#and made it so Jonathan and Will can do have a more normal adolescence

[heavencasteel420]

In my hypothetical no-UD AU, Joyce and Bob are seriously dating but Hopper is friends with both of them and there are kind of flirtatious vibes all around. But Will and Jonathan are both just like “whatever, let’s not look at that too closely.”

[your-favorite-god]

Vita nostra aeterna pt 1

Wednesday's child is full of woe, ep 1

I’m not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago… but I admire the sadism. 

A monochromatic girl walked the halls of a seemingly normal high school, walking swiftly when she turned and pulled open a locker. Out falls her younger brother, Pugsley.

 “ I want names.”

‘I don't know who they were, honest! It happened so fast…”, the boy panics. He didn't want to witness the outcome of whatever his sister did. 

“Pugsley, emotion equals weakness. Pull yourself together.” As her brother continued to squirm and whimper Wednesday tried to start a sentence but was rudely interrupted. Images of what had happened before, her head thrown back as she saw the horrid jocks jeering at her little brother while they tormented him. “Wednesday?”

I’m not about to confess to my brother that I’ve recently been plagued by visions. They come on without warning and feel like electroshock therapy, but without the satisfying afterburn. 

“Leave this to me”,  Wednesday says as she promptly walks away. “Wednesday? What are you gonna do?” Pugsley questions, now free from his restraints. 

“What I do best.”

Endears POV:

“Wednesday, you know I always love your company. But is now the time? I was just about to tell Christina what happened at that gathering her precious Jonathan attended before class started”

She stares at me with a bag of piranhas in hand,” Cara, do you still have the peroxyacetic acid you made?” I look at her with a raised brow, “Of course I do, why?”. “Those fools hog-tied Pugsley and shoved him in his locker. I intend to teach them a lesson.” 

I can see how this might be confusing for you, allow me to briefly explain. Wednesday Addams is what most would call my best friend. 

Soulmate.

Shush ma morelle, anyways, we met a decade ago in the woods. She intruded upon my home and I found her very cute. So I decided to stay with her, my adorable little human. I came with her to her home and have continued to live with her family. I've even joined her in this boring little hovel named school. Or Should I say schools, we’ve been to many. Wednesday has this horrible habit of getting caught. 

It’s more satisfying to watch the looks on my victims' faces. 

As you can see, Wednesday has no appreciation for subtlety. But we’re just getting to the fun part, so let us get back to it. 

“Well then, allow me to raise you a better idea. Thallium in the principal's coffee. I’d prefer to avoid life on the run for now.” Wednesday pauses for a second, then looks at me with her version of loving eyes. “Brilliant mi vida, as always.” 

And off we went.

Non, Je ne regrette rien - Edith Piaf | Wednesday Soundtrack | Wednesday drops piranhas in the pool

We had stepped through the doors of the practice room as I heard the jocks mutter to themselves, 

“ Yo Dalton look, pigsleys sister and her weird ass friend. Hey, freaks! This is a closed practice!” 

Wednesday leveled them with her usual murderous stare as she spoke,” The only person that gets to torture my brother is me.” 

Nothing delighted me more than the fear on everyone's faces as she dropped the bag of piranhas into the pool, blood seeping into the normally crystal-blue chlorine-filled water. And that is how we landed ourselves here. In the Addams family car with Wednesday's parents, Morticia and Gomez. They were singing In Dreams as they doted on one another, Wednesday was brooding next to me. Unsatisfied with being shipped away to her parents' former school. “Darling, how long do you intend on giving us the cold shoulder?” Morticia spoke as Gomez continued to kiss her arm and neck. 

“Lurch, please remind my parents that I’m no longer speaking to them,” Wednesday replies, making me grin. I love it when she's like this, all petulant and ruffled, most of the time it means I’ll get to play around while she's busy thinking and sulking.  Her mother hums as her father tries to persuade his daughter,” I promise you, my little viper, you will love Nevermore. Won’t she, Tish?”  “Of course. It’s the perfect school for her. For them both really.” This irks Wednesday as she replies, “ Why? Because it was the perfect school for you? I have no interest in following in your footsteps. Becoming captain of the fencing team, Queen of the dark prom, president of the seance society.” Morticia looks at Wednesday with a serene face, always ever so calm and poised. “I merely meant that finally, you will be among peers who understand you. Maybe you’ll even make some friends.” Gomez looks at Wednesday with his signature grin,” Nevermore is like no other boarding school. It’s a magical place. It’s where I met your mother.” “and we fell in love.” They look at each other with this mutually infatuated gaze and sigh. Wednesday's eyes darken, if that's possible,” You guys are making me nauseous. And not in a good way.” They looked at her again” Darling, we aren’t the ones who got you expelled. That boy’s family was going to file attempted murder charges. How would that have looked on your record?” Wednesday looked off as her eyes widened slightly,” terrible. Everyone would know I failed to get the job done.” At that I couldn't keep it in, I chuckled as the little family smirked at me. Save for Wednesday of course who was still very occupied with her brooding. 

My my, this was going to be a fun new adventure. I can feel it. 

As we drove through the strong… iron… gates of this new school, morticia made mention od the weather. An admirable attempt at small talk through the thick silence, normally i would be the one to break it but wednesday specifically told me to give her parents the cold shoulder. If I’m being honest i dont entirely understand why but she looked so cutr and annoyed when she asked in her own way. How did she word it again? Oh yes, i was to be silent or else she would lock me in a tower and take all my jewelry. And my tongue. 

3rd POV

Finally the small family unit had made it to the principals office, greeted by Larissa weems.

“Wednesday is certainly a unique name, i'm guessing it was the day you were born?” she spoke with a grin, after everyone had taken their appropriate seat. Save of course for endeara, she preferred to stand. Tall in her red bottom pumps and silk blouse, she had taken her place behind wednesday, gazing at her new principle with a veiled look of boredom and small smile.

“I was born on friday the 13th.” wednesday quickly rectified, as morticia followed, “Her name comes from a line from my favorite nursery rhyme, Wednesdays child is full of woe.” 

“You always had a unique perspective on the world morticia, did your mother tell you we used to be roomates?” Principle weems said  fondly, her welcoming facade staying strong through the addam’s penetrating gazes. 

“And you graduated with your sanity intact? Impressive.” wednesday spoke again. The topic quickly changed as the principle spoke of her and endearas “interesting educational journey.” 

“Eight schools in five years?” Weems questioned,” They havent built one strong enough to hold us. I’m sure this one wont be any different.” wednesday replied with her same bluntness.  Endeara simply smiled as her parents bristled and were about to reply,” Thats just wednesdays way of trying to say she is very excited for this new opportunity. As am i, and thank you for giving us such a gift.” their new principle seemed to fully take in endeara then, all elegance and playful smiles as she dressed in her small red bottomed pumps and silk black blouse. 

“Nevermore doesn’t usually accept students mid-term, but given their perfect grades and your family’s long history with the school, I’ve spoken with the board and we’ve made an exception.” Weems said simply as the addams parents joined hands in satisfaction, “what about their um,... therapy sessions? The court ordered them.” morticia eyed her daughter as she spoke, hesitant to ask. “The school school has a relationship with a therapist in jericho, she can meet twice a week.” they all looked to wednesday as gomez spoke,” did you hear that my little storm cloud? Youre in excellent hands.” 

“We’ll see if she survives the first session” wednesday quipped back, her gaze unwavering to the woman in front of her as mortica and endeara grinned at her as well. 

The principle resumed again, unbothered. Truly impressing endeara as she spoke again,” ive assigned wednesday to her mothers old dorm. Ophelia hall.” morticia gasps and chuckles excitedly as wednesday turns to her and says,” refresh my memory. Ophelia’s the one who kills herself after being driven mad by her family, correct?” morticia nods happily as the principle leans forward with a plastered grin 

“Shall we go meet your new roommate?’

Endearas POV

We go to wednesdays new dorm and its… something. The family is stunned as morticia speaks,” its so… vivid.” The girl, the new roommate, looks at me and gasps excitedly “Howdy roomie!” and i have to bite my lips from cackling. I mean this is just beautiful, but our principle steals all the fun and introduces wednesday. “wednesday , this is enid sinclair.” Enid looks to from me to wednesday confused, maybe even disappointed, as she asks,” are you okay? You look a little pale.” and mortica smiles as she explains,”wednesday always looks half dead.” “its genetic” i whisper, smiling at the girl. Enid goes in for a hug from wednesday as we both step back, she looks disheartened as she mumbles,” not a hugger. Got it.” morticia pipes up again,”please excuse wednesday. She’s allergic to color.” enid looks shocked,” oh wow. What happens to you?”

“I break out in hives and then the flesh peels from my bones.” this is when our principle speaks again,” luckily weve special ordered your and endears new uniforms. Enid, please take them to the registrar’s office to pick it up along with her schedule, and give them a tour along the way.”

I whisper quietly to Wednesday, ”If they dare put me in cheap, scratchy, suffocating material…i will raze this school to the ground.” Wednesday almost smirks as the Addams look at me in pride and the other two look at me in horror. This tour better be good. 

[impalementation]

i meant to do a post on the overarching themes of season 7 back when i was doing imagery posts on that season. and then i got distracted. but here we finally are again. basically the grand unified theme of season 7, once you add up all the isolation stuff, the power stuff, the power sharing stuff, the shame stuff, the “beneathness” stuff, the gaze stuff, the frame stuff, the door stuff, the captivity stuff, and the house stuff is:

people get comfortable. they get used to seeing the world in a certain way. they want to set up house, and stay there, because it feels safe. but what happens when you’ve built your house on an unstable foundation? what happens when your beliefs are based on an unsound premise? how do you go about telling that something is even wrong, when the things that are wrong are the things that you accept as normal, foundational? you can’t see them, because your house is the frame. you’re looking out through your windows, through the lens of your unsound beliefs, instead of looking down. when things go wrong, you end up fixing the broken windows and replacing the battered doors, instead of confronting the unsteady ground beneath your feet.

essentially, season 7 is about chosen. it’s about realizing that a system is fucked. it’s about the fact that it’s hard to tell when a system is fucked, because you live inside it. all you can tell is that you feel bad, that something is going wrong.

and so the season starts out in this very domestic way, with buffy, xander and dawn playacting the nuclear family in lessons. a picture of “safe as houses.” but we know that that can’t last, because where do they live? on top of the hellmouth. the hellmouth is the definition of an unstable foundation. for the entire show, the hellmouth has represented the emotional turmoil of adolescence and young adulthood. it is a force of instability that both the characters and audience have accepted as normal for the last seven years. a force that the characters can beat back, but never really fix.

so what happens? that instability starts showing itself. it starts becoming undeniable. floors start falling in, arms start reaching up, bodies get buried in basements and come back to life. the comfortable house the characters keep retreating to starts becoming unsafe. that’s what “from beneath you, it devours” means to me. it means that if you don’t deal with a broken foundation, it’ll open up and swallow you whole.

the season deals with many kinds of foundations though. many kinds of systems in need of questioning. there’s the slayer system, for one—the arbitrary rule that only one girl can be a slayer at a time, thereby consigning her to a short, brutish, isolated life. which you can read as a stand-in for the idea of broken social systems in general, and the self-interested kyriarchies that often run them. but in addressing the slayer system, the season also addresses a more metafictional system: the system of “chosen one” stories. the cultural system that both the writers and much of the audience exist within, that says that heroes are best when they are cosmically, unapproachably special. throughout the show, the writing has always criticized the chosen one conceit, just as it’s always criticized the sorts of patriarchal systems that the watcher’s council represents. buffy is praised for having family and friends, for not being like jonathan in superstar, for never succumbing to the pressure to simply accept her unfairly dangerous lot, no matter how many superpowers it goes along with. in other words, the ways that buffy resists her chosen one narrative are framed as positive. but that positivity has always been problematized by the fact that buffy never stops being a chosen hero. she never stops being special. how can the show claim that such narratives are a bad way of viewing the world, while still, basically, being one?

and in season 7, the show finally addresses that. buffy being the only slayer not only becomes more of a problem for buffy than ever, it also becomes a problem for everyone around her. as more and more pressure falls on buffy’s shoulders, the more isolated she becomes, and the more doubtful people become of her. the truth that everyone keeps circling around, but can’t seem to admit, is that to want a single chosen hero to make decisions and solve problems, is to be in danger of wanting a tyrant. to be in danger of abdicating responsibility to that person in charge. a prospect that’s completely at odds with the show’s existentialist belief in the right and responsibility of the individual to forge their own self. which is why it’s necessary for the show to end on a note that says that anyone, including other characters, can be just as special as buffy.

then there are the internal, emotional systems. ways of viewing oneself and other people. buffy thinks of herself as alone, and so she stays alone. spike is full of conflict over how his soul makes him reassess his soulless actions. andrew makes himself out as a character in a story in order to avoid introspection. dawn thinks of herself as not special, but xander persuades her to see herself as “extraordinary”. willow sees herself as dangerous, and doesn’t know how to trust herself again. it’s no accident that seven is full of images of characters looking at doubles of themselves, whether that’s via the first, a video, or a reflection. because the characters are reckoning with their images, but don’t know how to find a way out. and just as the ground starts becoming literally unstable, identity becomes unstable too. the monstrous halves of themselves that spike and willow now fear come to the fore in sleeper and the killer in me. buffy finds herself unable to fight caleb or the ubervamps or the incorporeal first. she finds herself literally cast out of her house—ie cast out of her self. not only that, but the first walks around as a cruel, detached version of her. hijaking buffy’s identity into the very thing she’s afraid of becoming. in general, the fact that the first can be anyone dead lends a sense of dread and uncertainty to identity all season long.

(that said. this area, for the record, is where i think the season needed the most work. the ideas are all there, but because the writing doesn’t spend as much time on characterization as it could have, those ideas don’t hit home emotionally as well as they could have.)

and so the goal of the season is to first show that all of these systems are broken in some way, have it come to crisis point, and then leave them behind. so as buffy escapes the smoking crater of the hellmouth, what she’s really escaped is the pain and uncertainty of youth, and the story system in which all of her problems spring from that. when she shares the slayer power, she’s made it so that she is not the sole authority or protector of the world. when she hands the scythe to faith and tells spike she loves him, she makes peace with her former shadows, and when she tells the first to get out of her face, she rejects the false identities she’s not beholden to. she finishes the season free and in the sunlight, no longer constrained by any of these things that made it so hard for her to have her own life or make her own choices. there’s still turmoil in the world, off in cleveland, but buffy can see clearly and choose freely now. and that’s what growing up gets you.

[signalterminated]

Altered Item S-96 (Control/TMA crossover)

a while ago when i was playing Control i wrote up a little crossover fic for fun. a week or 2 later i found out jonny was streaming control on twitch which was one hell of a coincidence. i figured i might as well post this here in case anyone else finds the concept interesting or fun to play around with.

------------------------------------------------------------

ALTERED ITEM S-96

Description: 

A black and white children's book titled A Guest for Mr. Spider. Story details a cartoonish spider greeting flies as "guests" to his house. There are two doors on each side of the house but no furniture save for a single table with withered bluebells. Each fly has a moniker as a name that refers to their individual species.

Setup for the story is cyclical: one page introduces a fly offering a gift to the spider in an attempt to appease him. Subsequent page heavily implies Mr. Spider ate them after being dissatisfied with the gift. The final fly is shown offering his own son to the spider for reasons unknown.

The doors and Mr.Spider are depicted as being progressively bloodier. Mr.Spider's abdomen is also swollen to gargantuan proportions but the text states he wants more, even desiring another guest for dinner. Last page of the book is a cutaway of the right hand door that simply says, "It's polite to knock."

Ability:

While unsettling, the pages themselves possess no visible paranatural qualities. The reader is instead put into a trance while reading that can only be broken by an outside force or intervention. Age, gender, height, or any other physical characteristic does not seem to affect the potency nor threshold of interruption for this trance. 

The reader is rendered oblivious to their surroundings but is capable of walking, oftentimes significant distances. Furthest distance recorded for this effect was [REDACTED] observed at [REDACTED]. So far no measurable distance has been noted as a "minimum" requirement, though a median of approximately [REDACTED] has been recorded for all controlled tests.  It's possible that the distance a reader must travel is random, or (more possibly) is quantified by factors we are as of yet unable to ascertain. 

The reader eventually reaches a stained door. The door is different colors depending on the environment but the stains remain consistent regardless of locale. If left uninterrupted, the reader will place the book against the door and knock on it. It's uncertain if this is necessary to prompt the next part of the ritual or not, as testing beyond this point is fatal for any subject. 

The door opens to reveal pitch blackness. Shortly after, the reader is yanked inside by limbs described as [REDACTED]. No one taken by the creature behind the door has ever been seen again. 

See S-96-CV-1 for further details regarding testing.

S-96-CV-1

Variables:

Various factors have been tested to determine the strength of the book's controlling properties. Photography had proven to be impossible in both digital and film formats, as any photo taken always comes out completely black, damaged, or distorted beyond recovery. Video recordings of the book being read have been tricky to establish, as digital equipment will almost immediately glitch and stutter within a range of [REDACTED] of the book. Attempting to use even an advanced zoom feature from far away results in similar phenomenon. 

So long as the patient's back is obscuring a view of the book, it's relatively safe to record. Additionally the effect operates in a far more reduced capacity while S-96 is closed, causing glitches and technical issues within a range of [REDACTED] instead. 

Strangely enough, motivation presents more of an obstacle in attempting to monitor S-96. Nearly every agent instructed to photograph or record the book reported a sudden lack of motivation to do so when approaching the containment room. Many formulated excuses for why they couldn't at that very moment. Others simply forgot why they were there. Installing sheets of Black Rock within the containment room helped reduce this effect considerably but did not eradicate it.  

See JS-P1-95 for an interview from the only known survivor. 

JS-P1-95 

Transcript for an audio recording between Jonathan Sims, aged 8, and a child therapist appointed by local protection services. Interview occurred approximately 2 days after the disappearance of [REDACTED].

Therapist: Hi there, Jonathan. 

Jonathan: Call me Jon please, ma'am. 

Therapist: Right, of course. How are you feeling, Jon?

Jon: I'm not sure, ma'am. 

Therapist: Please, call me Imogen. And that’s alright. After what you went through, that’s a very normal reaction.

Jon: Noth—

(There is a brief moment of silence followed by the sound of clothing rustling. Jon is shifting uncomfortably in his seat.)

Jon: Yeah. I guess.

Therapist: What were you going to say, Jon? Remember, I’m not here to judge you.

Jon: O-okay. It’s just...nothing about this feels normal. 

Therapist: How so, Jon?

Jon: You won’t believe me.

Therapist: You told the police that you saw [REDACTED] being kidnapped. They believed you, right? So will I.

Jon: I didn’t tell them everything.

Therapist: And why is that, Jon?

Jon: Because what I saw, it...it doesn’t make sense. It was really dark out but I know what I saw, and...

(Small set of hitching breaths followed by a deep breath. Jonathan appears to be repressing a breakdown very well for a child.)

Jon: It happened so fast but I saw it. It took him. 

Therapist: What took him, Jon?

Jon: Mr. Spider.

(There is a brief onset of soft static here. Most likely due to the age of the recording.)

Therapist: ...Mr. Spider?

Jon: From the book.

Therapist: What book, Jon?

Jon: A Guest for Mr. Spider! He took the book when he pushed me and I followed him a-and he knocked on the door and --

(More shifting, this time including papers and seats. Jon is breathing harder and the rest of his sentence is unintelligible.)

Therapist: Jonathan, take a deep breath. There you go. You’re okay.

Therapist: Now, tell me about this book. The police never mentioned finding a book by that name.

Jon: That’s because he was holding it. Don’t you understand!? The book, it made him go there. It forced him to knock on the door and...and then...

(A small sob followed by the hushed cooing of the therapist. Jon seems unresponsive and there’s the creak of a chair, followed by silence.)

Jon: I don’t want to talk about the book anymore.

Therapist: Okay. That’s okay. You’ve done very well so far.

Jon: I’m not a toddler.

Therapist: I’m sorry, Jon. I know you’re not a toddler, this is a lot for anyone. Even an adult.

Jon: I knew you wouldn’t believe me.

Therapist: Now what makes you think that?

Jon: I can see it. I see a lot of things.

(Recording ends here.)

There are no other audio logs regarding this incident. Additional services were turned down by Jon’s grandmother, [REDACTED], and there are no other records of him seeking out professional treatment in the following years.

For more information regarding Jonathan Sims, refer to JS-19-UAE.

JS-19-UAE

Initial Impressions: 

Jonathan Sims displays a very high intelligence for his age. Whether due to trauma or his orphaned status, he exhibits a world weariness rarely found in a child. This emotional aloofness coupled with a lack of any close relatives might indicate an affinity for future leadership. 

Bureau agents stationed in the UK are instructed to closely monitor his activities for the following 2 years. This is to determine potential eligibility in the Prime Candidate Program and to assess if the Altered Item will return to claim its intended victim.

Pre-Adolescence to Early Teenhood (10-13)

Jonathan Sims has exhibited no further paranatural abilities. He appears to have thrown himself into academic pursuits and has not made contact with any other Altered Items. The book mentioned in his initial therapy session has not appeared within his vicinity, nor has it been reported by any other agent stationed in Great Britain. 

As of now, surveillance will continue, albeit in a reduced capacity.

Teenhood (13-17)

Still no indication that Jonathan Sims possesses any paranatural talent. However, he appears to have a heightened sensitivity to paranatural events and items. There have been at least 4 instances where he nearly stumbled upon AWE’s or Altered Items, only to just skirt by them. Each instance has been logged in a separate report and successfully apprehended before it could catch public attention. 

Whether this is a 6th sense keeping him out of danger — or drawing him to it — is currently unknown. 

Early Adulthood (18-21)

Agents recently discovered the book mentioned in Jonathan Sims's therapy session. It does not appear to be tied to him in any way, given the fact it was found in a check-out bin at the [REDACTED] Library in [REDACTED]. It was contained successfully by [REDACTED] and shipped back to the Oldest House in a crate lined with Black Rock. 

Jonathan himself has become a full time student in Oxford. He has exhibited no latent talents or abilities of interest. Due to his growing age and the fact the book has been found, his eligibility in the Prime Candidate Program has been revoked. 

That being said, he is an excellent accidental bloodhound. More than once his intuition has led him within the range of an AWE or Altered Item. By proxy, we are made aware and are able to act quickly to avoid further disaster. 

Whether these items are reacting to his presence, seeking him out purposefully, or this is all simply coincidence is not yet determined. Closer study could risk exposing Bureau operations, as Jonathan has grown increasingly paranoid since teenhood. Measures have been taken to avoid any further unintended alterations in his usual behavioral patterns. 

Adulthood (22-24)

Nothing to report between college and entering the workforce. His grandmother's death led to a period of instability but nothing atypical of a grieving individual. 

ADDENDUM: Jonathan's habit of accidentally brushing up against the paranatural has culminated in a job at the Magnus Institute.

While not tied to the Bureau, the Magnus Institute has been partnered in some capacity with the Bureau for over 2 decades now. This coincidence has been logged as potentially being influenced by paranatural forces. 

An ambassador will be sent to the Magnus Institute to investigate and negotiate with the current Director of its operations, Elias Bouchard. Extra caution should be exercised to avoid arousing further suspicion from Jonathan or the Institute. 

[she-writes-imagines]

Safe Haven, Pt. 1

A/N: Billy moves into the house across the street from Piper, a girl with a mysterious past.

Timeline loosely follows Season 2 and disregards certain elements of Season 3.

Disclaimer: I don’t approve of, or excuse some of Billy’s behavior. I just enjoy how well exicuted the character is and its interesting to write for him.

Chapter 1

The town of Hawkins, Indiana was always a bit peculiar. Strange things always seemed to happen there and they got stranger every day. This story begins in October of 1967. That’s when I was born. My mother was a scientist and researcher in a very top secret government lab that was housed in Hawkins. Cherie Lindell was her name, she and her sister, Diane, grew up in Hawkins. My father's name was Jeff Callahan and he went to school with my mother. And they were different as different could be. My mother was a science nerd, anti-social and completely lost in her own world. My father played football, and was incredibly mechanically inclined and took auto shop basically every period his senior year, or so I’m told. But somehow they found their way to each other and managed to form a strong relationship and managed to keep that going while my mother was away getting her degree and my father stayed in Hawkins growing his auto shop and becoming a pillar of the community and all that. By the time my mother graduated and secured her government job, my father had bought a two story house with a white picket fence for the two of them to grow into together. Not long after they were married and I was on the way. That’s when things began to get a bit dicey.

The project that my mother was working on was so top secret, so secret that not even my father knew. But the lab was working on human experimentation working to develop mental and psychic abilities. My mother allowed herself to be experimented on while she was pregnant with me. And that is how I, Piper Callahan, was born with some scary abilities. To be exact telekinesis and empathic tendencies. As a child I Thought it was normal. I thought every other child could do the things that I could and I never questioned why I was homeschooled and the only places I ever went, were to my aunt Diane’s and uncle Jim’s house, and my moms lab. And that's when the bad thing happened. I was seven years old, I didn’t have good control of my abilities and I was throwing a tantrum. A big one. Things flying around the room and a side table hit my daddy in the back of the head. After that I spent a lot of time alone. And then Diane and Jim convinced my mother to put me into the public school system. My powers seemed to be gone after the bad thing. Or so I let everyone believe. The only people that knew were my mother and the doctors at the lab. They were stupid and easy enough to convince. I grew and had a relatively normal childhood and a normal adolescence. A rough transition through puberty and all that good stuff. I mourned the death of my cousin and watched my aunt and uncle's marriage fall apart. My aunt moved away from Hawkins and got remarried. We didn’t talk much. My mother went off the deep end and almost never came home. I found solace in my uncle. Uncle Hop as I so affectionately called him. He was the chief of police. He knew of my abilities and believed they were gone. I never wanted anyone else to know about me ever again. We spent a lot of time together and I took care of him more than he took care of me. I had plenty of friends at school. I was a floater and liked by almost everyone. Nancy, Steve, Barb, Jonathan and many others. I was intelligent, athletic, artistic, good with cars like my dad. I became someone that I like. And then the next bad thing happened.

The disappearance of Will Beyers. A tragedy felt by almost everyone in the community. And at the same time I felt another presence in town. A familiar one but I couldn’t place it. A lot of crazy things happened. Monsters sneaking their way around town. Mysterious disappearances. My friend Barb, taken into what seven year old me called “the scary place.” And then with a series of insane events Nancy, Jonathan and I ended up meeting up with Nancy’s brother and his friends. And the familiar presence. She was eleven. I had been number one. Soul sisters in a project that should have never existed. She was untrusting and skittish. She could barely speak in coherent thoughts. She must have been kept in almost total isolation. Focusing on growing her powers. She was younger than me. Younger than Mike and the other kids. Maybe twelve. I didn’t want to reveal my powers I didn’t want anyone to know. But I pulled her aside and i showed her the number on my arm as well. She touched it with her fingers, then my face, “Sister,” she said and smiled, “Pretty.”

“Sister,” I repeated. “You’ll keep my secret?” I asked her.

She looked confused.

“I can’t do it anymore. I’m broken. No one but you knows.” I said to her.

“Sisters keep secrets.” She said determined.

We found will. Saved the day. Defeated the bad guys and all that jazz. After the commotion eleven disappeared. I told Uncle Hop everything. And together we were able to find eleven in the woods and she came with us. Hop had a cabin in the middle of the woods. Almost no one knew about it and we knew she would be safe there. As time went on I began to let El in on the secret that I still had my powers and made her promise not to tell anyone. It was dangerous for all parties involved if anyone found out about my abilities. Together we worked on controlling and growing our gifts and Hop was happy we had each other. And I was happy that she had Hop. I loved El and she adored me right back. Things looked like they were going to be ok.

I hadn’t seen my mother in over a week. She hadn’t come home from her lab and I was sure at this point she had her own apartments deep within the sub levels. Across the street a moving truck pulled into the driveway of a previously vacant house. After that a station wagon and a sexy ass blue Camaro. I was sitting on the couch in my living room, not even trying to pretend to not be staring at the car. And the boy that got out of the car was just as sexy. From his boots up to the ass hugging jeans. To the button up lazily tucked in and the leather jacket. And god the hair on that boy. He saw me looking and I didn’t even care. He raised an eyebrow and cockily smiled at me and gave a little wave. I didn’t return any of the gestures but hopped off the couch, ran upstairs to my room and put on my own ass hugging jeans, a black Harley t shirt, my chucks and looked at myself in the mirror. Delicious. I thought to myself. I had quite a reputation around town that I did thoroughly enjoy. Everyone said I reminded them of Stevie Nicks if she had dark hair. So if mother Stevie was the white witch then i was the Black witch. My skin was very fair, and my hair was a stark contrast, it was nearly black and my eyes were electric green. I was incredibly petite but my small stature was nothing in comparison to my aura. I won’t lie, I used my telekinesis to make my hair float about and make me appear lighter on my feet. I flittered down into the kitchen and thanked the almighty that i had the gumption to bake cookies earlier that morning. I piled the chocolate chunk cookies onto a plate and headed out my door and across the street. The first person I met was the daughter, “Welcome to the neighborhood neighbor, I’m Piper.” I offered her a cookie which she took.

“I’m Max.” There was rustling behind her, she turned around and saw the guy I watched get out of the Camaro earlier. “That’s my brother, Billy. Or Jackass, whichever suits you better.” She said just before turning around to carry another box inside the house.

“Cute kid, you must be the luckiest big brother ever. Would you like a cookie, Jackass, was it?” I joked.

He clenched his jaw briefly and then cracked a smile, “I think Billy will do just fine beautiful.” He said snatching a cookie from me. I held my hand out for him to shake and when his skin touched mine I felt a powerful emotion practically kick me in the stomach. Suffering, pain, loneliness, sadness, anger. Violent rage. Lust, insecurity. A lot to unpack for sure. I didn’t know what could cause so much pain in someone the same age as me, save for my own experiences. A cold and steely voice broke our eye contact.

“Can I help you?” The man said. I assumed Billy and Max’s father. Quite the unpleasant man. I immediately noticed that when he approached Billy seemed to shrink. He seemed smaller, eyes cast to the ground. I immediately didn’t like him. “Hi, its nice to meet you. My mom and I live across the street. I’m Piper Callahan, I brought you cookies.” I said as I held out my hand for him to shake. Again when the skin touched my hand, a gut punch of feeling. Primal rage mostly. And black and sticky evil. I understood so much more about Billy now. And I was worried for the rest of the family. His wife came around the truck and we went through the same process. I got almost nothing from her. She was almost like the shell of someone who used to be a person. She took the cookies and disappeared into the house. Her husband soon after her. Max reappeared from around the backside of the truck. I said to her, “It was real nice meeting you Max, I live mostly alone over there, my mom works a lot, if you ever need anything, girl time, a sleepover, a ride to school, just come over ok? My car is cooler than your brothers by far. And my motorcycle is even cooler than that.” She smiled at me and thanked me before disappearing again with another box.

“That was awful nice of you,” Billy said quite flirtily. “Thanks for stopping by. Will I be seeing you around school?”

“You’ll be seeing me, Billy.” I said, gently flirting back at him. I had a rule, I wasn’t going to ever get close to anyone. I didn’t want another bad thing happening. I couldn’t bear to know that I hurt someone else close to me again. But god damn was he a specimen. And there was no shame in some harmless flirting. “Will you let me see the insides of that beautiful beast you have down there?” I said motioning to his car.

“I think that might be a little out of your league princess.” He said.

“Oh sugar, I bet you I know more about it than you do. I have a ‘69 impala up in the garage and my dad was a mechanic. He died when I was seven but I inherited the talent from him. The guy that owns his shop now is great, I work there on weekends and in the summer. Pop the hood?” He looked behind him quickly and walked down the slope to the road. He opened the door and popped the hood. I opened it and looked inside. I whistled. It was a gorgeous and nearly immaculate block. But it looked like his ignition cable was a little loose. “You ever have problems starting her up? Mostly just when its cold?” I asked him.

“How’d you know?” He asked actually surprised that I seemed to know what I was talking about.

“Come here I’ll show you.” When he came around the front I pointed to the cable. “You see the screw you have securing the ignition cable? It’s the wrong size and its not attached properly. Which isn’t really that big of a deal, but when its cold and the metal shrinks up the connections aren’t as good. So it's a little harder to start. Bring it up the driveway later and I can fix that for you.”

“I don’t know...were kind of busy unpacking and all. Neil might not let me.”

I reached up and stroked his cheek, a spark of softness beifely shot through him. I could feel it. It made me wonder how long it had been since he had had any true compassionate human interaction. I’m sure he was having physical contact on the regular of the good and not so good variety. But something so gentle and kind, I wasn’t sure about. He seemed a troubled person but something in him sparked something in me and I knew in my heart I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try and show him some compassion and genuine human contact.

“I get it, its ok Billy. Same goes for you by the way. If you ever need anything, a ride to school, some girl time, a sleepover,” I paused and became a bit more somber when I said, “somewhere safe, to escape too. I’ve got the space and I don’t like being alone all the time. So really you’d be doing me a favor.”

I didn’t let him respond before sauntering back off to my side of the street, swinging my hips back and forth the entire way. Before I walked back inside the house I turned around, Billy was still looking at me. I wiggled my fingers at him before spinning around again and walking inside and shutting the door behind me. I was worried. I’d hardly met the family, but I knew that things were off. I knew that BIlly was going to be trouble, that he was trouble. I knew the kind of guy he was. Hard on the outside to hide the sadness that was inside him. Taking it out on other people. I was going to have to watch out for that. I was going to have to be careful not to get to close. None of the boys in Hawkins could ever tempt me like I knew that one out there could do. But that wasn’t the thing I was worried about the most. I was worried about that little girl, Max. The same age as El. I was worried she would be the next punching bag for Mr. Hargrove

[fuckyeahevanrwood]

The Road Less Traveled: Westworld’s Evan Rachel Wood does nothing by the book

Evan Rachel Wood can ride a horse and shoot a rifle at the same time. She can’t tell you why she knows how to do that—while wearing a prairie dress, playing a character that is a robot, and galloping through the Utah desert for the HBO series Westworld, now in its second season. She just does it.

It’s the same with acting, in general, which the 30-year-old has been doing since she was 5. She can’t explain it. She does it.

“It’s an energetic thing, I don’t know. My senses are different,” Wood says over a lunch of scrambled eggs at a bar in Silver Lake. “I have terrible fine motor skills, but I can shoot a scene on a horse with a gun in one take. I have synesthesia, which means that I can hear color and feel sound. I thought everyone experienced the world that way. I’m fascinated by the way our brains work, and I was reading about psychology and learned about what synesthesia was, and I thought, ‘Wait. Other people don’t feel that?’”

Even if you haven’t seen her eerie performance as Westworld’s Dolores (which earned her both Golden Globe and Emmy nods), living a preprogrammed life in a sort of alternate-reality game where wealthy players get to act out twisted Old West fantasies among androids, chances are Wood has left a lasting impression on you from a different role. Starting with a few dramas on television (among them Once and Againand the original American Gothic) and her breakout role as a troubled teen in Catherine Hardwicke’s 2003 film Thirteen, Wood has had an intense, often smoldering and mature on-screen presence for two decades. She played Mickey Rourke’s daughter in The Wrestler, a promiscuous intern in George Clooney’s The Ides of March and the vampire queen of Louisiana in True Blood. In person, Wood does not present as a boldly provocative movie star. Wearing wide-leg faded jeans, a striped T-shirt, tortoiseshell glasses and Vans, her hair in a reddish bob, you might guess that she is a manager at Urban Outfitters. She looks younger than she is, which she credits to sunscreen (La Roche-Posay). And though she spent her adolescent years living and attending acting classes in the San Fernando Valley, she now prefers the vibe on the east side of Los Angeles, where she spends time with her friends, mostly fellow musicians (she’s a singer) and actors. And when she isn’t working here in town, or on the Westworld set near Moab, she calls Nashville, Tenn., home.

“Los Angeles can be too intense for me,” she says, explaining that she wants her son, who is 4 (his father is Wood’s ex, actor Jamie Bell), to have some space to be a kid, both literally and figuratively. “I feel like I’m always working here, even just walking down the street. Nashville is great because there are so many creative people there who are working and doing cool things, but nobody cares what you do. Or if they do, they’re lovely about it. I didn’t buy a farm or anything, but I have a yard and a guesthouse. There’s nature and a community. I wanted all of that for my son. I was just a couple of years older than he is when [my career] really started. And it’s weird to think about how short his life has been, and that is the only amount of time I had before I became an actor. I really like my life, the good and the bad of it, but I wouldn’t let my son do it.”

When you watch performers grow up on screen, you can see how their choices shape them, and see who they are becoming based on the roles they take. Wood was raised in a North Carolina theater that her father ran surrounded by a “melting pot” of cultures, personalities and sexualities, and she has been working steadily for 25 years. At first, with her long, straw-blond hair and fair skin, she was cast as a thoughtful, serious daughter. Then, as she matured, she understood that her tastes were more eccentric. (You may remember that she was in a long-term relationship with Marilyn Manson.)

“I’ve never wanted to go down the road everyone else was going down,” she says. “I wanted to go down the alleys and learn about the people who were different, talk to the weirdos and know their stories. I don’t always play dark characters. I mean, I’ve done comedies. But the darker roles are what people tend to remember.”

Her latest big-screen role is Laura, a psychologically complicated cleaning woman who has a tangled family life and intense sexual encounters with strangers, in a film called Allure. Laura is a woman who is hard to like, who manipulates, traps and tortures a 16-year-old piano prodigy with a difficult home life of her own. Originally, the role was written for a man, by Canadian writer-director team Carlos and Jason Sanchez.

“Then they gender-swapped it, which is when they approached me,” Wood says. “That was intriguing to me, that this role was now female, which you don’t really see, and it did explore these kinds of situations in a way that I hadn’t quite seen before—from the eyes of two women. My biggest fear was that I wasn’t going to be a believable abuser, because I didn’t want to traumatize anyone. I think because I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager, I become very protective of younger actors.”

Since Wood publicly came out as bisexual in 2011, she has embraced her voice as an advocate for LGBT civil and women’s rights. She writes essays for Nylon magazine and speaks frankly about changing social mores surrounding sexual identity in our culture. Wood received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award at the 2017 North Carolina Gala, where she gave a candid speech about the importance of “representing the underrepresented.” Recently, she testified before Congress about her own history with sexual assault, detailing some truly horrific experiences but refusing to name her assailants, to protect herself from potentially draining court battles.

She experiments with androgyny in her personal style, gravitating more toward sleek, tailored suits and what she calls a “futuristic,” modern aesthetic with stylist Samantha McMillen. She has also written a couple of screenplays and started exploring paths behind the camera, mainly as a director. In the meantime, Westworld is more than enough to keep an active brain like Wood’s occupied. (And, as of season three, she is receiving equal pay to her male co-stars.)

“You can watch the show and go along with it, or you can put your detective hat on and try to figure it out. That’s what I love to do. I have a pretty good idea what it’s about. But there’s no way to really figure out this season. I read the final script and I said, ‘I have a couple of questions. First, what exactly is this?’”

The questions the show’s creators, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, ask about the origin of consciousness, and the potential for artificial intelligence to outpace its human creators, are interesting enough to keep the cast (which includes Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright and Anthony Hopkins) and the audience on their toes. It doesn’t hurt that there’s plenty of nudity.

“It’s not even weird anymore,” laughs Wood. “We’ve all been naked so often that it’s just normal. I show up to work and say, ‘OK, I’m naked in a lab. And Anthony Hopkins is here.’ It’s so surreal there isn’t even time to bestressed.”

And now that Wood is 30, she’s no longer the “baby” in the group and there is less pressure for her to prove herself time and again. She has experience, but still feels like she has a lot to learn.

“People listen to me differently now,” says Wood, and she understands what her older colleagues have been trying to tell her all of these years.

“Growing up as a child actor, I heard about regrets a lot,” she says. “I had a lot of people telling me not to live with regret. They drilled into my head how short and precious life is, so I made sure I didn’t care what anyone else thought.”

And, like everything else Wood does with convincing ease, when she says this, you believe her.

[jordan202]

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon - Chapter 2

Link to the previous chapter is HERE

thank you @jia911 and @em-m-j for help proofreading and to my dearest @bluebelle18 for helping me out!

My Boys: Beyond the Horizon – Chapter Two  

 Dear Kate,

It kind of breaks my heart not to know how you are doing. I am writing this email in the hopes it reaches you before your next destination.

I have decided to take the spot at Grey Sloan. I suppose I might regret this decision at some point, but I just long to be with my family for the time being. Koracick called me from Hopkins yesterday and my ears still ache after his thirty-minute monologue about how I am screwing up my entire future. I came to LA before heading back home. You won’t believe this, but Lucas is also moving to Seattle. I spoke to my mom this morning and she told me the twins are flying in from West Point next week. I haven’t seen them since Christmas, so I am excited we’re all going to be together again.

I also saw Joey today. He is still working as Lucas’ assistant while juggling his career at the agency. I honestly don’t know how he does it. I think they might have to canonize him before we understand why he puts up with my brother.

I wish I could tell you all of this in person.

Love,

Thomas.

.

“Are you seriously contemplating leaving?” Thomas asked with a smile at the same time he pulled up his sunglasses, revealing his light blue eyes that matched the clear water inside the pool he was in. “I honestly don’t see a reason to.”

Lucas looked around and smiled with a mix of mischief, pride and satisfaction.

Because of the time zone difference his body was still in, Thomas had woken up at six on that Saturday morning. He’d gone into the kitchen to get something to eat but to his surprise, had found his brother outside surrounded by a group of people he’d never seen before. He’d noticed that, as a general rule, none of them had much to say, but they were pretty interesting to look at.

Especially the girls, Thomas realized.

“Welcome to LA,” Lucas raised his glass in an imaginary toast and crossed his legs at his ankles, leaning back on his chair.

“I should have visited you more often,” Thomas decided when two young women left the pool exhibiting their shapely bodies.

“You never listened to me,” Lucas gave him a wink of wisdom.

The older brother wanted to ask if that meant Thomas was single now, but it wasn’t the right time or place to have that conversation. Lucas knew that while his brother was a normal guy and like any other noticed attractive women, never had he ever shown real interest in anyone besides his girlfriend. And Thomas and Kate were the steadiest couple he knew, so it seemed illogical to even consider that.

“Hey, do your team mates know you’re moving to Seattle?” Thomas asked with curiosity. Some of Lucas’ friends who were there were also athletes in his team but so far, no one had touched the subject.

“No, I can’t tell anyone before the Sounders make the public announcement,” Lucas explained. He was bound by a contract and couldn’t disclose the information until the following week, when the marketing department at his new team decided on a new campaign to promote their big hire.

“Is that why you haven’t called mom and dad yet?”

“Precisely,” Lucas replied with a wink. He couldn’t wait to share the news with the rest of the family but he knew how easily information could spread around if the secret was out. “Joey is going to bring me some documents to sign tonight and then I am officially released from my team. Then we can fly back home.”

“Awesome,” Tom replied, looking forward to seeing his old time friend again, but mostly to go home.

“We gotta go out to celebrate it,” Lucas decided, getting his phone to send a message to Joey.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” Thomas noticed it was past ten am and his brother had been up and running since the previous evening. He knew Lucas had gone to a party the night before but judging by the mess on the terrace of his house, they had extended the fun to the afterhours. And now he was planning a new outing for that evening.

“I think I am just about to,” Lucas replied, struggling to contain a yawn. He was finally getting tired.

“Where is your… Your… Where is Rachel?” Thomas asked with curiosity, looking around in amidst of all the people.

“I don’t know,” Lucas answered with casualty, getting up from his chair in an obvious motion to leave.

“Wait, are you going to bed, just like that?” The young doctor looked over his shoulder, noticing there were at least a dozen friends of his brother still present. Judging by Lucas’ reaction, he planned to simply go inside and leave all the guests there. “What about all these people?”

“They can carry on with what they were doing,” Lucas shrugged, unaffected.

It wasn’t until a couple days of spending time with his brother that Thomas came to notice the situation wasn’t uncommon at Lucas’ place. The house felt pretty much like a summer camp, where a lot of people would come and go. Some would spend the night, some would stay during the day in a giant game room, playing videogames and pool, and others would simply spend the sunny afternoons inside his swimming pool. There was always someone to talk to, and Thomas found the situation quite unusual, but nonetheless entertaining.

When asked about it, Lucas had simply answered he liked having people around. But the shadow of sadness behind the playfulness of his brother’s eyes caught Thomas’ attention. He had no idea how much of that was involved in Lucas’ decision to move out. But Thomas only hoped that whatever it was that prevented his brother from being happy stayed in Los Angeles for good when they finally made it back home in a few days.

.

“I told you for the sixth time, already, Hunt. I am not going out with you tonight.”

“You know, there was a time in your life when you very much wanted me to take you out,” Lucas teased, sending a teasing flirtatious wink in Joey’s direction, misinterpreting his friend’s words on purpose.

Joey Avery rolled his eyes with playful impatience and followed his best friend to the terrace outside, holding a glass of expensive wine in one hand while carefully scanning his eyes through a long stack of documents.

“I wouldn’t go out with you if you were the last man left on Earth,” Joey replied, hiding his smile behind a sip of his drink. “You are way too straight.”

“That’s just mean,” Lucas said with pretend offense and sat down on the marble counter near the pool. “I liked you better when you were into me.”

“Oh, sweetheart, that ship has sailed long ago,” Joey couldn’t contain a chuckle. “You will always be the love of my life, but I haven’t been into you since the moment I experimented what was out there.”

“Still, I was the first guy you kissed,” Lucas gloated with a smile. He had spent the past seven years pestering Joey about it and probably would for the rest of his life. “I am going to tell Jonathan that,” he added, referring to Joey’s long time boyfriend.

“Yes, what was I thinking back then?” Joey replied with a look of self-criticism, not bothering to take his eyes off the document to deal with Lucas’ recurring jokes. “Jon already knows that story, by the way, smartass.”

The two remained in silence for long seconds while Joey carefully read through documents and Lucas played with the label of his wine bottle.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

It was the change of tone in Lucas’ voice rather than the question that made Joey finally look up to meet his friend’s eyes.

Joey Avery had known Lucas Hunt ever since they were little kids and they had always played soccer together but it wasn’t until adolescence that the two of them became best friends. Joey easily remembered the day when he, as a teenager confused by his sexuality, had misinterpreted Lucas’ words of encouragement and kissed the guy.

Back then, Joey had completely understood Lucas’ irritation with his impulsive move. And he’d sort of expected the guy to make fun of him or expose him to the rest of the soccer team. After all, in Joey’s opinion, despite having a crush on the boy, Lucas had always been a bit of an empty head that was way too popular and didn’t take anything seriously.

But instead, Lucas had offered him selfless support and been the first male friend Joey had come out to. During his senior year in school, Lucas had become one of Joey’s closest friends and the only one besides Kate Karev who knew about his struggle.

After Lucas had graduated and left school to go to University of Washington, Joey had only seen him in a few occasions. But then, when Joey had also moved out to go to UC Berkeley in Los Angeles, Lucas had dropped out of university to play for the LA Galaxy and before the two of them could even realize it, they were living in the same city and had become best friends.

And once inside a college campus and away from the judgment of everyone he knew and loved, Joey had been able to come out in public and embrace his sexuality, always leaning on Lucas’ full support. The youngest Avery kid had never dreamed of becoming a professional athlete, but he very much enjoyed sports and liked working with it. So while Lucas’ career skyrocketed, Joey finished his degree in college, only to slowly find himself being the one to represent his friend in his business deals and professional contracts, which later on became his own career.

“Oh, Luke, you know I hate leaving you alone, especially when I know you couldn’t cook spaghetti if your life depended on it,” Joey mocked Lucas at the same time he felt genuinely sorry to see his friend go. “But I have a company to run and how the hell am I going to run an LA based enterprise if I go back to Seattle?”

“I know, I know…” Lucas sighed, trying to accept it. He perfectly understood why Joey couldn’t go with him, but it didn’t mean he hated it any less.

“But, for all that’s worth, and we know it’s worth a lot,” Joey said with a sad smile, “Tom is also going to be there and I am going to count on him to take care of you.”

“How amazing is that?” Lucas asked with his most boyish smile, leaving Joey touched by how genuine his friend’s love for his brother was. “I couldn’t believe it when Tommy told me.”

“I couldn’t either.”

Lucas noticed in Joey’s expression that he knew more than he was trying to show and furrowed a brown in question.

“Hey, Joe, where is Kate?” Lucas tried to sound casual and realized instantly the discreet change in Joey’s expression. “Is she going to a different hospital for her residency?”

“I don’t think she has decided that yet,” Joey replied and Lucas sensed he was telling the truth.

“What’s going on between Tommy and her?” he straightforwardly asked. Kate was very close to Joey and if there was anyone she would have shared that with, it was definitely him.

Joey took a deep breath, apparently pondering what to say.

“Look, I don’t know the details, okay?” he said, and once again Lucas felt like he was being genuine. “All I know is that they had a big disagreement about what to do after the graduation. Kate told me they had a big fight and I think that’s why she traveled to London, to be away from everything…” Joey confessed with a heavy frown. “I am not even sure if they’re together anymore.”

Lucas scoffed with incredulity.

“What are you talking about, of course they are,” Lucas affirmed, unable to believe any other possibility. “I am sure this is just a phase. Tom and Kate are meant to be together… They are like Carl and Ellie, ok? If they can’t work it out, no one can.”

“Except life isn’t a Pixar movie, Luke,” Joey gently reminded him.

“It can be,” Lucas stubbornly chided. “For some people, it can be.”

Joey was just wondering if Lucas needed to believe in that fairy tale love because of his brother or for himself when Thomas walked outside, warmly greeting Joey.

“Hey, dude, I didn’t know you were already here.” He threw a censoring glance in Lucas’ direction, condemning his brother for not letting him know.

“We were talking business,” Lucas justified with excessive dignity.

“Actually, we were talking about Up, the movie,” Joey corrected him.

“It’s my favorite movie,” Lucas defensively scowled at his friend.

“Oh, so your favorite movie is a cartoon?” Thomas raised one eyebrow. “I can’t really say I am surprised…”

“It’s called an animated film, thank you,” Lucas grumpily answered.

Thomas looked from one to the other, trying to understand why his brother was in a foul mood and Joey was so quiet but none of them said anything else, so the youngest guy gave up soon after.

“So… Are we going out tonight or what?” he asked, getting a positive grin from his brother in return at the same time Joey raised his arms in surrender, realizing he had just been outnumbered.

.

“By the way… how was your date last Friday?”

Megan lifted her eyes from the computer on her hands to meet her best friend’s mysterious expression. Claire was Maggie Pierce’s only daughter and had been Megan’s best friend since the day they were born. There was nothing they didn’t tell each other and now, Claire had the same kind of expectant/joyful face as her mother often did when they were excited about something.

“I was going to wait until Marianne got here to ask you that because we’re dying to hear it, but I have no idea where she is and I can’t wait any longer,” Claire confessed with a wide smile.

Megan noticed the curiosity mixed with excitement and was amused by her friend’s clear high expectations.

“It was okay.”

“Okay?!” Claire asked with disappointment. “That’s a not good enough answer. I want all the details.”

Megan gently closed her laptop screen and looked at her friend. They were sitting in the living room of her house simply hanging out together as they often did during school breaks.

“Claire, you’ve known Aaron for as long as I do,” the girl stated with conviction. “What could I possibly tell you about him that you don’t already know?”

Claire seemed to think for a second and then nodded her head in acceptance. After years of vouching for everyone else’s happiness and acting like a modern version of Jane Austen’s Emma trying to bring couples together, Megan had finally accepted to go out with someone. Claire knew her standards were high and just because she was admired and well liked in school, Megan didn’t take advantage of it. So if her friend had said yes to Aaron, Claire expected him to be special. She was very pleased with the girl’s choice, considering they all knew each other since their earliest school years.

And the fact that Aaron played in the school’s football team with her own boyfriend also wasn’t a bad detail. Claire longed for double dates and she wasn’t one bit sorry for pushing Megan towards the guy in such an obvious manner.

“So, how serious is it?” Claire didn’t give up. “Are you officially dating him? Are you two seeing each other again? Did he kiss you?”

“Oh my God, slow down on the questions…” Megan answered with a chuckle, too entertained by her best friend’s devotion. “And yes, he did,” the teenage girl added, unable to prevent the rush of blood to the cheeks that became obvious on her very fair skin.

Claire had just opened her mouth to ask for more details when the doorbell rang, interrupting her thoughts. Supposing it was their friend Marianne, who had been mysteriously absent for the past few days, Megan got up and fixed her shirt before distractedly opening the door.

But her eyes grew wide with shock and raw contentment when she spotted the two young men standing on the doorway with huge smiles on their faces.

“Megan, why are you squealing, I am trying to…”

Amelia’s words trailed off and her face transformed when she walked into the living room. Ignoring everything about the reprimand she was just about to give her daughter for disrupting the quietness when she was trying to focus on her reading, the neurosurgeon took large strides forward and immediately wrapped one arm around each of her son’s necks, nearly strangling them both.

“What are you guys doing here?” Megan asked with excitement, surrounding Thomas’s waist with her arms for another embrace.

“We wanted to surprise you,” Lucas said with mischief in his eyes, feeling his heart blissfully happy with the warm welcome. “Hey Claire girl,” he stepped inside the room while Amelia closed the door after them. “I haven’t seen you in a bit, how are you?”

Amelia watched as Tom dumped two duffel bags next to the couches and proceeded to greet Claire too.

“Where is dad?” her second son asked, looking around.

“He’s still at work. Does he know you were coming?” she asked with wide eyes, ready to murder her husband if he knew about it and hadn’t told her the news.

A few years before, Miranda Bailey had had to step down as Chief of Surgery and the position had been offered to Owen. At first, he’d been reluctant to take it back, but after an honest conversation with his wife, who’d wisely pointed out their kids were basically raised and he had more free time to pursue his own projects while she went further with her Harper Avery Award winning research, Owen had taken the position, ultimately finding pleasure again in it.

“Nope,” Lucas chuckled, reading the unsaid threat in his mother’s eyes. “He is in for a surprise just like you two.”

Amelia smiled and completely forgot about the paper she was planning to read, decided to focus on a much more pressing matter instead: her adored sons.

“But, wait, did you two set this up? Did you fly in at the same time…?” she asked with confusion.

“No, I actually went to LA a couple of days ago to meet Luke and then I was going to come here,” Thomas replied with a wide grin, anticipating his mother’s reaction with the news he was about to share. “I had no idea he planned to come too,” Thomas added with honesty. “But I had to be here in person to tell you about my news.”

Amelia knew her son had just graduated med school. A couple of weeks before she, Megan and Owen had flown to Boston to be there for the ceremony. Her other sons hadn’t been able to make it but they had been in touch during the entire week, catching up with Thomas’ remarkable achievement.

“What?” Amelia asked, excited and curious.

But as Thomas smiled grew wider by the second and he just kept staring into her eyes with the thrilling look of someone who had something amazing to share, Amelia had an epiphany.

“No way…!” she shouted with exhilaration, unable to believe. “Are you serious?! Are you…?”

When Thomas nodded yes with his head, Amelia let out a hysterical shout that Megan promptly classified as squealing and wrapped her son in a hug so tight that she left them both breathless.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re coming back home!” she added with sheer joy.

Thomas had been debating with his parents quite a lot in the past year about where he should apply and choose to go for his medical residency. Amelia knew her son wanted a career in neurosurgery and therefore he took into account everything she had to say about the matter. Unsurprisingly, Thomas had matched all the places he was interested in. And in the end, he’d narrowed down his choices to going to Hopkins to study under Tom Koracick, staying in Boston to go to Mas Gen where he knew everyone already or moving back to Seattle to work at Grey Sloan.

Amelia had been as impartial as possible while giving her son professional advice but in the end, she hadn’t been able to hide she favored Seattle as a choice, exactly because she wanted him near.

“I can’t believe this, I am the happiest I could be!” the surgeon proclaimed, unable to stop grinning like a child.

“Are you sure?” Lucas asked her with a teasing smile.

“Am I sure of what?” she looked in his direction, trying to interpret the meaning of his words and that smug smile on the corner of his lips.

“You couldn’t be happier than you are now?” he asked, looking her in the eyes with heartfelt joy.

“I don’t think that’s even possible,” Amelia answered with honesty.

“Well, what if I told you I am coming back to Seattle too?”

The silence that followed Lucas’ question let him know he had just left both his mother and sister in shock.

“I’d say you are kidding,” Amelia defensively looked at him, hesitant to believe it because it was too good to be true.

“I wouldn’t judge you on that,” Lucas playfully replied, knowing he had no credit whatsoever considering how often he was pranking people. “But yeah,” he looked into his mother’s eyes and saw how thrilled she got when he delivered the news. “This time it’s true. I am moving back to Seattle.”

“You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” she felt tears accumulating in her eyes and pulled Lucas in for a hug.

Amelia took a while to be convinced that those amazing moves were actually happening and sooner after, Owen returned home, proving to be just as surprised and pleased as she was. Together, they had dinner with Megan and the boys, eager to hear every single detail of the decisions.

When his parents inquired him about what Kate had decided for her residency, Thomas said that so far, she was still going for Mas Gen as her top choice but hadn’t fully made her up mind yet, only planning to do so when she returned from London in the following days.

Lucas kept staring at his brother, trying to pick up more than what Thomas was saying but he couldn’t achieve anything. When he looked sideways, he noticed Megan had been doing the same and the girl instantly met his eyes, silently agreeing that she was just as unconvinced as he was.

By the time dinner was over, the teenage girl had already decided the plans for the following days, unsurprisingly devoting most of her brothers’ time to her. Since Thomas and Lucas hadn’t yet made any living arrangements, they were very excited with the idea of moving back home temporarily.

And even though it had been a while since Amelia had had so many of her children together sharing a meal with her, when Lucas came with a horrible pun to tease his dad and Thomas made a sarcastic comment about it, it felt like nothing at all had changed.  

.

“Why do you have that sad look on your face?” Owen asked arranging the pillows near the bedframe as he looked at his wife. “I thought you would be smiling for days after the surprise the boys gave us tonight.”

“I know…” Amelia turned her head over the shoulder, standing near the window through which she’d been gazing outside, lost in her own thoughts. “It just kills me that Danny and Robbie aren’t here.”

Owen silently went in her direction and wrapped his arms around her from behind, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek before gently touching her shoulder with his chin. He didn’t say anything because there was nothing to be said. It took a toll on him too, but he knew that for Amelia, the twins’ departure had been especially worse. As she liked to say it herself, that day the twins had left for college, she’d “lost” two at once and that had it made it twice as hard to bear.

“They are okay,” Owen settled for saying, staring at the dark sky outside from behind her.

“I know they are,” Amelia intertwined her fingers with his and leaned backwards, putting the back of her head on his shoulder. “It’s me that is not.”

Owen chuckled lightly and gave her another kiss, settling for silently contemplating the quiet view outside. Sometimes, he couldn’t believe the amazing things he and his wife had built together and how far in their journey they’d come.

But all it took was one happy evening like the one they’d just had to remind him that, despite the absences and the time apart that their kids’ education demanded, he felt absolutely accomplished and proud of all five amazing people he and Amelia had raised together.

.

Thomas took large strides through the well-known halls of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. On his way to the education department, he passed by a lot of friendly acquaintances and had to make several stops to catch up with people he’d known all his life.

The soon to be intern knew that having his father as his boss and his mother as his direct mentor weren’t details that would exactly make his life easier, but all things considered, Thomas was up for the challenge. He supposed that, like his brother, he longed to be near his family after so many years living away from home.

He’d expected to see a lot of familiar faces during his time there, even on the first day he set foot inside the hospital. But there was one person Thomas had absolutely not imagined crossing paths with him that afternoon.

“Emily?” he frowned, confused, and hurried to catch up with the girl who walked in the same corridor, just a few yards ahead of him. “Emily Spencer?”

A short, petite woman with auburn hair turned around at the sound of her name. She had dark circles around her eyes but they were every bit as hazel as they’d ever been. And judging by the look on her face, Thomas supposed she was just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.

“Tommy?” she hesitated at first but after a second, a genuine smile lit up her entire face. “You’re… You’re… You’re so grown!” She chuckled, noticing the differences that time had invariably caused. Thomas looked just as friendly and angelical as ever, but his facial features were more evident and masculine. “Is that an attempt to a beard?” she teased, watching him laugh with delight.

“Is it really so bad?” he asked with consternation, running his hand through his own face trying to find almost inexistent facial hair. “When I asked my sister about it, she said that I aimed for Ryan Gosling and hit Mrs. Elliott,” Thomas confessed, making Emily crack up laughing at the mention of their high school chemistry teacher who now taught Megan too. The woman was a nightmare and students mercilessly made fun of her rough appearance as a way to rebel against her tyranny. “I suppose she didn’t mean it as a compliment to me,” he added with good humor.

“Or to Mrs Elliott,” Emily stated, trying to be serious but failing. Once she was finally able to stop laughing, she breathed in and added with genuine longing. “How is Megan?”

“She is great,” Thomas answered, happy that Emily had asked. “She is starting her senior year soon and she is determined to beat all my school records,” he added, unable to hide how proud he was of his sister.

“Sounds kind of impossible,” Emily teased him. Thomas had an outstanding school record. Even though Emily had graduated a year before him, everything Thomas had achieved before she left had already been remarkable.

“Nah, she is making me look like a dud,” Tom exaggerated, smiling with modesty. Megan was just as good as he’d been but she was a lot more organized and assertive going after what she wanted than he had been as a teenager.

“And how are you, Tommy?” Emily gave him a fraternal smile. She hadn’t seen him in five years and none of them were exactly active on social media to stay in touch through that time. “You look good.”

“I feel good,” Thomas said a bit quickly, hurrying to change the subject. “I’m actually here to hand in some documents,” he smiled, happy to share the news with Emily. “I got into the surgical program.”

“Oh, wow, really?” Her eyes got wide with amazement. “That’s great, Tommy, I’ve always known you’d achieve everything you set out for yourself…” she smiled, but the shadow beneath her eyes caught Thomas’ attention.

“Thanks, Emily…” he studied her further, unable to define her expression. “And what about you?” Thomas blinked to focus again on the conversation and stop seeing too much into things. The girl seemed hesitant to reply, even a bit uncomfortable, so he tried to make it easier for her to talk. “Are you back to visit your folks?”

The insistent hesitation from the girl alarmed him and it was then that Thomas realized the full extent of the context they were in.

As far as he knew, Emily Spencer lived in New York and had been doing so for the past years. He hadn’t heard much about her because she was a forbidden subject whenever Lucas was around and there was no one else Thomas could ask. But now, she was standing in the middle of a hospital corridor, back in her hometown, looking paler and more drained than Thomas ever remembering seeing her.

Almost instantly, a red flag rose in his mind and even though he knew he was being nosy, Thomas cared too much not to ask. Trying to be as gentle as possible and hoping to somehow be able to help her, the young doctor looked deeply into her eyes before asking.

“Emily… Are you sick?”

 --

[mdwatchestv]

Everything You Should Watch In November (Or Die Trying)

Hey besties heeeey!!

Happy Halloween friends! This year for Halloween I was a normal human girl with absolutely NO scary witch powers. Spooky, right? What's truly spooky is how far behind on almost everything I’m supposed to be watching! Blessedly there is not too much in November and December I am interested in, so these will be short and sweet. But first, here's a recap to show you how poorly I did with my October shows:

Ghosted - Truly terrible. I apologize for even bringing it to your attention. Have already spent too much time reliving the misery it brought me.

Keeping Up With The Kardashians - Kim learned about Planned Parenthood and Party Kourt IS BACK!

The Halcyon- Couldn't figure out how to watch this, still aspire to watch.

The Mayor - Heard this is cute, fucked up by not watching it.

Riverdale - Take me away KJ.

Lore -Skipped it because I heard it was not very good and did not want to sully the charm of the podcast. If anyone has a different opinion lmk. Podcast still good.

Mindhunter - LOVE OBSESSED EVERYTHING. MURDER GROFF CARS.

Dirk Gently - I am recapping this so if you want to know the long version of my thoughts click here. The short version is, it's not bad.

The Walking Dead - I wish I knew how to quit you.

Scared Famous - Oh fuck I forgot to watch this.

Stranger Things - As of this writing it is Tuesday, October 31st and I have watched ONE.  The World Series has really put a dent in my TV time. Also it's only been a weekend and there are so many think pieces and trending Twitter moments. Is it the expectation in today's world to watch ten hours of television in a single weekend? I'm stressed. I'm really stressed.

Thankfully the time to catch up is neigh as the list of shows I am looking forward to is mercifully slim.

Friday, November 3rd -Alias Grace (Netflix)

Starting off super manageably with this six-part Canadian miniseries based off Margaret Atwood's novel. Unlike The Handmaid's Tale, this Atwood adaption is both written and directed by women (Sarah Polley and Mary Harron), yay! Atwood's original work is beautiful, poetic and genuinely unnerving and could make for the perfect post-Halloween binge. (Oh yeah and it’s based on a true story). Also if you have not read this novel (or Handmaid's Tale for that matter) I cannot recommend either enough. I know this a TV blog and I shouldn't be trying to make you read but it's worth it I promise. I mean, you're reading right now and it’s not SO bad right?

Sunday, November 19th - Search Party (TBS)

This is without question my most anticipated premiere this month. If you made the grave error of not watching season one I can only describe its tone as Fleabag meets Nancy Drew. Search Party is only 30 minutes, very bingeable. It's all the (sometimes hilarious) poignancy of being a Millenial combined with the fascination of a murder mystery. You will laugh, you will cry, you will  become deeply paranoid. Suffice it to say, Search Party spoke to me very, very deeply. Also John Early.

Tuesday, November 21st - Marvel's Runaways (Hulu)

Hulu has not had a great track records for it's originally series, and the market is arguably over-saturated with Marvel content, but still I am optimistically curious about this new offering. Although Hulu proved earlier this year with The Handmaid's Tale that it is actually capable of crafting effective adaptions, so maybe they can do it again. I am not so familiar with these comic books, but a group of powered-up teens facing off against any adolescents worst enemy (their parents) is an enticing premise. Plus a diverse and plucky youth cast is always worth at least cursory investigation.

Wednesday, November 22nd - Godless (Netflix)

This is a seven episode Western miniseries about a town populated solely by gun-toting women, Lady Mary, and Jack O'Connell. I need say no more.

Wednesday, November 29th - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

In an earlier blog I voiced the fear that Amazon was going to drop this on us in the night with little to no fanfare. BUT FEAR NOT THE TIME HAS COME. Confession time: I am not a Gilmore Girl and I originally checked out this pilot out of interest in its lead Rachel Brosnahan (or Ray Bro as I like to call her) and boy howdy was I impressed. Mrs. Maisel follows a frustrated housewife in early 1960's New York who embarks on a career in stand up comedy. Stand-up comedy has not been doing too hot as the subject of television, and we’ve all seen unhappy housewives before, but what really made this pilot stand out was Brosnahan's frankly incredible performance. There was one moment where I actually sharply inhaled in shock and awe. The pilot wasn't perfect, but it was at times both genuinely funny and sweet without tipping into schmaltz. If the series is able to sharpen up its plot lines and utilize its charming lead character this show will be must watch.

And that's really all I have for you! Look, I wouldn't waste your time with duds just to fill space. I care about you and your TV watching schedule. If there is something you think I've missed let me know on twitter (@marthadee) or if you want to talk about Jonathan Groff, serial killers, or Kim Kardashian's Halloween costumes I'm down for that too.

XO MD

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 2/4/2019

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Monday 4th February2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

A TIME TO PRAY – Two men of the cloth yesterday took different views about the recent upsurge in crime and violence as the island concluded its Weekend of Prayer. A third has called for a “deeper investigation” into how guns and drugs are finding their way into Barbados. However, Prime Minister Mia Mottley stressed that Government, in partnership with the church and other social groups, could turn the country around. “We have, as a nation, to ‘hold each one’ and the Government has enough resources, but we’re sending piece there and piece there instead of bringing everybody into a single mission – to save our families. If we in Government, in partnership with the church and groups with similar minds, are prepared to save our families from St Lucy to St Philip, we can turn this country around and shun the forces of evil which want to take over,” she said. She was speaking at Sanctuary Empowerment Centre, Country Road, St Michael, where Bishop Dr Marlon Husbands anointed her head and feet with oil, and held special prayers for her as well as for the country. (DN)

ABRAHAMS PLANT BACK TO NORMAL – The South Coast Sewerage Treatment Plant at “better than pre-crisis” levels. But eventually, said Minister of Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams, the entire sewerage system would have to be overhauled. Abrahams made the comments during a press conference on Saturday at the Barbados Water Authority’s Pine, St Michael headquarters. It was in December 2017, that the then new general manager, Keithroy Halliday, had described the hundreds of gallons of raw sewage, which had been spilling onto the streets of the South Coast from late 2016, as a “national crisis”. On Saturday, Abrahams painted a picture of a Graeme Hall Swamp whose water quality was good and where fish had been reintroduced in the wake of the cessation of pumping raw sewage into its waters; of water levels in the swamp which had stablised as a result of the creation of an outfall, negating the necessity of opening the sluice gate and closing Worthing Beach; and of the much maligned disposal wells which have not been used since last December. (DN)

ANOTHER SHOW OF SUPPORT FOR GUAIDO – For the second time in a week, scores of Venezuelans living in Barbados turned out at Rockley, Christ Church, in support of the head of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, who has proclaimed himself president and disputed Nicolas Maduro’s legitimacy as the leader of the South American country. Guaido and many others have accused Maduro of being a dictator in the wake of an election last year which they said was not free or fair. On January 23 Guaido was immediately recognised as Venezuela’s president by several nations, including the United States, the Lima Group, and the Organisation of American States. “We are here to show support for the president of the National Assembly . . . . But we are trying to do everything as legally as possible and abiding by the constitution to avoid bloodshed,” Myrna Hughes said. Things came to a head in Venezuela due to shortages of food and medicine which severely impacted living standards and led to protests in 2014. Those protests escalated and resulted in numerous deaths and an exodus of people to other South American and some Caribbean nations. However, Hughes said too many people were trying to cover up the issues. “Our foreign affairs minister was here yesterday and it was incredible to hear that man saying that everything is normal. That is totally outrageous when people are dying of hunger and because there is no medicine,” she said. Minister Counsellor at the Venezuelan Embassy in Barbados, Alvaro Sanchez Cordero, said the chaos was being promoted by the big media companies and that the US’ involvement was illegal. “All this noise and psychological warfare is taking place digitally, through CNN, Reuters, BBC. It’s a whole show for the international community for public opinion to cement the idea that Venezuela is in a complete state of confrontation or civil war to make it seem that something needs to be done,” he said.  (DN)

TRUMP SAYS U.S. MILITARY INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA 'AN OPTION,' RUSSIA OBJECTS – U.S. President Donald Trump said military intervention in Venezuela was “an option” as Western nations boost pressure on socialist leader Nicolas Maduro to step down, while the troubled OPEC nation’s ally Russia warned against “destructive meddling.”  The United States, Canada and several Latin American countries have disavowed Maduro over his disputed re-election last year and recognized self-proclaimed President Juan Guaido as the country’s rightful leader.  Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and the exodus of millions of Venezuelans, still maintains the powerful backing of Russia, China and Turkey, and the critical support of the military.  In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Trump said U.S. military intervention was under consideration.  “Certainly, it’s something that’s on the - it’s an option,” Trump said, adding that Maduro requested a meeting months ago.  “I’ve turned it down because we’re very far along in the process,” he said in a CBS “Face the Nation” interview. “So, I think the process is playing out.”  The Trump administration last week issued crippling sanctions on Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA [PDVSA.UL], a key source of revenue.  Tens of thousands of people thronged the streets of various Venezuelan cities on Saturday to protest Maduro’s government.  France and Austria said on Sunday they would recognize Guaido if Maduro did not respond to the European Union’s call for a free and fair presidential election by Sunday night.  Russia, a major creditor to Venezuela in recent years and an ideological ally to Maduro, quickly urged restraint.  “The international community’s goal should be to help (Venezuela), without destructive meddling from beyond its borders,” Alexander Shchetinin, head of the Latin America department at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, told Interfax.  Maduro in comments on state television promised peace for the country without specifically responding to Trump.  “In Venezuela, there will be peace, and we will guarantee this peace with the civil military union,” he said in the company of khaki and black-clad soldiers who were earlier shown carrying guns and jumping from helicopters into the sea.  Venezuela’s ambassador to Iraq, Jonathan Velasco, became the latest official to recognize opposition leader Guaido this weekend. Air Force General Francisco Yanez in a video also called on members of the military to defect but there were no signs the armed forces were turning against Maduro.  Venezuela has as many as 2,000 generals, according to unofficial estimates, many of whom do not command troops and whose defection would not necessarily weaken the ruling socialists.  The police have also fallen in line with Maduro.  A special forces unit called FAES led home raids following unrest associated with opposition protests in January, killing as many as 10 people in a single operation in a hillside slum of Caracas.  Latin American governments with the help of the United States are seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela, which is suffering medicine shortages, malnutrition and hyperinflation that has led millions to emigrate.  Guaido on Sunday was expected to make an announcement regarding international humanitarian aid that would come through Colombia, Brazil and a Caribbean island and said he was counting on the armed forces to help bring it into Venezuela.  “The USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) is working hard to help the people of Venezuela with humanitarian assistance such as these tonnes of Ready-to-Use Supplementary Foods for malnourished children,” USAID Administrator Mark Green tweeted on Saturday, posting photos of boxes piled up.  It is unclear whether Maduro’s government, which denies the country is suffering a humanitarian crisis, will let any foreign aid through. (Reuters)

TEEN ADDICTS ON THE RISE – More people are turning to Verdun House and its sister residential treatment facility Marina House in St John for help with their adolescent drug addicts. However, says chief executive officer of the Substance Abuse Foundation (SAF) Marietta Carrington, both Verdun and Marina have been forced to turn them away since the two facilities only cater to those 18 and older. But the CEO said while SAF would be ramping up its outpatient counselling, there was an urgent need for a reform of child care laws to deal with the issue. Carrington told the NATION the Foundation had noticed an increase in the number of people wanting help for adolescent drug users. “But we cannot take them into residential care. Just recently, we were having a conversation on how not to turn away the adolescents. There is an outpatient treatment facility in Barbados which provides some support but that is not, in my view, adequate enough for a growing adolescent population,” she said, explaining they were getting requests for children who were 15 or 16. (DN)

DISBARRED – Attorney-at-law Joyce Griffith has been disbarred. The decision of the Court of Appeal was handed down on January 30, ruling that Griffith was guilty of misappropriating the proceeds from a sale of property for a client. No money had been paid to the client more than five years and evidence showed it was used to pay medical bills. In addition, the court ruled that Griffith must pay $128 770 along with interest at a rate of six per cent per annum, dating back to August 2012, plus costs. Griffith had been engaged by Ordeen Bishop-Broomes to act for her in the sale of property situated at Holetown, St James for $300 000. The sale was completed, and the complainant’s brother, who was jointly entitled to the proceeds of the sale, received $128 778.70 representing his net share of the proceeds. Bishop-Broomes discovered that her brother had been paid whilst she had not. (DN)

JASON HOLDER BANNED FOR THIRD TEST - West Indies captain Jason Holder will miss the final Test against England after being banned by the International Cricket Council. The all-rounder, 27, will serve a one-match suspension for his side's slow over-rate in the 10-wicket win in the second Test in Antigua. The third Test in St Lucia starts on Saturday, with West Indies 2-0 up in the series. Holder is the leading run-scorer with 229 at an average of 114.50. He has been a central figure in West Indies securing a first series win over England since 2009, and their first over any side other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe since 2012. Holder was named man of the match after making an unbeaten 202 and taking two wickets in the 381-run win in the first Test, a performance which took him to the top of the ICC rankings for Test all-rounders. Holder claimed 4-32 to help bowl England out for 132 in Antigua on Saturday before West Indies sealed victory with two days to spare. He missed the second Test in New Zealand in December 2017 after being banned for a slow over-rate offence. (DN)

TWO PACE VACANCIES – WEST INDIES could be looking to a new-look fast bowling attack for the final Test against England. Amidst reports that captain Jason Holder will miss the Test because of a one-match ban for the team’s slow over-rate, there is also uncertainty surrounding the availability of Alzarri Joseph following the death of his mother. The development surrounding Holder comes on the heels of West Indies completing a second crushing victory against England that guarantees them the series ahead of the final Test. While several media outlets, including ESPNcricinfo, BBC and Reuters reported yesterday that Holder was slapped with a suspension, cricket governing’s body, the International Cricket Council did not provide confirmation. ESPNcricinfo reported that 20-year-old Guyanese allrounder Keemo Paul will come into the squad in Holder’s absence, with vice-captain Kraigg Brathwaite to take over as captain for the match at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia. (DN)

SIMMONS SERVES NOTICE – Competing for her club Jump Start, Simmons was in a no-nonsense mood after dismissing the field to win both the Under-13 Girls’ 600 and 400 metres in two separate timed finals. She was literally running against the clock on both occasions, speeding away from her closest rivals to take the 600 in one minute, 46.84 seconds before clocking 1:05.26 to take the 400 metres. It put the cap on a wildly successful day for Jump Start, who topped the meet with 12 wins, including two from promising Under-9 talent Jasmine Hurdle. She, too, was unchallenged on the day after taking the 50 metres sprint in 8.60 seconds and then clocking 12.72 seconds in the ensuing 80. Unfortunately, spectators were robbed of the anticipated matchup between St Michael School speedsters Samiya Dell and Skye Spencer-Layne, who were put in opposite heats of the Under-15 Girls’ 75-metres hurdles. (DN)

MASTERS PLAYER COLLAPSES AND DIES – THE CARIBBEAN UNITED masters football team has been thrown into mourning following the sudden death of player Miguel Nurse. The 38-year-old Guyanese national complained of feeling ill during his side’s match against Weymouth Wales at the Barbados Lumber Company’s Waterford, St Michael ground on Saturday night, in the Claytons Barbados Masters League before collapsing in the fifth minute of play. According to reports, there were a number of attempts by emergency personnel to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by the time ambulance officials arrived, but they were unsuccessful. It is understood that Nurse passed away en route to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and was pronounced dead on arrival. The match was abandoned as well as all games scheduled for last night. When contacted yesterday, manager of the team, Rafeek Jhalu, recounted the untimely passing. “It was so tragic, especially because we were actually playing a game at the time. He told the player that was marking him that he was feeling bad and he fell,” he told the NATION. (DN)

FARMER NAPPY RESPONDS TO BAJAN CRITICS: MY SONG IS A CLEAN SONG – Farmer Nappy is defending his song ‘Hookin Meh’. Responding to critics in Barbados who say the song is promoting domestic violence, Nappy said the song is far from that. During his performance at Old Hilarian’s All Inclusive on Saturday night, Nappy, real name Darryl Henry, said the song was written by Nadia Batson and he has produced all his music in Barbados for the past 13 years. He said, however, there are some radio announcers in Barbados who say the song promotes violence. “All they see in the video is me holding a knife and singing. I just have bad table manners, that is all,” he said. “The writer of this song is Nadia Batson and one of the things Nadia will never give me is a dirty song, all my music is clean music.” Stating that his music is about uplifting women, Nappy said any man who hits a woman is a coward. “Anytime you put your hand on a woman, you are hitting your mother. We don’t deal with violence,” advising men that anytime a woman puts their clothes in a garbage bag, leave in peace. Writing in Barbados Today, columnist Marsha Hinds said the song glorifies possessive and obsessive tendencies in men and confuses them with markers of love.  She said the video highlights disturbing images as well. “Past the lyrics, there are also some alarming and, in my mind, insensitive images in the video to the song. Machel Montano brands the woman a trophy in response to an image that Nappy sends of her. This reinforces the objectification of women and diminishes her worth as anything other than an appendage that is to look pretty and not cause her owner any stress. “What looks to be the male child of the couple portrayed is present through some of the ‘adult’ conversations in the video. He is also pictured dragging the father’s bags back in when his mother puts them out. Again, the suggestion that the child gets between the father and mother and upholds his father’s wishes is problematic. The child is portrayed as an upholder of the toxic masculine traits of obsession and possession. He is ‘another generation of man in training’.” (LOOP NEWS)

CHEF DISHES ON COOKING CAREER - Trevon Stoute’s hands are dusty with flour as he deftly moves them. He is prepping for the next course he is about to serve on the menu at Pavao, the increasingly popular restaurant at Sweetfield Manor in Brittons Hill, St Michael. Trevon’s rise to becoming the executive chef of Pavao was no easy feat. His story is an admirable one. In fact, many would say his is the perfect success story. “I didn’t grow up with a gold spoon in my mouth. I give a lot of thanks to God for bringing me a long way. It is a blessing to be in the position I am now. I had to fight for a lot of things. I had to fight to get out of certain situations. I was born and raised in Haynesville, so I know what it is to come from the rough,” the 24-year-old told EASY magazine. (DN)

NEW ANGLICAN BISHOP PRESIDES OVER FIRST CONFIRMATION SERVICE – Bishop of Barbadian Anglican Diocese, Reverend Michael Bruce St John Maxwell held his first confirmation service this morning urging the confirmation candidates to continue to walk the path of righteousness. At the service held at the Cathedral of St Michael and All Angels, Reverend Maxwell confirmed 15 parishioners from the St Michael’s Row, Bridgetown church. He reminded them their journey with God was ongoing and did not conclude with today’s service. He noted that quite often parishioners did not return to church following the service. “There is the unfortunate trend that many after they have been confirmed see it as a validation to leave the church,” said the Bishop. “Very often there is the tendency that you have been instructed, you know the faith, you have been brought up and you don’t need any more nourishment but no, you need every bit of nourishment every Sunday to continue to nourish you in the faith,” he said. He encouraged the congregation to pray regularly and to attend church every Sunday as it was the ideal means to “experience God in a special way”. “We should always have that great longing, that great desire to come to church to come in the Lord’s house, to assemble regularly with fellowship of other believers, for this is what is best for us,” Reverend Maxwell stated. He urged the confirmation candidates to “always hunger or desire”  to spend time with God and set aside time for worship. “I love church because coming into the special presence of God reminds me of who I am and whose we are as a family of God and it also reminds me of who God is, that God is in control of my life, the one who I can depend on [and] the one who can strengthen us, who is there for us when others are not there for us,” the Reverend said. (BT)

GIRLFRIEND EXPO AND ARTS FESTIVAL CONTINUES TO GROW – The annual Girlfriend Expo and Arts Festival, now in its In its 10th year, has achieved a regional reach with exhibitors from St Lucia, Martinique, St Vincent and Jamaica in attendance. Events director Kimtara Clarke says the annual festival had some 90 entrepreneurs and approximately 40 new businesses participating. Held at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium for the first time, Clarke said that the growth of the exhibition has been “tremendous” having started with 30 booths in 2009. She noted that the increase in innovation and enterprise could be linked to the island’s economic standing and a large number of Government layoffs. “People are trying something new. They are starting new business and a lot of unique businesses as well. I guess because of the economy people are trying something on their own,” said Clarke. The exhibition is all encompassing featuring beauty products and service, interior and events decorating, fashion, cuisine, insurance and more. Following this year’s theme of Africa, the organizer incorporated food, music and entertainment from countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal. Some of the patron-favorites were the head-wrapping and hair demonstrations and the ‘femi-nars’ [seminars targeted towards women]. Also in attendance at the expo was Minister of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports, John King who lauded the creativity and specialized products showcased by exhibitors. “I am glad that our women are in the forefront of being there and the innovation and empowering themselves and by extension empowering the entire society with these initiatives,” King said. (BT)

CLASSES RESUME FOR STUDENTS AT COLERIDGE AND PARRY SCHOOL - Classes will resume at the Coleridge and Parry School from tomorrow, Monday, February 4. The Ashton Hall, St. Peter School was closed from Tuesday last week to allow authorities to address an environmental problem there. (BGIS) 

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 330 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

[gravitascivics]

HOMEMADE MODELS

[Note:  This posting is the second of a series of posting regarding adolescence.  The reader is invited to click on the previous posting – and any other postings – that leads to the content of this one.]

Probably most important, when one considers how secondary students – made up of adolescents – approach social studies and, more specifically, civics, is their ability to think abstractly at a much higher level as compared to younger children.  This, given the goals and aims of a federalist guided curriculum and given how this thinking operates is both good and bad.

Or better stated, it both allows instructors to pursue and explain the complexities of the social world to a high degree of sophistication but also deal with students who rely on any “theories” their thinking produces with a lack of questioning.  This two-faced challenge needs an explanation.

         As to the cognitive development of this change, knowledge of it in psychological literature can be traced to the work of Jean Piaget.  His and subsequent studies in the field identified that the ability of young people to think abstractly is highly dependent on them acquiring the facility to think deductively.[1]  In turn, once deduction is possible, a person can engage in planning the future, anticipate consequences to actions, and think of optional outcomes and explanations about what has happened or what will happen.

         Depending on how good they become at these mental skills, they can take effective roles in debates. Suddenly parents find their adolescent off-springs questioning their, the parents’, assumptions or judgements concerning probabilities; for example, “if you don’t do what I tell you, you will suffer (blank) consequence.”  Well, “maybe not” can suddenly be the response.  

These young people discover figurative language – puns, metaphors, and analogies – and can decipher it.  They might even use sarcasm.  Language becomes more of a tool beyond just communicating observable facts or feelings. With that tool, they can more readily apply higher level reasoning in which they can question social, political, and economic claims.  

They can also understand, appreciate, and support the use of values or ideological precepts.  But they are hindered by both a lack of experience in their attempts to make sense of the world and a lack of dispositional sentiments to learn from that experience.  That is, held beliefs or attitudes are not easily dismissed or changed.

One can deduct from these more general capabilities adolescents being able to form and test hypotheses.  If one thinks about it, a hypothesis demands a person to look at some problem, abstract from it those factors that either create, support, or accentuate the problem, and then test that judgement in a “if/then” supposition against reality.  And in this, one finds how central these skills are in students being able to inquire about civic problems or other social conditions of interest.  

But here is the rub; along with these skills, a youngster is subject to prejudicial thinking – the dispositional bias just mentioned.  And this possibility leads those who study cognitive development to various theoretical approaches.  In one approach[2] this duality is highlighted by pointing out the positive and negative turns these acquired capacities entail.  

In accordance to that approach, one can describe the above mental process as a mental simulation of reality.  And a lot goes into that thinking on the part of a subject including what one wants reality to be.  That is, one can call that simulation the function of biases in which one hypothesizes not to test a preference but to confirm a bias regardless of its veracity.  

This can undermine the validity of those mental processes.  This takes various forms depending on how formal the test of a hypothesis is. Sometimes people test hypotheses very informally in day-to-day life; people just dismiss this as normal thinking or conversation.  In those cases, one readily sees biased thinking demonstrated by what people say about their dealings with common problems.  

But there are those who go about this quite formally – scientists and other scholars.  And yet, even with them one can find cases where biases are confirmed or assumed without enough grounds.  Or, as Jonathan St. B. T. Evans reports, they agree with a fallacious argument in their deductive reasoning.  

For example, ungrounded biases can infect statistical analysis at any stage in which statistics are used (in designing a study, in collecting the data, in analyzing the numbers, or in reporting the “findings”).[3]  Consequently, strict protocols are used to minimize the effects of any biases the scholar might bring to his/her efforts.  Apparently, the motive to find what one wants to find is a strong motivation indeed.

So, if that describes what professionals – who are paid to be objective and have acquired the education and training to perform objectively – worry about, what can one expect from adolescents?  One should remember that most of what young people know has come from experiences; what one can call heuristic – hands-on – experiences.  And reflecting upon this state, a reputable model is often cited in the literature.

Again, citing Evans,[4] one can utilize a heuristic-analytic theory or reasoning.  That model identifies three principles.  The first is that a person, in his/her reasoning and accompanying judgements, relies on epistemic (degree of validation) mental models.  They reflect take-aways from singular experiences a person encounters. They affect a person’s thinking process at a preconscious mental level.  They function to contextualize subsequent relevant challenges.  

How?  These mental biases heighten simultaneously felt goals.  This is the second principle.  Yes, the individual can evaluate a held model or explanation, but he/she is prone to accept it and defend it to him/herself and to others even when it is being challenged. It reminds one of how parents protect their own; that is, he/she gave “birth” to the biased explanation.

But then there are experiences that more seriously challenge the held model and if the immediate realities are sufficiently incongruent with the model, the person can potentially reject it.  This judgmental process constitutes principle three.  These challenging events can simply present themselves to a person or they can be programed by others such as teachers and their planned lesson experiences.  Of course, this can be of varying degrees of importance to a student.  

This writer can report he has gone through two major, life-changing (transforming) experiences or set of events in his life – the first when he was nineteen.  They can be monumental to one’s sense of self and can prove to be quite the determining factor in subsequent decisions as to how one defines personal relationships or job/career seeking decisions.  Sometimes they prove to be beneficial, sometimes they don’t.

So, the three principles are the singularity principle (from where models are generated), the relevancy principle (the relation to personal goals), and the satisficing principle (the judgement over a model’s functionality).  Evan’s abstract states,

At a minimum, analytic processing of models is required so as to generate inferences or judgements relevant to the task instructions, but more active intervention may result in modification or replacement of default models generated by the heuristic system.  Evidence for this theory is provided by a review of a wide range of literature on thinking and reasoning.[5]

All this indicates that adolescents are open to instruction that can call on students to recognize the mental models they have formulated, evaluate those models, and either modify or reject those models.  This in not to say that they are predisposed to do so; they harbor allegiance to the models they have created.

         At a more practical level, one should not see these models as totally dysfunctional.  They do serve as “advance organizers” that assist the young person – or anyone – to categorize and be able to place in priority stimuli as they become apparent.  At a very basic level, this is essential.  The question becomes:  can one dislodge harmful advanced organizers?[6]  Apparently, they, the students, can and that, when one reflects, is a basic aim of education, and, when the topic is social, is the aim of social studies.

[1] Gertrude G. Zeinstra, Maria A. Koelen, Frnas J. Kok, and Cees deGraaf, “Cognitive Development and Children’s Perception of Fruit and Vegetables; A Qualitative Study, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 4, 30 (2007), online version accessed January 8, 2020, https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5868-4-30 AND Kendra Cherry, The Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development, Very Well Mind, June 24, 2019, accessed January 8, 2020, https://www.verywellmind.com/formal-operational-stage-of-cognitive-development-2795459 .  This latter cite is a popular version of the former.

[2] In regards to the effect of biases on hypothesis testing see Jonathan S. B. T. Evans, “Hypothetical Thinking:  Dual Processes in Reasoning and Judgement,”  Psychology Press, 2007, abstract accessed January 8, 2020, https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-02337-000 .

[3] In regards to the effect of biases on hypothesis testing see Jonathan S. B. T. Evans, “Hypothetical Thinking:  Dual Processes in Reasoning and Judgement,”  Psychology Press, 2007, abstract accessed January 8, 2020, https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-02337-000 .

[4] Jonathan S. B. T. Evans, “The Heuristic-Analytic Theory of Reasoning: Extension and Evaluation,” Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 13, 2006, 378-395, abstract accessed January 9, 2020, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6746428_The_Heuristic-Analytic_Theory_of_Reasoning_Extension_and_Evaluation .

[5] Ibid.

[6] A subsequent important question is:  what constitutes harm?

[flarebossmalva]

notes for my friend for hire mix is she promised to the night

#abuse #death m

this won’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t read friend for hire. even if you have, i wrote that story back in ‘13 and made the playlist at around the same time and it’s ‘18 now and i don’t exactly remember what was going through my head when i put this together, so this might be a less enlightening mix notes post. regardless, here we go.

only happy when it rains / garbage

one of the things i figured out very early on about jack is that she’s pretentious and melodramatic and on some level enjoys having something to complain about. after all, what kind of fifteen-year-old runs an overly verbose vent blog filled entirely with lengthy personal posts about some girl her parents are paying her to befriend? well, probably someone who likes to wallow in it a bit. friend for hire is, i guess, something of a tragedy, but it’s also being told by a character who has a tendency to revel in being sad.

seventeen / marina and the diamonds

growing pains. teenage angst. more establishing material for who jack is. 

about a girl / nirvana

this is definitely a song jack likes — i’m pretty sure i alluded to her fondness for 90s grunge at least once. nirvana songs are hard to analyze because kurt cobain was the sort of lyricist who mostly didn’t give a fuck about what his lyrics actually meant; regardless, the way i read this song is that it’s about being too hung up on someone who isn’t that level of hung up on you, who has a life outside of you. an unbalanced relationship, broadly speaking, which is what jack and luna’s thing was from the get-go because of the money jack pockets for it and the three-year age gap between the two.

crushcrushcrush / paramore

i think i put this on there more for the mood than for any specific lyric. this is a story about angsty teenagers. it definitely calls for some paramore. 

down today / jonathan coulton

this dude can write a passive-aggressive song like no one’s business. i mean, if you haven’t heard this song, it’s about how someone (maybe an ex, from context) is attempting to go off on you but you don’t even give a shit because you’re having a good time with a nice girl now. also: did jack make friends with luna to spite her mom? one hundred percent yes she did.

summersong / the decemberists

song about taking it easy because it’s summertime and summer comes and goes quickly. the main events of this story happen over the course of one summer — that’s about a three-month time frame. that’s quick. but a lot can happen in a single season, especially if you’re young.

summertime / my chemical romance

abandoning the rest of the world to run away with someone. this song is off mcr’s concept album set in a dystopia, so relating it to a much more mundane occurrence (two adolescents becoming friends) helped set the overdramatic us-vs-them teenager mentality mood i wanted the story to have.

born to die / lana del rey

more moody shit, plus the line “you like your girls insane” for a little nod at the mental illness themes i was working with. and a little mild suicidal ideation, why not?

kimberly / patti smith

i don’t know what the fuck patti smith is on about half the time, i’ll confess, but i love the imagery in this song; it’s weird and surreal and grand and apocalyptic and ends with the narrator gazing “into your starry eyes, baby” for the rest of the song. more “the two of us against the rest of the world” / “all we have is each other” kind of stuff, in context.

4 o’clock / emilie autumn

so we’ve mostly been from jack’s perspective in this playlist till now, but here’s a bit of luna. she’s an insomniac, and when she does sleep, she sleepwalks. for a girl named after the moon, she’s learning to dread the night pretty well. i confess that this bit of luna’s character is also based off of my first depressive episode in part because i kept myself awake at night until sunrise because paranoia made me fear the dark. 

asleep / emilie autumn

luna again, big surprise. pretty self-explanatory. wanting to sleep but it sounds an awful lot like wanting to be dead at times, too. 

is she weird / pixies

yes, she is weird. this is where i got the title of the mix from. 

monster / paramore

again, us vs. rest of the world stuff. drowning imagery in this one too. i don’t remember my writing process for this story too well but i’m pretty sure the foreshadowing was far from subtle.

girls! girls! girls! / emilie autumn

i think i referred to this song explicitly in the story. this is victorian notions of female madness / hysteria stuff, which is a theme i hope i explored at least a little because it was a big influence while writing this thing. iirc i had jack reference this song which is sort of getting at jack’s gender issues i guess, not seeing herself as a girl and all that.

fear of dying / jack off jill

i love foreshadowing apparently. also sort of a “i don’t want to die and leave you behind (but if we died together it’d be alright)” thing here.

northern star / hole

more night imagery. also a really moody track, sort of apocalyptic-sounding. it’s hole so i’ll be damned if i know what the lyrics are supposed to mean but the tone fits. i think i had this one associated in my mind with a specific scene i wrote where luna shows up at jack’s house unexpectedly.

how strange / emilie autumn

don’t remember which of my main characters i associated this one with but i wanted to get some early emilie autumn in there and this song is basically a passive-aggressive “you don’t know me like that” track. also the chorus talks about dreams which naturally were an important part of this story.

if you feel better / emilie autumn

abuse victim anthem am i right. the lyrics for this one are basically like “you can blame everything on me and treat me like i’m just a heartless person taking advantage of you if it helps you to do that because i’m past fighting you on it” and, again, you can definitely read it as passive-aggressive but i’m not sure you have to either because this is 100% the mentality abuse victims commonly adopt during their abuse. could work for jack and luna or for jack and her mom. 

the killing type / amanda palmer

the narrator of this song constantly asserts a nonviolent, pacifistic nature but is clearly willing, if not eager, to resort to violence to fix a broken relationship. if that ain’t a mood, i guess. i think this is more of a luna track, except she’s like twelve and ends up directing violence at herself instead of towards anyone else.

i want my innocence back / emilie autumn

given the ages of my protagonists, loss of innocence is in the thematic mix, and i think luna in particular (who is just moving out of childhood into adolescence) wants to go back to how she was before losing some vestige of innocence... another violent song too, but not angry, the violence here is matter-of-fact. a means to an end. luna’s basically dealing with the onset of mental illness symptoms (i never decided what she might have, but definitely some measure of psychosis) and doesn’t know what’s happening but wishes things could return to “normal” for her.

time for tea / emilie autumn

my main reason for including this track, i think, was because luna would like it. it’s about girls exacting bloody revenge, what’s not to love?

eloise / the damned

given jack’s overall musical taste (which i don’t think i discussed too much in canon, but i alluded to it more than once), i’m sure she’d like this song. the angst makes it fit. also like... doing everything you can think of to keep someone happy and then losing them anyway.

liar / emilie autumn

god i really put a lot of emilie autumn on this one huh. this is another track that could work for jack’s relationship with her mom (i think when i had her review opheliac in a blog post, she mentioned liking this song; that’s why), but it’s more relevant to jack and luna’s relationship ultimately, especially once luna finds out jack’s been getting paid to befriend her.

when i am queen / jack off jill

extremely a luna track, the chorus is even about suicide by drowning for fuck’s sake. not sure there’s much more to say, the relation of this one to the story is probably very obvious.

shallot / emilie autumn

very pretty song about being imprisoned and escaping it in order to die free, or something. also a lot of water/night imagery. very luna.

where is my mind? / pixies

water imagery again, also losing your mind or realizing you never had one to begin with. most applicable to luna but jack is probably the one who likes this track.

come away to the water / maroon 5 ft. rozzi crane

the title is probably enough explanation but this is about children being taken to be slaughtered, so. there’s that.

4 o’clock reprise / emilie autumn

if friend for hire was a movie i’d want this to play the night luna drowns. that’s all i gotta say on that.

redondo beach / patti smith

this song is about a woman who has a fight with her girlfriend and then goes looking for her; along the way she sees a commotion on the beach, where a girl has just washed up dead, but ignores it to keep search for her gf, not realizing till the end of the song who the dead girl on the beach is. obviously i picked it because it’s about someone drowning herself following a fight with a loved one.

dear prudence / siouxsie and the banshees

the narrator of this song implores the titular prudence to come outside and play, but i’ve always thought prudence sounded... well, dead, the way the narrator keeps imploring her to open her eyes. i’m not sure if that’s like a “valid interpretation” of the track but in my mind prudence is absolutely not alive. at this point in the story neither is luna, so.

if i burn / emilie autumn

friend for hire concluded with jack realizing that even though luna’s dead, she’s never going to be rid of her. this track is about someone asserting that even if she dies, her killer will never be rid of her memory and will be haunted by her forever.

[battybat-boss]

A Young Child's Intuitive Belief in a Creator/Designer is Only Removed by Indoctrination

A Child's Intuition of Purpose in Nature Is No Accident

by Jonathan Wells Evolution News

Excerpts:

Young children perceive intuitively that the world is designed.

In 1929, child psychologist Jean Piaget called children “artificialists” who tend to regard everything as “the product of human creation.”

Piaget's claim that young children's minds are not sophisticated enough to distinguish between human and nonhuman causes was controversial, and subsequent studies have shown that he was wrong.

Yet he was right in saying that children start out with the intuition that the natural world was made for a purpose.

In 2004, child psychologist Deborah Kelemen suggested that young children are thus “intuitive theists” who are “disposed to view natural phenomena as resulting from nonhuman design.”

Intervention for Indoctrination

By the time they are adolescents, many children have suppressed their intuition of design. This suppression is largely due to influences from the community, especially from parents and teachers striving to acculturate children to a secular society, often in the name of “scientific literacy.”

Kelemen and her colleagues have proposed to facilitate this process with “theory-driven interventions using picture storybooks.” They wrote in 2014:

Repeated, spaced instruction on gradually scaled-up versions of the logic of natural selection could ultimately place students in a better position to suppress competing intuitive theoretical explanations such that they could elaborate a richer, more abstract, and broadly applicable knowledge of this process. Storybook interventions such as the ones reported here seem a promising start from which to promote scientific literacy in the longer term.

“Intervention” usually refers to an action taken to help someone give up an abnormal addiction.

For these psychologists, however, it means convincing children to give up a normal intuition. And it is not enough for them to teach “the logic of natural selection.”

That logic is quite simple: If organisms vary in certain heritable features, and some variations are more likely to survive in a given environment, then those variations will be more common in the next generation.

But natural selection can only operate on variations that already exist; it has no creative power.

So in addition to being taught the logic of natural selection, children must also be taught the Darwinian dogma that selection has the creative power to produce the illusion of design - a power that has never been observed. Only then might children be persuaded to suppress their natural intuition.

“Scientific literacy” usually refers to learning about current hypotheses and how to evaluate them critically by comparing them with evidence. For Kelemen and her colleagues, however, it requires believing uncritically in unguided evolution.

Thus education becomes indoctrination.

A Gaping Hole

But the intuition of design never completely goes away. Even highly trained biologists retain it, though most consciously resist it. As Richard Dawkins wrote in 1986, “Biology is the study of complex things that appear to have been designed for a purpose.”

In 1988, Nobel laureate Francis Crick wrote: “Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but rather evolved.” Why must they do so? Because (we are told) evolution is the “scientific consensus” of the experts, and who is qualified to challenge that?

Well, Douglas Axe, for one. He is a molecular biologist who earned a PhD at Caltech and subsequently did research at the University of Cambridge, the Cambridge Medical Research Council Centre, and the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England. Axe now directs the Biologic Institute near Seattle, where he is engaged in laboratory research and computer simulations that examine limitations on protein evolution. In 2016, he published a book titled Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed.

According to Axe, the “universal design intuition” is: “Tasks that we would need knowledge to accomplish can be accomplished only by someone who has that knowledge.” Axe then highlights two facts.

First, we all validate our design intuition through firsthand experience. Second, we all make mental notes of our experience and build conceptual models to make sense of it, and we then compare those models to subsequent experiences and correct them if necessary.

This is exactly how science works, so we are all scientists.

Axe himself has impeccable scientific credentials. He has published articles in the prestigious Journal of Molecular Biology on the extreme improbability of getting functional proteins by chance.

Read the full article at Evolution News.

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[lopezdorothy70-blog]

A Young Child's Intuitive Belief in a Creator/Designer is Only Removed by Indoctrination

A Child's Intuition of Purpose in Nature Is No Accident

by Jonathan Wells Evolution News

Excerpts:

Young children perceive intuitively that the world is designed.

In 1929, child psychologist Jean Piaget called children “artificialists” who tend to regard everything as “the product of human creation.”

Piaget's claim that young children's minds are not sophisticated enough to distinguish between human and nonhuman causes was controversial, and subsequent studies have shown that he was wrong.

Yet he was right in saying that children start out with the intuition that the natural world was made for a purpose.

In 2004, child psychologist Deborah Kelemen suggested that young children are thus “intuitive theists” who are “disposed to view natural phenomena as resulting from nonhuman design.”

Intervention for Indoctrination

By the time they are adolescents, many children have suppressed their intuition of design. This suppression is largely due to influences from the community, especially from parents and teachers striving to acculturate children to a secular society, often in the name of “scientific literacy.”

Kelemen and her colleagues have proposed to facilitate this process with “theory-driven interventions using picture storybooks.” They wrote in 2014:

Repeated, spaced instruction on gradually scaled-up versions of the logic of natural selection could ultimately place students in a better position to suppress competing intuitive theoretical explanations such that they could elaborate a richer, more abstract, and broadly applicable knowledge of this process. Storybook interventions such as the ones reported here seem a promising start from which to promote scientific literacy in the longer term.

“Intervention” usually refers to an action taken to help someone give up an abnormal addiction.

For these psychologists, however, it means convincing children to give up a normal intuition. And it is not enough for them to teach “the logic of natural selection.”

That logic is quite simple: If organisms vary in certain heritable features, and some variations are more likely to survive in a given environment, then those variations will be more common in the next generation.

But natural selection can only operate on variations that already exist; it has no creative power.

So in addition to being taught the logic of natural selection, children must also be taught the Darwinian dogma that selection has the creative power to produce the illusion of design - a power that has never been observed. Only then might children be persuaded to suppress their natural intuition.

“Scientific literacy” usually refers to learning about current hypotheses and how to evaluate them critically by comparing them with evidence. For Kelemen and her colleagues, however, it requires believing uncritically in unguided evolution.

Thus education becomes indoctrination.

A Gaping Hole

But the intuition of design never completely goes away. Even highly trained biologists retain it, though most consciously resist it. As Richard Dawkins wrote in 1986, “Biology is the study of complex things that appear to have been designed for a purpose.”

In 1988, Nobel laureate Francis Crick wrote: “Biologists must constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but rather evolved.” Why must they do so? Because (we are told) evolution is the “scientific consensus” of the experts, and who is qualified to challenge that?

Well, Douglas Axe, for one. He is a molecular biologist who earned a PhD at Caltech and subsequently did research at the University of Cambridge, the Cambridge Medical Research Council Centre, and the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England. Axe now directs the Biologic Institute near Seattle, where he is engaged in laboratory research and computer simulations that examine limitations on protein evolution. In 2016, he published a book titled Undeniable: How Biology Confirms Our Intuition That Life Is Designed.

According to Axe, the “universal design intuition” is: “Tasks that we would need knowledge to accomplish can be accomplished only by someone who has that knowledge.” Axe then highlights two facts.

First, we all validate our design intuition through firsthand experience. Second, we all make mental notes of our experience and build conceptual models to make sense of it, and we then compare those models to subsequent experiences and correct them if necessary.

This is exactly how science works, so we are all scientists.

Axe himself has impeccable scientific credentials. He has published articles in the prestigious Journal of Molecular Biology on the extreme improbability of getting functional proteins by chance.

Read the full article at Evolution News.

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