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irregularbillcipher · 9 months

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I'm so curious if you have any thoughts on this because I sometimes think about scenarios where the Henchmaniacs come across Bill post-canon: How would Kryptos feel about finding out Bill's alive, potentially without power, potentially not even with his usual goal anymore if some time has passed and character development has happened?

Oh god do I have thoughts about this, to the point where "we need to toss Andy in here somewhere" was a running conversation between me and a friend in all our "Bill gets redeemed and has a stupid human form" aus, even the silly jokey MLP one.

So for my particular Kryptos characterization... he's been looking for him. Time works weirdly in the Nightmare Realm, imo, so even if Bill only took a few years or whatever to reform, it was ages for him.

The Henchmaniacs kinda split-- a few of them were genuinely friends with each other and stuck together, but Andy was insistent on staying right where they were spit out post-Weirdmageddon. The others, depending on how fair-weather their friendships were to Bill, joined him for a while but like... eventually they called it. He's not coming back, man, and if he actually survived and wasn't immediately tossed back into the Nightmare Realm, he sure as hell wouldn't come back here on our accounts. Yeah, Kryptos, not even you-- IDK why you think thirty years in a shit dimension matters all that much to him, but you're not special. (This uh. Started a fight, and not the type of fight that the Henchmaniacs think are a Good Time.)

Pyronica stuck by him for a little while-- partially because she was second closest to Bill and did hope he was coming back, partially out of pity because Andy was a mess-- c'mon, let's get getcha some Time Punch, we can at least have some fun while we're waiting-- but after a few centuries she dipped too. It was a "Tell me if he comes back, let me know if you need anything," type thing, but she left and Andy cussed her out for it.

They're still in the Nightmare Realm, obviously, but Bill was sort of the glue that held them together. Some of them are working on their own solutions to escape, some are just hoping to party until it kills them. They're scattered-- some of them still hang out, Teeth and 8-Ball still spend a lotta time together, Pyronica and Keyhole still go out for drinks, everyone still likes Xanthar-- but they're not a united group anymore.

I've also played around with the idea that the reason the Nightmare Realm was a prison was to keep Bill in, that someone with some degree of power like the Oracle or Time Baby, (probably not the Axolotl but maybe them) had basically stuffed Bill in to mitigate the harm he was doing, and the Henchmaniacs and every other person in the Realm was basically a casualty. With that idea in mind, the Nightmare Realm might eventually just open up a little once Bill is gone, and the Henchmaniacs might have a chance to leave.

In that case, then, all of them do. Some of them take longer than others-- the ones who actually liked Bill, liked what the group had-- but they all dip. They're not stupid enough to stick around a dying dimension for a guy that used to blow things up when he was mad.

Y'know, except Andy.

I've made a few joking jabs about Kryptos and Bill being weirdly codependent, but I do genuinely characterize them that way, especially Andy. The poor guy has known Bill since they were eight years old. He has stuck by Bill since they were stupid mortal middle schoolers in a crapsack dimension with nobody else who even liked them. He's been around this guy for trillions of years, and they've really never spent any extended time apart-- it's not exactly healthy, sure, but they have one of the longest relationships that any two beings have literally ever had. He genuinely has no idea what to do without Bill. The only period of his life where Bill wasn't in it was a pretty miserable, lonely early childhood. The other Henchmaniacs almost certainly had some sort of life without Bill-- Andy doesn't have any idea of what an okay life without Bill looks like.

If the Nightmare Realm has opened up, he eventually leaves, too, mostly to look for some sort of evidence that Bill might still out there, where he might be. If the Realm doesn't open up, he stays where he is, and tries to get the gang together again to help. He keeps insisting that Bill has to be alive because he's still alive-- Bill was the one who kept him immortal, he's the one who kept you ungrateful jerks immortal-- but even the ones who might agree still don't know what the hell to do to find him.

Either way, he ends up trying to contact the Axolotl. He doesn't necessarily know about Bill being able to call upon them, but he knows about their existence from Bill, knows they're powerful, knows they don't seem to hate Bill like everyone else who might have answers does, and he's desperate.

I like to think that Frills would talk to him. Kryptos isn't their Special Little Man like Bill is, but they're compassionate, and they can probably extend that compassion to another sad little being who got caught up in all this mess, especially one who technically has less blood on his hands then Bill.

Truly? In Kryptos' case? If he finds out that Bill is powerless and goalless now?

He doesn't care.

Now, some of the other Henchmaniacs would, absolutely, this isn't just an "aw, all Bill's terrible horrible demon friends just love him even if he's powerless <3" because that is... NOT the case.

But Andy? He became Bill's friend when Bill was less than powerless, a loudmouthed Equilateral, (straight up Irregular in my headcanon,) with no real goals or achievements under his belt. If anything, in their old dimension? Andy had the power-- he had class privilege above Bill. The only way you can headcanon he didn't have privilege over Bill is if you hc Bill as perfectly Regular and Kryptos as Irregular, which I don't. And even so, even if that is your headcanon, Bill would still not have been at all a powerful person. if Andy was trying to befriend someone for personal gain, Bill would not have been the person to schmooze to.

And they still got to the point where they were close enough that Andy is the only person Bill felt was worth keeping alive in that whole dimension. They were friends before Bill gained any type of power.

Andy befriended Bill back when he had nothing to gain. Bill wouldn't have kept him around because he was an opportunist sucking up to him, hoping to be spared from the end of the world-- just ask Preston Northwest.

Andy had to have become friends with Bill-- a powerless, annoying, opinionated Equliateral salesman-- because he genuinely wanted to be friends with him. There's no other good reason for him to have been buddies with someone outside his caste, and there's no real reason for Bill to have actually thought he was worth saving.

Now, this isn't to say that Andy isn't an absolute freak who thoroughly enjoyed all the chaos and horrors and mess that Bill caused, this isn't to say he wasn't like, snorting stardust in the Fearamid bathroom and eating galaxies or whatever. Andy liked being powerful, he liked being shitty. He had fun with it!

But when he first tagged along with Bill, after Flatland burned, it wasn't because Bill was a god. It was 'cause Bill was Bill. And weird as this all is, Bill's still Bill.

I mean, there's an adjustment period with Bill's new form if he's able to actually meet him, not just find out how he's doing-- an adjustment period with HIS new form too, if he also gets shoved into a fleshsack.

(If Bill is basically his Flatlander self, on the other hand, I imagine Andy is horrified. Not because he's powerless, but because... they turned you back into this? It just feels cruel. If he's also in a Flatlander form, he's more than a little panicked about it, he probably feels a little sick. He needs paint on him, stat, and he doesn't care about the color. Bill needs it too. Yellow and blue would be preferable, but they'll take anything, honestly.)

And once Andy realizes he's fine, (if they're in human form,) he can finally joke about how stupid and goofy these new forms are. You know, he's still gonna put his friend on blast a little.

There might also be some frustration, some, "... Could you have let me know you were okay? I spent all this time waiting and looking... did you even try to look for me?" I'm sure there's a lot of emotions he wants to work through.

If Bill has had some character development, maybe he'd be willing to have some of those talks... which I think would be both very nice and very confusing to Andy. Kryptos was never scared of Bill, and they were probably more open with each other than Bill was with most people, but Bill's still Bill so genuine emotion talk wasn't exactly something they did. There were probably subjects-- namely home-- that Andy just sort of knew not to bring up with him, and the idea that those subjects might be open to sort of talking about is a little weird and scary.

Also just... Bill was a shitty person. Still is, even if he's been potentially working on it, and frankly, Andy is a shitty person too. A lot of these AUS ended up being summed up as "two shitty Flatlanders learn to be a little less shitty together." They definitely bitch and moan about it along the way, Kryptos complains that he can't drink arsenic or do taxidermy on alien cadavers anymore-- y'know, he still misses being an immortal freak, and Bill complains even more-- but hey, this is a redemption AU, so they improve a little. Probably don't become good people, but I'll settle for lukwarm.

(Also, maybe Andy finds a friend or two that aren't Bill, and aren't connected to Bill. Probably never gonna break that codependency entirely after three trillion years, but this is everybody's self improvement arc! You can still hang out with your boyfriend but go bowling with someone or something, man.)

#sorry this is an insane disjointed au essay about an oc basically but!#as for how bill would feel about not knowing where andy is: the answer is bill is still crappy and selfish but he does feel bad #he has also lived his entire life with kryptos being Around and it feels weird to be without him #plus if he lost his powers... well i always figured he was the one keeping his gang alive #so without his powers he has no idea if they're okay which would be... upsetting i think. tres not to dwell on it #but when he DOES think about it he's. upset.#bill would still be a jackass at some point during their reunion i'm SURE but if he got to see kryptos again #i like to think it would be a genuine relief that he was still around too

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ultimmmmmp · 1 year

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So Henchmaniacs

#gravity falls #Henchmaniacs

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thereareeyesinsidethetrees · 10 months

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hoh boy do I have some. i will simply put questions. no adding…

Which being would come with Ford? Would they have to fit through the portal physically? Do they immediately attack the Pines which makes some Nice Angst? Hmm..

Doors the henchmaniac just Live There now? They might get genuinely reformed but how would they happen? Or do they just die. demon slaughtering would be a nice activity

Are the Pines just stuck with weirdness gravity falls now?? how do they fix that?! weirdmageddon started when bill arrived! it could be the rift maybe… but how would they close the rift? Ooo, the zodiac! Maybe it wasn’t meant to kill bill, just reverse the damage?!! I have no idea, but there could be reasons why it doesn’t go away when he dies.

Would Bill be aware of Ford’s time reverse? Probably not, to spice up the meter. Ford just… LIVES now. There’s so much to do. Reminding relationships! But he would be so reluctant to reach out to fiddleford. Stan even less so! But there’s no portal now, so many. But what’s bout the future timeline? Where does that go? Does this happy timeline suddenly crash with the weirdmageddon Ed timeline with a dead ford and absolutely lost the game citizens!? Bill will confuse to rule this timeline! He can transcend timelines! WHERE DOES THEFUTURE GO? man. a happy world colliding with a miserable as fuck one.

(I can see how the ford dies idea could start. the zodiac and the reanimated people escape successfully after stan refuses to hold ford’s hand. them still be absolutely PISSED at each other. There’s no shack now! They try to run to the Bunker, since that’s the only place virtually left. But, Oh No! Somehow, Bill and the henchmaniacs catch up. ford ends up caught in the crossfire and DYING. it’s very angsty and sad. shit ton of regretfr. and then the plot happens. this was hard to explain! Hopefully I did it right—)

So many questions and I have answers for all of them! Nice!

The idea with the first fic is that multiple henchmaniacs come through the portal. I'm thinking maybe three or four? As for who would come through...for some reason, I imagine 8 Ball is one of them. Maybe Xanthar, because property damage and also Steve needs a friend.

Imagining Xanthar having to get through the portal can be both funny and horrifying, so I think they get through physically. 8 Ball does try to eat Dipper in canon, so the Pines family probably does get immediately attacked. Can't imagine Ford's doing too hot, either.

If any of them were going to get reformed, it would be Xanthar, funnily enough. Xanthar always struck as more animal-like than the others, so I don't think it would be as interested in spreading chaos as the other henchmaniacs. The others can be slaughtered. As a treat.

Anyway, the second fic! I haven't really thought much about how they would fix the weirdness. I think the fic would focus more on them surviving and learning to adapt to it. Nice family bonding activity: shooting and cooking bats for food because we're running out of canned meat and be careful not to shoot too many cause animals don't really come inside the bubble anymore

I like the zodiac idea. Unfortunately, Ford isn't exactly...present anymore, so I'm not sure how they would pull that off.

Fic three, the one I know the most about: Bill does not know! He is completely clueless. Ford wakes up to "DON'T HAVE A HEART ATTACK, YOU'RE NOT 92 YET!" and immediately shuts Bill down. Bill just. leaves. Ford is extremely confused.

He does consider reaching out to Fiddleford, but ultimately decides not to. He doesn't want the gremloblin situation to happen again. He does reach out to Stan though! He may pissed at the guy, but...he's definitely not in a good living situation if he's having to chew his way out of car trunks.

So, Stan lives with Ford now! Starts out really rocky, but it gets better over time. Ford even tells Stan about what's happening after a while. Does Stan believe him? Good question, he has no idea.

The fic is entirely from Ford's perspective, and he has no idea what's happening in the future. He does think about it a lot, though.

It may be a happier world from an outside view (especially for Stan), but to Ford it's the absolute fucking worst. He has no idea what happened or why it happened, and he doesn't know that Bill doesn't know. No one else knows about it, he can't trust anyone enough to talk to them about it, and how would they help, anyway? And there's no niblings, at least not yet. What could be worse than that?

I love the bunker idea, I actually like it better than the way I decided Ford dies in the fic. Which is via Bill's torture. He has. No idea what's going on outside the fearamid.

#torture #tw torture #death #tw death #there's a lot here so #gravity falls #ford pines #most of them are about ford anyway

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perpetuallylate1890 · 4 months

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Another short Bill fic!

Weak-Minded Bumpkin

The portal was complete. That night, Bill and his pals would gain dominion over earth and all its squishy inhabitants. New digs, new friends, new mortals to terrorize; it called for a reality-warping, sanity-blasting celebration. So that’s what Bill did. He cranked the music up, dished out the time punch, and flattened a star to serve as the dance floor.

“Tonight, Mr. Brainiac opens the door to the greatest party in existence. That’s us, guys!” he said, and the Henchmaniacs cheered. “No more limits, no places we can’t go! Oh, it’ll be better than you could ever imagine!”

Bill settled in his optical illusion throne, laughing, and conjured up a martini. “So to us! To our victory! To all the fun we’re gonna have!”

His friends raised their drinks in salute. With that, the party began in earnest. Pyronica and Xanthar started a wrestling match, surrounded by a ring of hollering spectators. Hectorgon and Amorphus Shape bullied Kryptos into polishing their corners. Paci-Fire was teaching the eyebats to line dance, and they actually looked pretty good. The gang was chatting, rampaging, having a blast. Everything was as it should be.

Bill himself started to feel a bit hungry. When was the last time he’d eaten, a couple eons ago? He finished his drink and floated over to the snack table, where Teeth and 8-Ball were squabbling over the last piece of Mi-Go.

“Woah, guys, relax!” he called. “There’s plenty of that for everyone!” He summoned an enormous platter of Mi-Go skewers. 8-Ball immediately seized it and ran off, Teeth close behind. Bill rolled his eye. Those two. He returned his attention to the snack table. Nebula nachos, Teegeeack tentacles, cyclops eyes in chili sauce. At the center of the table, a squirming shoggoth caught his gaze. His eye salivated. Now that looked good.

It wouldn’t fit in his primary eye-mouth. He’d have to remove his exoskeleton. A quick glance to see if anyone was watching–Pyronica was pummeling Xanthar, the eyebats were doing the Electric Slide, and everyone else was playing spin the Kryptos. Good, he had a little privacy.

Bill hooked his fingers into his eyelids and tugged them back to expose glistening teeth. He kept going, peeling his exoskeleton away from the mouth underneath. A secondary set of teeth and tongues spilled out. Okay, almost there. Joints popped as Bill forced his jaws wide open. His eye slid back into place and the transformation was complete.

Unnoticed, he sighed in relief. But as he moved to cram the shoggoth into his mouth, a blue glow manifested. Bill blinked. Fordsy was early. Hadn’t they agreed to start the portal at ten? This was kinda a bad moment.

Suddenly, a human head appeared in the portal. Not Sixer, but Fiddleford, the weak-minded assistant. With wide eyes he took in the Henchmaniacs, the illusion throne, the swirling colors of the Nightmare Realm. Finally, his gaze settled on Bill, who had his exoskeleton down and his tongues hanging out, shoggoth in hand like a club sandwich.

Bill gave Fiddleford a wave and gulped down his meal. Evidently, this was the wrong thing to do; eyes rolling back, the bumpkin began to shriek. What a buzzkill. The party had barely gotten started!

Still screaming, Specs disappeared back through the portal. The light faded into nothingness. Bill regarded the space it had occupied. Fordsy was bound to put two and two together, but it would be too late. The portal was active, the connection had been made. It was just a matter of time.

Still, it was embarrassing to be caught without an exoskeleton. Good thing Specs had a memory eraser.

#bill cipher #gravity falls #fiddleford mcgucket #fanfiction #writing

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