Servant Of Evil Au - Tumblr Posts
I've seen several people assuming this animatic was for the pirate au, but it's actually not! It's a song. Here's the first 37 seconds I've got so far if anyone wants to see if they recognize the lyrics ;)
(Something I posted way back in March may suddenly be relevant again...)
Omg!! The idea of a Gravity Falls/Servant of Evil AU has crossed my mind before, I'm so stoked to see someone actually tackling the concept! Have you decided who to cast as the other characters?
I'll admit I'm not sure I understand the series 100%, so I'm taking a lot of liberties. And I wasn't really planning on doing much more than create a Servant of Evil animatic since it seemed like fun and good practice. ^^'
I haven't put much though into the other characters. But I was thinking that Fiddleford might be Clarith. He seems to be religious, he forgives Ford despite all the pain and trauma he unknowingly caused him through his arrogance, and he's good with children. After everything, I think Mabel and Dipper might eventually end up in Ford's care too.
I'll admit I haven't thought all that much about the story outside the animatic, but this is really neat!
I was thinking that Shermie is sent to some war (pretty much just to be a morality boost while staying safely way behind the frontlines) due to the popular fan theory that he's a veteran. He very quickly becomes disillusioned with all things political having to see his people pointlessly sent to their deaths in the name of expansion, and decides he wants nothing to do with it. He abandons his duties and defects to live in secrecy as a commoner and is presumed to have been captured or killed.
Suddenly his timid, unsociable and wholly unprepared little brother is left to try and fill the position. Stan is sent away due to their dad reasoning that he'd be a bad influence (which wasn't a big deal when Ford was just the spare, but which matters way more if he's going to be king) and isn't allowed to stay in touch. Ford thinks Stan left to go sailing on his own, making him even more distrustful since even his best friend apparently didn't care enough to stay with him once the going got hard.
And oh yes, Bill is definitely "helping" him so he doesn't have to worry about making the "tough choices".
Ok so I know that @gobblewanker is making a Servant of Evil AU with the Stan twins and it's making me super excited! Because vocaloid and Gravity Falls are like two of my favorite things and their art is so good! It got me thinking how such an AU would go and I decided to share my headcanon for it! It's kinda long though, so I put it under the cut!
Childhood
Stan and Ford are princes to the Glass Shard kingdom, with Shermie in line to receive the crown. As kids, they like to explore and they go inside a cave where they stumble upon Bill's incantation. This attracts Bill's attention and he notices that Ford would be a good puppet for the crown.
Bill notices Ford's close relationship with Stan and manipulates those around him to isolate Ford. He 1) manipulates the dreams of Stan to lower his self esteem and question his self worth 2) manipulates Filbrick's mind to increase his hatred of Stan. In this AU, Caryn died from childbirth and Filbrick blames Stan for her death. Bill exemplifies Filbrick's feelings towards Stan to the point that Filbrick disowns him.
Stan and Ford are separated, with Stan being thrown on the streets and Ford still apart of the kingdom. Bill takes advantage and makes contact with Ford, eventually becoming his only friend. Ford eventually forgets about Stan due to a mix of Bill's manipulations and repressed memories.
Meanwhile, Stan gets adopted by the McCorkles. The McCorkles were friends of Caryn and hate to see what the kingdom has become without her. The McCorkles take care of him and he becomes friends with their daughter, Carla McCorkle. Stan and Carla form a strong bond and become each other's confidants.
Ford's Ascension to the Throne
About a decade or so passes and the Stans are in their teens. The kingdom has been suffering under Filbrick's rule without Caryn to act as a buffer. Bill decides to make his move and arranges an accident that kills Filbrick and makes it seem like Shermie's fault, causing Shermie to run away. Ford then becomes King of Glass Shard Kingdom.
Ford is utterly unprepared to be king. Ford wanted to devote his life to science and did not learn a thing about being a ruler. Shermie was the one who was taught about the responsibilities a king must take care of and Ford just immediately cracks under pressure. Bill waltzes in and '"innocently" suggests that he'll take care of being king and Ford can devote his time to his projects! He just has to make a deal with him and let him possess his body. Ford immediately agrees and just like that Bill has control of the throne.
The McCorkles have been debating to leave Glass Shard Kingdom for a while and the fact that an unprepared teenager is now their king finalizes their decision. They decide to move to another country and try to take Stan with them, but fails. Stan still loves Ford and wants to take this chance to reunite with him without their father hanging over them. The McCorkles are saddened by his refusal to join them but understand and keep contact with him through letters.
Stan goes into the castle in hope of reuniting with Ford under the guise of becoming a servant for him. He expects a happy reunion and becomes disheartened when he realizes that Ford does not know him. He stays though once he sees that Ford seems to have something... wrong... with him. Stan notices how weird Bord is acting and is determined to get to the bottom of this.
Bill immediately recognizes Stan and tries to get rid of him. Before he can, however, Ford feels a sort of... connection... with Stan and hires him before Bill can intervene.
Bill is enraged but recognizes that there is nothing he can do and tries to get rid of Stan in other ways...
Revolution
It has been another decade or so and there is upset in the kingdom. Ford is an absolute terrible ruler, taxing people left and right and spending all of it on his projects instead of helping his subjects. He blindly trusts Bill when Bill says that he is helping his subjects and that they are just squandering his money and that's why they look poor and that it is definitely in budget for Ford to spend so much on his research and projects. This outlook caused Ford to look down on the poor people he sees (aka everyone in his kingdom) because he believes it's their terrible economic decisions that led to their fate.
In addition, Bill sends Stan to do terrible and immoral missions in the name of the king. He tries to offend him in hopes that Stan will quit. Stan executes these missions but manages to help people and keep to his moral code while doing so. These missions make Stan even more determined to save his brother, as he knows that his brother would never do such a thing. His brother might be an arrogant asshole but he would never hurt people intentionally. He remembers Ford when he was younger and innocent, full of curiosity and wonder, and knows that this is completely out of character for him.
When he does his missions, Stan becomes friends with the townsfolk, including Soos and Wendy. Everyone knows him as a grump with a heart of gold and believe that Ford is somehow blackmailing or brainwashing Stan into doing his bidding.
Then, one day, Ford hears of a science convention occuring in another kingdom so he travels there to check it out.
The village that is holding the science convention is called the M village. Everyone in the village has a name that starts with M. All except for one boy named Dipper. Dipper is the only person in the village in the village without an M name and is somewhat of an outcast because of it. However, he has one person who is his friend, which is his twin, Mabel!
Dipper has been working on his project for the science convention and is determined to have the best project ever! His project gains the attention of Ford, who is so impressed that he offers Dipper an apprenticeship on the spot. Dipper considers the offer and says that he'll think about it.
Unknowingly, Mabel overhears and believes mistakingly that Dipper agreed to Ford's proposal and runs off only to run into Stan! She unloads her problem onto Stan and he commiserates and listens to her. They bond over their twins and he encourages her to communicate with her brother and work it out.
Mabel takes Stan's advice and works it out with Dipper, who then decides to stay as he does not want to leave his family. He tells Ford his decision the next day and Ford tries to convince him to take it but reluctantly accepts Dipper's refusal. However, Bill is also interested in Dipper and controls Ford to order the death of all people whose name starts with M. He orders Stan to kill Mabel and the rest of the villagers.
Stan obviously does not want to do this and so takes Mabel away into a forest to tell her to go out of the country to an old friend of his (Carla McCorkle) so she can be safe until he gets to the bottom of this because this is unlike Ford. He also sends a message to her family about this so they know where she is and won't panic.
Unfortunately, Fiddleford follows Mabel and erases her memory because Tate is being threatened by Bill if he doesn't do his bidding. Mabel still goes to Carla but does not remember Stan or family and so does not go back when the whole mess is over. In addition, the message Stan sent gets lost in the whole revolution and so Dipper's family do not know where Mabel is until after the revolution.
Dipper, thinking his sister is dead, starts a revolt against the kingdom, along with Wendy and Soos, who want to free Stan and the townspeople from Bord. All the townspeople follow because they have been taxed heavily and just treated awfully by Bord.
Flashforward to the townspeople storming the castle and all the servants and whatnot have left with the exception of Ford and Stan. Ford is freaking the fuck out, he just realized his friend (Bill) has betrayed him this whole time and his whole life view has shifted and that he's about to die for things he didn't know had such a terrible impact, so yeah he's freaking out. He tells Stan everything in what he thinks is his last moments and then Stan asks to switch clothes, which Ford does because he is out of it right now. Stan then tells Ford of their backstory and how they are twin brothers and of his plan to switch places with him so that Ford can be free. Ford is surprised and begs Stan not to do this but Stan locks him in his room and forces him to take a secret passage out of the castle and turns around to face the music.
Stan is executed for his brother's crimes and revolution is over.
After
After Stan dies, Bill has left Ford alone and exists to continue the cycle of sin. Or he could have hitched with Stan and died with him, expecting that Ford was the one to die. Either option is your choice, but, either way, Ford is free from his clutches.
Mabel is with Carla now and they work at a restaurant. Mabel does charity work in her free time and that's where she meets Ford.
When Ford escaped the castle, he decided to move to another country, incidentally the one where Mabel is, and tries to repent by doing good deeds. He is still kinda arrogant and stuff though so he has trouble living on the streets because he has no idea how to budget. Mabel helps him out with her charity work and he becomes more empathetic and just a better person in general. He then helps out at shelters and whatnot instead of being the person who is helped. He and Mabel bond at the shelters and become good friends. They also bond over memory issues, as Bill fucked up Ford's mind and Mabel's mind was erased . He has no idea who Mabel is and she has no idea who he is.
With the revolution over, someone stumbles over the letter sent to Dipper and his family and they receive it. Sadly, it is too torn up to see what country Mabel is in but they know she is in good hands and he searches for her with help from friends (Soos and Wendy).
Ford confesses his sins and tries to repent when he sees the ocean, as he gained a memory of him and Stan playing at the ocean and of their little boat, Stan 'O War. Mabel overhears him and remembers who he is and what's he done. She almost decides to get revenge, but doesn't out of pity and love, for she has formed an attachment to him and decides to forgive him instead.
With that memory, a rush of them come in and Mabel remembers a lot of her life, including Dipper. Ford tries to help her look for him but they don't know where he could have gone and so they travel to find him!
It becomes a chase on both sides before they finally reunite! Mabel and Dipper are happy to see each other, though Dipper is Not happy with Ford. Tensions are strained for a while but Dipper and Ford suck it up for Mabel and they eventually become sort of friends.
Ford decides to travel more and try to help people in need as he goes his merry way while Dipper and Mabel decide to stick together and go back to Carla so they can figure out their life plans from there.
Life continues on and that's where the story ends!
Five of my favorite frames so far, this is taking forever ^^'
Warning for angst and major (offscreen) character death!
I'm not sure if context is needed, but if so, this song is part 2 out of three in a series.
It is finally done! Quality ended up somewhat minced, but what can you do. If I ever upload to youtube I'll have to redo things... Still! I actually did it!
This is probably not for everyone, since it's (maybe?) a bit obscure and definitely not a very happy story. But it's been on my mind for a long time and I'm just proud of myself for sticking with it. At a little over 200 frames, this might be the biggest project I've tackled yet and I can't wait to keep practicing!
Original cover here! (This guy also has a cover of part 1 and part 2)