#au: appalachian wine

[naivesilver]

oh lei oh lai oh lord

Soldier, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos Lampwick by @lizardthelizard Beth by @solar-nightengale Eliana by me

[autisticsidesau]

what kind of music do all the gang listen to?! i love this au sm btw

Ty!!!! We appreciate it. ~Remy

I’m so glad you like this au!!! -Max 

Virgil

My Chemical Romance, Paramore, P!atD, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, twenty one pilots, Fall Out Boy, I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Remy’s Virgil Song: “broken” by lovelytheband

Max’s Virgil Song: “House of Memories” by Panic! At the Disco

Dee

Dodie, twenty one pilots, J. Cole, Backstreet boys, Imagine Dragons, (won’t admit but he had a past SpIn in jazz after learning about black history with it so he knows A Lot of jazz)

Remy’s Dee Song: “The Judge” by twenty one pilots

Max’s Dee song: “Pretender” by AJR and lil yatchy 

Roman

Dodie, Lady Gaga, Disney soundtracks, musicals, Lana del Rey, Beyonce

Remy’s Roman Song: “Reflection” from Mulan

Max’s Roman Song: “Hollywood” By Marina and the Diamonds

Remus

Cavetown (ah yes trans teen culture™ /s), Imagine Dragons, beastie boys, Will Jay, Lady Gaga, Hayley Kiyoko, Adele, Halsey

Remy’s Remus Song: “Appalachian Wine” by Eleventyseven

Max’s Remus Song: Brass Monkey by the beastie boys

Patton

Neon Trees, Taylor Swift, lovelytheband, rivers cuomo, AJR, Prince, That 24/7 Lo-fi stream, Marina and the Diamonds

Remy’s Patton Song: “Karma” by AJR

Max’s Patton Song: “Pity Party” by lovelytheband

Logan

Nirvana, 2pac, Usher, Black Flag, Sex pistols, guns and roses, Ramones, Green Day, New York Dolls, Get Scared

Remy’s Logan Song: “Brenda’s Got a Baby” by 2pac

Max’s Logan Song: “Slip” by Skrizzly Addams

Emile

Steven Universe, cartoon soundtracks, Sleeping at Last, The Clash, Ariana Grande, Joji, Benny

Remy’s Emile Song: “Here Comes a Thought” from Steven Universe

Max’s Emile Song: “Guiltless” by dodie 

Remy

Cold War Kids, Madonna, Shawn Mendes but no one needs to know that, courtship, Nicki Minaj, Coldplay, Vacation Manor

Remy’s Remy song: “The Village” by Wrabel

Max’s Remy Song: Perfect People by courtship

[prairiedust]

Red or Green? The literary and folk themes of Oroborous

Red or green is the official state question of New Mexico as ratified by the legislature in 1996. Order anything at any restaurant, even a burger in some places, and you’ll likely be asked “Red or green?” Do you want red chile sauce on your entree, or do you prefer green chile? The “state question” can sometimes reveal geographical origins-- red sauce is supposedly favored in the northern half of the state, while green is more popular in the south (I lived in the south, and you could easily get either one anywhere so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .) The best green chiles are grown in the south, so maybe that has something to do with it-- like wine grapes, chiles from different parts of the state have different flavor profiles. Green chiles from the Hatch area are world famous.

But it’s important to remember that the sauces are made from the exact same fruit. The difference is all in the timing. Green chiles are harvested early, unripe, then roasted and chopped up and canned or put in the freezer, whereas red sauce is made from chiles that have been allowed to ripen fully and are then (typically) dried.

It’s all about timing. Let your chiles stay on the plant too long, and you miss your chance at the magical elixir that is green chile sauce.

Timing.

The sister stories of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are, to a great extent, about timing. They are about waiting, about vigils, and about being at the right place at the right time-- or the exact wrong time.

(If you have not already read this rundown of Snow White in season 14, I suggest at least reading a few of the translations of the original folktales here or here. And cw the Sleeping Beauty story called Sun Moon and Talia is dark. I’ll be discussing the difference between the original material and the Disneyfied stories somewhat. Usual disclaimer that this is lit crit and not spec, why you ask, because I am a hundred years old is why.)

I want to say first that Steve Yockey in Ouroboros did a truly wonderful job allegorizing the story of Snow White, which has been teased for a while now. In the Grimms’ Snow White, as in other tales of that type, Snow White has been 1. run into the wilderness by her stepmother, B. taken in by a group of dwarfs, Three: then poisoned by that stepmother and fourthly laid to rest in a glass coffin. While the story has been poked at over the course of several episodes, Yockey sums it all up again in this one.

Dean-- along with the rest of TFW 2.0-- has been traipsing around New Mexico looking for a peculiar monster. Trope one. From the screen shot it looks like they’ve possibly been through Clovis, Roswell, Albuquerque, and finally made it up to Raton. As far as wildernesses and in-between places go, New Mexico is the most liminal state in the union-- many people in the country think it’s part of Mexico and if you think that’s a joke when I was a senior looking at colleges I had two well respected schools send me their foreign student applications. Roswell. AAAAaaaaahhhh Roswell. Roswell is the city that straddles reality and science fiction. They fry ice cream in New Mexico, they eat both ripe and unripe chiles there, and they have old mountain forests and arid white sand deserts within fifty miles of one another.

Another nod to the Snow White story is the Ma’lek Box that Dean mentions again-- B-- it can be seen as an allusion to Snow White’s glass coffin (in other versions, it is merely ornate or sometimes bedecked in rare gems but it is definitely something that she alone can not get out of… being dead and all...)

Finally, when the Gorgon knocks him out and Michael escapes, Sam tends Dean’s wounds while he is unconscious, which fulfills the traditional Snow White requirement for someone other than the king/prince to affect a physical change in the heroine’s state-- cutting off an enchanted dress or jostling the coffin so that the bite of poisoned apple can be coughed out-- in order to bring her back to life. Walt Disney and his studio added the “first love’s kiss” into the Snow White matrix in 1938, not even a century ago, but it quickly took over the narrative-- Disney also brings the story into a more accessible reality for modern viewers, he introduces the prince into the actual storyline earlier than in the folk tale, and then has him awaken her with The Kiss. Which do we, as an audience, prefer? The rabbit-hole of darker, more psychological Snow White tale types, or Disney’s recent and overwhelmingly iconic romantic reimagining?

Red or green?

Yockey gave us green, the version that has not ripened into what most people know as Snow White through the Disney cinematic behemoth.

The other duality in this episode is that we have Sleeping Beauty being referenced simultaneously with Snow White’s allegory.

Sleeping Beauty is Cas’ story and elements from that tale type can be seen in how the Gorgon stalks and overcomes his prey. The Gorgon uses sex to snare a human for consumption-- he says he’s an opportunist but that women have begun to be more cautious now that they are “waking up” from a long period of oppression. Sleeping Beauty’s deep sleep comes as the result of a symbolic sexual awakening-- in the more recent stories that awakening comes from the machinations of an enemy, so it is more a violation than a sudden innocent awareness. Where am I going with this? I don’t even know, this seems like it belongs in a different essay. What I’m trying to say is that the Gorgon uses sex to put people into a state of paralysis, and the evil fairy (known in the Disney movie as Maleficent) used a sexual metaphor to lure Briar Rose to her doom before she was ready for that kind of encounter. We are asked to contemplate the symbolic aspect of the Gorgon’s predation because he also uses a symbolic act-- eating eyeballs-- to see into the future and thus subvert the natural order of time.

In Sleeping Beauty, the evil crone/Maleficent also subverts the timeline by jumping place in line. She was not invited to the party in honor of the infant princess, but after nearly all of the other wise women have given Briar Rose their blessings, she breaks in to curse the baby. There is always one fairy left who, while not powerful enough to nullify the curse, can modify it to a deep sleep instead of death. In Ouroboros, TFW2 exploits the fact that Cas and Jack exist outside of the workings of Fate to defeat the Gorgon, but not without great cost.

Which brings us to The Wrong Kiss. I didn’t even want to meta the Sleeping Beauty stuff because of the kiss, seriously. So. What happens to Briar Rose is tragic, but in the three most famous versions of the story she comes out of her enchantment because a prince falls in love with her. Jack, here, as a result of Cas’ deal with the Empty, is no longer in the Sleeping Beauty story, he is not a Prince but a Giant-Killer once more, and the antidote he administers to counteract the Gorgon’s venom will not work. Once he activates his giant-killing powers, he can heal Castiel. (In the reciprocal, Cas is an agent of the SB story and the antidote works on the dude the Gorgon was about to eat because Cas administers it. It’s a very meta way of treating the folklore theme by both subverting it and keeping certain characters strictly within the parameters.)

Jack finally lives up to his name as a Giant-Killer when he takes out Michael. In Appalachian and English Jack Tales, Jack is always clever, sometimes to the point of unscrupulousness, but in the story Jack and the Beanstalk he is a naive picaro who betters his circumstances through reliance on his simple nature as much as his wits. Often “Jack” does not change as a result of his adventures, as most fairytale heroes do, but like many other mythological tricksters he operates outside the bounds of normal morality. Jack Kline has managed to hold onto his innocence despite initiation into the Winchester clan. Now that Jack has, presumably, burned off some large portion of his soul, it will be interesting to see how his picaresque nature might actually change. Because the story of Jack the Giant-Killer? Not the same story as Jack and the Beanstalk. The Giant-Killer is the story of a deadly clever young man who defeats several giants as well as Lucifer using mainly his wits and is afterward given a place on King Arthur’s Round Table. The story in its entirety borrows from Cornish, Welsh, and Briton mythology, echoing other simple folktales as well as hearkening to high heroes of the Mabinogi. Jack has become larger than life. (AN I started this before Peace of Mind, I’ll get to that one by the end of the season maybe :P )

In a less meta sense of course, this episode is one huge mythological allusion-- Cas refers to Dean’s imprisonment of Michael as a “herculean” feat, the MOTW is a Gorgon (and traditionally gorgons were a trio of cursed sisters in Greek legends,) and Dean enthusiastically references the 1981 Clash of the Titans film twice. In a /more/ meta vein, Andrew Dabb quotes the more recent Titans movie in a tweet on this ep’s airdate. I find that exciting because the story of Perseus in CotT features a descent into the underworld, and again while I flirt with speculation here I would REALLY like to see these nerds freaking raid the Empty.

As for Snow White and Sleeping Beauty now? Red or green?

It feels as though the Snow White story has possibly been tied up and tucked away now, solving the riddle of the “red or green” sister stories. Michael, Dean’s evil rival, is dead. Pretty sure. Whether his grace is contaminated and will have an adverse effect on Jack remains to be seen. See drsilverfish’s lovely analysis of the oroborous symbolism in the last two episodes for more discussion about what it means for Jack to have consumed Michael’s grace. But. Unless there is a Ghost of AU!Michael coming up, he’s gone.

We are left, however, with Cas’ deal with the Empty-- he gets to operate under normal parameters as long as he does not exceed the minimum threshold of happiness (and I want it to be an accidental or unexpected moment, unlike a lot of meta writers, but then that isn’t spec it’s just what I hope for.) And what does that mean for destiel subtext? I don’t know. Honestly, this is a little too intense for me, I am not “canon positive” or “endgame positive” and this episode freaked me out. Analytically, though, it places the subtext at a really interesting place. It means the princess who gets rescued from an enchanted doom is still on the loose, still avoiding Fate, and the prince is still out there having Adventures in the Woods. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[michaels-blackhat]

I was tagged by @andrea-lyn and @adiwriting for this meme!

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

WIPs Folder!

-feral flower michael -forrest is the worst take 2 -god of wine -mating rituals -foundations -pirate sequel -shark bait -shark bait interludes -sdtd 9 -summer is a curse sundry sparks of magic -super niche fantasy appalachian gothic au -if you know where you stand -idk michael gets haunted

....someone really needs to stop me

[ghjco]

Local Ingredient Spotlight: Escuminac Organic Maple Syrup from Québec

We’re leading with French for this one. Scroll down for English.

Bonjour les amis! On est fier de vous annoncer que dès cette semaine, nos produits qui contiennent du sirop d’érable sont fait avec un sirop d’érable très special de chez Escuminac.

Cette entreprise familiale produit des sirops d’érable 100% purs et biologiques de la plus haute qualité depuis 1998 d'une érablière centenaire située dans Baie-des-chaleurs, au pied des montagnes Appalaches : 

Érablière Escuminac voit le jour en 1998 lorsque Martin Malenfant se porte acquéreur d'une terre acéricole centenaire composé de 500 hectares à Escuminac dans la Baie-des-Chaleurs en Gaspésie. Cette terre a une particularité, elle renferme aussi une des plus belles forêts de merisier (bouleau jaune) du Québec. Martin Malenfant veut produire du sirop de qualité dans le plus grand respect de l'environnement, en harmonie avec la nature. La mission de l'acériculteur : produire du sirop de qualité supérieure, biologique, sans compromis! Dès 1998, l’acériculteur met en place un plan de gestion stricte de son érablière et des normes élevées de production. En 2006, il reçoit enfin sa certification biologique. 

.. Le sirop d’érable Escuminac provient de la sève d’érable (Acer saccharum) centenaire. 40 litres de sève sont nécessaires pour produire un litre de ce précieux sirop. Ce sucre naturel a des propriétés insoupçonnées, il contient des polyphénols (antioxydants) et des minéraux naturels essentiels (manganèse, calcium, potassium, fer, zinc, magnésium).

Santé!

_

Hello friends!  Sweet news: we’re proud to announce that as of this week, our products that are sweetened with maple are made with a very special maple syrup from Escuminac. 

Since 1998 this family-run business has been producing 100% pure, organic maple syrup of the highest quality from a hundred-year-old maple grove in Baie-des-Chaeurs, at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains.

Beyond its patriotic provenance, maple syrup is pretty neat, as sweeteners go. It is a rich source of naturally occurring, easily absorbed minerals including potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, zinc, and magnesium. 

And Escuminac’s organic maple syrup is particularly neat thanks to its unique terroir:

The centuries-old hillside forest is located near the Atlantic Ocean. It benefits from a unique climate and terroir (sedimentary rock and seashells). The salt air from the sea, its terroir and its micro-climate make it one of the best places in the world for maple syrup production. Just like Burgundy, for wine!

Cheers to that!

-GHJC

[thewickedbohemian]

I know this isn’t my fanvid prompt side blog but I want someone to make a The Librarians fanvid to this song. Even though there isn’t a “role” for Cassandra, here’s who of the others I’d “cast” as the various concepts/deities/personifications/whatever-they-are in the story.

Jenkins - God

Eve - Mother Earth

Flynn - Father Time

Jake - Fire

Ezekiel - Wind

[stretchearsnotvaginas]

There are 329 records in my collection as of January 9, 2019. This list includes Alternative Rock, Christmas, Classical, Comedy, Country, Dance, Folk, German, Hip  Hop, Jazz, Kids, Metal, Outlaw Country, Pop, Rock, Rockabilly, and Soundtrack.

To organize and keep track of all of these, I use an app on my iPad called MusicBuddy and it catalogs and organizes all of my records for me. So when I get more records, I’m going to continue to add to this blog. This collection is a conglomeration of records given to me by my mom, grandparents, friends, and records I’ve found at local thrift stores.

They’re organized first by genre, then by artist. If you see any that are in the wrong category, feel free to message me so I can fix it. Like I said, my app placed them into the genre Discogs placed them into.

KEY: Artist – Album Name 1, Album Name 2, Album Name 3, etc..

All records that are underlined are the ones that are photographed.

Alternative Rock: 7 records

Dance Gavin Dance – Artificial Selection, Instant Gratification (signed), Mothership, Summertime Gladness/Pussy Vultures (7″)

David Lee Roth – Just Like Paradise

Jefferson Airplane – The Worst of Jefferson Airplane

Pink Floyd – A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Christmas: 15 records

Andy Williams – Merry Christmas

Charles M. Shulz – A Charlie Brown Christmas

Elvis Presley – Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas, Christmas Album

Floyd  Robinson – Charlie the Hamster Plays Christmas Songs With Floyd…

Jim Nabors – Jim Nabors’ Christmas Album

John Denver – A Christmas Together, Rocky Mountain Christmas

Johnny Cash – The Christmas Spirit

Luciano Pavarotti – O Holy Night

Richard P. Condie – Christmas Carols Around the World

Tennessee Ernie Ford – O Come All  Ye Faithful, Sing We Now of Christmas

Classical/Easy Listening: 17 records

101 Strings – Henry Mancini, John Denver

2Cellos – Score

Arthur Fiedler – Arthur Fiedler Superstar

Boston Symphonic Orchestra – Appalachian Spring/The Tender Land – Suite

Clarinet Kings – The Best Polka

Copperas Cove Bands – The Proud New Generation Band ’74

Engelbert Humperdinck – King of Hearts

Ferrante & Teicher – Moonlight Melodies

Heintje – “Mama”

Hollyridge Strings – The Beatles Songbook

Jean-Pierre Rampal – Fascinatin’ Rampal

Mannheim Steamroller – Saving the Wildlife

Richard Clayderman – Love Songs of the World

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Hooked on Classics

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Die Zauberflaute, The Magic Flute (box set)

Comedy: 8 records

All in the Family Cast – All in the Family

Bill Cosby – 200 mph, Bill Cosby, Bill Cosby ‘Live’ Madison Square Garden, For Adults Only, When I Was a Kid, Wonderfulness

Various – The Watergate Comedy Hour

Country: 40 records

Alabama – Just Us, Mountain Music

Barbara Fairchild – Kid Stuff

Barbara Mandrell – He Set My  Life to Music, Love is Fair, Meant for Each Other

Buck Owens and His Buckaroos – The Kansas City Song

Charley Pride – The Best of Charley Pride, The Best of Charley Pride Vol. III, From Me to You, Pride of Country  Music

Conway Twitty – By Heart, I Love You More Today

Don Francisco – Forgiven, Got to Tell Somebody, Holiness, Traveler

Don Williams – Cafe Carolina, Greatest Hits

Freddie Hart and The Heartbeats – The Pleasure’s Been All Mine

Glen Campbell – Galveston, Glen Campbell’s Greatest Hits

Jean Shepard – A Real Good Woman

Kendalls – The Best of the Kendalls

Kenny Rogers – The Gambler

Loretta Lynn – Coal Miner’s Daughter, Entertainer of the Year – Loretta, Here I Am Again..,  Just a Woman, You’re Lookin’ At Country

Moe Bandy – Rodeo Romeo

Skeeter Davis – A Place in the Country

Sonny James – The Sensational Sonny James

Statler Brother – Bed of Roses

T.G. Sheppard – Perfect Stranger

Tammy Wynette – The First Lady, Just Tammy, Tammy’s Greatest Hits

Various – America’s Greatest Country Stars Live and In Person, Country Girls

Dance/Electronic: 4 records

Crystal Fighters – Cave Rave

Devo – Oh, No! It’s Devo,  Q: Are We Not  Men? A: We Are Devo!

M|A|R|R|S – Pump Up the Volume (7″)

Folk: 29 records

Albert  Hammond – The Free Electric Band

Andy Williams – Andy Williams’ Greatest Hits, Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes

Cat Stevens – Foreigner, The Very Best of Cat Stevens

Dale Evans – Heart of the Country

Jim Nabors – Everything is Beautiful

John Denver – John Denver’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Poems Prayers & Promises

Johnny Cash – America: A 200 Year Salute in Story and Song, Any Old Wind That Blows, At Folsom Prison, Believe in Him, The Gospel Road: A Story of Jesus, Heroes, I Walk the Line, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, Johnny Cash’s Greatest Hits Vol. 1, Look At Them Beans, Ragged Old Flag, Starportrait

Johnny Cash & June  Carter Cash – Carryin’ On With, Johnny Cash and His Woman

Johnny Horton – Johnny Horton’s Greatest Hits

Marty Robbins – Greatest Hits Vol. IV

Peter, Paul & Mary – Album 1700, The Best Of…

Simon & Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

Various – Zenith Presents Hootenanny Special

German: 20 records

Extrablatt – Vico Ganz Neu!

Flotte Franz Und Seine Bierbrummer – Ja Das Haben Di Madchen So Gerne

Gaudeamus Igitur – Romantic Old Heidelberg

Hoffbrau Singers – Ein  Prosit! A Toast!

Ivan Rebroff – Kosaken Mussen Reiten

Johannes Heesters – Da, Geh’ich Ins Maxim

Lucie Baierl – Wine, Women and Schrammeln

Paul Horbiger – Servuswein

Peter Alexander – The Golden Album of Peter  Alexander, Peter Alexander Prasentiert Walt Disney’s Welt

Robert  Stolz – Ein Shoner Herbst

Serge Jaroff – The Best of Serge Jaroff and His  Don Cossacks

Various – A Echte Gaudi, Ein Heurigenabend Bei Toni Karas, Music of the Austrian Alps, Musical Memories of Germany Vol. 2 “Auf Zum Oktoberfest”, Schenkt Man Sich Rosen In Tirol

Wiener Schrammelguartett –  Erinnerung An Wein

Winer Terzett – Tanze Aus Dem Alten Wein

Hip Hop: 6 records

Boogie Boys – City Life

LL Cool J – Radio

New Kids On The Block – Hangin’  Tough, Hangin’ Tough (Calendar Pack 7″)

Snap! – The Power

Various – Electric Breakdance

Jazz: 12 records

Dean Martin – Dean Martin Hits Again, Gentle On My Mind, This is Dean Martin!

Frank Sinatra – I’m Glad There Is You/You Can Take My Word for It Baby (7″), Strangers in the Night, Ultimate Sinatra

Jack La Forge – Unchain My Heart

John Tropea – Short Trip to Space

Paul Winter – Common Ground 

Various – Happiness Is (Box  Set), Kings of Swing

Winter Consort – Road

Kids: 20 records

Al Smith – Happytime Songs for Children

Candle – The Music Machine

Carole and  Jimmy Owens – Ants’hillvania

Children’s Television Workshop – Songs From Sesame Street 2

Disney Choir – It’s A Small World

Disney – Walt Disney Presents Mickey Mouse and His Friends

Ethel Barrett – Children’s Stories: The Mysterious White  Envelope

Marcy Tigner – Sings Nursery Rhymes, Wear a Smile

Nancy  F.A. Woolnough – The Adventures of Raindrop #3

Peter Pan – Popeye the Sailor Man 4 Exciting Stories

Richard Wolfe Children’s Songs – A Raggedy Ann Songbook

Sesame Street – Sesame Street Gold! The Best of Sesame Street, Sleepytime Bird, The Year of Roosevelt Franklin: Gordon’s Friend

Sharron Lucky – Follow the Clouds

Singspiration Trio – Songs for Children No. 2

Strawberry  Shortcake – Strawberry Shortcake and  Her Friends (photo disc)

Susie and Johnny – Sings Stories by Susie and Johnny and Their Singing Pals

Thomas Moore – Sleepy Time

Metal: 10 records

Bloodrock – Live

Jethro Tull – A Passion Play 

Metallica – The Good The Bad & The Live: The 6 1/2 Year Anniversary Collection,  Harvester of Sorrow, Jump in the Fire, Kill ‘Em All

Motley Crue – Girls, Girls, Girls

Slayer – Hell Awaits

Twisted Sister – Love is for Suckers, Under the Blade

Outlaw Country

Johnny Rodriguez – Foolin’ With Fire

Kris Kristofferson – Border Lord, Me and Bobby McGee, The Silver-Tongued Devil and  I

Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge – Full Moon

Merle Haggard – Amber Waves of Grain, The Best Of The Best Of Merle Haggard, It’s All in the Movies, Same Train Different Time

Tanya Tucker – What’s Your Mama’s Name

Waylon Jennings – Wanted! The Outlaws

Willie Nelson – Willie  Nelson’s Greatest Hits

Willie Nelson & Family – Honeysuckle Rose

Pop: 38 records

Connie Francis – The Very Best of Connie Francis

Cyndi Lauper – True Colors

Debby Boone – Surrender

Eurythmics – Greatest Hits

Gene Pitney – The Many Sides of Gene Pitney

Go-Go’s – Beauty and The Beat

Halsey – Badlands

Helen Reddy – Long Hard Climb

Johnny Mathis – Close to You, More Johnny’s Greatest Hits

Maureen McGovern – The Morning After

Michael Jackson – Thriller

Neighborhood – I Love You.

Neil Diamond – Classics The Early Years, Gold, Hot August Night, Tap Root Manuscript

Oh Wonder – Ultralife

Olivia Newton-John – Olivia’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Physical

Panic! At The Disco – Death of a Bachelor, Pray for the Wicked

Paul Anka – 21 Greatest Hits

R.B. Greaves – R.B. Greaves

Ready for the World – Oh Sheila

Rick Springfield – Working Class Dog

Righteous Brothers – Back to Back

Sonny & Cher – All I Ever Need Is You

Sylvan Esso – Sylvan Esso

Toni Basil – Word of Mouth

Various – 24 Groovy Greats, From Broadway to Hollywood, Love is Blue (box set), Super Stars – Super Hits, They Come to America, Zenith Presents The Hit Makers

Wayne Newton – Summer Wind

Wham! – Make it Big

Rock: 54 records

4 Skins – A Few 4 Skins More Vol 2

AC/DC – Fly On the Wall

Adolescents – Brats in Batallion

Alice Cooper – Alice Cooper’s Greatest Hits

Animals – The Best of the Animals

Bad Religion – Against the Grain

Bauhaus – Mask

Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill

Beatles – 1962-1966, Introducing… the Beatles

Billy Joel – An Innocent Man

Blood, Sweat, and Tears – Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Boatz – Boatz

Bob Seger – The Distance

Bobby Darin – It’s You Or No One

Camel – Breathless

Chuck Berry – Chuck Berry’s Greatest Hits

Circle Jerks – Group Sex

Cliff Richard – Two a Penny

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Deja Vu

Cure –  Boys Don’t Cry, Japanese Whispers

Dad  Punchers – These Times Weren’t Made for You

Everly Brothers – Everly Brothers’ Original Greatest Hits, The Golden Hits of the Everly Brothers, Very Best of the Everly Brothers

Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac, Greatest Hits, Rumours, Tango In The Night, Tusk

Free Beer – Highway  Robbery

Grateful Dead – Touch of Grey (7″)

Green Day – Dookie

Hard-Ons – Dickcheese, The Worst Of…

J Geils Band – Freeze-Frame

Jerry Lee Lewis – By Request: More of the Greatest Live Show On Earth

Jesse Colin Young – Love On The Wing

Journey – Escape

Kenny Loggins – Nightwatch

Kenny Loggins & Messina – The Best of Friends, Native Sons

Lee Michaels – 5th

Mike & The Mechanics – Mike + The Mechanics

Pat Benatar – Crimes of Passion, Get Nervous, Heartbreaker, Live From Earth

Stevie Nicks – Bella  Donna, Rock a Little

Tom Jones – Live in Las Vegas, This Is Tom Jones, The Tom Jones Fever Zone, Tom Jones Live! At The Talk Of The Town

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Rockabilly: 12 records

Elvis Presley – Almost in Love, Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite, Elvis Now, Elvis’ Golden Records, G.I. Blues, How Great Thou Art, Let’s Be Friends, Pure Gold, Rock ‘N’ Roll, Welcome to My World, Worldwide Gold Award Hits

Ricky Nelson – Legendary Masters Series

Soundtrack: 24 records

Burt Bacharach – Lost Horizon

Dory Previn – Valley of the Dolls

Isaac Hayes – Shaft

Jack L. Warner – 1776

Leonard Bernstein –  West Side Story

Mary Martin –  Mary Martin Sings The Sound of Music

Mr. Pickwick – Mr. Pickwick Sings Songs from Mary Poppins

Neil Diamond –  Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky –  Suite from “The Nutcracker”

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

Rossini – The Barber of Seville (box set)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Graduate

Unknown – HearSeeDo: Hanna-Barbera Record of Safety, Superman

Various – 2001 A Space Odyssey, 50 Happy Years of Disney Favorites (1923-1973), Fantasia, The Fox and the Hound, Grease, Song of Norway, That’s Entertainment: Musical Highlights from Camelot! Sounds of Music! etc., Top Gun, Urban Cowboy

Vince Guaraldi – Selections from the Soundtrack ” A Boy  Named Charlie  Brown”

Record Collection There are 329 records in my collection as of January 9, 2019. This list includes Alternative Rock, Christmas, Classical, Comedy, Country, Dance, Folk, German, Hip  Hop, Jazz, Kids, Metal, Outlaw Country, Pop, Rock, Rockabilly, and Soundtrack.

[filosofablogger]

And just what does that mean, you ask?  Well ask no more!  It means that those of you who usually have to hurry off to work, get to stay home today.  It means that some people will be grilling outdoors, others will venture forth to the zoo, amusement park, or aquarium, or to spend the day with friends and families.  And it means that some will spend it absorbing beer and thus have a not-so-jolly Tuesday, but that is their problem.  I don’t do Jolly Tuesdays!  And sadly, for all my friends across the pond, it is just another Monday.  Sorry, guys … but you had yours in May, and anyway, you get all those banking holidays.  We grilled out yesterday on our ancient Weber kettle grill (charcoal, not gas) with the bottom half rusted out.

So, to all my friends here in the WordPress world, Have a Happy and Safe Labour Day, and if you don’t read this until tomorrow, then have a Jolly Tuesday after all!  Since dear Steve B. was miffed over the lack of a treat last Monday, I got up early this morning and baked just for him …

Bees, bees, bees … 🐝

Let me start by saying that I like bees.  I understand, as best a non-science lay person can, the important role bees play in our survival on this planet.  I talk to the bees when I water my flowers each morning.  I like bees.  But these two stories are just … no no no no no no no … NO!

Emily Mueller is pregnant with her fourth child, and is a full-time beekeeper.  Something made Emily want to have a photo shoot marking this memory of her pregnancy with her love of bees, and here are the results …

Her best friend Kendrah Damis captured the images and was amazed when she heard her photos had been viewed more than 2 million times on social media! They say she was covered in 20,000 bees, but I have no idea how they know that, as I am fairly certain nobody actually counted! Mueller reports that she was stung only three times during the shoot when she unknowingly sat on a bee and accidentally crushed bees on her lip and arm. “None of the bees intentionally stung me. It was my own fault. I didn’t realize there was one on my arm.”

And then there was this …

A Canadian beekeeper set a Guinness World Record by wearing a “beard” of live bees for more than an hour.

Juan Carlos Noguez Ortiz let thousands of bees rest on his face for 61 minutes Wednesday at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto, for the record-breaking performance to promote the release of the horror film Blood Honey.

Ortiz is an employee at Dickey Bee Honey Farm in Cookstown, which provided the bees for the skin crawling stunt. “We brought 100,000 bees with us, so there are more bees with us today than ever. But we brought the gentle ones so that is very important when we are doing bearding,” said master bee keeper, Peter Dickey.

Ortiz had only practiced the stunt twice before, but wanted to show that bees aren’t quite as terrifying as they might appear in the film he was promoting. “I wanted to show people that they don’t have to be scared of the bees,” he said.

As I said … I like bees, but … no, I will not be doing a photo shoot of me covered in bees, so don’t wait for it.

Oh please wear your pants …

Pennsylvania seems to be the start of some really odd things … that is where my friend H resides, so need I say more?  But this one dropped my jaw.

Thousands to cycle nude for annual Philly Naked Bike Ride

Turns out that September 9th is the date of the annual Philly Naked Bike Ride.  Who knew?  Better question … WHY?  The stated mission is “to celebrate body positivity, cycling advocacy and fuel conscious consumption. The ride also aims to desexualize nudity.” Ummm … okay.  Personally, as a lover of animals, I find the human body to be among the, shall we say, less attractive species … I always thought it was a trade-off for that supposedly larger brain. I also always thought we would look better with fur.

And as if all that weren’t bad enough, H, a master hiker of the Appalachian Trail, tells me that there is a “Nude Hiking Day”.  That happens, my research shows, on June 21st each year.  This year, Colorado officials warned that rangers would be on the look out and ready to issue tickets to any found in an au natural state.

Again, as I said about the bee stories … NO … just NO!

And at this point I see that Jolly Monday is turning into Weird Monday.  Let me change directions here … ahem …

A criminal on the bridge …

How about this tweet from the California Highway Patrol (CHiP) …

And the caption that made it all just perfect read …

“This morning our officers stopped a doe for toll evasion, on the Bay Bridge. She said she usually pays it, but today she was a buck short.”

A share of the castle …

Who hasn’t dreamed of owning a castle in Europe, right?  Well, if you have €50 lying around to spare, you can now own (part of) a castle!  It would be the castle of Saint-Vincent-le-Paluel, a 15th-century chateau in Dordogne, France, best known for being torched by the Nazis during World War II, and for one memorable film appearance, in the 1968 comedy Le Tatoué.

“Adopte un Château,” a group dedicated to restoring the 30,000 abandoned and damaged castles in France, has started a crowdfunding campaign in which for €50, donors receive a share in the building, and help to dictate its future.

It isn’t a sure thing: the castle is going up for auction on September 21st. By that point, the fund raisers will have to have drummed up enough money to outbid any other potential buyers. According to the Local, 400 people have bought into the scheme so far, raising around €30,000. The starting bid is €250,000, so they have a bit of a ways to go.

Let’s see … that would be about 4,400 more shares, convert eur to usd … ONLY $260,920 USD … I will write a check tomorrow!  Um … where’s that checkbook now … ???

And speaking of France …

You’ve all heard of the infamous French Underground, right?  Well, underground in Paris refers to the 150 miles of secret tunnels that snake around the city: the ancient Mines of Paris network. Tourists can visit one piece of one portion of it—Les Catacombes de Paris, ossuaries that hold the broken up remains of some two million people – dead people, that is.

Last week, in the wee hours of August 29th, thieves struck in the tunnels under Paris!  What did they take?  No, not mummified, or rather ossified remains.  No, not rocks and no, before you guess it, they did not find gold hidden by the Nazis.  They were after … WINE!  More than more than 300 bottles of vintage wine, as it happens.  HUGH!!!  Where were you on the morning of August 29th???

Catacombs

The thieves stole the wine from the cellar of a high-end apartment building close to the leafy Jardin du Luxembourg. Detectives believe they drilled in through the limestone wall of the catacombs.

Well, friends, that about wraps it up for another Monday.  I hope that whatever you do with your Labour Day holiday you have a great time and a safe time.  No, Joe, I will NOT be doing a ‘Jolly Tuesday” piece for your return to work tomorrow.  This is it.  Remember, while you are enjoying your day, to keep that smile on your face … you might be surprised how much difference it makes!

      It’s a Jolly Labour Day Monday!!! And just what does that mean, you ask?  Well ask no more!  It means that those of you who usually have to hurry off to work, get to stay home today.  

[naivesilver]

@ouattober Day 9: OCs - Eliana, daughter of the Blue Fairy and older sister to August

Name: Eliana (Enchanted Forest), Alba (Dark Curse), [REDACTED] (fairy name) Age: technically early 30s, looks younger because ✨fairy genetics✨ (see also the funky blue-purplish eyes) Likes: her brother, Ruby, her angery cat Tosca who hates everyone else, a certain dragon girl she is bound to meet soon 😏 Dislikes: her mother, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White It's Complicated: her father, Archie, her brother (I told you it was complicated) Fancasts: Anuk Steffen, Tatiana Papamoschou, Ashley Laurence TLDR: Eliana is Blue's bio daughter, but was raised by Geppetto since she was a baby. In his neverending quest against fairies, Rumple tried to use her to damage her mother when she was very young - it backfired, but it still damaged Eliana and Blue's relationship even more than it already was. To this day Eliana carries a hefty amount of mommy issues, torn between resenting any connection she has with Blue and being hurt by its absence. She's a doting sister and very protective of her baby brother (though now he's technically older than her and decidedly taller), but also can't help her jealousy, because sometimes she perceives him as their father's favorite child - an hypothesis sustained by the whole wardrobe business, of course. During the curse she had distanced herself from Marco and Archie, who she sees as an accomplice to this unfairness, and only recently agreed to start mending that relationship, with middling results. Human-looking and human-raised, she appears to be very far from her mother's high fairy status and powers...but keep an eye on how the forest behaves when she's upset, if you know what's good for you (and watch out for the teeth).

[naivesilver]

Eliana Revenge Arc + Bastille

And felled in the night By the ones you think you love They will come for you

[naivesilver]

a servant for my mother's unhappiness - eliana & blue

@sweatermuppet / @heavensghost / @filmnoirsbian / @ijaazat

[naivesilver]

and me your forest lass

(some over the top Eliana content I finally managed to finish because why not)

then

Out at the edge of the forest, Eliana cries quietly. 

She always cries like that, ugly but not making a sound, silent tears and snot running down her face. She is used to it - the woods don't take kindly to little girls weeping loudly and making a ruckus, even girls who can be counted amongst their friends - but she doesn't like it, most times. Sometimes she wishes she could be like the pretty girls in Papa's stories, sighing at a window, a single tear streaking down their cheek. 

But this is not a story, and she is not a pretty princess, so Eliana weeps into her balled fists, her small body wracked by quiet sobs. 

She stills when she hears footsteps approaching, leaning backwards as she gets ready to bolt upright and away, but it's just her father drawing closer, a lantern in his hand casting light on his worried face. He almost drops it when he sees her, she notices, but then he slowly sets it down and holds his arms out towards her, slowing his pace. 

"My poor girl," he says, softly. "How did you get here? It's dangerous to be out at night alone."

None of the beasts in the forest would dare touch Eliana, she knows, and she's not sure she deserves to be soothed and coddled besides, but the need is stronger than her all the same. She lets out a final, hiccupy sob, then stumbles forward and right into her father's hold, clinging to him like a lizard on a wall. 

"I'm sorry, Papa," she wails, her voice finally rising in volume. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. I didn't wanna-"

He hushes her, gently petting the back of her head. "Now, now. Don't cry, my sun. It's alright. It's not your fault."

Isn't it? Eliana isn't sure. She stopped listening after the first few minutes of explanation, once she'd stumbled woozily back home only to find both of her parents in a fine frenzy over her absence. Mother didn't yell - only Papa did, after a while, and raised his voice to try and tell the fairy to leave her daughter be - but her terse, measured words were even worse than any yelling could be, the anger plain and clear in the way her face was twitching, until Eliana ran off so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore. 

"He said he was Mother's f-friend," she sniffles, rubbing at her nose with her sleeve. "That she needed my help. He said that maybe we could make a…a deal, and if I was good I'd get something nice too."

"Did he?" She feels Papa tense against her, his hand going still on her back as she nods haltingly. "What did you ask for, Eliana?"

"For more clients. For you. Nobody's been buying anything, and you were upset, and-"

"Oh, my sweet girl," he murmurs, and reaches up to take her face in his hands, his features softening in the dim light. 

"I'm not mad at you, do you hear me? I know you didn't mean to do anything wrong. You've got too big a heart for this place, you always have."

Eliana sniffs noisily, unconvinced. Her throat is dry and parched, as though she hadn't drunk any water in months. "But Mother's angry. She said so. She said I put her in danger."

Her father sighs loudly, pulling her against his chest once more. "That's no fault of yours. We should have paid more attention, kept you safe. The Dark One might have hurt you, if you hadn't told him what you knew."

Maybe that would have been better. Eliana can picture being hurt, remembers gashes on her hands and knees and the deep, lingering feeling that thrums in the ground when the season to hunt deers comes, but she doesn't want to stand under Mother's piercing glare ever again. If it happens, she thinks she'll dig a burrow into the side of the hill and hide in there, letting moss and vines grow into her hair. 

But maybe even the vines would turn on her, now. Mother says that there were secrets among what she told Rumpelstiltskin, things that an enemy of the fairies should have never heard, but Eliana didn't know what they were then, and she still doesn't know now. She just talked about Mother's visits and Nova's sugary treats and the paths that only open up for her when she's playing with Red, prattling on until he told her she'd make her father a rich man yet, shaking her hand as though she were a grown woman. 

The forest only speaks to her because her mother's a fairy. What if something happens to the fairies, now that she's messed up, and everything goes dead and silent forever? What about all her playmates, and the river, and the dryads that sang a sundew into life on her birthday? 

She's still hiccuping a bit under her breath, unable to shake the weight of those worries off her back. Papa hums soothingly in her ear, then gathers her up and settles her on his hip, even though she might be a little too big for that now, and bends down awkwardly to get the lantern with his free hand. 

"Come, now. Me and Jiminy have a story to tell you- maybe we could have avoided all this mess, if we'd told it a bit sooner."

now

Eliana can hear Pongo's barks grow louder, somewhere behind her. 

That means he must be getting close. She's not surprised, in truth: she's been rushing through Storybrooke's woods as fast as she could for a while now, but she is no match for a dog's speed - her brother's always been a better runner than her, even as a child, even when she would hitch her skirt up and take shortcuts she hadn't taught him yet. She never really hoped to win this race, and there's no telling what kind of perks the De Vil woman's magic might have given poor Pongo, besides. 

She considers doubling back towards the town, to confuse them both, but it'd be a fruitless trick. She'd lose the advantage right after gaining it, and here, at least, she has the higher ground. Very few people know the forest as well as she does, and they're all locals, anyway, not fur-coated foreigners. 

Eliana stops, panting heavily. The air around her is thick with humidity, unbearably hot on her skin, and yet she doesn't move a muscle, counting heartbeats while she waits for her chasers to catch up with her. 

She can sense August more than she did before diving into the trees. She's always fancied she'd be able to track him down even from miles away, and she probably could, on a normal day, but now his trace is muddled by others, stranger and stronger, one cloying and wet, the other scorching hot at the edge of her mind. 

Eliana doesn't deign to acknowledge the third presence she can feel surrounding her brother, somewhere deeper in the forest. It'll only serve to infuriate her more, at present, and she needs all her wits to herself today - already they seem to be escaping her, like trying to hold water in her hands, and she can't afford it. She can't.

She can recognize Pongo's energy just fine, though, which is why she turns around long before she hears him in the grass around her, watching him draw to a halt not a dozen feet away. He's panting with exertion, his sides heaving and his tongue lolling out, but there's no trace of the silly dog she so loves in his eyes, only empty dullness, like a lifeless puppet under Miss De Vil's control. 

That makes two of them, then. They're using Pongo as a weapon, but they got her brother, too. Gold got her brother, and that makes anger flare red-hot in Eliana's chest, an anger that whispers in her ear and calls for burning and scratching and maiming - it makes her wish she had fangs, that anger, fangs and claws and wings, so she could show them all they can't chain down every beast they encounter.

"Get her," an actual, more concrete voice drawls, and then Cruella De Vil steps into the clearing, following right behind Pongo at a leisure pace. She hasn't given up on her luxurious furs yet, despite all the leaves and debris they must have swept off the forest floor. 

Eliana, by contrast, feels almost naked, shoeless and coatless, her mud-streaked dress stopping a little below the knee, but it's okay. Her mother would despair of her, as usual, but at least she's at ease to act as she pleases, this way. At least the arm she raises to stop the dog in his tracks has freedom of movement, bare and sun-tanned, sticking out like a sore thumb against the deep greenwood. "It's okay, Pongo. She can't do anything to you. Come here, baby."

Pongo seems to hesitate, stuck in the middle of an aborted movement, but then he shakes himself off, the haze disappearing from his eyes. He barely spares the older woman a glance as he trots over to Eliana, head bowed low and tail wagging guiltily. 

"Good boy," she murmurs, patting his head without taking her eyes off her opponent. "I'm not mad, baby. You did good."

There is a flicker of unease in Cruella's gaze, but she dissimulates it pretty quickly, smiling indulgently at Eliana. "I must say, I'm impressed, darling. It's not every day someone takes the leash of any mutt out of my hands. And here I thought this town was so dreadfully boring."

"It is. But it's my town, and Pongo is family. I don't have any magic, but you'd be amazed at what I can do for my family."

"Yes, I had guessed." The curve of Cruella's painted lips becomes mischievous, almost peevish. "It's a shame you weren't there to rein your brother in, too. Don't worry, he's all in one piece- at least, he was when last I saw him."

Outrage rises up Eliana's throat, acrid and cloying, and she has to force herself to swallow it before she screams. How dare she, the fury from before whispers in her ear, still low, still tantalizing. How dare she speak of August like that. She has no right.

"What do all of you want from him, exactly?" She says instead, as controlled as she can muster. "Will Gold come say hi to me next, since he came all the way back here just for the lot of us?"

"You wish, darling. You're not that important, I'm afraid, and neither is that little puppet man you call brother. This is not about you children, or your games."

The problem, Eliana muses, is that in a different world she probably would have been a more tender girl. She has plied herself into the loving daughter, the sweet sister, the friend and the worker and the patient, resilient child that asks for nothing, over and over again. She has done it so often she wagers she would have been able to mould herself into something perfectly pleasant, had she been allowed to live a peaceful life. 

This is not a different world. She was pushed and pulled between sides since the day she came out of the womb, not normal, not magical, just something anomalous hovering in between. Her brother was gone for thirty years, and now the Dark One has taken him again, just like he took her mother's trust in her all those decades earlier. That'll rip the tenderness out of anyone, and she had little to spare to begin with, unfortunately. 

So when she speaks again, there is an edge to her voice that borders on dangerous, strident like nails on a chalkboard, and it will not. Let. Go. Of her. "Are you going to tell me where August is, Miss De Vil? Or do I have to go get him myself?"

The woman waves her off, with a dismissiveness that's only a little stiff. "I'd love to see you try, little girl. But I'm getting tired of your babbling, and I need to find Regina's boy that you chased away earlier, so…puppy? Take her down."

Pongo straightens up, a wink of his previous haziness return, but by then Eliana is already moving. The earth is thrumming under her feet, and the voice screams and howls in her ears, and before she knows it she's pounced, barrelling straight into Cruella's chest and prompting her to fall back, furs and all. 

"Wrong answer," the girl says, and a part of her, the part that still only wants to find her brother and rescue him, is surprised to hear a hint of delight in those words. She sounds giddy, almost, entertained by the fear warping her victim's previously smug expression. 

That is wrong, Eliana thinks, but even that thought is soon drowned by all the rest, the anger and the resentment and the sheer wildness of the whole ordeal. The forest sings for her, like it did when August was on his self imposed exile, or the day she summoned it during the Spell of Shattered Sight, when it answered her call and not her mother's. It sings and screams and tells her we can't let her go unpunished we can't we can't it is up to you child she hurt your brother she will pay, and no matter how hard she fights against that suggestion, it worms its way into her bones relentlessly, like a sneaky disease. 

And so Eliana's grin widens, until it hardly looks like hers anymore, and then she bends closer to a flailing Cruella and bites. 

[naivesilver]

One of those Eliana plot moments I was dying to reach, deliberately sprinkled with some family angst 💗

✍️(◔◡◔)

There are days where Emma thinks the world must be out to make things as difficult as possible for her. 

This should not be one of those days, and yet, predictably, here they are. In a way it was almost easier at the beginning of this ordeal - Gold showed up with some new cronies, sure, but that's on par with the course. It's arguably part of their town's routine, by this point. 

Then those cronies took August. That, Emma suspects, was where everything started picking up speed as it went to hell. 

She spares a glance at Eliana, who is pacing around like a caged tiger, her movements jerky and impatient. Emma can't exactly blame her - even if her brother hadn't been the one who got taken, she must be still riding the high of his rescue, full of adrenaline and pent up energy - but it is an unnerving sight, muddy footprints tracking across the hospital floor notwithstanding. 

Emma sighs, forcibly returning her attention to the book pages that have given them all so much trouble lately. In the brief bout of lucidity he had at her house, August casually informed her that that is where their mysterious Author is, so now she's on her own trying to puzzle out how to get him out - her friend lost consciousness shortly afterwards, which made him of little help, with the addition of having to figure out where to go to get him checked out. 

In Emma's defense, she did propose the convent right off the bat, and she still wagers it would have been the better choice; magically sturdy and magically knowledgeable, it’d have been the perfect place for their needs, so they could continue worrying about pretty much everything else. Eliana, however, fought against that option so strongly that it was impossible to make her change her mind, and, as Emma has learned the hard way in the past few hours, most people will capitulate rather than arguing with someone whose face is deliberately spattered with Cruella De Vil's drying blood. 

The sound of approaching footsteps invades her train of thought. The sheriff looks up, expecting Whale or one of the members of his staff, but is instead met with Regina's flat expression. 

The mayor is still playing double agent, technically, but the only other supposed ally of Gold is on the opposite wing of the hospital, bound to her bed and with enough gauze wrapped around her neck to satisfy a mummy. Even if she were to spot Regina, which is unlikely, it would simply look like another attempt to swipe the illustration of the door from Emma’s hands, albeit in a more crowded environment than usual.

“Still no word from Gold,” Regina announces, her gaze moving between the other two women. “He’s probably huddling somewhere with Maleficent until he gets another bright idea, since this one worked so well.”

Emma sighs, stashing away the pages again. The less people see them, the better, even at this point. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse, honestly,” she says, her voice terse and unamused. “Did you come all the way up here just to tell me there was no news?”

“I wish. No, Gold’s off the radar, but you’ve got another visitor.”

“Really? Who?”

“The Mother Superior. She’s come to check up on August, since they used some…unusual magic on him.”

For a brief, surprisingly lucid second, Emma feels a stab of regret about not having asked Regina to speak in private. She doesn’t get much more time than that, anyway; a second seems to be enough for Eliana to register what she’s just heard, freezing on the spot halfway through her brooding - her head swivels around, looking at the mayor with her purple-ish eyes as wide as saucers, but her face is completely expression-less, a waxen mask stained with red from the chin down.

Then, what feels like just another second later, she rushes past them both, stomping out of the door without looking back.

“Crap.” Emma stands up so abruptly the rickety hospital chair almost falls backwards, cursing more under her breath as she grabs Regina and sets out on Eliana’s trail. “Did you really have to say it where she could hear? Where is the Mother Superior, anyway?”

Her friend all but glares at her, though mercifully she falls in line with Emma pretty easily, as if picking up on the urgency of the matter. “At the entrance. I told her to wait until I asked if August could have visitors. But what-”

“That girl went for Cruella’s jugular only a few hours ago, do you think it’s safe for Blue of all people to be around her?”

“Well, if Blue couldn’t guess that her kid would be here, that’s on her, not me,” Regina scoffs moodily. “Personally I’m on Eliana’s side- that dog lady wanted Henry, Emma. If she’d gotten to him like she planned, I wouldn’t have stopped at the jugular, and neither would you.”

The problem is, she’s right. Emma has nothing against Eliana. Eliana is, by and large, a nice enough person - she grew up with Ruby, and Henry likes her, and August, who despite everything is still one of Emma’s closest friends, thinks the world of her, like the besotted younger brother he is. She might have a penchant for butting heads with her mother and Emma’s, sure, but she doesn’t look the type to go for unwarranted violence, and besides, what Regina said is true: without her, Cruella De Vil would have tried to take Henry instead, in the hope of luring his family out for good.

But Emma’s personal opinion matters little and less, right now. She is still the sheriff, and she is still the Savior: while babysitting a young woman who’s barely gotten off the adrenaline rush of biting a chunk off a villain is not her top priority, she’d rather avoid having a matricide in her hands anyway, in the midst of all that chaos.

Thankfully, the Mother Superior is still relatively in one piece when they stumble into the hospital's hall, though she looks far from pleased. She and her daughter are both small women, nearly of an height, but where the fairy's wearing sensible shoes and exuding her customary air of authority, Eliana has turned into a looming, haunting presence, as though her wild hair and the way she's standing up ramrod straight were making her appear larger than life. 

"Nobody asked you to come," Emma catches her hissing as they draw closer to the pair. "You're not welcome here."

Blue scoffs, with the same look of annoyance one might have after stepping on a chewed gum. "This is not the time for your childish games, Eliana. I need to make sure your brother is in good shape, and- oh, God, what happened to you?"

"You did." Eliana leans forward so that she's almost nose to nose with her mother, her voice lowering so much it's almost inaudible over the din around them. 

"You're what happened to me, and to August. So many of the things Gold did to him, they were because of what you did to him first - look at yourself, Mother. You're a fucking disease. I'm not letting you get close enough to poison my baby brother again."

"I'd thank you to avoid that kind of language when you speak to me-"

"Or what?" The question is delivered with a sort of hysterical giddiness, but none of that shows up on the young woman's face, save perhaps for a brief glint in her eyes, a sharp, pestering flash. 

"What will you do to punish me? Will you make me stand in the corner? Will you let August get hurt again? I am tired of having to chase away his monsters myself just because you can't be arsed to do your duty. And you didn't pass anything useful down to me, otherwise I'd have needed less time to burn that cursed island to the ground, back then."

Eliana points at the crusted blood with surprising ferocity, all but livid with anger. "But this? This is yours alright, Mother. This is how you would have solved things, too, if you weren't too proud to get your own hands dirty, so don't tell me you're here to help, now. You already did more than enough when you gave us both life."

She spits the word out so venomously that it catches even Emma off guard, though the sheriff still takes the split second the Mother Superior spends faltering to cut between them, wary of possible escalations. "Okay, ladies, that's enough. Blue, thanks for checking in, but I think we're managing just fine for now. We’ll call if we need anything. Eliana- you need to get some sleep. August will be fine. He's in good hands."

"He is," the younger woman agrees readily - except she doesn't look that much younger, at present. She is still fresh-faced and minute, at a first glance, but when her eyes raise to meet Emma's there's a fury in them that feels ancient, burning blue and purple like gas fire. 

"I trust you with him, Emma Swan, and I trust the mayor, but I do not trust her. She already let him die once; she might do it again if you don't keep an eye on her."

There's a sharp intake of breath from Blue, and suddenly the nun is struggling against Emma's flimsy separation, face contorted in anger. "You're going too far, child," she says, her proverbial calm straining. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Call me child one more time, I'll choose some new names for you as well. What do you say about liar, uh? Murderer and liar, maybe?"

"You dare-"

"Yes, I dare, Mother!" Eliana explodes, clutching at the sides of her head as though her skull were splitting in two, fingers twisting in her tangled curls in a way that must be at least a bit painful and yet shows no sign of stopping. 

"You have no idea of what you've passed down to me, of what- what I've heard in that forest, and you still judge me for how I've acted all these years, but this is on you, Mother. Gold hates you. That's why he tricked me and why he hurt August. None of us would be here right now, if you'd just done your job with him. You should be ashamed. You-"

"What's going on here?"

There’s a beat where Emma almost thanks whatever divine intervention might have just saved her arm from being torn apart by the mother and daughter barking on either side of it. It only lasts a beat, however, as when she raises her eyes she finds out the new voice belongs only to Marco, standing in the hospital hall with his hat in his hands and a concerned look on his face.

“Great, it’s a family reunion,” Regina mutters, acidly, as Blue takes the chance to compose herself and turns around to address the man directly, as though she hadn’t just come out of an hysterical catfight in a public place.

“Geppetto, please, control your daughter better- she’s in a state, right now. She’s not fit to look after anyone.”

She probably expects Marco to side with her, just as Emma’s own father has gone along with some of her mother’s worst ideas; judging by the way her expression freezes, however, she must not be expecting him to stiffen and say, evenly: “She is your daughter, too. Not just when it suits you.”

He walks past them to reach Eliana, then, and only hesitates a moment before stepping to her side and wrapping an arm around her chest, at once protection and holding. He is not an extraordinarily tall man, Marco, but the girl looks pretty much dwarfed by his grip, even if anger is still dripping from her every pore - Emma feels safe enough to step away, then, though she keeps her guard up, just in case.

“My girl,” the carpenter says frettingly, scanning his daughter’s features up and down. “What happened? I thought it was your brother that- Is that blood? Are you hurt?”

Eliana doesn’t respond immediately, eyes still staring vacantly in her mother’s direction, so it’s Regina who steps in once again, her tone dry but not devoid of any admiration. “She is what happened to some old friends of mine. Your girl got August out- without her we’d still be running in circles.”

“And that was very brave of her,” Blue interjects, somewhat irritated, “but no one knows for sure what Rumpelstiltskin did to August yet. Emma, you know it better than I do- if it’s dark magic, then the sooner we get rid of it, the better. We’re only wasting time with this farce.”

“You’re the only one wasting any time here, Mother.” Eliana speaks softly and haltingly, but her gaze is still hard as steel, despite everything.

“My brother is fine where he is. Touch him again and I will eat you alive. This will be your only warning.”

Marco hums pensively under his breath, his eyes flitting from the girl in his arms to Regina and Emma. “If Eliana says there is no danger, then I trust her. Emma? Have you seen my boy yet?”

“Whale thinks he’ll be okay,” the sheriff replies, picking her words cautiously. “Sort of. He’s going to need some time to rest and recover, but that’s about it.”

“Then we don’t need your help right now, Mother Superior. You can leave my children alone, if you please.”

It’s a low blow, lower than many would expect from a man as mild-mannered as him. It’s easy to guess Blue might be of the same opinion, too - she looks absolutely floored by the remark, enough not to be able to get even the proverbial last word in, and it’s a miracle the whole hospital doesn’t fall onto their heads as she leaves, so enraged she appears to be.

Still, she does leave, and Emma turns back to Eliana, dread pooling in her gut. The girl hasn’t torn her eyes from her departing mother yet, either, but something has changed in her all the same; it’s as if she were being taken by a full body tremor, one that picks up pace when Blue finally walks out of the door and threatens to make her buckle at the knees, with only her father’s presence keeping her upright.

It occurs to the sheriff that she has never seen them so close to each other, before. There is some strain in that relationship, to hear August and Granny tell it, and though they must have exchanged a few words in Emma’s presence at some point, it was nothing like this - Eliana shakes and shakes, run through by shivers as though she’d gotten stuck in a blizzard, and Marco seems at loss of words over her reaction, cradling her cheek with his free hand like an additional point of support.

“Marco,” Emma ventures, ever so carefully, “August’s still sleeping. You can go see him if you want, but she really needs to get some rest too. Everything else can wait.”

“No.” Eliana squirms in her father’s hold, an uncharacteristic pleading note in her words. “I don’t want to. I can’t.”

The man shushes her gently, pulling her even closer. “Of course you can. We’ll go see your brother, and then I’ll take you home. It’s alright.”

She shakes her head brusquely, sagging further on herself. “Papa,” she says, and it’s barely more than a hoarse croak, tears pooling in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. Gone is the ageless air she was sporting before; now she looks like a child, and she sounds like one, too, a little kid tired out at the end of a sugar rush.  “Papa, I think I did something awful. I don’t know what got into me.”

“Oh, my girl.” Marco presses a kiss to the top of her head, in such a tender gesture that Emma feels prompted to look away and give them their privacy.

“I know that’s not true. You’re alright- Eliana, my sun, I’m so proud of you. It’s alright. You’re safe, and so is your brother. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

In the corner of her eye, Emma catches Regina turning around as well, gaze stubbornly fixed on the ceiling. The sheriff imitates her, and then thinks, idly, that she shouldn’t be feeling so gloomy about everything, about this heartwarming scene that’s unfolding behind them even as she tries to pretend she can’t hear anyone sobbing over the buzzing of the neon lights overhead.

She shouldn’t be, and yet she is, because that persistent worry that something’s bound to go wrong still clings to her, and has not left the room with Blue, as they, Eliana included, must all have hoped it would.

[naivesilver]

* finds out there is an audio trending on monsterfucking Instagram *

* remembers she'd been considering having Eliana hook up with Lily *

* shenanigans ensue *

[naivesilver]

mother, daughter, son + tarot cards

the sun: happiness, fertility, truth (upright) sadness, lies, failure (reversed)

the high priestess: intuitive, unconscious, inner voice (upright) repressed feelings, withdrawal, lost inner voice (reversed)

the hanged man: sacrifice, uncertainty, spiritual development (upright) stagnation, negative patterns, fear of sacrifice (reversed)

[naivesilver]

When a child knows that young that her mother doesn't care for her, bad things happen. (Gillian Flynn, Sharp Objects)

Appalachian Wine AU