When the words weigh heavy on the heart

[ghostharasser]

Who: Dipper and CR
What: Dipper is back from the dead! Everything sucks
When: mid-to-late December
Where: Mostly around the Pines House.

Content Warnings: post-death trauma, possession, PTSD, mentions of child death




Revival [CLOSED TO PINES FAMILY]

Death this time around, is so starkly different, that any of it hardly feels real. In fact, it's just one long disjointed nightmare until consciousness is finally able to grab him from the void.

He remembers very little for a long time, just bits and pieces here and there. He remembers the words he spoke before it all went black and the subsequent glimpses afterwards. His sister screaming at him, mingled in with flashes of Oscar's face, followed by bursts of searing pain and red. He thinks he can pinpoint the moment it all ends; when the sound, the images, all of it just goes dead silent, and he's basked in nothing but inky darkness, letting the nightmare fade away into nothing. It feels floaty, like he's bobbing about in an endless ocean.

Awareness jolts through him a moment later. The ocean is no longer endless, it's actually very small and cramped. He's got to get out, and that is how he finds himself writhing on the ground of the living-room, a mass of awkward teen boy and tentacles. It then that the weight of the entire past two months really hit him, with the sudden, suffocating feeling of clarity that comes with waking up from the dead.


Visitation: Winter Mourning [OPEN]

Dipper's first day alive was kind of a mess. Turns out, dying violently and then reviving out of a squid tank sort of scrambles your brain and motor-functions. He's doing much better by the second day, though he's opted to stay in bed for the most part. While he does have a great deal of his journals and notes out, it's probably pretty telling that he has just spent most of the time watching TV on his Omni.

He will not turn down company, of course. Especially since he knows he's given people a fright when everything spectacularly blew up in his face. Just mind the ...remarkable amount of Winter Mourning ornaments laying around the place. Mabel has been coping in the way she knows how, which is to say, their bedroom is covered in bones and glitter.



Winter Mourning Options

Canon Flavored:
- Dipper fist-fighting a giant robot and winning.
- Bill Cipher, possessing Dipper's body, getting the shit kicked out of him by Mabel while on a stage full of sock puppets.
- Defeating the Shapeshifter in the bunker. (complete with horrible AND THIS IS THE LAST FACE YOU'LL EVER MAKE taunt from said Shapeshifter)
- Catching the Lumberjack Ghost
- Getting chased by a two-story-high nightmare version of Bill Cipher through the Fearamid.

Deerington Flavored:
- October, and old but fun classic.
- Fighting some bullies with Syaoran.
- The Contract with Bill
- Standing up to Bill and then dying in the portal event
- Mercy Killing Cynthia

ooc: These are suggestions! If you have another idea in mind, just let me know!

Comments

Visitation

[laminae]

Having been in the whole monster business, Fern is well aware of some of Dipper's involvement. Not all of it, he's not aware of the whole exorcism thing, but he knows enough to make sure to come over when he knows he's back from the dead. With him is a haul of everything one needs to get over the post-death blues: choose-your-own-adventure books, homemade chicken soup and cupcakes, a couple of weird-looking bones he's scavenged from some weird monster, and a cozy fur he skinned from some other monster.

Once he's let into the house he head's up the stairs, knocking on the door to Dipper's room before peering in. "Heyyy, you want some company?" He says, giving a small wave. Blodeuwedd is perched on his shoulder and she chirps cheerfully, hopping down to the ground to poke around a bit. If Dipper would rather be alone then he's okay to leave, but being alone after dying probably isn't a great idea.

[ghostharasser]

That will be a fun conversation, when it happens. For now, Dipper has been awake long enough that he is up to visitors, so when Fern peeks his way in, he offers him a tired smile and a wave.

It's a little weird, since the last time this happened, Dipper was ailing from a nasty death-flu. That doesn't seem to be the case this time. He doesn't look sick, but if Dipper had to put his finger on it, he would say he definitely doesn't feel great, either. Tired, and a little pale. He's also got a new scar which follows the curve of his bad eye and vanishes into his hair.

"Hey, Fern."

His voice is tired, but he's awake and alert. He offers him a small smile. His omen, which blended in perfectly with his bedding pops their head up with a chirp of their own. Dipper puts a hand between their fluffy antenna.

"Yeah," He says after a moment. "That'd be great."

[laminae]

He's definitely looking better than the whole death flu experience in Deerington. It lines up with what he hear about Flynn's experiences with dying - apparently the full death flu just isn't present in Trench. That's a small miracle, Fern supposes.

Blodeuwedd skitters on over to Dipper's omen, fluttering her way up to them and starting to preen their antennae. The poor thing has probably been through quite a bit, too.

"Cool," Fern replies, stepping into the bedroom. He's going to drop down onto the edge of the bed, dumping everything he's brought with him there, except for the soup and cupcakes. Those get set on the nightstand so they doesn't get wrecked. "I got you books, and soup and stuff. Uh, normally everything you need for the death flu, but you're looking pretty okay, all things cnosidered."

[payingfordeliverance]

One day, after Dipper has had a bit of time to recover but certainly not before he is out of bed, weirdly fluffy wisps of black smoke begin to drift in through the slight crack in his bedroom door.

Probably this is the last sort of bullshit he would like to see!

But, there is no need to worry. In short order, the smoke solidifies itself into the familiar form of Baltus, an omen Dipper has crossed paths with plenty of times by now on account of being a routine invader in his person's household. Now, it seems, the tables are turned, and when he sees that Dipper is awake, he gives a polite "boof" as he slinks closer.

He is picking up each foot and shaking it as he goes. His paws are covered in glitter. Either being made of smoke and shadows provides him no escape from the stuff, or Mabel's in particular is just particularly tenacious. Quite frankly either one of these is possible and someone should probably do science about it.

The omen's person is nowhere to be seen.

[ghostharasser]

What the flippity heck is going on.

It takes him a few moments of blinking and rubbing his eye to make sure he's actually seeing what he's seeing. Apprehension raising, Dipper starts to try and slide out of bed- only for the smoke to form into-

"...Baltus?"

He knows that eldritch noodle anywhere. That's Mr. Break's omen. After a moment of relief, Dipper realizes that this is actually very weird and now he has even more questions than before. He glances around.

"Uh. Hey, you might want to watch your step. Mabel's been on a warpath and-- Wait, where's Mr. Break??"

[payingfordeliverance]

"Bleh," the omen agrees, eyeing the sparkles in disgust for a moment. He shakes himself, which accomplishes nothing, and has a snort about it. Then he trots over to Dipper's window, sniffing around at the pane.

Baltus does not possess opposable thumbs, for which everyone should be grateful. This does not stop him from opening windows, it turns out. After a moment's investigation, he daintily chews the lock open, and pushes his head against it at just the right angle to shove it just far enough up that he can stick his head out and let out a couple of short barks.

"Ah, this one here?" comes Break's voice, faintly, from outside. "Alright, give me a moment --"

The omen's tail is swishing against the floor. Now there is glitter in it, too.

[onekindsoul]

The days since Dipper's death had honestly felt like a haze to Ruby. She wasn't a stranger to death and she had fought against her fair share of Sleepers before, but she hadn't actually killed one until now. It might have been easier to swallow if hadn't been as close to Dipper and his family. She knew she had done what was necessary but seeing Oscar and Mabel during the fight had been rough. None of hem had deserved what had happened.

Ruby gives a knock before opening the door and standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Hey. -uh- How you holding up?"

[ghostharasser]

Oh, it was Ruby.

What a torrent of complicated feelings. Dipper knows that Ruby had been the one to finally put him down. He recalls violent flashes of when it happened, though he tries hard to push them away when they come. More so, he’d heard second hand how everything had gone down and …it’s terrible, honestly. That he’d put Ruby in a position like that.

Grateful, too, if he could think such a thing. Ruby stopped him from doing much worse than he could have in that state. It’s just …he wonders what toll that had to have taken on her, and if there would ever be anything he could do to make it up to her.

“Hey. I’m-“ God, what a loaded question. “I’m better than I was before.”

And now the awkwardness is twofold.

“I um. I owe you a heck of an apology. Will you come in?”

[onekindsoul]

It was a loaded question and it's not until he answers it that she realizes it. There wasn't much way around it and she does find the tension in her gut lift when he answers it. She was aware that what had happened had taken a toll on all of them. And while she she had taken the burden of actually putting a stop to it, she didn't think she was carrying the heaviest load here.

"I'm glad." She manages a faint but honest smile. "At least you're back to the right number of eyes." Okay now it's her turn to try and break the tension.

She thinks briefly on his question then nods and takes a few steps into the room before taking a seat down beside him.

"Yeah. And- Well I wouldn't worry about apologizing. I'm just... I'm just glad I got there before something happened that couldn't be taken back." She couldn't imagine how Dipper would have felt if he had hurt Oscar or Mabel any worse.

Visitation

[droptheious]

Varian definitely hasn't been doing so hot. By the time he comes to check on Dipper, his skin is already rocky, he has fangs and claws and his eyes are glowing red. Not that he's showing most of this off. He's keeping himself as covered up as he possibly can, to hide just how bad it is. He can totes get away with this. Not like Dipper is known for being extremely observant or anything.

When he comes to Dipper's room, he raises a (misshapen) gloved hand in greeting.

"Uh. Hey Buddy, how're you holding up?"

Visitation

[ghostharasser]

You know, getting visitors in the aftermath of this has been a very somber affair, where Dipper has appreciated his friends while feeling terrible and guilty about worrying them.

And then Varian walks in.

Dipper was fully prepared to greet him, even happily, because it’s been some time since they’ve talked! Something Dipper is attributing to his corruption previously. But then he takes in what he’s wearing and Dipper is gobsmacked. He blinks, trying to figure out what he was looking at before squinting.

“Varian, what the heck.”

Visitation

[imaglyphwitch]

So Luz had no idea, unfortunately, what had been happening with Dipper lately, and was pretty horrified to find out that he'd died, AGAIN. The last time sometime that big had happened with Dipper, it had been a bad memory he relived that she'd been able to hear somehow. In any case, Luz had made sure to, again, make him some soup, though she figured Fern had already gotten reading material for him, so she brought a few movies instead.

He'll also notice that, much like Varian, she had not escaped corrupting herself, now sporting some pointed ears and fangs that are starting to come into her own.

"Dipper? Hey. It's Luz. How are you?"

[ghostharasser]

Not very many people did know, is the sad truth. Dipper had fallen so far down in his corruption that he’d stopped talking to a lot of people. He’d gone off on his own to attempt this insanely dangerous exorcism, and paid for it with his life, and the duress of those closest to him.

He’s still picking up the pieces. Backtracking to where he’d gone wrong, and every time he thinks back to it, he realizes how crazy all of it had been and how easy he’d slipped without people noticing. And how would they? He covered his tracks so well.

“Hey Luz. I’m …I’m doing okay.”

He takes note of her state, but doesn’t comment on it just yet.

“Heard about what happened, huh?”

Visitation

[zib]

As soon as Zib heard that Dipper had apparently died, and then came back to life again, he leaves the safety of his ship that he had been hiding out in for most of the month to try to come visit. He's been dealing with severe paranoia throughout the month because this place decided that was a great idea, but he's feeling confident enough to come check on his friend here. And besides, maybe he can continue to learn something useful here about how death works in this place. Makes the risk of leaving his ship worth it, right?

Once Zib has been allowed inside the house, he cautiously peers inside the doorway of the room looking for Dipper.

"Uh hey, it's Dib... can I come in?"

[ghostharasser]

Probably the conversation of comparing scientific notes will be good to keep Dipper's mind off things, even if they end up being about his own death. That's just the way it is!

Anyway, the room is pretty easy to find. It's the first room, once Dib is up the stairs. Opposite the hall is Grunkle Stan's room, suitably decorated like an old man's room, and then further down the hall is a room with a shelf pushed in front of the door. Hm!

Dipper and Mabel's room is much more interesting, anyway. It's split down the middle, Dipper's side being a mess of books, journals, notes and dirty laundry. Mabel's being a mess of yarn, craft supplies, and glitter. Mabel does not appear to be in, but Dipper is found sitting up in bed, watching something on his Omni. He looks up when Dib peers in and drops the device in surprise.

"-Oh! Hey, dude! Yeah, come in."

Visitation

[lightthedarkness]

Usagi has a basket of food and goodies in her arms, everything everyone needs after they come back to their bodies. She's got easy-on-the-tummy foods like graham crackers, puddings, congee, and some rice in a special bento container. She's sure that Dipper's gruncles and sister know what to feed him, but it never hurts to have a little variety.

She had some classic sci-fi comics that she had bought back in... Deerington and had survived in the house.

Usagi knocked on his door, peeking her head in and smiling.

"Hey," she says softly. "You feeling up for some company? If not, I can just leave this here."

[ghostharasser]

Variety is always a good thing. The Pines' culinary ability is a little dodgy at times. Dipper is definitely not going to turn down food from someone else. Especially if its from someone like Usagi.

Dipper looks up from his Omni, having been propped up in bed so he could watch some good mindless TV.

"...Usagi? Oh, hey. No, you can come in."

He will shift a little, so he's sitting up.

Revivial/Visitation

[charlastan]

The entire house is relieved that Dipper's alive again. They've all showered him in love, ushered him up to his room, and made sure he wasn't feeling like utter garbage. No death flu is a nice perk to all of this, even if they're still not entirely certain of the consequences of death in this world. Stan missed out on everyone else reforming when they all arrived because he was the last one to de-squid, but it must have gone something like this.

Most of this has been together as a family, but Stan hasn't actually caught Dipper alone yet. Not that he's been avoiding it exactly, but...they'd gotten into an argument the month before, and it's left something uncomfortable hanging in the air now that Dipper's died and come back. It's might be good to check on the kid, one on one.

The second morning, Stan knocks on the door - after Mabel's already gotten up for the day.

"Dipper? You up for some breakfast?"

He's made the classics and has them on a tray - Stan Cakes and scrambled meat, everyone's favorite.

[ghostharasser]

It's been kind of a rough time, not gonna lie. Dipper came out of his squid form with a clarity he hadn't had in weeks. Looking back on everything that had happened, it's hard to think that those memories are the same person. It's scary in a way that reminds him a lot of October. How he just woke up and had to come to grips with the part of himself that went off the deep end so hard he took out his own eye.

This time it's both easier and worse. While Falco's demon had been the catalyst that really did the job, Dipper was already on his way there. Without the demon pushing him over the edge, he might have found his way to Beasthood not much later. It was just how easily it happened, without anyone knowing before it was too late, is what really makes this time so much worse. How long would it have taken, really? Before someone noticed he was out of his mind?

It takes him a moment to realize Stan is calling out to him. He lifts his head up from where he'd been just sort of dissociating at the ceiling.

"...Sure."

He's not really, but he doesn't want to turn Stan away. They should probably talk and Dipper doesn't feel like being alone right now.

Visitation

[justoscar]

Everything was a haze.

This wasn't Oscar's first encounter with death, but it was the first time he had been directly involved in such a violent one. The days ticked by with an unanticipated tension that not even the snow could mitigate-- and not helping matters was Oscar's own mobility troubles while he waited for his prosthesis to be properly repaired.

The shop in town had talented crafters, but he was a growing teen and he needed a piece that would accommodate growth spurts in the future.

Leaning heavily on his crutches, Oscar owlishly peered into the bedroom. The hour was odd-- but, for the both of them, that wasn't too unusual. The time of day didn't matter at that point.

He just wanted to make sure Dipper was okay.

[ghostharasser]

It's late, but the Pines weren't getting a lot of sleep right now, and likely the whole house was still active in some way. Dipper hadn't left his room much, but he can be found laying on his bed, watching something on his Omni. Whatever he's watching, he's pretty engrossed. Oscar might hear "Hello? Is there anyone here with us now? We'd like to talk-" and "--we've set up the static cam, so it should catch any movement. The ghost is said to walk on its hands in this very room so-"

He's watching Ghost Harassers.

Anyway, it's only because Oscar is Oscar and Dipper is particularly in tune with his presence that Dipper actually tears his eyes away from his Omni. He blinks back at him for a moment, before he realizes and he shoots up.

"Oscar!"

Oh man. Oh no.

I do what I want

[sparklehorror]

It is undeniably true that Mabel went off the deep end when her brother died. To be fair, however, Mabel does not exactly spend a great deal of her time in the shallows anyway. To that end, she does not spend his absence holed up in their room sobbing or going inert from grief or anything like that. She gets busy instead, fixing what's left of Dipper up and going on a wild craft bender and catching up on her scrapbooking and adding to the corruption notes, and the way she so easily brushes everything off as fine, she is fine, he'll be fine makes it uncertain as to whether she has even processed the fact that Dipper is dead.

(Spoilers: Not really, no. Her mind will accept this fact at a later time, and then the running will start.)

So it is that by the time Dipper is a wee little squid in a tank in the living room, Mabel is not actually doing terribly. He is a live squid, and so sitting with him while she works is not so different than all the many evenings they've spent quietly messing around with their own projects side by side. It's the scrapbook she has at hand when he finally explodes out of the tank, and she watches calmly as he transforms into some horrible writhing eldritch abomination with legs and tentacles both and goes flopping around all over the rug.

After a moment, she gets up from the table and scoots closer, peering at him from various angles. What she sees pleases her, and she smiles with her pointy teeth.

"Hah! It's all attached."

Great work as always! This is the power of Mabel.

[ghostharasser]

While Mabel is doing her Mabel thing and watching her brother go through a hideous transformation while writhing on the ground, Dipper gasps as he suddenly remembers he needs to breathe air and tries to get a handle on his limbs as they finally reach their final form.

God, he hates the notion of bones. Just like last time, he's so horribly aware of his own skeleton. It's the worst.

"Mabel-" he hisses, through coughs and spasms. "Stop being weird, I need pants."

revival / visitation

[cryptograms]

It's been a strange handful of days since Dipper finally emerged from his squid form. Even knowing that it wasn't permanent the raw grief caused by his death hasn't really dissipated. Yet here Dipper is, alive again and slowly recovering. Ford has not by any means avoided him, but he's eternally unsure of how to really address weighty emotional topics like this. He doesn't think it's a good idea to smother Dipper, either, so that sort of second-guessing means he ends up not really approaching Dipper unless he's got something in mind to speak to him about.

He thinks about him a lot, however, and he ends up having a tell for those moments when he's lost in thought. Ford might hesitate to approach for fear of overwhelming Dipper, but Castor never does. On and off throughout the past few days she swoops her way into Dipper's room, nestling down in his hair or curling up behind his book or cozying up next to Alcaid. Her arrival usually heralds Ford eventually stopping by himself (though whether it's by a few moments or a few hours varies) and today is no different. About thirty minutes after she shows up there's a knock on the door frame and a soft, "Dipper? Are you awake?"

[ghostharasser]

The fact that Dipper left behind a (wretchedly dismembered) corpse, rather than just disintegrating into dust, probably didn't help things, either.

Anyway, Dipper hasn't been up and about himself. By the time a few days have gone by, Ford would know that's because he's still having trouble with his legs, despite reforming, and he's only able to be on his feet enough to cross his room and that's about it. As such, he's mostly confined to proper bed rest and he relishes the time anyone spends to check in on him. Castor is always a welcomed visitor and Dipper happily let's her scuttle about and settle where she likes.

Dipper knows that Ford is always a little awkward when it comes to things of a more emotional nature, and he knows that his uncle sometimes has a hard time knowing how to talk about such things without being horrifically blunt. That's why Dipper isn't too fussed when Ford doesn't come around as often as his sister or even Stan. He knows, and he understands. He looks forward to his visits regardless.

When Ford does finally make it by, Dipper looks up from the book he's buried in and calls back. Alcaid likely has Castor hunkered down in a small next of blankets at Dipper's side.

"Yep!"