#the man downstairs

[moonwaterlight]

[inkyrainstorms]

The Man Downstairs - Ch 81 - Freedom

"To freedom," Stan said softly, placing his hand on Ford's shoulder and joining him in embracing the rain, drinking in the drops that hit his tongue like part of a toast.

"Freedom," he repeated, breathing in the freshness of the rain and letting the drops hit his tongue as well. "Freedom!" he shouted alongside another rumble of thunder.

@rum-and-shattered-dreams I hope you don't mind the ping! This last chapter nearly brought me to tears over how proud of and happy I am for Ford, so I had to draw something for it. It was also really fun to practice environments, even if it wasn't perfect

[carbon-fiber-internal-organs]

[rum-and-shattered-dreams]

Chapter 82 - Fun

Since my dumb ass accidentally deleted the original post, here it is again >_<

ALT

Update - November 2, 2024

Overall synopsis (for anyone who is newly interested):

A Gravity Falls AU idea where, in 1982, Stan threw a rope to Ford as he was being pulled into the portal. He let go of his journal in favor of grabbing the rope and it was lost to Bill’s dimension. Stan had saved him and for that, he was grateful. They talked and forgave each other for the past and all seemed well for as much as a day. That was when Bill’s ruthless anger became apparent and he took full advantage of his deal with Ford. Thirty years later, the demon is still punishing them for their refusal to rebuild the portal.

Chapter Summary:

Fiddleford and his team reach a breakthrough in their project and the Pines put together a small and early celebration for Dipper and Mabel's birthdays in case things get rough by the actual date.

Notes:

~Warnings - Conversation about past suicide attempt, anxiety/panic attack (but more well-managed than past ones), and discussion (nothing graphic) about eye surgery/recovery

~There's some lovely art for chapter 81 by @inkyrainstorms here!

A03 link:

(If anyone is interested in some Fiddauthor art or writing, I just went through a hyperfocus fugue-state and churned some out. Check out the fiddauthor tag on @shattereddreams-gravityfallsfics.)

[artistredfox]

More gravity falls doodles I havent posted here yet

[unpleasantlyaware]

Well, you're slim and you're weak

You've got the teeth of the hydra upon you

You're dirty, sweet and you're my girl

Longlegs, 2024

(I loved this movie!)

[azierumart]

some fanart of the fic the man downstairs by @rum-and-shattered-dreams!! i love this au and fic sm its one of my all time favs, and this scene is one of my favourite parts (:

[stenclastiel]

Longlegs (2024)

[lambyrotting]

have you been saying your prayers? 𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪

[vesperscas]

dean winchester woke up on his 45th birthday and bent his creaky old man knees to get up and put on his fluffy old man robe and fuzzy old man slippers.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

No time to play. You are being sent away.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[inkyrainstorms]

The Man Downstairs - Ch 82 - A Hug

"He followed the exercises he knew well to ground himself, focusing on the warmth of their arms around his neck and torso and their hands on his back and the chill of the bars against his cheek. He lifted his own arms through the bars, drawing away three times before finally wrapping one around each of the younger twins and returning their hug.

Tears welled in the corners of his eyes and, despite every part of him willing them to stop, they streaked over his burning cheeks and a hitched sob escaped his lips."

@rum-and-shattered-dreams i loved the latest chapter!! I can't say I'll do this for every chapter or anything, but drawing them is really fun, especially since you write them so well

[gothearts]

Adam design? Any changes for his personality or demeanor?

Oh boy.. get ready for the infodump..

Note: He still has his ridiculous helmet, I love his expressions in that thing so much. So do the exorcists since I think that the mocking element of it is an interesting decision.

In this au, hellborns are not exempt from the annual extermination. Since they don't have souls, they're deemed evil indiscriminately. The only ones exempt are the sins and the Morningstar Family.

The extermination only takes place in the Pride Ring as further punishment for Lucifer and Lilith, watching annually as what they built is destroyed all over again.

(Hellborns with the means typically exit the Pride Ring during the annual extermination. If you can't, well, you're fucked. It's another layer of why what Blitzø is doing as an imp is considered so groundbreaking, but back to Adam)

He is NOT "indestructible" like the exorcists. Like any average Winner, he can be harmed. Therefore, he attacks from afar with his guitar being considered a long-range weapon.

He and Lilith originally split not because he was a prick who ordered her around, but rather, he was eager to please Heaven, and she wasn't.

Lilith was a free thinker from the start, a dreamer, while Adam narrow mindedly focused on what he had before him. This led to a lot of clashes, her refusing to be subservient to heaven, rather than subservient to him.

(I know that's the original story, but I just don't find it as interesting for the route I'm trying to go with a truly corrupted Heaven in this au.)

She would flee the garden and take comfort in the arms of Samael.

This led to Adam feeling bitter. But he ultimately elected to let it go as he was promised companionship with the much more likeminded Eve.

However, in trying to rid Eve of the qualities that made Lilith so disliked, she became naive. A trait that Adam thought was cute at first, but she just... wasn't Lilith.

Eve was a replacement, and it was apparent, but Adam once again let it go because it was the will of heaven, and he'd already failed to keep one bride.

Then Lucifer gave Eve the fruit and unleashed all of the badness onto the world, and Adam witnessed the war that broke out in Heaven, seeing the devastation first hand, reinforcing his notion that Heaven is always right.

Alongside sealing an ever growing hatred for Lucifer. He'd charmed away his first wife and filled her head with delusions, casting her to eternal damnation. He'd corrupted his second wife and used her as a vessel for evil. (That wasn't his intention, of course, but that is the narrative that was reinforced in Heaven's mind to fuel his desire to uplift their "values".) And he'd destroyed the once beautiful gardens he'd called home, casting Adam and his children to the earth, severing the divinity they'd held.

Lucifer truly took everything.

That's why, when the extermination was proposed, he was more than eager to lead the new order of angels to go down and keep Hell at bay.

Michael, the actual leader of heaven's army, refuses to set foot in Hell and was more than eager to pawn off the responsibility onto Adam vs. Having to go down there and face his brother yearly, taking more from him than he already has.

(Michael's guilt will be touched upon later, it's important.)

Adam is the actual lieutenant, but Lute (Luael) is still his sidekick of sorts. Lute embodied his hatred for hell. Exorcists have very little sense of self. Their only purpose, as mentioned in the post on them is to fight, nothing more.

Hearing Adam talk about what Lucifer did alongside other tales of the horrors of hell is what led her to push herself as hard as she did to excel above her sisters. She reminds him so much of Eve due to that frankly naive devotion, and it's another layer of why he initially kept her around.

(Sorry to guitarspear shippers, but their dynamic is going to be inherently unhealthy in this au. Idk if they'll end up together. It depends on how their own arcs pan out as I expand on this further. But as of right now, he fills the void for her, and she's a stand-in for what he's already lost. They are not well 😔 this is also why he eagerly made the deal to sneak Lilith into heaven on the condition that she divorces Lucifer. He would jump on the opportunity to be taken back.)

ANYWAYS.

He's not really crude when he meets Charlie like in canon. Yes, he was kind of funny at times, but I want to take a more serious approach.

He comes off as inherently bitter towards her because she's not only the daughter of the man he hates but a reminder that Lucifer took Lilith from him.

The condescending attitude remains, but instead of just laughing her off, I think he unloads all of those millenia of anger onto Charlie.

He waited until that moment to announce moving the exterminations up purely out of spite.

Trying to hurt Lucifer indirectly by hurting Charlie.

The confrontation with Emily still happens, and I'd imagine it's relatively the same. But it's only after Charlie argues with him that he goes on a tangent on how useless hellborns and sinners are, ending with him declaring that he can't wait to come down again and exterminate them.

And everything after that's still the same.

He failed to complete the extermination, and thus, instead of being reincarnated, he was damned to hell. Which comes as a nasty shock.

He'd spent his entire existence devoted to heaven. He'd done all they asked.

And yet here he is.

It's a harsh reality.

He struggles to acclimate to Hell. But he does end up at the hotel where he'll have to face Lucifer head on in the hopes of working his way up to redemption. (That will be fun to explore later)

SO YEAH

Sorry for the rambling, that went into quite a bit more than his personality, but I hope that explains it well?

Idk, ig I just thought a more nuanced approach to Adam as a character would be interesting. Like he's got every right to be angry at Lucifer, but I want to go the "hurt people hurt people" route. He thinks he's justified in his path to vengeance because these are "bad people" (some absolutely are AJDJSJDJS) anyway. And Heaven does everything it can to reinforce that notion, using him until he becomes a liability with his inability to control his own anger.

[rum-and-shattered-dreams]

Chapter 81 - Freedom.

Update - September 1, 2024

Overall synopsis (for anyone who is newly interested):

A Gravity Falls AU idea where, in 1982, Stan threw a rope to Ford as he was being pulled into the portal. He let go of his journal in favor of grabbing the rope and it was lost to Bill’s dimension. Stan had saved him and for that, he was grateful. They talked and forgave each other for the past and all seemed well for as much as a day. That was when Bill’s ruthless anger became apparent and he took full advantage of his deal with Ford. Thirty years later, the demon is still punishing them for their refusal to rebuild the portal.

Chapter Summary:

The Pines and their friends try to help Ford find at least a little freedom.

Notes:

~Another update??? I'm as surprised as you are. Call it a birthday gift for Dipper and Mabel, I guess.

~Warnings - PTSD and facing anxieties, fears, shame, and self-punishment

AO3 link

[yaolmao]

“Chuuya ought to drink more milk!”

[cent-scratchnsniff]

what are your thoughts on the Holy Trinity of Netzach/Yesod/Chesed ?

theyre neat i think 🫶