#Reminder that Mabel has never met Ford

[icantbotherwithusernames]

What does Mabel think of her family after everything in your AU? And the idea of Weirdmageddon?

Well, Mabel still has her good core. She still loves everyone from earth, her core principles are still there, but she was very influenced by the opinions of Bill and the henchmaniacs.

Mabel has some justifications for Weirdmaggedon and everything happening, like:

"I mean, at the end of the day, its just about having fun! They dont have anywhere else to go to! Its not like the whole point is some mass murder or something."

Plus, how could she say no to weirdmaggedon if her own goal is going back home? It would be like shooting herself in the foot. At least thats what she thinks.

As for her family, here's some interview-esqe doodles:

[lkfarrout]

Main Tags: Family fluff, Grunkle Stan and Mabel bonding

Summary: Stan's memory is fully recovered, including his ability to drive, which comes with the return of an old bad habit. Mabel takes things into her own hands and reminds Stan how important he is to her. [1584 words]

Based on the first part of my most popular tumblr post of all time: Stan and Mabel Headcanons

Warnings: None! Just cute wholesome stuff <3

"There they are, Dipper, come on!" Mabel dragged her twin out onto the porch of the Mystery Shack, practically jumping up and down at the sight of her two grunkles pulling up in Stan's red Cadillac.

They'd been gone only thirty minutes.

"He did it!" Dipper exclaimed. "That's a really good sign."

A six-fingered hand waved at the kids from the passenger window, and they eagerly waved back. But as the car got closer, Mabel's hand fell slowly back to her side, and her eyebrows furrowed as she squinted into the windshield.

"How did it go?" Dipper asked, as the two older men joined the kids on the porch.

"Like ridin' a bike," Stan said with a grin.

"He stills drives as recklessly as when we were teenagers," Ford teased, "but I believe it's safe to say that Stanley's memory is fully recovered."

It was a long-anticipated moment among them all. Grunkle Stan was finally back to normal, able to take care of himself, give tours, tell jokes and stories like he used to, and now drive himself around too. Dipper embraced Stan in a hug, showing off how proud he was of all the progress Stan had made – and just in time, too, because there was only a few days of summer left.

As Dipper let go, Stan expected to be eagerly met with another hug from his niece, but instead he found her in the same spot, her gaze on the ground at their feet.

"Mabel, sweetie, you okay?" He crouched down a bit and put a hand on her shoulder.

Mabel looked up at him with sweet eyes, full of concern. "Grunkle Stan, you didn't wear your seatbelt."

"Oh," Stan shrugged, "yeah, I guess I didn't."

"Why not?"

"Well... to be honest I never really did when you kids weren't in the car." Stan tousled Mabel's hair with a chuckle. "Plus, back in my day seatbelts were more of a suggestion anyway."

With that, the family made their way inside, leaving Mabel to begrudgingly fix her hair as she followed behind them.

---

“Are you sure you want to do this, Mabel? What if he catches us?” Dipper whispered, anxiously peering around the corner as he and his sister watched Stan settle into his chair to watch TV for the evening.

“We have to, Dipper! This is important,” Mabel insisted. “You remember the plan?”

“Yeah,” her twin conceded. “Remind me what we need the syrup for again?”

Mabel sighed, slightly annoyed with her brother. “So he has a reason to drive somewhere in the morning, duh!”

Dipper didn’t really see the point in all this. After all, Grunkle Stan had survived without a seatbelt for like, a hundred years. But Mabel had gone along with plenty of his crazy plans, so it wasn’t like he could say no.

“Alright, but I’d rather get the stuff while you distract him. He’s more likely to listen to you," Dipper suggested.

With that, Mabel set off determinedly to the living room. “Oh, Grunkle Sta-an,” she said in a sing-songy voice, trying to look as sweet as possible. “Can you make Stancakes in the morning?”

At the same time, Dipper headed to the kitchen. He rummaged around in the cabinets as quietly as he could, and Mabel’s voice continued to permeate the house.

“Why don’t you put your feet up, Grunkle Stan, relax a little? Can I get you a blanket?”

With three bottles of syrup in his arms, Dipper headed to Stan’s bedroom. The sash was easy enough to find. After all, it was the only item that colorful in the entire room. Finding the car keys was a bit harder. When Stan was dressed, they were usually in his pockets, but now that he was settled down for the evening in his boxers and undershirt, Dipper assumed they had to be put away somewhere. He was right, and after a bit of digging, he found them in an empty cigar box on Stan’s nightstand among other items like spare change and a lighter. Dipper tucked the keys into his vest pocket, quietly shut Stan’s door, and made a beeline for the attic.

On the way, he ran into Ford.

“Oh, hello Dipper,” the older man’s eyes narrowed curiously as he noticed the bundle of yarn and maple syrup in the boy’s arms. “What’s all that for?”

“Oh, this?” Dipper tried his best to sound casual, “Mabel needs this for… an art project. You know how she loves to craft.” He laughed awkwardly.

“Indeed,” Ford agreed. He walked away, leaving Dipper to continue his mission, and wondered what art project could possibly require all the syrup in the house.

Once the syrup was successfully hidden away in the attic, Dipper met his sister on the back porch with the other stolen items.

“Got the stuff?” She asked.

He nodded as the two of them made their way to the Stanleymobile. “How long will this take?”

“I’ll be done before his episode is over!”

---

Stan searched all the cupboards, wishing that he’d checked for syrup before he started making the pancakes. It was odd -– he was positive that he had stocked up on it specifically for the apocalypse. He thought about sending Ford to the store, but no one else was awake yet. And if he had to be honest, part of him was itching to drive the car again. So, he turned off the stove, shoved the rest of the batter in the fridge, threw on his robe, and headed outside.

Upstairs, Mabel excitedly watched from the attic window while her brother slept soundly. She observed as Stan crossed the yard with an energetic gait, swinging his keys back and forth. A few feet away from the car, he slowed and approached more curiously, wondering what the odd splash of color peeking through the window was.

Stan ran his fingers over the soft yarn of the Our Hero sash, which had been expertly cut apart and knit back together around the driver's side seatbelt. He chuckled to himself -- it was a fashionable seatbelt cover if he'd ever seen one. As he climbed into his seat, he noticed the folded up note on the dash. He unfolded it, ready for whatever silly message Mabel had left him about "making the car prettier" or whatever.

It was written in purple gel pen: If you want to be our hero, you have to wear your seatbelt.

It included a sticker of a bumble bee saying "I bee-lieve in you."

"Oh, Pumpkin..." Stan began softly. He forced a small laugh at the cheesy sticker as a last-ditch attempt to stop the emotion rising in his throat.

Above him, Mabel was having a hard time containing her emotions as well. She squeezed Waddles to her chest and lightly shook him to stop herself from jumping up and down with excitement. "He's reading it, he's reading it," she whispered to Waddles. She watched her uncle set the note down and carefully click his seatbelt into place so that the words fell over his shoulder and chest just like when he used to wear it as a sash. "It worked!" she exclaimed.

Mabel leaned back, satisfied that her plan had been successful, and waited for Stan to pull out of the driveway. Several minutes passed, however, without the car moving. Stan just looked at his lap and gripped the wheel with both hands.

"Uh oh," Mabel's tone changed, "maybe he doesn't remember the sash..." When he defeatedly leaned forward and rested his forehead on the wheel, Mabel threw her slippers on and hurried down the stairs.

Stan was startled back into an upright position by the girl's soft knocking on the passenger window. Stan quickly wiped his tears away with the sleeve of his bathrobe and gave the child a soft smile.

"Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly, climbing into the seat next to him. "Grunkle Stan, are you crying?"

"No, no," he denied, "I just, got the sun in my eyes is all."

"Do you remember that?" She gestured to the sash-turned-seatbelt-cover.

"How could I forget?"

Mabel fiddled with the sleeves of her nightshirt. "Do you like what I did? Or..."

With one hand, Stan gently lifted her chin so their eyes met. "Of course I like it, sweetie. I love it."

Mabel smiled and he continued, "Thanks for lookin' out for me. I'll always do whatever I can to be your hero."

She felt his arms wrap around her, embracing her in a big hug. Mabel rested her head against Stan's shoulder and lightly ran her fingers along the soft knit fabric of the sash.

As the two separated, Stan asked, "You wanna go to the store with me? I gotta get some syrup for your pancakes."

"Oh, actually, all the syrup is upstairs... I needed a reason for you to get in the car this morning."

"Yeah?" Stan wrapped his arm around Mabel, this time pulling her in for a noogie, "C'mere, you clever punk. I thought you were bein' suspicious last night."

As he relaxed his arm, he said, "Well, might as well go anyway since we're out here. Anything else ya want on your pancakes?"

Mabel thought for a moment while she fixed her hair. "Marshmallows?" she suggested.

Stan just grinned in response and started up the old car.

"Can I ride in the front?" Mabel asked, smiling up at her uncle with the sweetest eyes.

"Hmm," he pretended to think, "only if you wear your seatbelt."

[nellandvoid]

to celebrate the pines twins birthdays, i’m gonna make them miserable!!!!!

jkjk i just want to show a wip of my better world au designs for mabel and dipper, a (r o u g h) sketch that just so happens to be (semi) done on their birthday!! (it’s still the 31st. shut up/j)

lore dump under cut cause man am i gonna yap

the main thing i wanna do with these two is keep their fundamentals while still realistically changing their external personalities based on how they were raised (especially since their great-uncle ford is head of the institute of oddology and an estimed scholar in cryptozoology)

design-wise, i wanted to show how mabel's a bit more insecure while dipper's the opposite, so her sweaters don't all have designs on them, her hair is pulled back, and she has shorts and tennis shoes instead of a skirt and flats - dipper, on the other hand, doesn't have a hat since he doesn't care if people see his birthmark, and he has the space tee and button up combo that he was wearing in the valentines flashback in weirdmageddon pt 2 since he wouldn't be as self-conscious about showing off his interests

personality-wise, dipper has probably changed the least: still socially awkward, still has an undiagnosed anxiety disorder (same), still considers mabel his best (and only) friend - the main difference, though, is that growing up he wasn't bullied as much for being interested in the strange and unusual. kids are still cruel, of course, but he always had his great-uncle's reputation to look up to whenever someone made fun of his birthmark or obsession with ghosts. and now, getting to finally spend a summer with his idol, he's more than ready to finally be accepted for all his weirdness. he can finally be loud, be weird, be himself, and not get those looks people in piedmont give him when they think he's not looking. the few times he's met great-uncle ford growing up, the few times he slipped up and said something weird, his great-uncle never gave him the look like everyone else did. he'd just smile, always softly, always distantly, and always tell him to never change.

on the other hand, mabel is much more reserved and self-conscious, especially when she arrives in gravity falls - weirdness has always led to genius in her family, so when she let her mind drift away her parents would always drag her back down to earth, telling her she's just as capable as her great-uncle and brother, why doesn't she just take homework, take school, take life seriously like they do? and so she tries to, and tries, and eventually she learns about the look: the one people give her when she tells them about the time she swallowed a whole bag of gummy worms without chewing, or about the sweater she knit last week that's scratch and sniff, or about anything not serious. she hates the look, and starts to do anything she can to avoid it. especially when she does something silly in front of her great-uncle ford. the look he gives always hurts more, like something she did reminded him of a nightmare or a bad memory. and she didn't want to hurt him.

[aria-greenhoodie]

Hey guys did you know I have a gravity falls oc. They’re definitely not wish fulfillment self insert material don’t worry about it. Don’t even worry about it, man.

Click for Quality! Silly backstory stuff below the cut ↓

- They’re a little cartoon creature from a pocket universe! They’re an immortal creature like Bill, but way less powerful.

- They actually used to work at the theraprism, but went crazy and had a mid-immortality crisis leading to a manic crime-spree. During this turbulent time, they also developed their love for “projects.”

- A “project” to them is basically becoming obsessed with a person they find interesting and getting closer to them by any means necessary in order to study them like a bug. This isn’t romantic, and it isn’t even friendship, but instead a secret third evil thing.

- When they have a project going on, they’ll devote most of their time and energy to the person(s) involved, and they typically seem very content while doing so. Once a project stops interesting them, or if a project is cut short by outside forces (death if the person, sudden change of heart from the person, being caught and dragged to the theraprism, etc) they become restless, easily irritated, and sometimes mildly violent. Their little projects are basically the only thing that keeps them sane.

- Doesn’t really do “friends.” Used to, but it always ended poorly. Prefers their projects; if they loose interest, they can just leave!

- Had a mentor-apprentice type relationship with the Axolotl before their mental decline. Is now VERY conflicted about him; doesn’t like the disappointment in his eyes when he looks at them.

- Was Bill’s Roommate for a time. Was absolutely FASCINATED by Bill’s fucked up mentality. Instantly became one of their favorite projects.

- Bill HATED them like crazy. They would not stop talking to them and had an uncanny ability to make him open up about things he did NOT want to open up about.

- Lost access to Bill after the TBOB incident, since he was moved to solitary confinement.

- Did not take the sudden cancellation of their project well. Ended up breaking out of the Theraprism shortly after.

- Ended up in Gravity Falls by sheer coincidence. Immediately took a liking to the place for its weirdness (felt at home).

- Met the Pines family and became ENRAPTURED with Stanley. Started off just seeing him as a project, but eventually came to view him as something closer to a friend (or perhaps more :3).

- Mabel and them are BESTIES. Mabel loves to treat them like a little dress up doll and they love to model all of Mabel’s mini fashion creations. They also respect her chaos.

- Has a huge respect for Dipper’s curiosity. Has gladly acted as a test subject for him so he can be like Ford and research weird creatures.

- Ford does NOT trust their ass. They eventually form an (somewhat uneasy but otherwise amicable) alliance as time goes on, but Ford never fully bonds with them. He’s been burned by a chaotic multi-dimensional immortal criminal before, he doesn’t want to do that again. Curly gets it. They heard how Bill treated him from Bill’s own mouth (eye?) and have no plans to play copy-cat.

- Stan didn’t like them at first. They reminded him too much of Bill, and acted far too chummy with him specifically far too fast.

- Eventually the two grew closer, realized they had a lot in common (both criminals familiar with the grift, both have a tiny bit of a flair for showmanship, both have similar senses of humor, etc.) and became friendlier.

- The Axolotl knows where they are and is monitoring them closely. They don’t know he’s doing this. He plans to keep it that way.

[rampagingfanfictioner14]

relativity falls, but...

i've got a relativity falls brainworm. hear me out if u wish :D

relativity falls basically swaps the mystery twins (i.e. dipper and mabel) with the pines twins (or stans; i.e. Stanley and Stanford), right? Other characters like fiddleford and soos get swapped around too, but the main focus is the Pines.

so, imagine a relativity falls where dipper and mabel never had the chance to learn all the lessons they learnt during their summer in Gravity Falls. Mabel would never get over her fear of the future, or of Dipper leaving her. Dipper in turn would never understand the true meaning of trusting someone, or the importance of family, over everything else. They would never have a Stan and Ford as examples of what they shouldn't do, and they'd be stuck in Piedmont with their arguing parents --- parents, mind you, who argue so intensely that it gives Dipper nightmares.

Let me remind you that this kid survived an entire apocalypse, got thrown off a cliff, nearly died (multiple times!) and got possessed by a demon with powers and motives far beyond his comprehension, yet out of all these traumas, the one that hits the hardest is of his own parents. Whatever Dipper and Mabel's parents have got going on, it's inching into 'divorce' territory.

Everything might turn out well enough in canon, because it's 2012 and no one cares if a couple decides to split up, but it's not so great in the 1960s, which is when Relativity Falls-Dipper-and-Mabel are from. Not just because of prejudice and stigma, but also because it's a lot harder to raise a kid by yourself than it is with a partner, especially in an era where a woman couldn't do much without the permission of her husband (like open bank accounts).

What does this mean for the au, though? It means that Dipper and Mabel couldn't escape anywhere for the summer, no Mystery Shack, no Grunkle Stan or Soos or anyone to seek comfort or stability from (unless you count Shermie, but considering that their parents would rather send them to a great uncle they've never met than their own grandfather means that either he's dead or incapacitated in some other way).

Imagine Dipper and Mabel stuck in the house, possibly hiding under the bed or trying to distract themselves from the arguments going on downstairs. Imagine Mabel trying to sing or talk loud enough to block them out, or Dipper daydreaming about ways that they could leave the house for good (were they strongly attached to their parents? probably not. These two spent three months at their great uncle's house and not once mentioned them apart from one stray letter from Mabel --- not even during an apocalypse, which would literally be the best scenario for a kid to miss their parents).

Basically, just imagine Dipper and Mabel taking care of each other when it seems like their whole world is falling apart, because who else could they rely on? Who else could they possibly choose in the lowest points of their life, other than their own twin?

And sure, this behaviour between the two probably continues for most of their childhood.

But then comes high school.

Neither Dipper nor Mabel referenced any friends back in Piedmont. Candy and Grenda were the only people that Mabel ever called "best friends", and she never sent any letters or postcards back to any other friends she might've had there. Heck, just hanging around Dipper probably shot her social status to the lowest possible point, but she doesn't care, because he's her baby brother and she'd much rather take him than anything the popular life in school could offer. Point is, Relativity Falls-Mabel never had a Candy or Grenda, because she never went to Gravity Falls for the summer. She is inexperienced with having any real friends other than her twin brother.

One eventful summer, just before the start of high school, the twins' parents seem to momentarily get over themselves and book a trip to the beach for a few weeks or so. Mabel has a short-lived romance with a merman named Mermando (to whom Dipper was, at first, very sceptical about). The trio eventually form a friendship, however, and promise to meet each other every so often. This is when Dipper truly becomes interested in anomalous phenomena. He wonders that if mermaids/mermen are real, does that mean Atlantis is too? What about ghosts? Zombies? Fairies?

The trip goes well, all in all. Their parents may avoid each other, but at least they're not fighting.

...The truce comes to a crashing halt when they return home, but hey, at least they had a small bout of peace and quiet.

Dipper knows what he wants to do with his life now. Study weirdness with his twin sister, living together and having adventures every day. Mabel supports this idea, citing that they should go find Atlantis as their first big adventure. Living in Piedmont (which was partly rural in the 1960s, as far as my Australian brain knows from a short and unclear Google search), they don't really have the chance to have a Stan O' War or big adventures on the beach. Weirdness doesn't tend to stick to suburbs, but the two try to find stuff anyway. Maybe they end up finding a rogue gnome or a bunch of ghosts in the local cemetery. Maybe they spend hours frolicking around fields of grass and rolling down hills and whatnot.

When high school arrives, Dipper sees a great opportunity. If he could utilize his smarts, bring home grades that were practically teetering on the level of too high, then he and Mabel could leave the house. They'd go to a good place far away, maybe back to the beach, and live together and go on adventures and possibly find Atlantis for real. He throws himself into studying to carve the best possible life for him and his twin sister (he's kinda like Stan in that way: always thinking of Mabel before himself).

---But in doing so, he buries his nose into books and papers and other school stuff, and spends practically all day holed up in the school library. When he returns home he's tired and spent, and usually just keeps studying and studying without a thought on the potential health risks, before leaving again at dawn the next day.

He believes it's for the greater good of them both, but he neglects their mutually-reliant relationship in favour of a better future.

At first, Mabel tries to go with it, really. She becomes Dipper's rock, pulling him back when he pushes himself too hard, forcing him to eat and properly sleep. She's silly and funny and stops him from becoming all gloomy and sad during those times when their parents can't seem to stop screaming at each other. She tries to look over his homework and see if he's having trouble, but she can't for the life of her understand what the heck he's working on.

As their final year of high school approaches, Dipper knows that he has to go all in. Eventually Dipper stops coming home entirely, turning up just before dinner or even sometimes skipping it. He either goes to the public library after school or periodically forgets to go to their mutual lunch table and actually eat, but his grades are consistently off-the-charts, because he knows he has to keep going for Mabel.

And while this is great for Dipper and his vision of the future, Mabel... doesn't see things the same way. She dislikes how studying has taken hold of her brother's life, and the way that he disappears for hours on end places her directly in the path of bearing the brunt of their emotional trauma from their parents. She becomes less cheerful and begins to foster an irrational fear of the future, where she believes her brother will leave her behind in favour of studying all those weird creatures he was so obsessed with.

She becomes vulnerable, and a particular group of predatory teenagers... pounce.

With Dipper mostly absent from her life, she is approached by a group of popular kids who, for all intents and purposes, appear to be genuinely looking out for her. For the first time in her life, Mabel can actually interact with people her age without the looming shadow of her brother's general social allergy over her head. She becomes friends, regains her cheeriness and is able to move past her trauma, because now she actually has people to share it with, not just a twin brother who's suddenly started practically disappearing from their home.

It starts off slowly, but those teens begin to make off-handed comments about her brother. Small things, at first, like how he's ridiculously smart, how he's going to be very successful. Mabel wholeheartedly agrees, of course, and doesn't think much of it.

The comments escalate after a few weeks. Stuff like how geniuses like Dipper didn't need anyone, how their intellect would carry them far and how could someone like Mabel hope to compare, really?

Basically, they feed into her innermost insecurities. They isolate her from her family and her twin brother (not that he made it hard). They tell her that Dipper doesn't need anyone, doesn't need Mabel, and the only way to make something of herself is to do favours for them, and maybe they'd help her in return.

Mabel, having being fed lies for the better part of her last years of high school and not having any healthy friendships to compare, believes them. She falls in with the "wrong crowd", so to speak, but doesn't realize what's going on. Sometimes she delivers strange packets to other high school students or other shady stuff, but the teens help her catch her brother after school and they spend time with her, so maybe it was worth it in the end. Other times she wonders what she's doing, and tries to peek at the contents of the bags, only for the teens to find out and threaten to end their friendship, citing that "true friends trusted each other" and that Mabel "needed them".

Mabel, in her poor, desperate attempt to have someone to talk to, begs for forgiveness and vows never to doubt them again.

And then the science fair happens.

Dipper creates a perpetual motion machine and, for the first time, is so excited that he can't focus on his studies. He's won plenty of competitions over the years, but this is the one that could possibly guarantee them a ride out of Piedmont, so he's very meticulous in the preparation for the machine's reveal. The principal calls him into his office and Mabel lingers outside, hearing how the scouts of a prestigious college (West Coast Tech) were coming to see Dipper's project tomorrow. Their parents, for once, seem to come to an agreement: Dipper was brilliant. Possibly brilliant enough to rival world pioneers.

And then they argued whether who he took after, and how once he'd made millions, he'd support them more than the other, because of course they were the favourite--- as expected, anyway. Dipper's somewhat surprised that they remembered to show up to the meeting in the first place. He'd take anything he could get, at this point.

But something niggles at the back of his mind.

Dipper interrupts as the principal waxes poetic about his project and inquires about Mabel. The principal waves him off, saying that at this rate, the girl would be lucky to find a waitressing job nearby, much less a full ride to a prestigious college.

Mabel, eavesdropping outside, immediately becomes upset and runs off, not hearing the way that Dipper defended her, because of course he would. In the end, Dipper storms off, saying that he'll just have to take her along with him, then.

He later shares his plans with Mabel and blabbers on about how the great the perpetual motion machine was, how it was the crowning achievement of his efforts to get them away from their parents, but all Mabel hears is the thundering of her heart, panicking at the thought of Dipper leaving her behind (and yes, it's irrational, but remember, she's been in a toxic relationship with several people who cracked open her small insecurities into gaping wounds, that neither of them acknowledged or sought to heal).

Mabel seeks out the teenagers and does a few more deals with them, begging them to do something that changed the course of their lives, because to her, it's getting increasingly clear that Dipper's going to leave and she's powerless to stop him.

The teenagers toy with her for a bit, but concede. They break into the science fair room and trash the project, but not before leaving a pack of glitter sprinkled over the broken thing, just to mess with Mabel and Dipper's relationship a little more.

Of course, Dipper doesn't take that realization well when he shows up the next morning and stares at a ruined machine, glitter coating it inside and out. He's devastated, but also angry that Mabel would ruin their only chance to get away from Piedmont, and doesn't understand why she would do such a thing.

He confronts her about it and she admits to breaking it. She could never blame the teens, of course, but especially not when she'd asked them to do the deed.

Dipper tries to understand, but his anger gets the better of him and they devolve into a shouting match. They never did learn how to communicate properly. He says some things he normally wouldn't, and Mabel does the same. It's a frightening parallel of their parents, and it ends up with Mabel running away from home as a last ditch defense mechanism (just like she did in Dipper & Mabel VS the Future).

(Welp, that's all I have energy to write today. Prolly will make a Part 2 of this tmrw). Hope it was somewhat in character? Idk. Might write a full-fledged fanfic on this later.

BTW, major thing here: this is just what I think of Relativity Falls. I don't own the idea, nor do I own the characters. I'm just a person who overthinks on the lives of fictional characters. Also someone who has semi-unwillingly started down an unending spiral of Gravity Falls brainworms that refuse to leave unless I write those suckers down.

Part 2 is up!

[stupidlittlespirit]

Currently watching the first Men In Black which is one of my favorite movies ever and then the brainrot gripped my little brain and went "omg Ford would love this movie" since we KNOW he'd be super into scifi and fantasy movies but also imagine him seeing an alien in the movie and going "reminds me of someone I met in dimension XYZ--"

and then my brain went to "hehe imagine cuddling and watching a movie with Ford" but then i thought more about it and I imagine he's the type to get SUPER into whatever movie you're watching, if you wanna try and get frisky under the blankets he's still gonna be watching out of the corner of his eye while you try to makeout, you cannot pull his attention away from the screen.

but I imagine he has three modes when it comes to watching movies: 1) Completely engrossed 2) If it's boring, he's falling asleep 3) Dad-who-doesn't-want-to-sit-down-and-commit-to-watching-the-movie, you try to get him to join you for movie night with Dipper and Mabel and he insists he's busy but then you look over and he's standing in the doorway for over half the movie, and then very slowly over time he joins y'all on the couch haha

Ford "no I don't want to netflix and chill, I'm trying to watch this 9/11 documentary" Pines.

LMAOOOOOOO yeah no I can picture him as all of them, but especially the third one: he just sort of hovers around with his hands on his hips, eyes glued to the screen. Despite you offering for him to sit down like 15 times and join you, he's always saying "no no, I don't have time to waste watching television" and then stands there for a solid 30 minutes and does exactly that. He even just stands right in the way sometimes.

I've had similar thoughts about this kind of thing because I love sci fi and horror movies, which I can see being his bag. I think he'd definitely do that 'hey, I know that guy!' thing allllll the time, and you'd never quite know if he was being serious with it haha. I think he'd sometimes just make shit up because it'd be funny/to get a reaction out of you. Other times, he'd genuinely recognise a species or something, or the movie would be accurate and he'd enjoy it.

I'm personally very into J-horror. I'm back on a bit of a kick with it at the moment, and specifically I enjoy the genre of mockumentary found footage that's very popular out there. The whole thing is less about what is actually taking place during the main scene and more about the details in the background. They lay out a lot of clues and hidden images/messages etc, and I can see Ford really enjoying that. It's kind of cute to imagine him helping you put together the clues and figuring out the secret hidden story within the plot.

I do it with my partner all the time. We'll often be watching in dead silence and I'll suddenly spot something and get super excited, and be like oh my god there's a lady in background do you see her omg?! and they've completely missed it so we have to rewind it so I can show them frame by frame. I try to figure out what's going on by translating all the Japanese comments under the video lmao so having Ford to connect the dots would be very helpful. They're like a movie and a puzzle all in one. I can see him helping you out and writing everything down very seriously in order to get it right haha

[corcnaiism]

SWEATER WEATHER: A Mabel & Ford Headcanon

both ford and mabel enjoy wearing sweaters — mabel loves to express herself with all different kinds of color, wacky designs while ford likes the more simplistic, solid color appearances. it is a fashion statement for the both of them, but it is also something more to cover up what’s underneath.

they both suffer from anemia.

it is a generational gene that was passed down to them: carynn had it and passed it down to ford while mabel’s mum had it and passed it down to her. and while they both have it, they both deal with it very differently. 

from a young age, ford had worn long sleeves more often than not, and it wasn’t always because he liked wearing them. he generally felt colder than others did due to being anemic and because his mother understood the struggle very well ( despite her forcing herself to not show it by wearing more revealing clothing ), she would be on the hunt to find him fashionable long sleeves for him to wear. it absolutely bothered filbrick with how much of a “wimp” ford was with a little bit of a chill and sometimes, it would cause arguments between carynn and filbrick but nothing more came from it than banter.

ford’s anemia isn’t terribly bad as he’s always been on top of his health ( for the most part ) and regulates it from getting too out of control, but he still suffers from it though in a few waves. he still gets very cold at times and weak, especially with age, alongside with random dizzy spells. during his portal encapture, ford had to really watch out for his anemia levels because there weren’t iron supplements or nutrients available to him that could help him maintain his oxygen level in his blood. it was an added challenge to his already severe case of having to survive nightmares after nightmares, but he somehow managed ( mind you all of the weird anomaly craziness he’d either inject it into himself via eating some unknown foods or have creatures infuse him with something during attacks that either hindered him or assisted him but that’s a story for another time ). it wasn’t until he met the oracle that ford was able to ingest proper food to elevate his iron levels thanks to her help. 

once he returned back to gravity falls, ford has been more mindful of his eating habits to return his vital signs back to normalcy as best as he can though he could never be the same “normal” human as before. some days, he’s feeling extremely energetic and can climb mt. everest if he wanted to without a problem, and then there are some days where he can barely get out of bed. but he wears his trusty sweaters to keep him warm throughout as feeling cold was something he could never shake off. 

as for mabel, her anemia spikes up frequently due to her not taking care of herself. she eats constant junk food that has no iron for her blood cells and while she may be energetic more than not, afterwards she is wiped out completely and sometimes has to take the next day or two to recover. her parents buy her iron supplements and take her to the doctor often, but mabel is deadly afraid of needles and hates whenever she has to have her blood taken to check on her blood cell levels ( she likes to pick out pretty bandages afterwards though ). dipper is her regulator as he’s the one more concerned about her health than she is, always reminding her to take her iron supplements and to eat her veggies. 

( something something in another headcanon her parents don’t really help a lot with either of the twins’ health because they’re going through a shit storm themselves with arguments and threats of getting a divorce, so they hate each other more than they love their children so dipper took it upon himself to be the one to look after mabel and himself but again that’s a headcanon for another day ahah )

while mabel doesn’t like getting cold either, she turns the bad into a good by knitting and decorating her own sweaters which she is very proud of. when she found out that her grunkle ford also suffered from anemia, it only inspired her to start knitting sweaters for him as well, so the both of them can stay warm through the toughest of chills. ford becomes another dipper for mabel as he encourages her to eat her iron supplements and eat more balanced meals to help with her weak and dizzy moments. sometimes, mabel listens and sometimes ford has to sneak in a few nutrient pills into her meals to make sure she gets what her body needs.

of course, stan is in this for the both of them too, always being their shoulder to lean on whenever he sees either of them unable to keep their balance while walking or doing other activities and giving stern lectures to make them understand how important it is to look after themselves, though he is more aggressive with ford than with mabel about it. both stan and dipper understand that anemia can also lead to leukemia which is something neither of them want for their siblings, and let’s just say that ford and mabel are so grateful to have such caring family members looking out for them during their time of need.

bonus: it gives ford a reason to wear sweaters and long sleeves too bc he has a ton of scars and markings from bill and other entities so there's that too

[kitpanthera]

last one for now!! thank you so so much for answering my questions, this has been so fun. (also, my phone randomly started updating in the middle of me typing this out so if, for some reason, you have an unfinished version of this in your inbox, my bad.)

chapters 26-27 🎉

1. dipper thinking about mabel using the memory gun on him to make him forget bill,,, hm. even if they DID do that, that might honestly make things worse? like, dipper would then be bound to deals that he no longer remembers making or what the terms of them are. i also don't know if a child's mind would recover as well to use of the memory gun.

2. dipper feeling like bill is the only one who doesn't have an idealized version of him is his head... i'm not sure i agree! bill's placed him on a very high pedestal with a very high fall should he get knocked off it... and dipper saying that bill encouraged him to be himself and TAUGHT him how to do that because he's never been able to do that before,,, i'm chewing on glass rn.

3. the entire phone call section,,, stan immediately saying he would keep the twins with him and their parents wanting split custody (a fake out to get the other to back down? did they spend the whole time arguing over who got mabel? neither of them wanting to take dipper...). "they can come up here and tell them themselves" yes please! dipper had his moment with mabel, now he deserves to yell at his parents (as a treat). "hey guys! thanks for coming all the way here 💞💞💞 loved seeing you but i can't wait to never see you again! you don't need to miss my choir recitals anymore because my choir no longer exists! you can go back to just being mabel's parents while i go rule with world with my best friend, the interdimensional demon who's bringing about a new age on earth, you might know him. see you never!"

4. it's such a small thing but ford bending down to talk to dipper so they're on the same page!! he cares so much about these kids and he just met them 😭 him taking the time to reassure dipper that they're family and that he seems himself in dipper!!! him smiling when dipper agrees with stan that he's like ford (though not in the way he expects). that must've been another painful moment for stan!

5. does mabel realize how big of a deal it is that dipper can speak to bill during the day/without being asleep?

6. dipper not seeinging weirdmageddon as the apocalypse because the apocalypse has negative connotation!! weirdmageddon is GOOD to him so it's the bringing about of a new age!

7. dipper's mental form changing to look more like bill's human form instead of pre-gravity falls dipper,,, after he has recognizes how much he's changed,,, right after being compared to ford,,,

8. ford must feel so stupid for showing dipper the rift! i'm assuming dipper didn't just smack the rift out of his hands because bill wants ford on his side willingly? not sure you're going to get that, bill...

9. dipper still caring about stan enough to remind gideon of their deal! and being upset when bud threatens stan! the ghost of dipper-past is haunting dipper's mental house (it's empathy and compassion for people other than bill).

10. dipper letting bill takeover the reins because he's so drained from being involved with the pines,,, him still hoping that someone it's not him and no one noticing,,, NO ONE NOTICING (i'm ripping my hair out)

11. dipper watching the billford reunion,,, guys stop being messy, toxic exs in front of a 12 yo!

12. dipper hiding in the grass/wheat... is the distinction important? both represent different things (wheat as salvation and resurrection while grass can be protection and concealment...). are they a mental representation of the ways ford has tried to protect himself or move on from bill?

13. an eternal night!! stars staying the same even during weirdmageddon!! everyone always being able to see the stars!! is that almost like,, a gift? since they both value the stars so much, and bill wanted to bring the stars to his people, is that almost more of a "benevolent overlord" thing from bill? or really just gifts to themselves?

14. how different that conversation would've gone if dipper hadn't mentioned ford!

15. mabel realizing that he's just been around because he's manipulating ford while ford didn't notice,,, is he that desperate for human connection that he doesn't notice dipper manipulating him? or is dipper just that good at acting?

16. dipper telling mabel it's deals PLURAL. i wonder if she had realized that before, if that's a big thing for her, or if she didn't even notice.

17. "he takes my feelings seriously, unlike you," and "you've only ever dismissed me, mabel" but him still missing her and wanting to be close to her,,, him saying that he doesn't want to only be close with bill but she's giving him no choice,,, i am staring into the sun.

18. dipper comparing mabel to their mom! is that because he sees both of them as "checking out" of their relationship with him? and then mabel immediately saying she doesn't want to think about home and that they don't even know what they're going home to 😭 gravity falls feeling more like home than piedmont has in years 😭😭😭

19. i'm assuming bill saying "pine tree" was him trying to warn him that bill was in earshot? i'm kind of surprised that bill didn't take over during the fight to try to separate them before they could reveal dipper and bill's friendship to ford.

20. did ford hear dipper ask bill to take over and that he didn't want to be there?

21. "i know it's me you want!" well...

22. does anyone hear ford shouting at dipper? that would probably be hard to explain to the tourists lol

24. mabel always being the one to start weirdmageddon... fate again? or maybe something more like a fixed point or "canon event" like in spider verse?

25. did dipper stop wearing his bill jewelry once ford showed up? he mentions starting to wear it consistently, but not that he's stopped.

26. physical effects of using magic showing up soon,,, roadside attraction being the next episode,,, dipper being changed SO significantly,,, can he even pass through the barrier anymore? i'm imagining him in the rv and just SLAMMING into the barrier at 60 mph not going well. but it would reveal that as a problem to bill before weirdmageddon begins...

27. dipper learning to take pain rather than bill flipping the switch,,, is that because bill wants to it be authentic or because he knows flipping that switch would be too noticeable?

thank you thank you thank you sm!!! again, i'm sure i'll be back with more, but that's just from my first read through in a while!

Oh yeah I've been spending all my spare time replying?? Truly I could yap about my own series for days, this has legitimately been so so enjoyable for me!!

1. Yeahhhh, it would not go well, especially with how much more impressionable young minds are. Dipper would have no clue who Bill was, but still have a pact bond with him, still have him able to possess him whenever he wanted... A dark AU to consider.

2. Dipper is sort of aware of this pedestal? But he's determined that he set himself there, not Bill. He has intentionally set himself up to be that way for Bill because of his whole "I can fix him" mentality. He wants Bill to think he can fix him, too (and he kinda does?). But who he is on that pedestal, as far as he's concerned, is still himself.

3. The nature of the custody argument is yet to be revealed... But hooooo boy, can't wait to write that one! We stan Stan as a parent stand in for these kids; he's not perfect but he's better for these kids than their parents are!

4. For as much crap as Ford gets from the fandom, I love my boy! He really does care so much about them. They're just kids, they're twins, and to him, they start as a wholesome reminder of himself and Stan when they were that age. He's protective and caring! He also bends down to their level to talk to them multiple times in canon, and I love that for him! He also is someone I love to whump, so be prepared. :)

5. Not really? She knows his whole relationship with Bill and the way it's escalating is dangerous, but she's not aware of how all Bill works, exactly, so she doesn't know how significant that is.

6. Yes!! They're basically ringing in the New World Order (fitting to use an Illuminati term, no?)

7. :)

8. Pretty much, yeah. Bill still wants to be able to convince Ford to join him, and is hoping by cultivating a bond of trust between him and Dipper, he'll still be able to do that.

9. Yes! Dipper gets the chance to defend his family and show off how powerful he is, so he'll take it! Best of both worlds, really.

10. :)

11. They will ✨ not ✨

12. It is wheat! I'm impressed you picked up on that specific symbolism in it; in canon, it's wheat, but the symbolism is more in Dipper's perception that he's pretty sure it's wheat. Bill helped him be reborn, after all. :)

13. Sort of a gift to themselves. More on this to come. :)

14. One can only wonder...

15. Dipper is quite a good actor and it helps that he actually does like Ford. Mabel is definitely a bit smarter than Dipper gives her credit for, though, and more observant.

16. She won't notice until later. :)

17. :)

18. Yes! And his mom has always been emotionally manipulative,, as well, playing the victim and guilting Dipper into doing things for her. Dipper feels he's received the same from Mabel, though admittedly not maliciously. But yeah, Mabel doesn't even know about the divorce :)

19. Bill found it more important in the moment to preserve the idea that Mabel has no idea Dipper is being possessed, because he thought switching in the middle of the heated conversation might tip her off, and she might say something. Ford is a bit easier to deal with, and Bill doesn't need him, he just wants him. (But yes, it was a warning.)

20. Yes!

21. :)

22. Who's to say? :)

23. We'll see how things play out! Coming soon...

24. Oh, he did! But he'll be wearing it again now that the cat's out of the bag.

25. :)

26. A bit of both?? Switching a flip completely would be too noticeable and would have some negative side effects. He also wants Dipper to mirror him, and he learned naturally, himself.

no problem!! Thank you so much, really, this is sincerely so much fun!!!!

[cookiekitkat8484]

dipper hcs

This is super long, like 2000 words super long because i have a huge hyperfixation and cringe culture is dead. he reminds me of me and my friends/family so i have a million ideas. split into topics for reading convenience

low 20s, autistic, bi + demi with a preference for women, ftm. I totally understand people disliking ftm dipper because of stan and mabel making fun of his masculinity and it would be shitty in canon but this is my post so i make the rules bitch and am pretending that never happened. None of this is ship stuff. I imagine him to basically look like the lovley art in this post.  

shares an apartment with mabel in portland, completely full of nerd memorabilia, stacks of boardgames, mabels diys, a conspiracy corkboard, and arts & crafts materials 

works in a bar/arcade where wendy bartends, calls soos and fidds when he needs help fixing machines

pet ferret called pippin

started his own journal 

pacificas plus one to her prissy rich person events, sit in the corner and shit talk

carries around fidget toys, was too embarrassed till mabel convinced him (partially because his pens kept exploding everywhere)

has protective runes tattooed 

mabel talks about astrology to be annoying, is baited into getting mad and rambling about how modern astrology is fake and a scam every single time

nervous driver, doesnt have a car but is sometimes driven by mabel in her heavily adorned funmobile; worries about her "enthusiastic" driving

helps mabel dye her hair after a three am hair emergency, got really good and started bleaching pacificas till she decided to chop it and grow it out natural (refused money from her parents after moving out), which used to be the ultimate gossip sessions

joint problems and pain, god awful posture

one sided beef with all of mabels partners till they “prove themselves”

doesnt believe in cooking like he (mainly) used to not believe in laundry

punched someone for making fun of mabel, got beat up so mabel kicked their asses (thank you stan and wendy for her "training")

only social media is reddit, an instagram account made and run by pacifica, youtube, and a tumblr on nerd/mystery stuff 

only has tumblr bc candy convinced him in like 2014 then he succumbed to the brain rott, they're mutuals and make weird references no one else gets, personalises blog extensively via html/css, had a brief superwholock phase in 2015 (fight me)

coded mabels laptop into a custom 2000s esc blinged out hellscape she made in graphic design class, got her rgb stuff bc she likes rainbows and he thinks its funny

occasionally clashes with mabel bc shes sensory seeking and he gets sensory overload

pacifica takes him clothes shopping bc otherwise he will literally never buy new clothes, sometimes go thrifting with mabel the thrift god

mildly dyslexic and in denial

needs glasses but usually wears contacts because he finds them annoying then forgets to take them out

wears glasses when he misses the grunkles

Sugar addict like mabel and their pantry shows it 

Best nerd shirt collection, like, that's all he wears

Gets into online arguments way too much for no reason 

Mabel makes like ten different protective friendship bracelets with unicorn hair so he could have options, just wears all of them at once

uni

journalism major with a minor in computer science 

takes history, pure maths, and film units as electives 

member/helps run the clubs for DnD [DD&MD], MTG, Warhammer, and scifi & fantasy appreciation

founder and president of the uni cryptozoology, supernatural, aliens, and occult society (CSACS)

gets ford to proof read his writing/math and fidds his code

attends lectures for units hes not even enrolled in for fun

has gotten into multiple arguments with professors, including ones that dont even teach him 

has read theory (all people who’ve read theory are annoying including myself)

hobbies

goes to cons with mabel, she helps with (/mainly makes for him) matching cosplays to fill the trick or treating void

once met spock and kirks actors and got so excited he passed out so mabel took pics of him on the floor next to them and she thinks its the funniest thing to ever exist

DMs multiple online DnD [DD&MD] and ttrpgs groups, 3.5e truther

competes in MTG tournaments 

does karaoke night with mabel and the gals atleast once a month, sometimes brings pacifica 

goes to the renaissance fair with the squad where him, mabel, ford, and soos all dress up and get super into character with melony; wendy and stan take shrooms and go to watch the sword fighting 

listens to DnD podcasts 

ex band kid and still plays Sousaphone, often to mabels dismay 

obsessed with boardgames and hosts boardgame nights, always makes everyone play super overcomplicated ones then has to play monopoly when its stan and mabels choice

almost always wins boardgames and knows how every mechanic works, has only occasionally lost to ford (who is a sore loser lol)

has had risk games last multiple days after its only him and ford left

bonds with mabel and soos painting figures (warhammer, dnd, the usual) and embraces her covering hers in glitter and gems

goes ghost hunting, has a shit tone of real gear from ford and fidds and sometimes vlogs, quotes buzzfeed unsolved

secret AO3 account, caught grunkle stan writing dutches approves fics but both have sworn an oath of secrecy 

wendy taught him skateboarding, doesnt do tricks (uncoordinated as shit) but uses it as transport

broke bc he cant resist collectables 

made his own pc from scratch using parts he bought and custom ones made by fidds

goes to local band concerts with wendy and her gang including watching wendy play drums

Did debate in highschool, usually gets nervous doing public speaking but gets so invested he forgets; is second speaker

tech guy for productions mabel is in

games 

loves all strategy and puzzle games

fav games include fallout 1&2, nethack, xcom, civ, FTL, and dwarf fortress

ford and fidds play games they used to play before the portal accident with him eg. zork, MUD1, rouge, star trek, colossal cave adventure, and mystery house

plays portal 2 with ford and sometimes mabel

plays baldurs gate with mabel and she spent five hours doing character customisation, he plays wizard and she plays bard and both are total stereotypes

played lethal company and phasmophobia with mabel, soos, wendy, grenda, and candy (goes as expected) (lots of screaming)

BDG unravelled fan and grew up on matpat but cant play fnaf or ddlc bc giffany 

had a breakdown playing dark souls and started crying at 2am so mabel banned it permanently

spectacularly bad at rhythm games but will play with mabel anyway and she completely sweeps, esp in arcades and just dance

plays bishi bashi with the gang and have broken the machine multiple times

really good at retro arcade games, shares strats with soos and remembers all the combos for everything; helps kids beat levels at work

gets ford to help optimise game stats/teams/strats with the POWER OF MATHS !!!, has on occasion coded algorithms to assist 

forced everyone to play among us constantly for like three months straight

member of mabel, candy, and grendas chaotic nightmare of a minecraft server, usually offline and generally regrets it when he joins; more of a terraria guy

undertale kid

ports/emulates games himself, esp retro console stuff like old fire emblem, Zelda, earthbound

in the ace attorney fandom  

runs a server for online friends he plays games with

shows/movies

does annual lotr (extended edition) marathons with ford, mabel drifts in and out of watching because snacks and that legolas and arwin are both a “total smash” (elf apreciator)

loves all scifi, including classics like star trek, star wars, ext.

watches doctor who with mabel (shes a david tennant enjoyer) including the super old stuff, replies with one of the classic who doctors when people ask his fav and confuse them 

goes to old scifi/horror/fantasy rerun marathons, wendy joins depending on the films

watches scifi and mecha anime with soos and fidds, sometimes ford joins

loves evangelion, knows cruel angels thesis in japanese, lowkey a shinji kinnie and is bullied ruthlessly 

watches candys exquisite curation of 90s shoujo with her, mabel, and grenda; wont admit he gets super into it but has been caught doing sailor moon magical girl transformation poses 

watched madoka magica with the gals and was kuybey hater #1 from the start

never shuts the fuck up about theories and guesses the end of movies unless mabel smothers him with a pillow

hate watches conspiracy theory/ghost hunting shows with wendy bc theyre either laughably wrong or so close and totally missing the obvious, except this one random guy who was somehow spot on (like doug forcett in the good place) 

Made to watch all of twilight at a girls night because mabel (mostly) watched lotr, cant stop overthinking the insane lore implications which somehow get worse with every book fact mabel tells him (because what the fuck ???? the world building is batshit), him and candy keep periodically saying effervescent and bursting into hysterics to the others confusion

still quotes star wars bad lip readings with mabel

books

favs include hitchikers guide to the galaxy, discworld, lotr, do androids dream of electric sheep, earthsea, dune, and HP lovecraft esp cuthullu 

him and ford have both read the salmirilion and make it everyones problem

likes classic scifi and early cyberpunk, esp spec fic thats wacky or raises ethical questions to ponder with ford

loves sherlock homes and agatha christie, big who dunnit story fan

read good omens bc mabel likes the show (again, david tennant enjoyer) and its terry pratchet + neil gaiman, tries to get her to read the book for ages and eventually she listens to the audiobook

music

owns spirit phone on vinyl, made ford listen once and accidentally gave him flashbacks

likes lemon demon, TWERP, starbomb, NSP, tally hall, will wood, and other nerd bands 

they might be giants and potusa enjoyer

can and will recite the entirety of the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny at the drop of a hat

went through a midwest emo phase, still listens to csh

listens to vocaloid with candy; went to a concert with the gals and everyone learnt the dances, mabel decorated their light sticks 

always ends up belting [B]ABBA when drunk

Fav [B]ABBA songs are disco girl and under attack 

weezer defender, bullied by mabel and wendy

listens to math rock with ford while stan complains the time signatures and polyrhythms (though he’d never bother to learn the terms) give him a headache 

listens to game OSTs and chiptune stuff

mabel got him into musicals, knows the words to hamilton, bmc, and dear evan hansen, sing duets together

trans 

once forgot to take off a too small binder for like two days and fainted, mabel made him a custom one

short king, used to have hight dysphoria

mabel alters his pants bc mens trousers are evil for the transmasc gang

didnt shave ever when he first got his wiskers till pacifica staged an intervention 

forgot to tell stan he was trans till he got body hair and stan joked it was his genetics to thank, dipper responded he was lucky the T was actually effective

drinking/drugs

cant smoke weed or he gets suuuuper paranoid, only smoked once w wendy and tried to smoke more to calm down but just ended up greening hard

drinks alcoholic ginger beer and indie APIs wendy recommends, though shes more of a whisky and scotch

super low alcohol tolerance, doesnt drink often

drinks mabels own recipe cocktail monstrosities when she convinces him they wont get shitfaced, always ends up shitfaced because theyre 100% alcohol + sugar and mabels tolerance is like double his; always eventually ends with him trying to explain lotr poorly

once drank so much caffeine he started hallucinating 

tripsits mabel (LSD legend) and sometimes wendy (totally does shrooms), again is neurotic and should under no circumstances take hallucinogens 

sometimes smokes cigs when stressed, tries to hide it but is laughably bad, will ocasionally bum a cig off wendy

[director-yomi-hellsmile]

ok so we know the charlies warrior cats equivalent but do bill or ford or any of the sillers from gravity falls have one

Dipper and Mabel remind me of Alderheart and Sparkpelt respectively but that's just vibes only and because I think the fandom used to compare them that one time I don't actually think they're that similiar. I would never compare my boy Dipper to the likes of Aldershit he doesn't deserve it

Billford though... The closest thing to me is whatever the fuck happened with Ashfur & Shadowsight/Squirrelflight quick breakdown

Ashfur is a morally fucked ghost in cat heaven after he got murdered by his ex-crush's daughter after he tried to murder his ex-crush Squirrelflight and her kids because she didn't want to fuck him and it made him emo. Fandom has been calling him an incel. And also drawinf him with beautiful blood stained bangs since the dawn of day

Ashfur many years after dying (and residing in cat heaven, as previously mentioned) just starts manipulating Shadowsight from when he was a child. Originally when he was still a baby he was actually helpful but also intructed him once that he "can save the Clans if he jumps into a large body of water" and Shadow just did that cause he was a stupid baby. He did help save the day though so thanks guardian angel Ash

Ashfur eventually realized that he can exploit the power that he has in cat heaven via finding a way to possess nearly-dead living cats. So Bramblestar (a leader of ThunderClan, another Cla than Shadow's, and also very importantly: Squirrelflight's actual husband she left him for and who he appointed deputy) gets sick one day and Ashfur, being the silly goofy guy he is, instructs Shadowsight to tell the other medic-priests-things present (Shadow is a medic-priest-thing himself, but he's still an apprentice) that the only way to save him is to bury him in snow. This kills Bramble. Ash snatches his body before Bramble can revive. Bramble can revive because leaders get nine lives and shit

Ashfur just pretends to be Bramble whilst possessing him and becomes a hyper ultra mean wacky dictator (they don't notice that Bramble acts different because Bramble was already a fucking asshole) and becomes mega controlling of Squirrelflight and it is said that they spend a lot of time together in his den which is implying that they had cat sex. A lot. While Squirrel didn't actually know that was her dead stalker and not her husband. Fun

Anyway there's a rebellion Squirrel decides she had enough and fakes her own death just to have some peace. Ash is very depressed over this until he finds out that was a prank. Also Shadow's disembodied ghost (he got nearly assassinated by Ash's goons that one time) visits him in his den but Ash can actually see him and they have a chat (derogatory)

Anyway he tyrannies a bit too close to the sun and they rebel and find him out and then keep him prisoner and then Shadowsight has to take care of him in his bush prison because they all blame him for this. Shadow hates it and Ash (still in Bramble' body, purposefully neglecting it and letting it get 10000 mats just to spite Bramble) tries to manipulate him again like "do you remember how we used to run" and Shadow is susceptible to it cause everyone hates him and then he lets him escape later

Ash immediately fucking bolts and gets to Squirrel and drags into Cat Hell with him through the Cat Hell Portal for a romantic date. Then he keeps her as prisoner in cat hell (Bramble and the other tortured souls are here too ig) and tries to get her to give him another chance because he's such a nice guy. He also commands an army of mind-controlled ghosts he trapped here and the cat hell residents that he got to work for him so there's that

Shadowsight eats poison so that he can temporarily kill himself and access cat hell and confront Ash. I don't remember how it went exactly but along the way he met a very nice demon who then got executed

Anyway uhhh Squirrel escapes and ignores him forever from that point on and then Ashfur has epic climax fight where a character Bristlefrost drags him down the cat hell death goo and then they both drown and their souls get destroyed in the goo and it's the end of Ashfur at last. Peace

I just. Had to get this off my chest. Cause what thebfuck

You go decide whether Squirrel or Shadow are more Ford coded. But Ash just kiiiiinda got "we have bill cipher at home" vibes

[animation-recaps-by-sean]

Gravity Falls Beyond the Woods Chapter 15

Dipper and his children learn the truth.

<- prev next->

The clone paced around his prisoners. “Stan’s party,” Dipper said. “ The clones I made. But they all died.”

The clone wagged his finger. “Not all of us. We were the ones who stole Robbie's bike. Remember.”

Dipper’s eyes widened. “Quattro! You look good. You haven't changed.”

It was true. His face looked like Dipper’s did when he was twelve. Although, he looked far more faded. “No I haven't.”His suit started making willy noises as steam emerged from the breast plate. The chest of the suit opened, and the clone walked out. It was Dipper when he was twelve complete with shorts and vest. “I remember the first time you and Mabel came back. The second summer. It was barely a year, but you both were so…tall, Mabel lost her braces, and you had Wendy’s old trapper hat. You had it longer than this old thing.” He gave his hat a tug. He looked down at his tiny hand. He opened and closed it. “I…We didn’t age. You just grew and grew while I was stuck as the awkward twelve year old.” Without the helmet, he spoke in his young cracking voice of a twelve-year-old. But there was a cold bitterness to it.

Rose noticed something. “Two of you stole Mr. Valentino’s bike. Right?” She turned to her father for confirmation.

“Tracy, I think he called himself.”

Quattro was silent for a moment. “Do you know what it's like to look at your own face on someone else everyday,” he whispered. “To be reminded that you are not you. He was gonna kill me. I had to do it first. I had to. He made me.” His voice was pleading, despite. “But it's okay. I don’t need him. I never did.” From an unnoticed corner he pulled out several cardboard cutouts. Stan, Soos, Mabel and Wendy. Even Pacifica and Ford. Crudely drawn. He took the Mabel one and shook it around. “Hey Dipper, long time no see!” “Yeah dawg. Wanna see me test a ramp I made.” Rose and the others looked on in terror. He moved on to the Ford and Pacifica ones. “Yes, indubitably.” “Whatever.” “I was made before you met them. I don’t really know what they're like.” The clone admitted.

Dipper could feel the terror coming from the kids. At least his first encounter with the supernatural was with goofy gnomes who didn't even know what marriage really meant. But Rose, Tyrone, and the others tripped right into the deep end. Out of all the times Dipper had almost died, this was the scariest. So he thought it was best to get right to the point.

“What do you want?”

“I want my life back. I've been stirring the pot so to speak. Attacking the fairies, getting the government involved. All to get you back in here in good old Gravity Falls. Of course I had to promise the men in black something in return for delivering you to me.” Quattro threw back a pair of dusty curtains. There was the statue of Bill Cypher, hand extended.

“Cypher. Quattro, I don't know what you think you're doing but you can't trust him. He's using you.”

“Well, let's see what he has to say!” The clone grabbed Bill's extended hand. Everyone shouted in terror, but nothing happened. Quattro removed his hand. “He didn't say anything. He can't. He's just a statue. If the government wants to waste time on a hunk of rock, that's their prerogative. As long as I get you brother.”

Dipper gritted his teeth. “Well, you have me. Let the kids go.”

“Eh, I didn’t want them here. The faye got them involved. But they've seen too much at this point.”

“And whose fault is that?” Spat Tyrone.

Dipper sighed. “Why do you want me?”

Quattro ran his hand over the wall. “Do you know this place father? I have been told you’ve been here before.”

Dipper took a second look around. “It's the ship.” It was the place Ford was almost taken that first summer. Where they glued the riff containment.

Rose's eyes lit up. “The ufo!”

“UFO stands for unidentified flying object. A) it's not flying. And B) it's identified. It's a spacecraft.”

“Regardless. Stanford and McGucket mined this place for parts for their inventions. The carpet, the mind ease gun, the photocopier that made me. We found this place hiding from the rain. Just a drop of water could maim us, or even kill us if it hit the right spot. But that won't matter soon. With the right tools, I've been able to make this!” He pulled down a shagged carpet. “Once I get this baby working like the original. I'll get to be me again.”

“You’re stealing my body.”

“Steal it, dump you in the rain and watch you melt. Once I'm you I'll wipe the brats memory. Easy peasy.”

“Okay. Quattro, I can only imagine how hard everything's been for you. Listen, I can help you find a new life.”

“I DON'T WANT A NEW LIFE, I WANT MINE! You, you can't understand. You who got everything. You found the author, who was a relative, you're a respected paranormal researcher.”

“Respected is a strong word.”

The clone held Dipper’s arm. “Look, are these muscles? How did we get muscles?” Dipper thought about the variety of near death experiences that lead to his current physical state. “You even got Wendy! WENDY! You don’t get to pawn me off when you got everything you ever wanted. I, I miss Mabel. I miss my mom. And I will get them back!”

Wendy Was driving around the back roads when Puck appeared in her front seat. She nearly hit a tree as she came to a stop. Wendy reached for her ax when Puck raised her hands.

“Peace, peace. Why would you hurt your friend?”

“Friend? You took my daughter!”

“That was the Queen's orders. Couldn't disobey those. And it was your own people who took your husband. But I know where they are. They are both in the same place.”

Wendy narrowed her eyes. “Why should I believe you?”

“Well, I can't do anything to make you believe me. All I can do is tell you and the choice to believe will be yours.” Puck leaned close to her ear. “They are where the metal star hit the Earth.” And with that the imp was gone.

Wendy rubbed her eyes. If Dipper lived through this, she was gonna have time fairy proof the car. Metal star…Like a meteor? Or like a…Ship! She remembered Dipper excitedly explaining about how he and Stan 2 explored a crush space from like the paleozoic era or something. She backed up onto the road. ‘Don't worry’, she thought. ‘Mama's coming.’

[kat-reich-4222000]

Gravity Falls Hunger Games AU continued...

To continue on the Gravity Falls Hunger Games AU by @divine-draws here's what I had in mind, that Fiddleford has used the memory gun on himself a few times, but his invention gets taken by Bill and is used on anyone who would oppress his power, so Fiddleford finds a way to fake his death and escape the Capitol to the remains of district 13. As for the rest, I had this in mind, to @divine-draws if you see this, years later Stan is made a mentor for district 12 after all the other ones died out or disappeared, and his brother Shermie marries and is later a grandfather to twins, Dipper and Mabel Pines. So Stan would be in the same position as Haymitch, while Dipper and Mabel are Peeta and Katniss. Mabel has a pet pig named Waddles whom she rescued from slaughter, and she and her brother have learned archery, and how to hunt in the forest of their district since their family can't get enough to eat no thanks to the Capitol, so they find reason to sneak out into the forest and hunt animals that come by, but Mabel makes a strict rule to not have Waddles hunted for food. While trading off their latest kill, Dipper and Mabel find these pine tree and shooting star pins, and wear them as they're dragged to the Reaping. Mabel's name gets called out by Shandra Jimenez playing the role of Effie, much to Dipper's worry, and another boy's name gets called out, in a panic Dipper calls out to volunteer as tribute to be with his sister. And to their surprise, their great uncle Stan is their mentor and didn't want either of them to get caught in the games, but will do all he can to hope both his kids survive the Hunger Games, if his brother Ford wasn't head game maker. So Dipper and Mabel would be in the plot of the first Hunger Games, where they build up their archery skills and are presented on TV dressed to impress as they are being prepared for the death sentence event, and both twins didn't want to kill each other to see who's the last one standing, as Stan tries to give them tips and pointers on what they need to know about the games, while both twins are being adored by the Capitol just by being in the Hunger Games together, and betting whichever the odds may be in which twins' favor. Meanwhile, Ford realized that he has a niece and nephew and was never told about them, so he comes face to face with Stan after many years apart, claiming why he's never met the kids before, and Stan coldly reminded his brother that Ford is the reason his own family was pushed to the lowest of districts. As Dipper and Mabel are put in the arena, they separate and promise to meet each other later when their are less tributes, which leads them both to end up surviving and killing the last of the tributes as Stan does all he can to make sure they get the resources they needed to survive, Ford had announced that if two tributes from the same district survive, they would both win, but as Dipper and Mabel were the last two standing, Bill makes Ford reinstate his announcement stating their can only be one victor, but Dipper and Mabel didn't have it in them to kill each other, so they took out the poison berries, and as they were about to eat them, Ford shouted in the announcer to stop them, and announced them both the winners. Which stirred trouble for Ford, Bill had Ford electrocuted as punishment for saving his niece and nephew, and if Ford were to ever go against the Capitol again, he will be hijacked. Dipper and Mabel go home as victors, but after surviving that terrifying and traumatic tournament, those two haven't been the same, Dipper can't read his codes or favorite books without being reminded of the number of people he had to kill. Mabel can't knit the colorful sweaters she use to before the games, she knits executions, corpses, and blood on her sweaters. And it gets worse for them at the Quarter Quell, as by dirty odds, Dipper and Mabel are called back into the games along with other living tributes of past Hungers Games', by Bill's order to stop the rising rebellion threat started by Dipper and Mabel. @divine-draws

[portalford]

I Can Picture You So Easily

AO3

It hits Stan at the stupidest times.

Well.  That makes it sounds like Stan just forgets, when really it never quite goes away — sometimes it’s just more.

Like now.

He’s looking in the mirror — he found it tucked way, way back in a closet (and he’s gonna skip right over that because when he got here the mirror in the bathroom was broken, cracked until you couldn’t see a thing and why was Ford—nope) — and he’s trying out a new look for Mr. Mystery.

Gotta keep it fresh, right?  Accessorize?

Glasses aren’t accessories, unfortunately.  He can’t go without them anymore.

(Really, he needed them years ago, but he was too stubborn to admit it, or too broke, or whatever, but he’s literally tripping over his own feet now.  Needs must).

Ford wouldn’t be caught dead in this getup.  No sense of fashion.  So that’s fine.

The glasses—

(Ford started wearing glasses when he was six.  Stan had laughed himself silly when they went to the drugstore and tried on the biggest, most obnoxious frames they could find.  Ma had scolded, but she’d been too distracted checking price tags to do more than scold.

In the end, they went with some cheap horn-rimmed frames that Stan wouldn’t be caught dead in even now.  Old-man glasses, at six.  But that was Ford all over).

—they bring some stuff up.  The twin thing sucks, sometimes.  

(Looking in a mirror and seeing the changes, the lines in his face, the grey in his hair — does Ford have crow’s feet now?  Is his hair going silver?  It was always unmanageable — is it thinning like Stan’s is now, or is it still thick and flyaway, like it was when Ford was sixteen?  Did he even live long enough to get lines in his face and aches in his joints, or is he forever twenty-eight, dead somewhere in the universe?)

Time to stop thinking.

Notice the differences.

Stan’s ears and nose are bigger than Ford’s, always have been.  He’s heavier and his shoulders are broader.

(Has Ford gotten bulkier, fighting to survive?  Or is still he halfway to gaunt, like the last time Stan saw him?)

Definitely time to stop thinking.

Stan flashes a smile, and yeah, that’s all him.  Cheerful, magnetic, and a hundred percent fake.

Time to work the crowds.

*****

There’s an ad for the nice ink pens Ford saved up to buy when he was fourteen.

Stan turns it off.

*****

Mabel finds a picture, once.

“Grunkle Stan!”  Her eyes are all lit up as she shows him the torn photograph.  “I found this under a floorboard in the attic!”

If Stan ever had any doubts about his poker face, he can lay them to rest now. It’s all on the ropes and his expression is perfectly level, maybe even a little curious.

Mabel is still talking.  “I didn’t know there were pictures of you before you were all old!  Do you have any others?”

Oh.

Stan still forgets sometimes, even after everything, that most people can’t tell him and Ford apart.

He knows better.

The young man in the photograph is unmistakably Ford, taken while he was living in Gravity Falls.  He’s got his head bent over that journal of his, but the photographer managed to catch the eager light in his eye, the edge of his smile.

Stan wonders who that photographer was, all those years ago.

A tug at his shirt reminds him he’s not alone, and he definitely can’t get messed up about this picture of his secret twin brother.

Mabel’s face has fallen a bit.  “Grunkle Stan?  Are you okay?”

Stan gives himself two more seconds to look at the picture — Ford just looks so happy; Stan can’t even remember the last time Ford looked like that, even before it all fell apart — and turns to Mabel.

“Yeah,” he says.  He smiles and ruffles her hair.  “Pretty good picture, huh?”

*****

The name is the worst.

Stan never thought identity theft could involve so little fun.

Usually he can get away with just “Stan Pines,” and that’s fine.  That’s his name.  That’s who he’s supposed to be.

Sometimes, though, that’s not enough for whoever’s asking.

“What did you say your name was again?”

He smiles.  Lays it on thick.  “Stanford Pines.”

“Could you sign here?”

He does.  His blocky, uneven handwriting looks even worse than usual where he’s expecting to see neat, flowing script, the way Stanford Pines is supposed to be written.

“This is Stanford Pines,” someone will say.  “Mr. Mystery.”

Stan smiles some more.  Yes, Stanford Pines is certainly that.

Gideon is the worst.  Stanford this and Stanford that and Stan’s never wanted to punch a child so much in his life.

“Stanford Pines!”

He smiles, and he lies.

*****

Dipper halfway drives him nuts sometimes.

It’s not like the kid’s a mini-Ford — he reminds Stan enough of himself, sometimes, though Stan’s not sure that’s great either — but he’s got the brains and the stubbornness and the love of weird nonsense, for sure.

He’s also got that obsessive edge, the drive that sent Ford right off the metaphorical cliff.

Usually Mabel tags along on the weirdness hunts — they make a day of it.  They go out, just the two of them, and come back laughing and joking and shoving at each other.

That’s enough of a painful reminder, but sometimes Stan will catch Mabel sitting by herself, coloring or crafting with a little less energy than usual, and he’ll realize that Dipper’s buried himself in monster theory again.

He tries to keep the kid busy with chores and hustle, but it’s a losing battle.

It was the first time, too.

*****

There’s this old song that Ford used to love when they were younger.

It’s got no words, and Stan used to make fun of it — what's the point of a song with no words?  But Ford insisted it had Meaning, capital M.

It comes on the radio now and then.

Depending on how masochistic Stan is feeling that day, he might let it play.

He still wonders what Ford heard in this song, and if Ford would hear it now.

*****

He realizes, one day near the end, that he’s been Stanford longer than he’s been Stanley.

What’s the point, really?  What does a name matter if it’s so easy for someone else to take your place?

(Did Ford matter so little, in the grand scheme of things, that not one person could recognize him in a place he lived for six years?

Does Stan, in a place he’s lived for almost thirty?)

If he could just stop catching Ford in his reflection now and then, that’d be great.

*****

It’s not any better once Ford gets back (once Stan brings Ford back, the ungrateful bastard).

“Stanford!”

Stan’s got a smile on his face before he even turns around, and what’s wrong with him that he’s halfway made this lie into a Pavlovian response?  Someone calls him Stanford, he smiles and lies.

(Stanford — the real Stanford — is in the basement right now.  He doesn’t even exist, as far as anyone else is concerned.  Stan is Stanford, Stanley is dead, and Ford is a nonentity.

What a life this is).

*****

“So how was it?”

Stan grunts.  “How was what?”

Ford rolls his neck, wincing a little as he works out the unavoidable crick from hunching over a drawing for twenty minutes.  “Being me.”

Stan shrugs.  “Wasn’t hard.  We’re basically the same person, y’know.”

Ford snorts.  A long time (a lifetime) ago that comment might have gotten him worked up, but he’s steadier now, softer around the edges.  “Very funny.  I saw your lease renewal.  You didn’t even change your handwriting, for heaven’s sake.”

“Ford, I rolled up to town, said I was you, and started a tourist trap.  You had a total personality transplant and nobody noticed.”  Stan grimaces.  That sounded really bad.

Ford’s expression has gone rueful and a little sad at the edges, but he doesn’t seem like he’s about launch into full-blown self-recrimination, so that’s fine.  “Yes, well.  That’s what happens when you isolate yourself for six years and your only friend erases his mind to cope with the mistakes you made.”

And that’s Ford trying to shoulder all the blame again, but Stan keeps his mouth shut.  They’re both too comfortable to argue right now.  “Being honest — for once — it kinda sucked.”  Ford’s looking at him, open and encouraging, so Stan keeps going.  “Everyone thought I was you, and it—I wasn’t.  I didn’t want to be.”  Stan shrugs.  “I wanted you you.”

Ford smiles, and it’s a little more worn than Stan remembers, but it’s real, and it’s him.  “I understand.  I met a few parallel versions of you on my travels, and they were you, but — they weren’t really you.”  Ford closes his journal (his new one) and sets it aside, tipping his head back over his chair.  More playfully, he adds, “I wouldn’t want to be you either, Stanley.”

Stan laughs.  “Yeah?  Couldn’t handle the salesmanship?”

“Have more self-respect than to wear any part of your wardrobe.”

“Says the man who wears sweaters in the summer.”

Ford lifts his head and smiles, and this time it’s almost exactly how Stan remembers — quick and a little crooked.  “Fair enough.”  Ford stretches, rolls his neck again.  “For what it’s worth, Stanley, I am glad to be back.”  A wry look.  “Even if it’s going to take ages to sort out the criminal record you gave me.”

Stan slouches deeper into the couch.  Any further and he’s going to slide off, but that’s a risk he’ll take.  “Yeah, yeah.  Talk to me when you’re legally dead.”

“You did that.”

“And?”

“I legally don’t exist.”

“I was trying to learn theoretical physics at the time, Stanford; cut a man some slack.”

Ford laughs, quiet.  “Did I ever thank you for that?”

Stan cracks an eye open.  He didn’t realize he closed them.  “What, learnin’ physics?  Because I’m pretty sure that’s some of the stuff that’s not coming back.”

Ford rolls his eyes.  “For saving me.”

“Hm.”  Ford’s thanked him several times, but lately it’s been less Ford kicking himself and more Ford cautiously trying to engage in the old back-and-forth they used to have, and Stan can get behind that one.  “I dunno.  Might have to say it again.”

“You’re burning through my gratitude very quickly,” Ford says mildly, “but all right.  Thank you for saving me.  You knucklehead.”

Stan never got called that when he was Ford.  He thinks he’s missed it, at least the way Ford says it — like it means something completely different.

“Uh-huh.”  Stan’s eyes are closed again.  He figures he’ll just leave them closed.  “Missed you too, nerd.”

And maybe there’s something to be said for being your own person.

It feels pretty good.

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - How A Star Is Born ch.IX

Hercules AU, founded by @evaroze, whom this fic is a gift for. I hope y’all like it!

ch.VIII - ch.X

AO3 link

~~~~~~~~~~

Mabel never thought the day would come when Grunkle Ford would ask her to go down to Earth. Sure, she was allowed to go visit as long as she was hidden and back at Olympus at a certain time, but she never thought she would be standing before her father-figure and be asked to specifically go down to Earth, but here she was.

“I… I want you to check on Stanley.” Grunkle Ford asked solemnly. “And Mason, too, for that matter. See if they’re alright.”

“Um… okay.” Mabel was a bit unsure if she dared believe his instructions. “You want me to go down there and pay them a visit?”

“No.” Grunkle Ford said. “I’m sorry, but no. I want to project yourself onto the art of Thebes and see if they’re alright. Bill says Stanley isn’t… with him, but he is very busy thanks to a small war in the Middle East. Do not make yourself known, simply see if they’re both okay.”

Mabel smiled slyly at him. “You want me to spy on our mortal family members?”

Grunkle Ford sighed and nodded. “Yes.”

“YES!” Mabel cheered and punched the air. “Finally, a chance to use my sneaky peaky spy skills!” And she ran out of the temple, tripping and breaking a vase along the way.

And so Mabel went down to Earth, traveling from statue to statue, painting to painting, floor art to floor art, all throughout Thebes. She had never been to the Big Olive and was excited to see the new place and to find Dipper and Stan’s home.

It was well into the night at this point. The stars twinkled and the night air was warm and soothing. Mabel thought he heard a familiar voice filled with laughter, and she looked down the street and grinned widely from the stem of a birdbath. She was ecstatic to see her brother on a date with a beautiful young lady; she decided to follow them and listen carefully. This was also good reassurance that Stan was okay; Dipper wouldn’t have left his side otherwise.

“Wow, what a day.” Dipper sighed. “Dinner by the ocean, that play… oh boy, I thought I had problems.”

Pacifica and Dipper both laughed, but one was having to force it more than the other. Slowly, steadily, Pacifica could feel herself becoming distracted. She had to focus. Her freedom was on the line. Still, as much of a nerd Wonderboy may be, able to tell the measurement of an item by glancing at it and solve impossible equations in his head in a second, he was actually a really nice guy. Getting tired of pretending, she decided to try a bit harder to find Dipper’s weakness so this whole thing could end.

Walking down some steps, Pacifica faked a trip at the last step. Dipper caught her swiftly and Pacifica winced. “Ugh, I think I stepped funny, landed on my ankle wrong.”

“Ouch,” Dipper sympathized. While he may have super god-like strength, that didn’t mean he never twisted an ankle or bent a wrist wrong, a small pain but no damage or hardly an injury. “Here, we can sit for a sec.” And he scooped her up gently and carried her to sit on the edge of a giant water fountain, the same water fountain Mabel was projecting herself into the heart of the small wall, eagerly hoping her twin would at least get a kiss.

“Oh. Thanks.” Pacifica was a bit taken back by his extra effort in manners, but quickly reminded herself that with strength like his picking up a girl was nothing. So she moved on with her plan. “So, do you have any issues with weak ankles?”

“Hm? Oh. No, not really.” Dipper chuckled.

Pacifica giggled alongside him and sat closer. “Really? No trick knee?” She asked slyly. “No bad shoulder?”

Dipper was blushing heavily, a bit uncomfortable with the praise and trying to remain humble as he gave an honest answer. “No, I’m… I’m pretty healthy…” And his smile dropped at remembering that the same couldn’t be said for Stan.

Pacifica rolled her eyes, ready to give up on her quest. Bill would just have to find some other way to kill him. She then noticed how down Dipper appeared, much more so than he had been all night, and before she realized what she was doing, she asked, “Hey, you okay?” Pacifica instantly bit her lip. Why did she say that? And why did she actually care?

Dipper looked at her with heavy eyes and sighed tiredly. “It’s Stan. He’s… He’s not well.”

Pacifica softened a little. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Dipper looked up at the stars to make it easier to talk. “It’s just… he… I dunno. I was raised in an orphanage until I was twelve and went looking for him. Stan’s looked after me ever since, and… and he feels like family. I’ve never had one, and… it sometimes feels like he’s all I got.” Dipper was being very careful not to talk about the fact that he had a family waiting for him, but after only talking to Mabel here and there for so long, having never met them in the flesh or been at home, it sometimes felt like Stan was truly the only one there for him.

Pacifica scoffed and stood up to make some distance. “Family isn’t that great.”

Dipper blinked and stood to follow her down the street. “What do you mean?”

“I dunno, people just make such a big deal over families or whatever.” Pacifica complained. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. They’re just a bunch of people who would turn their backs on you just as quickly as anyone else.”

Dipper was a bit taken back by the harshness of her tone, but he shook it off to try to comfort someone who was clearly hurt. “That’s not true. Some families, sure, maybe. But not all families are like that.”

Pacifica gave him a sharp look. “How would you know?”

Dipper was a bit hurt by that, but it only made him more determined to change her mind. He took her hand as they were at the doorstep of his home, and he said firmly, “My family might be really small, and kinda broken, but it’s still an amazing family. We look after each other. We care for one another. And… And you could be a part of that.” Dipper bit his lip. Why did he say that? And why did he actually mean it?

It was Pacifica’s turn to be dumbstruck. She shook her clear to try to clear it and said, “I gotta go. Goodnight, hero.” And she kissed his hand, let go, and hurried down the street.

Dipper’s mouth was open so wide a fly nearly threw in, but luckily he coughed it out before he accidentally swallowed it. He brought his lucky hand up shakingly to smile at it, swearing he would never use it for anything ever again. Okay, maybe for one thing.

Mabel, meanwhile, knew that Pacifica liked Dipper and hurried after her, ready to perform a musical number to convince her to admit it and follow her heart and say she was in love, but as Pacifica hurried into the outdoor museum full of art, Mabel felt a chill go down her spine. She stopped at a brick wall-art of the sun and hid herself behind a bush, remembering her grunkle’s orders to stay hidden, just in case.

A small pyramid glowed yellow and with a small poof the triangle with a black toga appeared, smiling (as much as one can without a mouth) at Pacifica. Mabel stared, a little confused; this must be Grunkle Ford’s friend, the one Uncle Fiddleford didn’t seem to like very much. Instantly she could understand why Uncle Fiddleford didn’t like him, but so far Bill hasn’t done anything to learn Mabel’s dislike, so she kept an open-mind and listened.

“Hey-o, Llama, so whatcha got?”

“Nothing.” Pacifica said coldly, her arms crossed.

“Nothing?” Bill repeated.

“Nothing. No weak spot, no bad nerves, no tricks. Nothing. He has no weaknesses.”

Bill growled in his throat, floating back and forth in a pacing kind of way, his black hands behind his back. “No! Everybody’s got a weakness! We just gotta find it!” The demon stopped as he looked at a statue of a couple in love. “Maybe… Ugh, if only Sixer wasn’t so overprotective of Shooting Star. We could use her as bait.”

Pacifica snorted. “Yeah, good luck getting your hands on her.”

“But maybe…” Bill held his… well, he doesn’t have a chin, but he did put a hand to the front of his body in that type of manner. “... there’s someone we can get our hands on.”

“What?” Pacifica asked, not seeming bored for the first time in this entire conversation. “You mean Stan? I guess… Dipper did say he was like family.”

Bill cackled. “Oh, if only he knew.” The triangle gasped and punched his hand with the side of his fist in thought. “Hey! We can use that! Great work, Blondie. Now c’mon, we got a whole galaxy to conquer!” And he swooped himself and Pacifica away in a burst of blue fire.

Mabel had both hands over her mouth to keep herself quiet. She had so many questions and was confused on a few things, but she did know this: Bill wanted to hurt Dipper. Bill wanted to take over the galaxy. And he was lying to Grunkle Ford.

Without another thought, Mabel dashed as fast as she could for home. She accidentally gave herself such bad tunnel vision out of fear and desperation that she didn’t hesitate until she was at the entrance of her shared temple with her great-uncle. The young lady peered his office to find him hunched over his work, finding it hard to concentrate with the fate of his brother on his mind. Mabel didn’t know much about Bill, despite being a fellow god, but she did know that Ford considered him a friend, so this would be difficult news to deliver.

Mabel gently knocked on the column beside her to alert her guardian of her entrance. He turned and smiled genuinely at her. “Mabel, I’m happy to see you’re home safe. How… How is Stanley?”

Mabel winced; she had completely forgotten to check on her long-distance uncle in the excitement of her brother’s date and the harsh discovery. “Grunkle Ford, I need to tell you something.”

Immediately Ford feared the worst. It was too late. He would never see Stan again, and it was all his fault. Mabel sat on the desk and took his six-fingered hands. He bit his lip and braced himself as Mabel looked down, trying to find her words. After a moment or two that nearly killed the immortal god, the young muse asked carefully, “Bill… Is he your friend?”

Ford felt the wind being kicked out of him from the shock. He could have cried, he was so relieved, but instead he laughed and nodded. “Yes! Yes, my dear, Bill is an old friend of mine. If it wasn’t for him, the world would still be in complete chaos. My leadership position, and really the existence of you and your brother, is all thanks to him. He helped me save the world.” He praised.

Mabel looked even more nervous; Ford had hoped that this answer would assure any worry she had, but clearly this wasn’t the case. Before the god could ask what was wrong, the muse said quietly, “I think he only helped you save it so he could have it someday.”

Ford blinked like a confused owl at her. “What… What are you talking about?”

“I… I think… no, I’m sure that…”

“STANFOOOOOOOOORD!”

Mabel and Ford turned to the direction of the call and ran for the exit of their temple. They watched Fiddleford use his super speed to dash to them, pale and stuttering with fear. “HONEY FOGELIN’, SALT-LICKIN’ SKULLDUGGERY! OH, WE’RE IN TROUBLE! OH!”

“Fiddleford, buddy, calm down.” Ford gripped him by the shoulders to give him a chance to breathe and adjust his small glasses. “What’s the matter?”

“We’ve got an army o’ monsters that are practically at our gates!” Fiddleford informed. “There’s only a few minutes until Olympus is overrun!”

“What?! Alert the other gods! Prepare for a counter attack! Go, go!”

“Gone, babe.” Fiddleford said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes and ran as fast as possible as he blew his trumpet loudly throughout Olympus.

“Mabel, sweetie, I want you to go keep an eye on your brother.”

“But…”

Ford whistled loudly and the giant goat, Gompers, came trotting toward. Ford lifted her like a child and ignored her kicking and squirming. “Grunkle Ford!”

“I’m not asking!” Ford growled and gave her a firm look. “I can’t lose you! I just can’t! Now I’m ordering you to go check on M-... on Dipper. Now go!” And he smacked Gompers to make him gallop off the mountain and down to the mortal world.

~~~~~~~~~~

Just a few minutes after Dipper arrived back home, thinking about his amazing date with Pacifica, he decided to check on Stan. After making sure he was nowhere else in the luxurious house, Dipper gently knocked on his teacher’s bedroom door. “Stan? You okay?”

Praying the old man was at least wearing a toga, he carefully opened the door, but was a little surprised to find the bed empty. After a quick look around the lavish bedroom, Dipper concluded that Stan wasn’t here. He closed the door and turned away, wondering if Stan had gone outside for some fresh air, but was suddenly greeted by a high-pitched laughter and the lit torches made of stone were now blue. Dipper looked all over and was startled to find a huge golden triangle with one eye staring at him.

“Hey there, kid, name’s Bill, big guy of the Underworld, nice to meet you.” Bill said, a smooth-fast talker like a chariot salesman.

“Uh, hi.” Dipper greeted with a small, hesitant wave. There was no way the Ruler of the Underworld, the most mysterious god of them all, would be paying him a visit unless it was important or he wanted something.

“So, listen, Pinetree,” Bill said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and floating alongside him, walking like they were old friends catching up. “I’m an old friend of your great-uncle, Stanford. He’s a fun guy, great god, you’re a lot like him, you know that? Anyway, so, as a friend of the family, I need a favor from you.”

Dipper wasn’t sure what to make of this. This was his first time meeting a god apart from Mabel, and now to be needed by one was a bit confusing. Why now? Was it possible he was on his way to becoming a true hero? Was he almost a god again? Was this a test? He smiled nervously and shrugged. “Uh, sure, what do you need?”

“Oh, boy, look at this guy! A real trooper he is! You’re alright, Sixer Jr!” Bill laughed and clapped his shoulder. “Now, I would be eternally grateful if you took a day off from this hero gig. I mean, c’mon, monsters, natural disasters…”

All hope that this visit was a good thing died. Dipper scowled and shook his head, shoving Bill’s hand off his shoulder. There was one reason and one reason only someone would want him to stop being a hero, even if it was only for a short time. “No way…”

“Not so fast,” Bill said coolly and he locked his own fingers cunningly. “Cuz I have something that might change your mind.” And he snapped his fingers.

Out of thin air an old man appeared in chains, on his knees. “Stan!” Dipper gasped.

“Dipper, what the h-...” And more chains covered his mouth.

Dipper ran for his teacher but Stan was gone before the young hero could help. “Let him go!” He dove for Bill, but only fell through him, like the demon was made of mist.

“Here’s the deal: you give up your strength for the next twenty-four hours,” And Bill snapped his fingers again and Stan reappeared, gagged and trapped. “And Knucklehead here is as free as a bird and safe, we dance, we kiss, we schmooze, we go home happy. Whatcha say, c’mon?”

Dipper stared at Stan, who was shaking his head. The young man looked away and then back at Bill. “People are gonna get hurt, aren’t they?”

“Nah,” Bill dragged, flicking his wrists downward and then instantly shrugging with his hands behind his back. “I mean, maybe, there’s a possibility, it happens cuz, y’know, life sucks. So what?” The triangle joined Stan and cupped his face teasingly. “Isn’t your great uncle more important than they are?”

Dipper opened his mouth to order him to stop, but his jaw fell and his voice was stolen from him. Bill smiled excitingly and asked, “Oo, struck a nerve, did I?” He laughed maliciously. “You seriously didn’t know he’s Sixer’s brother?! Oh, man! This is sad! Ever wondered why he had a grudge against Fordsie? Ever wondered why he even gave a worthless orphan the time of day to begin with? It’s cuz he only barely cared cuz you’re blood. Duh.”

“You’re lying.” Dipper said firmly. “Stan, he’s making it up, isn’t he?” He begged, his brown eyes on Stan, the same eyes that matched his own. “Because… you would have told me if it’s true… wouldn’t you?”

Stan looked away.

“Daw, don’t blame him, kid. It’s not his fault you didn’t inherit Mr. Lightning Bolt’s brains. Now, c’mon, you really wanna lose another pwecious famwy member?”

“OKAY!” Dipper yelled to get Bill to fall silent. There was a moment of pause and Stan stared at his nephew. “Okay… okay… But you gotta swear Stan won’t get hurt.”

“Fine, whatever. Stan won’t get hurt.” Bill said and walked towards the birthmarked hero, leaving Stan alone for a moment. “Otherwise you’ll get your strength right back, fine print, blah blah blah. It’s a deal?” And he held out a hand encased in blue fire.

Dipper hesitated, looking down at it, and that made Bill a little irritated, a dangerous game to play. Bill withdrew his hand. “Y’know I really don’t have time to bat this around, I got places to be, people to see, I need an answer, like, now. Going once, going twice…”

"It's a deal!" And Dipper ceased Bill's hand.

At once, the demon's thumb sharpened, cutting into Dipper's hand and seemed to be sucking the strength out of him. The young man sagged and Stan fought harder than ever to break free, but it was too late. Bill let Dipper go and he fell to his knees like a puppet with his strings cut off. One could say Dipper should have made sure he agreed to only give away his "god-like" strength, rather simply "strength," for this loophole left Dipper far weaker than any man, arguably weaker than an infant.

Bill cackled as he held his three-sided body and wiggled his legs in joy. "Thanks for the favor, Pinetree! Now if you'll excuse me, there's an entire cosmos out there with my name on it! Oh! Right, can't forget." Bill snapped his fingers and Stan was set free from his chains. "The guy ashamed to be your family is all yours, hero."

He instantly ran to Dipper's hunched-over body and rubbed his back. "Easy, buddy boy, I got you. It's okay."

Dipper swatted his hands away and groaned from the effort. "Stan… why… why didn't you say…"

Stan was hurt, but pushed it aside to focus on how hurt his nephew was. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I… I wanted to. Believe me, kid, I wanted to, but… I couldn't."

"Oh, and one more thing. Lil'Llama, thanks for the info." Bill sneered, curling a finger from the shadows to himself, and his slave emerged with her head down in shame. "A deal's a deal, you're free to go."

Dipper stared, heartbroken more so than ever. "Pacifica?"

"Hey, that's the blonde damsel from the river." Stan growled. "Tramp. C'mon, Dipper, let's get you to…"

"Don't." Dipper snapped as he steadily got to his own feet. "I… I can take care of myself…"

Stan withdrew his hand and took a step back, letting Dipper hold himself up by leaning on a column, catching his breath. The proud uncle bit his lip and was distracted from his misery and shame when a big bang could be heard outside.

He stood outside his home and his mouth was open as the sky was an unnatural sea of colors and the ocean was raging with waves that seemed to make everything it touched weird. Bushes were coming to life and eating ghosts. Old women were being turned into furniture. Men were going delusional and eating their togas. Stan cringed at the weirdness, and it only got worse when some big goblin-looking monster with Eight Ball eyes was bringing havoc to Thebes.

~~~~~~~~~~

The planets aligning created a weak spot in the dimension, and in the depths of the sea, Bill peered down and could practically see his old minions in the Nightmare Realm. “My friends!” He called, pointing a finger at the weak spot and tearing a whole in space-time. “We finally have a new home, boys! But one guy stands in our way. An obnoxious poindexter with six fingers. So, since I’ve given you guys a stable home, whatcha gonna do about it?”

“DESTROY HIM!”

“Good answer.”

And so, when Fiddleford was disturbed from his nightly slumber on a low cloud outside of Olympus, he screamed and ran as fast as he could to alter his friend and the leader of the gods. Huge monsters scaled the mountain. Flying eyeballs flew like bats and screeched, turning fighting gods into stone and flying them away.

With Mabel gone and no longer terrified for her safety, Ford stood on a tall cloud just inside the gates of his home and shot down bolts of lightning with his golden crossbow. The monsters were sturdy, and while the attacks did slow them down, the battle was not looking good for the gods. Ford caught his breath and was very disturbed when a giant gray-blue loaf of bread with arms and legs but no face broke down the gates.

“What’s our status?!” Ford asked his best friend.

“Everyone’s bein’ turned t’stone!” Fiddleford yelled as an eyebat shined a beam down at him. “Even me!”

“NO!” Ford threw his last bolt at the eyebat, but it swerved out of the way and scooped up Fiddleford’s frozen body.

Ford looked left and right, waiting for an idea to come to him, but he was too clouded with anxiety and worry that he failed to notice the huge, now three-dimensional demon behind him. “Fordsie, I’m home.” A shrill voice sang.

“Bill?” Ford breathed, his eyes narrowing in anger and he shook with rage. He should have listened to Mabel and knew he was behind this. He growled like an angry bulldog and tried to throw a punch, but with a lift of a finger Bill had total control over Ford’s body and made him float lifelessly in front of him.

“Well well, looks like you truly are as dumb as you look. Tell me, did you really think such a powerful being would ever be friends with a six-fingered monster?” Bill laughed evilly and moved two arms close, creating lava and ice to work together to encase Ford in a stony prison. “This dimension is mine, Sixer, and it’s all thanks to you.” He said as Ford climbed and crawled to try to escape, but was steadily being encased, like quicksand. “Now all I need to do is make sure those brats stay out of my way.”

“NO! NO!” Ford screamed. “NOT MY KIDS, YOU CA-...” And he was completely covered.

“I’m the one giving orders now, Freak.” Bill sneered and sat in his new throne the eyebats had made for him, made entirely out of gods and goddesses. “And I think I’m gonna like it here.”

[detectivejigsawpines]

Relatively Relativity-part 2 (Some adjustments required)

Eventually, the worst of the noise subsided.

Only for Mabel to take another look at her boy grunkles, and make them nearly jump out of their skins with her amazed and delighted squeal of, “Oh my gosh, you guys are so CUUUUUTEEEE!!!!”

“Gah!”  Stan saw the impending doom, and tried too late to escape from one of her arms snatching him up into a hug.  Seconds later Ford was grabbed by her other arm, and made a strangled noise as he had what felt like all of his air squeezed out of him.

Mabel actually lifted both of them off their feet in her enthusiasm, swinging them back and forth with far more strength than someone her age should have been capable of when they hadn’t spent years living on the streets or traveling the multiverse.  “You guys are just the most precious little pair of sweeties I’ve ever seen!  As soon as we get home I’m making you both tiny sweaters and taking a hundred pictures!!”

“Mabel-leggo-we need air-” Stan struggled, and finally just rolled up her sleeve and licked her arm.  Even though she was more often than not guilty of using the same tactic, it was enough to make her release them.

Dipper was by now curled up in the fetal position against a tree, rocking back and forth and gasping, “Not again, not again, this can’t be happening again!”  He glanced down at himself.  “I mean, at least I’m still in my own body, so that’s nice.”  He resumed rocking.  “But this still can’t be happening!”

“Okay, okay, everybody STOP!”

Ford waited until all eyes were on him, and then climbed up onto a nearby convenient tree stump.  He adjusted his glasses in a way that looked soothingly Ford-like even in his tiny child body and higher-pitched voice.  “Let’s all just calm down for a second.”

He glanced over at the flower, and saw with concern that it had wilted, with all the petals lying in a heap around the stem.

That can’t be good.

“...I think we all need to go home so I can examine that-” he pointed to the remains of the flower- “and figure out what kind of spell it cast on us.  This is nothing to panic over.”

“Nothing to panic over?!” Dipper demanded.  Fascinating; even with his voice fully developed he still managed to make it crack to an astonishing degree.  “Look at me, Grunkle Ford!  I’m old!”

“Yeah, and if ya don’t figure out how ta calm down you’re probably gonna start giving yourself a heart attack!” Stan said.

“Stanley!  That is not helpful!” Ford snapped, hopping off the stump and going to his nephew’s side.

“...Sorry.”  Stan joined him, and Mabel crouched down on Dipper’s other side.  Three hands rubbed his shoulders as he pushed his head between his knees.

After a minute Dipper took a few deep breaths, and then slowly got to his feet.  He still looked shaken up by the situation, but at least he had calmed down a little.  “Ugh, ow.  Do your guys’s joints creak this much when you have to stand up?”

“Oh yeah.  It’s even worse first thing in the morning.”  Stan stretched his back, and then his eyes widened in delight.  “Whoa, wait.  It’s been years since I’ve been able ta do that without it feelin’ all messed up!”  He looked down at his legs, and a wide smile stretched across his cheeks.

Before Ford could stop him, he took off running back down the trail with a whoop.

“Stanley!  Stanley, get back here!  We have to-”

Stan was already practically out of sight.  Ford groaned, and shrugged off his now-giant backpack which he had barely realized he was still wearing.  He glanced at the-well, technically the children, they still had the minds of thirteen-year-olds.  “Find something to put that flower in, would you?”

Then he chased after his brother.

****

Ford was disconcerted when he realized, very quickly, that his body had reverted back to the physical limitations he had possessed at this age.

Back then, while it was all well and good to go running around on the beach with Stan, chasing the waves or the sea gulls or each other, he had hated exercise when there were far more enjoyable options available, like reading his books or just sitting and drawing something.  He hadn’t gotten into the habit of going for long walks in the woods, or been forced to spend a lot of time running for his life from interdimensional bounty hunters.

Soon enough Ford was forced to slow down because of the stitch in his side, and double over gasping with the need to get more air into his lungs.

He clenched his fists against his knees in frustration, because he knew that he was capable of running faster than this, at least when he was in his regular body, he’d done it a million times, and now he couldn’t.

A few moments later he heard the thud of boots pounding against the ground, and a familiar out-of-breath voice.

“Whoo!  What a rush!  If I tried doin’ that when I was old I’d have ta sit on the couch for a week afterwards!  Ha!  Who’s an old fossil now, Mabel?”

Coming from the man (boy?  Shoot, that was going to get confusing pretty fast) who was capable of punching out giant squid monsters and outrunning angry leprechauns while carrying a heavy treasure chest, that was definitely an exaggeration.  But Ford was too busy trying to stop wheezing to call him on it.

“...You okay, Poindexter?” Stan asked, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

Ford lifted his eyes until they met his twin’s.  “W-We...should probably...go back to the kids.  I realize...you’re excited...about rediscovering your youth...but they’re not enjoying this as much as you are.”

Stan gave him a chagrined grimace.  “...Oh yeah.  Sorry.”

Ford patted his arm as he straightened up.  “‘S’ okay.  I get it.  It feels good to get some of those aches out of my bones.”

“Yeah, no kidding!”  Stan looked down at his arms with wide eyes.  “Can you believe these things were ever this skinny?”

Ford snorted.  “Your face is back to being mostly nose, though.”

“Hey!”  Stan slugged him in the arm.  “Take a look in the mirror, genius-you’re not much better off!”

Ford punched him back, giggling.

He was a little surprised by how natural a sound that felt to make, now that he was no longer an old man.

****

It turned out that Dipper had emptied out part of one of the water bottles, and then dug the flower out-roots and all, just in case-before placing it and its petals inside.  He’d even managed to get some pollen samples and add them to the inside of the bottle.

“Good job, Dipper!” Ford praised him, accepting it and slipping it into his backpack.  Then he straightened up, puffing out his chest.  “Okay, let’s get this back to the lab, and turn ourselves back to normal!”

Mabel cooed and clasped her hands together at her chin.  “Awww, you sound so adorable when you say stuff like that now!”

...Ford couldn’t help feeling like she was spoiling the gravitas of the moment.  He tried to ignore Stan’s wide smirk, and adjusted his coat collar with a cough before he started marching back the way they’d come.

****

A new problem arose when they reached the car.

Stan dug into his pocket and pulled out the keys, and just as he was unlocking the car Dipper grabbed his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Stan raised an eyebrow at him, in a way that was still very grunkle-like despite his young face.  “Gettin’ ready ta drive us home.”

“Grunkle Stan, you’re thirteen now!  You can’t be the one driving!”

The boy folded his arms.  “Uh, last I checked, you didn’t exactly have a driver’s license, kid.”

Dipper faltered.  “I-I know how to drive the golf cart!”

“Not the same.  Besides, remind me how many times you crashed it last summer?”

“Oh, like your driving is any safer!”  Dipper lunged for the keys.

Stan jumped out of reach.  “Fair point, but this is still my car!  And nobody but nobody is allowed ta drive it but me!”

Dipper chased after him, meaning that they were suddenly running around the car, with Stan defiantly holding the keys out of his elderly nephew’s reach.  “We’re gonna get pulled over if the cops see you behind the wheel, Grunkle Stan!  Be reasonable!”

“Never!  I’m not lettin’ you scratch up my car cuz you-”

Mabel finally stepped between them.  “Boys, boys!  I have a solution that’ll fix everything!”

****

Five minutes later, Dipper was in the driver’s seat, with Stan sitting on his lap, head tucked against his shoulder.  Dipper’s feet worked the gas and brakes at his grunkle’s command, while Stan did the steering and watched the road with his newly improved vision.  Neither of them looked pleased with this solution, but they’d had to admit that they hadn’t been able to think of a better one.

Mabel and Ford sat in the back, with the water bottle containing the flower clenched in Ford’s lap.  He stared at it thoughtfully, scribbling notes in his journal and thinking about other experiences with enchanted plants, and how they might compare to this one.

Unnoticed by him, Mabel had pulled a cloth tape measure out of her pocket and was taking his measurements; already she was thinking about what kind of sweaters to make him and Stan.  Because on the one hand, both of them seemed to like the color red, and looked pretty good in it; on the other hand, this was a special occasion, and maybe she should make something in blue, or green, or gold.  Maybe all of them together?  Decisions, decisions…

She was still thinking about her options when the car pulled up in front of the Mystery Shack.  Stan turned the engine off, and unbuckled himself and Dipper.

“Geez you’ve got bony knees,” he said dryly as he looked up at his nephew.

Dipper snorted.  “Now you know how I feel.”

Fortunately Stan’s mood had improved enough for him to grin before opening the car door and bounding up the steps of the porch.

“Soos, we’re home!” he called as he opened the door.

A few seconds later there was a startled yelp, and a thud.

A little bit after that, the front door opened again, and Stan peered uneasily out at his family.

“...Guys?  I think I just killed Soos.”

********

Don’t worry, I didn’t actually kill Soos.

I’m not that much of a monster.

Usually.

[aceofstars16]

A Broken Star

A little fic inspired by @the-subpar-ghost‘s Drifting Stars fic/AU, which I love to bits! 

This takes place after Mabel and Ford get back home, though in this idea, it takes them years to get back, so Mabel is probably at least 15 in this, possibly older. And after being in other dimensions for years she is bound to have some anxiety and hard times, not to mention nightmares...but thankfully she has a grunkle who is there for her.

(this isn’t really a @forduary prompt, but I’ve been really bad at finishing my ideas for the prompts, so...have this?)

AO3

Fic below the cut:

A howl echoed throughout the entire canyon, making a shiver run up Mabel’s spine even as she ran. Her legs were burning, her lungs were heaving, but she had to keep going. A growl sounded right behind her and she yelped and tried to push herself to run even faster. For a moment, she succeeded but then her legs tripped over the snow underfoot and she landed face first into the cold sludge. It was the end. After everything, she was going to die at the hands of this stupid dog - that wasn’t anything like the dogs she had grown up seeing.

But nothing happened. There were no teeth digging into her. She was safe, she was-

A scream broke through the silence and Mabel scrambled to her side in time to see the giant beast clamping its jaws around her grunkle.

“No! GRUNKLE FORD!” She tried to run after it, to save the only family she had left. But her legs wouldn’t move, her voice wouldn’t work. The world seemed to sway. Black started creeping all around her, sucking away any semblance of color, or warmth. Any feeling of safety was being siphoned away until she was floating in a freezing void.

“No…no. Please no!” Mabel cried out, desperately searching for anything familiar, any sign that things might be okay. But she was alone. “No…please-“ her voice broke and a sob escaped her mouth. The darkness was swallowing her, she couldn’t move, couldn’t see. It was seeping into every inch of her body and as she gasped for air, it was as if she was trying to breathe tar. Despair, panic, utter terror clung to her, only making her desperation for air worse. She needed help, but there was none…A tear felt down her cheek as she realized this was the end. All those years trying to survive and she was going to die alone.

Bolting upright, Mabel gasped for air. Her lungs burning as if she really hadn’t been able to breathe. Her entire body was shaking as every little detail of her dream seemed to grow in the darkness surrounding her. But…it wasn’t totally darkness.

Despite the panic racing through her veins, she could see the faint outline of the room around her. Not a dinky hotel room that Grunkle Ford had somehow managed to spring for, not a dark alley way, not a cold cave. An achingly familiar room. The attic.

Taking a shaky breath, the events of yesterday slowly started returning to her terrified brain. Stumbling through the portal, tired and confused and wondering if it was all just a dream. But it wasn’t…she was home, she was really home…and Grunkle Ford…

The dream came back and Mabel fumbled with her blankets in her attempt to race out of the room. There were so many times when Ford had been injured trying to protect her – and vice versa too – they had been the only ones there for each other and after years of traveling dimensions they had their fair share of scars. And it seemed the worry of losing her only family left was still engrained deep in her soul. That was all she could think of as she raced down the stairs – not remembering that she wasn’t alone anymore, that Dipper was here, and Stan was here, and she was safe. No, because if she had learned anything about other dimensions, it was that safe places could sometimes be the most dangerous.

Feet slamming on the landing, Mabel froze, realizing she wasn’t sure where Ford even was. How stupid! That was the worst mistake she could ever make! Head whipping back and forth, she tried to reason where he might be.

Then a light turned on and she spun towards it, the fear pulsing through her veins putting her on high alert.

“Mabel? What’s wro-?”

As soon as she saw Ford’s face, a wave of relief washed over Mabel and she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tight.

Back when she had first met Ford, his physical affection was awkward and uncertain, but now his arms wrapped around her without any words, pulling her close to him even as she felt tears falling down her face.

“Are we really safe?”

A hand ran through he hair. “Yes. We’re safe, Mabel. I triple checked.”

The words were assuring, but her body was still shaking like a leaf and as she tried to take a breath, it was shuddering and turned into a half hiccup, half sob.

Arms tightened around her and Ford started humming a quiet song that she never got the words to, but that he had always hummed for her when she was having a hard time. Closing her eyes tight, she tried to pretend that she was a kid again. That the nightmare had just been a silly thing her brain came up with and not something that very easily could’ve happened to her. Could still happen.

No, she couldn’t think like that, she was safe. But her brain was not so easily dissuaded and she tightened her grip on her grunkle. “Why am I still scared?”

There was silence for a moment, then a quiet. “Because what you went through…what we went through, is not something that is easily forgotten.” Another moment of silence. “But remember what I told you?”

For a moment, Mabel couldn’t grasp what he was asking, but then she recalled that night. Sitting in the alley, when she had been trying desperately not to cry. “It’s okay to be scared, it means you care.”

“Exactly. It…won’t be easy adjusting, but…we’ll get through this.”

Mabel took another shaky breath. “Promise?”

The arms around her moved until they were holding her shoulders and she was looking into her grunkle’s eyes. “Yes, I promise.” Ford reached up and wiped a tear away. “I’m here for you, and I know Dipper is, and…probably Stan too.”

A slightly forced smile made its way onto Mabel’s face and she tried for a small nod.

Ford returned the smile, but Mabel couldn’t help but think that it looked forced too.

For a moment, they just stood there in silence, but as it grew, Mabel found herself trying to fight a question in her mind. She wasn’t a child anymore. She wasn’t in danger. She was safe. She should just go back upstairs and try to sleep or…do something. But even the thought of going back to the dark attic brought chills to her skin. Biting her lip, she glanced up at Ford, who had straightened up a little and seemed to be scanning the room. Old habits die hard indeed.

“Grunkle Ford?”

His eyes quickly flicked to her, concern glittering in them. “Yes, sweetheart?”

The pet name was welcome, and Mabel knew he only used them in specifically hard times for her, as a way to comfort her. “Can…can I sleep with you? Just for tonight…”

A genuine smile grew in the corner of his mouth and he nodded. “Of course.”

It was just like all those nights in the past, after a terrifying fight, or being separated from her grunkle, or when she missed Dipper, or was reminded of how little hope there was of anything ever being safe again. It wasn’t comfortable, Ford was half on merchandise boxes, as the couch wasn’t quite wide enough for both of them, but they had slept in worse.

As Mabel rested her head on Ford’s chest, a gentle hand ran comfortingly through her hair, once, twice, before wrapping around her protectively. A moment later a blanket was pulled up right to her ear and a kiss was pressed to her head.

“Goodnight, sweetheart.”

Snuggling closer to him, and the protection he offered – from both the physical and the emotional – Mabel could hear his heartbeat. It was strong and steady, and a reminder that she wasn’t alone. “Night Grunkle Ford,” she said quietly, sleep pulling at her even before he started humming. But before it overtook her, she managed to whisper out one more thing. “Love you.”

His arm tightened for a moment. “I love you too, Mabel.”

The terror of earlier was gone and this time, as darkness surrounded her, it wasn’t suffocating. It was safe, it was warm, it was welcome. She was safe. She was home.