#Ford In Cult AU

[acerobot]

Found a Silas Birtchtree playlist and kinda fell Deep into a rabbit hole lol. Liked the idea of a Ford in the cult au scenario I've seen(So moving the timeline of the cult until Way Later obv) and was inspired by Silas' whole spiel of "You can't kill a dead man" or something similar.

So yeah. Ford is a little past his obsession and gullible era and has entered the "Oh Fuck Oh Fuck Oh Fuck What Did I Do" era. Kinda snapped and tried to kill this guy and yeah.. Didn't work.

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Gravity Falls was strange, and the townsfolk even stranger, it seemed.

The twins had been unceremoniously dropped off on the side of the dusty road, the roar of the bus engine fading away as the driver wordlessly drove off without fanfare. The poor man had almost seemed close to tears ever since they had entered the thresholds of this seemingly innocuous town, all too eager to speed off and away while leaving the two children coughing and wheezing in its dust.

It had not even been a full minute since their lackluster drop-off before they became well acquainted with the oddly sociable and irritatingly chatty inhabitants of Gravity Falls. A single conversation with a pair of boisterous policemen already told them all they needed to know about the history of the town, as well as the whereabouts of their Great Uncle Ford.

"The Mystery Shack," the townsfolk had called it. It seemed as though their distant uncle had earned himself somewhat of a reputation amongst the locals. He was the town cryptid; the ever elusive mad scientist that lived in the outskirts of town in this so called "Mystery Shack". No one really knew who he really was; but everyone knew exactly who he was.

So, when the twins found themselves stood hand in hand in front of the rickety old shack, they hadn't really known what to expect when door had swung open with a deafening slam.

He was a strange man, their Great Uncle Ford. He seemed nothing like the cackling looney lab-coated madman they had imagined from what meager hushed information the townsfolk had offered them. It seemed as though the tales of a scientist gone mad that experimented on stray children that wandered into his spooky "Mystery Shack" was but a cruel rumor.

He mostly just seemed unhealthy, to be honest. His sickly, pale frame utterly drowned in the thick red woolen sweater that practically seemed to hang off of his lanky body like a second flap of skin. It made him look almost child-like, like a kid trying on their parents clothes; which somewhat diluted the intimidating effects of his looming height.

Although, the townsfolk's apparent fear of their Great Uncle Ford seemed to have some merit.

For one, Grunkle Ford really didn't seem all too human. He wasn't inhumane, per se; just, not entirely himself, if that made any sense. Looking at him was like looking at an incomplete puzzle; or looking at someone who you remember all your life wearing a hat, suddenly coming to work one day without one, and it takes a little too long for you to remember what is missing.

It was like Grunkle Ford had lost pieces of himself. Somewhere, to someone. His eyes seemed... almost empty. They were a little too dull and a little too opaque, lacking the lively shine of life everyone else seemed to have.

Another thing was that Grunkle Ford wasn't entirely alone. There was... someone else. The twins couldn't exactly pinpoint where, but they could feel its stare, whatever or whoever it was. They could almost feel its stare, a non-existent eye trailing a weird prickling sensation across their skin. The twins recalled the words of one of the townsfolk, a tall bestacled man with haunted blind eyes; although unseeing they could have sworn his gaze never seemed to leave them, as all he said was:

"Don't catch IT staring at you"

The twins had an odd feeling that IT was looking at them right now.

They didn't even notice when the pale bony hand of Grunkle Ford suddenly reached into their personal space, barely registering his words at all, much less the extra fingers that adorned each of his rough, worn palms.

They didn't take the hand.

If the twins had thought the outside of the shack looked decrepit, the inside seemed somehow even worse.

Every inch of exposed wall, ceiling or floor were utterly covered by sprawling symbols, summoning circles, and indecipherable words that seemed to be in an entirely different language than any the twins knew. They overlapped and tangled into one another into big, messy, red splotches of clustered nothings.

There were notes, diagrams on ripped pieces of aged looking paper scattered everywhere, with hardly any room for post-it notes squeezed wherever there was room. Lit and unlit candles were placed absolutely everywhere; either hidden in the dark corners or openly stood in the middle of the floor; sometimes in a circle, sometimes not. The melted fallen wax had coagulated into a hard white mess onto the floor; the smell of cheap vanilla scented candles intermingling with the smell of halloween fake blood (and Dipper was convince there had to be some real blood there, too) to create a sour concoction that stung their noses unpleasantly.

The shack was sparsely furnished with rarely any furniture at all. Not even a couch, the tables and chairs simply pushed to the walls to make more space for the endlessly swirling symbols and pentagrams. The twins were hesitant of stepping on any of the summoning circles, carefully sidestepping the candles and walking over the line of the pentagrams.

The attic, where they would be residing, was not much better.

Maybe they did end up in a mad scientist's house, after all.

[kamodofilez]

The people of TikTok have spoken, and I needed to make that a reality

[hollowhi]

I redesign bill to be a goat

Why?

One I wasn’t really happy with the first design

and two I remember that old theory of Gomper being possessed by Bill and the fact it was referenced in the book of bill when bill saids that goats are the only ones that the eye stay the same while being possessed.

Also this

This this the most hilarious thing I can imagine bill doing

And very much in character as well

Edit Done

[the-starlight-mistress]

Gravity Falls Final Test Au

Ok, so I’ve finally given in and made a gravity falls AU.

In this AU bill is nearing the end at his time at the Theraprism. Or at least, he should be. If he wants to actually get out of here he needs to pass one final test.

He gets to have a human body, go to the last place he was before admitted to the facility, and try to live a life showing he has changed.

If he doesn’t show any progress he’s sent back to Theraprism and has to continue his indefinite stay, anyone he’s made contact with get’s their mind wiped of his recent interaction, and any trouble he’s cause is reversed.

Will bill be able to handle it if he’s forgotten by another person?

It won’t come to that, he’ll just find the most normal person in gravity falls and follow their lead, then the whole stupid Pine family, and the stupid Axolotl will see that he’s not as obsessive as they all like to think he is.

Now then, the most normal person in gravity falls… what about this Tad Stange?

I’ll be keeping my log of “episodes” under the cut

All spoilers are in the tags

Episodes:

Prologue

Episode 1 "The Final Test"

Episode 2 "Tad Strange: he sure is"

[thecombustinggoat64]

pls listen to my insane gravity falls ramblings

like what if cult member Stan like before the post card thing he finds some cult that's willing to 'help' him since he's down on his luck, he finds it pretty sketchy so he accepts it but keeps his guard up in case their lying or smth (cause by this point he's delt with a lot of stuff and is in a pretty bad situation so he's taking a risk but if all turns out well it'll be worth it) and like slowly but surely they manipulate him, since he's a young man who's living out his car with barely enough to get by and nobody to turn to if anything happened he's the prime target for a cult, I mean it would take a long time cause you can't really break a con artist that easily but eventually they manage to do it and now he's a cult member and idk does culty stuff and then Ford sends the post card, asking his twin for help, only for when stan gets there he's not at all like ford remembers (since sometimes cults have a person change their behavior as it doesn't aline with their beliefs) and he's just like "You seem like you need some help, why not come with me to [insert cult name's place], they helped me and they can help you." And Ford is just baffled and is like "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BROTHER?!?!" cause I get the idea he doesn't think this is his twin plus paranoia stuff, but idk through whatever means he convinces Ford he's Stan and starts yapping about the cult and ford realized that this crap is a cult and they indoctrinated his brother into their delusions, and he is mad or concerned? Idk whatever and like now he's gotta balance making sure the bill crap doesn't get out of hand while trying to help Stan get out of the cult and stuff, idk it kinda like a cheesy TV show/video game but I digress, I think it's a silly au idea, I might actually follow up on the concept and draw art

[poor-ciceros-voring-again]

Yeah alright I'm sketching out designs for my au 🫡 I've never drawn Fiddleford before so here goes I guess

[cult-of-pine]

Bill

God of greed

[pix-writes]

Gravity falls AU idea I've had

Bill cipher is just some (charismatic, psychopathic) guy, except! He runs a cult at the time that Ford is deep in his research in gravity falls.

I'm calling it the Ciphertology AU (if someone comes up with something better I'm all ears tho)

Rest of it under cut (mentions tbob and same level of dark content as is in the book/website, just as warning) ⚠️

So, the university contacts Ford to ask him to investigate the psychic claims that this group deep in the forest, not too far from the falls, has. Ford grumbles that he isn't much of a people person to carry out such research but he's the one nearest to the area and they've agreed to send over Fiddleford, since they're friends and as his assistant he can act as an objective observer (since he didn't study parapsychology) and it pays well.

They both inadvertently get sucked into bill's cult in different ways! Ford is drawn in by his seemingly high intelligence and helpful nature, assured within himself that he wouldn't be fooled by fraudsters or fakes due to his background/intelligence, ends up treating Bill reverently (his 'muse' and one he trusts, because it fills the loneliness he feels, especially because before he began interviewing ciphers group, he felt guilt for not contacting his brother) before coming to a fast and cruel awakening that he's not who he says he is! Bill isolates him from his parents and tries to make him believe he's the only one who understands him, he obstructs his work being sent to the university too.

Meanwhile, poor Fidds had been pulled into addiction from the cultish hippie use of drugs in the group, but ended up slipping into mental health issues and realising that his friend is being manipulated and leaves. tries to persuade Ford to leave, trying to convince him that bill's evil but it doesn't go well ofc and he leaves and tries to set up a counter protest with a load of other people in gravity falls to get rid of the cult, which ends up kicking him out when he has a mental breakdown. By this time the FBI is alerted and they have the cult on their watchlist.

Ford is tortured, similar to how he is described to in tbob and journal 3 (except probably without the possession side of it, haven't decided if that's something he'd be able to do/is real in this au) and he's kept at the isolated cult camp against his will. But he does manage to get hold of a phone and call his brother. Stanley to the rescue! He isn't told fully just how bad it is but sensing bullshit, he high tails up to the falls as fast as possible ❤️

Stan is horrified by the way Ford's been treated and angry that he's still making excuses for the group (poor ford is so sleep deprived so the coercive control is going to take a little while to be unconditioned from) and quickly manages to get him out of there!

Takes a while, and not many people believe the stan twins story, but eventually Bill is caught for other crimes and is sent to a max security psychiatric hospital (basically a prison). (Stan and Ford in the aftermath keep close eyes on the cult from a distance to try and get justice.)

They end up forgiving each other and settling their home base in the falls, since now the rest of the town either hates bill or wants to forget he existed. Stan sets up his own tourist business in the falls whilst ford heals and eventually he ends up working as a lecturer and travels about to a few different colleges in the area for work. After the trial where Cipher is put behind bars decades later, the stans make their childhood dream happen and go sailing around the world for 2-3 years!

Oh, and Ford ends up reconnecting with Fidds, as after some time his son Tate tracks him down and gets him to a place where he can recover and be treated for his mental health. Their contact helps them both get through the trial because now they can finally talk to someone else who experienced the cult. Maybe they even contacted some others who were also drawn into the cult who were victims?

Dipper and Mabel come for the summer like in the show, except now they know of their two eccentric grunkles, though the whole cult story is kept from them for a while (they end up finding out somehow).

...And that's as far as I've got with this idea! I think there might be room for Bill to escape and the pines family coming across him during a future summer? Like maybe because of Ford's involvement with the cult he still has possession of some of Ford's journals/information after he escapes/is set free? Idk. What do you think?

[wampabampa]

I have like four human bill desings and 3 of them are for aus STRICTLY in my noggin cause i cant stop thinking it’s constantly brewing in my head (ive only ever posted one i think, which is just that tall twink with massive shoulder pads)

[the-east-art]

I have a question about Shifter Stan au: Does Ford eventualy warms up and believes that this is HIS Stan?

And, are they more shifts that Stan likes to use besides Lee and Eve?

Choosing to answer the second half! Alex is an every-man type used to blend in. He claims he’s a distant Corduroy relative. After Wendy learns he can shift she’ll back up this claim.

Seb is friendly, everyone’s friend. Suave and kind and open and honest. Honing these traits bit Seb in the ass… Stan has a hard time shifting into Seb after it.

It occurs to me that Dipper probably thinks Stan’s fish symbol is some kind of a cult since all his shifts wear it before he finds out it’s just… all Stan

[joonbuggiie]

Ford gets hit with the villian au beam. I like to see bill as a cult leader type figure so

I wanted to give ford more of a formal look (yes Bill absolutely dresses him, kind enough to give him a turtleneck substitute

Also i put so many random traingles in this piece its like finding hidden mickeys : (

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

Fiddauthor divorce arc speedrun <3

After 30 years of searching for his lost brother through demonic rituals and summonings, Ford has become a bit of a notorious demon collector over the years. He's made a LOT of deals with MANY different demons over the years; from minor and harmless little entities to big and powerful overlords. Most of the time, these deals aren't really a one-way situation, so a lot of demons have a strong grip on him just as much as he does on them. It often ends up being a mutual sort of destruction, as in: "I know I'm but a mere mortal trifling with things I couldn't begin to fathom, and I know you will destroy me eventually; but I don't care as long as I get to destroy you too." He just needs to live long enough to find his brother.

The red hands are essentially pieces of himself (his soul, you could say??) that he wields as his method of restraint to the demons he has "tamed" so far. They act as a leash to contain each demons' powers, and he can loosen or tighten his hold on them as much as he wants. The number of hands required to contain a demon really depends on their individual strengths, but 3-4 hands are already very energy consuming.

YES, I gave all of his demons stupid names. SUE ME.

[maruchanart]

Stanford Henry Pines and William Edward Cipher - Jekyll and Hyde AU designs :3

Art based on the artwork of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by: Ivan Shavrin

Instead of wanting to separate one's being through a potion, like Jekyll, Stanford is interested in investigating parallel universes and finding out if he can project parts of people that they didn't want onto an alternative version of themselves, getting rid of the negative side easily. He found out about William through a book that appeared in his lab after coming home from a failed pitch for his research and summoned him. William lies saying that he knows how to make an interdimensional portal that would serve as an access point to a giant network of dimensions, he offers his guidance and knowledge in exchange for control of Ford's mind and body. He then instructed Stanford on how to create a drug that would prevent neural connections and transmissions to allow easier access to his brain.

William would use this drug with previous researchers or even large groups of people (cults) to facilitate possession and control and make the mind weaker to his influence over time, which is how he was able to intrude without it later on

[hollowhi]

Here

[vampirecatprince]

Hehe. :3

Finally have a nice character page for my human Bill!

Trying to use to use quirks from I love from an artist I who's work I love and I genuinely love some of the result? I like the fluidity and polish they add to my style.