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“Toujours” — A Dark Shadows Story

The Cape Saint Martin cliffs and the Dominica channel, as seen from Grand Rivière at the northern tip of Martinique
The Cape Saint Martin cliffs and the Dominica channel, as seen from Grand Rivière at the northern tip of Martinique

by Barb Lien-Cooper

FOREWORD:

Like a lot of Dark Shadows fans, I was not a fan of the character of Roxanne Drew. I eventually realized that the reason I had no emotional connection to her was that she had just sort of showed up one day in Parallel Time. Usually, when the DS writers introduced a new character, the new character either had a major tie to the Collins family, or a tie to a character on the show that wasn’t a Collins, or the new character would be a major player in the plot that was going to be introduced. None of this seemed to properly apply to Roxanne. The writers had Barnabas say he was falling in love with her, and we, the viewers, were just supposed to accept that idea.

I said to my husband once that I had an idea for a story concerning how Roxanne could’ve been introduced to the audience in a way that might have worked better, which is how this story came to be.

However, much later, as I was writing this story, the idea I had turned into something else: the story of a very unusual friendship.

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The Townhouse of Ideas

Fiction: A Hungry Ghosts story: “The Well” PART ONE (of two)

Well in the Punic necropolis of Utica, by Kritzolina
The edge of an old well... but don't look straight down...

by Barb Lien-Cooper

~~~~~~~~~~

Kiyoko wasn’t doing well in the battle, and we could all see it. These weren’t just tough peasants with big talk, these were experienced soldiers, and she was a young woman (with her hair cut short, who happened to be passing herself off as a young man). She was not half bad with a sword, not at all, but these were killers, and she lacked the killer instinct.

“We would gladly share our food with you, sirs. None of this is necessary,” I heard Eisai-sama say, over on my left.

“We want the magical pouch of rice you carry! Then we would never be hungry!” shouted the leader of the pack of soldiers as he lunged at Eisai-sama, who easily blocked the man with his sword, the legendary Lightning-on-the-Water.

“…We’re hungry for blood, Takeshi,” the voice of the old man in my head said.

“Starve yourselves,” I told the old man’s voice in my head, “just like these soldiers starve. Just because you want me to use my sword to kill doesn’t mean I want that…”

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“Guidance Counseling” — A Dark Shadows Story

A Victor IV gramophone. This one is kept in the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, in Milan.
A Victor IV gramophone. This one is kept in the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci, in Milan.

Carolyn Stoddard Hawkes stared into the fire of the drawing room.

My father is dead, she thought. My husband is dead. But no one cares but me. My mother has gone on with her life, which isn’t surprising, since she and Father separated years ago. My uncle doesn’t care, because he never liked my father nor my husband. Cousin David doesn’t care, because he’s so young—at that age, everything is about him. Cousin Barnabas is too busy spending time with Dr. Hoffman to care, whatever it is that those two do together… Cousin Quentin is too busy dating whoever he’s dating right now to care… Isn’t family supposed to care when someone’s grieving?

She barely noticed when her uncle Roger came into the room and poured himself a brandy.

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Married Geek Couple

OFFICE WORKERS SAVING THE WORLD: DAI-GUARD

Yes, I know it's not Dai-Guard, but I'm trying not to break any image copyright rules! This is the Unicorn Gundam statue in Tokyo, 2019, but this image is fair use enough for Wiki, so I say it's fair use enough for me!
Yes, I know it's not Dai-Guard, but I'm trying not to break any image copyright rules! This is the Unicorn Gundam statue in Tokyo, 2019, but this image is fair use enough for Wiki, so I say it's fair use enough for me!

Park: Okay so what happened was that our internet went out yesterday. Spectrum– and by the way, we’ll be switching to Google Fiber in less than a week because of this, because it’s been happening more and more– Spectrum gave us unstable and then totally missing internet. Well, we played board games a little, but… for some time, I had been planning to re-watch the anime Dai-Guard, because we own the complete show on DVD. Back when Barb and I were in charge of a website called MangaLife, we reviewed things, and so companies would send us manga and DVDs to review. One such company was ADV, based out of Houston, and one such thing they sent us was the anime Dai-Guard. And Dai-Guard is really good in my opinion, but the funny thing is, it’s from the turn of the century (1999, adapted to English in 2002), so when Barb and I watched it, we were comparatively new to all this. Partly because of this: Dai-Guard holds up REALLY well!

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A Dark Shadows Story: “Barnabas Collins and the Queen of Swords”

A curving set of old stairs in a great estate, leading up... up...
A curving set of old stairs in a great estate, leading up... up...

In a room in the basement of the Old House, Barnabas Collins pushed open the lid of his coffin.

To his surprise, he found, cleverly tied to the side of the lid with twine, a tarot card.

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The Townhouse of Ideas

“I” Is Another: Barb And Park Talk About First-Person Narration

Park and Barb, standing together, looking happy.
Park and Barb, standing together, looking happy.

Park: Earlier today, Barb and I were talking about the craft of first-person narration… so, I thought it might be a good topic for a post. So I begin, now, by asking Barb: Who is the best writer you’ve read as far as first-person narration?

Barb: The first person that comes to mind is Raymond Chandler…

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A Dark Shadows Story: “Go Back To Your Grave”

A spooky human skull (of the sort you might find in a bricked-up room). (Also some other partial skulls.)
A spooky human skull (of the sort you might find in a bricked-up room). (Also some other partial skulls.)

~~~~~~~~~~

(Author’s Note: Technically, Jeremiah Collins is arguably some sort of zombie/ghost hybrid on Dark Shadows.

However, I decided to make him more specifically a ghost, because if the characters saw a zombie, they’d probably try to do something about it, like—at the very least—calling Professor Stokes. Since the show gave me enough wiggle room concerning Jeremiah’s corporeality, I chose to make him a wandering spirit who can no longer be seen by the living.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Jeremiah was in the drawing room, sitting dejectedly by the fire.

Roger Collins and Elizabeth Collins Stoddard were arguing about some business decision Roger wished to make. “Roger,” said Elizabeth, “I am the head of this household, as well as the head of the Collins business empire, so what I say goes. This discussion is at an end.”

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The Townhouse of Ideas

What Would Barb Watch?

It's a stream! Because of streaming things! Get it? Get it?
It's a stream! Because of streaming things! Get it? Get it?

Park: Okay so recently someone in my feed said: “I’m feeling a little out of it and I want to binge-watch something, recommendations?” And I hated all the recommendations, except for old Bugs Bunny cartoons. So… I mean, we, ourselves, have recently done old Bugs and Daffy cartoons, and they were still great. But they’re short, so watching the best of them only gets you so far…

Barb: Okay– recommendations for binge watching: Number one: Backstairs at the White House.

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A Dark Shadows Story: The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of

The front of an old safe (with a combination lock).
The front of an old safe (with a combination lock).

Tony Peterson sat in his law office in Bangor, Maine, thinking about how far he’d come in such a short period of time. I went from trying to sue the Collins family for a worker’s injury—and lost— he thought, to moving to Bangor and starting over again with this practice. The clients kept pouring in, as if by magic…

Tony shuddered a bit at the word magic. He did not want to think about Cassandra Collins, and the love spell she’d put on him to bend him to her will…

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. “It’s open,” he called.

Tony’s secretary Effie came in with a package. “Today’s post had something unusual in it,” she said. “There’s no return address, but the name on the package just says ‘Cassandra…’”

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Married Geek Couple

Forged in Craft

A forge, with lots of tools for forging.
A forge, with lots of tools for forging.


Park: Okay so today Barb and I are going to discuss our new binge-watching show that isn’t 1966’s DARK SHADOWS: a little show called FORGED IN FIRE. Forged in Fire seems like a sort of reality show//contest show, and in some ways it is– but not like the others of its kind. Forged in Fire is about blacksmiths making knives and swords. Each round we eliminate one of 4 guys that we start with– last guy gets 10 thousand dollars. …But it’s so much better than that even makes it sound!

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