#Society of the blind eye

[obsessivefangirl]

We need to acknowledge Fiddleford cult era because as fun (and true) as "man who's scared destroys himself" is, he absolutely was a villain and I fucking love him for it.

Oh of course his heart was in the right place! He's absolutely sympathetic and meant no harm on others. He was trying to help. But also, the perspective of regular townsfolk on that is so fascinating because he is a open and shut case of a crazy bad guy. He's a man who erases people's memories by force and has a whole cult and knowing him he probably seems so hospitable which draws people in but if you say or do something he thinks endangers the Blind Eye he'd turn on you in a moment and erase your mind.

Imagine being a member of his cult as this sweet man who offers services starts forcing them. As he goes from well adjusted to forgetting he needs glasses and frazy hair and his shoes falling apart and his temporary fixes "until I get it repaired" turns into his normal appearance. When you realize this isn't okay, you can't leave. You can't voice concerns. Because he refuses to hear them and offers bullshit promises or a hit of the memory gun to console you, and traitors get their brains wiped of the blind eye. As your friend/boss/leader turns from a friendly man to a kinda unstable man to a man who's scary (he was tall af I would not want him to look at me with that disheveled look and crazy eyes asking me if I'm going to betray him?? Fuck that) to someone who doesn't even know his own name.

Fiddleford from his/a future perspective is a tragedy and deserves love and a second chance, but Fiddleford from a present outside perspective drives me insane. We don't get enough cult Fiddleford from his own perspective where he has to grapple with him decaying but it's too late and losing everything, but an outside perspective is nonexistent

[dandeleon]

fiddauthor adipocere animation❤️❄️

credits:

song

english translation

[seafoamheart]

leave the man alone🙏

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Shitty little unrelated AU doodles <3

Rambles under cut!

MORE FIDDS LORE BECAUSE I FUCKING LOVE THIS MAN.

He's known in town as "That Nice Old Man" that lives with his son in the cabin near the lake.

What a regular guy, that man. Yup. Old Man Mcgucket. Totally normal, regular old man, haha. Yeah. Him? A cult leader? Ridiculous!

In my perfect world where this AU is an actual fully animated show, the episode when the mystery twins first officially meet Fidds would be called "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" because fuck yeah baby. It sounds cool as FUCK.

When the twins meet Fidds, they somehow found someone with EVEN STRONGER cultist vibes than their grunkle.

"Come closer, kids! I don't bite."

"Tell me, children: How are you feeling? Anything... bad, happen lately? Anything you would like to forget? No? Well, don't hesitate to tell me if there's anything you would like out of your head, anything at all. I would hate for youngens like you to be forced to deal with such... unsavorable memories. Better to have them gone and out of your head. You know what they say: Out of sight, out of mind." *boop*

I'm making him a manipulative conniving little rat with good intentions but utterly ABYSMAL execution (babygirl, you can't just go around deleting people's memories)

Since Fidds is actually the leader of the Society of The Blind Eye, the cult is a lot more organized and covert, and actually do their job pretty well.

Tate knows. He knows his father is hiding something from him, something dangerous, but he can't remember what. He tries to get the twins to stay as far away from his father as possible because, while he's certain his father won't actually hurt them, there is no telling what the kids might be getting involved with.

During the cult fight "episode", Mcgucket would be chasing the kids, Ford, and Bill around, but mostly just for the latter two rather than the children. He would never actually hurt the twins.

"Please, I'm trying to help you, kids! Don't you understand? KNOWING is what cost me my eyes; KNOWING might be what costs you yours, or worse, your life! You can't remember any of this. And I cannot in good conscience let that- that demon stay inside your Great Uncle's head to rot him from inside out like- like some kind of PARASITE."

And then bada bing, baba boom, the twins defeat Fiddleford and his weird cult and they survive with their memory instact and their Grunkles not dead, yipeee!!

Fidds disbands the cult and chucks himself into jail willingly, and casually just becomes the boss of all the other inmates there with his natural old man charms. He gets the Gideon treatment for his ending <3

It's okay, tho because Mabel and the others visit him sometimes just to chat and keep him company.

[theultimatefandomjumper]

i forgot to put this here but UUUUGGHHHHHHHHHH i can't not share

[fantasydoctor]

forgor 💀

[creepst-crypt]

[hereissomething]

ah yes, the toxic hate triangle

[ayanathedork]

a taste of heaven

[kuj0goth]

An au where fiddleford “saves” ford before he can complete the portal and renders him a husk of the person he used to be

This hurts me more than it hurts you ❤️

[mychapel-004]

I think the most interesting and under-explored part of gf canon is the formation of the blind eye and I'm tired of pretending it isn't: a long post

Because hear me out here, if we really take a look at the timing of the only concrete source we have (mcgucket's video diaries), it doesn't... line up at all?

The clear implication here is that he started making the diaries after the first portal incident on January 18th 1983, so this would be our "day one"

"For the past year I have been working as an assistant for a visiting researcher... But something went wrong. I decided to quit the project, but I lie awake each night, haunted by the thoughts of what I've done... Test subject one: Fiddleford."

But this makes no sense. We know from J3 that the memory gun was actually invented after a series of traumatic events with Ford, months before he left the project. Further, the timeline the video diaries set up of the blind eye show that he began to deteriorate and founded the blind eye on day 22, which would be February 9th, but in J3 the blind eye is already a full blown cult by then.

In addition, where is he in this video? we know from TBOB that he isn't on good terms with his wife after Christmas of 1982 and he likely didn't leave GF after the portal incident, but he was living with Ford up until this so where is this room? If he had somewhere else to stay, why only stay there now?

Now, realistically the answer here is that the lore was changed and slightly retconned between the writing of this episode and the publishing of the book (which alex discusses in some of the commentary for this episode when discussing fidd's character), but I think a more interesting theory to solve this contradiction can be found in the source material.

If we play this all completely straight, there are two options here, both involving Fiddleford lying in his diaries. this isn't entirely new to the series, unreliable narration is a big theme, especially in Journal 3 and TBOB. the only real explanations are that:

A) Fiddleford was lying about this being the first time he used the gun, meaning this video diary takes place after the portal incident.

B) Fiddleford was lying about leaving the project, and was filming these diaries while still working with Ford.

Now, either of them is plausible, but ultimately Fiddleford is a scientist. He has dedicated his life to engineering, and it seems to be his lifelong passion considering it's one of the only character traits that he continues to practice after losing his mind. Would a man who is this talented, this dedicated, really lie about testing results in a video diary he chose to make?

If he had used the gun before, any kind of result he is trying to observe would be ruined. It would be a pointless venture, since we know for a fact that by the time he leaves the project he has used the gun on himself, Ford and other civillians multiple times. It's a complete failure of the scientific method, and I don't think it makes sense for the character we know, the man who quadruple checks his own calculations just to be sure they're right.

However, the other explanation feels like something he might do. We know he invents the gun after the Gremloblin incident likely sometime in August, and seems to use it immediately as evidenced by J3, on both himself and Ford. We know from the audio commentary that for Fidd, the memory gun is very much an addiction, it's something that he uses to curb his anxiety and appear like a better partner, to try and keep himself together until the project is over. But ultimately, he's known something is wrong with the project for a long time, and Ford mentions his tendency towards self destructive anxiety when Fidd rips out his own hair after Ford reveals the tip of the weirdness iceberg to him.

All this to say, I think it's far more realistic for Fiddleford to lie about leaving the project rather than his results. He knows that something is wrong, that he should leave and be with his family, and on the other side of that we know that Bill is using this anxiety to whisper into Ford's ear that Fidd is unreliable and will leave. He's been through a severely traumatic event with the Gremloblin, trapped for days in his worst nightmares, to the point where he is prepared to cause himself potential brain damage to un-see it.

But despite all of it, he doesn't leave. He is determined to stay, maybe out of loyalty, maybe out of fear for Ford's safety, maybe he needs the money from the project for his family. He has a wife and son who need him and we know that he feels guilt for his treatment towards them, he even cites them as his sole reason for backing out of using the gun immediately before he does it anyway, and uses it on Ford to cover his mistakes up. Fiddleford is a man who is wracked by anxiety and shame and is such a bad way by this point that he is absolutely willing to self-destruct and lie to just get through this project.

I think he absolutely would start documenting his use of the memory gun, even if that meant lying that he had followed his instincts and left the project when he should have done. After all, he says himself that he wants to use this gun on a wider scale as a therapy tool, assuming the gun doesn't turn his brain to mush, surely the tapes of his initial testing will need to be peer-reviewed? He's presenting the reality he wishes was true, the one where he is brave and stands on his principles and doesn't fall into step beside Ford on his path to destruction.

So, where does this leave the timeline?

Finding exact dates is difficult, mostly because the only concrete numbers in J3 are few and far between, but we do have the dates of the tapes to go off as follows. This isn't concrete but it's a fun way to recontextualise the events of J3:

Day 1:

First usage of the gun, followed by it being used on Ford

Sometime after the Gremloblin incident, Fidd's arm is either healed or on the mend from the incident as his cast is gone, so likely towards the end of August.

Note on the cast: It could also be gone as a result of him removing it too early, he doesn't seem to take a lot of time to recover from the incident before he gets back to work in fear of disappointing Ford.

The room he is in is likely his bedroom in the Shack, or whatever location he initially uses to form the blind eye, maybe a room in the museum? The "probability of failure" graph in the back is the same one that he shows Ford the night before the Portal test, albeit a bigger version, meaning he has likely been tracking the output results for a while.

Day 5:

Still exhibiting postive results, no deterioration yet.

Day 22:

First signs of mental deterioration

First mention of the blind eye, Fidd draws the symbol onto a notebook but it is already scribbled in the background over a diagram of the portal. The blind eye symbol is first mentioned in J3, when Fidd hands it to the carny who becomes the eventual leader of the cult, so this diary likely takes place after he has begun using it on other people.

Official formation of the blind eye as a group to help people forget traumatic memories.

His room in the shack is in a state of disarray, his plants are dead and there are handprints in oil or ink on the walls. Notably, he seems to be connecting the idea of a single eye and the portal despite not being aware of Bill at this point, which I'll touch upon later.

The carnival is likely in September according to the timeline by @fordtato

Day 74:

Slight physical deterioration, more physical anxiety

It seems that Fidd has been regularly using the memory gun at this point, to erase even minorly distressing images from his head, and his anxiety has taken a nosedive. Likely explanation is that this diary is after the bunker, where he had another severely traumatic experience (kidnapped by a shapeshifter and reduced to mute from anxiety) and seemed to become obsessed with doomsday planning. During the bunker arc he also used the gun on multiple workmen and Ford once again.

Likely takes place in October/November

His room is a complete mess by now, with the walls covered in papers and "Help Me" scrawled on the walls.

At this point in J3, Ford has made his deal with Bill and is allowing him to possess his body whenever he pleases. Bill has also sucessfully driven a divide between the other two by making Ford doubt that Fidd will be able to make it to the end of the project, and Ford describes his frustration with him.

According to Ford, Fidd is just as agitated and nervous before the portal test as he was during the Gremloblin attack, and obsessively checks and rechecks his calculations, causing Ford to worry for his resolve.

In between this diary and the next are the stolen pages from J3 that are in TBOB, which give us slight insight into Fiddleford during this time but not much. We see that he tries multiple times to reach out to him the only way that Fidd knows how, through invention and creation, with the snowglobe and the six-fingered gloves. Ford, however, treats them carelessly as a result of his increased attention to his muse. At the same time, he tries to visit home but is kicked out by Emma-May after he forgets to get her a Christmas gift. This is played as an example of his connection with Ford, him remembering two gifts for the man and none for his wife, but if he really is suffering from his use of the gun at this time, the forgetfulness makes even more sense and his argument with his family means he doesn't have a support system outside of Ford who is paying all of his attention to the project. After this, Fiddleford is more reclusive than ever as he spends early January compiling a thesis for Ford to publish

Day 189

Physical deterioration is in full effect and he can't hide the result of his addiction any more, even just to keep up appearances.

His arm is broken, likely due to the car accident he mentions accidentally causing, but its the same arm he broke during the Gremloblin attack and could be a result of him taking his cast off too early for it to have healed right in the first place which could explain why he wears it for so long.

Significant mental decline as he has started exhibiting signs of brain damage or swelling (decreased vocabulary, forgetfulness, loss of motor functions) however, he is seemingly lucid enough to question if the memory gun is causing negative side effects.

There are actually bottles visible in the back of the room, possbly referencing the addiction metaphor being used here

This would take place after the portal test, likely late January. Ford is at the height of his paranoia, Fiddleford has left the shack and taken every trace of his research with him except his college picture with Ford, and the blind eye is a fully established and seemingly self-governing cult.

Day 273

At this point, Fidd has relocated to a motel and is seemingly completely mentally gone, ripping out his hair and developing his hunched posture. This likely takes place after the blind eye takes his memories, or he continues erasing them himself. It's possible that the blind eye continues visiting him and taking his memories even after he is ejected as a member, or at least until they forget who he is after using the gun on themselves too many times.

It appears to be snowing outside? Which doesn't line up with either the canon timeline or this timeline, so potentially the days on the video diaries could be incorrect assuming he isn't filming them every day, or has lost so much of his mind by this point that he isn't labelling them right and has lost track of time

The final two entries are a similar story, serving only to show us the end of his decline and him eventually becoming fully homeless, retreating to the junkyard he lives in for the next 28 years (jesus, he really deserved that mansion).

Ultimately though, this timeline asks a lot of interesting character questions.

Why did Ford not realise how bad Fiddleford's decline was becoming? Maybe a mix of circumstances, he was falling deeper into his worship of Bill at the time, to the extent that he was regularly being possessed and judging by the lack of journal entries at the time, very pre-occupied. We also know that Fidd used the gun on him at least twice in canon, and possibly used it more than we know in order to convince Ford he was okay.

If Fiddleford was erasing parts of Ford's memory, did Bill know? Personally, I feel that Bill was aware but knew that ultimately it would serve him. Fiddleford, without ever encountering Bill at this point, created the blind eye symbol which is eerily close to Bill's symbolism, how would he know that when we know Ford is possessive of his muse and doesn't share anything with Fidd about it? How does Ford have visions of Fidd in a red cloak without ever knowing that the cult and Fidd are directly connected? My thoughts are that Bill, who we know has erased Ford's memory himself before when he stole the journal pages we see in TBOB, was using most of this as fodder to drive a divide between the two, mentally creating associations in both of their minds so they stop trusting the other. Chess but with troubled gay men.

All in all I think Fiddleford's decline is such an interesting way to approach a theme of addiction, particularly a high-functioning addiction. If this really is how things played out, we know that throughout his use of the gun and even 30 years later when he is considered a write-off, the one thing he maintains is his engineering prowess and his smarts. It makes sense that even when actively using the gun and hiding it from Ford he would be able to keep up in terms of building the portal, especially when we know he secretly hired workers. It's also a great example of someone drawing others into their addiction, even if it was unintentional and he didn't believe they would be hurt in the long run.

I feel like sometimes there's a lil bit of a push to see Fidd as a naive or morally good character even through his mistakes and to demonise Ford in response, but ultimately both of them are very morally grey and have their own vices that they develop and grow from.

Anyway, interested in this idea?

Well, good news if you are or my condolences if you hate it and want me dead, this is also an au I'm working on and writing at the moment! My fic link is below, the introduction is up right now and the next chapter will be coming out tomorrow with updates every few days now I've finally gotten this post out. The tag for this fic is 'Geiger counter au', hopefully I'll be able to get out some other headcanons I have for this idea because it's been floating around in my head since J3 came out.

Thank you for reading!

[suzdalcatz]

Thinking about that one society of the blind eye promo image where you can see young fidds in mcguckets shadow im so ill over him

[fordpinesmpreg]

paranoid ford x blind eye fidds still makes me cray cray

redraw of this

[seafoamheart]

I get that this probably wouldn't make sense but it's drawn for fun and I just wanted to see Stanley in that red robe :)

[fadedkat]

can’t look him in the eye

[whatonearthisgoingon]

Gravity Falls animatics

If anyone is interested, and because of the rise in Gravity Falls content, here's some fun stuff made by the Gravity Falls Fandom from YT and Tumblr:

Canonish Angst and issues: - "Take a Slice - Gravity Falls Animation" by achromaticEgoist on YT, @achromaticegoist on Tumblr. - Topic: Weirdmagedon. - "Achilles Come Down | Gravity Falls animatic" by nogiiarts yt on YT. - Topic: Ford's research/past and the Pines family - (It's back!) A Sadness Runs Through Him - a Gravity Falls PMV" by Kinseis on YT, @kinseis on Tumblr - Topic: An au representation of the relationship between Ford and Dipper, with Bill's negative influence - "DR. GASTER // BOOK OF BILL PMV" by mistxmood on YT, @mistxmood on Tumblr - Topic: Bill's time in theraprism vs. how the pines are doing after Weirdmagedon, a brief summary of deals and Weirdmagedon, and Ford finding the Book of Bill. - "Sleep Walk | Gravity falls animatic" by Hoodedjelly on YT, @hoodedjelly on Tumblr. - Topic: Young Ford and Bill, the abuse from Bill to Ford. - "Sleepwalk | Gravity Falls Animatic" by InkcapAnimation on YT, - Topic: Young Ford, Fiddleford, and Bill; the abuse from Bill to Ford. - "Real as Ever" by @heyitsspiders on Tumblr. - Topic: The abuse and control of Ford from Bill. - "DRUNK (Gravity Falls Animation)" by marineflames on YT - Topic: Bill's possession of Ford and Dipper. - "Devil's Train (Gravity Falls Animatic)" by YannyDo on YT. - Topic: Bill introducing himself to Ford. - "CONFRONTATION Bill Cipher and Ford Animation (CW FLASHING LIGHTS)" by marineflames on YT. - Topic: The internal battle of control between Ford and Bill, and the abuse from Bill to Ford. - "THE FINE PRINT / Billford / Gravity Falls / Animatic" by Plantain_Xd on YT. - Topic: The deal between Bill and Ford, the abuse from Bill to Ford, and Weirdmagedon. - "Bill's Unused Villain Song - It's Gonna Get Weird" sung by Neil Cicierega. - Topic: Demo song written by Neil Cicierega to be used as Bill's villain song. Would've been such by Alex Hirsch, but that was robbed from us.

The Mystery Trio and Bill: - "Double life animation meme // Gravity Falls [I KNOW U HEARD THE RUMORS]" by KimukoDoesALot on YT. - Topic: A quick summary of all the on screen possessions we see, along with the Still Bill Theory. - "Gravity Falls | Colors" by Typhord on YT, art by @kiki-kit on Tumblr. - Topic: A history of the two Stans, Ford's research, and Stanley's effort to get Ford back. - "BEZOS | Gravity Falls Animation Meme | cw bright colors, flashing, strong language" by Possumbreath on YT. - Topic: Fiddleford Mcgucket and his Cult: The Society of the Blind Eye. - "The Gun | Gravity Falls Animatic/ Storyboard (LOUD AND FLASHING)" by Clever Reference on YT, @call-me-clevy on Tumblr. - Topic: Fiddleford and Ford fight over the memory gun. - "shine a light (reprise) || gravity falls" by hummise on YT, @hummise on Tumblr. - Topic: Bill convincing Fiddleford to use the memory gun. - "The World's Greatest Actor - GF Animatic" by tendebill_exe on YT. - Topic: Stan's life. - "Drift Away || Gravity Falls Animatic" by CosmicCrossing on YT, @shima-draws on Tumblr. - Topic: Stan and Ford's relationship slowly drifting apart, then the reunion.

Bill behavior and past: - "BILL CIPER REANIMATED | Gravity Falls [Flashing Lights]" by R0V1 on YT. - Topic: A reanimation of Bill Cipher's "death scene" in Gravity Falls. - "The mind electric // gravity falls // bill cipher // billford animation" by H3MI on YT. - Topic: Bill using his talents of manipulation to gain sympathy from the AXOLOTL, his interference in the Pines family's lives, and his failure at Weirdmagedon. - "September in Euclydia" by L Void on YT - Topic: Bill reflecting on the destruction of Euclydia. - "how bill cypher destroyed his realm - gravity falls comic dub" by Count Julius VO on YT, art by SHEOL on X - Topic: Bill's childhood and the destruction of his dimension - "THERE I AM AGAIN! (Bill cipher animation)" by CandySwirl on YT. - Topic: Bill's appearances in the Gravity Falls world. - "THE ACCIDENT - GRAVITY FALLS / THE BOOK OF BILL AMV" by PeteyTheParrot on YT, @peteytheparrot on Tumblr. - Topic: Bill being moved to Theraprism, and the destruction of his dimension. - "AXOLOTL - A Gravity Falls Fan Song" by summer bloom on YT, @sumrbloom on Tumblr - Topic: Fanmade song discussing Bill and the AXOLOTL - "GOOD LUCK BABE | Gravity Falls Animation" by nntsu on YT, @nntsu on Tumblr (pretty sure). - Topic: Bill's relationship with the AXOLOTL, as he ignored the AXOLOTL's advice of not dominating Earth, and glimpses at Bill's past. - "rockabye billy - gravity falls BoB animation" by ashana on YT. - Topic: Bill's childhood, and the accidental destruction of his dimension and parents. - "Uncanny ( Bill Cipher Short AMV)" by Jøzlyn Moon on YT, @jozlyn-moon on Tumblr. - Topic: Bill regretting his deals and decisions in Theraprism. - "BRUTUS | Gravity Falls Animation" by achromaticEgoist on YT, @achromaticegoist on Tumblr. - Topic: A complicated au; details in the video's description. (I liked the video)

Billford: - "GETTING OVER YOU - Book of Bill animatic" by Scoopy Sketches on YT. - Topic: Ford and Bill's past relationship, and the toxicity, manipulation, and obsession from Bill's end. - "Sky Fall // animation // billford // gravity falls" by H3MI on YT. - Topic: Ford and Bill's past relationship and Weirdmagedon. - "A human’s touch // gravity falls" by H3MI on YT. - Topic: A quick show of Ford and Bill's relationship in the past, versus during Weirdmagedon. - "HUMAN’S TOUCH- A GRAVITY FALLS ANIMATIC" by M0CH4 CUP on YT. - Topic: A showing of Bill and Ford's toxic relationship, where Bill was using Ford for the portal, the events of Weirdmagedon, and Bill's time in Theraprism.. - "RULER OF MY HEART | Gravity Falls Animation" by ORXA on YT, @orxinus on Tumblr - Topic: The toxicity and obsession of Bill and Ford's relationship. - "THE RED MEANS 'I LOVE YOU' || Gravity Falls Bill Cipher Animatic" by R0V1 on YT. - Topic: A showing of Bill's sadistic tendencies, and his physical abuse and obsession of Ford. - "THE TORTURE TANGO | BILLFORD ANIMATIC" by vikzo on YT - Topic: Bill's torture of Ford in the Fearamid during Weirdmagedon. - "Just the two of us // Billford // Gravity falls animation" by I.V.Y on YT. - Topic: The negative progression of Bill and Ford's relationship. - "BILLFORD -every breath you take- animatic" by Gloom_arts on YT. - Topic: Bill's obsession with Ford throughout his life. - "My Goodbye - BillFord Animatic" by Gallows on YT. - Topic: Bill and Ford arguing about their past relationship during Weirdmagedon - "Stanford Pines - No Children" by clarisimart on YT. - Topic: Ford regretting his relationship with Bill. - "PORK SODA - BILLFORD [FW]" by Eldoodlez on YT. - Topic: The beginning of Bill and Ford's relationship, then Ford learning the truth. - "[GRAVITY FALLS] BILL CIPHER & STANFORD PINES – GOOD LUCK, BABE! | ANIMATIC." by Punkiinx_neon on YT, @punkiinx-neon on Tumblr. - Topic: Bill singing his apologies to Ford in Weirdmagedon, and Ford being annoyed at Bill.

Comment if you think of more big ones I should add (try to avoid song repeating tho, I already did it too much in this T^T)! I only have Youtube and Tumblr tho, so any artists on other medias, I will not add.