#the tp link fan in me is becoming more apparent

[crazylittlejester]

“but Jesse!! Jesse you’re the Wars guy!! doesnt that mean Warriors will be the one to have a miserable awful time in your au??”

all i’m saying is Wolf is gonna need y’all’s thoughts and prayers- poor guy did NOTHING to deserve this

spoiler alert: They BOTH have a miserable awful time :3

[naysaltysalmon]

Shoutout to @tiburme for tagging me~!

Rules: Name 10 favorite characters from 10 different things and then tag 10 people.

Oh, massive spoilers below btw.

1. Gon Freecss from Hunter x Hunter: My favorite shounen protagonist by far. At first you think he’s your typical happy-go-lucky bouncy boye :D who definitely doesn’t have abandonment issues or self-destructive tendencies that literally actually almost kill him later on, and then, uwu... The amount of complexity that Gon has as a protagonist who hardly ever has stand-alone development is nothing short of astounding. How during the Chimera Ant Art his characterization totally dips off to the side to become an unknowable entity even to the audience, while still retaining amazing character development regardless -- not to mention how brilliantly daring his decision to threaten Komugi is that nearly every other author with such a happy-go-lucky protagonist would shy away from in cowardice -- is absolutely surreal to me. The more I think and write about Gon, the more I fall in love with him. If I ever meet his father, and by that I mean his real father, the creator, Togashi, I have nothing else to say but,,, well done, sir.

2. Tanjirou Kamado from Demon Slayer: I’m really hoping the Demon Slayer movie comes out soon because I absolutely love this boy and how charming he is. Unlike most protagonists, not just of shounen anime but of seemingly macho story lines that involve power-ups and training in general, Tanjirou never lets go of his kind heart. (Welp, except maybe in some cases when he’s facing the Upper Moons later on -- I haven’t caught up yet -- but WE’RE GONNA IGNORE THAT for now.) From the beginning, Tanjirou’s kindness isn’t an obstacle holding back his power, though other characters pose it that way, but rather he cultivates his empathy to grant peace to the demons he faces. He smiles in the face of anyone who treats him poorly because of his cluelessness, and that’s just so heartwarming to see, and dare I say subversive to the hardened, calculating, and cocky male protagonists we so often get. Good job, Gotouge.

3. Joseph Joestar from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Giorno Giovanna was a close second, but I gotta go with Joseph. He’s the one who made me fall in love with the series, and with the later parts too. Unlike Jonathan Joestar, who was chivalrous and manly, Joseph was a riot: colorful, arrogant, funny, but also extremely clever. I absolutely loved his, “Next you’ll say...!” because at first I expected it to just be him being an overconfident asshole and eventually he’d be proven wrong at the ~Dai Pinchi Moment~ (please excuse my weeb speech, I legit didn’t know what else to call it), but then he hit the mark every time and eventually I was just waiting for when he’d pull that out and it was so hype. Also I surely can’t forget his transformation as an old dude in Part 3 -- him screaming “OOHHHH MY GAAAWDDDA!” and “HOLY SHIIIT!” murdered me every time. And of course, last but not least, the raw fucking emotion when Caeser died -- the dude actually gave a shit and wasn’t made entirely of wit and absurdity, but heart too. Joseph set the tone for what JJBA was as a whole for me (fuck off with that “but Part 3/Part 4 is the best Part” bullshit, Part 2 will always be top tier for me because of Joseph Joestar’s brilliant, bright, and beautiful absurdity -- but Part 5 was really good too). Araki really is a genius.

4. Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: My love for this series is a bit older than the series I’ve already mentioned, and TLoZ: TP was actually probably the first time I got seriously obsessed with a fandom. I love all the Links in their own ways, but Twilight Princess really drove home the “lone wolf chosen by the gods, fighting against the world” narrative for me. It made me feel important and strong at a time when no one cared about me. Seeing Link struggle silently through his quest with villagers who meant well but did nothing for him, and Midna who started out as a reluctant acquaintance and eventually became so much more, meant so much to me at the time I played the game. I will always love Twilight Princess the most because of what it did for me at one of the darkest times in my life, and because I felt completely and utterly immersed in every part of the story and gameplay through Link’s character, who was, and in many ways, still is, so relatable to me: Silent courage really is what I use to get through every day.

5. Greedling from Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood): For once I’m not naming the protagonist of a series! Lissen, I still smile whenever I see the slightest reference to Edward Elric, but now he’s more of my childhood love. He’s just a part of my personality already? LOL. Anyway, FMA(B) has so many good characters that choosing just one doesn’t feel right (I mean, same with HxH tho). I say Greedling because that encompasses both Ling and Greed though, two of my favorite characters from the series! Ling’s apparent childishness in constantly running away from fights, making other people pay for his food, and failing to grasp the seriousness of the situation (until Lan Fan’s arm gets cut off lol oops) is so adorable and entertaining. He’s the best kind of idiot asshole, and I especially love how he teases Ed. After him and Greed fuse, Ling’s stout heart becomes even more apparent, as he constantly eggs Greed on to remember his past life, his friends, and become someone outside of Father/the Dwarf in the Flask. Conversely, Greed’s nonchalance and (of course) avarice are nothing short of entertaining and heartbreaking. Greed’s realization at the end, when he finally admitted to himself that what he wanted all along were “friends like these,” completely crushed me the first few times I watched FMAB. And when he’s screaming in the tunnels under Central after having killed Bido, remembering his friends, and he doesn’t understand why, and later attacks Wrath/King Bradley... that shit was so entertaining and cathartic to watch. None of his development feels like forced redemption, nor like it was too little development, since it mostly happens in the background and away from the “validating eyes” of the protagonists other than Ling. And at the end, when Ling and Greed work together to take down Bradley and all the soldiers invading Central HQ... it’s so beautiful. Many have said this before but I’ll say it again: Hiromu Arakawa wrote the perfect series.

6. Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler: Another protagonist! And another older obsession of mine. Ciel remains in my mind to this day mainly for his heartlessness in relation to his age, and the fluidity with which Toboso tells his story. Normally when authors write younger characters into their serious stories, they make “child adults” of sorts, but Ciel feels totally realistic to the extent that he is both childish and adult to me. Obviously, Ciel is responsible and (normally) level-headed due to being the head of the Phantomhive household, but also from trauma. Yet, his cruelty at times is what sticks in my mind the most: You really feel that he’s someone who feels he’s been abandoned by the entire world, given his experiences, and that makes him disregard or use others sometimes in order to reach his own ends. Normally, authors would be too cowardly to let their protagonists, let alone child protagonists, go to such lengths to avenge their family, or carry out their duty as the dog of the military (looking at you, Arakawa -- she’s still a goddess tho). But Ciel is unforgiving. He lies to Snake and tells him his troupe is still alive. He murders the entire troupe because he’s triggered -- a childish decision, but driven with adult-like power due to trauma. It’s devastatingly riveting, and I cannot forget his unrelenting, contained rage to this day.

7. Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone Wars: This one may come as a shock to most of you, because I hardly ever post Star Wars let alone Ahsoka content on here -- but it’s true. Other than the blatant, half-assedly inserted heteroromantic partner they gave Ahsoka in, like, idk season 3??, Ahsoka is a fucking goddess. From her origin as a wee baby in the earlier seasons who didn’t really know what she was doing and was a bit of a cocky brat, to how she matures and becomes wise, resourceful, and fierce in the later seasons, I just love Ahsoka’s design and character to this day. The episodes that stick in my mind aside from the obvious are when she’s possessed by the Dark Side of the Force on that Force balance planet and her arrogance becomes so exaggerated that she threatens and attacks Anakin, her teacher. It was so fucking cathartic. Normally female characters, let alone young protagonist female characters, are never allowed to show the ugly sides of themselves in fiction, since women are always portrayed as perfect beautiful majestic angels or some bullshit like that. (Or they’re cocky/sexy/slutty villain women. ‘Kay then.) Seeing Ahsoka devolve into her basal desires and come out of it like hardly anything happened and she’s still a perfectly valid character was so amazing to see on a meta level; it wasn’t about her learning a lesson or anything, it was a thing that happened like any other character and then they moved the fuck on. I also distinctly remember the episode where she was trapped on that island/planet and she had to take out the aliens that were after her all by herself. That was so fucking empowering to watch and god fucking dammit I need to rewatch this series now. And of course, let us not forget the fact that the entire time, we were all expecting Ahsoka to just be another domino in Anakin’s downfall -- and she was, but not through the refrigerator -- but through walking away from it all. That was so powerful and moving -- and heartbreaking. By the end of TCW, her character carried weight and agency in the narrative, and god, I only wish whoever wrote her could write more female characters in the future.

8. Tigress from Kung Fu Panda: Maybe another surprise, but I think she deserves this spot. Tigress is a female character who starts out as kind of an antagonist, given how she outright tells Po to leave the kung fu temple within the first day of him arriving. She’s even jealous of the fact that he’s chosen as the Dragon Warrior rather than her -- but that’s due to the backwash of years of trying to live up to the memory of Tai Lung in order to please Shifu (which means “master” in Chinese but ok I’ll shut up now), her master and mentor over the years. She never says this out loud in the movie, which is what makes her character more believable. Others even joke about how stoic she is (and not in bad taste). Her character development is definitely present for those who are looking -- but I put her on this list because I’m so happy the movie doesn’t make it some huge dramatic emotional thing, because so often in media women are depicted as being overly-emotional and here Tigress is just a hurt child trying to make her mentor happy. But, she gets over it, her and Po become allies, even friends to each other -- she and Po talk like equals in the second and third movies, and she even tells him to back out of the fight with Lord Shen and he listens (I mean he doesn’t stay put but he doesn’t undermine her opinion either lol, like most jokesy protagonists of Western media would -- looking at you, Marvel). I like Tigress because she’s an antagonist without being a bitch, she’s powerful without being overpowered, and she’s not sexualized despite being a well-trained, at times jealous, and even emotionally awkward kung fu master. And I almost forgot to mention the best part: There is never an indication of romance between her and Po, or any other character, for that matter. She’s perfectly capable, complex, and lovely on her own terms. And that’s that on THAT.

9. Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit: I wanted to include at least one character protagonist from a live-action movie/book, lol. I feel like Bilbo’s pretty self-explanatory. He doesn’t wanna go on an adventure because he likes his doilies and warm sheets, but then Gandalf seduces him with the call to the outside world and possible death (LOL), and he fucking goes for it, grumbling the entire time. Isn’t that what any of us would do if given such a proposition? I like to think so. Bilbo obviously has his own gradual, evil transformation with the One Ring, becomes murderous and uses it to disappear, and grows a strong bromance with the King Under the Mountain (which happens in both the movie and the book), but I think what I like about him is that he really feels... down-to-earth? Like even though the adventure changes him, it never feels like he’s been stretched in a way that makes his core character traits of grumbling and bluntness disappear. He gets better at the whole adventuring thing, for sure, but he remains Bilbo, at least, to me, throughout the journey. It was heartwrenching watching him try to save Thorin in The Battle of Five Armies, honestly, but Bilbo’s the kind of character that I feel like has his own story and mythology aside from The Hobbit, and maybe that’s just the result of J.R.R. Tolkien writing the lore for every aspect of his universe, but My Point Still Stands. He feels like his own man apart from the series he’s in, yet he’s still so much fun in his series.

10. Barley Lightfoot from Onward: And last, this one is because I saw Onward yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by the characterization in it -- and anyone who thinks differently can kiss my *ss. :) I was not expecting the movie to take the twist of fleshing out the “annoying” (more like adorable) overconfident nerdy big brother. Normally those characters are swiped to the side because God Forbid The Comic Relief Have Any Sadness In Them. I was expecting the movie to focus on Ian’s journey to meet his fatha and that the movie would pull something stupid at the end like “oh actually there’s another phoenix gem underneath the school” or “actually since only his legs appeared then you still have 24 hours with him” or some shit like that, but I guess this isn’t an anime so those absurdist explanations wouldn’t hold water anyway. But still, for a kid’s movie, I was NOT expecting this movie to go so hard with the characterization. For once, the main character doesn’t get what he wants at the end, and instead realizes it’s his big brother, Barley, who’s been looking out for him his entire life. Meeting his dad would betray that reality. What happens instead is that the lovable big brother never actually said goodbye to their dad before he died, because when their dad got sick, said brother ran away from the hospital room in fear of all the life-sustaining equipment. (Is this some meta thing about Chris Pratt and Guardians of the Galaxy? Off topic and call me stupid, but I didn’t realize Chris Pratt plays him until I saw everyone freaking out about it afterward on Tumblr laksjdflak.) So instead, the lovable big brother talks to the dad at the end, and unconfident younger brother grows confidence and thanks big bro for being with him his entire life. It was so touching, dude. I cry. But the moment that sticks in my mind the most was when Ian was crossing the invisible bridge... Ian needed to have confidence in himself to be able to cross over a chasm in their path, and Barley knew that if Ian didn’t believe in himself, he would fall and die. They tie a rope around Ian for good measure, and Barley encourages him the entire way, but halfway over, the rope comes loose and slips off. Barley sees this and starts panicking, but of course continues to encourage Ian so that Ian will get to the other side. What got to me wasn’t the fact that he faked it for Ian, but that there are actual tears running down his face as he’s encouraging Ian to get to the other side, because he knows otherwise Ian wouldn’t have the confidence and would fall to his death. Like dude, that raw, complex emotion in a kid’s movie?! DUDE?! I was fucking surprised. The clear anxiety and grief in Barley’s face as Ian’s totally clueless and even dancing around in the air was just too much, omfg. Of course, then it’s played off for laughs, but... I guess that makes sense for the annoying overconfident nerdy big bro character. :’)

Okay these are way longer than I anticipated and I’m sorry, but also I’m really not. Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on my favs!

Seems I don’t talk to that many people on here anymore: @stupidbluejay @mirycactusito @chronicstarlight

[oliviermiraarmstrongs]

SHIP HISTORY MEME

Embrace your past and get to know your friends’s fandom origins!

Rules: Post gifs of your fandoms / ships starting with your most current hyperfixation and work backwards. (Bonus points if you share any stories about how or when you got into that ship! But not necessary!!) Then tag anyone whose fandom history you’d like to learn about!

Tagged by @betweenironyandsilver! 😁

(Not posting gifs bc I’m on mobile and can’t find any good ones. also this will be streamlined and half-remembered fandom history for me so 🤷‍♀️)

Daenerys and Sansa (A Song of Ice and Fire)

I’m gonna cull down my ASOIAF ship list to just a few since I get fixated on a new relationship like every month (honorable mentions: sansa/sandor, sansa/margaery, arya/gendry, theon/jeyne, many others because I’m an extreme multishipper) but dany/sansa has become like, THE ONE. I just want these two sweet girls to find happiness with each other! They’ve suffered so much and just want to go home, and I think they should find it together. I know they’re not gonna be the titular “fire and ice”, but they should be!

Fleabag/Priest (Fleabag)

All I can say is OOF!!!!

Finn/Rey/Poe(/Rose)

I can’t get into just Poe/Finn or Rey/Ben or Finn/Rose because I don’t want any of them to be separated! As much as I love The Last Jedi, it needed more trio interaction, and TRoS only kinda half-delivered on it. And Rose deserves better, and she and Rey should’ve bonded! Kylo Ben is kind of included in here, I just wish he had more interaction with Finn and Poe. I just want these lonely, dysfunctional, emotionally stunted man-children to find a family with each other!

Link and Zelda (Legend of Zelda)

I get very invested in any Zelda game, so naturally I’m very attached to them! I’ve loved them since I was a kid playing OoT and TP (partially because I had a crush on both of them, and also on every girl Link has vaguely romantic interactions with like Malon, Midna, Ilia, etc. where’s my Zelda dating sim). They’re SO CUTE in Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild makes me love them even more!

Roy/Riza (Fullmetal Alchemist)

I love it as much as Ed/Winry, Al/Mei, and Ling/Lan Fan, but I gotta say Royai because like, when will a ship go this hard. “Will you follow me?” “If that is what you wish, then even into hell.” The DRAMA! The HISTORY! The DEVOTION!

Stiles/Lydia (Teen Wolf)

I was such trash for this show, but can you blame me with them? Say what you will about “snarky, dorky comic relief best friend gets with popular girl”, but they managed to bypass the common tropes by actually having good chemistry and a lot in common! 14-year-old me started watching because of them! It wasn’t enough to make me finish it though. But apparently they were endgame, so good for them.

Korra/Mako (Legend of Korra)

That’s right, time for a little controversy. I was down to clown for these two before the show even started, and when it did start? Ooooh boy! I will still maintain the opinion that s1 of Korra is the best, but that’s a whole other conversation. Episode three is like, SUCH a good showcase of how these two work so well as a team, with Mako calm and collected and Korra fierce and bold. She helps him break out of his shell, he helps her reign in her impulsive tendencies! I know the romantic drama of s1 could’ve been written better, but I still think they work well together. They just needed to grow more as people. I do like Korra/Asami, but I don’t love how their relationship was handled; but that’s a bigger discussion about my beef with the last two seasons. Anyway, I’m still a huge Mako defender, and an even bigger Korra defender, and I am humble enough to admit that I was one of the many who were prepared to pop the biggest bottles. (I still follow the girl who made that post, avatarskorra. She’s funny and takes the whole thing really well).

Maka/Soul (Soul Eater)

I’m just a sucker for ships who don’t have an explicitly romantic relationship, but are such a good team and have a such a close bond that it seems like they’re undergoing a veeeeeery slow burn.

James/Lily (Harry Potter)

They were my first experience reading fanfiction! I loved looking at a lot of fanart and gifsets and other creations on tumblr, and I was just losing my mind over this relationship between two dead characters! Just. The DRAMA of it all. I mean, I liked the magic parts of Harry Potter, but I really wanted a seven-year-spanning slow burn teen drama about the marauders and their shenanigans. Also, I was into the other canon HP ships (yeah, I was and still kinda am a canon fucker), but what I really loved was luna/neville because they were my faves.

Aang/Katara, Zuko/Mai (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

The canon fuckery strikes again! ATLA was one of my first experiences with fandom, which is a terrible introduction because y’all were a bunch of feral children ready to throw hands at any moment (same goes for LoK). But the show itself delivered so many pure, joyful moments. Aang’s face when he first sees Katara? Katara’s devastation when Aang nearly gets killed by Azula, followed by her relief at managing to resurrect him? The Kataango? Don’t try and tell me this ain’t the cutest shit ever. And I will go to bat for my moody teens Zuko and Mai! “I don’t hate you.” is some romantic shit!

Chuck/Ned (Pushing Daisies)

I loved romance as a kid, but I was afraid of sex and marriage, so they were made for me. Everything about this show made me happy, and also I had a crush on both of them.

I tag @sctine, @anipokie, @the-ginger--mermaid, @borispavlikovskys @trxters, @altraviolence, and anyone else who wants to get in on it!

[liv-andletdie]

001 LOZ 002 TP zelink (because I love the puppy love AU) 003 Midna

The Puppy Love AU is like my whole life right now thank you so much

LOZ

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: Zelda (every Zelda I can’t pick) 

Least Favorite character: Malo. That’s not even a Joke, this kid freaks me out! He’s the scariest thing about Twilight Princess he puts me on edge! 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Zelink (I’m guessing I can’t put down 5 different Zelinks can I? Can I?) Hylink, Shad/Ashei, Pipit/Karane, Telink. 

Character I find most attractive: TP Zelda. I need to be honest it’s always TP Zelda. 

Character I would marry: SS Zelda is wife material. I want to make her pasta and talk about her day with her 

Character I would be best friends with: They’d probably all find me really annoying but I like to think that I’d get along well with Uli from TP because she’s a mum and I’m a maternal person. Also she’s lovely and doesn’t deserve the stress she gets put through in that game. 

a random thought: How come Lon Lon Ranch is in BOTW but not TP? TP is meant to come before BOTW, there’s nothing between MM and TP. Time is Twilight’s Grandfather. 

An unpopular opinion: The Hero’s shade armor isn’t that great. It’s not actually very good looking at all. 

My Canon OTP: Pipit/Karane (It’s Canon! Sometimes Zelink isn’t and it makes me sad) 

My Non-canon OTP: Shad/Ashei 

Most Badass Character: Toss up between Midna who makes Zant explode and BOTW Zelda who walked through a Guardian infested Castle Town with nothing but her sealing power to protect her as she went to face off against Malice and Hatred incarnate. 

Most Epic Villain: WW Ganondorf. He had a motive (albeit not a water tight one) it was the first time I was like “…oh man my heart” over GANONDORF!! though props to TP Ganondorf for dying standing up and putting me on edge!

Pairing I am not a fan of: Ze/Gan

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): MIPHA! at first I was like “I could see Miphlink happening” because I thought that if Mipha had made Link Zora armor then they must have at least discussed marriage at some point and he must have reciprocated those feelings. NOPE! according to the DLC she knew him when he was 4 and that’s making me uncomfortable and then to top it off she hadn’t even talked to him about marriage nor were they together apparently?? IDK but way to make an amazing character kinda creepy Nintendo

Favourite Friendship: Midna and Link, these two get on like a house on fire! They didn’t at first though and I actually really like that. We got to see the progression from “I’m only sticking with you because I need help and you can help me” to “I CARE ABOUT YOU DON’T DIE! DON’T DIE OMG DON’T DIE!” 

Character I most identify with: Sheik! Because no one knows what gender I am and I also hate Ganon 

Character I wish I could be: Link. I’d get to run around exploring and then I’d get to become friends with Zelda WIN WIN (aside from the monster killing part but oh well) 

Midna

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

How I feel about this character: I love her. I. LOVE. HER! The game is named after her for a reason! Because she’s GREAT! She actually never lies to you until the end when she says “see you later” and I start crying because NO I WON’T YOU SHATTERED THE MIRROR AND MY HEART! 

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Me, Not really anyone… I’d say Link but I see their relationship as more of a sibling kinda relationship so no

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Zelda. She gives her life and her light so that Midna can live! Also I love to HC that the two met before Midna met Link and were already aware of each other. So like Midna shows up with a wolf like “Check it, we’re gonna leave the castle now. Bye” And Zelda’s like “when you said you were looking for a blue eyed beast I didn’t actually think you’d find one… wait is that? That’s the triforce of courage! Midna!” 

My unpopular opinion about this character: Do I have one? I think I agree with everyone about Midna? Maybe I would have liked to have seen more of her true form. Also the reveal that she was the Twilight Princess wasn’t a shock to me

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish Zelda and Midna’s friendship could have been more fleshed out. The one thing TP was missing was more female friendships (we had Ilia and Telma but that was more maternal) It would have been really cool to see Midna and Zelda learn from each other and adopt each others habits maybe? 

Favorite friendship for this character: Link. Hands down Link. 

My crossover ship: I don’t really have one 

Thank you so much for the questions!!! I’m sorry I couldn’t do the TP Zelink one, But I’m happy I got to talk about Midna which is always fun

[lynchgirl90]

#TwinPeaks Review: The Person Everybody Has Been Waiting to See for Over 25 Years Doesn’t Disappoint

Plus, here are some theories on how the dots connect through electrical crackles, coins, and Hawk’s heritage

While “Twin Peaks” continues to play the long game when it comes to its various mysteries, Sunday’s episode at least offered a tantalizing carrot to viewers one-third of the way through the season. Fans finally got to see whom Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) has been speaking to all of these years: The never-before-seen Diane, naturally portrayed by David Lynch favorite Laura Dern.

Diane was Cooper’s secretary from his earliest days in the FBI and the recipient of all of his audio reports and musings. She never appeared on screen, but he confided everything in her. Many speculated long before the show premiered that Dern, who had never been a part of the original “Twin Peaks” cast, would get the plum role of Diane.

The scene, while brief, is satisfying in its details. Albert’s (Miguel Ferrer) important work that evening is to follow up on that promise that he “knows where she drinks,” which is apparently Max Von’s Bar. The peroxide blonde bob is a slight misdirection, since that sleek hairdo doesn’t telegraph Dern’s usual beachy-blonde waves.

But just as Lynch giveth, he taketh away. The glimpse is fleeting. Diane clearly knows Albert after addressing him by name, but beyond that, we only know that she’s rather stylish, smokes and drinks martinis. Answers about how she will help with Cooper or any Blue Rose cases will have to wait. And wait we will through 12 more episodes if necessary.  

The timing and the brevity confirm just how deliberate all of these revelations and dribbles of information are. It is a bright moment in an episode that continues to unspool its disparate storylines but this time, actually makes a few more connections without any hugely surreal or inexplicable moments.

The Caffeinization of Cooper

The season has stretched out its “getting to know” Cooper phase throughout the episodes in tandem as he is finding himself, instead dumping it at the beginning of the series. Thanks to a combination of coffee and MIKE, aka the Man with One Arm (Al Strobel), who pleads with Cooper to “Wake up. Don’t die,” Cooper continues to become more lucid.

As in the casino, Cooper has visions that lead him, but this time it’s in the case files given to him by Lucky 7 Insurance to review. There is method to this Dougie madness as he doodles ladders and staircases and lines connecting names in the files. His boss Bushnell Mullins (Don Murray) seems to make sense of it and asks him to “keep this information to yourself” for now.

READ MORE: ‘Twin Peaks’: Why We Need Agent Cooper’s Arrested Development Even When It’s Exhausting

Again, the show’s credits give the best clues as to what’s happening since Tom Sizemore’s character Anthony Sinclair wasn’t seen in the episode much, but he was peering out of his office when Cooper got called in to see Mullins. Anthony Sinclair’s name is also seen as a signature on an insurance claim. Could we say fraud? And didn’t Cooper say, “He’s lying” about Sinclair before?

This is a situation though, in which the answers may not be that important except as a means to an end. Only the events of the show will be able to confirm whether or not corruption means anything, but what it important is that whatever the powers that be are up to, they’ve been active. In a scene right before Cooper has his vision in front of the case files, we see a street light change and hear that familiar electrical crackle (that we heard in the glass box room and other places before) that coincides with or precedes an important event.

Riding the Electrical Crackle

Unfortunately, whatever the power of that crackle is, it’s not just a force for good, which makes sense since there is a White Lodge and Black Lodge, good and evil. Over in Twin Peaks, the second time we hear that buzz is right after that dastardly Richard Horne (Eamon Farren) is the perpetrator of a horrifying hit and run. As the distraught mother cradles her dead son’s body, our attention gets called upwards to a telephone pole and that familiar crackle. Is this how garmonbozia travels and then somehow gets spit out elsewhere as creamed corn?

Richard’s actions confirm that he’s as bad as his first impression led us to believe, but the episode reveals that he’s small fry, a mere pawn. Mr. Finger Guns himself, Red (Balthazar Getty) is calling the shots in what sounds like an illegal drug deal. Red also acts oddly… as if he’s new to his body or can’t control it as well as he does dimes. Bits of metal may have some significance this season. That he seemed to know Shelly (Madchen Amick) in the second episode in the Bang Bang Bar could be cause for concern.

One more note about bad guys in Twin Peaks. Richard had bribed Deputy Chad Broxford (John Pirruccello) who was in plain clothes in the previous episode at the Bang Bang Bar, and Chad continues to appear without conscience, kindness or empathy after a scene in which he mocks the suicide of Sherriff’s son as a result of PTSD.

The Dougie Connection

Even before Cooper was reborn via electrical socket and took over Dougie’s life, people were out to kill Dougie, not Cooper. While we await answers on the why, the episode did start to offer a few answers and connections. For one, the people whom Janey-E was so concerned about owing money are merely small-time. They don’t appear to have any more sinister or supernatural evil powers that would connect them with the Black Lodge.

Unfortunately, those who want Dougie dead do have a connection with things or people disappearing into thin air and turning into bits of metal. A hitman that the credits helpfully lists as Ike “The Spike” Stadtler (Christopher Zajac-Denek) takes out Lorraine (Tammie Baird), whom was stressed out in the previous episode after finding out Dougie was still alive and asked her lackeys, “Are you trying to get me killed?” What a sad premonition that turned out to be.

This is where a second connection comes in. The nervous Las Vegas exec Duncan Todd (Patrick Fischler) who unhappily follows an unidentified boss’ orders (perhaps the same person as Lorraine’s boss), sees a message pop up as a red square on his computer, which prompts him to retrieve a mysterious envelope marked with a dot from a locked safe. We soon find out that this envelope contains the photos of Lorraine and Dougie. We’ve seen Lorraine’s excruciating fate (really? more women’s violence?) at the hands of The Spike, and it seems that only a bent spike may delay his targeting Cooper in Dougie guise in the near future.

Heads, Hawk Wins

When a buffalo nickel rolls away from Hawk (Michael Horse) in the Sherriff’s station’s men’s room, he follows it into the stall and sees it land face up showing the image of the composite Native American. Heeding the Log Lady’s words that his heritage will lead him to a clue that deals with Agent Cooper, Hawk sees a plate on the stall door for Nez Perce manufacturing, which in turn allows him see that part of the door has lost a screw and is gaping open. Once he pries open the door siding with a crowbar, he pulls out a few small pieces of notepaper that appear to have been hidden there.

The Log Lady’s words have presumably come true, and it’s indicative once again how this show is intricately crafted. It’s no accident that this incident also echoes the flipping of a coin earlier in the episode with the line, “Heads, I win. Tails, you lose”

While trying to find connections in every little scene may not be the point, the show is rewarding viewers just like it rewards Hawk. Without tuning in and being aware of the types of signs he needed, he could very well have missed them.

The Log Lady’s words have presumably come true, and it’s indicative once again how this show is intricately crafted. It’s no accident that this incident also echoes the flipping of a coin earlier in the episode with the line, “Heads, I win. Tails, you lose”

While trying to find connections in every little scene may not be the point, the show is rewarding viewers just like it rewards Hawk. Without tuning in and being aware of the types of signs he needed, he could very well have missed them.

In this way, the show is nurturing viewers in another sort of awakening, one that allows for being in the moment, but also piecing together clues from the past while speculating about the future. Each episode doesn’t just build off previous ones but almost encourages backtracking to see what may have been missed. It’s a circular viewing experience that truly ties together the 18 episodes.

Potent Quotables

Janey-E: “Think about it. It’s hard enough to get that kind of money, let alone with broken legs”

Man with One Arm: “You have to wake up. Wake up. Don’t die. Don’t die. Don’t die.”

Diane: “Hello, Albert.”

Red: “I will saw your head open and eat your brains if you fuck me over.”

Janey-E: “We are not wealthy people. We drive cheap, terrible cars. We are the 99 percenters.”

Link (TP)