(spoilers)
wow. absolute cinema. it has been the best being able to Watch this since early on
i did not see Ed surviving, i appreciate the irony of vol 4 supplemental
once my flare up calms down, will get to Ezra's last reply, Eden's last letter, the post script
also eden uses they/them, this meme
![Statement of: Vincent Graham-Stewart
Regarding: A fungal infection
[Statement Begins]
It started like, what, a year ago, I think? No, no I know exactly when it started. Me and my girlfri–... ex-girlfriend were living together, renting a small apartment. It’d been like, over a year at that point of us living together. However, for the last few months of that, I couldn’t contribute anything to the rent. I’d always been paying a good amount of it, I worked hard, I had a decent job, but my boss was being so shitty to me, so I quit. I did not need any of that negative energy in my life. And Annie was supportive, she agreed that I deserved better. She had reservations about what I was trying to pursue instead, but she still supported me like she should.
Starting a podcast is a lot harder than you’d think. I mean, I know how to set it up, me and my bros are all good talkers and charismatic. I’d have whoever was available hang out with me and we’d be podcasting, and it was awesome! Editing was less awesome, Annie would sometimes offer to help with that front but I didn’t need it. It was a damn good podcast… while it lasted, we never got anything. No listeners stayed, no consistent engagement, and no deals coming my way. I was insistent that if we just kept going, we’d skyrocket in numbers, I knew we had gold on our hands, but they didn’t believe in it. Slowly it just became me, talking to myself. Every once in a while one of them would come on, but it wasn’t the same. Not that I needed them for it to be good. I’d do it all myself if I needed to.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pb43e764tboo52w5ep7vhl5p/bafkreicnwusjw2ndqomslta2ognl5kgkmidojjza57rnizooisa2rwazfa)
![I asked some of my pals if they wanted to do our podcast but just weekly, since it was hard for them to find the time to. I just wanted my friends back. But they didn’t care. I always helped them, we were all bros, and yet they had the nerve to stab me in the back like that. Some of them just never replied, my friend Jack just always said “maybe later,” and some told me I was toxic. They didn’t like how I acted or what I said around them and about certain groups of people. We’re friends, we’re supposed to support and tolerate each other! But if they didn’t want to be my friends anymore, that was their loss.
After that, the growth started getting worse and worse, and my mom forced me to go to the doctors. They said it was a fungal infection, but nothing like they had seen before. They wanted to run a bunch of tests to see what to do, but after a few of them we didn’t have the money or insurance to continue. I’ve tried taking care of it myself, anti-fungal cream didn’t do shit. I tried cutting a bit off one time, I’m not the most flexible though. It was way too painful. There isn’t a place where my nerves end and the mycelium begins. They are one in the same.
Got into a few arguments with my mom, wasn’t surprising considering how she is. She’s stopped talking to me for the most part, just asking if I’ve got a job yet every couple weeks. I don’t know if I could work like this. I can barely sleep or lay down now, my shirts are uncomfortable to put on and take off. Even my arms and lower half are starting to be overtaken by it. Annie and my friends abandoned me, betrayed me, and now I have to deal with this thing that I don’t understand without anyone to help me. It wasn’t my fault. It’s not my fucking fault that I’m here now, but I don’t know what to do.
[Statement Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pb43e764tboo52w5ep7vhl5p/bafkreibfqwcuhgtjy35pxn6kr5trog4m57dxkjjb7pm5lpzspx2672chpm)
![Statement of: Tobias Moore
Regarding: The murder of Allen O’Neal
[Note: Some of the events in this statement may be considered disturbing, scenes of gore are detailed]
[Statement Begins]
It would be a lie to say I knew him all my life, but me and Allen weren’t even childhood friends. It was at a concert a few years ago, I was finishing up my last year and wanted some fun before my exams, I think he was a year out and he wanted time to himself. Part of me still worries that I ruined his night when we might, I ended up getting really sick, his kind soul, brought me over to the side and took care of me for at least half an hour. Sometimes all you need is for someone to unconditionally look after you like that, and your heart is theirs.
I wanna clarify, though, that our relationship wasn’t romantic. After that night, it turns out that we actually would visit the same local café every mornin’. I’d get a masala chai latte, and he'd get a French vanilla latte, or sometimes a matcha latte to change things up. We began to hang out, and after a couple months decided that we didn’t want to be a romantic couple. But still a lot closer than just friends, I don’t think anyone would understand just how close we were. It felt like our beings were entwined.
He was good friends with the owners of the café, a group of elderly women all shared ownership of it. He was always better with people than I was. A couple months ago, they all decided that it was about time to retire and just live together. They offered to sell the place to Allen, him and I decided we were going to work our butts off to pay for it. Let me tell ya, working late can be a pain in the rear. Had to practically beg the manager for extra hours at the shop. People think you’re weird for wanting to work in a butcher’s shop, but none of us get to choose what we’re good at, what calls to us.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pb43e764tboo52w5ep7vhl5p/bafkreignmdvqleko7ujs6c2sikt3h7rcxehxkxbyftsed3mgxwmgf6tupq)
![It was a month ago, exactly, when we finally had the money to buy it. We both ended up selling some of our stuff to get enough. No matter what, that will always be one of the most magical moments in my life. We held the key in our hands, and opened that door together. Middle of the night, we didn’t even bother turning the lights on, we were quiet in our moment of triumph. It was ours now, and we’d finally be able to be together and take care of it. That night was for silent celebration.
I have a heart murmur. Steno-something, the doc said. It just has a bit of a harder time doin’ its job, n’ it can be hard to hear the beat. At least according to Allen, it’s sometimes hard to hear my heartbeat. Now his heartbeat, his heart beat loud. That thump-a-thump that even I could feel in my bones when he let me hear it. It was powerful, I guess it makes sense that his heart would be larger and stronger than mine. He was a decent bit bigger than me, and was always kinder to others too. His heart was full of lovin’.
That night, as the rest of the world fell still, the only other sound was his heart. It was louder than I think I’ve ever heard it. Thump-a-thump-a-thump, it went. I even pointed it out, he said he was just so excited that our dreams were finally comin’ true. His heart wasn’t just beating, it was singing. It was playin’ a tune, so so beautiful, one of soul and love and hope. As we sat there, that sound grew louder and louder. They say when two people love each other, there are times when their heartbeats will synchronize. My heart is weak, irregular, but that night his was strong enough to lift mine to match his in song. I felt my heart beat out of my chest, and heard his do the same. It was maddening in the best way possible.
[Alt text limited, continued in next]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pb43e764tboo52w5ep7vhl5p/bafkreibpkopwr4ml5mwrtzvhxb4y4lggypjzjfd7ojxbmq6jmhgkdm4nhm)
![It grew louder —louder —louder! I couldn’t stand it anymore, his heart was trying its best. His love wanted to escape, and I understood now why it sang the way it did. It was asking me to let it escape, that his love could never be confined to just within him, his kindness was trapped. He was giving me the strength to help him. He looked so scared when I knocked him onto the ground, the moonlight reflecting in his eyes, I knew it was scary but I knew that’s what he wanted. It’s what his heart was asking me to do, and he was too frozen to stop me. Tearing off his shirt, and diggin’ my nails into his chest. That strength my heart now possessed, I was able to feel and show his truest love.
Most people don’t understand just how much blood is in an animal. I already knew, it wasn’t surprising to me as I tore his torso open, just how much he bled. Now that his skin and muscle was out of the way, I could hear his heart crystal. Not even the snapping of his ribs as I moved them away could overtake the melody. And finally, there it was, in my hands, I held his beating heart. All his love and care for the world to see and hear. It sung a lullaby as I fell into him, lettin’ myself feel and be blanketed by his organs, holding his pulsing soul in my hands. It felt like a blissful eternity, and I finally understood what those church-goers preached about. Paradise.
Apparently, one of the women who sold the café to us had forgotten something, and came to get it in the morning. I could barely hear her scream, or care that she did. Even when the cops came, and took me away from him, the song never went away. Never even went quiet. Even now, as I say this to you, I can hear him. They say I killed him, but he’s not even dead. No one’s dead if their heart's still beatin’. No matter what they say I did or how long they keep me in here, as long as I get to hear him, I don’t care what happens.
[Statement Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pb43e764tboo52w5ep7vhl5p/bafkreiancmqcy3y5ivdy2q7mlflah73p3q3cve3xik6ru7p55sf34y2uii)
