Next book club we're discussing "The Pines' Guide to Pop Culture Studies" written by @abaisanacademic and illustrated by @cyphertronix!
Book club will have both a voice chat and a text chat, and the voice chat will be recorded for those who aren't able to make it, but access to the recording will be limited to our discord server. If you have questions for the author, artist, or general discussion questions, please bring them with you to book club!
Join our discord with the invite code: SJd3nnq3U9
Promo art by @cyphertronix!
Pre-order your physical copy of the zine here:
Get ready to delve deep into Gravity Falls with this 180+ page collaborative fanzine of art and writing analysis of our favorite series! Thi
if I feel like absolutely torturing rocky then I sometimes like to imagine a scenario on erid where a few months into The Scurvy Era grace sits him down like "hey pal. there's a chance that the scientists here won't figure out how to meet my nutritional needs any time soon. I would love it if they can! but it might not happen. and I don't want to die very slowly and painfully of starvation. now listen to me. ideally I don't want to die at all. but more than that. I do not want to die. of starvation. I don't need anything from you to help with this, I can address it on my own, but if this becomes a real problem then I am going to solve it. Do You Understand What I Am Saying Right Now." and rocky isn't even allowed to immediately become evil about it.
I imagine that at this point they've had The conversation about how grace got on the ship in the first place and rocky is aware that his friend has some significant issues about having his personal autonomy overruled, so in the moment he just says "hnnnnnn. Iwouldbesadifthathappened but. I can see why you would. feel that way." then as soon as he's out of range he physically attacks the first person nearest to him.
what goes through rocky's head for the following day: absolutely not. absolutely fucking not. I cannot let you die. I don't care what I have to do, I'll threaten biologists, I'll read all the human medical texts eighteen times, I'll break into your living space while you sleep and take anything that I think could be used as a lethal weapon, I don't care, I'll pay for the consequences after you're safe. and I'll do it all without telling you, because I know you need to feel like I'm not taking the choice away from you in order to feel safe. I won't physically stop you, you'll feel like it's up to you, but if I take too long to fix this and make you think that's the only decision you can make then it will actually be my fault.
what somehow manages to vibrate out of his carapace next time he sees grace: "don't need anything from you to help with this" no, stupid. grace clumsy and tired from medical problems, would make errors and do it wrong. rocky much better at working with hands, is my job to fix problems. tell me when time and I Do It For You.
In your opinion, what is TBoB about, 'thematically' for lack of a better word.
I'm very curious exactly what kind of answer you expected out of me here because this feels like a very vague question and coincidentally is one that perfectly hits my autism button in a way that makes me feel like you had a motive. I will answer this regardless
It's about being indoctrinated into a cult. I don't know that that's a "theme" per se, but I do think it's closer to the actual question you're asking.
There are other things involved like the background plot of Bill being a jilted lover, but the book is less about that so much as that aspect serves as flavor to emphasize the message of “don’t trust this guy, he will hurt you”. TBoB is about how even the worst person who you absolutely know is full of crap will suck you in by making you feel special and telling you that you can accomplish great things, but if you have a proper support structure in your life, you can get pulled out of it.
To an extent, I was always somewhat aware of this, but reading Combating Cult Mind Control for my piece in the @gfnonfictionzine really opened my eyes to the extent that the book follows the usual steps of cult recruitment and how well Bill is represented as a cult leader.
Join me now as I just tell you what happened in The Book of Bill, a book we all read 2 years ago 🤝
We open on Bill introducing himself, talking about his credentials, making himself sound big and important. He’s somebody who’s book you’re gonna wanna keep reading. By the way, do you have any idea how massive books are as cult recruitment materials? Anyways.
Once we’re introduced, he starts giving advice, showing us his superior view of the world, and it’s pretty clear he’s full of shit, but he’s also funny and entertaining, so you keep reading. You may come across a few things that you do actually agree with and you start to think hey, this guy kind of has a point? Now you’re gaining alignment with him. You’re thinking about him. Now he’s in your head.
Then he gives you his tragic backstory (which he can’t even do, funnily enough), explains his life, and lets you in on his mission, which you’re primed to agree with, right? He’s got all the best ideas and he deserves this, right? Weirdmageddon for Billy please? Please?
And usually that’s where a cult book ends, with you brought to their side and purchasing the next 17 volumes to learn more. If the book had gone the way it was supposed to, you may actually be on board, but the issue is that from the very beginning, we’ve been getting messages from Ford and the Pines family warning you against what he’s saying, throwing Bill off his game, and finally turning you against him completely.
The thing about cults is that they prey on lonely and vulnerable people who are lacking something in their life, be it purpose or security or most importantly, community. Cults are alluring because they promise instant, unconditional love and support, something deeply lacking in our modern lives due to a large number of reasons. The problem with cults is that the love and support is VERY conditional. You are not cared for, and because you are desperate to be cared for, they’re going to manipulate you into doing anything they want in order to get that diminishing return. At the end of TBoB, Bill promises you that you’ll get to rule alongside him in the same breath that he says he’s not sure if making a deal with him won’t instantly kill both of you– it’s an empty promise because he’s desperate to get what he wants. Much like any other cult, he doesn’t care about you, just about what you can get him.
What’s so particularly hilarious about this last point is going back to the jilted lover subplot, because the biggest thing (among many other things, to be clear) that shows Bill is an unreliable narrator is the fact that he failed step 1: don’t fall in love with the mark. Through his love for Ford, he reveals how he’s a fallible person rather than an all knowing god, he shows far more completely unrestrained vulnerability than anywhere else in the book (why share that police transcript??), and he reveals how easily he can be stopped. Like he blows up his own recruitment attempt just so he can bitch about his ex wife because even after 30 years, even after DYING, he’s too messed up to cope.
But getting back on topic, I don’t really know why Alex decided to make this book when he did, but the fact that it was made in the United States post Trump is pretty telling. Cults are bad right now, though cults here have always been bad. This place has been run by a death cult since its founding and only recently has fully started to drop the mask. To have a book like this come out aimed at younger audiences I think is a really wonderful thing. I hope it’s something that’s been helpful to people, and I have to assume it has been given the number of people who would come up to our Ciphertologist cosplay group to talk about the cults they personally escaped from.
You don’t get out of these situations without awareness and education, because the systems intentionally work to keep you too isolated and exhausted to think that there might be something better for you outside of it. More than anything though, you need support and community to keep you safe, which is why I really love the way the book posits the Pines family as a support structure and encourages people to be open about the things they struggle with and the people who have harmed them. Sharing keeps you from being isolated, it gets you out of the mental spiral that cult mentality relies on. Being loved by people really does save you.
And this is why Ford needs to break Bill out of the–
i know the way people talk about their pets now is probably how we’ve been doing it for all of history. a cat owner in ancient rome saw their cat lounging on the dining pillows and commented “he thinks himself to be the senator claudius 🤣”
thank u all for the likes and reblogs this is CRAZY genuinely …. who knew me deciding to Get Over It and show my artwork to the world would make me so happy.. people i look up to have liked & reblogged my art..can u believe that.. people Know My Art.. Scary.. love u all
do you think the eridians think grace is fucking with them when he goes over all the grooming products humans need? toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner, soap, deodorant, lotion, moisturizer, lip balm, lube, first aid ointment, burn cream. yes i know humans are wet wet wet soft soft soft already but no yeah we need to add this stuff to maintain our health. bad to have an organ exposed to the elements, you know. oh also let's talk about humidity-
and then the dry products on top of it. tooth brush, floss, comb, sponge, towels, q-tips, tissues, maybe he can get away with a bidet instead of toilet paper but boy is THAT a conversation.
all of this is probably already aboard the hail mary, but they're finite resources. he's going to have to have some degree of replenishment so the eridians are gonna need to understand it.
and then when grace drops that this is at or close to the minimum humans need and that there's a ton more of optional products most humans just like to have the scientists all turn to rocky like are we fr rn
jbbartram-illu
blakekathryn
baratheonpilled
stormborns
janainaart
annaxmalina
yousharknotpass
