#have to save Rat World now

[flamingfoxninja]

This makes so much sense why Kipperlilly was asking about how Kristen made Yes! And specifically Where she made Yes! at.

Kristen made a whole new Deity through Arthur Augfort's office and school. As a powerful cleric she reached into the Astral Plane and made life out of her questioning and worship. She temporarily had access to the realm of dead gods to make something from nothing. This was all set in the making from day one.

Jace was working with Kalina and Arianwen to revive The Nightmare King and The Rage Goddess. That's what Ragh saw in front of the office after Prompocolypse. They used Kalvaxis wanting to regain his power as a bigger play to bring back their corrupted and dead deities. A chess piece in a series of steps.

While Kalina was going to bring back The Nightmare King, Jace would work on bringing back The Rage Goddess through Elmville. Kristen already proved that Augefort Academy has access to the Astral Plane. He found and targeted students susceptible to rage, took them to the Mountains of Chaos where the Divine Wedding took place and force the students to make a choice: live for Rage or stay dead.

The Rat Grinders made that choice except for Lucy. Which is a problem because the Need a Cleric. The people the Rat Grinders killed from the school have been Clerics, because with Kristen's method you need a powerful connection to a Deity and Worship to bring life to one.

Lucy worshiped a Giant Goddess, she would have been perfect but she refused.

Yolanda gave up any affiliation to a specific deity, neutral but powerful in worship. She would be a worthy vessel but she refused.

Buddy was brought to always be killed. A follower of Helio, the son of Sol who had corrupted the Goddesses in the first place. He is the grandson of a powerful Cleric, and has that same connection and power within himself. Kipperlilly didn't kill Buddy in panic, that was the plan all along: bypass Obliviti Mori by killing a cleric to meet the Rage Goddess in the Astral Plane, then revive them to spread the word and start the ritual. Buddy was just the first one to accept.

Like in Sylvaire, they are seeding Rage to make their own version of the Nightmare Forest to bring back The Rage Goddess. It's going to bloom and spread, rake over Elmville and the Augefort Academy where the Astral Connection is.

These plans have been started since Freshman Year, and have been defeated all because on goblin was just trying to find his babysitter and another halfling just couldn't handle that.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

okay unironically I love so much that porter is like this world SUCKS its BAD here and it HURTS you why do you care abt it!!! and literally every single bad kid is like ngl we just hate ur ass it does not matter what ur philosophy is

[codenamesazanka]

Shigaraki/Tenko wanting to destroy the false sense of peace All Might and Heroes created

.⬇️.

Shigaraki/Tenko wanting to destroy everything that lead to the existence of that house, which he conceptualizes as the embodiment of rejection and injustice in the world. Be a Hero for the Villains.

.⬇️.

AFO basically literally created that house

.⬇️.

Shigaraki/Tenko helps defeat AFO

.⬇️.

Deku telling him 'you already destroyed it' is... apparently Shigaraki/Tenko having finally gotten rid of the true cause of (his) rejection and injustice? main antagonist's big problem that represents an overarching major issue of the story/in-universe society... solved? (main antagonist's big problem that represents an overarching major issue of the story/in-universe society not actually being the problem he thought it was but now also solved?)

.⬇️.

No longer a need for there to be a Hero for the Villains, Shigaraki/Tenko dies.

.⬇️.

Heroes not to be blamed in the first place. also fuck everyone else and all other 'actual' outcasts I guess.

[mattzerella-sticks]

So are the Big Bads of Junior Year going to be the Rat Grinders? AKA kids who leveled up 'the normal way' by doing a bunch of quests, grinding, taking on any enemy to get more powerful, but because of the 'luck' and 'opportunities' given to other kids (ie the Bad Kids) aren't being lauded or appreciated like they expected so they're taking it out on the Bad Kids, have taken advantage of it the summer they were gone, and are doing what they can to punish them for 'being rewarded despite failing at what's expected of them, despite actually saving the world'.

I wonder if all the members of Rat Grinders have classes that reflect those of the Bad Kids? We already know they have a rogue and a bard...

[arolesbianism]

I am once again being haunted by "a paradox" holy fuck Olivia what the fuck is going on here what did you get yourself involved with and what did you do after it speak to me Olivia I can't keep living like this

[witches-and-weirdos]

Updated Ashira looks & random facts

Ashira uses simple illusion and transmutation magic and hobby tailoring to switch up her clothes, she likes trying out new looks

Most of her weapons are either magically manifested or transformed from another weapon, thus she can easily slam her 2 swords together into a greatsword and then throw out magical ranged attacks with said greatsword. It's weird, but weird is to be expected from illusionists and reality mages.

On the topic of magic, most of it is born and refined, and a good chunk of it is learned, though not in the wizardly theoretical way.

Ashira's "birth" was getting out of a seed-pod as an adult, her mind already loaded with knowledge and experiences, so most of the learning and refinement of her magic (and most other skills) happened well befoe her "birth".

The way she could explain it is if you were born in your 20s, and everything before that was just a very vivid dream.

Yes she is a plant, but she likes eating a lot of fruits

She doesn't like eating seeds though, it feels bad and they taste bad and they are too crunchy too

Despite that reasoning, crunchyness by itself isn't actually a problem, though it's still not super optimal, more squishy is more tasty for her

Her raptor likes pats and sratchies behind the jaw

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

For consideration—

Danny is many things. Student, hero, teenager, tired. Teenager and tired are shared, student is what he wants, and hero is what he has to be.

So when he’s fighting Val—Red Huntress, as dubbed by the general populace—and they get interrupted from their highly dangerous not-quite game of hide and seek by the Justice League offering her all of the training and support any hero could ever want… well.

It’s a good thing he’s already hidden, because he has no idea what to feel and ghost faces are significantly more stretchy and allow for frankly horrifying face journeys. He could just be a kid. He wanted to have mentorship. He wanted Valerie to be a great hero. He hopes she’s not getting dragged into it. He’s been given an out, possibly.

Or at the least, as Jazz would put in during the video call later that night, he could take a vacation.

Her reasons were fairly pure. He overworked himself by necessity, and he deserved time and rest and the ability to go for his own hobbies.

Danny’s were very much in the petty revenge territory. Blob ghost populations would be outright swarms in about two weeks, and that’s if the ectopi didn’t start hunting them as prey, sending them into a tizzy. Any bigger threats—well. Red Huntress was the hero, the only hero, as Superman said in his little ‘join us’ speech. Clearly, she’d been handling it so far. She’d be fine. There was even Justice League backing and support for her.

He still hid during ghost attacks. Everyone always thought he was scared of ghosts anyways and the rogue gallery had no qualms about kidnapping or otherwise targeting him as a regular teen.

Things… quickly spiral.

For Red Huntress, that is.

Suddenly, her new ghost alarm system that Batman helped her build is going off constantly. She expected an uptick, but she’s gotten maybe five hours of sleep in about as many days. It was a good thing that one of the support benefits was a paycheck, because if she hadn’t quit Nasty Burger they certainly would have fired her by then. Her grades were slipping, even with her best efforts, and her mentors who were supposed to help weren’t listening to her.

It wasn’t them ‘challenging her beliefs’ and asking her to ‘really consider if ghosts are always your enemy’ that made her fights suddenly harder. It wasn’t some adjustment period to her new training. There was just ghosts, all the time, constantly, and she didn’t even know what to do with all of them. She always just ran them off, and she had assumed they went home. She hadn’t realized the reason Phantom always captured them was because otherwise they just would not leave.

And Phantom. He was one of her rogues, play acting as hero for people he’d just put into danger. Sometimes he did—kind of—help, but it seemed more coincidental. A giant bobcat in the yard keeping the bears away sort of situation. Still dangerous, still unknown, no matter how similar he looked to something or someone friendly.

But. He’d been MIA since their last fight. And she didn’t know why.

Sure, she could guess that maybe he had heard the whole acceptance into the Junior League, or whatever it was called, that had happened. And with his whole ‘hero’ shtick, he’d maybe be a little weird about it. Not emotional, ghosts didn’t have true emotions. No matter what Black Canary was currently researching on the topic, Valerie was sure of it.

Just like she’d been sure that she was actually helping Amity Park.

If she heard one more property damage assessment, she’d strap one of her ecto guns to the lecturer and let them have a crack at it. Ghosts didn’t care about material things that mattered to other people. They might have attachments to certain types of objects or things they considered ‘theirs’, but if that thing was a living human’s… it didn’t matter, it’d be taken or broken just the same.

Sam was, of course, leading a small protest asking for Phantom’s return. She and Danny had at least three fights about it, and it wasn’t pretty.

Paulina had a different approach to the same issue, asking for recognition of her ghost boy.

Tucker was egging both on, mostly to distract Sam from actually bothering Danny, but also because he loved a good cat fight.

Danny was getting so much sleep, and he’s getting caught up in school. Sure, the school is usually at least a little on fire these days, but he actually read the assignment book for Lancer’s class. That hadn’t happened like, ever! And his Doom stats were getting pretty high, since the only grinding he had to do now was against virtual enemies that didn’t try to snap his spine… Technus notwithstanding.

As these things usually happen, Valerie blames Phantom for all of her woes, again. The Fenton Parents, being thoroughly exhausted at this point as well, completely back her.

And Danny has had a lot of time to rest and think on the actions of himself and others.

He’s been declared a menace, again. And he’s kind of tired of people not realizing that if he WANTED to be a villain, he could be. He wanted his town safe, and honestly, the ghost populace explosion was getting annoying. Red Huntress’s last “big fight” had nearly killed someone.

… He wouldn’t be Dan, oh no. He wouldn’t cause damage, he’d prevent those from being hurt, and he would generally look at the Hero Guideline Handbook he had… temporarily borrowed and copied from Val’s backpack. He’d be campy and totally not serious to anyone who didn’t realize he actually was just playing around. And him actually taking on ‘big fish’ persona in Amity Park’s ‘little pond’ should help get rid of at least some of the lower level guys.

It’s not like it’s be hard, honestly. He’d get to make his own hours, at least. And since Valerie saw Fenton as someone to protect, someone that he well knew she broke up with to ‘keep him safe’, she wouldn’t think of him twice as being Phantom. Danny wouldn’t use their friendship against her, but he could easily admit that it was a little scummy to do. But. Well. He’d always fought a bit dirty, and she had literally tried to kill him. Multiple times.

If Red Huntress was going to be a villain-like Hero, then it was simple.

Phantom just had to be a hero-like Villain.

Prompt

The justice league FINALLY investigates Amity, and realizes that they’ve made a grave mistake by letting a burgeoning hero shoulder a large problem without any training or support. They rectify this immediately by offering a position in the JL along with an assortment of mentors and other teen heroes to bond with. 

Red Huntress receives this invitation in front of Phantom, while actively trying to hunt him down.

[operationslipperypuppet]

this episode proves a point about the bad kids that i think the rat grinders fully don’t understand.

they’re not out saving the world for glory, or even to simply save the world. they’re also saving people, individuals, when they need it.

they’re showing compassion at every turn.

one conversation with jawbone saved his life. they wrote off zayn but found the truth about him and gave him a home in death he never had in life. they walked ragh up to being able to reevaluate his life, and embraced him when those changes happened, saving his school career by inviting him on the spring break quest. aelwyn was someone they had every reason to leave behind, but they all tried their best to help her and are happy to have her help now. they set it up for gilear to have several jobs, trying at different times to help him and then later literally breaking his curse. they became the friends ayda never had and pushed her father to reach out, not her to reach out to her father. and, of course, lydia. they saw her pain and asked her about it, but also asked her about her friends. they finished her quest with her permission, allowing her to finally rest (and helping ragh to relax now, too).

they’re not just saving the world. they’re making it better, especially for people who have been overlooked. and that’s why people at school like them. not for whatever bullshit reasons the rat grinders have made up in their heads.

[jq37]

I'm kind of obsessed with all of the Rat Grinders' attempts to ruin the Bad Kids backfiring and making them cooler than ever. Force them to take the Last Stand? They become the first party to ever have a flawless victory. Send dragons to steal the election from them? They turn it into the most rocking party/music video ever (and kill your wizard's grandma in the process). And now you're giving them another chance to save the world when they're already 3 for 3 on cancelling apocalypses? Are you guys for real?

[acridid-s]

Had a stress dream of the genre "I do everything right but everything still acts as though I did it all wrong"... topped off with having to wade through stagnant rivers of blood and rotting corpses and Plague Tale esque hordes of spiders bigger than a human head... Great

[arainywriter]

i wonder how the rat grinders felt when they realized that not only are the bad kids insanely good adventurers, but they also love each other.

like, i can just imagine the high 5 heroes first starting out, and they're excited and nervous because they all just met and hit it off, and they're going to be an adventuring party now! and then they hear about another group of freshmen who got detention together and are forced to be an adventuring party, but also they got into their fight (an actual fight!) and they totally killed the lunch lady!

and maybe they were a little envious because the bad kids got actual experience, but they pushed that aside. they would get to have their own adventure in their own time! and it's a little sad that the bad kids were forced together instead of getting to choose like they did. and then months go by, and they realize they might not have as much in common as they thought, and maybe they start to really only talk when they're in the woods killing rats, but hey, at least they chose each other!

and then the bad kids kill the acting principal, unravel a whole apocalypse that was about to happen, and save the world, and the high 5 heroes realize they just spent all of freshman year killing rats. and then sophomore year happens, and they probably see how close the bad kids, how they literally revolve around each other, and some of them literally live in the same house as each other. the bad kids go on a big world-saving adventure again, and they see videos on the bad kid's website of them having a great time being an adventuring party. and maybe they look at the people they chose to be an adventuring party with, and they realize they really don't care about each other that much.

i wonder if they looked at the bad kids and realized they had everything the rat grinders wanted: favoritism from the school, honed skills from actual fights, world-saving adventures, and a family. i wonder if that's when they really started to hate them.

[ann1eee]

Stay another minute

You were wounded.

The battle between Sukuna seemed to drag on, no one had any idea when the King of Curses would fall, if he would at all.

No matter that, he didn’t care right now.

You were wounded, and he couldn’t get to you.

-

Your cursed technique allowed you to see bits into the future, making you a formidable opponent. Along with that, you possessed a technique that allowed amplification of attacks, giving you special grade status.

With all hands on deck, you and Gojo took on Sukuna together.

Blood was trickling down your eyes, a sign that you were exhausting your energy rapidly. You didn’t care about that right now as you saw Sukuna’s world slash cut Gojo clean in half.

Your eyes widened. The attack would come any minute now.

Instinctively, you pushed him out of the vicinity, expecting to dodge the slash completely.

You were wrong. Although you had deflected the attack enough for it not to hit Gojo, and not cut you in half in his place, it still hit.

You dropped to your knees as you felt the searing pain of your flesh splitting along your neck, between your breasts, your stomach, and finally down to your hip.

He didn’t get hit. He didn’t die. He didn’t get hurt.

You don’t know if your injury is fatal, and you don’t care. You cant live in a world without Gojo, not because he’s the strongest but because he’s Gojo. You love him, and you’d do anything for him.

Putting your life on the line to save his wasn’t even a second thought.

You don’t remember when you blacked out, and when you reached Shoko’s operating table.

When you finally woke up, you were at JJT, in one of the beds at Shoko’s clinic.

You swallowed thickly. How long had it been? Was everyone okay? Did we win?

Was Gojo okay?

You ripped out the tubes connecting your arm to a drip, and used all your strength to stumble out of bed and towards anyone who could answer you.

Your expression softened with relief as you bumped into him, and his contorted to one of concern.

“What the hell did you do to your arm?!”

You blinked in surprise as you saw blood gushing out of your flesh where the tubes were once attached.

You literally could not care less.

You slammed your body onto Gojo’s, pulling him into the tightest hug you’d ever given anyone. Your body stung so bad, but you couldn’t care less.

He remained steady, strong arms around you, noticing your wince, as he lead you back to your bed.

“Please don’t rip things out of your arm, y/n!.”

“Did we win?” You ignored his advice.

“Of course we won. Yuji and Nobara saved Megumi.”

You couldn’t believe your ears. The all out battle was finally over, and your students were safe.

“Y/n.”

The seriousness in his tone made you pay attention to what he had to say.

“Please don’t ever jump in and risk your life like that for me, ever. Do you know how my heart sank when I saw you fall like that? I couldn’t even come save you because of that rat we were fighting. I felt so hopeless, waiting for someone, anyone to come and help you. I didn’t know if you were alive.. I..” He choked.

You felt horrible. You couldn’t imagine if the situation was reversed.

You pulled him into a tight hug, and kissed his cheek.

“I’m sorry my love. I won’t do that to you again.”

He smiled and hugged you back, careful not to open your wound.

“Let’s go home, y/n. Let’s take our well deserved break. I wanna take you to all the places I haven’t been able to, I wanna see you smile again and again. I want you to be mine forever, y/n, and even that won’t be enough time to show you how much love I have for you.”

You could cry. You’ve never heard sweeter words. You want to stay with him, have a normal life, be a normal couple. You know that isn’t possible due to your shared profession, but it sure as hell will become a lot lighter after the defeat of the King. Maybe, you could have everything you’ve ever wanted.

You could have Gojo Satoru, as your husband, spending your days and nights in his arms, your little family filling your home with warmth and giggles day after day.

You’d like that. And this was your new start.

[thebibliosphere]

I both believe "poor people deserve art" and "artists deserve food", but it's hard to reconcile those beliefs. I blame capitalism. And I suppose it mostly matters who you're stealing from?

I don't mean to question you at all, I'm against people pirating your stories. I guess I was just wondering if you had more thoughts regarding the reconciliation the two beliefs I quoted above.

I think the reconciliation is working toward a future where things are better, and authors and artists don't have to beg people not to steal from them because they think every author is Stephen King, who wouldn't notice if you stole the pennies found under his couch when in reality most of us are hunting for spare change down the back of the couch because we are earning below minimum wage.

We need people to embrace the idea that art belongs to the working class, both in terms of consumption but also creation.

If you don't support the working-class creators, you'll only end up with rich fucks with no scope of the world beyond their own narrow view of privilege.

Indie creators are actually working very hard to change the way the industry works, and the publishing industry is shitting itself over it. They don't like the success some of us are having. It's why they keep upping prices while slashing corners on their own production (while never affecting the man at the top) to try and stay competitive within the rat race they've created.

They're not interested in the proliferation of art. They're not interested in making sure their authors can afford to live. They don't want more diversity. They don't want inclusion. They want profit at whatever the cost.

And while indie creators very much need to get paid because we live in a capitalistic society and everything is burning down around us, and a carton of eggs now costs more than what I earn per hour, our creativity is directly at odds with the type of profiteering big publishers want.

The money should go to the writers. Not the CEOs. The money should go to the workers in the print houses. Not the CEOs. No one needs the kind of wealth these people have. It's obscene. We need direct action against these conglomerates. We need unionization. We need a means to fight back so that we can make art and make it accessible.

So, how do we do that? I don't know. I'm just a very tired, disabled creator doing my best to keep my head above water. But I think getting people to realize that art and books are worth saving up for would be a good start.

That putting money in the pockets of creators is just as important as your own enjoyment of their art. Because if there aren't any artists, you've got nothing.

Getting them involved with their local libraries would also be a great start. Educating them on how the industry works is part of that. The number of people telling me they had no idea libraries paid authors is staggering. And that's intentional. It's a by-product of right-wing propaganda to make you think libraries are worthless and just sap taxpayers' money.

They're not.

If they were, the fash wouldn't be trying so hard to take them away.

Basically, we need working-class solidarity and for certain people on the left to rid themselves of the idea that just because something isn't borne of manual labor, it doesn't have worth. We need the artists and the dreamers as much as we need to bricklayers and the craftsmen. Otherwise, what's the fucking point of it all?

[arolesbianism]

Hi sorry for disappearing but uhhh 25ji 👍 (<- not ok)

[cup-o-stars]

Relativity Falls Lore Concept- The Oracle and Bill

The Oracle:

I was initially inspired by the Twitter user @SUwu159's depiction of the Oracle in their take on Relativity Falls, and made my own adaptation as I learned about her in canon.

(Assume she can change colors because I couldn't pick what I liked most)

This version of The Oracle isn't malicious per se, and does not desire the same conquest or chaos sought out by Bill. But she likes universes to be organized and quaint (or answers to another high power that demands it), and finds fulfillment in achieving these goals through any means necessary.

The Oracle and Dipper:

(Sorry if this dialogue tastes like a corndog in your mouth. I just needed to write a semi-resolution to Dipper's side of the relationship, ha.)

Getting into the real struggle with the Pines family. Dipper and Mabel don't fight and hold grudges like the Stans (that we've seen of), so my opinion is that they drifted apart in their late teens and twenties, both feeling pressured to be less attached at the hip. My current belief (though I'm very willing to rewrite this section) is that Mabel and Dipper both poured a lot of energy into pretty niche fields, and being very busy meant very short and rare windows to reach out. Both assumed the other was doing bigger and better things and felt self conscious / childish for wanting eachother's company.

I'm still considering Mabel's backstory, since I think she probably hit lower points than Dipper. You know. Starving artist, lol. But Dipper entered into paranormal investigation, pest control, etc. before his ghost + monster catching went far enough for his name to gain some notoriety. Hell, maybe Pacifica's family reached out to him to take care of "rats" that were actually ghosts, cementing his interest in Gravity Falls and giving him a window inter supernatural work.

Dipper was taken on as something of an apprentice to the Oracle 30ish years before canon as word of his good and dangerous deeds spread. However, what was at first a personal dream come true (saving lives with nerd magic) soon became a personal hell as the Oracle began to overwhelm Dipper with knowledge of various futures and universes where everything he cared about could be destroyed. He's always been over prepared and incredibly paranoid, and became obsessed with protecting the world by acting as a partner to the Oracle.

He ends up doing- or not doing- a lot of morally ambiguous things and gaining a lot of enemies. He is too ashamed to face his family- especially Mabel- with what he's done and burden them, giving the Oracle more to use against him to keep him working for her. Basically "you've already done all this and risked it all, there's nowhere to go if you stop now." Eventually this ends in her seeing him fit for her work and convincing him to hide out in and save other universes, which he gets trapped doing for the next three decades.

Little throw away idea: Pacifica could have been an investor or partner, but left as they uncovered secrets about the Northwest family. Maybe she wanted to undo something (debating making any of the Oracle's powers time related just because I hate time travel) or stop a current show of corruption, but Dipper had to stop her for the "greater good."

In the main universe, Mabel goes to Gravity Falls upon news of her brother's disappearance, searching for any loose end to trace back to him.

I love that in canon, Dipper is willing to do anything for Mabel, and Mabel gives it back. Dipper here spends all of his life keeping as many versions of her as safe as he can, and she spends all her life trying go seek him out- maybe even dropping a larger opportunity outside of Gravity Falls for her art and settling on business at the shack. Dipper wants Mabel alive, Mabel wants them both happy. I like the idea that it's Dipper and Mable vs. The Future but the future is a demon, alien thing.

Which leads me to...

Bill Cipher:

I'm actually gonna cover a couple versions of Bill I think are fitting for this AU, because I initially wasn't sure if I wanted him here at all.

Child Bill:

Pretty straight forward. Bill as a baby, child thing is tempting and this is the au where he'd exist. Personally though, I think Ford's friendship with Fidds would be more enriching to his growth, and Bill's personality is so close to Stan's they would likely be competing to fill very similiar roles. (If Bill behaves differenty as kid, I don't know about it.) Honestly, Bill is super similiar to Ford and Stan, and works better as a kind of foil or antagonist because of that (imo). I do find the mental image of Ford carrying Bill around funny. I do not enjoy human bill like, conceptually, so I'm probably never gonna design one as an adult or child, lol.

It would be cool to see a world where Bill didn't accidentally kill his parents though.

Bill - Reincarnated Original

Technically I guess they could all be reincarneted (especially baby Bill), but this version of Bill experienced and holds memories of the original canon events in GF. Beings like Bill and the Oracle can remember recent/soon approaching lives, and catch glimpses of more distant cycles as well.

What I like about Bill's recent role as an antagonist to Ford and Stan is that he constantly describes them in the terms of their worst traits, and sees them through the lens of the roles the world placed on them. In this AU, Bill is the epitome of the past (in this case a past life) coming back to bite the twins. He rattles their progress in communication as well as their sense of inner peace by bringing old Glass Shard Beach issues into Gravity Falls.

(Depicted here-> moments after Ford summons Bill using the same ritual as Gideon.)

The drawback to this is that it feels a lot like covering old ground.

Simply Bill:

This is pretty much just regular old Bill with the same fresh perspective as everyone else, and also the one I'm going with. He tried and failed to get Dipper's trust in the past and had to lay low at the arrival of the Oracle. Once they left, Bill targeted Mabel. I think it could be very interesting for Mabel and Bill to either have a fresh relationship wherein Bill is actively taking advantage of her desperation to find Dipper, or for Bill to be an old betrayal (not romantic, but not dissimilar to the opportunistic exes Stan and Ford have to be wary of and beat back under the rug regardless).

Either he shows himself to Mable early on, or decides that Gravity Falls is both Oracle-free and worth the time after either Ford or Mable summon him. Afterall, 30 years isn't much to him.

Maybe he exists in the background like he's always done, or the kids (being snoopy and disrespectful of Mabel's secrets) discover what Mabel's doing and run into him on their own.

Whether Bill is aware of the original series or not, I think he could be neat to stick in between Stan and Ford again for conflict. My favorite aspect about Relativity Falls is the prospects of the Stans having a larger support system and better tools to help themselves with. Beating Bill faster and better would be the ultimate testament to Mabel and Dipper's skills as functioning role models, even if Mabel is currently blinded by her focus on Dipper.

Stan and Ford will fight and they will make up, but this time maybe they can overcome it on their own.

I also think a good idea is having Ford and Stan's issues be completely Bill free (outside of like an episode or two's worth of relevance, unless he put them into a particularly stinging situation). It would feel fresher and also streamline the plot, lol.

Overview:

- Dipper is stuck travelling the multiverse with the Oracle and keeps himself sane by thinking of Mabel and protecting various versions of her.

- Mabel is investigating his disappearance in Gravity Falls and is working on a portal/portal equivalent with Bill to bring him back.

- The kids may or may not be aware of this.

Looking at the main series of events, I think it'd be neat go back to the apprenticeship conflict, where Ford could be approached by the Oracle (or something else that makes sense) with the promise of being a "hero," but knows better now because of Dipper and his experiences with Bill. It's kind of a more convoluted version of Ford's proposal to Dipper in canon, and they basically learn the same thing, lol. You can hang out with ghosts if you want, but demons are gonna get you. Maybe being a child with siblings is all you need.

(Stan could also be offered this, given the Oracle already knew he- or at least someone with his face- would beat Bill, but I think it's well established he isn't very interested in doing anything without family.)

All in all, things might be a bit crowded with two antagonists. But I do like the concept of Bill's arrival and subsequent chaos triggering Dipper and the Oracle's return to Mabel's dimension. I also love the idea of Bill, the Oracle, and some secret third thing all trying to pull the Pines family apart, and it's like a Man vs. God turned into a Family vs. Destiny thing, idk. Just trying to make it feel bigger.

Thank you for reading all this. It was a lot to draw. Next time I do anything for Relativity Falls, I'm gonna go back to the smaller things like Mabel bonding with the kids and stuff like that.

[applebees4prez]

“it’s not fair” seems to be a theme of the season especially in how the people around the bad kids don’t seem to realize that it’s not fair for them either.

cassandra doesn’t realize it’s not fair to kristen that she’s a teenager with a life and other responsibilities who is the sole being keeping a god alive.

the rat grinders don’t realize that it’s not fair that they get to xp level with critters while the bad kids have to save the world. they don’t take into account how each of them have died before and/or watched their best friends die while coming extremely close to death. the bad kids have experienced so much pain and exhaustion and they don’t even get the special treatment that the rat grinders have accused them of.

porter straight up ignores how gorgug is going to struggle with a 400% courseload because he took a hit to his pride. he sees a student so passionate that he’s willing to do four years of school in one and doesn’t think to cut him a little bit of slack.

it’s not fair that adaine grew up with shitty parents and now has to work eight hours a day to pay for her equipment in exchange for getting rid of them. it’s not fair that kristen has to dedicate everything to a god at 16 years old when she has so much else she needs and wants to do. it’s not fair that gorgug has taken on a 400% courseload because of porter’s pride. it’s not fair that fig is cursed to be unlucky and has something going on that she doesn’t understand at all. it’s not fair that he has to work so much harder to get into college and has to manage his entire party because they aren’t as passionate about school as he is. it’s not fair that fabian was abandoned by his mother and is so, so goddamn lonely or that he had to kill his father.

and while everyone else is whining about how unfair everything is (except for cassandra who is valid in her concerns), the bad kids have taken everything in stride. they don’t complain to anyone even though they absolutely have the right to, not even each other.

adaine refused to tell her dad about the things she needed, despite the fact that he would have helped, and got a job. kristen takes the blame for hurting cassandra and keeps dropping the ball because she can’t handle everything and feels so guilty. gorgug took the courseload because he’s so passionate about the things he wants to do and is trying his goddamn best to keep up with it. fig hasn’t talked to anyone about her confusing situation until it caused major problems because she was going to suffer it in silence. riz plasters on a smile and takes everything that he can get in hopes of it impressing schools. fabian hints to his friends that he wants people at his house but never confides in them or questions his parents even though they both had so many issues.

it’s especially not fair that none of them feel like they’re allowed to say it’s not fair. that they take everything in stride until they will someday break down.