So, my writing process involves a lot of trimming content, kind of like pruning a bonsai tree, but I don't actually delete anything that I write; I keep it in a different document and hope that I can use it somewhere else. Also like a bonsai tree, once you cut off branches, you can't just stick them back on and hope they meld back into the whole (-﹏-) So with nowhere else to put these and slim to nothing chances that I'll actually use them, I'll just leave these trimmings with you. Consider this the equivalent of me handing you some cool rocks from my collection ( ˘ ³˘)♥
∘₊✧───Pearl───✧₊∘
"She's done rigorous training with various award-winning tutors. She can execute simple commands flawlessly, and much quicker than her peers of the same age."
Mrs. Powder titters like you're supposed to be impressed by this information and not weirded out that she sounds like she's describing some gifted child she only loves for their achievements and not a family pet. Beside you, Natasha snorts, and she opens her mouth before you can even elbow her in warning.
"Look, I'm not so much of a jerk that I'd call a mother a liar in front of her children, but that dog couldn't even sit in the sink for a bath for two seconds. So, yeah, I'm calling bullshit."
Mrs. Powder gasps at the same time that you sigh through your nose and close your eyes, barely seeing the older woman reach for her younger son's ears as if that'll make him forget the profanity he already heard.
∘₊✧───Clockwork───✧₊∘
"They never stop, do they?"
"It's like clockwork."
Suyin sighs, crosses her arms over her chest, then raises her voice to be overheard by the arguing pair.
"Alright, enough. Can you two not be up each other's asses for like two minutes? Would it kill you to stop fighting like children the moment you step in the same room?"
Natasha and Xander turn to you and your manager with eerie synchronization, both glaring. They speak in unison.
"Yes."
And then it's right back to shouting at each other.
∘₊✧───Rumors───✧₊∘
Spreading rumors was more like training on Natasha's part anyway. If you couldn't figure out that there was no way Suyin used to rob cars and moonlight as a snake oil salesman after having worked with her for a week, then you didn't deserve the title of a detective.
Not that she couldn't succeed in such career paths. It's just that she hates driving, being driven, and doesn't have a license.
∘₊✧───Bonus!───✧₊
(For those of you who made it to the end, here's a bonus canon scene which happens exactly as MC enters the warehouse proper!)
"Of all the subordinates to be assigned, why the most recalcitrant, unaspiring, incompetent one—!?"
Sohl fumes as he practically rips the handset off the house phone. He continues muttering insults underneath his breath as he punches in a number that he unfortunately knows by heart, pressing the receiver up to his ear with far more force than necessary.
It rings once, twice, then three times before someone finally picks up the other line.
"What's up?"
"Are you forgetting something?"
There's the sound of shifting fabric and static on the other line, and the unmistakable mew of an indolent cat.
"Good evening Inna, how are you? I'm doing great, thanks for asking, and you?"
Sohl ignores her insultingly high-pitched imitation of his voice as well as the sarcasm dripping from her tone.
"Are. You. Forgetting something."
"What's your problem now, you—?"
A pause. A shuffling of papers.
"Shit."
"The rune I left at the watch site has been tripped. Why aren't you watching it?"
"Hey, don't yell at me! Tommy was supposed to be there today, but he's on leave to go to some wedding or something."
"And who was it that decided to take his shift?"
"...Okay, so maybe I did offer to cover it! Who the hell waltzes into an abandoned construction site during a storm anyway?"
A flurry of movement. Getting dressed to leave, if Sohl were to guess.
"It doesn't matter who it is. Just make sure they haven't ruined the watch site, nor the subject, or I will have your head."
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DAY 1: AN EQUILATERAL VISION OF THINGS [6]
As handyman, Soos has already had the opportunity to patch up bruises in S1E19: Dreamscaperers to Dipper, in Fixin’ It with Soos to himself, and certainly during other instances I forgot about. After getting hurt due to Bill shenanigans during/prior to the comic’s Prologue, Mabel would naturally go to him for basic first aid.
Dipper mentions Summerween explicitly, stating that he had been looking for answers (supposedly related to Bill) since then. Summerween is obviously the same holiday as in the episode of the same name, and it occurred on the same day as in the show, that is to say, on Friday, June 22, 2012.
One of the flashback-quotes from the moment Mabel reminisces what Bill told her is “At least Pine Tree would’ve needed an entire setup to convince!” This is related to the recently-confirmed fact that during S2E04: Sock Opera, the fact that the laptop suddenly and so conveniently started threatening to erase all its data in a given time was in fact completely staged by Bill and a part of Dipper’s dream. In reality, the laptop didn’t have this erasing feature at all and Bill manipulated Dipper from the start by making him believe otherwise, so that he would panic and agree to the deal.
That moment when Dipper is about to fall asleep and hallucinate a laptop emergency without realizing that it isn’t real
Bill’s ability to “watch alternate timelines” is indicated in Bill’s AMA as Bill being able to see a “kaleidoscope of infinite possibilities with fluctuating probabilities.”
Bill's bucket is the same one that contains the pine cones seen on the rooftop in S1E05: The Inconveniencing. I tried (very quickly) to look for large containers that could be moved around easily in the Shack, but apparently this bucket was the only relevant one that I could find. As such, in-universe, the reason why Bill took so long before waking Mabel up is because he literally had to get to the roof to retrieve that bucket, then fill it with cold water, before he could go back to the room where Mabel was and throw the water at her face.
So. Today I FINALLY could put my hands on some of the newly revealed deleted scenes and a few commentaries from the DVD set.
And OH BOY did they deliver. I got a load of new unreleased content that I’m TOTALLY going to reference in Pythagorean Thoughts at some point.
I just.
I just wish I could ACTUALLY BUY THE DVD.
Maybe I could. Maybe I’ll be able to arrange things so I can get it on Christmas or something. But it’s not going to be easy for a number of reasons, and I already failed to get it for my birthday back in September for exactly those same reasons.
It’s just a really terrifying thought to not know whether an American DVD/potentially Blu-ray could be played on French technology. I already made such mistakes in the past and am unable to use some of the stuff I bought -- and this one problem isn’t even the only one I have to face in this situation. But I want to see this thing so badly ;_;
Anyway. Whether I get to own it and watch its secrets or not. I promise I’ll make as many references and clever uses of these new revelations in my comic, and I promise I’ll make the best of what I can access, no matter what :D
I’m not ready yet to give you new pages... but I hope you’re still hyped for what’s to come. Because in the next few chapters things will go WILD, and in case the screenshots above aren’t enough proof, BOY do I have my own share of secrets and headcanons up my sleeve. There ARE quite a lot of mysteries the canon content couldn’t find the opportunity to solve, after all... But for better or for worse, this comic doesn’t have a strict time limit on what it can talk about ;p
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DAY 1: AN EQUILATERAL VISION OF THINGS [4]
Mabel’s lock-picking skills are demonstrated in the episodes S1E15: The Deep End and S1E16: Boyz Crazy.
Dipper is a surprisingly fast learner when it comes to spells or Mindscape powers, as shown in S1E19: Dreamscaperers and S2E04: Sock Opera. It didn’t take him long to get a hang of his newfound abilities during these times of need.
Alternatively, a deleted scene from S1E01: Scary-oke had Dipper decipher a code contained in his Journal mentally in about a dozen seconds. He’s quite the smart cookie!
Given all this, it doesn’t seem too surprising that he’d catch on how Bill’s powers work rather quickly as well... Especially since it appears that in the comic, he knows Bill quite well to begin with, thus is likely to have seen a good range of his powers in action already.
The fact that upon leaving the Nightmare Realm and entering the Mindscape, Dipper leaves behind a stone body like Bill is shown to do in S2E20: Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls, and changes shape due to him not being Bill, are a headcanon/theory developed through reading Ford’s tale in the Nightmare Realm in Journal 3. It is hinted that Bill’s powers only work in the Mindscape (and not in the Nightmare Realm per se) and that Bill already has a somewhat physical form while in the Nightmare Realm.
» See this post for details and evidence regarding Bill’s body before and after Weirdmageddon (coming soon!)
While entering the Mindscape and seeing multiple random peepholes, Dipper sees a lot of images from “other timelines” — most of which are taken from the original cartoon. You could say that during that time, Dipper gets some massive spoilers dump, given the fact that he gets to see the “Stan Pines Dead” headline from S2E11: Not What He Seems, Ford getting out of the portal, shots of the activated portal, a first image of Bill and Mabel’s bubble from S2E18: Weirdmageddon, and other main series-related major spoilers of the like. Other images include: a shot of Dipper and Wendy in Wendy’s room during the opening of S2E02: Into the Bunker, shots of Dipper and Mabel hanging out…
All in all, as soon as the 25th page of the comic, Dipper already gets a very heavy bombshell of revelations... and knowing his curious and paranoid nature, he should be quick to use this newfound knowledge and get in action.
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DAY 1: AN EQUILATERAL VISION OF THINGS [5]
The Axolotl and the oracle Jheselbraum the Unswerving are characters introduced in respectively the Choose your own adventure novel Dipper and Mabel and the Curse of the Time Pirates' Treasure!: Select Your Own Choose-Venture and Journal 3; the fact that Ford is currently under Jheselbraum’s care is also explained in Journal 3. Time Baby is mentioned in S1E08: Irrational Treasure and said to be imprisoned in ice in Antarctica.
As indicated earlier, while in the Mindscape, Dipper is technically a ghost and out of Bill’s actual body; as such, his actual shape can be different from Bill’s regular one.
The fact that Dipper comes out of the Pine Tree symbol instead of being summoned by the zodiac circle in itself is linked to Dipper’s Mindscape form, which is also linked to the fact that he is the Pine Tree from the zodiac prophecy.
Mabel mentions that Dipper “twinkles when he speaks”; while it is not shown in comic form, Dipper indeed twinkles the same way Bill does in the show whenever he’s saying something. A particularity that Mabel seems to find rather funny to watch.
Mabel knows Christmas just as she knows any other holiday from any other religion; according to an interview, Mabel insists that her family celebrate every single holiday in the year, no matter the origin. They thus celebrate every single special day/period in the year from every single religion/culture that she knows about.
I mentioned it, you guys wanted it, so here goes! This post and the ones that will come next will gather a rather exhaustive list of as many of the references to the original show as I can remember while looking at all the pages from the comic. Screenshots are included as evidence and comparison!
Anyway, since this is going to be long and full of images, everything is under the cut. Have fun!
PROLOGUE: OBTUSE IDEALS
The elements seen in Ford's room during the Prologue contain items that come from three sources: 1) The room itself as it is seen in S1E16: Carpet Diem, including the titular carpet that serves as the major plot device; 2) Some of Dipper's belongings, noticeably those shown at the end of Carpet Diem, and other items Dipper owns and/or uses (his vest, binoculars, and a slightly different version of the conspiracy board from S2E01: Scary-oke); and 3) Some of Soos's belongings as they are displayed in Ford's room during the Shorts Fixin’ It With Soos.
Exhibit A: Ford’s Room in the Shorts vs in Pythagorean Thoughts
Exhibit B: Detail from Dipper’s conspiracy boards
It appears that Dipper and Soos have shared the space in this room and made themselves comfortable one alongside the other.
The sweater Mabel wears during the Prologue and most of Day 1 is the one from S1E19: Dreamscaperers. Through more than just mere symbolism, it’s an indication that the comic’s story starts on the same day as Dreamscaperers would have in the original cartoon’s timeline.
On a meta level, I suppose you could say that I envisioned this comic as an alternate take of the show’s second season, if the events of the first season had already gone a different direction beforehand. That is to say, you can expect awesomeness and craziness throughout this story, if not in the drawings, at least (hopefully) in the plot.
The broom Dipper uses is the same as the one Stan uses to counter Gideon in S1E19: Dreamscaperers. It doesn’t seem to be nearly as effective against a Bill-possessed Mabel, though.
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DAY 1: AN EQUILATERAL VISION OF THINGS [2]
Mabel’s wearing her sweater around her waist comes from S1E08: Irrational Treasure when she wanted to look serious.
The journal pages Mabel shows are visible in S1E19: Dreamscaperers for the first occurrence, and in the official Journal 3 for the double page Dipper wrote recapping what occurred during said episode. However, it seems that in the second case, Dipper didn’t exactly tell the same story; not to mention that the date mentioned (June 24th) seems very early, given the fact that Summerween occurred on June 22nd.
It is judged vastly unnecessary for Bill to use the full incantation and preparations for the ritual Gideon went through in S1E19: Dreamscaperers because, as mentioned multiple times by the Word of God through multiple interviews (especially in Bill Cipher’s AMA), every image of himself acts as a peephole to his dimension which he can use to spy on the scenery in other places. Just drawing the zodiac is enough to create such peephole and, hopefully, let Dipper know whatever Bill would like to tell him.
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DAY 1: AN EQUILATERAL VISION OF THINGS [1]
The looks and (nonexistent) laws of physics of the Nightmare Realm are inspired from what is shown in the show, as well as what Ford explains in the official Journal 3. The fact that Dipper meets random aliens setting up a camp later in the chapter, only to have them escape through a portal, is also inspired from Ford’s experience in the Nightmare Realm as he describes it in the Journal.
Although the show deals with body-swapping situations by using the “Voices Are Mental” principle, it is also alluded to the fact that this is only the case for the viewers, and that instead, in-universe, the characters’ voices are that of the body they inhabit. In any case, this comic takes the latter principle in use, which means that characters not aware of the body-swapping will not be able to tell that anything is wrong through something as trivial as the concerned characters’ voices changing.
The expression “Super-power-ninja-turbo-neo-ultra-hyper-mega-multi-alpha-meta-extra-uber-prefix” comes from S1E10: Fight Fighters.
