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from-the-dark-past · 3 years

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Interview with Anders Ohlin in The Black Metal Murders: English translation

Translator’s note: Black metal-morden (English: The Black Metal Murders) is a radio documentary from 2017 produced by Radio Sweden (download). It’s about Mayhem and the Norwegian black metal scene in the ‘90s and contains interviews with Jørn “Necrobutcher” Stubberud, Kjetil Manheim, Eirik “Messiah” Norheim and Anders Ohlin (Pelle Ohlin’s younger brother).

Here, I’ve translated the parts where Anders Ohlin speaks into English (from Swedish). I’ve added time-stamps and short descriptions for the different sections of the interview.

I am working on translating the interviews with Necrobutcher, Manheim and Messiah and will post them soon.

1:51 - 6:35 [Talking about him and Pelle getting into extreme metal]

Anders: We’d started listening to hard rock and it was… We’d, like, worked through all of those… Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.

Narrator: It’s the mid-1980s in Västerhaninge, a suburb of Stockholm. Pelle Ohlin lives here. He plays in the extreme metal band Morbid and his stage name is Dead. Pelle has introduced his five-years-younger brother to hard rock. Together, they’ve worked through all of the main bands.

Anders: And you, like, hungered for this… This Other.

Narrator: The ‘Other’ that younger brother Anders is talking about is extreme metal; music that is faster, darker and harder. A progression of hard rock. Music that isn’t easy to get your hands on at this time. Anders is in his early teens and has gotten his first girlfriend.

Anders: It was my first relationship and it was super-exciting, and I was at her house, she lived in Jordbro, which is, like, the neighbouring suburb.

Narrator: Anders’ girlfriend’s older sister has an LP that Anders simply must show his older brother Pelle.

Anders: It was, like, you knew it was good music, and it was that Destruction record.

Narrator: Anders sees the German death metal band Destruction’s cover and it’s enough for him to understand that this must be good music. [...]

Anders: This. This here isn’t Judas Priest and it isn’t Iron Maiden; it’s something else. I’ve got show this fucking record to Pelle.

Narrator: Anders nags [his girlfriend’s older sister] to borrow the LP. He’s allowed to, but only for the day, so he bikes home in the rain from Jordbro to Västerhaninge as quickly as he can.

Anders: And it was like [excited noise], like a cartoon; the evil wolf, their eyes bulge out and we both ran -- because we hadn’t heard the LP, only seen the cover -- ran to the record player och then Mom walks up and is like: ‘Stop! You’re forbidden from using the gramophone.’ And it was like, fucking hell, is it going to die here and then we explained to Mom -- ‘This is an extreme record and we’ve borrowed it for the day and it’s going back tomorrow,’ -- and Mom was super-harsh and was like: ‘It doesn’t matter. [...]’ And then we started negotiating and agreed that we could record the LP onto cassette [because you don’t need volume for that]. So, it was on full-blast the entire night and we recorded it and stood bent over the record scratches and were like,‘Shit, this is good stuff’.

Narrator: Pelles hard rock style stands out against the usual sweatpant-Bagheera-jacket [style], not least the music.

Anders: The ideals that existed at that time were that you were supposed to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, which neither he nor I did [laughs]. You were supposed to be handsome and cool and have some fucking helipad on your head.

Translator’s note: Anders is talking about a flat-top haircut commonly referred to as a ‘helikopterplattafrisyr’ -- helipad haircut -- in Sweden. Think H.R. Haldeman. I’m not sure what the English term for this haircut is.

Narrator: Anders and Pelle are apart of a small subculture; extreme metal, with subgenres such as trash metal, death metal and black metal, which provokes with its satanic and morbid symbols. Pelle’s band Morbid pushes the limits of what music can sound like. With his stage-name Dead, Pelle sings on the demo December Moon. The new subculture is not embraced by the adult world.

Anders: Like, we faced this fucking cultural oppression as hardrockers. It was that time-period… And especially if you wanted to do something that was worse than hard rock; it was completely judged.

14:52 - 15:53 [Talking about Pelle being bullied]

Anders: He was beaten at school and to such an extent that he actually died for a while, or however you put it.

Narrator: There’s an explanation to Pelle’s obsession with death. At 13, he was bullied at school and once, he was beaten so badly that his spleen burst. Pelle’s brother Anders Ohlin tells the story.

Anders: He was beaten to death and had some near-death experience as he was laying in the hospital and he kept coming back to that all the time, and I think you can see that as some sort of theme in his songs too. Like, it’s always about the fact that he was actually there and touched something that he doesn’t know what it is, and that was the engine in all that. He was definitely [at the bottom of the pecking order] at school, precisely because he was a bit… He had his special... his special style and was, like, uncompromising, and that was what singled him out, I’d say, markedly from other teenagers.

18:07 - 18:30 [Talking about Pelle’s depression]

Anders: He would neglect to eat, just to get a cassette tape out or arrange a gig somewhere.

Narrator: Anders Ohlin, Pelle’s brother.

Anders: To be a bit harsh, I think that the others gave up at some point. And that’s my personal interpretation. That he suddenly turns around and notices that he hasn’t got the gang with him. And I think that destroyed him.

21:50 - 22:30 [Talking about Pelle’s suicide]

Anders: At first, I was actually really pissed at him… Or, like, angry, enraged. I thought that he’d abandoned us -- which he has. That it was so shitty of him; to just take off and leave this big fucking abscess to the rest of us that just kept growing and growing as the years passed.

Narrator: Christmases become especially painful for the Ohlin family, because that was the time Pelle usually came home.

Anders: No one felt good on Christmas Eve. It was like a fucking ghost all Christmas. Brutal. So, I remember that I couldn’t celebrate Christmas at all for a very long time.

1:06:39 - 1:09:31 [Talking about how he and Pelle’s Swedish friends remember him and his life today]

Anders: All of his Swedish friends see him as this exuberantly happy guy that spews ideas and is funny and has a sense of humor and stuff. Then, it’s like a line is drawn when he goes to Norway and they see him as introverted and mysterious and, like, difficult. And that’s two opposite images.

Narrator: The Pelle Myth is associated with a lot of darkness and death but that’s not how his brother Anders and Pelle’s Swedish friends remember him.

Anders: I think that’s been the devastating part, but it, like, helped him build… strengthen that myth. It’s hard being that funny dude and saying that you’re, like, Satan. It’s hard, it becomes, like, silly.

Narrator: Anders is often reminded of Pelle. Usually because of happy memories but also because of that image that he is fighting to remove; the image that Øystein took of Pelle’s corpse which spread because it became the album cover of a Mayhem bootleg, Dawn of the Black Hearts. The image lives its own life on the internet.

Anders: It’s difficult. It’s very difficult.

Narrator: Pelle’s fans often want to become Facebook friends with Anders; he receives 3-5 friend requests per day. Sometimes, the people sending the friend requests have themselves shared the image on their social channels.

Anders: You say you want to be my friend yet you have an image of my brother from when he’s just killed himself and like… body parts all over the wall. Would you think it was okay if I had an image of your brother like that? ‘What,’ they excuse themselves. ‘Oh, fuck, I’d forgotten that I had that image, that’s… Of course, I’ll remove it and I’m ashamed.’

Narrator: When Anders asks people to remove the image, most do.

Anders: I’m terrified for when my children will start to Google those images… Øystein’s parents inherited the rights after Øystein died and [Øystein’s dad] has destroyed the images and I’ve received the rights, gotten to take over the rights from Øystein’s dad, so if anyone uses them in any form is printed media, I can sue the shit out of them.

Narrator: It’s a small comfort every time one of Pelle’s fans tells Anders how much Pelle means.

Anders: Most often, they have some story. They tell me how they’ve had a tough period in life and how they’ve, like, really been at a crossroads or something and feel that they received guidance from Pelle’s music. That warms -- That makes you happy. That really warms your heart.

Narrator: Pelle’s grave is well-visited and every now and then, there’s a handwritten letter or a box of snus by it.

#mayhem #the true mayhem #per ohlin #pelle ohlin #per yngve ohlin #jorn stubberud #necrobutcher #kjetil manheim #eirik norheim #manheim #messiah #black metal #black metal history #true norwegian black metal #lords of chaos #my translation

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iaintyourbro · 4 years

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The New Red Herrings: Biggs and Zack and How Avalanche Tells Us the LTD is Dead

Biggs and Zack are seemingly alive at the end of FFVII Remake Part 1 - so what does that mean? Will they live throughout the story? Maybe they’ll be like Wedge and escape death initially, only to be forced to face it shortly after?

There’s also interesting similarities on the death scenes of Biggs and Zack, A while ago I took screenshots of the “death” scene of Biggs and thought it was interesting how they had Biggs touch Cloud’s head and also made him promise something.

And how are all these things connected to the LTD?

Now, clearly, neither Biggs or Jessie had as dramatic of a death as Zack or Aerith. We actually see the initial injury or incident that causes each of them to die. Cloud comes upon Biggs while he’s already sitting down injured. Cloud and Tifa come to Jessie after she’s under the rubble and try to save her.

We know Cloud pretty much loses it when Zack dies. He collapses mentally. He’s already been through enough shit to fill a lifetime, and now his only friend, his best friend, and the guy who saved his life, dies trying to get them back to Midgar.

Why Zack is Important to Cloud

Relationship wise, Cloud obviously had a much deeper connection to Zack. At the point that Biggs dies, he doesn’t know any of that, but I think his death definitely triggers something in him. Biggs saw through Cloud’s front. We know Biggs dealt with the kids at the Leaf House, and most likely acted like a volunteer in the Big Brother program. He tells Cloud he’s got a lot in common with the kids at the Leaf House.

Zack had Cloud take on the responsibility to be his living legacy. Of course we all know he shuts down about five minutes later. Biggs had Cloud promise that this wouldn’t all be for nothing. In both cases, it doesn’t work out. He forgets what Zack told him and the Sector 7 plate still falls.

Zack’s death has a major impact on Cloud - it’s ultimately what breaks him. It also gives us these really sad moments of somebody who’s already been through so much and is breaking now.

Cloud is upset about Biggs. He was becoming his friend. The three Avalanche members really did accept Cloud and tried to be his friend. He was included with them - in most cases. Of course there’s the Avalanche party that he’s kicked out of (mind you - he does this to himself by acting like an ass to Barret and them) and then during Chapter 4, he’s separated to go steal Jessie’s dad’s ID.

Ultimately, though, we know that Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all like Cloud. They seem to see through the hard exterior pretty easily. So Cloud loses another person in his life.

The ending of FFVII Remake takes an interesting turn. Anybody who played OG or CC knows what is supposed to happen to Biggs and Zack.

But, Remake’s ending seems to imply that they survive the event that was supposed to take them out.

Did Zack survive the last stand? Is this a case of the Last Stand in CC being combined with OG where as they walk away, Zack ends up getting shot anyway?

So we also see Biggs.... wait, wrong picture.

That’s the right one. We get a shot of Charlie Sheen Biggs waking up in a bed in what looks like some type of either infirmary or large room. In OG, we know that all three of the Avalanche members die during the Sector 7 plate fall. In Remake, the only one we get confirmation on is Jessie, and that’s only in the Chapter description.

Wedge we know survives until the Shinra building, where the Whispers ultimately take him out since he defied fate.

So, what will happen to Biggs?

The biggest thing talked about seems to be the ending. Zack surviving created a lot of buzz. Is there a second timeline? Is he going to just simply walk another 10 feet and get shot in the back? Did her survive in the first place? Why does Stamp look different on that bootleg chip bag?

Will we have a beautiful Zerith reunion?

In the OG, the Love Triangle illusion was the red herring. This was mostly to trick and distract the player to focus on something, so later they can destroy you with major twists. It also was used to get the player to like Aerith so her death would be more impactful. In addition, it makes the whole Northern Crater confession from Cloud about Tifa’s opinion being the only one that matters a slam in your face of holy shit what is going on?!

At this point, everybody and their mother knows Aerith dies. It’s not something that was kept a secret. It’s referenced in various materials. The one thing not openly referenced is what’s going on with Cloud. They never reference the Lifestream, the fake persona, or anything outside of the OG and Ultimanias. I think this is a shame since it’s such an important part of his character arc, but I get that they want to try and leave the element of surprise in play.

I think everybody would agree that the moment you find out Cloud was just a grunt that was WITH Zack during the Nibelheim incident is super powerful. I still get chills all these years later. Letting this be a well known thing would take away the element of surprise from new fans. Of course, people can go online and read blogs like this one and know all of this, but for somebody - especially future generations - who may just be looking for a new game to play, you’d want this element of surprise to stay in tact.

We can’t use Aerith as the only red herring anymore, and we can’t use the love triangle. For many reasons. Everybody knows about it and the love triangle was a poor choice for something like this because some people missed the point completely.

Now, FFVII Twitter is always on fire.

Also, even though the Lifestream and Cloud’s true identity are pretty well kept secrets in terms of printed media, most of the people who played FFVII Remake played the original game, they know what happens. People who were new and played Remake first most likely went and bought OG and played it. So now they know what happens.

They knew this, or they probably wouldn’t have shown Cloud in this state, but even for those who don’t, the alternate timeline theory is born. Biggs enhances this theory because he’s alive too. How can Cloud walk past them AND be carried by Zack in some catatonic state?

It keeps us distracted. They want us to think that fate can be changed. In the case of Zack, they’re even saying that the past can be changed.

Ultimately, whatever they do, it’ll be shocking to most players. I do trust that the devs aren’t being deceitful when they say they are going to keep the major plot points the same and FFVII will be FFVII going forward. Part 1 keeps major plot points but adds substance to a lot of things. They took out unnecessary parts and enhanced others. They also removed a lot of the love triangle stuff.

Another striking thing with all of this is the Jessie factor. The Chapter screen tells us she died - it only says Biggs was seriously injured. That hasn’t stopped speculation.

The ending shows gloves on the table next to Biggs’ bed and a lot people said oh it’s Jessie’s left glove! And it does appear that it is. There’s only one glove. To me, this seems like they recovered her body and were able to pull of some personal affects of hers to leave with Biggs. Both articles look damaged or faded.

Faded could mean they’ve been sitting in the sun for a while. The incident happened a few days ago, though we don’t have a definitive time on when we’re shown Biggs. This could be a future look.

They also could simply be damaged and full of dust from the plate collapse.

It is implied in Chapter 4 if you listen to the conversation between Jessie’s mom and the gang that Biggs and Jessie have a different relationship than Wedge and Jessie.

I have some thoughts on what this may mean:

Biggs is Jessie’s BFF and her mom likes him.

Jessie and Biggs dated at one point and decided to not tell her mom that they no longer are or that its casual.

Jessie’s mom was hounding Jessie about finding a man so she picked Biggs to be her pretend boyfriend and he agreed.

Biggs and Jessie are secretly dating and only her mom knows.

Which one do I think it is? Well, knowing Jessie, I can definitely see her doing #3. I can absolutely see her acting like Biggs is her boyfriend to get her mom off her back. I think #1 and #2 are also huge possibilities. #4 is far fetched, but they could cover it up by having Jessie flirt relentlessly with Cloud and appear to be single.

Some people think that Jessie will end up at the Gold Saucer singing. Personally, I really hope not. If they keep a bunch of people alive (even if it’s for a short amount of time), it really takes away one of the major themes of FFVII which is death and moving on. In addition, I think it’s too many people they’d need to kill off later. Jessie is a very popular character, so I hope they don’t take that as an incentive to change that aspect of the story.

Aerith’s funeral and Jessie’s death are similar as well, so I think it is foreshadowing some things.

We get a princess style carry here. Aerith and Jessie both get these in Remake. Jessie’s second one ends in her death. Will Aerith get a second princess carry by Cloud? Will it be to take her to her final resting place?

Maybe she won’t even go to the lake - maybe to the sky?

We know Tifa was super upset in OG, and they really don’t touch on it much. We only see her run away crying after this moment. You learn in Case of Tifa that she’s really upset about, but a lot of people don’t read Case of Tifa, so they only know this scene.

We know that she gets very upset over Jessie’s death.

I think Aerith’s death will be much worse.

It seems Jessie’s death is a reference to how Aerith’s death was handled in the OG.

Will it be handled the same? Maybe. I think they’re going to make it seem like she’s going to be okay, and then boom.

So the ending gives us hope that we have two friends that are alive. It makes us think that we can save Aerith. I do think Wedge’s death towards the end and comments that Red XIII made in Chapter 17 may also be hinting towards the fact that you cannot change the past and you cannot change fate.

Over on Discord, @anesuna brought up a good point about Wedge’s cats. Biggums survives the plate collapse along with Wedge. The other two cats - Reggie and Smalls - sadly perish (::cries a lot::). This could also be a reference that Biggs survived while Jessie and Wedge do not.

So what about the LTD?

I think this is a heavy reference to the old OG love triangle. Don’t fall for it! They’re warning players now instead of wanting them to fall for it.

Why do I say this? Aerith seemed to think the love triangle was fun. Thing is, Cloud wasn’t all there at this point, so it was just an illusion. Since players didn’t seem to get that the first time, they’re going to make it clear now. There were a lot of aspects they seemed to take from Aerith and give to Jessie. Overly flirty (with Jessie they added thirsty) and being overly childish at times. Aerith in remake is still somewhat childish, but not completely.

Oblivious Cloud is Oblivious. Yeah, he was oblivious in OG that Aerith and Tifa had feelings for him. He has no idea what Wedge is talking about now. Earlier in this same conversation he thinks that Wedge is telling him not to come around because people will gossip about Jessie being in Avalanche, but the player knows really what he’s referring to...

I think this is probably a reference to the Gold Saucer date because of the stage part. I take things at face value and don’t really dig too deep, but I think this exchange with Wedge is supposed to tell the player not to fall for these false loves early in the game.

It’s brought up again during Aerith’s resolution scene.

Earlier Wedge said not to fall for Jessie’s trick, because it was a game to her. It wasn’t real love. Aerith is now telling her that if Cloud thinks he falls in love with her, it’s not real.

We have two separate instances in the game where they’re telling you to beware of the false love. It’s two times the word love is used.

After all of this, the ending presents us with two guys who should be dead that appear to be alive. One of them is directly connected to Aerith.

This was their way of trying to shut down the LTD and replace it with different red herrings. Will it work as well as the LTD? Well, it seems that the majority of FFVII Remake fans have talked about the ending.

Yes, a lot of people talk about the LTD, but I think the majority of players are more interested overall in what happens next and what’s up with Zack. I think the majority of the fandom is also ready for the LTD to officially be dead so we can actually focus on everything else and stop the madness.

It’ll never fully stop, but at least it’ll be clear for anybody who plays the game and alleviate the bulk of the chaos.

Say hello to your new red herrings: Biggs and Zack.

Say bye to the LTD.

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fallen-gravity · 4 years

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awaken the stars, ‘cause they’re all around you

Stanford Pines never really believed in soulmates.

He can't imagine the idea that there's one person out there for him in the multiverse who would stop at nothing to love him for who he is, despite everything he is and everything he's done. He can't imagine that someone out there is meant for him, someone who will stand by his side until the end of time.

Or maybe he'd just been looking at it from the wrong angle.

Notes:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, @stariousfalls!!!!! I can't believe we've been friends for upwards of five years now?? You've been a huge inspiration of mine from my first day in the gravity falls fandom back in late 2014, and now you're one of my closest friends. I've been spending the last week and a half working on this behind your back, because I wanted to surprise you with a gift I thought you'd love!!

7.5k words of fluff was....not my original plan, but fluff brain wanted to go feral for you, I guess.

Huge, huge shoutout to @ariasofelegance for helping me keep my mouth shut about this, I absolutely would've internally combusted without your help & support

AO3

Ford never saw the appeal of romantic relationships.

One night when he and Stan were kids, they snuck downstairs in the middle of the night after their parents were asleep to dig through Pa’s “Secret stash” of movies he thought he was good at keeping a secret. They’d thought for sure they’d be coming across bootleg cuts of action movies that were still playing in theaters, or documentaries about how all of the politicians in power were secretly aliens.

What they actually found was much more…sensual. They were both horrified, to say the least, but each time Ford had to turn away to prevent himself from gagging, he’d hear Stan beside him struggling not to laugh.

For years, Ford was convinced coming across those tapes before he was old enough to fully comprehend what was happening in them is what had turned him off to relationships altogether. It certainly didn’t help that he was never able to experience romantic relationships firsthand, as every time he tried asking someone out in high school he’d just be laughed at or called a freak.

Though college was another story entirely, his feelings towards romantic relationships never seemed to change. He went out with a girl from his dungeons, dungeons, and more dungeons club for a few weeks, a guy from his advanced physics class for almost two months, and even tried going out with Fiddleford for upwards of nine months, but he never felt that deeper connection with any of them, no matter how much he wanted to feel that connection.

It’d be forty more years before he learned the term aromantic, but when he was still in college he would brush off his parents’ questions about his relationship status by telling them he was too busy working on his thesis, which technically wasn’t all that far from the truth anyway.

Still, the faint sense of yearning never seemed to leave him be. Whenever he found gaps in his schedule, he would spend hours in his university library reading up on the science of relationships and their place in society. Though he no longer remembers most of the papers he read, one scientific study that’s always stuck with him was a dissertation written entirely on the concept of soulmates.

Everyone has a soulmate, the paper claimed. Though it may be decades until you properly meet, your path always leads to the moment that you and your soulmate are finally united. Once finally together, not a single force on earth can tear you apart. Even if you are apart physically, the stars will always align to bring you together. Weirdest of all, the paper mentioned soulmarks, which were described as “the phenomenon that a person’s very soul is marked with a piece that belongs to their soulmate, which may appear as a physical anomaly on a person’s body, such as an oddly-shaped birthmark”.

Ford had thought for sure that somebody must’ve moved a romance novel into the sociology section of the library as a joke. The only sort of anomaly he had going for him was his polydactyly, and thinking too much about how that could connect him to a single person who was destined to love him gave him a headache.

Nowadays, though, Ford tries not to give it much thought. He’s perfectly happy right where he is, watching the sunrise from the deck of the Stan O’ War II through the steam visibly rising from his coffee mug.

He sighs contently.

“Mornin’” Stan’s voice sounds beside him, gruff with sleep. When Ford turns to look at him, he’s rubbing at his eyes with one hand while he holds a steaming cup of coffee in his other. He’s already donning one of the sweaters Mabel mailed to him, a deep blue with a tropical island and a treasure chest stitched across the chest.

Ford smirks. “You’re up early”

Stan cocks an eyebrow as he sips from his coffee. “A’course I am. I always get up early when we’re docking to see the kids”

Ford blinks, the teasing smirk on his face melting into a gentle smile. “That’s today?”

“Haven’t you checked the calendar lately?” Stan tosses a second handmade sweater at Ford. This one’s the same shade of maroon as his journal covers, and pictures an angry cycloptopus squirting ink towards the bottom left corner of the sweater. “The kids are on spring break. They talked to their parents about letting us have ‘em all week”

Ford is quick to pull the warm sweater over his head. “All week?”

He can’t help sounding like a broken record, but it’s been months since the last time he saw the kids face to face. Sure, they talk over video at least once a week, but nothing beats seeing their smiling faces and having them nearly tackle him to the ground in a hug in-person.

“Heh, you miss em too, Sixer?”

As little as two years ago, Ford would’ve flinched at the nickname. But Bill is gone for good, and Ford knows that Bill is gone for good, and Stan made a promise to do anything in his power to help him reclaim the nickname. He brings his mug close to his face without taking a sip, allowing himself to take in the warmth in his hands and the steam in his face.

“Not as much as you, clearly” Ford smirks, and Stan crosses his arms over his chest.

“You bet I missed them more than you. I’d been taking care of them all summer before you showed up and fell in love with them in half that time”

Ford smirks as he finishes up his coffee and heads into the navigation room to set their course. “By that logic, wouldn’t that mean that I miss them more, since I had less time with them?”

“Hey!” Stan groans as he follows him into the room. “It does not. It means that you don’t know them like I know them, genius. Everyone knows that it’s all about how much time you’ve spent with a person that determines how close you are with them”

Ford laughs as he enters the coordinates they need to get to the seaport they were meeting the young twins at. From the looks of it, it’d be three hours before they arrived.

“Mm, and who put that study together? Was it you?”

Stan doesn’t reply with words, just a noise that sounds halfway between disgruntled and baffled. It makes Ford laugh even harder, and he wipes at his eyes with a wrist. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Stan’s overdramatic pout melt away until he’s laughing too.

The sight of it makes the smile on Ford’s face widen. It’d been decades since the two of them were able to just be like this. It’d been so long since the last time Ford heard Stan’s genuine laugh that he’d gone and forgotten what it sounded like altogether. When he was still traveling the multiverse, he searched far and wide for a shred of hope, something to keep his anxieties and nightmares from catching up to him.

What a fool he’d been to ignore his childhood memories of home.

The trip is a quiet but familiar one. Ford can’t talk much when he’s steering because he needs to be on constant lookout, but Stan remains in the room to talk at him and keep him company anyway. The sun is well over the horizon by the time they reach the seaport, and call it instincts, intuition, or something else entirely, because Ford spots the kids sitting on a bench in the near distance the moment he and Stan step foot onto the dock.

They’re squished closely together, watching a video on Mabel’s phone. Whether they’re aware of it or not, they’re swaying their legs back and forth underneath the bench in perfect unison. On the ground beside them are their backpacks, overstuffed with so many things that both of them are popping open.

Most importantly, neither of them have noticed that Ford and Stan are approaching them.

Ford exchanges an amused glance with Stan, and clears his throat to catch their attention.

The phone nearly stumbles out of their hands in shock when they look up and meet their eyes.

“Grunkle Stan!” Mabel squeals, standing to sprint past Ford to knock Stan off of his feet. Ford chuckles at the sight, but not quickly enough to hear Dipper’s “Great Uncle Ford!”, and before he knows it he’s hitting the floor too. The young twins are laughing messes, and stumble over each other as they try to stand to their feet and help their Grunkles up.

Mabel spits out the hair that stuck to her mouth, and pulls a hair tie seemingly out of thin air to tie her hair up into a ponytail. It’s only now that Ford realizes that she and Dipper are also both wearing sweaters, and if Ford had to guess, it looks like Mabel made both of these sweaters as well. Mabel’s is a galaxy print with actual twinkling stars, and Ford makes a mental note to ask her later what she did to make it glow like that. Dipper’s is also space themed, though his pictures the big dipper splotched across a black night sky with a bright orange meteor shooting through the center.

“You have to tell us about everything you’ve encountered”, Dipper beams, once Stan finishes brushing himself off.

Stan cocks an eyebrow. “Two years’ worth is a lot to get through, kiddo”

“Exactly!” Mabel beams, turning to pick up her backpack and put it on. “Which is exactly why you can tell us on the way to the hotel!”

“Hotel?” Ford and Stan ask in unison.

“Surprise?” Dipper giggles. “Our parents rented us a hotel room for the week cause they figured you’d appreciate some time away from the boat”

“It’ll be like our summer in Gravity Falls all over again!” Mabel grins. “But in reverse! You’re in our territory now”

Stan laughs. “You’re the boss, kiddo”

“You bet I am!” She beams, and hands Dipper his backpack. “Now c’mon! If you tell us all of the horrors you’ve encountered out at sea, we’ll tell you about all the horrors we’ve encountered in high school!”

“I...think I remember those horrors pretty well already, thank you” Ford smiles sheepishly, adjusting his glasses. “But we’d be more than glad to tell you some of our own stories”

It’s a short walk to the bus stop, but Ford honestly wouldn’t mind if they walked all the way to the hotel on foot if it meant an extra half an hour with the kids. They’re just as eccentric as he remembers, attached at the hip but still wildly different people all on their own. Dipper’s still hanging on to every word he’s saying, and Mabel’s still skipping along like she’s in her own world.

Once they reach the hotel and check in, Dipper collapses face first onto one of the beds the moment he steps into the room, groaning.

Stan smiles. “Something bothering you, kiddo?”

He turns on his side to look Stan in the eye, his face smushing into the pillow. “Mabel didn’t let me get any sleep last night. She insisted on getting to the seaport three whole hours early because she insisted that she had this gut feeling that you guys would have the same idea and we’d magically show up at the same time”

Mabel pouts, and sits on the bed besides him. “Well it’s not my fault you stayed up late reading that dumb book of yours. Plus, would you rather have kept them waiting for three hours?”

Dipper removes his hat and places it on the table beside him, exposing just enough of his forehead through his hair to reveal his birthmark. It has the same faint glow to it as Mabel’s sweater, and Ford wonders how the two could possibly reflect off of each other.

“Their boat has beds and a fully stocked kitchen, Mabel. They can afford to wait. All we had were those strawberry pop tarts that you ate five minutes after we got there”

Ford can’t help but smile softly at their banter. He missed them so, so, much more than he could’ve ever imagined. He’s got half a mind to stow them away on the boat at the end of the week and homeschool them both himself so he never has to be apart from them again.

Apart. The word still feels like a knife twisted into his chest. There’s nothing he regrets more than trying to separate the young twins from each other two summers ago because he’d been so caught up in projecting his own fears onto the pair. He’d tried apologizing to Mabel over the whole ordeal, but she stopped him before he could even start to tell him he had nothing to worry about.

He only wishes he could learn to forgive himself as easily as she did.

“...Can we, Grunkle Ford?”

He blushes. Had he just said all of that out loud?

“Can we...what?”

“Take the boat out! Not right now, since Dips is being a grumpy-grump and insists on wasting precious time with a nap, but we’ve been talking about it all week”

From across the room, Stan snorts. “Let me get this straight,” he takes his jacket off and hangs it up in the closet. At this point Ford swears his eyes must be playing tricks on him, because Stan’s old burn scar is glowing just as Mabel’s sweater and Dipper’s birthmark are. “All the time you spent groaning and complaining about fishing every time I took you in Gravity Falls, and now you’re asking to go fishing?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a joy ride,” Dipper yawns from under the covers. “But if agreeing to go fishing is what gets you to say yes, then sure”

He’s smirking under the covers, Ford can tell, because he inherited that expression from Stan.

Stan’s about to bite back, but Dipper must not have been exaggerating about how long he and Mabel were waiting for them at the dock, because he’s already out cold. Stan smiles at him, gently ruffling up his hair before he takes a seat on the adjacent bed, kicking his shoes off so he can kick his feet up on the bed and relax. Ford sits beside Stan, and Stan slings his arms behind him to support his head in his hands as he glances over at Ford.

“They make you wanna retire the whole ‘treasure hunting’ thing and move into the city to be closer to ‘em too?”

Ford chuckles. “I’ve already considered hiding them away on the boat twice today already.” He taps at his chin. “Though I suppose that moving in with them would go over better with their parents then taking them away to live on a boat”

“Hmm…” Stan taps at his chin as well. “Being stuck in the same stuffy high school for four years, or living on a boat traveling all over the world whenever they feel like it? I dunno about you, Sixer, but I have a pretty good idea on what the kids would prefer”

“Grunkle Stan? Grunkle Ford?” Mabel’s voice suddenly chimes in, and Ford blushes, wondering how much of that she just heard.

“What’s on your mind, pumpkin?” Stan asks.

“Well, uh, Dipper was right about us only eating once really early this morning, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to, uh” She twirls her hair between her fingers. “Cook something for us? For old time’s sake?”

Okay, it’s settled, Ford’s never letting these kids go again.

“Sure, kiddo. Soon as your brother’s up we’ll head right back up, okay?”

“Okay!” she beams, and crawls back into her side of the bed, staring at Dipper like she can will him into waking up on command.

Though Ford would’ve been okay if they’d had to wait hours for him, it’s really only about twenty minutes before Dipper opens his eyes again and nearly shrieks in surprise at Mabel’s face hovering three inches from his own. He smacks his hand into her face to shove her away, and she giggles as she rolls off the bed and onto the floor.

Beside Ford, Stan smirks. “Better get up before we leave without you and all our food goes to Mabel, kiddo. You’ve got plenty of time to crash in Ford’s bed on the ship, since he never seems to use it anyway”

Dipper yawns, rubbing at his eyes as he kicks the covers off. “I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep”

“I didn’t realize you were even capable of sleep, bro-bro” Mabel punches him in the shoulder as she walks past him to put her shoes on. He glares at her wordlessly, and Ford has to cover up his snicker with a fake cough.

This time, the bus ride and the walk back to the ship are a quiet one. Ford never really lets himself let his guard down and relax for an extended period of the time, so he cherishes any moment he can get where he finally feels like he doesn’t constantly feel the need to check over his shoulder for signs of danger. Most of the time, if you asked him about his heightened senses, he’d call them a curse. But on days like these, when he can hear the birds chirping and the waves smacking gently against the boats in the seaport, he’d almost go as far as calling it a blessing.

The kids take a seat at the dining table as soon as they enter the kitchen, and Stan grins at them from over his shoulder as he clicks the stove on. “Whaddya say, Stancakes?”

Dipper and Mabel grimace in unison. “Ewwww, Grunkle Stan, you promised lunch!” Mabel scrunches her nose, and Stan’s grin only widens.

“Ah, ah, you said like old times. That means I get to decide what to make, and you have to eat it because I’m your legal guardian”.

“Well I wasn’t even awake when you were talking about old times, so I’d say that cancels out” Dipper crosses his arms over his chest, and Ford can’t help but smile warmly at the three of them as he reaches into the cupboard for his favorite coffee mug. The younger twins clearly had just gotten two copies of the same mug, but crossed both of them out so they’d say #1 GRUNKLES on them instead of #1 UNCLE. Stan has the other one, of course, but he keeps it on his bedside to hold small treasures and keepsakes because it’s, in his own words, “Too special to waste on something as ordinary as coffee”.

Ford sits himself in the seat between the younger twins at their okay, and after some back and forth banter between the four of them, they end up settling for burgers. Truth be told, this is the first time Ford’s eaten a meal in a group larger than two since the last time he and Stan visited the young twins in the winter, and he can’t help but smile into his food at the thought. The closest he’d come even remotely close to eating with others in his research years was his very, very brief time at the truck stop diner, and the experience had soured his view of...well, other people for near decades.

Now, though, he’d burn his own research dozens of times over before he’d even consider eating alone.

Stan’s chair scraping across the floor as he stands pops Ford out of his bubble of serenity.

“Now that that’s taken care of,” Stan cracks his knuckles, smiling mischievously at Dipper and Mabel. “I think I remember a couple of kiddos finally promising their Grunkle Stan he could take them fishing”

“Promise is a strong word-” Dipper starts as he stands to place his plate in the sink, but Stan’s already placing a fishing hat on his head before he can finish his sentence.

“Course you did! You wanna take our baby for a joyride, you gotta earn it first”

Dipper turns to Ford, like he’s expecting him to back him up.

Ford chuckles. “I don’t know, Dipper. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me”.

Dipper scoffs, sitting back down at the table. Mabel laughs.

“Aww, C’mon, Dipper! Aren’t you all about the supernatural? For all we know, Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford could be harboring magical glowing bait that only attracts, like, magical talking fish men, or something!”

Dipper raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just receive a bottle message from Mermando last week?”

“Exactly!” Mabel flashes a grin. “That must mean that he’s in the area!”

Stan laughs. “You tellin’ me you only agreed to go fishing so you could kiss and make-up with your long-distance fish boyfriend?”

“Grunkle Stan, what kind of person do you take me for?” she gasps. “He’s married! You know I would never want to break apart such a loving couple!”

Ford’s smile only warms. Where else could he partake in such a conversation that doesn’t turn heads and result in judgmental whispers? Where else can he just be like this, surrounded by loved ones who are just as weird, just as out of the ordinary as himself? In his younger years he thought for sure his place would be among the monsters and cryptids everyone in his childhood made him out to be, but even in the weirdness capital of the country he felt more alone than ever.

“...Don’t think you’re immune, Sixer” Stan’s voice cuts into his thoughts, and before Ford can ask what he means Stan is smacking a homemade fishing cap on his head. “It may ruin your badass image when we’re monster hunting, or whatever, but we’re fishing with the kids.” Stan gestures to them with his thumb. They’re already outside, leaning over the railing to look out at the water in a perfect mirror of each other. “If they have to embarrass themselves by humoring me for a few hours, so do you”

Ford waits for Stan to join the kids outside before he takes his hat off to admire the stitch work. It’s not perfect, and nowhere near the fancy embroidery he and Stan have found in various markets across their world travels. But it’s personalized, and Ford knows it comes from a place in Stan’s mind that’s been stuck behind lock and key since he was seventeen.

Ford runs his hands along each individual letter, which reads POINDEXTER, before placing it back on his head to join the others outside.

Stan has, miraculously, already pulled out his joke book. Stan’s laughing too hard at his own joke for Ford to really make out what the punchline is, but the younger twins’ collective groans is all he needs to know about it. When Mabel notices him stepping out of the doorway, though, her expression shifts entirely.

“So…” she draws out, stepping towards him. “Is there a trick for attracting merpeople to your boat? I mean, asides from being super cute, obviously”

Ford chuckles, taking a glance behind her to make sure that Stan is out of earshot. “Stan’ll kill me if I tell you this, but they’re really attracted towards shiny things. If you tied one of his gold necklaces around a fishing pole and dangled it into the water, the boat’ll be surrounded in minutes”

Mabel offers up her pinkie finger. “I won’t tell him if you won’t”

Ford interlocks his pinkie with hers, smiling. “I think he’ll notice when a whole family of merpeople show up”

“Hmmm…” Mabel taps at her chin with her free hand, visibly mouthing a plan to herself. “Oh! I know! Come with me,” she beams, and before Ford can even open his mouth to respond she’s already dragging him back into the kitchen. She kneels down on the floor and opens the cupboard below the sink. “Got any empty bottles I can use?”

Ford blinks. “Empty....bottles”

“Yeah!” Mabel pulls a neatly folded piece of paper out of her skirt. “If I can send out my response letter the same time we throw Stan’s necklace over, he’ll never be able to tell the difference!”

“Wait, wait” Ford shakes his head. “You really are dating a merperson?”

“Listening skills, Grunkle Ford” she taps at her forehead, folding the letter back into her pocket as she continues to dig through the cupboards. “Used to date. We met at the Gravity Falls Public Pool, where he was stuck, but then I drove him to the lake in a golf cart I stole from the pool grounds because he really missed his family, and then he was my first kiss, and then we were in a long-distance relationship for like, two months, and I kept every single bottle he sent me, but then we had to break up because he was arranged to marry to prevent a big undersea war.” She picks up a bottle, shakes it, and puts it back when it’s too full for her liking. “I know it sounds, like, super complicated, but it’s all okay, because we’re still pen pals!”

Ford laughs, shaking his head. “No, Mabel, I had to ask because I, uh…” his cheeks warm, and he clears his throat. “Before I...came to term with my orientation, I...dated a merperson too”

The bottles in the cupboard rattle as Mabel’s head smacks against the doorframe. She’s rubbing the spot where her head hit, but there are stars in her eyes. “Really?”

Ford’s cheeks burn even hotter. “Yes,” he whispers, and takes a knee so he can get at her eye level. “Technically he was a siren, but yes, we dated for about a month. He promised me he wouldn’t entice anyone else while we were together, but I guess there wasn’t anything...there.” He turns to help her shuffle through the cupboard, and finds a near-empty bottle of olive oil that’s definitely been sitting down there for at least a year. He hands it off to Mabel, smiling. “I’m glad that things worked out with you, though”

To his surprise, Mabel drops the bottle and throws her arms around him in a hug. “I can’t wait to introduce you! He’s gonna love you”

Ford huffs a quiet laugh, and pulls her close as he winds his arms around her as well. The hug only lasts for a few brief moments, but it feels to Ford in those moments that time itself had stopped. Mabel stands, taking the bottle in one hand and offering to help Ford up in her other.

Mabel places the bottle in the sink and turns the water on to rinse it out before she turns back towards Ford, stretching her arms up in the air as if she were warming up for an exercise. “Alright, here’s the plan. You tell me where Grunkle Stan keeps all of his jewelry, and I’ll sneak in and take his necklace while you distract him. Got it?”

Ford smiles. “Got it”.

As Mabel splits away for Stan’s bedroom, Ford heads back out to the deck. Dipper’s leaning over the side of the boat pointing at something jumping out of the water, rambling excitedly to Stan beside him. He’s holding his fishing hat in his hand to stop it from blowing into the water, and his hair is bouncing in the breeze. It’s just enough for the edge of his birthmark to poke through his bangs, and even in broad daylight it seems to be emitting a faint glow.

“I found it!” Mabel cheers, bounding up from behind him. She’s wearing the chain around her neck, and for some reason the gold seems much dimmer in contrast to her sweater. She takes it off and hands it to him. “You wanna do the honors while I go and throw this overboard?”

Ford smiles, ruffling her hair. “Sure thing.” He walks over to where Stan and Dipper are chatting and picks up one of the extra fishing rods. Making sure that Stan’s too engrossed with his conversation to notice, Ford starts wrapping the chain along the line, and at the signal from Mabel, he tosses his line as far from the boat as he can manage.

Five minutes pass before Mabel squeals so loud that Ford’s afraid his glasses might shatter. He reaches for the gun he knows he’s got stashed in his pants pocket, but when he turns to run to her aid she’s leaning halfway over the boat wrapping her arms around a young merman in a tight hug.

“...so good to see you again!” She’s beaming. “I didn’t think you’d be able to find us so quickly!”

“Yes, well, you were easy to track down after we figured out the coordinates to the seaport” the young man says in a thick Spanish accent. “It is good to see you too! My family was so excited to meet you”

“Your family?” she gasps. “Did they all come with you?”

“Of course!” he grins. “We merpeople are very family oriented. Wherever we go, we go together”

Ford winces at the uncanny familiarity of the statement. Mabel must recognize the statement too, because she responds with “Oh, that reminds me! There’s someone I want you guys to meet! Wait right here,” she says, and comes bouncing back over to Ford. Taking his hand in her own, she starts to drag him back to where she’d just been leaning. “C’mon! He’s the one I was just talking about!”

Three more merpeople emerge from the water when she gently knocks on the side of the boat again. “Grunkle Ford, this is Mermando!” she grins, gesturing to the young merman she’d just been conversing with. “He’s the one I helped reunite with his family after they were separated by tragic circumstances.” She wraps her arms around Ford in a side-hug. “Mermando, this is my Grunkle Ford! He was also separated from his family by tragic circumstances, but I helped with that too!”

Mermando laughs. “Even when you think it’s the end, family always finds its way, doesn’t it?”

Ford laughs, shaking his hand. “It always seems that way to me”

“Awwww!” Mabel squeals. “I knew you’d get along!” She grins, and turns her attention back towards Mermando. “Before I forget, though, did you see where Grunkle Ford threw that gold necklace? If I don’t get it back my Grunkle Stan’s gonna kill me”

Mermando laughs again. “I was wondering if that belonged to any of you!” He takes off his shell necklace to reveal that he’d put Stan’s necklace on around his neck. He takes that off, too, and offers it to Ford. “I much prefer this one, anyway” he clicks his shell necklace open, revealing it to be a locket with a picture of his family inside.

Ford takes the gold necklace back, and he means to thank him, but a bell ringing from elsewhere in the port interrupts him before he can open his mouth. Mermando turns to Mabel, taking her hands in his own. “We must go. I’m so sorry we have to leave so soon, but we merpeople recognize the sounds of fishing boats very easily. We’ll try to come back later this week” He opens his arms for her once more, and Mabel wraps his arms around him in a quick hug before she watches him and his family swim away.

“I am so glad that all you were doing was hugging,” Dipper shudders as he and Stan approach Ford and Mabel. “I’m not sure my stomach could handle witnessing you two kissing a second time”

“Awww,” Mabel punches him playfully in the shoulder. “You’re just jealous that I had a boyfriend before you did!”

Dipper cringes. “If you having a boyfriend before I do means I didn’t have to be the one dating a fish, then I’m glad you were the one who got stuck with him first” He punches her back, and gestures at Stan over his shoulder with his thumb. “But anyways, I came over here because Grunkle Stan says he wants to get out on the open water before everyone else gets the idea, or something”.

Ford pockets Stan’s necklace and makes a mental note to put it away sometime later tonight when Stan is too distracted to notice. “Tell Stan I’m going to untie the rope from the edge of the dock, and when he sees me back on board we’re all set to go.”

Nodding, Dipper bounds off towards the navigation room where Stan must be waiting, and Ford steps off of the boat to take care of everything else. On the way to the bow, he traces a hand along the white painted STAN O’ WAR II, and a feeling of warmth sprouts in his chest. Once back on board, he waves to Stan as he passes besides the navigation room once more, and takes a seat on one of the beach chairs they liked to keep aboard.

Most days, Ford prefers to be the one at the wheel. But every once in a while he just wants to be. All he wants to do is lean back in one of their beach chairs and let the sun warm his face. It’s a good kind of warm, the same way spending time with the kids and heavy rain hitting his bedroom window and planning new escapades with Stan feel warm. After so, so long of only knowing unbearable burns, it feels indescribable to have a constant back in his life that heals, rather than hurts.

“Mind if we join you?” Dipper asks, and Ford glances over to see both of the young twins dragging a chair behind them.

Speaking of healing constants.

“Sure,” Ford says, and can’t help the warmth spilling through his tone. They pull their chairs up on either side of him, and curl up to enjoy the warm breeze. Dipper places his hat on his lap to let the wind blow through his hair, and Mabel stretches her arms out behind her head to act as her own pillow. Ford chuckles silently at the pair, and closes his eyes to let himself relax.

All is quiet when Stan finally finds them a spot out on the open water without a single other boat in sight. The water is nearly still, save for the occasional small wave that gently sways the boat. The sun is at its afternoon high, turning the water beautiful shades of teal and aqua. Fishing is tedious, but it’s careful work, and gives Ford something to put all of his focus into. Two whole hours pass before any of them catch a thing, and Stan laughs himself to tears when it’s Dipper who pulls up a single sardine.

Typically Ford prefers much more immersive activities, but right now there’s nowhere else he’d rather be. The sun is starting to set before they realize they aren’t going to have much luck catching anything, and instead decide to take the boat for another ride around the harbor to look for a better place to eventually watch the stars.

“...Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper approaches him shyly once they’ve anchored the boat.

“Yes?”

He tugs shyly at the edge of his sweater. “I…” he starts. “I know you’ve told me that the multiverse was dangerous, and all, but...was there ever anything you enjoyed about it?” He pauses. “What were the sunsets like?”

Ford chuckles, patting at the seat beside him, and Dipper’s eyes light up as he sits down.

“You’re right,” Ford starts, folding his hands together. “I wouldn’t wish what I went through on even my worst enemies, Dipper. It was practically impossible to get any decent amount of sleep and even harder to find food digestible by human kind. I lost some of my best years to the multiverse when I could’ve gone on to become the most renowned scientist in the world.” Ford turns his gaze away from the sun setting on the horizon to meet Dipper’s eyes, but he’s frowning, eyes cast downwards towards the deck of the ship.

“But,” Ford adds before the poor kid can get too lost in his own head, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It definitely had its perks.” He smiles. “The sun in Dimension 18.2 would emit a sound that mimicked a lullaby every night as it set. Dimension 47’23 had three moons that would shift phases before your very eyes. I haven’t told Mabel because I’m afraid she’ll try activating a portal of her own and run away, but in Dimension 25-12, everyone and everything looks like a watercolor painting. There’s danger in the multiverse, but there’s beauty in equal measure”

“Do you ever miss it?” Dipper fiddles with his hands, like he’s trying real hard not to say the wrong thing. “I mean, I know you don’t miss being lost, or having no idea if you’re ever going to see home again, but...is there any dimension...where you could’ve seen yourself staying, if you thought you couldn’t make it back?”

Ford shifts in his chair so he doesn’t have to twist his neck so much to look directly at his nephew. “Occasionally,” he muses. “I met the most friendly faces in Dimension 52, so my mind does tend to wander there from time to time” he smiles. “But rest assured, there is something in this dimension that makes it my favorite”

“Oh yeah?” Dipper’s eyes light up. “Over every other dimension you’ve passed through? What is it?”

Ford gently nudges Dipper’s shoulder. “You and your sister”

Dipper’s cheeks turn bright red, and he looks as though he’s struggling not to bury his face into the collar of his sweater and disappear. “Really?” his voice squeaks.

Ford nods. “Everything I had in those other dimensions were fleeting, Dipper. At a moment’s notice everything I grew to love could disappear in the blink of an eye. The very thing happened to me in Dimension 52. When I fell asleep, I woke up in a new dimension I didn’t recognize. Things may have been more advanced, and there may have been dimensions crafted to give you your greatest desires, but in the end nothing ever lasted.”

Now it’s Ford’s turn to divert Dipper’s eyes, gaze casting towards the floor. “Stan was cut from my life completely in the dimension that claimed to be a perfect world. I had nobody. Even in dimensions that actively worked towards my happiness, I was all alone” Ford shakes his head, and turns his gaze once more out on the horizon. The sun is still touching the horizon, but it’s dipped just low enough that some of the stars are beginning to show in the sky.

“But...here, at home, everything is consistent. I don’t have to worry about waking up in the morning to find that everyone I love is gone. I can keep everyone in arm’s lengths, even when Stan and I can only communicate with you and your sister over a video call. I’m…” Ford gently squeezes his hands to reassure himself that this is real and now. “...happy. Happier than I’ve been in decades”

Beside him, Dipper yawns, and when Ford spares a glance over at him he’s smiling at him sleepily. “We’re really happy you’re here too, Grunkle Ford” he murmurs, and his eyes slip closed. Ford’s cheeks flush pink, and he has to choke back a laugh because that’s one of the first times Dipper’s felt comfortable enough to call him Grunkle.

Ford stands, so as not to wake Dipper from his nap. A small glance to his right and he catches a glimpse of Stan and Mabel leaning against the side of the boat watching the sunset just outside of earshot of his current conversation with Dipper.

“You finally bore him to sleep with all your nerdy science talk?” Stan asks as he approaches, sparing a glance behind him at Dipper. “Was starting to think that the poor kid would never get a nap in”

“Yes, well,” Ford smirks. “I’m sure it helped plenty that you bored him to death by taking him fishing first”

Stan gasps in mock offense, and slugs him in the shoulder. “Hey, at least I’m engaging them in something they can actually interact with, unlike your kooky alien stories, or whatever”

Ford can’t help the laugh that escapes him. “Bold statement coming from the man who dedicated thirty years of his life rescuing me from said kooky aliens” he says, returning with a punch of his own. Stan opens his mouth to argue back, realizes he has nothing to say, and closes his mouth. The sight of it makes Ford laugh even harder, keeling over and slapping a hand on Stan’s shoulder to support himself. It must be contagious, because it’s not long before Stan is laughing too.

Ford removes his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes, and cleans off the lenses with the edge of his sweater. Once his eyes adjust after he puts them back on, his throat nearly catches in his throat when he glances back out towards the water. He’s just able to catch a shooting star before it disappears over the horizon, and the boat’s just far out enough on the water that there isn’t an ounce of light pollution obscuring the rest of the stars in the sky. He takes a few steps back so he can look up and admire more of them at once, and if he looks close enough he can see them twinkling.

Before he can ask the others if they’re seeing the same thing, a bright flash of light coming from somewhere on the boat cuts into his thoughts. He turns, to make sure that none of the lights in any of the rooms are on, but no, they’d turned those off when they’d started fishing. Scratching at his head, he turns to Stan and Mabel to ask if they have any idea where the light is coming from, but that question catches in its throat as quickly as it formulated.

They’re the ones emitting light.

Or, rather, Mabel’s sweater and Stan’s shoulder, approximately where his burn scar should be. Those are emitting light.

...Surely it must just be the reflection of the starlight on the water, right? That same bright light must have woken Dipper from his nap, yes?

He turns heel to ask Dipper the same question, but freezes in his tracks before he can take a single step forward. Dipper’s forehead is glowing too, the same way it has since he and Stan docked the boat this morning.

It...It can’t be, can it?

Gripping his forehead, Ford takes a number of steps backwards until his back hits the wall. Maybe...maybe he just needs to call it a night. He’s been awake since sunrise, maybe his vision is just blurring because he needs to lie down?

He waves his hands in front of his face, but no, those don’t look any different. He squints, to make sure his hands aren’t shaking, but no, they’re perfectly still.

He squints at Stan and Mabel, just to try and see if his eyes are watering, and-

He gasps.

Mabel’s sweater, Dipper’s forehead, Stan’s shoulder; they’re not glowing; they’re twinkling like the stars. It was hard to tell in broad daylight, but now that they’re surrounded by a thousand shining stars, the resemblance is unmistakable.

But...that’s not possible. If he can see them twinkling, but none of them have said anything about it, that could only be if those were…

...soulmarks.

Ford suddenly feels like he’s going to pass out.

He slides to the floor.

Is...Is that even possible? Ford thought for sure that study he read years ago was nothing but a joke. Someone...who does everything in their power to bring you two together, no matter the cost? Someone who, even though you may not meet for decades, will feel as though you’ve known each other their entire lives? Someone who will do anything for you, no matter the personal expense?

Someone...someone like Stan, who spent a painstaking thirty years teaching himself quantum physics to rescue someone that anyone else would assume dead? The man who sacrificed his very mind, his very life, so he could be spared physical torture?

Or...someone like Mabel, the first friendly face he saw after emerging from the portal? The one who forgave him so easily after he tried to separate her from her brother? The one who insists on calling him a good person, despite all of those he knows he hurt?

Or...Dipper? His kindred spirit in all things supernatural? The one who, alongside his sister, sacrificed himself as bait for the most dangerous being in the entire multiverse? Who saw memories of him at his very worst, and apologized to him for snooping?

After everything he’s been through...could things really work out that well in his favor? To not have one soulmate but three, and the guarantee that they’ll never leave, because they’ve already expressed how they love him so?

There’s a tear streaming down his cheek at the thought, but he’s too distracted by a fourth light suddenly emitting from...himself to really notice.

He spares a cautious glance downward, and notices a pulsing light emerging from his chest in perfect time with his heartbeat. If he looks closely, he notices that the light travels down his arms and ties itself into a translucent bow around his fingers. If he looks closer still, the light looks as though it’s slinking faintly across the deck of the boat and reaching towards the gentle twinkling of Stan and Mabel’s marks.

Ford places a hand to his forehead, throws his head back, and laughs his throat dry, paying no mind to the tears pouring down his face.

#gravity falls #my writing #syd #cool kid squad 2.0 #ILYSM FRIEND

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lokilickedme · 4 years

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Bootleg Christmas, Phase One

Big and I went to Walmart tonight for the sole purpose of buying some wrapping paper. Not a big deal, right? Just go into the store and buy some wrapping paper. So before I begin let me say one thing to preface this: my entire life I have coveted wrapping paper. COVETED it, I tell you. All holidays/celebrations (with the sole exception of wedding anniversaries for some reason) were forbidden by our (ex)church, so in my whole 51 years of existence on this earth I have purchased maybe a grand total of 3 of those small packets of wrapping paper that contain enough for one single gift. Those were for the few times my parents chose to have anniversaries. Oh and once I bought myself a single-gift packet of pretty paper to make a cover for a notebook, but that doesn’t count because it wasn’t for a gift, and even then I felt kinda guilty doing it. So my experience with this particular task is severely limited.

But GOD have I looked. Every holiday season for most of my life that I can recall, I would sneak a look down the holiday aisle at all those pretty, sparkly, bright wrapping papers with snowflakes and reindeer and trees and happy scenes on them. The forbidden stuff. God it was pretty. I secretly loved it so much. But I never bought any, because yeah no, not allowed. Super duper sinful. God would know.

Well let me tell ya, fast-forward to me tonight and you’re reading a whole different story. Big and I went up and down every holiday aisle in that supercenter with big stupid smiles on our faces, sqee’ing over literally EVERYTHING. The ribbons, the bows, the boxes, the ornaments, the...stuff, god I don’t even know what half of it was but it was all so damn PRETTY. Us, every two seconds: LOOK!! LOOK AT THIS!! THIS ONE, LOOK AT THIS ONE OMG LOOK AT IT!!!

Little tin sleighs. Holly leaf wreaths. Ornaments shaped like old timey trucks. Tinsel!! What the hell do you even do with tinsel?? I don’t care, it’s gorgeous I love it. You people been hogging up all the good stuff from us doomsday culters. We had no idea.

Other shoppers kept side-eyeing us but you know what? Who cares. At one point I just said out loud “It’s our first christmas, we don’t know what any of this is for, sorry” and a woman gave us a surprised look, but ended up offering a smile on her way past while we were trying to figure out how stocking hooks work. We were so flippin happy it was almost stupid.

It took us a while to remember what we were actually there for, we got so distracted by all the bright shiny things. And then we went through every roll of wrapping paper in that place. God, so much to choose from. The few times I’d bought paper before it was always for an anniversary, and there would be maybe two or three styles to choose from that didn’t have birthday stuff or whatever on them. So ALL ThOSE pAPErs@!!!!!!! Ugh, I wanted them all. So damn pretty. I don’t even need it, I just want to have it. I felt like Gollum. Everything was my preciooooouusssss.

We ended up choosing lumberjack paper. Big bold red and black flannel plaid print. It was what we both wanted, and even though we didn’t pick something with MERRY CHRISTMAS or reindeers or snowmen on it, we still feel like we did something very very rebellious and borderline sinful. AND IT FELT GOOD.

We brought it home and I wrapped three gifts with it. Turns out I’m a good wrapper, for having so little experience with it. I want to wrap everything and I probably will. It’s okay. We bought a big roll. But I realized after I’d wrapped the second little gift thing that we didn’t get any ribbon or bows or tags, all of which I just sort of...didn’t know we needed. I’m getting the hang of this but it’s a steep learning curve because I am old and this is new.

I’m learning how to stop looking at things as bad or wicked simply because they have winter scenes depicted on them or have certain forbidden words - Merry, Happy, Holiday, Cheer. Imagine being so conditioned against specific things that even the very WORD “merry” is a bad thing in your mind. Holy shit. I still tend to shy away from the stuff with Santas and decorated trees on them, but I think that’s more of a lingering effect of all the research we were forced to do into the origins of “worldly/pagan” beliefs and their "satanic/demonic” meanings (it takes a while to purge that, don’t worry, I’m working on it).

I’ll get past it all, give me time. For now I’m easing into things with reindeer and snowmen. Baby steps.

It feels weird being so clueless, but honestly, not much has ever felt better than carefully putting that big roll of wrapping paper in my cart and heading off to the checkout with it. If this is what being a faithless apostate is, I guess can accept it.

#Bootleg Christmas #phase one is complete #I BOUGHT WRAPPING PAPER

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almasexya · 4 years

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Attack of the Giant What?? (Gorath, 1962)

Like The Mysterians before it, Gorath, released mere months before the hotly anticipated King Kong vs. Godzilla, is one of those science fiction movies that just kind of happens to have a man in a rubber suit in it for a little while. But while Moguera managed to make enough of an impact to return (much later, I’ll admit, and in an entirely different way) the kaiju in Gorath is without a doubt Toho’s weirdest and most forgotten of them all.

Gorath is not really a movie for kaiju enthusiasts, unless those kaiju enthusiasts really enjoy being disappointed. The true antagonist of this movie is the titular Gorath, a rogue planetoid (or stellar remnant, its difficult to tell) on a doomsday collision course for Earth. And Gorath itself is an intimidating beast, a great ball of fire swallowing everything in its path, growing in mass and exploding its way toward Earth. This is my first time watching Gorath, a movie that I’d always been interested in but had just never gotten around to watching. Like many of the others I’ve reviewed, my copy is a bootleg, which as far as I know is the only way to get the original Japanese version. There might be an out of print English dub knocking around on Amazon or Ebay somewhere.

Gorath is a tough one to summarize, so I’ll keep it short. In the late 1970s, a rocket known as the JX-1 is sent on a mission to Saturn, after which it receives orders to investigate a rogue planet known as Gorath, which is heading towards Earth. The crew tragically lose their lives when they’re caught in the object’s gravity, which is 6,000 times more powerful than that of Earth. The UN quickly convenes, and after deliberation it’s decided that powerful jets dug into the south pole could push Earth out of Gorath’s path before it arrives in two years.

The rest of the movie follows the construction of the south pole station, as well as the lives of the characters as they ponder what will happen if they don’t succeed and Gorath strikes the planet. Another rocket is also sent to gather last-ditch data on the star, while the people at home struggle to keep the south pole project operational.

If that all sounds rather grim, that’s because it is. Gorath is eclipsed in its gloominess only by the original Godzilla, since you can’t out-bleak a film that has somber children’s choirs and people getting roasted alive by atomic breath. That said, Gorath gets closer than it has any right to, considering its main plot involves pushing the Earth out of the way of certain death by using a bunch of nuclear rockets.

As always, Ishiro Honda’s direction lends its usual gravity, often mostly in the film’s quietest moments - none of the characters ever get to truly relax, exemplified when a man in a bar, apropos of nothing, casually remarks about the end of the human race when the rest of the cast is trying to let off steam. The usual suspects also make their appearances, with Takashi Shimura playing a venerable doctor (who gets his contractually obligated line about not wanting to see the monster killed) while Akihiko Hirata plays the taciturn captain of the second expedition to gather data on Gorath.

I’ve gone this long without mentioning the monster, so I suppose I should get it out of the way. Gorath contained a kaiju only due to the urging of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, and the way it was shoehorned into the plot at the last second makes it abundantly clear just how much the team had to have dragged their feet on it, let alone how little of an impact it makes. The way the film grinds to a halt as soon as the monster appears, along with how quickly it picks up after it’s gone, speaks to how much the team just did not give a shit about it, though this wouldn’t stop Tanaka from mandating a kaiju in later films.

The south pole station is abruptly attacked by a shoddy-looking giant walrus, who stomps through half a building before retreating, coming out later, and getting buried and shot to death by one single airplane that granted, had a laser on it. Maguma, which is what the walrus is called, though you wouldn’t know it from the movie, is only onscreen for maybe 40 or so seconds before it’s summarily dispatched, after which no one really bothers to mention it again. The American edit excised the beast entirely, and apparently the dub team mocked it, calling it “Wally the Walrus,” and assuming it was some kind of joke. Maguma has not a whit to do with the plot, and removing it takes away nothing from the experience.

The rest of Eiji Tsuburaya’s effects are great, and the final 15 minutes make for wonderful disaster footage, as model cities are flooded, whipped with heavy winds, and obliterated by earthquakes as Gorath passes by. The footage of the UN team bustling about building the jets on the south pole is also some great effects work, with numerous machines and conveyors buzzing around.

Gorath can be a tough one to recommend to the kaiju fan - if the bane of your existence is watching doctors and scientists talk in these movies, you likely won’t be able to get through Gorath. While it has its share of sci-fi tension, the vast majority of the movie is quiet dialogue scenes and they can make the film drag quite a bit. That said, the message of cooperation - that the world must pull together to save itself, is an uplifting and powerful one, and the effects work is far and away some of the best yet seen in a Toho production. Pick up Gorath when you’re in a more pensive mood, and try to ignore the giant walrus.

#monster monday

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thinkofduty · 4 years

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expiavit

"You," says Gisfrid Çesaret, startled more than he thought possible. His bootleg Brigade stands uncertainly around him, hands on hilts but drawing no steel. Had it been her leading this merry band the reaction to an intruder would have been much different, a fact she's grimly smug about. "How did-"

"If you had guards out front I didn't see 'em," Orella says easily enough, keeping her hands where everyone can see them. "Dinner? I'll join you."

The meal is bland for all they've tried to liven it with salt and pepper: gristly peiste stew and mealy bread. Orella enjoys it anyway, ignoring the wary glances that make for a side dish. She goes so far as to ask for seconds and licks the bowl clean before she turns her eyes upon Gisfrid once more.

"A word?"

He leads her away from the rest of his band, deeper into the sepulchre where the wind doesn't whistle through quite as harshly. Despite being a cave system, it's... surprisingly comfortable, with tattered rugs laid down here and there and crates with Ul'dah's seal printed upon the wood serving as both tables and chairs where there's space.

There's even a bed, though no more fancy than a mattress of dry grass, upon which a passing-familar face sists. Once, Orella might have wondered why Gisfrid would keep his squeezes for longer than a night, but the stranger draws an oilcloth down the length of a bare sword and doesn't so much as cast either of them a glance, a far cry from the companions he might once have kept.

"Oh, I see," Orella says, unable to keep the amused tremor from her voice. "You're her bitch."

Gisfrid colours indignantly and opens his mouth to retort.

"Be civil, Gisfrid," says Milleuda Folles calmly, and he turns his head from both of them with a huff, and sits with more force than necessary upon a crate-turned-chair.

Milleuda had been someone else's responsibility, but Orella supposes the years and the desert both have been relatively kind to her. Lines sit comfortably at the creases of her eyes and in a permanent furrow at her brow, but they do nothing more than serve to make her look more attractive in a strange sort of way, and her hair is still full brown.

Despite the lines her eyes are as sharp as her brother's once were. A lesser woman might have flinched at the way her gaze snaps from the blade to Orella herself, but Orella has weathered plenty of firm looks over the years.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your visitation?" she asks, and reacts not at all when Orella pulls crumpled papers from within her leathers. It's impossible to tell whether she recognises her - not that it matters in the here and now, for Gisfrid certainly does - and her eyes alight upon the dossier only briefly before she turns a curious glance toward him.

It takes a few moments of silence before Gisfrid thinks to turn his head to look, and his eyebrows jump a malm higher for seeing the papers.

"The Flames sent you?"

Orella fixes him with a sharp look. "I'm not good enough for you, now?"

He opens his mouth to say something, but falls silent when Milleuda raises her hand. Clearly some changes have been wrought in him over the years; Orella folds her arms, impressed, and lets her talk.

"Why are you here?"

"Is it not obvious?" Orella shakes the papers once. "I'm going after Wiegraf."

Milleuda says nothing and her face betrays less, so she continues, "I presumed you were the ones who went to Ul'dah. I came to get more than this paltry amount of information."

"You thought I would tell you about my brother on a whim?"

"Your brother's a sack of shit," Orella says bluntly, "And you clearly know that, else you'd be with him."

Nothing answers her words but silence, and a scowl plastered on Gisfrid's face. Orella rolls her eyes. "Rhalgr's sack," she curses, "You don't have the guts to leave this place, do you? Either of you. Can't imagine you running up to Little Ala Mhigo, let alone Ul'dah." Still nothing, so she barrels ever on. "It was my mistake coming here, obviously. Still getting others to do your dirty work... pah. Theodoric would be glad to know his legacy lives on."

She stuffs the papers back into her jacket and turns on her foot; she makes it three whole steps before Milleuda speaks, voice soft but firm.

"Wait."

Orella waits, but does not turn back to face them.

"What... Why are you here? What are you planning?"

"I had rather hoped," Orella says over her shoulder, "That you would be able to advise me. I'd quite like to have a good long catch-up with him, but he's not my brother."

Her tone leaves nothing to the imagination; whatever catching-up they do will surely involve their swords.

"He's not," says Milleuda. "He's mine. And I am going to kill him."

***

The sun's lack sees the desert dark enough that every star is clear as day.

Orella has no intention of spending a night with what dregs make up the Corpse Brigade. No - much safter by far to walk through the night and hope for an uninterrupted journey. Amal'jaa and their pet beasties might prowl the same paths as she, but at least she knows where she stands with the beastmen.

She's all set, she thinks, checking herself over at the cave's entrance. Torchlight flickers haphazardly in the evening breeze, casting shadows every which way and making it hard to see if she's tied her bootlaces firm enough.

All set, she thinks, and checks one last time that she can draw her shortsword uninterrupted.

"Orella."

It's Gisfrid; she takes her hand off the hilt of her weapon and turns to face him as he jogs over, leathers creating. No sword hangs from his belt, though she has no doubt that like her he has a knife or three hidden about his person.

"You're leaving?"

She laughs, brief and mirthless. "You expected me to stay? I'm not part of the Brigade anymore, and I thought my welcome was well-worn out already."

The look he gives her is plaintive and her stomach drops, realising suddenly that he did.

"Come off it," she sighs. "You're not that stupid. I don't want to be here. You don't want me here-"

"Then why come at all?" he interrupts, hands balled into fists. "You walked all this way just to mock us? Never thought you could be so cruel, Steelhand."

In her mind's eye she stands shoulder to shoulder with the self that Gisfrid knows. They are different people, this and that Orella, but both well versed in the art of being cruel, the she of before emotionless as she brings a sworn blade down sharply, the she of now revelling in every reminder of her mortality.

"Why give Ul'dah that dossier in the first place?" she asks, ignoring the barb easily, and folds her arms again. "You can't want to stay here forever. Pushing fifty and stuck in exile with a woman that doesn't love you back-"

She's not expecting the punch he throws at her, and catches it with her jaw. With folded arms she can't catch herself, dropping like a sack of bricks, and splutters as gravel makes it into her mouth.

"Ow--"

"Get up." His voice is firm and cold and brooks no argument; she can do nothing but push herself to her feet once more, wary. "If you came here to fight then have some fucking honour and fight me. Don't hide behind words. Did the Garleans make you soft?"

Orella thinks of twenty years of beatings and grits her teeth. It makes her jaw ache.

"Bastard," she hisses, but she's ready for the next punch and catches it, hand tight around his fist. "Now who has no honour? Swings without a warning, opens the gates to the city - what else, Gisfrid?"

She isn't expecting his face to crumple; the fight goes out of him and she drops his fist like it's burnt her.

"Too much," he says. Once, she might have felt a modicum of pity for him, but her jaw aches too much to allow that. "Too much. I'm a coward."

Biting back the agreement that desperately wants to make itself known, Orella waits for him to get to the point. Mercifully it doesn't take long; head bowed, he heaves out a great sigh.

"Milleuda had nothing to do with those papers. I'm the one that went to Ul'dah. I went," he adds, a touch defensively. "And no one knew it was me."

"Were you fishing for old comrades?" Orella asks, casting her mind back to their last - thankfully brief - encounter. It wouldn't be too out of character, she thinks, for him to put a grudge aside in favour of using her.

"No," he laughs humourlessly. "Twelve, no. A miracle, maybe. If you're that miracle..."

He casts a doubtful look over her, and she scowls. "Whatever you're thinking, can it. I didn't come here to kiss and make up."

His face falls the slightest amount. "Of course not."

He put himself in exile, for what it's worth, and left himself there for years enough that he can no longer hide his emotions the way he once might have been a champion at. Either that, or he's the best mummer the realm's ever seen.

"Then what," orella snaps. "Don't tell me you thought you were making up for all your years of sin with that one offering."

He's silent. Orella can't help herself; she scoffs, loudly.

"Really? The barest scrap of information and you think that's enough to absolve yourself? You're pathetic, Gisfrid. Be ashamed of yourself."

"I am," he says, and she hits him in the nose with as much force as she can muster.

"No, you aren't," she says tonelessly as he yells and clutches his face. "Oh, you think you are, but you aren't. I'd have thought twenty years stewing in the desert would have learned you some fucking humility."

He doesn't answer. Orella isn't sure if he's even heard her; she knows how blinding a good clock to the nose can be.

She's... disappointed, to say the least. Raubahn's request would be easy enough to ignore, and she doubts very much whether he'd send the Flames after her, considering their deal is strictly off the table, but she'd promised, hadn't she? And now she's found out that she's no better than she was before after all, neither outgrown nor outrun her past self.

She can feel her younger self at her back and can think of not a single difference between that woman and this one. At her feet, Gisfrid ceases his complaints long enough to glare up at her from behind both hands, clutching his nose as though to keep it attached to his face.

"Well?" he demands. "What are you waiting for, you bitch? Finish the job, or piss off."

She does neither; instead she stoops to grab him by the collar and full lifts him to his feet once more. The effort sets the crook of her arm ablaze again and she ignores it, gritting her teeth. Doubtless she'll pay for the action dearly, but that can be a problem for her come the morrow.

"Third option, brother," she growls. "Get your girl and let's hit the road."

#p07

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ryouverua · 5 years

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Trial 6 - Post-Execution (End)

And from the rubble....

Trial: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

Pre-Execution

The crowd in the theater has dispersed, the lights are off, the cleaning crew has come and gone, and now that everything is quiet and all eyes are looking elsewhere, here they are.

K1-b0 smiled because he knew, damn it. How was he able to avoid hitting them? Or was it that he was shooting blindly (as guided by the outside world) and just had to ‘hope’ for their survival? And when he saw that they had somehow made it, he had the peace of heart and strength to open the dome for them?

Comic relief to the end, huh. Well, it’s probably nice to have someone to keep the mood a bit lighter! It’s interesting seeing them lined up like this, actually. A trio of introverts, and a red/black colour palette. Even if Shuichi’s hair does lean on the blue side, it’s still incredibly muted. There is no way that wasn’t a deliberate choice, but I wonder why....

Ah, and for that matter, Tsumugi and K1-b0 really did trend toward blue themselves. Red vs blue is a pretty classic colour clash in fiction, right? .... Ah, and Kaito’s shirt even had the red kabuki print/make-up representing the ‘hero’ character, right? While ‘blue’ was always the villainous make-up? Maybe I’m reaching a bit, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that was deliberate. if I really want to continue down this rabbit hole, Kaede/Kaito/Kokichi being purple because they straddled the line between hero/villain in the game would therefore be the next logical leap hmm

don’t sound so upset about it sweetcheeks

In the wreckage, I suppose. So... what can we see? What is there to see?

It’s a bright light.... and very obviously not the ruined world from the escape tunnel. .... Right?

Closing ceremonies, complete with the original sprite for Shuichi....

So they can see.... something. But not enough. Nothing clear enough for them to know what they’re getting into.

And look at that... the starry sky, both morning and night. I think I mentioned previous how important ‘nighttime’ was in this game; how all the murders seemed happen chronologically (except Tenko’s, of course, but even that took place in complete darkness). From Kaede’s murder at nighttime, to Kokichi’s death near the end of the night - and then, of course, to the final trial, which took place at the crack of dawn, only for them to be brought down into an artificial darkness again - it just seems so fitting that after all of that, the false sky is both day and night. Dawn and dusk.

It’s a place full of promise, and also so, so much danger.

wouldn’t it technically be 52 if it finished on this one you know what I’m getting ahead of myself

The point is, Sweetcheeks is having a moment of reflection.

he’s a detective not a statistician damn it

The fact that you guys didn’t get crushed by rubble is, frankly, incredible. I’m not mad about it at all, but I’m just saying.

Did they have a way of getting food/water here? I guess if the show ends, there’s not going to be any of that anymore... whatever pathway they had would be entirely shut down.

K1-b0.... was supposed to be a survivor too damn it fhsdflk -

I get that he was acting as the eyes for the audience so him surviving would have been dangerous for their safety! And that his self-destruct button probably had the power they needed to get them out, even more than his lasers apparently!

But still - !

the impossible is possible

I want to hope that there was a little bit of K1-b0 let to save them, but... the idea of them wanting them to live, despite outliving their ‘usefulness’, is a nice thought too. It certainly means they’ll be in better shape to handle what comes at them when they cross over to the other side.

That is pretty awfully brave for someone with an uberfan like Sweetchi97 wanting to break your fingers, but yes! Right! With confidence!

That would probably be a nice change from what they had to go through, at this point... but god, how bitter would that make them, to know that they were created for that. I mean, we obviously saw it in the trial, but getting to live in that peaceful world after going through this would be a totally different experience.

YEAH! YEAH WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?! WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN -

I mean it implies that she was copying, potentially, maybe the real Junko - I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s the immediate thought we’re supposed to have, right?

Damn bootleg ronpas -

DON’T YOU LAUGH AT THAT SHUICHI

........ I’m listening.

Which... could work. But we need to account for the audience. There was clearly an audience that was able to affect K1-b0 in real time, and also react to the trial in real time, right? And that same audience was able to turn on Tsumugi, too...

we need to go deeper

THE WHOLE FICTION BIT WAS A SURPRISE ANYWAY HOW CAN YOU GO EVEN FARTHER AT THIS POINT

mother of god -

.... Oooooh, I see.

Yeah, because there are definitely.... weird things that I remember. The original opening versus what we saw here. There is probably a lot to unpack in that original game-opening chapter. The kidnapping they all remembered, for one thing...

They were definitely a lot more scared, right? And there wasn’t a weird gap between what we saw and the flashback light that followed, right? I mean, we did get an unreliable narrator in Kaede ala Chapter 1 - but it was there between the lines of the text. This would be a complete omission.

So only the players will ever have access to that memory - none of the survivors will ever ‘remember’ that. That’s quite the luxury we have, to be able to rewind and look over ‘forgotten scenes’ like that.

because that would be absolutely mind-boggling to throw yourself into a torture/killing game and erase your entire self so you don’t even get the side-benefit of enjoying it, even if you are so obsessively into it?

every time I see Kaito’s name, a single manly tear is shed

There may be records, though. But to us outside the game - they may as well not exist so, fair. unless the gopher project list was actually the repurposed academy list just sayin’

Fiction inside fiction? A world where this was a knock-off of the real Danganronpa? Something else entirely? The possibility for lies and fantasy are limitless. Until they see the truth themselves, there’s no way to know.

It’s pretty strange - they’ve been trapped in this bubble the entire time, with their reality being projected to everyone outside the walls. Normally the catbox would be inside of the sealed space - but this time, it’s everything outside.

.... If it’s anything like our world, then... yeah. It probably is.

This does sound a bit like the writing team’s way of saying, ‘Look, we actually care a lot for you guys playing, promise! Even if the idea of the previous two games being fictional within a fictional world was heart-breaking, just remember that it’s the feelings that they drew from you at the time and even now that really matter in the end!’

I think... to borrow from the vernacular of the game, the proper way to read this is to see lies as ‘stories’. Beautiful stories told to make the world a better place - or to even inspire the real world to become better. There are inventions and leaps in technology that only came about because they were inspired by fiction! Lies becoming truths... honestly, our current era is proof of that, for good or for ill.

And hell, stories are often a vehicle of delivering a message or certain truth to the audience, right?

Moving bravely forward. Good damn luck, kids. You’re going to need it... but you can handle it. I believe in you.

This... really is like the ending scene from the first game, complete with the ambiguity. We just have to hope that things will work out for them. I think... we can believe that things will turn out okay.

Aaah Himiko, I do like how you were able to slip one more quirk in for the road.

And then they... cross... the threshold.... from their side.... to ‘ours’. Is that it?

Oh, wow! Okay, we’re zooming out -

Farther than I thought -

Oh???? The logo, all over this sphere? An entirely sealed in sphere, where no one can get in, and no one can see in outside of the cameras? With their logo plastered on everything, because they weren’t afraid of it being seen or - ?

(Was this story able to change something?)

(Was this story able to change someone?)

(Was this story... able to change the world?)

.......... Hey, to everyone who made it this far? Thanks for sticking with me. <3

#Ryou plays drv3 #Shuichi Saihara #Maki Harukawa #Himiko Yumeno #spoilers #drv3 spoilers #THE STORY ISN'T OVER.... BECAUSE THERE'S POST-GAME BABY!

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mysticdragon3md3 · 5 years

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Things I learned from 7 years of collecting Nendoroids (part 1?)

- Preorder. Always. Not only does this make things easier later, when you're at conventions and worried about booths' stocks getting sold out before the lines cap off, but it supports the companies (both Good Smile Company, so they can keep making figures, and the anime production studios so they can keep making anime). Those preorder bonuses are pretty sweet too. But most of all, if you’re buying a popular character, the preorder is the cheapest price you’ll find. Those after-market price increases after the figure is actually released will go as high as the popularity and demand of that character will allow. So better to just preorder before you get scalped. - Group order. I've been doing group orders with my brother for several years now, and it really diminishes the argument that ordering directly from Good Smile is too expensive. Sure, the only shipping option is that expensive $20 EMS shipping, but if you split the cost with other people, it becomes much cheaper than buying from a store, where they'll generally charge at least $10 more than the MSRP to cover their own shipping costs, in addition to the after-market price increases. - Wait to place your order near the end of a preorder period. Good Smile's social media hypes up the day a figure's preorder window opens and encourages you to "preorder today!" ...Yeah, don't do that. It's a little known fact that Good Smile will only charge shipping for the first box in an order; the rest of the boxes are free. If you order 10 figures and only 5 of them are released at the same time, Good Smile will mail that first box for $20; then when 2 more figures are released a few months later, those are shipped for free; then when the last 3 figures are released, they're mailed out for free too. And I can't blame Good Smile Company for not letting that information spread around. My brother and I have saved a LOT of money, gaming that feature. If you order each figure, immediately when their individual preorders open, each figure getting its own individual order, then you're paying $20 shipping for each of those figures. That makes every figure $20 more than its listed price. Each order with only one figure in the entire order, will charge full shipping for every single figure you order. But cram in as many figures as you can into a single order, and that $20 EMS shipping is dispersed. So instead of placing only one figure in your order and that $60 Nendo getting saddled with $20 shipping and jumping to $80, place 10 figures into one single order, and that $20 shipping gets divided into only $2 extra for each figure. Then your $60 Nendos only jump to $62 instead of $80. Figure preorders are generally open for around a month, and during that month, several other figures could open up their preorders. Cram as many open preorders into any single order as you can! Because $2 shipping for each of 10 figures is better than $20 shipping for each figure. (Then top that off with a shared group order, like I have with my brother who is also preordering 10 figures, and suddenly I’m only paying $1 extra shipping fees per figure.) - Hold off on those after-market marked-up buys. It's been joked about in web comics now, that every time you give in to buying a Nendoroid at the after-market price, because you just have to have that character...Then Good Smile will immediately announce a re-release. -.-; I've fallen into this; every figure collector has fallen into this. But now with more KanColle "Kai II" versions and Marvel "DX version" Nendoroids, there's now a very similar problem of buying a figure, and though it doesn't immediately get announced for re-release, a better revised version of the same character gets announced. Sure, those "DX versions" cost more than the original versions, but with the price increase on all figures after their release date, prices found in online stores for the original figure, are pretty comparable to just preordering the "DX version". And the more years pass, rereleases seem more and more frequent. Each time another character from the same series is released, Good Smile often does a second print run / rerelease of the Nendoroid of a previous or main character from the same series. It’s become a pretty consistent pattern. And sometimes they’ll just rerelease a figure becasue their series is getting another season after a long hiatus or their videogame is getting a new port. So unless you’re buying during intense sales, like Black Friday, or have insane discounts/coupons/reward points with a store, it’s better to just wait and trust that a re-release will come. ...And if they don’t, you can request rereleases on Good Smile Company’s Product Inquiry Form too. (Product Inquiry Form will be discussed in the bullet point “Request figures”, listed below.) - It's okay to throw away the boxes or packaging. Most of me still feels like this is a cardinal sin, but practical space reasons necessitate that I can't keep it all anymore. Most of us in this situation recycle the plastic "bubble" packaging, fold away the boxes, and keep them collapsed as preserved official art. But there are people who throw away the entire box, official artwork and all. And knowing that really helps alleviate the guilt. But if you're planning to sell your figures one day, then keep all the packaging and boxes. On the other hand, there are stores like J-Figure who will buy used Nendoroids and are willing to sell them without boxes. - Use My Figure Collection. https://myfigurecollection.net/ Firstly, their databases take a lot of the unknowns out of buying figures for the first time, or from an unknown store, or if you’re worrying about bootlegs. Every entry for a specific figure will list if a bootleg exists, and often photos of the actual bootleg so that they’ll be easier to spot and avoid. Their store database lists online and physical shops, as well as proxy buyers, listing them by alphabetical title or by country. And every entry in their database rates each store, including multiple reviews from the hundreds of users of the MFC website. They will warn you if a store is known to sell bootlegs, if they have bad sales practices, what their shipping policies are, if they have restrictions for first-time buyers, etc. It’s incredibly helpful, especially if you’ve never done international orders before. Outside of their database, signing up for an account allows you to keep track of your collection. Sure, there are some data points that MFC does not have entry fields for. Like dates orders were placed for a figure. But it is so helpful to avoid duplicate buys, keep track of budgeting, and when figures are coming in. At least in America, if you're not home when your figure is being delivered, the post offices will hold packages for only a short amount of time, before they are mailed back to sender. So you need to constantly check to make sure they didn't attempt a failed delivery and are already starting the clock without your knowledge. MFC's quick roll-over popups with release dates, really help me stay aware of when to expect figures. Otherwise, there's nothing like waiting months for your Nendo, only to find that not only did you miss it, but you're going to be missing it for maybe another month or more. Fortunately, you can just contact Good Smile and they'll re-send the figure. (I'm not sure if that's for free though. But I expect it would be?) - Watch unboxing video reviews. Maybe a figure has been released for a while and it's a good price to justify any after-market mark-ups. If it's not a character you care about, but you just gotta have those accessories for some other figures in your collection, make sure they do what you need. Sometimes you'll have an idea for a custom Nendo, a custom assembly of parts, but then you get them home and find they don't fit. Official photos and official reviews don't try to mix parts between characters, so they often won't show the full details of how things work/fit. Official sources will only show the figure, in and of itself, doing only what limited poses they intended. If you're going to do more than that with your display or figure photography, check out the unorthodox angles of an unboxing video. - Read Kahotan's Blog. https://mikatan.goodsmile.info/en/ Despite my previous point, that's not to say official reviews have no use. Kahotan's Blog is the official blog with behind-the-scenes reviews of upcoming Nendoroids BEFORE they are released. This makes the decision easier to preorder before dates close and after-market prices mark-up. And Kahotan's Blog photos will often have more angles and even a few animated gifs demonstrating special features of a Nendoroid. Like the swivel joint in Tracer's hair. And yes, the URL says "mikatan.goodsmile.info". The blog used to be "Mikatan's Blog", until she left Good Smile Company. And right now there are multiple people writing on Kahotan's Blog, at times. Don't let it confuse you. These are all official Good Smile employees with insider reviews. - Request figures. Often on Good Smile's official social media, people will essentially comment, "This figure announcement is trash! Where is such&such character instead?" There's really no reason to do this. Especially when you can say, "This character is great too, but I'd love a Nendoroid of such&such character <3" or "I'm happy this character's fans are getting a Nendoroid, but any news on such&such getting a Nendoroid?" Granted, Good Smile representatives have said to inundate/"harass" them with requests on their social media, so they know what we want. But I'm certain they meant "harass" as a joke. And here's something for all the people complaining about requests for such&such character, on Good Smile posts announcing another Nendoroid: What do you think these companies have social media accounts for? Make no mistake, their social media is for MARKETING. They want to know what we will buy and what would be worth their money to allocate resources towards making. They _want_ us to express what we want. Hell, Good Smile is even willing to change features of announced figures with prototypes already approved for production, before their release dates, even after their preorders opened. Legend of Korra got added element accessories and another faceplate, and those were retroactively added to everyone who had already placed their preorders. They changed the eye colors of both Harry Potter and Kingdom Hearts's Riku, just because of Facebook comments. Good Smile's former representative Mamitan used to tell the story of how Nendoroid Menma got a rerelease because people in the comments on every post about other figures/characters were all, "We want a re-release of Nendo Menma!" So if you're one of those people who went to the comments section of a figure announcement, expecting to see nothing but fanboying over just that figure, and are inexplicably angry when people discuss other figures/characters, then I don't think you understand why Good Smile bothers maintaining their social media in the first place. https://partner.goodsmile.info/support/eng/productrequest/ Good Smile has actually improved their figure request process. The Product Request Form has recently gotten its own page, whereas it used to be part of the form for reporting product defects or asking bootleg verifications. It's become more streamlined, more user-friendly, and more inviting for frequent use. I can understand why the Product Request Form is still buried under their Customer Support pages. They can't address all figure requests, especially if it becomes a deluge. But it is a much more productive form of requesting Nendoroids than just trashing whatever figure announcements they just posted on social media. And Good Smile has said at their anime convention panels that if they get 3,000 to 5,000 requests for a figure, they'll consider making it. And it has worked, multiple times before. So it's always worth filling out the form and informing friends to do the same. - Unbox your figures. There's been a long-standing culture established by American action figures, that boxed figures, with packaging that's never been opened, are more valuable. This is not true of Nendoroids. They are made form a type of plastic which needs oxygen to maintain itself. Good Smile representatives have repeatedly warned that Nendoroids which do not get air, develop strange yellow and/or black spots or tint. As I understand it, most of the plastics used to make anime figures are constantly evaporating off their plasticine, the ingredient used to soften plastic for manufacturing molds. If these emitted plasticine vapors are trapped within box packaging, they will bounce back to the figure and begin to melt its surface. I've dealt with this on some Ranma 1/2 trading figures (not even from Good Smile Company) and it is slimy, takes some patient cleaning, and always puts figures in danger of losing their surface details. Unbox your figures! Let them air out. And if your display cases are air tight, give them regular internals to breath. I was lucky that my Kagome and Lucky Star Figma actually melted my display case base, instead of the other way around. That plasticine will react unpredictably with different plastics, so make sure they are regularly aired-out. - Use display cases. Granted, my previous point seems to make a case against display cases, but they are still more useful then they are trouble. I used to keep my figures in open-air on shelves...Where they would gather cakes of dust. Then every once in a while I'd have to scrub them with a dedicated soft-bristle toothbrush. And I'd wonder, is this the cleaning session where I scuff a paint job? It's just a lot easier to put your figures into display cases. You don't need big expensive display cabinets. You don't even necessarily need display boxes. Because display boxes can become more expensive with size, I use clear folded gift boxes for my larger figures. These clear "gift boxes" are often at craft stores in the gift wrapping section. There was even a time clear paint cans were trending as gift boxes, and I used some of those to display figures. But where hard display boxes/cases can be $20, a collapsible gift box is generally around $1 or less. They're too soft to stack, but sometimes you just need to keep the dust off. Well, most of the dust. Foldable gift boxes are still not very rigid, and their folded sides do have a tendency to dome up. But I think this lets just the right amount of aeration inside, while keeping most of the dust away. Don't just get Ikea's Detolf. There are some good thrift store finds for less cost. I got my display cabinet from a local thrift shop for $30. Daiso's $5 "Collection Box Arch" can hold 6 Nendoroids if you angle the Nendos' bases. (As long as the Nendos don't have tall ahoge nor are floating with big wings.) - Carry a Nendoroid with you. Whether you're on vacation or running some errands, you never know when a cute photo op might appear. And even a less interesting outting becomes eventful, when looking for good compositions and having your Nendoroid interact with the scenery. Get a small plastic hard case, line a tin with cushioning felt/bubblewrap, or get a small plastic food container, and carry around your Nendoroid. - Birthday greetings. Figure photography doesn't have to be a self-contained diorama. Some very interesting figure photos break the "fourth wall". Nendoroids make great birthday messages to friends, because they're so cute, no one cares if they don't know the character.

- You don't have to buy figures of characters you don't know. I have no grievances with collectors who care solely for figures as "beauty pieces" regardless of any attachments to character or knowledge of a series. I'm just warning that it can be an unnecessary use of budget. I've wasted a lot of money on Nendoroids which were pretty, but don't have that extra worth of feeling personally attached to the character/series. Some are worth it, but not always. I remember there was a time that I almost bought a Figma Kirito because I love long black trench coats, even though I didn't know SAO (and would later not care much for it). But by 2017, Figma Joker was announced after I had gotten into Persona 5, and suddenly there was a character I already loved with a long black trench coat. It's like waiting for a rerelease. If you just wait, a figure announcement will appear, more perfect than previous options. (Actually, that was advice I got from the sword collecting community. "You don't have to kill your budget with every beautiful sword you see; a better one will inevitably come along.") [I don’t know why I stayed up to write this. If I write more, it'll be a part 2.]

#figure collecting #nendoroids #tips advice suggestions #nostalgia

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disinvited-guest · 5 years

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12/31/2018 Philadelphia Recap

The wait for this show was absolutely wonderful, as I got to reunite with old concert-going pals (in case you were wondering, @monopuffstan and @integrityproject remain as wonderful as ever) and meet several new ones. Even if the concert hadn’t been absolutely wonderful, hanging out with all of these awesome folks would almost have been worth the trip itself.

We had a wonderful, if cold and soggy, wait. Flans walked right through our line to get to the venue with a polite “excuse me.” I happened to be one of the people in his way and I shuffled to the side, mortified.

Once we got inside, things became a bit less jovial. I did not get along with the people to my right, who were more than a little drunk. I’m not going to include their antics in the recap, but they did have a negative effect on how much I could hear and see of what was going on onstage. Reminder: there is a bootleg of this show floating around, so you can listen to what I missed.

JoCo came onstage at 9:20 sharp wearing a tuxedo with a very stylish bow-tie. After playing Artificial Heart, he commented faux-disapprovingly on what the crowd was wearing “I thought this was a party!” He told us he had never played a show in a tux before and was worried for two reasons: that it would restrict his range of motion, and that he would sweat through it in 5 minutes.

He played Shop Vac, then mopped his face with a towel and warned us that it was happening. Someone shouted at him that he should take off his suit, and he responded that there was “nothing underneath.”

The crowd cheered at this, but JoCo responded that we were cheering now, but “after, you’d be disgusted” and that he’d be all over the internet the next day as a “weird asshole.”

Introducing Future Soon, he told us that instead of looking back on 2018 we should look forward into the Future. Afterwards, he took of his bowtie, warning the crowd that this was “As far as I’ll go.” He introduced the next song as being about getting old and being sad about being old “but that’s okay,” which led into Glasses.

“I have a new album,” he told us after the song ended, “It’s called Solid State and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.” When the crowd cheered in response, he gave a world-weary sigh and continued in a grudging voice. “Of course we need a concept album about sci-fi.” He sighed again, then added “And how the internet kind of sucks now.” Another sigh “And how technology will either destroy us or save us. One last huge sigh and then “And I’m sorry, but there’s a companion graphic novel.” With the crowd cheering counterpoint to each on of his sighs, it was truly hilarious.

While messing with the laptop he had onstage, JoCo told us that “The album makes a lot of bleep bloop sounds. This is just a normal acoustic guitar. It doesn’t make bleep bloop sounds, so I brought out this. This is a computer.”

The computer made excellent bleep bloop sounds as JoCo played All This Time. Putting his guitar down after the song was over, JoCo picked up the machine with knobs and buttons all over it (If you haven’t seen him play Fancy Pants on this thing, my description isn’t going to do it justice. I’m begging you to look it up on YouTube.) He warned us that on this machine “Even when I’m well-rehearsed, I’m barely hanging on.”

He immediately put the lie to his words by showing off a bit of what the machine was programmed for. He then explained the song, verse by verse, before actually going into the song. I was unprepared for just how glorious it was. He added a bit of Auld Lang Syne into it, singing along a bit before declaring that no one knew the words anyway, and a bit of Single Ladies, and topped it all off by having the machine tell us “Gonna be the best in everybody’s pants.”

After returning to his guitar, JoCo brought up his wife, which got a cheer from a few people in the crowd. “Some fans of my wife here,” he said, bemused, before moving on with his story.

Apparently, before he met his wife, she wanted a tattoo, but didn’t have a particular one in mind. “Which I later learned was typical of her, to have a goal in mind without considering the steps in between.” She looked through the books in the parlor, “like

at a barbershop” JoCo explained to us, and picked out one she liked. She got the tattoo, but regretted it. Once he and his wife had started dating- “and I had an opportunity to see it,” he added in wickedly, getting a cheer from the crowd- he asked her about it and she grumbled that it was stupid, and she had just wanted the idea of a tattoo. Recently though, his wife went in again and got quotes put around the tattoo, so now it is actually a tattoo of the idea of a tattoo. All this talk of tattoos led, of course, into the song Your Tattoo.

JoCo mentioned that They Might Be Giants would be on his cruise, but that it was too late to buy tickets because it was sold out. He told us it was a missed opportunity and that we should have followed his blog. He then introduced the next song, I Feel Fantastic as a “song about how you’ve all made me feel tonight, but it’s also about being on drugs.”

Afterwards, he left the stage as we cheered. After a few seconds, Flans came onstage, a scrap of paper in his hand. The crowd’s cheering greatly increased. He came up to the mic and announced “The owner of a blue Dodge Neon double-parked in front of the venue. Move your car or you will be towed.” The paper in his hand did say something about the car, so I have no doubt it was there, but somehow the context made it hilarious. Having gotten all car-related news out of the way, Flans announced “Jonathan Coulton, everybody!” leaving stage as we cheered JoCo back on.

JoCo thanked everyone, then had us practice our “part” for Re: Your Brains. The first time around was too good. He explained “Zombies get distracted. They can only think about how much they want brains. Some weren’t good singers to start with and rotting doesn’t help.” Our next attempt was much better/worse, so he started into the song. Afterwards, he thanked everyone once more and left the stage.

Immediately, that same stage was swarmed by the crew. I got a glimpse of Fresh’s socks, which were full-color prints of a basketball player in the middle of a slam-dunk. There was no riser for Curt, confirming that he wasn’t there.

The intro music came on quickly, followed by the band. There was very little banter at this show. I think they were worried about what point in the show they would take their break for midnight. They played their first several songs without pause, starting out with The Communists Have The Music, then Twisting and I got a mouthed “hi!” and a smile from Danny. During Why Does the Sun Shine, Linnell told us that everything on the sun was a gas “copper, things that aren’t gas, iron, and even gas.” He told us he was doing a voice so that “the tone of voice makes you think I’m condescending and impatient.”

They played Birdhouse in Your Soul, then went into Particle Man pausing only long enough for Linnell to grab his accordion. He didn’t add another song into the interlude, simply switching into a minor key for a description of triangle man. During the Famous Polka, Dan and Linnell executed a wonderfully in-synch kick (though not nearly as high as the Flans kick photo that’s been going around from that evening). The audience all contributed to the song, chiming in with a fair imitation of the “doop-doop”s the bridge has in the recorded version. It was one of those crazy-beautiful moments of serendipity you only get at tmbg shows.

After Famous Polka ended, they had the first banter of the evening. Discussing his day, Flans told us all a story about his stop at a Popeyes next to a museum he had visited. At the Popeyes, he was waiting next to two women and a man speaking “not-from-this-country” Italian. He then pointed out to the guy that Popeyes! also spells ‘Pope yes!’ and the group found it hilarious (after the guy translated the joke to his companions). Flans felt like it was a great start to the the year, and was about to say more but broke off to add to his story. Apparently one of the women “the only English word she knew was ‘leg’” had done the Pope blessing thing with a chicken leg. Flans demonstrated the motion to us, then said that in the new year he wanted “less of this-” miming pushing something away, “and more of this-” repeating the chicken-leg blessing.

Linnell decided that there were “little dramas like that going on at every stop on the turnpike.” He decided that at the Molly Pitcher stop they were chanting “We want a pitcher not a chicken-leg itcher” This prompted them both to start listing stops on the turnpike, some real and some decidedly not. Eventually, they decided they were losing the crowd with all of their outdated references. Flans asked Linnell if he was still jetlagged. Linnell responded that he was, then explained to us that he was still on Scotland time, where “it is very late at night right now.”

“That’s what this next song is about!” and they started into Memo to Human Resources. I was so excited that it took me a few lines to calm down enough to actually pay attention to the song. I’d been chasing it all year and honestly thought I’d never hear it live.

Flans introduced the next song quickly “We have a new album out. It’s called I Like Fun and this is I Left My Body.” From there they went straight into Science is Real. It was the first time I’d seen them play it without Flans using a cheat-sheet for the lyrics, and he did mumble a few of the words he forgot.

I believe it was here Linnell brought up Clara Barton as another potential stop on the turnpike, and both Johns began asking the crowd about the nature of the stops; if there were criteria for naming them, if there was a list of stops, etc.

Eventually, Flans introduced Dan Miller on the keyboards “anything is possible!” Dan extended his index finger like he was going to play a note, then pulled it back, shaking his head. Danny watched the whole process with extreme interest.

“Don’t mess with those dials.” Flans told Dan.

They played Let’s Get This Over With and Doctor Worm, during which Flans was a bit distracted, looking of stage a lot, and even heading off once or twice. During the Doctor Worm solo, Danny had to cover a bit of his part.

Flans came back downstage and they played Robot Parade, starting slow and gradually becoming more and more rocking. Flans attempted a human theremin during this song. He gave the audience 15 seconds “for people who know what a theremin is to explain to people who don’t know what a theremin is.” He then counted down the 15 seconds. I’m not sure how much explaining was done, as a large portion of the crowd counted down the 15 seconds with him. He then gave a brief explanation and began. It didn’t work super well and he wrapped things up quickly, but it was fun to be a part of.

Next up was a quick introduction to Trouble Awful Devil Evil, and it was also when my asthma started acting up. I used my inhaler and when I refocused on the stage Danny was watching, presumably to make sure I was okay. After Linnell put down his little clarinet for Trouble Awful Devil Evil, Flans briefly introduced him on the Contra Alto Clarinet before they played All Time What.

Flans had Dan play a note on his guitar to show off the synthesizer, which Linnell claimed could “make a guitar sound like any instrument.” Dan made a face and Flans amended “Well, any instrument purchased at a Radio Shack.”

They played We Want a Rock, then went straight into Bills Bills Bills. During the start of the song, Dan posed next to Danny, guitar held at a precise angle, foot tapping. He then nudged Danny and demonstrated the pose for him until Danny copied the pose and played that way together for a few bars.

Afterwards, Flans told us that the count-offs for the evening were “provided by Al Gore.” He then proceeded to explain to us that they had seen other bands start without count offs and had been really impressed, but then “we switched and no one noticed.”

“Until now,” Linnell told him.

The two debated whether or not it was too technical for the audience to understand, but then Flans decided we were pretty smart “Three-fourths of them knew what a theremin was,” and they played Letterbox.

They moved from Letterbox into Spy. The ending was as fascinating as always, with Flans and Linnell each adding their bit, but rather than actually ending the song, they simply transitioned straight into Dan’s intro to Istanbul. It was great to see the song getting the full Dan Miller treatment once again. He was truly amazing. At one point, he was playing one-handed, just plucking at the frets, at another point, he pointed to the crowd for a cheer before continuing on. He even attempted to trick the rest of the band into thinking he was wrapping things up (they all got ready to start) before continuing on for another several seconds. The whole thing was glorious.

During the song itself, Danny gave me a goofy look, and I snorted in response, then immediately covered my nose, embarrassed. Danny cracked up laughing and walked away. During one of the fake endings, in the space where Dan and Curt had ‘battled’ in other 2018 shows, Dan and Danny did the same for a bit, switching off for a few lines, which was amazing.

As the song was wrapping up, Flans went around getting everyone's attention and wiggling his outstretched fingers at them. This marked their departure from the setlists and led, accurately and amusingly, into Fingertips.

During I’m Having A Heart Attack, Flans did his boy band bit, but instead of facing the audience for it, addressed off stage right, where I had noticed Robin hanging out in the wings earlier. I don’t know if she was still there, so I’m not sure if it was intentional or not.

Dan did the first of the two whispered “Fingertips” without incident, but as he was about to repeat himself, a guy in the crowd shouted “Fingertips!” in the near-silent room. Dan pointed in his direction and steps back from the mic and the band moved on to I Walk Along Darkened Corridors.

They went straight into The Guitar from there. Trying to get close enough to midnight, they ended it with a big solo for Danny which was absolutely amazing! Danny never gets enough time to shine in my personal but admittedly biased opinion and this was an amazing chance to see all that he could do. Dan and Linnell stood next to each other behind the keyboard to watch Danny. Dan looked over to Marty, keeping time on his set, and motioned to him that he stunk, pinching his nose and grinning. Marty must have responded with a worried look because Dan immediately waved it off and gave him a thumbs up. Linnell did the double point to his eyes and then to Marty in an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture.

Danny’s solo was truly amazing, it was well over a minute in length and just when you thought it couldn’t get more awesome, it did. The whole thing was made even more interesting by the fact that, since it was somewhat to stall for time until midnight, every so often Danny would glance over at Flans to check how much longer he wanted him to keep going. Eventually, they wrapped up the song and a sweat soaked Danny accepted a new water bottle from Fresh while toweling off his face.

There was still more than a minute before midnight when The Guitar wrapped up. Linnell decided we should “take a moment to remember the people in the crowd we lost along the way.” The Johns went back and forth on this idea for a while, with Flans mourning “the people who were brought by their friends and are never coming again.”

Eventually they brought up a projection that had instructions for counting down, screaming for 2019, the words to Auld Lang Syne, etc. The countdown was started at 15 seconds to midnight, but the crowd started out too slow, and in trying to catch up began counting too fast. We overshot our goal and began celebrating the New Year a second or two too early. They played Auld Lang Syne into an absolute explosion of confetti as things onstage devolved into an absolutely beautiful chaos. Fresh, who was helping the confetti tech load the cannon, was eventually pushed out of the process by an incredibly enthusiastic Flans, who loaded the cannon at double speed and moved it back and forth so it would hit everybody. The confetti got absolutely everywhere, covering the stage and the crowd for the rest of the show.

Onstage was an absolute hugfest. Danny hugged Dan, then went over behind the drum riser to hug Marty. Fresh got a hug from Marty then ran offstage pumping his arms like he’d just won a prize. Dan lifted Marty off of his feet while hugging him. There was evidently champagne offstage as someone later set the bottle on an amp. Flans chugged some directly from the bottle.

As the last of the confetti settled, Flans took the fan that was set up onstage and began using it to clear off some of layer of confetti coating absolutely everything, making a joke about needing a clear stage. Danny scooped up big handfuls and ran around throwing them over people in the crowd. At one point, Marty saw him at it and asked why he hadn’t thrown any confetti over his head. Danny eventually obliged, although he waited until the encore when Marty wasn’t expecting it. Linnell had the opposite problem, seeing Danny carrying a handful of confetti and worrying it was meant for him. Danny saw his worried expression and indicated it was meant for the crowd and Linnell relaxed. The crowd itself was also throwing big crumpled handfuls of the stuff, which packed a bit more of a punch than the drifting flakes, and just about everyone, onstage and in the crowd, got hit by one of the clumps.

Eventually, Flans brought the show back into motion. He thanked the band, the crew, and the crowd then told us they had a few more songs. They played Dead, a poignant counterpoint to the beautiful insanity preceding it, with Dan Miller watching from the wings. At one point he waved to someone in my general section of the crowd, but when I turned around to look, I couldn’t see anyone looking in his direction. He came back on for Man It’s So Loud In Here, which was introduced as the last song of the night. They left the stage after that, leaving us to cheer for their return. You could tell that people were tired. While the crowd kept up it’s cheering before each encore, a lot of the wild enthusiasm usually present was lacking.

The first encore began with Mrs. Bluebeard, which I’m always happy to hear live. Dan Miller got the bit he had been so frustrated with in the fall without any problems, and was clearly pleased with himself. Flans thanked everyone once again and they played Damn Good Times, with Dan wow-ing the crowd with another amazing solo.

Flans, Linnell, and Marty were the only ones returning to the stage for the second encore, soon followed by John Carter and Fresh carrying out the glockenspiel. Fresh and Marty had another mallet spin-off, with Fresh having improved his game since the Buffalo show, but Marty still the clear victor.

They played Shoehorn With Teeth, with all due decorum going into the playing of the glockenspiel. Flans forgot which verse he was starting at one point, starting partway into the first line.

After the song was over, Flans told us that they didn’t know where the other tassel was. Linnell decided that the number of tassels showed how skilled the glockenspiel player was, and that you had tassels removed as you moved up the levels. Marty, he explained, was a one tassel player, but would eventually have the other tassel removed. Fresh, back onstage to remove the glockenspiel, made a big show of acting like he was removing the remaining tassel and then ‘changing his mind’ and leaving it.

By then, Dan and Danny had returned to the stage. Flans told us all that this was the last song “for real now. Last time we were lying.”

“This is the song we like to do last.”

They played the Mesopotamians, then left the stage for the final time.

As soon as they were gone, Fresh was out onstage, assisting the girl next to me who had lost her glasses over the railing towards the end of the show. Her efforts to retrieve them had made me feel less than charitable about the whole situation, but it was wonderful how prepared Fresh was to help her. While Flans, Danny, and Marty were passing out stickers and setlists, Flans even brought over his fan to blow away some of the confetti from the spot and make finding the glasses easier, eventually handing the fan to Fresh so he could continue the search.

I didn’t quite cry leaving, but it was a near thing. I hope for many more concerts to come, but since have to take a break from my touring habit, this show was a wonderful high note to end on.

#tmbg #recap

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