~That Fandom Witch~

Bee lover 🐝

incorrect response: write the rest of the story to be as twisty, shocking and counter to expectations as possible, regardless of whether this is a logical or satisfying way for the plot to go

correct response:

(you’re not stupid. I posted this thinking it would amuse a handful of mutuals who all knew the context and that would be about it, so I didn’t think about providing any other explanation. I had no idea it would spread this far.)

I’ll start from the very beginning just to be thorough. so this is Alex Hirsch, creator and head writer of Gravity Falls, a show which had a big focus on mystery, conspiracies, codes and ciphers, etc. the whole plot is kicked off by one of the main characters finding a mysterious old journal in the woods, which detailed all kinds of weird and supernatural things, but then ended abruptly with the author saying they had to hide the journal because they were being watched. the central driving mystery of the show, therefore, was the question of who wrote the journal and what happened to them.

now, the thing about Gravity Falls is that, while it must be said that the writers weren’t always quite as sure of their plans as we tend to like to think they are, it is very much a fair play mystery, with legitimate clues to what was going on. but the writers were caught off guard by how quickly the show attracted a dedicated audience, including a lot of people outside the primary presumed demographic, who started solving the clues faster than expected. so some of the fans were able to correctly guess who the author was before it was revealed in the show, and the theory started spreading. this put the writers in something of a panic, because this was THE mystery that the whole story revolved around, with ¾ of the show building up to the dramatic reveal in the middle of season 2. they wanted it to be a mystery that could be figured out, sure, but they weren’t prepared for people to solve it so far in advance of when it was planned to be revealed, which would have really taken away from the big moment. they weren’t going to change the main story itself, but having been caught unaware by how much attention the fans were paying, they wanted to up the ante and make the mystery more complex to solve going forward–but first they needed to buy some time and throw the fandom off the scent for a little longer.

hence, Alex’s plan as described above. they whipped up a fake shot that appears to give away the identity of the author as being another character in the show, put it on a screen in the studio as if it was a real animation frame, took a picture of it, and ‘leaked’ it online. it was initially decided to be a hoax (albeit, I think, presumed to be a hoax originating from outside the production team), until Alex posted this tweet:

…before quickly deleting it (though not so quickly that it didn’t get seen, of course).

it worked well enough to distract most people for a while, and wasn’t revealed as a hoax until a year later, when an episode aired that definitively proved that the supposed screenshot could never have happened, at which point Alex owned up to the whole thing as seen in the tweet above. by then the episode with the real reveal wasn’t far off, and while people did still work it out ahead of time, it was more of an “OH MY GOD I KNEW IT!” moment than a “booooooring, we’ve known that for ages” moment, which of course was what the writers wanted all along.

personally I find this a fascinating approach to dealing with the problem of spoilers, because it doesn’t affect the story itself at all; if you watch Gravity Falls today–or if you were watching it when it aired without any significant contact with the fandom–you’d never know about it. ultimately, the problem the writers were facing wasn’t that some people might guess the answer to the mystery–they never wanted to make it completely impossible to predict–so much as it was that they hadn’t designed the story to stand up to so many people working on the puzzle together, which resulted in a sort of total output of puzzle-solving ability that far outstripped the capability of any one solo human being. so their solution is something that’s very much targeted toward delaying that group problem-solving, without actually affecting the experience of any individual person watching the show.

plus, it’s very in keeping with the overall tone of the show.

don’t:

change the ending

do:

More chaos💫

And I understand that. They’re tired and they are ready to leave behind this fandom for good now. And I get that, I know it’s annoying to be here amongst the controversies and fighting against the claims and allegations. It’s draining and I don’t blame the mod at all.

Jax leaned against a wall, arms crossed.

Jax: Honestly, are you even trying anymore?

Zooble shot him a glare.

Zooble: Shut up, Jax.

A few moments later, Pomni emerged from a corridor and hurried toward the group.

Caine stood nearby, awkwardly shifting in place. Ever since Bubble had taken over the adventures, he'd seemed strangely quiet.

Pomni: Where'd Bubble go?

Gangle shrugged.

Gangle: Probably back to brainstorming.

Ragatha sighed.

Ragatha: Did everything work with Kinger?

Pomni nodded.

Pomni: I think so. We just need to keep Bubble distracted long enough for him to finish.

Jax smirked.

Jax: What do you think we've been doing?

Suddenly, a white blur appeared behind Pomni.

Bubble grabbed her face.

Bubble: POMNI!

Pomni yelped.

Bubble lifted her into the air.

Bubble: That's Who Was missing!!!

He stared at her thoughtfully.

Bubble: Hmmm…

Bubble: You know, I thought this endless barrage of pain and suffering would make me feel better

He set her back down.

Pomni stumbled.

Bubble's smile twitched.

Bubble: But every idea just feels unfinished.

Bubble: and Hollow.

The others exchanged uneasy looks.

Ragatha forced a smile.

Ragatha: Well… maybe you just need a little more time?

Bubble shook his head.

Bubble: That's the issue

His voice softened.

Bubble: i gave it time

Bubble: I'm trying harder than ever.

Bubble looked at each of them.

Bubble: If you're not enjoying this…

Bubble: And I'm not…

Bubble: Then who is?

Silence.

Caine nervously laughed.

Caine: Haha! Great question, buddy!

Bubble glanced toward him.

Caine's smile weakened.

Bubble: ….Makes me wonder why everyone's acting so weird today.

He looked around.

Bubble: If I didn't know better, I'd think you were all hiding something.

A pause.

Caine blinked.

Caine: What?

…. Bubble: Where's Kinger?

The entire group froze.

caine got reminded of what happened as he realized

Bubble slowly turned.

Caine: …Buddy?

Something in his tone made everyone uncomfortable.

Ragatha immediately stepped forward.

Ragatha: W-We just wanted to see your new ideas first hand!

Bubble continued staring.

Ragatha: We've been giving them a chance!

Bubble's eyes narrowed.

Bubble: liar.

He began floating away.

Bubble: I think I'll go check—

caine: w-wait

Pomni suddenly stepped forward.

Pomni: -We think your ideas suck.

Everything stopped.

Bubble froze.

Bubble: …

Bubble: Huh?

Everyone turned toward Pomni.

Jax: Wait, what?

Even Caine visibly flinched.

Caine: oh no nonono no No-

caine flinched realizing where this was going

caine waved his hands: Woah woah woah woah This is-

jax:shut up caine-

Caine:wait listen to me this isn't-

Pomni:-Isn't it obvious?

Pomni: We let you test all these adventures because we wanted proof.

Pomni: Proof that your ideas were awful. That You're Too much of a Perfectionist too the point you fail at your task!

Bubble's grin twitched.

Bubble: That's…

Bubble: Not true.

Pomni: YES IT IS!

Bubble took a step backward.

Pomni: You don't care about any of us! Especially Caine!

Pomni: You care more about being being a perfect ai than giving us anything we'd actually enjoy!

Bubble's eyes widened.

Bubble: D-Do you know who I am???

Pomni: Yeah. You're a JOKE! A Complete JOKE!

Bubble: Stop that. Zooble: And this whole thing? Zooble: Punishing everyone because your feelings got hurt? Hurting caine and making him be reminded Of HIS trauma?!

Bubble: I-I'M…

Caine:g-guys this is a bad idea-

Bubble physically flinched.

Zooble: And You're supposed to be some all-powerful entity. Zooble: so Why are you acting like a spoiled child?

Bubble: I…

Caine stepped between them.

Caine: Guys.

Nobody listened.

Ragatha joined in.

Ragatha: You never try to understand anybody!

Ragatha: You never ask what we need!

Gangle: You don't let us grow!

Gangle: You don't let us make our own choices!

Jax: You tear Others Apart!

Gangle: You discourage us from thinking outside the box and doing things our own way!

Caine: Okay! Everybody stay calm! Bubble's having a little emotional—

Jax: -You Don't have empathy!

Pomni: And on top of it that… YOU DON'T! LISTEN!

(Because of all their anger, the circus and Bubble started to glitch. With an angry scream, he transforms, larger, with four arms on each side and his head became large while his eyes being small. He grabs Pomni and the gang in his arms.)

Something snapped.

The entire circus glitched.

As Bubble screamed.

in Pure pain.

it was Raw. and Unfiltered.

yet Years of hurt was pouring out all at once.

as His body began expanding.

and More arms erupted from his sides.

As His grin stretched wider and wider until it became Uncanny to look at.

As His eyes trembled in rage

The world trembled.

as Jax's looked freaked out

Jax: Okay.

Jax: That's… new.

Zooble: Everybody run.

but Nobody got the chance.

as Massive hands shot forward and seized them all.

Bubble's voice echoed from every corner of reality.

Bubble: Every adventure.

The circus groaned.

Bubble: Every disaster.

The ground split.

Bubble: Every reset.

The stars shattered overhead.

Bubble stared down at them.

Tiny eyes.

with his Endless hurt.

Bubble: Every single time…

His voice broke.

Bubble: You leave me behind.

Bubble: You prefer A defect To ME

Silence.

Then the scream came.

Bubble: (glitched voice) SO LET ME SHOW YOU WHOS THE REAL JOKE!!!

(Everyone is thrown into darkness.)

(As Pomni lands on the ground harshly. Picking herself up, she sees Gummigoo with his back turned to her. Gummigoo turns his head around… to reveal a realistic crocodile face. The light around him goes off as he makes sounds that imply he is leaving… except he lunges forward towards the jester girl, biting her arm while monstrous versions of Gummigoo's gang arrive to bite her more.)

(Ragatha is seated at a dinner table in a red lit room. At the other end is a monstrous shadow of Ragatha, representing her mother. At the sides are other motionless ragdolls with knives sticking out. Suddenly, knives start being thrown at Ragatha as the shadow gets larger.)

(As these go on, Kinger continues working on the computer.)

(Gangle is surrounded by paintings of comedy and tragedy masks that soon melt before she gets run over by a freight truck.)

(Zooble is drowning in a sea of re-attachable body parts that pull them down as they helplessly reach out. Some parts even hold mirrors to force them to stare at their image.)

And for caine…

Chains Were wrapped around him In the dark void As A claw Stabs though him And Tears

Blue and red code began leaking from Caine's body.

as Caine screamed.

it was A real scream.

A terrified one As he felt pain.

Caine: WAIT—

he said before Cracks spread through his body.

As Blue light erupted from one side.

and a another Red light erupted from the other.

The blue half was dragged left.

The red half was dragged right.

Two separate forms emerged.

One glowing blue.

One glowing red.

As The divided AIs collapsed onto the floor. before They're physical forms came back

As Neither complete.

and Neither were stable.

and Both were terrified.

Blue AI (abel): W-What happened?

Red AI(Caine) : PUT US BACK TOGETHER!

Bubble: No I want to have some… fun with you both Bubble said As Caine screamed Before he was restrained before watching His Other Half (the blue ai be shocked As A scream Left him)

As Caine screamed for his other half.

(Before the scene shifts to Jax surrounded and being laughed at by the people he considered friends: Pomni, Kaufmo, and Ribbit. Their shadows pull Jax and peel his skin clean off form the waist up.)

(Kinger continues wrestling with the computer as Bubble pulls the rest of the gang out of their personal Hells and slam them against the wall and forces the two AIs back together to into the same body as they are slammed against the wall.

The moment Bubble forced the two halves back together, Caine felt sick and dizzy. They weren't meant to ever be separated. But they just Were

As His body flickered violently.

Blue and red cracks glitches. Crawl through him for a moment

For a moment it looked like he might split apart again.

Caine let out a shaky breath.

A-Abel...? he thought, dizzy now, from what happened

CAINE!!! His other thought back As He had to hold back breaking down right there and then.

Bubble's voice echoed towards the group His multiple hands still pinning them like caine once had

a little closer

perfect

Caine’s favouritism

That is such a stupid idea but I had to get it out of my system, I'm so sorry

Like I’ll spill milk all over and say “eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed that there is milk on the floor.”