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In honor of One Year of A Human Condition, I bring you some much needed ❤️‍🔥Romance❤️‍🔥 with Billford and Fiddlestan playlists!

Fiddlestan

Harvest Moon- Neil Young

You Make Loving Fun- Fleetwood Mac

Can’t Fight This Feeling- REO Speedwagon

Come and Get Your Love- Redbone

I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song- Jim Croce

Just What I Needed- The Cars

You Make Me Feel Like Dancing- Leo Sayer

Disco- Surf Curse

I’m on Fire- Bruce Springsteen

Mess is Mine- Vance Joy

Maybe I’m Amazed- Paul McCartney

Please Don’t Stop Loving Me- Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton

Baby I Love Your Way- Peter Frampton

The Run and Go- Twenty One Pilots

Ease my Mind- Ben Platt

Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby- Cigarettes After Sex

Beast of Burden- The Rolling Stones

Stand By Me- Ben E. King

Real Love Baby- Father John Misty

Baby I’m Yours- Arctic Monkeys

Billford

It’s All Coming Back to Me Now- Celine Dion

Man in Me- Benson Boone

The Door- Teddy Swims

Hard to Say I’m Sorry- Chicago

If I Could Turn Back Time- Cher

Don’t You Dare (Make Me Fall In Love With You)- Kaden McKay

Linger- The Cranberries

Guilty Pleasure- Chapelle Roan

Mystical, Magical- Benson Boone

Someone to You- BANNERS

Total Eclipse of the Heart- Bonnie Tyler

this is me trying- Taylor Swift

Stay- Rhianna, Mikky Ekko

Issues- Julia Michaels

Fire on Fire- Sam Smith

Two Men in Love- The Irrepressibles

I Carrion, Icarian- Hozier

We Belong- Pat Benatar

BIRDS OF A FEATHER- Billie Eilish

Iris- Goo Goo Dolls

Finding You- Kesha

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Is Mabel catching on to Bill's feelings to Ford yet? Or Fords lingering feelings for Bill? I'd bet she has some suspicions lol. If Mabel hasn't noticed then u bet the rest of the family hasn't.

Great question @contraryfox!

Mabel has zero suspicions of 💕romance💕 going on between Bill and Ford. Mostly because this is the ONE TIME she’d really prefer not to think about them as a couple. (She’ll come around eventually 😉)

You’ve also guessed correctly that the rest of the family hasn’t noticed for sure. Fiddleford might have some suspicions, though.

Guess you’ll just have to wait and see! 😋

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some hints for the next chapter please 👀👀👀

Two of the spoilers without context are for in this upcoming chapter. It’s also going to be a Dipper-focused adventure. Finally, my boy gets some time to shine! 🥰

I won’t reveal much more so as not to give anything away 😉 It’s going to be a good time.

He’s getting ready for you guys. You all better clap for him 😠🫵🏻.

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hi!! I'll make this quick before I yap too much or chicken out lol

Congrats on 500k!! Longest fic I've read lol also congrats on.. *checks watch* 4 days short of a year on this fic!! That's crazy!!

uhh I don't remember if you've said this directly but it looks like you're sitting on so much lore for these characters is there any lore you'd want to talk about that won't be too plot relevant?? Like that post you did about Shermie a while ago

and also! Would you tell us which of the photos in the No Context Spoilers for Act 2 we've already passed?? I haven't watched Steven universe or Bob's Burgers so I have no idea what they're supposed to be

also!! Absolutely lovely fic!! I don't interact on the internet much, so, um yeah :D

Hello! Thanks on the well-wishes for a year of writing this fic. 🎊🎊

Honestly it feels crazy to me that I’ve turned out such a high word count in that time. I really channeled my inner Hamilton 😂. It’s also the longest continuous thing I’ve ever written so that’s an accomplishment for me too ☺️.

I am, in fact, sitting on SO MUCH LORE for this fic. I’ve gotten a few asks about it and have been compiling some things in drafts that will be out soon. Regarding some world building, headcanons for side characters, and what I can dip into about Bill’s story that’s not TOO spoiler heavy 😉.

The Shermie backstory… will probably end up being relevant to the plot. Like, before Act 3. 👀 Rule #1, dear anon, everything is a chekov’s gun if you try hard enough. 👍🏼

We’ve passed a LOT of the spoilers without context photos so I’ll just mention the ones we HAVEN���T passed yet, though we’ll be getting some more in the next chapter: The Bob’s burgers image, the tv, the bottom image with the car, and the middle image (that one, in particular, is a warning for you, dear readers). It must be exhausting, rooting for the anti-hero…👀

Thanks for reaching out to interact! We’ve got a bit more to go before Act 3 and I still have a few tricks up my sleeve before you hungry Billford fans get your dessert. 😉

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Happy birthday to one of my favorite fanfics ever 🥳👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🎂 🎁🎉

We need one of those Bill piñatas to celebrate. Meanwhile, a fun fact about piñatas is that there is a part of Mexico where people break it, not with baseball bats but with punches (and yeah, it hurts sometimes, lol).

I imagine Stanley being into it, but who else do you think would prefer the piñata punches?

Thank you for the Birthday wishes!! 😁🎉🎂

I think Mabel would love to break open a piñata with her fists. Stan has been teaching her to box and Ford has been teaching her some martial arts, so I think she’d take it as a challenge, like trying to break a wooden board in half. Mabel strikes me as a very tactile type of person.

Ford would break it with his fists if the piñata was shaped like Bill. 😂

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It’s the year anniversary of A Human Condition, dear readers!

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I started writing this fanfic! I’m also pretty shocked by how much the sheer word count is at this point.

I just want to say a big Thank You to all the readers, commenters, and artists out there who make continuing this story and updating week after week such a joy. In celebration of today, I’ll be answering a few asks later when I get a moment and maybe even drop some spoilers for the next few chapters if you ask carefully and nicely enough. 😉

I love you guys! Hope you’re all out there enjoying life! Take care of yourselves and thanks for coming along on this ride with me 🥰❤️

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I was wondering what Abuelita thinks of Bill, does she find him annoying? Also what are Soos and Melodys thoughs on starting a family together? I'm just curious lol

Hey Anon!

Abuelita has not met Bill yet, she’s back at Soos and Melody’s house vacuuming the walls, working on her crochet, and watching telanovelas, or, alternatively, romance animes like Ouran, Toradora, or Fruits Basket. She only knows his name in passing from Soos and Melody. She thinks they should invite him over for food.

Soos is actually getting ready to propose to Melody at the end of summer! He definitely would love to have some little sooslings running around if Melody is comfortable with the idea (she is) but they’re also perfectly content with their relationship as is at the moment, enjoying their lives together and running the Mystery Shack.

Stay curious! 🩷

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Art for the newest chapters by @axoltheartist!! The stargazing scene so one of my favorites to write and this drawing gives the same sad nostalgic vibe. 🥰

summer triangle

Art for chapters 39 & 40 of A Human Condition on AO3! (by @sapphosscribe here & on AO3)

these two chapters WRECKED me!! super duper well written, you should go check it out!

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An animatic for A Human Condition dropped you guys! 😃😃 @thegoblinrat has done an amazing job with this!! Feast your eyes 😍😍

WHO SAYS YOU CAN'T MAKE THREE ANIMATICS IN THE SPAN OF TWO DAYS. IT'S NOT UNHEALTHY LOOK- MY NECK ONLY CREAKS **VAGUELY** THREATENINGLY WHEN I TRY TO MOVE IT! HUZZAH!

I can't help it, Bill in the early chapters fit this song too well-

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I’ve been meaning to ask this for a hot sec, but do you have like, a height chart in mind?

With all your hc heights for the characters?

Sure @arch-chroma!

Dipper and Mabel were 4’8 last summer but have shot up to 5’3 this summer (Mabel still has her extra millimeter and Dipper constantly forces them to measure whenever they have a growth spurt to see who’s “taller”.)

Stanley is 6’1 while Ford is 6’2. Stan tries to claim this is because of Ford’s poofy hair but they both know it’s not .

Shermie, tallest of the Pines, is 6’3. Why is this relevant? You’ll see.

Soos is also coming in at 6’2. Melody is 5’9, which is the same height as Wendy.

Fiddleford, string bean that he is, is 5’11 and has been that height ever since he turned 16.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Bill Cipher in his human form, short king that he is, is coming in at 5’8

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This meeting was fated, The Axolotl and Mabel! Face to face at last! Another awesome illustration by @gebeistired! Show some love ❤️🥰

You’re an awfully long way from your vessel, little star

Human condition ch.40!!! @sapphosscribe :)

Had to. I had to. I had to make something for the latest chapter, but there's so much good shiz!!

Probably gonna make some more soon!!

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FANART from the new chapter by @dontjinxit18! This has gotta be my favorite scene and it’s been illustrated beautifully here. Come bask in the glory of the Bill Mabel friendship 🥰

A Guiding light

”It’s fine if you mess up. You can fail a million times at being better if you have to. I don’t mind. As long as you keep trying. As long as you don’t give up. I… I mess things up, too. Sometimes really bad. I’ve let down my friends, my family, but I try not to. I think maybe that’s what’s important is trying. I’ll still be your friend even if you make another mistake cause I care about you. I promise I won’t leave. Okay?”

From @sapphosscribe ‘s ‘A Human Condition’ on Ao3. Amazing chapter. Once again making me cry.

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do you have any similar fic recs while we wait for updates for this one?? I need my bill fix 😭😭

Sadly, I try not to read other people’s Bill fics while writing mine because then I’ll subconsciously start trying to imitate their style 😂

I have a few recommendations on my Archive of Our Own Page that I’ll list below along with some other fics that I’ve been told are good from fans with excellent taste 😉

Monkey Wrench by beemygirl- Probably every Billford fan knows about this one, but I’m going to put it here anyway because it’s great! It’s an AU set in the 1970’s where Bill goes back in time and meets Ford as a human while working on the portal. It’s an absolute rollercoaster of a good time. The mini adventures in each chapter keep things interesting, the characters are on point, the jokes would have me laughing out loud at points. I actually had to stop reading this halfway through because the writing so strong. I’m looking forward to picking it up again when my I finish my fic.

The Heinz Dilemma by @electricalhuzzah - a really fun, fresh take on the stereotypical “Bill goes to work at the mystery shack for community service”. It’s laugh-out-loud hilarious, some great moments of Bill conceptualizing morality through friendship, and the smut is emotional and fun. I’m not entirely caught up, but overall a really great read. Another one I’m going to catch up on when I get a break.

A Promise and a Threat by @clarisimart- I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but I’ve heard some great things and have seen some killer lines about where it’s heading. Check this one out if you guys have time!

Dream Operator by gaylisterine- this one is also on my to-read list when I get a moment free from writing. It’s a case of Ford and Bill dream sharing with each other that’s sure to scratch the Billford itch of angsty relationship drama. It also promises a happy ending, which is something I always go in for as a writer.

Knowing Me, Knowing You by @f-imaginings- strap in for the long haul with this one folks! It’s over a million words and worth every minute! I’ve read the first ten chapters and am absolutely hooked. The author has a very strong voice in their writing, portrays the dysfunction of Bill and Ford’s relationship beautiful while also managing to make it incredibly funny and accurate to their characters. Plus Henchmaniacs! Hooray! I particularly love Ford’s characterization in this being naive and adoring though not a complete pushover. He’s still snippy and petty and thier dynamic is incredibly because of it.

Wasting Away in the Goldilocks Zone by @ckret2 - you can find this fic not only on ao3 but also right here on tumblr. One of my favorite Human Bill fics to date, the writing, humor, and characterization are all immaculate. It was good to the point I had to stop reading before I let their writing voice infiltrate my own story. I’m gnawing at the bars of my enclosure to read more. Go live my dreams for me while I work to bring you all the rest of A Human Condition.

And those are my recs @noneofyourbizzniess! If you guys have any, lmk down in the comments! I’m always looking for good reading material! Hopefully these keep you all sated in between updates for my fic.

Happy reading! 📚❤️

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Hi!! I have a few silly questions I wanted to ask!

Do you have any headcanons for these characters you would like to share? What they might do in their free time for example?

Whats your opinion on Trans Masc human Bill? I personally am a fan and im wondering what's your take on it

Sorry for all the questions heh- here have a thinking Mabel

The sillier, the better @contraryfox!

I have SO MANY headcanons, most of which will probably live in my character/fanfic doc forever, but I WILL share my personal favorites here!

Ford:

- Has kept journals ever since he was a kid. Even though they were for “scientific findings” they doubled as a safe place for him to record and process his thoughts/emotions since he’s not good at talking to people and finds he expresses himself easier on paper.

- Is a terrible cook. Ford mostly sees food in terms of nutrition and necessity. It’s an obstacle for him on the way to completing more important tasks. He’s cooked exactly one time since he’s been back from the portal and it was so terrible he was permanently banned from the kitchen by Stanley. Needless to say, this ticked him off and he’s since tried to improve his abilities without success. He “researches” how to cook now by watching cooking competition shows (the Great British Bake-Off is his guilty pleasure) and knows all the official lingo and steps but couldn’t apply any of the skills he’s seen to save his life.

- Loves playing and listening to music. Especially “weird” music. Any kind of experimental sound or band immediately catches his attention, though he’s particularly fond of Jazz and alt indie/rock. He had a large record collection Stan shifted through after the portal incident. He and Stan often regularly fight on their boat over who gets control of the radio for the day, but they’ve both had fun when Stan shows Ford all the music he missed while he was in the multiverse. Ford sometimes misses some of the music he heard there that can’t be replicated by any instruments in Dimension 46’/.

- Always felt bad for the monsters in old black and white movies. Young Ford sympathized with the creature from the black lagoon, the mummy, Dracula, etc. and could relate to the feeling of looking for connection with other people and being rejected because of being different. He’d always get upset at the main protagonists of those movies and fully believed if he ever met a creature like that they would understand each other and be good friends. He wasn’t wrong 👀

Stan:

- Can speak Spanish conversationally and sometimes switches to it when he and Soos are alone to brush up. He’s learned more over the years to give Soos someone to talk to besides Abuelita and tells him stories about some of his travels in Latin America (though he leaves out the worst parts).

- Is REALLY good at close-up magic. Stan is a talented pickpocket and his quick fingers and knack for misdirection made him a natural for pulling off those kinds of tricks. He does them for tourists and kids who come through the Mystery Shack (and may or may not steal their wallets while he’s at it). If Soos or the twins ever ask him to show them how he does it, he just tells them “a good magician never reveals his tricks”. He and Ford sometimes make a game on the Stan O’ War seeing how much they can pickpocket off each other without them noticing. Stan is still defending his title with six objects, though Ford is hot on his heels.

- Has motion sickness issues. As much as he loves the ocean, that hasn’t stopped Stan from getting seasick. Most of the time it isn’t too bad once a few days have passed or if he’s out on deck, but he has to take medication and lie down if the waves get choppy. He also doesn’t do well on spinning rides at amusement parks or things that loop continuously. He’s kept this a well guarded secret from most people, save Ford.

- Used to have a crush on Steve McQueen when he was younger and watched The Great Escape over and over again. Stan had an obsession with motorcycles for a short time after that. He also got serious about boxing after he found out that McQueen did it because he wanted to look as trim as him. Stan was constantly caught between wanting to be him and wanting to be with him.

Dipper:

- Is part of the AV club at his school. He joined as a way to make friends, but ended up learning a lot and really getting into different video/camera techniques and has become proficient at cleaning up and editing footage. He plans to use his skills to get video evidence of ghosts and other anomalies. He also started a web series of his investigations in the hopes of one day having his own tv show.

- Is a big momma’s boy. Dipper is closer with his mom than his dad. He admires and tries to emulate the way she plans things out, researches, and sets goals for herself. They often sit and watch History channel shows together about how technology was developed or conspiracy theories. Before deciding he wanted to be an unusualologist, Dipper thought he might go into Cybersecurity like her.

- Is terrible at every sport. Like, every single one. Despite being in really good shape physically, Dipper is incredibly uncoordinated in team games. Baseball, soccer, and basketball were complete disasters, resulting in a myriad of embarrassing moments and injuries. He and Mabel took tennis lessons together briefly and she carried them through every match. He tried to learn skateboarding to fit in with the cool kids, but gave up because he was too frightened of falling. As a last resort, his parent signed him up for swim team since he’s a really strong swimmer. He quit two weeks later after getting swimmer’s ear in both ears. At this point, Dipper has sworn off all community and school sports, assuming he’s cursed.

- Isn’t allowed to watch the Final Destination movies. He got paranoid the first he saw them that everything around him was a potential death trap and for a straight week would barely leave the house and wouldn’t use, or allow his family to use, any object he deemed remotely dangerous. This was made all the worse by his refusal to shower because “do you know how many shower related deaths happen every year?”. He would also make sure all electronics were unplugged and would sit outside the door if anyone else showered “in case they tripped”. His parents still shudder when they think about that week.

Mabel:

- Is a jack of all trades and a master of… somehow also all the trades? Even though Mabel changes hobbies like new pairs of socks, she’s often decent at most of them due to sheer determination and creativity. One notable year, Mabel joined every single club at school because “they all seemed so interesting!”. She’s also constantly going to free workshops in her neighborhood to try out new things. The only ones she’s ever been bad at are gardening (because she either overwatered everything or completely forgot the plants existed) and birdwatching (because she couldn’t sit still and be quiet long enough and ended up climbing trees to peer in nests)

- Makes all her own clothes. Minus the shoes, of course, Mabel got really interested in fashion after learning how to knit. Even though that’s her main method, she also knows how to sew and crochet with some level of skill. She adopted this because she doesn’t like wearing uncomfortable textures on her body. Sweaters and skorts are her favorite because they’re soft and offer plenty of freedom for movement, though she’ll never say no to a cute hat.

- Knew her parents divorce was coming way before Dipper did. Mabel is very sensitive to subtle emotional changes in the people around her and could tell her parents were starting to fall out of love. She tried to shield Dipper from this knowledge since he doesn’t like sudden changes and instead tried all the methods of getting people back together from rom coms. Obviously, these didn’t work. She’s accepted it as something that’s for the best at this point and is only concerned about not being separated from Dipper. Dipper is not taking it nearly as well.

- Is an avid collector. Mabel’s room at home is full of strange tchotchkes she’s picked up over the course of her life. She uses them as a way to remember the good times she’s had in the past or just because she thinks they’re pretty. Her collections include stickers, rocks, pressed flowers/leaves, coins, stamps, beads, scraps of paper and whatever else she can fit in her pockets. Most of these things end up in her scrapbook, which she uses as a self soothing technique against her fear of growing up. Having an absolutely exhaustive record of everything she’s ever done in her childhood and being able to see those memories any time she wants makes her less frightened of the future. She picked up her “document everything” attitude from her dad, who’s into amateur photography and bought her her first disposable camera. The very first picture Mabel ever took was of her and Dipper together.

Now, ON TO TRANSMASC BILL!

I personally LOVE this headcanon. I think it’s a great idea considering Bill doesn’t have any strong feelings about gender and would adopt whatever is most useful to him.

Bill will not be transmasc in A Human Condition, but I do like that interpretation.

Thanks for the questions! Love having space to yap about my favs 🥰🥰 I have more headcanons about side characters and, of course, Bill, if anyone is interested, but this post was getting too long. 😂

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ART HAS BEEN ADDED TO A HUMAN CONDITION FROM CHAPTER 36 ONWARDS!!

A big thank you to all the lovely artists who take time out of their day to draw for my story you guys are absolutely amazing ❤️. Everyone else, go check out their stuff!!! It’s so good!!

@paleon-todd-ogy @shattered-daydream @dontjinxit18 @gebeistired @hats-kun @daylight-does-art @yihagathe @rotating-pebbles @kimpuntoexe

(Also, general PSA, if you made something for A Human Condition and I HAVEN’T acknowledged on here, assume I didn’t see it and tag me/message me! I love getting to see everything you guys do🥰)

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looking back at the spoilers without context, is there a fucking car chase later on 💀

im also curious about whether or not youll delve into bills other phobias (3D glasses and venetian blinds)

There’s a fucking car chase chapter after next 🤣🤣 Though I don’t think you’re going to expect quite how it comes about.

As of right now, I don’t have plans to mention the 3D glasses or venetian blinds simply because I don’t see a way to work it into the plot without it feeling contrived. That might change though when I begin planning Act 3 during my next hiatus.

We’re coming up on the end of Act 2 in 7ish chapters. 😈

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Yooo, I have an idea!

Do you have a fan song? Yk, a song inspired by any media. My fav is definitely Cherry Boy Rap Riot by Ken Ashcorp. PASWG basically shaped me as a person (and other type of really edgy media) and I totally need to catch up on second season.

See you later!

BOY DO I! 😃

One of my absolute favorite fan songs is Wool Over Our Eyes by Stupendium. I’m a huge gamer and Cult of The Lamb was my obsession for at least five months. I do, in fact, have a half written fanfic for it I’ll probably be posting at some point after finishing AHC.

Outside of my love for Cult of the Lamb, the lyricism in this song is literally out of this world. The lines “so pay the tithes and pray you might/ remain upon the list of all/ the cherished chosen children for whom love is unconditional/ your contribution’s absolution for the guilt within you all/ our movement may be new but all your sins are still original” particularly scratched an itch in my brain. 😵‍💫

I’m also adding Cherryboy Rap Riot to my workout playlist. It’s got a great beat!

Thanks for sharing @anon-22866634! 🥰