antonio Cayonne, Barbara Niven  Official synopsis: “As Michelle’s (Peete) wedding approaches, Hannah (Bernard) steps up to help finish the launch of the new Evergreen museum while questioning her relationship and future with Elliot (Cayonne).” 

Christmas She Wrote  Premieres: Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Danica McKellar, Dylan Neal  Official synopsis: “When Kayleigh (McKellar), a romance writer, has her column canceled right before Christmas, she heads home to reconnect with her family. Kayleigh gets an unexpected visit from the man (Neal) who canceled her column who fights not only to bring her back to the publisher but also for her heart.” 

Cross Country Christmas  Premieres: Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Rachael Leigh Cook, Greyston Holt  Official synopsis: “Former classmates Lina (Cook) and Max (Holt) are traveling home for the holidays, until a storm hits and they have to work together to make it home in time, no matter the mode of transportation.” 

Christmas Carnival  Premieres: Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Stars: Tamera Mowry-Housley, Antonio Cupo  Official synopsis: “Emily (Mowry-Housley) is a top newscaster who has achieved her career dreams but still has regrets about the guy (Xavier) who got away five years earlier. When the Christmas carnival comes to town, a ride around the carousel takes her magically back in time to the carnival five years before... giving her a second chance at love before she must return to Christmas present.” 

A Christmas Carousel  Premieres: Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Rachel Boston, Neal Bledsoe  Official synopsis: “When Lila (Boston) is hired by the Royal Family of Marcadia to repair a carousel, she must work with the Prince (Bledsoe) to complete it by Christmas.” 

Love, Lights, Hanukkah!  Premieres: Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Hallmark Channel Stars: Mia Kirshner, Ben Savage, Marilu Henner  Official synopsis: “As Christina (Kirshner) prepares her restaurant for its busiest time of year, she gets back a DNA test revealing that she’s Jewish. The discovery leads her to a new family and an unlikely romance over eight nights.” 

Info from the ew.com article, Link HERE 

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

hey! thank you for everything that you do! you are awesome. im just wondering if you any fic were Stiles is fae? thank you!

We sure do. - Anastasia

till the moon has taken flight (to the waters and the wild) by WindyRein

(5/10 I 1,426 I Not Rated I Steter)

It's not fair! But he knows already that life isn't fair, doesn't he? He can feel the bitter smile curling his lips.He, if there is such a thing anymore, floats and is torn apart and doesn't exist. (but that would be kind, wouldn't it?)

Bloody Secrets by cywscross

(1/1 I 3,085 I Teen I Steter)

Stiles has silver in his veins.

Peter could’ve done without finding out this way though.

Somewhere to Start by Lissadiane

(1/1 I 3,352 I Teen I Sterek)

Stiles has always known that he isn't quite human - the plant life that tends to sprout around him whenever he gets upset or excited gives it away. He's never really fit in among the regular people in Beacon Hills and is determined to wait it out, go to college, and find somewhere to belong. He's forced to abandon those plans, however, after he desperately agrees to enter into an arranged marriage to save his father's life.

An arranged marriage with an angry, sometimes furry dude with trust issues. It's all very Beauty and the Beast, without the singing candlesticks.

Dance Under the Moonlight by Therapeutic_Steter

(2/2 I 3,440 I Mature I Steter)

Fae!Stiles saving Peter from Pack's stupidity and washing his hands of them. Please?

The Other Side by Green

(1/1 I 3,769 I Explicit I Steter)

Stiles doesn't know anything about his father, only what his mother told him, that he's human. Despite her words, Stiles has had his doubts. So when the queen sends him through the veil, he's nervous and isn't sure what to think.

Seven Years Falling by InfiniteAlexisA

(1/1 I 3,880 I Not Rated I Sterek)

“I don’t mean to!” Derek yelled throwing his hands in the air.“DON’T YELL AT ME!” Stiles screeched, his entire body going up in flames.This is what Derek gets for dating a fire elemental.

we're not so different (you and i) by colferstilinski

(1/1 I 5,621 I Explicit I Sterek)

For many of the fairies that lives here, Utopia is their sanctuary—haven, in other words—and why shouldn't it be? It never rains on this stretch of meadow, the clouds in the skies always pink with interest and it smells like the breaking of spring every dawn and dusk.

Stiles detest it, the least to say.

It’s too much and he hates swinging along with the status quo with the other fairies. Yeah, with their blooming shades of colours and the shimmering, silken tunics they don on and fuck, the limitless sparkles. There’s even a new trend going on with the younger generation where they gather allium blooms to form a flower crown, oh—with added glitter!—and it makes Stiles wants to roll his eyes.

-

Or the fic in which Stiles is a fairy and wants to escape the horrendous, boring world of fairyland to have an adventure. And by adventure, he means meeting Derek. The plant. Or... not-so plant.

Cold Iron by the_problem_with_stardust

(5/5 I 5,641 I Teen I Sterek)

Derek thought the disaster that ended with Kate Argent almost burning down his family home was a relationship worst-case scenario. So, when Dr. Deaton reveals that his current girlfriend is not what she seems, Derek is ready to swear off romance forever. In an attempt to escape his well-meaning (but insanely overbearing) family, Derek volunteers to take over remodeling the small cottage that was left to the Hale siblings in his grandmother’s will. Connemara is nothing like California, and Derek feels like his luck just might be looking up.

salt and a waltz by The Byger (Byacolate)

(1/1 I 7,433 I Explicit i Sterek)

"Not that lubed-up Q-tips aren’t the sexiest thing in the world, but I kinda want to know what it’s like, you know. To be impaled on your huge dick without actually being impaled.”

“It was about to get sexy there, but you shot the mood right in the face.”

In which Stiles is a faerie and Derek is sick and tired of not being able to fuck him.

Don't You Wanna Be My Sky? by WhoNatural

(1/1 I 9,420 I General I Sterek)

Stiles got ratted out by the Realm Guard for sneaking off with Scott a total of seven times before his dad buckled, promising sabbatical once Stiles reached Faehood, and enough Earth culture in the meantime to have him talking like a born-and-bred Californian teenager.

He just didn’t have the tan.

(Or, in which Stiles is a Frost Fae sent to the Earth Realm on the Fae version of Rumspringa and immediately falls head-first into a Coffee Shop AU)

No Love in Idleness by Elpie (Horribibble)

(2/2 I 11,687 I Explicit I Sterek)

Stiles is the sole grandchild of none other than Robin Goodfellow, the most mischievous faerie ever to wreak havoc among the Folk and Man alike. To the people of Beacon Court, he is at best a merry wanderer of the night.

At first, Ser Derek is inclined to agree, but the little bird on his shoulder has quite a bit to say about that.

Trees are always a relief after dealing with people (except when they aren't) by ravelqueen

(1/1 I 15,889 I Mature I Sterek)

Derek Hale decides to become a hermit before he reaches 25. Too bad he picked Beacon Hills as his retirement home.

(Or the one where Stiles is a wood nymph/pixie/human hybrid who falls in love with his new grumpy werewolf neighbour)

Broken People Get Recycled by poemwithnorhyme

(1/1 I 16,389 I General i Sterek)

Nothing is ever just calm in Beacon Hills. No, something always has to go wrong, and this time, it's Stiles' turn in the spotlight. That doesn't mean he has to like it. Post S2 AUFae!Stiles

The Magic's in the Coffee by xxxillusionxxx

(8/8 I 17,596 I Explicit I Sterek)

Ever since the tall, muscled, leather-clad werewolf had begun his daily coffee routine at the Skullery—a horrendous name in Stiles’s opinion, but his boss was a skeleton who thought he was terribly clever—an impromptu competition developed among the baristas.

When Trust is Everything by hellbells

(12/12 I 27,913 I Teen i Sterek)

For a secret to remain true then only one person can know it; if not then it will come out. Beacon Hills is the converging point of several secrets all wrapped up in the supernatural. For Stiles, the unravelling of several will let him find peace, love and safety in the arms of his true mate. The only question is can he trust a Sourwolf and his pack well enough to show his true self.

It just might be the one thing between Beacon Hills and safety!

(Or observe the really awkward distrustful courtship between a Sourwolf and a hidden Fae Mage)

A Little Bit of Sunshine by 100KlicksAway

(21/? I 29,600 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles woke with a start, dreams of pixies flitting around his head. He’d dreamed… He’d dreamed that he was a wolf? Or…. He wasn’t sure. Something with fangs… His mouth had been dripping blood in his dream, and when he woke, he could still taste the thick copper taste coating his mouth.

Stiles has been working hard for the pack since Scott was bitten. They leave him out more and more frequently, though, until Stiles realizes that he's strictly unnecessary. Then, the pack's activities throw him into danger and he ends up in a shitty situation with no one helping him.

Stiles leaves Beacon Hills. He doesn't care anymore, he just... Needs out.

The Last Chills of Winter by LeeHan

(1/1 I 42,525 I Explicit I Sterek)

“He didn’t magically charm me,” Derek shot back in his defense.“Oh, so he just regular charmed you?” Laura said with a smirk.“What? No,” Derek growled.“Was he hot?”“No! He just—“ He just had a laugh like a sun shower. Fuck.

We Follow Darkness Like a Dream by GreenasCole

(10/10 I 51,106 I Mature I Sterek)

When a mysterious note is left on the Stilinski's door it leads Stiles and his best friend Scott out into the woods on quest for answers about Beacon Hills's most infamous tragedy. After a surprise encounter with a monstrous wolf the two boys are hurled into an ancient and terrifying world, only for Stiles to discover he was secretly a part of it all along. Will he manage to survive the insanity of Fae politics and avoid the enemies that are suddenly crawling out of the woodwork to find a place in this new world? Or will the very revelation of his existence be the catalyst that plunges both worlds into war and chaos? And why can't Scott just stop teasing him every time he catches Stiles looking at their new "friend" Derek too long?

Laughter in the Dark by Starshaker

(13/? I 56,148 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles is a fae. A trickster spirit with too much curiosity for his own good and a knack for getting into trouble. When he's just trying to help things don't go to plan and coincidences don't seem to end up for the better.Trapped, isolated and aching to get home, though it's better than what Gerard would have had planned for him initially, Stiles learns to deal with his new set of circumstances.

The Fairy's Wolf by kuki

(57/? I 90,602 I Explicit I Sciles)

In a world where non-humans mingle with humans in public schools until they became of age, about high school age, going instead to a specialty finishing school, a young halfling fae fights to stay with his friends. His fear of losing touch with his best friend, a young Alpha werewolf, has the pair pushing their relationship to the edge; and their relationship has the world on the brink of war.

-or-where I apparently ship Skittles hard now, hate myself with this work load on top of my school work, switch up species because f-u that's why, make up mythology, and try to give Derek a nice life.

Where You Still Remember Dreaming by yodasyoyo

(15/15 I 95,612 I Explicit I Sterek)

“What’s your name? I can’t keep calling you Balto.”

“What’s yours?”

“Stiles.”

Derek raises an eyebrow. That isn’t his real name. There’s no way. But now he thinks about it, he has a vague memory of someone, probably Uncle Peter, telling him that with the fae, names have power. “I’m Miguel,” he says.

“Lie.”

“Are you trying to tell me your real name is Stiles?”

Stiles runs his tongue across his teeth and considers Derek carefully. “Fair enough,” he says, “Miguel it is.”

Grabbing his groceries and pocketing the change, Derek turns to leave; he’s nearly at the door when Stiles calls out, “By the way, Miguel, if you’re interested, it’s two for one on bags of kibble at the pet store down the street.”

Derek doesn’t look back, doesn’t hesitate, just raises a hand and flips him off on the way out.

[forsetti]

On The Myth of American Individualism

In light of people completely, and sometimes arrogantly, defying public health recommendations to address a pandemic in the name of “Freedom” and “American Individualism, I thought I'd repost this article I wrote in 2012.

Recently, New York Times resident hack pundit, David Brooks, wrote an article arguing that Republicans are the party that “celebrates work and inflames enterprise”.  The GOP come from a long lineage of hard working, God fearing individualists that can be traced back through American history from Mitt Romney to the first Pilgrim who stood, buckled shoed, atop Plymouth Rock. Here are his opening two paragraphs: “The American colonies were first settled by Protestant dissenters. These were people who refused to submit to the established religious authorities. They sought personal relationships with God. They moved to the frontier when life got too confining. They created an American creed, built, as the sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset put it, around liberty, individualism, equal opportunity, populism and laissez-faire.

This creed shaped America and evolved with the decades. Starting in the mid-20th century, there was a Southern and Western version of it, formed by ranching Republicans like Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Their version drew on the traditional tenets: ordinary people are capable of greatness; individuals have the power to shape their destinies; they should be given maximum freedom to do so.”

For Brooks, America was built by hard working people who cowered from a smiting God, lived like Ted Kaczynski , didn’t accept handouts and loved the soft reach around from the Invisible Hand.  From this great tradition sprouted great men who were the salt of the earth, ordinary men who lived off the fruits of the sweat of their brow.  People like Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, two men who grew up in luxury, went to topflight prep schools and colleges, were able to walk into business with a long list of powerful, influential people already in their contact lists and didn’t fuck up and when they did, had other doors and opportunities open for them because of who they are and who they knew.  I highly doubt that John Q. Colonialist could get a government bailout to safe his business (Romney) or have one failed business after another yet have people willing to throw money and opportunities at you over and over again (Bush).  

On the claim that Republicans are the party of work and this tradition has been passed down from John Smith and Patrick Henry to Laura Ingalls Wilder and Belle Starr, I call “Bullshit!”  This country was discovered, settled, expanded, progressed and rose to the world’s greatest economic power because of the community, not the individual.  This love affair and worship of individualism in America is not based on its history or facts.  It is a complete myth.  A myth that has become a fundamental underlying principle of today’s Republican Party.  A myth, that Jim Jones-like devotion to has resulted in horrible, often progress stifling, policies.  It is an even more deeply rooted myth in conservative lore than Ronald Reagan being a tax cutting, small government, hard line hawk.

The first wave of immigrants that came to America came for economic, not religious reasons and they didn’t migrate to our shores to frolic in the Fountain of Laissez-Faire. They were employees, mostly indentured servants, of major trading companies who sent them here to harvest resources like timber and furs.  They were “company men”, not individuals who were looking to forge a new life by braving the elements or testing their mettle. The manner in which they worked and lived was communal.

The next wave of people coming to America was the religious immigrants.  For Brooks, this meant the hardworking, God fearing Protestants who sired America’s work ethic, loved the eight pound, six ounce baby Jesus and who planted the love and respect of individualism into the country’s psyche where it grew and flourished for three hundred plus years and can now be seen in the standard bearers for the Republican Party. Unfortunately, “There goes another wonderful theory about to be brutally murdered by a gang of facts.” (author unknown).

There certainly were groups of very devoutly religious people who came to America during this time. However, what Brooks conveniently omits are the multitude of the other groups that also made their way across the Atlantic to avoid the religious persecutions and heavy handed dogma in Europe. Atheists, Deists, Agnostics, etc., left Europe for the New World because of the religious environment in Europe.  Being part of the religious wave didn’t mean you were religious, it meant you left because of religion.  There were just as many, if not more, non-religious, non-fundamentalist immigrants to America during this period than the “Forebears of Freedom and Republican/American Greatness” as Brooks would have it.  This group played as much a role in America’s formation as a country and culture, if not more, than the Puritans or Quakers.  Some of the non-religious people who played a bit part in the formation of America include: Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Adam Smith…

The fundamentally religious in early American history was not the dominant group and it was not individualists.  They in fact were the opposite.  They were communal socialists.  In order to afford ship passage to America they often pooled their money together to ensure they could travel as a group. They formed settlements where they helped build each other’s homes, businesses and defenses.  They had community storages and would mete out food and other resources as necessary.  They didn’t cut off someone who was sick.  Instead they would get together and, as a group, figure out the best way to address this or any other problem. What they didn’t do is as they were ascending the gangplank of the Mayflower wave to each other and say “Good luck!  Maybe I’ll see you around.”  They stayed together, worked together and helped each other.  They didn’t abandon the sick and weak or withhold food or shelter.  If you want to see the modern day version and descendants of the early religious settlers to America, visit the Amish community in Ontario Ohio or Lancaster Pennsylvania.  The Amish, Mennonites and similar groups have been the ones to continue the traditions of the early settlers.  One word that is never used in describing these groups or their members is ‘individualism’.

Not to mention that there were a lot of other settlers in the early America who were not the Protestant, white New Englanders yet had just as much impact on society and culture then and now.  The Spain heavily influenced Florida, California and the American Southwest.  France’s influence was felt all along the Mississippi River and Great Lakes areas.  To ignore or deny these groups’ impact on American culture in favor of a tiny sliver of white, New England Protestants, is intellectually dishonest.  Brooks takes a sliver of early America, ascribes general characteristics to it that were not true and then claims these traits are what made this country great.

Let’s fast forward a dozen score years or so to the early 1800’s and visit another group of people touted as the champions of The American Spirit of Individualism-The Pioneers.  You know the salt of the earth, lovers of capitalism and all things holy, the people who settled the West and spread the seeds of rugged individualism like they were John Holmes at Burning Man. According to people like Brooks, the Pioneers were the hardworking, Bible toting, individualist progeny of John Smith, William Bradford and Adam Smith.  Again I call “Bullshit!”  Hardworking? Absolutely.  It was pretty difficult to not have to work hard to survive during this time unless you were filthy rich.  The technology at the time was better than it was in colonial times but it still wasn’t good enough to diminish the day-to-day demands of life in the 1800’s.  Individualists?  Hell no!  I don’t even know where this idea came from.  Even the most cursory look at this era shows quite the contrary.

Remember the stories and pictures of the Pioneers moving across the Great Plains along the Oregon Trail? Did they make this trek one wagon at a time, as individuals?  No. There is a reason they were called wagon trains because they moved as groups.  When they arrived at their intended destinations did they head off in different directions and go all Jeremiah Johnson?  No. They either joined settlements already in progress or started their own, as a group.  They moved as a group, built communities as a group, defended their properties and families as a group…  I come from Pioneer stock.  My genealogy tree has a branch that goes back directly to Brigham Young (of course with 56 kids from 16 of his 55 wives, you can’t swing a dead cat along the Wasatch Range of Utah without hitting someone who is related to Brigham).  Every single aspect of Mormon history, from moving to and building up Nauvoo Illinois, to crossing the prairie, to Brigham leading the faithful into the Salt Lake Valley through Emigration Canyon and pronouncing “This is the place”, to building Salt Lake City was a group, not an individual activity.  It was so communal and such a collective effort that Marx and Engels would have been “Whoa, lighten up a bit, let a brother get some alone time.”

One argument against my take is-“These groups had to band together for pragmatic reasons.  There were extenuating circumstances and variables that forced them to operate as a group in order to survive.”  My response to this critique is-“Yeah.  Your point being what?”  Either working together, spreading out risks and rewards works and yields positive results or it doesn’t.  What the reasons are for doing so are irrelevant.  It doesn’t and shouldn’t matter what the reasons are for opting for the group versus the individual approach.  I fail to see how changing the reasons either changes the efficacy or the results.  Another way of looking at it is to ask the question, “Do you think they could have achieved the same results via the individualism route?”  There doesn’t seem to be any historical evidence to support that they could.  I’m skeptical that the Pioneers didn’t know how to deal with the big issues they faced and followed the community approach to problem solving out of ignorance, stupidity or tradition.  If you think they could have achieved the same or better results by acting as individuals, I would need to see some evidentiary support to back up this position.

The next defense of individualism is along the lines-“That was then, this in now.  The world has changed so the need for the community approach has diminished in importance and has been replaced with the superior, individualism approach.” There are two main problems with this argument.  First, Brooks and the defenders of individualism are not saying, “The community approach WAS the driving force behind early American exceptionalism but now it is the individual.”  The view they hold to be innately true is that it WAS individualism that made America great. Individualism brought to this country by God fearing, religious freedom seeking, hardworking  Europeans, passed down through the generations or absorbed by some sort of osmosis where the trait, like blond hair to Scandinavians, is dominant in conservatives.  Brooks and company might admit that the community approach played a role, just not THE role in making America great.  It was individualism that built that.  Uh......., no.  

Second, the “but the circumstances have changed and the individual plays a fundamentally more important rule” argument is also bullshit.  Certainly the nature of the problems have changed.  We don’t typically worry about packs of wolves, marauding Indians, small pox, the plague, dysentery, being snowed in an unable to get food for weeks in today’s society.  We live in a much more technologically advanced world where these types of problems have adequately been addressed and dealt with.  When it comes to many of the problems and situations that faced the early settlers, we will never face them.  Why?  Because are Founders and those that came after them, as communities, found solutions to those problems.  But, just because those problems either don’t exist or are rare does not mean that we currently are sans problems.  With the advancement of technologies, the world has expanded where people are not limited to living in a small area of the world most of their lives, where commerce and ideas travel around the world at an unbelievable speed.  We’ve gone from regional to a world economy. While the small, regional problems of the past have been handled, there are larger often global problems that need our attention.  I don’t see how, if individualism couldn’t properly deal with the small, regional problems, it can possibly take care of larger ones. If anything, the larger problems need a larger community.

Imagine a small town in Nebraska in the late 1800’s whose local bank is having a cash flow problem.  The town needs the bank so they come together and as a group, deposit enough money to keep the bank going.  Fast forward to September 2008 where the large banks and financial institutions in the U.S. who have branches across the country and all over the world and also have deep, financial ties to other countries’ banks.  They have a serious cash flow problem.  One of these banks was Bank of America. Imagine the B of A branch in Minden Nebraska, population 3000.  It doesn’t matter how community minded and organized the kind citizens of Minden are, nothing they do can safe their local bank from collapse because it belongs to a much larger entity.  So, in order to address the problem, the definition of community needs to expand. The financial problem was nationwide so it took the entire nation to adequately address the U.S. banking problem.  The global financial problem took the global community to address and fix it. It is not that individuals have not made significant contributions but outside the arts, very few have had a big impact on the economy or culture of America.  What makes America great and the advantage we have over just about every other country is our diversity. Homogeneous societies can accomplish a lot and often quickly because as a group, they think pretty much alike.  Their greatest limitation is thinking outside their cultural box.  America, with its wide diversity of cultures always has voices outside the box providing input.  This is a major force behind our innovations and progress the past couple of hundred years.

Name a major economic event in America’s history that was the result of individualism.  There might be some but the majority are ones undertaken by either groups or the government (group) for the betterment of its citizens (huge group).  Louisiana Purchase, Seward’s Folly, Transcontinental Railroad, Interstate Highway System, Tennessee Valley Authority, Space Race, WWII, GI Bill, Erie Canal, St. Lawrence Seaway, Panama Canal, Hoover Dam…all were paid for by the group, built by groups and benifitted groups of the population.

Individuals who have been put on the pedestal of individualism didn’t accomplish what they did by themselves.  Edison is thought to be one of America’s greatest inventors (Tesla was much better but Edison was a better marketer). Growing up, the image of Edison was him laboring long, arduous hours by himself in is laboratory. The reality is he had a very large team of some of the world’s top people working in his lab in Menlo Park and was heavily funded.

Individualism is important and certainly has played a role in America’s rise to power.  But, individualism didn’t have the starring role in “Making America Great”. That role was played by a cast of thousands.  Individualism was a bit player whose name wouldn’t come up in the end credits until half the audience had already left the theater.

[mobscene-london]

BASIC INFORMATION:

NAME: Ivanna Dmitrieva.   AGE: 31. PLACE OF BIRTH: Kolosovka, Russia. AFFILIATION: The Russian Mob. OCCUPATION: Assassin. FACE CLAIM: Laura Vandervoort. AVAILABILITY: TAKEN.

BIOGRAPHY:

(Warning: Mentions of domestic, and child abuse, as well as animal death.)

A child born to the mercy of the most careless of handlers, Ivanna Dmitrieva’s path was perhaps never meant for grandeur. Born in a small desolate village in the heart of Siberia, to a home that was falling apart at the seams, she was simply another mouth to feed in a family that had never known anything but suffering. By all accounts unwanted by her overworked and broken mother, and the result of her husband’s continued cruelty and violence. Much of Ivanna’s childhood was spent in trying to find someplace she was wanted and needed, all whilst fighting for survival against her father like the rest of her siblings.

Nikolay Dmitriev was a man down on his luck from the start, lacking any sort of spine or strength of will to push harder against the circumstances he’d inherited from his father before him. His own deficiencies were to blame for what little life had to offer him, and instead of fighting harder, the man became content to drown out his inhibitions in spirits, allowing it to become a crutch and then a true sickness. A degenerate coward always, but a true nightmare when inebriated prone to taking out the frustration of his shortcomings on his wife and children.

The Dmitriev family was sinking long before Ivanna came into the picture, and it was her eldest brother who’d had to shoulder the burden of responsibility their father could not. Not only working himself tirelessly to hunt and provide for his family but also taking the brunt of Nikolay’s rage and aggression. And despite all this, Ivanna still fondly remembers her brother to be kind. A gentle soul in the body of a brute. He was the only one who ever seemed to see her, to make time for her, to afford her the small pleasures a child should enjoy at such a young age. She was but a child of three or four when her brother first began to teach her the lessons she’d need for her survival. Seven years younger than the brother who came before her Ivanna was often left home alone during the day with no one but her slumbering father and Vlad’s hunting dogs for company. And so Vladimir made sure to teach her how to be quiet, how to stay out of reach of their father, how to stay safe.

Though her luck ran out one afternoon when her father awoke earlier than the norm she’d come to expect. Groggily he’d come outside at the sound of the noise she and the dogs were producing, and when one of the dogs grew aggressive due to rightfully perceiving him as a threat and coming in between her and the brute, Nikolay struck him down with an ax. When he reared on Ivanna grabbing her arm so violently it nearly dislodged from her shoulder, Vladimir came around back, having come home early. The sight of his beloved pup struck down and the man violently dragging along the little girl sent Vladimir into a fit of rage. He told her to go and hide as he confronted the man. Ivanna did just that, however she didn’t go inside the house but another hiding spot of hers from where she had a clear view of the scene. Everyone came to know the extreme end Vladimir served to his tyrant of a father, what no one not even Vlad knew was Ivanna had been witness to the entire gruesome deed. It’s a memory that has stayed with her and has directly influenced her association with violence throughout her life.

Violence and feelings of helplessness were all that plagued the young girl’s mind for a long while following her brother’s imprisonment. In the years she was meant to play and adventure as kids do she spent all her time at home looking after her younger brother. It was a responsibility initially belonging to her sister Anya, though not two years after Vlad was sent away the older girl left home to marry the boy she’d been so wrapped up in. It wasn’t lost on any of them what she wanted most of all was an escape from the misery that they’d all grown up in. Though Ivanna resented her at times for that choice, with time she would come to understand that decision even if it was one Ivanna herself would never have made. In her early teens, she already began taking up work waitressing to further support her family, with Maxim shouldering the brunt of the load as their brother Ivan began to spiral and fall into the worst of crowds and habits. All she wanted was to lessen the stress of her mother, and to make Vlad proud, proving she hadn’t forgotten him or his life lessons.

For a girl who grew up in such troubling circumstances, it became very important to take some control back, to find a way to defend herself and her family when needed. Like her brother who sacrificed his prime for her, like her mother who for years took the brunt of abuse from her father for them all. Which meant not only honing her acute intelligence but also learning to defend herself, because even at the age of fourteen she knew all too well the looks and leers she needed to stay far away from, of the reality of so many pretty young girls like herself coming from nothing and where they end up.

Life went on as-is for a time, Maxim was able to slowly bring brighter days to their table. Vlad would be coming home soon and Ivan had finally beat his vices and enlisted in the Russian Armed Forces to bring some much-needed discipline to his life. Anya was seemingly happy in her marriage, and expecting her second child. Sweet young Nikolai was the best of them having been small enough to have no memory of their father at all, and thus live without the traumas that plagued the rest of them. Fate, however, had something else entirely in store for them, a tragedy that would leave them splintered once more. One day only a few hours into her evening shift at work her younger brother came running to get her because their mother was hurt. Rushing to the hospital only to find her a bloody broken mess, she’d been beaten to a pulp, her face so swollen and bruised it was barely recognizable. It was an act committed by one of the cities known mafia leaders, a man who just didn’t know how to take no for answer.

Ivanna was lit with rage and anger, once again helpless to do anything. She made a promise to herself at that moment, that one day that feeling would be a long-forgotten memory and she’d make herself more than capable of protecting those she loves.

It wasn’t long after this incident that her brother was released from prison and in the wake of all that had happened Ivanna could only stand before him with her head hanging low as she delivered the news with the profound belief that it would never have happened if he had been with them, which made her ultimately feel she’d let him down entirely. When the now hardened man went into a fit of controlled rage with nothing but vengeance on his mind as he sought the man responsible, she wanted nothing more than to go with him, wanting to be a part of violence he would no doubt inflict on the man responsible for their mother’s death. But she also could not disobey him, when he said no. Many months later his search landed him in Launceston and not long after the job was done, she waited for him to send news of his return but that did not happen. In Launceston, Vladimir seemed to have found renewed purpose. A year later after taking care of business, she joined him there, ready to continue learning from the brother she’s always held in such revery.

Alongside training with Vladimir in various areas, Ivanna went on to enroll in college stateside as well. Majoring in Comparative Literature and Latin, more headstrong than ever, she was young, more than capable, had an acute intelligence much like her brother, but like many of the men in her family, no matter how controlled, an undeniable draw to violence. She gave her brother no complaints when it came to her training, working alongside him in his various jobs when he allowed it though her interactions with the mob directly were limited early on. Though it was only a matter of time before she found herself in audience with Aleksandr Vorshevsky himself, her experience in meeting him not unlike her brothers where it almost felt like the man was a hand god. Slowly she became inducted in the ranks making friends with other mob members and associates, most prominently Katarina Vorshevsky, Nina Kurylenko, Katya Makarova, and Yuri Yuditsky. It was alongside Yuri she developed her fascination with weaponry, spending nearly all her free time down in his vault customizing guns, taking them apart altering them, adapting their make-up until she knew each weapon she carried like the back of her hand.

Though no bond could replace that which she had with her family. Vladimir was the one person in the world Ivanna had blind faith in, she’d never known anyone as compassionate or strong as him, in her eyes, her big brother could do no wrong. The kind of respect he garnered, the way he carried himself was all she someday hoped to be as well. So when that pillar of strength was taken from her, the woman truly splintered and was set on a path to becoming the ruthless and cunning assassin she is today. After Vladimir’s death, Ivanna retreated into herself she’d never been the most talkative person to begin with, but afterward, for a time, she was nearly mechanical after finding that to be the only way to temper her rage and keep that desire to set all of Valence ablaze at bay. The reign of death that followed in Valence satiated her to some extent but she could never entirely get over the fact the knowledge that the man who pulled the trigger still lived.

And that was her state of mind when the prodigal son arrive in Launceston, Konstantin Vorshevsky. As Konstantin began to imbed himself into a position of leadership in Launceston and their interactions became more frequent, he recognized her potential and also her place of vulnerability that was her festering anger and frustration over her brother’s death. He knew all the right words, his disposition so charming and magnanimous she found herself entranced by all he could offer her. It wasn’t long after that she found herself in a new position within the Bravta, Konstantin all but had to nudge her in the right direction, at his side. His promises meant everything, and she proved herself more than capable of his ‘expectations’ of her. It was as if he’d tapped into that girl who’d made a promise to herself that one day she would no longer be weak, her evolution was her finding a way to keep that promise to herself.

Ivanna Dmitrieva has now been an assassin for the Russian mob for a little under four years. In that time she’s racked up a formidable body count, though with relative anonymity in the beginning. She hadn’t ever had a clear job title in her many years in the organization, people just knew of the skills she brought to the table, most of her tasks more niche coming from Aleksandr and his right hand as discretion was always her strong suit. Though she’s never been one to openly claim her kills and the like, she doesn’t enjoy the luxury of anonymity as much these days in Launceston most of all since word tends to get around.

Stealth, discretion and near surgical precision is her strong suit. The work she did prior too, molding her modus operandi considerably, having been a bounty hunter she knows how to get in and out undetected, to adapt and blend in, even her major in college contributing to her repertoire with her proficiency in many languages not native to her. She’s also keen in often staging her kills to look like an accident. Less about the theatrics and more about getting the job done efficiently, Konstantin’s secret weapon. And of course, her most promising asset being that much like her brother, she is known to be loyal to a fault, as long as her morale isn’t at compromise.

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS:

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single. Antonio Ancelotti (ex-boyfriend, unplayable) FAMILY: Nikolay Dmitriev, Lidya Dmitrieva (parents, deceased), Vladimir, Ivan Dmitriev (brothers, deceased), Maxim, Nikolai Dmitriev (brothers), Vasily Fyodorov (nephew), Lily Mae Dmitrieva (niece, unplayable), Anya Vetrov (sister, unplayable), Andrei, Eduard Vetrov (nephews), Natalya Vetrova (niece, unplayable) CONNECTIONS:

Maksim Kurylenko: The Complication.  Despite not getting off on the best foot when they met years ago, Maksim and Ivanna developed a good working relationship over time stemming from their appreciation for each other’s competencies. A short while before Maksim made the move to London their relative friendship developed to something more. They never put any label on the relationship, though it was gradually progressing. All that came to halt when they came to a disagreement on how to handle a civilian who’d witnessed them in action. Ivanna was certain there were other ways of making her disappear and not talking, while Maksim didn’t want to take any chances. And though they decided not to take any drastic measures, he did so behind her back anyway. They fought, and she was very upset, not speaking to him for a bit. In this time he had to move to London. Leaving things up in the air.

Noa Halévy: Enemy. The moment they learned what faction the other belonged to was the moment they stopped liking each other. In another life, who knows, they could’ve been friends. In Launceston over the past few years, the two have a streak going with bodies piling up on both sides; one of the rare instances Ivanna’s directly involved herself in a personal rivalry.

[scripted-dalliances]

Rest in Peace: Chapter Fourteen

Title: Rest In Peace

Chapter: 14

Summary: A part of Faithless Fairy Tale, a more in depth look at how they brought Laura back to life. Appearance of old faces, creation of new ones and if you’re looking for canon, it left a long, long time ago. If you squint you might be able to see some pieces from the book.

“As the Bacchae knew, we always tear our Gods to bits, and eat the bits we like.” -Adam Gopnik

+

Laura would spit fire if she could.

“How,” It's not even a question, she's too mad for it to be anything but a wanton demand of a child. “Please tell me where the fuck are the directions on that, cause so far, no one seems to know and google isn't bringing anything up.”

For her credit, Isis doesn't look offended as she should at Laura's indignant rage. Instead she leans back and seemingly thinks long and hard about her next words as Laura moves to pace the room. 

“You have already started the process.” Isis points out, “When I touched you, that was just a bit of light that was already in you. Not a lot, admittedly but it was there. Whatever you've been doing to foster that, I suggest keep doing it.”

Laura cuts a look at Sweeney. He looks ready to throw himself out the nearest window. She almost wants him to try so she could have a reason to throttle him.

“And If I said whatever that was...was dangerous?” Laura starts and Sweeney stills.

Isis raises a brow, “I would question if your life wasn't worth it.”

Fuck.

Laura sits down. This time, nearer to the leprechaun than the goddess. After a long, silent moment, she ends up elbowing Sweeney in the side. Forcing him to squawk and swear like a too tall chicken who just had their feathers pulled out.

“Fuck you, Dead Girl!”

“Tell her!”

“I repeat, Fuck you!”

Laura’s features twist in anger and so she twists his flesh between her fingers.

“FUCK!”

“Tell her or I will personally make you the first man in the world to be sent to the emergency room for a purple nurple!”

“Fine!” Mad Sweeney huffs, obviously knowing she wasn't kidding. He takes a deep breath, nervously pats his thighs and then sadly attempts to pretend this isn't a big deal. Fooling absolutely no one. “I...that is to say...We entered a sort of deal with the other, yea?”

“Well, that doesn't sound shady as fuck.” Laura whispers sarcastically mainly to herself, before addressing Isis. “I figured if I gave him a boost belief, it would in a round about way make the coin stronger. In turn making me last a little longer in the world until he could find someone to bring me back. Payment would be that I would be a full time lucky charms pusher. Spread the word, write a book or a blog. New faith without the new gods.”

“Except, the words you used were, If you believe in me, I'll believe in you.”

Isis makes a small noise of smothered laughter. “Oh.”

“Oh what?” Laura needles, but Isis isn't looking at her. She's looking over to Mad Sweeney who has all but curled up on himself. Crossing his arms across his chest and slouching so far down that his stupidly long legs hit the edge of the end table before them.

The longer Isis stares, the more fidgety Sweeney gets.

Laura begins to get nervous. “He said it connected us. Two sides of the same coin, believer and belief.”

“He isn't wrong, but that's when he assumed that coin was his magic and his magic alone. He wouldn't have any idea that it was any other way would he? That it was your power awakening, transferring and building on his luck. Only that it isn't just luck and…let me guess, that the bond is already proving to be stronger than anticipated?” Isis questions sweetly at the leprechaun and Mad Sweeney’s shoulders twitch and then like lightning the answer becomes clear to her and only her, “Ohhhh.”

“I wish you'd stop making that damned noise.” Sweeney bitches, shoulders practically past his ears.

Isis ignores him and gives Laura her attention, “It's a dangerous thing, bringing back the dead. Involves a lot of...work, not just faith.” She says the word with an implied tone of importance. “Power a part of it, will another. Just like a body is made up of a complicated set of inter-working organs, the spirit is much of the same. I am not as strong as I used to be, I can not fill and replace all the parts you have lost and need, Laura. Not by myself, the only person who can is you. Still,” Isis gives her a blinding smile.“ I can help, if you'd like. You just have to trust me a little.”

Laura does not trust that smile, but she finds herself nodding.

+

“It will cost you.” Isis says after Laura agrees to give whatever the Goddess has in mind a try. They are moving on from above the casino. Now on their way into the belly of the building, under the hard earth to places she never knew existed when she worked here. It's not a maze, but it's long winding tunnels of hallways do not make it easy to traverse unless you know where you are going. So Mad Sweeney and Laura stick close to the small woman.

“I'm willing to pay whatever you want.” Laura bluntly admits, and Sweeney glares down at her.

Those are pretty dumb words to promise around gods, after all.

“It is not me you'll be paying.” Isis points out, just a tad gleeful. “I think you still work under the impression that things happen without a reason.”

Laura crosses her arms, “Sometimes things do.”

“No, not every single thing comes about due to godly intervention. A lot of it is just the natural order and chaos of the world fighting for bites of the same bone but there is always a reason, be it kind or cruel. Bad or good, for life or death. There is, as your tall friend said, two sides of the coin when it comes to anything in this universe. And the universe needs a bit of order, just as much as it needs a bit of chaos to keep going after all, but if you are clever enough to know how both work, you can use it to give you what you want.”

“You have to play the game to get a chance to win.” Sweeney gruffly replies, as they turn a corner to another long stretch of hall way. No windows or doors, for what seems like miles. This far deep, it feels like they are taking a stroll right into hell. “My coin, is what has been helpin' her to win so far then?”

Isis nods, “Helping, but it isn't going to bring her back on it's own, there are limits. We need something bigger, and the universe will not give you life for nothing, it will want it's pound of flesh and if you aren't careful...it will take more than that.”

Laura frowns, feels like she is hearing the equivalent of fine print. “I don't mind paying, like I said. Whatever this stupid universe wants, that it hasn't already taken, it can have. Just as long as it isn't me on my hands and knees married to Jesus or something.”

Mad Sweeney snorts deliberately in Laura's direction, and she finds herself making a pinching motion towards him as a threat to keep him from speaking. Whatever stupid little comment he wants to make, he can keep buried.

“It's about balance.” Isis says in finality on the subject as their journey comes to an end, leading them into a large ballroom of white marble. It holds no decoration, no elaborate lighting but it's otherworldly in it's shadowed brightness. Isis allows them a moment to take it in, hands on hips as she looks up. There in the distance above them, is a glass ceiling, framing the moon. In the daylight, Laura imagines it is even more impressive.

Across the room, awaits a familiar face.

“Yo.” Laura greets the god of death. Anubis frowns at her lack of respect but gestures with his head a small nod of sorts.

“Laura Moon.”

“McCabe, actually. You and your brother's did top notch work but it still couldn't keep my marriage alive.”

For his credit, the god of death seems to acknowledge his misdoings. Managing to look both apologetic at her and then pointedly at Mad Sweeney, “Not every man can handle death easily.”

“Oi, don't be lookin' at me like that, death breath.” Sweeney snaps, irritated but  it is mostly because of  his new nervous state of being. This is dangerous game after all, with big bad gods of old, the kind even Odin was careful not to fuck with. “I ain't exactly been happy to deal with her, and her smell of rot up my nose.”

“Fuck you.” Laura squeezes in before Anubis also replies with a, “Yes, we will have to deal with that.” at the same time. Making Isis chuckle and sweep her way over to him. Slipping her hand in his, making Anubis tilts his attention back down to her.

Standing next to each other, they look nothing alike. Not like Horus did to her, but there is enough love in Anubis's gaze that it's not even a question that he does so like a son would a mother.

“We need to prepare her body, Nephthys is back and will assist you.” Isis says, and if he's offended by the demand, he doesn't show it. “Laura, if you would. Please follow Anubis. Mad Sweeney, come with me?” She gestures on wards to another seating area. This time far more lavish, in thick pillowed low couches and soft surfaces of every kind littered about. It looked like a set of a roman orgy, minus all the players.

For his worth, Mad Sweeney doesn't automatically sit down, first he glances at the dead girl and waits patiently. He hasn't forgotten her words from earlier, when he tried to obey Isis by leaving her. This time, Laura seems to have accepted their parted ways.

“Don't do anything to fuck this up for me, Ginger minge.”

“Make sure they remove all the maggots, Dead girl.”

Laura flips him the bird, and he watches her walk away.

>

[eternalsterekrecs]

Hiii could you rec some fics where Derek is Stiles's boss plz. Love this blog by the way you guys do an amazing job :D

Hey! Thank you so much! We actually have a hidden tag for BOSS DEREK you can enjoy but here, have some other recs!

BOSS DEREK

Alpha Magazine ‘Verse by WhoNatural

(AKA, the Ugly Betty AU where Stiles is totally Betty)

Stiles thinks he’s finally getting a break when a job at the sleek, sophisticated, Alpha Magazine opens up - but soon realises he’s not going to be writing anything and instead is playing tutor-slash-babysitter to their new Editor-in-Chief. Derek’s spoiled, grumpy, in way over his head...and so painfully attractive it makes Stiles want to lick his face. So there’s very little choice in the matter.

“Totally not like that,” he maintains, “It’s not like we’re Bond and Moneypenny.”

Scott gives him an excited grin, chuckling. “Dude, you’re totally his Miss Moneypenny!” he says, eyes wide like the world just finally started to make sense. “You’re the only one who won’t sleep with him even though you’re dying to.”

i wish i had a river by thepsychicclam

Derek is the editor of a successful publishing firm, and is horrible to all his employees, including Stiles. On Christmas Eve night, he gets visited by three spirits and has to take a look at his life.

aka A Sterek Christmas Carol

Dare by Inell

Stiles performs a private show for a new client

Help Wanted (But Not Really) by reillyblack

"Stiles, I'll clear up your confusion about the position. Derek here needs someone to live with him. He's a difficult person to live with, so I won't sugarcoat that. But his responsibilities at the company right now make it impossible for him to actually take care of himself and his home. That would be your job," Laura explained.

Both Stiles and Derek objected at the same time.

accidentally? by bibliosexual

BOSS: “know why I called you in here?”ME: “because I accidentally sent you a dick pic”BOSS [stops pouring 2 glasses of wine]: “accidentally?”

yup.

Or, in which Derek receives a surprising email one morning.

Double Negatives by i_am_girlfriday

Derek is a high powered lawyer, and a born and bred Upper East Sider. Stiles is a broke actor who’s grateful to land a full time job as Derek’s newest assistant. Their working relationship is one hundred percent professional...except for when it's not.

only if for a night by stilinskisparkles

“I’m Stiles,” he says breathlessly.

“Derek.”

“Derek, hi, do you—”

Derek doesn’t let him finish, kisses the words right out of his mouth.

discord and rhyme by orestes

Derek doesn’t tell Stiles he’s proud of him. He doesn’t say that sales have gone up lately, and it’s probably this Twitter account’s doing. Instead, he settles his hand on the small of Stiles’s back and tentatively rests it there. “Not bad,” he says. “For a rookie.”

dancing shoes by redhoodedwolf

Derek Hale is the most ruthless ballet instructor in Northern California. Rumor has it that Abby Lee Dance Company along with the show Dance Moms were looking to collaborate, even give him his own show, and he turned them down.Stiles isn’t so sure about the Dance Moms rumor, but he does know that Derek Hale is a force to be reckoned with, because the man glares at him the entire time Stiles is interviewing for the position of studio receptionist. It’s not the glamorous dance teacher job he’s been dreaming of, but it’s a step up. If he gets hired, he’ll be working alongside the Hale family, one of the most well known names in dance. Just even having that title on his resume will allow him to be a shoe-in anywhere he wants.He just has to, yanno, not die under the force of Derek Hale’s glare.

12 Days of Hale Publishing by relenafanel

Something must have poked his Christmas Spirit. It might be the way Hale was watching the proceedings with a scowl on his face, unable to hide what was clear derision. Earlier, his eyes had lifted when Stiles entered the work pen with the presents, and Stiles had been under the impression he had been vaguely pleased. The only thing Stiles could think of that would make someone such a gloomy grump was not getting a gift.

“What?” Hale asked, staring at him through the glass wall that made up the part of his office facing the work area.

“I’ve got something for you!” Stiles said, waving the small rectangular present as he walked in.

“That’s not mine,” Mr. Hale said, staring at the box like it offended him. Then he stared at Stiles like he was offending him more. “You’ve made a mistake.”

“No mistake, sir. It’s a special delivery from magical Hale Holiday Elves.” Stiles gestured to his head. “See the hat. A man wearing this hat makes no mistakes.”

Be the Life of the Party by Mimiminaj

His father’s face suddenly turned serious again.

“He is twenty four though, son. I don’t care if his smile shits rainbows and his laugh births puppies. You are his employee. It would be bad to cross those lines during your first job. Or ever.”

Stiles’ face hit the table.

“I hate my life,” he moaned.

Scott laughed cheerfully. “Don’t worry sheriff! It sounds to me like the entire cinema staff feels the same. Stiles doesn’t stand a chance with Derek!”

“Scratch that,” Stiles mumbled into the wood. “I hate you two more.”

Or – Stiles starts working at the movie theater. His boss is Derek.

Driving Mr. Derek by I_JustWokeUp

Derek no longer has a license to drive. So Laura steps in and hires fresh-out-of-college-with-useless-major Stiles Stilinski to drive him around.

An experiment, also, with intersped images and text.

My Taco Sparkles by butyoureyessaidyes

The first time he sees Stiles Stilinski, the kid’s on his hands and knees in Derek’s office.

--

Or the one where Derek has to battle corporate espionage, meddling family members, clothing turned choking hazards, and inappropriate feelings for his obscenely attractive new intern.

Help Wanted (But Not Really) by reillyblack

"Stiles, I'll clear up your confusion about the position. Derek here needs someone to live with him. He's a difficult person to live with, so I won't sugarcoat that. But his responsibilities at the company right now make it impossible for him to actually take care of himself and his home. That would be your job," Laura explained.

Both Stiles and Derek objected at the same time.

it’s free (and always will be) by kellifer_fic & maichan808

Stiles starts looking around, like there's someone who'll rescue him from this painfully awkward situation and Derek can't blame him. All he can think is this is some kind of elaborate prank Laura is playing on him after she'd found his pile of Fangboy back copies last month.

Or, the one where Derek has to marry a human to save Clawbook and it turns out to be Stiles. He's completely doomed.

accidentally? by bibliosexual

BOSS: “know why I called you in here?”ME: “because I accidentally sent you a dick pic”BOSS [stops pouring 2 glasses of wine]: “accidentally?”

yup.

Or, in which Derek receives a surprising email one morning.

[eleiszon-blog]

Extradimensional Chess (1/3)

Following is an analysis of Cooper’s journey, concerning the moves made by the Fireman, MIKE, The Arm and his doppelganger from Parts 1 and 2.  The moves of BOB/Mr. C (and Cooper through Part 3) are discussed in this entry regarding 'bad electricity', Naido, Diane and the genesis of Droolcoop and thus will not be reiterated here. The first scene of The Return is a chronologically ambiguous conversation between the Fireman and Dale Cooper. Many posit this occurs near the series’ end. I think it occurs exactly where it seems: Before everything else. This sequence is, like the original Red Room sequence, a dream which Lodge entities are using to pass information to Dale. And much like the Red Room ‘dream’, these cryptic remarks serve to embed key ideas and intuitions into Dale’s subconscious for the future.  ------------------------------------------------------- Many believe that “It” is JUDY. I am inclined to believe this and what’s more, the color scheme here being monochromatic even in present-time scenes suggests as much. This color scheme is very much associated to the Woodsmen of Part 8 (when the bomb rouses the Experiment) and to the Dutchman’s during The Return when JUDY’s influence is wreaking such havoc on Earth. And this hints at the actual agenda of the Fireman: It’s not good versus evil. It’s balance. His concern only arises now as JUDY’s influence is growing too great. Even in Part 8, his moves are only reactionary - his attempt is to even the scales, not obliterate the other end of them. Consider that a fireman’s function is not to just douse any fire. A fireman’s function is strictly and only to douse fires that run beyond reasonable control. Light a candle: No problem. Candle ignites a curtain then a room then eventually a whole building: Problem.

The Fireman warns that some things cannot be said aloud. Yet, he is saying them aloud, isn’t he? Many think this refers to why he is speaking cryptically but Lodge entities have always done that regardless. Rather, I believe communication through dreams like this services as a sort of encryption. It cannot be spied upon or stolen by means supernatural. This is what the Fireman refers to here.

This is the clue which later allows Cooper to know precisely how far to drive with Diane. 430 miles.

The next two phrases key in to details of the ‘alternate’ timeline near the series end. The Fireman plants these into Dale’s mind to enable him to remember - in the event that this outcome should occur - who he is on both lines and what his goal has been (”I’m trying to kill two birds with one stone”). The time-split outcome is not certain, only possible, but a solid strategist thinks ahead.

This final phrase presumably wakes Cooper from his dream back into the Waiting Room. He is far away. Indeed, he was never actually in the Fireman’s room at all. This may also double as advice that he is “far away” from his goal of locating JUDY - we’ll cover more of that later.

MIKE (who has apparently permanently absconded with Philip Gerard’s flesh, presumably damning the man’s soul to some limbo) appears beside Cooper. The old line confusing past and future. Indeed, that question is more relevant here than ever -- and in the end, perhaps not relevant at all.

Next, he refers to a ‘someone’. The immediate arrival of the Blonde Girl (who, as previously noted, is the semi-assimilated Lodge spirit of Laura Palmer) would suggest that he is referring to her but I think he’s referring to Hawk. Hawk’s early-series arrival upon Glastonbury Grove is a matter of debate but I believe it coincides with Dale’s later exit and reunion with Diane. Hawk was witnessing the gate opening from across linear time thus he saw the red curtains but neither of the people involved. MIKE, being a Lodge entity, is likely to perceive across this temporal gap.

The Blonde Girl tells Cooper he can leave now. As we discover shortly, this attempted exit is thwarted by less cooperative forces than these two.

She inquires about Dale’s recognition faculties and declares herself Laura Palmer. Dale, confused, says that Laura Palmer is dead. (Note: He never had this issue all the other times he talked to her before The Return but okay.)

She declares herself dead yet also alive. This may refer to her future potential incarnation as Carrie, or her ongoing life in the Lodge. 

She removes her face. Brilliant white light. The pure light of the White Lodge. This calls back to her grandiose origin per my entry on Part 8: She is Dido’s White Lodge essence transmuted and incarnated in a recurrent human form.

Dale asks when he can go. She whispers in Dale’s ear. We do not hear the words but we see and hear Dale’s reaction. It seemed shocked, a bit confused as well. Yet also nonchalant as if her words aren’t wholly unexpected. Just as MIKE referenced Hawk’s arrival at a chronologically-warped point and the Blonde Girl references the future possibility of Carrie, so I believe she here references the future possibility of Dale: “You have already gone.” This would not be too unexpected as Dale is by now accustomed to the temporal strangeness of this realm.

A hellish screaming as the Blonde Girl is ripped from the room. This moment is a mirror across possible worlds: The moment Laura grasps Dale’s hand in the woods in Part 17, the probability of the ‘Odessa’ outcome skyrockets. Laura does not die by BOB, does not enter the Lodge...The Blonde Girl is thereby removed from existence. “You have already gone...” 

The curtains blow back. The ominous white horse (not pictured) appears in the distance. This disturbance is a signal of the Arm’s doppelganger making its move. We’ll get to that shortly.

MIKE introduces ‘the evolution of the arm’. I believe all Black Lodge spirits ultimately evolve as such. The tree-like form is no coincidence: The final evolution for them all - even Laura and Dale, had they remained waiting - is to become Woodsmen, the pure-negative servitors of JUDY. I further view that the Arm has evolved more rapidly toward that doom because he is a mere arm, a smallish fragment of a whole spirit.

The Arm asks if Dale remembers his doppelganger. A flashback recalls how BOB traipsed out of the Lodge for good within the body of Dale’s doppelganger so many years ago.

This statement indicates that the reason Dale is still trapped is because his doppelganger remains free. Yet this is scheduled to change.

2:53 is repeatedly a time which coincides with interfacing between the worlds. The vortex portals, the attempted retrieval of BOB back into the Lodge, etcetera. 2 5 and 3 together make 10, noted by Dale as ‘the number of completion’. It is perhaps no coincidence then.

I think the Arm here is merely noting aloud that BOB is approaching his time. Indeed, when Dale leaves here, he witnesses through the curtains that BOB is speeding down the very road where the attempted transfer will occur...

The time is very near. Dale must be ready when it comes. He is sent off to watch from the curtains and wait for the moment.

The curtain will not budge. This is the Arm’s doppelganger’s doing. Dale moves to other rooms attempting to find the proper gate. He does not achieve this but he does stumble across...

Leland or, rather, the aspect of Dale’s shadow self manifested as Leland. As noted in this entry about Dale’s first Lodge trip, I believe all of these mimics are not doppelgangers but his shadow self manifested. It implores him to find Laura. Here, the shadow is his hero’s obsession. He will do this in time though the outcome is questionable.

Dale moves into a new room. This move is decidely abnormal. He doesn’t move the curtain but rather phases through as if being drawn in, accompanied by electrical light and static noise. His vision doubles and blurs. This is the Waiting Room becoming disrupted. The electricity, the current hijacked. I’ve discussed before the nature of direct and alternating current as it relates to the Lodges. Direct is good. Alternating is bad. The Waiting Room’s current has been switched to AC, instigating a limbo state. This connects the Waiting Room to the Void - in preparation for dropping Dale into oblivion.

MIKE stumbles a bit, seemingly disoriented for a moment. Something is wrong indeed. They both sense the change.

What’s ‘wrong’ is that the Arm’s doppelganger is working to trap Dale. As I’ve discussed the ‘shadow self’ before, I’m going to fill in my take on doppelgangers real quick: Any entity in here has a doppelganger. A negative-energy imitation. I believe a doppelganger’s natural function (that is, excluding cases like Dale’s where BOB conspired to use the entity) is exactly negative/reverse in nature. Whatever the person desires, the doppelganger operates to opposite ends. The Arm wants to get Dale back into the world so his doppelganger wants to trap Dale out of it. It is not a willful malice, merely the nature of a doppelganger.

The Arm’s doppelganger shows at last. It appears fairly similar but is decidedly more menacing of form and gesture. Its limbs whip about in a frenzy. It screeches in fury as Dale finds the curtain overlooking the road Mr. C is driving - this is where he would go out.

The floor splits. Courtesy of the doppelganger’s prior moves, this opens directly into the Void. Dale falls, tumbling through the black. He has in effect been cast from ‘existence’. The Void is a space outside of being. He’ll surely never get home now - a precision clash against the Arm’s intent to get him back to Earth.

Dale lands upon the mysterious Glass Box that Mr. C built. He is pulled into the box. This occurs shortly before the demise of Sam and Tracy, being out of chronological sequence with the earlier scene of their deaths.

He floats, weightless. Some say a 5 is visible in the window behind him, suggesting a Lodge portal. I am ambivalent to that notion. Maybe though.

Amidst an ominous rumble, the box begins to...Protest. It stretches its space far beyond the back wall, shifting erratically to and fro. Dale is “non-existent”. He is not supposed to be in the box. He can’t be in the box. The box exists. This distortion of its space, multiplied replication of its inner chamber back into a distance which is not actually there, is essentially the universe warping and striving to shrug off this paradox. And it does. As the chamber extends back into a space which is not there, Dale is pulled back into that space (thus also becoming, again, ‘not there’) and cast once more into the infinite Void. Non-exist-ent. (Part 2 will regard later moves involving Cooper, MIKE and Jeffries.)

[imagine-loki]

The Baseborn Princess and the Aesir Prince

TITLE: The Baseborn Princess and the Aesir Prince

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 9 AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a bastard daughter of a king of a far-off realm, the product of his drunken loneliness at battle. His guilt of cheating on his wife drove him to send you to live on Midgard, but due to the fact that his other children (and his wife) adore you, you’re often invited to visit. RATING: Teen and Up

Clodagh did not seek out Loki, instead, she sat thinking through her thoughts. Sike loved and cared for her as he did her sister and brothers, he named her and told her of her mother, but was it all enough? Part of her wanted to say no, that he never showed her, but she knew his guilt, it had been him admitting to it in private when she was a child to his brother, her uncle, that caused her to manifest such guilt for how she had ruined the family. She never told anyone, but one night, after a terrifying dream, she had thought to go to Sika, the innocence of youth causing her to think her father, like the fathers in the stories she read, would protect her from the scary nightmares. She got to the corridors outside his and Lydia’s rooms when she heard him speaking to Njall regarding her. Njall stated she should be cast out, sent to some realm like Midgard to stop shaming Sika and his family, but Sika declined, saying it was not right, the shame would only be added to now the realm knew of her and were she to not be seen again after, they could be forced to deal with insidious accusations as to where she had gone. That it was better to just have the shame that was, people seemed to see it just as some silly fling on a battlefield resulting in a bastard, nothing more. Hearing that, that had been when she realised just how different she was to the others she called her siblings, why Eoin looked at her oddly, the oldest of the king’s children seemed to spend long periods of time just watching but he ceased and started treating her like he did Amelia after a day that Njall spoke to her. She could not remember what he said, but it was the last time she ever saw her uncle.

She frowned as she knew her uncle was alive and well, she heard of him in news several times as recent as the past year, but there was no sign of him when she was around. She knew she was not around too often at the palace, but she never saw him as she used to. Curiosity got the better of her and she went in search of her eldest brother. She found him in his rooms with his family, his wife Brie, sitting with their young son Stefan on her lap, as soon as he saw her he stretched out his arms for her to take him. Remembering what Sika said about the children adoring her, she smiled at him and took him.

‘Are you okay?’ Eoin looked at her worriedly.

‘I wanted to ask you something.’ He nodded. ‘Uncle Njall.’ Eoin’s jaw clenched. ‘What happened?’

‘Why?’

‘Eoin, please, just be honest, what happened, why has he not been at the palace when I was there since I was young?’

‘Brie, can you go to another room with Stefan for a minute, please.’ Brie did as he asked and left the room. ‘When you were younger, Njall wanted to have you sent away.’

‘I know, I remember hearing him, Midgard.’

‘Yes, Father never wanted it, he never admitted it, but he wanted you kept with us.’

‘He told me.’

‘Just now?’ She nodded. ‘Yeah, he didn’t know how to tell anyone and he felt guilty, but he didn’t want you gone, he locked himself in his rooms for a month when you were moved out of the palace.’ She frowned. ‘You were moved out when you were three hundred, you lived in it before that, just in a different set of rooms. But Njall, he saw you as a disgrace, so when Father would not cast you out, he took matters into his own hands. He realised Father loved you and wanted you with us, so he took you.’ She stared in shock. ‘Yes, he got as far as the gateway when Father’s guards caught him. Do you remember any of this?’ She shook her head. ‘Yes, you were quite young and you had no reason to not trust him, he was banned from the palace since.’

‘Oh.’

‘What happened after we left? Between you and Father.’

‘He explained himself, as best he could, about everything.’

‘And?’

‘And what, he explained himself, he didn’t have to.’

‘You needed to know, Mother and I knew it, I went snooping at his books one day, Liam was there too, and I found our books,  we wanted to look at our achievements that he noted, our pictures, yours was there, as detailed as mine. I actually found out your birthday from that, I never knew it beforehand. He cares about you, Clods, he just….with Mother….’

‘Yeah, he said.’

‘So, when am I getting another Brother-In-Law?’

‘You have one now? How long were we talking?’ Eoin laughed at her joke. ‘I don’t know.’

‘He clearly likes you, a lot, and you like him, so what is the issue?’

‘I am not meant for this life, I am a cottage in a forest type person, not a huge palace in a city person.’

Eoin sighed, knowing that Clodagh did indeed prefer the country. ‘So, are you going to decline him?’

‘I think I might have to.’ She nodded, sniffing as she did.

‘But you don’t want to?’

‘No.’

‘Only you could end up in this mess, Clods.’ He joked.

‘I am nothing but trouble.’

Eoin’s smile fell. ‘Stop that. You are not trouble, you never were; so cease that right now. Norns, the amount of times Mother said she wished we could be as good as you were, you were the well behaved one.’

*

Clodagh wandered the gardens for a while, not talking to anyone, thinking over what was her history, the history she had been utterly oblivious to. She heard a snort and found herself smiling as she turned around but her smile fell again. There behind her was Mortimer, in the arms of Loki.

‘Which of us are you unhappy to see?’ Loki asked, though he felt he knew the answer.

‘Neither, I am just so confused right now, the idea of speaking to another is difficult.’

‘Then we have two options, I leave or I remain as moral support but remain silent unless spoken to.’

‘I would like the latter.’

‘Then the latter it is.’ Loki gave a single nod. ‘After I gloat at how he likes me now, of course.’

Clodagh gave a small laugh. ‘It’s not hard to.’ she turned and began to walk again.

For half an hour, they paced the gardens, without a word, when finally, Clodagh sat under a tree, Loki remained standing looking at her, her face telling him she wanted to talk. ‘So, I take it you decline?’

‘I am not well suited to this, I will embarrass and humiliate you and the circumstances of my existing, I do not want you to wonder every time I speak to someone that I am being untoward with them.’

Loki took a moment to process what she was saying. ‘On the first point, I can argue that your severe lack of the usual princess etiquette was the first thing that drew me to you, you genuinely could not be any more different and that is how I knew there could be only you, and secondly, no, you being the result of Sika and your mother’s actions does not cast doubt on you, I see how you are about it, I know how you are about it, I know you would never consider such a thing.’

‘Genevieve.’

‘What?’

‘My mother’s name is Genevieve.’

‘That’s a really nice name.’ Loki commented.

Clodagh nodded. ‘And I am called after the Clodagh because of its meaning to Alfheim.’

‘Did Sika tell you this?’ She nodded. ‘Well, at least now you know. The Clodagh is integral to sustaining life on Alfheim, no Clodagh, no Light Elf home. She must have thought you meant the world.’

‘She didn’t name me.’ Loki frowned. ‘Sika did.’

‘I thought on Alfheim….’

‘She didn’t survive the birth, she never even knew if I made it.’ Loki sat beside her and put an arm around her in support, Mortimer trundled onto her lap. ‘I am so mixed up right now.’

‘I’m here.’ Loki stated.

‘I...I don’t want to say yes or no, not until I know what’s going on in my head.’

‘Then say nothing, for now, take your time. I don’t want to scare you away, I’ll wait, happily.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

‘He loves me, apparently. But he never knew how to show it.’

‘To love you, in his mind, was to disrespect Lydia further, it is like that silly voice in your head that tells you that you are an embarrassment, the voice in his says that Lydia was hurt enough.’

‘He cast out my uncle because he tried to have me taken away and raised elsewhere for being an embarrassment.’

‘He has his faults, but your father does seem to love you. He was hurt by what Laura said, he felt angry, but he remained silent, which you cannot do. A king cannot stay silent against injustice, I think many will be very much frowning on his behaviour. And do not feel guilty for that, that was his choice.’

‘I just….I wonder where I belong, do you ever feel like that?’

‘Yes.’ Loki answered immediately. ‘I have the war hero father, and a brother who will be king, who is revered as a great warrior and man’s man and I am a smaller, lithe seidr wielder, they are not what people want or expect of Aesir royal men. I am sick of my brother’s shadow and I want to find my own place, I am not him.’

‘We’re both a little lost.’

‘Well, it’s better to be lost with another.’ Loki shrugged.

Clodagh looked at him analytically. ‘Loki?’ He looked at her. ‘Do you...what do you really think about me?’

Loki’s neck and ears went pink. ‘Well, I kissed you, so you know I like you.’ He stated, his voice tight. ‘I...I like you a lot.’ He admitted before looking into her richly coloured brown eyes. ‘Your spirit, your nature, your joy, you make me actively seek out your company, I want to be around you as much as possible. I love seeing you smile, seeing you talk about animals, and when you interact with them…’ He looked to Mortimer, who was happily dozing on her lap. ‘I realise it, that I love you.’

[theoddcatlady]

Channel

My father was in a car accident two and a half years ago and he’s never been the same since.

It was awful. For six months he was in a coma, and when he woke up, there was nothing left inside. He couldn’t talk. Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t even shit by himself. It was a living nightmare to see my once loving, passionate father turned into a stranger.

My twin sister Ruby and I set up our schedules to make it work. I’m a trained nurse, I can handle the more medical side of thing, and when I’m gone Ruby will step in and keep it together.

My mother never even entered the room he stayed in.

Don’t get me wrong, my parents weren’t awful to one another. My father put their relationship as ‘comfortable’ before the accident. But not happy. And once the man I knew as dad was gone she saw no reason to have anything to do with him. Several times my sister and I have had to cancel dates, meetings, and even had to stay home from family reunions because my mother refused to so much as look at her husband.

That’s what made it harder when two months ago Dad turned to me and said the first words since the accident.

I don’t even remember what I was doing in there, maybe I was getting ready to spoon feed him dinner, maybe I just wanted to tell him how my day was going, but he turned towards me. This wasn’t a simple reaction to stimuli, it was an active movement. Then he spoke.

“Laura? I’d like to speak to Laura, now.”

I remember screaming and crying before I realized I had no fucking idea who ‘Laura’ was.

My mom was the only one home, and she rushed down the stairs to get into the bedroom. She froze at the threshold and stared at my father.

My father scowled, an expression I never remember him making. He shook his head. “There’s no Laura here? I guess I’ll leave,” He sniffed before the light went out of his eyes.

No matter how much I tried, begged, my father did not respond. He was gone.

But he never was really there in the first place.

The next day when I checked my phone during lunch break I had missed 16 texts and three calls from Ruby. Even my mother had sent me a few very poorly typed out text messages.

Apparently our great grandmother, my brother, and several other people had spoken through my father. All of them having died months or years before.

I was a mix of anger and let down. My father clearly needed to be checked into the nearest hospital and reevaluated, perhaps this was his way of his mind making sense of the world again.  I was resolving on a proper scolding once I got home.

Of course, work ran late and when I got home I immediately went to bed.

The next morning I was woken by my mother and her friends sitting around my father, drinking tea and asking if they could talk to their dead loved ones.

It took all of my self-control not to kick all these women out and to start screaming at my mother, but the longer I stood at the threshold, the more eerie the situation became.

One of the ladies, I think her name was Marguerite, asked to speak with her grandfather while twittering and laughing away. My father blinked a few times before he shouted, his voice several octaves lower than I’d ever heard.

“Bitch! Don’t test us! Your grandfather’s still alive, although not for much longer by the looks of it. Not that you’d mind, damn cunt you are, you’re just content to sit on your fat arse while he wonders when he’ll get so much as a damn phone call!”

My father’s American. We’d not even travelled over to Britain. Yet his accent was as thick as someone born in London.

Marguerite went pale as a ghost before fleeing from the room. The rest of the ladies were horrified, shaking and no longer gossiping around my father’s now vegetative form.

It was then I began to believe there was something more than just a half destroyed mind babbling whatever nonsense came to it.

My mother was thrilled. She mostly asked to talk to Arnold. My brother had been in the car when my father had the accident and hadn’t made it. He was only sixteen. But all she had to do was ask for ‘Arnie’ and my father would start asking about how his old girlfriend was doing and if I’d ever gotten together with my secret boyfriend at the time, Craig.

Only Arnie knew about Craig. My mother was a bit of a control freak and knowing I was in a relationship would’ve driven us both to insanity. I rarely let anyone know that I was in a relationship, and although the thing with Craig had come to a halt after the accident, I still hadn’t told anyone.

I began to believe then. But my mother is what made me regret that belief.

Every day there was new people at the door, paying up to fifty dollars for just minutes to speak with a loved one that they’d lost. They’d walk out with wet eyes and smiles while my mother counted up the bills.

Ruby and I both objected to this. It wasn’t fair to Dad to use him like this. But my mother brushed us off and told us if we didn’t like it, then we might as well leave. And that was the last thing we wanted to do, leaving our mother alone with our poor Dad, god knew how much he was aware of.

I finally decided I wanted to use Dad’s ‘gift’. I wanted to talk to Arnie. Ask if he was in any pain.

It was around midnight when I crept into Dad’s room, only to find out Ruby was already there. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as my dad held onto her hand, stroking with his thumb. Almost like he used to do.

But then Ruby ripped away from him. “You fucking liar! Liar!” She screamed before she ran from the room, nearly running right into me. Our eyes locked, and she shook her head.

“Don’t. Don’t. Don’t do what you are planning on doing. Please, Rachel.”

Then she ran down the hall and I heard the front door slam. Her car peeled out of the driveway with a squeal of the tires and she was gone.

Dad’s face was twisted in a dark expression, and once I stepped across the threshold, I felt a heavy weight on my chest. I cleared my throat several times to try to make it go away, but even so I stepped closer to my dad’s bed.

I sat beside him.

“… Who are you?”

My dad slowly cocked his head to the side, studying me, before his lips curling into a smirk. “Hello, Rachel. You always were Dalton’s favorite, weren’t you? Oh, he loved Ruby and Arnie, but you were the apple of his eye,” He said in a high pitched falsetto, the kind that he used when he was channeling a female spirit.

This wasn’t any spirit though. In the flickering light of a candle near his bed, his eyes seemed to be red, the color of fresh cherries. His favorite fruit, I remembered.

I coughed again, the weight not leaving. “Who are you?” I asked again, more forcefully.

Dad’s eyebrows raised. “I’m your father, don’t be silly.”

I frowned. “No. Who are you? Answer me the truth,” I said.

Dad shook his head, and I saw a glimmer in his eyes. Almost like the father I once knew. “Well, I suppose you have me there. I’m not your father. I’m closer to who your father wanted to be though. Always looking in the mirror, feeling a dysphoric repulsion to his appearance but letting no one know… tell me, do you remember that time when you were six years old and caught your father sneaking in?”

Memories are such funny things. They’re unreliable, only tell one half of the story, and can so easily be forgotten and pushed away.

But being reminded of that night seemed to push away the cobwebs of my mind.

I’d gotten up because I’d peed the bed. I was a bedwetter as a child and rather risk the anger of my mother, I’d taken my PJs and sheets and put them in the wash, hopefully so she wouldn’t catch on. I’d learned how to do the laundry very early in life.

But I was on my way back when I heard the door close. My head jerked towards the front door.

My father was there, wearing strawberry colored gloss and a backless midnight blue dress. He nearly tripped on his heels as we locked eyes. We stayed very quiet. I felt like I’d seen something out of a cartoon or a movie and had no idea how to react.

My dad’s eyes grew sad before he, no, she reached into her clutch. She pulled out a butterscotch candy and held it out to me.

“This will be our secret, all right? Please… don’t tell your mother.”

I took the candy and unwrapped it. I loved butterscotches. The moment it was in my mouth the deal was sealed. I nodded and gave my father a tight hug.

The weight on my chest became unbearable. I was gasping and shaking my head. “Dad… what? What was happening that night?” I croaked, trying to force air down my lungs.

Dad held my hand, her eyes dead focused on mine just like the night I caught her sneaking home. “She wanted to be around people like her. She never cheated on your mother, credit to her name. Your father was a kind, loving woman who always wanted you to be happy. Your mother didn’t quite see it that way when she found out what Daddy dearest was doing at night. So, she cut the brake line. She didn’t know Daddy was going to take Arnie for a drive that day. Daddy was going to tell Arnie the truth, and then the car rolled, and Daddy flew off to heaven to be with the angels… but her body survived.”

I couldn’t breathe anymore. I coughed and desperately tried to inhale but it was like something was caught in my throat. My father’s hand wrapped around mine and suddenly the breath came easily, along with the bitterest sobs.

“Mom… Mom couldn’t have! She couldn’t have…” I gasped, my Dad shushing me as she rubbed my hand. Just like she used to when I was hyperventilating and couldn’t calm down.

“She did. She was going to cut off life support but you never gave up. She always resented your father when she found out the truth. Perhaps that resentment took even further root as your father took Arnie to the grave as well.”

I sobbed and buried my head into Dad’s chest, snot dripping from my nose as my father hushed me and smoothed my hair. I don’t know how long we remained like that, but finally I sat up, able to finally breathe normally again.

“… Who are you?” I asked for the final time.

Dad smiled.

“I’m your Friend, Rachel. How about we keep a little secret together? Do you know how to cut a brake line, love?”

I shook my head no.

“I’ll tell you how. It’ll be our. Little. Secret.”

‘Friend’ extended her hand, and unfolded it to reveal a butterscotch candy.

“Can you keep a secret, Rachel? Don’t tell your mother.”

I took the candy, twirled it between my fingers. Slowly undid the wrapping, pondering its golden color. Thinking about what I was going to do. Remembering what my mother did. And I popped it into my mouth.

[drsilverfish]

Twin Peaks: The Return - Unravelling Lynch’s Heterosexual Mystery

In one sense, there is no unravelling this text. Lynch sets out to resist “decoding”. His Jiāo dài or Judy, the malevolent spirit Major Briggs was on the trail of, translates from the Mandarin as “to explain” - Lynch’s joke about critics (”explainers”) as an “extreme negative force”. 

In another, Twin Peaks The Return is a canvass for Lynch to grapple once again with his passions, obsessions and motifs for the tragedy of heterosexual relations...

The new work is postmodern in its sensibility, just as the original Twin Peaks was, marrying pastiche and pathos, with a strong relationship to surrealism. However, The Return is postmodernism  on steroids.  Whilst Original Twin Peaks gently sent-up the soap opera and the detective genres, whilst making seductive use of their conventions (melodramatic love affairs, stoic heroes) in The Return Coop passes through melodrama, the gangster, Western and superhero movies on his way back to Twin Peaks. Lynch is comfortable riffing on the black-and-white surrealism of Jean Cocteau (see La Belle et La Bete, 1946) the ultra-violence of Tarantino (already a fan of pastiche himself) and the comic-book kid-on-a-mission staple, in the form of Freddie Sykes, the English lad with his magical green gardening glove which packs a superhero  punch.

La Belle et La Bete (Beauty and the Beast)

It is in Lynch’s portraits of men and women and the relations between them, that the real mystery lies.

In fact, Twin Peaks The Return is a heterosexual drama where an “impossibility” of relations between straight men and women is made mythic, and the roles often created between them by film tradition are the fabric of the interplay. The three girls in pink who act like ‘50s “dumb blondes”, attending to the needs of the comedic criminal Mitchum Brothers, the erotic thrill of Janey-E as Coop tells her he’s in control and will do the driving, Shelley’s daughter’s refusal to tell her parents about her boyfriend’s domestic abuse, her masochistic obedience to him, Agent Tammy Preston’s perfect pose as the younger, beautiful, somewhat icy female subordinate learning from her wise male elders, Diane’s trauma as she sleeps with Coop and cannot but re-remember her rape by Dark Cooper (leading her to cover up Cooper’s face during the act), Cooper’s own relationship to Laura - he as a white knight on a quest to save her, she a damsel in distress. 

Lynch fetishises the dominance of men and the submission of women - Blue Velvet taught us that. Yet he worries at it, as a moral problem in the world, the problem of its attraction and repulsion (for him, and in male-dominated cinematic tradition) - the dark side of male violence and female battering as a mythic triumphing of Evil over Good. Yet one Lynch’s cinematic eye is forever  in thrall to. 

If Agent Cooper and Dark Cooper are “one and the same” (as the giant and the dwarf claim of themselves in the Red Room in the original Twin Peaks) if they are light (Dougie Coop being the extreme light manifestation, as an idiot sauvant) and shadow selves, with the final Coop,  who is called Richard, somewhere in the middle, then Lynch seems to be saying that violence towards women lies as a kernel of possibility at the heart of every man, even one as upstanding as Original Coop. And that violence, for Lynch, is always tied to sexual violence.  A dark possibility blooming at the heart of heterosexual relations.

��BOB’s mission is to feed on suffering (garmonbozia) and where women are concerned that means sexual suffering. As Leeland he rapes Laura. As Dark Coop he kills women in their underwear. Dark Coop, we learn, raped Diane. And given that Audrey appears to have been either in a coma or an asylum, and her monstrous son is also Dark Coop’s, it is strongly suggested he may have raped her too. Plus, what did happen to Annie? 

Both Diane and Audrey, twenty-five years after the events of the original Twin Peaks, are portrayed as bitter bitches. Their suffering at the hands of Dark Coop has soured them. Diane tells everyone to fuck off and Audrey treats her stoic husband (inside her coma/ dream-world) to an unending tirade of put-downs. Sarah Palmer’s suffering after learning of her husband’s rape and murder of their daughter has also led to her becoming monstrous, eventually apparently inhabited by Judy. 

It seems, for Lynch, that the evil that men do in turn, turns women into shrewish monsters.

 Laura Palmer’s saccharine beauty-queen photo - a blonde white teenage girl, presented as the embodiment of innocence, is actually framed by angels during her creation by The Fireman in The Return Part 8. She becomes a sort of passive Jesus figure, sent to earth by the White Lodge to “counter” the evil spirit of  BOB created by the Black Lodge.

Good vs Evil as feminine suffering vs masculine violence

But whilst BOB is self-aware in terms of his membership of the Black Lodge and his active, evil nature, and is capable of inhabiting different bodies, the Laura entity fully inhabits the body of Laura Palmer and does not seem to know she is an agent of the White Lodge. She only knows that she is born into a household where her father rapes her, from a young age.  Active masculine evil vs a more passive feminine suffering (although Laura successfully fights to stop BOB possessing her). 

Perhaps ultimately, Laura has been sent by the White Lodge  to recruit Coop to the eternal (infinity loop) fight against the Black Lodge, as manifested by Jiāo dài. Laura is the perfect lure for him - her beauty and her tragically corrupted innocence tap into his own tragic guilt about the death of Caroline, Windom Earl’s wife and the love of his life. Laura Palmer has been  perfectly designed to push Coop’s buttons.

Thus Laura  and Agent Cooper are chess pieces on a cosmic board, Queen and White Knight, like the game Coop was playing with Windom Earl in Original Twin Peaks.

The final shot of The Return, in which Laura  wears the velvet of a femme fatale and whispers in Coop’s ear in the Red Room,  while he looks transfixed with a kind of horror, signifies the Lynchian paradoxical paradigm of an eternal potential for corruption of men by women and women by men.

 Because, as part of Cooper’s recruitment process, he has unleashed Dark Cooper on the world for twenty-five years, destroying two women he cared for,  Diane and Audrey, in the process. And now, he has had to integrate part of that shadow self into his being (as manifested in Richard’s rather scary behaviour in Cafe Judy) in order to join the cosmic fight, as well as deliberately  reconnect Laura with her own suffering by bringing her back to the scene of her trauma, her parents’ house in Twin Peaks. 

Cooper is walking with fire now.

For Lynch, male/ female sexual and romantic relations seem to be a lightening rod for darkness, as well as,  forever, a poignant out-of-reach dream of transfiguration. 

“My dream, is to go, to the place, where it all began... on a starry night...” 

 They are the infinity loop of light and dark, in which there seems no choice but to play out endless gendered roles of dominance and submission, violence and trauma, a bitter seduction. 

Heterosexuality has never been darker.  

[alexanderwrites]

Thoughts Roundup - Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 16

“No knock, No doorbell”

There are moments in pop culture history that I always feel envious about - envious because I wish i’d been there to experience it them as they happened. I wish I could’ve seen Talking Heads perform live, I wish I could have seen The Shining in cinemas when it was first released, and I wish I could have watched the original run of Twin Peaks when it first aired. The thing about the desire to have experienced these things as they happened is directly tied to the environment they’re released into, and the effect they had on the public at the time. You can get the blu ray of Stop Making Sense, you can find The Shining screenings in independent cinemas, and you can buy the Twin Peaks boxset. But what I really want is to know what it felt like to see Twin Peaks every week, at a time when Dynasty and L.A Law were as exciting as TV got. I want to have been a part of those conversations that people had about the show. I want to know how people like my Mum felt when she watched it back in 1990 (for the record, she hated it. She’s got great taste, but Twin Peaks was decidedly too weird, according to her). 

I came along to Twin Peaks ten years ago, when the show had vanished from the conversation and was yet to have a second life thanks to the likes of Netflix and Hulu. David Lynch’s work was alien and exciting to me - I remember seeing a Fire Walk With Me VHS in HMV years before and asking my Mum just what it was. I remember seeing clips of Blue Velvet late at night and being terrified of it. And finally, I remember seeing clips from Twin Peaks’ last episode being featured on a countdown of the 100 Scariest Moments on Channel 4. That’s when I knew I had to find out just what the fuck it was all about. And I have such fond memories from 2007 & 2008, of obsessing over the show, watching episodes on summer evenings in my room, excited about waking up the next day so I could tell my Mum and Brother about it. The thing that the experience missed is a feeling of communality. The moments in the show that rocked my world and made me feel a way i’d never felt before were experienced solely by me, in a tiny bedroom, on a portable DVD player. The moments that, when they first aired had people all over the world talking now felt like they were being seen in 2007 only by me. But now, ten years on, as Twin Peaks: The Return heads towards the finish line and its biggest moments reverberate from it with electric power, I finally get to have what I never had before: the experience of watching it with the world. The only other show I experienced that with was Lost, a show I watched religiously and passionately. But The Return feels different - it feels bigger. 

You can feel that there are fans who’ve waited 10, 20, 25, years for it, and it carries the extra weight of knowing that this really might be David Lynch’s last filmic or televisual outing. Think about that for a second. This week might be the last time we can say that we have David Lynch’s work to look forward to. He’s spoken about how he’s moving away from films and towards visual arts, and at 71, going back to the world that forever cemented his name in the Pop Culture canon could be the most perfect swan song of his career. As a result, every episode feels loaded and essential, and with the events of tonight’s episode, it feels like we’re seeing something iconic take place. We are reacting together. We are experiencing it together. I’ve had conversations about it with my girlfriend, a bunch of friends, family members, and some randomers online for good measure. These are those shared experiences i’d longed for. 14 year old me, watching monumental television unfold and wishing he had someone to share it with is being rewarded every week, and I’ve never felt more rewarded than I felt with part 16 and its own monumental developments.

Dale Cooper is awake. Finally. Whether you’ve waited a season, or 27 years, nobody can deny the immense satisfaction that this development delivers. It feels huge. It feels iconic. It feels like something truly good and pure occurring in a bleak world. I got tearful, I laughed, I smiled so wide my face hurt. I didn’t realise how badly I needed Dale back. How badly the world needs Dale back. “People are under a lot of stress” notes Rodney Mitchum tonight. They certainly are. Whether they’re residents of Twin Peaks or Las Vegas, the characters throughout this return have resided in a world of hurt. It feels sharply current, and a reflection of an America that feels broken. Out of the pain, through the pain - through a violent electric shock that is - returns to us Dale Cooper, the hero we both need and deserve. He is Lynch and Frost’s testament to goodness, their monument to the power of kindness. The electrical power that has given him new life like some kind of benevolent Frankenstein’s monster is finally used for goodness, a reminder that a thing which can contain evil is not entirely comprised of that evil. There is room for goodness - the Mitchum brothers have hearts of gold, as Dale (it feels SO FUCKING GOOD to finally be able to write “Dale”) tells them. Janey-E and Sonny Jim are good people caught up in someone else’s awful web. Dale is a good man who promises that he will one day walk through that red door and come home for good. For now, he’s walked through that red curtain and is back home with us. Whether he himself comes back to Janey-E and Sonny Jim, or whether a copy of him (he tells Mike to make another) takes his place, I adore the humanity and warmth his family is written with. They are dearly cared about by Lynch and Frost.

Dale remembers every moment with the Joneses. It meant something. It filled his heart up, and kept him going, and Dale’s poignant sincerity - god, i’ve missed it - tells her this honest truth. The miraculous and thrilling thing about his awakening is there is no need to stop and explain everything to Dale. There is no catchup. He is awake, dressed in his sharp black suit within moments, and is on the way to Twin Peaks while the main theme chimes in cathartically, and here he proclaims: “I am the FBI”. I cannot think of a greater, more exciting and meaningful moment in TV. I have goosebumps just thinking of it. If The Return has all been about trying to return to something that once was and the difficulties surrounding that, then this episode seems to posit the optimistic and moving idea that some things will always be. Like Laura Palmer and the Log Lady, Dale Cooper always will be, and it is hard not to take great comfort in that fact. Like the river running through the town, or the moon overhead each night, the forces of good will always exist, even if they are reborn. It needed to take 16 episodes. It needed to feel earned. And it needed to make its point, which it has with powerful brilliance. 

The comfort of Dale’s return is contrasted by Doppelcoop’s pretty un-fatherly sacrificing of Richard Horne, who it’s revealed through a casually mumbled line, is (or was) Doppelcoop’s son. Doppelcoop’s headlights are still probing the road in front of him, still pushing onwards into that darkest of night, and there is a feeling of dread every time we see these headlights, waiting for them to illuminate the iconic “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign. It is just a matter of time. Richard is destroyed by an electric light that engulfs him, and possibly whisks him away to the black lodge. The question is open of who sent Doppelcoop here, exactly? It seems to have been a trap designed to wipe him out, and it seemingly came from either Jeffries or Diane. His coldness and his manipulative ease is frightening here - he has known all along that Richard is his son, and feels nothing upon seeing his son killed. And Richard follows his father’s orders in a perverse mirror image of the people who follow Dale’s orders. He marches happily into the darkness where he is killed because that is Doppelcoop’s power: if he tells you to do something, you do it. With Dale, you listen to him similarly, but not from fear - instead from respect and love. Dale has always been a delightfully bossy person, but because Doppelcoop has twisted Dale’s goodness into evil, he has taken that friendly bossiness and turned it into a dictatorship of demands. If you don’t listen to Doppelcoop, you die. If you do listen to him, you’ll probably die anyway. 

Diane, we hardly knew ye. Well, maybe that should be DoppelDiane. We knew something was wrong - every moment she was on screen, Laura Dern masterfully sold Diane’s trembling dread with a wild intensity that was both all-knowing and untouchably distant. She was full of secrets, and Doppelcoop’s text to her (nice to see that lodge spirits use emoticons!) seems to have triggered something inside Diane which sent those secrets pouring out of her. The revelation that she is not the real Diane but instead a manufactured Diane sounds crazy, but suddenly everything about her makes sense. A real tortured Diane is in there somewhere, or at least her memories are, and perhaps if she is in the same place as Laura there is a distant hope that she is safe, or can be brought back. Doppelcoop has throughout the years been playing god. He has manufactured people, he has manipulated people, he has bent everything to his will, and Diane is an example of what that does to a person. She disappears after being shot in a wildly intense sequence, and her body is viciously flung, disappears, and then winds up in the red room. Here, She is destroyed. So, where is the real Diane? Where is her soul? What happens to people like her and Laura? It is heartbreaking to find out that all along, she was just a pawn, and her story of what Doppelcoop did is even more heartbreaking. It’s a sad end - but is it the end? I’m certain I heard her say “i’m in the sheriff’s station” in this scene, which seems to be where all the story threads are heading towards. I can’t help but think of Judy. Whoever she is, she’s got a LOT of explaining to do.

Gary and Chantal, we hardly knew ye, either. Their end is hilariously overblown. A fender bender turns into the most ludicrously violent uzi-led shootout, and it really is down to their own stupidity. They were vocal supporters of violence, and they died fittingly violent deaths - deaths which echo Bonne & Clyde, except Gary and Chantal aren’t really so romantic. They’re just two dumdums who eat a lot of crisps and mess up simple tasks. 

Audrey’s scenes tonight gave us the double rug pull. The first was “Surprise! She is in the real world”, and the second was a bigger “Surprise! Of course she’s fucking not!”. There was something so uncanny and strange happening with her throughout the last episodes, and Diane’s claim that she’s not herself tonight called back to Audrey’s similar claim in a previous episode. Her appearance at the Roadhouse feels realistic enough, until the MC announces Audrey’s Dance, the song she danced to all those years ago, and the crowd moves off the stage so that she can dance dreamily once again. The moment is inexplicable and as hypnotic now as it was then. However, where it once felt otherworldly in a wonderful sense, it now feels laced with menace and literal dreaminess - a violent altercation in the Roadhouse wakes Audrey up, and suddenly she is in a bright white room staring at herself in a mirror in confusion. The beautiful dream, the gorgeous music, the perfect concoction that sent nostalgic goosebumps up our arms is coldly revealed to be quite literally unreal. She is somewhere else now, where the lush purple lighting of the Roadhouse has been replaced with a blinding clinical whiteness. Her dance - so joyous and soulful - is snatched away from us and replaced with uncertainty once again. Is she somewhere with Laura and Diane, or someplace else entirely? I think we will find out, but what matters is that she is not here, she is not herself, and the dream has ended. 

It is incredible the range of emotions that an episode of Twin Peaks can stir. The questions I want answered most are clinging to me tightly - who is Judy and what does Doppelcoop want? - but the overall feeling I get from The Return and from this episode is not of confusion, but overwhelmed emotion. An episode where Dale speaks would in itself be enough to knock you out, but with everything else that happens, the episode is a behemoth - yet it is carefully written and plotted. Despite the questions, I didn’t get lost in the weeds, and the return of Dale feels like a moment of shining clarity to help you through. There is a feeling of togetherness and unity now that Dale is awake again, and a sense of safety that wasn’t present before. And so, we head into the final week of Twin Peaks maybe ever. And like the millions that we are sharing this experience with, tonight’s episode is about sharing our experiences with others - be it Diane sharing her experiences with the FBI, Dale sharing his life with Janey-E and Sonny Jim, or the Mitchum Brothers sharing their generosity with the Jones family. It’s about the power of sharing, of not living alone. And while it may be painful (Diane), or beautiful (Dale and Janey-E), it is essential that we share the experience. It’s the source of goodness, and the goodness is now wide awake in Twin Peaks. 

[bountyofbeads]

Excellent analysis of Trump's further DESTRUCTION of NORMS in America 🇺🇸. Trump’s EGO requires his insertion in every aspect of our lives whether we like or not. The 4th of July SPECTACLE is nothing more than a REALITY TV campaign production event. Our tax dollars 💵 are being used when I would rather spend those dollars helping HOMELESS VETERANS or helping ASYLUM seekers who are being CAGED in INHUMANE conditions. Trump simply wants to change the narrative. PLEASE DON'T FALL FOR IT. THIS. IS. NOT. NORMAL. #BoycottTrump4thOfJuly

#ThisIsNotNormal

The Daily 202: Holidays used to bring us together. In the Trump era, they tear us apart.

By James Hohmann | Published July 3 at 8:59 AM | Washington Post | Posted 3, 2019 |

With Joanie Greve and Mariana Alfaro

THE BIG IDEA: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826 — 50 years to the day after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

It remains one of the most remarkable coincidences in U.S. history, but what’s even more noteworthy is how the two Founding Fathers reconciled in their final years after a long period of estrangement. (Abigail Adams made it happen.) Jefferson, a Southerner with a small-r republican vision, defeated Adams, a New England Federalist who supported a strong central government, in the particularly nasty presidential campaign of 1800.

Both future presidents had been members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia in 1776. They remained patriotically committed to the preservation of the American experiment, and they worried about the growing sectional divisions that would eventually lead to the Civil War. “I look back with rapture on those golden days when Virginia and Massachusetts lived and acted together like a band of brothers,” Adams lamented in an 1825 letter to Jefferson.

Jefferson was invited to speak at a celebration in Washington for the 50th anniversary of independence. He declined because of his failing health. In an elegant letter from Monticello, he sent his regrets and reminisced on the importance of the day – when colonists chose the sword over submission.

“May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government,” Jefferson wrote. “All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. … For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.”

That’s what July 4 is supposed to be about. Instead, Americans – whose modern-day tribalism would doubtlessly disturb Adams and Jefferson – are squabbling on Independence Day Eve over whether it condones slavery to honor the third president or to put the Betsy Ross flag on Nike sneakers. More significantly, President Trump has ordered tanks and other military assets into the nation’s capital for a new kind of ceremony that critics fearwill be as much a celebration of himself as the nation’s birthday.

The red carpet for Trump’s Thursday event has already been unrolled at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. A lectern and a microphone are there for the president, as well. So are giant video screens and loudspeakers.

-- The National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to cover costs associated with what Trump has dubbed a “Salute to America.”

“The diverted park fees represent just a fraction of the extra costs the government faces as a result of the event,” Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Dan Lamothe report. “Administration officials were finalizing aspects of Thursday’s schedule, according to a senior White House official, including a plan to have one of the planes in Air Force One’s fleet zoom overhead as Trump takes the stage. …

“Two Abrams tanks, two Bradley Fighting Vehicles and an M88 recovery vehicle sat on train tracks in Southeast Washington on Tuesday, destined for the Mall. … A U.S. defense official … said the Pentagon was not planning for tanks to be involved … until late last week. But after the president requested them, they were shipped up by rail from Fort Stewart in Georgia.

“The list of fighter jets and other planes involved in Thursday’s military flyover also has grown, with the Pentagon carrying out requests from the White House. … The event will include appearances by the Blue Angels, an F-35 jet from the Navy, at least one aircraft from Marine Helicopter Squadron One, … a B-2 stealth bomber … and F-22 Raptor fighter jets.”

-- Further breaking with the spirit of 1776, the White House is distributing VIP tickets to Republican donors and political appointees. The Republican National Committee and Trump’s reelection campaign confirmed that they received special passes to the taxpayer-funded event that they’re giving out to contributors. All involved are unapologetic. They say it’s no different than the White House Garden Tours or the Easter Egg Roll.

-- What’s historically been a relaxing time for national unity will be pocked with protests this year from the left and the right, heightening fears of violence and putting police on edge. “Demonstrations will begin Thursday with a flag burning,” Marissa Lang and Peter Hermann report. “They will continue into Saturday as several right-wing demonstrators, including members of the Western-chauvinist Proud Boys group, host a rally in Freedom Plaza — met by a coalition of progressive groups to show the District is ‘no place for white supremacists,’ organizers of the All Out D.C. counterprotest said. … Of the two days of protests, law enforcement officials appear more concerned about Saturday.

“Hundreds are expected to oppose the president’s presence, with others likely to turn up Saturday to counter an event that features speakers such as Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and embattled former Trump adviser Roger Stone. Several right-wing Internet personalities are listed as speakers on the event’s website, including GOP political operative Jacob Wohl, anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer, far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos and Pizzagate conspiracist Jack Posobiec. … A coalition of more than 20 groups — including Black Lives Matter D.C., immigrants rights group Sanctuary DMV and anti-gentrification organization Keep D.C. 4 Me — will host an all-day counterdemonstration at Pershing Park. …

“Code Pink, which received a National Park Service permit Tuesday to bring ‘Baby Trump’ to its Mall protest, will display the 20-foot balloon alongside another caricature dubbed ‘Dumping Trump,’ a robot that tweets and shouts phrases like ‘No collusion,’ while sitting atop a golden toilet. Code Pink’s permit allows the group to station the imported balloon near the Washington Monument for 15 hours during the day’s festivities. But the agency wouldn’t allow ‘Baby Trump’ to fly. Park Service rules forbid helium-filled blimps, effectively grounding it. … Instead, the air-filled balloon will bob along the ground, where it will be tethered west of the Washington Monument. Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst cited the no-fly zone that includes downtown Washington for keeping the balloon grounded.”

-- Another proofpoint of the polarization: MSNBC announced it will not carry the Trump event live, but Fox News is building a two-hour special around it.

-- This is not the first federal holiday Trump has politicized. Warning in dire terms about what he calls a “war on Christmas” has been a staple of Trump’s stump speech every winter since 2015, Before his presidential campaign, he had wished people “holiday” greetings on Twitter. “People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again,” the president tweeted on Dec. 24, 2017. “I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”

Trump lamented this past Christmas Eve that he canceled a trip to Mar-a-Lago in Florida because of the ongoing government shutdown. “I am all alone (poor me) in the White House waiting for the Democrats to come back and make a deal on desperately needed Border Security,” the president tweeted. Two days later, on Dec. 26, Trump signed MAGA hats and criticized Democrats during a visit to Iraq and Germany.

Last Thanksgiving, Trump was asked what he was most thankful for. He responded by talking about himself. “For having made a tremendous difference in this country,” the president told reporters. “I've made a tremendous difference in the country. This country is so much stronger now than it was when I took office that you wouldn't believe it." On what used to be a day just for turkey and football, Trump attacked Chief Justice John Roberts on Twitter.

-- Trump continues to equate strength with greatness. This president thinks his July 4 party will show how he’s made America great again, advisers have said. That’s revealing: Trump seems to sincerely believe that tanks, jets and brute force are what make a country great. He’s been wanting to hold a military-style parade since he flew to Paris in 2017 to watch France’s Bastille Day celebration.

The hard truth is that even the most odious regimes in the world are perfectly capable of rolling tanks into their capitals. There are many reminders of this, from Moscow to Pyongyang. Just last month, we commemorated the 30th anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square, in which the Chinese communists sent tanks into Beijing to crush student protests.

Speaking to Playboy in 1990, Trump said that China’s leaders showed “the power of strength” by using military force to butcher the protesters at Tiananmen. “When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it,” Trump told the magazine. “Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak ... as being spit on by the rest of the world.”

In 2016, Trump referred to the uprising as a “riot” during a Republican debate. It didn’t even dominate a news cycle. He’s never apologized for this, but he won the GOP nomination and the presidency any way.

-- What made America great is not military hardware but the ideals that animated the Declaration of Independence, those sacred principles that inspired Jefferson as he put pen to paper in Philadelphia 243 summers ago and wrote some of the most beautiful words that have ever been written. (Take five minutes to read them. They never get old.)

-- In a sign of the times, the city council in Charlottesville voted on Monday night to no longer recognize Jefferson’s April 13 birthday as a holiday because he owned slaves. This would have been unfathomable a few years ago. After all, Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. But it’s not your father’s commonwealth, and the city has been grappling with race since a white-nationalist rally in 2017 to preserve Confederate monuments turned deadly. Going forward, Charlottesville will instead mark Liberation and Freedom Day on March 3, according to the Associated Press. That’s the day U.S. Army forces took control of the city from rebels in 1865.

-- Has America lived up to the aspirations of her founding creed? Of course not. It took Abraham Lincoln to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, and even that only freed slaves in the states that were in open rebellion. Women didn’t even get suffrage until 100 years ago. But one of the things that has made America exceptional is her ability, at times better than others, to reckon with not just our dark history but also our ongoing failures as a society to live up to the promises of the declaration.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said so eloquently in his “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered from the same Lincoln Memorial where Trump will speak tomorrow: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And, so, we’ve come to cash this check.”

-- Silver lining: Perhaps this week’s donnybrook over the July 4 ceremony will become a teachable moment for civics classes. Trump has unintentionally triggered a dialogue about what national greatness means. “We don't roll tanks down Constitution Ave.,” former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said on MSNBC last night.

George Washington commanded our revolutionary army and triumphed at Yorktown. Like Cincinnatus, he voluntary relinquished his command – first of the continental army and later of the presidency. In his farewell address, Washington warned fellow citizens to avoid partisanship and sectionalism. He saw the emerging political parties as a threat to the republic.

Perhaps because Dwight Eisenhower commanded allied forces on D-Day and triumphed at Normandy, he never felt the need for macho displays of American military might on the Mall when he was president. Instead, he warned Americans about the danger of the military-industrial complex.

-- Even if Trump delivers a well-received speech, it’s hard to think of a president who has less of a sense of what the holiday is about, Jeff Greenfield argues in Politico Magazine this morning: “It is true that, on some public occasions, Trump has been able to subordinate this vanity to a sense of occasion, at least in his literal words. His speech in Normandy at the 75th anniversary of D-Day was an unexceptionable tribute to the men who stormed the beaches, although a different White House might have thought better of staging an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in front of a graveyard filled with the bodies of those men. He has delivered State of the Union speeches without describing Democrats in the House chamber as treasonous, or the media in the press sections as enemies of the people.

“What remains unsettling, however, is the thoroughly reasonable conviction that when the president delivers such homilies, he has no real connection to those words. At any moment, it’s plausible to expect that the id will drive the superego from the podium, and the explosion of grievance, self-pity and rage will erupt—dominating a day that has in recent times been free of political division. To be fair, however, that would not be the worst result of a presidential Fourth. Back in 1845, President James Polk presided over a fireworks display at the White House. During the festivities, 12 rockets were accidentally fired into the crowd, and two people were killed. If the worst thing that happens tomorrow is just a speech, we can be thankful for small favors.”

THE NEWEST FRONT IN THE CULTURE WARS:

-- “The shoes were not designed to offend,” Eli Rosenberg and Michael Brice-Saddler report. “Red, white and blue with the image of a historical American flag stitched on the heel and a July 4 release week, they seemed like an innocuous attempt by Nike to capitalize on the hot dogs and fireworks and patriotism that mark the holiday. Instead, the company found itself at the center of a political firestorm. Former National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick reportedly complained about the shoes, and Nike canceled the sneakers’ production. Kaepernick, who is a face of the company, told Nike that he found the flag — designed in 1777 with a circle of 13 stars, one for each American colony — offensive because of its connection to the era of slavery. …

“Some conservatives, Fox News hosts and prominent Republican officials such as Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) have lashed out at the company, calling for a boycott and accusing it of being ‘anti-American.’ But more significantly, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, said he had ordered state authorities to revoke a modest incentive package it offered Nike to open a factory near Phoenix. He did so because he said Nike ‘bowed to the current onslaught of political correctness and historical revisionism,’ he said. ‘It is a shameful retreat for the company,’ Ducey said on Twitter. ‘American businesses should be proud of our country’s history, not abandoning it.’ The state’s incentives made for only a portion of the money Nike was scheduled to receive for its new plant in Goodyear, a suburb west of Phoenix. Georgia Lord, the mayor of the 83,000-person city, said Tuesday it would honor the agreement made with the company before the controversy broke.”

-- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would buy the first order of “Betsy Ross” sneakers if they’re put on sale again. (Fox News)

-- MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who has emerged as a staunch Trump critic, warned that the left’s “reflexive Wokeness” threatens to help the president win reelection.

This is a frame from a Facebook video ad for Trump’s reelection campaign. "Tracey from Florida" is actually a model from France. (Trump Make America Great Again Committee/AP)

NOT MADE IN AMERICA:

-- As Trump espouses nationalist rhetoric, his reelection campaign is running Facebook video ads that misleadingly depict foreign models as American citizens who support the president. The AP’s Bernard Condon reports on the president’s team misusing stock images to pretend that they’re testimonials from a young woman strolling on a beach in Florida, a Hispanic man on a city street in Texas and a bearded hipster in a coffee shop in Washington, D.C.: “‘I could not ask for a better president,’ intones the voice during slow-motion footage of the smiling blonde called ‘Tracey from Florida.’ A man labeled on another video as ‘AJ from Texas’ stares into the camera as a voice says, ‘Although I am a lifelong Democrat, I sincerely believe that a nation must secure its borders.’

“The people in the videos that ran in the past few months are all actually models in stock video footage produced far from the U.S. in France, Brazil and Turkey, and available to anyone online for a fee. … Trump campaign officials declined repeated requests for comment on Tuesday. … Trump has used video from abroad before. His 2016 TV ad vowing to build a wall to keep out immigrants from Mexico showed people streaming across the border — but the shots of refugees were taken in Morocco.”

-- Programming note: In observance of Independence Day, the Daily 202 will not publish on Thursday or Friday. We’ll return Monday.

[dailyaudiobible]

05/29/2019 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 14:1-15:22, John 18:1-24, Psalms 119:97-112, Proverbs 16:8-9

Today is the 29th day of May. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is great to be here with you today on hump day as we cross through the center of our week together. And we’ve been spending our time, at least in the Old Testament, as you know, getting to know King David and we’re in the part of the story where things have begun to really fall apart in his family. One of his sons, Amnon, raped his sister Tamar. Her brother Absalom, also David's son, killed Amnon for this and then he had to go on the run to the north near the Sea of Galilee to the city of Geshur where he was in exile for several years and that's where we pick up the story today. We’re reading from the New International Version this week. Second Samuel chapter 14 verse 1 through 15 verse 22.

Commentary:

Okay. So, from the Old Testament and in the story of David we see that family matters never did settle down for King David after the issue was about Bathsheba and this continues to become more and more apparent as we move further into the story. So, David’s son Absalom had been in exile for three years for the killing of his brother Amnon who had raped Absalom's sister, David's daughter, Tamar. David allow that rape of his daughter to go relatively unpunished, but Absalom didn't, and the result was loss. Absalom lost respect for his father and was sent away from his home. Tamar forcibly lost her innocence and then Amnon violently lost his life. So, in today's reading, David's general, Joab, concocted a plan that brought Absalom back to his home in Jerusalem, but for the next two years he wasn't permitted an audience with the king. So, five years have gone by without father and son not seeing each other. And once they did, Absalom's contempt for his father deepened. So, Absalom used his good looks and his status as a prince to undermine his father David, and he did this by spending time among the people making them feel heard. And, so, over the course of four years he won their hearts. Then he asked permission to leave Jerusalem and go to Hebron. Hebron was the place that David was first coronated as the King of the tribe of Judah. So, Absalom's asking to go there to sacrifice to God, back to the original capital city of before David conquered Jerusalem and made the city of David. So, then once Absalom's in Hebron he stirs up a direct rebellion against the king, which is gaining momentum as we leave our reading today and the news reached Jerusalem. And, so, all of those old instincts, right, all of those instincts that David had to learn while he was running from King Saul rose within David and he fled the palace in advance along with much of the government going into exile as this coup that Absalom is stirring up is moving forward. And, of course, we’ll continue that story tomorrow, but it's important consider the ways that King David allowed this erosion to take place in his life and family, right? So, we were going along through first Samuel and into second Samuel, following the story of King Saul and watching David's story become intertwined with that story. We followed all the way until David was the king of all Israel, and we watched him act honorably and we saw that the hearts of the people were for…like David had won their hearts, they were loyal to him. And then we watched the systematic dismantling, right, that began with David taking another man's wife, and then having that man, who was loyal, loyal, loyal to David, having him killed. That’s where this story began that we have watched the disintegration of much of the royal family of because of these systematic choices. So, the choices we make have an impact and they reverberate in unpredictable ways in our lives as they did with the king. So, when we allow offenses to fester they become poison within our relationships and the poison can destroy the bonds that tie us together if it's just left unchecked. This is what we’re seeing happen to the king and his kingdom but it's no different for us. We will make mistakes. We will fall short. Some of them will be small, some of them will be big and the aftermath can be devastating. But in that broken time were still making decisions, right, and they're still compounding. We’re either drawing up battle lines or making the problem worse or we can own our actions and repent. And when there's broken relationships full restoration isn't always possible. It’s a broken world. But humility and repentance and the hope of grace are miraculous forces within a relationship and they cover a multitude of sins. David didn't do any of that. So, let's consider David's path as we reflect on our own paths today. Just being aware, just being awake and aware and willing to repent rapidly could push back massive amounts of conflict in our lives. Truly, if we think about. Like, if were able to say, “okay, I’m getting you mad. I'm feeling this...like…I know what's about to happen here” and stop ourselves or if we've already said that thing in response and it’s already turning into a battle, if we stop and say, “this is gonna go nowhere, this is…this is taking us nowhere…we don't need this conflict between us, we could save ourselves so much in the present and in the future.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for the way that it will speak to us and penetrate our lives. And even as we spent some time talking about the story of King David, we also recognize the story that is happening in the Gospel of John as we watch Jesus freedom be taken and the questions beginning. And we recognize that this will be the last retelling of this story this year. And, so, we invite Your Holy Spirit to give it the gravity that it deserves in our lives as we prepare to move forward in our year and in the story of what comes next. Come Holy Spirit we pray. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, is home, its the website, its where you find out what’s happening around here. So, stay tuned and stay connected.

All of the links to the different social media channels that we participate in are there in the community section. So, that's a good way to stay connected. The Prayer Wall is there in the community section as well, which is also a fantastic way to stay connected.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop, where there are resources for this journey that we are taking together and ways to go deeper. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, I could not possibly thank you enough. We would not be able to be here doing what we are doing in community and taking these steps forward every single day if we did not do this together. So, thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that is it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi, good morning, this is Valerie calling from south of Atlanta. It is Sunday, May the 26th and I just heard the grandmother’s prayer for her grandchild that was delivered early. You didn’t leave a name, but I did want to pray for you. I wanted to pray for your grandson. So, dear heavenly Father I just thank You for the opportunity to be able to come together as a family and surround this baby with prayer. Lord, she mentions that this baby has been in the works for 10 years. So, they have prayed over this baby. They have prayed, and they have struggled, and they finally have been blessed with this little baby boy and we just want to give You the honor and the glory and the thanks for that Lord and we thank You that You protected the family Lord during the attempted home invasion. We thank You for You being there and putting a hedge of protection around this family but now the Lord we just come, and we just ask the same thing for this little baby. We ask Lord that You will just touch him and gird him up in Your strength, give him an extra boosting of Your power Lord and give the doctors wisdom and knowledge and comfort the mother and the Father and the grandmother as they’re watching this little bitty baby struggle to gain weight and to be healthy and to breath. We pray for the liver Lord, that it will start functioning and that it was formed completely Lord, but regardless we just pray for Your will in his family’s life Lord. They have come through so many struggles to bring this little boy into the world and we pray Lord that You will just continue to reach down, hold them in Your hand, gird them up in Your strength and surround them with Your love. In Your name we pray. Amen.

This is Laura Booker from Southern Illinois and I want to give a shout out to Candace in Oregon. Candace, I also have had hip surgery. I have had three of them. The first one, my husband Jim was with me. The second one he had passed away and you feel really lonely and you want them around so bad it’s just…your heart just hurts. I’m praying for your hip to heal. It’s a slow process so I’m sure it’ll be a long six weeks, but Candace I am praying for you and if you need anything, please reach out to me and I would love to help you. And I pray that God will take care of you and He will heal your hip and your broken heart. Thank you very much. Bye.

Good morning my Daily Audio Bible family, this is Leonora, I’m calling from the Florida Panhandle. After listening to Janet from the UK, I believe her name was, who was kind enough and caring enough to call in for her friend, another nurse and both of you are new nurses. And my heart went out to both of you. As a nurse myself I remember very well the first death that I had to deal with. And the fact that your friend was so affected by that just shows that she has the heart of a nurse. And the fact that you called in shows that you have the heart of a nurse who cares for others. And it’s a gift from God to be able to be at a bedside of a dying or very ill patient, any patient. And your presence is something they will always remember even if they can’t communicate your comfort, your…your just…your love and your caring, it will make her and you, all of us better nurses. That’s what we’re there for and there are things we learn along the way and that’s just the way it is. But you will…it just gives you a strength and a faith to be there for these folks and their families and that’s the other half of it because you’re there for them as well. So, God bless you both and hang in there. We need good caring nurses just like the both of you.

So, I called a few weeks ago in the midst of worrying. The Holy Spirit put it on my heart to let my brothers and sisters know not to worry as He was giving me the word not to worry. And I want to praise God because He’s brought me one step closer to the situation that I’m currently going through to be resolved. Thank You, heavenly Father. Thank You, eternal Father. Thank you. And I also want to encourage those who heard the Holy Spirit through me, don’t worry, God will take care of you. He always has, and He always will. Just hold on a little longer. Sean 316.

[the-record-columns]

Feb. 13, 2019: Columns

She gave much, but asked little

Editor’s note: This column originally appeared in a slightly different form on Feb. 17, 2009)

           Willa Mae Lankford

By KEN WELBORN

Record Publisher

Lifelong Millers Creek resident Willa Mae Lankford, widow of Sammie Lankford died Thursday, February 12 (2009).  

Willa Mae died as she lived, peacefully, and surrounded by those who loved her.

Her son, Jerry Lankford, is the editor of The Record.  What follows was adapted from remarks I made at Willa Mae’s funeral service on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2009, at the Arbor Grove United Methodist Church in Purlear.  The service was conducted by Rev. Ed McKinney, and special music was provided by David Johnson, Eric Ellis, and Keith Watts, longtime friends of the Lankford family.

                                                        ***

David, Eric, and Keith make that music look easy, don’t they, but it sure isn’t. As they played, I couldn’t help but remember the little half-smile that would come over Willa Mae’s face, much like the one on this page, when she would listen to her son, Jerry, or one of her grandchildren play music.  She enjoyed listening, then combined that enjoyment with the feeling of pride only a mother and grandmother can know.  

I actually came to know Willa Mae Lankford because of her son, Jerry, and much of what I say today revolves around that.

A bit over 10 years ago (20 years now), a man stopped me and asked when I was going to turn Thursday Magazine into a newspaper—I replied that I was looking for the right person to do just that.  He inquired further, and I told him I was looking for a man in his 30’s who had newspaper experience outside Wilkes County, and who might be in a situation with aging parents or something and looking to settle back down in Wilkes.

“I know that man,” he replied, “I know exactly that man.”  

In my mind I said “Sure you do,” and told him just to have that fella call me.

Well folks, about four hours later, that very same day, I got a phone call from a man who identified himself as Jerry Lankford, and who began the conversation with, “I understand you might like to start a newspaper.”

The rest, as I like to say, is history.  Very soon, after Jerry began working with us, The Record began publishing and thankfully, continues to do so. There is an aside I must tell on Jerry, however. We agreed that he was to give a two week notice to his employer the following Friday.  That afternoon, he came by my office to tell me when he gave his notice that they sent him home on the spot.  I told him not to worry, just come on in on Monday and we would just start work a little earlier than planned. So you see, his first day at work on his new job was a day off.  Pretty good deal, huh.

Particularly in the earliest years of The Record, circumstances called for me to spend many, many late hours with Jerry Lankford. Anytime we were anywhere near Kite Road in Millers Creek, we would stop in for a visit with his mother. As long as I knew her, she was in fragile health.  As the years went by, more and more things went wrong and she became noticeably weaker and weaker.

But her spirit remained strong.  I never heard her complain, in fact, she was always asking how I was doing—most especially after I suffered a stroke some years ago.

And, she stayed busy.

Unable to get around very well, she was always making something with her hands.  I guess it was from all those years at the City Florist, working and talking with that wonderful gaggle of ladies who we all knew by sight, if not by name.  In fact, one of the gifts I enjoy most came from Willa Mae—not counting Jerry, of course. One day he brought me a package about the size of a bowling ball and said simply, “My mother made this for you.” Inside was a multi-sided quilted star. “It is to be used as a doorstop.” Jerry said.

It was amazing.

You can look and look and you can’t find a starting place, or a stopping place, and I still have no idea how she put that thing together, but it’s beautiful, and remains one of the most noticed items in my home, and a gift I’ll always treasure.  

And that was Willa Mae.

She gave much of herself and asked for little.  

She loved her husband, her children, and her grandchildren.

And she loved the people of Arbor Grove Methodist Church so much.

To Ellen, Mike (now also deceased), and to my good friend, Jerry, I must be honest and tell you that nothing will ever be quite the same for you again.  But hold on to those wonderful memories of your mother, indeed, wrap yourselves in them, for they will carry you through a lot.

Willa Mae Lankford—a kind and caring soul if ever there was one.  

Clearly, she rests in peace.

                                             Willa Mae Lankford

                                    Nov. 9, 1926 – Feb. 12, 2009

Gentlemen of the Jury…

By HEATHER DEAN

Record Reporter

Next week I will be performing with Alleghany Community Theatre as they present “12 Angry Jurors” in the historic courthouses of Sparta, N.C., and Independence, Va.

Readers may remember the original title of “12 Angry Men,” a stage play written by Reginald Rose, which was also adapted to a 1957 movie starring Henry Fonda.

Over the years the title has changed in production as women have been allowed to be seen as competent jurors. But that wasn’t always the case.

Even though women have served on juries for over 100 years, it was considered more of a novelty, which quickly turned to critique, with national newspapers lamenting that “men would be only too happy to cede the burden of jury service to women, if only female jurors could be trusted to endure the gruesome business.” And so the “woman of the jury experiment” began. The results? Good female jurors were conscientious and committed to justice, just like their male counterparts (gasp!).

For those not familiar with the show, the plot revolves around the murder trail of a Latino teenager accused of murdering his abusive father. His conviction would mean execution by electric chair.  The case seems open and shut with a murder weapon and witnesses to place the boy at the scene of the crime. One lone juror, attempts to prevent a miscarriage of justice by forcing his colleagues to reconsider the evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

As the case unfolds more is learned about each juror, in some cases, the paranoia and prejudices that expose the ugliness of white privilege and imagined American supremacy.

I play juror 11, an immigrant watchmaker and naturalized American citizen who demonstrates a strong patriotic pride. (George Voskovec had this part in the 1957 film).

Voskovec was a Czech actor, writer, dramatist, and director who became an American citizen in 1955.

I am the fourth to cast a not guilty vote, but not without repercussion. Prejudice runs amok among the jurors, and my character at one point is questioned because I am not a “real American.” One juror even throws up the fact that I ran for my life during the Second World War, taking advantage of the American Immigration system, doubtful that I was really a refugee, and that I had no right to come over here, or even serve on a jury, and I certainly did not get to tell them how the Constitution works. She follows this up with a threat to “knock my GD middle-eastern head off” if I don’t shut up. Needless to say, our characters have quite a row after that exchange. In fact, a lot of murder threats get thrown around to other jurors, making our task at hand seem like the background noise to the real issue of the intricate divisiveness of human nature when questioned with what it is to “be a good American.”

This play is both eye opening and disheartening to me. Even though human compassion wins in the end, kind of, the relentless diatribe of how of a kid literally from the wrong side of the tracks, because of his skin color, his nationality, and his lack of being able to speak English is ENOUGH for the many of this jury to dismiss him and actually be happy about sending him to his demise, to keep the country “clean.”

The absolute prejudice shown in the 50’s is still being shown today, most recently with a supposed crisis at the border. The vitriol spouted in this play is the same we still hear on national news 60 years later. I get chill bumps at some of the lines realizing that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and that we have a humanitarian duty to make sure the cruel side of history stops with us.  

To quote Henry Fonda’s character’s closing line “Let them live.”

 12 Angry Jurors is presented by Alleghany Community Theatre and Alleghany Arts Council and is directed by Danny Linehan. Tickets are $8 adults, $5 students. Friday Feb. 22, and Saturday Feb. 23, shows are at 7 p.m. at the Alleghany Courthouse, 12 N Main St Sparta, NC 28675. Sunday Feb. 24, show is at 2 p.m., at the Old Grayson courthouse in Independence, Virginia, 107 E Main St, Independence, VA 24348.

 Cast includes: Foreman (An assistant football coach): Lori Hirschy; Juror Two (A shy bank clerk): Beka Perry; Juror Three (Small business owner): Kevin Bennett; Juror Four (Stock Broker): Brant Burgiss; Juror Five (EMT in a Harlem Hospital): Zach Weaver; Juror Six ( Housepainter): Charlie Scott; Juror Seven (Marmalade salesman): Laura Kennedy; Juror Eight (Architect): Danny Linehan; Juror Nine (Elderly Retiree): Marion Adams; Juror Ten (Mechanic): Donny McCall; Juror Eleven (Immigrant Watchmaker): Heather Dean; Juror Twelve (Marketing Agent): Michael Bridges.

  Anti-Semitic Strategy at the UN ​

By EARL COX

Special to The Record

At first glance, the recent G-77 gathering seemed like a “Saturday Night Live” parody of the UN’ s largest bloc. The new chairman, with rehearsed political correctness, to smiles and applause, called on “all states” (except his) to end the “epidemic” of terrorism and “work with us to put an end to this scourge.”

The speaker was Palestinian Authority President and PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas— infamous inciter and propagator of violence and terror against the sovereign State of Israel, and bankroller of Palestinian terrorism to the tune of more than US $138 million to terrorist prisoners and ex-convicts in 2018 alone.

Abbas’s chairmanship, which violates G-77 principles and the UN Charter, is the latest blight on the UN’s eroded legitimacy and credibility. Created to safeguard world peace, security, human rights, and the sovereign equality of states by peaceful dispute resolution, the UN has been hijacked by an anti-Semitic, terror-tainted political agenda—discrediting itself by violating its own charter.

How did this sorry state of affairs develop? And what can be done by those states who are committed to the UN’s ethical, democratic founding principles?

Anti-Semitism at the UN began not randomly, but as a deliberate strategy. Some historians believe it started after Israel won the Six-Day War in June 1967, damaging Russian prestige at home and abroad. The Soviets, enraged by Israel’s defeat of its proxies Egypt and Syria, retaliated, aiming its Cold War weapons of propaganda and disinformation against the Jewish State—by a state-sponsored vilification campaign against Israel and Jews, and then at the UN, where it forged a political alliance with Arab and Third World states. Starting in 1969, the General Assembly produced multiple resolutions affirming the “inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

Russia uses language for totalitarian social control, said historian Joel Fishman. Following the Six-Day War, the selected vocabulary was published in the party newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda in October 1967: “Zionism is dedicated to genocide, racism, treachery, aggression, and annexation ...attributes of fascists.” In 1975, the Soviet- Arab bloc passed GA Resolution 3379, “Zionism is Racism."

But historian Joel Fishman said Resolution 3379 was brewing in 1964—before the Six-Day War. In March of that year, the U.S.proposed that the UN recognize anti-Semitism as a form of racism along with apartheid and Nazism. The Soviets stonewalled, because they were, after all, anti-Semites who persecuted Soviet Jews, Fishman said. They threatened the United States to drop the proposal or face a Russian amendment condemning Zionism and Nazism—thus equating the two.

In October 1965, the US pushed an amendment to the final draft condemning anti-Semitism, but the Soviets insisted on adding“Zionism” to the forms of racism to condemn. After a bitter debate, a compromise struck all references to racism except apartheid. Thus, the Soviets succeeded in excluding anti-Semitism as racist without leaving behind a voting record—which could augur future charges against its own state-sponsored anti-Semitism.

The 1965 debates critically impacted evolving world opinion and international law on Israel and Zionism. “From then on, it was almost impossible to raise anti-Semitism as a human rights issue,” Fishman said. Thus Soviet political propaganda became a bridge to today’s global outbreak.

For the Soviets, the Cold War never really ended. Recent revelations of their digital disinformation and propaganda are well-publicized.

But neither has the UN been a passive instrument of Soviet manipulation. Israeli Major General (res.) Yaakov Amidror recalled how UN Secretary General U Thant endorsed President Nasser’s request to withdraw UN forces from the Sinai. Nasser replaced them with Egyptian military divisions, helping to spark the Six-Day War. And that’s just one example of UN complicity against Israel.

 Israel’s concerted relationship-building with individual nations, and delegations of visiting UN ambassadors to see and experience the “real” Israel firsthand, are part of the solution to return to the UN Charter principle of friendly relations between nations. Likewise, while keeping an eye on Russia, Western democracies should continue to strengthen democratic blocs of nations to defend against the real “scourge.”

At all costs, the truth must be published. What does Israel or the US gain from “dialogue” in a tilted UN that could be better served by bilateral or Western-bloc diplomacy? 

 Heart to Heart

By CARL WHITE

Life in the Carolinas

The past few weeks have been exciting and entertaining.

The Carolinas are well known for seasonal abnormalities. It’s not odd to have near recording breaking cold weather for a few days and then Spring-like weather. Just enough to tease our spring flowering plant life and then in the twinkling of an eye it’s cold again.

So, it goes in the Carolinas, we are people with many layers, and those layers come in handy during our winter months. We also love metaphors, and a colorful story fills the need we have to be a good storyteller or a great listener. The need for both is never-ending.

While in the barber’s chair last week, Garry, my barber, had big news. It looks like he may have a brother he is just now learning about. I asked him if he was excited about having a new brother. He said he was; however, the idea is so new he is still processing the emotions that come along with such a discovery.

Josh, Garry’s son and the fellow barber said they have been invited to visit their new northern family member.  Garry is not much for long-distance travel; his heart indeed is in the Carolinas, and he is not excited about venturing too far away from the land he calls home.  

In the style of true Southern Hospitality, an invitation will soon be extended to the brother from afar. From what I understand hints have already been given by the new brother that suggest an invite and visit to the Carolinas would be welcomed.  

Bill Barns ask for my thoughts on his new book that is in the final stages before publishing. The first sentence of Chapter One is “One beautiful, moonlit night, a young mother opossum known as Oden was out in the woods foraging for food.”  

I plan to read every word.

I had the opportunity to take in a few live shows. One was an open mic night at The 1915 in Wilkesboro, and the other was at the Reeves Theater in Elkin NC. The Reeves Theater is the subject of one of our broadcast segments that we are calling The Carolina Theater Trail. The segment series will be part of our Life In The Carolinas syndicated show. Over the next few years, we will be producing segments on historically significant Theaters in the Carolinas. We have a good variety of theaters to choose, and each one plays a vital role in our charming towns in the Carolinas.

I enjoyed dinner with Ken Welborn, publisher, and friend who loves the Carolinas with a strong focus on Wilkes County. It’s never a dull visit with Ken. The food and service at Sixth and Main in North Wilkesboro is excellent. I enjoyed the crab cakes with asparagus and baby potatoes. Ken dined on and spoke well about the salmon and vegetables. I think digestion works better when you have dinner with a well-seasoned storyteller.

In celebration of February as the Heart Month, we had Dr. Julian Thomas as a guest on the Life In The Carolinas Podcast. We titled the episode Heart to Heart. The special show focused on the journey of dealing with matters of the heart. Dr. Thomas is brilliant, and his approach to healthcare is driven by promoting awareness and a passion for healing.

Wherever we find ourselves, it’s a good idea to stop for a moment and share our lives with those we are around. The love month can be demanding, but it can also be gentle, kind and full of passion.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 Carl White is the Executive Producer and Host of the award-winning syndicated TV show Carl White’s Life In The Carolinas. The weekly show is now in its 10th year of syndication and can be seen in the Charlotte market on WJZY Fox 46 Saturday’s at noon and My40. The show also streams on Amazon Prime. For more information visit www.lifeinthecarolinas.com. You can email Carl at Carl@lifeinthecarolinas.com.