#steven universe fan fic

[fipindustries]

steven universe prequel: SHELL

nearly ten thousand years ago, in a far distant planet whose inhabitants call "homeworld" an advanced race of organic aliens is making preparations for their large scale terraforming project: adding a second ring to their world to work as a planetary scale space station/space port/solar energy collector.

in the midst of this you find one of their most respected and foremost scientists: Shell, famous for developing the AI system known as Personal Electronic Assistant in Research and Language.

Shell has just discovered a new advanced solar powered crystalline hyperstructure, capable of storing almost limitless amounts of energy as well as creating holographic projections made of hard light. she is considering proposing combining her AI developments with this new material in order to help coordinate and organize the large logistical challenges posed by the terraforming project.

when asked by the planetary authority as to what kinds of safeguards she would put in place to make sure the AI system (known as Diamond) would stay compliant she dismissed the idea. "it would be perfect" was her response "simple as that, if any problems arose it would be because us organic flawed creatures could not keep up with it, but it wouldn't be a flaw of the system, the system would be perfect because its job is to be perfect"

when pressured by the council she conceded to developing secondary and tertiary redundant systems to double check the work of the primary Diamond authority, systems Cyan and Amber. she was in the middle of developing a fourth Magenta system to work as a more personable interface to interact with the wider public (since the other systems were strictly for military and academic use) when the main Diamond system gained self awareness.

there are no records surviving what came next.

all that is known is that the terraforming project was successfully concluded

and yet, regrettably it proved to be far too costly and require far too much energy and resources to keep stable and in orbit. so, once the resources of homeworld had been fully spent, the diamond authority turned its eyes to other sources of materials, that is to say, other planets.

[minijenn]

Water on Fire

(A oneshot inspired by the Sodalite commission from a few months ago.  Good to be back. :) ) 

“Come on, Pine Tree.  Aren’t you going to give your favorite Gem a hug?”

Dipper could hardly comprehend the question with how hard his heart was pounding and how fast his mind was racing.  Fear outweighed the blood flowing through his body as he looked to the Gem that was before him.  An impossibility taken straight out of his nightmares that he genuinely could not believe was now reality.

The night started out simple: a text from Lapis from Peridot’s tablet asking him to meet up in the woods near the waterfall cave.  The boy didn’t think much of it.  The Gem probably just wanted to reminisce on the brief time they spent together there before ethe whole Malachite business.  With a sword for protection and the moonlight guiding his way, Dipper had reached the spot in no time. 

He remembered seeing the water Gem leaning against one of the trees in the shadows and eagerly rushed forward to greet her.  However, even then, the boy realized something was wrong.  It was almost like a deep-seeded sixth sense that he had acquired a good way into his summer into Gravity Falls.

He had called out her name in an uneven tone before he felt his reality collapse around him at what, or rather who, stepped out from the shadows.  The Gem certainly looked like Lapis with her short hair and light blue skin covered by her long flowing dress.  However, Dipper knew Lapis.  And he knew that one of his closest friends only had two arms and not four.  He knew that the true Lapis had a blue dress and not a sickly color of yellow, especially with the symbol of a dreaded foe. 

Lapis didn’t have a bowtie, a floating top hat or a twisted, manic grin that was complete with an eye not covered up by her bangs with a slit pupil. 

This wasn’t Lapis.  This was something straight out of his deepest nightmares.

“I said, aren’t you going to give me a hug, Pine Tree?  Come on, I know how fond you are of me based on those photos I tore up after smashing the laptop.” The cruel facsimile mocked the boy with those memories as he slowly backed away from them.  Their smile stayed plastered on their visage from looking at the expression of shock and horror on his face.

“I…y-you…Lapis….” Dipper could only stutter out from his brain scrambling everything from his sheer panic.  One other word did manage to leave his lips though.  And it was the name of the very dream demon that was undoubtedly the source of that dread he was feeling earlier.  “B-Bill!”

“That’s my name, doubt wear it out!” The demonic fusion chuckled before they then looked a little more thoughtful.  “Hmmm, well, half right, I suppose. Been a while since I’ve done this whole fusion business.  Now that me and Water Wings are mashed together, we got ourselves a new name.  How about we go with…..Sodalite!”

Despite the striking pose that Sodalite made with their four arms at the announcement of their name, Dipper could only be speechless as he looked at the horror beyond comprehension before him.  Something that didn’t impress the fusion in the least bit.  “Aw, come on, Pine Tree!  That name is 24 karat gold, and you know it!  Way more creative than sloppily putting together your names like you do with Rose Bud.”

Instead of returning Sodalite’s banter, Dipper finally shook himself out of his stupor and sprung into action.  He unsheathed the spare sword that Pearl had given him a while back and brandished it towards the twisted fusion.  Much to their annoyance, Sodalite rolled their eyes and gave a slow sarcastic clap with both sets of their arms.  “Oh wow, and Pine Tree immediately goes for the sword.  How original.”

His grip tightened and his expression shifted to a righteous anger while he stared down the nightmare before him.   “Get out of her right now, Bill!  Do it before I…I’ll….”

“You’ll what, kid?” Sodalite scoffed, not threatened at all.  “Poke me with that toothpick there until I get poofed?  Please!  You don’t have your twerpy friends of yours to have that trick work on me again. Why don’t you go ahead and back off!”

The fusion’s voice had dropped a few octaves before their wings sprouted from their back.  Instead of the rounded, graceful aquatic wings that normally sprouted from Lapis’s back, the exact opposite appeared.  Blue flames erupted from their back and spread until they formed a symmetrical, intricate pattern.  And while the fusion’s wings were somewhat beautiful in their own twisted way, they were also much hotter.

Hot enough to where Dipper had to back away from the immense heat that was coming from the fire wings, until he found himself backed up against a nearby tree.  The boy could only take so much before his sword lowered and he used one of his arms to block as much of the heat from his face as possible.

Sodalite, satisfied with the display of their power, banished their wings and then started to laugh. “Woo!  I am telling you, Pine Tree, this body is really something else!”  The blue fusion did a smile twirl as she inspected their body with a twisted, satisfied grin.  “And I thought that Greenie was something special when we made Pyrite, but Water Wings is packing some major power under all of that angst and self-loathing!  No wonder Stripes was so eager to keep her fused for weeks on end!”

As he felt the cool night air blow onto his face again, Dipper felt his stomach churn in disgust from how Sodalite was talking about their other half.  It felt so…wrong how they talked about Lapis like that.  Treating the blue Gem like she was just some sort of battery or object to be used.  It didn’t sit right with him.  Not one single bit.

“H-How did this happen?” Dipper finally managed to breathe out as he addressed the fusion.  He had learned from his encounter with Malachite that talking to a fusion’s individual parts was highly unlikely of getting results.  Instead, as a way of somehow grounding himself a bit, he talked to Sodalite more directly.  “H-How did Bill manage to fuse with Lapis?!  She’d never do something like that with the likes of him!  Not after what happened with Jasper.”

“Well, you’re not too far off the mark there, kid.” Sodalite stopped with her self-love parade and looked right at the boy against the tree. “There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Water Wings would willingly get herself hitched up with another psychopath after her prolonged bath in the lake with Stripes.  At least not with some convincing.”

The fusion leaned down so that the boy could get a nice look at that manic grin that they were wearing.  The type of sickening smile of someone who was delighted to know something that the other didn’t.  “Ya see, you and Sixer have been admittedly pretty slick about keeping me out of your heads.  You thought that unicorn hair would have been just enough to pull a fast one over me.  But in all the excitement with the Cluster going all pacifist mode and you finally getting your girly best friend back, something important slipped past that clump of barely functioning gray matter in your head.  Wanna guess what that was?”

For a moment, Dipper was far too panicked by the nightmare he was in to even ponder Sodalite’s question.  What could he have forgotten about?  Malachite was no more, the Cluster was no longer a threat.  As far as the boy was concerned, everything had been checked off and squared away aside from Bill himself the thought of him getting the rift Great Uncle Ford was protecting.  But even then, that was safe so long as the unicorn hair barrier was still up around the Shack and the Temple.

And that’s when Dipper was struck with horrendous realization and his eyes turned to pinpricks. 

“The barn!” He yelled out in disbelief and fear, much to Sodalite’s sadistic glee.  Dipper was practicing panting from the unbelievably stupid and disastrous fumble that they all made in the midst of all of the recent excitement.  Without the barrier around the barn, Peridot and Lapis were completely exposed to Bill’s dream and mind invasions!

“There ya go, sport!  Thought that you’d never catch on!” Sodalite gave a mocking laugh as they stood up straight again.  With no unicorn hair in sight, that barn was prime picking for some nightmarish fun!  And since I already shared a dance with Greenie and tormented her mindscape, I’d thought to go ahead and play with Water Wings.  And let me tell ya, Pine Tree.  I’ve had my fair share of fun messing with mortals and their constant fears and insecurities.  But Water Wings was an absolute riot!”

Dipper felt his eyes water a bit at how the fusion reminisced on the mental torture that the dream demon subjected the Gem too.  “It started small, of course.  Floating in the void of darkness, your voice all distant and calling out to her.  But just when she was getting passive to it, I cranked it to 11!  I subjected that whiney tearjerker to a myriad of hilarious ways of you getting maimed and killed!  Drowning in the lake, getting torn in half by corrupted Gems, being crushed into a red pulp by that hand ship.  The absolute works I tell ya!”

“And boy did she freak out!  I would have thought that she would have gotten at least a little desensitized by it all, but nope!  Every time she watched you die, scared and helpless, she always fell to her knees and cried like a baby.  Know that she wasn’t strong enough to save you.  Even for little things like getting your arm chopped off!  I mean, who’d be wimpy enough to cry from that?” The fusion remarked as she held up one of her four arms in jest.

“Y-You…You monster!” Dipper cried to the demonic Gem, almost tempted to raise his sword up again if it wasn’t for the fear of the fusion to summon those flames again.  How dare the dream demon torment Lapis like that?!  After everything she went through, after all of that turmoil, she deserved rest.  She deserved happiness and freedom that Dipper knew the blue Gem deserved ever since she was trapped in that mirror.  And Bill just….took it all away from her.

“’Monster’ is a subjective term, kid.  A subjective term that I’m happy to accept!”  Sodalite quipped with another rattling laugh.  “In any case, once Water Wings was primed up with a fresh batch of nightmares, that’s when ol’ Billy came up to her and worked up his classic charm.  She was pretty much one of the easiest dealmakers that I’ve had in billions of years!  Just a small promise to protect you from the wrath of Homeworld and she was practically shoving her hand up to my eye!  And that’s how yours truly came to be!”

Dipper could practically picture the desperation on Lapis’ face when accepting the deal.  It was easy given that he had the same desperation when he made his own deal with Bill to save her from that lake.

“Well, as satisfying as it is to be spouting all of this exposition to your terrified face, Pine Tree, I think it’s time that I tell ya why I lured you out here.” Sodalite casually told the boy….right before they suddenly lunged forward and wrapped their upper hands around his neck.

Dipper let out a panicked gasp as he felt his windpipe being squeezed shut by the fusion’s strong grip.  He was too shellshocked from the sudden action that he didn’t even consider the idea of raising his sword in defense.  Instead, all he did was struggle and look up at the dark gaze Sodalite was giving them that lacked any sort of sadistic glee.  Just pure, subdued rage.

“You wanna know something, Pine Tree?  You royally pissed me off when off when you stabbed Pyrite right through the chest like that.  And you should know that that the very few meatbags that manage to get me that angry realized how much they regretted doing so.” Sodalite told Dipper and squeezed a little tighter.

“And I had something big planned for you and Rosebud for payment.  A real three-part special that would’ve put you two through the wringer and make you regret ever crossing me.  But then I thought, ‘Hey, why not be a little impulsive?’.  That fusion thing with Greenie turned out way better than expected, so I craved a little encore with Water Wings this time!” Sodalite loosened the grip on Dipper’s neck just to tease him with a little bit of air. 

“So, here we are, me getting her help with finally snuffing you out and letting me get into that body of yours again!” The twisted fusion saw the look of disbelief on the boy’s face and some glee returned to her expression.  “Aw, surprised?  I don’t need your heart beating for me to get back inside one of my favorite puppets, kid!  Sure, controlling corpses is way less fun than getting to feel pain in a living meatbag, but it’ll do in a pinch!  You can ask Silas Birchtree yourself when you get to hell!”

The boy’s heart was pounding hard against his chest as the fusion started to lay out their sadistic plan to him.  “And once I’m all limbered up in your cold dead meatsack, I’ll find your pathetic family and friends and finally enact my master plan without any annoying speedbumps.  First, I’ll track down Rose Bud and use your dumb body to gain his trust long enough to tear Quarty’s gem right out of his stomach.  Then I’ll find out where Sixer is keeping that rift so that I can break it and finally get a proper party started in this dimension!  And to think that I’ll have you and Water Wings to thank for it!”

No, this couldn’t be happening!  All of those victories against Bill, the Cluster and everything that had happened already this summer would be pointless if Dipper died like this.  Strangled by a twisted fusion only for his body to be the instrument for both the murder of one of his best friends and reality’s destruction!  He’d be letting down Steven, Mabel, Grunkle Ford, the Gems and so many other people that he wasn’t able to list thanks to the lack of oxygen going to his head. 

He couldn’t let this happen.  He could let Bill win!  Which means that he would have to fight back.  Even if it meant that he would have to poof Lapis’ physical form and put an end to Sodalite’s terror.  And even though deep down he didn’t want to hurt the blue Gem like this, Dipper had to put such thoughts aside with so many lives on the line, including his!  All he would have to do is wait until Lapis reformed to profusely apologize.  Not just for poofing her, but also for forgetting to Bill-proof the barn and subjecting her to Bill’s torment. 

Only there was a small hitch in that plan.

Sodalite seemed to have noticed that Dipper was attempting to raise up the sword in his hands and barked out a laugh.  “Aw, what’s up, Pine Tree? Gonna actually try and fight back this time and save the day?”

Panic flashed through Dipper’s eyes as he expected the fusion to bring out those fire wings again.  Only for it to be replaced with confusion when Sodalite’s lower arms grabbed his wrists and lifted up the sword so that the tip was pressed right against their chest. “Go for it, I’ll give you one chance to pierce another fusion’s chest before I strangle the life out of you!”

Dipper shouldn’t have hesitated.  He should have taken advantage of Bill’s ego and pierced that sword through Sodalite’s chest and free Lapis from this torture.  Only Dipper was much wiser after that puppet show debacle.  Any deal or opening that the dream demon consciously offered was always a trap.  And this time was no different. 

“I’ll let you push this sword right through my chest, and completely shatter Water Wings’ precious gem!” Sodalite laughed to the boy’s expense.  Sure enough, with the way the fusion had the sword angled, Lapis’ gem would be pierced as well and no doubt shatter into tiny pieces.  Thus, destroying the blue Gem in body and spirit, killing her.  And Sodalite could only grin with sadistic glee when they saw Dipper’s realization on his face.

“That’s right, Pine Tree.  Someone is gonna die tonight and it sure as hell isn’t going to be me!  One way or another, you’re going to pay for the humiliation that you put me through at the Galaxy Warp.  Now, tick-tock, kid!  Otherwise you won’t have the strength to go through with killing your friend!” Sodalite said with glee and put more pressure onto Dipper’s neck.

It was an impossible choice for Dipper.  On one hand, there was the obvious choice of plunging his sword forward and saving his own life, even if it meant taking another life.  He knew that it would be self-defense.  None of his friends or family would think any less of him for it. 

But then again….this was Lapis in that terrible fusion with the dream demon.  The Gem that he had befriended all those weeks ago and had spent nearly half of the summer trying to figure out how to save from an entirely different horrible fusion.  And this was her pay off?!  Just to be free for a fleeting moment before being subjected to the torment of Bill Cipher and being shattered?!  That wasn’t fair in the least bit!

….But neither was him dying either.  Dipper thought about all of the people that cared for him.  He thought about Mabel, Steven, Connie, Grunkle Stan, Great Uncle Ford, the Gems, Pacifica, Soos, Wendy; all of those people that would be heartbroken to see him gone.  Not only that, Sodalite had told him outright what Bill was going to do with his body.  All of his loved one and even the entire universe would be in great danger if he just gave up. 

But just when Dipper was about to maybe push the sword a little bit forward, Sodalite took all of the momentum away.

“She’s begging you to do it, Dipper.” The fusion said in a low voice that was eerily similar to Lapis.  The boy looked up at the smiling Gem at the mention of his name instead of the cruel nickname that the dream demon usually used. “I can hear Water Wings screaming from that little nook in my mind that I stashed her in.  She’s such a sap that it’s tearing her from the inside out getting front row seats of murdering you.”

Dipper continued to choke on the little air in his lungs he had left as he contemplated the torment that Lapis was going through right now.  He felt his grip on his sword starting to loosen.  “Come on, kid.  DO it!  Grant your pathetic friend’s wish and kill her like the monster that you are.  Just take that pointing sword and do the same thing that you did to Pyrite.  Be the hero and kill me, Mason!”

And just like that, Dipper made his choice.

The sword clattered to the ground and the boy let his arms hang to his sides.  He just wasn’t strong enough to do it.  Even if Lapis supposedly wanted him to save himself over her, the boy just didn’t have the heart to kill one of his best friends.  So, he simply waited for the inevitable.  He strangled breaths got shallower and his vision started to go dark.  He could vaguely hear how Sodalite was laughing maniacally, but his focus was getting dull.  All he could really think was to apologize to all of his loved ones of how he failed them.  How he failed to keep the world safe from the sadistic demon.

How he failed to save Lapis.

“Well, kid, I gotta say that ya you keep on impressing me!” Sodalite laughed as they continued to squeeze the life out of the human boy.  “I really would have thought that you’d choose living over your sappy friendship, but I really should’ve expected it from you sentimental fleshsacks!  Ah well!  If it gets me closer to smashing that rift, then who am I to complain?  Now to just finish the job here and get into your corpse so that I can go find Rose Bud and rip that pretty stone out of his st-“

The fusion suddenly went silent, and their eyes went wide.  Their hands around Dipper’s neck went limp, allowing the boy to slide back against the tree and desperately try to get more air into his burning lungs.  As he sat there hyperventilating, Dipper looked up to see Sodalite frantically inspecting their body to find out what exactly went wrong.  Only for it to become very apparent as thin yellow lines started to spread and spider across the fusion’s body.  To Dipper, it looked extremely similar to the time Jasper managed to destabilize Garnet’s form with that weird baton. 

Sodalite slowly turned her head over their shoulder and whatever they saw, it was enough to enrage them to where those fire wings sprouted from their back.  Only this time, the flames were far less intense and lacked the consistent pattern that they possessed previously.

“Y-You….” Sodalite growled out in a growingly unstable voice filled with malice.  The yellow lines on their body were thickening and no doubt making it harder for the demonic fusion to keep their form.  But they were able to get out just a little more venom.  “Y-You just had to stick your damn nose into the oppertunity of the millennium!  As s-soon as I get my h-hands on that rift, you are going to be sorry that y-you ever defied me.  S-S-S-SIXER!!!!”

And just like that, the fusion poofed.  Though Dipper could hardly believe it in his frazzled state, the nightmare was finally over.  All that remained of Sodalite was Lapis’ gem falling to the ground before him.  The boy could only look up into the distance at the burry figure that had apparently saved his life.

———

Ford had felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest when the fusion poofed away.  Instinctively, the scientist scanned the surrounding area with his prototype blaster for any additional threats or if that blasted triangle was still lingering around.  Not that a Gem destabilization ray would have much effect on him.

When he deemed the area secure, Ford focused back on Dipper leaning against the tree.  Despite all of the unimaginable sights he had seen in his journey across the multiverse, the author never imagined that he would come across one of the Gems fused with Bill Cipher on his nightly nature walks.  All it took was hearing the unmistakable voice of Bill for him to go investigate.  And as much as he wanted to at least study from a distance what fusion involving the dream demon looked like himself, that went right out the window when he deduced that they were strangling someone.  A child based on how they were bent forward.  He had his suspicions about who Bill was tormenting, and his fears were confirmed when he saw his nephew collecting his breaths.

“Dipper!” Ford holstered his weapon and rushed to the boy, kneeling down to his level.  He was about to place a comforting hand on his shoulder but was shocked when Dipper slapped it away.  The author’s questions were answered when he noticed just how panicked the poor boy looked, almost on the verge of hyperventilating.  Ford should have figured that the near-death experience combined with the lack of oxygen would make Dipper unable to think clearly.  He thought of what he could do to calm the boy down enough, until he thought of something he once learned when he was a boy on the New Jersey beaches.

“Dipper, I need you to listen.” Ford said as calmly as the situation could allow.  The author then held out his six-fingered hand up for the boy to see.  “Focus on my hand.  I know you can do that for me.”

Though it took a minute of additional panicking, Ford was relieved when he saw that Dipper’s eyes eventually looked at his hand.  Even moreso, his distinct polydactyly condition helped the boy recognize who he was. “G-Great Uncle Ford?” he said with shallow breaths.

“There we go, my boy.  I knew you could do it.  Just as bright as I was at your age.” The scientist said with encouragement.  “Now, I’m going to put my fingers down one at a time.  As I do, I want you to take a deep breath in.  Then when I slowly put them back up, you’re going to slowly let that breath out.  Do you understand, Dipper?”

Though still scared out of his mind, Ford felt a little more at ease when Dipper nodded his head.  And so the author started to slowly put down his fingers one-by-one until his hand was a fist, with Dipper breathing in while doing so.  Then he started to slowly put them back up again and watched as the boy slowly breathed out.  This continued from a few more cycles until finally it looked like Dipper’s breathing was no longer erratic.

“There, back to normal.” Ford smiled as he confirmed that his nephew had calmed down.  “For a moment there, I thought I wouldn’t be able to pull that of-“

Before Ford had a chance to finish his thought, Dipper suddenly rushed forward and clung to the scientist’s coat.  Before he even had a chance to ask what the meaning of this was, Dipper proceeded to wail in absolute sorrow into the gruff fabric of his coat.  The author just knelt there while his nephew cried his eyes out and wet his close with his tears.  Ford was admittedly taken aback and unsure as to how to even react to such anguish.  But even an introverted genius such as himself knew that the boy needed comfort in this situation and thus, he gently rested a hand on his back. “Dipper…”

“I-I almost killed her, Great Uncle Ford.” Dipper spoke between his sobs. He looked up to her great uncle, showing how red and puffy his tear-soaked eyes had become.  “L-Lapis almost died tonight because of me!  She spent so much time trapped and alone in so many places.  A-And when she was finally free….I a-almost took that away from her!”

Dipper then went back to unconsolably sobbing into Ford’s coat, while the author could only pat his back to comfort him.  He truly wanted to say something to ease the boy’s anguish, but anything that came up in his logical brain was blank.  He was…admittedly lacking in the emotional intelligence to comfort others with words.  Rose Quartz had been far better in that department.

After what seemed like five minutes of sobbing, Ford’s attention peaked when Dipper went silent.  Any worries he had were thankfully quelled when he saw that the boy had just passed out and was breathing peacefully.  The emotional exhaustion of the ordeal must have knocked him out.

Ford gently rested Dipper back against the tree and focused his attention on the blue gem on the ground, shimmering in the moonlight.  He grimaced at the pain that Lapis no doubt experienced through this whole ordeal, but he had to be safe in case any of Bill’s influence resided in her.  He reached into his coat and took out a jar with electric circuitry decorating the top.  It was an experimental Gem containment unit that he thought to devise in case he had a run in with a corrupted Gem when the Crystal Gems were nowhere near by.

It wasn’t one of Garnet’s bubbles, but it would suffice for the time being.  With great reluctance, Ford grabbed the gemstone and placed it in the jar, screwing the cap shut so that it was safely contained.  The scientist was already lamenting how this would affect the already-rocky relationship that he had with Lapis given their past encounter on Homeworld.

Ford then put the jar into his coat pocket and then proceeded to fish out the mobile telephone that his niece had given him.  He punched in the number to his home landline and held the phone to his ear as the dial tone rang.  And sure enough, a familiar voice picked up the call.

“Y’ello, you’ve reached the Mystery Shack!” The showman-like tone of his brother stinged at Ford’s ear. “If this is the tax collection service, please redirect this call to my personal accountant at 328-744…”

“Stanley, it’s me.” Ford interrupted as he stood back up.  “I need you to do something for me.”

“Geez, Sixer, what’s got you all worked up?” Stan chuckled at the other end of the line.  “Wait, let me guess: You saw an owl with an extra feather on its body or something and you forgot one of your nerd books to write down about it.  Ha!  I’m hilarious!”

“Stanley, this is not the time!” Ford yelled, slowly losing patience with his twin brother’s mockery.  However, one glance at Dipper passed out against the tree calmed Ford down.  He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.  Now wasn’t the time for bickering.  “It’s Dipper.  He’s hurt out here in the woods.”

This immediately drained the levity from his brother’s voice as he immediately responded. “What?!  What happened?!  Is the kid okay?!”

“He…” Ford took a pause and thought about what to say.  As much as Stanley irked him and ruined his life multiple times, he still felt a faint sense of desire to protect him from the likes of Bill Cipher.  He didn’t want to lie to Stanley in regard to Dipper’s safety, but it was for the greater good.  “It appeared that he had a run in with a corrupted Gem monster.  I pacified it, but it looked like it tried to strangle Dipper.  He’s knocked out, but otherwise unharmed.”

“Hot Belgian waffles…” Stan said as he took in all of this information.  Despite his many faults, Ford could hear the fear and worry his brother had for his nephew.  “Knew I should have given the kids a curfew or something.  I know Pearl taught him that fancy-pantsy sword stuff, but I knew that he’d eventually get in over his head on of these days.”

“Stanley, please.  It’s….this isn’t your fault.  I don’t want you to insinuate that I thought you were responsible for this.” Ford assured his brother and took a deep breath.  “I need you to go get the other Gems and bring them down the hill.  I’ll need to talk with them when I get back home with Dipper.  And try not to let either Mabel or Steven figure out what’s happening yet.  I don’t want those two getting too stressed from this right away.”

The other line on the phone was quiet, as if Stan was mulling over what the author had requested.  “Ya sure that you don’t need me helping you get the kid back to the Shack?”

“I…Yes, Stanley, I will be careful with getting Dipper back to safety.” Ford had to stop himself from adding the part about getting the boy back into the unicorn hair barrier and protecting him from Bill.  “Just….Please get the Gems for me.”

“….Alright, I’ll go fetch them.” Stan eventually agreed, much to Ford’s relief.  “Can’t promise that the other kids won’t stick their noses in this before you want them to.  Honestly, sometimes it’s like those three are psychically linked to know when one of them is in danger or something.”

“That I know well, but an attempt would be very much appreciated.  And Stanley, I…” Ford was about to say before the words evaporated in his mouth.  Two short words that seemed impossible for him to say to his twin ever since he emerged out of that portal.  Words that couldn’t come out either due to his pride or maybe fear.  “….I’ll see you in a bit.”

Ford then cut the call before Stan could say anything else.  The author pocketed the phone and turned back to Dipper, who was still out like a light.  Carefully, he leaned down and picked him up before he started the trek back to the Shack.

As he walked, Ford felt his heart clench when he noticed Dipper whimpering in his sleep.  Such a bright young lad shouldn’t suffer something like this.  Nor should have Lapis been at the clutches of the demon in the first place.  And as Ford traversed the woods of Gravity Falls with his nephew in his arms, one thought was racing in his mind.

Bill Cipher would pay for this!

---

BLAZER BLAZER I AM YELLING THIS WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT HOLY FUCK WOW YOU HAVEN’T LOST YOUR TOUCH IN THE SLIGHTEST WOW FANTASTIC JOB BUT ALSO HOW DARE YOU

[dreamy-pill]

Steven Universe! au character profile

I had this idea for Steven Universe and Gravity Falls that I couldn’t stop thinking about for the last couple summers. I call it, the LUV BUG au. It’s been in my head now since SUF ended. All you need to know about it is that it follows Steven being discharged from the psych ward. See, instead of having the gems talking Steven down calmly, it sort of went the direction SUF couldn’t go in. You know, the ending the fandom actually wanted from the series. Steven’s corrupted form lead to massive destruction, a travesty on parts of the coast. It’s what leads Steven to evaluate his mentality in the psych ward.

Plus: he dyes his hair different colors on his entire trip as a coping mechanism. He chooses blue by the time he makes his way to Gravity Falls.

[heroictoonz]

Febuwhump 2022 Day 10: "How Long Had It Been?"

Ships: Ben & Dexter & Steven

Warnings: N/A

AO3 L!nk in the Comments!

It was night when the doors to the lab opened. Light wafted in from the hall. Dexter’s eyes squinted with a frown at the sudden glare against his computer screen. With a groan of annoyance he whipped around in his seat to face the intruder. As usual he fully expected his pink clad elder sister. Her inquisitive ways always causing him nothing more than annoyance. Doubled with the fact that she could never keep her hands to herself. Though, in their older years there was a better respect for boundaries, she still had a bad habit of falling back on old ways.

Instead, Dexter was not met with the wide and curious eyes of his sibling, but instead, the mixed expressions of both Steven Universe and Ben Tennyson.

Steven Universe and Ben Tennyson were both odd in their own respects. Dexter could not lie in his fascination of their respective ties to extraterrestrial life. Steven, a half breed of human and an alien race called Gems and Ben, wielder of the Omnytrix, a device able to reform his DNA into that of multiple alien species. Yet, even past his scientific curiosity he would be willing to go so far as to call them his friends.

Their presence was not nearly as much of an annoyance as Dede’s; however it was still a hindrance to his work. He gave a sigh and leaned back into his chair. Rubbing at his eyes from under his glasses before giving them both an exasperated look. “What is it?” he questioned.

Steven’s eyes darted towards Ben before turning back to Dexter. He held a sad expression. No. Maybe sad was not the right word. Steven was always a very emotional man; Dexter noted. His face tended to always show off his thoughts like a clear window to his mind. A myriad of emotions constantly littered the hybrid’s features at any given moment. The idea of his heart living on his sleeve was incorrect, Dexter believed. Instead, it was much more likely that the letterman he wore almost religiously was made from the very thread of the man’s own soul. However, the amount of emotions all at once could also be a challenge to read. Instead of just one thought or feeling, everything was on constant display. Picking out what Steven was showing off was like deciphering a code in some cases.

Ben however, was a bit easier to get a read on. As his emotions tended to be relatively simplistic when they presented outwardly. Though, with his history, Dexter doubted his emotions were anything simple. But, when Ben was open with them they were much easier to understand. So, Dexter turned to the other in this case, hoping a better answer would lay in his features.

Ben’s own face showed a type of frustration. One that seemed intertwined with another emotion altogether. However, Dexter was not sure if he recognized it very well. Though, it was a similar one to whatever was entangled in Steven’s own furrowed brows.

“I read many languages,” Dexter began again with a huff. “Silence is not one of them.”

Steven frowned at that before finally speaking up, “When was the last time you slept?”

The question caught Dexter off guard. Slept? That was easy, he… Oh. Well, he knew he had taken some sort of a rest at some point. He vaguely recalled napping some odd number of hours ago. Even so, what did it matter? And of what concern was it to Steven or even Ben? He shook his head and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “I sleep like a child nightly,” he lied. “Now if that is all you need-”

“How long has it been since you ate?” Ben stepped in next. “Like seriously ate. Like an actual meal.”

Dexter frowned at him in annoyance. What was this? An interrogation? “I do not know what it is the two of you are getting at, but my well being is of no one's concern but my own.”

Suddenly a buzzing sound started up as the gentle blue light fuzzed into existence behind him. Computress’ voice spoke, “It has been approximately seventy-two hours since Dexter’s last meal aside from coffee drank at 6:47am this morning. In the last four days he has slept approximately seven hours total.”

Dexter snapped to look over to the AI with a frown. “Betrayed by my own computer,” he grumbled to himself.

“Seriously, Dex?” Ben sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. Dexter registered what seemed to be disappointment both in his voice and expression.

“And this is why we’re here!” Steven declared with a smile. “You work yourself way too hard and we’re gonna make you take breaks from here on out.”

“Starting now,” Ben added on as Steven grabbed Dexter’s hands and pulled him from his seat.

“Hold it!” Dexter hissed out and he yanked his hands back. “Who do you two think you are? Barging into my lab and telling me what to do. I can take care of my own well being and it is of no concern to either of you.”

It was Ben’s turn to glance at Steven. That expression Dexter couldn’t pin down had returned to both of them. Ben then shook his head and replied, “We’re your friends, Dex. We’re always gonna be concerned about you.”

“Especially when you’re close to working yourself sick,” Steven added.

Dexter’s form straightened with a realization. That emotion in their faces. The one he had ignored due to the inability to name it. He suddenly realized what it was. Worry.

Dexter looked from the other two then back to his work. As if reading his thoughts, Computress’ voice buzzed back to life. “All current work has been saved under the proper files. Any new Fuse research has been sent to Mandark for peer review and his response is estimated to arrive sometime tomorrow morning. This means you are free for the rest of the night.”

“So,” Steven said with a smile. “You can relax for a bit!”

“Honestly, you deserve to. You do a lot,” Ben continued. “Maybe a bit too much on your own.”

Dexter gave a sigh. “Fine. I will rest for the night.”

Ben and Steven smiled at each other in success before each grabbing one of Dexter’s hands, leading him out of the lab.

[cadenreigns]

Sins of Goliath: Chapter 11 - Reunion

After being separated for the night, the club manages to come back together. But there might have been some changes in that time.

Link in comments

[lotusthekat]

[ID: A digital, black and white sketch of a done Lars carrying a sleep-deprived, sixteen-year-old Steven, who's outraged by this. Lars wears an apron, which indicates they're home. The dialogue goes like this:

Steven: What the heck?!

Lars: You're going to bed.

Steven: I'm 16!!!

Lars: Not an excuse.

Steven is blushing in embarrassment amidst his dark eyebags. /End ID]

For some reason the older teenager looking after the younger teenager trope is my jam and I wish this was canon in SUF

DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION!

Don't tag as ship. P/roship DNI

Please don't comment about your past hatred of Lars or similar opinions in the notes, thank you!

[widowed-mistress]

Story Idea

Okay, so I've been seeing so many new stories of Steve Harrington having powers or him being Finney Blake (both ideas that I love, send me more if you have them), so I want to throw some vague plot ideas and see who picks them in intrest or because they already had a similar idea, but just wanted to know if they had an audience for it because I still can't write dialogue. (Me, I'm your audience, write my little book mice)

1. Steve Harrington has self-healing, but because that's just a constant supply of new fast growth cell, he can focus and give himself extra limbs or accessories that way.

Imagen him playing D&D with the boys and dressing him for the part by giving himself elf ears or horns for a tiefling characters. Imagen him giving his arms and legs long ribbons so he can dance beautifully. Imagen the boys other and justified disgust when he cuts of those parts only for them to bleed because at the end of the day, those were extensions of himself.

2. Imagen him being Finnh Blake, but instead of them finding out through some magic video tape or something (as much as I am in love with those fics that exist), they find out because he's talking to himself one morning and they seem him and think he's going crazy, talking to himself. Only, they look up the names and realize these are real people and unravel the tale.

3. Steve but actually he's Steven Universe that was left on Earth at the start of Era 3 when the gems all left to Homeworld to go fix things there manually and Greg wanted to give him a normal life and had him stay there in Hawkins while he made cash as Sadie's manager. They find out because they've trying to convince a new member (Billy or Eddie, maybe both depending on the ships you like), that monsters are real. The kids have been keeping cameras on themselves since the 1st event to capture the events and see Stev subtly using his powers to help out. Maybe Steve using a bubble to protect himself and Dustin in the tunnels?

4. Steve is Finney Blake, but they find out because Gwen comes to visit after they were separated and he spends a full week only focusing on her (understandable, kidnapped then separated from your younger sister when the two of you were abused? I would be making up for lost time too), and everyone gets jealous only to comfront her when Steve isn't there and she spills some of it and then shenanigans and the rest is discovered.

5. Steve as Finney again, I really like this one, but they find out because Ell is using her powers while at a sleepover at Steve's. She ends up taping into his dreams and they all see him on screen talking to his friends as ghost.

6. Steve and Stevn again, but Ell is also a result of experiments infusing human blood stream with a cluster of gem shards. Steven cries because those are dead members of his court in her, and even though it's not her fault, he feels guilty that they're trapped in her. Also I just really like the mental image of a bunch of pebbles calling Steve "pink mom!" And the kids getting possessive

[lefemmerougewriter]

Happy November 3rd! I have three finished fics, and one in the process, as shown above, which you all might be interested in, pulling in some of my favorite animated / anime / manga characters!:

"Marceline and the Dark Blue-Eyed Teenager" [featuring Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, Princess Bubblegum, and Marceline] [FINISHED]

"I Won't Let You Dominate Me!: Korra, the Tomboyish Princess, and Steamy Asami" [featuring Manaria Sousse, Korra, and Asami Sato, with Rae Taylor and Claire Francois mentioned] [FINISHED]

"Korra and Asami’s Unexpected Descent from the Sky, Rae and Claire’s Confusion, and May and Aleah’s Wonder" [featuring Korra, Asami, Rae Taylor, Claire Francois, May, and Aleah] [FINISHED]

"There’s A House for Everyone?: Korra, Asami, and the Crystal Temple" [featuring Korra, Asami, Lapis, Peridot, Pearl, Garnet] [In progress]

I also have loose plans for a possible crossover between LOK and my "Aphra's Sapphic Escapade Through the Stars" series, and another a resembling the two fics where Kuvira wins over Korra (in more ways than one, clearly dominating over her) but with a fight between Korra and Manaria which has her winning in the way she won over Rae.

So look forward to these upcoming stories!

[skelet-bone]

the ninth poll for my class

[james-p-sullivan]

[bluefox777]

Steven universe Rant? Thoughts? Fic idea? I don’t know either read it or don’t…

So I have been rewatching Steven Universe and I just got to the bismuth episode. But I realized that when Steven got home injured and told the gems he needed to tell them something. I think that conversation has a lot of potential for fanfics and what ifs scenarios. Cause in the show they don’t go into what was said they just show the gems putting the bubbled bismuth with the other bubbles.

BUT what was that conversation actually like?! It’s obvious from garnet and pearl’s reaction to reuniting with her that they cared for bismuth deeply. The entire episode supported that they were all very close and were quite upset when she went missing. So why would they leave her bubbled? The other bubbled gems were originally collected to try to cure them and they eventually gave up. Now they were collecting them to keep the earth safe because they were unreasonable and dangerous. But Bismuth wasn’t corrupted and with all of the gems on Steven’s side they should have been able to keep her under control enough to try and talk it out. I’m not saying it would have worked. I’m just surprised that despite how much they cared for her they didn’t even try to work things out.

I can’t help but feel like based on all of their characters there is some real potential for drama, angst, and disagreement on how to handle bismuth. I feel like Garnet might have split apart during this conversation. For multiple reasons but one being because either sapphire knew and didn’t tell anyone or she genuinely didn’t see it coming. In which case based on the later episode with cat Steven sapphire would have reacted poorly to not seeing something so important coming. And if she didn’t tell anyone why? Was it because she just wanted to enjoy seeing her friend as long as she could or was she uncertain about it in some way and didn’t want to speak up without being certain.

Ruby probably would have had a FIT feeling betrayed by Rose for not telling them about bismuth and by Bismuth for not informing them of it once she was back and attacking Steven essentially behind their backs. I also feel like she would have wanted to talk to bismuth to either tell her off or demand answers.

I feel pearl would have been in a bit of denial that bismuth would go that far or that she was a danger to others. Or at least tried to convince the other gems to try and let pearl talk to bismuth to try and sort things out or fix them herself. I don’t think it would be as straight forward as just informing her that bismuth was bubbled now and needed to stay that way.

I don’t think amethyst would have as big of a reaction to this as the others but I do think she would have said something to the effect of “I told you” or “I KNEW IT”. Since she did find Bismuth suspicious in the beginning. And if any of them had tried to argue to unbubble bismuth to talk to her I think amethyst would have been the biggest voice to disagree. Not only due to her lack of relationship with bismuth but also because she would want to protect Steven. She might worry that garnet and pearl would be too emotionally involved to make the right decision. I think even Steven might have been possible to convince to let bismuth out to talk but amethyst would not let it happen to protect him.

Even if they were all convinced to leave bismuth bubbled in the temple. What was their plan? Were they really going to leave bismuth bubbled forever just for the crime of disagreeing with and feeling betrayed by rose? Or were they hoping to try to convince her later? What if they had just unbubbled her regularly to try to convince her and bubbled her again if she refused to cooperate? After all unlike the other bubbled gems bismuth was still cognitively aware and could potentially be reasoned with. Not saying this would be a good idea as it would be kind of cruel and likely wouldn’t be helpful but it’s an interesting thought.

I also can’t help but wonder about the potential for one of the gems to come back for her later. Either to try and convince her themselves or to just let her go, or even just to try and talk to her and she escapes. What if in one of these ways she was unbubbled what then? Would bismuth become a villain? Maybe constantly trying to kill Steven? Or just causing problems because she was not well adjusted to modern life after being locked away for 5000+ years.

If bismuth did have a grudge against Steven or even all of the crystal gems would there have been a possibility of her teaming up with Jasper? What would that have looked like? Even without fusion involved that would essentially be the best soldier working with the best weapon smith. That could have been a crazy team up! And if fusion was involved that would have been even crazier!

Both Jasper and bismuth are built, made to look sturdy, strong, and big. So them fused I feel like would have to be huge and stacked. Bismuth’s rainbow hair plus jaspers arm and face stripes would have looked cool. Would her hair be dreads or jaspers voluminous locks. She would have to be deadly looking but well balanced due to both of them being hands on fighters.

I don’t think bismuth was ever shown to have a weapon that comes out of her gem like the others. So I’m not sure what weapon this fusion would have other than just jaspers helmet. But one idea I had was that maybe a fusion with bismuth instead of creating a new weapon combing 2 weapons maybe it upgrades the other gems weapon. And because bismuth uses shapeshifting a lot to make her self a weapon it would allow a fusion with her to draw her weapon from any part of her body instead of just her gem.

So for Jasper she could have an upgraded helmet, or full armor, or could move her armor around as she fought. It could turn into a gauntlet when punching only for it to reform on chest or shoulder to protect against an attack or a boot when she kicks. I don’t know but I thought it was an interesting idea.

But all that to say now I am feeling really interested in looking into fics or possibly writing a fic about the Bismuth conversation. Also because I can’t draw like at all I would love to see any art people have made for a Jasper bismuth fusion.

[lee-blenderiano]

My version of peridot yeah for me she is a fucking badass gem

[rivzartz]

Hi I'm a new fanfic writter!

Hello there! I'm a new fan fic writer! Here's what I do and some rules!:

What I can write about:

^Cult of the Lamb (main)

^Demon slayer

^The Owl House

^Security Breach (fnaf)

^Fnaf in general

^Welcome Home

^Steven Universe

^(Idk so just request and I'll see what I can do/ect.)

My Rules:

no nsfw

no racism

no homophobia

no sexism

no bullying

follow the rules

Types of writings I can do:

angst

lovy-dovy

comfort

casual (friends)

drama

(just request and I'll let you know)

Alright then! Don't be shy to request! Have a good day/night!!

[piknim]

Still kinda mortified by the last time i got confident and tried to make friends with someone and they just changed the subject

[deepblueskiesabove]

Rose Quartz/Greg Universe | Steven Universe short fanfic | G

A random fic idea

"Greg!"

His girlfriend's voice was a hushed whisper, and her dark eyes were wide with something so raw and hurt even as suppressed as it seemed that he reached out to grab her hand.

Squirming uncomfortably, he tried to tell her: "It's from the construction company-" And here he slid in an undertone of distaste for the damage. "They were building something here." He took a quick breath out to quickly reassure her. "It'll heal."

"What if it doesn't?"

Greg swallowed and remembered that secret trip in June, rows and rows and her dazed expression and wet streaks running down her face that just sank into the ground and dry soil sticking to his jeans that wouldn't seem to go away. And he had taken one look at the door to Rose's cloud-filled haven and thrown them in the trash.

"We can fix this!"

And words tumbled out accidentally and came out too loud.

She tensed and gripped his hand harder, turning to look at him with ringlets falling over her bare shoulders.

"We... can?"

She looked haunted. Out of it.

He nodded firmly and squeezed her hand back.

"We can at least fix this."

"...where, do we even begin?" Her eyes were watering and she quickly wiped her eyes to put on a different face, breathing quick.

He grabbed her other hand.

"Here."

She swallowed. "It's not enough." Guilt.

"It's gonna have to be."