CW: Discussion of dismemberment, possession, intense pain, discussion of blood, discussion of death, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, depictions of poverty

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Sometimes, dear viewer, we are presented opportunities. They may not look like it. They may come all wrapped up in something we don’t like. Something that hurts to hold. We have got to push past that, though. To seize the opportunities that destiny presents to us despite what pain it might bring. It’s there in front of you Cecily. You just got to have the courage to reach out and take it.

CW: Discussion of dismemberment, possession, intense pain, discussion of blood, discussion of death, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, depictions of poverty

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Friends, dear viewer, come in many forms. Sometimes they are folks you’ve known your whole life. Maybe they’re folks who have done something for you in the past. Gotten you out of a tight spot. Maybe they’re friends of convenience. Sometimes, though, someone special comes along. Someone you never saw yourself associating with. Someone you didn’t think had your best interest in mind. Maybe they don’t.

CW: Discussion of dismemberment, possession, intense pain, discussion of blood, discussion of death, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, depictions of poverty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/roomwherepod

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As we all know, dear viewer, sometimes good people make bad choices. Sometimes, they can make those bad choices for the right reasons. Folks who think they can see the greater good think that they must do everything they can to achieve it. To burn their candle at both end. Many times these people will push and push till they have nothing left to give. Patience, dear viewer, is what is needed. The future is coming. You must be there to meet it.

CW: Vomiting, discussion of death, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, depictions of poverty

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And the wheel starts to turn once more, dear viewer. There are strings to be pulled and palms to be greased. Even those at the center of the wheel find themselves struggling from time to time. While many of these folks are put up on a pedestal as paragons of that pull yourself up by the bootstraps mentality that gets applied to Appalachia, even they need a helping hand now and again. Though that hand, more often than not, contains a hook. Pulling in those that take and dragging them down.

CW: Images of torture, discussion of death, being chased by shadows, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, depictions of poverty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/roomwherepod

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CW: Images of torture, discussion of death, being chased by shadows, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, depictions of poverty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/roomwherepod

Discord: https://discord.gg/ZjwPuRv

Website: https://roomwherepod.com/

Patreon: https://roomwherepod.cash

It is always interesting, dear viewer, to watch those at the top push down at those below. See those puppet masters pull their string. It’s interesting not because watching those with power exert that power on those that don’t has any value, but to see how those without push back, or don’t. Watch as they choose what fights are worth the energy and what fights are more trouble than they're worth. Deciding where best to share blood and where best to stop the bleeding.

CW: Images of torture, being chased in a dream, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, discussion of death, depictions of poverty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/roomwherepod

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While it may not be from here, dear viewer, nothing embodies the history of Appalachia more. I came from somewhere else and began to make space for itself with no regard to what was already here. Folks were even encouraged to plant it during the 30s.Whatever helpful properties it does have, however, don’t outweigh the bad. Pushing the life of this place out. Taking land that wasn’t it’s to begin with. Strangling the life out of something else just to get a little bit more. The history of Appalachia summarized in one vine.

CW: Being chased in a dream, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, discussion of death, depictions of poverty

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Let’s talk now, dear viewer, about the Kudzu plant. It’s a vine I am sure you have seen out your car window. Roilin at the edges of the road, covering trees. Casting a deep, green shadow over wooded patches. It’s vines have snaked their way deep into the American South, and in Elder County in particular. While seemingly commonplace, what with their ubiquity on the landscape, these vines have a disastrous habit. They are an invasive species, pushing those plants native to Appalachia out of the way. Smothering and starving them, taking up every inch of available space.

CW: Being chased in a dream, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, discussion of death, depictions of poverty

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Dear viewer, friends will get you far. They will get you up from your lowest lows and help you down from your highest highs. For the regular folks on the outside of the wheel, that’s your safety net. Connections. Community. It can feel like nothing in the face of all those at the center of the wheel. What do you and your folks matter when staring down the kind of power that makes things turn? Let me tell ya, one grain of sand does nothing, but enough grit is gonna grind any machine to a halt.

CW: Being chased in a dream, aggressive, repeated sounds, sudden loud noises, discussion of death, depictions of poverty

Twitter: https://twitter.com/roomwherepod

Discord: https://discord.gg/ZjwPuRv

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Let’s turn our eyes, dear viewer, away from what will be to what is. You see there is a bit of a myth in places like Elder County about rugged individualism. Folks like to say that we here in the mountains love to be left alone, and to a degree that’s true, but one does not survive on these mountains by themselves. Those that try don’t make it too long. No, folks around here build communities, form friendships and make families. The best of them reach out when they’re weak and hold others up when they're strong. Locking hands, forming bonds and holding fast against whatever might come along.