The Historic Horrors of Family Northwest

> *It's nearly halfway through Summer, and Preston Northwest is acutely aware that an old 'friend' will be visiting any day now to negotiate a deal. Meanwhile, Toby Determined, haunted by the judgement of his Great-Grampy, finds himself at the discovery of a scandal.*
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> *With Dipper growing ever-desperate to ensure their relationship will last past the summer, and Pacifica growing increasingly perturbed by the true role of her family in Gravity Falls, something has got to give.*
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> *How far has the Northwest family's power truly declined? How much influence did the family truly wield? And how does Pacifica herself key into the family's legacy?*
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***The Historic Horrors of Family Northwest*** is the 6th Episode of Return to the Falls. It is the finale to the arc revolving around Curzon Cankerblight and the Northwest Family's crooked history.

## The Historic Horrors of Family Northwest

### FF.net URL

fanfiction.net link

It is preceded by ***The Hunter*** and proceeded by ***Syndicate.***

### Synopsis

During a particularly fierce summer storm, Preston Northwest and Toby Determined are both haunted by their personal demons. Preston is fearful that Curzon shall be arriving to negotiate a new deal following the destruction of The Crawlspace and Toby is fearful of the disappointment he is to his family.

When Toby finds a series of documents from his great Grampy, and gives them to Pacifica, it turns into a whole new investigation of her childhood home - and an increasing number of terrifying discoveries about just how crooked the Northwests are.

On the brink of leading to their destruction, Dipper and Pacifica's relationship is nearly broken to the limits as Dipper goes off on his own investigations, beginning to suspect her of keeping secrets from him - while the mansion unveils some of the darkest tales of the family's history yet - all veering back to the 1883 Train Wreck and a bizarre worship of Bill Cipher, going back to the insanity and sinister nature of Nathaniel Northwest.

Meanwhile, Mabel begins to get close to Kevin Corduroy and starts feeling something beyond what she's felt in the past. Could it be her time for a Summer romance, too?

### Chapter Titles

This episode has a total of 45 chapters – the longest in terms of chapters so far in this series.

1. Storm
2. Slightly Less Impressive Storm
3. Cocoa Date
4. Powercut
5. The Big Adventure Beckons
6. Generators and Generations
7. The Notepad
8. Independent Investigators
9. The Corduroy Legacy
10. Public Relations
11. Grunkly Advice
12. Long Con
13. Into the Notepad
14. Reconciling
15. The Handover
16. Hallowed, Harrowing Halls
17. Red Carpets
18. Pinmarks
19. The Pillar
20. Setting the Stage
21. DVDs and Break Ins
22. Rusty Locks
23. The Laboratory
24. Communications
25. Interrogation
26. Breaking the Chain
27. Lifeblood
28. Tactical Retreat
29. Dynamo
30. Bitter Influence
31. The Pits
32. All in His Name
33. The Ciphernauts
34. Criminal Record
35. Split
36. Harmless Glade
37. Geometry War
38. Armless Glade
39. Cleanup in Room #618
40. Scorched Earth
41. Closure
42. The Surface
43. Terms and Conditions
44. Not Quite Cooper
45. Inner Demons

### Character Revelations

* The Northwests' smaller home is called The Northwest Maisonette.
* The Determined Family used to be a lineage of handsome, charismatic and acclaimed journalists.
* Mayor Befufftlefumpter was a harsh man who believed in gagging orders.
* The Determined family has been acting as PR for the Northwests for decades, usually through outright bullying.
* Susan has a family of inventors - particularly her grandfather.
* Auldman Northwest has tried to purchase Greasy's diner in the past.
* Historic events referenced:
	+ The Sticker Scandal of 1876
	+ The Hellbilly Hunger Strike of 1882
	+ The Beef Tea Blight of 1880
* Far from just being the builders of the Shack and the Northwest Manor, the Corduroys have built most of Gravity Falls.
* Manly Dan literally collects lumber.
* Kevin Corduroy plays guitar.
* Manly Dan is capable of speaking very quietly if the moment demands it.
* The Manor contained numerous hidden passageways, shafts, chapels - and tunnels into The Crawlspace.
* The Great Flood was partially caused by the Northwest Manor's tunnels disrupting the water table.
* Nathaniel Northwest watched The Great Flood take place.
* Priscilla remains far warmer towards Pacifica and the Pines than Preston.
* Ford discusses his romantic history with a Siren.
* Ford has become far more accepting - even rather defensive - of Pacifica.
* Nathaniel Northwest's wife was called Lucinda.
* Nathaniel had many explorers go hunting for Bill Cipher memorabilia and would have them go missing upon their return.
* Nathaniel's oldest son, Cornelius, was responsible for the Gravity Falls Railroad.
* Tate McGucket knows Ford as 'Uncle Ford'.
* The McGuckets estimate that the Northwest Manor has over 100 rooms.
* The first major argument between Dipper and Pacifica.
* Pacifica calls Dipper "Mason" when she's particularly irritated with him.
* The 1883 Train Wreck turned out not to be only an accident, but also an insurance job and an attempt to please Bill Cipher.
* Cornelius Northwest was not only regretful for the train crash (having tipped off Tobias Determined), but forced to do it for his family – and later forced to become a communicating vessel into the laboratory.
* Bill Cipher's all-seeing vision is through a sort of circuit in the Northwest Manner, linking up to every one of his portrayals in the family's tributes to him.
* Mabel's previous partners:
	+ Mermando
	+ Sidney
	+ Reginald
	+ Geraldine
	+ Catherine
	+ Nosfer
	+ That girl with the false arm from the donut store
* Cornelius Northwest is revealed to have died inside a gigantic cannister in the laboratory, forcibly put there by his family.
* Curzon set up the communication chamber with his own essence, in order to provide a cross-dimensional gateway.
* The family had been communicating and making deals with Bill Cipher through this gateway for decades.
* Bill Cipher is revealed to be alive and well, as per his request of the Axolotl – but completely trapped inside his statue, unable to escape unless an exit is provided or somebody does a deal.
* Preston is revealed to be the only member of the family who didn't worship Bill.
* Curzon's true form – or the closest to it – is revealed: A walking, talking dimensional rift – a tenuous link between worlds.
* Curzon feeds off of energy to stay powerful, but can become unstable.
* The Stanford Dynamo appears once again, this time for the final time.
* The Northwest Manor had topiaries in the shape of Preston's face.
* Curzon is shown to be capable of absorbing buildings, manipulating them into living, breathing manifestations of himself
* The Northwests are shown to have a gigantic chapel dedicated to Bill Cipher, and their misdeeds shown in Northwest Mansion Mystery were all tributes to him.
* Bill Cipher's joy in manipulation is shown - he had no intention of collaborating with the Northwests and just liked watching them become increasingly depraved.
* The Northwest's business interests:
	+ Railroads
	+ Oil
	+ Silicon Valley
	+ The lesser known Indian-Rubber Valley
	+ Dippin’ Dots
* The Northwests intended for Pacifica to marry Marius Von Fundhauser.
* Curzon is capable of showing windows to the past.
* The Determined family were cursed by Curzon and the Northwests for getting too close to the family's secrets. This is how Toby Determined is so grotesque.
* The Wentworth family was responsible for building the machine that Cornelius Northwest died in.
* Curzon is ripped, allowing Bill to attempt an escape.
* Nymphs are shown for the first time – translated into freakishly obsessed Human fans.
* Bill's arms are destroyed through the destruction of the statue's limbs by Mabel and Kevin.
* Curzon is sucked into Bill's limbo and trapped permanently.
* Stan has been hit by a truck. Twice, by the same truck – in 1982.
* Preston tried to hide the Ciphernaut connection from Pacifica – hence why his family's misdeeds were hidden away.
* Preston reveals his family's history is why he tried to make a deal with Bill, despite his sceptism.
* Weirdness Bonds were a private system on the Stock Market.
* Preston finally agrees to stay away from Pacifica.
* Susan's great Grandfather built the Gravity Falls bridge, the locomotives and carriages.
* Susan's great Grandfather and Cornelius Wentworth may have been romantically involved with eachother.
* Dipper faces his first nightmares – facing his own self-esteem, doubts and cynicism.

### References

* Extensive references are made to Journal 3, Northwest Mansion Mystery and Lost Legends.
* The ***mailman*** is still being suspected on werewolfism, a speculation first started by Soos in Gravity Falls.
* The Hirschians wear flannel shirts, fake facial hair and argue that the world started in Piedmont. Clearly, a religion based upon ***Alex Hirsch.***
* The repeated line, 'you getting soft on me?' is taken from Luz and Amity, the romantic duo in ***The Owl House.***
* ***Shtar Threck*** should be obvious enough.
* Mabel, Grenda and Candy are clearly tuning from ***The Owl House*** during their sugar high.
* Cornelius Northwest is named after ***Cornelius the Centurion***, the first of the Roman Empire to join 'the good faith'.
* ***Robowarden*** is named after the classic, ***Robocop***
* ***Don’t Start Unbelieving*** is a song previously sung by Mabel in Gravity Falls. This fic reveals it's by ***Voyage*** - a reference to the ***original track by Journey.***
* Mabel's ex, Nosfer, is presumed to be the vampire she references in ***Tourist Trapped***
* A brief reference is made to **Steampunk** culture, particularly on social media site **Tumblr** - the site largely responsible for Gravity Falls' older fanbase.
* ***Matzio Moose’s Pizza Palace*** is a reference to ***Chuck E. Cheese.***
* **Washington Helicopter** is a reference to ***Jefferson Airplane.***
* The living topiaries are a reference to ***The Shining by Stephen King.***
* **7,000 Femtosecond Crafts** is a reference to complete channel of Bilge, ***5 Second Crafts*** on youtube. I'm not linking that. They don't deserve the click.
* ***Nymphs*** are a creature of Greek Folklore - tiny fae that are sexually attracted to humans. The Return to the Falls variant are more like rabid groupies.
* Dipper makes reference to ***James Bond***, ***The Iron Giant*** and ***Twin Peaks*** during his enjoyment of a Landslide at the Diner.
* The title of chapter 44, itself, is a reference to **Dale Cooper.**

### Accompanying Comic Strips

Here's How It All Went DownPhotoshootPurgatory