Tonight's stream will be a trip to the past and the future all at once. Join me in uncovering the secrets of making art in THE THIRD DIMENSION
Stream starts at 6pm EST right here: https://www.twitch.tv/ohmandaz
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I love junior year so far, but that is only because I'm choosing to believe that there are supernatural forces that have changed Gilear's personality in the span of 4 months.
In sophomore year, even though he was literally killed by gorilla demons 10 minutes earlier, it was STILL a DC 25 persuasion check for Fig to convince him not to come on the nightmare king quest. Which she *failed*. Gilear literally could not be persuaded to leave her, even under threat of death. Brennan always talks like the Bad Kids dragged Gilear kicking and screaming on the quest with them, but in reality he really wanted to go even though he had experienced firsthand how dangerous it would be.
He accompanied Fig to the actual depths of Hell, just because she asked. He didn't have anything important to do there besides be her dad and look after her. He realized for the first time that every time he expounded on the pathetic state of his life, Fig felt personally responsible. She felt like the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Gilear promised her that he was going to do better for himself, FOR her.
A few hours later, he was killed twice in the span of 60 seconds on a pirate ship. Fig was so distraught about letting him go, but she wanted him to stay safe. Gilear said everything he could to make it easy for her to leave him without making her feel like she was abandoning him.
But all he wanted was to be helpful to her. So much so that when she came out of the Nightmare Forest, rattled at having lost her mother and her girlfriend, Gilear stole the armor of pride, hid inside of Riz's briefcase, and donned it for long enough to save her from an army of demons. He just knew he had to be there for Fig no matter what, because she told him that she needed him.
So HOW is this the same man that is apparently leaving her for a year without telling her about it? And, ironically, to go on a honeymoon with a woman who neglected her own son for his entire life.
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I am not sure if anyone here has already made this connection or pointed this out (apologies if so), but while doing some research into Flatland/the 11 dimensions the other day, I discovered something pretty interesting…
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In the ‘Book of Bill’ announcement video, as well as distorted, synthesised background music and the Morse Code (which has already been deciphered), we can also hear several lines of spoken dialogue, the first of which being the line: “some other mystic dimension”.
Timestamp: 0:04
Now, this line already raises several questions - which ‘dimension’ is being referring to here? And why is it considered to be ‘mystic(al)’? Well, we don’t have a definite answer to either of those questions just yet, but if you will humour me for a moment, I have a few suggestions. Either this ‘other mystic dimension’ could be referring to Bill’s own homeland, the Second Dimension (which would naturally be considered ‘other’, ‘mystic’ and generally unfamiliar to us, the readers), or perhaps, it is referring to the Third Dimension itself, or what is known as Spaceland (Height/Up) in Abbott’s novella. I think the latter to be far more likely, especially with what I am about to show you. This is where my excessive YouTube deep-diving habits came in useful.
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During my research quest, I stumbled upon this video of the famous astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan (take note of this name) explaining the concept of the Fourth Dimension, as well as other Flatland-adjacent things. And lo and behold, at 4:37, what do we hear?
“And the poor Square has to say: ‘Well, I was in some other mystic dimension called Up…”
Yes, that’s right. The exact words that were used in the promo video.
To provide you some context, here Sagan is recounting the experience of A Square who, with the guidance and revelations of A Sphere, has just returned from a recent foray into the Third Dimension, and is trying to explain his sudden disappearance and newfound knowledge of Height to his friends. So saying, it is likely that the ‘other mystic dimension’ being referred to in the BoB video is in fact, the Third Dimension, since this is a book that has been written from Bill’s perspective, and it seems that he will be filling in the role of A Square in this narrative, discovering the Secrets Of The Universe and all. Although, I must emphasise that this is still just speculation on my part, based on the assumption that Bill’s backstory will be pretty similar to, if not a direct retelling of Flatland:
“Flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams.”
Who knows, Alex Hirsch may just subvert our expectations entirely.
“I liberated my dimension (…)” / “Saw his own dimension burn. Misses home and can’t return.”
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Anyway, I have another little piece of the puzzle to share. The line spoken in the announcement video isn’t merely a word-for-word recreation of what Carl Sagan said, It is Carl Sagan. They used a direct clip from an episode of Cosmos. This has me giddy with excitement, because Carl Sagan, a man with much notoriety within the scientific community, and many achievements and accolades to his name, is known to be one of Ford’s scientific idols.
The level of detail in this show, and I guess now in its extended literary canon’s advertisement material, is insane. Do with this information what you will. Perhaps there’s a connection here that will be expounded upon in the book. Perhaps it’s just a cool reference. Even so, it is a very intriguing one nonetheless, especially with the tie-ins to Flatland, theoretical physics and Ford’s hero-worshipping. It’s clearly intentional.
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(If anyone is interested, here is an excellent meta which provides a very detailed exploration and analysis of Ford’s respective connections to Sagan and Tesla.)
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