#I wasn't sure where to fit it in the transcript but

[royalarchivist]

Fit: Pac– this isn't you, you're just– I know you're all happy and stuff, and this medicine is making you feel good, but it's not reality. It's not reality.

Pac: [Shouting] And what is reality, Fit?! What is reality?! The reality that we have is like, just wait until the Eggs show up, or just wait for something to happen! I'm cool with my medicine, you know? I'm cool with Cucurucho helping me! It's making me feel way more better! So that's the reality for me, you know. Reality is the thing that you accept, so I'm accepting this as my reality. [He sighs, then says in a quieter voice] Sorry, Fit. Sorry, I just– sorry. I didn't mean to scream at you, sorry.

Fit: No, listen Pac– you need help. I know you– do you even remember why you took this medicine in the first place?

Pac: [In a quiet voice] 'Cuz I didn't have any other choice, you know. I was hopeless. It was my only choice, to use the medicine. That's all. [In a quieter voice, starting to mumble] That's why I'm gonna- I'm gonna still- gonna use it.

Fit: Look Pac–

Pac: –until I forget what happened, and that's it! That's what I'm going to do.

Fit: I know you're still in there somewhere, Pac. I know you still remember everything. I need you to remember.

Pac: [Mumbled] ...I will remember– I won't– I don't want to, I don't want to. I just want to- to build my home alone, ok Fit? I'm- I'm sorry.

[rhiaarrow]

Todays 5am rambling;

There is a difference between 'qBad' and 'Tio Bad' because Tio Bad instincts are just absolutely INGRAINED in ccBads brain and is just entirely separate from his actual qCharacter

Honestly. Half of the stuff he does he does out of instinct, not rp at this point.

And I'm 5am rambling about this just because it's become really really obvious to me these past couple days because Bad will be in rp with the eggs where he's not supposed to recognize them or know them but then he'll do or say little things that just doesn't quite fit with that and it's just so adorable because it's so obvious that he's just so used to hanging with the egg actors that some things are just natural at this point.

The most obvious is the iconic gasp whenever there's an egg downed message, of course.

(I still remain surprised that he managed to act completely nonchalant when Richas got knocked the other day, +1000 rp points there Brad)

That is a bodily response at this point, there is no character rp in that gasp of anxiety.

But there are just little things that slip through even when he is in full rp mode.

When Tallulah first saw him again he acted as qBad would but when Tallulah started to get genuinely upset Bad's voice changed to the voice he uses when talking through hard topics with eggs and he reassured her in a way that he didn't take the time to do with any of the other eggs and honestly it must've broken ccBad to not be able to comfort an egg that he's been a source of comfort for for almost a year.

Or when he went to ask Leo if she wanted to go mining. He'd previously been loud and confused with Leo and Foolish but when he went to speak to Leo alone he crouched in front of her and spoke clearly as he asked her and waited for her response, copying her when she jumped or crouched excitedly.

He learnt early on (back when the translations were still buggy as all hell) that sometimes when babysitting Leo in particular he had to make sure to speak clearly so that nothing got lost in translation because if you watch early vods there are times where Leo just does not understand what Bad is saying (and if you look at the transcription box it's often pretty damn easy to understand why she's confused because some of the stuff the early transcripts pick up are frankly hilariously far off from what was said).

Overtime he adapted, speaking clearer and reducing his use of complex vernacular or occasionally repeating phrases but changing them slightly to make the translations as understandable as possible and he still does that whenever he's talking directly with Leo, and now Pepito too.

The one that hurt and was the point that made me start writing this whole rambling was the way that Bad IMMEDIATELY snapped back into Tio mode as soon as he saw Pepito at spawn (even if from a pure rp standpoint it made not a lot of sense).

He was crouching in front of him, back to calling him little one, referring to all the eggs as 'kids' again, reassuring Pepito that he'd go pick up his dad and bring him to Pepito but only if he could make sure that Pepito was safe at his house first, trying to immediately get him out of the open and to set a pearl, telling him it wasn't his fault and that he doesn't need to apologise, that it's okay to be sad about his death but they need to get him somewhere safe first.

It broke me because this was just an exact echo of how he's had to act with every other egg after their deaths when he discusses the deep topics with them. He is too used to comforting eggs about these sorts of things and hearing him give the same reassurances killed me because Pepito is just a baby, he shouldn't have to have Tio Bad give him the after-death talk already.

(I feel like I keep giving Ted Talks atp with the length of my posts but ahhhhhhh neurospicy brainrot is just all consuming sometimes y'know? 🙃)

[nexility-sims]

𝐍𝐎. 𝟒   ❛ 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 ❜   |   NAKAWE SACRARIUM, DEC. 1990

❧  𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬  /  𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭.

❛ For the last time, they beheld her. They were each aware of the moment’s passage as it unfolded around them. The day was not endless. This was a transitory reprieve, and life would move on. In the privacy of the sacrarium, they regarded her under this immense burden of knowing. Her likeness would exist in pictures and videos, enlivened yet flat, and it would recede year by year into the haze of memory. This face—vacant and open, touchable, soft skin and fine hairs and curves of flesh that resembled their own—would decay. Already, it had. This was the uncomfortable truth boring into them as an unflinching stare from mortality’s own eyes. Water and time had begun the work, even as the red paint obscured much. Death reshaped her. It gave her a mask. The mask transfixed because it was her, but every second spent gazing at it haunted them.

❧ true fans will recognize the lil speech :^) anyway, funerals are hard. i wasn't sure what to write for this so, of course, i thought about my granny. she looked and felt different as soon as the life left her, and seeing her again later was surreal. anyway 2x, the context that didn't fit anywhere is that beatriz and rodrigo saw safya when she was found, but everyone else except arnaut saw her for the first time this day.

𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 & 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭 ↓

Face to face, there was no distance from the fact that she was dead. Hands that once cradled them turned to stone as they gripped her ankles. Lips that uttered loving words refused to part. All warmth had long left, taking with it the possibility of a comforting embrace. She was cold and waxlike now—freakish in her naturality, entrancing and repulsive. Clinging, grabbing, kissing, petting, they were desperate to embody the finality of this farewell. She did not return their affection.

While the people of Uspana gathered to honor the princess, the family turned inward to conducted this ritual in private. A priest offered wisdom and ruminations as they wept. Beatriz laid stones of jade at her feet. They would accompany her into the first of her graves—currency in the underworld and necessary for any traveler. She and Matias wrapped themselves around the corpse and cried, not truly for their daughter, but for their loss. They all understood it was their duty to send her off in the proper way. Her body demanded care, and they gave it. Yet, through each motion, that distance remained. She felt nothing, and every touch was a comfort to themselves, even as the very reality of absence denied them any solace.

Later, they made offerings as her effigy, carved wood and painted red and attired in Safya’s things, was set ablaze. Her true body would go away with less catharsis. It would change like seasons. Some of the family would return in twenty years to collect the bones. Others, they supposed, may return sooner. When they did return to this place, they prayed to do so having been themselves, in some essential way, changed.

TRANSCRIPT:

[P V.O.] This is a place of circularity. We return again and again: to marry; with our children; to become ancestors.

[P V.O.] In old places, we convene to see and to be seen. Our lives are neither singular nor bound by our time.

[P V.O.] Returning to this site, among the dead, where others have gathered before and will gather after, we feel it most.

[P V.O.] Memory of ceremony resides in old places. We let it, here, like blood. Ritual is itself the flint—as it were, whetted by practice.

[P V.O.] Our place in the circle obligates us to be here and to embody ceremony. Yet, obligation is a matter of the heart, not the body.

[P V.O.] To be truly present is a choice—to live, right now, in the body that is excruciated by loss.

[P V.O.] This family marries suffering to devotion in a way that is perhaps violent to the self. Yet, that is indeed how we are asked to mourn.

[P V.O.] Mourning purges the pain, allowing us to be destroyed like the world itself has been. That is circularity, too, in a most sublime form.

[hkthatgffan]

I recently had the chance to message legendary Gravity Falls fan artist @kiki-kit about her work on Lost Legends. This is the transcript of the questions I asked her. You can watch the full video where I go in more detail on stuff below!

Full Video Here!

This July will mark the 5 year anniversary since the release of Gravity Falls Lost Legends. So, as we near that, I thought I’d try and see if I can get some more information about the book as a way to celebrate the occasion. So, I decided to reach out to a person who not only worked on the book, but is a Gravity Falls fandom legend as well.

Prior to even the D23 announcement of the book, Alex had tweeted out asking people to send him examples of work from various fan artists. From these, he picked a bunch of artists from the fandom to contribute to the book. One of these artists was Kiki-Kit. Long time fans will know that name instantly as Kiki’s art is some of the most prolific and most widespread GF art out there and so her being part of the book was a truly deserving achievement for an artist of that degree.

In Lost Legends, she was the illustrator for the story Don’t Dimension It. She’s still somewhat active on Twitter, so I sent her a DM, asking if she’d be down to answer a few questions. After a few days, she responded.

I asked her 6 questions and also got some close friends who also are fans of her work to send some too. Here’s what we talked about...

Question 1: How did you get involved with Lost Legends and how involved with the book were you?

I remember way back when Alex had made a tweet asking everyone who their favorite fan artists were, and he had specifically asked for comic artists. I wasn't on Twitter at the time, but I know a few people had put my name in there! I wasn’t really expecting much to be honest, but about a month or so later I received a dm on Tumblr asking if I wanted to be part of a "gravity falls anthology", and I screamed.

Question 2: Were you aware of the stories in it beforehand (both the one you worked on and others) or did you get sent prompts or rough ideas by which to base your work for it off?

Nope! I didn't know anything about anything before I received the script several months later, all I knew was that there were at least going to be other comics alongside mine.

Question 3: Were there any stories or ideas that didn’t make it into the book that you know of? This can include whole stories that never made it in or just ideas or cut parts from stories, like a cut scene from Don’t Dimension It.

The only story I knew of before the book came out was my own, and I'm pretty sure that the script I had been given had already been through the wringer, so aside from a couple shortened lines thanks to comic restraints, not much changed script wise.

Question 4: In relation to question 3, would you be willing to share anything from your work on LL that would be okay to be public now? Like behind the scenes stuff that perhaps was not in the B&N version of it?

Before there was Stanbel, there was a hideous akira-blob Mabel. She lives on only in my nightmares.

Question 5: How do you feel the story you worked on (Don’t Dimension It) tackled Mabel’s character (given at the time Lost Legends came out, Mabel’s reputation in the fandom was in a weird place) and did you find the story to be fitting or out of the ordinary for Gravity Falls in terms of approach and execution? Basically, did you feel it was a Gravity Falls like story or more so leaning in terms of fan service or not too GF like?

This was a question I really wanted to ask, mainly out of my own personal interest in knowing more about the choices in terms of why the Mabel arc was done the way it was in Lost Legends. And Kiki gave a really interesting response….

I was of the group that felt like Mabel was a bit too selfish in the show, I still enjoyed her character and loved her a lot, but I was hoping for an apology from her by the time the show ended. I knew that the story I was drawing was going to be divisive among the fandom, and I had already accepted the fact that there were going to be people who really didn't like my story, but I liked it! I wouldn't have said that Mabel caused the whole of Weirdmageddon, but I otherwise felt like the story was pretty solid and a nice little end to Mabels character!

Honestly, as the years have passed since that book came out and my take on the Mabel situation has matured as I have as well, I agree in a lot of ways with what she said. There was definitely room for a story that corrected Mabel’s character in ways, but I also feel the story went too far in making her out to be the cause of Weirdmageddon. It was a strange approach that the story took to be honest, but I’m glad we both agree on it while also still enjoying the book. And finally…

Question 6: Overall, looking back on it, do you feel Lost Legends still holds up well as a Gravity Falls book, or do you think the book could’ve done a better job in either storytelling or what stories it focused on? If the latter (or even if you got any), what stories would you have wanted to see be told in the book or have done differently if you were the writer?

I still really love the book a lot, but maybe I'm a bit biased haha! If I was to change anything about it, I would've really loved a story dedicated to one of Stan and Fords sea-fairing adventures, or at least some sort of future story set a few years forward, but I'm otherwise happy with what we got! I'd be even happier if the comics had continued though, like those IDW mlp comics, that would be niiice, but alas! I doubt it.

So agree on that honestly. It would’ve been great to see a Stan and Ford story or something in the future. Though I personally would’ve loved to see a Wendy story or maybe even a Mabel and Ford bonding story more so. It’s just one of those fan hopes I really had then that never did transpire I guess, eh.

Now, for some extra questions I asked Kiki that came from friends who I mentioned this too…

First off, a bonus question I asked her…

Are you still in touch with Alex or any Lost Legends contributors? And considering The Owl House references that were in the book, did you know or find out anything about the show back then that you got to be early on in the know of?

Ahaha, no, I haven't really spoken at all to Alex since the comic release, and I never really got the chance to talk to anyone else involved in the comic outside of the editor Eric. The burn-out I was left with afterwards made it hard to reach out, and that coupled with my already really bad social anxiety kinda didn't do me any favors haha. As it stands, the comic is but a star in my resume and a large part of my heart. Maybe Alex remembers me, and maybe someday I'll get to work with him again, who knows! As far as TOH goes, I only knew about some issues Dana was having with the shows opener at the time, from what Alex told me, she really fought for that nice fly-through shot! Any other information I knew beforehand had nothing to do with the comic and more with I have friends that work for Disney and did a little bit of stuff for the show, lol

Friend Question 1: What was the experience like being asked or approached for helping with the comic and how did you go about planning the pages?

Like I said, when I got the message I screamed, I was excited for weeks, but I didn’t actually get the script until I think august or september? Drawing a comic from a script is pretty straight-forward, each panel is given a brief description and dialog if needed, from there all I had to be aware of was the flow of how someone reads it, it's sorta like a zig-zag down the page. Start from the left, work your way to the right, and so on. Screen direction and dialog bubble placement help a lot in getting it to read nicely. Personally, I feel like I still have a way to go in my comic drawing abilities, but I think I did pretty well for someone whose still fairly new to it!

What I find interesting about this answer is that Kiki-Kit mentions August or September 2017 as the time when she got the script. So, almost a year before Lost Legends came out. Which is kinda surprising as this shows that the book was already written out by the end of that summer. Which means that when Alex revealed Lost Legends at D23, he pretty much had already finished most of the book by that point. That’s an interesting insight to learn.

Friend Question 2: This one's more fandom related given at the same time LL came out, there was also the Grunkle dating sim. How did you get involved with the game and how did you come up with the sprite art designs?

Oh my god haha! Okay, so, funny thing is that the time I worked on the comic ended up between my time on the dating sim. @sovonight was the one who organized the whole thing, and she came to me asking if I wanted to work on the sprites, and I enthusiastically said yeah. Once the general story events were laid out, we all started brainstorming what it was that we wanted the boys to be wearing. Really, more specifically, what Stan would be wearing. I'm pretty sure his blue shirt/white pants combo was mostly inspired by his blue hawaiian/white pants vaca outfit from an episode in s1, and everyone was really digging the biker jacket a lot haha we were going nuts. Stan basic outfit was the hardest to get down honestly, every other outfit was super easy to figure out, but it was all a group effort! In the end, I designed the sprites before the comic, and they were the first things I finished afterwards.

And that basically was everything. I wanna give a huge thank you to Kiki-kit for taking the time to answer all the questions I had. She was very insightful and shared a lot about the behind the scenes aspects of Lost Legends.

She was super enthusiastic about her work on the book too which I truly respected and it really reminded me personally about the excitement I had then for the book which I guess I’ve kinda forgotten about over the years. I have such fond memories from that time and it was great to learn a bit more about the book that now rests on my shelf, from someone who worked on it. I can’t believe it’s almost been 5 years since then.

But with that said, this was my Q&A with Kiki-Kit.

If you’ve read up to here, then thank you.

[tiredfoxtf]

From the Notes of Dr. C. Puffy

Dsmp fanfiction. Rated: G. Characters: Captain Puffy, Fundy, Awesamdude (mentioned) Description: We found and transcribed a series of notes from recently declared missing practicing psychologist Dr. C. Puffy. At first we didn't think much of it, but she was putting down on paper some crucial information we couldn't get before. Highly related to missing persons case we are investigating since 2021.

[Transcribed documents were found in Dr. C. Puffy’s office after her disappearance around 17th of January. Attachment to a case 01-12-34-09 of mysterious disappearances. Transcription begins.]

A new patient came in today in what I can only describe as a "mildly concerning" condition. Had a nightmare, a sleepless night, you know, the usual. But something in his face was… off. I can't quite put a pin on what exactly, but it was like he lost a chunk of life overnight. I had him for a couple months, we worked on his family related trauma. He had nightmares before, mostly related to his mother's disappearance, but he never looked like this. Of course I tried to talk with him about it, but he was avoiding the topic like the plague. Which is, notably, very strange coming from him. He never had a problem with cooperation after a couple initial weeks of our sessions. I've put a pin on that and changed the topic. Hopefully, he will be willing to talk next time.

He wasn't, unfortunately. He came in today looking even worse than last time. The "haven't had a good night sleep in a week" type of "worse". The nightmares were reoccurring every night and it was visible. They did numbers on him, he suddenly looked a few years older. I could have sworn there were more white streaks in his red hair. And his eyes… his eyes were so much darker and with those deep eyebags under they seemed even more black. He had hazelnut eyes, they almost seemed yellow sometimes. Now they looked so dark and empty that it was hard to tell where the pupil was. But he still didn't want to talk about what scared him in those nightmares. I prescribed him some sleeping pills.

He stormed into my office mid panic attack today. I do not wish to describe my patients' breakdowns, even for personal notes, but it was the worst breakdown he had in months since we unlocked some of his repressed memories. And boy, it was not pretty. I have no idea how he managed to find my office in this state, but he's lucky he did. Even after his panic was over, he continued to cry. I almost left to get some tea for him and myself, but he gripped my wrist like it was the only thing that kept him from breaking down again. It probably was. I didn't ask about the nightmares today, because, well, obvious reasons. He did talk about that fear he got recently about being followed. He said that he would go somewhere and he would get that feeling that someone is right behind him, but as soon as he turns around it goes away. Apparently now all he does is turns around every minute or so to check. He says that as soon as his vision starts to get a black tint, that's when he has to turn. Whatever that means. He said that on his way to my office no matter how much he turned the black tint wouldn't go away, was afraid that it would get him or he'll go blind or something. I made a show of being calm and said something about his anxiety and sleep deprivation from nightmares. Not sure if he bought it. This whole thing left me puzzled, no amount of studying at university or practicing could've prepared me for that. I did request him to go give some blood tests for anemia or something that would explain black outs in his vision. And I sat reading medical papers on sleep disorders with nightmares and severe anxiety, but nothing that would fit. I will have to wait for his next visit.

Today he was supposed to come, but after fifteen minutes of waiting I knew something was wrong. He was never late, usually even early, especially as of late. And he wouldn't miss the seance without telling me. So, I started calling. I managed to reach him on the thirteenth call after a moderate amount of pacing around my table. I can't express enough the amount of relief I felt after I finally heard his voice. As usual squeaky, but a bit deeper than normal. Turns out I woke him up from something that was over a 24 hours sleep. Which is quite frankly insane going from "almost no sleep" to "sleep through the entire day". He said he'll come next week.

I thought at first that the 26 hours sleep incident meant that his nightmares had stopped. Well, at least it was my hope until I saw him at my office today. Although he did look less sleep deprived, his eyes were still so heavy and tired and he still looked 10 years older than he was supposed to. First thing he asked me to turn my table light on, which I did and he stared at it. He was staring at it through the full session, but he was finally ready to talk about his nightmares. It was a strange experience when he started talking. All I could look at was his eyes. His black-black eyes, that should not be black. Nobody’s eyes are that dark. And yet I was staring, but it didn’t bother him, like he couldn’t see me. He was very descriptive of them, I almost felt like I was there, in his house, his dark house in the middle of the night. It was so cold in there, like the heating wasn’t on. The only sound that I could hear was the clock downstairs. It’s not a big grandfather clock, no Fundy never had that money. Not that he liked those clocks anyway, they actually scared him. And they were ticking so loud. I knew that as soon as it struck midnight I was going to be hunted. By shadows. The shadows are going to swallow me whole. I need a light. Anything. I would go through the drawers, try light switches, tap the phone in futile attempts to get any light in this dark flat. Nothing. Fundy doesn’t keep a lighter or matches (they remind him of his father and how he used to smoke), even his stove is electric and all electronics are dead. I tried to open a window but… behind it was void. I don’t mean like it was night, no, I mean there was Nothing. Completely dark. As if this flat existed in another dimension by itself. The longer I looked into the void, the more helpless I’d feel, the more meaningless everything seemed. The more… welcoming shadows became. My time is up, it’s midnight. It took me a moment to realize that I was in my office and not in that weird void dimension dreamscape. Fundy- my patient was still looking at the lamp. What he said next sent shivers down my spine: “It’s so painful to die there, but the more that happened the more I found it comforting”. It was the moment when I realized that what I took as a trick of the light was real. It’s not just his iris that is too dark, the sclera is a few shades too black as well.  When he was going he said “you need to change your lights, everything is so dim”. The lights were as bright as always. I don’t think he realized that it’s his eyes that got darker. 

Fundy wasn’t responding to my calls. I don’t know why I decided to go to his apartment complex. But once I stood in front of the door to his flat there was no way back. Again, I don’t know what I was thinking entering the damn flat when I realized it wasn’t locked. I don’t know why I didn’t call him. I remember thinking how darn cold and dark it was. Of course it's the end of December, it’s supposed to be cold and dark, but I stood there in Fundy’s flat in my coat and was getting chills. I took out my phone and proceeded to the bedroom, now I don’t know why I knew where his bedroom is, but I just did. And there he was. Sitting on his bed. His eyes were black. I mean all of it was black. Sclera, iris and pupil were one at this point. Like two droplets of ink. Rather two small ink lakes. I called him. He turned to me and… His eyes were all black but I knew he was staring at me. The whole room was staring at me. The shadows were staring, but they couldn’t reach me. Because of the light of my phone. He tilted his head and squinted like he tried to take a better look at me. And that’s where he said “Dr. Puffy? Come here so I could see you”. And that was it for me, I booked it for the door, immediately. But I wasn’t safe yet, they were following me, I got into my car and drove to my office. And I don’t know, okay, I don’t know why I drove to my office instead of home. But this place seems… safer. I should consider living here for a while. I don’t know what I saw. I don’t know what that was, a curse, a haunt or whatever else, all I know is that it was real. Too real. It was that feeling, the very same feeling of looking into the abyss, when I looked into Fundy’s empty eyes. Like life was meaningless. I shouldn’t sleep tonight.

I was researching on the internet. Well, more like reading threads on old forums and Reddit, trying to find anything similar to what happened to Fundy. Or even why. What’s weird is that I couldn’t find anything on Fundy himself. And I know for a fact that Fundy was on the internet a lot, he did freelance coding and even had a YouTube channel and I know because he showed it to me. But when I tried to find it- it was just gone, like it never existed. And he did Not delete his channel. There should have been something left, but there was absolutely nothing. I had his photo on my phone in contacts. But both the contact and the photo just disappeared into thin air. I asked a person from the next door, I think the name was Sam, if he remembered Fundy, described him. I knew that before all of that started, Fundy and he got along somewhat well, and saw them talking a couple times. He looked at me really hard, visually trying to remember. He said he doesn’t know him, but there’s a weird feeling he should. 

I’m still trying to piece it all together. I sleep a lot less and when I do, it’s in the office. I haven’t been home in a few days. I didn’t dream of the shadows or the abyss, so that’s reassuring. But all I got - the abyss took all of him to itself. Which is not rational by any means, but the only explanation I can think of. Why haven’t I forgotten is another question I don’t know the answer to. My other patients don’t look at me weird at least.

I stare every hour at the bathroom mirror, I try to find even a hint that my eyes start to go black, but nothing. However the longer I look the weirder my own reflection is to me. I don’t really recognize myself and the dark circles under my eyes are not part of it, it feels like I’m missing something. Right on my head, there should be something heavier than just my hair. And my eyes shouldn’t be this round. I don’t know why. 

There are tiny horns on my head. And my pupils are more… horizontal. How interesting. 

I want to know. I need to know. Knowledge is guidance. His name was Fundy Soot.

I broke a mirror and went right through it. :)

[End of the transcript]

[Case additional note: We can confirm that someone named Fundy Soot indeed existed at some point in this reality. We found him in the birth records in the archives of the Astral Library, along with some attached photos. We also asked the person named Sam Dude, who did work next to Dr. C. Puffy about her, the mirror and showed him the photos - in that order. He confirmed that he didn’t see her exit the building in the last week or so before the disappearance. He confirmed the broken mirror, and found it strange. The photos caused him severe discomfort, mild vertigo and a migraine. He couldn’t recognize Fundy Soot from the picture, but kept repeating “how” out loud. Overall those notes shed some light on a series of mysterious disappearances without a trace of existence. Although we don’t really know what happened to the likes of Fundy. Nor what happened to Dr. Puffy herself. All of it is very interesting, isn’t it?]

[paramorearchived]

June 23, 2013

Transcript:

what's cooler than being cool?

..... being yourself. That's what.

I was just thinking the other day... Looking at random blogs, fashion sites, online zines... and I got sad. Mostly because I feel like a lot of the different subcultures that exist today, exist because at some point there was someone who felt like they didn't fit in. (Stay with me.)They had a movement of their own to live for. So they did and maybe at some later point, it caught on or somebody else felt like they could fight for those same things. Maybe it wasn't even a "fight", maybe it was just a way of living. Marching to the beat of their own drum. My Granny always told my sisters and I from a very young age... "You girls just march to a different beat". I didn't really get it back then and honestly, I'm glad I didn't because when I was that young I didn't see the point in pointing out people's differences. It was just a way of living. Still is, I suppose. Or at least, I hope.

I do get it though and I see it in other people now... mostly young people. My sisters, for sure. But in a lot of our fans, as well. Again, mostly in the younger ones. Cause when we're just young enough, we're not yet jaded or bothered by what's "cool". We're not quite as worried about fitting into some of society's little cliques or sub-genres of human beings. So, we just do whatever comes naturally to us. Funny how there's an entire part of our culture completely obsessed with youth and beauty - yet we forget the most essential ingredient to youthfulness is that clean slate, non-judgemental, wide-eyed curiosity. You can't be sold any of that.

Anyway, I got sad because within these subcultures and an entirely new breed of "too-cool kids"... there are likely some people who, at some point, didn't fit in, weren't "normal", and probably needed somewhere to go to feel like they could fully express themselves. I see it everywhere. These are the nerds from junior high that got bullied everyday but then ended up in a band and now they've turned their old loser status into a trophy of pretentiousness to beat everyone over the head with. The guys and girls who wouldn't be caught dead in a regular old mall where they once probably got made fun of for what they were wearing... but are now wearing unique and fun brands like UNIF or Lazy Oaf (which, to be extra clear, I love) and calling everyone else "basic". I'm just saying, why doesn't the cycle end with the people who should've learned their lesson? Why aren't the once regarded weirdos and freaks raising up a new generation of people who are more self-assured in their individuality? Why does it seem like some of the strange ones found their bit of success and now look down on anyone else who doesn't look, think, or have the way they do? It's like seniors who constantly give sophomores a hard time as if they weren't just sophomores themselves like 3 years ago. I was not the most popular person in school. And even when I did have friends I still felt a bit like a weirdo. I'm not threatened by that... It's something that I hope to encourage other people with. That's a huge part of the message behind Paramore. To lift up the people who feel ashamed that they're different. To tell them that that's probably the coolest part about them.

At this very moment, at 24 years old, sitting here in sweats and looking/feeling utterly disastrous (hey, i got my rights)... I have to say, I'm really proud that as a kid I never felt like I fit in with the popular crowd. And as an adult, I don't feel like I fit in with the self-righteously uncool crowd either. Honestly, it's nice to be on a real quest to just be me everyday. No matter what. It doesn't matter if I'm in Silverlake, CA - land of the upturned noses - or back home in Nashville. Doesn't matter if we're on a red carpet. I guess I just couldn't care less. I'm not saying it's always easy but it's always worth it to stay true to you.

If anything, this could be a Back To The Future type of warning, to anybody who cares enough about this post, that high school ends but it never actually ends. There will still be people around who try to point at you and laugh. Who think you're not on some tip like they are. Who feel like their job, their shoes, their money, their boyfriend or girlfriend, their lifestyle ... is on some level that you haven't even ever heard of. The truth is that no one else could live your life. Nobody else - man or woman - could wake up and put on your shoes in the morning. Nobody else could pull it off. So own that. Cool is a lie. Cool doesn't matter and it never did. Merely perception.

In conclusion, you are your own torch carrier. Don't let anybody steal your light. Wear what you want. Think how you want. Challenge normal. And yes, even challenge what's "cool".

In total conclusion... We're really excited to be posting the video for "Anklebiters" in a couple of days. This is not an official single release, this is just a video we wanted to have done because of what the song has come to mean for our band. Thanks to all the people who came up on stage with us over the last tour and a half and sang it with us. This song is our way of contributing to the art of self-love and self-acceptance, no matter the odds.

We love you guys and we love you most when you're being yourself.

xxxxx h

[metatronhateblog]

The Nightmare of our Dreams?

Okay so I watched a video a week or so ago on Youtube by @sendarya while falling down a rabbit hole working on the Angelic Language a bit. And I had some thoughts after i that I was going to add onto a reblog of this post and then it got all spirally and I had a lot to say all of the sudden, so I'm making this a ✨separate post✨ instead of adding a huge ass reblog. I'm tagging @sendarya anyways because it was their post to begin with and I like to give credit to the people who say things that make my gears start turning.

That being said, enough of this rambling and it's time to move on to the other rambling.

I don't know if anyone has speculated this yet, because weirdly enough I haven't seen much going around about the 'nightmare sequence' Neil talked about. I think my sister sent me a post about it, and I was like 'oh cool neat' then forgot about it and didn't give it a second thought.

So then I was looking to find a transcript or something about Peter Anderson mentioning the Angelic language can be solved (these people word things in the trickiest way and I want to know exactly what was said....because I still don't know) I stumbled instead upon this video of someone (sendarya that's you) talking about Ineffable Con. And that's where I saw it. That's the moment I saw the pictures of the bookshop surrounded by destruction for the first time.

I sat there staring at it for a bit, trying to process it, my sister explained it to me, and then I continued the video and got a bit more explanation.

So when it comes down to it, this post is ENTIRELY about speculation, and my thoughts on it. I have nothing to back this up, and for all I know it contradicts what Neil says about wanting it to be the ending of the episode.

I feel like this image induces a looming dread on its own, especially when paired with the ending of Season 2 (RIP my boys but you're on separate sides again.) But I'm not talking about the end of Season 2.

I'm talking about the end of Episode 2 'The Clue ft the minisode A Companion to Owls.' That's a mouthful.

Neil said that he wishes he would've put this nightmare sequence at the end of that episode, because it didn't have a proper ending. And so I was sitting here thunking about it, trying to figure out how a nightmare sequence would fit in after Bildad and Aziraphale have their silly little moment where they sit on the rock together staring out at the sea. And I realized how jarring it would be from a writing stand point, unless of course there was a scene that segued into it so that it wasn't just BAM them on the rocks then BAM Nightmare time.

Then it hit me. The scene where Aziraphale zones out then comes to only for Jim to tell him Crowley left a while ago. Here's the first shot of his face as soon as we see him again in present day.

I'm not even sure how to describe this look? Pensive? Little bit of pouty girl? Brow furrowed? I don't know, it's just weird.

But then he starts to speak, trying to get Crowley's attention....and something in his eyes...

He also looks to the side and back several times

It's just...there's this look about him that feels like he could maybe be doing more than remembering the happenings with Job.

And Jim says to him 'He went away...while you were thinking' and I KNOW that he's remembering the Job stuff here, because he whips around and follows it up with 'You know you really used to be awful.'

And like...after remembering the Job thing it seems like a perfectly valid reaction.

And I'm aware this scene IS NOT coming out of 'a nightmare sequence' like Neil described. Not to mention we don't even know WHO had the nightmare sequence. But I just personally think this would be the perfect scene to place after a sequence like that.

Think about it, Aziraphale is seemingly all in on the ball, like HE KNOWS it's his last chance. This man is determined to get everyone in the bookshop, telling Maggie and Nina they're safe and I think even telling Crowley such at some point 'We're perfectly safe in here.'

Safe from what, babygirl? Presumably whatever that scene with the bookshop sitting on a destroyed Earth. But also what if Crowley saw a nightmare sequence? It'd make sense for him to have seen it too! I mean like...we obviously don't know who would've been seeing the nightmare sequence.

But maybe Crowley would've going out to try and do something about it. It would make him being uncomfortable in the bookshop with Gabriel all the more emphasized. It would make him willing to go into Heaven and use Muriel to do it make all the more sense. So he can figure out what's going on.

It would make the Metatron telling Aziraphale that 'it's this thing we like to call the second coming' hit all the harder. Because this is something Aziraphale's worried about after having a vision like that. Could you imagine if Aziraphale was the one who had the nightmare sequence, and Metatron says that to him and he realizes how badly he fucked up SPECIFICALLY because he can't make sure the people he cares about (really just Crowley) are safe in the bookshop when that does happen? Could you imagine his newfound determination to go to Heaven and stop the second coming to prevent that from happening.

Could you imagine if Aziraphale came back from Heaven to find the only thing left was his bookshop?

I just, have a lot of thoughts and speculation on this nightmare sequence and it makes my brain go brrrrrr. So just imagine how impactful it would've been if that moment had taken place right before Aziraphale comes to after his long zoning out only to find out that he's been zoning out for a while. And Crowley is gone.

Anyways thank you for coming to my speculation post in which I have to live with these thoughts in my head and now so do you.

But that's just a theory---

Anyways keep an eye out for more posts on the opening sequence and the various other things that have been plaguing the minds of me and my sister.

[solradguy]

Towards the anon talking abt the sin shipteasy stuff,, Yeaghh... Though it might be a translation error? for sin's line against elphelt's instakill. I heard that the original japanese version is something along the lines of "Goodbye childhood"? But I'm not sure, I don't know japanese...

To be honest... Xrd's English translations aren't generally wrong, per se, but the translation team added an "edginess" to a lot of the lines that isn't always there in the original Japanese. Sol's dialog got it really bad, as a quick example. I've complained about his dialog translations before, but the gist is that in Japanese he's usually just annoyed/grumpy, but in English he's often just straight up mean. Compare his official English translations in Strive to Xrd and you'll see what I'm on about. The Strive translations are more faithful.

Anyway, Sin's Magnum Wedding line is another example of this. I found transcriptions of all three possible lines he can say for it so I'll break them all down since I've got them, and I'll translate them more literally than the localization team did. This isn't always the way I translate lines because literal translations can be very clunky in English, I just want to try to get across the feel of the original JP lines.

Off.= Official Translation | SRG=SolRadGuy translation

グッバイ、オレの童心… Off.: "Farewell... virginity..." SRG: "Goodbye, my child-like innocence"

The first part here is just "goodbye" written out in katakana. Changing it to "farewell" was a good idea, it flows better. Then Sin uses the rough/casual masculine first person pronoun, "ore," for himself. This last word, 童心 ("doushin"), is where it gets weird. Doushin is like "naivete through being too young to know better." I wasn't able to find anything on JPDB, Jisho, or Weblio that suggested it is/can be used to mean "virginity" like how "innocence" in English can refer to knowledge of sexual things, but that doesn't necessarily mean no one ever uses it that way. That said, I think translating it as "virginity" bends the original meaning a little too far. The Japanese word for "virginity" is VERY close to doushin though, 童貞 ("doutei"). Note the first kanji being the same.

I think a better translation for this line could have been, "Farewell... naiveté..."

These next two lines are completely different in Japanese vs English and I'm too lazy to try to find a video with them to match them up so I'm making an educated guess.

外はサクサク、中はふんわり… Off.: "I feel like I'm floating on a cloud..." SRG: "Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy inside..."

I understand why they completely changed this line in English because directly translated it's... Actually, even in Japanese I'm not sure what Sin is getting at haha. My translation above is really very literal; there isn't a whole lot to break down. "ふんわり" ("funwari") means like gently/airily/fluffily. It's one of those onomatopoeic Japanese words that is difficult to cram into English.

センチメンタル、バイオレンス…！ Off.: "I feel so... at peace..." SRG: "Sentimental, violence..!"

Sin's speaking English through Japanese in this line. It straight up just says "sentimental" and "violence" in katakana. Not sure why they changed this one in the official translation when it was already technically in English though. Maybe changing it to an idiom like "All's fair in love and war" or something could've worked? I dunno, I'm sure the team probably had their reasons for changing this one so much. Overworked, understaffed, deadlines looming... I get it.

As an additional note: Getting Japanese into English can be a royal pain in the ass. Sometimes it's straight up impossible to get a faithful translation in English and in that case the translator might as well just come up with something different that fits the "vibe" of the Japanese line instead. I don't want this post to come across as a dig towards the translation team. Despite the odd edgy embellishments here and there, the Xrd translation is pretty good. I'm also not a professional translator and have never gone to school for Japanese, so the translation team knows more than me anyway.

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton on itv's pre-race show, spain - may 13, 2007 (transcript under the cut)

Post-qualifying interview #1: Lewis: "We're here to work as a team. I'm gonna do my job, which is try to score as many points for the team, and if he's ahead and we can help each other out we surely will, because we're teammates, but at the end of the day we're out here to beat each other, we're out there to win, and so that's gonna be my main target." [time jump]

Post-qualifying interview #2: Lewis: "We have a slightly different strategy to Fernando, at least, and I think we're in good step for tomorrow. Yeah, if you work it out I was just as quick, if not maybe quicker. We'll see." [time jump]

Post-qualifying interview #3: Interviewer: "Lewis, back in action after a month's break, and once again you start from row two. First of all, a word about your qualifying performance, how you judge what you achieved in qualifying, and prospects for the race." Lewis: "I'm extremely excited to be back here. I've not been out in the car for four weeks, so yesterday when I went out I still had that buzz like I always have when I get in a car, which is a good thing, so I enjoy it. But in qualifying we… As you can see in testing, we've been quickest, or I was quickest, so I've had the car, really, to challenge for the pole, but due to certain strategy decisions I wasn't really given the opportunity to fight for pole. Being on the second row, I'm used to that. We can get a good start. It's a long tow down to the first corner, so as long as I get a good start I should be able to tow some of the drivers and try and get past, so that's gonna be the plan." Interviewer: "Tell us about the three weeks or month you've had since Bahrain and how much of real, ordinary life were you able to get back to." Lewis: "It wasn't too bad. As soon as I got back I had some paparazzi outside my house, which was a bit weird, so as you can imagine I felt a bit imprisoned in my own house. But it was good to get back and see my family, see friends, and just relax, and then I went back down to working and got back on the job, training, making sure I was fit enough for this weekend." Interviewer: "It is a race that is so important to Fernando. We all know that. Is there a way in which you can be extra supportive this particular weekend?" Lewis: "I don't think so. [laughs] We're here to work as a team. I'm gonna do my job, which is try to score as many points for the team, and if he's ahead and we can help each other out we surely will, because we're teammates, but at the end of the day we're out there to beat each other, we're out there to win, and so that's gonna be my main target." Interviewer: "Now that we're back in Europe, one final point. One personality who's been able to return to Formula 1 and get a huge amount of attention is, of course, Michael Schumacher, here this weekend. Are there any circumstances where your paths might cross during the course of the weekend?" Lewis: "I hope so. During my career I've not really had many meetings with him. I think in Istanbul last year was the first time he really spoke to me, and it's great to have him here. It's good to see him. I think it's good for Formula 1; the fans love it. But I've not had time to see him just yet, but it's probably not good to have a McLaren and a Ferrari driver talking to each other, so I'll just keep my distance." [laughs] Interviewer: "Exactly. Well, we'll wish you luck for the weekend to come, and…"

[ghostchasersmagazine]

"Speed Buggy Gets the Cold Bug" from Speed Buggy Issue #9

Transcript under the cut:

It wasn't a fit night out for a beast, man or machine. Rain poured down out of the dark clouds as if someone had opened up a faucet in the sky. The roads were flooded. The wind was howling. Bolts of lightning flashed across the sky! It was one of the worst thunderstorms in history and Tinker, Debbie and Speed Buggy were caught in the cloudburst.

"I wish we'd stayed home," sighed Debbie sadly as Tinker steered Speedy through the deep puddles that dotted the deserted highway.

"Don't blame yourself," replied Tinker "The weatherman predicted that today would be a beautiful day! This thunderstorm must have been a real shock to everyone including the weather forecaster!"

"I know I shouldn't feel guilty, but I do," answered Debbie. "Speedy is getting soaking wet and it's all my fault. I'm the one who wanted to take a long drive out into the country!"

"Calm down, Debbie," sputtered Speed Buggy as he rolled on at a moderate rate of speed through the torrent of rain. "I needed a good washing anyway!"

"The best thing we can do is get back to the garage as fast as we can. The sooner we get out of this downpour, the better I'll like it," Tinker stated as he maneuvered Speedy slowly, cautiously and carefully.

Tinker wanted to get home quickly, but he didn't want to go too fast. The road was slick and slippery. He didn't want to take any chances.

"I'm worried about Speed Buggy," Debbie whispered to Tinker as raindrops pitter-pattered on the convertible roof above their heads. "The big, three hundred mile motor car race is only two days away. Do you think being out in this bad weather will hurt Speedy's chance of winning the race?" Debbie asked nervously.

Tinker admitted that he didn't know the answer to her question. Most cars could drive through bad weather continually and never be bothered by it, but Speed Buggy wasn't just an ordinary car. Speedy was special and he was super sensitive to many things that didn't affect other automobiles. Maybe, driving through the rainstorm would hurt Speedy's chances of winning. Tinker hoped that it wouldn't, but it could.

At long last, after endless hours of driving, home was in sight. "We'll be safe handout of this downpour in a second," Tink called to Speedy as they rolled towards the garage where Mark was anxiously waiting for their return.

Quickly, Mark opened the door when he spied Speedy's glowing headlights coming down the lane. Into the warm, dry garage Speed Buggy rolled. Instantly, Tink and Debbie clamored out of the car.

"Are you all right, Speedy?" asked Tim in a worried tone.

"I-I ... AH-Choo!" sneezed Speed Buggy loudly. "I-I'm f-fine! I t-think I caught a little cold! Ah-Choo! Ah-Choo! Ah-Choo!"

"We've got to help Speedy," cried Debbie. "We've got to get rid of that cold bug Speedy has in his motor or he won't be able to participate in the big race on Saturday!"

"Get towels, everyone!" ordered Mark "Quick, dry off Speedy's body!"

"I'll check under Speedy's hood!" shouted Tinker. "I'll make sure his battery isn't running down. I'll also check the antifreeze in his radiator. We've got to keep him from getting a chill!"

"D-Don't worry about me! I-I - A-Choo!" said Speedy. "I'll be all right!"

"Take it easy, Speedy," said Debbie as she dabbed raindrops off of his water splashed fenders. "Don't talk! I can tell by the sound of your voice that your fuel lines are starting to get all clogged up!"

Reluctantly, Speedy obeyed. Tinker, Debbie and Mark frantically worked on their buggy buddy. They got him dry and tried to keep him warm. They did everything in their power to keep Speed Buggy's cold from getting worse.

For two days and two nights, they all took turns taking care of their amazing automobile. By Saturday morning, Speed Buggy was as good as new. His cold bug was gone! His motor hummed high gear and he was ready to race.

"I feel great!" announced Speedy as he backed out of the garage. "I never felt better. Let's get to the track and win that three hundred mile race!"

"You're the boss!" answered Tinker as he hopped in behind Speedy's steering wheel. Off to the track they zoomed.

Speedy won the big race just like he predicted he would! After Tink and Speedy accepted the trophy they'd won, Mark and Debbie raced over to congratulate their friends.

"How does it feel to be a winner?" Debbie asked.

"I-I Ah-Choo!" sneezed Tinker as he tried to talk.

"Oh no!" cried Mark in dismay. "Here we go again! Now Tink has the cold bug!"

[royalarchivist]

Ramon had a cute idea for the Huevitos (members of Fit's community) to fill the #ramonbday tag with art and kind messages so he can show them to Fit for his birthday (February 1st), so here's my contribution! I have over 800 Fit-related clips, so it was hard to choose just a few fun moments from stream :'D

Even though the QSMP server won't be open until February 3rd, we still have a few more days to share messages, art, etc. – so if you'd like to post something for Ramon to potentially include in Fit's birthday surprise, make sure to post it by January 31st and use the tag #ramonbday!

[ Subtitle Transcript ↓ ]

–

Fit: I can't believe I'm a homosexual now.

–

FitMC 2023 - 2024 Highlights

–

Vegetta: Leonarda, give me the picture.

Fit: Leonarda, you should give him a picture.

Vegetta: It's for saving your life!

Fit: [Picks up the photo she dropped] Oh, now I have it. [Sees its a photo of Vegetta and Melissa in their stripper outfits] Oh. Oh my.

–

Fit: It's a life experience Tubbo, you know? Aren't you glad you–

Tubbo: "Life experience" deez nuts, you bald bastard.

–

Fit: Ok, I'm looking through the bars– There's like, yeah–

Pac: [Falls off the wall] AAAAA–

–

Fit: [Dumping his wild cats in the Bakery] I'll just– I'll just release them in here. Screw it. What's the worst that could happen?

[The next day]

The big cats are still, uh– [Sees the cats mauling the Baker] Oh my god. They do NOT like the Baker

–

Jaiden: Fit, you're just a guy, right?

Fit: I'm just a dude. I'm just like– I'm just like the generic RPG protagonist. Like, human male, warrior. Like, it's– I'm as vanilla as you can get

-

Fit: Sneeg– shut up, I'm doing gay roleplay right now!

–

Fit: Tubbo, if you want to disable mines, you are disrespecting the entire Hispanic community.

–

Fit: What are you doin' staring at me, Baldy? Yeah, you think you're hot sht?

[The Binary Monster shows up]

Fit: OH, FCK–

–

Fit: The oldest anarchy server in Minecraft.

Fit: The youngest gay roleplay server in Minecraft.

–

Fit: [While playing "Hide and Seek" with Ramon] If he moves, then I know that was the spot.

Ramon: [Stares at him as the Metal Gear Solid "discovered by an enemy" vwing! sound plays]

Fit: [Cackles] WHERE YOU GOIN' BOY? WHERE YOU GOIN' BOY?

–

Fit: To be a turtle in the Arctic, you hate to see it. Yeah, you know this turtle is... not so different from me. It's living in a place that's trying to KILL it.

–

Tubbo: [To Pac] Just lay down. [Starts Casualonas-ing] This is for you.

Fit: [Immediately equips his weapon]

Tubbo: This is for you, king.

Pac: [Laughs] Fit - you see this?

Fit: [Shoots Tubbo, who starts screaming] I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Uh-

Tubbo: Ok, ok, well he–

Fit: Misfire, misfire, misfire!

Tubbo: He wasn't- he wasn't- OW OW OW!

Fit: Misfire!

–

Fit: Sometimes- it's not about doing the right thing, Phil – it's about doing the more entertaining thing. Right?

Phil: PFTTTTT–

Fit: They banned my ass. They're like, "Why are you talking to Pac like that?" That's unacceptable on this family-friendly Christian Minecraft server (TM). Like– "We can't be having any of that." "Can't be having any of THAT."

–

Cucurucho: [Slowly turns to stare at Fit while Pac is talking to him]

Fit: [Silently starts cracking up]

Pac: Ok Cucurucho, I'm gonna be waiting for your response

–

[Fit putting up art that Ramon drew]

Foolish: Boo it if it's bad!

Fit: Heyyyyyy! That's actually –

Foolish: Oh! Wait, that's– That's actually pretty good, what the fck.

Fit: Ramon, you weren't supposed to actually try. This is incredible!

[They both laugh]

–

Pac: Yeah, yeah! I was–

Tubbo: Everyone goes through their dick phase.

Fit: Yeah...

Pac: Yeah, everyone does.

Fit: Oh? Oh– is that so, Tubbo? Yeah?

Tubbo: Everyone- everyone–

Fit: When did you go through your dick phase? [Laughs]

Tubbo: I'd argue I'm in my dick phase right now.

Fit: Uh, you know, speakin' of spruce– you know Bruce Lee, right?

Phil: Yeah?

Fit: If Bruce Lee was a plant, he'd be Spruce Tree.

Phil: [Disappointed grumbling]

Fit: [Laughs]

[Fit gets kicked off the server]

Fit: [Laughs even harder]

[alethealarradtye]

Modernity animation; Isolation and Failure in the modern era

I chose to explore isolation and failure in the modern age where there are such heavy expectations on us. Below is a transcript that was originally going to be a voice over which explains my thoughts further:

In modern life, there are strong expectations we have to live up to. Our entire lives are scrutinised and monitored to make sure we don’t fall out of line. We are expected to work to the bone just to survive, expected to mould ourselves to what is deemed acceptable and trendy, expected to give up who we are and fit into a box in fear of being ostracised. But what happens to those that fail to fit this mould? We become ghosts.

What happens to those who look different? Those who don’t fit into the everchanging and impossible beauty standard. Those who wish to express themselves in their appearance but are told this makes them undesirable. Those who were always deemed ugly, were always seen as a freak, still now are judged by society for trying to seek happiness outside the mould set for us.

What happens to those who want to follow their dreams? Those who were always told to follow academics, but instead chose their heart. Those who, even with this choice, feel like they’re never going to achieve “the dream” of stability in such a turbulent work focused society. Those who, no matter how hard they try, can't find a stable job while companies shame those same people for failing to work.

What happens to those who struggle to get by day today? Those who were dealt a bad hand in life, who have experienced horrors most only hear of in stories. Those who, no matter how hard they try, find it impossible to get out of bed most days and are resigned to society's label of “lazy”. Those who are haunted by their past while being neglected by systems that say they’re there to help but turn around and demonise those struggling.

We are left behind

We are outcasted.

We are isolated.

We are judged.

We are deemed failures.

We are alone.

I am alone.

Overall I'm not that happy with the outcome; I struggle with animation and making my concepts come alive in an engaging way. I thought exploring the way modernity breeds isolation would be interesting to explore, but my animation wasn't detailed enough to really get that message across. I feel I should've leant into a technological aspect more as that is where this isolation often stems from, but pairing it with failing the meet expectations also meant I wanted to create a more personal response.

[eisforeidolon]

Twitter in particular is really stuck on jensens comment about it being a cool idea to film his motorcycle idea . Hellers said he said he wanted to reshoot the finale and a fan corrected them with full context that it was nothing about wanting to change the finale at all . The hellers are now going mad and screaming there’s video that proves them right when actually , when you watch the full question , it proves the person correcting them was accurate . Having seen this , I now don’t think hellers are just delusional but also dumb . They really cannot seem to fathom the actual context of what Jensen said at all despite it being right there.

Yeah, I'm not surprised by that at all. As soon as I heard that part of the panel I was pretty sure at least one faction was going to explode over it. A lot of times I'll transcribe those bits that I expect to be misrepresented, but I wasn't really enthused about the idea of spending all that time typing up the same dream story we've heard, what, 3-5 times now? And let's be real, with the way fans get about Jibcon in particular? I'd probably have to do the whole damn Jensen and Misha panel to catch everything that's getting colorful reinterpretations.

But yes, It's very obvious if you listen to the whole thing that Jensen was not talking about actually wanting to reshoot his dream in place of the finale. His original answer was going in a different direction until he was specifically asked to retell the dream, it sounds like he may have actually lost track of the question in the retelling for a bit (wouldn't be the first time for any of the guys), and while he talks about filming the dream, at no point does he say anything about actively replacing the finale unless you count the joke about putting a pillow over the rebar.

Jensen is well aware there are some people who don't like the ending and he was asked for potential alternate takes by what is presumably one of them. As much as certain parties would like to pretend otherwise, nothing he said here in any way negates the several times he has clearly said he's proud of and satisfied with SPN's finale. Though it does perhaps fit with his seeming to look at the SPNiverse as a perpetually ongoing story that may have many individual endings at various points.

Transcript of the surrounding discussion sans the story itself below the cut [X]:

Q: If you could rewrite the finale, what would you change and what would you do?

Misha: I think that I would probably have Sam & Dean die in episode 15x18, you know. Right? And then Castiel would be standing alone on a bridge in the finale.

Jensen: And you just say, 'Finally. Peace.'

Misha: There'll be peace where - when you are gone.

Jensen: 'I am done.' Um, wh - I mean, there's a lot of different - there's a lot of different ways that I think this show could have wrapped up. I had ideas, I had dreams about how the show would end, but I think -

Misha: Do you all know Jensen's dream? How many know the dream? Oh, just a handful. [to Jensen] Do you want to tell them? It's kinda great.

Jensen: You wanna hear me tell that dream?

Misha & audience: Yes!

Misha: I feel like crying, do it!

[Jensen tells the story of the "very very" vivid dream about Dean not being able to keep driving the Impala with Sam gone and trading it to a faceless stranger for a motorcycle]

Jensen: That was it, that was the vision that I had. I dunno, why are we talking about this again?

Misha: I-I will say we all spent so much time with these characters and in the relationships between these characters [Jensen wanders off to the drinks table as Misha talks] that it became a blurry line, at least for me - I know this is true for you, too. Between the characters and our own emotional selves, and saying goodbye to Dean for Cass was also emotionally [Jensen is still smelling various bottles] it was emotionally exhausting for me, and you-

Jensen: This is all something that shouldn't be.

Misha: Um ... poor guy. [Jensen finally finds something he wants to drink] Yeah, I dunno, when you spend that much time with a character it becomes part of you -

Jensen: No, we're good.

Misha: [laughs awkwardly] I remember when you told that story when we were doing an interview. It was you, me, and Jared and we were doing this long interview and you told that story and both Jared and I teared up when you told the story because it becomes so real for all of us, y'know? And then you start dreaming those dreams, I had a similar experience just now working on Gotham Knights [aside about GK and Harvey Dent]. But it was the same thing, when you told that dream we hadn't yet shot the end of the show and we were like, 'Yes-'

Jensen: That's it!

Misha: That has to be it. So I would say, I would like to see that ending.

Jensen: I would like to actually just film that. Because there's no words exchanged - it's, I mean it would probably be a two day shoot, tops?

Misha: Yeah, we can afford it. You have an Impala!

Jensen: This is true. I have the Impala.

Misha: I know how to get one of the cast members.

Jensen: That's right. I will say that there was a scene in the pilot of The Winchesters that was largely shot in the way that I saw that dream. And it was when we see Dean in the pilot of The Winchesters and it was that long road with nothing but just farmland on either side. That was kind of what I was envisioning for that dream and then we did that a little bit as a tip to that. Um, so, yeah. That was cool. But if I could change the pilot I would probably just have hung a pillow on the piece of rebar.

[showfallmediamaintenance]

[Transcript begin]

[Something metal impacting a tree, splintering the wood.]

Okay... that was the best hit I've gotten in a while. Just gotta keep doing it like that.

[Edgar swings the crowbar at the tree once more. Sending more splinters flying.]

Sir? What are you doing?

GAH!

[Edgar drops his crowbar, and hastily picks it back up.]

Whoops, sorry.

Dude! What the fuck? Don't do that!

Um.

Wait. How long have you been there?

[The new person shuffles awkwardly.]

Sorry... I just wanted to know what you were doing. I've been here for... 13 minutes. Sorry.

It's... fine. As for what I'm doing, I'm practicing swinging this crowbar.

Why? Are you like, Gordon Freeman or something?

Ha! I wish. I... someone... has someone I care about deeply, and I need to work on getting in good hits, or else it's game over.

[The other person takes a pause.]

Well. You should adjust your grip, you're losing good range with your hands being up that far. It's good for controlled hits, but close range combat is tricky.

Really? Uh, thanks.

No problem, man. Um, I'm Liam. By the way.

[Edgar fully turns to face Liam.]

I'm Edgar, nice to meet you.

Edgar? Hm. Reminds me of a character I saw on a show a while back. You ever seen 'The Mechanics Lament?'

[A short pause. Edgar takes a deep breath.]

No. I... I don't exactly like Showfall's stuff... ah, anymore.

Huh, well, you look just like the character. Anyway, uh.

[Liam shuffles again, observing Edgar. Finally noticing the state he's in.]

Christ, are you okay? Like, actually? You look fucked up. Like, really fucked up.

[Edgar chuckles, there is fabric movement as he puts his left hand up, trying to stop the other man from worrying. Liam gasps.]

HOLY SHIT. THERES A HOLE IN YOUR HAND! DUDE. YOU'VE GOTTA GO TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW. HOLY FUCK–

Woah! I've already been! It's fine! Don't worry!

Are– are you sure? Because that looks a little freaky. You could fit like. Two fingers through that.

If it wasn't okay, I'd still be at the hospital.

Thats... fair.

[Edgar sits against the tree he's been hitting.]

Wanna sit with me? I'm in need of a break, but being alone with my own thoughts is... not good for me.

Uh, sure. You seem alright to me.

[Liam sits down next to Edgar.]

So, how long have you been doing... this? For?

A few hours, tops.

Huh.

[A mechanical retraction sound can be faintly heard.]

Adam, not now!

Huh? Who's Adam?

[A click! As Adam detaches and falls to the ground, skittering out in front of the two. Causing Liam to yelp and scramble backwards.]

AGAIN? SERIOUSLY ADAM?

WHAT THE FUCK, DUDE? WHY DOES IT HAVE A NAME? WHY IS IT MOVING ON ITS OWN?

Liam, I'm so sorry, I wasn't going to mention it.

That seems like something you should mention?!

Um. Not really, man. Where would I slip that in? 'Oh, hello random guy in the woods, this is my sentient prosthetic arm who's named Adam. Nice to meet you!'

[The two laugh, bringing the mood back to 'somewhat relaxed.' Although, Liam still sounds a little shaken when he speaks.]

Hey, he um... wrote something.

Huh? What... 'Candied Crush now please.' Seriously?

[Edgar sighs.]

Fine. Take my phone.

[Adam skitters over to Edgar as he is given the phone, and he begins quietly playing Candy Crush.]

You seem a lot less weirded out by Adam as I thought you would be.

I'm weirded out, I'm just good at not showing it.

Ah, well. I'm glad you didn't run away or whatever, I would've if I were in your place.

Huh, well. I need someone to talk to.

By the way. How old are you, kid? You don't look older than... what, 16?

Bingo. 16.

The hell are you doing out here by yourself? You look... no offense, but you look very dirty.

I've... been out here for a few days. I got kicked out by my parents.

The fuck? Thats so shitty, I'm sorry dude.

Eh, it could be worse.

[A short silence.]

It could be worse, yeah. But it should be better. You can stay in my apartment if you need.

Huh? Wait, really? You mean it?

Of course, you got a phone? I'll put the address in, maybe my number as well. Would you want that?

That would be nice. Thank you so much, man.

No problem. It's a bit far from here, I'd recommend taking an Uber or something when you can. Are you alright to go alone?

I should be okay. I... seriously can't thank you enough.

Again, no problem, stay safe, Liam.

You too.

[Liam stands and walks away.]

Alright, Adam. I– how long has that light been flashing? God damnit–

[Transcript end]

[peaamlipoetrydoctor]

When I retire, I will become chair of the Carrier Pigeon Preservation Society

Right, today's prompt was a little bit complicated... it invited the writer to think of a person they used to know well but have lost touch with, then a job they used to do (and now don't) and a piece of art -before finishing with an unanswerable question.

I went for it, last time, made it a piece about my ex-husband (a break-up which ultimately ended on cordial terms tho' it wasn't always evident it was going to go that way...), and had a pretty strong, positive response on the day [boasty screenshot below...]

This time, I've semi followed the prompt -

It certainly ends with an unanswerable question - there's a job involved (and I did used to work on a bakery counter once upon a time, so I'm calling it as in scope) - I don't know any pop stars or any spies, even though both are popping up in my poetry more than no-times-at-all, which is curious... maybe the Avengers can stand in for my piece-of-art for the prompt... and my paternal grandfather and uncle were miners - both dead a long time ago, in my grandfather's case, long enough ago that I don't remember him, though our lives overlapped by a couple of years. But I'm sure that the appearance of the miners in the poem links to a memory of these male relatives.

Anyone who has followed my recent writing will spot that for this prompt I again haven't written from scratch for this piece. I realised that I would be able to rework the poem from the Day Eighteen re-run to sort-of fit the criteria... and unsurprisingly, I think with the benefit of some cuts and revisions, the reworked poem is stronger...

So I give you -

When I retire, I will become chair of the Carrier Pigeon Preservation Society

Today, I wear a grey suit, and carry a leather case

and a rolled umbrella. People on my street

assume I am Something in The City.

They don't know I’m a secret pigeon monitor,

observing the everyday lives of pigeons

and investigating claims that pigeons are

able to recognize themselves in a mirror,

and tell humans apart in photographs.

It’s my dream to train pigeons to

fly to the homes of popstars with tiny cameras

strapped to their foreheads and a mandate

to scan for tabloid journalists and if they find any,

to scare them off with a volley of droppings.

I hide my updates in the case while

the umbrella conceals a microphone.

Every day I carry the case and umbrella

from the station into the city centre

where I stack them in the storeroom

at the Soho bakery where I work –  

as cover – minding the counter and

serving tea with soft pink cakes

to soft round ladies wearing lilac.

On my breaks, I sit in Soho Park

with the umbrella under my bench,

recording the movements of the pigeons.

Evenings are for transcribing my tapes

and wiping them clean to be used again.

I hide the transcripts in a disused coal bucket.

By the time I retire, no-one will use coal anymore.

When historians show pictures of miners

with their dirty faces, the Never Happened

social media gang will claim they’re fakes.

Even the pigeons won't be able to tell them apart.

Who's to say that the pictures really show miners,

and not just actors with dirty faces, pretending?

[fluffbyday-smutbynight]

Way Too Deep (TAB rewatch)

Going back to The Abominable Bride? What is this madness?

Do not fear, I won't even dwell on the hidden meanings of the whole parallel reality set in 1895. Instead, this will be the beginning of my modest attempt (read: slightly disfunctional coping method) at making some sort of sense out of S4. I could read all the meta, and agree with it even, but at the end of the day I just have to take the raw data and digest it on my own.

Why start from TAB? If I recall correctly, it wasn't originally conceived as a bridge between the two seasons – and yet, it has such a peculiar structure that I can't justify it being just a coincidence. If you will, I'll look at the frame rather than the picture.

TL; DR: what if Sherlock overdosed on the tarmac plane... and never came back?

So, let's begin well into the third act (1 hour or so into the episode):

MORIARTY: Because it’s not the fall that kills you, Sherlock. Of all people, you should know that. It’s not the fall. It’s never the fall...It’s the landing.

Sherlock wakes up on the plane and the narrative trick gets exposed: the Victorian adventures were a creation of Sherlock's drug-fueled mind.

Sherlock's usage is not exactly news to us - hello, heartbroken Shezza in a crack den - but this time it feels different. It's not just escapism or the siren's call of addiction; he doesn't look high, not even to John Watson MD, which by the way has already seen him under the effect. This is the very intentional treading the fine line between sanity and delirium, between life and death:

JOHN: For God’s sake! This could kill you! You could die!

SHERLOCK: Controlled usage is not usually fatal, and abstinence is not immortality.

...all for the sake of "solving a case" or, should we put it in plain words, going deep and deeper into his own mind.

Strap yourselves in, 'cause we're going for a ride. From this moment on, we'll bounce back and forth between reality and hallucination, the two separated by a boundary so unstable that we won't even see it.

Notice how heavily drugged-Sherlock sounds fairly coherent so far – and yet, when Mycroft speaks:

MYCROFT: A week in a prison cell. I should have realised [...] that in your case, solitary confinement is locking you up with your worst enemy.

...his mind palace fabrication unexpectedly bleeds into reality:

JOHN (offscreen): Morphine or cocaine?

SHERLOCK: What did you say?

JOHN: I didn’t say anything.

SHERLOCK: No, you did. You said ...

(As he says the next sentence, it’s Sherlock’s lips moving but we hear John’s voice.)

SHERLOCK/JOHN: Which is it today – morphine or cocaine?

What did spur this abrupt transition? What is Sherlock's worst enemy? Himself, his addiction or... Moriarty, though a figment of his imagination, trapped in his mind palace?

Victorian Sherlock goes on with his investigation, which ends with the crypt scene. Sudden plot twist: under the bride's veil there's not Mrs. Carmichael, but... Moriarty again.

MORIARTY: Is this silly enough for you yet? Gothic enough? Mad enough, even for you? It doesn’t make sense, Sherlock, because it’s not real. None of it. [...] This is all in your mind. [...] You’re dreaming.

Cue another transition to a hospital room, which looks just a bit surreal. What's up with the red blanket and the carpeted floor? Why is Sherlock just lying there in his suit?

Doesn't look very much like an overdose intervention... because it isn't. This is not reality.

In fact, Sherlock goes on all jolly to unbury Emelia's corpse (let me be pedant: just like a recent overdose patient should do), and we're given a couple lines that reinforce how much of a pressing matter all this is to him:

SHERLOCK: It’s why we came here! I need to know.

JOHN (turning away): Spoken like an addict.

SHERLOCK (straightening up to look at him): This is important to me!

Sherlock and Lestrade dig, Mycroft supervises (lazy sod, eheh), until the casket is unearthed – pay attention to what Mycroft says here:

MYCROFT: We do have slightly more pressing matters to hand, little brother. Moriarty, back from the dead?

And yes, immediately after Moriarty is mentioned, another turn into surreality takes place; the skeleton moves on its own, a spectral voice calls, and Sherlock is back to his mind palace.

VOICE (rhythmically, as if reciting lyrics to a song): Do not forget me.

... and Holmes starts violently and wakes up to find himself lying on his side on a narrow rocky ledge. Water is pouring over him as if it is raining heavily.

HOLMES : Oh, I see. Still not awake, am I?

"Still not awake" - what a peculiar choice of words. The line between reality and hallucination is feeble because it's not there; the plane, the hospital, the cemetery? All fabrications of his own mind.

Look, even Moriarty must be tired of beating around the bush, 'cause he doesn't talk in riddles anymore. He just lays it out:

MORIARTY: Too deep, Sherlock. Way too deep. Congratulations. You’ll be the first man in history to be buried in his own Mind Palace.

MORIARTY: I am your WEAKNESS!

MORIARTY: I keep you DOWN!

MORIARTY: Every time you STUMBLE, every time you FAIL, when you’re WEAK...

MORIARTY: I... AM... THERE!

MORIARTY: No. Don’t try to fight it. LIE BACK AND LOSE!

So, not only Sherlock has gone deep into his mind palace, he never got out of it and he literally can't.

John coming to the rescue must represent Sherlock finally waking up... or does it?

WATSON: So, how do you plan to wake up?

HOLMES: Between you and me, John, I always survive a fall.

In fact, Sherlock jumps and falls deeper down and while we're told he always survives the fall, we're never told about the landing. We're circling back to what Moriarty said.

At this point, is Sherlock waking up on the plane again even real? Do overdosed people just wake up like that, and go on with their day like nothing's happened?

Furthermore, if Sherlock really woke up on the plane, this should be where the episode ends.

Why, instead, go back again to 1895?

HOLMES: It was simply my conjecture of what a future world might look like, and how you and I might fit inside it.

HOLMES: From a drop of water, a logician should be able to infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara.

Where is this happening? What's the "Atlantic" (or Niagara, or Reichenbach) we should be able to infer?

The structure of TAB – the back and forth between past and present, fiction and reality - reminded me of this zen koan:

"Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things."

As you may know, a koan is a paradox: for instance, you can't be both man and butterfly, but at the same time you can't be definitively sure about one or the other. This is where we're left at the end of the episode – hanging on the doubt that what we've seen so far has been imagination disguised as reality: Sherlock can't be both in present time (having woken up on the plane) and in the Victorian setting we've just seen.

So we should infer that he is still stuck in his mind palace, and his hallucination is not only about the 1895 timeline, but comprises all the scenes set in present time, too -"It was simply my conjecture of what a future world might look like"; also, he might have overindulged with his drugs, to the point of never coming back to consciousness.

WATSON: As for your own tale, are you sure it’s still just a seven percent solution that you take? I think you may have increased the dosage.

Notice how the overdosing incident will never be mentioned again, which makes sense if we assume that it's a point stuck in time with no foreseeable resolution – an idea which is supported by Mycroft's notebook, in the form of the Minkowski Metric we can see there:

a formula referring to special relativity, more specifically "the spacetime interval between any two events is independent of the inertial frame of reference in which they are recorded" (x)

All this, in the perspective of interpreting S4, makes for an interesting premise... but we'll look into it another time.

_____

Dialogue transcript source: Ariane DeVere