deernet | Video | un: Alcaid

[The feed starts up, and people who have seen Dipper's ghost banishment post might recognize the backdrop of a messy bedroom and a desk full of books, notes, and dubious magic supplies.]

[It's the same serious looking 14-year-old from the last post, and it looks like he's about to address the network at large with something important-]

Okay, Trench, we need to talk.

[Only that is not the voice that usually comes from Dipper. The differences are now probably a little more apparent. Dipper's hair is up in a messy bun with several pens and pencils sticking out of it. She reaches up to grab one and it does not disturb her hair in the slightest. (How many are actually in there????). Dipper is definitely a girl suddenly, and does not seem to be bringing any attention to it.]

We've had some pretty big incidents over the past few weeks and they need to be addressed. I think it's safe to say that Corruption, with a capital "C", and Beasthood, similarly capitalized, have indisputable correlation.

[Dipper reaches up to scratch at something under her jaw and peels away ...a bit of flaking skin. She makes a face flicks it away. Bleh.]

And if we don't keep a closer eye on it, then we're not going to see an end to watching friends turn into monsters and having to put them down.

We need to brainstorm ideas for battling Corruption, and fast.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thanks. It's good to not be perma-dead.

[Huzzah for death working here similar to how it did in Deerington!]

I'm sorry you didn't get that chance, dude. [He really is. Dying, even though it isn't permanent, still sucks, and now it's got to be even worse knowing beasthood isn't permanent, either.]

Going to the Patrons doesn't help. The Tower said he had nothing to do with Varian's condition, and Never Mind backed him up when I picked a fight, so we can't rely on them.

[Bless Flynn for taking one for the team and letting them figure that out.]

It's... It's okay. I'd rather them not take the chance, and do what they could to minimize disaster. We had no way of knowing until now, anyway.

[And he means that. Sure there could have been a chance to bring him back, but Dipper has his doubts there isn't a point of no return, and if so he was definitely over it. That said, if it risked hurting his sister or Oscar more, he'd rather they not try.]

Oh wow. That sucks, but I guess them being weird patron gods, it isn't too surprising they want nothing to do with us personally.

[Pause.]

You said Never Mind, right?

[He helped out every Sleeper here.]

Dude, it isn't okay. You died. You dying is never gonna be okay.

[Sorry Dipper, he will fight you on that forever.]

Oh - uh, yeah. I went to The Tower, that's Varian's Patron, but those guys are a thing, and when I started threatening him Never Mind swooped in. Literally. 'Cause he's a bird.

[Oh, she is taken aback a little at the insistence. Ah, she was being a little too flippant with it, probably.]

I- sorry. Yeah, you're right. It's not okay that things went as badly as they did. I just ...I know that everyone did the best they could at the time.

[Dipper looks like she has entered the Math Zone, and her eyes are wildly darting around until there's a visible !!!!]

That's it. That's it, that was the key!

Edited 2022-01-11 11:45 (UTC)

[Fern doesn't agree, because even he knows doing your best generally doesn't equate to doing a murder, especially when even before Varian people were looking into ways to stop beasts without killing them. He isn't going to press Dipper on it though, especially with her sudden reaction. He stops and looks confused.]

Wait, what? Am I missing something?

[He's missing which dots were connected here!!!]

[The feed has been set down while Dipper gets up and starts pacing around. She's muttering what sounds like a string of letters for a few seconds? Before she shakes her head and yanks another pen out of her hair and starts writing.]

One second, Fern, I don't want to lose track of the code.

[Lots of furious scribbling and more incoherent muttering for another like ...thirty seconds? Dipper stops and then looks up at the feed, taking it in her hands again.]

So a week or two ago? I got ...I dunno, a vision? I blacked out and when I woke up I'd assembled a completely insane looking cork board. I- hold on I'll just show you.

[Dipper pans the camera over to the board.]

See the encoded writing? It's a Vigenère cipher. You need a "key" or keyword to solve it. I've been tearing my hair out over trying to crack this code. Never Mind! Of course! The one part of the puzzle I didn't have, dude!

[For several seconds Fern just sits there, watching the feed, wondering if he accidentally broke Dipper. Seems likely.

He's wondering if he should interrupt or maybe go over there or call Stan when she speaks up again, except now there's a very bizarre cork board he's looking at and ohhhh boy.

He broke Dipper. Stan is going to kill him.

Um, congratulations? Do I wanna know what all of that stuff means?

Maybe! Give me just a minute-

[Dipper is doing some furious writing, which she has to top part-way through and rest her hands. The shedding did not fully heal the burns on her hands from the Falco incident, unfortunately, so they're still stiff.]

Okay. Let's see what we have. First one says ....Grass is flammable.

[...]

Wow, okay, the next one says There is glitter on everything, help.

[Dipper frowns, and is becoming less excited by the apparent insane ramblings of their weird trance self. She sighs and translates the last one-]

Beware the-

[Oh. Oh, all the color drains out of Dipper's face. She sucks in a breath and rubs her face.]

Oh man.

[Wow, they are off to a great start there. Fern makes a noise like his grinding his teeth, just a little, and does his damnedest to not be very bothered by that.

At least the second message is a lot more tolerable? From his viewpoint anyways.]

Okay, so one thing that everyone on the planet knows, and another thing that - well, that everyone also on the planet knows. Glitter gets everywhere, forever.

[He squints a little. Suspicious.]

So what's the next message say?

[She almost doesn't want to say, because it feels like ...well. If she'd figured this out sooner, maybe it could have changed things? She hates to think about it like that, but-]

It says Beware the Tower, for it will not fall. It was a warning.

[Dipper lets out a frustrated noise.]

If I had solved it sooner-

[Oh. Oh. That's even worse than the one about grass. Fern makes a noise like a sigh, hating that that's what this riddle meant, and even moreso hating that Dipper now feels guilty for not having figured it out sooner.]

It's okay, man. A lot of people got donked visions they couldn't figure out. Maybe you guys should start a group for this? Whenever someone gets a vision you pool your brains together and junk.

[He shrugs, faintly.]

Besides, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have even listened to a vague warning like that. I'm too stubborn for that.

Video | un: Alcaid

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject