#mysterious phone call

[susantbraithwaite]

SLDS: Mysterious Phone Call

It’s the dead of night, and your phone rings, waking you from a deep sleep. You don’t recognise the number. Usually, you ignore unknown numbers and send them to voicemail. But what if this mysterious phone call is different? What if answering it is your first step into the world of espionage and mystery? This is not a drill. Welcome to “Tracing a Mysterious Phone Call”, this week’s prompt for our…

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"WHO SENT IN THIS TELEPHONE CALL?" Toronto Star. November 13, 1912. Page 7. --- To Find Out How Case Against Ovid Latremouille Is Allowed to Stand Over. ---- MAY PROVE AN ALIBI --- To give Ovid Latremouille an opportunity to learn who it was telephoned to No. 5 police station on the night of October 7 to say that Latremouille was at the corner of Roxborough and Yonge streets in a condition unable to take care of himself, Chief Justice Sir William Mulock adjourned the case against him in the Assize Court this morning till tomorrow. The ex-policeman is charged with robbing Wm. J. Donley, a Parliament street liquor dealer, at about that time that night. Sergeant Grant, in his evidence yesterday, told of a message being received, from whom he did not know. He immediately went to Latremouille's house and found him in shortly before 10 o'clock.

After the jury retired to consider the charge against Latremouille of holding up Edward Field at No. 207 Wellesley street, a new jury was immediately called to consider the second case.

"I apply for an adjournment," said Mr. J. W. Curry for the prisoner. "I want to find what citizen sent that message to the police that Latremouille was at the corner of Roxborough and Yonge streets. It is of the utmost importance to the defence."

"If you have any material to make a motion on." said his Lordship, "I will hear it. If not, the case must go on."

Mr. Curry: "I didn't know there had been a message until yesterday. A true bill in this case was only found yesterday. I think it is usually the practice to give the defence an opportunity to work up its case."

His Lordship said that Latremouille had known since Oct. 7 that Grant was at his house, but Mr. Curry said he didn't know what had brought him there.

"If Latremouillle was at that corner at the time of the message he couldn't have been' at Donley's," said Mr. Curry.

His Lordship finally allowed the case to stand over for 24 hours. Mr. Curry extends an invitation to the man who telephoned to communicate with him.

[sage-nebula]

Mabel despises Bill, send post.

Okay, I'll say more than that.

One thing that I haven't seen people talk about (and that I've in fact seen some fan content ignore) is the fact that The Book of Bill makes it explicitly clear that Mabel Pines despises Bill Cipher as of the end of the series. I think there's a tendency to view Mabel as a bastion of love and forgiveness, and while it's true that Mabel does have a lot of love and kindness in her heart, a.) she's not actually an all-forgiving heroine (see: she never comes close to forgiving Gideon for attacking Dipper in "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel"), and b.) we're given explicit text on multiple pages in The Book of Bill that outline just how much she hates Bill and will actually do violence unto him (again) if she ever gets the chance. (Because remember, she got him in the eye with spray paint with extreme prejudice.)

We're first told about this when Bill recounts the story of how he visited Mabel's dreams days before Weirdmageddon in the hopes of making a deal. (Which, side note -- how was that possible? The unicorn hair spell was supposed to prevent that sort of thing from happening. I guess she must have been at a sleepover at Candy's or Grenda's house when this little dream jump occurred.) Bill at first gushes about how much he likes Mabel and would like to sway her to his side, but then:

"Unfortunately, her mind had Wanted posters of me everywhere -- just because I possessed her brother one time!"

Mabel wasn't a fan of Bill's even before "Sock Opera," but as of "Sock Opera" it seems that there's no chance of forgiveness from her for him. And this tracks; in "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel," Gideon treated her horribly. He pressured her into the initial date with him, and then continued to use public pressure and guilt trips in order to keep her locked into successive dates and a suffocating relationship that she couldn't escape from. He was emotionally manipulative, possessive, selfish, and cruel. Despite this, Mabel still felt bad for asking Dipper to break up with him on her behalf and initially went to the factory to apologize to Gideon, until she saw him attacking Dipper through the window. It was only at that point, when he attacked her brother, that Mabel's opinion on Gideon did a 180 and he was no longer worthy of any sympathy or forgiveness in her eyes. Regardless of how he treated her, it was hurting Dipper that Mabel could not forgive.

So it makes sense, then, that possessing Dipper would be the breaking point for Mabel with Bill, particularly considering the note that Bill left for her (and specifically for her, part of it was addressed to her) to find in the car on the way back from the play at the end, as revealed in Journal 3:

"Note to self: Possessing people is hilarious! To think of all the sensations I've been missing out on -- burning, stabbing, drowning. It's like a buffet tray of fun! Once I destroy that journal, I'll enjoy giving this body its grand finale -- by throwing it off the water tower! Best of all, people will just think Pine Tree lost his mind, and his mental form will wander in the mindscape forever. Want to join him, Shooting Star?"

(Yeah, I sure believe Bill that Mabel's a kid he likes. 😬 Maybe "likes" is more appropriate . . . even his lies are lies . . .)

So Bill possessed Dipper on purpose, threw his body down stairs, stabbed forks into his arms, poured soda into his eyes, slammed his hands in drawers, and then had planned to throw his body off a water tower, killing him in what would look like a suicide attempt. I don't think it's any wonder that after this, Bill crossed the point of no return in Mabel's mind. Bill recognizes as such by the time he's finished in her mind as well:

"That was it. She'd never make a deal with me."

It was why he had to possess Blendin in the first place and make up the lie about a way to extend the summer; because thanks to Craz and Xyler, he knew that Mabel was sad about summer ending, and that she could be tricked by someone she thought had a way of extending summer, like a time agent. Bill had to possess a known time agent, because Mabel wouldn't have believed anyone else could do it, and it had to be Blendin because Blendin wore goggles that obscured his eyes (and thanks to fighting against Bipper, Mabel knew how to look for possession eyes, and would never make a deal with Bill). Bill using Blendin to trick Mabel was calculated, and extremely so, because Mabel hates his guts because of what he did (and wanted to do) to her brother.

But it doesn't end there, because then we get to Mabel's letter. (And Dipper's as well, but mostly Mabel's.) Some might be thinking, well, if Mabel knew about Bill's backstory, she might regain some sympathy for him. However, I don't think that's the case . . . because Mabel does learn about Bill's backstory (or at least his history with Ford), and she doesn't feel sympathy for him. Ford's letter not only states that the entire family was reading the book when he exited his lab (and laughing so hard they were crying at it), but Mabel's letter in specific has her write this:

"Anyway, Bill seems to me like a super-needy ex."

We have all laughed and enjoyed this line because of how it further cements Billford as canon toxic old man yaoi, but think about what this means for a moment. This means that:

Mabel has read Bill's backstory, at least re: everything that went down between him and Ford and how heartbroken Bill was over it (she knows about O'Sadleys and the intergalactic Taco Bell incident)

She doesn't feel sympathy, in fact, she's calling him super-needy, which is insulting

Mabel isn't sympathetic toward Bill; she's patronizing. She's one step away from calling him cringe. Her "helpful tips" for how to move on are her condescending to him as she tells him to get the hell away from Ford -- and speaking of which, let's not forget that she says "if you're reading this from space or hell or wherever," indicating exactly where she thinks he very well could be. If she felt sympathetic toward him at all, knowing what she does about his past, I really doubt she'd think he'd be burning in hell.

Mabel ends her letter with this delightful gem.

"Anyway, Bill -- you tried to kill my brother. If I ever see you again, I'm doing this! [illustration of her biting him in half] Deal with it!"

There is no love for Bill Cipher in her heart. There is only a wish to sever him in half, preferably so that his precious eyeball is split in two, with her teeth.

Now, this is in her letter. But we also get some of this in Dipper's letter, too, since she interjects over there. Dipper also delivers a death threat to Bill, and Mabel comments on it. Her commentary praises Dipper's threats (and confident in making his threat):

Dipper: "Come at us again and I'll end you." Mabel: "Wow, Dipper!! So confident!!" Dipper: "Was it . . . was it too confident?" Mabel: "No, it was just right! 13 looks good on you!"

Now, again, this is mostly praising his confidence. But the "it was just right" could also apply to the threat, considering she made a very similar one herself. Many people focus on Dipper's threat to Bill, considering how cutthroat Dipper seemed toward Bill in the show (and how it was their relationship that was focused on because Dipper was the primary protagonist).

But this book has made it explicitly clear that Mabel hates Bill's flat yellow ass with her entire sparkly heart. She wants him away from her grunkle because she knows how badly he treated Ford. And she especially wants to rip him to pieces herself if she ever sees him within a 100 mile radius of her brother again. The idea that Mabel would be forgiving of, or sympathetic to, Bill because of his backstory just doesn't jive with what we know both of her character or her actual, canonical feelings toward him as of the most recent canonical material. Mabel is a loving, kind person, yes -- but she has her limits, and those limits come with those that cause serious harm to her family, just like the rest of the Pines. She's not a two-dimensional, all-forgiving heroine. She's a well-rounded character who forgives when things are forgivable, when it's warranted, when it's deserved. And it's been demonstrated that in Mabel's eyes, certain things -- like trying to cut out her brother's tongue with lamb shears, or possessing him and threatening to throw his body off a water tower -- simply aren't forgivable.

[sincerely-sofie]

I like to imagine that legendary Pokémon, once they’ve met in person, unlock a sort of magical mental phone number for each other. It’s probably intended to be a way for the embodiments of universal functions to communicate and act in harmony so the world keeps turning. But it makes for an absolutely amazing means of informing your roommate’s family they should badger her about taking better care of herself.

[ruuinxs]

nensai fic where 100(0) yen man show up out of the blue and nendo thinks someone broke into his home. he has no idea who this man is. he’s going insane about it. he calls kusuo and tells him there’s a random man in his home. 100(0) yen man explains his reasons and nendo is hesitant about giving his money to this stranger, but it also means getting ramen with him.

[stuck-in-the-puter]

Sooooo RedCanary stole something from the Institute, right? And then put it back but still. She got paranoid and then, presumably, developed eyes all over her body - like, she put up a photo that was then removed.

And Alice and Sam just went there, and Alice feels like she's being followed. In this essay I will-

[dykevanny]

had a really funny idea for an ask blog ft. Vanny and another plex employee oc,,

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Tails 🤝 Rouge

I’m either going to commit a crime or get some ice cream. I don’t know, I’ll decide in the car

ASDFGHJKL oh my god

[automaticsoulharmony]

What if I watched 12 episodes of Supernaturals and am immeadiatly planning a crossover fic with Tim

[tswwwit]

So I was thinking, what does Other Bill do when he gets (semi-forcefully sent) back to his universe, what happens? How are the Pines holding up? Does he take out his anger on them? What happens to Other Dipper? Does Other Bill take his anger out on him cause "hey, that's got the same face as the bastard who got me sent back here"? Or does that dubious honour go to Ford because he helped send original Bill back?

Other Bill is going to be sulking and licking his metaphorical (and a lot of very literal) wounds for a while, so any fury isn't going to be immediate! Plus, Other Ford got confirmation that some of his wards against Bill work pretty effectively, so they have a layer of protection! Combine those facts, and it's gonna while before any bloody frustrations can be thrown on them. Also, there's a chance Other Bill goes and tries to bother someone else in a sort of sour grapes attitude.

However. I do think it'd be funny for Other Bill to inevitably come storming back to take some of his frustration on those Pines, and for Other Ford and Other Dipper to sort-of tentatively try and reach our Bill for a little backup. Send an immortal being of infinite energy to kick the ass of an immortal being of infinite energy kinda thing.

Mostly because I don't think Bill's going to pick up the interdimensional call. That task would fall to the other occupant of the Fearmid's master bedroom.

[blushroom20]

A batch of my Noise Steam poster edits, now in individual format! If you want to see more go to the Imgur album where I put all the ones I have made.

To add these to your own Steam library, right click a game, then go to Manage and select "Set custom artwork".

[todayisafridaynight]

seeing info only about the kiryu and majima statuettes but absolute radio silence on the ichi one is utterly sending me. Theyre hiding the fact theyre gonna make ichi pale as a cracker again

[icyfox17]

Oopsies

[kikuism]

hi! 3 // 4 // 5 and 27. these sound so interesting

thank youuu for sending!!

3) what genre would your OC do badly in but would be hilarious or interesting to watch?

the absolute first thing that came to my mind is kiku and naomi in some post apocalyptic setting. spoiled rich kids wouldn't last 3 seconds on their own in the wilderness. trying desperately to cling to some sense of decorum while the world is actively falling apart. i can imagine them spooning canned food into their mouths with so much misery. it's definitely a character building and humbling journey for them.

kaname in a regency era romance setting is always funny. like she'd really rather die than have to do any of that. nana would be her best friend who wants nothing more than to get a match, but she's also sickly and kaname is very protective of her. she thinks nana’s too good for some measly man. also a musical ..... she'd question why everyone is singing and be forced to sing herself and that's so funny to imagine.

kou and noriko i can imagine doing very badly in a horror setting. they're both quite practical people so in this setting where nothing makes sense they just wouldn't know how to deal with what's going on. kou is blind so noriko basically uses him as a ouija board/spirit box hgkshfhd 'can you sense any negative energy??? is something out to kill us???' at first she's like haha this is dumb!!! this is stupid, none of this is real. but the hours go by and they start to get more and more paranoid when they can't explain anything that's happening. kou can't see things disappearing in the corner of his eye so all the visual element of the horror is lost on him. meanwhile every little sound is amplified so it's hell. the slow creak of the door. footsteps when there shouldn't be. something rustling in the cupboard. noriko tries to get him to communicate with the spirits and kou loves getting her all worked up by exaggerating it and putting in voices even though he's equally terrified out of his mind. they are notttt making it out alive.

4) what media does your character enjoy?

this is a fun question! i've been writing about this lately. kou has pretentious taste, he loves watching drama movies from the 50s, characterized by their slow, lush, quiet atmosphere. it's also a treat for him to hear and really take in the differences in the audio between the old generation of movies and the new ones, everything from the style of speaking to the sound design. and it's easy to follow along with what's happening, it's all very real and grounded. he likes the movies of yasujiro ozu and his contemporaries, and in the modern age, kore-eda. he likes watching dramas that touch on the human condition.

noriko has a fondness for the trashy western rom coms of the early 2000s. she grew up watching a lot of foreign media and there's just something so charming about these movies she can't get enough of. she loves putting them on for kou as a form of psychological torture.

kiku and naomi grew up watching whatever drama was coming on the tv after dinner. they didn't really get to explore the world of television in their childhood outside of what their parents made them watch, which was safe, sterile, unassuming. so i like to think they both have a fascination for the darker anime series that characterized the late 80s and the 90s—akira, ghost in the shell, perfect blue, angel’s egg.

5) what songs do you associate with your ocs?

i'll give one random song for each!

kiku: shame—mitski

kou: telephone number—junko ohashi

naomi: surface pressure—jessica darrow

kaname: barbarism begins at home—the smiths

27) in a murder mystery, what role would your oc play?

kiku and naomi: the two rich travelers on the train who are absolutely flabbergasted and terrified by the events that have just transpired. everyone holds them in contempt.

noriko: detective!! she's way too excited about it

kaname: red herring (the one brash foul mouthed passenger on the train who almost surely evaded paying the fare....of course she's the suspect)

kou: government assigned sidekick + true culprit :D very much 'oh dear i put oleander in the tea' kusuriuri style. no one suspects him since he's blind so of course he couldn't be capable of murder....

[katabay]

Do you have specific fiction authors that you like to read? What aspects of a story make you want to really dig your fingers in it? Is it horror?

I’ve got a couple! Keigo Higashino for sure. anything Naoki Urasawa does: I will be reading it. Priest (Guardian and Mo Du are all time favorites). also KJ Charles and Andrew A Smith!

ngl I don’t really have a concrete list of favorite fiction writers, I spent several days thinking about this one: like, I have favorite books for sure, but I don’t often find myself considering an author to be a favorite just because their book blew my mind. I’ve only read three of Andrew A Smith’s works, but he’s here because he gave an interview years that changed my entire approach to storytelling, and I still revisit it whenever I start editing a story.

honestly the big thing is that I like character!! I like compelling characters (extremely varied definition of compelling, it doesn’t have to be much, but it does have to have something) I like it when something goes full throttle into whatever it wants to be. I’ll watch a slow paced slice of life romance with the same amount of enthusiasm that I had for Devil Judge, and the 1vs10 beat down in Ipman takes up just as much space in my brain as the ‘let’s not see each other from now on,’ breakup in the Heirs (but for extremely different reasons lmao)

however. if I have to pick something more thematically specific: I like seeing people in power get what they have coming to them, I like explorations and confrontations of political and social injustices. kingdom is one of my favorite shows, and the horror is great, but it was the political-class-power aspect of it that solidified it as a memorable watch to me. kamen rider build did something fundamental to the circuitry of my brain. etc.

[manicpixiedreamguy]

I'm a performance artist. I'm a singer, guitarist and musical theater actor, which means I regularly sing, play the guitar, dance and act in front of people, usually on a stage. I've literally performed The Rocky Horror Picture Show in front of crowds that included my friends and my parents. I don't really see it as much of a big deal.

Still, if someone pointed a gun at my head and told me to make any kind of phone call, I'd tell them to just straight up shoot me because there's no way in hell I'm doing that.