Evergreen

Evergreen is the finale of DDS's fourth season, Vale Four. Every DDS season looks at something through the lens of desire horror. That means it asks why we want unsettling things.

This season looked at ads. Each linked set of stories, or cycle, was about an advertising phenomenon. We did earworms, facial telemetry, microtargeting, and gaming. We wrapped up with astroturfing: fake grassroots that makes it unclear what's real.

The whole season followed a corporate sabotage plot. One faction tried to tank Vale Four before a massive IPO.

In the finale, we'll find out if that whole plot was real or theater. You have to listen to find out that answer. I can give you some hints, though.

1. Yes and no.
2. If you want to fully decode this, check the cycle finales: Sinker, The River, Bullseye, and Sublimate.
3. These texts matter: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, any Greek myth guide, A Star Is Born, and The Lesser Key of Solomon.
4. It was a dark romance the whole time. It's on you to figure out who was romancing whom.

A post-credits sequence with the Muppettes explains the show's transition into monster romance.

Written and Produced by: Neural Nets And Pretty Patterns

Directed by: Neural Nets And Pretty Patterns
ISNI: 0000 0005 2877 6254

Assistant Director: Bliss Blank · IMDb

Chavito as Mr. Beefcake | Syndi Rella · IMDb as Hespa Sports | Neural Nets And Pretty Patterns · IMDb as Z | Ring of Kees · IMDb as Tessa Finn | Swirls and Twirls · IMDb as Iris Vale | Dizzy Dollie · IMDb as Naia Anderson | Bliss Blank · IMDb as June Lowell | Tickled Panda · IMDb as Hilton | Dakota Dream · IMDb as Astoria

1. The Deep Dream State is NSFW. It's certainly rated R, containing sexual language and references. The website and trailer are PG, as is the Season 4 opener Refrain. That's all by design; we believe in intimate storytelling but not blindsiding.

2. I am the showrunner, sound designer, publicist, writer, director, and a voice actor. That's a lot, but "adult stories are real stories" is my bit, and I'm fully committed.

3. Season Five, After After, is under supported development. We recently crossed 60,000 downloads despite a very unclear niche, so we don't intend to stop now. Auditions for Season Five are open. Email deepdreamstates@gmail.com if interested.

4. Season Five will be resolved by audience voting. The setup will be clear, but the ending isn't. Listeners choose the faction they want to hear more from.

The poster image for this arc is from Sunrise Forever, under the Pixabay license. Layer art overlays are used to vary each iteration of the image. Deep Dream State uses human art at every stage of the creative supply chain.