Nobody is based on any one existing bird in this AU- instead, I've thought about what wing type they would have and basing their designs on that. I started with Ford, since I already made a drawing of him before I decided to make this an AU.
FORD
- Active soaring wings, good for catching wind and surfing on wind currents. Think seagulls.
- Did this because I thought the "Icarus didn't flap hard enough" line would not only have new meaning like this, but also be really ironic since Ford doesn't really need to flap all too much to fly well. Oops.
- I drew his feathers more spaced out than they wound be, but that is due to a skill issue lol
- Feathers are based off a really good post breaking down the color theory of his outfits throughout the series I cannot find again. The jist is that his base is a neutral brown, and he borrows the colors of other characters (green shorts in college, yellow shirt while researching, red sweater on return). He only comes into his own navy blue on the Stan O War II.
- Base color is that blue, with neutral brown feathers fading to a yellowy white
STAN
- Same as Ford, but far more ruffled. Preen your feathers dude
- (Preening is done with claws. Stan's are very worn down due to The Everything so. yeah)
- The neutral brown are tinted red on Stan's wings; slight enough to be subtle but not unnoticeable to the trained eye. This allows him to twinswap with Ford while still keeping his own red color
- His base color is still navy blue tho. Because he's Ford's "copy." He is constantly trying to do right by him. It's symbolism y'see? His color is still red but his wings share his brother's navy. You get it.
FIDDLEFORD
- Elliptical wings! Good for fast takeoffs, tight turns, and bursts of speed. Basically this is the "get away from thing that wants to eat me" strat
- Wing structure based on magpies, but the patterns take inspiration from bluebirds as well. This was kinda by accident but then it looked good so I kept it.
- Symbolism here (aside from Run Away) is that Fidds is better at pacing himself than Ford is. While Ford might be a marathon runner, Fiddleford knows the value of resting and Doing Other Things when you're not working.
_ _ _ _ _ _
Okay, other tidbits!
Everyone has claws on their hands and feet, to mimic talons. Because no one has beaks, these are what they use to preen, so most prefer longer claws. If claws are short, it's either a sensory thing or something bad is going on with them
No tail feathers purely because I didn't feel like it lmao
Clothing is adjusted to account for wings! Usually, there's an opening in the back for them to fit through, with buttons or snaps to keep a strip in place so their whole backs are covered. This is a thin strip of cloth, tho, so it can be ripped.
Wing covers exist, but most prefer not to use those since wings are a method of transportation. So they're mostly formal wear, or what you put on if you're gonna rob somebody. Since wings are very identifiable, most thieves prefer to keep theirs hidden
In that same breath, though, you don't want the covers to be restrictive. Wearing wing covers that are hard to remove is similar to cuffing somebody. Not great. Fidds' wing covers for his SOTBE robes are basically specially shaped blankets that are thrown over, with weights that go over his shoulders to prevent them from falling off/being too heavy. The heaviest part of a cover is gonna be the weights, at least on older designs.
Everyone has sharp front teeth to mimic a beak! The Stan twin's are more angular and straight, good for berries and small prey (Stanley 100% hunted mice as a kid, very uncivilized smh). Fidds' are wider and curved more inwards, good for meat.
Everyone's wing patterns are sleiiiiightly different. It's like a fingerprint but far more unreliable
Gonna elaborate more on Ford's situation later :)
Bonus:
The Angel of Mercy
Might finish this later, we'll see
(Also Fidds hates that name. Sounds blasphemous as hell. Doesn't stop the Society from calling him that, though.)
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The Aesthetics and Environmental Storytelling of the Society of the Blind Eye
This is the third post to try and make sure that we're all on the same page as to where I get my ideas and thoughts about the Society of the Blind Eye! So in the last part I discussed the Blind Eye's symbol and how it can be used to indicate that they oppose Bill Cipher. If you thought that I was pulling that idea out of my ass in the previous post, then guess what! I have further evidence of it! And that evidence is the hideout of the Society of the Blind Eye itself! Because if you pay attention, it seems that the Society's hideout was built on top of the bones of a temple dedicated to Bill Cipher!
Now it's not too outrageous to think that there was probably a cult dedicated to Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls at some point, right? It's never mentioned in Journal 3 nor the Book of Bill, but Gravity Falls is very much a place of interest to Bill Cipher, and his influence there stretches back thousands upon thousands of years. And the hideout where the Society now resides... It honestly doesn't seem like something they would have constructed themselves. In fact, it seems to have originally been a temple to Bill Cipher that the Society has since retrofitted to fit their own purposes.
The connections between Bill Cipher and the Society's hideout are evident from the very outset with trying to get into the hideout in the first place.
Now obviously eyes are a symbol and motif that Bill Cipher and the Blind Eye both share. This room doesn't necessarily hint at a connection to the hideout and Bill Cipher inherently, right? To that I say, look at image above the door and secondly, to get into the Blind Eye's lair...
Well then, that's just a Bill Cipher right there! A triangle with an eye in the middle of it? You could even make the argument that the etchings indicating the X could be a stylized depiction of Bill's eyelashes! No hat or bow tie, sure, but that's still very much a Bill within the context of this series!
Now once you start making your way into the Blind Eye's lair, it's very clear that this place is old. Very old. Much much older than the building above it.
This place is entirely made of stone with no insulation. It's lit and probably heated by fire. This place is starting to crumble and fall apart, the cracks in the walls being held together by metal brackets.
By contrast the building above it...
It's a modern building with the electricity being wired through the walls and a modern lighting and heating system that's not dissimilar to what you'd normally expect out of any other building in Gravity Falls! Sure, it looks like there might be some cracks and dents in the plaster on the walls, but it's nothing too worrying or indicative of these structures falling apart! The building's been around for a while. And given the pneumatic tubes that Fiddleford likely had to have installed both within the Blind Eye's lair and the museum above it himself, that means that this building had to have been around for ~30 years at minimum. But that's nothing compared to how old the structure beneath it seems to be. It really does seem that the hideout had to have been built first and then the museum was later built on top of it. And the Society has just not been around long enough for them to have been the ones to have built the hideout!
Besides. It's a bit of an odd fit, right? A cult built around the idea of forgetting their own pasts placed underneath a location dedicated to remembering and maintaining objects from the past...? Or maybe it's just some delicious irony. I mean, the memories that they had erased are kept down there too after all. But if this building was originally run by a Bill Cipher cult...? Oh yeah! That absolutely makes sense! Of COURSE Bill would want his temple hidden underneath a museum! He basically IS human history after all, right!? He's had a hand in so many historical people's lives, events, and is part of their cultures! A temple dedicated to him underneath a museum that would basically be a shrine full of artifacts dedicated to him? He'd LOVE that! I mean, Ford had to get his various pieces of Bill Cipher memorabilia for his shrine/home from SOMEWHERE, right!? Additionally...
What right and under what circumstances would the Society be allowed to have these ancient Egyptian artifacts!??? Why would the Society even WANT something like these!? The Society has nothing to do with Egypt and their artifacts, so why are these here!??? But if this place was originally dedicated to Bill Cipher... Well then... That ENTIRELY makes sense!! OF COURSE there would be ancient Egyptian artifacts in a temple to Bill Cipher! He was the inspiration for the pyramids!
I also want you to take note of that light and how you can see the electrical wiring that powers it coming out of it and running along the wall. That's a clear indication that this building was built before electricity would or could have been installed into this lair and that the electricity was installed later. Another indication that the hideout is likely much MUCH older than the building on top of it!
And as one more pretty definitive piece of evidence that this lair had originally been built by a Bill Cipher cult... THESE PILLARS!!!
Now do those symbols look familiar from somewhere...? Well, some of them pretty heavily feature triangles and have a very Bill-adjacent aesthetic to them... But then there's also THIS!
Here you can see that those symbols on the pillars ARE Bill Cipher symbols! It's very likely that those symbols have always been there, long long before the Society took up residence within these temple walls! From this, I think that it's pretty clear to say that this hideout existed LONG before the Society of the Blind Eye existed, and that a group of people who dedicated themselves to Bill Cipher inhabited it long before the Society became the modern, current day inhabitants of it.
... But as the modern day inhabitants of this space, it doesn't seem that the Blind Eye cares much for preserving the historical sanctity of this place.
The Society seems to have taken what was there since long before them and vandalized it to suit their own iconograpy and purposes. Just like their very symbol. The evidence that I've shown thus far could be used to suggest that Bill Cipher had influence on the Society of the Blind Eye and perhaps used the Society to enact his own desires in the physical world, but I don't personally buy that idea because A) It would be EXCEEDINGLY dangerous for Bill to do so and B) The lack of care and in fact blatant defacing of this temple's features suggests the opposite to me! Hell, they don't even keep the place clean!!
Other than the main chamber: Canisters. EVERYWHERE! Entirely unorganized as far as we can tell. Hoarded in piles on the floors, not even on the tables that seem to have just been placed in here willy-nilly! Put into crates without a care. It's a mess! And that's not even mentioning the pneumatic tubes!
The pneumatic tubes were certainly not built at the same time as this structure and must have been installed later, likely by Fiddleford himself! They curve around everything, bracketed into place along walls and columns alike! And when they do go through the pillars...
Where the tubes go through the walls and columns, the stone is cracked, holes probably having been driven into them without a care or thought about how that would effect the building's structural integrity. The sheer number of pneumatic tubes and the haphazard way they seem to have been placed everywhere is likely even more of a reflection to how much Fiddleford had damaged himself and his own mind as he desperately sought to forget. And in that state, Fiddleford probably didn't even think nor care to think about what he was doing and how it would effect this base of theirs. And besides. What would it matter? This was a temple to Bill Cipher before them. And certainly no one would remember being in such a cult after the Society was done with the town.
And so that's all I really have to say about that. The Society's aesthetic is cool! You could call it something akin to Steampunk, but I think that the better keyword here is retrofitted. Or perhaps its darker counterpart- defaced. After all, retrofitting is something that Fiddleford does all the time and is all about!
Using bottle caps to make memory guns, mattress springs and jugs to make sea monsters. And I imagine that the Society was built much the same way... But in a darker sense. Taking the remnants of a temple to Bill Cipher, destroying its previous aesthetic and purpose and making it suit his own to create a cult of his own that would wipe away people's memories from them until he himself would deface his own memories so thoroughly that he could only become a mere shadow of who he used to be. Very tragic for Fiddleford himself. But a very interesting implied history and aesthetic for the rest of us!
So, I highly doubt Fidds was comfortable just using the memory gun on people without their consent (though, we do know he used it on Ford at least once), so I think he'd try to use it for good at first. If he knows someone has seen the Horrors™, he'd offer to erase it from their minds.
But, of course, I don't think very many people would be comfortable with it, so it's sorta like a small business with returning customers, if that makes sense.
Blind Ivan, who he met at the carnival, I do see being comfortable with stuff like that.
At first, they start the way Fidds envisioned, by spreading the word about the Society and recruiting people. But, they don't use the gun as responsibly as Fidds intended (not to say he was responsible with it, either. They were just. worse.) and they started wiping the minds of people without their consent. And when Fiddleford tried to step in, they basically overthrew him. Cuz like, at what point did he stop using he gun? Why were his memories chipped?
I think they purposefully chipped it like that to prevent him from gaining back his memories and stopping them. Cuz if their founder was against what they were doing, then they'd be in the wrong, but no, they were doing a good thing, right?
During that last confrontation, I think Fidds realized just how bad this all was and realized that he had fucked his mind up reeeally bad. And he tried to take the gun from Ivan, and in retaliation, they wiped the Blind Eye from Fidd's mind.
This could also explain why no one remembers who the founder is. Like, it's played for laughs in the show, but Ivan should remember if no one else does, right? So if they were close, then had a confrontation that resulted in the Society getting wiped from Fidds' memory, it would be a massive betrayal to Ivan.
I could 100% see him wiping Fiddleford from his mind, and the rest of the Society. They were so addicted to using it to ease pain that they didn't even think twice about it.
Kinda funny, looking at it like that. This thing was invented to ease pain and erase bad things, but ultimately caused more pain in return.
sasha; 21, she/her, bisexual, dated nike for a while now dating damien, “leader”, blue eye society, has a fluffy black cat named sabrina
nike; 22, she/her, lesbian, dated sasha but decided to break things off cause she was having trouble understanding the society, still good friends with sasha, not dating anyone currently, in college for ??? (something techy), has a beagle/basset hound named frederick/freddie
damien; 23, he/him, bisexual, dating sasha and very happy about it, “master”, blue eye society, has a dog back home named dmitri/dima (hes a samoyed)
float; 6021, he/him they/them, pansexual, not dating anyone but has a teeny tiny crush on damien, umbrian/not a human, protects sasha the best he can, was assigned to protect sasha as a punishment, can turn into a large white snake
blue eye society; a secret society (not a cult!!!!!!) that studies arcane magic through books they get through a magic portal, not a whole lot of members, sasha runs it, damien helps, no one knows their names so they call them “leader” and “master”, the source of a lot of trauma
umbra; where float is from, aliens, the original inhabitants of earth, godlike without being gods, typically stay away from humans
and ya thats basically it. hmu with any questions, comments, or concerns u have
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Summary: What could have occurred between Fiddleford and the Blind Eye Society.
A/N: Hey there folks! Another fic for @fiddleford-appreciation-month this weeks being: Society of the Blind Eye. This fic being my interpretation of what occurred that got Fiddleford to not be part of that group anymore.
Fiddleford donned on his red robe, the hood bearing the symbol of The Blind Eye Society, a group of people who aim to make the townsfolk of Gravity Falls forget any at all of their worse memories that would haunt them; even their own unwanted memories they'd rather erase. The former scientist uses the cover of the dark night to make his way to the Gravity Falls History Museum, having gotten word from his right hand man, Ivan Wexler, that there is to be a meeting, having caught someone they're going to cleanse their mind. The very tool to do that being of Fiddleford's own invention: The Memory Gun.
He really thought founding such an organization was a great idea, aware that his mind's been degrading over time from the over-use of the device, he was beginning to have second thoughts.
Fiddleford takes a deep breath in thought, entering the museum the back way, then passing the various displays of Gravity Fall's colorful history of the town until he reaches the special room full of eyes watching at the secret switch to the underground passage. He presses the small stone slab, the fireplace revealing the entrance, descending down the corridor and into the main hall where Ivan and the other members were waiting, greeting their founder with the Society's hand gesture, then give a small bow to Fiddleford.
Blind Ivan addresses him, "Thank you for coming, your unseeness. We have need of your word as to how to approach this intruder we found snooping into our secrets."
Sitting on the chair, hands strapped to the armrests, appeared to be a young man in physical appearance, his head covered by the sack, although his voice could still be heard as he struggles to break free.
"Let me out of here!" the man yelled in fury, ready to fight once he breaks free if he could. "I pummel you hooded creeps!"
Fiddleford knew that voice, rushing over to uncover the sack from the young man's head. The man took a breath of fresh air; it was Tate McGucket, Fiddleford's son.
Both father and son stared at each other in shock, having not expected the other to be where they are.
"T-Tate what are--"
"No, dad! What are YOU doing with all these people?" Tate snaps at his father. "Mom and me have been worrying about you for years, having not heard from you. Then these people kidnapped me when I saw one of them." the young man then notices how much his dad changed since he last saw him, Fiddleford appearing more worn in the face, hair graying and getting thinner, "What happened...?"
Fiddleford didn't know how to explain what occurred those years ago from working with Ford, those memories having become more vague over time. However, his focus shifted to Ivan when Tate claims to have been taken by force, "He wasn't snooping around, wasn't he?"
Ivan dipped his head, looking rather guilty, then glancing back up at the founder, "He spotted one of our own. We HAVE to keep who we are and what we do a secret, your unseeness. We do what must be done to keep what you've created safe."
As of late, Ivan had been suggesting the people forget more than just their bad memories, to actually take people in, rather if their willing or not. The founder could then tell Ivan was vying for control and power, making the excuse that it can be taken into consideration. He couldn't keep a man like Ivan in line forever.
Fiddleford then looks at his son with a more calm tone, "I'm trying to help the people of Gravity Falls forget their bad memories, like how I forgotten my own and all these folks here too." he takes the Memory Gun from the box, "I can even help you too, son, and make this whole incident go away."
"No!" Tate barked in protest, "I don't want to be forced to forget! You really think you can magically make this all go away with a zap from that thing?! Probably the reason why everyone here acts so off in the head." His bangs covered his anger-filled eyes, his teeth gritting, feeling greatly utterly betrayed. "Why didn't you at least tell mom and me what was going on with you? We could have helped you, dad... or at least try to understand. Please don't do this." Tears began to fall from behind those bangs. This did not phase Ivan nor the rest of the members, Ivan becoming more impatient with the founder's delay of action, having no empathy for the founders son. Ivan believes he could do so much more.
Fiddleford's heart sank hearing this from his only child, starting to have second thoughts, making him question what he's been doing. He takes another look at the Memory Gun, then at Tate, sighing as he lays down the device, ordering, "This one... shall not unsee what he's seen. As said by the Founder."
Everyone in the chamber gasped, their own founder breaking the number one rule of their Society, muttering started between the members, questioning their founders choice.
"What?! Founder this cannot be. Please reconsider what you're doing!" Ivan pleads his leader, "We've never allowed one to have their memories intact. Even if he is your own son, you'll be breaking the very rule we all live by." Ivan grew furious, "This can't be allowed!"
Fiddleford glares at his right hand man, "I'll NEVER hurt my own kin like this, Ivan! Especially my own son." He proceeds to free his son from the straps of the chair, Tate feeling a little more eased that he got through to his dad. "I am also considering of disbanding the Society, perhaps we need to stop forgettin'."
In his growing anger, Ivan grabs the Memory Gun, dialing the words 'Blind Eye Society' to specify what will be erased from memory, "I cannot allow you to do that, Founder. Or should I say, former Founder."
"Run Tate!"
Fiddleford throws some kind of item at Ivan from his pocket, hitting the tattooed-head man directly in the right eye, making him writhe in pain as he yells, "Get them!"
Ivan fires the device, missing Fiddleford and Tate as the two ran as fast as they could, the other members in pursuit of them. The father leads his son out the back way to escape quicker before Ivan and them find the two.
"You go on ahead of me, Tate, I'll remain behind to hold them off. It's me they're mad at." Fiddleford urged his son, clinging to what sanity remained in him, catching their breath, but Tate shook his head.
"Dad... they're gonna kill you. Then possibly me and the rest of the family." the man spoke in fear, not fully knowing what they'll do to him and his family.
"I know they won't resort to that, I promise. I am so, so sorry for what I've put you and your mother through, son. I'll make it right to you somehow. Now go before they catch you. I'll be fine." he tries to reassure his son.
Tate runs off into the night, not looking back, tears streaming from his eyes, as he heads straight back to where his mother and him were currently staying. He had the ill feeling things weren't going to be fine for his father.
The Society members apprehended Fiddleford, strapping him to the chair, Ivan with Memory Gun in hand, aiming right at the former founders head. Ivan now having wrappings around his bleeding right eye.
"You will unsee what you've seen! I will lead our glorious society into a new age where everyone will be blissfully ignorant of all these supernatural occurrences. Whether they like to or not. You will not be missed, Founder." With that said, Ivan pulls the trigger of the memory gun, draining Fiddleford's memory of everything about the Blind Eye Society, the memory stored in the canister the device had attached to. Despite the pain he was feeling, Ivan smiled in satisfaction, handing the canister to one of the members to be taken to the Hall of the Forgotten. "Fiddleford McGucket, what do you know of the Blind Eye Society and who leads it?" Ivan asks to confirm if McGucket recalls or not.
Fiddleford's eyes widened, responding, "My mind is clear, thanks to the Society of the Blind Eye." A response Ivan wanted to hear.
"It is Unseen!" Ivan and the rest of the members exclaim, two of the members escorting McGucket out of the Museum. Ivan holds his eye in pain, one of the members spoke in concern.
"We must have that treated, sir. And what must we do now that our Founder is no more? And of the other McGucket?"
Ivan simply grins from the question, "There are going to be some changes around here, for now, meeting adjourned. As for the son, he won't be telling anyone about us. None will believe him, and he knows it. Unsee you later, I'll be sure to get my eye treated right away." The remaining members leave with the parting words, "Unsee you later."
Meanwhile, Fiddleford lied unconscious on the steps of the Museum, awaking the next day, recalling not a thing even when his son tried to tell him otherwise. Not long after, Fiddleford's mental state worsened to a point where he's speaking in utter gibberish and having become nothing more than a crazy kook the town sees him as, and leaving his son and family helpless to do anything that could help him.
I saw this ask and I thought "That's really angsty but I can make it angstier". What if she never time jumped but the SotBE got ahold of her since "she knows too much" and Fiddleford personally saw to it that she forgot everything? The last thing she see's before she forgets what life she had previously, was one of her closest friends about to pull the trigger? Then, afterwards, she has no memory of Ford, Fiddleford, Shifty, any of it. Someone gives her a bs story of how she wanted peace away from her previous life and became a recluse in the woods. In present day GF, she's a woman who still lives alone in a cabin in the woods but there's rumors that she's a witch or a cannibal that takes anyone that goes near her home. Dipper and Mabel investigate and they find a kind old woman that fixes them lunch and drinks. Then they show her the Journal (specifically the entry about the Shaoeshifter) and she has a full out panic attack, demanding they leave and throwing/breaking things while she has a break down as her memories start flooding back.
