See you at the Black Parade!

[imaglyphwitch]

[Video opens up and its the Disaster house...isn't it? Or maybe its Halloween somehow making its way into the house. There are skeletons and zombie facsimiles all over the front of the house, ravens and colors of orange and black all over the top portion. Someone is very much using their ability to fly to make sure the house looks as complete as possible.

The backyard has a faux cemetery because of course it does, and currently putting up tombstones is one Luz Noceda, in a cat skull mask, and she waves to all of you].

Hey! Sooo...in light of getting back into my regular sleeping pattern, I learned that we have something like a certain festive holiday back home, except its all about hiding your face! There's folklore that reminds me a little of Samhain with the whole keeping away bad spirits, so I figure: why not get into the spirit, and meld that sentiment with Halloween from back home?

So over at the house I'll be doing my best to keep things creepy: eyeballs, fake blood, creepy music, the whole deal. Kinda helps with the ambiance, and so far? Nothing really bad has happened yet!

Granted, gotta keep it that way too! Part of this is for the fun, part is for, well, you never know? In case spooks around here aren't just made up.

[Look, she had a whole ordeal on a boat with dead bodies. Letting her naivete fool her is just dumb at this point].

Hope I see you guys getting into the spirit too! Do you all have a version of Halloween where you come from?

Comments

[imaglyphwitch]

That sounds tricky. I escaped too, but we had to treat that world like it was an actual asylum too, or they would have likely kept us there for good. I'm still unsure how something like that was managed, but I guess you could chalk it up to being part of the "dream," one we eventually ended.

[zib]

I see... but then you ended up here instead of going home after this "dream" ended, right? Any idea why?

[imaglyphwitch]

I made the choice to do that. Any of us who came here from there, they made the choice to go to the next world.

Not all of us made that choice.

[zib]

... Can I ask why you made that choice?

[imaglyphwitch]

Sure.

The people. There are some I lost, but there were others who'd been in the town longer, they showed me kindness. Some of them lost things along the way: memories, limbs, sometimes even the illusion of a good night's sleep. But we stuck by each other as much as we could, and in the end, I realized I wanted to continue to be around them.

It wasn't an easy decision to make, but in the end? It was the one that made the most sense.

[zib]

Was there... not a way where you could like, see each other again if you had made any other choice but to go together here?

[imaglyphwitch]

No. Have you talked to some of the people here? We're all worlds, sometimes universes apart.

Granted, someone I know went back to her world for several years, and then she wound up here again. But I think her circumstance is different.

[zib]

[At that, he sighs.]

See, this is why there should be some attempt at building a portal that can not only help people go home, but it could be used to keep visiting the friends you have that live in other universes and stuff. It would be really handy to have.

[imaglyphwitch]

Where would you even start though? You'd have to first triangulate where WE are, and then relative to what. Then you'd have to pinpoint the next place that you're going, and that's way harder than it looks.

[Luz could remember what happened the LAST time that they tried using portals. If anything, he could ask Dipper about that].

[zib]

Luckily, I actually know what coordinates my universe is supposed to be located with, as well as a few other different universes from my past research. Once the portal is built and the coordinates are put in, we can triangulate and potentially figure out the coordinates of this one as well based on some math and calculating light speed travel within distance of my universe and others put on the map.

[imaglyphwitch]

That is pretty impressive! Man, I'm really curious how you haven't met any of the Pines' yet! I have a feeling Mr. Stanford would be very interested in what you've seen and are able to pull up with your research!

[zib]

I've spoken to Dipper, but I haven't told him about my portal idea yet. I don't talk to adults very often, but... I'm gonna try to message Mr. Stanford and talk to him about it too since it sounds like he would be one of the best people to ask about it.

[imaglyphwitch]

Don't talk to adults? Why? You're going to need them in this world. They have a lot of the information you're going to need, trust me.

[zib]

Because most adults back home didn't like me very much. Usually found me annoying or called me crazy, but I think they were just jealous I was able to discover things they couldn't.

But I'm willing to try to believe the adults here can be talked to by comparison.

[imaglyphwitch]

I doubt it's because they were jealous. Most likely they just didn't want to believe you, because they don't like thinking about things that bother them.

Oh you definitely can find adults like that. It's not even that hard if you keep your eyes on the network.

[zib]

You've never met the adults of my Earth: trust me, they were awful to try to get any help or feedback from. One time I even got electrocuted just for trying to talk to my Dad about my findings because I "didn't go through the proper channels to be granted access" to see him.

[... Dib, that's more a sign of bad parenting than anything else??]

[imaglyphwitch]

...

Why would your dad allow people to electrocute you at all?!

[zib]

Paranoia? Not checking what kind of security guards his TV studio had that did not know what his kids looked like when they came by to see him? Take your pick.

[imaglyphwitch]

Wouldn't those be things he's already have cleared with them in case his kid wanted to see him?

What sort of job does your dad have anyway?

[zib]

You'd think that, but he didn't.

[His tone suggests that this sort of thing is something he's used to where his dad is concerned.]

He's a scientist. One of the most well-known in the world, in fact. He even has his own TV show where he shows off his experiments and inventions for everyone to see.

[imaglyphwitch]

Sounds kinda neglectful.

[Sorry, but as someone who no longer had a father in the picture, Luz called it like she saw it].

I mean, that's nice, and good job, but you still have to make time for your kids. Clearly you wanted to follow in his footsteps a little, right?"

[zib]

Kind of. I mean, I'm a paranormal investigator because I enjoy searching for cryptids and aliens, but my Dad... well, he doesn't consider that to be "real science, so...

... Well, I can only imagine if he would consider what I do "real science" now or if attempting to build portals is still falling under the umbrella of "fake science" to him.

[imaglyphwitch]

What?! How can you looking for aliens and stuff not be real science? That's paranormal investigation, trying to prove those things exist, right? Isn't that what science is: applying theory until you can prove something to be true?

[Wasn't that what separated science from something like faith, that you could prove it was tangible]?

I can't imagine you can even BUILD a portal without involving science!

[zib]

He doesn't believe that they exist at all, so attempting to prove that they do is a waste of time and resources.

And sure, it does involve science and inventing for a portal, but I think he would say my reasons for building one are not good for "real science" since it may be getting involved with the things he thinks don't exist.

[His Dad is indeed very stubborn like that.]

[imaglyphwitch]

You know, normally parents try to support their kids' interests, even if its something they don't necessarily agree with. They especially don't tend to call them a waste of time.

[Did Luz dislike Zib's dad on principal? She just might].

Well if you can prove they DO exist, wouldn't that pretty much mean he can't call it a waste of time? In fact, wouldn't he just have to admit he was wrong to doubt you in the first place?