[The trash is pretty good. The dog stares at Dipper, glaring and trying to decide if that's some kind of trick so he can steal its dinner for real. But slowly, it sticks its nose back into the trash barrel and pulls out a crunchy snack - a leftover chicken, bones and all. Just hanging in the dog's mouth is enough to make it catch on fire, burning a bright electric blue and charring even more as the dog gnaws on it.
It's definitely acting more like a creature than the others in town - more of a monster than a person turned animal. But that doesn't mean there aren't familiar things. Under the smoke is the scent of tobacco, burnt sugar, and blood. Beneath the smells are the feelings - desperation, fear, and anxiety.
Chewing on the chicken is hard while standing up and aggressively guarding its meal, so it eventually lowers itself to the ground so it can really dig the meat off of those bones. And when it does, Dipper will be a better angle to see a familiar brand on its back, blue flames flickering up and out of the old wound.
Now and then it still remembers to look up at Dipper, just in case he's gotten any closer.]
[Yeah, this almost seems like some kind of ...Forest Entity almost? With how it's acting, but there's too much familiar about it for him to really commit to that thought.]
[Honestly, he's already starting to think this is maybe Stan before he sees the brand, there's just too much about it that reminds him of Stan, or of their nature as Sleepers. He knows what Beasthood tends to look like, knows how Omens are often smokey creatures and how sometimes omens and Beasthood share similarities. The blue flames are also a signature of Stan's.]
[But if this is beasthood ...what happened? And why isn't he being attacked with reckless abandon? Beasts tend to be ...violent one way or another. This dog is just acting scared. Maybe ...maybe there's still something he can do.]
...Grunkle Stan?
[May as well give that a shot. See what he does. Then he'll start making plans.]
[There's no direct answers, only possibilities. It's a quieter place than Trench, with less blood pollution. It could have just happened, as one wrong step on a mushroom. Maybe he just hasn't been provoked into violence so far. But more importantly, all of the above could be true and more - it's not like Stan can tell him what happened.
He doesn't respond to his name. He just keeps gnawing and crunching until bones are unrecognizable as a chicken anymore, just broken and burnt pieces in the grass. Now that his meal is done though he stands taller and growls at Dipper, low and deep, teeth bared with fire deep behind them. Everything inside of Stan is burning.
He doesn't know you, Dipper. He barely even knows himself.
His tail is still curled under him but he takes a smoldering step forward - a warning. A threat. A reminder of what a scared dog is capable of.]
[Dipper doesn't back down. He continues looking at him. While he probably should be afraid, he knows better than to show it. If this is Stan, and he's pretty sure it is, then being firm and not faltering has always worked eventually.]
[But, he has back up plans in case this goes south. Dipper knows how to defend himself, if need be.]
[In fact, perhaps if he gets close enough, he can pull something off.]
[The growling hasn't stopped, but this guy won't just leave. But...he's also not attacking? He's just standing there like he isn't about to get picked up and thrown like a chew toy, so he's gotta be up to something. His ears perk up so he can listen for reinforcements that might be lurking in the shadows, on high alert.
He slowly takes two more steps closer - he's close enough that Dipper will be able to feel heat radiating off of him like a raging forest fire.
But, it might be hard to focus on that, since Stan's decided the next step is to BARK AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE at Dipper, and snap his teeth at him for good measure. ]
[Ugh, gross. Hot fiery dog breath. Dipper winces but only because he's basically getting a stinky blast of heat right to the face. This kind of sucks on account of him being aquatic right now and how all that fire is starting to dry out his skin.]
[But he doesn't move. Not yet. His tail suddenly whips back and forth and he puts out a hand.]
[Dipper might have predicted blue fire. It would be hard not to at this point. What he might not have expected is blue fire everywhere.
He's been in Stan's mind before, trained his dream walking skills there even. But every hallmark of Stan's mind, every piece of his personality that is normally in view is gone. It's disorienting and hot, like being trapped in a burning building - except the building is long gone and the inferno around him remains.
There are no Stan bats or Stan crabs, and more importantly no visible signs of Stan himself. However, he can be felt everywhere, or at least his fear and stress can. They're overwhelming, drowning out all other feelings he might have ever had. He's scared, he's going to fucking die if he lets his guard down, he--
--his voice is somewhere, warped from the mess inside of him. He still thinks in human words, though they're muddled and hard to parse.]
[And so on and so forth, mounting fears only growing and warping with every new thought. It never ends. There's always something new to try and protect himself against.]
Edited (fucking with the html sorry) 2025-05-28 14:46 (UTC)
[No, no, he was expecting a fucking mess in here. It's a lot of blue fire, but if Stan somehow hit Beasthood, then he isn't really that surprised that anything involving Stan as a person is fucked beyond recognition.]
[Dipper has falling into this himself, after all. He remembers, or rather, doesn't remember, what it was like. He's only heard second hand from Mabel the behaviors of that monster. How it was him but not. How it pulled on the parts of himself it needed but otherwise twisted himself into something bloodthirsty and violent.]
[This is clearly something very different, at least it seems that way to Dipper. This beast isn't reacting violently, it's acting defensively which strikes him as very unusual. He may not be all gone, there may be something Dipper can pull back out again. He just has to weather a literal fucking inferno.]
[Oh, it's a terrible day to be an empath. It hits him so fucking hard, how much the amplified stress and fear is. He can feel his own corruption starting to fray just being here. He doesn't have a lot of time to do something.]
GRUNKLE STAN!
[But he has to. He has to try. Dipper reaches deep within himself to tap into his powers in a way he hates doing. He knows how to alter mindscapes, he knows how to affect the mental world around him. He doesn't have to change anything drastic, he just needs to put these flames out.]
[It seems like a simple enough solution, doesn't it? You see a fire, you put it out. If everything around you is a mess, you start with the mess at your feet. Slowly, the fire begins to recede away from him in circle. One foot...then two...enough to reveal burnt grass under his feet....
But the progress doesn't last. Stan, or something that used to be him, HOWLS in pain - a very human scream layered over with a pitch only an animal could possibly hit. He screams as if the lack of pain hurts even more somehow - as if all of this burning is the only thing left of what was Stanley Pines.
In desperation, the rest of the fire lurches and moves, trying to regain the ground it lost at any cost. It pays little attention to Dipper himself, though some of his clothes may start to catch if he isn't careful. The flames move awkwardly at first, but then they weave together into a shape that's almost...a hand? No. A paw.
It slams down into the circle Dipper's made and pulls back with such force it makes the ground start to spark. It leaves behind a deep gash.
But more important, it doesn't show any sign of stopping. It's going to scratch and scratch and scratch until it hurts the way it's supposed to, the way it understands that it should hurt.]
[Luckily, or maybe unluckily? Between that retaliation, the surge of concentrated emotions of pain and anguish hitting him like an actual truck, and the heat of the fire coming back towards him, Dipper absolutely can't maintain his place here in his mind.]
[It's been a while since he's been totally kicked out like that. Met his match on his preferred terrain.]
[With a shout, Dipper forces an exit for himself before he, too, succumbs to his own corruption, feeling the way those emotions pull at him, unraveling him from the inside out.]
[He hits the ground with a thud, and though he's disoriented and bleeding from the now two or three eyes on the right side of his face, he forces himself back onto his feet in a hurry.]
[This is all a little too complex for a giant beast to wrap his dog brain around. He was in the grove, and then they were GONE, and now he's back again, startled by the sudden change in location. What the FUCK was all of THAT?! He whips his head around, looking for something - anything that might have become a threat in the last two minutes. He even gets up and makes a couple of circles, in case there's something he's missing in a blind spot.
Eventually, all of his eyes land on Dipper, who is scurrying up to his feet. Stan growls low with his teeth bared and shifts as though he might lunge directly at him. It doesn't matter what happened because he can be bigger, louder, scarier!
He takes a few aggressive steps forward and then, when he's sure this guy isn't going to try and come at him again--
--he bolts! He turns tail and sprints off so fast that patches of grass burn up just from the friction. He makes a tight corner around the inn, to try and get out of sight as quickly as possible.]
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sticksandbones2025-05-02 09:30 am
no subject
It's definitely acting more like a creature than the others in town - more of a monster than a person turned animal. But that doesn't mean there aren't familiar things. Under the smoke is the scent of tobacco, burnt sugar, and blood. Beneath the smells are the feelings - desperation, fear, and anxiety.
Chewing on the chicken is hard while standing up and aggressively guarding its meal, so it eventually lowers itself to the ground so it can really dig the meat off of those bones. And when it does, Dipper will be a better angle to see a familiar brand on its back, blue flames flickering up and out of the old wound.
Now and then it still remembers to look up at Dipper, just in case he's gotten any closer.]
no subject
[Honestly, he's already starting to think this is maybe Stan before he sees the brand, there's just too much about it that reminds him of Stan, or of their nature as Sleepers. He knows what Beasthood tends to look like, knows how Omens are often smokey creatures and how sometimes omens and Beasthood share similarities. The blue flames are also a signature of Stan's.]
[But if this is beasthood ...what happened? And why isn't he being attacked with reckless abandon? Beasts tend to be ...violent one way or another. This dog is just acting scared. Maybe ...maybe there's still something he can do.]
...Grunkle Stan?
[May as well give that a shot. See what he does. Then he'll start making plans.]
no subject
He doesn't respond to his name. He just keeps gnawing and crunching until bones are unrecognizable as a chicken anymore, just broken and burnt pieces in the grass. Now that his meal is done though he stands taller and growls at Dipper, low and deep, teeth bared with fire deep behind them. Everything inside of Stan is burning.
He doesn't know you, Dipper. He barely even knows himself.
His tail is still curled under him but he takes a smoldering step forward - a warning. A threat. A reminder of what a scared dog is capable of.]
no subject
[But, he has back up plans in case this goes south. Dipper knows how to defend himself, if need be.]
[In fact, perhaps if he gets close enough, he can pull something off.]
[So he holds his ground.]
I'm not gonna hurt you.
no subject
He slowly takes two more steps closer - he's close enough that Dipper will be able to feel heat radiating off of him like a raging forest fire.
But, it might be hard to focus on that, since Stan's decided the next step is to BARK AS LOUD AS POSSIBLE at Dipper, and snap his teeth at him for good measure. ]
no subject
[But he doesn't move. Not yet. His tail suddenly whips back and forth and he puts out a hand.]
[And drags them into the Dreamscape.]
no subject
He's been in Stan's mind before, trained his dream walking skills there even. But every hallmark of Stan's mind, every piece of his personality that is normally in view is gone. It's disorienting and hot, like being trapped in a burning building - except the building is long gone and the inferno around him remains.
There are no Stan bats or Stan crabs, and more importantly no visible signs of Stan himself. However, he can be felt everywhere, or at least his fear and stress can. They're overwhelming, drowning out all other feelings he might have ever had. He's scared, he's going to fucking die if he lets his guard down, he--
--his voice is somewhere, warped from the mess inside of him. He still thinks in human words, though they're muddled and hard to parse.]
W͍͖͓͓̱̺ḫ̨̛̻̣͇̙̻̮̲͎́àͅt̻͖̟͚͖͍́͘͡ ̛͉̪̟͍̪̜̹͢ṭ̸̣̭̜̜͎h̶̨̺͙̟̬̙̳͍̫e͞͏̨̯̻̹̮̻ ̸͇̱͇̰F̛̺̱̜͈̭̯͚Ù̷̡̪̺͙͖̤̖͖̱C͖̱̙̗͕̟͓̜K͢͏̖͙̜̭̬̬̗͇ ̡̠̮͉͙̙̩̀J̻̯ͅŲ̛̼̹̫̻S͕͓̭̻͓̱̲͙͠T̺͜͠ ̸̳̗̣͓̩͙̳̩H̵̪A҉̧̺̖̥̬́P͘͏̙͙P̸̘̩̪͈͍̤̩ͅE͉̯̣ͅN̨҉̨͈̤E̗̲͉͈D̺̖͔̯͈̜̬͘
G̝̣̠͚͕E̙̙̥͝T̢̠̙̝͔̤ ̛҉̴͓Ó̢̯̱Ú̗̼̕Ț̛̰͓̘̺͜ ͉̳̟͢G̵̪̠̙͓E҉̤͖̱͍̣̯͠͠T҉̺̦͈͔ ̡̩̱̦̞͝O̥̮̟̕U̫͎͔̖T҉̣̯͎̫̮̦̱̱ ͕̳̦͜Ǵ̱̞E̹̪͕͇̱͓̙T̤͇͢͝ ̶̜͈̻̱̗̼O̵͍̣̝̭̖̭͡͞ͅŲ̬̯̣̪̹̫͖͍̀T̀͡҉̞̳͍ ͕̮͍͍̘͟G͏͍͎̭͈̕Ḙ̸͙̗̠͖T͇͚̭̜̙̩̦͈͟͞ ̸̨͚̱̝̗̯̭̥͜ͅƠ̡͍͚̲̜̹̗U͏̢͖͈̭̦T̮
I̹͈̠̮͙͟͡'͏̺̲̫̘̰͕̘M̦̦̯͈͚͘͜͝ ̸̥͈̭̭̤͞G̴̡̳̠̟͓Ǫ̷͇̳͕͇̀N̰̥͚͖͖̲̱N̴̹̥͈͓̜̗̖̕A̟͓̖͈̪̯̻͢͞ ͎̭̰̰͜ͅS̴̛͍̮̬̠̟͘C̨҉͈̩͖R̡̞̗͉̠͇͜A̴̻̫̰̰͙̦̣̥͞T̴̬̹̥̳̦̜̗C̵̨̧͇͚̱H͡҉̗̳ ̡͕̜͍̤̻͘͢H̪̥͚̲͔̙I̸̢͓̺̮M̳͙͇̞̹ ̵̕҉̘̫̝͇͓Ơ̶̜̗͇͚͉̜͘U̯͓̯͠T̛͈͓ ̡̲̱̗̬͉͇̤́Í̵̖͈͚̙̻̟͉'͓̗̹̥̭̦̮Ḿ̴̴̤̰ ̡̛̯̰̻̯G̶̢͔̝̱͠Ǫ̙̲̜̩̮̝̤̥N͏̤̫N҉̦̠̯̞̗͖Ą̨̪͕̥̝̯͍̖̭̟-͏͇̲͍̀͡-̡̡̥̳͙̫͉̮̰͈ ̸̢̞̯̺̹̯͔̫̰̀I̳ ̵̨̮̱̼̥͔͈̫̠H̨͝͏̥̰̼̰̩͈A͞͏̹͓̯̥͞V̢͏͍Ẹ̵̹̞͇͘͠ ̶͍̙͔̳͞͠T͙̖̣̣̰̤̲́͟͜O͏̤̤͙̬̺ ͉̳̭͔͉̖B̴͢͏͖̲̮̭̭̻͇E̖̲ͅF̴͔̩̖̙̗͉̗̺̳͘O̘̲ͅR͉̤͍̞̤͘͠͝È̸̥͕̩ ͏̴͍̳͇H̸͏̻͉̬̣͇͈͍E̢̥͉͙̙-̟͍̲̬͎-͙͕̘̯͈͈͘
W͏͖̣̜H͚̱̦̫̀͟͠Ȩ̦̹̰͕͔̗̻R̮̫͕̠̣̪̭̀͝ͅE̡̛̖͈̰ ̪̰̬̝͙Ị̖̗̤͎̕S̛͍̹̹̭̤̦̰̹ ҉̛̺̜͢Ḫ̵͇͚̪̞͢ͅḚ̞̲̟́?̱͈̭̖̹̻̝̩̀ ̼̥͈͢W̢̦̥̻̳H̨̛͍͇E̥͙̠͍͇̫̮ͅR̛̛̙̼̠͍̝͓̜̩̱͢Ę̢̬̭ ̣͎̲͚͟T̵̹͚͈̯̰̼͈́͡H̸̪̖̦̺͇͉̀E̸͏̬̤ ̘̲̺̕F̖̖̜̰͎̤U̯̠̲̬̺̮͢C̜̀K̷̴̹̰̹̼̘̞̭͔͢ ̸̨͎̰I̡̳̲̗̫̥͚͞S̘̟̯͍͍͝ ҉͏͔̮͉͔̟̱̦̭͝H҉͙̬̖̤͇̼̦̪͓E̯̤̲̟̘̙͙̯̫͡?̱̲̘̀B̨̩͇E͎̳͓̠͖͕̤͘H̶̵͇̣͚̗̜̻̘̝Į̙̻̥͈̗̹̱N͖͉̙̞̫̣̳̞̮D͙̦̫͍̟̭͕̙͞͞ ̻̯̥͕M̨̛̫͕̥̦̗E͓͈̤̖?҉̡͈͈̟̯̪̟͟?̺̱̭̘͍̟͓͟͢͞?̵̢̗͕͚̰̪?̛͉̘ ͏̴͇͎̻O̵͓̩͔V̲̰͈̳̦̙̥̣͖E͞͏̭͡R̞͍̬̟͕̯̦̪?̱̪͡͝?̵̢̡̼̺̜̼̬͇͉?̩̼̫̼͍̫ ̶̷̡̩̟̜͖K̡͎N̵̝̻̮̞͙͙ͅƠ̫̺͖̝̮͇̘C̞̙͚̗̱͖̲K͟͏̼̜̭͕͕͚̱̟͜E̵̴̮̱̲̬̮̯̙ͅD̸̘̙̬̦̠͚̩̘̼ ̧̛̹̖̱̦M͖͈E͏̭̫̟͍̮ ̛̮̲̩̰̠͍Ò̗͕̤ͅU͉̗̞̝͙͇̳T̮͉̞̳̟͇͉̰̺?̺͎̞̼̼̫͠?̶͖͉̘̟̼͕͙̖͜ͅ?̷̛̝̙̫̤͔̲̹̫̹͡?̡̖̙̠̻̣
Í̛̫̻̙̝̟̣̟̳̼ ̨̮͚̳͓̞̞͢s̵̺̹̹͎̯̬͈h̛̫̖̹͚̻̣̱̲͘͞o̵̱u̴͉̻l̶̡͕̣̪̝͙̱̻d̯̩͘n̶̘̭̪̜̣̼͝ͅ'͕̪͔̰̰͇͉̻̺͝ṭ̱͘'̘͉͎͔͕͙͞v̷̠̥̮̹e̶̛̲ͅ ͔̹̟̪͕͕̜͘͝l͉͕͖̘̙̞͔͕e̸̯̖͖̯ͅt͏̰ ͈̹̣͔̘m̝͈̣̪̘̀́ý̷̲̥̙̫͎͟ͅ ͍̝̺̕̕g̠̥͈̝͚̱̻͚̯͞u̙͢a̴̛̭͈̝͞r̶̗̜͙͙͖͟͟ḑ̶̘̖͇̟̺̝̫ ̢̲d̨͕͉̹̺ơ͎͖̮͇͇̤w̧̯̹̫̖͡n̵͉͍̤͇̮̼͞ͅ,̮̘̮̜̫͔̥̜ ҉̹̘̞̜̙̺̤̮g͓̘͕͉̠̻̼͘o̴̡̤̥̩͈̱͠d̬͚̱ͅ ̙̦́̕͞D̪͇̫Ą̸̼̕M̢̙̣͈̼̠̖̼͟N҉͇̹̲ ̵̢̜̼͓̝͚͖̗̦I͢͏ͅT̵̨͈͎̱̱̠̩̠̣͍!̛̜̠̟
[And so on and so forth, mounting fears only growing and warping with every new thought. It never ends. There's always something new to try and protect himself against.]
no subject
[Dipper has falling into this himself, after all. He remembers, or rather, doesn't remember, what it was like. He's only heard second hand from Mabel the behaviors of that monster. How it was him but not. How it pulled on the parts of himself it needed but otherwise twisted himself into something bloodthirsty and violent.]
[This is clearly something very different, at least it seems that way to Dipper. This beast isn't reacting violently, it's acting defensively which strikes him as very unusual. He may not be all gone, there may be something Dipper can pull back out again. He just has to weather a literal fucking inferno.]
[Oh, it's a terrible day to be an empath. It hits him so fucking hard, how much the amplified stress and fear is. He can feel his own corruption starting to fray just being here. He doesn't have a lot of time to do something.]
GRUNKLE STAN!
[But he has to. He has to try. Dipper reaches deep within himself to tap into his powers in a way he hates doing. He knows how to alter mindscapes, he knows how to affect the mental world around him. He doesn't have to change anything drastic, he just needs to put these flames out.]
[So that's what he tries to do.]
no subject
But the progress doesn't last. Stan, or something that used to be him, HOWLS in pain - a very human scream layered over with a pitch only an animal could possibly hit. He screams as if the lack of pain hurts even more somehow - as if all of this burning is the only thing left of what was Stanley Pines.
In desperation, the rest of the fire lurches and moves, trying to regain the ground it lost at any cost. It pays little attention to Dipper himself, though some of his clothes may start to catch if he isn't careful. The flames move awkwardly at first, but then they weave together into a shape that's almost...a hand? No. A paw.
It slams down into the circle Dipper's made and pulls back with such force it makes the ground start to spark. It leaves behind a deep gash.
But more important, it doesn't show any sign of stopping. It's going to scratch and scratch and scratch until it hurts the way it's supposed to, the way it understands that it should hurt.]
no subject
[Luckily, or maybe unluckily? Between that retaliation, the surge of concentrated emotions of pain and anguish hitting him like an actual truck, and the heat of the fire coming back towards him, Dipper absolutely can't maintain his place here in his mind.]
[It's been a while since he's been totally kicked out like that. Met his match on his preferred terrain.]
[With a shout, Dipper forces an exit for himself before he, too, succumbs to his own corruption, feeling the way those emotions pull at him, unraveling him from the inside out.]
[He hits the ground with a thud, and though he's disoriented and bleeding from the now two or three eyes on the right side of his face, he forces himself back onto his feet in a hurry.]
no subject
Eventually, all of his eyes land on Dipper, who is scurrying up to his feet. Stan growls low with his teeth bared and shifts as though he might lunge directly at him. It doesn't matter what happened because he can be bigger, louder, scarier!
He takes a few aggressive steps forward and then, when he's sure this guy isn't going to try and come at him again--
--he bolts! He turns tail and sprints off so fast that patches of grass burn up just from the friction. He makes a tight corner around the inn, to try and get out of sight as quickly as possible.]