#i love his weird huge bobblehead so much

[bugpoasting]

watched the monkees fairy tale episode and um. yup its just as much as y'all have gassed it up that was Insane

[tiny-smallest]

day nineteen - gent

Rating: G Characters: Thomas, Joey Warnings: more manipulation on Joey’s part maybe? Description: It started with a job. Then a interest. Then a friend. Then a deal.

Also on AO3!

---

Thomas was prepared to deal with a weird spoiled rich kid who asked way too much from his passion project and reality and refused to accept that.

And many years later Thomas would agree that was in fact what he got.

But when he arrived at Joey Drew Studios on behalf of the company he worked for to see what the rising animation star wanted from a giant machine that was capable of pumping ink through a building, he found himself greeted personally, warmly, and with... a doughnut and coffee.

“Thought you might like a little something while we talk!” Drew chirped, and Thomas stared, bewildered, at the little breakfast that he’d just been handed. When was the last time any boss of his got him food?

“... All right,” he said.

“Lovely! Now come to my office and I’ll go have someone find Henry- it’s best if he sits in on this too, at least a little- oh by the way there’s cream and sugar in my office if you’d like some!”

“That’s... very nice. Thank you.”

---

“So,” Thomas said, staring at the three people in front of him.

“Yes,” beamed Drew beside him.

“I didn’t ask a question yet.”

“You didn’t need to!”

Well. Perhaps he hadn’t. Thomas sighed and shook his head.

“This is insanity,” he chuckled.

“Your face is insanity,” the little devil shot right back.

Thomas laughed this time. Bendy was less than amused.

But before he could get his mouth open, Drew hushed him and gently shooed them all off.

Once the door was closed Thomas, calming down now, looked to Drew. “This is really happening.”

The chipper face was solemn. “Also yes.”

“And the Machine is...”

“If it works right, not only should it power this entire studio with magic that might help us make cartoons- nothing like them, of course just- pictures that move on their own without really being alive. But aside from that it’ll-”

“It’ll produce a steady amount of magic ink that’ll be good in case of an emergency. Won’t it.”

He nodded, hesitated, opened his mouth, shut it again, before it came spilling out. “Bendy has a defect.”

For all the little devil had just insulted him at their very first meeting, Thomas felt his stomach twist a little. “Go on.”

Drew covered his mouth before shifting his hand to more rest against his cheek. “... I don’t know why. But he... melts. When experiencing extreme negative emotions. He always reforms when he’s feeling better but...”

“You want this ink on hand in case his condition gets worse.”

Another nod.

Thomas looked to Drew’s book and straightened.

“Then let’s give it a try.”

---

“It’s magnificent,” the animator breathed. Thomas had to agree with him.

The machine in front of them was not the size of a room but was still enormous. The thrum was hypnotic to listen to, almost capable of lulling someone to sleep. Thomas knew that thrum could be felt in some form throughout the entire building, through the network of pipes that ran like arteries through a body.

If only the world was ready for magic. If only. The things it could accomplish when woven together with technology.

God, it made Thomas want to run around in circles, almost.

“Think it’ll do?” he asked the man beside him.

He turned shining eyes to Thomas, and Thomas couldn’t help but smile at Joey.

“I think it’ll more than just do, Thomas. You’ve made a miracle.”

---

“You want me to stay.”

Joey stood at the door, eyes fixed on Thomas’s tools. He actually looked embarrassed for once, which was not a state Thomas imagined was possible for the man.

“I do.” A deep breath. “We- we could use your help maintaining the Machine. Maybe even eventually improving it. But maintenance is- that’s going to be a huge thing, Tommy. And your help with it would be invaluable.”

“I do still need to eat,” Thomas reminded him.

Joey nodded so fast he almost looked like a bobblehead. “Of course! I’m willing to offer more than what you’re being paid now.”

Thomas blinked. “You are?”

“Like I said. Invaluable.”

“... Okay.” Thomas smiled. “Let’s give it a try.”

[freckledoriya]

Can I request a pro hero Bakugou scenario where he goes over to his crush's house, also a hero and sees that his crush has a bunch of really dumb hero merch, even some of his. Crush has a hobby of finding the oddest things that everyone's hero names gets slapped onto like cooking utensils or flower pots (whatever dumb thing, you name it) or maybe a ground zero blanket that's the softest thing ever that they sleep with. Maybe on insta they joke they're sleeping with him--the blanket form

i loved this, anon! huge thanks to @gallickingun for lending me her bakugou writing-expertise (some of this is her writing!); i’d be lost without her 😭

request more HERE

PAIRING: bakugou x reader

WARNINGS: language, mentions of alcohol, a lil steamy but nothing nsfw

WORD COUNT: 1.1k 

When it came to collecting hero memorabilia, you’re what your crush Bakugou would call a “damn fuckin’ nerd.”

You couldn’t help it. You loved the rush of finding a vintage All Might themed toaster oven or adding to your collection of Miss Midnight glass perfume bottles. Oh, and of course the thrill of scoring a new addition to your growing bobblehead collection of all of Earth’s best heroes. Even though you were a hero yourself, someone who actually knew a lot of the heroes whose merch you’ve hoarded over the years, you couldn’t deny your cravings. None of your hero friends knew about your collecting hobby. You made it a point to always make sure no one stepped foot in your decked-out apartment. You would never invite anyone over… until tonight.

The words just tumbled out of your mouth. Maybe it was that extra shot of vodka in your drink at the bar, or maybe just the thrill of finally flirting with your crush. Either way, the sentence “wanna come over my place?” flew from your lips and landed onto Bakugou’s ears, where it was met with a devilish grin and a quick nod yes. 

Flash forward, the two of you are side by side in a cab as you start to sober up and realize your mistake. His calloused fingertips ghosting up the side of your thigh almost makes you forget about the fact that your secret is about to be exposed. 

He’s bound to make fun of you, right? He’ll probably think you’re some kind of obsessed freak and never talk to you again.

You open your mouth to make up a lame excuse about being too tired, but then you make eye contact, his crimson irises staring right through you. You so badly want to be his. His magnetic field keeps pulling you in, and as much as you want to backtrack out of a soon-to-be unfortunate situation, the sliver of hope that he’ll understand keeps you hooked. 

But the second you step into your apartment with him and turn on the lights, you regret every action that got you to this point.

There are only mild amounts of paraphernalia scattered throughout your living room and kitchen - nothing too incriminating, but enough to let him know that you’re interested. You place your purse down on the kitchen table, dragging Bakugou’s attention to your salt shakers modeled after Best Jeanist. He plucks them off the tabletop, “Oi, what the fuck?”

If he thinks that’s weird, then he’s in for a treat if he makes it to your bedroom. 

“I got them at a thrift shop,” you manage, “I thought they were, uh, funny…?”

Bakugou replaces them where he found them, stepping behind you as you sort through your bag for your phone, your chest pressed into the bar countertop. His hands grope your waist, dipping beneath the thin fabric of your top to feel your skin. 

“Wanna show me your room?” he asks, attempting to be sultry as he kisses your shoulder, using his thick fingers to push your hair away from your neck so it’s available to his mouth. “Or do you have matching All Might shakers in there?”

You gulp but he chalks it up to the way his tongue laps against your skin. You chuckle hesitantly, turning so you can face him, “Listen, I-”

“Room, now, yeah?” He phrases it like a question but his tone of voice doesn’t lend it to be one; the alcohol making him much more forward and flirtatious than he would usually be. You lose all control when he starts kissing you, his palms sneaking underneath your top to map out the contours of your back. 

He begins to lead you down your hallway to the door he can only presume to be your bedroom. You hesitantly start to open the door, but you’re going far too slow for Bakugou’s liking. He pushes the door open, subsequently slamming you up against the wall and pinning your wrists above your head. He presses his body up against yours, readying to attack your neck with more kisses, but right before he does, his eyes catch a glimpse of the Mt. Lady poster plastered against the wall behind you. 

“Uh…” he stutters out, before starting to take in his surroundings and turning on the lights. And suddenly all is revealed: every limited edition action figure, each kitschy ceramic collectible, and of course, your precious bobblehead collection. “Damn...you like heroes a lot, don’t you?”

“It’s just a hobby!”  you spit out before the anticipated insults. “It started with only a few things but now I just can’t help collecting stuff when I see it in stores. I promise it’s not something super creepy or anything like that!”

Bakugou just nods before walking over to your action figures, his surprisingly calm and understanding reaction causing you to tilt your head in confusion.

“You think they’re true to size?” he asks, holding up one modeled after his own image. He smirks, brushing his thumb down the plastic abdomen popping with muscle, “I mean, I guess I could let you see for yourself.”

You roll your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest, letting yourself relax now that you see he’s not running away. “I think they made the model for that one while you were gone. You sure Deku didn’t stand in for you?”

“Oi!” He whips around, using the action figure to point in your face like it were a stick, “I’m way fuckin’ better lookin’ than that shitty Deku. Take it back.”

“Careful with that!” you giggle, grabbing the doll out of his hands. “It’s a collectible.”

He’s still preoccupied with the figurines of himself, studying them closely as if they might start talking to him if he watches them long enough. Bakugou licks his lips before turning to you, “What do you think about the winter costume?”

“Oh,” you’re surprised by his question, but it urges you to step forward, closing in on his space, “I think it’s really flattering for you. The black long sleeves really bring out the orange in your costume.”

The prideful swell of his chest makes you wonder if he was just fishing for compliments from the beginning. A gentle pink tinge paints his cheeks and you feel your chest restrict at the sight.

“So… you don’t think I’m weird for all of this stuff?” you ask, still half expecting him to laugh in your face before leaving. “I was kinda thinking you’d make fun of me and call me a nerd.”

He scoffs at this before running his fingers through your hair. Smiling, he leans in and whispers, “Oh, I’m definitely going to make fun of you and call you a nerd, but we have more important things to do right now,” before his lips crash into yours. 

[star-trekkin-across-theuniverse]

Resource Management, pt4

Word Count: 2385 Tags: @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso @feelmyroarrrr @anyakinamidala @dirajunara @anotherotter @little-study-bug @rampant-salamander @goodnightwife @samaxraph99 @anotherotter  @outside-the-government @kingarthurscat @coyote-in-space @originalpottervengerlock @dolamrothianlady @curiositywillbethedeathofme @superheroesofbothuniverses

In the first few months after the Battle of New York, there had been a rush of merchandise and marketing that was primarily intended to draw attention to the heroes of New York and away from SHIELD. Stark’s Iron Man action figure was an excellent example. There had also been a ridiculously camp cartoon that had aired for half a season before being cancelled, but it had a fantastic comic-booky theme song that made my heart so happy that I often found I was humming it to myself when I was stressed out. I wasn’t alone in finding the tune catchy. The chances were often in your favour that if you hummed the first two notes on a crowded SHIELD elevator that someone would join in. Enough of us used it as a ringtone that Fury had sent a memo reminding everyone that it was the official SHIELD ringtone last April Fools Day.

I had just stepped into the seminar room, and was already running late, when my phone rang. I’d forgotten to silence it, and to my embarrassment, my ringtone filled the silent room. One of the new hires started giggling as the cheery cartoon music started floating from my hip pocket, and Stark turned around, an eyebrow quirked. I shifted everything to one arm and fought the blush flooding my cheeks as I reached into my pocket to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I hope I’m catching you at lunch.” Coulson hadn’t texted since the previous morning, but I hadn’t expected a phone call.

“Actually, I’m going to have to call you back, if that’s okay?” I dropped the stack of books on the table at the front of the room. “I’ve just walked into my seminar and I’m running late.”

“Anna, you have to evacuate the building. We have intel that suggests it’s going to be attacked within the ho-“ A deafening explosion rocked the building, and I dropped to the floor, losing my grip the phone. I reached for the phone and scrambled underneath the table.

“Phil? What the fuck is happening?” I practically screamed into the phone.

“Get out of the building. Get Stark to get you out of the building!” His voice cracked and I knew I should be scared. If Coulson sounded scared, I should be terrified. Another deafening explosion rocked the building, and ceiling tiles started falling. I pulled my legs under the table, unable to stop myself from letting out a shriek of fear.

“Okay, class, we need to evacuate!” I called across the noise. I took a quick look out from under the table, but was knocked onto my back as Stark shot from under his table to tackle me. Before I could protest, a large chunk of steel and cement slammed into the spot where my head had been. Stark snatched my phone from me.

“Hi. I don’t know who you are, but Ms. Ellis needs to go.” He hit end and handed my phone back to me. “Put that in your bra or something. You’ll probably need it. We need to get out of here.” He rolled off me and started playing with his phone. Another huge chunk of cement fell, this time on the table Stark had been under, and the table buckled and flattened.

“We aren’t safe, Stark. Unless that phone has a teleportation device in it, I think texting is probably not the smartest move,” I snapped. I tried to survey the room, and saw the last of the others scrabbling for the door, and heading toward the stairs. There was another explosion and the windows blew out of the room. Stark grabbed me by the scruff of my blouse and started dragging me toward the open windows.

“Come on. Watch your knees, there’s glass everywhere.” He swept his free hand across the carpet as he crawled toward the gaping space where the reflective glass had been, dragging me alongside him. My knees appreciated the effort, but they were getting chewed up anyhow.

“We are seventeen floors up, Stark, we can’t jump!” I screamed as he hauled me to my feet at the window ledge. He held me away at arms length.

“Take a step to your left,” he ordered. Suddenly, he was being covered in the Iron Man suit. It appeared out of nowhere, and was snapping onto his body with precision and speed. When he was fully covered, he pulled me against his chest.

“Holy shit,” I muttered. He looked down at me as he stepped over the ledge of the window.

“Did you forget I was Iron Man, Ms. Ellis?” His voice had a metallic, echo-y quality. We flew clear of the continuing explosions. He set us down in a park across the river from the Triskelion. His visor flipped up.

“Thank you,” I breathed as I got my legs under me again. I felt wobbly and a little nauseated from the open-air flight.

“You should get home and then do whatever it is you SHIELD types do when the shit hits the fan,” he recommended. Another enormous explosion, and part of the building blew out into the parking lot.

“My car!” I cried, as I saw the destruction. “I have to find the muster point. It’s in parking lot B.”

“I’m heading back in to make sure everyone is getting out okay. Can you get there on your own?” He asked. I nodded, completely numb. He blasted back into the sky and toward the crumbling building. I stood, frozen in place, staring at the building in horror. Deep within me, something pushed me forward to the muster point, and I found myself running across the park toward the river where the B lot was.

There was a small group of people beginning to gather under a flashing blue light. A security guard was checking a tablet as they arrived. My phone rang again, and I stopped running to answer it.

“Don’t go to the muster point, Anna. SHIELD has been compromised. Head directly home, pack a bag and then leave.” It was Coulson again. I turned around and started away from the parking lot, in the direction I’d come from. I smoothed my skirt, trying to beat the dust off it. A quick glance over my shoulder told me I hadn’t been noticed.

“And then where?” I asked, continuing through the park.

“There’s a café across the street from our restaurant,” he said. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Our restaurant?” I was in too much shock to think.

“You’ll figure it out.” The line went dead. I turned around to survey the destruction. The Triskelion looked as though it was quickly falling to ruins. Every few seconds, something else exploded. Whoever had planned the attack seemed determined to erase the memory of the building from the earth. I wondered if they would succeed. And then, selfishly, I thought about my flattened car. That my purse was still inside the building. That my Thor bobblehead probably wasn’t bobbling anymore. I started toward the nearest metro station to get home. I’d worry about how to get inside when I got there.

“I heard about that government building being attacked. I didn’t realize you worked there, Annie.” Bob, my building super, was about a million years old, moved like a snail and loved to talk. But he was letting me into my apartment, so I wasn’t about to complain.

“Yeah.” I didn’t have the energy for multi-syllabic answers.

“What do you do there?” He prodded.

“I manage Human Resources,” I replied.

“For what?”

“For the whole building.” It was vague, but I had to be.

“Ah. I retired from the agency when the Cold War ended.” He tapped the side of his nose knowingly. I smiled blandly. It didn’t matter if it was CIA, FBI, NSA or any of the other acronyms that littered the district; they all thought they were the only ones.

We were walking up the stairs so slowly that I was getting a cramp in my ass. I stopped midflight and pulled my heels off. I wiggled my toes on the cool stairs and waited until Bob reached the landing for my floor before following, stretching enough that the cramps subsided. He unlocked the door faster than I thought, and peeled a spare key off his jumbled key ring.

“Until you get organized, Annie. Be safe, sweetheart.” He patted my shoulder and began his glacial-paced descent back to his office. By contrast, I shut the door and became a flurry of activity. I repacked everything I’d taken to the academy, and then threw in some extra pants and t-shirts. I figured anything else and I’d have to rely on the goodness of Coulson’s heart. I was packed in moments. As I zipped the suitcase closed, I realized a suitcase was really obvious, and went digging under my bed for my old backpack from university. I carefully repacked as much as I could into it, and dug my favourite big purse out of my closet for the rest. I even found a wallet, just because it felt weird to not carry one. Not that this one had anything in it. I looked slightly less obtrusive. Until I realized I was covered in dirt, my blouse was torn and my knees were bleeding.

I stripped down and hit the shower, careful to be gentle on the cuts on my legs. I toweled dry, bandaged as many of the bleeding spots as I could and found a pair of ancient and ratty cargo pants. I pulled them on, and pulled out my old Captain America t-shirt. Once I was dressed, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and braided it. I surveyed myself in the full-length mirror on my bathroom door. I looked like any other college student, unless you looked closely enough to see the crow’s feet around my eyes, and the greying at my temples.

I assessed my bags again and unpacked and repacked again, getting everything I wanted into the backpack. I traded out my big purse for a small one, and raided my piggybank so I had a few bucks to tide me over, should Coulson take longer than I’d expected. He hadn’t given a time before he hung up. I checked the time. I’d been a half hour. My heart was still racing and I felt a little like I might have a panic attack, so I sat down on the couch and dropped my head between my knees, and took some deep breaths.

I could hear sirens. They sounded like they were coming from everywhere. I didn’t think anyone was coming for me, but I knew I should get moving. Our restaurant. He said meet him at the café across from our restaurant. We’d only ever been to one restaurant, and I hadn’t noticed a café across the street. But I’d be so overwhelmed by the restaurant that I might have missed it. I pulled up the street on google maps and switched into street view. Sure enough, across the street from the restaurant was a café. I grabbed my backpack and headed out.

There were cops everywhere. Every major intersection had a roadblock. I hit the metro station, thinking that would be the quickest way to get there, but everything had been shut down. I must have made it home on the last run. I was going to have to walk, and the restaurant was probably five kilometres away. Ironic, considering the runs I’d been doing. I knew I could walk it in about an hour, so I plugged my headphones in and got moving. I did my best to avoid the roadblocks, not wanting to get hung up in the congestion.

I was huffing and sweaty by the time I turned down the street that would lead me to the café. I looked at it carefully. There were two ways in, and it wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t the kind of place that I thought anyone would notice me either. I decided to go inside and get an iced cappuccino while I waited. I took a seat on the patio and pulled out my book. May as well look as though I belonged.

“Excuse me, miss, do you have ID?” I looked up into the eyes of a man in a suit, flashing a badge I didn’t recognize at me. I frowned.

“Not with me. Why?” I reached into my pocket for my phone and blindly tried to hit the redial button. It would connect me to Coulson.

“Surely you know there’s been a terrorist attack on a government building downtown?” He asked. I gasped and dropped my book, trying to be convincingly surprised. I scrambled to pick it up.

“No, I just was on a break and needed caffeine, you know. I thought there were more cops than usual around.” I was only a few minutes walk from of the multitudes of university campuses in the district. I sat back down, folded my page over and smiled at the suit.

“You’re an international student though. You should be carrying ID.”

“I’m sorry?” I blurted. “What makes you think that?”

The suit raised an eyebrow and pointed at my backpack, and the very prominent flag badge on it. I laughed and shook my head.

“So your ID?” He asked. I set my smile and tried to be charming.

“Like I already said. I don’t have it with me,” I shrugged.

“You’ll need to come with me then,” he said.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” I stayed seated.

“I didn’t throw it.”

“Well, pitch it my way, or my ass stays glued to this chair. And the name of the agency you’re with as well,” I demanded and crossed my arms.

“I can have you arrested for –“

“I’ll take care of this.” It was Agent May. She took my backpack and flashed her badge at the suit. “Mine trumps yours.” She took my arm roughly and snapped a pair of cuffs on me before I could protest. She walked me toward the waiting SHIELD SUV, and stuck me in the backseat. Coulson was waiting there, and pulled me into his arms.

“Thank god you’re okay.” He kissed my forehead. I leaned into him and burst into tears.

[animator19]

Interview with Alex Hirsch from after he had finished Gravity Falls

https://www.themarysue.com/alex-hirsch-interview/ 

Alex Hirsch: My main goal after Gravity Falls was finished was to take a vacation a BIG one and I spent about a year doing everything I couldn’t do while I was serving solitary confinement at Disney. I visited Hawaii, Japan, Portland, Burning Man. I did conventions in New York, Russia, Rio. My goal was to say “yes” to anything that wasn’t work. Sort of like Grunkle Stan on his worldwide boat tour with Ford, I needed some time away from the shack. But GF is a weirdness magnet after all and I can’t resist its pull forever.  When Disney asked if I’d want to do Journal #3 I said yes immediately. It’s the number one thing I’d want to read if I was a fan, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Kaiser: Was the Journal done in stages? i.e. was the original draft for the black light version, or did you have to come back and do that once the sales proved viable?

Hirsch: Definitely stages, the very first thing I asked when they brought up the possibility of doing a journal was whether we could include the black light messages, but we were told that it would be way too expensive and to just try to forget about it. Then when the book came out and was topping the NYT bestseller list, Disney Publishing agreed to release a special edition for the superfans and give me my dream of black lights.

The challenge then was to try to fit the new messages over the old pages as though they always belonged. But these are fun challenges. Probably the hardest part was on the “Floating Eyeballs” page—there’s a spot where you see text coming from under a Polaroid. But in the Special Edition Journal, the polaroid is finally removable, so I needed to think of sentences that would credibly end with the words you’ve already seen

Kaiser: On that subject, Disney never seemed particularly keen on releasing much GF merch. Has the success of Journal 3 re-opened the conversation on things like the BluRay set?

Hirsch: The day that Disney bought Star Wars (AFTER buying Marvel) was the day I knew my merch dreams for Gravity Falls were basically toast. The company is too huge and we’re barely a blip on the radar to their consumer products division. Luckily the enduring popularity of the show has resulted in a few departments within the company sticking their neck out and trying cool experiments like journal 3. Everyone was surprised by the success of the journal except the fans. Their appetite for more continues to impress even this long after the end of the show. I’m hoping those numbers increase our likelihood of getting a DVD but I can’t make any promises.

Kaiser: Were you involved in getting The Mystery of Gravity Falls (@TheMysteryofGF) permission to do what is (according to them) small batches of sanctioned merch like the stone Bill figure and Grunkle Stan bobbleheads?

Hirsch: That guy is like my guardian angel. He’s some kind of brilliant, crazed super-fan who understands the show better than Disney ever did. Honestly, I don’t know how he contacted Disney and got the sanctioned merch—he’s some kind of wizard. I hope he runs the company one day.

[Note: I reached out to @TheMysteryofGF to check on this. Turns out I was slightly incorrect in my question. They have worked in conjunction with Disney on at least one occasion, but for the most part the merchandise they’ve made available has been of their own initiative, sometimes with help from an outside contractor. They also work with Bioworld, who provides the GF license to Hot Topic, in creating certain items.]

Kaiser: How did you approach fan interaction during the series? The codes are obviously built into the show from the get-go, but did you think it would catch on like it did? Did the response require you to adjust planned fan engagement on the fly?

Hirsch: The scope, size, influence and presence of fandom culture has gone through a complete and total revolution between now and when I first pitched Gravity Falls in 2011. Keep in mind- my first job was on Flapjack back in 2008-ish. Back then, you would release a cartoon into the ether, and it would basically disappear into a black void after airing. There’d be maybe two drawings on DeviantArt, maybe a message board with a few comments, and that was it.

That was the entirety of online feedback between cartoons and creators at the time. (And even those paltry scraps of feedback were still huge compared to fandoms when I was growing up. There was nobody in 1991 willing to die to make sure that their ship of Tommy Pickles and Reptar came to fruition. At least no one with a way of getting that opinion in front of Klasky-Csupo)

Tumblr’s rise happened just around the same time as Gravity Falls‘s premiere in 2012, so I was totally unprepared for the level of passion and engagement and fan art that would happen. I had to evolve along with all this in real time as it happened.

Kaiser: I always found it curious that you’d hold Twitter Q&As, but then delete the answers within a day.

Hirsch: Probably the best formats for answering questions were Reddit AMAs—I enjoyed doing two of those—and interviews. I occasionally answer questions on twitter when the mood strikes me, but Twitter is a TERRIBLE place for meaningful discourse.

Twitter has an ephemeral conversational glibness built into its core, but it ironically also has this incentive to cast every word said in bronze and isolate it from its context. It’s like if everything you said at a dinner party with every guest was carved into the wall and permanently became part of the house decorations. I’ll frequently prune my twitter posts to keep my feed clean from the residue of 100 little back and forths. Even if I tried to leave everything up, it disappears into the feed anyway. No matter how many times I say “There is no Season 3” people will never stop asking.

Kaiser: Obviously, that’s got to be a trial and error process. Any regrets?

Hirsch: I honestly don’t have many regrets from my engagement with fans, because everything that happens, positive and negative, is a learning experience and teaches me something about our world and the culture we live in. And overwhelmingly it has been positive. Back in the pre-fandom-culture days I never could have imagined I’d get such an overwhelming tidal wave of creative, kind, validating responses to my work. It’s every creator’s dream. It’s absolutely worth any weird prickly trolls or growing pains that come along with it and I’m insanely grateful.

Kaiser: The Cipher Hunt had to be an enormous undertaking to put together. How’d you go about organizing it? Did you ever take part in any ARGs (Augmented Reality Games) yourself that inspired you?

Kaiser: The Cipher Hunt was the most fun thing I’ve ever done.

I’ve never been part of any real-world treasure hunts, but as someone who grew up with games like MYST I love puzzles; the idea of doing one in the real world was too tempting to pass up.

The entire thing was organized by me and my buddy Ian Worrel, Gravity Falls‘ Emmy-winning art director. I’m a restless idea guy and he’s this master executor/craftsman—we were both totally in love with the idea of using our newfound free time to put something together totally for the fun of it, to build this strange Rube Goldberg Device and then watch how the fans would interact with it in real time.

Kaiser: Did you split up duties as far as where to put what? Who made the statue?

Hirsch: The statue was made by a brilliant props/effects fabricator in LA, Fon Davis of Fonco, a friend of a friend who was willing to make something weird for a price. Ian did most of the intellectual legwork in terms of figuring out which clues would lead to where, and I wrote all the actual codes. We took a road trip up to Oregon together to hide some of the final clues and had a lot of fun.

I hid the clue in Russia personally, which was a little terrifying. I knew if I got caught trying to hide a tiny magnetic capsule with a code scroll rolled up into it, Putin might not take to kindly to the optics of that. But Bill Cipher was smiling down on me that day and it went without a hitch.

Kaiser: Shifting a bit to the series itself: I recall you mentioning that the writing for season 2 had to be somewhat rethought because so many people had figured out the Author’s identity. Did that change how you wrote Ford’s arc? Were there other things you wanted to explore in general, given more time?

Hirsch: The truth is, no matter how many grand plans you have in your head, no matter what tentpole plot points or ideas you imagine, everything changes when you actually sit down to write. You discover what the show is as you make it through collaboration, trial and error, and what feels right.

In your question, you say season 2 had to be “rethought” but that implies that there was this already finished season 2 totally written out in our minds. But that’s not the case. All we knew after Season 1 was over was “Ford comes out of the portal. Bill probably creates the apocalypse. Dipper & Mabel complete their arcs. Fun stuff happens in the meantime.”

Figuring out how it all fits together in the writers’ room, discovering new things and surprising yourself—that’s the fun part of writing. We didn’t really know who Ford was, from a personality perspective, until we sat down to try to write him. The same is true of Dipper, Mabel, Grunkle Stan, and Bill. You learn as you go.

Kaiser: Fascinating! I suppose I must’ve heard about very early discussion, and extrapolated … as GF fans are wont to do. How embarrassing.

Hirsch: Casting also hugely affects a character. You have an idea of what a character is like in the writing room, but then when the actor comes in, everything can change. We cast JK Simmons as Ford late in the process. He was instantly perfect, but changed how we thought about the character. Regarding things I would love to explore if I could go back in time, I would definitely add a full episode about Wendy if I had the chance. We always wanted to give her more, but we never quite cracked a story that worked for us. But I do think she deserved more!

I deliberately tried to give her more of a role in Mabelcorn and Weirdmageddon Part 1 to make up for the lack of Wendy elsewhere. Linda Cardellini was amazing to work with. She gave the character such a grounded performance. Really was exciting to watch her work.

Kaiser: One of the issues around the show was representation/diversity, and there were a lot of rumors about what Disney would/wouldn’t allow—the little old ladies falling in love in “The Love God” is probably the most famous example. Any comment?

Hirsch: Definitely. If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know I’ve never been shy about discussing my frustrations with Disney’s censors and this was one of the most frustrating incidents of all. Back on “Love God” there was a scene in the script that described a few random couples in a diner falling in love in through the power of cupid’s magic.

When one of our storyboard artists presented the scene to me, she’d made one of the couples two lovable old ladies. It was sweet and casual and I knew INSTANTLY that it was going to turn into a huge fight with Disney. So naturally I left it in. The note came back immediately “The scene of the two old ladies kissing in the diner is not appropriate for our audience. Please revise.” I responded with a one word answer: “Why?”

This basically broke the censors. The couldn’t think of a single way to phrase an answer to that question so they made me talk on the phone so there would be no paper trail. They were terrified of sounding like bigots—but I honestly don’t think they were bigots, I think they were cowards. They basically admitted that there was no good reason why I should change it, but that they get complaints about this stuff from various homophobic parents and would rather avoid the headache, and couldn’t I just drop it?

I said that if we did that we were basically just being held hostage by bigots and screw that, lets rise above this crap and just pull the trigger. The worst thing that can happen is that we get some letters. Who cares? Disney’s a giant company, we can survive some letters from some cranks. I don’t think they necessarily disagreed—but there’s no incentive in their job to say yes to things. But I kept going back to them.

We probably had 6 or so conversations about it. It’s one of the only times I had a face to face meeting with the censors. I didn’t want to go back to my board artist and tell her that I lost this fight. I wanted to win, and I wanted to set a precedent, and I argued that little things like this could mean the world to people and that anyone who was pissed off deserved to be pissed off. But despite my greatest efforts it finally came down to “change the scene or we’ll cut it out of the episode ourselves.”

I felt awful reporting to the artist that I’d lost this one. But I didn’t stop trying. In the last episode, I had the two police offers, Blubs and Durland, flat out say they loved each other, and I didn’t get a single note. I think the censors were finally less scared of complaining parents than they were of having to deal with how annoying I am again.

Since then, times have thankfully changed. I hear that Disney has allowed same-sex couples in Star Vs the Forces of Evil, and the Nickelodeon has done the same in Loud House. Both studios are way behind CN and what they’ve done with Steven Universe, but progress, slowly but surely, is being made. I would love to see a new Disney animated show have the guts to show a proper same-sex kiss on air. One of these networks is going to do it—I encourage Disney to keep growing and be the first.

[Note: We now enter the portion where I completely gave into my fannish id for a second. I hope you’ll all forgive me.]

Kaiser: Two things, purely to satisfy my curiosity as a fan: A) did Pacifica stay with her parents post-series? It seemed like a seriously bad situation, guardianship wise. B) what WOULD Bill have done if Ford had decided (that is, been dumb enough) to take him up on his offer?

Hirsch: I think a lot of fans read more than I meant into the awfulness of Pacifica’s parents. I never imagined them as being abusive, just very controlling—living vicariously through their daughter, treating her like a prize more than a person. I grew up in a town with some rich families and it was something I witnessed more than once—parents trying to make their kids extensions of their own reputation. Pacifica is still only a kid, so I think she’d continue to live with them, but I think she’d start to have a very needed rebellious phase to discover who she is outside of her family name.

I definitely imagined Pacifica getting a side job at Greasey’s Diner working with Lazy Susan after the family lost their mansion. I think learning the value of a dollar and having to interact with the town riff-raff would be good for her.

Re: What Bill might have done, like all things that happen off camera, that question has no true canon answer. But if I had to speculate, in my gut I think Bill would have incinerated Ford on the spot the moment he got the formula to shut down the barrier. I don’t see Bill as a romantic, sweet, or charitable character. He’s a psychopath who takes what he can get. He sees people as toys and when he gets bored of playing with them tosses them aside. I think at that point he was done playing.

Kaiser: Makes sense. There’s a decided inclination to read Bill as being sincerely impressed with Ford on some level because that’s the trope (i.e. Q in Star Trek), but it’s not quite in keeping with how things shook out, is it?

Hirsch: That’s not how I imagine Bill. I see him as a serial manipulator. While he’s “seducing” you with flattery his brain is somewhere else imagining playing ping-pong with a severed head. But people are free to imagine any headcanon they like! I’m genuinely excited by other people’s interpretation of the characters–but I never forget my own.

Kaiser: Is there a story behind that doodle you and Roiland (the creator of Rick & Morty) did of Rick and Stan? That’s a crossover that’s never coming, I’m sure, but I love the cross-show elements.

Hirsch: There’s been a lot of hay made out of the little winks about Gravity Falls in Rick & Morty, and vice versa, the truth is just that we’ve been friends since before we had TV shows, and enjoy messing with people. Although if we WERE planning something big we’d definitely deny it—so I guess you’ll never know!

Kaiser: You left one seriously huge plot thread open with Bill’s coded message in the finale and then the secret Axolotl page of the Choose Your Own Adventure book. Is that something you might come back to, or just a mystery for the fans to chew on?

Hirsch: In terms of Bill’s secret message … I like stories that complete their emotional arcs, but still leave some lingering threads to chew on. It gives the fans something to theorize on, and it gives me a window back into that world if I ever choose to return to it.

Kaiser: Do you have a medium you’d prefer? Or would it just depend at the time?

Hirsch: All depends on my schedule—and the creative urge. I’m involved in a number of projects right now, so it’s hard to say. Comics are definitely a possibility. And maybe a special one day. Honestly my dream would have been to do a Gravity Falls theatrical feature—Disney discussed it with me for a while, but ultimately (and probably rightfully) determined the show wasn’t big enough to warrant it. But if some lunatic wanted to give me 50 million dollars to make a Gravity Falls movie I’d probably do it!

Kaiser: Is there anything you can say about your other project (the one you publicly announced for Fox, or anything else), or is it too soon?

Hirsch: It’s too soon to say anything specific. I will say that Gravity Falls opened a huge number of doors and opportunities for me but I’m being careful not to announce anything until the time is right. (And most of the announcements and leaks you’ll see online about various things I’ve been involved with have been either inaccurate or premature) I can say that I have been working on a feature project that hasn’t leaked online (if you think you know what it is, you’re wrong!) that I’m very very excited about, but owing to the nature of the parties involved I can’t say anything. I’m counting down the days until I get to announce what it is.

Kaiser: As a closer, you published a series of tweets not long ago about the stigma against being allowed to fail that animators face. Do you have any advice for them?

Hirsch: Haha! Oh, that. My latest tweetstorm was specifically about a trend I see in animated series development, where executives will “develop” a show to death and waste time, money, and goodwill trying to come up with a risk-proof TV pilot. But every creative act is inherently risky. The key is to create an environment where risk is encouraged, and failures have as small a cost as possible. I believe failure is the first step to success. The key is to fail as quickly as possible and try again. To treat failure not as a terrifying ending but rather as an opportunity to learn something.

[junker-town]

The Players Championship 2017: Predictions and picks for TPC Sawgrass

The Players Championship boasts the strongest field in golf on one of the most exciting courses in the world. Here are some picks and predictions for the week at Sawgrass.

The Players Championship has carved out a unique identity as the premier championship on the PGA Tour. It’s on one of the more famous courses in the world and this is the week we make our annual visit to TPC Sawgrass. Dustin Johnson is back following his mishap on the steps in Augusta. Rory McIlroy is back after getting married. Sergio Garcia is back after taking a month away with his new jacket.

The best in the world all show up for this championship, which boasts one of the richest purses in the game and its strongest field. SB Nation golf staffers Brendan Porath and Kyle Robbins hit some of the discussion points and make some predictions for this week at The Players.

Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, the Nos. 1 and 2 players in the world, are paired together for the first two days. Who has the better week?

Kyle Robbins: There’s no real point in debating it at this current moment: Dustin Johnson is the best player in golf right now, back injury or not. But if you’re thinking back, this time just last year we watched the no-doubt, best-player-in-the-world dominate Sawgrass — that was Jason Day. Golf is hard, maybe we should stop rushing these proclamations.

At nearly any other course, DJ and Rory might be your favorites. They likely will be at Erin Hills in one month. But this is Sawgrass — where the premium is on shotmaking, not bludgeoning the course with distance. It’s a test as mental as physical. Day overcame career struggles here to win by changing his approach tactically, leaving the driver in his bag often. Even with his dominance, I’m not sure I trust DJ to pull back the reigns enough to win here. I think both stay in the Top 15 to 20, but I’ll guess Rory has a better shot to contend here.

Brendan Porath: With the Tiger era over, we all too often have what is, to me, this rather tedious debate about which player is “best at his best.” Some argue for Jordan Spieth. Some for Jason Day. Others for Dustin Johnson. And many for Rory McIlroy, who has as many major championships as those three combined.

It’s an unanswerable question that takes up a lot of media air time. We’ll never a get a week where all the top players in the world are playing at their best. What is true, however, is that DJ has been the best player in the world — at his best, his close-to-best, his mediocre, his whatever — for almost a full year now. He became No. 1 in the world just this February, but no one has been doing it better on a weekly basis since his U.S. Open win last June. I expect him to be back again challenging for another win this week.

DJ came off that injury layoff from his Masters tumble down the stairs and immediately contended at the Wells Fargo last week. It was like nothing happened. Rory, meanwhile, got married, turned 28 years old, and signed a new equipment mega deal during his layoff since the Masters.

This is supposed to be a course where driving distance is mitigated — one of the few remaining on the PGA Tour and in professional golf. That’s a DJ and Rory strength but I’d still be surprised if both are not in the hunt on Sunday afternoon. Rory seems ready for another top 10 (which doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in contention), with DJ pushing for for his fourth win in five starts. It’s hard to pick anyone, even Rory, to finish ahead of DJ these days.

Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images

Rory is back, and now he’s got a bobblehead too.

Is The Players the "5th major?" Does that even mean anything? Do we care anymore about this?

Brendan: Ahhh, the annual discussion about a “fifth major.” I do not care about this. If you feel like it is -- fine. If you scoff at the notion — cool, whatever. The debate has seemed to quiet in recent years and the PGA Tour definitely doesn’t try to push that narrative, either overtly or behind-the-scenes.

It does not matter whether The Players Championship is a major or not even close. What it is is a completely unique event that occupies its own space in the game. No one skips this event. It draws the strongest field of the season and is on an instantly recognizable course made-for-TV and rowdy crowds. It doesn’t have to have the traditions or test of golf like the majors. It is a huge golf event and party floating in its own space, which is perfectly fine separate and apart from the traditional four majors. The Tour and those covering the game have seemed to embrace that.

Kyle: Yeah, that’s about where I’m at. I do, personally, enjoy the Players. It’s very much different from the week-in, week-out tour experience, it provides the best field in the sport, and it’s held on a one-of-a-kind track. On the heels of the reformatted Zurich Classic & Golfsixes last week in London, this is really the home of weird golf.

In general, we in golf spend waaaaaaaay too much time forcing the conversation about where things stand in history. You can’t classify everything with binary logic. Is it a fifth major? Does it matter? I don’t know, time will tell. The PGA still isn’t prestigious enough for some folks — and it’s gonna be played for the 98th time this year!

The Players is another point on the schedule to get super excited for some awesome golf. Just enjoy that for what it is. It’ll be much more enjoyable.

The island 17th hole is one of the most instantly recognizable holes in the world. It also gets a ton of hype. Are you a fan or jaded cynic?

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

A diabolical Dye design, the island 17th will turn into one of the rowdiest scenes in golf come Sunday.

Kyle: If we’re gonna be super honest, 17’s not a hard hole -- the water and the optics provide more bark than bite. For a replacement-level college player, it’s a pretty stock gap wedge to a relatively large green. Swirling winds can be the lone defense, and even then, well — it’s a relatively short par-3. Tour stats reflect that.

That said! This is a 10/10 good hole for televised, tournament golf. It’s iconic, there’s a stadium-like feel to it for fans on the course, and the finishing stretch of 16-17-18 is classic Pete Dye and as good as any for drama in golf. Not every hole need be diabolical — it just needs ample risk/reward benefit. Trailing by a shot or two on Sunday and firing at that classic tucked front-right pin provides that. It’s cathartic.

Brendan: Along the same lines of the “fifth major” discussion, the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is an annual tradition I’ve come to terms with. It’s a fine hole, a big party, and makes for a good broadcast, whatever your opinion is of its architectural merits. I used to pan the hype around it but maybe I’ve gone soft as I get older.

Who is your darkhorse pick to either win or contend (odds here)?

Brendan: The winners at this event since 2012 are really a who’s who from the top of the world rankings over the last five years. But it still carries a rep as an event with an extremely deep field that produces random winners. When it comes to gambling on golf, the value almost never lies with the top stars and favorites. I like Matt Fitzpatrick way down the board at 100/1 -- he’s played here only once, missing the cut, but he’s a super ball striker and tends to play well in tougher conditions. Patrick Cantlay at 80/1 is also a great sleeper pick.

Kyle: I’m gonna go with another young Englishman: How about Tommy Fleetwood at 80-1? The 26-year-old is having the best season of his career — 2nd in the European Tour’s Race To Dubai rankings. He’s already had success in big events in North America this year, a runner-up at the WGC-Mexico & a top-10 at Arnie’s event. He’s an elite ballstriker & hits greens by the boatload. If he’s able to make enough putts, he’ll be in the conversation this weekend.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

In the middle of a breakout season, Fleetwood leads the European Tour in GIR in 2017.

This is known as one of the harder events on the PGA Tour to handicap. What makes it so difficult and so unique?

Brendan: It’s Pete Dye golf with lots of trouble and a layout that doesn’t automatically reward the guys who can bomb it the farthest off the tee. Distance is still an advantage, as it is everywhere in the game in this era. But things can even out here and make it harder to predict. That can make for a fun tournament unless you end up with some titanic Sunday clash between, oh I dunno, Brian Stuard and Sean O’Hair.

Kyle: You’re totally right, but I think you can even take this a step further. Golf is hard, lots of guys can win on any given week, and this is the best field in golf. There’s not the dead-weight of The Masters, the amateurs of the US Open & Open Championship, and the club pros of the PGA. This is, top-to-bottom, guys that can truly win the event. That makes it harder to predict, especially combined with Dye’s tricked-up track.

Who's your winner this week and why?

Brendan: I am going with the third wheel in that marquee group of the first two days, passing on Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy to pick Justin Thomas as my winner. JT has cooled off a bit since he lit the world on fire in the first couple months of the season. But he has professed his love for this championship and has backed it up with results in his first two years at The Players, finishing inside the top 25 as a rookie and T3 last year. He’s also shown each year that he can put a “round of the day” type number up at Sawgrass -- that Saturday 65 in his 2015 debut rocketed him into contention for Sunday’s final round and was one of the major statements of his rookie season. He returns this year as a top 10 ranked player in the world, has all the game and distance off the tee to compete anywhere in the world, and playing a course he loves and has figured out early in his career. That’s my pick.

Kyle: I like the JT pick. Loving a course you’re playing can be half the battle. But I’ll go a little different route for a young guy and take, um, Jordan Spieth. Is it weird he still seems to sit a bit under the radar? I’ll admit, there’s no particular rhyme or reason on this one — Rahm, JT, even Sergio or DJ. But for whatever reason, this just feels right. A track like Sawgrass should fit Spieth’s game a touch. Don’t be shocked if he’s taking home the crystal on Sunday.