More Prints

More prints —

Ch 2 title art

“CAN AN ANT DO THIS” was an iconic moment from a gravity falls stream SO amazing that i had to animatic it !!

art by me (my art only blog is @shokujupiter ! ) Dipper Pines - @chongoblog Mabel Pines - @knittinggiantbeanies Grunkle Stan - @shelbeanie  Bill Cipher - @knittinggiantbeanies and @popelickva simultaneously Fiddleford McGucket - @knittinggiantbeanies Bodacious T - @popelickva

Brother Gregor never spoke and often spooked the neophytes with his appearance, but he was a gentle soul and a phenomenal cook and knew more ways to prepare a fish than the abbot knew hymns

There are a great many adventures to be had in the vast kingdom of Hyrule, but those who choose to dive a little deeper will never be disappointed.

For as much as one might think they know about their dear kingdom, there is a whole other world lurking beneath the waves. Life flourishes in the fathoms below, life that doesn’t particularly care about the world above. Cities and kingdoms lie in the depths that even the Zora do not explore.

This life below- these people- have their own way of navigating their rapidly changing world. There are two main groups- an aquatic people who call themselves Mer, and an amphibious group called Aquili. The Mer are a powerful people with strong tails in place of legs. They live in large groups, inhabiting areas where the water is deep but tending to stay closer to the surface where the sun can warm them. The Aquili, however, prefer shallow water, popping above the surface quite often. They live in smaller, close knit groups, never traveling alone.

And for a while, these groups were peaceful.

Dozens of years ago, monsters started swarming the sea. There are few around that still remember those days, before the start of the War, when pods of Mer and schools of Aquili were ravaged by the vicious beasts of the deep. They were forced to flee, to horde their supplies. And for a short while, it was just them against the monsters.

But then… supplies started to dwindle and they started to clash with each other. Mer and Aquili, fighting for space and for materials. In such a dangerous world, what other choice did they have? Each group marked out a place for their territories and each group made an effort to infiltrate and steal from the other. It wasn’t long before the War began in earnest. You could never get a straight answer as to how it happened- a Mer elder might say that an Aquili soldier had killed a young Mer in an attempt to chase them from their home. An Aquili Elder might say that the Mer had started stealing medicine and food from their camps, leaving their people weak and starving.

But no matter how people might argue about how it happened, there’s no doubt that it did. Entire settlements were destroyed in its wake, children became familiar with the coppery tang of water stained red.

And all the while, the monsters continued their ruthless hunt.

The War lasted for fifty whole years before coming to a brutal end. After one final attack on an Aquili stronghold, the Mer were victorious, winning the depths as their territory. But, of course, there are no winners in war.

The battles left their scars on the sea and its people, scars that stubbornly refuse to heal. And as time passes, as the Mer expand and hoard their resources, those battles are never forgotten.

And Link, born into peace… as the prince of his people, would have to oversee the consequences of those battles.

At the ripe old age of nine, his parents would show him the damage that the Aquili inflicted on his home- his people. Hoping to teach him how to deal with such things. How to rule his people in the context of their struggles. And they wanted to teach him to HATE the Aquili.

When he turned eleven, he would be tasked with overseeing the efforts to stop Aquili scavengers from stealing their goods. Food, medicine, weapons. The Aquili in this era are desperate. They lost the war and the Mer took over their homes, forcing them into the shallow waters, islands, and beaches. But even though they can exist on land, there just aren’t enough resources and they are NOT prepared for how the sun burns their scales. Many of them resist the Mer’s occupation of their territory, they try to steal back their homes.

At first, Prince Link would be alongside his parents or trusted advisors as he would make decisions on what should happen to those unfortunate Aquili who got caught. But eventually… it would be left to him. His father told him that as king, he’ll have to make difficult decisions by himself. This is just training him to be a better ruler.

It became easier, over the months, to judge the poor souls that were desperate enough to try to steal from his kingdom. His parents and advisors called the criminals Sea Monsters, which helped the young prince come to terms with the weighty sentences he’d bestow upon them. Dehumanizing them, treating them with cold indifference at best, cruel hatred at worst.

Prince Link was taught that he was better than them. That the Mer had won the War for a reason. The Sea Monsters were nothing to them- a blight on the sea, something to be happily rid of. And the young prince forced himself to believe it.

Or else he would never forgive himself.

Prince Link is alone. It’s rare- he’s almost always escorted by castle guards or advisors. But he’s never liked their constant supervision, he just wants a few minutes of privacy, so he sneaks out of the castle.

It’s an old routine- he’d long since memorized the guards’ rounds and he knows the perfect place to slip through a window. From there, it’s a matter of sticking to the shadows until he’s out of sight of the castle. It’s not something he makes a habit of, he’d like to think. But it’s a small freedom that he cherishes.

And while he’s swimming away this time, he hears a curious sound. In an alley, in a dark part of the kingdom, a young Aquili scavenger is digging around through baskets of what Link thinks must be medicine. They’re young, but the strips of kelp that they’ve wrapped around themself cover the color of their scales. Link’s first instinct is to call for help- to get this child arrested for invading his kingdom and stealing their things. But… there is a part of him that’s curious.

The young Aquili doesn’t see him- Link sheds his jewelry to swim more quietly as the child finds what they were looking for and darts away.

He follows.

He wants to know what they intend to do with their stolen goods.

He wants to know why they punish the Aquili so harshly.

He is… not prepared for what he sees.

He follows the child into the shallows, where the water is warmed by the sun’s rays and the sound of waves crashing against the beach is almost deafening. Prince Link is used to sneaking around the castle, stealth is one of his many skills, and with how focused the Aquili is on the path ahead, he goes undetected.

The child leads him to what looks to be a sick ward. Dozens of Aquili of all colors and sizes lie prone in the sand. Many of them are bleeding. There is no shelter here, Link realizes. It’s rocky and sandy and the waves shake the water so violently.

Link ducks behind a nearby rock as he watches the child float over an Aquili woman with deep purple scales- an elder- and sort through the medicine they’d stolen.

The child- the so called heartless Sea Monster- put themself in great danger in order to bring the medicine to this woman. Link leans in closer as he watches a few other scavengers swim over to help the child administer the medicine.

For a moment, something shifts within him. It is ugly. It rages, it cries, it reeks of guilt. Of sympathy for this child and this woman. Of jealousy for their family for helping- for the child for not having to handle this alone.

But alas.

He’s seen all he needs to, and just as he is about to swim away, he is discovered.

An Aquili man with green scales points a sword straight at his neck and the young prince panics. He is unarmed, a Mer child in Aquili territory. The Aquili of this era are defensive and aggressive- they have to be, or they will not survive.

And they do not take kindly to the Mer.

Prince Link is afraid.

The Aquili man tries to run Link out of his waters, but realizes that by chasing him out, he’d be entering Mer territory, putting himself and his family at risk. So instead, he chases Link up.

That is… an incredibly bad thing. As the Sea Monster chars the young prince, Link has no choice. He jumps out of the water to escape him. Really, he’s only above the surface for a split second. No harm done, right?

Wrong.

It is Mer law that so much as breaking the surface tension of the water is considered treasonous and grounds for banishment. This law is meant to protect them- Mer cannot live on land. They do not breathe air, the sun will dry them out and burn them to a crisp. They will die. And… Aquili can go on land- they do so quite often (though they are not equipped to stay there permanently). And so, anyone caught trying to follow Aquili up to the surface are immediately labeled as traitors and cast out.

Prince Link will eventually escape the Aquili man. He’ll return to his kingdom and be escorted back to the castle by guards with bone crushing grips on his arms. He’s coughing up air bubbles- which only happens if a Mer inhales air.

They immediately know that he’d broken their most important law.

And he is, as a result, banished. Stripped of his name and his title, thrown out of their kingdom. He looks his parents in the eye as they cast him out. He has no change to defend himself.

This banishment means that he is no longer welcome with the Mer. And he was never welcome with the Aquili. And after being chased like that- after his life was ruined so terribly by one of them- he hates the monstrous Aquili.

At the age of twelve, Legend was forced to take his first step onto land, all alone.

Some notes!

• Yeah, Legend’s not a fan of the Aquili. This does not bode well for Wind

• (Wind is Aquili)

• So a bit more about Mer culture! They tend to form large groups- hundreds if not thousands of individuals, living in cities and kingdoms. They would typically live closer to the surface where the sun can actually allow their food to grow and keep them warm, but after the war, they kind of had to take what they can get. So they make TALL castles. And the more valuable you are to the monarchy, the lower in the building you would live.

• Mer have a language built almost entirely around song! Here’s a link to the post about Merspeak!

• Oh and here’s a link with more about the War.

• Mer traditionally fight with spears as they’re easier to maneuver in the water. Actually, it’s the Aquili who tend to fight with swords!

• I… want to talk more about the Aquili, but I also don’t know if I should save that for Wind’s post. Feel free to send an ask? I have a LOT written about them

• Oh yeah, that Aquili kid? His name is Malik. He’s gonna be important.

• There is an au bouncing around in my head where the Aquili take Legend in after he’s banished. And the thing is? They would! If he didn’t, you know, condemn their people to unfair punishment literally all the time. But… he’s a child. The Aquili are not heartless.

• Legend’s parents kind of really sucked. They put too much responsibility on his shoulders. Which- on one hand, it was literally post-war. On the other hand, he was nine.

• He is not Zuko, I swear he is not Zuko.

• HOARDER!!!

• BISEXUAL!!!

• Refuses to wear pants.

• Oh and for anyone confused about how he can live on land, here’s a post to help explain! (Featuring Ravio)

Thats what they WANT you to think

Probably overhyped episode 3 a bit, so I apologize to everyone who's expecting it to be a groundbreaking masterpiece of existential horror, when it's mostly just gonna be another silly circus episode with some spooky shit in it.

headcanon that stan hates wearing glasses (for many reasons) and went without them for years until he really needed them

[Image Description: Comic of a younger Stanley Pines from "Gravity Falls." Alt text is provided and copied below the cut. End ID]

A younger Stan squints at his blurry reflection in the mirror, leaning in really close to see himself clearly. He sighs and grabs a pair of Ford's glasses on the dresser. Putting them on, he stares at his reflection. "Welp," he says, "this is unsettling."

He turns away from the mirror to adjust his tie, saying, "But it can't be helped." His reflection is now a disheveled Ford, mirroring Stan.