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adamsvanrhijn · 5 months

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do you have any advice for writing period dialogue? i always think your fics sound so much like the characters and idk how to do it. i'm fine with the prose part, but as soon as a character opens their mouth i feel like they sound like they've got a smart phone and a twitter account.

well thank you first of all!! i'm not sure how helpful i can be but i will say what works for me :'-)

i would say i think the thing to focus on first is not if you're creating dialogue that is true to the period, but that is true to the character

that is more important to me than linguistic historical accuracy, which is generally not actually attainable but can be fun to try for, and it is the starting point for diving into "hey how did they use this word or phrase or sentence structure in the 1920s (or whenever)" - does it sound like that guy? if yes, but you're not sure it sounds right to That Guy's era, proceed to etymology online or whatever and fuck around until you get something you like

getting acquainted with your character's voice comes from reading/watching and rereading/rewatching your source material. I also have spreadsheets for my shows with all of the dialogue so that i can easily go find something and double check if something feels right or doesn't feel right which is maybe autism behavior

but while the source material imo should always be Home, it can only get you so far - when you aim to replicate how a character speaks, it is helpful to understand how they Don't speak, which you get from exposure to other writing and developing an understanding of the language in question if not language in general

my linguistics background is helpful because i have a mental framework for parts and structure of language, so i can recognize things in a character's speech patterns, which makes me more aware of them, and i know What i am trying to replicate and the linguistic environment i expect it to be in, rather than just trying to get at it without actually knowing what it is. this also then helps me extrapolate to things the character never said but that i want them to say in my fanfiction.

example. there are like three minimum variants of english in play in any given episode of downton abbey. but there is no downton abbey character who exhibits every single feature associated with, say, northern [england] english, because that is a very broad group of language variants, and it is conspicuous to me when i see fanfic where a character is using language that is typical of northern english but Not of the character. so having that understanding of the building blocks of language helps me avoid, like, what i see as almost a shortcut of trying to get character voice correct but that can actually put you further from where you want to be

that said. obviously not everyone can get a linguistics degree lol so i don't think that's helpful. though i would encourage anyone who wants to find new ways to match up today language with past language to do a little bit of looking into functional grammar. but i think the general advice is to pay attention to how your characters talk and think about how/when they say what they do and where that might change in canon.

and of course, this is a really methodical approach because i am a very methodical writer, and it is an approach i have developed over many years of writing, and not everyone jives with that and the best method for you might be different - but i do think this is how i think about it !!

oh i also spend a LOT of time with a thesaurus... i try to make sure i'm considering words i don't tend to use because they might be more true to the character than the one my mind goes to for the meaning

and to add on to that, sometimes characters use words that mean things to mean something a word generally does not mean, or more commonly will use a variant of a common phrase that is not my preference and so i try to accept this with an open heart and not change it to what my brain wants it to be. see thomas "could care less" barrow. i usually instinctively write it the other way and then have to go back and change it!!

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im-just-a-random-fandom-girl · 3 years

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You know what I want?

Domestic Stucky. In Westview. Hear me out.

(First of all, Endg*me can go fuck itself. Steve’s whole thing? Never happened. Forget about it. Wipe if from your mind. We’re rewriting that shit.)

(Also, this isn’t a fic even though I know it starts out looking like one lol. This is just stream of consciousness thoughts. I would put way more effort into actual writing)

The weeks after the final snap were hard.

Bucky was back, and it felt like every weight that had been dragging Steve down for the past 5 years was lifted. He was mentally and physically exhausted, but his soulmate, his best friend, was at his side again, pulling him into a warm hug, tight and breathtaking.

It was still hard; Steve was a very different man than he had been 5 years ago, but Bucky was calm and understanding. There was still much to mourn for, too. Tony and Nat were gone. Any sense of stability that had been established during those 5 years was immediately destroyed, and Steve was sure it would take many more years to try to fix the damage.

And Wanda. When Wanda was snapped back into existence, her grief was palpable. What had been 5 terrible years for him had been 5 minutes of bliss for her, relief that she wouldn’t have to try to live in a world without Vision. Steve knew the feeling. Even though he didn’t quite understand Wanda and Vision’s relationship (he was a robot?), he can’t really judge because he’s been pining after his childhood best friend for the better part of a century and still hasn’t managed to do anything about it.

To be brought back to life was the worst trick you could play on Wanda. Her sense of peace was snatched away from her and she was throttled back into a world that had nothing in it for her. Everyone she loved was dead. Her powers still deemed her a threat, even if she had played a crucial role in the fight against Thanos.

Steve wanted to be selfish and just run away with Bucky, but he couldn’t leave Wanda, who had become the little sister he never had.

He worried about her. Even as those who had been snapped away started to come to terms with the fact that 5 years had passed, Wanda wandered around, just a shell of her former self. Sometimes she fell into fits of rage and despair, using her powers to smash everything in her room at the compound or snapping at anyone who tried to distract her. Most of the time she was just blank.

Just a month after the return from the blip, Wanda strolls into the kitchen and announces that she’s going to S.W.O.R.D. headquarters. Steve’s head snaps up. Her eyes are hard and determined, and Steve belatedly realizes that every muscle in her body is tense as she readies herself to fight anyone who tries to stop her. Sam is the first to speak up.

“Okay, kid,” he breathes out nonchalantly, “you need anyone to go with you?” Sam is good like that. Always knowing what to say to make someone feel comfortable and cared about, but not coddled.

“No,” Wanda grits out. A breath, and then, softer, “thank you.”

Glancing around to see if anyone else had any objections, Wanda walks out of the compound.

Steve lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he was still holding, but the room is still tense. He whips around to Bucky, eyes wide with concern.

Before he can even say anything, Bucky reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry. Come on, we’ll watch out for her.”

So, with a tight smile, Steve stands up and lets Bucky lead the two of them out.

It’s not until they are halfway down the street in an inconspicuous car, trailing a little ways behind Wanda’s red sedan that it occurs to Steve to ask what they’re doing.

“We’re just going to follow her to make sure she’s alright, pal. S.W.O.R.D. has Vision’s body, and it’s not a good idea for her to be alone, even if she thinks it’s best.”

“She’ll be mad if she realizes what we’re doing.”

“Good thing one of us is a reformed Russian spy,” he smirks.

Steve’s heart skips a beat at that familiar face, one that he hadn’t thought he’d ever see again, and blushes, ducking his head. If Bucky notices, he doesn’t say. They carry on in a comfortable silence.

As they pull into the S.W.O.R.D. parking lot, Steve watches Wanda march into the headquarters. He turns to Bucky, "Are we going to follow her in?"

"You can't, that's for sure." Steve scowls. "It's not entirely your fault, pal, but you're don't exactly blend in easily. But I'll go in to keep an eye on her if you want me to."

Steve considers the offer for the moment. As much as he wanted to watch out for Wanda, he knew that if she found out, it would hurt her more. She would think that he didn't trust her, and that he was following her to make sure that she didn't lose control of her powers and hurt people. He didn't want to make her feel more ostracized than she already was.

"No, we'll just wait," he says, shaking his head. His eyes never leave the entrance to S.W.O.R.D. headquarters.

The wait for Wanda feels excruciatingly long. Steve doesn't trust that S.W.O.R.D. is any better than S.H.I.E.L.D., and he honestly has no idea what they've been doing with Vision's body for the last 5 years. A renewed sense of guilt washes over him. If he had tried to fight S.W.O.R.D. harder for Vision's body, Wanda wouldn't be here, fighting through her grief to see him one last time. After the snap, Steve didn't feel like he could waste his dwindling energy scrutinizing S.W.O.R.D's every move, but he now wishes he had. He could have spared her this pain.

Sensing the anxiety bubbling up within him, Bucky reaches out, pulling Steve's hand into his own. "It's not your fault, Steve," he reminds him gently. Steve squeezes his hand in response.

Wanda walks out of S.W.O.R.D. headquarters 20 minutes later. She seems drained and tired, but her expression reveals nothing. They wait again before following her out of the lot.

When she turns right, away from the direction of the compound where he assumed she would return, Steve frowns. "Where is she going? The compound's the other way."

Bucky shrugs. "I guess we'll see."

Steve has no idea where they are until he sees a sign declaring "Welcome to New Jersey!" not far down the highway.

"What the hell is she going to Jersey for?" Bucky gasps, pulling a loud laugh from Steve's chest. It's absurd and ridiculous, but it reminds Steve of when they were kids in Brooklyn, shitting on the Yankees and the state's annoying accent, among the plethora of other abhorrent traits about New Jersey. Bucky starts laughing with him, shaking his head.

They finally arrive in a small, run-down town called Westview. Steve can't imagine why Wanda would come here.

Her red sedan comes to a stop in front of an empty plot of land, and she steps out, clutching a folded piece of paper to her chest.

"Oh, Christ... Shit," Bucky mutters. Steve is about to ask what he's thinking when he finally sees Wanda's walls crumble.

Her shoulders shake with the force of her sobs, and she falls to her knees with a cry of desperation. A red orb of her twists around her body and Steve shoves the door to the car open, desperate to get to Wanda.

"Steve!" he hears Bucky cry out behind him, and it's the last thing he hears before Wanda's powers implode around her, and his vision is blotted with red.

Remember! Wanda made all of her characters in the hex as similar to their actual lives as possible to ease her control of them! SO, it's only natural that her powers would pick up on the fact that Steve and Bucky are very obviously pining for each other and put them in a loving relationship while they are in the hex. Since they are both under Wanda's control, their storyline would happen mostly independently from what we see in WandaVision. I wouldn't have there be any smut (since I'm not talented enough or comfortable writing it myself) so there wouldn't be any non-con or any serious dub-con while they are in the hex. The idea is that both of them want everything that they are made to do (be partners, hold hands, kiss, do other couple-y stuff), but they are concerned because they think the other would feel disgusted and not want it.

There unfortunately were not any gay characters on TV in the 50s and 60s, so I would write these two "episodes" with loose ties to other sitcoms from those decades and do some research into how gay couples lived during these time periods. Basically, reimagine my own 50s and 60s sitcoms with realistic portrayals of a gay couple.

For the other decades, I would then base their relationship off of those actually depicted in sitcoms from that time.

It should be noted that, while I have actually watch a lot of old sitcoms, I haven't watched many of the ones I mention. If I every decide to write this, I would do a lot more research on these shows (and watch some episodes!)

70's - I would likely draw from Barney Miller, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, and Soap.

80's - Roseanne is pretty iconic, but I would be a little hesitant to write it after all of the controversy a couple years ago. Love, Sidney may also work, but I don't know enough about the show.

90's - Will & Grace, of course! I don't know anything about Northern Exposure, but the little bit of research I've done suggests that also may be a source of inspiration.

2000 through early 2010s - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Modern Family. (I loved The War At Home, but it doesn't really fit)

When Wanda releases everyone from the hex, Bucky and Steve had some serious miscommunication issues and angst. Both feeling exceedingly guilty about their actions, despite the fact that they had no control over them. They got a taste for what domestic life would be like together, and they are frustrated that they enjoyed it since they believe the other one did not. When Wanda explains that her powers gave everyone jobs, relationships and roles in society that were equally comparable to those they had in real life, Bucky and Steve both realize that the hex would not have put them in a relationship if it wasn't what the other also wanted. Yay! They make-up (and make-out, lol).

I seriously want to write this, but I really don't have the confidence that I will be able to execute it as I imagine it. If someone wants to work on it with me (be it we both write it or you just want to offer some brainstorming help/story guidance), I would be thrilled! Just so long as there isn't any pressure to get it done in a time crunch. I just want this writing experience to be fun! Also, if you are interested, I swear I’m a better writer than what was just exhibited, but I really only spent an hour or so on it, so it’s obviously not my best work.

Anyway, if you have any thoughts, suggestions, advice etc or just want to scream about WandaVision and/or Stucky, please feel free to PM me or stop by my inbox. It would make my day :)

#sara says stuff #my writing #wandavision #stucky

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johnboothus · 3 years

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Wine 101: Brandy as a Grape-Based Spirit

This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by E&J Brandy. At E&J Brandy, crafting the best brandy is what we do. We harvest only the highest quality grapes, distill each vintage in our own distilleries, and age each batch for at least two years in oak barrels. The result? Brandy that is smooth and aromatic, with incredible depth and flavor. Try our ultra-elegant E&J XO brandy or switch it up with one of our E&J flavors: peach, apple, or vanilla. Crafting quality brandies since 1975. E&J Brandy.

Where did the name brandy come from? What is brandy’s relationship to wine? On the final episode of the second season of “Wine 101,” VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers answers these questions and more — taking a deep dive into the world of brandy.

Beavers explores the origins of brandy, how the Dutch coined its name, the differences between brandies around the world, and how the grape-based drink gets made. Plus, listeners will hear about some of the fascinating aspects of brandy distillation that set it apart from winemaking.

Tune in to learn more about brandy.

LISTEN ONLINE

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

OR CHECK OUT THE CONVERSATION HERE

Keith Beavers: My name is Keith Beavers, and this is the last episode of Season 2 of “Wine 101.” What’s going on, wine lovers? Welcome to Episode 30 of VinePair’s “Wine 101” podcast. This is Episode 30, the last episode of Season 2. Wow. We’re here, guys. OK, for this episode, we’re going to talk about brandy. Yeah, what is that stuff? Is it wine? Not really, but it has to do with wine.

Wow, wine lovers. Wow. Before we get started, I want to thank you guys again for all of your support for this podcast. You guys are so engaging, whether it’s reviews on iTunes or interacting with me on Instagram. I love it. I don’t ever want to stop. This is the best. You guys have made this podcast one of the most popular wine podcasts on the Internet. Thank you. I’m glad you enjoy picking up what I’m putting down.

The thing is, Season 3 isn’t coming out until next year. What I’m going to do is a little mini series of “Wine 101” between Season 2 and Season 3, starting on Sept. 8. This is going to be me, straight up geeking out. I’ll be talking about things that I am currently, and have been for a while, very obsessed with. I can’t wait. Follow me on Instagram @vinepairkeith for more information about what’s coming up. This is going to be awesome.

OK. Brandy. When you look up brandy in the “Oxford Wine Companion,” it’s not there. So I go to Jedi wine master Jancis Robinson’s website, and it turns out that they actually had a brandy section in the book. But, at some point, the publishers were worried because that section made the book weigh too much and therefore it would have to cost more. That’s nuts. And it turns out it’s about 30 pages. Wow. I had no idea brandy was so involved. The thing is, I need more time for brandy. The world of brandy is huge, and there’s many reasons for that. Knowing the way brandy is made and the history of wine and travel and distribution, it just makes sense.

One of the largest trading companies in the history of the world is the Dutch East India Trading Company. It’s a very specific name, but it was a mega conglomerate. It was sort of like the preamble to capitalism. It was huge in the 1600s. Because the Dutch did so much trading, the word brandy comes from them. They had a way of distilling wine that would actually be palatable, be able to survive long trips over the sea and be profitable.

They had a name called brandywine. I’m not going to say it in Dutch because I don’t have that accent and I don’t want to butcher it. But, what it really means is brand wine: to brand or to burn, and wine. So, basically heating or burning wine, which basically translates into distilling wine. That’s where they think brandy, the word, came from. This theory is not set in stone, but it kind of makes sense. The crazy thing is, that is the moment where the brandy word came about. It just shatters off into all different kinds of directions throughout history, and things just get crazy.

A brandy is really what would be called a grape-based spirit. That spirit can be distilled from wine or pomace. We talked about pomace all the way in the first season, in the beginning when we talked about winemaking. It’s the stuff that comes out of the block of organic material that comes out after the fermentation process for wine. The French call it the “marc.” They also call brandy as made from that marc. That seems simple enough. You have this material, whether it’s a wine or organic material that’s a little bit moist from a fermentation. Then, you distill whatever liquid is there. That makes sense. But it gets so much more complicated than that.

Over history there have been spirits that were called brandy which were actually made from fruits that were not grapes. At some point in history, the U.N. had to come in and say, look, this is what brandy is. It’s a grape-based spirit. I believe there’s a lot of reasons for that. But, Europe, specifically France, specifically southwest France, has two communes, one named Cognac and one in Armagnac that is actually famous for their grape-based brandies. Cognac alone needs its own episode. I can’t get into all that, although we should do an episode at some point.

The place that is really known for their own style of brandy, besides France, is Spain. Spain does a lot of brandy, mostly concentrated in the southern part of the country. A lot of that is consumed domestically. We don’t see a lot of it on the American market. Italy is not a big brandy country, but they have one style they do, and they’re very proud of it. It’s called Grappa, and it’s made from pomace, not from wine. South Africa is a big deal when it comes to brandy. Of course, they do drink a lot of it there. The reason why it’s a big deal is because the Dutch Trading Company was headquartered there for a while.

Last but not least, there’s the United States, specifically California. The U.S. has a very interesting relationship with brandy. It’s different than the codified regions of Europe and what was going on in South Africa because of its proximity within the trading company. For the United States, a lot of the brandy that was developed here was because of the lack of quality grapes we were producing. Not all grapes, all the time, in the history of California winemaking did well. When they didn’t do well, they were often added as brandy to a line of wines. That still happens to this day.

In France — specifically in the Armagnac, Cognac and that region of France — there’s a select list of varieties that are used to make brandy. They’re often white wine grapes that, if they’re made into dry white wine or still wine, they’re not as complex. They’re sort of what we would call a neutral grape, in that you can drink them pretty easily. They’re not going to really have layers of this and layers of that — like grapes like Ugni blanc, Colombard, and Rolle, which is also called Vermentino. It’s really the oak exposure that brings the awesomeness to these specific styles of varieties being used to make these brandied spirits.

The difference in the United States, and specifically California, is that in Europe, there were not strict rules because the AOC, the controlled appellation system, really wasn’t even developed yet. There were appellation systems in individual places. Still, there were very hard and fast traditions. In California? Anything goes. What grapes do you have available? I’m going to distill those and turn them into brandy. What do you have available? Thompson Seedless grape? I’ll do that. That’s all it was. People would actually use some grapes that were used in Cognac, in California.

There’s a guy named Henry Negley, in the 1860s in California, who made brandy from Pinot Noir and Riesling. The Pinot Noir was the key. Even Henry himself, and a couple other distillers, went back and forth from Ugni Blanc and other varieties, but they kept on coming back to Pinot Noir. For this episode, I talked to David Warter, who’s the distiller for Gallo. He talked about Pinot Noir and how wonderful it is, the fruitiness and the depth of it that comes into the actual distillate.

Again, as usual with American history of drinks, if it wasn’t for Prohibition, I’m not sure where we would be now. But, because of Prohibition, after the decade-long law was repealed, the state of the wine industry in the United States was very, very bad. The idea of making brandy was more of a survival tactic than it was just trying to figure out what works. That’s where brandy became this ordinary drink for a while. As things began to improve with the vineyard situation in California — this story really has all kinds of layers to it, with the Napa Valley Vintners Society and all that stuff — the ideas of Henry Negley won the day, in that Pinot Noir was a focus for brandy.

One of the families that came from Cognac — there was actually a descendant of a family from Cognac — Hubert Germain-Robin, actually made a brandy from Pinot Noir and Gamay. That standardizes how brandy is in the United States: deep, fruity, with texture. The recipes for brandy in the United States, especially California, are all over the place. The Germain-Robin family really made a name for themselves. They’re from the northern part of Ukiah, the northern part of California.

Another big success story with brandy in the United States, specifically California, is the Gallo brothers, specifically Julio. Ernest Gallo was the marketer. He was the guy that went out and made the business happen. Julio was always in the vineyards, and he loved making brandy in the ’70s and the ’80s. That is one of the big parts of the Gallo legacy, to the point where, in 2017, Gallo actually bought Hubert Germain-Robin. What is really amazing, talking to David at Gallo, is that he is making brandy for Gallo based off of the notes that Julio was making back in the ’70s.

What’s really crazy about this particular alcoholic drink is that you have to see into the future with what kind of blending you’re going to do, what kind of grapes you’re going to use. These are going to be distilled, go into barrels and they’re going to taste a certain way. The blending and everything they did back in the day should produce something wonderful years later. David was telling me that, not only is he reading the notes and being guided by Julio — who passed away years ago — but what he’s doing for the future of the brandy that he’s making and what kind of legacy he’s leaving. I didn’t realize brandy had this element, and it’s pretty amazing stuff.

Another thing that’s really funky about brandy is that it involves winemaking. But, because of the second part of the brandy-producing regime, which is after the wine is made and you distill it, the chemicals change. When chemical reactions change, a whole new world of blending and focus opens up. What’s really crazy, man, I keep saying that but I was blown away by this, just learning about brandy. If you remember, back in the sparkling wine episode, we talked about how when varieties are harvested for sparkling wine, they’re often harvested before they’re fully ripened for high acidity. That becomes the blend for the base wine, which will then be added with bubbles. This is so crazy, because that’s exactly what they do for brandy. They want to make sure that they have as much acidity as possible to get a clean distillate. I find that fascinating.

Another thing that’s fascinating about brandy — this is crazy guys — is that there are no S02 additions in the winemaking process for brandy. They don’t want S02 involved in the thing, because the result of S02’s work comes through negatively in the resulting distillate. This happens basically because at the high temperature of the distillation process, sulfur can convert into sulfur dioxide, the stinky rotten egg part of sulfur, and overtake the distillate. It’s just crazy, guys. Right?

The thing about brandy is that it’s just such a creative medium. You can do whatever you want. There are regulations in California for brandy. Only California grapes can be used. The spirit has to be distilled to below 85 percent alcohol. That’s what Jancis says. David’s is 170, so there might be a little bit of a discrepancy there. Then, the distillate needs to be put in barrel for at least two years. It can be anything longer than that. That is American brandy, specifically California. Other than that, you can do whatever you want. There’s those rules, but you can co-ferment. You can ferment grapes individually. You can make individual wine and blend later. It’s all over the place.

What David does at Gallo is that he individually vinifies grapes at high acid levels. Then, he distills them and concentrates on the specific, unique aromas that the distillate will give based on the variety. How many times have I said fascinating? It’s fascinating. Then, they blend from that and then, they put it in barrel. It blows my mind because, at the end of the winemaking process, the winemakers tell me that the most fun part of winemaking is that if we’re blending at the end, that blending moment is fun. Their hard work is almost done. They’re just grabbing wine they’ve carefully made, and they’re blending in different proportions, trying to figure out what their style is for the vintage or winery. The same thing happens with brandy, but instead of going into a barrel for a few months, or however long for wine, this stuff is going to go in for 20, 30, 40 years. I have one word for this: fascinating.

This is a little crash course on brandy. We need to do some more minute exploration into brandy. We’ve got to talk about Cognac. We got to talk about Armagnac. We’ve got to dive into other places like Spain to get a sense of it. It’s a neat little market. I’m actually pretty interested in getting more into this stuff and understanding it, especially on the American side. I’m reading about a little cache of pioneering brandy makers in the United States. I really want to get into it. But this is the crash course on brandy. This will get you started. Wow. That’s it. Season 2, guys. Follow me on Instagram @vinepairkeith. Cool stuff coming.

@vinepairkeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcasts from. It really helps get the word out there. Now, for some totally awesome credits.

“Wine 101” was produced, recorded, and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big ol’ shout-out to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. And I mean, a big shout-out to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darbi Cicci for the theme song. Listen to this. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Brandy as a Grape-Based Spirit appeared first on VinePair.

Via https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-brandy/

source https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/wine-101-brandy-as-a-grape-based-spirit

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years

Text

Wine 101: Brandy as a Grape-Based Spirit

Tune in to learn more about brandy.

LISTEN ONLINE

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

OR CHECK OUT THE CONVERSATION HERE

@vinepairkeith is my Insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcasts from. It really helps get the word out there. Now, for some totally awesome credits.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article Wine 101: Brandy as a Grape-Based Spirit appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-brandy/

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weirdbynorthwest · 7 years

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Notes on Northern Exposure, S01E02: “Brains, Know-How and Native Intelligence”

We begin the episode with Chris Stevens delivering his first ever “Chris in the Morning” address on the show, in Cicely’s local radio station, KBHR, or “K-Bear”. Why “K-Bear”? Well, firstly, it’s customary for radio stations to be given easily pronounceable names inspired by their initials, for the sake of marketing. But there’s an additional fun fact regarding this particular station’s origins: both KBHR and its nick-name belong to a real-life local radio station in Big Bear City, California. Surrounded by the Alaskan wilderness, Cicely undoubtedly has more than its fair share of bears, so the nickname remains appropriate.

The subject of Chris’s speech, and a significant chunk of the episode, is the 19th century poet Walt Whitman, an American literary giant and one of Chris’s leading artistic inspirations. But not everyone approves of Whitman. Chris recalls being “blindsided by the raging fist of [his] incarcerator,” at the juvenile detention home where he spent his juvenile delinquent days. This stern authority figure told Chris, in no uncertain terms, “that Walt Whitman's homoerotic, unnatural, pornographic sentiments were unacceptable and would not be allowed in an institution dedicated to reforming the ill-formed.” Whitman’s sexuality has been the subject of endless debate, but it’s generally accepted that he was either homo- or bisexual. That Whitman, “that great bear of a man, enjoyed the pleasures of other men came as a great surprise” to Chris, leading him to “reconsider the queers [he] had previously kicked around.” Yes, Chris wasn’t always the open-minded liberal we otherwise see him as. He was, in his youth, capable of homophobic violence. This makes me, a confirmed homosexual (or “homo-romantic grey-sexual,” if we’re being particular), rather sad. It also makes me more inclined to be wary and critical of Chris in this episode.

Chris reads Whitman’s “When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom’d” (1865), a poem written following the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865), during a period of national mourning over the then recent assassination of former president Abraham Lincoln. The poem doesn’t explicitly identify Lincoln, but it’s generally thought that that’s who the poem was about. However, the final line of the first stanza – “And thought of him I love” – may have been presented in this scene in order to underline the topic of Whitman’s sexuality. For Whitman’s clearest expression of homosexual love in verse, one should really examine the “Calamus” sequence of poems written in or before 1859, included in the third edition of Leaves of Grass, originally published in 1855. (I nearly read some to an ex-boyfriend on his birthday once. I regret not doing that. But they were aware of the thought, and I got a lot of love for it, so it balanced out.)

We catch a glimpse of Maurice fishing whilst listening to Chris’s show. He clearly isn’t impressed by all this talk of Whitman enjoying “the pleasures of other men.” Maurice was established as being, at the very least, a sexist and racist bigot in the previous episode, so any homophobia on his part wouldn’t come as a surprise. This still doesn’t prepare the viewer for what Maurice will do next.

Meanwhile, in this week’s instalment of “Will They? Won’t They?’ Joel and Maggie are in the Brick, having a go at each other over plumbing. This argument at least feels as if it springs from a natural cause, compared to last week’s glaringly-contrived-in-order-to-establish-the-formula bickering. Joel is talking to Maggie as his landlord, about a faulty toilet. Maggie teases Joel over his lack of self-reliance: why not try fixing it himself, or go out and fertilise the scenery? She winds up calling him a “helplessness junkie”, an odd turn of phrase he’ll spend half the episode grumbling about and later delight in throwing back at her, when she visits him in his surgery over a self-inflicted knee injury.

Joel’s chauvinism is out in full force again, as he offers to treat any puncture wounds Rick may have received from Maggie walking all over him in her heels. Yecch. And then he comes on to her in a way that fictional characters in a “Will They? Won’t They?” comedy set-up routinely get away with, when he says “you’re clearly attracted to me.” Of course, the show will routinely remind us she is. But in real life, if you said something like that to someone, it would be widely and rightly considered inappropriate. Unlike the utterly irredeemable and thoroughly loathsome Ross Geller in Friends (NBC, 1994-2004), Joel is a genuinely likeable character under all the sexist asshattery the writers insist upon having him say. I hope the situation improves, and soon.

Joel remarks that he’s “not the Grizzly Adams type.” This is a reference to John “Grizzly” Adams, a nineteenth-century mountain man who hunted and trained wild animals (including, you guessed it, “grizzly” bears) for use in zoos, menageries and circuses, from New England to California. An outdoorsman and a showman (he partnered up at one point with another American icon, that jack-of-all-trades P.T. Barnum), “Grizzly” Adams became, in the popular cultural consciousness, an iteration of an American frontiersman archetype, akin to Davy Crockett. Joel does not resemble that archetype at all – but Brick proprietor Holling Vincoeur, according to Joel, does. We’ll see how that comparison bears out in the episodes and seasons to come.

Meanwhile, over at K-Bear, the “raging fist” of Maurice Minnifield comes raining down on Chris Stevens like the fist of that faceless authoritarian in Chris’s juvenile detention home. I find the violence Maurice inflicts on Chris in this episode jarring. We later learn from Joel that Maurice threw Chris through a plate-glass window. We see bruises and band-aids on Chris’s face, and his arm in a plaster cast. We learn, towards the end of the episode, that Chris snuck in a decent left-hook – but that still, to my mind, doesn’t make up for what might be one of the single most unpleasant things Maurice has done on the show.

And while we’re on the subject of violence, what about Ed’s response to Joel describing his current spat with Maggie? He asks “Did you hit her?” Where did that come from? A more uncharacteristic thing for Ed to say – even just two episodes into the show – is hard to imagine. Is it meant to suggest that Ed grew up in an environment where domestic violence was the norm? Or that Cicely’s foremost cinephile learnt everything he knows about human interaction from the movies? I don’t know. I just know that it’s a weird, discomfiting line.

Ed introduces the episode’s secondary plot, which is about Ed’s uncle Anku (Frank Sotonoma “Grey Wolf” Salsedo). Ed tells Joel that his uncle is a “witch doctor,” which briefly leads them into a variation on the famous “Who’s on First?” comedy routine.

Ed’s uncle is seriously unwell – as in, there’s blood in his urine. And blood in your urine is nothing to be sniffed at. 11 years ago I had a urinary tract infection thanks to the onset of type-one diabetes. The pain was unreal. Imagine passing red hot needles instead of water. TMI? Ah, DMY. My point is, it’s not something you can comfortably ignore. And as a doctor, Joel knows it’s not something you can afford to ignore. And so, at Ed’s behest, Joel spends a significant chunk of the episode befriending Anku and trying his best to persuade him to seek medical attention. But, unbeknownst to Anku’s family, Anku has already sought medical attention and learnt that he has prostate cancer. He just needs Joel to pressure him into swallowing his pride as a medicine man before seeking further treatment.

Joel will, in dealing with Anku, realise in an on-screen “eureka!” of an epiphany that pride is the theme binding all the episode’s narrative threads together. Anku’s pride, his own pride, Maggie’s pride, Maurice’s pride, are all wrapped up in a neat little package. Is it too neat, too tidy? Maybe, but I like it. It’s a reassuring sign that Joel’s character won’t remain static, that he’ll gain new insight into the town and its characters, learn new things and continue to develop over the course of the series.

“Keeping it in the family”: Mrs. Anku is played by Armenia Miles, the mother of Elaine Miles, who plays Joel’s secretary, Marilyn Whirlwind. In future episodes, she’ll play Marilyn’s mother.

Anku asks Joel if he’s ever seen the film Little Big Man (dir. Arthur Penn, 1970), in which Dustin Hoffman plays a man who, as a white child, was rescued and raised by a Cheyenne tribe. Is Anku drawing a connection between the Jewish actor and Jewish doctor, to whom he imparts some of his own “native intelligence”?

Joel, after explaining that he can’t keep chasing after Anku, pleads with Ed not to “do this northern brooding thing, I can’t stand Bergman films.” Is Joel intentionally using sophisticated cinema references he knows Ed will get? Because if so, that’s kinda cute. Couple that with Ed watching Joel as he sleeps, and I wonder if anyone, anywhere, at any time, has thought to ship these two characters?

As Maurice takes full control of radio K-Bear we learn he’s a huge fan of musical theatre, something that’s often been depicted as a stereotypical trait of gay men (less so these days, but very much so in the nineties). Is the episode replaying the old, unhelpful cliché that “all homophobes are repressed homosexuals”? I don’t think so. It certainly doesn’t underline or lean into that idea. As much as Maurice’s showtunes are driving the residents of Cicely crazy, he’s never mocked for the fact that he enjoys showtunes.

At a town meeting, angry Cicelians call for the reinstatement of Chris Stevens as radio presenter. Maurice isn’t having it. “One of our own, Chris Stevens, made a mistake,” he “did a bad thing” and “he had to pay for it.” What was that mistake? We get an answer, of sorts, when Maurice returns to the airwaves the next day and attempts to explain his recent behaviour. It’s a speech that causes the entire town to stop in its tracks, suggesting we should stop in our tracks too and take what Maurice is saying seriously.

Maurice recalls his devastation upon discovering, as a child, that his hero John Wayne didn’t do his own stunts. The gist of it is, Maurice doesn’t want his heroes to be humanized, to have their weaknesses exposed. “Sure, we’re all human,” but do we have to be reminded that our heroes are human too? Maurice is an advocate of the “Great Man” theory of history, the idea that the greatest achievements in human history were brought about by great men (and with his ego, he no doubt fancies himself one). Maurice wants his heroes to remain on their marble pedestals as untainted paragons of manly virtue. “We need our heroes. We need men we can look up to. Believe in. Men who walk tall.” Of course it doesn’t occur to Maurice, just as it doesn’t occur to most advocates of the “Great Man” conception of history, that those heroes could include women or minorities.

Maurice considers Walt Whitman a hero. Though “Walt Whitman was a pervert,” in Maurice’s bigoted view, “he was the best poet that America ever produced.” Maurice concedes that Whitman was, most likely, a homosexual. He’d just rather not know or be reminded of that. Because Maurice is a homophobic bigot who believes that homosexuality is a weakness, a character flaw that should be hidden from view, never to be acknowledged. But just because Maurice believes that “there are damn few of us who deserve to be called heroes” and that, despite his own bigotry, Whitman deserves the title of hero, doesn’t make Maurice less wrong or less of a bigot.

And yet, as the speech prompts Chris to go and apologise to Maurice, the episode seems to come down firmly on Maurice’s side of the argument. Not that there’s actually been an argument. No one in town has attempted to argue the opposite of Maurice’s position – that a knowledge of Whitman’s probable homosexuality does nothing to diminish him or his work. The implicit and unfortunate assumption in this episode is that it does diminish Whitman. That’s why we have Chris apologising to Maurice, saying that he also doesn’t want people reading Walt Whitman for “the wrong reasons.” What reasons are those, Chris? The only reason suggested in the episode comes from Ruth-Anne, when she tells Joel that all the Whitman has been taken out of the library as there’s “nothing like an interesting sex-life to get people reading.”

So, is Chris suggesting that he doesn’t want people reading Whitman because of his sexuality? Why not? Whitman’s “Calamus” poems meant a lot to me when I was younger, and I would never have discovered them had I not heard about Whitman’s sexuality and the poems’ reputation. I see in them a beautiful expression of the romantic feelings I then had for my ex-boyfriend, and I can’t read them now without getting misty-eyed. Like a lot of great poetry, the poems powerfully describe feelings of romantic/erotic longing, the distinction being that they clearly describe feelings of romantic/erotic longing between men. It isn’t “subtext.” You don’t have to “read between the lines.” It’s there, in the words on the page. Whitman’s sexuality informs his writing, even if his writing isn’t explicitly sexual.

Unfortunately, in the nineties there persisted this idea that homosexuality was something to be guarded against, lest it corrupt our children or our own imaginations when engaged in the intellectual enjoyment of nineteenth-century verse. Depending on where you are in the world, it’s an attitude that still persists or even prevails. And this episode of Northern Exposure appears to embody it.

For me, Whitman’s “Calamus” poems are a powerful reminder of a time in my life when I was young and happy and in love. But Chris appears to be suggesting that I’m reading Whitman wrong. Well… Fuck you Chris. There’s nothing wrong with highlighting the fact that Walt Whitman was likely gay or bi, or that a significant number of his poems appear to have been informed by his own homoerotic desire. It can do a lot of people – gay or bisexual people, for example – a lot of good to know that people who felt the way they do existed in the 19th century, and that they wrote beautiful verse you could share with a loved one.

It should be clear by now that, unlike Maurice, I don’t believe it’s a mistake to humanize our heroes. Knowing Mark Twain loves cats humanizes him. In no way does it diminish my love of Mark Twain (but then I’m a cat person, so I’m biased). Other than the very worst literary critics, who really wants to see the likes of Twain and Whitman reduced to cold, lifeless marble statues in the Pantheon of the American Literary Canon? It does us no harm, either, to learn the personal and political beliefs of our heroes, especially if we don’t want people thinking we share certain of those beliefs. Hero worship is problematic in general, but it’s impossible for us not to admire people, to have our own personal heroes. But as we grow and change over the course of our lives, we shouldn’t be afraid to update that list.

In the course of its run, Northern Exposure introduced a gay male couple; confirmed that its founders, Cicely and Roslyn, were a lesbian couple; and was the second US TV show to feature a gay wedding (the first being Roc [Fox, 1994-1994]). Northern Exposure was not only on the right side of history, it was consistently ahead of its time. If I’ve been especially hard on this episode, it’s because I know how far it falls short of the show’s future accomplishments.

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budapestalloveragain · 7 years

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~ this or that ~

RULES: ANSWER all questions, ADD one question of your own and then TAG as many people as you like!

dia @heartsalmighty tagged me tysm !! i love and hate these tags haha bc i think they’re fun but also i’m literally the most indecisive person omg xD

*it’s long so i’m gonna put it on under read more*

live session or studio session? i mean i always wanna see people live but like to listen to i prefer studio usually coke or pepsi? i don’t like either lol disney or dreamworks? disney !! coffee or tea? neither >.< books or movies? ....honestly movies at this point bc i have such a short attention span but i really love books too ahhhh i like them both a lot windows or mac? mac (i don’t know how to use anything else oops) dc or marvel? lol take a wild guess (i’ll give you a hint it’s not dc) xbox or playstation? ummmm i don’t really know i don’t think i’ve ever played either haha i just did wii xD night owl or early riser? night owl lol i’m always awake at weird hours cards or chess? depends on what card game ? chess is p cool i actually know how to play so that’s helpful chocolate or vanilla? depends on my mood tbh but probably chocolate vans or converse? converseeeee especially the red ones star wars or star trek? i’ve only seen one star trek actually so i think i’m a little biased but like ...star wars all the way one episode per week or marathoning? okay see i’m impatient so marathoning but also i have the shortest attention span (see: books or movies?) so in that way one episode per week is kinda good for me haha i get distracted so easily xD i’ve done both like obviously i watch on netflix n stuff but then i watch htgawm when it airs so like ...both are fine heroes or villains? both are cool ? leaning a little more towards heroes though john williams or hans zimmer? i hate this question literally how dare you but also i love hans zimmer with a passion sooooo disneyland/disney world or six flags? i’ve been to neither of them haha but i think i’d have more fun at disney just bc even though i don’t like a lot of rides it has a lot of other stuff to look at xD forest or sea? i like both ummm probably the forest though, i’m more used to it & sometimes the ocean makes me feel unsteady flying or reading minds? flying !! (teleporting would be the best though okay like just so we’re clear here) twin peaks or northern exposure? yeah same @dia i’ve not seen either of these :P harry potter or lord of the rings? harry potter for sure (i’ve seen lotr too though, they’re such cinematic masterpieces) cake or pie? (ice cream) cake you are banished to a desert island, which benedict cumberbatch character would you choose to take with you? wait this is such a good question lol ummm probably doctor strange bc he could get me out of there train or cruise ship? train, boats make me nervous brian cox or neil degrasse-tyson? idk who brian cox is (i googled him and i still don’t know) + neil degrasse-tyson is great lol (although like ...bill nye...) wizard of oz or alice in wonderland? alice in wonderland omg yes yes yes i love that story so much i just fanfiction or fanart? fic haha the hunger hames - books or movies? the books but also catching fire was really well done also that cast is lovely just as an aside see the future of travel to the past? oooh i’d love to see a lot of things in the past like “if only i was alive then” moments you know ? but it’d be kinda cool to see how the future turns out too haha although at this point i’m kinda scared so i’d probably stick with the past han solo or luke skywalker? han solooooo (luke is cool too i just like ...don’t remember that much about him even though he was literally the main character lol sorry like i said short attention span) lilacs or sunflowers? both are nice ?? lilacs i guess.... spring or autumn? autumn.... i think ... campfire or fireplace? fireplace, campfire includes way too many bugs lol french fries or onion rings? french fries (the skinny kind) truth or dare? truth haha there’s nothing interesting going on in my life anyways winter or summer? summer bc winter here is just like ...no vampires or werewolves? werewolves always seemed cooler to me, vampires are a little unsettling red or blue? red !!! it’s lucky hehe eyes or lips? *eyes nose lips plays in the background* ummm eyes burgers or sandwiches? oh god i love both ...sandwiches have such variety !! but burgers are so good ...probably burgers.... i just love food though xD friends to lovers or enemies to lovers trope? friends to lovers ^-^ pizza or pasta? pizzaaaaa ancient rome or ancient greece? ancient greece all the way omg i would love to honestly foxes or wolves? wolves.... ? no big preference i guess mermaids or dragons? dRAGONS BABYYYYYYY (i’m a dragon hehe) sci-fi or fantasy? fantasy i guess ? depends on how you define them i guess watch a film at home or in a theater? i like watching them in the theater haha it’s more fun that way (for me) fireproof or no more sad songs? oh yikes i haven’t heard no more sad songs so fireproof it is bands or individual singers? i like them both but if you haven’t noticed i kinda tend to be drawn a little more towards groups haha sweet or salty? saltyyyy except for ice cream monotype corsiva or comic sans? i don’t even know what monotype corsiva is lol comic sans is the worst™ but at the same time the best™ (if u know what i mean) so that’s fine turtles or frogs? turtles !! blur or oasis? yIKES i haven’t listened to either ...but i think oasis did wonderwall ? so i’ll say them baseball or football? ahhh neither :P international football if that counts lol i love soccer/futbol/football bowling date or movie date? movie date (i just watched bts run ep 19 though and i can’t stop laughing thinking about all of them bowling oh my god) fruits or vegetables? i love fruit hehe rain or sun? both are fine ? we got a lot of both today actually haha like in quick succession too xD gotta love new england lol tattoos or piercings? tattoos... i think... phone call or text? texting (phone calls are way faster though) animated films or live action remakes? animated ...i’m so skeptical about most remakes/sequels/reboots/etc chandler or joey? ...i’ve never seen friends i’M SO SORRY AHHH have all the boys reunite for a 1d tour but never go on solo tours or have all of them do solo tours but never reunite as a band for a tour? god ummmm probably the 1d tour bc like look irl they’re all already about to go on solo tours haha + mitam is musically the best album they’ve done and i really want(ed) to see them do that live tv show or movie? ummmm gah that’s hard ...honestly tv just has a lot more time to work with which means that a lot of the time (not always though omg dEFINITELY not always) the quality is better

MY QUESTION IS: ramen or korean bbq?

i’m gonna tag ejay @thriftmom and jori @yellowhalcyon if u want to ^-^ no worries if u don’t and feel free to do it even if i haven’t tagged you !!

#my tags #god this was long lol #my answers are so rambly lol sorry #you probably can learn wAYYY too much about me through just my tags like if i'm honest #also i think i'm behind on literally every show except maybe htgawm bc i watch it when it airs lol oH WELL RIP #i'll try and catch up when they're all on a break xD

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newidaho · 5 years

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10. Christmas Eve Mass

Don’t have the time/patience/desire to read with your eyes? Don’t have eyes? Well, have your friend read you this: You can check out the audiobook for free on Apple, Google, Stitcher, or Spotify. Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday!

24 December 2054 /// 1900h.

Fredrick Garland paced back and forth across his room on the second floor of his Southwestern Mountain house. His room was a sanctuary for him. Not only had it been blessed by himself and by any rare visit by a fellow FuTech priest, it was also beautifully furnished. The floors and walls were all made from dark walnut. A Cherrywood desk was pushed against the eastern side of the wall, with a matching straight-backed chair pushed into it. Above the desk, 2 sections of the wooden wall were closed over a window that looked out onto the farmlands to the east and the City further north.

It was important now that the windows remained covered. Frederick could think better in an enclosed space—the view outside, though magnificent, was too distracting. He paced across the floor of his room, going over his lines for the night. It was the start of the most intense 24 hours of the year for any Christian Church—Christmas.

FuTech Christian Churches, est. 2032 in Burbank, California, was, like most emerging religions, a new take on an old story. Reverend Jasper Wades and Christopher Englewood were both raised in non-denominational households in Northern California. When they saw the world moving in a more virtual direction, they decided to scan through the Bible to see whether there was a call to make a denomination of their own.

What they found, and subsequently spread to their congregation, was that there was no passage that appeared to absolutely declare the Kingdom of God a physical kingdom. In fact, the whole concept seemed spiritual. They felt that the Virtual Revolution was a perfect opportunity to bring people together in Christ.

Thus was born FuTech Christian Churches—a community of virtual congregations that preached the importance of Virtual Reality as a tool to Empower Humanity. There was even talk among some sects of a “Virtual Savior,” the possibility that the second coming may, in fact, appear in the virtual realm. This belief was slowly becoming more prevalent throughout FuTech, where beliefs were not decided by a central authority, but constantly debated by different congregations all across the nation. The idea was that Man was made in God’s Image, and the next iteration of man would be virtual—thus, the new savior would appear in this new realm—the realm made by and for the minds of man, the realm that no other animal could enter. Most FuTech congregants agreed that whether or not the second coming would appear there, this Virtual World was where the Kingdom of Heaven would finally be built.

Being a virtual church, anyone could join any congregation of FuTech. Out of respect to the traditional value of a physical community, however, many still opted to join their local congregation. If they chose to migrate, it was customary, though not required, to increase their donation to the church.

As the Head Preacher for FuTech of New Idaho, Papa Garland (as he was known to the congregation), was under more pressure than many priests of other congregations. Whereas most other congregations were relatively small, FuTech of New Idaho often had a great amount of visitors, curious as to what service would look like in the City of the Century. The pressure was even greater on Christmas day, even though FuTech had a notably consistent turnout compared to many other churches.

Normally, Papa G could deal with the pressure. Never once was he not nervous, but he considered nerves to be an important sign that you cared. Today, however, he was much more distracted than usual.

It all started with a simple question asked by his daughter at dinner two hours earlier. Gamma was the only daughter he and his wife had planned to have, and she was a beautiful girl. Gamma was smart, creative, and obedient—the best daughter a couple could have hoped for. As she neared the end of her 13th year, however, Frederick was catching hints of a shift toward adulthood that, though necessary, was already proving to be a difficult passage.

The question was: ‘Papa, can I sit with my friend Charlie at Christmas mass?’

A boy. No matter how much they tried to keep their Gamma from exposure to the physical world, keeping her in the FuTech Virtual Home School, keeping her busy outside, teaching her to appreciate the world that God had given his people, she was still being exposed to the male energy that could easily bring ruin to their family.

Noticing the lack of a prompt answer, Gamma had continued: ‘He’s very nice, and a true disciple of Jesus. He’s one of the truest Christians I know.’

‘And how do you know him?’ Frederick had asked in return.

‘He’s a classmate of mine at the VHS.’

Of course. How else? ‘Don’t you only have a brief period of time before you disconnect from the server? When do you have the time to talk to him?’

At this point, Gamma had looked down at her plate. She knew that she was expected to use that time to talk with the teacher. ‘That’s the time I use, father.’

Frederick then straightened up, deciding whether to use this confession for a punishment, or a passive guilt-laden suggestion that she not see this boy again. ‘This Charlie is keeping you from your studies, it would appear.’

‘No, father, I still get straight As! You’ve seen my grades.’

She had a point. He switched tact. ‘And you would spend Christmas Mass away from your family?’

‘You’ll be preaching, father.’

‘And your mother?’

‘She can sit with me! And it’s only for one of the masses. Charlie doesn’t have a big family, and I don’t get to talk with him much, so I think it would be good for everyone.’

‘Good for everyone. Yes, I’m sure your mother would love to have your attention split between the lord, her, and now this new boy.’

Gamma’s mother kept silent, her head down.

‘I don’t see any reason why you need to talk with him further,’ her father continued. ‘Don’t you have all the love you need right here? Or perhaps you have not felt the love of the Lord with enough fervor—perhaps that is what is leading you astray.’

‘I’m not being led astray,’ Gamma muttered into her plate.

Her father’s eyes narrowed. ‘Gamma. Are you daring to tell me that you have not been led astray when I can see it through my very eyes? Are you questioning the spirit of the Lord? Well, if your decline has not from this been made obvious, I can only expect that the devil has blinded you more than I initially thought.’

At that point, Gamma had gotten up from her plate and walked up to her room without a word. Frederick had decided not to follow her, instead finishing up his meal and going up to his sanctuary to prepare for the 2000h Christmas Eve Mass.

In his room, he continued to pace back and forth, but he couldn’t get this episode out of his mind. He slowed himself down and took a few breaths. He called on the Lord to give him strength. When he felt the energy of the Holy Spirit enter him, he resumed his practice and finished running through his sermon one last time.

He exited his sanctuary and knocked on Gamma’s door. ‘Time to gather in the prayer room,’ he said. ‘Bring your mask.’

The prayer room was located on the first floor on the Northeastern corner of the house. The walls were tall and circular, extending from the landing floor to the roof. The bottom half was surrounded by glass windows that looked out over the valley. The top half was stained glass.

By the time Gamma arrived in the room with her mask, her father already had his on. He was ready to begin the service.

As a Virtual Church, FuTech services can look very different to everyone who enters. Different Worship Packs are offered for purchase, where congregants could find themselves giving praise on a beautiful beach, or an old cathedral. Otherwise, they were kept to the FuTech default setting, which, though modest, was by no means unpleasant.

In services that contained more than 200 congregants, however, a more modest monthly fee provided a choice of lobby view in addition to stadium view. Many in the New Idaho congregation took this option, as most of its services contained anywhere from 1000-1500 congregants. Paying for the lobby view allowed the attendee the choice of enjoying mass in a small room of 50, making the whole experience a lot more homey. Small communities would eventually form within lobbies, further resembling the function of Christian churches throughout history.

As a preacher, it was important that Fredrick always took the stadium view. He liked to see the faces of everyone who was joining him. It actually put him in a calmer state. Knowing that so many depended on him for their spiritual nourishment inspired him to give them just that.

For now, however, he waited in the ‘backstage area’ as New Idaho’s FuTech band played through everyone’s Christmas favorites. He went over the bullets of his sermon once more. Eventually, the music died down and he waved his hand over the Stage Icon in front of him to appear on the main stage. He looked up into the bleachers at no less than 1000 happy faces. There would be even more tomorrow, he reminded himself.

Papa Frederick smiled as he enjoyed the cheers of the audience. He folded his hands in front of him and patiently waited for the noise to die down. He chanced a look stage left—there they were. His wife and daughter. He caught himself trying to glance at his daughter’s face to see if she was upset before he realized it may disrupt the flow of his service.

‘Good evening, everybody!’ Frederick said. ‘I’m so happy to see you all here on Christmas Eve, gathered to worship together. You know, Christmas is one of those times for reflection. There’s a lot of those this season. The New Year causes us to reflect on the year that has gone past. Thanksgiving prompts us to reflect on what we are grateful for. And Christmas, like any holiday, makes us think—what have we done since last Christmas? How have we served God since the holiday?

‘Before I go on, I would like to mention that New Idaho’s FuTech community has done quite a lot. Our congregation has grown 25%.’ He paused for cheers from the audience. ‘Together, you all have traded over $1 million to the church.’ More applause. ‘And we have used that money to further improve the experience for everyone. We are truly beginning to build the Kingdom of God, together, as one Virtual Community. And I don’t know about you, but that feels more real to me than anything else.’ More modest clapping from the audience.

‘Now, you’ve all heard the Christmas story many, many times. It has been repeated throughout history. It has become an American fixture. If you don’t believe me, just look how many non-Christians are setting out cookies for Santa, hoping for presents to reward them on a holiday developed from the birth of our Lord and Savior.

‘Now, I don’t begrudge these atheists and agnostics. Far be it from me to judge them—their judgement, we know, will come. But it is important for us here, now, to remember together what Christmas means. Christmas was the birth of our savior.

‘Now, I know that many of us here believe there is a new savior to come—a Virtual Savior. And I ought not lie, our scholars have found compelling evidence that this is so. And if it is, well, then, the dreams of our children today just may come true—two Christmases!’ Laughter from the audience. ‘But until that time, it is important to remember our family.’

He glanced down to his left. His words were left hanging in the air. His first reaction was to do the unthinkable and stop the service by removing his mask.

To his left, his wife sat in her usual seat, but Gamma, his daughter, had left.

#New Idaho #Ben Vizy #New Novel #Writing #Writing Community #Novelist #Novel Writing #2054 #Augmented Reality #Futurism #FuTech #Christmas Eve #Preachers Daughter #Jesus Christ

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trinityvixen · 7 years

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Littlefinger deserved better

That headline is a little deceiving, but I think it suits the character just fine when one is talking about the last episode. Spoilers for all of season 7 of Game of Thrones below, sweeties.

The most satisfying death on all of Game of Thrones is still the death of Ramsay Snow, and the former bastard of Bolton didn’t do half the damage to as many beloved characters as Petyr Baelish. Why is it sweet justice for Ramsay to be eaten alive by his own dogs but a hollow shade of that magnificence when Petyr Baelish has his throat slit open in Winterfell?

Because comeuppance, narratively, requires sacrifices made to the god of irony. Comeuppance is the arrogant and greedy Viserys getting his crown of gold. It is locking the “Richest Man in Qarth” alive in the vault as empty as his promises. It is bringing the most painful death, without mercy, to slavers who have built an industry on the pain of the enslaved. It is the cowardly Joffrey being killed with the coward’s weapon, poison, right as he sought to assume the power he never earned.

People die on Game of Thrones. This is not news. The show starts with wights killing men of the Night’s Watch and the death of Jon Arryn sets in motion (as the characters have finally learned) everything that happened after it. Comeuppance is different. It can be a bit puritanical in a show written by Americans (based on a book written by one), but it serves a moral lesson. Ramsay’s great crime was barbarity, so his end had to be barbarous.

What comeuppance did Littlefinger deserve? Something spectacular, seeing at Jon Arryn’s death is his doing. The man is responsible for the entire show we’ve seen so far. And yet, the closest Littlefinger got to comeuppance was when Cersei Lannister proved to him that “power is power” to knock down his self-importance a peg or two. That would have been a good time to do it, right as he was smirking and throwing his awareness of her infidelity and incest in her face. It didn’t happen then. So how should it have happened?

The answer is easy to come by because he actually outlined the structure for his own comeuppance himself in season six by confessing to Sansa his secret desire: to be king and to have her at his side. Ironic death, therefore, would seem to demand he be about to ascend to some heretofore unheard of position of power with a promise of Sansa caving to his desires, even just out of her own interest. Double irony: he helped kill Joffrey and he deserves to die in the same way Joffrey did—about to be king, marrying a beautiful lady from a great house. It’s too perfect.

The trouble with accomplishing this is that the events of seasons five and six diminished his sway over Sansa considerably, even despite pledging the Vale to her. Season five walked Sansa’s character development backwards for the sake of yet another sexual abuse plotline. (Hooray.) However, in the end, Sansa was not weakened by that story and she is not at all confused as to who is responsible for the suffering she endured. She has told the audience and him as much—“Only a fool would trust Littlefinger” and “I don’t need your help”—which makes it tricky to walk back her character development again to a position where she is dependent on him. It’s not only been done already for a less-than-appealing plot line, but if it seemed unlikely for Sansa to agree to marry a Bolton (“monsters that murdered my family”), it is almost impossible to think she’d give in to him for any reason. Sans would need to be drawn into a tight corner with no escape. Or, at least, no appearance of escape.

The show tried to make this happen, but it botched the execution. (Pun intended.) All Sansa needs to have him murdered are accusations of treason that no one but she and the viewers know about. While no one standing up for Littlefinger is hardly surprising, one would have imagined that several Northern lords might have wanted, dunno, proof of his treason before his summary execution. Instead, the word of the space-case Bran and Sansa basically recanting her testimony vis a vis what happened to dear Aunt Lysa is all the show thinks she needs to get away with murdering a bannerman in front of other bannermen. This should make the Northern alliance tremble, if not crumble. She should look like a mad queen, trying to overthrow a powerful force with violence to assert her control of it. It should not have worked as it did.

Moreover? The man deserved a death by a thousand slow cuts, just as he has engineered death for so many. The comeuppance is late for him because he’s been so neutered by Sansa abandoning him. The only plotting he manages in season seven is insufficiently worthy of a man who bested Varys at the game of whispers. All you see him do is goad Yohn Royce and Lord Glover to get them to argue for Sansa being Queen in the North (using his threats over the former to help persuade the latter, one supposes). This is supposedly for Arya’s benefit—to convince her that Sansa wants such attentions on herself. Littlefinger is using the lords to make Sansa look bad to drive a wedge between potential support for her from her family. It has the side benefit of making the woman he desires powerful and dependent on him for her power. It’s a solid idea—have him, as ever, playing 4th-dimensional chess on her behalf. Where it falls down is proving that Sansa needs him in any way or would buy-in to this scheme, willing or unwilling. And if I can see that gaping plot hole, so should Littlefinger. (Where are his thousand escapes, his plans to fight “every enemy, all the time, in your mind”?)

How to fix it? Simple: his plan would have worked better and Sansa’s double-cross would have been more satisfying (and surprising) if he’d gotten her to admit she wanted to be Queen. To him, so he could possess the secret wanting of her heart (as she has his) and her weakness. To Arya in his hearing, so he can use it to wedge them apart more effectively. Everything else flows steadily from there, almost exactly as the show did it (minus him crying and begging when he is caught out far too quickly which was so out of character).

So, after all that, what would comeuppance for Littlefinger have looked like? All the elements are there. It can still be the same plan for him and for Sansa’s double-cross. It just needed to be sold differently. The problems and the fixes are, as I see them:

· 1) Time – the greatest mistake the show made was speeding the narrative along without figuring out to have its ponderous character/character interactions make sense on the shorter timeline. The plots could have all the same beats entirely if there were more interactions showing the web Littlefinger is spinning as well as the one Sansa is.

· 2) Without that time, Sansa could have made herself more suspicious for the viewer (and, the viewer assumes, Arya), by admitting the truth: she would make a better Monarch in the North than her half-brother. By saying it aloud, we address the deal with the Devil she made to get the knights of the Vale and the loaded look she cast at Lord Baelish at the end of season six. It also has the benefit of being, like most lies that are both easiest to tell and believe, a little bit (or a lot, gods, Jon is bad at being a king) true.

· 3) Every conversation she and Arya had needed to be had somewhere public or insufficiently private. When the question of Sansa “stealing” Jon’s crown comes up, there are three significant encounters between Arya and Sansa about it and the scroll that shows her previous supposed disloyalty to her family. Two of those conversations are done in a way as to have them easily overheard: they are talking heatedly in Sansa’s room with the door open for one and are outside looking down on the courtyard for the other. The problem is the third conversation that happens when Arya “catches” Sansa snooping in her room for the scroll in her private quarters. This is when Sansa discovers her faces. This is the incongruous scene that does not match the eventual counter-plot against Littlefinger because why would Arya behave like a creep and scare the shit out of her sister for his benefit if the door is closed and their voices are not raised? Put, say, the blonde servant from the courtyard seen to be on Littlefinger’s payroll in the room or coming into it to build the fire, and then the scene makes sense. If every scene is to play Littlefinger, every scene should be staged so that he can see or hear about it.* And we know he is watching.

· 4) Arya should have started her interactions with Sansa with her behaving uneasy, inappropriate, and angry and steadily sliding into being the soulless killer this season made her out to be from the start. It would sell the potential violence of her character much better because Arya, when it comes to killing those who betray her family, tends to grow colder and more cryptic. She is actually a very emotional woman when she is not killing,** so trying to sell her as being uninterested in her reunion with family and her return home was never believable. As such, I was never afraid, even with all the bad decisions characters made this season, that Arya was going to be fooled by Littlefinger into betraying Sansa. If, instead, she slid slowly into the now-familiar calm madness that accompanies crossing names off of her list, we could question whether or not, with greater exposure to the much-changed Sansa, her sister was on said list.

· 5) Maybe Bran just shouldn’t talk to anyone. He’s a tricky character because he knows all (except for those times it is convenient for the show to have him forget that), so he could have ended everything earlier (which is another reason the comeuppance is denied). Have Bran be so tired from, dunno, warging into birds to keep track of the army of the dead. Or, you know, trying to reach Jon about his heritage (another thing left, without explanation, to lie fallow for the entire season). If you’re going to erase his history of angry outbursts and excessive passion***** along with Arya’s, go the whole hog, D+D.

· 6) Sansa needed to be seen talking to Yohn Royce about why he, previously so hostile and mistrusting of Littlefinger, was kowtowing to the man. She needed to hear from him that he was doing so because Littlefinger has Robin Arryn, his Lord of the Vale, believing it was his fault that Sansa was “abducted” by the Boltons. Sansa would not necessarily have had to reveal to Yohn Royce the truth (that she wasn’t abducted and that Littlefinger arranged the marriage).

· 7) Sansa should then let on to Littlefinger that she knows that Royce is being blackmailed into doing Littlefinger’s bidding. It would set the tone between them as equals—as she was starting to do in season six—while understanding the threat his power holds: he controls the man who controls the Vale army. If she wants to be Queen in the North, she needs the Vale. It puts her back in the position of needing him at the same time as he is distancing her from her family through lies and spies. Sansa would be “trapped” coming and going, smart enough to know it and to know that Baelish knows she knows.

· 8) From there, the last obstacle is Brienne, who doesn’t have Sansa’s ability to recalculate what abhorrent people she can tolerate as the situation calls for. Telling her that she should play along won’t work, so Brienne does need to go to King’s Landing (and fix Jamie’s characterization, please and thank you). Sansa can send her off much as she did in the show we got, but I think another scene where Baelish sees her doing it and casually mentions, “hey, isn’t it a bad idea to lose her since she can protect you from your sister who is definitely on the warpath to killing you?” Just to drive the point across.

· 9) That last bit is where she snares him in to be taken down at what he thinks is him reaching the height of his power. She decides to take the lords of the North and the Vale’s loyalty—or, rather, says to Littlefinger that she will. She will have already told him she should be Queen, and Arya’s increasing weirdness means for her own survival, she’s going to take charge. She’ll have the excuse of Jon bending the knee at this point, as she did on the show. Sansa will then prove how smart she is and say she knows Littlefinger has been the one driving the lords to support her claim. If they are weathervanes, these lords, then she’ll reward him for blowing the winds of change in her direction. She’ll give him what he wants if he does: her. She’ll give him everything that he says he wants “for her”—she will be queen, he’ll agree to be consort, not even king or prince. Of course he will. He’ll promise he only wants to keep her safe, have her realize her birthright, all the things he should have been saying louder and louder from last season as Jon proved to be a fuck-up king this season. And he’ll get what he wants: he’ll be king in all but name, with her by his side. (And he’ll already be plotting how to get the title. Fight every battle, indeed.)

· 10) The set up in the great hall will be explained to Littlefinger as follows: Sansa will declare herself queen and then argue her sister is guilty of treason for plotting to kill her. All Sansa has to do to close the trap on Littlefinger is to switch the order of those things. He comes in, cocky as anything—he’ll have made the Queen in the North, he’ll be married to her, and her family won’t get in the way or exist to be a threat to his eventual heirs (in whose name he’ll rule, naturally). When she starts off by marching Arya in and speaking of treason before speaking of her coronation, you can see him confused with growing dread—not for his own life (he won’t have figured it out yet) but that she would start with declaring her sister a traitor before declaring herself queen. Littlefinger should die knowing the noose is closing in on his throat.

· 11) Actual evidentiary procedure that will appease Northern sense of justice should be followed. Accusations should be made, with Bran’s “you betrayed Ned Stark and had Jon Arryn killed, we know this because I can see the past [insert random things only an omniscient character could know to impress the lords of the North and Vale],” Arya’s accusation of his complicity with Tywin Lannister, and Sansa and Lord Royce combining forces on the issue of Lysa Arryn’s sudden marriage and convenient death (or just Sansa, more on that in a bit). But there needs to be proof. The man has studiously avoided being caught with the murder weapon despite handing to Bran a weapon used in an attempted murder. Arya could reveal a face that told him secrets around Winterfell, use the force of her supernatural power added to Bran’s to convince people. Sansa could have had Maester Wolken speak to the nature of her betrothal to the Boltons (the man must have seen Littlefinger in Winterfell—Littlefinger also got a raven from Cersei when he was there, if I’m not mistaken). They need supernatural evidence (Bran), evidence of plotting within Winterfell (from Arya skulking about), legions of his lies recorded in Sansa’s mind, but, most importantly, just one scrap of paper from Maester Wolken.

· 12) As he feels himself falling, Littlefinger should still be trying to escape—not by playing ignorant, demanding the right to leave or begging. None of those really suit his character. He should, perhaps, be outwardly (but with Aidan Gillen’s eyes acting anything but internally) at ease and say that he looks forward to her proving this case (rightfully poking the holes all the places her accusations are leakiest). He could even, in desperation, ask for trial by combat and say Yohn Royce will stand for him against the Northern champion. Royce, liberated from his control by Sansa having spoiled “Uncle Petyr” as a liar for Robin Arryn (being safely away from the boy), can have closure on his random character thread from season six by saying “Fuck no.”

· 13) The person who passes the sentence should swing the sword. The Starks should pass the sentence together, not just have Sansa be the one to call for it. Arya’s arm will be an extension of all of them. He shouldn’t see it coming. It could be his own dagger still. Or Needle, which would be appropriate because he sought to divide the sisters over their loyalty to Jon, and it is the weapon Jon gifted to Arya (that also kept her safe many times) that ends him.

THERE, I FIXED IT. I will now imagine that this is what happened and now I can actually allow myself some satisfaction that the man is finally dead.

*The obvious counter-argument to this is the theory that Arya was actually contemplating wearing Sansa’s skin until she handed over the knife in this scene. This is an even stupider explanation for Arya’s behavior because it would mean she would have to assume Sansa’s letter written under duress was a genuine betrayal. She spent far too much time around Tywin Lannister for her to be that stupid.

**Arya was kicked out of Faceless Man Murder School the first time for being too passionate about killing a dude and the second time for not being dispassionate enough to kill a nice person. She is a ruthless killer of those who have demonstrably wronged her and hers, but she cares a lot. She could never kill Sansa without substantial proof Sansa was plotting for her own advancement over Jon.*** See the point about making Sansa say she wanted to be queen would have made the ruse that Arya was suspicious of her motives much more reasonable.

***For Arya to throw over Sansa, it has to be about Jon. With Jon gone off on his Bogus Journey, his legacy and importance are less present at Winterfell for Arya to latch onto. We know, of course, that she loves him best of all her family still living. So there may have needed to be some fake talk of, say, banishing Jon from the North for allying with Daenerys**** in order to really sell Arya the turncloak on behalf of Jon.

****Which, when the double-cross is revealed, Sansa and Arya can amend to “kicking his ass for falling for a pretty face.” They’re still his sisters in so many ways.

*****Bran the soulless Three-Eyed Raven has more precedent than Arya the emotionless Faceless Man, but it is still a gross simplification of his character due to the laziness of the writers. The previous Three-Eyed Raven is very emotionally removed from reality. Of course, he had a thousand years of isolation in the frozen north becoming a tree to explain his zen mastery. However, up to and including during the D+D-described info-dump Bran got as the last TER died, Bran is not shown to be detached. He is angry all of season six—probably because his story line got dumped for season five—at how he is failing to learn more and faster about his fabulous new powers. His look of shock upon seeing baby Jon in a vision is his last scene in the last season. Did finding out Jon was a Targaryen short-circuit his brain? That’s what the show went with?

#GoT7 #Littlefucker roast in the seven hells #I fixed it for you

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tinymixtapes · 7 years

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Feature: Wrong in Different Ways

“An accurate memory of the past would be depressing, probably.” – David Lynch One of the best jokes in the pilot episode of Twin Peaks occurred when Agent Cooper and Sheriff Harry Truman, at the end of a long day of detective work, return to the Sheriff’s Office to find a mounted deer head laying on its side. The odd response from a minor character (“Oh, it fell down”) underlines a lot of the initial appeal of the series: A seemingly innocuous moment executed with comedic pacing and an absurdity designed to relieve the tension built up from a string of traumatic plot revelations. It’s weird, but not “too weird.” It’s, in today’s language, quirky. The first two seasons of Twin Peaks are full of these kinds of moments. We have the legendary “damn fine” cups of coffee. We have Major Briggs’s extraordinary wisdom. We have Cooper’s played-for-laughs lesson on the nation of Tibet and the mystic knowledge he draws from it. And, as the second season burrows into its bizarre middle and late periods, we get super strength, aliens, and Confederate soldier amnesia. It’s a show whose metaphysics hinge on a dwarf who speaks backwards. These bits have lingered on as a 25-years-running set of passwords. How there was “a fish in the percolator” or how the owls are “not what they seem” or how “it is happening again.” These phrases have been passed along, referenced, parodied, remixed, rebuilt, paid forward into other works that have absorbed the show’s legacy. This tone — humorous, mysterious, offbeat — has been perhaps the most visible product of the show’s brief initial run. Nearly every beloved television series of the intervening generation, from Lost to True Detective to even Glee, has at some point been described as “like Twin Peaks.” But, within these sometimes scattered ideas about what the series may or may not represent, there begs another question: What do we mean when we say something is “like Twin Peaks”? --- Animation: Korey Daunhauer Other things that are like Twin Peaks: Wind blowing through a stand of Douglas Fir. A traffic light changing from yellow to red in the darkness. A ceiling fan turning, frighteningly, forever. When Twin Peaks first aired, I was four years old. I remember sneaking into the living room to see my mom watching the show and, on other nights, hearing Angelo Badalamenti’s music lurking outside my bedroom door. I remember catching a glimpse of Cooper in the Sheriff’s station, his eyebrows up in fear, and hearing synthesizer chords hanging in our hallway, moments that made my mom “afraid.” I remember being up later than I should have been. I remember the lights being off. All mundane, average things somehow made wrong by what was on TV. This, for me, is what I think of as being “like” Twin Peaks. Because when you talk about Twin Peaks, you are also talking about much more than its plot. Because when you talk about Twin Peaks, you are also talking about much more than its plot. There is the TV series, its companion movie, and their various release formats throughout the year. There is the fandom that blossomed around these two pieces of media and their various tie-ins (books, cassettes, merchandising). There is the career of one of its creators and how this single storyworld may or may not speak for the entirety of their body of work. There are GIFs, memes, theme parties, Etsy art, and SXSW pop-up events. There is Log Lady cosplay. In all this, it’s easy to lose track of the show’s plot: the murder mystery of teenage Laura Palmer, the small-town homecoming queen whose private life was (like those owls) not what it seemed. Alongside its endearing cast and twilight-Borscht Belt sense of humor, it was this mystery that first lured a large network audience to the series’s first season. And, as the reasons for the killing became more elliptical and less grounded to Earth (though maybe more poetically drawing from the show’s interest in the earth and nature), many of those same fans moved on to other fictional universes. In the immediate clearing wrought by Twin Peaks, we got Northern Exposure — also a show “like Twin Peaks” that my mother watched at night, though one that made her less “afraid.” Offbeat, quirky. Weird, but not too weird. --- Animation: Korey Daunhauer Also like Twin Peaks: A poker chip. The sound of neon crackling through a bar sign. Rope tied around a wrist. I have a screencap on my desktop of James Hurley — the series’s sensitive bad boy, as opposed to its other criminal bad boys or its demon-possessed bad boys — sitting on a hilltop overlooking the breathtaking view of the mountains bordering the town of Twin Peaks, his motorcycle parked next to him. In the context of the show, James and his motorcycle are sort of a duo (a theme explored with great detail in his much-derided road trip in season 2). In another scene from the pilot, when James drives off from his uncle Ed’s “gas farm,” he slips on a pair of sunglasses before riding away, like it’s no big deal. For a series whose aesthetic can feel so unique, so precisely defined, much about Twin Peaks feels like an echo of something else. James prefigures Nicolas Cage’s words from David Lynch’s Peaks-contemporary feature film Wild At Heart, where he declares, wonderfully, that his snakeskin jacket is a “symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.” Hurley, in his leather jacket, on his hog, wearing these shades, wearing his square jaw handsomeness, speaks just as clearly, and ridiculously, and earnestly, to his belief in personal freedom. For a series whose aesthetic can feel so unique, so precisely defined, much about Twin Peaks feels like an echo of something else. Twin Peaks often feels like it is either making fun of something or being deadly sincere about that same thing, oftentimes both at once. Even from the beginning, the dialogue is corny (“Quit worryin’ and start screwin’, Mr. Touchdown”) and many of the jokes don’t “work” in the way one might like them to. This, of course, is also much of what is “like” Twin Peaks: the gap, similar to irony but something much weirder, between what we expect and what we get. It’s disarming. It makes one pause and wonder. It messes deeply with one’s bearing for what, if anything, we’re supposed to be taking seriously here — and why some of these things might be taken more seriously than others. Why do we allow some of this to resonate and not the rest? What does it say about us if we can’t totally “go there”? What will people think of me if I don’t get it? --- Animation: Korey Daunhauer Another example from Lynch’s pilot that is “like Twin Peaks”: the scene when Laura’s friends first learn of her death in the middle of class. When this discovery comes — illustrated, crushingly, by Laura’s empty desk — her best friend and confidant, Donna, is moved to an explosion of grief. This meme-ready image, of actress Lara Flynn Boyle’s head tilted back in despair, openly weeping, has become an icon of something core to the identity of the Twin Peaks universe: the intrusion of a deep sadness into “normal life.” Maybe more than any violence or supernatural evil, it is this quality — the stuff that brings us to tears — that both disrupts and defines life in Twin Peaks. There are few other television shows or films that allow its characters more frequent and intense displays of things so easily repressed, of actual crying, of more opportunities to react to trauma with not just inner pain but a pandemonium of feelings: terror, rage, screaming. How does James react in this same scene? James, stone-faced, snaps his pencil in half. It’s quirky, and it’s somehow placed at exactly the wrong moment, the timing completely off. Also in this scene, which feels equally “like Twin Peaks” despite its seemingly frivolous nature: a poster on the back wall of Abraham Lincoln. --- Animation: Korey Daunhauer A lot of what we remember about Twin Peaks now is environmental. The red curtains of the Black Lodge and the roadhouse stage, the zig-zag of black and white, tall trees filtered through fog. All of its objects. Rewatching the series, I tried to make a list of every “object” that felt important. Three episodes in, this list began to feel psychotic: ashtrays, gas pumps, jukeboxes (plural). I wrote the word “lumber” a dozen times. Everything — every “thing” — seemed to carry another meaning. Even the most basic details, after a few hours, vibrated differently. Each lamp felt ominous. Twin Peaks has hung around for almost three decades partially for this reason. The lasting mystery of the show is less in the question it was marketed under — “Who killed Laura Palmer?” — but in that question of what, exactly, we’re even seeing. Its audience returns to these episodes again and again, because something about them feels unfinished. That creeping feeling that something is not right here, that things have gone terribly, cosmically wrong — and that it still (as James puts it) “makes some kind of terrible sense.” The lasting mystery of the show is less in the question it was marketed under — “Who killed Laura Palmer?” — but in that question of what, exactly, we’re even seeing. That the series often asks you to largely throw away logic and to be swept up in its senses, “terrible” or otherwise, is also what has given the show its long life. Lynch and creative partner Mark Frost don’t seem interested in telling the story of Laura Palmer’s murder to “say” anything about her death, or about death in general. They tell this story because it feels a certain way. The haze of American upper-middle-class suburbia — caught temporally between the era of the show’s premiere, the 80s, and that of Lynch’s own childhood, the 50s — is used for a texture of banality, the “normal world” terrorized by the show’s supernatural forces. Like much of Lynch’s work, this resonates the deepest as a kind of dream place, perhaps his attempt to rebuild and remake the specifics of his own youth in order to reveal the sensations he felt buried in there. And yet: while Twin Peaks may not be the real world, it’s also not only fantasy. And it’s certainly not universal. It is a specific vision with precise references to an era its creators grew up in: neon diner signs, girls in sweater sets, sleazy rock & roll, wall-to-wall carpeting, cassette tapes, the highly stylized signifiers of a mid-century middle-class American culture. These references don’t belong to everybody, but they do belong to the person who dropped a teenager’s murder into the middle of them. They resonate not because they’re ours, but because we can tell they are somebody’s. Many of us might like the chance to revisit and rebuild our childhoods; Lynch just has the privilege of giving us his childhood back to us. Twin Peaks might not always ask you to think, but it always asks that you feel — deeply, confusingly, uncontrollably. Fitting for a story about spirit possession and a community unprepared to deal with it, when Twin Peaks works, it can seem like a thing that is being done to us, intruding in our own normal spaces, flipping them. Creeping down the hallway. Driving us to host costume parties. Still making us “afraid.” Twin Peaks’s power is that it makes things wrong, but it never makes them right again. The show just continues making them wrong in different ways. http://j.mp/2rc7ghY

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